prepared to it forme to receiue the soule which faileth not to insinuate and inuest it selfe into the bodie towards the seuen and thirtieth or fortieth day after the fiue weeks ended Doubling this terme that is to say at the third moneth this infant indowed with a soule hath motion and sense the haire Indowed with soule motion Brought forth and nailes begin to come Tripling this terme which is at the ninth moneth he commeth foorth and is brought into the light These termes or times are not so iustly prefixed but that they may either be hastened or prolonged according to the force or feeblenesse of the heat both of the seed and of the matrix for being strong it hasteneth being weake it sloweth whereby that seed that hath lesse heat and more moisture where of women for the most part are conceiued requireth longer time and is not endowed with a soule vntill the fortieth day or after and mooueth not till the fourth moneth which is neere by a quarter more late than that of the male children CHAP. II. The first and generall distinction of man MAn as a prodigious creature is made of parts quite contrarie 1 The diuision of man in two parts and enemies to themselues The soule is a little god the bodie as a beast as a dunghill Neuerthelesse these two parts are in such sort coupled together haue such need the one of the other to performe their functions Alterius sic altera poscit opem res coniurat amicè and do so with all their complaints embrace ech other that they neither can continue together without warres nor separate themselues without griefe and torment and as holding the Woolfe by the eares ech may say to other I can neither liue with thee nor without thee Nec tecum nec sine te But againe forasmuch as there are in this soule two parts very different the high pure intellectuall and diuine wherein the beast hath no part and the base sensitiue and brutish which hath bodie and matter and is as an indifferent meane betwixt the intellectuall part and bodie a man may by a distinction more morall and politike note three parts and degrees Into three parts in man The Spirit the Soule the Flesh where the Spirit and Flesh holde the place of the two extreames as heauen and earth the Soule the middle region where are ingendred the Metheors tumults and tempests The Spirit the highest and most heroicall part a diminutiue a sparke an image and deaw of the Diuinitie is in man as a King in his Common-weale it breatheth nothing but good and heauen to which it tendeth the Flesh contrariwise as the dregs of a people besotted and common sinke of man tendeth alwaies to the matter and to the earth the Soule in the middle as the principall of the people betwixt the best and the worst good and euill is continually sollicited by the spirit and the flesh and according vnto that part towards which it applieth it selfe it is either spirituall and good or carnall and euill Heere are lodged all those naturall affections which are neither vertuous nor vicious as the loue of our parents and friends feare of shame compassion towards the afflicted desire of good reputation This distinction will helpe much to the knowledge of 3 The vtilitie thereof man and to discerne his actions that he mistake not himselfe as it is the maner to doe iudging by the barke and outward appearance thinking that to be of the Spirit which is of the Soule nay of the flesh attributing vnto vertue that which is due vnto nature nay vnto vice How many good and excellent actions haue beene produced by passion or at least by a naturall inclination Vt seruiant genio suo indulgeant animo CHAP. III. Of the bodie and first of all the parts thereof and their places THe body of man consisteth of a number of parts inward 1 The diuision of the body and outward which are all for the most part round and orbicular or comming neere vnto that figure The inward are of two sorts the one in number and quantitie 2 Inward and many spread thorow the whole body as the bones which are as the bases and vpholding pillars of the whole building and within them for their nourishment the marow the muscles for motion and strength the veines issuing from the liuer as chanels of the first and naturall blood the arteries comming from the heart as conduits of the second blood more subtile and vitall These two mounting higher than the liuer and the heart their originall sources are more strait than those that go downwards to the end they should helpe to mount the bloud for that narrownesse more straitned serues to raise the humours the sinewes proceeding by couples as instruments of sense motion and strength of body and conduits of the animall spirits whereof some are soft of which there are seuen paires which serue the senses of the head Sight Hearing Taste Speech the other are hard whereof there are thirtie couples proceeding from the reines of the backe to the muscles The Tendrels Ligaments Gristels The foure Humours Blood Choler which worketh prouoketh penetrateth hindreth obstructions casteth forth the excrements bringeth cheerefulnesse Melancholy which prouoketh an appetite to euery thing moderateth sudden motions Fleame which sweetneth the force of the two Cholers and all other heats The Spirits which are as it were the fumigations that arise from the naturall heat and radicall humor and they are in three degrees of excellencie the Naturall Vitall Animall The Fat which is the thickest and grossest part of blood The other are singular saue the kidneys and stones which are double and assigned to a certaine place Now there are 3 Singular Foure regions of the bodie foure places or regions as degrees of the bodie shops of nature where she exerciseth her faculties and powers The first and lowest is for generation in which are the priuy parts seruing thereunto The second neere vnto that in which are the intralles viscera that is to say the stomacke yeelding more to the left side round straiter in the bottome than at top hauing two orifices or mouthes the one aboue to receiue the other beneath which answereth the bowels to cast forth and discharge it selfe It receiueth gathereth together mingleth concocteth the victuals and turnes them into Chyle that is to say a kinde of white Suc fit for the nourishment of the bodie which is likewise wrought within the Meseraique veines by which it passeth vnto the Liuer The Liuer hot and moist inclining towards the right side the store-house of blood the chiefe or rather fountaine of the veines the seat of the naturall nourishing faculty or vegetatiue soule made and ingendred of the blood of that Chyle which it draweth from the Meseraique veines and receiueth into it lap by the vena porta which entreth into the concauities thereof and afterwards is sent and distributed thorow the whole body by the
