his desires and intentions But whence comes the power which this Passion hath thus to vnite the subiects where it worketh This cannot well bee explicated without the aide of Philosophy First of all Loue say the Philosophers is a desire to enioy the good wee propound vnto our selues as proper for our content and capable to make vs in some sort better by the fruition But this enioying participation cannot bee effected but by vniting the obiect to our affection which is the same good we propound vnto our selues wherefore it is of the Essence of Loue that it produceth this vnion Hence it proceeds that the presence of the party beloued is so deare and pretious vnto vs and that we feele our selues filled with content when as we may enioy him to entertaine our thoughts to taste the sweetnesse of his company and to discouer our Passions whereas his absence and separation giues vs a thousand torments and afflicts vs with a thousand sorrowes and discontents which wee would redeeme with our liues Wherefore when as death doth take violently from vs those whom wee loue dearely and by this meanes hath condemned vs as it were to a perpetuall absence we striue to ease our griefe and sweeten our losse by transporting our selues often to the places where we were accustomed to see theÌ„ representing vnto our selues their portracts and images reading ouer their letters stil handling al the gages and monuments they left vs of their affection Sometimes the same gages and the same momuments of their affection displease vs and wee do so abhorre them as wee cannot indure to see them nor handle them but this growes from the griefe of their absence for that we then represent them as infallible signes of our losse which they figure vnto vs as irreparable by reason whereof their pictures fill vs with bitternes But on the other side when as the same things seeme vnto vs to supply the presence wee Loue them dearely and cannot bee weary to entertaine our selues with those thoughts And if amidst all this we can inuent any thing that may serue to preserue the memory more liuely in our soules wee imbrace the inuention and are wonderfully pleased with this art Wherein doubtlesse Artimesia Queene of Caria shewed an act of wonderfull Passion towards her husband Mausolus For death hauing taken him away this desolate Princesse not knowing how to pull the thornes of her sorrow out ofher soule she caused his body to be reduced to ashes and mingled them in her drinke meaning to make her body a liuing tombe whereas the reliques of her deare husband might rest from whom shee could not endure to liue separated The most subtile Philosophers giue a second reason of this vnion which ariseth froÌ„ Loue. Loue say they hath her feate in the Will they doe not consider it as a Passion onely which riseth in the sences but also as a quality which in the end becomes spirituall but there is this difference betwixt the vnderstanding and Will the vnderstanding goes not out of it selfe to ioyne with his obiect but rather he drawes the obiect vnto him whereof the Image is framed to produce his action like vnto a seale which prints its forme in the waxe But the Will being toucht with the Loue of her obiect suffers it selfe to bee drawne to his Image and going out of it selfe vnites it selfe vnto him to take his forme like vnto the waxe which receiues impressions of the seale So as by this reason Loue is thoght to cause the vnion of him that loueth with the party beloued for that his will rauished by his loue hath no other Passion but to see her self vnited vnto her But these meditations are too nice for our subiect The second effect they attribute to Loue and which is as it were a branch and bud of the first is that it causeth the soule of him that loues to bee more where it loues then where it liues and that reciprocally the soule of the party beloued is more with the louer then with his owne body The reason is for that the soules of such as loue are perpetually attentiue to coÌ„template the image of that they loue and haue no other thoght nor greater pleasure then that they receiue by this sweete entertainment By reason whereof the soule making shew of a more exact presence where it doth most frequently worke it followes thereby that it is more with the party beloued then in its owne body But let vs heare the opinion of the Platonicians vpon this point The soule say they which is toucht to the quicke with Loue dying in iâ—s owne body findes life in that it loues And when this Loue is reciprocall it dies but once wheras it reuiues twice For he that loues dyes truly when as Loue makes him neglect and forget the causes of his life to thinke wholly vppon the party beloued but hee recouers his life doubly when as he sees himselfe imbraced and entertained by the party beloued and that he finds in his armes his deer Image which hee preserues more carefully then his own life Who will not then say they hold this death happy which is recompenced by two such sweete liues But this discourse of the Platonicians presupposeth an equall correspoÌ„dency in Loue without the which they maintaine that this Passion is full of despaire leaues nothing in our soules but importune and troublesome thornes Wherfore the Ancients said that to make Loue grow shee had neede of a brother But wee haue treated sufficiently of this Subiect They attribute other effects to Loue that is to say languishings extasies and amazements but that Loue must bee very violent which doth produce them And moreouer wee may consider these extasies and rauishâ—ments which may happen in a violent Loue after two sorts First we may obserue them as a true alienation of the sences which ariseth for that the spirit and will of him that loueth being wholy imployed in the contemplation and enioying of the thing beloued suffereth himselfe to bee so transported with this content as the soule remaines as it were quencht and without motion The which may also proceed from a more powerfull cause that is to say either from God or from euill spirits which somtimes stirre vp these rauishments and extraordinary extasies Secondly we may consider these extasies rauishments as a kind of madnes which transports them that Loue and makes them to commit many follies wherefore an Ancient sayd that Iupiter himselfe could not be wise and loue at one instant These extasies and rauishments produce sometimes prodigious effects in their soules that are afflicted with this Passion For that his soule that loues intirely is perpetually imployâ—ed in the contemplation of the party beloued and hath no other thoughts but of his merit the heate abandoning the parts and retiring into the braine leaues the whole body in great distemperature which corrupting and consuming the whole bloud makes the face grow pale wanne causeth
of the soule so as if we should giue the name of passions to the motions of the vnderstanding or of the will it is by a kind of improper and figuratiue speech alluding to the passions of the senses with the which they haue some resemblance The reason why passions are not found in the rationall part of the soule is for that this part doth not imploy any corporeal organs in her actions and that her office is not to alter or bring any change vnto the body the which notwithstanding is an action which doth accompany the passions inseparably But seeing they are not to be found in any other part of the soule but in the sensitiue appetite there riseth heere a great question whether this appetite shal be diuided into the irascible concupiscible or desiring power as into two different and distinct powers or whether it makes but one power of both The common opinion is that as their obiects are diuers so they are two distinct powers whereof the reason is gathered by that which experience doth shew vs in all other things subiect to corruption for we see in other corruptible creatures that they haue not onely an inclination and power to seek after those things which are fit and conuenient for them and to flie those which may hurt or anoy them but moreouer they haue another faculty or power to resist and fight against that which may crosse their actions or destroy their beeing As for example fire is not onely indued with lightnesse to flie vp high but it hath also receiued heate from nature by meanes whereof it doth resist and fight against any thing that is contrary to his action In like manner it was necessary for the good of man that hee should haue two kindes of