a Lover rage chafe even now One faire word from his Mistris smooths his brow And if the party that is the cause of hâ—â— Disease be very beautifull the Preservatives that are used must then be the stronger For it is in this case as in the cleaving of Wood and the Beauty of the Party be loved as the Axe the Wood seemes iâ— like manner as it were to cleave asunder the Lovers Heart and the Sighes are aâ— the Noise that followes the Cleaven stroke But as by doubling the force of the blowes although the Wood is at length cleft yet by Reaction the Axe also hatâ— his edge turned and is spilt In like manner faire Ladies after that they have perhaps with the force of their Beauty made an entrance into the Hearts of their Lovers oftimes goe off with a crack in their Honour Some Authors of no meane note considering the admirable Effects that Beauty worketh have beene of Opinion that there was a certaine Transmission of Spirits from the body of the person beloved into that of the Lover which did by this meanes produce a Reciprocall and Mutuall Love And for this cause the Roman Ladies of old were wont to weare about their Neckes a kinde of Wanton Figure which they called Fascinum And perhaps in Imitation of them the Spanish Ladies doe at this day weare a piece of Corall or Ieat made in the forme of a Hand closed together with the Thumbe â—hrust out betwixt the Forefinger and the Middlefinger which they call Higo per no ser oiadas The Greekes call all such toies â—s these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and they were wont to make use of them to the end they might be secured from the malice of Envious Persons The Arabians speaking of the Cure of Love doe advise us to take Occasion to discourse of the party that is the cause of this disease in the hearing of the Patient and to reckon up all her Imperfections â—â—vices making them more greater then they are and to set forth her vertues also in the colours and shape of Vices Et mala sunt vicina bonis Errore sub illo Pro vitio Virtus crimina saepe tulit Ill beares the shape of Good Thus oft 't is seene That Vertue hath for Vice mistakeÌ„ been Quà m potes in peius dotes deflecte puellae Or else saies Avicen let the Physitian give this in charge to some Old woman who will be a great deale fitter to disparage and extenuate the good qualities of his Mistresse alwaies provided that the Patient himselfe be not Naturally a baminded Lascivious person for this wiâ—â— then enflame his desires the more For every one Naturally loves their Like But if she be very faire and that it cannot bâ— denied without the suspicion of apparant malice then must they endeavour to lessen her worth by comparing her with those he himselfe knowes to be fairer Vos quoque formosis vestras coÌ„ferte Puellas Incipiet Dominae quemque pudere suae And they must labour by probable Arguments to prove unto him that that which he judgeth to be comely and handsome iâ— her is in the judgement of those that are more quicksighted both foule and deformed As for example if she have a handsome nose of a reasonable size and some what sharp let them tell him then she is Scold Luxurious Wanton and a meere â—imbe of the Divell and that according to the judgement of Aristotle And then commend unto him the litle Nose with Catullus or the Hawkes-nose with the Persians or the great Nose with Alberâ—us for an Argument of a good nature So likewise if she have a gray sparkling Eye say then that she is a foole lustfull inconstant and prowd and then commend as much on the other side with Hestod Homer Pindarus Iuvenall and Catullus those that have black Eyes taking the same course in the rest of her good parts For the Conditions that are required by the Naturalists in an Absolute Beauty are so many as that there cannot be found in the whole world a person so accomplished with all the necessary circumstances of Beauty but that each part will afford sufficient matter for a Criticall Eye to finde fault with Which Zeuxis the famous Painter knowing right well and being desired by the Crotonians to represent unto them the beauty of Helen he would not undertake it unlesse they would suffer him first to see all the fairest women iâ— the Country naked that so he might talâ— from each of them that which he judgeâ— to be most excellent Besides this Iudgement of Beauty differs according to the variety of Fancie in the beholders Ovid would have on faire and litle Hector made choice of on that was browne and of a bigger size for so was Andromache Turpis Romano Belgicus ore color The Italian desire to have her thick well set and plumpe the German preferreâ— one that is strong the Spaniard loves a wench that is leane and the French one that is soft delicate and tender but the Indians a black one Hippocrates and after him Celsus commend a tall stature in young people but dispraise it in old And for this cause the Ancient Poets fained that Beauty was the daughter of Iris and Admiration because that as the Sun reflecting upon a watry Cloud deceaves our Eyes making us beleeve we see diverse various colours which are not there but only in Appearance In like manner is Beauty nothing else but a