and prints of obiects for vnderstanding even so the heart endued with most fiery spirites fitteth best for affecting Lastly for what other reason in feare and anger become men so pale and wanne but that the blood runneth to the heart to succour it I saw once in Genoa a Bandite condemned to death and going to Execution to tremble so extraordinarily that he needed two to support him all the way and for all that he shivered extreamely Besides whence-from proceedeth laughter dauncing singing and many such externall singes of ioy but as wee say from a merrie heart therefore ioy and feare dwell in the heart Howbeit I thinke this most true and especially in those passions which are about obiectes absent as love hatred hope flight ire and such like yet I cannot but confesse that when the obiectes are present and possessed by sense then the passions inhabite not onely the heart but also are stirred vp in every part of the body whereas any sensitive operation is exercised for if wee taste delicate meates smell muske or heare musicke we perceyve notonely that the heart is affected but that also the passion of ioy delighteth those partes of our sences the like wee prove in payne and griefe for which cause commonly wee say our teeth ake our fingers toes or legges payne vs Payne therefore and Pleasure beeing Passions of the Minde and evermore felt in that part of the bodie where Sense exerciseth her operations therefore as touching is dispersed thorow the whole bodie even so the Passions of pleasure and payne for in everie parte if it bee cherished it reioyceth if be hurte it payneth Yet supposing the Passions principally reside in the hearte as wee perceyve by the concourse of humours thereunto wee may demaund two curious questions The former is for what ende hath Nature given this alteration or flocking of humours to the hearte It seemeth questionlesse for some good ende for God and Nature worke not by chaunce or without respecting some benefite of the subiect To the which question it may bee answered First Why humors flocke to the heart in passions that the humours concurre to helpe dispose and enable the heart to worke such operations for as we prove by experience if a man sleepe with open eyes although his sight be marvellous excellent yet he seeth nothing because in sleepe the purer spirites are recalled into the inner partes of the body leaving the eyes destitute of spirits and abandoned of force which presently in waking returne againe euen so I conceive the heart prepared by nature to digest the blood sent from the liver yet for divers respectes not to have the temperature which all Passions require for love will have heate and sadnesse colde feare constringeth and pleasure dilateth the heart therefore which was to bee subiect to such diversities of Passions by Nature was deprived of all such contrary dispositions as the Philosophers say that Materia prima caret omni forma quia omnes formas recipere debet And although the hearte hath more excesse of heate than colde yet a little melancholly blood may quickly change the temperature and render it more apt for a melancholly Passion The second reason may be for that these humours affecting the heart cause payne or pleasure thereby inviting Nature to prosecute the good that pleaseth and to flie the evill that annoyeth as in the Common-wealth Vertue ought to be rewarded with preferment and vice to be corrected with punishment even so in this little common-wealth of our bodies actions conformable to Nature are repayde with pleasure and passions disconsorting nature punished with payne The other question concerneth the efficient cause of these humours what causeth their motions to the heart they themselves as it were flie vnto the heart or the parte where they soiourned sendeth or expelleth them from her and so for common refuge they runne to the heart or finally the heart draweth them vnto it This difficultye requireth an answere whereby many such like questions may bee resolved as for example when the meate in our stomackes is sufficiently disgested the chile which there remayneth prepared to be sent to the liver for a further concoction doth it ascend thither by it selfe as vapours to the head or doth the stomacke expell it or the liver drawe and sucke it To this demaund I answere that in mine opinion the partes from whence these humours come vse their expulsive vertue sending the spirites choler or blood to serve the heart in such necessity as the hand lifteth vp it selfe to defend the head howbeit I doubt not but the heart also affected a little with the passion draweth more humors so encreaseth Many more curious obiections here I omit which perhaps would delight the more subtil wits but hardly of many to be conceived What sort of persons be most passionate CHAP. X. OVt of the precedent Chapter we may gather how that the heart is the seate of our passions that spirites and humours concurre with them here we may deduce a conclusion most certayne and profitable that according to the disposition of the heart humours and body divers sortes of persons be subiect to divers sortes of passions and the same passion affecteth divers persons in divers manners for as we see fire applyed to drie wood to yron to flaxe and gunpowder worketh divers wayes for in wood it kindleth with some difficulty and with some difficulty is quenched but in flaxe soone it kindleth and quencheth in yron with great difficulty is it kindled and with as great extinguished but in gunpowder it is kindled in a moment and never can bee quenched till the powder be consumed Some men you shall see not so soone angrie nor yet soone pleased and such be commonly fleugmatike persons others you have soone angrie soone friended as those of a sanguine complexion and therefore commonly they are called good fellowes others be hardly offended and afterward with extreame difficulty reconciled as melancholy men others are all fiery and in a moment at every trifle they are inflamed and till their heartes be consumed almost with choller they never cease except they be revenged By this we may confirme that olde saying to be true Animi mores corporis temperaturam sequâ—ntur the manners of the soule followe the temperature of the body And as in maladies of the body every wise man feeleth best his owne griefe euen so in the diseases of the soule every one knoweth best his owne inclination neverthelesse as Physitions commonly affirme how there be certayne vniversall causes which incline our bodies to divers infirmities so there are certayne generall causes which move our soules to sundry passions First young men generally are arrogant prowde prodigall incontinent given to all sortes of pleasure Their pride proceedeth from lacke of experience for they will vaunt of their strength beautie and wittes because they have not yet tryed sufficiently how farre they reach how frayle they are therefore they make more account of them