inclinations the one to pursue those things which are pleasing agreeable to the senses and to auoyde those which may any way anoy him and this we call the concupiscible or desiring power and the other by meanes whereofhee may incounter and vanquish whatsoeuer opposeth it selfe crosseth his inclinations or that tends to the destruction of his being or the decay of his contentment which is that wee call the irascible or angry power This differs from the concupiscible for that the concupiscible tends to the sensible good absolútely considered and without any crosses whereas the irascible doth alwayes aime at the good which is inuironed with some difficulty the which she striues to vanquish to the end shee may take all obstacles from the concupiscible power which crosse her content and hinder her from enioying the good which she desires to attaine vnto so as the irascible is as a sword and target to the concupiscible for that she combates for her content and resists any thing that may crosse her There are many things proue that they are two different and distinct powers For as Mathematicians hauing noted diuers apparent irregularities in the Planets and obserued that they seem sometimes to hasten their course and sometimes to slacke it sometimes they stand as it were fixed and sometimes to returne backe in the Zodiaque sometimes they seem neare to the earth sometimes they appear far off they haue held it necessary to multiply their heauens and to giue them many to auoyd all disorder in these excellent bodyes of the Vniuerse In like manner the diuersity of passions in man the contrary motions desires wherewith his soule is tost haue let philosophers vnderstand that there is in him not onely a concupiscible power but also an irascible for that many times we haue a desire of that which wee striue against and resist with vehemency and if wee suffer our selues to be vanquished wee are grieued as hee who desiring to see the bodies of such as had beene executed suppressed this desire and diuerted his eies from this infamous spectacle yet suffering himselfe to bee vanquished by his curiosity and hauing cast his eyes thereon witnessed his griefe and sorrow which remained to haue giuen so brutish a contentment to his eyes Whereby it appeares that desire and anger are two diuerse faculties seeing that one power is not carried at one instant to contrary desires And we finde in our selues that often times wee are inclined to angry passions are not much mooued with those of the concupiscible or to the contrary In like manner there are creatures which haue desires but no motions of choler as for example Sheepe Pigeons and Turtles make shew to haue impressions of desires and yet there appeareth in them no signe of anger So as to obserue their dispositions well we may call in question that which Aristotle saith that there is no creature but hath some touch of choler finally wee may obserue that sometimes the irascible makes vs to pursue things which are absolutely contrary to the concupiscible as when with the hazzard of life which is so deere and precious to all creatures we seeke to reuenge our selues of a powerfull enemy which hath wronged vs. For this reuenge which puts our life in danger cannot proceede from the same power which desires passionately to preserue it and so the irascible and concupiscible are two different powers And there is no part of passion properly taken but in these two sensitiue faculties which is one of the things wee gather from the definition wee haue giuen It appeares also by the same definition that the passions of our soule should alwayes bee followed with a sensible alteration in the body by the impression of the sensitiue appetite touched with the imaginatioÌ„ of good or euill which presents it selfe And here first we must not wonder if the â—oule doth impart her motions and causeth such great alteration in the body seeing that the body doth impart his paines when as it suffers any violence For if it be laid on the racke broken on a wheele or cast into the fire the soule grones vnder the burden of his torments the which happens for that beeing vnited as forme and matter and making but one body which growes from their vnion of necessity all things must bee common vnto them except those things which repugne and cannot agree with their particular natures and therfore by a certaine contagion they communicate their passions one vnto another But in this subiect there is a stronger reason for the which the soule excites these alterations in the body by her passions that is to say for that the soule doth not onely reside in the body as the forme but doth preside there in quality of the moouing cause by meanes whereof she doth change and alter it at her will For as the intellectuall power which mooues a heauen applying her vertue to mooue it makes it to change place and drawes it from East to West or from West to East euen so the soule which hath a moouing power commanding ouer the body changeth his naturall disposition and by her agitation puls him from his rest wherein hee was before shee troubled him in this
a violent Passion of the Soule entertained by some sensible discontent Or else Griefe is a torment of the mind and body Or againe Griefe is a Passion of the mind afflicted by some kind of euill which presents it selfe Or to describe it more particularly Griefe is a Passion of the Soule which riseth from a discontent she receiueth from obiects contrary to her inclinations which present themselues vnto the senses and afflict them But wee must obserue that there are two kinds of Griefe The one which resides in the sensuall Appetite and the other hath his seate in the rationall This last which afflicts the minde is properly called heauines and differs from the other for that a sensible Griefe is alwayes accompanied with a visible alteration and change of the body which is moued whereas the Griefe of the mind hath not alwayes an agitation of the body but most commonly containes it selfe within the bounds of the power where it is framed in regard whereof it is sometimes attributed to God and the Angells These two kinds of Griefe differ also one from another for that the cause of the sensible Griefe resides in the body which suffers some violent impression that alters it But the cause of the intellectuall Griefe resides in the rationall part and in the mind which represents vnto it selfe the euill which she receiues from the obiects which present themselues vnto her thought They differ againe for that the apprehension and knowledge which the exterior senses haue of things they do only regard the present obiects which make an actuall impression in them but the vnderstanding not only conceiues things present but euen those that are past and which may happen or fall vnder the imagination of man Hence it comes that corporeall Griefe which followeth the apprehension which present things make in the senses growes onely from the presence of obiects contrary to their inclinations Whereas the Griefe of the mind following the knowledge of the vnderstanding may grow from obiects that are present past or to come and from those which man doth presuppose may succeed vnto him So as the noblest powers of our soule and those which are the richest ornaments of our nature as the vnderstanding imagination and memory helpe to increase our paines and to augment our afflictions As if the presence of heauen which giues vs some prerogatiue ouer beastes should make vs more miserable For the most sauage beastes flie dangers when as they present themselues vnto their eyes But being escaped they remaine quiet and assured whereas we not only torment our selues for the euill which doth oppresse vs but euen for which is not yet happened But you must vnderstand that to speake properly Griefe which is one of the Passions of the soule is that which is framed in the sensitiue appetite with a visible alteration of the body which is agitated and moued exteriorly by the euill or paine which it suffers So as the cause doth reside in the body which receiues some kind of outrage But the motion of Griefe is alwayes framed in the soule for that the body is not capable but by the presence of the soule Wee must also remember that as to excite Pleasure in our senses the pleasing obiect must not only be vnited but also knowne and perceiued by the senses as we haue formerly obserued so to cause Griefe the afflicting obiect must touch our senses so as by the impâ—â—ssion