ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING 201 



or deduced from the mass of heaven and earth, but immedi 

 ately inspired by Grod; and as the laws of heaven and earth 

 are the proper subjects of philosophy, no knowledge of the 

 substance of the rational soul can be had from philosophy, 

 but must be derived from the same Divine inspiration, 

 whence the substance thereof originally proceeded. 1 



But in the doctrine of the sensitive or produced soul, 

 even its substance may be justly inquired into, though 

 this inquiry seems hitherto wanting. For of what signifi 

 cance are the terms of actus ultimus and forma corporis, 

 and such logical trifles, to the knowledge of the soul s sub 

 stance? The sensitive soul must be allowed a corporeal 

 substance, attenuated by heat and rendered invisible, as a 

 subtile breath or aura, of a flamy and airy nature, having 

 the softness of air in receiving impressions, and the activity 

 of fire in exerting its action, nourished partly by an oily and 

 partly by a watery substance, and diffused through the whole 

 body; but in perfect creatures, residing chiefly in the head, 

 and thence running through the nerves, being fed and re 

 cruited by the spirituous blood of the arteries, as Telesius 8 

 and his follower Donius in some measure have usefully 

 shown. Therefore let this doctrine be more diligently 

 inquired into, 3 because the ignorance of it has produced 



1 To separate God from human reason, appears to be one of the great aims 

 of one of the modern schools of philosophy, and sometimes the theory has re 

 ceived indirect confirmations from quarters by no means favorable to its advo 

 cates. Pascal wrote, &quot;Selon les lumieres uaturelles, nous sommes incapable de 

 connaitre ce que Dieu est. &quot; In the edition of this philosopher s works, by 

 Voltaire and Condorcet, the text was enriched with the addition of the phrase, 

 &quot;Ni s il est;&quot; and the following note appended to the passage, by Voltaire: 

 &quot;II est etrange que Pascal ait cru qu on pouvait deviser le peche originel par la 

 raison, et qu il dise qu on ne peut connaitre par la raison si Dieu est.&quot; At this 

 specimen of deistic candor, Condorcet exclaims, in a subsequent note, &quot;How 

 marvellous to behold Voltaire contending with Pascal for the existence of 

 God!&quot; Ed. 



2 Rerum Natura, book 5. 



3 This inquiry is greatly embroiled by the moderns ; some seeking the soul 

 all over the body, some in the blood, some in the animal spirits, some in the 

 heart, some in the ventricles of the brain, and some, with Descartes, in the 

 glandula pinealis. M. Petit wrote a curious piece relating to this subject, 

 entitled &quot;De Anima Corpori coextensa&quot;; printed at Paris, 1665. See also 

 &quot;Hobokenius de Sede Animse in Corpore Humano.&quot; Ed. 



