A SOLILOQVY of the SOUL: Or A PILLAR OF THOUGHTS. With reasons proving the Jmmortality of the Soul.  
by S ●. Rich: Baker. R ●.  W.M. sculp.   

A SOLILOQVY OF THE SOUL: Or, A PILLAR OF THOUGHTS.  
With reasons proving the Immortality of the Soul.  
Written by Sir RICHARD BAKER, Knight.  
LONDON: Printed by T. Paine, for Francis Eglesfield, at the Marigold in Paul's Churchyard. 1641.   

TO MY WORTHILY much Honoured Brother, Sir John Corbet of Stoke in the County of Salop, Baronet; and to his virtuous Lady.  
HAving heard you take pleasure sometimes to read some poor Writings of mine which have been made public to the World, I have thought good to make one Writing proper to your 〈◊〉; at least, for which (if it be worth the thanks) the world shall thank you, for being public; For, but for your sakes, and for testifying my love to you both, I had never, I think, had a thought of writing it. God hath blessed you with a numerous issue, as though he meant, for every one of your virtues, to bestow upon you a child; and if, the fuller ones Quiver is of such Arrows, 〈◊〉 happier he is; I may justly, with David, pronounce you a pair, that have as few your matches in happiness, as in virtue. When I intended to write something to the memory of your Names, because I knew the seriousness of your dispositions, and how fare you are from taking pleasure in vain discourses; I made choice of an Argument, of all other the most serious: for, what so serious, as the immortality of the soul? Of which, though we have Divine Testimonies, fare more forcible than any Humane Reasons can be; yet it gives a kind of satisfaction, to see Divine certainties seconded by Humane probabilities, and Faith by Reason; For though Divine proofs be more proportionable to the stronger part of the Mind; yet natural reasons make a greater impression in the weaker part; at least, both of them running one way, and making both but one current; it cannot be denied them, to make the belief, as Vis unita, the stronger. Accept it then, most Honoured Brother & sister, with the like affection as I offer it, and let him at least have some place in your respects, who so much respects you both; as professing always to continue,  
Your truly loving Brother to serve and honour you, RICHARD BAKER.   

A soliloquy of the SOUL: Or, A Pillar of Thoughts.  
AS Lot's wife was turned into a Pillar of Salt, that her inconstancy night be fixed, and yet be melting still: So thou, my ●oule, if I had my wish, ●ouldst be turned into a Pillar of Thoughts; that thy volubility might be restrained, and yet be thinking still. And of what then is it, I would have thee to think? Not of the miseries of the World, though there be cause enough; but alas, this would be too sad a subject to think upon continually: Nor the Pleasures of the world, though this were like to have all men's voices; but alas, they would scarce last so long, to hold out the thinking: Nor yet of the world itself, though this would be a large field to walk in; but alas! not large enough for the swift Thoughts, that can run it over in an instant: No, my soul, but to think of God; for He only is the cheerful subject that can be a comfort to thee, when thou art in greatest misery; He only the lasting object that can minister matter of meditation, when all vain pleasures shall have their period; He only, the large Field with variety of walks, where thy thoughts may be walking everlastingly, and never come to the end. To think of the miseries of the world, is to put the Thorns into my eyes, that were before but in my sides; and make the the harder, because my sense the tenderer; therefore think not of miseries. To think of the pleasures of the world, would make me to blush for shame; and to weep for sorrow, that I should ever be enchanted by such Sirens, and not see my folly, till I feel my fall; therefore think not of pleasures. To think of the World, would make me think myself at liberty, when I am but in a prison; and make me like the Dog, that lies biting upon the chain that ties him: therefore think not of the World. No, my soul, but think of God; for to be thinking of God, is a kind of being present with him; and than what greater joy than to be present with him, in whose presence is the fullness of joy for evermore. What though the World take no notice of thy joy? Canst thou not, In sinu gaudere, & keep thy joy to thyself? doth the World's knowing thy happiness, add any thing to thy happiness? No my soul, though thy thoughts be only to thyself, yet let it suffice thee Tibi plaudere, and be thinking of God still. For thinking is the food of the memory, which nourishe●● it, and keepeth it in life; and without thinking, we starve it; for what we little think of, we soon forget; and therefore, my soul, that thou mayst not forget him, who only is worthy to be remembered, be thinking of God still. For to think of God is never out of season; all other thoughts have their fits; are fit at one time, unfit at another; but to think of God is fit for all times; In adversity; to mitigate; in prosperity, to moderate; in sickness, to consolate; and in health, to consolidate; It is indeed the superlative thought, and sers a spell to all other thoughts, that none can come near it, none in any degree bear any proportionws it & the● fore that thou mayst not be in the rear of thoughts, be thinking of God still.  
But if thou be always thinking of God, it behoves thee to be careful what thou thinkest; for to think unworthily of him, thou wert better be thinking of something else; and alas, being so dazzled with his brightness, so astonished at his Greatness, as I ●n; what can I think, that is worthy of him, in the least degree? For what an ring have my thoughts, but either Memory, or Understanding? and what can my Memory think worthy of him, that is time out of mind? What can my Understanding apprehend worthy of him, that passeth all understanding? If I think of the time past, I find, that was, but is not: If I think of the time present, I find that past while I am thinking: If I think of the time to come, I find it cannot be found whether ever it will be, or no: and what are these to him, of whom it is truly said, As he was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. I can think of him indeed, as he is Eternal, but than it must be an Eternity by succession of time, in which there is something before, and something after; where his Eternity is all at once, and hath nothing to do with time, nor time with it, seeing he is always the same, and his years never fail. I can think of him, as he is infinite, but then, it must be an infiniteness by extension of Magnitude; and that the work only of Imagination, or conceit; where his Infiniteness is a Transcendent to Quantity, and leaves imagination behind it, and conceit below it; or rather, makes Imagination weary, and Conceit ashamed. I can perhaps apprehend more than he is, but not so much: for I can apprehend many gods; but all of them, not so much, as he that is but One. And why then would I so feign be thinking of him, when I can think of nothing that is worthy of him? Yet I must think of him, or I can think of nothing that is worth the thinking of. If I think of the wisdom of Solomon; If of the beauty of Absalon; If of the strength of Samson: Alas! what are these to think of? Great indeed, to be thought of, by themselves; but compared with his wisdom, with his beauty, with his strength, they are less than nothing. When I can measure out the Sea by dioppes, and when I can sum up the Sands with Counters, I may then hope to find out something to think of, that is worthy of him.  