the end of the vnderstanding this is knowledge intelligence resolution The action that followeth this knowledge and resolution which is to extend it selfe to put forward and to aduance the thing knowen this is will Intellectus extensus promotus Wherefore all these things Vnderstanding Imagination Reason Discourse Spirit Iudgement Intelligence Will are one and the same Essence but all diuers in force vertue and action for a man may be excellent in one of them and weake in another and many times he that excelleth in Spirit and subtiltie may be weake in iudgement and soliditie I let no man to sing and set forth the praises and greatnesse 2 The generall description commendation of the Spirit of the Spirit of man the capacitie viuacitie quickenesse thereof let it be called the image of the liuing God a taste of the immortall substance a streame of the Diuinitie a celestiall ray whereunto God hath giuen reason as an animated sterne to moue it by rule and measure and that it is an instrument of a compleat harmonie that by it there is a kinde of kindred betwixt God and man and that he might often remember him he hath turned the root towards the heauens to the end he should alwayes looke towards the place of his natiuitie to be briefe that there is nothing great vpon the earth but man nothing great in man but his spirit if a man ascend to it he ascendeth aboue the heauens These are all pleasing and plausible words whereof the Schooles do ring But I desire that after all this we come to sound and to study 3 The dispraise how to know this spirit for wee shall finde after all this that it is both to it selfe and to another a dangerous instrument a ferret that is to be feared a little trouble-feast a tedious and importune parasite and which as a Iugler plaier at fast and loose vnder the shadow of some gentle motion subtile and smiling forgeth inuenteth and causeth all the mischiefs of the world the truth is without it there are none There is farre greater diuersitie of spirits than of bodies 4 Diuersitie of distinctions of the spirit See hereof more Chap. 39. so is there likewise a larger field to enter into more parts and more formes or fashions to be spoken of we may make three classes or formes wherof each one hath many degrees The first which is the lowest are those weake base and almost brutish spirits neere neighbours to beasts themselues whether by reason of the first temper that is to say of the seede and temperature of the braine either too cold or too moist as amongst other creatures fishes are the lowest or by reason that they haue not been in some sort remoued and reviewed but suffered to rust and grow dull and stupid Of these wee make no great account as being vnfit to be ordered and setled into any certaine and constant societie because both for their owne particular they cannot possibly endure it and it were necessary they should alwaies be vnder the tuition of another this is the common and base people qui vigilans stertit mortua cui vita est prope iam viuo atque videnti which vnderstands not iudgeth not it selfe The second which is the highest are those great and rare spirits rather diuels than ordinary men spirits well borne strong and vigorous Of these kinde of people there was neuer age yet could tell how to build a common-weale The third which is the middle are all those indifferent spirits whereof there are infinite degrees of these almost is the whole world composed Of this distinction and others heereafter more at large But we are to touch more particularly the conditions and nature of this spirit as hard to be knowne as a countenance 5 The particular description Agent perpetuall to be counterfeited to the life which is alwaies in motion First therefore it is a perpetuall agent for the spirit cannot be without action but rather then it will it forgeth false and phantasticall subiects in earnest deceiuing it selfe euen to it owne discredit As idle and vnmannured grounds if they be fat and fertile abound with a thousand kinds of wilde and vn profitable hearbs vntill they be sowed with other seeds and women alone without the company of men bring foorth sometimes great abundance of vnformed indigested lumps of flesh so the Spirit if it be not busied about some certaine obiect it runnes riot into a world of imaginations and there is no folly nor vanity that it produceth not and if it haue not a setled limit it wandreth and loseth it selfe For to be euery where is to be no where Motion and agitation is the true life and grace of the Spirit but yet it must proceed from elsewhere than from it selfe If it be solitary and wanteth a subiect to worke on it creepeth along and languisheth but yet it must not be enforced For too great a contention and intention of the Spirit ouer bent and strained deceiueth and troubleth the Spirit It is likewise vniuersall it medleth and mingleth it selfe with all it hath no limited subiect or iurisdiction There is 6 Vniuersall not any thing wherewith it plaieth not his part as well to vaine subiects and of no account as high and weighty as well to those we can vnderstand as those we vnderstand not For to know that we cannot vnderstand or pierce into the marrow or pith of a thing but that we must sticke in the bone and barke thereof is an excellent signe of iudgement for science yea truth it selfe may lodge nere vs without iudgement and iudgement without them yea to know our owne ignorance is a faire testimony of iudgement Thirdly it is prompt and speedy running in a moment 7 prompt and sudden from the one end of the world to the other without stay or rest stirring it selfe and penetrating through euery thing Nobilis inquieta mens homini data est nunquam se tenet spargitur vaga quiet is impatiens nouitate rerum laetissima Non mirum ex illo caelesti spiritu descendit caelestium autem naturasemper in motuest This great speed and quicknesse this agility this twinkling of the eie as it is admirable and one of the greatest wonders that are in the spirit so it is a thing very dangerous a great disposition and propension vnto folly and madnesse as presently you shall heare By reason of these three conditions of the spirit that is a perpetuall agent without repose vniuersall prompt and sudden it hath beene accounted immortall and to haue in it selfe some marke and sparkle of diuinitie The action of the Spirit is alwayes to search ferret contriue 8 The action of the Spirit without intermission like one famished for want of knowledge to enquire and seeke and therefore Homer calles men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There is no end of our inquisitions the pursuites of the spirit of man are without limits without
visible world as in the figure of a small point and there reade that generall and constant varietie in all things so many humours iudgements beleefes customes lawes so many alterations of states changes of fortune so many victories and conquests buried and forgotten so many pomps and greatnesses vanished as if they had neuer been Heereby a man may learne to know himselfe to admire nothing to thinke nothing new or strange to settle and resolue himselfe in all things For the better attaining of this vniuersall spirit this generall indifferencie we are to consider these foure or fiue points The great inequalitie and difference of men in their nature forme composition whereof we haue spoken The great diuersitie of lawes customes maners religions opinions whereof we will speake heereafter The diuers opinions reasons sayings of Philosophers touching the vnitie and pluralitie the eternitie and temporalitie the beginning and end the durance and continuance the ages estates changes and interchangeable courses of the world and the parts thereof The Egyptian priests told Herodotus that since their first King which was aboue eleuen thousand yeares before the picture and statue of whom and of all that succeeded him they shewed him drawne to the life the Sun had changed his course four times The Chaldeans in the time of Diodorus as he saith Cicero had a register of seuen hundred thousand yeares Plato saith they of the citie of Sais had memorials in writing of eight thousand yeares and that the citie of Athens was built a thousand yeares before the said citie of Sais Zoroaster Plinie and others haue affirmed that Socrates liued six thousand yeares before the time of Plato