The French academie Fully discoursed and finished in foure bookes. 1. Institution of manners and callings of all estates. 2. Concerning the soule and body of man. 3. A notable description of the whole world, &c. 4. Christian philosophie, instructing the true and onely meanes to eternall life. This fourth part neuer before published in English. All written by the first author, Peter de la Primaudaye, Esquire, Lord of Barre, Chauncellour, and Steward of the French Kings house.

Whether the life of the body can proceede either of the matter, or of the composition forme, and figure, or of the qualities thereof, or else of the harmony, coniuncti∣on and agreement of all these: whether any of these or all of them to∣gether can be the soule: of the length and shortnesse, of the diuers degrees and ages, and of the end of mans life: of death and of the cause: both of life and death: of the diffe∣rence that is betweene natural and supernatu∣ral Philosophy in the consideration of thinges. Chap. 74.

AMANA. ••esus Christ purposing to teach vs, that we cannot haue life but in him, and by him, who is the life, & who hath the words of eternall life, compareth himselfe to a Vine, and his disciples vnto Branches. For the branch hath life and vigour, and bea∣reth fruit, so long as it remaineth in the vine, and receiueth nourishment from thence, so if it receiueth no sap from thence, or if it be cut off, it withereth and dieth. We may say the same of the members of the body, if the soule be not in euery one of them, & if it giue not life, ver∣tue, * 1.1 & vigour to them all for the performance of their offices. For if it fal out so, that it with∣draweth it selfe altogether from any one part of the body, that part is without life: as we see by experience in a member dried vp, or putrified, or cup off from the body. And so is it with the whole body, when the soule is separated from it. But we are to handle this matter more atlarge. By our former discourses we may learne the nature both of the soule & of the body what is that vnion & coniunction which they haue together, albeit their natures, substan∣ces, and essences are diuers and very different: also we haue learned that the one of them, namely the spiritual essence, is a great deale more excellent then the other, which is corporal. Wherefore wee may well conclude, that the life in the body proceedeth not of the matter wherof it is made, nor of the qualities ioyned vnto it, nor yet of the composition, forme and * 1.2 figure thereof. For if the life and soule were in the matter of the body, the larger and greater mens bodies were, and the more matter they had in them, the more life and soule, the more wit, spirit and vnderstanding should be in them. But wee see by experience that it is farre otherwise, and that there is no more life and soule in a great body then in a little. And if it were so that the life proceeded from the matter, a dead body should be as well a man, as a li∣uing body. VVee may say the same both of the qualities ioyned to the matter according to * 1.3 the nature of the elements, as also of that confirmation and agreement that is betweene all the members both within and without. And as for the harmony, coniunction & concords * 1.4 that floweth from the diuersitie of these qualities, and from their temperatue, it may bee

