make us faulty or miserable one might see them make love in their Writings fight in Fables and one might observe in them all the chief affections of those that had invented them Philosophers not able to endure so unjust gods formed more rational Deities and proposed unto the people the Idols of their own minds every one figured out unto himself a god according to his own inclinations and gave him what advantages may be imagined Some placed him in idleness and that they might not trouble his rest berest him of the knowledge or government of our affairs some made him so good as that he suffered all faults to go unpunisht and dealt as favourably with the guilty as with the innocent others made him so rigorous as it seemed he had created man only to destroy him and that he found no contentment but in the death of his Subjects this disorder hath passed from Religion into State-government and according to the ages wherein men have lived they have framed unto themselves divers Ideas of Kings personages and have placed in their Princes such perfections only as they were acquainted withal for in the beginning of the world when people preferred the body before the soul they chose such Kings as were of an extraordinary stature and who were as strong as Giants Nay it seemed that God would apply himself to this humor when he gave Saul unto the Israelites for the Scripture sayes He was higher by the head than all his subjects and when the Poets describe unto us their Heroes they never fail in giving them this advantage but when time had taught us that our good resided not in the body men begun to consider the mind of such men as they would make their Kings and cast their eyes upon such as had most of government in them or most of courage they observed their inclinations and knowing what power their inclinations have over their wills they esteemed them no less than Virtues But Opinions do so differ upon this Subject as a man may say that every Politician fancies unto himself a Prince according to his humour and indues him with that Passion which is most agreeable unto himself Some have wished that their Prince had no Passion at all and that being the Image of God he should be raised above the Creatures he should see all the motions of the earth without any alteration oâ— spirit but we know very well that his being in a higher condition than his subjects makes him not be of another nature and that since he is not exempt from the Diseases of the Body he cannot defend himself against the passions of the soul. Others have been of opinion that he ought to have aâ— passions that like unto the Sun and constellations he should be in a perpetual motion and employ all his care and all his thoughts upon the welfare of his State Some have thought that the desire of glory was the most lawful Passion in a King and that since Fortune had endued him with all the goods she could confer upon him he should only labour how to atchieve honour That virtue was only preserved by this desire and that he who valued not reputation could not love Justice that a Prince ought not to endeavour the eternizing of his memory by the pomp of glorious Buildings but by the gallantry of his actions that setting all other things at nought he should only study how to leave a happy memory of his reign after his death That nothing could more further him in this generous design than an insatiable desire of Glory that Riches were the goods of particular men but that glory was the humor of Kings and that he might well hazard all other things to compass it Others less glorious but more rational have thought that fear ought to reign in the soul of Princes and that as their wisdom exceeded their valour the apprehension of danger should in them also surpass the desire of glory for to boot that their fortune is exposed to a thousand mischiefs that the greater it is it runs the greater danger that it is the more brittle by how much the more glorious they are bound to prevent accidents by their watchfulness to withstand storms by their Constancy and to forgo their own happiness to share in the misery of their Subjects All these opinions are upheld by examples for there have been some Kings who have known so well how to moderate their passions as they seemed not to have any they have not been troubled at ill Successes and they would receive the news of a Defeat with the same countenance as the tidings of Victory The quiet of their mind was not altered by the divers functions they were obliged unto they punished faults with the same easiness as they rewarded Virtue and whatever alteration befell their States you should find none in them they seemed to be raised to so high a pitch of perfection as one might say in the weakness of man they had the assurance of a God There have been others whose government hath been no less happy and who have yet been of a quite different disposition for as their Empire was no less dear unto them than were their own bodies no alteration could happen therein which might not be read in their faces good success put them in good humor they were afflicted at unhappy accidents they were touched to the quick even with evils that threatned them from afar off and every thing that befel their State made so strong an impression in them as they seemed to live in two bodies and that having two lives to lose they had two deaths to fear I dare not blame this their restlesness since it was occasioned by an extream love and a body must be unjust to condemn a Prince that makes himself miserable for no other cause but that he may make his Subjects happy Augustus Caesar was of this humor and though he had endeavoured to compass so much constancy as not to be troubled at any thing yet could he not hear of any good or bad success which befel his Common-wealth without witnessing his resentment thereof by his word and actions Varrus his defeat cost him tears and this accident which he was not prepared for made him say such things as I do rather impute to his affection than to his weakness since upon other occasions he had given so good proof of his Courage Their number is great who have laboured after glory and who have had no other Passion but how to acquire honour Nothing seemed difficult unto them which bear with it the face of glory insomuch as by an inevitable misfortune they neglected virtue when in obscurity and put a valuation upon a glorious vice According to their Tenets it was as lawful to overthrow a State as to found one to oppress a Republick as to defend it and to undertake a War against Allies as well as against Enemies They run after glory
