I HAVE often been inclin’d to think, that such SCIOLISTS have not read, or at least not consider’d the Words of the[17] _Preacher_; _As thou knowest not what is the Way of the_ SPIRIT, _nor how the Bones do grow in the Womb of her that is with Child; even so thou knowest not the Works of_ GOD _that maketh all_. Neither do I find that the wise[18] _Hebrean_ ever enter’d upon such _Syllogisms_, who (to the contrary) testifies that _the Counsel of_ GOD _is not to be known_; _that our Thoughts are miserable, and our Devices uncertain_. Upon which Authority, I say, in this Case, as _that Labour_ is commendable which can be compar’d to _Possibilities_, so to dive into those _Things_, which exceed our _Judgments_, and admit of no possible _Comparison_, is nothing better than _Folly_. Wherefore All that is further requisite, or possible for us, is to contemplate and admire the _Greatness_ and _Elegancy_, the _Sublimity_ and _Profundity_ of this wonderful and amazing Work of FORMATION; which _Subject_ (we find) hath been the frequent Contemplation of _the Royal Prophet_[19], particularly expressing himself, in the most eloquent and sublime Terms, according to the _divine Light_ of his illuminated Understanding: Saying, _Thou hast possessed my Reins: Thou hast ordered me in my Mother’s Womb. I will praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made, marvellous are thy Works, and that my Soul knoweth right well. My Substance was not hid from thee, tho’ I was made in secret, and curiously fashioned in the lowest Parts of the Earth. Thine Eyes did see my Bones, yet being imperfect; and in thy Book were all my Members written; which Day by Day were formed, when as yet there was none of them._ Whence I proceed in order, to
CHAP. VIII. _Of the Animation of the FOETUS._
THE _human Fœtus_ being duly form’d and organiz’d about the 50th Day at the latest, as we observed in the preceeding _Chapter_, it remains to be _animated_, and that with a three-fold SOUL, _viz._ a _vegetative_, a _sensitive_, and a _rational Soul_.
THE _First_ of which, according to the most learned _Fortunius[20] Licetus_, &c. may be ascribed to the MOTHER, as chiefly proceeding from the Power of her _Menstruum_. The _Second_ may (by the same Authority) be ascribed to the _Power_ and _Spirit_ of the _Paternal Seed_; but it is the more generally received Opinion, that the _vegetative Soul_ is generated from the _Commixture_ of both Seeds with the _Menstruum_, and therefore as much to be ascribed to the _one_, as to the _other_, PARENT: And that also the _sensitive SOUL_ proceeds from the proper _natural Faculty_ of the organiz’d _Fœtus_, as the _rational SOUL_ doth from the immediate _Infusion_ of the great CREATOR. Touching which _Infusion_, I desire not to meddle with the _Controversy_ that has so long subsisted betwixt _Philosophers_ and _Divines_: Only as I have noted in _Chap._ iv. the Opinion of the greatest _Masters of Nature_; so if, in _this_, we could, from the Dictates of _Faith_ and _Religion_, as well as from the Maxims of _natural Philosophy_, set the Matter in a clearer _Light_, I humbly presume it would not be _disagreeable_: Since the _Principles_ of EITHER, taken separately, are in themselves _mysterious_, and can never be fully comprehended by _some_; whereas, _both_ taken jointly, I mean, the Arguments of the _one_, to reinforce the Positions of the _other_, may be satisfactory to _all_.