in those things wherein it coulde doe nothing of it selfe For the soule cannot create her bodie But after that God hath created the bodie for it and that by his appoyntment nature hath disposed and fitted the same for the soule so farre foorth as is requisite before it can shewe what vertue it hath and settle it selfe to worke in the bodie then is shee left to doe that which shee is able to performe by the powers of her presence and to exercise her selfe therein beginning alwayes at the least and basest of her offices before shee apply her selfe to the chiefest by displaying her principall powers For whilest the childe is in his mothers bellie the soule practiseth vpon it her Vegetatiue and nourishing vertue by which it is nourished and groweth in greatnesse as wee see the like in plantes And when it is borne it receiueth besides from the soule the power of moouing and of sence as we see beastes haue and last of all by litle and litle the soule displayeth her other principall vertues But to speake of our matter subiect and to handle particularly those instrumentes of the soule which shee vseth in the nourishing and augmenting of the bodie wee will beginne at the Ventricle commonly called the stomacke Nowe because this name is vsed diuersly wee are to note that the Physicions who distinguish the partes of the bodie more exactly and properly apply this name of stomacke more specially to the vpper mouth of it and call the whole by the name of Ventricle whereof wee will speake anon Oftentimes also they take the stomacke for the whole passage and pype called Oesophage or the throate but commonly the whole Ventricle is called by that name Therefore I will vse it indifferently thereby to apply my selfe the better to the vsuall manner of speaking Wee are to knowe then first of all that amongest all the members seruing to nourishment GOD hath appoynted this to bee the first as that which receiueth the meate and drinke sent vnto it by the throate And to the ende wee may the better knowe the prouidence of God in the offices and commodities of this member I will first speake somewhat of the figure and forme thereof then of the situation of it and last of all of the substaunce of it The figure of it is rounde and long much like to a bagge-pipe as that which is beeing somewhat larger at the bottome and arising vpwarde towardes the left side groweth narrower by litle and litle For seeing it was to occupie the whole pace that is betwixt the liuer and the spleene it was requisite that it shoulde bee long to the ende it might not trouble that place which is assigned vnto them but giue them place Likewise it was requisite that it shoulde bee rounde both because the rounde forme is most capable and also because it will not so easily be broken and marred as other formes will be Vnto the stomacke is ioyned this narrow pipe called Oesophage to the end it might receiue into it thereby all kinds of meate and drink as wee declared when we spake of the pipes in the throate and of meates and drinkes For this cause there are two mouthes or doores in the stomacke called Orifices of which the one is called the higher Orifice or mouth because it is vppermost and the other for the same reason is called the lower Orifice The first is to receiue the meate that is sent to the stomacke by the Oesophage And this is that which the Physicions call by the proper name of stomacke as wee hearde before although commonly it is called the heart For when wee feele any weakenesse there or anie desire to vomite wee commonly say that wee are ill at the heart or that something lyeth vpon our heart But this sense of griefe is not at the heart but in that part of the Ventricle which is called the vppermost Orifice or stomacke whose seate and place is on the left side neere to the backe-bone And this Orifice or mouth of the stomacke is a great deale more large then the nethermost because the meate is oftentimes not well chewed besides many great and hard morsels that are swallowed nowe and then Againe this part is verie sensible because there is the originall and place of appetite by reason of those nerues of which it is chiefely made that growe together like vnto nettes Heereof wee may note this that the prouidence of God hath so well prouided for all the members and instruments of nourishment that there is not one of them but it hath some small sinewe to giue it sense whereby it may feele and perceiue what humours are hurtfull vnto it that by the griefe which it receiueth men may be moued to haue recourse to such remedies as are able to releeue it But to returne to our matter wee are to knowe that the vpper Orifice hath the Midriffe ioyned vnto it which is in steede of a doore to close and shutte it vp that when it is full of meates and drinkes they shoulde not ascende vp againe by the throate Concerning the nethermost Orifice it is both by the Greeke and Latine Writers called by a name that signifieth a Doore-keeper being made to let out the meate concocted in the Ventricle together with the superfluities and excrementes Therefore also it is narrower then the vpper Orifice and compassed about with a certaine kernelley fleshe to the ende that nothing shoulde passe by which were not well digested before and that by meanes of the mouth of it made in the manner of a ring It is situated on the right side vnder the hollownesse of the liuer a little lower then the other Orifice But it is not at the very bottome of the Ventricle but a little higher to the ende the foode beeing retayned and kept at the bottome might bee heated and digested there So that after the stomacke hath receiued into it the meate and drinke both these doores as well aboue as beneath are shut that the heate within might be retained and kept close For this cause there are certaine filaments or small stringes of which some are direct and straight hauing in them a marueilous secret vertue of nature to drawe vnto them others are ouerth wart and passe cleane crosse the former through certaine little corners that lie long-wise Their office is to close vp the vpper part from the body of the stomach Besides there are other crooked filaments which through oblique corners passe alongst the sides of both the other and these because they close the whole body of the stomacke haue power of retaining and serue to shut vp the mouth of the stomacke So that these filaments or threedes in regarde of their office may be compared to the strings of a purse whereby it is shut And because the stomacke being closed and shut vp digesteth the meate a great deale better then if it were gaping and wide open therefore nature
God is greater then our heart and knoweth all things And we see that repentance ordinarily followeth sinne and that a sinner can not but feele some heauinesse and griefe Yea nature it selfe teacheth vs when wee are displeased for some thing whereof we repent vs to strike our breast because the heart is within it as also to hang downe our eyes for shame But the vexation sadnesse and sorrowe which after the fault committed a man is striken with because of the hurt that taketh holde of him and the punishment he expecteth or endureth already serueth not but for a continuall torment vnto him as if hee were in a hell except he change his mind amend his fault and returne to God againe and so betake himselfe againe to that place and order of his which God had assigned him Beholde what good instructions we haue in our selues which ought to pricke vs forward to goodnesse and drawe vs backe from wickednesse especially our heart beareth vs certaine testimony of that which is acceptable in the sight of God Now as we haue heard that the forme thereof is aptest for the motion it hath so the substance matter whereof it is made is a kinde of flesh that hath none like it in all the other partes of the body For it is needful it should be so thicke and fast that it may the better discharge that office and duety that is laide vpon the heart On the other side it is so seated in the breast that the foundation and foote thereof is directly in the middest of it but the narrow end of it bendeth somewhat towards the left-side Which is done in regarde of two great commodities wherof the one is that it should not rush against the bones of the breast the other that it should heate the left side the more seeing the right side is holpen by the heat of the liuer which is on that side And although the left part of the heart be very bigge and hard and consequently more heauy then the right which is more subtile thinne and soft and therefore lighter neuerthelesse God hath giuen it such a counterpoize that both sides are of equall waight so that although there be no ligameÌ„t or band to tie it vnto the other parts that are neere about it yet without inclining or bending any one way more then other it hangeth in the middest of the vessell and skinne that compasseth it round about For the left part which of it owne nature is heauiest containeth in it a lighter matter namely the vitall spirite and the right side that is not so heauy hath in it a more heauy matter which is the blood Whereby wee see howe the prouidence of God hath so well framed the counterpoize that both partes are equall like to an euen and iust paire of ballance From whence also we may take a good lesson concerning the vprightnesse that ought to be in our heart and wil and in al our affections with what heart we ought to folow the ordinaÌ„ces of God that way which he showeth vs in his word how we should continue and abide stedfast therein and turne neither to the right hand nor the left as wee are often commanded in the holie Scriptures Moreouer forasmuch as the skin that coÌ„passeth the heart hath the bones of the breast on the one side the lungs on the other it was requisit that it should be of a matter so wel teÌ„pered that it might receiue no harme by the hardnes of the bones on the other side shuld not be so hard as to be able to hurt the lungs which are of as soft teÌ„der a flesh as any is in al the body Which teacheth vs sufficiently that the prouidence of God hath forgotten nothing in any respect But we must further know that there are two capacities or holow places in the heart distinguished one from another by a partition the one being on the right side the other on the left That place on the right side serueth to receiue the blood that commeth from the liuer to the heart by veines both for the nourishing of it selfe and of the lungs and for the generation of the vitall spirites whose forge and shoppe is in the other void place on the left side where the hart doth exercise his chiefe office which is to ingâ—nder the vitall spirites of the finest and thinnest blood which resolueth it selfe there as if it came of the sweate that proceedeth out of the right capacitie Now the vital spirit is as it were a most bright and liuely flame like to the celestiall nature which carrieth heat life to the whole body and is the instrument of the chief actions works therof In this left hollow place there is a great artery which is as it were the stocke of al the arteries in the body which a litle from the heart diuideth itselfe into two branches whereof the one ascendeth vpward to carry the vitall spirite into the vpper partes of the body the other which is some what bigger descendeth downeward By meanes of these arteries which are as it were the pipes of the heart the greatest benefite of all is communicated to all partes of the body Now because the arteries and veines haue neede one of an others help they meet one another are so linked and ioyned together that the arteries are seldome alone without the veines For the arteries being ioyned vnto the veines doe giue them aire and spirite which through the vitall heate stirreth the blood and helpeth to bring it to perfection and to preserue it In like manner the arteries sucke some small quantitie of blood out of the veines whereby the vitall spirite is carried sprinckled and increased Wherein wee haue againe a notable example and goodly paterne of that mutuall communicating that ought to be among men without which neither nature nor humane societie can be preserued the like also heereof wee see betweene the heart and the lungs in which there are pipes that passe from the one to the other for their mutuall helping and succouring one of an other For the Arteriall veine that proceedeth out of the right side of the hearâ— carrieth the blood to the lungs to nourish it and the veiny artery which commeth out of the left side of the heart carrieth ayre vnto it from the lungs to refresh it For after it is brought to the lungs by the artery or wind-pipe the lungs communicate the same vnto the heart Likewise by that same veiny artey the ouer-heated ayre and fumes are carried from the heart and serueth besides to carry the spirite and the arteriall blood vnto the lungs to heate them Therefore this artery is not altogether so thicke as the rest are nor so thinne as the veines to the ende it may easily enlarge or straiten it selfe or giue and receiue the ayre and that through hardnesse it hinder not the motion of the lungs as also
THE SECOND PART OF THE FRENCH ACADEMIE VVherein as it were by a naturall historie of the bodie and soule of man the creation matter composition forme nature profite and vse of all the partes of the frame of man are handled with the naturall causes of all affections vertues and vices and chiefly the nature powers workes and immortalitie of the Soule By PETER DE LA PRIMAVDAYE Esquier Lord of the same place and of Barre And translated out of the second Edition which was reuiewed and augmented by the Author AT LONDON Printed by G.B. R.N. R.B. 1594. TO THE RIGHT HONOVrable Sir IOHN PVCKERING knight Lorde Keeper of the great Seale of England T. B. wisheth increase of honour here to the glory of the Highest and endlesse happines with the Saints in the worlde to come HAuing finished Right honourable the translation of the second part of the French Academie and pondering with my selfe vnto whose Patronage I might commendand committ the same as it were into a safe Hauen to be preserued from the tempestuous and surging waues of this Sea-like worlde it came to my minde vpon sundry good considerations that your Honour might chalenge the same as a thing that by all right appertaineth vnto your selfe For first calling to my remembraunce that the principall scope aymed at by this Author in the penning of his book was to vphold the glorious essence of God against all contradiction of Atheists and that by the viewe of his diuine woorkes in the creation of the bodie and soule of man I presently concluded with my selfe that the defence of this poynt against that viperous broode was a woorke best beseeming the sacred seate of Magistracie and such as for their places representing the person of the supreme Iudge wore by the infallible worde of trueth adorned with his owne titles Psal 82. 1. Exod. 21. 6. Nowe forasmuch as by the speciall prouidence of God it hath pleased her royall Maiestie to aduaunce you to that seate of magistracie next vnder her Highnesse in which you are placed it seemed vnto mee that I shoulde after a sort offer wrong vnto your Honour if I did not recommend vnto it the defence of the highest ruler whose person you doe in a higher degree then others represent Secondly when I considered with my selfe that this generation of Earth-wormes which place nature being but a creature in the roome of the Creatour and denie the immortalitie of soules after this life doe therein as much as lieth in them labour to put out the light of their owne conscience which yet could neuer be wholly darkened in the mindes of anie no not of the most desperate Atheist that euer was I thought it most conuenient to craue that your Honours lawfull protection in the behalfe of this Booke and of my small paines taken therein for the benefite of my countrey might bee as it were a Sub paena serued vpon the whole rabble of these deuils incarnate to cause them to appeare at that high court of Conscience in which you enioy the chiefest place next vnder her sacred Maiestie there to make answere to the humble complaint of Conscience vnto which they offer such notorious violence A third reason that moueth mee to become an humble petitioner that this booke may be gathered vnder the wings of your Honours safe defence is the constant report of your great care that none be intertained into your retinue and familie whose hearts are possessed with a liking of that Antichrist of Rome within the compasse of whose iurisdiction this dangerous infection of Atheisme beganne first in this latter age of the worlde to breake foorth and hath nowe set footing euen in those countries from whence by a generall consent of all Estates it hath beene banished long agoe Let Florence testifie this to all posteritie succeeding where that monster Machiauel first beganne to budde who hath nowe spredde abroade his deadly branches of Atheisme ouer the most countries in Christendome insomuch as fewe places but are so well acquainted with his doctrine that the whole course of mens liues almost euery where is nothing else but a continuall practise of his preceptes And yet Machiauel beeing Secretarie to that Florentine estate and employed altogether in ciuill affayres may seeme in some sort inexcusable if hee bee compared with manie of those vnholy Fathers of Rome who making open profession to bee the Ring-leaders forsooth of the whole worlde to bring them vnto GOD were plunged irrecouerably in this bottomlesse gulfe of Atheisme Pope Leo the tenth a Florentine borne was so farre from confessing Christ Iesus to bee the Sonne of God with Peter whose Vicar hee woulde seeme to haue beene that hee blushed not openly to deride the doctrine of the Gospel and to scoffe at Christ Iesus himselfe the Authour thereof For vpon a time as Cardinall Bembo by occasion cited vnto him a place of Scripture concerning the gladde tydings of saluation this sonne of perdition most blasphemously replied vpon him in this manner Howe profitable this fable of Christ hath beene to vs and to our crewe is well knowen to all ages A most horrible saying and such as coulde not proceede but from a flatte Atheist of whom also it is reported that he maintained there was neither Heauen nor Hell after this life Birds of the same feather were Siluester the second Benedict the ninth Gregorie the seuenth Iohn the three twentieth Alexander the sixt Clement the eight Paulus the thirde with diuers others of that rabble of whome some vtterly renounced God and betooke themselues to the Deuill some denyed the immortalitie of the soule some taught most damnable heresies and all of them turned the grace of our God into wantonnesse denying God the onely Lorde and our Lorde Iesus Christ Iude verse 4. It woulde require a long time to anatomize their seuerall liues and your Honours waightie affaires in behalfe of this Church and Common-wealth will suffer no long discourse in regarde whereof I am constrained in few words and yet in most humble wise to recommend my selfe and these my poore labours to bee shrowded vnder your Lordships safe protection most heartily crauing at the handes of the highest so to guide your Honor in the managing of that great charge he hath called you vnto as may make most both for his own glory here and for your blessed and endlesse rewarde else-where * ⎠* Your Honors most addicted T. B. TO THE CHRISTIAN READER Grace and Peace SENECA the Philosopher reporteth gentle Reader that the looking glasse was first inuented to this end that man might vse it as a meane to know himself the better by Now besides that in a glasse wee may attaine to some kinde of knowledge of our selues when wee take a viewe of our owne countenance and of the lineaments proportion of our bodies outwardly Socrates applied the same to a further vse for the instruction of manners For as Apuleius writeth of him he earnestly perswaded his Auditors to looke
being indued with meaner gifts and those also who being furnished with more excellent ornaments of Gods spirite were puffed vp with pride in themselues and with disdyne towards others of fewer graces And this being the second vse that ariseth from this naturall knowledge of our bodies offreth it selfe in most plentifull manner to be obserued by vs in euery part and member of the same What a notable lesson of good neighbourhood are we taught by the view contemplation of mans face For as many seueral members of different vses are so artificially knit and linked together in one face that not one of them is any impediment or hinderance vnto another in the execution of his office so we are instructed thereby how to cary our selues towardes our neighbours euery one to containe himselfe within the limits of his seuerall calling not to incroch one vpon another as the maner of a great many is that are not contented with their owne estate Againe in the second story of this frame when wee consider the lungs which are the bellowes of the voyce are placed so neere the heart that they compasse it rounde about are not all men thereby admonished that their speach is but the interpreter of the heart the messenger therof that the mouth must like a good seruant attend vpon the heart vtter nothing but that which it receiueth first froÌ„ the same that no man ought to imitate the example of Hippolytus in Euripides who being admonished of his Nurse to remember his Oath made her this mishapen answere 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The tongue hath sworne but the mind is vnsworne As many hollow-hearted subiects of late dayes behaued themselues towads her Maiestie hauing recâ—iued a dispensation so to doe from Pope Gregorie the thirteenth whose goodly posie was thus set down in certaine tokens sent to all such as were to be reconciled vnto him Fili mi da mihi cor sufficit My sonne giue me thy heart and iâ— sufficeth Which is all one as if he had said sweare and forsweare thy self if thou wilt say thou art a good subiect go to the church do whatsoeuer is commanded thee so thou let me haue thy heart it skilleth not who haue thy tâ—â—g thy hande all the rest of thy body Elihu being of another spirit was better instructed in the knowlege of this neare coniunction which naturally ought to be betwene the heart and the tongue and therefore speaking to his friend Iob he telleth him that his words should be in the vprightnesse of his heart Whereas they that follow not this course of nature but violently draw their tongue to vtter that which is far disagreeing from the meaning of the heart are branded for the same by the kingly Prophet Dauid with this mark of infamy that they are men of two harts or of a double heart which is monstrous in nature The like instruction to this we are taught in that the tongue is placed so neere vnder the braine which is the seate of the mind vnderstanding part of man as it were at the feet of her schoolemaster to the intent it should not speake vnaduisedly and handouer head as we vse to say but with great deliberation both in regard of the matter it self to be deliuered by speech and also of the circumstances of time place and persons which are not to be neglected For looke how preposterous it is to set the 〈◊〉 before the horse so is it for the tongue to run before the wit and to vtter it knoweth not wel what hauing receiued no direction from the same And therfore Salomon putting the name of heart for the minde and vnderstanding part of man saith that a righteous mans heart meditateth or pondereth what it shal answer that the heart of the wise guideth his mouth prudently Neither is it slightly to be passedouer that euery one hauing two eies that serue for seeing two eares for hearing two nostrils for smelling two feet for going hath yet but one soft fleshy tongue for sundry vses that tied fast with strings compassed about with gums teeth and lips as with a double wall to teach men thereby that the tongue being a very vnruly member had neede to be brideled hemmed in on euery side least it breake forth into a world of wickednes and breed destruction to the whole body Now if we look into the middle story of this building there wee shall see that although the heart be the fountaine of life and the root of al the vital spirits that are dispersed into euery part and member of the body yet it cannot want either the coole refreshing it hath from the lungs or the veine-pipâ—s proceeding from the liuer or the moouing strings it hath from the sinews or the necessary defence of the ribbes and bones which as strong bulwarks and rampires fence it in on euery side Euen so fareth it with the great and mighty men of this worlde who although in regarde of their power and authoritie ouer others they seeme to haue their liues and liuelihoodes at their becke and commaundement yet they are so farre from being able of themselues to maintaine their honours and high places without the necessary aide of the inferiour sort as that without them they shoulde want wherewith to vpholde their owne liues But this appeareth yet more euident in the lower story of this frame where the guttes and entrailes of the body as it were the sinks of an house haue their abiding For although in regard of their vse they may seeme to be the basest and most abiect partes of the body yet if we consider the necessitie of them we shall see that a man may better spare a principall member of his body then the least gut that is in his belly Euen so fareth it with the politike body of a coÌ„mon wealth in which the base Artisan wil sooner be missed oftentimes then he that carrieth a greaterport and is aduanced to a higher roome and office in the same A third vse that may be made of this booke as it were of a christal glasse worthy the looking into is that singular delight pleasure which may be reaped by the view and consideration of the harmony betwene this terrestriall frame the celestiall habitation of the heauens when they are compared together And as that famous sentence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Know thy selfe is reported of many to haue descended from the heauens so surely it wil be no small furtherance to a man whereby hee may attaine to a better knowledge of himselfe if hee seriously obserue what a great agreement there is betwene him and the heauens whereunto the very situation of his countenaunce lift vp towardes heauen doeth as it were leade him by the hand First therefore if wee consider the originall of them both wee finde in holy Writ that as God is saide to haue made the heauens in the beginning so also it is
amongst vs of those foolishmen of whom Dauid speaketh Who say in their hearts that there is no God In the forefront of which companie the students of Machiauels principles and practicers of his precepts may worthily be raunged This bad fellowe whose works are no lesse accounted of among his followers then were Apollos Oracles among the Heathen nay then the sacred Scriptures are among sound Christians blusheth not to belch out these horrible blasphemies against pure religion and so against God the Author thereof namely That the religiō of the heathen made them stoute courageous whereas Christian religion maketh the professors thereof base-minded timerous fitte to become a pray to euery one that since men fell from the religion of the Heathen they became so corrupt that they would beleeue neither God nor the Deuill that Moses so possessed the land of Iudaea as the Gothes did by strong hand vsurpe part of the Romane Empire These and such like positions are spued out by this hel-hound sometime against true religion otherwhiles against the religion and Church of Rome sometimes also taxing the religion of the heathen of falsehoode and coosinage so that in trueth hee woulde haue all religion to be of like accompt with his disciples except it be so farre foorth as the pretence and shewe of religion may serue to set forward and effect their wicked pollicies And for this cause hee setteth downe this rule for euery Prince and Magistrate to frame his religion by namely that he should pretend to be very religious and deuout although it be but in hypocrisie And to this hee addeth a second precept no lesse impious that a Prince should with tooth and naile maintaine false myracles and vntrueths in religion so long as his people may thereby be kept in greater obedience Nowe what fruits wee are to expect from the students of this profession let all men iudge that haue any sparkes of pure religion glowing in their hearts Vnto these may bee added such as treade in the steppes of Lamech who derided the iudgement of God vpon Caine such as walke in the wayes of Ismael who mocked Isaac in regarde of the promise and such as those irreligious persons were of whome Peter speaketh who in iesting-wise asked what was become of the promise of Christ his comming to iudgement That there are such amongest vs euen in these times wherein we liue let the testimonie which one of that crew gaue lately of himselfe when the heauy hand of God by sickenesse sommoned him to giue an accompt of his dissolute life He being one day admonished of his friendes to leaue his badde course of life which otherwise woulde bring him to vtter destruction scoffingly returned them this answere Tush quoth hee what is hee better that dieth in his bedde then hee that endeth his life at Tiburne And beeing further vrged to doubt the losse of his soule in Hell fire for euer although hee feared not death in this worlde hee replied Hell What talke you of Hell to mee I knowe if I once come there I shall haue the company of better then my selfe I shall also meete with some knaues in that place and so long as I shall not sit there alone my care is the lesse But you are madde folkes quoth hee for if I feared the Iudges of the Bench no more then I dread the iudgements of God I woulde before I slept diue into one karles bagges or other and make merrie with the shelles I found in them so long as they would last The voyce of a meere Atheist and so afterwardes hee pronounced of himselfe when hee was checked in conscience by the mightie hand of GOD. And yet this fellowe in his life time and in the middest of his greatest ruffe had the Presse at commaundement to publish his lasciuous Pamphlets whereby hee infected the hearts of many yoong Gentlemen and others with his poysonfull platforms of loue and diuellish discourses of fancies fittes so that their mindes were no lesse possessed with the toyes of his irreligious braine then their chambers and studies were pestered with his lewde and want on bookes And if the rest of his crew may be permitted so easily as hee did without controlment to instill their venimous inuentions into the minds of our English youth by meanes of printing what other thing can wee looke for but that the whole land should speedily be ouerflowen with the deadly waters of all impieties when as the flood-gates of Atheism are thus set wide open Are they not already growen to this boldnes that they dare to gird at the greatest personages of all estates and callings vnder the fables of sauage beasts not sparing the very dead that lie in their graues that the holy Apostles the blessed virgin Mary the glorious kingdome of heauen it selfe must be brought in as it were vpon astage to play their seuerall parts according as the humor of euery irreligious head shal dispose of them And wheras godly learned men and some that haue spoken of their owne experience haue in their bookes that are allowed by authority termed Stage-playes and Theaters The schoole of abuse the schoole of bawdery the nest of the deuil sinke of all sinne the chaire of pestilence the pompe of the deuil the soueraigne place of Satan yet this commendation of them hath lately passed the Presse that they are rare exercise of vertue It were too long to set downe the Catalogue of those lewde and lasciuious bookes which haue mustered thēselues of late yeeres in Pauls Churchyard as chosen souldiers ready to fight vnder the deuils banner of which it may be truely said that they preuaile no lesse if not more to the vpholding of Atheisme in this light of the Gospel then the Legend of lies Huon of Burdeaux King Arthur with the rest of that rabble were of force to mainteine Popery in the dayes of ignorance Wherefore my humble sute is to all such as may by vertue of their authoritie stay the violent course of Atheisme dayly spredde abroade by these pernicious Pamphlets that they woulde lay to their helping hand for the speedy redresse thereof And as for those that reape the gayne of iniquitie by the sale of such infectious stuffe oh what a sweete smelling sacrifice should they offer vnto the Lord if they would gather all such hurtfull Books together and cause them to passe through the fire in the midst of that yeard where now they are so commonly sold Hereby it would come to passe that the land being purged of so great contagion as droppeth out of the pennes of such godlesse braines the Lord would withdrawe his heauy hand which now many wayes presseth vs sore the preaching of the Gospel woulde preuaile mightilie as it did in Ephesus after the like sacrifice and yoong Gentlemen and others woulde employ good houres vpon better studies which the Lord grant for his mercies sake AMEN THE SPECIALL AND principall matters handled in this second tome of the