tolerate it and by an unfortunate necessity we must give lodging to a guest we should not be able to love but Nature hath well provided for this and her providence which always watches over her children hath given us a Passion which eschews evil with as much impetuosity as desire seeks after good This keeps at distance from all that can hurt us and following the inclinations of hatred whereof she is either the Daughter or Slave she flies from all objects that displease her and fights to defend it self against her enemies 't is the first succour we have received against evils 't is the first violence the first salley which the concupiscible appetite makes to free us from them Though this Passion be almost alwayes blameless and that she cannot be made criminal but by surprizal yet ceaseth she not to have her ill use and to be every day employ'd against the design of Nature Those therefore that would make use of her are bound to consider whether that which they endevor to eschew be truly so or be but so in appearance and whether opinion which easily seizeth upon the understanding hath not perswaded them unto falshoods instead of truths For it is apparent that of two things that bear the name of evil in the world there is but one of them which may properly be said to deserve it Sin and Punishment are the two most ordinary objects of eschewing and most men do so confound them as we know not which of them is most odious Punishment being more sensible than Sin it is more carefully shunned and there are not many people who do not love rather to be faulty than unfortunate We shun the Plague and seek out sin we keep far from all infected places the bad air whereof may work an alteration in our health and we draw near to evil company which may rob us of our innocency Religion obligeth us not withstanding to believe that Punishments are the effects of Divine Justice that they have Beauties which though austere ought not to be the less pleasing that God honours himself by punishing of his enemies and that he finds as much satisfaction in chastening the guilty as in recompencing the just The greatest Saints have known that our punishments were favours which did no less contribute to the welfare of man than to the glory of his Creator they have confessed that we must adore the arm which hurts us love the wounds because of the arm that made them and teach all the world that Heavens Thunders are just since those who are therewith struck adore them but sin is a true evil which hath nothing in it which is not odious its object is a soveraign good which it offendeth and if in the behalf of the committer the malice thereof be bounded on his behalf against whom it is committed it is infinite Sin violates all the Laws of Nature dishonoureth men and Angels and all the evils which we suffer are the just punishments of its disorders 'T was then for this dreadful evil that we were endued with aversion and this aversion cannot be more justly employed than in keeping us far from a Monster the abode whereof will be hell and death the eternal punishment Next to sin nothing ought to be more carefully eschewed than those that do defend it and who to enlarge the Empire thereof endeavor to make it appear lovely and glorious As Nature is the pure workmanship of God she cannot tolerate sin and that she may banish it from the earth she hath laden it with confusion and fear it dares not appear in full day it hides it self in darkness and seeks out solitary places where it hath none but such as are complices with it for witnesses But its partakers raise it up upon a throne and play all their cunning to win it glory they cover it with the cloak of Virtue and if it hath any thing of affinity with its enemy they strive to make it pass for Virtue They change their names and by one and the same action committing two faults they bereave Virtue of her honour that they may give it to Sin they term Revenge greatness of Courage Ambition a generous Passion Uncleanness an innocent pleasure and consequently they term Humility lowness of Spirit the forgiving of injuries faint-heartedness and continency a savage humor They spread abroad these false maxims they turn evils into contagious diseases and their errors into heresies they seduce simple souls and presenting poyson in Chrystal vessels they make it be swallow'd down by innocent people Those who are most couragious have much ado to defend themselves from them the best wits suffer themselves to be perswaded by their lewd Reasons we are therefore bound to have recourse to the succour that Nature hath given us to excite this Passion which keeps us aloof from what is evil and furnisheth us with forces to fight against it But her chief employment ought to be against Incontinence and the Heavens seem to have given a being to Aversion only to rid our hands of an enemy which cannot be overcome but by Eschewing All Passions come in to the aid of Virtue when she undertakes a war against Vice Choler grows hot in her quarrel Audacity furnisheth her with weapons Hope promiseth her Victory and Joy which always follows generous actions serves instead of Recompense but when she is to set upon Incontinency she dares not employ all these faithful souldiers and knowing very well that the enemy she is to fight withal is as crafty as puissant she fears lest he may seduce them and by his cunning draw them over to his side In truth Choler agrees easily with Love and Lovers quarrels serve only to re-kindle their extinct flames Hope entertains their Affections and Joy oft-times takes its rise from their displeasures so as Virtue can only make use of Eschewing to defend her self and of so many Passions which assist her in her other designs she is only seconded by Eschewing in her combate against Impurity But she thinks her self strong enough if succour'd therewithal and there is no such charming Beauty no so strong inclination nor so dangerous occasion which she doth not promise her self to overcome provided she be accompanied by this faithful Passion She is the cause why Chastity reigns in the world 't is by reason of her wisdom that men do imitate Angels and triumph over evil spirits in the frailty of the flesh But the greatest miracle which she produceth is when being subservient to Charity she separateth us from our selves and when preventing the violence of death she divideth the soul from the body for man hath no greater enemy than himself he is the cause of all his own evils and Christian Religion agrees with the Sect of the Stoicks that man can receive no true displeasure save what he himself procures he is therefore bound to keep at distance from himself and to hold no commerce with his Body
part of Moral Philosophy which hath oftest been examined But if I may speak my sense with freedom and if I may be permitted to censure my Masters I am of opinion that there is no point in the whole body of Philosophy that hath been treated of with more ostentation and less of profit for some of them have satisfied themselves with having described passions unto us and in discovering unto us their causes and their effects not teaching us how to govern them so as they may be said to have been more careful in making us know our malady than in applying remedies thereunto Others more blind but more zealous have confounded them with vices and have put no difference between the motions of the sensitive appetite and the misgovernment of the will so as according to them a man cannot be passionate without being criminal Their discourses which ought to be instructions unto virtue have only been invectives against passions They have made the malady greater than it was and their desire of healing it hath only served to make it incurable Others little differing from the last have endeavoured to stifle Passion and not considering that man is indued with a body from the material part whereof the soul is not disingaged they will heighten him to the condition of Angels These last being the Noblest Enemies that Passion ever met withal and who have made use of reason to grapple with her It is fit we lend them an ear that we may answer them and confute their Error before we establish the Truth No man is ignorant how that Pride hath alwaies accompanied the Sect of the Stoicks who that they might raise up man have laboured to abase God