his desires and intentions But whence comes the power which this Passion hath thus to vnite the subiects where it worketh This cannot well bee explicated without the aide of Philosophy First of all Loue say the Philosophers is a desire to enioy the good wee propound vnto our selues as proper for our content and capable to make vs in some sort better by the fruition But this enioying participation cannot bee effected but by vniting the obiect to our affection which is the same good we propound vnto our selues wherefore it is of the Essence of Loue that it produceth this vnion Hence it proceeds that the presence of the party beloued is so deare and pretious vnto vs and that we feele our selues filled with content when as we may enioy him to entertaine our thoughts to taste the sweetnesse of his company and to discouer our Passions whereas his absence and separation giues vs a thousand torments and afflicts vs with a thousand sorrowes and discontents which wee would redeeme with our liues Wherefore when as death doth take violently from vs those whom wee loue dearely and by this meanes hath condemned vs as it were to a perpetuall absence we striue to ease our griefe and sweeten our losse by transporting our selues often to the places where we were accustomed to see theÌ„ representing vnto our selues their portracts and images reading ouer their letters stil handling al the gages and monuments they left vs of their affection Sometimes the same gages and the same momuments of their affection displease vs and wee do so abhorre them as wee cannot indure to see them nor handle them but this growes from the griefe of their absence for that we then represent them as infallible signes of our losse which they figure vnto vs as irreparable by reason whereof their pictures fill vs with bitternes But on the other side when as the same things seeme vnto vs to supply the presence wee Loue them dearely and cannot bee weary to entertaine our selues with those thoughts And if amidst all this we can inuent any thing that may serue to preserue the memory more liuely in our soules wee imbrace the inuention and are wonderfully pleased with this art Wherein doubtlesse Artimesia Queene of Caria shewed an act of wonderfull Passion towards her husband Mausolus For death hauing taken him away this desolate Princesse not knowing how to pull the thornes of her sorrow out ofher soule she caused his body to be reduced to ashes and mingled them in her drinke meaning to make her body a liuing tombe whereas the reliques of her deare husband might rest from whom shee could not endure to liue separated The most subtile Philosophers giue a second reason of this vnion which ariseth froÌ„ Loue. Loue say they hath her feate in the Will they doe not consider it as a Passion onely which riseth in the sences but also as a quality which in the end becomes spirituall but there is this difference betwixt the vnderstanding and Will the vnderstanding goes not out of it selfe to ioyne with his obiect but rather he drawes the obiect vnto him whereof the Image is framed to produce his action like vnto a seale which prints its forme in the waxe But the Will being toucht with the Loue of her obiect suffers it selfe to bee drawne to his Image and going out of it selfe vnites it selfe vnto him to take his forme like vnto the waxe which receiues impressions of the seale So as by this reason Loue is thoght to cause the vnion of him that loueth with the party beloued for that his will rauished by his loue hath no other Passion but to see her self vnited vnto her But these meditations are too nice for our subiect The second effect they attribute to Loue and which is as it were a branch and bud of the first is that it causeth the soule of him that loues to bee more where it loues then where it liues and that reciprocally the soule of the party beloued is more with the louer then with his owne body The reason is for that the soules of such as loue are perpetually attentiue to coÌ„template the image of that they loue and haue no other thoght nor greater pleasure then that they receiue by this sweete entertainment By reason whereof the soule making shew of a more exact presence where it doth most frequently worke it followes thereby that it is more with the party beloued then in its owne body But let vs heare the opinion of the Platonicians vpon this point The soule say they which is toucht to the quicke with Loue dying in iâ—s owne body findes life in that it loues And when this Loue is reciprocall it dies but once wheras it reuiues twice For he that loues dyes truly when as Loue makes him neglect and forget the causes of his life to thinke wholly vppon the party beloued but hee recouers his life doubly when as he sees himselfe imbraced and entertained by the party beloued and that he finds in his armes his deer Image which hee preserues more carefully then his own life Who will not then say they hold this death happy which is recompenced by two such sweete liues But this discourse of the Platonicians presupposeth an equall correspoÌ„dency in Loue without the which they maintaine that this Passion is full of despaire leaues nothing in our soules but importune and troublesome thornes Wherfore the Ancients said that to make Loue grow shee had neede of a brother But wee haue treated sufficiently of this Subiect They attribute other effects to Loue that is to say languishings extasies and amazements but that Loue must bee very violent which doth produce them And moreouer wee may consider these extasies and rauishâ—ments which may happen in a violent Loue after two sorts First we may obserue them as a true alienation of the sences which ariseth for that the spirit and will of him that loueth being wholy imployed in the contemplation and enioying of the thing beloued suffereth himselfe to bee so transported with this content as the soule remaines as it were quencht and without motion The which may also proceed from a more powerfull cause that is to say either from God or from euill spirits which somtimes stirre vp these rauishments and extraordinary extasies Secondly we may consider these extasies rauishments as a kind of madnes which transports them that Loue and makes them to commit many follies wherefore an Ancient sayd that Iupiter himselfe could not be wise and loue at one instant These extasies and rauishments produce sometimes prodigious effects in their soules that are afflicted with this Passion For that his soule that loues intirely is perpetually imployâ—ed in the contemplation of the party beloued and hath no other thoughts but of his merit the heate abandoning the parts and retiring into the braine leaues the whole body in great distemperature which corrupting and consuming the whole bloud makes the face grow pale wanne causeth
affect it and seeke it yet hauing a desire it imports not whether the knowledge be precisely in themselues or that some other cause supplies this defect and insinuates it selfe into this action to guide it The reason whereof is that although they be depriued of knowledge yet it hinders not the force of their motions for that they are vnited to that great intelligence which knoweth all things and cannot erre in her knowledge but guides all the naturall causes to their ends by her wise prouidence But these things haue alwayes neede of knowledge and desire to put them into action although that in regard of knowledge it is not absolutely necessary it reside in them but it sufficeth that it be imparted vnto them by the influence and assistance of a more eminent cause As for those which haue life it may be plainly obserued in the course of their liues But we must remember that the soule being the forme of liuing thinges and naturall formes hauing this in particular that the more Noble containes the perfection of that which is lesse Noble as a quadrangle comprehendes with a certaine eminency all that enters into the composition of a Triangle and as the formes of beasts containe the formes of the Elements It followes that there beeing three degrees of Soules that is to say that which giues life which is the lesse perfect that which giues sense which is the second ranke and the Reasonable which is the noblest of all this Reasonable soule which is peculiar onely to Man containes all the powers and perfections of the other and can effect as much as all the rest together By reason whereof man hath a Vegetatiue soule which is common with plants he hath the sensitiue which he hath common with bruit heasts But he alone is in possession of the Reasonable soule whereby he hath nothing common with the rest of the Creatures After this either of these soules hath a number of powers befitting the operations which must arise The powers of the Vegetatiue soule are principally those which nourish which contribute to the growing and increase and which serue to Generation And those haue other powers for instruments to their actions as the power to draw the power to retaine the power to expell the excrements the power to disgest the nourishment and others which Philosophers assigne vnto them Moreouer there is a power which is as it were the Queene of all the rest to whose command and conduct they referre all their actions And that is the power of the naturall Appetite the which as wee haue sayd is one of those two things necessary to accomplish the actions of Nature According vnto these Lawes we see that the power we call Attractiue drawes the nourishment vnto her for that the Naturall Appetite doth presse and command her and in like manner the power which they call Expulsiue doth cast forth and expell those things which the same Natural Appetite doth abhorre and so of the other Powers which are ordained to diuerse ends But for that the Appetite which is blind and voyde of all Knowledge is not sufficient in Vegetatiue things to exercise their action but withall it is requisite that they be accompanied with Knowledge it therfore happens that the Vegetatiue soule being not so Noble that among all her powers there is not any one indued with Knowledge the vniuersall Nature which prouides for all supplies this defect and conducts by her Light the inclination of Vegetatiue substances to their ends and by the same meanes guides all the other powers which follow her motions in their actions So as Nature knowing the substance fitting and proper for the Nourishment shewes it and instructs the Naturall Appetite and ordaines that it shal bee drawne and disgested and conuerted into Nourishment for the preseruation of the Vegetable Indiuidue and the like may bee sayd of the other actions wherein doubtlesse liuings things diffâ—r not much from those that haue no life And we must not obiect that Plants seeme to bee indued with Knowledge for that they can distinguish a Iuicâ— which is proper for them from that which is pernitious the which seemes to bee a marke of Knowledge for although there were Pilosophers which did aâ—tribute vnto Plants a feeling of things which they sayd was lesse pure and lesse actiue then that of Creatâ—â—es Yet it is most certaine that the Nature of the Vegetatiue soule is too earthly to bee fit for the functions of the Sences which require othâ—â— Organs then those of the Plants And therefore although they draw vnto them good Iuice and reiect the bad it proceeds not from any Knowledge wherewith they are indued but from their Naturall vertues and properties guided by that Soueraigne Intelligence which disperseth her care ouer al the Creatures how base and abiect soeuer And it is also by her motion that the same Plants fly their Contraries as the Vine shunnes the Bay tree and that they shew such grace beauty in their workes as we see in the Spring time So as all these things bind vs not to beleeue that they are indued with Knowledge But let vs returne to our discourse and leauing the Vegetatiue soule ascend a degree higher and come to the Sensitiue This as the more Noble hath in her selfe the possession of Knowledge and hath no need to borrow it like vnto the Vegetatiue soule 〈◊〉 things without Life Moreouer shee hath three kinds of Powers that is to say the faâ—ulty to know the faculty to desire and the mouing power Bâ— the mouing power I vnderâ—stand that which executes the motion from one place to another as it is commanded and ordained by the faculty where the Desire is framed after that it is enlightened and guided by Knowledge The Knowing powers are of two sorts that is to say the Exterior and the Interior The Exterior are the fiue sences of Nature as Seeing Hearing Smelling Tasting Touching the which as messengers 〈◊〉 to the Interior powers induâ—d with Knowledge whatsoeâ—er we can comprehend and desire These Exterior powers 〈◊〉 the sences answers in some â—â—rt to the bodies of the Vniâ—erse whereof they comprehend 〈◊〉 Colours the Sounds the â—melles the Sauors the Cold â—â—e Heat and the other naturall qualities wherewith they are clothed The Interior powers capable of Knowledge are three whereof the first is the Common sence the which is called by that name for that it is as it were the Center to which doe flow the formes which are sent vnto it from the other sences So as from the Eyes it receiues the formes of Colours which they haue seene From the Hearing the formes of Sounds which haue toucht the Eare from Smelling the formes of Sauors which it hath sented from the Tongue the forme of Sweetnesse or Bitternesse which it hath tasted and from the body the formes oâ— those things which fall vnder the sence of Touching And 〈◊〉 not oâ—ely receiues the formeâ— which the other sences send vnâ—to it but it
