I have now gone through so many of the celebrated Axioms, concerning Nature, that, I hope, I may reasonably presume, that the other Sentences of this kind, that my Haste makes me leave unmention’d, will be thought capable of being fairly explicated, and with Congruity to our Hypothesis, by the help of the Grounds already laid, since, with light Variations, they may be easily enough improv’d, and apply’d to those other Particulars, to which they are the most Analogous.
But this Intimation ought not to hinder me to make a Reflection, that not only is pertinent to this place, but which I desire may have Retrospect upon a great part of the whole precedent Discourse. And it is This, that, though we could not Intelligibly explicate all the particular Axioms about Nature, and the Phaenomena of Inanimate Bodies, that are thought, but not by me granted, to favour them by Mechanical Principles; it would not follow, that we must therefore yield up the whole Cause to the Naturists. For we have already shewn, and may do so yet further ere long, that the Supposition of such a Being, as they call Nature, is far from enabling Her Partizans to give intelligible Accounts of these and other Phaenomena of the Universe. And though our Doctrine should be granted to be, as well as that generally receiv’d about Nature, insufficient to give good Accounts of Things Corporeal: Yet I shall have this Advantage in this Case, that a less degree of Probability may serve, in Arguments imploy’d but to justifie a Doubt, than is requir’d in Those that are to demonstrate an Assertion.
‘Tis true, that the Naturists tell us, that the Nature they assert is the Principle of all Motions and Operations in Bodies; which infers, that in explicating Them, we must have recourse to Her. But before we acquiesce in, or confidently employ, this Principle, it were very fit we knew what it is. This Question I have discours’d of in the Section: But having there intimated a Reference to another Place, the Importance, as well as Difficulty of the Subject, invites me to resume in this Place the Consideration of It; and both vary and add to what I formerly noted, that I may as well inculcate as clear my Thoughts about It. I demand then of Those, that assert such a Nature as is vulgarly describ’d, whether it be a Substance or an Accident? If it be the later, it should be declar’d, what kind of Accident it is; how a Solitary Accident can have Right to all those Attributes, and can produce those numerous, manifold, and wonderful Effects, that they ascribe to Nature; and why a complex of such Accidents, as are the Mechanical affections of Matter, (as Figure, Bulk, Motion, &c.) may not altogether, as probably as that Accident they call Nature, be conceived to have been Instituted by the perfectly Wise Author of the Universe, to produce those Changes among Bodies, which are (at least for the most part,) intelligibly referable to Them? And if Things be not brought to pass by their Intervention, ‘twere very fit, as well as desirable, that we should be Inform’d, by what other Particular and Intelligible Means Nature can effect them better, than they may be by that Complex.
But if it be said, as by Most it is, that the Principle, call’d Nature, is a Substance, I shall next demand, Whether it be a Corporeal, or an Immaterial One? If it be said to be an Immaterial Substance, I shall further ask, Whether it be a Created One, or not? If it be not, then we have God under another Name, and our Dispute is at an End, by the removal of its Object or Subject, which is said by the Schools to be God’s Vicegerent, not God Himself. But if Nature be affirm’d (as She is, at least by all Christian Philosophers,) to be a Created Being, I then demand, Whether or no She be endowed with understanding, so as to know what she does, and for what Ends, and by what Laws She ought to Act? If the Answer be Negative, the Supposition of Nature will be of very little Use to afford an intelligible Account of Things; an unintelligent Nature being liable to the Objections, that will a little below be met with against the usefulness of Nature, in case She be suppos’d a Corporeal Being. And though it should be said, that Nature is endowed with Understanding, and performs such Functions as divers of the Antients ascribe to the Soul of the World; besides, that this Hypothesis is near of kin to Heathenism, I do not think, that they who shall with many Grecian, and other Philosophers, who preceded Christianism, suppose a kind of Soul of the Universe, will find this Principle sufficient to explicate the Phaenomena of It. For if we may compare the Macrocosm and Microcosm in This, as well as many are wont to do in other Things; we may conceive, that, though Nature be admitted to be indowed with Reason, yet a multitude of Phaenomena may be Mechanically produc’d, winhout Her immediate Intervention; as we see that in Man, though the Rational Soul has so narrow a Province to take care of, as the Human Body, and is suppos’d to be intimately united to all the Parts of It; yet, abundance of things are done in the Body by the Mechanism of it, without being produc’d by that Soul. Of this we may alledge, as an Instance, that, in Sleep, the Circulation of the Blood, the regular Beating of the Heart, Digestion, Nutrition, Respiration, &c. are perform’d without the immediate. Agency, or so much as the actual Knowledge, of the Mind. And, when a Man is awake, many things are done in his Body, not only without the Direction, but against the Bent of his Mind; as often happens in Cramps and other Convulsions, Coughing, Yawnings, &c. Nay, though some Brutes, as particularly Apes, have the Structure of many Parts of their Bodies very like that of the Analogous Ones of Human Bodies: Yet, that admirable Work of the Formation and Organization of the Foetus, or little Animal, in the Womb, is granted by Philosophers to be made by the Soul of the Brute (that is therefore said to be the Architect of his own Mansion,) which yet is neither an Incorporeal, nor a Rational Substance. And, even in a Human Foetus, if we will admit the general Opinion of Philosophers, Physitians, Divines and Lawyers, I may be allowed to observe, that the Human Body, as exquisite an Engine as ‘tis justly esteem’d, is form’d without the Intervention of the rational Soul, which is not infus’d into the Body, ‘till This hath obtain’d an Organization, that fits it to receive such a Guest; which is commonly reputed to happen about the end of the Sixth Week, or before that of the Seventh. And this Consideration leads me a little further, and prompts me to ask, How much, by the Supposition or Knowledge of the Mind, (at the newly mention’d time,) we are enabled to explicate the Manner, How the foremention’d Functions of an Embryo are perform’d, when at the end of six or seven Week the Rational Soul supervenes and comes to be united to this living Engine?
