The Travels and Adventures of James Massey. Simon Tyssot de Patot

impossible that any one shou'd be pluck'd without my perceiving it immediately, tho' I can't point to the very Place where the Attraction is made. Admitting therefore these Nerves, or the little Fibres of which they are compos'd, to be full of Spirits, as indeed they always are when we are awake, tho' they are partly depriv'd of 'em while we sleep; if any Object whatsoever happen to strike against the exterior End, or against any other Part of those Tubes, it is evident, that when they are full, and by Consequence extended, the other Extremity which is in the Brain, must be sensible of the Shock, and communicate the Motion to the Glandule, which must unavoidably be acknowledg'd to be the Seat of the Understanding. And forasmuch as Experience has taught me from the Cradle, that the Blows, Wounds, and other Ailments which my Body suffers, generally come to it from without, as often as I perceive the least Agitation in one of my Parts, I cannot but ascribe the Cause of it to some external Agent, nor help believing that 'tis really the Extremity of some Nerve, and no other Part, which was touch'd. We are also by Nature so far prepossess'd in favour of this Opinion, that those, for Example, who have had the Misfortune to lose an Arm, complain they feel the Pain at their Fingers, and in no other Place; which is a Truth that every Day's Experience confirms. Whether therefore the Impulsion be made by the Rays of Light on the Optic Nerves, or by the small Particles of our Food upon the Nerves which communicate with the Tongue, or by the imperceptible Effluvia from Bodies which we call Scented, upon the Source of the Olfactory Nerves, or in what other manner soever this be, it amounts to the same thing; the Organs may be as different as they will, 'tis the Touch is the sole Cause of all the Perceptions we are capable of. From hence it appears, that neither they who limit the Number of the Senses to Five, nor others, who not knowing under which of those Five to place Hunger; Thirst, and the Pleasure of Love, increase them to Eight; it appears, I say, that neither of 'em have a right Notion of the Nature of the Senses, because 'tis manifest from what we have said, that there is absolutely but one.

      Moreover, continued he, I cou'd easily demonstrate, Mathematically, and by the Help of a Geometrical Figure, that 'tis impossible, strictly speaking, to have more than one Perception at a time, as perfectly as we are capable by Nature, and that when two or three are form'd together, they must needs be confus'd; for Experience tells us, that when we look upon an Object, the only Part of it which we see perfectly and distinctly, is the Point which corresponds with the Optic Axes, our Perception of the other Parts being only more or less, in Proportion to their Distance from the Center. Our Ideas or the Images of our Thoughts, are no more different from one another, than our Perceptions are; for tho' we admit of two sorts of them, distinguish'd by the Terms, Conception and Imagination, 'tis certain that Touching is the sole Cause of both the one and the other: 'Tis the only Source of all Human Knowledge, and also of our Reason, which, when all is said and done, is nothing more nor less than the Union or Disunion of Names, which, by common Consent, we have impos'd upon Substances, as they appear to our Comprehension to bear a Conformity to their Qualities, and not at all to their Existence. Other Creatures having Organs like to ours, have no doubt the same Perceptions, and 'tis only the Degree of more or less, that can constitute the Difference. The Beasts therefore have Reason; and tho' they don't shew it, 'tis only for want, perhaps, of Speech to give Names, as we do, to things which affect them by being put in Motion; for, in other Matters, they are very capable of distinguishing——

      Here our Physician was interrupted on a sudden, by a terrible Shriek from the Maid-Servant. The poor Girl, as she was bringing an Armful of Wood from the Corn-Loft, had made a false Step, and fell from the Top of the Ladder to the Ground. We all ran out to her Assistance, and found that she had broke her right Leg. The Doctor, after having seen it dress'd the first time, went home, to my very great Concern; for, besides some Objections which I was ready to have offer'd, I should have been very glad to have heard the Conclusion of so curious a Discourse; and was the more mortify'd afterwards, because I could never get another Opportunity to engage that ingenious Gentleman to talk with me upon the same Subject.

