from Anger Wine Tobacco how occasioned For in Anger an earnest desire after any thing In Drunkenness by Wine other Liquors or Tobacco or extraordinary heat too many spirits being sent to the brain make such a confusion as they cannot regularly nor readily be sent thence into the muscles The Causes of Languishing Languishing is another and is felt in all the Members being a disposition or inclination to ease and to be without motion occasioned as Trembling for want of sufficient spirits in the nerves But in a different manner For Languishing is caused when the Glance in the Brain do not determine the Spirits to some muscles rather than others when Trembling proceeds from a defect of the Spirits 'T is also frequently the effect of Love joyned to the desire of any thing which cannot be acquired for the present For in Love the Soul being so busied in considering the object beloved all the spirits in the Brain are imployed to represent the Image thereof to her whereby all the motions of the Glance are stopt which were not subservient to this Design And so in Desire though it frequently Renders the Body active as was noted when the object is such as something from that time may be done for acquiring it Yet when there is an Imagination of the Impossibility of attaining it all the agitation of Desire remains in the Brain where being wholly imployed in fortifying the Idea of this object without passing at all into the Nerves leaves the rest of the Body Languishing And thus also Hatred Sadness and Joy may cause a kind of Languishing when they are violent by busying the soul in considering their objects But most commonly it proceeds from Love because it depends not on a surprize but requires some time to be effected Swoonings and the Causes Swooning is another effect of Joy and is nothing but a suffocation of the vital heat in the Heart some heat remaining that may afterwards be kindled again It may be occasioned several wayes but chiefly by extreme Joy in that thereby the orifices of the Heart being extraordinarily opened the blood from the Veins rush so impetuously and so copiously into the Heart that it cannot be there soon enough rarified to lift up those little skins that close the entries of those veins whereby the fire and heat thereof is smothered which used to maintain it when it came regularly and in a due proportion 'T is seldom or never the effect of Sadness though it be a Passion that contracts and as it were tyes up the orifices of the Heart because there is for the most part blood enough in the heart sufficient to maintain the heat though the Orifices thereof should be almost closed Subordinate to Joy and Sadness also is Derision Envy Pity Satisfaction Repentance Gratitude and Good Will Indignation and Wrath Glory and Shame Distrust sorrow and Light-heartedness Of Derision and its Causes When a Man perceives some small evil in another which he conceives him worthy of it occasions Derision Whence 't is apparently a kind of Joy mixt with Hatred But if the evil be great he to whom it happens cannot be thought to deserve it but by such as are very ill-natur'd or have much hatred against him When the evil comes unexpectedly being surprized with Admiration it occasions Laughter For Laughter as was said never proceeds of Joy unless it be very moderate and some little Admiration or Hatred be therewith complicated When the accident is good it excites Joy and gladness when anothers welfare is perceived by us And this Joy is serious and no ways accompanied with Laughter or Derision But when we account him worthy of it it occasions Envy as the unworthiness of the evil Pity and these two are the Daughters of Sadness Cause of Envy and Pity Envy is a Vice proceeding from a perverse Nature causing a Man to molest and vex himself for the goods of Fortune he sees another possessor of and so is a kind of Sadness mixt with Hatred and a Passion that is not alwayes vitious For I may Lawfully Envy the Liberal distribution of the goods of Fortune on unworthy Illiterate and base Fellows that no wayes deserve them inasmuch as my love of Justice compels me thereunto because its Laws are violated by an unjust distribution or the like Especially if it go no farther and extend not to the Persons themselves 'T is somewhat difficult to be so just and generous as not to hate him that prevents me in the acquisition of any commendable good which is frequently seen in Honour Glory and Reputation though that of others hinders me not from endeavouring their attainment also though it render them more difficult to be atchieved Wherefore Envy not thus qualified is no wayes becoming a Gentleman there being no Vice so hurtful both to the Soul and bodily health of him that 's possessed therewith What mischiefs does it not do by Detractions Lyes Slanders and several other wayes beneath the Action of a Gentleman Cause of Pity Pity is a mixture of Love and sadness towards such whom we see that we bear a kindness to suffer any evil which we think they deserve not So that its object is diametrically opposite to Envy and Derision considering it in another manner And although it proceed rather from the Love we bear to our selves then to the pityed those being most incident to it that find themselves impotent and subject to the frown of Fortune thereby fancying themselves possible to be in the same condition yet 't is no wayes unbecoming a Gentleman since the most high generous and great Spirits that contemn want as being above the frowns of Fortune have been known to be highly compassionate when they have heard the complaints and seen the failings of other men Besides to love and bear good will to all men is a part of Generosity and thus the sadness of this Pity is not extreme Nay none but evil mischievous pernitious and envious Spirits want Pity or such as are fraught with an universal hatred and destitute of love For 't is chiefly excited by Love whence it sending much blood to the Heart causeth many Vapours to pass through the eyes and then sadness by its frigidity retarding the agitation of those vapours condensing them into tears is the cause that Weeping often accompanieth it 'T is much more to be preferred in a Gentleman than Derision since the most defective in Body and Mind are the greatest Deriders of others desiring to see and bring all Men equally into disgrace with themselves This proceeds from Hatred that from Love Jesting exploded Nothing more vain then than Jesting so much now in use with such as assume the name of Gentlemen if thus grounded Wit in moderate Jesting for the detecting or reprehending vice may be allowed it being a seemly quality in the best and greatest thereby discovering the Tranquillity of the Soul and liveliness of the disposition Nay even to Laughter