affections No better proofe we neede of this matter then the infinite experiences in every Countrie are tryed The same I may say of Ire Ambition c. All which Passions consisting in prosecution of some thing desired and bringing with them a certaine sence of delight enforce the mindâ— for fostering and continuing that pleasure to excogitate new meanes and wayes for the performance thereof How Passions seduce the Will CHAP. II. WIthout any great difficultie may be declared how Passions seduce the Will because the witte being the guide the The first reason why passions seduce the will eie the stirrer and directer of the Wil which of it selfe beeing blinde and without knowledge followeth that the wit representeth propoundeth and approveth as good and as the sensitive appetite followeth the direction of imagination so the Will affecteth for the most part that the vnderstanding perswadeth to bee best Wherefore the waves and billowes of apparant reasons so shake the sandye shealfe of a weake Will that they The second reason mingle it with them and make all one Besides the sensitive appetite beeing rooted in the same soule with the Will if it be drawne or flieth from any obiect consequently the other must follow even so the obiect that haleth the sensitive appetite draweth withall the Will and inclining her more to one part than another diminisheth her libertie and freedome Moreover the Will by yeelding to the Passion receyveth some little bribe of pleasure the which moveth her to let the bridle loose vnto inordinate appetites because she hath ingrafted in her two inclinations the one to follow Reason the other to content the Sences and this inclination the other beeing blinded by the corrupt iudgement caused by inordinate Passions here she feeleth satisfied Finally the Will being the governesse The third reason of the Soule and loathing to bee troubled with much dissention among her subiectes as an vncarefull Magistrate neglecteth the good of the Common-weale to avoyde some particular mens displeasure so the Will being afrayde to displease sense neglecteth the care she ought to have over it especially perceyving that the Soule thereby receyveth some interest of pleasure or escheweth some payne By this alteration which Passions worke in the Witte and the Will we may vnderstand the admirable Metamorphosis and change of a man from himselfe when his affectes are pacified and when they are troubled Plutarch sayde they changed them like Circes potions Plutarch in moralib from men into beastes Or we may compare the Soule without Passions to a calme Sea with sweete pleasant and crispling streames but the Passionate to the raging Gulfe swelling with waves surging by tempests minacing the stony rockes and endevouring to overthrowe Mountaines even so Passions make the Soule to swell with pride and pleasure they threaten woundes death and destruction by audacious boldnesse and ire they vndermine the mountaines of Vertue with hope and feare and in summe never let the Soule be in quietnes but ever eyther flowing with Pleasure or ebbing with Payne How Passions alter the Body CHAP. III. ALthough in the ninth Chapter sufficiently was declared how the Passions of the minde alter the humours of the body yet some peculiar discourses concerning that matter were reserved for this place Two sortes of Passions affect all men some as wee sayde before dilate and some compresse and restringe the heart Of the first was sayd Vita carninum est cordis Proverb 14. 3â— sanitas the life of flesh is the health of heart for indeed a ioyfull and quiet heart reviveth all the partes of the body Of the other was written Spiritus tristis exsiccat prb 17. ossa a sadde Spirit dryeth the bones And for that all Passions bring with them ioy or payne dilate or coarct the heart therefore I thinke it not amisse to declare the reason why these two Passions worke such alterations in the body to the end that by the knowledge of them we may attayne to the vnderstanding of the rest Pleasure and Delight if it bee moderate bringeth health because the purer spirites retyre vnto the heart and they helpe marvellously the digestion of blood so that thereby the heart engendreth great aboundance and most purified spirites which after being dispersed thorow the body cause a good concoction to be made in all partes helping them to expel the superfluities they also cleare the braine and consequently the vnderstanding For although while the Passion endureth it blindeth a little the indifferent iudgement yet after that it is past it rendereth the brayne better disposed and apter to represent whatsoever occurreth for speculation From good concoction expulsion of supersluities and aboundance of spirites proceedeth a good colour a cleere countenance and an vniversall health of the body But if the Passion of pleasure bee too vehement questionlesse it causeth great infirmitie for the heart being continually invironed with great abundance of spibecommeth too hote and inflamed and consequently engendereth much cholericke and burned blood Besides it dilateth and resolveth the substance of the heart too much in such sort as the vertue and force thereof is greatly weakened Wherefore Socrates was wont to say that those men which live continently and frugally had more pleasure and lesse payne than those who with great care procured inticements to pleasure because intemperate pleasures besides the remorce of minde infamie and povertie which waiteth vpon them for the most part hurt more the body than delight it And some with too vehement laughter have ended their dayes as Philemon did Plutarch recounteth also howe Erasm lib. 6. Apotheg Plutarch in Hannib the Romanes leesing to Hannibal newes was brought to Rome and specially to two women that their sonnes were slaine afterwards a remnant of the souldiers returning these two afflicted ranne with many more to know the manner of their sonnes deaths and amongst the rest found them both alive who for ioy gave vp their ghosts And vniversally after much pleasure and laughter men feele themselves both to languish and to be melancholy Yet the Passions which coarct the heart as feare sadnesse and despayre as they bring more payne to the minde so they are more dangerous to the body and commonly men proove lesse harme in those than in these and many have lost their lives with sadnesse and feare but few with love and hope except they changed themselves into heavinesse and despayre The cause why sadnesse doth so moove the forces of the body I take to be the gathering together of much melancholy blood about the heart which collection extinguisheth the good spirits or at least dulleth them besides the heart being possessed by such an humour cannot digest well the blood and spirites which ought to be dispersed thorow the whole body but converteth them into melancholy the which humour being colde and drie dryeth the whole body and maketh it wither away for colde extinguisheth heate and drynesse moysture which two qualities principally concerne life These
