This Mother then beholding the Picture with great Application of Mind, and Commotion of Spirits, the Infant, according to the firft Suppolition, faw it with the like Application, and Com- motion. The Mother being fenfibly fmitten imitated the Picture, at leaft in outward pofture; according to the fecond Suppofition: For her Body being compleatly form'd, and the Fibres of her Flefli hard enough to withftand the torrent of the Spirits, fhe could not poffibly imitate it, or become perfectly like it in all things: But the Fibres of the Infant's Flefh, being extreamly foft, and confequently capable of being moulded into any Figure, the rapid courfe of the Spirits produc'd in his Flefh, all that was necefiary to render him entirely like the Image which he law: And the Imitation, to which Children are the moft difpos'd, was almoft as perfect as it poflibly could be. But this Imitation having given the Body of the Child a lhape too extraordinary, was the occafion of its Death.
There are many other Inftances to be met with in Authors of the Power of the Mother's Ima- gination j and there is nothing foodd or extravagant, but they fometimes mifcarry of: For they not only bring forth Deform'd and Mif-fhapen Children, but the Fruits they have long'd to Eat, as Apples, Pears, Grapes, and the like. The Mother ftrongly imagining, and impatiently long- ing to Eat Pears, for inftance 7 the Infant receives the fame impatient Longings, and ftrong Ima- gination Ghap. VII. The Search after Truth. $j ginations-, and the Current of the Spirits, aduated with the Image of the defir'd Fruit, dirRifmg it felf through the little Body^. which by reafon of it flexibility and foftnefs, is readily difpos'd for a change of its Figure; the. poor Infant is fafhion'd in the fhape of the thing it too ar- dently defives. But the Mother fuffers not in her Body by it, becaufe it is not foft and plyable enough, to receive the Figure of the thing imagined; and fb fhe cannot imitate, or make her felf Now it ought; to be fuppos'd that this Correfpondence I have been explaining, and which is fometimes the caufe of fuch great Diforders, is an unufeful thing, and an inconvenient Ordi- nance in Nature. On the contrary, it feems to be very advantagious to the Propagation of art Humane Body, and the Formation of the.Foetus; and it is abfolutely neceflary to the Tranfmit- ting feveral Difpofitions of the Brain, which ought to be different at different Seafons, and. in dif- ferent Countries. For it is neceflary, for inftance^ that Lambs in particular Countries, fliould have their Brain altogether difpos'd for the avoiding and flying Wolves; by reafon of their abounding in thofe places, and being very formidable Creatures to them.
It is true, this Communication between the Mother's and the Infant's Brain, is fometimes at- tended with unlucky Confequences; when the Mothers fuffer themfelves to be tranfported with fome outragious Paffion. Notwithstanding it feems to me, that without this Communication, Women and other Creatures could not eafily Propagate their Young Ones in the fame Species. For though fome Reafon may be given for the Formation of the Fcetw in general, as Monfieur Des- Curtes has happily enough attempted •, yet it is molt difficult, without this Communication of the Mother's Brain with that of the Infant, to explain why a Mare does not produce a Calf, and a Hen an Egg which contains a little Partridge, or fome other Bird of a new Species. And I am of opinion, that thofe who have thought much upon the Formation of the Foetus, will agree in the fame Notion. ( 'Tis true, that the molt reafonable Opinion, and that which is molt agreeable to Experience, touching that very difficult Queftion, about the Formation of the Foetus, is this; That Infants are already wholly form'd, even before the Action whereby they are conceiv'd; and that their Mothers only beftow upon them the ordinary Growth, in the time of their being big with them. Nevcrthelefs, this Communication of Animal Spirits, and of the Brain of the Mother, with the Spirits and Brain of the Infant, feems however to be ferviceable in regulating this Growth, and determining the parts imploy'd in its Nourilhment, to the poflruring themfelves almoft in the fame manner, as in the Body of the Mother. That is, in rendring the Infant like to, or of the fame Species. This is manifeft enough by the Accidents which occur, when the Imagination of the Mother is difbrdered, and fome tempeftuous Paffion -changes the Natural Difpoficion of her Brain. For then, as we have juft explain'd, this Communication alters the Natural Formation of the Infant's Body, and the Mother proves Abortive fometimes of her Foetus, fo much more refem- biing the Fruits fhe longed for, as the Spirits find lefsRefiftance in the Fibres of the Infant's Body, We deny not however, but GO D Almighty, without that Communication we have been men-' tioning, might have difpos'd all things neceflary to the Propagation of the Species, for infinite Ages, in fo exad and regular a manner, that Mothers fhould never have mifcarried, but have al- ways born Children of the fame Bignefs and Compledion; and perfectly alike in all things. For we ought not to meafure the Power of G O D by our weak Imagination; and we are ignorant of the Reafons, which might have determined Him in the Gonftrudion of his Work.