must needs be driven to acknowledge a supreme hand and a GOD the first moving cause For all actions and mutations in the World are performed by motion which motion being traced through its causes will bring us to an eternal Being and the acknowledgment of a GOD as being the first mover and consequently that he 's Eternal whence 't is easie to prove the rest of his Attributes Causes of Atheism I shan't dispute with such as maintain there is no real Atheist denying GOD in the heart Since this wicked Age wherein we live doth sadly evince to us the contrary But this I shall affirm that hardly any Sect or Opinion in Religion is approved by any but the professors thereof as if they had no m Nulla firmior amicitia quám quae contrabitur hinc nulla Discordia major quám quae a Religione fit Montanus in Micah Charity presently account them Atheists which may be put as another cause of Atheism For none more like to be Atheists than such as place their Religion in this or that Opinion especially if they reflect on the Antipathy each have to other and consider seriously how all confidently conclude themselves in the Right backing their Tenets with Scripture Authority and Reason and that most things they hold as Truths to be but dubious at best unless he be a resolute Person not doubting at all in his Opinion and Sect. But if he waver and be doubtful changing from one Sect to another have taken exceptions at the defects of most 't is a wonder if he fall not out with all and fix on Atheism at last and despise all Religion as a cheat or policy to keep Men in good Order Another cause of Atheism may be Peace and Plenty in a time when Learning flourishes For Prosperity has damn'd more Souls than all the Devils in Hell It makes Men cast off fear of GOD and Man entangles Mens minds in Vanity blinds them in their pleasures and overwhelms them in Sin For whilst we thrive in the World we are apt to turn our backs on Heaven whereas Poverty and afflictions are the dispensations of Providence and the blessings of the Almighty to fit Sinners for Repentance inclining our minds more to true Devotion for the afflicted have God for the most part in their minds and mouthes An Habit of Scoffing and deriding the Scriptures may be another cause This Vain Idle and Phantastical Pityful Childish humour of Jesting proceeds which this Age so Super-abounds with among such as call themselves Gentlemen from Pride and Ostentation For they being generally Men of weak Judgments and unfit for matters of Substance and Solidity as being above their apprehension they immediately with a disdainful Jest scorn what they are uncapable of or proceeds from any that attempt noble things Wit may lawfully be used GOD having given nothing to us in vain but great care ought to be had it be not abused especially in jesting with Holy things for thereby they make a mock of Sin trifle with the wrath of GOD and play like Fools with Hell-fire whither without Repentance they are posting This way of fooling is beneath a Gentleman for it Hebetates the Reason and renders him empty flashy and Phantastical Another cause may be the Clergy live scandalously which is a great eye-sore and a main cause what can be more unseemly than to see such as should lead men to Heaven walk themselves as if there were no Hell That should be Instructers of others in Sobriety Humility and all Piety live loosely proudly in all Riot and Excess Drinking Whoring Lying Swearing Pride and Covetousness are odious in every one but especially in those that should teach otherwise are they aggravated Such are a dishonour to their Coat the scandal of the Church and an occasion of the Enemies Blaspheming Who will believe those are sins as they exclaim in the Pulpit if they themselves all the week after walk in them with delight A Gentleman though he shou'd with much indignation abominate such vile practices and if in power endeavour to suppress them yet shou'd not be so narrow spirited as therefore to neglect the Ordinances of GOD since the Author and Finisher of our Faith and Religion Commands the very Apostles themselves to hear the Scribes and Pharisees those whom he calls so often Hypocrites and against whom he pronounces so many woes only with this Restriction That they do not as they do However their Doctrine was good and therefore enjoyned To do as they say A Minister that has a Lawful Call ought rather to be reprehended than slighted He may be evil himself yet instruct others in good works These make large Rents in the Church Union of all things else ought to be desired therefore And why are there so many differences among us Either because we are wedded to our own wayes and Opinions or because we quarrel with shadows Order Ceremonies and things indifferent and not of Faith while we neglect the Substance and fundamentals in Religion Many times through weakness of Judgment violent contests arise between party and party and yet neither differ in the main and perhaps not in the thing it self neither which through their ignorance notwithstanding they know not how to Reconcile To Compose these Differences is by fair and gentle not foul and rigorous means according to the Laws A weak Brother is to be restored in the Spirit of meekness Consciences are not to be compell'd by Fire and Sword For that Religion which is established by the sword must needs bek in to Mahomet's let the pretences be what they will or worse As we have lately too wofully experimented in our blessed times of Reformation in which they did not stick in their Zeal to destroy the Lord 's Anointed If they had been men after Gods own heart as they were Saints their hearts would certainly have melted with sorrow and remorse as David's smote him for but cutting off the skirt of Saul's Garment and yet he never intended to cut his throat But their hearts were hardned if not seared Nothing more unbecoming a Gentleman than to oppose his Sovereign the fountain of Gentility or Government the Ordinance of GOD. Can any man be so stupid as to imagine there can be any Religion in Rebellion or Reformation in murthering of Kings subverting of Government and destroying many Families Innovations in Religion are dangerous unless gradual and by the steps of time for so they 'l hardly be perceptible No Innovation unless by the product of time can suit well with any well-governed Nation for long-continued Customs agree best together although perhaps in themselves bad whereas better being unused link not so well and therefore prove more troublesome So that great caution is to be had in Reformation that the Alteration be for Reformation and not the Reformation a pretence to Rebellion which a Gentleman in all publick Conferences Consultations and Counsels ought carefully to avoid Let all Discourses of Religion be