it makes thâ—y must pâ—rcâ—iue at it 〈◊〉 painefull For it is certaine that as there is no good but that which is sensibly present can cause Pleasure to the senses so there is not any but a present euill can procure a sensible Griefe But vnder the obiect of Griefe we comprehend not only the euill which afflicts vs but also the good which we haue lost For euen as the weight of bodies causeth that not only they haue an inclination to rest in the center but also is the cause that they are neuer farre remote without suffering a visible violence in their nature So men are naturally carried not only to Loue but with a sensible Griefe of their losse So the couetous man torments himselfe for the losse of his wealth The voluptuous is grieued to see an end of the obiects of his content The mother afflicts her selfe for her only son we see many who after good cheare great feasts and dancings hauing spent the time in all kind of Pleasures suddenly grow heauy and pensiue and yet can giue no reason of this sudden change which proceeds only from the disquietnesse of our minds which grieues at contentments past and afflicts it selfe the which makes him heauy and this heauinesse conuerts into melancholy which augments his anguish and torments him without any other forme of euill that presents it selfe vnto his senses As for the causes of griefe and Heauinesse being consisidered in regard of their subiects where they incounter we obserue three For first of all our Cupidities and Desires do many times cause great vexation and discontents as when any one is surprized with the Loue of a pleasing obiect if they hinder the enioying or but only delay the possession they are so many thornes of Griefe which pierce his soule For as the hope to obtaine the possession causeth Pleasure and Delight so the despaire to attaine vnto that we passionatly desire giues cruell afflictions and insupportable torments Moreouer the Loue wee beare to the preseruation of our beiâ—g doth oftentimes cause sorrow and 〈…〉 for that we apprehend the destruction euen as wee see all creatures afflict theÌ„selues for that which offends them and are very carefull to shelter their bodies from all outrage Wherefore wee may say that Griefe is no other thing but an apprehension and feeling of the destruction of our good which makes vs impatient Thirdly the soule helpes to afflict herselfe whether that melancholy workes this effect or that the continuall afflictions oppresse her in such sort as she doth nothing but sigh vnder the burthen of sorrow and like vnto a bad Pilot which abandons his ship to the waues and storme shee suffers her selfe to be so ouercome with Griefe as she augments her owne paine and increaseth her misery For we often see men who in the middest of their afflictions and discontents do nothing but sigh and powre forth teares and will not yeeld themselues capable of any kind of consolation But although wee shew our selues more sensible of the Griefe of the senses then that of the mind yet it is most certaine that the interior Griefes which afflict the soule are much greater then the exterior paines which torture the body For that the apprehension of the mind and imagination is much more powerfull and more noble then that of the senses and especially then that of feeling which hath the greatest share in corporeall paines For proofe whereof wee see great courages to auoyd inferior Griefe expose themselues voluntarily to the exterior paines of torments and punishments
in publique assemblies We are also ashamed to shew our defects before those whom we thinke wee haue offended and are not our friends For that we know they will not faile to publish our imperfections Finally wee blush when as any thing vnworthy of our condition befalls vs in the view of such whose fauour friendship wee seeke ambitiously apprehending that this misfortune will bee an obstacle to our pursuites and a subiect to make vs be reiected As in like manner we blush to see our selues surprized in some notable fault by such as had vs in good esteeme especially if they be our familiar friends or of our owne family which discouer the error into which we had neuer before fallen or had alwaies cunningly concealed it There are also diuerse other subiects which make an impression of Shame and for example at our first speech to any one whom we know not well we blush for that being ignorant what account hee makes of vs or how hee is affected to vs wee are in suspence betwixt hope feare and know not how hee will entertaine our discourse And in like manner we are surprized with Shame when as wee are to speake before a great multitude and a concourse of people For that in this great diuersity of minds and humors we thinke it impossible but there is some one who hath no great disposition to fauour vs. Moreouer when as we are to speake before a person of eminent quality of exquisite knowledge or of exact iudgement wee blush and are amazed by reason of the great respect wee haue of him which makes vs feare to fayle before him and this feare fills vs with Shame and makes vs blush Wee are also not only ashamed of our defects but euen of all the signes and tokens of our vices and bad inclinations As wee blush not only at vncleannesse but also at all the signes of wantonnesse especially we are ashamed at licentious words which offend chaste eares Wherefore Alceus hauing opened his mouth to speake to Sapho then staying himselfe and pretending for his excuse that Shame had hindred his speech she answered If you had not had some bad desire but had meant to speake that which was honest and not licentious Shame had not appeared in your eyes neither had it tyed your tongue but you would haue deliuered your thoughts freely By all that we haue sayd it followeth that men are not ashamed to do or say any thing whatsoeuer before such as they do not esteeme but contemne Whereby it followes that they neither respect nor feare the eyes of children nor beasts But those before whom wee are most ashamed to shew our selues in our misfortune are our enemies to whom wee know our miseries are a sweete and pleasing spectacle As Caesar seeing himselfe a prisoner in the hands of Pirats said That his enemy Crassus would be glad of the misfortune which had befallen him To cōclude mē are ashamed to see thēselues defamed publikely as to be led to execution in the midst of a multitude of people to bee witnesses of their ignominy And yet the Poet Antiphon being condemned to dye with many others by Denis the Tyrant when as hee saw his companions going to execution passing before a great multitude to hide their faces as being ashamed beeing come out of the City he said vnto them What my friends d ee you feare that some one of these Gallants will see you againe to morrow and reproach you with your misfortune But doubtlesse euery man hath not this resolution nor so great a courage in the last indignities of life CHAP. 2. Of the Effects of Shame AS there are certayne Plants whose roots are venemous and mortall to such as vse them but their leaues are indued with excellent qualities and proper for the preseruation of the health of man So there are Passions of the soule which on the one side serue man as a spurre to vertue and on the other side precipitate him to vice And this is particularly incident to Shame the which doth sometime induce men to decline from wickednesse and sometime shee diuerts them from commendable vertuous actions by the apprehension of an imaginary dishonour Timoleon conceiuing that all the world did hate him for that he had consented to the death of his brother who was a plague to his common Wealth wandred vp and down the fields twenty years together and could not resolue to embrace the defence of his Citizens generously Others beeing ashamed to abandon their Countrey in publike calamities haue carried themselues couragiously to vndertake things for the which they knew they shold bee vnworthily recompenced by the ingratitude of their Citizens But before wee come to the effects which Shame produceth in the soule let vs see what impressions shee makes in the body for it seemes shee stirres vp an effect farre different from the cause from whence it proceedes Shame say the Philosophers Is a kinde of feare which ariseth for that man doubts some blame and some censure of his actions As Feare then retires the blood and makes it descend about the heart how comes it that Shame should cause the blood to ascend vnto the countenance and make