false flash of Raies which dazle our eyes when it appeares from among the cloudes of so great variety of Allurements Whence we may conclude that the rarest and most excellent Beauties that are are not such indeed as they seeme to be but onely appeare to be so through the sole defect of the beholders and through the weaknesse of their Eyes who commonly judge that woman to be Beautifull which is of a white complexion and soft and tender cleane contrary to the judgement of Galen who saies that those are the signes of a False and Counterfeit Beauty and that true and Native Beauty consists in the just composure and Symmetry of the Parts of the Body a due proportion of flesh the goodnesse of the Colour Now he that desires to know whether a body be Proportionable or no he must according to our Anatomists lay him all along and cause him to extend his armes and legs equally as farre as he is able and then taking the Navill for the Center and measuring him round about that part that either goes beyond the Circumference of this circle oâ— else reacheth it not is to bee accounted Improportionable Vitruvius saies that the length of the face from the end of the chinne to the top of the forehead is the tenth part of a mans height If the Body be will set and strong it is seven times as long as the Head eight or nine times as long if the body be slender and delicate The eye-browes joyned together make up the circle of
bed makes folkes the moâ—â— inclined to Lust so on the other side immoderate waking dries the Braine and causes Melancholy So that we may conclude with the learned Hippocrates in hiâ— Aphorismes that Somnus Vigilia â—traque si modum excesserint malum Thâ— excessive use either of sleep or waking iâ— hurtfull So likewise to sleep upon one back by the generall consent of all Physitians is a great provocation to venery and for this cause must be reckoned among the Manifest causes of Love-Melancholy Galen about the end of his books Dâ— Loc. Affect proves by many Reasons an Examples that the want of convenienâ— Evacuation of the seed is a great cause of â—elancholy especially in such persons as â—â—e at ease and feed high except by freâ—â—ent and violent Exercise or Labour â—ey consume the superfluity of Blood â—hich otherwise would be converted inâ— Seed Equidem novi quosdam saies he â—ibus hujusmodi erat natura qui prae puâ—e a libidinis usu abhorrentes torpidi â—rique facti sunt nonnulli etiam Melanâ—licorum instar praeter modum moesti ac â—midi cibi etiam tum cupiditate tum coâ—one vitiatâ Quidam uxoris mortem â—gens à concubitu quo anteà creberriâ—e fuerat usus abstinens cibi cupiditatem â—isit atque ne exiguum quidem cibum conqu repotuit Vbi verò seipsum cogendo â—s cibi ingerebat protinus ad vomitum â—citabatur Moestus etiam apparebat non â—ùm has ob causas sed etiam ut Melanâ—olici solent citra manifestam occasionem have knowne some saith he that being â—turally so modest as that they were aâ—amed to exercise the Act of Venery â—ive by this meanes become dull and â—eavy and some extreame fearefull too â—â—d sad as Melancholy men are wont to be having neither any appetite to meaâ— nor concocting what they have eaten And I knew one saith he that having buried his wife whom he dearely loved and for griefe abstaining from those pleasures which he had often enjoyed witâ— her while she lived quite lost his stomacke to his meat and could not digest any thing at all Or if by chance he forced himselfe to eate against his stomacke he presenthe vomited it up againe and was withaâ— very sad and that without any manifeâ—â— cause as Melancholy men are wont to be And a little lower in the same Chapter he tells a story of one that fell into the Priapisme for the same cause and foâ— want of useing exercise or sufficient labour for the spending of the Abundancâ— of blood The same he affirmes also tâ— happen usually to Women as likewise is confirmed by Hippocrates in his body De Morb. Mul. of which we shall speak more hereafter in the chapter of Vterinâ—â— Fury And yet Galen himselfe in the afore cited book imputes the like effects tâ— the immoderate evacuation of the seed Qui protinus Iuventute primâ immodicè â— permittunt Libidini id etiam evenit borum locorum vasa amplius patentia â—orem ad se sanguinis copiam alliciant coëundi cupiditas magis increscat â—ose that in their first puberty give themselves to the immoderate use of very in them those vessels that serve for â—eneration grow larger and attract the â—eater store of blood unto them so that this meanes the desire of copulation â—owes the stronger Among the Passions of the mind Ioy â—ay perhaps make them more inclinable Love but Feare and Sadnesse makes â—em the more Melancholy Si metus Maestitia perseveraverint Melancholia â— saith Hippocrates if their Feare and â—dnesse continue on them it turnes at â—ngth to Melancholy For these two â—ssions doe extreamely coole and dry up â—e whole body but especially the Heart â—enching and destroying the naturall â—eat and vitall spirits and withall cause â—cessive waking spoile digestion thickâ—â— the blood and make it Melancholy â—d for this cause as I conceive Diotimus in Plato's