Passions prevayle often so much with men that they languish away and die as it befell to the Marquesse of Santa Cruz in Spaine the Generall to the Kinges Navie against the Frenchmen who had taken the Azores and D. Diego di Padiglia the Governour of the Castle of Millan who receyving certayne wordes of disgrace from the King of Spaine they permitted themselves to be so ore-ruled with the melancoly Passion that they scarce could chawe their meate and swallowe it downe at least they never made good digestion and so with an vngracious death they ended their disgraced life Questionlesse this vehement sorte of Passions proceedeth from an high prowde and ambitious minde and without all doubt extraordinarie selfe-love the which although by Gods Lawe they are prohibited yet by the vayne humours of men such spirites are highly prized I remember that in Italy after the yeere one thousand five hundred eighty and eight I heard divers Italian Captaines greatly condemning the Duke of Medina Sidonia the King of Spaines Generall in his Navie against England because he dyed not of Melancholy for that his Fleete miscarried so basely and was foyled by the English Forces so easily What Maladies growe by cares and heavinesse many can testifie and fewe men there bee which are not subiect to some melancholy humour that often assaulteth them troubling their mindes and hurting their bodies the olde Physitians can witnesse this veritie confirmed by long experience and registred in verse as a Medicine to all Posteritie Si vis incolumem si te vis reddere sanum Schola salerna Curas tolle graves irasci crede prophanum If thou wilt live in health devoyde of griefe and payne Set carking cares aloofe and choler thinke prophane And Euripides 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sorrowes to men diseases bring And Salomon Tristitiam longè expelle à te Multos Eccles 30. 25 enim c. Expell sadnesse farre from thee For sadnesse hath killed many neither is there any profite in it Zeale that is envie emulation or indignation and anger shorten thy dayes and Thought that is superfluous care and sollicitude bring old Age before her time To conclude I am of opinion that Passions cause many Maladies and welnie all are increased by them for that all payne engendreth melancholy which for the most part nourisheth all diseases for many we reade of that were cured by mirth but never any by sorrow or heavinesse When Alfonsus King of Naples was abandoned of his Physitians as in a desperate case then he called for Quintus Curtius and tooke such delight to heare him reade that hee recovered his health agayne and presently reiected his Physitians as not able to cure by Physicke that he obtained by alittle delight This fact I cannot greatly commend for Physicians and Medicines were ordained by God and a wise man wil not despise them it may bee Quintus Curtius pacified the Kinges melancholy minde which no medicine could doe Yet there occurreth one poynt in this matter not to be omitted that Passions ingender Humors and Humors breede Passions how Passions cause Humors we have hitherto sufficiently declared but how Humors stirre vp Passions must now be delivered We reade in the Machabees how before they led the Elephants to fight in warres they accustomed to mingle iuyce of grapes and mulberies together to sharpen and incense them more to battell and it seemeth a thing frequented in many Nations to stirre vp beastes to fight by shewing them some redde colour for thereby they imagine that the sight of blood inflameth them to the shedding of blood as in Spaine they vse when they chace their wild Bulles and in Italy their Bufaloes The true cause why beastes are incensed with a redde colour Valesius an excellent Physitian rendreth for saith he the sight of redde things according to the common opinion of Galen and other Physitians stirreth and inflameth the blood therefore they prohibite those which are much given to bleeding to behold any redde colour And I my selfe in Italy have heard Physitians commaund that redde clothes coveringes and hangings should bee taken from before the patients which were labouring in a tertian Agew because they affirmed that red colours mooved and inflamed the blood Now if the blood of Elephants being incensed with a red colour had force to stirre in them the Passion of Ire in battell how much more may we say that if much hote blood abound in the body that subiect by the force of that Humor shall easily and often bee mooved to anger if temperate blood abound or be mingled with fleugme to mirth if melancholy exceede to griefe and heavinesse And in effect we proove in dreames and Physitians prognosticate by them what humor aboundeth for Choler causeth fighting blood and wounds Melancholy disgrace feares affrightments ill successe and such like these dreames are caused by the spirites which ascend into the imagination the which being purer or grosser hotter or colder more or lesse which diversitie dependeth vpon the humours of the bodie moove divers Passions according to their Nature And for this cause we may resolve another difficulty why some men are alwayes almost merry others for the most part melancholy others ever angry this diversity must come from the naturall constitution of the body wherein one or other humor doth predominate The selfe same cause may be alledged why sometimes wee feele our selves we know not why mooved to Miâ—th Melancholy or Anger insomuch that any little occasion were sufficient to incense that Passion for as these humors depend vpon the heavens ayre sleepe and waking meate and drinke exercise and rest according to the alterations of these externall causes one or other Humor doth more or lesse over-rule the body and so causeth alteration of Passions Out of this discourse and the 9. Chapter we may resolve some prettie curious Questions more talkt of and practised then well vnderstood The first is how can possibly a mans conceite worke strange effectes in his body As for example Hypocrates exhorteth Physitians if two kindes of meate were to be ministred to a Patient the one healthfull and the other a little hurtful or not so good as the other that they should preferre this being much desired before that not so well liked and generally both Philosophers and Physitians maintayne that the opinion of the Patient of the Physitians knowledge and goodnesse of the Phisicke importeth much for the curing of any maladie The reason is plaine for these and such like experiences for the Imagination herein though erroneously conceaving things better then indeede and really they are causeth a vehement Passion of Hope wherewith followeth an extraordinary Pleasure in the things which two Passions awake or rowze vp the puâ—er Spirits and vnite them together qualifying and resining them in the best maner which thus combined do most effectually co-operate with Nature strengthen her in the performance of any corporall action or vitall operation Secondly how S. Austens opinion may
