Henry More: The Immortality of The Soul

ARCHIVES INTERNATIONALES D'HISTOIRE DES IDEES

INTERNATIONAL ARCHIVES OF THE HISTORY OF IDEAS

122

ALEXANDER JACOB(editor)

HENRY MORE.THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL

Directors: P. Dibon (Paris) and R. Popkin (Washington Univ., St. Louis)Editoriol Boord: J.F. Battail (Uppsala); F. Duchesneau (Montreal); T. Gregory (Rome);J.D. North (Groningen); M.J. Petry (Rotterdam); Ch.B. Schmitt (Warburg Inst., London).Advisory Editoriol Board: J. Aubin (Paris); J. Collins (St. Louis Univ.); P. Costabel (Pa-

ris); A. Crombie (Oxford); H. de la Fontaine Verwey (Amsterdam); H. Gadamer (Heidel-berg); H. Gouhier (Paris); K. Hanada (Hokkaido University); W. Kirsop (Melbourne);P.O. Kristeller (Columbia Univ.); Elisabeth Labrousse (Paris); A. Lossky (Los Angeles);

J. Malarczyk (Lublin); E. de Olaso (C.I.F. Buenos Aires); J. Orcibal (Paris); WolfgangRöd (München); J. Roger (Paris); G. Rousseau (Los Angeles); H. Rowen (Rutgers Univ.,N.J.); J.P. Schobinger (ZürichX G. Sebba (Emory Univ., Atlanta); R. Shackleton (C)x-

tord); .1. Tans (Groningen).

HENRY MORE.THE IMMORTALITY

OF THE SOUL

Edited by

A. JACOB

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at ,ai,

\\l,l{lNII t) tN Iill Nt Iilt.til ANI)s

To Horatio.

Horatio: O day and night, but this is rvondrous strange!Hamlet: And therefore as a stranger give it welcome.

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

Homlet, Act I, Sc. V, ll.l64-167.

Preface

The significance of Henry More's vitalist philosophy in thehistory of ideas has been realized relatively recently, as thebibliography will reveal. The general neglect of the CambridgePlatonist movement may be attributed to the common prejudicethat its chief exponents, especially More, were obscure mysticswho were neither coherent in their philosophical system norattractive in their prose style. I hope that this modern editionof More's principal treatise will help to correct this unjust im-pression and reveal the keenness and originality of More'sintellect, which sought to demonstrate the relevance of classicalphilosophy in an age of empirical science. The wealth oflearning -- ranging as it does from Greek antiquity to l7th-century science and philosophy that informs More' sintellectual system of the universe should, in itself, be a recom-mendation to students of the history of ideas. Though, florthose in search of literary satisfaction, too, there is notwanting, in More's style, the humour, and grace, of a manwhose erudition did not divorce him from a sympatheticunderstanding of human contradictions. As for More'selaborate speculations concerning the spirit world in the finalbook of this treatise, I think that we would indeed be justified inregarding their combination of classical mythology amdscientific naturalism as the literary and philosophicalcounterpart of the great celestial frescoes of the Baroquemasters.

In the preparation of this edition, I am indebted to theDepartments of Philosophy, Classics, and English of thePennsylvania State [Jniversity for the valuable learning Iderived from them. Particularly, Prof. Emily Grosholz andProf. Michael Kiernan helped me with many suggestions on ihephilosophical and textual aspects of this edition. I should als«llike to thank the two readers for Martinus Nijhoff for theirperspicacious comments on my edition.

My thanks are due also to Prof. Charles Mann, Mrs.Noelene Martin and Mrs. Giace Perez of the Pennsylvani:-r.State University Library, and to the Librarians of ColumbiaUniversity Library, the New York Academy of' Medicine

Library, the Folger Renaissance Library, and the Library ofCongress, for their kindness in facilitating my research. Theflrgure of the brain from Charles Singer's transcription ofVesalius' De Humani Corporis Fabrica thal I have used in myIntroduction is reproduced by eourtesy of the Wellcome MedicalHistorical Museum, London.

I'inally, I must thank Mrs. P. M. Sawchuk for heroicallytyping the manuscript of this edition, and Mr. ThomasMinsker, of the University Computation Center, for his expertassistance in printing it.

University Park, PennsylvaniaJuly,1986

Alexander Jacob

Contents

INTRODUCTIONBiographical Introduction i

The intellectual background of The Immortality of the Soul xiThe composition and reception of The Immortality of the

SoulAnalysis of The Immortality of the Soul

I. More and HobbesII. More and DescartesII. More and Neoplatonism

Textual Introduction

TEXTI. Epistle DedicatoryII. PrefaceIII. Book IIV. Book IIV. Book IIIVI. Contents

NOTESCommentary NotesTextual Notes

Bibliography

xxxixxlix

lilxviiilxxixxciv

1

4

2277

191309

328439

447

Biographical Introduction

But for the better Understanding of all this, we areto take ... our Rise a little higher and to premisesome things which fell out in my Youth; if not also inmy Childhood itself. To the End that it may morefully appear that the things which I have written,are not any borrowed, or far-fetch'd Opinions, owingunto Education and the Reading of Books; but theproper Sentiments of my own Mind, drawn andderived from my most intimate Nature HenryMore, Preface to Opera Omnia (1679) 1

The intellectual individuality which characterized HenryMore, the principal representative of the group of Platonistphilosophers that distinguished the University of Cambridge inIt. miädle of the seventeenth century,2 is evidenced in theearliest stages of his life. More was born at Grantham inLincolnshire, and was baptized at the parish church,St.Wulfram's, on October 10, 1614.ü His father, AlexanderMore, was a Calvinist,and was alderman and, later,mayor ofGrantham for several years. Henry More was the seventh sonof Alexander More and, from his childhood, he displayed an"anxious and thoughtful genius" which manifested itself in aconsiderable proficiency in French and Latin at GranthamSchool as well as a keen sensitivity to the Platonic harmony ofSpenser's poetry, which his father read to him "entertaining uson winter nights, with that incomparable Peice of his, the Fairy

1 Tr. Richard Ward in Tlrc Life of the learned and pious Dr. Henry More, ed.

M. F. Howard, London:Theosophical Publishing Co., 1911, p. 58.

2 Of the other Cambridge Platonists, the most important are BenjaminWhichcote (1609-1683), John Smith (1618-1652), and Ralph Cudworth (

16 17- 1688).

3 The Parchment Roll at Grantharn, entitled 'A true Certificate of all such

as were baptized in the Parish Church of Grantham, Anno Domini 1614'

indicates the baptism date of Henry More thus "October 10, Henry theSonne of Mr.[Alexander] More" ( Folio Register Parchment). See A.B.

Grosart, The Complete Poems of Dr. Henry More, Edinburgh, 1878, rpt. N.Y.:AMS Press, 1967, p-xiin.

IN'I'RODUCTION

Queen, a, Poem as richly fraught with divine Morality asPhansy."* This humanistic temperament could not bereconciled with the harsh doctrine of predestination which hisCalvinist upbringing had forced upon him, and already by thetime of his entry to Eton (1627 or 1628), he was revoltingagainst it. He remembers in his autobiographical sketch thathe vehemently disputed against the Calvinist interpretation offate that his paternal uncle,D who accompanied him to Eton,imposed on the words of Epictetus," äTs ps ö Zü rni oü tlzenpo4.r6vq."o until his uncle had to threaten him with the rod forhis "immature Forwardness in philosophizing concerning suchmatters." For, indeed, as he says, "f had such deep Aversionin my Temper to this Opinion, and so firm and unshaken aperswasion of the Divine Jusüice and Goodness, that on acertain Duy, in a Ground belongrng to Aeton College, where theBoys us'd to play, and exercise themselves, musing concerningthese Things with my self ... I did seriously and deliberatelyconclude within myself viz; 'If I am one of those that arepredestinated unto Hell, where all Things are full of nothingbut Cursing and Blasphemy, yet will I behave myself therepatiently and submissively towards God; and if there be anyone Thing more than another, that is acceptable to him, thatwill I set myself to do with a sincere Heart, and to the uümostof my Power': Being certainly persuaded that if I thusdemeaned my self, he would hardly keep me long in thatPlace."' Opposed to the frightening God of Calvin, More wasinbred with a more spiritual awareness of Divinity, är"exceeding hail and entire §ense of God, which Nature herselfhad planted deeply in me."8

This "boniform faculty" in him, as he was to call it later9

4 More, "To his dear Father Alexander More, Esquire," in Grosart, op.

cit.,p. 4.

5 This was probably Gabriel More D.D. who, in March L63t-2, wasinstalled Prebendary of Westrninster, see Grosatt, op. cil., p.xn.6 "Lead me, O Jupiter, and thou, Fate."7 Ward, op. cit., p. 59.

8 Ward, op.cit., p. 60.

9 cf . Enchiridion Ethicum, Bk I, Ch. 5, Art. 7: "Wherefore as it is now plain,that something there is which of its own nature, and incontestably is trze.

I N'I'ROI) U(]'I'I0N

was allowed to develop rapidly at Cambridge which he entcrcdin 1631. Masson, in his Life of John Milton, presents a piquantevocation of More's arrival at Christ's in the last year ofMilton's residence there: "Among the new admissions atChrist's, besides a Ralph Widdrington, afterwards of some n«rteas a physician, a Charles Hotham, and others whosesubsequent history might be traced, there was one youth atwhcm Milton, had he foreseen what he was to be, wouldcertainly have looked with more than common attention. Thiswas a tall thin sapling, of clear olive complexion, and a mildand rapt expresion, whose admission into the College isrecorded in the entrybook thus:

December 31,1631 -- Henry More, son of Alexander,born at Grantham in the County of Lincoln, groundedin letters at Eton by Mr. Harrison, was admitted, inthe l7th year of his age a lesser pensioner under Mr.Ge[.10

This new student, whose connexion with Christ's thus beganjust as that of Milton was drawing to a close, was the HenryMore afterwards so famous as the Cambridge Platonist, and somemorable in the history of the College." More was especialtyfortunate in being tutored by Robert Gell, whom he describes as"a Person both learned and pious and, w-hat I was not a littlesollicitous about, not at all a Calvinist."l2 Gell was a friend of

So is there somewhat which of its own nature is simply good. Also that as

the former is comprehended by the Intellect, so the sweetness and delightof the latter is relished by the Boniform Faculty. (Tr.Edward Southwell inAn Account of Virtue; or, Dr.Henry More' s Abridgement of Morals,put Lnto

English, London, 1690, p. 31).

10 This is an English rendering of the original Latin :

"Decemb. 31, 1631

Henricus More, Filius Alexander, natus Granthamiae in agro Lincolinensiliteris institutus Etonae a Mro Hamison, anno aetatis 17. admissus estPensionarius minor sub Mro Gell." (Grosart,op. cir., p. xv)1l David Masson, The Life of John Milton, London: Macmillan, 1881, I:248f.

iii

iv INTRODUCTION

the liberal divine Joseph Mede, (who, until his death in 1638,was a very influential figure in the College) and was, evenmore than Mede, interested in the Cabala and Hermetism. Itis quite probable that, as Geoffrey Bullough conjectures, hecontributed to the. development of similar esoteric interests inthe young More.'oThe intimate connection in More's mindbetween Divinity and Nature is seen in his account of the"mighty and almost immoderate Thirst after Knowledge" whichdominated him as a student, especially for "that which wasNatural; and above all others, that which was said to drive intothe deepest Cause of Things, and Aristotle calls the first andhighest Philosophy, or Wisdom... For even at that Time, theKnowledge of natural and divine Things seem'd to me thehighest PLasure and Felicity imaginable.;14

This enthusiasm for philosophy led him first to the studyof Aristotle and Cardano and Scaliger, but he was quicklydisillusioned with their teachings, which seemed to him "eitherso false or uncertain, or else so obvious and trivial, that Ilooked upon myself as having plainly lost my time in theReading of such Authors."rc By the time of taking hisbachelor's degree in 1635, he was beginning to ponder seriously"whether the Knowledge of things was really that SupremeFelicity of Man; or something Greater and more Divine was;Or, supposing it to be so, whether it was to be acquired by suchan Eagerness and Intentness in the reading of Authors, andcontemplating of Things; or by the Purging of the Mind from allsorts of Vices whatsoever; Especially having begun to read nowthe Platonick Writers, Marsilius Ficinus, Plotinus himself,Mercurius Trismegistus, and the Mystical Divines, amongwhom there was frequent mention made of the Purification ofthe Soul, and.of the Purgative Course that is previous to theIllurninative."ro More was also deeply influenced by themediaeval mystical work attributed to Tauler, or disciple of his,Theologia Gerrnanica which had been edited and popularized by

12 Ward, op. cit., p. 61.

13 Bullough, Philosophical Poems of Henry More, Manchester, 1931, p. xv.14 Ward, op. cit., p. 6215 Ward, op. cit., p. 63.

16 tbid., p. 64f.

I N',l'R0I)UO',l'lON

Luther, and which detailed the process of spiritual purification.However, although More may have been encouraged in hisPlatonic and mystical learning by Mead, Gell, and BenjaminWhichcote the influential Platonist Purilan of EmmanuelCollege who was appointed Sunday Afternoon Lecturer inTrinity Church in 1636 and, later, Provost of King's College inL644 More was indeed the first to undertake a detailedphilosophical study of Neoplatonism. The young More'sextraordinary enthusiasm for Platonist learning is evident fromthe fact he was the first to possess a copy of Plotinus at Cam-bridge. As he himself declares in his letter of December27,t673 to Rev. E. Elys, "I bought one copy of Plotinus when Iwas a Junior Master for 16 shillings and I think I was the firstthat had either the luck or th; courage to buy him."17Whichcote, who used to be- considered the founder of the C

bridge Platonist movemetrtl8, was never deeply philosophical,and the incidental Platonism of his sermons can scarcely becompared to the elaborate Neoplatonic meüaphysics that Morereconstructed from the ancients in his Psychodia Platonica,which is, in{eed, the first major philosophical document of themovement.19

The Psychodia Platonica was the literary culmination ofMore's spiritual efforts to achieve mystical enlightenment, "amore full Union with this Divine and Celestiall Principle, theinward flowing Wellspring of Life eternal." These efforts seem,indeed, to have been successful, for, as he reports, "When thisinordinate Desire aftnr the Knowledge of things was thusallay'd in me, and I aspir'd after nothing but this sole Purityand Simplicity of Mind, there shone upon me daily a greaterAssurance than ever I could have expected, even of thosethings which before I had greatest Desire to know. Insomuchthat within a few years, I was got into a most Joyous and

17 More, Letters on Seueral Subjects, London, 7694, p.27.18 See J. D. Roberts' book on Whichcote, From Puritanism to Platonism inSeuenteenth Century England, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1968.

19 See C. A. Staudenbaur's convincing refutation of Robert's championingof Whichcote as the father of the Cambridge Platonists in his review

article ,"Platonism, Theosophy and Immaterialism: Recent views of the

Cambridge Platonists," JHI, ( 1974), 157-63.

vt INTRODUC'TION

Lucid state of Mind, and such plainly as is ineffable.',20Thisstate of intellectual radiance he immediately recorded in a shortpoem called Eünopic (which answered an earlier poemexpressing his spiritual perplexity, called Anoplc ) Howlver,the first major fruit of his Neoplatonic enlightenment was thelong poem called'Psychozoia, or the Life of ihe soul,, which hecomposed in 1640, probably while he was a non-regent M.A. atthe the college"and before he was elected Fellow and Tutor ofchrist's -- a position he occupied for the rest of his life.22 Lut",followed companion pieces, 'Psychathanasia, or the Immortalityof the soul,' 'Antipsychopannychia, or the confutaüion of thesleep of the soul', and 'Antimonopsychia, containing aconfutation of the unity of Souls' which, together iitt'Psychozoia', were published as yulo8lo platinica: or aPlatonicall Song of the Soul in L642. Four years later, underthe impulse of his discovery of cartesian philosophy, he wrotea ne\il poem called Democritus Platonissans, or an essay uponthe Infinity of worlds out of Platonick principles. He apiendedthis to 'Psychathanasia' in his second edition of A platonichSong of the Soul (published in his philosophicall poems of 164T)along with an appendix to 'Antipsychopannychia' on ,ThePra.existency of the Soul.'

The enthusiasm with which More greeted Descartes,philosophical principles is evident in the letters he wrote toDescartes between December 1648 and october 1649 as well

20 Ward, op. cit., p. 62.21 see c. c. Brown, "Henry More's 'Deep retirement,: New material onthe early years of the Carnbridge platonist,,'gES, (NSJ xx,(1969) 445-54.22ward, in his Life, declares that More was so devoted to "contemplationand solitude that he turned down every preferment offered to himincluding the Deanery of Christchurch, the Provostship of Dublin Collegewith.the Deanery of st. Patrick's, two Bishoprics, and even the Mastershipof Christ's College, Cambridge (Ward,op . cit., Ch.4). More was fortunate ininheriting considerable property on the death of his father ( cf. AlexanderMore's will, proved 23 April, L649, in consistory court Lincoln, L64g, fol.236). It is with reason, therefore, that he says in his Epistle Dedicatory toLady Conway in An Antidote against Atheism: "For the best result of Riches, Imean in reference to our selues, is, that finding ourselues already utell prouid.ed.for, we rnay be fully Masters of our own time,, (Sig. A3 ).

vltI N'l'tto I ) [J(]'l' I ( ) N

as in most of the philosophical works he published in the twodecades after the poems of 1647." However, even in the letter,More is careful to indicate the points on which he differed fromthe French philosopher, such as the latter's restriction ofextension to matter and his denial of souls to beasts. So that,although More benefitted greatly from his exposure to thediscipline of the Cartesian system -- reflected, chiefly in theaxiomatic method of demonstration adopted in An Antidoteagainst Atheisme (1653) and The Immoftaliry of the Soul (1659)-- it is not surprising that his increasingly religious concernsafter 1660 and the dangers posed by the rise of severalatheistic Cartesian philosophers on the continent2a led him toturn against his former idol in his flrnal philosophical treatise ofL671, Enchiridion Melqphysicum, where the Carüesians aremocked as'Nullibists.'zb

Apart from his correspondence with Descartes, More'sinvolvement in contemporary intellectual controversies isreflected in his attacks on Thomas Vaughan's theurgictreatises, Anthroposophia Theomagica and Anima magicaabscondira (1650). Vaughan, twin brother of the poet HenryVaughan, was a Rosicrucian, and More considered his magicalmysticism an enühusiastic distortion of Platonism. More wasangered, too, by Vaughan's criticism of Descartes in theseworks since he himself was still an ardent admirer of theFrench philosopher. Further, Vaughan' s claim that he was aPlatonist seemed to More a threat to his own reputation since

23 See Epistolae Quatuor ad Renatum Descartes in A Collection of Seueral

Ph.ilosophbal Writings of Dr. Henry More, London, 1662.

24 More may have had in mind, particularly, such Cartesians works as

Lambert van Velthuysen's, Tractatus de Initüs Primae Philosophiae ( 1664),

Louis de la Forge's Tractatus de Mente Humana (1669), and LodewijkMeyer's Phitosophic S. Scripturae interpres Exercitatio paradoxa (1666), and

Adriaan Koerbagh's Een Bloemhof uan allerley lieflihheyd sonder uerdriet(1668), which exhibited increasing degrees of atheism. ( see A. Gabbey

"Philosophia Cartesiana Triumphata:Henry More ( 1646-167 1)" in Problems

of Cartesianism, ed. T. M. Lennon, J. M. Nichols, J. W. Davis, Kingston:McGill-Queen's Univ. Press, 1982, pp. 239ff.).25 The term 'nullibists' refers to the Cartesian denial of extension to res

cogitans and the consequent denial of place to it.

vlil INTRODUCl'ION

he was, at that time, the most important Platonist philosopherin England and was liable to be linked with Vaughan; for, as hesaid, there being "nobody else besides us two dealing with thesekinds of notions, men $ight yoke me with so disordered a com-panion as yourself."'o More's first attack on Vaughan,Obseruations upon Anthroposophia Theomagica and AnimaMagica Abscondita, ( 1650) under the pseudonym'Alazonomastix' (Vaughan had called himself 'EugeniusPhilalethes') was answered by Vaughan in The man-rrcusetaken in a Trap (1650). More replied to this in The Second Lashof Alazonomastix (1651), and Vaughan retaliated scurrilouslywith The Second Wash; or The Moor Scour'd Again (1651).More refused to answer this work and thereby brought thequai'rel to a close. However, his rationalist disdain for thewhole phenomenon of religious "Fantastry and Enthusiasme"was so great that he decided to republish his two tracts againstVaughan, along with an extended discussion of the subjectwhich he called Enthusiasmus Triumphatus, in 1656.

"Enthusiasm" was not the only danger that More had tocombat. While the Platonist movement w€.s growing in Christ'sCollege with the arrival of George Rustz'/ in LO4g and RalphCudworth as Master of Christ's in L654, there deVeloped astrong opposition to the new 'Latitude men' as they werederisively called, from orthodox divines. IVlore was "rayl'd atand bluster'd against for an Heretick,"28 and in December1665 Ralph Widdrington (also of Christ's) even petitioned theArchbishop against the college as "a seminary of Heretics."29The rational theology of More and his advocacy of religioustoleration rather than dogmatism in An Explanation of theGrand Mystery of Godliness (1660) provoked an angry responsefrom Joseph Beaumont, Master of Peterhouse and author of

26 More, The SecondBoohof Alazonomasti*. Cambridge, 1651, p. 35.27 Rust was a disciple of More and author of A Letter of Resolutionconcerning origen and the chief of His opinions (London,166l) and ADiscourse of Truth (London, 1682).

28 More, letter to Lady Conway, December 31,1663,in M.H.Nicolson, ed.,Conway Letters,(New Haven:Yale Univ. Press,1930) No.141,p. 220.29 See More, letter to Lady Conway, June 29, 1665, Conway Letters, No.161,1t. 242.

INTITOI)[,lCI'I0N

Psyche (1668), in a set of 'Objections' which he privabelycommunicated to More. More defended himself in The Apologyof Dr.Henry More (1664) in which he insisted that "there is noreal clashing at all betwixt any genuine spirit of Christianityand what true Philosophy and right Reason does determine orallow." Beaumont replied with Some Obseruations upon theApologie of Dr.Henry More (1665) which, however, as Grosartputs it, "never gets at More's meaning, and More crushes him

in his iron grasp and strangely piercing though mysticallogic."3o

Most of More's writings after 1660 were predominantlytheological and dealt mostly with Scriptural and Apocalypticexegesis, such as An Exposition of the seuen Epistles to the seuenChurches (1669), Apocalypsis Apocalypseos (1680), andParalipomena Prophetico (1685), or anti-papist polemics such asA Modest Enquiry into the Mystery of Iniquity (L664), and AnAntidote against ldolatry 0672-73). His translation of hisphilosophical works into Latin, Opera Omnia(L675-79), alsocontains several scholia of a Christian Cabalist nature. Thisdoes not mean that he abandoned all interest in philosophicalissues in his later works. In the Diuine Dialogues (1668), heelegantly united science, philosophy, and theology in a series ofPlatonic dialogues, while the Enchiridion Metaphysicum (1671)was a renewed exposition of his anti-mechanistic system. Hispolemical writings of this period included the PhilosophiaeTeutonica.e Censura against Jacob Boehme (written in 1670 andpublished in the Opera Omnia ), and the Epistola altera ad V. C.and Demonstrationum duarum Propositionum against Spinoza(written between L677-78 and published in the Opero Omnia).Apart from these, More also published a treatise of morality,Enchiridion Ethicum (1668), which is one of his finest works.

Although most of his works were written at Cambridge,his intellectual life gained considerable extension through hisfrequent visits to Ragley Hall in Warwickshire, the seat of theConways. Lady Anne Conway (1631-1689) was the sister ofone of his pupils, John Finch (1626-1682) and, ever since herfirst acquaintance with More, she remained an ardent student

30 A.B. Grosart, The Compkte Poems of Joseph Beaumont,Edinburgh:1880,rpt. N.Y.: AMS Press, 1967, I:xxxii.

ix

IN'TRODUCTION

of his, and a devoted friend.31 It was at her home that Moremet the Cabalist Frans Mercurius van Helmont, son of thealchemist Jan-Baptista van Helmont, and friend of Leibniz.Through Helmont, More was introduced to the ChristianCabalist, Baron Christian Knorr von Rosenroth, andcontributed articles to the latter's Latin translation of theZohar, Kabbala Denudato (Frankfurt,L677). However, in spiteof his varied intellectual contacts, More' s metaphysical systemwas an original one and changed little in its essentialsthroughout his philosophical career. The extraordinary wide-ranging scope of his reading in both ancient and contemporaryphilosophy and science only prompted interesting modulatlonsand elaborations from time to time of the principal theme of thereality and primacy of spirit in the universe.

Despite the many controversies that attended hisphilosophical career, More concluded his life with a sense offulfillment, and one of his last statements before his death was"Thaü he had with great sincerity offer'd what he had writtento the world" and "That he had spent all his time in the state ofthose Words, Quid Verum sit et quid Bonum quaero et rogo; et inäoc omnis sum.32 More's death was peaceful and, accoiding toWard, he expressed his sense of death to his close friend, Dr.John Davies'o who attended him constantly in his last days,"in those first Words of that famous Sentence of Tully's: 'OPraeclarum illum Diem:' ... O möst Blessed Day: When I shallcome to that Company of Diuine^Souls aboue, and shall departfrom this Sink and Rout below"'* More died on September 1,1687, and was buried two day later, in the Chapel of Christ'sCollege, Cambridge.

31 The relationship between More and Lady Conway - which resembledDescartes' friendship with Princess Elizabeth of Bohemia - has been

elaborately discussed in Nicolson's edition of the Conway Letters and A.Gabbey' s article, "Anne Conway et Henry More," Archiues de Philosophie,

48 ( 1977),379404.32 Ward, <tp.cit., p.225.33 John Davies, D. D. (Oxon.) 1678, was rector of Heydon, Essex.34 Wartl,olt. ci.t., p- 227.

INTRODUCTION

The intellectual background of The Immortality of the Soul.

Although The Immortality of the Soul is the most completeexposition of More's phitosophical system, it is anticipated inmany of its themes by the five long poems that constitute his APlatonick Song of the Soul, (L647). More's earliest meditationson the soul and its immortality were inspired primarily by thedesire to establish the spiritual reality of God and thus counüer

the scepticism of the atheists of the age. In this respect, hisphilosophical writings form a major contricution to the

abundant apologetic literature of the sixteenth and seventeenthcenturies which, ever since the injuncticn of the fifth LateranCouncil (L5L2-17) under Pope Leo X to attempt demonstrationsof the existence of God and of the immortality of the soul,

sought to counter the rise of atheism amongst those imbuedwith Epicurean learning and the new science. The first of thepoems of the Platonich Song of the Soul (ot Psychodia Platonica,as I shall call it, for convenience, after the title of the firstedition), 'Psychozoia,' moves from a macrocosmic to a

microcosmic representation of the soul, the flrrst part detailingthe metaphysical movements of Psyche, the World Soul, andthe second describing the spiritual progress of an individualhuman soul, Mnemon. The allegorical form of 'Psychozoia' was

derived from Spenser's Faerie Queene (1590-1609), but More'shero, Mnemon, is of a loftier spirituality than even the Red

Cross Kight and attains a state of mystical union with God,

Theoprepy, whereas the Red Cross Kight is allowed only aglirnpse of the City of God in The Faerie Queen, X, 55-67. Thisdifference is due mainly to the Neoplatonist cast of More'smind, which, in fact, tired so easily of earthly adventures that,after 'Psychozoia,' he abandoned the Spenserian allegoricalmethod, and expounded philosophical concepts in discursiveverse in the next four poems of his Psycäodia Platonica.

c. A. staudenbaur has shown that the structure of More'sPsychodia Platonica is to a large extent derived from Ficino'sTieologia Platonica d.e immortalitate animoru*.35 While thismay be true of parts of Psycathanasia,the contents of More's

35 See C. A. Staudenbaur, "Galileo,Psychathanasia," JHI, 29 ( 1968), 567-578.

xl

Ficino, and Henry More's

IN'l'RODU(i'l'lON

Nor did he first a certain number make,lnfusing part in beasts, and part in men,

And, as unwilling farther paines to take,Would made no more then those he formed then:

So that the widow Soule, hrer body dying,Unto the next borne body married wasAnd so by often chaunging and supplying,Mens soules to beasts, and beasts to men did passe:

(ll.601-8)

Davies' explanation of the reason why the soul is infused intothe body by God shows him to be one of the typicalanthropocentric Renaissance Platonists such as Ficino andMirandola:

This substance, and this spirit, of Gods owne makingIs in the bodie plac't, and planted here,"That both of God, and of the world partaking,"Of all that is, man might the image beare.

God first made Angels bodilesse, pure, minds;Then other things, which mindlesse bodies bee;

Last he made Man, th' Horizon twixt both kinds,In Whom we do the worlds abridgement see.

(t.877-84)

The particular manner in which the union of soul and bodyis effected is illustrated through the characteristic Neoplatonistmetaphor of light

But as the faire, and cheerefill morning light,Doth here, and there, her silver beames impart,And in an instant doth her self uniteTo the transparent Aire, in all and part:

So doth the piercing Soule the bodie fill:.Being all in all, and all in part diffus'd,Indivisible, incorruptible still,Not forc't encountred, troubled or confus'd.

(ll. 909-12,9t7-2O)

x iiixlt tN'l'Rot)Ll01'loN

poems are not exactly the same as Ficino's, More havingformulated his notion of Psyche and the individual spirit fromthe more ancient sources of the Chaldean oracles, Hermes Tris-megestus, Plotinus and bhe Alexandrian Neoplatonists, as wellas from later Platonists like Psellus and Ficino.rb Anotherpoetic precedent closer to home that has been little noted bycritics is Sir John Davies' Nosce Teipsum (1599, 4th ed. L622),whose second elegy treats 'Of the souls of man, and theimmortalitie thereof."' Davies, like More, insists that "[TheSoulel is a substance, and a reall thing," (273) which is distinctfrom the body which "yet she suruiues , although the Bodie dies"Q7D.38 He proves the separate reality of the soul bytheoretical arguments such as the independence of the soul inits peculiar acts of ratiocination and judgement. Unlike More,however, Davies believes that the soul is created individually inevery man (the 'Creationist' hypothesis). He even specificallydenies the theory that More was to maintain about the origin ofsouls.39

Then neither from eternitie before,Nor from the time when Times first point begunMade he all Soules, which now he keeps in storeSome in the Moone, and others in the Sunne

(n. 5e3-6)

since it comes dangerously close to the theory ofmetempsychosis:

36 cf. A. Jacob, "Henry More's Psychodia Platonica and its relationship toMarsilio Ficino's Theologia Platonica," JHI,46, No. 4 (1985), pp. 503-22.

37 It is not my intention in this section to suggest possible influences on

More's work so much as to give the reader an overview of the major l7thcentury treatises on the immortality of the soul before More's own contri-bution to the subject. For a survey of the controversy about the immor-tality of the soul from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, see G. T.

Buckley, Atheism in the English Renaissance, Chicago: {Jniv. of ChicagoPress, 1932, Ch. II.38 All quotations from Davies are from The Poems of Sir John Dauies, ed.R.

Krueger, Oxford: O.U.P., 1975.

39 cf. 'The Praeexistency of the Soul,'95.

xlv INTRODUCTION

The diversity of the soul's phenomenal effects, too, is explainedwith the Neoplatonist analogy of the sun:.

And as the Sunne aboue the light doth bringThough we behold it in the Aire below,So from th' eternall light the Sou/e doth spring,Though in the bodie she her powers do show

But as this worlds Sunne doth effects begetDiverse, in divers places every day,Here Autumnes temperature, there Summers heate,Here flowrie Spring-tide and there Winter gtay.

(ll. e21-28)

Davies divides the powers of the soul within the body intothree main sorts, the vegeüative or quickening powers, thepowers of sense, and the intellective powers. The firstcorresponds to More's 'plastic' faculty, the second includes thefive senses and imagination, or the common sense, as well asphantasy, sensative memory ,the emotions, and motions, vitaland local. The intellectual powers are wit (reäson andunderstanding, opinion and judgement) and will.

The arguments that Davies offers for the soul'simmortaliüy are entirely theoretical, such as its desire forknowledge, its motions "of both will and wit," which lead it tothe eternal God, its contempt of bodily death, and the universalthought of immortality amongst men even those who doubt it:

And thougä some impious wits do questions move

And doubt if Soules immortal be or no

That doubt then immortalitie doth proveBecause they seeme immortall things to know.

(ll. r52t-4)

Davies clinches his arguments for the soul's immortality bydeclaring Lhat the soul is incorruptible and indestructible, sinceno material or temporal agents might affect her spiritualnature, and her divine cause, God, will never cease to exist.

Like most other works of this kind, the last part of NosceTeipsu,m answers objections to the immortality of the soul. The;.r1lparent, cvidcnco of' the soul's degeneration in senility and

TNTRODUCTION

insanity Davies counters by attributing this change to the

clouding of the brain by humours of "Phrensie" which "so

disturbäs, and blots the formes of things"(l- 1650). But the soul

itself is left intact, and once the humours are purged, "Thenshall the wit, which never had disease, Discourse, and Judge,

discreetly as it ought" (11.1659-60). In answering the next

objection, that the soul is impotent after death since it has no

,rrär" organs to operate with, Davies reiterates the soul's

independänce of the body in its higher activities of judgement

and choice. The soul's efficiency is, in fact, heightened after itsrelease from the body, and Davies describes the perfect

knowledge of the disembodied soul in a mannel q"tef,imilar to

More's "t

tt "

end of 'The Praeexistency of the Soul':*'

So when the Soule is borne (for death is nought

But the Soules birth, and so we should it call)

Ten thousand things she sees beyond her thought,

And in an unknowne manner knowes them all'

Then doth she see by Spectacles no more'

She heares not by report ofdouble spies

Her selfe in instants doth all things explore,

For each thing present, and before her lyes'(ll. 1773-80)

The next objection, tog,. is one discussed by More in his

Immortatity if the Soul,4l namely, the fact that souls do not

return to bring us news of the other world. To this Davies

replies;

The Soule hath here on earth no more to do,

40 cf. 'The Praeexistency of the Soul,' 102:

... But when she's gone from hence,

Like naked lamp she is one shining sphear'

And round about has perfect cognoscence

Whatever in her Horizon doth appear:She is one Orb of sense all eye all airy ear'

4l cf . The Immortatiü of the Soul, Bk. III, Ch' 15'

IN'I'ROI)UC'TION

From this same universall DiapaseEach harmony is fram'd and sweet concent.42

(II,15)

This orb is the vital equivalent of the radiant sun, andindividual souls are its rays:

x vltxvr lN'l'llODUC'tlON

Then we have businesse in our mothers wombe;What child doth covet to returne thereto?Although all children first from thence do come.

(u. 178e-e2)

To the last objection, that the rewards and punishments ofheaven and hell are merely fictitious, Davies simply repliesthat it is a common notion amongst all mankind and

... how can that be false which every tongOf every mortall man affirms for true;Which truth hath in all ages been so strong,As lodestone-line, all harts it ever drew.

(il. 1825-28)

Davies concludes his poem with a reminder of the soul's threeessential powers and, since the first, the vegetative, isexercised in the womb, the second, the sensitive, in the world,and the third, the rational, if properly directed, in the companyof God, it is imperative that human beings concentrate theirattention on overcoming the hindrances of the flesh and strivetn realize the divinity of the rational soul.

Most of the basic issues of Davies' poem reappear, withgreater elaboration, in More's song of the soul. More's firstpoem, 'Psychozoia'begins on a more cosmic level than Davies',with an account (Bk I, and Bk II, Stanzas L-23) of the variousphases of the world-soul, Psyche, the third of the Plotinianhypostases. Psyche is the daughter of Ahad or the One, andshe is symbolically married to Aeon, the intelligible universe offorms, also begotten of Ahad. At her marriage she is vestedwith several veils that represent the multiplicity of thephenomenal world. These include Semele (intellectualimagination), Arachnea(the web of sense-perception) with herchief, Haphe, (touch), Physis (vegetative nature) Proteus andIdothea (the changeability of forms), Tasis (extension) and,finally, Hyle (matter). This is the basis of all differentiation:

IIpon t,his universall Ogdoasls Iilun«lerl cvery pirrticulitrment:

Now deem this universall Round alone,And rayes no rayes but a first all-spred light,And centrick all like one pellucid Sun;A Sun that's free, not bound by Natures might,That where he lists exerts his rayes outright,Both when he lists, and what, and eke how long,And then retracts so as he thinketh meet,These rayes he that particular creature-throng;Their number none can tell, but that all-making tongue.

( 16)

The process by which Psyche is differentiated into individualcreatures is described in Canto I, 4t-47. Her garment ofNature is "all besprinkled with centrall spots'r which are, as itwere, impregnated with aetherial darts, and

... when the hot bright dart doth pierce these Knots,Each one dispreads it self according to their lots.When they dispread themselves, then gins to swellDame Psyches outward vest, as th'inward windSoftly gives forth, full softly doth it wellForth from the centrall spot; yet as confin'dTo eertain shape, according to the mindOf the first centre, not perfect cir'clar-wiseIt shoots it self ...

(42-43)

This process is governed by the laws of "true Symmetry,"except that the realization of the seminal forms contained in

42 All citations from the Psychodia Platonica are from The Complete Poems

of Dr. Henry More, ed. A. B. Grosart, Edinburgh, 1878, rpt. N.Y.: AMS

Press, 1967.

xvlil I N',l'ttoI)[Jo'l'loN

Psyche is hindered by "that old H.g that hight/ Foul Hylemistresse of the miry strond" (44) who "From her foul eben-box, all tinctures stainesl' (45). It is interesting also to observein More's description of Psyche's extension a prefiguration ofMore's peculiar notion of spirit developed in The Immortality ofthe Soul, Bk I, Chs. 2-7.

The rest of 'Psychozoia,' after Bk II, Stanza 28, is devotedto a narration of the life of individual souls and particularly ofone, Mnemon, who is aided in his spiritual ascent by Simon,the Christian. More, however, resumes his discussion of thesoul per se without its allegorical framework in his next poem,'Psychathanasia.' He begins with a description of "the state ofth' everrnoving souU Whirling about upon her circling wheel;"(I, ii, 8).The soul's manifestation in the phenomenal realm asbeast and plant is obviously flawed by their lack of higherintelligence, which is peculiar to man alone. Man is, besides,endued with the radiant force of "True Justice" (I, ii, 19),thesupra-rational power which More otherwise called "divinesagacity" and John .smith, his fellow cambridge platonist,"divine irradiations."*'rt is this "Deiform inteilective in manthat gives him a sense of eternity (I, li, 47).

In Canto iii More employs ühe symbolic device of a nymphappearing to him in a vision to explain to him the immortalnature of the "orb Unitive" from which emanate all otherforms, intellectual, psychical, imaginative, sensitive,spermatical and quantitative. The limit of these emanations ismarked by Hyle, which in canto iv is described as merepotentiality. The union of weak souls to particular bodies isexplained by the activity of the "Plastick might," which he waslater to call the 'spirit of Nature':44

This is that strange form'd statue magicallThat hovering souls unto it can allureWhen it's right frtted; down those spirits fallLike Eagle to her pr€y, and so endureWhile that low life is in good temperature.

(,1, i, 10)

43 cf. below p.xxxiv.44 See The Immortality of the Sorul, Bk. III, Chs. LZ-LJ.

lNTRoDtjo'l'loN

'l'he stronger souls, however, resist this decline:

Others disdain this so near unity,So farre they be from thinking they be bornOf such low parentage, so base degree,And fleshes foul attraction they do scorn.They be th' outgoings of the Eastern morn,Alli'd unto th'eternall Deity,

(II, i, 12)

More then emphasizes the distinctness of the soul from itsbody by insisting on the non-corporeality of spiritual substanceand fhe difference between material and spiritual extention:

Thus maugre all th' obmurmurings of senseWe have found an essence incorporeall,A shifting centre with circumferenceBut she not only sits in midst of all,But is also in a manner centrallIn her outflowing lines. For the extensionOf th' outshot rayes circumferentiallBe not gone from her by distrought distension,Her point is at each point of all that spread dimension

(II, ii, 10)

The difficulty of a geometrical demonstration of this abstrusePlotinian idea is alleviated somewhat by the familiarNeoplatonic metaphor of light that precedes it:

The term of latitude is breadthless line;A point the line doth manfully retrudeFrom infrnite processe; site doth confineThis point: take site away it's straight a spark divine

Ifyet you understand not, let the soulWhich you suppose extended with this masseBe all contract and close together rollInto the centre of the hearts compasse:As the sunsbeams that by a concave glasse

xlx

IN',l'lt()l)tJo'l'loN

lie strangel.y strengthned with their strait constraintInto one point, that thence they stoutly passe,

First all before, then withouten restraint,The high arch'd roof of heaven with smouldry smoke they taint.

But now that grosnesse, which we call the heartQuite take away, and leave that spark aloneWithout that sensible corporeall partOf humane body: so when that is gone

One nimble point of life that's all at one

In its own self, doth wonderfully move,

Indispers'd, quick, close with self-union,Hot, sparkling, active, mounting high above

In bignesse nought, in virtue like to thundring Jove.(il, ii, 6-9)

More further distinguishes spirit from body by their differentmodes of perception:.

For see how little share hath guantiteIn act of seeing, when we comprehendThe heavens vast compasse in our straitned eye

r,, r,i,, i:.* l:",iTiffi 1i,"ää "o

On quantity, how shall the common sense

That is farre more spirituall, depend from thence?(Il, ri,27),

and by ühe spirit's unique quality of 'self-reduplication' whichallows it to totally infuse ühe body:

... Therefore one spirit goes

Through all this bulk, not by extensionBut by a totall Setf-reduplication.

(II, ii, 33)

This feature of the soul also proves its absolute indivisibility.The next canto adduces further evidences of the soul's

independence of the body in its intuition of God (10), its naturaldesire for truth (17), its powers of intellectual abstraction (18),its innate mathematical idea of unity, which cannot be an

lN'l'ltol)t I( )'l'l( )N

cxl,cnded entity, its powers of synthesis of contraries, and fhernarvcllous range of its intellection from introspection to "Th'allt:«rmprehension of eternity" (23-28).

Book III begins with a review of the soul's thrce"r)ssences," plantal, imaginative, and deiform. The secondcanto is more interesting in its discussion of the state of thesoul before its entry into the body (1-8). The three theories heconsiders are 1. souls in a state of wakefulness drawn down by"a magick might" i.e. the plastic nature, or else dragged un-consciously in bheir sleep by fancy; 2. souls in a"tri-centrall"f«rrm, the highest centre being that of intellect, the next adormant one, and the last that which tends earthwards, and li.souls with one center but quite asleep until their lower facultydrives them to this earth. Though he is not able to decide onany one of these possibilities as representing the exact natureof the soul's pre-existence, he has no doubts of its ability tooutlive the body. The soul's aspiration to God reveals that "herspring is God: thence doth she 'pend,/ Thence did she flow,thither again she's fled" (tZ). Like Davies, More points to theindivisibility and independence of the soul in its higher activitiesof intellect and will (23-aD. Also, like Davies, More believesthat "our Souls be counite/ With the worlds spright and body"(44),which is the Anirna Mundi.

Although fancy perception and memory are reallyindependent of the external world and are, rather, innate ideasthat "Of old Gods hand did all forms write/ In humane Souls,which waken at the knock/ Of Mundane shapes" (45), the factthat the soul is partly allied to the "mundane spright" rendersit liable to decay in old age and distemper. Fortunately, thesoul is not totally identical with the world-soul, since the soulhas a direct connection with "the euer-liue-Idees, the lampingfll.e/ Of lasting Intellect" (501. Thus the human soul has thepower of "anirnaduersion" which the worldsoul is deprived oft"She knows that spright, that spright our soul can never know"(55). Especially in sleep or ecstasy, the soul is joined with hereternal ideas and the "spright of God." This state ofillumination is contrasted to the deceptive knowledge providedby the senses.

The last two cantos of 'Psychathanasia' discuss the fallacyof the Ptolemaic theory of the universe as a particular proof ofthe fallibility of sense impressions. In doing so, More recoversthe Neoplatonic notion of the sun as the cosmic image of God in

xxl

xxll IN'I'RODUCTI()N I N'I'RODTJC'TION xxilt

its brilliance, centrality and stability. This leads to a hymn toGod and His providential workings in the universe. Moreconsiders, in this connection, the questions raised by scepticsregarding, among other things, the duration of the world. Heresolutely decla.res that world was not existent ab aeterno sincethat makes impossible any calculations whatsoever of time:

For things that we conceive are inflrniteOne th'other no'te surpasse in quantitySo I have prov'd with clear convincing light,This world could never from infinityBeen made. Certain defrciencyDoth always follow evolution;Nought' s infinite but tight eternity,Close thrust into itself; extensionThat's infinite implies a contradiction.

(35)

He is willing to grant only that the world might have come intobeing simultaneously with Nature and his a "[ong future" leftto exist before its flrnal dissolution in "this worlds shiningconflagration."(37)

This view of the finitude of the world More reversedentirely in 'Democritus Platonissans,' which he first publishedin t646. Hoping to furnish "mens minds with uariety ofapprehensions concerning the most weighty points of Philosophiethat they may not seerl rashly to haue settled in the truth, thoughit be the truth," he resorts now to of all people thematerialistic philosophers, Epicurus, Democritus, andLucretius, in order that he may "if justice may reach the dead,do thern the right as to shew that though they be hooted at, by therout of the learned, as men of monstrous conceits, they were eitheruery wise or exceeding foftunate to light on so probable andspecious an opinion, in which notwithstanding there is so tnuchdfficulty and inconsistencie" ('To the Reader'). He even forcesDescartes' view of a mundus indefinitö extenrur4S impty nothingelse but extensus infinitö.

The real reason for More's new berief in an inf-rnity ofworlds is his belief that God's plenitude must express itselfinfinitely. Matter is described here as the final degeneration ofspirit "flxt, grosse by conspissation" (stanza 1g). Theemanative virtue of spirit causes an instantaneous outflow of a"precious sweet Ethereall dew"(50) which "streight" is turnedinto an infinite matter and "matter infinite needs infiniteworlds must grve"(50). Thus there is infinite matter frometernity and,

... in each atom of the matter wideThe total Deity doth entirely won,His infrnite presence doth therein reside,And in this presence infinite powers do ever abide

(6e)

This matter, it must be noted, is not Hyle, which in'Psychathanasia,' I, i, iv , Z, he had defined as "plainpotentialitie." The underlying matter of the sensible world isdue especially to Tasis (or, extension) which is the "reall cuspisof the cone even infinitely multiplied and reiterated" (Note to'Psychozoia,'II, 9). Since it is an "actuall centrality, though aslow as next to nothing," it.,is given a place above Hyle -- *ti.nis nothing -- in his series of emanations in 'psychozoia, II, 13.But his note ends with the piquant remark, "But whatinconvenience is in Tasis, or the corporeall sensible nature, tospring from Hyle, or the scant capacity,or incompossibility ofthe creature" -- showing that the last two elements are inextri-cably bound to each other. The actual process of conversion ofdivine spirit into matter is explained in the very first stanzaswhere More describes the life that flows out of God as a lightwhich in its last proection is "liquid fire" (or "aether,', calledalso, by More,"Tasis"). out of this is formed "each shiningglobe and clumperd mire/of dimmer orbs," which constitute the

... knots of the universall stoleOf sacred Psyche; which at frrst was Frne,Pure, thin, and pervious till hid powers did pullTogether in severall points and did enclineThe nearer parts in one clod to combine.'fhose centrall spirits that the parts did draw'l'he measure of each globe did then define45 cf. Descartes, Principia,Il, 21.

xxlv lN'lR()DUO'HON

Made things impenetrable here below,

Gave colour, figure, motion, and each usuall [aw.(12)

The extension of matter in the universe is, however, notindivisibly total, as the spiritual extension of the higher formsis:

But totall presence without all defect'Longs only to that TrinitY bY right,Ahad, Aeon, Psyche with all graces deckt,\[hose nature well this riddle will detect;A circle whose circumference no whereIs circumscrib'd, whose Centre's each where set,

But the low Cusp's a figure circular,Whose compasse is bound, but centre's every where.

(8)

Material extension, on the other hand, is

Onely a,Creaturall Projection,Which flowing yet from God hath ever been,

Fill'd the vast empty space with its large streem.

But yet it is not totall every whereAs was even now by reason rightly seen;

Wherefore not God, whose nature doth appearEntirely omnipresent, weigh'd with judgement clear

(67)

The symbol of a cone constituted of a primary circle at itsbase with uncircumscribed circumference and a material cusp,

also circular, but with limited compass -- both having spiritualcentres that are ubiquitous -- is a bewildering one. But it is theclosest More can get to a geometric representation of theemanation of a primal matter from God that is as manifest as

God's infinibe power and yet restricted in its pervasiveness onaccount of its material nature. At any ratß, this is the materialfrom which the various planets and stars are molded, and theseinfinite worlds will last as endlessly as God's eternal powerwill. This cornmitment to the endless duration of the universealso compels More to renounce his earlier view of the end of theworld. Instead, he embraces now Origen's heretical theory of

INTRODUCTTON

cycles of generation and destruction:46

Ne ought we doubt how Nature may recoverIn her own ashes long time buried.For naught can e'er consume that centrall powerOf hid spermatick life, which lies not deadIn that rude heap, but safely covered,;And doth by secret force suck from aboveSweet heavenly juice, and therewith nourishedTill her just bulk, she doth her life emprove;Made mother of much children that about her move.

( 101)

In the next poem, 'Antipsychopannychia,' More reaffirmsthe immortality of the soul, by stressing the persistence ofconsciousness in the after-life. The intellect and will are notdeprived of their power when the body perishes since they,unlike the senses and fancy, work independently of matter. Hereinforces this fact by reminding us, through his cone image, ofthe contrary infinites of spirit and matter:

Lo! Here's the figure of that mighty ConeFrom the strait Cuspsis to the wide-spread BaseWhich is even all in comprehensionWhat's infrnitely nothing here hath place;What's infrnitely all things steddy stayesAt the wide basis of this Cone inverseYet its own essence doth it swiftly chace,Oretakes at once; so swiftly doth it pierceThat motion here's no motion.

(II, g)

This image of the transformation of divine spirit into matter isused by More to highlight the solar brilliance of the base andthe nocturnal darkness of the material cusp:

Suppose the Sunne so much to mend his pace,That in a moment he did round the skie

46 See Origen, De Principiis, Bk. I, Ch. 6.

xxvi lNl'RoDUCT loN

The nimble Night how swiftly would he chaceAbout the earth? so swift that scarce thine eye

Could ought but light discern. But let him be

So fast, that swiftnesse hath grown infiniteln a pure point of time so must he flieAround this ball, and the vast shade of NightQuite swallow up, ever steddy stand in open sight

(II, 10)

This analory is designed to remind us of the neei to remainsteadfast within our divine selves and avoid diffusion in thesense world:

Wherefore the soul cut off from lowly sense

By harmlesse fate, farre greater libertyMust gain.

(II,14)

The state of the soul after its liberation from the body isconditioned by the ideas it expresses in this life:

The manner of her life on earth may causeDiversity of those eruptions.For will, desire, or custome so disposeThe soul to such like flrgurations:

(II,25)

These ideas are formal extensions of the soul from its "centrallself-vitality" which render her 'omniform' and allow her toeither expand to the Divine form in herself or constrict herselfinto the Infernal Night which is next to the nothingness ofmatter. If we guard against immersion in earthly life whichawakens "th' Ideel of innate darkness'r (III, 46) in the soul, thesoul will follow its natural inclination to the idea of God(whichis "perfect Unity/ And therefore must all things more stronglybind" (III, 18). When it actually is united with God, thefreedom it achieves is infinite:

... For there the faster she doth striveTo tie her selfe, the greater libertyAnd freer welcome, brighter purityShe finds, irnd more enlargement, joy and pleasure

IN'l'ROl)[ '(

)'l'l( )N

O'er flowing, yet without satietie;Sight without end, and love withouten measure

xxvu

(III, 19)

The 'Praeexistency of the Soul' relafes the adventures ofthe soul before its entry into this earthly life in order to confirmthe possibility of the soul's post-mortem existence without itsbodily adjuncts. The invocation to Plotinus at the beginning ofthe poem reveals More's firm commitment to Neoplatonistphilosophy, and the rest of the poem is ifg4med with notionsborrowed from other Neoplatonists such as Proclus and Psellus.The process by which the individual souls already differentiatedfrom Psyche enter the various bodies is explained with thetheory of the soul' s three vehicles celestial, aerial, andterrestrial which Proclus developed in his TheologiaPlatonica,l11,L25 ff. The souls that await generation have achoice of either the flery chariot which is "the Orb of pure quicklife and sense," (13) the light vehicle of air which is "moregrosse subject to grief and fear/ And most what soil'd withbodily delight", (15) ,or earthly vehicles which "be but the soulslive sepulchres/ Where least of all she acts." More believesthat air is the medium from which all earthly bodies arefabricated and to which they return (23-28):

Shew frtly how the preexistent soulInacts and enters bodies here below,And then entire, unhurt, can leave this moulAnd thence her airy vehicle can drawIn which by sense and motion they may knowBetter then we what things transacted be

Upon the Earth; and when they list, may showThemselves to friend or foe, their phantasieMoulding their airy Orb to grosse consistency

(2+7

This magical quality of the soul's aerial vehicle is substantiatedby More with the stock Renaissance examples of signaturescaused by the imagination as well as the strange physicaltransformations effected by vehement dreams

xxvtu IN'I'RODI.JC'f ION

(2g-3q.47Turning to Psellus for inspiration, next, More beginsa detailed description of the six types of spirits and theirvarious activities (35- 83) which he was to repeat with many oflthe same examples in his prose treatises, An Antidote agctinstAtheisme(1653) and The Immortolity of the Soul (1659). Therational religious purpose of More's interest in spiritualism isevident in his Preface to the collected edition of PhilosophicalPoems of L647 where he declares:.

I have also added another [Canto] of thePraeexistency of the Soul, where I have set out thenature of Spirits, and given an account ofApparitions and Witch-craft, very answerable Iconceive to experience and story, united to that taskby the frequent discoveries of this very Age. Whichif they \ilere publickly recorded, and that coursecontinued in every Parish, it would prove one of thebest Antidotes against that earthly and cold diseaseof Sadducisme and Atheisme, which may easily growupon us if not prevented, to the hazard of allReligion, and the best kinds of Philosophy.4s

Interestingly, against those who are satisfied with nothing lessthan "a Demonstration," More defends himself by citing thefailure of other philosophers in this regard: "For [their]satisfaction, Mounsieur des Chartes hath attempted bravely, butyet methinks on this side of mathematicall evidence. He andthat learned Knight our own Countryman[i.e. Sir KenelmDigbyl had done a great deal more if they had promised lesse.So high confidence might become the heat and scheme ofPoetry much better then sober Philosophy"49

All the stories "of Ghosts, of Goblins, and drad sorcery"that he quotes are provided, he says, "to prove that soulsdismist/ From these grosse bodies may be cloth'd in air,/ Scapefree (although they did not praeexist)/ And in these airy orbs

47 cf. The lrnmortality of the Soul Bk. III Ch. 6-7, as well as my

Commentary Notes to these sections.48 Grosart, op. ctt., p. 6.

49 I btd .1t.'l .

L lN'l'R( )l)lJ( )'l'l( )N xxix

feel,see,and hear"(84). Although he is still as diffident of thctheory of pre-existence as he was in 'Psychathanasia'(II[, ii,1-9), he offers it here as a strong rational possibility. Thealternative theories of the origin of souls, namely creationismand traducianism, he dismisses since the one imagines the soulto be of the same substance as the seed, and the other sulliesthe purity of God in abominable acts of lust. More posits hisown theory of emanation as the most sensible explanation ofthe movements of the soul:

By flowing forth from that eternall storeOf lives and souls ycleep'd the World of life.Which was, and shall endure for evermore.Hence done all bodies vitall fire deriveAnd matter never lost catch life and still revive

(e5)

Although he is not quite sure what impels souls to descend solow from their original habitation in "this immense orb of vastvitality" and vaguely attributes this fall to "choice or Nemesis,"he believes that

A praeexistency of souls entireAnd due Returns in courses circular,This course all difficulties with ease away would bear

(e8)

Our oblivion of our pre-natal exisüence is easily explained bythe fact that, even in this life, "fierce disease/ Can so empairthe strongest memory" (100). At any rate, we can be sure thatthe soul, liberated from the body, will retain memory of thislife, since, much like Davies' disembodied soul,

Lie naked lamp she is one shining sphear.And round about has perfect cognoscenceWhatere in her Horizon doth appear,;She is one Orb of sense, all eye, all airy ear.

( 102)

A point raised in passirrg towards the end of 'ThePraeexistency of the Soul' that "Each where this Orb of life'swith every soul;/ Which doth imply the souls ubiquity" (97)

IN1'RODUCTION

might k:ad us to wonder if More's philosophy is not very muchakin to an Averrostic one, which maintains that there is butone Soul in the universe "though many seem in show." More'ssuggestion that there might well be "a praeexistency of soulsentire" is an indication that he believed in a real multiplicity ofsouls that exist as such, even before their various incarnations.But since he has not been very forthright in his doctrine of pre-existency, he attempts to absolve himself of any suspicion ofAverroism in his last poem, 'Antimonopsychia.' The first proofof the marked differentiation of souls is the fact of individualratiocination, which cannot exist if there be but one soul. For,forms, which are the source of all knowledge, will then be

unique, and if one man at any mcment withdraws from theidea of, s&y, fire, that form will be lost to all men at thatmoment, and no one else can think of fire. Instead, Moreinsists that God creates a plurality of souls and that everycreated soul is "indew'ü with a self-centrall essence which from[God's]/ Doth issue forth, with proper raies embew'd"(20). Thisessence is "deiform" and informed with a naLural desire toreunite with its source:

And deep desire is the deepest actThe most profound and centrall energie,The very selfnesse of the soul, which backtWith piercing might, she breaks out, forth doth flieFrom dark contracting death, and doth descryHerself unto herself. . .

(36)

And this desire is indeed fulfilled once the soul is free of herdangerous attachment to the body:

So though the soul, the time she doth advertThe bodies passions takes her self to dieYet death now Iinish'd, she can well convertHerself to other thoughts. And if the eye

Of her adversion were fast fixt on high,ln midst of death 'twere no more fear or pain,'l'hen 'twas unto Elias to let flie[Iis useless mantle to the Hebrew swain.While he rode up to heaven in a bright fiery wain

(3e).

INTROD[JC'I'I0N xxxl

The Psychodia Platonica was the only major work thatMore wrote in verse. Henceforth he devoted his energies üo

stricter exposition of his philosophy in prose. One of thereasons for this change may have been his admiration for theconcision of Descartes' style. Also, the example of othercontemporary treatises on the soul such as Sir Kenelm Digby'smay have forced him to formulate his theories in the morephilosophical mode of prose. However, apart from the greaterprecision of prose expression and a reduction of speculationsregarding the cosmic career of Psyche, More's philosophyaltered little in its fundamentals. In fact, the considerableindependence of More's philosophical views is seen in hisgeneral indifference to the views of the soul held by otherphilosophers, both on the continent and in England, who hadtried to establish the imrnortality of the soul by other means.Descartes had avoided any detailed discussion of theimmortality of the soul in his Meditationes of L64L, even thoughhe claimed to have written this work in an effort to subscribe tothe recommendation of the Lateran Council ("Epistle to thedeans and doctors"). His reasons for not elaborating the topicare stated in the synopses of the meditations. He believes thathe will have already achieved a convenient proof of the soul'simmortality if he can show that the soul is a substance distinctfrcm the body, which he has indeed proved by the end of thesixth meditation. In this meditation he has also demonstratedbhat the soul is indivisible whereas the body is divisible. Hedeclares that these proofs of the special nature of the soul areall he is willing to undertake since it would require a totalexplanation of physics tn be more definite in his argument.This explanation would entail a demonstration of the manner inwhich substances created by God could be by their natureincorruptible, even if God could reduce them to nothingness.Hence it must be shown that matter is a primal substance thatnever perishes and, also, that the soul never changes like theextended body, even though it, too, is a substance. But theseare subjects not appropriate to geometrical demonstration.

xxxii I N'l'lt( ) I) [,o'l'loN

More, however, was little deterred by the reasoning ofDescartes with regard to the difficulty of establishing the soul'simmortality, and it may be argued that Democritus Platonissons(1646) was an answer to Descartes' reticence. Even thepublication of 'Psychathanasia' and the other poems together inL647 may have been inspired by a desire to prove superior tothe problem faced by the French philosopher. Though, Moremay have also had in mind the other work published in Franceon the soul, Sir Kenelm Digby's Two Treatises (L644), for itssecond treatise dealt with 'The nature of mans soule ... in wayof discovery, of the immortality of reasonable soules.' Digby'sadherence to the Aristotelian view of the soul as the form of thebody led to some contradictions such as the theory that thesoul, though a substance, is in no place or time once separatedfrom the body: "her activity requireth no application to placeor time; but she is, of her selfe, mistresse of both,comprehending all quantity whatsoever, in an indivisibleapprehension; and ranking all the partes of motion, in theircomplete order; and knowing at once, what is to happen inevery one of them" (Ch XI). This impersonal immortality of therational soul is, however, difficult to reconcile with Digby'sbelief in the persistence of individual memory in the after-life,since memory, according to Aristotle, depends on thephantasms produced by sense-perceptions. Digby is forced tobecome quasi-Platonist in this case and admit that the soul"worketh by much more, then what hath any actuallcorrespondence in the fansie and that all thinges are united toher by the force of Being: from which last, it followeth that allthinges she knoweth, are her selfe, and she,is, all that sheknoweth: wherefore, if she keepeth her selfe and her owneBeing, she must needs keepe the knowledge of all that sheknew in this world" (Cn X). However, the liberated soul inDigby's philosophy, trnlike the liberated soul of the Platonists,is absolutely unchanging in its post-mortem condition sinceimmortal reason can hardly alter. This means that "there canbe no change made in her, after the first instant of her partingfrom her body; but, what happinesse or misery betideth her inthat instant continueth with her or all eternity" (Ch XI). Sucha harsh doctrine of eternal torment could scarcely have beenagreeable to an Origenist like More.

I N'l'lt( )l )l t( l'l'l( )N x x xiii

More elaborate, though less original a discussion of t,he

soul's immortality was that of the Gassendist, WaltorCharleton, in his dialogue, The Immortality of the Humon Soul(1647). Charleton, through the person of Athanasius, refutesLucretius' division of the soul into Animus and Anima andmaintains that there is only one soul. Like More, Charleton isundeterred by the difficulty of producing geometricaldernonstrations of the soul's immortality, and, spurred by theLateran Council, he attempts to prove it analytically or opriori. The incorporeality of the soul he establishes in the usualway by emphasizing the soul's higher functions of volition andintellection as well as moral phenomena such as the universaldesire of immortality and the divine justice that must befulfilled in the after-life. He answers, too, the familiarobjections about the apparent decay of the soul in old age anddistemper. His explanation of the diffusion of the soulthroughout the body is more interesting. He seems to approachMore' s conception of spiritual extension when he declares thatthis diffusion is "not by extension of bulk, but by Reduplication(as the Schools speak) by position of the same Entity in each po.rtof the body" (Dialogue 2). The example he gives of suchdiffusion, however, is the scholastic favorite of "intentionalspecies or uisible Image Which alt men allow to be diffusedthrough the whole medium or space, as that it is at the sametime whole in every part of that space; because in what partsoever of the space the eye of the spectatour be posited, thewhole image is visible therein" (Ibid.) -- a theory which More,like Descartes, repudiated. The union of the incorporeal soul bo

the body is further illustrated by the analogy of Epicurus'doctrine of "an Eternal and Incorporeal fnanity, or spacediffused through the world, and commixed with all Bodies orConcretions, which are yet dissoluble" (Ibid.) and by the animamundi of Plato and Aristotle "that being diffused through allparts of the Universe, it associateth and mixeth itself with allthings" (Ibid.). Though Charleton resembles More in theseexplanations, he differs widely from him in identifying themedium through which this union is effected as the blood.Adducing the authority of Aristotle and Harvey, he maintainsthat the soul is first "enkindled" from the blood whichtransmits her "conserving and invigorating influence" into allparts of the body. The union which the blood effects betweensoul and body is not difficult to understand since the union of

xxx lv INl'lt()I)[JC',l'lON

corporeal and incorporeal substance does not need mutualcontact but merely "an Intimate Praesence, which is yet a kindof Contact" (Ibid.).

, The most Neoplatonist of all the treatises on the\immortality of the soul that preceded More's was that ofMore's fellow Cambridge divine, John Smith, in 'A discoursedemonstrating the immortality of the Soul'(edited by JohnWorthington in Select Discourses,1660).bu Smith begins bydeclaring that the immortality of the soul does not need anydemonstration but might be assumed "as a Principle orPostulatum" from the consensus gentium regarding it (Cn ».Though Smith presents several rational arguments since hemust please his skeptical opponents, he prefers to rely on thedivine nature of the soul, above al[, to prove its immortality.The state of illumination wherein the purified reason isirradiated by"the Light of divine goodness" Smith calls 'trueSanctity'(Ch 7).

Directed mainly against the Epicureans, Smith's shorttreatise relies heavily on Plotinus as well as Plato and the pre-Socratics. Smith's first argument for the soul' s immortality is,predictably, from its incorporeal nature and its control of sense,cognition, memory and foresight, which cannot be produced bya fortuitous concourse of atoms as the Epicureans believe.Similarly, spontaneous motion and the frequent conflictbetween reason and sensual appetites argue the separatenessof the soul from the body. Mathematical notions are notdependent on matter but contained within the soul whichexpresses them hy virtue of its peculiar extension and power ofself-penetration: "The Soul can easily pyle the vastest numberup together in her self; and be her own force sustain them all,and make them all couch together in the same space."Furthermore, this proves "how all that which we call Body

50 This discourse was probably written in 1658 or 1651 since it refers toDescartes as "a latc sagacious philosopher." Descartes had died in Feb.

1658 and, according to R. A. Greene ('Introduction' to Nathaniel Culver-well, An Elegant and Learned Discourse of the Light of Nature, Toronto:

Univ. of Toronto Press, 1971, p. xlix), Smith delivered the discourses col-

Iected by Worthington between 1651 and 1652, as sermons, while servingas dean and catechist of Queen's College.

I N',l'R( ) I)L,l( l',l'l( )N xxxv

rather issued forth by an infinite projection from some Mincl,then that it should exalt it self into the nature of any MentalBeing, and, as the Platonists and Pythogoredns have long sincc'well observed, how our bodies should rather be in our Soulsthen our Souls in them" (Ch 5). Similarly, the innate ideas ofmoral, physical, and metaphysical sorts such as justice,wisdom, eternity, truth, etc., reveal the distinct nature of thesoul.

In an appendix concerning Aristotle's notion ofimmortality, Smith points to the contradiction involved inAristotle's assertion that the soul is an intelligible entity andthat "in those beings which are purely abstracted from rnatter,that which understands is the s@rne with that which isunderstood" at the same time as he insists that "theUnderstanding beholds all things in the glass of Phansie; andthen questioning how our np6ta vorlpoto or First principles ofknowledge, should be Phantasmes, he grants that they are notindeed phantasmes, d^Ä' oür äveu gavtaoprä"cur.v. but yet they arenot without phantasrnes; which he thinks is enough to say, andso by his meer dictate, without any further discussion to solvethat knot" (Ch 8).

The union of the soul to the body must, according to Smith,be intimate, or else the soul would never attend the body.Quoting Proclus and Heraclitus, he declares it must be "somesubtile uinculum that knits and unites it to it in a more physicalwäy, which Proclus sometimes calls rveulrortKöv ö26r1prc riS vuXtsa spiritual kind of uehicle, whereby corporeal impressions aretransferr'd to the mind, and the dictates and secrets of that arecarried back again into the body to act and move it. Heraclituswittingly glancing at these mutual aspects and entercoursescalls them ripotBoq avaTrcrlaq ör röv ävavtltov the Responsals orAntiphons wherein each of them catcheth up the others partand keeps time with it; and so he tells us that there is ööoq övu-r

rai rär«rr, a way that leads upwards and downwards between theSoul and the body, whereby their affairs are made known toone another" (Cfr 9). He agrggs with "a late sagaciousPhilosopher," namely, Descartes,brwho had loca\ized the unionof soul an body in "that part of the brain from whence all those

51 cf. Descartes, Les Passions de L'Ame, Arts. 12, 13.

xxxvi IN',l'RO[)[JC'l'lON

nerves that conduct the animal spirits up and down the bodytake their first original" (Ibid.). Like most Neoplatonists,Smith believes, too, that not only do the animal spiritsmaintain "a conspiration and consent of all its [the body,s] ownparts, but also it bears a like relation üo other mundane bodieswith which it is conversant, as being a part of the wholeUniverse" (Ibid.).

we see in,smith's little discourse a clear foreshadowing ofMore's enormous treatise on the same subject. But More cameto his work with a much wider range of ideas about the soul,many of which he had already developed in his PsychodioPlatonica. Especially provoked by the threats to religion posedby the materialist philosophy of Hob-bes, whose major workshad already been published by lOSO,bz More sought to quash,once and for all, the materialists' denial of a spiritual substancedistinct from matter. In doing so, he considerabty sophisticatedthe notions of spirit and of the soul that he had been developingsince his Psychodia Platonica.

The context in which More first crystallised his originalnotions of spiritual extension and its peculiar virtue of"spissitude" was the correspondence with Descartes beginningin December 1648. Even in his first letter of 11 December, hepoints to impenetrability and penetrability as the distinguishingcharacteristics of matter and spirit, rather than extension, asDescartes had maintained:

the difference between the divine nature andcorporeal is clear, for the former can penetrate thelatter, but the latter cannot penetrate itself.53

He further clarifies the special(ämanative quality of spiritualextension in his next letter to Descartes of 5 March L649,where he declares that there is

52 These included Leuiatlwn(16s1), the ,Tripos'--Human Nature(16bg), DeCorpore ( 1658) and, Of Liberty and Necessity ( 1654) and Elements ofPhilosophy( 1656).

53 See Epistolae Quatuor ad Renatum Descartes in More, A Collection. Thetranslatrons are mine.

IN'I'RODUC'IION xxxvlt

\

r ätr infinite difference between the divine amplitudeand the corporeal ... in that the former arises fromthe repetition in every part of the total and integralessence, while the latter from the external andimmediate application of parts one against the other.

The same letter also points tentatively at the peculiar qualityof "spissitude" that More defrnitely attributes to spirit in TheImmortality of the Soul:

Finally, since the incorporeal substance possesses

such a wonderful virtue that by the mere applicationof itself without links, hooks, wedges or otherinstruments, it constricts, expands and dividesmatter, pushes it out, and at the same time draws itin, does it not seem probable that it can enter intoitself, since it is obstructed by no impenetrability,and expand itself again, and do other similer things?

A more confident explanation of "spissitude" appears in hisletter of 23 July L649 where he declares:

That something real can be confined (without anydiminution of itselfl within lesser or greater limits isconfirmed by motion, from your o\Mn Principles[II,36]. For, according to your sometimes a greater,

, sometimes a lesser subject. Indeed I conceive withthe same facility and clarity that there may be asubstance which without any diminution of itselfmight dilate or contract itself, whether this isoccasioned by itself or something else.

In his next major published work Antidote againstAtheisme(1653), however he offers only a partial definition ofspirit as -- as including the properties of "Self-penetration, Self-motion, Self-contraction and Dilation, and Indiuisibility", towhich he added the "power of Penetrating, Mouing, and Alteringthe Matter" (Bk f, Ch 4, Sec 3). He does not elaborate hisconception any further except for a general description of itsworkings in the body in Bk I, Ch II. However, in Chs. 3 and10 of An Appendix to the foregoing antidote (1655), he discussesthe mathematical validity of his definition of spirit in almost

xxxvt IN'l'lt()I)[JC',l'loN

nerves that conduct the animal spirits up and down the bodytake their first original" (Ibid.). Like most Neoplatonists,Smith believes, too, thaü not only do the animal spiritsmaintain "a conspiration and consent of all its [the body's] ownparts, but also it bears a like relation to other mundane bodieswith which it is conversant, as being a part of the wholeUniverse" (Ibid.).

We see in,Smith's little discourse a clear foreshadowing ofMore's enormous treatise on the same subject. But More cameto his work with a much wider range of ideas about the soul,many of which he had already developed in his PsychodiaPlatonica. Especially provoked by the threats to religion posedby the materialist philosophy of Hob,bes, whose major workshad already been pubtished by 1656,52 More sought to quash,once and for all, the materialists' denial of a spiritual substancedistinct from matter. In doing so, he considerably sophisticatedthe notions of spirit and of the soul that he had been developingsince his Psychodia Platonica.

The context in which More first crystallised his originalnotions of spiritual extension and its peculiar virtue of"spissitude" was the correspondence with Descartes beginningin December 1648. Even in his first letter of 11 December, hepoints to impenetrability and penetrability as the distinguishingcharacteristics of matter and spirit, rather than extension, asDescarfes had maintained:

the difference between the divine nature andcorporeal is clear, for the former can penetrate thelatter, but the latter cannot penetrate itself.53

He further clarifies the speciatGrnanative quality of spiritualextension in his next letfer to Descartes of 5 March 1649,where he declares that there is

52 These included Leuiathan(1651), the 'Tripos'--HumanCorpore (1658) and Of Liberty and Necessity (1654)

Philosophy( 1656).

53 See Epistolae Quatuor ad Renatum Descartes in More,

translatlons are mine.

Nature(1658), De

and Elements of

A Collection. The

IN',l'RO[)[J()',1'l( )N xxxvii

r än infinite difference between the divine amplitudeand the corporeal ... in that the former arises fromthe repetition in every part of the total and integralessence, while the latter from the external andimmediate application of parts one against the other.

The same letter also points tentatively at the peculiar qualityof "spissitude" that More definitely attributes to spirit in TheImmor-tality of the Soul:

Finally, since the incorporeal substance possesses

such a wonderful virtue that by the mere applicationof itself without links, hooks, wedges or otherinstruments, it constricts, expands and dividesmatter, pushes it out, and at the same time draws itin, does it not seem probable that it can enter intoitself, since it is obstructed by no impenetrability,and expand itself again, and do other similer things?

A more confident explanation of "spissitude" appears in hisletter of 23 July 1649 where he declares:

That something real can be confrned (without anydiminution of itselfl within lesser or greater limits isconfirmed by motion, from your own Principles

[II,36]. For, according to your sometimes a greater,, sometimes a lesser subject. Indeed I conceive with

the same facility and clarity that there may be asubstance which without any diminution of itselfmight dilate or contract itself, whether this isoccasioned by itself or something else.

In his next major published work Antidote againstAtheisme(1653), however he offers only a partial definition ofspirit as -- as including the properties of "Self-penetration, Self'motion, Self-contraction and Dilation, and Indiuisibility", towhich he added the "power of Penetrating, Mouing, and Alteringthe Matter" (Bk I, Ch 4, Sec 3). He does not elaborate hisconception any further except for a general description of itsworkings in the body in Bk I, Ch II. However, in Chs. 3 and10 of An Appendix to the foregoing antidote (1655), he discussesbhe mathematical validity of his definition of spirit in almost

xxxvltl IN'|RODUC't'ION

the same detait as in The Immortality of the Soul, Bk I, Ch 6:

\ If by Extension be meant Juxta'position of parts, otI placing of them one by another, as it is in Matter, I

utterly deny that a Spirif is at all in this sense

extended. But if you mean only a certain Amplitude

of presence, that it can be at every part of so much

Matter at once, I say itis extended,but that this kindof Extension does not imply any diuisibility in the

substance thus extended; fot Juxta-position of parts,

Impenetrability and Diuisibility goe together, and

therefore where the two former are wanting,Extension imPlyes not the Third.

But when I speak of Indiuisibility, thatlmagination create not new troubles to her self, Imean not such an Indiuisibility as is fancied in a

\ Mathematical point; but as we conceive in a Sphere

,, of light made from one lucid point or radiant Center-

For that Sphere or Orbe of light, though it be in some

sense extended, yet it is truly indiuisible, supposing

lhe Center such: For there is no means imaginable

to discerp or separate any one ray of this Orbe, and

keep it apart by it self disjoyned from the Center.(Ch

10, Sec 9)

Yet, despite these various prefigurations, none of More'swritings so far achieved the comprehensive scheme of The

Irnrnortality of the Soul. For, in it, he succeeded in developingnot only an axiomatic demonstration of his emanational theoryof spiritual substance but also an inclusive intellectual systemof the universe, far more original and complete than thatpresented by his Cambridge friend, Ralph Cudworth, in The

True Intellectual System of the (Jniuerse(1678). The lrnmortalityof the Soul was, in fact, the first major philosophical treatisethat.attempted an adaptation of the metaphysics of the ancientNeoplatonist philosophers to all the discoveries of modern

science, ranging from the physics and psychology of Descartesto the natural science of Henri de Roy, Sennert, and Harv€Y,and from the anatomical studies of spiegel, wharton, andBartholin to the alchemical theories of van Helmont the elder.

The comPosition and recePtion ofThe ImmortalitY of the Soul

The flrrst reference to the composition of The Immortality of

the soul in the letters of More to iady con*ay54 i. i., a letter

dated April 27, (No. 89, p. 149). Nicolson conjectures that this

letter may have been written in 1658, but is clearly misguided

in her calculation. For one thing, More's reference t'o a recent

illness in this letter is continrr"J it a letter dated by him -NIay

11, L657 (No. 82, p. 143). The letter of April says:- "1 t-*rr.t obliged fo, yo,rt kinde congratulating of my health' but Iprofess I have beln, since my läst, as sick as I was upon the

seas in our voyage to France' Which was by riding a j911ef

["vo"a -y orii"äry pace," and in the letter of May, 1657 he

reports, ,'I am f., ü"it"r in health then I was, God be thanked

but methinks it is exceeding hott weather here at cambridge,

far hotter then it was in Frange in June." The repeated

references to his trip to France5Sfind an echo in the 'Epistle

Dedicatory of The lÄmortality of the Soul which indicates that,,the flrrst occasion of busying my thoughts upon this -Subject"was ,,then when I had the honour and pleasure of reading Des'

Cartes his Passions with your Lordihip in the Garden of

l"-r"U"rg."BuB"sides,the letter of April 27 contains the first

mention äf tfr" commencement of this treatise: This present

world is so fult of vexations and disturbances,that I am up to

the hard eares in computing the certainty of that which is tocome, severely demonsirating to my selfe in dry prose that the

soul of man is immortale and that there are enjoyments

attainable after this earth."

I N'f RODtJo'l'IoN

54 Edited by Marjorie Hope Nicolson in Conway Letters, New Haven: Yale

Univ. Press, 1938.

55 More accompanied Lady conway to France in May, 1656, where she

expected to be 'trepanned' in order to be cured of her debilitating migraine'

There they were joined by Lord Conway in July, and, though the operation

wasnevercarriedout,theremainderoftheirsojourninPariswasapparently a reposeful one (cf' Nicolson, op' cit'' pp'1f 7-118)'

56 'The Epistle Dedicatory,' in A Collection of Seueral Philosophical Writings

of Dr. Henry More,Sig- Ff6 '

xxxix

INTRODUCl'ION

5g see his letter to Lady conway, Aprit 27 (cited above p.xxxix)' His

worries included not only his own illness but also the anxiety caused by

relatives (particularly his nephew, Gabriel): "[ am very full of perplexity

and vexation touching my young kindred, because Vertue, witt and Health

will not meet in any of them, so far as I see'"

60 This was An Explanation of the Grand Mystery of Godliness, published itr

t,he fbllowing Year.(il Wrrrd, op. ctt., P. l(iti.

xlixl TNTRODUCTION

In another letter dated February 8 which Nicolson rightlydates to 16585' (No. 84, p. 144) More reports on the progressof a "Discourse" he is working on "I have wrote so muchalready on the subject I am on, that if I had not been mistakenin my account, less then this had finish'd the whole Discourse,but I am just now come to the third book." Since More did notproduce any large-scale work containing three books betweenAn Antidote against Atheisme(1653) and The Immortality of theSoul (1659) the reference in this letter is surely to the presentwork. This confirms my judgement that the treatise was begunmuch earlier, in April 1657, since he has already written two-thirds of it by February 1658.

By March 1658, More had completed the work, and wasbusy transcribing,it, as he indicates in his letter of March (No.

85, p. L45): "I have finish'd my Discourse, but shall be muchtroubled in reading of it over and getting of it transcrib'd. Itwill be at least a 3d part of the pains I tooke in writing of it,"and April 5 (No. 86, p. 146): "The continuall Transcription ofmy Treatise is something tedious, and will not be finished tillMay." This book was not printed until March 1659 and it iswith great relief that More declares in his letter of March 28 tßLady Conway (No. 95, p. 155):

I have at length gott some copies to present yourLadiship, my old Lady Conway, and my Lord withall. I write not to him this time, because the bookincludes a letter to him. I have enclos'd one here tomy lady your mother. I have sent Madame Cliftor,S8also a book, that has nothing of mine written in themargin, though there be nothing in the pages butwhat is in some sort mine; if you will do me thefavour to present it to her with my service. I wrotenot to her because I thought the book would be as

57 The reference in this letter to 'Elphicke' whom More recommends as aservant to Lady Conway makes it certain that it was written in 1658 since

Lady Conway's letter of April 9, 1658 to her husband says "Elficke came to

me this afternoon, you cannot expect I shold give you any character of himas yet because I can huve no kttowlerlge: <ll'hitn itr so shorl:t time."l-rtt l,rr«ly l,'rrrncis (llift,on, sisl,cr «rl'l,ir«l.y ( )otrwrt.y.

much if not more then she will have the patience to

read, which is the reason that I send Mr. Whitby

also with out a letter, but I hope my Lord will

recommendbothCastellioandthatcopylsenttoMr.Whitbywithalineortwoofhis.Everythingtakesaway a mans moisture, and this is a very dry

starveling spring. I used as much as I could to gett

these copies bound, and not with the best speed' for

the binding of them this new mode the preface looks

somethingduskishlybythebreakingofthem,buttheTreatise it self is verY well'

In spite of the distressing personal ocircumstances which

attended the inception of thL workse and the strain of

composing and transcribing such a long and complicated work,

Morl's spiritual ardour was unflagging, and in the same letter

he announces, "I am now wholty taken up with my Treatise of

Christian Religion, and I can not-to1 .Tl.Jil?ott"dv anv thing

els, nor I think leave of till I have finish'd it'"'Ward,inhisbiography,revealsthatalthoughthe

composition of his works was extremely painful ("Being deeply

orr." engag,d, he said to a friend, that when he got his Hands

out of ttre nire, he would not very suddenly thrust them in

afresh"),6tMor"'wrote carefully and "had this Particular in his

wuy, that what he did, must go usually as he first wrote it;

and he could not well make Changes in it. His First Draught,

he would say, must stand. And he was so Warm (as it should

seem) and in the midst of his Business at the time of his

composures, and carried them all on with so Even a hand; that

if anything slipt amiss una\Mares from him, or was omitted by

him, fre cÄtd not afterwards correct it so easily, or supply it to

xliiixlii lN'l'Rol)tJC'l'loN

his Mind." He could it, (as he said) but it seldom seem'd sosavoury to him as the rest.' And indeed the very Course of hisMSS62-doth in a high Measure shew this; there being generallyin all of them, English or Latin, a very even Thread, and muchClearness of writing as well as Clearness of Expression,throughout."63 More said of his styte writing (in a conversationwith Ward) that "he affected nothing in writing but torepresent his full mind, and to be understood." But Ward'scomment on this remark is significant; "But certainly then hehad a very Happy way of doing this; and a sort of naturalRhetorick, Elegance and Propriety in his Constitution."64 For,More's prose is always vivid, and even the most abstractscientific or philosophical concepts are often reinforced bypicturesque images drawn from human life and society. In thediscussion of the seat of the soul in The Immortality of the Soul,for example, the absurdity of animal spirits possessing powersof cogitation is pointed to with a humorous illustration: "theyhaving no means of comnlunicating one with another, butjustling one against another which is as much to the purpose,as if men should knock heads to communicate to each otherconceits of Wit" (Bk II, Ch 6, sec 5), while More's finalcomment on the general inscrutability of the grand patterns ofProvidence in the universe is highlighted by the splendidmetaphor of a dance:

This is a small glance at the Mysteries ofProvidence, whose fetches are so large, and Circuitsso immense, that they may very well seem utterlyincomprehensible to the Incredulous and Idiots, whoare exceeding prone to think that all things will everbe as they are, and desire they should be so; thoughit be as rude and irrational, as if one that comes intoa Ball and is taken much with the first Dance he

sees, would have none danced but that, or have them

62 According to M.F. Howard, the editor of Ward's biography ol'More, "Theactual MSS of the Doctor, published or unpublished seem to have disap-peared." ( Ward, op. cit., p. ZaL).

63 Ward,op.cit. p. l7O.64 lbid., p. 171.

I N'l'R( )l )1,( )'l'l( )N

move no further one from another then they did when

he first came into the room; whereas they are totrace nearer one another, or further off, according to

the measures of the musick, and the law of the

Dancetheyarein.AndthewholeMatteroftheUniverse, and all the parts thereof, are ever upon

Motion, and in such a Dance, as whose traces

backwards and forwards take a vast compass, and

what seems to have made the longest stand, must

again move, according to the modulations and

accents of the musick, that is indeed out of the

hearing of the acutest ears, but yet perceptible by

thepurestMindsandthesurestWits(BkIII,Ch19'sec 7).

Apart from such frequent comparisons to familiar phenomena,

thl texture of More's work is enriched by numerous allusions to

classical mythology and history. Even the plan of the work isvery imaginati"eiy designed, beginning as it does with a bare

axiämati. dufrr,ition of spirit and matter, and leading, through

an intricate study of man's psychology and his relation to the

universe , b d flrnal Neoplatonic vision of the apotheosis of the

soul.

.b

The reception of The Imrnortality of the Soul was

generally enthusiastic. one of the first to read the work was

§amret Hartlib, the Comenian reformer and philanthropist,

and his letter of April 2o, 1659 to John worthington, a

colleague of More'. ul Cu.t bridge, declares his appreciation of

the treatise aS an "accurate comment made upon the

immortality of the Soul, the like I am verily persuaded hath

never been unfolden upon paper in any language whatsoever'"

He expresses, too, his eagerness to spread interest in it: "Ihave recommended that book to several people already, and

shall continue to do, whether any occasions be o-ffured or not "'I hope the Latin Translation rvill shortly follow with the other

Treatises of that divine soul."65 Already in his letter of May 5,

xliv I N',l'lt( )l) [,(]'l'l( )N

Hartlib reports so success in his eff<lrts: "By some lines hereadjoined from Paris, you will see how I have begun to spreadthe fame of the Treatise concerning the Immortality of theSoul, on which sgme friends of mine have begun to make theirobservations..."66 That the book was not easy ofunderstanding is clear from the fact that one of the friends towhom Hartlib had given a copy had begun to makeobservations upon the book, but was wary of addressing themto More before the appearance of More's next treatise ofChristian religion. "For," as Hartlib tells Worthington in hisletter of June 26, "it may be he thinks (and pärhaps notimpertinently) that both these Treatises being comparedtogether, will give a mutual light to-many passages which seemnow obscure and very paradoxal.r'b i

To others, the work seemed not sufficiently christian andeven atheistical. In Hartlib's letter to John Worthington, datedFeb 22, 1660, he quotes John Beale's apprehensions withregard to The Immortality of the Soul: "There [in an earlierletter to Hartlibl I shew,d, that Mr. More,s Immortality couldnot involve Atheism, as some over sharply object. In a formerwhich answered to yours of Jan L2, as respecüing to yourcorrespondent at Paris, I shew'd that on the other hand I wasfar flrom the opinion, that Mr. More's arguments were cleardemonstrations, and in that I shew'd, that all our discourses ofseparate substances, first matter, or afoms, or purest air orspirit, and most of all when they fall upon God's incompre-hensible attributes of immensity, eternity, etc., whether in thenotions of Sir Kenelm Digby, or of Cartesians, of Arminians orCalvinians, are in my account so far from demonstrations andphilosophical or theological aphorisms that r cannot acquit themfrom shallowness, presumption, and indeed prophanation."63This criticism of one of the early members of the Royal Societyhighlights the boldness of More's venture to give a rational andscientific account of spiritual truths when most people fought

65 The Diary and Correspondence of Dr. JohnCrossley, Manchester; Chetham Society, lg47, p.66 lbid.,p.L}r.67 lbid.,p.L36.68 lbid.,p.l85.

Worthington, ed. James120 ff.

INTRODUCTION

shy of such demonstrations for either theological or scientificreasons.

The general interest of the work, however, seems to havebeen little affected by the religious scruples of the orthodox,and Worthington's letter of May 8, 1661, indicaües the esteemin which More's philosophy was held amongst the learned: "He[More] is desired to reprint his former discourses viz. ofAtheism, of the Immortality of the Soul, and ConjecturaCabbalistica on Genepis Ch 1, 2, 3, and to put them all into onefolio; the booksellerGe is urgent with him about it and that thepoems may not be omitted."7O Hartlib's heartfelt approval ofthis idea is recorded in two of his letters to Worthington, ofMay 14 and May 28: "I am glad that Mr. More intends to puthis several Discourses into one Fol[io]. I wish other learnedmen would do the like Hartlib's enthusiasm for thepropagation of More's phiiosophy is, in fact, so great that, onhearing that Descartes' royal friend, the Princess Elizabeth ofBohemia,was likely to marry Lord Craven, he writes toWorthington, "I wish she were in England, that she mightmarry Dr. More's Cartesian Notions which would^ beget a nobleoff-spring of many excellent and fruitful truths. '' The effortsof Worthington and Hartlib to get More to republish his majorworks in a collected edition bore fruit in the Collection of SeueralPhilosophical Writings of 1662 which contained all the worksmentioned in Worthington's letter except the poems, whichMore considered in his maturity to be the extravagances of hisyouth and much inferior to his prose writings. Besides these, itincluded the Appendix to the Said Antidote, EnthusiasmusTriumphatus and his Eplstolae Quatuor ad Renatum Descartesas well as the Epistola ad V.C. The satisfaction that theproduction of the collected edi tion gave him is evident in hisletter of March 15, L662 to Lady Conway (Nicolson, p. 198,No. 123):

69 This was William Morden wholmmortality of the Soul.

70 Diary, pp.305f.

7l lbid., p.314 (letter of May 28).

72 lbid., p. 317.

xlv

had published the 1659 edition of The

xlvi I N'l'ROI)tJO'l'lON

I have been exceeding busy this great whyle, andnow I will tell your Ladiship what it is about. I hadgranted Morden the leave of printing my Antid,otewith the Appendix, ffiy Enthusiasmus Triumphatus,all my letters to Descartes with that to W.C., myTreatise of the Immortality of the Soule, and myConjectura Cabbalisticq in such a Folio as myMystery of God.lin

"",73 and therefore I took theopportunity to perfect the Treatises to greaterexactness in severall thinges then before, especiallymy Cabbala Philosophica, where I have added tenchapters for a further defense thereof. one mainething that I pleased my self in among the rest wasthat I had the opportunity, whenever I thought theremight be the least occasion of offence (which my eyesdiscovered to be but very seldome) to alter thinges soas would be -most passable and inoffensive. The[Impression?]'* is now almost finished, and I havealmost made an end of my Generall preface I intendto prefrx to the whole volume. This edition has costme a third part of the paines of writing the books,but I have completed all thinges so exquisitely to myminde that I would not for all the world but that Ihad had this opportunity of revising them, so fondam I of the fruits of my own minde, which yet I thinkI should not be, did I not hope they will be veryserviceable to the world in their chiefest concernes.

More' s translation of his major works into Latin betweenL67 5 and L679 was designed to gal|- a wider, continental,audience for his religious philosophy.Ts The circle of Leibnizwas certainly very interested in the work of the Cambridge

73 This appeared later in a collected edition of the theological works in1708.

74 Nicolson's conjecture.75 Apart from More's own translation of his works, The Immortality of the

I N'I'ROI)[.'( )',|'l( )N xlvii

Platonist, as is attested by the letters of Henri Justel to Leibnizdated oct. 4, 1677: "Je suis bien aise que le traitte de l'ame deHenricus Morus soit en latin," and July 24, lGTg: "Les oeuvresde Henricus Morus en latin sont imprimes. C'est un philosopheplatonicien qui a ecrit bien des choses contre les Athees etlibertins qui sont plus fortes que le livre de Mr. Huet."76 ButLeibniz himself, though generally in sympathy with the aims ofthe cambridge metaphysicians, did not find it easy to acceptMore's substantialization of the soul. In his letter of June 22,17L5, to R6mond, he remarks, "M. Morus etoit Platonicien etorigeniste; mais il avoit de plaisantes opinions sur la nature del'Ame, qu'on peut voir dans son livre de l'Immortalite de l,Ame,traduit de l'Anglois."77 However, despite Leibniz's superciliousresponse, interest in More's principal philosophical treatisecontinued through the latter part of the seventeenth centuryand into the eighteenth.T8 §amuel Johnson' s conversationwith in March,1722 gives us an idea of the impression that itmade on the staunch Anglican writer. When Boswell "venturedto lead him to the subject of our situation in a future state" andasked him if there were "arry harm in our forming to ourselvesconjectures as to the particulars of our happiness, though the

Soul was apparently translated into French by a certain M. Briot accordingto the note to the letter of Henri Justel to Leibniz, July 3g, 1677 (inLeibniz, 'Allgemeine Politischer und Historischer Briefwechsel,' Sömtlicheschriften und Briefe, Reihe I, Bd. 2, otto Reichl verlag, Darmstadt, rgz7, p.287n). Besides this, two references in More's letters to Lady conway,about a "translation of my Immortality of the Soul" (July ll, 1672) and "p.his epitome of my Immortality, etc." (Nov. 1, 16zB) have led Marjorie HopeNicolson to conjecture that "this seems to irnply that Von Rosenrothtranslated More's Immortality of the Soul into German" (Conway Letters, p.360n).

76 Leibniz, op. cit., pp.297, 504.77 Leibniz, Die Philosophischen schriften uon G.w. Leibniz, ed. c.J.Gerhardt, Berlin, 1887, vol. III, p. 6a6.78 ward (op.cit., p. 177) reports that "for twenty years together, after theReturn of King charles the second, t}:'e Mystery of Godliness, and Dr More ,s

other works, ruled all the Booksellers in London." In his unpublishedsecond part of the life of More,he gives a detailed account of More's works.The Immortality of the Sozl he describes as "a curious and a difficult work;

x Iviii I N'l'lt( ) I) [J( )'l'l( )N

Scripture has said but very little on the subject," Johnsonreplied, "Sir, there is no harm. What philosophy suggests to uson that topick is probable. What Scripture tells us is certain.Dr. Henry More has carried it as far as philosophy can."79

and yet perhaps, if prejudice could be entirely removed, as rational as

curious." ("Some account of Dr. More's Works," Christ's College MS, p.

133).

79 Boswell, Life of Johnson, London: O.U.P., 1953, p.471.

lN'l'RO[)[JO',l'l( )N

Analysis of The Immortolity of the Soul

The structure of the The Immqr-tality of the Soul isextremely complex. The first chapterS0 presents the moralpurpose of the treatise and the seven axioms of chapter 2

proclaim its rational methodology. The next three axioms ofthe second chapter and chapters 3-7 detail the distinctivecharacteristics of body and spirit focussing on the specialvirtues of spirit indiscerpibility, motion, penetration, andspissitude. Chapter 8 describes the four types of spirits -- God,

the sole uncreated spirit, and the four species of created spiritsangelic souls, human Souls, brute Souls, and the seminal

forms. In chapters 9-10, More pauses to consider theobjections of Hobbes to the existence of spirit and, havingdismissed them, he goes on to gtve, in chapters Ll-14, threeproofs for the existence of spiritual substance from theabsolute perfection of God, from the phenomenon of motion,and from the empirical evidence of apparitions.

The first three chapters of Book II continue the proofs ofthe existence of immaterial substance beginning with sixaxioms that rehearse the Hobbesian theory of perception as

arising from matter in motion in order to expose theinadequacies of mechanism in explaining such higher humanfunctions aS ratiocination, memory, imagination, Spontaneousmotion, and free will. Having established the need of anincorporeal soul to carry out these functions, More attempts inchapters A-lL, to locate the seat of common sense and theoperations of the soul. This accomplished, More commences theprincipal theme of the immortality of the separate soul. Adiscussion of the pre-existence of the soul in chapters 12-13leads to a description of the manner in which the souls enterdifferent bodies by virtue of their three vehicles. Chaptersl5-L7 further demonstrate the separability of the soul from

80 I have not included a separate analysis of the Preface, having

incorporated it in my detailed analysis of the text (see below pp.lvi,lxv).The purpose of the Preface is both polemical and elucidatory. It sets forth

a series of likely objections that might be raised by critical readers against

some of the main issues dealt with in the treatise, and counters them with

specific defences.

x Iix

I N',l'lt( )l) [ Jo'l'l( )N

thc body with arguments drawn, as in the concluding chaptersof Book [, from reason, history, and the virtues of God.

As in the case of Book [, More begins Book III with aprofession of his moral purpose in attempting to describe theafter-life of the soul and presents a series of related axioms --this time to demonstrate the power of vital congruity of thesoul. More particular description of the soul's dimensions andshape leads to a consideration of the aerial abode of souls, thesenses of aerial genii and their physical features (chapters 2-B).Not content with these speculations about the constitution ofthe daemons, More goes on to conjure up a vibrant vision of thespirit world, its pleasures, politics, and ethics, in chapters 9-11.In chapters 12-13, More elaborates his theory of the 'Spirit ofNature,' the peculiar spiritual substance which explains theformation of the diverse physical phenomena of the world aswell as their larger unity. And in the final section of the work(chapters L4-tg), More considers the various objections to thesoul's immortality and systematically refutes them all.

In order to facilitate the task of appreciating the ornatebaroque fabric of this work, I shall divide my analysis of it intothree parts dealing with 1. the physical elements of More'sphilosophy, 2. the physiological constitution of man, themicrocosm, and, 3. the metaphysical marvels of themacrocosm. These three sections largely correspond to therelation ship of More's system to those of Hobbes, Descartes,and the Neoplatonists, respectively.

IN'l'lt( )l) t ,( l'l'l( ) N

I. More and Hobbes

a. Doctrine of SubstancesFlora I. Mackinnon, in her edition of the Philosophical

writings of Henry More, suggests that "the difference in method

and =pi.ii between Hobbes and More is greaber than the

difference between their respective conceptions of the nature of

reality" and that "Hobbes' casual admission that 'we take

notice also Some way or other of our conceptioDs',8l which

would seem to provide a basis on which More could have met

Hobbes on his own ground and from which he might have

demonstrated the incompleteness of this conception of reality,

was aparently overlooked by More in his insistence on

,rgr-"ntation."82 Brrt this is to vastly underrate both the

raäical divergence of More' s conception of substance from

Hobbes' notion of bodies and the significance of his strong

criticism of what he perceived as Hobbes' reprehensible

omissions.More begins his critique of Hobbes' position in Bk. I, ch- I

by acknowleäging Hobbei' special philosophical merits: "And

tiuly I do not reÄember that I ever met with any one yet thatmai justly be suspected to be able to make good this Province

Ithat- there is .rothi.rg but body in the universel then our

bountreyman Mr. Hobbs, whose inexuperable confidence of the

truth of th" Conclusion may well assure any man that duely

considers the excellency of his natural Wit and Parts, that he

has made choice of the most Demonstrative Arguments thathumane Invention can search out for the eviction thereof "(sec. 2\. Before answering Hobbes' objections to spiritual

reality, More takes care to absolve himself from the charge of

misrepresenting Hobbes' view: "And that I may not incurre

the suspicion oi mistaking his Assertion, or of misrepresenting

the force of his Reasons, I shalt have punctually set them down

in the same words I find them in his own writings, that any

man may judge if I doe him any wrong" (sec 3). The fun-

damentai *"ufrr"ss of Hobbes' system was his identification of

gl The quotation from Hobbes is from HurnanNature, ch.3, Art.6.

82F.1.Mackinnon,PhilosophicalWritingsofHenryMore'N'Y':OxfordUniv. Press, 1925, P.289.

lii IN',l'll()I)[io'l'loN

substance and body. More immediately points out that "this isnot to prove, but to suppose what is to be proved, That theuniverse is nothing else but an Aggregate of Bodies"( Ch. 10,Sec. 1). In fact, Hobbes had taken into consideration allpossible constructions of the terms 'body' and 'spirit' in hisdiscussion of their special significance in the Scripture. Herealizes that body and spirit are the equivalent of corporeal andincorporeal substance in the language of the scholastics. Buthe deems this terminology contradictory since substance is thesame as body. He arrives at this conclusion through adefinition of substance as that which is " subject to variousaccidents, as sometimes to be moved; sometimes to stand still,and to seem to our senses sometimes hot, sometimes cold,sometimes of one colour, smell, taste, or sound, sometimes ofanother."83 Hobbes seems to associate the word 'substance'with subjectum whereas it is more obviously linked to substantiaas being the underlying essence of a thing (see

Aristotle,CategoriesV, 3). Thus, Hobbes' clever conclusion that"according to this acception of the word, substance and bodysignify the same thing therefore substance incorporeal arewords, which when they are joined together, destroy oneanother, as if a man should say, an incorporeal body" is lessconvincing than it first seems. The brunt of More's attack isthat substance may have incorporeal as well as corporealdifferentiae and, unless Hobbes first proves that it cannot, hismockery of incorporeal substance is premature.

More, on the other hand, begins his description ofsubstance more cautiously as the "naked essence" of a thingwhich is "utterly unconceiuable to any of our Faculties" (Bk. I,Ch. 2, Axiome 8).84 He establishes the elusive nature ofsubstance by the Cartesian method of divesting a body('subject') of all its accidents and arriving at " a mere

83 Leuiathan, Ch. 34. All citations are from The English Worhs of Thomas

Hobbes, ed. Sir William Molesworth, London, 1839-1895.

84 In this understanding of 'substance' as the undiversificated substratumof a thing More anticipates Locke in his Essay Concerning HumanUnderstanding, Bk, II, Ch. 23. Sec.2. The notion may be detected even

earlier in More's account of the 'infinite matter' of the universe inDemocritus P latoruissons,68.( See above p.xxiii).

I N',l'll( )l) I J( )'l'l( )N

uncliuersifit:utecl Substance."s[i Having done this, he rightl.yclaims that the immediate properties of a substance are"indemonstrable" for "if the naked substance of a Thing be so

utterly unconceivable, there can be nothiqg deprehended Lherc

to be a connexion between it and it's first Properties" (Ch. 2,

Sec.10).The nexb step is to determine the characteristic attributes

of matter, which he decides are impenetrability anddiscerpibility (or actual as opposed to merely intellectualdivisibility) solely on the basis of empirical evidence andcommon sense: "For that it does as certainly and irresistiblykeep one part of it self from penetrating another it is so, weknow why" (Sec. 11). Then, with logical coherence, he

completes the paradigm by positing another substance with theopposite qualities of penetrability and indiscerpibility. This is

his original conception of spirit.More later considers also the possibility of there being two

other kinds of substance between these two, with the attribute-combinations of impenetrability and indiscerpibility andpenetrability and discerpibility, respectively (Cn. 3, Sec- 3).

But he dismisses the first as an absurdity, for impenetrabilityimplies some form of matter and no matter in nature is in-discerpible. If it were, it would be spirit. More does not showany awareness of the Gassendist theory of indivisible,impenetrable atoms propounded in Syntagma Philosophicum l,55;.86 But, even if he had been aware of the theory, he would

85 cf. Descartes, Meditationes, [I. Although More does not introduce the

notion of extension at this point, he assumes it in his description of matter

and spirit in the next axiom where the discerpibility of the one and the

penetrability of the other argue for the extensionality of both matter and

spirit. It is at this juncture that More' s metaphysics diverges from the

Cartesian restriction of extension to matter.

86 That More did not read Gassendi carefully is attested by the two letters

to Hartlib,dated 5 Nov. 1649 and 28 Dec. 1649 in which he first asks

Hartlib to "procure me out of France with any tolerable spead a copy of

Gassendus his Epicurean philosophy" but later declares "Gassendus is too

tedious a philosopher for me Ö FioS Fp,tXX I am glad you did not send itto me." See C.Webster "Henry More and Descartes: Some New Sources,"

BJHS,IV, 16 (1969) p. 375f.

liii

liv IN',l'R()I)trC'l'loN

have refused to accept that such atoms were the 'primordials'of the world since, as he explains in the same section, mereindiscerpibility of parts is not a sufficient basis for "cogitationand communion ,f sense," which are the distinguishingactivities of spirit in its primary phase. These functionsrequire "a more perfect degree of union than there is in mereIndiscerpibility of parts)' And such an integrity of substan ce isto be found only in spirit. Thus, to the Platonist, no argumentis subtle enough to destroy the priority of mind to matter. Asfor the second possibility, of the existence of a substance that ispenetrable and discerpible, More considers this, too, as jusüanother form of matter by virtue of its divisibility and its unionthrough juxtaposition of parts and, hence, not worthy of adistinct classifi cation.

Although the empirical proofs of the existence of spiritualsubstance are not immediately offered (they are dispersedthroughout the rest of the work), he does counter the objectionthat "it implies a contradiction that Extended Substance shouldrun one part into anoüher; for so part of the Extension, andconsequently of the Suöstance would be [ost" (Ch. 2, Sec. 11),this self-penetration seeming to negate its indivisibility. (Thisobjection is made by Descartes in his letter of 15 April 1649 toMore where he declares that one cannot understand how onepart of an extended thing can penetrate another part which isequal to it, without understanding at the same time that themiddle part of its extension müst be removed or destroyed:however, a thing that is destroyed cannot penetrate another.")He defends his theory by postulating a fourth dimension called"spissitude," which includes the possibility of "the redoubling orcontracting of Substance into less space then it does sometimesoccupy" as well as that of the "lying of two Substances ofseveral kinds in the same place at once." For the former hegives the examples of a piece of wax reduced from a long figureto a round, where what is lost in longitude is gained in latitude"or depth. The latter he illustrates by the example of themotion of a body and the body itself coextended within thesame space, for "motion is not nothing" and any thing that is ise*t nded.87'

ln87 This extraor«linary reification of motion is clarified Diuine Dialogues,

INTRODUCTION

We note in More's argumentation here a rationalisticmethod similar to Descartes'. The otherwise problematicfourth dimension is justified on the Carüesian grounds that it is

"as easy and familiar to my Understanding, as that of theThree dimensions to my Sense or Phansy." More relies here onclear and distinct ideas as an epistemological criterion just asDescartes did in the Meditationes, IV. Then, following onceagain Descartes' adherence to geometric demonstrations asbeing the most reliable, More proceeds to give a series ofaxiomatic proofs of the simultaneous indiscerpibility andpenetrability of spirit (Chs.5-6,Axioms 1 1-19).

Starting from the "ancient notion of Light" (Ch. 5, Sec. 2)and the fact thab "it is most vigorous towards its fountain andfainter by degrees," he undertakes to examine the "one lucidpoint" of the primary substance which constitutes its source.This point is "purely indivisible" yet it is not nothing. For, aperfect globe on a perfect plane touches the latter at, a similarlyinfinitesimal point which is a quantity, it being impossible that"one Body should touch another, and yet touch one another innothing" (Sec.3). Such a "first point" which geometry provesto be at once indivisble in its littleness and potentially divisibleas quantity is in fact the true notion of a spirit, the "inmostCentre of llfe." This vital primary substance is "in Magnitude so

London, 1668, No. 25 ff. where Philotheus argues that 1. What ever has no

Extension or amplitude is nothing," 2."Wherefore Extension or Amplitudeis an intrinsecall or essential property of Ens quatentts Ens," 3."And it can

as little be deny'd but that motion is an entity, I mean a Physicall Entity"[i.e. since it can be measured], 4."Therefore Extension is an intrinsecal I

property of motion." However, the extension of motion is different from

that of matter, for the former is "not simply the Translation, but the uis

agitans that pervades the whole body that is moved." His further distinc-tion that the extension of matter is "one single Extension not to be

Iessened nor increased without the lessening and increasing of the Matteritself; but the other a gradual Extension, to be lessened or augmented

without any lessening or augmenting the matter. Whence again it rs a

sign that it has an extension of its own, redupLicatiue into it self, or

reducible to thinner or weaker degre'es" reveals that 'motion' as entity Is

really the same as 'spirit.' This identification of motion with spirit is also

the basis of its vital emanative power (see below p.lvi).

lv

lvi I N'l'll( )l)tJ(.:'l'l( )N

tittle that it is Indiscerpible but in virtue so great that it cansend forth out of itself so large a Sphere of SecondarySubstance, as I may call it, that it is able to actuate grandproportions of Matter, this whole sphere of life and activitybeing in the mean time utterly Indiscerpible." (Ch. 6, Axiome15).

The extension of the secondary substance from the firstpoint is through the immediate emanative causality of spirit,which is instinct with self-motion (a quality he attributes tospirit in order to avoid the infinite regress which would resultfrom attributing motion to matter -- Axiome 16).88 And, as itimplies a contradiction that an emanative effect should bedisjoined from its original (by virtue of Axiome L7, whichmaintains that an emanative effect is coexistent with thesubstance that is the cause of it), it follows that the vital sphereis utterly indiscerpible from the centre to the circumference.But the parts within it, being of an inferior substance, byAxiome 19, are only "closely coherent" through "immediateunion of these parts." The conceptualization of this as physicalphenomenon is certainly diffrcult. And More himself recognizesthis in his lPreface. Sec. 3; where he attempts a more preciseexplanatior\-of his concepüJn of spirit. He dLscribes the "partsindiscerpible" that constitute the spiritual atoms as having

88 More elaborates on the absurd consequences of matter possessing

innate motion in Ch. 11. If motion is coexistent with matter (as Gassendifor example, attempted to prove by asserting a materia actuoso LSyntagmaPhilosophicum I 335 bl) then it must be an emanative effect, by More'sdefinition in Axiome 17, and motion must be equally distributed in allparts of matter. This would mean that the planets would have a "commonDiui.d.end of all the motion which themselves and the Sun and Stars, andall the Aetherial matter possess." And since the matter of the planets is

far less than that of the others, it would possess a disproportionately highamount of activity whereby every Planet could not faile of melting itselfinto little less finer substance then the purest Aether" (Sec.3). Throughoutthis argument More is closely following Socrates' tn Phaedrus 245 E:

"Thus that which moves itself must be the beginning of motion. And thiscan be neither destroyed nor generated, otherwise all the heavens and allgenerations must fall in ruin and stop and never again have any source ofmotion or origin" (Tr.H.N. Fowler, Loeb Classical Library).

I N'I'IT()I) UC'ItON

" real extension, but so little, thot they cannot haue less and be anything ot all, and therefore cannot be actually diuided." This sortof minute spiritual extension he calls "Essential ( os being suchthat without that meosure of it, the uery Being of Matter cannotbe conserued)." The extension of matter composed of these parts

'is called 'Integral' extension, "these parts of this compoundedmatter being actual and really seporable one from aruother." Heagain insists that a spiritual point, unlike a mathematicalpoint, cannot be "pure Negation or Non-entity and there being nomedium betutixt extended and non-extended, no more then thereis betwixt Entity and Non-g4tity, it is plain that if o thing be atoll, it must be extend,ed."8e The problem then arises that allextended things must have figure, and figures, of no matterwhat size, must have parts that are divisible. To this Morereplies, "I say, those indiscerprble porticles of Mattnr haue noFigure at oll: As infinite Greatness has no Figure, so infiniteLittleness has none also. And a Cube infinitely little in theexactest sense, is as perfect a contradiction as a Cube infinitelygreat in the same sense of Infinity:' for the Angles would be equalin magnitude to the Hedrae thereof."

However, despite his mathematical demonstrations of thediffering natures of spirit and matter, the transition from'essential' extension to 'integral' is still difficult to comprehendexcept with intuitive intelligence, what Aristotle calls vort in

89 cf., Leibniz's distinction between spiritual points and mathematical in

'Systöme nouveau de la nature et de la communication des substances,

aussi bien que de l'union qu'il y a entre l'äme et le corps'( 1695):"Mais les

Atomes de matiere sont contraires ä la raison: outre qu'ils sont encor

compos6s de parties, puisque I'attachement invincible d'une partte ä

l'autre (quand on Ie pouvait concevoir ou supposer avec raison) ne

detruiront point leur diversit6 Il n'y a que les Atomes de substance, c'est

ä dire, les unit6s r6elles et absolument destitu6es de parties, qui soyent les

sources des actions, et les premiers principes absolus de la composition des

choses, et comme les derniers elemens de l'analyse des choses

substantielles. On les pourroit appeller points metaphtsiques: rls otrtquelque chose de vital et une espece de perception, et les points

mathematiques sont leurs points de veue, pour exprimer I'univ61s" ( 1)jg

Philosophischen Schriften uon Gottfried Wilheim Leibniz, ed. C. J. Gerhardt,

Berlin, 1888, Vol. IV, ii, p. 482f).

lvii

lviii I N'I'R()I)UC'I'ION

Ethica Nichomachea, VI, 6-7. The transformation of theprimary substance of spirit into its secondary substance is ofthe same mysterious mathematical nature as the conversion ofan infinitesimal point into a line by repetition of itself (Axiomes13, l4). So More fittingly concludes with the example of thehuman mind, quoting Aristotle: Et yap rai rd-rt ö7rcot purp6veort, 6uvü.per rai rttrir6rrltr noiü prd.)"iov ünepeler navröv ,9o a.tdjuxtaposes it to the more perceptible physical phenomenon of alittle spark of light that infuses a large sphere of air.

As this notion of the emanation of a secondary essencefrom the primary indivisible substance of spirit is ultimatelyderived from Plotinus, I think it would be useful to present herePlotinus' description of the Soul in Enneades,lY, ii, 1:

But on the other hand, that first utterlyindivisible Kind must be accompanied by a

, subsequent Essence, engendered by it and holdingindivisibility from it, but, in virtue of the necessaryoutgo from source, tending firmly towards the

' contrary, the wholly partible; this secondary Essencewill take an intermediate place between the flrrstsubstance, the undivided, and that which is divisiblein material things and resides in them TheEssence, very near to the impartible, which weassert to belong to the Kind we are now dealing with,is at once an Essence and an entrant into body; uponembodiment, it experiences a partition unknownbefore it bestowed itself.

In whatsoever bodies it occupies -- even thevastest of all, that in which the entire universe isincluded it gives itself to the whole withoutabdicating its unity nature, at once divisible andindivisible, which we affirm to be soul, has not theunity of an extended thing: it does not consist ofseparate sections; its divisibility lies in its presence

at every point of the recipient, but it is indivisible asdwelling entire in every part.

90 Aristotle, Ethica Nichomachea, X,7:in power and value it far surpasses all

"For though this be small in bulk,the rest" (Tr. H. Rackham).

I N'.l'lt( ) I ) [J(i'l'l ( )N

To have penetrated this idea is to know thegreatness of the Soul and its power, the divinity andwonder of its being, as a nature transcending thesphere of Things.91

More's comparison of the primal spiritual entity to a pointalso has a counterpart in Plotinus (IV, vii, 8): ". . . it must stillbe admitted that there do exist intellections of intellectualobjects and perceptions of objects not possessing magnitude;how, we may then ask, can a thing of magnitude [i.e. if weassume the mind to be extendedl know a thing that has no

magnitude, or how can the partless be known by means ofwhat has parts? We will be told, 'By some parbless part.' But,at this, the intellective will not be body: for contact does notneed a whole; one point suffices."

Ralph Cudworth, in commenting on this section of theEnneades, interprets Plotinus as an 'unextended Incorporealisb'and differentiates him from More who asserted "anotherextension specifically differing from that of bodies."92 But thisobservation is only partly correct. Plotinus is indeed careful todeprive soul of any quality that would imply a corporealnature, including extension. However, having distinguishedtwo 'phases'in the Soul, an indivisible one and a divisible, he isfaced with the problem of determining "whether these and theother powers which we call 'parts' of the Soul are situated allin place; or whether some have place and standpoint, othersnot; or whether again none are situated in place" (IV, iii, 20).He quickly dismisses the possibility of the soul's beingcontained in the body as in a space: "Space is a container, acontainer of body; it is the home of such things as consist ofisolated parts, and is never, therefore, found whole in any part;now, the Soul is not a body and is no more contained thancontaining ... Besides (if the Soul were contained as in space)contact would be only at the surface of the body, notthroughout the entire massrr ( Ibid.). But the answer he gives

91 All citations from Plotinus are from The Enneads, tr. S. Mackenna,

[,ondon, 1956.

1)2 Ralph Cudworth, Tlrc True Intellectual System of the Uniuerse, ed. 'f.