the face to blush Whereunto they answer that men may be threatned with two kinds of miseries whereof the one is not onely contrary to the inclination of their senses but also tends to the destruction of their nature and being as extreame dangers and perills of death Others are onely contrary to the desires of the senses but doe not threaten man with death or the decay of his being As for example the blame and dishonour which wee apprehend for something we haue done When man then propounds vnto himselfe the forme of these first kindes of obiects that is to say of those calamities which tend to the dissolution of his being Nature beeing amazed by the impressiō which she receiues from the senses striues to succour them and drawes the blood and heate vnto the heart which is as wee haue said the fountaine of life whereupon the countenance being destitute of blood man growes pale in these great terrors But when as he apprehends onely the calamities of the second kinde that is to say those which tend not to the destruction of his beeing but onely to the decrease of his glory Nature is not so powerfully mooued by the senses for that the ruine of her consistence is not directly in question but leaues the griefe in the senses whose amazement doth not send the heat and blood into the body but causeth it to mount into the face which becomes all red and sanguine Some beleeue that this blushing is as it were a veile which Nature extends before her to couer her shame as wee see commonly they that are ashamed carry their hands before their faces and eyes for that those parts are most afflicted with shame in regard they are the most noble And the impression is particularly made in the eies
tread all diuine and humaine lawes vnder feete to satiate her inâ—olency and rage Wherein doubtles she is more to bee blamed then all the other Passions wherewith the soule of man is afflicted For that the other Passions haue this property that euen at the very instant when as they are as it were in the height of their transport giue way somewhat to reason and yeeld in some sort vnto her commandements when as shee presents her self to pacifie them Whereas Choler doth like vnto Marriners which are amazed or corrupted and will giue no eare to the voice of their Pilot Or as mutinous souldiers which will not heare the aduice of their Leaders Yea shee despiâ—es truth if shee opposeth against her rage and although she come to know the innocency of the party whom shee persecutes yet she holds obstinacy more honorable then repentance So as nothing shal be able to make her desist from her vniust and violent pursuites And continuing this Iniustice against himselfe shee sometimes constraines the most couetous profusely to cast away their most pretious treasure and to make a heape of their wealth and then to set fire on it and many times also shee forceth ambitious men to refuse and reiect the honours which they had passionatly affected before their despight who doth not then see that this Passion more then any other quencheth the light of reason The cause is for that of all the Passions whether they haue the good for their obiect or regard the euill those cause the greatest perturbations in our soules which are the most violent there is not any that doth exceed or equall Choler in violence which doth inflame the whole blood and all the spirits which flowe about the heart which is the most powerfull organ of Passions by reason whereof there followes a wonderfull disorder not onely in the sensible and corporeall powers but euen in the reason For although she vse no corporeall organs in her proper functions yet to produce them forth shee hath need of the powers of the sences whose actions are crost and disquieted by the trouble which riseth in the heart and the whole body by reason whereof Choler doth darken yea hinder the whole light which she striues to cast forth whereof wee haue two apparant signes for that the members wherein the image of the heart doth most shine as the tong the eies the countenance feele the most violent force of this fury It is true that Aristotle sayth that Choler doth in some sort giue eare to reason But that must be vnderstood touching the report which she makes of the iniury receiued wherein shee takes a singular content but shee giues no â—are vnto her but reiects her aduertizements in the measure and moderation which shee ought to hold in the reuenge So as in truth there must bee some kind of reason to prouoke Choler for that men which are stupid dull are not capable of these motions but when this Passion is fully inflamed then she doth wholy darken reason And as the same Philosopher sayth that they which are full of wine and drinke are not mooued with any thing for that their reason being drowned in wine they are not capable to ballance an iniury or to obserue a contempt But such as are not fully drunke are moued to Choler for that there remaines some weake beames of iudgement to discerne that which hath an apparance of iniury or outrage but this PassioÌ„ riseth in them without subiect and without any great occasion for that their reason is captiuated by the wine which hath gotten the maistry Euen so in the beginning of Choler reason may giue some light to the Irascible power but wheÌ„ she hath gotten the absolute coÌ„mand and is become Mistresse of the senses Reason is darkened and is of no vse in a soule thus transported But we must not conceiue that this mischief is absolutely incurable but wee must rather imagine that as Helleborum hath power to cure mad men so there are remedies against Choler The most powerful are those which are taken from the Law of God who teacheth vs nothing but patience charity mildenesse humanity and sufferance But wee will rest satisfied to set downe the instructions of Philosophy which may serue to this effect First of all Philosophers aduise vs to entreate this passion as they do monsters and serpents whom they striue to smother as soone as they are disclosed for they will that man should haue a care to the beginning of Choler which many times ariseth from so light an occasion and so poore a subiect as it is vnworthy a great spirite should bee transported therewith And as it is easie to quench a fire of straw in the beginning but if we suffer it to take holde of more solid matter it passeth all our labour and industry and makes a pittifull ruine euen so he that will obserue Choler from the beginning seeing it beginne to fume and kindle for some light quarrell and small offence it is easie for him to suppresse it and to stay her course But if shee be once setled and beginnes to swell and that he himselfe blowes the bellowes that is to say if hee stirres it vppe and enflames it it will bee hard for him afterwards to quench it whereas he might easily haue done it before by silence Wherefore as Pilots foreseeing a tempest doe vsually retire themselues into a road or vnder the Lee of some rock before the storme come so he that feeles the first motions of Choler should haue recourse to reason and oppose it to the passion to controule her violence For the first meanes to vanquish Choler as an vniust tyrant is not to yeelde any obedience to her nor to beleeue her in any thing she saith or doth to inflame vs to reuenge we finde in other Passions that the liberty wee giue them brings some ease As when young men which are enflamed with Loue goe in maske make dances combates or feasts in fauour of the party they loue all this giues some ease vnto their passion and when as they suffer those that are afflicted to weep in the midst of their afflictions the teares they powre forth carry with them a part of their griefe But Choler hath nothing of al this she growes bitter and is incensed by the liberty wee giue her and is enflamed the more in that we giue way to her fury And as they that are subiect vnto the falling sickenesse hauing any signe or beginning of their fit retire themselues suddainly and take all the remedies which may diuert so troublesome an accident or at least hide the shame so they which see themselues transported with Choler should retaine themselues and striue to moderate their passion and diuert the infirmity which seekes to seaze vpon them Wherevnto they should the more willingly resolue for that all other passions doe but draw men to euill but this doth precipitate them those doe shake them but this doth ouerthrow them Those