We daily fee, that without the help and afliftance of this Communication, Plants and Trees produce regularly enough their like; and that Birds, and many other AYtimals, Hand in no need of it for the Breeding and Hatching of their Young ones; when they brood upon Eggs of a diffe- rent Species; as when a Hen fits on the Eggs of a Partridge. For though we have reafon to fup- pofe, that the Seeds and Eggs have originally contained in them the Plants and Birds, which pro- ceed from them; and that the little Bodies of thefe Birds may have receiv'd their Conformation, by the Communication before- mentioned; and the Plants have receiv'd their's by another Commu- nication, which is equivalent: yet this perhaps would be but a Conjedure. But though it fhould be more than Conjedure, yet we ought in no wife to judge by the things which G O D has made, what thofe are which it is poflible for Him to make.
Yet if it beconfider'd, that Plants which receive their Growth from the Adion of their Mo- ther-plant, refemble it much more, than thofe which proceed from the Seeds; that the Tulips, for inftance, which arife from the Root, are of the fame colour with their Mother-Tulip; and that thofe which are deriv'd from the Seed, are generally very different: It cannot be doubted, but that if the Communication of the generating Plant with the generated, is not.abfolutely ne- ceflary to make it of the fame Species • it is always neceflary to make it of the fame Likcnefs.
So that, though it were fore-feen by GOD, that this Communication of the Mother's Brain, with the Brain of her Child, would fometimes be the occafion of the Death of the Foetus, and the Generation of Monfters; by reafon of the diforderly Imagination of the Mother: Yet this Communication is fo admirable, and fo neceflary, for the Reafons I have alledg'd, and for feve- ral others that might ftill be brought, that the fore-knowledge of thefe inconveniences ought not to have prevented G O D from executing his Defign. It may be affirrn'd in one Senfe, that GOD had never a Defign of making Monfters; for it feems evident to me, that fuppofinghe fliould make but one Animal, he would never make it Monflrous: But his Delign being to produce an admirably contriv'd Work, by the moft fimple means; and to unite all his Creatures to one another; he fore-faw certain Effeds, that would neceffarily follow from that Order, and Na- Q. ture 58 K Malebranche Concerning Book II0 ture of Things.* and that was not fufficient to make him change his Purp~bfe and Defign. For though, in conelufion, aMonfter, confider'd disjunctively, be an imperfect Work, yet when con- joyn'd with the reft of the Creation, it renders not the World imperfect.