stay or resting place vntill they be come to those places which God hath appoynted for them Plants cast their rootes downeward and their branches vpward euery one following therein his nature For a plant being to receiue his nourishment from the earth by meanes of his rootes which are vnto it in stead of mouthes and veines to sucke and draw necessary sustenance for the preseruation of it selfe sendeth them alwayes into the ground and disperseth them all about according as they can find nourishment but the stalke stocke branches and boughs which are to be nourished in the ayre alwayes disperse themselues draw and ascend vpward Beasts hauing sense doe much more shewe that liking which they haue to follow their natural inclination For we see that by their proper apprehension and appetite they are driuen hither and thither to seeke and follow after that which they desire and loue being agreeable to their nature and to flie from that which they hate as being contrary thereunto Likewise men who only of all other mortall creatures were by creation made partakers of reason haue their proper motion conuenient to their nature For being created to attaine to that soueraigne and eternall Good which is set before them in the diuine essence they haue receiued from that infinite goodnes power and vertue to wish for that Good with a desire to apply and ioyne themselues thereunto Wherefore all men are naturally pricked and driuen forward with a loue and desire tending to that Good aswell because of that naturall agreement which they haue with the same Idea of Good which is God their soules being of a celestial and immortall essence as also because this Good is of that nature that it ought to be loued of euery nature yea so much the more loued as there is greater measure of reason in the creature to know it But this desire naturally ingrafted in euery mans heart which prouoketh and keepeth men in a loue and liking of euery thing which they thinke meete to content and satisfie them and which they seeke after in diuers things as their affections lead them differeth much from that desire which by heauenly grace is planted a new in those whom God according to his good pleasure and alwaies iust wil hath chosen and elected to euerlasting happinesse and pricked forward guideth and leadeth them to that principall end for which they were created For although the other sort of men being heires of that corruption that hath ouerspread the whole nature of man by the meanes of the sinne of the first father of all be driuen forward in soule and spirit yea many times not thinking thereof to their naturall desire of obtayning that Good yet they seeke it as blind men that goe by groping but cannot find it because the darkenes of error ignorance wherewith their vnderstanding is ouerwhelmed hindreth them from looking directly towards that Good and causeth them to wander out of that only way that could lead them vnto it So that in stead of looking vnto God and to celestiall and heauenly things they stay themselues about earthly corruptible things vnto which the neerer they labor to approch the farther off they are from the end of their wishes desires For this cause the blessed Apostle saith that the natural man perceiueth not the things of the spirit of God for they are foolishnesse vnto him neyther can he know them because they are spiritually discerned But they that are illuminated and guided by heauenly and supernaturall light and whose vnderstanding is framed by the spirit of God to receiue It know then how they are carried by their proper motion to the contemplation of the true Good in the enioying whereof they shall once for euer be made partakers of a felicitie which eye neuer saw nor eare heard neither came into mans heart I meane when by dissoluing the mortall tabernacle of this body they shall be clothed with glorious immortalitie and shall see him face to face who is all in all in whome they shall be satisfied according to the doctrine of the Prophet In thy presence is the fulnesse of ioy and at thy right hand there are pleasures for euermore This is that my companions which ought to whet vs on to direct our sight streight to that place whereat wee ought to leuell namely to heauen and not looke to any other thing then to God who is the scope which we desire and shal one day attaine vnto Nowe if wee can not see this white so farre off and much lesse come vnto it without direction GOD is come neare vnto vs in the person of his Sonne Iesus Christ who being the brightnesse of his glory hath left vs his word for a sure guide besides so many testimonies of his prouidence and goodnesse ouer all creatures that wee daily beholde him as it were visible in them For the ruled motions of the heauens the wonderfull workemanship of so many starry tents the connexion agreement force vertue and beauty of the Elements the situation firmnesse spreading of the earth amidst the waters and so many sundry natures and creatures in this whole frame of the worlde al these things I say are so many interpreters to teach vs that God is the efficient cause of them and that he is manifested in them and by them as their final cause But the glasse wherein we may yet better beholde him is man in whome shineth and is imprinted an image of the diuine essence which is not found againe in any visible creature that is reason and vnderstanding wherof by creation he was made partaker aswel as the Angels This is the chiefe and principall work of the creation whereby God meant to giue such a being to his creatures spiritual natures to the end he might communicate his wisdom goodnes with them thereby lead them to eternal felicitie Wherefore if it be good for men to consider the works of God in his creatures and in their nature created by him and that for the reasons and ends declared by vs it is better and more necessary that they should do the same thing in their owne person nature wherein there are almost as many maruailous works of the almighty power of God as ther are in the whole frame besids and in all other creatures Therefore that sentence which saith Knowe thy selfe was not without good reason so much praised and renowmed amongst al the ancient Greeke and Latin Philosophers as that which is worthy to be taken for a heauenly oracle a sentence pronounced by the mouth of God For whosoeuer shall know himselfe well cannot faile to know God his creator and to honour him as he ought if he follow the chiefe end for which man was created as wel as the residue of the creatures Plato in his Phaedrus and in the tenth booke of Lawes searching and inquiring by the meanes of motion what was the substance nature and immortalitie of
the hippe-bones in them that bring foorth children Others saye that there is no opening but onely that it stretcheth foorth and inlargeth it selfe There are some also that thinke it is so called because it is so necessarie vnto life that after it is once hurt death followeth After this bone the rest that followe are lesse and lesse vntill you come to the highest insomuch that the lowest are biggest and the highest least to the ende that as they are the foundation one of another so they might bee able to beare that charge which they are to sustayne and bee the lesse burdened And as for the coniunction and vniting of them together it is so well contriued that it hath so much strength as is necessarie for it and is neyther too soft nor too harde too drie nor too wette and slipperie but that which is meete for their motions This order of bones and turning ioynts thus raunged is properly called the Backebone or Chine and in Latine Spina dorsi because of the sharpe endes or poyntes which eche of them hath oneuerie side for his defence as it were thornes This whole chine hath a marow proceeding from the hinder part of the braine and reaching downe to the nether ende of the backebone which beeyng rounde in shape is as a riuer whose spring is in the brayne from whence it proceedeth as the great Arterie doeth out of the heart and the hollow veyne out of the liuer as wee haue alreadie declared and may intreate thereof more at large in speaking of the inner partes of the bodie Therefore as the great arterie is as it were the stocke of all the rest being planted in the heart from whence it springeth and the hollowe veyne whose fountaine is in the liuer is as it were the stocke of the other veines so the marrowe of the chine is as it were the stocke and spring from whence all the sinewes issue which afterward like to litle riuers impart their sence and motion And because the fountaine of this riuer is in the braine therfore also the originall of sinewes is attributed thereunto notwithstanding that all those sinewes which giue motion and sence to the partes that are vnder the head except it be to the intrals and guttes proceede from the marrowe of the chine Hereby we may note once againe that that place alleadged by mee out of Salomon where hee calleth the backbone a siluer chaine agreeeth also very fitly with that which is here spoken For seeing the sinewes distribute sence and motion to all the members of the body as it hath bene already told vs and haue their beginning from the braine and marrow of the chine we may well say that it is a chaine and coaâ—d of a great length which extendeth it selfe very farre by reason of other chaines and strings proceeding from it For as the backbone may be resembled to a chaine so the marrowe within it is like to a coarde whereof all the sinewes which are as it were the little strings of all the members of the body haue their beginning and increase And therfore some in stead of a siluer chaine translate a coard or threede of siluer as wee reade in the common Latine translation but the sence is all one And that which Salomon addeth after of the golden ewer which is broken in olde-age with the exposition of the best learned giuen thereof agreeth also very well to this effect For by this golden Ewer they vnderstand the skinne that couereth the braine which is of a yellowish colour resembling the colour of golde It is very fitly called a Ewer because it is a vessell contianing the matter and nourishment of the sinewes and as it were the fountaine of all the motions and sences of the body it is as it were the lodging of all the animall partes and the originall of all the sences both internall and externall Wherefore the matter of the braine contayned within it is of a more celestiall nature then any other part of the bodie and commeth neerest to the spiritual and diuine natures So that this vessell is not without good and iust cause called by Salomon the Ewer of gold For there is in it a fountaine out of which man receiueth great treasures Nowe because the sinewes arteries and veynes were to haue their passage and issue from their fountaine without let or hinderaunce it was requisite that the backebone should haue such holes as it hath and that the bones therof should be of that fashion they are to the ende that neyther themselues nor the marrow within might be easily broken and that the next partes and members might not be hurt For it is very dangerous to haue any rupture or hurt in the chine aswell by reason of the marrow as of the sinewes And because it pleased God to lodge there those internall members of the bodie that are most necessarie for life and for the preseruation thereof he fastened the ribbes to both sides of the backebone namely twelue on euery side and hath left a sufficient space betwixt them that the place might bee able to receiue those members for whose cause they were so built disposed So that there are before and behinde especially about the noblest members very long and large bones to defend them on al sides as it were good harnesse and strong bulwarkes but chiefly behind because the armes and handes cannot so well defend them as they may the other before Therefore God hath better armed them with bones making those of the shoulders so large behind as they are and knitting them also vnto the backebone by their bande but yet so that they touch it not Likewise they are fastened to the highest bone in the brest which reacheth vp to the throate aboue the first ribbe by two litle bones which passe ouer the ribbes that are betwixt them For this cause these bones are called the keyes of the throate For they close and shutte vp these partes as it were keyes so that without them shoulder blades would fall backeward beeing no more able to keepe close together then the poldron of an harnesse not beeing fastened to the gorget The armes likewise are fastened to the shoulders as also the thighes and legges to the hippes then the handes are ioyned to the armes with their ioyntes and bandes as hath beene touched before Now we are to note further according to that I spake euen nowe that the backebone is in a mans body as the keele in a ship so that as the rest of the matter and forme of the shippe must bee well proportioned and framed according to the keele so is it in the composition of mans body and in that correspondencie which all the members ought to haue with the ridgebone of which they all depende otherwise there would be no good agreement but great deformitie And as for the ribbes and brest bones they haue such workemanship as is requisite for the members contained within the
rehearse manie moe vses if we woulde speake more particularly of this matter whereof wee meane to speake but generally as also of all the rest that concerne the anatomie of the bodie according to that ende which wee propounded to our selues in the entrie of our speeches namely to open a gappe onely to the consideration first of the matter whereof mans bodie is compounded and of the diuersitie thereof then of that forme which God hath giuen vnto it and lastly of the profit and vse of both to the ende wee might dayly learne the better to knowe the great power skill wisedome goodnesse and prouidence of him that hath created and disposed all things in so good order But as touching that which we spake of the pappes and of their substance wee haue yet to consider of two poynts well worthie the noting concerning the place where God hath seated them First they are there placed where they serue to shroude and to defend the noblest and most necessarie partes for life that are in the breast namely the heart and the lungs For they are set before them to countergard and keepe them both from ouer great heate and from excessiue colde and from many other inconueniences And as they serue for the heate of the heart so their owne heate is increased by reason they are so neere the heart whereby the milke that is ingendred in them is the better baked So that wee see that although GOD hath not giuen men pappes for the generation of milke and nourishing of children as women haue neuerthelesse they are not without profite and vse in them as wee haue hearde Whereunto also wee may adde the beautifying of that part of the bodie where they are placed especially in women Againe could they possibly be set in any place that were more fit and more easie both for Mothers and Nurses and for the children to whome they giue sucke and nourishment For if the mother bee disposed to giue her childe sucke shee hath this commoditie to sitte downe if she will to holde it in her bosome and vpon her knees and likewise to imbrace it in her armes whether she sit lye downe or stande also shee may carie it vp and downe whither shee please euen whilest shee giueth it sucke and feedeth it This commoditie is not graunted to the females of beastes when they giue sucke and nourish their little ones with their teates Wherein wee haue to marke one notable difference which GOD hath put betweene men and beastes For beastes haue no other care of their yong ones but onely to nourish their bodies with foode vntill they bee able to feede and gouerne themselues afterward both syre and damme and little ones forget one another taking no more knowledge eche of other nor louing one another more then other beastes of their kinde But amongst men both the father and the mother are caried with an affection towardes their little children which is the cause why they forget them not as beastes doe And as they loue their children so are they loued of them insomuch that there is a mutuall loue proceeding from that naturall affection which they beare one towardes another On the other side this loue causeth parents to let their children haue instruction that they may bee wise and vertuous And therefore it is not without good cause that womens pappes are placed in the breast namely to the ende they shoulde bee vnto them as signes and testimonies of the affection of the heart and of that loue which they ought to beare towardes their children whereof they ought to make them partakers aswell as of the milke of their breastes and as if they gaue vnto them their heart as they giue them their blood turned into milke Likewise children are by the selfe-same meanes to bee admonished of that mutuall affection and loue which they ought to carie towards their mothers as if they had sucked it out of their breasts and from their heart together with their milke that they may returne the like vnto them againe Wherefore mothers and children haue a wise mistres in nature and in the prouidence of God that appeareth therein if they knew how to followe it well Againe for this cause mothers ought to take greater delight in nourishing their owne children then in committing them to the handes of strangers and hyred Nurses For out of doubt the mutuall affection and loue of eche to other woulde greatly increase thereby Nowe hauing spoken of the place which God hath assigned to the pappes let vs consider his prouidence in their forme which is such that fayrer and more fitte for that office of theirs coulde not bee deuised For wee see howe they hang there in the breast of the mother and Nurse as it were two bottles hauing nipples and holes made fit for the infants mouth that hee might take holde of them and drawe and sucke the milke that is within the dugges which are filled presently after the child is borne so that hee is no sooner come into the worlde but hee hath such foode and nourishment readie drest as is meete for him For albeit the infant bringeth his teeth with him from his mothers wombe yet because they are hidde within the gummes and are not yet come foorth hee must haue such meate as needeth no chewing but may bee sucked which GOD hath prouided for him Wherein wee haue a woonderfull testimonie of the care hee hath ouer vs and what kinde of Father and cherisher hee is For this cause Dauid had good reason to say Out of the mouth of babes and suckelings hast thou ordeyned strength because of thine enemies For if one consider the prouidence of God which dayly sheweth it selfe ouer children onely there is no Atheist Epicure or other enemie of God so great which shall not bee confounded conuinced and constrayned will hee nill hee to giue glorie to GOD. For before children can speake euen from their mothers breastes they shewe foorth and preache the prouidence of God in prouiding milke for them But wee shall finde it a matter of greater admiration if wee consider not onely in what manner they are nourished presently after their birth but also howe they are nourished in their mothers wombe For there they are not sustayned by the mouth nor with milke as they are after their byrth but with their mothers owne blood receiued by the Nauill which is in the middest of the bodie But God hath made such an agreement betweene the wombe in which the little childe is nourished in his mothers belly and betwixt her breasts that that blood wherewith the Infant was feede before it was borne presently after the birth ascendeth into her pappes in which by reason of the aboade it maketh there it becommeth white and is so well heated and prepared that it hath as conuenient and pleasant a taste as can be put into the infants mouth And as for the substance of the milke there cannot be any
the prouidence of God herein that amongst them members giue by him to the body he hath created some of that nature that a man can in no wise liue without them and others so that albeit they be not necessary for life yet he can not liue at his ease and not receiue great hurt if he want them The members of the first sort are the braine the heart the lungs the liuer the splene the stomacke and such like that are the seates of the animal vital and natural vertues without which there could bee no stay of life For after these members are hurt or perished farewell life The other sort are the eies the eares the nose the tongue the feete the hands and such like For although a man loose some one or many of these members yet he doeth not therefore loose his life but hee shall surely feele the detriment which such a losse bringeth vpon him And as wee commonly say that the Oxe knoweth not the valow of his â—orne vntill the haue lost it so wee may with greater reason say that no man knoweth of what valew the partes of his body are vntill he want them or vntill they be so hindered that they cannot fulfill their office Wherefore we ought to pray to God to preserue them for vs whilest wee haue them and giue him thankes because he hath not created vs lame or maimed of any member And when we see any that were borne without them or that haue lost them since wee ought to be so much the more stirred vp to glorifie him acknowledging it to come from his grace in that he hath dealt better with ratheâ—r with them although we haue deserued no more then they Now because we do not so neither haue this consideration as we ought to giue him thankes and to vse them to his honour and glory therefore he depriueth vs of them many times to punish this ingratitude and to cause vs to know better the valew of these gifts after they are taken from vs and that wee haue lost them seeing we could not knowe it whilest wee had them nor yet him that gaue them vnto vs. And by the same meanes also he would admonish and put vs in minde of the dammage we receiue by the defects of our soule by those which wee feele by experience in our bodies Whereupon wee haue an other goodly point of the prouidence of God to note in that hee hath giuen vs almost all double members without which we could not liue but with great paine and trouble to the end that if we lost one wee might yet vse the other and in some sort supplie the losse of that which is wanting For this cause hee did not create onely one eye or one nosethrill one eare one arme one hand one legge or one foote but twaine This ought to bee well considered that wee might haue the better knowledge of the care that God hath ouer vs seeing hee hath so well prouided for all things that hee will not onely haue vs liue but also furnish vs with all necessary things whereby wee might liue more commodiously more easily and with lesse paine and trouble And when it falleth out that some one of these members or both are wanting God supplieth this defect by maruailous meanes For sometimes wee see that maymed folkes haue done many thinges with their feete or with their necke and head that others could hardly doe with their hands at least wise they haue done things without handes that would seeme altogether incredible to such as haue not seene them And many times wee see dumbe men whose handes stand them in steade both of tongue and eares For by the signes and gestures of their handes they signifie their meaning to others as if they themselues did speake and vnderstand the minde of others that make the like signes Yea there are some that conceiue what others say vnto them onely by seeing them open and mooue their lippes so that we must needs acknowledge it as a miracle of God Now hauing spoken generally of the senses of the body and specially of touching as also of their members and instruments wee must come to their particulars Therefore AMANA thou shalt discourse vnto vs first of the eyes which are as it were the principall windowes of this building which we haue vndertaken to pourtraite and set foorth Of the eyes and of their excellencie profite and vse of the matter and hâ—nors whereof they are made Chap. 10. AMANA It hath alwayes bin the opinion of the Stoics and Academics that the bodily senses did rather hinder then help to obtaine wisedome that no man could know or vnderstand anything that the senses were feeble and slowe that sensible things were so small that they could not be perceiued or els so subiect to motion that no certainetie coulde be found in them that our life is short and full of opinions and customes that all was compassed about with darkenes and hid and therefore that nothing could be perceiued or vnderstoode so that men were to professe that they woulde affirme or approoue of nothing Plato writeth in many places that wee must beleeue nothing but the vnderstanding which beholdeth that that is simple and vniforme and as it is indeede and that there is no science but only in those reasons discourses which the soule maketh wheÌ„ it is not troubled with bodily lets as with sight and hearing or with griefe plesure Eusebius disputing against this sheweth that the senses help much towards the obtaining of wisedome that when they are rightly affected and in their naturall habite they neuer deceiue the mind that it â—tentiue But wee shall knowe more at large what their profit is by continuing our discourses of the instruments of the senses Let vs knowe therefore that the eies were giuen of God to men to cause them to see and to be as it were their watch towers fentinels the guides leaders of the whole body as also they are as it were the chiefe windowes of the body or rather of the soule which is lodged within it For it is a most excellent worke of God whether we coÌ„sider the matter wherof they are made how diuerse or agreeable it is to the office that is assigned them or the beauty that is in their forme in the diuersity of their colours or the commodity vse of their motions and howe they are set in their places as it were goodly pretious stones laide in some curious piece of worke how they are inuironed and armed both aboue and beneath on the right hand and on the left with the eye-lids and the eye-browes not onely for their protection and defense but also to adorne and to make them shew more beautifully And surely it is not without cause that God hath put such great excellencie in them and hath created and framed them so artificially For first they are the chiefest members of all the