A Table of Humane Passions With their Causes and Effects Written by the Reuerend Father in God F. N. Coeffeteau Bishop of Dardania Councellor to the French King in his Councels of Estate Suffragane and Administrator generall of the Bishopricke of Metz. Translated into English by Edw Grimeston Sergiant at Armes LONDON Printed by Nicholas Okes. 1621 â—â—easure Paine Hope Feare TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE GEORGE Marquesse of Buckingham High Admirall of England c. MOST worthy to be most honored Lord All outward honors and accomplishments of height already most abundantly blessedly adorning you I thrice humbly submit to your Lordship in as much as this little Volume may containe as ample meanes to all inward addition and illustration In teaching all Manly and Lordly gouerment of those invvard Passions and perturbations that are euermore excited by outvvard Pleasures and all their storme-rockt soothings of security and licence For no more doth the Sun and Wind exhale and blovv vppe pasttemper Vapors and Tempests then the graces and amplifications of Kings cause aestures vprores of affection and Passion Yet is there not any more sencible variety of medicine and cure for all bodily wounds and maladies then there are intelligible and reasonable repressions and setlings of all the vnquiet and raging ouerflowes of our Spirits and minds Neither is there any so deadly danger layd open in the one as abides hid in the other For as that tempest is more dangerous that suffers not a ship to repaire to her hauen then that which sustaines not shee should sayle at all So most difficult are the minds stormes that let a man to containe himselfe nor suffer him to quiet and settle his disturbed reason And therefore all men floting on the high-going seas of Fortune if destitute of Pylots Cables and Anchors and moued only with tumultuous and vnbounded errors in vncertaine and dangerous courses may for a time perhaps in safety and pleasure enioy and extend them But at length as t' were suddainly rauisht by the neckes they are driuen helplesly headlong on the more horrible ship-wrackes Since then your Lordships disposition to all goodnesse is in nature most sweete most flexible vouchsafe eare a little to artificiall and experimenc't aduices that may rectifie accomplish and establish you in all the heights of your honors Wherein my humble and poore endeauors obtaining their desired ends I shall holde my selfe happy and rest in all seruiceable deuotion Your Lordships euermore most submissiuely vowed Ed Grimeston Of Humane Passions The Preface AS Prouident Nature hath prescribed certaine ends to all the Creatures of this Vniuerse whom She hath clothed with certaine qualities and allurements fit to inflame them with their Loue So there is not any one in this world but doth endeuor by all meanes to attaine vnto those ends which are propounded As the Sunne hauing bin placed in the firmament to contribute to the birth and preseruation of Beasts and Plants runnes continually from one Hemisphere to the other to poure out the beames of his influence and light ouer all So after his example there is not any other cause in all this great World but is carefull to seeke and pursue her end according to the motions which Nature hath ingrafted But to make them câ—peable it was necessary that the same Nature which hath prescrib'd them their ends should also giue them as it were two wings to raise them vp That is to say it was needefull she should impart vnto them the knowledge and ingrafâ— in them the inclination and desire to pursue them Desire alone were not sufficient for that is fashiâ—ned in the Appetite which is a blind power and requires some light to guide and conduct it in its motions Euen as they say the Whale which hath a weake and heauy sight hath need of a guide to conduct it through the waues of the Sea lest that this great and weighty masse which she drawes after her should strike against some rocke and be crusht in peeces Neither were knowledge alone sufficient for that it proceedes from a faculty which being borne to giue light doth necessarily presuppose another power which doth receiue the beames of her light and as we may say suffers it selfe to be guided by that light As for example to cause the King being incited by the glory of his Ancestors or induced by the greatnesse of his courage to vndertake the sacke of Constantinople or to replâ—nt the Crossâ— in Palestina it were not sufficient that he knew where Constantinople stood or in what part of the world Palestina were but besides all this it were needfull that with this knowledge the heat and ardor to carry him to so glorious a Conquest should breede a desire As in old time to thrust on Alexander to vndertake the voyage of Persia or of the Indies it was not onely requisite this Prince should haue some knowledge of that stâ—tely Empire and of those rich Prouinces But it was also necessary his generosity should beget in him a passion and will to conquer them So as no man imbraceth any designe whatsoeuer vntill that knowledge be vnited with desire and desire ioyned vnto knowledge In this manner then if things knewe their ends and did not desire them or if they desired them without the knowledge they could not be drawne to endeuor to get them For as much as through the want of those helps they should be in danger to labor in vaine and to lose all the paines of their pursuites So as to effect it they had neede of knowledge and desire The proofes hereof are seene in all the Creatures which make a part of this Vniuersall world For leauing apart the Angels of heauen whose actions show sufficiently that their substance is indued with an vnderstanding full of knowledge and a will capable to frame diuers desires if we will fixe our eyes vpon visible nature we shall find that there is not any Creature not onely among those that haue life but euen among those that haue no soules in the motions and course of whose actions this truth doth not appeare and demonstrate it selfe plainely It is true that in things which are insensible and without life it is not necessary that the knowledge of their ends should remaine in themselues as the desires and inclinations to attaine vnto them do reside but it sufficeth that they bee guided and conducted by a cause conioyned to their actions And to returne to our last example as it was necessary to draw Alexander to vndertake the voyage of Asia and the Indies he should haue knowledge of the Prouinces yet he might borrow this knowledge from those which had seene them and obserued them euen as blind men who led by their guides go where their affaires do call them euen so although that naturall things which of themselues are not indued with any knowledge besides the inclination which they haue vnto their end haue yet some need to know it to the end they may
vnlesse it extend vnto the senses Wherefore some affirme that this kinde of ioy is found in the Essence of God and in the nature of Angels And they are accustomed to propound a question vpon this subiect which be the greatest pleasures and delight most whether those of reason or those of the senses But the answer is easie for that vndoubtedly the intellectuall and those of the minde if we consider them in themselues are more delightfull then those of the senses And this made Aristotle to say that the sweetest and most pleasing content wee can haue in this life is that which proceedes from the exercises and actions of wisedome which is spent in the contemplation of the first causes The reason why the pleasures of the minde haue an aduātage ouer those of the body is for that to cause pleasure or delight in vs there must concurre three things that is to say the obiect vnited to the power the power to the which it is vnited and the actuall vnion of the one with the other which presupposeth knowledge of this good As for example to beget the pleasures of our taste there must bee delicate meates a taste well disposed and moreouer the vnion of these two things must bee made by the naturall organs with his knowledge that must receiue the impression of this pleasure For if the most exquisite meates were put into the mouth of a man that slept hee should receiue no pleasure for that hee had no feeling nor knowledge And first of all the goods of the minde in the enioying whereof consist the intellectuall pleasures are more noble and more louely then all the goods of the senses and body whereof we haue a notable proofe in that wee see men yea most abandoned to vice depriue themselues