some have given the upper hand to that distortion of the countenance accompanied with a loud but inarticulate voice which we call Laughter but this being neither proper to nor inseparable from Ioy cannot therefore belong to it essentialy That it is frequently a concomitant of Mirth or Hilarity is not to be disputed but Mirth is the lowest degree of Joy a light and superficial emotion of the Sensitive Soul and Spirits a kind of short tickling of the Imagination usualy expressed by Laughter whereas Ioy is serious profound and grave according to that memorable Sentence of Seneca epist. 23. res severa est verum gaudium Laughter then as I said is not proper to all Joy because common to some other affections for some are observed to laugh out of Indignation others out of Contempt and disdain neither of which belong to any kind of Joy Nor is it inseparable from Joy because in truth Joy cannot produce Laughter unless when it is very moderate and hath somthing of Admiration or Hate mixt with it For we have it from the oracle of Experience that in great and profound Joy the cause of it whatsoever it be doth never force us to break forth into laughter nay more that we are most easily provoked to laugh when we are sad Whereof the reason seems to be either because in solid Joy the Sensitive Soul is so deeply commoved so intirely taken up with the delight of fruition that she cannot attend to shake the Midriff Lungs and Muscles of the breast nimbly and strongly enough to create laughter or because at that time the Lungs are so distended with blood that they cannot by repeted concussions or alternate contractions and relaxations be further inflated with air whereof no little quantity is required to produce that loud sound emitted in Laughter That we may understand this matter more fully let us examine the cause or occasion and the Motions of Laughter As for the First viz. the Occasion or Motive whatsoever it be there must concur therein these three Conditions following 1. it must be new and surprising because whatsoever is ridiculous at first ceaseth to be so when grown stale 2. it must be such a novelty as may suggest to us a conception of some eminency or advantage in our selves above another whom the occasion chiefly concerns for why are we naturally prone to laugh at either a jest which is nothing but a witty or elegant discovery and representation of some absurdity or indecency of another abstracted from his person or at the mischances and infirmities of others unless from hence that thereby our own abilities are the more set off and illustrated and recommended to us by way of comparison 3. It must not touch our own or our friends honour for in that point we are too tender to tolerate much less to laugh at a jest broken upon our selves or friends of whose dishonour we participate These requisites in a ridiculous cause considered we may adventure to conclude that Laughter is an effect of sudden but light Joy arising from the unexpected discovery of some infirmity in another not our friend and from imagination of our own eminency and exemption from the like Here then you see is something of Admiration from the Novelty something of Aversion from the Infirmity something of Ioy or triumph from our opinion of some eminency in our selves And as for that Laughter which is sometimes joyned with Indignation it is most commonly fictitious or artificial and then it depends intirely upon our will as a voluntary action but when 't is true or Natural it seems likewise to arise from Ioy conceived from hence that we see our selves to be above offence by that evil which is the cause or subject of our indignation and that we feel our selves surprised by the unexpected novelty of the same So that to the production of this Laughter also is required a concurs of Ioy Aversion and Admiration but all moderate If this be so what then shall we think of that odd example of Laughter in Ludovicus vives who writes of himself lib. 3. de Anima cap. de Risu that usually when he began to eat after long fasting he could not forbear to break forth into a fit of loud laughter This doubtless was not voluntary because he strove to suppress it nor could it be Convulsive such as Physicians call Risus Sardonius because he was in perfect health sensible of no pain therein nor incommodity thereupon It must therefore be Natural though not Passionate proceeding from some cause very obscure and idiosyncritical that is peculiar to his constitution perhaps this that in this Learned man either the Lungs were more apt to be distended with blood or the Midriff more easily put into the motions that produce laughter than commonly they are in most other men The First because in general whatsoever causeth the Lungs to be suddenly puffed up and distended with blood causeth also the external action of Laughter unless where sorrow changeth that action into groaning and weeping the other because all Laughter is made chiefly by quick and short vibrations of the Midriff But this rare Phenomenon we shall perhaps be better