by immoderate watchings consumed and dissipated the whole body dryed especially the Brain and sometimes thereby corrupted Choler increased the humours adusted natural heat destroyed and the whole Man rendred squalid A Gentleman should therefore in these take great care he exceed not if he tender his health and lay aside that mad sitting up whole Nights For though strength of Nature while Young may not presently be sensible of these Extravagancies yet as age comes on they will be sad remembrancers And since it cannot be very delightful and for the most part done only in a frollick or in some mad humour which I have heard many Repent of next day I shall hasten to DIVISION IV. Rest and Exercise OF any the preceding non-naturals there is hardly one a Gentleman should be more circumspect in than this of Rest and Exercise nothing being more pernitious to the Soul than Idleness 'T is one of the seven deadly Sins odious to God and all good Men eating the Mind and Soul as Rust doth Iron the Devil's Cushion it is and the Nurse of all manner of Vice neither is there any thing more destructive to the Body for it weakens it extinguisheth Natural heat hinders concoction and evacuation causes oppilations and fills the Body full of gross corrupt excrementitious Humours and is the Procatartick cause of all manner of Infirmities For as a standing Pool corrupts and breeds putrifaction so doth our Body and Humours being idle And yet idleness is become the badge as it were or distinguishing mark of Gentility to be one of no Calling not to Labour for that 's derogatory to their Birth they make Vacation their Vocation To be mere Spectators Drones to have no necessary employment in their Generation to spend their dayes in Hawking Hunting Drinking Ranting c. which are the sole exercises almost of many of our Gentry in which they are too immoderate They know not how to spend their time sports excepted what to do else or otherwise how to bestow themselves They do all by Ministers and Servants thinking it beneath them to look after their own business till many times their Servants undo them or at least enrich themselves Every Man hath some Calling and 't is not unbecoming a Gentleman But they are all for pastimes 't is most if not all their study All their wit and inventions tend to this alone to pass away their time in impertinencies as if they were born some of them to no other end Opposite to this is Exercise Labour Diligence which if in excess on the other hand or unseasonably used are as pernitious and destructive A Gentleman though never so great has business enough and labour too if he rightly consider Besides exercises I am sure they will have good or bad whatever comes on 't Therefore I shall shew how they are to be used and which are the best Violent Exercise and weariness consumes the Spirits substantial parts of the Body and such humours as Nature would otherwise have concocted diversly affect both the Body and Mind hindring Digestion sometimes breaks the Vessels and frequently extravasateth the blood causing Inflammations in the external parts and skin environing the Ribbs whence come Pleurisies And the blood thus irritated if it remain still in the Veins excites putrid Fevers and many other Maladies Exercise at unseasonable times as on a full stomack is as bad For it corrupts the Aliment in the stomack and carries the Chyle crude and indigested into the veins which there putrifying destroys the health and confounds the Animal Spirits Likewise before evacuation by stool that the body be cleansed from its Excrements 't is unfitting For when the Body is hot and the pores open their faeculencies are apt to be mixt with and transported to the good humours and other parts Neither is it to be used before concoction be at least almost perfected For the heat being thereby evoked concoction must needs be impedited ill humours accumulated and divers infirmities ingendred A Gentleman is not only to observe the right using of exercise But that he chuse and use only those that are good most of their exercise is to eat drink lye down to sleep and rise up to play they think 't is well many of them if they can but Hawk Hunt Ride an Horse play at Cards and Dice Swagger Drink Drab and take Tobacco with a grace Sing Dance wear their Cloaths in Fashion Court and please the Ladies talk great fustion Insult Scorn Strut contemn and vilifie others perhaps their betters and use a little mimical apish Complement above the ordinary custom they think themselves compleat accomplisht and well qualified Gentlemen These are most of their imployments This their greatest commendation I am not against these Recreations if rightly used however A Gentlemans Recreations are of two sorts either within or without doors to refresh his spirits entertain a Friend exhilarate the mind to aleriate time tedious otherwise in those long solitary Winter Nights by certain games the best of which may be abused and are too often by some that call themselves Gentlemen so that many are undone by it and their Posterity beggar'd being led thereunto merely for filthy Lucre whence also arise cosening wrangling swearing drinking lying loss of time no good in the end and frequently Ruine For when once they have gotten an habit of Gaming they can hardly leave it Exercises within doors Among Recreations and Exercises within doors are Cards Dice Tables which many narrow-witted People too severely explode in themselves they are honest and harmless recreations the abuse of them must not deny the use of them they may as well forbid the use of Wine because some have been inebriated therewith or conclude the use of Women sinful because some have been clapt by them Chess is also a good innocent Game as well as ingenious and best becoming a Gentleman of all the rest if not abused especially such as have wavering minds provided it be moderately used as a diversion to entertain the time a Friend put off heavy melancholy or idle thoughts and the like harmless innocent ends which all were first invented for Not to spend all their Life in gameing playing and fooling away their time as too many do This is very unseemly in a Gentleman Some mens whole delight as well as Recreation is To take Tobacco Drink all Day long and Night too in a Tavern to discourse of impertinencies and that tend to no Edification to Jest Sing and Roar This is a most sordid Life for a Gentleman Billiards and Truke are harmless and may be used as a Diversion now and then Musick especially Vocal as well as Instrumental Dancing Fencing do well become a Gentlemans private Exercises For Health Galen commends Ludum parvae pilae to play at Ball Tennis is more becoming a Gentleman for a Game or two but more may prove too violent it exerciseth every part of the Body and is very good so that he sweat not too much
