THE Original, Nature, and Immortality OF THE SOUL.
THE Original, Nature, and Immortality OF THE SOUL. A POEM. With an Introduction concerning Humane Knowledge.
Written by Sir JOHN DAVIES, Attorney-General to Q. Elizabeth.
With a Prefatory Account concerning the Author and Poem.
LONDON: Printed for W. Rogers, at the Sun against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleet street. 1697.
To His EXCELLENCY The Right Honourable CHARLES, Earl of Dorset and Middlesex, One of the Lords Justices of England, Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, &c.
I Was oblig'd to Your Lordship for the first sight I had of this Poem; Your Lordship was then pleas'd to express some [Page] Commendation of it. Since that time I have waited an Opportunity of getting it Publish'd in a more convenient and portable Volume; the Subject-matter being of that Importance to every Person, as requir'd its being made a Manual for People to carry about them. Nor can my Pains and Care herein be unacceptable to Your Lordship, who are not only the Patron of the Muses, but of Publick Good in all kinds.
The Book has a just Claim to Your Lordship's Protection, both for the Solidity of Judgment, and extraordinary Genius that appear in it. 'Tis the Portraicture of a Humane [Page] Soul in the Perfection of its Faculties and Operations (so far as its present State is capable of,) which naturally directed me where I ought to present it.
But as Justice engag'd me in this Address, I must upon all Occasions confess my Obligations to Your Lordship, and particularly for placing me in His Majesty's Service; a Favour which I had not the Presumption to seek. I was conscious how short I came of my Predecessors in Performances of Wit and Diversion; and therefore, as the best means I had of justifying Your Lordship's Kindness, employ'd my Self in publishing [Page] such Poems as might be useful in promoting Religion and Morality. But how little I have consulted my immediate Interest in so doing, I am severely sensible. I engaged in the Service of the Temple at my own Expence, while Others made their profitable Markets on the Stage.
This, I confess, may seem improper in a Dedication, especially where I have so large a Field of Panegyrick before me. But Your Lordship's Character, by Consent of Mankind, is above all our Encomiums; and Persons of greatest Worth and Accomplishments are always least fond of their own Praises.
[Page] I shall therefore only mention the business of my present Waiting on Your Lordship. I have here got a useful Poem Reprinted, and beg to have it Recommended to every Body's perusal by Your Lordship's Acceptance of it; desiring only from its Readers the same Candour Your Lordship has been pleas'd to use, in making some Allowances for the time in which it was written. Nor will the Author often have Occasion for Favour; in the main he will need only to have Justice done him.
But I will not forestal the business of the ensuing Preface, written by an Ingenious and Learned Divine; who [Page] has both done Right to the great Manes of the Author, and made some Amends for this Unpolish'd Address from me, who am only Ambitious of professing my self with utmost Zeal and Gratitude,
PREFACE TO Sir John Davies's Poem.
THERE is a natural Love and Fondness in English-men for whatever was done in the Reign of Q. Elizabeth; we look upon her Time as our Golden Age; and the Great Men who lived in it, as our chiefest Hero's of Virtue, and greatest Examples of Wisdom, Courage, Integrity and Learning.
Among many others, the Author of this Poem merits a lasting Honour; for, as he was a most Eloquent Lawyer, so, in the Composition of this Piece, we admire him for a good Poet, and exact [Page] Philosopher. 'Tis not Rhyming that makes a Poet, but the true and impartial representing of Virtue and Vice, so as to instruct Mankind in Matters of greatest Importance. And this Observation has been made of our Countrymen, That Sir John Suckling wrote in the most Courtly and Gentleman-like Style; Waller in the most sweet and flowing Numbers; Denham with the most Accurate Judgment and Correctness; Cowley with Pleasing Softness, and Plenty of Imagination: None ever utter'd more Divine Thoughts than Mr. Herbert; none more Philosophical than Sir John Davies. His Thoughts are moulded into easie and significant Words; his Rhymes never mislead the Sense, but are led and govern'd by it: So that in reading such Useful Performances, the Wit of Mankind may be refin'd from its Dross, their Memories furnish'd with the best Notions, their Judgments strengthen'd, and their Conceptions enlarg'd, by which means their Mind will be rais'd to the most perfect Ideas it is capable of in this Degenerate State.