But though I cannot apprehend him, as he is unum integrale, One entire being, yet I may perhaps apprehend him, as Humane Capacity conceiveth him in parts Alas, no better at all. For if I think of his, Providence, and his Providence is the most visible Character in his Oeconomy of the World; I find myself even confounded with the course he holdeth in it; Why he suffers the wicked of the World to prosper and flourish, and the godly whom he loveth best, and who love him best, to be in affliction? as though he did mistake either his blessings, or them he blesseth; taking Ephraim for Manasses, and Manasse, for Ephraim, as old Jacob did? If I think of his Justice (and every one hath a right in Justice) I am then confounded to think, why Abel, that was the first Saint should be the first Martyr; and why Cain, that was the Murderer of his brother, should have the blessing of long life? as though it were justice with him to punish an innocent, and to reward an offender? If I think of his Power (and power will always make itself be thought of) I am then confounded to think how he could make all things of nothing, and why they are said to be the works of his hands, when yet they were made with a word of his mouth? as though Nature were not worthy to be his Apprentice, and as though it were with him but a word and a deed? But most of all, if I think of his Mercy (and his mercy is over all his works) I am then confounded to think how it can be mercy in him, to give the life of his Son, to save the lives of his Enemies; an Innocent for Delinquents, a Lamb for Wolves, a God for men? O my soul, this may well be thy astonishment, seeing it is the wonder of Angels: But though his Jutice may be brought in question by it; yet his Mercy certainly it makes ●ut of question; for what reater Mercy, then to save ●lany by One; and many ●hat could not help themselves, by one that could ●oth save himself and o●●ers? Neither yet is his ●ustice brought in question by it; for is it not just, that as he did make man by his word, which is his Son; so he should save man by his Son who is the Word? Is it not just he should employ his Son where most honour might be gotten? and is there any greater honour than that which he hath gotten by this employment, to sit at the right hand of his Father; and to have a Name at which both men and Angels must bow their knees.  
And now, O my soul, thou hast found out a thing in God, most worthy for thee to think of, of him to be thought; for as his mercy is over all his works, so it may justly take up all thy thoughts. But can nothing be found in God, worthy to be thought of, but his Mercy? Not his Wisdom? Not his Power? Not his Justice? Yes, my soul, most worthy to be thought of, all of them, but not so much; or if as much in themselves, yet not of us; and therefore not so much of us, because not communicated so much to us: For, his Wisdom is to us a secret; his Power, a transcendent; his Justice, an abyssus; only his Mercy offers to communicate it self to us: that if it were not for his Mercy, we neither could hope, nor durst presume to have Access unto him: and therefore in all our suits, we Pray him not to hear us, for his wisdom's sake, or for his powers sake, or for his Justice sake, but only & always for his Mercies sake. It is his Mercy that emboldens us when we are fearful, that encourageth us when we are doubtful. It is his Mercy that directs us when we are Erring, that upholds us when we are falling; and indeed his Mercy not only is Invocated by us, but is itself an Advocate for us: that we may truly say; Of all his Attributes there is none hath Bowels in it, but only his Mercy. Here therefore, My soul, Fixe● thy Pillar of Thoughts, and let this Mercy of God be thy perpetual Object: For, as some superstitious in the sect of Mahomet, when they have once seen his Tomb at Mecha, pull out their Eyes presently, as never possible to see so worthy a sight again: so Thou, my Soul, when thou hast once entered upon this Thought of God's Mercy, thou mayest seal up the doors of thy Heart, as never possible to let in so comfortable a Thought again.  
But if, with all thy thinking, thou canst not sufficiently apprehend it, then at least admire it; that by admiring it, thou mayst be drawn to love it; or rather, to love him for it; yet not to love him only for his mercy to thee, but for his mercy; and not only for his being Merciful, but for his being: for then, my soul, thou lovest God truly, when thou lovest him for himself, and not for his benefits; for how else canst thou say with Job, Though thou kill me, O Lord, yet will I love thee. Indeed to love God, apart from his benefits, is a work for the soul, when it is parted from the Body; for as long as we live in this world of Vanity, our love to God, I may say, is but Mercenary; even David, as much a man as he was after Gods own heart, yet saith but this; I love thee, O Lord, because thou hast heard my supplication: So this Benefit of God was the Motive of his love to God; that if it had not been for this motive, his love to God might have been as little as another's. O ye blessed Seraphins, that burn with an ardour of this love of God; how happy are ye in this your ardour? and though I cannot wish to be a Seraphin, yet I wish, at least, some portion of your ardour; for than I should love God, not for his benefits, but for himself; and not love myself, but only for him. And yet, O my soul, that thou couldst love God but as David did, though but only for his Benefits; for then, at least, thou mightest be a soul after Gods own heart, as David was. And why, my soul, shouldest thou not? Alas, why dost thou not love him as David did; seeing thou hast as great Motives as David had? For what was his Motive, but that God heard his supplication? and what was his supplication, but that God would defend him from his Enemies, from Sin and Satan? and do not these assault thee, as strongly as they did David? And have they not overcome thee; at least had they not overcome thee, if God had not defended thee? O my soul, It is the great mercy of God, that sin hath not already swallowed thee up; and that thou hast not long since been made a prey to Satan. If therefore, my soul, thou canst not apprehend the greatness of God's mercy by considering it in itself, then take a view of it by considering the greatness of thy sin: For, as they that cannot look upon the brightness of the sun as it is in itself, do, by looking in the water, come to discern it in some measure: so, though thou canst not apprehend God's mercy, as it is in itself; yet by viewing it as it were in the water of thy sins (Alas! in themselves a filthy puddle, but for this purpose a clear stream,) thou mayst come to apprehend it, at least, in some proportion. For according to the greatness of thy sin, is the greatness of God's mercy in forgiving thy sin. But in considering thy sin, let this be a part of thy Pillar of Thoughts; that as Christ's wounds were remaining on his body at his Resurrection, so the wounds of thy sin will remain upon thy soul at the day of Judgement; and lest thou shouldest think in so long a time they might all be forgotten, let this also be added to thy thoughts; that there will then be kept a sessions, where all the circumstances of thy sins will be summoned to meet together, to give Evidence against thee: and then Time itself will come in, and tell the very hour, when; Place itself will come in, and show the very room, where; the Persons themselves will come in, and present the very faces of them, with whom, or against whom thou didst commit any sin, in the whole course of thy life: & all as visibly, as when the sins were a doing; and even thy evil thoughts which yet never came further than the cloister of thy heart, will then come forth as fresh, as when they were a thinking; and all thy profane words, as audible, as when they were a speaking; and all thy filthy writings, as legible as when they were a writing; and lest there should want an accuser, as there did to the Adultress in the Gospel, Satan himself will take that Office upon him, and do it most spitefully; in such sort, my soul, that it cannot be said, whether thy shame or thy Horror will then be greater: thy shame, to see thy filthiness discovered and laid open before all people; or thy horror, to find thy case desperate, and past all hope or possibility of relieving. And is it not time, before this time, to think of that time? a fearful thing to think of, I confess; but without thinking of it now, there will be no helping of it then; and therefore think of it, my soul, but think of it to prevent it: and as desperate as thy case may be, yet do not despair: Never yield, how great so ever thy sin be, or be made appear to be, that it can be greater, or any thing near so great as God's mercy: For compare them, my soul, together; Thy sin is great, because a transgression of God's law; but God's mercy must needs be greater, because a law to himself: Thy sin is no more than thou art able to do; but God's mercy is more than thou art able to think: thy sin is but a Plot of Satan's to entrap thee; but God's mercy is his own purpose to relieve thee; thy sin is but infinite in Relation; but God's mercy is infinite in itself, and absolutely: thy sin is but an Accidental thing in thee; but God's mercy, I may say, is his very substance; that as much as himself is greater than thyself; so much his mercy is greater than thy sin: and indeed, if thy sin could be greater than God's mercy, there should be something in thee greater than that which is greatest in God: for of all the things that humane capacity conceiveth to be in God, there is none greater than his mercy, none so great as his mercy: at least as greater and lesser may be conceived, where all are Infinite.  