of the soule so as if we should giue the name of passions to the motions of the vnderstanding or of the will it is by a kind of improper and figuratiue speech alluding to the passions of the senses with the which they haue some resemblance The reason why passions are not found in the rationall part of the soule is for that this part doth not imploy any corporeal organs in her actions and that her office is not to alter or bring any change vnto the body the which notwithstanding is an action which doth accompany the passions inseparably But seeing they are not to be found in any other part of the soule but in the sensitiue appetite there riseth heere a great question whether this appetite shal be diuided into the irascible concupiscible or desiring power as into two different and distinct powers or whether it makes but one power of both The common opinion is that as their obiects are diuers so they are two distinct powers whereof the reason is gathered by that which experience doth shew vs in all other things subiect to corruption for we see in other corruptible creatures that they haue not onely an inclination and power to seek after those things which are fit and conuenient for them and to flie those which may hurt or anoy them but moreouer they haue another faculty or power to resist and fight against that which may crosse their actions or destroy their beeing As for example fire is not onely indued with lightnesse to flie vp high but it hath also receiued heate from nature by meanes whereof it doth resist and fight against any thing that is contrary to his action In like manner it was necessary for the good of man that hee should haue two kindes of inclinations the one to pursue those things which are pleasing agreeable to the senses and to auoyde those which may any way anoy him and this we call the concupiscible or desiring power and the other by meanes whereofhee may incounter and vanquish whatsoeuer opposeth it selfe crosseth his inclinations or that tends to the destruction of his being or the decay of his contentment which is that wee call the irascible or angry power This differs from the concupiscible for that the concupiscible tends to the sensible good absolútely considered and without any crosses whereas the irascible doth alwayes aime at the good which is inuironed with some difficulty the which she striues to vanquish to the end shee may take all obstacles from the concupiscible power which crosse her content and hinder her from enioying the good which she desires to attaine vnto so as the irascible is as a sword and target to the concupiscible for that she combates for her content and resists any thing that may crosse her There are many things proue that they are two different and distinct powers For as Mathematicians hauing noted diuers apparent irregularities in the Planets and obserued that they seem sometimes to hasten their course and sometimes to slacke it sometimes they stand as it were fixed and sometimes to returne backe in the Zodiaque sometimes they seem neare to the earth sometimes they appear far off they haue held it necessary to multiply their heauens and to giue them many to auoyd all disorder in these excellent bodyes of the Vniuerse In like manner the diuersity of passions in man the contrary motions desires wherewith his soule is tost haue let philosophers vnderstand that there is in him not onely a concupiscible power but also an irascible for that many times we haue a desire of that which wee striue against and resist with vehemency and if wee suffer our selues to be vanquished wee are grieued as hee who desiring to see the bodies of such as had beene executed suppressed this desire and diuerted his eies from this infamous spectacle yet suffering himselfe to bee vanquished by his curiosity and hauing cast his eyes thereon witnessed his griefe and sorrow which remained to haue giuen so brutish a contentment to his eyes Whereby it appeares that desire and anger are two diuerse faculties seeing that one power is not carried at one instant to contrary desires And we finde in our selues that often times wee are inclined to angry passions are not much mooued with those of the concupiscible or to the contrary In like manner there are creatures which haue desires but no motions of choler as for example Sheepe Pigeons and Turtles make shew to haue impressions of desires and yet there appeareth in them no signe of anger So as to obserue their dispositions well we may call in question that which Aristotle saith that there is no creature but hath some touch of choler finally wee may obserue that sometimes the irascible makes vs to pursue things which are absolutely contrary to the concupiscible as when with the hazzard of life which is so deere and precious to all creatures we seeke to reuenge our selues of a powerfull enemy which hath wronged vs. For this reuenge which puts our life in danger cannot proceede from the same power which desires passionately to preserue it and so the irascible and concupiscible are two different powers And there is no part of passion properly taken but in these two sensitiue faculties which is one of the things wee gather from the definition wee haue giuen It appeares also by the same definition that the passions of our soule should alwayes bee followed with a sensible alteration in the body by the impression of the sensitiue appetite touched with the imaginatioÌ„ of good or euill which presents it selfe And here first we must not wonder if the â—oule doth impart her motions and causeth such great alteration in the body seeing that the body doth impart his paines when as it suffers any violence For if it be laid on the racke broken on a wheele or cast into the fire the soule grones vnder the burden of his torments the which happens for that beeing vnited as forme and matter and making but one body which growes from their vnion of necessity all things must bee common vnto them except those things which repugne and cannot agree with their particular natures and therfore by a certaine contagion they communicate their passions one vnto another But in this subiect there is a stronger reason for the which the soule excites these alterations in the body by her passions that is to say for that the soule doth not onely reside in the body as the forme but doth preside there in quality of the moouing cause by meanes whereof she doth change and alter it at her will For as the intellectuall power which mooues a heauen applying her vertue to mooue it makes it to change place and drawes it from East to West or from West to East euen so the soule which hath a moouing power commanding ouer the body changeth his naturall disposition and by her agitation puls him from his rest wherein hee was before shee troubled him in this
soule as the enuy wee beare to them that are fortunate discouers a wicked dispositioÌ„ wherfore we disseÌ„â—ble not the Hatred we beare to such as wee know are wicked whereas wee disguise all we can the enuy we conceiue against them that are happy Againe Enuy kindling in our hearts by the great prosperity of another when as they decline and that we see them ouerthrowne by some notable accident of misfortune it relents and is by little and little quenched yea it is most certaine that enuious men are glad to haue some cause of pitty whereas Hatred and enmities neuer ceasâ—e for all the calamities which befall their enemies but when they are once framed and fixed to any one they neuer abandon him neither in good nor bad fortune Moreouer Hatreds and enmities are sometimes cured and quenched by letting the party that is tormented with this passioÌ„ know that he to whoÌ„ he wisheth euill hath not done him any wrong or that he hath changed his inclinatioÌ„ is become a good vertuous maÌ„ moreouer that he hath done him some kind of pleasure in occasions which haue bin offered to oblige him But althogh you perswade a man that hee hath not receiued any wrong from him that is happy and fortunate yet it doth not quench his enuy and in stead of suppressing it with this consideration that he is a good man and that hee hath indeauoured to doe him fauours yet he will shew it the more and let the world see that he can neither indure his prosperity nor his benefits for that the one proceeds from the good fortune which doth accompany him and the other is an effect of his vertue which are two recommendable things coÌ„sequently subiect to Enuy Lastly these two Passions differ in regard of the diuerse ends which they propound vnto themselues for Enuy hath that in particular that shee doth not alwayes cause vs to wish great miseries to those we enuy for wee see it dayly by experience that there are some which enuy their own kinsmeÌ„ or friends yet they would be loth to see any great misery befall them or an affliction which might tend to their ruine contenting themselues to crosse their prosperities and to hinder the lustre and glory of their fortunes But Hatred passeth further still watching for an occasion to ruine his enemy and is neuer satisfied with his miseries vntill they haue brought him to the period of his downefall So as shee induceth vs to procure irremediable mischiefs and extreame calamities to those whom shee pursues with obstinacy Wee must now seeke the source and fountaine of Hatred and shew what the causes be that frames it As she consists in the auersion of things which are contrary to our senses it may spring from three causes principally that is to say from choler from reproches or slanders and from the crosses or discommodities which wee receiue As for the first an Ancient had reason to say that hatred is an inueterate or rooted choler not that time doth change one of these passions into another for the Philosophers will neuer confesse that one kinde may passe into the nature of another but for that choler hauing exasperated our courage if wee entertaine long the forme of an offence which doth gall vs in the end wee lay aside choler and beginne to hate him against whom our wrath was kindled So as choler is not of the Essence of hatred but many times the cause As for the second it is certain that nothing doth more excite our Hatred then slanders reproches the which may euen trouble the wisest and most vertuous for wee haue seene great Personages who had as it were renounced all feeling of the other Passions yeelde o the griefe of detraction and haue suffered themselues to haue beene so caried away with griefe of minde as they haue fallen into a generall disdaine of all the world and to abhorre all Mankind by reason of the fury of such as had defamed them So as slander is like to a huge waue which wrests the helme out of the Marriners hand for that she troubles the most vertuous and makes theÌ„ to giue way to the griefs of Hatred Besides if they which slander vs giue vs other crosses and are the cause of some notable preiudice as if they accuse vs before the Magistrate if they bring vs in questioÌ„ of our liues if they cause vs to lose our goods if they persecute our kinsmen if they torment our friends all these causes together frame a deepe Hatred in our soules the which retaine for euer the forme of these bloody iniuries vnlesse they make some great and solemne satisfaction Finally the reasons why choler detraction and crosses or discommodities ingender Hatred is for that all these things tending to the destruction of the being or honour of men they are so many subiects and spurres of Hatred against those that procure them those displeasures Yet Hatred is not framed in our hearts by these causes onely but there are other particular motiues from whence it may proceed as when we see our selues deceiued in our trust and of the good opinion we had of men to whom we were tied by affection Wherefore an Ancient had reason to say that Hatred is commonly framed in our soules by our bad elections for that wee loue before we know and before wee haue tried the merit and fidelity of those to whom we will trust so rich a treasure as friendship We are too easily perswaded that they are vertuous and worthy of all fauour and confidence and in the meane time wee finde them treacherous and vnworthy so as wee fall into such a disdaine and do so abhorre them as we cannot inindure to heare them spoken of Finally to draw to a head the causes of this Passion wee hate vgly and deformed things as the monsters and scorners of nature and arte and those which are filthy troublesome and importune for that wee esteeme them as enemies to our senses and content As for those which are subiect to the motions of this Passion wee obserue that faint and base mindes are sooner mooued then generous spirits The reason is for that Cowards feare euery thing so as their hatred is inflamed against all such as they thinke may hurt them bee it in their person in their goods or in regard of their friends Hence it growes that great men which haue no courage are commonly cruell as we haue monstrous examples in Nero Caligula and other effeminate Princes whose rage no murthers could satisfie And for the same reason they that haue offended a great Personage who hath meanes to reuenge himselfe hate him irreconciliably which makes them to desire his death to see themselues freed from feare Whence groweth that famous saying He that offends neuer pardons The proud and enuious are also subiect to the motions of Hatred The first for that they thinke they are not honored as they should be and the last for that all the prosperities