      To return therefore from this first Digression; I must say, that tho' M. Du Pre was far from being a Philosopher, yet the few Hints I had from him, together with Calvin's Commentaries, which he put into my Hands, were of very great Service to me. From hence I had an Opportunity of observing, That the Creation of Light means nothing more than the Formation of that subtle Matter of which the Stars were composed upon the fourth Day; and that tho' Moses spoke of Day and Night before that Day, it was only by way of Anticipation, as he said in another Place, That God made Man, Male and Female, before he had caus'd a profound Sleep to fall upon Adam, and form'd a Companion for him out of one of his Ribs. I also very easily comprehended, as well with regard to the Penalties which were imposed upon our first Parents, as with regard to the Rainbow, &c. That both the one and the other were at first Natural Signs, which God chang'd at that time into Signs of Institution; much like what we observe with respect to the holy Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper. And as to the Term Beginning, at the Head of the Book of Genesis, it did not perplex me, tho' it puzzles many others. I knew very well, that in Philosophy we must distinguish External Time from the Internal; as in Geometry, we distinguish an External Dimension from an Internal one, if I may be indulg'd the Expression; which is as much as to say, that we must make a Difference between a thing which has been measured, and whose Dimensions are known, and another which has not. My Chamber, for Example, has its Dimensions, that's undeniable; but meer Theory cannot ascertain the Contents, Practice must be added to it, and some common Method must be made use of, which Men are agreed on beforehand, ere we can be able to say exactly how many Feet, Inches, or square Lines it contains. By this means, those Dimensions which were at first internal and secret, become external and known, with regard to the external Measures which serv'd to determine the Contents. All Beings in Nature therefore have an Internal Time, and an External Time; their Internal Time is that Duration whereby they continue in their actual and real Existence, which extends from the Beginning to the End of them; their External Time is the Duration of the Earth, as far as its Motion is imploy'd to measure it; so that the External Time of a Thing is the same, with respect to its Internal Time, as the Measure to the Thing measur'd. We can have no Idea of any but Internal Time abstractedly, before the Creation of the World, because then there was no Being existent, but God, the Being of Beings, whose Duration is without Beginning or End, and cannot properly be defin'd or measur'd: But the very Moment that the Sun appear'd in the Firmament, and that the Earth was suppos'd to turn round its Centre, which it does from West to East, in a certain Space of Time, the Name of a Day Natural was given to each of those Periods; and that of Hours, Minutes, &c. to the lesser Parts, just as the Succession of seven Days is call'd a Week; the Moon's Revolution from West to East, a Month; the Revolution of the Earth round the Sun, a Year, &c. These common Measures help us to mark out the Time, and by rendring what was Internal in its own Nature, External for our Use, no wonder that without going farther backwards, we confine our selves to this Beginning, and only make a Computation of Time, since proper Measures were thought of to fix the Duration of it.

      The Solution of these Difficulties made the Explanation of others more easy to me. I began to perceive the Connexion in the great Work of Redemption, the Harmony and Relation betwixt the Passages of the Old Testament and the New, and how the Antecedents and Consequents reciprocally depend upon one another; so that at the third Reading of the Bible I concluded, that the Creation of the World, and the Fall of Man, the Deluge, and the Passage of the Red Sea, the Ceremonial Law, and Circumcision, the Menaces and Promises, the Dreams, Visions, and Prophecies, and the most remarkable Transactions in the Republic of Israel, were only Types, Allegories, Emblems, Figures, and Shadows, which referr'd only to the New Covenant, ow'd their Lustre purely to the Light of the Gospel, and had Christ for their real Body.

      My Landlord was charm'd at this Metamorphosis. He admir'd to observe the sudden Transition, from that Coldness which made me look upon Things with Contempt, to a Zeal which prompted me to consider them with Esteem. Every thing that I did attracted his Applause; he had scarce ever seen my Fellow. But as there is nothing in the World perfect, he observ'd one thing in me still which gave him great Uneasiness. My Natural Complexion was fair; my Mother had indulg'd me always to wear a great Head of Hair, which cover'd my Shoulders; at which M. Du Pre was sadly scandalis'd. Is it possible, said he once to me, that a Youth who is so very intent on the Solution of the most difficult Passages of Scripture, shou'd not perceive that St. Paul positively forbids