able to solve when we have considered how the action of Laughter is performed in all other men Concerning this Problem therefore it is observable that in Man there seems to be a greater consent or sympathy or rather commerce of motions betwixt the Midriff and the Heart yea and the Imagination also than in Brutes of what order or tribe soever and that the Reason given hereof by the most accurate of our Modern Anatomists is this that the principal Nerve of the Midriff is rooted in the same Nerve of the Spine named Nervus vertebralis from whence there comes a conspicuous branch into the grand plexus of the Intercostal nerve and that commonly two sometimes three other branches more are derived from that same notable plexus into the very trunk of the Nerve of the Diaphragm as you may see most elegantly represented by Dr. Willis in the 9 th Table of his most elaborate Book de Anatomia Cerebri which are not found in Beasts For from this plenty and singular contexture of nerves it may be conjectured not only why the Diaphragm doth so readily conform its motions to those of the Praecordia and of the Animal Spirits excited in passions of the Mind and cooperate with them but also why Risibility is an affection proper only to Man For as the same most curious Dr. Willis reasoneth in his chapter of the functions and uses of the Intercostal pair of nerves when the Imagination is affected with some pleasant and new conceipt instantly there is caused a brisk and placid motion of the heart as if it sprung up with joy to be alleviated or eased of its burden Wherefore that the blood may be the more speedily discharged out of the right Ventricle of the heart into the Lungs and out
the very countenance gestures walking and in word all the actions of those who think more haughtily or meanly of themselves than is usual But for what may we have a high esteem of ourselves Truely I can observe but one thing that may give us just cause of self-estimation and that is the lawful use of our free will and the soveraignity we exercise over our Passions For as the incomparable Monsieur des Cartes most wisely noteth take away the actions dependent upon our Free will and nothing will remain for which we can deserve to be praised or dispraised with reason and that in truth renders us in some sort like unto God Almighty by making us Lords of ourselves provided we do not through carelesness and poorness of Spirit lose the rights and power that royal prerogative of our nature conferreth upon us Wherefore I am of the same Des Cartes his opinion that true Generosity which makes a Man measure his own merit by right reason doth consist only in this that he both knowes he hath nothing truely his own except this free disposition of his Will nor for which he justly can be commended or blamed but that he useth that liberty well and finds in himself a firm and constant purpose still so to do that is never to want will to undertake and perform all things that he shall have judged to be the better which is perfectly to follow Virtue Whereas Pride which is a kind of Triumph of the mind from an high Estimation of ones-self without just cause expressed chiefly by haughty looks ostentation in words and insolency in action is a Vice so unreasonable and absurd that if there were no Adulation to deceive men into a better conceipt of themselves than they realy deserve I should number it among the kinds of Madness But the contagious aire of Assentation is diffused so universaly and hath infected the tongues of so great a part of mankind that even the most imperfect frequently hear themselves commended and magnified for their very defects which gives occasion to persons of stupid heads and weak minds and consequently of easy belief to fall into this Tympany of Pride or false Glory A passion so far different from true Generosity that it produceth effects absolutely contrary thereunto For since other Goods besides the virtuous Habit of using the liberty of our wills according to the dictates of right reason as Wit Beauty Riches Honours and the like are therefore the more esteemed because they are rare and cannot be communicated to many at once this makes Proud men labour to depress others while themselves being inslaved to their own vicious cupidities have their Souls uncessantly agitated by Hate Iealousie or Anger The contrary to Self-estimation is Humility whereof there are likewise two Sorts one Virtuous or Honest the other Vicious or base The Virtuous which is properly named Humility consisteth onely in that reflexion we make upon the infirmity of our nature and upon the errors we either have heretofore committed or may in time to come commit and maketh us therefore not to prefer ourselves before others but to think them equaly capable of using their freedom of Will as well as ourselves Whence it is that the most Generous are also the most Humble For being truely conscious both of their own infirmity and of their constant purpose to Surmount it by doing none but virtuous actions that is by the right use of