Let usfuppofe then that all the Parts of the other, or of the fubtile and invifible Matter of our Vortex, are comprefs'd with a kind of infinite Force, and that each of thefe Parts is very fluid, ha- ving its Hardnefs only from the Motion of thofe which incompafs andcomprefsiton all fides 5' and let us fee'how it's poflible for the Impreffions of infinite different Colours to be communicated without Confufion •, how Ten thoufand Rays which cut one another, in one phyfical or fenfible Point, tranfmit, through the fame Point, all their different Impulfions: For, probably, the Syftem which can explain that great Difficulty, will be confonant to the Truth.
Let cdf <? h LIGHT and COLOURS.
Let A P E M be a Chamber painted with a great Variety of Colours, and let them be as oppo. £te as may be; that is, let there be White at A next to Black at 77, Blue at b next to Red at r,. Yellow at i nfrxt to Purple at v. From all thefe Points, A nb r i v, let right Lines be drawn, all cutting in one common Point O, and let ^ an Eye be placed beyond it, as in E c dfg /;, all thefe dif- ferent Colours will be feen through the tame Point of Inter- feron 0. And fince this Figure reprefents only one row of Colours, whereas we muft imagine as many as there are vi- fible Points in a Sphere, the Point of Intersection O, muft receive and tranfmit an infinite Number of different Impref- fions, without deftroying one another.
I fay then, that if the Phyfical Point, or the Globule O, be an hard Body, as M.Des Cartes fuppofes it, it is impoffible that an Eye at E mould fee White at A, and that another Eye at c v * r * n -A. mould fee Black at n. For a Body being hard, if any part of it tends directly from A, for Ex' ample, towards E, (that is, if it proceeds any whit tocomprefs the Optick Nerve) all the other parts muft neceffarily tend thither alfo: and therefore Black and White cannot be feen at the fame time, by the Interpofition of the Globule O. M. Des Cartes pretends farther, that Red is made by the turning of the little Globules, which is communicated from one to another quite along the whole Ray, from the Object to the Eye. That Opinion is tndefenfible for many Reafons; but there needs no more to ruin it, than to confider that if the Globule O turn upon the axis P M from r, where there is Red, towards /"where the Eye is placed, it cannot at the fame time turn upon the axis r/from M, where I likewife fuppole Red, towards P where I fuppole another Eye. For the reft: When I fay that the Rays cut themfelves in the Globule O, I do not affert that the vifual Rays have no greater denfity than that of a Globule of the fecond Element. I do not determine what thicknefs of thefe Rays is fufficient fo to ftrike the Optick Nerve, as to caufe it to fee Colours. But what I have faid of a fingle Globule, muft be underftood of an Hundred or a Thoufand, if lb many be required to make a Ray fenfible.
It is not therelore poflible that the little Globule O, or its fellows, mould tranfmit the Action of infinite different Colours, if thefe Globules are hard: But if they be conceived infinitely foft, as the fimple Idea or Matter reprefents them (fince Reft has no Force, and it is indifferent to each part to be or not to be near another; ) I fay, if thefe Globules be conceived very foft, or rather as exquifitely little Vortices compoled of an infinitely fluid Matter, they will be fufceptible of in- finite different Impreflions, which they can communicate to others upon which they lean, and with which they are as it were infinitely compreffed. I will endeavour to explain and prove this.
In order to which, it is neceflary well to underftand, thatRe-action is here neceffarily equal to Action, for thefe Reafons, That naturally Force is never deftroy'd, that our Vortex is as it were infinitely comprefs'd, and that there is no Vacuum; and laftly, becaufe the Ethereal Matter is in vehement Motion. If, for Example, a Man thruft his Cane againft an immovable Wall, it will be repelled with the fame Force that it is pufhed. The Re-action will be equal to the Action. Now though the Rays are not hard like Sticks, yet very near the fame thing will happen in re- gard of Reaction, becaufe of the compreffion and plenitude of om Vortex.
For if we fuppofe a Cask exactly full of Water, and a Pipe being fitted to it, a Stopple be thruft into this Pipe, it will meet with a Refiftance within, equal to the driving Force without. And if a little Hole be made in the middle of the Stopple, through, which the Water may pafs from the VefTel; and then the Stopple be thruft in, all the Water which (hall be compreffed by it, will tend at the fame time, by reafon of its fluidity, both to recede from every point of the Stopple, and alfo to approach the Hole in the middle of it. For if the Stopple be forced in with violence enough, the Veffel will burft in the weakeft part of it, let it be where it will; a certain fign that the Water preffes the Veffel every where ± and if the Stopple be puflfdin, the .Water will immediately thereupon fly out by the little Orifice. All this, becaufe Re-action is equal to Action inzp/enum, and that Water, or the fubtile Matter, is foft or fluid enough for every part of it, fo to figure it felf as to fuffice for all forts of Impreflions. It muft alfo be ob- ferved, That the more violently the Stopple is forcd into the Veffel, the more forcibly the Water' whilft 'tis driven toward the Concave Surface of the Veffel, returns towards the Stopple, and leaps through the Hole.
