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
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
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
the root of all euill And truly he that shall see the Catalogue of those enuies and molestations which riches ingender within the heart of man as their proper thunder-bolt and lightning they would be more hated than they are now loued Desunt inopiae multa auaritiae omnia in nullum auarus bonus est in se pessimus There is another contrary passion to this and vicious to hate riches and to spend them prodigally this is to refuse 4 The counterpassion to couetousnesse the meanes to doe well to put in practise many vertues and to flie that labour which is farre greater in the true command and vse of riches than in not hauing them at all to gouerne himselfe better in abundance than in pouertie In this there is but one kinde of vertue which is not to faint in courage but to continue firme and constant In abundance there are many Temperance Moderation Liberalitie Diligence Prudence and so forth There more is not expressed but that he looke to himselfe heere that he attend first himselfe and then the good of others He that is spoiled of his goods hath the more libertie to attend the more weightie affaires of the spirit and for this cause many both Philosophers and Christians out of the greatnesse of their courage haue put it in practise He doth likewise discharge himselfe of many duties and difficulties that are required in the good and honest gouernment of our riches in their acquisition conseruation distribution vse and emploiment but he that quitteth himselfe of his riches for this reason slieth the labour and businesse that belongs vnto them and quite contrary doth it not out of courage but cowardize and a man may tell him that he shakes off his riches not because they are not profitable but because he knoweth not how to make vse of them how to vse them And not to be able to endure riches is rather weaknesse ofminde than wisdome sayth Seneca CHAP. XXII Of carnall Loue. CArnall Loue is a feuer and furious passion and very dangerous 1 It is strong naturall and common vnto him that suffereth himselfe to be carried by it For what becomes of him He is no more himselfe his bodie endureth a thousand labours in the search of his pleasure his minde a thousand helles to satisfie his desires and desire it selfe increasing growes into furie As it is naturall so is it violent and common to all and therefore in the action thereof it equalleth and coupleth fooles and wise men men and beasts together It maketh all the wisdome resolution contemplation operation of the soule beastly and brutish Hereby as likewise by sleepe Alexander knew himselfe to be a mortall man because both these suppresse the faculties of the soule Philosophie speaketh freely of all things that it may the better finde out their causes gouerne and iudge of them so 2 Why ignominious doth Diuinitie which is yet more chaste and more strait And why not since that all things belong vnto the iurisdiction and knowledge thereof The Sunne shines on the dunghill and is neither infected nor annoyed therewith To be offended with words is a token either of great weaknesse or some touch or guilt of the same maladie Thus much be spoken for that which followeth or the like if it shall happen Nature on the one side with violence thrusteth vs forward vnto this action all the motion of the world resolueth and yeeldeth to this copulation of the male and female on the other side it causeth vs to accuse to hide our selues to blush for shame as if it were a thing ignominious and dishonest We call it a shamefull act and the parts that serue thereunto our shamefull parts But why shamefull since naturall and keeping it selfe within it owne bounds iust lawfull and necessarie Yea why are beasts exempted from this shame Is it because the countenance seemes foule and deformed Why foule since naturall In crying laughing champing gaping the visage is more distorted Is it to the end it may serue as a bridle and a stay to such a kinde of violence Why then doth Nature cause such a violence Or contrariwise Is it because shame serueth as a spurre and as sulfure or that the instruments thereof mooue without our consent yea against our willes By this reason beasts likewise should be bashfull and many other things moue of themselues in vs without our consent which are neither vicious nor shamefull not only inward and hidden as the pulse motion of the heart arteries lungs the instruments and parts that serue the appetite of eating drinking discharging the braine the bellie and their shuttings and openings are besides nay many times against our willes witnesse those sneesings yawnings teares hoquets and fluxions that are not in our owne power and this of the bodie the spirit forgetteth remembreth beleeueth misbeleeueth