But though God's mercy be greater than any man's sin, yet any man's sin may come to be greater than God's mercy; if either despair reject it, or presumption slight it: for both these are of force to make God's mercy of no force, at least of no force to forgive, because they leave no capacity to be forgiven. For all capacity of Forgiveness is then clean barred up, when either Despair or Presumption stand at the Entrance. In all other cases, God's mercy hath the Pre●eminence, and makes the greatest sins become like ●loudes, either blown away, as with the wind of his goodness; or else dissolved, as with the sun of his kindness.  
And now, my soul, thy thought, me thinks, are come to some fashion of a Pillar; they are solid and firm, and want but Erecting; but all the difficulty is to erect them: for though God's mercy, if once attained, be greater than any man's sin; yet it is no easy matter to attain it, seeing there is no attaining it, but from his Mercy seat; and his Mercy seat is the highest part of all his Ark, and this must needs be a great height, fare higher than we of ourselves are ever able to reach: No, my soul, there is no way to reach it, no means to climb up to it, but only by jacobs' ladder, which ladder is Christ: and if in climbing up this ladder, there be not the greater heed taken, in stead of raising thee up, it will but cast thee down, & give thee the greater Fall. Thou must not therefore do as the Apostate Angels did; ascend first, and then descend: ascend first in Presumption, and then descended in Despair: Ascend first, in scorning this ladder, as thinking their own nature more worthy for the Son of God to take, than the seed of the woman; and then descend by falling off the ladder, and have their heads broken by the seed of the woman: no, my soul, thou must take a contrary course; Descend first, and then Ascend: Descend first in Humility, & then Afcend in Hope: Descend first into a serious consideration of thy sin, and then Ascend to a steadfast apprehension of God's mercy; Descend first with Christ into Hell, by Patience in Adversity, and then Ascend up with him into Heaven by a lively Faith, and by a Heavenly conversation: For, thus Ascending, thou shalt be out of the reach of Time, and Place, and all other circumstances of thy sin; and, which is most of all, thou shalt be out of Satan's walk, which goes no further than compassing the Earth, that thou needest not now to fear, either their Testimony, o● his Accusation.  
But, O my soul, there is one step of this ladder yet behind, without which thou canst never climb up so high as to God's Mercy-seat; and the step is this: to Refer all thy Thoughts, thy Words and Actions to the glory of God: For if thou shouldest have faith, that thou couldst remove Mountains; if thou shouldest perform all the Works of the Law, as exactly as any Sadducee, and not refer them to God's glory; they would all be taken but for ungrateful compliments, and be of no account, nor thou for them in any account with God. And great reason it should be so; for, why did God make the World, and all that is in the world, but only for his glory? & shall any, that live in the world, have another End in using it, than God had in making it? shall man, that is made after his Image, do no more to the setting forth of God's glory, than every creeping thing of the Earth? be only a passive instrument of his glory, & not an active? Can he take it well at his servants hands, to be backwardest in a service in which they should be forwardest; to neglect his greatest work, and then think to please him with Tything of Mint? canst thou look to have Recompense of God for thy service; and God to have no recompense of thee for his favours? and what recompense? what Retribuam Domino hast thou for God, but only to take Calicem salutaris, to Glorify his Name? How can any man justly complain of his mean estate, when the meanest man that is, hath that in him, which is in man the most excellent thing? and what is that most excellent thing? what my soul; but a power to glorify God? for this Power is a greater Dignity than the greatest dignity of any earthly Power: It is the work which Angels do in Heaven; and is there any work done in Heaven, that is not better than the best that is done on Earth? and more than this, it is the very work that makes the Angels happy; for without doing this work they could not be happy: and if we want any thing in this life of being happy, it is because we want something of doing this work. For never shall we come to be perfectly happy, till we come to be able to do this work perfectly. What was wanting in the Moral virtues of Heathen men, but only this, that they referred them to their own, and not to God's glory? Aristides in a high degree was just; Cato, sober; Socrates, Patient; Regulus, Constant; all excellent parts towards the perfecting of a Building; but yet no benefit of them, because they came not up to the Roof they had not the Crown of Glory to God; & therefore not the crown of reward to themselves. It is an easy lesson to say, but a hard to learn; and few but David have ever practised it; Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy Name give the Glory: for is it not, that we seem all to have a spice of Lucifer in us? though we can be content to allow the greatest glory to God; yet feign we would reserve some at least for ourselves: when, alas, if we reserve any at all to ourselves, we leave none at all for God; for neither is glory a thing that can be parted; neither is God one that can endure a partner, and specially in his Glory: for though all his Attributes be Excellent & Admirable; yet Majesty is Attributed to none of them but to his Glory: As it is in the Angel's song, Heaven and earth are full of the Majesty of thy Glory: and what greater Derogation to Majesty then to have a Partner? Indeed God's Glory is in itself most perfect always; and nothing that man can do, can either add to it, or detract from it: but such is God's graciousness to us, so great his desire to endear us to him; that he infinitely overvalues our Endeavours, and sets a fare greater price upon them then they are worth; counting, as if we added to it, when we detract not from it; at least, as if we then give it him, when we ascribe it to him. If therefore, O my soul, thou wilt ever be admitted into the choir of Angels, to sing, Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of Sabbaoth, Heaven and Earth are full of the Majesty of thy Glory; It must be thy care, thy principal, and, I may say, thy only care, to ascribe all Glory and Praise to God, and to him only; that if the Angels will undertake for Heaven, thou for thy part mayest undertake for the Earth; that their song shall sung out to the End; Heaven and Earth are full of the Majesty of thy Glory: that when both of them be full of his glory, there may be no room left for any of ours.  
