at a Jest provided it be harmless for so it may be as the not doing it may be accounted stupidity or sottishness But to laugh at his own is ridiculous Wit may be used but not abused as was said to the injury slurr or affront of another in Body Name Quality or otherwayes or to the prophanation of Religion and goodness Of Satisfaction Satisfaction proceeds of some good which we have done our selves which being really good gives a most pleasant inward satisfaction and is the most delectable Passion For in such who follow the steps of Virtue it is the habit in the Soul which we call Tranquillity or Quietness of Conscience But when we acquire ought anew or have done any thing we think good there is a foolish sort of Joy the cause depending only on our selves and not on the real goodness of the thing And when it is not just or the thing vitious or not sufficient to deduce satisfaction from it 'T is most unbecoming a Gentleman it causing an impertinent Pride and arrogancy As we see by many in every Town and Countrey who whilst they believe themselves to be Saints and that the only ones are notwithstanding but Hypocrites all the while For whilst they hear Sermon upon Sermon three or four in a day besides Repetitions make long Prayers be against all Order and Government of the Church perform this and the other Family Duty they rest therein conclude themselves Saints and that God is bound to do for them all things since they have done so much as they think for him and so come up to the merits of the Papists whilst none farther off and at a distance from them as they idly fancy Nay some count whatever their Passions prompt them to Zeal though never so abominable illegal and impious As Murthering of Kings Rebellion Usurpation Betraying Cities nay their own Countrey Ruining of Families and whole Nations too and all because they are not of their Brain-sick opinion A weighty Reason Repentance is Diametrically opposite to Satisfaction and excited by evil it being a kind of Sadness arising from a belief we have done somewhat that 's evil Cause of Repentance 'T is the most grievous and tormenting of all Passions in that the cause arises from our selves yet serves to this good end to incite us to do better for the future It argues a weak Spirit when an Action is repented of before it be known whether it be evil or no only on their fancy of its being evil and so if it had not been committed they would also Repent of that too Of Good-will and Gratitude with tgeir Causes As Satisfaction is from some good that we have done our selves so Good-will proceeds from good that has been done by others for whether it concern us or no it causeth a good-will in us unto the Actor for it But if it be done unto or concern us in particular we thereunto add Gratitude which is a sort of Love stir'd up in us by that good Action of his to whom we are grateful and that too whether it be really so or no if we believe he has done us some good nay if he had but an intention to do it 'T is much stronger than good-will and includes all that it doth and this to boot that 't is grounded on an Action we are sensible of and desirous to requite Good-will may also in that 't is exercised towards any that does good though it concern not our selves be a kind of Love not Desire though it be still accompanied with a desire of good to happen to him we wish well to And is frequently the associate of Pity for when we see the disgraces that befall the unfortunate we are thereby constrained to make the more accurate inspection into their merits Of Ingratitude and Indignation Ingratitude is no Passion Nature having never put any motion of the Spirits so in us as to excite it 'T is only a Vice then directly opposite to Gratitude and accompanies only the more rude weak sottish and foolish barbarous and beastial Men being the greatest hinderance to humane Society and therefore mostly to be abominated by a Gentleman Indignation is opposite to good-will and although it be frequently accompanied with Envy or Pity yet its object is quite different from them For Indignation being a kind of aversion or Hatred to him that does some good or evil to any undeserving it But Envy is to him that receives this good and Pity to him that has the evil especially if he bear any good will towards him if ill 't is joyned with Derision Indignation is to the Agent Envy and Pity to the Patient and is more frequently in those that would seem Virtuous than those that are really so Indignation you see is not alwayes vitious but Envy can hardly be otherwise 'T is also frequently accompanied with Admiration as when things fall out contrary to expectation it surprizes us with Admiration And many times joyned with Joy but most frequently with Grief or Sadness As we are delighted when we consider the evil which we bear Indignation against cannot hurt us and that we would not do the like and hence many times this Passion is also accompanied with Laughter Wrath also is a kind of Aversion or Hatred against such as have done any evil against us or any of ours which we love whether it be real or only imagined or so apprehended and so comprehends Of Wrath Anger all that Indignation doth and this to boot that 't is grounded on an Action we are sensible of and which we desire to Revenge and so is directly opposed to Gratitude and is more violent being desirous to repell things hurtful and be Revenged In some it causeth Paleness and Tremblings in others Redness of Face and Weeping according to the several tempers of Men and the variety of other passions therewith complicated Whence