Pan 11. confound the Soul with the Body, are drawn from Senfes; that they are obfeure and confus'd, and chap. 8. can never perfwade fuch as Judge of things by clear and diftinft Ideas.
From this Principal, That the Effence of Body confifts not in Extenfion, and that the EfTences of things are unknown; I could ftill draw many other Confequences oppofite to Faith: But that is not neceffary^ and I would rather, if it were poffible, reconcile all falfe as well as true Philofophies with Religion. However impious and Heretical would be the Confequences- I could deduce from the againfi M. de la Ville.' $ the Opinions of Philofophers, I fhould think I wanted the Charity which I owe them if I endea- voured to make their Faith fufpefted. So far am I from imitating the Conduct of Monfieur de la Vtlle, who leaving a Principle demonftrated in all its Strength, and receiv'd by all Ages lays out himielf in drawing Heretical Confequenccs from it.; tho' of no ufe but to ftrengthen the Calvinifts and encreafe their Number, and to difturb the Faith of the Orthodox: I would, on the contrary* that no one fhould think on thefe Confluences; or difown them as falfe,and wrong-inferr'd from the Principal.
'All Truths hang in a Chain together; and no falfe Principle can be held, but thofe who are any thing versM in the Art of Reafoning, may infer from it abundance of Confequences repugnant to Religion. So that if it were permitted to blacken the Faith of others, upon Confequences drawn from Principles believ'd by them, fince there is no Man but Errs in fomething, we might treat all the World, as Heretical. Wherefore the allowing Men to Dogmatize, and to make others Faith fufpefted, who are not of their Opinion, would be Opening a Gap to infinite Quarrels, Schifms Difturbances, and even Civil Wars { and all Mankind is concern'd to look upon the Abettors of fucha Conduft, as Slanderers and Difturbers of the publick Peace. For, in fhort, the different Parties in Religion, which are almoft always form'd from fuch like Confequences, produce ftrange Events in a State; which all Hiftories abound with. But the Liberty to Philofophize, or to reafon Upon Common Notions,is not to be denied Men; it being a Right which is as natural to them as to breath. Divines ought to diftinguifh Theology from Philofophy, Articles of our Faith from Opinions of Men. Truths, which GOD imparts to all Chriftians by a vifible Authority, from thofe which he beftovos on fome particular Perfons, in Recompence of their Attention and induftry. They fhould not confound things that depend on fo different Principles. No Queftion Humane Sciences ought to be made fubfervient to Religion; but with a Spirit of Peace and Charity; without condemning one another, fo long as we agree about Truths which the Church has determin'd: For this is the way for Truth to fhine out, and all Sciences to be brought to greater and greater Perfection, by the Addition of New Difcoveries to the Ancient.
But the Imaginations of molt Men cannot be reconciPd to New Difcoveries, but even Novelty in Opinions, never fo advantageous to Religion, frights them; whilfl they eafily inure themfelves to thefalfeft and obfeureft Principles* provided fome Ancient has advane'd them. But when once thefe Principles are grown familiar, they find them evident, though never fo obfeure: They believe them moft ufeful, though extremely dangerous; And they are fo well us'd to fay and hear what they do not conceive, and to flurr a real Difficulty by an imaginary Diftindtion, that they are ever well fatisfy'd with their falfe Idea's, and can't endure to be talkt to in a clear and diftinft Lan- guage;j like Men coming out of a dark Room, they are fearful of the Light, which ftrikes too violently on their Eyes, and they imagine we go to blind them, when we try to diflipate the invol- ving Darknefs.
Thus though I have fhown by many Confequences, that 'tis dangerous, for Example, to main- tain that Beafts have a Soul more noble than the Body; yet fince this Opinion is ancient, and moft Men are accuftom'd to Believe it, whilfl: the contrary bears the Character of Novelty; Thofe who judge of theHarfhnefs of Opinions rather by the Fear they produce in the Imagination, than by the. Evidence and Light they flied in the Mind, will be fure to^vote the Cartefians Opinion danger- bus I and will condemn thefe Philofophers, as rafh and prefumptuous, rather than thofe who make Beafts capable of Reafoning.; Let a Man but fay in Company, with an Air of Gravity, or rather with a Look, into which the Imagination, fcar'd with fomething extraordinary, forms the Face: Really the Cartefians are ftrange People, They maintain, That Beafts have no Soul. I am afraid in a little time they mil fay as much of Man: And this will be enough toperfwade a great many, that this is a dangerous Opinion. No Reafons can prevent the Effect of this Difcourfe upon weak Imaginations; and unlefs there happen to be fome brisk Wit, that with the gayety of Carriage, Ihall re-embolden the Company from the Fear they had conceiv'd, the Cartefians might tire themfelves to Death, before they could by their Reafonings obliterate the Char after that had been given of their Perfons.
