of many Changes j nor do they ad fo much by Imitation, as fome domeftick Animals. Young Ducks, which follow an Hen, don't ftay for her Example to take the Water; and the Chickens, on the contrary, never betake themfelves to fwim, though hatch'd and led by a Duck, that loves the Water. But there are Animals thateafily and readily imitate the uncommon Motions, which they fee others do. However I do not pretend, that much ftrefs is to be laid on thefe laft Refledi- ons, fince they are not neceflary to eftablilh my Opinion.
Second OBJECTION again]} the Twelfth Article.
*Tis likewife divining to affirm, That the Mother before- her Sin might have any intercourjfe with her Embryo; there being no neceffary relation between our Thoughts and Motions happen- ing in our Brain. And therefore that Communication between the Mother's and the Infant's Brain is ufelefs.
ANSWE R.
It is evident, That without this Communication, the Infant was incapable of having any Com» merce with its Mother, or the Mother with her Infant, without a particular Miracle. Now be- fore the Sin Order requir'd, That the Mother mould have notice of all the Corporeal wants of her Infant, and that the Infant ftlould refent its Obligations to jts Parents. Therefore fince all things were in Order before the Sin, and that God ads always agreeably to Order, the Mother and the Child had fome Commerce by means of this Communication.
To underftand wherein this Commerce may have confifted, it mull be remembred, That the Connexion of the Tracks of the Brain, with the Ideas of the Soul, may be feveral ways effeded, chap. 2. either by Nature, or by the Inftitution of Men, or fome other way, as I have fliewn how in the Se- Part 2. con<i fi^ In beholding a Square, or the Look of a Perfon fuffering any Tain, the Idea of a Square, or of an afflided Perfon, rifes in the Mind. This is common to all Nations, and the Connexion between thefe Ideas and thefe Traces, is natural. When an Englifhman hears pronounc'd, or reads the Word Square, he has likewife the Idea of a Square: but the Connexion, which is between the Sound,ox the Letters of that Word, and its Idea, is not natural, nor is it general with all the World. I fay then, That the Mother and her Infant muft naturally have had a Correfpondence between them^ upon all the things that could be reprefented to the Mind by natural Connexions: That if the Mother, for Inftance, had feen a Square, the Infant would have feen one too; and that if thff Infant had imagined any Figure, he would have likewife excited the Traces of the fame Figure in the Imagination of his Mother. But they would have had no Commerce together about things of a purely Spiritual Nature, nor even about Corporeal things, whenever they conceiv'd them, with- out the help of the Senfes and Imagination. The Mother might have thought on GOD, have , heard or read the Word Square, or the like; and yet the Child not have difcover'd what were her Thoughts thereof, unlefs in Trad of Time, me mould have fetled a new Commerce of intellectu- al Ideas with it, much what the fame with that of Nurfes, when they teach their Children to fpeak. I explain and prove thefe things.