great dispute among Phisitians what should be the cause of the Paroxismes or fittes in Agues and once I my selfe being troubled with a tertian Ague in Italie in the Cittie of Como there came two Phisitians my deere friends and a Doctor of Diuinitie all at one time to visite me and euen then I stood in expectation of my fit After many complements discourses about my sicknes at last I demaunded these two Doctors of Phisicke that they would resolue mee in one doubt about my disease they aunswered with a good will Well sayd I you both conclude and it stands with good reason that this sicknes of mine proceedeth from excesse of choller now I would know of you when my fit is past is the choller all disguested consumed and voyded away or no If it be consumed why dooth my Ague returne if it be not consumed why dooth mine Ague depart The Phisitians here aunswered one contraâ—ie to another for the first sayd it was disguested Why then returneth mine Ague For this cause quoth he the Ague proceedeth not onely of choller but of choller putrified corrupted and poysoned Now sir the choller poysoned is consumed but other choller which remaineth is not corrupted but by the next paroxisme it will be corrupted Well sayd I what thing is that which corrupteth poisoneth that good choller which before was not corrupted It seemeth strange to me how so much precisely should be corrupted and the other beeing so neere lying by it or rather vnited with it yea mingled in it not to be infected In truth I remember not what he aunswered but I am sure he satisfied none of vs all The other Doctor of Phisicke sayd it was not consumed but nature feeling the force of that poyson vnited her selfe to fight against it and so allayed most of the vehemencie vigour and malignitie thereof and hee gaue an example of a pot of water set on the fire for quoth hee if the coales be couered with ashes the hote water cooleth blow the fire and it warmeth and boyleth let ashes returne or the fire die the water returneth to the first coldnesse So quoth hee the poyson of the choller by natures might is ouercome when the Ague departeth but after that those spirits and forces which nature had vnited are dispersed the fire is quenched and choller againe corrupted But quoth the other Phisitian so the sicknesse should neuer depart for if your choller be still in cooling and heating and nature now fighting now ceasing when I pray you shall this combat be finally ended Marry sir quoth his fellow Doctor in this sort nature mittigateth the forces of choller this fit and allayeth them now nature in the meane time is strengthned with good foode and the humour either purged or quailed with phisicke and so by little and little it is quite disguested Not so said the other for then the second fit should alwayes be lesse then the first and the third lesse then the second and so forward to the last but this is false for his third and fourth fits were much more vehement then either the first or second And besides by this declaration no man should euer die vpon an Ague For if in euery fit the sicknesse ceassed not vntill the humour were allayed then certainly in Agues which are mortall the fitte shoulde neuer passe which is most false With this the Doctor of Diuinitie who was a very good Philosopher and for that he had beene much troubled with maladies he was like manie wrangling Gentlemen a petty-fogging Phisitian at his owne costs as they be petty-fogging Lawyers thorow theyr owne sutes Why said the Diuine may we not hold that the Ague is in the liuer and hart No quoth the Phisitians both that cannot be because no Phisitian euer held that any Ague was in partibus solidis that is in the hart liuer c. except the Hecticke Well said the diuine I say not that it is in the hart and liuer immediatly for that I will confesse perforce must be choller but I say the fountaine and spring the roote and crigen to reside in the liuer the which immediatly causeth corrupted blood and inflamed choller for they beeing extraordinarily corrupted themselues with vehement heate cannot but engender blood spirits and humors of like infection and corruption And by this way I aunswere the first doubt that when the Ague ceaseth choller is diguested Why then returneth it againe Marie sir because the hart and liuer beeing out of temper in that space of time engender so many more peruerse humors as opprâ—sse nature so vehemently and dangerously that shee must imploy all her might to resist them abate them extinguish them In truth Maister Doctor said I this opinion I like very well and I will confirme it for since mine Ague first beganne these Phisitians haue inculcated nothing so much vnto me by word and deede as to coole my liuer to this effect all their syrrops and waters of Endiue Sicory and Barley tended And with this discourse wee ended our dispute mine Ague the which with this pleasant conference passed away Fiftly Plato auoucheth that Agues haue ages Plato in Dialog de Natur. like men as also consummations and ends vvith whom Galen consenteth This sentence of Plato Valesius a worthy Phisitian explicateth in this maner As there are two sorts of diseases sharpe and Valesius de Sacra Philo. cap. 7. cronicall both which haue theyr decretory daies but not alike for the sharpe haue odde dayes especially seauen the cronicall twenty sixty eightie a hundred so there are two prerogations or courses of life the one is common to many the other to fewe and such as are of a most liuely constitution both of them haue theyr Clymactericall or decretory yeeres The first wee number by seauen and nine the latter wee count by tenne and the last period is a hundred and twenty To this Discourse of Valesius lette vs adde a certayne poynt of experience and doctrine of Galen Galen lib. r. de diebus decretorijs c. 22. who in the decretorie dayes of a feuer which numbreth by seauen specially he will tell you the fourth day whether the Agew will leaue the patient the seauenth or whether hee shall die vpon the seauenth day or no and also withall hee teacheth to foretell the very houre of death vppon the seauenth day Last of all out of these considerations we may gather as much as will sufficiently I hope satisfie the Question proposed in the beginning of this Section viz why in these Clymactericall yeeres men commonly die To which I doe aunswere That for euery sixe yeeres or eight men still gather vppe more or lesse humours which prepare the way for an Agew in the seauen or nine As wee sayde before when the fitte is past the heart and liuer prepare humours for the next ensuing and in case they be not sufficient in the seauen they multiply to the nine if in this they faile then they passe to the foureteene then to eighteene c. And for this cause Physitians councell theyr Patients to purge in the Spring and Authumne to hinder the increase of humours albeit they feele themselues nothing diseased at all This we may declare by the example of them who are infected with hereditary diseases as the gowte or the stone for albeit they euidently appeere not till olde age yet in all the progresse of their yeeres the partes and humours infensibly are prepared Or wee may say that in sixe or eight yeeres the liuer and heart which are fountaines of bloud and origens of humours are so infected and corrupted that in the last yeere they engender more vnnaturall superfluous humours than can stand with the right and naturall constitution of the body But some will say by this opinion a man should euer be sicke for hee shoulde neuer want corrupted humours wherein sickenesse consisteth To this I answere first that health consisteth not in indiuisibili in an indiuisible poynt so that it admitteth not some few peccant humours withall but hath a certaine amplitude like as if into a But of strong Canary Wine a man euery moneth shoulde put in halfe a pinte of water euery day a spoonefull at the moneths end yea the yeeres end the Wine woulde be almost as potent as at the first yea and perhaps more if it bee well helped Secondly wee see that Custome breedeth qualities and alterations so insensibly as in long time till they come to a full