Hence 'tis eafie to perceive that a Black Point on White Paper muft be more vifible than upon Blue j becaufe White repelling the light ftronger than any other Colour, it muft by its Re-action tend more forcibly towards the Black Point. But if the Ethereal Matter were not infinitely foft and fluid, it is plain that the little Globules which tranfmit the impreiTion of White, being hard-, would hinder that of Black, becaufe thefe Globules fupporting one another, could not tend to- wards the Black Point: And if that Ethereal Matter were not preffed, there would be no Re-act ion.
What I have been faying of White and Black, ought to be applied to other Colours, though it would be difficult to do it in particular, and to anfwer the Objeftions which many would make upon that Subject: For it is eafie to raife Objections, in matters that are obfcure. But all thole who are able to make Objections, are not always capable of comprehending the Principles on vyhich the Refolution of them depend. To me it fcems eafie enough, to conceive how it is pofl-.ble for a fgnlible IP5 ip 6 K Malebranche Concerning^ Sec, a iMible. point of Matter, infinitely fluid, and compreffed on all fides, to receive at the feme time infinite different Impreffions, if we attend to thefe two tilings: Firft, That Matter is divi- fible in infinitum: Secondly, That each part neceffarily tends and advances that way where it meets with leaft refiftance.5 and thus, that every foftand unequally prefs'd Body, receives all the Sculptures of the Mould, as I may fay, that furroundsit, and receives them fo much more readi- ly] as it is more fluid and more comprefs'd. I omit the enumeration of Conferences which fol- low from the Principles I have been explaining 5 by which Confequences, I think, may be remo- ved that furprifing Difficulty, how the Rays, of different Colours may crofs each other without Confufion; which appears to me fo great a Difficulty, as that none but the true Syftem of the World can entirely diffipate and refolve it.
As for the reft, it muft not be imagined that what I have faid of the Globules of the fecond Element (which I am fo far from believing hard, as that I confider them as little Vortices) can injure M. Des Cartes's Phyficks: On the contrary, my Opinion^ if true, perfeQs his Syftem in Ge- neral. For if my Sentiment may be ufeful to the Explication of Light and Colours, it feems much more proper to refolve other General Queftions of Natural Philofophy •, as for Example,- how to; explain the furpfizing Effeef s of Fire.
As Bodies cannot natutally acquire any Motion, unlefs it be communicated to them, it is mam- feft that Fire cannot be made but by the Communication- of the Motion of the fubtile Matter* M. Des Cartes, as is known, pretends that 'tis only the firft Element which communicates- its Motioft ro the third, of which grofs Bodies are compos'd, and which fets it on fire. According to him, when one ftrikes fire, one forcibly dhTevers a little part of the Flint: (I rather fhould belieVe it to be a part broke off from the SteeljWhich iskindled: For when we behold with a Microfcope the Sparks of Fire which are collected, it appears to be the Iron which has been melted and reduced into Globules* or little long and round Figures. I have not obferv'd 3ny Change to have happened in the little parts broken from the Flint, but that makes nothing at the bottom.) That little part broken off from the Iron, fpinning then round with force, drives the little Globules, or the fecond Element, and confer quently caufes:that firft to flow towards the Particle of Steel, which. furrounding it on all fides, communicates its Motion to it, and fets it on fire. This is pretty nearly the Opinion of M. Des Cartes. It may be feen more at large in the Fourth Part of his Principles, in the 8oth. and follow- ing Numbers. But if thefe Globules are hard, and all contiguous, it is difficult to conceive how the firft Element could flow towards the feparated part of the Iron, and that with a fufficient Quantity to encompafs and let it on fire, not only that, but all the Powder of a Cannon or a Mine, fince the fiift Element is but a very fmall Portion of the Ethereal Matter, as fitting only the little triangu- lar or concave Spaces, which the contiguous Globules leave between them. This then is the Way that I explain Fire, uponSuppofition that the little Globules of the fecond Element are only little Vortices of a violently agitated Matter.