One would think I had fufficiently prov'd them, by the Explication I gave of the Caufe of Here* ditary Averfions, and Marks which Children bring with them into the World, deriv'd from the Traces of their Mothers. Now thefe Traces of corporeal things are infeperable from their Ideas - which makes the Ideas to be communicated along with them, and the Children to fee, feel, imagine the fame things as their Mothers. They have now, whether they will or not, the Senfations of their Mothers '. but were they not Sinners, they would have had the power of hindring,- when they pleas'd, the Effed of that their Communication with their Mother. They might likewife have re - excited in their Brain, the Tracks which they receiv'd from their Mothers, by the fame reafon that we imagine what we pleafe, when our Senfations are not too vivid andarfeding: which being fup- pos'd, it is evident, That the Mother, when considerately attending to her Infant, might have difcover'd 7})e Search after Truth. K i<j clifcover'd, by a kind of Repercuffion, whether or no it receiv'd the Impreflion flie excited in it, and likewife other things that it might think upon. For as the Mother could not vibrate the Fi- bres of her Brain, but the Fibres of the Infant's Brain muft have receiv'd the Impreflion; fo the In- fant could not ftop that Vibration, or caufe any other, without giving the Mother notice by fome light Impreflion, provided (he made her felf very attentive, by the power flie had of ftifling every other Noife than that which her Infant caus'd in her. Thus it miilt be acknowledge, That the Mother, and the Infant, would have had fome intercourfe before the Sin, or elfe we muft deny all Correfpondence between their Brains, or the power of the Soul over the Body, to be fuch as I have before maintain'd. This appears evident, though the wanton Imagination ftarts, and Pre- judices band againft it. 'Tis true, this Commerce at firil would have reach'd but to Matters that come under the Senfes and Imagination, it not being abfolutely necefTary, that the Child, which had only a Corporeal Dependence on the Mother, ihould receive from her any other ideas than thofe of fenfible Objects. For its Soul being ftridly united to God, whilft in a State of Innocency, would have receiv'd immediately from him ail the Ideas which refpeded not the Body: But where- as in time we may affix the molt abftrad Ideas to things fenfible, which have no relation to them, this Commerce between the Mother and her Child, would, very likely, have quickly extended to things of a more Spiritual Order, if they ftrove tocorrefpond about luch fort of Matters.
I am fenfible, that what I now fay will not feem reafonable to very many; and that even thofe who refill their Prejudices, and labour againft the continual Tide of fenfible Impreffions, will ad- mire at the Novelty of this Notion, But if we ferioufly refled on the way that a Mailer takes to inftrud his Difcipks, and obferve what different means he is ublig'd to makeufeof, to manifeft his own Ideas of things to them } the Com parifons he makes, and the Judgments he palles about thefe Ideas, and the other Difpofitions of his Mind, in reference to his Scholars, we ftiall fee it will be a much harder Task for him to difcover his Thoughts and inward Difpofitions of Mind to them, than for a Mother to do it to her Infants; provided we only fuppofe, that the Traces of ths Mother's Brain are imprinted on the Child's, which is evident from all that I have faid before. For, in fine, it is manifeft, tnat the Voice, and all exterionr Signs that we employ toexprefs our Thoughts to others, obtain the defir'd EfTed, only becaufe they imprint on the Brain of our Hear- ers, the fame Traces, and raifethe fame Emotions of the Spirits, as accompany our Ideas, and our inward Difpofition, on their refped.
OBJECTION againji the Seventeenth and following Articles.
'Tis a rafli AfTertion to fay, Children i n Baptifm are juftify'd by adual Motions of their Will to- wards God. We muft not give vent to fuch New Opinions; which do no good, but only make a noife.
ANSWER.
I grant, that we ought not positively to affirm, That Children are juftify'd by formal Ads of their Will: I believe it impoflible to know any thing of it } and that we are not pofitively to aflTert any thing but what we know. But becaufe there are but too many, who are apt to believe, That Juflification of Children is only external, and by Imputation, by reafon, fay they, they are incapable of performing any Aft of Love towards God; I think it fit to let them know, that they are brought by Prejudice to that Opinion. For the Prejudices of Men, in refped of Children, are fuch, as make them commonly fanfie they have no Thought in their Mother's Womb, and in the beginning of their Age, and even that they are abfolutely incapable of thinking. They believe that they have not fomuch as the Ideas of things; that it is their Matters that furnifh them with Difcourfe ^ and that if they have any Inclinations, they are of another Nature from ours, and in- competent to carry them to the Sovereign Good. The greateft part of Men can't diftindly con- ceive, That Cifildrens Souls are like thofe of grown up Perfons, And that they don't come to Strength and 1'erfedion by degrees, like the Body; And that if they were deliver'd one moment from the Impreflion the Body made upon them, and mov'd by the Deledation of Grace, they would in that moment be more pure and enlighten'd than the Souls of the greateft Saints; who feel always working in their Mind and Heart the Leaven of Concupifcence.
