Source Entrance into the bodie Residence therein Seat Sufficiencie to exercise her functions the End and Separation from the bodie It is first very hard to define or truly to say what the soule 1 The Definition verie difficult is as generally all other formes because they are things relatiue which subsist not of themselues but are parts of a whole and this is the reason why there is such and so great diuersity of definitions of them whereof there is not any receiued without contradiction Aristotle hath confuted twelue that were before him and could hardly make good his owne It is easie to say what it is not That it is not Fire Aire 2 Easie to say what it is not Water Nor the temperature of the foure Elements or qualities or humors which is alwaies changeable without which a creature is and liues and besides that this is an accident the Soule a substance Againe Mettals and things inanimate haue likewise a temperature of the foure Elements and first qualities Neither is it blood for there are many things animate and liuing without blood and many creatures die without the shedding of a drop of blood Nor the beginning and cause of motion for diuers things inanimate mooue as the adamant moues the iron amber or iet straw medicins and roots of trees being cut and dried draw and moue Neither is it the act or life or Enargie or perfection for that word Entelechia is diuersly taken and interpreted of a liuing body for all this is but the effect or action of the Soule and not the Soule it selfe as to liue to see to vnderstand is the action of the Soule And it would likewise follow that the Soule should be an accident not a substance and could not subsist without that bodie whereof it is the act and perfection no more than the couer of an house may be without the house and a relatiue without his correlatiue To be briefe it is to say what the soule doth and is to another not what it is in it selfe But to say what the Soule is is very difficult A man may 3 Hard to say what it is simply say that it is an essentiall quickning forme which giueth to the plant the vegetatiue or growing life to a beast a sensible life which comprehendeth the vegetatiue to a man an intellectuall life which comprehendeth the other two as in numbers the greater conteines the lesse and in figures the Pentagone conteines the Tetragone this the Trigone I call it the intellectiue soule rather than the reasonable which is comprehended in the intellectiue as the lesse in the great for the reasonable in some sense and measure according to the opinion of the greatest Philosophers and experience it selfe is likewise in beasts but not the intellectiue as being more high Sicut equus mulus in quibus non est intellectus The Soule then is not the beginning or source that word doth properly belong to the soueraigne first author but an inward cause of life motion sense vnderstanding It moueth the body it selfe is not moued as contrarily the body is moued and moueth not at al it moueth I say the body not it selfe for nothing but God moueth it selfe and whatsoeuer moueth it selfe is eternall and Lord of it selfe and in that it mooueth the bodie it hath it not of it selfe but from an higher cause Concerning the nature and essence of the Soule I meane a humane Soule for the Soule of a beast is without all doubt 4 The nature and essence of the soule corporall materiall bred and borne with the matter and with it corruptible there is a question of greater importance than it seemeth for some affirme it to be corporall some incorporall and this is very agreeable to reason if a man be not opinatiue That it is corporall see what the grounds are Spirits and Diuels good and ill which are wholly separated from all matter are corporall according to the opinion of all Philosophers and our greatest Diuines Tertulltan Origen S. In homil l. de spir l 3. de lib. arb Hom. de Epith. Basil Gregorie Augustine Damascene how much more the Soule of man which hath societie and is vnited to a matter Their resolution is that whatsoeuer is created being compared vnto God is grosse corporall materiall and only God is incorporall that euery spirit is a bodie and hath a bodily nature Next vnto authoritie almost vniuersall the reason is irrefragable Whatsoeuer is included in this finite world is finite limited both in vertue and substance bounded with a superficies inclosed and circumscribed in a place which are the true and naturall conditions of a bodie for there is nothing but a bodie which hath a superficiall part and is barred and fastened in a place God only is wholly infinite incorporall the ordinarie distinctions circumscriptiuè definitiuè effectiuè are but verball and in nothing either helpe or hurt the cause for it alwayes stands good that spirits are in such sort in a place that at the selfe same time that they are in a place they can not be elswhere and they are not in a place either infinite or very great or very little but equall to their limited and finited substance and superficies And if it were not so spirits could not change their place nor ascend or descend as the Scripture affirmeth that they doe and so they should be immooueable indiuisible indifferently in all Now if it appeare that they change their place the change conuicteth that they are mooueable diuisible subiect vnto time and to the succession thereof required in the motion and passage from one place to another which are all the qualities of a bodie But because many simple men vnder this word corporall do imagine visible palpable and thinke not that the pure aire or fire without the flame or coale are bodies haue therefore likewise affirmed That spirits both separated and humane are not corporall as in trueth they are not in that sense for they are of an inuisible substance whether airie as the greatest part of Philosophers and Diuines affirm or celestiall as some Hebrewes and Arabiques teach calling by the selfe same name both the heauen and the spirit an essence proper to immortalitie or whether if they will haue it so of a substance more subtile and delicate yet they are alwayes corporall since limited by place mooueable subiect to motion and to times Finally if they were not corporall they should not be passible and capable of suffering as they are the humane receiueth from his bodie pleasure and displeasure sorrow and delight in his turne as the bodie from the spirit and his passions many good qualities many bad vertues vices affections which are all accidents and all as well the spirits separated and Diuels as humane are subiect to punishment and torments They are therefore corporall for there is nothing passible that is not corporall and it is only proper vnto bodies to be subiect
company for his solace the Sight in the light is in place of companie The sense of Hearing hath many excellent singularities it is more spirituall and the seruice thereof more inward But the particular comparison of these two which are of the rest the more noble and of speech shall be spoken in the Chapter following As for pleasure or displeasure though all the Senses are capable thereof yet the Sense of Feeling receiueth greatest griefe and almost no pleasure and contrarily the Taste great delight and almost no griefe In the organ and instrument the Touch is vniuersall spred thorow the whole bodie to the end the bodie should feele heat and colde the organs of the rest are assigned to a certaine place member From the weaknesse and incertitude of our senses comes ignorance errour and mistakings for sithens that by their 5 The weakenesse and vncertainnesse of the Senses meanes and mixture we attaine to all knowledge if they deceiue vs in their report we haue no other helpe to sticke vnto But who can say or accuse them that they do deceiue vs considering that by them we begin to learne and to know Some haue assirmed that they do neuer deceiue vs and when they seeme to doe it the fault proceedeth from some thing els and that wee must rather attribute it to any other thing than to the senses Others haue sayd cleane contrarie that they are all false and can teach vs nothing that is certaine But the middle opinion is the more true Now whether the Senses be false or not at the least it is 6 The mutuall deceit of the spirit and senses certaine that they deceiue yea ordinarily enforce the discourse the reason and in exchange are againe mocked by it Do then but consider what kinde of knowledge and certaintie a man may haue when that within and that without is full of deceit and weakenesse and that the principall parts thereof the essentiall instruments of science do deceiue one another That the senses doe deceiue and enforce the vnderstanding it is plaine in those senses whereof some do kindle with furie others delight sweeten others tickle the Soule And why doe they that cause themselues to be let blood lanced cauterised and burnt turne away their eies but that they do well know that great authoritie that the Senses haue ouer their reason The sight of some bottomlesse depth or precipitate downfall astonisheth euen him that is setled in a firme and sure place and to conclude doth not the Sense vanquish and quite ouercome all the beautifull resolutions of vertue and patience So on the other side the senses are likewise deceiued by the vnderstanding which appeareth by this that the Soule being stirred with Choler Loue Hatred or any other passion our senses doe see and heare euery thing others then they are yea sometimes our senses are altogether dulled by the passions of the Soule and it seemeth that the Soule retireth and shutteth vp the operation of the Senses and that the spirit being otherwise employed the eie discerneth not that which is before it and which it seeth yea the sight and the reason iudge diuersly of the greatnesse of the Sunne the starres nay of the figure of a staffe any thing distant In the Senses of Nature the beasts haue as well part as we 7 The senses common to man and beast but diuersly and sometimes excell vs for some haue their hearing more quicke than man some their sight others their smell others their taste and it is held that in the sense of Hearing the Hart excelleth all others of Sight the Eagle of Smell the Dogge of Taste the Ape of Feeling the Tortuis neuerthelesse the preheminence of that sense of Touch is giuen vnto man which of all the rest is the most brutish Now if the Senses are the meanes to attaine vnto knowledge and that beasts haue a part therein yea somtimes the better part why should not they haue knowledge But the Senses are not the only instruments of knowledge 8 The iudgement of the Senses hard and dangerous neither are our Senses alone to be consulted or beleeued for if beasts by their Senses iudge otherwise of things than we by ours as doubtlesse they do who must be beleeued Our spettle cleanseth and drieth our wounds it killeth the Serpent What then is the true qualitie of our spettle To dire and to cleanse or to kill To iudge well of the operation of the senses we must be at some agreement with the beasts nay with our selues for the eie pressed downe and shut seeth otherwise than in it ordinary state the eare stopt receiueth the obiects otherwise than when it is open an infant seeth heareth tasteth otherwise than a man a man than an olde man a sound than a sicke a wise than a foole In this great diuersitie and contrarietie what shall we holde for certaine Seeing that one sense belieth another a picture seemeth to be held vp to the view and the hands are folded together CHAP. XI Of Sight Hearing and Speech THese are the three most rich and excellent iewels of all those that are in this muster and of whose preheminencie 1 A comparison of the three it is disputed Touching their Organes that of the Sight in it composition and forme is admirable and of a liuely and shining beautie by reason of the great varietie and subtiltie of so many small parts or pieces and therefore it is sayd that the eye is one of those parts of the bodie which doe first begin to be formed and the last that is finished and for this verie cause it is so delicate and said to be subiect to six score maladies Afterwards comes that of Speech which helpeth the sense of Hearing to many great aduantages For the seruice of the bodie the Sight is most necessarie and therefore doth more import a beast than Hearing But for the spirit the Hearing challengeth the vpper place The Sight serueth well for the inuention of things which by it haue almost all beene discouered but it bringeth nothing to perfection Againe the Sight is not capable but of corporall things and particular and that only of their crust or superficiall part it is the instrument of ignorant men and vnlearned qui mouentur ad id quod adest quodque praesens est The Eare is a spirituall Sense it is the Intermedler and Agent 2 The preheminencie of hearing of the vnderstanding the instrument of wise and spirituall men capable not only of the secrets and inward parts of particular bodies whereunto the Sight arriueth not but also of the generall kindes and of all spirituall things and diuine in which the Sight serueth rather to disturbe than to helpe and therefore we see not only many blinde great and wise but some also that are depriued of their sight to become great Philosophers but of such as are deafe we neuer heard of any This is the way by which a man entreth the