And yet 'tis but placing the definition inftead.of the thing defined, to fhew the extravagance of this Difcourfe. For if a Man fhould fay ferioufly, the Cartefians are ftrange fort of Men, they affirm^ That Beafts have neither Thought nor Senfe; I fear, in a fhort time, they will fay as much of us. Certainly we mould conclude this Man's apprehenfions but ill-grounded. But the generality of Men are un- able to extricate the leaft Ambiguity, efpecially when their Imagination is frighted with the No- tion of Novelty, which fome reprefent to them as dangerous. Befides that the Air and exteriour Manners eafily perfuade, but Truth is not difcover'd without fome application of Thought, where- of the greateft part of Mankind is incapable.
Certainly Men that have moft Light and Underftanding, whofe Opinions are implicitely em- brae'd by the Vulgar, ought not to be fo eafie to condemn their Brethren, at leaft before they have examin'd their Sentiments with a ferious Attention •, nor ought they to poffefs their refpeftful Hearers with difadvantageous Notions of their Neighbour, this being contrary to the Rules of Charity and Jufcice.
But the Cartefians, you'll fay, admit Principles which have mifchievous Confequences; and I grant it, fince you'll have it fo. But they difown thefe Confequences: They, it maybe, are fo grofs and ftupid, as not to fee thefe Confequences are included in their Principles. They^think they can feparate one from the other, and do not fuppofe other Philofophers are to be beiiev'd up- on their bare Word: They break not their Qharity with thofe who hold Principles which they think; 190 F. Male branched Defence think big with impious Confequences, and as contrary to Religion, as found Senfe. For it may fe concluded from the dangerous Confequences I have drawn from thofe very Principles, which flnih the Peripateticks even to the triumphing over their Adverfaries:, How many, and how much worfc than thefe I might infer, if I fhould give my felt liberty to choofe out of the Body of their Philofo- phy that which was moft exceptionable? But whatever the advantage is in Theological Difputes, as well as in Field-Battles, to be the AggrefTors; I had rather defend my felf weakly, than con- quer and triumph by afTaulting. For, in fhort, I do not conceive how Men delight in making He- reticks, and prophane Perfons of thofe who fubmit to ail the decifions of the Church, upon Confe- quences which they difavow. The Vi&ory methinks is very fatal, which fpills but the Blocd of out own Country-Men.
Neverthelefs, I do not believe I have advanc'd in the Search after Truth, any Principle of Philo- fophy productive of dangerous Confequences; on the contrary, I have left M. des Cartes in fome places, and Ariflotle almoft in all; becaufe I could not reconcile the Former with Truth, nor the Latter with Truth or Religion; this I leave to Men of more Wit and Invention than my felf. I faid that the Effence of Matter conftfled in Extenfion, becaufe I thought I had, evidently, demonftrated it, and thereby given clear and uncontroverted proofs of the Immortality of the Soul, and her diftin&ion from the Body: A Truth which is effential to Religion, and which the Philofophers * Sefn -8. are * oblig'd by the hit Later an Council to prove. But I never thought this Principle fo fecund with Truths advantageous to Religion, was contrary to the Council of Trent: Moniieur de la FiBe ought not to affirm it, for that will do but mifchief. This is the Conduft of the Protefiants in *Tf>.pae. Holland, * Vitichius, -\ Toiret, and feveral others. I fay not this to make his Faith fufpe&ed, but ch. 4. I am under ftrong apprehenfions, leaft his Conduct may give them occalion to affirm, That we own + L' 3«fk in France a Man cannot be a Catholick without believing that the parts of a Body may be without clg. Nat. any Actual Extenfion, fince a Book Dedicated to the Bifhops, publifh'd with all the Ceremonies, with approbation and Privilege, treats the Cartefians as Hereticks on that particular: I fear, leaft by his probabilities, he may fhake the Faith of feveral Perfons, who know not precifely what is ne- ceflary to make an Article of Faith. But I am ftill more apprehenfive leaft the Libertines (hould itrengthen themfelves in their Opinions, That the Soul is Corporeal, and confequently Mortal; That a thinking Subftance is the fame with an extended One, becaufe Extenfion with them, and Monfieur de la ViUe, being but the Mode of a Being, whofe Effence is unknown to us, we have no Argument from Reafon, that this Being is not capable of Thinking; and we have many Argu« ments from Senfe which, though never fo falfe, are yet convincing, and even Demonftrative with thofe who will not be at the pains of Reafoning.