Though the Air be not abfolutely necefTary to excite fome Spark of Fire, yet for want of Air, Fire immediately goes out," and cannot fo much as communicate it felf to Gun-powder, though very eafie to be inflamed. Experience (hews, that if a Piftol well primed have its Cock Itruck down in an Air-Pump, when the Air is exhaufted, the Priming never takes fire, and it is very difficult to obferve the Sparks. Laftly, Every Body knows that Fire goes out for want of Air, and that it is kindled by blowing: This being fuppoled, fee how I explain the Production of Fire...When a Man ftrikes Fire in a Vacuum, he breaks off, by the force of the Blow, a little part of the Steel, or of the Flint •■ this little part whirling about, and ftriking rudely upon fome little Vortices, breaks them •, and confequently determines their Parts to follow its Determination, and to furround it in anlnftant, andfet it on fire. But the Matter of thefe little Vortices, after ha- ving made abundance of irregular Motions, re-places it felf partly in new Vortices, and partly efcapes between the Intervals of the furrounding Vortices, which approach the difTever'd part of Iron. And thefe new Vortices are not eafily broken, becaufe they follow pretty exatlly the Motion of the part of Iron •, which being perhaps either circular or cylindrous, and turning nearly, either upon its Centre, or its Axis, ftrikes no more the Vortices in a manner capable of breaking them. All this is perform'd as in an Inftant, when the Flint ftrikes the Steel in a Place void of Air, and the Spark then is hardly vifible.
But when the Steel is ftricken in full Air, the part broken off from it, as it whirls, meets and vibrates a good deal of Air, whofe Parts, probably branchy, meet with it, and break many more of the Vortices than the Iron alone. So that the fubtile Matter of thefe Vortices, coming to furround the Iron and the Air, affords them plenty enough of different Motions, ftrongly to repel the other Vortices. Thus the Sparks muft be much more glittering in the Air than in a Vacuum, they muft remain much longer, and have fufficient force to fire Gun-powder •, which cannot want fubtile Matter to let it on fire, whatever Quantity of Powder there is; fince it is not only the firlt Ele- ment, but much more the fecond, which produces its extraordinary Motion. If one make Re- flexion on what happens to Fire, when 'tis clear, that is, when a great deal of Air is driven . againft it, wefhall not doubt but that the Parts of the Air are very proper to deteimine the fub- tile Matter,- to communicate a part of its Motion to the Fire fince 'tis only from this Matter that the Hie can derive its Motion; no Body being capable of moving it felf, but by the Action of thofe which environ it, or which ftrike againft it.
The END.
A TREATISE CONCERNING Nature and Grace.
B Y Father MJLEBRANCHE, Of the ORATORY.
Done into Englifli out of French.
ADVERTISEMENT.
Ilntreat thofe into whofe Hands this TracT: jljall come, to believe I princi- pally undertook^ it to fatisfe the Difficulties of fome Hiilofophers, rrijoi methojights, had not all that due Senfe Religion teaches us to have of the Goodnefs ofGO D, nor were Sufficiently acquainted with the Obligations we are under to JESUS CHRIST. J defire it may be looked on only as an Effay, and not judg'd of before it be attentively examind; and that the Reader would not let himfelf be furpriild by the Motions of Fear and Mijiruji, which naturally arife in us < from any thing that bears the Char a- Ber of Novelty. Having written for Philofbphers, who Jiand upon a great Accuracy and rigorous ExaSlnefs, I have been obligd to avoid the General Terms in Ordinary ZJfe; fince I could not content them without nfing fuch Terms as raife dijiinB and particular Ideas in the Mind, as far as tlie Sub- jeSt will permit. I quejiion not but equitable Perfons will conclude I had no other Defign than to prove in allpoffible manners the Truths we are taught by Faith -, and that I am not fo Inconfiderate as to call in quejiion what the Church entertains as certain, and Religion obliges us to believe* But it has ever been allow 'd Men to give New Proofs of Ancient Truths, to endear G O EJ to the AjfeStions of Men, and to Jhew that there is nothing harjh or nnjuji in the ConduSi He takgs for the Eftablijhment of His Church.
This Piece is divided intoThree Difcourfes: In the Firji I reprefent GOD as working for his Creatures all the Good His Wifdom will permit. In tlve Second I explain how the SON of GOT), as Incarnate Wifdom, and Head of the Church, fbeds on His Members the Graces He could not beflow, as Eternal Wifdom, and they could not receive from His Father. And I lihg- wife endeavour to make Men fenfible of the Obligations and Relations they are under to JESUS CHRIST. Laftly, in the Third D if conrfe, I Jhew what is Liberty, and how Grace works in us with a Salvo to it. Since there are Perfons of fo little Equity as to draw dangerous Confeqnences from Prin- ciples mojl Advantageous to Religion; I defire I may not be condemn d upon their bare Word, but that, before I am jndgd, I may have the Juflice done me of being underjiood. Surely there ought to be no Neceffity of nty making this Petition.