And thus, my soul, when thou hast made thee a Pillar of Thoughts, with these three, as I may call them, Precious stones: The consideration of thy sin, with a penitent heart; The apprehension of God's mercy with a Faith unfeigned; & the Referring all to the Glory of God with an humble Reverence; thou wilt then be able to climb up this ladder of Jacob, to the uppermost step: where meeting with saints and holy Angels, that stand ready to receive thee, thou wilt be taken into the number of their society: the happiness of which company, the joy of which Happiness, the greatness of which joy, no Pillar of Thoughts can ever reach so high, as to apprehend; no, my soul, not so much as to Imagine: Yet add this one Thought more to thy Pillar, to think of the great Difference of the Happiness that will be then, and the Happiness that can be now; for all our happiness now, is but Expectation of happiness; we joy not so much in that we are, whatsoever we are; as in that we hope we shall be, though we know not what we shall be; the mind is so longing after the Future, that it never rests satisfied with the present; nor ever will, till there shall be no more Future to long after, but all shall be present; & then at last I shall have my wish; ●or thou, my soul, wilt ●hen be turned into a Pillar of Thoughts; they will ●ot then be voluble nor movable, as now they are, being out of their right place, and having various objects; but they will be quiet and quiescent, as being fixed in their true centre, and fixed upon their proper object, The beautiful face of God blessed for ever; and never till then will thy state be capable of this counsel, Quod sis esse velis, nihilque malis.  
But, O My soul, though thou have raised thy thoughts to a great height, & they seem to have some solidness in them; yet there is one doubt must be cleared, before they can come to be a Pillar: for if the soul perish with the body, as some vain men Imagine, what will then become of thy thoughts? For the breath of man goeth out, he returns again to Earth, and then all his Thoughts perish: and if all his thoughts perish, he can then think no more; & if he can think no more, there can be no soul. For as thesoule is the life of the Body, so thinking is the life of the soul: That without thinking, at least without a power to think it is a thing vain to think there can be a soul. It is more vain conceit, the to build castles in the air to think the soul lives wh● it is vanished into air, an● of which when it dies it i● truly said; Et procul in tenu● 'em evanuit auram. For th● soul is a Breath, and th● death of the soul is th● last gasp of that breath and this is so plain, tha● Solomon affirms plainly; As a Beast dyeth, so dyeth a man; for they have all one Breath, all go unto one place: and who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of a beast that goeth downward? And shall we now think the soul lives, because we know not how it dies? shall we therefore think there is a difference after death, betwixt the soul of a man and the soul of a Beast, because we see there is no difference, nor none to be seen? What is this but to give the soul a Being, out of our own notknowing; and to make our ignorance her Foundation? Had the soul any being, but by being in the body; and how then can it have any longer being, then while it is in the body? If it be truly said; Infundendo creature, & creando infunditur; why is it not as truly said, Extinguendo Exit, & Exeundo Extinguitur? Is the soul any thing but a temper of the Body; and when that temper ceaseth, than also the soul, as well in man as in beast ' ceaseth? If the soul should remain after the body, it must remain without its Faculties, at least without a power to use its Faculties. And were not this a blemish to nature to give the soul Faculties; and not give a power to be able to use them? and use them it cannot without the body; and therefore without the body, without wrong to nature, we cannot think there can be a soul.  
But, O my soul, what aspersions are these upon Nature? Or rather what blasphemies against the God of Nature? For did not God breathe the soul of man into his body at first; and can God's breath be ever out of breath? No more can the soul ever cease to be. Did not God make the body and soul asunder; and shall they not continue to be, when they are asunder? The body gives not life to the soul; but it is the soul that gives life to the body: and shall that which giveth life cease to be, because that, to which it giveth life, ceaseth to be? can any thing perish that hath no contraries; at lest nothing within it, or without it, to oppose it? For all things perish by one of these opposites; but the soul is a simple substance, uncompounded, & without mixture; and therefore neither hath contraries, nor any thing within it, or without it, to oppose it; and therefore cannot perish: and therefore is immortal. Can any thing perish, that is Principium sibi ipsi, is life to itself; and such a Principium hath God made the soul of man, and therefore cannot perish, and therefore is immortal. The body perisheth not by Annihilating, but by being turned into its first matter, which was not the same that now it is, but dust and earth: Neither can the soul perish by Annihilating, but by being turned into its first matter, which was the same at first that now it is; and therefore other, then now it is, it can never be, and therefore is Immortal. If the soul were made by God, and not made Immortal, either it was because he could not make it such, or because he would not: to say he could not, is to make him no God, because not omnipotent. To say he would not, is to make him not good, because no rewarder of his servants; for what rewarding if the soul be mortal? An Angel can put on a body, though nature have ordained it none, and yet be a perfect Angel still; and why not the soul put off a body, though Nature have assigned it one: and yet remain a perfect soul still? God made man in his own image, and where i● is God's image so appar●● as in man's immortality? and wherein is man's immortality so apparent, as in his soul? The soul had a being when it came into the body, and shall it not have a being when it goes out of the body? was it separate then, and is it inseparable now? But then we must not conceive the soul of man to be such a kind of thing as the soul of a beast is. For the soul of a Beast is perhaps nothing else but the very life of the beast; or if a soul, yet such a one as is endued only with the Faculties of sense and vegetation, which depending upon bodily Organs, must needs decay with the decay of those organs, and perish with the body: but the Soul of man is a heavenly substance, endued besides sense and vegetation, with the divine Faculty of reason and understanding, which not depending upon bodily Organs, neither decayeth with their decaying, nor yet perisheth with the body, but is a substance subsisting of itself; and as being a spirit, when once it leaves the body, ascends up to the place of spirits; where God himself is, who is the Father of Spirits; as Ecclesiastes saith; The Spirit returns to God that gave it. And if the Soul be a Spirit, and God the Father of Spirits: Then must the soul be needs immortal; For though all things perhaps perish, of which God is the Creator; yet nothing perisheth of which God is the Father.  
God made the Beasts living creatures all at once, at least made the Earth bring them forth all at once: and as they were made all at once, so they perish all at once, body and soul, such a one as they have, both together: but God made man a living Creature by parts; and if his parts were made severally; shall they not continue and subsist severally? And although the body separated from the soul, cannot long continue, because it wants the cement of life that should keep it together: and being a compound matter, without its proper form must needs be soon dissolved into the first matter; yet the soul separated from the Body, may continue long enough, seeing it is a simple form, and a Cement to itself, which can never be dissolved; and therefore is Immortal.  