Some haue said that the world hath been from all eternitie mortall and growing and being againe by interchangeable courses Others and the more noble Philosophers haue held the world for a god made by another god greater than it or as Plato auerreth and others argue from the motions thereof that it is a creature composed of a bodie and of a soule which soule lodging in the centre thereof disperseth and spreadeth it selfe by musicall numbers into the circumference and parts thereof the heauen the starres composed of bodies and of a soule mortall by reason of their composition immortall by the decree and determination of the Creator Plato saith that the world changeth countenance in all respects that the heauen the starres the sunne change and quite alter by turnes their motions in such sort that that which was first is last the East is made the West and according to the ancient and most authenticall opinion and of the more famous spirits worthie the greatnes of God and founded vpon reason there are many worlds in so much that there is nothing one and only in this world all kinds are multiplied in number whereby it seemeth not to haue semblance of truth that God hath made this only worke without companion and that all is concluded in this one indiuiduum at the least diuinitie saith that God could make many and infinite worlds for if he could make no more but this one visible his power should be finite because the world is such By that which we haue learned of the discouerie of the new world the East and West Indies we see first that all our ancient writers haue beene deceiued thinking to haue found the measure of the habitable earth and to haue comprehended the whole Cosmographie except some scattered Ilands doubting of the Antipodes for now behold another world almost such as ours is and that all vpon firme land inhabited peopled politiquely gouerned distinguished by realmes and Empires beautified with cities that excell in beautie greatnesse opulencie all those of Asia Africa Europe many thousand yeares ago And who doubteth but that in time heereafter there will be discouered diuers others If Ptolemy and other our ancient Writers haue been heeretofore deceiued why should not he be likewise deceiued that affirmeth that all is alreadie found and discouered Say it he that will I will beleeue him as I list Secondly we see that the Zones which were thought inhabitable by reason of their excessiue heate and cold are habitable Thirdly that in these new countries almost all things which we so much esteeme of heere and hold that they were first reuealed and sent from heauen were commonly beleeued and obserued from whence they came I will not say who dares determine it Yea many of them were in vse a thousand yeares before we heard any tidings of them both in the matter of religion as the beleefe of one only man the father of vs all of the vniuersall deluge of one God who sometimes liued in the forme of a man vndefiled and holy of the day of iudgement the resurrection of the dead circumcision like to that of the Iewes and Mahumet And in the matter of policie as that the elder sonne should succeed in the inheritance that he that is exalted to a dignitie loseth his owne name takes a new tyrannicall subsidies armories tumblers musicall instruments all sorts of sports Artillerie Printing From all these discourses we may easily draw these conclusions That this great bodie which we call the world is not that which we thinke and iudge it to be That neither in the whole nor parts thereof it is alwaies the same but in perpetuall flux and reflux That there is nothing said held beleeued at one time and in one place which is not likewise said held beleeued in another yea and contradicted reprooued condemned else-where the spirit of man being capable of all things the world alwaies tumbling sometime the same sometimes diuers That all things are setled and comprehended in this course and reuolution of nature subiect to increase changing ending to the mutation of times places climats heauens aires countries And from these conclusions we learne to marie our selues to sweare to nothing to admire to trouble our selues at nothing but whatsoeuer shall happen whatsoeuer men talke of and trouble themselues about to resolue vpon this point that it is the course of the world that it is nature that worketh these things but yet wisely to prouide that nothing hurt vs by our own weaknes and deiection of mind Enough is said of this perfect libertie of iudgement established by these three parts to iudge of all to iudge nothing to be vniuersall wherein I haue the rather insisted because I know that it pleaseth not the palat of the world it is an enemie to pedanterie as well as wisdome but yet it is a faire floure or ornament of wisdome which preserueth vs from two contrarie rocks whereon the vulgar sort do commonly lose themselues that is to say from being headie opinatiue shamefull gainsayers repenters mutable and a man maintaineth himselfe in a sweet peaceable and assured modestie and great libertie of spirit noble and magnificall vniuersalitie This is that great qualitie and sufficiencie of Socrates the Coricaeus of the wise by the confession of all of whom it is said
Source Entrance into the bodie Residence therein Seat Sufficiencie to exercise her functions the End and Separation from the bodie It is first very hard to define or truly to say what the soule 1 The Definition verie difficult is as generally all other formes because they are things relatiue which subsist not of themselues but are parts of a whole and this is the reason why there is such and so great diuersity of definitions of them whereof there is not any receiued without contradiction Aristotle hath confuted twelue that were before him and could hardly make good his owne It is easie to say what it is not That it is not Fire Aire 2 Easie to say what it is not Water Nor the temperature of the foure Elements or qualities or humors which is alwaies changeable without which a creature is and liues and besides that this is an accident the Soule a substance Againe Mettals and things inanimate haue likewise a temperature of the foure Elements and first qualities Neither is it blood for there are many things animate and liuing without blood and many creatures die without the shedding of a drop of blood Nor the beginning and cause of motion for diuers things inanimate mooue as the adamant moues the iron amber or iet straw medicins and roots of trees being cut and dried draw and moue Neither is it the act or life or Enargie or perfection for that word Entelechia is diuersly taken and interpreted of a liuing body for all this is but the effect or action of the Soule and not the Soule it selfe as to liue to see to vnderstand is the action of the Soule And it would likewise follow that the Soule should be an accident not a substance and could not subsist without that bodie whereof it is the act and perfection no more than the couer of an house may be without the house and a relatiue without his correlatiue To be briefe it is to say what the soule doth and is to another not what it is in it selfe But to say what the Soule is is very difficult A man may 3 Hard to say what it is simply say that it is an essentiall quickning forme which giueth to the plant the vegetatiue or growing life to a beast a sensible life which comprehendeth the vegetatiue to a man an intellectuall life which comprehendeth the other two as in numbers the greater conteines the lesse and in figures the Pentagone conteines the Tetragone this