declares that Men alone are not couragious and fit for politick Martial affairs If there were many great Heroes and Conquerours were there not as many Amazons Was not the great Monarch Cyrus Conquered by a Woman Zenobia Queen of the Palmyrians taught her Sons the Greek Latine and Egyptian Tongues and wrote an Epitomy of the Eastern Histories As Cornelia taught the Gracchies her two Sons the Latine Eloquence for which also our Queen Elizabeth was famous Aretia taught her Son Aristippus Philosophy Socrates himself did not disdain to hear the publick Philosophical Lectures of Diotima and Asyacia as Apollos was not ashamed though Learned to be Catechized by Priscilla Likewise Tullia inherited her Fathers Oratory as well as Estate Hipatia the Wife of Isidore the Philosopher of Alexandria was excellently well skill'd in Astrology Sappho in Poetry the Inventress of Saphick Verses As also the three Corynnae the first of which out-did Pindar five times notwithstanding he was the Prince of the Lyrick Poets Nay the very Apostles themselves were taught by Women or the Women were as it were Apostles unto them when Christ first appeared to Mary she was to go and tell the Apostles c. But every History will afford us some Woman or other equalling some of our best Men. Wherefore they that think to find the Nobleness or abjectness in the Sex seek where nothing is to be found for the being a Man or a Woman makes them neither Noble nor Ignoble as was said but the being an xecellent Man or an excellent Woman So then if there be any defect it is from the individual person and no more from the Sex than from the whole Species This being so 't is great folly in Parents especially the Nobility Gentry and such as have Estates if they have not in a prudent way as much care in the Education of their Daughters as Sons especially in this Age wherein they need to be furnisht with abundance of Virtue to withstand the continual assaults Men make on their Chastity Why should they then not be instructed in all manner of Good Learning and Literature which is one great and chief part of Education and the other is like unto it Travel PART I. Learning Literature and Studies for a Gentleman LEarning good Literature and Studies tend chiefly to the Rooting of Virtue and good manners as well as wisdom in a Gentleman and to perfect our Natures And this rests in good Seminaries of Learning and good Societies such as are the Universities When Grammar hath Instructed him in Language true Orthography and to understand what he reads Philosophy both Natural and Moral should be lookt into for as much as they make a Gentleman both grave and profound The knowledge of a few good Books is better than a Library and a main part of Learning As for Logick Rhetorick and such Studies that tend only to Contention and Ostentation time is but ill spent about them and when all is done signifie little Experimental Philosophy is much to be preferred especially the Spagyrical and Cartetian Experience being that chief thing indeed that perfects our Studies Being thus well grounded that he may be well accomplisht to serve and Honour his Creator his King and be serviceable to his Countrey let him acquaint himself chiefly with History Poetry and Oratory The first in as much as it makes past times as they were present by comparing one with another and observation will give him wisdom The second Invention and nimbleness of wit And the last Ornament and an awfull respect of his Auditors allowing a convenient time for meditation of what thou hast read for that will make it thy own Since then all our Studies tend to the glory of God the welfare of our Countrey and the advantage of Man or Neighbour we will shew a little how a a Gentleman may be fitted to do both SECT I. The Grounds of a Gentlemans Religion LEt me here in so weighty a matter a little take the Liberty to expatiate As Religion is the Cement that keepeth the Church from falling and knitteth the Members thereof together and prevents Confusion so uniformity is the Cement of Religion and is both well pleasing to God and advantagious to man The breach thereof being the in-let to Sects Schisms Heresies Atheism Superstition and all Prophaness and Confusion Uniformity in Religion increaseth faith towards God and all good works as well as peace in the Church peace of Conscience Love and Charity towards our Neighbours Causes of Atheism Whereas Divisions and contrary Opinions in Religion is the Inlet of all evill the increaser of feuds emulation envy and malice one against another neglecting peace and unity to follow a party and k Nihil est quod tam impotenter Rapiat Homines quam suscepta de salute Opinio siquidem pro ea omnes gentes corpora animas Devovere solent arctiffimo necessitudinis vinculo se invicem colligare faction And without doubt keeps off many from the Church and may be the most probable Reason for ought I know why this Age so swarms with Atheists So that it is almost come to that pass that he that will not Blaspheme his maker nay and deny there is any such thing as a Deity and declare himself a down-right Atheist is accounted no Gentleman The existence of a Deity against Atheists Whenas they may sooner doubt whether they themselves be than whether there be a God For if they be only Entia a primo as I have noted elsewhere they must first know him that is primum before they can know themselves A flashy drolling wit and some small Notions and sips in Learning inclines many men to Atheism yet for the most part they are but half-witted fellows though they make a great bustle in the World but true wisdom and a large draught of Learning brings them to the knowledge of a God Who can but admire to see men fancy such idle chymeras in their Heads as all things are produced by Nature When if they were able to salve all her Phaenomena yet they must be constrained to confess that at the beginning there must be an Infinite Omnipotent and Omniscient Being to dispose that confused Chaos or Heap of Atoms to cause an universal Harmony and especially to convert those Atoms into those various seminal contextures on which most of the abstruse operations and productions of Nature depend Besides 't is less difficult to conceive the Eternity and all the Attributes of a GOD than to conceive Infinite Eternal Self-existent and Self-moving Atoms To Judge by sundry Causes of many things if not of most is to judge amiss and on imperfect grounds for we knowing nothing but as our Senses represent them unto us we must needs judge of things not really as they are but according to the Analogy they have with us and so many times we rest in them and search no further But if we seriously weigh the concatenation of Causes we