And, if it be urg’d, that Nature being the Principle of Motion in Bodies, their various Motions, at least, which amount to a considerable Part of their Phaenomena, must be explainid by having recourse to Her: I answer, that ‘tis very difficult to conceive, how a Created Substance, that is Immaterial, can by a Physical Power or Action move a Body: The Agent having no impenetrable Part, wherewith to impell the Corporeal Mobile. I know, that God, who is an mmaterial Spirit, ought to be acknowledg’d the Primary Cause of Motion in Matter, because (as we may justly with Monsieur Des Cartes infer,) Motion not belonging to Corporeal Substance, as such; This must owe That to an Incorporeal One. But then, I consider, that there is that infinite Distance between the Incomprehensible Creator, and the least imperfect Order of his Creatures, that we ought to be very Cautious, how we make Parallels between Him and Them, and draw Inferences from His Power & manner of Acting to Theirs. Since He, for Instance, can immediately act upon Human Souls, as having Created Them, but they are not able so to act upon one another. And I think it the more difficult to conceive and admit, that, if Nature be an Incorporeal Substance, She should be the greater Mover of the Mundane Matter, because we see, that, in a Human Body, the Rational Soul, (which the School-Philosophers assert to be an Immaterial Spirit,) tho’ vitally united to it, can only determin the Motion of some of the Parts, but not give Motion to any, or so much as Regulate it in most. And, if Nature be said to move Bodies in another than a Physical Way, I doubt, whether the Supposition of such a Principle will be of much Use to Physiologers in explicating Phaenomena; since I shall scarce think him an Inquisitive or a Judicious Doctor, who should imagine, that he explains, that it gives an intelligible and particular Account of the astonishing Symptoms of those strange Diseases, that divers very Learned and Sober Physitians impute to Witchcraft, when he says, that those strange Distortions and convulsive Motions, for Instance, and other Prodigious Effects, were produc’d by a wicked immaterial Spirit, call’d a Devil. But having to this purpose said more in another Paper, which you may command the Sight of, I shall not trouble you with it here.
The past Discourse opposes their Opinion, who assert Nature to be an Immaterial Creature. But because ‘tis thought, that a greater Number of Philosophers, at least among the Moderns, take Her to be Corporeal, I shall now address my Discourse to their Hypothesis. And though I might object, that, if Nature be a Body, it may be demanded, How She can produce, in Men, Rational Souls, that are Immaterial Beings, and not capable to be produc’d by any Subtiliation or other Change of Matter whatsoever? Yet, waving this Objection, I shall first demand, Whether Those, I reason with, believe Nature, though Corporeal, to act Knowingly, i. e. with Consciousness of what She does, and for pre-designed Ends; or else to be blindly and necessarily moved and directed by a Superior Agent, indow’d with (what She wants,) an excellent Understanding; and then I shall represent a few things, appliable some to one or the other of the two Answers, that may be made, and some to both.
And first, the Cartesians would ask, How, if Nature be a Corporeal Substance, we can conceive Her capable of Thinking; and, which is more, of being a most Wise and Provident Director of all the Motions that are made in the Corporeal World?
Secondly, A Philosophizer may justly ask, How a Corporeal Being can so pervade, and, as it were, com-penetrate the Universe, as to be intimately present with all its Minute Parts, whereof yet ‘tis said to be the Principle of Motion?
Thirdly, He may also demand, Whence Nature, being a Material Substance, comes itself to have Motion, whereof ‘tis said to be the Principle? Since Motion does not belong to Matter in itself, and a Body is as truly a Body when it rests, as when it moves. And, if it be answer’d, that the First Cause, that is, God, did at first put it into Motion; I reply, that the same Cause may, at least as probably, be suppos’d to have put the unquestion’d Mundane Matter into Motion, without the Intervention of another Corporeal Being, in whose Conception, (i. e. as ‘tis Matter,) Motion is not involv’d.
Fourthly, It may likewise be ask’d, How the Laws of Motion come to be observ’d or maintain’d by a Corporeal Being? which, as merely such, is either uncapable of understanding them, or of acting with respect to them, or at least is not necessarily endow’d with any knowledge of them, or power to conform to them, & to make all the Parts of the unquestion’d Mundane Matter do so too.
Fifthly, And I do not see, how the taking in such an unintelligent & undesigning Principle will free our Understandings from great Difficulties, when we come to explicate the Phaenomena of Bodies. For, as is elsewhere noted, if Nature be a Bodily Creature, and acts necessarily, and (if I may so speak,) fatally, I see no Cause to look upon It but as a kind of Engine; and the Difficulty may be as great, to conceive how all the several Parts of this supposed Engine, call’d Nature, are themselves fram’d and mov’d by the Great Author of Things, and how they act upon one another, as well as upon the undoubted Mundane Bodies; as ‘tis to conceive how, in the World itself, which is manifestly an admirably contriv’d Automaton, the Phaenomena may, by the same Author, (who was able to endow Bodies themselves with Active Powers, as well as he could, on other scores, make them Causes,) be produc’d by Vertue, and in consequence of the Primitive Construction and Motions that He gave it (and still maintains in it,) without the Intervention of such a thing, as they call Nature. For This, as well as the World, being a Corporeal Creature, we cannot conceive, that either of them act otherwise than Mechanically. And it seems very suitable to the Divine Wisdom, that is so excellently display’d in the Fabrick and Conduct of the Universe, to imploy in the World, already fram’d and compleated, the fewest and most simple Means, by which the Phaenomena, design’d to be exhibited in the World, could be produc’d. Nor need we be much mov’d by hearing some Naturists say, that Nature, though not an Incorporeal Being, is of an Order Superior to mere Matter; as divers of the School-men teach the Things, they call Material Forms to be. For, who can clearly conceive an Order or Kind of Beings, that shall be Real Substances, and yet neither Corporeal nor Immaterial? Nor do I see, how the Supposition of this Unintelligible, or at least Unintelligent Being, though we should grant it to have a kind of Life or Soul, will much assist us to explicate the Phaenomena; as if a Man be acquainted with the Construction of Mills, he he may as well conceive, how Corn is ground by a Mill, driven by the Wind or by a Stream of Water, which are Brute and Senseless Beings, as he can by knowing, that ‘tis kept at Work by a Horse, who, though an Animated Being, acts in our Case but as a Part of an Engine that is determin’d to go round, and who does neither intend to grind the Corn, nor know that he grinds It.