Phaedrus calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 squallidus But the Poets maintaine that Gâ— and Fortune are the most powerfull caâ—ses of Love understanding by Fortune I conceive those incounters and opportunities that a man shall often me withall and which every wise mâ— ought to avoid unlesse they meane to taken in the snare Me fortuna aliquid semper amare del Which gave occasion to the Achaeans Pausanias reports at Aegira to plaâ—â— Love and Fortune in one and the samâ— Temple And for gold we read that Dâ—naë was won to Iupiters love and Atâ—lanta suffered her selfe to be overcome by Hippomanes for love of the gold Apples he cast in her way as she ranne Secum habet ingenium qui cum licet acâ— pe dicti Cedimus invent is plus valet ille meis Hee 's truly wise that can his will commaâ— And Tempting pleasures offer'd can withstand CHAP. VII The Internall causes of Love Melancholy VVE have already sufficiently proved out of Galen that these â—â—ternall causes cannot produce their efâ—â—cts but only when they meet with such â—â—eake spirited persons as are not able to â—ist the assaults of Cupid For so the â—rned Sapho confessed the tendernesse â—her heart to be the only cause of her Aâ—orous fires Molle meum levibus cor est violabile telis Haec semper causa est cur ego semper Amem â—ach light dart wounds my tender Breast and this â—hat I am still in Love the reason is â—he disposition of the Body among other internall causes comes in the first placâ— to be considered for through the natural defect hereof we see that young boye under the age of fourteen and wencheâ— under twelve or thereabout as also deâ—crepit old folkes Eunuches and all those that are of a Cold Constitution are in nâ— danger of this disease This disposition oâ— the Body is called by Galen causa Antecedens sive Jnterior The Antecedent oâ— Internall cause and consists in the humours Spirits and Excrements of the Body all which causes Hippocrates comprehends under the name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Concurring causes The Abundance of Blood of a gooâ— temperature and full of spirits caused by the continuall Influence of the Heart by reason that it is the Materiall cause oâ— seed is likewise a True Antecedent causeâ— of Love as it is a passion of the Mind But the Melancholy Humour which is hot and dry by reason of the Adustion oâ— Choler of the blood or of the Natural Melancholy is the Principall cause oâ— Love-Melancholy or Madnesse And frâ—â— this reason Aristotle in his Problem saies that those that are Melancholy are â—ost subject to this malady 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which conclusion of â—is would be most Absurd if so be he meant here those that are Melancholy by â—eason of the aboundance of their naturall Melancholy which of it selfe is extreame cold and dry and by consequence cleane â—epugnant to the heat required in this diâ—ease Otherwise Old men who abound chiefly with this Humor should oftner all in Love then young and
above all things deâ—ire to have the person they Love alwaies â—n Memory But our Physitians conclude more rightly first that Feare is the Perturbation or distemperature of the Minde caused by the Apprehension of some evill either Reall or Apparant only as Aristotle also affirmes Rhetor. lib. 2. cap. 2. Secondly that Sadnesse is nothing else but a long continued Inveterate Feare as Galen is oâ— opinion Thirdly that Feare and Sadnesse are the Pathognomicall signes of all kinds of Melancholy necessarily attending this disease we now treat of as we have already demonstrated And lastly that seeing that Feare and Sadnesse are the Effects of an Imagination that is depraved and the Characters of Love Melancholy we may safely conclude that it is caused and hath its seat in the Braine as well as the Imagination But I shall rather hold with Mercurialis in this point whose opinion is that the Part Affected is sometimes taken for the seat of the Disease it selfe and sometimes also for the seat of the Cause of the Disease In the first Acception we maintaine that in Love Melancholy the Braine is the part Affected and the Heart the seat of the Cause only of the Disease as in â—ove both the Liver and the Genitals are â—ynt causes of it as Gordonius in his â—hapter de Amore maintaines And now to answer those Objections before alleadged out of Hippocrates and Galen we say first that it is questionable â—hether that book which is intituled â—e his quae ad Virgin spect be his or no â—â—d secondly that if this be granted that â—ext only proves that the Heart may bee â—e seat of the Cause only of Feare Sadnesse and Dotage And lastly wee answer Galen that there are two kindes of â—eare Naturall and Accidentall the first â— these accompanies a Man from his â—irth and is caused by the ill temperature of the Heart and of this kinde of Feare is Galen to be understood in that place The â—ther kind which is not Naturall ariseth â—â—om the Defect of the Braine when as â—â—e Imagination is depraved as we may â—ainly collect out of Hippocrates in his â—ook de morbo sacro where hee confutes â—he opinion of those men that think that the