vnlesse it extend vnto the senses Wherefore some affirme that this kinde of ioy is found in the Essence of God and in the nature of Angels And they are accustomed to propound a question vpon this subiect which be the greatest pleasures and delight most whether those of reason or those of the senses But the answer is easie for that vndoubtedly the intellectuall and those of the minde if we consider them in themselues are more delightfull then those of the senses And this made Aristotle to say that the sweetest and most pleasing content wee can haue in this life is that which proceedes from the exercises and actions of wisedome which is spent in the contemplation of the first causes The reason why the pleasures of the minde haue an aduātage ouer those of the body is for that to cause pleasure or delight in vs there must concurre three things that is to say the obiect vnited to the power the power to the which it is vnited and the actuall vnion of the one with the other which presupposeth knowledge of this good As for example to beget the pleasures of our taste there must bee delicate meates a taste well disposed and moreouer the vnion of these two things must bee made by the naturall organs with his knowledge that must receiue the impression of this pleasure For if the most exquisite meates were put into the mouth of a man that slept hee should receiue no pleasure for that hee had no feeling nor knowledge And first of all the goods of the minde in the enioying whereof consist the intellectuall pleasures are more noble and more louely then all the goods of the senses and body whereof we haue a notable proofe in that wee see men yea most abandoned to vice depriue themselues of the sweetest pleasures of the body to purchase glory which is a good of the mind So they sayd of Caesar who in his great inclination to loue and women renounced all his pleasures to get the honor of a Triumph Moreouer the power of the will in which is made the impression of these kinde of Pleasures being intellectuall and much more excellent then the senses which are corporeall the actions which she produceth and which are followed by these Pleasures are also more noble then those which deriue from the senses And by consequence the vnion which is made of spirituall obiects with the will is farre more strict more worthy and more durable then that which happens betwixt the senses and the obiects which they pursue It is more strict for that the senses regard onely the superficies of things and doe not busie themselues but to consider the accidents which inuiron them as colours smelling noyse sweetnesse and the like whereas the vnderstanding pierceth into the Essence and substance of the obiects It is more worthy for that it is made without any alteration or corporeall change whereas the obiect pleasing to the senses cannot be vnited with them but it will cause some kinde of change which is full of imperfection It is more durable for that the obiects of the sēses are of perishable goods which soon faile whereas the obiects of the minde are of eternall felicity which continues for euer Yet it is true that the obiects of the senses make a more violent impression in our soules and that the pleasure which we receiue toucheth vs much more then that which the spirits gathers from the obiects which are pleasing vnto it The which happens first for that the goods of the body are borne with vs encrease with vs and are preserued with vs· So as handling them daily and hourely we haue a more exact knowledge then of the goods of the vnderstanding which are remoued from vs. We haue said that knowledge is necessary for the enioying of pleasures wherefore where this knowledge hath least power there the pleasures are least sensible This also happens for that we vse pleasures as remedies and cures against the crosses troubles and cares of this life which are sweetned and as it were charmed by their presence But most men being either indisposed or not capable to raise themselues vp to spiritual consolations seeke and tye themselues to pleasing obiects which present thēselues easily to their senses The which is fortified for that the sweetnesse of obiects which delight our senses are suddainely tasted and doe not much trouble vs to seeke them It is an infallible Maxime in Philosophy that the obiects by their presence make a more powerfull impression in our soules then when they are absent And those things which giue vs least paine are most sweete in their acquisition so as for all these considerations the Pleasures of the body seeme vnto vs greater then those of the minde We may say in a word that those of the senses are more sēsible but these more perfect more excellent In the mean time all the wise men of the world exhort vs to set a careful guard ouer the Pleasures of the senses which they call the poyson of the minde For the which wee must the more carefully prouide for that these Passions are accompanied with a certaine sweetenesse which flatters vs at her first approach and surprizeth our iudgement and charmes it in such sort as it helpes to deceiue it selfe So as in this subiect wee must imitate those wise old men of Troy who counselled Priam to send backe Hellen to the Grecians and not suffer himselfe to be any longer abused with the charms of her great beauty for that keeping her within their City was to entertaine the siege of a fatall and dangerous warre and to nourish a fire which would consume it to ashes The euent did shew that it was wisely fore-seene and pronounced as an Oracle for in the same manner wee should chase from vs the obiects of Pleasures lest they be the cause of our ruine To which purpose an Ancient said That nature had engrafted no such pernicious Desires as those of the Pleasures of the body for that these desires growing vnbridled doe so enflame the courages where they get possession as they leaue nothing vndone to content their Passion Whence spring treacheries and treasons which make men to sell their friends and countrey from thence proceedes ruines and defolation of Estates the conspiracies against Common weales As it appeared in that of Catilyne who practized the ruine of Rome from thence the murthers violences burnings and all the miseries of this life take their spring and beginning The reason is for that pleasures quench the Iudgement and smother all the seedes of vertue and wisedome in man the which they effect more powerfully when they are most violent as it appeares in those which are transported with Loue who are not maisters of themselues but suffer themselues to be wholy guided by their Passions wherefore a wiseman of the world was wont to say that he had rather fall into frenzy then suffer himselfe to bee surprized with Pleasures for that
either from the condition of the thing which is not capable to satisfie our desire at one instant As we see in drinking and eating to which we must returne diuerse times to entertaine life Or from the imperfection of enioying as they which haue but tasted the first sweetnes of friendship desire to haue a fuller content Like vnto those which loue Poësie who hauing heard a peece of a goodly verse such as Vergil wrote wish to heare the rest to make their pleasure perfect Or else it growes from the nature it selfe of Pleasure which is so sweete as it inflames the soule to desire the continuance The which is seldome seene in the pleasures of the senses and of the body but which is felt with infinite delight by those which drink of that torrent of Pleasure which the Scripture describes vnto vs in heauen for they drinke eternally and are neuer satisfied We must also remember that there is great difference betwixt the Pleasures of the senses and of the minde for the delights of the senses charging and as it were importuning our naturall dispositions becomes troublesome and tedious as it falls out when we suffer our selues to be surprized with the excesse of eating and drinking Whereas those of the mind neuer exceed the carriage nor capacity of the naturall disposition of the soule but rather adde perfectiō to her nature wherefore when they are fully enioyed they delight most And if there be at any time a distaste it is for that the actiō of the mind is accōpanied with the action of the inferior powers the which being corporeall they are tired with the cōtinuance of so long an imployment Wherefore they call backe the spirit that it may giue some rest vnto the body And doubtlesse it is the onely reason why those happy soules are neuer weary to behold the diuine Essence for that the contemplation of this pleasing obiect doth not ouercharge nor weaken the spirits but doth ease and fortifie them And moreouer she doth not worke by the meanes of the senses and corporeall Organs which are subiect to grow slack in their actions I might adde that this happy contemplation of the diuine Essence is alwayes accompanied with new subiects of admiration in regard wherof it can neuer be troublesome and moreouer although the obiect bee soueraignely simple yet it comprehends all the good things which may fall into the thought or desire of man so as it can neuer cause any distaste But this belongs vnto another discourse The pleasure of the senses produceth a pernicious and dangerous effect in vs it binds our reason and takes away the vse the which happens by three occasions The first for that imploying the soule wholly in the feeling and enioying of the sweetenesse which doth accompany it she retires it from the consideration of all spirituall goodnesse and makes it lesse capable of reason in regard of the heate of the passion which doth agitate it Secondly for that most part of the pleasures of the body at the least when they tend to excesse and disorder are contrary to the motions of reason And it is an vndoubted truth That one contrary doth alwayes expell and destroy another wherefore pleasure yeeldes no place to the motions of Reason The which made Aristotle to say that although that pleasure corrupts not the Theory and simple knowledge wee haue of things as for example she doth not hinder vs from knowing that a Triangle hath three corners and that the whole is bigger then its parts distinctly comprized yet shee depraues the iudgement and hinders the esteeme wee should make by the lawes of wisedome of that which is good For that although we know well that temperance is a vertue yet we flie it for that it is cōtrary to the pleasures of our senses which suffers vs not to esteeme it as we ought The third is for that the pleasures of the senses cause a greater and a more violent alteration and change in our bodies then that of the other Passions The reason is for that wee imbrace with more vehemency and tie our selues more strictly to the obiects which please vs when they are present then when they are absent These changes and sensible alterations in the body cause trouble to the soule As it appeares in those which are surprized with wine in whose actions there is no shew of reason the excesse of wine hauing altered their braine and made them incapable of the functions of the mind But honest and moderate Pleasure addes perfection to her actions as beauty and a good grace giues the last ornament to youth aswell for that she is the end and scope which wee propound vnto our selues when we meane to worke as also for that shee makes her actions agreeable by the content she ingrafts in our senses So as to entertaine this Pleasure shee causeth vs to imploy our selues with more heate and attention to accomplish them Wherefore an Ancient sayd that nature had ioyned Pleasure to actions necessary for the entertainment of the life of creatures or for the preseruation of their kinds as eating drinking and generation to the end it might bee as salt which seasoneth meate That is to say to the end it might make those actions delightfull and that the creatures might not bee drawne vnto them with distaste And touching that which concernes the allurements and inticements of honest Pleasures we must still remember the wise counsell of Aristotle who perswades vs not to obserue them at their first approach but at their parting for that although the entry bee sweete and pleasant the end is alwayes bitter and tragicall They say that among the Pagans there was a Temple of Diana whose image did shew a sadde and seuere countenance to those that entred to worship it but at their departure it seemed more pleasant and smiling But it is contrary in Pleasures for at their first approach they present nothing but roses and sweete contents and in the end they leaue vs nothing but thornes and importune griefes especially for that they diuert vs from the soueraigne Good and from the loue of spirituall delights without the which our soules can finde no solide nor soueraigne content Of Griefe and Heauinesse CHAP. 1. AS among all creatures there is not any one exposed vnto so many outrages of Fortune as man whom we may rightly tearme an image of misery and weaknes So it is most certaine that there is not any Passion wherewith hee is more afflicted in this life then with Griefe and Sorrow whose obiects present themselues continually to his sense and mind Wherefore although that by the light which we finde in contrary things when they are opposed and compared one with another we may iudge of the condition of Griefe and Sorrow by that which we haue spoken of Pleasure and Delight yet for a more ample knowledge of a thing which is so common vnto vs it shall be fit to treate more exactly vpon this subiect Griefe then is
a violent Passion of the Soule entertained by some sensible discontent Or else Griefe is a torment of the mind and body Or againe Griefe is a Passion of the mind afflicted by some kind of euill which presents it selfe Or to describe it more particularly Griefe is a Passion of the Soule which riseth from a discontent she receiueth from obiects contrary to her inclinations which present themselues vnto the senses and afflict them But wee must obserue that there are two kinds of Griefe The one which resides in the sensuall Appetite and the other hath his seate in the rationall This last which afflicts the minde is properly called heauines and differs from the other for that a sensible Griefe is alwayes accompanied with a visible alteration and change of the body which is moued whereas the Griefe of the mind hath not alwayes an agitation of the body but most commonly containes it selfe within the bounds of the power where it is framed in regard whereof it is sometimes attributed to God and the Angells These two kinds of Griefe differ also one from another for that the cause of the sensible Griefe resides in the body which suffers some violent impression that alters it But the cause of the intellectuall Griefe resides in the rationall part and in the mind which represents vnto it selfe the euill which she receiues from the obiects which present themselues vnto her thought They differ againe for that the apprehension and knowledge which the exterior senses haue of things they do only regard the present obiects which make an actuall impression in them but the vnderstanding not only conceiues things present but euen those that are past and which may happen or fall vnder the imagination of man Hence it comes that corporeall Griefe which followeth the apprehension which present things make in the senses growes onely from the presence of obiects contrary to their inclinations Whereas the Griefe of the mind following the knowledge of the vnderstanding may grow from obiects that are present past or to come and from those which man doth presuppose may succeed vnto him So as the noblest powers of our soule and those which are the richest ornaments of our nature as the vnderstanding imagination and memory helpe to increase our paines and to augment our afflictions As if the presence of heauen which giues vs some prerogatiue ouer beastes should make vs more miserable For the most sauage beastes flie dangers when as they present themselues