Thrive than when Old Age approaches when she is disabled For instance if an Old Man have a Tooth drop out there is no means or expedient to get another to grow in the same Place whereas if a Child lose all his we see Nature repairs the Loss by helping him to new ones How then is it possible that a Soul that has no other Business throughout the whole Course of Life but to attract Aliments to retain and digest them and expel the Excrements and duly repair the lost Parts at the end of our Life should either forget or not be able to do the same Certainly Galen would reply that the Vegetative Soul is skilful and able in Infancy because of the great Degrees of Natural Heat and Moisture and that in Old Age she wants either Ability or Skill to do the like because of the extream Cold and Dryness of the Body incident to Age. In like manner the Skill of the Sensitive Soul depends much on the Temperament of the Brain for if it be such as it 's Operations require it fails not to perform them aright otherwise she commits a Thousand Errors as well as the Vegetative Soul Galen's Test to discover in one view the Skill and Efforts of the Sensitive Soul was this he took a Kid newly Kidded which being on his Legs began to go as if he had been informed and taught that his Feet were given for that very end after he had dried up the Superfluous Humor that came with him from his Dam and lift up his Feet and rubbed behind his Ears finding before him several Platters full of Wine Water Vineger Oyl and Milk upon smelling to each of them he lapped only the Milk Which being observed by many Philosophers present they began to cry out that Hippocrates had with good Reason said That Souls were directed what to do without the Teaching of any Master Which is the same with the wise Mans saying Go to the Ant thou Sluggard consider her waies and be wise which having no Guide Overseer or Ruler provideth her Meat in the Summer and gathereth her Food in the Harvest Galen not resting contented with this single Experiment two Months after he brought the Kid into the Fields almost Starved to Death and smelling on several sorts of Herbs he fed only on that which was Goats-meat But if Galen who ruminated on the Efforts of this Kid had seen three or four of them together and observed some run better than their Fellows shift better and scratch their Ears better and quit themselves better in each Point we have mentioned and had Galen brought up two Colts of the same Mare he might have observed the one to be more Graceful in going to have better Heels to be more Manageable and stop better than the other and had he taken an Airy of Hawks to train he might have discovered that one would have delighted much in Seizing his Game another to be Rank-winged and the third a Haggard and Ill-mann'd He would have found the same Difference in Setting-Dogs or Harriers tho' each were littered from the same Sire and Dam the one needs only the noise of the Chase and Rouse the other never so loudly it would affect him no more than a Shepherds Dog All which can never be ascribed to the vain Instincts of Nature imagined by Philosophers for if they were asked why one Dog has a better Instinct than an other both being of the same kind and breed I know not what they could Answer without having recourse to their common Shift namely that God had trained one above the other having given him a better Natural Instinct And if they were further ask'd why this hopeful Hound when Young hunted well but become Old was not so good for the Sport and on the other Hand why the other when Young could not Hunt but being Old was Expert and fit to fly at all Game I know not what they could say For my particular I should say that the Dog that hunted better than the other had more Sagacity and as for him that hunted well when Young and turned Cur when Old that so it fared because sometimes he had the Qualities fit for the Chase which at other times he wanted Whence we may Collect that since the Temperament of the four First Qualities is the Reason why one brute Beast aquits himself better than another of the same Kind the Temperament is no less the Master which directs the Sensitive Soul what it ought to do Had Galen but reflected on the Steps and Motions of the Ant and observed her Providence her Mercy Justice and good Government he would have been at a loss as we are to see so small an Animal endued with so great Sense without the Teaching of any Master whatsoever But when we come to consider more closely the Temperament of the Ant 's Brain and observe how proper it is for Prudence as we shall hereafter make appear then will all our Admiration cease and we shall understand that Brute Beasts from the Temperament of their Brain and the Images that enter there thro' the Senses arrive at the Ability we discover in them And whereas amongst Animals of the same Kind one is more Docile and Ingenious than another It happens from the Brain being better Tempered so that if by any Accident or Distemper it should chance to alter and impair he would forthwith lose his Ability as Man does under the like Circumstances But here arises a Difficulty touching the Rational Soul how she comes to be Endued with this Natural Instinct whereby she performs the Acts proper to her Species of Wisdom and Prudence and yet all on a sudden by means of a good Temperament a Man may understand the Sciences without the help of a Teacher especially since we are told by Experience if they do not learn them no Man brings them into the World with him It has long been a controverted Point betwixt Plato and Aristotle which way Man comes by Knowledge one saies that the Rational Soul is much Older than the Body and it 's Natural Birth enjoying in Heaven the Company of God from whom she came filled with Wisdom and Knowledge but after she dropt down to inform the Body she lost this Wisdom and Knowledg because of the ill Temperament she met with till by tract of Time this ill Temperament was Corrected and so in its place succeeded a better by means of which as being more fit for the Sciences she had lost she came by little and little to recollect what she had once forgot This Opinion is false and I admire so great a Philosopher as Plato should be at a loss to give a Reason for Man's Knowledge seeing that Brute Beasts are endued with Cunning and Natural Ability without their Souls quitting their Bodies and mounting to Heaven to fetch it thence he is therefore without all Excuse especially considering he might have read in Genesis which he had in such Esteem