IJirch, 4 vols., London, 1820, vol. IV, p. 81.

lix

lx lN'l'lt( )l)t )( )'l'l( )N

Lo Lhe problem is sLrikingly like More's: "May we think thatthe mode of the Soul's presence to body is that of the presenceof light to the air? This certainly is presence with distinction:the light penetrates through and through but nowherecoalesces, the light is the stable thing, the air flows in and out;when the air passes beyond the lit area it is dark; under thelight it is lit. We have a true parallel to what we have beensaying of body and soul, for the air is in the light rather thanthe light in the air"(IV, äi, 22). And in his later elaboration ofthe union of Soul and body he even, accidentally, grants it thesame extension ( öyrcoq ) as the body, in his effort to establishthe non-corporeal nature of the Soul: "Two bodies (i.e. byhypothesis, the Soul and the human body) are blended, eachentire through the entirety of the other; where the one is, theother is also; eoch occupies an equal extension and each thewhole extension no increase of size has been caused by thejuncture: the one body thus inblended can have left in theother nothing undivided. This is no case of mixing in the senseof considerable portions alternating; that would be described ascollocation. No, the incoming entity goes through the other tothe very minutest point ... an impossibility, of course ... bodycannot traverse anything as a whole traversing a whole. Butsoul does this. It is therefore incorporeal." (IV, vii, 8, myiralics).

+

More's neo-Plotinian conception of spirit, to be fullydefended in an age of empirical science, required solid proof ofthe existence of spiritual substance. Consequently, More wascomitted to a belief in daemonic aparitions and soughtvigorously to demonstrate their reality (see below pp.lxxxivff.)Hobbes' objection in Part IV of his Elements of Philosophy (Cn.25, Art. that "ghosts and incorporeal substances" are merevivid dreams "especially such as some men have when they arebetween sleeping and waking, and such as happen to those thathave no knowledge of the nature of dreams and are withalsuperstitious" was quite misguided, according to More. Hedismisses Hobbes' view as based on the false assumption thatsuch phenomena are to be witnessed only in the minds ofsuperstitious men. For "Philosophers and Christians alike"have argued for the existence of spirits and immaterial

lN'l'lt( )l)t )( )'l'l( )N

substance "from Lhe evidence of Externall Objects «rf' Scnsc,that is, the ordinary Phaenomena of Nature. " (Ch. 10, Sec. 2):

He adduces the example of atheistic philosophers likePomponazzi, Cardano and Vanini to demonstrate theuniversality of the belief in supernatural phenomena. Hobbes'other objection in Part I of Elements of Philosophy that thosethings seen in sleep do not have real existence (Ch. 5, Sec. 4)

is based on the unproved assumption that everything (includingspace) is imaginary that is not body.

The next argumenl that More finds in Hobbes againstspirit (in his Human Nature, Ch. 11, Sec. 4) is built on theAristotelian notion that all conceptions are supported byphantasms produced by the action of the senses and theimagination, and since we cannot have any phantasms of a

spirit which does not have any dimensions, the only knowledgewe have of spirits can be that accepted on "faith fromsupernatural revelation given to the holy writers of theScripture." Not only is this way of reasoning manifestly con-tradictory (if miracles and spirits can occur in biblical history,how can we rule out the exisLence of spirits altogether inmodern?), but More does not, in the first place, subscribe to theview that dimension is the exclusive predicate of body. For,spirit, too, is exbended, aqd differs from body merely in that itlacks impenetrability. It must be noted that Hobbes did offer asolution to the problem of spirits in the Bible in Leuiothan, Ch.34 and Ch. 45, by suggesting that angels and apparitions arecorporeal too, though of subtler matter. But the linguistic andscientific awkwardness of allowing "spiritual bodies" in theempirical-materialisüic universe of Hobbes only highlights thedistinction of More's concept of spirit as the primordialsubstance that infuses different forms of matter.

In attempting to account for ancient religious belief insupernatural agents such as the imagines and umbrae of theRomans (Leuiathan, Ch. L2.), Hobbes once again decries thedeluded belief in spirits. More replies that the secundoenotiones of the mind, which include logical and mathematicalterms, are evidence of intellection that is not dependent onsense impressions. Hobbes' objection that such universals aremere names (Human Nature, Ch. 5) More rejects by pointing tothe historical evidence of similar common notions arisingamongst nations speaking different languages which provesthat universals are real existents and not mere effects rt{'

lxi

IN'f RODUC'TtON

More exposes the flaw of Hobbes' second argument that

every sufficiänt cause is a necessary cause for "if it be

impissible that a sufficient cause should not produce the effect,

thin is a sufficient cause a necessary cause, for that is said to

prod.uce an"effect necessarily that cannot but produce i!" by

Itressing the special virtue of voluntary causality, which can

abstain fro- pioducing an effect even when it his sufficientpower to produce it. The reason for this, of course, is that it isäirected by the understanding, which is part of the soul, as

indicated above.Hobbes' third argument for determinism from the logical

example of 'Future disjunctions' is clearly a weak one, for he

considers the disjunct proposition 'It shall rain or not rain,' as

though it were a connex axiom, which is necessary in itsconnäcted entirety, whereas a disjunct proposition is necessary

only if both its parts are individually shown to be necessary'

Thüs Hobbes' eiample could be broken up into its parts as

follows: 'If it be necässary it shall rain, it shall rain' and 'If itbe necessary it shall not rain, it shall not.' And Hobbes would

then have little evidence of universally necessitated actions,

since the first part of both these propositions would still have to

be proved to be true. Hobbes, however, maneuvers the parts

,o ihut they read as follows: 'If it be not necessary it shall

rain, it is necessary it shall not rain,' whereas the most he

could have rightly asserted is that 'If it be not necessary itshall rain, it stratl or shall not rain,' which is quite contrary to

what he set out to Prove.The "diffrdence" of Hobbes' fourth argument "That the

denying of Necessity destroyeth both the decrees und the

prrrrtä"e of God Almighty" More immediately traces to the

contradiction involved in Hobbes' assumption of a omniscient

divinity in a system that proclaims that there is "nothing but

Body or Matte. it, th" whole comprehension of things." More's

defen ce of freewill takes into account those rare instances

where the tiberty of will may degenerate so far that it causes

predictable automatic responses, as in a hungry dog, or may

äscerrd to such a level of heroism that we may accurately

foretell the actions of a virtuous person in a crisis' But, for the

rest, the freewill of man does not contradict the prescience of

God which extends so far "as to know precisely and fully

whatever implies no contradiction to be Known" (Sec. 20)'

This definition of God's omniscience seems to come dangerously

lx iiilxii INTRODUCl't0N

language. This repetition of the Herbertian theory of commonnotions rests largely on the rationalistic conviction of theimmutability of mathematical truths (cf. Descartes,Meditationes I, Regulae II), a conception mostlyignored byHobbes in his restriction of 'computation' to a knowledge of thecauses of corporeal effects (Part I of Elements of Philosophy,ch. f, 2-5).

More interesting is More's example of the freewill asevidence of intellectual activity that is free of materialinfluence. Evidences of heroic conduct such as the adherence tovirtue at the cost of physical pain to oneself argue the existenceof a faculty that cannot be explained by the action and reactionof one art of matter against another. In Bk. II, Ch. 3, Moreattacks Hobbes' deterministic view of life by considering thevarious arguments expressed in Hobbes' treatise Of liberty andnecessity. The first argument that, since nothing in theuniverse is sui generis but is caused by the action of an externalagent, "the Will is also caused by other things" More counters byfocussing on the falseness of the materialist's theory of change:

But that Motion in a large sense, taking it formutation or change, may proceed from that veryEssence in which it is found, seems to me plain byExperience: For there is an Essence in us, whateverwe call it, which we find endued with this propertylof varying its modifications] as appears from hence,

that it has variety of perceptions, Mathematical,Logical, and I may adde also Moral, that are not anyimpresses nor footsteps of Corporeal Motions( Sec. 7).

In Hobbes' reasoning that willing is caused by the Will,More keenly perceives Hobbes'hidden scholasticism in believingin "Fq.culties and Operations... as separate and disüincü from theEssence they belong to" (Sec. 8). Having established the soul ofman as a spiritual substance whose motive power naturallyresults in willing and understanding, he avoids the "sophistry"of Hobbes' identification of "necessary" with "necessitated," forthe soul is not necessitated by any external cause to will but byitself in the form of the understanding, "by the displaying ofcertain notions and perceptions [which the soul] raises inherself fhat be purely intellectual" ( Sec. 10).

lN'l'lt( )l)t r( )'l'l( )N

Elements <tt''Philosophy, Ch. 25, Art. 2) More considers as bcing

sound as f'ar as it goes. For, all perception is generall.y

preceded by corporeal motion and so too is cogitation "from the

heat that Thinking casts a man into (Preface, sec. 5). And, "os

heat is lost ... so our Understanding and Imagination decaves

and our Senses themselues fail, as not being able to be moued bv

the impression of outword Objects, or as not being in a due

degree of tiquidity and agility, and therefore in death our Bodies

become as senseless os a lump of clay" (Ibid.). But he refuses to

believe that "a general agitation onely of the particles of the

Matter will suffice to excite them to thinhing, and that theybeing thus excited, can freely run out to other cogitotions and

Phantasmes then what adequately arise from the impress ofMotion" (Bk Ch. 1, sec.3). The intellectual processes of man

are far too complex to be produced by the mere motion ofmatter. The animadversion of material particles, if at all theybe capable of it, would be limited to the immediate sensiblephantasms that are produced by their random collisions and

could never diversify their operations automatically into the

great "Variety of thoughts, the exercise of Inuentions,

Judgement and Memory" that are characteristic of the intellect.Matter is, besides, "ä principle purely passiue and no otherwisemoued or modified than as some other thing moues and modit'ies

it, but canot move itself at all." More gives a humorousillustration of the absurdity of attributing self-motion to matter:"For if it had any such Perception, it would by virtue of its SeÜ'-

motion withdraw it self from under the knocks of hammers or

fury of the fire, or of its own accord approach to such things as

are most agreeable to it and pleasing." This further argues the

existence of a substance capable of self-motion. Of course,

Hobbes himself had qualified his materialistic view of'

perceptions by maintaining that not all bodies are endued withsense but only those "fit for the retaining of such motion as ismade in them" (Part IV of Elements of PhilosoPh!, Ch. 25, ArL-

5). For sense "hath necessarily some rnemory adhering to it, by

which former and later phantasms may be compared together,and distinguished from one another" ( Ibid). But the weakness

of this theory is revealed by More's example of a bell, in whichevery stroke produces a tremor "which decaying, must(according to his Philosophie)e3 be Imagination, and to the

lxvlx iv IN',l'R()I)UO',l'lON

close to limiting his omnipotence, which is only "able to doewhatever imples no contradiction to be done." But More's Godis a rational more than a transcendent being ( cf. Bk. I, Ch. 4,Sec. 2), and, as in Descartes' Meditationes (III, V), it would beabsurd (even if not impossible) for the guarantor of all logicalideas to contradict the law of contradiction with his power.

Hobbes' last objection to spiritual substance is that it ispartly derived from the scholastic reification of "separatedessences" or "Forms." In particular, he is appalled at theresultant riddle of the soul as being tota in toto et tota in qualibetparte (Leuiathan, Ch. 24; Human Nature, Ch. 11). AlthoughMore too is scornful of this paradoxical formula, he attempts tosave the authors of it by interpreting it in a Platonic manner;"I suppose they may mean nothing by it, but what Plato did byhis making the Soul to consist är trreptorflg rai dprepio'rou oüolo6(Bk. I, Ch. 10, Sec. 8), which, according to him, implies "anEssence that is intellectually divisible, but really indiscerpible."As we have already seen, this is the definition of a spiritualpoint (Axiome 15, see above p.liii).

As for Hobbes' objection to the scholastics' allocation ofspirit to place in the definitive sense of it on the nominalistgrounds that the distinction between 'circumscriptive' and'definitive' place is merely a linguistic quibble (Leuiathan, Ch.46), More once again defends the schoolmen by showing how itis indeed possible to have two different definitions of place, as"the Concaue Superficies of one Body immediately enuironinganother Body " or as " Imaginary Space that is coincident withthe magnitude of any body," Hobbes' own definition in Part IIof Elements of Philosophy Ch. 7, Art. 2. Since the latter isindeed what the scholastics meant by definitive place, Moresees no reason why Hobbes should quarrel with them or withMore himself, whose notion of spirit is such that it can occupythe same space along with a body.

b. PsychologyBook II of The Immortality of the Soul begins with a

demonstration of the existence of spiritual substance from theinadequacy of matter to explain all the processes of sense andperception. Hobbes' explanation of sense as being due to "someinternal motion in the sentient generated by some internalmotion of the parts of the object, and propagated through allthe media to the innermost part of the organ "(Part IV of

lxvi I N',l'ßODUO',I'I0N

stroke past must be Memory;and if a stroke overtake it withinthe compass of this Memory, what hinders but Discrimination orJudgmenl may follow?" ( Bk.II, Ch. 2, Sec.1).

More then turns to the faculty of sight in particular(Axiome 24) and demonstrates the impossibility of a point ofmatter perceiving, through the sole means of physical contact,large objects, the view of "half an horizon at once," or differentcolours at the same time. More here employs Descartes'theory of colours as arising from the contrary modifications ofmotion in the globules of subtle matter between the object andthe sentient (Mötöores, Ch. 8). As colours cannot becommunicated at once to one and the same round particle ofmatter (i.e. of the sentient) contrary colours such as red andblack can be perceived only successively and neversimultaneously. Moreover, if perception were produced merelyby the impressions made on a bare point of matter, all colourswould be contaminated, due to the fact that perceptions require"a considerable stay upon lhe percipient Matter" and "someleisurely continuance of this or that Motion before it be wipedout." The crucial necessity of a perceptive principle that isnaturally stable leads More to discount also Hobbes' descriptionof the heart as "the fountain of all sense" (Part IV of Elernentsof Philosopht, Ch. 25, Art. 4), following the Aristotelian theoryof De Juuentute et Senectute, C}n. 3. For, even if one granfedthat there be a soul in the heart (that the heart can cause localmotions by itself More is not for a moment willing to concede),perceptions would be "horribly disturbed by [the heart's]sgueezing of it self, and then flagging again by vicissitudes.Neither would Objects appear in the same place, or at least oursight not fixt on the same part of the Object when the Heart isdrawn up and when it is let down again" (Bk. II, Ch. 7, Sec. 8).

All these various limitations of the materialist hypothesisled More to investigate the real nature of the "I myself' whichperceives, imagines, remembers, reasons, and is the source ofspontaneous motion and freewill. Hobbes' failure to considerthe question of the intellectual self in any detail thusconstituted for More a fatal flaw in an otherwise coherentsystem. And while he greatly preferred Descartes'

IN'f ROI)l.JCTION

identifircation of a res cogitans distinct from matter, he wasresolved to go much farther than the French philosopher inesfablishing the reality of such a res with his definite notion ofspirit as extended entity.

lx vii

93 In Part IV of Elenents ol'Phibsopäy,Ch. 25, Art. 7, 8.

\l\ii

lxviii INTRODUCTION

II. More and DescartesPsychology

The 'Epistle Dedicatory' to Lord Conway reveals that Thelmmortality of the Soul was partly inspired by More's reading ofDescartes' Les Passions de l'ö,me (164g),s4 in the summer of1656 in the Garden of Luxembourg, "to pass away the time."Descartes' physiological analysis of the passions struck him asbeing "handsome and witty." Yet, "all did not seem soperfectly solid and satisfactory to me but that I was forced insome principal things to seek satisfaction from my self." Theparticular fault that More focusses on in The Immortality of theSou/ is the tenuous nature of Descartes' establishment of athinking substance distinct from body ( Discours,IY;Meditationes,Il). "For," as he says in Bk. I, Ch. 8, Sec.9,"being there may be Modes common to more subjects thenone, and this of Cogitation rr.ay be pretended to be such as iscompetible as well to Substance Corporeal as Incorporeal, itmay be conceived apart from either, though not from both. Andtherefore his Argument does not prove That that in us whichdoes think or perceiue is a Substance distinct from one Body,but onely That there may be such a Substance which has thepower of thinhing or perceiuing, which yet is not a Body)'Whereas, More focusses the definition of the ego cogitans byemphasizing the ultimate independence of cogitation of anyform of corporeal substance whatsoever and thereby ascertainsthe existence of another substance "which must needs be aSubstance Incorporeal," of which thinking is a mode.

Descartes' refusal to discuss the substantial nature of theres cogitans had led to some awkward problems in hisphysiological study of human activity. While maintaining thatthe soul is characterized by thought alone (Passions, Art.4), hedivides intellection into two kinds (Art. L7), the voluntaryactions of the soul and its passive perceptions. But sense

94 More read the book in the Latin translation of i650 as is evirlent f'rorn

his references to 'De Passtonfibus Anim,ael' in his marginal notes t,<t 'l'h.t

Irntnortal.ill ttf' the Sott.l . But I <1 ttote filr r:orrvr:rrien<:e lroln t,lre l,)nglislr

l.ritnsllti«rtt ol' [)t:s«:itrt,es' l'rettch originrtl rn 'l'ltc l'lttlosttltltittrl W'riltrtl.is ol

/)r'.srrrr'/r'.s. t.r..l . (lol.l.irrgltrtrn, lt. Sl.ool,lrol'l', l'.Mttrrloclt, (lrutlrt'trllir.: (lll.l),

I !)ttlr, l, lllilrl'l'.

INTRODUCTION

perceptions depend on the interaction between objects outsidethe body and the nerves which contain animal spirits thattransmit impressions to the brain. This necessitates theinclusion of the animal spirits at least (if not the nerves whichcontain them and the blood which produces them)g5in a general

description of the powers of the soul. But the soul in Descartes'view is not extended: "it is of such a nature that it has no

relation to extension, or to the dimensions or other properties ofthe matter of which the body is composed" (Art 30). However,he maintains that "the soul is really joined to the whole bodyand that we cannot properly say that it exists in any one partof the body to the exclusion of the others" (Ibid.). Hisdescription of the activity of the soul, consequently, belies hisoriginal refusal of extension to spirit: "The soul has its principalseat in the small gland located in the middle of the brain. Fromthere it radiates through the rest of the body by means of theanimal spirits, the nerves, and even the blood" (Art. 34). Thecontradiction involved in fixing the soul in one part of the brainand then expecting it to be "really joined" to the rest of the

body through the aid of animal spirits is not much clarified in

Article 41, which details the exact manner in which the soul

acts: "The activity of the soul consists entirely in the fact thatsimply by willing something it brings it about that the littlegland to which it is closely joined moves in the manner requiredto produce the effect corresponding to this volition."

More was quick to perceive the problems inherent inDescartes' mechanistic psychology and in Bk. II, Ch. 5, he set

out to refute it as well as he could. He first attacks Descartes'locafion of the soul in the conarion in much the same way as he

did Hobbes, psychological system, which differed fromDescartes' only in its omission of an immaterial soul. Thefaculty of vision is the clearest evidence of the^inadequacy of'

Descartes' theory. If, as Descartes believes,96in the act of'

seeing "the Image that is propagated from the Object to the

O<tnarion, is impressed thereupon in some latitude of space ... itis manifest that the Conarion does not, nor can perceivc the

wh«rle Ob.ject, though several parts may be acknowledgcd f«r

1)lr Sto Arl,- 10.

l)(i /,r'.s /ln;.';,ort.'; tl,' l'ritrt,', Art.. illr.

lxix

lxx I N'l'R( ) I) []O.l'loN

have the perception of theperceiues the whole whichSec. 2). Being a materialthe diverse impressions itsingle visual image.

97 tbid., Art. 11.

98 From this More infers, also, that brutes too must have souls __ anotherpoint of quarrel with Descartes (See his Epistolae euatuor ad. RenatumDescartes, and L-D. cohen's discussion, "Descartes and Henry More on theBeast-Machine," Annals of Science, I( 1gg6),4g-6 1).99 cf. Part IV of Elements of philosophy,Ch. Zb, Art. 12.

IN'l'RO I)[JO',l'I( )N lxxi

several parts thereof. But somethingtherefore cannot be the Conarion.,, 7body, the conarion cannot integratereceives in its various parts into a

Also, spontaneous motion9, cannot be explained by theaction of "so weak and so small a thing as thät gbndila is,,which is obviousry "unable to d,etermine- the spiriis *itr, thatforce and violence we find they are determined in running,striking, thrusting and the like." This is especially evident inthat "sometimes scarce the thousandth part of the conarionshall be director of this force; viz, when the object of sight,suppose, is as little as a pin's point, or when a man is prickedwith a needle, these receptions must be as littre in the gfanduraas in the exterior sense " (sec. B). In other words, Descartes,conception of the soul's instrument does not properly explainthe directive power of the sour. To those who *äv Äoir'thattl" animal spirits are so subtle that they can be propelledthrough any particular course with such ,upioity as to be ableto cause these viorent physicar actions, More gives adiagrammatic demonstration _-- emproying a model used byDescartes' discipre Henri de Roy in- his ihilorophia Naturaris(Amsterdam, 1661) of the impossibility of the spirits moving inany specific direction merely through mechanicar action withoutthe express "Imperium of our siul that does d,etermine thespirits tn this Muscle rather than ,!he other, and holds themthere in despite of externar force."98 The crucial ability of thesoul to control the spirits at every part of their course ihroughthe body is absent in Descartes' däsäriptio, or rnotion (Art. 4L &Art.11-16). In fact, Descartes' account of the production ofdifferent motions due to the differences in the external objectsthat impinge on the nerves or in the quality of the animalspirits themselves is little different from that oi rrrnu"r-.n§.."

More next attacks Descartes' theory of memory in Art. 42of the Passions. Descartes had suggested that objects leavetraces in the form of pores in the brain which are found by theanimal spirits at the command or "inclination" of the conarion.This explanation, says More, accounts for only the figure of athing, not its colours according to Descartes' own theory ofcolours (see above p.lxvi). Also; the fact that we can distinctlyremember many objects exposed to our view "at the samedistance, the Eye keeping exactly in the same posture,insomuch that it shall be necessary for these images to take upthe very same place of the Brain" shows that such memoriesare produced by a substance endowed with a power "perfectlybeyond the bounds of mere Matter, for there would be anecessary confusion of all" (sec. 7). Moreover, the conarioncannot by mechanical means alone invert the position of imageson the retina. For this, it must have the power of raisingmotions in itself, "such as are not necessarily conveighed byany corporeal impress of another body" (Sec. 8). But thiscontradicts Descartes' own laws of movement in Principia, II,Arts, 36, 37.

More sought to avoid these problems of the interactionbetween the rational soul and the inferior part of it by includingas the distinctive qualities of noncorporeal substanceindivisibility and self-motion, with its resulting power ofextension, either in the form of self-penetration, self-contractionand dilatation or the power of penetrating, moving and alteringmatter. From the combination of indivisibility, self-motion andpenetration, "it is plain that such a Spirit as we define, havingthe power of Motion upon the Whole extent of its essence, mayalso determine this Motion according to the property of its ownnature"(Bk. I, Ch. 7, Sec. 2).

In Bk II, Chs,10 and 11, More sets forth his conception ofthe human soul, its infusion of the body and its various

;i':;#;,ffi J'H;:ir;ff ;l'ä:,"JJ3'ffi ;:"jiTJ,1?11r6The soul of the world or anima mundi is one everywhere,though it forms itself into different human and animal souls

100 cf. for example,Principiis,II, i, 3.

Plotinus, Enneades, III, B; IV, 3, 4, and 9; Origen, /)t:

TNTRODUC'TION lx x iii

lxxii INTRODUCTION

through the agency of the spiritus naturae or spirit ofnature,which he otherwise recognizes as "the Unity of the Sou/of the (Jniuerse, which is interessed in all plastick powers" (Ch.

10, Sec. 7). This unity and heterogeneity of spiritual substanceis repeated within the human body by the sympathy that existsbetween the rational soul in the common sensorium and therest of the soul which fully pervades the body. The soulinforms the body in the following manner: "the Soul, which isa Spirit, and therefore contractible and dilatable, begins withinless compass at first in organizing the fitlyprepared Matter,and so bears itself on in the same tenour of work till the Bodyhas attained its full growth; and ... the soul dilates it self in thedilating of the Body, and so possesses it through all themembers thereof' (Ch. 10, Sec. 2). The rational soul planted inmatter by the world-soul sends forth from itself "such anEssential Emanation from it self as is utterly devoid of all Sense

and Perception; which you may call, if you will the Exteriourbranches of the Soul, or the Rayes of the Soul." (Ch. 11, Sec.

10). Once this is accomplished, the various faculties of the soulcontinue to function until "satiety or fatigue" breaks the bondsbetween the soul and the body (See below p. [x'rv).

The lowest faculty of the soul is the plastic or vegetativepart of the soul whose operations More had described inEnthusiasmus Triumphotus ,Sec.4,as being "fatall and naturallto [the soul] so long as she is in the body" These include theautomatic functions of the body such as the "perpetu al Systoleand Diastole of the Heart, " as well as respiration. According toMore, (Ch. 11) sensation is caused in much the same way as

Descartes had indicated, but More insists on the importanÖe ofthe essential continuity of the soul throughout the body to

explain the peculiar fact that pain is felt not in the commonsensorium but in the external organ affected. Also, he gives a

detailed proof (Ch. 10, Sec. 9) of the necessity of the soul'sbeing present at "the bottom of the eye" or retina, where theimage of an object is made in order that the figure and thecolour may be retained intact when it conveys it to the centreof perception "intirely in the same circumstances." If thisactivity were left to the nerves and the "bare laws of Matter,"the restriction of the image into the narrow range of the opticnerve would result in distortion of both figure and colour in theimage, just as the opacity of the brain would rob it of its"spllnrl«luI' ol' cnLirtlncss-" "Whct'cfi)l'{1," }rc t:«lttt:ltltltts, "l rl«l tr«lt,

doubt but that the image which the soul perceives is that in the

Eye and not any other corporeally producted to the inside of the

Brain"(1bid.).In his explanation of memory, More differs from Descartes

in refusing to believe "that the Brain should be stored with

distinct images (whether they consist of the Flexures of the

,rppo.*a FlbriUar, o' the orderly puncture of Pores' or in a

.orriirr,r"d Motion of the parts thereof, some in this manner'

andothersinthat),'(ch.11,sec.4).Rather,theonlymarksthatmightbepresentinthebrainmustbe''akindofBrachygraphie,,, ärru*or,ic devices for the soul to remind itself

of on:ääs änd events. These marks must be made by the plastic

part of the soul, since the rational soul has "no perception of

them distinct from the representation of those things which

they are to remind her of.'i Memory is, in other words, not a

function of the material brain but " a Promptitude" in the

rational soul "to think of this or that Phantasm, with the

circumstances thereof, which were raised in her upon some

occasion" ( Sec. 5). While this promptitude might arise from

frequencyornoveltyofimpressionofanimage'thesoulcanurro uy iiself througl ,.uoluntary attention-... very carefully and

on set purposs timirintl the ldea as deeply as she can into her

inward Sense." I; such an action, as also in the recovery of

images, she is assisted by her plastic fac-ulty'

Spontaneousmotion,too,revealsthecontinuouspresenceof the soul throughout the body. Having already established

the soul's power o1 morring matter as well as its ubiquity, More

haslittledifficultyinexplainingthewayinwhich,aLthecommand of bhe will in the common sensorium, "that part ofl

fhe soul that resides in the Muscles, "by its plastic power,

fuides the spirits into "the Flb rous parts of the Muscle as the

main Engine of motion," where the "subtle liquor of the Animal

Spirits, Äakes them swell and shrink like Lute-strings in rainv

weather: And in this chiefly consists that notable strength of,

our Limbs in Spontaneous motion" (Ch' f 1' Sec' 7)'

In spite oi th" diffusion of the soul through the body, the

primary functions of the soul that enable her to "Imagine,

Remember, Retason, and be the fountain of spontaneous M.otion,

as also the Seat of what the Greeks calt rö gÜre(oÜotov or libertv

of.will,, are located in a single part of the brain, (Bk II, Ch' ',),

Sec.2).However,this''immediateinstrument'.ofthesttulisntlt thtl .,nn,.i.,., for |he reasons already indicated abtlvtl.

lxxiv IN'l'RO[)[JO',l.loN

Having dismissed the possibility of the common sensoriumbeing any form of recognizabre matter, however liquid, Morethen identifies-it as being a substance "so yielding aÄd, porriur,lhat it easily feels the several assaults and irnprässe, äf othu.Bodies upon it, or in it" which for want of more preciseterminology he calls "subtile matter" which is tenuous, passirrenearly homogeneous and registering no perceptibie change"from the playing together of its own tenuiäus particles,, (sec.3). such "matter" can scarcery be distinguished i.o- spirit.

In trying to locate such a substance in the body tiat couldserve as the seat of the soul, More considers, apart fromDescartes' theory of the conarion, the opinions of manycontemporary anatomists and philosophers. The spinalmarrow and the animal spirits of the fourth ventricle of thebrain are first discarded, the first as being üoo gross and thesecond as too liquid a conglomeration of pärtictes (gk. II, ch.6). Among those that placed the seat ofl the soul outsidä trrehead, Jan Baptista van Helmont had chosen the upper orifice ofthe stornach (in his treatise, De sede Anima.e and Hobbes theheart (in Part IV of Elements of philosophy, Ch. ZS). VanHelmont' s misconception More sagaciousiy attributes to the"great sympathy betwixt the orifiie of the stomack and theHeart, whose Pathemata are so alike and conjoyned that theAncients have given one name to both parts, calling thempromiscuously rqp8la (Ch. 7, Sec. 6). This intimate coÄectionoften causes a wound "About the mouth of the stomack, to bemQre fatal than a wound in the head, which does not affect thepulse as quickly, and so people wrongly tend to believe that thestomach is the source of life as well as of sensation. As forHobbes' view, we have arready seen bhe main reason forMore's rejection (see above p.lxvi). He adds to this theevidence of animals which continue to live for a while evenafter their heart has been removed.

Further anatomical evidence is adduced to prove that theseat of common sense must be in the head (Sec. jO). Since thewhole brain is not the source of common sense (sec. 11), itmust be one particular part of it. Henri de Roy,s location of thecentre of perception in a "small solid particle" (philosophioNaturalis Bk. v, ch. 1) is easily refubä on the basis of itshardness, and so, too, are the externar and internal membranesof the head which are not conveniently enough located for thereception of all sense impressions (sec. 14). Descarbes, opinion

More valiantly defends against the criticisms «rf Cuspar'Bartholin and ,Joseph Wharton (in the [aüt,t,rr"s

Adenographia,Ch. 23), but finally discounts on account of' thefact that the conarion is too weak to direct the animal spiritsinto particular pores of the brain (See above pp.lxxffl. Besides,the stones that have been discovered in it as well as the net ofveins and arteries around it are signs of grossness_incompatiblewith the superior functions of the rational sorl. lol Wharton'slocation of the common sensorium in the concourse of nerves inthe fourth ventricle is close to the actual location but errs insuggesting that the material "pitch of the Brain" i[self, wherc'the nerves meet, could be the centre of perception.

This clears the way for More's own choice of the purespirits in the fourth ventricle of the brain es the common

r02sensorutm.^"" For,these spirits are of the finest texture andabundant enough to serve as the agents of sense, spontaneousmotion, and cogitation. More's choice of the fourth ventricle isapparently based on Bartholin's anatomical discoveries inInstitutiones Anatomicoe, [II, 4:

We consider the use of this ventricle is to be theplace of generation and elaboration of the animalspirits. For this ventricle is 1. very pure and subtle,2. It has a sufficient cavity for this, and 3. tt issituated in a convenient place for spreading theanimal spirits all around it into all the nerves,Hierophil \,vas, consequently, right in thinking this tobe the rnost important ventricle of all.

Examples of the visible manifestations of spiritous activityin animals include such phenomena as the bubbles thab movethrough the body of a snail observed in a glass by Henri de Roy

10 L See Bartholin, lnstitutiones Anatomicce (Oxford, 1633), Bk. III, Ch. 6:

[The pineal gland) is of a harder substance and yellowish colour, and iscovered with a fine mernbrane ... A small net of nerves holds this glanrl

frrmly on both sides" (rny translation).102 See the diagrarn of the bratn from Vesalius' De hutnont c.)rports fobrrcu(1542) reproduced below p.lxxvi from Vttsoltus on the hrtrnon brorrr, l.r.

(-'.Singer, London: OUP., 1952, pp. 104f.

I N'l'lt( )l) t J( l'l'l( )N lxxv

lxxvi TN'I'RODUC]'IONINTRODUCTION lx x vii

likened ro the poin ted, p, * oi, ;lilt r1T": :"1 "'ffi *,:äl i::xt *:1 ;cavity o[ rhat vcntriclc commo. to nrcdulla dorsaris ""a ..r.t.[um. This thecxl)crts i, disscctio. havc c.rllcd thc 'firurth vcnrriclc,. . .

(in Philosophia Naturo.lis, IV, Ch. 17) and the ebb and flow ofspirits in the eye according to the passions "insomuch that theSoul even seems to speak through them, in that silent voice ofAngels" (Ch. 8, Sec. 9). That the rational soul uses thesespirits in intellecfion too is obvious from the fact that even the"Inuentiue and purely Intellectual Operations" are influenced by"change of Air, or Distemper or Diseasedness" (sec 10). Thisneed of fine spirits is due to the facL that the soul has"exceeding little" power of moving matter though ib readilydirects matter in motion.

The extreme subtlety of the pure spirits in the fourthventricle as opposed to the rest of the animal spirits in the bodyis highlighted by More's comparison of the swiftness of theirmotion to that of light in answering objections to his theory ofthe ventricular spirits (Ch. 9, Sec. 4). And, as we havealready observed, the example of light in More is alwaysindicative of the transformation of the primary substance ofnon-corporeal spirit into its secondary substance ( see above p.

lv).This is borne out by his larger identiflrcation of the purespirits of the fourth ventricle to the aethereal matter on whichthe spiritus naturae acts first in fashioning the universe (Ch.9,Sec.6).His additional reference here to the fire of HermesTrismegistus (in Poemander, Chap 10), which is both "the mostinward vehicle of the Mind" and "the instrument that God usedin forming the world" is of the utmost importance, I think, insuggesting the vital continuity of different forms of substanceboth within and without the body. The animal spirits of thebody are sympathetically allied to the aerial element(Descartes' second element) of the universe, just as the finespirits of the fourth ventricle are part of the aethereal (orDescartes' first element). This leads to the inevitableconclusion that the incorporeal spiritual substance in man thatMore calls "Soul" must be really consubstantial with therational part of the diuina anima or else it could not participatein the Intellect which constitutes the second hypostasis of theNeoplatonic triad.103 However, as this seems to come veryclose to Averr oistic pantheism More refused to elaborate such

l0it «:f'. irlso Mrlre' s emanat,ional triads in I'ä.i/r.,.soph.i.ae

()rrircsl,i«l IV, whrrre t,here ts <lnly otr<: itrtellecl,ttitl stirge

T'e u.tt»n ictte O c rt s tt r'tr.

irt t.trr: t,wo l,rurtls:

lxxviii INTRODUCTION

a suggestion further and preferredmodified system of Plotinan monismvitalistic unity of the Soul, but leftphilosophic consideration.

to expound,instead, awhich insisted on thethe Intellect beyond

Supremum Bonum

Aeternus [ntellectusDivina Anima

Trinitas purae Divinitatis

I I rr rvcrsir I is Nrrl,rrrirc

I ltlrlr.r;lrrttlr, 1r, lr,l'l.

Anilnir Mrrrrrli I

SPiritrrs N:rt.rrr:rr. |l 'l'rirrit.rrs

A lr.yssrrs lrlrvsrr'rtrr Motrlrrl tttrr ,/f

Mot'r,, I )1x't tt ( )trttttrt, I l, r, rgrt..,(lt,o11',r, ()lrrrs,

INTRODUCTION

III. More and Neoplatonism

lxxix

a. MetaphysicsIn the Preface, Sec. 10, More addresses himself to the

problem of the 'monopsychism' implicit in his psychology. Herealizes that he may have made an "ouer'fauorablerepresentation of their Opinion that make but one Soul in the

whole [Jniuerse, induing her u)ith Sense, Reason, andUnderstanding.' which Soul they utill haue to act in all Animals,Daemons themselues not excepted." His assertion in Bk. II, Ch.15, Sec. 8, in particular, that there is a "Magick Sympathy thatis seabed in the Unity of the Spirit of the World, and thecontinuity of the subtle Matter dispersed throughout; theUniverse in some sense being, as the Stoicks and Platonistsdefine it, one vast entire Animal" seems to bear this out.However, already in his discussion of the pre-existence of thesoul (Bk. II, Ch. L2) he had distinguished the rational soulfrom the anima mundi (sec. 11). In fact, the theory of pre-existence itself is a special proof that the human soul goes

through several individual existences and is not an universallyundifferentiated entity. More's opinion is that every humansoul is a tnundo condito (Sec. 6), the anima mundi being the"perfective Architect thereof' (Ch. 10, Sec. 2) so that all soulsincluding the souls of animals "do bear the same date with theCreation of the World."(Ch. 12, Sec. 6). But as the particularmaterial form of human bodies has evolved through "manyMillions of Alterations and Modifications, before it lighted intosuch a contexture as to prove the entire Body of any one personin the world, has been in places unimaginably distant, has filed,it may be, through the triangular passages of as many VorticesaS we see Stars in a clear frosty night, and has shone once as

bright as the Sun ( as the Cartesian Hypothesis would have allthe Earth to have done,104 i.rusrrruch that we eat, and drink,and cloath our selves with that which was once pure Light and

Fire" (Sec. 6), so too, particular souls have undergone subtletransformations through time and infused different forms «lf'

matter. Such spiritual changes, though bewildering, arc)

compatible with his notion of spirit as a substance that is

104 r'f'. l'rttrct1trrr,lV, Arl,. 2.

lxxx IN'I'ITO D UC'IION

indiscerpible, yet divisible into matter (see above pp.liiiffl.According to More, one of the most incontrovertible proofs

of the differentiation of the world-soul into individual humanbeings and animals is memory, which is peculiar to theindividual and not to place (Pref., Sec. 10). This would beobvious if one were to accept the mechanistic theory ofreminisence maintained by Descartes and Hobbes. But sinceMore himself did not fully subscribe to this view (see abovep.lxxii) and held, instead, that "Memory is wholly in the Soulherself'(Preface, Sec. 10), we wonder why the rational part ofthe anima mundi too, unknown to the individual soul, might notperceive or remember the same things as the latter. Theabsolute indiscerpibility of spiritual substance must includesuch a possibility. However, the clear evidence that we cannotremember things which were never experienced by us at oneplace, at another, merely because someone else experiencesthem in the other place reveals that individual souls are barredfrom total participation in the Intellect on account of theirimmersion in material bodies. "By reason of her interest andvitall union with the body" (Ibid.), the soul depends on its ownanimal spirits for parception and memory. Thus, althoughthere be just one Intellect, the fractioning of the world-soulprevents individual souls from possessing it entirely. Thismisfortune of the soul also explains its loss of memory of itsown pre-existence (Bk. II, Ch. 13).

More also considers the related opinion of those that followancient authors such as Epictetus, Philo, and HeqmesTrismegistus in maintaining that souls are vital rays of theanima mund.i (Bk. III, Ch. 16) 105. Though he is rather moresympathetic to this delicate division of individual souls from theworld-soul, he insists on reinterpreting this theory according tohis notion of individuation as resulting from "an ernanation of asecondary substance from the seueral parts of the Soul of theWorld resembling the Rayes of the Sun" (Sec. 8). One reason forthis is that More prefers to think that the human soul is"independent on any thing but the Will and Essence of herCreator; which being exactly the same every Where, as also his

105 cf. Epictetus, Dissertationes, [, Ch.

Herrnes TrismLgistrzs,Poemancler,X II, 1.

IN'l'ltol)t l( )'l'l( )N lxxxi

Power is, her emanative support is exactly the same kl what

she had in the very first point of her production and statittn in

the world" (Ibid.). This further confirms the impression bhat,

in More's philosophy, the rational soul is continuous wibh the

eternal Mind which pervades the universe as Nemesis (or the

law of equivalence between moral action and reaction), while

the num"ior. lesser souls are distinct expressions of the Divine

Soul, first through time (as world-soul), and then in matter (as

individual souls).The agent whereby the anima mundi diversiflres itself while

remaining a unity is the spiritus naturae. This entity is an

evidence of the Same "unity of the soul of the universe" thatmanifests itself as the plastic faculty in the individual soul. Itis defined by More in Bk. III, Ch. 5, Sec. 1, as "A Substance

incorporeol, but utithout Sense and Animaduersion, peruoding the

whole Matter of the (Jniuerse, and exercising o Plastical power

therein accord,ing to the sundry predispositions and occosions in

the parts it worlzs u,pon, raising such phaenomena in the World,

by äirecting the parts of the Matter and their Motion, as connot be

resolued. into mere Mechanical powerr."106 We may conclude

from this description that the soul of the world, like the human

soul, has a superior part to it (the rational) and an inferior (the

plastic), and we may attribute this division to the basic

äistinction between the primary substance of spirit and itssecondary substance (see above p.lvi)'u / Thus, while the

eternal mind of God proceeds in a direct line through the anima

mund.i to the souls of angels, genii and men, the plastic facultyof the anima mundi (the Divine Soul, of course, has no inferior

106 This definition is, in fact, much the same as that of the seminal forms

of things in Bk. I, Ch. 8, Sec. 3 as "o created spirit organizing dulyprepared

matter unto life and vegetation proper to this or the other kind of Plant."

The basic feature of both these spiritual entities is vegetative formation by

moving or directing matter.iOT The Spirit of Nature (gÜotq) is not to be identified with the Anitna

Muncli (VuXn) since the former is the "inferior soul of the world" (Bk. III,

(lh. 12, sec.2). As early as in the'Notes upon Psychozoia'More h:r«l

drf1erentiated ,Päysrs' as "a kind of life eradiating from Intellect rttt«l

I)syrä-e,"(Note to I,41) from Ps"ycäe which he defines as "the Soul tlf'l'he

Wrlrld" (Note to I, i, 7).

14; Philo, De Opilicio Mundi, 146;

lxxxii lN'l'Rot)uc'f [oN

plastic part in itself and expresses itself only in time as World'Soul) branches off into the bodies of angels, genii, men, animalsilnd even plants. As it immerses itself in increasingly grossforms of matter, it gradually loses first, its rational adjunct,beneath the level of man, and then, itself, beneath the level ofplants, where there is nothing but mineral matter and theAbyssus physicum monadum (see above p.lxxviri).

Being deprived of sensation and ratiocination, the spirit ofnature works "fatally or naturally, as several Gamaieu's wemeet withall in Nature seem somewhat obscurely tosubindicate" (Bk.II, Ch.10, Sec.7). The special virtue of thespirit of nature is sympathetic attraction ("in this sense it isthat Plotinus sayes, that the World is ö p6Tos y6nq. the greatMagus or Enchonter") and its most obvious biologicalmanifestation is as instinct in birds and beasts (Bk. III, Ch.13). That this "Vicarious power of God upon the UniversalMatter of the World" is a real existent rather than "an obscurePrinciple" introduced by him "for lgnorance and Sloth to takesonctuary in" (Preface, Sec. 11) More demonstrates through theinadequacy of mechanical explanations in the case of such acommon physical phenomenon as gravity. He refers inparticular to the theories suggested by Descartes and Hobbes.Descartes in Part IV of the Principia had attributed the descentof heavy bodies to the continual movement of the particles ofthe second element (globuti coelestes) around the surface of theearth which force all the bodies around it towards its centre --just as the natural tendency of the aetherial particles in andaround a drop of water Lo mo_ve in straight lines renders thewaterdrop round (Art. 19).108 More önsidered neither ofthese accounts valid since "there must be some Immaterialcause, such as we call The Spirit of Noture or Inferior Soul of theWorld, that must direct the motions of the Aethereal particles toact upon these grosser Bodies to drive them towards the Earth"(Bk.III, Ch. 13, Sec. 1). The crucial surplus of agitation in thecelestial globules that Descartes had pointed to in Art. 22 wasinadequate in accounting for the centrifugal ascent of theseglobules which according to Descartes (Art. 23), caused the

lOft cf. Fl.J.Aiton's «liscussiotr of "The

A rt ttttls of'^§r'terrrrr, l,( I {)51)), L,7 -,19.

I N',l'lt( ) I ) t l( )'l'l( )N lxxxiii

descent of those bodies constituted of' the third element which

accidentally happened to find themselves in the atmosphere'

By itself sich subtle matter cannot rise to "the middle Region

of tn" Aire and further" (Sec. 2) and cause bodies to descend'

Again, as in the case of his objection to Descartes' theory of

spontaneous motion (see above p.lxix), More insists on the fact

that no maiter, however subtle, can effect movement beyond its

material limitations unless motivated and directed by a potent

spiritual substance that, is in immediate contact with it. As for

tÄe drop of water, even though it be turned round by the action

of the äetherial particles, it will also necessarily be rendered

stationary and "hang in aequilibrio, as a piece of Cork rests on

lhe water, where there is neither winde nor stream, but isequally plaied against by the particles of water on all sides"

(Sec. 1) -- which is contrary to experience'Hobbes' effort to save the Cartesian theory by

emphasizing the diurnal motion of the earth as the cause of the

rise of the aetherial matter (in Part IV of his Elements of

Philosophy, ch.30) leads him to the absurd conclusion that, as

there ii less motion in the latitudes above the equator than at

it, "heavy bodies must descend with less and less velocity as

they are more and more remote from the equator; and that at

fhe poles themselves, they will either not descend at all, or not

desclnd by the axis" (Art. 4). Hobbes stalls at this point

saying that "whether it be true or false, experience must

d"i"rÄi.r". But it is hard to make the experiment, both

because the times of their descenbs cannot be easily measured

with sufficient exactness, and also because the places near the

poles are inaccessible. " The folly of this theory, More promptly

points out, is evident even from ordinary experience "in the

u"ry clime where we live in"(sec. 3). For, according bo

Hobbes' explanation there would not only be no descent of

heavy bodies at the poles, but, even in latitudes below them,,,men cannot walk upright but declining" (sec.4).109 This

simple geometric demonstration allows More to deride opponent

fo. .orädently rejecting all immaterial substance in the world

"whenas in the mean time he does not produce so much as

possible Corporeal causes of the most ordinary effects in

Cartesian Theory of Gravity" inI0l) Sgg itlso More's {ilgrammattc representation of the proIlem on 1l'2(i l'

lxxx iv I N'l'lt( )l) t,( )'l'l( )N

Nature" (Sec. 5).

b. DemonologyMore similarly dismisses the explanation offered by

Descartes of the ascent of fire, of magnetism, and of theformation of "a round Sun or Star" as being beyond thecapacity of brute matter (Bk. II, Ch. 15, Sec. 5 and Bk. III,Ch. 13, Sec. 6). The further examples that he gives of thepower of the spiritus naturd.e, however, are more curious andconstitute More's contribu tion to the current theories onvarious sorts of attraction and biological formation propoundedby such thinkers as Kircher, Digby, Helmont, Harvey andSennert. More employs the spiritus naturae to explain thesympathetic vibrations of strings without the air in between

I being vibrated (Bk. III, Ch. L2, Sec. 6), sympathetic curesi such as magnetic remedies that alter the temparature of a

wound at a great distance (Sec. 3), and the appearance ofsignatures on foetuses owing to the secret desires or fears ofthe mother (Sec. 5).110 The last example is especiallyinteresting since it shows that the plastic part of the soul is notonly responsible for the formation of the foetus in the body, butalso underlies the unity of the rational soul in the commonsensorium and the extended parts of it over the rest of thebody. I think that all these various examples reveal that thebasic action of the plastic power is indeed motion,lll withinthe limits of the rnatter in which it operates. In this respect wemight usefully compare the Plotinian notion of r6)"pd (daring),which seeks to explain the difference of the One into many and

110 Earlier (Bk. [, Ch. 14, Secs. 10-13), More had adduced the case ofsignatures to disprove the possibility of direct astrological influence onhuman affairs, a concern equally evident in Plotinus'Enneades, II, iii,'Whether the stars are causes.'111 More himself seems to have come to this understanding of the Spirit ofNature by the time he prepared his Latin edition of The Immortality of the

Sozl, where, in hts Scholiurn to Bk. I, Ch. 11, Sec. 9, he says: "Whereas itis much more likely, that God immediately imparted Motion, and that notmechanical, but uital, Lo the Spirit of Nature..." The translation is that ofthe 1713 edition of the work in A Collection of Seueral PhilosophicalWritingsof Dr. Henry More, London, 1712- 1713.

lN'l'lt( )l)l l( )'l'l( )N lxxxv

thc vari«rus fbrms that result fi'orn Lhis differentiati«rn. 'l'lte

first movement away from the One is through a daring self-assertion which consttutes the infinite desire of the Intellect.But this desire is also directed simultaneously back to the One,

in an almost static dual process reminiscent of theEmpedoclean doctrine of Strife and Lov e.ttz The result of thistension of primal extension is the world of intellectual Forms.The emanation of Soul from Intellect is similar to that of thelatter from the One. But the rö)"prd of the Soul results in amovement in time, which, in Plato's description, (Timaeus 37d)

is 'a moving image of eternity.' In this Sou[ (More's animarnundi) are contained the seeds of nature which are the i6yot

which it derives from contemplating the Intellect. The Soul'scontinuous movement towards Nature (corresponding to More'sspiritus naturae) under the guidance of Intellectual forms thusproduces the various individual souls found in the universe.That More attributed this movement to rö),pd too is conflrrmed

by his reference to the individual soul's' "wild and audacious

ramble from a more secure state" (Bk. III, Ch. 14, Sec.10). Thecontemplation of Soul by the individual forms or souls of natureis the weakest of all possible contemplations and ,so, resultsonly in sterile material forms which are lifeless andunproductive. This realm of matter is indeed the furthestremove from the One and represents absolute privation ofreality and goodness.

The concept of the spiritus naturae as the pervasiveinferior soul of the world allowed More to develop his ownmodern version of Neoplatonic demonology. It is by the plasticpower that the soul, leaving the terresterial body either duringa disease or at death, extends itself into the aerial matteraround it and activates it in the form of beasts (Bk. III, Ch.

12, Sec. 4) or genii (Bk.II, Chs. l5-L7, Bk.III, passim). Theseat of the plastic faculty in the body is the heart, and so,

passions, rather than the will or imagination, can acteffectively upon the vital congruity that binds soul to body.

During a distemper the bonds of the soul are loosened -- thoughnot entirely severed -- so that the aerial vehicle of the plastic

ll2 cf. Empedocles, Fragments 17'22, 26-36 in Die Fragmente

Vorsohratiher, ed. H. Diels and W. Kranz, Berlin, 1951-1952-

d.er

I N',l'lt( ) I)t J( )'l'loN

For this Earth that is replenisht with living

Ceatures, nay put in all the Planets too that are in

the world, and fancy, them inhabited, they all joyned

together bear not so great a proportion to the rest of

the tiquid Matter of the universe (that is in a nearer

capacity of being the Vehicle of Life) as a single

Cumminseed to the Globe of the Earth' But how

ridiculous a thing would it be, that all the Earth

beside being neglected, only one piece thereof' no

better then the, rest, not bigger then the smallest

seed, should be inhabited? The same may be said

also of the compass of the Aire; and therefore it is

necessary to enlarge their Territories, and con-

frdently to pronounce there ate Aetherial Animals, as

well as Terrestria/ and Aereal." (Bk' II, Ch' 15' Sec'

3).

L 14 cf. Elements of Theology, Props' 113-165'

115 E.R. Dodds, ed,.The Etementsof Theology, Oxford' 1963' p' 259'

lxxxviilxxxvi INTRODUCl'ION

part of the soul is free to exert itself and "pass in the Aire, as

other Inhabitants of that Element doe, and act the part ofseparate Spirits, and exarcise such Functions of the Perceptiue

faculty as they do that are quite released from TerrestrialMatter" (Bk. II, Ch. 15, Sec. 10). The continuity of the plasticpart of the soul and that of the world-soul however ensuresthat the "damp in the Body that loosed the Union of the Soul

being spent, the Soul, by that natural Magick I have more thenonce intimated, will certainly return to the Body, and unitewith it again as firm as everr'(Ibid.).

The theory of the three vehicles of the plastic part of thehuman soul can be traced back to Proclus (Platonic Theology,

[[I, LZSf) 113 b,.rt More is careful to show that Aristotle, too,

maintained a theory of an aetherial element in the sperm of thebody, güot6 d,v6.)"oyou oüocr röt röv äotpu.rv orolletort (De

Generatione Animalium,II, 3). But since Aristotle restricted theelements to two, aetherial and terrestrial, More prefers the latePlatonist formulation and what he considers its most recentmanifestation in Descartes' first and second elemenbs (PrincipiaIV, Art. 2). The conception of three vehicles that could bearthe soul allowed a gradation according to Nemesis from earth-bound souls through aerial ones to angelic (Bk. II, Ch. 14, Sec.

6). For "Eternal Wisdome and Justice has forecasb that whichis the best" and so fashioned our faculties that "When we haverightly prepared ourselves for the use of them, they will have aright correspondency with those things that are offered to themto contemplate in the world" (Ch. 15, Sec. 4).

Another reason for More's insistence on the embodiment ofsouls in different forms of subtle matter is the fact that he

cannot bring himself to believe in totally disembodied souls such

as those "the Platonists call N6es or pure Intellects"(Bk. III, Ch.

l, Sec. 3). This probably refers to the gods in Enneades, IV, iii,11, which are never separated from the inteligible world. ButMore's rejection of this nobion is hardly convincing: "This mustseem hard and incongruous, especially if we consider what

113 For a full discussion of the Platonic and Neoplatonic theories of the

soul's vehicles, see E. R. Dodds, 'The Astral Body in Neoplatonism',

Appendix Il, The Elements of Theology, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1963' pp.

3 13-2 1.

noble Beings there are on this side the N6og or Nöt<. th:rt all

the Philosophers that ever treated of them acknowledge fo be

vitally united with either Aöreal ot Aethereal Yehicles" Ubitl')'He arso denies the existence of procrus' Ö,väöeql l4 ,ulthough this

doctrine is really a very original explanation of the

simultaneous e"isience of any member of a hypostasis as

independent entity and participated divinity. The gväöeq' which

.orr.tit,rte the direct tint with the one at the level of every

hypostasis below the one as well as every series that proceeds

f;; each hypostasis, are real existents and identified byproclus with in. Hellenic gods. More's suspicion of these

metaphysical entities which were, according to E.R. Dodds, "a

last desperate attempt to carry out the policy of Iamblichus and

maintain the united front of Hellenic philosoxEy and Hellenic

religion against the inroads of christianity," t " is thus partly

theological.More',s universe is strictly monotheistic, but the plenitude

of Divine power nevertheness demands that the entire cosmos

be replete with life:

lxxxviii INTRODUCTION

We are reminded here of the Pythagorean epigraph of the title-pege proclaiming llävrcr röv cräpa äpr)"eov eivor yu1öv. Thesediverse souls arg possible precisely because of the differentvehicles that the plastic faculty of the soul possesses. Morefurther clarifies the notion of the soul's vehicles by analogywith the range of powers present in the perceptive faculty ofthe soul. Some of our perceptions are "the very same withthose of Beasts; others little inferiour to those that belong toAngels, as we ordinarily call them; some perfectly brutish,others purely divine: why therefore may there not reside sogreat a Latitude of capacities in the Plastick part of the Soul,as that she may have in her all those three Vital Congruities,whereby she may be able livingly to unite as well with theCelestial and Aereal body as with this Terrestrial one?" (Ch. 15,Sec. 4). Just as the cessation of one thought is immediatelyfollowed by the rise of another, so, too, when the lowest vitalcongruity, the terrestrial, is destroyed, the aerial vehicle isawakened, and, the air outside the body being purer than thatwithin, the perceptive faculty of the soul begins to operate withgreater vigour than before. This persistence of the perceptivepart of the soul as well as of its plastic part in extra-terrestrialconditions is further proof, I think, of the continuous nature ofthe intellectual substance that emanates from the eternal Mind,for it is hard to see how the higher perceptions can be carriedout in the air any more than in the body without the rescogitans eouched in subtle spirits such as those of the fourthventricle.

The empirical 'proofs' that More offers of the supernaturalvoyages of the soul are drawn from either classical historianssuch as Pliny and Herodotus, Renaissance polymaths such asCardano and Scaliger, or demonologists such as Bodin andWeyer. All these examples (Bk. II, Chs. l5ff.) reveal thepeculiar mythologizing nature of More's mind, a quality heshares with most of the Neoplatonists of antiquity as well as ofthe Middle Ages and the Renaissarr.".116 He first dismissesthe possibility of the souls of brutes having aerial or aetherial

116 See, for example, the different aspects of demonology developed inPlotinus, Enneades, III; V, 5-7; Porphyry, De abstinentia, Il, 36ff.;Iamblichus,De Mysteriis; Proclus' Commentaries on Timaeus, Alcibiades

Y#

!!II4

iIII{I

IIIIIj

IN'l'ROI)[i(]'l'l()N Ixxxix

vehicles so as to produce animal apparitions. F'or "fhe Souls tlfBrutes seem to have a more passive nature then to be able t<r

manage or enjoy this escape of Deaih, that free andcommanding Imagination belonging only to us, as als<l

Reminiscency" (Ch. 17, Sec. 7). In other words, though theypossess animal spirits, they lack the finer spirits of the brainwhich are necessary for imagination and reminiscence, whichare the bases of bhe desires which determine the after-life of"intellectual Creatures." This is borne out by such phenomenaas divine ecstasies and dreams, where the mind, struggling to

be free of the body, makes use solely of the pure spirits in thefourth ventricle and "performs some preludious Excercises,conformable to those in her Aiery Vehicle"(Ch. 17, Sec. 9).

This impossibility of the existence of 'animal' genii means theapparitions of animals are due to the transformation of'human' genii into such shapes at will. For, if a person canmove his foot or finger by a mere action of the will whichdirects the animal spirits to the appropriate part of the body,then the soul in its aerial vehicle will be able not only to directthe motions of its fluid particles but also to change theirconformation since "the whole Vehicle of the Soul is in amanner nothing else but Spirits" (Bk. III, Ch. 1, Sec. 11).117

The series of axioms that begin Book III detail theparticular qualities that the soul possesses by virtue of herthree vehicles. Apart from the obvious fact of continuedsensation through the animal spirits, we also note an increasedability to exert her innate power of self-motion in the aerial andaethereal vehicles(Axioms 31, 32, 34) as also to carry outintellectual activity. The sensitive powers of aerial daemonsbear a remarkable resemblance to their terrestrial counterpartsand this ensures that "whatever is the Custome and Desire ofthe soul in this life... sticks and adheres to her in that which is

to come " (Ch. 4, Sec. 4). Since memory is located in the soul

[,Republic; Michael Psellus,De operatione daimonum,' Dante,Purgatorto,Z\;

Ficino,Täeologia Platonica,XVII,XVIII; Cudworth,True InteLlectual Systetn,

III,IV.1I7 More elaborates here the familiar Renaissance analogy of the power oft.he mother's imagination to cause signatures on the foet,us as well its

ur«rnslrous births (Ch. 5, Sec. l1-Ch. 7, Sec. 6).

IN'TRODUCTTON

itself and needs only the spirits to help it, there is nothing tohinder its continuation in the soul's aerial condition. At thesame time, conscience is heightened and the passions itproduces in the extremely sensitive aerial body serve as worsepunishment than death. Conversely, good conduct in this liferesults in "a certain Health and Beauty of the Aereol Vehicles;also better Company and Converse, and more pleasant Tractsand Regions to inhabit" (Ch. 11, Sec. 8). In this view of thelarger workings of providence, as in his view of the origin anddevelopment of souls, More follows Plotinus' account inEnneades, IV, iv, 45:

Anyone that adds his evil to the total of things isknown for what he is and, in accordance with his

kind, is pressed down into the evil which he hasmade his own, and hence, upon death, goes towhatever region fits his quality and all thishappens under the pull of natural forces -. Thus thisuniverse of ours is a wonder of power and wisdom,

everything by a noiseless road coming to pass

according to a law which none may elude - whichthe base man never conceives though it is leadinghim, all unknowingly, to that place in the All wherehis lot must be cast, .. which the just man knows, andknowing, sets out to the place he must,

understanding, even as he begins the journey, wherehe is to be housed at the end, and having the good

hope that he will be with the gods.

The Platonic aristocracy of More' s morality, too, is reflected, inthe conclusion of his paraphrase of this Plotinian passage: "Ofso great consequence is it, while we have opportunity, to aspireto the Best things" (Ch. f 1, Sec. 12).

The rarefied bodies of demons approximate more nearly tothe spiritual substance that gives them life and activity: "Forthey have no less Body then we our selves have, only this Bodyis far more active then ours, being more spiritualized, that is tosay, having greater degrees of Motion communicated unto it;which the whole Matter of the world receives from some Spiri-tual Being or other, and therefore in this regard may be saidthe more to symbolize with that Immaterial Being, the moreMotion is communic:r.ted t<l it" (Ch.2, Sec.9). 'Ihis incrcased

IN',rR( )l)LJo'l'loN

capacity for motion in the aereal daernons allows them n«rt onl.y

to withstand winds and storms but also to derive enjoymelftherefrom (Ch.3, Sec. 10- 15).

The aerial condition of the soul is not eternal, however'

This is because there is an "intrinsecall Principle" in the soul

which determines the "Periodical terms of her Vital Congruity"(Ch. 17, Sec. 3), and these periods the Platonists have

ascertained to be the shortest in the terrestrial condition, many

ages long in the aerial, and for ever in the aetherial. At the

te-rmination of the aerial congruity, the souls that have

continued in their vices are punished with a descent back into

the terrestrial state which is "the profoundest pitch of Death"

while the virtuous rise into an aethereal state. The aetherial

vehicle is one of light and fire corresponding to the fine spirits

of the fourth ventricle. The life of the aetherial beings is

almost divine and cannot be destroyed by either the

conflagration of the world or the extinction of the sun which

were lredicted by the ancients and which More believed as

being not impossible (chs. 18, 19). This freedom from

mundane catastrophies is due to the fact that the soul in itsaetherial vehicle has an extraordinary power not only of

directing but also of moderating the motion of its spherical

particles "by adding or diminishing the degrees of agitation "'ihereby she is also able to temper the solidity thereof' (Ch' 19,

Sec. 5). This allows her to pass from one 'vortex' (or solar

system) to another and "receive the warmth of a new Vesta"

tiUia. ).The aetherial soul is in fact above the reach of Fate,

the worklngs of the Evil Principle of darkness which the

Persians .uilud 'Arimanius' (Ahriman).In this stale where bhe

Divine Mind shines forth through "pure and transparent light,"

the soul has achieved its "true Anoüäortq'"

More's carefully-wrought fantasia on the after-life of the

soul constitutes as important a part of his endeavor toformulate a comprehensive and coherent system of the

universe as his ptäo..rpation with contemporary physics and

physiology. To those that object against the excessive particu-

iu.ity in fris descriptions of the social, political, and moral

circumstances of the aerial amd aetherial beings in Book [II,More replies that his "punctual and rational Description ttf this

future state" is indeed nothing but "an intelligible Hypothesis"

:.rnd supptlrts himsetf with the precedent of the Platonists "

ush.6se imuslinotitse pr(:sages I haue olien obserued to holfl u

xci i I N',l'lt( ) I ) t J()'l'l ( )N

foithfut compliance usith the seuerest Reason" (Preface, Sec. 7).J.A.Stewart, in his book on The Myths of Plato, derides Morefor his "facility of scientific explanation" in his treatment ofspirits.ll8 But we have already seen that the theory of thesoul's vehicles and the unifying power of the spiritus naturae iscarefully and elaborately worked out.rle Besides, "the skillfuluse of 'modern science'," which Stewart recognizes in Plato as"one of the marks of the great master" 12fr flrrrd, a strikingcorrespondence in More's clever deployment of the mostinfluential concepts of contemporary science, namely those ofDescartes and Hobbes, for the purposes of his ChristianPlatonist eschatology. In fact, all that Stewart says of Plato'suse of the cosmological speculations of his age for hisillustrative myth in the Phoedo might be legitimately applied tothe final book of The Immortality of the Soul:

The true object of the Phaedo myth is, indeed, moraland religious, not in any way scientific - its trueobject is to give expression to man's sense ofresponsibility, which it does in the form of a vividhistory, or spectacle, of the connected life-stages ofan immortal personality. This moral and religiousobject, however, is served best, if the history orspectacle, though carefully presented as a creation offancy, is not made too fantastical, but is kept atleast consistent with 'modern science.'

More's moral aim, too, is the same as that of the Platonists.12lFor, knowledge of the Lrue nature of the soul and itsimmortality is conducive not only to an aspiration for the goodbut also to a rational and god-like detachment from thepassions of the world:

118 J.A.Stewart,The Myths of Plato, Carbondale: S.Illinois Univ. Press,1960, p. 1 18.

119 Ralph Cudworth, incidentally, whom Stewart praises for being lesscredulous than More, repeats these theories in his sprawling TrueIntellectual System of the Uniuerse (1678), Vol. I, Ch. 3.

120 Stewarl, op. cit., p. 113.

12L cf . Plotinus, Enneades,III, ii, 15.

I N',l'ltol ) [,( )'l'l ( )N

'I'he fbar and abhorrency therefore we have of Death,and the sorrow that accompanies it, is no argumentbut that we may live after it, and are but due affec-tions for those that are to be spectatours of the greatTragick-Comedy of the World; the whole plot thereofbeing contrived by Infinite Wisdome amd Godness,

we cannot but surmise that the most sad

representations are but a shew, but the delight realto such as are not wicked and impious; and thatwhat the ignorant call Euil in this Universe is but as

the shadowy strokes in a fair picture, or themournful notes in Musick, by which the Beauty ofthe one is more lively and express, and the Melody ofthe other more pleasing and melting (Bk. III, Ch. 15,

Sec. 9).

x(:il t

xciv TNTRODUCTI0N

Textual Introduction

I N',l'lt( ) I )t l( )'l'l( )N

7 Antidote Against Atheism'

I APPendix to the said Antidote'Hisl E nthusias mus T riumPhatus'

lLetters to Des-Cartes, Ec.

I ImmortalitY of the Soul.lC onj ectura C abbalistica.

The second Edition more correct and much enlarged / [rule]

/ {Aristot.Ethic. lib. 10}./ Ei ön üeiov Ö vort npoq töv ävr}porov.

rcri ö rtrrd, roürov gioq rleioq /Lpoq töv avrlpd[tvov Bt6v' / Xpn n

rard, rouq ruagrtvoüvtoq ovrlp6ntvo tppoaleiv nvrlpfunou övtoq' d^Ä'

ärp' öoov ävöä1erat. / onnrlavati(er.v. roi äna,vm noteiv npoq rö (rlvrnrd tö rpauorov röv äv flpriv / \tAnd again Ch. 8 and 7\.1 »FIöö

retrelg äuötlpovla ötr t]eulprlrrrrl dq Öttv äv6pyto, rai ävteüüev äv

qcrvelq, ört roü rleouq / Pä).totcr trneü.figapev praraplouq roi

Eua,rfurtroq eivot ./ oüöä rdp nt ävrlpoxoq äortv. oürrrr ptüretcrl rtq'

riü.I' flt rleiöv rr äv outöt Ünäpxet. i / {LO_NDON), / Printed by

James Flesher, for witliam Morden Book-seller in cambridge, /

MDCLXII.The works in the edition have individual title-pages and

that of the Present treatise reads:

THE / IMMORTALITY / OF / THE / SOUL,/ SO fATTC fOTth AS

it is demonstrable from / the Knowledge of NATURE and the

Lighr of REASON. / [rule1 I by HENRY MORE, D.D. /Fellow of

cirist's college in cambridge. / [rule] I Pythag. fl&vto töv

,i6po äpnl,eov eivat yu1öv, rai roÜtotq Saipovdq rt roi .lp.uoq

votrrl(eo0ut. / Cardanus. I Quid jucundius qud.m scire quid simus,

quid fuerimus, quid erirnus, atque I cum his etiam diuina atque

iupri*o illa pist obitum Mundique uicissi- I tudines? I lrulel I[orrrament:vine openwork] / [rule) I London, I Printed by James

Flesher, for William Morden Book-seller in Cambridge, IMDCLXII.collation : 2o ,2F5-6 , 2G-226, 3A-3c6,3D 1-4 t$4 signed;

leaving 3D4 unsignedl 243 leaves, pp. i-iii, 1-234,-235-245(misprinting AS-Cg as 78-7g). tittu,2F5(2F5v blank).

Dedicatory- Epistle, headed 'To the Right Honourable

Bdward,Lord üiscount Conway and Kilulta, 2F7 -zGL( 2clvbtank). Preface, headed 'The Contents of the Preface,'

2G2-2H2 (2H2v blank). Text, headed 'The Immortality of the

Soul,' 2H3-3C4 Contents, headed 'The Contents of the

several chapters,' 3c5-3D4. catchwords: 2F6 - 3D3

Irregular z to Plant,l Plant; and 206 l.THATl 1. HAT (S.r-(,'.

There are three editions of The Immortality of the soulwhich were published during More',s lifetime, two in English,(the original of 1659 and the second revised edition of L662)

and a third in Latin, ( Irnmortalitas Animae, included in the

Opera Omnia, London, L67 5-1679). The Latin edition was

posthumously translated into English in the fourth edition ofhis Collection of Seueral Philosophical Writings (1712'1713). Allthree editions prepared by More differ substantially from one

another. This is especially true of the Latin edition whichcontains several additional Scholia, many of a ChristianCabalist nature, representative of the increasingly theologicalorientation of More's writings in the 1660's and after.Consequently I have chosen to consider the first two English

editions as a group in the preparation of my edition, since theyconstitute the climactic expression of More's philosophical

thought, before it became overtly theological.of the two English editions of The Imrnortality of the soul,

the flrrst edition is in octavo and has a title page that reads:

lln black and ired)lThe / {IMMORTALITY} / OF / THE / SOUL. / iso farre forthas it is demon-) / strable from the knowledge of NATURE and

rhe Light I of REASON / [rule] I {By HENRY MORE Fellow ofChrist's / College in Cambridge\ I [rule ) I flävta töv üepa

äpn).eov eivot yuXöv, roi toüroq / öcipovaq rt rüi npuoq

vopl(eor]at. Pythag. I Quid iucundius qud.rn scire quid simus,

quid I fuerimus,quid erimus; atque curn his etiam I diuina atque

suprema illa post obitum Mundi- I que uicissitudines? Cardanus./ [rule] I {LONDON, / Printed by J. Flesher, for WilliamMorden / Bookseller in Qambridge, )659. ö

coltation: 8o, Ä2,1st4,;;8;; -28,- ;i-208 , 2PL'4 [g4 signed;

leaving A4 and 2P4 unsignedl 311 leaves, pp. i-xxxuiii, l-549,550-584.(5.".C. M2663, CoPY: PSU.)

I have used as my copy-text the second edition, "morecorrect and much enlarged" which appeared in the 1662 folio

edition of More's philosophical writings, the tible-page of whichreads:[In black and {red}]A / {COLLECTION} / of Several / Philosophical writings I Of I

{Dto HENRY MORE} / trellow of Christ's Colledge inCambridge. I As Namely, /

xcvt I N'I'RODU(]'I'I()N

M2646,, Copy: PSU.).

-F

As More himself declares in letter of March 15, 1662, toLady Conway, he took considerable care to revise his writingsfor the collected edition: "... r took the opportunity to perfectthe Treatises to greater exactness in severall thinges thenbefore ... one maine thing that I pleased my self in aÄong therest was that I had the opportunity, whenever I thought iheremight be the least occasion of offense (which Äy eyesdiscovered to be but very seldome). to alter things =o ,, wouldbe most passable and inoffensive. nt22 y/', collation of the 16sgand L662 editions of The Immortality of the soul123 hasrevealed that More added several sections to the original,sometimes inserting an entire article into a chapter, urä, atothers, modifying or expanding an original article, rn addition,he provided marginal references identifying the sources ofmany of the numerous references in the text to contemporaryand classical authors.

while some of the revisions involve the addition of largesectionsrlnany of them entail the change of merely one word orphrase"* as in as in Bk.II, Ch.I, Sec. g (p.g2) where thesentence beginning "which being..." originally began "Thisbeing ...," or in Bk. II, Ch. 8, Sec. 7,(p.t27)ihere thetransposition of source references from the text in 1659 tomarginal notes in 1662 forces More to add the phrase ,,intoview" in order to conceal the exclusion elegantly. Most of thesesmall changes are corrections of errors of grammar or of style.In Bk.r, ch. 9, sec. 9 (p. s2), for exampte, the second sentencein 1659 had a redundant 'he' in the main clause after theparenthetical phrase "again ...Formes" and, similarly, in Bk. II,ch. 10, sec. 8,(p.137) where the clause after the parenthesis inthe second sentence originally began with an extra relative'that'. Likewise, in Bk. I, ch.14, sec.g (p.25) the addition of

122 Nicolson,Conway Letters, No. 128, p. 1g8.123 Hereafter referred to as 165g and 1662-124 The reader is advised to consult the Textual Notes for completecitations of textual variants.

I N',f ItOl)[ to'l'loN x('vt r

'yet' to the second part of the sentence beginning "But if ..."strengthens the sense of the sentence since the second part of itactually contradicts the first. So, too, in Bk. II, Ch. 6, Sec. 5(p.114), the addition of the final phrase "that is the causethereof in the second edition clarifies the grammaticalconstruction of the last sentence.

sometimes the changes are more than grammaticalcorrections and effect stylistic improvements. In Bk. II, Ch.17, Sec. 9 (p.182), for instance, More altered the epithet'hoppled' to 'entangled', since 'hoppled' is too close in meaningto 'fettered,' which follows it. In Bk. II, Ch. 1, Sec. 8, (p.82)the original phrase " the least reality of which matter canconsist" is deftly reduced to "the least Reality of Matter" in1662. So too, in Bk. II, Ch. 16, Sec. 6 (p.L74), the moreelaborate paraphrase of Baronio in 1659 is trimmed of itscircumlocution in the second edition. In Bk. III, Ch. 9, Sec. 8(p.2a1), the alteration of the phrase "such a white splendour asis discovered in the full Moon" to "such a White faint splendouras is discovered in the Moon" is both more poetic and moreaccurate in that it allows More to contrast the general faintnessof the earth's sphere as observed by the aerial spirits with thebrighter marks on it owing to the "distinction of Land andWater." In Bk. III, Ch. 16, Sec. S (p.283), too, the addition ofthe example of the great distances covered during the earth'srevolution to that of the distances traversed by human beingson the planet is both an imaginative exaggeration for thepurpose of ridicule and a valid scientific observation.

Not all the changes are merely stylistic, however, some ofthe revisions indicate either a greater certainty regarding anissue or, conversely, a greater hesitancy. In Bk. I, Ch. 11, Sec.0 (p.61), for example, More's conviction of the insignificance ofthe planets in relation to the vast amplitude of the universe isshown to have increased by the time of the t66z revision, for,whereas he originally likened them to an "apple" whencompared to "the whole ball of the Earth," he now considersthem to be "as an ordinary grain of Sand." So too, in Bk. [,Ch. 11, Sec. 9 (p.64), the change of "Matter of its own Naturehas no active Principle of Motion" in the 1G5g edition to "noMatter whatsoever of its own Nature has any active Principle ofMotion" bears witness to his increased antipathy towards t,hecontrary doctrine. on the other hand, the change of "is" in thelast sentcnce of Bk. [, Ch. 11, Sec. 6 (p.G2), to "seems" reveals

x(:viii IN',l'lto[)tJo'l'l()N

a greater caution on the part of More in offering historicalprecedent as evidence against a scientific possibility. That thequestion of the self-destruction of the world if matter wereinstinct with moüion exercised him considerably at the time ofthe revision is seen from his insertion of another sentencerelating to it in the next article, "For thus they would avoidthat hasty and universal Conflagration there inferred," and,more importantly from the addition of an entire article (No. 8,p.63) designed to dismiss the hypothesis of the existence of adivine matter that can circumvent the destruction of the world.The addition of Sec. 3 in Bk. II, Ch. 1 (p.78), which denies thepower of cogi tation to matter is also directed by the sameaversion to any form of matter being considered divine.

In Bk. III, Ch. 12, Sec. 3 (p.256), the addition of thequalification "if it will prove true" to his example of thesympathetic fermentation of wines shows that More was indeedless credulous than some readers may infer from a rapidreading of his works and was careful in his revision to makeevident his judicious use of stories of supernatural effects. Thisis confirmed by his new division of Sec. 10 (p.268) in the nextchapter, dealing also with the sympathetic powers of the Spiritof Nature, where he juxtaposes the more acceptable scientificexample of magnetic motion to that of the working of wines inorder to highlight the innate similarity between these twoactions.

One other form of stylistic change needs to be mentioned:the reduced use of the term "Your Lordship" in the 1662Epistle Dedicatory to Lord Conway, and the change of thevalediction from "Your Honours humbly devoted Servant" to "Your Lordships humbly deuoted Seruant" (p.3). This rephrasingof the original letter can scarcely be attributed to any newrepublican tendencies in More, for, throughopj, his life,monarchical order was a rational ideal for him. rzb The onlyplausible reason for this change is that More sought to renderhis formal style more concise in the later edition and, also, toeffect a certain symmetry between the valediction of thisEpistle Dedicatory and that to Lady Conway in An Antidote

125 cf. Nicolson, "Christ's College and the Latitude Men," MP,2'1, (August1929), p.39.

IN'l'ßOl)tJO'l'lON xt'tx

ogainst Atheisme which, in both 1653 and 1662, is signod

"Your Ladiships humbly-devoted Servant."In one or two instances, the revisions correct errol's «lf'

meaning in the original edition, as in Bk II Ch. 16 Scc 7

(p.175), where "they" is substituted for "it" in the last part o('

the third sentence since the pronoun in this case should refer t<l

the "others" whose opinions is being discussed here, whereas

"it" would tend towards "bhe Soul" for its antecedent, therebymaking nonsense of the sentence. similarly, in Bk. III, Ch.

15, Sec. 7 (p.277), the inadvertent fusion of the two words "in,clogg'd" in the 1659 edition is corrected in the second edition,though this is already noted in the Errata listed at the end of1659. Since the sentence would not be grammatically wrongeven with the mistake though it would not have signifiedwhat More intended -- it is probable that this error and the

other seven included in the Errata of the 1659 edition wererecorded by More himself.

Among bhe larger additions to the 1662 edition, two are inthe form of answers to possible objections to his views. For

example, in the Preface, Sec 10 (p.16), he elaborates on the

contradictions involved in the notion of a single, percipient,world-soul by focussing on the physiological mechanism ofindividuals. In Bk. II, Ch. L, Secs. 3 and 4, are added to

discuss more comprehensively the materialists' assumption of asingle, corporeal principle in the universe. The additions thusform a continuation of More's treatment of this subject in Sec.5

of the Preface. Most of the other additions are clarifications ofscientific or philosophicat points, as in Bk. II, Ch. 1, Sec. L4

(p.85), where he emphasizes the contamination of colours thatwould result if the percipient were a corporeal point in the opticnerve by adding the condition "especially if it [i.e. the object] be

nigh and very small."In Bk. II, Ch. 5, Sec. A (p.110), his addition of the phrase

"Some (suppose) before and others behinde" to the remark thatimaginations are formed of impressions received in the brainshows a more precise knowledge of current physiologicaltheories. While, in Bk. II, Ch.8, Sec. 13 (p.130), his furtherdescription of the nerves as "one continued Receptacle or Case

of that immediate instrument of the sensiferous motions of the

Soul, Lhe Animol Spirits, wherein also lies her hidden Vehicle oftife in this mortal body," is both a reiteration of the pervasiveactivil,y ofl the animal spirits as lhe instrument of the rational

lN'l'Ro[)tJC'I'l0N

soul and a more profound, Platonic, conclusion to the Chapter.Also helpful are the short, passage added in Bk. II ch. 10, sec.8(p.137), in which he demonstrates the sensible explanation ofthe experience of pain that the continuity of animal spirits inthe body affords, and the phrase "which is interessed in allPlastick powers" in the first sentence of Bk. II, ch.10, sec, 7(p.137), which reveals that the correspondence between theAnima mundi and the animal spirits is by virtue of the plasticand motive powers of both.

Not all the clarifications are highly significant, however.The addition of the sentence "whence the Sun, the Stars andPlanets would appear to us in that bigness they really are of,they being perceiv'd in that bigness by those parts of the Soulof the world that, are at a convenient nearness to them" in Bk.III, ch. 16, sec 7 (p.283), is a repetition of a point made inmany similar ways earlier in the same chapter and in Sec. 10of the Preface, too. on the other hand, the inclusion of asection describing "the Will and Essence of her [i.e. the soul,s ]Creator" in the next section (p.288) is indeed of specialimporbance in understanding the skillful approximation thatMore effects between emanation and creation (cf. Commen taryNotes, p.37 5).

Apart from these additions, there is one very longelaboration of the diverse ways in which the Spirit of Natureoperates through the instincts of animals (Bk. III, ch. 18, sec.9). It may seem curious that More should have added a wholearticle at this point since in the original edition, even with hisbriefer discussion of the same subject, he had felt that he hadtired his audience, saying, "But this argument being toolubricous, I will not much insist upon it." But the detaileddiscussion of the instinctual habits of birds and insects showsthat More realized that this manifestation of the Spirit ofNature was the most convincing proof of its existence. particu-larly, the evidence of the use of nidification for the preservationof the species rather than the individual seemed to point to theworking of a providential agent geared to "the Conservation ofthe Whole." In another instance (Bk. II, Ch. 1, Sec. g), More,srevision of the 1662 edition involves the omission of an articlefrom the original and the substitution of a new passage. Theoriginal is, in fact, the record of an interesting physicalexperiment he seems to have conducted himself proving theultimate distortion of images when reduced to an infiniteiimal

IN',f ItOI)tJO'l'lON

point. The revision, on the other hand, is apart from itsspecific reference to "one real line of motion" directed to thcpoint a more far -fetched and derisive dismissal of thealternative theory.

The revisions that More made for the second edition a.re

thus present throughout the work and often involve, as wehave seen, the change of just one word or phrase either tocorrect some grammatical or stylistic error or to suit somenewly added material. The latter form of revision is due, also,in a couple of instances, to the different paragraphing of the1662 edition. For instance, in Bk. II, Ch. 11, Sec. S (p.L42),the second paragraph beginning "Wherefore I shall conclude ..." was part of the first paragraph in 1659 and read "Andtherefore I shall conclude..." So too in the opening of Bk. III,Ch. 3, Sec.fa (p.2Og). The rearrangement of the paragraphsinto smaller units results in a clearer and more logical patternof exposition, as in Bk. I, Ch. 2, Sec. 11 -- to give but oneexample where all three paragraphs of the article wereoriginally run into one paragraph, whereas the new schemeeffectively moves from an initial discussion of the essentialproperties of a spirit, penetrability and indiscerpibility, to anexplanation of the resulting "fourth Mode" of spissitude, and onto the extraordinary final example of 'motion' as spiritualextension. Similarly, the punctuation of the revised edition is,also, clearer and more careful, as in Bk. I, Ch. 2, Sec. 12(p.28), where the second parenthesis in the first sentenceoriginally included the clause beginning "which with ... " whenit should be restricted, as it is in 1662, to the discussion of'Indiscerpibility' and'Impenetrability.'

Given the minute nature and ubiquity of the revisions, it istempting to think that More actually provided the printer witha new manuscript. The reference to the great strain of revisionin his letter to Lady Conway (cited above p.xlvi) seems to pointto a transcription of the entire treatise, especially since theexpression he uses to describe it, "This edition has cost me athird part of the paines of writing the books" is the same asthat used in his letter of March, 1658,"o in relation to thetranscription original version of the Immortolity of the Soul

ci

126 cf . Nicolson, Contuay Letters, No. 85, p. 145.

(:lll

cll lN'l'Rol)tJC'l'loN

shortly after its composition. However, since More'smanuscripts are apparently not extant, it is difficult toascertain whether More branscribed the entire work again forhis printer or allowed him to work from the original editionalong with a list of revisions submitted in manuscript.

This question is further obscured by the fact that theorthography of 1662 is altered considerably from that of 1659.The first edition has a greater number of words with doubledfinal consonants, such as "aethereall," "vitall," or "universallr"and verbs and substantives with the archaic addition of a mute'er' such as t'findertt "doertt and ttsoule.tt As these 'quainter'spellings reflect More's own spelling habits as revealed in hisletters habits that persisted right through the sixties andseventier.l2Tit ir likely that the ipelling changes evident in1662 are due to the inclination of the printer or his need tojustify the lines. Another feature of the second edition whichmay be attributed to More with a little more certainty (unlessthe printer were an especially perceptive reader) is the moreconsistent capitalization and italicization of substantives andbheir attributes for the sake of emphasis) especially when theyrepresent metaphysical or scientific entities such as Motion,Sight, or Incorporeal.

In my edition, I have followed the paragraph scheme, thepunctuation and the spelling of the 1662 edition without, in anyinstance, indicating their original forms. In a few cases wherethe spelling or numbering of the second edition is clearly faulty,I have emended the L*t.128 I have also made certaintypographical alterations silently: display capitals have beenreplaced by ordinary ones, long 's' by modern 's', andRenaissance Greek contractions have been expanded.

I have removed all of More's marginal references from mycext, and have reproduced them in my Commentary Notes.

127 cf . More's letters in Nicolson, op. cit., passim.

128 The four instances where I have emended the text are the eruoneous

spellings Definitiuö in Bk. I, Ch.9, Sec.10 (p.53) and Victualle'rs in Bk. II,Ch. 16, Sec. 1 (p.170), and the misprinting of Sec. 10 as 15 in Bk.II , Ch.

1l(p.150) and Sec. 13 as 12 in the summary of sections at the head of Bk.

III, Ch. r (p.191).

I N'l'RO l)[ l( )'l'loN

To facilitate reading, I have

Greek and Latin quotations

paraphrased bY More himself'

translated in mY Nobes all

not translaied or closelY

THE

OF

THE SOUL,So fare forrh as it is demon{hable from

the. Knowledge ofN A T u n e andtheUgTrtofREAso.N.

ByHENRT M0RE,D.D.Fcllow oF Cbrtt? s College in Canbridge.

v,ina, + ;iü lprneotT il#l ö tl.w Np,ni 'tt i ,p,«lb qa

'olttcza4' cardaous.

tu:*T;if frT#l:;ff 't'#:;1;:'#';r,;':'X,:it:,'"f,li;trlincs ?

IMMORTALITY

L O N D O N,Priotcd by if nn c t f klhcr, for Wi lti nm M or dc n Book-ßllcr io C tnlr i dgc,

M DC LXII.

To the Right HonourableEDWARD,

Lord ViscountCONWAY and KILULTA.

My Lord,Though I be not ignorant of your Lordships aversness from allAddresses of this kinde, (whether it be that your Lordship hastaken notice of that usual Vanity of those that dedicate Books,in endeavouring to oblige their Patrons by over-lavish praises,such as much exceed the worth of the party they thusummeasurably commend; or whether it be from a naturalModesty that cannot bear, no not so much as a justrepresentation of your own Vertues and Abilities; or lastly froma most true Observation, That there are very few Treatiseswrit which are any thing more then mere Transcriptions orCollections out of other Authors whose Writings have alreadybeen consecrated to the Name and Memory of some otherworthy Persons long since deceased; so that they do but after amanner rob the dead to furnish themselves with Presents tooffer to the living) Yet notwithstanding this your averseness, orwhatever grounds there may be surmised thereof, I could notabstain from making this present Dedication. Not so much Iconfess to gratify your Lordship (though it be none of the bestComplements) as for mine own satisfaction and content. For Ido not take so great pleasure in any thing as in the sense andconscience of the fitness and sutableness of mine own actions;amongst which I can finde none more exactly just and befittingthen this; there being many Considerations that give you apeculiar right and title to the Patronage of this presentDiscourse. For besides your skill in Philosophy and realsense of Piety, two such Endowments as are rarely to be foundtogether (especially in Persons of high quality) and yet without,which matters of this nature can neither be read with an.yrelish nor easily understood; there are also other things stillmore peculiar, and which naturally do direct and determine mrrto the choice I have made. For whether I consider the manycivilities from your self and nearest Relations, especially ft'omyour noble and vertuous Lady, whom I can never think on but,with admiration, nor mention without the highest respect: or'whether I recollect with my self the first occasion of' busyirrgmy thoughts upon this Subject, which was then when I had Lhc

l0

l5

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:t0

:|5

4|t

10

'fhe Epistle Dedicatory.

honour and pleasure of reading Des-Cartes his Passions withyour Lordship in the Garden of Luxenburg to pass away thetime, (in which Treatise though there be nothing but what ishandsome and witty, yet all did not seem so perfectly solid andsatisfactory to me but that I was forced in some principalthings to seek satisfaction from my self:) or lastly, call tominde that pleasant retirement I enjoyed at Ragley during myabode with you there; my civil treatment from that perfect andunexceptionable pattern of a truly Noble and Christian Matron,the Right Honourable your Mother; the solemness of the Place,those shady Walks, those Hills & Woods, wherein often havinglost the sight of the rest of the World, and the World of me, Ifound out in that hidden solitude the choicest Theories in thefollowing Discourse: I say, whether I considered all thesecircumstances, or any of them, I could not but judge them morethen enough to determine my choice to so Worthy a Patron.

Nor could the above-mentioned surmises beat me from mydesign, as not at all reaching the present case. For as for mypart, I am so great a Lover of the Truth, and so small anAdmirer of vulgar Eloquence, that neither the presage of anygross advantage could ever make me stoop so low as to exposemy self to the vile infamy or suspicion of turning Flatterer, noryet the tickling sense of applause and vain-glory, to affect thepuffy name and title of an Orator. So that your Lordshipmight be secure as touching the Firsf surmise.

And verily for the Second, though I confess I might not beat all averse from making a just and true representation ofyour Vertues and Accomplishments; yet considering thegreatness of them, & the meanness of mine own Rhetorick, Ifound it nof so much as within my power, if I would, toentrench upon your Modesty; and therefore I must leave it tosome more able Pen bo doe you and the World that rightwhether you will or no.

And lastly, for that scruple concerning the theft or pettysacriledge of several Plogiaries, who, as it were, rob theMonuments of the dead to adorn the living; it is the onely thingthat I can without vanity profless, that what I offer to you isproperly my own, that is to say, that the invention, applicationand management of the Reasons and Arguments comprised inthis Book, whether' flor conflulation or confirmation, is thegenuine lesult of my own rrnxi«lus and thoughtful Mind, no oldst,ufT llrrrloint'tl or br)r'l'«)wt'rl fj'orn otht't' Wt'it.r'r's. What, trtrL[r

L5

2A

25

30

35

40

The EPistle DedicatorY'

and solidity there is in my Principles and.Reasonings were to«r

great a piece "i;r;"ganc; for me to predetermine. This must

be left ro the j"d;;;;"ß of such free and discerning spirits as

yourLordship."witt,whomifwhatlhavewritmyfindacceptanceorafavourablecensure,itwillbethegreaterobligation and encouragement to'

l»

MY Lord,

Your Lord.ships humbly deuoted Seruant'

HENRY MORE.

t0

10

?äe CONTENTS of the Preface

I. The Title of the Discourse how it is to be understood. 2. TheAuthor's submission of his whole Treatise to the infallible Ruleof Sacred Writ. 3. A plain and compendious Demonstrationthat Matter consists of parts indiscerpible. 4. An Answer to anobjection touching his Demonstration against the sun'ssuperintendency over the affairs of the Earth. 5. Aconfirmation of Mr. Hobbs his opinion, That Perception isreally one with Corporeal Motion and Re-action, if there benothing but Matter in the world. 6. An Apologie for theVehicles of Daemons and Souls separate . 7. As also for hisso punctually describing the State of the other life, and socuriously defining the nature of a particular Spirit. 8. Thathis E/ysiums he describes are not at all Sensual, but Diuine. g.That he has not made the State of the wicked too easy for themin the other world. 10. That it is not one (Jniuersal Soul thathears, sees and reasons in every man, demonstrated from theActs of Memory. 11. of the spirit of Nature; that it is noobscure Principle, nor unseasonably introduced. Lz. That hehas absolutely demonstrated the Existence thereof. 18. Thatthe admission of that Principle need be no hinderance to theprogress of Mechanick Philosophy. 14. The great pleasure ofthat study to pious and rational persons. 15. Of whatconcernment it would be if Des-Cartes were generally read in allthe universities of Christendome. lG. An excuse of theprolixity of his Preface from his earnest desire of gratifying thepublick, without the least offence to any rational or ingenuousSpirit.

That the present Treatise may pass more freely and smoothlythrough the hands of men, without any offence or scruple to thegood and pious, or any real exception or probable cauil from thosewhose Pretensions are greater to Reason then Religion; I shallendeauour in this Preface to preuent them, by bringing here intouiew, and more fully explaining and clearing, whateuer I conceiueobnoxious to their mistakes and obloquies.

l.And indeed I cannot be well assured but that the uery Titleof my Discourse may seem liable to both their dislihes. To thedislihe of the one, as being confident of the contrary Conclusion,ond therefore secure That that connot be demonstroted to be true,uthich they houe long siru:e juclgecl not utorthy to be rechonecl in

The Preflace.

the ranh of things probable; it may be not so much os of things

possible. To thi d,islike of the other, as being already perswaded

Lf tt, truth of our Conclusion upon other and better grounds:

which would, not be better, if the natural light of Reason coulcl

afford Demonstration in this matter. And therefore they moy 5

iäpU pretend,, that so ambitious a Title seems to justle with the

ntsi brerogatiue of Christianity, which has brought life and

immortality to light.But oi the firmer I demand, By what Faculty they are made

so secure of their being wholly mortal. For unless they will 10

ridiculously conceit themselues inspired, whenas they almosf os

little betieie there is either God or Spirit, as that they haue in

them an Immortal Soul, they must either pretend to the

experience of Sense, or the clearness of Reason. The former*irrrof is impossible; because these bold deniers of the t 5

Immortality of the Soul haue not yet exprienced whether we

subsist afti, Death or no. But if they would haue us belieue they

haue thus concluded, upon rational grounds; I dare appeal unto

them, if they can produce any stronger Reasons for their Cause

then what I haue iet down for them, and if I haue not fully and 20

fundamentally answered, them. If they will say their confidence'proceeds

fro^ the weah arguings of the aduerse party; I onswer,^it

rs weahly done ,f them, (their own Arguments being os

unconcluding as they can fancy their aduersaries) to be so secure,

that Truth is on their own part rather then on theirs- But this 25

can touch onely such managements of this Cause as they houe

seen already aid censured. But that is nothing to me, who could

neüer think I stood safe but upon my own legs. Wherefore I shall

require them onely to peruse what I haue written before they

,riturc to judge thereof; and after they haue read, if they u;itl 30

declare thal I iou, not demonstrated the Cause I haue undertook,

I think it reasonable and just, that the punctually shew in what

part or joynt of my Demonstration they discern so weah a

coherence as sh,ould embolden them still to dissent from the-

Conclusion. ill-r

But to the other I answer with more modesty ond

submission, That the Title of My Book doth not necessarily imply

an promise of so full and perfect o Demonstration, that nothing

can be added for the firmer assurance of the Truth; but onelv that

there moy be expected as clear o Proof os Natural Reason utill 40

affortl us. From which they should rather infbrre, 'fhat I do

cu.,hnoutleclge a lfurther ond o more polpahle euident't:

15

25

30

35

40

The Preface.

comprehended in Christian Religion, and more intelligible andconuictiue to the generality of the World, utho haue neither leisurenor inclination to deal with the spinosities and anxieties ofhumane Reason qnd Philosophy. But I declined the making use

5 of that Argument at this time; partly because I haue a design tospeak more fully thereof in my Treotise of the Mystery ofChristian Religion, if God so permit; and partly because it wasunsutable to the present Title, which pretends to handle the matteronely within the bounds of Natural Light, unassisted and

10 unguided by any miraculous Reuelation.2. which will be a pleasant spectacle to such os houe o

Genius to these kinde of Contemplations, and wholly withoutdanger; they still remembring that it is the uoice of Reason andNature, (which being too subject to corruption may uery well be

15 defectuous or erroneous in some things,) and therefore neuertrusting their dictates and suggestions, where they clash with theDiuine oracles, they must needs be safe from atl seduction:though, I profess, I do not know any thing which I assert in thisTreatise that doth disagree with them. But if quicker-sighted

20 then my self do discouer any thing not according to that Rule, itmay be an occasion of humble thonkfulness to God for that greatpriuiledge of our being born under an higher and exacter light:whereby those that are the most perfectly exercis'd therein, areinabled as well to rectifie uthat is peruerse, as to supply what is

25 defectuous in the light of Nature; and they haue my free leaueafore-hand to doe both throughly all along the ensuing Discourse.

And this may serue by way of a more general Defence. Butthat nothing may be wanting, I shall descend to the mahing goodalso of certain Particulars, as many as it is of ony consequence

30 further to clear and confirm.3. In the First Book there occurre onely these Two that I am

aware of. The one concerning the Center of a particular Spirit,whose ldea I haue described, and demonstrated possible. Theother concerns my Demonstrotion of the Impossibility of the

35 sun's seeing any thing upon Earth, supposing him merely' corporeal. In the mahing good the former, I haue tahen theboldness to assert, Thot Matter consists of parts indiscerpible,understanding öy indiscerpible parts, porticles that haue ind,eedreal extension, but so little, thot they cannot houe less and be ony

40 thing at all, o.nd therefore connot be octuolly diuided. whichminute Extension, if you utill, yott may call Essential (as beingsuch thot uithout that meosure of it, the rrcry Being of Matter.

'fhe Preface.

connot be conseraed,) as the extension of ctny MitLLer compoundedof these you may, if you please, term Integral; these ports ol' thiscompounded Matter being actually and really sepontble on().

from onother. The Assertion, I confess, cannot but seem

paradoxical at first sight, euen to the ingenious and judir:iotrs.

But that there are such indiscerprble particles into uthich Matfcris diuisible, viz. such as haue Essential extension, and yet houe

parts utterly inseparable, / shall plainly and compendiously here

demonstrate (besides what I haue said in the Treatise it seU') by

this short Syllogism.Thot which is actually diuisible so farre as actual diuision

any tDay can be made, is diuisible into parts indiscerpible.But ld.attnr( I mean that Integral or Compound Matter) is

actually diuisible as farce as actual diuision ony way con be

made.It were a folly to goe to proue either my Proposition or

Assumption, they being both so clear, that no common notittn inEuclide is more clear, into which all MathemttticulDemonstrations are resolued.

It cannot but be confessed therefore, That Matter consists ttf'indiscerplble particles, and thot Physically and really it is notdiuisible in infinitum, though the parts that constitute Qn

indiscerprble particle are real, but diuisible onely intellectuoll.y;it being of the uery essence of whatsoeuer is to haue Parts orExtension in some measure or other. For, to toke owoy ollExtension, is to reduce a thing onely to a Mathemotical pttint,which is nothing else but pure Negation or Non-entity; ond the.re-

being no medium betwixt extended and not-extended, no more

then there is betwixt Entity and Nonentity, it is plain that if' othing be at all, it must be extended, And therefore there is unEssential Extension belonging to these indiscerprble particles ol'Matter,' which was the other Property which was to be

demonstrated.I know unruly Fancy will mahe mad work here, ond

clamour against the Conclusion os impossible. For FiniteiExtension (will she say) must needs haue Figure, ond Figureextuberancy of parts at such o distance, that we connot ltutconceiue them still actuolly diuisible. But we answer, That ushen

Matter is once actually divided as force os possiÖ l.y it t:on, it is tt

perlbct contradiction it should be diuided ony fLrther: os it is o/.so

that it <:onnot be diukled octuoLl.y us ldrre os it (:on oclttoll,.y lrc

diukled. And no stntrtl4er Demonstnüi<»n then this ogttirtst llu'rn.

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con be brought against us by either Fancy or Reason : ondtherefore supposing we were but equal in our reasoning, this isenough to giue me the day, who onely contend for the possibilityof the thing. For if I bring but fully as good Demonstration thotit is, as the other that it is not, none can deny me but that thething is possible on my side.

But to onswer the aboue-recited Argument, though they canneuer answer ours; I say, those indiscerprble particles of Matterhaue no Figure at all: As infinite Greatness has no Figure, soinfinite Littleness äas none also. And a Cube infinitely little inthe exactest sense, is as perfect a contradiction as o Cubeinfinitely great in the same sense of Infinity; fu the Angleswould be equal in magnitude to the Hedrae thereof. Besides, utisemen are assured of many things that their Fancy connot but playtrichs with them in; as in the Inflrnity o/ Duration and of MatLer,or at least of Space. Of the truth whereof though they ore neuerso certain, yet if they consider this infinite Matter, Space, orDuration, as diuided, suppose, into three equal parts (oll whichmust needs be infinite, or else the whole utill not be so) the middlepart of each will seem both finite and infinite; for it is bounded otboth ends. But euery thing has two handles, os Epictetus notes;and he is a fool thot will burn his fingers with the hot hondle,when he may hold safe by the other that is more tractable ondcool.

4. Concerning my Demonstration of the Impossibility of theSuns being a Spectator of our particular affairs upon Earth,there is onely this one objection, viz. That though the Sunindeed, by reason of his great distance, cannot see any particulorthing upon Earth, if he kept altuays in that ordin&ry shope inwhich u)e should suppose that, if he were deuoid of sense, he

would doe; yet he hauing life ond perception, he may change somepart of his Body ( as we do our Eye in contracting or dilating thepupil thereof) into so aduantageous a Figure that the Earth maybe mode to appear to him os bigge o.s he pleases.

Though some would be more ready to laugh at, then onswerto, so odde a surmise, which supposes the Srzn blinhing o.ndpeering so curiously into our affairs, as through a Telescope; yetbecause it comes in the way of reasoning, I shall haue the patienceseriously to return this Reply.

First, Thot this Objection can pretend to no strength at oll,unless the Body of the Sun ruere Organical, as ours is; whenas heis nothing äu, fluid Light; so thot unless he hath a spiritual

Being in him, to which this Light should be but the Vehicle, this

arbiirorious figuring of his fluid Matter cannot be effected' But ttt

gront there is any such incorpore al Substonce in täe Sun, is ttt

iUU uthat I contend for,viz. That there are [mmaterialSubstances in the World- World- r'

But that there is no such Diuine Principle in him, tuhereby he

can either see us, or aim at the producing o.ny apporition on the-

Earth in reference to any one of us, by the actiuity of that Spirit in

him, it is apparent from the scum and spots that lie on him:

Which is os great an Argument that there is no such Diuinity in I0

him as some would attribute to him, (such os Pomponatius,

Cardan, Vaninus and. others) as the dung of Owls and Sparrou)s,

that is found on the faces and shoulders of ldols in Temples' are

clear euid,ences thet they are but dead Images, no true Deities'

Lastly, though we should suppose he had a particular I l-r

sentient and inteiligent Spirit in him, yet the consideration of the

uast distance of the Earth from him, and the thickness of her

Atmosph ere, with other disaduantages I haue already mentionefl

in my Treatise, mahes it incredible that he should be able to

fro*i his Body into ony Figure so exquisite as will compensote 20

these insuperable dfficulties-5. In my Second Book the first Exception is concerning the

20th Axioml, u;hich, say they, I haue not proued, but onely

brought in the testimony of Mr Hobb s for the support thereof;

uthich therefore onely enobles me to argue utith him upon his own 'Zlt

Principles, wherin others will hold themselues unconcerned' But

I onswer, first, thot it utill concern all his follouters as well as

hinself, so that it is no contemptible uictory to demonstrate o.gninst

all those so confident Exploders of Immaterial Substances, That

their own achnowledged Principles uiilt necessarily inferre the. l]0

Existence of them in the World. But itt the next place, it will not

be hard, to prod,uce undeniable Reasons to euince the truth of' the.

aboue-na^id A*iome, uiz. That Sense and Perception in Motter,

and supposing nothing but Matter in the World, is really the

same wilfr Corporeal Motion and Re-action. il5

For it ts plain in Sensation, there being alwoyes external

motion from ibjects when our Senses are affected. And tfuü I

inward. Cogitation is thus performed, appears from the heaL tfur.t I

Thinking casts a mon into: Wherefore generally all C<>giLatign t.s

orro*pinied,tith motion corporeal. And if'there be nrtthin,4 but 40

Body Lr Matter in the World, Cogitation it self'is reollv the xtmtthing utith CorPoreal Motion.

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Moreouer as in Sensation the Corporeal Motion is first, ondPerception follows; so it is necessary that uniuersally in ollinternal Cogitations o/so certain Corporeal Motions immediatelyprecede those Perceptions, though we did admit that Mattermoued it self: For no Sense utould thence arise without resistanceof something it hit against. Insomuch that räe subtilest Matterunresisted or not imprest upon, would be no more capable ,fCogitation then o Wedge of Gold or Pig of Lead. And therefore ifwe will but confess (what none but mad men would uenture todeny) that a Pig of Lead or Wedge of Gold hos not ony Thoughtor Perception at all without some lznock or allision proportionableto their bigness and solidity, the subtilest Matter must likewisehaue none without some proportionable impression or resistance.Whence it is plain that alwaies corporeal Re-action or Collisionprecedes Perception, and that euery Perception is a h,ind ,ffeeling, which lasts so long os this resistance or impress ,fmotion lasts; but that ceasing, is extinguish'd, the Mattnr beingthen as stupid as in a Pig of Lead. And that therefore as ingeneral there is olwaies Corporeal motion where there isCogitation, so the diuersification of this motion and collisioncouses the diuersification of cogitations, and so they run hand inhand perpetually; the one neuer being introduced without thefore-leading of the other, nor lasting longer then the other lasteth.But o.s heat is lost: (which implies os considerable motion oragitation of some uery subtile Matter,) so our Understandin g andImagination decayes, and our Senses themselues fail,as not beingable to be moued by the impression of outword Objects, or as notbeing in a due degree of liquidity ond agility, and therefore indeoth our Bodies become as senseless as a lump of clay.

A// Sensation therefore and Perception is really the samewith Motion and Re-action of Matter, if there be nothing butMatter in the world.

And that euery piece of Matter must perceiue according as itself is moued, uthether by it self (if it were possible) or bycorporeal impress from other parts, is plain, in that Matter äosno subtile rayes, or any power or efflux streoming beyond it self,lilee that which the Schools call species intentionales, nor yet anyunion more mysterious then the mere Juxta-position of parts.

For hence it is manifest that there can be no communicationof any impress that one part of the Matter receiues or is affectedwith from onother o.t a distance, but it must be by jogging orcrouding the ports interjacent. So that in euery regord corporeal

10

Motion or Re-action, with sullicient tenuity of parts ond dtre

duration, utill be the adequate cause of all perception, if there. be.

nothing but Matter in the world. This I thinh may sullice toossure ony indffirent man of the truth of this part of M' Hobbshis Assertion, if himself could make the other part true, 'l'hat l)

there is nothing existent in Nature but uthot is purelvcorporeal. But out of the former Pafi, which is his ownochnowledged Principle, I houe undeniobly demonstrated thotthere is.

6. The other Exception is ogainst that Opinion I seem to l0embrace touching the Yehicles of Daemons and Souls separate,as hauing herein offended against the authority of täe Schools.And I profess this is all the reason I can imagine that they can

haue against my Asseftion. But they tuay, if they please,

remember that the Schools trespass against a more ancient 15

authority then thamselues, that is to sa!, the Pythagoreans,Platonists, Jewish Doctours, and the Fathers of the Church,who all hold That even the purest Angels have corporealVehicles. But it will be hard for the Schools to alledge onyancient Authority for their Opinion. For Aristotle their great 20

Oracle is utterly silent in this matter, as not so much as belieuingthe Existence of Daemons in the world (as Pomponatius andVaninus his sworn disciples haue to their great contentment takennotice of:) And therefore being left to their own dry subtilties, they

haue made o// Intellectual Beings that are not grossly tercestrial, Zlt

os Man is, purely Immaterial. Whereby they make a uery

hideous Chasme or gaping breach in the order of things, such os

no moderate judgment will euer allow of, and ho.ue become ueryobnoxious to be foiled by Atheistical wits, who are forward ondskilful enough to draw forth the absurd consequences that lye hid :]0

in false supossitions, as Vaninus does in this. For he does not

foolishly collect from the supossed pure Immateriolity ofDaemons, that they haue no knowledge of particular things uponEarth; such purely Incorporeal Essences being uncapable ofimpression from Corporeal Objects, and therefore haue not the l)5Species of any particular thing that is corporeal in their mind.Whence he infers that all Apparitions, Prophecies, Prodigies, ancl

whatsoeuer miraculous is recorded in ancient History, is not to be

ottributed to these, but to the influence of the Sfors,' arud .so

concludes that there are indeed no such things os Daemons in the 41)

Uniuerse.

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By which kinde of reasoning also it is e@sy fo, thePsychopannychites ro support their opinion of the släep of theSoul. For the Soul be utterly rescind,eä from oil thot is corporeal,and hauing no uital union therewith at all, they will be uery prone

5 to infer, that it is possible she should, hnow any thing ad extra, ifshe can so much os dream. For euen the powe, olro may seemincompetible to her in such a state, she hauing such an essentialaptitude for uitol union with Matter. of so su"t consequ.ence isit sometimes to desert the opinion of fäe Schools, when simething10 more rationol and more safe ond useful offers it self unto us.

7. These are the moin objections my First and second, Boohseem liable unto. My last I cannot but suspect to be moreobnoxious. But the most common Exception I firesee that will beagainst it, is, That I haue taken upon me to describe the state of15 the other world so punctually and particularly, as if I hod beenlately in it: For ouer-exquisiteness moy seem to smell of art andfraud. And os there is a diffidency mony times in us when wehear something that is extremely sutable to our d,esire, being thenmost ready to thinh it too good to be true; so also in Notions that20 seem ouer'Q.ccurately fitted to our Intellectual faculties, and. agreethe most naturally therewith, u)e are prone many times to suspectthem to be too easy to be true; especially in thiigs that seemed atfi,rst to us uery obscure and intricate. For which cause olso it jsuery lihely that the Notion of a particulor spiri t, which I lwue so25 accurately described in my First Book, may seem the less crcdibleto some, because it is notD made so clearly intelligible, theythinhing it utterly improbable that these thiigs, that haue beenheld alwaies such inextricable perplexities, siould be thus of asuddoin made manifest and familiar to any that has but a30 competency of Patience and Reason to peruse tie Theory.

But for my own part, I shoil not assume so much to my self,as peremptorily to affirm that the Indiscerpibility of a

-Spi.lt

arises that way that I haue set down, that is io say, that God, hasmade a particular Spirit just in that manner that I haue35 delineated. For his wisdome is infinite, and, therefore it were animpious piece of boldness to confine him to one certain way offraming the nature of a Being, that is, of endowing it with suchAttributes as are essential to it, as Indiscerpibility-is to täe Soulof Man. But onely to haue said in grnrrol, It is possible there40 may be a particular Essence of its immed,iate natire penetrableand indiscerpible, and notparticularly to haue d,escribed themanner how it may be so,' might houe seemed, to many more

slight oncl unsotisfor:tory, Deceit lurhing in (Jniuersols, es tht:Prouerb has it. Ancl therefore fbr the more l"lly conuincing ol'theoduerse porty, I thought fit to pitch upon o punctual descriptionof some one way, hous the Soul of Man or of o Daemon may be

conceiued necessarily indiscerpible, though dilatable; not being 5uery sollicitous whether it be just that way or no, but yet utellassured that it is either that way or some better. But this one

way shews the thing possible at large: ( As that meo.n

contriuance of an Indian Canoa might proue the possibility ofNouigation.) And that is all that I was to aim at in that place; l0sauing that I had also a zeal for the credit of the Platonists,whose imaginatiue presages I haue often obseraed to hold a

faithful compliance with the seuerest Reason. And I think I haue

here demonstrated that their Fancy is not at all irrational in so

usually comparing Form or Spirit to the radiant Light. 15

So in my description of the state of the other world, I o.m

not uery sollicitous whether things be just so os I haue set themdown: but because some men utterly misbelieue the thing, because

they can frame no particular conceit what the Receptions andEntertains of those Aerial Inhabitants may be, or hous they poss 20away their time; with many other intricacies which use toento.ngle this Theory; I thought it of main concernment to tokeaway this Objection against the Llfe to come (uiz, That no mancan conceive what it is, and therefore it is not at all, which isthe ordinary Exception also against the Existence of all 25Incorporeal Substances) by a punctual and rational Descriptionof this future state. Which I exhibite to the world os onintelligible hypothesis, and such os may uery well be, euen

according to the dictates of our own Faculties, being in the meontime fully asssured, that things are either thus, or after o better :]0or more exact order. But, os I said, to propound someparticular probable way, I thought it of no small seruice to thosewho totally distrust all these things for that reason mainly, os

being such as we can mahe no rational representation of to theUnderstandings of men. 3Ir

8. But there ore also particular Objections. The ftrst uhereofis against our aerial and Aethereal Elysiums, uhich forsooth, tomahe their reproach more witty, they will porollel utith theMahomeLan Po.radise. But besides that I do in the uery placewhere I treat of these things suspend my assent after the 40description of them, there is nothing there offered in theirdescription, but, if it tuere assented to, might become the most

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refined spirit in the World. For there is nothing more certointhen That the Love of God and our Neighbour is the greatestHappiness that we can arrive unto, either in this life, or thatwhich is to come. And whateuer things are there described, areeither the Causes, Effects or Concomitants of that noble anddiuine Passion. Neither are the External incitements thereto,which I there mention, rightly to be deemed Sensual, butIntellectual.' For euen such is a/so sensible Beauty, whether itshew it self in Feature, Musick, or whateuer gracefulDeportments and comely Actions, os Plotinus äas well defined.And those things that are not properly Intellectual, supposeOdours and Sapours, yet such a Spirit may be transfused into theVehicles of these Aerial Inhabitants thereby, that may morethen ordinarily raise into act their Intellectual Faculties. Whichhe that obserues hous ou,r Thoughts and Inclinations dependimmediately on a certain subtile Matter in our Bodies, will not atall stich to acknowledge to be true. And therefore whateuer ourBlysiums seem to the rash and injudicious, they are really noother thing then pure Paradises of Intellectual pleasure, DivineLove and bl,ameless Friendship being the onely delight of thoseplaces.

9. The next objection is concerning the state of the Wicked,os if I had made their condition too easy for them. But thismethinks any mon might be hept off from, if he would butconsider, that I mo.he the rack of Conscience worse then aperpetually-repeated death. (Which is too-too credible to come toposs there, whenas we finde whot execution Passions will doeupon us euen in this life; the Sicilian Tyrants houing not foundout a more exquisite torture then they. And as for those Sou/sthat haue /ost the sense of Conscience, if any can doe so, I haueallotted other punishments that are more corporeal, and littleinferiour fo the fire of that greot Hell thot is prophesied of, as theportion of the Deuils ond the damned at the last Day. By whichneither then nor before could they be tortu,red (if we appeal tohumane Reason, uthom olone we oppeal to,os judge in thisTreatise) if they were not uitally united with corporeal Vehicles.

10. The two last Exceptions ore, the one touching tÄe Soul ofthe World, the other täe Spirit of Nature. The first is againstour ouer-fouourable representotion of their Opinion that malze butone Soul in the whole Uniuerse, induing her with Sense, Reason,ond Understanding; which Soul they will huue to act in allAnimals, Doemons themselues not excepted. In all which, say

they, il i.s One and the si.rme L]nivers:rl Soul that Hears, Sces,Reirsons, Understands, .Oc. This Opinion I thinh I houe conlhtedin this Third Booh, os sufficiently os ony one Error can be

conluted in all Noturol Philosophy. And that fauourablerepresentotion I haue mode there of it, has thot in it, wherebyunless a man be uery remiss and mindless, he moy easitydemonstrote the falsness of the supposition. For though we moywell enough imagine how, the Body being unchanged, and thisSoul of the Universe exquisitely the same euery where thotthough the party change ploce, and shift into another part ot''theSoul of the World, he may retain the same Opinions,Imaginations and Reasonings, so fare forth as they depend noton Memory (this Universal Soul raising her self into the sameThoughts upon the same Occasions;) yet Memory is incompetibleunto that part which has not had the Perception before of what isremembered. For there is necessarily comprehended in Memorya Sense or Perception that we haue had a Perception or Sense

afore of the thing which we conceiue ourselues to remember.To be short therefore, and to strike this Opinion dead at one

stroke; They that say there is but one Soul of the World, whoseperceptive Power is euery where they must ossert, that what onepart thereof perceiues, all the rest perceiues; or else thotperceptions in Daemons, Men and Brutes are confined to thatpart of this Soul that is in them, while they perceiue this or thot.If the former, they are confutable by Sense and Experience. Forthough all Animals lie steeped, os it u)ere, in that subtile Matterwhich ru,ns throu,gh all things, and is the immediate Instrumentof Sense and Perception; yet we are not conscious of one anothersthoughts, nor feel one anothers pains, nor the pains and pleasuresof Brutes, when they are in them at the highest. Nor yet do theDaemons feel one anothers affections, or necessarily assent to one

anothers opinions, though their Vehicles be exceeding peruiotts;else they would be all Avenroists, as well as those thot appeoredto Facius Cardanus, supposing any were. Wherefore we maygenerally conclude, that if there were such on Universal SouI, yetthe particular perceptions thereof are restrained to this or thcttpart in which they are made: which is contrary to räe Unity of aSoul, as I haue olready said in its due place.