Heart is the seat of Wisdome Care and Sadnesse Notwithstanding that the Braine shares indeed in this Malady bâ— CommunicatioÌ„ not only from the Heart but also from the Stomacke especially iâ— young persons as Nemesius proves in hâ— book de natura Hominis cap. 20. CHAP. X. Whether Love-Melancholy be an Hereditary Disease or no. ARistotle is of opinion that hee that not like his Parents is in some sort Monster 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For in such Cases Nature seemes to have come short of he end and hath begun to degenerate and that sometimes of necessity as in the bringing forth of women for the Propagation of the species and sometimes also through some Defect in the Matter oâ— lastly by reason of some Externall Causes amongst which the Genethliacall Astrologers place the Influence of the Starreâ— and Hippocrates 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the change of the Seaâ—â—ns and Nature of the Climat But the â—rabian Physitians attribute the greatest â—ower in these matters to the Imagination and indeavour to prove their Assertion by many forcible Arguments and also â—y particular instances borrowed out of â—liny lib. 7. cap. 12. Franciscus Vallesius â—lbertus and diverse other authentique authors This similitude and resemblance that required in Children consists in three â—ings that is either in the species Sexe or â—ccidents The first of these depends on the Specificall Difference the Formative facultie the second on the Complexion Temperature of the Seed the Menâ—ruall Blood and the Matrix according to Galen and the last beares a Proportion to be difference of the Formative faculty â—ot Specificall as the First but Individuall which residing in the Seed and being â—estrained by the Matter which hath the â—mpression fixt on it receaves from it the Vertue to produce Individuals semblable â—â— Properties Qualities and other Accidents to the Individuall from which they spring Now these Corporeall Qualities which are derived from the Parents to the Children are such onely as are in the parts Informed in such sort as that they have already contracted a Habitude So that those Properties and Qualities that depend of the Superior Faculties and which are more noble then the Formative as the Sensitive Imaginative Rationall cannot possibly bee Hereditary Otherwise a Learned Physitian should necessarily beget a Sonne as learned in his Faculty as himselfe without any study aâ— all Neither yet are those Diseases Hereditary which are not Habituall as Fevers Pleurisies Catarrhes and those Intemperatures which are not confirmed But those only are Hereditary that are Habituall in the Parents and by continuance of time confirmed whether they bee in the whole Body or onely in the Principall parts of the same And for this cause wee may observe that Cholerick Men begeâ— Cholerick Children and weake infirms men beget the like Children So contrariwise Fortes creantur fortibus Bonis Men of courage and of strong bodies beset stout and valiant Children so those â—hat have their Generative parts of a hot and dry Temperature beget Children of â—â—e same constitution and consequently Galen saies inclined to Lust And therefore when Helen had no other meanes to excuse her Adulterous practises she made â—se of this and cries out Qui fieri si sint vires in semine Amorum Et Jovis Ledae filia casta potes I Love's Powers in the Parent 's seed is plac't How can it be That ever she That 's borne of Iove Leda should bee chast Notwithstanding Fernelius in his first â—ook de Pathol. cap. 1. affirmes that Children doe not inherit those Diseases onely that are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Habit but some other also for that we often finde Children to be subject to Agues Pleurisies Catarrhes and the like because their Mothers had the same Diseases when they travailed with them So that hence we may conclude that those Children that are begotten of such Parents as have been so besotted with Love as that they have at length become Melancholy withall are in danger of inheriting the same disease unlesse peradventure the Seed of one of the Parents corrected this fault in the other or else it bee prevented by good Education and Discipline And it is also probable that those that are Inclined to Love through the Intemperature either of the whole Body or else of the Principall parts and not by the depravation of the Imaginative facultie as the greatest part of Lovers are will beget Children subject to the same Discase CAP. XI The Different kindes of Love-Melancholy I Shall not here reckon up all the severall Loves Cupids or Veneres mentioned by Authors Hee that desires to see them may have recourse to Pausanias in Eliac and Boeot Plutarch in Erotic Tully de