the eagle of Montroyall the spheare of Sapor King of the Persians and that of Archimides with his other engins Now art and inuention The praise of inuention seeme not onely to imitate Nature but to excell it and that not only in the indiuiduum or particular for there is not any bodie either of man or beast so vniuersally well made as by art may be shewed but also many things are done by art which are not done by nature I meane besides those compositions and mixtures which are the true diet and proper subiect of art those distillations of waters and oiles made of simples which Nature frameth not But in all this there is no such cause of admiration as we thinke and to speake properly and truly there is no inuention but that which God reuealeth for such as we account and call so are but obseruations of naturall things arguments and conclusions drawen from them as Painting and the art Opticke from shadowes Sun-dials from the shadowes of trees the grauing of seales from precious stones By all this that hath before beene spoken it is easie to see 15 The Spirit very dangerous how rash and dangerous the spirit of man is especially if it be quicke and vigorous for being so industrious so free and vniuersall making it motions so irregularly vsing it libertie so boldly in all things not tying it selfe to any thing it easily shaketh the common opinions and all those rules whereby it should be bridled and restrained as an vniust tyranny it will vndertake to examine all things to iudge the greatest part of things plausibly receiued in the world to be ridiculous and absurd and finding for all an appearance of reason will defend it selfe against all whereby it is to be feared that it wandreth out of the way and loseth it selfe and we can not but see that they that haue any extraordinary viuacity and rare excellency as they that are in the highest roofe of that middle Classis before spoken of are for the most part lawlesse both in opinions and maners There are very few of whose guide and conduct a man may trust and in the libertie of whose iudgements a man may wade without temeritie beyond the common opinion It is a miracle to finde a great and liuely spirit well ruled and gouerned it is a dangerous sword which a man knowes not well how to guide for from whence come all those disorders reuolts heresies and troubles in the world but for this Magni errores non nisi ex magnis ingenijs nihil sapientiae o diosius acumine nimio Doubtlesse that man liues a better time and a longer life is more happie and farre more fit for the gouernment of a Common-wealth sayth Thucydides that hath an indifferent spirit or somewhat beneath a mediocritie than he that hath a spirit so eleuated and transcendent that it serues not for any thing but the torment of himselfe and others From the firmest friendships do spring the greatest enmities and from the soundest health the deadliest maladies and euen so from the rarest and quickest agitation of our soules the most desperate resolutions and disorderly frensies Wisdome and follie are neere neighbors there is but a halfe turne betwixt the one and the other which we may easily see in the actions of madde men Philosophie teacheth that Melancholy is proper to them both Whereof is framed the finest follie but of the finest wit And therefore sayth Aristotle there is no great spirit without some mixture of follie And Plato telleth vs that in vaine a temperate and sound spirit knocketh at the doore of Poetrie And in this sense it is that the wisest and best Poets doe loue sometimes to play the foole and to leape out of the hindges Insanire iucundum est dulce desipere in loco non potest grande sublime quidquam nisi mota mens quamdiu apud se est And this is the cause why man hath good reason to keepe it within narrow bounds to bridle and binde it with Religions 16 It must be bridled why Lawes Customes Sciences Precepts Threatnings Promises mortall and immortall which notwithstanding yet we see that by a lawlesse kinde of libertie it freeth it selfe and escapeth all these so vnruly is it by nature so fierce so opinatiue and therefore it is to be led by art since by force it can not Natura contumax est animus humanus in contrarium atque arduum nitens sequiturque faciliùs quam ducitur vt generosi Seneca nobiles equi melius facili fraeno reguntur It is a surer way gently to tutor it and to lay it asleepe than to suffer it to wander at it owne pleasure for if it be not well and orderly gouerned as they of the highest classis which before we spake of or weake and soft and pliant as those of the lower ranke it will lose it selfe in the libertie of it owne iudgement and therefore it is necessary that it be by some meanes or other held backe as hauing more need of lead than wings of a bridle than of a spurre which the great Lawyers and Founders of States did especially regard as well knowing that people of an indifferent spirit liued in more quiet and content than the ouer-quicke and ingenious There haue been more troubles and seditions in ten yeeres in the only citie of Florence than in fiue hundred yeeres in the countreys of the Heluetians and the Retians And to say the trueth men of a common sufficiencie are more honest better citizens more pliant and willing to submit themselues to the yoke of the lawes their superiours reason it selfe than those quicke and cleere sighted men that can not keepe themselues within their owne skinnes The finest wits are not the wisest men The Spirit hath it maladies defects tares or refuse as well 17 The defect of the spirit as the body and much more more dangerous and more incurable but that wee may the better know them we must distinguish them Some are accidentall and which come from Accidentall proceeding from three causes elsewhere and those arise from three causes the disposition of the bodie for it is manifest that the bodily maladie which alter the temperature thereof do likewise alter the spirit and iudgement or from the ill composition of the substance of 1. The body the braine and organs of the reasonable Soule whether it be by reason of their first formation as in those that haue their heads ill made either too round or too long or too little or by accident of some blow or wound The second is the vniuersall contagion of vulgar and erroneous opinions in the 2. The world world wherewith the Spirit being preoccupated tainted and ouercome or which is worse made drunken and manacled with certain fantasticall opinions it euer afterwards followeth iudgeth according to them without regard either of farther enquiry or recoiling backe from which dangerous deluge all spirits haue not
come to the order and method thereof There are three Books The First is wholly in the knowledge of our selues and humane condition as a preparatiue vnto wisdome which is handled at large by fiue maine and principall considerations ech one including in it diuers others The Second Booke containeth in it the treatises offices and generall and principall rules of wisdome The Third the particular rules and instructions of wisdome and that by the order and discourse of foure principall and morall vertues Prudence Iustice Fortitude Temperance vnder which foure is comprised the whole instruction of the life of man and all the parts of dutie and honestie Finally I heere handle this matter not Scholarlike or Pedantically nor with enlarged discourse and furniture of Eloquence or other Arte For wisdome quae si oculis ipsis cerneretur mirabiles excitaret amores sui needs no such helps to commend it selfe being of it selfe so noble and glorious but rudely openly and ingeniously which perhaps will not please all The propositions and verities are compact but many times drie and sower like Aphorismes ouertures and seeds of discourse Some thinke this Booke too foole-hardie and free 12 An Aduertisement Apologie to the Reader to contradict and wound the common opinions and are offended therewith whom in foure or fiue words I thus answer First that wisdome which is neither common nor vulgar hath properly this libertie and authoritie Iure suo singulari to iudge of all it is the priuiledge of a wise and spirituall man spiritualis omnia dijudicat a nemine iudicatur and in iudging to censure and condemne as for the most part erroneous common and vulgar opinions What then should she doe for the case standing thus it can not be but she must incurre the disgrace and enuie of the world In another place I complaine of these kinde of men and reproue their popular weaknesse and feminine daintinesse as vnworthy being ouer-tender and delicate to vnderstand any thing of worth and altogether vncapable of wisdome The hardest and hardiest propositions are best befitting a hardie and eleuated spirit and there can nothing seeme strnage vnto him that doth but know what the world is It is weaknesse to be astonished at any thing we must rowze vp our hearts confirme and strengthen our mindes harden and inure our selues to heare to know to vnderstand to iudge of all things seeme they neuer so strange All things are agreeing and well befitting the palat of the spirit so a man be not wanting vnto himselfe and neither do any thing or yeeld his consent to whatsoeuer is not good and truly faire no though the whole world perswade him vnto it A wise man sheweth equally in them both his courage his delicates are not capable of the one or the other there being a weaknesse in them both Thirdly in all that I shall propose my meaning is not to binde any man vnto it I only present things and lay them out as it were vpon a stall I grow not into choler with any man that giues me no credit or dislikes my ware that were to play the Pedante Passion witnesseth that it is not reason so to do and he that out of passion doth any thing out of reason can not doe it But why are they angrie with me Is it because I am not altogether of their opinion Why I am not angry with them because they are not of mine Is it because I speake something which is not pleasing to their taste or to the palat of the vulgar sort Why therefore I speake it I speake nothing without reason if they knew how to vnderstand it how to relish it If they can bring better reason to disproue mine I will hearken vnto it with delight and thanks to him that shall shew it me But yet let them not thinke to beat me downe with authorities multitudes and allegations of other men for these haue but small credit in my iurisdiction saue in matter of Religion where only authoritie preuailes without reason This is authorities true Empire reason onely bearing sway in all other Arts without it as S. Augustine doth very well acknowledge For it is an vniust tyranny and an inraged follie to subiect and in thrall our spirits to beleeue and to follow whatsoeuer our Ancestours haue sayd and what the vulgar sort holde to be true who know neither what they say nor what they do There are none but fooles that suffer themselues to be thus led by the noses and this Booke is not for such which if it should popularlie be receiued and accepted of the common sort of people it should faile much in it first purpose and designment We must heare consider make account of our ancient Writers not captiuate our selues vnto them but with reason And if a man would follow them what should he doe for they agree not among themselues Aristotle who would seeme to be the most sufficient amongst them and hath aduentured to challenge to censure all that went before him hath vttered more grosse absurdities than them all and is at no agreement with himselfe neither doth he know many times where he is witnesse his Treatises of the Soule of man of the Eternitie of the world of the Generation of the windes and waters and so forth It is no cause of wonder or astonishment that all men are not of one opinion but it were rather strange and woonderfull that all men were of one opinion for there is nothing more befitting Nature and the spirit of man than varietie That wise Diuine S. Paul giueth vs this libertie in that he Rom. 14. willeth euery man to abound in his owne vnderstanding not iudging or condemning that man that doth otherwise or thinke otherwise And he speaketh it in a matter of greater moment and more ticklish not in that which consisteth in outward action and obseruation wherein we say we are to conforme our selues to the common sort and to that which is prescribed and accustomed to be done but also in that which concerneth Religion that is the religious obseruance of â—â—ands and dayes whereas all that libertie and boldnesse of speech which I challenge vnto my selfe is but in thoughts iudgements opinions in which no man is quarter-master but he that hath them euery man about himselfe Not withstanding all this many things which may seeme too harsh and briefe too rude and difficult for the simpler sort for the stronger and wiser haue stomacks warme enough to concoct and digest all I haue for the loue of them explicated enlightned and sweetned in this second Edition reuiewed and much augmented I would willingly aduertise the Reader that shall vndertake to iudge of this Worke to take heed that he fall not into any of these seuen ouersights as some others haue done that is To referre that vnto law and dutie which is proper vnto action that vnto action which is onely to be censured that to resolution and determination which is only proposed
to accidents Now the Soule hath a great number of vertues and faculties as many almost as the body hath members There are 3 The faculties and actions of the Soule some in plants more in beasts most in man to know to liue to feele to mooue to desire to allure to assemble to retaine to concoct to digest to nourish to grow to reiect to see to heare to taste to smell to speake to breath to ingender to thinke to reason to contemplate to consent dissent to remember iudge all which are no parts of the Soule for so it should be diuisible and should consist vpon accidents but they are her naturall qualities The actions come after and follow the faculties and so there are three degrees according to the doctrine of great S. Denys followed of all that is we must consider in spirituall creatures three things Essence Facultie Operation By the latter which is the action we know the facultie and by it the essence The actions may be hindred and wholly cease without any preiudice at all vnto the soule and her faculties as the Science and facultie of Painting remaineth entire in the Painter although his hands be bound and so be made vnable to paint But if the faculties themselues perish the Soule must needs be gone no otherwise then Fire is no longer fire hauing lost the facultie of warming The essence and nature of the Soule being after a sort explicated The vnitie of the soule one of the busiest questions that belongeth vnto the Soule offereth it selfe to our consideration that is whether there be in a creature especially in man one soule or manie Touching which point there are diuers opinions but may be reduced into three Some of the Greekes and almost all the Arabiques imitating them haue thought not onely in euery particular man but generally in all men that there was but one immortall Soule The Egyptians for the most part held an opinion quite contrarie that there was a pluralitie of soules in euery creature all diuers and distinct two in euerie beast and three in man two mortal the vegetatiue sensible and the third intellectiue immortall The third opinion as the meane betwixt the two former and most followed being held by many of all nations is that there is but one Soule in euery creature not more In euery of these opinions there is some difficultie I leaue the first as being already sufficiently confuted and reiected The pluralitie of soules in euerie creature and man on the one side seemeth verie strange and absurd in Philosophie for that were to giue many formes to one and the same thing and to say that there are many substances and subiects in one two beasts in one three men in one on the other side it giueth credit and helpeth much our beleefe touching the immortalitie of the intellectuall Soule for there being three soules there can follow no inconuenience that two of them should die and the third continue immortall The vnitie of the Soule seemeth to resist the immortalitie thereof for how can one and the same indiuisible be in a mortall part and an immortall as neuerthelesse Aristotle would haue it Doubtlesse it seemeth that of necessitie the Soule must be either altogether mortall or altogether immortall which are two very foule absurdities The first abolisheth all religion and sound Philosophy the second maketh beasts likewise immortall Neuerthelesse it seemes to be more true that there is but one