But let us grant the thing ( for indeed we haue demonstrotedit to be so, if there be such an Universal Soul, and none but it)then the grand Absttrdity comes in, which I was intimatingbelitre, to utit, Thot thot part ol'the Soul of the World that nerser

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t7l6 The Preface.

perceiued a thing, shall notwithstanding remember it, that is tosa)/, that it shall perceiue it has perceiued that which it neuerperceiued: And yet one of Japan may remember a countreymanarriued thither that he had not seen nor thought of for tutentyyears before. Noy, which is more to the purpose, supposing theEarth move, what I write now, the Eorth being in the beginningof Aries, I sholl remember that I ho.ue written when she is in thebeginning of Lrbra, though that part of the Soul of the World thotpossesses my Body then will be twice os distant from what doesguide my hond to write now, o.s the Eorth is from the Sun.

Nor con the plainness of this Demonstro.tion be eluded byany Euasion whatsoeuer. For First, if we should odmit that therebe certain Marks sealed in the Brain in the seeing or consideringthis or that Object, whereby the Soul would impress täe Memorythereof upon her more deeply; the uirtue of remembring by thiswould be in that she had once joyned such a Thought orRepresentation with such an impress or Mo.rk, otherwise it wouldouoil nothing. Wherefore tlre Soul of the World, in B suppose,not hauing joyned such o. Representation utith this Mark in theBrain as she did in A, can remember nothing thereby. For it isutterly unconceiuoble how o.ny Figurotion or Motion whatsoeuer inthe Broin can represent to the Soul a Perception os perceiu'dheretofore, ,f the Sou/ her self has heretofore hod no suchPerception. For there con be no Basis of this ref'lexive andcomparaLive Act bttt the foregoing Perception of which the Soul isstill consciotts: Of uthich she connot be conscious, if she neuerperceiu'd it. Whence it is ploin that these supposed Morks haue

not o capacity in them to impose upon the Soul of the World inB, so os to make her conceit she had a Perception of a thing,when indeed she neuer hod.

But then again in the Second place, It is uery euident Thatthe power of Memory does not consist in such Marks or Figuresin the Brain, nor in any Ylbration or Motion there, as I haue

sufficiently proued in the follouting discourse. Which furtherassures us, That Memory is wholly in the Soul her self, andthat She is the sole Repository of oll the Perceptions she has had;and thot therefore fäe Soul of the World cannot perceiue her selfto ho.ue perceiued a thing when she has not perceiued it.

And Thirdly and lastly, It is hence also manifest (I meon

from Memory being seated onely in the Soul her self, she o.ctingin this, as in oll other functions, onely by uirtue of o. fit tenour of'Spirits on<l due te.mpe.r of- Brain) Tfutt the Bocly chonging pku:e

'l'hc Preface.

from A to B, that part of the Soul of the World in it ot B utillhoue the remembrance of such things as were neuer perceiued inA, and forget, or rather haue no knowledg" of, what the SouL

perceiued there; ond thot therefore by changing place a man maychonce to become in a moment an excellent Physician, l»

Mo.thematician, or the like, or of a sudden become a Sott, and lose

all his learning; uthich is the lihelier of the tuto. For the Fruits of'that Meditation and Study are lost, when once the Body hos lelithat part of the Soul of the World which did thus study ondmeditate. So possible is it thot euery man should not houe o t0particular Soul of his own.

Nor can this Errour in the Soul of the World, of perceiuingshe has perceiued when she has not be argued possible in her

from the adherence of that perpetual deemed mistake in ourOutward Senses,' as that ute feel o pain, suppose, in our finger, or lIrwhite upon the wall; whenas there is neither white in the one,

nor pain in the other, but only in our Common Percipient whichis confined within our Brain. For it is apparent that if this be anErrour, yet there is a plain and necessory Foundation thereof.

For as when u)e thrust o Cane agoinst the ground, ue 20necessarily feel different feelings,' one when against Grauel,another against Stone, and a third against Mud or Earth, andfeel them also at tha d,istonce of the Cane: So also is it in,.Colours,' ,äe Mediurn betwixt the Object and the Eye being as theCane, and the uariety of feeling ot the end of the Cane like that 25uariety of Colours; of which there is a necessory causality in theuariety ,f the surfaces of the objects; uthich the CommonPercipient must needs perceiue, and at such a distance as theMedium engages, as it utas before in the length of the Cane. So

that to perceiue such differences at that distance they are and :i0where they doe causally exist, is not so much an Errour as aTruth. And there is the some reason in tichlings or prichings inony part of the Body: For it is true that those differences are alsocausolly there; and therefore our Perception is rightly corriedthither; For there is there that harshness and dis-hormony to ll5Noture, which the Sou! cannot perceiue but utith an harsh ondpainlilll perception, not only by reason of her interest and uitollunion with the Body, but also from the speciall noture of'thePerception it seff'.

So tfuü it seems to me nn hord Censure to sclv the Soul d<tes 40miskthe in lhese l)erccptions.' und if' she do in some sort, .yt:t utt'ttrn lrru't, tht rt,rct'.s,s(r/'y orul dek:r'minote Oouse, ttrul thot both ucr\

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palpable and uery intelligi'ble. But for this Enour ol'the Sottl of'the World perceiuing, suppose in B, that she hos perceiuetlwhat notwithstonding she neuer perceiued, it is o thing quite of'another kind, and an entire and undoubted mistohe of which noimaginable Cause con be produced that should lead her into it.Whence it follows that she neuer commits it; and that therefore thereflexive Art of Memory, which does firmely assure us of aforegoing Perception, (no other Faculty hauing any power orpretence to euidence the contrary,) does necessarily inferr, Thateuery man hos a Particular Soul of his own, and that such anUniversal Soul, e.s the Avenroists foncy, will not salue allPhaenomena.

And yet I dare say this wild Opinion is more tenable thentheirs that moke nothing but mere Matter in the world. But Ithought it worth the while u;ith all diligence to confute them both,the better of them being but a more refined kinde o/ Atheism,tending to the subuersion of all the Fundamentals of Religion andPiety omongst men.

11 . As for the Spirit of Nature, the greatest exceptions are,That I haue introduced an obscure Principle for lgnoronce andStoth to take sanctuo.ry in, ond so to eneruote or foreslack theuseful endeauours of curious Wits, and hinder that expectedprogress that moy be made in the Mechanick Philosophy; andthis, to aggrauate the crime, before a competent search be modewhat the Mechanical powers of Matter can doe. For whatMechanical solutions the present or foregoing Ages could notlight upon, the succeeding may; and therefore it is as yetunseasonoble to bring in any such Principle into NaturalPhilosophy.

To which I onswer, That the Principle u;e speak of is neitherobscure nor unseasonable; nor so much introduced by me, as

forced upon me by ineuitable euidence of Reason. That ir is noobscure Principle, the clear Description I houe giuen of it in myTreatise will make good. Against rahich I know no imoginableexception, unless it may seem harsh to any one that a Substancedevoid of all sense and perception, and therefore uncopable ofpremeditated contriuance, should be supposed fit to form theMatter into such exquisite organization. But this con oppear nodfficulty to him that duly considers that uhat Phantasme is toour Soul, that Fabrick is to the Spirit of Nature.' and that o.s thetenour of our Spirits (which are but subtile matter) will cause theSoul immediately to exert it self into this or thot Imagination, no

Itnotul«lH( trr premetlitution interceding; so such or sru,h u

ltrt,Ttrtratiltn <tr Jtredisp<tsition of'the Matter of'the W<trld utill cottset/rr: Spiri[ «rf' Nature fo loll upon this or that kinde o/'Fabricationtrr Org:-tnization, no perception or consultation being interposed.

'l'h<tsr: thot pretend thot the introduction of this Principle isunseäsonable, I demond uf them u;hen they will thinh it to be

seasonable. I,'or this simple surmise, That olthough all theMechanical solutions of some Phaenomena tuhich houe been

hitherto offbr'd to the world be demonstrobly false, yet future Agesmoy light upon what is true; con be hetd nothing else by thejudiciotts, but a pitiful subterftrye of feorful Sou/s, that ore ueryloath to let in any such affrightlitl Notion os on Immaterial orSpiritual Substance into the world, t''or fear the next step must be

the ocknowledgment o.lso of a Cod; from whom they wottld foinhide themselues by this poor o.nd preco.rious pretence. But I soy,if the introduction of this Principle be not seasonable now, it Luiltneuer be seosonable. For that admirable Moster of MechanicksDes-Cartes äos improued this way to the highest, I dare soy, thatthe Wit of mo.n cen reach to in such Phaenomena os he hasottempted to render the Causes of. But how in sundry possageshe falls short in his account, I houe both in the foreruamed andfollouting Chapter, as olso elsewhere, tahen notice. I will insto.ncehere onely in the Phaenomenon of Gravity, wherein I think Ihoue perfectly demonstrated that both He ond Mr. Hobbs ore quiteout of the story, ond thot the Causes they assign are plainlyfolse. And thot I ho.ue not mentioned the Opinions of others inthis woy, it wos onely because I look'd upon them os lessconsideroble.

12. But you'l say that though these be all mistaken, yet itdoes not follow but that there may arise some hoppy Wit that utiltbe a true Mechanical solution of this Probleme. But I answer,That I haue not onely confitted their Reosons, but also fromMechanical Principles granted on all sides and confirmed byExperience, demonstrated that the Descent (suppose) of o Stone,or Bullet, or any such like heauy Body, is enormously controry tothe Laws of Mechanicks,' and that according to them they utouldnecessarily, if they ly, loose, recede lrom the Earth, and be

carried clwoy out of our sight into the farthest ports of the Aire, if'some Power more then Mechanical did not cttrb thot Motion,ond force them downutards towards the Earth, so thot it is pkimthat we haue not orbitrariously introduced a Principle, but tfuü itis ft>n:ed uppn us by the undeniable euident:e of' I)emonstration.

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From which to suspend our assent till future Ages haue

improued this Mechanical Philosophy to greater height, is asridiculou.s, @s to doubt of the truth of any one plain and easyDemostration in the first Boolz of Euclide, till we haue trauelledthrough the whole field of that immense study of Mathematichs.

13. Nor lastly needs the achnowledgment of this Principle todamp'our endeauours in the search of the Mechanical causes ofthe Phaenomena of Nature, but rather mahe us more circumspectto distinguish uthat is the result of the mere Mechanical powersof Matter and Motion, and what of an Higher Principle. Forquestionless this secure presumption in some, That there isnothing but Matter in the world, has emboldened them too rashlyto uenture on Mechanical solutions where they would not hold,because they were confident there were no other solutions to be

had but those of this hinde.14. Besides that to the Rational and Religious there is a

double Pleasure to carry them on in this way of Philosophy: Theone from the obseruation how far in euerything the Concatenationof Mechanical causes will reach; which will wonderfully gratifietheir Reason: the other frcm a distinct deprehension where theymust needs breah off, as not being able alone to reach the Effect;which necessarily leads them to a more confirmed discouery of the

Principle we contend for, namely the Spirit of Nature, uthich isthe Yicarious power of God upon the Matter, and the first step tothe abstrusest Mysteries in Natural Theologie; which must needs

highly gratifie them in point of Religion.15. And truly for this uery cause, I thinlz it is the most sober

and faithful aduice that can be offered to the Christian World,that they would encourage the reading of Des-Cartes in allpublick Schools or Uniuersities. That the students ofphilosophy may be throughly exercised in the just extent of theMechanical powers of Matter, how farre they will reach, andwhere they fall short. Which will be the best assistance toReligion that Reason and the Knowledge of Nature can afford.For by this means such as are intended to sente the Church willbe armed betimes with sufficient strength to grapple with theirproudest Deriders or Opposers. Whenas for want of this, we see

how liable they are to be contemned and born down by euery bold,though wealz, pretender to the Mechanick Philosophy.

16. These are the main Passages I could any way conceiuemight be excepted against in the ensuing Discourse: which yetare so innocent and firm in themselues, and so aduantogeously

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circumstantiated in the places where they are found, that I lbarthe Reader may suspect my judgement and discretion in puttingmyself to the trouble of writing, and him of reading, so long ondneedless a Preface. Which ouersight though it be an orgument of'

no great Wit, yet it may be of such Humanity, and of an earnestdesire of doing a publick good without the least offence or dis'satisfaction to any that are but tolerable Retainers to Reoson andIngenuity. But for those haue bid a dieu to both, and measure allTruths by their own humour some fancy, making euery thingridiculous that is not sutable to their own ignorant conceptions; Ithinh no serious man u;ill hold himself bound to tahe notice oftheir peruerse constructions and mis-representations of thingsmore then a religious Eremite or deuout Pilgrim to heed the uglymows and grimaces of Apes and Monkies he may haply meet within his wearisome passage through the Wilderness.

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TheIMMORTALITY

ofTHE SOUL

Chap. I.

l. The Usefulness of the present Speculation for the understandingof Prouidence, and the manogement of our liues for our greatestHappiness; 2. For the moderate bearing the death and disastersof our Friends, 3. For the begetting true Magnanimity in us, 4.and Peace and Tranquillity of Mind. 5. That so weighty a Theoryis not to be handled perfunctorily.

1. Of all the Speculations the Sou/ of man can entertainher self withall, there is none of greater moment, or of closerconcernment to her, then this of her own Immortality, andIndependence on this Terrestriall Body. For hereby not onelythe intricacies and perplexities of Prouidence are made moreeasy and smooth to her, and she becomes able, by unravellingthis clue from end to end, to pass and repass safe through thisLabyrinth, wherein many both anxious and careless Spiritshave lost themselves; but also (which touches her own interestmore particularly) being once raised into the knowledge andbelief of so weighty a Conclusion, she may view from thisProspect the most certain and most compendious way to herown Happiness; which is, the bearing a very moderate affectionto whatever tempts her, during the time of this her Pilgrimage,and a carefull preparing of her self for her future condition, bysuch Noble actions and Heroicall qualifications of Mind as shallrender her most welcome to her own Countrey.

2. Which Belief and Purpose of hers will put her in anutter incapacity of either enuying the life or successes of hermost imbittered Enemies, or of ouer-lamenting the death ormisfortunes of her dearest Friends; she having no Friends butsuch as are Friends to God and Vertue, and whose AfTlictionswill prove advantages for their future Felicity, and theirdeparture hence a passage to present possession thereof.

()hap. l. 'l'lrc Irnrnort,lrlit,.y «rf' t,ht' Sotrl.

:]. Whercfore, being fully grounded and roobed in this stt

concerning a Perswasion, she is flreed from all poor and obiet:tthoughts and designs; and as little admires him that gets themost ofl this World, be it by Industry, Fortune or Policy, as i-r

discreet and serious, man does the spoils of School-boyes, itbeing very inconsiderable to him who got the victory at Cocksor Cob-nut, or whose bag returned home the fullest stuffed withCounters or Cherry-stones.

4. She has therefore no aemulotion, unless it be of doinggood, and of out-stripping, if it were possible, the noblestexamples of either the present or past Ages; nor any contest,unless it be with her self, that she has made no greaterproficiency towards the scope she aimes at: and aiming atnothing but what is not in the power of men to confer upon her,with courage she sets upon the main work; and being still morefaithfull to her self,and to that Light that assists her, at lasttasts the first fruits of her future Harvest, and does more thenpresage that great Happiness that is accrewing to her. And so

quite from the troubles and anxieties of this present world,staies in it with Tranquillity and Content, and at last leoues itwith Joy.

5. The Knowledge therefore and belief of the Immortalityof the Soul being of so grand Importance, we are engaged morecarefully and punctually to handle this so weighty a Theory:which will not be performed by multiplying of words, but by ..

more frugall use of them; letting nothing fall from our pen, butwhat makes closely to the matter, nor omittimg any thingmateriall for the evincing the truth thereof.

Chap. II.

l. That the Soule's Immortality is demonstrable, by the Authorsmethod, to all but mere Scepticks. 2. An illustro.tion of his FirstAxiome. 3. A confirmation and example of the Second. 4. Anexplicotion of the Third. 5. An explication ond proof of theFourth. 6. A proof of the Fifth. 7. Of the Sixth. 8. An exampleof the Seuenth. 9. A confirmotion of the truth of the Eighth. 10.

A demonstration ancl exomple of the Ninth. 11. Penetrabilitythe immedktte f:>roperty of' Incorpttreal Substance. 12. A.s oLstt

lndisct:rpibility. I 3. A prool' ond illustration of- the Tenth Axinmt'.

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'.[»24 'l'he Imrnortality 0f'Lhe S«rul. lj«xrk I Olrirp. ll. 'l'hc lrntn«rt't,rrlil,.y ol' l,lrc Sotrl.

eternall Sceptic.isme. As for example, [f aftcr a man has argucdf«rr a Gorl and Prouidence., from the wise contrivance in ühc

frame of all the Bodies of Animals upon earth, one sh«ruld

reply, That there may be, for all this, Animals in Satttrn,Jupiter, or some other of the Planets, of very inept fabricks;Horses, suppose, and other Creatures, with onely one Eye, and

one Eare, ( and that both on a side, the Eye placed also wherethe Eare should be,) and with onely three Leggs; Bulls and

Rams with horns on their backs, and the like: Such allegationsas these, according to this Axiome, are to be held of no force atall for the enervating the Conclusion.

AXIOME III.All our Foculties haue not a right of suffrage for determining ofTruth, but onely Common Notions, Externall Sense, and euident

ond undeniable Deductions of Reason.

4. By Common Notions I understand whatever is

Noematically true, that is to say, true at first sight to all men intheir wits, upon a clear perception of the Terms, without anyfurther discourse or reasoning. (From Externall Sense I excludenot Memory, as it is a faithfull Register thereof.) And byundeniable Deduction of Reason, I mean such a collection of one

Truth from another, that no man can discover any looseness or

disjoyntedness in the cohesion of the Argurnent.

AXIOME IV.What is not consonant to oll or some of these, is mere Fancy, andis of no moment for the euincing of Truth or Falsehood, by eitherit's Vigour or Perplexiueness.

5. I say mere Fancy, in Counter-distinction to such

Representations as, although they be not the pure Impresses of

some reall Object, yet are made by Rationall deduction fromthem, or from Common Notions, or from both. Those

Representations that are not framed upon such grounds, I call

mere Fancies; which are of no value at all in determining olTruth. For if Vigour of Fancy will argue a thing true, then all

the dreams of mad-men must goe for Oracles: and if the

Perplexiueness of Imaginotion may hinder assent, we must nr;L

believe Mathemanatical demonstration, and the ltiu"Proposit,ion oI t,he 3d Book of Euclicle will be confideint,ly

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1. And to stop all Creep-holes, and leave no place for thesubterfuges and evasions of confuted and cavilling spirits, Ishall prefix some few Axiomes, of that plainness and evidence,that no man in has wits but will be ashamed to deny them, ifhe will admit any thing at all to be true. But as for perfectScepticisme,it is a disease incurable, and a thing rather to bepitied or laught at, then seriously opposed. For when a man isso fugitive and unsetled, that he will not stand to the verdict ofhis own Faculties, one can no more fasten any thing upon him,then he can write in the water, or tye knots of the wind. Butfor those that are not in such a strange despondency, but thatthey think they know something already and may learn more, fdo not doubt, but by a seasonable recourse to these few Rules,with others I shall set down in their due place, that they witl beperswaded, if not forced, to reckon this Truth, of theImmortality of the Soul, amongst such as must needs appearundeniable to those that have parts and leisure enoughaccurately to examine, and throughly to understand that I havehere written for the demonstration thereof.

AXIOME I.What euer things are in themselues, they ore nothing to u,s, but so

for forth as they become hnown to our Faculties or Cognitiuepowers.

2. This Axiome is plain of it self, at the very firstproposal. For as nothing, for example, can concern the Visiuefaculty, but so far forth as it is uisible; so there is nothing thatcan challenge any stroke to so much as a touching, much lessdetermining, our Cognitiue powers in generall, but so far forthas it is cognoscible.

AXIOME II.Whatsoeuer is unknown to us, or is known but as merely possible,is not to moue us or determine us any wa!, or make usundetermined; but we are to rest in the present light and plaindetermination of our owne Faculties.

3. This is an evident Consectary from the foregoingAxiome. For the Existence of that that is merely possible isutterly unknown to us to be, and therefore is to have no weightagainst any Conclusion, unless we will condemn our selves to

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concluded to contain a contradiction.AXIOME V.

Whateuer is clear to any one of these Three Faculties, is to be heldundoubtedly tru.e, the other hauing nothing to euidence to thecontrary.

6. Or else a man shall not be assured of any sensibleObject that he meets with, nor can give firm assent to suchTruths as these, It is impossible the same thing should be, andnot be, at once Whateuer is, is either finite, or infinife; and thelike.

AXIOME VIWhot is rejected by one, none of the other Faculties giuingeuidence for it, ought to goe for a Falsehood.

7. Or else a man may let pass such Impossibilities asthese for Truth, or doubt whether they be not true or no, viz.The paft is greater then the Whole; There is something that isneither finite nor infinite; Socrates is inuisible; and the like.

AXIOME VII.Whqt is plainly ond manifestly concluded, ought to be heldundeniable, When no dfficulties are alledged against it, but suchas are achnowledged to be found in other Conclusions held by allmen undeniably true.

8. As for example, suppose one should conclude, Thatthere may be Inftnite Matter, or, That there is Infinite Space, byvery rationall arguments; and that it were objected onely, thatthen the Tenth part of that Motter would be Infinite; it beingmost certain That there is Infinite Duration of something orother in the world, and that Lhe Tenth part of this Duration isInflrnite; it is no enervating at all of the former Conclusion, itbeing incumbred with no greater incongruity then isacknowledged to consist with an undeniable Truth.

AXIOME VIII.The Subject, or nahed Essence or Substance of a thing, is utterlyunconceiuable to any of our Faculties.

Ohugr. Il. ')7

9. F or fhe evidcncing of' this Truth, fhere needs nothingmore then a silent appeal io a mans owne Mind, if he do n«rt

find it so; and that if he take away all Aptitudes, Operotions,Properties and Modifications from a Subjecf, that his concepti«rnthereof vanishes into nothing, but into the ldeo of a mereUndiuersificated Substance; so that one Suästance is not thendistinguishable from another, but onely from Accidents orModes, to which properly belongs no subsistence.

AXIOME IX.There are some Properties, Powers and Operations, immediotelyappertaining to a thing, of which no reasons can be giuen, norought to be demanded, nor the Way or Manner of the cohesion ofthe Attribute with the Subject cqn by any means be fancyed orimagined.

10. The evidence of this Axiome appears from the former.For if the nahed substance of a Thing be so utterlyunconceivable, there can be nothing deprehended there to be aconnexion betwixt it and it's first Properties. Such is ActuolDiuisibility and Impenenetrability in Matter. By ActuolDiuisibility I understand Discerpibility, gross tearing or cuttingone part from another. These are Immediate Properties ofMatter; but why they should be there, rather then in any otherSubject, no man can pretend to grre, or with any credit aske,the reason. For Immediate Attributes are indemonstrable,otherwise they would not be Immediate.

11. So the Immediate Properties of a Spirit or ImmaterielSubstance are Penetrability and Indiscerpibility. The necessarycohesion of which Attributes with the Subject is as tittledemonstrable as the former. For supposing that, which Icannot but assert, to be evidently true, That there is noSubstance but it has in some sort or other the Threedimensions; This Substance, which we call Matter, might aswell have been penetrable as impenetrable, and yet have beenSubstance: But now that it does so certainly and irresistiblykeep one part of it self from penetrating another, it is so, weknow not why. For there is no necessary connexion discerniblebetwixt Substance with three dimensions, and Impenetrabilitv.For what some alledge, that it implies a contradiction, thatExtended Substance should run one part into another; for sio

part of bhe Extension, and consequently of the Sruä.stun<:e, w«lulrl

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2ti 'l'he Immortality o['the Soul. Oh:rp. l l. 'l'Jrc ltntn«lt't,rrlit..y rlf' t,Jtt' Soul-

capacity in Extension for Penetration as Discerption) | conceive,

I r,.y, iro* hence we may as easily admit that sorne Substaru:e

mai be of it self Indiscerpible, as well as others Impenetroble;

^rrj thut as there is one kind of Substance, which of it's own

nature is Impenetrable and Discerpible, so there may be another

Indiscerpibli and Penetrable. Neither of which a man can give

any other account of, then that they have the Immediate

Properties of such a Subject.

AXIOME X.

The discouery of some Power, Property, ot Operotion'

incompetible to one Subject, is an infallible argument of the

Existince of some other, to which it must be competible.

13. As when Pythagora.s was spoken unto by the River

Nessus, when he passed over it, and a Tree by the command of

Thespesion the chief of the Gymnosophists saluted Apollonius in

a distinct and articulate voice, but small as a womans; it is

evident, I say, That there was something there that was

neither Riuer nor Tree, to which these salutations must be

attributed, no Tree nor Riuer having any Faculty of Reason nor

Speech.

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ChaP. III.

l. The general Notions of Body ond Spirit. 2. Tha.t the Notion

of Spiril is altogether as intelligible as that of Body. 3- Whether

ther) be any substance of o mixt nature, betwixt Body ond Spirit' :]0

1. The greatest and grossest obstacle to the belief of the

Immortality if the Soul, is that confident opinion in some, as ifthe very notion of a Spirit were a piece of Non-sense and

perfect Incongruity in the conception thereof. Wherefore io ll5

p.oceed by degrees to our maine designe, and to lay our

ioundation low and sure, we will in the first place expose to

view the genuine notion of a Spirit, in the generall acception

thereof; u.td uftuwards of seueralt hinds of Spirits: that it may

appear to all, how unjust that cavill is against Incorporeal 40

Substances, as if they were mere Impossibilities and

contradictious [nconsistencies. t will deflrne therefore a Spirir in

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be lost; that, I say, (if nearly looked into) is of no force. For theSubstance is no more lost in this case, then when a string isdoubled and redoubled, or a piece of wax reduced from a longfigure to a round: The dimension of Longitude is in some partlost, but without detriment to the Substance of the wax. In likemanner when one part of an Extended Substance runs intoanother, something both of Longitude, Latitude and profund,itymay be lost, and yet all the substance there still; as well asLongitude lost in the other case without any loss of theSubstance.

And as what was lost in Longitude was gotten in Latitudeor Profundity before; so what is lost here in all or any two ofthe dimensions, is kept safe in Essential Spissitude: For so Iwill call this Mode or Property of a Substance,that is able toreceive one part of it self into another. Which fourth Mode is aseasy and familiar to my Understanding, äs that of the Threedimensions to my Sense or Phansy. For I mean nothing else bySpissitude, but the redoubling or contracting of Substance intoless space then it does sometimes occupy. And Analogous tothis is the lying of two Substances of several kinds in the sameplace at once.

To both these may be applied the termes of Reduplicationand Soturation: The former, when Essence or Substance is butonce redoubled into it self into another; the latter, when so oft,that it will not easily admit any thing more. And that moreExtensions then one may be commensurate, at the same time,to the same Place, is plain, in that Motion is coextended withthe Subject wherein it is, and both with Space, And Motjon isnot nothing; wherefore two things may be commensurate to oneSpace at once.

12. Now then Extended Substance (and all substances areextended) being of it self indifferent to penetrability orImpenetrability and we finding one kind of Substance soimpenetrable, that one part will not enter at all into another,which with as much reason we might expect to find soirresistibly united one part with another that nothing in theworld could dissever them (For this Indiscerpibilify has as gooda connexion with Substance as Impenetrability has, they neitherfalling under the cognoscence of Reason or Demonstration, butbeing Immediare Attributes of such a subject. For a man canno more argue from the Extension of Substance, that it isDiscerpible, then that it is Penetrable; there being as good a

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generall thus, A substance penetrable and indiscerpible. Thefitness of which Definition will be the better underslood, if wedivide Substance in generall into these first kindes, viz,. Bodyand Sprrir, and then define Body to be A Szbsto nce impenetrableand discerpible. whence the contrary kind to this is fitlydefined, A Substance penetrable and indiscerpible.

2- Now I appeal to any man that can set aside prejudice,and has the free use of has Facultles, whether .t

"ry term inthe Definition of a spirit be not as intelrigible and congruous toReason, as in that of a Body. For the precise Notion ofSubstance is the same in both, in which, I conceive, iscomprised Extension and Actiuity either connate orcommunicated. For Mqtter it self once moved can move otherMotter And it is easy to understand what penetrable is asImpenetrable, and what Indiscerpible as Discerpible andPenetrability and Indiscerpibility being as immed,iate tä Spirit, asImpenetrobility and Discerpibility to Body, there is .. muchreason to be given for the Attributes of the one as of the other,by Axiome 9. And Suä stance in its precise notion including nomore of Impenetrability then Indiscerpibility, we may as wellwonder how one kind of Substance can so firmly andirresistibly keep out another. Substance ( as Matter, forexample, does the parts of Matter) as that the parts of anotherSubstance hold so fast together, that they are by no meansDiscerpible, as we have already intimated. And therefore thisholding out in one being as difficult a business to conceive asLhe holding together in the other, this can be no prejudice to thenotion of a Spirit. For there may be very fast union where wecannot at all imagine the cause thereof, as in such Bodieswhich are exceeding hard, where no man can fancy what holdsthe parts together so strongly; and there being no greaterdifficulty here, then that a man cannot imagine what holds theparts of a Spirit together, it will follow by Axiome T. that theNotion of a spirit is not to be excepted against as anincongruous notion, but is to be admitted for the notion of athing that may really exist.

3. It may be doubted, whether there may not be Essencesof a middle condition betwixt these corporeal and IncorporealSubstances we have described, and that of two sorts, The oneImpenetrable and Indiscerpible, the other penetrable andDiscerpible. But concerning the first, if lrnpenetrability beunderstood in reference to Motter, it is plain there can be no

such Essence in the world; and if in referencc fo its own part,.s,

though it may then look like a possible ldeo in it self, yet thorcis no footsteps of the existence thereof in Nature, the Souls of'men and Daemons implying contraction and dilatation in them.

As for the latter, it has no priviledge for any thing more l»

then Matter it self has, or some Mode of Matter. For it beingDiscerpible, it is plain it's union is by Juxtoposition of parts,and the more penetro.ble, Lhe less likely to conveigh Sense andMotion to any distance. Besides the ridiculous sequel of thissupposition, that witl frll the Universe with an inflrnite number t0of shreds and rags of Souls and Spirits, never to be reducedagain to any use or order. And lastly, the proper Notion of aSubstance Incorporeal fully counter-distinct to a CorporealSubstance, necessarily including in it so strong and indissolubleunion of parts, that it is utterly Indiscerpible, whenas yet for all l5that in this general notion thereof neither Sense nor Cogitationis implied, it is most rational to conceive, that that Substancewherein they are must assuredly be Incorporeal in the strictestsignification; the nature of Cogitation and communion of Sensearguing a more perfect degree of union then is in mere '20

I ndiscerpibility of parts.But all this Scrupulosity might have been saved for I

confidently promise my self, that there are none so perverslygiven to tergiversations and subterfuges, but 'that they willacknowledge, whereever I can prove that there is a Substance 'Zlt

distinct from Body or Matter, that it is in the most full andproper sense Incorporeol.

Chap. IV.

1. That the Notions of the seueral kinds of Immaterial Beingshoue no Inconsistency nor Incongruity in them. 2. That theNature of God is os rnfelligible as the Nature of any Beingwhatsoever. 3. The true Notion of his Ubiquity, and howintelligible it is. 4. Of the Union of the Diuine Essence. 5. Ofhis Power of Creation.

1. We have shewn that the Notion of a Spirit in general is 40not at atl incongruous nor impossible: And it is ascongruous, consistent and intelligible in the sttndry hintls

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The Immortality of the Soul. Book I

thereof; as for example that of God, of Angels, of the souls ofMen and Brutes, and of the rö7or onrplror,Äi or sem inar Formsof things.

2. The Notion of God, though the knowledge thereof bemuch prejudiced by the confoundedness and stupiäity of eithersuperstitious or profane men, that please themsel.räs in theirlarge Rhetorications concerning the uconceiveableness and utterincomprehensibleness of the Deity; the one by way of adevotional exaltation of rhe transcendenc y of has Natrire, theother to make the berief of his Existence .idicrlous, and ...rtilyand perversly to intimate that there is no God at all, the veryconception of him being made to appear nothing else but abundle of inconsistencies and impossiuilities: Nevertheless Ishall not at all stick to affirm, thac his lcrea or Notion is as easyas any Notion else whatsoever, and that we may know asmuch of him r -of any thing else in the world. For the veryEssence or nahed substance of nothing can possibly be known,by Axiome 8. But for His Affributes, they are as conspicuousas the Attributes of any subject or substance whatever: Fromwhich a man may easily define Him thus; God is a ipiritEternol, Infinite in Essence and Good.ness, omnisc'ient,Omnipotent, and of himself necessorily Existent.

I appeal to any man, if every term in this Definition be notsufficiently intelligible. For as for spirit, that has been arreadydefined and explained. By Eternol

-I understand nothing herebut Duration without end or beginning: by Infiniteness of-

Essence, that has Essence or subst*." his no bounds, no morethen his Duration: by Infinite in Good.nes.s, such a benign willin God as is carried out to boundless and innumerablebenefactions: by omnisciency and omnipotency, the ability ofknowing or doing any thing that can bä conceived without aplain contradicti_on: by self-existency, that he has his Being fromnone other: and by necessory Existence, that he cannot -ruit

tobe. what terms of any Definition are more plain then these ofthis? or what subject can be more accurately defined then thisis? For the naked subject or substance oi u.ry thing is nootherwise to be known then thus. And they that gap; afterany other Speculative knowledge of God then what is from hisAttributes and operotions, they may have their heads andmouths Frlled with many hot scalding fancies and words, and.un mad with the boisterousness of their own Imagination, butl,htry will never hit upon any s«rber .fr.uth.

') ()., Z)

10

Chap. I V. 'l'hc lmrnortalil,.y ol' thc S«rul.

3. Thus have I dc.livered a very explicitc and intolligiblt'Notion of the Nature ,f God; which t might also rIoI'('conpendiously define, An Essence absolutely Perfbct, in whiclr allthe terms of the former Definition are comprehended, and m«>r'e

then I have named, or thought needful to name, much less Lo

insist upon; as his Power of Creation, and his Omniprescence t>r

Ubiquitv,which are necessarily included in the ldea of a(tsoftüePerfbciton. The latter whereof some ancient Philosophersendeavouring to set out, have deflrned God to be o Circle uthose

Centre ls euery where and circumfbrence no where. By whichDescription certainly nothing else can be meant, but that theDivine Essence is euery where present with all those adorableAttributes of Infinite and absolutely-Perfect Goodness, Knowledgeond Power, according to that sense in which I have explainedthem. Which Ubiquity or Omnipresence of God is every whit asintelligible as the overspreadin g of Motter into all places.

4. But if here any one demand, How the Parts, as I mayso call them, of the Divine Amplitude hold together, that ofMatter being so discerpible; it might be sufficient to re-mind himof what we have already spoken of the general Notion of aSpirit. But besides that, here may be also a peculiar ration;rlaccount given thereof, it implying a contradiction, that anEssence absolutely Perfect should be either limited in presence,or change place in part or whole, they being both notoriousEffects or Symptoms of Imperfection, uthich is inconsistent withthe Nature of God. And no better nor more cogent reason canbe given of any thing, then that it implies a contradiction to be

otherwise.5. That Power also of creating things of nothing,there is

a very close connexion betwixt it and the ldea of God, or of n

Being absolutely Perfect. For ihis Being would not be what it is

conceived to be, if it were destitute ofl the Power of Creation;and therefore this Attribute has no less coherence with theSubject, then that it is a contradiction it should not be in it, aswas observed of the foregoing Attribute of Indiscerpibilitt inGod. But to alledge that a man cannot imagine how God

should create something of nothing, or how the Divine Essenceholds so closely and invincibly together, is to transgress againstthe 3, 4, and 5. Axiomes, and to appeal to a Faculty thaf hasno right to determine the case.

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Phil«rsophie. N«lw it is observable in l,ight, th.rt it is tn«rst

vigorous towerrds its fountain, and fainter by degrees' But wc

will reduce the matter tn one lucid point, which, according to

the acknowledged Principles of Opticks, will fill a distance «r['

space with its rays of light: Which rayes may indeed be

rerrerberated back towards their Centre by interposing some

opake body, and so this Orb e of light contracted; but, according

6 the Aristotelean Hypothesis, it was alwayes accounted

impossible that they should be clipt off, or cut from this lucid

point, and be kept apart by themselves. Those whom dty

Reason will not satisfy, ffiäY, if they please, entertain the'ir

Phansy with such a Representation as this, which may a littleease the anxious importunity of their Mind, when it too eagerly

would comprehend the manner how this Spirit we speak of may

be said to te Indiscerpible. For think of any ray of Lhrs Orbe of'

light, it does suffrciently set out to the Imaginotion how

Extension and Indiscerpibility may consist together.

3. But if any object, That the lucid centre of this orbe, or

the Primary Substance, as I elsewhere call it, is either diuisible

or absoluteiy indiuisible; and if it be diuisible, that as concerning

that Inmost of a Spirit, this Representation is not at all

serviceable to set off the nature thereof, by shewing how the

parts there may hold together so indisc erpibly; but if absolutely

ind.iuisible, lhat it seems to be nothing: To this I answer, what

Scaliger somewhere has noted, That what is infinitely great or

infinitely small, the Imagination of man is at a loss to conceiue it'

which certainly is the ground of the perplexedness of thatProbleme concerning Matter, whether it consists of points, or

onely of particles divisible in infinitum.But to come more closely to the business; I say that though

we should acknowledg the Inmost Centre of llfe, or the very

First point, as I may so call it, of the Primary Substance (for

Lhis irima,ry Substance is in some sort gradual) to be purely

ind.iuisible, it does not at all follow, no not according to

Imagination it self, that it must be nothing. For let us imagine

a perfect Plane, and on this Plane a perfect Globe, w€ cannot

conceirre but this Globe touches the Plane, and that in what we

ordinarily call a point, else the one would not be a Clobe, or the

other not a Plane. Now it is impossible that one Body should

touch another, and yet touch one another in nothing. This

inmost Centre therefbre of t(b is something, and something s«r

full gf esscntial vig<luy 1nd vit'ttttl, that though gladu:-tll.y it

il!-r:14 '['he lmm«rrtaliLy of'thc Soul. Ilook I

10

Chap. V.

I. The Definition belonging to all Finite and Created Spirits. 2.Of Indiscerpibility, a Symbolical representation thereof. g. Anobjection answered against that representation.

1. We have done with the Notion of that Infinite andUncreated Spirit we usually call God: we come now to thosethat are Created and Finite, as the Spirits of Angels, Men andBrutes; we will cast in the Seminal Form.s also, or Archei, as theChymists call them, though haply the world stands in no needof them. The Properties of a Spirit, as it is a Notion common toall these, I have already enumerated in my Antidote, Self-motion, Self-penetrotion, Self-contraction and dilatation, andIndiuisibility, by which I mean Indiscerpibility: to which I addedPenetrating, Mouing and Akering the matter. We may thereforedefine This kind of spirit we speak of, to be A substonceIndiscerpible, that can moue it self, thot can penetrate, contrect,ond dilate it self, and con also penetrate, moue, ond alter theMatter. we will now examine every term of this Definition,from whence it shall appear, that it is as congruous andintelligible, as those Definitions that are made of such things asall men without any scruple acknowledge to exist.

2. Of the Indiscerpibility of a Spiri, we have already givenrational grounds to evince it not impossible, it being anImmediate Attribufe thereof, as Impenetrability is of a Body; andas conceivable or imaginable, that one Substance of its ownnature may invincibly hold its parts together, so that theycannot be disunited nor dissevered, as that another ma y keepout so stoutly and irresistibly another Substance from entringinto the same space or place with it self. For this uvrrrunlrr orImpenetrability is not at all contained in the preciee conceptionof a Suästance as Substance, as I have already signiflred.

But besides that Reason may thus easily apprehend that itmay be so, I shall a little gratifie Imagination, and it may beReason too, in offering the manner how it is so, in this kind ofSpirit we now speak of. That ancient notion of Light andIntentional species is so far from a plain impossibility, that ithas been heretofore generally, and is still by very manypersons, looked upon as a Truth, that is, That Light and, Colourdo ray in such sort as they are described in the Peripatetical

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Oh.rp. V l. 'l'hc Imtnot't,:tlit,.y ol' t,hc Soul- :l'l'l'he lmrn«rrttrlity of'the Soul. ll«rok I

diminish, yet can fill a certain Sphere of Space with its ownpresence and activity, as a spark of light illuminates theduskish aire.

Wherefore there being no greater perplexity nor subtilty inthe consideration of this Centre of ltfe or Inmost of a Spirit, thenthere is in lhe Atomes of Matter, we may by Axiome 7. rightlyconclude, That Indiscerpibility has nothing in the notion thereof,but what may well consist with the possibility of the existenceof the Subject whereunto it belongs.

Chap. VI.

1. Axiomes that tend to the demonstrating how the Centre orFirst point of the Primary Substance of a Spirit may be

Indiscerpible. 2. Seueral others that demonstrate how theSecondary Substance of a Spirit may be Indiscerpible. 3. Anapplication of these Principles. 4. Of the union of the SecondarySubstance considered transuersly. 5. That the Notion of aSpirit has less dfficulty then thaf of Matter. 6. An answer toan Objection from the Rational faculty. 7. Answers to Objectionssuggested from Fancy. 8. A rnore compendious satisfactionconcerning the Notion of a Spirit.

1. And thus we have fairly well gratified the Fancy of theCurious concerning the Extension and Indiscerpibility of a Spirit;but we shall advance yet higher, and demonstrate thepossibility of this Notion to the severest Reason, out of thesefollowing Principles.

AXIOME XI.A Globe touches a Plane in something, though in the least that isconceiuable to be reall.

35AXIOME XII.

The least that is conceiuable is so little, that it cannot be conceiuedto be discerpible into less.

40 AXIOME XIII.As little as this is, the repetition of it will amount to considerablemagnitudes.

ri (i

As for example, if this Globe be drawn upon a Plane'. i[

constitutes a Llne; and a Cylinder drawn upon a Plane, op this

same Line desc.ibed by 1ft" Globe muttiplied into it se[[',

constitutes a superficies, etc. This a man cannot deny' but

the more he thinks of it, the more certainly true he will find it'

AXIOME XIV.Magnitude cannot arise out of mere Non-Magnitudes.

For multipty Nothing ten thousand millions of times into

nothing, th; Produci witt be still Nothing. Besides, if that

wherein the Globe touches a Plane were more then

Indiscerpible, that is, purely Indiuisib/e, it is manifest that a

Line wiil consist of Points Mathematically so called, that is,

purely Indiuisib/e; which is the grandest absurdity that can be

admiited in Philosophy, and the most contradictious thing

imaginable.

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20 AXIOME XV.The some thing by reason of its extreme littleness may be utterly

Indiscerpible, thougä intellectually Divisible'

This ptainly arises out of the foregoing Principles: For every

Quantity is intellectually divisible; but something Indiscerpible ')f)

was afäre demonstrated to be Quantity, and consequently

divisible, otherwise Magnitude would consist of Mathematicall

points. Thus have I found a possibility for the Notion of the

bente, of a Spirit, which is not a Mathematicall point, but

Substance, in M.g.,itrrde so little, that it is Indiscerpible; but in 30

virtue so great, that it can send forth out of it self so large a

sphere of-secondary substance, as I may so Indiscerpible-

Z. This I havl said, and shall now prove it by adding a

few more Principles of that evidence, as the most rigorous

Reason shall not Le able to deny them' lll-r

AXIOME XVI.An Emanatiue Cause is the Notion of a thing possible'

By an Emanatiue Cause is understood such a Cause as merelv 40

by Being, no other activity or causality interposed, produces an

Effect. That this is po.tibl" is manifest, it being demonstrable

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:t tt 'l'hc lrnrnorl.alit.y of' the Sotrl. Ilo«rk I Oh:r1r. V l. 'l'lrt. lrrrnrorlrrlrt y ol' l,lrr. Sotrl.

indocd is fhe Primc (lausc as wcll of' the Moti<»n as o[' thoMotter, and yet nevertheless the Mutter is r ightly said kr mtxte it"

self. Finally, this Secondory or Emonotory Substance may berightly called Substance, because it is a Subject indued withcertain powers and activities, and that it does not inhere as anAccident in any other Substance or Matter, but could maintainits place, though all Matter or what other Substance soeverwere removed out of that space it is extended through, providedits Primary Substonce be but safe.

3. From these four Principles I have here added, we mayhave not an imaginative but rationall apprehension of that partof a Spirit which we call the Secondary Substonce thereof.Whose Extension arising by graduall Emanation from the Firstand Primest Essence, which we call the Centre of the Spirit(which is no impossible supposition by the 16, 18, and 19.Axiomes) we are led from hence to a necessaryacknowledgment of perfecL Indiscerpibility of parts, though notintellectuall Indivisibility, by Axiome 17. For it implies acontradiction that an Emano.tiue effect should be disjoyned fromits originall.

4. Thus have I demonstrated how a Spirit, considering thelineaments of it (as I may so call them) from the Centre to theCircumference, is utterly indiscerpible. But now if any be socurious as to ask how the parts thereof hold together in a linedrawn cross to these from the Centre, ( for Imogination, it maybe, will suggest they lye all loose:) I answer, that the conjectureof Imoginotion is here partly true and partly false, or is true orfalse as she shall be interpreted. For if she mean by loose,actually disunited, it is false and ridiculous: but if only sodiscerpible, that one part may be disunited from another, thatmay not only be true, but, upon supposition the essential rayesare not fully enough redoubled within, plainly necessary;otherwise a Spirit could not contract one part and extendanother, which is yet an Hypothesis necessary to be admitted.Wherefore this Objection is so far from weakening thepossibility of this Notion, that it gives occasion more fully todeclare the exact concinnity thereof.

To be brief therefore, a Spirit from the Centre to theCircumference is utterly incliscerpible, but in lines cross to thisit is closely coherent, but need not be indiscerpibly; whichcohesion may consist in an immediaLe union of, these parts, andtransvet'.se peneLration and transcursion of Ser:onrlarl S rilts ttrnce

:t1)

that there is de facto some such cause in the world; becausesomething must move it self. Now if there be no spirit, Mattermust of necessity move it self, where you cannot imagine anyactivity or causality, but the bare "=.L.,." of the Matter fromwhence this motion comes. For if you would suppose someforme motion that might be the cause of this, then we mightwith as good reason suppose some forme to be the cause ofthat, and so in infinitum.

AXIOME XVII.An Emanotiue Effect is coexistent rtith the uert Substance of thatwhich is said to be the Couse thereof.

This must needs be true, because that very substance which issaid to be the cause, is the adequate ..rd i--ediate cause,and wants nothing to be adjoyned to its bare essence for theproduction of the Effect; and therefore by the same reason thelffect is at any time, it must be at, all bimes, or so rong as thatSubstance does exist.

AXIOME XVIII.No Emanatiue Effect, thot exceed.s not the uirtues and. powers ofthe co.use, can be soid to be impossibre to be prod,uced. by it.

This is so plain, that nothing need be added for eitherexplanation or proof.

AXIOME XIX.There may be o.-substance of .that high vinue and, Exceilency,that it moy produce another substonie by Emanatiue co.usarity,prouided that substonce produced, be in iu, grodual propor-tionsinferiour to that u.thich causes it.

This is plain out of the foregoing principle. For there is nocontraexceed the capacity of its own po*"r., Nor is there anyincongruity, that one substance snoütd cause something elsewhich we may in some sense calr substance, though butsecondary or Emanatory; acknowledging the primary substanceto be the more adequate object of Dr,rine creatiän, but-thesecondory to be referrible ulro to the primory or centrallsubstance by way of causall reration. For suppose God createdthe Matter with an immediate power of mouing it serf, God

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( )hlp. V l. 'l'hc ltntrtot't.ltlit.y ol' l,Jrc Soul.

an6 t,ltgpcl9r'c be still tlisccrpible; 'l'o this it is answct'etl, 'l'hat'

<liuisign into ports d«res n<lt imply an.y discerpibilitv, because t'he

parts conceived in one of'these Minimu Corporolig ( as I rna.y stl

call them) are rather essential ot' I'ormctl parts then integrol, 'a'rtd

Can no more actually be dissevered, then Sense and Reas«rn l»

from the Soul of a man. For it is of the very Essence ot' Matter

to be diuisible, but it is not at all included in lhe essence thereof'

to be cliscerpible; and therefore where discerpibility farls there is

no necessity that cliuisibiliry should fail also. See the Preface,

Sect. 3. I0

7. As for the trouble of spurious suggestions or

representations from Lhe Phansy, as if these perfbct Paruitudes

*"ru Round bodies, and that therefore there would be

Triangular interualls betwixt, void of Matter; they are of no

moment in lhis case, she alwayes representing a Discerpible I lr

magnitude instead of an Indiscerpible one- Wherefore she

bringlng in a false evidence, her testimony is to be rejected; nay

if she coutd perplex the cause far worse, she was not to be

heard, by Axiome the 4.

Wherefo re Phonsy being unable to exhibite the Object we 20

consider, in its due advantages, for ought we know these perfect

Paruitudes may lye so close together, that they have no

interualls betwixt: nay it seems necessary to be so; For if there

were any such interualls, they were capable of particles less

then these Ieast of all; which is a contradiction in Reason, and a 'Zlt

thing utterly imPossible.But if we should gratifi e Phansy so far as to admit of these

interualls, the greatest absurdity would be, that we mus[ admit

an insensible Vacuum,, which no Faculty will be able ever to

confute. But it is most rationall to admit none, and more 30

Consonant to our determination concerning these Minima

Corporalia, as I call them, whose largeness is to be limited to

the least real touch of either a Globe on a Plane, or a Cone on a

Plane, or a Globe on a Globe: if you conceive any real touch

Iess then another, let that be the measure of these Minute 35

Realities in Matter. From whence it will follow, they must

touch a whole side at once, and therefore Can never leave any

empty interualls.Nor can we imagine any Angulosities or Round

protuberancies in a quantity infinitely Iittle, more then we can '10

i" one infinitety great, as I have already declared in my

Pr.efircg. I rnusL c<lnf'ess, a mans Reason in this speculat,itltr is

,1 I40 'l'hc Imrn«lrtality «lf'the Soul. IJook I

10

through this whole Sphere of life which we call a Spirit.Nor need we wonder that so full an Orbe should swell out

from so subtil and small a point as the Centre of this Spirir issupposed. Ei 7dp roi röt öyrot ptrpöv öort.öuvä;.ret rai ttprt6rlrrnoiü prüiiov ünepelet niltlu;v. as Aristotle speaks of the mind ofman. And besides, it is but what is seen in some sort to thevery eye in light, how large a spheare of Aire a little spark willilluminate.

5. This is the pure ldea of a created Spirit in general,concerning which if there be yet any cavil to be made, it can benone other then what is perfectly common to it and toMatter,LhaL is, the unimaginableness of Points and smallestParticles, and how what is discerpible or divisible can at allhang together: but this not hindering Matter from actualexistence, there is no reason that it should any way pretend tothe inferring of the impossibility of the existence of a Spirit, byAxiome 7.

But the most lubricous supposition that we goe upon here,is not altogether so intricate as those difficulties in Matter. Forif that be but granted, in which I flrnd no absurdity, That aParticle of Matter may be so little that it is utterly uncapable ofbeing made less, it is plain that one and the same thing, thoughintellectually divisible, may yet be really indiscerpible. Andlndeed it is not only possible, but it seems necessary that thisshould be true: For though we should acknowledge that Matterwere discerpible in infinitum, y€t supposing a Cause of Inflrnitedistinct perception and as Infinite power, (and God is such) thisCause can reduce this capacity of infinite discerpibleness ofMatter into act, that is to say, actually and at once discerp it ordisjoyn it into so many particles as it is discerpible into. Fromwhence it will follow, that one of these particles reduced to thisperfect Parvitude is then utterly indiscerpible, and yetintellectually divisible, otherwise Magnitude would consist ofmere points, which would imply a contradiction.

We have therefore plainly demonstrated by reason, thatMatter consists of parts indiscerpible; and therefore there beingno other Faculty to give suffrage against it, for neither Sensenor any Common Notion can contradict it, it remains byAxiome 5. that the Conclusion is true.

6. What some would object from Reason, that theseperfect Po.ruitu,des being acknowledged still intellectuallydivisible, must still have parts into which they are divisible,

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,1'2 'l'Jrc lrnrnortaliLy «r[' t,hc Soul. Ikrok I 'l'hc lrnrrrorl,lrlit,.y ol' l,lrr. S«rtrl.

Spirit, in tfu: utorlcl, l'rom uthi,ch activity i.s communicotcd t<t

Matter. And indeed if Motte.r 'as Motter had motion, nothingwould hold together; but F'lints, Adamant, Brass, Iron, yea thisSole Earth would suddenly melt into a thinner Substance thenthe subtle Aire, or rather it never had been condensatedtogether to this consistency we finde it. But this is toanticipate my future purpose of proving That there are Spiritsexisting in the world: It had been sufflrcient here to haveasserted, That Self-motion or Self-actiuity is as conceivable toappertain to Spirit as to Body, which is plain at first sight toany man that appeals to his own Faculties. Nor is it at all tobe scrupled at, that any thing should be allowed to moue it seff'because our Adversaries, that say there is nothing but Matterln the world, must of necessity ( as I have intimated already)confess that this Mo.tter moues it self, though it be veryincongruous so to affirm.

2. The congruity and possibility of Self-penetration in acreated Spirit is to be conceived, partly from the limitableness ofthe Subject, and partly from the foregoing Attributes ofIndiscerpibility and Self-motion. For Self-penetration cannotbelong to God, because it is impossible any thing should belongto him that implies imperfection, and Sef penetration cannot bewithout the lessening of the presence of that which doespenetrate it self, or the implication that some parts of thatEssence are not so well as they may be; which is acontradiction in a Being which is absolutely Perfect. ['rom theAttributes of Indiscerpibility and Self-motion (to which you mayadde Penetrability from the general notion of a Spirit) it is plainthat such a Spirir as we define, having the power of Mofionupon the whole extent of its essence, may also determine thisMotion according to the Property of its own nature: andtherefore if it determine the motion of the exteriour partsinward, they will return inward towards the Centre of essentia.lpower; which they may easily doe without resistance, the wholeSubject being penetrable, and without damage, it being als«r

indiscerpible.3. From this Sef penetro.tion we do not only easily, but

necessarily, understand Self-contraction and dilatotion to arise.For this Self-mouing Substance, which we call a Spirit, cannotpenetrate it selfl, but it must needs therewith contract it self';nor restore it self again to its fiormer state, but it does therebydil.rte it self': so [hat we need not at all insist upon t,hesc

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mounted far beyond his Imaginotion; but there being worseintricacies in Theories acknowledged constantly to be true, itcan be no prejudice to the present conclusion, by the 4. and 7.Axiomes.

8. Thus have we cleared up o full and distinct Notion of aspirit, with so unexceptionable accuracy, that no Reason canpretend to assert it impossible nor unintelligible. But if theTheory thereof may seem more operose and tedious toimpatient wits, and the punctuality of the Description the morehazardous and incredible, as if it were beyond our Faculties tomake so precise a Conclusion in a Subject to obscure, they mayease their Understanding, by contenting themselves, with whatwe have set down Chap. 2, Sect. 11, 12. and remember thatthat wisdome and Power that created all things, can makethem of what nature He pleases; and that if Goo witt that thereshall be a Creature that is penetro.ble ond indiscerpible, Lhat itis as easy a thing for him to make one so of its own nature, asone impenetrable ond discerpible, and indue it with what otherProperties he pleases, according to his own will and purpose:which induments being immediately united with the Susectthey are in, Reason can make no further demand how they ärethere, by the g. Axiome.

Chap. VII.

l.of the Self-motion of o spirit. z.of self-penetration. B.of Self-contraction and dilatation. 4.The power of penetrating of Matter.5. The poL,er of mouing. 6. And of oltering the MaLter.

1. we have proved the Indiscerpibility of a spirit as wellin Centre as Circumference, as well in the primary as Secon d.arySubstance thereof, to be a very consistent and congruousNotion, The next Property is self-motion, which must ofnecessity be an Attribute of something or other; For by Self-motion I understand nothing else but Self-actiuity, which mustappertain to a Subject active in it self. Now what is simplyactive of it self, can no more cease to be active then to Be;which is a sign that Matter is not active of it self, because it isreducible to Rest: Which is an Argument not only that Self-activity belongs to o spirit, but that there is such a thing as o

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Chap. V I !. 'l'he Immrlr[ality ol'the Soul.

against? This facility therefore of some Body passing upon

another without any sticking, seeming as necessary to our

Phansy as a Spirit's passing through all Bodies without taking

hold oi them, it is plain by Axiome 7. That a Ftrm union of

Spirit and Matter is very possible, though we cannot conceive

the manner thereof.D

FAnd as for Rest, it is competible also to this conjunction of

Matter with Spirit, as well as of Matter with Matter. For suppose

the whole body A moved with like swiftness in every part, the

parts of A then are according to that sense of Resf, by which

ifr"y would explain the adhesion of the parts of Matter one with

urroih"., truly quiescent. So say I that in the Union of Matter

and Sprrit, the parts of the Matter receiving from the Spirit just

such ä velocity of motion as the Spirit exerts, and no more,

they both rest in firm (Jnion one with another. That which

comes to pass even then when there is far less immediate(Jnion then we speak of. For if we do but lay a Book on our

Hand, provided our Hand be not moved with a swifter motion

then it communicates to the Book, nor the Book be pusht on

faster then the swiftness of our Hand; the Book and our Hand

will most certainly retain their union and goe together. so

naturall and easy is it to conceive how a Spirit may move @

Body without any more perplexity or contradiction then is

fourrd in the Union and Motion of the parts of Matter it self.

See the APPendix to mY Antidote.6. The last Terme I put in the Definition of a Spirit is, the

power of altering the Matter; which will necessarily follow from^i1s

power of mouing it or directing its motion. For Alteration is

nothing else but the varying of either the Figures, or postures,

or the degrees of motion in the particles; all which are nothing

else but the results of Locol motion. Thus have we cleared the

intelligibility and possibility of all Lhe Terms that belong to the

Motkti 9/'a createcl Spirit in general, at least of such as may be

4544 The Immortality of the Soul. Book I

Termes.4. That power which a Spirit has to penetrate Matter we

may easily understand if we consider a Spirit only as a

Substance, whose immediate property is Actiuity. For then it isnot harder to imagine this Active Substance to pervade this orthe other part of Matter, then it is to conceive the parvading ordisspreading of motion it self therein.

5. The greatest difficulty is to fancy how this Spirit, beingso Incorporeal, can be able to move the Matter, though it be init. For it seems so subtile, that it will pass through, leaving no

more footsteps of its being there, then the Lightening does inthe Scabbard, though it may haply melt the Sword, because itthere findes resistance. But a Spirit can find no resistance anywhere, the closest Matter being easily penetrable and perviousto an Incorporeol Substance. The ground of this difficulty isfounded upon the unconceivableness of any Union that can be

betwixt tlne Matter, and a Substance that can so easily pass

through it. For if we could but once imagine an Union betwixtMatter and a Spirit, the activity then of the Spirit wouldcertainly have influence upon Motter, either for begetting, orincreasing, or directing Lhe motion thereof.

But notwithstanding the Penetrability and easy passage ofa Spirit through Matter, there is yet for all that a capacity of astrong union betwixt them, and every whit as conceivable as

betwixt the parts of Matter themselves. For what glue orCement holds the parts of hard matter in stones and metallstogether, or, if you will, of what is absolutely hard, that has nopores or particles, but is one continued and perfectlyhomogeneous body, not only to Sense, but according to the exactIdea of Reason? What Cement holds together the parts of sucha body as this? Certainly nothing but immediate Union andRest. Now for Union, there is no comparison betwixt that ofMatter with Matter, and this of Spirit with Matter. For the firstis only superficiall; in this latter the very inward parts areunited point to point throughout. Nor is there any feare it willnot take hold, because it has a capacity of passing through.For in this absolutely solid hard Body, which let be A, in whichlet us conceive some inward superficies, suppose E A C, thissuperficies is so smooth as nothing can be conceived smoother:why does not therefore the upper E D C side upon the neatherpart E F C upon the least motion imaginable, especially E F Cbeing supposed to be held fast whilst the other is thrust

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rationally conceived toin the world. We willSpecies thereof.

be the causes of any visible Phaenomenanow descend to the defining of the chief

Chap. VIII.

I. Four main Species of Spirits. 2. How they are to be defined..?. The definition of a Seminal Form; 4. Of the Soul of a Brute;5. Of the Soul of a Man 6. The dffirence betwixt the Soul ofan Angel and an Humane Soul. 7. The definition of an AngelicalSoul. 8. Of the Platonical N6es and Evä,öe4. 9. That Des-Carteshis Demonstration of the Existence of the Humane Soul does atleast conclude the possibility of a Spirit.

I. We have enumerated Four leinds of Spirits, viz. Thel.öyor oneppartroi or Seminal Forms, the Sou/s of Brutes, theHumane Soul, and that Soul or Spirit which actuates or informesthe uehicles of Angels: For I look upon Angels to be as truly a

compound Being, consisting of Soul and Body, as that of Men &Brutes. Their Existence we shall not now goe about to prove,for that belongs to another place. My present designe is onelyto expound or define the notion of these things, so far forth asis needful for bhe evincing that they are the Ideas or Notions ofthings which imply no contradiction or impossibility in theirconception; which will be very easy for us to perform: the chiefdifficulty lying in that more General notion of a Spirit, which wehave so fully explained in the foregoing Chapters.

2. Now this General notion can be contracted into Kindes,by no other Dffirences then such as may be called peculiarPowers or properties belonging to one Spirit and excluded fromanother, by the 8. Axiome. From whence it will follow, that ifwe describe these seueral kindes of Spirits by immediate andintrinsecal Properties, we have given as good Definitions ofthem as any one can give any thing in the world.

3. We will begin with what is most simple, the SeminalForms of things which, for the present, deciding nothing of theirexistence, according to their iö6c possibilis, we define thus; ASeminal Form is a created Spirit organizing duly-prepared Matterinto life and uegetation proper to this or the other kind of Plant.It is beyond my imagination wnat can be excepted against this

Ohap. V ll l. 'l'hc lrnln«rrt,alit,y ol' t,hc Soul.

Description, it containing nothing but what is very cohercntand intelligible. For in that it is a Spirit, it can moue Motterintrinsecally, or at least direct the motion thereoft But in that itis not an Omnipotent Spirit, but Finife and Created, its powcrmay well be restrained to duly-prepared Motter both flor vitalunion and motion; He that has made these Particular Spirits,varying their Faculties of Vital union according to the diversityof the preparation of Matter, and so limiting the wholecomprehension of them all, that none of them may be able to bcvitally joyned with any Motter whahever: And the same firstCause of all things that gives them a power of uniting with &moving of matter duly prepared, ffiäy also set such laws to thismotion, that when it lights on matter fit for it, it will producesuch and such a Plant, that is to say, it will shape the matLer'into such Figure, Colour and other properties, as we discover'in them by our Senses.

4. This is the First degree of Particular Life in the world,if there be any purely of this degree Particular. But now, asAristotle has somewhere noted, the Essences of things are likeNumbers, whose Species are changed by adding or taking awayan Unite: adde therefore another Intrinsecall power to this ofVegetation, viz. Sensation, and it becomes the Soul of o Beost.For in truth the bare Substance it self is not to be computed inexplicite knowledg, it being utterly in it self unconceivable, andtherefore we will onely reckon upon the Powers. A Subjecttherefore from whence is both Vegetation and Sensation is thegeneral notion of the Soul of o Brute. Which is distributed into anumber of kindes, the effect of every Intrinsecall pouter beingdiscernible in the constant shape and properties of everydistinct kind of Brute Creatures.

5. If we adde to Vegetotion and Sensation Reason properlyso called, we have then a settled notion of the Soul of'Man;which we may more compleatly describe thus: A createdSpirit indued with Sense and Reoson, and o power of orgonizingterrestrial Matter into humane shape by uital union thereutith.

6. And herein alone, I conceive, does the Spiri, or Soa/of an Angel ( for I take the boldness to call that Soul, whatever'it is, that has a power of vitally actuating the Motter) differfrom the Sou/ of a Mon, in that the Soul of an Angel m:ryvitally actuate an Aeriol or Aethereal Body, but cannot be b«lrn

into his world in a Terresfriol one.

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conceiving Cogitotion independent for existence on Corporeolsubstance; it is necessary, That there may be some othersubstance on which it may depend; which must needs be aSubstanc e I ncorporeal.

Chap. IX.

I. Thot it is of no small conseqence to haue proued täe Possibilityof the Existence of a Spirit. 2. The necessity of examining of Mr.Hobbs his Reasons to the contrary. 3. The first Excerption out ofMr. Hobbs. 4. The second Excerption. 5. The third. 6. Thefourth. 7. The fifth. 8. The sixth. g. The seuenth. 10. Theeighth and last Excerption.

1. I have been I believe, to admiration curious andsollicitous to make good, That the Existence of a Spirit orIncorporeal Substance is possible. But there is no reason anyone should wonder that I have spent so much pains to makeso small and inconsiderable a progresse, as to bring the thingonely to a bare possibility. For though I may seem to havegained little to my self, yet I have thereby given a very signaloverthrow to the adverse party, whose strongest hold seems tobe an unshaken confidence, That the very Notion of a Spirit orSubstance Immaterial is a perfect rncompossibility and pureNon-sense. From whence are insinuated no betterConsequences then these: That, it is impossible that thereshould be any God, or Soul, or Angel, Good or Bad; or anyImmortality or Life to come. That there is no Religion, noPiety nor Impiety, no vertue nor vice, Justice nor Injustice,but what it pleases him that has the longest Sword to call so.That there is no Freedome of will, nor consequently anyRational remorse of Conscience in any Being whatsoever, butthat all that is, is nothing buL Matter and corporeol Motion; andthat therefore every trace of mans life is as necessary as thetracts of Lightning and the fallings of rhunder; the blindimpetus of the Matter breaking through or being stopt everywhere, with as certain and determin ate necessjry as the courseof a Torrent after mighty storms and showers of Rain.

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7. To make an end therefore of our Definitions: anAngelical Soul is very intelligibly described thus; A createdspirit indued with Reason, sensation, and, a power of beinguitally united with and actuating of a Body of Aire or Aetheronely. which power over an Aereal or Aethereal Body is veryeasily to be understood out of that general notion of a Spirit inthe foregoing chapters. For it being there made gooä, thatunion with Matter is not incompetible to a Spirit, andconsequently nor moving of it, nor that kind of motion in aSpirit which we call Contro.ction and Dilatotion; these powers, ifcarefully considered, will necessarily infer the possibility of theActuation and Union of an Angelical Soul with an Aethereal orAiery Body.

8. The Platonists write of other orders of spirits orImmaterial Substances, as the Noeg and Eväöeq. But thäre beingmore Subtilty then either usefulness or assurance in such likeSpeculations, I shall pass them over at this time; havingalready, I think, irrefutably mede good, That there is noincongruity nor incompossibiliry comprised, in the Notion ofSpirit or Incorporeal Substonce.

9. But there is yet another way of inferring the same, andit is the Arguments of Des Cartes, whereby he would concludethat there is de focto a Substance in us distinct from Matter, viz.our own Mind. For every Real Affection or property being theMode of some substance or other, and real Modes üeingunconceivable without their Subject, he inferres that, seeing wecan doubt whether there be any such thing as Body in tneworld ( by which doubting we seclude cogitotion .from Body)there must be some other Substance distinct from the Body,towhich Cogitation belongs.

But I must confess this Argument will not reach home toDesCartes his purpose, who would prove in Man a Substo.ncedistinct from his Body.For being there may be Modes common tomore subjects then one, and this of cogitation may bepretended to be such as is competible as well to Substancecorporeo./ as Incorporeal, it may be conceived apart fromeither, though not from both. And therefore has Argumentdoes not prove That that in us which does thinh o, prrriiue is aSubstance distinct from our Body, but onely That there may besuch a Substance which has the power of thinking or perceiiing,which yet is not a Body. For it being impossible that thereshould be any reol Mode which is in no Subject, and we clearly

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4. '['he second place is in his Päysichs. But it is here: to be

obserued that certain Dreoms, especiolly such os some men haue

when they are betwixt sleeping and wahing, and such as hoppento those that haue no knowledge of the noture of Dreams, ancl arewithall superstitious, were not heretofore nor are now accountedDreams. For the Apparitions men thought they sau), and the

uoices they thought they heard in sleep, were not belieued to be

Phantasmes, but things subsisting of themselues, and objectswithout those that Dreamed. For to some men, as well sleepingos wo.king, but especially to guilty men, and in the night, and inhallou;ed places, Fear olone, helped a little with the stories of'

such Apparitions, hath raised in their mindes terciblePhantasmes, which haue been ond ore still deceitfully receiued forthings really true, under the names of Ghosts and IncorporealSubstonces.

5. We adde a third out of the same Book. For seeingGhosts, sensible species, a shodow, light, colour, sound, space,

etc. oppear to us no less sleeping theit wahing , they cannot be

things without us, but onely Phantasmes of the mind thotimagines them.

6. And a fourth out of his Humane Nature. But Spiritssupernatural commonly signifie some substance withoutdimension, which two word.s do flatly controdict one another. A.nd

Artic. 5. Nor I think is that word Incorporeal ot all in the Bible,but it is said of the Spirit, that it abideth in men, sometimes thatit dwelleth in them, sometimes that it cometh on them, that itdescendeth, and goeth, and cometh, and that Spirits are Angels,that is to say, Messengers;all which words do imply Locality, ondlocality is Dimension, and who.tsoeuer hath dimension is Body, be

it neuer so subtile.7. The fifth Excerption shall be again out of his

Leviathan. And for the Matter or Substance of the Inuisibleagents so fancyed, they could not by naturol cogitation fall uponany other conceit, but that it was the sq.me with that of the Soul of'Man, and that the Soul of Man was of the same Substonce withthat which appeareth in o Dream to one that sleepeth, or in u

Looking-glass to one that is awake: Which, men not knowing,that such Apparitions are nothing else but creatures of the Fancy,think to be real and externo.l Substonces, and therefore call themGhosts, as the Latines called them Imagines and Umbrae; andthought them Spirits, that is, thin aeriol bodies; and thoseinuisible Agents, uthich they feored, to be tike them, soue thot they

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2. And verily considering of what exceeding greatconsequence it is to root out this sullen conceit that some havetaken up concerning Incorporeal Substance, as if it bore acontradiction in the very termes, I think I shall be wanting toso weighty a Cause if I shall content my self with a barerecitation of the Reasons whereby I prove it possible, and notproduce their Arguments that seem most able to maintain thecontrary. And truly I do not remember that I ever met withany one yet that may justly be suspected to be more able tomake good this Province then our Countreyman Mr. Hobbs,whose inexuperable confidence of the truth of the Conclusionmay well assure any man that duely considers the excellency ofhis natural Wit and Parts, that he has made choice of the mostDemonstrative Arguments that humane Invention can searchout for the eviction thereof.

3. And that I may not incurre the suspicion of mistakinghis Assertion, or of misrepresenting the force of his Reasons, Ishall here punctually set them down in the same words I findthem in his own Writings, that any man may judge if I doe himany wrong. The first place I shall take notice of is in hisLeuiathan. The word Body in the most general acceptationsignifies thot which filleth or occupieth some certain room orimagined ploce; ond dependeth not on the Imagination, but is areal part of that we call the Uniuerse. For the Uniuerse being theAggregate of o// Bodies, there is no reol port thereof that is nota/so Body; nor any thing properly a Body, that is not also part of(that Aggregote of oll Bodies,) the Uniuerse. The so.me alsobecause Bodies are subject to change, that is to say, to uariety ofappearance to the sense of liuing Creotures, is colled Substance,that is to say, subject to uorious Accidents; as sometimes to bemoued, sometimes to stand still, and to seem to our Sensessometimes Hot, sometimes Cold, sometimes of one Colour, Smell,Tost, or Sound, sometimes of another. And this diuersity ofseeming, (produced by the diuersity of the operotion of Boies onthe Organs of our Sense) we attribute to alterations of the Bodiesthat operate, and call them Accidents of those Bodies. Andaccording to this o.cception of the word, Substance and Bodysignifie the same thing; and therefore Substance Incorporeal arewords uthich when they are joyned together destroy one onother,as if a man should say a,n Incorporeal Body.

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hath the lihe dimensions; and consequently euery part of theUniuerse is Body, and that which is not Body is no part of theUniuerse: And because the Uniuerse is all, that which is no portof it is nothing, and consequently no where.

10. The eighth and last we have a little after in the sameChapter, which runs thus; Being once follen into this errour ofSeparated Essences, they qre thereby necessarily imauolued inmany other absurdities that follow it. For seeing they will hauethese Forms to be real, they are obliged to assign them someplace. But because they hold them Incorporeal without alldimension of Quantity, and all men hnow that Ploce isDimension, and not to be filled but by that which is corporeal,they are driuen to uphold their credit with a distinction, that theyare not indeed any where Circumscriptivö, but Deftnitivö. Whichtermes, being mere words, ond in this occasion insignificant, possonely in Latine, that the uanity of them might be concealed. Forthe Circumscription ,f a thing is nothing else but thedetermination or defining of its place, and so both the termes of'distinction are the same. And in particular of the essence of otrlan, which they say is his Soul, they affirm it to be all of it in hisliale finger, and all of it in euery other part (how small soeuer) ofhis Body, and yet no rnore Soul in the whole Body then in anyone of these parts. Can any man think that God is serued withsuch Absurdities? And yet all this is necessa.ry to belieue to thosethat will belieue the existence of an Incorporeal Soul separated

frorn the Body.

Chap. X.

l. An Answer to the first Excerption. 2. To the second. 3. AnAnswer to the third. 4. To the fourth Excerption. 5. An Answerto the fi,fth. 6. To the sixth. 7. To the seuenth. 8. An Answer tothe eighth and last. 9. A brief Recapitulation of whot has beensaid hithefio.

I. We have set down the chiefest passages in the Writingsof Mr. Hobbs, that confident Exploder of Immaterial Substancesout of the world. It remains now that we examine them, andsee whether the force of his Arguments bears any proportion tothe firmness of his belief, or rabher mis-belief, concerning these

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appeor and uanish when they please. But the opinion that suchSpirits were Incorporeol or Immaterial could neuer enter into themind of any man by noture; because though men may puttogether words of contradictory signification, os Spirit and,Incorporeal, yet they can neuer haue the imagination of any thinganswering to them.

we will help out this further from what he also writes inhis Humane Nature. To hnout that a Spirit is, that is to say, tohaue natural euidence of the same, it ,s impossible. For alteuidence is conception, ond all conception js imagination, andproceedeth from Sense; and Spirits we suppose to be thoseSubstances which worh not upon the Sense, and therefore are notconceptible.

8. The sixth, out of chap. 45. where he writes thus: Thisnature of Sight hauing neuer been discouered by the ancientpretenders to Natural knowledge, much /ess by those thatconsider not things so remote ( as that Knowledge is) frcm theirpresent use; it was hord for men to conceiue of those Images inthe Fancy qnd in the Sense, otherutise then of things reallywithout us. which some (because they uanish away they lznownot whither nor how) will hatte to be absolutely Incorporeol, thotis to selr Immaterial, or Forms without Matter, Colour andFigure, without any coloured or figured body, and that they canput on aiery bodies, ( as a garment) to mahe them uisible whenthey will to our bodily eyes; and others say, are Bodies and liuingCreatures, but mode of Aire, or other more subtile and octherealmatter, which is then, when they will be seen, condensed. Butboth of them agree on one generol appellation of them, Daemons.As if the dead of uhom they dreamed were not the Innabitants oftheir own Broin, but of the Aire, or of Heauen or Hell, notPhantasmes, but Ghosts; with just as much reason os if oneshould say he saw his own Ghost in a Loohing-glass, or theGhosts of the stars in a Riuer, or call the ordinary Apparition ofthe sun of the quantity of about a foot, the Daemon or Ghost ofthat great Sun that enlightneth the whole uisible world.

9. The seventh is out of the next chapter of the samebook. where he again taking to task that Jargon, as he calls it,of Abstro.ct Essences and Substontial Formes, writes thus: Theutorld (I mean not the Earth onely, but the Uniuerse, that is,the whole mass of all things that are) is Corporeal, that is to say,Body, and ho.th the Dimensions of Magnitude, namely Length,Breadth and Depth; also euery part of Body is liheutise Body, ond.

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things. To strip therefore the first Excerption of that longAmbages of words, and to reduce it to a more plain andcompendious forme of reasoning, the force of his Argument liesthus: That seeing euery thing in the Uniuerse is Body (the

Uniuerse being nothing else but an Aggregate of Bodies) Bodyand Substance are but names of one and the same thing it beingcalled Body as it filts a place, ond Substance as it is the subjectof seueral Alterations and Accidents. Wherefore Body andSubstance being all one,Incorporeal Substance is no better sensethen an Incorporeal Body, which is a contradiction in the uerytermes. But it is plain to all the world that this is not to prove,but to suppose what is to be proved, That the Universe isnothing else but an Aggregate of Bodies: When he has provedthat, we will acknowledge the sequel; till then, he has provednothing, and therefore this first argumentation must pass fornought.

2. Let us examine the strength of the second, whichcertainly must be this, if any at all; That which has its originalmerely from Dreams, Fears and Superstitious Fancies, has noreall existence in the world: But Incorporeol Substances haue noother OriginaL The Proposition is a Truth indubitable, but theAssumption is as weak as the other is strong; whether youunderstand it of the real Original of these Substances, or of thePrinciples of our knowledge That they are. And be theirOriginal what it will, it is nothing to us, but so far forth as it iscognoscible to us, by Axiome first. And therefore when hesayes, they have no other Original then that of our ownPhansy, he must be understood to affirme that there is noother Principle of the Knowledge of their Existence then thatwe vainly imagine them to be; which is grossly false.

For it is not the Dreams and Fears of Melancholick andSuperstitious persons, from which Philosophers and Christianshave argued the Existence of Sprrits and, Immaterial Substances;but from the evidence of Externall Objects of Sense, that is, theordinary Phaenomena of Nature, in which there is discoverableso profound Wisdome and Counsell, that they could not butconclude that the Order of things in the world was from ahigher Principle then the blind motions and jumblings of Matterand mere Corporeal Beings.

To Which you may adde what usually they callAppctritions, which are so far finom being merely the Dreomsirnd l,'ont:it:s of the Superstitious, that they are acknttwledged

Ohap. X. 'l'he lrnrn«lt'trtlit,y o[' t,he Sotrl.

by such as cannot but be deemed by most men over-Atheisticrtl,I mean Pomponatius and Cardan, nay by Vaninus himself',

though so devoted to Atheisme, that out of a perfect mad zeale

fo that despicable cause he died for it. I omit fo name theOperations of the Soul, which ever appeared to the wisest of allAges of such a transcendent condition, that they could not judge

them to spring from so contemptible a Principle as bare Body orMatter. Wherefore to decline all these, and to makerepresentation onely of Dreams and Fancies to be the occasions

of the world's concluding that there are Incorporeal Substonces,

is to fancy his Reader a mere fool, and publickly to profess thathe has a mind to impose upon him.

3. The third argumentation is this: That which appears tous os utell sleeping as wahing, is nothing without us: ButGhosts, that is Immaterial Substances, appear to us as u;ell

sleeping as utaking. This is the weakest Argument that has

been yet produced: for both the Proposition and Assumption arefalse. For if the Proposition were true, the Sun, Moon, Stars,Clouds, Rivers, Meadows, Men, Women, and other livingcreatures were nothing without us: For all these appear to us

aS well when we are sleeping as wahing. But IncorporeolSubstances do not appear to us as well sleeping as waking. Forthe Notion of an Incorporeal Substance is so subtile and refined,that it leaving little or no impression on the Phansy, itsrepresentation is merely supported by the free power ofReoson, which seldome exercises it self in sleep, unless upon

easy imaginable Phantasmes.4. The force of the fourth Argument is briefly this: Euery

Substance has dimensions; but a Spirit has no dimensions.Here I confltdently deny the Assumption. For it is not theCharacteristicall of a Body to have dimensions, but to be

Impenetrable. All Substance has Dimensions, that is, Length,Breadth, and Depth: but all has not Impenetrability. See myLetters to Monsieur Des-Cartes, besides what I have here writin this present Treatise.

5. In the Excerptions belonging to the fifth place these

Arguments are comprised. 1. That we houe no principle of'

knoutledge of any Immaterial Being, but such as a Dream or oLooking-Class lilrnisheth us utithall. 2. That the word Spirit orIncorporeal implies a contradiction, ond connot be conceiued to be

sense by us natural {Jnderstanding. 3. That nothing is coru:e.iued

lry the Llnrlerstonding but ushot comes in ut the St:n.ses, orul

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therefore Spirits not acting upon the Senses must remainunknown and unconceiuable.

We have already answered to the first in what we havereturned to has second Argument in the second Excerption.

To the second I answer, That Spirit or Incorporeal impliesno contradiction, there being nothing understood thereby butExtended Substance with Actiuity and Indiscerpibility, leavingout Impenetrability: Which I have above demonstrated to be theNotion of a thing possible, and need not repeat what I havealready written.

To the third I answer, That Spirits do act really upon theSenses, by acting upon Matter that affects the Senses; and someof these Operations being such, that they cannot be rationallyattributed to the Matter alone, Reason by the information of theSenses concludes that there is some other more noble Principledistinct from the Matter. And as for that part of the Argumentthat asserts that there is nothing in the Understanding butwhat comes in at the Senses, I have, and shall again in its dueplace demonstrate it to be a very gross Errour.

But in the mean time I conclude, that the Substance ofeverything being utterly unconceivable, by Axiome 8. and itbeing onely the Immediq,te Properties by which a man conceivesevery thing, and the Properties of Penetrability andIndiscerpibility being as easy to conceive, as of Discerpibilityand Impenetrability, and the power of commmunicating ofmotion tn Matter as easy as the Matter's reception of it, and theUnion of Matter with Spirit, as of Matter with Matter; it plainlyfollows, that the Notion of a Spirit is as naturally conceivableas the Notion of a Body.

6. In this sixth Excerption he is very copious in jearingand making ridiculous the opinion of Ghosts and Daemons; butthe strength of his Argument, if it have any, is this, viz. Ifthere be any such things as Ghosts or Daemons, then they are (according to them thot hold this opinion) either those Imagesreflected from water or Looking-glasses, cloathing themselues inaiery garments, and so wandring up & down; or else they areliuing Creatures made of nothing but Aire or some more subtileand Aethereal Matter. One might well be amazed to observesuch slight and vain arguing come from so grave a Philosopher,were not a man well aware that his peculiar eminency, äshimself somewhere professes, lies in Politichs, tn which thehumours and Bravadoes of Eloquence, especially amongst the

Ohrrp. X. 'l'lrc Imrnot't,:tlit,.y ol' t,lrt' Soul.

simple, is a very effectuall and serviceable instrument. Andcertainly such Rhetorications as this cannot be intended flor anybut such as are of the very weakest capacity.

Those two groundless conceits that he would obtrude upon

the sober Assertors of Spirits and Daemons belong not to them, f>

but are the genuine issue of his own Brain. For, for the formerof them, it is most justly adjudged to him, as the flrrst Authorthereof; it being a Rarity, which neither my self nor (I daresay) any else ever met with out of Mr Hobbs his Writings. Andthe latter he does not onely not goe about to confute here, but 1"0

makes a shew of allowing it, for fear he should seem to denyScripture, in Chap. 34. of his Leuiathan. But those thatassert the Existence of Splrifs, will not stand to Mr HoÖbs hischoice for defining of them, but will make use of their ownReason and Judgment for the settling of so concerning a I I-r

Notion.7. In this seventh Excerption is contained the same

Argument that was found in the first; but to deal fairly and

candidly, I must confess it is better back'd then before. Forthere he supposes, but does not prove, the chief ground of his 20

Argument; but here he offers at a proof of it, couched, as Iconceive, in these words land hath the dimensions of Magnitude,namely Length, Breadth and Depthl for for hence he would inferthat the whole Universe is Corporeal, that is to säY, everything in the Universe, because there is nothing but has Length, Zlt

Breadth and Depth. This therefore is the very last ground has

Argument is to be resolved into. But how weak it is I havealready intimated, it being not Trinal Dimension, butImpenetrability, that constitutes a Body.

8. This last Excerption seems more considerable then any 30

of the former, or all of them put together: but when the force ofthe Arguments therein contained is duly weighed, they will be

found of as little efficacy to make good the Conclusion as therest. The first Argument runs thus; Whatsoeuer is real, musthaue some place: But Spirits can haue no place. But this is very 35

easily answered. For if nothing else be understood by Place,

but lrnaginary Space, Spirits and Bodies may be in the sameImaginary Space, and so the Assumption is false. But if byPlace be meant the Concaue Superficies of one Body immediotel,y

enuironing another Body, so that it be conceived to be of the 40

very Formality of a Place, immediately to environ the c<trp<»real

Superficies of that Substance which is said to be placed; [hen it

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take advantage in pleading their cause in the absence of' thc

adverse party, I have brought in the most able Advttcate and

the most assured that I have hitherto ever met withall; and

dare now appeal to any indifferent Judge, whether I have not

demonstrated all his Atlegations to be weak and inconclusive-

Wherefore having so clearly evinced the possibility of the

Existence of a Spirit, we shall now make a step flurther, and

prove That it is not onely a thing possible, but that it is reollv

and actually in Nature.

Chap. XI.

I. Three grounds to proue the Existence of an ImmaterialSubstanc e, whereof the first is fetch'd from the Nature of God. 2.

The second from the Phaenomenon of Motion in the World. [].That the Matter is not Self-moueable. 4. An Objection that the

Matter may be part Self-moued, part not. 5. The first answer to

the Objection 6. The second Answer. 7. Other Euosions

answered.. 8. The lost Euosion of all answered. 9. The

Conclusion, That no Matter is Self-moued, but that a certain

quantity of motion was impressed upon it at its first Creation by

God.

I. There be Three main Grounds from whence a man maybe assured of the Eris tence of Spiritual or Immateriol Substance-

The one is the consideration of the transcendent excellency ofthe Nature of God,; who being, according to the true ldeo ofhim, an Essence absolutely Perfect cannot possibly be Body, and

consequently must be somethin g Incorporeal: and seeing thatthere is no contradiction in the Notion of a Spirit in general, nor

in any of those hinds of Spirits which we have defined, (where

the Notion of God was set down amongst the rest) and that inthe very Notion of him there is contained the reason of his

Existence, as you may see at large in my Antidote; certainly ifwe find any thing at all to be, we may safely conclude that He

is much more. For there is nothing besides Him of which one'

can give a reason why it is, unless we suppose him to be the

Author of it. Wherefore though God be neither Visible nor

Tangible, y€t his very ldea represenbing to our [ntellectualFaculties the necessary reason of his Existence, we al'e' by

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is impossible that a Spirit should be properly said to be in a

Place, and so the Proposition will be false. Wherefore therebeing these two acceptions of Place, that Distinction of beingthere Circumscriptiuö and Definitiuö is an allowable Distinction,and the terms may not signify one and the same thing. But ifwe will with Mr . Hobbs (and I know no great hurt if we shoulddoe so) confine the Notion of Place bo Imaginary Space, thisdistinction of the Schools will be needless here, and we häY,without any more adoe, assert, That Spirits are as truly inPlace as Bodies.

His second Argument is drawn from that scholastickRiddle, which I must confess seems to verge too near toprofound Non-sense, That the Soul of man is tota in toto andtota in qualibet parte corporis. This mad Jingle it seems has so

frighfened Mr Hobbs sometime or other that he never since

could endure to come near the Notion of a Spirit again, not so

much aS to Consider whether it were a mere Bug-bear, or Some

real Being. But if Passion had not surprised his betterFaculties, he might have found a true settled meaning thereof,and yet secluded these wilde intricacies that the heedless

Schools seem to have charged it with: For the ImmediateProper"tie.s of a Spirit are very well inteltigible without theseAenigmatical flourishes, viz. That it is a Substance Penetrable

and Indiscerpible, as I have already shewn at large.Nor is that Scholastick Aenigme necessary to be believed

by all those that would believe the Existence of an IncorporealSoul; nor do I believe Mr Hobbs his interpretation of this Riddleto be so necessary. And it had been but fair play to have been

assured that the Schools held such a perfect contradiction,be?bre he pronounced the belief thereof necessary to all those

that would hold the Soul of Man an Immaterial Substance,

separable from the Body.I suppose they may mean nothing byit, but what, Plato did by his making the Soul to consist ärpreptotfrq roi o.peplotou oüoloq' nor Plato any thing more by thatdiuisible and indiuisible Substance, then an Essence that isintellectually divisible, but really indiscerpible.

9. We have now firmly made good, that the Notion of oSpirit implies no contradiction nor incompossibility in it; but isthe Notion or ldea of a thing that may possibly be. Which Ihave done so punctually and particularly, that I have clearedevery Species of Sabstances Incorporeol from the imputation ofeither obscurity or inconsistency. And that I might not seem to

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60 'lhe Immortality of'the Soul. Book I

Axiome 5. (though we had no other Argument drawn from ourSenses) confidently to conclude That }Ie is.

2- The second ground is the ordinary phaenomena ofNature, the most general whereof is Motion Now it seems tome demonstrable from hence, That there is some Being in theworld distinct from Matter. For Matter being of onJ simplehomogeneal nature, and not distinguishablä by specificalldifferences, as the schools speak, it must have every where thevery same Essential properties; and therefore of it self it mustall of it be either without motion, or else be self-moving, andthat in such or such a tenor, or measure of motion; there beingno reason imaginable, why one part of the Matter should moveof it self lesse then another; and therefore if there be any suchthing, it can onely arise from externalr impediment.

3. Now r say, if Matter be utterly Jevoid of motion in itself, it is plain it has its motion frorn- some other substance,which is necessarily a substance that is not Motter, that is tosay, a substance Incorporeal. But if it be moved of it self, insuch or such a measure, the effect here being an Emanatiueeffect, cannot possibly fail to be whereever Mattir is, by Axiome17, especially if there be no external impediment: And there isno impediment at all, but that the Terrestrial parts mightregain an activity very nigh equal to the Aeth"."äI, or rathernever have lost it. For if the planets had but a commonDiuidend of all the motion wnich themselves and the sun andstars, and all the Aethereal matter possess, (the matter of thePlanets being so little in comparison of that of the sun, srarsand Aether) the proportion of motion that will fall due to themwould be exceeding much above what they have. For it wouldbe as if four or five poor men in a very rich and populous cityshould, by giving up that estate they üurr", in a revelling wäy,get equal share with all the rest. wherefore every planei couldnot faile of melting it self into little less finer substance thenthe purest Aether. But they not doing so, it is a signe theyhave not that Motion nor AgitatiÄ of themseläs, andtherefore rest content with whaf has extrinsecally accrued tothem, be it less or more.

4- But the pugnacious, to evade the stroke of ourDilemma, will make any bold shift; and though they affronttheir own Facultles in saying so, yet they wilisay, and mustsay, That part of the Matter is self-moving, part without motionof it self.

Chap. X l. 'l'he lmrnort,ulit,.y o[' t,lrc Soul.

5. But to this I answer, That first, this Evasion «r[ thcirsis not so agreeable to Experience; but, so far as either our'Sense or Reason can reach, there is the same Matter everywhere. For consider the subtilest parts of Matter discoverablehere below, those which for their Subtilty are invisible, and fortheir Activity wonderfull, I mean those particles that causethat vehement agitation we feel in Winds: They in time losetheir motion, become of a visible vaporous consistency, andturn to Clouds, then to Snow or Rain, after haply to Ice it self;but then in process of time, first melted into Water, thenexpelled into Vapours, after more fiercely agitated, do becomeWind again. And that we may not think that thisReciprocation intn Motion and Rest belongs onely to Tetestrialparticles; that the Heauens themselves be of the same Matter,is apparent from the Ejections of Comets into our Vorter, andthe perpetuall rising of those Spots and Scum upon the Face ofthe Sun,

6. But secondly, to return what is still more pungent.This Matter that is Self-moued, in the impressing of Motion uponother Matter, either looses of its own motion, or retains it stillentire. If the flrrst, it may be despoiled of all its motion: and sothat whose immediate nature is to moue, shall rest, the entirecause of its motion still remaining, viz. it self: which is a plaincontradiction by Axiome 17. If the second, no meaner aninconvenience then this will follow, That the whole world hadbeen turned into pure Aether by this time, if not into a perfectflame, or at least will be in the conclusion, to the utterdestruction of all corporeal Consistencies. For, that these Self-mouing parts of Matter are of a considerable copiousness, theevent does testify, they having melted almost all the worldalready into Suns, Srors and Aether, nothing remaining butPlanets and Comets to be dissolved: Which all put togetherscarce beare so great a proportion to the rest of the Matter of'the Universe, as an ordinary grain of sand to the whole ball ofthe Earth. Wherefore so potent a Principle of Motion stilladding new motion to Matter, and no motion once communicatedbeing lost, (for according to the laws of Motion, no Body losesany more motion then it communicates to another) it plainlyfollows, that either the World had been utterly burnt up erenow, or will be at least in an infinite less time then it hasexisted, Däy, I may say absolutely in a very little time, and willnever return to any frame of things again; which though it,

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62 The Immortality of the Soul. Book I

possibly may be, yet none but a mad-man will assert, byAxiome 2. And that it has not yet been since the first Epochesof History, seems a Demonstration that this second Hypothesisis false.

7. There is yet another Evasion or two, which when theyare answered there will be no Scruple remaining touching thispoint. The first is, That the Matter is all of it homogeneall, ofthe like nature every where, and that it is the commonProperty of it all to be of it self indifferent to Motion or Rest;and therefore, that it is no wonder that some of it moues, andother some of it rests, or rnoues less then other some. To whichI answer, That this Indffirency of the Matter to Motion or Restmay be understood two wayes: Either priuately, that is to say,That it has not any real or active propension to Rest more thento Motion, or uice t)ersa, but is merely passive and susceptive ofwhat Motion or Fixation some other Agent confers upon it, andkeeps that modification exactly and perpetually, till again someother Agent change it; (in which sense I allow the Assertion tobe true, but it makes nothing against us, but for us, it plainlyimplying That there is an Incorporeal Substance distinct fromthe Matter, from whence the Matter both is and must be moued.)Or else, this Indffirency is to be understood positiuely, that is tosay, That the Matter has a real and active propension as well toMotion as to Rest, so that it moueth it self and fixetä it self fromits own immediate nature. From whence there are but thesetwo Absurdities that follow: the first, That two absolutelycontrary properties are immediately seated in one simpleSubject; then which nothing can seem more harsh andunhandsome to our Logical faculties; unless the second, whichis, That Motion and Rest being thus the Emanatiue effects ofthis one simple Subject, the Matter will both moue and. rest atonce; or, if they do not understand by Rest, Fixation, but amere absence of motion, That it will both move and not moveat once. For what is immediate to any Subject, will not cease tobe, the Subject not being destroyed, by Axiome 17.

Nor will they much help themselves by fancying thatMatter necessarily exerting both these immediote powers orproperties at once of Motion and .Best, moves her self to such ameasure and no swifter. For this position is but coincident withthe second member of the Dilemrno, Sect. 3. of this Chapter;and therefore the same Argument will serve for both places.

Chap. Xl. 'fhe [mrnortality «rf'the Soul.

The other Evasion is, by supposing part of the Matter t«r bei

Selfmouing, and part of it Self-resting, in a positive sense, or

Seif-fixini: Which is particularly directed against what we have

argued §ect. O. For thus they would avoid that hasty and

,rrri,rur.ut Conflagration there inferred. But that this l»

Supposition is false, is manifest from Experience. For if there

be -any

such Self-fixing parts of Matter, they are certainly in

Gold and Lead and such tike Metalls; but it is plain that they

are not there. For what is Self-fixing, will immediately be

reduced to Rest, So soon as external violence is taken off, by t 0

Axiome 17. Whence it will follow, that though these Self-fixing

parts of Matter may be carried by other Matter while they are

made fast to it, yet left free they will suddainly rest, they

having the immediate cause of Fixation in themselves. Nor can

any Ä" distrust, that the change will be so suddain, if he li-r

consider how suddainly an external force puts Matter upon

motion. But a Bullet of gold or tead put'thus upon motion,

swift or slow, does not suddainly reduce it self tn rest. Whence

it plainly appears that this other Evasion contradicts

Explrience, and therefore has no force against our former 20Arguments.

8. The utmost Evasion the Wit of man can possibl.y

excogitate is that, Figment of a cert ain Diuine Matter dispersed

in the World, which some conceit the onely Numen thereof,

whose motions they make notnecessaf!,butuoluntary; whereby 25

they would decline that exorbitant inconvienience mentioned in

the sixth Section of this Chapter. But the opinion to me seems

very harsh and prodigious for these reasons following.First, they seem very absurd in imagining this to be thc

Numen of the World or God himself, it being so inconsistenf :i0

with Personality and the Unity of the Godhead to be made up of'

an Infinite number of intersper sed Atom.s amidst the Matter of'

the World: For this cannot be one God in any sense; nol' il

single Diuine Atome an Entire Deity. From whence it would

folläw that there is no God at all. l]5

And then in the second place, They acknowledging this

Diuine Matter to be Motter, acknowledge therewit'h

Impenetrability and Juxta-position of parts, diversity als«r o[

figure, and, where there are n0 pores at a'll, absolute Solulitv

,"a Httrtlness. Whence it is manif'est that whatsocvct' 411

llg:.rsrrrtirtgs :-tt'e stptltrg against Ordinort Mottt:r f<»r rnakilrg it'

trrr«:alrirlllt. r)l' I)t,rt.epf it»rt lntl frce Artion, f'r'rlrvt thtl N0lrtrt' lttttl

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64 The Immortality of the Soul.

Idea thereof, they are as strong against this, on which theyhave conferred the title of Diuine.

And thirdly and lastly, That there is no such Diuine Matterinterspersed amongst the subtile Matter of the world, that canact freely and knowingly, Effecfs also and, Experiments plainlydeclare, as I have abundantly noted in my Antidote ägainstAtheism.

9. wherefore it is most rational to conclude; That noMatter whatsoever of its own Nature has any active principle ofMotion, though it be receptive thereof; uut that when Godcreated it, he suparadded an impress of Motion upon it, such ameasure and proportion to all of it, which remains still much_what the same for quantity in the whole, though the parts ofMatter in their various occursion of one to another have notalwaies the same proportion of it. Nor is there any morenecessity that God should reiterate this impress of Motion onthe Matter created, then that he should peretually create theMatter. Neither does his conservation of this quantity ofMotion any thing more imply either a repetition oi anaugmentation of it, then the conservation of the Matter does thesuperaddition of new Matter thereunto. Indeed he need butconserve the Matter, and the Matter thus conserved willfaithfully retain, one part with another, the whole summe ofMotion first communicated to it, some small moments excepted,which are not worth the mentioning in this place.

Chap. XII.

r. That the order and Nature of things in the (Jniuerse argue anEssence spiritual or Incorporeal. 2. The Evasion ,f thisArgument. 3. A preparation of Mr Hobbs to answer theEuasion. 4. The first Answer. 5. The second. Answer. 6. MrHobbs his misto.ke, of making the lgnorance of second, couses theonely Seed of Religion.

I. we have discovered out of the simple phaenomenon ofMotion, the necessity of the Existence ir some IncorporealEssence distinct from the Matter: But there is a furtherassurance of this Truth, from the consideration of the orderand admirable Effect of this Motion in the world. suppose

Chap. X I l. 'l'he Immort,alit..y o['the Soul.

Matter could move it self, would mere Matter, with Self'-m«rtion,amount to ühat admirable wise contrivance of things which wcsee in the World? Can a blind impetus produce such Eff'ects,with that accuracy and constancy, that, the more wise a manis, the more he will be assured Thot no Wisdome uan adde, toheawe,y, or alter any thing in the worhs of Nature, whereby the.y

may be bettered? How can that therefore that has not so muchas Sense, arise to the Effects of the highest pitch of Reoson or'

Intellect? But of this I have spoke so fully and convincingly inthe second Book of my Antidote, that it will be but a needlessrepetition to proceed any further on this Subject.

2. All the Evasion that I can imagine our Adversariesmay use here, will be this: That Matter is capable of Sense, andthe finest and most subtile of the most refined Sense, andconsequently of Imagination too, yea haply of Reason andUnderstanding. For Sense being nothing else, as some conceib,buL Motion, or rather Re-action of a Body pressed upon byanother Body, it will follow thot all the Matter in the World hasin some manner or other the power of Sensation.

3. Let us see now what this Position will amount to.Those that make Motion and Sensation thus really the same,they must of necessity acknowledge, That no longer Motion, nolonger Sensation, (as Mr Hobbs has ingenuously confessed inhis Elements of Philosophy:) And that every Motion or Re-octionmust be a new Sensation, as well as every ceasing of Re-actiona ceasing of Sensation.

4. Now let us give these busie active particles of theMatter that play up and down every where the advantage of,

Sense, and let us see if all their heads lald together can contrivethe Anatomical fabrick of amy Creature that lives. Assuredlywhen all is summ'd up that can be imagined, they will fallshort of their account. For I demand, Has every.one of thescparticles that must have an hand in the framing of the Body of,

an Animal, the whole design of the work by the impress of'some Phantasm upon it, or, as they have several off-rces, sohave they several parts of the design? If the first, it beingmost certain, even according to their opinion whom we oppose,that there can be no lenoutledge nor perception in the Mcttter, buLwhat arises out of the Re-action of one part against another,how is it conceivable that any one particle of Matter or man.yiogether' ( there not existing yet in Nature any Animal) (:an

h:rvc Lhe ldeo impressed «rf that Crc.ature they a.r'c to frumr''/

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and carefully into the nature of Corporeol Being.s, and carn fintlcno Causality in them proportionable to these Effects we speakof, still to implead ourselves rather of Ignorance, then theMatter and Corporeal motion of Insufficiency, is to hold anopinion upon humour, and to transgress against our first andsecond Axiomes.

Chap. XI[.

I. The last proof of Incorporeal Substances, from Apparitions.2. The first Euasion of the force of such Arguings. 3. AnAnswer to that Euasion. 4. The second Euasion. 5. The firstkind of the second Euasion. 6. A description out of Virgil of thatGenius that suggests the dictates of the Epicurean Philosophy. 7.The more full ond refined sense of thot Philosophy now-a-doyes.8. The great efficacy of the Srors (which they suppose to consistof nothing but Motion and Matter) for production of all manner of'Creotures in the utorld.

I. The Third and last ground which I would make use of,for evincing the Existence of Incorporeal Substances, is suchextraordinary Effects as we cannot well imagine any natural,but must needs conceive some free or spontaneous Agent to bethe Cause thereof, whenas yet it is clear that they are fromneither Man nor Beast. Such are speakings, knockings,opening of doors when they were fast shut, sudden lights in themidst of a room floating in the aire, and then passing a.ndvanishing; träy, shapes of Men and severall sorts of Brutes,that after speech and converse have suddainly disappeared.There and many such like extraordinary Effects (which, if youplease, you may call by one generall terme of Apporitions)seem to me to be an undeniable Argument, that there be suchthings as Spirits or Incorporeal Substonces in the world; and Ihave demonstrated the sequel to be necessary in the lastChapter of the Appendix to my Treatise against Atheism; and inthe third Book of that Treatise have produced so many and s«r

unexceptionable Stories concerning Apparitions, that I hold itsuperfluous to adde anything here of that kind, taking far rn<lrepleasure in excrcising o[ my Reason then in registring o['[Iist«rry. I]t sirk's that I have mudc so t'lrrcf'ull clroicc t,ht'r'r'

(\'l

or if one or some few particles have the sense of one part ofthe Animal (they seeming more capable of this, the parts beingfar more simple then the whole bompages and contrivement)and other some few of other parts, hoi can they confer notes?

5 by what language or sp""ch can they communicate theircounsel one to another? wherefore that they should mutuallyserve one another in such a design, is more impossible thenthat so many men blind and dumü fro- their ,r.tirrity shouldjoyn their forces and wits together to build a Castle, or carve a10 statue of such a creature as none of them knew u.y -ore of inseveral then some one of the smallest parts thereof, but not therelation it bore to the whole.

5- Besides this, sense being realry the same withcorporeal Motion, it must changJ upon new impresses of15 Motion; so that if a particle by Sense **r. carried in this line,it meeting with a counterbuffe in the wäy, must have qulteanother Impress and sense, and so forget what it was goingabout, and divert its course another way. Nay though itscaped free, sense being Re-o.ction, when that which it bears20 against is removed, sense must needs cease, and perfectOblivion succeed. For it is not with these particles as with thespring of a watch or a bent cross-bow, that they should for aconsiderable time retain the same Rr-ociion, and soconsequently the same sense. And lastly, if they could, it is25 still nothing to the purpose; for let their sense be what it wil,their motion is necessary, it being merely corporeal, andtherefore the result of their motion cinnot be from any kind ofknowledge.- ror the corporeal motion is first, and is onely felt,not directed by feeling. And therefore whether the Matter have30 any sense or no, what is made out of it is nothing but whatresults from the wild jumblings and knockings of one partthereof ag_ainst another, without any purpose, counsel ordirection. wherefore the ordinary phoinomena of Nature beingguided according to the most Exquisite wisdome imaginable, it35 is plain that they are not the Effects of the mere motion ofMotter, but of some Immateriar principre, by Axiome 10.6. And therefore the lgnorance of second. causes is not sorightly said to be the Seed of Religion, ( as Mr. ionb. wouldhave it) as of lrreligion and Atieism. For if we did more40 punctually and particularly search into their natures, we

should clearly discern their insufficiency for such effects as wediscover to be in the wcrld. But whe., *u have looked so closely

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68 The Immortality of the S«rul. Book I

already, that I cannot hope to cull out any that may provemore pertinent or convictive; I having penn'd down none butsuch as I had compared with those severe lawes I set my selfin the first Chapter of that third Book, to prevent alltergiversations & evasions of gain-sayers.

2. But, partly out of my own observation, and partly byinformation from others, I am well assured there are but twowayes whereby they escape the force of such evidentNarrations. The first is a firm perswasion that the very Notionof a Spirit or Immaterial Substance is an Impossibility orContradiction in the very termes. And therefore such storiesimplying that which they are conflrdent is impossible, theNarration at the very first hearing must needs be judged to befalse; and therefore they think it more reasonable to concludeall those that profess they have seen such or, such things to bemad-men or cheats, then to give credit to what implies aContradiction.

3. But this Evasion I have quite taken away, by so clearlydemonstrating that the Notion of a Spirit implies no morecontradiction then the Notion of Matter; and that its Attributesare as conceivable as the Attributes of Matter: so that I hopethis creep-hole is stopt for ever.

4. The second Evasion is not properly an Evasion of thetruth of these stories concerning Apparitions, but of ourdeduction therefrom. For they wiltingly admit of theseApparitions and Prodigies recorded in History, but they denythat they are any Arguments of a truly Spiritual andIncorporeal Substance distinct from the Matter thus changed-intothis or that shape, that can walk and speak etc. but that theyare special Effects of the influence of the Heavenly Bodies uponthis region of Generation and Corruption.

5. And these that answer thus are of two sorts. The onehave great Affinity with Aristotle and Auenroes, who look notupon the Heavenly Bodies as mere Corporeal Substances, butas actuated with Intelligencies, which are Essences separateand Immaterial. But this Supposition hurts not us at all in ourpresent design; they granting that which I am arguing for, viz.a Substonce Incorporeal. The use of this perverse Hypothesis isonly to shuttle off all Arguments that are drawn fromApparitions, tn prove that the Souls of men subsist after death,or that there are any such things as Do.emons or Genii of anature permanent and immortal. But I look upon this

Chap. Xlll. 'l'he lmtnot'tltli[y ol' the Srlul-

Supposition as confutable enough, were it worth the while t«l

encounter it.That of the sadducees is fiar more firm, they supposing

their nnopporai nothing else but the efficacy of the presence ol'()odaltering Matter into this or the other Apparition or l»

Manifeitation; as if there were but one Soul in all things, and

God were that Soul variously working in the Matter. But this Ihave already confuted in my Philosophicall Poems, and shall

again in this Present Treatise.6. The other Influenciaries hold the same power of the l0

Heavens as these; though they do not suppose so high a

Principle in them, yet they think it suffrcient for the salving of

ail Sublunary Phaenomena, as well ordinary as extraordinary'Truly it is a very venerable Secret, and not to be uttered or

communicated but by some old SiJenus lying in his obscure Grot l Ir

or Cave, nor that neither but upon dumbe circumstances, and

in a right humour, when one may find him with his veins

swell'd out with wine, and his Garland faln off from his head

through his heedless drousiness: Then if some young Chromis

and ünasylus, especially assisted by a fair and forward Aegle, 20

that by way of a lovefrolick will leave the tracts of her fingers

in the blood of Mulberies on the temples and forehead of this

aged satyre, while he sleeps dog-sleep, and will seem to see, for

fear he forfeit the pleasure of his feeling; then, I say, if these

young lads importune him enough, he will again sing that old 2r,

.ong of tn" Epicurean Philosophy in an higher strain then ever'

*niifr I profess I should abhor to recite, were it not to confute;

it is so monstrous and impious. But because no sore can be

cured that is concealed, I must bring this Hypothesis into view

also, which the Poet has briefly comprised in this summary. 30

Namque canebat, uti magnum per inane coacta

semina terrarumque animaque marisque fuissent,Et liquidi simul ignis; ut his exordia primisOmnia, et ipse tener mundi concreuerit orbis'

7. The fulter and more refined sense whereof now-a-daies l]5

is this That Matter and, Motion are the Principles of all things

whatsoever; and that by Motion some Atomes or particles are

more subtile then others, and of more nimbleness and activity.That motion of one Body against another does every where

necessarily produce Sense , Sense being nothing else but the fle- 40

action of parts of the Matter. That the suätiler Lhe Matter is, the

Sen.srr is rn«»'r. subt,ile. That the subtilest Mutter of .rll is tlrat

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'llhe Imrnortality of the Soul. Book I

which constitutes the Sun and Sfors, from whence they mustneeds have the purest and subtilest sense. That what has themost perfect Sense, has the most perfect Imoginotion andMemory because Memory and Imagination are but the samewith Sense in reality, the latter being but certain Modes of theformer. That what has the perfectest Imogination, has thehighest Reason and Prouidence; Prouidence and Reason beingnothing else but an exacter train of Phantasmes, Sensations orImaginations. Wherefore the Sun and the Stors are the mostIntellectual Beings in the world, and in them is that Knowledge,Counsel and Wisdome by which all Sublunary things areframed and governed.

8. These by their several impresses and impregnationshave filled the whole Earth with vital Motion, raisinginnumerable sorts of Flowers, Herbs and Trees out of theground. These have also generated the several Kinds of livingCreatures. These have flrlled the Seas with Fishes, the Fieldswith Beasts, and the Aire with Fowles; the Terrestrial matterbeing as easily formed into the living shapes of these severalAnimals by the powerful impress of the Imagination of the Sunand Stars, as the Embryo in the womb is marked by the strongfancy of his Mother that bears him. And therefore theseCelestial powers being able to frame living shapes of Earthlymatter by the impress of their Imogination, it will be more easyfor them to change the vaporous Aire into like transfigurations.

So that admitting all these Stories of Apparitions to be truethat are recorded in Writers, it is no Argument of the Existenceof any Incorporeol Principle in the world. For the piercing Fore-sight of these glorious Bodies, the Sun and Stars, is able toraise what Apparitions or Prodigies they please, to usher in theBirths or foresignify the Deaths of the most considerablepersons that appear in bhe world; of which Pomponotius himselfdoes acknowledge that there are many true examples both inGreeh and Latine History. Thas is the deepest Secret that oldSilenus could ever sing to ensnare the ears of deceivable Youth.And it is indeed gptrröv puotrlptov. in the very worst sense,Horrendum Mysterium, a very dreadful and dangerous Mystery,saving that there is no finall hope that it may not prove true.Let us therefore now examine it.

Chap. XIV. 'l'he [mm«lrtalitY of'fhe Soul'

ChaP. XIV.

I. That the splend.or of the celestiat Bodies prnues no Fore'

sight nor Soueraignty that they haue ouer us' 2' That the Stars

con haue no t noälnäg, of us, Mathematically demonstrated' 3' 5

The sone Conclusioi ogrin d.emonstrated more familiarly' 4'

Thot the Stars cannot communicate Thoughts, neither with the

sun nor with one another. 5. That the sun has no knowledge of

ouraffairs.6.Principleslaiddownfo'theinferringthatConclusion. 7. A demonstration that he connot see us' 8' That 10

he can haue no other kind of knowledge of us, nor of the frame of

anyAnimalonEarth.g.ThatthoughtheSunhadthehnowledge of the right frame of an Animal, he could not transmit

it into Terrestrial Äotter. 10. An Answer to that Instance of the

Signature of the Foetus. 11,12. Further Answers thereto' 13' A 15

short Increpation of the confident Exploders of Incorporeal

Substanc e ou,t of the world'

I.ThattheLightisaverygloriousthing,andthe.lustreofthe stors very love"ly to look .rpot, and that the Body of the srrn 20

is so full of -splendtur

and Majesty, that without flattery we

may profess our selves constrained to look aside' as not being

able to bear the brightness of his aspect; all this must be

acknowledged for Truih: but that these are as so many Eyes of

Heaven to watch over the Earth, so many kind and careful 25

Spectators & Intermedlers also in humane affairs, as that

p'rrurr.if,rl chymi st Paracelsus conceits, who writeth that not

onely Princes and Nobles, or men of great and singular worth,

but even almost everyone' near his death has some

prognostick sign or other (as knockings in the house, the dances 30

of dead men, ind the like) from these compassionaie Fore-seers

ofhasapproachingFate;thislmustconfesslamnotSopaganly SuperstitiJus as to believe one syllable of; but think it

may be demonstrated to be a mere fancy, especially upon this

present Hypothesis, That the Sun and S,rrrs have no 3l-)

immaterialBeingresidinginthem,butaremereMatterconsisting of th; subtilest Particles and most vehemently

agitated. For then we cannot but be assured that there is

.rätfrilg in them more Divine then what is seen in other things

that shine in the dark, suppose rotten wood, glo-worms, or 40

the flame of a rush-candle'

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refcrence Lo [he very Body «rf' the Sun himself, the matter

whereof has the most f urious motion of any thing in the world'/

5. There is nothing now therefore left, but the Sun alone,

that can possibly be conceived to have any knowledge of, or

any ,rp"ii.rtundency over our terrestrial affairs. And how lt,rrr.upuble he is also of this offlrce, I hold it no difficult thing to

demonstrate. whence it will plainly appear, that those

Apparitions that are seen, whether in the Aire or on Earth(wnicn are rightly looked upon as an Argument of Providence

and Existence of some Incorporeal Essence in the world) cann«rt I0

be attributed to the power and prevision of the Sun, supposing

him purely corporeal.6. For it is a thing agreed upon by all sides, That mere

Matter has no connate ldeas in it of such things as we see in the

world; but that upon Re'action of one part moved by another I l-r

arises a kind of Sense or Perception. Which opinion as it is most

rational in it self to conceive ( supposing Matter has any sense

in it at all) so it is most consonant to experience, we seeing

plainly that Sense is ever caused by some outward corporeal

motion upon our Organs, which are also corporeal. For that 20

Light is fiom a corporeal motion, is plain from the reflexion ofl

thä rayes thereof; and no Sound is heard but from the motion

of the Aire or some other intermediate Body; no Voice but there

is first a moving of the Tongue; no Musick but there must

either be the blowing of wind, or the striking upon strings, or '21>

something Analogical to these; and so in the other Senses.

wherefore if there be nothing but Body in the world, it is

evident that Sense arises merely from the motion of one part of

Matter against another, and that Motion is ever first, a'nd

Perceptioi follows, and that therefore Perception must :t0

."."r.u.ily follow the laws of Motion, and that no Percipient can

have any thing more to conceive then what is conveighed by

Corporeal motion. Now from these Principles it will be easy t<-r

ptou. that, though we should acknowledge a power of Percep-

iion in the Sun, yet it will not amount to any ability of his being lll-r

either a Spectator or Gouernor of our affairs here on Earth.7. According to the Computation of Astronomers, even <l['

those that speak more modestly, the Srzn is bigger then thr:

Earth above an hundred and fifty times. But how little hc

appears to us every eye is able to judge. How little then musl 40

Lhe Eorth appeal' Lo him'/ If he see her at all, he will be s«r I'ar'

fi'«lm being rthlt' ttt take notice ofl any Persons or F-i-rmilies, t'haL

737'2 'l'he lrnrn«rrtality of' the S«rul. []«rok I

2. This at least we will demonstrate, That let the Szn andStors have what knowledge they will of other things, they havejust none at all of us, nor of our affairs; which will quite takeaway this last Evasion. That the Srors can have no knowledgeof us is exceeding evident: For whenas the Magnus orbis of theEarth is but as a Point compared with the distance thereof to afixed Star, that is to say, whenas that Angle which we mayimagine to be drawn from a Star, and to be subtended by theDiameter of the Magnus orbis, is to Sense no Angle at all, butas a mere Line; how little then is the Earth it selP and howutterly invisible to any Stor, whenas her Diameter is above1100. times less then that of her Magnus orbis? From whenceit is clear that it is perfectly impossible that the Stors, thoughthey were endued with sight, could so much as see lhe Earth itself, (much less the inhabitants thereofl to be Spectators andIntermedlers in their affaires for good or evil; and there beingno higher Principle to inspire them with the knowledge of thesethings, it is evident that they remain utterly ignorant of them.

