most motion as of the leggs yeeld more melancholie then partes which haue more rest Of the inwardes the milt is altogether melancholicke so the kidneyes the liuer the heart and with them all the carnels Bloud is melancholicke and whatsoeuer dish thereof is made Nowe all nourishments taken from the earth are either beastes or foule Of beasts these are of melancholike persons to be eschewed porke except it be yong and a litle corned with salt beefe ramme mutton goate bores flesh veneson neither is mutton of anie sort greatly commended of Galen Of foule some be water foule and some land The water foule are not of melancholicke persons to be tasted except the goosewings The land foule which are melancholicke are these feldfares thrushes sparowes martins turtles ringdoues quailes plouers peacockes c. and these haue you to eschew of nourishments of the earth Those of the water are fish either of the salt water and sea or of the fresh water Such as are of the sea are either of the monsters of the sea or such as more properly are to be called fish The mōsters are ceals purposes such like which all breed vnwholesome melancholicke nourishment The fish of the sea are either shell fish or destitute of such defence Of shell fish some are of harder shels as oysters periwincks muscles cockles such like of which ranke the oyster carieth with it least suspition of melancholy The softer shell or crustie are cray fish the crab the lobster the pūger such of the riuers like to these c. which all neede not to be excepted vnto you in order of your diet Such sea fish as carie no armor of shels are ether those that haunt the rocks or other parts of the sea The rocke fishes are most apt of all maner sea fish for melancholicke persons as the gilthead the whiting the sea perch c. Such as haunt other places are either keepers of the depth or aprochers nigh the sand shore Of such as keepe the depth either they haue the pooles or other places of the depth Of the poole fishes I remember not any greatly to be auoyded in choyce of your diet Of such as frequent other places of the depth these are melancholicke the dragon of the sea in forme like an eyle the cuckoe ling anie salt fish thornbacke and skate Of such as approch the shore I knowe none greatly to be auoyded Fresh water fish and of the riuer the lampray and the tench haue most plentie of melancholie And these are nourishments taken from the parts of the animals now their works are either excrements superfluities of their humors or other kinds of workes Of the first sort are milke from the beast and egges from the foule which the spawne of fish in a maner resembleth milke and what soeuer is made thereof is to be eschewed of melaneholie persons as cheese curdes c. the spaunes as roes of hearinges are to be eschued of you as nourishment of melancholie else I take none of that sort greatly to be feared in that respect Of other works of animals then excrements we feed only of honie which hath no melancholy dispositiō at al. Of drinks eschue red wine and what soeuer liquor beare ale or cider is not cleere well fined as also if it be tart and sower Hitherto haue you hearde of nourishmentes which of their owne nature are to be eschued nowe of those that by some accident and not of them selues are melancholicke as if they be too olde and verie leane or be long kept or ouer much salted whereby they become the drier and harder you are to refuse them Likewise if in the dressing of the nourishment it be ouermuch baked or rosted it is to be eschued To these belong salt fishe beefe and bacon and redde hearringes hard cheese and old Of drinkes newe wine beare or ale and on the contrarie part ouer stale and sower are to be eschued and of sauces those that be sharpe as veriuyce aliger or beareger vineger are chieflie to be auoided of melancholicke persons Thus do you vnderstand howe to vse your choice in meates and drinks and what to shunne as breeders of this thicke blacke and melancholicke humour Besides these the aire thicke and grosse is sit to entertaine this humor so that fumie marrish mislie and lowe habitations are hurtfull to persons disposed to melancholie likewise if it be dimme dark Wherfore the houses habitations of that sort are most vnmeete for such persons These hitherto are all such outward things melancholick whatsoeuer else breedeth melācholie is a disorderly behauiour of our owne parts in such actiōs as belonge to the gouernement of our health This behauiour is either in actions of motion or in order and manner of rest Our motion is either of mind or bodie Of actions of the minde ouer vehement studies and sadde passions do alter good nourishmentes into a melancholicke qualitie by wasting the pure Spirites and the subtillest parte of the blood and thereby leauing the rest grosse and thicke In like sorte do exercises either wholly intermitted or turned into an excessiue labour and wearying of the bodie the one causing the blood to be thicke through setling and the other by spending the bodie ouermuch drying it excessiuely Such also as giue themselues to inordinate sleepe therby further the encrease of melancholicke humours And these are all the causes whereby the matter of that humour is supplyed and the blood being of it selfe good is altered into that iuice whereof you complaine of abundance Now if to these you adde a nature of it selfe disposed thereto a splene not able either for feeblenes or obstruction to purge the blood of superfluitie of that iuyce then haue you all that may be said of the causes of this humour keeping within the compasse of nourishment CHAP. VII Of melancholicke excrementes THE melancholicke excrement is bredde of melancholie iuyce drawen of the milte out of the liuer by a braunch of the porte vayne wherewith being nourished it reiecteth the rest as meere excrementall and voydeth parte into the mouth of the stomach to prouoke appetite and hunger and passeth the other parte in some persones by hemerode vaynes into the siege It aboundeth there when it is hindered of such passage as nature requireth or else by feeblenes of the parte it is not able either to suck the melancholie from the blood or discharge it self into those passages which nature hath therto ordained This member of the whole bodie is the grossest and euill fauouredst to be held blacke of colour and euill sauorie of taste and giueth a manifest experience of natures desire alwayes to couet that whereto it is most like and so faireth the splene better with those muddy dreggs then it would with purer and finer blood which if it should be offered to other parts they would abstaine except great want forced them to take anie parte thereof These are the causes of
attribute an action of so necessary vse as are the perturbations vnto that which is no organe of our bodies but only matter of foode and nourishment of which sort are all the humours keeping them selues within compasse of good temper Moreouer if through anger the hart be moued first then is it first troubled and the perturbations wrought before the humour receaue impression if the humor admit first the motion of the thing louely or hurtfull impart that to the heart then should it receiue a degree of excellencie aboue the hart in this respect being more attendant vpon the spirit the chiefe steward of this facultie then the hart is which next to the spirit hath greatest place in the bodie But why thē say you haue the Philosophers defined anger a boyling of the bloud about the hart if it be according to that definition then the more cholericke a man is so much the more angry is he because the choler is first apt to boyle as it were brimstone to the match in respect of the other humours That definition of anger is to be taken not by proper speech but by a metonymicall phrase whereby the cause is attributed to the effect For first the heart moueth kindled with anger then the bloud riseth which being cholericke encreaseth the heate but addeth nothing to the passion nowe because we sensibly feele an extraordinarie heate about our hearts when we be moued to angrie passions therefore they haue defined anger by that effect which boyling riseth not of the quality of the bloud but by a strife of a contrary motion in the heart at one time the one being a contraction of it selfe and a retraite of the bloud and certaine spirits not farre of with mislike of that offendeth as in feare which commandeth euen from the extreme and vtmost parts whereby it gathereth great heate within which breathing out againe with reuenge causeth through vehemency suddennesse of the motion that boyling of heat procured of anger especially if it be not deliuered by word and deede whereby liberty is giuen for the passion to breake foorth which restrained in any sort breedeth an agony of such feruency as it may resemble the scalding of a boyling chaldron not vncouered or an hote furnace closed vp in all vents Moreouer if perturbation should be caused of humour to whether should we attribute it to the naturall humor or to the excrement the excrement is far remoued frō the hart is not so ready to affect it a great distāce being betwixt their seueral places in iaūdes the gal ouerflowing the body passing through the vaines staining all parts we see them not so affected more angry then at other times or their bodies being cleered from the tincture of yellownes If it be the naturall humor that is to say the subtilest part of the bloud alwayes contained in the hart whether you vnderstand that bloud which is comprehended in the two bosoms or that wherwith the hart is sustained nourished in euery part why is not thē the hart alwayes affected without intermission with such passions as the bloud enclineth vnto seeing it is alwayes present keepeth his disposition alike If you will haue it of neither but of that which is cōtained in the great vain rushing with violence into the right side of the hart the quality of that bloud being of cooler temper thē that which the heart hath already embraced should serue to mitigate the mood rather then to adde mo stickes to the fire To conclude this point lest I should seeme to fight with a shadow if either humor or excrement should haue part in mouing affections no counsel of philosophy nor precept of wise men were comparable to calme