caution is to be had of a Mans Actions and carriage to avoid them by how much they are apt insensibly to invade us in the best of our undertakings Wherefore I shall add no more here since somewhat will be said in the subsequent Section as to the other particulars SECT III. Discourse and Carriage REason it is a Gentleman of all Men should demean himself well and most exemplary which is no easie matter in this wicked Age wherein we live unless he be of a passing good Nature i. e. have an inclination to Virtue and an Habit which is indeed goodness it self and the chief of all other Virtues Such an one must be courteous and civil to all Men as well Strangers as Friends and Relations pityful to and of all in affliction and misery easie to forgive and pass by injuries and grateful for as well small as great favours guifts and obligations Hereby shall all manner of Vice be shun'd and Virtue daily increase Carriage then as it comprehendeth as well Discourse as the outward behaviour is and must be either to a Man's Superiours Equals Inferiours Relations Strangers Friends or Enemies or to Himself SUBSECT I. To Superiours AMong Superiours Kings and Princes are most to be Honoured especially thy own to whom thou owest Obedience Allegiance and all that thou hast or art We must needs be subject not only for wrath but Conscience sake 'T is the Ordinance of God and whosoever resisteth shall receive to himself Damnation Take Solomon's advice To Fear the Lord and the King and meddle not with them that are given to change For Rebellion is as the sin of Witchcraft and nothing so unseemly as to see any Man to pretend to Gentility and Honour and yet resist the fountain of both no pretence whatsoever can justifie such an Action Let thy speech to him be whether he be a Man of parts or no with that due Reverence his Dignity requireth and so thy Behaviour avoiding all unseasonable Discourses and Jests it being no less hazzardous to be too bold with such as are so far above thee then that of the Flyes playing with the Candle For other Superiours the Honour and respect their place and Quality requireth of thee thou art likewise to give them Yet keep thy distance so as thou mayst be rather beloved than slighted and seem to walk rather humbly than sneakingly Court especially such as are most likely to do you a kindness without casting more obligations on them than what are inevitable For great persons Love rather such whom they have obliged than such as have obliged them for they love not equall retributions by such as are not their Equals and so excite rather Shame or envy than love in them to their inferiours Although Impudence Confidence and Boldness be no Virtues yet the least of these will beggar them all The Italians have therefore a Proverb that speaks thus much in English the World was made for the Presumptuous If a Favourite to a Prince neither write nor speak his faults nor many times what thou knowest of him to be true especially if revealed unto thee as a secret lest by its coming to his eares thou beest ruin'd unawares for such men are more dangerous to be medled with then Monarchs themselves Kings being above all envy or punishment but Favourites knowing they stand in a slippery place as it is alwayes about the Throne creates not only a jealousie of all that can divulge their miscarriages but puts into them contrivances of mischief against all such if not final destruction 'T is not safe therefore to be privy at all to their secrets And whatever thou dost avoid all strife with thy Superiours putting thy hand to what is dangerous and not justifiable and making any great Mans Interest thine own who has lavisht his Estate Neither be perswaded by them to forfeit thy Allegiance to thy King on any pretence whatsoever which can't be without forfeiting a good Conscience towards God and in most likely-hood thy Soul to the Devil Be not therefore so fickle-pated to desire changes in State but satisfie thy self with this That Government is the care of Providence not thine If we rightly consider the condition of Kings we need not envy them they deserving rather our pity being at the best but miserable having but few things to acquire or aim at and many things to dread and afflict them But since we have hinted at this before it shall suffice SUBSECT II. To Equals MY advice is thou follow these few admonitions Make no comparisons Find no faults Meddle not with other mens matters Admire not thy self Be not Opinionative Neither arrogate nor derogate Be not proud nor popular Neither flatter lye nor dissemble Be constant Keep thy word and promise punctually though but in slight and small matters so shalt thou be believed in greater Keep thine own Counsel as to thy intentions and secrets Be respective to thine Equals but not Familiar Insult not Cast not off an old Friend Accuse no man Praise none rashly Give no man cause of offence Lay no wagers Mend in thy self what thou seest amiss in others Take time by the fore-lock Be temperate in these four things Lingua Loculis Oculis and Poculis Watch thine Eye Moderate thy Tongue and thy Expences Hear much but speak little Give no ear to Tale-bearers Be patient meek merciful and grateful Be not fond of fair words Maintain Friendship Do good to all Frquent good company Admonish thy Friend in secret and commend him openly Be not too curious Make not a Fool of thy self to make others merry Avoid contentious disputes but if thou canst not avoid them keep within moderation and charge not farther than thou canst make a safe and honourable retreat and in some Controversies 'twere not amiss to resolve thy Arguments into Questions ever remembring to keep a reserve within thy self that thou dost not discover all thy knowledge that on just occasion thou mayst deliver rather more than less than was expected which will make thee the more Respected 'T is good also sometimes to dissemble thy knowledge in what thou art known or thought to know whereby thou shalt be judged another time to know what perhaps thou knewest not Avoid conceitedness in either thy carriage words or looks seem not better greater or wiser than thou art lest thou beest rendred less than thou shouldest be How ridiculous is it in a Gentleman to seem to carry all with a grave Hum Nod or hard word which perhaps he himself understands as little as they that hear him And in Discourse to take that for granted which he cannot prove or barely on the account of his Quality to venture at what he knows he understands not and yet would fain perswade his Auditors he understands much more than he sayes These are pityful evasions and become none but shallow-witted Gentlemen * Yet many times with the Vulgar the Duil Hard-skull'd Man is taken to be grave when indeed 't is
