than every Effect as it springs from its immediate Cause tho' this is not enough neither if the Catholic Church hath never declared them for such for like as Advocates engaged in the Study of the Civil Law have it imprinted in their Memory the better to know and understand the Kings Pleasure in the Determination of each particular Case Even so the Natural Philosophers being Advocates in their Faculty place their whole Study in this to know the Order God establish'd at the instant he created the World the better to discern what Causes produce what Effects and why And as it would be ridiculous for a Lawyer to alledge in his Breviate as a strong Proof that the King commanded such an Arrest in such a Case without shewing the Law and the Rule of Court by which it ought to be decided So the Natural Philosophers laugh at them who pronounce this or that is God's Work without running through the Order and inseparable Connexion of all the particular Causes concern'd in its immediate Production And for the same reason as a King denies to hearken to those that press him to Abrogate and Null a just Law or finally to decide a Case contrary to the standing Rules and Orders of his Ministerial Courts so neither will God likely hearken to those that importune him for Miracles and Signs out of the ordinary Course and Ministry of Nature when there is no Occasion for them For should a King every day null and make Laws and alter the Course of Justice be it for the diversity of Occasions or through the changes in his Councils because Right and Justice are not arrived at all at once yet the Natural Order of the Universe by us called Nature from the Creation to this Day has suffer'd no Change or Alteration in the least for he made it with so much Wisdom and Prudence that not to continue constant in that Order would be tacitly to lay a blame upon his Works But to return to that common Saying of the Antient Philosophers Nature makes able it is to be understood that there is a Wit and Ability bestow'd by God on Men out of the ordinary Course of Nature such was the Wisdom of the Apostles who being rude and illiterate were wonderfully enlightned and fill'd with Wisdom and Knowledge Which sort of Parts and Qualifications verify not that Nature makes able for that is a Work to be attributed immediately to God and not to Nature The like is to be understood of the Wisdom of the Prophets and of all others upon whom God has poured any of his Gifts There is another sort of Wit among Men produced by the Order and Dependence of Causes appointed by God to lead to such an end and of this kind it may be truly said Nature makes able For as we shall prove in the last Chapter of this Work there is a certain Order and Dependence of Natural Causes so that if Parents in the Act of Generation would duly observe it all their Children would be Wise and none of them Otherwise However in this Discourse such a signification of Nature is too loose and confus'd nor is the Understanding content to rest here without tracing every particular Effect up to its Ultimate Cause and therefore there is need to find out another meaning of this Word Nature which may be more accommodate to our purpose Aristotle and all other Natural Philosophers were more Particular calling Nature every substantial Form that gives Being to a thing and is the Principle of all its Operations In which sense our Rational Soul with good Reason is call'd Nature for from thence we receive the Form and Being we have of Men and the same is the Principle of all our Actions for all Rational Souls are of equal Perfection as well the Wise Man 's as the Fool 's and so we may not pronounce that it is Nature in this sense makes a Man witty for if that were true all Men would be equal in Wit and Capacity and thereupon the same Aristotle found out another Signification of Nature importing the Reason and Cause of a Man's being capable or incapable saying that the Temperament of the four first Qualities Heat Cold Moisture and Driness were to be call'd Nature inasmuch as from them proceed all the Abilities of Men all the Virtues and Vices and all the great variety of Wit we discover in the World And he proves it clearly by considering the several Parts of the Age of the wisest Man who in his Childhood is no more than a Brute Beast employing no other Powers than the Irascible and Concupiscible when Youth comes he betrays an admirable Wit which we see continues to a certain Period and no longer for old Age drawing on his Wit every day declines till in the End it is wholly lost Assuredly the diversity of Wit proceeds not from the Rational Soul for that in all Ages is the same without suffering any Alteration in its Vigor or Substance except a Man in the several Stages of his Life changes his Constitution or has a different Disposition and from hence is it that the Soul acts one part in the Childhood another in Youth and yet another in old Age whence may be drawn an evident