vnto their eyes But being escaped they remaine quiet and assured whereas we not only torment our selues for the euill which doth oppresse vs but euen for which is not yet happened But you must vnderstand that to speake properly Griefe which is one of the Passions of the soule is that which is framed in the sensitiue appetite with a visible alteration of the body which is agitated and moued exteriorly by the euill or paine which it suffers So as the cause doth reside in the body which receiues some kind of outrage But the motion of Griefe is alwayes framed in the soule for that the body is not capable but by the presence of the soule Wee must also remember that as to excite Pleasure in our senses the pleasing obiect must not only be vnited but also knowne and perceiued by the senses as we haue formerly obserued so to cause Griefe the afflicting obiect must touch our senses so as by the impâ—â—ssion it makes thâ—y must pâ—rcâ—iue at it 〈◊〉 painefull For it is certaine that as there is no good but that which is sensibly present can cause Pleasure to the senses so there is not any but a present euill can procure a sensible Griefe But vnder the obiect of Griefe we comprehend not only the euill which afflicts vs but also the good which we haue lost For euen as the weight of bodies causeth that not only they haue an inclination to rest in the center but also is the cause that they are neuer farre remote without suffering a visible violence in their nature So men are naturally carried not only to Loue but with a sensible Griefe of their losse So the couetous man torments himselfe for the losse of his wealth The voluptuous is grieued to see an end of the obiects of his content The mother afflicts her selfe for her only son we see many who after good cheare great feasts and dancings hauing spent the time in all kind of Pleasures suddenly grow heauy and pensiue and yet can giue no reason of this sudden change which proceeds only from the disquietnesse of our minds which grieues at contentments past and afflicts it selfe the which makes him heauy and this heauinesse conuerts into melancholy which augments his anguish and torments him without any other forme of euill that presents it selfe vnto his senses As for the causes of griefe and Heauinesse being consisidered in regard of their subiects where they incounter we obserue three For first of all our Cupidities and Desires do many times cause great vexation and discontents as when any one is surprized with the Loue of a pleasing obiect if they hinder the enioying or but only delay the possession they are so many thornes of Griefe which pierce his soule For as the hope to obtaine the possession causeth Pleasure and Delight so the despaire to attaine vnto that we passionatly desire giues cruell afflictions and insupportable torments Moreouer the Loue wee beare to the preseruation of our beiâ—g doth oftentimes cause sorrow and 〈…〉 for that we apprehend the destruction euen as wee see all creatures afflict theÌ„selues for that which offends them and are very carefull to shelter their bodies from all outrage Wherefore wee may say that Griefe is no other thing but an apprehension and feeling of the destruction of our good which makes vs impatient Thirdly the soule helpes to afflict herselfe whether that melancholy workes this effect or that the continuall afflictions oppresse her in such sort as she doth nothing but sigh vnder the burthen of sorrow and like vnto a bad Pilot which abandons his ship to the waues and storme shee suffers her selfe to be so ouercome with Griefe as she augments her owne paine and increaseth her misery For we often see men who in the middest of their afflictions and discontents do nothing but sigh and powre forth teares and will not yeeld themselues capable of any kind of consolation But although wee shew our selues more sensible of the Griefe of the senses then that of the mind yet it is most certaine that the interior Griefes which afflict the soule are much greater then the exterior paines which torture the body For that the apprehension of the mind and imagination is much more powerfull and more noble then that of the senses and especially then that of feeling which hath the greatest share in corporeall paines For proofe whereof wee see great courages to auoyd inferior Griefe expose themselues voluntarily to the exterior paines of torments and punishments
as if amiddest the mourning of our friends we chance to laugh vnaduisedly when wee enter into consideration with ourselues this lightnesse doth displease vs for that laughter agrees not well with mourning and there is nothing doth accord and concurre better with the condition of miserable men theÌ„ teares wherefore they are pleasing vnto them and by consequence sweeten their torments And not onely the teares which afflicted persons poure forth are sweete vnto theÌ„ but euen those of their friends do comfort them whereof wee may yeeld two reasons the one for that naturally they who grone vnder any burtheÌ„ feele his hand sweete which labours to discharge them or which helpe to support them So friends from whom pitty and compassion wrest teares in the middest of their friends misery endeauoring as it were to ease him of the burthen which doth presse him downe sweeten his paine and make him endure his affliction with more constancy and resolution The other for that he that sees his friends participate with his Griefe knowes thereby that their affections are sound and that they loue him sincerely which is the sweetest thing that may happen in this life wherfore this thought makes his affliction more supportable whereby hee comforts himselfe in his discontent But all these remedies are not so powerfull against Griefe as the contemplation of the first truth which dispersing her beames in our soules fills them with so pleasing a splendour as they remaine rauisht with ioy and content For it is certaine that this kind of contemplation is so sweete and delightfull of it selfe as it expells and disperseth all his cares and Griefe that applies himselfe vnto it The which shee workes the more powerfully if the soule be enflamed with the loue of true wisedom which consists in the contemplation of the first cause which is God So as the soule reioyceth in the middest of the afflictions of this life thinking still of the sweete Idea's of the glory of heauen In regard whereof some Martyres haue giuen a thousand testimonies of ioy in the midst of their torments And some marching bare-footed vpon burning coales haue protested constantly and truely that they thought they trod vpon Roses But we haue spoken sufficiently of Griefe in generall let vs now come vnto the buddes which she produceth and to the species in particular which are contayned vnder the generall as miserie indignation enuy and emulation without the explayning whereof this treaty would be imperfect Of Mercy and Indignation CHAP. 2. ALthough there bee some Philosophers who obseruing the impression and wound which the pitty wee haue of another mans miseries makes in our hearts haue absolutely condemned al the motions of this Passion as vnworthy the greatnesse of our courrages Yet we must confesse that amidst so many strange accidents which happen in the course of this life amiddest the great pouâ—rties and miseries of men the cruel infirmities banishments tortures punishments shipwracks burnings slaughters and all other calamities aswell priuate as publicke which makes them miserable they must haue abandoned all feeling of humanity if they should not be toucht with Griefe when as these miseries offer theÌ„selues vnto their eyes For notwithstanding the saying of these Philosophers that great spirits in the which vertue hath taken deepe roote see all things without perturbation and wipe away the teares of those that weepe without any motion that is to say that men perfectly vertuous giue almes to the poore stretch forth their hands vnto him that is in danger of shipwracke vntie the bonds of those that are in seruitude giue liberty to a sonne for the teares of his mother interre the bloody carcasse of him who hath bene transpierced with wounds and yet his heart is not toucht with any feeling of all these miseries yea and in these accidents they retaine still the same countenance with the which they behold playes shewes vpon a theater These are words which haue more shew and pompe then solide truth Let vs then leaue this inhumaine Philosophy which makes men rather stupid then constant to become insensible of the miseries of this life and let vs consider more exactly of the true nature of this Passion which giues vs a commendable feeling Mercy is a Griefe or feeling which we haue of another mans miseries whom we hold worthy of a better fortune This feeling and Griefe is framed in our soules for that we consider that what hath befallen him may happen to all the world And particularly for that wee imagine that the like misfortune may ouertake vs or some one of our friends for it is most certaine that such as feele their hearts toucht with pitty must bee in that estate as they thinke that either themselues or their friends may fall into the like accident and runne into the same misfortune that he hath done whose misery doth moue them to this commiseration Wherefore first of all they that are at the height of humaine miseries and cannot feare a more wretched condition then that whereunto they are reduced are neuer toucht with any kind of compassion for that no kinde of Griefe presents it selfe vnto their eies but they think they haue tried it And also for that they imagine that all the afflictions which may happen are as it were mixed with those they suffer Secondly they that at the height of worldly felicity haue no feeling of pitty but are rather transported with insolency and contempt then to haue any compassion of the miserable For imagining themselues to enioy all kind of ioyes contentments they presume that no disaster can befall them which may ouerthrow their fortunes for that this confidence is as a part of their felicity This second consideration made Aristotle to say that Mercy had no place in the diuine Essence for that it is soueraignely happy and that nothing is able to trouble or diminish her felicity But here he considers Mercy as a sensible Passion which doth moue and mollifie the heart and doth imprint a feeling of another mans misery in his soule which desires to releeue him And of this sort without doubt there can bee no Mercy found in God who is as free from Humaine Passions as the heauens and plannets are exempt from the qualities and impressions of the Elements but taking Mercy according to her effect which is to releeue the miserable were to ruine mankind which subsists by his bounty to deny that it is in him For this soueraigne felicity which hee enioyeth from all eternity without any apprehension that he may euer lose it doth not hinder him to releeue vs in our afflictions to draw vs out of our misery by the sole inclination of his bounty who hath nothing common with the hardnesse of Tyrants nor with the stupidity of the wretched But let vs returne to our discourse They that are capable of Mercy are such as first of all imagine themselues to bee subiect to the accidents of this life and who haue already tried and
sinnews in the body for as by meanes of sinnewes we extend â—r bend the members so by the operations of Passions wee carry our selues to good or euill and if wee will imploy them to good they are as it were spurres and obiects But if wee turne them to euill our sensuality makes vse of them like vnto him that keepes a slaue who makes vse of his chaine to draw him where he pleaseth So as the triumph of vertue consists not in pulling away or rooting out the Passions as monsters but in ruling and reforming them like vnto insolent and disobedient children for they grow in vs and are as the fruits buds of our sensuality which haue onely need to be made subiect vnto reason Finally they that haue any other opinion must remember that wee cannot wholy pull away the defects which proceed from nature And that may by our industry correct and moderate that which is borne with vs but not vanquish it and suppresse it wholy wherefore wisedom may not promise vnto it selfe any thing in this subiect seeing she hath no power The Passions are absolute and depend not on the Empire of vertue They present themselues vncalled Of Loue. The Preface AN Ancient sayd that to expell Youth out of our townes were to cut off the Spring time of the yeare But we may maintaine with no lesse truth that to banish Loue from a ciuill life and the conuersation of men were not only to depriue the yeare of her goodliest season but also as it were to pull the Sunne out of the firmament and to fill the whole world with horror and confusion For what is there in this life bee it amidst honors and glory in riches and treasures yea in delights and pleasures that can giue a full and sound content vnto man without the communication of the sweetenes thereof to friends Wherefore an excellent Philosopher said that if any one were raised aboue the heauens from whence he might behold all the wonders of nature and of the world and see with amazement the reuolutions periods order diuersity beauty of the Planets and Stars and had no friend to whom hee might impart this admiration all these things in steed of fulnesse of ioy would become displeasing and importune to his thoughts For as colours which are the most exquisite ornaments of nature how liuely and glistring so euer they be wil notwithsâ—aÌ„ding be darkned giue no pleasure to our eies if they were not enlightned and as it were inspired by the light which discouers vnto vs the singularities and perfections so what wealth or honor soeuer we enioy in this life we cannot tast the sweetnes therof but in representing vnto our selues the contentment which comes to theÌ„ we loue and whom we thinke haue an equal Passion on our behalfe Epaminondas gloried to haue won 2 battels his Father mother being yet liuing as if the ioy that those persons conceiued which were so neere to him had made his victories more stately increased the glory pompe of his triumphs In like manner there is no man liuing which in the cours of his prosperities doth not feel as it were an increase of happinesse when as he imagines that his friends