Cf ] C O N C ERNING Nature and Grace, DISCOURSE t 0/ f/?e Necejftty of the General Laws of NATURE W of GRACE.
s Of the Necejpty of thi General Laws of Nature, I ^"*1 1 N C E G 0 D can ad only for his own Glory \ andean find this no where but in Him* fetf, He could have no other Defign in the Creation of the World than the Eftablifh- ment of His Church. Prov.3. 22.
II. JESUS CHRIST, who is the Head of iu is the Beginning of the Ways cf Eccl." 24. the LORD; is the Firft Born of the Creatures; and though lent among Men in the Fu/nefs of h »4- Time, was their Exemplar in the Eternal Defigns of his Father: After his Image all Men Were ph* lit' created, as well thofe that preceded as we that fucceed His Temporal Birth. In a Word, 'tis He "i"^!,' in whom the Univerfe fubfifts, there being none befides that could make the Work of G 0 D per- 22. 4. 13, feftly worthy of its Author. '<*• Co11- '• , III. Some Proportion there ought to be between the World and the A£tion that produe'd it. jg'^V7* But the Action that edue'd it out of Nothing is that of G 0 D, of ari infinite Worth •, whilft the pf.'72. 17. World, though never fo perfett, is not infinitely Amiable, nor can render to its Author an Ho- Joh. 17. hour worthy of Him. Thus feparate JES US CHRIST from the reft of the Creatures, js* 24» and fee if He, who a£ts but for his own Glory, and whole Wifdom his no Bounds, can purpofe, p"',.20. the Produ£tion of any External Work.? Apce. *>' But joining J E S U S CHRIS TtoUh Church, and the Church to the reft of the World it is 8. u 8,&c, taken from, you raife to the Glory of G 0 D a Temple fo majeftick, magnificent^ and holy, that you'll wonder perhaps he laid the Foundations of it lb late.
IV. Yet if you obierve, that the Glory which redounds to G 0 D from His Work, is not ef fential to Him; if you are perfuaded, that the World cannot be a neceflary Emanation of Deity, you will evidently lee that it muft not have been Eternal, though it ought to have no End. Eter- nity is the Chara&er of Independency. The World therefore muft have a Beginning: Annihi- lation of Subftances is a Sign of Inconftancy in Him that produe'd them $ therefore they will have no End.
V. If it be true then, that the World muft have begun, and that the Incarnation of JESUS CHRIST could not have been fo ancient as the Eternal Generation of his Divine Perfon \ An Eternity muft neceffarily have preceded Time. Think not therefore that t? 0 D delay'd the Pro- duction of His Work: He has a greater Love for the Glory He receives from it in / E S U S CHRIST. In one Senfe it may be moft truly affirm'd, that He made it as foon as poffible i For though to us he might have created it Ten thoufand Years before the Beginning of Ages, yer, Ten thoufand Years having no proportion to Eternity, He could neither do itfoo)ter nor later, fince an Eternity muft have gone before.
VI. 'Tismanifeftthat&NW and Late are Properties of Time; and though we fuppofe that GOD had created the World as many Millions of Years as there are Grain of Sand on the Sea-more, before He did, it might ftill be enquir'd, why G 0 D, who fo loves the Glory he receives in the Eftablifhment of His Church, had not begun it many Ages before? Thus it fuffices to lay, That an Eternity ought to forego the Incarnation of the WORD, to manifeft why this Great Myfte- rv was accomplifh'd neither fooner nor later. GOD then muft have created the Univerfe for the Church, and the Church for J J? S U S CHRIST j and J E S US CHRI S T, that He might find in Him a Sacrifice and High-Piieft worthy of the Divine Majefty- We [Ml not A 2 doubt F. MalebrAnche Concerning doubt of this Order of the Defigns of GOD, if it be obferv'd that He can have no other End of his Anions than Himfelf. And if it be conceiv'd that Eternity does not belong to Creatures, we (hall acknowledge they were produc'd when 'twas requifite they fhould be: Which Truths fuppos'd, let us try to difcover fomething in the Method GOD takes for the Execution of His Grand Defign.