Argument that seeing the same Soul performs contrary Acts in one and the same Body by having in each Division of Age a different Temperament whensoever of two Boys the one is Witty the other a Dunce the same happens by each having a diverse Temperament from the other which being the Principle of all the Operations of the reasonable Soul is by Physicians and Philosophers call'd Nature in which sense this Saying Nature makes able is properly Verified In confirmation of which Doctrin Galen writ a Book proving that the Operations of the Soul were influenc'd by the Temperament of the Body in which it dwelt and that by reason either of the Heat Cold Moisture and Driness of the Climate where they lived or the Qualities of the Meat they eat and of the Waters they drank and of the Air they breathed in some were Fools and others Wise some Stout and others Cowards some Cruel and others Gentle some Reserv'd and others Open some Lyars and others Speakers of Truth some Traytors and others Loyal some Turbulent and others Calm some Crafty and others Sincere some Sordid and others Generous some Modest and others Impudent some Incredulous and others Credulous in Proof of which he quotes many Places out of Hippocrates Plato and Aristotle asserting that the Diversity of Nations as to the Frame of their Bodies and the Turn of their Soul was owing to this Difference of Temperament Which is found true by Experience how much the Greeks differ from the Scythians the French from the Spaniards the Indians from the Germans and the Ethiopians from the English Neither is this only to be observ'd in Parts so remote from each other but if we consider even the Provinces that surround all
Tokens by which this Temperament may be discerned are very evident their Complexion is of a dark Green or Olive their Eyes very red for which Reason he is called a Bloody-Eyed-Man the Head Black and Bald Flesh hard and hairy great Veins are very good Company and affable but Lustful Proud Stately Blasphemers Crafty Double Injurious Friends of ill Doing and Revengeful This is to be understood when Melancholy is kindled for if it be cooled forthwith arise in them the contrary Virtues Chastity Humility Fear and Reverence of God Charity Mercy and deep Acknowledgement of their Sins with Sighs and Tears By reason of which they live in perpetual War and Strife without ever enjoying Ease or Rest Now Vice prevails in them and then Virtue but with all these Faults they are the most ingenious and able for the Service of Preaching and for all sorts of things wherein worldly Wisdom is required because they have a great Understanding to find the Truth and a powerful Imagination to perswade In order to this let us see what God did when he would fashion a Child in his Mother's Womb to the end he might be able to discover to the World the coming of his Son and have the Gift to prove and perswade that Jesus Christ was the Messiah promised under the Law and we shall find that making him of a great Understanding and Imagination it fell of course observing the Order of Nature that he form'd him of this adust and burnt Choler This will appear plain if we consider with what Fire and Fury he persecuted the Church and the pain the Synagogues were in when they saw him Converted in having lost a Man of so great Importance to themselves and of such Advantage to the contrary Party This also appears by the Reparties full of rational Choler with which he spoke and answered the Proconsuls and Judges that apprehended him defending his own Person and the Name of Jesus Christ with such Skill and Dexterity as confounded them all Even though he had an Impediment in his Speech and was not ready in Utterance which Property Aristotle says falls to the Melancholic by Adustion The Vices he confessed himself subject to before his Conversion shew him to have possessed this Temperament He was a Blasphemer and Injurious Persecutor which are the effects of a great Heat But the most evident Token importing that he had that adust Choler may be collected from the continual Conflict which he confessed was within him between the Superior and Inferior part saying I see another Law in my Members warring against the Law of my mind and bringing me into Captivity to the Law of Sin To which inward Contention we have prov'd according to the Opinion of Aristotle the Melancholic by Adustion are subject True it is as some Gloss and very well this Conflict arises from the disorder Original Sin has raised between the Flesh and Spirit though nevertheless being so fierce and constant I am of Opinion it proceeded also from the inequality of the Black Choler that remained in his Natural Constitution In effect the Royal Prophet David participated equally of Original Sin yet complained not so much of it as St. Paul but on the contrary affirmed he found the Inferior Part in Consent with Reason when he would rejoice in God My heart and my flesh have rejoiced in the living God And