Selected quad for the lemma: heart_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A52536
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A discourse upon the nature and faculties of man in several essayes with some considerations of humane life / by Tim. Nourse ...
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Nourse, Timothy, d. 1699.
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1686
(1686)
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Wing N1418; ESTC R16136
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165,226
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400
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its Kind ordaining also a seminal Power in each of them to propagate the same to new Ofsprings successively As soon as ever the Parts begin to be form'd by Nature this Animal and active Principle begins to exert its Heat and Force being lodged in the Heart as in the Centre of the Body from whence as the Vessels begin also to be form'd it distributes it self towards the extreme Regions communicating its Vital Heat by the Ministry of the Spirits which Spirits also are nothing but Particles of that Original and Ethereal Flame which is contracted and united in this Centre The boyling Heat which flows from the union of so many Spirits begets a Motion in the Heart to which the Arteries being fastned the same Pulse or Motion is communicated to them also and least the Spirits should be made too Volatile the wise Framer of Nature hath ordered the Blood to be their Vehicle being of a liquid and glutinous Substance and so most fit both to retain and to distribute them together with its self into the remoter parts of the Body all which is extreamly facilitated by the continual Operation of the Lungs whose Function 't is by attracting fresh Supplies of cool Air to refrigerate the Heart and to communicate thin and subtle Matter to make the Blood more florid and fluid Now because the Blood by reason of the great Volatility of the Spirits which are mix'd with it is continually wasting this Loss is repaired by Nutrition or a fresh supply of new Spirits from the Aliment we take in which after several percolations becomes Blood also and is then conveighed to the Heart and so into the Arteries where it becomes the Vehicle of Life and carries along with it new Spirits by undergoing the same Circulations of Nature Whosoever therefore shall duly weigh this Order and consider the Fabrick of each Part will easily be able to give a rational Account of Nutrition Respiration Motion Sensation with all the other Faculties belonging to a Sensitive or Animal Body Now because we observe in Man some Operations more refin'd and such as cannot be deriv'd from a meer Sensitive Nature we are taught to conclude that there is another Principle into which such Operations are resolv'd which we call a Rational Soul Indeed whosoever considers the curious Inventions of Wit the vast Comprehension and subtile Inferences of the Understanding the wonderful Sagacity and Prospect of Prudence the noble Endowments and Speculations of the Mind the quick Transitions and Successions of Thoughts together with the Bent and Subserviency of the Passions in relation to the Circumstances of humane Life I say whosoever thinks on these must readily conclude that the Spring from whence such Motions are deriv'd must be something more Celestial than that Etherial Spirit which gives Vigor to the Animal Faculties True it is the Rational Soul if I may speak it without a Solecisme is so incorporated into the Animal that it seems to have its Birth and Growth with it How doth Reason exert it self by little and little what Helps and Arts are there us'd to make the Flower open and shew it self to the World What Struglings and Conflicts are there betwixt the Animal Inclinations and the more masculine Dictates of Reason A sure Demonstration that they cannot proceed from one and the same immediate Impulse of Nature The Sense and Notions we have of Reputation of Justice of Commerce of Patience and Moderation with infinite other things relating to the moral Capacity have no analogy with the Actions and Sentiments of Beasts tho never so sagacious and well instructed what then shall we say of the Intellectual Operations and of the immense Capacity of the Mind But do we not see that some Men who have rational Souls and such as are reputed of as good Education as the best how they act upon the same Principles of Sense and Bestiality with other Creatures 'T is not therefore from Nature but from forreign and adventitious Helps that others make a different and more refin'd discovery of themselves 'T is true we find some Men acting at a very extravagant rate not only by following the Propensities of Sense but by transgressing even the Dictates of Nature in Beasts by their Ingratitude and Infidelity towards those they are obliged to nay sometimes in killing themselves either Gradually by Intemperance or more compendiously by the help of a Sword or of a never-failing Halter So far therefore is this Consideration from destroying my Assertion that it doth exceedingly confirm it since it establisheth that Liberty and Arbitrary Power of the Will which is incommunicable with Beasts and is one of the chiefest Prerogatives of a humane Soul The grand Instruments by which the Understanding works are Memory and Invention Now since these Faculties have their foundation in the sensitive Capacity as this Prop is withdrawn the Understanding must of Consequence be more clouded and obscure Nay tho the rational Faculties in or a little before the moment of Death seem totally extinguished because we are not sensible of any effects they make neither yet is this any Argument of the Souls mortality For when a man is profoundly asleep or what is almost as natural to some profoundly drunk their is a seeming extinction of all the rational Powers and yet for all this we find that where Nature is once deliver'd from such oppressions the Soul is the same in being as it was before As therefore the Reasonable Soul is in Nature and Operation distinguish'd from and transcendently superiour to the Animal so in the next place 't is very probable that it has not its Original from the course of Nature but from the immediate hand of God This was a great question heretofore betwixt St. Augustine and St. Hierome and was prosecuted by the later with so much heat as made him seem to transgress the bounds of Christian Charity But 't is not my business in this Discourse to make use of Theological Arguments or to interpose betwixt the Fathers in their Disputes they are at rest and let their works follow them Thus much is obvious to our Observation That in the Generation of Bruits we find every Animal does beget its like not only in specie or kind but in disposition and inclination of Nature Fighting Cocks will beget a race like themselves so will Dogs Horses c. and so constant and regular is Nature in those productions that it seldom or never varies but in the Generation of Man we oft-times experiment the contrary simple men are frepuently the Fathers of great Hero's and wise men may leave their Goods and Lands to their Sons without being able to Entail them upon the better part of their Possessions Solomon had a Rehoboam and an Achitophel may have an Ideot for his Son From whence it follows that such different dispositions must proceed from some Principle which lies not within the compass of Generation and the ordinary course of Nature 'T is true Education does