And in this Place (though perhaps not the very fittest,) I may Question, With what Congruity to their Master’s Doctrine, the SchoolPhilosophers teach, that Nature is the Principle of Motion in all the Bodies, they call Natural. For, not to urge, that those great Masses of Sublunary Matter, to which they give the Name of Elements, and the Mixt Bodies, that consist of them, are, by divers learned Men, said to be mov’d to or from the Centre of the Earth, by distinct Internal Principles, which they call Gravity in the Earth and Water, and Levity in the Fire and Air; and that there is ascrib’d also to every compounded Body, that Quality of the Two, which belongs to the Element that predominates in It. Not to urge this, I say, consider, that the Coelestial Part of the World does so far exceed the Sub-Coelestial in Vastness, that there is scarce any Comparison between them; and yet the Generality of the Peripateticks, after Aristotle, tell us, that the Coelestial Globes of Light, and the vast Orbs they suppose them to be fix’d in, are mov’d from West to East by Intelligences, that is, Rational and Separate Beings, without whose Conduct they presume, that the Motions of the Heavens could not be so Regular and Durable, as we see they are. So that, in that Part of the Universe, which is incompararably vaster than the Sublunary is, Intelligences being the Causes of Motion, there is no Recourse to be had to Nature, as the true and internal Principle of It.
And here it may not, perhaps, be improper to declare somewhat more fully a Point already touch’d upon, namely, that, if to know what is the general Efficient Cause of Motion, can much contribute to the Explication of particular Phaenomena; the Hypothesis of those Naturists I now reason with, will have no considerable Advantage, if any at all of Ours; which derives them from the Primitive Impulse given by God to Matter, and from the Mechanical Affections of the greater and lesser Portions of It. For ‘tis all one to Him, that would declare by what particular Motion, as Swift, Slow, Uniform, Accelerated, Direct, Circular, Parabolical, &c. this or that Phaenomenon is produc’d; to know, whether the Motions of the Parts of Matter were Originally impress’d on them by Nature, or immediately by God; unless it be, that He, being of infinitely Perfect Knowledge, may be, more probably than a Creature, suppos’d to have at first produc’d in Matter Motions best accommodated to the Phaenomena, that were to be exhibited in the World. Nor do I see sufficient Cause to grant, that Nature Herself (whatever She be,) produces any Motion de Novo, but only, that She transfers and regulates That, which was communicated to Matter at the beginning of Things: (As we formerly noted, that in the Human Body, the Rational Soul or Mind has no Power to make new Motions, but only to direct those of the Spirits and of the grosser Organs and Instruments of voluntary Motion.) For, besides that many of the Modern Naturalists approve of the Cartesian Opinion, That the same Quantity of Motion is always preserv’d in the whole Mass of of the Mundane Matter, that was communicated to it at first, though it be perpetually transferring it from one Part to another: Besides this, I say, I consider, that, if Nature produces in these & those Bodies Motion, that were never before in Beings; (unless much Motion be annihilated, which is a thing as yet unprov’d,) the Quantity of Motion in the Universe must have for some Thousands of Years perpetually increas’d, and must continue to do so; which is a Concession, that would much disorder the whole Theory of Local Motion, and much perplex Philosophers, instead of assisting Them, in explicating the Phaenomena of Bodies.
And as for the Effects of Local Motion in the Parts of the Universal Matter, which Effects make a great Part of the Phaenomena of the World: After what I have formerly declar’d, you will not wonder to hear me confess, that, to me, the Supposition of Nature, whether Men will have Her an Immaterial or Corporeal Substance, and either without Knowledge or else indowed with Understanding, doth not seem absolutely Necessary, nor perhaps very Useful, to make us comprehend, how they are produc’d. The Bodies of Animals, are divers of them little less curiously fram’d than Mens, and most of them more exquisitely, than, for ought we know, the great Inanimate Mass of the Corporeal World is: And yet, in the Judgment of no mean Naturalists, some of the Mechanical Philosophers, that deny Cogitation, and even Sense properly so call’d, to Beasts, do, at least as Intelligibly and Plausibly, as those that ascribe to them Souls indow’d with such Faculties as make them scarce more than gradually different from Human Ones, explicate the Phaenomena that are observ’d in them. And I know not, whether I may not on this Occasion add, that the Peripateticks themselves, especially the Moderns, teach some things, whence One may argue, that the Necessity of recurring to Nature does not reach to so many things by far, as is by them suppos’d. For the Efformation (or Framing) of the Bodies of Plants and Animals, which are by great odds the finest pieces of Workmanship to be met with among Bodies, is ascrib’d not immediately to Nature, but to the Soul itself, which they will have to be the Author of the Organization of the Body, and therefore call it the Architect of its own Mansion; which, they say, that it frames by an Innate Power and Skill, that some call Plastick, and to which others give other Names. And unto the same Soul, operating by Her several Functions, they attribute the Concoction of Aliments, the Expulsion of Excrements, the Production of Milk, Semen, &c. the Appetitive, Loco-motive, and I know not how many other Faculties, ascrib’d to Living Bodies. And, even in many Inanimate Ones, the noblest Properties and Operations are, by the same School-Philosophers, attributed to what they call their Substantial Forms; since from These they derive the wonderful Properties of the Load-stone, the attractive Faculty of Amber and other Electricks, and the Medical Vertues of Gems and other Mineral Bodies, whether Consistent or Fluid.