as we shall shew in the last Chapter save one David had the best Temperament Nature could give and according to the Opinions of all the Philosophers the same which Ordinarily inclines a Man to be Virtuous without much Contradiction from the Flesh The Wits then that should be made choice of for Preachers in the first place are those that unite a great Understanding with a great Imagination and Memory whose Tokens we shall treat of in the last Chapter save one For want of such there succeed in their room those that are Melancholic by Adustion who unite a great Understanding with a great Imagination but are wanting in Memory and accordingly have no store of Words nor flow with a full stream before the Auditory In the third Rank are Men of a great Understanding without Imagination and Memory these Preach not gracefully but Preach sound Doctrin The last to whom I would not recommend the Preaching Function are those who join a happy Memory to a vast Imagination but want Understanding These draw all the People after them and hold them well pleased and in suspense but when they dream but a little of it are in a fair way to the Inquisition because By good Words and fair Speeches they deceive the Hearts of the Simple CHAP. XIII That the Theory of the Laws pertains to the Memory Pleading Causes and Judging them which is the Practic to the Understanding and Governing of a Commonwealth to the Imagination IT is not without a Mystery that in the Spanish Tongue this Word Letrado Lettered is a common Term denoting all sorts of Lettered Men as well Divines as Lawyers Physicians Logicians Philosophers Orators Mathematicians and Astrologers nevertheless when it is said Fulano es letrado such a one is Letter'd we all understand with one consent the Skill in the Laws is his Profession as if it were his proper and peculiar Style and of no others Altho' to solve this Doubt be easy nevertheless to do it satisfactorily it is requisite to know first what the Law is and what Obligations they are under who apply themselves to the Study of this Profession to be afterwards made use of in the Employment of Judges or Advocates The Law to take it right is nothing but the reasonable Will of the Legislator by which he sets forth and declares in what manner such Cases shall be determined as are ordinarily emergent in the Commonwealth for conserving the Subjects in Peace and directing them how they are to live and what they are to forbear I said a reasonable Will because it is not sufficient that a King or Emperor who are the efficient Cause of the Law declare their Will at any rate that it may be Law for if the same be not Just and Reasonable neither is it nor can it be called a Law no more than he is a Man who wants a Reasonable Soul And therefore it has been agreed that Kings should enact their Laws with the Advice of very Wise and Understanding Men to the end they should be right equal and good and the Subjects should receive them willingly and be the more oblig'd to keep and observe them The material Cause of the Law is what is done in such Cases as ordinarily happen in the Commonwealth after the Order of Nature and not of utter Impossibilities or of rare Contingencies The Final Cause is to order the Life of Man to teach him what to do and what to forbear that so being conformable to Reason the Commonwealth may be preserv'd in Peace For which end the Laws are appointed to be Written
the Past and Prudence of the Future The Dexterity of Wit is what we call in Spanish Agudeza in agibilibus and is in other terms Fineness Wiliness or Cunning and Craft in the things and Intrigues of the World And therefore Cicero said That Prudence was a Skill which had a certain way to make choice of Good and Evil. Men of great Understanding are without this sort of Prudence and Skill because they want Imagination Accordingly we see by Experience that great Scholars as to the things appertaining to the Understanding taken from their Books signify nothing to go and engage in the Affairs of the World Galen said excellently well That this sort of Prudence proceeded from Choler for Hippocrates acquainting his Friend Damagetes with the Condition he found Democritus in when he went to Visit him in order to his Cure writ that he was in the open Field under a Plain-tree bare Leg'd set upon a Stone a Book in his hand and surrounded with Dead and Flead Beasts at which Hippocrates being surpriz'd asked him what he did with those Beasts that were in such a case He Answer'd him that he was in search of the Humor that made Men Fickle Crafty False and Deceitful and that in dissecting those brute Beasts he had found that Choler was the cause of this mischievous Quality and that to be revenged on Men of Gall and Guile he would treat them as he had done the Fox the Serpent and the Ape This kind of Prudence is not only odious to Men but also St. Paul says The Carnal Mind is at Enmity against God And Plato gave the Reason of it saying