We have fufficiently explain'd, what the Imagination of a Mother is capable of working, up- on the Body of her Child: Let us now examine the influence file has upon his Mind, and let us try to difcover the firft and topmoft irregularities of the Vnderfianding and Will of Men in their Original. For this is our main and principal Defign. IV. 'Tis certain that the Traces of the Brain are accompany'd with Senfations, and Idea's of the An Expti- gouj ^ ancj t[iat tne ]\/iotions of the Animal Spirits are never excited in the Body, but there are fme 'ire- Motions in the Soul correfpondent to them. In a word, it is certain that all the Corporeal Paf- guhrhies fions and Senfations, are attended with real Senfations and Paffions of the Soul. Now, according of theVn- to our firft Supposition, Mothers communicate to their Children the Traces of their Brain, and derfiani- COnfequendy the Motions of their Animal Spirits. Therefore they breed in the Mind of their ™MMio>n Infants the fame Senfations and Paffions themfelves are affe&ed with, and confeqiiently corrupt of the Will, their Moral and Intellectual Capacity fever al ways.
If it be fo common for Children to bear imprinted in their Faces the Marks, or Traces of the Idea, that made an impreffion on their Mother; though the Cutaneous Fibres make a ftronger re- finance to the current of the Spirits, than the foft and tender parts of the Brain, and the Spirits are in a greater Agitation in the Brain, than towards the Surface of the Body; it can't be rea- fonably doubted, but the Animal Spirits of the Mother produce in the Brain of their Children many Tracks and Footfteps of their diforderly Motions. Now the great Traces of the Brain, and the Emotions of the Spirits anfwering to them, being a long time preferv'd, and fometimes for the whole courfe of a Man's Life; it is plain, that as there are few Women but have their Weakneffes and Failings, and are difturb'd with fome Paffion or other during the Sea- fon of their Breeding, there muft needs be but few Children, but what bring into the World with them, a Mind fome way or other prepofteroufly fram'd, and are born Slaves to fome domineering Paffion.
We have but too frequent Experience of thefe things, and all Men know well enough, that there are whole Families fubjedf to great Weakneffes of Imagination, which have been heredita- rily tranfmitted from their Anceftors. But it would be unneceffary here to give particular in- ftances. On the contrary, it is more expedient for the Confolation of fome Perfons to affirm, that thefe Infirmities of their Fore-fathers, being not Natural, or effential to the Nature of Man, the Traces and Impreffes of the Brain, which were the caufe of them, may by degrees wear out, and in time be quite effac'd.
Yet it will not be amifs to relate here an Inftance of James I. King of England, which is men- tion'd by Sir Kenelm Digby, in his Book that he publifh'd concerning Sympatbetick Powder. He af- ferts in that Book, that Mary Stuart being big with King James, fome Scotch Lords rufh'd into her Chamber, and kill'd her Secretary, who was an Italian, before her Face, though fhe interpos'd her fclf between them, to prevent the Affaffmation; that this Princefs receiv'd fome flight hurts; and that the Fright fhe was put into, made fuch deep impreffions in her Imagination, as were com- municated to the Infant fhe bore in her Womb; infomuch that King James, her Son, was unable all his Life to behold a naked Sword: He fays he experimentally knew it, at the time he was Knighted. For the King, when he fhould have laid the Sword upon his Shoulder, run it directly againft his Face, and had wounded him with it, if fome one had not guided it to the proper place. There are fo many Examples of this kind, that it would be needlefs to turn over Authors for them: And, I believe, there is no body will difpute the truth of thefe things. For, in fhort, . we fee very many Perfons, that can't endure the fight of a Rat, a Moufe, a Cat, or a Frog, and efpecially creeping Creatures, as Snakes, and Serpents; and who know no other Reafon of thefe their extraordinary Averfions, than the Fears their Mothers were put in, by thefe feveral Crea- tures at the time of their going with Child.
But that which I would above all have obferv'd upon this fubject, is, That there are all ap- JinExpii- pearances imaginable of Men's preferving to this day in their Brain the Traces and Imprefliofls of cation of their firft Parents. For, as Animals produce others that are like them, and with the like imconcupi- prefles in their Brain; which are the Caufe that Animals of the fame Species have the fame Symfiet/ce, mi pathies and Antipathies, and perform the fame Adtions, at the fame junctures, and the like occa- V»!na fi°ns: So our F" ^ Parents» a^ter their sin, receiv'd fuch great Prints and deep Traces m their Brain, through the impreffion of fenfible Objedts, as might ealily have been communicated to their Children. Infomuch that the great Adhelion which is found in us from our Mother's Womb, to fenfible Objedts, and the great diftance betwixt us and GOD, in this our imperfect ftate, may, in fome meafure, be accounted for, by what we have been faying.