And upon thefe grounds I think I am oblig'd to affirm, with all the confidence afforded me by the view of the Truth I have Demonftrated That Extenfion is not a tJWode of Being; but a Beings a Thing, ^Subfiance, in a Word, Matter or Body, and that many Anfwers are to be feen in the Starch after Truih^tQ- thofe proofs of Senfe by which the Libertines confound the two Subftances, that Man's compos'd of. I maintain farther, That Monfieur de la Fille has not fhown that Opini- on of the Eflence of Matter to be contray to Tranfubftantiation; that he has propos'd only thofe Anfwers which are eafie to be refolv'd, That we may more eafily triumph over his Adverfaries t That he has not impugned mine, and probably not fo much as known them, and that in the Hu- mour I fee him, I think not my felfobliged to acquaint him with them; Laftly, That he has added to the Council of Trent, more Articles of Faith, or Explications, than any private *B, t Perfon has Right to give after exprefs Prohibitions contain'd in the Bull, which confirms the faid B«/itiais Council * forbidden under Pain of Excommunication, to give any Explication of the Decrees of the Council. Vllum omnina interpretattow genmfuper ipfius Concilii iter em qiwcunt{ue modo edere, &c. That Power is referv'd to the Pope.
As to what regards my own Particular, I defire the Reader not to believe Monfieur de la Vifte, upon his Word, but to examine with Caution and Diftruft, even thofe Matters of Fad which he vouches with the greateft Confidence. He boafts himfelf upon his Sincerity and Ingenuoufnefs, and 1 am far from difputing him thofe Qualities, which are indifpenfable to every honeft Man j but I cannot help faying in the Defence of Truth, and my own Juftification, that he has often forgotten himfelf in his Book; of which here follows a fufficient Proof.
In the Frontifpiece of his Work he has inferted an Advertifement, which has a Look of Integri- ty; for 'tis compos'd only to make a kind of Reparation: Thefe are his Words •,- He fays, He met with a Copy of the Search after Truth, of the Strasbourgh-Edition, in the Year 1677. which obliges him to fignifie to his dear Reader, that I have in the Imprefiion retraced and Err our, which I had advanc'd in the Firft. But it is fo true, that I am either little skill'd in Divinity, or very daring, that I could not recant that Enow, without advancing Two others. His whole Advertifement is only to make me a charitable Reparation.
However it is falfe, Firft, That I have retraced that pretended Errour about Original Sin: The fame Propofition being found in the fame Words, in the Eddition he * cites, and in all thofe that W.'p. are Printed at Tarts. 190. Par. Edit. u p. 172. in the fccond, p. 190, in the third, 187. \ntho*fenrth 9*5.
Secondly* againfi M. de la Ville." 191 \ Secondly, That Propofition is notmy peculiar Opinion -7 fince it is the common Doctrine of the Schools. But though it were not at prefent taught, yet 'tis certainly no Errour, much lefs a moft pernicious one, as he elfewhere ftiles it *. •• The two Errours he fuppofes me to fubftitute, in the Room of this recanted one,are Two things * PaS-9°« I never faid; and which he puts upon me. 'Tis but reading his own Words relating to the Queftion, to difcover the Truth of what I fay; and therefore I fball not Hand to prove it; efpecially fince 'tis done fufficiently by an unknown Hand. I could only with this un- known Perfon had alledg'd the Reafons which I had for faying, That an Infant at the time of Baptifm was justified by an Actual Love, and which I have given in the llluftration upon Original Sin.
Let a Man judge then, after he has examin'd the candid and fincere Advertifement of Monfieur de la Vtlle, whether I have not reafon to require the Equitable Readers not to credit him, on his bare Word. For if we believe him, he is the moft fmcere and courteous Man in the World; but we cannot find all the Marks of Sincerity and Candour, when we carefully examine him. At the End of his Advertifement, he protefts, hehasendeavour'd, as much as poflible, to obferve all the Moderation which he ought, that he has no ill Will but to the Errours of his Adverfavies, and for their Perfons all Efteem and Refpeft: Whilft yet one cannot confider that Advertifemenr, without difcovering at leaft the Symptoms of a difingenuous Spirit, and a Malign Temper, which furprizes and irritates Mens Minds. 1 pray God to pardon him his Outrages, to Regulate his Zeal, and to infpire him with the Spirit of Meeknefs, Charity and Peace towards his Brethren. I know not whether he finds Pleafure in abufing me fo hainoufly as he does •, but I defire to allure him, That it is Matter oi much Sorrow, and Trouble to me, That I am forc'd in the Defence of Truth, to give: fome Sufpicion of his Probity •, and that I mould, on the contrary, be extreamly joyful, if he could know how fincerely I honour, refpett, and love him, in Him in whom we all are Brethren. No- verit mam ettm non contemnam, & wantwn-in illo Deum t'vmeam^ & cogitem caput noftrum in cujus cor-* pore fratres fumus. Aug. ad Fortunianum, £pift. 3.