Redness in Anger When wrath is so moved as that it only extends to words or looks for Revenge Redness of Face ensues especially in good Natures Whence Weeping in Anger and oft-times sorrow and pity through self-love that there can be no other Revenge occasions Weeping Whence Paleness in Anger as also Tremblings and Coldness But when a greater Revenge is resolved Sadness doth not only follow from an apprehension of the evil offered but Paleness Coldness and Tremblings also through fear of the evil that may ensue on the Resolution taken of Revenge So that such are more to be feared than they which at first are high-coloured Though these also when they come to execute their mischief and are warmed grow red in the Face Outward Momentary and sudden Anger Whence we may describe Two sorts of Anger or Wrath the one outward momentary and sudden of small efficacy and soon over presently manifest and most apparent The other more close occult and inward rooted and fixed more in the Heart producing oft-times most dangerous effects
contexture of its Organs For it admits not of dimensions but refers to the whole Mass and contexture of Organs SUB-DIVISION I. Of Admiration PEripatetick Philosophy is not herein to be followed Admiration is on the first rancounter of an object a sudden surprize of the Soul causing a serious consideration of the object whether rare or different from what she knew before or supposed it should be and then we admire it Astonishment Estimation and Contempt If it be in excess 't is Astonishment And according as we more or less admire the object is Estimation or Contempt which is only our opinion of the object and are sorts of Admiration inasmuch as if the object be not admired there is no reckoning made of it more than Reason dictates But if they proceed from Love or Hatred as sometimes they do and often may the object is considered as we have more or less affection to it Magnanimity Pride Humility Dejection And indeed Estimation and Contempt may generally relate to all kind of objects And so we may either Esteem or Contemn our selves and then the motion of the Spirits occasioning them is so apparent that it causeth a mutation not only in the countenance but even in the very Actions Gate and Deportment whence arise Magnanimity Pride and Humility or Dejection Which in process of time from Passions become Habits And truly if we rightly consider 't is no absurdity for a Man to esteem himself for he that is wise will do it But then he must be one that has an absolute command over his Will and a free Disposition for only the Actions thereon depending may be justly prais'd or blamed esteemed or condemned And thus we become Masters of our selves when we have the free disposing of our Wills and so become truly Generous and Magnanimous as that we may set our selves at the highest rate we justly may if we rule our Wills well But if ill it can never be He that hath attained to this free disposition of his Will will never contemn nor blame another For all faults in others he rather extenuates and excuses than aggravates and condemns as believing they proceed rather from ignorance than good will And although he think himself no ways Inferiour to those of far greater Estate Honour Knowledge Wit c. So on the other side he doth not esteem himself much above his Inferiours For all these things in comparison of his good will he values but as trifles imagining that for which he esteems himself is or may be in every one Nay he is the most humble of any Man for the same Reason since by Reflecting on his former faults and those he is like to commit are no ways inferiour to others He prefers not himself before any body but concludes others that have this free Disposition may use it as well as himself This is the truly Generous Person and most likely to Master his Passions and inclined to do great things as shall be shewed beneath d In Passions Rectified He that esteems himself for ought else than for this free disposition of the Will is not really Magnanimous nor has true Generosity but only Pride which is a Vice the other a Virtue arising chiefly of flattery whence Men become proud oft-times for things that deserve not any praise but rather the contrary so that most frequently we find the most stupid sort of People fall thereinto Dejection is a vitious Humility and as much unbecoming a Gentleman as Pride And is Diametrically opposite to Generosity For as Pride enslaves a Man to his desires his Soul must needs be perpetually perturbed with Anger Hatred Revenge Envy and Jealousie So Dejection impoverishes the Spirits of Men yet such become most commonly arrogant and proud shamefully at other times debasing themselves and sneaking to such as they fear or may get by and yet insult over such from whom they neither hope nor fear any thing In prosperity they are as much elevated as in adversity deprest When as a generous free and Virtuous Soul is still one and the same Another branch of Estimation when we regard an object as able to do good or hurt is Veneration and of contempt Disdain The motion of the Spirits that excites Veneration is compounded of that which excites Admiration and Fear beneath spoken of Those that excite Disdain of those that excite Security or boldness as well as Admiration Veneration is an inclination of the Soul not only to esteem the object it reverenceth but also to submit to it with some kind of fear and to endeavour to make it become gracious to her Veneration and Disdain Our Love and Devotion is only to those from whom we expect good our Veneration to free causes only