and who oft-times have made their Wise-man somewhat more happy than their Iupiter They have given him the upper hand of Fortune and Destiny and will have his happiness to depend wholly upon his Will Virtue is too modest to allow of so unjust praises and Piety will not suffer her to agrandise her self to the prejudice of that Divinity which she adores but the vanity of these insolent Philosophers never appeared more than in the defiance they have given to Passion For as she is the motion of the most inconsiderate part of our Soul Pride hath made them eloquent in their Invectives and Ambition hath furnished them with Reasons which are fairly entertained by such men who are offended that they have a Body and afflicted that they are not Angels They say that rest cannot consist with Passions that it is easier to destroy than to regulate them that such Souldiers must never be made use of as spurn at the Orders of their Commanders and that such are readier to justle reason out of doors than to fight in her behalf That Passions are the sickness of the Soul That the very weakest is not without danger and that health is not wholly recovered when any spice of the Feaver doth remain that that man is in a very sad condition who cannot find his safety save in the loss thereof who cannot be couragious unless cholerick who cannot be advised without some sort of fear and who dares undertake nothing unless egged on thereunto by his desire Briefly they conclude that to be a slave to Passion is to live under tyranny and that a man must renounce his liberty if he obey such insolent Masters These Reasons so eloquently express'd by the Stoicks have as yet framed a wise man only in Idaea Their Admirers have reaped nothing but Confusion after having courted so Proud and so Austere a Virtue they are become ridiculous to all Ages And the wisest amongst them have found that whilst they would go about to make so many Gods the Product hath been so many Idols Seneâ—a himself whom I look upon as the most eloquent and haughtiest Disciple of that proud Sect forced thereunto by the weakness of Nature and the efficacy of Reason hath betrayed his Party and forgoing his own Maximes confesseth that the wise man sometimes feels some Commotions and that though there be in him no true Passions yet hath he the shadows and appearances of them He who is acquainted with the humour of this Philosopher will be satisfied with this Attestate and he who shall well examine the Sense of his Words will find that Saint Augustine had reason to say the Stoicks distered from other Philosophers only in their manner of Speech and that though their Words were more lofty their Conceptions were not so For they blame not all Passions but only their Excess and though they have had a mind to stifle them they never could hope to do it To part the Soul from the Body so to exempt it from these agitations were to overthrow the Fabrick of man As long as this illustrious Prisoner shall be obliged to the same functions as are the souls of irrational Creatures she shall be constrained to entertain Passions And as long as she shall make use of sense in her operations she shall use hope and fear in the practical part of virtue It is no more dishonourable for the soul to fear a danger to hope for good or to strengthen it self against evil than it is to see by the Organs of the Eyes or to hear by those of the Ears the one and the other shares of servitude but both are necessary It is also more easie to rule Passion than the Senses Fear Choler and Love are more capable of Reason than is Hunger Thirst or Sleep Therefore if we shall make the Senses subject to the Empire of Reason we may well submit our Passions thereunto and make our Fear and our Hope praise-worthy as well as our Fasting and Watching meritorious Reason is the proper Utensil of man all other things are bun as strangers to him he may lose them without impoverishing himself and as long as he is master of Reason he may still vaunt himself to be Man Since this is the chief of all that is good we must disperse it through all the parts of man and make even the meanest faculties of our Soul capable thereof doubtlesly it may make for our security if it be well husbanded Hope if well governed doth encourage us to generous and difficult enterprizes Audacity if well guided makes Souldiers invincible In fine our most insolent Passions may be subject to Reason and not to employ them in the course of our life is to render useless one of the most beautiful parts of our Soul Virtue her self would become idle had she no passions either to subdue or regulate And he who shall consider their chief employment will find they have a relation to the managing of our actions Fortitude is made use of to subjugate Fear and this couragious virtue would cease to operate if man did cease to fear We measure our desires and hopes by Moderation and were there no ambitious Passions no man would be moderate in his good successes Temperance and Continency bridle Sensuality and had not
Nature ordained pleasure in all actions these two Virtues which go to the composure of a chaste and continent man would be likewise of no use Clemency sweetens Choler and did not this Passion animate Princes to revenge the virtue whereby it is moderated would not deserve praise But if Passions be so much befriended by so many several virtues they are not thereof unthankful for when instructed in their whole they repay them with use and serve them faithfully The best part of Circumspection is composed of Fear which though it be accused to seek out the evil before it happen it prepares us either quietly to undergo it or happily to evade it Hope is serviceable to Fortitude and 't is she that by her Promises doth encourage us to the undertaking of gallant Actions Boldness is Valour 's faithful Companion and all great Conquerors owe the glory of their Generosity to this Passion Choler maintains Justice and animates Judges to punish the Guilty Briefly there is no Passion which is not serviceable to Virtue when they are governed by Reason and those who have so cried them down make us see they never knew their use nor worth The SECOND DISCOURSE What the Nature of Passions is and in what Faculty of the Soul they reside GODS Greatness is so elevated as Man cannot attain to the Knowledge thereof without abasing it and his Unity is so simple as it is not to be conceived unless divided Philosophers gave him different Names to express the diversity of his Perfections and by calling him sometimes Destiny sometimes Nature sometimes Providence they introduced a plurality of Gods and made all men Idolaters The Soul being the Image of God the same Philosophers did likewise divide it and not being able to comprehend the simplicity of its Essence they believed it was corporeal They imagined it had parts as well â—s the Body and though they were more subtle they were not less veritable They multiplied the Cause with its Effects and â—aking her divers Faculties for different Naâ—ures they contrary to the Law of Reason gave divers forms to the same composure But Truth which together with Faith came down upon earth teacheth us that the Soul is but one in its Essence and that it hath undergone several Names only to express the variety of its operations for when it gives life unto the body and when by natural heat which proceeds from the heart as from its Center it preserveth all the â—arts thereof it is called Form when it discerns colours