Soule in euery creature for the pluralitie and diuersitie of faculties instruments actions neither derogateth any thing at all nor multiplieth in any thing this vnitie no more than the diuersitie of riuers the vnitie of one spring or fountaine nor the diuersitie of effects in the Sunne to heat to enlighten to melt to drie to whiten to make blacke do dissipate the vnitie and simplicitie of the Sunne for should they there would be a great number of soules in one man and Sunnes in one world Neither doth this essentiall vnitie of the Soule any thing hinder the immortalitie of the humane Soule in her essence notwithstanding the vegetatiue and sensitiue faculties which are but accidents die that is to say cannot be exercised without the body the Soule not hauing a subiect or instrument whereby to doe it but the third intellectuall Soule is alwaies well because for it there is no need of the bodie though whilest it is within it it make vse thereof to exercise it selfe insomuch that if it did returne vnto the bodie it were onely againe to exercise hir vegetatiue and sensitiue faculties as we see in those that are raised vnto life to liue heere below not in those that are raised to liue elsewhere for such bodies need not to liue by the exercise of such faculties Euen as there is no want or decay in the Sunne but it continueth in it selfe wholly the same though during a whole ecclips it neither shine nor warme nor performe his other effects in those places that are subiect vnto it Hauing shewed the vnitie of the soule in euery subiect let The source of the soule vs see from whence it commeth and how it entreth into the body The originall beginning of soules is not held to be the same of all I meane of humane soules for the vegetatiue and sensitiue of Plants and Beasts is by the opinion of all altogether materiall and in the seed for which cause it is likewise mortall But concerning the Soule of man there are foure celebrated opinions According to the first which is of the Stoicks held by Philo Iudeus and afterward by the Maniches Priscilianists and others it is transferred and brought foorth as a part or parcell of the substance of God who inspireth it into the bodie alleaging to their best aduantage the words of Moyses Inspirauit in faciem eius spiraculum vitae The second opinion held by Tertullian Apollinaris the Luciferians and other Christians affirmeth that the Soule proceedeth and is deriued from the soules of our parents with the seed as the Soule of a beast The third opinion which is that of the Pythagorians and Platonists held by many Rabins and Doctors of the Iewes and afterwards by Origen and other Doctors teacheth that the soules of men haue beene from the beginning all created of God made of nothing and reserued in heauen afterwards to be sent into the lower parts as need should require and that the bodies of men are formed and disposed to receiue them and from hence did spring the opinion of those that thought that the soules of men heere below were either well or ill handled and lodged in bodies either sound or sicke according to that life which they had led aboue in heauen before they were incorporate And truely the master of Wisdome himselfe sheweth that the Soule of the two was the elder and before the bodie Eram puer bonam indolem sortitus imo bonus cum essem corpus incontaminatum reperi The fourth opinion receiued and
hereafter Now besides these fiue particular senses which are without there is within the common sense where all the diuers obiects apprehended by it are assembled and gathered together to the end they may afterward be compared distinguished and discerned the one from the other which the particular senses could not doe being euery one attentiue to his proper obiect and not able to take knowledge thereof of his companion CHAP. X. Of the senses of Nature ALl knowledge is begun in vs by the senses so say our 1 The importance of the naturall senses Schoole-men but it is not altogether true as we shall see heereafter They are our first masters it beginneth by them and endeth with them they are the beginning and end of all It is not possible to recoile farther backe euery one of them is a captaine and soueraigne lord in his order and hath a great command carrying with it infinite knowledges The one dependeth not or hath need of the other so are they equally great although the one haue a farre greater extent and traine and affaires than the other as a little king is as well a soueraigne in his little narrow command as a great in his great estate It is an opinion amongst vs that there are but fiue senses of Nature because wee marke but fiue in vs but yet there 2 The number may very well be more and it is greatly to be doubted that there are but it is impossible for vs to know them to affirme them or to denie them because a man shall neuer know the want of that sense which he hath neuer had There are many beasts which liue a full and perfect life which want some one of our fiue senses and a creature may liue without the fiue senses saue the sense of Feeling which is only necessary vnto life We liue very commodiously with fiue and yet perhaps we do want one or two or three and yet it can not be knowen One sense can not discouer another and if a man want one by nature yet he knowes not which way to affirme it A man borne blinde can neuer conceiue that he seeth not nor desire to see nor delight in his sight it may be he will say that he would see but that is because he hath heard say and learned of others that it is to be desired the reason is because the senses are the first gates and entrances to knowledge So man not being able to imagine more than the fiue that he hath he can not know how to iudge whether there be more in Nature yet he may haue more Who knoweth whether the difficulties that we finde in many of the works of Nature and the effects of creatures which we can not vnderstand doe proceed from the want of some sense that wee haue not Of the hidden properties which we see in many things a man may say that there are sensible faculties in Nature proper to iudge and apprehend them but yet he must confesse that we haue them not and that the ignorance of such things proceedeth from our owne default Who knoweth whether it be some particular sense that discouereth in the Cocke the houre of mid-night and morning and that moues him to crow Who taught some beasts to chuse certaine herbes for their cure and many such like woonders as these are No man can affirme or denie say this it is or that it is Some haue assayed to giue a reason of this number of the fiue senses and to prooue the sufficiencie of them by distinguishing 3 Their sufficiencie and diuersly comparing their outward obiects which are either all neere the bodie or distant from it if neere but yet remaining without it is the sense of Touching if they enter it is Taste if they be more distant and present by a right line it is the Sight if oblique and by reflexion it is the Hearing A man might better haue sayd thus That these fiue senses being appointed for the seruice of an entire man some are entirely for the bodie that is to say Taste and Touching that in that it entreth this in that it remaines without Others first and principally for the soule as sight and hearing the Sight for inuention the Hearing for acquisition and communication and one in the middle for the middle spirits and ties of the soule and body which is the Smell Againe they answer to the foure Elements and their qualities The sense of Feeling to the earth of Hearing to the aire of Taste to the water and moisture the Smell to the fire The Sight is a compound and partakes both of water and fire by reason of the bright splendor of the eie Againe they say that there are so many senses as there are kinds of sensible things which are colour sound odour taste or sauour and the fift which hath no proper name the obiect of Feeling which is heat cold rough plaine and so foorth But men deceiue themselues for the number of the senses is not to be iudged by the number of sensible things which are no cause that there are so many By this reason there should bee many more and one and the same sense should receiue many diuers heads of obiects and one and the same obiect be apprehended by diuers senses so that the tickling of a feather and the pleasures of Venus are distinguished from the fiue Senses and by some comprehended in the sense of Feeling But the cause is rather for that the spirit hath no power to attaine to the knowledge of things but by the fiue Sences and that Nature hath giuen it so many because it was necessary for it end and benefit Their comparisons are diuers in dignity and nobility The 4 Comparison Sense of Seeing excelleth all the rest in fiue things It apprehendeth farther off and extendeth it selfe euen to the fixed starres It hath more variety of obiects for to all things generally in all there is light and colour the obiects of the eie It is more exquisit exact and particular euen in the least and finest things that are It is more prompt and sudden apprehending euen in a moment and without motion euen the heauens themselues in the other senses there is a motion that requireth time It is more diuine and the markes of Diuinity are many Liberty incomparable aboue others whereby the eie seeth or seeth not and therefore it hath lids ready to open and to shut power not to turmoile it selfe and not to suffer it selfe to bee seene Actiuitie and abilitie to please or displease to signifie and insinuate our thoughts willes and affections for the eye speaketh and striketh it serueth for a tongue and a hand the other Senses are purely passiue But that which is most noble in this Sense is that the priuation of the obiect thereof which is darknesse brings feare and that naturally and the reason is because a man findeth himselfe robbed of so excellent a guide and therefore whereas a man desireth
force and strength to defend themselues The third much more neere is the maladie and corruption 3. The passions of the will and the force of the passions this is a world turned topsie turuy the wil is made to follow the vnderstanding as a guide and lampe vnto it but being corrupted and seased on by the force of the passions or rather by the fall of our first father Adam doth likewise perhaps corrupt the vnderstanding and so from hence come the greatest part of our erroneous iudgements Enuie Malice Hatred Loue Feare make vs to respect to iudge to take things others than they are quite otherwise than we ought from whence commeth that common crie Iudge without passion From hence it is that the beautifull and generous actions of another man are obscured by vile and base misconstructions that vaine and wicked causes occasions are feined This is a great vice and a proofe of a malignant nature and sicke iudgement in which there is neither great subtiltie nor sufficiencie but malice enough This proceedeth either from the enuy they beare to the glorie of another man or because they iudge of others according to themselues or because they haue their taste altered and their sight so troubled that they cannot discerne the cleere splendour of vertue in it natiue purity From this selfe same cause and source it commeth that we make the vertues and vices of another man to preuaile so much and extend them farther than we ought that from particularities wee draw consequents and generall conclusions if he be a friend all sits well about him his vices shall be vertues if he be an enemie or of a contrary faction there is nothing good in him insomuch that we shame our owne iudgement to smooth vp our owne passions But this rests not heere but goeth yet farther for the greatest part of those impieties heresies errours in our faith and religion if we looke well into it is sprung from our wicked and corrupt willes from a violent and voluptuous Exod. 31. 2. Paral. 15. 3. Reg. 15. August lib. 2. De ciuitate Dei passion which afterwards draweth vnto it the vnderstanding it selfe Sedit populus manducare bibere c. quod vult non quod est credit qui cupit errare in such sort that what was done in the beginning with some scruple and doubt hath beene afterwards held and maintained for a veritie and reuelation from heauen that which was onely in the sensualitie hath taken place in the highest part of the vnderstanding that which was nothing els but a passion and a pleasure hath beene made a religious matter and an article of faith so strong and dangerous is the contagion of the faculties of the Soule amongst themselues These are the three outward causes of the faults and miscariages of the Spirit iudgement and vnderstanding of man The body especially the head sicke or wounded or ill fashioned The world with the anticipated opinions and suppositions thereof The ill estate of the other faculties of the reasonable Soule which are all inferiour vnto it The first are pitifull and some of them to be cured some not the second are excusable and pardonable the third are accusable and punishable for suffring such a disorder so neere them as this is those that should obey the law to take vpon them to giue the law There are other defects of the Spirit which are more naturall vnto it and in it The greatest and the root of all the rest 18 Naturall is pride and presumption the first and originall fault of all the world the plague of all spirits and the cause of all euils by which a man is only content with himselfe will not giue place to another disdaineth his counsels reposeth himselfe in his owne opinions takes vpon him to iudge and condemne others yea euen that which he vnderstands not It is truly said that the best and happiest distribution that God euer made is of iudgement because euery man is content with his owne and thinkes he hath inough Now this malady proceedeth from the ignorance of our selues We neuer vnderstand sufficiently and truly the weaknesse of our spirit but the greatest disease of the spirit is ignorance not of Arts and Sciences and what is included in the writings of others but of it selfe for which cause this first booke hath beene written CHAP. XV. Of Memory MEmory is many times taken by the vulgar sort for the sense and vnderstanding but not so truly and properly for both by reason as hath beene said and by experience the excellency of the one is ordinarily accompanied with the weaknesse of the other and to say the truth it is a faculty very profitable for the world but yet comes far short of the vnderstanding and of all the parts of the Soule is the more delicate and most fraile The excellency thereof is not very requisite but to three sorts of people Merchants or men of Trade great talkers for the storehouse of the memory is more full and furnished than that of inuention for hee that wants it comes short and must be faine to frame his speech out of the forge of his owne inuention and liars mendacem oportet esse memorem From the want of memory proceed these commodities to lie seldome to talke little to forget offences An indifferent memory sufficeth for all CHAP. XVI Of the imagination and opinion THe imagination is a thing very strong and powerfull it is it that makes all the stirre all the clarter yea the perturbation of the world proceeds from it as we haue sayd before it is either the onely or at least the most actiue and stirring The effects of the imagination maruellous facultie of the Soule The effects thereof are maruellous and strange it worketh not only in it owne proper bodie and Soule but in that of another man yea it produceth contrary effects it makes a man blush wax pale tremble dote to wauer these are the least and the best it takes away the power and vse of the ingendring parts yea when there is most need of them and is the cause why men are more sharpe and austere not only towards themselues but others witnesse those ties and bands whereof the world is full which are for the most part impressions of the apprehension and of feare And contrariwise without endeuor without obiect euen in sleepe it satisfieth the amorous desires yea changeth the sex witnesse Lucius Cossitius whom Pliny affirmeth to haue seene to be changed from a woman to a man the day of his mariag and diuers the like it marketh sometimes ignominiously yea it killeth and makes abortiue the fruit within the wombe it takes away a mans speech and giues it to him that neuer had it as to the sonne of Croesus it taketh away motion sense respiration Thus we see how it worketh in the bodie Touching the Soule it makes a man to lose his vnderstanding his knowledge iudgement it turnes him