For fince there is a neceffity, from the eftablifh'd Order of Nature, that the Thoughts of the Soul fhould be conformable to the Traces of the Brain; we may*affirm, that from the time of our Formation in our Mother's Belly, we are under Sin, and ftain'd with the Corruption of our Parents; fince we Date from thence our vehement Application to fenfible Pleafures. Having in our Brain the like Characters and Impreffes, with thofe Perfons who gave us Being, we muft neceffarily have the fame Thoughts and the fame Inclinations, with refpedt to Scnfi- bleObjecU x Ail Chap. VII. The Search after Truth. fytf And thus we muft come into the World with Concupifcence about us, and infe&ed with Origi- nal Sin: We muft be born with Concupifcence, if Concupifcence be nothing but a Natural Effort made by the Traces of the Brain upon the Mind, to unite it to things fenfible: And we muft be R0m. cL' born with Original Sin, if Original Sin be nothing but the Feign of Concupifcence, and that Effort 6.5.12,14, grown as it -were victorious, and Mailer of the Infant's Heart and Mind. Now there is great pro- &c. bability, that this Reign or Victory of Concupifcence is what we call Original Sin in Infants, and Actual Sin in Men that have liberty of Acting.
It only feems as if one might conclude, from the Principles I have eftablifh'd, a thing repug- Q^. riant to Experience •, to wit, that the Mother muft always communicate to her Infant Habits and mJe J^. Inclinations likethofe fhe has her felf, and the facility of Imagining, and learning the fame things/W™, fhe underftands •, For all thefe things depend only as have been faid on the Traces and Imprefles of the Brain. And it is certain, that the Traces and Imprefles of the Mother's Brain are com- municated to her Children. This has been Experimentally prov'd by the Inflances that have been related concerning Men; and has been farther confirm'd from the Example of Animals, whofe young ones have their Brain fill'd with the fame Imprefles as thofe they proceeded from. Which is the Reafon that all thofe of the fame Species have the fame Voice, the fame way of mo- ving their Limbs, in fhort, the fame Stratagems for feizing their Prey, and of defending them- felves againft their Enemies. From hence it muft follow, that fince all the Traces of the Mother are engraven and imprinted on the Brain of the Child, the Child mult be born with thefame Ha- bits and the other Qualities of the Mother: And alfo muft preferve them generally through the courfe of his Life \ fince the Habits which have been contracted in our more tender Age, are more lafting than the other; which notwithstanding contradifts Experience.., In Anfwer to this Objection, we muft underltand that there are two kinds of Traces in the Brain: The one Natural, or peculiar to the Nature of Man •, the other Acquired. The Na- tural are Extraordinary deep, and 'tis impoffible they mould be quite effaced. The Acquired, on the contrary, may be eafily loft; becaufe ordinarily they are not fo deep. Now though the Na- tural and Acquired differ only in Degree of more or lefs, and often the former are lefs forcible than the latter, fince we daily accuftom Animals to the doing thofe things, which are quite con- trary to thofe their Natural Traces lead them to: (A Dog, for inftance, has been train'd up not to touch the Bread before him; and not to purfue a Partridge, which he is in fcent and fight ofj Yet there is this Difference between thefe Traces ■, that the Natural are, as one may fay, con- nected with imperceptible Ties to the other parts of our Body. For all the Wheels and Contri- vances of our Machine are affiftant to each other, to their continuing in their Natural ftate. All the parts of our Body mutually contribute to all things necefTary to the Prefervation or Reftaura- tionof thefe Natural Traces; thus they can never be wholly abolifh'd; and they begin to revive again, when we thought them quite deltroy'd.