are spectators partakers of his felicity And moreouer what can be sweeter to our thoughts then the image of a true constant loue which we are assured our frend doth beare vs What happinesse to haue a friend to whom we may safely open our hart and trust him with our most important secrets without appreheÌ„sion of his coÌ„science or any doubt of his fidelity What content to haue a friend whose discourse sweetens our cares whose counsells disperse our feares whose conuersation charmes our griefs whose circuÌ„spection assures our fortunes whose only prâ—sence fils vs with ioy and content Seeing then loue is a Passion which doth produce such sweete and pleâ—sing contents in the society of men we will endeauour to shew what his beginning is wherein his essence consists to what Persons it extends and what the effects bee Of the beginning of Loue. CHAP. 1. AS it is the custome of men to refer the noblest effects to the most excellent causes many considering the dignity of loue haue imagined that this Passion came from a particular impression which God makes in our Soules inspiring into them with the nature the affections which transport them and which makes them seeke the obiects which are pleasing vnto them The which they striue to proue by the example of the naturall inclinations which he hath giuen to other Creatures Wee see say they that God as the Author of nature hath ingrafted into light things an inclination to rise vpward to seeke the place of their rest by reason whereof the fire doth alway send his flame towards heauen And in like manner hee hath imprinted in heauy things a naturall inclination which makes them tend to the center so as stones marbles and such like do alwayes bend downeward do not hang in the aire but with violence and contrary to their inclination In the same manner say they God hath ingrafted in man a certain inclination to those things which haue some beames of beauty or bounty so as when these obiects come to incounter his eyes or minde he is rauished and then presently there is framed in his heart an ardent desire to seeke and pursue them They confirme this opinion by the diuerse inclinations which shine in the life of men from their birth For wee see some loue painting naturally others take delight in Geometry some are passionatly affected to the Liberall Arts others imbrace the Mechanicks some loue Hunting others burne with a desire of Play some are borne to War others are inclined to Mildnes and peace some haue no contentment but in solitarinesse and others cannot liue without the mannaging of affaires And whence say they proceed these so different inclinations but from the author of nature The which they confirme againe by the example of things which happen often in the loue which men beare one vnto another for that it will sometimes fall out that by a certaine simpathy of mindes wee shall loue at the first incounter a man whom we haue neuer before seene nor knowne So as it seemes this affection doth not then disclose it selfe in our soules taking forme so suddenly and sweetly but it is rather quickned and awaked by the presence of the obiect which makes vs to see that which we loue instantly without delay for that wee knew him not finding him so conformable to our humors and inclination The which hath made some presuppose that the beames of their eyes which loue incountering with the beames which proceed from the obiect which inflames them makes so sweete a mixture as their vnion is as it were the fulnesse of al the delights which may be tasted in this life And contrariwise at the first incounter wee shall haue a distast of some other person whom we
had neuer seene before Doth not this proue say they that it is nature which frames in vs this Passion and so they conclude that it cannot proceed but from the Author of nature others prefer the cause of loue to the Planets Starres and constellations and presuppose that the reason why Achilles loued Patroclus Alexander Hephestion and the Queene of the Amazons Alexander And to come to moderne examples that Charles the ninth loued the Marshall of Rais that Henry the third loued the Dukes of Ioyeuse and Espernon and Monsier de Termes that Henry the fourth loued the Duke of Suilly and that the King now gloriously reigning loues the Duke of Luines and his brethren are all effects of the aspects of the Planets which incountered at the natiuities of these Princes and Noblemen Others seeke the cause in the Parents as if they which bring vs into the world with our being did transfer and infuse into vs their Passions Others refer it to the good or bad education we receiue according to which wee frame our desires and affections The Platonicians imagine that wee must seeke it in the degrees of the harmony which is found in Soules which they beleeue are compounded as of a consort and proportion of numbers the which incountering equally in two persons incites them to loue one another But this is very mystical and requires a spirit accustomed to the imaginations of Plato To come then to the point it is certaine that God hath infused into our soules the seedes of loue seeing that he hath giuen vs the powers which are capable It is also certaine that the influence of the Planets may cōtribute to this Passion for that it resides in the concupiscible appetite the which is a sensitiue power and depends of the body ouer whose motions the Planets haue a kind of power It is also visible that nurture education sometimes the inclinations which our Parents haue ingrafted in vs may haue a share in the motions of our affections But to speake according to the rules of Philosophy wee must say precisely and absolutely that the bounty of things whether they bee found in them or that wee imagine them to be is the Spring beginning and mouing cause of the loue wee beare them For God the Author of nature who hath created all things in number weight measure hath also imparted to all Creatures inclinations and motions necessary to attaine vnto their ends So hee hath infused into his vnderstanding an inclination which makes him passionately to seeke the truth and to imbrace it when hee hath found it And in like manner hee hath ingrafted in the wil a desire and loue of good which is the only obiect which may moue it and enflame it to pursue it And as colours are the obiect of the sight which drawe it by a certaine attraction which growes from a naturall simpathy which is betwixt them like vnto that which is betwixt our vnderstanding and truth betwixt the eye and colours and betwixt the hearing and sounds Hence it growes that there is so strict a cōnexion betwixt the will and the good as the will cannot loue any thing which hath not a shew of good So as if it bee at any time deceiued and imbraceth the euill it is vnder a veile and shew of good which is imployed to abuse it and the like may bee sayd of the sensitiue appetite which in its motions follows the same instincts that the will doth But when as wee say that the good is the obiect of our will and loue vnder this good wee comprehend that which is faire for that goodly things haue an equall power with those things that bee good to inflame our wills as also beauty and bounty in effect are all one and differ not but only in our imagination The which the Platonicians demonstrate by excellent reasons calling loue simply a desire of beauty Yea to shew that beauty is louely of it selfe as well as bounty they adde that beauty which shines in the body is as it were a beame or image of the infinite beauty which is in God wherefore we admire it and loue it passionatly when it presents it selfe vnto our eyes and then say they the beauty of the body is also an image of the beauty of the mind for that the internall perfections ingender the externall as the lustre of pretious stones pearles growes from the perfect mixture of the foure Elemēts which are found in their constitution as flowers and leaues of trees borrow their beauty from the roote and as in beasts the good interior constitution is the cause of the beauty which appeares in the countenance So then wee conceiue that the external beauty of the body proceeds from the internall bounty of the mind so as bounty seemes to bee the roote of beauty and beauty the flower of that bounty which shines in creatures And therefore hee that containes himselfe within his bounds and in the innocency of loue seeing the beauty of the body imagines as it is true that this pleasing obiect is a beame of the infinit and immense beauty whereof the essence of God is as it were the center from whence shee deriues and takes her beginning and consequently that it is as it were a sience of the interior beauty which shines in the soule from whence the body hath taken life Thus the Platonicians proue that beauty as well as bounty makes an impression in our wills and proportionably inflames our desires begets affections and Passions which makes vs to seeke it But leauing all other reasons to proue this assertion wee will content our selues with the saying of Aristotle That to demaund why wee loue beautifull things were a question fit for a blind man for that the eyes feele and know how powerfull the charmes are to make an impression in the Soule By this which wee haue spoken it is easie to bee gathered that loue hath for obiect and mouing cause the bounty and beauty of things which by the sweetnes of the beames they cast forth make so powerfull an impression in our soules as they remaine as it were rauished or rather charmed with so pleasant a lustre so as to ascend vnto the Spring fountaine we must eleuate our selues to that great and immortal Essence which is as it were a notion of all the graces of all the beauties and of all the bounties which are infused into al the creatures We must I say raise vp our selues to that infinite and most happy Essence which is as it were the center from whence all the perfections which represent themselues so goodly vnto our eyes and so pleasing vnto our sense borrow their lustre and take their beginning And in this manner wee shall tie our affections to an obiect worthy of the generosity of their motions which should alwayes imitate the nature of fire which remaines vnwillingly in the earth and striues continually to mount towards heauen Finally wee must remember that Loue
of their equalls offend them They that loue themselues too much are wonderfull apt to the same motions for that they take euery thing as an iniury and are so nice as they cannot endure any man But as Loue springs from a feeling of good and Hatred from an apprehension of Euill it happens that for that the good things we enioy in this life are neuer pure nor much durable they make no great impression neither do they leaue any great remembrance nor Loue of them in our soules But contrariwise euill things being very sensible long take deepe rooting in our hearts where by reason of our corruption they are are as it were in their proper Element so as we do more easily preserue the seeds of Hatred then of Loue Wherefore an Aâ—â—ient sayd that he whic◠〈◊〉 with griefe remembers it but hee that enioyes pleasure forgets Finally if wee would make good vse of our Hatred wee must imploy it against vice and against those obiects the Loue and pursuite whereof may pollute our hearts and blemish the Image of God which shines in our soules This Hatred must take her course from causes contrary to those which we haue formerly said are proper to induce Loue. As for example to roote out of the soule a dishonest Loue we must leaue to thinke of it and diuert our minds and sences from the continuall contemplation of the image which beginnes to make vs to feele her power lest that the beames of so pernitious an obiect kindle and nourish in our hearts bad desires and moreouer to fortifie our Hatred we must iudiciously weigh the defects which may incounter in the subiect which we Loue. And of this sort from the most perfect creature in the world being subiect to great imperfection we may easily if wee will finde occasion to separate our selues Wee must in like manner represent the miseries which do commonly accompany the pursuites of Loue we must also set before our eyes the shipwracke of so many famous peâ—sonages which haue lost themselues vpon this shelfe We must represent the infidelities cares crosses paine and torments which this wretched Passion doth cause And aboue all a Christian should apprehend the wrath of God and the horror of his iudgements which hee powres out vpon vncleaenenesse But this belongs to another Discourse Of Desire or Cupidity and of the flight and horror we haue of things CHAP. 1. AS NATVRALL things being farre from their center haue no rest vntill they attaine vnto it so man hauing a particular inclination to good as soone as he propounds vnto himselfe the obiect and ties it to his imagination if the enioying bee denied him he feeles himselfe surprized with a certaine vehemency which makes him to seeke it passionately And if it bee a good of the mind his will is inflamed and if this good concernes the contentment of the body his sences receiue the impression and long to enioy it According to this last motion Philosophers affirme that there is Passion in man which they call Cupidity or Desire which concerneth those things which we possesse not and which we thinke are fit and proper to giue vs content This Cupidity or Desire is no other thing but a Passion wee haue to attaine vnto a good which we enioy not which we imagine is fitting for vs. It differs from Loue and Pleasure for that Loue is the first inclination the first taste or as we may say the first sweetnesse we feele of good things or of those which are goodly or faire which rauish our sences and breed in vs this desire and longing to enioy them after which hope doth arise the which succeding the effect filles vs with ioy and contentment which is properly the pleasure wee conceiue when the thing hath succeeded Or to deliuer it more plainely Desire differs from Loue and Pleasure for that Loue is the first motion and the first Passion we haue of any good thing without respect whether it be present or absent Desire is a Passion for a good that is absent and pleasure a contentment wee haue to enioy when wee haue gotten it Whereby it followes that Desire as we say is a particular Passion for that it regards a sensible good vnder a