these raging passions vnto the purging potions of Phisitians in this case the Elleborans of Anticera the Colocynthis of Spaine and the Rhubarb of Alexādria aboue all the schools of Diuinitie or Philosophy The lesse I labour against these humors in the kinds of naturall perturbations or such as rise vpon occasion because I thinke the errour is sone remoued requireth no long reasoning The other sort which moue vs without cause or externall obiect either to sadnes anger feare or ioy because they seeme altogither to be effects of humors no other cause being apparent whereto to ascribe them I will more copiously debate this point in the Chapter following CHAP. XVI VVhether perturbatiōs which are not moued by outward occasions rise of humours or not and how WE do see by experience certaine persons which enioy all the comfortes of this life whatsoeuer wealth can procure and whatsoeuer friendship offereth of kindnes and whatsoeuer security may assure them yet to be ouerwhelmed with heauines and dismaide with such feare as they can neither receiue consolation nor hope of assurance notwithstanding ther be neither matter of feare or discontentment nor yet cause of daunger but contrarily of great cōfort and gratulation This passiō being not moued by any aduersity present or imminent is attributed to melancholie the grossest part of all the blood either while it is yet contained in the vaines or aboundeth in the splene ordained to purge the blood of that drosse and setling of the humours surcharged therwith for want of free uent by reason of obstruction or any wayes else the passage being let of cleare auoydance The rather it seemeth to be no lesse because purgation opening of a vayne diet and other order of cure and medicine as phisick prescribeth haue bene meanes of chaunging this disposition and mitigatiō of those sorowes and quieting of such feares as melancholie persons haue fancied to themselues haue as it seemeth restored both wit and courage Hitherto we haue bene led by reason of the obiection from humors which imported great power in them of affecting the minde It was answered before generally whatsoeuer was done in the body of any parte to be done organically and that was applied specially to certaine obiections before aunswered it remaineth here that the same be applyed also to our humours which haue no other power to affect the minde then to alter the state of the instrumentes which next to the minde soule it selfe are the only causes of all direct action in the body So here we are to consider in what sort the humours moue these perturbations aboue mentioned whether as cheefe workers instruments or other kinde of helpers and so how they may claime any interest in terrifying or soliciting the minde this way or that way as the obiections before mentioned would beare vs in hand It hath ben declared before how the mind is the sole mouer in the body and how the rest of the partes fare as instrumentes and ministers whereby in naturall affections the humors are secluded from cheefe doers and being no organicall partes serue for no instrumentes For whatsoeuer hath any constant and firme action in our bodies the state of health remayning firme is done either by soule or by the
else could there be no nourishment without this altering vertue Why then say you it riseth not of the nourishment which was not melancholicke but of the nature nourished Not so for no nourishment is so pure that altogether it is voyd of melancholicke matter for then could it not be nourishment but notwithstanding it hath greater plentie of good nourishment then of grosse and melancholicke the similitude of nature refuseth the one and embraceth the other whereupon riseth this difference in nourishment the vitall being alone The second part of the former question receaueth the same answer with the first because no nourishment is so pure but it partaketh little or much with some part of melancholie For I do not take it that the part maketh the nourishment melancholicke which carieth no disposition thereunto but lusteth after that in the masse of victualles wherewith it hath greater familiaritie which to a melancholicke bodie is of an impurer disposition refusing that would serue more fitly for a better tempered complexion euen as we see oft by experiēce that the good complexion may be replenished with melancholicke bloud which appeareth by opening a vaine and yet the parties bodie nourished as the beautie of colour doth declare with that which is pure which melancholicke bloud rose of euill choice of diet rather then through fault of complexion nowe that part of nourishment that is pure cannot be altered in substance into another whereto it carrieth no proportion by mixture it may be defiled and become impure but neither can it be altered into that wherewith it hath no community more then grosse melancholicke and earthy nourishment can by any art of nature become aëry moderate and pure I meane the self same part of nourishment for so might all things in deede rise of euerie thing which would turne the excellent varietie of naturall things into vnitie As for Anaxagoras imagination of breeding things by separation onely this kind of diuerse matter which we require in nourishment ouerthroweth it neither are we to thinke generation of nourishment to be no other but as art worketh vpon her subiect for there is there no nature produced distinct in substance and essence but by an accidentall qualitie only produced by art And thus lest I be ouer tedious in this point you haue my answer to the questions and obiections before made concerning the nature of nourishing and preparation of humors and hitherto that hath bene sayd respecteth only melancholie as it is an humour in the bodie apt for nourishment of certaine partes more disposed to that then to any other portion of the bloud besides nowe touching the cause of increase and excesse of this humour CHAP. VI. Of the causes of the increase and excesse of melancholicke humour IT was declared that the quantitie of melancholie should be least in the iust tēper of bloud of all the other parts sauing choler which naturall proportion and rate when it exceedeth then is the bodie turned into a disposition melancholicke by humour although the cōplexion for a time hold entire which long can not endure more then the nature of that damsel which was nourished with poyson kept her ingenerated complexion but nature acquainting it selfe by moments and degrees with such kind of humour and hauing no choice of better is faine at length to embrace that which otherwise more gladly it would reiect The causes of excesse of this humour are diuerse and all except it be receaued from the parent spring from fault of diet and although chieflie meates and drinkes do yeeld matter to this humour yet besides the complexion inclining to such temper this matter is increased by perturbatiō of mind by temper of aire and kind of habitation and that humour which otherwise would yeeld a nutritiue iuyce of the best sort by this occasion is turned into these dregges of melancholie Here first I will declare vnto you such nourishments as are apt to engender those humours that in this present state you nowe stand in oppressed therewith knowing which they are that minister matter to this grosse iuyce you for your more speedie recouerie auoide them and with choice of better alter that which is amisse into a more cheerfull qualitie Nowe all nourishmentes that offende vs either do it by their owne nature or by some accidentarie cause befalling vnto them and likewise whatsoeuer becommeth vnto vs melancholicke But that you may more easilie vnderstand from whence all sorts of nourishments are taken I will set downe vnto you in a short viewe the kinds of them all and in euerie kind note vnto you that which of the owne nature is melancholicke You knowe all nourishmentes are either meate or drinke meates are taken either from vegetables or animalls the vegetables either minister vnto vs nourishment them selues or their fruit onely they are either of trees or herbs of trees the tender buds are eaten which because we do litle vse to feed of I passe ouer farther mention Of herbes we either feede of the root or such partes as rise therefrom and those roots are either round or long of neither sort do I remember anie greatly to be eschewed as melancholicke except rape rootes nauewes Such parts as rise from the root are vsed while they be tender and young or else sprung vp at the full of these kinds cole worts beete and cabages only ingender a melancholicke iuyce The fruites of vegetables are either of trees or herbes of fruits of trees quinces rawe medlers seruices dates oliues chesnuts and acornes are all melancholicke fruites of herbes are either graine or of other sort and those are either corne or pulse of corne sodden wheate is of a grosse and melancholicke nourishment and bread especiallie of the fine flower vnleauened of this sort are bag puddings or pan puddings made with flour fritters pancakes such as we call Banberie cakes and those great ones confected with butter egges c. vsed at weddings and howsoeuer it be prepared rie and bread made thereof carieth with it plentie of melancholie The pulses are wholy to be eschewed of such as are disposed to melancholie except white pease fruites of herbes of other sort then graine are purest from melancholicke excesse And thus of vegetables you vnderstand which you haue in this melancholicke respect to be auoyded The food which we take from the animals is either from them selues and from certaine of their wholesome excrements Such as yeeld them selues are either of the earth or of the water those of the earth haue great diuersitie of nourishment in their seuerall parts which are either spermaticall and those of white colour or sanguine of colour redde and bloudie The spermaticall partes may well be discharged of melancholicke iuyce as rather enclining to fleume Of the sanguine partes some are the brawnie parts which compasse the bones and are ordayned for voluntarie motion called muscles or else are of the inward partes and are of them selues destitute of motion The muscles which are subiect to
