Organ and this to render the Operation what it ought to be is the Air not in any wise changed or corrupted but free and in its Natural Purity and Disposition From hence we may gather That the Act of Sensation is perform'd when the Object or sensible Species presents it self by the help of a Medium dispos'd to convey this Representation to the proper Organ sitted to receive it and that the Animal Spirits lodg'd there do accordingly take the Impression and apprehend the thing So that here is Action and Passion both and the Senses are not purely Passive for notwithstanding that they receive an Impression and in that respect are acted upon yet do they likewise act in some Degree themselves so far as they perceive the Image and apprehend the Object propounded to them See the Advertisement at the End of the next Chapter The old Philosophy before Aristotle's Time made a very remarkable Difference between the Sight and the rest of the Senses Supposing This to be meerly Active and imagining that whereas the Others receiv'd the Object and Impression from without and so cou'd only be Passive The Eye quite contrary shot out its Rays of Light from within and made an Impression upon the Visible Object But ever since Aristotle this Account of Vision hath been better stated and all the Senses are allow'd to be equally Passive equally wrought upon from without All the Arguments of the Ancients to the contrary being very easily answer'd and set aside But now besides these Five particular Senses the Organs whereof appear outwardly there is Another which is call'd the Common Sensory within Here it is that the several Objects of every sort perceiv'd by the Corporeal Organs make their Rendezvous Hither they are brought to be examin'd compar'd sorted out and distinguish'd asunder For were there no such Office of Enquiry all wou'd end in Confusion This discerning Power is above the Capacity of any particular Organ of Sense for each of these is intent upon his own Business and whatever his Fellows do is out of His Sphere he knows nothing at all of the Matter nor can he be a competent Judge in it CHAP. X. Of the Senses which are the most Exalted and Noble Parts of the Body THE Ordinary way of being conducted to the Knowledge of Things Of what Consequence they are to us is by the Assistance and Ministry of our Senses so say the Schools but it is not universally true These are our first Instructers See Ch. xv 11. All our Learning begins with them and is at last resolv'd into them We can go no farther back than they lead us or give occasion for us to build Consequences upon Each of These is supreme within its own Territories and a large Dominion each of them possesses An infinite Number of Reflections and Notions arise from each nor does any One of them hold under depend upon or stand in need of the rest Thus the Power of them all is equally absolute though some of them have a wider Range and more Business and a longer Train of Consequences and Instructions than some others Nor are we to wonder at This since the Case is the same in other Instances For a Petty Prince is as independent as truly Sovereign within his own small Territories as the greatest Monarch upon Earth in Kingdoms of the largest extent It is a Maxim universally receiv'd Their Number That there are but Five Senses in Nature and that which inclines all the World to think so is because we can observe no more in our selves But possibly there may be more and some question may be made of it nay indeed some probable Reasons may be offer'd that there are more But supposing that there are it is certainly not in our Power to know it nor can we possibly assert or deny the thing positively For there is no way to discover the Want or Defect of a Sense we never had Several Brutes enjoy all the Advantages of Life that are necessary to them notwithstanding they do not enjoy all the Methods of Sensation which Nature hath given to Mankind and I see no Reason why an Animal may not subsist without any of the Five Senses that of Touch only excepted which alone wou'd supply the bare Necessities of Life It is plain we live very conveniently with Five and yet perhaps there may be One or Two or Three more in Nature which we in no degree partake of But as I said this is more than we do or can know for each Sense is consin'd within its own Division and can make no Discoveties nor hath any Jurisdiction out of its own Compass A Man Blind from his Birth can never be brought to any Idea of Sight nor can he strictly speaking either desire it or be concern'd for the want of it 'T is true he will tell you perhaps that he wishes to See but this is spoke by rote and according as he hears other People express themselves for indeed he wishes he knows not what And all it comes to at last is that he wou'd be glad to have somewhat which he is told the rest of the World have and himself hath not The reason of all This is Because the Senses are the Doors See Note at which all our Knowledge makes its first Entrance and that which did not begin and is not let in that way cannot come in at all Thus a Man is not capable of forming to himself a Conception of more Senses than those Five which himself hath and consequently cannot persuade himself that there are or can be more in Nature but it does not follow from hence that there can be no more because he hath no Notion