whereby it draweth after it if it go not before many euils all worse than the action it selfe The charge riseth aboue the principall and this is to fish as it is sayd with threeds of golde and purple And all this is purely humane Beasts that follow simple nature are quit from all these troubles But the art of man on the one side sets a strait gard about it planteth at the gate shame to giue it a relish on the other side ô the cousinage of men it inflameth and sharpneth the desire it deuiseth remoueth troubleth turneth all topsie turuie to attaine vnto it witnesse Poetrie which sportteh not it selfe in any thing so much as in this subiect and findeth euery entrance vnto it to be better than by the gate and the lawfull way and followeth euery wandring way rather than the common way of marriage CHAP. XXIII Desires Concupiscence THere arise not so many billowes and waues in the sea as 1 The bottomlesse depth of desire desires in the heart of man it is a bottomlesse depth it is infinite diuers inconstant confused and irresolute yea many times horrible and detestable but ordinarily vaine and ridiculous in it owne desires But first it shall not be amisse to distinguish them Some 2 Their distinction Naturall necessarie lib. 2. cap. 6. are naturall and they are iust and lawfull they are likewise in beasts they haue their limits and bounds a man may see the end of them and liuing according to those there is no man a begger Of these shall be spoken heereafter more at large for to say the trueth these are not passions Others Not naturall are besides nature proceeding from our opinion and fantasie artificiall superfluous which we may for distinctions sake call Concupiscences or Lusts These are purely humane beasts know not what they are only man is immoderate in his appetites these are without limits without end and are naught els but confusion Desideria naturalia finita sunt ex falsa opinione nascentia vbi desinant non habent Nullus enim Seneca terminus falso est via eunti aliquid extremum est error immensus est And therefore liuing according to these there is no man can be rch and contented Of these it is properly that wee haue spoken in the beginning of this Chapter and that we farther intend in this matter of the passions It is for these that a man sweats and trauels ad superuacua sudatur that a man iourneyeth by sea and by land goeth to warre killes himselfe drownes betrayes loseth himselfe and therefore it was well sayd That concupiscence is the root of all euill Now it falleth out many times a iust punishment that when a man seeketh how to satisfie his desires and to glut himselfe with the goods and pleasures of Fortune he loseth and is depriued of those of Nature and therefore Diogenes hauing refused that money that Alexander offered him desired him to giue him that he had taken from him to go out of the Sunne CHAP. XXIIII Hope Despaire OVr desires and concupiscences gather heat and redouble their force by hope which inflameth with the soft and gentle aire thereof our foolish desires kindleth in our mindes a fire from whence ariseth a thicke smoake which blindeth our vnderstanding carrieth with it our thoughts holds them hanging in the clouds makes vs dreame waking So long as our hopes endure or desires endure with them it is a play-game wherewith Nature busieth our mindes Contrariwise when despaire is once lodged neere vs it tormenteth our soules in such sort with an opinion of neuer obteining that we desire that all businesse besides must yeeld vnto it And for the loue of that which wee thinke neuer to obteine wee lose euen the rest of whatsoeuer wee possesse This passion is like vnto little children who to be reuenged of him that hath taken one of their play-games from them cast the rest into the fire It is angry with it selfe and requireth of it selfe the punishment of it owne follie and infelicitie After those passions that respect the apparent good come we to those that respect the euill CHAP. XXV Of Choler CHoler is a foolish passion which putteth vs wholly out 1 The description of our selues and with seeking the meanes to withstand and beat backe the euill which it threatneth vs or hath already procured vs maketh the blood to boile in our hearts and stirreth vp furious vapors in our spirits which blinde vs and cast vs headlong to whatsoeuer may satisfie the desire which we haue of reuenge It is a short furie a way to madnesse by the prompt and readie impetuositie and violence thereof it carrieth and furmounteth all passions Repentina vis vniuersa eius est The causes that dispose and mooue vnto choler are first 2 The causes thereof weaknesse of spirit as we see by experience in women olde men infants scke men who are commonly more cholericke than others Inualidum omne natura quaerulum est A man deceiueth himselfe to thinke that there is courage where there is violence violent motions are like the endeuours of children and olde men who runne when they thinke to goe for there is nothing more weake than an immoderate motion and a great imbecillitie is it in a man to be cholericke Secondly the maladie of the minde whereby it is made ouer-tender to beare blowes as the vlcerate parts of the bodie where the sound being interessed therein are astonished and wounded with light matters Nusquam sine quaerela aegra tanguntur The losse of a penie or the omission of a gaine puts into choler a couetous man a laughter or glance of his wife stirres this passion in a iealous man Thirdly lust vaine nicenesse selfe-loue which makes a man anxious and angry puts him into choler for the least cause that may be Nulla res magis iracundiam alit quam luxuria This loue of trisles of a glasse a dogge a bird is a kinde of follie that troubleth vs much and stirres vp this cholericke passion in vs. Fourthly too much curiositie qui nimis inquirit seipsum inquietat This is to seeke occasions and out of the lightnesse of the heart to cast a man into choler not attending any cause thereof Saepe ad nos ira venit saepius nos ad illam Fiftly lightnesse in beleeuing what comes first to the eare But the principall and formall cause is an opinion of contempt and misusage either by word deed countenance These are the reasons whereby we pretend to iustifie our choler The signes and symptomes are very manifest and more than of any other passion and so strange that they alter and 3 The signes change the whole estate of man they transforme and disfigure him vt sit difficile vtrum magis detestabile vitium aut deforme Some of them are outward the face red and deformed the eyes firie the looks furious the eare deafe the mouth foaming the heart panting the pulse beating the
presented Besides that great discouragement that it bringeth it seizeth on vs with such an astonishment that we lose our iudgement there is no longer reason or discourse in vs it maketh vs to flie when no man pursueth yea many times our owne friends and succours adeo pauor etiam auxilia formidat Many haue run mad heerewith yea the senses themselues haue heereby lost their vse we haue our eyes open and see not one speaks to vs and we hearken not vnto him we would flie and we can not go An indifferent feare puts wings to our heeles a great nailes fast our feet and intangles them Feare peruerteth and corrupteth the intire man both the spirit Pauor sapientiam omnem mihi ex animo expectorat and the bodie Obstupui steteruntque comae vox hausibus haesit Sometimes it makes vs desperate and therefore resolute like that Romane Legion vnder the conduct of the Cousull Sempronius against Hannibal Audacem fecerat ipse timor There are feares and affrightments without any apparent cause and as it were by some celestiall impulsion which they call Panique terrours Terrores de coelo Luc. 21. arescentibus hominibus prae timore such as once happened in the citie of Carthage and wherewith whole people and armies haue beene confounded Particular aduisements and remedies against this euill are Lib. 3. cap. 28. The second Consideration of Man by comparing him with all other creatures CHAP. XXXIIII VVEe haue considered man whollie and simplie in 1 A profitable and difficult comparison wherein man is suspected himselfe now let vs consider him by comparing him with other creatures which is an excellent meanes to know him This comparison hath a large extent and many parts that bring much knowledge of importance and very profitable if it be well done But who shall doe it Shall man He is a partie and to be suspected and to say the truth deales partially therein which may easily be proued because he keepes neither measure nor mediocritie Sometimes he placeth himselfe farre aboue all he tearmes himselfe a Master and disdaineth the rest diuides vnto them their morsels distributeth such a portion of faculties and powers vnto them as shall seeme good vnto him Sometimes as it were in despight he debaseth himselfe beneath all he murmureth complaineth wrongeth Nature as a cruell stepmother makes himselfe the outcast and most miserable of the world Now both these extreames are equally against reason veritie modestie But how would you haue him to walke vprightly euenly with all other creatures when he doth it not with man his companion nor with God himselfe as shall be shewed This comparison is also difficult to do for how In the chap. of presumption can a man know the inward and secret carriages of creatures that which moueth within them But yet let vs do our endeuour to do it without passion First the policie of the world is not so vnequall so deformed and irregular neither is there so great a disproportion between the parts thereof but that they that are neere neighbours and touch one another haue a resemblance some more some lesse So is there a great vicinitie and kindred betwixt man and other creatures they haue many things alike and common to each other and they haue differences likewise but not so farre distant and vnlike but that they may holde together Man is neither altogether aboue nor beneath the rest All that is vnder heauen saith the Wisdome of God Ecclesiast runnes the same fortune Let vs first speake of those things that are common to all and almost alike which are to ingender nourish to do moue 3 Things common liue die Idem interitus hominis iumentorum aequa vtriusque conditio And this is against those that finde themselues agrieued saying that man is the most contemptible creature of Nature abandoned left naked vpon the naked earth Eccles 4. without couert without armor bound swadled without instruction of what is fit for him whereas all other creatures are clothed and couered with shels husks haire wooll feathers scales armed with teeth horns tallants both to assaile and to defend taught to swim to runne to flie to sing to seeke their releefe and man knowes neither how to go nor to speake nor to eat nor any thing but crie without an apprentiship and much labour All these complaints to him that considereth the first composition and naturall condition are vniust and false our skinne is as sufficiently prouided against 1. Nakednesse cap. 5. the iniuries of times and seasons as theirs witnesse many nations as hath beene said that neuer knew what garments meant yea those parts that we thinke good we keepe vncouered yea the most tender and sensible as the face the hands the stomacke and the delicatest damosels their breasts Bands and swadling clothes are not necessarie witnesse the 2. Swadling clothes Lacedemonians and in these daies the Switzers Almaines which dwell in cold countries the Bisques vagabonds that are called Egyptians Crying is likewise common vnto beasts all creatures almost complain and grone for a time after they 3. Crying come into the world As for armour we want not that which 4. Armes is naturall and haue more motion of our members vse their seruice more naturally and without instruction If some beasts excell vs in this wee in the same excell diuers others The vse of eating is both in them and in vs naturall and without 5. Eating instruction Who doubteth that an infant being once able to feede himselfe knowes how to seeke his sustenance And the earth likewise bringeth foorth and offereth enough vnto him for his necessitie without other culture or Art witnesse so many nations which without labour industrie and care liue plenteously As for speech a man may well say that 6. Speech if it be not naturall it is not necessarie but it is common to man with other creatures What else but speech is that facultie we see in them of complaining reioicing of calling others to their succour of making loue And as wee speake by gestures and motion of the eies the head the shoulders the hands wherein deafe men are very cunning so beasts as we see in those which haue no voice who neuerthelesse do enterchange their mutuall offices and as in some kinde of measure beasts vnderstand vs so we them They flatter vs threaten vs intreat vs and we them we speake to them and they to vs and if we perfectly vnderstand not one another where is the fault in vs or in them That is to be determined They may as well account vs beasts by that reason as we them yea they reproch vs for that we our selues vnderstand not one another We vnderstand not the Bisques the Britons and they all vnderstand the one the other not onely of the same but which is more of a diuers kinde By a certaine barking of the dog the horse knoweth that he is in choler