it into like felowship of displeasure euen but for that it pleaseth not like as in a troubled sea a great vessell is more easily stirred with smal strength then in the calme hauen or quiet streame so our spirites and organicall instruments of passion the parte tossed with stormy weather of internall discontentment is with litle occasion disquieted yea with the shaking of a rush that hath no show of calming those domesticall stormes that arise more troublesome and boisterous to our nature then all the blustering windes in the Ocean sea For when our passion is once vp by such occasion the commō sense is also caried therewith and distinction of outward thinges hindered at the least if not taken away all things being wayed by that which nature findeth offēce at within euen as the tast altered in feauers by cholerick vapours maketh sweete thinges seeme bitter and vnpleasaunt which of themselues are most delectable to the tast and would greatly satisfie the same partie the bitter relish through that taint of choller once taken away And in this sort in my opinion ariseth the disorderly vnruly passion of choller both increased where some occasion is offered and procured by inward disposition of the bodie and spirit when there is no pretence or shewe of cause This is seene as plainly in mirth and ioye which riseth as well vpon inward harmonie of spirit humour and complexion as vpon glad tidings or externall benefite whereof we take reioycing A bodie of sanguine complexion as commonly we call it although complexion be another thing then condition of humors the spirits being in their iust temper in respect of qualitie and of such plenty as nature requireth not mixed or defiled by any straunge spirit or vapor the humours in quantity qualitie rated in geometricall and iust proportion the substance also of the bodie and all the members so qualified by mixture of elementes as all conspire together in due proportion breedeth an indifferencie to all passions Nowe if bloud abound and keepe his sincerity and the body receaue by it and the spirits rising from the same a comfort in the sensible partes without doubt then as anger without cause externall rose vpō inward displeasure so this spirit these humours and this temper may moue an inward ioy wherof no externall obiect may be accompted as iust occasion This is the cause that maketh some men prone to ioy and laughter at such thinges as other men are not drawne with into any passion and maketh them picke out and seeke for causes of laughter not onely to moue others to the like but to expresse their mery passiō which riseth by the iudgement of our senses imparted to the hart not regarding whether the cause be inward or outward that moueth which taketh comfort thereat as though the obiect were externall This especially commeth to passe if the bloud be such about the hart as his purenesse sincerenesse with sweetnesse that carieth moderation of temper doth so comfort and mollifie it that it easily aptly enlargeth it self thē such bloud or such vapor that hath this tickling qualitie causeth a delight conceiued in the braine and communicated with the hart procureth a comfortable gratulation and inward ioy of that whereof nature taketh pleasure For as we haue sights tastes smelles noyses pleasant obiectes without vs and on the contrary part as manie odious and hatefull which do force our senses so haue we also all these internall pleasaunt or vnpleasaunt as we haue of sensuall obiects internall so in like manner pleasure displeasure is communicated frō within of the braine to the heart of such things as we are not able directly to referre to this or that qualitie as we see it fareth with tasts oftentimes such mixtures may be in sauces that something may please vs we cannot expresse what raysed of the compositiō This chiefly falleth to our bodies when that which giueth this occasion carieth force of gentle and light spirits as wine and strong drinke and all aromaticall spices which haue a power to comfort the braine and hart and affect all our bodie throughout with celeritie and quicknesse before their spirits be spent in the passage then the braine giueth merie report the hart glad for it selfe and all the fellow members as it were daunceth for ioy and good liking which it receaueth of such internall prouocations Thē as we see wine giue occasion of mirth by his excellent spirit wherewith our spirit is delighted and greatly increased if it be drunke with moderation so such as are of merie dispositions enioy a naturall wine in their bodies especially harts braines which causeth them to laugh at the wagging of a feather and without iust matter of laughter without modest regard of circūstance to beare them selues light ridiculous this my friende M. I take to be the cause of merrie greekes who seeke rather to discharge them selues of the iocond affection stirred vp by their humour then require true outward occasion of solace and recreation Nowe as before I haue sayd that choler procureth anger not as cause but as occasion so likewise bloud thus tempered and replenished with these aromaticall and merie spirits giueth occasion only of this pleasantnesse and is no cause thereof the hart making iust claime to these affections as the only instrument vnder the soule chiefe author of these vnruly companions which instrument is so disposed that obeying the mind and those naturall rules whereby all things are esteemed good or bad true or false to be done or not to be done no otherwise then by a ciuill subiection ruled by counsell no constraint it repugneth oft times all the strong cōclusions whatsoeuer reason can make to the contrary Thus you vnderstād how a man may be angrie and merie without externall obiect or outward cause now let vs consider howe sadnesse and feare the points which most belong to this discourse and your present state may also arise without occasion of outward terror either presently molesting or fearing vs by likelihood or possibility of future danger As the nature of choler is subtile hote bitter and of a fretting and biting qualitie both it selfe and the vapors that passe from it and bloud temperate sweet and full of cheerefull and comfortable spirits answerable to those we haue ingenerate especially if they become aromaticall as I may terme them and of a fragrant nature by naturall temper or by meanes of diet so melancholie of qualitie grosse dull and of fewe comfortable spirits and plentifully replenished with such as darken all the clernesse of those sanguineous and ingrosse their subtilnesse defile their purenesse with the fogge of that slime and fennie substance and shut vp the hart as it were in a dungeon of obscurity causeth manie fearefull fancies by abusing the braine with vglie illusions locketh vp the gates of the hart whereout the spirits should breake forth vpon iust occasion to the comfort of all the family of their
naturall melancholie both iuyce and excrement It remaineth next to shewe what that humour is which riseth of this or anie else corrupted called also by the name of melancholie CHAP. VIII VVhat burnt Choler is and the causes thereof THAT kinde of melancholie which is called Atra bilis riseth by excessiue heate of such partes where it is engendred or receiued wherby the humour is so adust as it becommeth of such an exulcerating and fretting qualitie that it wasteth those partes where it lighteth this most commonly riseth of the melancholie excrement before said and diuerse times of the other thicke parte of blood as also of Choler and salt fleame which take such heate partely by distemper of the bodie and partly by putrefaction that thereby a humor riseth breeding most terrible accidentes to the minde and painefull to the bodie which the melancholicke and grosse bloud doth more forcibly procure in that that anie heate the grosser the substance is wherein it is receaued the more fiercely it consumeth whereupon the seacole giueth more vehement heate then charcole and the cole then the flame and a cauterie of hote yron then a burning firebrand Otherwise choler being by nature of the hotest temper carieth with it more qualitie of heat then the other but by reason the substance of the humor is more subtle and rare the lesse it appeareth as the heat of a flame in comparison of the other more speedily passeth Hitherto haue I declared vnto you all the kinds of melancholy and causes of ech of them hereafter you shall vnderstand how they worke these fearefull effectes in the mind wherby the hart is made heauie the spirites dulled the cheerfull countenance altered into mourning and life it selfe which the nature of all thinges most desireth made tedious vnto persons thus afflicted CHAP. IX Howe melancholie worketh fearefull passions in the mind BEFORE I declare vnto you how this humor afflicteth the minde first it shall be necessarie for you to vnderstand what the familiaritie is betwixt mind and bodie howe it affecteth it and how it is affected of it againe You knowe God first created all things subiect to the course of times and corruption of the earth after that hee had distinguished the confused masse of things into the heauens the foure elements This earth he had endued with a fecunditie of infinite seeds of all things which he commaunded it as a mother to bring forth and as it is most agreable to their nature to entertaine with nourishment that which it had borne brought forth whereby when he had all the furniture of this inferiour world of these creatures some he fixed there still and maintaineth the seedes till the end of all things and that determinate time which he hath ordained for the emptying of those seedes of creatures which he first indued the earth withall Other some that is to say the animals he drewe wholly from the earth at the beginning and planted seede in them onely and food from other creatures as beasts and man in respect of his body the difference only this that likely it is mans body was made of purer mould as a most pretious tabernacle and temple wherin the image of God should afterward be inshrined and being formed as it were by Gods proper hand receaued a greater dignitie of beauty and proportion and stature erect therby to be put in mind whither to direct the religious seruice of his Creator This tabernacle thus wrought as the grosse part yeelded a masse for the proportion to be framed of so had it