CARDAN HIS THREE BOOKS OF CONSOLATION English'd Of great Vse in these Times LONDON Printed for B. Aylmer at the Three Pigeons and S. Croutch at the Princes Arms against the Royal Exchange 1683. TO THE READER YOV have here an Antidote against every Trouble prescribed by that Physitian whose prodigious Parts and singular Fancies have made him Admir'd and Envy'd by most of the Learned World He had 't is true his Deliriums in common with all great Wits but his lucid intervals were such as made him pass in the Opinions of some that read his Works for more than a Man not the fate of those other Ancient Monuments which perished in the Barbarian Wars For as he shewed himself a most excellent Philosopher in all his Writings so 't is not to be imagined but that on this occasion he out-did whatever he had done before seeing the Subject he Handled was neither Common Foreign nor Feigned but sprang from his own Natural Affection and great trouble of mind II Now although we want this useful Book to furnish us with those excellent Arguments which without doubt he made use of to quiet his own mind Yet shall not this discourage us considering our need from offering the best we can devise as those who cannot get stately Pallaces to dwell in must be contented with simple Cottages III. And the necessity of such Discourses as these appears hence That supposing our selves free from all other vexations yet will the remembrance and dread of Death four all our present enjoyments IV. But besides the fear of death how many other troubles are there against which we had need be fortified Our Hunger is satisfied with Meat our Thirst with Drink our Weariness with Rest But the fear of evils whether real or imaginary is so rooted and fruitful in our minds that unless it be obviated by wise considerations t is impossible to keep them serene and undisturbed seeing it leads us from one discontented thought to another without end V. I know not what benefit others may reap by this my labour as to my self for whom I chiefly designed this Book the considerations contained therein have abundantly profited me And as t' was said of Asclepiodorus that he could paint without colours so shall I without any Art or Skill declare how greatly we err both in our Opinions and Wills VI. Now although the number of our cares and miseries be great yet if nearly considered we shall find several of them to be such as need no Medicine as those which men voluntarily undergo For who will attempt to comfort Marcus Regulus in his sufferings whom neither Natural Affection to his Children and Relations nor the intreaties of his Friends could persuade from hastening out of Rome to be tormented at Carthage Such undaunted Spirits were the Holy Martyrs St. Paul St. Stephen c. VII But there are other kind of hardships which the most delicate do not refuse for the sake of Honour Pleasure or Profit Some serve Kings others their Mistresses one man consumes his time and himself with Study another commits himself to the mercyless Sea and are so little troubled at these toyls that it grieves them to be withheld from engaging in them Some led on only by hope spend their days in solitary places refusing all the comforts and conveniencies of this life Macerating themselves with Fastings and Watchings who being asked for what end they do this reply for hope that after death they shall receive an everlasting recompence Some take great pains meerly for Pleasure as Harvest Labourers who after long Toyl and Sweat in Summers Sun do notwithstanding Dance when the Pipe or Viol Sounds Others sit at play till their Feet ake with Cold the pleasure of the sport exceeding the sharpness of the pain To begin with private Evils we may take this for a certain truth that it matters not to happy living what a mans Fortune be seeing there is no condition of life but admits the exercise of some vertue and what wise man will torment himself in adversity considering how vain short and uncertain the Life of Man is X. In what a kind of uncertainty do we live when a man rises from his Bed in the Morning to be uncertain of his return to Rest again or when he lies down to sleep whether ever he shall rise Well do the Spaniards in their Language call man a shadow for in truth he is no more his body being so frail and brittle and exposed to so many dangers that nothing is more to be admired than that it should usually subsist so long I allow those Philosophers to be in the right who made all things consist in Opinion For what Custom Law or Sentiment has so far prevailed as never to meet with contradiction The Philosophers had never contended so long among themselves had the matter of their debates been evident and certain For what man is so mad as to affirm the Swan to be Black or the Crow white seeing the matter here is to be decided by common sense But touching what is Good and Evil Good Lord what Disputes have arose what wranglings and oppositions Which makes me remember a pleasant story written by an Ancient Poet that excellently