That Knowledge abstracted from Justice rather merits the name of Craft and Cunning than of Wisdom The Devil always makes use of such Weapons when he would do mischief to Men. This Wisdom said St. James descendeth not from above but is earthy sensual and devilish There is another sort of Wisdom attended with Uprightness and Simplicity by which Men follow that which is good and fly that which is evil Galen says this kind belongs to the Understanding because that Faculty is wholly incapable of Craft or Malice only knowing how Evil is not done but is Upright Just Frank and Innocent The Man who is endow'd with this kind of Wit is called Upright and Simple Accordingly Demosthenes being desirous to win the good Will of the Judges in a Speech he made against Eschines called them Just and Upright having an eye to the Simplicity of their Employment Of whom Cicero said Their Duty is simple and one only Cause of all Good The Coldness and the Driness of Melancholy is a very proper Instrument for this kind of Wisdom but then it must be composed of fine and very delicate Parts We may Answer to the last Doubt That when a Man is engaged in the Contemplation of a truth he would know and does not presently attain it it is because his Brain is deprived of the Temperament convenient to what he desir'd but fixing a while in Contemplation as soon as the Natural Heat that is in the Vital Spirits and Arterial Blood flys to the Head the same causes the Temperament of the Brain to rise always till it arrive at the degree it has occasion for 'T is true that much Plodding does good to some and harm to others for if there be no want in the Brain to attain the due degree of Heat there will be no occasion for deep Meditation and if it pass beyond the point the Understanding is strait disordered by an overflow of too many Vital Spirits by means of which it attains not to the Notice of the Truth it is in search of Whence it comes that we observe many Men speak very well extempore but perform very meanly with premeditation On the contrary others have such a slow Capacity because of their great Coldness or Driness that of necessity the Natural Heat must be a long time in the Head to cause the Temperament to rise to the degree it wants and therefore they quit themselves much better when they have had time to recollect what they have to say than when they are to speak extempore CHAP. X. Each Difference of Wit is appropriated to the Science with which it most particularly agrees removing what is Repugnant or contrary to it ALL the Arts said Cicero are setled upon certain Universal Principles which being learned with Study and Labour the Science at length is acquir'd Only the Art of Poetry has this in peculiar That if God and Nature make not the Man a Poet he will never be enabled by Rules and Precepts to make a Verse which occasion'd him to say The Study and Knowledge of other things depend upon the Precepts of Art but the Poet is so by Nature he is only excited by the force of his Wit and is as it were inspired with a Divine Enthusiasm But Cicero was not in the right because in effect there is no Art or Science invented in the Commonwealth which can be attained by a Man who is Incapable although he labour all his Life time in the Precepts and Rules thereof whereas if he falls upon a Science agreeable to his Natural Inclination we may observe he will make some Progress in the space of few days 'T is the same thing in Poetry for if he who has a proper Talent apply himself to make Verses he will soon acquit himself very well and if not he will always remain a dull Poet. This being so it seems to me there is a time to find out by Art to which Difference of Wit each sort of Science in particular Corresponds to the end that every one may distinctly understand after having first discover'd his own Nature and Temperament to which Art he is most inclined The Arts and Sciences acquired by means of the Memory are these following Grammar Latin and all other Languages whatever the Theory of the Law Positive Divinity Cosmography and Arithmetic Those that belong to the Understanding are School Divinity the Theory of Physic Logic Natural and Moral Philosophy the Practice of the Law which is the Advocates Science From a good Invention spring all the Arts and Sciences whatever that depend upon Figure Correspondence Harmony and Proportion such as are Poetry Rhetoric Music and the Art of Preaching the Practice of Physic the Mathematics Astronomy the Military-Art and that of Governing a Commonwealth to Paint to Design to Write and Read to be Agreeable Gentile Pleasant in Words and happy in Expressions to be Dextrous in the Affairs and Intrigues of Life to have a ready Wit for Machines and all that Artificers pretend to as also an Address admired by the Vulgar which is to dictate several Matters to four Persons at the same time all well digested and in good Order Of all which we can't give evident Demonstration nor prove each thing severally for that was never yet done but we will prove