which we apprehend are able to do good or evil to us Disdain is an inclination of the Soul to contemn a free cause though it can do both good and evil yet esteemed so far beneath him that he fears neither Thus much shall suffice to be spoken briefly of the first Passion Admiration whose cause is in the Brain and not in the Heart or Spleen Liver Blood c. Though the other Passions are in them also as well as in the Brain For the knowledge of the thing admired is only in the Brain and not in the Heart Liver Blood c. on which depends all the good of the Body It has no contrary in that if the object don't surprise a Man he considers it without passion being not at all moved And in that he admires nothing but what seems rare 't is a beneficial Passion making him not only to apprehend but remember things he was before ignorant of the Idea thereof being by some passion or other imprest in his Brain or applyed by his Understanding But if it be in excess as commonly we are apt to admire too much 't is not only very unbecoming a Gentleman but also it doth much hurt in perverting the use of Reason And if we admire nothing but what differs from that we knew before or seems rare this passion must needs be an effect of ignorance in that nothing can seem so unto us unless we were ignorant of it The more ingenious and wittiest of Men however especially if they distrust their own sufficiency are most apt to admire And none but ignorant stupid Block-headed Dolts are free from this passion SUB-DIVISION II. 2 3. Love and Hatred HEre we may premise 't is more facile to consider the passions all together than to speak distinctly of each I shall therefore put Love and Hatred together in this place Love is an emotion of the Soul inciting it by the motion of the Spirits to joyn in Will to the objects that seem good and convenient for us which occasioneth Love That is so to joyn in Will as to make a mans self and the thing beloved one and the same And so 't is different from Desire which is a Passion apart Hatred on the
good 't is accompanied with Love afterwards with hope and Joy when it tends to the avoiding of an evil contrary to that good 't is accompanied with Hatred Fear and Sorrow and so it is conceived contrary to its self and in the Schools opposed by that which they call Aversion but on no good ground Yet the desire arising of Likeing is notwithstanding Horrour be its contrary and the Desire after good and avoiding evil be from the same motion extremely different from that which ariseth from Horrour For though they be contrary they are not the good and evil which are the objects of these desires but only two emotions of the Soul that cause it to seek after two very different things Horrour is instituted by Nature to represent to the Soul a sudden and unexpected Death so that even at his very own shadow he is put into such an horrour as makes him immediately feel as great an emotion as if a most evident danger of Death were before his eyes which causeth a sudden agitation of the Spirits inclining the Soul to employ all her strength to shun the evil and this kind of desire is called Aversion or Flight Likeing on the other side is peculiarly instituted by Nature to represent the enjoyment of what is liked as the greatest good which causes a Man very earnestly to desire this enjoyment There are several sorts of Likeing and the desires arising from them yet not alike powerful As the loveliness of any neat toy makes us like and desire it but the chief is that which arises from the perfections a Man imagines in another Person especially the Female Sex by reason of certain impressions in the Brain which at a certain Age and certain Seasons causes us to look on our selves as defective to desire the Person of the other Sex to be united to us to make us compleat and so fixes our Souls to feel all the inclinations Nature has given us to seek after the good she represents to us as the greatest we can possibly possess on that Woman only Of Heroick Love And this Desire which is bred thus by liking is denominated Love more commonly than the Passion and has indeed far stranger effects The kinds of Desire are as various as its objects As the desire of Revenge differs much from the desire of Learning and both from this desire call'd Love occasioned by Likeing Now as the acquisition of a good or the avoiding of an evil is sufficient to incite a desire so on more serious consideration of the probability of obtaining the desire if the probability be much or great Of Hope Doubting Fear Jealousie Assurance Security and Despair it excites Hope if little or small Doubting or Fear whereof Jealousie is a sort Likewise when Hope is extreme so strong as to banish all fear 't is converted into Assurance and Security and is commonly accompanied with Anxiety for though we be assured our desire shall be accomplish'd and still wish it should yet notwithstanding we never cease to be agitated with the passion of desire which makes us seek the event with Anxiety Of Anxiety in this Affair As extreme fear degenerates into Despair And although this Hope and Fear be Passions contrary one to the other yet at one and the same time we may be possessed by them both As when on any desire we fancy unto our selves several Reasons pro and con some make it easie whence Hope the other difficult whence Fear Hope is a Disposition of the Soul perswading her what is desired shall be accomplished through a peculiar motion of the Spirits mixt with those of Joy and Desire As Fear is another disposition perswading it shall not be accomplished Jealousie is