BUT notwithstanding that some curious _Physicians_ (who have strictly scrutiniz’d the Works of Nature) would have the _SOUL_ to center in the BRAIN, whence all its _Senses_, _Faculties_, and _Actions_ proceed; yet some _Philosophers_ have justly assign’d the _Center_ of the HEART to its Residence: which Doctrine is also approved by the wise _Solomon_[5], saying; _Keep thy Heart with all Diligence, for out of it are the Issues of Life_.
HOWEVER yet, if any should still obstinately persist in denying the BEING of the _SOUL_, I advise such to go no farther, but look into _themselves_, and call their own _Minds_ to Counsel; for even there they will have a full _View_, not only of its BEING, but also of its supernatural _Excellency_; If they but seriously weigh the eximious _Gifts_, and unlimited _Faculties_ of _Nature_, together with the egregious _Ornaments_ of _Reason_, _Understanding_, _Judgment_, _Memory_, and many other Accomplishments, with which every _Mind_ is abundantly endued; they will clearly perceive something of a superexcellent _Nature_, and Supernatural _Quality_ in themselves; which is nothing else but what I call the SOUL, and which is also of a more noble and excelling _Substance_, than any _corporeal Matter_ liable to _Corruption_ can be.
THIS _Being_, only and alone, vivifies, rules, and governs the _Body_; furnishing it with innumerable _Actions_, and exercising it with as many curious _Offices_. Hence, from its manifold _Effects_, and different _Operations_, it has various _Appellations_, according to St. _Augustine_’s Saying: “_Cùm Corpus animat, Vitâq; imbuit, Anima dicitur: Dum vult, Animus: dum Scientiâ ornata est, ac Judicandi peritiam exercet, Mens: dum recolit ac reminiscitur, Memoria: dum ratiocinatur, ac singula discernit, Ratio: dum Contemplationi insistit, Spiritus: dum Sentiendi vim obtinet, Sensus._” Which are all the principal _Functions_ of the SOUL, whereby it demonstrates its _Power_, and performs its relative _Offices_. In the Execution whereof, St. _Cyprian_ asserts, that the _SOUL_ makes use of the _Body_, as the _Workman_ does of the _Mallet_, _Hatchet_, or _Anvil_: tho’ (I think) the _Simile_ may be drawn much nearer, the _SOUL_ being inclosed and dwelling in the _Body_, as the _Fish_ or the _Snail_ in the _Shell_; without which _Receptacle_, or _Rampart_ of Defence, it cannot subsist: Which is evident in that, as soon as the _Body_ labours under any _Grief_, the _SOUL_ is also affected; not with a primary _Affection_ (as some would have it) but by a _Law_ of the most strict _Alliance_, and nearest _Affinity_; and hence it is, that the _Vices_ and _Virtues_ of the _one_ are transfus’d, and flow into the _other_.