M=PB» CONCERNING Light and Colours.
BEING AN ILLUSTRATION Fourth CHAPTER of his Sixth BOOK.
Never before Printed.
IN order to explain my Thoughts concerning the Natural Caufes of Light and Colours, let us conceive a great Foot-ball externally prefs'd by a Force, in a manner infinite; and that the fluid Matter contain'd in it, has fo rapid a Motion, as not only to turn all, after one and the fame Fafhion, with a mighty Swiftnefs •, but that each Part of it, to imploy all its Motion, (that is, to move it felf equally to its Force,) is ft ill obliged either to turn upon the Centre of an infinite Number of little Vortices, or elfe to glide between them, and ali this with a prodigious Celerity ^ infomuch that the Force of the Matter contain'd in the Foot-ball, fhall make an equal Poize with that external Force which comprefiTes it. In a word, let us conceive the Matter con- tain'd in the Foot-ball to be like that with which M. Des Cartes furnifh.es our Vortex, excepting only that the little Bowls of his fecond Element, which hefuppofeshard, be nothing but little Vor- tices themfelves -, or at leaft, that they have no Hardnefs but what is occafion'd by thePrefTure of thofe which furround them: For if thefe. little Bowls were hard by their own Nature, (as I think I have demonftrated the contrary,) it were impofftble for them to tranfmit Light and Colours, as In,tf}e ta$. we fhall fee by and by. But if this Supposition be difficultly conceived, let u$ only fuppofe a ^fiairdi Foot-ball fill'd with Water, or rather with a Mat- ter infinitely more fluid, and receiving an extreme PrefTure from without. The Circle A B C is the Section through the Centre of the Foot-ball.
This being fuppos'd, let there be imagin'd a fmall Hole to be made at the Point A; I fay, that all the Parts of the Water, as R S TF, contain'd therein, will tend towards the Point A by the right Lines, R A, S A, &c. For all the Parts which were equally prefs'd before, ceafe to be fo on that fide which anfwers to the Hole. They mull: therefore tend towards it, fince every Body that is prefs'd, mull: tend to move it felf that way where it finds the leaft Refiftance.
But if a Stopple be put in the Orifice J, and it be haftily thruft inwards, the fame Parts, R S T F", 8£c. will all tend to remove themfelves from the Hole, direftly by the fame Lines, A R, A <S,&c.
Becaufe, upon the advancing in of the Stopple, they are more prefs'd on the Side wherein it enters.
Laftly, If we conceive the Stopple moved haftily backwards and forwards, all the Parts of the fubtile Matter (which exa£Uy fills the Foot-ball, whole Elafticity is very great, and which difficultly contra&s or extends it felf) will receive infinite Vibrations from the PrefTure.
Let us now fiippofe an Eye at T, or elfewhere, directed towards a Torch at A; the Parts of the Torch being in continual Motion, will conftantly prefs the fubtile Matter on all fides, and con- iequently quite from A to" the Fund of the Eye: And the Optick Nerve, being vehemently prefs'd and fhaken by very quick Vibrations, will excite in the Soul the Senfation of Light, or of a lively and glittering Whitenefs.
If ive fuppofe at 5 a dark Body M, the fubtile Matter being not reflefted towards the Eye that way dire&ed, nor vibrating the Optick Nerve, the Body will appear black \ as when we look in- to the Mouth of a Cave, or the Hole of the Pupil of the Eye.
If the Body M be fuch, as that the fubtile Matter vibrated by the Torch, be refle&ed towards the Eye, without anv Diminution of the Quicknefs of the Vibrations, the Body M will appear A a White, where I treat of the Hardnefs of Bodies.
rp4 F- Malebranche Concerning White, and fo much the more White as there fhall be more Rays relieved. It will likewife ap^ pear Luminous, as Flame, if the Body M being polifh'd fhall reflect all, or almoft all the Rays; in the- fame order.