3. Or if this Demonstration (though undeniably true in itselfl be not so intelligible to every one, we may adde what ismore easy and familiar, viz. That the Sfors being lucid Bodies,those of the first magnitude near an hundred times bigger thenthe Earth, and yet appearing so small things to us, hence anyone may collect, that the opake Earth will either be quiteinvisible to the Stors, or else at least appear so little, that it willbe impossible that they should see any distinct Countries, muchless Cities, Houses, or Inhabitants.

4. Wherefore we have plainly swept away this numerousCompany of the celestial Senators from having any thing to doeto consult about, or any way to oversee the affairs of Mankind;and therefore let them seem to wink and twinkle ascogitabundly as they will, we may rest in assurance that theyhave no plot concerning us, either for good or evill, as havingno knowledge of us. Nor if they had, could they communicatetheir thoughts to that great deemed Soveraign of the world, thdSun; they being ever as invisible to him, as they are to us inthe day-time. For it is nothing but has light that hinders usfrom seeing so feeble Objects, and this hinderance consisteth innothing else but this, That that motion which by his Rayes iscaused in the Organ is so fierce and violent, that the gentlevibration of the light of the Srors cannot master it, nor indeedbear any considerable proportion to it: What then can it do in

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o[ the collision and agitation of ihe Solor particles, we canno[rationally expect any other effect in the Sun, then such as we

experiment in the percussion of our own eyes, out of wh'ich

ordinarily follows the sense of a confused light or flame. lfl theSun therefore has any sense of himself, it must be only theperception of a very vigorous Light or Fire, which being still one

and the same representation, it is a question whether he has asense of it or no, any more then we have of our bones, whichwe perceive not by reason of our accustomary and

unintärrupted sense of them, as Mr Hobbs ingeniouslyconjectures in a like supposition.

But if you will say that there is a perception of the jogging

or justling, of of whatever touch or rubbing of one Solar particleagainst another, the body of the Sun being so exceeding liquid,and consequently the particles thereof never resting, butplaying and moving this way and that way; yet they hittingand fridging so fortuitously one against another, theperceptions that arise from hence must be so various andfortuitous, so quick and short, so inconsistent, flitting andimpermanent, that if any man were in such a condition as the

Sun necessarily is, according to this Hypothesis, he would bothbe, and appear to all the world to be, stark mad; he would be so

off and on, and so unsettled, and doe, and think, and speak allthings with such ungovernable rashness and temerity.

In brief, that the sun by this tumultuous agitation of his

Fiery Atoms should hit upon any rational contrivance or rightIdea of any of these living Creatures we see here on Earth, is

utterly as hard to conceive, as that the Terrestrial particlesthemselves should justle together into such contrivances andformes, which is that which I have already sufficientlyconfuted.

9. And if the Sun could light on any such true frame orforme of any Animal, or the due rudiments or contrivancethereof, it is yet unconceivable how he should conveigh it infothis Region of Generation here on Earth, partly by reason of'

the Eortä's Distance and Invisibleness, and partly because fhe

deepest Principle of all being but mere Motion, without anysuperior power to govern it, this Imagination of the Sunworking on the Earth can be but a simple Rectilineor impresswhich can never arise to such an inward solid organizatitln «r('

parts in living Creatures nor hold together these Spectres or'

Apporitions in Lhe Aire, in any more cerL:rin form then thrr

he ca,nnot have any distinct discerning of Streets, nor Cities, nonot of Fields, nor Countries; but whole Regions, though of verygreat Extent, will vanish here, as Alcibiades his Patrimony inthat Map of the world Socrates shewed him, to repress the prideof the young Heire. The Eartä must appear consideraäly less tohim then the Moon does to us, because the Sun appears to usless then the Moon. It were easy to demonstrate that herdiscus would appear to the Sun near thirty, nay sixty timesless then the Moon does to us, according tn Lansbergius hiscomputation.

Now consider how little we can discern in that broaderObject of sight, the Moon, when she is the nighest,notwithstanding we be placed in the dark, under the shadow ofthe Eartä, whereby our sight is more passive and impressible.How little then must the fiery eye of that Cyclops theSun,which is all Flame and Light, discern in this lesser objectthe Eartä, his vigour and motion being so vehemently strongand unyielding? What effect it will have upon him, we may insome sort judge by our selves: For though our Organ be butmoved or agitated with the reflexion of his Rayes, we hardlysee Lhe Moon when she is above the Horizon by day: Whatimpress then can our Earth, a less Object to him then the Moonis to us, make upon the Sun, whose Body is so furiously hot,that he is as boiling Fire, if a man may so speak, and the Spotsabout him are, as it were, the scum of this fuming Cauldron?

Besides that our Atmosphere is so thick a covering over usat that distance, that there can be the appearance of nothingbut a white mist enveloping all and shining like a bright cloud;in which the rayes of the Srzn will be so lost, that they cannever return any distinct representation of things unto him.Wherefore it is as evident to Reason that he cannot see us, as itis to Sense that we see him; and therefore he can be no Ouerseernor Intermedler in our actions.

8. But perhaps you will reply That though the Sun cannotsee the Earth, yet he may have a Sense and Perception inhimself (for he is a fine glittering thing, and some strangematter must be presumed of him) that may amount to awonderful large sphere of Understanding, Fore-knowledge andPower. But this is a mere fancyful surmise, and such as cannotbe made good by any of our Faculties: Nay the quite contraryis demonstrable by such Principles as :ire already agreed upon.F<rr there arc no «)nnete ldeos in the Matter, and thereflore out

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76 'l'he lmm«lrtality of'thc Soul. Il«rok I

smoak of chimnies or the fume of Tobacco.10. Nor is that Instance of the power of the Mother's

fancy on the Foetus in the womb, any more then a mereflourish; for the disparity is so great, that the Argument provesjust nothing: For whereas the Mother has an Explicibe ldea ofLhe Foetus and every part thereof, the Sun and Srors have nodistinct ldea at all of the parts of the Earth; nay I dare say thatwhat we have already intimated will amount to aDemonstration, That though they had sense, yet they do not somuch as know whether this Earth we live on be in rerumNaturd or no.

11. Again, the Mark that is impressed on the Foetus, theMother has a clear and vivid conception of; but the curiouscontrivance in the ldea of Animals, I have shewn howincompetible it is to the fortuitous justling of the fiery particlesof either Sun or Stors.

12. Thirdly, the Impress on the Foetus is very simple andslight, and seldome so curious as the ordinary impresses ofSeals upon wax, which are but the modifications of the surfacethereof; but this supposed Impress of the Imaginatjon of theSun and Sfars is more then a solid Statue, or the most curiousAutomaton that ever was invented by the wit of man; andtherefore impossible to proceed from a mere Rectilinear impressupon the Aether down to the Earth from the Imagination of thesun, no not if he were supposed to be actuated with anIntelligent Soul, if the Earth u"a un the space betwixt her andhim were devoid thereof. Nor do I conceive, though it be aninfinitely more slight business, that the direction of theSignature of the Foetus upon such a part were to be performedby the Fancy of the Mother, notwithstanding the advantage ofthe organization of her body, were not both her self and theFoetus animated Creatures.

13. wherefore we have demonstrated beyond all Evasion,from the Phaenomena of the Universe, That of necessity theremust be such a thing in the world as Incorporeal Substance; letinconsiderable Philosophasters hoot at it, and deride it as muchas their Follies please.

77

TheIMMORTAI-.,ITY

ofTHE SOUL

The Second Book

Chap. I.

I.An addition of more Ariomes for the demonstrating thatthere is o Spirit or Immaterial Substance in Mon. 2. TheTruth of the first of these Axiomes confirrned from the testimonyof M' Hobbs, as well as demonstrated, in the Preface. 3,4. ThotDemonstration further cleared and euinced by onswering a certainEuosion. 5. The proof of the second Axiome. 6. The proof ofthe third. 7. The confirmation of the fourth from the testimony ofMr Hobbs, os o.lso from Reason. 8. An explication and. proof otf'

the fifth. 9. A further Proof of the Truth thereof. 10. AnAnswer to on Euasion. ll. Another Euasion answered. 12. Afurther mananagement of this first Answer thereto. 13. A seconclAnswer. 14. A third Answer; wherein is mainly contained oconfirmation of the first Answer to the second Euasion. 15. Theplainness of the sixth Axiome. L6. The proof of the seuenth.

1. Having cleared the way thus far as to prove That thereis no Contradiction nor Inconsistency in the Notion of a Spirit,but that iL may Exist in Nature, nay that de facto there areIncorporeal Substances really Existent in the world; we shallnow drive more home to our main design, and demonstrateThat there is such an Immaterial Substance in Man, which, fromthe power it is conceived to have in actuating and guiding theBody, is usually called the Soule. This Truth we shall makegood first in a more genero.l wäy, but not a whit the lessestringent, by evincing That such Faculties or Operations as weare conscious of in our selves, are utterly incompetible to Mo.tterconsidered at lo.rge without any particular organization. Andthen afterwards we shall morö punctually consider the Body ol'mon, and every possible fitness in the structure thereof that isworth taking notice of for the perfornance of these Operotions

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The lmmortality of the S«rul. tsook II

we ordinarily find in our selves. And that this may be done

more plainly and convincingly, we will here adde bo the number

of our Axiomes these that follow.

AXIOME XX.Motion or Re-action of one part of the Matter against another, orat least a d.ue continuance thereof, is really one and the same withSense and Perception, if there be any Sense or Perception inMatter.

2.This Axiome, as it is plain enough of it self ( supposingthere were nothing but Body in the world) so has it the suffrageof our most confident and potent adversary Mr. Hobbs in his

Elements of Philosophy. Whose judgmenb I make much of insuch cases as these, being perswaded as well out of Reason as

Charity, that he seeing so little into the nature of Spirits; thatdefect is compensated with and extraordinary Quicksightednessin discerning of the best warrantable wayes of salving allPhaenomena from the ordinary allowed properties of Matter.Wherefore I shall not hold it impertinent to bring in his

Testimony in things of this nature, my Demonstrationsbecoming thereby more recommendable to men of his own

Conclusions. But my design being not a particular victory over

such a sort of Men, but an absolute establishing of the Truth,Ishall lay down no Grounds that are merely Argumenta od

hominem; but such as I am perswaded (upon this Hypothesis,That there is nothing but Body in the world) are evident to any

one that can indifferently judge thereof. And the

demonstration of this present Axiome I have preflrxed in myPreface, Sect. 5.

3. Against which I cannot imagine any possible Evasion,

unless one should conceit that a general agitation onely of theparticles of the Motter will suffice to excite them to thinking,and that they being thus excited, can freely run out to othercogitations and Phantasmes then what adequately arise fromthe impress of Motion.

But to this may briefly be answered, First, That since

from the Agitation and Collision of these particles Sense mustneeds arise (for they being near Upon of the same magnitude,

they will effectually act one upon another) the Animaduersionof these particles will be so taken up and f-rxt upon theirsensible perceptitlns, that though they otherwise had a power of

Chap. I. The Immortality of the Soul.

freely thinking, yet they would alwaies be necessarily detainedin these sensible Phantasmes.

And then, Secondly, All that is perceived, is perceived incommon by that which is capable of being the Percipient. Butnothing that is not really the same with corporeal motion, or animmediate and adequate effect thereof, can be communicated Lo

the common particles of this or that Matter. Hence therefore itis plain that there is not any congeries of Mqtter that does runinto free cogitations, whether grosser Phantasmes or secondNotions, for the want of mutual communication of them in oneParticle to another, as I have more particularly demonstratedin its due place.

Thirdly and lastly, It is sufficiently manifest from senseand experience that Matter is a principle purely passiue, and nootherwise moued or modified then as some other thing mouesand modifies it, but cannot move it self at all. Which is mostdemonstrable to them that contend for Sense and Perception init. For if it had any such Perception, it would by virtue of itsSelf-motion withdraw it self from under the knocks of hammersor fury of the fire; or of its own accord approach to such thingsas are most agreeable to it and pleasing, and that without thehelp of Muscles, it being thus immedately endowed with a Self-mouing Power. But the Matter being so stupid as to want täisPower, how can it be thought a Subject wherein a Power andactivity infinitely more diuine should reside, that is, the freeexpatiating into Variety of thougärs, the exercise of Inuention,Judgement and Memory, and that in such Objects as aresupposed not to be the Impresses of the Motion of the particlesone upon another?

Nor would I be thought cunning and fraudulent in namingsuch gross and massy Matter as uses to be struck withHammers or hewen with Axes, and to conclude from thencethat no Matter at all, no not the most subtile, does move ii self:For Sefi motion is as competible to a massy piece of Motter asthe rnost minute particle imaginable; for Force will be to Forceas Magnitude to Magnitude; and therefore the most massypieces of Motter will move themselves the most strongly andmost irresistinly. From whence it appears that the minutestparticle of any Massy body separate from it has not one jot of'advantage toward Self-motion thereby, but onely becomes lassirresis[ible in its Sell'-mot'<tn.

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u0 'fhe Immorhlity of the Soul. Book tl

4. Nor can you help your self by recurring to the Figmentof a Matter specifically distinct from what men ordinarily speakof, (which some adorn with the title of Diuine, as if it were thevery substance of the highest Godhead:) For we may easilyundeceive our selves if we do but contemplate someconsiderable quantity of this Diuine Matter, suppose a Globe ofsome few inches Diameter, and perfectly solid,that is, theparts thereof immediately united without pores or intervalls;and then consider how it cannot fail of being more, hard thenthe Pzg of Lead, or the Wedge of Gold, which I mention in myDemonstration of this Axiome, and as Opake as any bodywhatsoever. For hence this Diuine Matter wlll appear to ourmind as uncapable of spontaneous Motion and of freeCogitations and Perceptions unimpressed from corporeal motionas the Pig of Lead and Wedge of Gold there mentioned; and thattherefore this Figment is but a mere Mockery of words, and asill put together in this sense, as a diuine Pig of Lead or diuineWedge of Gold would be.

And what I have said of the whole Globe, there is the samereason of any particle of the same nature with it; which will beno more capable of free cogitation, then the particles of thatMatter that makes up Gold or Lead. For if there be anyperception, it must be by corporeal Re-action in both, if weimpartially attend to the dictates of our own Faculties. And letthem be as they will, com munication of free Perceptions will notbe found possible in either; the Diuinest Matter imaginablehaving no other union then Juxta-position of parts, as ourAdversaries themselves freely will acknowledge.

To which faithful presages and rational conclusions of ourown Mind you may finally adde the suffrage of Nature inExperiments, which do clearly assure us that there is no suchDiuine Mo.tter endued with free cogito.tion and free Agencyintermingled or interspersed in the common Matter of theWorld, as I have plainly shown in my Antidote. Andtherefore we will conclude that no Matter whatsoever has anyperception in any other manner or according to any other lawsthen what Mr. Hobös has already defined, and my self in thistwentieth Axiome have declared, tf Mo.tter have any perceptionat all.

Ch"rp. l. '['he Immrlrtality of'the Soul.

AXIOME XXI.So far as this continued Re-action reaches, so far reaches Sense

or Perception, and no further.

5.This Axiome is to be understoed as well of Duration of,

Time, as Extension of the Subject, viz. That Sense andPerception spread no further in Matter then Re-oction does, norremain any longer then this ße-oction remains. Which Truth isfully evident out of the foregoing Axiome.

AXIOME XXII.That diuersity there is of Sense or Perception does necessarilyarise f*m the diuersity of the Magnitude, Figure, Position,Vigour and Direction of Motion in parts of the Matter.

6. The truth of this is also clear from the 20th Axiome.For Perception being really one and the same thing with Re'action of Matter one part against another; and there being adiversity of Perception, it must imply also a diversity ofmedification of Re-action; and Re-action being nothing butMotion in Matter, it cannot be varied but by such uariations as

are competible to Matter, viz. such as are Magnitude, Figure,Posture, Local Motion, wherein is contained any endeavourtowards it, as also the Direction of that either full Motion orcurb'd endeavour, and a Vigour thereof; which if you run tothe lowest degrees, you will at last come to Rest, whichtherefore is some way referrible to that head, as to Magnitudeyou are to refer Littleness. These are the first conceivable inMatter, and therefore diversity of Perception must of necessityarise from these.

AXIOME XXIII.Matter in all the uariety of those Perceptions i, is sensible of, has

none but such os are impressed by Corporeol Motions, thot is to

say, thot ere Perceptions of some Actions or modificatedImpressions of parts of Matter beoring one against ctnother.

7. To this Truth Mr Hobbs sets his seal with allwillingness imaginable, or rather eagerness, ils also his['<lll«rwers, the.y sfoutly contending that we have not thtrpen:epli<tn of irn.y thing but the Phantasms «tf material Objects,anrl o[' scnsible w«rrrls or Mat'ks, whit:h wc tnltktt t,o st,itn<l fitr

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such and such Objects. Which certainly would be most true ifthere were nothing but Matter in the world; so that they speakvery consonantly to their own Principles: I say, this is not onlytrue in that School, but also rational in it self, supposingnothing but Matter in the world, and that Perception and ße-action is really one. For that Re-action being in Brutes as wellas in Men, there must not be any difference by a perception ofquite another kind, but by an external way of communicationof their perceptions. And therefore the distinction betwixt Menand Becsts must consist onely in this, that the one can agr:ee insome common mark, whether Voices or Charocters, or whateverelse, to express their perceptions, but the other cannot; but theperceptions themselves must be of one kind in both, they neitherof them perceiving any thing but corporeal impressions, such asthey feel by the parts of the Matter beating one againstanother.

AXIOME XXIV.The distinct Impression of any considerable extent of uariegatedMatter cannot be receiued by a mere point of Matter.

8. By a mere point of Matter I do not mean a mereMathematical point, but o perfect Paruitude, or the least Reolityof Matter, ( concerning which I have spoke already). Whichbeing the least quantity that discerpible Mo.tter can consist of,no particle of Matter can touch it less then it self. ThisParuitude therefore that is so little that it has properly nointegral parts, really distinguishable, how can it possibly be aSubject distinctly receptive of the view, haply, of half anHorizon at once? which sight is caused by real and distinctmotion from real distinct parts of the Object that is seen. Butthis perfect Po.ruitude being the minutest quantity that Matter isdivisible into, no more then one real line of motion can bedirected upon it, the rest will goe beside. To which you mayadde that if this so perfect Paruitude were distinctly parceptiveof variegated Objects, it were a miracle if it could not perceivethe particles of the Aire and of the Atmosphere, the Globuli oflight, and subtilest contexture of the parts of Opake bodies.

9. Again, this Object we speak of may be so variegated, Imean with such colours, that it may imply a contradiction, thatone and the same particle of Matter ( suppose some very smallround one, that shall be the Cuspe of the visual pyramidc or'

( llrrrp. L 'l'lrr, lrrrnroll rrlrl..y of' the Soul.

(i«»rr.) slrorrkl rr'('('ivc them all at once; the opposite kindes «l['

t,h«lsc c«rklurs being uncommunicable to this round particleo[hcrwise then by contrariety of Motions, or by Rest andMotion, which are as contrary; as is manifest out of thatexcellent Theoreme concerning Colours in Des'Cartes hisMeteors, which if it were possible to be false, yet it is mostcertainly true, that seeing Motion is the cause of Sight, thecontrariety of Objects for Colour must arise out of contrarymodifications of Motion in this particle we speak of, thatimmediately communicates the Object to the Sentient; whichcontrariety of Motions at the same time and within the samesurface of the adequate place of a Body is utterly incompetibleLhereto.

10. Nor is that Evasion any thing available, That there rs

not any contrariety of real Motion here, but that there is onelyendeavour to Motion: For it is plain that Endeavour is as realas Motion it self, and as contrary, because it does really affectthe sight, and in a contrary manner. Besides, this Endeavourtoward Motion is Motion it self, though of an exceeding smallprogress: But be it as little as it will, it is as great a

contradiction, for example, that the Globe A should upon thesame centre, and within the same superflrcies (which is itsadequate place according to the meaning of that Notion inAristotle's School) be turned mever so little from C to B, andfrom B to C, at once, as to be turned quite about in thatmanner. To uthich you may adde that some Colours imply fäeones Motion, and the others Rest; but a Globe if it rest in anyone part from turning, rests in all. From whence it will flollow,That it is impossible to see Red and Black aL once.

11. This Subterfuge therefore being thus clearly takenaway, they substitute another, viz. That the distinct parts ofthe Object do not act upon this round particle, which is thc'

Cuspe of the visual Pyramide, at once, but successively, andso swifl,ly, that the Object is represented at once; as when oneswings atr«rut. a [ire-stick very flast, it seeims one continued circle

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of fire. But we shall find this instance very little to thepurpose, if we consider, that when one swings a fire-stick in acircle, it describes such a circle in the bottome of the Eye, notupon one point there, but in a considerable distance; and thatthe Optick Nerve, or the Spirits therein, are touchedsuccessively, but left free to a kind of Tremor or Vibration as itwere, (so as it is in the playing of a Lute) till the motion hasgone round, and then touches in the same place again, so quick,that it findes it still vigorously moved: But there being butone particle to touch upon here, some such like inconvenienceswill recurre as we noted in the former case.

12. For as I demonstrated before, that some Colourscannot be communicated at once to one and the same roundparticle of Matter; so from thence it will follow here, That,such Colours succeeding one another, the impress of the onewill take off immediately the impress of the other; from whencewe shall not be able to see such various Colours as arediscernible in a very large Object at once. For unless theimpression make some considerable stay upon that whichreceives it, there is no Sensation; insomuch that a man maywag his finger so fast that he can scarce see it: and if it domake a due stay, suppose a large Object checkered with themost opposite Colours, it were impossible that we should seethat checker-work at once in so large a compass as we do, butwe shall onely see it by parts, the parts vanishing and comingagain in a competent swiftness, but very discernible.

Chap. l. 'fhe lmmorüalify of'the Soul.

13. Again; if we could possibly imagine the uicissitutles <>f'

the impresses, from the distinct parts of the Basis of the visualcone to the point of it, which we will suppose to be a verysmall globulus, such as Des-Cartes his second Element consists

of, it being thus successiuely thrust against, things must then be

as I have represented them in the adjoining figure, where c A

is the object, G H the Sentient Matter, and I the Globulus,which witl be born from E directly toward F, where there willbe received such a colour in the least Reality of the SentientMatter in F; but from A it will be born towards B, and with a

very short rowling touch in another Reality, or it may be more

distantly from F, and impress such a colour from A upon B, or

thereabout, and so from C upon D: so that hereby also it is

manifest that no one perfect Paruitude receives the whole Object

CEA.14. Lastly, this quick vicissitude of impulse or impression

would contaminate all the Colours, and make the whole Object

aS it were of one confounded colour, aS a man may easilyperceive in a painted Wheel: For what is it but a quick coming

on of one colour upon the same part of the Optick nerve upon

which another was, immediately that makes the whole Wheel

seem of one blended colour? But not to impose upon any one,

this instance of the Wheel has a peculiar advantage above thispresent Supposition for making all seem one confounded colour,because the colours of the Wheel come not onely upon one and

the same part of the Nerve, but in one and the same line fromthe object; so that in this regard the instance is less

accommodate. But it is shreudly probable, that fluid perceptiue

Matter will not fail to find the colours tinctured from one

another in some measure in the whole Object here also,

especially if it be nigh and very small, by reason of the

instability of that particle that is successively plaied upon fromall parts thereof. But at least this instance of the Wheel is an

unexceptionable confirmation of our first Demonstration of the

weakness of the second Evasion, from the necessity of a con'

siderable stay upon the percipient Matter, and that Sen sationcannot be but with some leisurely continuonce of this or thaL

Motion before it be wiped out. We might adde also that fhere

ought to be il due permanency of the Object that presscs

irgainst the Organ, though no new impressi«ln sutldenl.y

succectlcd to wipe out the flormer, aS one mi]y experimetrt irt

swiftly swinging itbouL a paintetl Bullet in :r st,ring, whit'h will

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still more fully confirm what we aime at. But this is more thenenough for the making good of this 24. Axiome; whose evidenceis so clear of it self, that I believe there are very few but will beconvinced of it at the first sight.

AXIOME XXV.Whateuer impression or parts of any impression are not receiuedby this perfect Parvitude or Real point of Matter, are not at allperceiued by it.

15. This is so exceeding plain of it self, that it wantsneither explication nor proof.

AXIOME XXW.Whateuer Sense or Motion there is now in Matter, it is anecessary impression from some other pert of Matter, and doesnecessarily continue till some part or other of Matter has justledit out.

16. That what Motion there is in any part of Matter isnecessarily there, and there continues till some other part ofMatter change or diminish its Motion, is plain from the laws ofMotion set down by Des-Cartes in his Principia Philosophiae.And that there is the same Reason of Sense or Perception (

supposing there is nothing but Matter in the world) is plain fromAxiome 20. that makes Motion and Sense or Perception reallythe same.

Chap. II.

I. That f Matter be capable of Sense, Inanimate things ore sotoo: And of M' Hobbs his wauering in that point 2. AnEnumeration of seueral Faculties in us that Matter ,s utterlyuncapable of. 3. That Matter in no kind of Temperature iscapable of Sense. 4. That no, one point of Matter can be theCommon Sensorium. 5. Nor a multitude of such Pointsreceiuing singly the entire image of the Object. 6. Nor yetreceiuing part pafr, and the whole the whole 7. That Memory isincompetible to Matter. 8. That Lhe Matter is uncapable of thenotes of some circumstances of the object which we remembred.

Oha1r. I l. The lmm«rrtalit.y «rf'the Sotrl. 87

9. That Matter cannot be the Seat of seconcl Notions. 10. MrHobbs his Euasion of the foregoing Demonstrotion clearlv

confuted. 11. That the Freedome of our Will euinces that there

is a Substance in us d.istinct from Matter. 12. That Mr Hobbs

therefore achnowledges all our actions necessary. lt

I. We haue now made our addition of such Axiomes as are

most useful for our present purpose. Let us therefore,according to the order we propounded, before we consider the

fabrich and organization of the Body, see if such Operations as

we find in our selves be competible tn Matter looked upon in a I0more general manner. That Matter from its own nature isuncapable of Sense, plainly appears from Axiome 20, and 21.

For Motion and Sense being really one and the same thing, itwill necessarily follow, that whereever there is Motion,

especially any considerable duration thereof, there must be I i-r

Sense and, Perception Which is contrary to what we find in a

Catochus, and experience daily in dead Carkasses; in both

which, though there be Re-action, yet there is no Sense.

In brief, if any Matter have Sense, it will follow that upon

Re-action all shall have the like, and that a Bell while it is 20ringing, and a Bow while it is bent, and every Jack-in-a-boxthat Schoolboyes play with, while it is held in by the coverpressing against it, shatl be living Animals, or SensitiveCreatures. A thing so foolish and frivolous, that the mere

recital of the opinion may well be thought confutation enough 25

with the sober.And indeed Mr. Hobbs himself, though he resolve Sense

merely into ße-oction of Matter, yet is ashamed of these odd

consequences thereof, and is very loth to be reckoned in the

company of those Philosophers, (though, as he saies, learned :]0men) who have maintained That all Bodies are endued utith

Sense, and yet he can hardly abstain from saying that they are;

onely he is more shie of allowing them Memory, which yet theywill have whether he will or no, if he give them Sense. As for

Example, in the ringing of a Bell, from every stroke there lll-r

continue s a tremor in the Bell, which decaying, must (according

to his Philosophie) be Imagination, and referring to the strokepast must be Memory; and if a stroke overtake it within the

compass of this Memory, whilt hinders but Discrimination ot'

,ludgment rnay flollow'l But the Conclusion is consonant enough 40

t<r this ubsurd Principle, 'I'hat there is nothing but Molter in lhe

IInilterse, untl, tfurt it i.s cttpoble ol' lter<'t'pti<tn.

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t| rl 'l'he Immortality of't,hc Sotrl. Bo«rk I I

2. But we will not content our selues onely with the discoueryof this one ugly inconuenience of this bold assertion, but shollfurther endeavour to shew that the Hypothesis is false, andthat Matter is utterly uncapable of such operations as u)e find inourselues, and that therefore there is Something in usImmaterial or Incorporeol For we find in ourselves, that one andthe same thing both heares, and sees, and tasts, and, to beshort, perceiues all the variety of Objects that Nature manifestsunto us. Wherefore Sense being nothing but the impress ofcorporeal motion from Objects without, that part of Matterwhich must be the common Sensorium, must of necessityreceive all that diversity of impulsions from Objects; it mustlikewise Imagine, Remember, Reason, and be the fountain ofspontaneous Motion, as also the Seat of what the Greeks callthe rö riure(oüorov or liberty of Will: Which supposition we shallfinde involved in unextricable difficulties.

3. For first, we cannot conceiue of any Portion of Matter butit is either Hard or Soft. As for that which is Hard, all menleave it out as umbtterly unlike to be endued with suchCognitive faculties as we are conscious to our selves of. Thatwhich is Soft will prove either opalee or pellucid, or lucid. Ifopake, it cannot see, the exterior superficies being a bar to theinward part. If pellucid, as Aire and Water, then indeed it willadmit inwardly these Porticles and that Motion which are theconveighers of the Sense, and distinction of Colours; and Soundalso will penetrate. But this Matter being heterogeneoll, that isto say, consisting of parts of a different nature and office, theAire, suppose, being proper for Sound, and those Roundparticles which Cartesius describes for Colour and Light; theperception of these Objects will be differently lodged: but thereis some one thing in us that perceives both. Lastly, lf lucid,there would be much-what the same inconvenience that there isin the opake, for its own fieriness would send off the gentletouch of external impresses; or if it be so mild and thin that itis in some measure diaphanous, the inconveniences witl againrecurre that were found in the pellucid.

And in brief any liquid Matter has such variety of particlesin it, that if the Whole, as it must, (being the commonSensorium) be affected with any impress from without, theparts thereof must be variously affected, so that no Object willseam homogeneall, as appears from Axiome 22. Which Truth Ishall further illustrate by a homely, but very significant,

Ohrr1r. ll. 'l'lrc lrnrnorl,rrlit,.y ol' t,hc Sorrl.

r'opres(rntut,ion. Supp«rse we should put F'eat,ltet's, [Jullc[s antlSpur'-r'«rwels in a lklx, Wherc thcy shall l.ye inferrnixedly, btrtclose, one with another: upon any jog this [Jox receivcs,supp«rsing all the stuffage fhereof has Sense, if is evident I thatthe several things therein must be differently a.ffected, andtherefore if the common Sensorium were such, there w<luldseem no homogeneall Object in the world. Or at least theseseverall particles shall be the several Receptiues of the severalmotions of the same kinde from without, as the Aire of Sounds,the Cartesian Globuti of Light and Colours. But what receivesall these, and so can judge of them all, we are again at a lossfor, as before: unless we imagine it some very fine and subtileMatter, so light and thin, that it feels not it self, but so yieldingand po.ssiue, that it easily fleels the several assaults andimpresses of other Bodies upon it, or in it; which yet wouldimply, that this Matter alone were Sensitiue, and the others not;and so it would be granted, that not all Matter (no not so muchas in Fluid Bodies) has Sense.

Such a tempered Motter as this is analogous to the AnimolSpirits in Man, which, if Matter could be the Sou/, were thevery Soul of the Body; and Common percipient of all Motionsfrom within or without, by reason of the tenuity, passivity andnear homogeneity, and (it may be) imperceptibility of anychange or alteration from the playing together of its owntenuious and light particles; and therefore very fit to receiveany manner of impresses from others. Whence we mayrationally conclude, That some such subtile Motter as this iseither the Sou/, or her immediate Instrument for all manner ofperceptions. Tbe latter whereof I shall prove to be true in itsdue place. That the former part is false I shall nowdemonstrate, by proving more stringently, That no Matterwhatsoever is capable of such Sense and Perception as we areconscious to our selves of.

4. For concerning that part of Matter which is theCommon Sensorium, I demand whether some one point of itreceive the whole image of the Object, or whether it is whollyreceived into every point of it, or finally whether the wholeSensorium receive the whole image by expanded parts, thispart of the Sensorium this part of the image; and that partthat. tf the first, seeing that in us which perceiues the externalObject mot)es also the Body, it will follow, That one little point<>t Motter will give local motion to what is innumerable millions

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1) I90 The Immortality of the Soul. Book II

of times bigger then itself; of which there cannot be found norimagined any example in Nature.

5. If the second, this difficulty presents it self, which alsoreflects upon the former Position, How so small a point as wespeak of should receive the images of so vast, or so variousObjects at once, without Obliteration or Confusion; a thingimpossible, as is manifest from Axiome 24. And therefore notreceiving them, cannot perceive them, by Axiome 25. But ifevery point or particle of this Matfer could receive the wholeimage, which of these innumerable particles, that receive theImage entirely, may be deemed I *y self that perceive thisImage? But if I be all those Points, it will come to pass,especially in a small Object, and very near at hand, that theline of impulse coming to divers and distant Points, will seemto come as from several places, and so one Object willnecessarily seem a Cluster of Objects. And if I be but one ofthese Points, what becomes of the rest? or who are they?

6. There remains therefore onely the third wäy, which isthat the parts of the image of the Object be received by theparts of this portion of Motter which is supposed the commonSensoriuin. But this does perfectly contradict experience; for wefinde our selves to perceive the whole Object, when in this casenothing could perceive the whole, every part onely perceivingits part; and therefore there would be nothing that can judge ofthe whole. No more then three men, if they were imagined tosing a song of three parts, and none of them should heare anypart but his own, could judge of the Harmony of the whole.

7. As concerning the Seat of Imagination and Memory,especially Memory, what kinde of Matter can be found flrt forthis function? If it be Fluid, the images of Objects will be proneto vanish suddainly, äs also to be perverted or turned contrarywayes. For example, C, a particle of this fluid Matter,receiving an impress from B, must feel it is coming from B; but

Chap. I l. The Immortality o['[he Soul-

in toying and tumbling up and down, as the particles of lluidMattir doe, turnes the side E F which received that impress

from B towards L, whence it will feel as if the impress had

been from L, for it must feel it as from the place directly

opposite to it self, (if it can after the removal of the present

Onject, against which the Re-action is, feel it at all:) and the

same reason will be in other particles of this fluid Matter,

which must needs force a great deal of preposterous confusion

both upon the Fancy and Memory. If it be Hard, it will soon be

.o*por"d to Rest, as in a Bell whose tremor is gone in a littletime; but we remernber things sofne years together, though we

never think of them till the end of that term. If viscld, there is

the like inconvenience, nay it is the unfittest of all for either

receiving of Motion or continuing it, and therefore unlikely to be

the Seoiof either Fancy or Memory. For if Motion ot Re-action

and Sense, whether internal or external, be all one' Motion

ceasing Memory must needs cease, by Axiome 2t. Nor can itany more remember when it is again moved in the same

-ur,rr"r, then a Stone or a piece of Lead that was flung up info

the Aire, can become more light or more prone to flie upwards

when they have once ceased from Motion; for they are both

exquisitely as if they had never been moved'

8. Lastly, we remember some things of which there can be

no Signature.s in Matter to represent them, as for example,

Wilderne.ss and Distance. For as for both of them, there is no

note can be made in the Matter E by lines from the two Objects

A B and C D, whereby the difference of remoteness of A B

above C E, or of the wideness of A B above C D, can be

discerned; for both the objects make one and the same

signature in the Matter E.9. Those that are commonly called by the name rlf'

Secuntkre N<»tiones, and are not any sensible Objects

themselves, not' the Phlntasmes «1fl any sensible Objects, but

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Liberty and freedome in our selves; and that we refusc thegood, and chuse the evil, when we might have done otherwise;that natural Sense of Remorse of Conscience is an evident andundeniable witness of. For when a man has done amiss, thepain, grief, or indignation that he raises in himself, or at leastfeels raised in him, is of another kind from what we find frornmisfortunes or affronts we could not avoid. And that whichpinches us and vexes us so severely, is the sense that we havebrought such an evil upon our selves, when it was in our powerto have avoided it. Now if there be no Sense nor Perception inus but what arises from the Re-action of Matter one partagainst another; whatever Re-presentation of things, whateverDeliberation or Determination we fall upon, it will by Axiome26. be purely necessary, there being upon this Hypothesis nomore Freedome while we deliberate or conclude, then there is ina pair of scales, which rests as necessarily at last as it movedbefore. Wherefore it is manifest that this Faculty we call fr'ree-

will is not found in Matter, but in some other Substance, byAxiome 10.

12. Mr. Hobbs therefore, to give him his due, consonantlyenough to his own principles, does very peremptorily affirmThat all our actions are necessary. But I having proved thecontrary by that Faculty which we may call Internal Sense orCommon Notion, found in all men that have not done violenceto their own Nature; unless by some other approved Paculty hecan discover the contrary, my Conclusion must stand for anundoubted Truth, by Axiome 5. He pretends therefore someDemonstration of Reason, which he would oppose against thedictate of this Inward Sense; which it will not be amiss 0o

examine, that we may discover his Sophistry.

Chap. III.

I. Mr Hobbs his Arguments whereby he would proue oll ouractions necessitated. His first Argument 2. His secondArgument 3. His third Argument 4. His fourth Argument l>.

That must be the meoning of' these utords, Nothing taket,hbeginning ti'om it sel[, in the f'irst Argument of M' H«lbbs. 6. Af'u[lrrr antl rn«rt'c de[et'tnrnote t:xplit:tttion of' the lbreg<ting u,<tr<ls,t:uhose .s('n.s(' i.s r'ukh'ntly torutin«:<l to be, 'l'trat no [Isscttcc o(' it.

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onely our manner of conceiving them, or reasoning about them,in which number are comprehended aI 'togirot andMathemat-ical termes; these, I say, never came in at thesenses, they being no impresses Jf .orpor"rl motion, which5 excite in rlsa as in Doggs and other Brutes, the sense onery ofsounds, of colours, of Hot, of cold, and the rike. Now Motterbeing affected by no perception but of corporeal impression, bythe bearing of one Body against anothär; it is 'piain

fromAxiome zB. that these secoid Notions, or Mathematical and,10 Logical conceptions, cannot be seated in Matter, and thereforemust be in some other substance distinct from it, by Axiome10.

l0' Here Mr. Hobbs, to avoid the force of thisDemonstration, has found out a marvellous witty invention to15 befool his followers withalr, making them berieve that there isno such thing as these secund,ae-Notiones, distinct from theNames or words whereby they are said to be signified; and thatthere is no perception in us, but of such Phantasmes as areimpressed from external objects, such as are common to us20 and Beasts: and as for the Names which we give to these, orthe Phantosmes of them, that there is the same reason of themas of other Marks, Letters, or characters; all which coming in atthe senses, he would beare them in hanä that it i. u-pluin case,that we have -the perception-of nothing but what is impressed25 from corporeal objects. But how ridi.r"lor. an Evasion this is,may be easily discovered, if we consider, that if theseMathemotical and Logicar Notions we speak of be nothing butNomes, Logical and Mathematical rruths will not be the samein all Nations, because they have not the same nomes. For30 Example, similitudo and opor6rg. <ivnÄo7[c and. proportio, Äoyosand Ratio, these nomes are utterly different, the Greeh from theLatine; yet the Greerzs Loti.nes, .ä. ury Nation erse, do vary intheir conceptions couched under the these different names:wherefore i,t is prain, that there is a setled. notion distinct from35 these words and Names, as welr as from those corporearPhantasmes impressed from the object; which was the thing tobe demonstrated.

11. Lastly, we are conscious to our serves of that Facurtywhich the Greeks call nuresoüotov. or o power in our selues,40 notwithstanding any outward assaults or imfortunatetemptations, fo cleoue to that which is uirtuous and, honest, or toyield to pleosures or other uile ad.uontoges. That we have this

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pr<»duce un effect necessarily tfutt r:onnnot but produt:t: it. Henccit is manifest, thot uthats<teuer is produced, i.s Jtnxlru:ulnecessarily. For whotsoeuer is produced, hoth hod o sullicfuntcause to produce it, or else it had not been What follows is

either the same, or so closely depending on this, that I need notadde it.

3. His third Argument therefore shall be that, which heurges from Future disjunctions. For example, let the case bcput of the Weather. 'Tis necessary that to morrow it shall rain,or not rain; If therefore, saith he, it be not necessary it shall roin,it is necessary it sholl not rain, otherwise there is no necessity thotthe Proposition,It shall rain or not rain, should be true.

4. His fourth is this, That the denying of Necessit.ydestroyeth both the Decrees and the Prescience of' God Almighty.For whatsoeuer God hath purposed to bring to pass by mon, oson Instrument, or foreseeth shall come to poss; a man, if he haueliberty from necessitation, might frustrate, ond malee not to cometo pass; and God should either not forehnout it, and not decree it,or he should forehnow such things shall be as shall neuer be, ontldecree that which sholl neüer come to pass.

5.The Entrance into his first Argument is somethingobscure and ambiguous, Nothing taheth beginning from it selltBut I shall be as candid and faithfull an Interpreter as I may.If he mean by beginning, beginning of Existence, iL isundoubtedly true, That no Subsüance, nor Modification of'Substance, taketh beginning from it self; but this will not inf,erthe Conclusion he drives at. But if he mean, that Nothingtaheth beginning from it self, of being otherwise o/fected ormodified then before; he must either understand by nothing, n<»

Essence, neither Spirit nor Body, or no Modification of Essence.He cannot mean Spirit, as admitting no such thing in the wholeicomprehension of Nature. If Body, it will not infer what hcaims at, unless there be nothing but Body in the Universe;which is a mere precarious Principle of his, which he beseecheshis credulous followers to admit, but he proves it no where, as I

have already noted. If by Modification he mean thcModification of Matter or Body; that runs still upon the formerPrinciple, That there is nothing but Body in the world, andtherefore he proves nothing but upon a begg'd Hypothesis,and that a false one; as I have elsewhere demonstra[r:tl.Wherefiore the most favourable Interpretation I can makc is,That he rneans by rut thing;, no Essence, nor Modificati«ln «r['

1lJ-r

self can vary its modification z. That this is onely said by MrHobbs, not proued, and a fuil confutation of his Assertion g.Mr Hobb= -i^prrrd upon by his own sophistry. g. That onepart of tlis firsl Argument of his ,; grolndkss,the other5 sophistical. r0. The piain proplsoil of hil .+rgu,^rnt, whenceappeares more fully the weartness and, sophistryihrrro,s. LL. AnAnswer to his second, Argument L2. An Answer to the third.13' An Answer to a difficurty concerning the Truth and,Falsehoo( ,{ future propositions. 14. An Answer to Mi;{166"10 his fourth Argument, utlicha though srighted, by himserf, js thestrongest of them all. LS. -The dfficutty of ,ecänciling Free-willwith Diuine prescience and, prophi'cies. "

16. That the Facurty ofFree'will is seldome put in use. 17. That the use of ii i, prop"rryin Moral conflict. 1g. That the sour ,s not inuincibre there15 neither. tg. That Diuine d.ecrees either finde fit Instruments ormahe them' 20' That the more exact ute make Diuine prescience,euen to the comprehension of any thing that implies no contrad,ic-tion in it self to be compreh,endid,, thi more crear it is that manswill may be sometimes free. 2L. which is sufficinnt to m,ahe good,20 my lost Argument against M, Hobbs.

l.His flrrst Argument runs thus (I will repeat it in his ownwords, as also the rest of them as they are to be found in hisTreatise of Liberty and Necessity;) I iorceiue, (saith he) that25 nothing take!! beginning from it trif, u"i fro^ the action of someother immediate agent without it ie'lf; and that th;rfurr, whenfirst a *zn -hath an appetite or wiu to something to whichimmedlately before he hacl no appetite nor will, the iause of hiswill is not the wilt it self, bui'something erse not in his ou)n30 disposing.' so that whereas it ,s out of controuersy, that ofuoluntary actions the wilr is the necessary co*se, and. by thiswhich is said the wilr is arso caused, by other thing, whereof itdisposeth not, it followeth, tlat uoluntatj acüons haJe ail of themnecessary cau§es, and therefore are necessitated,.35 2. His second thus; I hotd (saith he) that to be a sufficientceuse, to w^hi-ch nothing ,s wanting that ,, nrrdyui n theproducing of the effect: The same also-is a necess,,ry carse. Forif it be possible that a sufficient couse sialr not b"ring forth theeffect, then there wonteth somewhat which was need,ful for the40 producing of it, and, so the cause was not sufficient| but if it beimpossible thot o sufficient cause shourd not prod,uce the effect,then is a sufficient couse o necessory cause, for that is soid, to

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96 The lmmortality of the Soul. Book II

Essence, being willing to hide that dearly-hug'd Hypothesis ofhis ( That there is nothing but Body in the World) under sogeneral and uncertain termes.

6. The words therefore in the other senses having nopretence to conclude any thing let us see how far they willprevail in this, taking no thing, for no Essence, or noModification of Essence, or what will come nearer to the matterin hand, no Faculty of an Essence. And from this two-foldmeaning, let us examine two Propositions that will result fromthence, viz. That no Faculty of any Essence con uary itsoperation from whot it is, but from the action of some

-other

immediate Agent utithout it self; or, That no Essence con uary itsModification or operation by it self, but by the oction of io*uother immediate Agent without it. of which two propositions thelatter seems the better sense by far, and most natural. For itis very harsh, and, if truly looked into, as false, to say, That theMode or Faculty of any Essence changes it self; for it is theEssence it self that exerts it self into these variations of Modes,if no externall Agent is the cause of these changes. And MrHobbs opposing an External Agent to this Thing that he saiesdoes not change it self, does naturally imply, That they areboth noL Faculties but Substonces he speaks of.

7. wherefore there remains onely the latter proposition tobe examined, That no Essence of it self can uery its Modificotion.That some Essence must have had a power of moving is plain,in that there is Motion in the world, which must be the Effäct ofsome Substance or other. But that Motion in a large sense,taking it for mutation or change, may proceed from that veryEssence in which it is found, seems to me plain by Experience:For there is an Essence in us, whatever we will call it, *hi.hwe find endued with this property; as appears from hence, thatit has variety of perceptions, Mathematicol, Logical and I mayadde also Moral, that are not any impresses nor footsteps ofcorporeal Motion, as I have already demonstrated: and anyman may observe in himself, and discover in the writings ofothers, how the Mind has passed from one of these p".."piiorr"to another, in very long deductions of Demonstration; ai alsowhat stilness from bodily Motion is required in the excogitationof such series of Reasons, where the Spirits are to run into noother posture nor motion then what they are guided into by theMind it self, where these immaterial and intellectual Notionshave thc' leading and rule. Besides in grosser phantasmes,

Ch"rp. lll. The lmmortality o['[he Soul.

which are supposed to be somewhere impressed in the Brain,the composition of them, and disclusion and various disposal <lf'

them, is plainly an arbitrarious act, and implies an Essence

that can, as it lists, excite in it self the variety of suchPhantasmes as have been first exhibited to her from External lt

Objects, and change them and transpose them at her own will.But what need I reason against this ground of N.Ir. Hobö.s str

sollicitously? it being sufficient to discover, that he onely saies,that No Essence can change the Modifications of it self, but docs

not prove it; and therefore whatever he would infer hereupon is l0merely upon a begg'd Principle

8. But however, from this precarious ground he will infler,that wheneuer we haue a Will to a thing, the cause of this Will isnot the Will it self, but something else not in our own disposing;the meaning whereof must be, That wheneuer we Will, some ll-rcorporeal impress, uthich we cannot auoid, forces us thereto. Butthe Illation is as weak as bold; it being built upon no

foundation, as I have already shown. I shall onely take noticehow Mr. Hobbs, though he has rescued himself from theauthority of the Schools, and would fain set up for himself, yet 20he has not freed himself from their fooleries in talking o['

Faculties and Operations (and the absurditie is alike in both) as

separate and distinct from the Essence they belong to, whichcauses a great deal of distraction and obscurity in thespeculation of things. I speak this in reference to those' '25

expressions of his, of the Will being the cause of willing, and ofits being tlne necessary cause of voluntary actions, and of thingsnot being in its disposing. Whenas, if as man would speakproperly, and desired to be understood, he would say, Thctt the

Subject in which is this power or act of willing, (coll it Mon or the :t0

Soul of Man) is the cause of this or that uoluntary action. ßutthis would discover his Sophistry, wherewith haply he has

entrapt himself, which is this, Something out of the power of' the

Will necessarily cuuses the Wilt; the Will once caused i.s the

necessory cause of uoluntary actions; and therefore all uoluntory :t5

o.ctions are necessitoted.9. Besides that the first part of this Argumentati«rn is

groundless (as I have already intimated) the second is

Sophisticall, that sayes Thot the Will is the necessory r:ottsl ol'ut»luntary o<:tions; F-or by necessttry may be understood citltcr' 40

nect:ssitu.ft,t/, firrced antl rnade to acL, whether it will ol' Ilo; ol'

olstr it, In:l.y sigrri('y t,hat t,hc Will is :l reqrtisilt' (':lus(' o['

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9t] 'l'he lmmortality of the S«rul. []«rok II Chup. I I l.

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voluntary actions, so that there can be no voluntary actionswithout it. The latter whereof may be in some sense true, butthe former is utterly false. So the Conclusion being inferredfrom assertions whereof the one is groundless, the otherSophisticall, the Illation cannot but be ridiculously weak 4nddespicable. But if he had spoke in the Concrete instead of theAbstract, the Sophistry had been more grossly discoverable, orrather the train of his reasoning languid and contemptible.Omitting therefore to speak of the Will separately, which ofitself is but a blind Power or Operation, let us speak of thatEssence which is endued with Will, Sense, Reason, and otherFaculties, and see what face this Argumentation of his willbear, which will then run thus;

10. Some externol, ircesistible Agent does eüer necessorilycause that Essence (caIl it Sou/ or what you please) uthich isendued with the Faculties of Will and Understanding, to Will:This Essence, endued with the power of exerting it self into the actof Willing is the necessory cause of Voluntary actions; Thereforeall uoluntary actions are necessitated. The first Assertion now atfirst sight appears a gross falshood, the Soul being endued withUnderstanding as well as Will, and therefore she is notnecessarily determined to will by external impresses, but by thedisplaying of certain notions and perceptions she raises in herself, that be purely intellectual. And the second seems a veryslim and lank piece of Sophistry. Both which my reasonsalready alledged do so easily and so plainly reach, that I needadde nothing more, but pass to his second Argument, the formwhereof in brief is this;

ll. Euery Cause is a sufficient cause, otherwise it could notproduce its effect, otherwise something was wonting thereto, andit was no sufficient cause: And therefore euery couse ,s o.

necessary cause, and consequently euery Effict or Action, euenthose that are termed Voluntary, e.re necessitated. This reasoninglooks smartly at first view; but if we come closer to it, we shallfind it a pitifull piece of Sophistry, which is easily detected byobserving the ambiguity of that Proposition, Euery sufficientcouse is a necessary co,use: For the force lyes not so much inthat it is said to be Sufficient, as in that it is said to be a Cause;Which if it be, it must of necessity have an Effect, whether it besufficient or insufficient; which discovers the Sophisme. Forthese relative terms of Cause and Effect necessarily imply oneanother. But every Being that is sufficient to act this or LhaL if

it will, and so to become the cause thereof, doth neither act,

nor abstain from acting necessarily. And therefore if it do uct,

it addes will to the sufficiency of its power; and if it did not act,

it is not because it had not sufficient power, but because it

would not make use of it. so that we see that every sufficient lt

cause rightly understood without captiositie is not a necessory

cause, nJr will be sure to produce the Effect; and that though

there be a sufficiency of po*"t, yet there may be something

wanting, to wit, the exertion of the Will; whereby it may come

to passl'that what might have acted if it would, did not: but if it t 0

Oia, Witt being added L sufficient Power, that it cannot be said

to be necessary in any other sense, then of that Axiome in

Metaphysicks, Quicquid est, quamdiu es-t,- necesse esf esse: The

reason whereof is, b".u.rse it is impossible that a thing should

be and not be at once. But before it acted, it might have chosen 15

whether it would have acted or no; but it did determine it self'

And in this sense is it to be said to be a free Agent, and not a

necessary one. so that it is manifest, that though there be

some piettie perversness of wit in the contriving of this

ArgUment, yet there is no solidity at all at the bottome' 20

12 And as little is there in his third. But in this, I must

confess, I cannot so much accuse him of A.t and Sophisfry, as

of ignorance of the rules of Logick; fol he does plainly assert

That the necessity of the truth of tttut Proposition there named

depends on the näcessity of the truth of the parts thereofi then 25

which no grosser errour can be committed in the Art of

reasoning. Fo, he might as well say that the necessity of the

truth of a Connex Axiome depends on the necessity of the truth

of the parts, as of a Disjunct. But in a connex, when both the

parts are not onely false, but impossible, yet the Axiome is 30

necessarily true. As for example, If Bucephalus be a man, he is

endued, with humane reason this Axiome is necessarily true,

and yet the parts are impossible. For Alexander's horse can

neither be a man, nor üurr" the reason of a man' either

radically or actually. The necessity therefore is only laid upon 35

the connexion of the parts, not upon the parts themselves' so

when I say, Tomoriow it will rain, or it witl not rain, this

Disjunct Pioposition also is necessary, but the necessity lies

,.pä., the Disjunction of the parts, not upon the parts

themselves: Fär they being immediately disjoyned, there is a 4o

necessity [hat one of them must be, though there be lro

necessity that this musf ba determinecl rabher thon fhat' As

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[00 The Immortality of the S«rul. B«rok II

when a man is kept under custody where he has the use of tworooms only, though there be a necessity that he be found in oneof the two, yet he is not confined to eitier one of them. And tobe brief, and prevent those frivolous both answers and replies5 that follow in the pursuit of this Argument in Mr ruoiir; As thenecessity of this Disjunct Axiome lies upon the Disjunction itself, so the truth, of which this necessity is a made, must lyetheretoo; for it is the Disjunction of the parts that is affrrmJd,and not the parts themserves, as any one that is but10 moderately in his wits must needs acknowledge.

13. There is a more da:ngerous way that Mr Hobbs mighthave made use of, and with more .r"dit, but yet scarce withbetter success, which is the consideration of a simple Axiomethat pronounces of a future contingent, such as this, cras15 Socrates disputabit. For every Axiom-e pronouncing either trueor false, as all do agree upon; if this Axiome be now true, it isimpossible but socrates should dispute to morrow; or if it benow false, it is impossible he should: and so his Action ofdisputing or the omission thereof will be necessary, for the20 Proposition cannot be both true and false at once.

-§o-" ur"

much troubled to extricate themselves out of this Nooze; but ifwe more precisely enquire into the sense of the proposition, thedifficulty will vanish. He therefore that affirms that Soc rateswill dispute to morrow, affirms it (to use the distinction of25 Futurities that Aristotle somewhere suggests) either as a röuäi"Äov, or rö d,oQ.revov. that is, either u. ä thing that is likely tobe, but has a possibility of being otherutise oi else as o thingcertainly to come to pass. If this latter, the Axiome is false; .[the former, it is true: and so the liberty of socrates his actions,30 as also of_ all like contingent effects, är" thus easily rescuedfrom this sophistical entanglement. For ever y Futuie Axiomeis as incapable of our judgment, unless we determine the senseof it by one of the forenamed modes, as an Ind,efinite Axiome is,before we in our minds adde the notes of (Jniuersality or35 Particularity: Neither can we say of either of them, that theyare true or false, till we have compleated and deterÄined theirsense.

L4. His fourth Argument he proposes with some diffidenceand dislike, as if he thought it not good Logick (they are his40 own words) to make use of it, and uJd" it to the rest. And formy own part, I cannot but approve of the consistency of hisjudgment, and coherency with other parts of his philosophie:

Ohrrp. I I l. '['he lmm«lrtality of'the Soul.

For if there be nothing but Body or Motter in the wh«rlc

comprehension of things, it will be very hard to find «rut an.y

such Deity as has the hnowledge or fore-h,nowledge of any thing:And therefore I suspect that this last is onely cast in asArgumentum ad hominem, to puzzle such as haves not dived toso profound a depth of natural knowledge, as to fancy theyhave discovered there is no God in the world.

15. But let him vilifie it as he will, it is the only Argumenthe has brought that has any tolerable sense or solidity in it;and it is a Subject that has exercised the wits of all Ages, foreconcile the Liberty of mans Will with the Decrees andProzscience of God. But my Freeness, I hope, and Moderationshall make this matter more easy to ffie, then it ordinarilyproves to them that venture upon it. My Answer therefore inbrief shall be this;

16. First, That though therebe such a Faculty in the Soulof man as Liberty of Will, yet she is not alwaies in a state ofacting according to it. For she may either degenerote so far,that it rnay be as certainly known what she will doe upon thisor that occasion, as what an hungry Dog will doe when a crustis offered him; which is the general condition of almost all menin most occurrences of their lives: or else she may be so

Heroically good, though that happen in very few, that it may be

as certainly known as before what she will doe or suffer upon'such

or such emergencies: and in these cases the use of Libertyof Will ceases.

17. Secondly, That the use of the Faculty of Free-will isproperly there, where we flrnde our selves so near to anAequiponderancy, being touch'd with the sense of Vertue on Lhe

one side, and the ease or Pleasure of some uitious action on theother, that we are conscious to our selves that we ought, andthat we ffi&y, if we will, abandon the one and cleave to theother.

18. Thirdly, That in this Conflict the Soul has no suchabsolute power to determine her self to the one or the «rther'

action, but Temptation or Supernatural assistance may certainlycarry her this way or that way; so that she may not be able touse that liberty of going indifferently either way.

19. Fourthly, That Divine Decrees either flrnd men fit, «rt'

make them so, for the executing of whatever is absolu[elypurposed or prophesied concerning them.

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t02 The Immortality of the Soul. Book II

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20. Fifthly, That the proescience of God is so vast andexceeding the comprehension of our thoughts, that all that canbe safely said of it is this. That this knolvledge is most perfectand exquisite, accuratery representing the Natures, powe., a.rdProperties of the thing it does foÄknow. whence it mustfollow, that if there be any creature free and undeterminate,and that in such circumstances and at such a time he manayeither act thus or not act thus, this perfect Fore-knowl.ed.gemust discern from all eternity, that the said creature in suchcircumstances may either u.i thr., or so, or not. And furtherto declare the perfection of this Fore-hnow'red,ge and omniscienceof God; as His omnipotence oughf to extend so far, as to be ableto doe whatsoever implies no contradiction to be done; so hisPraescience and omniscience ought to extend so far, as to knowprecisely and fully whatever implies no contradiction to beknown.

To conclude therefore briefly; Free or contingent Effects doeither imply a contradiction to be foreknown, or they do notimply it. If they imply a contradiction to be forehnown, theyare no object of the Omniscience of God; and therefore there canbe no pretence that his Forehnowled,ge does determinate them,nor can they be argued to be determined thereby. If they impryno contradiction to be forehnown, that is to acknowledge thatDivine Praescience and they may very well consist together.And so either wäy, notwithstanding the Divin e omniscience, theActions of men may be free.21. The sum therefore of all is this, That mens actions aresometimes free and sometimes not free; but in that they are atany time free, is a Demonstration that there is a Facuity ir, ,.that is incompetible to mere Matter: which is sufficient ior mypurpose.

Chap. IV.

I. An Enumeration of sundry opinions concerninq the seat ofcommon senee. --2.

upon supposition that we are nothlng butmere Matter, Thot the ,thole Body cannot be the commonsensorium; B. Nor the orifice of the §to^a"tt; 4. Nor the Hear-t;5. l/or the Brain; 6. Nor the Membrones; i. No, räe Septumlucidum; 8. N,r Regius his small and perfet:tl.y-solid porticle. g.

Ch.rp. I V. 'Ihe lmmortality o{'the Soul. l0:l

The probability of the Conarion being the common Seot of Sense.

L. I haue plainly proued, that neither those more Pure anclIntellectual faculties of Will and Reason, nor yet those less pureof Memory and Imagination, are competible to mere Bodies. Oflwhich we may be the more secure, I having so convincinglydemonstrated, That not so much as that which we call ExternalSense is competible to the same: all which Truths I haveconcluded concerning Matter generally considered.

But because there may be a suspicion in some, which areovercredulous concerning the powers of Body, tha| Organizationmay doe strange fears (which Surmise notwithstanding is asfond as if they should imagine, that though neither Silver, norSteel, nor Iron, nor Lute-strings, have any Sense apart, yetbeing put together in such a manner and formed as will (

suppose) make a compleat Watch, they may have Sense; that isto s&y, that a Watch may be a living creature, though theseveral parts have neither Life nor Sense;) I shall for theirsakes goe more particularly to work, and recite every Opinionthat I could ever meet with by converse with either men orbooks concerning the Seat of the Common Sense, and after triewhether any of these Hypotheses can possibly be admitted forTruth, upon supposition that we consist of nothing but meremodified and organized Mo.tter.

I shall first recite the Opinions, and then examine thepossibility of each in particular, which in brief are these. 1.

That the whole Body is the Seat of Common Sense. 2. Thatthe Orifice of the Stomack. 3. The Heart. 4. The Brain. 5.The Membranes. 6. The Septu,m lucidum. 7. Some very smalland perfectly-solid particle in the Body. 8. The Conarion. 9.

The concurse of the Nerves about the fourth ventricle of theBrain. 10. The Spirits in that fourth ventricle.

2. That the flrrst Opinion is false is manifest from hence,That, upon supposition we are nothing but mere Matter, if wegrant the whole Body to be one common Sensoriurn, perceptiveof all Objects, Motion whch is impressed upon the Eye or Bare,must be transmitted into all the parts of the Body. For Sen.se isreally the same with communico.tion of Motion, by Axiome 20.And the variety of Sense arising from the modification «r['

Motion, which must needs be variously modified by thedifl'erent tcmper' «rf Lhe parts of the lJody, by Axiome 22. itpllrinly filllows tltat thr. I').yc rnrrst, tle othcrwise afl'cctcd b.y t,ht,

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104 The Immortality of the Soul. Book II

motion of Light, then the other parts to which this motion istransmitted. Wherefore if it be the whole Body that perceives,it will perceive the Object in every part thereof several wayesmodified at once; which is against all Experience. It will alsoappear in all likelihood in several places at once, by reason ofthe many windings and turnings that must happen to thetransmission of this Motion, which are likely to be as so manyRefractions or Reflexions.

3. That the Orifice of the Stomock cannot be the seat ofCommon Sense, is apparent from hence, That that which is thecommon Sentient does not only perceiue all Objects, but has thepower of mouing the Body. Now besides that there is noorganization in the mouth of the Stomack that can elude thestrength of our Arguments laid down in the foregoing Chapters,which took away all capacity from Matter of having anyperception at all in it, there is no Mechanical reason imaginableto be found in the Body, whereby it will appear possible, thatsupposing the mouth of the Stomack were the commonPercipient of all Objects, it could be able to moue the rest of themembers of the Body, as we finde something in us does. Thisis so palpably plain, that it is needless to spend any morewords upon it.

4. The same may be said concerning the Heart. For whocan imagine that, if the Heo.rt were that common Percipient,there is any such Mechanical connexion betwixt it and all theparts of the Body, that it häy, by such or such a perception,command the motion of the Foot or little Finger? Besides that itseems wholly imployed in the performance of its Systo/e andDiastole, which causes such a great difference of the situationof the Heart by turns, that if it were that Seat in which thesense of all Objects centre, we should not be able to see thingssteddily or fix our sight in the same place.

5. How uncapable the Brain is of being so active aPrinciple of Motion as we firnd in our selves, the uiscidity thereofdoes plainly indicate. Besides that Physicians have discoveredby experience, that the Brain is so far from being Lhe commonSeat of all senses, that it has in it none at all. And theArabions, that say it has, have distinguished it into suchseverall offices of Imaginotion, Memory, Common Sense, etc.that we are still at a loss for some one part of Matter that is tobe the Common Percipient of all these. But I have so clearlydemonstrated the impossibility of the Brain's being able t<r

Chap. IV. '[he Immortality o['Lhc §lul.

perform those functions that appertain truly to what ordinaril-y

Lu., call the Soul, in my Antidote against Atheism, th.rt it is

enough to refer the Reader thither'O. A. for the Membro.nes, whether we would fancy them all

the Seof of Common Sense, or Some one Membrane, or part f'

thereof; the like difficulties will occur as have been mentioned

already. For if all the Membranes, the difference and situation

of them will vary the aspect and sight of the Object, so that the

same things will appear to us in several hues and several

places at once, as ii easily demonstrated from Axiome 22. tfl I0^some

one Membrone,, or part thereof, it will be impossible to

excogitate any Mechanical reason, how this one particul:rr

Membrane, or any part thereof, can be able to strongly :rnd

determinately Lo moue upon occasion every part of the Body.

7. And therefore for this very cause cannot the Septum I I-r

lucidum be the Common Percipient in us, because it is utterly

unimaginable how it should have the power of so stoutly and

distincily mouing our exteriour parts and limbs'8. As for that new and marvelous Invention of Henricus

Regius, That it may ba o certain perfectly-solid, but uery small, 20

poiti"l, of Matter in the Body, that is the Seat of common

perception; besides that it is as boldly asserted, that such an^hard'particle

should have sense in it, as that the filings of lron

and §teel should; it cannot be the spring of Motion: For how

should so small an Atom e moue the whole Body, but by moving '21»

it self? But it being more subtile then the point of any needle,

when it puts it self upon motion, especially such strong

thrustings as we sometimes use, it must needs passe through

the Body and leave it.9. The most pure Mechanical Invention is that of the use :i0

of the Conarion, piopor"d by Des-Cartes; which, considered with

some other orgunrritions of the Body, bids the flairest of any

thing I have met withall, or ever hope to meet withall, for the

resolution of the Passions and Properties of living Creatu'es

into mere corporeal motion. And therefore it is requisite fo lll)

insist a little upon the explication thereof, that we may thtr

more punctually confute them that would abuse his Mechanical

contrivances to the exclusion of all Principles but C«rrporeaL, irt

either Man or Beast ,10

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r06 'fhe lmmortality ofl the Soul. llook tI

Chap. V.

I. Hou; Perception of external Objects, Spontaneous Motion,Memory and Imagination, are pretended to be performed by theConarion, Spirits and Muscles, utithout a Soul. 2. That theConarion, deuoid of a Soul, cannot be the Common Percipient,demonstrated out ofpes-Cartes himself'. 3. That the Conarion,with the Spirits and\Organiza tion of the Parts of the Body, is nota sufficient Principle of Spontaneous motion, without a Soul. 4.A description of the use of the valvulae in the Nerues of theMuscles for spontoneous motion. 5. The insufficiency of thiscontriuance for that purpose. 6. A further demonstration of theinsufficiency thereof, from whence is clearly euinced that Bruteshaue Sou/s. 7. That Memory cannot be salued the woy abouedescribed. 8. Nor Imagination. 9. A distribution out of Des-Cartes of the Functions in us, some appertaining to the Body andothers to the Soul. 10. The Author's Obseruations thereupon.

I. The sum of this Abuse must in brief be this, That theGlandula Pinealis is the common Sentient or Percipient of allObjects; and without a Soul, by virtue of the Spirits andOrganization of the Body, may doe all those feats that weordinarily conceive to be parformed by Soul and Body joynedtogettrer. For it being one, whenas the rest of the Organs ofSense are double, and so handsomely seated as to communicatewith the Spirirs as well of the posteriour as anteriour Cavitiesof the Brain; by their help all the motions of the Nerues (as wellof those that transmit the sense of outward objects, as of themthat serve for the inward affections of the Body, such asHunger, Thirst and the like) are easily conveighed unto it: andso being variously moved, it does variously determine thecourse of the Spirits into such and such Muscles, whereby itmoues the Body.

Moreover that the transmission of Motion from the Object,through the Nerues, into the inward concavities of the Brain,and so to the Conorion, opens such and such Pores of the Brain,in such and such order or manner, which remain as tracts orfootsteps of the presence of these Objects after they areremoved. which tracts s1 r.§ignatures, consist mainly in this,that the Spirits will have an easier passage through thesePores then other parts of the Brain. And hence arises Memory,when the Spirits be determined, by the inclining of the

(Jhap. V. 'l'he lrnmt»t't,alit,-y rll' t,hc Stlul. I07

Conarion, Lo that part of the Brain where these tt'acts ar(r

found, they moving then Lhe Conorion as when the Object was

present, though not so stronglY.From the hitting of the Spirits into such like tracts, is alstr

the nature of Imagination to be explained; in which there is 5

little difference from Memory, saving that the reflexion upon

time as past, when we Saw or perceived such or such a thing, is

quite left out. But these are not all the operations we are

conscious to our selves of, and yet more then can be made out

by this Hypothesis, That Perception of Objects, Sponktneous I0Motion, Memory and Imagination, may be all perfomed by

virtue of this Glandula, the Animal Spirits, and mere

Organization of the Body; as we shall plainly find, though butupon an easy examination.

2. For that the conarion, devoid of a soul, has no I i-r

perception of any one Object, is demonstrable from the verydescription Cartesius makes of the transmission of the image,

suppose through the Eye to the Brain, and so to the Conari<tn.

For-it is apparent from what he sets down in his Treatise of the

Passions of the Soul, that the Image that is propagated from 2llthe Object to the Conarion, is impressed thereupon in some

latitude of space. Whence it is manifest that the Conorion

does not, nor can perceive the whole Object, though severall

parts may be acknowledged to have the perception of the

serreral parts thereof. But something in uS perceiues the '2f)

whole, which therefore cannot be the Conarion.And that we do not perceiue the external Object double, is

not so much because the Image is united in the Organ «rf

Common Sense, as that the lines come so from the Object btl

both the Eyes, that it is felt in one place; otherwise if the :i0Object be very near, and the direction of our Eyes be not fitted

to that nearness, it will seem double however. Which is a

Demonstration that a man may see with both Eyes at once;

and for my own part, I'me sure that I see better at distancc,

when I use both, then when one. :t5

3. As for Spon taneous Motion, that Lhe Conarion cannol be

a sufficient Principte thereof, with the Spirifs and orgonizotittrtof other parts of the Body, though we should admit it a fit seat

of Common Sense, will easily appear, if we consider, that s«r

weak and so small a thing as that Glandulo is, seems utterlv 40

unable Lo determine Lhe Spirits with that force and violence wtr

find they are deter-rnined in ntnning, striking, thntsting and t'he

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I08 'l'hc Irnrnortlrlity o[' thr. Sorrl. I]«xrk ll ( )lr:r1r. V. 'l'lrc lttttrttlt'(,:tlrl y o[' t,lrt' S<ltrl- l01)

5. we will not here alledge that this may be onely a merc

fancy, these Valvulae in the Nervel not being yet discovererd

lV u"V Anatpmist to be part of the [Orgun ration of the Body of'

any Animali,rbut rather shew, that they would not effect what l»

is aimed at, though they were admitted. For first, it does not'

appear that the spirits will make more hast out of c into B,

then the pressure caused in B by the determination of the

Spirits from the Conarion forces them to. For all places being

atike to them to play in, they will goe no further then they are I0

driven or pressed, as Wind in a Bladder. And how the

Conarion should drive or press the Spirits into B, so as to m:rke

it press those in C, and fQrce them out so quick and smart as

we find in some Actions, is a thing utterly unconceivable.6. Besides, admit that the Conarion could determine them I Ir

with some considerable force so into B, that they would make

those in C come to them through the Valv€ G, there being the

Valve E to transmit them into C again, it is impossible but thaL

the Tenth part of that force which we ordinarily use to open a

mans hand against his will, should whether he would or no '20

easily open it. For a very ordinary strength moving K from Btowards C, must needs so press the Spirits in B, that thev will

certainly pass by E into C, .if our Body be nothing but Matter

Mechanically organized. And therefore it is the mere Imperium

of our Soul that does d,etermine the Spirits to this Muscle rather' '2lt

then the other, and holds them there in despite of external

force. From whence it is manifest that brute Beasts must have

Sou/s also.7. Concerning Memory and Imogination, that the mel'e

Mechanical reasons of Des-Cortes will not reach bhem, we shall :t0clearly understand, if we consider that the easy apertut't' gf' tfte

Same Pores ofl the Broin, thai were gpened at the prescgcc 9f'

10

like; and that it is evident, that sometimes scarce thethousandth part or the Conarion shall be directer of this force;viz. when the Object of Sight, suppose, is as little as a pin'spoint, or when a man is prick'd with a needle, these receptionsmust be as little in the Glondula as in the exteriour Sense.

But suppose the whole Conarion alwaies did act in thedetermining the motion of the Spirits into this or that Muscle; rtis impossible that such fluid Matter as these Spirits are, thatupon the noddings of the Conarion toward may easily recedeback, should ever determine their course with that force andstrength they are determined.

But haply it will be answered, That such subtile and fluidbodies as the Anirnal Spirits, that are in a readiness to be uponMotion any way, the least thing will determine their course; andthat the Muscles themselues being well replenish'd with Spirits,and framed with such Valuulae as will easily intromit themfrom bhe Brain, and also conveigh them out of one oppositeMuscle into another upon the least redundance of Spirits in theone above the other, and so shut them in; that that force wefind in spontaneous Motion may very well be salved by thisMechanical Artifice.

4. That the insufficiency of this Answer may appear, let usmore accurately consider the contrivance in the followingFigure, which must be some such thing as Regius has venturedat in his philosophy, and which may serve for the more easyunderstanding of what Des-Cartes writes in his Book ofPassions. Here B C are 't1vo opposite Muscles, the knownInstruments of spontaneous Motion; K, some part of the Bodyto be moved; D E and F G are ttre Nerves through whichSpirits are transmitted from the Brain into the foresaidMuscles; D and F two Valuulae to.let pass the Spirits from theBrain into the Muscles, but stop them if they wouldregurgitate; G is a Valve that lets the Spirits out of the MuscleC into B and E another lalve that lets the Spirits out of B intoC. Now in brief, the fesult of this Mechanicall contrivance,risthis, viz. That the Spirits being determined by the Conorionnever so little more copinusly into B then into C, those in C willpass through the Valve G into B, and so B swelling, andconsequently shortning it self, it must needs bring up themember K.

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r l0 'l'he Immortality «r['ftre Sorrl. Ikxrk ll

such an Object, is not sufficient to represent the Object, afterthe Conarion has by inclining it self thitherward determined thecourse of the Spirits into the same Pores. For this could onlyrepresent the Figure of a thing, not the Colours thereof.Besides, a man may bring an hundred Objects, and exposethem to our view at the same distance, the Eye keeping exactlyin thö same posture, insomuch that it shall be necessary forthese images to take up the very same place of the Brain, andyet there shall be a distinct remembronce of all these; which isimpossible, if there be no Soul in us, but all be mere Matter.The same may be said of so many Names or Words levell'd ifyou will out of a Trunk into the Eare kept accurately in thesame posture, so that the Sound shall beat perpetualiy uponthe same parts of the Organ, yet if there be five hundred ofthem, there may be a distinct memory for every one of them;which is a power perfectly beyond the bounds of mere Matter,for there would be a necessary confusion of all.

8. Lastly, for those imaginations or representations thatare of no one Object that we ever see, but made up of severalthat have taken their distinct places in the Brain, some(suppose) before and others behinde, how can the Conarionjoyrtthese together, and in such a posture of conjunction as itpleases? Or rather in one and the same Object, suppose thisMan or that House, which we see in a right posture, and hasleft such a signature or figure in the Brain as is fit to representit so, how can the Conorion invert the posture of the image,and make it represent the House and Man with the heelsupwards? Besides the difficulty of representing the Distance ofan Object, or the Breadth thereof, concerning which we havespoken already. It is impossible the Conarion, if it be mereMatter, should perform any such operations as these. For itmust raise motions in it self, such as are not necessarilyconveighed by any corporeal impress of another Body, which isplainly against Axiome 26.

9. And therefore that sober."and judicious Wit Dss-Cartesdares not stretch the power of r.Mechanical orgonization thusfar, but doth plainly confess, That as there are some Functionsthat belong to the Body alone, so there are others that belong tothe Sou/, which he calls Cogitations; and are according to him oftwo sorts, the one Actions, the other Passions. The Actions areall the operations of our Will, as in some sense all Perceptionsmay be termed Actions. And these Actions of the WiIl are

Olralr. V. 'l'hc lrnrnort,lrlit,y o[' thc Soul.

either such as are mere lntellecttLal Operations, and end in Lhc

Soul her self, such as her stirring up her self to /oue (itld, rlr'

contemplate any Immaterial Object; or they are such as have aninfluence on the Body, as when by virtue of our Will we put ourselves upon going to this or that place.

He distinguishes again our Perceptions into two sot'ts,whereof the one has the Sou/ for their Cause, the other theBody. Those that are caused by Lhe Body are most what suchas depend on the Nerues. But besides these there is one kind ofl

Imagination that is to be referred hither, and that property has

the Body for its cause, to wit, that Imagination that arisesmerely from the hitting of the Animal Spirits against the tractsof those Images that external Objects have lest in the Brain,and so representing them to the Conarion; which may happenin the day-time when our Fancy roves, and we do not set ourselves on purpose to think on things, as well as it does in sleep

by night. Those Perceptions that arrive to the Soul by theinterposition of the Nerues differ one from another in this, thatsome of them refer to outward obiects that strike our Sense,

others to our Body, such as Hu,nger, Thirst, Pain, etc. andothers to the Soul it self, as Sorrow, Joy, Fear, &c.

Those Perceptions that have the Sou/ for their Cause, areeither Lhe Perceptions of her own Acts of Will, or else of herSpeculotion of things purely Intelligible, or else of Imoginotionsmade at pleasure, or finally of Reminiscency when she searchesout something that she has let slip out of her Memory.

10. That which is observable in this Distribution is this,That all those Cogitations that he calls Actions, as also thosekind of Perceptions whose Cause he assignes to the Sou/, are inthemselves ( and are acknowledged by him) of that nature, thalthey cannot be imitated by any creature by the mere

orgonizotion of its Body. But for the other, he holds they ffiäy,and would make us believe they are in Bodies of Brutes, whichhe would have mere Machinas, that is, That from the mereMechanical frame of their Body, outward Objects of Sense mayopen Pores in their Brains so, as that they may determine theAnimal Spirits into such and such Muscles for SpontaneousMotion: That the course of the Spirits also falting into thei

Ncrves in the lnbestines and Stomack, Spleen, Heat't, [,ivet',and <llher parts, rnay cause lhe very same effecfs of Passion,suppose ol'1,{)ve, [{atred, .loy, Sot'row, in fhese brute Mochinas,irs wg f'eel in our' [Jotlies; fhtlugh the.y, as bcing senseloss, fircl

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I t'2 'l'he Irnmortality of'the Soul. []ook ll Ohap. V l. 'l'hc llntnot'l,rtlit.y ol' t,he Soul- I l:l

Body; the other, the Animol Spirits in the lburth Ventricle' ol'thrBrain. As for the fiormer, viz. Thot part of'the Spinol Mornxp

where the.concurse of the Nerues is conceiued to be, as I havc

answered in like case; so I say again, fhat besides thai I havr-'

already demonstrated, that Matter is uncapable of Sen'se, anrl Ir

that there is no modification thereof in the Spinol Maffou'r, that'

will make it more likely to be indued with that Faculty then lhtr

pith of Elder or a mess of Curds; we are also to take notice',

iftut it is utterly inept for Motion' nor is it conceivable how thatpart of it, or in any other that is assigned to this offlrce of being l0lrr" common Percipient in us of all Thoughts and objects,(which must also have the power of mouing our members) can,

having so little agitation in it self, (as appearing nothing but a

kind of soft Pap or Pulp) so nimbly and strongly moue the par'fs

of our Body. I 5

2. In this regard the Animal spirits seem much mor€)

likely to perform that office; and those, the importunity of'

whose gross fancies constrains them to make the Soul

Corporeil, do nevertheless usually pitch upon some subtile thin

Matter to constitute her nature or Essence:. And therefore they '20

imagine her to be either Aire, Fire, Light, or some such like

BodV; with which the Animal Spirits have no small affinity.3. But this opinion, though it may seem plausible at fir'st

sight, yet the difficulties it is involved in are insuperable. ["or

itls manifest, that all the Arguments that were brought befirre 'Zlt

will recur with full force in this place. For there is no Motter

that is so perfectly liquid as the Animol Spirits, but consists of'

particles onely contiguous one to another, and actually upon

Motion playing and turning one by another as busy as Atomes

in the Sun. Now therefore, let us consider whether thrrt li0Treasury of pure Animol Spirits contained in the liturthVentricle be able to sustain so noble an office as to be the

common Percipient in our Body, which, as I heive often

repeated, is so complex a Function, that it does not onel.y

.o.rtui., the Perception of external obiects, but Motion, ll5

Imaginotion, Reason and MemorY-

4. Now at the very first dash, the transmission of' Lhe

image of the object into this crowd of particles c:rnn«rb but hit

va.iiusl.y upon fhem, and fherefore they witl h:rve sev.t'al

Pgrt:g7tti6ns am«rngst them, Somo h.rply pelceiving palt' «r(' thc '10

Ol11ct,, <tthgys irll, «rt,hers rnorr) Lhen all, «lthers als«l lltlrceivirrg.f it, irr «lrrr'lrlry'r., lrnrl ot,hcrs itr anot,ht't'. []trt, t,hr,'I)ert:i1tit'rtt irt

them not: and so the vellication of certain Tunicles and Fibresin fhe Stomack and Throat may affect their Body as ours is inthe Sense of Hunger or Thirst: And finally, That the hitting ofthe Spirits into the tracts of the Brain that have been signed by

5 External Objects, may act so upon their Body as it does uponours tn Imagino.tion and Memory.

Now adde to this Machina of Des-Cartes, the capacity inMatter of Sensation and Perception, (which yet I havedemonstrated it to be uncapable o0 and it will be exquisitely as

t0 much as Mr. Hobbs himself can expect to arise from mereBody, that is, All the Motions thereof being purely Mechanical,the perceptions and propensions will be fatall, necessary and

unavoidable, as he loves to have them.But being no Cogitations that Des-Co.rtes terms Actions., as

15 also no kind of Perceptions fhat he acknowledges the Soul to be

the Cause of, are to be resolved into any Mechanicctl

contrivance; we may take notice of them aS a peculiar rank ofArguments, and such, as that if it could be granted that theSou/s of Brutes were nothing but Sentient Matter, yeL it would

20 follow that a Substance of an higher nature, and truly\ Immateriol, must be the Principle of those more noble

Operations we find in our selves, as appears from Axiome 20,

and 26.

30

Chap. VI.

I. That no part of the Spinal Marrow can be the Common

Sensorium without a Soul in, the Body. 2. That Animal Spiritsare more lihely to be that Common Percipient. 3. But yet it is

demonstrable they ore not; 4. As not being so much o.s copoble

of Sensation; 5. Nor of directing Motion into the Muscles; 6.

Much less of Imogination and rational Inuention; 7. Nor ofMemory. 8. An Answer to an Euosion. 9. The Author's reason,

uthy he hos confuted so porticulorly all the suppositions of the

Seat of Common Sense, when few of them haue been o.sserted

u;ith the exclusion of o Soul.

I. There remain now onely Two Opinions to be examined:the one, Thot place of' the Spinol Morrttut uthere Anattlmis[su1;ttcpivt't,ht't't'i.s the nt:orest con(ttrs? of'oll 1fip f{prttt's rtl'lltr

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I l,l 'l'hc Irnrnortality of'the Soul. lj«r«rk Il

..s representing no such confusion cr disorder in our beholdingof objects, it is plain that it is not the Animal Spirits that is it

5. Again, That which is so confounded a percipient, howcan it be a right Principle of directing Motion into the Muscles?For besides what disorder may happen in this function uponthe distracted representation of the present Objects, the powerof thinking, excogitating and deliberating, being in these AnimolSpirits also, (and they having no mean s of communicating onewith another, but justling one against another; which is asmuch to the purpose, as if men shourd knock heads tocommunicate to each other their conceits of Wit,) it must needsfollow that they will have their perceptions, inuentions, anddeliberations apart; which when they put in Execution, mustcause a marvelous confusion in the Body, some of themcommanding the parts this wäy, others driving them anotherway: or if their factions have many divisions and subdivisions,every one will be so weak, that none of them will be able tocommand it any way. But we find no such strugling orcountermands of any thing in us, that would act our Body oneway when we would another; as if when one was a going towrite

Mfrvrv uäroe. ü&r ...

something stronger in him, whose conceits he is not priuy to,should get the use of his hand, and instead of that write down

Arma uirümque cano ...And the like may be said of any other Spontaneous Motion,which being so constantly within our deliberation or commandas it is, it, is a sufficient Argument to prove that it is not such alubricous Substance as the Animal Spirits, nor so disunited; butsomething more perlbctly One and Indiuisible, IhaL is the Causethereof.

6. we need not instance any further concerning the powerof Inuentions and Reason, how every particle of these AnimolSpirits has a liberty to think by it self, and consult with it self,as well as to play by it sel( and how there is no possible meansof communicoting their Thoughts one to another, unless itshould be, as I have said, by hitting one against another: butthat can onely communicate Motion, not their determinateThottght; unless that these particles were conceived to figurethemselves into the shape of those things they think of, whichis impossible by Axiorne 26. And suppose it were possible onelrirrticle sh«rul«l shape it self, ftlr- e'xample into ü ()eorgt: on

( )hirp. V l. 'l'hc lnrrnol'1,:rlit..y ol' l,lrc Sorrl. llfi

Horse-back with a Lance in his hand, and another int.o arrInchanted Castle; [his George on Horse-bach must run aguirrst,the Costle, to make the Castle receive his impress :rnrlsimilitude" But what then? Truly the encounter will be veryunfortunaLe: For S. George indeed may easily break hiS [,ance,but it is impossible that he should be a justling ag:rinst theParticle in the form of a Castle conveigh the entire shape of'himself and his Horse thereby, such as we find our selves ableto imagine of a man on horse-back. Which is a Truth asdemonstrable as any Theorem in Mathematicks, but so plain atfirst sight, that I need not use the curiosity of a longerDemonstration to make it more firm.

Nor is there any colourable Evasion by venturing upon anew way, as if this particle having transforrned it self into a.

Castle, and that into an Horseman, all the others then wouldsee them both and they one another. For by what tight, andhow little would they appear, and in whot dffirent places,according to the differenf posture of the particles of the AnimalSpirits, and with what different faces, some seeing one side,others another?

But besides this there is a further difficulty, that if suchSensible representations as these could be conveighed from oneparticle to another by corporeal encounters and justlings, or bythat other way after alledged; Logical and Mothematical Notionscan not. So that some of the Animal Spirits may think of oneDemonstration in Mo.themotichs, or of part of thatDemonstration, and others of another: insomuch that if aMothematician be to write, while he would write one thing uponthe determination of these Animal Spirits, others may get hishand to make use of for the writing something else, to wholeThoughts and Counsel he was not at all privy; nor can tell anything, till those other Animal Spirits have writ it down. WhichAbsurdities are so mad and extravagant, that a man wouldscarce defile his pen by recording them, were it not to awakenthose that dote so much on the power of Motter (as to think it olit self sufficient for all Phaenomeno. in the world) into dueshame and abhorrence of their foolish Principle.

7. The last Faculty I will consider is Memory, which isalso necessarily joyned with the rest in the Common Pen:ipient;of which not onely the llüidity of parts, but also Lheirdissipobility, makes the Animol Spirits utberly uncapable. I'irrctrrtirinl.y, lhe Spirits by reas«rn «rf, their Subtilt.y and Actiuity '.trt,

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very dissipable, and in all likelihood remain not the same forthe space of a week together; and yet things that one has notthought of for many years, will come as freshly into a mansmind as if they were transacted but yesterday.

8. The onely Evasion they can excogitate here is this, Thatas there is a continual supply of Spirits by degrees, so, as theycome-in, they are seosoned, fermented and tinctured with thesame Notions, Perceptions and Propensions that the Spirits theyfind there have. These are fine words, but signifie nothing butthis, that the Spirirs there present in the Brain communicatethe Notions and Perceptions they have to these new comers;which is that which I have already proved impossible in theforegoing Sections. And therefore it is impossible that theAnimal Spirits should be that Common Percipient that hears,sees, moues, remembers, understands, and does other functionsof life that we perceive performed in us or by us.

9. We have now particularly evinced, that neither thewhole Body, nor any of those parts that have been pitchedupon, if we exclude the presence of a Soul or ImmaterialSubstance, can be the Seat of Common Sense. In which I wouldnot be so understood, as if it implied that there are none ofthese parts, but some or other have affirmed might be thecommon Sensoriun, though we had no Soul: But because theyhave been stood upon, all of them, by some or other to be theSeat of Common Sense, supposing a Soul in the Body, that theremight no imaginable doubt or scruple be left behind, I havetaken the pains thus punctually and particularly to prove, thatnone of them can be the place of Common Sense without one.

And thus I have perfectly finished my main design, whichwas to demonstrate That there ls a Soul or IncorporealSubstance residing in us, distinct from the Body. But I shall notcontent my self here, but for a more full discovery of herNature and, Faculties, I shall advance further, and search outthe chief Seat in the Body, where and from whence she exercisesher most noble Functions, and after enquire whether she beconfined to that part thereof alone, or whether she be spredthrough all our members; and lastly consider after whatmanner she sees, feels, hears, imagines, remembers, reasons, andmoues the Body. For beside that I shall make some good use ofthese discoveries for further purpose, it is also in it self verypleasant to have in readiness a rational and coherent account,and a determinate apprehension of things of this nature.

( )h:rp. V l. 'l'lrc lrntrtot'1,:tlit,.y ol' t.ltc Sottl. I t'l

Chap. V II.

l. His Enquiry at'ter the Seat of Common Sense, upotL sttppttsitit»tt

there is a Soul in the Body. 2. That there is some porticulur l)urlin the Body that is the seat of' Common Sense- :]. A ge.mntldiuision of their Opinions concerning the place of'Common Strrt.sr'.

4. Thot of those that ploce it out of'the Head there are two .sorls.

5. The Inualidity of Helmont' s reasons whereby he woultl pnnx'

the Orifice of the Stomack to be the principle Seot of the Soru/. 6.

An answer to Helmont's stories for that purpose- 7 - A lfurtherconfutation out of his own concessions. B. Mr. H<lbbs his

Opinion confuted, that makes the Heart the Seat of' CommonSense. 9. A further confutation thereof' from Experience. 10.

That the Common Sense is seated somewhere in the Head. I l. A

caution for the choice of the particular place thereof. 12. 'fhut tlu'

whole Brain is not if; 13. Nor Regius his small solid ParticLe; 14.

Nor any external Membrone of the Brain, nor the SepLum

Lucidum. 15.The three most tikety places. 16. Ob.iections

against Cartesius his Opinion concerning the Conarionanswered. 17. That the Conarion rs not the Seat of Commt»n

Sense; 18. Nor that port of the Spinal Morrow where the Nentes

ore conceiued to concurce, but the Spirits in fourth Ventricle of' the

Brain .

1. It will therefore be requisite for us to resume bhe firrrne r'

Opinions, altering the Hypothesis; and to examine which ol'

them is most reasonable, supposing there be tl Substunt:e

Immaterial or Soul in man.2. ThaL there is some po.rticular or restrain'd Seot ol' tht

Common Sense, is an Opinion that even all Philosophet's antlPhysicians are agreed upon. And it is an ordinzrry C<lmparis«rn

amongst them, that the ExterrLal Senses & the C<»mmon Sert,st'

considered together are like a Circle with five lines dt'awn ('r'«rrn

the Circumference to the Centre. Wherefore as it has bct)tt

obvious for them to finde out particular Organs for thc l')xkrntilSenses, So they harve also attempted to assign soln(' tlistitrctpart of the Body fl«rr to be an Organ ofl the Oommon Sen.srr; l.hrtt,

is to say, as they discovered Sight to be selled irt 1ht' l')yt',llearing in the Eat'e, Smelling in t,he Ntlst', t't,('. so l.lrcy

35

40 lo

Ilu 'l'he IrnmortaliLy of'the Soul. I]«xrk I I Oh:rp. V ll. 'l'lrc lrrtrrror'l;rlrly ol' llrr. Sotrl. I lt)

Sensibility, great offences to it may very well cause Sutoonings,and Apoplexies, and cessations of Sense. But Fear and ./o.y andCrief have dispatch'd some very suddainly, when yc,t the firstentrance of that deadly stroke has been at the Eare or the ilye,from some unsupportable ill newes or horrid spectacle. And theharsh handling of an angry Sore, or the treading on a Corn «rn

the Toe, may easily cast some into a swoon, and yet no manwill ever imagine the Seat of the Common Sense to be placed inLhe Foot. In fine, there is no more reason to think the CommonSensorium is in the mouth of the Stomack, because of theSensible Commotions we feel there, then that it is seated in theS/ors, because we so clearly perceive their Light, as Des-Carteshas well answered upon like occasion. Nor can Phrensies andMadnesses, though they may sometimes be observed to taketheir rise from thence, any more prove that it is the Seat of theCommon Sense, then the Furor uterinus, Apoplexies, Bpilepsies,and Syncopes proceeding from the Wombe, do argue that thecommon Sensorium of Women lies in that part.

6. And if we consider the great Sympothy betwixt theOrifice of the Stomock and the Heart, whose Pathemotn are soalike and conjoyned that the Ancients have given one name toboth parts, calling them promiscuously rcrpöl« ond the pains of'the Stomack rupötuiTicrt and ropörtu7pöt. also that the Heort isthat part from which manifestly are the supplies of Life,whence the Pulse ceasing, Life cannot long continue for want ofWarmth and Spirits; here is an evident reason how it mayhappen that a Wound about the mouth of the Stomock maydispatch a man more suddainly then a wound in the Head, theybeing both supposed mortal, though the seat of the SensitiueSoul be not chiefly in the aforesaid Orifice. F-or parily t,henatural Sympathy betwixt the Orifice of the Stomack and theHeort, and partly the horrour and pain perceived by the Soul inthe common Sensorium, which we will supose in the Heacl, dot:sso dead the Heart that, as in the suddain Passions abovenamed, it, ceases to perform the ordinary functions of [,ife, andso Pulse and Sense and all is gone in short time; whenas theHectcl being wounded mortally, Perception is therc.by sodiminished, that Lhe Hearf scapes the more free f,rom thc forceof that lethiferous passion; and so though Sense be gone, cancontinue the Pulse a longer time: which is a perf'ect answcr t,«r

Helmont's stories he recites in his Serles Animae.

10

conceived that there is some part of the Body wherein Seeing,Hearing and all other perceptions meet together, as the lines ofa circle in the centre: and that there the soul io". uiro ;raguand discern of the differences of the objects of the outwardSenses. They have justly therefore e*cluded all the Externalparts of the Body from the lightest suspicion of any capacity ofundergoing such a function as is thus general, they üeing allemployed in a more particular task, whiÄ is b be the organ ofsome one of these five outward senses; and to be affecäd nootherwise then by what is impressed upon themselves, andchiefly from their proper objecls; u.r,orrg=t which five, iourhproperly so-called has the greatest share, it being as large asthe skin that covers us, and reaching as deep as anyMembrane and Nerve in the rimbs and trunk of the Body,besides all the Exteriour parts of the Head. All which can nomore see then the Eye can hear, or the Eare can smell.

3. Besides this, all those Arguments that do so clearlyevince that the place of Common Sense is somewhere in theHeod are a plain demonstration Lhat the uuhole Bod,y cannot bethe seat thereof, and what those Arguments are you shall hearanon. For all those opinions that have pitched o, urry one partfor the seat of common sense, being io be divided into twoRanks, to wit, either such as assign io-" particular place inthe Body, or else in the Heocl, *" *iil proceed in this order: asfirst to confute those that have made choice of any part for theseat of common sense out of the Heacl; and then in the secondplace we will in general shew, that the common sensoriummust be in some part of the Head; and lastly, of those manyopinions concerning uthot part of the Head this commonSensoriurn should be, those which seem less reasonable beingrejected, we shall pitch upon what we conceive the mostunexceptionable.

4. Those that place the common sensorium out of theHead, have seated it either in the upper orifice of the stomock,or in the Heart. The former is ion-Helmont,s opinion, theother Mr Hobb.s his.

5. As for von-Helmont, there is nothing he alledges for hisopinion but may be easily answered. That which mainryinposed upon him was the exceed,ing sensibility of that part,which Nature made so, that, as a faithful and sagacious porter,it might admit nothing into the stomack thai might provemischievous or troublesome to the Body. From this te*l,,,

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I:4o 'l'lrr' lrrrrnorl,rrlit,.y ol' t,lrr. Sorrl. ir,,,,i ll ('lt;r1r. V I I '!'lrr. lunrrorl,;rlrlv ol' llrc Sorrl. 1,.,, I

srrct'illct'rl llt'ltsts, Lh:rt, t,ltctt' Il«rrts llcing t,rrkr.n orrt, lrrrrl lrrrrlLlpoIl t,lrc Alt,ar', t,hc.y havt'ller:tr s('cn in thc rylcan t.trnr-.rrot. oncl.yLo brelrt,h,;.rnd r'«rar aklud, lltrt, also t<l rur) lrwa.y, t.ill t.hr.'(.xlx,r)('(,tlf' IJlotld has Inirde thttrn Iall d«rwn. Which Narrat,rons t,o r]'r(,are tlrc more credible, I having seen with rnine own cyL)s rr /,'r.rryquite exenterated, heart. stomack, guts and all Laken «lut, ll.y rrprngenious fi'iend of mine, and dexterous Anatomisf; after whichthe Frog could see, and would avoid any object in its wa.y, andskipped as freely and nimbly up and down as whe. it wasentire, anC that for a great while. But a very little wourrrl rnthe Head deprives them immediately of Lüb and Motion.Whence it is plain that the deprivation of Sense antlspontaneous Motion is not frorn the Heart For if' the Moti<tn baintercepted betwixt the Brain and Heart, by Mr Hobbs his «rwrrconcession, there wili be no perception of the Object. And Lhcr.t,is the same reason of the orifice of the storno.ck: so that t,hisone Experiment does clearly evince these two Opinions t«r bcerroneous.

10. And that no man hereafter may make any otherrunhappy choice in the parts of the Body, we shall now proposc'such Reasons as we hope will plainly prove, That the comm«rnSensoriurn must needs be in the Head; or indeed rather repe:rt,thern: For some of those whereby we proved that the Heart isnot the Seat of Common Sense, will plainly evince that Llrt,Ilead is. As that out of Lourentius, that a lr; ente being Lierl,Sense and Motion will be preserved from the Ligatur.e ul)towards the Head, but downu,ards they will be lost. As alsothat exparimen[ of a Frog, whose brain if you pierce willpresently be devoid of Sense and Motictn, though all ther FlnLr.alsbeing taken out it, will skip up a.nd down, and exercise itsSenses as before. Which is a plain evidence that Motion andSense is derived from the Head; and there is now no prebence krtrace any Moiion into a farther fountain, the Heart, (f'romwhence Nerues were conceived ro branch by Aristotle, and fr-omwhence certainly ttre Veins and Artertes do, as appear.s 1,.y

every Antrtornie) being so justl-v discharged from thert oflice.To which it mav suffice to adde the considerati«rn o[" t,hoso

Drseases that, srrize upon all the Animal functions lt once, sur:has a"r'e the Lt:thctrgie, Apoplexie. Epilepsie, and thr: likc, t,lrt,causes of which Physicians find in the fleod, and accordingl.yapply remeidres;. Whiclr is a plain deLecti«rn lhat the Scat, o['t,[rt'Stltrl. lts mttch as con('erns t,hei Anirnal F-ar:ulLres, is t.lriclly rrr

T - To ,, which I may adde, .fhat himserf doesacknowledge in the end of that Treatise, that the powe. of.Motion, of'wil, Memory and Imogino.tion, is in the Brain; andtherefore unless a man will say and deny any thirrg, he must5 say that the Common Sense is there also.B. The opinion of Mr Hobbs bears more credit andcountenance with it, as having been asserted heretofore byPhilosophers of great fame, Epicurus, Aristotle, and the schoolof the stoicks: but if we look .lor.. to it, it will prove as little10 true as th-e_ other; especially in his way, that holds there is nosoul in a Man, but that all is but orgaitrrd Matter. For Iet himdeclare any Mechanical reason whereby his Heort will be ableto move his Finger. But upon this Hypothesis I have confutedthis opinion already. It is more Ääi.rtuirrable, if there be15 granted a sour in the Body, that the Heart is the chief seatthereof, and place of common sense, as Aristotle and otherswould have it, as also the spring of spontoneous Motion. But itis very unlikery that that part that is so continuaily emproyedin that natural Motion of _contro.cting ond" dilating it self, should20 be the seat of that principle *t i.r, commands Free andSpontaneous progressions: Pirceptions also would be horribly

disturbed by its squeezing of it selq and then flagging again byvicissitudes. Neither would objects appear in tlie u.rr," place,or at least our sight not fixt on the same part of the object,25 when Lhe Heo.rt is drawn up and when it is llt down again, asI have above intimated: the extreme heat also of it could notadmit that it be affected with the gentle motions of the objectsof sense, tl" Brood being there in ä manner scalding hot. Andit is in this sense that the Aphorisrne in Aristotle is to be30 understood, rö peoov rprrtröv. That which must receiue theuariety of externar impresses, must not be it serf in any hightemper or o.gitation.

9. wherefore it is a very rash thing to assert, That theHeart is the seat of common sense, unress by some plain35 experience it could be evinced to be so, whenas indeedExperiments are recorded to the contrary. As, that if we binda Nerve, sense and Motion will be betwixt the Ligoture and theBrain, but not betwixt the Heorf and the Ligatire. And thatthe crocodile, his Heart being cut out, will live for a40 considerable time, and fight, u.,ä dufund himself. The like isobserved of the sea-Tortoise, and the utitcl Goat, as colcid.iuswrites. To which you may adde what Galen relates of

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their imprcssos) nor itny Internol me.ml»re.ne, as that whiclr birlsfäirest fbr it, tht: Sr:p/rtm Lucidum, as bcing in the midst ttf't,hcupper Ventricle. But yet if' the levell of' Motion through thoexternall Senses be i.rccurately considered, some will sh«loIunder, and some in zr distant parallel, so that this Membt'anewill not be struck with all the Objects of our Senses. Besidesthat it seems odd and ridiculous that the Centre of Perceptionshould be either driven out so into plates, or spread into hollowconvexities, as it must be supposed, if we make either theexternal or internol Membrones of the Brain the Seat of CommonSense.

15. The most likely place is some one of those that thethree last Opinions point at, viz. either Lhe Conarion, or theConcurse of the Nerues in the fourrh Ventricle, or the AnimulSpirits there.

16. The first is Des-cartes Opinion, and not rashly to berefused, neither do I frnd any Arguments hitherto that arevalid enough to deface it. Those that are recited out ofBartholine, and subscribed to by the learned Author of'Adenographia, in my apprehension have not the force to ruineit. We will first repeat them, and then examine them.

The first is, that this Glandula is too little to be able torepresent the Images of all that the Soul has represented kther.

The second, That the external Nerues do not reach to theGlandula, and that therefore it cannot receive the impress ofsensible Objects.

The third, that it is placed in a place of excrements whichwould soile the Species of things.

The fourth, That the Species of things are perceived therewhere they are carried by the Nerues. But the Nerues meret

about the beginning or head of the Spinol Marrow, a more noblcand ample place then the Glandula pineolis.

To the first I answer, That the omplitude of that placewhere the Nerues meet in the Spinal Mo.rrow is not largtrenough to receive the distinct impresses of all the Objects theMind retains in Memory. (Besides, that the other parts of' theBrain may serve for that purpose, as much as any of it can.)But it must be the Soul her self alone thtrt is capable ol'retaining so distinct and perfect represen[ations of fhings,though it were admitted that she might make an occasional uscof s<rme private mlrrks she impresses in Lhe Ilntin, which hapl.y

10

the Head. The same may be said of phrensy ,nd Meloncholy,and such like distempers, that deprave a mans Imaginotion andJudgmenf; Physicians alwaies conclude something u-ir. withinthe Cranium.

Lastly, if it were nothing but the near attendance of theoutward Senses on the Soul, or her discerning Faculty, being sofitly placed about her in the Heod; this, unless there were someconsiderable Argument to the contrary, should be sufficient todetermine any one that is unprejudiced, to conclude that theseat of common sense, (Jnderstand.ing, and, command of Motion,is there also.

11. But now the greatest difficulty wili be to define ^Inwhot part thereof it is to be placed. In which, unless we will goeoverboldly and carelesly to work, we are to have a regard toMechanical congruities, and not pitch upon any thing that, bythe advantage of this supposar, Thot there is a soil in man,may goe for possible; but to chuse what is most handsome andconvenient.

12. That the uthole brain is not the seat of common sense,appears from the wounds and cuts it may receive without thedestruction of that Faculty; for they will not take away Senseand Motion, unless they pierce so deep as to reach theVentricles of the Brain, as Galen has obse.rrud.

13. Nor is it in Regius his small solid particle. For besidesthat it is not likely Lhe Centre of perception is so minute, it isvery incongruous to place it in a Body so perfec tly solid, morehard then Marble or Iron. But this Invention being but a latefreak of his petulant fancy, that has an ambition to make ablunder and confusion of all Des-cartes his MetaphysicalSpeculations, (and therefore found out this rare quirk of wit toshew, how though the soul were nothing but Matter, yet itmight be incotuptible and immortol) it was not worth the whiieto take notice of it here in this Hypothesis, which we havedemonstrated to be true, viz. That there is a Soul in the Body,whose nature is Immaterial or Incorporeo.l.

14. Nor are the Membranes in the Heod. the commonSensorium neither those that envelop the Broin, (for they wouldbe able then to see the light through the hole Lhe Trepon makesthough the party Trepan'd winked with his eyes; to say nothingof the conveyance of the Nerues, the organs of external sense,that carry beyond these exteriour Membranes, and thereforepoint to a place more inward, that must be the Recipient of all

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t24 'l'he [mmortality «lf'the Soul. Ilook II Ch.rp. V II. 'fhe Immort,:-rlit,y «tl' t]rc S«lul. | Zlt

into what part of the Body she pleases) could be convenientlvseated in such dull pasty Matter as the Pith of the Brain is; a,

thing, I must needs profess, that pleases not my Pal.rte at all,and therefore I will also take leave of this Opinion Loo, and

adventure to pronounce, That the chief'Seat of the Soul, where

she perceiues all Objects, where she imagines, reasons, ondinuents, and from whence she commands aLl the parts ol' the

Body, is those purer Animal Spirits in the fourth Ventricle of-the

Brain.

Chap. VI[.

I. The first reason of his Opinion, the conuenient Situation of'

these Spirifs. 2. The second, that the Spirits are the immediateInstrument of the Soul in all her functions. 3. The proof of the

second Reason from the general Authority of Philosophers, andparticularly of Hippocrates,' 4. From our Sympathizing withthe changes of the Aire; 5. From the celerity of Motion ondCogitation; 6. From what is obserued generally in the Generation

of things; 7. From Regius his experiment of o Snail in a glass;

8. From the running round of Images in o vertigo; 9. From theconstitution of the Eye, and motion of'the Spirits there; 10. Fromthe dependency of'the actions of the Sou/ upon the Body, whether

in Meditation or corporeal Motion; I l. From the recouery of'

Motion and Sense into a stupelied port; 12. And lastly, firom

what is oberved in sa.,ooning fits, rtf'paleness and sharpness of'

uisage, etc. 13. The inference lrom all this, Thot the Spirits in the

fourth Ventricle are the Seat of Common Sense, and that the mainuse of the Rrain and Nerues is to preserttt: the Spirits-

I. That which makes me embrace Lhis Opinion rather thenany other is this; That, first, this situation ofl the common

Sensorium betwixt the Head and the [r'unk of the BocLy is the

most exactly convenient to receive lhc impresses o[' Object,s

flrom both, as also to impart Mofion fo thtl Muscles in lroth the

Heod and in lhe Body. In which I look upon it, :-ts erluall withLhe llst, Ollinion, and superiotrr Lo all t,hem t,hltt, wetrL lrc[irt't'.

I,'or wl):rt,t,vrr rna.y ht' oll.icr:tc«1, is aIr'ttltd.v tI[)swt-'t't'(l in wrl:-rt, I

hlvt' srttrl t.o t ltr' lrtst. ( )lr.it'ct,iort ltgi-ttrlst, 1)r's-( lrtr'1r's-

may be nothing at all like- the things it would remember, nor ofany considerable magnitude nor proportion to them, such as weobserve in the words Arx u.rä Äb^ur, where there is nocorrespondency of either likeness or bigness betwixt the words

To the second, thet though there be no continuation ofNerues to the- conarion, yet theie is of spirits; which are as ableto conveigh the impresses of Motion from external sense to theconarion, as the Aire and Aether the impress of the stars unto10 the Eye.To the third, that the grand,ulo is conveniently enoughplaced so long as the Body is found; for no excrementitioushumours will then overflow it or b".*"u, it. But in suchdistempers wherein they do, Apoprexies, catolepsies;, or such15 like diseases will arise; which *" .L" do fall out, let the Seat ofCommon Sense be where it will.To the last I answer, That the Nerves, when they are oncegot any thing far into the Broin, are devoid of Tunicles, and beso soft and spongy, that the motion of the spirits

- can pray20 through them, and that therefore they may ray through thesides, and so continue their motion to irre cinorior, *h.."",r",their extremities may seem to tend.

LT ' But though these Arguments do not sufflrcientlyconfute the opinion, yet I am .,Jt ,o wedded to it, but I can25 think something more unexceptionable may be found out,especially it being so much to be suspected that all Animalshave not this conorion: and then; that what pleased Des_cartesso much in this Invention, was, that he conceited it such amarvelous fine instrument to beat the Animal spirits into such30 and such pores of the Brain; a thing trrat t cannot at all crosewith for reasons above alledged. BeJides that sfones have beenfound in thil Grandulo, and that it is apparent that it isenviron'd with a net of veins and Arterzes, which are indicationsthat it is a part assigned for some more inferiour office. But;15 yet I would not dismiss it without fair play.18. wherefore that opinion of the forecited. Attthor, whoplaces the seat of common ,sense in that part of the spinarMorrow where the Nerues are suspected to meef, as it is moreplai, and simple, so it is more irrefutabre, s,rpp,rri.,g rhat the10 Soul's (_'entre ol' perr:eption (whereby she doers iot onei.yItPlrt'ohertrtl all Lhe Objects «rf lhe exte.nal Sens.s, but, «l,tisirnt4lint, nt(r:;t)n, anrl f'r.t:el.v (.()tn.m(rn(/ :_rnrl tletermirtc l,[rr, sTrrr.i/.s

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t26 'l'he Immortality of'the Soul. []«xrk ll

2. But now in the second place, (wherein this Opinion ofmine has a notorious advantage above all else that I know) It ismost reasonable that that Matter which is the immediateInstrument of all the Animal functions of the Soul, should be thechiefest Seat from whence and where she exercises thesefunctions, and if there be any place where there is a freerplenty of the purest sort of this Matter, that her peculiarresidence should be there. Now the immediate Instrument of thefunctions of the Soul is that thinner Matter which theyordinarily call Animal Spirits, which are to be found in theirgreatest purity and plenty in the fourth Ventricle of the Brain.From whence it must follow that that precious and choice partof the Soul which we call the Centre of perception is to be placedin that Ventricle, not in any pith of the Brain thereabout, but inthe midst of these Spirits themselves; for that is the mostnatural situation for the commanding them into the parts of theHead and Body; besides a more delicate and subtile use of themat home, in pursuing various imaginations and inventions.

3. That this thin and spirituous matter is the immediateengine of the Soul in all her operations, is in a manner thegeneral opinion of all Philosophers. And even those that haveplaced the Common Sensorium in Lhe Heort, have been secureof the truth of this their conceit, because they took it florgranted, that the left Ventricle thereof was the fountain ofthese pure and subtile Spirits, and please themselves verymuch, in that they fancied that Oracle of Physicians, the graveand wise Hippocro.tes, to speak their own sense so fully andsignificantly. I-vd;pr1 Tdp i roü trvrlpdrnou nägurev äv r{t Äa,tfrr

rot).tr1r' rpäperat öe öure orrlootv öure zotoiotv üno rrlq vr1öüoq,

dÄ^,c, rarlupfrt rat goroeröei neptouo(ar Teyovuiq d,r 116 ötcrxpioeu4roü ätpraroq' that is to say,That the Mind of mon is in the leftVentricle of his Heart; and thot it is not nottrished from meatsand drinhs from the belly, but by a clear and luminous Substancethat redounds by separation from the blood: which is that whichhappens exactly in the Brain. For the Spirits there are nothingelse but more pure and subtile parts of the blood, whose tenuityand agitation makes them separate from the rest of the massthereof, and so replenish the Ventricles of the Brain.

4. Moreover our sympothizing so sensibly with the changesof the Aire, which Hippocrates also takes notice of, that in clearAire our Thoughts are more cleor, and in cloudy more obscureand dull, is no slight indication that that which c«rnveighs

Sense, Thoughts, and Passions immediately to the Sgul, is vctt'v

tenuious and deiicate, and of a nature very congencl'gus ttl thc

Aire with which it changes so easily'5. The strange ,l,gitity also of Motions and cogitations Lhü

we find in our sel-ves,-has forced the most sluggish witts, even l»

such as have been so gross as to deem the soul corporeal, yeL

to chuse the freest, sublitest & most active Matter [o compound

her of, that their imaginations could excogitate. And Lucretius,

the most conflrdent of lfre Epicurean Sect, thinks he has hit the

naile on the head in his choice; I0

Nunc igitur quoniam est animi natura reperta

Mobilis egregie, per quam constare necesse est

Corporibis paruis et laeuibus atque rotundis"

whose Testimony I account the better in this case, by how

much the mor" .ru.. Philosopher he is, the necessity of the I I-»

tenuity of particles that are to pervade the Body of a Man

being convinced hence to be so plain, that the dimmest eyes can

easily discover it.6. But we will advance higher to more forcible Arguments

amongst which this, I think, may find some place, That we '20

cannot discover any immediate operation of any kind of Soul in

the world, but wüat it first works upon thot Matter which

participates in a very great measure of this fineness and tenuitv

LS porir, which wili easily yield and be guided; as may be

,rrri.,rersally observed in all Generations, where the Body is ')l»

alwaies organized. out of thin fluid liquor, that will easily yieid

to the plastick power of the soul. In which I do not doubt but it

takes the advantage of moving the most subtile parts of all

first, such as Des-bartus his first and second Element, which

are never excluded from any such humid and tenuious :lo

substance: which Elements of his are that true Heauenlv oI'

Aethereal Matter which is every where, as Ficint's some\tu'here

saith Heaven is; and is that Fire whtch Trismegist affirms is the

most inward vehicle of the Mind, and the instrument that God

used in the forging of the worid, and which the soul of Lhe li5

world, whereever she acts, does most certainly sfill use'

7. And to make yet a step further, Ttrat tlculat.

demonstration that Henriats Regius brings into view seems Ltl

me both ingenious 1nd solid: It is in a snoil, such ils h:ivt-' ntl

shells, moving in a glass: S() soon as she begins [«r cl'cc[)''10

certain tluhbles are disc<lvcrocl [o move f'r'orn ltt't' Liril Ltl [tt't'

he:rcl; brrt, s. Soorl as shc COIISt's m<lvirtg, t,lr,s. llrrlrblos ('('i'IS("

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128 'l'he lrnm«lrtality o{'the S«rul. Il«rok II Oh:r1r. V lll. 'l'he ltntrtot'1,:tlit,.y ol' t.ht' Sottl. l "atl

of determining Matter in motion; which [he Inol'c subtilc :tttrlagitated it is, the more easily b-v reason «lf iLs own mobilit.y is it,

determined by her. For if it were an immediate fnculty of' t,[rt'

Soul to contribute rnotion Lo any Matter, t do not undersLltltl

how that faculty never failing nor diminishing no more then Lhe lt

Soul it self can fail or diminish, that we should ever be wt'at'y

of motion. Insomuch that those nimble-fooLed Maeruades or she-

Priests of Bacchus, with other agile Virgins of the Countrv,which Dionysiu.s describes dancing in the flowry meadows of'

Moeand.er and Cayster, might, if life and limbs would last, ber I0found dancing there to this very duy, as free and frolick as

wanton Kids (as he pleases to set out their activity) and thatwithout any lassitude at all. For that immediate motiue faculty

of the Sout can still as fresh as ever impart motion to all the

Body, and sooner consume it into air or ashes by heating and 15

agitating it, then make her self wear)/, or the Body seem so.