and the will it selfe which many times willeth that which we would it willed not but outward and apparant the visage blusheth waxeth pale wanne the bodie groweth fat leane the haire turneth gray blacke white growes stands on end without and against our consent Is it that hereby the pouertie and weaknesse of man may be the more truely shewed That is as well seene in our eating and drinking our griefs wearinesse the disburdening of our bodies death whereof a man is not ashamed Whatsoeuer the reason be the action in it selfe and by nature is no way shamefull it is truely naturall so is not shame witnesse the beasts Why say I beasts The nature of man sayth Diuinitie mainteining it selfe in it first originall state had neuer knowen what shame was as now it doth for from whence commeth shame but from weaknesse and weaknesse but from sinne there being nothing in nature of it selfe shamefull The cause then of this shame not being in nature we must seeke it elswhere It is therefore artificiall It is an inuention forged in the closet of Venus to giue the greater prise to the businesse and to inkindle the desire thereof the more This is with a little water to make the fire burne the cleerer as Smithes vse to doe to inflame the desire to see what it is that is hidden to heare and know what it is that is muttered and whispered For to handle things darkly as if they were mysteries and with respect and shame giueth taste and estimation vnto them Contrariwise a loose free and open permission and commoditie derogateth from the worth and taketh away the true relish and delight thereof This action then in it selfe and simply taken is neither 3 In what sense vitious shamefull nor vitious since it is naturall and corporall no more than other the like actions are yea if it be well ordered it is iust profitable necessarie at the least as it is to eat and drinke But that which doth so much discredit it is that moderation is seldome kept therein and that to attaine thereunto we make great stirres and many times vse bad meanes
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
of the booke There are fiue considerations of man humane condition The first Naturall of all the parts whereof he is composed and their appurtinances The second Naturall and Morall by comparison of man with beasts The third of his life in declining state The fourth Morall of his maners humours conditions which are referred to fiue things 1 Vanity 2 Weaknesse 3 Inconstancie 4 Misery 5 Presumption The fift Naturall and Morall of the differences that are betweene men in their 1 Natures 2 Spirits and sufficiencies 3 Charges and degrees of superiority inferiority 4 Professions and conditions of life aduantages and disaduantages Naturall Acquired Casuall The first Consideration of Man which is naturall by all the parts and members whereof he is composed CHAPTER I. Of the frame or formation of Man IT is twofold and to be considered after a twofold maner the first and originall once immediately by God in his supernaturall creation the second and ordinary in his naturall generation According to that description which Moyses setteth downe touching the workmanship and creation of the world the boldest 1 Man made last Gen. 1. 2. c. and richest peece of worke that euer man brought vnto light I meane the historie of the nine first chapters of Genesis which is of the world newly borne and reborne man was made of God not onely after all other creatures as the most perfect the master and superintendent of all Vt praesit piscibus maris volatilibus coeli be stijs terrae And in the selfe same day wherein the fowre-footed beasts of the earth that come neerest vnto him were created although those two that resemble him most are for the inward parts the Swine for the outward the Ape but also after all was done and ended as the closing vp seale and signe of his workes he hath also there imprinted his armes and his pourtrait Exemplumque Dei quisquis est in imagine parua Signatum est super nos lumen vultus tui As a Summary recapitulation of all things and an Epitome of the world which is all in man but gathered into a small volume whereby he is called the little world as the whole vniuers may be called the great man as the tie and ligament of Angels and beasts things heauenly and earthly spirituall and corporall and in one word as the last hand the accomplishment the perfection of the worke the honor and miracle of Nature The reason is because God hauing made him with deliberation counsell and preparation dixit faciamus hominem ad imaginem similitudinem nostram he rested And this rest also was made for man Sabbathum propter hominem non contra And afterwards he had nothing to make new but to make himselfe man and that he did likewise for the loue of man propter nos homines proter nostram salutem Whereby wee see that in all things God hath aimed at man