Concupifcence is commonly look'd upon as Natural,and is not always confider'd as a confequence of Sin: and this makes Men conclude unawares, that the Stupidity of Children is a necefTary confe- quence of their Infirmity of Body, Tendernefs of Age, and alfo incapacity _ of Mind. Which Conclusion or Pre);dice is conftantly reprefented to the Mind, and prepoflefs it in fuch a manner, as hinders it from examining the thing in its own Nature. Therefore thofe who have treated of the Effed of Baptifm, in the Ages paft, have omitted the explaining the Regeneration of Infants by the aduai Motions of their Heart: Not thatthey.were induc'd by ftrong Reafons to judge it impof- fible • for their Works do not (hew they have ever fo much as examin'd it ^ but fas is vifiblej' be- caufe' they have fuppofVd it fo; and that it has hardly entred their Heads to doubt of.it: or poffibly, becaufe they wav/'d giving an Explication fo repugnant to Prejudices, at a Time when no fuch Attempts were mad?, to get rid of them, as nowadays there are.
But if it be confider'd how necefTary it is to give a clofer Explication than that, for Inftance, K k which I go F. Malebranche Concerning * Lib. i. which St. Aufttn gives in* feveral places, which looks towards Imputation •, though in others he it Na.pt. fpeaks in a way tRat does -f not countenance it: If it be confider'd that Imputation is very commodi* 26P275& omy anc* lively for that Reafon embrac'd by forae Ancient and | Innocent. III. in Dicrtt. z-de Baptifmotf ejus Effeclu. Et in Condi. Viemienji general: 15. fob Clement V.
ILLUSTRATION UPON THE Third CHAPTER of the Third P A R T of the Second BO OK.
Wherein I Jpeak of the power of Imagination of fame -Authors, and particw larly of Tertullian.
AS I am well fatisfy'd that the moft general and fruitful Principle of Errors in the Scicencesl and efpecially in Morals, is the lmpreffion made by lively Imaginations on the Mind of , Men, who are manag'd more by Mechanifm than by Reafon; fo I thought it lay upon me to fet this truth to open view, by all the ways that might awaken them from their (lumber on its account: And becaufe Examples ftrike deepeft, efpecially when the Inftance is omewhat great, and uncommon \ I thought that the celebrated Names of Tertullian, Seneca, and Montague^ were the moft proper to raife their Attention, and give them a fenfible conviction of the contagi- ous Empire of the Imagination over Reafon. For if Words, all-dead, and unanimated by the look and fenfible behaviour of thefe famous Authors, have ftill more Force than the Reafon of a great many others; if the Turn of Expreffion, that gives but a faint Idea of the fenfible action, which the Imagination lively diffufes over the Faces and the reft of the Body of thofe who are pierc'd with what they fay •, is able to Agitate, Penetrate, and Convince a great many: certainly ic muft be granted that nothing is more dangerous, than a refpectful Attention to Men of a ftrong and lively Imagination. For their Air and Way is a natural Language, fo powerful and convincing; and they know how to Image things fo paflionately to the Life, that they feldom fail of railing the Senfes and Paffions againft Reafon, and pouring, as 1 may fay, Conviction and Certitude into their Spectators.
I eafily forefaw, in alledging thefe great Examples, that it was impracticable to cure thofe who were amaz'd, and thunder-ftruck,withthe reading of thefe three fanfd Authors.For a little know- ledge of the nature of Man will fuffice to teach us, that the wounds of the Brain are harder to be heal'd than thofe of the other parts of the Body,and that 'tis eafier to clofe up a fore not expos'd to frefh infult from without, than to make a perfect cure of an inveterate Prejudice that juftifies it felf each minute by very-probable-Reafons.
