Serra. CXXIII. as dzféover'd by Nature and by Revelation. i 29 ties, and the Enjoyment of that Life which they are capable of in a feparate £late. And this is that which conilitutes that waft andwide difference between the Souls of Men and Beans : and thisdegree of Immortality is as muchabove the other, as Rea- fon and Religion are above Senfe. 2. Another Faculty in us, which argues an Immaterial, and confequently an Im- mortal Principle in Man, is Memory ; and this likewife is common in Come degree to leveral of the Brute Creatures, and it feems to be nothing elfe but a `kind of conti- nuedSenfation of things. And of this we can give no account frommeet Matter; For if that which we call theSoul, were nothing elfe but, as Epicwrá imagined, a littleWild-fire, acompany offmall round Particles of Matter in perpetual motion, it being a fluid thing, it would be liable to a continual difiìpation of its parts, and the new parts that come, would be altogether firangers to the Impreffions made upon the old ; fo that fuppofing the Soul liable but to thofe changes which the groffer parts ofour Bodies, our Reiff and blood, continually are liable to, by theevapora- tion and (pending of the old, and an accedion of newMatter; (and if we £üppofe the Soul to be fluid Matter, that is, confidingof Particles, which are by no kindof connexion link'd to one another, it will in all probability be more eafilydiffipable, than the groffer parts ofthe Body, and) if fo, how is it imaginable that thefe new and foreign Particles fhould retain any fenfe of the Imprefiions made upon thofe which are gone many years ago. 3. Another Faculty which1 (hall inflance in, is theWill ofMan, which is endow- ed with Liberty and Freedom, and givesa Man Dominion over his own A&ions. Matter moves by neceffary and certain Laws, andcannot moveif it be at red, unlefs it bemoved by another ; and cannot reft, that is, cannot but move, d it be impelyd by another. Whence then are voluntary motions? Whence is the `ra >,ov, the ar- bitrary Principle whichwe find in our felves , the freedomof A&ion todo or not to do, thisor that, which we are intimately confcious toour felves of? Of all the O- perationsof our Minds, it is the harden to give an account of Liberty from meet Matter. ThisEpicurus wasfenfible of, and infinitely puzzled with it, as we may fee by the Queflionwhich Lucretius puts. Vnde eft h,ec inquarn falls avulfa voluntaa ? How comes the Soul ofMan to have thispeculiar privilege of freedom and liberty, above all other fortsofMatter that are in the World ? Whence is it, that when all things elfe move by afatal neceffity, the Soul ofMan fhould be exempted from that flavery ? He does indeed attempt togive an account ofit from a motion of Declination which isproper and peculiar to theParticles of the Soul : but that is a more unintelligible Riddle than Liberty it (elf. The 4. And la(t Operation I (hall inflance in,is that of Reafon and underftanding. Not to mention thea&ivity and nimblenefs of our Thoughts, inthe abftraftednotions ofour Minds, themultitude of diffin& Ideas andNotions which dwell together in our Souls, none of which are accountable from Matter, I (hall only inflance in two particulars* (r.) Thofe a&s of Reafon and Judgment whereby weover rule the reports ofour Senfes, and carrel the errors and deceptionsof them. (a.) The Contemplation of Spiritual and Divine Things. (t.) Thofe a&s of Reafon and Judgment whereby we over-rule the reports and . determinations ofSenfe. OurSenfe tells us, that things at a diflance are lefs, than our Reafon tells us they are really in themfelves ; as that the Body of the Sun is but a- bout a FootDiameter: but our Reafon informsus otherwife. Nowwhat is the Prin- ciple that controulsour Senfes, and corre&s the deception of them ? If the Soul of Man be meer Matter, it can only judgeof things according to the Impreffions which are madeupon. our Senfes: but wedo judge otherwife, and fee reafon to do fo many times. Therefore it muff be fome higher Principle which judges ofthings, not by the material Imprefiiions which they make upon our Senfes, but byother mea- lures. And therefore to avoid thisinconvenience, Epicurus was glad to fly the ab- furdity, toaffirm that all things reallyare what they appear to us, and that in truth the Sun is no bigger than it feems to be. (2.) The contemplation of things Spiritual and Divine, is an Argument that the Soul is of a higher Original than any thing that is material. Tocontemplate the Na. ture ofGod, and the Divine Excellencies and Perfe&ions 5 the meditation of a fu- ture State, andof the Happinefsof another World ; thofe breathings which good Men feel in their Soulsafter God, and the enjoymentof him, argue theSpiritual na- ture of the Soul. Hoc habeargumentum divinitatiss file (faithSeneca) gaol earn divina dele&ant,
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