But not to insist on this Argument, because ‘tis but ad Hominem, (as they speak,) if we consider the Thing itself, by a free Examen of the pretended Explanations, that the Vulgar Philosophers are wont, by recurring to Nature, to give of the Phaenomena of the Universe; we shall not easily look on those Accounts, as meriting the Name of Explications. For to explicate a Phaenomenon, ‘tis not enough to ascribe it to one general Efficient, but we must intelligibly shew the particular manner, how that general Cause produces the propos’d Effect. He must be a very dull Enquirer, who, demanding an Account of the Phaenomena of a Watch, shall rest satisfied with being told, that ‘tis an Engine made by a Watch-Maker; though nothing be thereby declar’d of the Structure and Co-aptation of the Spring, Wheels, Ballance, and other Parts of the Engine; and the manner, how they act on one another, so as to cooperate to make the Needle point out the true Hour of the Day. And (to improve to my present purpose an Example formerly touch’d upon,) as he that knows the Structure and other Mechanical Affections of a Watch, will be able by Them to explicate the Phaenomena of It, without supposing, that it has a Soul or Life to be the internal Principle of its Motions or Operations; so he, that does not understand the Mechanism of a Watch, will never be enabled to give a rational Account of the Operations of It, by supposing, as those of Chiness did, when the Jesuits first brought Watches thither, that a Watch is an European Animal, or Living Body, and indow’d with a Soul. This Comparison seems not ill to befit the Occasion of propounding It; but to second It by another, that is more purely Physical; when a Person, unacquainted with the Mathematicks, admires to see, That the Sun rises and sets in Winter in some Parts of the Horizon, and in Summer in Others, distant enough from them; that the Day, in the former Season, is by great odds shorter than in the Later, and sometimes (as some days before the Middle of March and of Sept.) the Days are equal to the Night; that the Moon is sometimes seen in Conjunction with the Sun, and sometimes in Opposition to Him; and, between those two States, is every Day variously illuminated; and, that sometimes one of those Planets, and sometimes another, suffers an Eclipse; this Person, I say, will be much assisted to understand, how these things are brought to pass, if he be taught the clear Mathematical Elements of Astronomy. But, if he be of a Temper to reject these Explications, as too defective, ‘tis not like, that it will satisfie him, to tell him after Aristotle and the School-Men, That the Orbs of the Sun and Moon, and other Coelestial Spheres, are mov’d by Angels or Intelligences; since to refer him to such general and undetermin’d Causes, will little, or not at all, assist him to understand, how the recited Phaenomena are produc’d.
If it be here objected, That these Examples are drawn from Factitious, not from merely Physical, Bodies; I shall return this brief Answer, and desire that it be apply’d not only to the Two freshly mention’d Examples, but to All of the like Kind, that may be met with in this whole Treatise, (near the Beginning of which, had I remember’d it, something to the same purpose should have had Place.) I say then in short, that divers of the Instances we are speaking of are intended but for Illustrations; and that others may be useful Instances, if they should be no more than Analogous Ones: Since Examples, drawn from Artificial Bodies and Things, may have both the Advantage of being more clearly conceiv’d by ordinary Understandings, and That of being less obnoxious to be Question’d in that Particular, in which the Comparison or Correspondence consists. And I the less scruple to imploy such Examples, because Aristotle himself, and some of his more learned Followers, make Use of divers Comparisons, drawn from the Figures and other Accidents of Artificial Things, to give an Account of Physical Subjects, and even of the Generation, Corruption and Forms of Natural Bodies.
This Advertisement premis’d, I persue the Discourse it interrupted, by adding, That thus we see That confirm’d, which was formerly observ’d, namely, that though Mechanical Principles could not be satisfactorily imploy’d for explaining the Phaenomena of our World; we must not therefore necessarily recur to, and acquiesce in, that Principle, that Men call Nature, since neither will That intelligibly explain Them: But in that Case, we should ingeniously confess, That we are yet at a loss, how they are perform’d; and that this Ignorance proceeds, rather from the Natural Imperfection of our Understandings, than from our not preferring Nature (in the Vulgar Notion of It,) to the Mechanical Principles, in the Explication of the Phaenomena of the Universe. For whereas Monsieur Des Cartes, and other acute Men, confidently teach, that there are scarce any of these Phaenomena, that have been truly and intelligibly deduc’d from the Principles peculiar to the Aristotelians and School-Philosophers; it will scarce be deny’d by any that is acquainted with Physico-Mathematical Disciplines, such as Opticks, Astronomy, Hydrostaticks, and Mechanicks, more strictly so call’d, but that very many Effects (whereof Some have been handled in this present Tract,) are clearly explicable by Mechanical Principles; which, for that Reason, Aristotle himself often imploys in his Quaestiones Mechanicae and elswhere. So that, if because the Corpuscularian Principles, cannot be satisfactorily made Use of to account for all that happens among Things Corporeal, we must refuse to acquiesce in them: It is but just, that, since a Recourse to what is call’d Nature is yet more dark and insufficient, at least, we must reject as well the Later as the Former Hypothesis, and endeavour to find some Other preferrable to Both.
And now, if it be demanded, what Benefit may redound to a Reader from the Explications given in the foregoing Seventh Section? and in general, from the Troublesome, as well as Free, Enquiry, whereof they make a considerable Part? I shall Answer, That I am not quite out of Hope, that the Things hitherto discours’d may do some Services both to Natural Philophy and to Religion.
And as to the first of these; this Tract may be of Use to the cultivaters of that Science, by dissuading them from employing often, and without great need, in their Philosophical Discourses and Writings, a Term, (I mean Nature,) which, by reason of its great Ambiguity, and the little or no Care, which Those that use It are wont to take, to distinguish its different Acceptions, occasions both a great deal of Darkness and Confusedness in what Men say and write about Things Corporeal; and a multitude of Controversies, wherein really Men do but wrangle about Words, whilst they think they dispute of Things; and perhaps would not differ at all, if they had the Skill or Luck to express themselves clearly. Besides which Service, the past Discourse may do this Other, to wean Many from the fond Conceit they cherish, that they understand or explicate a Corporeal Subject or a Phaenomenon, when they ascribe it to Nature. For to do That, One needs not be a Philosopher, since a Country Swain may easily do the same Thing.