mind For when we desire to enjoy what we affect whether it be really good or but so in appearance this we call covetousnesse and Concupiscence And being not able to compasse our desires this we call Griefe and Despaire when we enjoy the thing we desire Love then takes upon it the name of Pleasure Delight When we think we are able to effect our desires 't is then Hope and fearing to loose it either wholy or in part only this we call Iealousie By reason of these perturbations of the mind the bloud becomes adust earthy and Melancholy as in all other violent passions except joy according to Galen by which meanes diverse have fallen into strange and desperate diseases growing Melancholy Foolish Mad Cynicall Wolvish as the learned Avicen reports in his cap. de Amore. Aretaeus the Physitian makes mention of a young Inamorato in his time that was so besotted with this Fury that he could not be cured by any meanes Lucretius the famous Poet by this meanes lost the use of his judgement Iphis grew mad for Anaxaretes a young Athenian did the like for the love of a Marble statue which had also happened not long since to a rich Merchant of Arles had he not been cured of his Frensy by the learned Valleriola as himselfe tells the story in his Observations Sapho the Poetesse was so desperately enamoured â—f Phaon that she desperately cast her selfe headlong from off the Leucadian â—ock into the sea as both Strabo and Suydas relate the story For woemen are farre more subject to this passion and more cruelly tormented with it then men are For from hence proceeds the Green sicknesse which is sometimes joyned with a gentle Fever and is then by our modern writers called an Amorous Fever heart-beating swelling of the face want of appetite greife sighing causeles teares insaâ—iable hunger extreame thirst sownings oppressions suffocations continuall watchings Headach Melancholy Epilepsy Ragings Furor uterinus Satyriasis and diverse other desperate Symptomes which for the most part admit neither cure nor mitigation by any other remedies but what Hippocrates prescribes for the cure of Love-Melancholy toward the end of his booke de his quae spect ad Virgin and in his booke de Genit This hath given occasion to some to thinke that Love was a kind of poyson ingendred within the body and taken in at the eyes or else caused by those Medicaments which they call Philters reckoned by the Lawyer among the several kinds of poysons l. 4. ff ad l. Corn. de Sic venef The which deprave the judgement and corrupt the bloud so that the party affected becomes of a pale and loathsome colour as Theocritus sayes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 My brest that thou false Love hast pierc'd retaines A heat within 't has empti'd all my veines Hippocrates seemes to attribute to passionate love the power of transforming women into men where he sayes that in the citty Abdera Phaethusa being stricken with the love of Pytheus and not being able to enjoy him for a long time by reason of his absence she became a Man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and grew hairy all over her body had a mans voyce and a long beard on her chin The same he affirms in the Aphorisme following to have befallen to Namysia wife to one Gorgippus and addes withall that it was impossible for her to â—â— recovered to her former womanhood â—aine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I dare not beleive is to be a change of sexe but of habit â—â—ly and complexion For according to â—e same Authour and Aristotle the Male of the more full massy and solid constitution of body on the other side the feâ—â—le is not so strong and nervous but â—ore moyst soft and of the more delicate complexion Notwithstanding Galen â—chsius Foesius and many other Physitiâ—â—s and Interpreters of Hippocrates who Macrobius saies never yet deceived â—y sticke to the bare letter so that in â—â—eir opinions we may beleive the fabuâ—as stories of Iphis Caeneus and whatever â—riters have reported of Cossitius Cassiâ—â— and many young women that at the â—ne of Puberty have been metamorphoâ—â— into men at Smyrna Argos Naples â—â—ch Vitry Conimbria Salernes and in â—er places as you may read at large the writings of Fulgosus Amatus â—sitanus Pareus Pineus and Schenkius his Observat cap. 25. The Peripateticks conceive not this Transmutation of sexes to be so strange matter relying on the authority of the Coryphaeus Aristotle who in many placeâ— saies that a woman is an imperfect ma◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 differing in nothing from a man but only in the Genitalls which according to Galen are restrained and kept within meerely through defect of naturall heat But nature hath not done this through any errour or Impotency whatsoever these grosse Philosophers affirme to the contrary but for the propagation of the species It may very easily then be according to this doctrine of Aristotle and of Galen that a woman being enflamed with the violence of love may put forth those her genitall parts which are no other then those of a man reversed or turned inward as the same Doctour affirmes whom not withstanding all our Modern Anatomists doe unanimously contradict as you may see at large in the Anatomicall Quaestion of Andreas Laurentius The learned Ludovicus Mercatus an Rodericus à Castro are so perplexed 〈◊〉 the explication of those places of Hippocrates that one while they are fain to say at these women were troubled with â—â—e Procidence of the Matrix which in appearance represented the Genitalls â—pper