a kind of fear of losing some good we desire to keep to our selves proceeding rather from the value we set on the thing than Reason which causes us not only to examine the least occasion of suspition but to conclude them forcible Arguments too and relates only to suspitions and distrusts for none can be said to be Jealous that shuns an evil when there is just cause and reason to fear it 'T is a laudable Passion in some cases as when a Woman is Jealous of her Honour and so shuns all occasions of suspition as well as the Action of evil In as much as great goods are more carefully to be kept than less When the event of Hope or Fear depends on a mans self as it does not alwayes there may be many doubtings touching the Election of means Irresolution Courage Boldness Emulation Cowardize Affrights When it don't depend on us it occasions Irresolution which causes again Debates and Counsels When it does it excites Courage or Boldness whereof Emulation is a kind Contrary to Courage is Cowardize and to Boldness Affrights which become not a Gentleman Remorse of Conscience When we are resolved on an Action before the Irresolution be quite taken off it occasions Remorse of Conscience which regards the present or past time only and is a sort of sadness proceeding from a scruple in our Consciences that something we have committed or omitted is not well or good it necessarily presupposing Doubt for if we were assured the thing were evil Of Doubt and Repentance it would cause rather Repentance or we should never have committed it since the Will inclines us to nothing but what has an appearance of good However this Remorse makes us examine whether what we doubt of be good or no and hinders us from committing the like another time and so is an useful Passion but better it is never to feel it since it ever presupposeth an evil Irresolution is a kind of Fear which causing the Soul to waver between several feasable Actions hinders her so as she performs none yet it may so happen that a Man having his choice of many things equally good he may be for a while Irresolute and at a pause and yet not be afraid which arising only from the Subject presented and not any emotion of the Spirits can be no Passion except the fear of failing in the choice increase the uncertainty Which fear is so strong in some as it becomes an excess of Irresolution arising from too great a desire to do well and weakness in the Understanding which having no clear and distinct Notions is fraught with a company of confused ones However since Irresolution gives time to consider and debate it may be of good use and oft-times is but if it continue longer then it ought thereby slipping the time of Action it may prove as pernicious Courage is oft-times Natural or an Habit as well as a Passion when the latter 't is a certain heat or agitation disposing the Soul and powerfully addicting her to Execution Boldness is a sort of Courage exposing the Soul to the Execution of things most dangerous It s object is Difficulty whence commonly proceeds Fear and sometimes Despair so that Courage and
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
Gregory for Students Cosmus and Damian for Philosophers Crispin for Shoomakers Katharine for Spinners Anthony for Piggs Gallus for Geese Wenceslans for Sheep Pelagius for Oxen Sebastian for the Plague Valentine for the Falling-sickness Petronella for Agues Apollonia for the Tooth-ach The Virgin Mary for Male and Female all places Offices persons and Conditions for both Sea and Land an Universal Goddess she is Whosoever shall but observe these things with their divers Adorations Exorcisms and ridiculous Injunctions will absolutely conclude them altogether as vain as those Superstitions of the Pagans Jews and Mahometans if not worse or at least they are the same in other Names Circumstances and Ceremonies The Superstitions and Frenzies of some in our own Bosoms On the other extreme we have a mad giddy Company of Precisians Schismaticks and Hereticks even in our own bosoms that through too much blind Zeal against Popery Do demolish all These will admit of no Ceremonies at all no Cross in Baptism no kneeling at the Communion but stand or as some of them that account themselves in the first order of Saints sit irreverently on their breech and take the Cup of the New Testament as they do their Mornings Draught They will have no Fasting-dayes no Church-Musick Organs are Popery and Anthems though never so well composed They prefer the idle stuff of Sternhold and Hopkins who have indeed with their pitiful Verse and Rhymes murthered the Psalms No Bishops nor their Courts no Church-government unless by Lay-Elders as ignorant as themselves But for the peace of Sion and glory of GOD rail against all our Church-Discipline as Popery and for the Zeal of the cause run into open Rebellion and Sacriledge as we know by too woful Experience They will hardly some of them tollerate our University Degrees or Universities themselves All Humane Learning is the Language of the Beast Degrees Titles of Rome Caps Hoods Tippets Gowns Surplesses Lawn sleeves c. Things indifferent in themselves and meerly for Ornament Distinction and Decency they hate them cry out against them they are of the Whore of Babylon the Relicts of Popery and he that wears them hath undoubtedly a Pope in his Belly They will approve of nought but what they invent themselves They make matter of Conscience of them and will rather forsake their Livings than subscribe to them They will admit of no Holy-dayes or honest Recreations as Hawking Hunting Cards Tables because