of any more Who knows whether the many Difficulties which still remain unaccounted for in many of the Works of Nature and the Operations of Animals that escape the nicest Enquiry and subtilest Penetration of Humane Wit may not be charged upon the Want of some Sense which we are not provided with to discern them What the World usually expresses by the Title of Sympathies Antipathies and Occult Qualities may have some Sensitive Faculties in Nature accommodated to perceive and make a competent Judgment of them and perhaps our Ignorance of them is owing to our being desicient in this Point Who can tell whether it be not some particular Sixth Sense which informs the Cock when it is Midnight and the first Dawning of the Day and by some secret Impulse puts him constantly upon Crowing at those times The same may be said of that Direction by which some Brutes are led to such Herbs as are proper for their Recovery when sick or surfeited and of many other such things as these which are notorious Matters of Fact but the reasons of them perfectly unknown This is a Case in which we are utterly in the Dark and no Man can be positively assur'd on either side of the Question Some indeed have undertaken to give a Reason
Persons whose Weakness hath laid them at its Mercy A Third Expedient upon these Occasions is To set the best Face upon the Matter not to betray any Dejection of Mind but carry all off with one's usual Gayety and Freedom of Behaviour To give out abroad that he is very sensible what People are doing and punctually inform'd of all their Secret Practices and Designs that there passes nothing at any of their Cabals but he hath immediately an Account of it For where Privacy is the Life of an Attempt if once the Plotters can be brought to believe that all they do takes Air the Project is broken of course This was an Expedient which a certain Person assisted Dionysius the Sicilian Tyrant with and it was bought cheap at the Price of a Talent The Fourth Direction is To wait for any danger of this kind without any Confusion or Consternation of Mind These Three last Rules Caesar practised in great Perfection but in the first he was altogether deficient Indeed he profest to disdain it as a thing below him and not worth his while and declared That he thought a Prince had better die once for all than live in a perpetual Anxiety and Pain for any Accident which the most vigilant thoughtful Man alive hath it not in his Power to prevent and therefore he would rather choose to be easie and in This as well as other Matters trust the Event entirely to Divine Providence which alone can protect and secure the Persons of Princes effectually But still this Reflection does not take off the usefulness and necessity even of my first Advice and the rest it leaves in their full force Which in truth are yet more recommended by the ill Success of Courses contrary to these For all Histories and particularly those of the Roman Emperors shew beyond contradiction that the Intentions to prevent such Plottings by speedy Vengeance and rigorous Punishments did very seldom obtain their desired Effect They rather exasperated Men's Minds than subdu'd them and the severest and most hasty to take Revenge and terrifie their People were commonly least secure and found the worst Treatment from them Thus much may serve for Advice how Princes ought to behave themselves while the Designs against their Persons and Government are kept close and in the dark But when such Conspiracies come to be discover'd and the Truth brought to light What is fit to be done then Why truly my first and most general Direction must be To make the Conspirators publick Examples by punishing them with all the Severity their Villanies deserve To spare such black Wretches as these were not Compassion but Cruelty Cruelty to the Innocent and Peaceable and Good and Treachery to the Publick whose Safety is exposed and endanger'd by such indiscreet Instances of Pity For Justice and Equity require that Those who are Enemies to the Peace and Quiet the Liberties and Rights and common Happiness of Mankind should make Reparation with their Blood for their Attempts to over-turn and destroy these so necessary so valuable Advantages But then even those Executions are to be managed with Prudence and Discretion and the manner and Method of Punishing must vary according as the Face and Condition of Affairs shall happen to vary Sometimes it is convenient to use all possible Dispatch and punish presently especially where the Conspirators are not very numerous But be the Number of them great or small I can by no means approve of putting Criminals to the Torture in order to larger Discoveries and the bringing out Accomplices not yet known For there are other ways of getting Information by softer and more secret dealing which very seldom fail and besides it may often be of use not to seem very sollicitous to know or if one does know to appear otherwise and pretend Ignorance in such Cases But besides all other Mischiefs of such a barbarous Custom as the Rack this is one certain Discouragement that a Man is sure to torment others for the Discovery of that which when found out will be a Plague and Torment to himself and set a world of People against him too Nor do I think it always necessary that every Individual Malefactor should suffer It is enough that some