of the sweetest pleasures of the body to purchase glory which is a good of the mind So they sayd of Caesar who in his great inclination to loue and women renounced all his pleasures to get the honor of a Triumph Moreouer the power of the will in which is made the impression of these kinde of Pleasures being intellectuall and much more excellent then the senses which are corporeall the actions which she produceth and which are followed by these Pleasures are also more noble then those which deriue from the senses And by consequence the vnion which is made of spirituall obiects with the will is farre more strict more worthy and more durable then that which happens betwixt the senses and the obiects which they pursue It is more strict for that the senses regard onely the superficies of things and doe not busie themselues but to consider the accidents which inuiron them as colours smelling noyse sweetnesse and the like whereas the vnderstanding pierceth into the Essence and substance of the obiects It is more worthy for that it is made without any alteration or corporeall change whereas the obiect pleasing to the senses cannot be vnited with them but it will cause some kinde of change which is full of imperfection It is more durable for that the obiects of the sēses are of perishable goods which soon faile whereas the obiects of the minde are of eternall felicity which continues for euer Yet it is true that the obiects of the senses make a more violent impression in our soules and that the pleasure which we receiue toucheth vs much more then that which the spirits gathers from the obiects which are pleasing vnto it The which happens first for that the goods of the body are borne with vs encrease with vs and are preserued with vs· So as handling them daily and hourely we haue a more exact knowledge then of the goods of the vnderstanding which are remoued from vs. We haue said that knowledge is necessary for the enioying of pleasures wherefore where this knowledge hath least power there the pleasures are least sensible This also happens for that we vse pleasures as remedies and cures against the crosses troubles and cares of this life which are sweetned and as it were charmed by their presence But most men being either indisposed or not capable to raise themselues vp to spiritual consolations seeke and tye themselues to pleasing obiects which present thēselues easily to their senses The which is fortified for that the sweetnesse of obiects which delight our senses are suddainely tasted and doe not much trouble vs to seeke them It is an infallible Maxime in Philosophy that the obiects by their presence make a more powerfull impression in our soules then when they are absent And those things which giue vs least paine are most sweete in their acquisition so as for all these considerations the Pleasures of the body seeme vnto vs greater then those of the minde We may say in a word that those of the senses are more sēsible but these more perfect more excellent In the mean time all the wise men of the world exhort vs to set a careful guard ouer the Pleasures of the senses which they call the poyson of the minde For the which wee must the more carefully prouide for that these Passions are accompanied with a certaine sweetenesse which flatters vs at her first approach and surprizeth our iudgement and charmes it in such sort as it helpes to deceiue it selfe So as in this subiect wee must imitate those wise old men of Troy who counselled Priam to send backe Hellen to the Grecians and not suffer himselfe to be any longer abused with the charms of her great beauty for that keeping her within their City was to entertaine the siege of a fatall and dangerous warre and to nourish a fire which would consume it to ashes The euent did shew that it was wisely fore-seene and pronounced as an Oracle for in the same manner wee should chase from vs the obiects of Pleasures lest they be the cause of our ruine To which purpose an Ancient said That nature had engrafted no such pernicious Desires as those of the Pleasures of the body for that these desires growing vnbridled doe so enflame the courages where they get possession as they leaue nothing vndone to content their Passion Whence spring treacheries and treasons which make men to sell their friends and countrey from thence proceedes ruines and defolation of Estates the conspiracies against Common weales As it appeared in that of Catilyne who practized the ruine of Rome from thence the murthers violences burnings and all the miseries of this life take their spring and beginning The reason is for that pleasures quench the Iudgement and smother all the seedes of vertue and wisedome in man the which they effect more powerfully when they are most violent as it appeares in those which are transported with Loue who are not maisters of themselues but suffer themselues to be wholy guided by their Passions wherefore a wiseman of the world was wont to say that he had rather fall into frenzy then suffer himselfe to bee surprized with Pleasures for that
sayd hee Physitians may cure madnes by purging the braine with Helleborum whereas Pleasures depriue man of his iudgement without hope of remedy for his infirmity But for that there are Pleasures not only of the mind but of the body and senses which are meerely innocent as the Pleasure we receiue by Pictures Perfumes honest exercises and other things which bring a chast content it shall bee conuenient to know what the causes and obiects bee to the end wee may of our selues iudge which are lawfull and which are interdicted and to bee abhorred First then things necessary for preseruation of our nature as drinking and eating are pleasing vnto man and the which he vseth with a delight which moderation and temperance make innocent Secondly men take a singular delight in things to the which they haue beene long framed and accustomed for that custome is as it were another nature considering that the things whereunto wee haue bene accustomed and whereof there is framed a long habite by continuall exercise haue a great affinity with those of nature Thirdly the things which are conformable to our nature and disposition are pleasing for that they force vs not in any sort but insinuate sweetely into our senses Whereas on the other side whatsoeuer brings any constraint vexeth vs as studies serious affaires disputations and such like are importune and troublesome for that they constraine and force our inclinations vnlesse that custome hath taken away the bitternes Whereas their contrary please vs as rest sleepe play cessation from labour sights and such like in which wee finde not any constraint Fourthly whatsoeuer flatters our desires giues vs ioy and Pleasure for that these kinds of Cupidities are properly the desires of things which we imagine are pleasing and rauish our senses For whatsoeuer flatters our senses and delights our imagination causeth Pleasure and content So euery kind of good bee it that which is present or past or to come doth giue a content by the presence or by the imagination for that it delights our senses and is pleasing to our fancy which is a delicate power easily toucht with the sweeetnesse of her obiect how small soeuer Wherefore they that remember the good things which they haue tasted and those which they hope for in future hauing these things imprinted in their fancy feele a ioy Whereby it appeares plainely that all Pleasure and Delight consists either in the feeling of things present or in the remembrance of things past or in the hope of those which are to come For we taste and feele the present we remember those that are past and we hope for the future And doubtlesse the things which are grauen in our memory please vs much not only those which were sweete in the action but euen those which we haue tasted with some bitternesse especially when as the paines and toiles we haue indured are ended to our profite honor which made an Ancientto say that it was a sweete thing to remember trauailes past So souldiers glory of their dangers past and relate with singular content the wounds they haue receiued in combatts They which haue escaped dangers at Sea or made great and desperate voyages by land haue the same content to relate the hazards and fortunes which they haue runne and surmounted The reason of this ioy and the cause of this content is for that it is a sweete thing to be freed from a mischiefe especially when it hath giuen vs great afflictions and