growth they can hardly be perceiued Thirdly I doubt not but hee that hath for example the first foureteene yeere of his life for his Clymactericall in the precedent yeeres shall gather more corrupted humoures then hee whose Clymactericall yeere is nine and fortie and also feele himselfe proportionally more weake albeit hee can not well perceiue for I my selfe haue knowne a man almost with halfe his lungs rotten with a consumption and yet boldelie auowch that he was strong for Ab assuetis non fit passio Some will obiect that wee see by experience many menne die within the space of a day or two who before were as sound and whole as coulde be neyther in their vrine blood or pulse appeared any signe of sickenesse or superfluous humour To this I aunswere that such a man was eyther oppressed with some vehement Passion or some violent exercise or some other extrinsecall cause which accelerated peruerted and extraordinarily augmented the humour and so caused death for as I saide aboue although a man considering the common course of his dayes can not passe his prefixed time and Clymactericall periode yet by many meanes he may shorten it Much more I coulde say prò and contrà for this Declaration but because it were something too Physicall and not so necessarie for this Morall Treatise therefore I will bury it with silence for this poynt in very trueth is so intricate that I perceiue the best wittes are exceedingly troubled to extricate themselues out of it And therefore as this I esteeme probable so I woulde giue any Physitian most hearty thankes who in few woordes woulde teach mee a better way I sayde in briefe for I haue seene some such long tedious Discourses as I loathed to peruse them doubting lest the vncertaine profit would not repay the certaine payne Finis
of his Auditors I remember a Preacher in Italy who had such power over his Auditors affections that when it pleased him he could cause them shead aboundance of teares yea and with teares dropping downe their cheâ—ks presently turne their sorrow into laughter and the reason was because he himselfe being extreamely passionate knowing moreover the Arte of mooving the affections of those Auditors and besides that the most part were women that heard him whose passions are most vehement and mutable therefore hee might have perswaded them what hee listed The same commoditie may be gathered by all other Oratours as Embassadours Lawyers Magistrates See Aristotle Rhetorikes Captaines and whatsoever would perswade a multitude because if once they can stirre a Passion or Affection in their Hearers then they have almost halfe perswaded them for that the forces of strong Passions marvellously allure and draw the wit and will to judge and consent vnto that they are mooved Many things more might be saide concerning this matter but in all the other Chapters folowing except this first I meane to touch this point very largely As this Treatise affordeth great riches to the Physitian of the soule so it importeth much the Physitian of the bodie for that there is no Passion very vehement but that it alters extreamely some of the foure humors of the bodie and all Physitians commonly agree that among diverse other extrinsecall causes of diseases one and not the least is the excesse of some inordinate Passion for although it busieth their braines as also the naturall Philosophers to explicate the manner how an operation that lodgeth in the soule can alter the bodie and moove the humors from one place to another as for example recall most of the bloud in the face or other partes to the heart as wee see by daily experience to chance in feare and anger yet they consent that it See Fracastoriuâ— libr. de sympathia lib. 2. de intellectione circa medium may proceede from a certaine sympathie of nature a subordination of one part to another and that the spirites and humors wait vpon the Passions as their Lords and Maisters The Physitians therefore knowing by what Passion the maladie was caused may well inferre what humor aboundeth consequently what ought to be purged what remedy to be applied after how it may be prevented If all the aforesaide Professions may challenge each one a part in this Discourse surely the good Christian whose life is a warrefare vpon earth he who if he love his soule killeth it he whose studie principally standeth Iob 7. 1. in rooting outvice and planting of vertue hee Mar. 8. 35. whose indevour specially is imployed in crucifying old Adam and in refining the image of Christ he who pretendeth to be ruled by reason and not tyrannized by preposterous affection this man I say may best peruse this matter he may best meditate it he may best know where lieth the cave of those Serpents and Basiliskes who sucke out the sweete blood of his soule hee may see where the thorn sticketh that stingeth his heart finally he may view his domesticall enemie which never Matt. 10. 36. permits him to be quiet but molesteth in prosperitie deiecteth in adversitie in pleasure makes him dissolute in sadnesse desperate to rage in anger to tremble in feare in hope to faint in love to languish These were those temptations of the flesh that S. Paul did punish 1. Corint 9. 27 saying Castigo corpus meum in servitutem redigo I chasten my body and bring it into servitude these were those members the same Apostle exhorted vs to mortifie vpon earth Mortificate membra vestra quae Coloss 3. 5. sunt super terram Seeing then how all the life of a spirituall man ought to bee imployed in the expugnation of these molestfull Iebusites without all doubt it importes him much to knowe the nature of his enemies their stratagems and continuall incursions even vnto the gates of the chiefest castell of his soule I meane the very witte and will Not only the mortified Christian had need to know well his passions because by brideling them he winnes a great quietnesse of minde and enableth himselfe better to the service of God but also the civil Gentleman and prudent Polititian by penetrating the nature and qualities of his affections by restraining their inordinate motions winneth a gratious cariage of himselfe and rendereth his conversation most gratefull to men for I my selfe have seene some Gentlemen by blood and Noblemen by birth yet so appassionate in affections that their company was to most men intollerable for true is that Salomon saide Vir iracundus provocat Prover 15. 