few are made exemplary Warnings to the rest so many as may encourage and contain good Subjects in their Duty and reclaim the Factious by striking an early Awe into those who are not yet or at least do not imagine that they are discovered Sometimes again it is necessary to defer punishing the Offenders but to be sure upon all such Emergencies the Prince's own Safety must be his first and great Care In this no Time must be lost the rest may well submit and be regulated afterwards as Opportunities best offer But the Case may have greater Difficulties in it still The Conspirators may be Persons of such Quality and Figure or the Discovery may be made in such a critical Juncture that a Prince may be obliged to dissemble his Knowledge and his Danger and the offering to seize or punish the Guilty may hazard his Life and Kingdom another way In such a Streight it requires a great deal of good Conduct to play a safe Game The best Course of all is without question to countermine and prevent their Plot to break all their Measures privately and when the Danger is thus avoided to decline the giving Offence by pretending not to know the Parties concern'd but to manage the Matter and secure himself while all the while he appears intent upon something else Thus the Carthaginians managed their General Hanno and the Historian's Remark upon this Method of proceeding is * Optimum solum saepe insidiarum remedium si non intelligantur That oftentimes the best nay the only way to prevent treacherous Practices is to act as if one knew nothing at all of the Matter Nay which is still more I am positive that sometimes it is absolutely necessary not to punish Conspirators at all For if the principal Contriver be a very great Man if his Abilities or his Deserts have made him popular if his former Services have been very considerable and the Prince and Government particularly obliged by him If his Children his Relations his Friends are in great Posts or Men of Wealth and general Interest What would you do in such a Case How would you break through all these Difficulties Who indeed would attempt it Who would provoke such Dangers and make so many and such dangerous Enemies and not rather by wholly remitting his Punishment if that can safely be done or if not yet at least by mitigating and rendring it as gentle as the Case will bear continue a good Understanding and secure the Affections of all who have an Interest in his Pardon Clemency upon such an Occasion is not only Brave and great for indeed nothing can be more for the Honour of a Prince * Nil gloriosius Principe impunè laeso nothing give us
or less Those Motions that are moderate are capable of being relished and digested a Man knows what he feels and is in a Condition of expressing his Resentment in Words or giving it Vent by Tears But those that are excessive and extreme are too big and too mighty They stun and take away our Senses quite fill the Soul with Confusion and Amazement bind up and quite overbear her Powers and disable her from acting * Curae leves loquuntur ingenâ—es stupent Senec. Hippolyt Slight Passions find a Vent and Words command The Fierce swell inward Dumb and Stupid stand Thus much may suffice to give us some little Notion of the Passions Of the Viâ—iaus Irregularity in them the manner of their Operation and their Degrees in general But if we now look upon them in the Second Place with Regard to the Viciousness and Irregularity and Extravagance the Injustice and Unreasonableness these Passions are frequently guilty of thus Man may not unfitly be resembled to a State or Common-Wealth and the Condition of the Soul to that of a Monarch presiding over that State constituting several Officers and Magistrates under him to assist in the good Government of such vast Multitudes of People giving particular Laws and Directions for their Behaviour and for the due Exercise of their particular Charges and Commissions but still reserving to himself and his own Supreme Jurisdiction the Cognizance and Determination of all Matters of great Weight and general Importance and for the giving fresh and necessary Orders commanding that all extraordinary Accidents and Emergencies should immediately and faithfully be reported to himself in Person Now upon such a Constitution and such Orders duly observed the Peace and Prosperity of the whole Kingdom will depend But if these be neglected and broken and put out of their proper Course If the Magistrates which go between and are a sort of Balance between King and People shall suffer themselves either to be imposed upon thro' Easiness or Credulity or corrupted by Favour or Assection or if they shall employ their Authority in acting contrary to the Established Laws and Duties of their Places or if they shall go beyond their Commissions and come to a sinal Resolution in Causes which they ought not to determine without ever laying them before their Sovereign who hath reserv'd the Hearing and Decision of all such Matters to himself in Person In all these Cases I say the publick Peace is violated the Establishment infring'd the Prerogative incroach'd upon and nothing but Mischief and Misery and Confusion can be the End of it Now thus it is likewise in our Little World The Understanding is King in Man and under him is employed a Faculty whose Business it is to receive Idea's and to make an Estimate of