the liberty of the Will they easily perswade themselves that others also have the same just sentiments and the same good resolution in themselves because therein is nothing that depends upon another Wherefore they never despise any man and though they often see others to fall into such Errors that discover their weakness yet are they still more prone to excuse than to condemn them and to believe their faults proceeded rather from want of knowledge and circumspection than from defect of an inclination and will to good So that as on the one side they think not themselves much inferiour to those who possess more of the goods of Fortune or exceed them in wit learning beauty c. So neither do they on the other think themselves to be much Superiour to others who have less of those perfections because they look upon such qualities as not worth much consideration in comparison of that goodness of Will upon which alone they have a just valuation of themselves and which they suppose that every man equaly hath or at least may have This Humility therefore is inseparable from true Generosity and being well grounded always produceth Circumspection or Caution which is fear to attempt any thing rashly The Vicious Humility which is distinguished by the name of Dejection or Poorness of Spirit proceeds likewise from an apprehension of our own infirmity but with this difference that a man conceives himself to be so far deprived of the right and use of Fre-will that he cannot but doe things against his inclination and of which he ought afterward to repent and believes himself not able to subsist of himself but to want many things whose acquisition depends upon another So it is directly opposite to Generosity or Bravery of mind and it is commonly observed that poor and abject Spirits are also Arrogant and Vain-glorious as the Generous are most modest and humble For these are above both the smiles and and frowns of Fortune still calme and serene as well in adversity as prosperity but those being slaves to Fortune and wholy guided by her are puffed up by her favourable gales and blown down again by her gusts Nor is it a rarity to see men of of this base and servile temper to descend to shamefull submissions where they either expect some benefit or fear some evil and at the same time to carry themselves insolently and contemptuously to ward others from whom they neither hope nor fear any thing This Ague of the Soul then being ill grounded doth so shake a man with distrust of himself that it utterly Cows him and keeps him from daring to attempt any worthy action for fear of ill success which Vice the Lord Bacon calls Restifeness of mind and falling out of love with ones-self There is yet another remarkable Passion that seem's to belong to Humility and that is Shame Which ariseth from an unwary discovery of some Defect or infirmity in us the remembrance whereof sensibly dejecteth us and puts us for the most part to the Blush which is its proper Sign That it is a sort of Modesty or diffidence of our selves is manifest from hence that when a man thinks so well of himself as not to imagine another can have just cause to contemn him he cannot easily be checkd by Shame and as the Good that is or hath been in us if considered with respect to the opinion others may conceive of us doth excite Glory in us so doth the Evil whereof we are conscious produce Shame And
quicquid benè dictum est ab ullo meum est Epist. 16. I will only add as a reason of my so frank communication of these unpolished papers to you who are my Lucilius what the same Latin Stoic most affectionately pâ—ofessed to his on the like occasion Ego vero cupio ista omnia in te transfundere in hoc gaudeo aliquid discere ut doceam Nec me ulla res delectabit licet eximia sit salutaris quam mihi uni sciturus sim. Si cum hac exceptione detur Sapientia ut illam inclusam teneam nec enunciem rejiciam Epist. 6. ¶ INDEX OF THE CONTENTS SECTION I. INtroduction Page 2. SECT II. Article 1 WHat kind of Substance a Sensitive Soul may be conceived to be pag. 5. 2. Two Reasons of that Supposition p. 6. 3. Second Supposition that the substance of a Sensitive Soul is fiery p. 9. 4. Because Life is seated principaly in the blood and can no more than fire itself subsiâ—t without aliment and ventilation p. 9. 5. And because a Sensitive Soul seems to be first formed of the most Spirituous particles of the same seminal matter whereof the body itself is made p. 12. 6. A Sensitive Soul imagined to be also of the same figure with the body it animates p. 13. 7. That the Existence of a Sensitive Soul dâ—th â—s that of flame depend intirely upon motion p. 14. 8. That the first Operation of a Sensitive Soul is the Formation of the body according to the modell preordained by nature p. 16. 9. Recapitulation of the premises p. 19. 10. The Faculties and Organs of a Sensitive Soul reciprocaly inservient each to other p. 20. 11. A twofold desire or inclination congenial to a Sensitive Soul viz. of Self-preservation and Propagation of her kind p. 22. 