Juvenal said Si Natura negat facit Indignatio versum If Nature wanting be to make the Poet Choler alone serves for a Muse to do it Thro' this defect of Tongue Men of great Understanding cannot be good Orators nor good Preachers and particularly inasmuch as the Action requires they should speak sometimes High and sometimes Low and that such as are slow Tongued cannot pronounce without Bawling with open Throat which is one of the Things that tire the Auditors Accordingly Aristotle inquires Why those of slow Speech cannot speak Low To which he Answers very well that the Tongue which is as it were Glued to the Palate by the great Moisture better disengages it self by Force than if one should gently endeavour it even as he that would raise a heavy Launce taking it by the end would raise it better all at once and by a Jerk than in raising it by little and little It seems to me I have well prov'd that the good Natural Qualities a perfect Orator ought to have arise from the Imagination for the most part and some from the Memory and if it be true that the great Preachers of our Times pleased the People because they are furnished with the same qualities we have Spoke of it follows then that he who proves an Eminent Preacher knows very little of School Divinity and he that is a good School-Divine cannot Preach thro' the great contrariety that the Understanding carries with the Imagination Aristotle knew well by experience that tho' the Orator Studies Natural and Moral Philosophy Physic Metaphysics the Laws the Mathematics Astrology and all the other Arts and Sciences yet he knows no more of them than the Flowers and retains only the most received Propositions without fetching from the Root the Reason and Cause of any of them But he believed the not understanding Divinity nor the true and essential reason of Things arose from their not making Search and Enquiry into it Accordingly he Enquires Why and in what we think the Philosopher differs from the Orator since they both Study Philosophy To which Problem he Answers that the Philosopher employs his whole Study to find out the Reason and the Cause of each Effect and the Orator only to know the Effect and no more But indeed there is no other Reason of Difference than this that Natural Philosophy belongs to the Understanding of which Faculty the Orators are in Want and so pierce no deeper in Philosophy than a Superficial Knowledge of the Nature of Things The same difference is found between the School-Divine and the Positive for own knows the Reason of that which concerns his Faculty and the other the most received Propositions and no more The Case standing thus it proves a very dangerous Thing that the Preacher should have the Office and Authority of Teaching the Truth to Christian people and the Auditory be obliged to believe it and yet this Preacher is defective in this Power by which Truths are digged up from their Roots we may with justice apply to him these Words of our Saviour Let them alone they are Blind leaders of the Blind and if the Blind lead the Blind both shall fall into the Ditch 'T is an intolerable thing to see with what Assurance some pretend to Preach tho' they Understand not a tittle of School-Divinity nor have the least Natural disposition to Learn it St. Paul complains heavily of these Men when he says The end of the Commandment is Charity out of a pure Heart and of a good Conscience and of Faith unfeigned From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain Jangling Desiring to be Teachers of the Law Vnderstanding neither what they say nor what they affirm The idle Talk and Prating of the German English Flemish and French Divines and the rest of the Northern Nations has often hazarded the ruin of the Christian Auditory with all their Skill in Languages and their Graces and Ornaments of Preaching because they had not that Understanding proper to find out the Truth And that they are for the most part unfurnished of Understanding we have already proved from the Opinion of Aristotle and from many Reasons and Experiments produced to that purpose But if the English and German Auditories would have regarded what St. Paul writ to the Romans who were surrounded and circumvented with false Teachers it may be they would not so easily have been deceived Now I beseech ye Brethren mark them which cause Divisions and Offences contrary to the Doctrin which ye have Learned and avoid them for they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ but their own Bellies and by good Words and fair Speeches deceive the Hearts of the Simple Besides this we have already proved that those who are furnished with a good Imagination are Choleric Subtil Malitious and Cavillers who are ever inclined to Evil and know as well how to compass it with great Dexterity and Craft Aristotle demands of the Orators of his time Why do we call the Orator crafty and not the