them This is the Subordinate Magistrate whose Office obliges him to examine and to judge The Evidence he goes upon is that Report the Senses make of all things represented to them and according to this Testimony and the Judgment in consequence of it the Affections are by the same Faculty put forward in order to execute this Sentence For his Direction and Governance in the Execution of this Office our Judge in Commission hath the Law the Light of Nature and Dictates of Reason to go by and this in ordinary Cases is sufficient without any farther Formality But if it happen that the Affair be of great Moment or if any Difficulty arise then he must have recourse to and know the Pleasure of his Superiour and in this Case the Understanding which sits Supreme answers all Doubts and Points of Law and expects to be consulted and applied to for Orders and Advice This is the Scheme of our Government and Constitution and so long as Matters are thus managed all is quiet and well But it is our Great Unhappiness that this Imaginative Faculty which is under the Intellectual but over the Sensitive and to whose Jurisdiction the first Examination and Judgment of things belong often suffers it self to be bribed corrupted imposed upon And the Effect of this is First to pass wrong and rash Judgment then to set the Affections at work to very ill Purpose and at last to disturb and confound and ruine All. Now several things there are which may contribute towards the depraving and disordering this Power in its Judgments and Operations As first of all The Senses themselves which cannot penetrate into the Bottom nor comprehend the Real Substance and hidden Nature of Things but the bare Surface and next Appearance of them only And These make a Report to the Soul according to their present Apprehension set before it the outward Images only and that so as may gain them Favour and Recommendation and pre-possessing it with a Character of their Qualities founded upon the Satisfactions and Delights they are capable of administring to these Senses in particular and not upon the Considerations how Necessary or how Advantagious they may prove to the whole Man in general A Second Corruption which often confirms and strikes in upon the Neck of This is the False Notions and Unthinking Cry of the Vulgar when we look upon our seives oblig'd to Approve and Disapprove as Others do and when nothing is reputed needful to establish an Opinion more than its being Popular From these two false Offices of Intelligence The Report of our own Senses and the Voice of the People proceeds a Rash Inconsiderate Opinion which the Soul takes up of Things and without fair Tryal or sufficient Deliberation pronounces them Good or Evil Advantagious or Hurtful fit to be courted or fit to be detested and avoided And this is without all Dispute a very dangerous Guide a very hot and hasty Mistress for as soon as ever we entertain it without more ado it seizes upon the Imagination and there standing upon its Defence strengthens it self as in a Castle Mans all the Works and holds it out against Reason then it comes down to the Heart and there stirs and agitates the Affections with the violent Resentments of Hope and Fear and Joy and Grief In a Word it is a perfect Incendiary in the State looks out all the Fools and Disaffected in the Soul and blows them up into Sedition raises the Mobb that is the Passions and sets all in an Uproar and Confusion And all this by taking wrong Methods going Headlong to work and not submitting the Matter to the Understanding as by the Nature of this Establishment and the Duty of its Station that Faculty was obliged to do Permit me to set before you another Illustration of this Matter by a Comparison taken from Military as the former was an Allusion to Civil Government The Senses answer here both to the Centinels whose Post it is to watch and be constantly upon the Guard for the safety of the Soul and also to Scouts who are to look out and scour the Country and bring in Intelligence to the Understanding which is the Supreme
Women when they had them at their Mercy And all this from no other Principle than a Point of Honour Conquers all other and a Soul enflamed with Ambition to which the Fires of Love were so far from being equal that they were made subservient to it and the Conquest of these Desires became a Triumph and a Sacrifice to their Glory Thus it happen'd very remarkably in Caesar For no Man alive was ever more siercely addicted to Amours of all sorts than He as the many Extravagances he had been guilty of both at Rome and abroad in Foreign Parts abundantly testifie no Man was ever more choice of his Person more nice in Dress more careful to preserve and render it agreeable to the Ladies and yet Ambition was evermore his reigning Passion The Pleasures of Love tho' they had him in perfect Subjection when This came not into Competition with them were then so feeble and so over-match'd that they never cou'd prevail for the throwing away upon them so much as one Hour which was capable of being employ'd or made in any degree serviceable to the promoting his Honour So that notwithstanding the Mixture of any other Passions which had their Seasons too yet Ambition sat Supreme in his Soul and was to all Intents and Purposes as if It had had the sole and ontire Possession of him 'T is true we meet with an