well sets forth our Folly XII When mighty Jupiter had made the Heavens the Earth the Sea Men and Beasts he soberly considered that unless he alloted Punishments and Rewards for mens Deserts they would be not only guilty of great irregularities towards one another but Affront the Gods themselves for which cause he commanded Vulcan to make two brazen Tuns the one to receive all that was good the other whatsoever was evil making both good and evil things wing'd that Mortals might more conveniently receive them according to their Deserts But the Goddess Pandora a busie huswife mov'd with that restless curiosity which is common to all the Sex must needs be peeping in 'em when immediately both the good and evil flew their ways the good up to Heaven the Evil down to Hell hope only remaining in the Vessel of evils and suspicion in the other Which news when Jupiter heard he takes the empty Barrels and in a mad raging fit throws 'em down which being perceiv'd by mortal men who are desirous as you know of News they immediately draw near and embrace the empty Vessels persuading themselves they had gotten both good and evil whereas in truth neither good nor evil happen'd to either of them only they that light on the better Vessel found themselves possest with an opinion of good mixt with suspicion and the other with opinion of evil mixt with hope XIII Like to what Travellers tell us touching such as pass over the Desarts of Arabia who chancing to tread upon some piece of Iron or other cold thing are suddenly startled with fear least they have trodden on some venemous Serpent so does the bare opinion of good and evil perplex all mortal Creatures altho' 't is certain all good things are flown
most troubled Forasmuch then as those that be rich must one day be poor and they that be poor one day rich be thou contented IV. Our folly hinders us from setting a due estimate on things It makes Pygmies become Gyants hides our happiness from us and makes us afraid of our own shadows If there be any thing to be fear'd or desir'd in this life 't is moral Good or evil a guilty or a quiet Conscience CARDAN OF CONSOLATION BOOK II. CHAP. I. The folly of our unwillingness to dye And vanity of such as are solicitous about their Funerals Misery of Old Age. I. HItherto we have discours'd of Human Calamities and their remedies in general Come we now to Particulars And first of the fear of death Consider what happiness thou hast found in life to make thee so much in love with it Dost thou alone possess any delight which we have not experienc'd We have seen the Stars the Heavens Mountains Seas Rivers Lakes Fields Gardens Cities and pleasant Villages had Musick Songs Banquets Love intrigues and Dalliances with all sorts of earthly delights nor have we wanted Learning to judg dispute make Verses and Orations born Offices and acquitted our selves honorably of them satisfied the necessities of our Children Friends and Kindred and lived together with them in good reputation wanting neither Food nor Rayment and abounded in all the conveniencies of this life and yet cannot but unfeignedly say with Solomon Vanity of vanity and all is vanity II. As to other mens experience let them speak for themselves as to my own part I have felt more Grief than Pleasure in this World Seeing then this love of life availeth nothing nay tho it were desirable t is better to cast off this burthen of Cares and like an honest man restore that which thou hast borrowed Whereas if thou torment thy self what dost thou get thereby but to consume in dying that small time which is remaining seeing whatsoever time is spent in thinking of death may justly be so called I am much taken with the saying of Agathius who tells us that Death does not only remove sickness and all other vexations but whereas these happen often that comes but once Neither can Death be accounted a great Evil seeing it comes upon so light occasions and is so ready at hand Such things as are hurtful to our natures are not common and soon found whereas there 's nothing more common or sooner found than death Death is to be met with every where and in all things in Fire and Water Air Wind Thunder Earth-quakes wild Beasts Fishes and Fowls in Meat and Drink Bed Trees Sleep Sorrow Joy Laughter Company Discord Concord and finally in all Circumstances Philomenes seeing his Ass eat Raisins bid his Boy give him some Wine to drink and fell into such a fit of laughter that he kill'd himself Coma being apprehended and examined for Robbery by Rutilus the Consul required time to make his defence and putting down his Head between his Knees he stopped his own breath and died so quietly that his Guard knew nothing of it till they saw him dead 3. Seeing then men die with such ease what can Death be better compared to than a Dream Socrates dyed with a Jest in his month Do we think then that he felt any great grief Certainly no for men cannot jest in extreme pain the mind being taken up with far greater matters This is also be to admir'd that men