by the blessing of God before inspired a spirituall thing of greater excellencie then the redde earth which offered it self to the eye onely This is that which Philosophers call the spirit which spirit so prepareth that worke to the receauing of the soule that with more agrement the soule and bodie haue growne into acquaintance and is ordained of God as it were a true loue knot to couple heauen earth together yea a more diuine nature then the heauens with a base clod of earth which otherwise would neuer haue growen into societie and hath such indifferent affection vnto both that it is to both equally affected and communicateth the bodie and corporall things with the mind and spirituall and intelligible things after a sort with the bodie sauing sometimes by vehemencie of eithers actiō they seeme to be distracted and the minde to neglect the bodie and the bodie and bodilie actions common with other creatures to refuse as it were for a moment that communitie wherby it commeth to passe that in vehement contemplations men see not that which is before their eyes neither heare though noyse be at the ayre and sound nor feele which at other time such bent of the minde being remitted they should perceaue the sence of with pleasure or paine This spirit is the chiefe instrument and immediate whereby the soule bestoweth the exercises of her facultie in her bodie that passeth to and fro in a moment nothing in swiftnesse nimblenesse being comparable thereunto which when it is depraued by anie occasion either rising from the bodie or by other meanes then becometh it an instrument vnhansome for performance of such actiōs as require the vse therof and so the minde seemeth to be blame worthy wherein it is blamelesse and fault of certaine actions imputed thereunto wherein the bodie and this spirite are rather to be charged thinges corporall and earthly the one in substance and the other in respect of that mixture wherewith the Lord tempered the whole masse in the beginning And that you may haue greater assurance in reason of this corporall inclination of spirit consider how it is nourished and with more euidence it shal so appeare vnto you It is maintained by nourishments whether they be of the vegetable or animall kind which creatures affoord not only their corporall substance but a spirituall matter also wherewith euerie nourishment more or lesse is indued this spirit of theirs is as similitude of nature more nighly approcheth altered more speedely or with larger trauell of nature Of all things of ordinarie vse the most speedy alteration is of wine which in a moment repaireth our spirits and reuiueth vs againe being spent with heauinesse or any otherwise whatsoeuer our naturall spirites being diminished which bread and flesh doth in longer time being of slower passage and their spirites not so subtile or at least fettered as it were in a more grosse bodie and without this spirit no creature could giue vs sustentation For it is a knot to ioyne both our soules and bodies together so nothing of other nature can haue corporall coniunction with vs except their spirites with ours first growe into acquaintance which is more speedily done a great deale then the increase of the firme substance which you may euidently perceaue in that we are ready to faint for want of foode after a litle taken into the stomach of refreshing before any concoction can be halfe
such matters as import great supplie or otherwise they doe earnestly affect and are in feare least communication breede whole dispossession or make inequall partition They interprete readilie all to the worse part suspitious least it be a matter of farther feare and not indifferently weighing the case but poysing it by their fantasticall feare and doubt at home Passionate they be out of measure whereto a vehement obiect of long connuaunce vrgeth them this causeth them to be amorous both because it is a pleasure to loue which mittigateth their inwarde sorowe and timiditie thinneth their bloud and dilateth the heart and a cause to be beloued againe which of all thinges liketh the melancholie personnes being the greatest meanes of comfort vnto them from which all offices of kindenesse curtesie and grace do flowe this affection riseth not vnto them by purenesse of nature but by the force of that which draweth them vnto the vehemencie of passion wherein they so oft times exceede that it bereaueth them for a time ielousie excepted of all other affection If the melancholie be sanguine adust then may it supply the want in the obiect and cause an internall amorous disposition with such dotage that maketh no discretion where the affection is bestowed as he that is of a merrie nature will laugh at his conceit and the angrie man displeased with his owne shadowe Thus farre of the simple actions of brayne and heart which are altered in melancholicke personnes and the manner howe with reason of their alteration other actions are in comparison of these mixed as mourning rising of vaine feare or counterfet miserie solitarinesse least occasion of griefe be ministred by companie and resort silence thorough retraction of spirits by their passion except it be in mornfull plaintes to mitigate the sorowe and stiffenesse of the instrumentes besides the disorderly feare and heauinesse which cannot either minister nor take occasion of familiar conference and communication wholly transporting them to the concocting of their sorowfull humour which breedeth in them the passion more and more increasing a negligence in their affaires and dissolutenesse where should be diligence Of pace they are for the most part slowe except perill cause them to hasten both by reason of their members not so nimble for motion and the mind occupied with cogitation and studie stayeth the pace as we finde our selues affected when any matter of weight entreth into our meditatation Moreouer they are giuen to weeping sometimes if the melancholie be sanguine they exceed in laughter sighing sobbing lamentation countenance demisse lowring bashfulnesse and blushing the reasons whereof and manner how they arise because it requireth a larger discourse I will refer them more particularly to be discussed in seuerall Chapters followinge with Philosophicall causes or probabilities at the least how euerie one of these are wrought that you be fully instructed in that speculation of melancholie and the accidents which followe it as you are more then I wish or standeth with your present comfort exercised in the practise CHAP. XXIIII The causes of teares and their saltnesse OF all the actions of melancholie or rather of heauinesse and sadnesse none is so mamanifolde and diuerse in partes as that of weeping First of all it putteth finger in the eye and sheadeth teares then it baseth the countenaunce into the bosome thirdlie it draweth the cheekes with a kinde of conuulsion on both sides and turneth the countenaunce into a resemblaunce of girninge and letteth the browes fall vppon the eye liddes it bleareth the eyes and maketh the cheekes redde it causeth the heade to ake the nose to runne mouth to slauer the lippes to tremble interrupteth the speeche and shaketh the whole chest with sighes and sobbes and such are the companions of this sorowful gesture of weeping of which I will deliuer you the reason one by one first beginning with teares All obiects or cause of perturbation riseth more or lesse grieuous or acceptable as it is taken and although the cause be greate if it be not apprehended it moueth no perturbation at all This causeth some to sorowe whereat another reioyceth and other some to lament which other some beare out with courage or haue no such sense of and to exceede in ioye or sorowe except reason moderate the affection where other some keepe mediocritie by reason of certaine degree of apprehension yea though reason beare no part in the moderation Moreouer seeing it is necessarie that both braine and hart be disposed in a kinde of Sympathie to shewe foorth the affection as they be diuerslie disposed so may the cause of perturbation more or lesse moue and trouble As if the brayne be quicker of conceit and of more exact diseretion then the heart is ready to yeeld his passion by reason of a more compact firme temper then is it not aunswerable to the apprehended hurte or daunger If it be more dull then by reason the apprehension entreth not duly into the consideration of the present state or imminent perill the affection aunswereth not the cause If the hart be more tender then the braine ready there is feare and heauinesse oft times either without cause or more vehement then cause requireth and thus it fareth in the rest of the perturbations these three alwayes concurring in the affection the outwarde mouer or cause the apprehension of the braine and the motion of the hart according to the varietie diuerse disposition of which three the perturbations become distinct in kinde and diuerse in degree This is necessarie for you to know for the more playne deliuerie of the causes of the accidentes before mentioned and first of teares whose passion is not euerie kinde of griefe nor anie one kinde alike taken neither though the griefe be taken alike and the cause iust true yet doeth the partie not alwayes sheade teares thus affected First therefore for the manifestation of this matter of tears we are to search what kinde of thing it is that moueth weeping then how it is to be receiued to work this effect and thirdly of what disposition they are when iust occasion is ministred and the cause be so taken that readily signifie their inward passion by that dolorous outward gesture and action Of such causes as draw vs into perturbatton passion that only which moueth griefe and sorrow of hart causeth teares Such weeping as seemeth to proceed of ioy is of a mixt cause as shall hereafter be declared and maketh no exception to that vniuersall cause ofteares procured by affliction or greeuance for else we see no man weep but in sorow neither do any sorow but vpon occasion or perswasion of calamitie or hurt either present or to come sauing those which are melācholick passionate who notwithstanding fancie vnto themselues a counterfet occasion therof without cause This I need not stand vpō because it is euidēt of it selfe and requireth no farther demonstratiō the other two being of greater difficulty of more diligent