light offence then provoke thee to such a rash Action for in losing a true tryed Friend thou losest the greatest Earthly happiness imaginable To our Enemies also though never so inveterate is to be performed all actions of humanity and kindness we are to forgive them though they should transgress not only seven but seventy times seven times even as God hath forgiven us Forasmuch as 't is the Honour of a Man to pass by Offences much more is it becoming a Gentleman than that beastial way of Revenge 'T is very easie to say I forgive him and yet never forget him nor his Injury which is beneath a Gentleman If thou hast indeed forgiven him manifest it in all civil Behaviour and by Obligations as frequently as opportunity presents Nay if need were to Relieve him with thy Estate to thy Power And in all other cases that lie in thy way to do him good which is the greatest Conquest imaginable thou canst have over him and thereby thou shalt melt him into remorse and sorrow Lastly SUBSECT VII To Himself DID we but know how rightly to behave our selves to our selves 't were not the least part of our Happiness And herein since our whole Discourse has been for the accomplishing a Gentleman in other Respects in general which yet somewhat relates hereunto in many places I shall conclude it with this which comes more particularly to the health of his Person which as Physitians tell us consists in a Right Regulation of the six non-natural things as they call them which are 1. Aër 2. Meat and Drink 3. Sleeping and Waking 4. Rest and Exercise 5. Retentions and Evacuations 6. Passions and perturbations of the mind Which will comprehend most of what I intend to add on this Subject Wherefore as briefly as I may beginning with DIVISION I. Air. OF all Earthly felicities that a Gentleman doth or can enjoy Health is the chiefest It being that alone that sweetneth all other Happinesses unto us What pleasure is to be taken in Coffers of Silver and Gold in the Richest Apparel in the fairest and stateliest Edifices in the most delicate Fare in the pleasantest and most Ravishing Musick nay in the most beautifull Wife or in ought else without Health Nothing so precious in this World nor nothing more desirable nor delectable for without it all other things are nothing worth Pleasures will be but torments whilst they are thought of since they cannot be enjoyed All the Gold in Ophir or the Indies Diamonds or other precious stones are but eye-sores whilst they cannot ease They nothing avail Honours Polite and Turgid Titles do not suit with a crazy rotten Carkass confin'd to a Bed a Nihil refert utrum agrum in ligneolecto an in aureo colloces Senca Epist 17. or imprisoned in the narrow confines of a small Chamber Beauty flyes away with it and is metamorphosed into Deformity in an instant and length of dayes is but a protraction of misery a lingring and continual Death without it In a word it is that and that alone which sweetneth all things in this Life and makes them amiable to us But in the praise of Health that of Scaliger Poet 44. is most compleat and full Cum Ariphrone Sicyonii sic exclamat 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which are rendred by some thus in Latine O Sanitas beata O Sanitas amanda O Sanitas colenda Tecum mihi beatè Reliquum agitare vitae Liceat mihi perennis Comes o adesto vitae Nam quicquid est bonorum Et quicquid est Leporum Et quicquid est Honorum Et quicquid est Amorum Magnis in auri acervis In liberis venustis In principum decore In Conjugum favore Et quicquid est quod ampli Largitur orbis Author Quietis a Labore Gaudiique post dolorem Tecum viget viretque O Sanitas beata Tu ver facis suave Fulgere gratiarum Sine te nihil beatam Quas a Calcagino Imitati sunt O Qua nec altera vetustior est coelitum O una cunctis expetita Sanitas Quodcunque reliquum est vitae utinam Agam una omnium contubernalis sis mihi Quicunque enim fortunis fruitur aut liberi Aut est aliter obnoxius voluptiae Te una favente cuncta habet propria Afflant illum Charites est media Hyems Rigeat tamen ver illi flosculos parit Absente te sunt cuncta Dura aspera Nec grata prorsus caetera est faelicitas Quum esse planè desinit faelicitas He that 's sick neither heareth tasteth or fancieth aright he enjoys not himself The sweetest Meats are bitter to him or at least unsavoury The most harmonious Musick sounds harsh and doth but disturb him he delights in nothing as he ought for nothing eases him How careful then ought a Gentleman of all others to be of preserving and maintaining the Jewel of his Health without which he being not able to enjoy Friends Relations or any thing he hath Wherefore that he may possess an orthostadian health indeed and live happily let him observe this our following Discourse The Air is an Element without which we cannot live one moment of time it being continually received into our Bodies by respiration or pores So that as is the Air such are our Spirits and as are our Spirits so likewise are our Humours and as are our Humours such are our sollid parts So that 't is not only a cause of Life but Diseases of all sorts and Death it self A Gentleman therefore should have a special care if he intend to preserve and prolong his Life for the enjoying those many pleasures God and Nature has cast before him that his House be Scituated in a good Air of the Nature of the Air both in Substance and Quality I have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cap 6. Sect. 2. Sub Sect. 2. Memb. 1. Sub-Memb 1. Division 1. Sub-dâ—vision 1. else-where shewed in a Book lately published and how variously it may be altered by the Stars Seasons of the Year Winds Meteors Zones Climates Quarters of the World Regions Scituation of places Cities Towns Houses and by the particular Constitution and Nature of the place Wherefore I shall not trouble my Reader with a recital of the various alterations they make in us and the strange effects the Air in every respect hath on us or build one so or remove to such an one Now to know whether the Air be good you must know it s considered either in Relation to it self or in Relation to the Body receiving it As in Relation to it self a clear pure serene Air is to be preferred in regard our Temperature and Constitutions for