the first Law-breakers for they do nothing and many times do quite contrarie to that they enioyne others like the Pharises Imponunt onera grauia nolunt ea digito mouere So do some Physitians and Diuines so liues the world rules and precepts are enioined and men not only by an irregularitie of life and maners but also by contrarie opinion and iudgement follow others There is likewise another fault full of iniustice they are farre more scrupulous exact and rigorous in things free and accidentall than in necessarie and substantiall in positiue and humane than in naturall and diuine like them that are content to lend but not to pay their debts and all like the Pharises as the great and heauenly Doctour telleth them to their reproch All this is but hypocrisie and deceit CHAP. LII People or vulgar sort THe people we vnderstand heere the vulgar sort the popular rout a kinde of people vnder what couert soeuer of base seruile and mechanicall condition are a strange beast with many heads and which in few words can not be described inconstant and variable without stay like the waues of the sea they are mooued and appeased they allow and disallow one and the same thing at one and the same instant there is nothing more easie than to driue them into what passion he will they loue not warres for the true end thereof nor peace for rest and quietnesse but for varieties sake and the change that there is from the one to the other confusion makes them desire order and when they haue it they like it not they run alwaies one contrary to another and there is no time pleaseth but what is to come hi vulgi mores odisse praesentia ventura cupere praeterita celebrare They are light to beleeue to gather together newes especially such as are most hurtfull holding all reports for assured trueths With a whistle or some sonnet of newes a man may assemble them together like bees at the sound of a bason Without iudgement reason discretion Their iudgement and wisdome is but by chance like a cast at dice vnaduised and headlong of all things and alwayes ruled by opinion or custome or the greater number going all in a line like sheepe that run after those that goe before them and not by reason and truth Plebi non iudicium non veritas ex opinione multa Tacit. Cic. ex veritate paucae iudicat Enuious and malicious enemies to good men contemners of vertue beholding the good hap of another with an ill eye fauouring the more weake and the more wicked and wishing all ill they can to men of honor they know not wherefore except it be because they are honourable and well spoken of by others Treacherous and vntrue amplifying reports smothering of truthes and alwayes making things greater than they are without faith without holde The faith or promise of a people and the thought of a childe are of like durance which change not onely as occasions change but according to the difference of those reports that euery houre of the day may bring forth Mutinous desiring nothing but nouelties and changes seditious enemies to peace and quietnesse ingenio mobili seditiosum discordiosum cupidum rerum nouarum quieti otio aduersum Salust especially when they meet with a leader for then euen as the calme sea of nature tumbleth and foameth and rageth being stirred with the furie of the windes so doe the people swell and grow proud wilde and outragious but take from them their leader they become deiect grow wild are confounded with astonishment sine rectore praeceps pauidus socors nil ausura plebs principibus amotis Procurers and fauorers of broiles and alterations in householde affaires they account modestie simplicitie wisdome rusticitie and contrariwise they giue to fierie and heady violence the name of valour and fortitude They prefer those that haue hot heads and actiue hands before those that haue a setled and temperate iudgement and vpon whom the weight of the affaires must lie boasters and pratlers before those that are simple and stayed They care neither for the publike good nor common honestie but their priuate good only and they refuse no base offices for their gaine and commodity Priuata cuique stimulatio vile decus publicum Alwayes muttering and murmuring against the State alwayes belching out slanders and insolent speeches against those that gouerne and command The meaner and poorer sort haue no better pastime than to speake ill of the great and rich not vpon cause and reason but of enuie being neuer content with their gouernours nor the present State They haue nothing but a mouth they haue tongues that cease not spirits that bowge not they are a monster whose parts are all tongues they speake all things but know nothing they look vpon all but see nothing they laugh at all and weepe at all fit to mutine and rebell not to fight Their propertie is rather to assay to shake off their yoke than to defend their libertie procacia plebis ingenia impigrae linguae Tacit. ignaui animi Salust They neuer know how to holde a measure nor to keepe an honest mediocritie Either like slaues they serue ouer-basely or like lords they are beyond all measure insolent and tyrannicall They can not endure a soft and temperate bit nor are pleased with a lawfull libertie they run alwaies to extremities either out of hope too much trusting or too much distrusting out of feare They will make you afeard if you feare not them when they are frighted you chocke them vnder the chin and you leape with both feet vpon their bellies They are audacious and proud if a man shew not the cudgell and therefore the prouerbe is Tickle them and they will pricke thee pricke them and they will tickle thee Nil in vulgo modicum terrere ni paueant vbi pertimuerint impunè contemni audacia turbidum nisi vbi metuat aut seruit humiliter aut superbè dominatur libertatem quae media nec spernere nec habere Very vnthankfull towards their benefactors The recompense of all those that haue deserued well of the Common-wealth haue alwayes beene banishment reproch conspiracie death Histories are famous of Moyses and all the Prophets Socrates Aristides Phocion Lycurgus Demosthenes Themistocles And the Truth it selfe hath said That he being one that procured the good and health of the people escaped not and contrariwise they that oppresse them are dearest vnto them They feare all they admire all To conclude the people are a sauage beast all that they thinke is vanitie all they say is false and erroneous that they reprooue is good that they approoue is naught that which they praise is infamous that which they doe and vndertake is follie Non tam bene cum rebus humanis geritur vt Seneca meliora pluribus placeant argumentum pessimi turba est The vulgar multitude is the mother of ignorance iniustice inconstancie idolatrie vanitie
many places by common vse The little care of hauing children the murther of parents of children of himselfe mariage of the neerest in bloud theft publike marchandize of their libertie and bodies as well of males as females are receiued by publike vse in many nations Doubtlesse there remaineth no more any image or trace of nature in vs we must go seeke it in beasts where this troublesome 11 And we must seeke it elsewhere and vnquiet spirit this quick-siluer neither arte nor beautifull ceremonie hath power to alter it they haue it pure and entire if it be not corrupted by our vsage and contagion as sometimes it is All the world followeth nature the first and vniuersall rule which the author thereof hath giuen and established except man only who troubleth the policie and state of the world with his gentle spirit and his free-will to wickednesse he is the only irregular creature and enemy of nature So then the true honestie the foundation and piller of wisdome is to follow nature that is to say reason The good and 12 True honestie the end of man in whom consisteth his rest his libertie his contentment and in a word his perfection in this world is to liue and do according to nature when that which is the most excellent thing in him commaundeth that is to say reason True honestie is a right and firme disposition of the will to follow the counsell of reason And as the heedle touched with the adamant neuer resteth it selfe vntill he see the north point and thereby ordereth and directeth the nauigation so a man is neuer well yea he is as it were vndone and dislocated vntill he see this law and directeth the course of his life his maners his iudgements and willes according to the first diuine naturall law which is an inward domesticall light whereof all the rest are but beames But to effect it and to come to the practise it is farre more easie to some than to others There are some that haue their 13 The distinction of true honestie particular nature that is to say their temper and temperature so good and pleasing which especially proceedeth from the first formation in the womb of the mother and afterwards from the milke of the nurse and this first and tender education that they find themselues without endeuor and without arte or discipline whollie caried and disposed to goodnesse and honestie that is to say to follow and conforme themselues to the vniuersall nature whereby they are tearmed well-borne gaudeant bene nati This kind of naturall and easie honestie and as it were Naturall goodnes borne with vs is properly called goodnesse a qualitie of a soule well borne and well gouerned it is a sweetnesse facilitie and debonairie mildnesse of nature and not lest any bodie should be deceiued a softnesse a feminine sottish calmenesse and vitious facilitie whereby a man delighteth to please all and not to displease or offend any although he haue a iust and a lawfull cause and it be for the seruice of reason and iustice whereby it comes to passe that they will not employ themselues in lawfull actions when it is against those that take offence thereat nor altogether refuse the vnlawfull when they please thereby those that consent thereunto Of these kind of people it is said and this commendation is iniurious He is good since he is good euen to the wicked and this accusation true How should he be good since he is not euill to those that are euill We should rather call this kind of goodnesse innocencie as men call little children sheepe and the like innocent creatures But an actiue valiant manly and effectuall goodnesse is that I require which is a readie easie and constant affection vnto that which is good right iust according to reason and nature There are others so ill borne and bred that it seemeth that like monsters their particular natures are made as it were in despite of the vniuersall nature so crosse and contrarie are they thereunto In this case the remedie to correct reforme sweeten make tame and amend this euill rough sauage and crooked nature to bend it and applie it to the rule of this generall and great mistris the vniuersall nature is to haue recourse to the study of philosophie as Socrates did and vnto Acquired vertue vertue which is a combate and painfull endeuor against vice a labourious studie which requireth time labour and discipline Virtus in arduo circa difficile ad ianuam virtutis excubant labor sudor Dij mortalibus virtutem laboris pretio vendiderunt This is not to bring in a new strange or artificiall honestie and so accidentall and such as I haue said before is not the true but it is by taking away the lets and hinderances to stirre vp and enlighten this light almost extinct and languishing and to reuiue those seeds almost choked by the particular vice and ill temperature of the particular person as by taking away the moat from the eie the sight is recouered and the dust from off the glasse a man seeth the clearer By all this that hath beene said it appeareth that there are 14 Three degrees of perfection two sorts of true honestie the one naturall sweet easie iust called goodnesse the other acquired difficult painfull and laborious called vertue But to say the truth there is also a third which is as it were composed of the two and so there should be three degrees of perfection The lowest of the three is a facill and debonairie nature distasted by it selfe by reason of vice we haue named it goodnesse innocencie The second more high which wee haue named vertue is with a liuelie force to hinder the progresse of vice and hauing suffered himselfe to be surprised with the first motions of the passions to arme and bend himselfe to staie their course and to ouercome them The third and chiefest is out of a high resolution and a perfect habit to be so well framed that temptations cannot so much as grow in him and the seedes of vice are whollie rooted out in so much that his vertue is turned into a complexion and into nature This last may be called perfection That the first which is called goodnesse do resemble one the other and differ from the second in that they are without stirre paine or endeuour This is the true tincture of the soule hir naturall and ordinary course which costeth nothing The second is alwaies in care and in awe The last and perfect is acquired by the long studie and serious exercise of the rules of philosophie ioined to a beautifull and rich nature For both are necessarie the naturall and the acquired This is that those two sects did so much studie the Stoickes and much more the Epicures which would haue seemed strange if Seneca and other ancient Philosophers did not testifie it who are rather to bee credited than all the other more moderne who