consideration Touching the first of the two latter how the affection is moued for weeping I take it necessarie the passion be not very extreame nor of the highest degree of sorow neither so light and gētle that the obiect be contemned For the first if the perturbation be too extreame and as it were rauisheth the conceite and astonieth the heart then teares being ordinary and naturall to a kinde of mediocritie of that passion are not affoorded to an extraordinary affection euen as a ioy suddaine and rare taketh away for the present the signification of reioycing and turneth the comforte which should be receiued into an admiration in steade of mirth and cheare so in greate extremity offeare and heauines sorow being conuerted into an astonishment the senses rauished and the benūmed therewith the teares are dryed vp or stayed being effectes of ordinary and of naturall passion and others more straunger come in place as voydaunce of vrine ordure For as cold in a kinde of degree moueth sense and the same extreame becommeth and taketh it quite away and as exceeding brightnes blindeth or at the least dazeleth the sight aswell as darknes obscureth the obiect so an occasion of feare being beyond ordinary cōpasse of naturall passion seemeth to the heart vnderstanding of another sort then whereat to sorow or teares belong and the tokens of ordinarie affection are due which flow not by reason through that greate perturbation nature is wholly violated and keepeth no course of accustomed order or because such is the flight of nature from that which she so abhorreth that hiding her self in her owne cēter she draweth with her those humidities which easily follow with the spirites and blood and are not seperable for vsuall excretion besides that contraction of her poores whereby the effluxe of teares is hindered this in my opinion is the cause why extremity of terror or heauines refraineth teares especially if a fright haue gone before which is of greatest force to make this perturbation and to shut vp the poores of our bodies This appeareth in such as are scarred whose haire seemeth to stand vpright stiffe through that contraction So then the same cause of passion in kind differing by degrees both dolorous full of calamity nowe causeth abundance of weeping gusheth out into brookes of teares and anon dricth them al vp through destruction of the minde and stupiditye as it were of the hearte as though the cause of morning were altogether remoued If you do require example in the selfe same person of weeping and refraining from teares in the same kind of obiect yet differing in degree that is most singuler which is reported by Aristotle in the second booke of his thetoricke out of Herodotus of Amasis king of Aegypt We are moued with compassion only sayeth he at the affliction of such familiars as are not very nighly knitte vnto vs either by acquaintance or affinitie and of the calamitie of diuerse most deere friends or allies we haue not compassion but we are affected with their hurte as with our owne wherfore it is reported of Amasis that although he did not weepe for his sonne whome he sawe led to be put to death yet at the calamitie of his friende Philippus he shed teares for that which in his friend was pityfull shewed in his sonne horrible and terrible to behold now terror chaseth away swalloweth vp alcōpassion Which history of Amasis maketh cleere al doubt in this point and confirmeth that which we propound by the reason of one of the most grauest philosophers As this ouer vehement feare dryeth vp these springes of teares or shutteth vp the passages that no way is giuen for them to distill so the cause being light and not greately vrging the heart nature vseth not to make such shew of sorow so that at small matters or so taken no man vseth to weepe Children for want of vnderstanding in a manner weepe at all occasions of offence alike which tyme and age afterward correcteth Thus then in my opinion the affection is to be disposed for weeping euen in a meane betwixt that light regard of perill or calamitie wherewith no man is moued to teares and that vehement extremitie which ingendreth amazednes and astonishment wherewith nature either is benummed as it were and dazeled with the extremitie of passion and neglecteth her ordinarie signification of sorow in a case so farre extraordinarie or else so farre withdraweth her selfe into the center of the bodie with her spirite blood and humiditie and closeth vp her poores so straightly that neither matter of teares is readie nor passage free for them to distill by For the naturall passages and such as depend not vpon voluntarie opening or shutting as of the bladder stoole so farre only are open as they be distended and filled with blood humour spirite which being withdrawen as in a dead bodie they close together like an empty bagge But why thē say you do some make vrine for feare and why doth not nature withold it aswell as teares being a kinde of excremēt not much vnlike The reafon is readie such retention as is performed by muscle animall faculty descending from the brayne by sinues is of another sorte then that which is accomplished by astriction of poore againe such excrementes as are already congregated into a place of recept from whence they are to be voided out of the body hereafter are not of like cōdition with that which hath as yet no seperatiō For the first pointe the bladder as also the fundament haue ech of them a certaine round muscle which hath power of opening and closing within it self which opening way is giuen to the excrement that of it selfe finding passage issueth out of the bodie or without opening and it be a liquid excrement as vrine is if the muscle shutt not close or retentiue feebled it voydeth also though not so plentifully as being full open Now in feares that exceede the spirites influent into that muscle as al are such that pertaine to sence and motion are caled backe as I haue before declared to their proper fountaines and so it being left destitute receiueth a kinde of paraliticall disposition for the time and fayleth in his office which is the cause of such vnuoluntary excretion Now if you consider remember how the vrine passeth from the kideneys by those lōg vessels you shall well perceiue there can be no refluxe backward though it be forced for they discēd not directly opening thēselues as a touch hole into a gune but sloplings betwixt the substance of the bladder with certaine slender and thinne skinnes which immediatly after the entraunce of the humour close vp in such sort as the fuller the bladder is the firmer is their hold as you may see in the leather clacke of a paire of bellowes experience hereof is made manifest in a bladder which being blowen retaineth the aire and suffereth not to vent though it haue enterances such as I haue
then a childe is able sufficiently to way downe by his strength of hand a smithes bellow that is forced by poyces to finish that which strēgth would perform at once Neither is the speach interrupted and broken only by the disorderly expiratiō but the inspiratiō being by sobs cutteth also the voyce marreth the distinct pronūtiatiō the cause whereof as also of sighing I will deliuer vnto you in the next chapter Thus you haue sobbing excepted the reasons of all the partes of weeping so farre as my coniecture by reason in matters so hidden can gather I will proceede to the causes of sighing and sobbing and how they be procured and by what meanes and so finish the whole mournefull gesture of weeping CHAP. XXVII The causes of sobbing and sighing and how weeping easeth the heart BEsides the former actiōs of sorow weping is for the most part accompanied if it be vehement with sobbes and sighes of which two sobbing is neuer without weeping sighes are ordinarie and common vppon causes that force no teares as euery one hath experiēce For vnderstanding of the causes of sobbes it is necessarie for you to call to minde that which hath bin said of the vse of the Diaphragma or midriffe and the outward intercostalls or outward muscles betwixt the ribbes and the manner how the hearte is affected in griefe and sorrowe The dilating of Diaphragma is to enlarge the chest for taking breath This is onely required if we be not more thē ordinarilie vrged to breath which if we be then doe the outwarde muscles of the ribbes dilate the chest also and so encrease the inlargement Now when matter of griefe inforceth teares the Diaphragme and the muscles receiue a weakenes by reason of retraction of spirites that they are faine for the dilatation of the chest to make mo pulls then one as you heard before in the motion of contraction so that the breath is not drawen at one straining of their coares and fibers but by diuers inspiration besides the heat of those partes being retracted maketh them lesse plyable vnto the force of the muscles whereby the respiration is with more difficultie perfoormed which requireth more vse of dilatation then before by reason the heate about the heart it selfe is now greater then before the passion which bringeth thereto a kind of suffocation That cooling of the heart which is sensibly felt by suddaine euill tydinges or mishappe vnlooked for or whatsoeuer new calamitie riseth through accesse of the blood and spirits which although they be hote yet wanting somewhat of that heate which is feruēt and naturall to the heart and of the heat of those spirites which are resident there for the time seemeth to coole in comparison of the heat which the heart felt before as a mā would cast hote water to that which boyleth most feruently which although it be hote yet inferiour in degree to the heate of feruentnes it mitigateth the scalding heate and slaketh the boyling In like manner at the first recourse of these humours and raunging spirites although the heart seeme to receiue a chilling yet anone by contraction and plenty of spirites which are apt to take heat it receiueth a greater necessitie of breathing which being not aunswered through imbecillitie of the breathing parts dischargeth the office of respiration by sobbes which should be persormed by one draught of breath And these I take to be the causes of sobbing Sighing