VII. Were I not perfuaded that all Men are no farther Reafonable than enlightned by Eternal Wifdom, it would, no doubt, be great Temerity to fpeak of the Defigns of GOD^ and offer to difcover any of His Ways, in the Production of His Work.: But whereas it is certain that the word Eternal is the Univerfal Reafon of Minds, and that by the Light which he continually (beds in us, we may have fome Communication with G 0 D, I ought not to be blam'd for confulting that Light, which, though Confubftantial with GOD Himfelf, fails not to anfwer thofe who know how to enquire of it by a ferious Attention.
VIII. However, I confefs that Faith teaches a great many Truths not difcoverable by the natural Union of rhe Mind with Reafon. Eternal Truth anfwers not to all we ask, fince we ask fome- times more than we can receive. But this mult not ferve for a Pretence to juftifie our Lazinefs and Inapplication.
IX. Vulgar Heads are foon wearied with the Natural Prayer, the Mind by its Attention ought to make to inward Truth, in order to receive Light and Understanding from it; and thusfatigu'd by that painful Exercife, they talk of it in a contemptuous manner. They difhearten one ano- ther, and cover their Weaknefs and Ignorance under the delufive Appearances of a counterfeit Hu- mility.
X. But their Example is not to infufe into us that agreeable Vertue which cherifhes Carelefs- nefs and Negligence in the Mind, and comforts it under its Ignorance of moft neceflary Truths. We muft pray conftantly to Him who enlightens all Men, That he willbeftow His Light upon us, recompence our faith with the Gift of Underftanding •, and efpecially, to prevent us from mHtaking Probability and confus'd Senfations, which precipitate proud Minds into Darknels and Errour, for the Evidence which accompanies His Refolves.
XI. When we defign to fpeak Of GOD with any exaftnels, we muft not confult our felves, nor the vulgar part or Men; but elevate our Thoughts above all Creatures, and with great Re- verence and Attention confult the vaft and immenfe Idea of a Being infinitely perfect; which re- prefenting the true GO D very different from what the Vulgar fancy Him to themfelves, we are not to treat of Him in popular Language. Every Body is allow'd to fay with the Scripture, that GOD Repented Him that He created Man % that He was Angry with his People •, that he deli- ver'd Ifrael from Captivity by the Strength of His Arm. But thefe or the like Expreflions are not permitted Divines, when they ihould fpeak accurately and juftly. Therefore 'tis not to be wondred if in the Sequel of Difcourfe ray Expreffion mail be found uncommon. It ought rather to be carefully obferv'd whether they be clear, and perfectly adapted to the Idea which all Men have of an Infinitely Perfect Being.
XII. This Idea ci a Being infinitely perfect includes two Attributes abfolutely necefTary to the Creation of the World; an unlimited Wifdom, and an irrefiftible Power. The Wifdom of GO D affords infinite Ideas of different Works, and all poffible Ways for the executing His Defigns; and His Power renders Him fo abfolutely Matter of all things, and fo independent of all Afliftan- ces whatever, that He need but Will to execute what he Wills. For we muft above all take no- tice, that GOD needs no Inftruments to work with t, that His Wills are necefiarily efficacious; in a Word, that as His Wifdom is His own Underftanding, His Power is no other than His Will. Among thefe innumerable Ways whereby GOD might have executed His Defign, let us fee which was preferable to all other; and let us begin with the Creation of this Vifible World, from which, and in which He forms the Invifible, which is the Eternal Obje£t of His Love.
XIII. An excellent Artift ought to proportion his A£tion to his Work •, he does not that by Ways compound, which may be perform'd by more fimple -, he acts not without End, and never makes infignificant ElTays. Whence we are to conclude, that GOD difcovering in the infinite Treafures of His Wifdom an Infinity of poffible Worlds, as neceflary Confequences of the Laws of Motion, which he could eftablifh, was determin'd to the Creation of that which might be produc'd and preferv'd by the firnpleft Laws, or which mould be the perfecteft that could be, con- fidering the fimplicity of the Ways neceflary to its Production and Prefervation.
XIV. GOD might, doubtlefs, have made a perfe&er World than that we inhabit. He might, for Inltance, have caus'd the Rain, which fecundates the Earth, to have fallen more regularly on Plow'd Lands than in the Sea, where it is not neceffary. But in order to this, He muft have chang'd the Simplicity of His Ways, and have multiplied the Laws of the Communications of Motions, by which our World fubfifts; and fo there would not have been that Proportion be- tween the Action of G 0 D and His Work, which is neceflary to determine an infinitely wife Being to act ^ or, at leaft, there would not have been the lame Proportion between the Action of GOD and this ib perfect. World, as there is between the Laws of Nature, and the World we inhabit: For our World, imagine it as imperfect as you will, is founded on fo Simple and Natural Laws of Motion, as make it perfectly worthy of the infinite Wifdom of its Author.