finally in him and by him breui manu to accommodate all vnto himselfe the beginning and end of all Secondly he was created all naked because more beautifull 2 Naked than the rest being pure neat and delicate by reason of his thin humours well tempered and seasoned Thirdly vpright but little touching the earth his head 3 Vpright directly tending vnto heauen whereon he gazeth and sees and knowes himselfe as in a glasse quite opposite vnto the plant which hath it head and root within the earth so that man is a diuine plant that flourisheth growes vp vnto heauen a beast as in the middle betwixt a man and a plant goes as it were athwart hauing his two extreames towards the bounds or extremities of the Horizon more or lesse The cause of this vprightnesse in man besides the will of his Master-workman is not properly the reasonable soule as we see in those that are crookbacked crupshouldered lame nor in the straight line of the back-bone which is likewise in serpents nor in the naturall or vitall heat which is equalled or rather greater in diuers beasts although all these may perhaps serue to some purpose but this vpright gate is due and belonging to man both as he is man the holiest diuinest creature Sanctius his animal mentisque capacius altae and as king in this lower region To small and particular roialties there belong certaine markes of Maiesty as we see in the crowned Dolphin the Crocadile the Lion with his coller the colour of his haire and his eies in the Eagle the king of the Bees so man the vniuersall king of these lower parts walketh with an vpright countenance as a master in his house ruling and by loue or force taming euery thing His body was first framed of virgin earth and red from whence he tooke his proper name Adam for the appellatiue 4 How framed Gen. 2. was Is And that being not yet moistned with raine but with the water of the fountaine Mixtam fluuialibus vndis Finxit in effigiem By reason the body is the first born or elder than the soule as the matter than the forme the house must bee made and trimmed before it be inhabited the shoppe before the workman can vse it Afterwards the Soule was by diuine inspiration infused and so the body by the soule made a liuing creature inspirauit infaciem eius spiraculum vitae c. In that ordinary and naturall generation and formation which is made of the seed in the wombe of the woman the 5 He is made in the matrix selfe same order is obserued The body is first formed as well by the elementary force of the Enargie and forming vertue which is in the seed aiding in some sort the heat of the matrix as the celestiall which is the influence and vertue of the Sunne Sol homo generant hominem In such order that the Conceiued of coagulated seed seuen first daies the seed of the father and mother do mingle vnite and curdle together like creame and are made one body which is the conception Nonne sicut lac mulsisti me sicut caseum me coagulasti The next seuen daies this seed is concocted Changed thickned and changed into a masse of flesh and indigested formlesse blood which is the proper matter of a humane bodie The third seuen dayes following of this masse or lumpe is made and fashioned the bodie in grosse so that Formed in grosse about the twentieth day are brought foorth the three noble and heroicall parts the Liuer Heart Braine distant an ouall length or as the Hebrewes say holding themselues by thin commisures or ioynts which afterwards fill themselues with flesh after the fashion of an ant where there are three grosser parts ioyned by two thin The fourth seuen dayes which end neere thirtie the whole body is ended perfected ioynted organized and so it beginnes to be no more an Embrion Iointed organized First furnished with fit instruments for sense that is vnperfect in shape but capable as a matter
of the Soule after death after the naturall separation by death diuers men thinke diuersly and this point belongeth not to the subiect of this booke The Metempsychose and transanimation of Pythagoras hath in some sort been embraced by the Academicks Stoicks Aegyptians and others but yet not of all in the same sense for some doe admit it only for the punishment of the wicked as we reade of Nebuchadnezar who was changed into a beast by the iudgement of God Others and some great haue thought that good soules being separated become Angels the wicked Diuels It had beene more pleasing to haue sayd Like vnto them Non nubent sed erunt sicut Angeli Some haue affirmed that the soules of the wicked at the end of a certaine time were reduced to nothing But the trueth of all this we must learne from Religion and Diuines who speake heereof more cleerely CHAP. VIII Of the Soule in particular and first of the vegetatiue facultie AFter this generall description of the Soule in these ten points we must speake thereof more particularly according 1 The faculties