Design of this Work is to know and distinguish the Natural Differences of Human Understanding and how with Skill to apply to each the Science he may most Excel in If I gain my Point I shall give God the Glory from whom proceeds all that is Good and Profitable And if not know Wise Reader that to Invent and Perfect an Art at one and the same time is impossible because Humane Sciences are so large and of so wide an Extent that no Man's Life is sufficient to discover them all and to bring them to their due Perfection The first Inventor does enough to point out some considerable Principles from which like Seeds others may take occasion to raise the Art to its Height Aristotle in allusion to this said That we ought highly to esteem the very Errors of those that first began to Philosophize because 't is so very difficult to invent new things and so easy to add to what has been Invented and Discovered for this very reason the Errors of the first Inventor ought not much to be blamed no more than the Improvements of him that adds to be extravagantly Praised I readily confess this Work may not be absolutely free from Errors the Matter being so nice and delicate and beside I had no Guide to lend me a hand in this difficult and untrodden Way But if they happen to be in the Matter wherein the Understanding has room to expatiate in that Case Ingenious Reader I intreat you before you play the Critic to read the following Preface where you will see the Reason why Men are of different Sentiments and then to go thorow with the Book to discover what kind of Wit your's is and if you find any thing not well said according to your Sense carefully consider the contrary Reasons that seem to have more weight with you and if you know not how to resolve them return to read the Thirteenth Chapter where perhaps you may meet a satisfactory Answer Farewell The Author's Supplement to the foregoing Proem The Reason why Men are of different Sentiments and Opinions I Have for some Days past been perplext in my Mind with a Doubt Curious Reader of which conceiving the Solution to be very difficult and hid from my Understanding I own I have always hitherto dissembled it but now that I can no longer endure to be so often Teiz'd I am resolved to find the Decision of it cost what it will This Doubt is to know how it can be seeing all Men are of the same indivisible Species and the Powers of the Rational Soul the Memory Understanding Imagination and Will of the same perfect Nature in every Body and which encreases the Difficulty the Understanding a Spiritual Faculty and acting with material Organs yet nevertheless we see by Experience if a Thousand Persons meet together to give their Opinion upon any Point each will have his particular Sentiment and not one Man's shall agree with anothers whence comes that Saying That there are a Thousand Differences of Opinion among Men that each discerns things and uses them after his own Fashion that their Inclinations are ever disagreeing and the Designs of every Man's Life wholly New and Singular Not one of the Antient or Modern Philosophers that I know of has so much as touched upon this Difficulty to clear it according to my Opinion from its Obscurity although every one complains enough of the Difference of Mens Judgments and Gusts For which reason I must break the Ice and open the Way making use of my own Invention as in some other Important Questions which have never yet been discuss'd by any Body else I find therefore in the particular Composition of each Man there is a certain Je ne sçay quois that makes us naturally fall into this diversity of Opinions nay whether we will or no which is neither Hatred nor Passion nor an Inclination to speak ill or contradict as they imagine that Write long Epistles Dedicatory to those they call their Mecaenas's imploring their Favour and singular Protection but to assign what it is and by what Principles to be attained there lies the Point and Knot of the Business To understand this then it must be observ'd that it has been the old Opinion of some great Physicians that be we what we will who inhabit the intemperate Regions we are actually and in earnest sickly and have some hurt although that we were begot and born with it and never enjoyed a better Temperament yet we perceive it not but if we arm against the depraved Actions of our Faculties and the Cares that are incident every moment not knowing whence or why we shall soon be of Opinion that there is no Man can say in truth he is free from Pains and Diseases All Physicians agree that perfect Health in Man consists in a certain Equality of the four First Qualities wherein Heat over-ballances not Gold nor Moisture Driness from which Equality when ever a Man receds 't is impossible he should be so well as he us'd to be and the reason of it is clear because when a Man is in right Temper he acts perfectly well and it cannot well be otherwise when a Man is in ill