12. To what various Mutations and irregular Commotions a Sensitive Soul is subject from her own Passions p. 24. 13. From the temperament and diseases of the body p. 26. 14. From various impressions of external objects and exorbitant motions of the Animal Spirits p. 27. 15. The various Gestures of a Sensitive Soul respective to the impressions of external objects variously affecting her p. 28. 16. An inquiry concerning the Knowledge whereby Brutes are directed in actions voluntary p. 30. 17. The Knowledge of Brutes either innate or acquired p. 39. 18. That Brutes are directed only by natural instinct in all actions conducing either to their own preservation or to the propagation of their species not by Reason p. 41. 19. Nor Material Necessity p. 43. SECT III. 1. THe Excellency of a Rational Soul Pag. 46. 2. Manifest from her proper Objects p. 47. 3. And Acts. p. 48. 4. Life and Sense depend not on the Rational Soul of Man and p. 51. 5. Therefore he seems to have also a Sensitive Soul p. 53. 6. The same inferred from the civil war betwixt the Rational and Sensitive Souls p. 54. 7. The Causes of that war p. 55. 8. Wherein somtimes the Sensitive Appetite prevails and p. 57. 9. Somtimes the Rational p. 59. 10. That the Rational Soul is created immediately by God p. 60 11. The Resemblance betwixt Father and Son ascribed to the Sensitive Soul p. 61. 12. The Rational Soul seated in that part of the brain which serves to Imagination and p. 61. 13. There connexed to the Sensitive by the will of her Creator p. 64. 14. Where the manner how she judges of the images of things formed in the Imagination seems to be inexplicable p. 65. SECT IV. Of the Passions of the Mind in general 1. A Twofold state of the Sensitive Soul viz. of Tranquility and p. 68. 2. Of Perturbation p. 69. 3. The first most observable in sleep and when objects appear indifferent p. 70. 4. The other manifest in all Passions ibidem 5. That in the state of Perturbation the Sensisitive Soul varieth her Gestures by Contraction or Expansion p. 72. 6. We are not moved to Passion by Good or Evil but only when we conceive ourselves particularly concerned therein p. 73. 7. All Passions distinguished into Physical Metaphysical and Moral p. 74. 8. What are Passions Physical p. 75. 9. What Metaphysical p. 77. 10. And what Moral p. 81. 11. All Passions referred to Pleasure or Pain and p. 82. 12. All their Motions to Contraction and Effusion p. 83. 13. Wherein consist Pleasure and Displeasure of Sense p. 83. 14. Rehearsal of the heads handled in this Section p. 85. SECT V. Of the Passions in particular 1. WHy Men have not been able to observe all Passions incident to the Sensitive Soul p. 85. 2. The Passions best distinguished by having respect to the differences of Time p. 86. 3. Admiration p. 87. 4. Which causeth no Commotion in the heart and blood and p. 89. 5. Yet is dangerous when immoderate p. 90. 6. Estimation and Contempt p. 91. 7. Both Consequents of Admiration p. 92. 8. No just cause of Self-esteem but the right use our free will p. 92. 9. Pride p. 93. 10. Humility virtuous and p. 90. 11. Vicious or Dejection of Spirit p. 96. 12. Shame and Impudence p. 97. 13. That Pride and its contrary Abjectness of Spirit are not only Vices but Passions also p. 99. 14. Love and Hatred p. 100. 15. Defined p. 101. 16. Love not well distinguished into Benevolence and Concupiscence p. 101. 17. But by the various degrees of Estimation p. 103. 18. That there are not so many distinct sorts of Love as of Objects to excite it p. 104 19. Hatred less various than Love p. 106. 20. Desire alwayes a consequent of Love but p. 106. 21. Not alwaies a Concomitant of it p. 106. 22. The Motions of the Soul and Spirits in Love and their Symptomes p. 107. 23. The Motions of the Soul and Spirits in Desire p. 109. 24. The Motions of the spirits and blood in Hatred p. 111. 25. Hate alwaies accompanyed with Sadness p. 114. 26. Hope and Fear p. 115. 27. Pusillanimity and Courage p. 116 28. Emulation a sort of Magnanimity p. 117. 29. Confidence and Despair p. 117. 30. Doubting p. 118. 31. Remorse and Acquiescence p. 119. 32. The Motions of the Soul and Spirits in Hope p. 121. 33. The Motions of the Soul and spirits in Fear and p. 122. 34. In Desperation p. 124. 35. Ioy. p. 126. 36. The various Degrees of Ioy and their Names p. 127. 37. The various Degrees of Grief and their distinct Appellations p. 127. 38. Envy and Pity p. 128. 39. Generous Men most inclined to Commiseration and why p. 129. 40. Commiseration a species of Grief mixed with Benevolence p. 131. 41. Envy a sort of Grief mixed with Hate p. 131. 42. Acquiescence of mind a kind of Joy p. 132. 43. Repentance a species of Grief but allayd with a touch of Joy p. 133. 44. Favour p. 134. 45. Gratitude p. 135. 46. Indignation p. 136. 47. Anger p. 137. 48. Two sorts of Anger one Harmless the other Revengeful p. 138. 49. Glory and
