t. On this ground it
is said that the first cause is in all things, and that there is nothing
without it.

The will holds all things together by means of form; whence we likewise
say that form holds all things together. Thus, form is intermediate
between will and matter, receiving from will, and giving to matter. And
will acts without time or motion, through its own might. If the action
of soul and intelligence, and the infusion of light are instantaneous,
much more so is that of will.

Creation comes from the high creator, and is an emanation, like the
issue of water flowing from its source; but whereas water follows water
without intermission or rest, creation is without motion or time. The
sealing of form upon matter, as it flows in from the will, is like the
sealing or reflection of a form in a mirror, when it is seen. And as
sense receives the form of the felt without the matter, so everything
that acts upon another acts solely through its own form, which it simply
impresses upon that other. Hence genus, species, differentia, property,
accident, and all forms in matter are merely an impression made
by wisdom.

The created soul is gifted with the knowledge which is proper to it; but
after it is united to the body, it is withdrawn from receiving those
impressions which are proper to it, by reason of the very darkness of
the body, covering and extinguishing its light, and blurring it, just as
in the case of a clear mirror: when dense substance is put over it its
light is obscured. And therefore God, by the subtlety of his substance,
formed this world, and arranged it according to this most beautiful
order, in which it is, and equipped the soul with senses, wherein, when
it uses them, that which is hidden in it is manifested in act; and the
soul, in apprehending sensible things, is like a man who sees many
things, and when he departs from them, finds that nothing remains with
him but the vision of imagination and memory.

We must also bear in mind that, while matter is made by essence, form is
made by will. And it is said that matter is the seat of God, and that
will, the giver of form, sits on it and rests upon it. And through the
knowledge of these things we ascend to those things which are behind
them, that is, to the cause why there is anything; and this is a
knowledge of the world of deity, which is the greatest whole: whatever
is below it is very small in comparison with it.

ROBERT AYTOUN

(1570-16