apprehensions But as for that which regards things which depend of hope all those things whose presence and enioying we imagine will bee pleasing or profitable and which will cause vs no kind of discontent excite Pleasure in our senses be it when we remember them or when wee hope for them So as whatsoeuer we imagine as a good which may befall vs is pleasing vnto our thoughts By reason whereof as wee will shew hereafter we feele a content in choller for that no man is angry but with hope to bee reuenged the which hee reputs for a great good Wherefore Homer made Achilles to say that choller disperst it selfe in a great courage more sweetely then hony For as much then as what we remember or hope for as a thing pleasing and sweete vnto our thoughts excites ioy in our hearts therefore most of the desires of men are accompanied with some Pleasure and delight For when as they remember how they haue plaied or when as they imagine after what manner they hope to play they feele a sensible content and a new ioy which represents vnto them the image of the true enioying As it happens to those which haue drunke with delight during a burning Feuer for they haue a certaine kind of ioy when as they remember to haue so drunke or when as they promise vnto themselues to drinke againe after the same manner So they that are tormented with Loue be it that they speake of the party beloued bee it that they write or make verses of that subiect they feele a wonderfull content for that in all those things they conceiue that whom they loue is before their eyes as in their thoughts Wherefore they hold it for a certaine signe of Loue when as any one afflicts himselfe for the absence of another and when he takes Pleasure in the teares and complaints of their separation And it is certaine that euen in cares and vexation there is also a content in the teares and sighes wee powre forth for the absence of that wee loue There is doubtlesse a griefe for that we see not the party wee Loue but there is also a sweetnesse for that her image presents it selfe vnto our thoughts and sets before vs all the motions gestures actions speeches smiles grace sport and whatsoeuer wee haue obserued in her when shee was truely present Reuenge also as wee haue formerly toucht is a sweete thing the which doth well appeare by her contrary for if wee see that wee cannot reuenge the iniury which hath beene done vs and which hath inflamed our Choller wee feele a wonderfull discontent whereas wee are transported with ioy when as wee hope and see some appearance of reuenge Moreouer it doth much content and giue a singular pleasure not onely to the ambitious but indifferently to al sorts of persons to vanquish and surmount those against whom they haue any contention or dispute for in this concurrence it seemes they dispute of the excellency and superiority and that it is as it were adiudged to him that obtaines the victory and all men liuing bee they great meane or base desire though some more ardently and others with lesse Passion to excell and surmount others By this reason we finde there is pleasure in sports in which there is any cōtention as at Chesse Tennis Cards and Dice and likewise in more serious exercises where there is any dexterity to obtaine the victory as in fighting at barriers running at the Ring and Tilt or such like Wherof
either from the condition of the thing which is not capable to satisfie our desire at one instant As we see in drinking and eating to which we must returne diuerse times to entertaine life Or from the imperfection of enioying as they which haue but tasted the first sweetnes of friendship desire to haue a fuller content Like vnto those which loue Poësie who hauing heard a peece of a goodly verse such as Vergil wrote wish to heare the rest to make their pleasure perfect Or else it growes from the nature it selfe of Pleasure which is so sweete as it inflames the soule to desire the continuance The which is seldome seene in the pleasures of the senses and of the body but which is felt with infinite delight by those which drink of that torrent of Pleasure which the Scripture describes vnto vs in heauen for they drinke eternally and are neuer satisfied We must also remember that there is great difference betwixt the Pleasures of the senses and of the minde for the delights of the senses charging and as it were importuning our naturall dispositions becomes troublesome and tedious as it falls out when we suffer our selues to be surprized with the excesse of eating and drinking Whereas those of the mind neuer exceed the carriage nor capacity of the naturall disposition of the soule but rather adde perfectiō to her nature wherefore when they are fully enioyed they delight most And if there be at any time a distaste it is for that the actiō of the mind is accōpanied with the action of the inferior powers the which being corporeall they are tired with the cōtinuance of so long an imployment Wherefore they call backe the spirit that it may giue some rest vnto the body And doubtlesse it is the onely reason why those happy soules are neuer weary to behold the diuine Essence for that the contemplation of this pleasing obiect doth not ouercharge nor weaken the spirits but doth ease and fortifie them And moreouer she doth not worke by the meanes of the senses and corporeall Organs which are subiect to grow slack in their actions I might adde that this happy contemplation of the diuine Essence is alwayes accompanied with new subiects of admiration in regard wherof it can neuer be troublesome and moreouer although the obiect bee soueraignely simple yet it comprehends all the good things which may fall into the thought or desire of man so as it can neuer cause any distaste But this belongs vnto another discourse The pleasure of the senses produceth a pernicious and dangerous effect in vs it binds our reason and takes away the vse the which happens by three occasions The first for that imploying the soule wholly in the feeling and enioying of the sweetenesse which doth accompany it she retires it from the consideration of all spirituall goodnesse and makes it lesse capable of reason in regard of the heate of the passion which doth agitate it Secondly for that most part of the pleasures of the body at the least when they tend to excesse and disorder are contrary to the motions of reason And it is an vndoubted truth That one contrary doth alwayes expell and destroy another wherefore pleasure yeeldes no place to the motions of Reason The which made Aristotle to say that although that pleasure corrupts not the Theory and simple knowledge wee haue of things as for example she doth not hinder vs from knowing that a Triangle hath three corners and that the whole is bigger then its parts distinctly comprized yet shee depraues the iudgement and hinders the esteeme wee should make by the lawes of wisedome of that which is good For that although we know well that temperance is a vertue yet we flie it for that it is cōtrary to the pleasures of our senses which suffers vs not to esteeme it as we ought The third is for that the pleasures of the senses cause a greater and a more violent alteration and change in our bodies then that of the other Passions The reason is for that wee imbrace with more vehemency and tie our selues more strictly to the obiects which please vs when they are present then when they are absent These changes and sensible alterations in the body cause trouble to the soule As it appeares in those which are surprized with wine in whose actions there is no shew of reason the excesse of wine hauing altered their braine and made them incapable of the functions of the mind But honest and moderate Pleasure addes perfection to her actions as beauty and a good grace giues the last ornament to youth aswell for that she is the end and scope which wee propound vnto our selues when we meane to worke as also for that shee makes her actions agreeable by the content she ingrafts in our senses So as to entertaine this Pleasure shee causeth vs to imploy our selues with more heate and attention to accomplish them Wherefore an Ancient sayd that nature had ioyned Pleasure to actions necessary for the entertainment of the life of creatures or for the preseruation of their kinds as eating drinking and generation to the end it might bee as salt which seasoneth meate That is to say to the end it might make those actions delightfull and that the creatures might not bee drawne vnto them with