Minstril nor Actors so And the difficulty would have grown yet greater had Aristotle known that Music and Acting are works of the Imagination To which Problem he answers that the Minstrils and Stage-Players have no other Aim more than to divert the House but that the Orator labours to procure something for himself therefore he has occasion to use Wiles and Fetches to the end the Audience may not discover his Drift and Design Such Properties as these have those false Preachers of whom the Apostle speaks Writing to the Corinthians But I fear lest by any means as the Serpent beguiled Eve through his Subtilty so your Minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in CHRIST For such are false Apostles deceitful workers transforming themselves into the Apostles of CHRIST and no marvel for Satan himself is transformed into an Angel of Light therefore it is no great thing if his Ministers also be transformed as Ministers of Righteousness whose end shall be according to their Works All which Properties are well known to be the Works of the Imagination and that Aristotle said very well that the Orators are Crafty and Cunning because they always pursue their own Interest We have already said above that those who have a strong and powerful Imagination are of Constitution very Hot and from this Heat spring three principal Vices in Man Pride Gluttony and Luxury whereupon said the Apostle For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ but their own Bellies And accordingly they Endeavour to Interpret the Holy Scriptures after such a Manner as agrees best with their Natural Inclination giving those to understand who know little that Priests may Marry that there is no occasion for Lent or Fasting Days nor that the Sins we commit against God are to be discovered to a Confessor And tricking them with a wrong Application of Scripture they Colour their Vices and
by our Lord because they affected the uppermost Seats at Table and the Chief Places in the Synagogues The principal Reason whereon they rely who bestow Degrees after this manner is that when Scholars are sensible that each of them shall be Rewarded according to the Trial they shall give of themselves they will scarce spare time from their Study to Sleep or Eat Which would cease were there no Recompence for him that takes Pains or Chastisement for him that mis-spends his time in Laziness and Loytering But this is a slender reason and a Colour for it presupposes a very great Falshood which is that Science is attained by poring much on Books by being taught by the best Masters and never missing a Lesson But they observe not that if the Scholar has not Wit and a Genius requisite to the Science he applies to it is in vain he beats his Brains Day and Night amongst his Books And the mistake is such that if these two differences of Wit so opposite to each other are in Competition one man because he is very quick without Study or seeing a Book gains Learning in a moment and the other being dull and heavy labours all his Life long without attaining the least Knowledge And the Judges as Men proceed to give the first place to him whom Nature has qualified and who took no pains and the lowest degree to him that was Born without Wit and who studied hard As if one had become Learned by turning over Books and the other continued Ignorant thro' his own Carelesness And it fares as if a Prize were propos'd to two Runners of whom one had sound and nimble Heels and the other limped with one Leg. If the Universities admitted to the Study of the Sciences none but such as have proper Genius's for them and if all the Students were equal it would be very well done to Establish Rewards and Punishments for in this case there would be no doubt at all but he who was most Learned had taken most Pains and he that was least had complied with his Ease To the second Doubt we answer that as the Eyes stand in need of clearness to see Figures and Colours even so the Imagination has need of Light in the Brain to see the Ideas in the Memory It is a Light which neither the Sun nor Tapers give but only the Vital Spirits breed in the Heart and disperse throughout the Body Besides this you must know that Fear contracts the Spirits about the Heart and so leaves the Brain dark and all the other Parts of the Body chill'd And therefore Aristotle asks Why those that are afraid Stammer in their Speech and Tremble with their Hands and Lips To which he Answers that in Fear the Natural Heat flies to the Heart leaving all other Parts of the Body chill'd But we have already prov'd that Cold according to Galen's Opinion benums all the Faculties and Powers of the Soul and hinders them from the free Exercise of their Functions This being so it is easie to answer the second Doubt and it is that those who play at Chess are in fear of losing because it is a Game in which there is a Point of Honour and in which as we have said Fortune has no Part. The Vital Spirits then