Temper which is the contrary but his Faculties will be Vitiated and his Actions somewhat defective Now to preserve this State of Health Heaven ought always to shed the same Influence there should be neither Winter nor Summer nor Autumn Man should not roll on through the Course of so many Years the Motions of Soul and Body should always be equal and uniform in Sleeping and Waking Eating and Drinking they should be moderate minding nothing but to maintain this good Temperament which is a thing unattainable as well by the Art of Physic as by Nature God only had done this in the Person of Adam placing him in the earthly Paradice and giving him the Tree of Life to eat which had that Property to preserve Man in the same Degrees of perfect Health with which he was Born But other Men living as they do in some intemperate Regions and subject to such Alteration of Weather in the Winter Summer and Autumn and passing thro' so many different Stages of Life and eating such variety of Meats hot and cold must of Course find themselves disorder'd and that they hourly lose that happy Harmony of those four First Qualities which we see evidently in all Men that are Born some are Flegmatic others Sanguine some Choleric others Melancholic and not one Temperate except by Miracle and if there be any such his good Temperament lasts not a moment without Change and Alteration Galen blames these Physicians declaring they speak with too much Rigour for Man's Health consists not in an indivisible Point but has some scope and latitude for the first Qualities may somewhat decline from the perfect Temperament without our falling Sick upon it The Flegmatic are visibly far from it because of their too great Coldness and Moisture the Choleric
Spain we may distribute the Virtues and Vices already mentioned amongst the Inhabitants allotting to each his Virtue and his Vice respectively For if we reflect on the Wit and Manners of the Catalans Valentians Murcians Granadins Andalusians Estremadurians Portugueses Gallicians Asturians Miquelets Biscayners Navarrers Arragonians and Castilians who sees and knows not that they differ one from another not only in the Lineaments of their Faces and Make of their Bodies but also in the Virtues and Vices of the Soul and that all this is the Consequence of each Provinces possessing a different Temperament Nor is this Diversity of Manners only to be observ'd in Countries so disjoined but even in Places seated not more than a little League distant the Variety of Wit amongst the Inhabitants is hardly to be believed Finally what Galen writ in his Book is the Foundation of this Work although he did not arrive at the particular discussion of the Difference of Wits amongst Men nor the Sciences which each in particular required yet he knew full well it was necessary to make a Repartition of the Sciences among the Youth and to assign to each that which was most suitable to his Genius when he said that Well-order'd Republics should employ Men of great Wisdom and Knowledge who in their growing Years should sound the Wit and Natural Application of each so to engage them to learn the Art most agreeable to them not leaving it to them to act at their own choice CHAP. V. What Power the Temperament has to make a Man Wise and good Natured HIppocrates in consideration of the good disposition of our Rational Souls and how frail and every way subject to change Human Bodies wherein they dwell are delivered a Sentence worthy so great an Author Our Rational Soul is always the same throughout the whole course of our Life in Youth and in Age when we are Children and grown Men the Body quite contrary never continues in one State nor is there any Means to keep it so And although some Physicians have been in search of an Art to this purpose yet they have never been able to prevent the Changes attending every Age of Man with all their Rules and Precepts For Childhood is and will be hot and moist Youth temperate Manhood hot and dry Middle-Age moderate in heat and cold but offending in too much driness and Old-Age cold and dry We can no more hinder Heaven from changing the Weather almost every moment than we can the Air making such changeable Impressions on our Bodies Whence he concludes to make a Man wise that was not so at first there need not be any Jog in the Rational Soul nor any endeavour to Meliorate its Nature for besides that it is impossible there is no need it wanting in effect nothing of the Harmonious Temper with which it was framed that can hinder Man from performing in Perfection those Actions that are convenient for him Therefore he said When the Four Elements but more especially Fire and Water enter the Composition of Man's Body in the same Proportion and Measure the Soul becomes very Ingenious and endued with an Excellent Memory but if the Water exceed the Fire it proves Stupid and Dull not so much through any defect of her own as from the Instrument wherewith she acts being depraved Which Galen weighing well boldly concluded that all the Inclinations and Dispositions of the Rational Soul follow'd without doubt the Constitution of the Body with which she was clothed and proceeding yet further he blames the Moral Philosophers for not Studying Physic seeing 't is certain that not only Prudence which is the Foundation of all the Virtues but also Fortitude Justice and Temperance with their opposite Vices depend in great measure on our Constitutions therefore he said it was the Employment of Physic to expel Vices from Man and to introduce their contrary Virtues So that he has left us an Art to Extinguish Lust and to raise Chastity to render the Proud more Pliant and Tractable the Covetous Liberal the Coward Valiant the Ignorant Wise and Knowing and all the