The one tasts of it only as Sawce the other feeds upon it as a standing Dish Love is much indebted to Romances and Poets for its Beauty and yet the latter represent it many times in a very undecent Figure They make Cupid blind thereby shewing the Errors and Dangers they are exposed to who follow its Guidance and when they describe Hercules spinning at Omphale's Distaff and she laughing at him they do not only tell us that it is able to enervate the greatest Virtue but that it makes the bravest Men ridiculous and exposes them to the Scorn and Derision of the weakest For indeed what can be more ridiculous than to see a Man otherwise of Sense and Understanding reduc'd to the miserable Condition of seeking all his Felicity from a Mistriss How doth this Knight errant hug himself in the apprehensions of his imaginary Purchase How doth he swell in his Feathers and fancy himself to be the most accomplish'd Cavalier breathing He dreams of his fair Lady by Night and meets with her in his most watchful Thoughts he haunts her Walks and bribes those who are about her to be instrumental in his Pretensions He thinks every Hour a Year till he gets into her Lodging where with invincible Patience he expects her Sight thinking she is very tedious in her coming and yet dreads the Onset and fainting under Palpitations of Heart he begins to wish himself off again At last he doth approach her with much Humility and studied Complements which he utters not without some Trembling and Confusion He waits upon her Eyes he lays hold of every Glance and shapes himself to all her Motions and Discourse He caresses her with Amours and wanton Sonnets with flattering Poems and with Stories of Intrigue and Gallantry He swears she is divinely Fair that she is the most charming Creature Breathing and will be ready to fight another who is not of the same Belief One while he assaults her with a brisk Gayety at another time by Feigning a Retreat he hopes to draw her after him and to take her by Surprize But if these Arts fail he attempts to melt her into Compassion by Sighing Languishing or by writing passionate and dying Letters He fancies her to be all Angelical a knot of Ribbond a lock of Hair or any such like Excrement is a thing of inestimable Value and has a Virtue more than Magnetick In short by these and a thousand other such Love Stories he hopes to win her Favour and when he thinks he is upon the point of taking Possession all is blasted by one coy Look and a Frown is able to calcine him into Dust Then with Tears and with a vile and humble Submission he lies prostrate at her Feet and will dye unless she lend him a Smile which is sufficient to recall him to Life again and then he acts over all his former Follies But all this is nothing to the Miseries which a passionate Lover suffers in his Mind One while he is intoxicated with Hope by and by he is cast down with Fear This Hour he is in a burning Fit and nothing but Feaver anon all his Blood is congeal'd to Ice and a Trembling seizes upon every Nerve His Voice fails him his Countenance grows pale and he suffers under palpitation of Heart and desertion of Spirit One while he storms and rages at his Disappointments a little after he repents and puts on Resolutions of enduring all things with a Stoical Courage swallowing all Affronts digesting all Delays and flattering most when his Heart is ready to burst with inward Anguish and Disdain Thus he spends his Life betwixt Fancies of Fruition and real Disappointments he courts the imaginary Graces and is torn in pieces by real Furies but above all the Thoughts of a Rival fill him with a thousand Torments and here it is that the Conquest shews her greatest Art and Cruelty in putting her Lover upon the Rack He is tortur'd at the pleasure of his Mistress who takes delight to kill him and to revive him tho it be but to shew her own Power and Omnipotence till at length the poor Man grows sottish Melancholy and Distracted he Converses with Solitude and Shades or if he comes into Company his Speech is broken and incoherent talking ever and anon of his dearly Beloved at a most extravagant and fulsome rate and by this means renders himself not only Contemptible in the sight of his Mistriss but of his Acquaintance also and of all Mankind besides to the great Reproach of his Reputation and to the utter Ruine of his Health and Fortune And thus do many Men betray themselves to perpetual Miseries in Courting that Goddess which when obtain'd proves but a Cloud within the Arms and such a one as is many times made up of nothing but Storms and Thunder Jealousy is the Canker of Love like a Canker 't is bred by too much Fertility of the Soyl it springs from an exuberant Affection and creeping on by little and little it never ceases Fretting and gnawing upon the Body till it withers dyes Every Man therefore who embarques after Love ought well to examine the Temper of his own Nature especially if he be concern'd with a celebrated Beauty for such a one will attract the Eyes and Caresses of all Men nor is it in the Power of a Woman to hear herself cajol'd and not return some reciproque Smiles and obliging Regards on him who pays her Honour The Diamond tho it be the most Beautiful and the hardest of Jewels will be dessolv'd they say by the warm Blood of a Goat A lascivious Speech or Touch may make the most adamantine Nature relent and yield Where Service and Respect are tender'd a Woman may make a suitable return of Acknowledgment without blemish to her Virtue And yet in him who loves passionately this is able to beget Suspition which always views things at the worst Advantage For as Courtship and an insinuating Address cannot but incline Nature to be favourable so the more subtile and refin'd Gallant doth attaque always in Masquerade and under the disguise of Urbanity and of a readiness to oblige Strange was the Jealousy which I have somewhere read in Guicciarden of an Italian Gentleman who married a very beautiful Woman and such a one as he himself believed to be most Chast One Night after he had embrac'd her with all tenderness of Love imaginable he told her that one thing troubled the repose and quiet of his Life for tho he had no reason to distrust her Virtue thâ—t yet being so extremely Beautiful and Eloquent as she was he believed she would be sollicited and be perswaded by anothers Love in case he dy'd before her nor could he endure to think that any other Person should ever enjoy so fair a Creature To prevent all which he told her that he had provided an Expedient and forthwith drawing out a Dagger which lay conceal'd behind the Pillow as he embrac'd her with one Arm