hath not giuen it to any of them but to him only by that he hath put a difference betweene him the beasts as also by reason and vnderstanding whereof he hath made him partaker in respect wherof he hath giuen him speech which is as naturall vnto him as reason which is the spring head thereof and from whence it proceedeth as a riuerfrom his fountaine For how could men make known their counsailes thoughts without speech And what good should they receiue by that sense vnderstanding which God hath giuen them more theÌ„ to beasts if they had no more speech then they haue wherby to make it known And to what purpose would speech serue them if they knew not what to say And what should they haue to speake if they had no more vnderstaÌ„ding reason then other liuing creatures haue Were it not sufficient then to haue a coÌ„fused voice only as they haue Therfore also we see how God hath ioined these twothings together graunting speech vnto man because hee hath created him paâ—taker of reason and vnderstanding And hauing depriued beasts of the one hee hath also depriued them of the other so that they are partakers neither of reason nor speech For this cause Ecclesiasticus hath ioyned these things together saying That God hath giuen to men counsell and tongue and eyes eares and an heart to vnderstand and sixtly he gaue them a spirite and seuenthly he gaue them speech to declare his woorkes Hee filled them with knowledge of vnderstanding and shewed them good and euill Whereby he teacheth vs plainly what is the right true vse of speech to what end it is giuen to man and from whence it springeth For he placeth counsell in the first place and next the tongue Againe after the heart and spirite he placeth speech that we might know who is their messenger Whereupon we may conclude that the one is giuen for the other and both to glorifie God by shewing foorth his works and marueilous actes To which effect Basil the great saith very well that God hath created vs and graunted vs the vse of speech to the end we might haue the ability and meanes to lay open one to another the counsels and thoughtes of our heartes and to distribute amongst vs that which is in euery one by reason of that communicable nature in which we are created For the heart ought to bee in man as a secrete treasurie or as a larder or pantry in a house out of which all things necessary for the vse thereof and for the maintenaunce of the whole familie are dayly taken The heart also is like to a seller or garner wherein counsels and thoughts are locked and closed vp and the tongue is like to the steward who draweth out and dispenseth whatsoeuer is to bee distributed For as wee saide in the beginning of our speech our soule vseth thoughts and discourses which cannot bee declared so long as it is inclosed in this tabernacle of flesh without speech wordes and names by meanes of which she bringeth foorth and publisheth that which was inclosed and hidden in the secrete closet of her vnderstanding And so wee say that there are two kindes of speech in man one internall and of the minde the other externall which is pronounced and is the messenger of the internall that speaketh in the heart Therefore that which is framed in voyce pronounced in speech and brought into vse is as a riuer sent from the thought with the voyce as from his fountaine For before the thought can vtter any outward speech by meanes of the voyce first the minde must receiue the images of things presented vnto it by the corporall senses And then hauing receiued them by the imaginatiue vertue that is in it reason must discourse to knowe and to consider of them well and to separate or ioyne things according to that agreement or difference that concorde or discord which they may haue amongst them Next it is necessary that iudgement should follow this discourse to make choise of and to followe that which it shall iudge to be meete and conuenient and to reiect and shunne the contrary Lastly all must be vttered by significations apt and conuenient for euery thing so that when the minde hath giuen ouer to the office of the vocall instruments that which it hath comprised and resolued vpon in manner aforesaid the same is manifestly declared outwardly by the aire framed into voyce I meane by the moouing of the articulate and distinct voice whereas before it was hid and couered Now when this voice and speach is pronounced with the mouth as it is inuisible to the eyes so it hath no body whereby the hands may take hold of it but is insensible to all the senses except the hearing which neuerthelesse cannot lay hold of it or keepe it fast as it were with griping hands but entring in of it selfe it is so long detained there whilest the sound reboundeth in the eares and then vanisheth away suddenly But albeit the sound and the voyce passeth so sodainely as if presently it flew away hauing respect to the outward speech neuerthelesse the internall speach remaineth not onely in the spirite heart and thought that ingendred it not being in any sort diuided cut off or seperated but also it filleth all the hearers by reason of the agreement that is betweene the spirites and mindes of men and the speach that is bred there and because it differeth not much from the minde and from the thought where it first beganne and was bred And thus the thoughtes and counsailes of the minde and spirite are discouered and manifested by speach So that al voice is not speach For the name of voyce generally taken comprehendeth all sounds and things which bring any noise to the eares Neuerthelesse it is more properly and specially attributed to those sounds which all sortes of liuing creatures are able to make with their throat to signifie any thing therby But man onely hath articulate and well distinguished soundes vnto which birdes of all other beastes approch neerest so that euen many of them are taught in some sort to frame mans voyce but it is without vnderstanding And because that instruments of musicke do after a sort imitate the distinct voyce of men wee attribute voyce to them although the sounds which they make be more without iudgement and vnderstanding then that of beasts But in men voyces framed into wordes are signes and significations of the whole soule and minde both generally and specially namely of the fantasie and imagination of reason and iudgement of vnderstanding and memory of will and affections Wherefore it is an easie matter to iudge by his speach howe all these partes are affected namely whether they bee sound or haue any defect in them For if a man be dull witted or haue his fantasie and imagination troubled and his memory slowe and heauy he shall haue much adoe to speake
that which he thinketh and conceiueth in mind and haue as we vse to say but a bad vtterance Which thing also may happen to good wits either for want of exercise and vse or through some defect that may be in the body or in the instruments of the voice or because the matter whereof they speake may be profound obscure and difficult so that a man cannot easily find words fitly to expresse the nature of it as the woorthinesse thereof requireth Which reason oft entimes maketh wise and skilfull men slowe to speake because they know what a hard matter it is to vtter in good sort that which is to be spoken in so much that they had rather keepe silence then speake ill or vnproperly But a light-head and a cocke-braine that is void of this consideration wil thinke hee hath a more ready wit For he wil speake before he ponder or discourse in his minde So that whosoeuer hath not a ripe and stayed reason nor temperate and setled senses hee can not haue his wordes set in good order nor his speaches well knit and agreeing one with another as we haue example heereof in children and fooles And if a man haue reason and iudgement ready at hand but not stayed and pithy hee may well prooue some great babbling pleader but not eloquent For hee onely is to bee accompted eloquent who can conceiue well in his spirite and minde that which he ought to speake and then is able to expresse it well both by apt wordes and by sentences that are well tied and knit together We see then how the voyce and speach of man lay open his whole heart minde and spirite But the voyces of beasts haue no significations but onely affections I meane such as are in men and which the Grammarians call Interiections because they are not framed into speach nor well distinguished as others are Nowe if wee vnderstand all these things well they may help very much to instruct and confirme vs in the doctrine of the Trinitie of persons of the Vnitie of the Godhead and of the eternall generation of the Sonne of God who is his diuine and euerlasting word Likewise they will cause vs to conceiue more easily how this heauenly and eternall word namely Iesus Christ is the Image and Character of God the expresse and ingraued forme of his person as it is in the Epistle to the Hebrews and not in shadow or painting For the glorie maiestie and vertue of the Father is alwaies hid from vs but only so farre foorth as it sheweth it selfe ingraued in his sonne and in his word as the image of the minde appeareth imprinted and ingrauen in the speach that is vttered And as the internall word bred in the minde departeth not from it neither is seperated and yet it imprinteth an image thereof in the mindes of the hearers to whom it is declared so the diuine and eternall worde begotten of the Father is alwayeâ— resident in God and yet imprinteth his image in the heartes and mindes of men to whome it is manifested by those meanes which hee hath appointed for that purpose Thus you see a gappe laide open into these high and great secrets of God which wee ought to marke well following such phrases of speach as are taken from humane things and vsed by the spirit of God in the holy scriptures to the end wee might more easily vnderstand them Wherefore if there were no other reason this were sufficient to induce vs to consider more diligently the excellent worke and great prouidence of God which appeareth in the framing of the voyce and speach of man and in the nature and vse thereof and in those members and instrumentes of the bodie which serue to that purpose Therefore AMANA let this matter be the subiect of thy discourse Of the agreement which the instruments of the voyce and speach haue with a paire of Organes what thinges are to bee considered in the placing of the lungs next the heart of the pipes and instruments of the voyce Chap. 14. AMANA When we consider diligently all the instruments created by God in the body as well for the ministery of the voyce as of speach we shall finde amongst them all thinges requisite in the best and most perfect instrument of musicke that can bee to make a good harmony and we shall know that no Organs are so wel made or disposed in such good order for the compassing of their sound and melody as the instruments of the voyce and speach of man are And by the consideration of this concordance wee are admonished alwayes to haue the same thing in the mouth which wee haue in the thought to the end that from such an agreement as it were in euerie part of an Organ and of an instrument of musicke there should proceede a good harmony and pleasant melody For if there shoulde be discord betweene the heart the tongue and the speach the harmony could not be good especially before God the Iudge of most secret thoughts no more then the harmony of a musicall instrument quite out of tune would be pleasant in the eares of men namely of good Musicions who can iudge best of concords and discords First then wee must note that the breast necke and head are as it were the instrument and the body of the Organs within which they are put and inclosed and by which they are sustained next that the lungs are as it were their bellows to blow them Therefore it is made of two pieces ioyned together like to a paire of bellowes to drawe in and to thrust forth the aire and to helpe eche other in respiration and breathing Wherein we must call to minde howe needeful it was that the backebone and breast and the building of the ribbes shoulde bee framed in that sort that we heard before that they might serue to this vse make roome for these bellows to inlarge themselues and to do their duetie Wee see also what their nature is what motion they haue and from whence they receiue it For God hath created them of that nature that they moue and remoue of themselues by the vertue of the soule and life in the body without which they woulde bee voyde of motion and coulde not do their office as we see in dead bodies And because the lungs are the bellowes that blowe winde into the instruments of the voyce without which it coulde not bee made therefore they are lodged next to the heart so that they couer it to this end that men should be admonished that their voyce and their speach is the messenger of their heart and that for this cause the heart and the mouth and the voice and speach which proceede from them alwayes ought to consent and agree together For it would be great dissolutenesse if the heart which ought to be the originall and fountaine of the speach should thinke one thing and the speach which is the messenger of the
heart should vtter and declare another For before the tongue and mouth speake or speach be framed in them it must first be conceiued and bred in the heart and minde and then brought foorth and pronounced by the tongue and mouth Therefore Elihu saieth to Iob I pray thee heare my talke and hearken vnto all my wordes Beholde now I haue opened my mouth my tongue hath spoken in my mouth My wordes are in the vprightnesse of my heart and my lips shall speake pure knowledge We see heere how Elthu ioyneth the heart with the mouth the tongue the palat and the lippes all which are instruments of the speach as we heard before Therefore there must always be a good general agreement betweene al these things This good coÌ„cord beginning in our selues according to euery mans particular place ought to stretch it self generally to al that we may al agree together as the spirite of God so often exhorteth vs thereunto in his holy word And therefore it calleth them men of double hearts and double tongues that are not vpright in heart nor true and certaine in word Our Lorde saieth that of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh and that a good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth good thinges and an euill man out of an euill treasure bringeth foorth euill things For as the tree is knowen by his fruite so speach maketh manifest both the heart and mind of a man Therefore hee shall be a great deale better knowen by his speach then by the sight of his face For his face doth not so wel lay open to the eyes his heart mind maners as his speach discloseth theÌ„ to the eares as we may iudge by that which we learned to this effect in the former discourse Therefore before the bellows of the lungs blow to frame afterward voice speach in the tongue and mouth the draught must be first drawne and framed in the hart that the tongue mouth may represent and expresse it afterward otherwise they will speake to no purpose but onely giue testimony that there is litle wisedome vpright affection in the hart Hereof it is that Salomon sheweth oftentimes that a wise mans toong is not lightly set on worke without the direction and counsaile of the heart and mind whose seruant and messenger it ought to bee but a foole powreth forth al his mind at once For he vttereth al that commeth in his mouth and speaketh before he hath considered what hee ought to say so that his words are sooner spoken then thought vpon The heart of the wise guideth his mouth wisely and addeth doctrine to his lippes Faire words are as an hony combe sweetenesse to the soule and health to the bones The wise in heart shal be called prudent and the sweetenesse of the lippes shall increase doctrine A wise man concealeth knowledge but the heart of fooles publisheth foolishnesse A foole powreth out all his mind but a wise man keepeth it in till afterward There are many such like places in the Prouerbs which I coulde alleadge to this purpose And wee know what is commonly spoken when a man speaketh of a good affection and in trueth that hee speakes from his heart but if hee be knowen to be a lyar craftie and deceitfull we say that he speaketh not from his heart Which is as much as if one should say that the same thing is not in his heart which he hath in his mouth Although in truth when those speaches are thought vpon before such contrarieties are found as wel in the heart as in the tongue and mouth For if they were not first in that they would not be in the tongue which is the messenger of the heart This is the cause of that double heart which we said was in wicked close and disguised persons You see then what wee haue to note both in regard of the bellowes that blow the Organs of mans body also of the player that ought to blowe and direct them Now let vs speake of the instruments and pipes into which the winde breath of these bellows doth enter giueth motion conuenient sound to euery one of them They haue bene named all vnto vs before Wherefore we haue to consider of that pipe which is called the rough Artery or wind-pipe which is made like to a flute and in regard of the matter is of the nature of a gristle and of skin It was necessary that it should be of such matter because it is to moue when it receiueth in or giueth out the aire and to be inlarged or restrained as need requireth Needful therfore it was that it should be compounded of such skins as are easie to moue to open shut and which might serue for soft tender ligaments And bicause the voice cannot be framed if the aire whereof it is made be not beaten backe with some thing it was in like maner requisite that some gristles should be mingled therewith and linked together as it was needful for the eares to be made winding in that the aire might rebound the better and receiue the sounds as wee heard before For this cause it is called a rough artery as wel in respect of the matter whereof it is compounded as of the figure For it is made after the maner of small circles and rings placed in a ranke one by another throughout the whole length thereof like to the taile of a Creuis and that with such moderation that it is thicke slender and driâ— according as neede requireth to make the voyce of a reasonable bignesse If it be too drie it malieth the voyce shrill and hard to bee pronounced as experience sheweth in burning feauers and in great droughts Againe the pipe thereof is larger beneath then aboue and so lesseneth vpward where neede is like to the pipe of a Bag-pipe to the end that the blast should neither be too slow and weake in ascending nor yet ouer hastie and â—odaine For if it be â—lowe and languishing it will turne to wind without any noise and sound and if it be hasty and sodaine it will breed sighes in stead of voyce as it falleth out to them that are diseased and weake whose breath is short and to old men who haue small vertue of respiration and much lesse of singing Therfore some expound that place of Ecclesiastes where it is said that all the daughters of singing shal be abased of the voyce of olde men and of the instruments which breede and pronounce it and of their vertue and strength although others will haue it to be vnderstoode of the eares But it may be referred to them both Now the principal instrument of the voice is in the head of the rough artery namely in that place which is commonly called the knot or ioynt of the necke or Adams morsel being fashioned likest to an Almaine flute I abstaine froÌ„ speaking more
they stand doubtfull what he is whether he haue care of men or no and whether he heare and helpe them when they call vpon him And if they be in aduersity then they loue him much lesse For if they thinke that their miseries come from their owne nature or at all aduenture they suppose they are not bounde vnto him neither ought to loue him seeing hee hath prouided no better for their affayres And if they thinke that himselfe doeth sende them because of their sinnes they are so farre from louing him that contrariwise they hate him and storme against him as it is most manifest by infinite blasphemies contayned in the bookes of Heathen Poets Historiographers and Philosophers aswell against God as against his prouidence iudgements and all his woorkes when they fell not out to their lyking Nowe if their Vnderstanding was so blinded in the Knowledge of God their Will was much turned out of the way For it is alwayes like to a shippe carried hither and thither by diuers tempests which seeketh still some hauen to arriue at but can finde none So the Will seeking after the good which it desireth runneth and skippeth from one to another without order and can finde no rest except that heauenly light shine into the minde which may teach it the true good and frame it to the seeking and imbracing thereof Therefore when this light is in the spirite of man it first presenteth to the Will that infinite good namely God in whom alone shee may satisfie her selfe and then all other good thinges that depende of that all which shee desireth euery one in his order Thus shall God haue the first place and the next his creatures all which wee ought to loue so farre foorth as hee hath created them and so consequently are good And if wee place God in the highest degree of loue as the soueraigne good with whose loue we ought to be as it were wholly swallowed vp wee will loue nothing but in him and by him and for his sake and consequently we will desire nothing but according to his Will because wee can Will or desire nothing but that which wee shall loue and wee shall loue nothing but that which wee ought to loue neither with any other affection nor to any other ende Which is the proper effect of the spirite of God in them that are regenerated and guided by him And thus when the darkenesse of our minde is driuen out by light from heauen which is brought vnto it by Iesus Christ and the Will inflamed by the holy Ghost then doe our heartes reioyce in the goodnesse of God and our conscience resteth therein then doe we loue him and beginne to obey him not desiring any other thing Therefore we beseech him to guide gouern vs to reforme vs daily more more after his own image and similitude to the end we may be made conformable to him both in mind will become true temples for him to dwel in And whatsoeuer he sendeth vs whether it be prosperity or aduersity we take and receiue al as from his hād giuing him thanks in prosperity not abusing or extolling our selues against him and calling vpon him in aduersity without murmuring or despiting his maiesty which we adore alwaies whether we vnderstand comprehend his iudgements or no. Likewise we are led by him to loue all good things according to that order which is shewed vnto vs by his heauenly wisdome namely other men made after the image of God as we are those vertues life things that are agreeable vnto him desiring thē for the loue of God knowing that we serue him in the lawful vse of all these things yeelding praises and thanks vnto him as to the author creator of them Neuertheles it cōmeth to passe that we see oftentimes a very great confusion in the maners works euen of the holiest best men that may be but that is whē God withdraweth from them his spirite grace although it be neuer so litle a while or when he doth not manifest shew forth his vertue power in thē For without God we can doe nothing through him nothing is impossible vnto vs. It is very certain that there remaineth alwaies natural infirmity corruption in man and that the mind reason memory may be troubled by the affections of the heart which resēbleth a fiery surnce is like to a thick smoke ascending out of a great fire which would dim the eies make them as it were blind And whē the light of the mind is thus darkned reason cānot discourse so wel nor iudgement iudge so vprightly nor memory retaine so firmly or bring forth so readily that which it hath kept as if none of them were thus hindred with darknesse which compasseth about the light that ought to guide thē Now if there be such a let impedimēt in regard of the mind the Wil is much more troubled by this fire of affections that heateth kindleth it whereby it is made a great deale more vntoward to follow the counsel aduise of reason then reason is wel affected to admonish and counsel it in that which is to be followed or to be fled And when these two principal parts powers of the soule are thus troubled and moued it is no maruel if man forget God himself if with al his soule body he turn aside from that which he ought to follow after As cōtrariwise there is no doubt but that as long as the celestial eternal father disperseth his diuine light into our minds by his sonne who is his eternal word and wisedome preparing them by his holy spirit to receaue the same and by this meanes also kindeleth the heart and Will with the heate thereof disposing and framing them to follow this light no doubt I say but there will ensue a good agreement and great conformitie of the minde and heart of the Reason and Will and of all the affections yea of all the senses and members of man But let vs return to the sequele of our speech which hath an especiall respect vnto the Will we haue then to consider more narrowly of the power and freedome of the Will both in her internall and externall actions For the first if the question bee of deliberating about any thing it is in the choyce of the Will to propound the same to the minde to aduise and consult thereupon or otherwise not to propounde the same vnto it After whilest the matter is in deliberation she may command eyther to prosecute the same or to deferre it to some other time or to giue it ouer quite and to turne the minde to some other thing as it were a Prince among his councell And if the consultation bee finished and sentence giuen by iudgement yet may the will stay it selfe from desiring and following after that which is counselled and iudged to bee good by reason
So that the whole consultation lieth in the liberty and choyce of Will For men are not drawne by an immutable violence of nature as beasts are but reason enquireth what way is to be taken or left and wayeth and examineth what good or euill is in euery thing Therefore Will may goe about againe with that which was once deliberated of to the end the first conclusion be not approued staied in but that greater inquiry may be made to finde out if it may bee some better or more profitable thing And thus when many thinges are shewed set before her she may choose what pleaseth her although it be not that which was best approued by iudgement and which reason vpon very euident arguments counselled her to follow For if there be another side that hath some shew of good albeit neuer so small she turneth to that if she please so that vpon one onely coniecture or opinion of good she will lay holde vpon that and reiect the other side in which peraduenture the ture good is to bee founde The chiefe cause whereof is in the corruption of our nature and in those impediments of good discoursing and of vpright iudging whereof wee haue alreadie hearde and which hinder reason and iudgement diuers and sundrie wayes And this also taketh place in respect of Will which likewise hath great occasions offered to beguile and deceiue it selfe because all the affaires of men are intermingled with good and euill thinges Therefore it is very hard to be able to discerne and separate them well one from another For men being compounded of diuers natures namely of a body and of a soule they propound also diuersity of good euil things vnto themselues because they know corporall and terrestriall things better then spirituall and eternall things therefore they preferre them oftentimes before the other Which is the cause why there are so many that loue this life a great deale better and those outward good things belonging therevnto then they doe eternall life and those goods which are able to leade men thither and giue them full fruition therof when they come thither Therefore in so great diuersity of good and euill things it is no marueile if there came nothing into deliberation wherein reason findeth not some good or euill which in the end it counsaileth vs to follow or to auoyde according to the circumstances of times places persons qualities and other such like things It commeth to passe also oftentimes that Will refuseth all counsaile and exhortation to doe that onely which she pleaseth thereby to shew that shee is Lady and Mistresse and subiect to none And beeing mounted vp to that pride shee accounteth this Lordshippe which shee taketh to her selfe to bee a great good and so maketh knowne her power and magnificence as it were a tyrannicall prince making choyce in the meane time of a false kinde of good which is no way good but a very great euil And thus much concerning the libertie of the Will in her internall actions which freedome also appeareth plainly enough in the outwarde actions For after she hath liked of a thing she may put it in execution or stay execution yea after she hath begunne she may giue it cleane ouer or doe not so much or so speedily as shee might And although it falleth out oftentimes that men are hindered from executing their Will yea are forced and compelled to doe the cleane contrary yet their Will if we consider the matter well is neither hindred forced or constrained For that keepeth it not from willing still that which it pleaseth but the violence offered outwardly stayeth the effectes and execution thereof Hereof it is that wee commonly say that a mans Will is taken for his deede although it bee not put in execution Nowe to conclude our speech wee knowe that the Will hath hinderances to let her from choosing those good things which shee ought to followe and refusing those euils shee ought to eschewe and auoyde For Reason beeing appoynted as Mistresse to guide and direct Will by her iudgement the selfesame thinges that mooue Reason and Iudgement doe mooue Will also as if the one touched the other or as if there were a certayne knitting and ioyning of them together not vnlike to the linkes of a chayne of which if yee mooue or touch one the like is done to the others that are neere vnto it by reason of the coniunction they haue one with another Wee ought also to knowe that although the Will often choose euill in stead of good yet it ceasseth not therefore euer to desire good naturally which is most fitte and agreeable to the nature therof but it is deceaued in that it hath no skill to discerne between true and false goodes and to distinguish the greater from the lesse And as wee haue hearde that euill spirites may trouble and mooue the fantasie and minde so no doubt they can doe the like towardes the heart and Will to induce them to euill and to driue them to doe greater thinges then weake nature woulde doe of it selfe if it were not holpen by them euen to cause them to committe such crimes as nature abhorreth Therefore wee must without ceassing watch and pray that wee enter not into temptation and if wee bee tempted that wee fayle not neither bee ouercome And this wee may assuredly beleeue wee shall obtayne if through regeneration by the spirite of GOD our minde bee taught and our Will guyded by his light Nowe then hauing spoken enough of Vnderstanding and of Will which are the principall powers of the soule let vs come to the affections thereof and first it shall bee good for vs to consider of the distinction that ought to bee made betwixt all these faculties of the soule and betweene their seates and instruments which they haue in the bodie But wee shall learne these thinges of thee ACHITOB Of the distinction that ought to be betweene the Vnderstanding and knowledge and the Will and affections in the soule and betweene the seates and instruments which they haue in the body of the agreement that is betweene the heart and the braine Chap. 36. ACHITOB. The heauens the earth and all the elementes the stones plants beasts al the other creatures that want reason vnderstanding obey God in their kind but yet they know him not the obedience which they yeld vnto him proceedeth not of any knowledge they haue of his will or of iudgement in them to discerne good from euill but only so farre forth as they are drawne by their natural inclination in those things that concerne their nature But Angels and Men in whome God woulde haue his image to shine in euery part of them and after all sorts were created by him of that nature that hee would be knowne of them and that they should follow his Will not without Vnderstanding and iudgement thereof nor without agreement of their willes with his