care he employs to obtain his End is only to correct the Ill Constitution of the Body by the assistance of Physic and a Regimen corresponding to each Virtue and contrary to each Vice without any regard in the least of the Soul pursuant to the Opinion of Hippocrates who openly declar'd the Soul was not subject to any Change and stood in need of no Power to acquit her self of those Ties she was under provided she had good Organs Whereupon he conceiv'd it was little less than an Error to seat the Virtues in the Soul and not in the Organs of the Body by which the Soul acted and without which he thought no Virtue was to be acquired except by introducing a new Temperament But this Opinion of his is false and contrary to that ordinarily receiv'd by the Moral Philosophers that the Virtues are spiritual Habits having their Seat in the Rational Soul for such as the Subject is such must be the Accident which is received Moreover that the Soul being the Agent and Mover and the Body the Patient which is moved by it it is much more to the Purpose to place the Virtues in the Agent rather than in the Patient And were the Virtues and Vices such Habits as depended purely on the Constitution it might thence be concluded that Man acted only as a Natural Agent and not as a Free one for so he would be inevitably sway'd in proportion to the good or bad Disposition attending his Constitution and by consequence his Best Actions would deserve no Reward nor his Worst no Punishment according to the Saying That as to things which are Natural to us we can neither Merit nor Demerit But on the contrary we see a great many Persons who fail not to be Virtuous in spite of a Constitution that is Vitious and Deprav'd and such as rather disposes them to Evil than Good according to that Saying That a wise Man is Superior to the ill Influences of Heaven And for what concerns wise and discreet Actions we see many indiscreet Actions committed by very Wise and well Temper'd Men as on the other side not a few discreet Actions committed by Persons that are not so and who are of no happy Constitution Whence we may collect that Prudence and Wisdom and other Human Virtues are from the Soul and depend not at all upon the Composition or Frame of Body as Hippocrates and Galen have vainly imagin'd Though it may seem strange that these two great Physicians and with them Aristotle and Plato were of the same Opinion and all without Truth We are to take notice therefore that the Perfect Virtues such as the Moral Philosophers treat of are Spiritual Habits which have place in the Rational Soul and whose Being is altogether independent upon the Body From which it is evident there is in Man neither Virtue nor Vice I say nothing of Supernatural Virtues
also affirm'd it was no less an ill Indication to be Born with a great Jolt Head because it was all Flesh and Bones with very little Brains as it fares with very fair Oranges which when they come to be opened have little Juice and Pulp but a very thick Rind Nor is any thing more grievous to the Rational Soul than to be plunged in a Body over-stock'd with Bones with Fat and with Flesh Hippocrates speaking of the Cure of a certain kind of Phrenzy caused by Excess of Heat above all gave in charge that the Sick should eat no Flesh but only Fish and Herbs and drink no Wine at all but only Water and if he were too Corpulent too Gross and Unweildy their Endeavour should be to bring down his Flesh and for this Reason he said It was absolutely necessary for a Man that would be very Wise not to be oppressed with much Flesh nor Fat but rather to be lean and slender For the Fleshy Temperament is Hot and Moist with which 't is impossible or at least very improbable but the Soul should become Blockish and Stupid He brings for Instance the Hog affirming him to be of all Brute Beasts the most Stupid because of the load of Flesh about him his Soul in the Words of Chrysippus being of no other use to him than Salt to preserve his Body from stinking Aristotle confirms this Opinion affirming that Man to be a Sot that had an over-great Head and fleshy comparing him to an Ass because in proportion to the other Parts of his Body there is no Beast's Head so very fleshy as an Ass's But as to Corpulence it ought to be observ'd gross Men are of two sorts some abounding with Flesh and Blood whose Temperament is hot and moist as others again who have not so much Flesh and Blood as they are crammed with Fat these are of a cold and dry Constitution Hippocrates's Opinion is to be understood of the first because of the great Heat and Humidity and the abundance of Fumes and Vapors arising without intermission in those Bodies which cloud and overthrow their Reason which is not the case of the other that are only plump and fat whom the Physicians dare not bleed because they have too little Blood and there is ordinarily abundance of Wit to be found where there is not so much Flesh and Blood That we may throughly understand the great Agreement and Correspondence between the Stomach and Brains especially in what relates to Wit and Cunning Galen has declared A gross Paunch makes a gross Vnderstanding But if he means this of those that are fat he has less reason for they have a very waterish Wit Persius proceeded upon this Reason when he said That the Belly gave Wit Plato affirmed there is nothing darkens the Soul so much nor more overcasts the Brain than the black Fumes and Vapours arising from the Stomach and the Liver at the time of Digestion nor is there on the other hand any thing that elevates it to such high Meditations as Fasting and a spare Body not too overcharged with Blood as the Catholic Church sings Thou that enlivenest and relievest the Spirit by Mortifications and Humbling