of the Soule to the order of the faculties thereof beginning at the basest that is the Vegetatiue Sensitiue Apprehensible or Imaginatiue Appetible Intellectiue which is the soueraign Soule and truly humane Vnder euery one of these there are diuers others which are subiect vnto them and as parts of them as we shall see handling them in their ranke Of the vegetable and basest Soule which is euen in plants I will not speake much it is the proper subiect of Physitians 2 Of the vegetable her subalternals of health and sicknesse Let me only say that vnder this there are conteined other three great faculties which follow one the other for the first serueth the second and the second the third but the third neither of the former The first then is the nourishing facultie for the conseruation of the Indiuiduum or particular person which diuers others doe serue as the Attractiue of the victuall the Concoctiue the Digestiue separating the good proper from the naught and hurtfull the Retentiue and the Expulsiue of superfluities The second the increasing or growing facultie for the perfection and due quantitie of the Indiuiduum The third is the Generatiue for the conseruation of the kinde Whereby we see that the two first are for the Indiuiduum and worke within in the bodie the third is for the kinde and hath it effect and operation without in another bodie and therefore is more worthy than the other and commeth neerer to a faculty more high which is the Sensitiue This is a great height of perfection to make another thing like it selfe CHAP. IX Of the Sensitiue facultie IN the exercise of this facultie and function of the Senses Six things required to the exercise of this facultie these six things do concurre whereof foure are within and two without That is to say the Soule as the first efficient cause The facultie of Sense which is a qualitie of the Soule and not the Soule it selfe that is of perceiuing and apprehending outward things which is done after a fiue-folde maner which we call The fiue Senses of this number we shall speake hereafter that is to say Hearing Seeing Smelling Tasting Touching The corporall instrument of the Sense whereof there are fiue according to the number of the Senses the Eye the Eare the high concauitie of the Nose which is the entrance to the first ventricles of the braine the Tongue the whole Skin of the bodie The Spirit which ariseth from the braine the fountaine of the sensitiue Soule by certaine sinewes in the sayd instruments by which spirit and instrument the soule exerciseth her facultie The sensible Species or obiect offered vnto the instruments which is different according to the diuersitie of the sense The obiect of the eye or sight according to the common opinion is colour which is an adherent quality in bodies whereof there are six simple as White Yellow Red Purple Greene and Blew some adde a seuenth which is blacke but to say the trueth that is no colour but a priuation being like vnto darkenesse as the other colours more or lesse vnto the light Of compound colours the number is infinite but to speake more truely the true obiect is light which is neuer without colour and without which the colours are inuisible Now the light is a qualitie which commeth forth of a luminous body which makes both it selfe visible and all things els and if it be terminated and limited by some solide bodie it reboundeth and redoubleth it beames otherwise if it passe without any stop or termination it can not be seene except it be in the root of that light or luminous bodie from whence it came nor make any thing els to be seene Of the Eare or Hearing the obiect is a sound which is a noise proceeding from the encounter of two bodies and it is diuers the pleasant and melodious sweeteneth and appeaseth the spirit and for it sake the bodie too and driues away maladies from them both the sharpe and penetrant doth contrariwise trouble and wound the spirit Of Tasting the obiect is a fauour or smacke whereof there are six diuers simple kindes Sweet Sowre Sharpe Tart Salt Bitter but there are many compounds Of Smell the obiect is an odour or sent which is a fume rising from an odoriferous obiect ascending by the nose to the first ventricles of the braine the strong and violent hurteth the braine as an ill sound the eare the temperate and good doth contrariwise reioyce delight and comfort Of the sense of Touching the obiect is heat colde drouth moisture either pleasant and polite or sharpe and smarting motion rest tickling The middle or space betwixt the obiect and the instrument which is the Aire neither altered nor corrupted but such as it ought to be So that sense is made when the sensible species presenteth it selfe by the middle to an instrument sound and well disposed and that therein the spirit assisting receiueth it and apprehendeth it in such sort that there is there both action