Therefore he hath giuen them a nature that is partaker of Vnderstanding and prescribed vnto them rules of iudgement and of certain knowledge which are vnto them as it were lawes ordained by a soueraigne Prince for the ruling of his subiectes And to the end that these lawes should not be in vaine he hath placed in man a Will to execute them and an affection of ioy that is brought to him by meanes of the good which he receiueth or expecteth when he obeyeth these lawes that command nothing but iust things So that hee would haue the nature of man to leade a ioyfull life and by this meanes be preserued that he might solace himselfe in the knowledge of God his Creator and in obeying him settle and rest himself in him As contrariwise it pleased him to place there an affection of sadnesse to take vengeance of rebellion against his lawes and of the transgression of them to the end there might be a flame of anger and griefe to destroy that nature when it doeth not conforme it selfe to the rule of his diuine wisedome and will Hereby we know by experience what difference there is betweene a ioyfull life and that which is sad full of griefe and how ioy preserueth and maintaineth the one and sorow consumeth and extinguisheth the other But to the end we may fully vnderstand these thinges and bee able to iudge aright of the diuers powers vertues and offices of the soule wee must diligently consider that as GOD hath distinguished the Vnderstanding from the Will and affections and the Animall vertue and life from the Vitall so also hee hath giuen them diuers seates and instrumentes in the bodie There is likewise great difference betwixt Vnderstanding and Knowledge and the Will and Affections as we see it by experience in common life For it falleth out often that after we know a man we either loue him or hate him And if at the first we loued him wel yet after hee is knowen vnto vs we may fall to hate him or if wee first hated him afterward vpon better knowledge we may receiue him into our loue Nowe although these affections of loue and of hatred bee thus mutable in vs yet the selfe same knowledge remayneth alwayes with vs. For if wee did not still knowe him wee coulde neyther loue nor hate him because as a man cannot loue without knowing the thing loued so hee cannot hate that which is vnknowen Therefore it is no difficult matter to iudge that the Vnderstanding differeth from the Will and affections and that they are distinct offices and seuerall properties and vertues of the soule which haue also their diuers seates and instrumentes For the internall senses are ioyned with that power which the Soule hath to knowe and the heart with the power of the Will and Affections Heereof it is that wee see manie endued with great knowledge of honest and vertuous thinges but they haue no good affection to followe after them and to put them in practise so that their heart agreeth not with their braine nor their will and affections with their vnderstanding reason Contrariwise there are others that haue not so great knowledge of goodnes and of their duetie and yet they haue a good affection and Will to do wel but for want of vnderstanding what is right and iust they obserue and keepe it not according to that measure of desire which is in them Where wee see againe how and in what sort there is no good agreement betweene the brayne and the heart and betweene those powers and vertues of the soule which wee haue alreadie named So that wee may compare the former sort of men to one that hath eyes to guide him but no legges or feete to goe vpon or if hee haue any yet hee will not set them on woorke As for the other sort they are like to blinde men that long to goe and to walke and haue legges to carrie them but they cannot goe whither they woulde because they haue neyther eyes nor sight to direct them nor guides to leade them Nowe by the consideration of these two sortes of men wee may well conclude and iudge with ourselues what they are that want all these thinges mentioned by vs because they haue neyther sounde knowledge of the trueth and of that which is good nor Will and desire to haue any nor any affection to followe that which is good whome I woulde compare to them that are blind and withal haue both hand and feete lame at one time But this matter may yet bee vnderstoode better if wee make this our speeche to agree with that which Saint Paul wryteth to the Romanes where hee sayeth That the wrath of God is reuealed from heauen against all vngodlinesse and vnrighteousnesse of men which withholde the trueth in vnrighteousnesse For wee may vnderstande by trueth those true and naturall impressions of the knowledge of GOD and of his lawe and of good and honest thinges which are in men as beames of the diuine wisedome shining in that part of the soule whereby hee knoweth But because the Will and the affections of the heart agree not with this knowledge and there are no diuine motions nor celestiall flames to stirre vp and to kindle the heart with the loue of God and to procure it to followe after that knowledge therefore men are detayned in vnrighteousnesse and yeelde not vnto God that honour and obedience that they owe vnto him Wherein they shew themselues vnthankefull and vnrighteous And therefore the Apostle expounding himselfe saieth by and by after That when they knewe God they glorified him not as God neither were thankefull but became vaine in their imagination and their heart voyde of vnderstanding was full of darknesse Whereby hee declareth that their ingratitude and naughty heart was the cause why they abused that vnderstanding and knowledge which they had receiued of God and afterward also he depriued them of these excellent gifts of his grace which he attributeth to the heart for certaine reasons which wee are to note For wee may see in many places of the Scripture and in their writings and exhortations that folowe the doctrine and stile thereof that the heart is often taken for the seate of the minde of the vnderstanding and of reason as well as for the affections of the soule Neuerthelesse the Philosophers and they that followe them in such discourses attribute these soueraigne powers of the soule onely to the braine which they make the seate of them as wee haue sufficiently shewed heeretofore and as for the affections of the soule they assigne the seate of them to the heart Now one body hath not two but one soule Therefore although it haue many faculties powers vertues and offices yet they are all comprehended vnder those two and depend of them euen as in one body there are many members appointed to diuers operations Nowe because reason ought to be the Gouernesse and Mistresse
of the aire and that for two notable causes For first seeing the lungs haue not their motion of themselues neither are fastned to the body to receiue motion from it it was needefull to haue them of such matter that they might bee easily mooued and followe the motion of the breast Next they will receiue the aire more easily without any violence if at any time it enter in vehemently and in great quantitie To conclude this point they are so seated in regarde of the heart that they wrappe it and clothe it both on the right side and on the left and serue to defend it against all the neighbour-bones neere about it But heere wee are to note the agreement and mutuall relation which the heart hath with the heauens in that as the first motion of the whole worlde beginneth by the heauens of which all the other motions that are in nature doe depend so the heart is that member in mans body which first receiueth life and motion and which is the wel-spring and fountaine thereof whereupon also it is the first that liueth and the last that dieth And because God hath created it to put into it the vital facultie and vertue from whence the life of liuing creatures proceedeth hee hath also appointed the arteries who receiuing their originall from the heart are afterward distributed and spread throughout all the members of the body as the sinewes and veines are to giue vnto the aire and vitall spirites necessary for life euen as the blood is likewise distributed by meanes of the veines that come from the liuer to nourish them withall and as sense and motion are carried by the sinewes that are deriued from the braine and marrowe of the backe bone as wee haue already shewed Therefore as the aire hath his motion and the windes their course euen such as GOD hath appointed them in the whole body of this great worlde so wee see that the ayre and vitall spirites are in mans body which is the little worlde as windes that haue their course and passages therein to bee carried vnto all the members and to be distributed and communicated vnto them by meanes of the arteries Hereof it is that they heaue and beate in those places where arteries are appointed to be so that by their peace and quietnesse Physitions iudge of the vertue and strength of the heart and consequently of the whole body of health and sickenesse of life and death and of the whole position thereof Therefore the heart hath a double motion to serue for this vse which I speake because it hath yet a third motion and that of another nature of which wee will speake hereafter But as for this first double motion which is heere mentioned it is so called because the one is made when the heart giueth out and the other when it shrinketh in For when it extendeth it selfe foorth then is it refreshed and cooled thereby and when it gathereth inward and restraineth it selfe then doeth it expell and driue out those fuliginous and smokie excrements which otherwise woulde stifle it This two-fold motion is naturall proceeding from the proper nature of the heart and not voluntarie as that of the muscles is which is gouerned by the motion of the braine and sinewes that come from it For the heart hath his filaments or small threedes apt and conuenient for that purpose Nowe this motion serueth not onely for the vses already spoken of but also for the nourishing of the vitall spirite I meane to drawe the blood wherewith it is nourished and also to prepare foode for the lungs thereby to returne such mutuall helpe vnto them as it receiueth from them For as the lungs serue to send breath vnto it thereby to coole it and to further it in the execution of that office which it hath so the heart serueth to nourish and feede the lungs Whereby wee haue a goodly aduerticement concerning that mutuall agreement that ought to be in vs and of that reciprocall helpe which wee owe one to an other and howe wee ought to acknowledge the good turnes that are done vnto vs and doe the like againe to them according to that abilitie which euery one shall haue so to doe For if wee deale not in that sorte it will be all one with vs in humane societie as if one should separate in our body the heart from the lungs that the one might not doe his duetie towardes the other which questionlesse woulde cause the death and ouerthrowe of the whole body Moreouer wee must note that betweene these two motions of the heart nowe spoken of there is some small space in which there is a little rest and then doeth the heart restraine it selfe and drawe from all sides rounde about the aire which is drawne in by the lungs which it enioyeth and hath vse of And for this cause the heart whose flesh is hard and can hardly suffer hath three kindes of filaments called Fibres which serue for all these motions Thus you see the heart that is lorde of mans life howe hee hangeth as it were in his coffer and withdraweth himselfe into his chamber or closet being in a manner separated from the rest of the body to which he giueth life but onely that hee is ioyned thereunto by veines arteries and sinews which hee vseth as pipes some to receiue the benefites that come vnto him from others some to distribute his good things by Wherein we haue a faire resemblance of that mutuall communicating which ought to be among men For although the heart be as the fountaine of life which it imparteth to all the rest of the members and partes of the body yet can it not liue alone without those necessary helpes of the other members vnto which it is seruiceable Nowe we are to consider the substance situation and countepoize thereof with the nature and vse of the vitall spirite which shall be the matter subiect of thy discourse AMANA Of the substance situation and counterpoize of the heart of the nature and vse of the vital Spirite and of the forge vesselles and instruments thereof of the sundry doores and pipes of the heart and of their vses Chap. 38. AMANA All men howe ignorant and brutish soeuer they be cary about with them in their hearts a great testimony that they haue both a God and a Iudge who approoueth that which is good and punisheth the euill For although they neuer heard one worde of his worde yet they cannot be ignorant of this which they sensibly feele and knowe by experience in themselues that nothing but euill can befall them for euill howsoeuer it be long a comming and that they cannot feele the euill which their sinne hath brought vpon them but they will repent them for committing it and wish it had neuer bin done This is naturall Diuinitie which no body can be ignorant of Whereunto Saint Iohn leading vs saith very wel If our heart condemne vs
so some of them are brideled and restrained by others For the first enuy hatâ—ed and anger spring of loue For they are motions of the heart that loueth against him that hateth or hurteth her who is deâ—re or beloued And desire riseth of reuenge and the ioy that commeth thereby proceede from anger and malice If a man loue any thing he wisheth it would come and hopeth also that he shall enioy it and contrariwise hee feareth that it will not come to passe If it come to passe hee reioyceth If it come not to passe when hee thinketh it will or when hee expecteth it he is grieued In like manner great ioy is lessened through greefe and enuy through mercy or through feare And one greefe altereth another when it is greater and feare maketh griefe to be forgotten and causeth the lame to runne To be short these sundry motions of affections are like to stormy waues and billowes which being driuen one of another doe either augment or diminish or wholy oppresse one another Wherefore the like happeneth in the motion of our affections that commeth to passe in a sedition and ciuill dissention in which no man considereth who is the worthier person to obey and folow him but who is the stronger and most mighty So in the fight of the affections there is no respect had to that which is most iust but only to that which is strongest and most violent and which hath gotten such power ouer the soule that it hath wholly subdued her to it selfe which thing wee ought to stand in great feare of But whatsoeuer affections are in vs there is alwayes some griefe or some ioy ioyned with them Therefore following our matter it shal be good for vs to consider particularly of the nature of these two contrary motions of which ioy serueth greatly for the preseruation of life but griefe drieth vp and consumeth the heart euen vnto the death of it as wee shall now learne of ACHITOB. That Ioy or Griefe are alwayes ioyned to the affections and what Ioy and Griefe are properly Chap. 44. ACHITOB. The knowledge of the Affections of the heart and soule is very necessary for euery one because they are very euill and dangerous diseases in the soule but yet being knowen they may be cured more easily This cause hath mooued vs after wee haue spoken of the heart and of the naturall motion thereof and of the vse it hath in this life of the body to enter into the consideration of a second motion it hath which serueth not onely for this corporall life but also for that spirituall life in regard of which it was chiefely giuen and of which we saide that there was as it were an image and representation thereof in the first motion Now we shall better vnderstand this by the subiect of this discourse propounded vnto vs being handled particularly as wee intend to doe For as by the first naturall motion of the heart it receiueth such refreshing as is necessary for the sending of life vnto the whole body and for the maintenance and preseruation of the same as also for the expelling and driuing out of all such things as might hurt and stifle it euen so is it in this second motion as farre as wee can conceiue of the nature of it For seeing God hath appointed ioy as a meanes to preserue life hee hath likewise put this affection in the heart whereby it is as it were enlarged to receiue within it selfe and to embrace all Good that is offered vnto it as also it restraineth and shutteth it selfe vp through griefe which is contrary thereunto Moreouer wee shall finde that there is no affection in vs which is not intermingled with some griefe or else with some ioy For seeing the heart is the proper seate and instrument of all the affections when it is as it were stricken and beaten with some vnpleasant thing that is offered vnto it then doeth it retire close vp it selfe and feele griefe as if it had receiued a wound then doeth it flie from the thing it liketh not Yea the heart doeth alwayes either enlarge or shut vp it selfe according to those affections that are within it the causes of which are in it owne nature God hauing so disposed and willed the same for the reasons which we haue already touched For if the heart be ioyfull the ioy that it hath doeth bring so great pleasure vnto it that thereby it is opened and enlarged as if it would receiue imbrace and lay holde vpon that thing which reioyceth it and bringeth vnto it that pleasure which it hath in this ioy Nowe because there is ioy in loue and hope the blood and spirites are gently and mildely dispersed by their moouings by reason of the reioycing at the Good that is present or that is expected as if it were already present And forasmuch as such motions are made by the enlarging of the heart whereby we embrace the thing offered vnto vs the face also appeareth smiling cheerefull and ruddy For a man may easily iudge that the obiect presented to the heart mooueth that power whereby it is stirred vp because that before the heart doth mooue it selfe it must know the thing that offereth occasion vnto it to be moued either with ioy or griefe or some such like affection For as wee haue learned already the outward senses do first perceiue the things that are offered vnto them and then they present them vnto the common sense which presently by a singular prouidence of God sendeth them to al the other senses and to al those powers that are in the sundry parts of the soule and body This done if there be matter of ioy the heart being striken with that which is acceptable vnto it enlargeth it selfe and being thus gently enlarged as it were to embrace the same it disperseth much naturall heate with the blood besides great quantitie of spirites of which it sendeth a good portion to the face if the ioy be so great that it mooueth a man to hearty laughter For the face it selfe is in some sort blowen vp and enlarged the forehead is made cleere and smoothe the eyes glister and shine the cheekes become ruddy and the lippes gather in themselues In a worde the heart doeth so enlarge it selfe that it is represented in the face as it were in a glasse or in an image framed to expresse the ioy and gladnes which it hath Moreouer experience teacheth vs sufficiently what difference there is between a cheerfull and a sad countenance Therfore when we loue one wee embrace him as if wee woulde ioyne him to our selues and put him into our bosome and heart as some deere and very pretious thing Which wee see chiefly in mothers when they holde their little infants betweene their armes and embrace them with great affection of heart For this cause Saint Paul being desirous to let the Corinthians vnderstand what good will hee bare them howe louing ready and
cheerefull his affection was towards them what ioy he receiued thereby as himselfe speaking plainly doth with his mouth giue full testimony of his heart writeth thus vnto them O Corinthians our mouth is open vnto you our heart is made large you are not kept straite in vs. And then complaining of them that their heart was not so bent towardes him he saieth But ye are kept straite in your owne bowels And heere we may note that by this worde Bowels is meant generally all the internall members and parts of man especially the heart and those that are next vnto it Now because the heart is the seate of the affections and the other members neere vnto it serue for his vse therefore the bowels are taken in the holy Scriptures for all the motions of the heart and for all the affections of men that proceed from it but chiefly for loue also for ioy pitie and compassion which haue their beginning from loue whose nature is to open the heart which in steade of opening shutteth vp it selfe against those that are not loued or that a man hateth Therefore as loue or hatred is great or small hote or cold so doth the heart open or close it selfe Hereof it is saide in the historie of the two women that stoode before Salomons iudgement seat about their two children whereof the one was dead and the other aliue that the bowels of the true mother were mooued towardes her childe And Saint Paul exhorting the Colossians to charitie and compassion saieth Now therefore as the elect of God holy and beloued put on the bowels of mercy that is to say of tender affection kindnesse humblenesse of minde meekenesse long suffering forbearing one another and forgiuing one another if any man haue a quarrell to another euen as Christ forgaue you so doe ye And aboue all these things put on loue which is the bond of perfectnesse and let the peace of God namely that which God hath established among his rule in your hearts to the which ye are called in one body and be gracious or amiable We see here what vertues accompany these bowels of mercy of which hee spake in the beginning as in deed al thâ—se vertues and heauenly gifts are so knit together that they cannot be separated one from an other And Saint Iohn speaking of that liberalitie and loue which ought to be among Christians saieth Whosoeuer hath this worldes good and seeth his brother haue neede and shutteth vp his bowels from him how dwelleth the loue of God in him Then he addeth Let vs not loue in worde neither in tongue onely but in worke and in trueth And to this purpose Esaias saith If thou powre out thy soule to the hungry and refresh the troubled soule then shall thy light spring out in the darkenesse and thy darkenesse shal be as the noone-day All which places agree very well to that which wee haue touched concerning the motion of the heart whereby it is either opened or closed vp as the affections are disposed that mooue it But let vs consider more narrowly the nature of these affections of ioy and sorrowe and what difference is betweene them seeing we haue taken them for the ground of our speach For the first let vs know that ioy is properly a motion or an affection of the heart whereby it taketh pleasure and stayeth it selfe in that Good which is offered vnto it or if wee had rather thus it is a motion of the soule proceeding from the iudgement of some Good which is already present or certainely neere at hand And therefore when the heart is enlarged therewith not onely laughter is bred but all the body also leapeth when the ioy is so great that the breast cannot containe nor keepe in the heart But when the ioy is moderate it purgeth the blood by heate it confirmeth health and bringeth with it a liuely and vigorous heate which is very wholsome and acceptable to the heart True it is that the heart and will often deceiue themselues in the choice and election of that which is Good whether it be that following reason and iudgement corrupted which should shew what is Good they embrace their errour or whether it be that Will being corrupted of it selfe through sinne letteth loose the bridle against the iudgement of reason and so suffereth her selfe to be carried headlong by her euill affections in following some false shewe of good Whereupon it commonly commeth to passe that in steade of ioy which the heart should receiue of Good vnto which the will tendeth naturally it receiueth great sorrow and griefe after knowledge taken of the fault This is the cause why we are so often admonished by the spirite of God to renounce our owne sense reason prudence and wisedome and to submit our selues wholly to the counsaile and wisedome of God and to iudge of good and of euill of the true and false Goods according to his iudgement and not according to our owne as also to renounce our owne desires to followe his will As for griefe or sorrow wee may iudge of this affection by the contrary which is ioy namely that it is a motion and an affection of the heart whereby it is restrained and pressed either with some present euill or with some that is in a manner present which displeaseth the heart as if it had receiued some grieuous wound Therefore it trembleth and languisheth as a sicke body who drying vp with griefe by little and little in the end dicth except hee haue some remedy against his sickenesse For the like happeneth to the heart of man through griefe as long as it is within it insomuch that it neuer forsaketh it vntil it hath quite dried vp and consumed the same And therefore as there is pleasure and rest in ioy so in sorrow there is dolour and torment For it ingendreth melancholy and melancholy ingendreth it and increaseth it more so that wee often see melancholy men very sadde although no harme hath befallen them neither can they giue any reason of their heauines Moreouer this blacke melancholy humor is of this nature that it will make the spirit and mind darkish whereby it groweth to be blockish the heart looseth all his cheerefulnes And because the braine is cooled thereby it waxeth very heauy drowsie Now when griefe is in great measure it bringeth withal a kind of loathing tediousnes which causeth a man to hate to be weary of all things euen of the light and of a mans selfe so that he shal take pleasure in nothing but in his melancholy in feeding himselfe therewithall in plunging himselfe deeper into it and in refusing of all ioy and consolation To conclude some growe so farre as to hate themselues and so fall to dispaire yea many kill and destroy themselues And as the heart by enlarging it selfe with ioy appeareth in the countenance so doeth it also in sorrow and griefe For as