Wherefore it is plain that that motion or heat that the Soul

voluntarily confers upon the Body is by virtue of the Spirits,which she, when they are playing onely and gently toyingamongst themselves, sends forth into the exteriour members, 20

and so agitates and moves them: but they being so subtile and

dissipable, the Soul spends them in using of them; and thev

being much spent, she can hardly move the Body any longer',

the sense uhereof we call Lcrss irude. These are the r«r. Öpprtirv rrr

or övoptrrürvtu of Hippocrates, and the soul's immediate engine <lf' Zlt

motion through all the parts of the Body.11. As they are also of sense in the more remote pat'ts as;

weli as in the Head, as Spigelius handsomely insinuates by that'

ordinary exanrple of a mans legge being stupefied or aslaep, as

some call it, by compression or whatever hinderance may be o{' :}0

the propagation of the Spirits into that part. For as Senstr arttl

lvlotion is restored, a man may plainlV feei somefhing crccl)

into it tingling and stinging like Pisrnires, as he compart's it;

which can be nothing but Lhe Spirits fbrcing their passage inLtr

the part. Wherein what they suffer is made sensible to t.irr' :li;Soul, they being her imrnediate Vehicie of life and sense.

1,2. Lastly, In sruor.,ning fits, when Moti<tn and ^S'en.sg f'ltils,

th exteriouy parts are paLe and fallen, the Face l«r<lklng tr)ot'o

/eon and shorp; of' whictr there can be n«t othet' m«ranitrg, t,hett

fhat, th1f. bcnigrr gale o['vifal air t,hrrL fill'tl utrr t,hc prtrt,s be[irt'r', '10

is trow:tltst,ttt lttttl I't.'l.t't::It,t,'(l frtltn t,ltcrrt; fh.rt is, t'lrlrt' t'lx'l'lrrttl,S;rrr-ils rrrt,r'r.t,in.rl, wit,lrorrt. wlri<'h tto St'rt.st'nor Nl,tti()/r ('iIl) lrc

10

Whence he concludes, ThaL a gale of Spirits that circult fromher head aiong her back to her tail, and thence along her belly,to her head again, is the cause of her progressive motion.

8" That, such thin spirifs are the immediate Instruments of-Sense, is also discovered by what is observed in a vertigo. Forthe Brnin it self is not of such a ftuid substance as to turnround, and to make external objects seem to doe so.Wherefore it is a sign that the immediate corpor-eal Instrumentof conveying the images of things is the spirits in the Brain.

9. And that they are the chief organ of sight is piain inthe exteriour parts of the Eye: for we ma.y easily discern howfull they are of that rariuprl rui goroet8qq öuo[a, pure and, lucidsubstance, which Hippocrafes speaks ol though he seat it in awrong place; and how upon the passions of the Mind theseSpirits ebbe or flow in the Eye, and are otherwise wonderfui-significantiy modified; insomuch that the Soul even seems tospeak through them, in that silent voice of Angels, which somefancy to be by nothing but by dumb shews, but I do not at allbelieve it. It is also plain enough, that dimness of sight comesfrom deficiency of these spirits, though the parts of the Eyeotherwise be entire enough. The wider opening also of thepupill of one Eye upon the shutting of rhe other does indicatethe flux and more copious presence of spirits there, as Galenhas ingeniously collected.

10. To which we may adde that in those more nobleoperations of the Mind, when she meditates and excogitatesvarious Theorems, that either she uses some part of the Bodyas an Instrumenf then, or acts freely and independently of theBody. That the latter is false is manifest from hence, that thenthe change of Air, or Distemper and Diseasedness, coultl notprejudice her in her Inuentiue and purel.y Intellecttzal Operations;but it is rnanifbst rhat they doe, and that a mans Mind is muchmore cloudy one time then another, and in one Country thenanother, whence is that proverbial Verse,

Boeotüm crossü jurares aöre natum.If she uses any part of' the Body, ir must be either theseAnimal Slpirirs, or the Brain. That it is not the Brain, the ver).consistencv thereof so ciammy and sluggish is an evidenidemonstration.

which will still have the more fkrrce, if we consider wnat ismost cerLainiv true, 'l'hat t.hr,r S<lul has not e.ny pott)er, or eist.,excetrrlrng littlo, of'mouirtg Mrüler; but. hcr. pcculi:rr privilgrlgg rs.

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clr()r)

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l:t0 'l'lrc l rnrn«rrt,lrlity of' t,hr: Soul. Iirok ll

performed: whence it is apparent that they are the immediateInstrument of both.

13. I have proved that the Animal spirits are the soul,simmediate organ for sense and Motion. Ii therefore there beany place where the spirifs are in the flrttest plenty and purity,and in the most convenient situation for Animal functions; thatin all reason must be concluded the chief seat and. Acropolis ofthe Soul. Now the Spirits in the mictclle uentricle of the B)ain arenot so indifferently situated for both the Body and the Head", asthose in the fourth are; nor so pure. The upper ventricles,being two, are not so fit for this office, that is so very much oneand singular. Besides that the sensiferous impresses of motionthrough the eyes play under them; to say nothing how thespirits here are less defecate also then in the fourth f,entricle.

wherefore there being sufficient prenty, and. grecttest purity,and fittest situation of the spirits in this fourth ventricl), it ismanifest that in these is placerJ the centre of perception, andthat they are the common sensorium of the soul: ano that asLhe Heart pumps out Blood perpetualry to supply the wholeBody with nourishment, to keep up the bulk of this Edifice forthe soul to dwell in, and also, from the more subtile and agileparts thereof, to replenish the Brain and Nerues with Spirits,(which are the immediate Instrument of the soul for sense andMotion;) so likewise is it plain that the main use of the Broinand Nerues is to keep these subtile spirits from overspeedydissipation; and that the Bro.in with it. caverns is but onegreat round Nerue; as the Nentes with their invisible porositiesare but so many smaller productions or slenderer prolängationsof the Bro.in: And so all together are but one continuedReceptacle or case of that immediate Instrument of thesensiferous motions of the sour, the Animal spirits, whereinalso lies her hidden vehicle of life in this mortal body.

Chap. IX.

I. seueral objections o.goinst Animal spirits . z. An Answert:o the lirst objection touching the porosity of the Nerues. B. Tothe second and third, from the Extruuasitio'n of the spirits o.ndpituitous Excrements found in the Brain. 4. To the foir-th, fetchtt'rom the incredible sutiftness of motion in the spiriis. 5. io the.

Olr:rp. IX, 'l'hc lrrrrrroll.;rlit,.y of' t,lrr. Sotrl l:t I

last, l'rom Ligtttion. 6. Uncleniable Demt>nstruüions thot l.hrn'are Animal Spirits in the Ventricles of the Brain.

I. Before we proceed to our other two Bnquiries, w() er'('

forced to make a stop a while, and listen to somr) Ii'wObjections made by some late Authours, who, againsf thccommon stream of all other Philosophers, Physicians rtntlAnatomists, are not ashamed to deny that there are any suchthings as Spirits in the Body; or at least that there are any inthe Ventricles of the Brain. For as for the Nerues, say t,he.y,

they have no Pores or Cavities to receive them; and besides itis plain that what is fluid in them is nothing but a milky whitcjuice, as is observed in the pricking of a Nerue. And as fot' Lho

Ventricles of the Brain, those Cavities are too big; and t,hc

Spirits, if they issue into them, will be as extrouostrted [Jloorl,whence they must needs be spoiled and corrupt. Besides that,they will evaporate at those passages through which t,ht'mucous or pituitous excrements pass from the Brain. Wh«rsc

appearance there, is, say they, another great argument that,these Ventricles were intended onely for receptacles anrlconveyances of such excrementitious Humours which the Braindischarges it self of. Lastly, if Spontoneous Motion be made bymeans of these Spirits, it could not be so extremely sudden trs it,is; for we can wagge our finger as quick as thought, but.

corporeal Motion cannot be so swift. And if the Spirit.s lrt,'

continued from the Head to the Finger, suppose, in the ligationof the Nerve there would be sense from lhe Ligature t«r t,ho

Fingers end; which is, say they, against Experience. These at'cr

the main Objections I have met withall in Hofman and others;but are such as I think are very easily answered: and indocdthey do in some sort clash some of them one with another.

2. For how can the Nerues derive juice if they have no

Pores, or are not so much as passable to these thin ac:tivcSpirits we speak of? or from whence can we better conceivethat juice to arise, then from these Spirits themselves, irs [hc.ylose their agitation, and flag into a more gross consistency'/

3. Neither can Lhe Spirits be looked upon as extrarsusetrtl tlthe Ventricles of the Brain, more then the Blclod in th«r Auri«'lt'sor Ventricles of the Heart. f,lor is there any f'eirr of' llrcir'sliding awi-I.y through the I nfiut<libttlrrm, the pit,trit.otrs

excremer.tt,s having no passage t,helt'r,t tlut, wh:rt, t,ltcv rnllko l,.y

l,hcir wr.igIrt, ,ls well its l,hr.ir insintr;rtirrg rnoist,ttt's.s, wlticlr

l»

t0

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,l:)

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40 ,10

t:t ). 'l'lrr. Irrrnrorl,rrlrl,.y of' l,lrt, liorrl. Ohrrp. lX. 'l'lro lrnrrtorlrtlrly ol' llrn l{ottl llr:l

not,hing rrn this side <l{'Lhc l,igtthrr', l,lrt'tt l,lt:tl wc s('(' rrot,ltittg ttt

our neighbour''s garden when a wall is bct,wixl,, l,ltouglr the Sunshine clearly on both sides of the wall.

6. We see how invalid their Arguments are against thisreceived Opinion of almost all both Physicians andPhilosophers: It is needless to produce any for the confirmationof it; Those which we have made use of for proving that theSpirits are the immediate Instrument of the Soul, being of equalforce most of them to conclude their existence in the Body.

And yet for an overplus I witl not much care to cast in abrief suggestion of the use of the Lungs, which the bestPhysicians and Anatomists adjudge to be chiefly forconveighing prepared aire to the Heart; as also of the Retemirobile and Plexus Choroides, whose bare situation discovertheir use, that they may more plentifully evaporate the thinnerand more agile particles of the Blood into the Ventricles of theBrain.

The Diostole also of the Brain keeping time with the Pulseof the Heart, is a manifest indication what a vehement steam ofSpirits, by the direct and short passage of the ArteriaeCarotides, are carried thither. For if one part of the Blood bemore fiery and subtile then another, it will be sure to reach theHead. From whence considering the sponginess and laxness ofthe Brain, and thinness of the Tunicles in the little Arteriesthat are there; it will follow by Mechanical necessity that theVentricles thereof will be filled with that rarluprl x«i goroetöqqneptouota dr ötarcploeo-q roü ätguroq. which Hippocrates so fitlydescribes, though he fancy the Seat of it in an unfitting place.

But the purest of these Spirits being in the fourthVentricle, as Bartholine and others have judiciously concluded,it follows plainly from wnat has been alledged, That theCommon Sensorium is to be placed in the midst of these purerSpirits of the fourth Ventricle of the Brain.

Chap. X.

I. That the Soul is not confined to the Common Sensorium. 2.The fi,rst Argument from the Plastick pouer of the Soul. 3.Which is confirme d from the gradual dignity of the Soul' s

Faculties, of which this Plastick rs the lowest; 4. External

lkrok II

alwaies berslnssf ing these parts makes thern rnor.e imper.vi«lusto the light spi'its, whose agility also and comp,nderanc.y withthe outward Aire renders them uncapable of leaving theCaverns in which they are.

5 That arguing from the pitttitous excrements found there,that they were made onely for a Receptacle of such useressredundan.y, i! as ineptly inferred, as ii a man should arguefrom what is found in the Intestinum rectum, that the stomackand all the Intestines were made for a Receptacle of10 Stercoreous excrement. The Spirits in the Ventricles of theBrain, playing about and hitting against the sides of thecaverns they are in, wilr in p.o.u., of time abate of theiragitation, the grosser parts especially; and so necessarily cometo a more course consistency, and settle into some such like15 moist Sediment as is found at the bottome of the Ventricles,which nature dischargeth through fit passages, whereby thespirits are left more pure. But because this necessaryfeculency is found in these Cavities, to conclude that that is theonly use of them, is as ridiculous as to inferre That because I20 spit at my Mouth, and blow my Nose, that that was the chiefend and use of these two parts of my Body, or that my Eyeswere not made for seeing, but weeping.

4. The nature of the swiftness of Motion in these spirirs ismuch like that of Light, which is a Body as well as they. But25 that Lucid Matter in the sun does not, so soon as he appearsupon the Horizon, fly so many thousand miles in a moment tosalute our eyes, but Motion is propagated as it were at oncefrom the sun to our Eye through the iethereal Matter betwixt.or suppose a long Tube, as rong as you wil, and one to blow in30 it; in a moment, so soon as he blo*r-at one end, the Motion willbe felt at the other, and that downwards as well as upwards,and as easily; to satisfie that other frivolous objection I findin Hofm,n, as if it were so hard a business that ihese spirirsshould be commanded downwards into the Nerues. But the35 oppose.s of this ancient and solid opinion are very simple andcareless.

5. That of the Ligature proves nothing. For though theNerue betwixt the Ligature and the Finger be we[ enoughstored with spirits, yet the centre of perception being not there,40 and there being an interruption and division betwixithe Spiritsthat are continued to their common senso rium, and these onthe other side of the Ligatttre;,tis no more wonder that we feel

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t:t,+ 'fhe lmmortetlity of'the S«rul. Uo«rk I I ()lurp. X. 'l'hc lrrtrrtot't,rrlit,.y o{' t,Irt' S«rtrl. litl»

N«r1 is if so congruous L«l adrnil, Lhat Llte l)lustit'lr firt'trlt,.y ol'

the Scru/ of the Worltl is [he so/e c«rntrivct' o[' these l"rtbt'it:ks ol'

particular Creatures, ( though I will not deny but strc mlt.y givt'

some rude preparative strokes towat'ds Eflilrmation;) btrt, l'hrrt'

in every particulor World, such as Man is especially, his «rwtt

Soul is the peculiar and most perf'ective Architect ttret'ettl', rts

the Soul of the World is of it. F'or this uital F abricati«rn is rtot.

as in artilicial Architecture, when an exLernal person acts u[)oIr

Matter; but implies a more pil.rticulat' and near union with t,hat,

Matter it thus intrinsecally shapes out and organizes. Antl

what ought to have a more particular and close union witlt our'

Bodies then our Souls themselves?My opinion is therefore, That the Soul, which is a Spilit,

and therefore controctible and clilatable, begins within lcss

compass at first in Organizing the fitly-prepared MaLter, anrl str

bears it self on in the same tenour of work till the llor/.y /rcs

attained its full growth; and that the Soul diltttes it self in thtr

dilating of the Body, and so possesses it through all tlttr

members thereof.3. The congruity of this Truth will further discover it sel{"

if we consider the nature of the Faculties of the Soul (rlf' whiclr

you may read more fully in Enthusiasmus Triumphotus) irr

what a notural graduotity they a.rise tilt they come Lo the rnosl

free of all. The deepest ot lowest is this Plastick power wc hrtvtr

already spoke of, in virtue whereof is continued thaf pcr-pct'tritl

Systole and Diostole of the Hearf, as I am more prone to t,hink

then that it is merely Mechanical, as also that Respirution t,hal,

is performed without the command of our Will: For t,ltt:

Librotion or Reciprocation of the Spirits in the Tensility o[' l,ht:

Muscles would nob be so perpetual, but cease in a small titrlc,

did not some more mystical Principle then what is mercl.y

Mechanical give Assistance; as any one may understantl by

observing the insufficiency of those devices that HenritttsRegius propounds fior adequate causes of such motions in Lhtr

Body, These I look upon as the First Faculties ofl the Sortl,

which may be bounded by this general character, 'fhaL t,ht'

exercise of them does not at all imply so much as oLrl'

Pen:epti<tn.4. Ncxt L<t thcse is the Sensotion <»l' on.y externol obiu'|, sttt'h

ts llt:orirt11, Set:ing, I,'t:eling, etc. Atl which inclutle l)orcepLi«rtt itt

lrl rrlr'r'sist,ilrlg necessit,y L[ret'eol', Lhc ()bjttt:t. lleing 1)1't'st'ttl

lrclirrc tts, ltr«l Ito ('xt,t't'tr:rl Olrst,aclc ittt,r't'Jlositlg-

15

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,t;)

Sensation the next; 5. After tho.t, Imagination, and then Reason.6. The second Argument from Passions ond Sympathies inAnimals. 7. An illustrotion of the manner of Notural Magich. 8.The third Argument from the Perception of Pain in the exteriourparts of the Body. 9. The fourth and last from the nature ofSight.

I. We are now at leisure to resume the two remainingEnquiries the forme whereof is, whether the Soul be so in thisfourth Ventricle, that it is essentially no where else in the Body,or whether it be spread out into all the Members. Regius wouldcoup it up in the Conarion, which he believes to be the CommonSensorium, and so by consequence it should be confined to thefourth Ventricle, and not expatiate at all thence, supposing thatthe Seat of Common Sense. The reason of this conceit of his isthis, That whatever is in the rest of the Body, may come topass by powers merely Mechonicol; wherein he does verysuperstitiously tread in the footsteps of his Master Des-Cartes.But for my own part, I cannot but dissent, I f-rnding in neitherany sufficient grounds of so novel an opinion, but ratherapparent reasons to the contrary.

2. As first, the Frome of the Body, of which I think mostreasonable to conclude the Soul her self to be the moreparticular Architect (for I will not wholly reject Plotinus hisopinion;) and that Lhe Plastick pouter resides in her, as also inthe Souls of Brute animals, as very learned and worthywriters have determined. That Lhe Fabrick of the Body is outof the concurse of Atomes, is a mere precarious Opinion,without any ground or reason. For Sense does not discover anysuch thing, the first rudiments of life being out of some liquidhomogeneal Matter; and it is against Beoson, that the tumblingof Atomes or corporeal particles should produce such exquisiteframes of creatures, wherein the acutest wit is not able to findany thing inept, but all done exquisitely well every where,where the foulness and coursness of Motter has not been infault.

That God is not the immediate Moker of these Bodies, theparticular miscarriages demonstrate. For there is no Matter soperverse and stubborn but his Omnipotency could tame; whencethere would be no Defects nor Monstrosities in the generationof Animals.

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()lrrr1,. X

continuify o['spirits in t,[rc I]«rrl.v, t,hc ne('('ssltI'.y itrstt'tttrlctll, ol'

all her [.'unctions. And t,[rerc is goorl r'(!iisott t,ltt' ll«rrt ;tttrl

St<tmoch should be so much afT'ccted, Lher.1' lreing t'ltt' chicf' Scltl's

of'th6stt Faculties that maintairr fht' l,i/i'of'ttrc []otlv; t']rc

dangep whereof is the m«lst eminent Oblect «tf' I"((Lr lrr itrl.y 5

Animal.7. F'rom this Principle, t conceive that t'tgt, t;n«rl.y l,[tt'

Sympathy of'parts in one particular Subjecl, but, rtf' <liflert'nt ttrttl i

distant Subjects, may be understorld: such as is llefwixt, l'ttt'

party wounded, and fhe Knif'e or Sw<lrd t,hat, rnrourrderl hirn, l0besmeared with the Weapon-salve, and kept in a tlue t'etnpct':

Which certainly is not pureLy Mechonit'ol, but Mogi<ril, t,h«rugh

not in an unlawful sense; that is Lo say, it is not t«l be t'cs<tlve«l

tnto mere Matter, of'what thinness or subtilty soevel' you plt-'rtst',

but into Lhe Unity of the Sou/ of the IJniuerse which is int,et'esst'rl I 5

in all Plastick powers, and into the Continuitv ctf' tlrc sttbtiltMutter, which answers to our Animol Spirifs. And in this sernsc

it is that Plotinus sayes,that the World is Ö pf:7«rg YorH. thrgranrl Magus or Enchanter"And I do not question, bub that up«rrr

this score merely, without the association of any F'amilitr' 'J0

Spirit, several odde things may be done, for evil i-ls well rsgood. For this Spirit ot'' the World has F-aculties that work trot

by Election, but fatally or natut'ally, as sevel',i Oomoietz'.s w('

meet withall in Nature seern somewhat obscurerly L<r

subindicate. Of this Principle we shall speak mol'e f'utlv in it,s '21»

due place.8. But we have yet a more clear discovery, tha.L our sortl

ts not confined to any one port of the Head, but possess€'s Lht'

whole Body, from Lhe Perception of' Pctin in the parts the't'e«rl':

For it is plainly impossible that so high a torture as is f'elt, but, liO

in the pricking of a Pin, can be comrrrunicated to the Oentre ol'

Perception upon a mel'e Mechanical account. For whtrt,her Lho

immediate Instrument rtf Sense be the Pith ttf- the I'lerues, as

Des-Cartes would have it, or whether it be the Spirr./.s, as is

mosi irue; it is ridiculous to think, that by the f<rrcible p:-rrting :t5of' wha.t was joyned together at ease (when this case is tr«rt'

communiclte«J Ltt either the Spirif.s, «lt' Pith ol'the Nen'es, fi'otn

Lhe placc'9f'tht, [)unctut'e, t,<l thtl vOI'y scat of'(]<lmtn«lrl St-'tlst')

t,he Soul t,hcrt'st'lrt,t'rl shotrkl fettl s«t stnat't, lI t,«lt'rnt'rtL, tttllt'ss

t,lrat, hcp V(,t'.y l,lSSt'IlC('tlitl t't'lrt:h t.rl t,[rC trlltrt. wht'1'1' l,[11' Txtin is loIt.lt, t6 lrr'. l,'or t,ht'n t,Jrr: r'(.,iIsoI) o['t,[ris is lrlrtin, t,[rlrt, it, is Ihr'

lltritl, ol'!:ottl llosscssirrll lhr. wItok' lIrrl.y, ,ltIl(l t,Itr' ('ttrtlittttil.y rtf'

'l'lrc Iurlrtttt'l:rlil,y ol' l.lrc Sorrl. I :t'l

10

l:t(i 'l'he lmrnortality of the Soul. Book ll

5. Imagination is more free, we being able to avoid itsrepresentations for the most part, without any external help;but it is a degree on this side Will and Reason, by which wecorrect and silence unallowable fancies. Thus we see how theFctcultie.s of the Soul rise by Degrees which makes it still themore easy and credible, that the lowest of all is competible toher as well as Lhe highest.

6. Moreover, Po.ssions and Sympathies, in my judgment,are more easily to be resolved into this Hypothesis of the Soul'spervading the ushole Body, then in restraining its essentialpresence to one port thereof. For to believe that such anhorrible Object as, suppose, a Bear or Tiger, by transmission ofMotion from it through the Eyes of an Animal to the Conorion,shall so reflect thence, as to determine the Spirits into suchNerves as will streighten the orifice of the Heart, and lessenthe Pulse, and cause all other symptomes of Fear; seems to melittle better then a mere piece of Mechanical Credulity. ThoseMotions that represent the Species of things, being turned thisway or the other way, without any such impetus of Matter asshould doe such feats as Des-Cortes speaks of in his Book ofPassions. And that which he would give us as a pledge of thisTruth is so false, that it does the more animate me to dis-believe the Theorem. For the wafting of one's hand near theEye of a mans friend, is no sufficient proof That externalObjects will necessarily and Mechanically determine the Spiritsinto the Muscles, no Faculty of the Soul intermedling. For ifone be fully assured, or rather can keep himself from the fearof any hurt, by the wafting of his friend's Hand before his Eye,he may easily abstain from winking: But if fear surprise him,the Soul is to be entitled to the action, and not the mereMechanism of the Body. Wherefore this is no proof that thePhoenomeno of Passions, with their consequences, may besalved in brute Beasts by pure Mechanicks; and thereforeneither in Men.

But it is evident that they arise in us ogoinst both our Willand Appetite. For who would bear the tortures of Fears andJealousies, if he could avoid it? And therefore the Soul sendsnot nor determines the Spirits thus to her own Torture, as sheresides in the Head. Whence it is ptain that it is the Effect oflher as she resides in the Heart and Stomo.ck, which sympathizewit,h Lhtr lr«rrrirl representation in the Common Sens<trium; byf'('itsoll o['t,tre cxtlrtisit,c unit,y «lf't,hc Soul wit,h hersclf', rrrrrl of' t,lrc

l5

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Spirits that is the cause thereof.And it is no wonder, if the continuation and natural

composure of the spirits be Rest and Ease to the soul, that aviolent disjoyning and bruising of them, and baring the Soul ofthem, as I may so speak, should cause a very harsh andtorturous sense in the Centre of perception. This Argumentbears undeniable Evidence with it, if we do but consiäer thefuzziness of the Pith of the Nerues, and the fluidity of thespirits, and what little stress or crowding so small a tüing as aPin or Needle can make in such soft and liquid Matter. Theconsideration whereof ought eternaily to silence theirscrupulosity who are so amused that the harms of the Bodyshould be the pains of the Soul, the Body in the mean timebeing not pained. For this is inflrnitely more conceivable, thenthat some par of Motter in my Head should feel pain by a prickin my finger, that Matter in my Head being noi

"i allincommodated, if so much as in the least measure movedthereby; and yet Lhat Perception is within the Head alone, hasbeen abundantly demonstrated.

9. Lastly, unless the very Essence of the Soul reach fromthe common sensorium to tie Eye, there will be very greatdifficulties how there should be so distinct a representation ofany visible object. For it is very hard to conceive that theColours will not be confounded, and the bigness of the ob.fectdiminished, and indeed that the image will not be quite iostbefore it can come to the soul, if it be onely in the CommonSensorium. For it is plain, and Experience will demonstrate,that there is a very perfect Image of the object in the bottomeof the Eye, which is made by the decussation of the lines ofMotion from it, thus: The Line A B from the object A c bearsagainst Lhat, point in the bottome of the Eye in B, and the lineo [) .gai^st the point I); whereLry o and A a.re felt in thei.

( )lr:r1r. X. 'l'lrc lrnrnort,:rlit,.y ol' t,Jrt: Sotrl. l:11)

placo, :.rnd in such a distance as they are in the Obfcct O A: anrl

so of all the lines which come fi'om the Object (l A into t,ht'

bottome of the Eye B D. From whence the Object is f'elt, irr

such a length and breadth as it is capable of being perccivctl irr

at such a distance from the Eye. And as the Motion that. isconveyed from A to B and from C to D is f'elt there; so t,hc

modification of it, whereby the Object in those parts may seclnred, yellow, green, or any other colour, is fett there also.Whence it is plain that there will be an exquisite impt'essi«rtr,according to all circumstances of the Object, in bhe bottome o['

the Eye: so that if the Soul receive it there, and convey itthence to her Centre of Perception intirely in the samecircumstances, the representation will be compleat.

But if the Soul be not there, but the conveyance thereofimust be left to the bare laws of Matter, the Image will be muchdepraved, or lost, before it can come to the Common Sensorium.For this Motion must be propagated from B and D till it come

to the hole E, and so pass into the Optick Nerve, to be carriedinto the Brain, and so to the Seat of Common Sense: butbetwixt B and E, or D and E, there may be the depainture of

sundry colours, whence it will be necessary that F be tincturedwith the colour D, and G with the colour of both D and F; & so

of the rest of the Lines drawn from the Object to the Eye: so

that all their Colours would be blended before they came to [I.Now at that harsh flexure at E, where the visual Line is as

crooked as B E R, according to the experiments of Reflexion andRefraction, the breadth or length of the Object C A would be

lost. For we must needs expect, that as it is in Reflexions andRefractions, where the Object will appear in that Line thatimmediately conveys the sense of it; so here it must be also,and therefore the point C and A must appear about Q, whenccr

the Object will shrivel up in a manner into nothing.And suppose it might appear in some tolerable latitude, flor

all this, the Broin being an opahe substance, so soon as theMotion comes thither, it would be so either changed or lost, thatthe Image could not pass the opacity of it in any splendour' «rr'

entireness. Wherefore I do not doubt but that the lmage whichthe Soul perceives is that in the Ey", and not any «lthercorporeally producted to the inside of the Brain (where Ool<>rtr

and Figure would be so strangely depraved, if' not quittrobliterri.r.ted) I mean it is the concurse of the lut:ül Spirits in [hebottome of'fhe F)ye, wit,h the outward Light c«rnvt'yt'd throtrglt

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faithfullv transmitted thither.:i. As for Imagination, there is no question but that

Function is mainly exercised in the chief seat of [he Soul, thosepurer Animal Spirits in the fourth Ventricle of the Brain. I

speak especially of that Imagination u;hich is most free, such :rs l>

we use in Romantick Inuentions, or such aS accompany Lhe more

seuere Meditations and Disquisitlons in Philosophy, <tr any otherIntellectual entertainments. For Fosting, fresh Aire, moderote

Wine, and all things that tend to an handsome supply and

depuration of the Spirlts, make our thoughts more free, subtile, I0and clear.

I

4. Reason is so involved together with Imagination, that 1

we need say nothing of it apart by it self . Memory is a Facultyof a more peculiar consideration; and if the Pith of the Braincontribute to the Functions of any power of the Mind, (more ll-t

then by conserving the Animal Spirits) it is to this. But that theBrain should be stored with distinct images (whether theyconsist of the Flexures of the supposed Fibrillae or the orderlypuncture of Pores, or in a continued modified Motion of theparts thereof, some in this manner, and others in that) is a 20

t

thing, as I have already proved, utterly impossible. I

ff there be any Marhs in it, it must be a kind of I

Brachygrapäie some small dots here and there standing for therecovering to Memory a series of things that would fill, it maybe, many sheets of paper to write them at large. As if a man '2f,

should tie a string about a friends finger to remember a

business, that a whole daies discourse, it may be, was but littleenough to give him full instructions in. From whence it is plainthat the Memory is in the soul, and not in the Brain. And ifshe do make any such Marks as we speak of, she having no liQ

perception of them distinct from the representation of those

things which they are to re-mind her of, she must not makethem by any Cognitiue power but by some such as is Analogousto her Plastick Faculty of organizing the Body, where she acts

and perceives it not. lll-r

5. But whether the soul act thus or no upon the Brain is a '

matter of uncertain determination; nor can it be demonstrafedby any experiment that I know. And therefore if we willcontain our selves within the capacities ofl the Spirits, which I

have so oflten affrrmed to be the immediafe lnstrument of' the 40

soul in all her operations, that P«lsition will be mol'e

unexcttpti«rnable. And truly I do n«rt. undcrstand but that t,hey

t4 r

10

the Humours thereof (which is the best sense of the Platonickouvuü7eta thaL Plutarch speaks o0 wherein the great Mystery ofSight consists.

Chap. XI.

I. That neither the Soul utithout the Spirits, nor the Spiritsutithout presence of the Soul in the Organ, are sufficient Causes ofsensation. 2. A brief decloration how Sensation is made. 3.How Imagination. 4. Of Reason and Memory, and whetherthere be ony Marks in the Brain. 5. That the Spirits ore theimmediate Instrument of the Soul in Memory also; and howMemory orises; 6. As olso Forgetfulness. 7. HowSpontaneous Motion is performed. 8. How we wolk, sing, andplay, though thinleing of something else. g. That though theSpirits be not alike fine euery where, yet the SensiferousImpression will pass to the Common Sensorium. 10. That thereis an Heterogeneity in the uery soul her self; ond what it is inher we coll the Root, the Centre, o.nd the Eye; o.nd who.t theRayes and Branches. ll. That the sober and allowable Distribu-tion of her into Parts, is into Perceptive ond Plastick.

I. After ou.r euincing thot the Soul is not confined to theCommon Sensorium, but does essentially reach all the organsof the Body; it will be more easy to determine the Natu.re ofSenso.tion & other Operations we mentioned, which is the thirdthing we proposed. For we have already demonstrated thesetwo things of main consequence; That the Spirits cLre notsufficient of themselues for these Functions; nor the Soul of herself, without the assistonce of the Spirits: as is plain in theinterception or disjunction of the Spirits by Ligoture orObstruction; whence it is, Lhat Blindness sometimes happensmerely for that the Optick Nerve is obstructed.

2. Wherefore briefly to dispatch our third Querie; I say ingeneral, That Sensation is made by the arrival of motion fromthe Object to the Organ; Where it is received in all thecircumstances we perceive it in, and conveyed by virtue of theSoul's presence there, assisted by her immediate Instrumentthe Spirits, by virtue of whose continuity to those in theCommon Sensorium, the Image or Impress of every Object is

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t42 '['he lmmortality o['the Sorrl. Ilook I I

and the Soul together will perform all the Functions of Memorythat we are conscious to our selves of.

Wherefore I shall conclude that Memory consists in this,That the Soul has acquired a greater Promptitude to think ofthis or that Phantasm, with the circumstances thereof, whichwere raised in her upon some occasion. Which Promptitude isacquired by either the often representation of the samePhantasme to her; or else by a more uiuid impress of it from itsnouelty, excellency, mischieuousness, or some such like conditionthat at once will pierce the Soul with an extraordinaryresentment; or finally by uoluntary attention, when she verycarefully and on set purpose imprints the ldea as deeply as shecan into her inward Sense. This Promptitude tn think on suchan ldea will lessen in time, and be so quite spent, that whenthe same ldea is represented again to the Soul, she cannot tellthat ever she saw it before.

But before this inclination thereto be quite gone, uponthis proneness to return into the same conception, with thecircumstances, the Relatiue Sense of having seen it before (

which we call Memory) does necessarily emerge upon a freshrepresentation of the Object.

6. But Forgetfulness arises either out of mere Desuetudeof thinking on such an Object, or on others that are linked inwith it, in such a Series as would represent it as past, and somake it a proper Object of Memory. Or else for that the Spirits,which the Soul uses in all her Functions, be not in a duetemper; which may arise from overmuch Coolness, orWaterishness in the Head, to which alone Sennertus ascribesobliuiousness.

7. The last thing we are to consider is SpontaneousMotion. Which that it is performed by the continuation of theSpirits from the Seat of Common Sense to the Muscles, which isthe gross Engine of Motion is out of doubt. The manner how itis, we partly feel and see; that is to say, we find in our selvesa power, at our own pleasure to moue this or the other memberwith very great force, and that the Muscle sutels that moues thepart; which is a plain indication of influx of Spirits, thitherdirected or there guided by our mere Will: a thing admirable toconsider, and worth our most serious meditation.

That this direction of the impresse of Motion is made byour mere Will, and Imagination of doing so we know and feel itso intimately, that we can be of nothing more sure. That there

Olrup. X l. 'l'hc lrnrn«r't,rtlit,y ol' t,he Srltrl. I ,1:r

is somr| fluid and subtile Matter, which wo ordinarily callSpirits, directed into the Muscle that moues ihe Member, ilssutelling does evidence fo our sight; as also the experience, thatmoderate use of Wine which supplies Spirits apace will m"rke

this motion the more strong. lt

As for the manner, whether there be any such Valuukrc <»r'

no in Lhe Nerue, Common to the opposite Muscles, as alstl inthose that are proper to each, it is not material. This greatpriuiledge of our Soul's directing the motion of Matter thus, is

wonderfull enough in either Hypothesis. But I look upon the I0Fibrous parts of the Muscle as the main Engine of motion;which the Soul moistning with that subtile liquor of the AnimolSpirits, makes them swell and shrink, like Lute-strings in rainyweather: And in this chiefly consists that notable strength «rf'

our Limbs in Spontoneous motion. But for fhose conceived ll-r

Valuulae that Experience has not found out yet, nor sufficientReason, they are to wait for admission till they bring betterevidence. For the presence of the Animal Spirits in this Fibrous

flesh, and the command of the Soul to move, is sufflrcient L«l

salve all Phaenomena of this kind. For upon the Will '2ll

conceived in the Common Sensorium, that part of the Soul thatresides in the Muscles, by a power near akin to that by whichshe made the Body and the Organs bhereof, guides the Spiritsinto such Pores and parts as is most requisite for the shewingthe use of this excellent Fabrick. 'Zlt

8. And in virtue of some such power as this do we so easilywolk, though we think not of it, as also breath, and sing, andplay on the Lute, though our Mindes be taken up withsomething else. For Custome is another Nature: and thoughthe Animal Spirits, as being merely corporeal, cannot be :t0capable of' any habits; yet the Soul, even in that part thereofthat is not Cognitiue, ffi&y, and therefore may move the Body,

though Cogitation cease; provided the members be wellreplenished with Spirits, whose assistance in naturall motionsof Animals is so great, that their Heads being taken off, their lll-r

Body for a long time v,rill move as before: as Chalcidius relatesof Wosps and Hornets, who will fly about, and use iheir wings,a good part of an houre after they have lost their Heads: whichis to be imputed to the residence of their Soul in them still, andthe intireness of fhe Animal Spirits, not easily evaporating 40

through their ct'ustaceous Bodies.

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144 The Immortality of the Soul. Ilook ll

For it is but a vulgar conceit to think, that the Head beingtaken off, the Soul must presently fly out, like a Bird out of aBasket, when the Lid is lifted up. For the whole World is asmuch throng'd with Body, as where she is; and that Tye of theSpirits as yet not being lost, it is a greater engagement to herto be there then any where else. This motion therefore in theWasp, that is so perfect and durable, I hold to be Vital; but thatin the parts of dismembred creatures, that are less perfect,may be usualLy Mechanical.

9. We have now, so far forth as it is requisite for ourdesign, considered the Notrre and Functions of the Soul; andhave plainly demonstrated, That she is a Substance distinctfrom the Body, and that her very Essence is spreadthroughout all the Organs thereof: as also that the generallInstrument of all her Operations is the subtile Spirirs; whichthough they be not in like quantity and sincerity every where,yet they make all the Body so pervious to the impresses ofObjects upon the external Organs, that tike Lightning they passto the Common Sensorium. For it is not necessary that theMedium be so fire and tenuious as the Matter where the mostsubtile motion begins. Whence Light passes both Aire andWater, though Aire alone is not sufficient for such a motion asLight, and Water almost uncapable of being the Seat of theFountain thereof. This may serve to illustrate the passage ofSense from the Membranes (or in what other seat soever theSpirits are most subtile and lucid) through thicker places of theBody to the very Centre of Perception.

10. Lastly, we have discovered as kind of Heterogeneity inthe Soul; and that she is not of the same power every where.For her Centre of Perception is confined to the Fourth Ventricleof the Brain; and if the Sens iferous Motions we speak of be notfaithfully conducted thither, we have no knowledge of theObject. That part therefore of the Soul is to be looked upon asmost precious; and she not being an independent Mass, asMotter is, but one part resulting from another, that which is thenoblest is in all reason to ba deemed the cause of the rest. Forwhich reason (as Synesius calls God, on whom all thingsdepend, pt(öv pi(av. so) I think this Part may be called the Rootof the Soul.

Which apprehension of ours will seem the less strange, ifwe c<rnsider that flrom the highesL Lilb, viz. the Deity,Lhere doesresult thirf which has n<» l,ife nor Sense ab all, to wit, l,ht stttpill

Chap. Xl. The lmmortality o['the Soul. | 4l»

Matter. Wherefore in very good Analogie we may admit, thatthat precious part of the Soul in which resides Perception, Sense

and Understonding may send forth such an EssentialEmanotion from it self as is utterly devoid of all Sense andPerception; which you may call, if you will, the Exteriourbronches of the Soul, or the Rayes of the Soul, if you call thatnobler and diviner part the Centre; which may very well meritalso the appellation of the Eye of the Soul, all the rest of itsparts being but mere darkness without it. In which, likeanother Cyclops, it will resemble the World we live in, whoseone Eye is conspicuous to all that behold the light.

11. But to leave such lusorious Considerations, that rathergratifie our Fancy then satisfy our severer Faculties; we shallcontent our selves hereafter, from those two notorious Powers,and so perfectly different, which Philosophers acknowledge inthe Soul, (to wit, Perception and Organizotion,) onely to termthat more noble part of her in the Common Sensorium, thePerceptiue, and all the rest the Plastick part of the Soul

Chap. XII.

I. An Answer to an Objection, That our Arguments u;ill as utellproue the Immortality of the Sou/s of Brutes @s of Men. 2.

Another objection inferring the Proeexistence of Brutes Souls, ondconsequently of ours. 3. The first Answer to the Obiection. 4.

The second Answer consisting of four ports. 5. First, That the.

Hypothesis of Praeexistence is more agreeo.ble to Reason then

any other Hypothesis. 6. And not onely so, but thot it is Dery

solid in it self. 7. That the Wisdome and Goodness of God arguethe truth thereof. 8. As also the face of Prouidence in theWorld. 9. The second port of the second Answer, Thot thePraeexistence of the Soul hos the suffroge of all Philosophers inoll Ages, thot held it Incorporeal. 10. Thot the

Gymnosophists of Aegpt, the Indian Brachmans, the PersianMagi, ancl all the learned of fÄe Jews were of this Opinion. tt.A Catal<tgtte of' porticular fomous persons that held the some.12. 'I'hat ArisLotle uas also of the some mind. 13. Anothcrrnorc clcar' placc tn Aristotle Lo this purpost', with Sennct'ttrs /ris

lnlerpn:luliort- 14. An Ansute r l<t on I')uusion ol' lhotInk'rprrltrliort. 15. 'l'hr kwt u.ntl cl«rrt'sl ltlo«t ol' ull ortl ol'

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l4b 'l'tre lmm«lrtality of'the Sorrl. []«xtk I I

Aristotle's Writings.

1. Having thus discovered the Nature of the soul, andthat she is a Sub stance distinct from the Body; I should be inreadiness to treat of her Separation from ir, did I not think myself obliged first, to answer an envious Objection cast in ourwäy, whereby they would make us believe, That theArguments which we have used, though they be no less thenDemonstration, are mere sophisms, because some of them, andthose of not the least validity, prove what is very absurd andfalse, uiz, That the souls of Brutes also are substancesIncorporeol, distinct from the Body: from whence it will follow,that they are Immortal. But to this I have answered already inthe Appendix to my Antidote, and in brief concluded, That theyare properly no more Immortal then the stupid Matter, whichneuer perishes, and that out of a terrestrial Body they may haveno more sense then it. For all these things are as it pleases thefirst Creatour of them.

2- To this they perversely reply, That if the souls ofBrutes subsist after death, and are then sensless and unactive,it will necessarily follow that they must come into Bodies again.For it is very ridiculous to think that these souls, having aBeing yet in the world, and wanting nothing but fitly-preparedMatter to put them in a capacity of living again, should bealwaies neglected, and never brought into play, but that newones should be daily created in their stead: for thoseinnumerable Myriads of Souls would lie useless in the Univefsethe number still increasing even to infinity. But if they comeinto Bodies again, it is evident that the y praeeerjsf: and if theSouls of Brute s praeexist, then certainly the Souls of Men doeso too. which is an opinion so wild and extravagant, that awry mouth and a loud laughter (the Argu,ment thot euery Fool isable to use) is sufficient to silence it and dash it out ofcountenance. No utise man can ever harbour such a conceit asthis, which every ldiot is able to confute by consulting but withhis own Memory. For he is sure, if he had been before, he couldremember something of that life past. Besides theunconceivableness of the Approach and Entrance of thesepraeexistent Souls into the Mo.tter that they are to actuate.

3. To this may be answered two things. The first, Thatthough indeed it cannot be well denied, but that the concessionof the Pro.eexistence of the Souls of Brutes is a very fair

Ohup. X I l. 'l'he lmrnortulit,y «rl' t,hc Sotrl. t 4'l

introducti«rn to the belief of the Praeexistence of' t,he S«ruls of'Men also; yet the sequel is not at all necessary, but one may bewithout the other.

4. The second is this, That if the sequel were granted, noAbsurdity can be detected from thence in Reason, if thcprejudices of Education, and the blind suggestion o['unconcerned Faculties, that have no right to vote here be l.ridaside. To speak more explicitely, I say, This consequence o[our Soul's Praeexistence is more agreeable to Reason then anyother Hypothesis whatever; Has been received by the mosflearned Philosophers of all Ages, there being scarce any of,them that held the Soul of man Immortal upon the mere light of'Nature and Reason, but asserted also her Proeexisttence; T'hatMemory is no fit Judge to appeal to in this Controversie; :rndlastly, That Traduction and Creation are as intricate and uncon-ceivable as this opposed Opinion.

5. I shall make all these four parts of my Answer good inorder. The truth of the first we shall understand, if wocompare it with those Opinions that stand in competition wiLhit, which are but two that are considerable. The one is of thosethat say the Soul is er traduce; the other of those that say it iscreated, upon occasion. The first Opinion is a plaincontradiction to the Notion of a Soul which is a Spirit, andtherefore of an Indiuisible, that is, of an Indiscerpible, Essence.The second Opinion implies both an Indignity to the Majesty ofGod, (in making him the chief assistant and actour in thehighest, freest, and most particular way that the Divinity canbe conceived to act, in, those abominable crimes of Whoredome,Adultery, Incest, nay Buggery it self, by supplying those foulcoitions with new created Souls for the purpose:) and also aninjury to the Souls themselves; that they being ever thuscreated by the immediate hand of God, and therefore pure,innocent and immaculate, should be imprisoned in unclean,diseased and disordered Bodies, where very many of themseem to be so fatally overmastered, and in such an utter'incapacity of closing with what is good and vertuous, that theymust needs be adjudged to that extreme calamity which attendsall those that forget God. Wherefore these two Opinions beings«l inc«rngruous, what is there left that can seem probable, bu[Lhe I) nteexistent:.y «rf' the Soul.

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t4fl 'fhe [mmortality of thc Soul. Book II

6. But I shall not press the ßeosonableness of this Opiniononely from comparing it with others, but also from theconcinnity that is to be found in it self. For as it is no greaterwonder that every par'ticular mans Soul that lives now uponEarth should be ri mundo condito, then the particular Matter oftheir Bodies should, (Which has haply undergone many Millionsof Alterations and Modifications, before it lighted into such acontexture as to prove the entire Body of any one person in theworld, has been in places unimaginably distant, is filed, it maybe, through the triangular passages of as many Vortices as wesee Stars in a clear frosty night, and has shone once as brightas the Sun (as the Cartesion Hypothesis would have all theEarth to have done ) insomuch that we eat, and drink, andcloath our selves with that which was once pure Light andFlame:) So, that de facto they do bear the same date with theCreation of the World, that unavoidable certainty of thePraeexistence of the Souls of Brutes does, according to the veryconcession of our Adversaries, fairly insinuate.

7. But this is not all. Both the Attributes of God, and Faceof things in the world, out of which his Prouidence is not to beexcluded, are very strong Demonstrations thereof to Reasonunprejudiced. For first, If it be good for the Souls of men to beat all, the sooner they are, the better. But we are most certainthat lhe Wisdome and Goodness of God will doe that which isthe best; and therefore if they can enjoy themselves before theycome into these Terrestrial Bodies, (it being better for them toenjoy themselves then not,) they must be before they come intothese Bodies; that is, they must be in a capacity of enjoyingthemselves without them for long periods of time, before theyappeared here in this Age of the World. For nothing hindersbut that they may live before they come into the Body, as wellas they may after their going out of it: the latter whereof isacknowledged even by them that deny the Praeexistence.

Wherefore the Praeexistence of Souls is a necessary resultof the Wisdome and Goodness of God, who can no more fail todoe that which is best, then he can to understand it: forotherwise his Wisdome would exceed his Benignity; nay therewould be less hold to be taken of His Goodness, then of theBounty of a very benign and good man, who, we may be wellassured, will stip no opportunity of doing good that lies in hispower, especially if it be neither damage nor trouble tn him;both which hinderances are incompetible to the Deity.

Otrup. X ll. 'l'he Immortaliü.y ol'tlre Soul.

tl. Again, The fiace of Prouiclence in the World seems vcr.ymuch to sult with this Opinion; there being not any s«r natut'aland easie account to be given of those things that seem themost harsh in the affairs of men, as from this Hypothesis, 'l'hot

their Sou/s did once subsist in some other state; where, in seueral

manners and degrees, they they forfeited the lauour of' theirCreatour. And so according to that just Nemesis that He hcts

intenlouen in the constitution of the Uniuerse and of their ownNatures, they undergoe seueral calamities and asperities of'

Fortune, and sad drudgeries of Fate, as a punishment inflicted,or a disease contra.cted from the seueral Obliquities ,f theirApostasie. Which key is not onely able to unlock that reconditemystery of some particular mens almost fatal aversness fromall Religion and Vertue, their stupidity and dumbness and eveninvincible slowness to these things from their very childhood,and their uncorrigible propension to all manner of Vice; but alsoof that squalid forlornness and brutish Barbarity that wholeNations for many Ages have layen under, and many do stil lieunder at this very day. Which sad Scene of things must needs

exceedingly cloud and obscure the waies of Diuine Prouidence,and make them utterly unintelligible; unless some light be let infrom the present Hypothesis we speak of.

It is plain therefore that there are very weighty Reasonsmay be found out to conclude the Praeexistence of Souls. Andtherefore this Opinion being so demonstrable from this Faculty,and there being no other that can contradict it, (for that theverdict of Memory in this case is invalid I shall prove anon) weare according to the Light of Nature undoubtedly to conclude,That the Souls of Men do praeexist, by Axiome 5.

9. And as this Hypothesis is Rational in it self, so has italso gained the suffrage of all Philosophers of all Ages, of anynote, that have held the Soul of Man Incorporeal and Immortol.And therefore I am not at all sollicitous what either theEpicureans or Stoicks held concerning this matter; this contestbeing betwixt those onely that agree on this Truth, That the

Soul is a Substance Immaterial. And such amongst thePhilosophers as held it so, did unanimously agree That it does

praeexist This is so plain, that it is enough onely to make thischallenge; every one in the search will satisfie himself of theTruth thereofl. I shall onely adde, f,or the befter counteni.rnce o['

the business, some few [nstances herein, as a pledge «rl' theTruth «rf my general Conclusion. Lct us cast our F)ye therelirre

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150 The Immortality of the Soul. Book II

into what corner of the World we will, that has been famous forWisdome and Literature, and the wisest of those Nations youshall flrnd the Assertours of this Opinion.

10. In Egypt, that ancient Nurse of all hidden Sciences,that this Opinion was in vogue amongst the wise men there,those fragments of Trismegist do sufficiently witness. Forthough there may be suspected some fraud and corruption inseveral passages in that Book, in reference to the interest ofChristianity; yet this Opinion of the Praeexistency of the Sou/, inwhich Christianity did not interest it self, cannot but be judged,from the Testimony of those Writings, to have been a Branchof the Wisdome of that Nation: of which Opinion not onely theGymnosophists and other wise men of Egypt were, but also theBrachmans of India, and the Magi of Babylon and Persias; asyou may plainly see by those Oracles that are called eitherMagical or Chaldaicql, which Pletho and Psellus havecommented upon. To these you may adde the abstrusePhilosophy of the Jews, which they call their Cabbala, of whichthe Soul' s Praeexistence makes a considerable part; as all thelearned of the Jews do confess. And how naturally applicablethis Theory is to those three first mysterious chapters ofGenesis, I have, I hope, with no contemptible success,endeavoured to shew in my Conjectura Cabbalistica.

11. And if I should particularize in persons of this Opinion,truly they are such, or so great fame for depth ofUnderstanding and abstrusest Science, that their Testimonyalone might seem suffrcient to bear down any ordinary modestman into an assent to their doctrine. And in the flrrst place,If we can believe the Cabbala of the Jews, we must assign it toMoses, the greatest Philosopher certainly that ever was in theworld; to whom you may adde Zoroaster, Pythagoras,Epicharmus, Empedocles, Cebes, Euripides, Plato, Euclide,Philo, Virgil Marcus Cicero, Plotinus, Iamblichus, Proclus,Boethius, Psellus, and severall others which it would be too longto recite. \nd if it were fit to adde Fathers tn Philosophers, wemight entdr into the same list Synesius and Origen:the latter ofwhom was surely the gr"eatest Light and Bulwark that antientChristianity had; who, unless there had been some very greatmatter in it, was far from that leuity and uanity, as to entertainan Opinion so vulgarly slighted and neglected by other men:and the same may be said of others that were Christians, asBoethius, Psellus, and the late learned Marsilius h'icinus- tlut, I

Ohap. X l l. The Immortality of'the Soul.

have not yet ended my Catalogue: that admirable PhysicianJohannes Fernelius is also of this perswasion, and is not contentto be so himself onely, but discovers those two grand Mastersof Medicine, Hippocrates and Galen, b be so too; as you maysee in his De abditis rerum causis. Cardan also, that famousPhilosopher of his Age, expresly concludes, that the RationaL

Soul is both a distinct being from the Sou/ of the World, and

that it does praeexist before it comes into the Body: and lastlyPomponatius, no friend to the Soul's Immortality, yet cannotbut confess, that the safest way to hoid it is also therewith to

aknowledge her Pro.eexistence.L2. And that nothing may be wanting to shew the

frivolousness of this part of the Objection, we shall also evince

that Aristotle, that has the luck to be believed more then mostAuthors, was of the same opinion, in his Treatise De Animo.Where he speaking of the necessity of the qualification of theBody that the Soul is to actuate, and blaming those that omitthat consideration, saies, That they are as careless of thatmatter, as if it were possible that, according to the Pythagorick

fables, any soul might enter into any Body. whenas everyAnimal, as it has its proper species, so it is to have its peculiar

form. But those that define otherwise nnptrn)"r1otov )'ä7ouo"t ,saithhe, [uoruep eirrq gciq qv rertovtrrlv eiq ci.u]"o\ ävöÜeoüut öui fapraxvqv pfroüut roiq op1ävotq. rrlv öä vuxnv tdrt oti4rart. i.e. They

speak as if one should affirm that the skill of a Carpenter clid

enter into a Flute or Pipe; for euery Art must use its properInstruments, and euery Soul its proper Body. Where (as Cardanalso has observed) Aristotle does not find fault with the Opinionof the Soul's going out of one Body into another, (which impliestheir Praeexistence;) but that the Soul of a Beast should goe intothe Body of a Man, and the soul of a Man into a Beast',s Body:

that is the Absurdity that Aristotle justly rejects, the otherOpinion he seems tacitely to allow of.

13. He speaks something more plainly in his De Generot.Animal. There ore generated, saith he, in the Eorth, and in the

moisture thereof, Plants and liuing Creatures; because in the

Earth is the moisture, and in the moisture Spirit, and in the

whole (Jniue.rse an Animol wo.rmth or heat; insomuch thot in a

monner oll ploces are fitll of'Souls, ürore rponov rtvri ruvro ryu1i6

r:ivrrr niflprl ,Adeo ut modo qu»dam <-tmnia sint Animorttm pleno,

as Sen4r:rtus interprets Lhe placc: Aristotle untlot'sLantling lryrgrrr1i1, tlu sum( thut he rkx,s ul'teruunLs 6J ryuXrxil rip1i1. t,h:rt,

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I l»2 The Immortality of the Soul. Book tI

Principle we call Soul, according to the nobility whereof heasserts that Animals are more or less noble; which assertiontherefore, reaches Humane Souls as well as these of Beasts.

14. Nor can this Text be eluded by being so injurious toAristotle, as to make him to assert that there is but one Soul inthe world, because he saies VUXfiq, not yu1öv. For the textadmitting of Sennertus his exposition as well as this other,thai which is most reasonable is to be attributed to him. Now ifhis meaning was, that there is but One Soul in the World thatgoes through all things, and makes the Universe one greatAnimal, as the Stoichs would have it; he need not say that allplaces are in a manner full of this Soul, but aäsolutely full of it,as our Body is wholly actuated by the Soul in it. And thereforethe Sense must be, lhat all places indeed are in a manner full ofSouls: not that they have opportunity to actuate the Matter,and shew their presence there by vital operation; but are theredormient as to any visible energie, till prepared Matter engagethem to more sensible actions.

15. We will adde a third place still more clear, out of thesame Treatise, where he starts this very question of thePraeexistency of Sou/s, of the Sensitiue and Rational especially;nepi aiorlqrrrft VUXrlq rai nepi vorlrtrfrq. whether both kinds donpoünäp1ew. that is praeexist, before they come into the Body,or whether the Rational onely: and he concludes thus, Ae,lneratöö röv voüv p6vov rluparlev önatotrvot rui rleiov eivot pr6vov' öuöevydp d,uroü rflt övepTelot rotvurvei our;-rarrrq öväp7era. i.e. It remoinsthat the Rationol or Intellectuol Soul onely enter from without, asbeing onely of a nature purely diuine; with whose actions theactions of this g,ross Body haue no communication Concerningwhich point he concludes like an Orthodox Scholar of hisexcellent Master Plato; to whose footsteps the closer he keeps,the less he ever wanders from the Truth. For in this veryplace he does plainly profess, what many would not have himso apartly guilty of, that the Soul of man is Immortal, and canperform her proper Functions without the help of thisTerrestrial Body.

And thus I think I have made good the two first parts ofmy Answer to the proposed Objection; and have clearly proved,That the Proeexistence of the Soul is an Opinion both in it selfbhe most rational that can be maintained, and has had thesuffrage of the renownedst Philosophers in all Ages of theWrlrld; and that therefore this Sequel from our Argumcrr[s firr

Otrap. X ll. 'l'he lmmort,alit.y of'[he Soul.

the Immortality of the Soul is no discovery of any fallacy inthem.

Chap. XIII.

I. The third part of the second Answer, That the forgetting of' the

former state is no good Argument against the Soule'sPraeexistence. 2. Whot ore the chief causes of Forgetfulness. ll.That they all conspire, ond thot in the highest degree, to destroythe memory of the other state. 4. That mischonces and Diseoseshaue quite taken away the Memory of things here in this life. 5.

That it is impossible fo, the Soul to remember her formercondition utithout o Miracle. 6. The fourth part of the secondAnswer, That the Entrance of a Proeexistent Soul into a Body isas intelligible as either Creotion or Traduction.

I. As for the two last Difficulties, concerning the Soa/'sMemory of her former state, and the monner of her coming intothe Body ; I hope I shalt with as much ease extricate many selfhere also, especially in the former. For if we consider whatthings they are that either quite toke owoy, or exceedinglydiminish our Memory in this life; we shall find the concourse ofthem all, and that in a higher degree, or from stronger causes,contained in our descent into this Earthly Body, then we canmeet with here: they none of them being so violent as to dis-lodge us out of it.

2. Now the things that take owoy our Memory here arechiefly these; either The want of opportunity of being re-mindeclof a thing, as it happens with many, who rise confident theyslept without dreaming such a night, and yet before they goe tobed again, recover a whole Series of representations they hadin their last sleep, by something that fell out in the d.y,without which it had been impossible for them to recall to mindtheir Dream. Or else, in the second place, Desuetude ol-

thinking of o matter; whereby it comes bo pass, that what wehave earnestly meditated, laboured for, and penn'd down withour own hands when we were at School, were it not that wtr

srlw our n:-rmes writfen under the Exet'cise, we coul«l nttt,

ackrrowlcdgc f <lr' ours wht'n wrt llre gr'owtr Inen. Or lastly, St»mr

t'ortsidrrultlr clttttrllt'in thr l-rumr und lrmyx'r ol'ou.r llotl.y,

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whether from some externall mischance, or from some violentDisease, or else from old age, which is disease enough of it selftwhich often do exceedingly impair, if not quite take away theMemory, though the Soul be still in the same Body.

3. Now all these Principles of Forgetfulness, namely, Thewant of something to re-mind us, Desuetude of thinking, and anExtroordinary change in the Body are more eminently to be

found in the Descent of the Soul into these Earthly prisons, thencan happen, to her for any time of her abode therein. For thereis a greater dffirence, in all probability, betwixt that Scene ofthings the Soul sees out of the Body and in it, then betwixtwhat she sees sleeping and wahing and the perpetualloccursions of this present life continue a long Desuetude ofthinking on the former. Besides that their Descent hither in alllikelihood scarce befalls them but in their state of Silence andInactiuity, in which myriads of Souls may haply be for manyAges, as the maintainers of this Opinion may pretend, byreason of the innumerable expirations of the Aöreal periods oflife, and the more narrow Lawes of preparing Terrestrial Matter.And lastly, her coming into this Earthly Body is a greater andmore disadvantageous change, for the utter spoiling of theMemory of things she was acquainted with before, then anyMischance or Disease can be for the bringing upon her a

forgetfulness of what she has known in this life.4. And yet that Disease and Cosualties have even utterly

taken away all memo?, is amply recorded in History. As thatMessala Coruinus forgot his own name; that one, by a blowwith a stone, forgot all his learning; another, by a fall from anHorse, the name of his Mother and kinsfolks. A young Studentof Montpelier, by a wound, lost his Memory so, that he wasfain to be taught the letters of the Alphabet again. The likebefell a Francisca.n afLer a Feaver. And Thucydides writes ofsome, who after their recovery from that great Pestilence atAthens, did not onely forget the names and persons of theirfriends, but themselves too, not knowing who themselves were,nor by what name they were called:

Atque etiam quosdam cepisse obliuiarerumCunctarum, neque se possent cognoscere ut ipsi;

as the Poet Lucretius sadly sets down in his description of thatdevouring Plague, out of the fore-named Historian.

'l'hc Imrnort,lrlit-y of' t,hr. Sorrl. I l-» i-»

5. Wherefore without a miracle it is irnpossiblc [he Soulshould remember any particular circumstance o[' her' flormercondition, though she did really praeexist, and was in a capacityof acting before she came into this Body, (as Aristotle plainlyacknowledges she was) her change being far greater by cominginto the Body then can ever be made while she staies in it.Which we haply shall be yet more assured of, after we haveconsidered the manner of her descent, which is the last Difnicultyobjected.

6. I might easily decline this Controversie, by pleadingonely, That the Entrance of the Soul into the Body, supposingher Praeeexistence, is as intelligible as in those other two wayes,of Creation and Traduction. For how this newly-created Soul isinfused by God, no man Knows; nor how, if it be traducted fromthe Parents, both their Souls contribute to the making up a newone. For if there be decision of part of the Soul of the Male, inthe injection of his seed into the matrix of the Female, and partof the Female Soul to joyn with that of the Male's; besides thatthe decision of these parts of their Souls makes the Soul aDiscerpible essence, it is unconceivable how these two portsshould make up one Soul for the Infant: a thing ridiculous atfirst view. But if there be no decision of any parts of the Soul,and yet the Soul of the Parent be the Cause of the Soul of theChild, it is perfectly an act of Creqtion; a thing that all sobermen conclude incompetible to any particular Creature. It istherefore plainly unintelligible, how any Soul should pass fromthe Parents into the Body of the seed of the Foetus, to actuateand inform it: which might be sufficient to stop the mouth ofthe Opposer, that pretends such great obscurities concerningthe entrance of Praeexistent Sou/s into their Bodies.

Chap. XIV.

1. The Knowledge of the dffirence of Vehicles, and the Soa/'.sUnion with them necessary for the understanding how she entersinto this Earthly Body. 2. That though the Name of Yehicle öe

not in Aristotle, Jet the Thing is there. 3. A clearing of'Aristotle's notion of the Vehicle, out of the Philosopohy ol' Des-Carfes. 4. A fult interpretation of his Text. 5. Thctt Aristoflemahes onely tus<> Vehicles, Terrestrial and Aethereal; uthk:h is

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( )hu1r. X lV. 'l'hc lmln«rt't,alit,.y o[ t,he Soul.

säy, is the very Body of Light, (which is ttl Lre understtl«rtl

chiefly of the Frrst Element) though so mingled with «rther

Matter here below that it does not shine, but is the -Basis of all

that naüural warmth in all generations, and the immedilteInstrument of the soul, when it organizelh any Matter into the l"t

figure or shape of an Animal; as I have also intimated

eile*here, when I proved, That the Spirits Qre the immediate

Instrument of the Soul in all Vitol and Animal functions. [nwhich Spirits of necessity is contained this Celestial Substance,

which keeps them from congealing, as it does also all other l0liquid bodils, and must needs be in the Pores of them; there

being no Vacuum in the whole comprehension of Nature.-4. The full and express meaning therefore of Aristotle's

text must be this, That in the spumeous and watry or terrene

moisture of the seed is contained a Body of a more spirituous or [i-r

aöreal consistency, and in this aöreal or spirituous consistency

is comprehended gÜotq aväl,o7oq öuoa röt töv äotpov orotxeiurt' o

nature that is analogous or like to the Element of the stars,

namely that it of it setf aethereal and lucid'b- And it is this Vehicle that Aristotle seems to assert that 20

the Soul does act in separate from the Body; as if she were

ever either in this Terrestriol Body, or in her Aethereal one1.

which if it were true, so vast a change must needs obliterate all

Memory of her former condition, when she is once plunged into

this earthly prison. But it seems not so probable to me, that Zl-t

Nature admits of so great a Chasme; nor is it necessary to

suppose it for this purpose: the descent of the Soul out of her

Aiiry Vehicle into this terrestrial Body, and besmearing

moiiture of the first rudiments of life, being sufficient to lullher into an eternal oblivion of whatever hapned to her in that :to

other condition; to say nothing of her long state of Silence :lnd

Inactivity before her turn come to revive in an earthly body'

6. Wherefore not letting go that more orderly conceit ofthe Platonists,I shall make bold to assert, That the Soul may

live and act in an Aöreal Vehicle as well as in Lhe Aethereul; 3J-r

ond that there are very few that arrive to that high Happiness,

as to acquire a celestial vehicle immediately upon their quittingthe Terrestlol one: that Heauenly Chariot ndcessarily carryingus in trimph to the greatest Happiness the Soul of man iscapable of: which would arrive to all men indifferently, good 40

irnd bad, if the parting with bhis Earthly Body would suddainly

moun[ us int«r Lhe Heuttenly. Wherefore by a just Nernesi's t'htr

157I l-16 'fhe lmmortality of'thc Soul. llook Il

more then sufficient to proue the Soul's obliuion of her formerstate. 6. That the ordinary Vehicle of the Soul after death is Aire.7. The durotion of the Soul in her seueral Vehicles. 8. That theUnion of the Soul with her Vehicle does not consist in MechanicalCongruity, but Vitat. 9. In what Vital congruity of the Matterconsists. lO. In what Vital congruity of the Soul consists, andhow it changing,the Soul may be free from her Aiery Vehicle,without uiolent precipitation out of it. Ll. Of the manner of theDescent of Souls into Earthly Bodies. 12. That there is so tittleabsurdity in the Praeexistence of Souls, that the concessionthereof can be but a uery small prejudice to our Demonstrations ofher Immortality.

I. But I shall spend my time better in clearing the OpinionI here defend, then in perplexing at other that is so gross of itself, that none that throughly understand the nature of theSoul can so much as allow the possibility thereof: wherefore forthe better conceiving how a Praeexistent Soul may enter thisTerrestrial Body, there are two things to be enquired intn; thedffirence of the Vehicles of Soul, and the cause of their unionwith them. The Platonists do chiefly take notice of Three kindsof Yehicles, Aethereal, Aereal, and Terrestrial, in every onewhereof there may be several degrees of purity and impurity,which yet need not amount to a new Species.

2. This Notion of Vehicles, though it be discoursed of mostin the School of Plato, yet is not altogether neglected byAristotle, as appears in his De Generat. Animol. where, thoughhe does not use the Name, yet he does expresly acknowledgethe Thing it selft For he does plainly affirm, That every Soulpartakes of a Body distinct from this organized terrestrialBody, and of a more divine nature then the Elements so called;and that as one Soul is more noble then another, so is thedifference of this diviner Body; which yet is nothing else withhim then that warmth or heat in the seed, rö äv rri;t onäpprcrrt

ävunäp1ov rö roioüpevov rleppröv, which is not Fire, but a Spiritcontained in the spumeous seed, and in this Spirit a natureanalogous to the Element of the Stars.

3. Of which neither Aristotle himself had, nor any one elsecan have, so explicite an apprehension as those thatunderstand the first and second Element of Des-Cortes; which isthe most subtile and active Body that is in the World, and is ofthe very same nature that the Heaven and Stars are, that is to

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l5u '['he lmmortality of'the Soul. Book II

Souls of Men that are not very Heroically vertuous will findthemselves restrained within the compass of this caliginousAire, as both Reason it self will suggest, and the Platonists haveunanimously determined.

7 - we have competently described the difference of thoseThree kinds of vehicles, for their purity and consistency. ThePlatonists adde to this the difference of duration, making someof them of that nature as to entertain the Soul a longer time inthem, others a shorter. The shortest of all is that of theTerrestrial Vehicle. In the Aöreal the Soul may inhabit, as theydefine, many ages, and in the Aethereal for ever.

8. But this makes little to the clearing of the manner oftheir descent ei6 7äveotv ,which cannot be better understoodthen by considering their Union with the Body generated, orindeed with any kind of Body whatever, where the Soul is heldcaptive, and cannot quit her self thereof by the free imperiumof her own Imagination and Will. For what can be the cause ofthis cohaesion, the very Essence of the Soul being so easilypenetrative of Matter, and the dimensions of all Matter beingalike penetrable every where? For there being no more Body orMatter in a Vessel filled with Lead then when it is fult of Water,nor when full with water then when with Aire, or what othersubtiler Body soever that can be imagined in the Universe; it ismanifest that the Crassities of Matter is every where alike, andalike penetrable and passable to the Soul. And therefore it isunconceivable how her Union should be so with any of it, asthat she should not be able at any time to glide freely from onepart thereof to another as she pleases.

It is plain therefore, that this Union of the Soul utith Matterdoes not arise from any such gross Mechanical way, as whentwo Bodies stick one in another by reason of any toughness andviscosity, or streight commissure of parts; but from a congruityof another nature, which I know not better how to term thenvital; which vital congruity is chiefly in the soul it self, it beingthe noblest Principle of Life; but is also in the Motter, and isthere nothing but such modification thereof as fits the plastickpart of the Soul, and tempts out that Faculty into act.

9. Not that there is any Life in the Matter with which thisin the Soul should sympathize and unite; but it is termed Vitalbecause it makes the Matter a congruous Subject for the Soul torcside in, and exercise the functions of life. For that which hasn<» lile it self', may tie to it that which has. As some m(rn arL)

Chap. XlV. The Immortality of'the S«rul.

said to be tied by the teeth, or tied by the ear, when the.y aredetained by the pleasure they are struck with from go«rd

Musick or delicious Viands. But neither is that which they eataliue, nor that which makes the Musick, neither the

Instrument, nor the Air that conveighs the found. For there is 5

nothing in alt this but mere Matter and corporeal motion, andyet our uitol functions are affected thereby. Now as we see thatthe Perceptiue part of the Soul is thus vitally affected with thatwhich has no life in it, so it is reasonable that the Plastick, thatis utterly devoid of all Perception. And in this alone consists 10

that which we call Vital Congruity in the prepared Matter,either to be organized, or already shaped into the perfect formof an Animal.

10. And that Vital Congruity which is in the Soul, I meanin the Plastick part thereof, is analogous to that Pleasure that 15

is perceived by the Sense, or rather to the capacity of receivingit, when the Sense is by agreeable motions from without or inthe Body it setf very much gratified, and that whether theMind will or no. For there are some Touches that will in theirPerception seem pleasant, whether our Judgement would have 20

them so or not. What this is to the Perceptiue part of the Soul,

that other Congruity of Matter is to the Plastick. And thereforethat which ties the Soul and this or that Matter together, is an

unresistible and unperceptible pleasure, if I may so call it,arising from the congru.ity of Matter to the Plastick faculty of Zlt

the Soul: which Congruity in the Matter not failing, nor that inthe Soul, the (Jnion is at least as necessary as the continuationof eating and drinking, so long as Hunger and Thirst continues,and the Meat and Drink proves good. But either satiety in theStomack or some ill tast in the Meat may break the congruity :]0

on either side, and then the action will cease with the pleasurethereof. And upon this very account may a Soul be conceived

to quit her Aiery vehicle within a certain period of Ages, as thePlatonists hold she does, without any violent precipitation of her

self out of it. 35

11. what are the strings or cords that tie the soul to theBody, or to what Vehicle else soever, I have declared as clearlyas I can. From which it will be easy to understand the mannerof her descent. For assuredly, the same cords or strings that tieher there, ma.y draw her thither: Where the carcass is, bhere 40

will the tlagles bc gathered. N9[ th,rt she need use her'

Per«:Jttiue fircult,y in hct' dcst:cut, as Hawks and KiLcs h.y t.ht'ir'

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Chap. XV.

I. What is meont by the Separation of' the Sou/, utith e

confutotion of Regius, who wottld stop her in the d.eod Oorps. '2.

An Answer to those that profess themselues puzlecl hou the Soru/can get out of the Body. 3. Thot there is o threelbld VitalCongruity to be found in three seuero.l Subjects. 4. That thistriple Congruity is also competible to one Subject, viz. the Soul of'Man. 5. That upon this Hypothesis it is uery intelligible hout theSoul moy leaue the Body. 6. Thot her Union utith fäe AerealVehicle may be uery suddain, o.nd as it were in a moment. 7 .

That the Soul is actually separate from the Body, is to be protrcdeither by History or Reason. Examples of the former kinde <tut ol'Pliny, Herodotus, Ficinus. 8. Whether the Ecstasie of Witr:fu:sproue an actual seporotion of the Soul from the Body. 9.'l'hutthis reol separotion of the Soul in Ecstasie is uery possible. t0.How the Soul may be loosned and leaue the Body, and yet returnthither again. 11. That though Reason and Will connot in thislife release the Soul from the Body, yet Passion moy; ond yet sothat she moy return agoin. 12. The peculior power of Desire lbrthis purpose. 13. Of Cardan's Ecstasies, and the ointment ol'Witches, and what truth there may be in their confessions.

I. Concerning the actual and local Separation of the Soulfrom the Body, it is manifest that it is to be understood of thisTerrestrial Body. For to be in such a separate state, as to bewhere no Body or Matter is, is to be out of the World: the wholt-'Universe being so thick set with Matter or Body, that there isnot to be found the least vacuity therein. The questi«rntherefore is only, whether upon death the Soul can pass fromthe Corps info some other place. Henricus Regius seems t«r

arrest her there by Lhat general law of Nature, termed the Lautof Immutobility; whereby every thing is to continue in the samr)condition it once is in, till something else change it. But theapplication of this law is very grosly injust in this case. For', asI have above intimated, the Union of the Soul with the Body isupon certain terms; neither is every piece of Matter fit firr'every Soul to unite with, as Aristof/e of old has very solidl.yconcluded. Wherefore that condition of the Matter being not,kept, the Soul is no longer engaged to the Body. What hc hcrcsays for the justifying «rf hirnself', is so arbitrarious, so chiklishan«l ridiculous, tha[, acc«lrding [«r i,hc rnr:rit t,trr:r't'<ll', lsh:rll

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sight or smelli.g nv directly to the lure or the prey: but shebeing within the Atmosphere (as I may so call it) ;f öeneration,and so her Plostick power being reached and toucht by such aninvisible reek, ( as Birds of prey are, that smell out their foodat a distance;) she may be fatally carried, ail perceptionsceasing in her, to that Matter that is so fit a receptacle fär herto exercise her efformative power upon. For this Magick-sphere, as I may so term it, that has this power of conjuringdown souls into Earthly Bodies, the nearer the centrä, thevirtue is the stronger; and therefore the soul will never ceasetill she has slided into the very Matter that sent out those raysor subtile reek to allure her.

From whence it is easy to conceive that the souls of Brutesalso, though they be not abre to exercise their perceptiue facultyout of a Terrestrial body, y€t they may infallibly finde the wayagain into the world, as often as Matter is fitly prepared forgeneration. And this is one Hypothesis, and most intelligible tothose that are pleased so -.r.h with ttre opinion of those largeSphears they conceive of emissary Atomes.

There is also another, which is the power and Activity ofthe spirit of Noture or Inferiour soul of the world,, *ho i. u. ntan Agent to transmit particular souls, as she is to move theparts of Matter. But of this hereafter.

L2- what has been said is enough for the present toillustrate the pretended obscurity and uriconceivableness of thisMystery. so that I have fully made good all the four parts ofmy Answer to that objection that **ta have supplanted theforce of many strongest Arguments for the soul,s iÄ..,o.tality;and have clearly proved, That though this sequer didnecessarily result from them, That the siuls both of irlen andBeasts did Praexist, yet to unprejudiced reason there is noAbsurdity nor Inconvenience at all in the opinion. Andtherefore this obstacle being removed, I shail the morechearfully proceed to the demonstrating of the soul,s actualSeparation from the Body.

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t62 The Immortality of the Soul. Book II

utterly neglect it, and pass it by, not vouchsafing of it anyAnswer.

2. Others are much puzled in their imagination, how theSoul can get out of the Body, being imprisoned and lockt up in

5 so close a Castle. But these seem to forget both the Nature ofthe Soul, with the tenuity of her vehicle, and also the Anatomy ofthe Body. For considering the nature of the Soul her self, and ofMatter which is alike penetrable every where, the Soul canpass through solid Iron and Marble as well as through the soft

10 Air and Aether; so that the thickness of the Body is noimpediment tß her. Besides, her Astral vehicle is of thattenuity, that it self can as easily pass the smallest pores of theBody as the Light does Glass, or the Lightning the Scabbard ofa Sword without tearing or scorching of it. And lastly, whether

15 we look upon that principal seat of the Plastick power, of theHeart, or that of Perception, the Brain; when a man dies, theSoul may collect her self, and the small residue of Spirits (thatmay haply serve her in the inchoation of her new vehicle)either into the Heart, whence is an easy passage into the

20 Lungs, and so out at the Mouth; or else into the Head, out ofwhich there are more doors open then I will stand to number.These things are very easily imaginable, though as invisible asthe Air, in whose element they are transacted.

3. But that they may still be more perfectly understood, I25 shall resume again the consideration of that Faculty in the

Plastick part of the Soul, which we call vital congruity. which,according to the number of vehicles, w€ will define to bethreefold, Terrestrial, Aereal, and Aethereal or CelestiaL Thatthese Vital Congruities are found, some in some kinde of Spirits

30 and others in othersome, is very plain. For that the Terrestrialis in the Soul of Brutes and in our own is without controversie;as also that the Aereal in that kinde of Beings which theAncients called aotpove§ and lastly, that the Heauenly andAethereal in those Spirits that Antiquity more properly called

35 @eoi. as being Inhabitants of the Heavens. For that there aresuch Aereal and Aethereal Beings that are analogous toTerrestrial Animals, if we compare the nature of God with thePhaenomena of the world, it cannot prove less then aDemonstration.

40 For this Earth that is replenisht with living creatures, nayput in all the Planets too that are in the world, and fancy theminhabited, they all jo.yned [«rgerher bear not so great a

Chap. XV. The Immortality of the Soul.

proportion to the rest of the liquid Matter of the Universe (thatis in a nearer capacity of being the Vehicle of Life) as a singleCumin-seed to the Globe of the Earth. But how ridiculous ar

bhing would it be, that all the Earth beside being neglected,

onely one piece thereof, no better then the rest, nor bigger thenthe smallest seed, should be inhabited? The same may be

said also of the compass of the Aire; and therefore it is

necessary t0 enlarge their Territories, and confidently ttlpronounce there are Aethereal Anirnals, as well as Terrestrialand Aereal.

4. It is plain therefore that these three Congruities are Lo

be found in several Subjects; but that which makes most to ourpurpose, is to finde them in one, and that in the Soul of Man.And there will be an easy intimation thereof; if we consider thevast difference of those Faculties that we are sure are in herPerceptiue part, and how they occasionaliy emerge, and howupon the laying asleep of one, others will spring up. Neithercan there be any greater difference betwixt the highest and

lowest of these Vital congruities in the Plastich part, then thereis betwixt the highest and lowest of those Faculties that resultfrom the Perceptiue. For some Perceptions are the very samc)

with those of Beasts; others little inferiour to those that belong

tn AngeLs, as we ordinarily call them; some perfectly brutish,others purely divine: why therefore may there not reside str

great a Latitude of capacities in the Plastich part of the Soul,

as that she may have in her all those three Vital Congntities,whereby she may be able livingly to unite as well with theCelestial and Aereal Body as with this Terrestrial one? Na.y, «tur

nature being so free and multifarious as it is, it would seem ilreproach to Providence, to deny this capacity of living in these

several Vehicles; because that Diuine Nemesis which is

supposed to rule in the world would seem defective without thiscontrivance.

But without controversy, Eternal Wisdome and Justice h:rs

forecast that which is the best: and, unless we will say nothingat all, we having nothing to judge by but our own Fuculties, wt)

must say that the Forecast is according to what we, upon oul'

most accurate search, do conceive [o be the best. F'or t,hct'c

being no Envy in the Deity, as Plato s«lmewht:t'tl h:ts ttrlt,ctl, it. rs

not to be thought but Lhat He has fi'amed «rur F at:ultics so, l,haL

whcn we have right,ly prcparcd our selvts firt'tht: tlst'ol'tltctrt,t,hc.y witl havtt ;r t'rglrt. ('ot't'(,spontlttttt:.y wit,lr l,ltoSt' tlrrrtgs t,ltltt.

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are offered to them to contemplate in the world.And truly if we had here time to consider, r do not doubt

but it might be made to appear a very rational thing, that thereshould be. such an Amphibion as the soul of -arr,"'that had a5 capacity (as some Creatures have to live either in the Water oron the Earth) to change her Element, and after her abode herein this Tercestrial vehicre amongst Men and Beasts, to ascendinto the company of the Aereal Genii, in a Vehicle answerableto their nature.

10 5. supposing then this triple capacity of vital congruityin the soul of Man, the manner how she may leave this B;dy isvery intelligible. For the Bodies fitness of temper to retain thesoul being lost in Death, the lower vital cong)uity in the soullooseth its object, and consequenrly its bperation. And15 therefore.as the letting goe one thoughi in the Perceptiue part ofthe soul is the bringing up anoth"r; .o the ceasing är one vitalcongruity is the wakening of another, if there be än object, orsubject, ready to entertain it; as certainly there is, partly inthe Body, but mainly without it. For there is a uital'Aire that20 pervades all this lower world, which is continued with the life ofall things, and is the chiefest Principle thereof. Whence Theonin his scholia upon Aratus interprets that Hemistich,

..roü yd,p roi Tävoq dopdv.in a secondary meaning as spoken of the Aire, which he cails25 röv alo or röv z\vu röv guorröv. the natural Jupiter, in whom,in an inferiour sense, we may be said to liue, and, moue, and,haue our Being: for without Aire, neither Fishes, Fowls, norBeasts can subsist, it administring the most immediate matterof life unto them, by seeding and refreshing their Animal30 Spirits.

wherefore upon the cessation of the lowest vitatcongruity, that Aereal capacity awakening into Act, and findingso fit Matter everywhere to imploy her sälf upon, the soul willnot fail to leave the Body; either upon choice, by the power of35 her own Imaginarion and Will; or else ( srppäsing it e veryworst that can happen) by a natural kinde of Attraction. orTransvection, she being her self, in that stound and confusionthat accompanies Death, utterly unsensible of all things.

For the Aire without being more wholesome and-uital then40 in the corrupt caverns of the dead Body, and yet there being acontinuation thereof with that without; it is as easy [ounderstand how (that principle of joyning therewirh in the

Chap. X V. 'l'he Immrlrt,ality of Lhe Soul.

Plastick part of the Soul being once excited) she will naturallyglide out of the Body into the free Aire, as how the Fire willascend upwards, or a Stone fall downwards: for neither arethe motions of these merely Mechanical, but vital or Magical,that cannot be resolved into mere Matter, as I shall demonstratein my Third Book.

6. And being once recovered into this vast ooean of Life,and sens ible Spirit of the world, so full of enlivening Balsame; itwill be no wonder if the Soul suddainly regain the use of herPerceptiue faculty, being, as it were in a moment, regenerateinto a natural power of Life and Motion, by so h.ppy a

concurse of rightly-prepared Matter for her Plastich part vitallyto unite withall. For grosser generations are performed inalmost as inconsiderable a space of time; if those Histories be

true, of extemporary Salads, sown and gathered not manyhours before the meal they are eaten at: and of the suddainingendring of Frogs upon the fall of rain, whole swarmswhereof, that had no Being before, have appeared with perfectshape and liveliness in the space of half an houre, after some

more unctuous droppings upon the dry ground; as I find notonely recited out of Fallopius, Scaliger, and others, but havebeen certainly my setf informed of it by them that have been

eye-witnesses thereof; as Vaninus also professes himself' Lo

have been by his friend Johannes Ginochius, who told him for acertain, that in the month of July he saw with his own eyes adrop of rain suddenly turned into a Frog. By such examples as

these it is evident, that the reason why Life is so long a com-pleating in Terrestrial generations, is only the sluggishness of'

the Matter the Plastich power works upon. Wherefore a Soul

once united with Aire, cannot miss of being able, in a mannerin the twinckling of an eye, to exercise all Perceptiue lunctionsagain, if there was ever any intercessation of them in theastonishments of Death.

7. How the Soul may live and act separate from the Bodv,

may be easily understood out of what has been spoken. Butthat she does so de facto, there are but two waies to prove it:the one by the testimony of History the other by Reasrtn. 'l'hat,

of History is either of persons perfectly dead, or of those t,h:rthave been subject tn Ecstasies, or rather to that height there«lf'

which is more properly called ug«rtpeolu. when the Soul tloes

really leave the Body, and yet return ag:rin. Of this latter sorL

is that Example that Pliny recites <tf' Hermttttmus Olozomenius,

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seated in the Unity of the Spirit of the World, and thecontinuity of the subtile Matter dispersed throughout: theUniverse in some sense being, as the Stoicks and Platonistsdefine it, one vast entire Animal.

9. Now that this real Separation of the Soul may happen insome Ecstasies will be easily admitted, if we consider that theSoul in her own Nature is separable from the Body, as being aSubstance really distinct therefrom; and that all Bodies arealike penetrable and passable to her, she being devoid of thatcorporeal property which they ord,inarily call avttruillc. andtherefore can freely slide through any Matter whatsoever,without any hnocking or resistance; and lastly, that she doesnot so properly impart Heat and Motion to the Body, asOrganization: and therefore when the Body is well organized,and there be that due temper of the Blood, the Heart and Pulsewill in some measure beat, and the Brain will be replenish'dwith Spirits, and therewith the whole Body, though the Soulwere out of it. In which case ( saving that the Spirit of Naturecannot be exciuded thence) it would be perfectly Cartesius hisMachina without Sense, though seemingly as much alive asany animate Creature in a deep sleep. Whence it appears, thtrtif the Soul could leave the Body, that she might doe it for :rcertain time without any detriment thereto, that is, so long asit might well live without Repast. Which fully answers theirfears who conceit that if the Soul was but once out of the Body,perfect Death rnust necessarily ensue, and all possible returnthither be precluded.

f0. But all the difficulty is to understand how the Soulmay be loosned from the Body, while the Body is in a litcondition to retain her. That is a very great Difficulty indeed,and in a manner impossible for any power but what is

supernatural. But it is not hard to conceive that this uitollitness in the Body may be changed, either by way of naturalDisease, or by Art. For we may not some certain Fermenta[ionin the Body so alter the Blood and Spirits, that the powers of'the Plastich part of the Soul may cease to operate, as well assometimes the Perceptiue faculties do, Lts in Catolepsies,Apoplexies, and the like? Wherefore this passing of the Soulout of the Body in Sleep, or Ecstasie, may be sometime a cel'[arItDisease, as weil as that of the vurrroftrrat. those chat walk intheir sleep.

I (i'l

whose soul would often quit her Body, and wander up anddown; and after her return tell many true stories of what shehad seen during the time of her disjunction. The same,Maximius Tyrius and Herodotus report of Aristaeus

5 Proconnesius. Marsilius Ficinus adjoyns to this rank thatnarration in Aulus Gellius, concerning one Cornelius, a Priest,who in an Ecstasie saw the Battel fought betwixt Caesar and,Pompey in Thessalie, his Body being then at padua; and yetcould, after his return to himself punctually declare the Time,

10 order and success of the Fight. That in wierus, of the weaselcoming out of the souldiers mouth when he was asleep, is amore plain example: which, if it were true, would makeAristaeus his Pigeon not so much suspected of fabulosity asPliny would have it. Several Relations there are in the world to15 this effect, that cannot but be loudly laughed at by them thatthink the soul inseparable from the Body; and ordinarily theyseem very ridiculous also to those that think it is separable,but as firmly believe that it is never, nor ever can be, separatebut in Death.

20 8. Bodinus has a very great desire, notwithstanding it isso incredible to others, that the thing should be true; it being soevincing an Argument for the soul' s Immortality. And hethinks this Truth is evident from innumerable examples of theEcstasies of witches: which we must confess with irim not to25 be natural; but that they amount to a perfect ago,tpeoia orcarrying away the soul out of the Body, the lively sense oftheir rneeting, and dancing, and adoring the Devii, and themutual remembrance of the persons that meet one anotherrhere at such a time, will be no infallible Demonstration that

30 they were there indeed, while their Bodies lay at home in Bed.conformity of their Confessions concerning the sameConventicle is onely a shrewd, probabilitv, if it once could bemade good that this leaving their Bodies were a thing possible.

For when they are out of them, they are much-what in the35 same condition that other spirits are, and can imitate what

shape chey please; so that many of these Transformations inrowolves and Cats. may be as likely of the Soul having left thusthe Body, as by the Devils possessing the Body andtransfiguring it himself. And what these oiery Cats or wolves

40 suffer, whether cuttings of their limbs, or breaking the Back, orany such like mischief, that the Witch in her Bed suffers theIike, may very well arise from that Magich sympathy that is

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seated in the unity of the spirit of the world, and the

continuity of the subtile Matter dispersed throughout: the

Universe in some sense being, as the Stoicks and Platonists

define it, one vast entire Animal.9. Now that this real Separation of the Soul may happen in

some Ecstasies will be easily admitted, if we consider that the

Soul in her own Nature is separable from the Body, as being a

Substance really distinct therefrom; and that all Bodies are

alike penetrable and passable to her, she being devoid of thatcorporeal property which they ord,inarily call avttrurltr. and

therefore can freely slide through any Matter whatsoever,

without any knocking or resistance; and lastly, that she does

not so properly impart Heat and Motion to the Body, as

Organization: and therefore when the Body is well organized,

and there be that due temper of the Blood, the Heart and Pulse

will in some measure beat, and the Brain will be replenish'd

with spirits, and therewith the whole Body, though the Soul

were out of it. In which case ( saving that the Spirit of Nature

cannot be excluded thence) it would be perfectly Cartesius hrs

Machina without Sense, though seemingly as much alive as

any animate Creature in a deep sleep. Whence it appears, thatif the Soul could Ieave the Body, that she might doe it for acertain time without any detriment thereto, that is, so long as

it might well live without Repast. Which fully answers theirfears who conceit that if the Soul was but once out of the Body,

perfect Death rnust necessarily ensue, and all possible returnthither be precluded.

10. But all the difficulty is to understand how the soul

may be loosned from the Body, while the Body is in a litcondition to retain her. That is a very great Difficulty indeed,

and in a manner impossible for any power but what is

supernatural. But it is not hard to conceive that this uitol

litness in the Body may be changed, either by way of noturolDisease, or by Art. For we may not Some certain Fermentationin the Body so alter the Blood and Spirits, that the powers «rf'

the Plastich part of the Soul may cease to operate, i-IS well as

sometimes the Perceptiue faculties do, ils in Catalepsies,

Apoplexies, and the like? Wherefore this passing of the Soul

out of the Body in Sleep, or Ecstasie, rnay be sometime a cet'taitt

Disease, as weil as that of the vurropürat. those that walk in

their sleep.

I li'l166 'l'he Immort:.rlit.y of' t,he Soul. Il«xrk Il

whose Soul would often quit her Body, and wander up anddown; and after her return tell many true stories of what shehad seen during the time of her disjunction. The same,Maximius Tyrius and Herodotus report of AristaeusProconnesius. Marsilius Ficinus adjoyns to this rank thatnarration in Aulus Gelliu.s, concerning one Cornelius, a Priest,who in an Ecstasie saw the Battel fought betwixt Caesar andPompey in Thessalie, his Body being then at Padua; and yetcould, after his return to himself punctually declare the Time,Order and Success of the Fight. That in Wients, of the Weaselcoming out of the Souldiers mouth when he was asleep, is amore plain example: which, if it were true, would makeAristaeus his Pigeon not so much suspected of fabulosity asPliny would have it. Several Relations there are in the world tothis effect, that cannot but be loudly laughed at by them thatthink the Soul inseparable from the Body; and ordinarily theyseem very ridiculous also to those that think it is separable,but as firmly believe that it is never, nor ever can be, separatebut in Death.

8. Bodinus has a very great desire, notwithstanding it isso incredible to others, that the thing should be true; it being soevincing an Argument for the Soul' s Immortality. And hethinks this Truth is evident frorn innumerable examples of theEcstasies of Witches: Which we must confess with him not tobe natural; but that they amount to a perfect <igotpeoic orcarrying away the Soul out of the Body, the lively sense oftheir meeting, and dancing, and adoring the Devil, and themutual remembrance of the persons that meet one anotherchere at such a time, will be no infallrble Demonstration thatthey were there indeed, while their Bodies lay at home in Bed.Conformity of their Confessions concerning the sameConventicle is onely a shrewd probabilitv, if it once could bemade good that this leaving their Bodies were a thing possible.

For when they are out of them, they are much-what in thesame condition that other Spirits are, and can imitate whatshape they please; so that many of these Transformations intoWolves and Cats. may be as likely of the Soul having left thusthe Body, as by the Devils possessing the Body andtransfiguring it himself. And what these aiery Cats or Wolvessuffer, whether cuttings of their limbs, or breaking the Back, orany such like mischief, bhat the Witch in her Bed suffers theIike, may very well arise from that Magich Sympathy that is

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12. Now «rf' all /)o.s.si«rns whafcvct', cxccss tlf' I)c.sirt ts

Frttest flor this more harmless and rnomcnLany ablegation of't,ltcSoul from the Body; because the great strength thcreof' is so

closely assisted with the imagination of dep:rrting bo the trllaccwhere the party would be, that upon disunion not amounting f«r

perfect Death, the power of Fancy may carry the Soul t«r [heplace intended; and being satisfied and returned, may re-kin<Jlclife in the Body to the same degree it had before it was inf'esbe«l

by this excess of Desire. This is that, if any thing, that hasmade dying men visit their friends before their departure, at,

many miles distance, their Bodies still keeping their sick ltetl;and those that have been well, give a visit to their sick firiends,of whose health they have been overdesirous and solicitous.For this Ecstosie is really of the Soul, and not of the BLood orAnimal Spirits; neither of which have any Sense or Perceptioninthem at all. And therefore into this Principle is to be resolvedthat Story which Martinus Del-Rio reports of a Lad wh«r,

through the strength of Imagination and Desire of seeing hisFather, fell into an Ecstasie; and after he came to himself',confidently affirmed he had seen him, and told infalliblecircumstances of his being present with him.

13. That Cardan and others could fall into an Ecstrtsiewhen they pleased, by force of Imogination and Desire ür firllinto it, is recorded and believed by very grave and sobct'Writers: but whether they could ever doe it to a complcat,otpatpeolo or local disjunction of the Soul from the Body, I kn«rw

none that dare affirm; such events being rather the chances of'

Nature and Complexion, as in the l/ocf ombuli, then the effectsof our Will. But we cannot assuredly conclude but that Artmay bring into our own power and ordering that which naturalcauses put upon us sometimes without our leaves. Butwhether those Oyntmenfs of Witches have any such eflfect, «rt'

whether those unclean Spirits they deal with, by theirimmediate presence in their Bodies, cannot for a time so

suppress or alter their Vital Fitness to such a degree as willloosen the Soul, I leave to more curious Inquisitors to searchafter. It is sufficient that I have demonstrated a vet'yintelligible possibility of this actual separation without Deathproperly so called.

From whence the peremptory Confessions of Wifches, andthe agreement of the story which the.y fell in sevet'al, as wr:llthose that are there bodily, irs the.y t.lrat, lt'avc their' []<ldics

Now if it should happen that some such distemper shouldarise in the Body as would very much change the vitalCongruity thereof for a time, and in this Paro*yÄ that otherDisease of the Noctamburi should surprise ir," party; his5 Imagination driving him to walk to this or that placä, his soulmay very easily be conceived in this loosned condition it lies in,to be able to leave the Body,and pass in the Aire, as otherInhabitants of that Element doe, and act the part of separateSpirits, and exercise such Functions of the Perieptiue faculty as10 they do that are quite released from Terrestrial Matter. Onelyhere is the difference, That that damp in the Body that loosnedthe union of the soul being spent, lhe soul, bi that naturalMagick I have more then once intimated, will cärtainly returnto the Body, and unite with it again as firm as ever. But no15 man can when he pleases pass out of his Body thus, by theImperium of his will, no more then he can walk in his sluup,For this capacity is pressed down more deep into the lower lifeof the soul, whither neither the Liberty of will nor freeImagination can reach.

2A 11- Possion is more likely to take effect in this case theneither of the other two powers, the seat of passions beingoriginally in the Heart, which is the chief Fort of these lowerFaculties; and therefore by their propinquity can more easilyact upon the flrrst Principles of Vital Union. The effect of these25 has been so great, that they have quite carried the soul out ofthe Body, as appears in sundry Histories of that kinde. Forboth Sophocles and Dionysius the Sicilian Tyrant died suddainlyupon the news of a Tragick victory; as po,lycrita also a Noble-woman of the Isle of Naxus, the poet philijpide.s, and Diagoras30 of Rhodes, upon the like excess of Joy. w; might addeexamples of sudden Fear and Grief, but it is needless.

It is known and granted rruth, that passion has so muchpower over the vital temper of the Body as to make it an unfitmansion for the soul; from whence will necessarily follow her35 disunion from it. Now if passion will so utterly change theHarmony of the Blood and spirits, as quite to relLase the soulfrom the Body by a perfect Death; why may it not sometimeact on this side that degree and only bring a presentintemperies, out of which the Body may recover and conse_40 quently regain the soul back again, by virtue of that Mttnd,aneSympothy I have so often spoke of?

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awake, finding it but a Dream, neglected it. But faln aslcctrt

again, his murdered friend appeared to him the second tirne,

beseeching him, that though he did not help him alive, yet he

would see his Death revenged; telling him how the Victualler'had cast his Body into a Dung-cart, and that if he would get up 5

timely in the morning, and watch at the Town-gate, he mightthereby discover the murder: which he did accordingly, and stl

saw Justice done on the Murderer. Nor does the Frrst l)r'eam

make the second impertinent to our purpose: For as that mightbe from the strength of Imagination, and desire of help in the l0distresse d Arcadion, impressed on the Spirit of the World, and

so transmitted to his friend asleep (a condition fittest for such

communications;) so it is plain that this after his Death mustfait, if his Soul did either cease to be or to act. And therefore itis manifest that she both was and did act, and suggested bhis 15

Dream in revenge of the Murder. Of which kinde there be

infinite Examples, I mean of Murders discovered by Dreams,

the Soul of the person murdered seeming to appear to some or

other asleep, and to make his complaint to them.But I will content my self onely to adde an Example of 20

Gratitude to this of Reuenge: As that of Simonides, who tightingby chance on a dead Body by the Sea side, and out of the sense

of Humanity bestowing Burial upon it, was requited with a'

Dream that saved his life. For he was admonisht to desist

from his Voiage he intended by Sea, which the Soul of the 25

deceased told him would be so perillous, that it would hazard

the lives of the Passengers. He believed the Vision, and

abstaining, was safe; those others that went sufflered

Shipwreck.2. we witl adjoyn onely an Example or two of that ofher ltO

kind of Visions, which are ordinarily called Lhe Apparitions ttf'the dead. And such is that which Pliny relates at large in his

Epistle to Sura, of an house haunted at Athens, and freed by

Athenodorus the Philosopher, after the Body of that person thatappeared to him was digged uP, and interred with dumbe 35

solemnity. [t is not a thing unlikely, that most houses that are

haunted, are so chiefly from the Souls of the deceased; who

have either been murdered, or Some way injured, or have some)

hid treasut'e [o discover, or the like. And persons are haunted

flop the like causgs, 1s well ls houscs; lts Nenr was aflter the 411

muldeling o['his M«rt,her; Otho ptrll'd out, of'his bc«l irl the nighth.y tlrc (lhost, ol' (ittllxt.. Such irrst,:rtt«'cs :tt'(' inlinitc: as alstl

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behinde them, especially when at their return they bringsomething home with them, as a permanent sign of their beingat the place, is (though it may be all the delusion of theirFomiliais) no contemptible probability of their being thereindeed where they declare they have been. For these are thegreatest evidences that can be had in humane affairs: Andnothing, so much as the supposed Impossibility thereof, hasdeterred men from believing the thing to be true.

Chap. XVI.

I. That Sor,r/s deported communicate Dreams. 2. Examples ofApparitions of Sou/s deceased. 3. Of Apparitions in fields wherepitcht Battels haue been fought; as also of those in Churchyards,and other uaporous ploces. 4. That the Spissitude of the Air maywell contribute to the easiness of the appearing of Ghosts ondSpectres . 5. A further proof thereof from sundry Examples. 6. OfMarsilius Ficinus his appearing after death. 7. With what sort ofpeople such Examples os these ouoil little. 8. Reasons to

perswade the unprejudiced that ordinarily those Apporitions thatbear the shape and person of the deceased, are indeed the Souls ofthem.

I. The Examples of the other sort, uiz. of the appearing ofthe Ghosts of men after death, are so numerous and frequent inall mens mouths, that it may seem superfluous to particularizein any. This appearing is either by Dreams, or open Vision.InDreams, as that which hapned to Auenzoar Albumaron anArabian Physician, to whom his lately-deceased friendsuggested in his sleep a very soverain Medicine for his soreEyes. Like to this is that in Diodorus concerning lsis Queen ofAegypt, whom he reports to have communicated remedies to theAegyptio.ns in their sleep after her death, as well as she didwhen she was alive. Of this kind is also that memorable storyof Posidonius the Stoick, concerning two young men of Arcadia,who being come Lo Megoro, and lying the one at a Victualler's,the other in an Inne; he in the Inne while he was asleeprlream'«l Lhat his F'ellow traveller earnestly desired him to comeanrl heltrl him, as being assaulted by the Victualler, and inrlirnger t,o bc klllcd [,y him: lJtrt hc, af,ter he was perfectly

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those wherein the soul of ones friend, suppose Father, Mother,or Husband, have appeared to give them good .orrrrr"l, and toinstruct them of the Event of the greatesiaffairs of their life.The Ghosts also of deceased Lovers have been reported toadhere to their Paramours after they had left theii Bodies;taking all opportunities to meet them in solitude, whether byday or by night.

3. There be also other more fortuitous occursions of thesedeceased Spirits; of which one can give no account, unless it be,because they find themselves in a more easy capacity toappear. As haply it may be in Fields after great slaughters ofArmies, and in publick Burial-places. Though ,orrr-. wouldridiculously put off these Apparitions, by making them nothingbut the reek or vapour of the Bodies ol th" deäd, which theyfancy will fall into the like stature and shape with the man itcomes from: which yet cardon playes the fool in as well asvaninus and others; as he does also in his account of thosespectra that appear so ordinarily in Iseland,, where theInhabitants meet their deceased friends in so lively an Image,that they salute them and*embrace them for the ,u-" persons;lot knowing of their death, unless by their suddaindisappearing, or by after-information that they were then dead.This he imputes partly to the Thicknes.s of thä Aire, and partlyto the foule food and gross spirits of the Iseland,ers; and yetimplies, that their fancies are so strong, as to convert the thickvaporous Aire into the compleat shape of their absent anddeceased acquaintance, and so p"..*uäe themselves that theysee them, and talk with them; whenas it is nothing else but anAiery Image made out by the power of thei, o*r, Fancy fromthe ragged rudiments of these thick flying vapours, as menfancy shapes in the broken crouds. nrri certainly it had beenbetter flatly to have denied the Narration, then to give to slightand unprobable reason of the phaenom,enon. For neither dosuch visible vaporous consistencies near humane stature movenear the Earth; nor, if they did, could men be mistaken in anobject so nigh at hand.

4. That the spissitude of the Aire in that place maycontribute something to the frequency of these

'Spectra, is

rational enough.- For it being more thick, it is the -ä." easilyreduced to a visible consistency: but must be shaped, not by thefancy of the spectatour, (for t-hat were a monstrous power) butby the Imagination of the spirit that actuates its own vehicle

Chap. XVl. The lmmortality o['the Soul.

of that gross Aire. For the same reason also in other placesthese Apparitions haply appear oftner in the Night then in theDay, the Aire being more clammy and thick after the Sun hasbeen some while down then before. To which also that customeof the Lappians, a people of Scandia, seems something to agree;who, as Caspar Peucerus relates, are very much haunted withApparitions of their deceased friends. For which trouble theyhave no remedy but burying them under their Hearth. WhichCeremony can have no naturall influence upon these Lemures,unless they should hereby be engaged to keep in a warmer ait'e,and consequently more rarefied, then if they were interredelsewhere. Or rather because their Bodies will sooner putreflyby the warmth of the hearth; whenas otherwise the coldness «rf'

that Clime would permit them to be sound a longer time, andconsequently be fit for the Souls of the deceased to haverecourse to, and replenish their Vehicle with such a Cambiumor gluish moisture, as will make it far easier to be commandedinto a uisible consistence.

5. That this facilitates their condition of appeoring, is

evident from that known recourse these infestant Spirits haveto their dead Bodies. As is notorious in the History of Cuntius,which I have set down at large in my Antidote, as also in thatof the Silesian Shoomaker and his Maid. To which you mayadde what Agrippa writes out of the Cretion Annals, How therethe Catechanes, that is the Spirits of the deceased Husbands,would be very troublesome to their Wives, and endeavour to liewith them, while they could have any recourse to their deadBodies. Which mischief therefore was prevented by a Law,that if any Woman was thus infested, the Body of her Husbandshould be burnt, and his Heart struck through with a stake.Which also put a speedy end to those stirs and tragedies theGhost of Cuntius and those others caused at Pentsch andBreslaut in Si/esio.

The like disquietnesses are reported to have hapned in theyear 1567. at Trawtenaw a city of Bohemio, by one StephonusHubener, who was to admiration grown rich, as Cuntius of'Pentsch, and when he died, did as much mischief to his f'ell«rw

Citizens. For he would ordinarily appeal' in t,he very shape he

was when he was alive, and such as hr,' mct,, wrtukl salute Lhctnwith s9 cklse cmbraces, that 'he causc«l rnrln.y t,o ('.-rll sick andsoveral f«l dic h.y t,hc trnkind huggs lrc 11rrvc t,ltr,nt. llut burrtiltghis ilrlrl.y rirl t,ht 'l'own o[' t,he pr.t'ikrtrs occttt's:tl,i«rtts o[' t,]ris

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malicious Goblin.All which Instances do prove not only the appearing of

Souls after they have left this life, but also that some thickningMatter, (such as may be got either from Bodies alive, or latelydead, or as fresh as those that are but newly dead (as the Bodyof this Hubener was, though it had lyen 20 weeks in theGravö,) or lastly from thick vaporous Air,) may facilitate muchtheir appearing, and so invite them to play tricks, when theycan doe it at so cheap a ratn; though they have little or no endin doing them, but the pleasing of their own, either ludicrous, orboisterous and domineering humour.

6. But of any private person that ever appeared upondesign after his death, there is none did upon a more noble onethen that eximious Platonist Marsilius Ficinus; who, after awarm dispute of the Immortality of the Soul, having (asBaronius relates) made a solemn vow with his fellow-PlatonistMichael Mercatus, that whether of them two died first shouldappear to his friend, and give him a certain information of thatTruth; (it being his fate to die first, and indeed not long afterthis mutual resolution) was mindful of his promise when he hadleft the Body. For Michael Mercotus being very intent at hisStudies betimes on a morning, heard an horse riding by with allspeed, and observed that he stopped at his window; andtherewith heard the voice of his friend Ficinus crying out aloud,O Michael, Michael, uera, uere sunt illa. Whereupon hesuddenly opened the window, and espying Marsiliu.s on a whiteSteed, called after him; but he vanish'd in his sight. He senttherefore presently bo Florence to know how Marsilius did; andunderstood that he died about that hour he called at hiswindow, to assure him of his own and other mensImmortalities.

7. The Examples I have produced of the appearing of theSouls of men after death, considering how clearly I havedemonstrated the separability of them from the Body, and theircapacity of Vital Union with an Aiery Vehicle, cannot but havetheir due weight of Argument with them that are unprejudiced.But as for those that have their minds enveloped in the darkmist of Atheism, that lazy and Melancholick saying which hasdropt from the careless pen of that uncertain writer Cardan,Orbis magnus est, et aeuum longum, et error ac timor multum inhominibus possunt, will prevail more with them then all theStories the same Authour writes of Apparitions, or whatever

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Chap. XVI. The lmmrlrt,ulit,.y o['fhe S«lul. l7l»

any one else can adde unto them. And others that do admit «rf'

these things, preconceptions from Education, That the Soulwhen she departs this life is suddenly either twitched up int<r

the Coelum Empyreum, or hurried down headlong towards theCentre of the Earth, makes the Apparitions of the Ghosts ofmen altogether incredible to them; they alwaies substituting intheir place some Angel or Devil which must represent theirpersons, themselves being not at leisure to act any such part.

8. But Misconceit and Prejudice, though it may hinder theforce of an Argument with those that are in that mannerentangled, yet Reason cannot but take place with them that arefree. To whom I dare appeal whether (considering the AörealVehicles of Souls which are common to them with other Genii,so that whatever they are fancied to doe in their stead, theymay perform themselves; as also how congruous it is, thatthose persons that are most concerned, when it is in theirpower, should act in their own affairs, as in detecting theMurtherer, in disposing their estate, in rebuking injuriousExecutors, in visiting and counselling their Wives and Children,in forewarning them of such and such courses, with othermatters of like sort; to which you may adde the profession ofthe Spirit thus appearing, of being the Soul of such an one, as

also the similitude of person; and that all this adoe is in thingsvery just and serious, unfit for a Devil with that care andkindness to promote, and as unfit for a good Genius, it beingbelow so noble a nature to tell a Lie, especially when the affairmay be as effectually transacted without it;) I say, I dareappeal to any one, whether all these things put together andrightly weighed, the violence of prejudice not pulling dow thebalance, it will not be certainly carried for the present Cause;and whether any indifferent Judge ought not to conclude, ifthese Stories that are so frequent every where and in all Agesconcerning the Ghosts of men appearing be but brue, that it is

true also that they are their Ghosts, and that therefore theSouls of men subsist and act aflter they have left these EarthlyBodies.

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they by which the Soul hears, sees, feels, imagines,remembers, reasons, and by moving which, or at least directingtheir motions, she moves likewise the Body; and by using thcm,or some subtile Matter like them, she either compleats, or at,least contrinutes to, the Bodie's Organization. For that tht'Soul should be the Vital Architect of her own house, that closeconnexion and sure possession she is to have of it, distinct antlsecure from the invasion of any other particular Soul, see'ms noslight Argument. And yet that while she is exercising that,Faculty she may have a more then ordinary Union or'Implication with the Spirit of Nature, or the Soul of' the World,so far forth as it is P/ostick, seems not unreasonable: irnrltherefore is asserted by Plotinus; & may justly be suspected L<r

be true, if we attend to the prodigious effects of the Mothcr''sImagination derived upon the Infant, which sometimes are sovery great, that, unless she raised the Spirit of Nature int,«r

consent, they might well seem to exceed the power of, an.yCause. I shall abstain from producing any Examples till thcproper place: in the mean time I hope I may be executed fi'«rrnany rashness in this assignation of the Cause of those manyand various Signatures found in Nature, so plainly pointing at,such a Principle in the World as I have intimated before.

4. But to return, and cast our eye upon the Subject inhand. It appears from the two precedent Conclusions, That tht'Soul considered as invested immediately with this tenuütrtsMo.tter we speak of, which is her inward Vehicle, has very litt,lemore difference from the Aöreal Genii, then a man in a Prisorrfrom one that is free. The one can onely see, and suck irir'through the Grates of the Prison, and must be annoyed with allthe stench and unwholsome fumes of that sad habitati«rn;whenas the other may walk and take the fresh air, wherrc hefinds it most commodious and agreeable.

This difference there is betwixt the Genii antl anincorporo.ted Soul. The Sou/, as a man faln into a deep pit, (whrrcan have no better Water, nor Aire, nor no longer enjoyrnt'nt, of'the Sun, and his chearful light and warmth, then the me:lsurr,and quality of the pit will permit him) so she once imrnurcrl int,he B«rdy cann«rt enjoy any better Spiribs (in which all her lifi'lrntl t:omfirrt, t:onsist,s) thcn the constituLirln of' t,hc Ikrrl.y ,:rf't.r.r'

such r:irt'trit.s «rf' c«lnr:«rction can tdminist,r.r' t,o lrr.r'. llrrt, t,lrosr.()enii of'l,Jtt' Ait'c, who 1l<lsscss t,hcir VoItit'lr,s ulx)n no strch lr:rrrll,t'r'Irls, il't,ltctrtsr,lvr.s llo rtot, irr Ilrrrlt,,.]Ilit.y lry llrr. l)ow(,r' ol'l,lrr,ir'

t0

Chap. XVII.

I.The preeminence of Arguments d.rau.tn from Reason aboue thosefrom story. 2. The first step toword, a Demonstration of Reasonthat the soul octs out of her Body, for that she is on Immaterialsubstance separable there-from. B. The second,, That theimmediate Instruments for sense, Motion, and, orgonization ofthe Body, are certoin subtile ond tenuious spirits. 4. Acomparison betwixt the sour in the Body and the- Aörear Genii.5. of the nature of Daemons from the occount of Marcus theEremite, and how the sour is presently such, hauini once reft thisBody. 6. An objection concerning the souls of Brutes to which isanswered, First, by way of concession; 7. seclondry, confuting theArguments for the former concession. g. That there is no rationaldoubt at all of the Humane soul acting ofter d,eath. g. A fu,rtherArgument of her octiuity out of this Bädy, from her confliclts ,tithit u;hile she is in it. 10. As also from tie general hope and beliefof oll Nations, thot they shall liue after arÄn.

I. But we proceed now to what is less subject to theevasions and misinterpretations of either the -profane

orsuperstitious. For none but such as will profess themselvesmere Brutes can cast off the Decrees and conclusions ofPhilosophy and Reason; though they think that in things of thisnature they Däy, with a great deal of apprause u.rä credit,refuse the testimony of other mens senses, il not of their own:all Apparitions being with

- them nothing but the strongsurprisals of Melancholy and Imagination. But they cannotwith that ease nor credit silence thl Deductions of Reason, by

saying it is but a Fallacy, unlesse they can shew the sophir-";which they cannnot doe, where it is not.

2- To carry on therefore our present Argument in arational wäy, and by degrees; we are first to consider, That(according as already has been clearly demonstrated) there is asubstance in us which is ordinariiy called the sour, reailydistinct from the Body, (for otherwise how can it be asubstance?) And therefore it is really and locally separablefrom the Body. which is a very considerable step towards whatwe aim at.

3. In the next place we are to take notice, That theimmeclictte Instrument of the soul are those tenuious and Aörealparticles which they ordinariry call t,her spirir.s; that t,ht,s(, ir.(r

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r78 The Immortality of the Soul. Book II

minds accommodate themselves with more pure and impollutedMatter, and such as will more easily .or.pir" with the noblestand divinest functions of their Spirit.

In brief therefore, if we consider things aright, we cannotabstain from strongly surmising, that there is no moredifference betwixt a soul and an aöreal Genius, then there isbetwixt a sword in the scabbard and one out of it: and that asoul is but a Genius in the Body, and a Genius a Soul out of theBody; as the Ancients also have defined, giving the same name,as well as nature, promsicuously to them both, by calling themboth Aolpoveq ,as I have elsewhere noted.

5. This is very consonant to what Michael psellus setsdown, from the singular knowledge and experience of Marcusthe Eremite, in these matters; who describes the nature ofthese a'[pove4. as being througho ut spirit and Aire; whencethey hear and see and feel in every part of their Body. whichhe makes good by this reason, and wonders at the ignorance ofmen that do not take notice of it, viz. rö prrl önt nvos öo.roüv ,lveüpov eiv«t rö ürorluvotrruvov" ar^{r rö ev roürotq dvuurplov nveüpo,that is neither Bones, nor Nerues, nor any gross or uisiLle part ofthe Body or of ony organ thereof, whereby the soul immid,iatelyexercises the functions of Sense; but that it is the Spirits thot areher nearest and inmost instrument of these operations: of whichwhen the Body is deprived; there is round no sense in it,though the gross organs and parts are in their usualconsistency, as we see in syncopes and Apoplexies. whichplainly shews, that ihe immediate Vehicle of Life are thespirits, and that the soul's connexion with the Body is bythese; as the most learned physicians do conclude with oneconsent. whence it will follow, that this vinculum being broke,the soul will be free from the Body, and will as natuially becarried out of the corrupt carkass that now has no harmonywith the Soul, into that Element that is more congenerous toher, the vital Aire, as the Fire wilr mount upwrdsl as I havealready noted. And so Principles of Life being fully kindled inthis thinner vehicle, she becomes as compleat foi sense andAction as any obher Inhabitants of these Aiery regions.