of the Body and by the same means depressest Vices and bestowest Virtues on us and with them their Reward This great Grace God did to St. Paul when he called to him out of the highest Heaven he remained three days without Eating ravished in Extasy with admiration of the incomparable Favours he had receiv'd at the very instant he was plunged in Vice and Sin Moreover Plato affirms that the Heads of wise Men are ordinarily tender and apt to be anoy'd upon the least occasion and the reason why Nature has made them of so delicate a Head seems to be for fear of loading them with too much Brains to the diminishing of their Wit So true is this Doctrin of Plato that tho' the Stomach be far enough from the Brain nevertheless it annoies it if it be overcharged with Fat and Flesh Nor is there any Mystery in this because the Brain and the Stomach are knit and tyed together by means of certain Nerves which Communicate their Disaffections to each other and on the contrary if the Stomach be dry and empty it much sharpens the Wit as we may see in those who are pinch't with Hunger and Want But what is more observable upon this Occasion is that if the other parts of the Body are Fat and Fleshy and the Man by this means be over-Gross Aristotle affirms he runs a risque of having no Wit at all For which reason I am of Opinion if a Man has a great Head let it be from meer Strength of Nature and from too-great abundance of well-disposed Matter yet such a one will not have so much Capacity as if he had a Head of a more moderate Size Aristotle demanding what may be the Reason of Man's being the Wisest of all Creatures Is of a contrary Opinion when he replies that no living Creature has so small a Head as Man in proportion to the Bulk of his Body for even amongst Men themselves said he they are the Wisest who have the least Heads tho' there be no Reason for this for if he had ever opened a man's Head he might have found so great a Stock of Brains that that of two Horses equals not that of one Man What I have found by Experience is that little Men have large Heads as on the contrary great Men have little Heads for a very moderate quantity of Brains better Ministers to the rational Soul in discharge of her Functions Besides all this it is requisite that there be four Ventricles in the Brain to enable the rational Soul to Reason and Discourse one disposed on the right the other on the left Side the third in the Middle and the fourth in the hinder part of the Brains as appears from Anatomy Hereafter where we shall treat of the Difference of Wits we shall shew what use the rational Faculty makes of these Ventricles be they greater or less That the Brain be well figured of sufficient Quantity and the Number of Ventricles so many little or great as we have shewn is not yet enough It 's parts must also observe a kind of Continuity without being disjoyned for which Cause we have observed some Men wounded in the Head have lost their Memory others their common Sense and others their Imagination nay even tho' the Brain after Cure has been rejoyned by Art because there was not the same Natural Union as before The third of the Four Principal Qualifications is that the Brain should be Temperate of a moderate Heat and without Excess of the other Qualities which disposition of the Brain we have already affirmed to be that called True Temper for 't is that which makes a Man capable and the contrary Incapable The Fourth that the Brain should be Composed of very fine and delicate Parts and is what
that God made Adam's Body before he formed his Soul It is much the same thing at this present only with this Difference that Nature now frames the Body and when that is once done God infuses the Soul into it from which it never departs no not the space of a single Moment Aristotle took an other Course affirming that all kind of Doctrin and Discipline was from Knowledge antecedent to them as if he had said all that Men know and all that they learn comes from what they Hear or See or Smell or Tast or Touch for the Understanding can receive no Notices but what must first pass through some one of the five Senses For which Reason he said that the Natural Powers were in the Nature of a Blank-Paper which Opinion is no less false than Plato's and to make Proof and Illustration of this I must first agree with the Philosophers that there is but one Soul in a Human-Body which is the Rational that is the Principle of whatever we do or Accomplish altho' there want not contrary Opinions asserting no less than two or three distinct Souls besides the Rational This being so as to the Acts performed by the Rational Soul so far forth as it is Vegetative we have already proved that it knows how to Form a Man and to Figure him as he ought to be that we know how to draw Nourishment to retain and digest the same as well as to expel Excrements and if there be Defects in any parts of the Body it knows how to repair them anew and to give them that Structure which their use requires And as to the Acts of the Sensitive and Motive Faculties a new-born-Babe can apply and lay its Lips close to press the Milk and this with so much Art and Address as the wisest Man in the World knows not how to do it so well Besides this it follows what tends most to the Preservation of it's Nature and flyes what is noxious and offensive he knows how to Laugh and to Cry without staying to be Taught by any And if this be not so who can the Vulgar Philosopher pretend has taught Children to perform these Actions or through which of their Senses have any Notices arrived that made them do it I know well they may reply that God has given them the same Natural Instinct as to Brute Beasts in which they say not ill if by Natural Instinct they mean