obtain her end and there occur to her more reasons for the facility then there succeeds that gentle Effusion or Tendency of the Soul toward the good desired which is called Hope or Expectation of good to come Whereas on the contrary if the greater weight be found in the other Scale and she apprehend the thing desired to be Difficult she is immediately Contracted and coold with that ungrateful passion Fear which is expectation of Evil to come And as Hope exalted to the highest degree is changed into Trust Confidence or Security So on the contrary Fear in extremity becomes Desperation Again if this Contraction of the Soul by Fear be suddain and profound and the Evil expected very great then is the passion called Terror Dread and Consternation which sometimes is so violent as to cause Exanimation or suddain Death If the Soul upon apprehension that the Good desired is not indeed absolutely impossible but highly difficult for her to obtain or the Evil feared is not altogether impossible yet extremely hard to be avoided persist in her Contraction she is daunted or cowd into that ignoble weakness called Pusillanimity or Cowardise But if after her Contraction at first she exserting her strength spring forth as it were and with vehemency dilate herself to surmount her fear and overcome the difficulties apprehended then is she reanimated as it were or fortified with the noblest of all Passions Courage or Boldness or Bravery of Mind which makes her contemn all obstacles to her attainment of her end whether it be the acquisition of good or declination of Evil and which when it is not a habit or natural inclination seems to be an ardor or flashing of the Sensitive Soul disposing her to act vigorously and without fear toward the vanquishing of difficulties that stand betwixt her and the scope she aims at And of this Animosity Emulation is a species whereby the Soul is disposed to attempt or enetrprise difficult things which she hopes will succeed happily to her because she observes them to do so to others But then it is to be distinguished from simple Animosity by two proprieties Whereof One is that it hath not only an internal Cause viz. such a disposition of the spirits and body that Desire and Hope may have greater power in impelling the blood in abundance to the heart than Fear or Despair can have in hindering that motion but also an external Cause namely the Example of others who have been prosperous in the like attempts which creates a belief in us that we also shall be able to conquer the difficulties occurring afwell as those others have done The Other this that Emulation is ever accompanied with secret Grief which ariseth from seeing ourselves exceeded or excelled by our concurrents But simple Animosity wants both Example for incitement and Grief for alloy But both these passions equaly depend upon Hope of good success For Though the object of Audacity be difficulty yet to animate us to contend bravely with that difficulty we must be possessed with a strong hope or certain belief that we shall at length attain our end Yet this end is not the same thing with that object for there cannot be both Certitude and Despair of the same thing at the same time So when the Roman Decii rushed into the thickest troops of their enemies and ran to certain death the object of their daring was the difficulty of conserving their lives in that action for which difficulty they had nothing but Desperation being resolved certainly to dye but their End was either by their example to inspire courage into the Roman army and by them to obtain the victory they hoped or to acquire posthume Glory whereof they were certain If therefore even in this action that was in itself desperate Courage were grounded upon Hope we may well conclude that it is alwaies so From the reasons we have alleged of Hope and Fear it is evident that we may have those contrary passions excited in us though the Event of the thing expected no way depend upon our selves But when we proceed to consider the Event as altogether or for the most part depending upon our own counsel and perceive a difficulty to arise either in our election or execution of the means whereby to obtain our end then there immediately follows a Doubting or Fluctuation of the mind whereby we are disposed to deliberate and consult and which is indeed a species of Fear And this wavering while it retains the Soul as it were in a doubtful balance betwixt two actions which are offered to her election is the cause that she performs neither but takes time to consider before she determineth which to do for fear of erring in her choice Which Fear if moderate and under the command of Prudence is always of good use in that it serves to prevent Temerity or Rashness but in some over-cautious persons it is so vehement that though but one thing occurr to be done or omitted by them it holds them too long upon the rack of suspence and hinders them from proceeding to action And in this case the passion is Excess of Doubting arising from too ardent desire of good success and weakness of Vnderstanding which hath indeed many confused notions but none perspicuous and distinct concerning the means to effect its design If during this