present Infamy for therein the blood coming from interiour parts to the Heart is transmitted through the Arteries to the Face where by a moderate sadness 't is fixed and hindred from returning again to the Heart for a time Likewise Redness of Face is seen also in Anger and an eager desire of Revenge Why the Face is red in Anger mixt with Love Hatred and Sadness and many times in Weeping Of Weeping Tears for Tears flow not from extreme sadness but that which is moderate joyned with Love and frequently with Joy For we must know Tears are only certain effluviums which continually expire from the eyes that emit more than any other part of the Body by the pores or otherwayes by reason of the largeness of the optick nerves and the abundance of small Arteries through which they pass which abounding or else not being well agitated condense and convert into water as is apparent in such as are weak and infirm who frequently sweat in that the Humours are not well agitated so when they abound though they are not more agitated as we see sweat ensues moderate Exercise But the eyes sweat not Tears therefore are either occasioned by changing the figure of the pores by which the Vapours pass through any accident whatever which retarding their motion and altering the order and disposition of the pores those Vapours which before passed regularly through those Channels run one into another as is frequently seen when any hurt befals the eye by any stroke dust c. and so become Tears Or by Sadness which cooling the blood contracts the pores of the eyes and consequently diminishes the Vapours but being joyned with Love than which nothing increaseth them more by the blood sent from the Heart it converts them into Tears in an abundant manner As we see Old Men and Women through Affection and Joy these Passions sending much blood to the Heart are exceeding apt to weep and this is frequent without any sadness at all For the blood by those Passions sending many Vapours to the eyes their agitation being retarded by their Natural coldness are instantly converted into Tears The like may be seen in all such as are subdued by small occasions of Grief Fear or Pity Groans how occasioned Tears are accompanied moreover by Groans which are caused by an abundance of blood in the Lungs driving out the Air they contained by the Wind-pipe impetuously The cause of Scrieches Crys and Laughter And sometimes Scrieches and Cries ensue which are usually more sharp than those that accompany Laughter though they are occasioned almost in the same manner in that the Nerves which contract and dilate the Organs of the Voice to make it sharper or flatter being joyned to those that open the Ventricles of the Heart in Joy and shut them in Sadness cause these Organs to be dilated or contracted at the same time For Laughter is only an inarticulate sound or clattering voice occasioned by the blood proceeding from the right Ventricle of the Heart by the Arterious Vein suddenly puffing up the Lungs and at several fits forces the Air they contain to break forth violently through the Wind-pipe which motion of the Lungs and eruption of the Air move all the muscles of the Diaphragma Breast and Throat whereby those of the Face are also moved having some connexion therewith Though Sighs as well as Tears presuppose Sadness yet the cause is exceeding different The Caufe of Sighs For as was said Tears follow when the Lungs are full of blood Sighs when they are almost empty and when some imagination of Hope or Joy opens the orifice of the venous Artery which Sadness had contracted for then the little blood that is left in the Lungs rushing at once into the left ventricle of the Heart through the venous Artery and driven on by a desire to attain this Joy which at the same time agitates the muscles of the Diaphragma and breast the Air is suddenly blown through the mouth into the Lungs to fill up the vacant place of the blood which we term a Sigh Laughter whence occasioned So Laughter seems chiefly to proceed from Joy and yet is rather from Sadness In that in the greatest Joys the Lungs are so repleat with blood that they cannot be blown up by fits Whence it is Joy never unless it be very moderate is the occasion of Laughter or that there be some small admiration or hatred joyned therewith And therefore 't is very obvious extraordinary Joy never produces Laughter Now the surprize of Admiration joyned with Joy so suddenly opens the orifices of the Heart that abundance of blood rushing in together on the right side thereof through the Vena Cava and rarified there passes thence through the Arterious Vein and blowing up the Lungs causes a sudden Laughter And so doth the mixture of some Liquor that rarifies the blood as the wheyest part of that which comes to the heart from the Spleen by some small emotion of hatred assisted by a sudden admiration which mixing with the blood there that is sent thither abundantly by Joy from the other parts may cause an unusual dilatation of the blood The cause of Joy and Grief Now the Spleen sending two sorts of blood to the Heart the one thick gross the other exceeding subtile thin and fluid Whence from this proceeds Joy as from that Grief and Sadness is the Reason why those who have infirm Spleens have their Lucida intervalla are subject by fits to be sadder and at other times merrier And so frequently after much Laughter sadness ensues in that the most fluid part of the blood from the Spleen being exhausted the more undepurated follows it to the Heart Laughter is also accompanied with Indignation but then for the most part 't is but feigned and artificial yet sometimes 't is and may be Natural as proceeding from the joy a Man has he cannot be hurt by the evil whereat he is offended especially finding himself surprized by the Novelty or unexpected encounter of the evil Nay without Joy by the mere motion of Aversion it may be produced forasmuch as thereby the blood being sent to the heart from the Spleen and there rarified and conveyed into the Lungs are easily blown up when it finds them empty For whatsoever thus suddenly blows up the Lungs causeth the outward action of Laughter Except as was said when sadness and grief convert it into groanes and shrieks which are accompanied by Weepings Another effect of these passions you have heard is Tremblings They are Of Tremblings rather an effect of Sadness and Fear which by thickning the blood the brain is not sufficiently supplied with spirits to send into the Nerves The same doth cold Air. They are occasioned also when too many or too few spirits are sent from the brain into the Nerves whereby the small passages of the muscles cannot be duely shut and so the motion of the Member is impedited Tremblings