sensitiue consideration that is to say vnder this consideration that it is absent and that in this absence it drawes vnto it the affection of man to pursue it For the sensible good which is the obiect of the sensuall appetite moues otherwise when it is present then when it is absent For when it is present the Appetite is at rest by the presence of the thing beloued whereas being absent the Appetite is moued and agitated with a desire and longing to pursue it and get it But there are two kinds of Desires and Cupidities which may make impression in our senses the one is naturall the other rise from our choice the naturall are those which agree with the nature of the creature as drinking eating sleeping and these are common to men brute beasts for that both the one and the other haue obiects befitting their nature Those which arise from our election are such as regard the things which are not altogether necessary for the creature but man hath inuented them for his greater ease and commodity as the delights of drinking eating baths play sights riches honor reputation and such like As for naturall desires they are not infinite but haue their bounds for that as nature contents it selfe with a little so shee prescribes vnto her selfe certaine limitts within the which she containes herselfe tying herselfe to the obiect which is fitting without any diuersion But those which follow our election haue no bounds so they grow infinite For as they depend of the imagination of man as this power represents the formes and images of infinit obiects so these desires multiply infinitely to pursue all those good things which the imagination hath propounded Whereby it happens that representing at one instant any thing that seems pleasing or profitable we desire it passionately and then changing opinion wee wish another and after it a third So as we feele as it were a swarme of desires disclose themselues in our thoughts which draw vs to diuerse obiects without rule or measure For as no aboundance of water can satisfie them that are sicke of the dropsie so there is no kind of goodnesse or pleasure that may content our desires The ancient Philosophers compared the first matter to an infamous strumpet who is neuer glutted with present pleasure but doth still meditate vpon new imbracings for that the first matter is neuer content with the formes which she enioyes but still desires new not caring whether they be more noble then that wherewith she is adorned But we haue more reason to apply this comparison to our Cupidities and Desires which shew themselues insatiable in all they pursue with what kind of Passion soeuer And herein appeares the great misery of man who
the heauens makes his motion vppon the two Poles of the world which are as it were the two points where it beginnes and ends So it seemes that all the Passions of our soules depend vpon Pleasure and Paine which grow from the contentment or distaste which we receiue from the diuerse obiects which present themselues vnto vs in the course of this life If we loue it is for that wee finde a sweetnes in the subiect that doth rauish vs. And if we hate it is in regard that wee imagine the obiect which presents it selfe vnto our imagination is full of griefe contrary to our apprehension The pleasure wee take in the Idea of a good thing which we enioy not and yet promise to ourselues the possession in pursuing it constantly begets hope as contrariwise when we think it is not in our power to obtaine it the griefe wee haue afflicts vs and leades vs to despaire Desires in like manner are framed in vs by the imagination we haue of a benefit which may giue vs content and the distaste wee haue of things which we flie is for that we imagine they may cause our discontent and vexation So as in all the other Passions wee still finde Pleâ—sure and griefe intermixt in regard whereof wee may rightly tearme them the two springs and fountaines from whence deriue and flow all the other Passions Yet they haue their particular reasons and considerations which giue them their rancke and put them in the number of other Passions duly exactly considered Wherefore Pleasure or Delight is a Passion motion which is framed in our soules with a certaine sweetnes which filles our senses with contentment and ioy when as they receiue the impression by the enioying of a good which is pleasing vnto them Or else Pleasure is a Passion which proceedes from the sweetnesse which our senses receiue from the obiects which delight them Or to vse Aristotles definition Pleasure is a motion of the soule which putts it suddenly and sensibly in an estate fit for the nature of man Whereupon wee must first obserue that as things meerely naturall tend to their perfections by those meanes which nature hath prescribed so all creatures striue to attaine vnto those which are proper vnto them by the meanes which the same nature hath made subiect to their power But there is this difference betwixt inseÌ„sible creatures those which haue sense that the inseÌ„sible hauing attained to the height of their perfection feele no ioy So as it seemes the Sun is vnhappy in that respect that being indued with such a shining brightnesse and such perfect beauty yet it hath no feeling nor knowledge of his glory whereas creatures haue a feeling of their good when they haue gotten it So as this feeling filles their senses with ioy and causeth pleasure which makes their nature coÌ„tent let vs now see what conditioÌ„s are necessary to frame this delight to beget in vs the pleasure of things which touch our senses First of all the good must be vnited to our senses be it really in effect or in thought and imagination For wee must remember in all this Treaty of Humaine Passions that it imports not for to stir them vp that the obiect which incites the motions be really in the nature of things or simply in the imagination for that there are some men which suffer themselues to be more transported with the images which Fancy frames in their braines then by the true obiects of things which subsist really As we reade in Histories that a certaine Athenian called Thrasillus had a certaine foolish conceite that all the shipps with their loading which came into the Port of Pyrea were his But when as his friends had caused his braine to be purged and had brought him to his right senses he complained of them and blamed them for that they had depriued him of an infinite content Moreouer it is requisite in Pleasure that the obiect of good which makes an impression in our senses should be agreeable to our nature The which cannot be if it be not in some sort agreeable vnto their capacity Wherefore there must bee such an agreement and proportion betwixt the senses and obiect as there may bee betwixt them a certaine resemblance and affinity so as that which caused the Pleasure must neither bee too strong nor too weake to make his impression Wherefore a moderate light is more pleasing to our eyes then that which is more glistring And in like manner a sweete sound coÌ„tents the eare more then that which is loud And we take more delight in a speech which we vnderstand then when wee vnderstand not the words for that this intelligence wee haue of the words frames a kind of conformity betwixt them and vs whereby the speech doth insinuate sweetly into our eares and makes a more pleasing impression in our soule Thirdly it is requisite to breed delight in our senses that wee haue knowledge of the good which breeds the impression and that we find it is fit for vs that we enioy it either in effect or by imagination For that we cannot receiue any ioy of a thing vnknowne or which we find not that it is good for vs or are ignorant that it is in our power So a hidden friendship doth nothing touch vs and yet if we had any perfect knowledge we should be rauished with ioy and burne with desire to imbrace it Finally it is requisite to beget Pleasure in our soules that our Appetite from whence desires do arise should receiue an alteration or change by a sweet impression which the obiect being the cause makes in our senses For this sweetnesse is of the Essence of Pleasure which cannot subsist without her wherefore shee consists rather in the end of the motion then in all the rest of her progresse therefore Aristotle tearmes it not onely a motion but also a rest of the soule In the mean time there are two kinds of appetites in man that is to say the intellectuall which is the reasonable will and the sensitiue which is diuided into the Irascible and Concupiscible as we haue said the intellectuall reioyceth at good things which are conformable to reason whereof the vnderstanding is iudge And the Sensitiue takes delight in things which concerne the senses We also obserue this difference that those things which delight the senses cause a sensible alteration in the body As in ioy wee feele our heart open and dilate it selfe especially if this ioy proceede from an vnexpected thing which concernes vs much it may be so mooued and agitated as death may follow As it happened in those women of Carthage who hauing newes that their sonnes had beene slaine in battaile when as they saw them liuing before their eyes this ioy happening contrary to their hopes they dyed suddainely But the pleasures of reason cause no other thing then a simple motion of the will which reioyceth the minde without any alteration of the body
sayd hee Physitians may cure madnes by purging the braine with Helleborum whereas Pleasures depriue man of his iudgement without hope of remedy for his infirmity But for that there are Pleasures not only of the mind but of the body and senses which are meerely innocent as the Pleasure we receiue by Pictures Perfumes honest exercises and other things which bring a chast content it shall bee conuenient to know what the causes and obiects bee to the end wee may of our selues iudge which are lawfull and which are interdicted and to bee abhorred First then things necessary for preseruation of our nature as drinking and eating are pleasing vnto man and the which he vseth with a delight which moderation and temperance make innocent Secondly men take a singular delight in things to the which they haue beene long framed and accustomed for that custome is as it were another nature considering that the things whereunto wee haue bene accustomed and whereof there is framed a long habite by continuall exercise haue a great affinity with those of nature Thirdly the things which are conformable to our nature and disposition are pleasing for that they force vs not in any sort but insinuate sweetely into our senses Whereas on the other side whatsoeuer brings any constraint vexeth vs as studies serious affaires disputations and such like are importune and troublesome for that they constraine and force our inclinations vnlesse that custome hath taken away the bitternes Whereas their contrary please vs as rest sleepe play cessation from labour sights and such like in which wee finde not any constraint Fourthly whatsoeuer flatters our desires giues vs ioy and Pleasure for that these kinds of Cupidities are properly the desires of things which we imagine are pleasing and rauish our senses For whatsoeuer flatters our senses and delights our imagination causeth Pleasure and content So euery kind of good bee it that which is present or past or to come doth giue a content by the presence or by the imagination for that it delights our senses and is pleasing to our fancy which is a delicate power easily toucht with the sweeetnesse of her obiect how small soeuer Wherefore they that remember the good things which they haue tasted and those which they hope for in future hauing these things imprinted in their fancy feele a ioy Whereby it appeares plainely that all Pleasure and Delight consists either in the feeling of things present or in the remembrance of things past or in the hope of those which are to come For we taste and feele the present we remember those that are past and we hope for the future And doubtlesse the things which are grauen in our memory please vs much not only those which were sweete in the action but euen those which we haue tasted with some bitternesse especially when as the paines and toiles we haue indured are ended to our profite honor which made an Ancientto say that it was a sweete thing to remember trauailes past So souldiers glory of their dangers past and relate with singular content the wounds they haue receiued in combatts They which haue escaped dangers at Sea or made great and desperate voyages by land haue the same content to relate the hazards and fortunes which they haue runne and surmounted The reason of this ioy and the cause of this content is for that it is a sweete thing to be freed from a mischiefe especially when it hath giuen vs great afflictions and apprehensions But as for that which regards things which depend of hope all those things whose presence and enioying we imagine will bee pleasing or profitable and which will cause vs no kind of discontent excite Pleasure in our senses be it when we remember them or when wee hope for them So as whatsoeuer we imagine as a good which may befall vs is pleasing vnto our thoughts By reason whereof as wee will shew hereafter we feele a content in choller for that no man is angry but with hope to bee reuenged the which hee reputs for a great good Wherefore Homer made Achilles to say that choller disperst it selfe in a great courage more sweetely then hony For as much then as what we remember or hope for as a thing pleasing and sweete vnto our thoughts excites ioy in our hearts therefore most of the desires of men are accompanied with some Pleasure and delight For when as they remember how they haue plaied or when as they imagine after what manner they hope to play they feele a sensible content and a new ioy which represents vnto them the image of the true enioying As it happens to those which haue drunke with delight during a burning Feuer for they haue a certaine kind of ioy when as they remember to haue so drunke or when as they promise vnto themselues to drinke againe after the same manner So they that are tormented with Loue be it that they speake of the party beloued bee it that they write or make verses of that subiect they feele a wonderfull content for that in all those things they conceiue that whom they loue is before their eyes as in their thoughts Wherefore they hold it for a certaine signe of Loue when as any one afflicts himselfe for the absence of another and when he takes Pleasure in the teares and complaints of their separation And it is certaine that euen in cares and vexation there is also a content in the teares and sighes wee powre forth for the absence of that wee loue There is doubtlesse a griefe for that we see not the party wee Loue but there is also a sweetnesse for that her image presents it selfe vnto our thoughts and sets before vs all the motions gestures actions speeches smiles grace sport and whatsoeuer wee haue obserued in her when shee was truely present Reuenge also as wee haue formerly toucht is a sweete thing the which doth well appeare by her contrary for if wee see that wee cannot reuenge the iniury which hath beene done vs and which hath inflamed our Choller wee feele a wonderfull discontent whereas wee are transported with ioy when as wee hope and see some appearance of reuenge Moreouer it doth much content and giue a singular pleasure not onely to the ambitious but indifferently to al sorts of persons to vanquish and surmount those against whom they haue any contention or dispute for in this concurrence it seemes they dispute of the excellency and superiority and that it is as it were adiudged to him that obtaines the victory and all men liuing bee they great meane or base desire though some more ardently and others with lesse Passion to excell and surmount others By this reason we finde there is pleasure in sports in which there is any cōtention as at Chesse Tennis Cards and Dice and likewise in more serious exercises where there is any dexterity to obtaine the victory as in fighting at barriers running at the Ring and Tilt or such like Wherof