hath no other cause of mouing then to coole and refresh the hearte with fresh breath and pure aire which is the nourishment and foode of the vitall spirites besides the cooling which the heart it selfe receiueth thereby The heart being contracted as hath bene said deliuereth not so freely his sootie and smokie excrementes whereby the spirites become impure and it boyleth with more distemper which necessitie of fresh spirite and coole ayre enforceth a deeper enlargement of the chest then is ordinarie in which not only the midriffe playeth his parte but outward intercostalls or middle muscles of the ribbes besides certaine of the shoulders doe their indeuour to this so necessary an office Moreouer it is very probable that the midriffe by accesse of humours and vapours to the partes there about is charged with vaperous superfluitie which is by stretching it selfe as in yawning auoyded when the muscles are distended by any vapour of what sort soeuer it be of being plentifull and aboundant it stirreth them to a contraction which causeth a kinde of pressing wherby they deliuer themselues of this excrement This in yawning causeth that gaping sometimes accompanied with streaking when we finde our selues vnlustie and vndisposed to stirre or exercise which falling to the midriffe may cause a kinde of sighing when a man hath no cause as hauing cause it helpeth it foreward For whosoeuer yawneth shall perceiue his chest and midriffe dilated in such manner as in sighing feele about the heart a kinde of refreshing euen as when he sigheth To these causes may be added the weight of the hart which is by reason of the accesse of humours about his vaynes and arteries to his contraction increased whereby it lyeth more heauily vpon the midriffe then before the burthen whereof it seeketh to ease it self of by such streitching which somewhat lifteth vp the hearte for the time and so the Diaphragma is recōforted so that the necessity of fresh aire the cooling of the hearte the easing of the burthen therof vpō the midriffe the auoiding of vaporous excrements out of the midriffe seeme to me causes final the midriffes dilatatiō whose motion the whole chest followeth the efficient cause of sobing sighing And thus much cōcerning the two dolorous actions of sighing sobbing whereto after I haue added how it easeth the heart to weepe sobbe I will end this chapter By reason of the withdrawing of the blood spirites about the heart in feare and sorow it is necessary that much vapour should arise stirred vp by the heat therof working vpō the moisture these vapours besides the ordinarie excrements of the brayne before mentioned may yeeld another parte vnto teares being congeled in the brayne and vpper partes that are thicke coole membranous inclosed with the skull and placed ouer the rest as a stillitorie helme ouer the bodie Now weeping by making auoydāce to these vapours doth discharge that fulnes wherewith it was before strayned and oppressed These vapours cause that rednes in the cheekes and about the eares of those that weepe heateth the face and causeth the head to ake whereof the heart being eased receiueth a farther enlargement then at the beginning of the griefe and so enioyeth that small comfort which weeping affoordeth It may seeme probable that the sobbing and sighing differing onely in that sobbes are sighinges interrupted and sighes sobbes at large if they be not vehement and long by agitation of the chest expelling of the smothered vapours and drawing in of fresh aire geue also some comfort if they be vehement then shake
person becometh afterward sad heauy vncherful Thus you perceiue I think sufficiently how melancholick persons some laugh some weepe in the same melancholicke what causeth mirth what teares Before I proceede to the naturall actions chaunged and depraued by melancholy I cannot passe ouer an action which is verie vsuall to melancholicke folke and that is blushing with shunning of the looke and countenaunce of men which the Grecians call Dysopia and because it requireth a larger discourse then the ende of this Chapter will suffer I will treate of them in the next CHAP. XXIX The causes of blushing and bashfulnesse and why melancholicke persons are giuen thereunto THE affection that moueth blushinge is shame howsoeuer it riseth either vppon false conceit or deserued cause Shame is an affection of griefe mixed with anger against our selues rising of the conscience of some knowne or supposed to be knowne offence either in doing that which ought not to be done or omitting that which was requisite of vs to be done This description I will vnfold vnto you more at large that in shame euery one is grieued experience maketh plaine besides reason leadeth thereunto Euerie passion of the heart is with ioye or with griefe either sincere and simple or mixed as in ridiculous occasions in shame there is no absolute ioye nor comfort therefore there must needs be a displeasantnesse or else a mixt disposition of sorowe and cheare this there is not by reason shame casteth downe the countenance filleth the eye with sorow and as much as may be withdraweth the liuely and comfortable spirit into the center of the bodie not vnlike vnto feare and sadnesse It appeareth mixed with anger by reason euerie one feeleth a kinde of indignation within him selfe and offereth as it were a vehement inablinge of him selfe for the offence wee are angrie with our selues because the fault is ours and from vs riseth the cause of griefe as in absolute anger the cause is from other and vpon others we seeke the reuenge Where there is no conscience there can not be any sense of fault for that it is which layeth our actions to the rule and concludeth them good or bad so although the fault be committed in deede and yet no conscience made thereof it is taken for no offence neither can giue cause of this internall grief reuengement To these clauses I ad an offence knowne or so supposed for otherwise though a man be grieued and sorie therefore yet before it be knowne to others is he not ashamed This causeth that men make no doubt of doing that in secret which for shame they would not do openly yea in such thinges as of them selues are not dishonest nor disalowable Moreouer it riseth vpon offence committed in that thing which lay in our power as we tooke it to remedie or better to haue discharged our selues in doing or omitting Therefore no man is ashamed of an ague or of the goute or to haue broken his legges or anie such occasion as to haue bene spoyled or to die c. but onely in those thinges wherein we take our selues to haue our part and to rise vpon our owne default so are we both ashamed of the action and of all tokens thereof Nowe seing that all offence is neither in doing amisse or neglecting that should be done in either of both consisteth matter of shame The description of shame thus being declared I proceede to shewe howe it forceth rednesse into the eares and cheekes and causeth vs neither to beare other mens countenaunces and lookes nor with courage and boldnesse to beare vp our owne The griefe that nature conceaueth from our selues is not so straunge as that which is foraine and outward but farre more familiar and thence therefore in all partes more known Moreouer the cause is more transitorie and fading especially if the offence be small and of no great note Againe the griefe is not for anie depriuation of that whereof the vse is so necessarie as losse of friendes goodes perill pouertie do all import nor of anie singular pleasure wherein nature or will tooke their chiefe contentment These qualities of shame ioyned with anger procureth that rednesse in the face which we call blushing The tincture of redde ariseth on this sort the heart discontented with the opennesse of the offence maketh a retraction of bloud and spirit at the first as in feare and griefe and because it feeleth no greater hurt then of laughter or rebuke of worde or such like touch seeketh no farther escape then a small withdrawing of the spirite and bloud by the first entrance of the perturbation so that the necessitie being no more vrgent the bloud and spirit breake forth againe more vehemently and fill the partes about the face more then before and causeth the rednesse This is helped forwarde with that anger which is mixed with shame which forceth in some sorte these retracted spirites and bloud to reflowe with more strength as we see the bloud soone vp of a cholericke person The passion is not so vehement to close vp the spirits and to retaine anie longer time for the cause before alledged and although it were yet would the anger and inwarde reuengement make way to the bloud and spirites to geue that shamefast colour Thus you vnderstand what maner of perturbation causeth blushing what it is and how it breedeth the staine but you wil peraduenture say why do not all that are ashamed blush and why some more then other some This I suppose to be cause in blushing these pointes are to be considered for answer of this question the qualitie of the bloud and spirit the passage nature or substāce of the face which receiueth this reflux If the blud be grosse and thicke and the passages not so free then is the course of bloud slow the coūtenance little altered If the skin be ouer thick or ouer rare thē doth it not admit throgh the thicknes of the spirites or at the least maketh not that shew nor retaineth them through the rarenes and thinnes and by exoperation make no apparaunce of rednes this is the cause why many ashamed be not so ready to blush Besides this disposition of spirite humour and substance of the face the measure of the shame more or lesse helpeth and hindereth blushing For some there are affected more vehemently and othersome moderately othersome not a whit who blush not because they are not at all ashamed By that hath bin declared you may gather why the yonger sort and women easily blush euen through rarenes of their body and spirites ioyned with simplicitie which causeth doubt of offence and this is the cause why we commend blushers because it declareth a tender heart and easily moued with remorse of that which is done amisse a feare to offend and a care least it should cōmit ought worthy of blame Furthermore it sheweth a conscience quicke and tender and an vpright sentence of the minde agreable to this