the waspe which with his sting offendeth another but much more himselfe for he leaueth behind him and that for euer both his sting and his strength vice hoth pleasure in it otherwise it would not be receiued nor find place in the world nemo enim animi causu malus est but it doth withall ingender displeasure and offence paine followeth firme saith Plato yea it groweth with it saith Hesiodus which is quite contrarie to the will and to vertue which reioyceth and contenteth There is a congratulation a pleasing contentment and satisfaction in well doing it is the true and essentiall reward of a good soule which can neuer faile him and wherewith he must content himselfe in this world There is no man maketh a doubt whether vice be to be auoided and hated aboue all things but it is a question whether 18 Whether it be neuer permitted to sinne there may be any such profit or pleasure as may carrie with it a sufficient excuse for the committing of such or such a finne It seemeth to diuers that there may Touching prosin if it be publike there is no doubt but yet with limitation as shall be sayd in the vertue of politike prudence but some will say as much of particular profit and pleasure A man â— Lib. 3. cap. 2. might speake and iudge heereof more certainly if some certaine fact on example were proposed but to speake simplie we are firmly to holde the negatiue That sinne can not inwardly furnish vs with such pleasure and content as honestie doth there is no doubt but that it 19 Whether all sinne ingender repentance The distinction of vice or wickednesse tormendth as hath been sayd it is not vniuersally and in all senses true we must therefore distinguish it There are three sorts of wickednesse and wicked people some are incorporated into euill by discourse and resolution or by long habit in such sort that their vnderstanding it selfe approueth it and consenteth there unto This falleth out when sinne hauing met with a strong and vigorous heart is in such sort rooted therein that it is there formed and as it were naturalized and the soule infected and wholly tainted therewith Others contrariwise do ill by impulsions according as the violent winde of temptation troubleth stirreth and precipitateth the soule vnto sinne and as they are surprised and caried by the force of passion The third as midlings betwixt these two account their vice such as it is they accuse and condemne it contrarie to the first and they are not carried by passion or temptation as the second but in colde blood hauing well thought thereof they enter into the market they ballance it with some great pleasure or profit and in the end at a certaine price and measure they yeeld thereunto and they thinke they haue some excuse to doe it Of this sort of sinnes are vsuries obscenities or venereous pleasures and other sinnes manie times resumed consulted deliberated as also the sinnes of complexion Of these three the first do neuer repent without some extraordinarie 20 Their comparison touch from heauen for being setled and hardned in wickednesse they feele not the pricke and sting thereof for since the vnderstanding approueth it and the soule is wholly tainted therewith the will hath no will to gainsay it The third repent or seeme in a certaine fashion that is to say simply considering the dishonest action in it selfe but afterwards weighing it with profit or pleasure they repent not at all and to say the truth and to speake properly they do not repent since both their reason and conscience willeth and consenteth to the fault The second are they that repent and readuise themselues and of whom properly it is called repentance whereof I will heere take occasion to speake a word or two Repentance is a disauowing or deniall and a retractation 21 Of repentance of the will that is a sorrow or griefe ingendred in vs by reason which driueth away all other sorrowes and griefs which proceed from outward causes Repentance is inward inwardly ingendred and therfore more strong than any other as the heat and colde of a feauer is more violent than that which is outward Repentance is the medicine of the soule the death of sinne the cure of our willes and consciences but it is necessarie that we well know it First it is not of euerie sinne as hath beene sayd not of that which is inueterate habituated authorized by the iudgement it selfe but of the accidentall and that which happeneth either by surprise or by force nor of things that are not in our power whereof we are sorrie we cannot repent neither can it be in vs by reason of bad issues and contrary to our counsels and designments If a matter fall out besides a mans thought conceipt and aduice for that he must not repent him of his counsell and aduice if he therein carrie himselfe as he ought for a man cannot diuine of euents and if a man did know them yet he hath no place to consult of them and we neuer are to iudge of counsels by their issues neither must it grow in him by the age impotencie distaste of things this were to suffer his iudgement to be corrupted for the things are not changed because we are changed by age sicknesse or other accidents The growing wise or amendment which comes by anxietie distaste or feeblenes is not true and religious but idle and languishing The weaknesse of the bodie is no fit post to carie vs to God and to our dutie and repentance but true repentance is the gift of God which toucheth our heart and must grow in vs not by the weaknesse of the bodie but by the force of the soule and of reason Now from true repentance there ariseth a true free and religious confession of our faults As in the maladies of the bodie 22 Of confession and excuse we see two kinds of remedies the one which healeth taking away the cause and roote of the maladie the other which doth only couer it and bring it asleepe and therefore the former is more forcible and more wholsome So likewise in the maladies of the soule the true remedie which clenseth and healeth is a serious and modest confession of our faults the other false which doth only disguise and couer is excuse a remedie inuented by the author of euill it selfe whereof the prouerb is That sinne soweth itselfe a garment that is excuse the garment made of figge leaues by the first offenders who couered themselues both with words and deeds but it was a garment without warmth We should therefore learne to accuse our selues boldly to confesse all our actions thoughts for besides that it were a faire and generous libertie it were likewise a meane not to do or thinke any thing which were not honest and fit to be published for he that will be content to be bound to tell all will be likewise content to bind himselfe to do
rest for second and subsidiarie helps are no way comparable to the first and principall The diuersitie and distinction of friendship is great That of the ancients into foure kinds Naturall Sociable Hospitall 4 The first distinction of the causes Venereous is not sufficient We may note three The first is drawne from the causes which ingender it which are foure nature vertue profit pleasure which sometimes goe together in troope sometimes two or three and very often one alone But vertue is the more noble and the stronger for that is spirituall and in the heart as friendship is Nature in the bloud profit in the purse pleasure in some part or sense of the body So likewise vertue is more liberall more free and pure and without it the other causes are poore and idle and fraile He that loueth for vertue is neuer weary with louing and if friendship be broken complaineth not He that loueth for profit if it faile complaineth and it turneth to his reproch that when he hath done all he can he hath lost all He that loueth for pleasure if his pleasure cease his loue ceaseth with it and without complaint enstrangeth himselfe The second distinction which is in regard of the persons is 5 2 Of persons in three kinds the one is in a straight line betweene superiours and inferiours and it is either naturall as betweene parents and children vncles and nephues or lawfull as between the prince and the subiects the lord his vassals the master and his seruants the doctor and the disciple the prelat or gouernor and the people Now this kind to speake properly is not friendship both because of the great disparitie that is betwixt them which hindreth that inwardnes and familiaritie and entire communication which is the principall fruit and effect of friendship as likewise because of the obligation that is therein which is the cause why there is lesse libertie and lesse choice and affection therein And this is the reason why men giue it other names than of friendship for in inferiours there is required of them honor respect obedience in superiours care and vigilancie ouer their inferiours The second kind of friendship in regard of the persons is in a collaterall line betweene equals or such as are neere equals And this is likewise two-fold for either it is naturall as betweene brothers sisters cosens and this comes neerer to friendship than the former because there is lesse disparitie But yet there is a bond of nature which as on the one side it knitteth and fastneth so on the other it looseth for by reason of goods and diuisions and affaires it is not possible but brothers and kinsfolke must sometimes differ Besides that many times the correspondencie and relation of humours and wills which is the essence of friendship is not found amongst them He is my brother or my kinsman but yet he is a wicked man a foole Or it is free and voluntarie as betweene companions and friends who touch not in bloud and hold of nothing but only of friendship and loue and this is properly and truly friendship 3 The third kind of friendship in regard of the persons is mixt and as it were compounded of the other two whereby it is or it should be more strong this is matrimoniall of maried couples which holdeth of loue or friendship in a streight line because of the superioritie of the husband and the inferioritie of the wife and of collaterall friendship being both of them companions ioined together by equall bands And therefore the wife was not taken out of the head nor foote but the side of man Againe such as are maried in all things and by turnes exercise and shew both these friendships that which is in a streight line in publike for a wise woman honoreth and respecteth hir husband that which is collaterall in priuat by priuat familiaritie This matrimoniall friendship is likewise after another fashion double and compounded for it is spirituall corporall which is not in other friendships saue only in that which is reproued by all good lawes and by nature it selfe Matrimoniall friendship then is great strong and puissant There are neuerthelesse two or three things that stay and hinder it that it cannot attaine to the perfection of friendship The one that there is no part of mariage free but the entrance for the progresse and continuance thereof is altogether constrained enforced I meane in christian mariages for euery where else it is lesse enforced by reason of those diuorcements which are permitted The other is the weaknes and insufficiencie of the wise which can no way correspond to that perfect conference and communication of thoughts and iudgements hir soule is not strong and constant enough to endure the streightnes of a knot so fast so strong so durable it is as if a man should sow a strong and course peece of cloth to a soft and delicate This filleth not the place but vanisheth and is easily torne from the other Againe this inconuenience followeth the friendship of maried cupples that it is mingled with so many other strange matters children parents of the one side the other and so many other distaffe busines that doe many times trouble and interrupt a liuely affection The third distinction of friendship respecteth the force and intention or the weaknes and diminution of friendship 7 3 Of degrees According to this reason there is a two-fold friendship the common and imperfect which we may call good will familiaritie priuate acquaintance and it hath infinite degrees one more strict intimate and strong than another and the perfect which is inuisible and is a Phenix in the world yea hardly conceiued by imagination We shall know them both by confronting them together 8 The differēces of friendship common and perfect and by knowing their differences The common may be attained in a short time Of the perfect it is said that we must take long time to deliberate and they must eate much salt togther before it be perfected 2 The common is attained built and ordered by diuers profitable and delightfull occasions occurrents and therefore a wise man hath set downe two meanes to attaine vnto it to speake things pleasant and to doe things profitable the perfect is acquired by an only true and liuely vertue reciprocallie knowne 3 The common may be with and betweene diuers the perfect is with one only who is another selfe and betweene two only who are but one It would intangle and hinder it selfe amongst many for if two at one time should desire to be succoured if they should request of me contrarie offices if the one should commit to my secrecie a thing that is expedient for another to know what course what order may be kept heerein Doubtlesse diuision is an enemie to perfection and vnion hir cosen-germaine 4 The common is capable of more and lesse of exceptions restraints and modifications it is kindled and cooled subiect to
another drawes a greater trouble vpon him than he dreams of for besides the care that he takes vnto himselfe to keepe them well hee bindes himselfe to faine and to deny his owne thoughts a thing very irksome to a noble and generous heart Neuerthelesse hee that takes that charge vpon him must keepe it religiously and to the end he may do it well and play the good secretary he must be such a one by nature not by arte and obligation CHAP. IX Verity and free admonition FRee and hearty admonition is a very wholesome and excellent 1 An excellent thing medicine and the best office of amity For to wound and offend a little to profit much is to loue soundlie It is one of the principall and most profitable Euangelicall commandements Si peccauerit in te frater tuus corripe illum c. All haue sometimes need of this remedy but especially all 2 To whom profitable those that are in prosperity for it is a very hard thing to bee happie and wise together And princes who lead a life so publicke and are to furnish themselues with so many things and haue so many things hid from them cannot see nor vnderstand but by the eies and eares of another And therefore they haue great need of aduertisements otherwise they may chaunce to runne strange and hard fortunes if they be not very wise This office is vndertaken by very few There are required thereunto as the wise affirme three things iudgement or discretion 3 Rare difficult dangerous couragious libertie amitie and fidelitie These are tempered and mingled together but few there are that do it for feare of offending or want of true amitie and of those that do it few there are that know how to do it well Now if it be ill done like a medicine ill applied it woundeth without profit and produceth almost the same effect with griefe that flattery doth with pleasure To be commended and to be reprehended vnfittinglie and to small purpose is the selfe-same wound and a matter alike faultie in him that doth it Veritie how noble soeuer it be yet it hath not this priuiledge to be imployed at all houres and in all fashions A wholsome holie reprehension may be vitiouslie applied The counsels and cautions for a man well to gouerne himselfe heerein it is to be vnderstood where there is no great 4 The rules of true admonition inwardnesse familiaritie confidence or authoritie and power for in these cases there is no place for the carefull obseruation of these rules following are these 1. To obserue place and time that it be neither in times nor places of feasting and great ioy for that were as they say to trouble the feast nor of sorrow and aduersitie for that were a point of hostilitie and the way to make an end of all that is rather a fit time to succour and comfort a man Crudelis in re aduersa obiurgatio damnare est obiurgare cùm auxilio est opus King Perseus seeing himselfe thus handled by two of his familiar friends killed them both 2. Not to reprehend all faults indifferentlie not small and light offences this were to be enuious and an importunate ambitious reprehender not great and dangerous which a man of himselfe doth sufficientlie feele and feares a worse punishment to come this were to make a man thinke he lies in wait to catch him 3. Secretlie and not before witnes to the end he make him not ashamed