should with the greatest aversation dread Death and yet earnestly use those means that bring it The lustful person preferreth his pleasure before it the injur'd his revenge the Eater his gluttony the Ambitious his honor the Covetous his riches the Soldier his spoyl the Mother her children the Merchant his traffick and the Student his learning They are to be esteemed most valiant that scorn to dye unless a weighty cause requires it IV. Some perhaps be of Aepicarnus his mind Dye says he I would not but to be dead I care not Pray what hurt is it to want hunger thirst grief labour sadness fear and in short all those Evils in general which the Soul must of necessity want being parted from the Body and seeing it dies not but in lieu of these troubles partakes of heavenly joys why should we not willingly accept of this change It was the saying of Socrates that Death may be fitly compared to a sound sleep V. I remember my Father Faucius Cardan was wont to say he continually desired death because when he slept he tasted the pleasures of it meaning I suppose that all sensual delights contain more pain than pleasure and therefore it was better being without ' em Diogenes being sick and found by his Physician asleep was asked how he did well answered he for one Brother envyeth another Cosmas Medices a wise and vertuous man in our times being at the point of death closed his own eyes which his Wife seeing demanded the reason I do it says he because it is customary Socrates being by Crito persuaded to escape out of Prison as well for his Friends sake as his own refused to do it answering wisely I am going into those parts where I shall certainly find as good or perhaps better friends that those I leave behind And you will also bear me company in a short space In fine Death doth certainly take away more Evils than it bringeth If Death be an Evil to be dead is to escape it but if it be a Good thou hast no cause to lament That it is one of these no man doubts VI. I remember that being much afflicted with a Tertian Ague the seventh Fit of it laid me for dead In which time altho ' every Member was almost deprived of its use yet felt I nothing worse than a certain kind of tickling throughout my whole body accompanied with no small pleasure Possessed I was indeed with fear I should dye Which made me enquire of others who had been at the point of death whether they felt any great smart or not who told me that in the Head or Tooth-ach or such like distemper they endured greater pain I have observed that altho' Women and Children be most fearful to take Medicines and yield to cutting of Veins yet when at the point of death they neither complain nor lament but are rather offended if we seek to preserve their lives VII What is our life but a continual toyl perpetually attended with Labour Suspicions and Dangers What delight is there that is not followed by Repentance Thou art revenged then look to thy self Hast thou eaten thy fill then Satiety will offend thee Hast thou lightly â—ined then thy appetite is not â—atisfied Dost thou give way â—o Lust expect sadness and in â—he end sickness In short either â—hy desire is not satisfied and art â—hereby still discontented or else â—ormented with Satiety and Reâ—entance VIII Observe how bruit Beasts â—ield to death how little they â—re tormented with the thoughts â—f it
before-hand and how paâ—iently they endure it when it comes and can we suppose God â—as endow'd them with greater gifts of fortitude than our sevles A good Man is always ready to lay down his life Callicratides the Lacedemonian Captain hearing the Soothsayer foretel Victory to the Lacedemonians and death to himself answered Sparta in losing me will not be at all weakned IX What great acts have been performed by such who feared not death how happy have been their Lives how glorious their ends In fine why shall we refuse to yield to that equality which makes the Beggar a Prince and the Tyrant simple and harmless dust X. Neither the vast Army of Xerxes nor Treasure of Tyberius or Cruelty of Antonius could any whit prevail against Death We shall all be equal and harmless there and except Vertue there will be no difference No man can be ignorant of â—his journey 'T is a fond and silâ—y opinion that renders this so â—yful and advantagious a matâ—er unpleasant and terrible Upon what light causes have some slain â—hemselves I knew a Scholar a Countrey-man of ours in Padoa who being slighted by a Gentlewoman with whom he was in Love Poyson'd himself Anoâ—her in our City for vexation â—hat the price of Corn fell Hangâ—ed himself Another and he â—ikewise an Italian finding he could not conveniently pay his Debts Drowned himself I saw a Woman who for mere sorrow that she had committed Adulâ—tery asking God forgiveness for what she had done immediately drank Poyson Cleopatra altho' she might have liv'd in honor yet to prevent her being carried about in Tryumph caus'd a Serpent to sting her to death Porcia the Daughter of Cato and Wife to Brutus a most heroick