and passion and the senses are not purely passiue for notwithstanding they receiue and are stricken by the obiect yet neuerthelesse in some sense and measure they doe worke or react in apprehending the species and image of the obiect proposed In former times and before Aristotle they did make a difference betwixt the sense of Seeing and the rest of the senses and they all held that the sight was actiue and was made by emitting or sending forth of the eye the beames thereof vnto the outward obiects and that the other senses were passiue receiuing the sensible obiect but after Aristotle they are made all alike and all passiue receiuing in the organ or instrument the kindes and images of things and the reasons of the Ancients to the contrary are easily answered There is more and more excellent matter to be deliuered of the senses
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
all the species or kindes and images apprehended by the sense retired and sealed vp by the imagination The Appetitiue faculty seeketh and pursueth those things which seeme good and conuenient CHAP. XIII Of the Intellectiue faculty and truly humaine TWO things are to be knowen before we enter into this discourse the seat or instrument of this intellectiue faculty and the Action The seate of the reasonable soule vbi sedet pro tribunali is the braine and not the heart as before Plato and Hippocrates it was commonly thought for the heart The seate and instrument of the reasonable Soule hauing feeling and motion is not capable of wisdome Now the braine which is farre greater in man then in all other creatures if it be well and in such maner made and disposed that the reasonable soule may worke and exercise it powers it must come neere vnto the forme of a ship and must not be round nor too great nor too little although the greater be lesse vitious It must be composed of a substance and parts subtile delicate and delicious well ioyned and vnited without separation hauing foure little chambers or ventricles whereof three are in the middle ranged in front and collaterals betweene and behinde them drawing towards the hinder part of the head the fourth is alone wherein is framed the preparation and coniunction of the vitall spirits afterwards to be made animall and caried to the three ventricles before wherein the reasonable soule doth exercise it faculties which are three Vnderstanding Memory Imagination which doe not exercise their powers apart and distinctly each one in each ventricle as some haue commonly thought but in common all three together in all three and in euery of them according to the maner of the outward senses which are double and haue two ventricles in each of which the senses do wholly worke whereby it comes to passe that hee that is wounded in one or two of these ventricles as he that hath the palsie ceaseth not neuerthelesse to exercise all the three though more weakly which he could not doe if euery facultie had his chamber or ventricle apart Some haue thought that the reasonable Soule was not organicall 2 The reasonable Soule is organicall that is had no need of any corporall instrument to exercise it functions thinking thereby the better to proue the immortality of the Soule But not to enter into a labyrinth of discourse ocular and ordinarie experience disproueth this opinion and conuinceth the contrary For it is well knowen that all men vnderstand not nor reason not alike and after one maner but with great diuersitie yea one and the same man may bee so changed that at one time hee may reason better than at another in one age one estate and disposition better than in another such a one better in health than in sicknesse and another better in sickenesse than in health one and the same man at one and the same time may bee strong in iudgement and weake in imagination From whence can these diuersities and alterations proceed but from the change and alteration of the state of the organ or instrument From whence commeth it that drunkennes the bite of a mad dog a burning feuer a blow on the head a fume rising from the stomacke and other accidents peruert and turne topsie turuy the iudgement intellectuall spirit and all the wisedome of Greece yea constraine the Soule to dislodge from the body These accidents being purely corporall cannot touch nor ariue to this high spirituall facultie of the reasonable soule but only to the organs or instruments which being corrupted the Soule cannot well and regularly act exercise it functions being violently inforced is constraind either to absent it selfe or depart from the body Againe that the reasonable soule should haue need of the seruice of the instruments doth no way preiudice the immortality thereof for God maketh vse therof accommodates his actions as according to the diuersitie of the aire region and climate God brings foorth men very diuers in spirit