it were odious contrary to nature which requires time in her actions And for the same reason wee see that the people submit themselues willingly vnder the obedience of a Prince who holds the scepter of his Ancestors and is come to the Crowne by the right of succession but when they seeke to giue them a new maister which is not issued from the extraction of their Kings they cannot endure him but easily shake off the yoake whereunto they haue not bene accustomed And in like manner no man is grieued to respect them that are descended from ancient Nobility but they can hardly yeeld honor to those whose nobility is but newly discouered The reasoÌ„ is for that men beleeue that the ancient Nobility being in possession of this glory no man should repine to yeeld him that which time hath gotten him which is a right in a manner equall to that which nature giues for that the things which we enioy by a long continuance of yeares seeme to be gotten and held as it were inpropriety not by the indulgence of men but by the bounty of nature And withall that which hath continued so long hath a greater affinity with the truth whose lasting is eternall then that which is but newly sprung vp within few dayes But there is one thing that filles our soules with Indignation when as wee see any one enioye those goods which haue no coherence with his quallity As when to the great reproach of piety wee see a Knight a Captaine a Souldier or any other making profession of armes to hold bishopprickes to enioy Abbeys and to possesse other dignities of the Church we hold this much more vnworthy then if they gaue the charge of Campe-maisters and of Colonels of foote or horse to religious men or Bishops Or if they made a singing man or Clarke of the Kings Chappell Generall of his armies Finally we hold it a thing very vnworthy to see a yong man inferior in all kind of qualities to a reuerent old man contest with him of merit and glory especially when it falles out betwixt men of the same profession betwixt whom this inequalitie is remarkeable And admit they be not men of the same profession yet we hold it an vnworthy thing that one who is inferior in all poynts to another should contest against him As if a Musitian would equall himselfe to a President or Counsellor of the Court remembring not that the charges of Iustice are farre more honorable then the profession of Musicke this would make all men to tremble which know what difference there is betwixt gold lead They which easily conceiue indignation are first of all men indowed with some eminent quality who see themselues reiected from dignities and offices or which see men altogether vnworthy aduanced to the same honours whereunto they haue attayned by their vertue For doubtlesse it is no iust thing to place so vnequall persons in the same ranke Moreouer vertuous soules and adorned with bounty haue a great disdaine to see good men depriued of the iust reward of their vertue and the wicked raised to honours which they could not hope for The cause is for that those soules haue their iudgement pure and can esteeme things according to their weight and value And therefore they abhorre vice and haue vertue in singular recommendation Againe they that loue honors and charges are subiect to indignation especially when as they aspire to those places which are held by vnworthy persons In like manner they that haue a good opinion of themselues and â—ho beleeue they deserue â—ore then all the world besides are subiect to the motions of indignation when as any one enters into comparison with them Whereas contrariwise seruile soules men borne in barbarisme and grosse spirits are not transported with any thing hauing nothing in them that may quicken this passion Yet there are some which do rather referre the motions of ambitious presumptuous men to meere enuy then to a iust indignation For that indignation being a commendable passion which proceeds from the feeling of vertue it cannot subsist with the vanity and arrogancy which accompany those men but it must bee another passion which kindles in their soules this kind of despight Of Enuy and Emulation CHAP. 4. AS Crocodiles haue their breeding and liue in the goodliest and richest riuer in the world and as other venemous beasts are commonly found among the most exquisite and sweetest flowers whose grace and beauty they pollute and corrupt so Enuy which is a venemous and maligne Passion doth commonly assaile the most vertuous men and such as haue attained to the greatest honor glory in the world Wherefore one of the most famous Captaines of antiquity being yet in the flower of his age was wont to say that he knew hee had done nothing that was generous or commendable for that he did not find any man that did Enuy him which shewes that there can bee nothing imagined in this world more vniust or more wicked then this infamous Passion which seekes her owne torment and finds her punishment in the glory and contentments of another It is also the reason why men are ashamed to confesse openly that they are troubled with this Passion And being conuicted they labour to palliate their error yea they had rather accuse themselues of all other imperfections then to iustifie this And therefore they giue it other names excusing themselues that it is not Enuy but hatred feare or choller which transports them the which is a silent confession they make that of all the infirmities of the soule they should most dissemble it least they expose themselues to a visible shame and disgrace But before we blame it we must first know it with her nature and properties Enuy then is a griefe which is framed in our soules by reason of the prosperities which we see happen to our equalls or such as be like vnto vs not that wee expect to reape any fruite by our Passion but for that wee cannot endure the glory of another man without Griefe It riseth first betwixt equalls or such as are alike that is to say betwixt those of the same blood of the same age of the same profession of the same wealth and betwixt those that aspire to the same honors So as we see kinsmen Enuy their kinsmen and are grieued at the increase of their fortunes Young men also cannot suffer with griefe that they of their age should be aduanced before them In like manner Philosophers are iealous of the glory of Philosophers and Painters Enuy the reputation of Painters great Commanders in the warre cannot behold but with impatiency the tryumphes of their companions rich men in like manner crosse the rising of such as are their equalls and finally they that affect the same offices do what they can to keepe backe their companions The reason is for that Enuy being alwaies accompanied with a certaine competition and contention which riseth betwixt those that
as they finde resistance which they did not expect they are amazed at the strangenesse of this accident and their hearts grow cold and relent in such sort as sometimes they flye before their enemies But the contrary happens to those that are truely valiant for when as they gouerne their courages by wisedome and measure their forces attempting nothing aboue their strength or against reason there is no sudden accident that may befall them that can trouble them in any action of Armes whereas commonly they finde lesse resistance then they expected before they entred the fight so as their resolution is alwayes fortified and neuer decayes And then propounding honor only before their eyes the feare of the losse of life cannot amaze them but their vertue surmounting all accidents it causeth them notwithstanding all hazzards to persist couragiously in that which they haue gloriously begunne Yea commonly they shew themselues more cold in the beginning then at the ending for that it is not the Passion that doth animate them but it is iudgement which doth act in their courages By reason whereof in the beginning of the actioÌ„ they are more cold are not enflamed but with fighting But it hath bin obserued in many valiant men which had their hearts all couered with haire whereof wee haue a famous example in that couragious Lacedemonian Leonidas who with fiue hundred men kept the streight of Thermopiles against that huge Army of Xerxes who had the courage and resolution to passe through the midst of his armed souldiers to wrest the Diadeâ—e from his head For when as after his death the King of Persia amazed at so great a resolution had caused him to bee opened his heart was found all couered with haire Some it may be would put this among the prodigies or rather among the scornes of Nature but the reason is easie to bee giuen for they that are extraordinarily valiant haue an exceeding heat which drawes from their heart a fume of excrements which thickens and is conuerted into haire the which is a marke of their courage and a signe of valour CHAP. 1. Of Feare or Dread ALTHOVGH it seems that feare is a dead Passion that it shold not make any great impressions in our soules nor cause any strange alterations in the world yet as there bee certaine starres which beeing in a manner continaully hidden haue notwithstanding very maligne and pernicious influences so although shee seeme not to bee so actiue as the rest and remaines as it were couered hidden yet she doth cause strange accidents in the life of man for that shee hath sometimes ruined powerfull Armies brought Kingdomes and States into dangers and ouerthrowne the fortunes of priuate persons Wherefore wee haue seene great Commanders in warre who troubled by some sinister and vnexpected accident in a day of battaile haue had recourse to vowes and prayers and haue promised to build temples to Feare and palenesse to diuert the ruine that threatned them if the amazement spread ouer the whole Army had not beene as it were miraculously dispersed Wherefore seeing that Feare doth produce such powerfull changes in the affaires of men and withall that this life is dayly threatned with infinite miseries which giue vs still cause to feare wee must see wherein shee consists how shee is framed and in what soules she doth reside Feare then is no other thing but A griefe and distresse of the soule troubled by the imagination of some approaching Euill wherewith man is threatned without any apparence to be able to auoyd it easily although it tend to the destruction of his being or cause him some strange calamity in the course of his life It is first of all a griefe and a distresse for that as pleasures fill the senses with delight and ioy so the imagination of an infallible euill which cannot bee auoyded fills vs with griefe and heauinesse But secondly the causes of this griefe are not alwayes solid nor true but many times they are vaine and imaginary for that wee doe frame or rather forge to our selues the miseries whereof the apprehension afflicts our mindes and torments our senses The which made an Ancient say that there are more things which amaze vs then that presse vs and that most commonly opinion and apprehension doth vs more harme then the thing it selfe Wherein doubtlesse the condition of man is lamentable for that as if he were not inuironed by a sufficient nuÌ„ber of true miseries he forgets others which are not in nature to encrease his miseries For wee see daily that although there appeare no presages nor any signes of a calamity that doth threaten vs yet our minds do frame false imaginations and vaine feares which many times are the causes of our ruine There are some things which torment vs more then they should do others trouble vs before the time and some afflict vs without cause or subiect for that we either increase our griefes and paines or we forge them our selues or else wee run before them and anticipate them And whereas wee should striue against these iealousies and false opinions which cause them wee suffer our selues to be vanquished resembling therein certaine Soldiers who being amazed at a little dust raisd by a flocke of sheepe turned their backes as if the enemy had beene at their heeles These vaine feares may sometimes grow from the ignorance of things which they imagine to bee of bad presage although they bee meere effects of nature which they should obserue without trembling as we haue many times seene an Eclipse of the Sun or of the Moone which haue their naturall causes trouble whole Armies and terrifie their Commanders Thirdly wee must obserue that to cause Feare the euill that doth threaten vs must not bee present but to come for that when it is present it is no more a Feare but a meere heauinesse And then the euill which wee doubt must bee full of horror and threaten vs with the losse of life or some other great preiudice For things of small weight are not capable to make any impression of Feare at the least if there remaine any sparke of generosity in our hearts Yea all kind of calamities how great so euer are not able to cause Feare if it be not accompanied with a certaine horror which amazeth the sences As for example men apprehend not to become vniust or wicked although they be things more to bee feared then all the miseries of this life But the nature of vice is such as the horror of her presence is not sensible vnto vs for that shee seemes not to destroy our being nor to cause in vs any great alterations that should afflict vs. Moreouer to bee terrified with any euill it must bee as it were hanging ouer our heads and threaten vs with a ruine at hand for when as we imagine that it is farre from vs how fearefull soeuer the forme be yet we are not amazed Euen so although that death bee the most horrid