On this Occasion, I must not forbear to take notice, that the unskilful Use of Terms of far less Extent and Importance, and also less Ambiguous, than the word Nature is, has been, and still is, no small Impediment to the Progress of Sound Philosophy. For not only the greatest Part both of Physitians (though otherwise learned Men,) and of Chymists; but the Generality of Physiologers too, have thought, that they have done their Part, though not on all Occasions yet on very Many, when they have referr’d an Effect or a Phaenomenon to some such Things as those, that are presum’d to be Real Qualities; or are by some styl’d Natural Powers; or are by others, by a more comprehensive and more usual Name, (which therefore here chiefly imploy,) call’d Faculties; for each of which they are wont to form a Name, fit for Their purpose: Though they do not intelligibly declare, what this Faculty is, and in what manner the Operations they ascribe to It, are perform’d by It. Thus the attractive Faculty ascrib’d to a Man, that is enabled by Nature’s (presum’d) abhorrence of a Vacuum, to suck up Drink through a Straw or Pipe, has been for many Ages acquiesced in, as the true Cause of the Ascension of that Liquor in Suction; of which nevertheless the Modern Philosophers, that have slighted Explications deriv’d merely from Faculties, have assign’d (as has been already declar’d,) Intelligible, and even Mechanical Causes. The Power that a Load-stone has with one Pole to attract (as they speak,) the Northern Point of the Mariner’s Needle, and with the Other to drive it away, is look’d upon as one of the Noblest and most proper Faculties of that admirable Stone. And yet I elsewhere shew, how in a very small, indeed, but true and natural Magnet, I have, by a bare, and sometimes invisible, Change of Texture, given that Extream of the Magnet, that before drew the Southern Point of the Needle, the Power to draw the Northern, and to the opposite Extream, the Power to drive it away: So much does even this wonderful attractive Faculty, as ‘tis call’d, depend upon the Mechanical Structure of the Mineral, and its Relation to other Bodies, among which ‘tis plac’d, especially the Globe of the Earth, and its Magnetical Effluvia.
But because in another Paper, I purposely discourse of what Naturists call Faculties, I shall here content my self to note in general, that the Term Faculty may, indeed, be allowed of, if. It be applied as a compendious Form of Speech, but not as denoting a real and distinct Agent; since in reality the Power or Faculty of a Thing is (at least) oftentimes but the Matter of It, made Operative by some of its Mechanical Modifications; [I say, some, because the Complex of all makes up its Particular Nature.] And with how little Scruple soever, Men commonly speak of Faculties, as supposing Them to be distinct and active Principles; yet this Condition does not necessarily belong to them. For sometimes, if not frequently, the Effect, of what is reputed a Natural Power of Faculty, is produc’d by the Texture, Figure, and, in a word, Mechanical Disposition of the Agent; whereby it determines the Action of a remoter Agent to the produc’d Effect. Thus in a Clock, to make the Ballance vibrate, to point at the Hour, to make, at set times, the Hammer strike upon the Bell, are but different Effects of the Weight or Spring, that sets and keeps the Engine in Motion. And so a Key may either acquire or lose its Power of opening a Door (which, perhaps, some School-Men would call its aperitive Faculty,) by a Change, not made in itself, but in the Locks it is apply’d to, or in the Motion of the Hand that manages It. And least it should be objected, that these Instances are taken wholly from Artificial Bodies, I shall add, that, when a clear Piece of Native Chrystal has obtain’d, as it often does, a good Prismatical Shape, and is, in a due Position, expos’d to the Sun-beams; its Figuration, by inabling it to refract and reflect those Beams after a certain Manner, gives it a Colorifick Faculty, whereby it is inabled to exhibit that wonderful and pleasing variety of Colours, that emulate, if not surpass, those of the Rain-bow. And so in a Concave Metalline Looking-glass, though there seem to be many distinct Faculties, such as that of Reflecting, Inverting, Magnifying divers Objects, and Melting, Burning, &c. several Bodies; yet all these Powers are but the genuine Consequences of the Figure, Capacity and Smoothness, which are Mechanical Affections of the Matter of the Speculum. And, indeed, if I judge aright, (though what I am going to say will seem a Paradox,) yet many Qualities of very many Bodies are but lasting Dispositions to be thus or thus wrought upon by the Action of External Agents, and also (perchance) to modifie that Action; as we see, that the Power of making an Eccho, that is observ’d in divers hollow Places, is nothing but the Mechanical Disposition, their Figure and Resistence gives them to reflect a Sound. And, to resume the lately mention’d Instance of a Key, we may add, that, by bare Position, either End of it, especially if the Key be long, may be made to acquire or lose a Transient Magnetick Faculty from the Effluvia of that great Magnet, the Earth; and that also the same Key may, in a few Moments, acquire a durable Magnetism, by a Mechanical Change receiv’d from the Load-stone, as is known to Those, that are any thing vers’d in the Philosophy of that wonderful Mineral.