'Tis extreamly difficult to clofe up exactly the Traces of the Brain, becaufe expos'd to the courfe of the Spirits, and liable to be conftantly renew'd by infinite other Traces which may be call'd ac~ eefj'ory. Thefe forts of Wounds cannot ordinarily be cufd, or made up, till the Brain receives o- thers more deep, which oppofing them caufe a violent and continual Revulfion in the Spirits. For we ought not to reckon a Prejudice quite cur'd, when we fancy it is, becaufe we are not actually affected with it: then only the cure is perfected when the Trace is quite fhut up; and not when the Spirits defift from their wanted courfe for fome particular Reafon.
I knew then well enough that fuch as had been proftrated, and over-whelm'd by the Force and Motions of Teytullian, ravifiYd and, dazl'd by the loftinefsand beauties of Seneca, charm'd and corrupted by the gentile, eafie and natural Turns of Montague, would not change their Opinion by reading a few Pages of my Book. I judg'd on the contrary I mould incur their difpleafure, by try- ing to didblve the inchantment which fo held them.
But as I hop J thefe Examples would be ufeful to my defign for the fore-mention'd Reafons: I thought I was to be more regardful of the Profit of many who were Free from Pi epofleffion, than of the Spleen of fome particulars, thu I concluded would cenfure the liberty I had taken. I con- fider'd there woe vei y few fo itrongly prevented with efteem for thefe Authors, but it was hop'd might return to found fence again. I concluded laftly, that there being hardly one, it may be, jJutpnflefs'd with all Three together, becaufe of the diverfe Characters of their Imagination; the molt Opinioxiatcd might find I was in the right in a good many things.
I know The Search after Truth. \%t I know what Refpeft I ought to have for the Works of Tertullian, as well on account of the Sub- jects that he treats of, as of the Approbation they have receiv'd from feveral Perfons, who ought to be able to judge of them. And I have fufficiently manifefted that Temper of Mind, by what I have faid of him, and by the Quality of the Book de Pallio, ofwhich alone I have fpoke with fo much freedom, though there were others, it may be, fitter for my purpofe.
But after all I don't think that Time ought to change and amplifie the Ideas of things- that all " Antiquities are venerable; and that illegitimate Reafons, and extravagant ways are worthy of Re- fpecl:, becaufe they were a long time in the World before us. I can't think that affeaed Obfcuri- ties ought to be venerated like Sacred Myftei ies; Sallies of Imagination to go for mining Lights of Knowledge; and African Heats, which work in a Mind naturally full of Fire, to be look'd on as Motions of a Propbetick Spirit, which can divulge nothing but fublime Truths.
I am certain, that even thofe who defer mod to Tertullian's Works, will agree with me in all this, and that they are too equitable, to juftifie the Diforders of Imagination againft Reafon. But it may be they are a-kin to thofe Judicious Perfons, who, though they infinitely love Truth, yet they are not infenfible to outfide Manners. For 1 have oftentime obferv'd fome of them fo en- chanted with certain ftrong, lively, great, and pompous Expreflions of Tertullian, that having prov'd to them that Author was none of the molt Judicious and Reafonable, they would think it enough to convince and furprize me, only to repeat them.
I own that Tertullian has Expreflions extreamly ftrong and bold, which produce moft lively and animated Images in the Mind j and upon that fcorc / juftly bring him for an Example, of the Po- wer which ftrong Imaginations have to - move, and convince by Impreflion. Thus thofe who urge to me thefe Objections, confirm my Opinion by oppofing it. Their Prepofleflion and Efteem for Tertullian juftifies my Conduct: the frequent Citations, and the big Words, which they alledge, prove what I fav. For they ufe not in Difcourfe to produce entire Reafonings -, but often quote ftrong and lively Expreflions, in order to dazzle, perturbate, and cpnvince by the fenfible Im- preflion.