Is not the soul of man of a middle nature, between Formae simpliciter separatae, and Formae simpliciter Inseparabiles, between Forms that can never be but separate, & forms that can ne'er be but inseparable? and therefore the soul may inform the body, and yet subsist without informing it  
But if the soul depend not upon the body, how happens it that if the heart or brain of a man be wounded or hurt, the man dies? I say not therefore that the soul depends not upon the body, but that the Rational Soul depends not upon it: For the sensitive and vegetative parts of the soul depend, no doubt, upon the Heart and brain; the Animal upon the Brain, the Vital upon the Heart; for these are their proper forges, I may say, & seats; and if any of these places be so hurt, that it is made unfit to be their forge or seat any longer, they have then no longer any being in the body; because no longer any operation in the body, as wanting their Forges to operate in & fit instruments to operate with, & then a man dies. But yet why should not the Rational soul stay in the body, though the sensitive be gone? for seeing it depends not upon any part of the body; why should the hurt of any part of the body drive it away? It is not that, Quoad Existentian in corpore; as to subsisting in the body, the soul is indivisible? that if one Faculty be abolished, the other cannot stay? at least, not the superior without the inferior; not the Sensitive without the Vegetative; not the Rational without the sensitive. For as the Elements of fire and earth, could never be joined in one compound, if the air & water did not intercede between them: so the Rational soul & the body could never be joined in one subsistence, if the sensitive and vegative parts did hot mediate between them; and, were the bond of connexion to hold them together, the same perhaps which Ecclesiastes calls the silver cord; that if this be loosened, there is nothing to hold them any longer together, but they are prefently parted from one another. And indeed, when the Rational is left alone by itself, it is then Purè spiritus, merely & simply a spirit; & being such, it can not rest any where, but either in Heaven or Hell: the two proper Centres of all separate spirits. And seeing these places are immortal Mansions, what should the soul do in either of them, if it were mortal? The soul therefore, at least the Rational soul, which is also in Habit the whole soul, must needs be immortal.  
If it may be made good, that the Rational faculty can exercise its operation without bodily Organs, there needs then no other proof, for the immortality of the soul, seeing Modus operandi sequitur modum Essendi; As every thing operates, so it is: that if the soul can ope● rate without bodily Organs, it may then also sub● siistwithout them; & if sub● sister without them, than i● it separable from the body, and thereupon immortal. And that the Rational faculty can exercise its operation with out bodily Organs, is a thing of all o● other the most apparent; for what is the proper work of the Rational faculty, but to contemplate, and to view itself in itself, as in a glass by reflection? & who can deny, but that the soul can do this of itself, without the help of any other; and then certainly, without the help of bodily Organs. The sensitive faculty indeed hath parts of the body made of purpose for the exercise of her operation: the eye to see; the ear to hear; the tongue to taste; and for a spring head to them all, the brain in the Head; but the Rational faculty hath no parts of the body made for her; and why hath it none, but because it needs none: as that which can exercise its operation without them. For, if the Rational faculty did use bodily Organs, as the sensitive doth, what reason can be given, why Beasts should not be reasonable creatures as well as men? seeing they have as many, and all the same parts as men have; that it must be acknowledged, some parts of the body, to be either superfluous in Beasts, or defective in Men: superfluous in Beasts, if they have parts proper for understanding, and yet understand not; or defective in men, if they should have parts proper for understanding, and have them not; which, because both of them are in prejudice of Nature, therefore neither of them is to be admitted. It is true, the Rational Faculty makes use sometimes of the Fantasy, an issue from the Brain, and may therefore be counted a Bodily Organ; at least, Germane Organi: but this is not of necessity, but for convenience, whilst it is in the Body; and that chief, if not only In ordine ad sensibilia: and if you will say, that the Rational Faculty must needs directly have dependence upon the Brain; seeing when the Brain is hurt, the understanding is hurt; when the Brain is distempered, the understanding is distempered; as in drunken or Frantic men; May it not be justly answered, that the operation of the understanding, in this case, is not merely the work of the Rational Faculty, but rather a mixed work of the Rational and Senfitive both together; seeing the hurt or distemper of the Brain, works not Primò & Per se upon the Rational Faculty, but upon the Sensitive, and from thence is transmitted to the Rational, only Compatiendo, by reason of the Sympathy that is between them; and this is no cause to infer a necessity of Dependence: For, when upon the separation of the Soul from the Body, the operation of the sensitive Faculty shall absolutely cease; this Sympathy between it and the Rational Faculty shall then cease also, and neither directly nor indirectly there shall be then any more dependence upon the Brain Indeed the Soul, once separated from the Body, hath no more use of the Brain, because no more need of the Fantasy at all, but moves then upon its own hinges; and exerciseth her operation within her own Sphere, as that which can make its own objects, and as being Speculum sibi ipsi, a Glass to it self, by so much the clearer, by how much the freer; for though the body be a necessary help to the sensitive Faculty, yet to the Intellectual, at lest Quoad Intelligibilia, it is an impediment and a clog, that from hence we may draw an Argument, which draws an Inference with it greater than itself; That to which the Body is no help, but an impediment, not only may subsist without the Body, but may subsist the better; and if it may, then at last it must; For, Frustra fit potentia quae non reducitur in actum; Nature is no such unskilful Artificer, to make a power that comes not into act: and so it is for the credit of Nature, that the soul be immortal. And why hath Nature implanted in the Soul of man, a desire of immortality, if it be not capable of immortality? Can any thing be more vain then to desire impossibility? If it be not more vain to think that Nature makes any thing in vain; and so it is for the credit of Nature still, that the soul be immortal. Nature hath made man in Duration of Body, like to those Inferior Creatures, to whom she hath made him like in faculties of the Body: and hath she not as well in duration of Soul, made him like to those Superior Creatures, to whom she hath made him like in Faculties of the Soul? And so it is for the Equity of Nature, that the Soul be immortal. But more than this, Nature hath given to her meanest creatures, as Trees and Beasts, folong a continuance, that though they be not Eternal, yet they seem to be Aeviternall; at least, fare exceed the continuance of man; and would she do this, and not make man, her Noblest Creature, some amends for it, by a longer duration in another life? and so it is for the Equity of Nature still, that the Soul be immortal.  
Who knows not, that the Soul of man hath in it three Faculties, the Vegetative, the Sensitive, and the Rational; of which, the two first are common to man with Beasts; the third, proper only to man: The two first have relation only to the Body, and depend upon it: The third hath no relation, at least not necessary relation to the Body, nor dependence on it; and therefore the two first make a Soul, which may properly be called Anima: the third, a Soul, which may properly be called Spiritus, as Ecclesiastes calleth it: Not saying the Soul, but The Spirit returns to God that gave it. Yet not that Anima and Spiritus are two distinct Souls, as the ancient Didymas thought, but that they are both but one Soul under two names, expressing a twofold Existence and Operation: properly Anima, as it Animates, and is sensitive and inseparable: properly Spiritus, as inseparable and intellectual. And although the Soul, separated from the Body, retain all the three Faculties in Habit, yet the third only in Operation, because only the third operates without bodily Organs, which the other two cannot; and yet reason enough to call it the immortality of the Soul; not only of the Spirit. And further, it may perhaps be, that as while the Soul is in the Body, the Rational Faculty makes use of some things which were made of purpose for the Sensitive Faculty: So when the Soul shall be separated from the Body, the sensitive Faculty shall have the power of reflection, and be Speculum sibi ipsi, a Glass to itself, which was proper before to the Rational Faculty: at least, by the like Endowment, whereby Angels see and hear, be enabled to do that without bodily Organs, which it could not do before, but with them.  