On the contrary, the Acquired Traces, though greater, and deeper, and ftronger than the Na- tural, are loit, and vanifh by degrees 5 unlefs care be taken to preferve them, by a perpetual application of the Caufes which produce them: becaufe the other parts of the Body lend no affiftance to their Prefervation, but contrariwife, continually labour to expunge and blot them out. We may compare thefe Traces to the ordinary wounds of a Body: they are hurts which our Brain has receiv'd which clofe up of themfelves, as other wounds do, by the Admirable Conftruction of the Machine.
As then there is nothing in the whole Body, but what is friendly and conformable to thefe Natural Traces •, they are delivered down to the Children in all their force and ftrength. Thus Parrots breed their young with the fame cries and the fame Natural Notes with themfelves. But becaufe the Acquired Traces are only in the Brain, and make no Radiations into the reft of the Body or very little, (as fuppofe, when they are impreft on it by the Motions which accompany violent Pafiions) they ought not to be tranfmitted to their Infants. Thus a Parrot, who bids his Mailer Good Morrow and Good Night, produces not a Young one fo expert as himfelf; nor do Men of Senfe and Learning beget Children anfwerable to their Fathers.
So that though it be true, that all that happens in the Mother's Brain happens likewife at the fame time in the Brain of her Infant; and that the Mother can neither fee, nor feel, nor imagine, but the Infant muft fee, and feel, and imagine the fame thing: And laftly, that»all the illegi- timate Traces of the Mother, Corrupt the Imagination of the Child; yet thefe Traces being not Natural, in the Senfe we have jnft explain'd it; 'tis no wonder if they ufually clofe up as foon as the Child proceeds from the Mother's Womb. For then the Caufe which delineated thefe Traces and fed and nourifh'd them, fubfifts no longer; the Natural Conftitution of the whole Body lends an hand to their Deftruction-, and Senfible Objects produce a new Set extraordinary deep and numerous, which efface the greateft part of thofe the Child had in its Mother's Womb. For it daily happening that a great Pain makes us forgetful of thofe that have preceded fc.3 'tis not imaginable but fuch lively Senfations, as are thofe of Infants, when firft the delicate Or- gans of their Senfes receive the Impreffions of External objects, muft deftroy the greateft part of thofe Traces, which they only receiv'd before from the fame Objedts, by a kind of rebound from their Mother, when they lay as it were fheltred from them by the inclolmg of the Womb. Notwithflanding, when thefe Traces are form'd upon a ftrong Paffion, and are accompany'd with a molt violent Agitation of the Blood and Spirits in the Mother, they ad fo forcibly on the Brain of the Child,- and the reft of its Body, as to imprint therein Characters as deep and durable as the Natural Traces. As in the inftance of Sir Kenelm Digbyfm that^f the Child who was born an 6o F. Malebranche Concerning Book II.
an Ideot arid a Cripple; in whofe Brain and all his Members fuch ravage was made, by the Imagination of the Mother; and laftly, in the inftance of the general Corruption of the Nature of Mankind.- And we need not wonder, that the King of England's Children were not fubject to the fame In- firmity as their Father: Firft, Becaufe this fort of Traces diffufe not their Impreffion fo far into the Body as the Natural. Secondly, Becaufe the Mother having not the fame Infirmity as the Father, by her good Conftitution prevented its defcending to her Children. And laftly, Be- caufe the Mother acts infinitely more on the Brain of the Child, than the Father, as is evident from what has been already faid.