to the Male Another while they â—irme for certaine that in those women â—at part which Manard calls Queue â—lbucasis Tentiginem Moschio Merâ—tus Symptoma turpitudinis Aretaeus â—ympham Fallopius Clitorida Columâ—â—s Amorem dulcedinem Veneris Aviâ—â— Albatram i. e. virgam was so great â—â—at it resembled a mans yard Which â—â—th also befallen diverse other women â—ho unhappily abusing that part were â—â—r this reason called by the Latines Friâ—trices by the Greekes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and by â—â—e French Ribauldes in which number Suydas and Muretus place the learned â—apho And in the end Mercatus very â—arnedly concludes that he intends not â—â— hinder any man from beleeving these â—ange Metamorphoses and transmutatiâ—â—s of sexe to be reall considering the â—â—equent examples alleadged by Historiâ—s and by the above cited Physitian CHAP. III. Of the name of Lovo and Love Melancholy ALL Diseases according to Galen doe take their Denomination either from the part affected as the Pleurisy an Peripneumony or Inflammation of the Lunges or from the Symptomes as the Fever or from both these together as the Headach or from the resemblance iâ— beares to some other thing as the Cancer or lastly from the efficient cause as Love Melancholy which some Physitians cal◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to say Love-madnes oâ— amorous Folly
a woman by her applying her selfe to the humours and conditions of her Husband and by her neatnesse and comely attiring of her selfe tempers the roughnesse and harshnesse of his disposition and so by this meanes they enjoy each other very peaceably and Lovingly Philostratus reports that the eating of Hares flesh was accounted of great vertue among the Romans for the maintaining of Mutuall Love and amity betwixt married persons and to divert their minds from thinking on any strange loves And this custome was grounded perhaps on a certaine opinion that as Pliny saies they had that the flesh of a Hare makes those that eate it comely and of a gratious aspect And hereto Martiall seemes to allude when he writes to Gellia thus Si quando Leporem mittis mihi Gellia Mandas Formosus septem Marce diebus eris Si non derides si verum Gellia mandas Edisti nunquam Gellia tu Leporem Gellia when ere thou send'st to me a Hare Thou bidst me eate it and I shall be faire Seven daies If this be true as thou dost say Thou never eatst a Hare good Gellia Aristotle commends for this use the fis◠called Remora by the Latines and by the Greekes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and saies that they were wont to use it in their Philters 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which place of Aristotle is thus translated by Pliny Echineis Amatoriis beneficiis infamis Iudiciorum litium mora Which opinion of the Ancients seems to me in all probability to have been grounded on a certain fable that they have how that such a Fish◠should stop the ship of Perianders Embassadors whom he had sent to geld all the Males that were left of the bloud Royall as if Nature her selfe held it an unworthy Act that man should be despoyld of those parts that were given him for the preservation of the whole kind The same vertue is attributed also by some other Naturalists to that kind of Corall which is for this reason called Charitoblepharon and also to the Hearbe Catanance and by Philostratus to an Oyle that drops from certaine trees growing on the banke of the river Hyphasis in India wherewith all the Indians are wont to annoynt themselves on their Marriage day But for mine owne part I am more inclined to be of the Poet Menanders opinion who thinkes that the strongest tye for the retaining of Man and Wife in Mutuall amity and concord is to have Children 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Because that Children as the Philosopher saith are Commune Quid a Benefit that both parties have equall share in and are therefore the fittest Mediators and Vmpires betwixt Man and Wife Now it is the property of a Mediator to reconcile and reunite both parties as Aristotle saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Now if you desire to know what means are to be used for the cure of Impotency in Men and Barrennesse in Women I desire you to have recourse unto a treatise I have formerly written of the same subject The Romane Ladies made great account of the hearbe Hippoglossum or Horse-tongue which they called Bonifacia and attributed great vertue unto it for the reconcilement and reuniting of married persons Albertus Magnus Lemnius attribute the like vertue to a certaine stone which they say is found in the belly of a Capon that was not gelded untill he was foure years old which stone they say is of an exceeding bright colour and as transparant as Christall and about the bignesse of a Beane Now he that means to prove the vertue of it must take and wrap it up in a piece of skinne or bladder and so weare it about him Pliny affirmes that Eringo roots are of great force in this case But I for my part am of the Poets opinion who saies that Malè quaeritur Herbis Moribus Formâ conciliandus Amor. It is an idle and