distaste And touching that which concernes the allurements and inticements of honest Pleasures we must still remember the wise counsell of Aristotle who perswades vs not to obserue them at their first approach but at their parting for that although the entry bee sweete and pleasant the end is alwayes bitter and tragicall They say that among the Pagans there was a Temple of Diana whose image did shew a sadde and seuere countenance to those that entred to worship it but at their departure it seemed more pleasant and smiling But it is contrary in Pleasures for at their first approach they present nothing but roses and sweete contents and in the end they leaue vs nothing but thornes and importune griefes especially for that they diuert vs from the soueraigne Good and from the loue of spirituall delights without the which our soules can finde no solide nor soueraigne content Of Griefe and Heauinesse CHAP. 1. AS among all creatures there is not any one exposed vnto so many outrages of Fortune as man whom we may rightly tearme an image of misery and weaknes So it is most certaine that there is not any Passion wherewith hee is more afflicted in this life then with Griefe and Sorrow whose obiects present themselues continually to his sense and mind Wherefore although that by the light which we finde in contrary things when they are opposed and compared one with another we may iudge of the condition of Griefe and Sorrow by that which we haue spoken of Pleasure and Delight yet for a more ample knowledge of a thing which is so common vnto vs it shall be fit to treate more exactly vpon this subiect Griefe then is
vnworthy They are angry also with such as dissemble things and make a ieast of that which they haue done seriously for this dissimulation and diuersion of their intensions is a signe of scorne Finally men are discontented with those which doe good to all the world yet do none to them in particular for they are conceited that such as haue no care to bind them vnto them shewing an inclination to oblige all the world witnesse thereby that they esteeme them not as they do other men but haue a most base conceit of their merit This consideration hath bred discōtents in the courts of great Princes for euery one holding himselfe as worthy as his companion to attain vnto the offices of State when as any one is aduanced without mention made of them they conceiue that his good fortune is a blemish to their glory makes them to be esteemed inferiour to his merite To cōclude forgetfulnesse prouokes choler for that forgetfulnesse is a signe of the little care they haue of men And this little care is a mark of contempt for that the things whereof they make account are most carefully recommended to memory CHAP. 3. Of the Effects and remedies of Choler AMONG all the Passions that trouble transport the soule of man there is not any accompanied with so great violence which shewes such brutishnesse or that produce such fatall and tragicall effects as Choler which seemes properly to be the spring frō whence flowes all the miseries and ruines which happen in the world For whereas other passiōs as Loue and Ioy Desire and Hope haue certain beams of sweetnesse which makes them pleasing Choler is full of bitternes hath no sweeter obiects thē punishments blood and slaughter which serue to glut her reuenge These be her delights these are her ioyes these are the sweetest and most pleasing spectacles which she can behold But if you desire to see how shee is the fountaine of all the horrors which are dispersed ouer the world and make it desolate reade in histories of the sacking of Townes of Prouinces ruined and made deserts obseruing the euersion and ouerthrow of Empires Diademes troden vnder foote Princes basely betrayed and smothered by poyson Kings murthered great Commanders in Warre cast into chaines and seruing as an example of humane miserie Consider that whole multitudes haue beene put to the sword or made Gallyslaues whole Natiōs rooted out the Temples wheras Diuinity dwels prophaned the Altars beaten down and whatsoeuer was most holy and most reuerend among men vnworthily violated and they shall find that all these tragicall spectacles are the effects of that cruell and inhumane fury But setting apart the horror of the effects which shee produceth generally let vs obserue the miseries whereof she is the cause in priuate persons that suffer themselues to bee transported with this Passion First then if the saying of Physitians be true that of all the infirmities wherewith we are afflicted there are none worse nor more dangerous then those which disfigure the face of man and which make it deformed and vnlike vnto himselfe we must conclude by the same reason that of all the Passions of man there is not any one more pernitious nor more dreadfull then Choler which alters the gracefull countenance and the whole constitution of man For as furious and mad men shew the excesse of their rage by the violent changes which appeare in their bodies euen so a man transported with Choler giues great signes of the frenzie that doth afflict him his eyes full of fire and flame which this Passion doth kindle seeme fiery sparckling his face is wonderfully inflamed as by a certaine refluxe of blood which ascends from the heart his haire stands vpright and staring with horror his mouth cannot deliuer his words his tongue falters his feete and hands are in perpetuall motion He vomits out nothing but threats hee speakes of nothing but blood and vengeance Finally his constitution is so altered and his lookes so terrible as he seemes hideous and fearefull euen to his dearest friends What must the soule then be within whose outward image is so horrible Wherefor an Ancient sayd that Choler was a short fury And another maintained that all violent Choler turned into madnesse The which we may confirme by that which is written of Hercules who growing furious knew not his owne wife and children vpon whom he exercised his rage tearing them inhumanely in peeces euen so they ouer whom Choler hath gotten absolute power forget all affinity and friendship and without any respect make their owne kinsfolkes and friends feele the effects of their fury For it is a Passion which growes bitter against all the world which springs aswell from loue as from hatred and is excited aswell in sport as in the most serious actions So as it imports not from what cause it proceeds but with what spirit it incounters As it imports not how great the fire is but where it falles for the most violent cannot fire marble whereas the smallest sparkles will burne straw Hereby wee gather that this Passion domineers principally in hot and fiery constitutions for that heate is actiue and wilfull and giues an inclination to these kinds of violence making vs to grow bitter easily yea vpon the least subiect that may be Finally to returne to our first purpose Choler doth not only disfigure the body but many times it ruines it wholy For some being extraordinarily moued haue broken their veines and vomited out their soule with the blood yea they which haue slaine themselues owe their misfortune to Choler which hath forced them to this last fury hauing then left such cruell signes of rage vpon the body she assailes the mind shee doth outrage to the soule and smothers reason in man and like vnto a thicke cloud will not suffer it to enlighten him and by this meanes fills him with disorder and confusion So as hee begins to shut his eare to all good aduice he will no more heare speake of that which may helpe to mollifie his courage which is full of bitternesse and violence so as taking pleasure in his owne affliction he abhorres all remedies and flies the hand of the Physitian which might cure him yea in this transport hee is offended at any thing and imitates the sauage beasts whom the most cheerefull colours thrust into fury An innocent smile a shaking of the head which signifies nothing a glance of the eye without dessigne is capable to draw him to the field But how often haue wee seene this inhumaine fury dissolue euen the most sacred friendship vpon very friuolous subiects hath shee not prouoked dearest friends to duells and made them serue as spectacles of infamy both to heauen and earth for quarrells imbraced without any ground It is then very apparant that this Passion is not only infamous but also most wretched seeing that vnder an weake pretext of reuenge she doth precipitate men into most horrible villanies makes them