in publique assemblies We are also ashamed to shew our defects before those whom we thinke wee haue offended and are not our friends For that we know they will not faile to publish our imperfections Finally wee blush when as any thing vnworthy of our condition befalls vs in the view of such whose fauour friendship wee seeke ambitiously apprehending that this misfortune will bee an obstacle to our pursuites and a subiect to make vs be reiected As in like manner we blush to see our selues surprized in some notable fault by such as had vs in good esteeme especially if they be our familiar friends or of our owne family which discouer the error into which we had neuer before fallen or had alwaies cunningly concealed it There are also diuerse other subiects which make an impression of Shame and for example at our first speech to any one whom we know not well we blush for that being ignorant what account hee makes of vs or how hee is affected to vs wee are in suspence betwixt hope feare and know not how hee will entertaine our discourse And in like manner we are surprized with Shame when as wee are to speake before a great multitude and a concourse of people For that in this great diuersity of minds and humors we thinke it impossible but there is some one who hath no great disposition to fauour vs. Moreouer when as we are to speake before a person of eminent quality of exquisite knowledge or of exact iudgement wee blush and are amazed by reason of the great respect wee haue of him which makes vs feare to fayle before him and this feare fills vs with Shame and makes vs blush Wee are also not only ashamed of our defects but euen of all the signes and tokens of our vices and bad inclinations As wee blush not only at vncleannesse but also at all the signes of wantonnesse especially we are ashamed at licentious words which offend chaste eares Wherefore Alceus hauing opened his mouth to speake to Sapho then staying himselfe and pretending for his excuse that Shame had hindred his speech she answered If you had not had some bad desire but had meant to speake that which was honest and not licentious Shame had not appeared in your eyes neither had it tyed your tongue but you would haue deliuered your thoughts freely By all that we haue sayd it followeth that men are not ashamed to do or say any thing whatsoeuer before such as they do not esteeme but contemne Whereby it followes that they neither respect nor feare the eyes of children nor beasts But those before whom wee are most ashamed to shew our selues in our misfortune are our enemies to whom wee know our miseries are a sweete and pleasing spectacle As Caesar seeing himselfe a prisoner in the hands of Pirats said That his enemy Crassus would be glad of the misfortune which had befallen him To cōclude mē are ashamed to see thēselues defamed publikely as to be led to execution in the midst of a multitude of people to bee witnesses of their ignominy And yet the Poet Antiphon being condemned to dye with many others by Denis the Tyrant when as hee saw his companions going to execution passing before a great multitude to hide their faces as being ashamed beeing come out of the City he said vnto them What my friends d ee you feare that some one of these Gallants will see you againe to morrow and reproach you with your misfortune But doubtlesse euery man hath not this resolution nor so great a courage in the last indignities of life CHAP. 2. Of the Effects of Shame AS there are certayne Plants whose roots are venemous and mortall to such as vse them but their leaues are indued with excellent qualities and proper for the preseruation of the health of man So there are Passions of the soule which on the one side serue man as a spurre to vertue and on the other side precipitate him to vice And this is particularly incident to Shame the which doth sometime induce men to decline from wickednesse and sometime shee diuerts them from commendable vertuous actions by the apprehension of an imaginary dishonour Timoleon conceiuing that all the world did hate him for that he had consented to the death of his brother who was a plague to his common Wealth wandred vp and down the fields twenty years together and could not resolue to embrace the defence of his Citizens generously Others beeing ashamed to abandon their Countrey in publike calamities haue carried themselues couragiously to vndertake things for the which they knew they shold bee vnworthily recompenced by the ingratitude of their Citizens But before wee come to the effects which Shame produceth in the soule let vs see what impressions shee makes in the body for it seemes shee stirres vp an effect farre different from the cause from whence it proceedes Shame say the Philosophers Is a kinde of feare which ariseth for that man doubts some blame and some censure of his actions As Feare then retires the blood and makes it descend about the heart how comes it that Shame should cause the blood to ascend vnto the countenance and make the face to blush Whereunto they answer that men may be threatned with two kinds of miseries whereof the one is not onely contrary to the inclination of their senses but also tends to the destruction of their nature and being as extreame dangers and perills of death Others are onely contrary to the desires of the senses but doe not threaten man with death or the decay of his being As for example the blame and dishonour which wee apprehend for something we haue done When man then propounds vnto himselfe the forme of these first kindes of obiects that is to say of those calamities which tend to the dissolution of his being Nature beeing amazed by the impressiō which she receiues from the senses striues to succour them and drawes the blood and heate vnto the heart which is as wee haue said the fountaine of life whereupon the countenance being destitute of blood man growes pale in these great terrors But when as he apprehends onely the calamities of the second kinde that is to say those which tend not to the destruction of his beeing but onely to the decrease of his glory Nature is not so powerfully mooued by the senses for that the ruine of her consistence is not directly in question but leaues the griefe in the senses whose amazement doth not send the heat and blood into the body but causeth it to mount into the face which becomes all red and sanguine Some beleeue that this blushing is as it were a veile which Nature extends before her to couer her shame as wee see commonly they that are ashamed carry their hands before their faces and eyes for that those parts are most afflicted with shame in regard they are the most noble And the impression is particularly made in the eies
tread all diuine and humaine lawes vnder feete to satiate her inâ—olency and rage Wherein doubtles she is more to bee blamed then all the other Passions wherewith the soule of man is afflicted For that the other Passions haue this property that euen at the very instant when as they are as it were in the height of their transport giue way somewhat to reason and yeeld in some sort vnto her commandements when as shee presents her self to pacifie them Whereas Choler doth like vnto Marriners which are amazed or corrupted and will giue no eare to the voice of their Pilot Or as mutinous souldiers which will not heare the aduice of their Leaders Yea shee despiâ—es truth if shee opposeth against her rage and although she come to know the innocency of the party whom shee persecutes yet she holds obstinacy more honorable then repentance So as nothing shal be able to make her desist from her vniust and violent pursuites And continuing this Iniustice against himselfe shee sometimes constraines the most couetous profusely to cast away their most pretious treasure and to make a heape of their wealth and then to set fire on it and many times also shee forceth ambitious men to refuse and reiect the honours which they had passionatly affected before their despight who doth not then see that this Passion more then any other quencheth the light of reason The cause is for that of all the Passions whether they haue the good for their obiect or regard the euill those cause the greatest perturbations in our soules which are the most violent there is not any that doth exceed or equall Choler in violence which doth inflame the whole blood and all the spirits which flowe about the heart which is the most powerfull organ of Passions by reason whereof there followes a wonderfull disorder not onely in the sensible and corporeall powers but euen in the reason For although she vse no corporeall organs in her proper functions yet to produce them forth shee hath need of the powers of the sences whose actions are crost and disquieted by the trouble which riseth in the heart and the whole body by reason whereof Choler doth darken yea hinder the whole light which she striues to cast forth whereof wee haue two apparant signes for that the members wherein the image of the heart doth most shine as the tong the eies the countenance feele the most violent force of this fury It is true that Aristotle sayth that Choler doth in some sort giue eare to reason But that must be vnderstood touching the report which she makes of the iniury receiued wherein shee takes a singular content but shee giues no â—are vnto her but reiects her aduertizements in the measure and moderation which shee ought to hold in the reuenge So as in truth there must bee some kind of reason to prouoke Choler for that men which are stupid dull are not capable of these motions but when this Passion is fully inflamed then she doth wholy darken reason And as the same Philosopher sayth that they which are full of wine and drinke are not mooued with any thing for that their reason being drowned in wine they are not capable to ballance an iniury or to obserue a contempt But such as are not fully drunke are moued to Choler for that there remaines some weake beames of iudgement to discerne that which hath an apparance of iniury or outrage but this PassioÌ„ riseth in them without subiect and without any great occasion for that their reason is captiuated by the wine which hath gotten the maistry Euen so in the beginning of Choler reason may giue some light to the Irascible power but wheÌ„ she hath gotten the absolute coÌ„mand and is become Mistresse of the senses Reason is darkened and is of no vse in a soule thus transported But we must not conceiue that this mischief is absolutely incurable but wee must rather imagine that as Helleborum hath power to cure mad men so there are remedies against Choler The most powerful are those which are taken from the Law of God who teacheth vs nothing but patience charity mildenesse humanity and sufferance But wee will rest satisfied to set downe the instructions of Philosophy which may serue to this effect First of all Philosophers aduise vs to entreate this passion as they do monsters and serpents whom they striue to smother as soone as they are disclosed for they will that man should haue a care to the beginning of Choler which many times ariseth from so light an occasion and so poore a subiect as it is vnworthy a great spirite should bee transported therewith And as it is easie to quench a fire of straw in the beginning but if we suffer it to take holde of more solid matter it passeth all our labour and industry and makes a pittifull ruine euen so he that will obserue Choler from the beginning seeing it beginne to fume and kindle for some light quarrell and small offence it is easie for him to suppresse it and to stay her course But if shee be once setled and beginnes to swell and that he himselfe blowes the bellowes that is to say if hee stirres it vppe and enflames it it will bee hard for him afterwards to quench it whereas he might easily haue done it before by silence Wherefore as Pilots foreseeing a tempest doe vsually retire themselues into a road or vnder the Lee of some rock before the storme come so he that feeles the first motions of Choler should haue recourse to reason and oppose it to the passion to controule her violence For the first meanes to vanquish Choler as an vniust tyrant is not to yeelde any obedience to her nor to beleeue her in any thing she saith or doth to inflame vs to reuenge we finde in other Passions that the liberty wee giue them brings some ease As when young men which are enflamed with Loue goe in maske make dances combates or feasts in fauour of the party they loue all this giues some ease vnto their passion and when as they suffer those that are afflicted to weep in the midst of their afflictions the teares they powre forth carry with them a part of their griefe But Choler hath nothing of al this she growes bitter and is incensed by the liberty wee giue her and is enflamed the more in that we giue way to her fury And as they that are subiect vnto the falling sickenesse hauing any signe or beginning of their fit retire themselues suddainly and take all the remedies which may diuert so troublesome an accident or at least hide the shame so they which see themselues transported with Choler should retaine themselues and striue to moderate their passion and diuert the infirmity which seekes to seaze vpon them Wherevnto they should the more willingly resolue for that all other passions doe but draw men to euill but this doth precipitate them those doe shake them but this doth ouerthrow them Those