the Trigone I call it the intellectiue soule rather than the reasonable which is comprehended in the intellectiue as the lesse in the great for the reasonable in some sense and measure according to the opinion of the greatest Philosophers and experience it selfe is likewise in beasts but not the intellectiue as being more high Sicut equus mulus in quibus non est intellectus The Soule then is not the beginning or source that word doth properly belong to the soueraigne first author but an inward cause of life motion sense vnderstanding It moueth the body it selfe is not moued as contrarily the body is moued and moueth not at al it moueth I say the body not it selfe for nothing but God moueth it selfe and whatsoeuer moueth it selfe is eternall and Lord of it selfe and in that it mooueth the bodie it hath it not of it selfe but from an higher cause Concerning the nature and essence of the Soule I meane a humane Soule for the Soule of a beast is without all doubt 4 The nature and essence of the soule corporall materiall bred and borne with the matter and with it corruptible there is a question of greater importance than it seemeth for some affirme it to be corporall some incorporall and this is very agreeable to reason if a man be not opinatiue That it is corporall see what the grounds are Spirits and Diuels good and ill which are wholly separated from all matter are corporall according to the opinion of all Philosophers and our greatest Diuines Tertulltan Origen S. In homil l. de spir l 3. de lib. arb Hom. de Epith. Basil Gregorie Augustine Damascene how much more the Soule of man which hath societie and is vnited to a matter Their resolution is that whatsoeuer is created being compared vnto God is grosse corporall materiall and only God is incorporall that euery spirit is a bodie and hath a bodily nature Next vnto authoritie almost vniuersall the reason is irrefragable Whatsoeuer is included in this finite world is finite limited both in vertue and substance bounded with a superficies inclosed and circumscribed in a place which are the true and naturall conditions of a bodie for there is nothing but a bodie which hath a superficiall part and is barred and fastened in a place God only is wholly infinite incorporall the ordinarie distinctions circumscriptiuè definitiuè effectiuè are but verball and in nothing either helpe or hurt the cause for it alwayes stands good that spirits are in such sort in a place that at the selfe same time that they are in a place they can not be elswhere and they are not in a place either infinite or very great or very little but equall to their limited and finited substance and superficies And if it were not so spirits could not change their place nor ascend or descend as the Scripture affirmeth that they doe and so they should be immooueable indiuisible indifferently in all Now if it appeare that they change their place the change conuicteth that they are mooueable diuisible subiect vnto time and to the succession thereof required in the motion and passage from one place to another which are all the qualities of a bodie But because many simple men vnder this word corporall do imagine visible palpable and thinke not that the pure aire or fire without the flame or coale are bodies haue therefore likewise affirmed That spirits both separated and humane are not corporall as in trueth they are not in that sense for they are of an inuisible substance whether airie as the greatest part of Philosophers and Diuines affirm or celestiall as some Hebrewes and Arabiques teach calling by the selfe same name both the heauen and the spirit an essence proper to immortalitie or whether if they will haue it so of a substance more subtile and delicate yet they are alwayes corporall since limited by place mooueable subiect to motion and to times Finally if they were not corporall they should not be passible and capable of suffering as they are the humane receiueth from his bodie pleasure and displeasure sorrow and delight in his turne as the bodie from the spirit and his passions many good qualities many bad vertues vices affections which are all accidents and all as well the spirits separated and Diuels as humane are subiect to punishment and torments They are therefore corporall for there is nothing passible that is not corporall and it is only proper vnto bodies to be subiect
to accidents Now the Soule hath a great number of vertues and faculties as many almost as the body hath members There are 3 The faculties and actions of the Soule some in plants more in beasts most in man to know to liue to feele to mooue to desire to allure to assemble to retaine to concoct to digest to nourish to grow to reiect to see to heare to taste to smell to speake to breath to ingender to thinke to reason to contemplate to consent dissent to remember iudge all which are no parts of the Soule for so it should be diuisible and should consist vpon accidents but they are her naturall qualities The actions come after and follow the faculties and so there are three degrees according to the doctrine of great S. Denys followed of all that is we must consider in spirituall creatures three things Essence Facultie Operation By the latter which is the action we know the facultie and by it the essence The actions may be hindred and wholly cease without any preiudice at all vnto the soule and her faculties as the Science and facultie of Painting remaineth entire in the Painter although his hands be bound and so be made vnable to paint But if the faculties themselues perish the Soule must needs be gone no otherwise then Fire is no longer fire hauing lost the facultie of warming The essence and nature of the Soule being after a sort explicated The vnitie of the soule one of the busiest questions that belongeth vnto the Soule offereth it selfe to our consideration that is whether there be in a creature especially in man one soule or manie Touching which point there are diuers opinions but may be reduced into three Some of the Greekes and almost all the Arabiques imitating them haue thought not onely in euery particular man but generally in all men that there was but one immortall Soule The Egyptians for the most part held an opinion quite contrarie that there was a pluralitie of soules in euery creature all diuers and distinct two in euerie beast and three in man two mortal the vegetatiue sensible and the third intellectiue immortall The third opinion as the meane betwixt the two former and most followed being held by many of all nations is that there is but one Soule in euery creature not more In euery of these opinions there is some difficultie I leaue the first as being already sufficiently confuted and reiected The pluralitie of soules in euerie creature and man on the one side seemeth verie strange and absurd in Philosophie for that were to giue many formes to one and the same thing and to say that there are many substances and subiects in one two beasts in one three men in one on the other side it giueth credit and helpeth much our beleefe touching the immortalitie of the intellectuall Soule for there being three soules there can follow no inconuenience that two of them should die and the third continue immortall The vnitie of the Soule seemeth to resist the immortalitie thereof for how can one and the same indiuisible be in a mortall part and an immortall as neuerthelesse Aristotle would haue it Doubtlesse it seemeth that of necessitie the Soule must be either altogether mortall or altogether immortall which are two very foule absurdities