and naturall sufficiency as in Greece and Italy men more ingenious than in Muscouy and Tartarie So the spirit according to the diuersitie of the organicall dispositions and corporall instruments discourseth better or worse Now the instrument of the reasonable Soule is the braine and the temperature thereof whereof wee are to speake Temperature is the mixture and proportion of the foure first qualities Hot Cold Dry Moist and it may be a fift besides 3 Of the Temperature of the braine and the faculties thereof which is the Harmonie of these foure Now from the Temperature of the braine proceedeth all the state and action of the reasonable Soule but that which is the cause of great misery vnto man is that the three faculties of the reasonable Soule Vnderstanding Memorie Imagination do require and exercise themselues by contrarie temperatures The temperature which serueth and is proper to the vnderstanding is drie whereby it comes to passe that they that The vnderstanding dry Old age are striken in yeeres doe excell those in their vnderstanding that are yoong because in the braine as yeeres increase so moisture decreaseth So likewise melancholicke men such as are afflicted with want and fast much for heauinesse and fasting are driers are wise and ingenious Splendor ficcus animus saptentissimus vexatio dat intellectum And beasts that are of a drie temperature as Ants Bees Elephants are wise and ingenious as they that are of a moist temperature are stupid and without spirit as Swine And the Southerne people Southernes of the world are drie and moderate in the inward heat of the braine by reason of their violent outward heat The temperature of the memorie is moist whereof it is 2 The Memorie moist Infancie Septentrionals that infants haue better memorie than old men and the morning after that humidity that is gotten by sleepe in the night is more apt for memorie which is likewise more vigorous in Northerne people I heere vnderstand a moisture that is not waterish or distilling wherein no impression may bee made but airie viscous fat and oilly which easily receiueth and strongly retaineth as it is seene in pictures wrought in oile The temperature of the imagination is hot from whence it commeth that franticke men and such as are sicke of burning 3 The imagination hot Youth maladies are excellent in that that belongs to imagination as Poetry Diuination and that it hath greatest force in yoong men and of middle yeeres Poets and Prophets haue flourished in this age and in the middle parts betwixt North The middle region and South By this diuersitie of temperatures it commeth to passe 4 A comparison of the temperatures that a man may be indifferent in all the three faculties but not excellent and that he that is excellent in any one of the three is but weake in the rest that the temperatures of the memorie and vnderstanding
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
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
he may shew himselfe to be industrious a man of employment and vnderstanding that is a foole and miserable too he enterpriseth mooueth and remooueth new businesse or els he putteth himselfe into that of other mens To be short he is so strongly and incessantly molested with care and thoughts not only vnprofitable and superfluous but painfull and hurtfull tormented with what is present annoied with what is past vexed with that which is to come that hee seemeth to feare nothing more than that he shall not be sufficiently miserable So that a man may iustly crie out O poore and wretched creatures that you are how many euils doe you willingly endure besides those necessarie euils that nature hath bestowed vpon you But what Man contenteth himselfe in miserie he is obstinate to ruminate continually to recall to minde his passed euils Complaints are common with him and his owne euils and sorrowes seeme many times deare vnto him yea it is a happie thing for small and light occasions to be termed the most miserable of all others est quaedam dolendi voluptas Now this is a farre greater miserie to be ambitiously miserable than not to know it not to feele it at all Homo animal querulum cupidè suis incumbens miserijs We will not account it a humane miserie since it is an euill 8 By incompatibilitie common to all men and not to beasts that men can not accommodate themselues and make profit of one another without the losse and hurt the sicknesse folly sinne death of one another We hinder wound oppresse one the other in such maner that the better sort euen without thought or will thereunto out of an insensible desire and innocentlie thirst after the death the euill the paine and punishment of another So that we see man miserable both naturally and voluntarily 9 In the remedies of miserie in truth and by imagination by obligation and willingnesse of heart He is too miserable and yet