in sorrowe the heart drieth vp and gathereth it selfe in so it causeth the face which is the image of it to retire and drawe backe yea it depriueth the face of all colour and causeth it to fall away Briefly it marreth all health and hath for continuall companions sighs plaints groanes teares and weeping and oftentimes gnashing of teeth as it is written of the damned because of that sorrowe and indignation in which they are by reason of the torments which they suffer It is true that the most of these things serue as a remedy against sorrow For howsoeuer griefe shutteth vp the heart as we haue said yet by groning sighing and weeping the heart doth in some sort open it selfe as if it woulde come foorth to breathe least being wholly shut vp with sorrow it shoulde be stifled Againe teares are giuen vnto vs to testifie our griefe and to manifest it to others that we may mooue them to haue pitie and compassion on vs and to help and succour vs. They serue vs further to declare what compassion we haue of other mens sorrowe and griefe which vse is very necessary for vs to get and preserue friendship one towardes an other and for our mutuall comfort and consolation For we are greatly comforted when we see any take pitie and compassion of vs. Wherefore when we can not otherwise solace them that are grieued but only by declaring that wee are sorrowfull for their heauinesse and for those euilles which they suffer yet doeth that affoorde great consolation And although it seemeth an easie matter to giue this comfort yet is it harder then many thinke it is For before wee can finde this in vs wee must first haue loue in our hearts which causeth vs to open our bowels and mooueth vs to compassion towards our like that we may weepe with them that weepe as we must reioyce also with them that reioyce according as Saint Paul exhorteth vs thereunto For by this meanes we testifie that vnion and coniunction which we haue one with an other as members of one and the same body and as if wee felt in our selues all that good and euill which others feele Nowe because in our definition of these affections of ioy and griefe we made two sorts of those that men feele in their hearts namely either of that good and euill which is present or if that which they looke for wee must consider more particularly of these things and see first why God hath put these affections in the soule and what is true and present ioy as also what that other kind of ioy is which hath regard to that which is to come which is properly called Hope Now let vs heare thee ASER vpon this matter Of the causes why God hath placed these affections of Ioy and Sorrow in the heart of true and false Ioy and of good and badde Hope Chap. 45. ASER. Men haue commonly sharpe wittes to know vaine earthly and carnall things but as for heauenly true eternall things they are able for the most part to vnderstand nothing So that wee may compare the eyes of their soule to the eyes of an Owle which seeth clearely by night but when the sunne is risen seeth neuer a whit Euen so man hath some knowledge of the troublesome things of this worlde but his sight cannot pierce vnto the celestial and diuine light Therefore it falleth out often that being beguiled by his owne sense and reason insteade of Good and Ioy hee chuseth and followeth after that which is euill and full of griefe For when the affection of the heart which naturally desireth Good and seeketh after Ioy is missed and deceiued by humane reason it easily embraceth euill in place of Good and that vnder some vaine shewe of good which seemeth to be in that euill thing it chuseth And although at the first the heart feeleth not that which happeneth vnto it yet hath it leisure enough after to complaine of the torment which is alwaies equall both for age and time to the fault committed and to the abuse of those gifts and graces which God hath placed in the nature of the soule Forasmuch then as the heart is the beginning of life we may well know that God hath not without good cause placed therein such vehement affections of ioy griefe which serue either to preserue or to destroy it and haue for their companions hope and feare as wee wil declare heereafter For by these affections God would giue vs prickes and solicitours to cause vs to thinke seriously of that lesson which Dauid giueth vs when hee saieth Taste yee and see howe gracious the Lorde is blessed is the man that trusteth in him Feare the Lorde yee his Saintes for nothing wanteth to them that feare him The Lions doe lacke and suffer hunger but they which seeke the Lorde shall want nothing that is good What man is hee that desireth life and loueth long dayes for to see good Keepe thy tongue from euill and thy lippes that they speake no guile Eschew euil and do good seeke peace and follow after it The Prophet sheweth here plainely wherein true life felicitie consisteth and the reason thereof hee setteth downe afterward namely that the Lord looketh both vpon the good and bad and that as hee preserueth the good so hee rooteth out the remembrance of the wicked from off the earth Therefore hee saieth afterward Great are the troubles of the righteous but the Lorde deliuereth him out of all Malice shall slay the wicked and they that hate the righteous shall perish The Lorde redeemeth the soules of his seruants and none that trust in him shall perish Wherefore as the children of God that are partakers of his promises can not bee without great ioy in their hearts which feedeth and preserueth them and causeth them to liue happily through the testimonie and taste which they haue of the sweetenesse goodnesse and fauour of God towards them so contrariwise perpetual sorrow dwelleth in the heart of the wicked who cannot haue that ioy in them because they want that which should bring it vnto them For howsoeuer it seemeth that there is no ioy in the worlde but theirs yet they neuer haue any true ioy neither indeede can haue For they seeke not for it neither doe they knowe what it is And therefore in steade of seeking it in God in whome onely it resteth they seeke it in creatures and in al kind of vanitie and yet finde nothing but in offending the maiestie of God For this cause Iesus Christ hath long since pronounced their sentence saying Wobe to you that laugh for ye shall weepe Contrariwise ye that weep are happy for yee shall laugh Blessed are they that mourne that is to say that feele their miseries and seeke for ioy and consolation in God for they shal bee comforted After speaking to his disciples he sayeth Verely verely I say vnto you that ye shall weeepe and lament and
hope maketh not ashamed because the loue of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the holy Ghost which is giuen vnto vs as if he should say that they which stay themselues vpon such a hope shal neuer be ashamed nor deceiued For the expectation thereof is neuer frustrated but it hath alwaies a good a happy issue For when we perceiue that we are deceiued of our hope we are ashamed and confounded But this neuer hapneth to true hope which proceedeth of a sound faith in Iesus Christ by means whereof we haue accesse through him vnto this grace wherein wee stand and reioyce vnder the hope of the glory of God as Saint Paul said alitle before Therefore he exhorteth christiaÌ„s to reioice in hope calleth God the God of Hope praying that he would fil the Romans with al ioy peace in belieuing that they may abound in hope through the power of the holy ghost And in the epistle to the Hebrews hope is compared to a sure and stedfast ancre of the soule For this cause God is so often called in the holy Scriptures the hope and fortresse of his people and of his It is written also that they which hope in the Lord do reioyce For hee that hopeth in him shal be healed and preserued Therefore it is not without cause that the spirite of God so often repeateth vnto vs this sentence Blessed are they that put their trust in the Lord for they shal neuer be confounded It is better to hope in him then to put any confidence in Princes But vnfaithful and wicked men can neuer be partakers of such a Good because they haue no such hope For it is written The expectation of the iust is gladnesse but the hope of the wicked shall perish And againe The hope of the hypocrite shall perish his confidence shal be cut off and his truct shall be as the house of a spider He shall leane vpon his house but it shall not stand he shall holde him fast by it yet shall it not endure But to prosecuâ—e our matter nowe that wee haue seene the hope of good men together with their ioy let vs consider what remaineth to the wicked of their vaine and false ioy namely Feare which is the second kinde of sorrowe mentioned by vs. Tell vs then AMANA what Feare is with the nature and effectes thereof Of Feare and of the nature and effects thereof towards the body the minde and soule and how it troubleth them of the true harnesse and armour against Feare Chap. 46. AMANA As wicked men can haue no certaine hope of any good they looke for so they neuer haue any true ioy of any present good because they alwayes forsake the true Good and stay in that which is not Good but in their opinion and fantasie neither doe they at any time refâ—rre the ende of good things vnto God but looke onely vpon the things themselues Therefore it is neuer in their power to reioice in that ioy which they accompt to be their true ioy but only by offending God as we heard before Which is the cause why they seek after nothing more then to hide themselues to depart from him as much as they can possible so that they would neuer heare any speech of him but desire to bury the remembrance of him for euer because they can heare nothing spoken of him but as of their iudge neither think of him but he awakeneth their coÌ„science which they labor with might and maine to rocke asleepe Wherein they take a cleane contrary course to that which they ought to follow to obtaine the true Good For seeing God is the soueraigne Good of all creatures what Good can they finde that is greater wherein they can fully reioyce and satisfie themselues Or what other Good dare they promise to themselues to finde without him and when they haue him for their enemy But they are like to drunken men who cannot vnderstand this Diuinitie vntill they haue slept out their wine and are awaked out of their drunkennesse Then shall they knowe what is true and false Ioy what is good and badde Hope when their ioy shall bee turned into sorrowe their expectation and hope into feare and terrour wherewith the wicked shall be continually haunted as the Spirite of God teacheth vs. Nowe as sorrow is a griefe for some euil which a man presently feeleth shutting vp the heart as vnwilling to receiue it so feare is a sorrow which the heart conceiueth of some looked for euill that may come vnto it Therefore it restraineth the heart also and closeth it vp as being desirous to auoide the euill Wee see then that there is the same difference betwixt sorrowe and feare in respect of euill that is betweene Ioy and Hope in regarde of Good So that we may well say that Feare is not onely a fantasie and imagination of euill approching or a perturbation of the soule proceeding from the opinion it hath of some euill to come but it is also a contraction and closing vp of the heart which commeth from that which euery one iudgeth to be euill for himselfe when hee thinketh it is at hand and will light vpon him Therefore first of all it draweth in and shutteth vp the heart and so weakneth the same Whereupon nature being desirous to relieue and succour it sendeth heate vnto it from the vpper partes and if that bee not sufficient shee draweth away that heate also which is in the neather parts By which doing she sodainely calleth backe the blood and spirites vnto the heart and then followeth a generall palenesse and cold in all the outward partes and chiefly in the face with a shiuering throughout the whole body For seeing the first moouing thereof is in the heart the other alwayes followeth so that when the heart trembleth the whole body doth so likewise Whereupon it followeth that by reason of the great beating and panting of the heart the tongue faltereth and the voice is interrupted Yea it commeth to passe sometimes that present death followeth a great and sodaine feare because al the blood retiring to the heart choaketh it and vtterly extinguisheth naturall heate and the spirites so that death must needes ensue thereof Therefore we cannot doubt but that feare hath greaâ— power ouer all the body and ouer life it selfe For this cause Esaias after he had denounced the iudgement of God against the Babylonians the comming of the Medes and Persians by whome their citie shoulde be taken and themselues slaine saieth thus Therefore shall all handes be weakened and all mens hearts shall melt which is as much to say as that their hearts shall faile them for feare And therefore hee addeth They shal be afraid anguish sorrow shall take them and they shall haue paine as a woman that trauaileth euery one shal be amased at his neighbour their faces shal be like flames of fire But here we
will note what he meaneth by these flames of fire For if the face waxe pale through feare as it falleth out for the most part it seemeth that it cannot be enflamed for then it would be red rather then pale But we are to know that when nature will strengthen the heart she sendeth vnto it from all parts succours of heat and blood to encourage it the more Therefore they that haue but a little warme blood in the heart are naturally the greater cowardes so that it is a better token of courage when the face is pale through feare then when it waxeth redde For this cause Cato misliked that a child should becom pale in the face through shame in stead of being red and that a souldier should looke red in time of danger in stead of being pale For as it is a token of impudencie in a child not to blush for shame so is it a signe of cowardlinesse in a man of warre to looke redde when hee seeth himselfe in any danger Therefore a pale countenance sheweth that the blood and naturall heate are gone to the heart to strengthen it but when it is redde that argueth that the blood and heate are not much gone inward to strengthen the heart whereupon it is made more weake and so the feare of it is greater and the trembling much more And because the blood and naturall heate mount vpward in steade of descending therefore doth the face looke red Which argueth want of courage and a fainting heart as it befell the Babylonians whose heartes were possessed with feare and terrour at the comming of their enemies because God woulde giue them ouer into their hander Wee might also referre this rednesse and inflammation of visage to the paines and griefs which they were to endure For when one is pressed with griefe his countenance is redde and fierie because men are then as it were shut vp in a fire And as the face is red through Feare for the reasons set downe by vs so if the naturall heate leaue the heart and goe downeward the feare is not onely encreased but it bringeth withall a loosenesse of the belly Therefore it is written in the Booke of Iob where it is spoken of the feare that Liuiathan bringeth vpon men that the mightie tremble at his maiestie and purge themselues through his moouings that is through feare of him Hereupon a heathen Poet when hee would note a fearefull and dastardly fellowe saieth to this purpose That his heart was fallen into his heeles Nowe if feare mooueth all the body in this sorte no doubt but it greatly mooueth also the minde and the whole soule of man For it so troubleth the minde that it confoundeth all the thoughts thereof as wee may trie by this that many times the least fancie of euill that entreth into our braine is enough to trouble the minde very much For as imagination and fancie beare great sway ouer the affections so they shewe what power they haue chiefely in the affection of Feare And surely among all liuing creatures none hath such a confused feare or is more amazed therewith then man is Therefore we may well say that no misery is greater no bondage more shamefull seruile or vile then feare is For it maketh men very abiects flatterers and suspicious and so daunteth their courage that it leaueth them as it were halfe dead yea causeth them sometimes to despaire vtterly so that they are as it were Images destitute of counsaile not knowing which wayes to helpe themselues For this cause the holy Scriptures make often mention of a heart that is powred out like water for feare or that melteth like waxe And in Ieremy it is saide In that day saieth the Lorde the heart of the king shall perish and the heart of the Princes and the Priests shall be astonished and the Prophets shall wonder For truely if a man be once possessed with feare especially if hee bee enclined thereunto by nature but aboue all if GOD terrifie him a man may well exhort him to boldenesse and to take courage vnto him and alleadge all the reasons that can be to strengthen him against Feare but it will be to small purpose Therefore one saieth very well that no harnesse can be founde which is able to incourage feare and to make it hardy For if any Armorers had the skil to make such harnesse they should want no customers But onely God is able to arme vs against this because it is he that giueth or taketh away the heart of man that sendeth feare or boldenesse as pleaseth him For although hee hath sowed the seedes of them both in the nature of the body and soule of man with the meanes also that leade thereunto yet he hath not subiected himselfe to all those meanes no more then hee hath to the whole order of nature but hath alwayes reserued in his power both Feare and faintnesse of heart and boldenesse and assurance which are their contraries For assurance is a certaine perswasion and trust whereby wee are confirmed in danger against euilles that threaten vs and come neere vs and boldenesse is a confidence which pricketh forward the courage either to repulse euilles or to followe after good things which are excellent and harde to obtaine Therefore when GOD is minded to punish men hee taketh away their heartes whome hee will destroy causing them to tremble and to flie for feare as it is written in Ioshua where Rahab speaking to the spies of the Israelites that were sent to Iericho vseth these wordes I know that the Lorde hath giuen you this land for the feare of you is fallen vpon vs and all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you Contrariwise our GOD heartneth and emboldeneth those by whome hee will ouerthrow others and to whome hee mindeth to grant victorie Therefore it is written that hee will cause the feare of his seruants to fall vpon his enemies that the wicked and such as haue not called vpon GOD shall feare where there is no cause of feare and shall tremble and flie for feare although there be none that persecute them So that if wee doe desire to finde a harnesse that will arme our heart thorowly against all feare let vs put on the armour of the true feare of GOD and of sounde Faith in him For as the Prophet Dauid sayeth Blessed is the man that feareth the Lorde the iust shall liue in assured hope hee shall neuer be moued hee shall not be afraide of euill tidings for his heart is fixed and beleeueth in the Lorde his heart is stablished therefore hee will not feare For whosoeuer feareth God and walketh in innocencie God is with him and hee that hath God on his side what can hee or ought he to feare For when hee is with vs who shal be against vs May hee not well say with Dauid When I was afraide I trusted in thee In God doe I trust I will not be
preferred before another For how do we see men giuen ouer to those pleasures wherein they delight not onely in eating and drinking in dainty morsels and delicate drinkes but also in other carnall pleasures that are more earthy and vile especially when they are excessiue and vnmeasurable as they are in whoredome For those which wee receiue in eating and drinking belong to the sense of taste which is brutish enough but these others to the sense of touching which is a great deale more brutish We know by experience also that these senses are sooner wearied and tyred with their pleasures then any other and that such delights commonly bring with them more yrkesomnes and loathing then ioy and pleasure leauing many times behind them a long and shamefull repentance for pollutions receiued by them The pleasures that belong to the other senses as they are of longer continuance so they weary not a man so quickly especially those that delight the sight Yea the baser and more vile the pleasures are the sooner doe they loathe a man as they know by experience that are giuen to whoredome For how insatiable soeuer they be yet can they not but be glutted therewith neither are they able to continue their vnrulinesse so long in that pleasure howsoeuer they want no good-will as in the pleasures that come by eating and drinking Neither can the greatest gluttons drunkards and daintie mouthed persons follow so long together after the delights of their gluttony drunkennes and daintie diet as they may after those which they receiue either in smelling or in hearing or in seeing As for the pains that are to be taken in the obtaining and vsing of these pleasures the more earthy brutish the delight is the greater labour is to bee had about it and the more excessiuely the pleasure is vsed the greater hurt commeth thereby as wee daily see in gluttons drunkards and whoremongers by the testimonie of those diseases which take holde of them through their excesse Thus then we may learne by the vse of those pleasures which are receiued by the bodily and outward senses which of them are to be preferred before others with the agreement necessary therein and the moderation that alwayes ought to bee obserued in them But to goe forward with our matter we are now to compare together the delights and pleasures that are receiued by the spirituall and internall senses and to vnderstand what difference there is betweene the vse of the pleasures of the spirite and of the body and howe the one driue away the other Nowe let vs heare what ACHITOB will tell vs of this point Of the comparison of pleasures receiued by the internall senses and howe men descend by degrees from the best to the basest pleasures of the difference betweene the vse of spirituall delights and corporall and howe the one chase the other Chap. 48. ACHITOB. Experience daily teacheth vs that we need but a little griefe to diminish a great pleasure or otherwise to take it cleane away and to change it into great displeasure yea to turne a great ioy into extreame sorow and sadnes But few there are that meditate and knowe the cause thereof The trueth is we can thinke of no other cause then of the corruption of our nature of the estate and disposition of our bodie of the course of our age and life which decline continually and waxe worse and worse Therefore a small griefe findeth greater strength within vs to cause our heart to giue back and to close vp it selfe and wholly to cast vs downe then a great ioy and delight is able to open and inlarge it and to sustaine and holde vs vp For a little force will throwe downe this shaking and reeling bodie but there had neede to bee a great deale of strength to vnderproppe and stay it vp firme and stedfast On the other side wee can more easily want pleasures then not feele their contrary griefes For wee doe not perceiue so much the want of a good which we haue not as the presence of an euill which wee suffer For in the first it seemeth that wee want nothing but in the other the sense is afflicted and the sounde estate and disposition thereof is cleane taken away and ouerthrowne Nowe if wee desire to feele such griefes as little as we may and to approach as neere as our nature will permit to true delight and pleasures wee must withdrawe our selues from vile and abiect things and contemplate most high and excellent things Nowe as we haue learned by the former discourse that those delights and pleasures which are receiued by the chiefest senses that sauour least of the earth are of longer continuance then the other so we are to knowe that the pleasures of the fancie are more stable and firme then those which come by the corporall senses Hereof it is that men are cloyed a great deale sooner not onely with the pleasures of eating and drinking and of other more abiect thinges but also of sweete smelles of musicke of harmonicall soundes and of the beholding of goodly sights then with those good that are in the fancy and in opinion whereby the minde is deceiued as namely the getting and possessing of siluer of riches of power of honours and of glorie For these Goods are goods rather in opinion then in truth But because fancie propoundeth them vnto her selfe for Goods therefore shee taketh pleasure and delight in them Therefore the couetous man delighteth in his golde siluer and riches and the ambitious man in his power gloy and honours which are the pleasures of fancie and with which she is not so soone wearied as the bodie is with corporal pleasures but contrariwise the more shee hath the more her delight encreaseth and becommeth insatiable But the pleasures of reason of the minde and of the spirite continue a great deale longer then they because the spirite is not wearie or tyred but is recreated and refreshed But none can iudge well of this but those that haue had experience thereof No maruaile therefore if such men as are addicted to these other more base and earthly pleasures mocke and deride them that contemne their delightes and make so great account of these spirituall and heauenly pleasures that they are content to renounce all the rest and to forgoe all the goods in the worlde that they may enioy these as wee see it was with those holie personages that haue tasted of them As for those carnall and beastlike men wee may say of them as wee doe of hogges that delight more in a puddle or sinke then in pretious stones or sweete odours namely that they followe that which is most agreeable to their naturall disposition because they want iudgement to discerne the value of those thinges which they contemne and make no account of Nowe among the pleasures of the spirite those that consist in contemplation are of their nature by which wee shall become blessed in the the
man shewe vs the goodliest woorkes that can bee either of golde or of filuer or pictures or garments or houses as curiously wrought as can bee deuised eyther for beautie or cost yet when wee haue seene them foure or fiue times wee beginne to bee full of it and take not so great pleasure therein as wee did But who is euer wearie of beholding I will not say the heauens the sunne the moone and the starres but the earth the sea riuers mountaines valleyes gardens trees herbes and flowres The cause heereof is the agreement of nature For wee being naturall naturall things are more agreeable vnto vs then artificiall And because wee were created and made not by the hande of a Paynter and mortall man but by the hande of the liuing God who paynteth liuing images and pictures therefore wee take greater delight in his handie woorkes then in the woorkes of any other howe excellent a woorkeman soeuer hee bee And indeede they are are of farre greater perfection then those that are made by the arte of man Therefore Arte laboreth alwayes to follow nature and to expresse her workes as neere as it can insomuch that they are accounted the best woorkemen and men delight most in their doings that come neerest vnto nature Howe much more then ought wee to like the woorkes of nature and consequently God himselfe who is the Author and Creator of nature and of all her woorkes For the least woorke of his in nature is more excellent in his kinde then the perfectest woorke that humane arte is able to shewe Nowe if wee come from his naturall woorkes to those that are supernaturall and aboue the reach of nature wee shall finde in them a great deale more matter of all kinde of delight For if wee coulde consider aright of these thinges we woulde ascende vp from artificiall thinges and from that delight which they affoorde vs euen vnto naturall thinges and from these vnto the Author and Creator of them and of all nature and there wee woulde seeke for our true delight and pleasure Herein nature her selfe is our good Mistresse as shee that leadeth vs thereunto as it were by the hande But our inconsideratenesse our blockishnesse and ingratitude is the cause why wee cannot learne this lesson of her and why wee haue not the maruellous and excellent workes of GOD and nature in such due admiration as wee ought to haue Whereupon it commeth to passe also that wee take not so great delight and pleasure in them and that custome which ought to increase this delight in vs is a meane rather to diminish the same And by this meanes also wee are kept from that admiration which wee ought to haue of God the Woorkemaster of them and of that delight and pleasure which wee shoulde finde in him if we mounted vp so high and sought him there But because wee are alwayes musing about vile and abiect thinges wee haue no leasure to consider of and to contemplate higher and more woonderfull thinges Nowe to ende this dayes speech seeing wee are taught that God hath giuen vs the affections of ioy and of sorowe to induce and mooue vs to seeke him to the ende that by eschewing the euill that is contrary vnto vs we might attaine to that soueraigne Good which he hath prepared for vs and to that true delight pleasure and blisse which wee may finde in him let vs knowe that we haue good occasion to pray vnto him incessantly that he woulde vouchsafe so to lighten our senses and minde and to rule all our affections and willes in such sort that we may at the length attaine thereunto For then we shall not onely be deliuered from all sorowe and griefe but haue the full fruition of perfect ioy and perpetuall delight And to the ende that we may goe forwarde to morowe with our matter of the affections of the heart and soule thou shalt intreate ASER of the affections of loue which follow those of which we haue alreadie spoken The ende of the sixt dayes worke THE SEVENTH dayes worke Of the affections of loue of the nature kindes and obiect of it of the beginning of friendshippe of the vertue and force of alluring that is in likenesse and in beautie of the agreement that is betweene beautie and goodnesse Chap. 49. ASER If wee know not throughly the affections of our soule which by reason of the corruption of our nature are so many diseases in vs wee shall neuer know our selues well nor the image of God which is imprinted in our soule nor the affectiō of his goodnes towards vs. Likewise wee can neuer learne what pure and sound parts of the nature of the affections remain yet in man what is added thereunto by reason of sinne that is in vs neither yet what vertue vice are except we truly know the nature of the affections Moreouer without this knowledge we can neuer make choice of good from euil or of truth from lying For being as we must needes be during this life subiect vnto and tossed on euery side with an infinite number of strange passions if they be vnknowen vnto vs we cannot discerne amongst a multitude of contrary opinions which of them is soundest euery one of thē pretending some shew of good of truth Therefore as we saw yesterday the affections of ioy and of sorow of hope and of feare and of delight and pleasure which folow ioy wherby we may conceiue the contrary vnto it namely griefe and torment which follow sorow so this day we are to proceede in learning what other affections there are of the heart and soule I wil begin then with the affection of loue which is a motion wherby the heart lusteth after that which is good indeed or which seemeth vnto it to be so desiring to draw the good to it selfe to the ende it may enioy the same This affection commeth neere to the nature of hope but it is a great deale more hote Therefore after the heart is once moued it presently draweth vnto it that thing which is offered for good labouring as it were to haue the fruition of some great Good But let vs consider howe this affection is bredde in the heart After that Iudgement hath iudged a thing to bee good so soone as the same thing is presented to the Will it doth by and by moue allure and draw the same vnto it selfe by a certaine naturall agreement euen as the like is betweene the minde and the trueth and betweene the eye and beautie This motion of the heart and will hath euen then ioyned with it a certaine kinde of reioycing as testifying thereby that the thing pleaseth it and is very good and agreeable vnto it Now when this reioycing is confirmed it is called loue which is an inclination or a proceeding of the will towards that which is Good For it fareth with the Will as if it went before to meete with the good that is comming to