[Page] But as others have labour'd to carry out our Thoughts, and to entertain them with all manner of Delights Abroad; 'Tis the peculiar Character of this Author, that he has taught us (with Antoninus) to meditate upon our selves; that he has disclos'd to us greater Secrets at Home; Self-Reflection being the only Way to Valuable and True Knowledge, which consists in that rare Science of a Man's Self, which the Moral Philosopher loses in a Crowd of Definitions, Divisions and Distinctions: The Historian cannot find it amongst all his Musty Records, being far better acquainted with the Transactions of a 1000 years past, than with the present Age, or with Himself: The Writer of Fables and Romances wanders from it, in following the Delusions of a Wild Fancy, Chimera's and Fictions that do not only exceed the Works, but also the Possibility of Nature. Whereas the Resemblance of Truth is the utmost Limit of Poetical Liberty, which our Author has very religiously observ'd; for he has not only placed and connected together the most Amiable Images of all those Powers that are in our Souls, but he has furnish'd and squar'd his [Page] Matter like a True Philosopher; that is, he has made both Body and Soul, Colour and Shadow of his Poem out of the Store-house of his own Mind, which gives the whole Work a Real and Natural Beauty; when that which is borrow'd out of Books (the Boxes of Counterfeit Complexion) shews Well or Ill as it has more or less Likeness to the Natural. But our Author is beholding to none but Himself; and by knowing himself thoroughly, he has arriv'd to know much; which appears in his admirable Variety of well-chosen Metaphors and Similitudes that cannot be found within the compass of a narrow Knowledge. For this reason the Poem, on account of its intrinsick Worth, would be as lasting as the Iliad, or the Aeneid, if the Language 'tis wrote in were as Immutable as that of the Greeks and Romans.
Now it wou'd be of great benefit to the Beau's of our Age to carry this Glass in their Pocket, whereby they might learn to Think, rather than Dress well: It would be of use also to the Wits and Virtuoso's to carry this Antidote about them against the Poyson they have suck'd in from [Page] Lucretius or Hobbs. This would acquaint them with some Principles of Religion; for in Old Times the Poets were their Divines, and exercised a kind of Spiritual Authority amongst the People. Verse in those Days was the Sacred Stile, the Stile of Oracles and Laws. The Vows and Thanks of the People were recommended to their Gods in Songs and Hymns. Why may they not retain this Privilege? for if Prose should contend with Verse, 'twould be upon unequal Terms, and (as it were) on Foot against the Wings of Pegasus. With what Delight are we touch'd in hearing the Stories of Hercules, Achilles, Cyrus, and Aeneas? Because in their Characters we have Wisdom, Honour, Fortitude, and Justice, set before our Eyes. 'Twas Plato's Opinion, That if a Man cou'd see Virtue, he wou'd be strangely enamour'd on her Person. Which is the Reason why Horace and Virgil have continued so long in Reputation, because they have Drawn her in all the Charms of Poetry. No Man is so senseless of Rational Impressions, as not to be wonderfully affected with the Pastorals of the Ancients, when under the Stories of Wolves and Sheep, they describe [Page] the Misery of People under Hard Masters, and their Happiness under Good. So the bitter but wholsome lambick was wont to make Villany blush; the Satyr incited Men to laugh at Folly; the Comedian chastised the Common Errors of Life; and the Tragedian made Kings afraid to be Tyrants, and Tyrants to be their own Tormentors.
Wherefore, as Sir Philip Sidney said of Chaucer, That he knew not which he should most wonder at, either that He in his dark Time should see so distinctly, or that We in this clear Age should go so stumblingly after him; so may we marvel at and bewail the low Condition of Poetry now, when in our Plays scarce any one Rule of Decorum is observed, but in the space of two Hours and an half we pass through all the Fits of Bethlem; in one Scene we are all in Mirth, in the next we are sunk into Sadness; whilst even the most labour'd Parts are commonly starv'd for want of Thought, a confused heap of Words, and empty Sound of Rhyme.
[Page] This very Consideration should advance the Esteem of the following Poem, wherein are represented the various Movements of the Mind; at which we are as much transported as with the most excellent Scenes of Passion in Shakespear, or Fletcher: For in this, as in a Mirrour (that will not Flatter) we see how the Soul Arbitrates in the Understanding upon the various Reports of Sense, and all the Changes of Imagination: How compliant the Will is to her Dictates, and obeys her as a Queen does her King. At the same time acknowledging a Subjection, and yet retaining a Majesty. How the Passions more at her Command, like a well-disciplined Army; from which regular Composure of the Faculties, all operating in their proper Time and Place, there arises a Complacency upon the whole Soul, that infinitely transcends all other Pleasures.
What deep Philosophy is this! to discover the Process of God's Art in fashioning the Soul of Man after his own Image; by [Page] remarking how one part moves another, and how those Motions are vary'd by several positions of each Part, from the first Springs and Plummets, to the very Hand that points out the visible and last Effects. What Eloquence and Force of Wit to convey these profound Speculations in the easiest Language, expressed in Words so vulgarly received, that they are understood by the meanest Capacities.
For the Poet takes care in every Line to satisfy the Understandings of Mankind: He follows Step by Step the workings of the Mind from the first Strokes of Sense, then of Fancy, afterwards of Judgment, into the Principles both of Natural and Supernatural Motives: Hereby the Soul is made intelligible, which comprehends all things besides; the boundless Tracks of Sea and Land, and the vaster Spaces of Heaven; that Vital Principle of Action, which has always been busied in Enquiries abroad, is now made known to its self; insomuch that we may find out what we our selves are, from whence we came, and whither we must go; we may perceive what noble Guests those are, which we lodge in our Bosoms, [Page] which are nearer to us than all other things, and yet nothing further from our Acquaintance.