he feares he is not miserable enough and laboureth to make himselfe more miserable Let vs now see how When he feeles any euill and is annoyed with some certaine miserie for hee is neuer without many miseries that he feeles not he endeuoureth to quit himselfe thereof but what are his remedies Truly such as importune him more than the euill it selfe which hee would cure in such sort that being willing to get forth of one miserie he doth but change it into another and perhaps into a worse But what of that the change it selfe perhaps delighteth him or at least yeelds him some solace he thinketh to heale one euill with another euill which proceedeth from an opinion which the bewitched and miserable world holdeth that is That there is nothing profitable if it be not painfull That is woorth nought that costs nothing yea ease it selfe is much suspected This doth likewise proceed from an higher cause It is a strange thing but true and which conuicteth man to be miserable That no euill can be taken away but by another euill whether it be in bodie or in soule Spirituall maladies and corporall are not cured and chased away but by torment sorrow paine The spirituall by repentance It was erroneous but corrected watchings fastings imprisonments which are truly afflictions and such as gaule vs too notwithstanding the resolution and deuotion willingly to endure them for if we vse them either for pleasure or profit they can worke no effect but are rather exercises of pleasure of couetousnesse of houshold gouernment than of repentance and contrition of heart The corporall in like sort be medicines incisions cauteries diets as they well feele that are bound to medicinall rules who are troubled on the one side with the disease that afflicts them on the other with that rule the thought whereof continually annoyes them So likewise other euils as ignorance is cured by great long and painfull studie Qui addit scientiam addit laborem want and pouertie by great care watchings trauell sweatings In sudore vultus tui So that both for the soule and for the bodie labour and trauell is as proper vnto man as it is for a bird to flie All these miseries aboue mentioned are corporall or common 10 Spirituall miseries both to the spirit and to the body and mount little higher than the imagination and fantasie Let vs consider of the more subtile and spirituall which are rather to be called miseries as being erroneous and malignant more actiue and more our owne but lesse felt and confessed which makes a man more yea doubly miserable because hee onely feeleth those euils that are indifferent and not the greater yea a man dares not touch them or speake of them so much is he confirmed and so desperate in his miseries We must therefore by the way as it were and gently say something at least with the finger point afarre off to giue him occasion to consider and thinke thereof since of himselfe he hides it not First in regard of the vnderstanding is it not a strange and a lamentable miserie of humane nature that it should wholly be composed of error and blindnesse The greater part of common and vulgar opinions yea the more plausible and such as are receiued with reuerence are false and erroneous and which is woorse the greater part vnprofitable for humane societie And although some of the wisest which are but few in number vnderstand better than the common sort and iudge of these opinions as they should neuerthelesse sometimes they suffer themselues to be caried if not in all and alwayes yet in some and sometimes A man had need be firme and constant that he suffer not himselfe to be carried with the streame yea sound and prepared to keepe himselfe cleere from so vniuersall a contagion The generall opinions receiued with the applause of all and without contradiction are as a swift riuer which carrieth all with it Proh superi quantum mortalia pectora caecae noctis habent O miseras hominum mentes pectora caeca qualibus in tenebris vita quantisque periclis degitur hoc aeui quodcunque est Now it were too long and too tedious a thing to runne ouer all those foolish opinions by name wherewith the whole world is made drunken yet let vs take a view of some few of them which in their due place shall be handled more at large 1 To iudge of aduice and counsell by the euents which See lib. 3. cap. 1. are no way in our owne hands and which depend vpon the heauens 2 To condemne and reiect all things maners opinions Lib. 2. ca. 8. lawes customes obseruations as barbarous and euill not knowing what they are or seeing any inconuenience in them but onely because they are vnusuall and different from such as are ordinarie and common 3 To esteeme and commend things because of their noueltie Lib. 2. ca. 3. or raritie or strangenesse or difficultie foure messengers which haue great credit in vulgar
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