some have abused them No Churches no Bells some of them because Papists use them No Interpretation of Scripture no councils or comments of the Fathers but such as their own fantastical spirits and idle brains dictate and suggest By which spirits being mis-led more prodigious Paradoxes are vented than by Papists themselves Some pretend to prophesie secret Revelations will be of the privy-council with GOD himself and know all his secrets A company of giddy quarter-brain'd heads they will take upon them to divine how many shall be saved and who damn'd in the Town Interpret the Revelation Daniel and Ezekiels Visions and apply those hidden Mysteries to private Persons times places as their own private spirit and shallow wit Informs them They will tell you exactly in their Enthusiasm when the World shall be at an end what year nay to the very day too Some in imitation of Christ will fast forty dayes Some call GOD and his Attributes in question And some of them so far gone with their madness and Revelations that they are absolute Bedlams and out of their wits making themselves to be God Christ the Holy-Ghost Elias Moses and what not Of these Men I may conclude in general that however they may seem to be discreet in other matters and discourse well Laesam habent Imaginationem in this their madness and folly break out impetuously and have far more need of Physick than many a man that keeps his Bed They are mad and therefore have more need of a Cure than such as are in Bedlam They must be blooded and purged with Hellebore I can't better Characterize them than thus they are generally possest with madness folly pride insolency arrogancy singularity peevishness obstinacy impudence scorn and contempt of all other Sects perswasions and Opinions or that dissent from their Interpretations and Conjectures They are only wise only Learned in the Truth All damn'd but they and their followers And yet they torture the Scripture and turn it like a nose of Wax to their own ends and purposes Alwayes learning and yet never come to the knowledg of the Truth And yet so wilful and besotted say what you will say 't is all one they care not they will have their way though all the World contradict them Like vertiginous people they think all goes round and irregular when indeed the errour is in their own brains They generally affect Novelties and preferr Falshood before Truth and that which their folly and rashness has once produced with pride afterwards frowardness and contumacy they maintain as long as they live against all Reason or Sense In a word this is common to all Superstition there is nothing so bad and absurd ridiculous impossible incredible which they will not believe observe and diligently perform as much as in them lies Nothing so monstrous to conceive or intollerable to put in practice so cruel to suffer which they will not willingly undertake So powerful a thing is Superstition Nothing I say is so unbecoming a Gentleman as Superstition whose Master is the people and in all Superstition therefore wise men follow Fools Besides in it self its odious and deformed as well as stupid and sottish by how much the more it resembles Religion How a Gentleman may be sure to make choice of the true Religion Since every Religion Sect and Opinion as was said is as confidently believed and maintained by the professors thereof as the only true one It is the part of a Gentleman especially being instructed in good Learning to examine all with impartiality looking on his own with the same indifferency as if he had never been therein instructed that he may find out the truth of the Christian Faith and the main Articles of it the Being and existence of a GOD and the consequent Doctrines of Natural Divinity and then the Truth and Authority of the Holy writ And thus a Man shall be able indeed to give an account of his Faith What can be more unseemly than to hear a Gentleman have no more to say for his Belief than a Pesant a Mahometan a Jew or Pagan that he was so taught and all the Nation and therefore he is of that belief Which that he may the clearer do he must consider first the Testimony the Foundation on which Christianity is built viz. Jesus Christ That he was sent from GOD the Father to manifest his will and counsel unto us The truth of which when he hath cleared the belief thereof will be Rational to him Now this Testimony of Christ the Author
Boldness is in most dangerous and desperate cases required joyned with hope or assurance of success Emulation as I said is also a sort of it but in another sence for Courage may be considered as a Genus that is divided into as many sorts of species as there are objects and as many more as it has causes In the first sence Boldness is a sort in the other Emulation which is nothing else but an heat disposing the Soul to attempt things which she hopes may succeed from the example of others yet so attended with Desire and Hope that they are more powerful to send abundance of Blood to the Heart than Fear or Despair to hinder it Cowardize is Diametrically opposite to Courage 't is a frigid languishing whereby the Soul is from the Execution of what it should do impedited It proceeds from want of Hope and Desire and very unbecoming a Gentleman and is extremely noxious in that it diverts the Will from profitable Actions yet is advantagious to the Body For by hindring the motion of the Spirits it also hinders the dissipation of their Forces Besides it frees him that 's possessed with it of pain Fear the opposite to Boldness or Affright is not only frigidness but as it were Animae