And to me it seems likely, that one main Reason, why learned Men have ascrib’d such inherent and active Powers, as they call Faculties, to so many Bodies, is, because that, not being conversant enough with Natural and Artificial Things, they did not duly perpend, how great a Difference there may be between a Body consider’d absolutely, or by itself, and the same Body consider’d in such Circumstances, as it may be found in. For in some Cases a Physical Body many have strange Things justly ascrib’d to It, though not as ‘tis such a Body consider’d simply, or unassociated with other Bodies; but as ‘tis plac’d among congruous Ones, and makes the Principal or most Operative Part of a compounded Body, or of the Complex of Bodies it is joyn’d with, and which are of such determinate Structures, as are convenient for the Phaenomena, to be exhibited. This may be Analogically seen in what happens to a Spring. For if, being bent, ‘tis held in Ones Hand, or crouded into a Box, ‘tis but a Simple thing, that does only, by its Expansive Endeavour, strive to remove the Bodies that keep it compress’d. But in a curious Watch, it may, by virtue of the Structure of that Engine, become the Principle of I know not how many differing, and perhaps contrary, Motions, among the Parts of It; and of many notable Phaenomena and Effects exhibited or produc’d thereby. This Reflection may, perhaps, be improv’d, if I here add, that, in many Bodies, a Fluid Substance, determin’d to convenient Motions, may be equivalent to an Internal Spring; especially if it be assisted by friendly External Agents. This may be illustrated by considering, that if One that plays skilfully on a Flute, blow out of his Mouth into the open Air, he will but turn it into a vapid Aereal Stream: But if this Wind duly pass into the Instrument, and be modify’d there by the Musician’s Fingers and Skill, the simple Stream of Air may be form’d into very various and melodious Tunes. Thus Gunpowder artificially temper’d, tho’, if it be fir’d in the open Air, it will give only a rude and sudden Flash, that presently vanishes; yet, if it be skilfully dispos’d of in Rockets and other well-contriv’d Instruments, and then kindled, it will exhibit a great and pleasing variety of Shining Bodies and Phaenomena, that are justly admir’d in the best sort of Artificial Fire-works. A Physical Instance also, in favour of our Analogical or Vicarious Springs (if I may so call them,) is afforded me by the Bulbs of Onions, and the Roots of Aloes, commonly call’d Semper-vive, and some other Vegetables, which in the Spring being expos’d to the Air, the Juices and Spirits, contain’d in them, will be so agitated by the Warmth of that Season, and so modify’d by the particular Structure of the more firm Parts, that, though neither Earth nor Rain co-operate, they will shoot forth green Stalks or Leaves for many Weeks together, as if they were planted in a good Soil; (though the Matter of these green Productions be furnish’d by the radical Parts themselves, as may be argued both from the manifest Diminution of the Bulb in Bigness, and the great and gradual Decrement in Weight, that I observ’d in making Experiments of this King. And so also the Air, which is an External Fluid, concurring with the Juices and Spirits of divers Insects and other cold Animals, may both be put into Motion, and have that Motion so determin’d by their Organization, as to recover in the Spring or Summer, as it were, a new Life, after they have lain moveless and like dead Things, all the Winter; as we see in Flies, that, in a hot Air, quickly recover Motion and Sense, after having lost Both, for perhaps many Months. And the like Change may be far more suddenly observ’d in Them, in the warmer Seasons of the Year, when the Air is drawn from Them by the Pneumatick Pump, and afterwards permitted to enliven Them again. And to give another Instance, that may possibly please better, (because, as ‘tis purely Physical, so ‘tis Simple and very Conspicuous,) tho’ that which the Sun-beams are wont primarily to produce be but Light and, perhaps, Heat; yet falling in a due Manner upon a rorid Cloud, they form there the Figure of a vast Bow, and, being variously reflected and, refracted, adorn it with the several Colours, Men admire in the Rain-Bow.
But I must not farther prosecute an Observation, that I mention’d but occasionally, as an Instance whereby to shew, that the advancement of solid Philosophy may be much hinder’d by Mens Custom of assigning, as true causes of Physical Effects, Imaginary Things or perhaps Arbitrary Names; among which none seems to have had a more malevolent Influence upon Physiology than the Term Nature, none having been so frequently and confidently us’d, or imploy’d to so many differing Purposes. And therefore, though I would not totally forbid the Use of the word Nature, nor of Expressions of Kin to It, in Popular Discourses or even in some Philosophical Ones, where Accurateness is not requir’d or Ambiguity is prevented by the Context; nor (to dispatch) whereit may be imploy’d as a compendious form of speech, without danger to Truth, or Prejudice to Sound Philosophy, (in which Cases I myself forbear not the Use of It;) yet, I hope, our Free Enquiry may (somewhat at least,) conduce to the more skilful Indagation, and happy Discovery, of Physical Truths, if it can perswade Men to make Use less frequently, and with more Circumspection, of so ambiguous, and so often abus’d, a Term as Nature; and cease to presume, that a Man has well perform’d the part of a true Physiologer, till he have circumstantially or particularly deduc’d the Phaenomenon he considers, by Intelligible Ways, from Intelligible Principles. Which he will be constantly put in Mind of doing, or discover that he hath not done it; if, by forbearing general and ambiguous Terms and Words, he endeavours to explain Things by Expressions, that are clear to all attentive Readers, furnish’d with an ordinary measure of Understanding and Reason. And this perspicuous Way of Philosophizing should be not a little recommended to ingenious Men, by the valuable Discoveries, which Those that have imploy’d it, in their Researches and Explications of difficult Things, have in this Inquisitive Age happily made, not only about the various Phaenomena, commonly referr’d to the Fuga Vacui; but in the Hydrostaticks, Opticks, Anatomy, Botanicks, and divers other Parts of real Learning, that I cannot now stay to enumerate. And thus much it may possibly be sufficient to have said, about the Service our Doctrine may do Natural Philosophy.
As for Religion, if what I have formerly said in favour of it be duly consider’d and apply’d, the past Discourse will not appear unfriendly, nor perhaps useless, to It. And therefore, if I do here abridge what I have there said, and add to it some Considerations, that were fit to be reserv’d for this Place; I hope the Doctrine, we have propos’d, may appear fit to do it a threefold Service.
I. And in the First Place, Our Doctrine may keep Many, that were wont, or are inclin’d, to have an excessive Veneration for what they call Nature, from running, or being seduc’d, into those Extravagant and Sacrilegious Errors, that have been upon plausible Pretences imbrac’d not only by many of the old Heathen Philosophers but, by divers Modern Professors of Christianity, who have of late reviv’d, under new Names and Dresses, the impious Errors of the Gentiles. This I venture to say, because many of the Heathen Writers, as hath been shewn in the Fourth Section, ackonwledg’d indeed a God (as these also own they do,) but meant such a God, as they often too little discriminated from Matter, and even from the1 World; and as is very differing from the true One, ador’d by Christians and Jews: For Ours is a God, first, infinitely Perfect; and then secondly, by consequence, both Incorporeal and too Excellent to be so united to Matter, as to animate it like the Heathens Mundane Soul; or to become to any Body a Soul properly so call’d; and thirdly, Uncapable of being divided, & having either Human Souls or other Beings, as it were, torn or carv’d out, or otherwise separated from him, so as to be truly Parts or Portions of his own Substance.