But here all the Labyrinths and Windings of the Humane Frame are laid open: 'Tis seen by what Pullies and Wheels the Work is carry'd on, as plainly as if a Window were opened into our Breast: For it is the Work of God alone to create a Mind.—The next to this is to shew how its Operations are perform'd.
UPON THE Present Corrupted State OF POETRY.
THE Author's Dedication TO Q. ELIZABETH.
THE CONTENTS.
- THE Introduction to Humane Knowledge. Page 1
- Of the Original, Nature, and Immortality of the Soul. 11
- Sect. I. That the Soul is a Thing subsisting by its self and has proper Operations without the Body. 16
- Sect. II. That the Soul is more than a Perfection, or Reflection of the Sense. 22
- Sect. III. That the Soul is more than the Temperature of the Humours of the Body. 26
- Sect. IV. That the Soul is a Spirit. 28
- Sect. V. Erroneous Opinions of the Creation of Souls. 33
- Sect. VI. That the Soul is not ex Traduce. 35
- Sect. VII. Reasons drawn from Nature. 37
- Sect. VIII. Reasons drawn from Divinity. 40
- Sect. IX. Why the Soul is united to the Body. 48
- [Page]Sect. X. In what Manner the Soul is united to the Body. 49
- Sect. XI. How the Soul exercises her Powers in the Body. 51
- Sect. XII. The Vegetative Power of the Soul. 52
- Sect. XIII. The Power of Sense. 53
- Sect. XIV. Seeing. 54
- Sect. XV. Hearing. 56
- Sect. XVI. Taste. 58
- Sect XVII. Smelling. ibid.
- Sect. XVIII. Feeling. 59
- Sect. XIX. Of the Imagination, or Common Sense. 60
- Sect. XX. Fantasy. 61
- Sect. XXI. Sensitive Memory. 62
- Sect. XXII. The Passion of the Sense. 63
- Sect. XXIII. Local Motion. 64
- Sect. XXIV. The Intellectual Powers of the Soul. 65
- Sect. XXV. Wit, Reason, Vnderstanding, Opinion, Judgment, Wisdom. 66
- Sect. XXVI. Innate Ideas in the Soul. 67
- Sect. XXVII. The Power of Will, and Relation between the Wit and Will. 68
- [Page] Sect. XXVIII. The Intellectual Memory. 70
- Sect. XXIX. The Dependency of the Soul's Faculties upon each Other. ibid.
- Sect. XXX. That the Soul is Immortal, proved by several Reasons. 73
- Sect. XXXI. That the Soul cannot be destroy'd. 89
- Sect. XXXII. Objections against the Immortality of the Soul, with their respective Answers. 92
- Sect. XXXIII. Three Kinds of Life, answerable to the three Powers of the Soul. 105
- Sect. XXXIV. The Conclusion. 106
THE Introduction.
OF THE Original, Nature and Immortality OF THE SOUL.
SECT. I.
That the Soul is a Thing subsisting by its self, and has proper Operations without the Body.
SECT. II.
That the Soul is more than a Perfection, or Reflection of the Sense.
SECT. III.
That the Soul is more than the Temperature of the Humours of the Body.
SECT. IV.
That the Soul is a Spirit.
SECT. V.
Erroneous Opinions of the Creation of Souls.
SECT. VI.
That the Soul is not ex Traduce.
SECT. VII.
Reasons drawn from Nature.
SECT. VIII.
Reasons from Divinity.
SECT. IX.
Why the Soul is united to the Body.
SECT. X.
In what Manner the Soul is united to the Body.
SECT. XI.
How the Soul exercises her Powers in the Body.
SECT. XII.
The Vegetative Power of the Soul.
SECT. XIII.
The Power of Sense.
SECT. XIV.
Seeing.
SECT. XV.
Hearing.
SECT. XVI.
Taste.
SECT. XVII.
Smelling.
SECT. XVIII.
Feeling.
SECT. XIX.
Of the Imagination, or Common Sense.
SECT. XX.
Fantasy.
SECT. XXI.
Sensitive Memory.
SECT. XXII.
The Passion of the Sense.
SECT. XXIII.
Local Motion.
SECT. XXIV.
The Intellectual Powers of the Soul.
SECT. XXV.
Wit, Reason, Understanding, Opinion, Judgment, Wisdom.
SECT. XXVI.
Innate Ideas in the Soul.
SECT. XXVII.
The Power of Will, and Relation between the Wit and Will.
SECT. XXVIII.
The Intellectual Memory.
SECT. XXIX.
The Dependency of the Soul's Faculties upon each Other.
SECT. XXX.
That the Soul is Immortal, proved by several Reasons.
1. Reason.
2. Reason.
3. Reason.
4. Reason.
5. Reason.
6. Reason.
SECT. XXXI.
That the Soul cannot be destroy'd
SECT. XXXII.
Objections against the Immortality of the Soul, with their respective Answers.
SECT. XXXIII.
Three Kinds of Life answerable to the three Powers of the Soul.
SECT. XXXIV.
The Conclusion.
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