no other thing than the Temperament Man as soon as he is born cannot exert Acts proper to the Rational Soul such as are to Understand Imagine and Remember because the Temperaments of Children are not well Adapted to such Acts but rather appropriate to the Vegetative and Sensitive as the Temperament in Old Age is more proper for the Rational Soul and less for the Vegetative and Sensitive Soul and if the Brain which by little and little acquires the Temper that Wisdom requires might obtain it at once Man at the same instant would be able to Reason and Discourse better than if he had learnt the same at any time in the Schools but as Nature cannot bestow it but successively and in time so Man by degrees gains Knowledge This is the main Reason as one may clearly see if he will consider that from the time a Man arrives at the pitch of Wisdom by little and little he declines to Ignorance because as he approaches nearer to the last and decrepit Age he daily acquires another Temperament wholly new As for me I am of Opinion that whereas Nature makes a Man of hot and moist Seed which is the Temperament that directs the Vegetative and Sensitive Soul what it ought to do if instead of that she had formed him of cold and dry Seed he would Discourse and Reason soon after he was Born and would not be able to Suck inasmuch as his Temperament would not well agree with such Actions But to the end we may by Experience know if the Brain be Temperate so far as the Natural Sciences require we need no Master to teach us but only to attend to a thing which happens every day that if a Man falls sick of any Distemper that changes the Temperament of his Brain on a sudden 〈◊〉 in Madness Melancholy and Frenzy he would lose in a moment though he were once Wise and Understanding whatever Wisdom Understanding and Knowledge he had and would utter a thousand Extravagances and on the contrary though he had been once an Ignorant Fellow he would be Inspired with more Wit and Ability than ever he had before To prove which I cannot forbear telling you what happened at Corduba in the Year 1570. the Court being then there to a Courtesan in her Sickness named Lovisa Lopez who was turned Fool She had during her Health utterly lost her Understanding but as for her Imagination she conversed Pleasantly and made her Complements with a good Grace a certain contagious Disease then rife threw her into a malignant Fever in the midst of which she shewed so much Wit and Judgment as surprized the whole Court Insomuch that when they had given her the Sacraments she made her last Will the discreetest in the World and died begging the Mercy of God and Pardon for her Sins But what raised the greatest Admiration was that the same Distemper seized on a very sensible and sober Man who had the Cure of this Sick Person in charge who died bereft both of Wit and Judgment and neither did nor spoke the least sensible thing And the Reason of this was that the Temperament of the last to which he owed his Wit when he was well was the self-same that Lovisa Lopez took possession of by her Distemper instead of the Temperament she had in her Health which was the lot of the other in his Sickness Let me give you an Instance of this in a certain Labourer who being Frantic made a Speech in my hearing wherein he recommended his Welfare to those about him desiring them to take care of his Wife and Children if it should please God to call him out of this World with so many strains of Rhetoric and so great Elegance and Purity of Speech that Cicero himself could scarce have made a better Harangue in the open Senate At which the Standers-by not a little surprized asked me whence appeared so great Wit and Eloquence in a Man who in his Health could say never a wise Word I remember I made answer That the fluent Faculty of Haranguing proceeded from a certain point or degree of Heat of which this Labourer was possessed by means of his Distemper I can confirm the Truth of this from another Lunatic who for more than eight days spoke never a word and then immediately fell into a fit of Rhiming very often making no less than a good entire Stanza the By-standers surprized to hear a Man Discourse all in Verse who in his Health never knew how to make one I told them it
but only Wars Slaughters and Trepanings of his Enemies So that he became a very Cruel Captain most Malicious in circumventing Men and always plotting how to Ensnare the Enemy And where he could not Overcome by open Force he had recourse to Stratagems as he plainly shew'd in the Battel above-mentioned and in that which he gave before to Sempronius near the River of Trebia The Marks by which he may be known that hath this Difference of Wit are very uncommon and well worthy Consideration Plato said That he who would be skilled in this kind of Talent here treated of can neither be Valiant nor good Natured because Prudence as Aristotle has told us consists in Coldness but Courage and Valour in Heat Now as these two Qualities are inconsistent and contrary to each other in like manner it is impossible that the same Man should be very Valiant and Prudent at once Therefore it is necessary that his Choler should burn to such a degree as to become black Choler that he may be Prudent but where this kind of Melancholy reigns by reason of its Coldness are ingendered also Fear and Cowardice In such sort that Skill and Cunning require some Heat because they are Works of the Imagination but not in so high a degree as Courage and accordingly are different in the Intention of Degree But there falls out a thing very observable that of the Four Moral Virtues Prudence Justice Fortitude and Temperance the two First require Wit and a good Temperament to be put in Practice for if a Judge