The first abolisheth all religion and sound Philosophy the second maketh beasts likewise immortall Neuerthelesse it seemes to be more true that there is but one Soule in euery creature for the pluralitie and diuersitie of faculties instruments actions neither derogateth any thing at all nor multiplieth in any thing this vnitie no more than the diuersitie of riuers the vnitie of one spring or fountaine nor the diuersitie of effects in the Sunne to heat to enlighten to melt to drie to whiten to make blacke do dissipate the vnitie and simplicitie of the Sunne for should they there would be a great number of soules in one man and Sunnes in one world Neither doth this essentiall vnitie of the Soule any thing hinder the immortalitie of the humane Soule in her essence notwithstanding the vegetatiue and sensitiue faculties which are but accidents die that is to say cannot be exercised without the body the Soule not hauing a subiect or instrument whereby to doe it but the third intellectuall Soule is alwaies well because for it there is no need of the bodie though whilest it is within it it make vse thereof to exercise it selfe insomuch that if it did returne vnto the bodie it were onely againe to exercise hir vegetatiue and sensitiue faculties as we see in those that are raised vnto life to liue heere below not in those that are raised to liue elsewhere for such bodies need not to liue by the exercise of such faculties Euen as there is no want or decay in the Sunne but it continueth in it selfe wholly the same though during a whole ecclips it neither shine nor warme nor performe his other effects in those places that are subiect vnto it Hauing shewed the vnitie of the soule in euery subiect let The source of the soule vs see from whence it commeth and how it entreth into the body The originall beginning of soules is not held to be the same of all I meane of humane soules for the vegetatiue and sensitiue of Plants and Beasts is by the opinion of all altogether materiall and in the seed for which cause it is likewise mortall But concerning the Soule of man there are foure celebrated opinions According to the first which is of the Stoicks held by Philo Iudeus and afterward by the Maniches Priscilianists and others it is transferred and brought foorth as a part or parcell of the substance of God who inspireth it into the bodie alleaging to their best aduantage the words of Moyses Inspirauit in faciem eius spiraculum vitae The second opinion held by Tertullian Apollinaris the Luciferians and other Christians affirmeth that the Soule proceedeth and is deriued from the soules of our parents with the seed as the Soule of a beast The third opinion which is that of the Pythagorians and Platonists held by many Rabins and Doctors of the Iewes and afterwards by Origen and other Doctors teacheth that the soules of men haue beene from the beginning all created of God made of nothing and reserued in heauen afterwards to be sent into the lower parts as need should require and that the bodies of men are formed and disposed to receiue them and from hence did spring the opinion of those that thought that the soules of men heere below were either well or ill handled and lodged in bodies either sound or sicke according to that life which they had led aboue in heauen before they were incorporate And truely the master of Wisdome himselfe sheweth that the Soule of the two was the elder and before the bodie Eram puer bonam indolem sortitus imo bonus cum essem corpus incontaminatum reperi The fourth opinion receiued and
forme the food thereof is double ambiguitie it is a perpetuall motion without rest without bound The world is a schoole of inquisition agitation and hunting is it proper dish to take or to faile of the pray is another thing But it worketh and pursueth it enterprices rashly and irregularly without order and without measure it is a wandring 9 It worketh rashly instrument mooueable diuersly turning it is an instrument of leade and of wax it boweth and straitneth applieth it selfe to all more supple and facill than the water the aire flexibilis omni humore obsequentior vt spiritus qui omni materia facilior vt tenuior it is the shoo of Theramenes fit for all The cunning is to finde where it is for it goes alwayes athwart and crosse as wel with a lie as with a truth it sporteth it selfe and findeth a seeming reason for euery thing for it maketh that 10 Reason hath diuers faces which is impious vniust abominable in one place pietie iustice and honour in another neither can we name any law or custome or condition that is either generally receiued of all or reiected the marriage of those that are neere of blood the murther of infants parents is condemned in one place lawfull in another Plato refused an embrodered and perfumed robe offered him by Dionysius saying that he was a man and therefore would not adorne himselfe like a woman Aristippus accepted of that robe saying the outward acoutrement can not corrupt a chaste minde Diogenes washing his colewarts and seeing Aristippus passe by sayd vnto him If thou knewest how to liue with colewarts thou wouldest neuer follow the Court of a Tyrant Aristippus answered him If thou knewest how to liue with Kings thou wouldest neuer wash colewarts One perswaded Solon to cease from the bewailing the death of his sonnes because his teares did neither profit nor helpe him Yea therefore sayth he are my teares iust and I haue reason to weepe The wife of Socrates redoubled her griefe because the Iudges put her husband to death vniustly What saith he wouldest thou rather I were iustly condemned There is no good sayth a wise man but that to the losse whereof a man is alwayes prepared In aequo enim est dolor amissae rei timor amittendae Quite contrary faith another we embrace and locke vp that good a great deale the more carefully which we see lesse sure and alwaies feare will be taken from vs. A Cynique Philosopher demanded of Antigonus the King a dram of siluer That sayth he is no gift fit for a King Why then giue me a talent sayth the Philosopher And that saith the King is no gift fit for a Cynique One sayd of a King of Sparta that was gentle and debonaire Hee is a good man euen to the wicked How should hee be good vnto the wicked saith another if he be not wicked with the wicked So that we see that the reason of man hath many visages it is a two-edged sword a staffe with two pikes Ogni medaglia ha il suo riuerso There is no reason but hath a contrary reason sayth the soundest and surest Philosopher Now this volubilitie and flexibilitie proceedeth from many causes from the perpetuall alteration and motion of the bodie which is neuer twice in a mans life in one and the same estate from the obiects which are infinite the aire it selfe and the serenitie of the heauen Tales sunt hominum mentes quali pater ipse Iuppiter auctiferas lustrauit lampide terras and all outward things inwardly from those shakings and tremblings which the Soule giues vnto it selfe by the agitation and stirreth vp by the passions thereof insomuch that it beholdeth things with diuers countenances for whatsoeuer is in the world hath diuers lustures diuers considerations Epictetus sayd it was a pot with two hands He might better haue sayd with many The reason heereof is because it entangleth it selfe in it 12 The reason of this intanglement owne worke like the Silke-worme for as it thinketh to note from farre I know not what appearance of light and imaginarie truth and flies vnto it there are many difficulties that crosse the way new sents that