irresolution we have determined the liberty of our choice and fixed upon some one action in order to our end and the event be not answerable to our expectation presently we are affected with that disquiet of mind which is named by the Greeks Synteresis by the Latins Morsus Conscientiae and by the French Regret which yet doth not as the precedent passions respect the future but present or past time This Remorse of Conscience is no other but a kind of Sorrow arising from a scruple interposed whether what we are doing or have done be good or not And it necessarily presupposeth dubitation For if we were clearly convinced that the action we are doing is realy evil we should certainly abstain from doing it because the will is not carried to any thing but what hath some shew of goodness in it And if it were manifest that what we have done is realy evil we should presently be touched not with simple regret but with Repentance For as the Good we have done gives us that internal Acquiescence or satisfaction which is of all other Passions the sweetest so on the contrary the ill we have done punisheth us with Repentance which is of all passions the bitterest Having in this manner discovered the originals and distinct proprieties of these two opposite Passions Hope and Fear with their genuin dependents it may not a little conduce to the illustration of what hath here been briefly delivered concerning them if we more expresly describe the divers Motions of the Sensitive Soul and Spirits that constitute their formal reasons so far at least as those motions
point of temperament and as this or that of the usual concomitants of it is more powerful than the rest so must the Effects thereof upon the body be likewise various And from this variety men have taken notice chiefly of two sorts of Anger One that is quickly kindled violent at first and discovers it self visibly by outward signs but performs little and may be easily composed And to this they are most obnoxious who are good-natur'd i.e. who are inclined to goodness and love For it ariseth not from profound Hatred but from a sudden Aversion surprising them because being propens to conceive that all things ought to proceed in that manner which they judge to be the best whenever they see others to act otherwise first they admire and then are offended and so what would be to others matter only of Indignation to them proves cause of Anger But this commotion is soon calmed because the force of the sudain Aversion that raised it continues not long and so soon as they perceive that the thing for which they were offended ought not to have commoved them to passion they suppress their displeasure and repent of it The Other that wherein Hatred and Grief are predominant and which though at first it hardly betray it self by external signs unless by the suddain paleness of the countenance and trembling is notwithstanding more impetuous within secretly gnaws the very heart and produceth dangerous effects And to this pernicious sort of Anger they are most subject who have prouâ— cowardly and weak Souls For so much the greater doe injuries appear by how much the better opinion pride makes Men to have of themselves yea and by how much greater value is put upon the things which the injuries take away and these things are alwaies so much the more valued by how much the more weak and abject the Soul is because they depend upon others but the Generous put little value upon any thing that is not dependent upon themselves When we consider what opinion other Men have of Us the Good which we believe to be in us disposeth us to Glory which seems to be composed of Self-estimation and Ioy for to see ourselves well esteemed by others gives us cause to have a good esteem for ourselves and on the contrary the Evil we are conscious of forceth us to Shame which is a sort of Modesty or Humility and Self-diffidence for as we have formerly observed who thinks himself above Contempt will hardly be humbled to shame These two Passions Glory and Shame tho directly opposite each to other doe yet agree in their End which is to incite us to Virtue the first by hope the other by fear and that we may make a right use of them both we are to have our judgment well instructed what actions are truely worthy praise or dispraise lest otherwise we be ashamed of virtuous actions or affect glory from vices as it happeneth to too great a part of mankind Thus have we at length recounted all the Passions of this our fifth division and deduced them successively from their several causes or occasions in that order wherein their most remarkable diversity seemd to us most easily distinguishable But now because some of these passions are simple others Composed and that to our more clear understanding of the nature of both sorts it is necessary to enquire more profoundly into the Motions of the Sensitive Soul and spirits that constitute their Essential Differences it remains that we yeeld obedience to that necessity so far forth at least as to explain the Motions proper to