6. There is onely one perverse objection against this soeasie and natural conclusion, which is this; tnut by thismanner of reasoning, the souls of Brutes, especially ttrose ofthe perfecter sort, will also not onely subsist, (for thal difficultyis concocted pretty well already) but also live ancl t:n jry

Chap. XVll. 'I'he Imrn«rrt,alit,y o[' the Soul. l'l <.1

10

themselves after death. To which I dare boldly answer, 'l'hat, it,

is a thousand times more reasonable that they do, then tha[ l,hcSouls of Men do not. Yet I will not confidently assert that, the.ydo, or do not; but will lightly examine each Hypothesis. Anrlfirst, by way of feigned concession, we will say, They do; andtake notice of the Reasons that may induce one to think so.Amongst which two prime ones are those involved in thtrObjection, That they do subsist after death; and, That t,he

immediate instrument of their Vital Functions is their Spirits,as well as in Man. To which we may adde, That for t,hepresent we are fellow-inhabitants of one and the same Element,,the Earth, subject to the same fate of Fire, Deluges anrlEarthquakes. That it is improbable that the vast space of Aircand Aether, that must be inhabited by living creatures, sh«ruklhave none but of one sort, that is the Angels or Genii, good orbad. For it would seem as great a solitude as if Men alonowere the Innabitants of the Earth, or Mermaids of the Sea.That the periods of Vital Congruity, wound up in the Nature o['their Souls by that eternal Wisdome that is the Creatress of'allthings, may be shorter or longer, according as the property o['their essence and relation to the Universe requires; and that, sotheir Descents and Returns may be accordingly swifter orslower. That it is more conformable to the Divine goodness t«r

be so then otherwise, if their natures will permit it: And thattheir existence would be in vain, while they were deprived «r['

vital operation when they may conveniently have it. That the.ywould be no more capable of Salvation in the other state, thenthey are here of Conversion. That the intellectual Inhabitantsof the Aire having also external and corporeal Sense, variety «r['

Objects would doe as well there, as here amongst us on Fltrrth.Besides thab Histories seem to imply, as if there were such kindof Aöreal Animals amongst them, as Dogs, Horses, and Lhe

like. And therefore to be short, that the Souls of Brutes ceas()to be alive after they are separate from this Body, can have noother reason then Immoralrry the Mother of lgnorance, (that is,nothing but narrowness of Spirit, out of over-much self,-love,and contempt of «rther Creatures) to embolden us so confidenLl.yto adhere to so groundless a Conclusion.

7. 'l'his l)osition maktrs indccrl a plausitlltr shew, insomuclrthat if't,he Ol4ccti<lrt rlrove t)rtti to lx'kn<lwlt.rlgc it lirr 'l'r'uth, hcrnight. 51r1trr t,o [tavc v(,r'.y little reilson l,o lrc rrsharlrctl «lf it. I]ut,this (lllrl.r'ovct's.y is rrol, so r.rtsil.y tlt,r'irk.rl. l,'or l,lr«rrrgh it, [lt'Jll:rin

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that the Souls of Beasts be Substances really separable fromtheir Bodies; yet if they have but one vitar

"ongruity, namery

the Terrestrial one, they cannot recover life in the Aire. Buttheir having one or two, or more vital congruities, whory5 depends upon his wisdome and counsel that has made allthings. Besides, the souls of Brutes seem to have a morepassive nature then to be able to manage or enjoy this escapeof Death, that free & commanding Imagination üeionging onelyto us, as also Reminiscency. But Brutes have onelyi passive10 Imagination, and bare Memory; which failing them in alllikelihood in the shipwreck of their Body, if the-y could live inthe Aire, lh"I would begin the world perfectly on a new score,which is little better then Death: so that they -igrri i" thissense be rightly deemed mortalr. our being ci-i"näbitants of15 the same element, the Earth, proves nothinl: for by th" .u*"reason, worms and Fleas should live out of th.i, iodies, andFishes should not, who notwithstanding, their shape, it may be,a little changed (for there is no necessiiy that thesl creatures intheir Aiery Vehicles should be exactly like themselves in their20 Terrestrial ones) might act and live in the more moist tracts ofthe Aire.

As for the supposed solitude that would be in the Aire, itreaches not this matter. For in the lower Regions thereof, thevarious objects of the Earth and Sea will serve the turn. The25 winding up of those several circuits of vital congruity mayindeed pass

_for an ingenious invention, as of a thingipossible inthe souls of Brutes: but, as the schools say well ,- Ä porre adesse non ualet consequentia. As for that Argument from DiuineGoodness, it not excluding his wisdome, whlch attempers it self30 to the natures of things, and we not knowing the naiure of thesouls of Brutes so perfectry as we do our own, we cannot soeasily be assured from thence what will be in this case. AMusician strikes not a[ strings at once; neither is it to be ex-pected that every thing in Nature at every time should act: but35 when it is its time, then touched upon it will give its sound; inthe irrterim it lies silent. And so it may ue witrr the sours ofBrutes for a time, especialry when the vital temper of Earthand Aire and sea shall fail; yea and at other times too, ir nonebut Intellectual spirits be fit to mana ge Aöreal vehicles.40 I confess indeed, that salvation Iur, ,o more belong to thesouls of Brutes then conversion; but that is as true of theSouls of Plants, (if they have any distinct from the (Jniuersal

Ohap. XVII. 'fhe Immort,rrlil.y ol'lhe Soul.

Spirit of Nature) but yet it does not prove that the Souls «rf'

Vegetables shall live and act in Aiery Vehicles, after an [{erbor Tree is dead and rotten here. To that of conveniency ofvariety of Objects for the Aiery Inhabitants I have answeredalready. And for the Apparitions of Horses, Doggs and thelike, they may be the transformation of the Aörial Cenii intnthese shapes: Which though it be a sign that they would notabhor from the use and society of such Aörial Animals, if theyhad them; yet they may the better want them, they being ableso well themselves to supply their places.

We will briefly therefore conclude, that from the mere lightof Reason it cannot be infallibly demonstrated, That the Soulsof Brutes do not live afteY death, nor that it is any Incongruityin Nature to say they do. Which is sufficient to enervate thepresent Objection.

8. But for the life and activity of the Souls of Men out ofthis Body, all things goe on hand-smooth for it, without anycheck or stop. For we finding the Aörial Genii so exceedingnear-a-kin to us in their Faculties, w€ being both intellectualCreatures, and both using the same immediate Instrument ofSense and Perception, to wit, Aörial Spirits, insomuch that wecan scarce discover any other difference betwixt us then thereis betwixt a man that is naked and one clad in gross thickcloathing; it is the most easy and natural inference that can be,to conclude, that when we are separate from the Body, and areinvested only in Aire, that we shall be just like them, and havethe same life and activity they have. For though a Brute fallshort of this Privilege, it ought to be no disheartning to us,because there is a greater cognation betwixt the IntellectuolFaculties and the Aiery or Aethereal Vehicle, then there is

betwixt such Vehicles and those more low and sensual powerscommon to us with Beasts. And we finde, in taking the freshaire, that the more fine and pure our Spirits are, our thoughtsbecome the more noble and divine, and the more purelyintellectua[.

Nor is the step greater upwards then downwards: Forseeing that what in us is so Diuine and Angelical may be unitedwith the body of a Brute, (for such is this Earthly cloathing)why may not the Soul, notwithstanding her TercestriolCongruity of life, (which upon new occasions may be easilyconceived to surcease [r'om acting) be united with the Vehicle ofan Angel'! So t,[rat, t,here is no puzzle at all concerning the Soul

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many parts of the world. But both Religion, and the belicf «rf'

the Reward of it, which is a blessed state after Death, being s«l

generally acknowledged by all the Inhabitants of the Earth; itis a plain Argument that it is true according to the l,ight of'

Nature. And not onely because they believe so, but because

they do so seriously either desire it, or are so horribly afraid of'

it, if they offend much against their Consciences: whichProperties would not be in men so universally, if there were no

Objects in Nature answering to these Faculties, äs I haveelsewhere argued in the like case.

Chap. XVIII.

I. That the Faculties of our Souls, and the no.ture of' the

immediate Instrument of them, fäe Spirits, do so nearly symbolizewith those of Daemons, that it seems reosonable, if God dirl noton purpose hinder it, that they would not fail to act ottt of' thisearthly Body. 2. Or if they would, his Power and Wisdome

could easily implant in their essence a double or triple VitalCongruity, to mahe all sure. 3. A further demonstrotion of the

present Truth from the Veracity of God. 4. An Answer to onObjection ogainst the foregoing Argument. 5. AnotherDemonstration from his Justice. 6. An Answer to an Objection-7. An Answer to another objection. 8. Another Argument f'romthe Justice of God. 9. An objection answered. 10. An inuincibleDemonstration of the Sou/'s immortality from the DiuineGoodness. 11. A more particular enforcement of that Argument,and who they are upon whom it will work least. 12. That the

Noblest and most Vertuous Spirit is the most assurable of' the.

Soul's Immortality.

I. But finally, to make all sure, let us contemplate theNature of God, who is the Author and Maker of all things,according to whose Goodness, Wisdome and Power all thingswere created, and are ever ordered; and let us take specialnotice how many steps towards this lmmtlrtality we now lt'ttatof are impressed upon the very nature «r[' the Soul alrcady; andthen seriously consider', if it be possible t,htt, the Sotrn ign I)titvshould stop thcr'1t, llttd goe no further', wht'lt t,herc al'c so gt't'atreasons, if' w(r uttrft't'st,rtnd an.y thing, l,lr:rl, llt' glerli't:t, otlt'

lll:ttsook tI

of Man, but that immediately upon Death she may associateher self with those Aörial Inhabitants, the Genii o, ingrl,9. which we may stil be the better assured of, if weconsider how we have such Faculties in us as the soul finds5 entangled and fettered, clouded and obscured by her fatalresidence in this prison of the Body. Insomuch that, so far as itis lawful, she falls out with it for those incommodations thatthe most confirmed brutish health brings usually ,po., her.How her wilr tuggs against the impurity äf the spirits that stir10 up bestial Passions, (that are notwithstanding the height andflower of other Creatures enjoyments) and how"many ii_us h",whole life upon Earth is nothing else but a perpetual warfareagainst the results of her union with this lump of Eurth that isso much like to other terrestrial Animals. whence it is plain15 she finds her self in a wrong condition, and that she wascreated for a better and purer state; which she could not attainto, unless she lived out of the Body: which she does in somesort in diuine Ecstasies and Dreams; in which case she makingno use of the Bodies organs, but of the purer spirits in the20 fourth ventricle of the Brain, she acts as it *"." by herself,and performs some preludious Exercises, conformable to thosein her Aiery Vehicle.

10. Adde unto all this, that the Immortality of the sou/ isthe common, and therefore natural, hope and e*pe.tutio., of all25 Nations; there being very few so barbarous as not to hold it fora Truth: th9-uSh, it may be, as in other things, they may besomething ridiculous in the manner of expressing tÄemselvesabout it; as that they shall retire after Death to such a Groveor wood, or beyond such a Hilr, or unto such an Island, such as30 was apöpos AxtÄ},äu.q. the island, where Achilles his Ghost wasconceived to wander, or the Insulq,e Fortunatae the notedElysium of the Ancients. And yet, it may be, if we should tellthese of the coelum Empyreum, and, compute the height of it,and distance from the Earth, and how many solid orbJmust be35 glided through before a soul can come thither; these simpleBarbarians would think as only of the scholost;.a opi"ion aswe do of theirs: and it may be some more judicious andsagacious Wit will laugh at us both alike.

It is sufficient, that in the main all Nations in a manner40 a.e agreed that there is an Immorto,lity to be expected, as wellas thab there is .t Deitv to be worshipped; thougn igr,o.ance ofcircumstances makeis Rerigion u".y, even to Mon.st.osity, in

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tt]4 'l'he [mmortality of'the S<lul. Book ll

expectations. For we have already clearly demonstrated,That the Soul of man is a Substance actually separable fromthe Body, and that all her Operations and Functions areimmediately performed, not by those parts of the Body that areof an earthly and gross consistency, but by what is more Aörialor Aethereal, the Vital and Animal Spirits; which are verycongenerous to the Vehicles of the Angels or Genii.Insomuch that if the Divine power did but leave Nature towork of it self, it might seem very strange, considering thoseDivine and Intellectual Faculties in us, (as conformable to theessences or Souls of Angels as our Animal Spirits are to theirVehicles) if it would not be an immediate sequel of thisPriviledge that our Souls once separate from the Body shouldact and inform the Air they are in with like facility that otherGenii do, there being so very little difference betwixt both bheirnatures.

2. Or if one single Plastick power in a Subject so near a-kinto these Aörial people, will not necessarily suffice for bothstates, certainly it must be a very little addition that will helpout: and how easy is it for that Eternal Wisdome to contrive adouble or triple Vital Congruity, to wit, Aöriol and Aethereal, aswell as Terrestrial, in such an Essence, whose Faculties andProperties do so plainly symbolize with those purer Inhabitantsof both the Aether and Air?

3: But this is not all we have to say. For if there be onething more precious in the Deity then another, we shall have itall as a sure and infallible pledge of this present Truth, Thatour Souls will not fail to proue Immortol. And for my own part,I know nothing more precious in the Godhead then his Veracity,Justice and Goodness; and all these Three will assure me andsecure us, that we shall sustain no loss or damage by ourdeparture out of these Earthly Bodies, in either Life orEssence. For it were a very high reproach to that Attribute ofGod which we call his Veracity, he so plainly and universallypromising to all the Nations, of the World, where there is anyReligion at all, a happy state after this tife; if there should inreality be no such thing to be expected. For he does not onelyconnive at the Errour, if it be one, by not declaring himselfagainst it, (as any upright person should, if another should takeupon him, in his presence or hearing, to tell others that heintended to bestow such and such gifts and revenues uponthem, when there was no such matier:) but he has, as a man

Ohilp. XVIll. 'l'lttl lrrltttot't'itlrl.y o('t'he Srlul' It{l'r

may say, on set purpose induod men with extraordinary pitrt's

and powers, to set this opinion on foot in the Earth; rrll

Propiets and Workers of Mirocles that have appea.ed i. t'[re

*orld, having one way or other assured to Mankind this so

weigtrty Truth. And the most Noble and vertuous spirits in rll lt

AgÄ have been the most prone to believe it. And Lhis not ottt'l.v

o,rt of a sense of their own Interest; but any one thab evet' hrtrl

the happiness to experience these things may observe, 'l'h:-tL

that Clearness and Purity of temper that most consists with

the Love and admiration of God and Vertue, and all t.host' l0

divine Accomplishments that even those that never could at'ttrirt

to them give their highest approbation of, I say, that this m«rt'o

refined temper of Mind does of it self beget a wondcrf'trl

proneness, ii not a necessity, of presuming of the Truth «l[' 1his

bpinion we plead for. And therefore if it be not true, God has 15

laid a train in Nature, that the most Vertuous and Pious Inetr

shall be the most sure to be deceived: which is a contradict,ion

to his Attribute of VeracitY.4. Nor can the strength of this Argument be evaded b.y

replying, That God may deceive men for their good, as Pat'trnts 20

ao ineir children; and therefore His wisdome may contt'ivtr

such a naturall Errour as this, to be serviceable for Stltes 1n«l

Polities, to keep the people in awe, and so render them mor'r'

faithfull and governable, I must confess that there does resttlt'

from this divine Truth such an usefulness, by fhe by, for t'hc 'llt

better holding together of Commonweals: But to think that this

is the main use thereof, and that there is nothing mole irr il'

then so, is as Idiotical and childish as to conclude, that becitus0

the Stars, those vast lights, doe some small ofT'rces for us b.y

Night, that therefore that is all the meaning of them, and t'[rat' :t0

they serve for nothing else'Besides, there is no Father would tell a Lye to his Chiltl,

if he were furnisht with Truth as effectual for his purpose; antl

if he told any thing really good as well as desirable to his child,

to induce him to Ob"diu.t.e, if it lay in his power, he would bc il5sure to perform his promise. But it is in the power of God t,<r

make good whatever he has propounded for reward; nor need

he make use of any falshood in this matter, Whet'eflo.e if h. do'

he has less Veracity then an ordinary honest man; which is

blasphemtrtrs, antl t:ontradictiotts to the nature «rfl fhe l)eity' '{o

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I t|6 '['he lmm«rrtality of the Soul. Book II

5. Again upon point of Justice, God was engaged tocontrive the Nature and order of things so, that the säuls ofMen may live after death, and that th"y may fare according totheir behaviour here upon earth. For tho Godhead, as thePhilosopher calls him, is N6poq ioor.),tvr6, and does immutablyand inevitably distribute Justice, both Reward, & punishment, inthe world, the common practice and complaint of all men doconfess with one consent; and that it d exceeding hard toperswade any one to doe that violence to their o*., .rätures, asto endeavour lfter a due degree and right sense of vertue (forcraft and Policy a-re easy enough, anJ other things there arethat, set against the contrary vices look like veriues but arenot:) But to perswade to those that truly are is I say exceedinghard, if not impossible, without the inculcation of this grandconcernment, the state of the soul after Death, and the RJworclthat will then follow a vertuous life. of which hopes if we befrustrated by the soul' s Mortality, we are defrauded of ourReward, and God of the honour of Justice.

6. Nor can the force of this Argument be enervated byeither that high pretension of stoicism, That vertue to it self is asufficient reward; or that the very hopes of this Immortalily, itbeing accompanied with so much joy, t.urrq,riiitv 'u"acontentment, will countervail all the pain and trouut" oi eitheracquiring, or keeping close to vertu" ä.r.. acquired. For as forthe first, It is 9ne thing to tark high, and another thing topractice. And for my own part, I think in the main, inrtEpicurus, who placed the chiefest good in preasure, philo-sophized more solidly then the päradoxical stoicis. Forquestionless that is that which all men ought to drive at, if theyhad the true notion of it, and knew *hereL to place it, är couldarrive to the purest and most warrantable sense of it. Butthere can be no Pleosure, (without a perfect Miracle) while ourspirits are disturbed and vitiated by sordid and contemptiblePoverty, by Imprisonments, sickn"*Ä"., Tortures, ill Diet, anda number of such Adversities, that those that are the mostexactly vertuous have been in all Ages most lyable to. Besidesthe care and sollicitude of perpetually standing upon theirguard, the stings of calumny and Defamation, and a continualvexation to see the baseness and vileness of mens tempers andugly oblique transactions of affairs in the world. whichinquietudes cannot be avoided by any other remedy but what isa.s ill as the disease, or worse, (it being altogether- inc«rmp.t,ible

Chap. XVIII. The lmmor'l,ality of'the Soul. 187

to a true Heroical tenour of mind,) I mean their Stoicql Apothy;of which the best that can be said is, that it is a kind of'constant and safe piece of sulleness, stating us onely in thecondition of those that are said to have neither wonne nor lost:So poor a reward is persecuted and distressed Vertue of it self,without the hope of future Happiness.

7. But to say, the Hope thereof without Enjoyment is asufficient compensation, is like that mockery Plutarch recordsof Dionysius towards a Fidler, whom he caused to play beforehim, promising him a reward, but when he demanded it of himfor his pains, denied it him, or rather said it was paid already,putting him off with this jest, öoov 1pövov eüg«rveq aröurv.

roooürov äXatpeg i).ni(ov. i.e. So long as you pleased me utithplaying, so long you rejoyced your self with hoping ofter thereward; so that you are sufficiently paid already. Which piece ofinjurious mirth may be passable in a ludicrous matter, andfrom a Tyrant, where height of Fortune makes proud andforgetful Mortality contemn their inferiours: But in a thing ofthis nature, that concerns not onely this transient life, but thesempiternal duration of the Soul, Injustice there is unspeakablygrievous; and so much the more harsh and uncomely, if weconsider that it is supposed to be committed, not by a frailearthly Potentate, (the height of whose Honours may make himregardless of smaller affairs and meaner persons,) but by theGod of Heaven, who can with the like ease attend all things ashe can any one thing, and who is perfectly and immutably just,not doing nor omitting any thing by changeable humours, as ithappens in vain Men, but ever acting according to thetranscendent Excellency and Holiness of his own Nature.

8. Neither is Diuine Justice engaged onely In reward, butalso to punish; which cannot be, unless the Souls of men subsistafter Death. For there are questionless many thousands thathave committed most enormous Villanies, persecuted the Good,taking away their possessions, liberties, or lives, addingsometimes most barbarous tortures and reproachful abuses;and in all this highly gratified their covetousness, ambition andrevenge; träy, it may be the bestial ferocity of their own spirits,that have pleased themselves exceedingly to bring the trulyreligious into disgrace, and have laughed at all vertu«rus actionsas the fruits «rf' lgnorancc and F olly; and yet for all ühis havedied in peacr) «rn t,ltcir trtrls, aflcl'thcir l,ivcs ltave llet:n as Lhickset with all s(.nsrr:ll r,njo.yrrlcn[s «l(' I lortorrr', [tir:hcs and

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Pleasure, äs their story is with Frauds, Rapines, Murders,sacriledges, and whatever crimes the impious boldness oflawless persons will venture on.

9. such things as these happen proportionably through allthe ranks and orders of men. Nor ii it sufficient

-to .eplf that

their own consciences, as so many Furies, do lash thlm andscorch them in this life: For we speak of inveterate andsuccessful wickedness, where that principle is utterly laidasleep; or if it at any time wake and cry, the noise tr trruaffairs of the world, and hurry of business, Lnd continual visitsof friends and flatterers, false instructions of covetous priestsor mercenary Philosop hers (who for gain will impudentlycorrupt and pervert both the Light of Nature and sense ofReligion,) the sound and clatter of these, I say, will so possessthe ear of the prosperously wicked, that the voice of consciencecan be no more heard in this continual tumult, then the vagientcries of the Infant Jupiter amidst the rude shuffles anddancings of the cretich corybantes, and the tinckling andclashing of their brazen Targets. And therefore if there-be noLife hereafter, the worst of men have the greatest share ofhappiness, their passions and affections being so continuallygratified, and that to the height, in those things that are soagreeable, and, rightly circumstantiated, allowable to humaneNature: such as are the sweet reflexion on the success of ourpolitical management of the affairs of the world; the generaltribute of Honour and respect for our policy and wit, uid thutample testimony thereof, our acquisitions of power or Riches;that great satisfaction of foiling and bearing down our Enemies,and obliging and making sure our more serviceable Friends; towhich finally you may adde alr the variety of Mirth andPastime that flesh and blood can entertain it self with, fromeither Musick, Wine, or Women.

10. Thirdly and lastly, The Mortality of the soul is notonely inconsistent with the veracity and Justice of God, but alsowith his Goodness, the most soveraign and sacred Attribute inthe Deity, and which alone is enough to d"-onstrate, That thesoul of man cannot perish in Death. For suppose that God hadmade no promise to us, either by any e*t.aoräinary prophet, orby the suggestion of our own natural Faculties, that we .t uti n"Immortal, and that there was neither Merit nor Demerit in thislife, so that all plea from either the Divine veracity or Jttsticewere quite cut off; his Goodness alone (especially if we consider

Ohap. XVIII. 'l'hc lrnrnorl,rrlrt,y ol'[lrc Soul. I ttl)

10

how capable the Soul is of' after'-subsistence) is a suf'ficicrttassurance that we shall not flail to live after Death. I"or h«rw

can that soveraign Goodness assisted by an Ornnipotent,Knowledge, fail to contrive it so; it being so infinitely morr)conformable to His Transcendent Bounty to ordain fhus t,henotherwise? that is to say, so soon as he created the W«rrltl, tomake it so compleat, as at once to bring into Being not onel.y allCorporeal Substance (according as all men confess he did) butalso all Substances Immaterial or Incorporeal and as many of'them as can partake of Life, and of enjoyment of themselvesand the Universe, to set them upon living and working in allplaces and Elements that their Nature is able to operate in; andtherefore amongst other Beings of the Intellectual Order, t«l

ordain that the Souls of men also, whereever they were, orever should be, especially if it were not long of themselves,should have a power of Life and Motion, and that no otherNemesis should follow them then what they themselves lay thetrains of; nor this to utter annihilation, but by way «rf'

chastisement or punishment: and that they being of somultifarious a nature, as to have such Faculties as are nearlya-kin to Brutes, as well as such as have so close an affinitywith those of the Aöreal Genii and Celestial Angels their Vito,lCongruity should be as multifarious, and themselves matlecapable of a living Union with either Celestiol, Aäreal, or'Tetestriol Vehicles; and that the leaving ofl one should be butthe taking up of another, so long as the Elements continue intheir natural temper, and as soon as the Läws of Generationwill permit.

11. These, and a long series of other things consonant tr»

these, represent themselves to their view that have the flavourof beholding the more hidden treasures of the Diuine Benignitv.But they being more then the present occasion requires, I shallcontent my self with what precisely touches the matter inhand, which is, That the Soul of Man being capable to act af tcr'this life in an Aöreol Vehicle, as well as here in an Earthly; andit being better that she do live and act, then that she be idle andsilent in death; and it depending merely upon the Will of G«rd

whether she shall or no; He ordering the natures of thingsinfallibly according to what is best, must o[ necessity ordainfhat the Souls «lf' men live and act aftr:r' death. 'l'his is ar)unavoidable Derlur:t,ion of Reas«rrt t«r th<lst, t,hut. lckn<lwlcrlge t,lrt.

Ileing of (iotl, :rn«l right,l.y rclish thrrt, t.r'rrns«'r.nrlcnt Att,r'ihrrt.r. irr

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190 'l'he lmm«rrtality of the Soul. Book II

the Divine Nature. For those that have a true sense thereof,can as hardly deny this Conclusion as the Existence of theDeity. Nor can they ever be perswaded, that He who is soperfectty Good in himself, and to whom they have so longadhered in faithful obedience and amorous devotion, has madethem of such a nature, that when they hope most to enjoy him,they shall not be able to enjoy him at all, nor any thing else; asnot being in a capacity to act but in an Earthly Body. But tothose that be of a mere animal temper, that relish no love butthat of themselves and their own interest, nor care for any butthose that are serviceable to them and make for their profit,these being prone to judge of God according to the vileness oftheir own Spirit, will easily conceit, that God' s care of us andtenderness over us is onely proportionable to the fruit he reapsby us; which is just none at all.

12. And therefore this Arugment especially, and also theTwo former though they be undeniable Demonstrations inthemselves, yet they requiring a due resentment of Morality,that is of veracity, Justice and Goodness, in him that is to beperswaded by them; it will follow, that those whose Mindes aremost blinded and debased by Vice, will feel least the force ofthem; and the Noblest and most generous Spirit will be the mostfi,rmly assured of the Immortality of the Soul.

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TheIMMORTALITY

ofTHE SOUL

The Third Book

Chap. I.

I. Why the Author treats of the state of the Soul after Deoth, orulin what Method. 2. Arguments to proue thot the Sou/ is euerunited uitally with some Motter or other. 3. Further Reosons t.<t

euince the same. 4. That the Soul is capable of an Aiery ondAethereal Body, os well as o Terrestrial. 5. That she ordinaril..ypasses out of on Earthly into an Aöreal Vehicle first. 6.That inher Aiery Vehicle she is capable of Sense, Pleasure, ond Pain.7. That the moin power of the Soul ouer her Aöreal Vehicle is thedirection of Motion in the particles thereof. 8. That she may alsoadde or diminish Motion in her Aethereal. 9. Hou; the puritv ol'the Vehicle confers to the quickness of Sense and Knowledge. 10.

Of the Sou/'s power of changing the temper of her Aöreal Vehicle;11..4s also the shape thereof. ll2.l 13. The plainness of the lostAxiome.

I. We have, I hope, with undeniable evidence demonstratedThe Immortality of the Soul to such as neither by their slownessof parts, nor any prejudice of Immorality, are madeincompetent Judges of the truth of Demonstrations of' this kinrl: so that I have already perfected my main Design. But m.y

own curiosity, and the desire of gratifying othet's who lovc t,o

entertain themselves with Speculations of this na[ure, do callme out something further; if the very Dignity of the pt'csctrtMatter I am upon doth not justly require me, as will bo hes[seen after the finishing thereoft which is r:oncerninsl the Skile ol'the Soul after Deoth. Wherein though I may noL haply bc ablc Lo

fix many foot so firmly as in the floregoing part of'this 'l't'calise,yet I will :rssert n«rthing but what shall bc reasonable, th«ttrglrnot demons[r'ablc, lnd flar prcrp«rnderrating L«r whatcvcr shall trc

alledged t«r [trc t'onl,r':u'.y, irntl irr such ck'at' ot'tlct' ltnd Mct,ltttrl,

.1o

I {)2 'l'hr. lrnnrortlrlity «tf' t,hr. Soul. ll«xrk I I I Oh.rp. l. 'l'hc ltnntor't:tlit,.y ol' tlrc Srtul. l1l:l

Receptacles of Earth or Watcr; fior her Intellet:ttml ut't,in11s

would be atike in both; this Conjunction in all likeliltoorl

engaging onely the Plostick and Sensitiue powers «t[' [hc Soul

even when she is vitally united with Matter. What Lhcrt is

there imaginable in the Body that can hinder her in her ttttlrlt't' lt

Operations?Wherefore it is plain that the nature of the Soul is such, tts

that she cannot act but in dependence on Matter, and that hcr'

Operations are some way or other alwaies modified thcrelr.y.

And therefore if the Soul act at all after death, (which we hrtvt' l0demonstrated she does) it is evident that she is not t'elt'ast'tl

from all uital union with all kind of Matter whatsoever: Which is

not onely the Opinion of lhe Platonists, but of Aristotle also, r-ts

may be easily gathered out of whal we have above cited ttttt' ofhim. 15

3. Besides, it seems a very wilde leap in nature, that t,lre

Soul of Man, from being so deeply and muddily immersed irtt'tr

Matter as to keep company with Beasts, by vitall union wit,h

gross flesh and bones, should so on a suddain be changed, thirt,

she should not adhere to any Matter whatsoever, but ascortrl 20

into an üü),6tr6 competible haply to none but God himself; unlcss I

there be such Creatures as the Plotonists call Nöco or pttt't'

Intellects. This must seem to any indifferent man very harsh

and incongruous, especially if we consider what noble lleings

there are on this side the Nöot or N6eq. thot all the Philosophtrs 2l»

that ever treated of them acknowledge to be vitally united wit'h

either Aöreal or Aethereal Yehicles. For of this condition arc rtllthe Genii or Angels.

It is sufficient therefore that the Soul nevel' exceetl t'[rr''

immateriality of those Orders of Beings; the lower s<lrt whet't'o[' :to

that they are vitally united to Vehicles of Aire, their ignot'attt't'

in Nature seems manifestly to bewray. For it had been itlleasy thing, and more for their credit, to have inflormed tht:irfollowers better in the Mysteries of Nature; but Lh:rt,

themselves were ignorant of these things, which they could rrot, ill-»

but know, if they were not thus bound to their Aiery bodics.

For then they were not engaged to move wibh the whole coLrrsc

of the Aire, but keeping themselves steddy, a.s being disunit't'tlfrom all Matter, they might in a moment have perceived hoLh

the cliurnal and annuo.l motion of the Earth, and so have sltvctl 40

the Credit of their followers, by communicating this 'l'hcot'.v ftr

them; thg want, of' t,he knowledge where«rl' spoils t,heir t'ttlttlt't'

10

that if what, I write be not worthy to convince, it shall not beable to deceive or entangle by perplexedness and obscurity; andtherefore I shall offer to view at once the main principles uponwhich I shall build the residue of my Discourse.

AXIOME XXVII.zäe Soul sepo.rate from this Terrestrial Body is not released. fromoll Yital Union with Matter.

2. This is the general opinion of the Plotonists. plotinusindeed dissents, especially concerning the most divine Souls, asif they at last were perfectly unbared of all Matter, and had nounion with any thing but God himsetft which I took upon as afancy proceeding from the same inequality of temper, thatmade him surmise that the most degenerate Souls did at lastsleep in the bodies of Trees, and grew up merely into plontallife. such fictions as these of fancyfull men have muchdepraved the ancienL Cq.bbo.la and sacred Doctrine which fhePlatonists themselves do profess to be rleorupäöorov, a holyTradition received from the mouth of God or Angels. Buthowever Plotinus himself does not deny but till the Soul arriveto such an exceeding height of purification, that she acts ineither an Aiery or Celestiol Body.

But that she is never released so perfectly from all Matter,how pure soever and tenuious, her condition of operating herein this life is greaber presumption then can be fetcht from anything else that she ever is. For we find plainly that her mostsubtile and most Intellectual oparations depend upon the fitnessof temper in the Spirits; and that it is the fineness and purity ofthem that invites her and enables her to love and look afterDiuine and Intellectual Objects: Which kind of Motions if shecould exert immediately by her own proper power and essence,what should hinder her but that, having a will; she shouldbring it to effect? which yet we find she cannot if the Spirirs beindisposed. But, as I said, the Soul cannot be hindred by theundue temper of the Spirits in these Acts, if they be of thatnature that they belong to the bare essence of the Sout quiteprescinded from all Union with Motter. For then as to theseActs it is all one where the Soul is, that is, in who.t Matter sheis (and she must be in some, because the universe is everywhere thick-sef with Matter) whether she be raised into thepurest regions of the Aire, or plunged down into t,he f,oulest

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'l'lre Immor'[alit,y of t,hc Sotrl. lirok l l l Oh.rp. l. 'l'hc ltrltltorl,ttlrly ol' l,lrc Srlul. I 1)l-rI {)4

10

with them that understand the Systeme of the world betterthen themselves, for all they boast of their Philosophy, so as ifit were the Dictate of the highest Angels.

AXIOME XXVII.There is a Triple Yital Congruity in the Soul, namely Aethereal,Aöreal, and Terrestrial.

4. That this is the common Opinion of the Platonists, Ihave above intimated. That this Opinion is also true in it self,appears from the foregoing Axiome. Of the TerrestrialCongruity there can be no doubt; and as little can there be butthat at least one of the other two is to be granted, else the Soulwould be released from all uital union with Matter after Death.Wherefore she has a Vital aptitude at least to unite with Aire:But Aire is a common Receptacle of bad and good Spirits, ( asthe Eartä is of all sorts of men and beasts) nay indeed rather ofthose that are in some sort or other bad, then of good, as it isupon Earth. But the Soul of Man is capable of very highrefinements, even to a condition purely Angelicol. WhenceReason will judge it fit, and all Antiquity has voted it, That theSouls of men arrived to such a due pitch of purification must attast obtain Celestiol Vehicles.

AXIOME XXIX.According to the usual custome of Nature, the Soul awakesorderly into these Vital Congruities, not passing from oneExtreme to another without any stay in the middle.

5. This Truth, besides that at first sight it cannot butseem very reasonable, according to that known Aphorism,Notura non facit saltum; so if it be further examined, thesolidity thereof will more fully appear. For considering howsmall degrees of purification the Souls of almost all men get inthis life, even theirs who pass vulgarly for honest and goodmen; it will plainly follow that very few arrive to theirAethereal Vehicle immediately upon quitting their TerrestrialBody; that being a priviledge that has appertained bo none butvery Noble and Heroical Spirits indeed, of which Historyrecords but very few. But that there may be degrees of purityand excellency in the Aöreal Bodies, is a thing that is not to be

denied, so that a just Nemesis will finde out every one after

death.

AXIOMIT XXX.The soul in her Aöreal vehicle is capable of sense properly so

callad, and consequently of Pleasure and Pain '

6. This ptainly appears from Lhe 27 and 28 Axioms. I"or

there is a necessity of the resulting of Sense from Vital Union

of the soul with any Body whatsoever: and we may remember

that the immediate Instrument of Sense, even in this EarthL.y I0

Body, are the Spirits; so that there can be no doubt this Truth-

And Pleasure and Pqin being the proper modification of Sense,

and there being no Body but what is poss ible, it is evident that

these Vehicles iS l,trc are subject to Pain as well as Pleasure, in

this Region where ill things are to be met with as well as good' I l-r

AXIOME XXXI.The Soul can neither impart to nor tahe away from the Matter ol'

her Yehicle of Aire any considerable degree of Motion, but yet can

d.irect the particles moued which way she pleases by the Imperium 20

of her Will.

7. The reasonableness of this Axiom may be evinced,

partly out of the former; for considering the brushiness and

ärguiosity of the parts of the Air, a more then ordinary Motion '21»

o, iorrrprLssive Räst may very well prove painful to the Soul,

and dis-harmonius to her touch: and partly from what we may

observe in our own Spirits in this Body, Which we can onely

direct, not give Motion to, nor diminish their Motion by our

Imaginaiion or will, (for no man can imagine himself into Heat :t0or Cota, the sure consequences of extraordinary Motion and

Rest, by wilting his Spirits to move faster or slower; but he

may diiect them into the Organs of spontaneous Motion, and s«l

by moving the grosser parts of the Body, by this direction he

may .p"rä them, and heat these parts in the expence of them; lll-r

and this is all we can doe:) and partly from that Divine

Providence that made all things, and measures out the Powers

and Faculties of his Creatures according to his own Wisdome

and Counsel, and therefore has bound that state of the Soul ttl

streighter conditions, that is competible [o the bad as well rts t«r 40

the good.

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40

Chap. I. 'l'he Immot'l.rtlrl.y ol' l.ltr' l'iorrl.

the rest.

AXIOMI) XXXIV.The Soul has a maruellous power <tl' not onely changing tht:

temper of her Aiery Vehicle, but also of' the external shape ltthereof.

10. The truth of the first part of this Axiome appearsfrom daily experience; for we may frequently observe how

strangely the Possions of the Mind will work upon our Spirits l0in this state; how Wrath, and Grief, and Envy will alter the

Body, to say nothing of other Affections. And assuredly the

finer the Body is, the more mutable it is upon this account: so

that the Passions of the Mind must needs have a very greatinfluence upon the Soul's Aöreal Vehicle; which though they I Ir

cannot change into any thing but Air, yet they may change thisAir into qualifications as vastly different as Vertue is from Vice,

Sichness from Health, Pain from Pleasure, Light from Darhness,

and the stink of a Gaol from the Aromatich odours of ilflourishing Paradise. 20

11. The truth of the latter part is demonstrable from the

latter part of the 31 Axiome. For supposing a power in the

Soul of directing the motions of the particles of her fluidVehicle, it musb needs follow that she will also have a power ofshaping it in some measure according to her own Will & Fancy. 2rl

To which you may adde, as no contemptible pledge of thisTruth, what is done in that kind by our Will and Fancy in thislife: äs, onely because I will and fancy the moving of myMouth, Poot, or Fingers, I can move them, provided I have butSpirits to direct into this motion; and the whole Vehicle of the l|0Soul is in a manner nothing else but Spirits. The Slgrtatures

also of the Foetu.s in the Womb by the Desire and Imagina[ionof the Mother is very serviceable for the evincing of this Truth:but I shall speak of it more fully in its place-

li I-r

AXIOME XXXV.It is rational to thinlz, that as some Faculties are laid asleep inDeath or after Death, so others may awahe that ore more sutable

for that state. 4,

I lt'l

10

196 'l'he lmmortality of the Soul. Book III

AXIOME XXXII.Though the Soul can neither confer nor tahe away anyconsiderable degree of Motion from the Matter of her Aieryvehicle, yet nothing hinders but that she may doe both in herAethereal.

8. The reason hereof is, because the particles of herAethereol Vehicle consist partly of smooth spherical Figures,and partly of tenuious Matter, so exceeding liquid that it willwithout any violence comply to any thing: whenas the Ajre, asmay be observed in winde-Guns, has parts so stubborn and sostiff, that after they have been compressed to such a certaindegree that the barrel of the Piece grows hot again, they havenot lost their shapes nor virtue; but like a spring of Steel,liberty being given, they return to their natural posture withthat violence, that they discharge a Bullet with equal force thatGun-power does. Besides that the Goodness of that Deity onwhom all Beings depend may be justly thought to havepriviledged the Aethereal Congruity of Life (which awakes onelyin perfectly-obedient Souls, such as may be trusted asthroughly falthful to his Empire) with a larger power then theother, there being no incompetibleness in the Subject. For itis as easy a thing to conceive that God may endow a Soul witha power of moving or resting Matter, as of determining themotions thereof.

AXIOME XXXIII.The purer the vehicle is, the more quick and perfect are thePerceptive Faculties of the Soul.

9. The truth of this we may in a manner experience in thislife, where we find that the quickness of Hearing, Seeing,Tasting, Smelling, the nimbleness of Reminiscency, Reason,and all other Perceptiue Faculties, are advanced or abated bythe clearness, or foulness and dulness of the Spirits of ourBody; and that oblivion and Sottishness arise from theirthickness and earthiness, or waterishness, or whatsoever othergross consistency of them: which distemper removed, and theBody being replenished with good spirits in sufficient plentyand purity, the Mind recovers her activity again, rememberswhat she had forgot, and understands what she was beforeuncapable of, sees and hears at a greater distance; and so of

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lgft 'l'he Imrnrlrtality «lf' ther Sotrl. Ilook Ill Chap. ll. 'l'hc ltnntot'l,rtlrl y ol' I lrr, Horrl. lll'1)

at those uncclnceivable an«l t'irlit'rrkrrrs l':rrrcir,s ol' t,hc Sr:h«rols;that first rashly take away tll li:'lt,n sron li'orn Spirits, whet,hcrSou/s or Angels, and then distrlutt, how rnirny «rf' them bootcrland spurr'd may dance on a nccrllt,s lloint at once. F'oolericsmuch derogatory to the Truth, and thaf trlinch our Perceptioninto such an intolerable streightness and evanidness, that wccannot imagine any thing of our own Being; and if we do, arcprone to fall into despair, or contempt of our selves, l,yfancying our selves such unconsiderable Motes of the Sun.

2. But as it is very manifest that the Soul has Dimensions,and yet not infinite, and therefore that she is necessaril.ybounded in some Figure or other; so it is very uncertainwhether there be any peculiar Figure natural to hcr',answerable to animal shape, or whether she be of her self' ofeither a Round or Oual figure, but does change her shapcaccording as occasion requires. It is not material to define anything in this Question more then thus, That when the Soul actsin Terrestrial Matter, her Plastick part is determined to thcOrganization of the Body into humane form; and in the Aöreolor Aethereal, that she is neither more nor less determined hrany shape then the Genii or Angels; and that if their Vehiclesare more naturally guided into one shape then another, tharthers is in the same condition; so that in her visible Vehicle shewill bear the ordinary form of Angels, such a countenance, andso cloathed, as they.

3. That which is more material, I think is more easie to bedefined, and that is, whether the Soul be one HomogeneulSubstance, or whether it be in some manner Heterogeneal.That the latter is in some measure true, is manifest from whatwe have elsewhere written, namely, That Lhe Perceptiue facultyreaches not throughout the whole Sou[, but is confined to acertain part, which we called the Centre or Eye of'the Soul, ilsalso her Perceptiue part; but all the resL Plostich. But lrerearises a further Scruple, whether there be not an Heterogeneit.yin the very Plastich part also of the Soul. The Aristoteleensseem to be confident there is not, and do affirm that i[' t,lrcrcwere an Eye in the Toe, the Toe would see as well as Lhr: [lcarl.Of which I very much doubt: For hence it w«rukl firllow t,hrrt,some Creatures would have a glimmering Light ,ull ovt'r', l,lrr..ybeing in a mann('r' all over transparent,, and sorn(' t,hin trrrlclc'ar Cornplcxiorrs rnighf haply hirve t,he pcrt.t,pt,ion of' Ligltt,betwixI tht-r lowr.r'prrrls o['t.hcir F'ingr.r's, whi<.[r :11'(.in so]n('

10

12. The truth of this Axiome appears from hence, Thatour souls come not by chance, but aie made by an Ail-wiseGod, who foreseeing all their states, has fitted th; Excitation orconsopition of Powers and Faculties sutably to the presentcondition they are to be in.

AXIOME XXXVI.whether the Yital congruity of the soul expire, as whose periodbeingquite unwound, or that of the Mauir be defaced iy onyessential Disharmony, Yital union immediately ceases.

13. This last Axiome is plain enough of it self at first sight,and the usefulness thereof may be glanced at in its due pllce.These are the main Truths I shall recurre to, or at leastsuppose' in my following Disquisitions: others will be moreseasonably delivered in the continuation of our Discourse.

Chap. II.

l.of the dimensions of the soul consid,ered barely in her setf. 2.of the Figure of the sou/'s Dimensions. 3. of th; Hehrogeneityof her essence 4. That there is on Heterogeneity in her üastickpart distinct from the Perceptive. 5. of thi acting of this plastickpart in her framing of the vehicle. 6. The ,irrilrnry of Des-cartes his Philosophy. 7. That the yehicles of Ghosis iow o,much o/solid corporeal substance in them as the Bodies of Men.8. The folly of the contrary opinion euinced,. g. The aduantageof the soul, for matter of Bod,y in the other state, aboue this.

I. That we may now have a more clear and determinateapprehension of the natu,re and cond,ition of the soul out of theBody,let us first consider her a while, what she is in her ownEssence, without any reference to any Body at all, and we shallfind her q. substance extend,ed. and, ind,iicerpibre, as may beeasily gathered out of what we have above written. And ii is aseasonable contemplation here ( where we consider the soul ashaving left this Terrestrial Body) that she hath as ample, if notmore ample, Dimensions of her own, then are visible in theBody she has left. which I think worth taking notice of, that itmay stop the mouths of them that, not without reason, laugh

15

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20'211

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40,10

200 'l'he Immor.tality of'the Soul. tsook III ( )hrrp. I I. 'l'ltc ltntttot'lnlrly ol' llrr, liottl. :lo I

Angelical Nature.Elut according to this llypot,lrcsis 1r;rply rrll Olrj«rt't,s of'St,rtso

will not arrive to the Centn: ol' thr .\orrl li'rlrrt r)vt: r'.y trrat't o[' t,[tt,Horizon; no not though this Organiz.irt,i«rn w('r'e nof natut'al, lltrl,merely arbitrarious. But be the Soul conceived either bounrl trlrthus inLo onimal form, or spread loose into any careless rounrlshape, according as her rayes shall display themselves in ltt'r'Vehicle of Aire or Aether, yet the Seat of sight wlll be dut.l.yrestrained, which is a consideration of no contcmpt,iblcconsequence.

6. This in general may sufflrce concerning the very Nut,urr'of the Soul it self, her Extension and Heterog;eneity. I shallonely adde to this one Observable concerning her Aiery rrrtrlAethereal Vehicle, and then I shall descend to m«rre parti«'rrlrrrdisquisitions. Rash fancies and false deductir»ns {i'orrrmisunderstood Experiments have made some very c«lnlrrkrnt,that there is a Vocuum in Nature, and that every []«rtl.y b.y lrowmuch more light it is, so much less substance it has in it sclf'.A thing very fond and irrational, at the first sight, L«r such rrsare but indifferently well versed in the incomput'rtlrlr'Philosophy of Renatus Des-Cortes, whose dextcr'«rus wit, nrtrlthrough insight into the nature and laws of Motk:r hus soparfected the reasons of those Pho.enomeno that I)emot'riltts,Epicurus, Lucretiusand others have puzzled themsclvcs rrb«lrrt,,

that there seems nothing now wanting as concerning t,hat, wir.y

of Philosophizing, but patience and an unprejudiced jtrdgrnenl, t,o

peruse what he has writ.7. According therefore to his Philosophy and Llrc 'l'r'ut,[r,

there is ever as much Matter or Body in one consistr:nt'.y :rsanother; as for example, there is as much Matter in a Oulr ol'Aire as in the same Cup filled with Water, and as much in t,Jris

C.rp of Water as if it were filled with Lead or Quicksilvcr'.Which I take notice of here, that I may free the imagination o['men from that ordinary and idiotick misapprehensi«rn whiclrthey entertain of Spirits that appear, as if they were as cvanitland devoid of Substance as the very Shadows of «rur li<ldit,scast against a Wall, or our Images reflectc.d [i'«rm a ltiver or'

Looking-glass; and therefore from this c'r'r'our huvt' givcn t,trr.rn

namr)s :.rccorrlingl.y, c:.rlling the ()hosts of' rncn t,hat. 1)r't.sr.nt,thernsclvr,s lr) l,ltr.trt, l'.irirnÄ.u and, lJmltrut. lmttgt's rrrtrl ,\/rrrrl,s.'l'he wlti«'Jr, llrc rn()r'(.visilrlc thery are, t,lrc.y t.lrirrk tltcrr l,lrr. nrorr,subst,ittrt.i;rl; l';ln('yrrryi llr;rl. l,Jre Ain, is so corrrL'rrscrl, t.lr:rl, llrr.r'r.

good measure pellucid; and therefore Life and spirits beingcontinued from thence to the conarion, as they ur", o, to thefourth ventricre of the Brain, it would follow that the sourwould have a perception of some glimmerings of Light from5 thence, which were to see there u. *-"u as to feer. I

4- wherefore it seems more rational to admit anHeterogeneity in the plostick part of the soul arso, and toacknowledge that every removal from the Seat of CommonSense, that is to say, every Circle that surrounds the Centre of10 the soul, has not the same bounds of power, neither for numbernor extent. But that as concerning the former, there is agradual falling off from the first lxcellency, which is thePerceptiue part of the soul; the closest circle to which is thatpart of the plostich, that is able to convey objects of sigär as

15 well as of Touch and, Hearing, and what other Senses else theremay be in the soul. The next circle is Heoring without seeingthough not with out Touch: for Toucä spread, th.orgh alr. Butin its exteriour region, which is excessively the greatest, ittransmits the circumstantiated perceptiors ol ,ro oü;ects those20 that are Tactile; but to others it is onäly as a dead Medium, asthe circle of Heoring is but as a dead Äedium to the objects ofSight' So that if we would please our Imagination with Ficinus,in fancying the soul as a siar, we shall doe it more perfectly ifwe look upon her in her circles, as having an Holo about her:25 For the soul to our Reason is no more io^ogrneol then thatSpectacle is to our Srgär.

5. But if we rook upon the soul as ever propending to somepersonal shape, the direction of the plastick rayes Äust thentend to a ^kind of organization, so far as is conducent to the30 state the soul is in, whether in an Aiery or Aethereol vehicle.For that the plastick power omits or changes as she is drawnforth by the nature of the Matter she acts upon, is discoverabre

|n her Organization of our Bodies here. For in all likelihood thesoul in her self is as much of one sex as another; which makes35 her sometimes sign the Matter with both, but that veryseldome: and therefore it is mananifest that she omits one partof her Plostick power, and makes use of the other in almost allefformations of the Foetus.whence it is easie to conclude, that supposing her prastick

40 power naturally work the Aethereal or Aöreol veÄicle into anyanimo.l shope, it may put forth onely such strokes of theefformative virtue as alr.e convenient and becoming t,h.

It

to

l5

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202 'l'hc Irnrnor.taliüy of' thc Sorrl. ll«xrk I I I( )hup. ll. 'l'hc ltnntorl,rrlrl,y ol' llrr. liorrl. :.10:l

irnpervious, th«lugh it be n«rt, r'r.irll.y $o l,o t,lrcrn. !'«rr. MaLt,lr.rcduced f«r such fluid subtilty ol'prrrt,ick.s rrs lrrc invisible, ma.ywell have entrance through I)«rr.cs un1x.r.(:clltiblc.

Whence it is manifest fhat the soul, spcaking in a nat,uralsense loseth nothing by Death, but is a very consider.ablegainer thereby. For she does not onely possess as much tsrxi.yas before, with as full and solid dimensions, but has thataccession cast in, of having this Body more invigorated withLife and Motion then it was formerly. Which consideration Icould not but take notice of, that I might thereby expunge th.rtfalse conceit that adheres to most mens fancies, of that euoni<land starued condition of the other state.

Chap. III.

r. That the natural abode of the Soul after death is the Air. z.That she ca.nnot quit the Aöreal Regions till the AethercalCongruity of life be awahened in her. B. Thctt oll Souls ore nt»tin the same Region of the Aire. 4. Cardan's conceit of' plocinp4all Daemons in the upper Region. 5. The use of' this conceit litrthe shewing the reason of their seldome appearing. 6. Thot thisPhaenomenon is salued by o more ro.tional Hypothesis. 7. Afurther confutation of Cardan's opinion. 8. More tending to thesame scope. 9. The Origino.l of Cardan's errour concerning theremote operations of Daemons. 10. An Objection how Daemonsand Souls separate can be in this lower Region, uhere Win«ls urulTempests are so frequent. 11. A prepo.ration to an Answer f'romthe consideration of the nature of the Wincls. lz. porti<:ulorAnswers to the Objection 13. A further Answer from the nuturt:of the statick Faculty of the soul. 14. Another from thtsuddain powercf actuating her uehicle. l b. W luüincommodations she suffers from hoile, roin, etc.

I. Those more particular Enquiries we intend to flall upon,may be reduced to these few Heads: viz. The place <»l' thrtSoul's abode, Her Employment, and Her Moro.l conditbn olit:rDeath. That the place of her abode is the Aire, is the c«rnstant,opinion of the ancient Philosophers and natural 'l'hcologers,who do unatrirnousl.y rnake thot Element the lteceptacle «r['S«rglsdeparted: whi«'lr t,]rr.r'r.firre they called iirö16 ,thaI is iirtirg

rs not onely more of it, but arso that simpry there is moreMatter or substance, when it appears thus ,ri.ibl", then therewas in the same space before. And therefore they must needsconceit that Death reduces us to a pitiful thin pittance of Being,

b that our substance is in a -urr.r", lost, and nothing but atenious reek remains; no more in proportion to us, then what asweating horse leaves behind him as he gallops by in a frostymorning. which certainly must be a very lamentableconsideration to such as rove this thick and plump Body they10 bear about with them, and are pleased to consid". ho* manypounds they outweighed their Neighbour the last time theywere put in the balance together.

8' But if a kinde of dubious Transparency will demonstratethe deficiency of corporeal substance, a piliar of crystol will15 have less thereof then one of Tobocco-smoak; which ihough itmay be so doubtful and evanid an object to the Eye, if we try itby the Hand, it will prove exceeding solid: as also these Ghoststhat are said to appear in this ,.rr.r.r". have proved to themthat have touched them, or have been touched üy them. For it20 is a thing ridiculous and unworthy of a philosopher, to judgethe measure of corporear Matter by what it seems to our sight;for so Aire would be nothing at ali or what it is to our honcringor weighing of it; for so indeed a c.rp of euick-silver wourdseem to have inflrnitely more Matter in it then one fill,d with25 Aire onely, and a vessel of water less when it is plung,d underthe water in the River, then when it is carried in the Aire. Butwe are to remember, that let Motter be of what consistency itwill, as thin and pure as the flame of a candle, there is not lessof corporeal substance therein then there is in the same30 dimensions of Silver, Lead, or Gold.

9. so that we need not bemoan the shrivell,d condition ofthe deceased, as if they were stript almost of all substancecorporeal, and were too thinly clad to enjoy themselves as toany object of sense. For they have .ro te.s Body then we our35 selves have, only this Body is far more active then ours, beingmore spiritualized, that is to s&y, having greater degrees ofMotion communicated to it: As it dou. also in that which is theeffect of Motion, to wit the tenuity and subtilty of its particles,whereby it is enabled to imitate, in some sort, the proper40 priviledge of Spirits that pass through all Bodies whatsoever.And these vehicles of the soul, by ,eÄon of the tenuity of theirparts, may well pass through such Matter as seems to us

I0

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204 'Ihe [mmortality of the Soul. Book III

,because men deceased are in a state of inuisibility, as the placethey are confined to is an Element utterly inuisible of its ownnature, and is accloy'd also with caliginous mists, and enve-loped by vicissitudes with the dark shadow of the Earth. Thetruth of this Opinion of theirs is plainly demonstrable from the29 and 31 Axiomes. For Nature making no enormous jumps, itmust needs follow, that Separate Souls must take their firststation in the Aire, because that vital Congruity that fits anAöreal vehicle does of order awaken immediately upon thequitting of the Earthly Body.

2. wherefore the soul being thus vitally united with aBody or vehicle of Aire, it is impossible that she should driveout of those Regions: because her motions are only according tothe capacity of her vehicle, she being not able to alter theconsistency thereof into any more subtile or purer temper thenthe Aire will admit, keeping still its own species. onty shemay conspissote the Aire by directing the motion thereoftowards her, and so squeezing out a considerable part of thefirst and second Element may retain more Aire then ordinary:But she cannot command the Air from her so entirely, as toactuate these two Elements alone, or any considerable part ofthem, because the Aethereal Congruity of life is as yet whollyasleep; nor is it in the power of the soul to awake it as shepleases: and therefore it would be pain and Death to her toattempt the removal of the Aöreal matter quite from her.

Besides that it would require such a force as would imply acontribution of motion to it, as well as direction of it, to make itable to bear against other parts of the Aire that love not to bestreightned nor crouded: which though it may haply be done insome measure, yet that she may by this force of directionrecover a whole Vehicle of Aether, seems excessivelyimprobable, as is plain from the 81. Axiome.

3. wherefore it is necessary that the Soul departed this lifeshould be somewhere in the Aire, though it be not at allnecessary that they should inhabit all of them the same Regionthereof. For as some Souls are more purified then others *h",they leave the Body, so a more pure degree of vitol Congruitywill awake in them: whence by that Divine Nemesis thab runsthrough all things, they will be naturally conveyed to suchplaces and be associated to such company as is most congruousto their Nature; and will be as distinctly sorted by that Eternal.Iustice that God has s«r deeply ingrafted in the very essential

Ohap. II I. 'l'hc' Irnrnrlrl,rrlil,y ol' l,lrr, liorrl. '2111»

contexture of the Universe, as htrrrrrurr. l,:lws rlisllose <tl'persrlnswith us, sending some to Prisons, soryt(. [o l)est-h«ruses, andothers to the Prytoneum.

4. It will therefore, in all likelin<xrd, fall to some of theirshares to be fatally fettered to this louLer Region of' the Aire, tsI doubt not but many other Spirits are; though Cardon muchpleases himself with a peculiar conceit of his own, as if thesupreme Region of the Aire was the only habitation of .rllDaemons or Spirits whatever, and that their descent to us is asrare as the diving of Men into the bottome of the Sea, andalmost as diffrcult, this thich, Aire we breath in being in amanner as unsutable to their tenuious consistencies as theWater is to us; in which we are fain to hold our breath, andconsequently to make a very short stay in that Element.

Besides that he fancies the passage of the Middle Regiontedious to them, by reason of its Coldness; which therefore hcsaith is as it were a fence betwixt us and them, as the Sea isbetwixt the Fishes and us; whom though we exceed much inWit and Industry, and have a great desire to catch them andkill them, yet we get very few into our hands in comparison ofthose that scape us: And so these Daemons, though they bearus no good will, by bodily conflict they can hurt none of us (itbeing so difficult a thing to come at us) and very few of us b.y

their Art and Industry.For this fancyfull Philosopher will have them only attempt,

us as we do the Fishes, by Baits, and Nets, and Eel-spears, or'such like Engines which we cast into the bottom of the Wa[cr':So, saith he, these Aöreal Genii, keeping their station above irrthe third Region of the Aire (as we do on the bank of the Rivcr',or in a Boat on the Sea, when we fish) by sending down [)reomsand Apparitions, may entangle some men so, that, b.y

affrightments and disturbances of mind at last, though at thisdistance, they may work their ruine and destruction.

5. This Hypothesis, I suppose, he has framed to give anaccount why the appearing of the Genii is so seldome, and whyso little hurt is done by them as there is. For an Answer w«rulrlbe ready, that this lower Aire is no Element [or' fhem to abirlcin: and that it is as fi»lishly argued by those that sa.y therc arcno Spirits, becrrusc t,he.y are so seldome socn. as if'Lhe F'islrcs,upon a conc(lssiorr o['Sllr:ech and ll,eason to thtir rnut,c'l't'il)r.r,shoul«J gcltt't':tll.y cortclttrlc, that there itr'(r suclr Orta[urt's llsMon ot'llot'scs, lrlr';rttsc it. ltitpllens so v(fr'.y selrlornr. t,lr:rt, t,hr'.y

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can see them; and should contemn and laugh at those Fishesthat, having had the hap bo meet with them, should say theyhave seen such creatures, as if they were fanatict andlunatick, and not well in their wits, or else too much in them,and that they contrived such fictions for some political design.

6. which Parable may hold good, though not upon thesame-grounds, only by substituting difference of condition fordistance of place; and the similitude will prove as sound asbefore. For, for a spirit to cond,ensote his vehicle to almost aTerrestrial grossness and Visibility, is as rare and uncouth asfor Terrestrial animals to dive to the bottom of the Sea, and it,slikely every jot as difficult: and so the reason as obvious why sofew are seen, and the conflrdent denial of their existence as rashand foolish, by them that have not seen them themselves. Forit is as if the Fishes should conceit amongst themselves aboutthe existence of Men, and their diving into the water, andwhether there were any places haunted in the Sea; as thosewould be the most famous where they fish for pearls, or thatcause the most frequent Shipwrecks, or are most pleasant toswim in. And some notable occasion, mischan.", o, weightydesign, such as occurre more rarely, must be ."u.orräblyconceived the only invitements to the Genii to exposethemselves to our view.

7. That there is so little hurt done by them, need not beresolved into the distance of their habitation, but into the Law ofthe uniuerse, whose force penetrates through all orders ofBeings. Besides, it is too trivial and idiotick a conceit, and farbelow the pitch of a Philosopher, to think that all Aöreal spiritsare Haters of Mankind, so as to take delight merely indestroying them. For Men do not hate Fishes because they livein another Element different from theirs, but catch themmerely in love to themselves, for gain and food; which theAiery Genii cannot aim at in destroying of us. But to doemischief merely for mischiefs sake, is so excessive anEnormity, that some doubt whether it be competible to anyIntellectual Being. And therefore Cardan ought to harre provedthat first: as also, if there be any so extremely degenerate,that there be many of them, or rather so many that theycannot be awed by the number of those that are less depraved.For we may observe that men amongst our selves that aresufficiently wicked, yet they abhor very much from thosethings that are grossly and causlesly destructive to either Man

Ch.rp. I I I. 'l'he lmrnr»r'l,rtlrl,y ol' l lrr, Sorrl. 207

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or Beast; and themselves woukl lrclp t,o rlcstroy, punish, or atleast hinder the attempLers of' such wild and exorbitantoutrages that have no pretence of' Reason, but are a mereexercise of Cruelty and Vexation to other Creatures.

He also ought to have demonstrated, that all Mankind arenot the Peculium of some Spirits or other, and that there arenot invisible Governours of Nations, Cities, Families, andsometime of particular Men, and that at least a PoliticulGoodness, such as serves for the safety of Persons and whatbelongs to them, is not exceedingly more prevalent even inthese Kingdomes of the Aire, then gross Injustice. For all thismay be on this side of the Diuine Lrfe: so that there is no feateof making these Aöreal Inhabitants over-perfect by thisSupposition. In a word, he should have proved that PoliticctlOrder, in the full exercise thereof, did not reach from Heo.uen L<»

Earth, and pierce into the Subterraneous Regions also, if therebe any Intellectuol Creotures there. For this will suffice to give areason that so little hurt is done, though all places be full ofAöreal Spirits.

8. Adde unto all this, that though they may not bepermitted to doe any gross evil themselves, and to kill men atpleasure without their consents, yet they may abet them insuch wayes, or invite them to such courses, as will provedestructive to them: but, it may be, with no greater plot thenwe have when we set Doggs together by the eares, fight Cocks,bait Beares and Bulls, run Horses, and the like; where often,by our occasion, as being excited and animated by us, theypursue their own inclinations to the loss of their lives.

But though we do not care to kill a Dog or a Cock in thisway yet there are none so barbarous as to knock theseCreatures on the head merely because they will doe so. Sothese worser kind of Genii, acording as their tempers are, mayhaply follow some men prone to such or such vices, in whichthey may drive them in way of contest, or to please their «rwrr

fancies, to the utmost they can doe in it; and, taking their partssport themselves in making one man overcome an«lther irrduelling, in drinking, in craft and undermining, in wenching, ingetting riches, in clambering to honours; and so of the rcst.Where it may be their pastime to try the Victory of that I)ersonthey have taken t,«r; and ifl he perish by the hurr'.y o[' their'temptati«rns artrl :rrtirnlrt,ions, it is a thing they inLenrkrtl tromore, it mrr.y l)r', l,lrr.n hr. t,hrrt, sct,s [ris (jock int,o t,hc 1lit, rk.sir'«.s

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can see them; and should contemn and laugh at those Fishesthat, having had the hap to meet with them, should say theyhave seen such creatures, as if they were fanatict andlunatick, and not well in their wits, or else too much in them,and that they contrived such fictions for some political design.

6. which Parable may hold good, though not .rpo., thusame-grounds, only by substituting difference of condition fordista.nce of place; and the similitude will prove as sound asbefore. For, for a Spirit to cond.ensate his Vehicle to almost aTerrestrial grossness and Visibility, is as rare and uncouth asfor Terrestrial animals to dive to the bottom of the Sea, and it,slikely every jot as difficult: and so the reason as obvious why sofew are seen, and the confident denial of their existence as rashand foolish, by them that have not seen them themselves. Forit is as if the Fishes should conceit amongst themselves aboutthe existence of Men, and their diving into the water, andwhether there were any places haunted in the Sea; as thosewould be the most famous where they fish for pearls, or thatcause the most frequent Shipwrecks, or are most pleasant toswim in. And some notable occasion, mischance, or weightydesign, such as occurre more rarely, must be .".rorräblyconceived the only invitements to the Genii to exposethemselves to our view.

7. ThaL there is so little hurt done by them, need not beresolved into the distance of their hobitation, but into the Low ofthe uniuerse, whose force penetrates through all orders ofBeings. Besides, it is too trivial and idiotick a conceit, and farbelow the pitch of a Philosopher, to think that all Aöreal Spiritsare Haters of Mankind, so as to take delight *".uly indestroying them. For Men do not hate Fishes because they livein another Element different from theirs, but catch themmerely in love to themselves, for gain and food; which theAiery Genii cannot aim at in destroying of us. But to doemischief merely for mischiefls sake, is so excessive anEnormity, that some doubt whether it be competible to anyIntellectual Being. And therefore Cardan ought to have provedthat first: as also, if there be any so extremely degenerate,that there be many of them, or rather so many that theycannot be awed by the number of those that are less depraved.For we may observe that men amongst our selves that aresufficiently wicked, yet they abhor very much from thosethings that are grossly and causlesly destructive to either Man

Chap. lll. 'l'he Imrnortalil,.y ol' l,lrr. Soul. 207

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or Beast; and themselveis would heltrr to destroy, punish, or atleast hinder the attempbers of' such wild and exorbitantoutrages that have no pretence of Reason, but are a mereexercise of Cruelty and Vexation to other Creatures.

He also ought to have demonstrated, that all Mankind arre

not the Peculium of some Spirits or other, and that there trrenot invisible Governours of Nations, Cities, Families, andsometime of particular Men, and that at least a PoliticolGoodness, such as serves for the safety of Persons and what,belongs to them, is not exceedingly more prevalent even inthese Kingdomes of the Aire, then gross Injustice. For all thismay be on this side of the Diuine Lrfe: so that there is no feateof making these Aöreal Inhabitants over-perfect by thisSupposition. In a word, he should have proved that PoliticolOrder, in the full exercise thereof, did not reach from Heauen L<»

Earth, and pierce into the Srrbtercaneous Regions also, if therebe any Intellectual Creatures there. For this will suffice to give areason that so little hurt is done, though all places be full ofAöreal Spirits.

8. Adde unto all this, that though they may not bepermitted to doe any gross evil themselves, and to kill men atpleasure without their consents, yet they may abet them insuch wayes, or invite them to such courses, as will provedestructive to them: but, it may be, with no greater plot thenwe have when we set Doggs together by the eares, fight Cocks,bait Beares and Bulls, run Horses, and the like; where often,by our occasion, as being excited and animated by us, theypursue their own inclinations to the loss of their lives.

But though we do not care to kill a Dog or a Cock in thisway yet there are none so barbarous as to knock theseCreatures on the head merely because they will doe so. Sothese worser kind of Genii, acording as their tempers are, rna.yhaply follow some men prone to such or such vices, in whichthey may drive them in way of contest, or to please thcrir owrrfancies, to the utmost they can doe in it; and, t.rking their pirrtssport themselves in making one man overcome ant>ther irrduelling, in drinking, in craft and undermining, in wcnching, ingetting riches, in clambering to honours; and so of thc rcst.Where it ma.y be t,heir pastime to try the Victory «rl that, I)crsorrthey have takcrt t,o; and if, he perish b.y the hurr'.y «r[' t,heirtemptations attrl :rrritn:tt,ions, it is a thing tlrey in[t.nrkrrl ]ro

morer, it mlt.y llr., l,lrr.rr lrr. t,hirt, sct,s his (lot:k int,o t,hc pit, rlesirt's

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his neck should be broke: but if it happen so, the sorrow ismuch alike in both cases.

Wherefore these Spirits may doe mischief enough in theworld, in abetting men that act it, though haply they neithertake pleasure in doing of it upon any other termes, nor if theydid, are able to doe it, there being so many watchful eyes overthem. For these Aöreol Legions are as capable of Politicol

Honesty, and may as deeply resent it, as the nations of theEarth do, and it may be more deeply.

9. But if these Creatures were removed so far off asCardan would have them, I do not see how they could have anycommunion at all with us, to doe us either good or hurt. Forthat they are able to send Apparitions or Dreams at thisdistance, is it self but a Dream, occasioned from that firstErrour in the Aristotelean Philosophy, tha| makes God and theIntelligences act from the heavenly sphears, and so to produceall these Effects of Nature below; such as can never be donebut by a present Numen and Spirit of Life that pervades allthings.

10. This conceit therefore of his shall be no hindrance toour concluding, That this lower Region of the Aire is alsoreplenisht with Daemons. Which if it be, it is not unlikely butthat the Impurer Sou/s wander there also; though I have takenall this pains to bring still greater trouble upon my self. For itis obvious to object that which Lucretius has started of old, thatthis Region being so obnoxious to Windes and Tempests, theSouls will not be able to keep their Vehicles of Aire about them,but that they will be blown in pieces by the roughness of thesestorms. But we may be easily delivered of this solicitude, if weconsider the Nature of Lhe Windes, the nature of these Vehicles,and the Statich power of the Soul. For to say they will make asgood shift as the Genii here, is not fully satisfactory, because aman would also willingly understand how the Genii themselvesare not liable to this inconvenience. My Answer therefore shallreach both.

11. That Windes are nothing else but Watery particles attheir greatest agitation, Cartesius has very handsomelydemonstrated in his Meteors: Which particles do not so muchdrive the Aire before them, as pass through it, as a flight ofarrows and showers of haile or rain. One part of the Airetherefore is not driven from another; but it is as if one shouldconceive so many little pieces o[ haire twirling on their middle

Ohap. ll I. 'l'he lmrnort rrlrl v ol' llrr. Sorrl. 20{)

point as at quarter-staff'c, rtttrl so p:rssing fhr'«lugh t,hc Airt';which motion would pass (i'ec, wit,lrotrI carrying [he Airc akrngwith it. This therefore being tht na[ure of Win«le, the Aire isnot torn apieces thereby, though we finde the impetus of itmoving against us, because it cann«rt penetrate our Bodies wilhthat facility that it does the Aire.

12. But the Vehicles of the Genii and Souls deceased at'r!much what of the very nature of the Aire; whence it is pl:rinl.yimpossible that the Winde should have any other force on themthen what it has on the rest of that Element; and therefore thcleast thing imaginable will hotd all the parts together. Which istrue also if the Winde did carry along Lhe Aire with it: for thcnthe Vehicles of the Genii would move along with the stream,suffering little or no violence at all, unless they would firrct,themselves against it. Which they are not necessitated fo tkre,as indeed not so much as to come into it, or not at least Lr»

continue in it, but may take shelter, as other living Creaturesdoe, in houses, behind walls, in woods, dales, caverns, r'ocksand other obvious places; and that maturely enough, thcchange of Aire and prognostick of storms being mot'Lr

perceptible to them then to any terrestrial animal.13. And yet they need not be so cautious to keep out o{'

danger, they having a power to grapple with the greatest o[' it,,which is their Statich faculty; which arises from the powcr o('

directing the motion of the particles of their Vehicle. F-or' [hr'.yhaving this power of directing the motion of these particlcswhich way they please, by Axiome 31. it necessarilly f<lllr»ws,

that they can determinate their course inwards, or towartl t,hr.

Centre; by which direction they will be all kept close t«rgcrthcr',

firm and tight: which ability I call the Stoticä power ofl the Sr>ul.

Which if it can direct the whole agitation of the particles o(' tht'Vehicle, as well those of the first and second Element as fhostof the Air, and that partly towards, the Centre, and partly in a

countertendency against the storms, this force and fir'rnnesswill be far above the stronges[ Windes that she can pr>ssiblymeet with.

14. Wherefore the Soul's Vehicle is in no danger' ft'orn t,ho

boisterousness of the Wincls, and if it wcre, yet therc is no Ir'rrr'of cessation <lf' Li[c. If«lr as the wind bkrws o(I'ono part r»l' Airr',it brings <ln th<lugh t,here be no need to takc rt-.('ugt irr so l:rrgt'an H.yp«rt,hosis. Arrrl il. is morr) lrroballle t,hat, sht' is rnor'(.

lltculilrly trnit.r,rl t«l ottr. p:trt, «lf'thc Airr. t,ht,tt :rrtol,hr.r', rrrtrl t,lr;rl

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she dismisses her Vehicle but by degrees, as our Spiritsleasurely pass alvay by insensible Perspiration.

15. We see how little the Soul's Vehicle can beincommodated by storms of Winde. And yet Rain, Hail, Snowand Thunder will incommodate her still less. For they pass asthey do through other parts of the Aire, which close againimmediately, and leave neither wound nor scarre behinde them.Wherefore all these Meteors in their Mediocrity may be apleasure to her and refreshment; and in their excess no longpain, nor in their highest rage any destruction of life at all.From whence we may safely conclude, that not only the UpperRegion, but this Lower also, may be inhabited both by thedeceased Souls of Men and by Daemons.

Chap. IV.

I. That the Soul once hauing quitted this Eorthly Body becomes aDaemon 2. Of the External Senses of the Soul separate, theirnumber and limits in the Vehicle. 3. Of Sieht in a Vehicleorganized and unorganized. 4. How Daemons and separateSouls hear ond see of a uast Distance: and whence it is thatthough they may so easiiy hear or see us, &,e may neither see norhear them. 5. That they haue Hearing os well as Sight. 6. Ofthe Touch, Smell, Tast, and Nourishmen| of Daemons. 7. Theexternal employment that the Genä ond Sou/s deceased may haueout of the Body. 8. Thot the actions of Seporate Sou/s, inreference to u.s, are most-what comformable to their life here onEarth. 9. What their Entertainments are in reference tothemselues. LO. The distinction of Orders of Daemons from theplaces they most frequent.

I. The next thing we are to enquire into is the Employmentof the Soul after Death; how she can entertain her self, and passaway the time, and that either in Solitude, in Compony, or asshe is a Political member of some Kingdome or Empire.Concerning all which in the general we may conclude, that it iswith her as with the rest of the Aöreal Genii, I tö"p VUXqunoöuoa;-rävr1 rö oulpur ö«rprovtöv tott. for the Soul hauing once putoff this Terrestrial Body becomes o Genius her self; as MaximusTyrius, Xenocrates, Philo and others expressly afflrrm. But we

shall consider these things rnor(r prrrt,iculrrrl.y.2. As for those Emplovments whcrcwit,lr she may entert,:tirt

her self in solitude, they are either Ol2iet:ts of the ExtcrnttlSense.s, or of the Inward Minde. Concerning the former whet'cof'it is more easie to move Questions then satisfie them; rlsWhether she have the same number of Senses she had in thislife. That she is endued with Hearing, Sight and Toucä, I thinkthere can be no scruple, because there will fall to her shat'ttnecessarily, whether her Vehicle be organized or not; and thaLof Seeing and Toucä is the most uncontrovertible of all. For t[rt'sense of visible Objects being discovered to us by transmissi«rrtof Motion through those Spherical particles that are contintrctlalong from the Object through the Aire to our very Organ of'

Sight ( which sees merely by reason of these particles beingvitally united with the Soul) the same particles pervading allthe Soul's Vehicle, it is impossible but that she should see. []ut,

the Question is, whether she sees in every part thereof. 'l'owhich I must answer, No: partly from what I have alread.ydeclared concerning the Heterogeneity of her Plastick part; anrlpartly from a gross inconvenience that would follow thisSupposition. For if we should grant that the Soul saw in evet'vpart of her Vehicle, every Object that is near would not onl.y

seem double, but centuple, or millecuple; which would be a ver'.y

ugly enormity and defacement of Sigät. Wherefore we havr',with very good reason, restrained the Visiue faculty of the soulin this state of Separotion, as well as it was in the TerrestriolBody.

3. But this hinders nothing but that the Soul, when she liesin one Homogeneol orb of Aire, devoid of organization, may .§ee

round about her, behinde, before, above, beneath, and evcryway. But if she organize her Vehicle, Sight may haply bcrestrain'd, as in us who cannot see behinde us. WhichConsideration we toucht upon before.

4. It is plain therefore that these Aöreol Spirits, though we

cannot see them, cannot miss of seeing us; and that, it may be,from a mighty distance, if they can transform their Vehicle, orthe Organ of Sight, into some such advantageous Figure as iswrought in Dioptrick Glasses. Which power will infinitelyexceed the contracting amd ditating of the pupil of our F)yc,

which yet is a weirker and mofe defectuous ntternpt towards s«r

high a Privile«lgr' :ls w(' speak oft which n«ltwit,hst,lrnding rn:-r.y

seem ver'.y lrosstlrlr. irr .\pirlls, fi'om :il and :14 Axiomtrs. 'l'ht'

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same also may be said of their Hearing. For the same principlemay enable them to shape themselves Organs for the receivingof Sounds, of greater art and excellency then the most accurateAcoustich we read of, or can excogitate.

Wherefore it is a very childish mistake to think, thatbecause we neither see the shape nor hear the discourse ofSpirirs, that they neither hear nor see us .For soft Bodies areimpressible by hard ones, but not on the contrary; as meltedWax will receive the Signature of the Seal, but the Seal is notat all impressed upon by the Wax. And so a solid Body willstop the course of the Aire, but the Aire will not stop the courseof a solid Body; and every inconsiderable terrestrial consistencywill reflect Light, but Light scarce moves any berrestrial Bodyout of its place, but is rebounded back by it. That thereforethat is most tenuious and thin, is most passive, and therefore ifit be once the Vehicle of Sense, is most sensible.

Whence it will follow, that the reflexion of Light, fromObjects being able to move our Organs, that are not so fine,they will more necessarily move those of the Genii, and at agreater distance. But their Bodies being of diaphanous Aire, itis impossible for us to see them, unless they witl givethemselves the trouble of reducing them to a more terrestrialconsistency, whereby they may reflect light. Nor can we easilyhear their ordinary speech, partly because a very gentle motionof the Aire will act upon their Vehicles, and partly becausethey may haply use the finer and purer part of thab Element inthis exercise, which is not so fit to move our Sense. Andtherefore unless they will be heard dqfi. operö. ( of which theDevil of Mascon is a notorious example) naturally bhat impressof the Air in their usual discourse can never strike our Organ.

5. And that we may not seem to say all this for nought;that they will have Hearing as well as Seeing, appears fromwhat I have intimated above, that this Faculty is ranged nearthe Common Sensorium in the Vehicle, as well as that of Sight;and therefore the Vehicle being all Air, such percussions of itas cause the sense of Sound in us will necessarily doe the likein them; but more accurately, haply, if they organize theirVehicle for the purpose, which will answer to the arrection ofthe Ears of Animals, for the better taking in the Sound.

6. That they have the sense of Touch is inevitably true,else how could they feel resistance, which is necessary in thebearing of one Body against another, because they are

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impenetrabte? And t<l speuk [i'r,r,l.y rrr.y rnirrrl, it, will lrc ir vr!r'.y

hard thing to disprove that the.y hirvr. rrot. s«lrnr.rt,hing urtitlogiculLo Smell and ?osf, which ilre ver'.y nei-rl' :.r-kin to 'l'<tuch trlropcrl.yso called. For Fumes and Orl«x,r.s passirtg so easily thrt»ugh t,hc

Air, will very naturally insinuate into their Vehicles uls«r:

which Fumes, if they be grosser and humectant, may ntiscthat diversification of Touch which we Mortals call 'l'osting; if'more subtle and dry, that which we call Smelling. Which i[' wt'should admit, we are within modest bounds as yot incomparison of others; as Cardan, who affirms downright fhat,the Aöreal Genii are nourished, and that some of them get intothe Bodies of Animals to batten themselves there in their Bkrudand Spirits. Which is also averred by Man:us thcMesopotamian Eremite in Psellus, who tells us that bhe purcr'sort of the Genii are nourished by drawing in the Air', as ourSpirits are in the Nerves and Arteries; and that other Genii, ot'

a courser kinde, suck in moisture, not with the Mouth us wedo, but as a Sponge does water. And Moses Aegyptia.s writesconcerning the Zabii, that they eat of the blood of theirSacrifice, because they thought it was the food of the l)uemonsthey worshipped, and that by eating thereof they werc in abetter capacity to communicate with them. Which things if'they could be believed, that would be no such hard Problemeconcerning the Familiars of Witches, why they suck them. []utsuch curiosities, being not much to our purpose, I willinglyomit.

7. The conclusion of what has been said is this, That it is

certain that the Genii, and consequently the Souls of' mendeparted, who ipso facto are of the same rank with them, havethe sense of Seeing, Hearing and Touching, and not improbablyof Smelling and Tasting. Which Faculties being gran[ed, theyneed not be much at a loss how to spend their time, though itwere but upon external Objects; all the furniture of Heaven andEarth being fairly exposed to their view. They see the sameSun and Moon that we do, behold the persons trnd converse of'all men, and, if no special Law inhibit them, may pass fi'«rmTown to Town, and flrom City to City, as Hesiorl als<l intimates,

[:li:1xr tooäpr:vot näoav tpotrdnv r:n' ui«vThere is nol,hirrg t,hrtt, we enjoy but they ma.y have thcir' fircsout of it,; lirir l,'ir.kls, large :rnd invious W«r«rrls, plcasant.Gardcns, lripilr rrrrrl lrr.irlt,h[ul Mountains, wllt'r'e t,lrr.. purcst,gusts r»l'Arr' :rrr. lo lrr. lrrct, wit,h, Or.yst,al ltivt'r's, rnoss.y Sprirtgs,

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solemnity of Entertainments, Theatrick Pomps and Shews,publick and private Discourses, the exercises of Religion,whether in Temples, Families, or hidden Cells.

They may be also (and haply not uninteressed) Spectatorsof the glorious and mischievous hazards of War, whether Sea-fights or Land-fights; besides those soft and silent, thoughsometimes no less dangerous, Combats in the Camps of Cupids;and a thousand more particularities that it would be too long toreckon üp, where they haply are not mere Spectators butAbettors, &s Plutarch writes: Like old men that are pastWrestling, Pitching the Barre, or playing at Cudgelsthemselves, yet will assist and abet the young men of theParish at those Exercises. So the Souls of men departed,though they have put off with the Body the capacity of theordinary functions of humane Life, yet they may assist andabet them, as pursuing some design in them; and that eitherfor evil or good, according as they were in the Body.

8. In brief, whatever is the Custome and Desire of the Soulin this life, that sticks and adheres to her in that which is tocome; and she will be sure, so farre as she is capable, either toact it, or to be at least a Spectator and Abettor of such kinde ofactions.

... Quae gratia currümArmorümque fuit uiuis, quae cura nitentesPascere equos, eadem sequiitur tellure repostos.

Which rightly understood is no poetical fiction, but a professedTruth in Plato's Philosophy.And Maximus Tyrius speaksexpresly even of the better sort of Souls, who having left thebody, and so becoming röt aüröt lp6vtot rcai v6;-ru-l ö«rlproveq ovr'dvrlprbruov i.e. being made ipso facto Genii in stead of men, that,beside the peculiar happiness they reap thereby to themselves,they are appointed by God, and have a mission from him, to beOverseers of humane affairs: but that every Genius does notperform every office, but as their natural Inclinations andCustomes were in this life, they exercise the like in somemanner in the other. And therefore he will have Aesculapius topractise Physick still, and Hercules to exercise his strength,Amphilochus to prophesy, Costor and Pollux to navigate, Minosto hear causes, and Achilles to war. Which opinion is as likelyto hold true in Bad Souls as in Good; and then it will follow,that the Souls of the wicked make it their business to assistand abet the exercise of such Vices as themselves were most

Ohap. lV. 'l'hc Irnrnort,rrlrly ol' llrc Sotrl."lIlt

addicted to in this lif'e, and t,o lttitrt:rl,tt and fcrnpt men t,o t,hern.

From whence it would fbll«rw, t,Jr:rt, they being thus b.v t,hcir'

separate state Doemons, as has l)t't'n said already, if' tht'.y bt'

also tempters to evil, they will very little differ flrorn m()r'('

Deuils.9. But besides this employment in reference to us, t,he.y

may entertain themselves with Intellectual Contemplatitlns,whether Natural, Mathematical, or Metaphysical. I"ot'

assuredly Knowledge is not so easy and cheap in this statc of'

Separation, but that they may advance and impt'«tvrr

themselves by exercise and Meditations. And they being in a

capacity to forget by reason of desuetude, it will be a new pltra-

sure to them to recall to minde their almost obliterat,ospeculations. And for those that take more pleasure in outwo,nlsense then in the operations of their Understanding;Lhere beingso much change in Nature, and so various qualifications o[ [hcAire and these inferiour Elements, which must needs act upttrt

their Aöreol Bodies to more or less gratification or dislike, [hisalso will excuse them from being idle, and put them upon qucst,

after such refreshments and delights as nature will afford thcmultifarious presages and desires of their flitting Vehicles.

10. Not but that they keep constant to some generrtlinclination, which has divided these Aöreal Wanderers into srr

many Orders or Tribes; the ancient Philosophers and Poct,s(which are Philosophers of the ancientest standing of .rll)having assigned places proper to each Order: the Sea, Riversand Springs to one, Mountains and Groves to others, and so <lf'

the rest. Whence they imposed also those names of thrr

Nereides, Naiades, Oreades, Dryades, and the like: to which y«ru

may adde the Dii tutelares of Cities and Countries, and thostr

that love the warmth of Families and homely converse of Men,such as they styled Lares familiares. All which, and hundredsmore, which there is no need to recite, though the.y be engagt'rlever in one natural propension, yet there being s«l gt'eat variet.yof occasions to gratify it more or less, their thoughLs may lrtrimployed in purchasing and improving those «lelighls that itrcmost agreeable to their own nature. Which ptrticularities t,«t

run over would be as infiniLe as useless.'l'h('s(. sh«lt't, int,imlrt,itlns are str['[it'it'rrt t,o makc tls

un«ltrst:tttrl t.lr:rt l,ltr' ()rnii. and Seponr.lt' ,\otrls ttt'cd watlt lloh)mltlttynrr,rrl, rro nol n SoLi.tude: for strclr tttttst, t,hcir stlr.y rtlsrr

amorrllsl ur{ lx,r':ilcclnt'tl, when thcy rftr tttlt, scnsibl.y,;tttrl

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216 'l'he Immortality 0f'the Sotrl. Book III

personally converse with us.

Chap. V.

I. That the Sepora.te Soul spends not all her time in Solitude. 2.That her conuerse with us seems more intelligible then that withthe Genii. 3. Hout the Genii may be uisible one to another,though they be to us inuisible. 4. Of their approaches, and of thelimits of their swiftness of motion: 5. And how they far exceed usin celerity. 6. Of the fi.gure or shape of their Vehicles, and oftheir priuacy, when they would be inuisible. 7. That they cannotwell conuerse in a mere simple Orbicular forme. 8. That theyconuerse in Humane shape, at least the better sort of them. 9.Whether the shape they be in proceed merely from the Imperiumof their Will ond Fancy, or is regulated by a natural Character ofthe Plastick part of the Soul. 10. That the personal shape ofa Soul or Genius is partly from the Will, and partly from thePlastick power. Ll. That considering how the Soul organizes theFoetus in the Womb, and moues our limbs at pleasure, it were awonder if Spirits should not haue such command ouer theirVehicles as is belieued. 12. A further Argument from anexcessiue uirtue some haue giuen fo Imagination.

I. But the Seporate state of the Soul does not condemn herto this Solitude, but being admitted into the Order of the Genii,she is possessed of their Priviledges, which is to conversepersonally with this Aäreal people, and also upon occasion withthe Inhabitants of the Earth; though the latter with far moredifficulty.

2. As for her converse with the Aöreal Genii and otherSouls Separate, it must be in all reason concluded to beexceeding much more frequent then that with Men, and yetthis latter is in some sort more intelligible; because it is certainshe can see us, light being reflected from our Opake Bodiesunto her Sense, and by conspissating her Vehicle she maymake her self uisible to us. But the Vehicles of the Genii and ofSou/s being in their natural consistence purely Aöreal, and Airbeing a transparent Body, it will transmit the light wholly; andso no reflexion being made from these Aiery Bodies, they canhave no perception of one anothers presence, and therefore no

Oh:rp. V. 'l'hr. ltrunot'l,rrlrl.y ul' llrr, liorrl ,.), l'l

socic[.y nor communlon ortr. wil,lr nnol,lrr,r'.:]. 'fhis seerns a shrowrl l)il'lrrrrlly rrl, l,lrr. [irst, view. Ilut, it

is easily taken off, if we consirk'r' l,h:rl ztrrr will admit o[' rnun.ydegrees of Rorelaction ltnd Oorufunsulion, anrl yet still upJlc:rr'unto us alike invisible, as one ryra.y observe in the Weothrr-glass. But it were more proper t«r [)r'o[)ose in this case t,lrr.

Experiment of the Wind-gun, wherein Lhe Aire is compressc«l t,«r

a great number of degrees of Condensation beyond its naLur':rlstate; within the compass of many whereof there is no doubt, il'not in the utmost, that the Aire does remain invisible L«t us.But there is no scruple to be made but that in the progross o['these degrees of Condensation the Aire, if it were in a (.)/c.s.s-

barrel, might become visible to the Genii, by reason o[' t,ht'tenderness and delicacy of their Senses, before it would be so t,ous.

Whence it follows, that the Vehicles of the Cenü may hirvca consistency different from the Aire, and perceptible to tht,m,that is to säy, to one anothers sight, though it be :lsunperceptible to us as the rest of the Aire is. As, it ma.y br, a

man that has but bad eyes would not be able to distinguislr lt'r,immersed in the Water from the Water it self by his sight,,though he ,might by his Touch. Or if their Vehicles c«rukl lrr.supposed purer and finer then the rest of the Aire, t,lrt.ir'presence might be perceptible by that means too. I,'or t.lrisvaporous Aire having without question a confused reflcxiorr of'light in it, every way in some proportion like that in a Mist,, or'when the Sun shines waterishly and prognosticks r:lin; t,ht sorepercussions of light being far more sensible to the Genii t,lrr.rrto us, the lessening of them would be more sensiblc, rrnrltherefore the diminution of reflexion from their Vehicles wotrklbe sufficient to discover their presence one to another': unrl lirrthe illustrating of this Hypothesis, the experiment o[' l.lrr.

Weather-gloss is more proper.But the other supposition I look upon as the more likcl.y t,o

be true; and that as the o.quatil Animals th.rt live in t,ht' Slohave a consistency grosser then the Element the.y move in, s«r it,

is with these that live in the Aire, though therc be nothing n('rr'so great a difference here us in that otherr Fllement.

4. It is plain therefilre, t,hat t,hc I'ersons «ll' Lha Genü anrlSeparate Souls lrre visi[lle olrc t,o lrnot,hcr': l]ut, .y«'t l'rot, rrt, rrrr.y

distance, atttl t,hr.r'cfirt'c t,ftet'r,' is rtet'cssit,.y o['alrtrlroaching t,o onr.a.n«tthol' lirr rrtrrl,tr:rl ('onvorrir': whicJr r.rr[ilrcr.s us t,<l s:l.y

40,to

2lt] 'l'hc Immortality of the Soul. Book III Chatrl. V. 'l'he Itntrtrlt'l,rtltly ol' lltr' 5ottl, '2lll

acCord with the natun: of' t,ltc Sottl, sttpposittg shc consist «tf'

Central and Rodiol essencc, ils t Jtrtvc irb«rve described, and thtr

Common Sensorium be placed in t,hc rnirlst. In this t'igure ma.y

the Soul reside in the Aire, and haply rnelt herself, I mean her

Vehicle, into near so equal a liquidity with that part of th:rt 5

Element adjacent to her, that it may be in some measure liktr

ou,r retiring into Secrecy from the sight of men, when we desire

to be private by our selves.7. But she may, if she will, and likely with far more ease,

change this consistency of her Aöreal Body into such a degree of' I o

thickness, that there may be a dubious discovery of her, as inthe glimpse of a Fish under the water, and may süill make her

self more visible to her fellow-Genii, though keeping yet thissimple Orbicular form. But what converse there can be betwixttwo such heaps of living Aire, I know not. They may indeed ll-r

communicate their Affection§ one to another in such a way as isdiscovered in the Eye, wherein the motions of the Spirits d«r

plainly indicate the Poss ions of the Mind: so that it may seem

possible, in this simple Figure, to make known their joy or griel',

peaceableness or wrath, loue or dislike, by the modification of the 20

motion of the Spirits of their Vehicle. But how there can well

be entertained any Intellectual or Rational Conference, with«lut

any further organization of their Aiery Bodies, I profess my

self at a loss to understand.8. Wherefore the Genii and Separate Souls, whatever thcir' 2f'

shape be in private, appear in a more operose and articulateform when they are to converse with one another. Por thcycan change their Figure in a manner as they please, by Axiomtr

34. Which power, I conceive, will be made use of not onely for

service, but ornament amd pulchritude. And the mtlst :t0unexceptionable Beauty, questionless, is that of Man in the

best patterns ( chuse what Sex you will) and far above the rest

of Creatures; which is not our judgement onely, but His thut,

made us. For certainly he would g,ve to the Principal ol

terrestrial Animals the noblest form and shape; which though it' :|5

be much obscured by our unfortunate Fall, yet questionless tht:

defacement is not so great, but that we may have a near guess

what it has been heretofore. It is most rational therelirrc t,tr

conclude, thlt thei Aöroal Genii converse with one anotlrct' in

Humane shrtlx',lrt, least the better sort o['them. '10

10

something of their Local Motion. Which is neither by Fins norWings, as in Fishes or Birds, who are fain to sustainthemselves by these instruments from sinking to the bottome ofeither Element: but it is merely by the direction of the agitationof the particles of their Vehicle toward the place they aime at;and in such a swiftness or leasureliness as best pleasesthemselves, and is competible to their natures. For they cangoe no swifter then the whole summe of agitation of theparticles of their Vehicle will carry so much Matter, nor indeedso swift; for it implies that their Vehicles would be turned intoan absolutely-hard Body, such as Brass or Iron, or whateverwe flrnd harder; so that necessarily they would fall down to theEarth as dead as a Stone. Those therefore are but phantastickconceits that give such agility to Spirits, as if they could behere and there and every where at once, skip from one Pole ofthe World to another, and be on the Earth again in a moment:whenas in truth they can pass with no greater swiftness thenthe direction of such a part of the agitation of the particles oftheir Vehicles will permit, as may be spared from what isemployed in keeping them within a tolerable compass of a dueAöreal fluidity.

5. And this alone will suffice to make them exceed us inactivity and swiftness by many degrees. For their wholeVehicle is haply at least as thin and moveable as our AnimalSpirits, which are very few in comparison of this luggage of anearthly Body that they are to drive along with them. But thespiritual Bodies of the Genii have nothing to drive along withthem but themselves; and therefore are more free and light,compared to us, then a mettl'd Steed that has cast his Rider,compared with a Pack-horse loaden with a sack of Salt.

6. The next thing to be considered, touching Lhe mutualconuersation of these Aöreal Genii, is the shape they appear inone to another, of what Figure it is, and whether the Figure beNatural, or Arbitrarious, or Mixt. For that they must appear insome Figure or other is plain, in that their Vehicles are not ofan infinite extension. It is the more general Opinion, that thereis no particular Figure that belongs unto them naturally, unlessit be that which of all Figures is most simple, and most easy toconform to, even by external helps, which is the equalcompression o[ the Aire on every side of the Vehicle, by whichmeans drops of Dew and Rain and pellets of Hail come soordinarily info [hat shape. Which also will more handsomely

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220 '['he lmmortality of the Soul. Book III

9. But the difficulty now is, whether that Humane shapethat the soul transforms her vehicle into be simply the Effectof the Imperium of her will over the Matter she actuates, orthat her will may be in some measure limited or circumscribedin its effect by a concomitant exertion of the plastick power; sothat wnat proceeds from the will may be onely -or. general,that is, That the soul's will may onely command the vehicleinto an Animal form; but that it is the form or shape of a Man,may arise in a more natural way from the concomitantexertion of the Plastick virtue: I say, in a more easy andnatural way; For vehemency of desire to alter the Figure intoanother representation may make the appearance resemblesome other creature: But no forced thing can last long.

The more easy and natural shape therefore thai at least,the better Genii appear in, is Humane: which if it be granted, itmay be as likely that such a determinate Humane ihop, maybe more easy and natural then another, and that the soul,when she wills to appear in personal Figure will transform hervehicle into one constant likeness, unless she disguise her selfon set purpose. That is, the plastick power of every soul,whether of Men, or of the other Genii, dols naturally display itself into a different modification of the Humane shaje, *iri.h i,the proper signature of every particular or individual person:which though it n uy be a littll changed in Generation by virtueof the Imagination of the parents, or quality of their säed, yetthe Soul set free from that Body she got heie, may exquisitelyrecover her ancient form again.

10. Not that the Plastich virtue, awakened by theImperium of her will, shall renew all the lineaments it did inthis Ear-thly Body (for abundance of them are useless and to nopurpose, which therefore, Providence so ordaining, will be silentin this Aiery figuration, and onely such operate as are fit forthis separate state; and such are those as are requisite toperfect the visible feature of a person, giving him ali parts ofeither ornament or use for the pleasure of Rational converse;)nor that this Efformatiue power does determine the wholeappearance alone (for these Aöreal Spirits appear variouslyclad, some like beautiful virgins, others like valiant Warriourswith their Helmets and Plumes of feathers, as philostrotuswould m*ke us believe Achilles did to Apollonius:) But there isa mixt *ction and eff'ect, resulting partly from the freeness oft,he will antl lmogiruttion, ancl partly from tht nat,ur.:rl

Ch.rp. V. 'l'he lmntot'l,ttltl.y ol' llrr, l{ottl.

propension of Lhe Plasticä virt.rrtt, t,t) t'itst, t,lto Vclriclc into such :r

personal shape.11. Which Prerogative of'the Soul, in having this prlwerr

thus to shape her Vehicle at will, [hough it may seem ver.y

strange, because we do not see it done befbre our eyes, not'

often think of such things; yet it is not much more wonderfulthen that she orgonizes the Foetus in the womb, or that we can

moue the parts of our Body merely by our Will and Imaginatiort.And that the Aöreal Spirits can doe these things, that they can

thus shape their Vehicles, and transform themselves inktseveral Appearances, I need bring no new instances there«rf'.

Those Narrations I have recited in my Third Booh againstAtheism do sufficiently evince this Truth. And verily,considering the great power acknowledged in Imagination by allPhilosophers, nothing would seem more strange, then thatthese Aiery Spirits should not have this command over thcirown Vehicles, to transform them as they please.

12. For there are some, and they of no small note, thatattribute so wonderful effects to that Faculty armed withConfidence and Belief (to which Passion Fear may in some

manner be referred, as being a strong belief of an imminent,evil, and that it will surely take effect, as also vehement [)esire,as being accompanied with no small measure of perswasi«rnthat we may obtain the thing desired, else Desire would n«ri be

so very active) I say, they attribute so wonderful fiorce ttlImagination, that they affirm that it will not onely alter a mansown Body, but act upon anothers, and that at a distance; Lhatit will inflict diseases on the sound, and heal the sick; that itwill cause Hail, Snows and Winds; that it will strike down anHorse or Camel, and cast their Riders into a ditch; that it wiildoe all the feats of Witchcraft, even to the making of Gh«rsts

and Spirits appear, by transforming the adjacent Aire into theshape of a person that cannot onely be felt and seen, but herard

to discourse, and that not onely by them whose Imagiruttioncreated this aiery spectrum, but by other by-standers, whoseFancy contributed nothing to its existence. To such anextent as this have Auicenna, Algazel, Panu:elsus, f)<tmponatüu,Voninus and «lthcrs, exalted fhe power of humone Imo14inoti<»rt:.

which if it, wcrc l,r'lr{', t.his Lransfigurati«ln of't,ht' Vehicles of'l,ltr'separut,c Sorrls :urrl ()rnii werc but a t,r'illc in t:otnllltt'is«rtttherc«rl'.

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222 'fhe lmmortality of the Soul. Book III

Chap. VI.

r. More credible Instances of the Effects of Imagination. z. Aspecial and peculiar Instance in signatures of tie Foetus. g.That what Fienus grants, who has so cautiously bounded thepower of Fancy, is sufficient for the present purpose. 4. Examplesapproued of by Fienus. s. certain Examplei rejected by him, and,yet approued of by Fernelius and sennertus. 6. Three nototriousstories of the power of the Mother's Imagination on fäe Foetus,out of Helmont. 7. A conjecturol inferince from those stories,what influence The spirit of Nature has in all plastickoperations. 8. A further confirmation of the conjecture fromsignatures on the Foetus. g. An appiication tiereof ti thetransfiguration of the Vehicles of Daemons.

I. But I shall contain my belief within more moderatebounds, that which the most sober Authors assent to beingsufficient for our turn; and that is the pouter of Imagination onour own Bodies, or what is comprehended within o.ri o*rr, uiz.the Foetus in the womb of the Mother. For that Imaginationwill bring real and sensible effects to pass is plain, in thät somehave raised diseases in their own Bodies by too stronglyimagining of them; by fancying bitter or sour things, havebrought those real sapours into their mouths; at theremembring of some filthy object, have faln a vomiting; at theimaginin g of a Potion, have faln a purging; and -u-ry suchthings of the like nature. Amongst which, that of prefixing toones self what time in the morning we will wake, is no iessadmirable then any. which alterations upon the spirits for theproduction of such qualities is every jot as hard as the rangingthem into new figures or postures.

But the hardest of all is, to make them so determinatelyactive, as to change the shape of the Body, by sending outknobs like horns, as it hapned to cyppus,-of which A{rippaspeaks in his occult. philosoph. which I should ,roi här"repeated here, had I not been credibly informed of a laterExample of the like effect of Imaginotion, though upon moref.rncyfull grounds. That Fear has killed some, and turnedothers gray, is to be referred to Imagination also: the latter ofwhit:h exa.mples is a sign that the plastit:h power of the soul

Chup. V l. 'l'he lmm«lrt,:rlil,.y ol' t,Jre Srtul. 22:t

has some influence also upon the. very hairs: which will makc itless marvellous that the Soul's Vehicle may be turned intrl t,he

live effigies of a Man; not a hair, that is necessary to [heperfecting of his representation, being excluded, [i'ee

Imogination succeeding or assisting the Plastick power in theother state.

2. But of all Examples, those of the Signatures of theFoetus by the Imagination of the Mother come the nearest to ourpurpose. For we may easily conceive, that as the Plostichpower in the Foetu s is directed or seduced by the force of thcMothers Fancy; so the Efformotiue virtue in Souls separate andthe Genü may be governed and directed or perverted by theforce of their Imagination. And so much the more surely b.y

how much the union is more betwixt Lhe Imagination of theSoul and her own P/ostich faculty, then betwixt her and thePlastick power of another Soul; and the capacity of beingchanged, greater in the yielding Aöreal Vehicle, then in thegrosser rudiments of the Foetus in the Womb.

3. And yet the Effects of the force of the MothersImagination in the signing of the Foettrs is very wonderful, andalmost beyond belief, to those that have not examined thesethings. But the more learned sort both of Physicians andPhilosophers are agreed on the truth thereof, as Empedocles,Aristotle, Pliny, Hippocrates, Galen, and all the modernPhysicians, being born down into assent by daily experience.For ühese Signatures of less extravagance and enormity arefrequent enough, as the simulitude of Cherries, Mulberries, thecolour of Claret-wine spilt on a woman with child, with manysuch like instances. And if we stand but to what Fienus hasdefined in this matter, who has, I think, behaved himself as

cautiously and modestly as may be, there will be enoughgranted to assure us of what we aim at. For he does

acknowledge that the Imagination of the Mother may changethe figure of the Foetus so as to make it bear a resemblance,though not absolutely parfect, of an Ap", Pig, or Dog, or anysuch like Animal. The like he afflrrms ofl colours, hers, andexcresencies of several sorts: that it may produce also what isvery like or analogous to horns and lrool.s, rtntl that it mayencrease the bigness and number of thr' 1r:tt't,s o[' t,trg []ody.

4. And th«rugh lre does reject sevr,l'ill ol' llrc I')xamtrrlcs he

has produt:r'rl oul, ol' Authrlrs, yet tho:ic wluclt llt' :trlrrtit,s for'

truc;-rre lnrlir':rt.ions grl;rirt cttough, wlutl wr nr;ry cxpt'r'1. itt l,ltt'

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224 J'he Immortality of the Soul. Book III

vehicle of a departed soul or Daemon. As that of the Hairygirle out of Morcus Damoscenus; that other out of Guilielmur,sPo.rodinus, of a child whose skin and nails resembled those of aBear; and a third out of Bolduinu,s Ronsoeus, of one born withmany excrescencies coloured and frrgured like those in a Turky-cock; and a fourth out of Poreus, of one who was born with anhead like a Frog; as lastly that out of Auicenna, of chickenswith Hawks heads. All which deviations of the plostick powerhapned from the force of Imagination in the Females, eitirer inthe time of Conception, or gestation of their young.

5. But he scruples of giving assent to others, which yet areassented to by very learned writers. As that of Black-moorsbeing born of white Parents, and white children of black, bythe exposal of pictures representing an Aethiopian orEuropean: which those two excellent physicians, ierneliusand sennertus, both agree to. He rejects also that out ofcornelius Gemmo, of a child that was bärn with his Foreheadwounded and running with blood, from the husbands threatninghis wife, when she was big, with a drawn sword which hedirected towards her Forehead. Which will not seem soincredible, if we consider what sennertus records of his ownknowledge, viz. That a woman with child seeing a Butcherdivide a swines head with his cleaver, brought forih her childwith its face cloven in the upper ja*, the palate, and upper lipto the very nose.

6. But the most notorious instances of this sort are thoseof Helmont De injectis materialibus. The one of a Taylor's wifeat Mechlin, who standing at her door, and seeing ; souldiershand cut off in a quarrel, presently fell into labour, being struckwith horrour at the spectacle, and brought forth a chla withone hand, the other arm bleeding without one, of which woundthe infant died by the great expense of blood. Another woman,the wife of one Marcus De vogeler Merchant of Antwe4p, in theyear 1602. seeing a souldier begging who had lost iris rightarm in ostend-siege, which he shewed to the people still blooäy,fell presently into labour, and brought forth a Daughter withone arm struck off, nothing left but a bloody stump to employthe chirurgions skill: this woman married afterwärds to oneHoochcctmer Merchant of Amsterclam, and was yet alive in theyear t6:ltl. lts Helmonf writes. He adds a third example, ofanothe' Me.chanLs wife which he knew, who hearing that on arnor'ning thcre w()r'() t,hirtt't'n rnon to be behgacft:rl (t,his hapnecl

Chap. V I. 'fhe Immr»r'trrlit,.y ol' t,lrr. Srlrrl. 22lt

aL Antwerp in Duke D'Aluo his timc) shc had the curiosity tosee the execution. She getting therefbre a place in thcChamber of a certain widow-woman, a friend of hers that dwelt,in the market-place, beheld this Tragick spectacle; upon whichshe suddainly fell into labour, and brought forth a perfectly-formed infant, only the head was wanting, but the neck bloodyas their bodies she beheld that had their heads cut off. Andthat which does still advance the wonder is, that the hand,arm, and head of these infants, were none of them to be found.From whence Van-Helmont would infer a penefration «lf'

corporeal dimensions; but how groundlessly I will not disputehere.

7. If these Stories he recites be true, as I must confess Ido not well know how to deny them, he reporting them with sohonest and credible circumstances; they are notable examplesof the power of Imagination, and such as do not onely win beliefto themselves, but also to others that Fienus would reject, notof this nature onely we are upon, of wounding the body of theInfant, but also of more exorbitant conformation of parts, ofwhich we shall bring an instance or two anon.

In the mean time, while I more carefully contemplate thisstrange virtue and power of the Soul of the Mother, in whichthere is no such measure of purification or exaltedness, that itshould be able to act such miracles, as I may call them, ratherthen natural effects I cannot but be more then usually inclinableto think that the Plastick faculty of the Soul of the Infant, orwhatever accessions there may be from the Imaginution of' theMother, is not the adequate cause of the formation ofl fheFoetus: a thing which Plotinus somewhere intimates by the bye,as I have already noted, viz. That the Soul of the World,or theSpirit of Nature, assists in this performance. Which if, it bctrue, we have discovered a Cause proportionable to soprodigious an effect. For we may easily conceive that bhe

deeply-impassionated Fancy of the Mother snatches away theSpirit of Noture into consent: which Spirit may ration:rlly be

acknowledged to have a hand in the eflilrmation «rf' all vit,altseings in the World, and haply be the only AgenL in f«rrming of'all manner of I)lants.

In which kinrl wltr-.Lltt-'r' shc. r'xert ltcr' [x)w('r' irr lrn.y ot,hol'Fllermcnts t,ht.n Iirtrth;tttrl Wclrrr, I will cont:lutlt'no I'urt,lrcr', t.ht'rr

that tlrer'(' rlllr.y lrr, :r lrossilrilit,.y t,[tcreo['irt t.ltr.r'lrlrrrr.r' ltcgiorrs o['

Ain' :ttrrl Arl hrr'. 'l'o l,ltr. r'iglrt, trttrk'r'st,:rrtrling o[' wlrich

lt

'2rt

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226 The lmmortality of the Soul. Book III

conjecture, some light will offer it self from what we have saidconcerning the Visibility and Consistency of the Aöreal Dq.emonsin their occursions one with another.

8. But this is not the onely Argument that would moveone to think that this Spirit of Nature intermeddles with theEfformation of the Foetus. For those Signatures that arederived on the Infant from the Mothers fancy in the act ofConception cannot well be understood without this Hypothesis.For what can be the subject of that signature? Not thePlastich part of the Soul of the Mother; for that it is not theMothers soul that efforms the Embryo, as sennertusingeniously conjectures from the manner of the efformation ofBirds, which is in their Eggs, distinct from the Hen, and theymay as well be hatched without any Hen at all, a thingordinarily practised in Aegypt; nor the Body of the Embryo, forit has yet no Body; nor its soul, for the soul, if we berieveAristotle, is not yet present there. But the Spirit of Nature ispresent every where, which snatcht, into consent by the force ofLhe Imogination of the Mother, retains the Note, and will besure bo seal it on the Body of the Infant.

For what rude inchoations the soul of the world has begunin the Matter of the Foetus, this Srgnoture is comprehended inthe whole design, and after compleated by the presence andoperation of the particular Soul of the Infant, which co-operatesconformably to the pattern of the Soul of the World, and insistsin her footsteps; who having once begun any hint to an entiredesign, she is alike able to pursue it in any place, she beingevery where like, or rather the same to her self. For as ourSoul being one, yet, upon the various temper of the Spirits,exerts her self into various imaginations and conceptions; sothe soul of the world, being the same pefectly every where, isengaged to exert her Efformatiue power every where alike,where the Matter is exactly the same.

whence it had been no wonder, if those chickens above-mentioned with Hawks heads had been hatched an hundredmiles distant from the Hen, whose Imagination was disturbedin the act of Conception: because the Sou/ of the world hadbegun a rude draught, which it self would as necessarily pursueevery where, as a Geometricion certainly knows how to draw aCircle that will fit three Points given.

Chap. V l. The Immrlrtalit,.y ol't,ht' Soul- '2',L7

g. This Opinion therefore of' Plotinrzs is neither irrationalnor unintelligible, That the Soul of' the World interposes and

insinuates into all generations of things, while the Matter is

fluid and yielding. Which would induce a man to believe that'

she may not stand idte in the transfiguration of the Vehicles ol'

the Daimons, but assist their fancies and desires, and so help

to cloath them and attire them according to their own

pleasures: or it be may sometimes against their wills, as thc

unwieldiness of the Mothers Fancy forces upon her a

Monstrous birth.

Chap. VII. I rr

l. Three notable Example.s of Signatures, rejected by Fienus: 2'

And. yet so fate allowed for possible, as will fit our design. 3.

That Helmont's Cherry ond Licetus his Crab-fish are shreutd

arguments that the Soul of the World has to doe with all Efformo-

tiins of both Animals and Plants. 4. An Example of o most exact '2ll

and. liuely Signature out of Kircher: 5. With his iudgement there"

upon. 6. Another Example out of him of a child with gray hairs.

7'. An application of what has been said hitherto, concerning the

Signatures of the Foetus, to the tronsfiguration of the Aiery

Vihictet of Separate Souls and Daernons. 8- Of their personol Zr't

transformation uisible to us.

I. Those other Examples of the Signation of the F<tetus

from the Mothers Fancy, which Fienus rejecteth, the one o('

them is out of Wierus, of a man that threatened his Wife when :i0she was bigge with child, saying, she bore the Deuil in her'

womb, and that he would kill him: whereupon, not long after',

she brought forth a Child well shaped from the middle

downwards, but upwards spotted with black :rnd red sptlts,

with eyes in its forehead, a mouth like a Satvre, eal's like a :15

Dog, and bended horns on its head like a (]oat. 'fhe «rthcr out

of Luclouicus Viues, of one who returning home in the disgtrisc

of a Deuil, whose purt he acted on the Stagr-r, and having t«r dttc

with his wife in t,h:rt, hittrit, saying he w«rttltl beget t l)tttiL <tn

her, impt'tgnltt.crl Jtt't' wilh :] Monst,er' o[' a shupg pllrirll.y 40

<lküoli<ttl. 'l'hr, t.lrrrrl :urrl rnost, t'etn:.tt'ktrlrkr is rlut, tl[' I)rrtrrnttl,tts,

o[':t M«xtstt.t' lt<tt'tt :rt §. ltrrrn'rtcr in tttc Wr'.s/-/rr«/ics, irr t'ht'

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228 'l'he [mmortality of'the Soul. Book III

year 1573. the narration whereof was brought to the Duke ofMedino Sidonia from very faithful hands. How there was aChild born there at that time, that besides the horribledeformity of its mouth, ears and nose, had two horns on thehead, like those of young Goats, long hair on the body, a fleshygirdle about his middle, double, from whence hung a piece offlesh like a purse, and a bell of flesh in his left hand, like thoseLhe Indi@ns use when they dance, white boots of flesh on hisleggs, doubled down: In brief, the whole shape was horrid anddiabolical, and conceived to proceed from some fright theMother had taken from the antick dances of the Indians,amongst whom the Deuil himself does not fail to appearsometimes.

2. These Narrations Fienu.s rejecteth, not as false, but asnot being done by any natural power, or if they be, that thedescription are something more lively then the truth. But inthe mean time he does freely admit, that by the mere power ofImagination there might be such excrescencies as mightrepresent those things that are there mentioned; though thosediabolical shapes could not have true horns, hoofs, tail, or anyother part specifically distinct from the nature of Man. But sofarre as he acknowledges is enough for our turn.

3. But Fortunius Licetus is more liberal in his grants,allowing not onely that the Births of women may be veryexquisitely distorted in some of their parts into the likenessof those of Brutes, but that Chimaerical imaginations inDreams may also effect it, as well as Fancies or externalObjects when they are awake. Of the latter sort whereof heproduces an Example that will more then match our purpose,of a Sicilian matron, who by chance beholding a Craä in aFishermans hand new caught, and of a more then ordinarylargeness, when she was brought to bed, brought forth a Crab(as well as a Child ) perfectly like those that are ordinarilycaught in the Sea. This was told him by a person of credit,who both knew the Woman, and saw the Crab she broughtforth.