inebriate and bring it forth of the way The end at which it aimeth is twofold the one more common and naturall which is Trueth which it searcheth and 13 The end is verity which it can neither attaine nor finde pursueth for there is no desire more naturall than to know the trueth we assay all the meanes we can to attaine vnto it but in the end all our endeuours come short for Truth is not an ordinarie bootie or thing that will suffer it selfe to be gotten and handled much lesse to be possessed by any humane Spirit It lodgeth within the bosom of God that is her chamber Reade before Chap. 9. her retiring place Man knoweth not vnderstandeth not any thing aright in puritie and in trueth as he ought appearances doe alwayes compasse him on euery side which are as well in those things that are false as true We are borne to search the truth but to possesse it belongeth to a higher and greater power Truth is not his that thrusts himselfe into it but his that runnes the fairest course towards the marke When it falles out that he hits vpon a trueth it is by chance and hazzard he knowes not how to holde it to possesse it to distinguish it from a lie Errours are receiued into our soule by the selfe same way and conduit that the truth is the spirit hath no meanes either to distinguish or to chuse and as well may he play the sot that telles a trueth as a lie The meanes that it vseth for the discouerie of the truth are reason and experience both of them very weake vncertaine diuers wauering The greatest argument of truth is the generall consent of the world now the number of fooles doth farre exceed the number of the wise and therefore how should that generall consent be agreed vpon but by corruption and an applause giuen without iudgement and knowledge of the cause and by the imitation of some one that first began the dance The other end lesse naturall but more ambitious is Inuention 14 The second end Inuention vnto which it tendeth as to the highest point of honor to the end it may raise it selfe and preuaile the more this is that which is in so high account that it seemeth to be an image of the Diuinitie From the sufficiencie of this inuention haue proceeded all those works which haue rauished the whole world with admiration which if they be such as are for the publike benefit they haue deified their Authours Those works that shew rather finenesse of wit than bring profit with them are painting caruing Architecture the art Perspectiue as the vine of Zeuxis the Venus of Apelles the image of Memnon the horse of Aâ—â—ain the woodden pigeon of Architas the cow of Myron the flie and
trueth is multitude of yeeres and beleeuers now fooles do win the game sanitatis patrocinium est insanientium turba It is a very difficult thing for a man to resolue and settle his iudgement against the common opinion All this may easily appeare by those many impostures and fooleries which we haue seene to go for miracles and rauish the whole world with admiration but instantly extinguished by some accident or by the exact inquirie of such as are quicke sighted who haue cleered and discouered the cousenage which if they had had but time to ripen and to haue fortified in nature they had continued for euer beene generally receiued and adored And euen such are diuers others which by the fauour of Fortune haue passed for currant and gained publike beliefe whereunto men afterwards accommodate themselues without any farther desire to know the thing in it first forme and originall nusquam ad liquidum fama perducitur And this is the reason why there are so many kinds of religions in the world so many superstitious customes of the Pagans which are yet remaining euen in Christendome and concerning which we can not wholly assure the people By this whole discourse we see what we are and to what we tend since we are lead by such guides The fift and last Consideration of Man by those varieties and great differences that are in him and their comparisons CHAP. XLI Of the difference and inequalitie of men in generall THere is nothing in this lower world wherein there is found so great difference as amongst men and where the differences are so distant and diuers in one and the same subiect and kinde If a man should beleeue Plinie Herodotus Plutarch there are shapes of men in some countreys that haue very little resemblance with ours and some that are of a mixt and doubtfull kind betwixt men and beasts There are some countreys where men are without heads carrying their eyes and mouthes in their brests where they are Hermaphrodites where they go with foure feet where they haue one eye in the forehead and a head liker to a dogs head than a mans where they are fish from the nauell downwards and liue in the water where their women beare children at fiue yeeres of age and liue but eight where they haue their head and forhead so hard that iron can not pierce them where they doe naturally change into wolues and other beasts and afterwards into men again where they are without a mouth nourishing themselues with the smell of certaine odours where they yeeld a seed that is blacke where they are verie little and dwarfs where they are very great and giants where they goe alwayes naked where they are all hairie where they speake not but liue in woods like beasts hidden in caues and hollow trees And in our times we haue discouered seene with the eye and touched with our fingers where the men are without beards without vse of fire corne wine where that is held to be the greatest beautie which we account the greatest deformitie as hath beene sayd before Touching the diuersitie of maners we shall speake elswhere And to omit many of these strange wonderments we know that as touching the visage it is impossible to find two in all things alike it may fall out that we may mistake and take the one for the other because of the great resemblance that may be betweene two but this must be in the absence of the one for in the presence of them both it is easie to note a difference though a man know not how to expresse it In the soules of men there is a farre greater difference for it is not only greater without comparison betwixt a man and a man than betwixt a beast and a beast but there is greater difference betwixt a man and a man than a man and a beast for an excellent beast comes neerer to a man of the basest sort and degree than that man to another great and excellent personage This great difference of men proceedeth from the inward qualities and from the spirit where there are so many parts so many iurisdictions so many degrees beyond number that it is an infinit thing to consider We must now at the last learne to know man by those distinctions and differences that are in him which are diuers according to the many parts in man many reasons and meanes to compare and consider of him We will heere set downe fiue principall vnto which all the rest may be referred and generally all that is in man Spirit bodie naturall acquired publike priuate apparent secret and so this fift and last consideration of man shall haue fiue parts which are fiue great and capitall distinctions of men that is to say The first naturall essentiall and vniuersall of all men soule and bodie The second naturall and essentiall principally and in some sort acquired of the force and sufficiencie of the spirit The third accidentall of the estate condition and dutie of man drawen from superioritie and inferioritie The fourth accidentall of the condition and profession of life The fift and last of the fauours and disfauours of Nature and of