as it hapned to a young man who was so much abashed that he was reprehended by Pythagoras that he hanged himself And Plutarch is of opinion that it was for this cause that Alexander killed his friend Clitus because he reprehended him in companie but especiallie that it be not before those whose good opinion he that is reprehended desireth to retaine and with whom he desires to continue his credit as before his wife his children his disciples 4. Out of a simple carelesse nature and freedome of heart without any particular interest or passion of the mind be it neuer so little 5. To comprehend himselfe in the same fault and to vse generall termes as We forget our selues What do we thinke of 6. To begin with commendations and to end with proffers of seruice and help this tempereth the tartnesse of correction and giues a better entertainment Such and such a thing becomes you well but not so well such and such a thing 7. To expresse the fault with better words than the nature of the offence doth require as You haue not been altogether well aduised in steed of You haue done wickedlie Receiue not this woman into your companie for she wil vndoe you in steed of Allure hir not perswade hir not to yeeld to your desires for thereby you will vndoe your selfe Enter not into dispute with such a man in steed of Quarrell not enuie not such a man 8. The admonition being ended be not presentlie gone but stay and fall into some other common and pleasant discourse CHAP. X. Of Flattery lying and dissimulation FLatterie is a very dangerous poison to euery particular person and almost the only cause of the ruine of a prince 1 Flattery a pernicious and villanous thing and the state it is worse than false witnesse which corrupteth not the Iudge but deceiueth him only causing him to giue a wicked sentence against his will and iudgement but flattery corrupteth the iudgement enchanteth the spirit and makes him vnapt to be farther instructed in the truth And if a prince be once corrupted by flattery it necessarily followeth that all that are about him if they will liue in grace and fauour must be flatterers It is therefore a thing as pernicious as truth is excellent for it is the corruption of truth It is also a villanous vice of a base beggerlie mind as foule and ill beseeming a man as impudencie a woman Vt matrona meretrici dispar erit atque discolor infido scurrae distabit amicus Flatterers are likewise compared to harlots sorcerers oyle-sellers to woolfes and another saith That a man were better fall among crowes than flatterers There are two sorts of people subiect to be flattered that is to say such as neuer want people to furnish them with this 2 Especially to two sorts of people kind of merchandize and easily suffer themselues to be taken by it that is to say princes with whom wicked men get credit thereby and women for there is nothing so proper and ordinarie to corrupt the chastitie of women than to feede and entertaine them with their owne commendations Flattery is hardlie auoided and it is a matter of difficultie to be preserued from it not only to women by reason of their 3 Hardly avoided weaknesse and their natures full of vanitie and desirous of praise and to princes because they are their kinsfolke friends principall officers whom they cannot auoid that professe this mysterie Alexander that great king and philosopher could not
common saying tyrannicallie it is then also to be distinguished for it may be so three waies and euery one requireth particular consideration The Heerof see aboue Chap. 4. in Chap. of tyrannie and rebellion one is in violating the lawes of God and nature that is to say against the religion of the countrie the commaundement of God inforcing and constraining their consciences In this case he ought not to yeeld any dutie or obedience following those diuine axiomes That we ought rather obey God than men and feare him more that commaundeth the intire man than those that haue power but ouer the least part Yet he ought not to oppose himselfe against him by violence or sinister meanes which is another extremitie but to obserue the middle way which is either to flie or suffer fugere aut pati these two remedies named by the doctrine of veritie in the like extremities 2. The other lesse euill which concerneth not the consciences but only the bodies and the goods is an abuse to subiects denying them iustice imprisoning their persons and depriuing them of their goods In the which case he ought with patience and acknowledgement of the wrath of God yeeld these three duties following honor obedience vowes and prayers and to be mindfull of three things that all power and authoritie is from God and whosoeuer resisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of God principi summum rorum indicium dij dederunt Subditis obsequij gloria relicta est bonos principes voto expetere quale scunque tolerare And Tacit. he ought not to obey a superior because he is worthie and worthilie commaundeth but because he is a superior not for that he is good but because he is true and lawfull There is great difference betweene true and good euery one ought to obey the law not because it is good and iust but simplie because it is the law 2. That God causeth an hypocrite to raigne for the sinnes of the people though he reserue him for a day of his furie that the wicked prince is the instrument of his iustice the which we ought to indure as other euils which the heauens do send vs quomodo sterilitatem aut nimios imbres caetera naturae mala sic luxū auaritiam dominantium tolerare Tacit. 3. The examples of Saul Nabuchodonoser of many Emperours before Constantine and others since him as cruell tyrants as might be towards whom neuerthelesse these three duties haue been obserued by good men and enioined them by the Prophets and learned men of those daies according to the oracle of the great Doctour of truth which inferreth an obedience to them which sit in the seate of gouernment notwithstanding they oppresse vs with insupportable burthens and their gouernment be euill The third concerneth the whole state when he would change or ruinate it seeking to make it electiue hereditarie or of an Aristocracie or Democracie a Monarchie or otherwise And in this case he ought to withstand and hinder their proceedings either by way of iustice or otherwise for he is not master of the state but only a gardian and a suertie But these affaires belong not to all but to the tutours and mainteiners of the state or those that are interessed therein as Electours of electiue states or Princes apparent in hereditarie states or states generall that haue fundamentall lawes And this is the only case wherein it is lawfull to resist a tyrant And all this is said of subiects who are neuer permitted to attempt any thing against a soueraigne Prince for what cause L. Cogitationis ff de poen L. Si quis non dicam c. de sacros Eccles soeuer and the lawes say that he deserueth death who attempteth or giueth counsell and which intendeth or only thinketh it But it is honorable for a stranger yea it is most noble and heroicall in a prince by warlike means to defend a people vniustlie oppressed and to free them from tyrannie as Hercules did and afterward Dion Timoleon and Tamberlaine prince of the Tartars who ouercame Baiazeth the Turkish Emperour and besieged Constantinople These are the duties of subiects towards their liuing soueraignes 12 Examinations of Soueraignes after their death But it is a point of iustice to examine their life after they are dead This is a custome iust and very profitable which benefiteth much those nations where it is obserued and which all good Princes doe desire who haue cause to complaine that a man handleth the memorie of the wicked as well as theirs Soueraignes are companions if not masters of the lawes for seeing iustice cannot touch their liues there is reason it taketh hold of their reputation and the goods of their successours We owe reuerence and dutie equallie to all kings in respect of their dignitie and office but inward estimation and affection to their vertue We patientlie indure them though vnworthie as they are We conceale their vices for their authoritie and publike order where we liue hath neede of our common help but after they are gone there is no reason to reiect iustice and the libertie of expressing our true thoughts yea it is a very excellent and profitable example that we manifest to the posteritie faithfullie to obey a Master or Lord whose imperfections are well knowne They who for some priuat dutie commit a wicked prince to memorie do priuat iustice to the publike hurt O excellent lesson for a successour if it were well obserued CHAP. XVII The dutie of Magistrates GOod people in a common-wealth would loue better to 1 For what cause Magistrates are allowed of inioy ease of contentment which good and excellent spirits know how to giue themselues in consideration of the goods of nature and the effects of God than to vndertake publike charges were it not that they feare to be ill gouerned and by the wicked and therefore they consent to be magistrates but to hunt and follow publike charges especiallie the iudgement seat is base and vile and condemned by all good lawes yea euen of the heathen witnesse the law Iulia de ambitu vnworthie a person of honour and a man cannot better expresse his insufficiencie than by seeking for it But it is most base and vile by briberie or money to purchase them and there is no merchandize more hatefull and contemptible than it for it necessarily followeth that he which buieth in grosse selleth by retaile Whereupon the Emperour Seuerus speaking against the like inconuenience saith Lamprid. That a man can not iustly condemne him which selleth that he bought Euen as a man apparrelleth himselfe and putteth on his 2 How a magistrate ought to prepare himself before he take the charge best habit before he departeth his house to appeare in publike so before a man vndertake publike charge he ought priuately to examine himselfe to learne to rule his passions and well to settle and establish his minde A man bringeth not to the turney a raw
place and to liue in another Our mother might haue lay en in elsewhere and it is a chance that we are borne heere or there Againe all Countries bring foorth and nourish men and furnish them with whatsoeuer is necessarie All countries haue kindred nature hath knit vs all together in bloud and in charitie All haue friends there is no more to to but to make friends and to win them by vertue and wisdome Euery land is a wise mans countrie or rather no land is his particular countrie For it were to wrong himselfe and it were weaknesse and basenesse of heart to thinke to cary himselfe as a stranger in any place He must alwaies vse his owne right and libertie and liue in all places as with himselfe and vpon his owne omnes terras tanquam suas videre suas tanquam omnium Moreouer what change or discommoditie doth the diuersitie of the place bring with it Do we not alwaies cary about 3 Vertue vs one and the same spirit and vertue Who can forbid saith Brutus a banished man to cary with him his vertues The spirit and vertue of a man is not shut vp in any place but it is euery where equallie and indifferentlie An honest man is a citizen of the world free cheerfull and content in all places alwaies within himselfe in his owne quarter and euer one and the same though his case or scabberd be remoued and caried hither and thither animus sacer aternus vbique est dijs cognatus omni mundo auo par A man in euery place is in his own countrie where he is well Now for a man to be well it dependeth not vpon the place but himselfe How many are there that for diuers considerations haue willinglie banished themselues How many others banished 4 Examples by the violence of another being afterwards called home haue refused to returne and haue found their exile not only tollerable but pleasant and delightfull yea neuer thought they liued vntill the time of their banishment as those noble Romans Rutilius Marcellus How many others haue beene led by the hand of good fortune out of their countrie that they may grow great and puissant in a strange land CHAP. XXV Of Pouertie want losse of goods THis complaint is of the vulgar and miserable sottish sort 1 Pouertie two-fold of people who place their soueraigne good in the goods of fortune and thinke that pouertie is a very great euill But to shew what it is you must know that there is a two-fold pouertie the one extreame which is the want of things necessarie 1. Want of things necessarie and requisit vnto nature This doth seldome or neuer happen to any man nature being so iust and hauing formed vs in such a fashion that few things are necessarie and those few are not wanting but are found euery where parabile est quod natura defiderat expositum yea in such a sufficiencie as being moderatly vsed may suffice the condition of euery one Ad manum est quod sat est If we will liue according to nature and reason the desire and rule thereof we shall alwaies find that which is sufficient If we will liue according to opinion whilest we liue we shall neuer find it Si ad naturam viues nunquam eris pauper si ad opinionem nunquam diues exiguum natura desiderat opinio immensum And therefore a man that hath an arte or science to stick vnto yea that hath but his armes at will is it possible he should either feare or complaine of pouertie The other is the want of things that are more than sufficient 2 2. Want of things superfluous required for pomp pleasure and delicacie This is a kind of mediocritie and frugallitie and to say the truth it is that which we feare to lose our riches our moueables not to haue our bed soft enough our diet well drest to be depriued of these commodities and in a word it is delicatenesse that holdeth vs this is our true maladie Now this complaint is vniust for such pouertie is rather to be desired than feared and therefore the wise man asked it of God mendicitatem nec diuitias Prouer. 30. sed necessaria It is farre more iust more rich more peaceable and certaine than abundance which a man so much desireth More iust for man came naked nemo nascitur diues The praise of sufficiencie and he returneth naked out of this world Can a man tearme that truly his that he neither bringeth nor carieth with him The goods of this world they are as the moueables of an Inne We are not to be discontented so long as we are heere that we haue need of them More rich It is a large segnorie a kingdome magnae diuitiae lege naturae composita paupertas magnus 1. Timot. 6. quaestus pietas cum sufficientia More peaceable and assured it feareth nothing and can defend it selfe against the enemies thereof etiam in obsessa via paupertas pax est A small body that may couer and gather it selfe vnder a buckler is in better safetie than a great which lieth open vnto euery blow It is neuer subiect to great losses nor charges of great labour and burthen And therefore they that are in such an estate are alwaies more cheerfull and comfortable for they neither haue so much care nor feare such tempests Such kind of pouertie is free cheerfull assured it maketh vs truly masters of our owne liues whereof the affaires complaints contentions that do necessarilie accompanie riches cary away the better part Alas what goods are those from whence proceed all our euils That are the cause of all those iniuries that we indure that makes vs slaues trouble the quiet of our soules bring with them so many iealousies suspicions feares frights desires He that vexeth himselfe for the losse of these goods is a miserable man for together with his goods he loseth his spirit too The life of poore men is like vnto those that saile neere the shore that of the rich like to those that cast themselues into the maine Ocean These cannot attaine to land though they desire nothing more but they must attend the wind and the tide the other come aboord passe and repasse as often as they will Finally wee must endeuour to imitate those great and generous personages that haue made themselues merrie with such kinde of losses yea haue made aduantage of them and thanked God for them as Zenon after his shipwracke Fabricius Seranus Curius It should seeme that pouertie is some excellent and diuine thing since it agreeth with the gods who are imagined to be naked since the wisest haue embraced it or at least haue endured it with great contentment And to conclude in a word with such as are not ouer passionate it is commendable with others insupportable CHAP. XXVI Of Infamie THis affliction is of diuers kinds If it be losse of honors and dignities it is rather a