But it muil be obferv'd, That all thefe Reafons which fhew that King James's Children might efcape the Infirmity of their Father, make nothing againft the Explication of Original Sin • or of that predominant Inclination towards things fenfible: nor of that great Alienation from G O D, which we derive from our Parents: becaufe the Traces which fenfible Objects have imprinted on the Brain of the firft Founders of Mankind; were ftamp'd extreamly deep; were accompa- nied and augmented with violent Paffions \ were fortified and corroborated by the continual ufe of things fenfible and neceffary to the Preservation of Life; not only in Adam and Eve; but alfo, which is very remarkable, in the greateft Saints; in all Men, and in all Women, from whom wh are defcended. So that there is nothing which could put a flop to this Corruption of our Na- ture. And thus if is fo far from being pofiible for thefe Traces of our Firft Parents to wear out by Degrees; that on the contrary, they muft needs be continually renewing and increafuig; and without the Grace of JESVS CHRIST, which is continually oppofing this unruly tor- rent, it would be abfolutely true to fay in the words of an Heathen Poet: ■*s£tas parent urn, pejo r avis, tulip Nos nequiores, mox daturos Vroqeniem vitiofiorem.
For great notice fhould be taken, that the traces which quicken the moft Devout Mothers with the fentiments of Piety, communicate not any Pietf to the Children in their Womb •, and that the Traces, on the other hand, which excite the Idea's of Senfible things, and which are purfued with Paffions, fail not to communicate to their Children the Senfation, and love of Sen- fible things. A Mother, for example, who is ftirr'd up to the love of G O D, by a Motion of Spirits, accompanying the Traces which the Image of a Venerable Old Man occafions in her Brain; becaufe this Mother has affix'd the Idea of G O D to the Trace of an Old Man; (for as we fhall fhortly fee in the Chapter concerning the Connection of Idea's, this may eafily be done, though there is no Analogy at all betwixt the Image of G 0 D and an Old ManJ This Mother, I fay, can only produce in the Brain of her Infant the Trace of an Old Man; and an Inlina- tion for Old Men •, which is not the love of G 0 D, wherewith fhe was her felf affected. For, in fine, there are no Traces in the Brain that can naturally excite any other Idea's, than thofe of Senfible things: becaufe the Body was not made to inftruct the Mind, and it never fpeaks to the Soul but in its own favour and behalf.
Thus a Mother, whofe Brain is fill'd with Traces, which by their own Nature correfpond to Senfible things, and which cannot be extirpated by reafon of Concupifcence abiding in her; and becaufe fhe has not her Body in fubjection, by an un-avoidable Communication of them to her Infant, fhe brings forth a Sinner, though her felf be Righteous. This Mother is Righteous^ for as much as loving GO D actually, or having lov'd him by a Love of Choice, this Concupi- fcence makes her not a Criminal, tho' Ihe may follow the Motions of it in her fleep. But the In- fant fhe bears, having not loved G 0 D by a. Love of Choice, and his Heart having never been turn'd towards GOD, 'tis plain he is in diforder, and in a State of Corruption; and that there is nothing in him but what deferves the Wrath of GOD.
But when Children are Regenerated by Baptifm, and Jufcified by a Difpofition of Heart, much like that which remains in the Righteous, during the Illufions of the Night: or, it may be, by a Free Atl of loving G O D; which ad was performed vvhilffc they were for fome Moments delt- ver'd from the Dominion of the Body, by the Vertne of the Sacrament. (For iince G 0 D has made their Loving him, to be the end of his Creating them, it cannot be conceiv'd how they can be actually Juftified, and in the Divine Order; unlefs they actually love him, or- have formerly loved him, or at leaft have fuch a Difpofition of Heart as they would have if they had actually lo- ved himj Then though they obey Concupifcence in their Infancy, their Concupifcence is no longer Sw. It renders them not culpable, nor deferving of the Wrath of GOD: They fail not to be Righteous and Acceptable to G 01); by the fame reafon, that a IVlan falls not from the State of Grace, though in his fleep he follows the Motions of Concupifcence. For Infants have a Brain fofoftand pliable, and receive fo lively and foftrong Impreffions from Objects never fo weak; that they have not Liberty of Mind fufheient to relift them.