receiue and to embrace it Wherupon ariseth a desire of coniunction to knit the same thing to it selfe and this loue is called Cupiditie Lusting or Coueting But because this affection is so out of square in this our corrupt nature these names are commonly taken more in the euill then in the good part Nowe this affection of desire or coueting hath respect either to that good which we enioy alreadie or which we haue yet in hope onely and in expectation If it be already present this cupiditie breedeth a desire to retaine and keepe it still if it be yet in expectation it bringeth forth a desire and longing to enioy it And in this sort we loue all those things which we esteeme and take to bee profitable for vs either for the soule or for the body or for the external goods For this cause many loue God because they know that it is he who giueth good things vnto men But this is not that true loue wherwith we must loue him For although they are very wicked and too vnthankfull which loue him not at leastwise with such a loue and for that cause yet if we goe no further we loue our selues more then wee doe him in this kind of loue seeing the chiefe cause for which we loue him is not in respect of himselfe but of vs. For we loue him by reason of that good which we receiue from him But true loue is that which causeth vs to loue a thing because it is good in it selfe and not in respect of any profite that may come vnto vs thereby With this loue we ought to loue God and our neighbours and friendes and of this loue wee haue a very cleare and manifest image in the loue of Fathers and mothers towards their children For they loue them not because they haue respect to some good which they may receiue of them but because they are their children For although they receiue nothing but trouble by them from the time of their childehood and expences rather then profit yet that letteth them not from louing them tenderly and with great affection Nowe if by this loue grounded vpon such a cause we iudge the like of the loue of God towards vs seeing it is hee that hath imprinted the same in the heartes of parents towards their children as an image of his loue towards vs we conclude well For seeing he is the fountaine of all true and perfect loue all other loues are but as it were little riuers which flowe from this liuely spring But there is none so expresse an image thereof in all the creatures as in the loue of fathers and mothers towards their children For doeth God loue vs in respect of any profite which hee looketh for at our hands Hereof it is that he setteth forth himselfe vnto vs as a Father to the end we may the better know that he loueth vs with a right fatherly loue Therefore also hee will haue vs to call him Father and so to accoūnt of him yea hee will not haue vs to take any other for our Father of whome to depende wholly but him alone And no doubt but we shoulde receiue wonderfull ioy and consolation if we coulde as well feele within vs that loue which this good Father beareth vs as we feele the loue which we beare towardes our children Now when loue is reciprocall and mutuall so that he which is loued doeth also loue for his part the partie that loueth him then is friendship bred of loue wherein there is mutuall beneuolence and goodwil Wherefore as God loueth vs so muust we for our partes loue him seeing this is the chiefe cause why he hath created man according to his image and similitude and hath giuen him a soule that is immortall and endued with vnderstanding and reason to knowe him first and then to loue him Therefore if wee consider by what steppes wee ascend vp to God we shall finde that as by the loue which he first bare vs we descended from the highest to the lowest so likewise we mount vp againe from the lowest vnto the highest by that loue which wee beare him For our soule descendeth from the highest which is God vnto the lowest which is the bodie by the loue of the Creator towards her who by meanes of this descending and coniunction communicateth his blessednesse both with the soule and with the bodie And as she came downe from him so through the knowledge which she hath of God and loue which she beareth him she ascendeth vp again returneth to her first birth Cōcerning those degrees by which we come thither we begin first at materiall and corporal things as the beginning of mans generation and birth teacheth vs then we come to the senses of the bodie by that vse which we haue of them Afterwarde we vse imagination and fantasie and from that we come to reason and iudgement next to contemplation and last of all to loue Heereby we may learne also to know the steppes of descending seeing they are the same but begunne at the contrarie ende Wherefore if iudgement bee gouerned and ouercome by the affections and reason by fantasie the estate of the soule is wholly ouerturned and peruerted as if the bodie beeing minded to walke shoulde set the head vpon the ground and lift the heeles vpwarde So likewise is it if in steede o mounting vp to God by loue we descend in such sort to the creatures that we ascend vp no more to him that wee may bee one with him For loue maketh all things one Therefore if we be vnited with God there must needes be perfect friendshippe betweene him and vs. For as he loueth vs so we loue him and then our selues for loue of him And from the loue of our selues springeth our loue towards our wiues and children as though they were a part of vs as also towardes our like and towards our woorkes For similitude and likenesse is a great cause of loue seeing that when one resembleth vs it is as if wee our selues were another because similitude maketh many things to be as one and the same thing Wherefore seeing God hath created vs to his image and likenesse it cannot bee but that he loueth his image and similitude in vs and vs also in respect of that as if it were himselfe For this cause the more this image is reformed and renewed in vs the more no doubt hee loueth vs and the like also may be said of our loue towards him In like manner beautie hath great vertue to procure loue and that for many causes For first the beautie which appeareth without in any body is as it were a witnesse and testimonie of the beautie in the soule according to that which we haue already spoken of the agreement of the powers affections thereof with the temperature of the bodie For God hath created all things in such manner that he hath commonly ioyned beautie and goodnes together
taste doth breede an other desire to continue therein and to preserue those meanes whereby they may alwayes enioy such pleasure Whereby wee may iudge howe the desire and coueting that is in man wandereth and goeth astray when as notwithstanding it is giuen him of God to the end he might wish for that which hee iudgeth to bee good for him and that hee might followe after it and hauing obtained the same might holde and keepe it fast Now Forasmuch as God is the true stedfast and firme good of man hee doeth naturally wish and desire him and because this good is infinite it falleth out thereupon that the largenesse length and depth of our coueting is infinite and can be filled with no other thing but with God Wherefore when it is come thither there it stayeth and resteth it selfe But whilest it wandreth hither and thither there wil be no end but one desire begetteth another insomuch that there are infinite kindes of them which take their particular names of those things which they couet For the vnmesurable coueting of honours is called ambition of golde and siluer couetousnesse of meates and drinkes gluttony and drunkennesse the vnlawfull and immoderate desire of coniunction betweene man and woman is called Whoredome which also hath diuers kindes vnder it according to the degrees of their filthinesse and enormities in whome it aboundeth The vertues opposite and contrary to these vicious desires are iustice liberalitie continencie chastitie and temperance of which vertues and vices and of others proceeding of them we haue discoursed at large in our fist morall institution Therefore to conclude that which hath beene hitherto spoken of Loue and of Desire I thinke wee ought to make two sortes of Loue the one in vertue the other in vice For that Loue proceeding of Desire and Coueting such as we see commonly in men is false and fained And because it counterfaiteth often the actions of true loue therefore wee ought to be very wary that it beguile vs not and that wee take not the one for the other Concerning the first wee must remember that all loue is begotten of Good that it bendeth and draweth towardes Good as wee haue already learned Now Good is of that nature that it breedeth in vs a desire to bee ioyned vnto it in regarde of that agreement which it hath with vs of which agreement and coniunction commeth delight and then blessednesse and felicitie So that the vtmost bounds and limites of Loue is to be knit together in vnitie as much as may be And the straighter and closer the bond of loue is tied and conioyned in one and the same essence so much the more truely and perfectly is loue come vnto his ende and consisteth in the perfection of his nature Therefore the desire of coniunction which is in Loue is giuen to man to the ende hee shoulde wish and couet to be vnited with God his true Good that being made as it were a little God like vnto him hee might be partaker of his eternall blessednesse This is the true firme and fruitfull coniunction of loue and the great and excellent reward thereof For all the rest are nothing in comparison of this but onely vaine and fruitlesse Nowe the Loue of the body desireth the coniunction of the body and the loue of soules desireth to be ioyned with soules that there may be as it were one soule in many bodies And this coniunction is the greatest truest and of longest continuance which causeth but one heart and one will among friends as if they were one onely body and one onely soule and as if hee that loueth were the same party that is beloued Therefore it is written of the first Christians that were in the Church of Ierusalem that the multitude of them that beleeued were of one heart and one soule neither any of them saide that any thing of that which he possessed was his owne but they had al things common Neither is it saide without reason in common Prouerb that all things are common among friendes which is the cause that a friend calleth and accompteth as his owne whatsoeuer belongeth to his friend whether it be in prosperitie or in aduersitie Therefore also it is commonly said that a stedfast friend is tried in doubtfull matters Wherevpon it commeth to passe in true loue that friends lift vp into great dignitie are more carefull of those whome they loue how base soeuer they be and of their affaires then of themselues and of their particular estate Moreouer we are to knowe that as it is the nature of Loue to ioyne together so doeth it also bring equalitie with it so farre foorth as the nature of those things that are conioyned will beare insomuch that the highest stoope downe to the lowest to lift them vp vnto themselues they that are equall associate themselues together Therefore as we haue often saide that the fountaine and patterne of all true loue is in God so in this point it doth chiefly shew it selfe vnto vs. For hee abaseth himselfe to our smallnesse as though he would reach vs his hand from heauen to drawe and lift vs vp vnto himselfe by the meane of Iesus Christ vnto whome and by whome wee are truely vnited with him But heere wee are to knowe that the desire lust or coueting which is bredde of Loue groweth to bee vicious through the corruption of our nature which otherwise being directed by good meanes and by reason according to the will of God and ayming at the right Good which is God woulde cause vs to loue God first for his owne sake and then his creatures in him and for the loue of him Neither shoulde wee euer couet worldly goods with an vnbrideled desire but woulde rather accompt all mortall things vnworthy to bee cared for by our immortall soules Whereunto wee shall be the rather perswaded if following that which wee haue begunne to speake of true and false loue and of the difference betweene them wee consider what good things are to be found in the one aboue the other what sundry rewards men propound vnto themselues in loue what knowledge is required therein and howe the one is encreased by the other This then shall be thy matter subiect ACHITOB which thou shalt take to make an end of our discoursing of the nature of Loue. Of the good things that are in true Loue of the diuerse valuations of Loue and of the benefits which it procureth what knowledge is requisite to allure Loue and howe one Loue groweth by another of the friendship that may be both betweene the good and the bad Chap. 52. ACHITOB. Good is loued so much as it is knowen and as wee are able to vnderstand what it is For things are first knowen to the end they may be loued Now there are three meanes of knowledge in our soule namely by sense by reason and by the mind From the sense springeth appetite which is common
which is the nature of the loue of concupiscēce that looketh inwardly to it self But true friendship looketh outwardly vpon him whom it loueth insomuch that he which loueth doth die by litle and litle in himselfe but that which he loueth liueth in him Wherfore S. Paul not only knowing the nature of true loue but also hauing felt by experience the vehemencie therof saith I liue yet not I now but Christ liueth in me For he that truly loueth careth no more for himselfe but for that thing which he loueth This degree of loue may be rightly called Rauishing in which the louer is so rapt out of himselfe that he sorgetteth himselfe altogether being wholly in him whom he loueth and he whom he loueth being in him But as we said in the beginding of our speach Good is loued so far forth as it is knowen as we can vnderstand what it is therfore it is necessary that the knowlege of it should be so great that it be sufficiēt to draw loue which encreaseth by thinking often of that thing which is beloued For thereby it is planted rooted more deeply in the heart Wherefore there is nothing more contrary to loue then forgetfulnes the mother of ingratitude especially in our loue towards God For the more we thinke of him the more do we call to minde his goodnes towards vs whereupon also our loue doeth encrease is inslamed in vs towards him And the greater and more burning our loue is the nearer are we vnited linked vnto him Therfore we may well conclude that we loue God according to that measure of knowledge which we haue of him and of his benefits and according as we consider and remember them and if we want these things we loue him not as we ought Now whē we are ioyned vnto the thing that is deare vnto vs according to the end of loue we know it a great deale better because we behold it neerer and then are we said to enioy it Hereupon we may note two kinds of knowledge in loue the one first the other last By the first we beleeue that thing to be good which we do know by the last we haue experience of it which is of great force in al loue because the fruit thereof is the fruition of the thing beloued This enioying is the action of delight and of pleasure which is not onely of the will but also of the vnderstanding as it is in GOD. And if wee take it so Loue shall be as the meane betweene the first knowledge which is onely begunne and the last which is full and perfect which consisteth in the vnion of him that loueth with him that is beloued and wherein the desire that is in loue and which afflicteth and tormenteth the party louing is alwayes abolished not the loue it selfe but being vnited the greater number and the more excellent it findeth the goods in regarde of those which the first knowledge affoorded the more is it encreased and inflamed Heereof it is that we put a difference betweene Loue and the Desire that is in loue because when wee loue a thing wee desire therewithall the fruition and possession thereof And if there be delaie made so that wee cannot enioy the thing so soone as wee woulde this delay tormenteth vs by reason of the desire which presseth and pricketh vs forward to get the possession of it But this torment commeth not of Loue then which there is nothing more sweete and pleasant but of that desire which endeth in the vnion and fruition of the thing beloued In the meane time as long as this desire lasteth the loue from whence it proceedeth causeth the torment to be abated yea it is not without some pleasure especially when there is some hope that at length it may bee obtained and brought about And the more confident this hope is the greater solace yea the greater delight and pleasure it bringeth withall For as loue hath great delight in vnion and fruition so is it not small in hope because it propoundeth vnto vs the enioying of the thing as being present euen as if our imagination had already led vs vnto it Therefore forasmuch as the hope of Gods children is certaine they are nowe beeing in this worlde as it were blessed in heauen although the desire which they haue of greater goodes hoped for yet and to be enioyed in that full vnion and coniunction which they shal haue with God in the life euerlasting causeth them to groane and to sigh continually with all the creatures waiting for their full and perfect deliuerance from all corruption and from this miserable life So that wee can not doubt but that our loue towardes GOD will bee farre greater and much more vehement when as wee shall haue this full fruition of God our soueraigne Good and when wee shall bee perfectly vnited vnto him by true Loue not seeing him obscurely in a glasse onely or knowing him in part as we do nowe but beholding him face to face and knowing him as we haue bin knowen of him For the knowledge which we haue nowe of him is yet but begunne in respect of that which we shall haue fully and wholly in that glorious and immortall life And then also wee shall be wholly swallowed vp with his loue By the same reason we may wel beleeue that the loue and charitie which the godly beare one towardes another in this mortall life and pilgrimage shall be a great deale more enflamed in the other life then euer it was in the holiest and most perfect that euer was amongst them in this world For the better men friends are the more stedfast and firme is their friendship which among good men is alwayes of long continuance but contrariwise with the wicked And to speake properly there is no friendship betwixt them but onely some familiaritie and fellowship or to speake better a conspiracie against right and common peace Howsoeuer it be whether familiaritie or fellowship it is very short and weake because it hath no good foundation Wherefore they can not long continue vnited and knit together We haue daily testimony heereof in worldly and carnall men who hauing made for a time profession of very great friendship vpon a Yea or a Nay assault one another euen vnto death But wee are not greatly to maruaile at it For seeing their amitie and vnion is ill grounded as it cannot be of long continuance so they can receiue no great ioy or delight But it is contrary in the friendship of good men as that which hath a farre better foundation namely God and his word Wherefore if the better men that friendes be the greater their friendship is and more firme euen in this world no doubt but it will be greater more burning and constant in that blessed and eternall life which wee expect where we shal be much better men and more perfect then wee are heere better linked one with an
other as also we shall be altogither a great deale more conioyned with and in God For this cause Saint Paul had good reason to say that Loue doeth neuer fallaway though prophecyings be abolished or tongues cease or knowledge vanish away Wherefore in this respect hee concludeth that loue is the greatest of these three Faith Hope and Loue. But wee haue spoken enough of the nature of Loue for the subiect of our discourse of the naturall historie of man Nowe I thinke it will not bee vnprofitable if wee say somewhat of other affections that are neere neighbours vnto Loue and ioyned with it as of fauour reuerence honour and pitie which haue such good or ill qualities in man as the nature of that loue hath which bringeth them foorth as ASER will giue vs to vnderstand Of fauour reuerence and of honour of their nature and effectes of those outward signes whereby they shew themselues of pitie and compassion and how agreeable it is to the nature of man Chap. 53. ASER. I cannot marueile enough at the drowsines of many great spirits who are so delighted with the vaine dreames of their own fancies that they employ all the giftes and graces of their minde to lift vp euen vnto the heauens the pleasures that are receiued in the loue of humane and mortall things especially in the fruites of concupiscence and yet the least of them cannot be gotten without a thousand troublesome discommodities besides that they leaue alwayes in man an insatiable desire of them I would aske of them gladly when the most voluptuous man of them all hath not euen in the middest of his pleasures sighed and bene subiect to passions desiring some other thing besides or when there was euer founde betweene twaine that loued ech other corruptly that conformitie of wils that communication of thoughts those continual agreements that concord of life which is necessary in all true loue especially seeing it is a hard matter yea impossible to see a wicked man that is not daily at variance with himselfe insomuch that if he could leaue himselfe as two men forsake eche other there are many who vpon euery occasion woulde leaue themselues to take another body or another soule And as when one being very desirous to eate and thereupon falling asleepe dreameth that he is feeding and yet is not satisfied because it is not a dreame of meate that will content the sense and appetite which seeketh to bee appeased but substantiall meate it selfe euen so it falleth out when men dreaming in spirite which is as pernicious a thing as the sleepe of death giue themselues by a certaine natural inclination which they haue to the loue of Good to seeke for the beautie contentation delight thereof vpon earth when they are not to be found in the whole worlde As for their shadowes which in some sort appeare in corporall and earthly things and in those delights which proceede of them they doe not feede their mindes with sound and good thinges but rather abuse and deceiue them Therefore we ought to take great heed that wee set not our heart and affection rather vpon those miserable corruptible and deceiueable pleasures wherein worldlings and carnal men doe glory then vpon that great and infinite brightnesse of which the sunne is but a very small beame and vpon those singular blessed and heauenly trueths which the worde of life doeth teach vs and which are the onely true and solide meates that can content and satisfie our spirits eternally It is certaine that nature mooueth vs to set our affection chiefly vpon some one thing rather then vpon another forasmuch as loue is a gift bestowed by the Creatour vpon all natures at the time of their birth Nowe vnto Loue many other affections are ioyned among which Fauour commonly hath the first place This affection is a kinde of good will and liking which springeth from a iudgement conceiued of some Good so that wee may call it a loue begunne For in this iudgement of Good wee esteeme well of him towardes whome our fauour is extended and iudge him woorthie of some good thing and by this meanes wee beginne to loue him Wherefore although fauour may bee without true loue yet loue cannot bee without fauour Notwithstanding when wee fauour one before wee loue him euen then wee enter into the way that leadeth to loue him And for the least shadowe of loue in our heart towardes another wee fauour him as wee see it in those that are linked vnto vs by some degree eyther of consanguinitie or of affinitie or by meanes of some acquaintance and knowledge Now forasmuch as GOD loueth vs he beareth vs fauour also although not in the regarde or for the iudgement of any good which hee seeth in vs or in our corrupted nature but because of the loue hee beareth vs in Iesus Christ his welbeloued in whome by his grace hee hath made vs acceptable to himselfe Therefore this fauour bringeth with it the perfection of all Good vnto vs. For what can hee want that is fauoured of God who can doe all things This fauour which God beareth vnto vs is called grace and blessing in the holy Scriptures which comprehendeth all those benefites which wee receiue of his goodnesse For they proceede all of this fauour and this fauour of the loue hee beareth vs in Iesus Christ Reuerence also commonly accompanieth loue whereby we vnderstand an affection proceeding from the iudgement of some great good that hurteth vs not For if wee thought it woulde hurt vs there woulde bee feare ioyned with hatred and not true reuerence For although there is euermore in all reuerence some feare mingled with shamefastnesse neuerthelesse this feare bringeth no hatred with it This reuerence is bredde in vs by comparing the greatnesse of another with our smalnesse as if wee admired those excellent thinges that are in him For as the heart doeth enlarge it selfe through the consideration and opinion it hath of it owne greatnesse so doeth it restraine and close vp it selfe vpon the reputation and conceipt of another mans greatnesse so it bee good or at leastwise without hurt Therefore if wee compare our greatnesse with some other mans that is farre greater we know our owne smalnesse thereby Whereupon it commeth to passe that we doe not onely esteeme woorse but euen dislike and contemne our selues by which meanes wee become more humble whereas before wee were puffed vp with pride through the opinion of our greatnesse of which wee haue experience as often as wee compare our selues with GOD and lift vp our spirite euen to the consideration of his diuine maiestie comparing that with our basenesse For then beeing rauished with admiration of his highnesse and infinite greatnesse wee honour and reuerence him by reason of his power vnto which wee ioyne also his wisedome and goodnesse And according to that reuerence wee beare towardes him wee reuerence those also in whome wee see the same