vaine thing to goe about to procure Love by Hearbs or Charmes or the like foolish devises for true Love is caused only by beauty and the vertuous dispositions of the Mind Yet sometimes I confesse it is brought to passe by the use of Charmes Witchcraft that Married persons fall off from the Love they formerly bare to each other and so by this meanes are forced to entertaine new desires and yeeld up themselves to embrace the Love of strangers These Charmes are commonly called in Latine Nodi sive Ligamina Amatoria of which many of our Moderne Physitians have written and particularly Arnaldus de Villa Nova in his Tract de Ligaturis Physicis And it is the opinion also of many both Divines and Physitians that it is probable that the Divell who is the Author of all Mischiefe hath power to quench lawfull Loves and to kindle new and unlawfull desires in men as first by making the Husband Impotent towards his owne wife by the application of some naturall things that may have that vertue which he can at his pleasure remove againe when the same man comes to meddle with any other woman Secondly by raising dissentions and Iealousies betwixt them Thirdly by causing some loathsome disease or other in either of the Parties as it is reported of Medea who by the power of her Charmes is said to have made all the Lemnian women to have stinking breaths in so much that their Husbands could not endure to come neare them Fourthly by troubling their Imagination and making either the Husband or the wife seeme mishapen and deformed to the others eye and all other both Men and Women to appeare faire and beautifull Or lastly by working some secret Antipathy betwixt them For it is reported by Egnatius that one Valasca a Bohemian wench by her charmes caused the Women of Bohemia to kill all the men in that place where she was all in one night Or else the Divell may doe this by working some strange Alteration in the Temperature of the Genitall parts either of the Man or of the Woman for by this meanes some men have become Impotent and unapt for Copulation and on the contrary some Women have been as salt as Bitches as Saxo Grammaticus reports But we must take heed that we doe not Ignorantly impute these effects to Magicke Charmes or Sorcery when as indeed they are produced by Naturall causes As did of old the Scythians who having made themselves Impotent by cutting the veines Arteries or Nerves that joyne close to the Eares notwithstanding thought that it was a punishment inflicted upon them by the Goddesse Venus Vrania in revenge of the injury their Ancestors had done unto her in pulling downe and rifling a Temple that was dedicated to her Honour in Ascalon a famous Citty of Palestina We must also be sure that the Woman be not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wanting the naturall passage destin'd for the use of Copulation as was Cornelia the mother of the Gracchi And in this case the passage must be opend with an instrument according to the directions of Albucasis Aetius Ioan Wierus
For certainly it may very properly bee said of all those that are iâ— love as Demodocus in Aristotle once did oâ— the Milesians That if they be not fooles they doe at lest as fooles doe w ch is intimâ— ted to us by the Poet Euripides where â—â— the same Philosopher affirmes he derivâ— the name of Venus from Folly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For Amare sapere vix â—iis conceditur It is not granted to the â—ods themselves at once to be in Love â—â—d to be wise And here by the way we may observe â—hat the ancient Physitians oftimes conâ—und these two tearmes of Madnesse and Melancholy as differing only in degrees which difference changeth not at all the â—ecies as we shall hereafter see more dearely Avicen with the whole family of the â—rabians calls this disease in his own anâ—age Alhasch and Iliscus Arnaldus de villa nova Gordonius and their contempraries call it by the name of Heroicall Melancholy whether it is because the â—ncient Heroes or Demi-gods were often taken with this passion as the fabaâ—us Poets report or else happily for that â—eat personages are more inclinable to â—is maladie then the common sort of â—eople or else lastly because that Love â—es as it were domineer and exercise a â—nde of tyranny over those that are subâ—â—ct to his power Love is called by the Greeks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with o when it signifies generally the desire of any thing although Pindarus uses it sometimes for Cupid and with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when it is to signifie the true Love we treat of Some say that when it is written with it signifies Lust and with o honest and chast Love How ever it be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 iâ— is derived by the Etymologists 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by changing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 into 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or else 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the name of his father Mars â—â— perhaps 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to say strength or