are weary with liuing or for priuate causes loath to liue any longer Neither is it sufficient that the cause be great and iust but that it be necessarie and remedilesse and that all maner of meanes to preserue life be first put in practise For precipitation and anticipated despaire is very vitious as in Brutus and Cassius who killing themselues before the time and occasion lost the reliques of the Romane libertie whereof they were protectors A man saith Cleomenes must manage his life and make vse thereof to the vttermost for to take it away a man neuer wants time it is a remedie which he hath alwaies in his owne hands but the state of things may change and grow better Ioseph and diuers others haue to their great benefit practised this counsell things that seeme altogether desperate do many times change and haue a happie successe aliquis carnifici suo superstes fuit Multa dies variusque labor mutabilis aeui Retulit in melius A man must carie himselfe in his place and calling as a defendant against him that assaileth him cum moderamine inculpatae tutelae he must trie all maner of meanes before he come to this extremitie Secondly and without doubt it is farre better and more commendable to suffer and to continue constant and firme to the end than fearefullie cowardlie to flie or die but forasmuch as it is a gift not giuen vnto all no more than continencie is non omnes capiunt verbum istud vnde melius nubere quam vri the question is whether an insupportable and remedilesse euill hapning which may vtterlie vndoe and turne topsy-turuie our whole resolution and driue vs into despaire despite and murmuring against God it be more expedient or a lesse euill for a man couragiouslie to deliuer himselfe hauing his senses sound and setled than by standing to it for feare of failing in his dutie expose himselfe to the danger of sinking and being vtterly lost It is not a lesse euill to quit the place than to be obstinate and perish to flie than to be taken It is true that it seemeth by all humane and philosoph call reason to be practised as hath been said by so many famous people of all countries and climats But Christianitie doth no way approue it nor alloweth therein any dispensation Finally it is a great point of wisdome to learne to know the point and period to chuse a fit houre to die Euery man hath his time and season to die some preuent it others prolong it there is weakenesse and valour in them both but there is required discretion How many men haue suruiued their glorie and by a desire to lengthen their life but a little haue darkened it againe and liued to helpe bury their owne honour And that which lastly sticketh by them hath no relish or feeling of what is past but continueth like an old filthie clout sowed to the hemme of a rich and beautifull ornament There is a time to gather fruit from the tree which if it hang too long it rotteth and growes worse and worse and the losse is as great too if it bee gathered too soone Many saints and holy men haue fled from death because they are yet profitable to the church and weale-publike though in respect of their owne particular they could be content to die It is an act of charitie to desire to liue for the benefit of an other Si populo tuo sum necessarius non recuso laborem Death hath diuers formes some more easie than other and 21 Formes of deaths diuers taketh diuers qualities according to the fantasie of euery one Among those that are naturall they that proceed from weaknesse and a numnesse of the members are the sweetest and the easiest among those that are violent the best is the shortest the least premeditated Some desire to make an exemplarie and demonstratiue death of constancie and sufficiencie this is to consider another thing and to seeke their owne reputation but this is vanitie for this is no act of societie but of one only person who hath enough to doe with himselfe to minister to himselfe inward comfort and hath no neede to trouble himselfe with what belongeth to another especially all the interest hee hath in his reputation ceasing with his death That is the best death which is well recollected in it selfe quiet solitarie and attendeth wholly to that which at that time is fittest That great assistance of parents friends bringeth a thousand discommodities it oppresseth and smoothereth him that is dying one tormenteth his eares another his eies another his mouth their cries and complaints if they be true stifle the heart if fained afflict and torment it Many great personages haue sought to die farre from their friends to auoide this inconuenience accounting it a childish thing and a foolish humour to be willing by their miseries to moue sorrow and compassion in their friends wee commend constancie to suffer bad fortune wee accuse and hate it in our friends and when it is our owne case it is not sufficient that they suffer with vs but they must afflict themselues too A wise man that is sicke should content himselfe with the setled countenance of his assistants CHAP. XII To maintaine himselfe in true tranquillitie of spirit the fruit and crowne of wisedome and the conclusion of this booke THe tranquillitie of the spirit is the souereigne good of man This is that great and rich treasure which the wisest seeke by sea and by land on foote and a horsebacke all our care should tend thereunto it is the fruit of all our labors and studies the crowne of wisdome But lest a man should mistake himselfe heerein you must know that this tranquillitie is not a retrait or vacation from all affaires a delightfull solitarinesse and corporally pleasant or a profound carelesnesse of all things if it were so many women idle dissolute and voluptuous persons would at their pleasure enioy as great a good as the wisest can aspire vnto with all their studie Neither multitude nor scarsitie of businesse doth any thing heerein It is a beautifull sweete equall iust firme and pleasant estate of the soule which neither businesse nor idlenesse nor good accidents nor ill nor time can any way trouble alter mend or depresse Vera tranquillitas non concuti The meanes to attaine thereunto to get and preserue it are the points that I haue handled in this second booke whereof this is a briefe collection They consist in freeing and disfurnishing of a man from all lets and impediments and furnishing him with those things that entertaine and preserue it The things that doe most hinder and trouble the rest and tranquillitie of the spirit are common and vulgar opinions which for the most part are erroneous and secondly desires and passions which ingender in vs a kinde of delicacy and difficulty which are the cause that a man is neuer content and these are kindled and stirred in him by those
two contrary fortunes prosperity and aduerfity as with two violent and mighty winds and finally that vile and base captiuity wherwith the spirit that is to say the iudgement and will is enthralled like a beast vnder the yoke of certaine locall and particular rules and opinions Now he must emancipate and free himselfe from these stockes and vniust subiections and bring his spirit into libertie restore himselfe to himselfe free vniuersall open seeing into all and wandring through the beautifull and vniuersall circuit of the world and of nature In commune genitus mundum vt vnam domum spectans toti se inferens mundo in omnes eius actus contemplationem suam mittens The place being thus trimmed and made ready the first foundations that are to be laid are a true honesty and to liue in such an estate and vocation whereunto a man is fit The principall parts wherwith he must raise assure and settle this building are first true piety whereby with a soule not astonished but setled pure free deuout a man contemplateth God the great soueraigne and absolute work-master of all things who can neither be seene nor knowen but yet he must be knowen adored worshipped serued with the whole heart from whom he is to hope for all maner of good and to feare no euill afterwards he must walke roundly in simplicity and truth according to the lawes and customes liue with a heart open both to the eies of God and the world Conscientiam suam aperiens semperque tanquam in publico viuens se magis veritus quà m alios Againe hee must keepe in himselfe and with others and generally in all things in his thoughts speeches designments actions a moderation the mother or nurse of tranquillity laying aside all pompe and vanity rule his desires content himselfe with a mediocrity and sufficiency quod sit esse velit nihilque malit reioice in his fortunes A tempest hath a great deale lesse force and doth lesse hurt when the sailes are taken downe than when they are hoised vp and laid open to the windes He must bee constant against whatsoeuer may wound or hurt him raise himselfe aboue and beyond all feare contemning all the blowes of fortuen of death holding it as the end of all euils and not the cause of any contemptor omnium quibus torquetur vitae supra omnia quae contingunt acciduntque eminens Imperturbatus intrepidus And so hold himselfe firme vnto himselfe agree with himselfe liue at ease without any paine or inward contention full of ioy of peace of comfort and content in himselfe Sapiens plenus gaudio hilaris placidus cum dijs ex pari viuit Sapientiae effectus gaudij aequalitas solus sapiens gaudet He must I say entertaine himselfe and continue content in himselfe which is the proper fruit and effect of wisdome Nisi sapienti sua non placent omnis stultitia laborat fastidio sui Non est beatus esse se qui non put at To conclude to this tranquillitie of spirit two things are necessarie innocencie and a good conscience this is the first and principall part which doth maruellously arme and confirme him with assurance but this is not alwaies sufficient in the force of the tempest as it is many times seene in diuers that are troubled and lost Erit tanta tribulatio vt seducantur iusti And therefore the other is likewise necessarie which is force and constancie of courage as likewise this alone were not sufficient for the force and resistance of the conscience is maruellous it makes vs to betray to accuse our selues for want of other witnesses it is as a thousand witnesses against vs. Occultum quatiens animo tortore flagellum It frameth an enditement condemneth executeth vs there is no closet close enough for wicked men saith Epicurus because they neuer can assure themselues to be hid their owne conscience alwaies discouering them to themselues Prima est haec vltio quod se iudice nemo nocens absoluitur So likewise neither a weake fearefull soule be it neuer so holy nor a strong and couragious if it be not sound pure can neuer enioy this so rich happie tranquillitie but he that hath them all worketh wonders as Socrates Epaminondas Cato Scipio of whom ther are three admirable exploits touching this subiect These two Romanes being publikely accused made their accusers to blush woon the Iudges and the whole assemblie being strucken with an admiration He had a heart too great by nature saith Titus Liuius of Scipio to know how to be faultie and to debase himselfe so much as to defend his owne innocencie FINIS OF WISDOME THE THIRD BOOKE Wherein are handled the particular aduisements of Wisdome by the foure morall vertues THE PREFACE FOrasmuch as our purpose in this Booke is by peecemeale to instruct vnto wisedome and to giue the particular aduisements after the generall handled in the Second Booke that we may the better hold a certaine course and order therein we haue thought that we cannot do better than to follow the foure mistris and morall vertues Prudence Iustice Fortitude and Temperance for in these soure almost all the duties of our life are comprehended Prudence is as a generall guide and conduct of the other vertues and of our whole life though properlie it be exercised in the affaires that belong thereunto Iustice concerneth the persons of men for it is to giue vnto euery one that which belongeth vnto him Fortitude and Temperance concerneth all accidents good and euill pleasant and painefull good and ill fortune Now in these three persons affaires and accidents is conteined all our life and humane condition and the trafficke of this world Of Prudence the first vertue CHAP. I. Of Prudence in generall PRudence is with reason put in the first rancke as the generall Queene superintendent and guide of all other vertues 1 The excellencie thereof auriga virtutum without which there is nothing good beautifull fit and decent it is the salt of our life the lustre the ornament the sauce or seasoning of our actions the square and rule of our affaires and in a word the Arte of our life as Physicke the arte of our health It is the knowledge and choice of those things we must 2 The definition either desire or flie it is the iust estimation triall of things it is the eye that seeth all that directeth and ordaineth all It consisteth in three things which are all of one ranke to consult and deliberate well to iudge and resolue well to conduct and execute well It is a vniuersall vertue for it extendeth it selfe generally to all humane things not only in grosse but by peecemeale to 3 It is vniuersall euery particular thing is as infinite as are the indiuiduals It is very difficult both by reason of the aforesaid infinitnes for the particulars are without knowledge as without 4 Difficult Senec. number si qua finiri non possunt