389 A TREATISE 



. hand: byfuch degrees he might chance to catch oncthcfirft 

 time : and they being, fctled in his memory , together with the 

 efte& ; it happened that anothertime when hunger preflfed him, 

 and fcnt up to his brainelikc fpirits unto thofc which afccnded 

 thither whiles he lay watching the hens j thefe fpirits brought 

 the other from his memory into the fantafie (in fiich fort as we 

 have (hewed in the Jail Chapter) and fb drove him to the fame 

 courfe , untiil by frequent repetitions , it became ordinary and 

 /amiliar with him : and then they that looke onely upon the per- 

 formance of the artifice, are apt to infer difccurie and a defigne 

 of reafbn, out of the orderly conduct of it. 



But how can we conceive the fox hath judgement to know 

 when the henne is come within his Jeape , and accordingly ofte- 

 reth not at her till then ; unlefle we refbrt to fbme ether prin- 

 ciples, then what is yet declared ? The anfwer unto this ob;edi>- 

 on I thmke will not be hard to finde j for if the motion , which 

 the pretence of the obje& maketh in the heart, be proportioned 

 out by nature ( as there is no doubt but it is ) it will not be fb 

 jgreat" and powerful! , as to make the fox leapeat it, until! it be 

 arrived fb ncere him , that by his nimblenefle he can reach it ; 

 and fo without any ay me, further then by the meere fluxe of his 

 pafifion conveniently railed, he doth the feate : but if his pafTion 

 be too violent, it maketh him mifle his aynsc ; as we may fre- 

 quently obferve bpth in men and beafts : and particularly.when 

 feare prefleth either of them to leapc over a ditch , which being 

 too broad Jielighteth in themiddeft of it. 



The fame watch fulncfle and defiretohavethe poulen, that 

 fit upon a tree out of his reach , maketh him fix his eyes upon 

 them,when they are at roofk : and at length either the bright- 

 ftefle and fparkling of them.daze'eth the birds^and maketh them 

 come downe to them , ( as flyes do in the night about the flame 

 ofa candle ; or as fiilies doe to a light in a boates head;) or elfe 

 they are affraid ; and their feare increafing, their fpirits returne 

 to the heart, which thereby is opprefled, and their outward parts 

 are bereaved of ftren^th andmotion ; from whence it fblloweth 

 neccflarily , that t i ,eir footing loofeth their hold faft , an J they 

 tumble downe hai& dead with feare , which happeneth alfb fre- 

 quently to catrs when they locke wiftly upon little birds that 

 fit quietly. Or peradv ensure, their feare maketh theaa giddy ; 



as 