by the Eye and distinguisheth of sound by the Ear Sense When she raiâ—eth her self a little higher and by discoursing infers one Truth by another she is called Understanding When she preserves her thoughts to employ them about her own affairs or that she draws from forth her treasury the Riches which â—she had lock'd therein men stile her Memory when she loveth that which pleaseth her or hates that which nauseates her she is termed Will but all her several Faculties which differing in their employments do notwithstanding agree in their substance make but one Soul and are like so many Rivulets derived from the same Spring-Head Prophane Philosophy arriving at length to the knowledge of this truth makes use of divers comparisons to express her Now she represents the Soul in the Body as an Intelligence in the Heavens the virtue whereof is displayed through all the Spheres thereof Anon they figure her out unto us as a Pilot who guides his Vessel sometimes as a King who governs his State But Christian Philosophy hath been more fortunate when coming even to the original of the soul it hath made us know what effects she produceth in the Body by the very same which God produceth in the world For though this infinite essence depends not upon the world which he hath created and that without interessing his might he may undo his own workmanship yet is he shed abroad in all the parts thereof there is no intermedium which he fills not up He applies himself to all Creatures in their operations and without dividing his unity or weakning his power he gives light with the Sun he burneth with the fire he he refresheth with the water and he brings forth fruit with the trees He is as great on earth as he is in Heaven though his effects do differ his power is alwaies equal and the stars which shine above our heads cost him no more than the grass which we tread under our feet So is the soul dispersed in the body and penetrates all the parts thereof It is as noble in the hand as in the heart and though applying her self to the disposition of the Organs she speaks by the Mouth seeth by the Eyes and heareth by the Ears yet is she but one Spirit in her Essence and in her differing Functions her Unity is not divided nor her Power weakned 'T is true that not finding the same dispositions in every part of the Body she produceth not the same Effects and in this point this Illustrious Captive is infinitely inferiour to God for as he is infinite and was able to make all things out of nothing he can likewise make all things out of every Creature and without any respect to their Inclinations make them serve his Will. So we see he hath used the Fire to sweeten the pains of his Servants that he hath used the Light to blind his Enemies that he hath made the Flouds turn back to give passage to his Friends and that he hath made the Earth open to swallow those that rebell against him But the Soul whose power is limited cannot operate without dependance upon the Organs and though she be spiritual in her Nature yet is she corporeal in her Operations This is that which hath made the Philosophers consider her in three several estates which are so different the one from the other that if in the first she approach near the Dignity of the Angels in the second she is in no better condition than the Beast of the Field and in the last she differs not much from the Nature of Plants for in this acceptation she hath no other employment than to nourish the Body she is in to digest Food to convert it into Bloud and by a strange Metamorphosis to make one and the same Matter thicken into Flesh stiffen into Nerves harden into Bones extend into Branches and lengthen into Grisles she augments her Parts by nourishing them she in time perfects her Workmanship and by her pains brings it to its just Greatness Solicited by Providence she takes care to maintain the World she thinks how to restore what she hath received and to preserve her species produceth the like In this acception her workmanship is not more noble than that of Plants which nourish themselves by the Influences of Heaven grow up by the heat of the Sun and get root downward by their Succors and Moisture In the second estate she becomes sensible and
the liberty thereof the world doth yet bemoan this disaster the spoils of this shipwrack are yet seen and the States of Europe are but so many pieces which did compose the Body of that puissant Republique Ambition when confounded with virtue is guilty of more murders than Revenge and Choler though this passion pretend to be generous she is always stained with blood whatsoever delight she takes in pardoning her greatness is grounded upon the ruine of her enemies she is cause of more deaths than she procureth pardons and she is the loss of more innocents than safety of those that are guilty She astonisheth all the world when she is seen in the person of an Alexander And it seems Nature produced him to no other end than to teach us what ambition can do when assisted by fortune He ruined all Princes who would defend their own States he treated those as Enemies who refused to be his Subjects he could not permit an equal in any place through which he passed He complained of the Seas that stopt the current of his victories and wisht for a new world that he might conquer it If his vain-glory caused so many disorders his Choler committed no less ransack and if by the one he revenged himself of his Enemies he rid his hands of his Friends by the other the least suspitions encouraged these passions to revenge one indiscreet word provoked it an honest freedom set it a going and his Choler grew to be so nice as there was as much danger in doing well as in saying ill As he was possessed by all these violences so did he obey them he dipped his hands in the bloud of his Favourites he took upon him the office of a Hangman and that he might taste all the pleasures of revenge he himself would be the Minister thereof and with his own hands kill him who had saved his life But amongst all the cruelties whereunto his Choler oft did perswade him I know none more infamous than that which he exercised upon Innocent Calisthenes his condition was a Sanctuary to him and professing Phylosophy it seemed he ought not fear the fury of Alexander the very fault for which he was condemed was glorious and had it happened in the time of true Religion it would have passed for an eminent virtue for he defended the cause of his gods and was of opinion that Temples could not be built to his Prince without provoking the gods against him he guided himself so dexterously in so ticklish a business as that whilst he preserved the honour of Heaven he flattered Alexanders humour and by an admirable piece of cunning he accorded flattery with piety for if the reasons which Quintus Curtius alledgeth be true he represented unto the Macedonians that since men could not dispose of Crowns they ought not to dispose of Altars that since they made not Kings they ought not go about to make Gods and that when humane vanity would attribute unto it self that power she could not make use thereof till after the death of such as she would Deisie that to receive adoration from men one must keep far from any commerce with them lose his life to purchase a divinity That Alexander was yet necessary to them and that he ought not to mount into the Heavens till he had conquered all the Earth This short Oâ—aâ—ion was able to have obliged the most ambitious of mankind