atonitus that divests her of all power of Resistance much more unbecoming a Gentleman it being an excess of Cowardize as Boldness is of Courage The chief cause is Surprize But I shall draw to an end SUB-DIVISION IV. 5 6. Joy and Sadness SInce in the midst of Joy there is commonly Sadness our Lives being a Glucupicron I shall here joyn them together and briefly touch them both with their subordinate Passions and hasten to a Conclusion Joy is a pleasing emotion of the Soul consisting in her enjoyment of good that the Impressions of the Brain represent unto her as her own Joy is the only fruiâ— the Soul possesses of all other goods insomuch as he that is wholly without Joy is as it were without a Soul Intellectual Joy There is also an Intellectual Joy which differs from this that is a Passion being a pleasing emotion in the Soul excited by her self and her sole action consisting in her enjoyment of good which her Understanding represents to her as her own yet is hardly separable from that which is a Passion For the Understanding being sensible of the good we possess the Imagination immediately makes some Impression in the Brain whereby the Spirits being moved the Passion of Joy is also excited 'T is evident then Joy whether a Passion or Intellectual proceeds from the opinion we have we possess some Good as sadness some Evil. Intellectual Sadness For in the same manner there is also an Intellectual sadness as well as Sadness a Passion which is an unpleasant languishing consisting in the Inconveniencies it receives from evil which the Impressions of the Brain represent unto her However many times we are Joyful or Sad without any apparent Cause or Reason we being not able to observe distinctly the good or evil exciting them Because the good or evil make their Impressions in the Brain without any intercourse of the Soul they belonging only to the Body And sometime also though they appertain to the Soul because she considers them not as good or evil and so the Impression in the Brain is joyned thereunto under some other Notion In Joy the Pulse is even but quicker than ordinary yet not so strong nor so great as in Love in it a Man feels a pleasant heat not only in the Breast but over all the parts of the Body with the Blood In Sadness the Pulse is slow and weak feeling the Heart as it were contracted or tyed about also frigidity which communicates a coldness to the whole Body and is extremely prejudicial to the Health The Orifices of the Heart being greatly streightned by the small Nerve that environs them and but little Blood sent to the Heart being not agitated in the Veins Yet the Appetite faileth not because the Pilorus the Lacteals and other Vessels through which the Chyle passes from the Stomack and Intrails to the Liver are open unless it be joyned with Hatred and that closes them On the other side in Joy all the Nerves in the Spleen Liver Stomack Intestines and the whole Man Act especially that about the Orifices of the Heart which opening and dilating them enables the Blood which the rest of the Nerves have sent from the Veins to the Heart to get in and issue forth in greater quantity than ordinary which Blood having often passed through it coming from the Arteries to the Veins easily dilates and produces Spirits fit for their subtilty and equality to form and fortifie the Impressions of the Brain which dispense lively and quiet thoughts to the Soul And therefore is a Passion conducing much to Health rend'ring the Colour and aspect of the Countenance livelier brisker and more Vermilion which we call Blushing For by opening the sluces of the Heart the blood is made thereby to flow quicker in all the Veins become hotter and more subtil Whereas clean contrary in Sadness the Orifice of the Heart being contracted the blood flows more slowly to the Veins and so becoming colder and thicker doth not dilate so much but rather retires to the internal parts neglecting the remote and external whence the Face becomes pale and squalid especially in great Sadnesses or such as are sudden as is seen in Affrights whose surprizals augment the Action that obstructs the Heart Change of Colour or Blushing Gesture of the Visage and Eyes Tremors Languishings Syncope Laughter Tears Sighs and Groans Whence these Passions cause various effects in us as well as Change of Colour or Blushing As Gesture of the Face and Eyes Tremors Languishings Syncope Laughter Tears Sighs and Groans Though for the most part the face is pale with Grief Sorrow Affrights and red in Joy yet sometimes it may also be red in Sadness especially when Desire Love nay and often times when Hatred is joyned therewith Definition of Shame Or in Shame which is only a mixture of Self-love and an earnest desire to avoid some present Infamy or 't is a sort of Modesty or Humility and mistrust of ones self for he that values himself so highly as to think none can slight or dis-esteem him can hardly ever be ashamed For the blood being heat by the passions they drive it to the Heart and thence through the Great Artery to the Veins of the Face and Sadness that obstructs the ventricles of the Heart not being able to hinder it unless when it is in extreme as also hindring the blood in the Face from descending when but moderate whilst the afore-named Passions send others thither which fixing the blood in the Face makes it oft-times redder then in Joy because the blood in Joy flowing quick appears livelier and fresher And so in Shame which is compounded of Self-Love and an earnest desire to avoyd some
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