flying to the Heart the Imagination is nummed with the Cold and the Images are obscured and for these two Reasons the Gamester plays but very Awkwardly But the Lookers-on as they run no Risque are in no fear of losing thro' want of Skill and therefore see many Draughts that escape the Gamesters because their Imagination retains its Heat and the Figures illuminated by the Light of the Vital Spirits True it is that too much Light blinds the Imagination which happens when he that Plays is ashamed and out of Countenance to see his Adversary beat him Then through very Indignation Natural Heat increases and illuminates more than it should of which the Standers-by are free as being unconcerned From this springs an Effect very common in the World which is that when a Man would muster up all his Forces and make his Knowledge and Ability more Conspicuous then it is that he quits himself worst of all There are others on the contrary who being put to it make a great show and with this great Flourish know Nothing Of all which the Reason is very plain for he that has abundance of Natural Heat in his Head if he be set for a Task an Exercise for instance the Disputation he is to get in twenty four hours time as is done in Spain to all those who Dispute for a Vacant Place a part of the Excess of Natural Heat retires to his Heart so that the Brain remains Temperate In this Disposition as we shall prove in the following Chapter many things offer themselves to a Man to say But he that is very knowing and of a good Understanding when he is hard put to it through Fear retains not the Natural Heat in his Head so that for want of Light he has nothing in his Memory left to say If this were duly considered by them that Censure the Actions of Generals of Armies blaming their Steps and the Orders they give in their Camp they would see what difference there is between looking on a Fight out of a Window and breaking a Launce before it and the Apprehension of the Loss of an Army upon the Spot No less inconvenience Fear in the Physitians produces in Curing for his Practice as we have proved elsewhere belongs to the Imagination which is prejudiced by Cold more than any other Power in as much as it's Operation consists altogether in Heat And so we see by experience that the Physitians Cure the Common People better than Princes and great Lords A Lawyer ask't me one day knowing well that I treated of Invention why in the Cause he was well feed Law Cases and Points of Law come readily into his Thoughts but where the Cause was starved it seemed that all his Law was lost To which I Answered that matters of Interest belonged to the irascible Faculty which resides in the Heart and which if it be not satisfied does not so chearfully furnish Vital Spirits by whose Light the Figures that are in the Memory may appear but when the same is contented it liberally affords that Natural Heat by which the Rational Soul has sufficient clearness to read all that is Written in the Head This defect attends Men of great Understanding who are interessed and selfish and in such may be discerned that Property of the Lawyer But when all is well-weighed it seems no less than an Act of Justice that he be well Rewarded who labours in another Man's Vineyard The same reason holds for Physitians who being well gratified want no Store of Medicines otherwise their Art is starved as well as that of the Lawyer But here a matter of great Importance is to be noted namely that the good
Difficulty against this Doctrin namely seeing God knew all the Wits and Ability in Israel and was well aware that the Temperate Men are possessed of that Prudence and Wisdom of which the Royal Office stands in need for what cause in the first Election that was made God sought not out such a Man as this For even the Text says that Saul was so tall of Stature as he exceeded all the people of Israel by the Head and Shoulders This is an ill sign of Wit not only in Natural Philosophy but God himself as he has pleased to shew us blamed Samuel for having an Eye to the great Stature of Eliab and his forwardness to Anoint him for King But this Doubt sufficiently informs us what Galen has said is true that out of Greece it is a folly to look for a Temperate Man seeing in so great a People as that of Israel God could not find one to choose for King but waited till David was grown up and in the mean while made choice of Saul seeing that as the Text says he was the best of all Israel tho' it seems he had more good nature than Wisdom and that alone was not sufficient to Rule and Govern Teach me goodness discipline and Knowledge says the Royal Prophet David being very sensible that it is to no purpose for a King to be Good and Virtuous if he be not withal at the same time Prudent and Wise It looks as if we had sufficiently confirmed our Opinion in this instance of King David but there arose also another King in Israel of whom it was said Where is he that is born King