ingrauen maximes of good and euill and thus much shall suffice you for blushing As for the shunning of mens countenances and bashfulnes either in beholding or being beheld it riseth vpon a giltines in conceite or in effect in that we feare is knowen to others wherein we haue offended or stand in doubt we shall offend This conceit causeth vs to hide our selues and to withdraw our presence from the society of mē whom we feare doe view our faultes in beholding vs and wherof our presence stirreth vp the remembraunce Wherefore we being desirous to couer and hyde our offence seeke also to be hiddē and couered who haue deserued the blame especially from such of whome we haue greatest reuerence and of whose estimation and censure we stand most in awe of Now because the vewing of another causeth the like from him againe therfore doth the guilty minde abstaine ther from that it prouoke not the eye of another whome he doth behold especially if the other party looke vpō him againe then is he presently outcountenanced through the guiltie conceite and ielousie of the crime which he suspect to be reueiled Moreouer the countenance being as it were the grauen character of the mind the guilty person feareth least that be red in his forehead whereof he is guilty in his heart which augmenteth the griefe when he seeth himselfe eyed more then by turning aside his owne countenance when he beholdeth it not Thus much touching the former bashfull actions whether they rise vpon cause or opinion only it remaineth of this chapter to shew how melancholicke persons are much subiect to both though they haue committed nothing deseruing rebuke or worthy of shame That which befalleth youth by their tender age in blushing the same in a manner happeneth to melancholicke persons by their complexion youth and children if they come in place of reuerend persons will easily blush not of any fault committed but of reuerence to the parties nature as it were secretly in respect condemning her imperfections in that age whereof the presence of both maketh a kinde of comparison Moreouer the nature carefull of that which is seemely and decent not acquainted with such presence doubteth of error and vncomelinesse and distrusting it selfe blusheth as if offence had bene committed This is the cause why the yong take occasion sooner then the aged and why reuerend and vnacquainted presence causeth this passion They which are of mo yeares by reason of experience and further knowledge which breedeth an assurance more hardly blush and familiarity and custome maketh greater boldnes Euen so the melancholick person through his internall mislike and cause of discouragement hath litle assurance or contentment in his actions whatsoeuer Whereby without cause he easily groweth into a conceite of some absurdity committed where none is this causeth him to blush and to expresse by outward rednes of colour the internall passion especially this befalleth him if he carrie any conscience of former vice committed then doth that ouercharge and set all out of order chiefely if it mingle the passion with feare and the quality of the blood and spirite largenes of poores and disposition of the skinne in the face aunswere thereunto But how will you say can the melancholy person haue his spirite and blood so disposed which I haue declared to be grosse and thicke and the passages of their bodies not free Trueth it is that all melancholicke persons are not so disposed to this action of blushing by reason they are of blood spirite and body vnapt thereunto but certaine only who haue melancholy not equally disposed but resteth vnder the ribbes anoieth chiefly with his vapour and who are such not from their parents but by some accident of diet or euill custome which notwithstanding retaine as yet the same disposition of their firme partes they had before or haue some other humour of thinner substāce wherby their blood is not so dull of ebbing flowing these I take to be the melancholick blushers only and the rest in all respects farre remoued there from whose swartnes of the skinne with other impediments both hindereth the recourse of the blood and if they did blush ouershadoweth the colour The same cause which stirreth blushing in melancholicke men forceth them to auoide assemblies and publike theaters and this is common to all melancholickes howsoeuer they be tempered in their bodies euen the opinion and fancy of some disgrace from others who are greatly displeased with themselues and by their erronious conceite preuent the sentence of others vpon themselues and condemne that vniustly which ducly wayed and without passion hath no desert of blame Thus much for these actions of blushing and bashfullnes CHAP. XXX Of the naturall actions altered by melancholy HItherto you haue had declared the alteration of such actions as lie in our power are for the most part arbitrarie it followeth to shew vnto you the rest which are natural are not at our becke but are performed by a certaine instinct of nature wil we nil we These actiōs are of appetite or of nourishmēt the actiōs of appetite are of meate and drinke or of procreation Touching appetite of meate melancholy persons haue it for the most part exceeding and farre surpassing their digesture The cause why it is through an aboundance of melancholy which easily passeth from the splene the sincke of that humour to the stomach whose sowernes prouoketh an appetite of nourishment to delay that sharpnes which molesteth the mouth thereof that you may with more facility conceiue this pointe marke what I shall say of the splene the stomach and the passage of that humour thereinto The splene lieth vnder the short ribbes on the left side of the stomach backward and is ordained to purge the blood of melācholick iuice which it draweth vnto it self by meane of vaines and being satisfied with some parte wherewith it is nourished the remnaunte sower of taste and as a naturall sawce it belcheth as it were into the stomach whose sharpnes causeth a kinde of griefe and knawing therein especially about the entrance which is most sensible so prouoketh the appetite of nourishment by whose sweete and familiar iuice the sharpnes or sowernes of the other is dulled and tempered so the byting eased Besides this sence which the quallity of melancholy offereth to the stomach it according to the nature of all thinges of that taste bindeth and contracteth the stomach which may also be another cause of the encrease of that paine which inforceth to seek after nourishment Thus then the stomach being subiect vnto the splenetick humour as it exceedeth or is more sowre so doth this appetite more increase Now in persons melancholicke the superfluity of this humor is in great aboundance which thereby the more forceth the appetite and this I take to be one cause of that greedy hunger which is more insatiable in melancholicke men then in others To this may be added the desire that nature hath to seeke
what was the tryall God blessed the last dayes of Iob more thē the first euen so though the present afflictiō be grieuous vnto you and all hope faile in respect of your feeling yet the Lord when he hath proued you and found you his pure and sincere beloued sonne the like issue are you assured of with comforte in this life and eternall saluation in the life to come Thus leauing a more plentifull consolation vnto your godly friendes who dayly frequent you especially such as are preachers of the word and ministers of Gods grace I proceed to instruct you in that I iudge your body stādeth in neede of that howsoeuer hability faile in performāce of the offices of friendships on my part towards you my sincere affection and vnfayned loue vnto you may be at the least testified by my endeuour wherein if I be tedious partly it is of forgetfulnes of that consideration being ouercaried with desire to benefite you and partly bicause in your case I also comprehend the estate of many one at this day in like sort affected and afflicted who if they receiue any meanes of cōforte by this my trauaile they may be more beholding vnto my friēd M. pray for his release Thus my good M. you haue the testimonie of my good will in this part of counsell I confesse I am not so meet for it as your case requireth but so haue I discharged that office wherto the dutie of friendship bindeth me If my presence may supply the defect I will not faile you wherin anie part of mine abilitie may serue your wāts I will nowe proceede to the cure of your bodie whose disorder increaseth your heauinesse and ioyneth hand with this kind of temptation CHAP. XXXVII The cure of melancholy and howe melancholicke persons are to order them selues in actions of the mind sense and motion AS the ordinarie cure of all diseases helps of infirmities are to be begun with remouing of such causes as first procured the infirmitie except they be remoued of them selues through their nature neither stable nor permanent by succession of a contrarie cause of the same kinde euen so the first entry of restoring the melancholicke braine and heart to a better state of conceit and cheere is the remouing of such causes as first disturbed iudgement and affection or are therto apt with inducing of causes of contrarie operation The causes of all diseases are either breach of dutie and some errour cōmitted in the gouernment of our health or such accidentes as befall vs in this life against our wills and vnlooked for From the same also do arise the workes of melancholie whereof I intreate and you desire to be released Our diet consisteth not onely as it is commonly taken in meate and drinke but in whatsoeuer exercises of mind or bodie whether they be studies of the braine or affections of the hart or whether they be labours of the bodies or exercises only Besides vnto diet house habitation and apparel do belong which are causes of maintenance or ouerthrowe of health as they be affected To these also the order of rest and sleepe is to be added as a great meanes taken in due time and in conuenient moderation to preserue health or to cause sicknesse if otherwise it be taken immoderately too scant or disorderly Of the labours of the mind studies haue great force to procure melancholie if they be vehement and