yet did it offend the vain-glory of this Prince and so far provoked his Choler as not many days after he caused this Philosopher to be put to death not allowing him liberty to defend himself This Murder drew upon him the hatred of all Greece and as Parmenio's death had exasperated all the Souldiers this of Calisthenes did much more all the Orators and these men who revenge themselves with their Tongue have spoke so oft of this excess as it is yet dishonour to him that did commit it All the praises that can be given to his gallant actions are darkned by the murder of Calisthenes And that I may make use of Seneca's eloquent words this irregular proceeding is Alexander's everlasting fault which neither his Fortune nor his Valour will ever be able to blot out For if a man shall say he defeated the Persians in three pitcht Battels another will say he slew Calisthenes If men put a valuation upon him for having overcome Darius the most puissant Monarch of the world they will blame him for having killed Calisthenes If men praise him for having carried the Bounds of his Empire to the utmost parts of the East they will add he was guilty of the death of Calisthenes If finally to end his Panegyrick a man shall say he hath stained the glory of as many Princes as preceded him another will reply his fault is greater than his valour and that all his actions of memory are sullied by Calisthenes his Blood This example ought to instruct and teach all Princes that if irregular Passions are maladies in private men they are Plagues and contagious diseases in publick Personages and that if well guided by Reason they may become glorious virtues they may by the tyranny of our senses degenerate into most infamous vices The THIRD DISCOURSE That there are no Passions which may not be changed into Virtues VVE have said in our former discourses that Passions are the seeds of Virtues that by having a care of husbanding them well their effects were very advantageous to us But proceeding on further my intention is in this discourse to teach Christians the secret how they may change them into Virtues and to take from them whatsoever they have of savage or monstrous This Metamorphosis is certainly very hard but not impossible and if we advise with nature she will furnish us with inventions for this wise Mother is continually working of strange alterations Her power never appears to be greater than when she alters the Elements or Metals and when she takes from them their former qualities that she may give them others more excellent and more noble But she observes therein an admirable method which well deserves consideration for though she be all-powerful and that holding the place of God she may act as a Soveraign and do what she pleaseth with the Elements or Metals yet doth she never use violence and she seemeth rather to accommodate her self to their interests than to her own inclinations she observeth their sympathies and worketh no alteration which is not agreeable unto them Thus we see she ratifies air to change it into fire and conduceth water to turn it into earth thus we observe she purifies silver to give it the tincture of Gold and labours whole ages to finish without violence this useful Metamorphosis Now as Morality is an imitation of Nature her chief care ought to be employed in observing the proprieties of our Passions and in converting them into virtues which are not contrary unto them for he that would go about to
rewards and that in the Roman Common-wealth where they gave but an oaken Garland to such souldiers as had mounted a Breach they made them pass the Pikes for having gone out of their Rank or forsaken their Colours that God himself whose government ought to serve for an example to all Princes governed his people with more severity than lenity that he had been constrained to express himself by the voice of Thunder to work obedience to him that he had not preserved his authority by the death of Rebels and that notwithstanding whatever inclination he had to Mercy he was enforced to have recourse to Justice Briefly they say Soveraignty is somewhat hateful that Love and Majesty agree not well together that one cannot rule over men and be beloved that men are so jealous of their liberty as they hate all things that obviate it and that Princes according to the Maxime in the Gospel have no greater enemies than their Subjects Those who take part with love have no less specious reasons and much more true ones for they say that the Soveraign being the Father of his people he is bound to treat them as his Children that fear makes them only Masters of the Body and that love makes them rule over the Heart That such as fear their Masters seek an end of their servitude and that such as love them dream not of recovering their Liberty That such Princes as govern with rigour cannot live securely that of necessity those who cause fear must themselves be subject thereto and that they must fear their peoples revolt who only obey them through constraint That if nothing that is violent be of continuance an Empire which is only grounded upon violence cannot long subsist and to answer the reasons objected unto them they reply that love enters much better into the heart than doth fear that if there be angersom ways to make a man be feared there be innocent Charms to make him be beloved that in generously-minded men recompenses make greater impressions than punishments and that the promises of a Prince more animates his subjects than doth his threats that contempt cannot arise from love since love ariseth from valuation and is always accompanied by respect that the justest Monarchies and not the severest have flourished the most and that if in the Roman Common-wealth punishments exceeded recompenses it was not for that fear made deeper impressions in the souls of men than love but because Vice hath not so much of ugliness as virtue hath of beauty and that it is not necessary to propound honour unto her who finding all her glory within her self is as well satisfied with silence as amidst all acclamations and applause That if God dealt rigorously with his people 't was contrary to his inclination and that his lenity had been greater than his severity because the latter could not purchase him all Iudaea and the former hath submitted unto him the whole world St. Paul represents us with the difference between these two laws often in the holy Scripture the one of which hath made slaves the other hath produced children the one of which hath fortified sin the other hath destroyed the tyranny thereof They add that Soveraignty is not odious since it was consecrated in the person of Jesus Christ who desirous to serve as an example to all Kings on earth never used his power but in order of service to his mercy and never did any miracle unless to help the afflicted In fine that subjects did not repine at the loss of their liberty since that being voluntary they like it that Princes are not the objects of fear since they are the images of God and that some Princes have been found even among Infidels who have been their peoples delight whilst alive and their sorrow when dead Though these answers be so pertinent as they are not be gainsaid yet methinks both the parties may be reconciled and their difference so taken away as that each of them should therein find their advantage for though lenity be to be preferred before rigour and that a State be better grounded upon love than upon fear there