increased and diminished, Wherefore that cannot but be the effect of nature, which causeth * 1.5 a thing to be that which it is, and giueth vnto the same thing his forme & kind, that conti∣nueth alwaies in his estate & natural dispositiō. For if it were otherwise, the nature of kinds might be changed, which neuer any of the Philosophers did so much as imagine, or thinke to affirme. And as for the composition & figure of the body, there is yet lesse reason to say it commeth from thence, for asmuch as that continueth the same in a dead body which it was in a liuing. Againe, those liuing creatures, that resemble most the nature & forme of the * 1.6 members of mans body, & the matter therof, are often times farther off from the nature of humane sense & vnderstanding, then they that do lesse resemble thē. Which we may easily know by considering the nature of a Hog & of an Elephant. For they that through want & famine haue bin cōstrained to eate mans flesh, haue testified that no flesh or meate whatso∣euer approcheth neerer in tast, or is more like it then the flesh of a Hog. And if we consider the inward members and parts, there is no beast, if we wil giue credit to them that haue had the experience thereof, that hath them liker to those in man, then the Hog hath, both for substance, disposition, forme and figure. Contrariwise, wherein doth the Elephant resemble man either for forme or composition of body, or of the members both internall and exter∣nall, in comparison of a Hog? And yet there is no beast more teachable then the Elephant. or approcheth neerer to the sense & vnderstanding of man: as on the other side there is no beast further off in this respect, nor more hard to be taught, & more brutish, then is the Hog, And if any man thinke that the industry & docilitie of an Elephant proceedeth, either from the greatnesse of the matter whereof it is made, or from the abundance of the qualities ioy∣ned vnto the matter, or from the harmony, coniunction & concord that is betweene them, or lastly, from the composition, forme and figure of his body & of the members thereof, we will oppose vnto him the Ant, which is one of the least among the creatures of the earth, as the Elephant is the greatest of all, as farre as we know. The like may be said of the Bee. For, * 1.7 are there many creatures although greater in substance, that yet haue such industrious and ingenious natures, as these little beasts haue, that are to be reckoned among the smallest of them? And by this it appeareth plainely, that the soule of beasts is of some other substance and nature then their bodies, notwithstanding there is great difference betwixt the soule of beasts and the soule of men. But we haue further to note touching the soule of man, that the spirit doth not onely not follow the nature of the body, but which is more, gouerneth, carrieth and recarrieth it whether it pleaseth: yea, withstandeth the affections, which ap∣proch * 1.8 neerest to the corporall and terrestriall nature. And as for the faculty of sense and of the senses, it is a vertue that surpasseth all bodily power and vertue, & all things depending of the body, so that there is no facultie of the body that is able to expresse the actions there∣of. VVhat shall we say then of the vertue of vnderstanding, which is the highest and most soueraigne facultie that is in man? Which we cannot say is a body compounded of matter and forme. For that thing is the fountaine and originall of life, which first mooueth a liuing creature to the workes belonging vnto life. So that when we enquire what this fountaine & spring is, then doe we seeke to know what the soule is. Now wee may soone know by that which hath beene spoken, what the soule is not: but as yet we cannot perceiue what the proper substance and nature thereof is. And indeede it is not that which wee haue to speake of at this time, hereafter wee may say somewhat of that matter. Let it * 1.9 suffice for this present, that we know that the true cause of the life of the body, in regard of second causes, is in the soule next vnto God, who is the first and principal cause of all things. Therfore it is he that hath ordained & limitted to euery liuing creature his appointed time wherein to liue and to grow, and next to decrease and to die: and as it pleaseth him either to prolong or to abridge their life, so doth he dispose of the second causes and meanes where∣by he wil haue it brought to passe. VVherfore although euery one hath his certaine bounds and terme of life set him, yet none but God onely can attaine to the knowledge therof. For all come not to the last age, which he hath appointed to be the ordinary end of euery one•• life, following those degrees into which it is diuided, according to that diuision which wee * 1.10 make of daies and yeares. For the infancie of man may bee resembled to the mourning and to the spring time of the yeare: mans age to midday and to the sommer: olde-age to the Euening and to Autumne: & death to night and to winter. Therefore Iob saith very wel speaking of man, the number of his moneths are with thee: thou hast appointed his bounds, which hee * 1.11 cannot passe. Now if it be demaunded what is the ordinarie terme of life appointed by God we are to know, that nature by the ordinance of God appropriateth the matter beeing in