18. rixas qui patiens est mitigat suscitatas An angry man raiseth brawles but a patient man appeaseth them after they be raised And therefore howe vngratefull must his company seeme whose passions over-rule him and men had neede of an Astrolabe alwayes to see in what height or elevation his affections are lest by casting forth a sparke of fire his gun-powdred minde of a sodayne be inslamed I omit how he may insinuate himselfe into other mens love and affections how in traveling in strange countries he may discover to what passion the people are most inclined for as I haue seene by experience there is no Nation in Europe that hath not some extraordinarie affection either in pride anger lust inconstancie gluttonie drunkennesse slouth or such like passion much it importeth in good conversation to know exactly the companies inclination and his societie cannot but be gratefull whose passions are moderate and behaviour circumspect I say nothing of Magistrates who may by this matter vnderstand the inclinations and dispositions of their inferiors and subiects But finally I will conclude that this subiect I intreat of comprehendeth the chiefe obiect that all the antient Philosophers aymed at wherein they placed the most of their felicitie that was Nosce teipsum know thy selfe the which knowledge principally consisteth of a perfit experience every man hath of himselfe in particular and an vniversall knowledge of mens inclinations in common the former is helped by the latter the which knowledge is delivered in this Treatise What we vnderstand by Passions and Affections CHAP. II. THree sortes of actions proceede from mens soules some are internall and immateriall as the actes of our wittes and willes others be meere externall and materiall as the acts of our senses seeing hearing moving c. others stand betwixt these two extreames and border vpon them both the which wee may best discover in children because they lacke the vse of reason and are guided by an internall imagination following nothing else but that pleaseth their sences even after the same maner as bruite beastes doe for as we see beastes hate love feare and hope so doe children Those actions then which are common with vs and beastes wee call Passions and Affections or pertuâ—bations of the mind Motus saith saint
betwixt gluttonie and scarcitie fortitude betwixt desperat boldnesse and superfluous feare called timiditie Men commonly by nature are more enclined to one of these extreames than another as most men are giuen to couetousnesse few to prodigalitie more to eat too much than to eat too little more to be afraid when they need not than to be too bold when they ought to be afraid If then thou trie thy selfe not vehemently inclined to any of these passions yet sometimes to exceed in one extreame sometime in another commonly the securest way to be practised is to incline thy selfe to that extreame which men by nature most vehemently abhorre as prodigalitie scarceuesle in diet boldnesse in daungers But if thou perceiue a vehement inclination to the one extreame procure to bend thy selfe as farre to the other for so thou shalt with more facilitie come to the middest as commonly the Philosophers declare by the example of a crooked staffe the which to make straight we bend to the other side and make it as crooked contrariwise as it was before The second rule to moderate passions we may learne Solus in illicitis non cadit qui se aliquando a licitis caute restringit Gregor lib. 5. moral hom 35. super Euan. of Socrates who to bridle extraordinarie and vnlawfull pleasures was accustomed to abstaine from lawfull and not prohibited For if one be addicted to drunkennesse he shall with more facilitie ouercome this passion if he abstaine from strong drinkes he most affecteth euen at such times as lawfully he may vse them The third rule to flie occasions which may incense the passion whereunto we are inclined for occasiones factunt latrones a commodious and fit occasion to steale maketh oftentimes theeues which otherwise would haue been honest men wherefore he that committeth himselfe to sea in a boisterous tempest deserueth to suffer shipwrack he that willingly without necessitie dealeth with infected persons may blame himselfe if he fall into their diseases so hee that is giuen to lasciuiousnesse and vseth riotous companie may condemne his owne wilfulnesse if his passions rebell and ouercome him For this cause God commaunded that the Nazarites which were consecrated to him should drinke no Wine not any thing that might cause drunkennesse and least they should by eating grapes or great reisins be allured to the Num 6. drinking of wine he commaunded them they should neither eat grapes nor reisins So hee that will not bee guided by affectiōs must diligently auoid occasions Yet this rule ought not to be vnderstood vniuersally for it is conuenient to find out occasions to exercise some passions as to seeke the poore to practise the passion of pitie to visit the sick to shew compassion to exercise learning to ouercome feare But in such passions as Nature more than willingly would follow best it were to flie occasions as he that will liue chast must eschew much familiaritie with suspected persons and vniuersally with all women not looking vpon them nor touching except necessitie or good manners in some few cases requireth The same may be said of gluttonie pride and such like whereunto our corrupt nature is much inclined yet if some man by experience haue prooued such passions not to be very rebellious and that for most part he hath ouerruled them he may be something the bolder yet let him not be too confident for the Fox often seemes to be dead to seize more assuredly vpon his prey The fourth remedie for noble spirits singular of baser mindes abhorred yet of both worthie to be practised may be drawne out of the very poyson of passions that is when a most vehement and rebellious motion assaulteth thee when the fiercenesse and tyrannie thereof welnigh possesseth thee when thou art almost yeelding consent vnto it then turne the force of thy soule with as much indeauour as thou canst to the contrarie and with one naile driue out another make of tentations 1. Cor. 10. 11. 2. Cor. 8. 9. a benefit let vertue in infirmitie and weakenesse of resistance be more perfit and ennobled For as in warres the valiantest souldiours in greatest incounters are best tried so in most vehement passions the resolutest minds are best prooued For Iosephs chastitie had neuer been so glorious if his vnchast ladie had not so vehemently allured him to defile the bed of his lord Iobs patience had neuer been so conspicuous if the passion of griefe and sadnesse had not so violently seized vpon him Abrahams fortitude had neuer beene so heroicall if the death of his onely sonne had not cut in a manner his heart strings asunder This meane to mortifie passions I take to be one of the most forcible and important remedies that men can vse especially for two causes the first for that by these contrarie acts are bred in the soules certaine habites helpes stayes or inclinations most opposite vnto our passions and therefore the passions being strong they cannot be ouercommed but by the might of excellent vertue for as the deeper a tree is rooted in the ground it requireth greater force to pull it vp euen so the greater possession the passion hath taken of the soule the greater vertue it needeth to supplant it It seemeth that Iob after Iob. 13. 15. so many temptations practised this remedie when he said Etiamsi occideret me in ipso sperabo Although God kill me yet I will hope in him For questionlesse those pains and pangs did incite him to desperation the which with contrarie trust in God he most valiantly suppressed Another cause may be yeelded for that many passions proceed not onely from the inclinations of nature alterations of humours but by the very suggestion of the diuell who watcheth his oportunitie to take men at an aduantage and to induce them to sundry inordinat affections for which cause they are called very often in Scriptures vncleane spirits because they leade men into vncleane passions and actions The diuell therefore seeing his temptations so valiantly resisted his poysoned darts rebounding into his owne breast I meane his illusions redound to his owne shame and confusion dareth not be so bold another time to inuade so strong a sort but with all his troupe will flie from it as a swarme of filthie flies dare not approch neere vnto a boyling pot Resistite diabolo fugiet à vobis resist the diuell and he Iames 4. 7. will flie from you The fift remedie not inferiour to the precedent is to resist passions at the beginning vse the remedie for vertue that Pharaoh practised for tyrannie in killing all the infants of the Iews least they should encrease too much and so ouerrun his countrey While the sore is greene seldome surgeons despaire but festred once they hardly cure it so passions while they knocke at the doore of our mindes whilest they are a little entertained if you expell them not quickly they will allodge longer with you than you would haue them And the most easie