giftes and graces shine For power breedeth reuerence and goodnesse loue Wherfore if we iudge that power and greatnes are ioyned with goodnes and tempered therewithall we shal not onely be moued to reuerence but this reuerence also will engender loue as it is in the hearts of the faithful towards God because that as they consider him almighty and the greatest of all so they behold him most wise and most good But as I haue already touched if we thinke that this greatnesse or power either is or wil be hurtful vnto vs there is another kind of reuerence which only hath feare that breedeth hatred as it is in them that consider the power of God only the rigour of his iudgement not meditating of his clemencie and benignitie Therefore as the great excellency which in all things appeareth in God especially in power wisdome and goodnes induceth vs to reuerence him aright so if we would haue men to honour reuerence vs there must bee excellent vertues in vs in which men may see the image of God to shine that so he may be honoured reuerenced in vs we in him For therein consisteth that true honour that true reuerence which we ought to seek for to desire And although reuerence hath respect principally to the diuine maiestie at the name of which euery knee ought to bow and to those superiorities which are images thereof vnto which they that are of lesse degree estate and condition ought to giue honor seruice neuertheles mutual reuerence is necessary in al true friendship aswel in respect of the party beloued as of him that loueth And indeed we see howe that true friendes reuerence and honour one another and all because of that good opinion which they haue conceiued eche of others desert Concerning this word Honour it is properly a token whereby we testifie that we iudge him to bee endued with vertue whome we honour Wherefore as the consideration of vertue breedeth honour so honour breedeth reuerence and then honour and reuerence breede maiestie which is the highest degree of honour and encreaseth continually according as those vertues and good things excell which induce vs to honour them For if the vertues be meane wee honour them with a more simple honour if greater we adde thereunto reuerence and then maiestie is that honour which can be giuen to the greatest of all And as this affection of honour is in our heart wee shew it foorth by diuers outwarde signes whereby we signifie and testifie that we acknowledge their greatnes and excellencie whom wee honour and that we submit our selues thereunto Therefore the more humble and modest a man is the readier he will be to yeelde reuerence and honour to them vnto whom it is due Contrariwise the more drunken a man is with the loue of himselfe the more he will presume of himselfe and the greater this presumption is in him the lesse wil he desire that another should be more excellent then himselfe and wil be the hardlier perswaded to beleeue it is so Therefore he will hardly yeelde to giue him honour and reuerence But Saint Paul admonisheth the children of God to goe before one another in giuing honour and to be of like affection one towardes another not being high minded neither wise in themselues that is to say arrogant and selfe-weening presuming very much of themselues So that as pride or humilitie aboundeth in vs God our superiours and friendes shal be more or lesse honoured by vs. As for those signes whereby we testifie this honour and reuerence we are to note that they are many according to the diuersities of nations and countries and of their maners Most commonly we vse to bend the knee in testimonie that we abase and submit our selues to those vnto whom we doe this honour Likewise we vncouer the head which is a token of seruitude according to the custome of the Grecians and of the Romanes There are many other such like signes as to rise vp to giue place to accompanie to salute and infinite others which would be too long to rehearse and without profite all which we call bearing of honour and reuerence or yeelding of reuerence Wherefore although God looketh chiefly to that which is within and not to that which is without yet will he haue vs by externall signes to declare that honour which we owe and beare vnto him and by them to yeeld him homage Thus he requireth that we should testifie our faith and our loue towards him by confession of mouth and by all good workes that there may be alwayes an agreement betweene the body and the soule betweene the heart mouth and hands and betweene the workmaster that worketh and his instruments and woorkes to the ende that the one may bee knowen by the other For if the outwarde signes agree not with the heart we make them false witnesses as the tongue is when it lieth For they beare witnesse to that which is not which is right hypocrisie displeasing God and men Therefore we must beware of this vice and take heed that we make no other outward shew then will stande with the affection of the heart Now hauing spoken of honour reuerence and maiestie by reason of that coniunction which they haue with loue as also of fauour and grace it remaineth now that we should speake somewhat of Mercie and compassion seeing that also hath great agreement with loue Mercie then is a griefe conceiued in our heart in respect of some euil which as we thinke is befallen one that hath not deserued it and this we call also pitie and compassion Now because this affection moueth vs to aide succour and to doe good to them that are afflicted as also to pardon such as haue offended vs therefore Mercie is often taken in the holy scriptures for ayde succour fauour grace beneficence good will benefiting friendship benignitie as also for the affection and inclination of the heart to doe good and to succour all them that haue neede of helpe and this proceedeth of charitie Therfore Saint Paul saith He that sheweth mercie let him doe it with cheerefulnesse Let loue be without dissimulation Abhorre that which is euill and cleaue to that which is good Be affectioned to loue one another with brotherly loue not slouthfull to doe seruice feruent in spirite seruing the Lorde distributing to the necessities of the Saintes giuing your selues to hospitalitie Whereby he admonisheth vs that all the succours which we giue to others ought to proceede from a sincere and cheerefull affection of the heart which should prouoke vs to perfourme the same and this cannot be in vs without the affection of pitie of mercie and of compassion In regard whereof the name of almes is taken from a worde which in Greeke signifieth Mercy and therefore also almes signifieth asmuch as mercie or that succour that is done of mercy and compassion wherewith we are affected in respect of
the miserie of our like Whereupon it followeth that as euery one is of a more tender heart so he is more mercifull as contrariwise hardnesse of heart extinguisheth mercie and compassion As for this word Compassion it signifieth asmuch as alike compassion that is a like sense and feeling of euil and of griefe as if we our selues suffered that which we see others endure by reason of that coniunction which we ought to haue one with another as members of one and the same body among which there is such agreement that if one suffer all feele it and so all are carefull for it Therefore it is written in the Epistle to the Hebrewes that brotherly loue continueth Bee not saith he forgetfull to lodge strangers Remember them that are in bondes as though ye were bound with them and them that are in affliction as if ye were also afflicted in the bodie Wherefore we may well conclude that this affection of mercie is very necessary for men yea as sweet as milde and as profitable an affection as any can be amongst them which they haue receiued of God for their mutual succour and consolation in the midst of so many miseries as commonly happen in the life of man And this hee commaundeth vs expresly in infinite places of his woorde that the image of his vnspeakeable mercy might shine in vs by our mercy towards others Hitherto we haue spoken of man as of man and of those affections that are most humane in him now others remaine which often make him more brutish then any sauage beast that is For seeing they come of the opinion of euill they prouoke and stirre him vp greatly making him marueilous wilde and vntamed To the end therefore that we may enter into the discourse of this matter we will first see what Offending and Offence is in the heart and soule consider what degrees it hath and what good or euill may be in this affection This we shall learne of thee AMANA Of offence in the heart and soule of the degrees of offence of the good and euil that may be in this affection of contempt that is bred of it and of mockery which followeth contempt Chap. 54. AMANA The Philosophers haue set downe foure causes of al the troubles of the soule from whence all the residue proceed into which they returne and haue their end namely immoderate desire vnbrideled ioy vnmeasurable griefe and extreame feare These as they say proceede through imprudence or ignorance of the minde and pusillanimitie of heart from the opinion of good or euill things present or to come which we imagine to be in the things of this worlde being vnperfect and of small continuance Now forasmuch as these foure causes are the springs of all vices and sinnes into which men plunge themselues in this life they are called perturbations of the soule which if they be not mastred by reason doe so carie the soule hither and thither that in the ende they constraine the reasonable power thereof to giue ouer all authoritie and libertie and to obey the lustes of the sensuall and vnreasonable Will Nowe desire and ioy they commonly accompanie the perishing goodes of the bodie For they are of that nature that they inflame the soule with an insatiable lust inso much that the obtaining of one thing is the beginning of a new and vehement desire of hauing another And the enioying of them besotteth the spirite with a sugred poison of fained delight and pleasure vnder the yoke of which it easily suffreth it selfe to be ouercome to be bound and to be gouerned As for griefe feare although they also be not farre remooued from such false and vading goods of the body yet for the most part they respect those aduersities and miseries which in our opinion wee iudge to be in the want and priuation of those goods For they fill the soule with trouble and disquietnesse as she that thinketh her estate to be most miserable if she obtaine not the ende of her carnall and inordinate affections So that if the body endure neuer so little shee casteth foorth strange cries and complaintes And although the bodie suffer nothing at all yet is shee alwayes in extreme feare least some euill shoulde befall it But these very passions may bee diuided into good and badde For honest desire modestioy and moderate griefe and feare are naturally in vs for the preseruation of our being Yea all these affections are endued with the qualities of commendable vertues if they respect the soueraigne Good of man as we may learne by our former speeches touching this matter which were chiefly of good affections and of such as are most natural in man Therefore following our matter subiect we must from hencefoorth consider of a great number of other affections of the heart which for the most part make men more beastlike then the very beasts themselues that are voyde of all vnderstanding and reason yea then the wildest beastes that are All which affections take their beginning from the opinion of euill as these that are good proceed from the opinion of Good For the feare of euil doth wonderfully prouoke a man when he is touched therwith he waxeth very sauage and wilde Now the first sting and byting of euill is offence by reason that the heart is offended euen as when one rusheth against a thing hurteth himself Therfore by offence we vnderstand properly a certaine griefe of the soule of the heart which commeth through some touch of euill that agreeth not to our nature This first sence of griefe is like to the first pricking of ones bodie and is contrarie to the first pleasure which we receiue of some Good that is offered vnto vs and is agreeable to our nature So that as this pleasure when it is confirmed is turned into loue so out of this first feeling of griefe which I call offence the other affections that are ioyned with griefe doe budde foorth afterwarde namely anger hatred enuie indignation reuenge crueltie and such like The euill that may offend vs is whatsoeuer we iudge to be contrary to vs and to our nature as well in regard of the body as of the soule For as the bodie is offended by those euils which trouble the harmonie and temperature thereof and which bring griefe and hurt vnto it so is it with the soule and with all the powers senses and affections thereof For she may be offended in her imagination and fantasie in her reason in her will and in her affections Nowe because euery one followeth his affections or his natural inclination and not the right rule and iudgement of reason it is an easie matter to offend and displease many and that in many things but not so easie to please them For there is but one onely reason or at leastwise it hath no great diuersitie in it But the naturall dispositions of men are infinite and wonderful
outwarde signes and by diuers kindes of behauiour which oftentimes are hardlier borne withall and suffered then greater euils and iniuries which men may receiue as indeede they are blowes and woundes which pearce euen vnto the heart and soule Therfore contempt and mockery engender commonly anger in them that cannot digest them with modestie and patience as the true seruants of GOD doe and followers of Iesus Christ who sustained so patiently all the contempts and reproches that were offered vnto him that no euill worde or voyce euer came out of his mouth whereby hee gaue any signification or signe of wrath but was alwayes quiet and dumbe as it were a sheepe before her shearer according as Esaias had foretolde Which ought to be vnto vs an example of all modesty and patience to the ende we may know how to bridle our anger and wrath in time conceiued against all them that offend contemne and mocke vs. But let vs now consider of other affections which we said were ioined with grief and followed offence And first let vs learne what anger is what are the nature and effects of it and for what vse it may serue man and this we shall vnderstand of thee ARAM. Of anger and of the vehemencie and violence thereof of the difference that is betweene anger and rancour of the affection of reuenge that accompanieth them of the motions of the heart in anger with the effects thereof wherefore this affection is giuen to man and to what vse it may serue him Chap. 55. ARAM. There hath beene alwayes great contentions and disputions amongst thâ— best learned of all the Philophers to knowe whether the affections and passions of the heart and soule were necessary to pricke forward and to helpe men to the effects of vertues or otherwise hurtful and contrary vnto them Aristotle and all the Peripatecians mainteyned that all the affections of the soule were not onely naturall but giuen also by nature to great purpose as among the rest anger and choler which serued for a pricke to prouoke and stirre vp fortitude and generositie And because vertue was a habite of that which is good and comely yea the mediocritie of the affections therefore it ought not in any sort to bee without these motions neither yet to be too much subiect to passion For the priuation and want of desire would haue made the soule vnmoueable and without cheerefulnes euen in honest things as ouer vehement desires altogether trouble it and set it as it were beside it selfe The Academikes and Stoikes contended harde against this opinion alleadging manie great arguments against it as this among the rest That all is eyther vertue or vice and that there is no meane betweene them that one of these cannot bee the cause of the other seeing they are directly and in all thinges contrarie hauing nothing common betweene them and therefore that vertue neuer proceeded of vice And concerning Fortitude and Generositie which were bred in the heart by mature consultation election of reason that these vertues could by no meanes bee holpen by anger or choler but rather troubled and hindered in their actions because such passions did neuer vse any consultation but performed all things inconsideratly and at aduenture There are many yet to bee founde amongest vs that woulde take part with either opinion of these Philosophers but vnlesse they studie throughly the booke of nature and haue the spirite of God for their master and teacher they shall neuer be able to yeeld causes and certaine reasons of their resolution nor of the wonderfull effectes wrought by the powers of the soule as we may learne by the sequele of our speech First then we must know that Anger is a vehement motion of the heart because it seeth those good things which it hath to be contemned wheras it iudgeth them not to be such as ought to be so lightly set by And herein it thinks it selfe despised For euery one valueth himself according to the opinion of those good things which he iudgeth to be in himself therfore there is no anger which commeth not of offence But all offence is not anger For offence is more general anger more speciall albeit they are commonly confounded and taken one for another But there are many things that dislike vs with which notwithstanding we are not angrie because there is no contempt of vs ioyned with them For oftentimes we are grieued by those things that haue neither sense nor vnderstanding when some thing happeneth against our minde and offendeth vs and it seemeth that wee are prouoked to anger against them but this is not anger properly seeing there is nothing but simple offence without contempt of vs. Also it falleth out often that our blood is heated and our heart pricked forward and inflamed to doe some great worke for the performance whereof it is requisite that it should be much moued but this is only a kindling of the heart without anger and offence because it is not stirred vp thereunto by any euill But when a man letteth loose the bridle vnto this affection in such sort that hee accustomes himselfe thereunto this vse and custome turneth it into rancour which is an inueterate anger that hath taken roote in the heart Nowe the better that a man thinkes of himselfe the sooner hee is offended at euery thing and the readier he is to bee moued to anger as taking himselfe to bee despised This is a very vehement and violent affection For it ouerthroweth very often the whole minde and soule so that it forgetteth all right iustice and equitie all good will and amitie and pardoneth not no not women or children neither yet kinsfolkes or friends Therfore Salomon saith That anger is cruel and wrath is raging but who can stand before enuie And Ecclesiasticus Contend not with a cholerick man for he esteemeth the sheading of blood as a matter of nothing hee will fall vpon thee in a place where there shall be none to helpe thee To bee short after that anger hath once got the bridle at will the whole mind and iudgement is so blinded and caried headlong that an angry man thinks of nothing but of reuenge insomuch that he forgetteth himselfe and careth not what he doeth or what harme wil light vpon himselfe in so doing so that he may be auenged And many times hee will murmure against heauen and earth and against all the creatures because they are not mooued to reuenge his quarell yea which is worse he despiteth God himselfe and waxeth wroth against him blaspheming him because he taketh not pleasure in seruing his reuenging minde Which is as much as if he should spette against heauen and therefore it is very necessarie that his spettle proceeding from such a stinking mouth shoulde returne and fall backe vpon his owne face And when this passion of anger is verie vehement it leadeth a man euen to furie and rage and procureth vnto
him not onely manie diseases but oftentimes death it selfe Therefore although wee knewe not what hurt this affection doeth to the soule yet the euill which it bringeth to the bodie ought to bee of sufficient force to turne vs from it For it is a vice that hath woonderfull effectes in the bodie and such as are verie vnbeseeming a man For first of all when the heart is offended the blood boyleth round about it and the heart is swollen and puffed vp whereupon followeth a continuall panting and trembling of the heart and breast And when these burning flames and kindled spirites are ascended vp from the heart vnto the braine then is anger come to his perfection From hence commeth change of countenance shaking of the lippes and of the whole visage stopping of speech and such other terrible lookes to beholde more meete for a beast then for a man For this cause the Philosopher that counselled an angry man to beholde his face in a glasse had reason so to doe For hee that beholdeth his owne face and countenance when he is in choler shoulde finde matter enough to be appeased Now because anger is a griefe proceeding of the contempt of those good thinges that are in a man who thinketh that it ought not to be so therefore hee desireth to shew that they are not lightly to be esteemed of which he supposeth may be done this way by making his power knowne especially in hurting Whereupon this appetite of reuenge is engendered which is common to anger with offence hatred and enuie so that anger is alwayes mingled with sorow and with desire of reuenge And indeede reuenge is a motion of the heart whereby it doeth not onely turne aside and withdrawe it selfe from that which offendeth but laboureth withall eyther to repell it or to ouercome and vanquish it and to punish him that is the cause of it Wherefore we may note herein two motions as there are two respectes namely the one to eschew the euill that offendeth and the other to pursue with great violence him that is the authour thereof Hereof it is that some when they are angry become pale because the blood retireth vnto the heart and these are most couragious and most dangerous Others waxe redde because the blood ascendeth vp to the head therefore these are not so full of stomacke nor so much to be feared in respect of those causes which were shewed before when we spake of Feare But howsoeuer the difference is yet in anger the blood doeth not wholly goe backe vnto the heart as it doeth in feare and sorow but disperseth it selfe outwardly For the heart is as if he stroue to goe out of his hoste or campe not vnlike to a Prince or Captaine that is desirous to marche forwarde in battell aray whereupon hee sendeth foorth the blood and the spirites as his men of warre to repell the enemie which is not done without great mouing and tumult and much stirring in the heart which setteth it on fire and inflameth the blood and spirites Whereupon it followeth that by reason of this motion of the blood and of the confusion of the spirites which ensue thereof the actions and motions of all the members of the bodie are troubled But the braine is chiefly offended because that also is heated by the inflamed blood and by those burning spirites which mount vp thither by whose motion it is stirred vp and disturbed as also by the sinewes which come euen to the heart For howe hote soeuer the heart and breast are or may bee yet man abideth alwayes still and quiet if the heate pearce not vp to the braine For it falleth out herein as it doeth with a drunken bodie who is not saide to bee drunke because hee hath taken in store of wine except it ascende vp into his head and trouble his braine and senses Heereof it is that vehement anger is often accompanied with frensinesse and with the falling sickenesse And because the heart beeing inflamed the blood and spirites also are set on fire they cause the whole bodie to tremble yea the very bones themselues For the blood that boyleth in the breast puffeth vp and thrusteth forwarde the Midriffe whereupon it followeth that the motions of angrie men are verie troublesome like vnto those of drunkardes Nowe because there are many meanes to stirre men vp to anger and wrath and seeing it is so dangerous a passion it is very needefull for vs to haue manie good remedies against it as indeede there are many to be found Although wee shoulde not stande in neede of so manie if wee woulde onelie consider who wee are and compare our selues with God and marke narowly howe many wayes wee offende him daily what causes wee giue him to bee bitterly incited and kindeled with wrath against vs and howe hee beareth with vs turning his anger into pitie and compassion towardes vs. For if wee enter into this consideration first we shall be greatly ashamed that we are angrie secondly our anger will bee easily appeased For who can despise vs as wee deserue and moue vs to anger seeing wee despise God vnto whome wee owe all honour and reuerence and whome wee ought to set at so high a price aboue all other things that we shoulde esteeme all the worlde as nothing in respect of his value And yet wee shewe plainely howe farre we are off from this seeing we stande in so little awe to offende him yea are more afraide to displease men then him Beside wee commit no offence against him in which there is not great contempt of his maiestie euen hie treason against his diuine maiestie Whereas if wee feared loued and honoured him as wee ought to doe we shoulde rather feare to offende him then to die But there is nothing which wee care for lesse Wherefore questionlesse before him who is a terrible auenger of his contempt wee are all lost if hee shoulde pursue vs in his anger as wee deserue and as wee pursue others and not change his anger into mercie If wee consider well of these things we shall knowe what occasion we haue to swell with pride like toads and to thinke so well of our selues as we doe or to be so soone kindled with choler against them that haue offended vs wee shall know what excellencie and dignitie can be in vs that are but dust and filth whereby we should be so soone prouoked when we see our selues despised and wronged of others Moreouer when we know that we are vtterly vndone except GOD extende his grace and mercie towardes vs shall wee not in steade of anger and reuenge bee ashamed to craue pardon of him if wee continue still to bee angrie and vse no pitie and fauour towardes them that haue offended vs as we desire that God should shew fauour vnto vs And indeede what cause haue we to hope for it vpon any other condition For it is written that the Lorde will take vengeance of him
it is cleane contrary in regarde of euilles For they quickely finde whereupon to stay and to plant themselues within vs and to spreade their rootes so deepe and broade that they cannot easily be plucked vp Whereupon they are felt a great deale more and continue longer in our heart and memory Not without cause then doe men say that the pleasures seruices and good things done vnto vs are madeof feathers and therefore they are easily carried away by reason of their lightnesse but offences euilles and displeasures are made of lead and therefore they abide in the bottome of the heart by reason of their waight And forasmuch as loue proceedeth of that which is good and hatred of euill whether it bee euill in trueth or in opinion onely as euill is commonly greater and of longer continuance then Good for the causes spoken of so is it with Loue and Hatred and with their rootes and long abode Now of Hatred commeth backebiting and euill speaking which being kindled bringeth foorth bitternesse and crueltie and as loue whetteth a man on to doe well so contrariwise Hatred turneth men aside from well doing and prouoketh them to hurt For this cause it soweth the seedes of enmitie and laboureth craftily to cause the party hated to fall into danger For it desireth to hurt him and to bring euill vpon him either by it selfe or by an other secretely or openly In a worde seeing it is wholly contrary to Loue wee may without any long discourse knowe the nature thereof by that which hath beene spoken of the nature of Loue taking it cleane contrary thereunto But let vs see whether the affection of hatred bee altogether together euill of it selfe or whether a man may reape any profite thereby We may say of this as we did of anger and of other affections already spoken of For it is giuen to man to cause him to withdrawe himselfe from all euill that may hurt him to flee from it and to repell it as being contrary vnto him Therefore Saint Paul sayeth Hate that which is euill and cleaue to that which is good For true and perfect hatred shoulde hate nothing but that which is euill indeede as true loue shoulde loue that onely which is good indeede But contrariwise wee commonly hate the Good and good men and loue the Euill and the workers thereof Besides wee are faulty in this that in steade of hating mens vices wee hate their persons Wherefore it is needefull that in this matter of Hatred wee shoulde put that in practice which wee haue already saide of Anger namely that wee shoulde aboue all things hate our owne vices and that euill which is in vs and in ours But wee that practise the cleane contrary change Loue into Hatred and Hatred into Loue. For when wee supporte and beare with our owne vices or with the vices of our friendes and kinsemen which are not to be suffered or borne withall it seemeth that this toleration proceedeth from the loue wee beare either to our selues or to others but it is farre otherwise For if wee loued our selues well and our neighbours as our selues wee woulde bee carefull to remooue all hurtefull things farre from our soules and to furnish them with that which is conuenient and wholsome for them and so likewise for our friendes whereas wee procure vnto them that which turneth to their dishonour hurt and ouerthrowe by nourishing them in their vices through our dissembling and bearing with them And thus much for that profite which wee may receiue by this affection of hatred being well guided according vnto the will of GOD and to a sound and reasonable nature Nowe against the passion of euill Hatred amongest a great number of remedies which may very well bee applied thereunto we haue two principall ones that are very good and profitable The first remedie is the example of the loue of GOD and of Iesus Christ towardes vs of which wee haue spoken already with those holie Preceptes which doe commaunde Loue and forbidde Hatred The second remedie is the contempt of all earthly things and the regarde that is to be had vnto the things that are Celestiall and Eternall For if wee shall set light by all mortall and corruptible things and lift vp our heartes to higher thinges wee shall verie easilie breake off all hatred and enmitie neither wil we take any thing greatly to heart but when we see God offended Now as concerning Enuy that alwayes accompanieth hatred it is an affection quite contrary to mercy which is a sorrowe conceiued by reason of the miseries of an other whereas Enuy is a griefe arising of other mens felicitie Therefore it doth naturally reioyce at another mans harme and is grieued at his good so that according to the varietie of good things that may befall other men so there are diuers kinds of Enuy. For first some are enuious when other mens profite is so great that it hindreth theirs There is also a kinde of enuy at the wellfare of another which albeit it neither hurt nor hinder vs yet wee are grieued because the like is not befallen to vs or not rather to vs or not aswell to vs as to another to whome it is happened And this is a spice of couetousnesse There is yet a third kinde of Enuy which maketh vs vnwilling that others shoulde obtaine that good which wee haue or which wee desire or haue wished for but coulde not get it And when the question is of those good things which it seemeth we shuld enioy but doe not or which we thinke belong to vs but are bestowed vpon others then is our enuy greater and may also be called iealousie Moreouer there is a fourth kinde that is worst of all to which the name of Enuy agreeth more properly as being often bredde of the former kindes when a man giueth them the bridle and suffereth them to raigne too much ouer him This enuy is a griefe conceiued at anothers good without any regard of it owne profite but onely because it iudgeth it selfe hurt when others receiue good or do good And this is the very enuy of the Deuil and of his children which is an affection that is mingled of hatred and of ioy For it hateth vertue and reioyceth at vice and at the prosperitie of the wicked Contrariwise it is grieued at the felicitie of good men and glad of their miseries But what kinde soeuer of enuy is in a man there is in him griefe and as it were a biting that gnaweth him by reason that the heart in this affection shrinketh in as it were and closeth vp it selfe at the good and benefit of another So that sorrowe is alwayes ioyned therewith The goods against which enuy rusheth most are such as are in greatest reputation amongst men as honour and glory insomuch that it is more moued at the good renowme honour and praise giuen to men in respect of the good things that are in them