that couplet of more simple affections Ioy and Grief the two points in which all human actions end and to that most violent one Anger In Ioy therefore which is a delightful commotion of the Sensitive Soul as it were triumphing in her fruition of good or pleasure I conceive that the Animal spirits being in great abundance but with a placid and equal motion sent by the nerves to the heart cause the orifices thereof to be opened and dilated more than at other times and so the blood to be imported and exported more copiously and freely and that by this means from the blood are brought into the brain a plentious supply of new spirits which extracted out of the purest and most refined parts of the blood are most fit to confirm the idea formed of the present good in the imagination and so to continue the Soul in her pleasant Emotion Hence probably it is that in this most agreeable passion both the pulse is alwaies made equal and more frequent tho not so intense and strong as in Love and a certain gratefull heat is felt not only through the Lungs and all the breast but through all outward parts of the body from the diffusion of the blood in full streams into them which is discernible even by the florid purple colour wherewith they are suddainly tinged and by the inflation or plumpness of all the muscles of the face which is thereby rendered more serene sweet and cheerful Easy therefore it is to infer that as this passion is most congruous to the nature of the Corporeal Soul so are the corporeal motions that accompany and characterize it most profitable to health provided they be moderare For this Commotion and Effusion may be so vehement and suddain that the Soul may become weak and unable to rule the body or to actuate the organs of speech yea swooning and death itself somtimes follow profuse and insolent Joy So Lacon Chilo an eminent Philosopher suddainly expired in excessive joy beholding his Sonne a Victor in the Olympic games So Sophocles the Tragedian also and Dionysius the Tyrant died of a surfet of suddain Joy The reason whereof seems to consist not in a vehement effusion and dissipation of the vital spirits and a destitution of the Heart consequent thereunto as Fernelius would have it because the faster the blood is effused through the arteries from the heart the swifter must it return to the heart through the veines so that the heart cannot be totaly exhausted and left destitute of blood but rather in a surcharge and suffocation of the heart by too redundant an afflux of blood For upon extraordinary dilatation of the floud-gates of the heart by immoderate joy the current of blood both out of the Vena cava and from the arteria venosa may pour itself with so much violence and in so great a quantity into the ventricles thereof that the heart unable to discharge itself soon enough of that oppressing deluge by retruding its valves may be suffocated its motions stopped and the Vital Flame in a moment extinguished For certain it is that in the state of health the blood is not admitted into the heart beyond a certain proportion nor can that proportion be much exceeded whatever the cause be that maketh an apertio portarum there without manifest danger of life Among the Signs of this delightful passion
are likewise streightned by constriction of the same nerves Whether this ingenious conjecture be true or not certain it is that the Matter of Tears is the same with the liquor of the Lymphae-ducts and that they flow from the aforesaid Glandules which are therefore named Lacrymales And as for the manner of their Expression from thence in some passions of the Mind the most rational account I have hitherto met with concerning it is this When any occasion of weeping occurrs and affects the Sensitive Soul instantly the Ventricles of the heart with all the Praecordia are by the blood in abundance brought into them more than usualy crowded and distended and the Lungs also stuffed and inflated so that they cannot perform the action of respiration but by sobbs intermixed and the Midriff to give room to such distension of the heart and Lungs is pressed downward with a more intense contraction alternately succeeding which great depression and brisk contraction being repeted is the efficient cause of Sobbing and at the same time the air being with difficulty admitted into the lungs by reason they and the Midriff are so exceedingly distended and with no less difficulty exploded again by the windpipe thence comes that whining sound of crying and howling To this affection of the vitals the parts of the face also being distorted into a sad and mournfull aspect exactly correspond because the nerves which contract the Praecordia have a communion of continuity and cooperate with those which are inserted into the muscles of the face and which compose it into the postures of weeping and laughter in passion Nor doth the disorder cease here but extend itself to the upper region also to the brain where the Spirits being put into confusion and the arteries surcharged with too great an