_ There is no Reafon. I think, to imagine, that I fet up for a Cenfor of fo many great Men, who cite Tertullian conftantly in the Pulpit, and elfewhere • They have their Reafons for it: into which I neither do, nor ought to enquire. What I have faid of that Author is methinks evident enough: Let every one deduce his Confequences according to his Knowledge, without attributing thofe Thoughts to me, which I never had. Thofe who pretend to dive into the Defigns of others frame commonly fuch Phantafms as referable but themfelves: it being cuftomary with Men,to taint, and infect others with the Venom of their own Paffions. We are apt to meafure all things by our felves, and they would do well to confider, who condemn me, whether they do not judge them- felves un-a-wares, in doing it. But if they would have me declare my felf upon the Citations of Tertullian, I grant a Man has right to make ufe of them for feveral Reafons; and like wife that they are fometimes moft ufefully employ'd, to make fome practical Truths more fenfible, which are bar- ren and unfruitful, as long as they lie dormant in our inward Reafons, and raife in us no contrary Motions to thofe which the Goods of the Body excite in us.
Neverthelefs I can't think thofe Mens Opinions very unreafonable, who believe we are not to cite Authors by Name, fave when they are infallible ^ and that, except in things out of Reafons Prerogative, and which Authority ought to take place, no Quotations are to be made. This for- merly was the Cuftom of the Fathers: St. Cyprian never citQ&Tertuttian though he has taken a great deal from him; and if it be true what St. Jerome reports of that Holy Bifhop, by hear-fay, vi&i That talking of Tertullian he call'd him his Mafter; either his Name muft not have been fo Au- thoritave, nor his Expreflion fo forcible as they are at prefent upon Mens minds; or elfe St. Cy~ frian was wonderfully rigorous in the Obfervance of that Cuftom of his Time: it being very ftrange fuch a Difciple Ihould never have mention'd his Mafter in any of his Works.
St. Jerome's Hiftory is commonly urg'd in Defence of Tertullian -, and I have been fometimes told, I was too blame to fpeak fo as I did, of a Man, whom St. Cyprian call'd his Mafter. But I queftion whether St. Jerome would not have been too ealie of belief, in what made for the Honour of Tertullian. To m.e he feems to have had fome what too great an Inclination for him, fince he in J^v'd^po- fome meafure excufes his Fall by retorting his Herefie on the Envy of the Romifh Clergy, and the t^etiiT' evil Ufage he receiv'd from them. But if that Story, which is founded only on what St. Jerome chrico- heard one Perfon fay, be true ^ I muft confefs, I know not what to make of that Silence obferv'd mmRgma- by St. Cyprian in his Writings, with reference to Tertullian. That Silence of a Scholar may befuf- naEcckfa petted to conceal fome Myftery not advantagious to the Mafter • and if that Hiftory,as well as Ter- ^JJjJ"" tuUian's own Works, did not give us fufficiently to underftand, that he was not altogether worthy dehpfa, of the great Efteem that is paid him by very many •, yet I queftion whether St. Cyprian's Conduft, in muhis his Silence, his Stile, his Ways, would not be fufficient to leflen it •, and to make us think, Ubrisaov* That, probably, that Author's Reputation was not fo well eftablifh'd in Africa it felf, which ought Jjjjl? to have been more favourable to him than a Clime fo temperate as ours. Hieron."
in Catalogo de Script. EccleC Our own Country and Africa produce very different Wits: the Genius of the former, being natural, rational, and "irreconcileable to all over-ftrain'd Manners, it is ftrange to find any among them addicted to an Author, who never ftudied nor follow'd Nature: and who inftead of confut- ing his Reafon, fuffers himfelf to be tranfported by his ungovern'd heats into altogether obfcure, monftrous, and extravagant Expreflions.