the forme of members, vnto the soule, that is to giue life vnto the whole body. Now when the soule is entred into it and hath taken possession thereof, by little and little it prepareth and maketh fit the internall instruments, vntill at length it hath brought them to that per∣fection, * 1.12 which the qualitie, constitution and composition of the matter is able to receiue & to beare. And after these instruments are come to their greatest perfection by vsage they waste & consume away, returning by little and little vnto their first nature, & so in the end wholy corrupt and die. Thus you see how the members are appropriated in the body of the mother, how the spirits and humours are fitted in the time of infancy: after which the flower of age in youth is, as it were, the vigour and vse of the perfection of the instruments, and olde-age is the decreasing age, wherein they decay continually and become worse and worse, euen vntill they come to their corruption, which is death. And this death we call na∣turall, when following this course it attaineth without violence to these bounds. Now al∣though * 1.13 this be no long course, yet there are but very few that holde out to the vttermost end thereof, in regard of them that stay by the way: of whom some are cut off, euen before they haue begunne their course, others presently after they haue begun it, and some in the mid∣way: & that through so many sorts of sickenesses with other inconueniences and accidents that a man cannot possibly comprehend or conceiue them all. Therefore Dauid said long since, that the time of our life is three score yeeres & ten, and if they be of strength, foure score yeeres: yet * 1.14 their strength is but labor & sorrow: for it is cut off quickly, and we flee away. And after he hath com¦pared man to a streame of water caried violently away, to a Morning dreame, to the grasse that florisheth and groweth in the Morning, and in the Euening is cut down & withereth, he giueth the reason of all this, saying, for we are consumed by thine anger, and by thy wrath are * 1.15 we troubled. Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, and our secret sins in the light of thy countenance: for all our dayes are past in thine anger: we haue spent our yeares as a thought. Iob also agreeth well, * 1.16 with Moses in this point when he saith, Man that is borne of a woman is of short continuance, and full of trouble. He shooteth foorth as a flowre, & is cut down, he vanisheth also as a shadow, and continu∣eth not. Now it is certain, that if we looke to the causes of the life & death of men laid down by vs, we shall thinke that all this is done naturally, and that there is a certaine order of na∣ture, vnto which we must all be subiect, & a naturall necessitie which none can eschew. But we see that Moses mounteth a loft, and searcheth higher for the cause: for hee seeketh it in God and in his determination, yea in his wrath conceiued against our sinnes. Therfore the children and seruants of God, that haue bene instructed in his word, doe not only consider of that in death, which prophane men beholde there: but they mount vp euen to this high∣est cause, and behold there the wrath of God against sin, and against all mankinde for the same. So that we may know by that which hath bin said, what difference there is betweene * 1.17 humane and naturall Philosophie, and that which is diuine and supernaturall: and wherein they deceiue themselues, that stay altogether in naturall Philosophie. And hereby also wee may learne the cause why so many become Atheists and Epicures thereby, wheras it should serue them in place of steps and degrees to cause them to ascend vp to that Philosophie that is supernaturall and heauenly. For their noses are altogether poring in this base kitchin, of which we haue intreated in our former discourses: as though God had not created men for another life and end, then he hath done beasts. Whereupon we may imagine, what true ioy and consolation they can haue, I say, not only in death, but also throughout their whole life, seeing their life, will they, nill they, must passe through so many dangers and miseries. For whether they will or no, they must bee subiect to this sentence passed from God against all mankinde, in the person of our first parents, when he said to Adam, Cursed is the earth for thy * 1.18 sake, in sorrow shalt thou eate of it all the daies of thy life. Throns also and thistles shall it bring foorth to thee, and thou shalt eate the herbe of the field. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eate bread, till thou re∣turne to the earth, for out of it wast thou taken, because thou art dust and to dust shalt thou returne. Therefore Eliphaz saith in the booke of Iob, that miserie proceedeth not out of the dust, and that * 1.19 affliction buddeth not out of the earth: Which is asmuch to say, as that the cause of barrennes of ground proceedeth not from the earth, but from the sinne of man. Wherefore men cannot * 1.20 lay the blame vpon any other beside themselues, as beeing the cause of all the euils which they suffer, because they beare the matter of them in themselues. Now if any think, that this sentence pronounced by God against all mankinde is not so much executed vpon the wic∣ked that are without God, as vpon others, because we see cōmonly that they are richest, and liue in greatest ease, in pleasures and in delights, wee must know that they are not therefore exempted from those miseries, whereunto the life of man is subiect, & which are all com∣prehended

vnder this sweate of the face mentioned in the holy Scriptures. For there is no one of them to be found, that can so saue himselfe, but that he hath alwaies his part & por∣tion in these things. And if we could consider well the whole course of their life, who seeme to be the happiest amongst them, and had the patience to waite vntill the end of their ••ace, should find by experience the truth of that we speake of. But let vs goe on with our speeces, touching the causes of the length and shortnes of this bodily life, and of naturall death, as also of that which is, violent, whereof wee haue not yet spoken. Also let vs consider of the things that are chiefly required for the vpholding of this bodily life, and without which it could not consist. This then shall be the matter subiect, of which thou. ARAM, shalt take vpon thee to discourse.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Ioh. 15. 1. 2. 3. 4.
• * 1.2

  The soule proceedeth not of the matter.
• * 1.3

  Nor of the qualities.
• * 1.4

  Nor of the harmo••••.
• * 1.5

  Nor of the composition of the body.
• * 1.6

  The nature of a Hog. And of an Elephant.
• * 1.7

  The soule of a beast diffe∣reth from the substance and nature of his body.
• * 1.8

  The faculty of sense com∣meth not from the bo∣dy.
• * 1.9

  The cause of the life of the body.
• * 1.10

  The degrees of mans age.
• * 1.11

  Iob. 14 5.
• * 1.12

  The cause of the length & shortnes of life.
• * 1.13

  What natural death is.
• * 1.14

  Psal. 90. 10.
• * 1.15

  Psal. 7. 8. 9.
• * 1.16

  Iob 14. 1. 2.
• * 1.17

  Of the true difference be∣tween natural and diuine Philosophie. The cause of so many A∣theists.
• * 1.18

  Gen. 3. 17. 18
• * 1.19

  Iob. 5. 6.
• * 1.20

  The cause of barrennesse.