If the Soul of man were not immortal, it should be Ex Traduce from the Patents, as the souls of Beasts are, which are drawn E potentia materiae, from the power of the matter, of which their bodies are made; but the Soul of man is not drawn from the power of the matter; but Extrinsecus advenit, cometh to the Body from a foreign power: as Christ saith, Pater meus usque nunc operatur, and therefore is not Ex Traduce; and therefore is immortal. That which is drawn from the power o● the matter, must needs be material; but the soul of man is a substance immaterial; for if it were not immaterial, how could it comprehend things that are immaterial? seeing Modus operandi sequitur modum Essendi; Every thing operates according to its Essence; but the soul of man comprehends things immaterial, Angels and Spirits, Forms and Universals: and could it do this, if it were not that? could it apprehended things immaterial, if itself were not immaterial? A stream can never naturally rise higher than its Spring; lower it may fall, & level it may run, but higher it cannot rise; so if the soul were material, it could never rise to apprehend things immaterial, which are higher than itself; but being immaterial, it may apprehend things material, which are lower than itself; and things also immaterial, which are but level with itself; and then, if it be immaterial, it is also incorruptible: For all corruption is from matter; where no matter is, there can be no corruption; and if incorruptible, then also immortal; for all Mortality is from corruption; where no corruption is, there can be no mortality; and so of these links I may say, is made up the chain of the soul's immortality: It is not drawn from the power of the matter; and therefore is immaterial; and therefore is incorruptible; and therefore is immortal.  
But if the soul be not Ex Traduce from the Parents; why is it said in Genesis, that sixty six souls went down with Jacob into Egypt, which came all out of his loins? for what is it to come out of his loins but to be Ex Traduce? Is it not, that they are called souls, because they were persons then living, when they went down into Egypt? Or is it, that they are called souls, à Notiori parte, not à meliori; from ●he sensitive and vegetative parts, which are visible, and, in a kind, common to man with Beasts; and therefore in a kind also, transmitted from the Parents; but the intellectual part, which only is the soul that properly is immortal, was never in the loins of Jacob; and therefore issued not to his issue from thence; nor is Ex Traduce from the Parents.  
But how then comes o● riginall sin to be in the soul, if it be not transmitted from the Parents? and how is it transmitted, if the soul be not Ex Traduce? O my Soul, is not this the doubt, that gravelled the great Saint Austin, a knot that hath busied the most learned wits to untie, and yet perhaps is not so untied, but that it remains entangled still? at least, the solution to ordinary capacities not made so plain, but that there are seeming difficulties still in it? For is it enough to say, that Adam's sin was not only personal, but extends to all mankind? Or to say, that he sinned not as a private person, but as one that obliged his whole Posterity? For doth it not follow by this, that original sin should be by imputation rather than by inherency? when yet the saying of David, I was conceived in sin, pretends to more than imputation? And if it be inherent, then must it be transmitted from the Parents; and if transmitted from them, then must the soul also be Ex Traduce; and so, this seems not to clear the doubt, but leaves us in the briers with S. Austin still.  
Is it then, that as Saint James saith, He that breaketh one Commandment, is guilty of the breach of all: so if some part of the soul be tainted with sin, it sets a taint upon the whole? And is it not, that so much of the soul, as is common to man with Beasts, which are the sensitive and vegetative, may well enough be said to be Ex Traduce from the Parents; and with them the concupiscible part, which is the proper seat and origin of sin? and they being originally tainted with sin, as being transmitted from the Parents, set a taint also upon the intellectual part, by the union with them; and yet, no consequence, that this, as they, should be Ex Traduce from the Parents. What though the soul were breathed by God, entire at first into the body: Is it necessary it should be so continued, as it was at first given? Why more, then that the body was made by God, all at once at first; and yet now by generation, is continued and made up by parts? For who knows not the order of Nature in forming the parts of the Body in the Mother's womb? First, the heart is form and lives; an● this is yet but the vegetative part of the soul: the● (after the forming of some Ministerial parts) the Brain; and this is yet bu● the sensitive part of the soul; and thus fare, Ex Traduce from the Parents may not unprobably be allowed: but the Rational part is behind still, as having no part of the body for the Fountain of her operation. This therefore remains to be infused by God, and is perhaps one of the works which Christ meant, when he said, Pater meus usque nunc operatur; and differs from the first work but only in this, that where he than breathed the whole soul into the Body at once, he now leaves to Nature the two inferior parts, and reserves to himself only the consummating part, which is the Rational.  
But would it not follow by this, there should be two souls in man; one generated by the Parents, another immitted into the Body by God? Indeed no; for they make all but one soul, only augmented by a Faculty; or rather not a Faculty, but the true substance which makes it properly to be a soul: For where only the vegetative is, as in Trees; or only the vegetative & sensitive, as in beasts, though they be commonly called souls; yet, truly considered, they are but Faculties of life, drawn E●potentia materiae, from the power of the matter, of which the creatures are made, and are but as degrees and stages to the Rational; this only that, which consummates and perfits it to be a soul and is so a part of the soul that it makes the whol● soul indivisible into parts and as coming immediately from God himself 〈◊〉 can never be dissolved, but by God himself; and is therefore by his Decree, immortal; which the vegetative & sensitive could never be, if the Rational did not take them into her society, or rather join them as unisons in Music ●nd make them one with ●er own being. That which is a Roof to a lower room, is but a Floor ●o a higher; and so the vegetative which was a ●oule in Plants; is but a Faculty to the sensitive in Beasts; and the sensitive, which was a soul in Beasts, ●s but a Faculty to the Rational in man; for the Rational is the supreme Roof that perfits it to be a soul, and makes it fixed; and therefore immortal. But as the Rational makes the sensitive immortal in one kind; so the sensitive makes the Rational mortal in another; not in duration, but in corruption▪ as tainting it with that fin which brought the sentence of Morte morieris upon Adam, and justly in Adam upon all his posterity But whether the corruption of the sensitive, before the Rational come to it, which, according to the best Writers, is not till the fourth month after conception, make the Embryon, dying within that space, obnoxious to original sin or no, is a depth that exceeds the line of my knowledge; and perhaps of any man's else, without Divine Revelation: For though the soul be not actually perfitted, till that time; yet it is actually prepared, and hath an actual Praeviam pravam dispositionem in it before that time; and who can tell, whether this may not serve, and be sufficient to make obnoxious? For why else should David say, I was conceived in sin, when the Rational is not infused, till after the conception?  