are occasions wherein a Prince ought to let his clemency give place to his severity wherein he is obliged to quit the quality of a Father that he may exercise the like of a Judge He ought to govern his humor according to the humor of his Subjects if they be giddy-headed or proud he must use rigour to teach them obedience and fidelity if troublesom and prone to Rebellion he must make examples and by the punishment of a few frighten more if unquiet and desirous of novelty he must punish them by keeping them in continual employment but amidst all these punishments he must not forget that he is the head of his State that his subjects are a part of himself and that he ought to be as sparing in punishing them as a Physitian in cutting off the Arm or Leg of a diseased person If nothing be done in his Kingdom which enforceth him to Rigour if all things be peaceable and if the people under his government have no other motions than his own will he ought to deal gently with them afford them just liberty which may perswade them that they are rather his children than his subjects and that reserving to himself the marks only of Soveraignty he permits them to gather all the fruits thereof In brief he ought not to use Rigor but when Clemency is bootless in his government as well as in the like of God mildness must precede severity and all the world must know that he punisheth not the faulty out of his own inclination but forc'd thereunto by necessity The power of a Prince is sufficiently dreadful by reason of his greatness he need not make it odious by his cruelty One word of theirs terrifies all their subjects the punishment of one guilty person astonisheth all the rest their anger maketh even the innocent to quake and as a Thunderbolt does little harm yet frightens much so great men cannot punish a particular personage without infusing terror throughout their whole Dominions I therefore am of opinion with the wisest Politicians That Soveraignty ought to be tempered with lenity and that being accompanied with all qualities that may make it be feared it ought to seek out all such means as may make it be beloved The FOURTH DISCOURSE What Passions ought to reign in the power of a Prince ONe of the greatest Misfortunes which can befall Religion is the liberty which men take to frame unto themselves such a Divinity as liketh them best In the first age every one adored the workmanship of his own hands and made an Idol unto himself which had its worth from the industry of the Workman or from the excellency of the Materials in pursuit of time as mens spirits grew more refined Poets made the gods sensible and gave them all such affections as
birth it beareth the most glorious name for when an inclination is formed in the heart and that a pleasing object doth with delight stir up the Will we call it Love when it sallies forth from it self to join with what it loves we call it Desire when it grows more vigorous and that its strength promiseth good success we call it Hope when it encourageth it self against the difficulties it meets withal we call it Choler when it prepares to fight and seeks out weapons to defeat its enemies and to assist its Allies we call it Boldness But in all these conditions 't is still Love the name which Philosophers have given it in its birth agrees not less with it in his progress and if when but a Child it merit so honourable a title it deserves it better when it is grown greater by Desires and strengthened by Hopes 'T is true that Loves first condition is the rule of all the rest and that as all rivers derive their greatness from their Spring-head all the Passions borrow their strength from this first inclination which is termed Love for as soon as it is taken with the beauty of an object it kindles its desires excites its hopes and carries the fire into all the passions which hold of its Empire 't is in the Will as in a Throne where it gives orders to its subjects 't is in the bottom of the soul as in a strong Hold from whence it inspireth courage into its souldiers 't is like the heart which giveth life to all the members and the power thereof is so great as it cannot be well expressed by any example Kings oft times meet with disobedience in their subjects the most valiant Commanders are sometimes forsaken by their Souldiers and the heart cannot always disperse its spirits throughout all the members of the Body but Love is so absolute in his dominion as he never finds any resistance to his will all the Passions get on foot to execute his commandments and as the motion of the Moon causeth the ebbing and flowing of the Sea so doth the motions of Love cause peace or trouble in our soul. Now this Love the nature whereof is so hidden hath divers branches and may be divided into natural and supernatural the latter is that which God disperseth into our wills to make us capable of loving him as our Father and of pretending unto glory as to our inheritance the former is that which Nature hath imprinted in our souls to fasten us to those objects which are delightful to us and this is divided into spiritual and sensible love spiritual love resides in the will and rather deserveth to be stiled a Virtue than a Passion sensible love is in the lower part of the soul and hath so much commerce with the Senses from whence he borrows his name as he always makes impression upon the Body and this it is which is properly termed Passion In fine these two lovers are divided again into two others the one of which is called the love of Friendship the other the love of Interest The first is the more noble and he who is touched therewith respecteth nothing but what may be advantageous to whom he loveth he wisheth him well or procureth what is good for him and having no consideration but honour and his friends content he sacrificeth himself for him and thinks himself happy if he lose his life to assure his friend of his affection This noble Passion is that which hath done all the glorious actions which are observed in History 'T is she that hath filled Tyrants with admiration and who hath made these enemies to Society wish to love and to be beloved judging aright that Soveraigns are better guarded by their friends than by their souldiers and that all their forces were but weak were they not supported by the love of their Subjects The second sort of Love which we term the love of Interest is as common as unjust for the greatest part of affections is grounded upon utility or upon pleasure those who suffer themselves to be carried away thereby have not so much friendship as self-love and if they will speak their minds they will confess that they love themselves in their friends and that they love them not so much for any virtue which they observe in them as for the good they hope to reap by them thus we may see that such like affections last no longer then they are either useful or pleasing and that the same interest which gave them life makes them die they betake themselves to the fortune not to the person and these are commerces which last no longer than they are entertained by hopes of profit or of pleasure Of so many sorts of love which Philosophy hath marked out unto us we will here consider none but that which resides in the inferior part of the soul let it have either virtue or interest for its foundation And since we know the nature thereof we will examine the qualities the first whereof is that it always seeks what is good and never betakes it self to an object