of the Jews And if we can prove that he was red-Haired well fashioned of middle Stature Virtuous Sound and of great Wisdom and Knowledge it will be no disadvantage to our Cause The Evangelists busy not themselves to relate the Composition of our Lord because it no way conduced to the subject they treated of but the same is a matter very easy to be understood supposing that an exact Temperament is all the Perfection a Man can naturally have and seeing it was the Holy Ghost that formed and Organized him it is certain that as touching the material Cause of which he form'd him it was not the Ill Temperament of Nazareth that could resist him nor cause him to erre in his work as it fares with Natural Agents but that he did what best pleased him because he wanted neither Power Knowledge nor Will to frame a Man most Perfect and without any Defect And the rather for that his Coming as he himself affirms was to endure Travels for Man and to teach him the Truth But this Temperament as we have prov'd before was the best Natural Instrument to effect these two things And therefore I hold for true the Relation that Publius Lentulus the Proconsul writ from Jerusalem to the Senate at Rome after this manner There has been seen in our Time a Man who yet lives of great Virtue call'd Jesus Christ who by the Gentiles is termed the Prophet of Truth and his Disciples say that he is the Son of God He raises the Dead and heals the Sick He is a Man of a middle proportionable Stature and of a very fair Countenance His Look carries such Majesty as procures at once both Love and Respect from all his Beholders His Hair down to his Ears is of the Colour of a Nut full ripe and from his Ears to his Shoulders of the Colour of Wax but brighter He has in the middle of his Forehead a little Lock after the manner of the Nazarens His Forehead is Plain but very Serene His Face without Spot or Wrinkle and of a moderate Colour His Nose and Mouth are not with any reason to be blamed His Beard thick and resembling his Hair not long but forked His Aspect is Gracious and Grave and his Eyes graceful and clear He is Awful in his Reproofs and Charming in his Admonitions He forces Love He is chearful with Gravity He is never seen to Laugh but Weep often He has elegant Hands and Arms In Conversation he is very pleasing but is seldom in Company and when he is very Modest In his Countenance and Mien the loveliest Man that can be imagined In this Relation are comprised three or four Marks of a Temperate Man The first that he had his Hair and Beard of the Colour of a Nut full ripe which if well considered is a brown Abourn which Colour God commanded the Heifer should have that was to be sacrificed in Figure of Jesus Christ And when he Ascended up into Heaven with the Triumph and Majesty due to such a Prince some of the Angels that knew nothing of his Incarnation ask'd Who is this that comes from Edom with his Garments died Red from Bosra As if they had said Who is this that comes from the Red-Land with his Garments died Red with regard to his Hair and Beard and to the Blood he was stained with The Letter also reports him the fairest Man that ever was seen which is the second Mark of a temperate Man Accordingly by this Mark Holy Scripture has distinguish'd him Goodly of Beauty among the Sons of Men and elsewhere it is said That his Eyes shall be Red with Wine and his Teeth White with Milk Which Beauty and Comely Shape of Body was of no small importance to engage the whole World to Love him because there was nothing Terrible about him And so the Letter says That every one was enclined to Love him It reports also That he was of middle Stature not that the Holy Ghost wanted Matter to make him greater if he had so pleased but because in over-charging the Rational Soul with Bones and Flesh the Wit is oppressed as we have prov'd before from the Opinion of Plato and Aristotle The third Mark namely to be Virtuous and of good Conditions is confirmed also from the same Relation and the Jews with all their false Witnesses could never prove the contrary nor answer him when he ask'd them Which of you can reprove me of Sin And Josephus from the credit of his History assures us that he seemed to be more than Man considering his great Goodness and Wisdom There is only long Life that is not verified of our Saviour Jesus Christ because they put him to Death so Young But if the Course of Nature had not been interruptted he might have lived above fourscore Years For it is very probable that he who could live in a Desart fourty Days and fourty Nights without Eating or Drinking and neither be Sick nor Die with it might better have preserv'd himself free from other slighter Accidents that might alter and impair his Temperament Howbeit this Action was reputed a Miracle and a thing that could not happen in the Compass of Nature These two Examples of Kings which we have alledged are sufficient to give to Understand that the Royal Scepter is due