of difficult matters and high misteries therfore chiefly they are to be auoyded the mind to be set free from all such trauel that the spirits which before were partly wasted might be restored and partly employed vpon hard discourses may be released to the comfort of the hart and thinning of the bloud Besides such actions approching nigh vnto or being the verie inorganicall of the soule cause the mind to neglect the bodie whereby easily it becmometh afterward vnapt for the action and the humours skanted of the sweet influence thereof and spirit setle into a melancholie thicknesse and congele into that cold and drie humour which rayseth these terrours and discouragements Wherfore aboue all abandon working of your braine by any studie or conceit and giue your mind to libertie of recreation from such actions that drawe too much of the spirit and therby wrong the corporall mēbers of the bodie For in maintainance of health it is specially to be obserued that the employing of the parts either of mind or bodie with their spirite is to be carried with such indifferencie and discretion that the force which should be common to manie be not lauishly spent vpon any one Nowe studie of all actions both because it vseth litle help of the bodie in comparison of other and because the minde chieflie laboureth which draweth the whole bodie into sympathie wherby it is neglected as it were for a time and the most subtile purest spirits thereby are consumed is to be giuen ouer in the cure of this passion or if the affection can not be tempered wholly therefrom then such matter of studie is to be made choyse of as requireth no great contention but with a certaine mediocritie may vnbend that stresse of the minde through that ouer vehement action and withall carie a contentednesse thereto and ioy to the affection Nowe as all contention of the mind is to be intermitted so especially that whereto the melancholicke person most hath giuen him selfe before the passion is chieflie to be eschued for the recouerie of former estate and restoring the depraued conceit and fearefull affection For there if the affection of liking go withall both hart and braine do ouer prodigally spend their spirits and with them the subtilest partes of the naturall iuyce and humours of the bodie If of mislike and the thing be by forcible constraint layd on the distracting of the mind from the promptnes of the affection breedeth such an agonie in our nature that thereon riseth also great expeence of spirit and of the most rare and subtile humours of our bodies which are as it were the seate of our naturall heate the refiner of all our humours and the purifier of our spirites As that kind of studie wherein the melancholicke hath spent him selfe is to be auoyded or intermitted and one of a milder and softer kinde to be inferred in place thereof so much lesse anie straunge studie of difficultie and much trauell of the braine is to be taken in hand as it were to turne the minde into a contrarie bent For herein the straungenesse besides difficultie giueth cause of trauaile and toile vnto our nature so that both these extremities are to be eschued of you as most daungerous and hurtfull and the mind to be retired to such a tranquillitie as the naturall heate and spirits may haue free scope to attend vppon the corporall actions of preparing the bloud and thinning of the grosse iuice into a moderate substance as is according to good disposition of the bodie In studie I comprehend although
heauines first of all instruction out of the Scriptures of God is to be ministred and embraced which offering the assuraunce of farre better thinges then the price of all wordly treasures may swallow vp whatsoeuer calamitie this vale of miserie presseth vpon vs next preceptes of morall vertue and patience with examples of constancie and moderaton in like cases ought to moue and consideration of that vncertaintie of pleasure in this world which is only constant in inconstancie and as the heauens them selues stand not still and the nature of things receaue continual cōsuming like a streame that passeth euen so our state is subiect vnto like mutabilitie and with no other condition is our life deliuered vnto vs of nature through that original disobedience nor is to be otherwise accepted of wise men In this case I referre the melancholick to the bookes of the Scriptures and morall precepts of Philosophers to the godly instructions of the diuines and comfort of their friends If loue not aunswered againe with like kindnesse procure this passion either amendes is that way to be made or the melancholick is to be perswaded the subiect of that he liketh is not so louely and all mention and signification of that kind is not once to be called into minde but whatsoeuer iustly may be alleadged to the parties disgrace is to be obiected vnto the amorous melancholicke and other delights brought in in steed and more highly commended which all I leaue to the prudencie of those that attend vpon this kind of cure And if no other perswasion will serue a vehement passion of another sort is to be kindeled that may withdrawe that vaine and foolish sorowe into some other extremity as of anger of some feare ministred by another occasion then that which first was authour of this sadnesse For although they both breed a dislike yet that proceedeth of other cause rebateth the force of it which gaue first occasion and as one pinne is driuen out with another so the later may expell the former but this is to be vsed in regard of the conceit and affection If the body therby be altered and the bloud thickened into melancholie then all kind of greeuance is to be shunned and onely pleasaunt and delectable things to be admitted Thus much for the melancholicke affection how it is to be moderated and guided other kinds of actions of body are not any causes of this passion except in such as were wont by periods to be purged of certayne melancholick bloud which if it faile and minister cause or increase of this humour is to be diminished by opening a vaine that may most conueniently supply that want of nature and disburthen it of the superfluitie as cause shall require and force strength will permit Ease and rest although it be alone of small power to ingender yet may it be an helping cause to the passion increase of this humour so that here in mediocritie is to be kept and exercise of one sort or other neuer to be omitted as the chiefe temper of the spirits with the humours quicknesse of corporall actions Fot as sleepe resembleth death and rest of the members is their kind of sleepe doth that in particulars which sleepe doth in the whole so if it exceede as ech resemble other in nature in effect they will not be much vnlike but as the one cooleth the bodie and corrupteth the bloud and extinguisheth naturall heate whose extinction is death it selfe euen so the other in a degree hinder the present expressing of that liuely vigour which they possesse and disableth them afterwarde to make proofe of the facultie wherewith they are indued And thus haue you in these two Chapters what gouernment melancholicke persons are to obserue in their actions and deedes that concerne maintenance of health in the next I will lay open vnto you of the outwarde meanes of sustentation of life what choise is to be made and with what discretion such reliefe is to be vsed CHAP. XXXIX Howe melancholick persons are to order thē selues in the rest of their diet and what choise they are to make of ayre meate and drinke house and apparell THe rest of diet consisteth in the right vse of outward sustentation of life which is either taken inward or is outwardly vsed only The inward and such as is to be receaued into our bodies is either aire or sustenance The ayre meet for melancholicke folke ought to be thinne pure and subtile open and patent to all winds in respect of their tēper especially to the South and Southeast except some other imbecillity of their bodies dissuade therefrom and in the contrarie part marrish mistie and foggie ayre is to be eschued as an increase of both humour and passion Sustenaunce is either meate or drinke Their meates ought not onely to be chosen such as of their owne nature do ingender to pure and thinne iuyce but if the nature of the nourishment be otherwise the preparation ought to giue it a correction of that fault and generallie they should be liquide and in forme of brothes that both by the moyst qualitie thereof the drinesse of the humour and their bodies might be refourmed and that the passage concoction might also be more easie and speedy in all their partes Nourishmentes of their owne nature among meats wholsome and meet for melancholicke folke and of vegetable things are parsnep carret and skerret roots And sallet herbs lettice mallowes and endiue mixed with a quantitie of rocket and taragon are not to be refused no more is aretch sorell and purslane with the late twaine aboue mentioned or with persley charuell and fenell with litle vineger plenty of oyle and suger Of sorts of bread cheat bread is meetest for them and if they be charged with store of bloud and the vaines full some oates barley or millet flower mingled with the wheat meele shall abate the aboundant nourishment of the wheat Of frutes such as are moyst soft and sweet are meetest for them as the iuyce damsing cherrie figges grapes and abricots neither are newe walnuts and greene almonds hurtfull in this case Capers washed from the salt and vineger and eaten with suger and oyle are meeter for them then oliues Of flesh the young is fittest for their diet and the younger the better in respect of their colde and drie bodies and grosse humours which require plentifull moystening and warming which is supplyed by the tender age of those things whereof we feede being fuller of vitall heate and naturall moysture then the older of the same kind Neither is it requisite that they be young onely but also well liking and of the same kinde the tame and domesticall is meete for correction of their melancholicke state then the wilde Againe of flesh the foule is to be preferred for their vse before the beast and that foule rather which vseth much the feete and lesse the wing Of foule these are of especciall choyce for melancholicke persons the partridge