which either is not good or appears not so to be for as nature is the workmanship of God she cannot have strayed so much out of the way but that she must preserve some remainder of his first inclinations insomuch as having been destinied to enjoy the Summum bonum she longs after it by an error which may very well be excused she fastens her self to all that hath but the likeness thereof and by an instinct which remains in her though in disorder she suffers her self to be charmed by all things which have in them any thing of beauty or of goodness As if she had found what she seeks after she indiscreetly betakes her self thereunto and by a deplorable misfortune she oft-times takes a falshood for a truth she committeth Idolatry whilst she thinketh to perform actions of Piety and attributing that unto the work which is only due unto the workman she runs into the same error which a lover should do who by a strange malady should forget the Mistress which he vows service to and passionately adore her Picture This fault ought rather to be imputed to man than to his love for love being blind follows his inclination not being able to discern between appearances and truth he loves the good which offers it self unto him that he may not miss of what he looks for he betakes himself to what he finds and is only to blame in being too faithful but man cannot excuse his sin since Reason is his guide and that he may learn by her that all those goods which are touched by the senses or are the objects of the senses are but the shadows of that which he ought to love He must correct his love and keep it from betaking it self to objects which though they be indeed beautiful are not the Soveraign good or Summum bonum which he seeks after When he
sacrilegious person which doth prophane it we must not wonder if Love which is the holiest Passion of our Soul meet with impious persons which corrupt it and who contrary to its own inclination make it serve their designs for love seeks only the Summum bonum she is not without some sort of violence made to love her own particular good which is but the shadow of what she desires to abuse it therefore sin must disorder nature and turn natural love into self-love making the Spring-head of good the original of all our evil For during the state of innocency men had no love save only for good and nature was so well temper'd with grace as that all her inclinations were holy In this happy condition charity and self love were the same thing and a man feared not to injure his neighbour by loving himself but since his disobedience his love changed Nature he who looked upon another mans advantage and his own with the same Eye began to separate them and forgetting what he ought to God he made a god of himself He confounded all the Laws of Innoceney and as if he alone had been in the world he forsook the sweets of Society he took a resolution to rule his affections by his own interests and to love no longer any thing but what was useful and pleasing unto him This mischief like poyson disperst it self throughout the whole fabrick of Nature and Reason cannot defend her self against it without the assistance of Grace The gallantest actions lost their lustre by this irregularity Philosophy by all her precepts could not reform a disorder which was rather in the bottom of Nature than in the Will She put some of her might to fight against this Monster and spying a glimering of light amidst the darkness with which she was blinded she confessed that man did not belong so much to himself as to his Country and that he ought endeavour more the glory of the State than the good of his own family She thought that the love of our neighbour should be formed upon the love of our selves and believed that in willing us to treat them as our selves she had corrected all the abuse of Humane Nature But this malady lying not only in the Understanding her advice was not sufficient to cure it so as she was enforced to confess that there was none could reform man but he that made him Thus shall we find no remedy for our misfortunes but by the assistance of Grace and our desires have had no freedom save since Jesus Christ came into the world to banish self-love from out our souls for his coming had no other motive nor his Doctrine any other end than the ruine of this dreadful Monster He setteth upon it throughout all his Maxims and hardly doth any word proceed from his divine mouth which gives it not a mortal wound He protests he would admit of no Disciples who have not changed their selflove into an holy aversion and that he will not suffer any Subject in his Kingdom who are not ready to lose their lives for the glory of their Soveraign He condemns the excess of riches and the love of honour only for that they nourish this inordinate Passion and he obligeth us to love our enemies only to teach us to hate our selves Mortification and Humility which are the ground-works of his doctrine tend only to destroy this inordinate affection which we bear unto our Souls or our Bodies In fine he hath appointed us charity only to overthrow self-love and he died upon the Cross only to make his enemy die which is the cause of all our quarrels and divisions We ought also to confess that this evil includes all others and that there is no disorder in the world which doth not acknowledge this for its original and I am of opinion that a man cannot only not make a good Christian of one that doth too excessively love himself but I hold that according to the laws of Policy and Morality one cannot make a good man nor a good Statesman of such a man for Justice it absolutely necessary in all manner of conditions and this Virtue cannot subsist with self-love Justice will have a man endued with Reason to prefer the inclinations of the soul before those of the body and that he preserve all the rights of authority to the Soveraign Self-love which leans always towards the flesh will have the slave to govern his Master and that the Body command over the Soul Justice will have a good man not to wish for any thing which exceeds his merit or his birth and she instructeth him that to be happy and innocent he must prescribe bounds to his designs Self-love commands us to follow our own inclinations and to govern our desires only according to our Vanity it flatters our Ambition and to insinuate it self into us it gives us leave to do what we please Justice will have a good Statesman prefer the publick interest before that of his own house that he be ready to lose his wealth and to sacrifice his own person for the preservation of his Country she perswades him that there is no death more glorious than that which is suffered for the defence of a mans Country and that the Horatii and Scaevola's are famous in the Roman History only for having sacrificed themselves to the Glory of their Common-wealth though there be nothing more natural to a man than to love his Children some men have been found whom Justice hath made to lose this affection to preserve the like of good Statesmen who solicited by this Virtue have butcherd those whose fathers they were teaching by so rigorous an example that the love to a mans Country ought to exceed the love to his own flesh and blood A State cannot be happy wherein there 〈◊〉 any doubts made of these Maxims as oft 〈◊〉 the publick interest shall give way unto thâ—â— particular it shall always be near ruine anâ— shall have no less trouble to defend it selâ— against its subjects than against its enemies Self-love this mean while makes a man labour only for his own pleasure or glory 〈◊〉 makes this the end of all his actions anâ— doth so bind man up within himself as 〈◊〉 suffereth him not to consider the publick if he do his Country any service it is in order to his own particular good and wheâ— he seems most busie for the good of thâ— State he wisheth the slavery thereof 〈◊〉 conspires its ruine Marius Scilla do witness these truths Pompey and Caesar haâ—â— made us see how dangerous such Statesmen are who love themselves better than thâ— Common-wealth and who so they maâ— preserve their own power fear not to 〈◊〉 press their Countries liberty In Religion this unjust Passion is 〈◊〉 more fatal and Piety can never agree wiâ—â— Self-love For there is no man that understands any thing who will not affirm thâ— to be godly a man must submit himself 〈◊〉