has not Understanding sufficient enough to find out the Point of Justice it will be of little use to him to have a Will disposed to render to each his due with all his good Meaning he may stray and wrong the true Proprietor The same is to be understood of Prudence for if only the Will sufficed to keep all things in good Order Men would never miscarry in their Actions good or bad there is no Thief who aims not to Rob in such a manner as not to be Discovered and there is no Captain that does not desire so much Prudence as to Conquer his Enemy But the Thief that is not his Crafts-master in Robbing is soon Discovered and the Captain that wants Imagination is presently worsted Fortitude and Temperance are Virtues which a Man carries in his own Hands though he wants a Natural Disposition to them for if he makes but small account of his Life and show Courage he may well do it but if he be Stout by Natural Disposition Aristotle and Plato say very well it is impossible for him to be Wise though he would After this manner then there is no Repugnance but that Prudence may be joined with Courage and Fortitude for a Wise and Prudent Man has the Understanding to hazard his Honour for his Soul his Life for his Honour and his Fortune for his Life as it daily happens From whence it comes that Gentlemen being more Honourable show themselves so Valiant and that there are none fatigue or suffer more in War than they though they have been bred in the midst of Pleasures and all for fear of being esteemed Cowards Whence came that Saying God keep me from a Gentleman by day and from a Thief by night for one to be seen and the other not to be known fight with double Courage On this very reason the Institution of the Knights of Malta was Founded for knowing how much it imports a Noble Man to be a Man of Courage it is provided by a Constitution that all of their Order should be Noble by Fathers and Mothers side imagining that each of them in Combate must show himself worth two Plebeians But if a Gentleman had it in charge to Encamp an Army and were to give Orders to Surprize the Enemy if he had not a Wit proper for it he would commit and utter a thousand Blunders because Prudence is not in the hand of Man But if he had Orders to Guard a Pass he might well be depended upon even though he were naturally a great Coward The Sentence of Plato is to be understood when a Prudent Man follows his Natural Inclination and corrects not the same by Reason And so is it true that the very Wise cannot be Couragious by a Natural Disposition for adust Choler which makes him Prudent the same says Hippocrates makes him Timerous and a Coward The Second Property the Man ought to have that hath this Difference of Wit whereof we treat is to be mild and good Conditioned because he foresees a Thousand Things in his Imagination and allowing that the least Slip and Miscarriage may prove the loss of an Army he ever has an Eye to the main Chance But those that know little call Carefulness a Toil Chastisement Cruelty Mercy Softness Suffering and Dissembling of lewd Parts Good-Nature Which proceeds only from the Dulness of Men who distinguish not the Worth of Things nor which way they are to be managed but the Prudent and Wise are out of all Patience nor can they bear to see things ill managed though they have no Interest in them therefore they live but a little while and with much uneasiness of Mind And therefore Solomon says I gave my heart to know Wisdom and to know Madness and Folly and perceived that this also is but Vexation of Spirit for in much Wisdom is much Grief and he that increaseth Knowledge increaseth Sorrow As if he had said I have been a Fool and I have been Wise and I have experienced Trouble in every thing For he that fills his Understanding with abundance of Knowledge reaps no other Advantage but to be more Pensive and Morose By which it seems that Solomon would have us understand that he lived more Contentedly in Ignorance than after he had received Wisdom And so in truth it is the Ignorant live most careless they are in pain for nothing and they think no Body in the World has more Wit than themselves The Vulgar call such Angels of Heaven observing that they resent nothing to put them out of Humour nor find fault with any thing ill done but let all pass But did they well consider the Wisdom and Qualities of an Angel they would find it was a word of ill Sound and a Case for the Inquisition-House for from the instant of our receiving the use of Reason to the hour of our Death they do nothing else but check us for the evil we do and are our Monitors for what we ought to do And if as they speak to us in their spiritual Language moving our Imaginations they should deliver their Admonitions in material Words we might hold them impertinent and pressing And he that believes not this let him mark that the Angel of whom St. Matthew speaks seem'd no less to Herod and his Brother Philip's Wife seeing that to be rid of his finding Faults they fairly cut off his Head It would