afflux of blood from the oppressed heart the palace of the Soul itself is brought into danger of a purple deluge For prevention whereof the nerves incircling and binding the trunks of the arteries in many places strongly constringe them so that the commotion of the blood is much repressed the liquor thereof in the beginning of the passion highly rarefied suddainly condensed and the serous part of it being put into a flux is transmitted into the above mentioned Glandules of the Eyes there placed and destined by nature to receive it And then because these Glandules are in like manner constringed and as it were squeez'd by certain nerves that are of the same original and community with the Pathetic nerves of the face and heart the serous liquor is expressed out of them through their excretory channels leading to the corners of the Eyes most accurrately described with their uses by that diligent Anatomist Nichol. Steno in a singular treatise and forced to distill in a shower of tears the strong Contraction of the membranes investing the whole brain concurring to that expression The same may be said likewise of the shedding tears for Ioy. For in suddain and great Ioy conjoyned with Admiration the Sensitive Soul very much expanding herself and diffusing the Animal Spirits the blood is sent from the heart in great abundance to the brain so as to distend the vessels that contain it which being soon after strongly contracted again by the same Soul withdrawing herself inward as if she feared a dissolution by so ample an Effusion the blood is in a sort put into a flux or melted and the serous part of it separated in the Glandules of the Eyes and thence by constriction of the nerves squeezed forth in tears This being supposed it will not be difficult for us thence to infer that Infants and Old Men are indeed more prone to weep than those of middle age but for divers reasons Old Men for the most part weep out of Love and Ioy together because both these affections causing a great Effusion of the Sensitive Soul and consequently a large apertion of the orifices or sluices of the heart must therefore especialy where they are conjoyned cause also a transmission of the blood from thence to the brain in great abundance and the blood being generaly more thin and diluted with serum in old men must yield more matter for their tears But Infants commonly weep out of mere Sorrow and vexation such as is not accompanied with the least of Love because the contraction of the Soul and nerves caused by sorrow expresseth out of the blood which is alwaies abundant in children brought by the arteries to the brain a sufficient quantity of serum to replenish the Glandulae Lachrymales and supply the sourse of their tears There remains yet that other Sign of Sorrow which doth usually accompany it when it is profound and extreme and that is Sighing the cause whereof is very much different from that of weeping though both proceed from Grief For the same occasion that moves us to shed tears when our Lungs are stuffed and distended with blood provokes us also to fetch deep sighs when they are almost empty and when some sudden imagination of Hope or comfort opens the sluice of the Arteria Venosa in the lungs which sorrow had lately contracted For then that little blood that remained in the lungs in a moment passing down through that pipe into the left ventricle of the heart the ambient aire instantly rusheth by the mouth into the lungs to replenish that place the blood had left free and this great and quick repletion of the lungs with aire is what we call Sighing You have now heard what Conjectures seem to me most consentaneous to reason and Anatomical observations concerning the Corporeal Motions excited in those two eminent passions Joy and Sorrow with their usual Adjuncts Laughter and weeping be pleas'd to hear also a few words touching the more violent motions proper to Anger which I have promised next to consider That the Effects of this most vehement Commotion of the Sensitive Soul are various not only as the occasion or injury is conceived to be greater or less but also according to the various temperaments of persons and to the diversity of other Passions conjoyned therewith is obvious to common observation and we have already hinted And from this variety it is that men have distinguished Anger into Harmless and Dangerous or simple heat of blood and thirst after Revenge assigning moreover to each sort its proper Signs or Characters observable in the outward parts of the body and especially in the face For some when they are angry look pale or tremble others grow red or weep and the vulgar judgeth the passion of the first sort to be much more dangerous than that of the other Whereof the reason may be this that when we either will not or cannot shew our resentments and revenge otherwise than by our change of countenance and by words we then put forth all our heat and exert all our force at the very beginning of the commotion so that the blood being in this sudden effort copiously effused