But howsoever all Philosophers agree that the Soul cannot be happy in a miserable body and that she cannot endue it with life without sharing in the miseries thereof if her noblest part be touched with Joy while the body languisheth with pain that which inanimates it must be sensible thereof to pay interests for the services she gets thence she must be miserable for company Even the Soul of Jesus Christ thrice-happy as it was failed not to be afflicted and a miracle was done in the order of Glory that the society might not be broken which Nature hath put between the Soul and the Body it is then agreed upon that these two parts that compose man cannot be separated in their suffering and that the torment of the one must of necessity be the others punishment they love too well to forsake one another in their afflictions and unless the violence of pain break the chains wherewith they are linked together their miseries must be common I should moreover think that the condition of the Soul is more deplorable than that of the Body for besides that to make her subject to sufferings be to injure her worth and that it is a piece of Injustice to force her to feel evils from which by Nature she is exempted she sentenceth her self to new sufferings and the love which she beareth to her Body obligeth her to resent with sorrow the pains which it endureth she together with it is sensible thereof seeing that she is the Original of Sense and as if this torment were not sufficient she draws another upon her self by compassion and afflicts her self with the Thought of all that which really torments it she makes much of its maladies after she hath shared in the suffering of them she grows sad with the conceit of them and of a single grief makes double Martyrdom true it is that this Faculty hath so much commerce with the Senses as she cannot resent their evils without communicating her pains unto them her trouble disquieteth them and as the sufferings of the Body are cause of the like in the Soul by a Law as just as necessary the pain of the Soul produceth the like of the Body This feeling is in my Opinion true Sadness which is nothing else but a dislike which is formed in the inferior part of the Soul by the fight of Objects which are displeasing to her Very strange are the effects of so Melancholick a Passion for when she is but in a mean she makes them eloquent without Rhetorick she teacheth them Figurative speeches to exaggerate their Discontents and to hear them speak the greatest pains seem to be less than what they suffer but when she is Extream by a clean contrary effect she astonisheth the Spirit she interdicts the use of the Senses she dries up Tears stifles Sighes and making men stupid she affords Poets the liberty of feigning that she changeth them into Rocks when she is of long continuance she frees us from the earth and raiseth us up to Heaven for it is very hard for a man in misery to covet life when it is full of pain and Sorrow and when the Soul hath great conflicts for a Body which doth continualy exercise her patience All men are not so poorly spirited as was that Favorite of Augustus who did so much covet life that Torments could not make him forgo the desire thereof who gloried in his Verses that he would have loved Life amidst Tortures that he would have been a Votary for the prolonging of it upon the Rack and that the cruellest sufferings that might be would have seemed swift to him so as he might therein have found Life I well believe that excess of pain would have made him be of another mind and that he would have confess'd that to die quickly is better than to live long in pain or had he persisted in his first Opinion we should be bound to confess that poorly-spirited men are more wilful than are those that are couragious and that the desire of Glory makes not so great impression in us as the desire of life But to return to my Subject when Grief is violent it loosneth the soul from the Body and causeth the death of the man for Sadness and Joy have this of resemblance in their difference that both of them attempt upon our lives when they are in extreams The heart dilates it self by Joy it opens it self to receive the good which is offer'd tastes it with such excess of pleasure as it faints under the weight thereof and meets with death in the midst of its Happiness It shuts it self up by Sorrow claps to the door upon the evil that besiegeth it and very improvidently delivers it self into the hands of a Domestick enemy to free it self from one that is a stranger for its Violence causeth its anguish and the care he takes to defend it self augments its pain and hastens its death Oft-times also its negligence makes it miserable it suffers it self to be surpriz'd by Sorrow for not having foreseen it and being no longer in a condition to defend it self when Sorrow arriveth it is forced to give way thereunto In fine Sadness makes us weep when it hath seized on our heart it wageth war with our Eyes it evaporateth by Sighes it glides down by Tears and weakens it self in the production thereof for a man that weeps easeth himself and comforts himself whilst he complains he finds somewhat of delight in his lamentations and if they be signs of his sufferings they are likewise the cure thereof As Choler dischargeth it self by Railing Sorrow being more innocent drops away by Tears and abandons the Heart when it gets up into the Face Having seen its effects it remains that we consider what use may be made thereof and in what conditions it may become Innocent or Offensive The FIFTH DISCOURSE Of the bad use of Pain and Sorrow THose who believe that Delight is Virtues most dangerous Enemy will never think that Sorrow can side with Vice and we shall have much ado to perswade them that there be some Sadnesses which are faulty yet we see but few of them that are innocent and most of those that draw tears from us are either unjust or unreasonable for man is become so esseminate that every thing hurts him Sin hath made him so wretched that he numbers the privation of pleasures amongst his pains and thinks he hath just cause to afflict himself when he possesseth not all that he desires the number of his evils is encreased by his abjectedness and he that in the first ages knew no other pain but Sickness and Death now vexeth himself for Disgrace and Poverty The witness of his Conscience is not sufficient for his Virtue and if he have not applause on Earth joyned to the approbation of Heaven he imagineth himself to be infamous the riches of Nature do not satisfie his Desires and though he have all things