Cato the Elder discovered Manilius a person of Honour wanted Understanding when they told him he Kissed his Wife in presence of his Daughter for which he lost his Place in the Senate and could never after prevail to be Readmitted in the number of the Senators From this Speculation Aristotle drew a Problem demanding What is the Reason that Men who are desirous of the Act of Venery are yet ashamed to confess it but if they have an appetite to Eat or Drink or the like they are not ashamed to own it To which Problem he Answers very poorly saying Perhaps it comes because the desires of many things are Necessary and some of them if they fail to be satisfied destroy but the Act of Venery is rather in the nature of an Excess and an Argument of superfluity Tho' in truth the Problem is false and the Answer to it no better for a Man is not only Ashamed to discover the Desire he has to enjoy a Woman but also to Eat to Drink and to Sleep And if he have Occasion to Void any Excrements he makes no noise of it and voids it not but in Pain and with Shame for which reason he turns aside into some secret place out of Sight Yea some Men we find so Bashful that having a motion to make Water they cannot do it if any look on But as soon as they are left alone the Urine issues freely And yet these are Desires of voiding the superfluities of the Body of which if a Man be not eased he must expire and much sooner too than if he neither Eat nor Drank And if any one speaks of it or does it in the presence of another says Hippocrates he is not in his right Wits The same proportion says Galen the Seed bears to the Spermatic Vessels as the Urine does to the Bladder for in the same manner as the Urine provokes the Bladder much Seed pains the Spermatic Vessels True it is Aristotle thought that a Man or Woman could not fall Sick and Die by a too-great Retention of Seed tho' this is against the Opinion of all Physitians and particularly of Galen who affirms that many Women being left young Widows have happen'd to lose their Sense and Motion their Pulse and Breath and after all their Lives Nay Aristotle himself recounts many Maladies that afflict Continent Men from the same Reason The true Answer to this Problem is not to be expected from Natural Philosophy because it is not under it's Jurisdiction And therefore we must have recourse to a Superior Science call'd Metaphysics wherein Aristotle says that the Rational Soul is the lowest of all the Intelligences and because it 's Nature is of the same kind with Angels she is out of Countenance to see her self placed in a Body in common with Brute Beasts Therefore Holy Writ notes it as a thing not without some Mystery that the first Man being Naked was not Ashamed but as soon as he saw himself to be so forthwith he got a Covering At which time he knew that thro' his own Fault he had lost Immortality and that his Body was made subject to Change and Corruption and that those Instruments and Parts were given him because he must of necessity Die and leave another in his room and to preserve himself in Life the little time that remained he must needs Eat and Drink and discharge those noisom and corrupt Excrements His shame encreased the more when he saw the Angels with whom he stood in Competition were Immortal not needing to Eat Drink or Sleep to sustain their Being nor had they the Parts of Generation being Created all at once without Matter and without fear of Corrupting Of all which things the Eyes and Ears are I know not how naturally well aware so that the Rational Soul is in Pain and Ashamed as often as she calls to Mind the things that are given to Man as a Mortal and Corruptible Creature And that this is a convenient Answer appears plain in this that God to satisfy the Soul after the Universal Judgment and to crown it with entire Glory will cause the Body to partake all the Qualities of an Angel bestowing on it Clarity Subtilty Agility and Immortality by reason of which we shall have no occasion to Eat or Drink as Bruit Beasts And when they are in Heaven in that State they will have no more shame to be Naked than our Saviour or his Blessed Mother But rather it will turn to an Accidental Glory to see that the use of these Parts is at an end that were wont to be Offensive to the Sight and Hearing With regard then to the Natural Modesty of the Ear I shall endeavour to spare what are harsh and grating Terms in this matter and give them the softest Turn I may and where I cannot avoid it the Candid Reader will please to excuse me for to reduce to a perfect Art the Method to be Observed that Men may prove of the most delicate Wit is one of the things most requisite for the Common-Wealth Besides that by the same reason they shall prove Virtuous well-fashioned Sound and Long-lived I have thought good to divide the Matter of this Chapter into four principal Parts to give the more light to what I shall say and to prevent the Readers being at a loss The first is to show the Qualities and Natural Temperament a Man and a Woman are obliged to have for Generation The second what care Parents are to observe to get Males and not Females The third how they may become Wise and not Fools The fourth how to educate them after their Birth for Preservation of their Wit To come to the first Point then we have already said from Plato that in a well-govern'd State there ought to be certain Overseers of Marriages who by Art might skill to discern the Qualities of the Persons that are to Marry in order to give to every Man the most proportionable Woman and to every Wife her convenient Husband In which Matter Hippocrates and Galen began to take some Pains and to lay down some Precepts and Rules to know which Woman was fruitful and which not which Man was impotent and which able and prolific but touching all this they have said very little and not so distinctly as is convenient at least for the purpose I have occasion for And therefore it will be requisite to trace the Art from it's Principles and briefly to put it in a due Method that so we may clearly know from what Conjunction of Parents Wise Children proceed and from what Fools and Blockheads To attain which you are first to know a particular point of Philosophy which tho' it be most manifest and true to those that are Skilful in the Art yet it is overlook'd by the Vulgar though what we advance touching the first Point depends upon its Notice And that is that Man tho he appears fashioned as we see him differs not