the doores and we with his grace must open Apoc. 3. 20. Mat. 23. 37. them he calleth vs as the hen her chickens and we must runne to shrowd vnder his winges hee inviteth vs to Mat. 11. 29. beare his yoake and we must carry it with him finally so many perswasions exhortations promises and prayers pregnantly proove that not we nor God alone must overcome the forces of our enemies but we with God and God with vs. Therefore since wee have declared what meanes God hath granted vs to fight with the divell let vs see now what stratagems and deceits the divel vseth to daw vs from God to a perpetuall thraldome and slavery in Hell The first Impediment is the Suggestions of the Divell FIrst the Divell immediatly by his suggestions allureth vs to sin he being a spirite by secret meanes can enter into the former part of our braine and there chop and change our imaginations he can represent pleasures with a goodly shew he can propound Vertue as a most bitter obiect he can make vs slothful in the way of God by stirring the humors altering the blood which cause a tedious loathsomnesse in vs. His craft is admirable his malice extreame his experience long his forces mighty his darts invisible and indeed so strong that if we were not assisted by Gods providence the ministery of his holy Angelles it were not possible to resist him Yet I doubt not but Gods good Angells helpe vs more to Vertue then the wicked spirits incite vs to vice because questionlesse the charitie of them exceedeth the malice of these whereunto if wee adioyne the providence of God in restraining and limitating the Divels power as we see he restrayned him in tempting of Iob there can be no comparison The second Impediment is ill Education WEare also haled to vice by ill Education for as I have sayde before all our youth-time wee give our selves to pastime and play living like so many bruite beasts engendering and daily encreasing a number of vitious habites which ere we come to the vse of discretion are made so connaturall that vice seemeth more conformable to Nature than Vertue Yet the principall inclination of our Soules to Reason so many Vertues given vs of God so many giftes bestowed vpon vs by the holy Ghost much more forcibly moove vs to goodnesse than vitious habites to wickednesse for Vertue inclineth more vehemently than Vice and Grace overcommeth Nature The third Impediment is wicked Conversation ILl Examples and vngodly Conversation imprinted in tender yeeres and weake soules take such roote that hardly after they can be supplanted this we see by experience that as those speake with whom children converse purely or barbarously Latine Greeke or English so children learne even in like manner as those live youth live and frame their manners according to their conditions Wherefore holy Writ hath instructed vs that as a man vseth wise or foolish company so hee shall become himselfe foolish or wise Qui cum sapientibus Proverb 13. graditur sapiens erit amicus stultorum similis efficietur A man therefore being brought vp among wicked men for most part accommodateth himselfe to theyr humours the reason is not onely because as men perswade by words so they doe much more by deeds every action being a silent perswasion our eyes perceiving theyr obiects more certaynely then our eares but also for that many examples I knowe not howe come at length to breede such impressions in men that even vices seeme Vertues Let vs not seeke very farre for tryall but even at home sometimes I have seene Tarleton play the Clowne and vse no other breeches than such slâ—â—s or slivings as now many Gentlemen weare they are almost capable of a bushell of wheate and if they be of sacke-cloth they would serve to carry Mawlt to the Mill. This absurd clownish and vnseemely attyre only by custowe now is not misliked but rather approoved The like I might say of long steepled hattes of going naked in Baths and washing places yea in every place as in the Indiaes because the vse of many seemeth to take away all abuse Now therefore to our purpose since most men are vitious and few men vertuous by evill examples wee are vehemently inticed to vice and wickednesse Neverthelesse wee may oppose many good men with whow we live the examples of Christ and his Apostles dayly preached and teached cannot but countervayle the examples of men eyther voyde of reason or religion for who is hee but eyther an Atheist or a foole which will immitate an others vices contrary to lawe conscience and reason onely because he seeth many do so Who will not condemne him as an Idiote who sayd hee would erre with many for company Who would not iudge him an Atheist who vaynely vaunted he would go to Hell with so many Gallants rather then to Heaven with poore Fishers these reasons are as voyd of wit as destitute of piety The fourth Impediment is corrupted Bookes THe worlde leadeth vs to sinne not onely by trayning vs vp vitiously and inticing vs by 〈◊〉 examples but also by suggesting vnto vs â—any occasions of ill by obscenous and naughty Bookes as light and wanton Poets as Machivellian policies the Arte of coniuring and such other dregges of mens wittes and of-springs vngodly affections to these if you adioyne many shewes stage-playes and such impure exercises which tende to the manifest overthrow of tender Soules you shall have a troupe of souldiers or rather robbers serving the worlde to winne a Kingdome Indeed I must confesse that these books and exercises corrupt extreamely all good manners and with a silent perswasion insinuate their matter vnto the chiefe affection and higest part of the Soule and in all good Common-weales are either wholy prohibited or so circumcised that no such hurt followeth as some by stealth purchase and by a wilfull theft robbe their owne soules of grace and goodnesse yet agaynst these Pamphlets I oppose thousands of spiritual Volumes the holy Scriptures sermons exhortations homilies meditations prayer-bookes which surpasse the other in number in efficacie in learning and therefore those ought not to bee compared with these The fift Impediment is of Passions THe flesh molesteth vs in the service of God with an army of vnruly Passions for the most part withdrawing from goodnes and haling to ilnesse they tosse and turmoyle our miserable soules as tempests waves the Ocean sea the which never standeth quiet but ey 〈◊〉 in ebbing or flowing either winds do buzze about it or raynes alter it or earthquakes shake it or 〈◊〉 tyrannize over it even so our soules are puffed vp with selfe-love shaken with feare now they be flowing with concupiscences and desires and presently ebbing with desperation and sadnesse ioy altereth the minde and ire tyrannizeth and consumeth both body and minde Against the garboyle of these tumultuous Passions I oppose the barking byting and gnawing of a wounded conscience which wayteth continually vpon inordinate