Or is it not, that to say, The soul is Ex Traduce from the Parents, and the soul is not Ex Traduce from the Parents, are both true in the Disjunctive, because the Rational is not, the sensitive is; but that the whole Soul is guilty of original sin; not only when borne, but when first conceived, universally may pass without disjunctive. Or is it not, that when God at first created Adam, it is said, Male and female created he them; and therefore, though the soul be Ex Traduce from the Parents; yet till the Embryon be so fare grown, that it may be said to be Male or Female; which is not, till the parts be all form, and that it hath its perfect shape (which is not till a certain time after the conception; but that certain time, uncertain how long) it cannot be justly thought to be obnoxious to original sin, because not be murder in any that shall destroy it. And this may appear by the Law which Moses sets down, Exod. 21. If one strike a woman, that her fruit go from her; which in some Copies is thus expressed, that her fruit go from her, not perfectly shaped, the punishment shall be the lighter but if perfectly shaped, th● punishment shall be death And as long as it is in state not to make it murder i● any that shall destroy it so long, neither can it be● in state, to be obnoxious to original sin. Or may it not perhaps be true, tha● the whole soul, with all its Faculties, is Ex Traduc● from the Parents; as hath been held by many? and so indeed it will be plain, how original sin is propagated: But then, it will not be so plain, how the soul shall be immortal; For if it be Ex Traduce from the Parents, it must be drawn E potentia materiae, from the power of the matter; and if drawn from the power of the matter, then must it be material, as the soul of a Beast is; and if material, then also corruptible; and if corruptible, then also morta●● Indeed no; for though 〈◊〉 be drawn E potentia materiae, from the power of th● matter; yet not from th● power of the matter, simply; but E potentia materiae inspiratae à Deo, from the power of the matte● inspired by God; as i● was at first in Adam, and as in Beasts, it never was; and though the being drawn from the power of ●e matter, would make it ●●e mortal; yet Inspiratio ●●ei, the being inspired by God, makes it be, as himself is, immortal. When God at the Creation brea●ed the soul into the bo●y of Adam, there is ●othing spoken of the ●oule of Eve, because she was taken out of Adams ●ide; and if it served her ●or a soul, that she was made of a part of Adam body; why not as well also for all other Descendants from Adam, Et natis natorum & qui nascentur ab● illis? seeing as the soul was then Tota in toto, & tota in qualibet parte, all in the whole, and all in every part of Adam's body; so it is still in every one of ours.  
Or lastly, if this also be refused; Is it not then, that we are all borne of that ●cursed seed, upon which ●e sentence of Morte mo●eris, was, for the sin of ●isobedience, justly pronounced; and though the ●oule be not Ex Traduce ●om the parents; yet when 〈◊〉 once joins with this accursed seed, and is made ●ne with it; it justly becomes both guilty of the ●inne and subject to the ●urse; and shall so continue, until the seed of the woman take both the guilt of the sin, and the curse of the Law upon himself, to free us from both; and now if you will say, It is hard measure in God, to lay the penalty of one man's offence, upon all his posterity; you must withal say, it is great mercy in God, to impute the merit of one man's righteousness, to all his followers; that as the most you can say in that case, is that God is a just Judge; so the least you can say in this case, is, that he is a Merciful Redeemer, and now and ever, a Faithful Creator.  
If the soul did die with the body, why should it not as well be sick with the body, and grow old with the body? But this is found by daily experience, that in the sickness of the body, the soul is commonly best in health; and in the age of the body, the soul is yet young still, or rather hath the greatest vigour in these two seasons; the sensitive part indeed, because it useth bodily Organs, must needs decay with their decaying; but the intellectual part which neither useth any, nor hath use of any, continues to be itself still, what ever they be; corrupted perhaps in her quality, but not made corruptible in her substance; and even when it is at the very point of disbanding and leaving the body, yet than she exerciseth the operation of her Faculty, in as great vigour as ever, understands as much, knows as much, apprehends as much as at any time before: And could it do so, if it depended upon the body, which is then all out of frame and in confusion? It is indeed plainly to be seen, that while the vegetative Faculty is in the greatest vigour, all that while we use the sensitive but little, the Rational not at all, as is seen in Infants and little Children; and while the sensitive Faculty is in the greatest vigour, all that while we use the Rational but little, which makes youth commonly so intemperate as it is; but when the sensitive and vegetative Faculties grow to decay, as in old age they do, then comes the Rational to be in greatest force; which makes old men commonly to be of soundest judgements; and therefore seeing the Rational Faculty decays not with the body, as the other do; neither is it possible it should be extinct with the Body, as the other are.  
If the soul perish together with the body, than it perisheth before the body; for the body retains its proportion and shape, at least for some time, after the soul hath left it; but the foul, if it perish then, retains nothing at all of all her Faculties, they are all extinct and gone; and so by this reckoning, the body should be a longer lastre than the soul; which though it be true in Beasts, whose soul is perhaps nothing but the life; yet it is false in man, whose soul is a substance, subfisting by itself, and separable from the body.  