Fortune CHAP. XLII The first distinction and difference of men naturall and essentiall drawen from the diuers situation of the world THe first most notable and vniuersall distinction of men 1 The diuersitie of men proceedeth from the diuers situatiō of the world which concerneth the soule and body and whole essence of man is taken and drawne from the diuers site of the world according to which the aspect and influence of heauen and the sunne the aire the climate the countrie are diuers So likewise not only the colour the feature the complexion the countenance the manners are diuers but also the faculties of the soule plaga coeli non solùm ad robur corporum sed animorum facit Athenis tenue caelum ex quo etiam acutiores Attici crassum Thebis ideo pingues Thebani valentes And therefore Plato thāked God that he was an Athenian and not a Theban As fruites and beasts are diuers according to the diuers countries wherein they are so men are borne more and lesse warlike iust temperate docible religious chaste ingenious good obedient beautifull sound strong And this is the reason why Cyrus would not agree to the Persians to abandon their sharp and hillie countrie to goe to another more plaine and pleasant saying that fat countries and delicate made men soft and effeminate and fertile grounds barren and infertile spirits Following this foundation we may in grosse diuide the world into three parts and all men into three kinds of nature 2 The diuision of the world into three parts we will make three generall situations of the world which are the two extremities South and North and the middle betwixt them both euery part and situation shall haue sixtie degrees The Southerne part which is vnder the Aequator hath thirtie degrees on this side
a presumptuous kind of people alwayes stirred and alwayes stirring They of the lower range as the bottome the leese the sinke resemble the earth which doth nothing but receiue and suffer that which comes from aboue They of the middle resemble the region of the aire wherein are formed all the meteors thunderings and alterations are made which afterwards fall vpon the earth They of the higher stage resemble the firmament it selfe or at least the highest region next vnto heauen pure cleare neate and peaceable This difference of men proceedeth partly from the nature of the first composition and temperature of the braine which is different moist hot drie and that in many degrees whereby the spirits and iudgements are either very solid couragious or feeble fearefull plaine and partly from instruction and discipline as also from the experience and practise of the world which serueth to put off simplicitie and to become more aduised Lastly all these three sorts of people are found vnder euery robe forme and condition both of good and euill men but diuersly There is another distinction of spirits and sufficiencies for some there are that make way themselues and are their owne 2 Another distinction guides and gouernours These are happie of the higher sort and very rare others haue neede of help and these are of two sorts For some neede only a little light it is enough if they haue a guide and a torch to goe before them they will willinglie and easily follow Others there are that must be drawen they neede a spurre and must be led by the hand I speake not of those that either by reason of their great weaknesse cannot as they of the lower range or the malignitie of their nature will not as they of the middle who are neither good to follow nor will suffer themselues to be drawen and directed for these are a people past all hope CHAP. XLIIII The third distinction and difference of men accidentall of their degrees estates and charges THis accidentall distinction which respecteth the estates and charges is grounded vpon two principles and foundations of humane societie which are to command and obey power and subiection superioritie and inferioritie imperio obsequio omnia constant This distinction we shall better see first in grosse in this Table All power and subiection is either Priuate which is either in Families and housholde gouernmēt and it is fourfold Mariage of the husband and The first generall diuision the wife This is the source of humane societie Paternall of parents ouer their children This is truely naturall Herile which is twofold of Lordes ouer their slaues Masters ouer their seruāts Patronall of patrons ouer their pupils the vse whereof is lesse frequent Corporations and Colleges Ciuill communities ouer the particular members of that communitie Publike which is either Souereign which is threefolde and they are three sorts of estates cunctas nationes vrbes populus aut primores aut singuli regunt i. Monarchie of one Aristocratie of a few Democritie of all Subaltern which is in those who are superiors and inferiors for diuers reasons places persons as Particular lords in manie degrees Officers of the souereignty whereof there are diuers sorts This publicke power whether it be soueraigne or subalterne The subdiuision of the souereigne power hath other subdiuisions necessarie to be knowne The soueraigne which as hath been said is threefold in regard of the maner of gouernment is likewise threefold that is to say euery one of these three is gouerned after a threefold manner and is therefore called Royall or Signoriall or Tyrannicall Royall wherein the soueraigne be it one or many or all obeying the lawes of nature preserueth the naturall libertie and proprietie of the goods of his subiects Adreges potestas omnis pertinet ad singulos proprietas omnia Rex imperio possidet singuli dominio Seignoriall or lordly where the soueraigne is lord both of men and goods by the right of armes gouerning his subiects as slaues Tyrannicall where the soueraigne contemning all lawes of Nature doth abuse both the persons and goods of his subiects differing from a lord as a theefe from an enemie in warre Of the three souereigne states the Monarchie of the three gouernments the Lordly are the more ancient great durable and maiesticall as in former times Assyria Persia Egypt and now Ethiopia the most ancient that is Moscouie Tartarie Turkie Peru. But the better and more naturall state and gouernment is the Monarchie Royall The most famous Aristocraties hath sometimes beene that of the Lacedemonians and now the Venetians The Democrities Rome Athens Carthage Royall in their gouernment The publike subaltern power which is in particular lords is of many kindes and degrees principally fiue that is to say 3 Of particular lords Lords Tributaries who pay only tribute Feudetaries simple Vassals who owe faith and homage for the tenure of their land These three may be souereignes Vassals bound to do seruice who besides faith and homage owe likewise personall seruice whereby they cannot trulie be souereignes Naturall subiects whether they be Vassals or Censors or otherwise who owe subiection and obedience and can not be exempted from the power of their souereigne and these are Lords The publike subaltern power which is in the officers of the souereigntie is of diuers kindes and both in regard of the 4 Of offices honour and the power may be reduced to fiue degrees The first and basest are those ignominious persons which should remaine without the citie the last executioners of iustice The second they that haue neither honour nor infamie Sergeants Trumpeters The third such as haue honour without knowledge and power Notaries Receiuers Secretaries The fourth they that haue with honour power and knowledge but without iurisdiction the Kings