But if the Body M be fuch, as- that the fubtile Matter reflected has its Vibrations lefs quick* in certain Degrees that cannot be exactly determin'd, the Refult will be one of the primitive Co- lours, Yellow, Red, Blue, provided all the Parts of the Body 711 diminifh equally the Vibrations caufed by the Flame in the fubtile Matter •, and all the reft of the Colours, made up of a Mixture of the primitive, will arife according as the Parts of the Body M fhall unequally diminifh the Quicknefs of the faid Vibrations. This is what I meant, when I advanc'd in fbme Places of my Book, that Light and Colours confifted only in the Vibrations of PreiTure, as they were more or lefs quick, produced by the fubtile Matter on the Retina.- This fimple Expofition of my Opinion will, perhaps, make it feem probable enough, to thole at leait who are acquainted with M. Des Cartes's Philofophy, and who are not fatisfitd with the Explication which that Learned Man gives of Colours: But that a more folid Judgment may be made on my Opinion, it is not enough to have barely propose it; it isrequifite to produce fome Arguments to confirm it.
To that End, it is neceflary to obferve, Firft, That Sound is rendred Senflble only by the Vi- brations of the Air, which make the Ear; for upon the Air's being drawn out of theAir-Pumpy Sound is no longer heard.
Secondly, That the- Difference of Tones proceeds not from the Strength of thefe Vibrations of . the Air, but from their Quicknefs, as it is more or lefs. ' Thirdly, That though the Imprefhons which Objects make upon the Organs of our Senfes, dif- fer fometimes, but according to more or lefs, the Senfations which the Soul receives from them differ effentially. There are no Senfations more oppofite than Pleafure and Pain; and yet a Man that fcratches himfelf with Pleafure, feels Pain, if he fcratches a little harder than ordi- nary] There is great probability that Bitter and Sweet, which caufe Senfations effentially diffe- rent, differ only by more and lefs: For there are thofe who tafte that Bitter which others tafte Sweet. There are Fruits which to Day are Sweet, and to Morrow Bitter. A little Difference in Bodies makes them capable of caufing very oppofite Senfations •, a fign that the Laws of Union of the Soul and Body are arbitrary, and an undoubted Proof that we receive not from Objects the Senfations we have of them.
Fourthly, If the Vibrations of the Air, as they are quicker or flower, produce very different Tones', we mould not admire that the Vibrations of the fubtile Matter, which preffes perpetually the Optick Nerve, fhould caufe us to fee Colours altogether different, though the Celerity of thefe Vi- brations differ only by more or lefs. When a Man has beheld the Sun, and his Optick Nerve has been ftrongly ftruck by the Luftre of its Light, becaufe that Nerve is fituate in the Focus of the Eye, if at that time he fhut his Eyes, or enters with them open into a dark Place, the Concuflion of the Optick Nerve, or of the Animal Spirits 'contain'd in the Nerve, diminifhing by unequal De- grees, he fees fucceffively Colours effentially different, firft White, then Yellow, Red, Blue, and at laft Black. Whence can this come, except that the Vibrations or Concuflions of the Optick Nerve, which at firft are very quick, become by Degrees more flow? (For we muft not judge of the Concuflions of the Optick Nerve, as of thofe of the Strings of Inftruments, which are ftretch'd in the Air, and faftned at both Ends, and the Celerity of whofe Vibrations diminifb not.) And might not one from thence alone conclude, that the Vibrations of the Retina, which caufe Yellow, are quicker than thofe which caufe Red; and thofe of Red, quicker than thofe of Blue •, fo of other Colours fucceflively.
As the PreiTure of the Air is only from the Weight of the Atmofphere, its Elafticity is but moderate, and fome time is required that each part of Air may impell its Neighbour: And thus Sound is tranfmitted but leafurely, it making but about an Hundred and eighty Fathom in a Se- cond. But the Cafe is different with Light, becaufe all the Parts of the other, or fubtile Mat- ter, are contiguous, rapidly moved; and efpecially becaufe they are comprefs'd with the Weight, as I may fay, of all the Vortices. So that the Vibrations of PreiTure, or the Action of a lumi- nous Body, muft be communicated to the greateft Diftance in the fhorteft Time; and if thePref- fure of the Parts conftituting our Vortex, were actually infinite, the Vibrations of Preflure muft undoubtedly be made in an Inftant. Monfieur Hugens, in his Treatife of Light, pretends, from Obfervations made on the Eclipfes of Jupiter\ Satellites, that Light is tranfmitted about Six hundred thoufand times fafter than Sound. The Weight therefore of all the other, or the Com- search af- preflion of its Parts, is much greater than that of the Atmofphere. I think I have fijfficiently ch^lr Prove^, that the Hardnefs of Bodies can proceed only from the PreiTure caufed by this vYeight; and if fo, it muft needs be extraordinary great, fince there are Bodies 'fo hard, as demand a very great Force to feparate the leaft part of them.