The best Natures most affectionate loving and such as have most goodness are most prone and inclined to the first proceeding only from a sudden Aversion that surprizes them and not any deep hatred For being apt to imagine all things should be in the way they conceive as soon as any thing falls out contrary they admire it and are often angry too even when it concerns not themselves For being full of affection they concern themselves in the behalf of those they Love as for themselves So that what would be an occasion only of Indignation to some is to them of wrath but is not of any duration because the surprize continues not and when they see the occasion that moved them was not of any moment to do so they Repent thereof Yet they cannot forbear again when the least occasion offers in that their inclination to Love causeth alway much blood and heat in their hearts and the aversion that surprizes them driving never so little Choler thither causes a sudden violent emotion in their blood Inward Close and Occult Anger The Inward Close and Occult Anger is composed of hatred and sadness of which in it there is a very large proportion and is hardly perceptible at first but by the aspect and perhaps paleness of Face but increases by little and little through the agitation which an ardent desire of Revenge excites in the blood which being mixed with Choler driven to the Heart from the Liver and Spleen excites therein a very sharp pricking heat The proudest meanest Spirited and lowest are most prone to this sort of Anger How befitting it is a Gentleman then As the most generous Souls are to gratitude For injuries are so much the greater by how much Pride makes a Man value himself A Gentleman should be free of this above all nothing more unbecoming him then Pride and this low mean-spirited Anger more becoming a Pesant and yet many madly and rashly account this their shame their glory by Duelling and such rash fooling and impious as well as ungenrile Actions before condemned Of Glory and shame Glory is a kind of Joy grounded on Self-love and proceeding from an Opinion or hope a Man has to be applauded or esteemed by some others for some good that is or has been in him as evil excites shame for this causes a man to esteem of himself when he sees he is esteemed by others and may become a Gentleman well enough provided he bear not so great Sail as to over-set the Bark Besides as was said before it excites to Virtue and Noble atchievements by hope as shame by fear Impudence is not a Passion but a contempt of shame and many times of Of Impudence Glory too Because there is not any peculiar motion in us that excites it 'T is a vice opposite to both glory and shame while either of them are good and proceeds from the frequent receipt of great affronts whereby a Man thinking himself for ever degraded of Honour and condemned by every one he becomes Impudent and measuring good and evil only by the conveniencies of the Body he many times lives more happy than such as merit much more Such a sway has Impudence with most Men in the World For though it be no Virtue yet it will beggar them all However very unbecoming a Gentleman Of Distaste Distaste is a kind of Sadness arising from the too much continuance of a good which occasions weariness or Distaste As our food is good unto us no longer then we are eating ir and afterwards distastful Of Sorrow and Light-Heartedness Sorrow is also a kind of Sadness that has a peculiar bitterness being ever joyned to some despair and remembrance of the Delight taken in the thing lost or gone having little hope of its Recovery As from good past proceeds discontent a kind of Sorrow so from evil past Light-heartedness a kind of Joy whose sweetness is increased by remembrance of past misfortunes And thus have I given an hint at every Passion to shew not only how they depend one on the other but also by knowing what we are incident to their Nature Rise and Causes we may be the better able to regulate and subdue them which is the part especially of a Gentleman SUB-DIVISION V. Passions Rectified IN the next place having described unto you the several Passions we are all incident to at one time or other we are to endeavour a Regulation or at least a mitigation of them which most of all becomes a Gentleman Forasmuch as he that can govern and command himself the microcosm is more then if he governed or conquered the macrocosm Alexander that subdued the World was himself a slave to his own Passions and Lusts Hic Labor hoc opus est For indeed although now we have described and explained them with their Rise and Causes we have the less reason to fear their over-swaying us Yet since most Men through inadvertency not duly premeditating and for want of Industry in separating the motions of the blood and Spirits in a Mans self from the thoughts and Imaginations wherewith they are usually joyned whereby Natures defects should be corrected and since on the objects of Passions the motions excited in the blood do so suddenly follow the impressions they make in the Brain although the Soul be no wayes assistant it is almost impossible for even the wisest Man if not sufficiently prepared to oppose them However the best way is when thou perceivest thy blood and Spirits moved at the object of any Passion to remember that whatsoever is presented to the Imagination tends to the delusion of the Soul and therefore shouldest weigh the Reason why thou art so on what ground what is the cause and then whether it be just or no and divert thy self by other thoughts till time have allayed that emotion of thy blood and Spirits Learn Octavian's Lesson to repeat the Letters of the Alphabet or rather the Lord's Prayer for diversion so shall thy Passion be smothered for the present and Reason will have the more space to operate and suppress it wholly as elsewhere I have particularly hinted touching Anger or thou shouldest counterbalance them with Reasons directly repugnant to those they represent or make them Familiar to thee and follow the Tract of Virtue viz. Live so as thy Conscience cannot accuse thee of not doing all things which thou judgest to be best Irresolution Remorse Cowardize and Fear Rectified As for instance the Remedy against Irresolution and Remorse is to accustom thy self to frame certain and determinate Judgments of all things that Represent themselves and conceive thou dost alwayes thy Duty when thou dost what thou conceivest best though it may be thou hast conceived amiss As that of Cowardize is Remedied by augmenting Hope and Desire And Fear by using premeditation so as to prepare thy self against all events So Generosity checks Anger which making a Man set no great value on such things as