Helmont's Cherry he so often mentions, and how it wasgreen, pale, yellow, and red, at the times of year other Cherriesare, is something of this nature; that is to say, comes near tothe perfect species of a Cherry, as this did of a Crab, theplantal tife of a Cherry being in some measure in the one, asthe life of an Animal was perfectly in the other. Which

Chap. V ll. 'fhe Imrntlt't.ttlrl,y rll' l,ltr Sottl' '2'2(,1

confirms what we said bef«rt'tr, t'ltttt' st'r't'ltg[h ol'out' /)esirtr :rnd

Imagination may snabch into ctlnsottt, t,ltc Spirit of' Noture, atttl

rnut " it act: which once having bcgun, Ittave's not off, lf Muttttr

will but serve for to work up-on; und being the same in all

places, acts Lhe same upon the same Matter, in the samc lt

circumstances. For the Root and sou/ of every vegetable is th*

Spirit of Nature,' in uirtue whereof this Cherry flourisht orul

,iprned, according to the seasons of the Country where the

party was that bore that live Signature'These two instances are very shrewd arguments thlt thc I0

Soul of the World has t0 doe with all Efformation of eithcr

Plants or Animals. For neither the Chitds Soul nor thc

Mothers, in any likelihood, could frame that Crab, though thc

Mother might, by that strange power of Desire and

Imagination, excite the Spirit of the World, Lhat attempts upon l5any-Matter that is flrtted for generation, some way or other, [<r

make something of it; and being determined by the fancy of thc

woman, might-sign the humid materials in her womb with thc

image of the Minde.4. Wherefore if Fienus had considered from what potent 20

causes Signature.s may arise, he would not have been so

scrupulo.r, in believing that degree of exactness that some o{'

them are reported to have: or if he had had the good hap tr»

have met with so notable an example thereof, as Kircher

professes himself to have met with. For he tells a siory of a 'Llt

man that came to him for this very cause, to have his opinion

what a certain strange Signature, which he had on his Arrn

from his birth, might portend; concerning which he had

consulted both AsffoTogers and Cabbalists, who had promiserd

great preferments, the one imputing it to_ the Influence tlf the :i0§tu..,^the other to the favour of the sealing Order of Angels'

But Kircher would not spend his judgement upon a mere verbal

description thereof; though he had plainly enough told him, itwas tÄe Pope sitting on his Throne, with a Dragon under his l'eet,

and. an Angel putting a Crown on his head' lll-r

Wherefo.L th" äu. desirous to hear a further conf irmafion

of these hopes (he had conceived fi'om the firvourabltr

conjectur", of others) by the suffrage of so leirrncd iI man' was

wiliing in p'ivrrt. L. put off his doublet, a.tl sh.w his A'm t'rr

Kirchir: wlro huviltg viewed it with r-tll possilllc cal'e, tlocs '1o

prOfeSs t,6at, t,lrr. Si1;rtrrlrrn' waS so per'['ect,, t,hlrt it. st't-'ttletl t'aLltt't'

ihe w,t,.k t»l' Ar.l t,lrr.rr ol'r.xol'bit,abing Nultrrt", rttttl .yct, ll.y ct't't,ltitt

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230 The lmmortality of the Soul. Book III

10

observations he made, that he was well assured it was thework of Nature, and not of Arr, though it was an artificiar piecethat Nature imirared, uiz. the pic-ture of pope C;;g;ry thethirteenth, who is sometimes drawn according as this signaturedid lively represent, namely on a Throne, with a D.agoi underhis feet, leaning with one hand on his Seat, and bäring theother in that posture in which they give the Benediction, aid anl"g:t removing a curtain and .äu.nirg a crown towards hisnead.

5. Kircher therefore leaving the superstitions and fooleriesof the spurious cabbarisfs and-A strologers,told him the truth,though nothing so pleasant as their lies-anj flatteries , uiz. Thatthis szgnature,was not impressed by any either influence of theStars, or Seals of Angels, but that ii was the effect of theImo.gination of his Mother that bore him, who in some moretfen ordinary fit of affection towards this pope, whose pictureshe beheld in some chapper or other prace of ier devotion, urrahaving some occasion to touch her Arm, printed that imaiu o,the Arm of her child, as it ordinarily t uppuns in such cases.which doubtless was the true solution of the mystery.6- The same Author writes, how he was invited by afriend to contemplate another strange miracle (as he thoughtthat did invite him to behold it) tf,ut he might spend hisjudgement upon it. which was nothing else but an'exposedInfant of some fourteen days ord, that ias gray-hair,d,, bothhead and eye-brows. which his friend, an apotrr".ury,'look,dupon as a grand Prodigy, till he was informed of the causethereof: That the Mother that brought it forth, being marriedto an old man whose head was ali white, the fea, of beingsurprized in the act of Adultery by her snowy-headed husbandmade her imprint that colour on the Child she bore. Whichstory I could not omit to recite, it witnessing to what an exactcuriosity the power of Fancy will work for ihe fashioning andmodifying the Matter, not missing so much as the very ,äbu*of the hoir, as I have arready noteä something to that plrpo.".

7 - To conclude therefore at length, and leave thisluxuriant Theme. whether it be the Foi* of Imaginationcarrying captive the Spirit of Noture into consent, or the S oul ofthe Infctnf, or both; it is evident that the Effects are notable,and sometimes very accurately answering the ld,eo oi- rn"Impregnate, derived upon the moist and d,rctite mattc.r. in thew«rmb: which yet not being an.y thing so yielcring ,s t,lr. s«rr-t,

Ch.rp. V I l. 'l'he Itntrtorl,irlrl,y ol' l lrl Sorrl. 2:l I

Aire, nor the Soul of [he M«rt,ht.r' r{o rnut'll onr. wit,h [hu[ ol' t,ht:Infant as the separate Soul is «lrrc wrt,lr il, sr,ll', nor so peculiarl.yunited to the Body of the [nf ant us t,lrc Soul separa[e with her'own Vehicle, nor having any ncarcr' or more mysteri«ruscommerce with the Spirit of Noture then she has when [rer'Plostick part, by the Imperium of her will and Imagination, rsto organize her Vehicle into a certain shape and form, which isa kind of a momentaneous Birth of the distinct Person:rlity, of'either a Soul separate, or any other Daemon; it follows, thal wr.may be very secure, that there is such a power in the Genii lrndSeparate Sou/s, that they can with ease and accur':_rc.ytransfigure themselves into shapes and forms agreeable to thcir.own temper and nature.

8. All which I have meant hitherto in reflerence t«r t,hci.Visible congresses one with another. But they are sometirnesvisible to us also, under some Animal shape, which questi«rnlessis much more difficult to them then that other Visibility is. Iltrr.this is also possible, though more unusual by far, as being rnor'(.unnatural. For it is possible by Art to compress Aire s«), irs t,o

reduce it to visible opacity, and has been done by somc, itntlparticularly by a friend of Des-Cartes, whom he mentions in hisLetters as having made this Experiment; the Aire getting thisopacity by squeezing the Globuli out of it. Which though t,htSeparate Sou/s and Spirirs may doe by that directive facult,.y,Axiome 31, yet surely it would be very painful. For tht'fir.st,Element lying bare, if the Aire be not drawn exceeding clost', it.will cause an ungratefull heat; and if it be, as unnatural a r:oltl;and so small a moment will make the first Element too mur:h or'too little, that it may, haply, be very hard, at least [irr. [heseinferiour Spirits, to keep steddily in a due mean. Anrltherefore, when they appear, it is not unlikely but that the.ysoak their Vehicles in some vaporous or glutinous moisture or'other, that they may become visible bo us at a more e:.rsy raLc.

Oh.rp. VIll.

5

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I. 'l'lutt thr lltttt'r sorl ol' ( ie niiBulcr xtrntlirnt's in lltstitrl- '2.

lhemx'ltu's ittlo s,'t,,,t'ttl llt'slittl/tt)lx;)öl:t,--. ol' llln('()lt:i splr.rtrlottrs

t'r»rrttt'r'st' in llttmttnt shu1x,, lhtI lorp lltt'.1, tt n, tlislxtstrl b I tt rrt

litrrrrs. :1. ( )l' l'sr.llrrs /ri.s rirryur

o/' I );rr,rnoni-i , ltrttt, I ltr,y' tttt, tntttlt'.

40.to

'l'he lmmortality «lf'thc Soul. Book III

4- That the external Beouty of the Genä is accord,ing to the d.egreeof the inward vertue of their Mind,s. s. That their Aöreal formneed not be purely tronsporent, but more finely opake, andcoloured. 6. Thot there is a d,istinction of Masiulini andFeminine beauty in their personal figurations.

I. After this Digression, of shewing the facility of thefiguring of the vehicles of the Genii into pärsonal shapä, I shallreturn again where we left; which was concerning thssociety ofthese Genii and sou/s seporate, and und,er wiat shape theyconuerse one utith another; which I have already defineä to beHumane, especially in the Better sort of spirits. And as for theworst kind, I should think that they are rikewise for the mostpart in Humane form, though disguised with uglycircumstances, but that they figure themsälves also in Bestialappearances; it being so easie for them to transform theirvehicle into what shape they please, and to imitate the figuresas dexterously as some men will the voices of brute bJasts,whom we may hear sing like a cuckow, crow like a cock,bellow like a cow and calf, bark like a Dog, grunt and squeaklike a Pig, and indeed imitate the cry of ätÄost any Bird orBeast whatsoever. And as easie a matter is it for these lowerGenii to resemble the shapes of all these creatures, in whichthey also appear visibly oftentimes to them that entertainthem, and sometimes to them that would willingly shun them.

2. Nor is it improbable, but the variety oithei, impuritiesmay dispose them to turn themselves into one brutisi shaperather then another; as envying, or admiring, or in some sortapproving and liking the condition and properties of such andsuch Beasts: as Theocritus merily sets oul the venereousness ofthe Goatheard he describes,

Q' no).oq örr' d,oopn, r"q pqr«6aq oi« Baroüvrar.rärerar ögrlulpuA, ött oü rpäyoq üuroq ä7evro.

As if he envied the happiness of the he-Goats, and wishthimself in their stead, in their acts of carnal copulation. soaccording to the several Bestial properties that symbolize withthe uncleanness and vitiousness of the tempers of theseDaemons, they may have a propension to imitate their shaperather then others, and appear ugly, according to the mannerand moasure of'their inter.nal Lurpitudes.

'2:t2

10

Ohap. Vlll. 'l'[rr: lrntrt«rrl,:tlrl y ol' I lrr, ]'iorrl. 2:t:l

3. As it is likely also thlt, l,ltosr. r)ronrirrr or riuyrri nuprifir:rq,those lgneous Splendottrs Psellt s rnrrkcs urtnt,ion o[', (as [he en<land scope of the nefarious corcrnorrrcs [hose wicked wre[ches,he describes, often used) were cokrurt'tl accrlrding to the more or'less feculency of the Vehicle of' the l)uemon that did appear inthis manner, viz. in no personal shape, but by exhibiting irlight to the eyes of his abominable Spectatours and Adorers:which, I suppose, he stirred up within the limits of his owVehicle; the power of his Wilt and Imagination, by Axiome l] l,commanding the grosser particles of the Aire and terrestrialvapours, together with the Globuli, to give back every wäy,from one point to a certain compass, not great, and thereforcthe more easy to be done. Whence the first Element lyes barein some considerable measure, whose activity cannot but lickinto it some particles ofl the Vehicle that borders next,thereto, and thereby exhibit, not a pure star-like light (whit:hwould be, if the first Element thus unbared), and in the midst.of pure Aire, were it self ummixt with other Matter') but by Lhr:feculency of those parts that it abrades and converts in[o flewcl,and the foulness of the ambient Vehicle through which itshines, exhibit a show red and fiery like the Horizontal Sunseen through a thick throng of vapours.

Which Fiery splendour may either onely slide dowrramongst them, and so pass by with the Motion of' Lhe l)oemonsVehicle, which Psellus seems mainly to aime at; or else it ma.ymake some stay and discourse with them it appr'«xtclrcs,according as I have heard some Narrations. Ther reai:ion of'which lucid appeorances being so intelligible «rut of' t,hcPrinciples of Cartesius his Philosophy, we need not c<lnccit t,hat.they are nothing but the prestigious delusions of F'oncy, r-rntl noreal Objects, as Psellus would have [hem; it being no rnor'cuncompetible to a Daemon to raise such a light in his Vehir:lt',and a purer then I have described, then to a wicked rnan t.o

light a candle at a tinderbox.4. But what we have said concerning the purity arrrl

impurity of this light, re-mindes me of what, is «l[ mor'o sutrrlrk,consequence to disc«lurse of here, which is t,he Splentlortr urttlBeouty of- personal shupe in the Retter s<trt of't,ht (,)r,rrii. WJrrt'hassurcdly is llr'(.:tt,(.r'or lesscr', ltt:t:orrling t,«l t,lre lllrgror.s ol'Vertue untl Mt»rutl ttl'li't'tiotts in l,hr'rn. I,'r)r' r.vr.n in t.Jris li<trl.y,thltt is ttot. so yrclrlrrrli lo llrt'lx)w(!r's of'l,lrt.Mirrrl,:t rr)nn rn:ryol)sr'1'vt', tJt:tl, :l('('()r'(lrrrli ;l:i lx.r':i()ns ilr'(. llr.t,l,r,t' or wors(, iltt'ltttcrl,

l»

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'2:14 'l'hc Imrnrlrterliüy o[' tht. Soul. tsook III

thc .i.. .f' their visage will alter much; and that viciouscourses, defacing the inward pulchritude of the Soul, do evench*nge the outwa'd countenance to an abhorred hue.

which must therefore necessarily take place, in a fargreater measure, in the other state; where our outward form iswholy framed from the inward Imperium of our Mind: whichby how much more pure it self is, it will exhibit the moreirreprehensible pulchritude in the outward feature and fashionof the Body, both for proportion of parts, the spirit and aire ofthe Countenance, and the ornament of cloaths and attirings:there being an indissoluble connexion in the soul of the sense ofthese Three things together, vertue, Loue, and Beauty; of allwhich she her self is the first Root, and especially in theSeparote state, even of outward Beouty it selft whence theconverse of the most Vertuous there must needs afford thehighest pleasure and satisfaction; not onely in point of rationalcommunication, but in reference to external and personalcomplacency also. For if Vertue and Vice can be ever .ä"r, withoutward eyes, it must be in these Aöreal vehicles, which yieldso to the will and Idea of good and pure affections, thai theS«lul in a manner becomes perfectly transparent through them,discovering her lovely Beauty in all the efflorescencies therefore,to the ineffable enravishment of the beholder.

5. Not that I mean, that there is any necessity that theirvehicle should be as a Statue ofl fluid Crystal; but that thoseImpresses of Beauty and ornamen, will be so faithfully andlively represented, according to the dictates of her inwardSense and Imagination, that if we could see the Soul her self,we could know no more by her then she thus exhibits to ourcye: which personal figuration in the extimate parts thereof,that represent the Body, Face and vestments, may beattempered to so fine an opacity, that it may reflect the light inrnore perfect colours then it is from any earthly body and yetthc whole Vehicle be so devoid of weight, as it will necessarilykccp its station in the Aire. Which we cannot wonder at, whilewe consider the hanging of the Clouds there, less Aäre al by farthtrn this consistency we speak of: to say nothing of AörealAppuritit)n»^ irs high 's the Clouds, and in the same colours andfigtr.*s as i*r) seL]n he.e below, ancl yet no reflexions oft,r.'r'r'cst.ial ol4ects, as I have pr'«rved in my Third Book againstAt,hcisrn.

Chap. VIII. 'l'he lmtnorl,rtlrl..y ol' l,ltr, l'iorrl. '}illt

l5

Ior0

lIr

'2020

')lt

:lo:t0

ll Ir,l;)

6. The exoct Beouty «rl' t,hc 1lt.r'sonul shapcs and becominghabits of these Aiery Beings, t,]rc bricfesl, antl safest acc<lurttthereof that Philosophy can give, is t,«r re fler to the description of'such things in Poets: and then, when we have perused whafthe height and elegancy of their Fancy has penn'd down, towrite under it, An obscure Subindication of the tronscendentpulchritude of the Aöreal Genii, whether Nymphs or Heroes. Forthough there be neither Lust, nor difference of Sex amongs[them (whence the kindest commotions of Mind will never beany thing else but an exercise of Intellectual loue, whose Objectis Vertue and Beauty;) yet it is not improbable but that thereare some general strictures of discrimination of this Beauty int«lMasculine and Feminine: partly because the temper of theirVehicles may encline to this kind of pulchritude rather thenthat; and partly because several of these Aöreal Spirits havesustained the difference of Sex in this life, some of them herehaving been Males, others Females: and therefore their Historybeing to be continued from their departure hence, they ought toretain some charactere, especially so generol a one, of whatthey were here. And it is very harsh to conceit that Aeneosshould meet with Dido in the other World in any other fbrmthen that of a Woman: whence a necessity of some slighterdistinction of habits, and manner of wearing their hair, willfollow. Which dress, as that of the Masculine mode, is easilyflitted to them by the power of their Will and Imagination: asappears from that Story out of Pero.matus, of the IndiunMonster that was born with fleshy boots, girdle, purse, andother things that are no parts of a Man, but his cloathing <lr'

utensils; and that merely by the Fancy of has Mother, disturb'dand frighted, either in sleep or awake, with some such uglyappearance as that Monster resembled.

Chap. IX.

I. A general account of the mutual entertains of' the Genii in thtother World. 2. Of their Philosophi<:al and Politi«'ol Conle.n:ntt's.3. Of their llelighr* hlxe.n:ises. 4. Ol' the. inrutce.nt Postimrsurul Recreotioruil ol' thr lletter sort ol' them. l». A u»nl'irrnalionthereof' l'rom tlrc ('onttt'nlit'k's <tl' Witches. (i. Wlu:tlu r lhe ltttn,rl)irctn<rns hut,t' thrir lirnts ol' rcpust ot' n(t. 7. Whrntt' tfu' lltrtl

'2rt

,l0 ,l0

2:l(i 'l'he lmmrlrtality o[ the Soul. Book lll

Genii haue their food. 8. Of the food and feastings of the Bettersort of Genii.

I. We have now accurately enough defined in what formor garb the Aöre al Genii converse with one another. It remainswe consider how they mutually entertain one another in passingaway the time. Which is obvious enough to conceive, to thosethat are not led aside into that blind Labyrinth which thegenerality of men are kept in, of suspecting that norepresentation of the state of these Beings is true, that is not soconfounded and unintelligible that a man cannot thinh it sense,unless he wink with the inward eyes of his Minde, and commandsilence to all his Rational Faculties. But if he will but bethinkhimself, that the immediate Instrument of the Soul in this lifeis the Spirits, which are very congenerous to the body ofAngels; and that all our Passions and Conceptions are eithersuggested from them, or imprest upon bhem; he cannot muchdoubt but that all his Faculties of Reason, Imagination andAffection, for the general, will be in him in the other state asthey were here in this: namely, that he will be capable of Loue,of Joy, of Grief, of Anger; that he will be able tn imagine, todiscou,rse, to remember, and the rest of such operations as werenot proper to the Fabrick of this Earthly Body, which is theOfficine of Death and Generation.

2. Hence it will follow, that the Souls of men deceased,and the rest of the Aöreal Daemons, ß&y administer muchcontent to one another in mutual Conferences concerning thenature of things, whether Morol, Natural, or Metaphysical. Forto think that the quitting the earthly Body entitles us to anOmnisiciency, is a Fable never enough to be laugh'd at. AndSocrates, somewhere in Plato, presages, that he shall continuehis old Trade when he comes into the other World; convincingand confounding the idle and vain-glorious Sophists whereeverhe went. And by the same reason Platonists, Aristoteleans,SfoicÄs, Epicureans, and whatever other sects and humors areon the Earth, may in likelihood be met with there, so far asthat estate will permit; though they cannot doubt of all thingswe doubt of here. For these Aöreal Spirits know that

themsleves ore, and that the Souls of men subsist and acf afterdeath, unless such as are too deeply tinctured with Auenroism.But they may doubt whether they will hold out for ever, orwhether they will perish at the conflagration of the World, as

Ohap. lX. 'l'hc Imrrtort.rtlrl y ol' lltr, liotrl.

thc Sfoi«:,t.s would have them.It may be also a greilt, t:otrtt'ovet'sie amongst them,

whether Pythagoras's or Pt<tlemü:' s Hypothesis be tt'utrconcerning the Motion of the Earth; and whether the Stars be

so big as some define them. For these lower Daemons have ntr

better means then we to assure themselves of the truth oI'

falshood of these Opinions. Besides the discourse of News, ol'

the affairs äs well of the Earth as Aire. For the Aöreollnhabitants cannot be less active then the Tenestriol, nor less

busie, either in the performance of some solemn exercises, ot' incarrying on designs party against party; and that either morePrivate or more Pubtick; the Events of which will fill the AöreolRegions with a quick spreading fame of their Actions. To saynothing of prudential conjectures concerning future successes

aforehand, and innumerable other entertains of Conference,which would be too long to reckon up, but bear a very nearanalogy to such as men pass away their time in here.

3. But of all Pleasu,res, there are none that are comparableto those that proceed from their joynt exercise of Religion andDeuotion For their Bodies surpassing ours so much in tenuityand purity, they must needs be a fitter soil for the Diuinestthoughts to spring up in, and the most delicate and mostenravishing affections towards their Maker. Which beingheightned by sacred Hymns and Songs, sung with voicesperfectly imitating the sweet passionate relishes of the sense oftheir devout Minds, must even melt their Souls into DivineLove, and make them swim with joy in God. But these kinds ofExercises being so highly rapturous and Ecstatical,transporting them beyond the ordinary limits of their Nature,cannot in Reason be thought to be exceeding fr-equent; but as ilsolemn repast, after which they shall enjoy themselves bet[et'for a good space of time after.

4. Wherefore there be other Enterbainment.s, whichthough they be of an inferiour nature to these, yet thev lirrexceed the greatest pleasure and contentments of t,his

present state. For the Animol life being as essontial to Lhe

Soul as union with a Body, which she is nevel'flr'ee fr'orn: it willfollow that there be s«rme fitting gratifications o['it in the othot'World. And none grt'ater can be imagined then SocicÖ1r'rtcs.s

and Persctrutl «trnltlttu'rtt'y. not onely in rati«lnltl dist:«lttt'ses,which is so ügl'r.r':rlrlr. l,o t,he [)hiklsophic.rl lngeny, ltttt, ittttot:ettt,

Past,imcs, in whiclr llrr. /Iltrsiuil and Afiiot'ous 1rt'«rpcttsi«rtt trlil.y

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be also recreated. For these Three dispositions are the flowr ofall the rest, as Plotinus has somewhere noted: And hisreception into the other World is set out by Apollo' s Oracleflrom some such like circumstances as these.

preü' öpr17uptv äp1eat nönAatprovlr1v äpatoiotv avonveiouoav riqtotq'ävr)' ävr pröv 9ü"6rqq. 6vt ö' ipepoq appoS i8äorlateügpooüvqg r).eiurv rorlctpflq n).qpoügrevog atäv

üprBpoolurv öXeröv ileöüev' örlev äotiv äp6tu.rv

nelopata rai Tiurepq rvotrl rcri vrlvepoS airlqpOf the meaning of which Verses that the Reader may not quitebe deprived, I shall render their sense in this carelessparaphrase:

Now. the blest meetings thou arriu'st untoOf th' Aiery Genii, where soft winds do blow,Where Friendship, Loue, and gentle sweet DesireFill their thrice-welcom guests with ioys entire,Euer supply'd from that irnmortal springWhose streams pure Nectar from great Joue do bring:Whence hind Conuerse and amorous EloquenceWarm their chast minds into the highest sense

Of Heau'nly Loue whose Myst'ries they declare'Midst the fresh breathings of the peaceful Aire.

And he holds on, naming the happy company the Soul ofPlotinus was to associate with, viz. Pythogoras, Plato, and thepurer Spirits of the Golden Ag", and all such as made up theChorus of immortal Loue and Friendship.

These sing, and play, and dance together, reaping thelawful pleasures of the very Animal life, in a far higher degreethen we are capable of in this World. For every thing heredoes as it were tast of the cask, and has some Courseness andfoulness with it. The sweet motions of the Spirits in thepassion of Loue can very hardly be commanded off from toonear bordering upon the shameful sense of Lust; the Fabrick ofthe Terrestriol Body almost necessitating them to thatdeviation. The tenderer Ear cannot but feel the rudethumpings of the wood, and gratings of the rosin, thehoarsness, or some harshness and untunableness or other, inthe best c«lnsorts of Musical Instruments and Voices. Thejr-rdici«tus Eye cannot but espy some considerable defect ineither the proportion, colour, or the aire of the face, in them<lst, Iirrn'rl and m«rst admired beauties of either Sex: to say

Olr:rp. l X. 'l'Itc ltrttrtot'l,ttltl y ol' Ilrl l"iottl. '2il(.1

n«rthing o['thc inc«rncinnit.y «rl' t,ltr,ir rk'1rot'l,tttt'ltt, :tntl habits. l]utin that «lther state, whet'c tlto l"rtllt'.y ('otlstllt,s with th,rt F'irstExemplar of Beauty, Intellectuul l,ottt tttttl Vt'r'ltte, and the []otl.y

is wholly obedient to the imaginati«rrt o[' the Mind, and will L«r

every Punctilio yield to the imprcsses of' bhat inward Paftcrn; l»

nothing lhere can be found amiss, every bouch and stroke o['

motion and Beauty being conveyed flrom so judicious a powerthrough so delicate and depurate a Medium. Wherefore the-y

cannot but enravish one anothers Souls, while they are mutualSpectators of the perfect pulchritude of one anothers persons & l0comely carriage, of their graceful dancing, their melodi«lus

singing and playing, with accents so sweet and soft, as if we

should imagine the Aire here of it self to compose Lessons, and

send forth Musical sounds without the help of any terrestrialInstrument. These, and such like Pastimes as these, are part llrof the Happiness of the Best sort of the Aöreal Genii.

5. Which the more certain knowledge of what is done

amongst the inferiour Daemons will further assure us of. For itis very probable that their Conventicles, into which Witchesand Wizzards are admitted, are but a depraved adumbration of' '211

the friendly meetings of the superiour Cenii. And what Musit:h,Dancing and Peos ting there is in these, the free confessi«ln «rf

those Wretches, or fortuitous detection of others, has made

manifest to the World, uiz. How Humone and Angelical Beouty

is transformed there inbo Bestial Deformity, the chief in the '21»

company ordinarily appearing in the Figures of Satyres, Apes,

Goats, or such like ugly Animals; how the comely deportmentsof Body, into ridiculous gesticulations, perverse postures and

antick dances; and how innocuous love and pure friendshipdegenerates into the most brutish lust and abominable :i0

obscenity that can be imagined: of which I will adde nothingmore, having spoke enough of this matter in the Appendix t«l

my Antidote.6. What is most material for the present, is to consider,

whether as the Musick and Dancing of these lower and mol'e lllrdeeply lapsed Daemons are a distorted imitation of what thehigher and more pure Daemons doe in their Regions; so theirFeasting ma.y not be a perverted resemblance of the «lthers

Banquetings als«l: t,h:-rt is to say, it is worth our enquiring inlo,whether Lht..y rlo ttot. r'ot and drinä as well u,s these. F«lr t,ht: 40

rich arnottgst tl-; tttttst. huve their repast as well aS t,he IXx)l',an«l I'r'irrt'r.s li.r.rl ;l:i wcll :rs ['t'isonel's, fh<lugh t,httrrl lttl a gt'cltt,

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240 The Immortality of the Soul. Book III

difference in their diet. And I must confess, there is no smalldifficulty in both, whence the good or bad Ge'nii may have theirfood; though .it be easy "rrorgh

to conceive that they may feedand refresh their Vehicles.5 For supposing they- do vitally actuate some particularportion of the Aire that they drive ,torrg with them, which is ofa certain extent, it is most natural to conceive, that partry bylocal motion, and partry by the activity of their thoughts, theyset some particles of their vehicles into a more then usualr0 agitation,. *T_.h being thus moved, scatter and perspire; andthat so the vehicre lessens in some measure, and thereforeadmits of a recruit: which must be either ny fo.mar .epast, orby drawing in the crude Aire onely, which hapry may beenough; but it being so like it self al*uies, the pleä.ir." w1r be15 more flat. wherefore it

-is not improbabre but that both mayhave their times of Refection, ro. pteasure at least, if notnecessity, which wilr be the greater aävantage for the Good, &,the more exquisite misery for the Bacr, they üeing punishable intnis regard also.

20 7 ' But, as I said, the greatest difficulty is to give arational account whence trre Bao Genii have tnei. food, in theirexecrable Feasts, so formally made up into dishes. That thematerials of-it is a uoporous Aire, upp".., as welr from thefaintness and emptiness of them that harre been entertained at25 those Feasts, as from their forbidding the use of Sctlt atthem, ithaving a virtue of dissolving of a, aiueous substances, as welras hindering their congelation. But häw the Aire is moulded upinto that form and consistency, it is very hard to conceive:whether it be done by !h: ..ruru power of Imagination upon30 their own vehicles, first dabled in =t-" humidities that are thefittest flor their design, which they change into these forms ofviands, and then withdraw, when they have given them such afibre, colour, and consistency, with sorne small touch of such asüpou. or tincture: or whether it be the priviledge of these;i5 Aöreol oreoture.s, by a sharp Desire and keen Imagination, topie'ce the s'pirit of'Noture, so as to awaken her uJtirity, andLlngage he' L, the compleating in a moment, as it were, the fulldcsign 0['Lheir own wishes, but in such matter as the Elementt,hc.y rr.r' ir) is cap.ble ,f', which is t,his cr.ude and vaporous Aire;,10 whr.r)(.r'l,lrt,ir'[irorl rnust lle vcr..y rliltrte antl flashie, anrl rrrt,Jrt.r.arrr.t'kt'r'.y t,lrt', lrrr.y s«rlirl srrr,isl':rr.t*rrr lrrrrl 1rlo,sur.e.

Ch.rp. IX. The Imrnortulil,.y ol' l,lrr. Sr»rrl. '241

8. But those Superiour Daemt»ns, which inhabit that partof the Aire that no storm nor tempest, can reach, need be putto no such shifts, though they may be as able in them as theother. For in the tranquillity of those Upper Regions, thatPromus-Condus of the Uniuerse, the Spirit of Nature, ffiäysilently send forth whole Gardens and Orchards of mostdelectable fruits and flowers, of an equilibrious ponderosity tothe parts of the Aire they grow in, to whose shape and coloursthe transparency of these Plants may adde a particular lustre,as we see it is in precious Stones. And the Chymists are neverquiet till the heat of their Fancy have calcined and vitrified theEarth into a crystalline pellucidity, conceiting that it will bethen a very fine thing indeed, and all that then grows out of it:which desirable Spectacle they may haply enjoy in a moreperfect manner, whenever they are admitted into those higherRegions of the Aire.

For the very Soile then under them shall be transparent,in which they may trace the very Roots of the Trees of thisSuperiour Paradise with their eyes, and if it may not offendthem, see this opake Earth through it, bounding their sightwith such a white faint splendour as is discovered in the Moon,with that difference of brightness that will arise from thedistinction of Land and Water; and if they will recreate their'palats, may tast of such Fruits, as whose natural juice will viewith their noblest Extractions and Quintessences. For suchcertainly will they there find the blood of the Grape, the rubie-coloured Cherries, and Nectarines.

And if, for the compleating of the pleasantness of thesehabitations, that they may look less like a silent and deadsolitude, they meet with Birds and Beasts of curious sha.pesand colours, the single accents of whose voices are verygrateful to the Ear, and the varying of their notes perfectMusical harmony; they would doe very kindly to bring us wordback of the certainty of these things, and make this more thena P hilosop hit:ol C onjecture.

But fhat thcre may be Food and Feosting in those highcrAöreal Rogions, is lcss doubted by the Platonists; which makesMoximtrs 'l'.yritts «'ull t,hc Soul, when she has lcfi. t,hc liod.y,r)1ri:p;rrr «ir)ipror, :rrrrl l,!rc rrhove-r:ited Orrrr:lc ol' Apollo rlcscrillcsthe l"t'lit'il,y ol' llutl ( lIrortts <l(' imrnort,rrl Irrvcrs hr. rrronl,ionst,hcrt., h'orrr li';u,l ur;1 l,ogtl.lrr.r'.wiflr Llrt' lrlr.ssorl (i,nri,

r..rup r.v r)rrÄirlrrrrv

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242 'l'he Immortality of'thr: S«rul. Book tII

Atev eugpooüvrltotv ioivero.t...so that the Nectar and Ambrosia of the poets may not be amere fable. For the Spirit of Nature, which is the immediateInstrument of God, may enrich the fruits of these Aöreol

Paradises with such liquors, as being received into the bodies ofthese purer Doemons, and diffusing it self through theirvehicles, may cause such grateful motions analogical to ourtast, and excite such a more then ordinary quickness in theirminds, and benign chearfulness, that it may far transcend themost delicate Refection that the greatest Epicures could everinvent upon Earth; and that without all satiety andburdensomeness, it filling them with nothing but Divine Love,Joy, and Devotion.

Chap. X.

r. Hout hard it is to define any thing concerning the Aöreal orAethereal Elysiums. 2.That there is Political order and. Lawso.mongst these Aiery Daemons. 3. That this Choin ofGouernment reaches down from the highest Aethereal powersthrough the Aöreal to the uery Inhabitants of the EarLh. 4. Thegreat security we liue in thereby. 5. How easily detectible andpunishable wicked Spirits are by those of their outn Tribe. 6.other reasons of the security ute find our selues in from the grossinfestotions of euil Spirits. 7. What kind of punishments theAöreal Officers inflict upon their Malefactours.

I. I Might enlarge my self much on this Subject, byrepresenting the many Concomerations of the Aöreo.l and

Aethereol Elysiums, depainting them out in all the variety oftheir ornaments: but there is no prudence of being lavish ofones pen in a matter so lubricous and Conjectural. Of the bareexistence whereof we have no other ground, then thatotherwise the greatest part of the Universe by infinitemeasure, and the most noble, would lye as it were uncultivate,like a desart ofl Sand, wherein a man can spie neither plant norliving Creature. which though it may seem as strange as iflNut,urc should have restraincd all the Varieties she w«ruld putfirrt,h Lo «rlte cot'tLernptible Mole-hill, :]ntl have matle atl t,Jrc r.erst,ol'l,hc I')ttt't,h tltrc llolttoplr'ttr':rl srrrfrrt'r.o['rlry cllt.y rlr sllrrr', ()1

Chap. X. 'f he Imm«»'l,rrlil,.y ol' t,ltc Srlul. 24:l

which not one sprig of Grass, much less any Flower or '['ree,

should grow, nor Bird nor Beast be found once to set their fo«lt

thereon: yet the Spirits of us Mortals being too pusillanimous to

be able to grapple with such vast Objects, we must resolve ttlrest either ignorant, or Sceptical, in this matter.

2. And therefore let us consider what will more easily flall

under our comprehension, and that is thle Policy of the AiertDaemons. Concerning which, that in general there is such athing among them, is the most assuredly true in it self, and ofthe most use to us to be perswaded of. To know theirparticular Orders and Customes is a more needless Curiosity.But that they do lye under the restraint of Gouernment, is notonely the opinion of the Pythagoreans (who have even to thenicety of Grammatical Criticisme assigned distinct names to theLaw that belongs to these Three distinct ranks of Beings,üvrlp«»not. öcipoveq and ileoi. calling the Law that belongs to thefirst Nöpoq. the second Airrl and the third r)äptg) but it is also

the easy and obvious suggestion of ordinary Reason, that itmust needs be so, and especially amongst the Aöre al Genii rnthese lower Regions, they being a mixt rabble of good and bad,wise and foolish, in such a sense as we may say theInhabitants of the Earth are so, and therefore they mustnaturally fall under a Government, and submit to Lawes, äls

well and for the same reasons as Men do. For otherwise theycannot tolerably subsist, nor enjoy what rights may some wayor other appertain to them.

For the Souls of men deceased and the Daemons beingendued with corporeal Sense, by Axiome 30, and therefortrcapable of Pleasure and Pain, and consequently of both Iniuryand Punishment, it is manifest, that having the use of Reas«rn,

they cannot fail to mould themselves into some Political f«rrm orother; and so to be divided into Nations and Provinces, antl t,tr

have their Officers of State, from the King on his Throne [o L]ur

very lowest and most abhorred Executioners of .lustice-3. Which invisible Government is not cit'cutnscribetl

within the compass of Lhe Aiery Regions, but takes hold :.rls«r «rn

the Inhabitants of the Earth, as the (iovernmenl, tl[' Mcn tlot's

on several s«rrts «tf brufe Beasts, and the Aethenrul powet's ltlsrlhave a Right, :rnrl l,)xt't'ciser «lf' Rule ov(-'l' tht' Ai;reol. Wltcttccnothing (:lrr'r lrr, ('orr)rr)it.t,r'tl in thc Wol'ltl rtgrrirtst, thc Inot'(t

in<lisllertsallk. l,,ilwli l.ltr,r'r.o[', Ilut, lt ntttst, s('v('t'(' lttt«l incvit,:tlrlc

Jrtrrtislunr.ltt, wrll lirllow: (,v(lt'.y Nlrl,ion, ( )it,.y, lflrrnily rtttrl

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244 'l'he Immortality of'thc Sr»ul. Book III

to

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Person, being in some manner the pecurium, and therefore inthe tutelage, of some invisible power or other, as I have aboveintimated.4- And such rransgressions as are against those Laws5 without whose observance the creation could not subsist, wemay be assured are punished with rorture intolerable, andinfinitely above any Pleasure imaginable the evll Genii can takein doing of those of their own order, or us Mortals, anymischief. whence it is manifest that we are as secure from10 their gross outrages ( such as the firing of our houses, thestealing away our Jewels or more necessary utensils,

murdering our selves or children, destroying our cattel, corn,and other things of the like sort,) as if they *"r" not in rerumnatura. unless they have some special permission to act, or we15 our selves enable them by our rash and indiscreet temperingwith them, or suffer from the malice of some person that is inleague with them. For their greatest liberty äf doi.rg mischiefis upon that account; which yet is very much limited,In that, allthese Actions must pass the conseni of a visible i"r.o.r, not20 hard to be discovered in these unlawful practices, and easy tobe punished by the Law of Men.

5. And the Aöreal Genii can with as much ease inflictpunishment on one another, as we Mortals can afprehend,imprison, and punish such as transgress against "* Laws.25 For though these Daemons be invisiure to us, yet they are notso to their own Tribe: nor can the activity anä subtiity of theBad over-master the Good commonwealths-men there, thatuphold the Laws better then they are amongst us. Nor maythe various Transfiguration of their shapes conceal their30 persons' no more then the disguises that are used by fraudulentmen. For they are as able to discern what is ficiitious fromwhat is true and natural amongst themserves, as we areamongst our selves. And every Aöreal spirit being part ofsome Politicol subdiuision, upon any outrage committed, it will35 be an easy matter to hunt out the Malefactor; no Daemon beingable so Lo transfigure himself, but upon command he will beflorced to appear in his natural and usual form, not daring todenv upon examination to what particular subdiuision hebel«lngs. whence the easy discovery of their miscarriages, and40 certaintv .f insuppo.table torment, will secure the World fromall t'he dis«lrtler that s«lme scrupulous wits suspect would arise[i',m t,his ki.rl. «rf'o.e*tu..s, if't,h..y w.r.r) in Being.

Chap. X. 'fhe Imrnort,rrlil,.y ol' t.lrrt Srlrrl. 24lt

6. To which we may arkft.r als,, 'flra[ what we have isuseless to them, and that it is vcr.y hard Lo conceive that thereare many Rational Beings so degenerate as to take pleasure inill, when it is no good to themselves. 'fhat Socrotes hisAphorism, nfr"q ö porlrlpog dTvoei ,Däy be in no small measuretrue in the other World, as well as in this. That all that theseevil spirits desire, may be onely our lapse into as great adegree of Apostasy from God as themselves, and to be fullpartakers with them of their false Liberty; as debauchedpersons in this life love to make Proselytes, and to haverespect from their Nurslings in wickedness. And several otherConsiderations there are that serve for the taking away thisPanick fear of the incursations and molestations of these AörealInhabitants, and might further silence the suspicious Atheist;which I willingly omit; having said more then enough ofl thisSubject already.

7. If any be so curious, as to demand what kind ,fl .

Punishment this People of the Aire inflict upon theirMalefactors, I had rather refer them to the Fancies of CorneliusAgrippo then be laugh'd at many self for venturing to descendto such particularities. Amongst other things he names theirIncarceration, or confinement to most vile and squalidHabitations. His own words are very significant: Acced.untetiam, uilissimorum oc teterrimorum locorum hobitacula, ubiAetnaei ignes, aquarum ingluuies, fulgurum et tonitruorumconcussus, tercarum uoragines, ubi Regio lucis inops, necradiorum So/is capax,, ignaraque splendoris siderum, perpetuistenebris et noctis specie caligat. Whence he would make usbelieve, that the subterraneous caverns of the Earth are madeuse of for Dungeons for the wicked Daemons to be punished inas if the several volcano's, such as Aetna, vesuuius, Her:la, andmany others, especially in America, were so many prisons orhouses of Correction for the unruly Genii.

That there is a tedious restraint upon them upon villaniescommitted, and that intolerable, is without all questi«rn; theybeing endued with corporeal Sense, an_d that more quick anclpassive then ours, and therefore more subject to Lhe highcst.degrees of torment. So that not onely by incarccrating thr_'m,and keeping thtm in b.y ir watch, in thc caver.ns «rf' btrrningMountains, wht't'c l,ltt' hcaL of'thosc in[erna[ (jharrrtrcl's rrncl t,lrr. ,lostream rlf' Ilrirnsl,ottc t':tnn«rt llut excruciat.c [lrcrrr r.xr.r.crlingl.y;but irlsrl b.y «'otlurtitttrlrrrll l,lrr.rn int,o srrnrlry ot,hcr llollows ol'l,hc

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24(i 'l'he Immortality of'the S<tul. Book III

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Ohap. X l. 'l'he Ilnntorl rrlil,.y ol' l lrr, Sorrl. '247

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15

ground, noisome by several fumes and vapours, they maytorture them in several fashions and degrees," fullyproportionable to the greatest crime that is in thelr power tocommit, and farre above what the cruellest Tyranny hasinflicted here, either upon the guilty or innocent. But howthese confinements and rorments are inflicted on them, and bywhat Degrees and Reloxotions, is a thing neither easy todetermine, nor needful to understand.

wherefore we will surcease from pursuing any further sounprofitable a subject, and come to the Third ge.erat Head wementioned, which is, whot the Moral conditiin of the soul iswhen she has left this Bod,y.

Chap. XI.

I. Three things to be considered, before we come to the Moralcondition of the sour after Death: namery, her Memory oftronsactions in this Life. 2. The pecuriar feoture ond ind.iuidttalcharacter of her Aöreal vehicle. b. The äetoinment of the someName. 4. How her il d,eportment here rays the träin of herMisery hereafter. s.The unspeokable torÄents of conscienceworse then Death, and not to be auoided by dying 6. of thehideou,s tortures of external sense on them it oi, ieoreclne:,s, ofc^o^nscience moy seem to mahe them uncapable of her Loshes 7.Of the stote of the Soa/s of the more innicent ancl conscientiousPagans. 8. of the natural orcruments of After-happiness to themorolly good in this life. g. Hout the soul enjoys'h'er actings orsufferings in this Life for an indispensable Couse, when she haspassed to the other. 10. That the reason is proportionably thesome in things of less consequence. 11. whot mischief men maycreate to themselues in the other world by their zealou,s mistokesin this. 12- That though there were no Memory after Deo.th, yetthe monner of our Life here may sow the seed,s oi th,, soul,s futu*hoppiness or misery.

[. F'or the better solution of this euestion, there is anotherfirst in nature to be decided; namery, whether the soulremembers on.ything of' this Lilb alier Deat:h. For Aris totle andooruktn se., rn L«r dcn-y it; but r d«r not .emember any reas'ns incit.her t,hat. will mukc g«r«rtl their opinion. Rut that the c,,r.r.rr.y

is true, appears from what, we ll:rvr, rrlrr.rrrl.y provcd in mysecond Book, viz. That the immedüüc x,ttt ol' Memory is the ^\«ralher self, and that all Representations u,irh tluir circumstance:; ercreserued in her, not in the Spirits, (a thing which Voninushimself cannot deny) nor in ony part of' the Botly. And that theSpirits are onely a necessary Instrument whereby the Soulworks,; which we they are too cool and gross and waterish,Oblivion creeps upon her in that measure that the Spirits art'thus distempered; but the disease being chased away, and thctemper of the Spirits rectified, the Soul forthwith recovers thcmemory of what things she could not well could before, as beingnow in a better state of Activity. whence, by the B3 Axiome, itwill follow, that her Memory wlll, be rather more perfect afterDeath, and Conscience more nimble to excuse or accuse heraccording to her Deeds here.

2. It is not altogether beside the purpose to take notict:also, That the natural and usual Figure of the Soul's AöreulVehicle bears a resemblance with the feature of the party inthis life; it being most obvious for the Plastick port (at thocommand of the Will to put forth into personal shape) to fall asnear to that in this life as the new state will permit. Withwhich act the spirit of Nature haply does concurre, as in thefiguration of the Foetus; but with such limits as becomes thcAöreal Congruity of life, of which we have spoke already: asalso how the proper Idea or Figure of every Soul (th«rugh itmay deflect something by the power of the Parent's Imagina-tion in the act of Conception, or Gestation, yet) may retur.nmore near to its peculiar semblance afterwards, and so be anunconcealable Note of Indiuiduality.

3. we will adde to all this, the Retainment of' thc srrm('Name which the deceased had here, unless there ht' sornospecial reason to change it: so that their persons will be aspunctually distinguisht and circumscribed as any of «rur.s in Lhislife. All which things, as they are most probable in [hernsolvt'sthat they will thus naturally fall out, so the,y ar'(, vcr..yconvenient for administration of'Justice and keeping of'Ordt r irrthe other Sta.te.

4. Thttsc t,hings tht't't'f<lt'c trlremised, it will not, llc Jrrrr.rl l.gc«lrrccivtt how l,ltc r'«rrtrlit,i«rn «r['Lhr: Soul uf't,cr t,his li[i' rk.pr.rrrls orrlter Morol rlr'1lorl,rrt.rrt, ht'r't'. ln'«lr Mernory t:r.rrsilrpl nol,,(lortst'itrtt't' tIl;l.y v('t'y likcly llwrrkr. rnor'(, (irriotrsl.y t,lrr.n ('vcr',l,ltt'Mitttl lrt't'otrtirrll ir nror'(, r'lr.:rr'.lrrrlgc ol'r.vil A«.t,i<lrrs;l;rsl l,lrr.n

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248 'fhe lmm«rrtality of'the Soul. Book III

she could be in the Flesh, being now stript of all thosecircumstances and concurrences of things that kept her off fromthe opportunity of calling her self to account, or of perceivingthe ugliness of her own ways. Besides, there being thatcommunication betwixt the Eortä and the Aire, that at least thesame of things will arrive to their cognoscence that have leftthis tife; the after ill success of their wicked enterprises andunreasonable transactions may arm their tormentingConscience with new whips and stings, when they shall eitherhear, or see with their eyes, what they have unjustly built up,to run with shame to ruine, and behold all their designs come tonought, and their same blasted upon Earth.

5. This is the state of such souls as are capable of a senseof dislike of their past-actions: and a man would think theyneed no other punishment then this, if he consider the mightypower of the Mind over her own Vehicle, and how vulnerable itis from her self. These Passions therefore of the Soul thatfollow an ill Conscience, must needs bring her Aiery body intointolerable distempers, worse then Death it self. Nor yet canshe die if she would, neither by fire, nor sword, nor any meansimaginable; no not if she should fling her self into the flames ofsmoaking Aetna. For suppose she could keep her self so longthere, as to indure that hideous pain of destroying the uitalCongruity of her vehicle by that sulphureous fire; she would beno sooner released, but she would catch life again in the Aire,and all the former troubles and vexations would return, besidesthe overplus of these pangs of Death. For Memory wouldreturn, and an ill Conscience would return, and all those busieFuries, those disordered Passions which follow it. And thus itwould be, though the Soul should kill her self a thousand and athousand times; she could but pain and punish her self, notdestroy her self.

6. But if we could suppose some means consciences searedin the next state as well as this, ( for certainly there are thatmake if their Business to obliterate all sense of difference ofGood and Evil out of their minds; and hold it to be an highstrain of, wit (though it be nothing else but a piece of bestialstupiditv) to think there is no such thing as Vice and Vertue,and t,h:"rt it is a principall part of perfection, to be so degeneraterus to :-rct acc«lr'«ling to [his Principle without any remorse at all;)t,hest' rn()n rna.y soorn t,o Jrlrvc lrn cxcellent, priviledgc in lheol,hct' workl, t,Jtcy llcing l.[rus :u']nour'-proof against all t,lrr. fitr.y

Clrap. X l. 'l'ltc Itl)trtot'lttlrl y ol' I!tr liottl '2,ltl

darts of thlt domestick t)cvil: As rl' lltt' ;1'r':tt,cst, sttcurit,y in thcother life were, to have bccn t'«rt11r['ltt,ly wit'kcrl in t,his.

But it is not out of' tht' t't.'ltt:lt ol' Inere Re:rs«ln and

Philosophy to discover, that such boltl artd impudent wrertches

as have lost all inward sense of' G«r«»d and Evil, may thereagainst their wills feel a lash in the outttto.rd. For the DivincNemesis is excluded out of no part of the Universe; and

Goodness and Justice, which they contemn here, will be

accounted with them in that, other state, whether they will «lr

no. I speak of such course Spirits that can swallow downMurder, Perjury, Extortion, Adultery, Buggery and the [ikt'gross crimes, without the least disgust, and think they have a

right to satisfy their own Lust, though it be by never so greatinjury against their Neighbour. If these men should carry itwith impunity, there were really no Providence, and

themselves were the truest Prophets and faithflullestInstructers of mankind, divulging the choicest Arco.num the.y

have to impart to them, namely That there is no God.But the case stands quite otherwise. For whether it be by

the importunity of them they injure in this life, who may meet

with them afterward, as Cardan by way of Objection suggestsin his Treatise of this Subject; or whether by a general

desertion by all of the other world that are able to pt'otect, (

such Monsters as I describe being haply far less in proportionto the number of the other state, then these here are to this;)they will be necessarily exposed to those grim and remorserless

Officers of Justice, who are as devoid of all sense of what isGood as those that they shall punish. So that their penaltyshall be inflicted from such as are of the same Principles withthemselves, who watch for such booties as these, and when

they can catch them, dress them and adorn them according t«r

the multifarious petulancy of their own unaccount,ablehumours; and taking a special pride and pleasure in the makingand seeing Creatures miserable, flall upon their prey wit,h atl

eagerness and alacrity, as the hungry Lions on a ctlndemrledmalefa.ctour, but with more ferocity and insultation by far'. F «rr'

having rnor'(' wil,, and, if it be possible, less go«rdncss thcrr Lhtr

Soul thc.y l,hrrs :rssrrulL, they satiate their lascivit'rtL crucl[.y with.rll rn:lnn(.r' ril' ;rlrrrsr.s :tntl torments the.y t'ltn itrtlrgittc, givinpl

hCt' orrr,ly s() rrrrrclr r'(.sl)it(\ as will scI've l,tl s'1'1'1'1v1' t,[tt'it' ]l('winv('rtt,lotts wrllr ;t l't r.sltt,t' stnat't, ltnrl lrlot'(' rlist,irrt't, J):llll.Ncit,lrr.r' ('irn ;lny ltr.;uiort or ltht.t,orick prcv;ril willr l,ltt'ttt, tttr

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2ltO 'I'he lmmortality of the Soul. Book III

Expostulation, Petition or Submission. For to what purposecan it be, to expostulate about injury and violence with themwhose deepest reach of wit is to understand this one mainPrinciple, That euery ones Lust, when he can qct with impunity isthe most sacred and soueraign Laut? or what .un eitherPetitions or submissions doe with those who hold it the mostcontemptible piece of fondness ond silliness that is, to be intreated.to recede from their own Interest? And they acknowledging nosuch thing as vertue and Vice, make it their onely interest toplease themselves in what is agreeable to their own desires:and their main pleasure is, to excruciate and borture, in themost exquisite ways they can, as many as Opportunity deliversup to their power.

And thus we see how, in the other life, the proud conceitedAtheist may at last feel the sad inconvenience of his ownPractices and Principles. For even those that pleasedthemselves in helping him forward, while he was in this life, tothat high pitch of wickedness, may haply take as muchpleasure to see him punish'd by those grim Executioners in theother. Like that sportful cruelty (which some wouldappropriate to Nero's person) of causing the Vestal virgins to beravish'd, and then putting them to death for being so.

7. But this subject would be too tedious and too Tragical toinsist on any longer. Let us cast our eyes therefore üpon amore tolerable object; and that is The state of the Soui thathas, according to the best opportunity she had of knowledge,liv'd vertuously and conscientiously, in what part or Age of theworld soever. For though this Morol Innocency amongst thePogo.ns will not amount to what our Religion calls Salaation; yetit cannot but be advantageous to them in the other state,according to the several degrees thereof; they being more orless Hoppy or Miserable, as they have been more or lessvertuotts in this life. For we cannot imagine why God shouldbe more harsh to them in the other world then in this, notinghaving happened to them to alienate his affections but Death;which was not in their power to avoid, and looks more like apunishment then a fault: though it be neither to those that arewell-meaning and conscientious, and not professed contemnersof the wholsome suggestions of the Light of Nature, but arelovers of Humanity and vertue. For to these it is onely anentrance into another life.

... Ad amoeno uiretrt

Chap. Xl. 'l'he Ilntttot'l,rtlrl,y ol' Ilu' lirlul. '21» I

Fortunatorum nemonun., *tli'sr1ttt' lnrt ltt s.

Which Truth I could not conccirl, it, lrt.irrg rr great pre.judice t«r

Diuine Prouidence to think othet'wisc. l,'or' [o those that arefree, her wayes will seem as unintelligiblc in overloading [hesimple with punishment, as in not rewarding the more perfectlvrighteous and illuminate. For from a fault in either the.y willbe tempted to a misbelief of the whole, and hold no Providenceat all.

8. Let there therefore be peculiar Priviledges of Morulity,every where, to those that pass into the other state. For unlessGod make a stop on purpose, it will naturally follow, 'fhafMemory after Death suggesting nothing but what the Cons<:ien<:e

allows of, much Tranquilliity of Minde must result from thencc,and a certain Health and Beauty of the Aöreal vehicle; als«r

better Company and Converse, and more pleasant Tracts andRegions to inhabit. For what Plotinus speaks of the extremedegrees, is also true of the intermediate, else Divine ,lustictrwould be very maime. For a man, saith he, hauing once uppro-priated to himself a prauity of temper, and unitecl utith it, i.s

known well what he is; and according to his noture is thntstforward into what he propends to, both here, ond departed he.ru:e.,

and so shall be pulled by the droutings of Noture into o sttkiltleplace. But the Good man his Receptions o.nd Communicotit»nsshall be of another sort, by the drawing as it were ol' cerktinhidden strings transposed and pulled by Notures own l'ingers. .§rr

admirable is the power and order of the Uniuerse, all things beingcarried on in a silent way of Justice, which none can auoid, andwhich the Wiclzed mon hos no perception nor understctruling ol',

but is drawn, hnowing nothing whither in the Uniuerse he oughtto be carried. But the Good man both knows and goes uthither heought, and discerns before he departs hence where he mustinhobit, and is full of hopes thot it sholl be utith Gods. 'l'hisIarge Paragraph of Plotinus is not without some small 'fruth init, if rightly limited and understood; but seems not to reach aL

all the Circumst:rnces and accruments of' HttTtytine.s.s t«r t,he Soulin the other state, which will naturall.y firllrtw hcr [i'«rm ht-.r'

transactions in this life.9. F or c«:rtainly, act:«lrtling t,«l t,hc st.veritl rlt'grccs ol'

Benignit.y ol'Spiruf, lrtt<l t,ltc r/r,sirv ol' tloirtl; pr,rx»<l t,o lrurrrkinrk. irr

this li[i,, ltrtrl l,Jtr. ]non) atnlrlc opport,ttrtit,ics o[' rl«ring il,, t,hr.lfclicit,.y of't.ltc ot,ltr.r' Worltl is t'crkrtrlrh'rl ttlrr»n l,ltr.nr; t,lIt.r'r. lrr.rrrgso «'r.t't,ltin ('ornrlrttrtr«'ltttort :rtttl r.nt,rrr'('our'$(. llr.l,wrxt. lxlt,lr. Artrl

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252 'l'he lrnmorl.ality o['the Soul. Il«rok Ill

therefore they that act or suffer deeply in such Causes as Godwill maintain in the World, and are just and holy at thebottome, (and there are some Principles that are indispensablysuch, which Providence has countenanced both by Miracles,the suffrages of the Wisest men in all Ages, and the commonvoice of Nature;) those that have been the most Heroical Abet-ters and Promoters of these things in this life, will naturallyreceive the greater contentment of Minde after it, beingconscious to themselves how seriously they have assisted whatGod will never desert, and that Truth is mighty and must atlast prevail; wnich they are better asssured of out of the Body,then when they were in it.

10. Nor is this kinde of access of Happiness to be confinedonely to our furtherance of what is of the highest and mostindispensable consideration here, but in proportion touches alltransactions that proceed from a vertuous and good Principle,whereof there are several degrees: amongst which those maynot be esteemed the meanest that refer to a Notional good andtherefore those that, out of a natural generosity of Spirit andsuccessful fortitude in Warre, have delivered their Countryfrom bondage, or have been so wise and understanding inPoliticks, as to have contrived wholsome Laws; for the greaterhappiness and comforb of the People; while such a Nationprospers and is in being, it cannoü but be an accrument ofHappiness to these so considerable Benefactors, unless weshould imagine them less generous and good in the otherWorld, where they have the advantage of being Better. Andwhat I have said in this more notable instance, is in a degreetrue in things of smaller concernment, which would be infiniteto rehearse. But whole Nations, with their Laws and Orders ofMen, and Families may fail, and therefore these accessions becut off: but he that laies out his pains in this life for thecarrying on such designs as will take place so long as the Worldendures, and must have a compleat Triumph at last; such aone laies a lrain for an Everlasting advantage in the otherWorld, which, in despite of all the tumblings and turnings ofunsetled fortune, will be sure to take effect.

11. But this matter requires Judgement as well as Heatand Forwardness. For pragmatical Ignorance, thoughaccompanied with some measure of Sincerity and well-meaning, ffiäy set a-foot such things in the World, or set uponrecord such either false, or impertinent and unseasonable,

Principles, as being matlc ill ust' ()1" ttt:t.v vol'.y much trlrt-'judtcr''

lhe Cause one desires to pt'tltn«l[c; wlrrch will lre 1 sad specfaclg

for them in the other State. [,'or' [[rotrgh their simplicity ma-y btr

pardonable, yet they will nob fail to lintlc the ill effect of' their

mistake upon themselves. As he that kills a friend instead «r[' lr

an enemy, tt orgh he may satisfy his Conscience that rightl.y

pleads his innocäncy; yet he cannot avoid the sense of shamtr

and sorrow that naturally follows so mischievous an error'

12. Such accruencies as these there may be to out'

Enjoyments in the other world from the durable traces of our I o

transactions in this, if we have any Memory of things afte.

Death, as I have already demonstrated that we have. But if we

had not, but Aris totle's and cardan's opinion were true, yet

Verlue and Piety will not prove onely useful for this present

state. Because äccording to our living here, we shall hereaf ter'' I l-r

by a hidden concatenation of Causes, be drawn to a conditi«ln

ans.l /erable to the purity or impurity of our souls in this life:

that silen t Nemesi.s that passes ihrough the whole contextu'e o['

the Universe ever fatally contriving us into such a state as we

our selves have fitted our selves for by our accustomary 20

actions. Of so great consequence is it' while we have

opportunity, to aspire to the Best things'

ChaP. XII.

I. what The spirit of Nature is. 2. Experiments thot orgue its

real Existence;'such os that of two Strings tuned Unisons' :]'

SympathetickCuresand,Tortures'4'?äeSympathybetutixtthe Earthly and Astral Body. 5. Monstrous Births' trt' 'l'he

Attraction äS tt, Load-stone and Roundness of the Sun ond Stars'

I. we had now quite finished our Discourse, did I not,

think it convenient to answer a double Expecta[ign ol' the

Reader. The one is touching The spirit of Nature, thc' ofher t'hc

producing of objections that may be made irgainst. our'

concluded Asscrtiän of the Soul's lmmor;t'rlily' F.t' r'ts fit. l'hrr

former', I cirn olrsil.y imagine he m1ry wcIl tlgsit't' lt IY)ol'(.'

puncLtrlrl :r(.t.«rtr.t, .l' t,hltL Principl. I have h:-td stl «r['t'c. t'("'('otll's('

to, then lllirvr. ltrllr(lrlo given, and will t,lrink it lit' t'het' lslrotrkl

s«)rnt.whrrt'(, tp()t'r. l'rrlly,'xlrlirirr what, ttnt'':rtt lr.y llrt't't't'lIts, ':tlttl

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struck so as fo cut the I)lun(, [x,r'[x.rlrlicrrllrrl.y by its t,r'cmul«rusexcursions, or let both ühe strings lrc in t,w<l several l)lancs af rr

good distance above one anothcr', t,lrt' evernt is much-what thcsame, though the Aire cannot rati«lnally be conceived to uibrotrbackwards and forwards, otherwise Lhen wellnigh in the ver.y r,

Planes wherein the strings are moved.All which things do clearly shew, that pure OorporeoL

causes cannot produce this effect: and that therefore we mustsuppose, that both the strings are united with some onr)Incorporeol Being, which has a different Unity and Actiuity from l0Matter, but yet a Sympo.thy therewith; which affecting thisImmoterial Being, makes it affect the Matter in the samemanner in another place, where it does symbolize with thatother in some predisposition or qualification, as these twostrings do in being tuned Unisons to one another: and this, I t-t

without sending any particles to the Matter it does thus act,upon; as my thought of moving of my Toe being representedwithin my Brain, by the power of my Soul I can, withou[sending Spirits into my Toe, but onely by making use of themthat are there, move my Toe as I please, by reason of thatUnity and Actiuity that is peculiar to many Soul as a Spiritualsubstance that pervades my whole Body. Whence I wouldconclude also, that there is some such Principle as we call TheSpirit of Nature, or the inferiour Soul of the World, into whichsuch Phoenomena as these are to be resolved.

3. And I account Sympathetick Cures, Pains andAsswagements to be such, As for example, when in the use o['those Mogneticä Remedies, as some call them, they can makethe wound dolorously hot or chill at a great distance, or can pu[it into perfect ease, this is not by any agency of emissuryAtoms. For these hot Atoms would cool sufficiently in t,heirprogress to the party through the frigid aire; and the coldAtoms, if they could be so active as to dispatch so flast, wouldbe warm enough by their journey in the Summer Sun. 'l'htrinflammation also of the Cowes Udder by the boiling over o(' the ;15milk into the fire, the scalding of mens entrails at a distance bythe burning of their excrements, with other pranks «rf' the likenature, these cannot be rationally resolved into Lhe recoulsc of'the Spirits of Men or Kine mingled with fiery Atoms, and s«r r.c-

entring the parts thus affecied, because thc rninut,crrcss ol' ,10

those Atoms al'gues the sudainness «rl' Lheir cxt.incLiorr, as t,lrt.

smallest wires rnarlr. l't'tl hot soonest «.«rol.

shew him many strongest grounds why I conceive there is anysuch Being in the world. To hord him therefore no longer insuspence, I shall doe both in this place. The spirit of Noturetherefore, , according to that notio., i have of it, is, A substonce5 incorporeal, but without sense and Animad,uersion, peruad,ing thewhole Motter of the (Jniuerse, and, exercising o prasticar power

therein according to the sundry predispositions and. occasions inthe ports it works upon, raising-such ihuurro-ena in the World,,by directing the parts of the Mater and, their Motion, as connot be10 resolued into mere Mechanicar powers. This rude Descriptionmay serve to convey to any one a conception determinateenough of the nature of the thing. And that it is not a mereNotion, but a rear Being, besidäs what I have occasionallyhinted already ( and shail here again confirm by new instances)15 there are several other considerutiorr. may perswade us.2' The first whereof shall be conoerning those Experimentsof sympothetick pains, Assuagements urrd cures; of whichthere are many Exampres; aplroved by the most scrupurousPretenders to sobriety and judgment, and of all which I cannot20 forbear to pronounce, that I suspect them to come to pass bysome such power as makes strings that be tuned (Jnisons,(though on several Instruments) the one being touched, theother to trembre and move very sensibly, urJ to cast off astraw or pin or any such small thing iaid upon it. whichzs cannot be resolved into any Mechanicalprinciplä, though somehave ingeniously gone about it. For before tirey aiiÄpted toshew the reason, why that String that is not (Jnison to thatwhich is struck should not leap u-.rd ..rorre, as it doth that is,they should have demonstrated-, that by the mere vibration of30 the Aire that which is unison can b" sä moved; for if it courd,these vibrations would not faile to move other Bodies moremovable by farre then the string it self that is struck a smallthred of silk or an hair with soÄe light thing at the end of it,they must needs receive those recifrocal Vibrations that are35 communicated to the (Jnison string u.t . f.. greater distance, ifthe mere motion of the material Aire caused the subsultation ofthe string tuned [Jnison: which yet is contrary to experience.

Besides that, if it were the mere vibration os tÄ, A,ire thatcaused this tremor in the unison string, the effecl would not be40 considerable, unless both the strings la-y well-nigh in the samePlane, and that the vibration of the .tri.rg thit is struck bemade in that plane they both lie in. But let the string be

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[i. Wlrrclr tl'li'r't,s I sttlrlrorir. lo lrr, lrr.yorrrl llrr. 1)ow(.r'o['an.yllutnlulc l":trrt'.y un:lssist,(,(l ll.y liorn(. rn{)r'(. tilrr.,.;rlrlc Agent; asals«l that l)t'o(ligious birth ltu ntr,nl,iorrs ol' lt woman of'oorcossono, wh«r by her' ovcrmuch sllorr.ing ilnd pleasing herself with an Ape, while she was with Child, brought forth irMonster exactly of that shape. and if we should conclude withthat learned Writer, that it was a real Ap", it is no morewondeful, nor so much, as that birth of a Cro.b-fish or Lobsterwe have above mentioned out of Fortunius Licetus; as we mightalso other more usual, though no less monstrous births for thewombs of women to bear. of which the Soul of the Mothercannot be suspected to be the cause, she not so much as beingthe Efformer of her own Foetus, as that judicious Naturalist Dr.Haruey has determined. And if the Mother's Soul could be theEfformer of the Foetus, in all reason her Plastick power wouldbe ever Particular and Specifick as the Soul it self is Particular.

what remains therefore but the (Jniuersal soul of theworld or spirit of Nature that can doe these fears? who,vertumnus-like, is ready to change his own Activity and theyielding Matter into any mode and shape indifferently asoccasion engages him, and so to prepare an edifice, at least themore rude strokes and delineaments thereof, for any SpecifickSoul whatsoever, and in any place where the Matter will yieldto his operations. But the time of the arrival thither of theparticular guest it is intended for, though we cannot say howsoon it is, yet we may be sure it is not later then a cleardiscovery of Sensation as well as Vegetation and Orgonizationin the Matter.

6. The Attraction of the Load-stone seems to have someaffinity with these instances of Sympothy. This mystery Des-Cartes has explained with admirable artifice as to theimmediate Corporeal causes thereof, to wit, those wreathedparticles which he makes to pass certain screw-pores in theLoad-stone and lron. But how the efformation of these particlesis above the reach of the mere Mechanical powers in Matter, ,as

also the exquisite direction of their motion, whereby they maketheir peculiar Vortex he describes about the Earth from pole toPole, and thread an incrustated Star, passing in a right line inso long a journey as the Diameter thereof' without being swungto the sides; how these things, I say, are beyond the powers «rf'

Mo.tter, I have fully enough declared and provecl in a lar.geLetter of mine to v.C. and therefore that I may n<»L uchrm

'l'o all which you may adde (if ir, wi, f)r.oVr. r,r.trr,) t.hatn«»table exarnpre of the wines working whc. l,rrt,Vi.es ar.e inthe flower, and that this sympothetici ef f.ect must be fi.om thevines of that country from which they came: whence these5 exhalatioT of the vineyards must spread as far as from spainand the canaries to Engrand,, and iy the same reason mustreach round about every way as far fiom the canories, besidestheir journey upwards into the Aire. So that there will be anHemisphere of vineal Atoms of an incredible extent, unless10 they part themselves into trains, and march orrtf- to thoseplaces whither their wines are ärried. But *hai corporeolcause can guide them thither? which question may be made ofother Phaenomeno of the-like nature, -wh".r."

ug"i., lt *itt bunecessary to establish the principre I drive ul,, though the15 effects were caused by the transmission of Atoms.4. The notablest examples of this Muncrone sympathy arein histories more uncertain and obscure, and such as, though Ihave been very credibry informed, yet, as I have arreadydeclared my serf, I dare only avo,r.r, ä. possible, viz. the souls20 of men leaving their Bodies, and appuuring in shapes, suppose,of cats, pigeons, weosers, and .ää"li-", of Men; and thatwhatever hurt befalls them in these Astror bodiäs, as theParacelsions love to call them, the same is inflicted upon theirTerrestrial lying in the mean time in their beds or on the25 ground. As if their Astra.l bod,ies be scalded, wounded, have theback broke, the same certainly hupp".r, to their Earthry bodies.which things if they be true, in ail rikelihood th"f"..u to beresolved into this principre we speak of, and that The spirit ofNature is snatcht into consent with the Imagination of the souls30 in these Astrar bodies or Aiery vehicres. which act of imaginingmust needs be strong in them, it being so set on and assistedby a quick and shärp pain and rrilrrt in these scardings,woundings, and strokes on the back; some such thinghappening here as in women with child, whose Fancies made35 keen by u suddain fear, have d"p.irruJ their children of theirarms, yea and of their heads too; as arso appears by tworemarkable stories sr. Kenerme DigLy rerates i* i,is witty andeloquent Discourse of the cure is"wouna, by the powder ofsympathy, besides what we have already recited out of40 Helmont.

lt

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2l»,\ 'l'lrc Irr)rnol.talit.y «rf' [he Soul. Book III Chap. XIll. 'l'he Irnrnort,rrlil,y ol' t,!rt l'ioul. '2lttl

ogere, shall forbear speaking any farther thereof in this place.To which you may adde, fträt mere corporear motion in Matter,without any other guide, would never so -uch as produce around szn or star, of which figure notwithstanding Des-cartesacknowledges them to be. But my reasons why it cannot beeffected by the simple Mechani.oi po*"r. of Motter, I haveparticularly set down in my Letters to that excellentPhilosopher.

liquors are formed into round ligurcs, as he ingcniousl.yconcludes. F rom whence it is apparent, that a bullet of irorr,silver or goid placed in the Aire is equally assaulted on all sitlesby the occursion of these Aethereal pi-rrticles, and thereflore,will be moved no more downwards then upwards, but hang irraequilibrio, as a piece of Cork rests on the water, where thereis neither winde nor stream, but is equally plaied against bythe particles of water on all sides.

2. Nor is it imaginable how the occursions of thisAethereal Element here against the surface of the Earth, beingit is so fluid a Body, should make it endeavour to lift it selffrom the Earth at so great a distance as the middle Region ofthe Aire and further. Besides, that this is not the cause of thedescent of heavy Bodies is manifest, because then a broad Plateof the most solid Metall and most perfectly polisht, such as isable to reflect the Aethereal particles most efficaciously, beingplaced slooping, would change the course of the descent of'things, and make them fall perpendicularly to it, and not to thePlane of the Horizon; as for example, not from A to B, but fromA to C; which is against experience. For the heavy Body willalwaies fall down from A to B, though the recession of theAethereal Matter must needs be from C to A according to thisHypothesis.

^

3. Nor can the endeavour of the Celestial Matter from thccentre to the circumference take place here. For besides thatDes-Cartes, Lhe profoundest Master of Mechanicks, has det:lin'dthat way himself (though Mr. Hobäs has taken it up,) iü wouklfollow, that near the Poles of the trarth there would be no

descent of heavy Bodies at all, and in the very Clime wc live innone perpendicular. To say nothing how this wa.y will n«rt,

salve the uni«ln o['t,hat, great Water ihaf adhrrrtrs t,o t,lrc llorl.y of'the M«lon.

10

Chap. XI[.r. That the Descent of heauy Bodies argues the existence of rhe15 spirit of Nature, becausr r[r, they wou1d rith* noni tn the Aireos they are placed, 2. or utourd, be diuerted from o lrrprndicuraros they fall nee.r a plate of Metall set slooping.' s. rnot theendeauour of the Aether or Aire from the Centre to the Circum-ference is not th-e cause of

-Grouity, ogaintst Mr. Hobbs. 4. A fulr20 conftttation of Mr.Hobbs äis oii"iä. 5. An ocurar Demonstro-tion ,f the absurcr consequence thereof,. 6. An absoruteDemonstra.tion that Grauity cannot be the ,6rr|i of mereMechanical powers. 7. Thi L-otitud,e of the operations of rhespirit of Nature,^low rorge and, whether bounded. g. The reason25 of its name- 9. of Instinit, whether it be, and whot it is. Lo. Thegro.nd office of' the spirit of Nature in tronsmitting sou/s intorig htly prepared M atte r.

I. And a farther confirmation that I am not mistaken30 therein, is what we dairy here expe.ience upon Earth, which isthe descending of heauy Bod,ies, .. *" cail them. corrcerningthe motion whereof I agree with Des-carte.s in the assignationof the immediate corporäal caus€, to wit, the Aethereal matter,which is so prentifully in the Air over it is in grosser Bodies;35 but withall do vehemently surmise, that there must be someImmaterial cause, such as we call The spirit of Noture orInferiot* soul of the worrd, that must direct the motions of theAetherettl particles to act upon these grosser Bodies to drivethem towa.ds the Earth. For that su"rplusage of Agitation of40 Lhe globuLor particles of the Aether above what they spend inLurning the Ea.th about, is carr.ied every way indifferently,,cc«r.ding t,, lris ,wn crncession; by which motiän the drops ofl

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'260 'l'he Immortality of the Soul. tsook III

4. But to make good what I said, by undeniable proof thatheavy Bodies in the very Clime where we live will not descendperpendicularly to the Earth, if Mr.f/oöäs his solution of thePhaenomenon of Grauity be true; we shall evidently demonstrateboth to the Eye and to Reason the proportion of theirdeclination from a perpendicular in any Elevation of the Pole.In the Circle therefore A B C, let the Aequator be B D, andfrom the point C draw a line b E, parallel to B D: which line CE will cut the circle in F 60. degrees, suppose, from B. Imaginenow a heavy Body at E; according to Mr. Hobbs his solution ofthe Probleme of Grouity, it must fall towards the Earth in a lineparallel to the Aequator, uiz. in the line E F; which, say I,declines from the line H F drawn perpendicular to the HorizonL K two third parts of a right angle, that is to say, 60. degrees.For the angle E F H is equal to G F R; which again is equal tothe alternate angle B G F, which is two third parts of a rightangle ex thesi. Whence it is plain that E F declines from aperpendicular no less than 60. degrees. By the same reason, ifwe had drawn the Scheme for the elevation of 50. which ismore Southern then our Clime, we might demonstrate that thedescent of heavy Bodies declines from a perpendicular to theHorizon 50 degrees, or 519 af a right angle, and so of the rest.From whence it will follow, that men cannot walk upright, butdeclining, in the elevation suppose of 60. degrees, as near tothe ground as E F is to F L, and much nearer in the moreremote parts of bhe North, as in Norway, Russia, Frisland,Island, Scricfinnia, Creenland and others; and there isproportirlnably the same reason in other Climes less Norbhern.So that Mr'. floöös need not send us so farre off as to the Polesto make [hc experiment.

L

Chap. XIII. The lmmort,nlit,.y ol' l,ltr Sorrl. 26 I

5. For if for example we drew a scheme for the Parallel

under which we live, suppose about 52. degrees of Elevation, I-r

we might represent truly to the eye in what posture men would

walk ät London or cambridge, according to Mr. Hobbs his

determination of the causes of Grauity. For it is plain from

what has been above demonstrated, that the natural posture of

their Bodies upon the Hori zon L K would be in the line E F, out I0of which if they did force themselves towards the perpendicular

H F, it would be much pain to them, neither could they place

themselves in the line rL F, without being born headlong to the

g.o.rnd, and laid flat upon the Horizon F K; the force of the

Aire or whatever *orÄ subtle Elements therein pressing in I rr

Iines parallet to E F, and therefore necessarily bearing down

whatever is placed loose in the line H F, as is plain to any one

at frrrst sight.But we finding no such thing in experience, it is evident

that Mr. Hobbs his solution is false; nay I may say that he has '20

not rendred so much as a possible cause of this so ordinary a

Phaenomenon. A thing truly much to be lamented in one who,

upon pretence that all the Appearances in the universe may re

resolved into mere corporeal causes, has with unparallell'd

confidence, and not without some wit, derided and exploded all 2l»

Immaterial substance out of the world; whenas in the mean

time he does not produce so much as possible Corporeal causes

of the most ordinary effects in Nature. But to leave Mr.

Hobbs to his own ways, and to return Lo Des-cortes.

6. Adde unto uu thi., that if the motion of gross Bodies 30

were according to mere Mechanical laws, a Bullet suppose tlf

Lead or Gold, äast up into the Aire, would never descend again,

but would persist in a rectilinear motion. F'«rr it boing fat' m«rt'e

solid then so much Air.e and Aether put L,gethe. .s w.ukl fill

its place, and lrcing rnovecl with no less swi['t,nt'ss Lltcn t'hat' ili-r

wherewith Lht. l,)lrrl.lr is t:al'r'ir,,<i ab«rtrt itr t,werrt,Y firttt' lttlttt's, it'

must nccrls br.r.:rk ottl itt lt st,t'lright, linc t,hrorrgh t,lr0 thilr Ait'r',

A

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---_i_...__..__._______,,______ _ __ __ _ ____ ___ _262 The Immortality of the Soul. Bee]; [H- Ii-l Ii in 3 ii i -i

1". 1' ii Ill-IP31

and never return again to the Earth, but get away as a Cometdoes out of a Vortex. And that cle facts a Cannon-Bullet hasbeen shot so high that it never fell back again upon the 31-sandDes-Cartes does admit of as a true experiment. Of which fofmy own part, I can imagine no other unexceptionable reason,but that at a certain distance The Spirit of Nature in someregards leaves the motion of Matter to the pure laws sf‘Mechanicks, but within other bounds checks it, whence it isthat the Water does not swill out of the Moon.

7. Now if the pure Mechanick powers in Matter andCorporeal motion will not amount to so simple a Pliaenornenor.-.as the falling of a stone to the Earth, how shall we hope theyWill be the adequate cause of sundry sorts of Plants and otherthings, that have farre more artifice and curiosity then thedirect descent of a stone to the ground? '-

Nor are we beaten back again by this discovery into thatdotage of the confounded Schools, who have indued almostBier? different Ubject of our Senses with a distinct Substantialform, and then puzzle themselves with endless scrupulositiesabout the generation, corruption, and inixtion of them Fm Iaff'u'm with‘ Des-Caries, that nothing affects flu!‘ Sgflses butsuch Variations of Matter as are made by difference of MotionFigurei Situatiml "F B31155, Etc. but I dissent from him in this’In that I hold it is not mere and pure Mechanical motion thatcauses all these sensible Modifications in Matter but that$1.‘-1:1)’ |3l;‘IlES the immediate Director thereof is this Spirit of31“ “F i 1:-ilftflflk 111°) ‘one and the same every where, and eating

wafe5_a 1 B "P011 like occasions, as a clear-minded men and sf3 slllld Judgement gives alwaies the same verdict in the samecircumstances,

F“? this SP1?“ Hf Nature interniedling with the efformationof the FUEIHS “F Anime-15 (as I have already shewn more thenante) were flfitwithfltfllidies there seems not so much needtihere heégg in them a more particular Agent for that purpose;

1; elifce ilng rational that all Plants and Flowers of all sorts (ingo If) “lie lave no argument to ‘prove there is any partiaulflrWalsh ilou d be_the effects of l5lI1S_iU!HUE!‘5'tIl Soul of the World,3 1‘-‘d_ ?fP°l>l'lBF~15, besides that it is most reasonable in it self,ccor ing to that ordinary Axiome Frustra fit per plura qugd

fit-ii"! potest per pauciora, is also very serviceable for thepreventing many hard Problems about the Diuisibility of theseuis of Plants, their Transrnutations into other Specfgg the

|-|1| i it! I .

Chap. XIII. The Immortality of the Soul. 263

growing of Slips, and the like. For there is one Soul readyevery where to pursue the advantages of prepared Matter.Which is the common and onely Iuirgoig oitsppaiirni; of all Plantalappearances, or of whatever other Pliaenornena there he,greater or smaller, that exceed the pure Mechanical powers ofMatter. We except onely Men and Beasts, who having all ofthem the capacity of some sort of enjoyments or other, it wasfit they should have particular Souls for the multiplying of thesense of those enjoyments which the transcendent Wisdome ofthe Creatour has contrived.

8. I have now plainly enough set down what I mean byThe Spirit of Nature, and sufficiently proved its existence. Outof what has been said may be easily conceived why I give itthis name, it being a Principle that is of so great influence andactivity in the Nascency, as I may so call it, and Coalesccncy ofthings: And this not onely in the productioin of Plants, with allother Concretions of an inferiour nature, and yet above themere Mechanical lawes of Matter; but also in respect of thebirth of Animals, whereimto it is preparatory and assistant.

I know not whether I may entitle it also to the guidance ofAnimals in the chiefest of those actions which we usuallyimpute to natural Instinct. Amongst which none so famous asthe Birds making their Nests, and particularly the artificialstructure of the Martins nests under the arches of Church-windows. In which there being so notable a design unknownto themselves, and so small a pleasure to present Sense, itlooks as if they were actuated by another, inspired and carriedaway in a natural rapture by this Spirit of Nature to doe theyknow not what, though it be really a necessary provision andaccommodation for laying their Eggs and hatching their young,in the efformation whereof this lnferiour Soul of the World is sorationally conceived to assist and intermeddle: and thereforemay the better be supposed to over-power the Fancy, and makeuse of the menbers of the Birds to build these convenientReceptacles, as certain shops to lay up the Matter whereon sheintends to work, namely the Eggs of these Birds whorn she thusguides in making of their nests.

9. For that this building of their nests in such sort shouldnot be from natural Instinct, but from acquired Art andobservation, or from the instruction of the old ones, there is noreason or ground for any one to conceit. For in that theiractions tend to so considerable a scope, that is no argument

i,,,t 'l'lrc lrnrnor.t,rlit,.y ol' t,lrr. lir»rrt. llook l ll"),(\

rtOh:r1r. Xlll. 'l'lrr' lrntrtot'l;rlrty ol' llrl Sotrl.

that they kn«lw it or ever consurted about it, no more then thatIuy o. Bincluteed, that winde about the next pt"rt that cansupport them, cast up with themselves aforehand the eithernecessity or convenience of such close embraces. Nor does it at5 all follow, because the young ones might see the ord ones maketheir nests.before they begin to makä theirs, that they do seethem or take notice of them. Nuy, who can produce any oneexample of the old one tutouring oi teaching här yo.r,g ones inthis kind of Architecture: or has spide the yäung orru of her serf10 to apply her mind to learn that art by observilg what the oldone does? wherefore a man may as well urgfru, yea muchbetter, that the Notes of Birds ur" not by nrtinit, but bylearning and art, because they may have heard the old onessing or whistle before them: whenas-they will take up naturaily15 of themselves such notes as belong to their kind, withouthearing of the oid ones at any time. §o that it is not from anyground of Reason, but a mere vain and shallow surmise, tothink that the Architecture of Birds in building their nests isnot notural Instincf, but acquired Art and Imitatiln.20 But on the other side, there are very plain and positiveReasons to convince uS, that this Architecture of theirs isfrom Insti,nct, and no ocquired. focurty. And that fi;, becausein general brute Animals are of =,r.h a nature as is devoid ofthat free and reflexive reason which is requisite to acquired Art25 and consultation. For if they had any such principre, some ofthem would be able to speak. The want of *iich io*". is theonly plausible presumption for Des-Corte.s his conceit of theirbeing mere Machino's. which though it will not reach to soenormous a Paradox, yet it may justry exclude them from the30 participation of such a free Reason as will make them abre forconsultation and learning of Arts and Mysteries.

Secondly, The hatching of their eggs being by mereInstinct, &.not out of any deriberate Knowlääge, it is"reasonabreto think, that th-e making of their nests, which is but in order35 thereto, is mere Instinct u.i.o.Thirdly, That which is specificar is not acquired, but is byNature or Instinct; but to make their nests thus or thus isspecifical to this or that kinde of Bird, even as their note is, andtherefore is plainly natural.

40 Fourthly, The peculiar Indocility of those Birds that are.he most ingenious Architects in buiiding their nests is a prainindication that it is not free Reoson birt Instinct that guides

[hcrn. And P/in.y observcs in l.lrt. §rlrr//oro, ltow inrlot:il shc is,and yet how udmirable in [i'rrrrrirrg lrr.r' lit.t.le mansiorrs o['rnutfil.

[,'ifthly, 'fhat this Arctrit,ccturc rs rrot a picce «rf' lcarningderived fi'om the old ones in succcssion, but the immt:rliutceffect of Nature, is further manifest, in that in all parts of' Lho

World the same kinde of Birds make tl're same kinde of nest,s,when it cannot be well supposed that they learned it f,rom thost.in remote countries, whom the vastness of the Seas kept fi'ommutual converse.

Sixthly and lastly, There is no man can well think or'

discourse of examples of natural Architecture, but the Mortin'sly'est, the Combes of Bees, the Webs of Spiders and Lhe Bogs of'Silk-uorms will one bring in another, as being wholl.ycongenerous and of the same nature. Which makes Plinie,Cardan and Nierembergius joyn them in one Catalogue irsexamples of one suite, and may well induce us to conclude themof so near a-kin, as that if one be natural Instinct, all the resLmust be so too. And our foregoing Argument is infinitety pr'os-sing in the three last Instances. For we may be sure that allthe Bees in the World came not out of one Hive, and therefirrecould not derive their Architectonical- skilt from the sarncteachers, and yet they all make their Combes with the samuartifice, as I may so call it, and with the same exactness «l['

Geometry. And as for Spiders, it is evident that they are «r['

the tü üuropräru4 7evötrrevo. as Aristotle phrases it, and ar'('generated of mere flutte5r and putrefaction. And yet thescInsects so soon as they are bred, can set up shop :"rnd fall t,«r

their trade of weaving without any Teacher or Instructer'.But the noblest and most apposite insLance is that last, of'

the Silk-worm, who works so concealedly within her fitllü:ulusor little bag, as if she either envied the communicati«rn of' hcr'skil to her fellows, who of themselves are ver'.y dim-sighterl, or'ought him a shame that should be so injudici«rusly b«rld as L<r

impute the notural Instinct of such like Anirnals t«l e xtt rnrtlobservation and imitation. And yet there is i.l great aflinit,.ybetwixt the l{idificcttions of Birds and these Con;4ktmt,rrr.ti<tn.s of'the threads of the Si/ä- worm: not only ir', 1'ggrrr'(l of' t,lrt' «rutwurrlFigure of those clues of silk, as I ma.y so call l.ht'rn, whit'lr rrrr.not unlike the Nests ofl Birds, but :-rls<l in r'(\gi-\r'(l «r('t,lrr. r'nrl urrrldesigne of them both. Which is n<lt t,[rc ut:cornrn«rtlrrt,irrg o[' tlrr.Indiuidutl, but a ploL firr the propagitli«rtt «r[' t.ltt' ,\lrrcir's. l"«)r'

that Inscct, wc crrll t,lrr. §i/lr-u)orm lrl'l.r'r' slrc lr:rs r'ur) t,hrorrglh

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Olrrrp. X lll. 'l'lte I tntn«lt'l,rtltl.Y ol' lltl Sotrl. '267

10

:l(i(; 'l'lrt, lrrtrrtort,itlrt,.y ol' l,ltr. S«rtrl. Iirok lll

multifiarious changes and names, äs, of' ordr],rfi. räpnq.

BopBüirog. Xpuotil.iq. vüpgq. verüöu,l"oq. VUXrI , in this last title andchange ends all with a plentiful provision for the continuation ofthe kinde. For when she has arrived to her third change,wherein she is called BopBüitoq, from her mouth and with herfore-feet she works that Folliculus or clue of silk above named,building thus her own tombe, which yet is the wombe or cradleof her self' when having passed the state of a lpuouiiq (whereinshe does ürrvqrt(etv. as Aristotle speaks, and approaches near tothe shape and nature of an egg) she emerges after to a nearertendency toward her purposed animal delineaments, and iscalled vüUqn ond after this acquiring a greater degree of life andmotion is styled verüöaioq ,as if her dead body had catched vitalfire again. In this state she does not lye loose, but sticksagain to the cavity of the Clue, and grown to full maturitybreaks through, and shews herself in the compleat forme of aButterfly. To which pitch of perfection when they are arrivedthey enjoy but a very small time. For after three or four daiesindulgence to the delightful usages of Venus, the Maleimmediately bids the world adieu; whom soon after the Femalefollows, but yet so as that she leaves behinde her somehundreds of eggs, small like the grains of millet, as a numerouspledge and provision for the continuation of their kinde. Howthen according to this account can the old one ever teach theyoung ones their trade of spinning or weaving?

And yet the Si/ä-worms Bag is as great a piece of Artificeand of as great designe, or rather the same as the nests ofSwollouts or Martins. The making of which notwithstandingAristotle calls grtrrrlpuru rflq uvrlp«-rnlvr6 (urnq. Imitations ofhumane Reason; which they having not themselves, somePrinciple distinct from them must be their Guide in theseperformances: whence I have rightly concluded in my Antidote,That Lhe Nidification of Birds as well as their Incubation is noobscure argument of a Divine Providence. Which I understandmainly of the structure of their Nests; though fhe choice of theplaces where they build them may not be merely from thelightness of their bodies and their assuefaction to Edifices,Trees, or Bushes, but partly from the dictate of that /nstinctwhich suggests to them everywhere what is most for theirsafety, and makes them many times sagacious above ourapprehension. As it appears in what Pliny writes concerning akind of Swallows Lhat use to build their nests near Coptos in

AegV,tt, wh«t d«l eithcr n<lf trrltk(' ol' lirrsltkc thcir ncsfs rnltrly

a"i"t bcfilt'e, si lhturum est ril uttltrs urrtuis ttttingat'

Th.rt there is such a thing tht't't'lirt'c ls lnstinct in Brutc

Animals t think is very plain, Llrirt is t,«l siry, That there is arr

Instigation or Impetui in them k» tlt>e such things witht>ut 5

counsel, deliberation, or acquired knowledge, as according ltr

our reason and best consultation we cannot but approve t<l trt'

fittest to be done. Which Principle in general Scaliger seems t«r

parallel to Divine Inspiration. Instinctus dicitur d Natura' sitttt

d Diis Affiatio. But methinks it is most safely and m«rst' l0

u'e"ceptiänably apptied where the Instinct respects not so

much the welfar" of the Indiuidual as the common good of' this

or that Species- For if there be any Impulse from an

Exptrinsr.äl P.irrciple upon any particular Animal' it is most

sure to be then, *rr.r, that Animal is transported from the 15

frr.rrur,.e of its own particular accommodation to serve a more

iublick end. fo, fro* whence can ühis motion be so well as

from that which is not a particular Being, but such as in whostr

Essencethescope&purposeofthegeneralgoodoftheWorldand of all the Siecies it.tuit, is vitally comprized, and therefo'e ')ll

binds all Parti*lur. together by that common Essential ['ow,

which is it seli, o...*ioälly impetling them to such actions :rn«l

services (eithär above their Knowledge or against their'

particular Interests) as is most conducing to the Conset'vatittn

of the whole? And this is that which we have styled the spirit 25

otf Nature, which goes through and assists all corporeal Bcings'

and is the VicariJu, power of God (who is bhat Nouoq ioox)"r'ig'

as the philosofn"r.äU. Him) upon the Universal Matter of 1he

World. This äuggests to the Spider the fancy of spinning antl

weaving fr", Wö and to the bee of the framing of her Flonv- :t0

combs, but especially to the Silk-worm of conglomerating her'

both funeral urrd ,,uiul Clue, and to Lhe Birds of building bheir'

Nests and of their so diligent hatching of their Eggs. But I

have insisted upon this Argument too long'

10. The most notable of tho.u offices that' can be assignotl lll'r

Lo The spirit of Nature, and that sutably to his namt), is tht'

Translocation äf tn" Souls of Beasts into such M:-rfter' :'ts is

mostflrttingforthem,hebeingtheCommonl,nlxentt()l'ContrcLctor o['all nitt,ttt',i Matches and Maffiages betwixt iirrrn's

and Motter, it' w(' rnlt.y also speak Metaphors as wcll :ts '10

Arist<tt1t, w[),sr. Alrltorlstrte it is, LhaL Mote'rio olt|tr'lit litrrnurn rtl

lbemino rtirttrn-

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'l'his spirit therefore may have not onely the power ofdirecting the motion of Matter at hand, but also of tronrportingof particular souls and spirits in their state of silence andInactiuity to such Matter as they are in a fitness to catch life inagain. which rransportation or Transmission may very well beat immense distances, the effect of this sympothy-and, öoactiuitybeing so great in the working of wines,'as has been abovenoted, though a thing of less concernment, or, (which is a moreunexceptionable instance) in conducting the magnetick particlesfrom one Pole of the Earth to the other.

whence, to conclude, we may look upon this spirit ofNature as the great Quartermaster-General of-Divine p.orrid".r.u,but able alone, without any under-officers, to lodge Lu"ry soulaccording to her rank and merit whenever she leaves the Body:And would prove a very serviceable Hypothesis for thosethat fancy the Praeexistence of humarr" §ä,r1., to declare howthey may be conveyed into Bodies here, be they at whatdistance they will before; and how Matter haply may be sofitted, that the best of them may be fetcht from the purestAethereal Regions into an humane Body, without serving anylong Apprentiship in the intermediate Aire: as also how thesouls of Brutes, though the Earth were made perfectly ineptfor the life of any Animal, need not lye for ever useless in theUniverse.

But such speculations as these are of so vast acomprehension and impenetrable obscurity, that I cannot havethe confidence to dwell any longer thereo.r; especially they nottouching so essentially our present desig.r., u.rd being -ore fitto fill a volume themselves, then to bä comprised *itnin thenarrow limits of my now almost-finish'd Discourse.

Chap. XIV.

I. objections against the soul's Immortality from her cond,itionin [nfancy, old Ag", sleep and sicknesses. i. oth* objectionstaken lrom Experiments thot seem to proue her Disc.fiiuitity.3. A' ctlso from the seldome opprorirg of the sou/s of thedeceased; 4- And lrom our noturol -fbor

ot'' Deoth. 's. A

subterlirye of' the oduerse party, sttTtposing but one sottl commonto oll oreotures. 6. An Ansuttr (ont,,rning the l,ittleness <tl. the

Chap. XIV. 'fhe [mmrlrtalil,.y ol't,he Soul. 26{)

Soul in Infancy: 7. As also concerning the weahness of herIntellectuals then, and in Old Age. 8. That Sleep does not at ollo.rgue the Soul's Mortality, but rather illustrate her Immortality.9. An Ansuter to the Objection f*^ Apopplexies and Catalepsies:10. As also to that from Madness. 11. That the uariousdeprauations of her Intellectual Faculties do no more argue herMortality, then the worser Modifications of Matter its naturalAnnihilability. And why God created Sou/s sympothizing withMatter.

I. As for Lhe Objections that are usually made against theImmortality of the Soul; to propound them all, were both tediousand useless, there being scarce above one in twenty that canappear of any moment to but an indifferent Wit and Judgment.But the greatest diffrculties that can be urged I shall bring intoplay, that the Truth we do maintain may be the more fullycleared, and the more firmly believed. The most materialObjections that I know against the Soul's Immortality are thesefive. The first is from the consideration of the condition of theSoul in Infancy, and Old Age, as also in Madness, Sleep, andApoplexies. For if we do but observe the great difference of ourIntellectual operations in Infancy and Dotage from what theyare when we are in the prime of our years; and how that ourWit grows up by degrees, flourishes for a time, and at lastdecayes, keeping the same pace with the changes that Age andYears bring into our Body, which observes the same lawes thatFlowers and Plants; what can we suspect, but that the Soul ofMan, which is so magnificently spoken of amongst the learned,is nothing else but a Temperature of Body, and that it growsand spreads with it, both in bigness and virtues, and withersand dies as the Body does, or at least that it does whollydepend on the Body in its Operations, and therefore that thereis no sense nor perception of any thing after death? And whenthe Soul has the best advantage of years, she is not thenexempted from those Eclipses of the powers of the Mind thatproceed from Sleep, Madness, Apoplexies, and other Diseases ofthat nature. All which shew her condition, whatever moreexalted Wits surmise of her, that she is but a poor mortal andcorporeal thing.

2. The Second Objection is taken li'om such Bxperimen[sa.s are thought l«r ;rnrve the Soul diuisible in thrr grosses[ sense,that is to sa.y, tlixrrytible int«r pieces. Anrl it, se()ms a clcar'(:ase

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'2711 'l'he Immorkrlity of't,ht Soul. tsook III

in those more contemptible Animals which are called Insects,especially the rd uoKpo roi no]"ünoöa. as Aristotle describesthem, and doth acknowledge that being cut into pieces, eachsegment will have its motion and sense apart to it self. Themost notable Instance of this kind is in the Sco/opendra, whoseparts Aristotle affirms to live a long time divided, and to runbackwards and forwards; and therefore he will have it to looklike many living Creatures growing together, rather then onesingle one, Eolraqt fdp rd roruütu töv (,i-, noi)"oig (drctqoq.rnetpur6ot. But yet he will not afford them the priviledge ofPlants, whose Slips will live and grow, being set in the Earth.But the instances that belong to this Objection ascend higher,for they pretend that the parts of perfect Animals will also liveasunder.

There are two main instances thereof. The one, that of theEagle Fromondus mentions, whose Head being chopt off by anangry Clown, for quarreling with his dog, the Body flew overthe barn near the place of this rude execution. This was doneat Fromondus his fathers house: nor is the story improbable, ifwe consider what ordinarily happens in Pigeons and Ducks,when their heads are cut off. The other instance is, of aMalefactour beheaded at Antwerp, whose Head when it hadgiven some few jumps into the crowd, and a Dog fell a lickingthe blood, caught the Dogs eare in its teeth, and held it so fast,that he being frighted ran away with the mans head hanging athis eare, to the great astonishment and confusion of the people.This was told Fromondus by an eye-witness of the fact. Fromwhich two Examples they think may be safely inferred, thatthe Souls of Men, as well as of the more perfect kinde ofBrutes, are also discerpible.

That example in the same Authour out of Josephus Acosta,if true, yet is smally to this purpose. For the speaking of thesacrificed Captive, when his Heart was cut out, may be afurther confirmation indeed that the Brain is the Seat of theCommon Sense, but no argument of the Diuisibility of the Soul,she remaining at that time entire in the Body, after the cuttingout of the Heart, whose office it is to afford Spirits, which werenot so far yet dissipated, but that they sufflrced for that suddainoperafion of life.

3. The Third Objection is from the seldome appearance ofthe Souls of the deceased. For if they can at all appear, whydo they not oftner? if they never appear, it is a strong suspicion

Ch.rp. XIV. 'l'hc lmtnort,rtlit,.y ol' l.lto liorrl. '27 I

that they are not at all in [Jeing. .4. The Fourth is firom thc F't:irr o[' I)caLh, trnd an inward

downbearing sense in us at somc tirnels, that we are utterl.ymortal, and that there is nothing to be expected after this life.

5. The Fifth and last is rather a Subterfuge then anObjection, That there is but One Common Soul in all Men andBeasts, that operates according to the variety of Animals andPersons it does actuate and vivificate, bearing a seemingparticularity according to the particular pieces of Matter itinforms, but is One in all; and that this particularity of Bodybeing lost, this particular Man or Beast is lost, and so everyliving creature is properly and intirely mortal. These are thereallest and most pertinent Objections I could ever meet with,or can excogitate, concerning the Soul' s Immortality: to whichI shall answer in order.

6. And to the First, which seems to be the shrewdest, tsay, That neither Lhe Contractedness of the Soul in Infoncy, northe Weakness of her Intellectual Operations either then or inextreme Old @g€, are sufficient proofs of her Corporeity orMorality. For what wonder is it that the Soul, fain into this lowand fatal condition, where she must submit to the course of'Nature, and the laws of obher Animals that are generated hereon Earth, should display her self by degrees, firom smallerdimensions to the ordinary size of men; whenas this flaculty ofcontracting and dilating of themselves is in fhe very essenceand notion of all Spirirs? as I have noted already. So she doesbut that leisurely and naturally now, being subjected to thelaws of this terrestrial Fate, which she does, exempt flrom thiscondition, suddainly and freely: not growing by Juxtaposition <>f'

parts, or Intromission of Matter, but inlarging of her self withthe Body merely by the dilatation of her own Substance, whichis one and the same alwaies.

7. As for the Debility of her Intellectuals in Infont.'y andOld Age, this consideration has less force to evince her a merccorporeal essence then the former, and touches noL our'Principles at all, who have provided for the very worst surmiscconcerning the operations of the Mind, in acknr>wlc'dging thenr,of my own accord, kl rlcpcnd very intimately on thc bmpor irndtenour of the' Soul's irnrncdiate instrurnent, the ^Strririt.s, Whit:hbeing more trlr'1rirl :utrl wltt,r'y in Chiklren and Old mt,n, rnus[needs hindcr ltcr rn sttctt Opcra[ions as n.rtruir'«' rlrrol,hr.r't:«rnstitution «rf' Slrurls llrr.lt is usurtll.y in AHt rurrl (lhiltlhootl:

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1, la 'l'lrt. lrnrrrort,;rlit,.y ol' t,lrt, Soul. llook lll Olrup. X l V. 'l'lrrr lrnrnorl.rrlrly ol' Ilrr. l.iorrl. '27:l

10

though I will not profless my sell'abs«rluLely c«rnfident, that theSoul cannot act without all dependence on Matter. But if itdoes not, which is most probable, it must needs follow, that itsoperations will keep the laws of the Body it is united with.whence it is demonstrable how necessary purity andTemperance is to preserve and advance a mans Parts.

8. As for sleep, which the dying Philosopher called theBrother of Death, r do not see how it argues the Soul'sMortality, more then a mans inabitity to wake again: butrather helps us to conceive, how that though the stounds andagonies of Death seem utterly to take away all the hopes of thesoul' s living after them; yet upon a recovery of a quickervehicle of Aire, she may suddainly awake into fuller andfresher participation of life then before. But I may answeralso, that Sleep being onely the ligation of the outward Senses,and the interception of motion from the external world, arguesno more any radical defect of Life and Immortality in the Soul,then the having a mans Sight bounded within the walls of hischamber by Shuts does argue any blindness in the immuredparty; who haply is busie reading by candle-light, and that withease, so small a print as would trouble an ordinary Sight toread it by day. And that the Soul is not perpetually employedin s/eep, is very hard for any to demonstrate; we so oftenremembring our dreams merely by occasions, which if they hadnot occurred, we had never suspected we had dreamed thatnight.

9. Which Answer, as also the former, is applicable toApoplexies, Catolepsies, and whatever other Diseases partake oftheir nature; and witness how nimble the Soul is to act uponthe suppeditation of due Matter, and how Life and sense andMemory and Reason and all return, upon return of the fittingtemper of the Spirits, suitable to that uitol Congruity that thenis predominant in the Soul.

10. And as for Madness, there are no Apprehensions sofrantick but are arguments of the Sou/'s Immortality, not asthey are frantick, but as Apprehensrons. For Motfer cannnotapprehend any thing, either wildly or soberly, äs I have alreadysuffrciently demonstrated. And it is as irrational for a man toconclude, that the depraved Operations of the Soul argue herMortality, BS that the worser tempers, or figures, or whatevermore contemptible modifications there are of Matter, shouldargue its annihilation by the mere power of Nature; which no

man that understands himscll'will r,vr.r' :rrlrnit..'l'he Soul indeed is inducrl wit,h sr.v1,r'ul F aculüies, and sorno

of them very fatally passive, surlr irs thosc are. that have ühcnearesf commerce with Motter, irnd ure n«lt so absolutely in herown power, but that her levity and mindlessness of the divinelight may bring her into subjection fo them; as all are, in t«ro

sad a sort, that are incarcerate in this Terrestriol Body, butsome have better luck then other some in this wild andaudacious ramble from a more secure state. Of whichApostasy if there be some that are made more Tragickexamples then others of their stragling from their soveraignHappiness, it is but a merciful admonition of the danger we allhave incurr'd, by being where we are; and very few so wellescaped, but that if they could examine their Desires, Desi6Jns,and Transactions here, by that Truth they were once mastersof, they would very freely confess, that the mistakes anderrours of their life are not inferiour to, but of worseconsequence then, those of natural Fools and Madmen, whomall either hoot at for their folly, or else lament their misery.And questionless ühe Souls of Men, if they were once reduced tothat sobriety they are capable of, would be as much ashomecl <»f

such Desires and .A/otions they are not wholly engaged in, asany madman, reduced to his right Senses, is of those freaks heplayed when he was out of his wits.

11. But the variety of degrees, or kindes of depravation inthe Intellective faculties of the Soul, her Substance beingIndiscerpible, cannot at all argue her Mortolity not more thenthe different modiflrcations of Matter the Annihilabitily thereof,as I have already intimated. Nor need a man trouble himself'how there should be such a sympathy betwixt Body and Soul,when it is so demonstrable that there is. For it is sufficient toconsider, that it is their immediate nature so to be by the willand ordinance of Him that has made all things. And that ifMatter has no Sense nor Cogitation it self, as we havedemonstrated it has not, it had been in vain, if God h.rd no[put forth into Being that Order of Immoteriol Creatures whir:hwe call Sou/s, vitally unitable with Lhe Motter: Which therefbre,according to the several modifications thereof, will neccssaril.yhave a different effect upon the Soul, [he S«rrrl abiding sLill asunperishable as the Matter that is more mutable t,hcn .slrr,. I,'orthe Matter is dissipoble, but she utterly in<lisurpible.

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Chap. XV.

5 I' An Answer to the experiment ofläe Scolopendra cut into pieces:2- And to the flyirs of an headress Eagle ouer o barn, os arso tothat of the Molefactour's head biting ä oog by the ,l,orr. B. Asuperaddition of a dfficutty concerning Monsters born utith twoor more Heads and but one Body and. Heart. 4. A solution of the10 dfficulty. s. An onswer touching the seldome appeoring of thedeceased: 6. As also concerning the feo.r of Diith; z. Ancl odown'beoring sense that sometimes so forcibly obtrud,es on us thebetief of the sou/'s Mortality. g. of the irogical pomps ond,dreadful Preludes of Death, with some corroboro.tiue Consid,er-15 otions against such sad spoctacles. g. Thot there is nothingreally sad and miserable in the lLniuerse, unless to the wickedond impious.

I. Nor do those Instances in the second objection prove20 any thing to the contrary, as if the Soul it seli were reollydiuisible- The most forcible Example is that of the scolopend,ra,the motion of the diuidend parts being so quick and nimblu, urrdso lasting. But it is easy to conceive, that, the activity of thespirits in the Mechanical conformation of the pieces of that25 Insect, till motion has dissipated them, will be .r".Lrrurily makethem run up and down, as Gunpowder in a squib will cause itsmotion- And therefore the Soul of the Scolopenclra wlll be butin one of those segments, and uncertain in which, but likely:rccording to the segments be made. For cut a wasps head off30 from the Body, the soul retires out of the Head into the Body;but cut her in the wast, leaving the upper part of the Body iothe Head, the soul then retires into thai foiepart of the wasp.And therefore it is no wonder that the Head being cut off, theBody of the wasp will fly and flutter so long, the soul being still35 in it, and haply conferring to the direction of the spirits formotion, not out of sense, but from custome or nature: as wewalk not thinking of it, or pray on the Lute though our mindebe running on something else, as I have noted before. Butwhen the wast is left to the Head, it is less wonder, for then40 the Animal may not be destitute of sense and fancy, toconveigh the Spir.its to move the wings.

Chap. XV. '['he Imrnol't,rrlil,y ol' I lrr, Sorrl. 27l»

2. The former case will tit, t,lrrrl, ol'tlrrr hcadlcss Eagle thatflew over the Barn. But thc rnüns lltod fhat catch'd the Dogby the ear would have more difficultv in it (it not seeming soperfectly referrible to the latter case «rf' blre Wasp) did not weconsider how hard the teeth will set in a swoon. As this Heacltherefore wes gasping while the Dog was licking the bloodthereof, his ear chanced to dangle into the mouth of it, whichclosing together as the ear hung into it, pinched it so fast thatit could not fall off.

Besides it is not altogether improbable, especiallyconsidering that some man die upwards, and some downwards,that the Soul may as it happens, sometimes retire into theHead, and sometimes into the Body, in these decollations,according as they are more or less replenish'd with Spirits; andby the lusty jumping of this Head, it should seem it was veryfull of them. Many such things as these also may happen bythe activity of the Spirit of Nature, who, it's like, may be asbusie in the ruines of Animals, while the Spirits last, as it is inthe fluid rudiments of them when they are generated. But theformer Answers being sufficient, it is needless to enlarge ourselves upon this new Theme.

3. To this second Objection might have been added suchmonstrous births, as seem to imply the Perceptiue port of theSoul divided actually into two or more parts. For Aristotleseems expresly to affirm, that that monstrous birth that hastwo Hearts is two Animals, but that which has but one Heartis but one. From whence it will follow that there is but oneSoul also in that one-hearted Monster, though it have two ormore Heads; whence it is also evident, that the Perceptiue partof that one Soul must be actually divided into two or more.This opinion of Aristotle Serunertrrs subscribes to, and thereforeconceives that that monstrous child that was born 'aL F)mmaus,in Theodosius his time, with two Heads & two Hearts, wastwo persons; but that other born Anno t53l". wibh tw«l Headsand but one Heart, who lived till he was a rnan, was but ont'person. Which he conceives appears thc plainer', in that b«lththe Heads professed their ilgreemenL perpe[ually to the samr!actions, in that thrry had the samc) appcti[e, t,hc slrmt hungcrand thirst, strlokc lrlikt', had t,hc sarn() dcsire to lit' wit,h t,h«rir

wif'e, and of' lrll ot,[tor lx:t,s of' r'xoncrilt irrg rurt,rrrc. I]trt, Iilr thaf«lt,her t,hlrt, hurl l,wo llr.:u't,s, rrnrl wrrs divirlcrl l,o t,he Navcl, t,horcw:ts rtot, l,lris irlr.nlrly o[' :rl'fi.<'l,iort :utrl rlr,sit'r., lrtrt, sornr.l,ilrtcs (]n('

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27li 'l'hc Immor'üality ol'thc Soul. I}«xrk III Chap. XV. 'fhe Imrn«lrl,rrlrl..y ol' l,lrl Sorrl. 277

result of our union with tho []orl.y, rrrrrl il'wr: should admit it oncof the imperfections «lr infirrnities wc con[r'act b.y being in thisstate, it were a solid Answer'. Anrl thcrefbre this fear trndpresage of ill in Death is no argumen[s that there is any ill init, nor any more to be heeded then the predictions of' an.yfanatical fellow that will pretend to prophecie. But besides this,it is fitting that there should be in us this fear and abhorrc,nc.y,to make us keep this station Providence has plac'd us in;otherwise every little pet would invite us to pack our selves «rut

of this World, and try our fortunes in the other, and so leavethe Earth to be inhabited onely by Beasts whenas it is to be

ordered and cultivated by Men.7. To the second I answer, That such peremptor'.y

conclusions are nothing but the impostures of Melancholy, or'

some other dull and fulsome distempers of blood that corruptthe Imagination; but that Fancy proves nothing, by Axiome 4.And that though the Soul enthroned in her Aethereal Vehicle bea very magnificent thing, full of Divine, Love, Majesty andTranquillity; yet in this present state she is in, clogg'd andaccloy'd with the foulness and darkness of this Terrestriol Bocly,she is subject to many fears and jealousies, and otherdisturbing passions, whose Objects though but a mockery, y€tare a real disquiet to her mind in this her Captivity andImprisonment

Which condition of hers is lively set out by that,incomparable Poet and Platonist, in his Aeneid. wherr,,comparing that more free and pure state of our Souls in theirCelestial or Fiery Vehicles with their restraint in this EarthlyDungeon, he makes this short and true description of the wh«rlematter.

Igneus est ollis uigor, et coelestis origoSeminibus ; quantum non noxia corpora tardo.nt,Tenenique hebetant artus, moribundaque membro:Hinc metuunt, cupiüntque, dolent, goudentque nec aurasRespiciunt, clausi tenebris et corcere coeco.

To this sense,A fiery uigour from an heauenly sourceIs in these seeds, so far as the dull lbrceOf noxious Bodies does not them retortl,In heauy earth ctnd dying limbs imbor'd.Hence, fool'd with lbors, lbul lusts, slturyt griel', uuüt.j<ty,In this darh Cool the.y lout ontl grt»r,el.inq4 lie,

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would have a mind to a thing, and sometimes another,;sometimes they would play with one another, and sometimesfight.

4. But I answer, and first tn Aristofle's authority, that hedoes not so confidently assert that every Monster that has butone Heart is but one Animal. For his words run thus. äv öeeivat tö (öov rö regrtööeq i n)"elto ouprneguröttr öei voprl(etv rardrnv dpXnv, olov ei rotoür6v r[ äortv t rapölc p6ptov, rö pöv piavä1ov rcpöiov äv (d,o, Where he onely speaks hypothetically,not peremptorily, that the Heart is that part where the firstPrinciple of life is, and from which the rest of life in Soul orBody is to be derived. For indeed he makes it elsewhere theseat of Common Sense; but that it is a mistake we havealready demonstrated, and himself seems not confident of hisown Opinion; and therefore we may with the less offencedecline it, and affirm (and that withouü all hesitancy) that aMonster is either one or more Animals according to the numberof the Heads of it, and that there are as many distinct Souls asthere are Heads in a monstrous Birth. But from the Headsdownwards the Body being but one, and the Heart but one, thatthere must needs be a wonderful exact concord in the sense ofaffections in these Heads, they having their Blood and Spiritsfrom one fountain, and one common seat of their passions anddesires. But questionless whenever one Head winked, it couldnot then see by the eyes of the other; or if one had pricked oneof these Heads, the other would not have felt it: thoughwhatever was inflicted below, it is likely they both felt alike,both the Souls equally acting the Body of this Monster, but theHeads being actuated by them onely in several. Which is asufficient Answer to Sennertus.

5. The weakness of the third Objection is manifest, in thatit takes away the Existence of all Spirits, as well as the Soulsof the deceased. Of whose being notwithstanding none candoubt that are not dobingly incredulous. We say therefore thatthe Souls of men, being in the same condition that other Spiritsare, appeor sometimes, though but seldome. The cause in bothbeing, partly they having no occasion so to doe, and lastly itbeing not permitted to them to doe as they please, or to bewhere they have a minde to be.

6. As for the Fear of Death, and that down-bearing sensethat sometimes so unconbroulably suggests to us that we arewholly mortal: To the flrrsb I answer, That it is a necessary

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'2'l 14 'l'lrt. lrrrrnort,itlit,y o[' tlrr. Sorrl. Ikxrk lll ( )hLrp. X V. 'l'lte ltnrnot't.rrlrl y ol' lltr, Sorrl. ')7 (.1

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Nor with one glance of'their obliuious mindLooh bach to that free Aire they let'i behind.

This is the sad estate of the more deeply-lapsed Souls uponEarth; who are so wholly mastered by the motions of the Body,that they are carried headlong into an assent to all thesuggestions and imaginations that it so confidently obtrudesupon them; of which that of our Mortality is not the weakest.

But such melancholy fancies, that would bear us down soperemptory that we are utterly extinct in death, are no moreargument thereof, then those of them that have beenperswaded they were dead already, while they were alive; andtherefore would not eaü, because they thought the dead nevertake any repast, till they were cheated into an appetite, byseeing some of their friends disguised in winding-sheets feedheartily at the table, whose example then they thought fit tofollow, and so were kept alive.

8. I cannot but confess that the Tragich pomp andpreparation to dying, that layes wast the operations of theMinde, putting her into fits of dotage or fury, making the veryvisage look ghastly and distracted, and at the best sadly paleand consumed, as if Life and Soul were even almost quiteextinct, cannot but imprint strange impressions even upon thestoutest Mind, and raise suspicions that all is lost in so great achange. But the Knowing and Benign Spirit though he mayflow in tears at so dismal a Spectacle, yet it does not at allsuppress his hope and confidence of the Soul's safe passage intothe other world; and is no otherwise moved then the morepassionate Spectatours of some cunningly-contrived Tragedy,where persons, whose either Vertue, or misfortunes, or both,have wonne the affection of the beholders, are at last seenwallowing in their blood, and after some horrid groans andgasps lye stretcht stark dead upon the stage: but being oncedrawn off, flrnd themselves well and alive, and are ready to tasta cup of wine with their friends in the attiring room, to solacethemselves really, after their fictitious pangs of death, andleave the easy-natur'd multitude to indulge to their softpassions for an evil that never befell them.

9. The fear and abhorrency therefore we have of Death,and the sorrow that accompanies it, is no argumenü but that wemay live after it, and are but due affections for those that areto be Spectatours of the great Tragick-Comedy of the World; thewhole plot whereof being contrived by Infinite Wisdome and

()oodness, we cannot but srrrrrriso t,haL [he most sarlrepresenta[i<lns are but a shrtu, hul,'t,lrt' «lelight, real tn such usare not wicked and impious; itnd t,haf what the ignorant callEuil in this Universe is but as the shadowy strokes in .r fairpicture, or the mournful notes in Musick, by which the Beauf.yof the one is more lively and express, and the Melody of' tht'other more pleasing and melting.

Chap. XVI.

I. Thot that which we properly are is both Sensitive orulIntellectual.2. What is the true Notion of a Soul being One. ll.That if there be but One Soul in the world, it is both Rationaland Sensitive. 4. The most fouourable representotion of' theirOpinion that hold but One. 5. A confutotion of the foregoingrepresentation. 6. A Reply to the Confutation. 7. An Answer tothe Reply. 8. That the Soul of Man is not properly any Ray eitherof God or the Soul of the World. 9. And yet if she were so, itwould be no prejudice to her Immortality: whence the folly of'Pomponatius is noted. 10. A further animaduersion uponPomponatius äis folly, in admitting a certain number of remt»teIntelligencies, and denying Particular Immaterial Substances inMen ond Brutes.