force For Love is the most powerfull of all the Gods as Agatho proves it a large in Plato's Conviv and Lucian tell us that Love being as yet but in his cradle overcame Pan that is Nature â—â— wrastling Vnlesse you will rather have iâ— come from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which in Hesiods language signifies to dedicate or consecrate Because that he that is deeply in love devotes and consecrates all his desires will and actions to the pleasure of his beloved Mistresse Plotinus will have it to bee derived from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to see because that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Liking is caused by seeing So Then critus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vt vidi ut perii sic me malus abstulit error â—t seemes saith Aristotle in his Ethic. 9. â—ap 5. that all kinde of Love Friendship â—s derived from the pleasure that is taken â—â— at the eyes Whence the Poet Properâ—ius calls them the Conductors guides â—n Love Sinescis Oculi sunt in Amore duces They are the passages indeed by which Love enters into our Heads and so seazeth â—n the braine the Cittadell of Pallas and â—re the conduicts by which it is conveighed into our hearts and most secret â—arts as it is learnedly and copiously proâ—ed by Marsilius Ficinus and Fran. Valleriola in his Medicin observat Which they seeme to have borrowed from the â—ncient Poet Musaeus who in his excellent Poëm of the Love of Hero and Leanâ—er speakes thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The excellent beauty saith he of a woman that is without all contradiction perfectly faire wounds the heart more swiftly then the swiftest flying arrow and through the eyes is conveighed into the most inward parts and there festers into a cruell wound and hard to be cured Parallel to this js that which Plutarque hath l. 5. Symp. Q. 7. where hee saies that whiles he that is in love is strongly fixt iâ— beholding contemplating on the beauty and perfection of his Mistresse her eieâ— in the meane time doe reciprocally cast forth their amorous beames to enflame â— charme the heart of her Lover Whence Hesiod calls those that have faire lovely eyes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Pindarus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by a Metaphore borrowed from the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifying the young tender sprigs or branches of vines For as these alwaies embrace the next neighbouring bough twining about it with many various circles in like manner the eyes of a beautifull woman apply their beames and endeavour to entangle the hearts of those that earnestly behold â—er Plato in Cratylo will have Love to be â—alled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because it flowes as it were through the eyes into the heart â—â—so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Fluo Although some others maintaine that it is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—uasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mansuetus that is Milde or Gentle It is also sometimes called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is thus differenced from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies the desire of a thing that is â—sent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of that which is preseÌ„t only Our Grammarians derive it from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to crave or aske because that Lovers â—e suppliants and alwaies sueing to their distresses for favour But in my opinion his carnall and dishonest Love is called by a more proper name by Plato 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—uffocatio Strangulatio seeing that this love stifles and choakes up that other â—â—e and honest love And the Aeolians all it yet by a more proper name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a â—heefe or Robber because that it violently seazeth on and rifleth the hearts of â—overs depriving them both of liberty â—udgement 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Others call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tangendi enim Cupido non amoris pars est sed potius petulantiae species servilis hominis perturbatio saith Marsilius Ficinus The desire of exercising the actâ— of Venery is no part of Love but rather a kinde of wantonnesse and a passion that only men of a meane and servile nature are subject unto Sometimes also the names of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are attributed unto this unchast Love but it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and very improperly The Hebrewes as one saith call it Hohaba the Chaldees Hebeda the Italians Amore which is interpreted by Guitton d' Arezzo and Io. Iacob Calander a cruell death as being compounded of A and More The Latines call it properly Amorâ— the French Amour and sometimes but improperly it is stiled Dilection Friendship and Goodwill CAP. IV. Of Melancholy and its severall kinds MElancholy is defined by Galen to be a Dotage without a Fever accompanied with Feare and Sadnesse For which cause the Greeks used