' But i^i F. Malebranche Concerning But this probably is Owing to the mighty Force of Imagination which difarms Reafon, and everf changes Nature. And indeed a Man in the Fury of Paffion perturbates, and even changes the na-* tural fituation of our Imagination to adapt it to his own. And then there is no Motion but what Teems Natural, no Expreffion but's Agreeable, no Nonfcnce but's convincing. For we ftand to ex- amine nothing ferioufly. Now as the Paflions vindicate themfelves, and irregular immaginations take delight only in their Irregularity, 'tis impoffible to judge foberly of things, as long as theBrain preferves the violent Impreflion it has received. There is no Man in the Tranfport of Paffion but is perpetually follicited to juftifie it; nor any difturb'd in Brain, but is pleasM in the difturbance.' For if thofe who fancy themfelves Cocks, Wolves, Oxen, pleafe themfelves wonderfully in imita- ting the actions that are cuftomavy with thefe Greatures, though quite contrary to the nature of Man: it may eafily be judg'd that we fhall be far from condemning the Behaviour of thofe, who by the Contagion of their Imagination have made us in a manner like them. For in condemning them we are confcious we condemn our felves.
There's a very particular Reafon why fome of the Learn'd mould glory in efpoufing Tertullian, and exprefllng fo extraordinary an efteem for him. Which is that affected obfcurity, which ferves as one of the principal Rules of his Rhetorick.
In thefe days all empty and fenfelefs Expreffions, and all obfcure and perplex'd ways of fpeak- ing, go under the name of nonfence. But there have been" found fuch as have look'd upon Obfcuri- ty, as one of the greateftmyfteries in Eloquence, with whom the Art of perfwading confifted part- ly in being unintelligible.
If publick Haranguers had always the clear and diftind Ideas of the Truths they went about to perfwade/ and fpoke only to perfons that were capable of a competent Attention to underftand. them, the precept of affecting obfcurity in difcourfe, would be the molt extravagant in the World. But though this precept abfolutely contradicts all Reafon, yet it may be faid to be proportionate and fit for the Genius of moft'Men: not only becaufe a Myfterious Obfcurity conceals the Ignorance of the Speaker, but alfo for its railing fuch a fenfe in others as difpofes them to yield, and be convinc'd.
Experience manifefts, that moft Men efteem what they do not -comprehend; that they reve- rence, like Myfteries, whatever is above their reach, and think an Orator has a wonderful Talent, when he dazles them, by the glitterings of difcourfe, and by a Language of Imagination, when Reafon has nothing to do.
The Inclination Men have for Grandeur exceeds that which they have for Truth: wherefore Pompous Nonfence which perfwades by the Imprejfton, is better receivM than pure Argumentation which periwades by force of Evidence: fince Evidence makes way only by Reflections, which al- ways coft the Maker trouble: but fenfible Conviction flows into the Soul, and penetrates it in a moft agreeable manner.
The Good which alone is capable of fatisfying our defires, is at once Infinite, and Jnacceffi;.!e, and great and obfcure Expreffions have fomething of this Character. So that Obfcurity raifing our Defires, whilft Greatnefs provokes our Admiration, and Efteem; thefe Expteffions win us by the Motions they produce in us.
When we underftand, or think we underftand a difficult and obfcure Author, we value our felves above others that do not; and fometimes look upon them, as Ignorant. The Pains we have taken to mafter him, interefs us in his Defence. For by venerating this Author, and procu- ring the Veneration of others, we juftifie our own ftudies: and as we find pleafure in juftifying our felves, fo we muft not fail to praife and defend him with Earheftnefs and Zeal, and by lively and fenfible ways.
Thefe Reafons, and fome others of lefs force are fufficient, I think, to let us know, that the ob- fcurity of Tertullian is no difadvantage to him in the Opinion of fome Perfons; and that likely they would have lefs admir'd him, if the Truths which are fcatter'd over his Works were reduced to their more fimple and clear Ideas.
Mathematical Truths and Relations are always Sum'd up in their Exponent s, that is, in the moft fimple terms that exprefs them; and are difengag'd from all perplexing and obfeuring Dependen- cies. For Geometricians love naked Truth; and defire not toconvince by Impreffion, but by Light and Evidence. But what would become of moft of Tertullian^ Thoughts, were they redue'd to their Exponents by the Rules of Logical Geometricians, and fhould we fee them ftrip'd of all that fenfible Pomp which dazles Reafon. Yet if we would judge folidly of this Author's Reafonings, we ought to make the Experiment.