I. As for the last Objection, or rather Subterfuge, of suchas have no minde to firnde their Souls immortal, pretendingindeed they have none dislinct from that one Uniuersal Soal ofthe World, whereby notwithstanding they acknowledge that theOperations we are conscious to ourselves of, of Reason andother Faculties, cannot be without one; we shall easily discove.r'either the falsness or unserviceableness of this conceit for theirdesign, who would so fain slink out of Being after the madfreaks they have played in this Life. For it is maniflestly frue,that a Man is most properly that, whatever it is, thatanimaduerts in him; for that is such an operation that no Beingbut himself can doe it for him. And that which onimaduerrs inus, does not onely perceive and take notice «lf its I ntellettuol arrdRationo,l operations, but of all Sensctions whatsoever thitt wt'are conscious of, whether they [erminate in our l]«dy or' onsome outward Object. ["rom whence it, is plairr, t,ltat 'l'h«t tohich

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alwa.ys fancy it is himsell', whut'(!(,vcr ltc got,'s, fhrlugh ihis self'be nothing but the Sorul of'the World uct,irlg in suclt a particularBody, and retaining and renewing l.o hct' sell'the Memory ttf'allAccidents, [mpressions, Motions un«l Oogitabions, she h,td [heperception of in this particular piece of'«rrgtrnized Matter. 'l'hisis the most advantageous representation of this Opinion tltatcan possibly be excogitated. But I leave it to those that love toamuse themselves in such Mysteries, to try if they can makeany good sense of it.

5. And he that can fancy it as a thing possible, I woulddemand of him, upon this supposition, who himself is and he

cannot deny but that he is a Being Perceptiue andAnimaduersiue, which the Body is not, and therefore thathimself is not lhe Body; wherefore he is that in him which isproperly called Soul: But not its Operations for the formerreason; because they perceive nothing, but the Soul perceivesthem in exerting them: nor the Faculties, for they perceive notone anothers Operations; but that which is a mans Selfperceives them all: Wherefore he must say he is the Sozl; andthere being but one Soul in the World, he must be forc'd tovaunt himself to be the Soul of the World. But this boastingmust suddainly fall again, if he but consider that the Soul of theWorld will be every mans personal lpseity as well as his;whence every one man will be o// men, and all men but one

Individual man: Which is a perfect contradiction to all theLaws of Metaphysicks and Logick.

6. But re-minded of these inconveniences, he willpronounce more cautiously, and affirm that he is not the Sou/of the World at large but onely so far forth as she expedites orexerts her self into bhe Sense and Remembrance of all thoseNotions or Impresses that happen to her whereever she isjoyned with his Body; but that so soon as this Body of his isdissipated and dissolved, that she will no longer raise any suchdeterminate Thoughts or Senses that refer to thab Union; andthat so the Memory of such Actions Notions and Impressions,that were held together in relation to a particular Body, beinglost and laid aside upon the failing of the Body to which theydid refer, this lpseity or Personality, which consisted mainly inthis, does necessarily perish in death.

This certainly is that (if they know their' own rneaning)which many Libertines would have, who are .rfi'aid [<t rneetthemselves in the othet' World, for flelrr [hey should quarrcl

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we ore is both Sensitiue and Intellectuo.l.2. Now if we rightly consider what is comprehended in the

true and usual Notion of the Unity of a Soul, it is very manifestthat it mainly consists in this, that the Animaduersiue thereof isbut one, and that there is no Sensation nor Perception of anykind in the Soul, but what is communicated to and perceived bythe whole Animaduersiue.

3. Which things being premised, it necessarily follows,that if there be but one Soul in the World, that Soul is bothRational and Sensitiue, in one mans Soul, but bhe same wouldbe in all; nay that a man cannot lash a Dog, or spur a Horse,but himself would feel the smart of it: which is flatly agalnst allexperience, and therefore palpably false. Of this wildeSupposition I have spoken so fully in my Poems, that I needadde nothing here in this place, having suffrciently confuted itthere.

4. But not to cut them so very short, let us imagine themost favourable contrivance of their Opinion we can, andconceit that though this Soul of the World be of it self everywhere alike, and that Lhe Animaduersiue faculty is in it all inlike vigour; yet it being engaged in severally-tempered Bodies,Animaduersion is confin'd to that part of Matter onely which itactuates; and is stupid and unsensible of all other operations,whether Sensitive or Intellectual, that are transacted by herwithout, in other persons: a thing very hard to conceive, andquite repugnant to the Idea of the Unity of a Soul, not to beconscious to her self of her own perceptions. But let it pass fora possibility, and let us suppose that one part of the Soul of theWorld informs one man, and another, or at least some vitalRay there; yet notwithstanding, this opinion will be incumbredwith very harsh difliculties.

For if several parts of the Soul of the World inform severalparts of the Matter, when a man changes has place, he eithertears one part of the Soul of the World from another, or elsechanges Souls every step; and therefore it is a wonder that hechanges not his Wits too, and loses his Memory. Unless theysay that every part of the Soul of the World, upon theapplication of a new Body, acts just so in it as that part actedwhich it left, if there be no change or alteration thereoft whenceevery part of the Soul of the World wlll have the self-sameThoughts, Errours, Truths, Remembrances, Pains, Pleasures,that the part had the Body newly left. So that a man shall

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with t hcmselves there for their transactions in this. And it isthe handsomest Hypothesis that they can frame in favour ofthemselves, and far beyond that dull conceit, That there isnothing but mere Matter in the World; which is infinitely moreliable to confutation.

7. And yet this is too scant a covering to shelter them andsecure them from the sad after-claps they may justly suspect inthe other life. For first, it is necessary for them to confess thatthey have in this life as particular and proper sense ofTorment, of Pleasure, of Peace, and pangs of conscience, andof other impressions, as if they had an individual Soul of theirown distinct from that of the World, and from every ones else;and that if there be any Daemons or Genii, as certainly thereare, that it is so with them too. We have also demonstrated,that all sense and Perception is immediately excited in the soulby the spirits; wherefore with what confidence can theypromise themselves that the death of this earthly Body willquite obliterate all the tracts of their Being here on earth?whenas the subtiler ruines thereof, in all likelihood, ßzydetermine the Thoughts of the Soul of the world. to the sametenour as before, and draw from her the memory of all theTransactions of this life, and make her exercise her judgmentupon them; and cause her to contrive the most vital exhalätionsof the Terrestrial Body into an Aöreal Vehicle, of like naturewith the ferment of these material rudiments of life, saved outof the ruines of death.

For any slight touch is enough to engage her to perfect thewhole Scene; and so a man shalt be represented to himself andothers in the other stabe whether he will or not, and have asdistinct a person al lpseity there as he had in this life. Whenceit is plain, that this false Hypothesis, That we are nothing butthe Soul of the World acting in our Bodies, will not servelh"i.turns at all that would have it so; nor secure them from futuredanger, though it were admitted to be true. But I have

demonstrated it false already, from the Notion of the Unity of aSoul.

of the truth of which Demonstration we shall be the betterassured, if we consider that the subtile Elements, which are theimmediate conveyers of Perceptions in our Souls, are continuedthroughout in the so,/ of the world, and insinuate into all livingCreatures. So that the Soul of the World will be necessarilyinformed in every one, what she thinks or feels every where, if

Ohup. X V l. 'l'he lrnlnot'l,rtlrl y ol' llrr, Sotrl- 28:l

she be the onely Soul thal, ucl,urrt,r.s cv(r'y Animal upon llarth.Whence the Sun, Stars and Plarrt.ts woultl appear to us in thaLbigness they really are of, they bcing perceiv'd in that bignessby those parts of the Soul of' the Workl that are at a convenientnearness to them.

8. That other conceit, of our Souls being a Vital Ray of' theSoul of the World, may gain much countenance by expressionsin ancient Authors that seem to favour the Opinion as that oflEpictetus, who saith that the Souls of men are ouv«gt:Iq rdrt

rleü-rt. öre outoü p6ptc oüoot roi ütooaäoporo. And Päilo calls theMinde of Man, r.ls rleluq VUXft oröonnoptc öu örutpetöv andTrismegist ö vots oür äortv ozoterprlprevoq 116 öuor6rrpoq roür)€,oü. dII' öonep iinl,u4rävoq rarloruep rö roü l)"iou priX Allwhich expressions make the Soul of man a Ray or Beam of' theSoul of the World or of God. But we are to take notice thatthey are but Metaphorical phrases, and that what isunderstood thereby, is, that there is an emanation of a secondarysubstance from the seueral parts of the Soul of the World;resembling the Rayeis of the Sun. Which way of conception,though it be more easy then the other, yet it has difficultiesenough. For this Vital Ray must have some head from whenceit is stretched, and so the Body would be like a Bird in a string,which would be drawn to a great length when one takes longvoyages, suppose to the East or West Indies; which yet arenothing so long as our yearly sailing on the Earth from Libra toAries. Or if you will not have it, a linear Ray, but an Orb ofparticular life; every such particular Orb must be hugely vast,that the Body may not travel out of the reach of the Soul.Besides, this Orb will strike through other Bodies as well as itsown, and its own be in several parts of it; which are suchincongruities and inconcinnities as are very harsh andunpleasing to our Rational faculties.

Wherefore that Notion is infinitely more neat and safe,that proportions the Soul to the dimensions of the Body, andmakes her independent on any thing but the Will and Essenceof her Creator; which being exactly the same every where, asalso his Power is, her emanative support is exactly the sameto what she had in the very first point of her production andstation in the World. [n which respect of dependence she maybe said to be a Ray of Him, as the re'st of the Creation als«r; buLin no other sense thu[ [ know of, unless ol' likeness andsimilitude, she bt.ing Lhe Imoge. <»t' God, as the lloys o[' Liglrt rrrt

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2U4 'l'ho lmrnor.[ulit.y «rl' thc Soul. Il«rok III

of the Sun.9'

!ut-]-et i-re.y particular soul be so many Rayes of thesoul of the worrd, what.gain they by this, *henäs these ßayesmay be as capabre of ail the seve.ul .orrgruities of life, as the5 soul is in that sense we have described? and thereforePersonalit\, Memory and conscien, *itt as srrery return orcontinue in the other state, according to this Hypottiesis, as theother more usual one. which also äiscovers the great folry ofPomponatius (and of as many as are of the same leven with10 him) who indeed is .o -od".t and judicious as not to denyApparitions; but attributes all to the i.,fl,r"rr." of the stars, orrather the Intelligencies of the celestial orbs. For they givinglife and animation to brute Animars, why may they not arso,upon occasion, animate and actuate the Aire into "shape and15 form, even to the making of thern ,p"rt and discourse oneshape with another? For so pomponatiu,

^rgues in his Book ofthe Immortality of the sour, from A,qui,nas his concession, thatAngels and souls separate may figure the Aire into shape, andspeak through it; euare igitir liteuigentiae mouentes corpora20 coelestia haec facere non possunt cum suis instrumentis quae totac tanto

-poss_untt QUa€ faciunt psittacos, picos, coruos etMerulas, loqui? And a tittiu after, n" ft.ir,ty reasons from thepower the Inteiligencies have of generäti.rg e"i-ur., that it isnot at all strange that they thould raise such kinde of25 Apparitions as are recorded in Hi.tory. -

But if these Celestial Intelligenciäs be confined to their ownorbs, so as that no ,"cond.o{ Essence reach these inferiour!"grorrr, it is impossible to conceive how they can actuate theMatter here berow. But if there be any such essentiar30 Emanations from them, whereby they actuate the Matter intothese living Species we see in the dorld, of Men and Brutes;nothing hinders but the same Emanations remaining, mayactuate the Aire when this earthry fabrick fails, .rro .utuins thememory of things transacted in this life, and that still our35 Personallfy will be conserved as perfect and distinct as it washere.

10. But this conceit of pomponatius is farre more foorishthen theirs that make onery one Anima Mund,i that passesthrough all the Matter of the world, arra is present in every40 place, to doe all feats that there il to be done. But toacknowledge so many severar Inteilectuar Beings as there befancied celestiar orbs, and to ,..rft", or rather to seem

Chap. X V l. 'l'he Immrlrtullt.y ol' llrr, Sorrl. 285

confident, that there are not, so rnulr.y prrrli«'trlur Souls as thcrt:be Men here on Earth, is nothing [rut,, llurnour and Madncss.For it is as rational to acknowlctlgr. eight hundred thousantlMyriads of Intellectuol and Immuterkil lleings, really disbinctfrom one another, as eight; and an inlinite number, as but one,that could not create the Matter of the World. For then twoSubstances, wholly independent on one another, would begranted, as also the Inflrnite parts of Matter that have nodependence one on the other.

Why may not there be therefore Infinite numbers o['Spirits or Souls that have as little dependence one on another',as well as there should be eight Intelligencies? whenas thcmotions and operations of every Animal are a more certainargument of an Immaterial Being residing there, then themotions of the Heavens of any distinct Intelligencies in üheir'Orbs, if they could be granted to have any: And it is nostranger a thing to conceive an Infinite multitude of Immateriol,as well as Material, Essences, independent on one another, thcnbut two, namely the Matter and the Soul of the World. But il'there be so exeellent a Principle existent as can creote Beings,as certainly there is; we are still the more assured that thert'are such multitudes of Spiritual Essences, surviving all tht'chances of this present life, as the most sober and knowing menin all Ages have professed there are.

Chap. XVII.

I. That the Author hauing safely conducted the Soul into herAöreal condition through the dangers of Death, might utell beexcused from attending her any further. 2. Whot reosons uryl(him to consider what fates may befall her ofterwards. 3. Thr*hazzards the Soul runs after this life, whereby she may ago.inbecome obnoxious to death, according to the opinion of some. 4.That the Aöreal Genii are mortal, confirmed by three testimonits.5. The one from the Vision of Facius Cardanus, in uthich thtSpirits that appeared to him profest themselues mortal. fi. 'l'ht'time they stayed with him, and the matters they disputed ol'. 7.What credit Hieronymus Cardanus giues to his F'other's Visi<trt.8. The ather testimony out of Plutarch, con.:ertting the l)«ilh ol'the great God Ptrn. 9. The third and ktst o/' Ilt'siorl, rr,/ro.sr,

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3. To which she seems liubkr upon threc accounts. Theone we have named already, anrl l'espects an intrinsecalPrinciple, the Periodicol terms of' her Vitot C<tngruity, or else theLevity and Miscarriage of her own Will. Which obnoxiousnessof hers is still more fully argued from what is affirmed of theAöreal Genii (whose companion and fetlow-Citizen she is) whomsundry Philosophers assert to be Mortal. The other tw«rhazards she runs are from without, to wit Lhe Conflagrotion ol'the World, and the Extinction of the Sun.

4. That the Aöreal Genii are mortal, three mainTestimonies are answered for it. The Vision of FaciusCardanus, the Death of the great God Pan, in Plutarcä, and theOpinion of Hesiod. I will set them all down fully, as I findethem, and then answer to them. The Vision of FaciusCardanus is punctually recited by his son Hieronymus in his DeSubtilitate, in this manner.

5. That his Father Focius Cardanus, who confessed thathe had the society of a familiar Spirit for about thirty yearstogether, told him this following Story often wtren he was alive,and after his death he found the exact relation of it committedto writing, which was this. The 13. day of August 1491. after Ihad done my holy things, at the 20. houre of the doy, thereappeared to me, after their usual monner, seuen men cloathed insilh garments, with cloaks after the Greeh mode, with purplestochings and crimson Cassochs, red and shining on theirbreasts; nor were they all thus clad, but onely two of them uthowere the chief. On the ruddier and taller of these two other twowaited, but the less and paler had three attendonts; so that theymade up seuen in all. They were about fou.rty years of age, butloohs as if they had not reacht thirty. When they were osked uthothey were,they answered that they were Homines Aörii, AörealMen, who are born and die as we; but that their life is muchlonger then ours, as reaching to 300 yeors. Being askedconcerning the Immortality of our Sou/s, they onswered, Nihilquod cuique proprium esset superesse.' That they were of onearer ffinity with the Divi then we; but yet inf'initelv differentfrom them: qnd that their happiness or misery (rs muchtranscended ours, es ou,rs does the bnüe Beosts. 'f hat they hneutoll things that are hid, ushether Monies or B<»oles. And that thelowest sort of them were /äe Genii of' the best and noblrst m?n, osthe basest men ore the lruiners up of'the best sort of'l)ogs. 'l'h«tthe tenuity of their ßodies uttrs sru:h, thot they utn rkx, tts rtt,ilhrr

10

opinion Plutarch has polisht and refined. L0. An Enumerationof the seuerol Paradoxes contained in Facius Cardanus hisvision. lL. whot must be the sense of the third Parad,ox, if thoseAöreal Spaculatours spake as they thought. LZ. AnotherHypothesis to the same purpose. 18. The craft of theseDaemons, in shuffiing in poisonous Errour amongst solidTruths. 14. What mah,es the story of the death of pan less to thepresent matter, with an addition of Demetrius his obseruationstouching the Sacred Islands near Britain. 15. Thot Hesiod äjsopinion is the most unexceptionable, and that the harshnesstherein is but seeming, not real. L6. That the Aethereal Vehicleinstates the Soul in a condition of perfect Immortality. L7. Thatthere is no internal impediment to those that are Heroically good,but that they may attain an euerlasting Happiness after Deoth.

I. we have now, maugre all the oppositions and objectionsmade to the contrary, safely conducted the Soul into the otherstate, ahd installed her into the same condition with the AörealGenii. I might be very well exceed, if I took leave of her here,and committed her to that fortune that attends those of theInvisible World: it being more seasonable for them that arethere, to meditate and prefigure in their mindes all futuritiesbelonging to them, then for us that are on this side thepassage. It is enough that I have demonstrated, that neitherthe Essence nor operations of the soul are extinct byDeath; but that they either not intermit, or suddainly reviveupon the recovery of her Aiery Body.

2. But seeing that those that take any pleasure at all inthinking of these things can seldome command the ranging oftheir thoughts within what compass they please, and that it isobvious for them to doubt whether the Soul can be secure of herpermanency in life in the other world, (it implying nocontradiction, That her Vital Congruity ,appropriate to this orthat Element, may either of it self expire, or that she may bysome carelessness debilitate one Congruity, and awakenanother, in some measure, and so make her self obnoxious toFate;) we cannot but think it in a manner necessary toextricate such difficulties as these, that we may not seem inthis after-game to lose all we won in the former; and make mensuspect that the Soul is not at all Immortal, if her Immortalitywill not secure her against all future fates.

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wos much astonisht of the. hc«ring ol' lhc, tpil,s: ontl ulier mur:hdebote omongst themselues, 'l'harrtrts rcsollcd lhot, il' the utirulblew lair much debote amongst lhtmse.lues, 'l'hamus resoluedthat, if the wind blew fair, he usoukl *il by ond suy nothing; butif they were becalmed there, he woulcl doe his Messoge: arul lt

therefore they being becalmed when they come to Palodes, neitherwinde nor tide carrying them on, Thamus looking out ctf the poopof the Ship toward the shore, deliuered his Message, telling themthat the great Pan was dead. Upon which was suddoinly heanlas it were a joynt grooning of a multitude together, mingled with l0a murmurous admiration.

9. The opinion of Hesiod also is, that t!r,.e Genii or Daemonswithin a certain period of years do die; but he attributes aconsiderable Longaevity to them, to wit of nine thousand sevenhundred and twenty years, which is the utmost that any allow l5them, most men less. Plutarch, under the person of others, haspolisht this Opinion into a more curious and distinct dress: forout of the mortality of the Daemons, and the several rankswhich Hesiod mentions of Rational Beings, viz. tlcoi. ö<riprovcq.

npreq. and ävrlptrlror. he has affixed a certain manner and law of 211

their passing out of one state into another, making them t«l

change their Elements as well as Dignities; Erepor öe. saith he,percrBoÄr1v roiq rt orbl,rcrorv öptolu4 notoüot rai rpuluig. i»onup t:r

7frq üöup. ör ö' üöcto6 ur1p. är ö' üäpoq nüp Tevv6ps,vov öpünn. ritqoüolaq ävt» gepopövrg'oÜru4 ör Uäv uvr]ptixurv tiq ilptrxrq, dr 6'2riprixrv eiq 8a[povu6 a[ Be]"rloveq ryuX«i rrlv pteraBoiqv i«;-rBävouorv.

ör öä öatgövo-rv öÄ[7at päv ärt Xpovart no]"iör ör' üperilgr«r)«pileiocrt navrä.rurot ile6rrlroq prereoXov. But other, he so.ith, pilrpuroüocrt fuuröv. not hauing sufficient command of' themselues,are again wrought down into humane Bodies, fo liue there an il1euanid and obscure life, «laprnil rai opruöpr1v (urr1v iolouocr, as hephrases it.

10. These are the most notable Testimonies for theMortality of Daemons that I have met withall, and lhereflorethe more worth our reviewing. That Vision of Focitts lil-r

Cardanus, if it be not a Fable, contains many Paradoxes.As first That these Aöreal Genii o.re born at set times as utell

as we. Not that any she-Doemons:rre bt'<lugh[ t,o hcd «rf'fhcrn,but that they seem io have a beginning of'Lheir' [')xislcncc, fi'ornwhich they may klo rt-'ckortcd to have continucd, sorn(' rnor'(l 40years and some lcr;s. A thing unconccivablc, rltlcss wr-' shotrklimagine thaü thcrt. is .s/r// :t laJlst' ot' rlcst'r.rnt o['S«rtrls <ltrl, o[' t,hr.

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good nor hurt, sauing in uthat they may be oble to doe bySpectres and Terrours, and impar-tment of Knowledge. That theywere both publick Professors in an Academy and that he of thelesser stoture had 300. disciples, the other 200. Cardan'sFather further asleing them why they utould not reueq] suchtreasures as they lenew unto men; they answered, that there waso special law against it, upon a uery grieuous penalty.

6. These Aöreal Inhabitants stai'd at least three hours utithFacius Cardanus, disputing and arguing ,f sundry things,amongst which one was The Original of the World. The tallerdenied that God made the world ab aeterno: the lesser affirmedthat he so created it euery moment, that if he should desist but onemoment, it utould perish. Whereupon he cited some things out ofthe Disputotions of Avenroes, which Book was not yet extont,and named seueral other Treatises, part whereof are hnoutn, partnot, which were oll of Avenroes his writing, and withall didopenly profess himself to be an Avenroist.

7. The record of this Apparition cardan found amongst hisFathers Papers, but seems unwilling to determine whether it bea true history or a Fable, but disputes against it in such ashuflling manner, as if he was perswaded it were true, and hada mind that others should think it so. I am sure he most-whatsteers his course in has Metaphysical adventures according tothis Cynosura, which is no obscure indication of his assent andbelief.

8. That of the Death of the great God Pan, you may readin Plutarcä in his De defectu Oraculorum; where Philippu.s, forthe proof of the Mortality of Daemons, recites a Story which heheard from one Aemilianus a Roman, and one that remov'd. farenough from all either stupidity or vanity: How his FatherEpitherses being shipt fo, Italy, in the euening, near theEchinades, the usinde failed them; and their ship being carried byan uncertain course upon the Island Paxae, that most of thePassengers being woken, many of them drinking merrily afterSupper, there u)as a uoice suddainly heard from the Island, whichcolled to Thamus äy name, who was an Aegyptian by birth, andthe Pilot of the Ship: which the Passengers much wondred at, fewof them hauing tahen notice of the Pilots name before. He wostwice called to before he gaue any sign that he attended to hisuoice, but after giuing ex,press attention, a clear and distinct uoicewos heard from the Islond, uttering these words, ötuv Tävn rarri,rö r«,)'öö4. ancTTeiov, ört tkiv ö pä7oq rärlvqrev. The company

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2{t0 'l'lrc lmrnort,i.rlit,.y ol' t,ho Soul. I}«r«rk III Chap. XVll. 'l'htr lmrnot'trtlrl,.y ol' t.ltr. lirlrrl.

to thcir Aöreal Region. Frlr conccrning rn:rt,l,crs in fhs Sca, thcFishes, if they could speak, might inlirrrn rnen better then thc.y.And for their corporeal debitity, il, is unccrtain whether theymay not pretend it, to animate their Oonfabulators to a morcsecure converse, or whether the thing be really true in somekindes of them. For that it is not in all, may be evinced by thatNarration that Cordan a little after recites out of Erasmus, <»l'

the Devil that carried a Witch into the Aire, and set her on thetop of a Chimney, giving her a Pot, and bidding her turn themouth downwards, which done the whole Town was f-rred, andburnt down within the space of an hour. This hapned April Lhe10. Anno 1553. The Towns name was Schiltach, eightGerman miles distant from Friburg. The Story is so wellattested, and guarded with such unexceptionablecircumstances, that though Cardan love to shew his wit incavilling at most he recites, yet he finds nothing af :rll foquarrel at in this.

Eighthly, That there are Students and Professors ol'Philosophy in the Aöreal World, and are diuided into Sects ondOpinions there, as well as we are here. Which cannot possiblybe true, unless they set some value upon Knowledge, and areat an eager loss how to finde it, and are fain to hew out theirway by arguing and reasoning as we do.

Ninthly and lastly, That they are reduced under a PoliticolGouernment, and are afraid of the infliction of punishment.

11. These are the main matters comprehended in Faciushis Vision, which how true they all are, would be too muchtrouble to determine. But one clause, which is the third, I

cannot let pass, it so nearly concerning the present Subject, andseeming to intercepü all hopes of the Soul's Immortalit.y. Tospeak therefore to the summe of the whole business; we rnusteither conceive these Aöreal Philosophers to instruct k'ocitrsCardanus as well as they could, they being guilty of nothingbut a foward pride, to offer themselves as dictating Oraclcs L«r

that doubtful Exorcist (for his son Cordan acknowledges thaLhis Father had a form of Conjuration that a Spaniard gave hirnat his death;) or else we must suppose them t«r takc the librrrt.yof equivocating, if not ofl downright l.ying.

Now if they hatl a mind to inflrlrm l,'ot:itts Cordo.ruts o['

these things dircctl.y rrs Lhey themsclvcs Lhough[ o[' thcrn, it.

being altogefht'r' trnlikt'l.y but fhat there i-tp[)t:irrr](l [o L[rt'rn, intheir Aöreal ll,cgi«rrts, srrr:h sight,s as r'('[)r'escnt,t.'rl t,hr' pcrsorts of'

zlt I

10

higher Regions of the Aire into these loftier or that these thatleave these Earthly Bodies pass into the number of the AieryDaemons. As neither their death can so well be understood,unless we should fancy that their souls pass into more purevehicles, or else descend into Te*estrial

-Bodies. For card.an

himself acknowledges they perish not; which also is agreeablewith his opinion of the praeexisstence of our souls.

secondly, Thot these Aöreal Genii liue but about 300. years,which is against Hesiod and the greatest number of thePlatonists, unless they should speak or thut particular orderthemselves were of; for it is likely there may be as muchdifference in their ages as there is in the ages of several kindsof Birds and Beasts.

Thirdly, Thot our souls e.re so farre mortol, as thot there isnothing proper to us remaining ofter death.

_ Fourthly, That they were nearer allied to the Gods then weby forre, and that there was os much dffirence betutixt them o.nclus, os there is betwixt us and, Beasts. which they mustunderstand then concerning the excellency of their vehicles,and the natural activity of them, not the ireeminency of theirIntellectual Faculties. or if they do, they must be understoodof the better sort ot those Aöreal spirits or ir they mean it of alltheir orders, it may be a mistake out of pride: as those thatare rich and powerful as welr as speculative amongst us, take itfor granted that they are more judicious and diJcerning thenthe poor and despicable, Iet them be never so wise.

Fifthly, That they hnow alr secret things, ushether hicrdenBooles or Monies: which men might doe too, Ir tn"y could standby concealedly from them that hide them.

sixthly, That the lowest sort of them were the Genii of theNoblest men, os the baser sort of Men are the Keepers andEduco.tors of the better hinde of Dogs and. Horses. This clause ofthe vision also is inveloped with obscurity, they having notdefined whether this meanness of condition if the Tutelar-Geniibe to be understood in a political or physicol sense; whether themeanness of rank and power, or of natural wit and sagacity; inwhich many times the Groom exceeds the young Gallant

-who

assigns him to keep his Dogs and Horses.seventhly, That such is the thinness and. rightness of their

Bodies, that they can doe neither good nor hurtihereby, ihoughthey may send strange sights and rerrors, ond, communicoteKnoutledge; which then must be chiefly of such things as belong

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2lr2 'l'hc Immortality ofl t,he Soul. Book III

men he'e deceased, it is impossible that they should thinkotherwise then as we have described their opinion, in the fore-going chapter, that hold there is but one souj in the world, bywhich all living creatures are actuated. which, though but a5 mere possibility, lf so much, yet some or other of these Aörealspeculators may as well hold to it as some do amongst us. ForPomponotius and others of the Auenroists are u, iidi.rlouslypertinacious as they.And therefore these Auenroistical Daemons answered10 punctually according to the conclusions of their own school,Nihil proprium cuiquam superesse post moriem. For the Mindeor soul being a substance common to all, and now disunitedfrom those Terrestrial Bodies which it actuated in ploto,

suppose, or Socrates, and these Bodies dead and dissipated and15 ,onely the common soul of the world surviving, there beingnothing but this soul and these Bodies to make .[ so"rrres andPlato; they conclude it is a plain case, that .räthi.,g that isproper survives after death. And therefore, though "they

seethe representation of socrates and, prato in the oiher world,20 owing also their own personalities with all the Actions they did,and accidents that befell them in this life; yet according to thesullen subtilties and curiosities of their schäol, they -u, thinkand profess, that to speak accurately and rnitosoirricatty it isnone of them, there being no substance proper to them25 remaining after death, but only the soul of the'wirld, renewingthe thoughts to her self of what appertained to those farties inthis life.12- Thi. is one Hypothesis consistent enough with theveracity of these Daemons; but there is also anothä, not at all30 impossible, viz. That the vehicles of the souls of -en departedare as invisible to this Order of the Genii that confabulatedwith Focius cordanus as that order is to us: and thattherefore, though there be the appearance of the Ghosts of Mendeceased to them as weil as to us: yet it being but for a time, it35 moves them no more then our confirme d Epicureons in thisworld are moved thereby: especialry it being prorr" for them tothink that they are nothing 6ut ,o-" ludicious spectacies thatthe universal soul of the world represents to her self and otherspectatours, when, and how long a time she pleases, and the40 vaporous reliques o[ the dead body administer occasion.

Ohup. XVll. 'l'he Imrnort,ulil,.y ol' l,lrr, Sorrl. 21):t

Now that the vehicles of' t,hc sorrls ol'.mcn dcparted thislife, after they are come to a set,lcrl r:onrlit,ion, m{ry be farrethinner and more invisible thon tJr«rse of' the fore-narmeclDoemons, without committing any inconcinnity in Nature, mayappear from hence: For the excellency of the inward Spirit isnot alwaies according to the consistency of the Element withwhich it does incorporate; otherwise those Fishes that are ofhumane shape, and are at set times taken in the Indian sea,should have an higher degree of Reason and Religion then wethat live upon Earth, and have bodies made of that Element.whence nothing hinders but that the spirit of man may bemore noble then the Spirit of some of the Aöreal Daemons. AndNature not alwaies running in Arithmetical, but also inGeometrical Progression, one Remove in one may reach farabove what is before it for the present in the other degrees ofProgression. As a creeping worm is above a cad-worm, andany four-footed beasts above the birds, till they can use theirleggs as well as they; but they are no sooner even with them,but they are straight far above them, and cannot onely goe, butfly. As a Peasant is above an imprison'd Prince, and has morecommand; but this Prince can be no sooner set free and becomeeven with the Peasant in his liberty, but he is inflrnitely abovehim. And so it may be naturally with the Souls of men whenthey are freed from this prison of the Body, their steps beingmade in Geometrical progression, as soon as they seem equalto that Order of Daemons we speak of, they may mount farabove them in tenuity and subtilty of Body, and so becomeinvisible to them; and therefore leave them in a capacity offalsly surmising that they are not at all, because they cannotsee them.

13. But if they thought that there is either someparticular Ray of the Soul of the World, that belongs peculi.rrly(suppose) to Socrotes or Plato, or that they had proper Soulsreally distinct, then it is evident that they did either equivocateor lye. which their pride and scorn of mankinde (they l«rokingupon us but as BeasLs in comparison of themselve,s) mighteasily permit; the.y making no more conscience to dcceive us,then we do to put, ir dodge upon a dog, fo makc our selvr,rsmerry. But if' l,lrr'.y lrarl a design kl windc us int,o sorn(!dangerous erl'our', il, is vcr'.y likeily bhat they wotrkl shufllc it, in:rmongst mar).y 'l'r'rrl,lrs, t,hut, those '['rut,hs llcing t'x:rrnilrcrl, :rnrlfilund solid aL t,lrr. lrol,l,orrrr., wc rnight. rrot. srrslrr'«.t, :rn.y ono ol'

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Ohap. XVIt. The Immort,alit,.y r»(' t,lrc S«rul.

necessarily forget whaiever is past, we do fiir thc present lead

«iÄapni1 xrri üLrulprlv (oi1v. a 4orh and obscure lifb, as Plutorch

speaks, dragging this weight of Eorth along with us' as

Prisoners and Mälefactours do their heavy shackles in their'

sordid and secluse confinements. But in our return back l»

from this state, Life is naturally more large to them that are

prepared to make good use of that advantage they have of their'Atery

Vehicle. But if they be not masters of themselves in that

shtä, they will be fatally remanded back to their former prison

in procesi of time; which is the most gross Death imaginable' I0

B.ri fo, the Goocl and Vertuous Souls, that after many Ages

change their Aöreal Vehicle for an Aethereal one, that is no

Death to them, but an higher ascent into Life. And a man

may as well say of an Infant, that has left the dark wombe of

his Mother, that this change of his is Death, as that a Genius lf'dies by leaving the gros s Aire, and emerging into that vehicle

of Light which they ordinarily call Aethereal or Celestial.

10. There may be therefore, by Axiome 36, a dangerous

relapse out of the Aöreol Vehicle into the Terrestrial, which is

proplrly the Death of the Soul that is thus retrograde. But for '21)

those that ever reach Lhe Aethereal state, the periods of Life

there are infinite; and though they may have their Perige's as

well as Apoge's, yet these Circuits being of so vast a compass,

and their Perige's so rare and short, and their return as certain

to their forme, Apsis as that of the Celestial Bodies, and their '21>

Aethereal sense .r".r". leaving them in their lowest touches

towards the Earth; it is manifest that they have arrived go that

Life thaL is justly styled Eternal.L7. Whence it is plain, that Perseuerance in Vertue, if no

external Fate hinder, will carry Man to an lmmortal lÜb' But :]0

whether those that be thus Heroicolly good, be so by discipline

and endeavour, or r)ätut rtvi proiput. by a special favour and

irresistible design of God, is not to be disputed in this place;

though it be atlarge discussed somewhere in the Dialogues of

Plati. But in the mean time we will not doubt to conclude, lllr

that there is no Internal impediment Lo those that are highly

and Heroically uertur»us but that, in process of time, they may

arrive to an ever'lasting secul'ity of Lilb and Hoppiness, a['[er

they have left this blurthLv tlody. ,to

2\Y»'2114 'l'he Imrnrlriality of' t,lrr. Sorrl. Book III

r0

thcir dictates to be false. Wherefbre this Vision being illmeant, the poison intended was, that of the Soul'sMortarlity; the dangerous falseness of which opinion was to becovered by the mixture of others that are true.

14. As for the Relation of Aemilianus, which he heardfrom his Father Epitherses) it would come still more home tofhe purpose, if the conclusion of the Philologers ät Rome, afterThamus had been sent for, and averred the truth thereof toTiberius Caesor could be thought authentick, namely, That thisPon, the news of whose death Thamus told to the Daemons atPalodes, was the Son of Mercury and Penelope; for then 'tisplain that Pan was an humane Soul, and therefore concerns thepresent question more nearly. But this Narration beingapplicable to a more sacred and venerable Subject, it loses so

much of its force and fitness for the present use. That whichDemetrius adds, concerning certain Hoty Islands near Britoin,had been more fit in this regard. Whither when Demetriuscame, suddainly upon his arrival there happened a greatcommotion of the air, mighty tempests and prodigiouswhirlwinds. After the ceasing whereof, the Inhabitantspronounced, Ott röv rpertrovu-rv uvoq är)"errytq 767ovev. That someof'o nature more then humane wos dead. Upon which Plutorch,according to his usual Rhetorick, descants after this manner,§lq yüp iüXvoq ovantöprevoq gävct öervöv oubäv äXer. oBevvüprevoq öä

roi)"oiq l"unrlpoq öortv' oütu.6 oi preTüÄnr yulai tüq Utv uvciäptyetqr:üge veig rai <i.)"ünoug äXouotv. «L öö oB6.oerq aütrirv rcai tptlopui

noiÄ«rrq Uuv. ti.q vuvi. nveüpur« rcri eüL"q rpeqouot. no)"Äärtq öÖ

rrri iorptroiq närleotv aäpo papprärtouorv. i.e. As the lighting of alamp brings no grieuance with it, but the extinction of it isollbnsiue to many; so great,Sou/s, uthile they remain kindled intolife, shine forth harmlesly and benignly, but their extinction orcorruption often stirs up windes and tempests, as in this presentexomple, and ot'ten inlbcts the Aire with pestilential annoiances.

15. But the last Testimony is the most unexceptionable,though the least pretending to be infallible, and seems to strikedead bot,h waries. For whether the Souls of men that goe out offhese liarthly bodies be Vertuous or Vitious, they must die tot,htrir Adreal Vehicles. Which seems a sad story at first sight,irnd ns il' Ilightt:orrsne.ss could n<tL <hlüser lrom Deoth. But if ittre more <'arc{ully perused, the t,t'r't'<)ut'will be found oncly ioconcr'r'r) tl'tc Wirhed- I"or' [hr' lrro[irrutrlt'st, pitch <»t I)e«th is t,he

I)esrrrrl irtkt this'['r'rn slrktl l]otl.y, in whit:[r, besidcs l,[t;rl w(,

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2txi 'l'lrc Itnrn«rrt,lrlit.y ol' t,lrr, Si«rtrl. []ook Ill Clurtrr. XV lll. 'l'[re lrnmort.rrlil,.y ol' t,lre Soul. '2117

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Chap. XVIII.

I. The conflagration of the world on opinion of täe stoicks. 2.Two ways of destroying the World the Ancients haue tahen noticeof, and especially that by Fire. z. That the Conflagration of theworld, so for as it respects us, js to be und.erstood onely of theburning of the Earth. 4. That the Ends of räe stoicksConflagration are competible onely to the Earth's burning. s. Anachnowledgement that the Earth may be burnt, though ihe proofthereof be impertinent to this place. 6. That the Conflugrätio.,thereof will proue uery fatal to the Sou/s of wicked *in ondDaemons. 7. Fiue seueral Opinions concerning their state ofterthe conflagration; whereof the first is, That they are quitedestroy'd by Fire. 8. The second, That they are annihilated bya sp_ecial act of omnipotency. g. The third, That they lylsensless in an eternal Death. Lo. The fourth, That they are ina perpetual furious and painful Dream. lL. The fifth and last,That they will revive again, and that the Earth and Aire willbe inhabited by them. lz. That this last seems to be fram,d,from the fictitiou,s nn)"ry7eveola of the Stoicks who were uery sorryMetaphysicians, and as ill Naturalists. 19. An Animod,uersionupon a self-contradicting sentence of seneca. 14. Theunintelligibleness of the sto.te of the souls of the wicked after theConflagration. 15. That täe Aethereal Inhabitants will be sofe.And what will then become of Good Men and Daemons on theEorth ond in the Aire. And how they connot be d.eliuerecl but bya supernotural power.

I. As for the External impediments, we shall now examinethem, and see of what force they will be, and whether they beat all. The former of which is The Conflagration of the world.which is an ancient opinion, believed and entertain,d, not onlyby Religions, but by Philosophers also, the stoic,ts especially,who afFrrm that the Souls of Men do subsist indeed after Death,but cannot continue any longer in Being then to theConflagration of the World. But it is not so much material whatthey thought, as to consider what is the condition indeed of theSouls of Men and Daemons after that sad Fate.

2. Those that will not have the world eternal, have foundout two ways to destroy it, e(uöaufuoll or örnupdrer. by Water oräv F-ire. which, they say, does as naturally happen in a vastPeriod of rime, which they call Annus Magnürs, as winter and

Summer doe in our ordinary .ycilr'. I nundatio non secus quamHyems, qudm Aestas lege Mundi utnit. But for this t:§uörir«rxrrq.

it not being so famous, nor so fi'equently spoken of, nor so

destructive, nor so likely to end the World as the other way,nor belonging so properly to our enquiry, we shall let it pirss.The general prognostick is concerning Fire now, not onely ofl theStoicks, as'Zeno, Cleanthes, Chrysippus Seneca; but of severalalso of different Sects, as Heraclitus, Epicurus, Cicero, Plin.y,Aristocles, Numenius, and sundry others.

3. But though there be so great and unanimous consentthat the World shall be burnt, yet they do not expressthemselves all alike in the business. Seneca's vote is the mostmadly explicite of any, making the very Stars run and dashone against another, and so set all on fire. But Posidonius andPanaetius had more wit, Who did not hold that örnüpurtq rr}vöir»v which the other Stoicks did. Fo the destroying of theAethereol Regions by Fire is as foolish a fancy as the sentencingof the Eele to be drown'd, because the matter of the Aether istoo flrne and subtile for Fire Lo rage in, it being indeed nothingbut a pure Light or Fire it self. And yet this Aethereal Matteris infinitely the greatest portion of the World. Wherefore theWorld cannot be said properly to be lyable to the destruction ofFire from any natural causes, as the Stoicäs would have it.Which is demonstratively true upon Des-Cortes has Principles,who makes Fire nothing but the motion of certain littleparticles of Matter, and holds that there is no more motion atone time in the World then at another because one part ofl theMatter cannot impress any agitation upon another, but it mustlose so much it self. This hideous noise therefore of theConflagration of the World must be restrain'd to the flrring of theEarth onely, so farre as it concerns us. For there is nothingelse combustible in the Universe but the Eorth, and otherPlanets, and what Vapours and Exhalations arise from them.

4. This Conflagration therefore that Philosophers, Poets,Sibyls, and all have fill'd the World with the fame «lf', is nothingbut the burning of the Eorth. And the ends the Stoickspretend of their t.xnüpurrg may be competible kr it, but not t<r

the burning of Lhe Heauen.s or Aether at all; as any but meanlyskilled in Phil«rsophv cannot but ackn«rwle«lgc. I"or thoirnature is so simplc t,hat t,hey r:anrrr>t corrupt, unrl thcreforcwant no renova[iort, as [trc l,)orth tftrt.s. N«r'd«r t,lre ln[rabit,unLsr»f't,[rose Heavt'nly ltr.giotts rltrf rlc t,lrclrtsr.lvos wit,]r :rn.y vi<:r.; rlr i('

40 40

'l'hc lrnrn«rrtalif.y o[' t,hc Soul. llook III

they do' they sink from their material station as well as moral,and fall towards these terrestrial dreggs. And therefore thatpart of the happy ünoraräoroorg seneco. speaks of , omne animalex integro generabitur, dobitürque tercis homo inscius scelerum,5 et melioribus auspiciis natus, will take no place with thoseAethereal Creatures.

5. we are willing then to be born down, by this commonand loud cry of Fire that must burn the üorrd, into anacknowledgment that the Earth may within a certain period of10 time be burnt, with alr those things that are upon it or near it.But what concurse of natural causes may contribute to thisdismal spect-acle, is not proper for me to dispute, especially inthis place. I shall onely take a view of what sad effects thisconflagration may have upon the sou/ s of Daemons and. Men.15 For that those that have recovered their Aethereal Vehicles areexempt from this fate, is evident; the remoteness of theirhabitation securing them from both the rage and noisomness ofthese sulphureous flames.

6. The most certain and most destructive execution that20 this Fire will doe, must be upon the unrecovered sorz/s ofwicked Men and Daemons; thoie that are so deeply sunk anddrown'd eiq 7äveotv' that the very consistency of tträir Vehiclesdoes imprison them within the confines of this thick caliginousAire. These souls or spirits therefore that have so25 inextricably entangled themselves in the Fate of this lowerworld, giving up all their senses to the moment any pleasuresof the most luxurious principle, which is the "".v seat ofDeath, these, in the Mystical philosophy of the Ancients, arethe Nymphs, to whom though they allot a long series of years,30 yet they do not exempt them from mortality and fate. AndDemetrius in Plutarcä pronounces expresly out of Hesiod,, thattheir Life will be terminated with the conflagration of theworld, from wnat the poet intimate s Aenigmäticaily, rci öÄöyos öIoq qvilrlur öorei rör Flo'rö6ox npos trlv ärnüpu,o,* önrlvira35 ouver)"einetv toiq üypoiq eirog i.ou raq XüUtpuq.

Ar r' äl"ow ruÄ« v6;rovro,troi nq7ri6 nor«Uolv rui neioea notrlevra.

7 - But to leave these poetical Riddles, and take a moreserious and distinct view of the condition of the Soul after the40 Conflagration of the Earth; we shall finde five several sorts ofopinions concerning it. The first hold, Thut this unmercifur heotand fi,re will at lost destroy ond. consume the soul o, *rlll as the

2$tt Chup. XV lll. 'l'[re Immor"t,alit,y ol' l,lrr, Sorrl. 21X)

Body. But this seems to mo irnpossiblc, thal any createdSubstance should utterly destr'«ry unot,hcr Subst:.rnce, so l-t's t«l

reduce it to nothing. For no part <»l' Motter, acting the mostfuriously upon another part thereof, does effect that. It canonely attenuate, dissipate and disperse the parts, and makr:them invisible. But the Substance of the Soul is indiss ipubltand indiscerpible, and therefore remains entire, whateverbecomes of the Body or Vehicle.

8. The second Opinion is, That after long o.nd tedious tortrtrein these flames, the Sorz/ by o speciol oct of Omnipotenc.y i.s

annihilated. But, methinks, this is to put Providence too muclrto her shifts, as if God were so brought to a plunge in hiscreating a Creature of it self Immortal, that he must be fain t«r

uncreate it again, that is to say, to annihilctte iL. Besides thatthat Divine Nemesis that lies within the compass of Philosophy,never supposes any such forcible eruptions of the Deity int<lextrtraodinary effects, but that all things are brought about bya wise and infallible or inevitable train of secondary Causes,whether natural or free Agents.

9. The third therefore, to avoid these absurdities, deniesboth absumption by Fire and annihilation; but conceives, Thuttediousness ond extremity of pain makes the Soul at last, ot'' herself, shrinh from all commerce cuith Motter: the immediotePrinciple of Union, which we call Vital Congruity, consisting ofa certain modification of the Body or Vehicles as well as of theSoul, which being spoiled and lost, and the Soul thereby quite.loosned from all sympathy with Body or Matter, she becomesperfectly dead, and sensless to all things, by Axiome l)6, ontd, asthey s&y, wilt so remain fo, euer. But this seems not sorational; for, as Aristotle somewhere has it, i:ruotov. oö rorrväv6p7eta. üortv 6vero roü äpyou. Wherefore so many entireImmaterial Substances would be continued in Being to allEternity to no end nor purpose, notwithstanding they may bemade use of, and actuate Matter again as well ils ever.

10. A fourth sort therefore of SpeculaLors there is, whoconceive that after this solution of the Souls or Spirits o['Wiched Men and Dctemons from fheir Vehicles, 'f lrot their poin iscontinued to them euen in tho.t separate stott:, they lalling into «.n

unquiet sleep, liilt ol' lilrious tormenting l)n:oms, thot ett «s

fiercely upon their Spirits (r.§ tlrc external l,'in: di<l rtpon thrirBodies. But «lthers exccpt against this Opiniorr l\s il vcryuncertain Conjectrn'r', il, strJlposing t,hitt, wlrit:[r kr t,[rt'rn sr.(,rnri

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noi so sound, uä. That the Soul can act when it has lost allvital Union with the Matter; which seems repugnant with thatso intimate and essential aptitude it has to be united therewith.And the Dreams of the Soul in the Body are not transactedwithout the help of the Animal Spirits in the Brain, theyusually symbolizing with their temper. Whence they conclude,that there is no certain ground to establish this Opinion upon.

11. The last therefore, to make all sure, that there maybe no inconvenience in admitting that the Souls or Spirits aswell of euil Daemons as wicked Men, disjoyned from theirVehicles by the force of that fatal Conflagration, mav subsist,have excogitated an odde and unexpected Hypothesis, Thatwhen this firing of the World has done due execution upon thatunfortunate Crue, and tedious and direful torture has weariedtheir afficted Ghosts into an utter recess from all Matter, andthereby into a profound sleep or death; that after a long Series ofyeq.rs, when not onely the fury of the Fire is utterly slaked, butthat uost Atmosphere of smoah and uapours, which was sent upduring the time of the Earth' s Conflagration, has returned backin copious showres of rain (which will again make Seas andRivers, will binde and consolidate the ground, and fallingexceeding plentifully all over, make the soil pleasant andfruitful, and the Aire cool and wholsome) that Nature recoueringthus to her aduantage, and becoming youthful again, and full ofgenitol solt and moisture, the Sorz/s of all liuing Creaturesbelonging to these louter Regions of the Earth and Aire willawaken orderly in their proper places: The Seas ond Riuer; willbe again replenished with Fish; the Earth will send forth allmanner of Fowls, four-footed Beasts, and creeping things, and theSouls of Men also shall then catch ttfe from the more pure andbalsamich parts of the Earth, and be clothed again in terrestrialBodies; and lastly, the Aöreal Genii, that Element becomingagain wholsome and uital, shall, in due order and time, awahenand reuiue in the cool rorid Aire. Which Expergefaction into lifeis accompanied, say they, with propensions answerable bo thoseresolutions they made with themselves in those fiery torments,and which they fell into their long sleep.

12. But the whole Hypothesis seems to be framed out ofthat dream of the Stoichs, concerning the dnoxotäoroor.§ orna),t77aveola of the World after the dväorootg or ärnüpu-rotg

thereof. As if that of Seneca belonged io this case,Epist.S6.Mors,quqm pertimescimus ac recusamus, intermittit

Olr:rp. XVlll.'l'lrr. llltrnorlrrlrl.y ol' l,1rr. Sotrl.

uitom, non tripit. Veniet iltrrtm quin.os in lucem ntpont:t dirs,quem multi rc(userent, nisi olsl.itos n,/11ygret But how courscl.ythc St,oicks Phil«rsophize whcn ühe.y are once turned out of thcir'rode-way of' morol Senten<:e.s, any one but moderately skillcd inN;rture and Met.rphysicks may easily discern. For what Errrtrscirn be more gr'oss then those that they entertain of ()ocl, of' theSou/, and of the Sror.s? they making the two former Corp«rrealSubstances, zrnd feeding the latter with the Vapours o[' theEarth; affirming that the Sun sups up the water of the greatOcean to quench his bhirst, but that the Moon drinks «rf[' thclesser Rivers and Brooks; which is as true as that the Assdrunk up the Moon, Such conceits are more fit for Anocreon rn

a drunken fit to stumble upon, who to invite his Companions [otipple, composed that Catch,

flivet tffi.lnooao ö' aüpuq

0 Et' ill.toq rMJnooqv.then for to be either found out or owned by a serious and soberPhilosopher. And yet Seneca mightily triumphs in this notion o('foddering the Stars with the thick foggs of the Earth, antldeclares his opinion with no mean strains of eloquence: but Iloving solid sense better then fine words, shall not take thcpains to recite them.

13. At what a pitch his Understanding was set, may beeasily discerned by my last quotation, wherein there seems apalpable contradiction. Veniet iterum qu,i nos in lucem reponetdies, quem multi recusorent, nisi oblitos reduceret If nos, howoblitos? lf oblitos, now nos? For we are not w€, unless w(rremember that we are so. And if mad-men may be said, andthat truly, to be besides themselves or not to be themselves,because they have lost their wits; certainly they will be farfrom being themselves that have quite lost the Memory o[themselves, but must be as if they had never been before. AsLucretius has excellently well declared himself;

Nec, si materiam nostram conlegerit aetasPost obitum, rursumque redegerit ut sita nunc est,Atque iterum nobis fuerint dato lumino uitaePertineot quicquom tamen ad nos id quoque factumInterntpta semel cum sit retinentio nostri.

Where the Poet seems industriously to explode all the hopes «rf

any benefit of this Sroical rutt"t^lycvuolu. and to profle,ss that he isas if he had never been, that cannot remember hc' has ever'been before. From wlrence it would follow that though the S«ruls

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of men should revive :rfter Lhe Conllogration o[' the World, ye[they have not escaped a perpetual permanent death.

14. We see therefore how desperately undemonstrable thecondition of the Soul is after the Conflagrotion of the Earth, allthese five Opinions being accompanied with so much lubricityand uncertainty. And therefore they are to be looked uponrathef as some Night-landskap to feed our amused Melancholy,then a clear and distinct draught of comprehensible Truth toinform our Judgment.

15. All that we can be assured of is, That those Souls thathave obtained their Aethereal Vehicles are out of the reach ofthat sad fate that follows this Conflagration; and That thewiched Souls of Men and Daemons will be involved in it. Butthere are a middle sort betwixt these, concerning whom notonly curiosity but good will would make a man sollicitous. Forit is possible, that the Conflagration of the World maysurprise many thousands of Souls, that neither the course ofTime, nor Nature, nor any higher Principle has wrought upinto an Aethereal Congruity of life, but yet may be very holy,innocent and vertuous.

Which we may easily believe, if we consider that thesevery Earthly Bodies are not so great impediments to thegoodness and sincerity of the Mind, but that many, even in thislife, have given great examples thereof. Nor can that Aörealstate be less capable of, nor well be without, the good Genii, nomore then the Earth without good men, who are the mostimmediate Ministers of the Goodness and Justice of God. Butexemption from certain fates in the world is not alwaiesentailed upon Innoceny, but most ordinarily upon natural power.And therefore there may be numbers of the good Genii, and ofvery holy and innocuous Spirits of men departed, theconsistency of whose Vehicles may be such, that they can nomore quit these Aöreal Regions, then we can fly into them, thathave heavy bodies, without wings. To say nothing of thosevertuous and pious men that may haply be then found alive,and so be liable to be overtaken by this storm of Fire.

Undoubtedly, unless there appear, before the approach ofthis fate, some visible Zeuq o'orqproq or Jupiter Sospitator, as theheathens would call him, they must necessarily be involved inthe ruine of the wicked. Which would be a great eye-sore inthat exact and irreprehensible frame of Providence, that allmen promise to themselves who acknowledge That there is a

Olr.rp. XVIll.'l'hc lrrrrnortirlity ol' llrr, Sorrl. :r0:t

(itld. Whcrcfbre according to thc light, «rl' ltr.uson, thoro musf [rt,some Supernatural means kr rest:ut' t,liilst. innocuous and tlerrignSpirits out of this common calarniL.y. llut, to doscribe thcmir.nner of it here how it musb be done, would be to ent,it,lcnatural Light and Philosophy to greater abilities then the.y arcguilty of; and therefore that Subject must be reserved firr it,sproper place.

Chap. XIX.

l. Thot the Extinction of the Sun is no Panick feare, but moy l>rrationolly suspected from the Records of History ond grountts ol'Natural Philosophy. 2. The sad Influence of this Extinction uponMan o.nd Beasts, ond all the Aöreal Daemons imprison'd utithintheir seueral Atmospheres in our Vortex, 3. That it will doe littlt,or no damage to the Aethereal Inhabitants in reference to heot orwarmth.4. Nor will they find much ruhqt of his light. S. Arut il'they did, they moy poss out of one Yortex into another, by thtpriuiledge of their Aethereal Vehicles; 6. And that without an.ylabour or toile, ond os moturely as they please. 7.The uostincomprehensibleness of the tracts and composses of the utoies ol'Prouidence. 8. A short Recapitulation of the uthole Discourse. {).An Explicotion of the Persians two Principles of Light ontlDarkness. which they called Oeoq and Aalprurv. and when on<lwhere the Principle of Light gets the full uictory. 10. TfuttPhilosophy, or something more sacred then Philosophy is theonely Guide to a true Anor)6urrq.

I. The last danger that threaten s the Separote Soul is thcExtinction of the Sun; which though it may seem a mere Ponichfear at first sight, yet if the matter be examined, there willappear no contemptible reasons that may induce men tosuspect that it may at last fall out, ihere having been, utcertain times, such near offers in Nature towards this sadaccident already. Pliny, though he instances but in on('example, y€t speaks of it as a thing that several times kr pass.Fiunt, saith he, prodigiosi et longiores So/i.s defechts, tluolisocciso Dicto.tore Coesore, et Ant<>niono belkt, totitts onni pollorrcontinuo. The like happened in ./ru.stinion's tirne, :.rs (,'r:«/rcnrus

writes; when, f<lt' ir wlrolo .ycar' tr»getlrcr', t,hc Strn wlrs of'il vtr'.y

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dim and duskish hue, as if' he had been in a pcr'poüuall Eclipse.And in the time of lrene the Empress it was so dark fbrseventeen dayes together, that the ships lost their way on thesea, and were ready to run against one another, asTheophanes relabes. But the late accurate discovery of theSpofs of the Sun by Shiner, and the appearing & disappearingof fixt Stars, & the excursions of Comets into the remoter partsof our Vortex, as also the very intrinsecal contexture of thatadmirable Philosophv of Des-Cartes, do argue it more thenpossible that, after some vast periods of time, the Sun may beso inextricably inveloped by the Maculae that he is never freefrom, that he may quite lose his light.

2. The Preambles of which Extinction will be very hideous,and intolerable to all the Inhabitants of the Planets in ourVortex, if the Planets have then any Inhabitants at all. Forthis defect of light and heat coming on by degrees, must needsweary out poor mortals with heavy languishments, both forwant of the comfort of the usual warmth of the Sun, wherebythe Bodies of men are recreated and also by reason of hisinability to ripen the fruits of the Soil; whence necessarily mustfollow Famine, Plagues, Sicknesses, and at length an utterdevastation and destruction of both Mon and Beosts.

Nor can the Aöreal Daemons scape free, but that the uitaltye to their Vehicles necessarily confining them to their severalAtmospheres, they will be inevitably imprisoned in more thenCimmerian darkness. For the Extinction of the Sun will put outthe light of all their Moons, and nothing but Ice, and Frost, andflakes of Snow, and thick mists, as palpable as that of Aegypt,will possess the Regions of their habitation. Of which sadspectacle though those twinkling eyes of heaven, the Stars,might be compassionate spectatours; yet they cannot send outone ray of light to succour or visit them, their tender andremote beams nob being able to pierce, much less to dissipate,the clammy and stiff consistency of that long and fatal Night.

3. Wherefore calling our mind off from so dismal a sight,let us place it upon a more hopeful Object; and consider thecondition of those Souls that have arrived to their AethereolVehicle, and see how far this fate can take hold of them. And itis plain at first sight, that they are out of the reach of thismisty dungeon, äs being already mounted into the securemansions of the purer Aether.

'l'ht worsL fhaf cart llo irrt:rgrrrr.rl ol' t,hem is, that the.y ma.y[inrl t,hernselvcs in a contli[ion sornr.t,lrirrg like thar[ «lf'«rurs whcnwe walk «rut in a clear', starliglrt,, {i'oit,.y night, which to bhernthat, are flound is rtrther a plcasurc flrt'n o[fence. And if we canbear it with some delight in these Uart,hly Bodies, whose partswill grow hard and stiff for want <lf' rlue heat, it can provcnothing else but a new modificabion o['[actual pleasure to [hoscAethereal Inhobitonls whose bodies are not constipated as ours,but irre themselves a kinde of agile light ond fire.

All that can be conceived is, that the spherical particles o{'

their Vehicles may stand a little more closely and firml.ytogether then usual, whence the triangular intervalls beingmore straight, the subtilest element will move something morequick in them, which will raise a sense of greater vigour andalacrity then usual. So little formidable is this fate to them inthis regard.

4. But their light, you'l säy, will be obscured, the Surtbeing put out, whose shining seems to concern the Gods aswell as Men, as Homer would intimate,

Opvtti' iv' arlaväroror ,p"oq p6pnr 11öö BporoiorBut I answer, that that of Homer is chiefly to be understood of'the Aöreal Daemons, not the Aethereal Deities, who can turnthemselves into a pure actual Light when they please. So thatthere is no fear but that their personal converse will be aschearful and distinct as before, white letters being as legibleupon black paper as black upon white. But this is to supposr)them in the dark, which they are not, but in a more soft andmild light, which is but a change of pleasure, as it is bo secthe Moon shine fair into a room after the putting out of' theCandle. And certainly the contribution of the light of the Starsis more to their quick and tender Senses, then the clearestMoon-shine night is to ours; though we should suppose them n<r

nearer any Star then we are. But such great changes as thesemay have their conveniences for such as Providence willfavour, as well as fheir inconvineniences. And Lhe Extinction ol'our Sun may be the Augmentation of Light in some Star o[' aneighbouring Vortex. Which though it may not be able to piert:cthose Cimmerian Prisons I spake of before, .yet it rnu.y givcsufficient light to these Spirirs that are flree. []esidcs thai L[re

Discerption and spoil of our Vortex, that will tlrr:n huppen, willnecessarily bring us vet'y much nearer the Ocrrl.r'c o[' s«rrnrr

other, whose Star will administer' suflfit:it'nt, li11ht, t,o l,ho

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10

Aethereal Cenii, though it be too weak to relievc Lhe Aöreol.And that so remote a distance f rom these centr.al

Luminaries of the Vortices is consistent with the perfectesthappiness, we may discern partly, in that the Celestial Matterabove Soturn, till the very marge of the Vortex, is morestrongly agitated then that betwixt him and the Sun, andtherefore has less need of the Sun's beams conserve its agilityand liquidity; and partly, in that those huge vast Regions ofAether would be lost, and in vain in a manner, if they.were notfrequented by Aethereol Inhobitonts, which in all reason andlikelihood are of the noblest kind, according to the nature oftheir Element. And therefore all the Aethereal People mayretire thither upon such an exigency as this, and there restsecure in joy ard happiness, in these true Intermundia Deorumwhich Epicurus dream'd of.

5. Which we may easily admit, if we consider the grandPriviledges of Lhe Aethereal vehicle, wherein so great a powerof the Soul is awakened, that she can moderate the motion ofthe particles thereof as she pleases, by adding or diminishingthe degrees of agitation, Axiome 32. whereby she is also able totemper the solidity thereof, and, according to thiscontemperation of her Vehicle, to ascend or descend in thevortex as she lifts her self, and that with a great variety ofswiftness, according to her own pleasure. By the improvementof which Priviledge she may also, if she please, pass from oneVortex into another, and receive the warmth of a new vesta, sothat no fate imaginable shall be ever able to lay hoid upon her.

6. Nor will this be any more labour to her then sailingdown the stream. For she, having once fitted the agitation andsolidity of her vehicle for her Celestial voiage, will be asnaturally carried whither she is bound, as a stone goesdownward, or the fire upward. So that there is no fear of anylassitude, no more then by being rowed in a Boat, or carrired ina Sedan. For the Celestial Matter that environs her Vehicleworks her upward or downward, toward the Centre or from theCentre of a Vortex, at its own proper pains and charges.Lastly, such is the tenuity and subtilty of the senses of theAethereo./ Inhabitants, that their prevision and sagacity mustbe, beyond all conceit, above that of ours; besides that therewill be warnings and premonitions of this future disafter, bothmany, a.nd those very visible and continued, beflore the sunshall fail so flirr as that they shall at all be concerned in his

decay; so that the least blasf «r(' rnis{irrtune shall never bc ablcto blow upon them, nor [hc least evil imaginable ovcrtakothem.

7. This is a small glance at the Mysteries of Providence,whose fetches are so large, and Circuits so immense, that theymay very well seem utterly incomprehensible to theIncredulous and ldiots, who are exceeding prone to think thatall things will ever be as they are, and desire they should be so:

thouglr it be as rude and irrational, as if one that comes int«l aBall, and is taken much with the first Dance he sees, w«ruld

have none danced but that, or have them move no further onefrom another then they did when he first came into the room;whenas they are to trace nearer one another, or further of[,according to the measures of the Musick, and the law of thoDance they are in. And the whole Matter of the Universe, a.nd

all the parts thereof, are ever upon Motion, and in such aDance, as whose traces backwards and forwards take a vastcompass; and what seems to have made the longest stand,must again move, according to the modulations and accents o['that Musick, that is indeed out of the hearing of the acutestears, but yet perceptible by the purest Mi nds and the sharpestWits. The truth whereof none would dare to oppose, ifl thebreath of the gainsayer could but tell its own story, and declarethrough how many Srors and Vortices it has been strainedbefore the particles thereof met, to be abused to the framing ofso rash a contradiction.

8. We have now finisht our whole Discourse, the summaryresult whereof is this; That there is an Incorporeal Substence,and that in Man, uthich we call his Soul. That this Soul of' hissuäsists and acts after the death of his Body, and that usuollyfirst in an Aöreal Vehicle, as other Daemons do,' wherein she isnot quite exempt from fate, but is then per'fbct and secure uthenshe has obtain'd her AeLhereal one, she being then out of' thereo.ch of that euil Principle uthose dominion is commensuroblewith misery and death. Which power the Pers ian Mag terrnetlArimqnius, and resembled him to Do.rhness, as the other g<lod

Principle, which they called Oromazes, Lo Light, styling one bythe name of luiprorv. the other by the namr: of rlc(4.

9. Of which there can be no other meaning that will provL)

allowable, buL an adurnbration of, those two grand p:.rrts «lfProvidence, the one working in Lhe I)emoniucol, the «rther in theI)iuine Orders. Iletwixt, which nltLul'es t,herc is perpt'tually

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Aethereul Genii, though it be too weak to relieve the Aöreal.And that so remote a distance from these central

Luminaries of the Vortices is consistent with the perfectesthappiness, we may discern partly, in that the Celestial Matterabove Saturn, till the very marge of the Vortex, is morestrongly agitated then that betwixt him and the Sun, andtherefore has less need of the Sun's beams conserve its agilityand liquidity; and partly, in that those huge vast Regions ofAether would be lost, and in vain in a manner, if they,were notfrequented by Aethereal Inhabitants, which in all reason andlikelihood are of the noblest kind, according to the nature oftheir Element. And therefore all the Aethereal People mayretire thither upon such an exigency as this, and there restsecure in joy ard happiness, in these true Intermundio. Deorumwhich Epicurus dream'd of.

5. Which we may easily admit, if we consider the grandPriviledges of the Aethereal vehicle, wherein so great a powerof the Soul is awakened, that she can moderate the motion ofthe particles thereof as she pleases, by adding or diminishingthe degrees of agitation, Axiome 32. whereby she is also able totemper the solidity thereof, and, according to thiscontemperation of her Vehicle, to ascend or descend in theVortex as she lifts her self, and that with a great variety ofswiftness, according to her own pleasure. By the improvementof which Priviledge she may also, if she please, pass from oneVortex into another, and receive the warmth of a new Vesta, sothat no fate imaginable shall be ever able to lay hoid upon her.

6. Nor will this be any more labour to her then sailingdown the stream. For she, having once fitted the agitation andsolidity of her vehicle for her Celestial voiage, will be asnaturally carried whither she is bound, as a stone goesdownward, or the fire upward. So that there is no fear of anylassitude, no more then by being rowed in a Boat, or carrired ina Sedan. For the Celestial Matter that environs her Vehicleworks her upward or downward, toward the Centre or from theCentre of a Vortex, at its own proper pains and charges.Lastly, such is the tenuity and subtilty of the Senses of theAethereo./ Inhabitants, that their prevision and sagacity mustbe, beyond all conceit, above that of ours; besides that therewill be warnings and premonitions of this future disafter, bothmany, and those very visible and continued, before the Sunshall fail so far as that they shall at all be concerned in his

decay; so that the least blast ol' rnisfirrtune shall nL]ver hc ablt'to blow upon them, nor the least evil imaginablo ovct'takttthem.

7. This is a small glance at fhe Mysteries of Providcncei,whose fetches are so large, and Circuits so immense, that theymay very well seem utterly incomprehensible to theIncredulous and ldiots, who are exceeding prone to think thatall things will ever be as they are, and desire they should be so:

thouglr it be as rude and irrational, as if one that comes in[o aBall, and is taken much with the first Dance he sees, wouldhave none danced but that, or have them move no further' onefrom another then they did when he first came into the room;whenas they are to trace nearer one another, or further off,according to the measures of the Musick, and the law o[' thcDance they are in. And the whole Matter of the Universe, a.nd

all the parts thereof, are ever upon Motion, and in such {lDance, as whose traces backwards and forwards take a vastcompass; and what seems to have made the longest stand,must again move, according to the modulations and accents of'that Musick, that is indeed out of the hearing of the acutestears, but yet perceptible by the purest Mi nds and the sharpestWits. The truth whereof none would dare to oppose, ifl thebreath of the gainsayer could but tell its own story, and declarethrough how many Srars and Vortices it has been strainedbefore the particles thereof met, to be abused to the framing «lf

so rash a contradiction.8. We have now flrnisht our whole Discourse, the summary

result whereof is this; That there is an Incorporeol Substonce,and that in Man, which we call his Soul. That this Soul of' hissuäsisfs and acts after the death of his Body, and thot usuaLly

first in an Aöreal Vehicle, as other Daemons do,' wherein she isnot quite exempt from fate, but is then perfect and secure tphenshe has obtain'd her Aethereal one, she being then out of' thereach of that euil Principle whose dominion is commensurobleuith misery and death. Which power the Pers ian Magi terrnetlArimanius, and resembled him to Dorhness, as the other g«lod

Principle, which they called Oromazes, to Light, styling one bythe name of luipurv. the other by the name of rlrog.

9. Of which there can be no other meaning that will pr'ovr)

allowable, bub an :rdumbratitln of, those tw«l gr:rnd parts ofProvidence, the «rne w«rt'king in Lhe l)emoniru'ul, t,he ot,her in [heI)iuine Orders. Ilct,wixt, which nlrt.urcs t,ltcr c is pt't'1tt't,ttitlly

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:t0rl 'l'he lmmortality «r['t,hc Sotrl. Book III

more or less strife and contest, both inwardly and outwardly.But if Theopompus his prophecy be true in plutarcä who wasinitiated into these Arcana. the power of the Benign principlewill get the upper hand at last, T6),og ö' anoielneoilor röv Atöqv,etc. At length Hades or Arimanius will be left in the lurch, whoso strongly holds us captive, r«i rouq uöv civrlprirnou§ eüötripovcgäoeorlu.r, pnre rpogft öeopevouq, pnte orrri.v noroüvta§, and, menshall then be perfectly hoppy, needing no food, nor casting anyshadow. For what shadow can that Body cast that is a- pureand transparent light, such as the Aethereal vehicle is? Andtherefore that oracle is then fulfilled, when the Soul hasascended into that condition we have already described, inwhich alone it is out of the reach of Fate and Mortality.

10. This is the true Anor)ä«ootq, to speak according to thePersian Language, with whose empty title Emperours andgreat Potentates of the Earth have been ambitious to adorntheir memory after death; but is so high a priviledge of theSoul of Man, that mere Political vertues, as plotinus calls them,can never advance her to that pitch of Happiness. EitherPhilosophy, or something more sacred then philosophy, must beher Guide to so transcendent a condition. And not beingcurious to dispute, whether the Pythagoreons ever arrived to itby living according to the precepts of their Master, I shallnotwithstanding with confidence averre, that what they aimedat, is the sublimest felicity our nature is capable of; and beingthe utmost Discovery this Treatise could pretend to, I shallconclude all with a Distich of theirs (which I have elsewheretaken notice of upon like occasion) it comprehending thefurthest scope, not onely of their Philosophy, but of this presentDiscourse.

Hv ö' onoielryaq o'ürpa eq ritr]ep' il"eür]epov äÄr]r1tg,Eooent aüuvarog, rleü üpBporog, oü16,rr rlvrlroq.

To this sense,Who after death once reach th' Aethereal plain,Are stroight made Gods, and neuer die again.

10

:t(x)

The CONTENTS «rf'the Several Chapterscontained in this Treatise

Preface

l. The Title of the Discourse how it is to be understood. 2. The Author' s

submisgion of his whole Treatise to the infollible Rule of Socred Writ.3. A plain and cornpendious Demonstration that Matter consists ofparts indiscerpible. 4. An Answer to on Objection touching hisDemonstration against the Sun's superintendency ever the affairs ofthe Earth. 5. A confirmation of Mr Hobbs his Opinion, Thot Perceptionis really one with Corporeal Motion and Re-action, if there be nothingbut Matter in the World. 6. An Apologie for the Vehicles of Daemonsand Souls Separate. 7. As also for his so punctually describing the

Stote of the other life, ond so curiously defining the nature ol' aparticular Spirit. 8. That äis Elysiums äe describes ore not ot allSensual, öul Divine. 9. That he has not made the State of the wichedtoo easy for them in the other world. 10. That it is not one UniversalSoul that hears, sees and reasons in euery man, demonstrated frorn theActs of Memory. Ll. Of fäe Spirit of Nature; that it is no obscurePrinciple, nor unseasonably introduced. L2. That he has obsolutelydemonstroted the Existence thereof. 13. Thot the admission of' thatPrinciple used be no hind,erance to the Progress of MechanickPhilosophy. 14. The great pleasure of that study to pious and rationalpersons. 15. Of what concernment it would be if Des-Cartes weregenerally read in all the Uniuersities of Christendome. 16. An excuse of'

the prolixity of his preface from his eamnest desire of satifying thepublick, without the least offence to any rational or ingenuous Spirit.

4*

Book I.

Chap.I. I. The Usefulness of the present Speculotion fu, the

understanding of Prouidence, and the management of our liues fbrour greatest Happiness 2. For the moderate bearing the deoth ond

x IThe originirl firlio numtrers hitve lrcr:rr

of' thc prcsent t:rlit.ion-l.lrl. I

15

20

25

30

35

:rlt,ererl l,o suit t,he p;rgirr:rl,i«lrr

3 10 The Contents. The Contents. 3 1 1

disasters of our Friends; 3. For the begetting true Magnanimity inus, 4. and Peace and Tranquillity of Mind. 5. That so weighty atheory is not to be handled perfunctorily.

22

Chap.II. I. That the Soul’s Immortality is demonstrable, by theAurhors method,to all but mere Scepticks. 2.An illustration of hisFirst Axiom. 3. A confirmation and example of the Second. 4. Anexplication of the Third. 5. An explication and proof of the Fourth.6. A proof of the Fifth. '7. Of the Sixth. 8. An example of theSeventh. 9. A confirmation of the truth of the Eighth.10. Ademonstration and example of the Ninth. 11. Penetrability theimmediate Property of Incorporeal Substance. 12. As alsoIndiscerpibility. 13. A proofand illustration of the Tenth Axiome.

23

Chap.III. I. The general Notions of Body and Spirit, 2. That theNotion of Spirit is altogether as intelligible as that of Body. 3.Whether there be any Substance ofa mixt nature, betwixt Body andSpirit.

29

Chap.IV. I. That the Notions of the several kinds of Immaterial Beingshave no Inconsistency nor Incongruity in them. 2.That the Nature ofGod is as intelligible as the Nature ofany Being whatsoever. 3. Thetrue Notion of his Ubiquity, and how intelligibie it is.4. Of the Unionof the Divine Essence. 5. Of his Power of Creation.

31

Chap.V. I. The Defintion belonging to all Finite and Created Spirits.2. Of Indiscerpibility, a Symbolical representation thereof. 3. AnObjection answered against that representation.

34

Chap.VI. I. Axiomes that tend to the demonstrating how the Centre orFirst point of the Primary Substance ofa Spirit may beIndiscerp-ible. 2. Several others that demonstrate how the SecondarySubstance ofa Spirit may be Indiscerpible. 3. An application ofthese Principles 4. Of the union of the Secondary Substanceconsidered transversely. 5. That the Notion of Spirit has lessdifficulty then that of Matter. 6. An answer to an Objection fromthe Rational faculty. 7. Answers to Objections suggested from

Fancy. 8. A more compendious satisfaction concerning the Notion ofa Spirit.

36

Chap.VII. I. Ofthe Self-motion ofa Spirit. 2. OfSelf-penetration. 3. OfSelf-contraction and dilatation. 4. The power of penetrating ofMatter. 5. The power of moving. 6. And ofaltering the Matter.

42

Chap.VIII. I. Four main Species of Spirits. 2. How they are to bedefined. 3. The definition ofa Seminal Form; 4. Of the Soul of aBrute; 5. Of the Soul ofa Man. 6. The difference betwixt the Soul ofan Angel and an Humane Soul. 7. The definition of an AngelicalSoul. 8. Of the Platonical Nbeg and Evoibeg. 9. That Des-Carteshis Demonstration of the Existence of the Humane Soul does at leastconclude the possibility ofa Spirit.

46

. Chap.IX. I. That it is of no small conseqence to have proved thePossibility of the Existence of a Spirit. 2. The necessity ofexamining of Mr Hobbs his Reasons to the contrary. 3.The firstExcerption out ofMr Hobbs. 4.The second Excerption. 5. The third.6. The fourth. 7. The fifth. 8. The sixtth. 9. The seventh. 10 Theeighth and last Excerption.

49

Chap.X. I. An Answerto the first Excerption. 2. To the second. 3.AnAnswer to the third. 4. To the fourth Excerption. 5.An Answer tothe fifth. 6. To the sixth. 7.T0 the seventh. 8. An Answer to theeighth and last. 9. A brief Recapitulation of what has been saidhitherto.

53

Chap.XI. I. Three grounds to prove the Existence of an ImmaterialSubstance, whereof the first is fetcht from the Nature of God. 2. Thesecond from the Phaenomenon of Motion in the world. 3. That theMatter is not Selfimoveable. 4. An Objection that the Matter may bepart Self-moved, part not. 5. The first Answer to the Objection. 6.The second Answer. 7. Other Evasions answered.8.The last Evasionof all answered. 9. The Conclusion, That no Matter is Self-moved,but that a certain quantity of motion was impressed upon it at itsfirst Creation by God.

12 The Contents.The Contents. 3 1 3

59

Chap.XII. I. That the Order and Nature of things in the Universeargue an Essence Spiritual or Incorporeal. 2. The Evasion of thisArgument. 3. A preparation out of Mr Hobbs to answer theEvasion. 4. The first Answer. 5. The second Answer. 6. Mr Hobbshis mistake, of making the Ignorance of Second Causes the onelySeed ofReligion.

64

Chap.XIII. I. The last proof of Incorporeal Substances, fromApparitions. 2. The first Evasion of the force of such Arguings. 3.An Answer to that Evasion.4.The second Evasion. 5. The first kindof the second Evasion. 6. A description out of Virgil of that Geniusthat suggests the dictates of the Epicurean Philosophy. 7. The morefull and refined sense of that Philosophy now-a-days. 8. The greatefficacy of the Stars which they suppose to consist of nothing butMotion and Matter) for production ofall manner of Creatures in theWorld.

67

Chap.XIV. I. That the Splendor of the Celestial Bodies proves no Fore-sight nor Soveraignty that they have over us. 2. That the Stars canhave no knowledge of us, Mathematically demonstrated. 3. Thesame Conclusion again demonstrated more familiarly. 4. That theStars cannot communicate Thoughts, neither with the Sun nor withone another. 5. That the Sun has no knowledge of our afiairs. 6.Principles laid» down for the inferring that Conclusion. 7. Ademonstration that he cannot see us. 8. That he can have no otherkind of knowledge of us, nor of the frame of any Animal on Earth.9. That though the Sun had the knowledge of the right frame of anAnimal, he could not transmit it into Terrestrial matter. 10. AnAnswer to that Instance of the Signature of the Foetus. 11,12.Further Answers thereto. 13. A short Increpation of the confidentExploders of Incorporeal Substance out of the World.

71

Book II.

Chap.I. I. An addition of more Axioms for the demonstration that thereis a Spirit or Immaterial Substance in Man. 2.TheTruth of the firstof these Axiomes confirmed from the testimony ofMr Hobbs, as wellas demonstrated in the Preface. 3,4. That Demonstration furthercleared and evinced by answering a certain Evasion. 5. The proof ofthe second Axiome. 6. The proof of the third. 7. The confirmation ofthe fourth from the testimony ofMr Hobbs, as also from Reason. 8.An explication and proof of the fifth. 9. A further proof of the Truththereof. 10. An Answer to an Evasion. 11. Another Evasionanswered. 12. A further management of this first Answer thereto.13. A second Answer. 14. A third Answer, wherein is mainlycontained a confirmation of the first Answer to the second Evasion.15. The plainness of the sixth Axiome. 16. The proof of the seventh.

77

Chap.II. I. That if Matter be capable of Sense, Inanimate things areso too: And ofMr Hobbs his wavering in that point.2. An Enumera-tion ofseveral Faculties in us that Matter is utterly uncapable of. 3.That Matter in no kind of Temperature is capable of Sense. 4.Thatno one point of Matter can be the Common Sensorium. 5. Nor amultitude of such Points receiving singly the entire image of theObject. 6.Nor yet receiving part part, and the whole the whole. 7.That Memory is incompetible to Matter. 8. That the Matterisuncapable of the notes ofsome circumstances of the Object which weremembred. 9. That Matter cannot be the Seat of Second Notions.10. Mr Hobbs his Evasion of the foregoing Demonstration clearlyconfuted. 11. That the Freedome of our Will evinces that there is aSubstance in us distinct from Matter.12.That Mr Hobbs therereforeacknowledges all our actions necessary.

86

Chap.III. I. Mr Hobbs his Arguments whereby he would prove allactions necessitated. His first Argument. 2. His second Argument.3. His third Argument. 4. His fourth Argument. 5. What must bethe meaning of these words, Nothing taketh beginning from it self,in the first Argument of Mr Hobbs. 6. A fuller and moredeterminate explication of the foregoing words; whose sense isevidently convinced to be, That no Essence of it self can vary itsmodification. 7._That this is onely said by Mr Hobbs, not proved,and a full confutation of his Assertion. 8. MrHobbs imposed upon

4 The Contents.

r K 4” 4

The Contents. 3 1 5

by his own Sophistry. 9. That one part of this first Argument of hisis groundless, the other sophistical. 10. The plain proposal of hisArgument, whence appears more fully the weakness and sophistrythereof. 11. An Answer to his second Argument. 12. An Answer tothe third.13. An Answer to a difficulty concerning the Truth andFalshood of future Propositions. 14. An Answer to Mr Hobbs hisfourth Argument, which, though sighted by himself, is the strongestof them all. 15. The difficulty of reconciling Free-will with DivinePrescience and Prophecies. 16. That the faculty of Free-will isseldome put in use. 17. That the use of it is properly in Moralconflict. 18. That the Soul is not invincible there neither. 19. ThatDivine decrees either finde fit Instruments or make them. 20. Thatthe more exact Divine Prescience, even to the comprehension of anything that implies no contradiction in it self to be comprehended, themore clear it is that mans Will may be sometimes free. 21. Which issufficient to make good my last Argument against Mr. Hobbs.

93

Chap.IV. I. An Enumeration of sundry Opinions concerning the Seatof Common Sense. 2. Upon supposition that we are nothing butmere Matter, That the whole Body cannot be the CommonSensorium; 3. Nor the Orifice of the Stomach; 4. Nor the Heart; 5.Nor the Brain; 6. Nor the Membranes; 7. Nor the Septum lucidum;8. Nor Regius his small and perfectly-solid Particle. 9. Theprobability of the Conarion being the common Seat ofSense.

102

Chap.V. I. How Perception of external Objects, Spontaneous Motion,Memory and Imagination, are pretended to be performed by theConarion, Spirits and Muscles, without a Soul. 2. That theConarion, devoid of a Soul, cannot be the Common Percipient,demonstrated out of Des-Cartes himself.3. That the Conarion, withthe Spirits and organization of the Parts of the Body, is not asufiicient Principle of Spontaneous motion, without a Soul. 4. Adescription of the use of the Valvulae in the Nerves of the Musclesfor spontaneous motion. 5. The insufiiciency of this contrivance forthat purpose. 6. A further demonstration of the insufficiency thereof,from whence is clearly evinced that Brutes have Souls. 7. ThatMemory cannot be salved the way above described; 8. NorImagination. 9. A Distribution out of Des-Cartes of the Functions inus, some appertaining to the Body, and others to the soul. 10. TheAuthor’s Observations thereupon.

106

Chap.VI. I. That no part of the Spinal Marrow can be the CommonSensorium without a Soul in the Body.2. That the Animal Spiritsare more likely to be that Common Percipient. 3. But yet it isdemonstrable they are not: 4. As not being so much as capable ofSensation; 5. Nor ofdirecting Motion into the Muscles; 6. Much lessof Imagination and rational Invention; 7. Nor of Memory . 8. AnAnswer to an Evasion. 9. The Author’s reason, why he has confutedso particularly all the supocsitions, of the Seat of Common Sense,when few of them have been asserted with the exclusion ofa Soul.

1 12

Chap.VII. I. His Enquiry after the Seat of Common Sense, upon supposition there is a Soul in the Body. 2. That there is some particularPart in the Body that is the Seat of Common Sense. 3. A generaldivision of their Opinions concerning the place of Common Sense.4. That of those that place it out of the Head there are two sorts. 5.The Invalidity of Helmont’s reasons whereby he would prove theOrifice of the Stomack to be the principal Seat of the Soul. 6. AnAnswer to Helmont’s stories for that purpose.7. A furtherconfutation out of his own concessions. 8. Mr Hobbs his Opinionconfuted, that makes the Heart the Seat of Common Sense. 9. Afurther confutation thereof from Experience. 10. That the CommonSense is seated somewhere in the Head. 11. A caution for the choiceof the particular place thereof. 12.That the Whole Brain is not it;13. Nor Regius his small solid Particle; 14. Nor any externalMembrane of the Brain, nor the Septum Lucidum. 15. The threemost likely places. 16. Objections against Cartesius his Opinionconcerning the Conarion answered. 17. That the Conarion is notthe Seat of Common Sense; 18. Nor that part of the Spinal Marrowwhere the Nerves are conceived to concurre, but the Spirits in thefourth Ventricle of the Brain.

11 7

Chap.‘/III. I. The first reason of his Opinion, the convenient Situationof these Spirits. 2. The second, that the Spirits are the immediateinstrument of the Soul in all her functions. 3. The proof of thesecond Reason from the general authority of Philosophers, andparticularly of Hippocrates; 4. From our Sympathizing with thechanges of the Aire; 5. From the celerity ofMotion and Cogitation; 6.From what is observed generally in the Generation of things; 7.

3 16 The Contents.The Contents. 3 1 7

From Regius his experiment ofa Snail in a glass; 8. From therunning round of Images in a Vertigo; 9. From the constitution ofthe Eye, and motion of the Spirits there; 10. From the depandency ofthe actions of the Soul upon the Body, whether in Meditation orcorporeal Motion; 11. From the recovery ofMotion and Sense into astupafied part; 12. And lastly, from what is observed in swooningfits, ofpaleness and sharpness of visage, etc. 13. The inference fromall this, That the Spirits in the fourth Ventricle are the Seat ofCommon Sense, and that the main use of the Brain and Nerves is topreserve the Spirits.

125

Chap.IX. I. Several Objections against Animal Spirits. 2. An Answerto the first Objection touching the Porosity of the Nerves. 3. To thesecond and third, from the Extravasation of the Spirits and pituitousExcrements found in the Brain.4. To the fourth, fetcht from theincredible swiftness of motion in the Spirits. 5. To the last, fromLigation. 6. Undeniable Demonstrations that there are AnimalSpirits in the Ventricles ofthe Brain.

130

Chap.X. I. That the Soul is not confined to the Common Sensorium. 2.The first Argument from the Plastick power of the Soul. 3. Which isconfirmed from the gradual dignity of the Soul’s Faculties, of whichthis Plastick is the lowest; 4. External Sensation the next; 5. Afterthat, Imagination, and then Reason. 6. The second Argument fromPassions and Sympathies in Animals. 7. An illustration of themanner of natural Magick. 8. The third Argument from thePerception of Pain in the exteriour parts of the Body. 9. The fourthand last from the nature of Sight.

I33

Chap.XI. I. That neither the Soul without the Spirits, nor the Spiritswithout the" presence of the Soul in the Organ, are sufiicient causesof Sensation. 2. A brief declaration how Sensation is made. 3.How Imagination. 4. Of Reason and Memory, and whether there beany Marks in the Brain. 5. That the Spirits are the immediateInstrument of the Soul in Memory also; and how Memory arises; 6.As also Forgetfulness. 7. How Spontaneous Motion is performed.8. How we walk, sing, and play, though thinking of something else.9. That though the Spirits be not alike fine every where, yet theSensiferous Impression will pass to the Common Sensorium. 10.

That there is an Heterogeneity in the very Soul her self," and what itis in her we call the Root, the Centre, and the Eye;and whattheRayes and Branches. 11. That the sober and allowableDistrinution of her into Parts, is into Perceptive and Plastick.

140

Chap.XII. I. An Answer to an Objection, That our Arguments will aswell prove the Immortality of the Souls of Brutes as of Men. 2.Another Objection inferring the Praeexistence of Brutes Souls, andconsequently of ours. 3. The first Answer to the Objection. 4. Thesecond Answer consisting of four parts. 5. First, That the Hypo-thesis of Praeexistence is more agreeable to Reason then any otherHypothesis. 6. And not onely so, but that it is very solid in it self. 7.That the Wisdome and Goodness of God are the truth thereof. 8. Asalso the face of Providence in the World. 9. The second part of thesecond Answer, That the Praeexistence of the Soul has the suffrageofall Philosophers in all Ages, that heid it incorporeal. 10. That theGymnosophists of Aegypt, the Indian Brachmans, the PersianMagi, and all the learned of Jews were of this Opinion.11. ACatalogue ofparticular famous persons that held the same.12.ThatAristotle was also of the same mind. 13.Another more clear place inAristotle to this purpose, with Sennertus his Interpretation. 14. AnAnswer to an Evasion of that Interpretation. 15. The last andclearest place of all out of Arist0tle’s Writings.

145

ChapXIII. I. The third part of the second Answer, That the forgettingof the former state is no good Argument against the Soul’sPraeexistence. 2. What are the chief causes of Forgetfulness. 3.That they all conspire, and that in the highest degree, to destroy thememory of the other state. 4. That Mischances and Diseases havequite taken away the Memory of things here in this life. 5. That it isimpossible for the Soul to remember her former condition without aMiracle. 6. The fourth part of the second Answer, That the entranceofa Praeexistent Soul into a Body is as intelligible as either Creationor Traduction.

153

Chap.XIV. I. The knowledge of the difference of Vehicles, and theSoul’s Union with them, necessary for -the understanding how sheenters into this Earthly Body. 2. That though the Name of Vehiclebe not in Aristotle, yet the Thing is there. 3. A clearing of

3 18 The Contents. _ __The Contents. 3 1 9

Aristotle’s notion of the Vehicle, out of the Philosophy of Des-Cartes.4.A full Interpretation of his Text 5. That Aristotle makes onely twoVehicles, Terrestrial and Aetheareal; which is more then sufiicientto prove the Soul’s Oblivion of her former state. 6. That the ordinaryVehicle of the Soul after death is Aire. 7. The duration of the Soulin her several Vehicles. 8. That the Union of the Soul with herVehicle does not consist in Mechanical Congruity, but Vital. 9. Inwhat Vital congruity of the Matter consists. 10. In what Vital con-gruity of the Soul consists, and how it changing, the Soul may befree from her Aiery vehicle, without violent precipitation out of it.11. Of the manner of the Descent ofSouls into Earthly Bodies. 12.That there is so little absurdity in the Praeexistence of Souls, thatthe concessions thereof can be but a very small prejudice to ourDemonstrations of her Immortality.

155

Chap.XV. I. What is meant by the Separation of the Soul, with aconfutation ofRegius, who would stop her in the dead Corps. 2. AnAnswer to those that profess themselves puzled how the Soul can getout of the Body. 3. That there is a threefold Vital Congruity to befound in three several Subjects. 4. That this triple Congruity is alsocompetible to one Subject, viz. the Soul of Man. 5. That upon thisHypothesis it is very intelligible how the Soul may leave the Body.That her Union with the Aéreal Vehicle may be very suddain, andas it were in a moment. 7. That the Soul is actually seperate fromthe Body, is to be proved either by History or Reason. Examples ofthe former kinde out of Pliny, Herodotus, Ficinus. 8. Whether theEcstasie of Witches prove an actual separation of the Soul from theBody. 9. That this real separation of the Soul in Ecstasie is verypossible. 10. How the Soul may be loosned and leave the Body, andyet return thither again. 11. That though Reason and Will cannot inthis life release the Soul from the Body, yet Passion may; and so thatshe may return again. 12. The paculiar power of Desire for thispurpose.13. Of Cardan’s Ecstasies, and the Ointment of Witches,and what truth there may be in their confessions.

161

Chap.XVI. I. That Souls departed communicate Dreams. 2. ExamplesofApparitions of Souls deceased. 3. OfApparitions in fields wherepitcht Battels have been fought; as also of those in Church-yards,and other vaparous places. 4. That the Spissitude of the Aire maywell contribute to the easiness of the appearing of Ghosts and

Spectres. 5. A further proof thereof from sundry examples. 6. OfMarsilius Ficinus his appearing after death. 7. With what sort ofpeople such Examples as these avail little. 8. Reasons to perswadethe the unprejudiced that ordinarily those Apparitions that bear theshape and person of the deceased, are indeed the Souls of them.

1 70

Chap.XVII. I. The preeminence of Arguments drawn from Reasonabove those from Story. 2. The first step towards a Demonstrationof Reason that the Soul acts out of her Body, for that she is anImmaterial Substance separable therefrom.3. The second, That theimmediate Instruments for Sense, Motion, and Organization of theBody, are certain subtile and tenuious Spirits. 4. A comparisonbetwixt the Soul in the Body and the Aéreal Genii. 5.0f the natureof Daemonsfrom the account of Marcus the Eremite, and how theSoul is presently such, having left this Bcdy.6. An Objectionconcerning the Souls ofBrutes.' to which is answered, First, by wayof concession; 7. Secondly, by confuting the Arguments for theformer concession. 8. That there is no rational doubt at all of theHumane Soul acting after death. 9. A further Argument Of he"activity out of this Body, from her conflicts with it while she is in it.10. As also from the general hope and belief of all Nations, that theyshall live after death.

1 76

Chap.XVIII. I. That the Faculties of our Souls, and the nature of theimmediate Instrument of them, the Spirits, do so nearly symbolizewith those of Daemons, that it seems reasonable, if God did not onpurpose hinder it, that they would not fail to act out of this earthlyBody. 2. Or if they would, his Power and Wisdome could easilyimplant in their essence a double or triple Vital Congruity, to makeall sure. 3. A further demonstration of the present Truth from theVeracity of God. 4. An Answer to an Objection against theforegoing Argument. 5. Another Truth from the Veracity of God. 4.An Answer to an Objection against the foregoing Argument. 5.Another Demonstration from his Justice. 6. An Answer to anObjection. 7. An Answer to another Objection. 8. AnotherArgument from the Justice of God. 9.An Objection answered. 10.An invincible Demonstration of the Soul’s Immortality from theDivine Goodness. 11. A more particular enforcement of thatArgument, and who they are upon whom it will work least. 12.That the noblest and most Vertuous Spirit is the most assurable of

320 The Contents.The Contents. 3 2 1

the Soul’s Immortality.183

Book III.

Chap.I. I. Why the Author treats of the state of the Soul after Death,and in what Method. 2. Arguments to prove that the Soul is everunited vitally with some Matter or other. 3. Further Reasons toevince the same. 4. That the Soul is capable of an Aiery andAethereal Body, as well as a Terrestrial. 5. That she ordinarilypasses out of an Earthly into an Aéreal Vehicle first. 6. That inher Aiery Vehicle she is capable of Sense, Pleasure, and Pain. 7.That the main power of the Soul over her Aéreal Vehicle is thedirection of Motion in the particles thereof. 8. That she may alsoadde or diminish Motion in her Aethereal.9. How the purity of theVehicle confers to the quickness ofSense and Knowledge. 10. Of theSoul’s power of changing the temper of her Aéreal Vehicle; 11. Asalso the shape thereof. 12. The plainness of the last Axiome.

191

Chap.II. I. Of the Dimensions of the Soul considered barely in herself.2. Of the Figure of the Soul’ s Dimensions. 3. Of theHeterogeneity ofher Essence. 4. That there is an Heterogeneity inher Plastick part distinct from the Perceptive. 5. Of the acting of

operations of Daemons. 10. An Objection how Daemons and Soulsseparate can be in this lower Region, where Winds and Tempestsare so frequent. 11. A preparation to an Answer from theconsideration of the nature of the Winds. 12. Particular Answers tothe Objection. 13. A further Answer from the nature of the StatickFaculty of the Soul. 14.Another from the suddain power of actuatingher Vehicle. 15. What incommodations she suffers from hail, rain,etc.

203

Chap.IV. I. That the Soul once having quitted this Earthly Bodybecomes a Daemon. 2. Of the External Senses of the Soul separate,their number and limits in the Vehicle. 3. Of Sight in a Vehicleorganized and un-organized. 4. How Daemons and separate Soulshear and see at a vast Distance: and whence it is that though mayso easily hear or see us, we may neither see nor hear them.5.Thatthey have Hearing as well as Sight. 6. Of the Touch, Smell, Tast,and Nourishment of Daemons. 7. The external employment that theGenii and Souls deceased may have out of the Body. 8. That theactions of Separate Souls, in reference to us, are most-whatconformable to their life here on Earth. 9. What theirEntertainments are in reference to us, are most-what conformable totheir life here on Earth. 9. What their Entertainments are inreference to themselves.10. The distinction of Orders of Daemonsfrom the places they most frequent.

210

this Plastick part in her fmmang of the Vehicle‘ 6' The excelzency Chap.V. I. That the Separate Soul spends not all her time in Solitude.of Des-Cartes his Philosophy. 7. That the Vehicles of Ghosts haveas much ofsolid corporeal Substance in them as the Bodies of Men.8. The folly of the contrary Opinion evinced. 9. The advantage ofthe Soul, for matter ofBody, in the other state, above this.

198

Chap.III. I. That the natural abode of the Soul after death is the Aire.2. That she cannot quit the Aéreal Regions till the AetherealCongruity of life be awakened in her. 3. That all Souls are not inthe same Region of the Aire. 4. Cardan’s conceit of placing allDaemons in the upper Region. 5. The use of this conceit for theshewing the reason of their seldome appearing. 6. That this Phae-nomenon is salved by a more rational Hypothesis. 7. A furtherconfutation of Cardan’ s Opinion. 8. More tending to the samescope. 9. The Original of Cardan’s errour concerning the remote

2. That here converse with us seems more intelligible then that withthe Genii. 3. How the Genii may be visible one to another, thoughthey be to us invisible. 4. Of their approaches, and of the limits oftheir swiftness of motion: 5. And how they farre exceed us incelerity. 6. Of the figure or shape of their Vehicles, and of theirprivacy, when they would be invisible. 7. That they cannot wellconverse in a mere simple Orbicular form. 8. That they converse inHumane shape, at least the better sort of them. 9. Whether theshape they be in proceed merely from the Imperium of their Will andFancy, or is regulated by a natural Character of the Plastick part ofthe Soul. IO. That the personal shape ofa Soul or Genius is partlyfrom the Will, and partly from the Plastick power. 11. Thatconsidering how the Soul organizes the Foetus in the Womb, andmoves our limbs at pleasure, it were a wonder if Spirits should not

I I 7 The Contents. 323322 The Contents.

have such command over their Vehicles as is believed. 12. A furtherArgument from an excessive virtue some have given to Imagination.

216

Chap.VI. I. More credible Instances of the efiects oflmagination. 2. Aspecial and peculiar Instance in Signatures of the Foetus. 3.Thatwhat Fienus grants, who has so cautiously bounded the power ofFancy, is sufiicient for the present purpose. 4. Examples approved ofby Fienus. 5. Certain Examples rejected by him, and yet approvedof by Fernelius and Sennertus. 6. Three notorious Stories of thepower of the Mother’s Imagination on the Foetus, out of Helmont. 7.A conjectural inference from those Stories, what influence The Spiritof Nature has in all Plastick operations. 8. A further confirmationof the Conjecture from Signatures on the Foetus. 9. An applicationthereof to the transfiguration of the Vehicles ofDaemons.

222

Chap.VII. I. Three notable Examples of Signatures, rejected by Fienus:2- And Yet 30 farre allowed for possible, as will fit our design. 3.That Helm0nt’s Cherry and Licetus his Crabfish are shrewdArguments that the Soul of the World has to doe with allEfformations of both Animals and Plants. 4. An Example ofa mostexact and lively Signature out of Kircher: 5. With his judgementthereupon. 6. Another Example out of him of a Child with grayhairs. 7. An application of what has been said hitherto, concerningthe Signatures of the Foetus, to the transfiguration of the AieryVehicles of Separate Souls and Daemons. 8. Of their personaltransformation visible to us.

227

Chap.VIII. I. That the Better sort of Genii converse in Humane shapa,the Baser sometimes in Bestial. 2. How they are disposed to turnthemselves into several Bestial forms. 3. Of Psellus his av"/ainuptbbsig. or Igneous splendours ofDaemons, how they are made. 4.That the external Beauty of the Genii is according to the degree ofthe inward Vertue of their Minds. 5. That their Aereal form neednot be Purely transparent, but more finely opake, and coloured. 6.That there ZS a distinction of Masculine and Feminine Beauty intheir personal figurations.

231

Chap.IX. I. A general account of the mutual entertains of the Genii inthe other world. 2. Of their Philosophical and Political Conferences.3. Of their Religious Exercises. 4. Of the innocent Pastimes andRecreations of the Better sort of them. 5. A confirmation thereoffrom the Conventicles of Witches. 6. Whether the purer Daemonshave their times of repast or no. 7. Whence the bad Genii have theirfood. 8. Of the food and feastings of the Better sort of Genii.

235

Chap.X. I. How hard it is to define any thing concerning the Aereal orAethereal Elysiums. 2. That there is Political Order and Lawsamongst these Aiery Daemons. 3. That this Chain of Governmentreaches down from the highest Aethereal Powers through theAereal to the very Inhabitants of the Earth. 4. The great securitywe live in thereby. 5. How easily detectible and punishable wickedSpirits are by those of their own Tribe. 6. Other reasons of thesecurity we find our selves in from the gross infestastions of evilSpirits. 7. What kind of punishments the Aereal officers inflictupon their Malefactours.

242

Chap.XI. I. Three things to be considered before we come to the Moralcondition of the Soul after death: namely her Memory of trans-actions in this life. 2. The peculiar feature and individualCharacter of her Aereal Vehicle. 3. The Retainment of the sameName. 4. How her ill deportment here lays the train of her Miseryhereafter. 5. The unspeakable torments of Conscience worse thenDeath, and not to be avoided by dying. 6. Of the hideous tortures ofexternal sense on them, whose searedness of Conscience may seem tomake them uncapable of her Lashes. 7. Of the state of the Souls ofthe more innocent and conscientious Pagans. 8. Of the naturalaccruments of After-happiness to the morally good in this life. 9.How the Soul enjoys her actings or sufiferings in this Life for anindispensable Cause, when she has passed to the other. 10. Thatthe reason is proportionably the same in things of less consequence.11.What mischief men may create to themselves in the other Worldby their zealous mistakes in this. 12. That though there were noMemory after Death, yet the manner of our Life here may sow theseeds of the Soul’s future happiness or misery.

246

24 The Contents. _ The Contents. 325

Chap.XII. I. What The Spirit of Nature is. 2. Experiments that argueits real Existence; such as that of two Strings tuned Unisons. 3.Sympathetick Cures and Tortures. 4. The Sympathy betwixt theEarthly and Astral Body. 5. Monstrous Births. 6. The Attractionof the Loadstone and Roundness of the Sun and Stars.

253

Chap.XIII. I. That the Descent of heavy Bodies argues the existence ofThe Spirit of Nature, because else they would either hang in theAire as they are placed. 2. Or would be diverted from aperpendicular as they fall near a Plate of Metall set slooping. 3.That the endeavour of the Aether or Aire from the Centre to theCircumference is not the cause of Gravity, against Mr Hobbs. 4. Afull confutation of Mr Hobbs his Opinion. 5. An ocularDemonstration of the absurd consequence thereof. 6. An absoluteDemonstration that Gravity cannot be the effect of mere Mechanicalpowers. 7. The Latitude of the operations of The Spirit of Nature,how large, and where bounded. 8. The reason of its name. 9. OfInstinct, whether it be, and what it is. 10. The grand office of theSpirit ofNature in transmitting Souls into rightly-prepared Matter.

258

Chap.XIV. I. Objections against the Soul’s Immortality from hercondition in Infancy, Old Age, Sleep and Sicknesses. 2. OtherObjections taken from Experiments that seem to prove herDiscerpibility. 3. As also from the seldome appearing of the Soulsof the deceased. 4. And from our natural fear of Death. 5. ASubterfuge of the adverse party, in supposing but one Soulcommon to all Creatures. 6. An Answer concerning the Littleness ofthe Soul in Infancy: 7. As also concerning the weakness of herIntellectuals then, and in Old Age. 8. That Sleep does not at allargue the Soul’s Mortality, rather illustrate her Immortality. 9. AnAnswer to the Objection from Apolexies and Catalepsies: 10. Asalso to that from Madness. 11. That the various depravations of herIntellectual Faculties do no more argue her Mortality, then theworser Modifications 0fMatter its natural Annihilability. And whyGod created Souls sympathizing with Matter.

268

Chap.XV. I. An Answer to the experiment of the Scolopendra cut intopieces: 2. And to the flying of an headless Eagle over a barn, asalso to that of the Malefactor’ s head biting a Dog by the eare. 3. A

superaddition of a difficulty concerning Monsters born with two ormore Heads, and but one Body and Heart. 4. A solution of thedifiiculty. 5. An answer touching the seldome appearing of theSouls of the deceased: 6. As also concerning the fear of Death; 7.And a down-bearing sense that sometimes so forcibly obtrudes uponus the belief of the Soul’ s Mortality. 8. Of the Tragical Pomp anddreadful Praeludes ofDeath, with some corroborative Considerationsagainst such sad spectacles. 9. That there is nothing really sad andmiserable in the Universe, unless to the wicked and impious.

274

Chap.XVI. I. That that which we properly are is both Sensitive andIntellectual. 2. What is the true notion of Soul being One. 3. Thatif there be but One Soul in the World, it is both Rational and Sensitive. 4.The most favourable representation of their Opinion thathold but One. 5. A Confutation of the foregoing representation. 6.A Reply to the Confutation. 7. An Answer to the Reply. 8. That theSoul ofMan is not properly any Ray either of God or the Soul of theWorld. 9. And yet if she were so, it would be no prejudice to herImmortality whence the folly of Pomponatius is noted. 10. Afurther animadversion upon Pornpnatius his folly, in admitting acertain number of remote Intelligencies, and denying ParticularImmaterial Substances in Men and Brutes.

279

ChapXVII. I. That the Author having safely conducted the Soul intoher Aereal condition through the dangers of Death, might well beexcused from attending her any further. 2. What reasons urge himto consider what fates may befall her afterwards. 3. Three hazzardsthe Soul runs after this life, whereby she may again becomeobnoxious to death, according to the opinion of some. 4. That theAereal Genii are mortal, confirmed by three testimonies. 5. The onefrom the Vision of Facius Cardanus, in which the Spirits thatappaared to him profess themselves mortal. 6. The time they stayedwith him, and the matters they disputed of. 7. What creditHieronymanus Cardanus gives to his Father’ s Vision. 8. The othertestimony out of Plutarch, concerning the Death of the great GodPan. 9. The third and last of Hesiod, whose opinion Plutarch haspolisht and refined. 10. An Enumeration of the several Paradoxescontained in Facius Cardanus his Vision. 11. What must be thesense of the third Paradox, if those Aereal Speculators spake as theythought. 12. Another Hypothesis to the same purpose. 13. The

26 The Contents.The Contents. 3 2 7

crafi‘ of these Daemons, in shufiling in poisonous Errour amongstsolid Truths. 14. What makes the story of the death of Pan less tothe present matter, with an addition of Demetrius his observationstouching the Sacred Islands near Britain. 15. That Hesiod hisopinion is themost unexceptionable, and that the harshness thereinis but seeming, not real. 16. That the Aethereal Vehicle instates theSoul in a condition of perfect Immortality. 17. That there is nointernal impediment to those that are Heroically good, but that theymay attain an everlasting happiness after Death.

285

Chap.XVIII. I. The Conflagration of the World an Opinion of theStoicks. 2. Two ways of destroying the World the Ancients havetaken notice of, and especially that by Fire. 3. That theConflagration of the World, so farre as it respects us, is to beunderstood onely of the burning of the Earth. 4. That the Ends ofthe Stoicks Conflagration are competible onely to the Earth’sburning. 5. An acknowledgement that the Earth may be burnt,though the proof thereof be impertinent to this place. 6. That theConflagration thereof will prove very fatal to the Souls of WickedMen and Daemons. 7. Five several Opinions concerning their stateafter the Conflagration; whereof the first is, That they are quitedestroy’d by Fire. 8. The second, That they are annihilated by aspecial act of Omnipotency. 9. The third, That they lie senslessin an eternal Death. 10. The fourth, That they are in a perpetualFurious and painful Dream. 11. The fifth and last, That they willrevive again, and that the Earth and Aire will be inhabited bythem. 12. That this last seems to be fram’d from the fictitiousnaluyveveoia of the Stoicks, who were very sorry Metaphysicians,and as ill Naturalists. 13. An Animadversion upon a self-contradicting sentence of Seneca. 14. The unintelligibleness of thestate of the Souls of the Wicked after the Conflagration. 15. Thatthe Aethereal Inhabitants will be safe. And what will then becomeof Good men and Daemons on the Earth and in the Aire. And howthey cannot be delivered but by a supernatural power.

296

Chap.XIX. I. That the Extinction of the Sun is no Panick fear, butmay be rationally suspected from the Records of History andgrounds of Natural Philosophy. 2. The sad Influence of thisExtinction upon Man and Beast,and all the Aereal Daemonsimprison’d within their several Atmospheres in our Vortex. 3.

That it will doe little or no damage to the Aethereal Inhabitants inreference to heat or warmth. 4. Nor will they find much want of hislight. 5. And if they did, they may pass out of one Vortex intoanother, by the Priviledge of their Aethereal Vehicles; 6. And thatwithout any labour or toil, and as maturely as they please. 7. Thevast incomprehensibleness of the tracts and compasses of the waiesofProvidence. 8. A short Recapitulation of the whole Discourse. 9.An Explication of the Persians two Principles of Light andDarkness, which they called Oeog and A(1I|.l(1JV. and when andwhere the Principle of Light gets the full victory. 10. ThatPhilosophy, or something more sacred then Philosophy is the onelyGuide to a true /\7ZOl}8(1)6l§.

303

:l:21,N ( )'l'lrs

:t:I.t

Commentary Notes

The editions and translations used in these notes are those listed inthe Bibliography. Where no translator is acknowledged, thetranslation is mine. The symbol [M] denotes the extent of More's owncitations of references in his marginal notes to the L662 edition. Theform of More's marginal notes has, in many cases, been slightlyadapted for the sake of clarity.* Where the original form has beenpreserved, it is reproduced within quotation marks.

Title page

Page/Line

lL llävro...voprl(eor)«t. More's epigraph is adapted fromDiogenes Laertius,VIII,32: siv«r re ruvra röv o6p«r yu1öväprnieov rai rüuraq 6«ipovaq re r«ri ilpanq övo;ro(eorlat.

[The whole air is full of souls which are called genii orheroes. lAs the entire section on the opinion of Pythagoras on the soulfrom which this line is taken (VIII, 30-32) has a bearing onthe psychological and metaphysical themes developed byMore in this treatise, I shall quote it in full here:'The soul of man, [Pythagoras] says, is divided into threeparts,intelligence, reason, and passion. Intelligence andpassion are possessed by other animals as we[l, but reasonby man alone. The seat of the soul extends from the heart tothe brain; the part of it which is in the heart is passion, whilethe parts located in the brain are reason and intelligence.The senses are distillations from these. Reason is immortalall else mortal. The soul draws nourisment from the blood;the faculties of the soul are winds, for they as well as thesoul are invisible, just as the aether is invisible. The veins,arteries, and sinews are the bonds of the soul . But when it isstrong and settled down into itself, reasonings and deeds

become its bonds. When cast out upon the earth it wanders in

* i.e. Thereplacedexpanded.

Latin forms of the names of the various authors have beenby the English, and abbreviations of titles have been

the air in the body. Hermes is the steward of souls' and for

t,hat reason is called Hermes the Escorter' Hermes the

Keeper of the gate, and Hermes of the Underworld' since it is

hewhobringsinthesoulsfromtheirbodiesbothbylandandsea, and the pure are taken into the uppermost region' but

the impure are not permitted to approach the pure or each

other, but are bo,"'ä by the Furies in bonds unbreakable'

Thewholeairisfullofsoulswhicharecalledgeniiorheroes;these are they who send men dreams and signs of future

disease and health, and not to men alone but to sheep also

and cattle as well; and it is to them that purifications,and

instructions, all divinations, omens' and the like' have

reference. The most momentous thing in human life is the

act of winning the soul to good or to evil' Blest are the men

who acquire a good soul; (if it be bad) they can never be trt

rest,noreverkeepthesamecoursetwodaystogether''('fr'R.S. Hicks, Loeb Classical Library)

Quid, uicissitud'ines?: 'What is more pleasant than ttt

know what we are, what we were' and what we will be; antl'

with these, the *p'u*t,divine things which follow death and

the changes of thl world?' I have not been able to identily

this quotation in Cardano's voluminous writings' but the

sentiment it expresses is obviousry a deeply felt one. rn De

Libriis Proprüs, for instance' we frnd another variant of the

sameconcern:'Quamdulceestatqueiucundum'scirequaeante nos, et quae supra nos stnt' quaeque futura sint cum

animus hinc discesserit: neque molesta vita' nec quae post

mortem formidolosa, ipse solus transitus naturae lege gravis

est.'

Epistle DedicatorY

Edward: Third viscount of conway and husband of Anrrr-"

More,spupilandfriend(seeBiographicallntroductionp.ix).

handsome: clever

was acquired bY the frrst Viscount

Situated twentY miles south of'

the seat of the Marquess of Hertfortl'

lt3

u2

214

Rogley'. RagleY Hall

Conway in 1591'

Birmingham, it is now

217

:]tt0 NOTES

218 civil Mother: Frances conway, Dowager viscountessconway -- More 's affection and g"riit,.ra" for her kindness tohim is constantly evidenced in his retters to the conways. cf.More's letter of 1664 L?l to Anne Conway: ,I pray youMadame, present my very humble service to my lady yourMother with my very hearty acknowredgements for her greatcivilitys at Ragley' (conway Letters, ea. ivr.H. Nicorson, NewHaven: yale Univ. press 1980, p. %a.)

preface

517 Christianity .-. Light: cf. II Tim. 1:10: ,But is now mademanife st by the appearing of our saviour Jesus christ, whohath aborished death, and hath brought life and immortalitieto light, through the Gospel.,

5l2O set: 'Book 3, Chap 14,[M].

613 spinosities: Arguments of a 'di{ficurt and unprofitablecharacter,(OEO;

6/6 Mystery: ,Book 5, Ch. 1,2 andand Book g, Ch. 17,[M].

3, Also Book 6, Ch. II, sect. 13

6l3L indiscerpible: the property of being incapable of being dividedinto parts.

7137 extuberancy: protuberancy

8/13 Hedrae: bases

8121 Epictetus: Encheirid,ion, 4s.: tÄv npdypa öuo äxet Lagas.rqv päv Aopqrrlv.qv 6d «irp6pnrnv. ' 't

lEverything has two handres, by one of which it ought to becarried and by the other not ( Tr. w.A. ordfathlr, LoebClassical Library)1.

t lLL Pomponatius: pietro pomponazzi (1462_1525) was a Neo-Aristoterian philosopher associated with the universities ofPadua, F errara, ancr B,rognrr- His chief works con(:ern

N( )'l'1,:S :l:l I

immortality, miracles, ttntl fi'cr:will. 'l'he three t.reitt.ist:s on

immortality are De irnmortttlitate onimae ( I I-r l(i),Apologia(ls18), and Defensiorium (1519). Baserl on

Aristotelian epistemology and psychology, his theory of' t,hc

mortality of the soul along with the death of the bo«ly witsbalanced by a subtle scholastic resort to faith which assur'(ls

us nevertheless of the soul's immortality. In De immortolikrleanimae and De Incantationibus (1556), a treatise on miracltts,Pomponazzi suggested that miracles could be explained as

being produced by the Intelligences which move the heavenlybodies. De immortalitate animae provoked both philosophersand theologians and began the immortality controversy,which was one of the most important debates prior to l.hc

Reformation. The controversy reached such proportions thirIPope Leo X demanded a retraction frcm Pomponazzi in l5l ll,and his hnal work, the Defensorium, was allowed to tre