2 Whereas, the Idolaters and Infidels I speak of, conceiv’d, under the Name of God, a Being, about which they dogmatically entertained Conceptions, which, tho’ different from one another, are much more so from the Truth.
For first, Most of Them thought Their God to be purely Corporeal, as, besides what Diogenes Laertius and Others relate, I remember Origen doth in several Places affirm. If you will believe3 Eusebius, the Ancient Aegyptian Theologers not only affirm’d the Sun, Moon and Stars to be Gods, but deny’d Incorporeal Substances, or Invisible Nature’s, to have fram’d the World, but only the Sun, that is discoverable to our Eyes. And this Corporiety of God seems manifestly to be the Opinion of Mr. Hobbs and his genuine Disciples, to divers of whose Principles and Dogmas it is as congruous, as ‘tis repugnant to Religion. But secondly, There are Others, that allow’d a Soul of the world, which was a Rational and Provident Being, together with the Corporeal Part of the Universe, especially Heaven, (which, I remember, Aristotle himself styles a4 Divine Body, (or, as some render his Expressions, the Body of God:) But withal, They held, that this Being did properly Inform this great Mass of the Universe, and so was, indeed, a Mundane Soul. And though some of our late Infidels (formerly pointed at in this Treatise,) pretend to be great Discoverers of new Light in this Affair, yet, as […] s I am inform’d of their Doctrine, it has much Affinity with, and is little or not at all better than That which I formerly noted out of Lactantius to have been asserted by the Stoicks, and the Doctrine which is express’d by Maximus (a Pagan) to St. Austin. Equidem Vnicum esse Deum summum atque magnificum, quis tam demens, tam mente captus, ut neg[…]t esse certissimum? Hujus nos virtutes per Mundanum opus diffusas, multis vocabulis invocamus, quoniam Nomen ejus Cuncti proprium ignoremus. Or by that Famous and Learned Roman, Varro, who is cited by St. Austin,5 to have said, Deum se arbitrari Animam Mundi, & hunc ipsum Mundum esse Deum: Sed sicut Hominem Sapientem, cum sit ex Animo & Corpore, tamen ab animo dicimus Sapientem; ita Mundum Deum dici ab Animo, cum sit ex Animo & Corpore.
The Doctrine, by us propos’d, may (‘tis hop’d,) much conduce to justifie some Remarkable Proceedings of Divine Providence, against those Cavillers, that boldly censure It, upon the account of some Things, that they judge to be Physical Irregularities, (for Moral Ones concern not this Discourse,) such as Monsters, Earth-quakes, Floods, Eruptions of Volcanos, Famines, &c. For, according to our Doctrine,—
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God is a most Free Agent, and Created the World, not out of necessity, but voluntarily, having fram’d It, as he pleas’d and thought fit, at the beginning of Things, when there was no Substance but Himself, and consequently no Creature, to which He could be oblig’d, or by which he could be limited.
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God having an Understanding infinitely Superior to that of Man, in Extent, Clearness, and other Excellencies, He may rationally be suppos’d to have fram’d so Great and Admirable an Automaton as the World, and the subordinate Engines compriz’d in it for several Ends and Purposes, some of them relating chiefly to His Corporeal, and others to His Rational Creatures; of which Ends, he hath vouchsafed to make Some discoverable by our dim Reason, but Others are probably not to be penetrated by it, but lye conceal’d in the deep Abyss of His Unfathomable Wisdom.
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It seems not Incongruous to conceive, that this most Excellent and Glorious Being thought fit to order Things so, that both His Works and Actions might bear some Signatures, and as it were Badges of His Attributes, and especially to stamp upon His Corporeal Works some Tokens or Impresses, discernable by Human Intellects, of His Divine Wisdom; an Attribute that may advantagiously disclose Itself to us Men, by producing a vast Multitude of Things, from as few, and as simple, Principles, and in as Vniform a Way, as, with Congruity to His other Attributes, is possible.
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According to this Supposition, it seems, that it became the Divine Author of the Vniverse to give It such a Structure, and such Powers, and to establish among its Parts such general and constant Laws, as best suited with His purposes in Creating the World; and, to give these Catholick Laws, and particular Parts or Bodies, such Subordinations to one another, and such References to the Original Fabrick of the Grand System of the World, that, on all particular occasions, the Welfare of inferior or private Portions of It, should be only so far provided for, as their Welfare is consistent with the general Laws setled by God in the Vniverse, and with Such of those Ends, that he propos’d to himself in framing It, as are more Considerable, than the Welfare of those particular Creatures.
Upon these Grounds, if we set aside the Consideration of Miracles, as Things supernatural, and of those Instances, wherein the Providence of the great Rector of the Universe, and Human Affairs, is pleas’d peculiarly to interpose; it may be rationally said, That God having an Infinite Understanding, to which all Things are at once in a manner Present, did, by vertue of it, clearly discern, what would happen, in consequence of the Laws by Him establish’d, in all the possible Combinations of Them, and in all the Junctures of Circumstances, wherein the Creatures concern’d in Them may be found. And, that having, when all these things were in His Prospect, setled among His Corporeal Works, general and standing Laws of Motion suited to His most Wise Ends, it seems very congruous to His Wisdom, to prefer (unless in the newly excepted Cases) Catholick Laws, and higher Ends, before subordinate Ones, and Uniformity in His Conduct before making changes in It according to every sort of particular Emergencies: And consequently, not to recede from the general Laws He at first most Wisely establish’d, to comply with the Appetites or the Needs of particular Creatures, or to prevent some seeming Irregularities (such as Earth-quakes, Floods, Famins, &c.) incommodious to Them, which are no other than such as He fore saw would happen (as the Eclipses of the Sun and Moon from time to time, the falling of Showers upon the Sea and Sandy Desarts, and the like must do, by vertue of the Original Disposition of Things,) and thought fit to ordain, or to permit, as not unsuitable to some or other of those Wise Ends, which He may have in His All-pervading View, who either as the Maker and Upholder of the Universe, or as the Sovereign Rector of His Rational Creatures, may have Ends, whether Physical, Moral, or Political; (if I may be allowed so to distinguish and name Them,) divers of which, for ought we can tell, or should presume, are known only to Himself, whence we may argue, that several Phaenomena, which seem to us Anomalous, may be very Congruous or Conducive to those secret Ends, and therefore are unfit to be censur’d by us, dim-sighted Mortals.