indued women to retayne them from these shamefull actions the basenesse and brevitie of that pleasure she pretends vnvailable to that cost she bestoweth yet for all this losse she will hazard it she neither regardeth the good she leeseth nor the harmes she incurreth nor the little trifle she winneth transgresseth the law of nature the law of God the law of christianitie the law of friendship onely for lacke of prudent and mature consideration married to a wicked Wili and perverse affection That which I have sayde of this lewd Woman the same might be sayde of all sinners because the meanes to do well are so many and the dommages so great that every sinne consummate carrieth with it that I could make a whole booke of them and perhaps in time I will do it In the meane season gentle Reader whensoever occurreth any occasion apt to induce thy Will to offende God runne not too fast after it ponder a little crave helpe from above consider thy helpes expende thy harmes and presently thou shalt see that all tentations of this worlde will become like to the huge Statue that Nabuchodonozor beheld with the head of golde the breast of silver the belly of brasse the legges of yron Daniel c. 3. the feete of yron and earth for all pleasures are golden in the entraunce but still decrease to terrestriall and earthly substaunces towardes the ende they become lothsome and are accounted vilde the little stone without any humane hands cut from the mountayne will deiect and cast prostrate on the ground this huge masse of mettall I meane the grace of Christ all the multitude of tentations and suggestions of the Divell and then thou mayest raigne over them by grace in this life and glory in the end Amen FINIS A Succinct Philosophicall declaration of the nature of Clymactericall yeeres occasioned by the death of Queene Elizabeth ⸪ Written by T W LONDON Printed for Thomas Thorpe and are to be sold in Paules Church-yard at the signe of the Crane by Walter Burre 1604. A Succinct Philosophicall declaration of the nature of Clymactericall yeeres occasioned by the death of Queene Elizabeth ⸪ AFter the death of Queene ELIZABETH who died in the 70. yeere of her age which was the Clymactericall period of her life diuerse pregnant wits and curious Philosophers were assembled by chance togither among sundry other learned Discourses one demaunded of me what were these Clymactericall yeeres their nature and effects For quoth hee I haue heard many Philosophors and Phisitians talke of them but as yet I neuer throughly could pierce or penitrate them I aunswered him that the Treatise thereof required longer time then that place and present occasions afforded but that afterwards at more ley sure hee should vnderstand them if hee were desirous to learne The Gentleman importuned me so much as at last hee drew me to write this Discourse which followeth for that it seemeth not altogether impertinent to this explanation of Passions I thinke it not vnfit to be inserted in the last Booke of the Passions of the Minde because the same temper of body and propension to death which is the base of Clymactericall yeres the very same conferres much either to mooue Passions or hinder the opperations of the soule as in the progresse of this discourse shal plainly appeare Clymax in Greeke signifieth a Staire or a Ladder and metaphorically is applyed to the yeeres of a man or womans life as if the whole course of our dayes were a certaine Ladder compounded of so many steppes True it is that as the constitutions of mens bodies are for the most parte of two sortes the one is firme and strong the other more weake and feeble so the Phisitians by long experience haue obserued that the fatall ends of them who be of a lustie constitution finish for most part in some score of yeeres and so they number such persons periods by twentie 40. 60. 80. 100. 120. And to Other count them by tens this purpose sayde Moses * whose eyes were neither darkned nor any tooth loosed * Centum viginti Deut. 31. 2. annorum sum hodie non possum vltra egredi ingridi I am now an hundred and twenty yeeres old I can no more goe out and come in that is no longer liue and so it fell out for that * same yeere Deut. 34. 7. he died And GOD himselfe said of man * Erunt Genes 6. 4. dies illius centum viginti anni The dayes of man shall be an hundred and 20. yeeres The next Clymactericall yeere in them of solide and virile constitution is an 100 and so the Scriptures report Numerus dierum vitae hominum vt Eccles 18. 8 multum centum anni The number of the dayes of the life of men at most is an 100 yeeres Another kinde of men whose complexion is weaker haue a lesser kinde of measure as they haue shorter life and yet these also be of two sorts some stronger some weaker the first Clymactericall yeeres are nine eighteene tweentie seauen thirty six forty fiue fifty foure sixty three seauenty two eighty one the seconds are seauen foureteene twenty one twenty eight thirty fiue forty twoo forty nine fifty six sixty three seauenty Of these two ages spake Dauid when hee sayde Dies annorum Psalme 89. 10. nostrorum in ipsis septuaginta anni Si autem in potentatibus octoginta anni amplius corum labor dolor The dayes of our yeeres are seauentie yeeres and if in Potentates they be eightie the labour and griefe is greater The most daungerous of all these passages or steps are the forty nine compounded vpon seuen times seauen and sixty three standing vppon nine times seauen and next to these is seauenty which containeth tenne times seauen they number them also by nine and so make eighty one the most perillous as comprehending nine times nine These obseruations then of Phisitians presupposed as true for men that are wise vertuous and experimented in their faculties ought to be belieued for wisdome and experience protect them from errour and honestie from lying and deceite it were good to examine and search out the cause of these notable alterations and daungers of death in the Clymactericall yeeres for those humors which alter the bodie and dispose it to sicknesse and death the same bend the soule to take inordinate affections and passions I haue heard some Phisitians resolue this doubt into the influence of heauens to wit that so manie courses of the Sunne Moone and Planets from the time of a mans Natiuitie worke such effects so that some men let them liue neuer so orderly after so manie circular motions of the Sunne and Moone haue warbled ouer their heads vppon necessitie they must fall into one sicknesse or another and so die Some others ground this varietie and daungerous diuersitie vppon the singular prouidence of God who hath created all thinges In numero pondere mensura and therefore hath