But though by these words of Solomon, Who knoweth the Soul of a man that goeth downward, or the soul of a man that goeth upward; It may be gathered there is Aliquid imperceptibile in the soul of man, something so obscure and hidden, that makes it impossible to be thoroughly understood; and therefore no demonstrative Arguments can be drawn from thence, to make a peremptory conclusion of its immortality; yet there are Arguments enough, some drawn from the nature of the soul itself, and some from foreign circumstances, that evidently evince it, against all opposition, to be immortal: For the soul of man can apprehend immortality, which Beasts cannot; and shall it not be capable of immortality, though Beasts are not? And more than this, the soul of man can discharge the Function of immortality, which is to make of all times, one; reducing the time past, and that which is to come, into the present; and is it possible it should do the work of immortality, and not be immortal? If the soul of man be not immortal, than neither are the Angels immortal; for they are all made of the same immaterial mettle; which if it be durable in the one, why not as well durable in the other? must not those creatures be needs of the same nature and condition, which do all alike the same actions, insist all alike upon the same object, have all alike the same Summum bonum; but all these are common alike to men and Angels; to both which the Summum Bonum is to enjoy God's Presence; the chief Object, is the blessed Face of God; the Final actions, are to glorify God; if then Immortality be granted to the Nature of Angels; how can it be denied to the Soul of man? The Soul of man can apprehend God, who only is immoral; and can that be mortal, which apprehends him that is immortal? and more than this, the soul of man is the only Creature in this inferior world, that can praise God; and seeing God's praise shall never cease; can that cease which is to praise him? And so it is for the glory of God, that the soul be immortal. Hath not God made the Heavens and the Earth for the use of man, therein to glorify him? and shall he use them no longer than this life? and longer he cannot use them if the soul be mortal: and so it is for the glory of God still, that the soul be immortal. If the soul be not immortal; when is it, that God punisheth the wicked, and rewardeth the godly? seeing, not in this life, if not in another? and not in another, if the soul be mortal? and so it is for the Justice of God, that the soul be immortal. If the soul be not immortal; what good is it, that In memoria aeterna erit justus, the Righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance; of which he can neither be sensible nor intelligent? and so it is fo● the Justice of God still, that the soul be immortal. If the soul be not immortal, how shall the places of the Angels that fell, be filled up again? Or shall they stand empty for ever, as though God had not power to fill them up? and so it is for the Power of God, that the soul be immortal. If the Soul be not immortal; how is God, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? for he is not the God of the dead, but of the living; and living they could not be, if the Soul were mortal; and so it is for the Power of God still, that the soul be immortal? And now, my soul, wilt thou rather detract from God's Glory, from his Justice, from his Power, than believe and acknowledge, that the soul is immortal? Shall Heathen men, who had scarce any hope of good after this life? Shall a Heathen Poet say, Et cum frigida mors Anima seduxerit artus; making death not a destruction of the soul, but only a separation of it from the body; and shall we whose chief blessedness consists in the expectation of our soul's blessedness after this life, make a doubt, whether the soul of man be immortal, or no? Are there not manifest Arguments to evince it; and such as are obvious to sense, both in the dead, and in the living? For, is it nothing, that in all ages there have been apparitions of man departed; whereof, though some perhaps be Fables, and some delusions; yet many, no doubt, are true Relations, and have been Real Representations; which could be none, if the soul were mortal. And if it be doubted, whether any such apparitions have been, or no; have we not the learned Melancthon, a reverend Writer of late time, affirming himself to have been an eyewitness? Have we not the learned Ludovicus Vives, affirming many of his acquaintance, men worthy of credit, to have seen and spoken with them, and heard many things related by them, above the pitch of Nature? that nothing is more certain than such apparitions, which could be none, if the soul were mortal. What though it were not the true Samuel that appeared to Saul, but a delusion of Satan; yet was there no ground for his using such delusion, which could be none, if the soul were mortal. Is it nothing, that the Devil oftentimes makes Pacts and bargains with wicked men, to do great matters for them in this present life, upon a hope and desire of their destruction in the next? which could be none if the soul were mortal: and if any doubt of such Pacts with the Devil, have we not Confitentes reos, daily examples of Delinquents themselves, averring it at their deaths, no time to dissemble? that nothing is more certain, then that such Pacts are made; which could be none, if the soul were mortal. Is it nothing, that the consciences of all men, whether good or bad, give evident testimony of this truth, of the soul's immortality? For why else should good men die so patiently, indeed so joyfully, if they had not a hope of a better life after this? which could be none if the soul were mortal. Or why should wicked men die so unwillingly, indeed so fearfully, if their conscience did not give them, there would be sense of pain remaining after death; which could be none, if the soul were mortal Have not all wise men, a the world over, affirm and believed the soul o● man to be immortal; only some few fool's wh● have said in their hearts there is no God; hav● said also with thei● mouths, The soul i● mortal: and shall we rather join in assent wit● these few fools, tha● with those many wise men? No, my soul, let Epicureans, and saducees, and Atheists doubt their pleasures, till their doubt be resolved by the feeling Argument of eternal pains; but let this be thy Pillar, or rather thy Murus Aheneus; that after this life, there will be reward for the Godly, and punishment for the wicked; that In memoria aeterna erit justus; the Righteous shall be had in Everlasting remembrance; that the number of Angels that fell from Heaven, shall be filled up with Saints from the Earth; and especially, that God is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and then I doubt not thou wilt be satisfied of this doubt; and not on●y of thine own, but of ●hy bodies immortality; that so thou mayst por ●onely immortally be Spiritus, but immortally be Anima; for though thou wilt properly be but Spiritus, till the body rise again; yet after the Resurrection, thou wilt properly be Anima again, and have all thy Faculties, not only in Habit, but in Operation, and Animate the Body in a greater perfection than ever before; for the body will then have greater endowments of thy Faculty 〈◊〉 thou art properly 〈◊〉 by a more vigorous vegetation, and perspicacity of sense, and greater endowments also of thy Faculties, as thou art properly Spiritus, by celerity of motion, and by subtlety of dimension; by which perhaps it was that Christ after his Resurrection, came in amongst his Apostles when the doors were shut; for so it was fit for a body being then spiritual. Now indeed, Corpus aggravat Animam, the body is a burden to the soul; but as much as the body aggravates the soul now, and makes her participate of its infirmities, so much and more will the scale then alleviate the body, and make it participate of her perfections.  
And who now is so stupid, that finds not a sweet shower of persuasion to fall upon him from this cloud of Reasons? whereof, though every drop by itself may seem to wet but little, yet all together make a shower able to wet to the root; but if any man's temper be so hard, that no shower will mollify it; if any man be so unreasonable, that no reason will satisfy him; yet there is hope, that Faith will; for Faith raines down a stronger shower of persuasion than Reason can; and this belief of the soul's Immortality, is the main Root, upon which all Faith is grounded; For if the soul be not believed to be Immortal; where is the assurance of forgiveness of sins? where the hope of Resurrection from the Dead? where, the expectation of life everlasting? And if any man still be possessed with a stupidity of this doubt, that, neither Reason can persuade him, as a man; nor Faith overrule him, as a Christian, I must then leave him, to feed upon grass with the Beast of the Field, like Nabuchadonozer, until like Nabuchodonozer he recover his senses; and recant his Error; and then he will be able and shall have leave, to make a benefit, and to take the benefit of this cloud of Reasons.  
And now, my soul, thou art sure of immortality, a Fee Simple, that no time can wear out, no forfeiture extinguish: but alas! what good is it to have Immortality, if it be not accompanied with Beatitude? and accompanied with Beatitude it will never be, if God vouchsafe not his Beatifical Vision; and that Vision he will never vouchsafe thee, if thou be not Mundo Cord, of a pure heart in his sight: For Be●ti mundo Cord, quoniam ●psi videbunt Deum, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God: O therefore, my soul, endeavour so to serve God, with a pure heart in this mortal life, that wh●● thou comest to thy true Immortality in the next thou mayst be admitted to see that Beatifical Vision; ●nd mayst be immortal in ●●joying of Happiness and not in feeling of torments; thy Joy may be immortal, and not thy Misery. And let this be ●y Pillar upon which to ●●xe thy Thoughts.