And indeed, the admirable Wisdom and Skill, that, in some conspicuous Instances, the Divine Opificer has display’d in the fitting of Things for such Ends and Uses, for which (among other purposes) He may rationally be suppos’d to have design’d Them, may justly persuade us, that His Skill would not appear Infeferiour in reference to the rest also of His Corporeal Works, if we could as well in These, as in Those, discern their particular final Causes. As if we suppose an excellent Letter about several Subjects, and to different Purposes, whereof some Parts were written in plain Characters, others in Cyphers, besides a third sort of Clauses, wherein both Kinds of Writing were variously mix’d, to be heedfully perus’d by a very intelligent Person, if he finds that those Passages, that he can understand, are excellently suited to the scopes that appear to be intended in them, it is Rational as well as Equitable in Him to conclude, that the Passages or Clauses of the third sort, if any of them seem to be insignificant, or even to make an Incongruous Sense, do it but because of the illegible Words; and that both these Passages, and Those written altogether in Cyphers, would be found no less worthy of the excellent6 Writer, than the plainest Parts of the Epistle, if the particular purposes, they were design’d for, were as clearly discernable by the Reader. And perhaps you will allow me to add, that by this way of ordering Things so, that, in some of God’s Works, the Ends or Uses may be manifest, and the exquisite fitness of the Means may be conspicuous; [as the Eye is manifestly made for seeing, and the Parts it consists of admirably fitted to make it an excellent Organ of Vision] and in others, the ends design’d seem to be beyond our reach: By this way, (I say) of managing Things, the most Wise Author of them does both gratifie our Understandings, and make us sensible of the Imperfection of Them.
If the Representation now made of Providence serve (as I hope it may,) to resolve some scruples about it; I know you will not think it useless to Religion. And though I should miss of my aim in it, yet since I do not dogmatize in what I propose about it, but freely submit my thoughts to better Judgments; I hope my well meant Endeavours will be, as well as the unsuccessful ones of abler Pens have been, excus’d by the scarce superable difficulty of the Subject. However, what I have propos’d about Providence, being written, rather to do a service to Theology, than as necessary to justifie a dissatisfaction with the Receiv’d Notion of Nature, that was grounded mainly upon Philosophical Objections; I hope our Free Enquiry may, though this Second Use of it should be quite laid aside, be thought not unserviceable to Religion, since the First Use of it, (above deliver’d) does not depend on my Notions about Providence, no more than the Third, which my Prolixity about the former makes it fit I should in few words dispatch.
III. The last then, but not the least, service, I hope our Doctrine may do Religion, is, that it may induce Men to pay their Admiration, their Praises, and their Thanks, directly to God Himself; who is the True and Only Creator of the Sun, Moon, Earth, and those other Creatures that Men are wont to call the Works of Nature. And in this way of expressing their Veneration of the True God, (who, in the Holy Scripture styles Himself a Iealous God, Exod. xx. 5.) and their gratitude to Him, they are warranted by the Examples of the ancient People of God, the Israelites, and not only by the Inspir’d Persons of the Old Testament, but by the Promulgators of the New Testament, and even by the Coelestial Spirits; who, in the last Book of It, are introduc’d,7 Praising and Thanking God himself for His Mundane Works, without taking any notice of His pretended Vice-gerent, Nature.
← Section 7 · Contents · The Conclusion →
Footnotes
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Thus the Stoicks, in Laertius, describe the World thus, Mundus est qui constat ex Coelo & Terra atque ex illorum Naturis; sive, Qui constat ex Diis & Hominibus, iisque Rebus quae Horum gratia conditae sunt. And of Chrysippus, one of the Patriarchs of that Sect, the same. Historian in the same Book says, Purissimum dixit ac liquidissimum Aethera, quem etiam primum asserunt Stoici esse Deum, sensibiliter veluti infusum esse, per ea quae sunt in Aere, per cunctas Animantes & Arbores, per Terram autem ipsam secundum Halitum. To which agrees not only that noted Passage of Virgil, Principio Coelum, &c.—But another, which I somewhat wonder Learned Men should read with no more Reflexion: Since he there gives the Sky the very Title of the High God: Tum Pater Omnipotens foecundis imbribus Aether, &c. ↩
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The Error here rejected, was the Opinion of many of the Heathen Philosophers, and particularly of the Stoical Sect; of whose Author, Laertius says, De Divina Substantia Zeno ait Mundum totum atque Coelum. And several Ethnick Philosophers, even after the Light of the Gospel began to shine in the World, adopted the Argument of the Elder Stoicks, who inferr’d the World to be Animated and Rational from the Nature of the Human Soul, which they thought a Portion of the Intelligent Part of the World, that some of them confounded with the Deity. For the Soicks (in Laertius) affirm, Mundum esse Animale & Rationale & Animatum ([…]) & Intelligibile. And ‘tis added, Mundum animatum esse, inde manifestum est, quod Anima nostra inde veluti avulsa sit. Thus Seneca, Quid est autem cur non existimes, in eo divini aliquid existere, quae Dei pars est? So Plutarch, speaking of the Soul, Non opus Solum Dei, sed & pars est; neque ab ipso, sed ex ipso nata est. And Epictetus, Animae ita alligatae & conjunctae Deo sunt, ut particulae ejus sint. ↩
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Praepar. lib. 3. cap. 4. ↩
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De Coelo l. 2. c. 3. ↩
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De Civit Dei lib. 7. cap. 6. ↩
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See the Discourse of Final Causes. ↩
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Rev. iv. 2. ↩