spirited Woman hearing her Husband was slain eat burning Coals and died Damocles a beautiful Boy beloved by King Demetrius being watch'd when he should enter naked into the Bath and knowing the King design'd to abuse his body div'd down to the bottom of the Water and drowned himself 'T is endless to relate Instances of those that for Fear Love Grief Anger and other occasions of no weight have sought their own deaths We read moreover of whole Legions that offered themselves to apparent destruction As they that were with Leonida in the Persian Expedition What would not these People have ventured on a great occasion when for so small a matter they did not refuse to dye XI But perhaps thou wilt reply I do not fear Death for not being an Evil 't is necessary and to fear that which cannot be avoided were vain cowardly and hurtful Yet would I dye easily and such a death as Augustus desir'd and obtained for by living till I am Old I shall not only gain a longer life but also an easier death XII 'T was Aristotle's opinion that Old men dyed not only without pain but also without any seeling of death because the heat of their bodies was quenched Which may be illustrated by this Example If you go about to draw a Tooth that is not loose you feel great smart but if 't were loose of it self before it s drawn without any trouble So green Youth with extreme reluctancy yields to death whereas old Folks in dying feel almost no grief at all In India men are said to live commonly an hundred and thirty years by reason of the goodness of Air and the Peoples being without cares Whereas we continuing in cares luxury and immoderate labours choosing Air for profit not for health bring upon our selves diseases and untimely death and yet lay the fault on Nature How much better were it to know how to use the benefit of Nature if thou esteemest Life to be such a pleasant and desirable thing How have Hermites lived so long but by living temperately and void of care The longest life is short because death will certainly put an end to it Only Vertue and worthy actions can extend it and Idleness and Vice shorten it XIII Alexander tho' he lived not above 33 years died an Old man by means of his great Exploits Whereas Argantonius may be said to have died young tho' he lived an hundred and twenty years because he was remarkable only for his Age. T is likewise to be noted that commonly all notable men have died in their youth Hercules Achilles Castor Pollux Ajax Jason Lucan Catullus Tibullus Virgil Demosthenes Cicero Julius Cesar Severus Alexander Probus Aurelian Claudius died all of 'em young Who were too great and too good for this World and therefore the Gods took 'em to themselves XIV But put case thou livest to be old how many vexations must thou expect what infirmities Weakness Maladies Rhumes Catarrhs besides the seeing of thy self avoided and loathed by every body Thou art tiresom even to thine own Children burthensom to thy self troublesom to thy Friends and contemptible to thy Servants Thy Taste is gone rest thou canst not and being burdensom to thy self how canst thou but be burdensom to others We read that Zeno the Philosopher when he could not get rid of his life by Age Strangled himself What pains and art was Tully fain to use to persuade people to bear their Old age Whereas no man thinks it necessary to exhort men patiently to endure Health or Riches I am extremely taken with that saying of Theraminis who only escaping out of a ruin'd House and his Friends congratulating his good hap cries out O Fortune for what sadder chance dost thou reserve me What he said was not without reason for not long after he suffered a painful death by the cruelty of Tyrants What man that has lived to be Old if proffered to live over again his past time would accept of the condition And seeing Old men can expect nothing but Craziness Coughs Consumptions Cares and uneasiness I see no cause why they should desire to live And if when we are young and enjoy the full use of our senses beauty strength wit and authority we are oft weary of our life what shall we do when we hear if we have any hearing left our selves called Old-doating-fool and be made the subject of mens laughter and pity XV. Art thou troubled to dye alone and leave so many behind thee Remember to what a great company thou art going and that those whom thou hast left alive must of necessity follow thee and that so speedily that they may be said to dye with thee and bear thee company The Fates are always at work suffer none to transgress their limits This is an unalterable Law T is appointed for all men once to dye XVI And as amongst Condemned persons those that have been less Criminal are first dispatched whereas the others who have been guilty of greater crimes are reserved last to behold the terrors of death So God first takes away those whom he loves to prevent their being the sad witnesses of others Miseries I remember when I was but a Child my Mother Clara Michera then a Young Woman was notwithstanding