seruants The fift they that haue with the rest iurisdiction and these are properly called Magistrates of whom there are many distinctions and especially these fiue which are all double 1 Maiors Senators Minors Iudges 2 Politiques Militaries 3 Ciuill Criminall 4 Titularies in offices of form who haue it by inheritance Commissaries 5 Perpetuall as the lesser both in number and otherwise should be Temporall and moueable as the greater should be OF THE ESTATES AND DEGREES OF MEN in particular following this precedent Table An Aduertisement HEere we are to speake in particular of the parts of this Table and the distinctions of powers and subiections beginning with the priuate and domesticall that is to say of euery estate and profession of men to the end we may know them and therefore this may be called The Booke of the Knowledge of man for the duties of euery one shall be set downe in the Third Booke in the vertue of iustice where in like maner and order all these estates and chapters shall be resumed and examined Now before we begin it shall be necessarie summarily to speake of commanding and obeying two foundations and principall causes of
the taking The first fault yoong men and forward hot-spurres commit who for want of patience giue no leasure to time and the heauens to do any thing for them they runne but they catch nothing The second heauie lazie dull spirited men do commonly fall into To know the occasion and to take it a man must haue his spirit valiant and vigilant and likewise patient he must foresee it watch attend it see it comming and prepare for it and so take it iust at that instant when it is readie The seuenth aduice is well to cary himselfe with these two masters superintendants of the affaires of the world which 7 Industrie and Fortune are industrie or vertue and fortune It is an ancient question which of these two hath most credit force and authoritie for it is out of all doubt that both haue and it is clearely false that one only doth all and the other nothing It were perhaps to be wished that it were true and that one only had the whole empire the businesse would go the better a man would wholly attend that whereby it would be the more easie the difficultie is to ioyne them together and to attend them both Commonly they that settle themselues vnto the one contemne the other the yonger and bolder sort respect and trust to fortune hoping much good from it and many times by them it worketh great matters in somuch that it seemes to fauour them the more ancient and stayed trust to their industrie and these of the two haue the more reason If we should compare them and chuse one of the two industrie is the more honest the more certaine glorious for though fortune be contrarie to it and shall make all industrie diligence vaine yet neuerthelesse there remaineth great contentment in that a man hath not kept holy day hath performed his office or dutie hath caried himselfe like a man of courage They that follow the other part are in danger to attend in vaine and though perhaps things succeed according to their owne desires yet they want that honor and glory that the former hath Now the aduice of wisdome is not wholly and so much to settle our selues to the one that we contemne and exclude the other for they haue both a good part yea many times they help and do mutually attend one the other A wise man then must cary himselfe with them both but yet vnequally for the aduantage and preheminence must be giuen as hath beene said to vertue industrie virtute duce comite fortuna This aduice likewise is required to keepe discretion which seasoneth and giueth a taste or relish to all things this is not a particular qualitie but common which mingleth it selfe in all Indiscretion marreth all and taketh away the grace from the best actions whether it be to doe good to another for all gratifications are not well bestowed vpon all sorts of people or to excuse himselfe for inconsiderate excuses serue for accusations or to play the part of an honest and curteous man for a man may exceede and degenerate into rusticitie or whether it be to offer or to accept CHAP. XI To keepe himselfe alwaies ready for death a fruit of wisedome THe day of death is the master day and iudge of all other 1 The day of death daies the triall and touchstone of all the actions of our life Then doe we make our greatest assay and gather the whole fruit of all our studies He that iudgeth of the life of a man must looke how he carried himselfe at his death for the end crowneth the worke and a good death honoureth a mans whole life as an euill defameth and dishonoureth it A man cannot well iudge of any without wronging of him before hee hath plaied the last act of his Comedie which is without all doubt the most difficult Epaminondas one of the wise men of Greece being demanded whom of three men he esteemed most himselfe Chabrias or Iphicrates answered We must first see all three die before we resolue that question the reason is because in all the rest a man may be masked but in this last part it is to no purpose to dissemble Nam verae voces tum demum pectore ab imo Eijciuntur eripitur persona manet res Fortune from farre seemeth to watch and lie in wait for vs against this last day as a day long since named and appointed to shew her power and in a moment to ouerthrow all that wee haue built and gathered together in many yeers and to make vs crie out with Laberius Nimirum hac die vna plùs vixi mihi quà m viuendum fuit And so was it well and wisely said of Solon to Croesus Ante obitum nemo beatus It is an excellent thing to learne to die it is the studie of wisedome which aimeth wholly at this end hee hath not 2 To know how to die spent his life ill that hath learned to die well and hee hath lost his whole time that knowes not well how to end it Malè viuet quisquis nesciet bene mori non frustra nascitur qui bene Senec. moritur nec inutiliter vixit qui foeliciter desijt Mori tota vita discendum est praecipuum ex vitae officijs est Hee shootes not well that lookes not on the marke and he cannot liue well that hath not an eie to his death To be briefe the science of dying is the science of libertie the way to feare nothing to liue well contentedly and peaceably without this knowledge there is no more pleasure in life than in the fruition of that thing which a man feareth alwaies to lose First and aboue all we must endeuour that our sinnes die before our selues Secondly that we be alwaies ready and prepared for death O what an excellent thing is it for a man to end his life before his death in such sort that at that houre he haue no other thing to doe but to die that hee haue no more neede of any thing not of time not of himselfe but sweetly and contentedly departeth this life saying Vixi quem dederat cursum fortuna peregi Thirdly wee must endeuour that our death be voluntarie for to die well is to die willingly It seemeth that a man may carry himselfe in death fiue diuers waies He may feare and flie it as a very great euill attend 4 A fiue fold maner of carriage in death it sweetly and patiently as a thing naturall ineuitable reasonable contemne it as a thing indifferent and of no great importance desire and seeke after it as the only hauen of rest from all the torments of this life yea a very great gaine giue it to himselfe by taking away his owne life Of these fiue the three middlemost are good befitting a good and setled soule although diuersly and in a different condition of life the two extreames are vitious and out of weakenesse though it be with diuers visages A