Example the very Reverse of this in Mark Anthony and some Others who have been so enslaved by Love as to give up All banish their most necessary and weighty Cares and lose themselves and their Crowns through mere Esseminacy and Neglect But then these have been Persons of quite different Tempers For where both meet together and are fairly weigh'd one against the other Ambition will cast the Scale Some indeed who argue for the force of Love above it tell you that in Reason it must needs be so because This extends to the Body as well as the Mind keeps the whole Man in Captivity and is not only agreeable but necessary and convenient too But I shou'd think the Reason holds on the contrary side and that Ambition is therefore the stronger because the more Spiritual Passion What they pretend of the Body being also concern'd in Love proves the Passion to be so much the Feebler for from hence it must by necessary consequence be capable of being satiated and cloy'd Again What is Corporeal it self admits of Corporeal Remedies and Cures some which Nature provides and others which Art invents and accordingly Experience hath approved these and shewed Instances of many who have beaten down the hottest Flames of Love and of some who have overcome and quenched these quite by artificial Means and good Management But now Ambition is so far from being glutted that its Appetite is never satisfy'd Enjoyment does but whet it more and being seated wholly in the Soul and the Reason renders the Disease obstinate and incurable incapable of outward Application and too deep and subtle for Medicines to reach and fasten upon It does not only conquer the Regard for one's own Health and Ease The Gare of Life for indeed Honour and Ease can never dwell together and make Men content to sacrifice all their Quiet and Comforts and Enjoyment of the World but even the natural Care and Tenderness for our very Lives is not able to stand before it Agrippina the Mother of Nero was an eminent Example of this Nature who being extremely desirous that her Son should be Emperour and inform'd that he should be Emperour indeed but it shou'd be at the Expence of Her Life made an Answer sit for the Mouth of Ambition her self cou'd that be personated Provided he may have the Power says she I am content it should be upon the Condition of using it to my destruction * Occidat mâ—do imperer Let my Son kill me so my Son may but reign Thirdly The Laâ—â— Ambition makes its way through all Laws and tramples Conscience it self under Foot The great Professors of Morality who tell you that a Man must make it his Business to be entirely Virtuous and pay an universal Obedience to Laws yet when they speak of Ambition begin to mince the matter and are content to make an excepted Case of it A Crown it seems is so sweet so delicious a Morsel that the Temptation is invincible and deserves a Dispensation The most abstemious Man may strain a Point and break his Fast upon this Feast †Si violandum est Jus regnandi cauâ— violandum est in caeteris pietatem colas If ever Breach of Law and Equity be allowable says one it is in the Case of gaining a Kingdom but in every thing else be sure to be strictly Virtuous Not that even in this or any Case such Liberties are to be indulg'd but They who thus express themselves signifie the strong Propensity of Humane Nature to this Passion how strong it is in all and how difficult to be subdu'd by any who are tempted with very great Advantages With the same Insolence does it treat the Holiest things Râ—â—g â— eraces all Reverence of God and treads Religion under Foot For what greater Contempt of these can be shewn than the World have seen in Jeroboam who establish'd an Idolatrous Worship for the securing his Throne and Aâ—â—â—â—net who gave general Encouragement to all Persuasions and valu'd not which was uppermost so he might reign And the old Broachers of Heresies who rather chose to forsake the right Way and so become Heads of Parties and Ringleaders in Falshood and Lyes tho' a Thousand Disorders and Impieties were the visible and unavoidable Consequences of that wicked Choice than to continue in a lower and less conspicuous Station by being Disciples and Followers of the Truth With regard to such as these it is that the Apostle hath admirably foretold the Doom of Ambitious Men That they who suffer themselves to be intangled in these Snares make Shipwrack of a good Conscience 1 Tim. i 6. err from the Faith and pierce themselves through with many Sorrows In short It changes Men's Natures Natural Affection hardens their Hearts and makes them brutish defaces all those tender Impressions and Resentments which are most customary and most due to our nearest Relations The infamous Accounts which Sacred or Prophane History hath recorded the Barbarities and Murders committed upon the Persons of Parents or Children or Brethren are most of them insligated by this Passion Witness Absalom and Abimelech and Athaliah Romulus Sei King of Persia who slew his Father and his Brother Soliman the Turk that dispatch'd his two Brothers So unable is any thing to stand against the Force of this impetuous Passion which is for removing every thing out of its way and where-ever it takes its Course overturns and lays all level with the Ground * Est autem in hoc genere molestum quod in maximis Animis splendidissimisque ingeniis