then at the good things themselues in regarde of which men are honoured and esteemed For the enuious man careth not for the vertues that bring renowne and glory but onely for the honour and glory which follow them as the shadow doeth the body Forasmuch then as a prowde man desireth still to be preferred before all therefore hee is more greedy of these goods of honour and glory then of true goods of which the other are but shadowes Hereof it is that a prowde man is naturally enuious because enuy springeth from such a desire of preferrement yea it is commonly bredde of pride Yea the farther a man is off from that which hee woulde be thought to be and the lesse endued with those good things for which he woulde be honoured the more enuious he is But amongst al the good things against which enuy striueth most and for which it is most stirred vp those of the soule are the chiefest because they are more excellent then those of the body and such as neuer haue end Therefore also the reputation and honor which men obtaine by their meanes abide with them continually But the contrary falleth out in corporall and externall goods as they that haue more narrowe bounds Wherefore as they cannot growe to that greatnes vnto which the other doe so their vse also is nothing so great and consequently the price and reputation that proceedeth from them is not so great Therefore if the question be of honour and glory no man of any good iudgement but will more willingly giue ouer that which may be gotten by corporall and outward things then that which foloweth knowledge wisedome vertue and the other goods of the soule So that enuy may stand vs in steade of a witnesse to testifie and shewe vnto vs which are the greatest goods of all seeing it is alwayes busied about the highest noblest and most excellent Good Now as there is no wicked affection which carrieth not about it owne torment to take vengeance thereof by the iust iudgement of God so this of enuy passeth all the rest in this respect Therefore it was well saide of them that taught that enuy is most iust because of selfe it is the same punishment to the enuious man which it deserueth For first it is vile and seruile because an enuious man knoweth this in himselfe that he iudgeth the good things in an other to be greater and more excellent then his owne or at leastwise hee feareth least it shoulde so come to passe Therefore there is no affection in a man which he dare lesse disclose then this of enuy so that hee receiueth lesse comfort in this then in any other For by opening our heart to an other wee receiue solace and comfort whereas the enuious person iudgeth his affection of enuy to be so vile that hee dare not discouer it but hideth and concealeth it as much as hee can If hee be angry or hate any one he will declare it a great deale sooner And albeit feare be thought to be dishonourable yet will a man rather disclose this affection then he will enuy The like may be saide of sorrow and of loue But the enuious body is constrained to bite on his bridle to chew and to deuoure his enuy within himselfe and to locke vp his owne miserie in the bottome of his heart to the ende it breake not foorth and shew it selfe whereby the body receiueth great detriment For it becommeth pale wanne swart and leane the eyes sinke into the head the lookes are askew and the whole countenance is disfigured And within the heart the furies are enclosed which giue him so small rest that greater torment can not be imagined Therefore Salomon saieth very well That a sound heart is the life of the body but enuy is the rotting of the bones And Ecclesiasticus saieth That death is better then a bitter life that enuy and wrath shorten the life and that carefulnesse bringeth age before the time To conclude although al the euil affections trouble and corrupt the minde very much yet none of them offendeth it so much as enuy doth Which commeth not to passe so much because it selfe iudgeth or esteemeth good to be euill as because it desireth that others should so esteeme thereof But howsoeuer this vice be very vile and infamous and hurtful both to the body and soule yet in this affection of enuy we must put a difference betweene that part of it which proceedeth from sound nature as it was first giuen of God to man and that which is in it through the corruption of nature For there is a kind of enuy which serueth vs in steade of spurres to pricke vs forward and to worke in vs a wil and desire both to obtaine and to keepe great good things And this enuy is very good when wee apply our selues to the true Goods and are not grieued at the prosperitie and vertues which wee see in others but are mooued by their example to desire and to seeke after the selfe same Goods yea greater if the meanes be offered prouided that all be referred to the glory of God to our owne saluation and to the profite of our neighbours Vnto this kinde of Enuy Saint Paul exhorteth vs when he writeth to the Corinthians speaking of the diuersity of gifts wrought by the spirite of God in his Church Be enuious of the best gifts albeit in our vsuall translation it be Desire yet the Greeke worde signifieth to enuy but the sense is in a manner all one And the same Apostle speaking of the reliefe collection made for the poore saieth Achaia was prepared a yeere agoe and your zeale hath prouoked many that is to say the emulation and enuy which they haue conceiued by your example and this was a good holy and christian enuy But if we seeke our owne glory and in that respect are grieued that others excell vs in vertues and in the gifts and graces of GOD onely because we would haue that honour which they haue and be equall with them or aboue them this is a peruerse and Satanicall affection declaring euidently that we seeke our selues and our owne glory more then the glory of God For if we had respect to that which wee ought it woulde be all one to vs who were the instruments either our selues or others so that God were glorified and that were well done which ought to be done As for the euill sorts of enuy of which wee haue spoken they are placed by Saint Paul amongst the woorkes of darknesse and of the flesh where he saieth that They which are defiled with them shal not inherit the kingdome of God But forasmuch as in this discourse we placed Iealousie amongst the kindes of Enuy and yet it is often taken in the good part proceeding as it were of true loue as Zeale also is bredde thereof it shall be good for thee ASER to begin the dayes worke to morrow with a
heart and first of Reuenge Crueltie and Rage And because Reuenge is appointed to punish offences and euery vice findeth a Iudge within it selfe wee will speake also of the affection of Shame which commonly followeth euery vile acte It belongeth therefore to thee AMANA to intreate of this matter Of Reuenge Crueltie and Rage and what agreement there is among them what Shame and Blushing is and why God hath placed these affections in man and of the good and euill that is in them Chap. 58. AMANA If euery one might be a Iudge in his owne cause and execute his own decrees the malice of men doth declare sufficiently that there would be no iustice obserued in the world but robbery publikely put in practice insomuch as the strongest would alwayes carry away the spoile For that blind loue which euery one beareth towards himselfe causeth vs that we cannot see clearly either into our owne or or into other mens affaires so that wee are alwayes more ready to doe wrong to others then to depart from anie thing of our owne Euen so if wee might be suffered to reuenge those iniuries which oftentimes without cause wee suppose wee haue receiued it is certaine wee woulde obserue neither measure nor meane but suffering our selues to be guided by the passion of anger and wrath wee would fall into more then brutish crueltie and rage For as God hath reserued vengeance to himselfe and promised to recompense it so no man carrieth that minde to doe it iustly that is in him neither indeede can any because it is the spirite of a man that offereth iniury to an other whereas the body is but the instrument of the minde and as it were a sworde vnto it which the spirite manageth and causeth to cutte Whereupon it followeth that the party offended can not reuenge himselfe of his chiefest and greatest enemy For God onely is able to take vengeance of the soule and to throwe it together with the body into hell fire Moreouer when wee thinke to hurt the body of our enemy which is but the executioner of the euill disposition of his Spirite wee hurt our owne soule making it guiltie of the iudgement of God who forbiddeth vs all reuenge and commaundeth vs to possesse our soules in patience and neuer to requite euill for euill but to waite the Lordes leasure being assuredly perswaded that he will saue and deliuer vs. Nowe looke what the affection receiueth and embraceth the same doeth it desire to returne and send backe againe where it did receiue it whether it be good or euill Therefore as a good affection both wisheth and doeth well to him of whome it receiueth good will and beneficence so a naughty affection desireth to returne euill receiued vnto him of whome it hath receiued it For this cause when the heart is wounded with griefe by any one it desireth to returne the like to him that hath hurt it and to rebite him of whome it is bitten This affection is a desire of reuenge which being put in execution is reuenge accomplished namely when wee cause him that hath offended vs to suffer that punishment which in our iudgement he hath deserued This punishment is to damnifie him eyther in soule or in body or in his goodes yea sometimes by all the meanes that may bee And when power to reuenge is wanting there are some that fall into outrageous speeches into horrible and execrable cursings crying out for vengeance eyther at GODS hand or of some other that can perfourme it Euery offence therefore that ingendereth hatred anger enuy or indignation bringeth with it a desire of reuenge which is to render euill for euil and to requite griefe receiued with the like againe And when the offence is growen to that passe that nothing can asswage the extremitie thereof nor stay it from breaking foorth into reuenge and hurting by all the meanes that may bee then is this Reuenge turned into Rage For a man in such a case is not much vnlike to a madde dogge For because Reuenge can not take that effect which it woulde haue it vexeth and closeth vp as it were the hart bringing great griefe great torment to the whole body so that a man so affected is as if his heart body were ready to burst asunder Nowe when the heart is hardened with Reuenge it is turned into Crueltie which is a priuation of pitie and compassion For when Offence and Anger are set on fire they exclude all good thoughtes out of the minde and perswade to all kinde of Crueltie of which there are three degrees For there are some that procure it who neuerthelesse woulde not execute it themselues There are others that execute it Besides there is a third kinde of Crueltie when wee faile in perfourming our duetie towardes them that are in necessitie whome wee both ought and might helpe and succour whether this come of euill will or through negligence For thereby wee shewe that wee are without pitie and compassion Heereof followeth inhumanitie which is as if wee shoulde lay aside all humane affection and bee transfourmed into brute beasts Therefore wee may well conclude that all priuate Reuenge proceeding of enuy or of hatred or of anger is vicious and forbidden by God who commaundeth vs to render good for euill and not euill for euill For hee hath ordained the meanes whereby hee will haue vengeance execucuted among men Therefore hee hath appointed Magistrates to execute it according to his Lawe and following his ordinaunce not with any euill affection but with iust indignation proceeding from loue and from true zeale of iustice For to punish the wicked is a very acceptable sacrifice so that there be no intermingling of our own passions withall and that wee exercise not our enuies rancours and reuenges vnder the name and title of Iustice and of the glorie of God For if wee doe so wee cease to exercise the punishments and corrections of the Lorde and put our owne in practice Wee must therefore followe his example For hee suffereth not euill to goe vnpunished if men auoide not punishment by his grace and mercie and by those meanes which he hath appointed for the obtaining thereof Therefore it is often saide of the wicked in the Scripture that GOD will returne into their bosome the euill which they haue done and his children and seruantes desire him also to perfourme the same But when hee doeth it hee is not mooued with any euill affection but onely with the loue hee beareth to iustice and vertue and to his children and with pity and compassion towardes them in regarde of the iniuries done vnto them And as himselfe commeth in iudgement to take vengeance so hee woulde haue them that supplie his place among men vnto whome hee hath committed the sworde for the defence of the good and punishment of euill doers to followe his example But whether they doe so or no there is no sinne that can auoide
punishment and that findeth not a Iudge euen in him that committed it to take vengeance thereof by meanes of the affections which God hath placed in man to that ende Among which Shame occupieth a place which we ought well to consider of Concerning this affection there are some that are ashamed in regarde of some feare of dishonour of which there followeth no dammage or in respect of some griefe or perturbation of the soule arising of some thinges that seeme to bring some dishonour with them Forasmuch therefore as Shame is a feare of dishonour it is of great force in them that loue honour For the more they loue it the more doe they feare dishonour which is the contrary thereof as a very great euill And for this cause there is in Shame not onely a feare of villanie but indignation also after the committing of some fault For hee that is faulty chafeth and is angry with himselfe because of the dishonour hee receiueth through his offence And this kind of Shame is the simplest and lightest and may be called Blushing being very common especially in children and virgins Now for asmuch as herein the spirits withdraw themselues vnto the hart as vnto a center and presently as it were in the same instant returne backe againe the face is painted with a vermillion colour which is very pleasant and comely namely in that age and in those persons Therefore is this colour rightly called the colour of vertue For God hath placed this affection of shame in the nature of men to the end it should be vnto them as a bridle to stay them from committing vile things and as a Iudge and Reuenger to punish them after they haue done such things Therfore also there is yet another kind of shame more vehemēt which approcheth neare vnto the affection of anger and is mingled with wrath and feare For it is a motion of the heart in which he that feeleth himselfe guiltie of any dishonest crime or act is angry with himselfe for the same and punisheth and reuengeth himselfe vpon himselfe and withall feareth the iudgements of others and the rebuke and dishonour that may come vnto him for it For as we haue heard already God hath placed in the nature of man sundry affections of which some are sweete and pleasant to the end they should be vnto vs as it were spurres vnto vertue others are bitter and vnpleasaunt that they might bee vnto vs in steade of punishmentes and that the greefe which they bring might teach vs to knowe more cleerely what diuersitie there is betweene vertue and vice and what difference wee ought to put betweene good and euill deedes Therefore there is not a woorse thing in man nor any disease more dangerous to the soule then impudencie which is wholly contrarie to Shame and Blushing For whosoeuer is once past all Shame hee hath no care at all of his honour much lesse of the honour of GOD. Heereof it is that the holie Ghost by the Prophetes doeth greatly accuse the impudencie of the wicked saying vnto them by way of reproch that they had whoores foreheads and woulde not bee ashamed that they were impudent children and stiffe hearted and that they did glorie in their wickednesse after they had done euill in steade of being ashamed and amending their faults Nowe whereas wee sayde that Shame painteth the face with a vermilian colour wee are to knowe that the passions and affections of the soule breede great change in our bodies as they that mooue the spirits and the naturall heat by opening and shutting vp of the heart whereby the spirits are eyther inlarged or restrained Thus it commeth to passe that the colour of the face is changed it being a propertie of the heart to set in it certaine markes and signes of the affections that are in it as wee haue already heard Therefore doeth Shame paint the cheekes with rednesse because the danger that springeth of feare is of that nature that the heart standeth in neede of helpe to repell and driue it away namely of that heate that retireth backe vnto it Nowe forasmuch as there is perturbation in Shame by reason of the opinion and feare of dishonour and blame heate is drawen vp to the head and so from thence it is dispersed ouer the face And although Shame doeth not trouble the heart and minde so much as feare doeth yet doeth it confound the head and causeth it oftentimes to forget what it thought and was purposed to haue done As wee see it sometimes in very wise and skilfull men when they are to speake or to doe something before personages or companies whome they reuerence And this is incident for the most part to such as are most modest and to them that presume least of themselues who indeede can not heare their owne praises without shame and blushing such is their nature and modestie or else it is because their hearts are very litle which maketh them also fearefull Nowe although too much shamefastnesse when it is causelesse is woorthy of blame because it often keepeth them that are ouertaken therwith from doing many good things from imploying the giftes which they haue receiued of God as it becommeth them yet is it more praise-woorthy then impudency which as it maketh men altogether shameles brasenfaced so it vsually accompanieth proud arrogant persons For it is cleane contrary to modesty Seeing therfore we learn that shame is a feare of dishonour and blame and of doing that that might procure it we must take good heed that we iudge aright of that which is to bee accounted vile and dishonest and of that which may bring vnto vs honour or dishonour praise or dispraise For our nature being ful of darknes through sinne that raigneth in it our natural iudgment is not so intire and vpright as it ought to be to iudge well either of that which is truely honest and which bringeth with it honour and commendation or otherwise of the contrary vnto it Whereupon it commeth to passe that we oftentimes take one for another so light vpon that which we least sought for or desired Therfore let vs know and learne this that there is nothing honest but vertue nor any thing dishonest but vice and that as nothing is more beautifull and of greater renowme then vertue so nothing is more ilfauoured dishonourable and infamous then vice But forasmuch as there is great diuersitie of opinions what is to be accounted honest and dishonest what vertue what vice what praise what dispraise let vs learne to frame our iudgement out of the law and word of God which is the rule of all iustice and trueth Otherwise it will come to passe that we shal be oftener ashamed of well doing then of euill doing and of vertue then of vice which were a vile shame and such a one as that we ought to be greatly ashamed thereof For in well doing we must neuer
as some name them hauing regard to the diuerse actions thereof and to the sundrie degrees of concoction made therein They call the first action or degree of concoction by the name of a harth because it serueth to heate the foode as a harth doth in a kitchin The second is called a table namely when the food beginneth to gather it selfe together in the liuer and is there placed as it were vpon a table to be sent vnto the members The third action hath the name of a knife giuen vnto it because it diuideth maketh a separation of the humors And the fourth is as it were the wagoner because there is the carriage and conueiance of all from thence into the hollow veine For the naturall vertues and powers gouerne the humors very well conducting and leading them to their due places For this cause the liuer is the fountaine of blood and the spring of all the veines by which it is distributed throughout the body as the heart is the fountaine of the vital spirits the originall of the arteries whereby the spirits necessary for the body are conueied into it as the blood from the liuer Wherfore euen as the arteries are a kind of veins to carry and to distribute the aire breath and vital spirites so likewise the veines proceeding from the liuer are ordained to distribute the blood into all partes of the body These two are lincked together with such a neere alliance and agreement that the veines administer matter to the vitall spirit which is ingendred in the heart of the purest and most spiritual blood as the spirit likewise helpeth the blood by his heat in the arteries Therfore they haue mouths ioyning each to other to the end the spirit as it were a litle flame may receiue norishmēt out of the veines and that the veins may draw spirit heat from the arteries For as we haue already touched our life is much like to a flame in a lamp that receiueth food from the oile put into the lamp euen so the vital spirit which is as a flame within vs draweth taketh norishmēt from the veins Wherein we haue a goodly example of that mutual societie which we ought to haue one towards another in this life Now of those veins that deriue their originall frō the liuer there are 2. principall ones that are very great of which the others are but as it were branches that from the liuer spread thēselues vpwards downwards through all the partes of the body These two veines comming out of the liuer take their beginning from many little veines which being as it were their rootes ioyne together afterward into two trunks or great bodies that diuide themselues againe into diuers boughs branches whereof some are greater and some lesser after the maner of trees The first is called the Port-veine because it is as it were the doore of the liuer out of which it proceedeth being placed in the hollow part thereof The vse and profit of it is to receiue nourishment prepared by the stomach and guts then to keep it vntill the liuer hath turned it into pure blood for to send it afterward to all the body by the other great veine called the Caue or hollow veine And this proceedeth from the outside of the liuer resembling the body of a tree and diuiding it selfe into two great branches of which the lesser ascendeth vp to the vitall and animall parts and to the ends of them and the bigger branch descendeth downe alongst the hinder part of the liuer vpon that part of the chine bone that is betweene the kidnies and so goeth to those partes that are contained vnder them Forasmuch therefore as the arteries and veines are the principall instruments whereby the soule giueth life vnto the body some learned men expound that of the vitall and naturall parts which Salomon speaketh of the siluer coard not lengthened of the golden ewer broken of the pitcher broken at the well and of the wheele broken at the cisterne Wee haue already spoken of the siluer chaine and of the golden ewer when wee discoursed of the chine bone of the backe and of the marrowe of it Touching the residue they vnderstand by the well the liuer which is the fountaine of blood and by the pitcher the veines because they are the vesselles whereby the blood is taken out of the liuer and drawne thence that it may be distributed to all the bodie and by the cisterne is vnderstoode the heart and by the wheele the head For we may already perceiue by that which wee haue already saide of the heart howe seruiceable the liuer is vnto it considering that the heart is the fountaine of the vitall spirits and the originall of the arteries as the liuer is of the bloud and of the veines and that the vitall spirits are engendred in the heart of the purest and most spirituall bloud which it draweth and receiueth from the liuer Moreouer these vitall spirites are by meane of the heart sent vnto the braine and the head to serue the animal powers that haue their places and instruments there and to serue all the senses as well spirituall as corporall Therefore the head is aptly compared to a wheele both for the roundnesse of it as also because it draweth and receiueth the vitall spirites from the heart which sendeth them vnto it as the water is drawne from his fountaine well or cisterne by meanes of the wheele Further as it is needefull that there shoulde bee a coard to reach from the wheele downe to the well and a pitcher or bucket at the ende of the coard to drawe water withall so the arteries reaching from the heart vp to the head are like to the coarde and pitcher whereby the braine draweth vitall spirites from the heart For the great artery called Aorta by the Physicions which commeth out of the heart and is diuided into two great branches of which the one goeth vpward to carry the vitall spirite to the superiour partes and the other downeward to doe the like belowe forasmuch as it ioyneth vnto the heart may bee taken for the pitcher that draweth from thence the vitall spirites as from a well and the branch that ascendeth vpward may bee taken for the coard ioyned vnto the wheele The like may bee seene in the liuer For the great veines of it are as it were the pitcher and the veines that ascend vp vnto the head as likewise the arteries are the coarde that draweth vp the blood from out of the liuer If then wee ioyne that which wee haue already heard of the siluer chaine or coarde and of the golden ewer with that which wee speake nowe of the pitcher and of the well of the wheele and of the cisterne wee may bee well assured that Salomon hath most wisely comprehended in so small a number of wordes all the internall partes of the body and all the powers both animall
and immortall qualities And so doeth the Apostle expound it saying in the same place The bodie is sowen in corruption and riseth in incorruption it is sowen in dishonour it riseth in glorie it is sowen in weakenesse and is raised in power It is sowen a naturall bodie and is raised a spirituall bodie there is a naturall bodie and there is a spirituall bodie As it is also written The first man Adam was made a liuing soule and the last Adam was made a quickening spirite Whereupon wee haue to note that Saint Paul speaketh still of the selfe same bodie which remaineth alwayes one in substance But forasmuch as it altereth in qualities and kinde of life therefore as hee calleth it spirituall in regarde of the Spirite of Christ and of his spirituall and heauenly vertues by which hee changeth the first qualities of it as the Apostle teacheth vs by such as are opposed against them so it is also called an animall or naturall body of the soule which giueth vnto it onely that naturall life that it hath in this worlde and not that spirituall and immortall life which it shall haue after this For the soule which nowe can giue none but this mortall life by reason of sinne shall then haue another vertue when sinne shall bee wholly abolished to giue vnto the body an immortall and blessed life by meanes of that spirituall and diuine vertue of Iesus Christ whereby it shall bee quickened that it may quicken the body with the same life But because this worde Animal deriued from Anima that signifieth the soule is not very common in our English tongue wee finde in the vsuall translation of these places of Saint Paul alleadged by vs these wordes naturall and sensuall insteade of animal which the Greeke worde properly signifieth Therefore in expounding the sence of these kindes of speech vsed by the Apostle wee must vnderstand that hee doeth not call animal or sensuall and naturall the body of man onely or man by reason of his body onely but the whole man compounded of body and soule For hee is altogether animal that is naturall and sensuall both in body and soule without Christ Iesus but being in him so long as hee liueth in this worlde hee is both animal that is to say naturall and sensuall and also spirituall First hee is animal both because hee is not yet perfectly regenerated as also because hee is not yet immortall and glorified as hee shall bee after his resurrection On the other side hee beginneth euen nowe to bee spirituall because hee hath a beginning of regeneration wrought in him which being once made perfect hee shall bee regenerated much more absolutely and made wholly conformable to Iesus Christ both for immortallitie and eternall happinesse For then hee shall be no more animal naturall sensuall and spirituall altogether but onely spirituall according as I haue already declared Wherefore let vs knowe that euery one shall retaine still the selfe same body and soule which hee hath in this life but by reason of that change of euill qualities which being in both shall bee made in the other life Saint Paul calleth it spirituall and not for any conuersion that shall bee of the bodie into the spirite For as a man is called animal in regarde of the soule that is giuen him because the soule is the chiefest thing in him so hee is called spirituall in respect of the other life and of the excellencie that shall be added to the soule and by the soule to the body through the heauenly and spirituall vertue and power of Iesus Christ Nowe then seeing the soule is taken in the holie Scriptures for the naturall life which is not without affections wee may see it sometimes also put for them Therefore when the worde of God woulde expresse a great affection of loue it sayeth of the sonne of Sichem that his soule claue vnto Dinah and after it is added that hee loued her and spake to the heart of the maide that is to say kindely and as her heart coulde wish In like manner it is written of Iacob that his soule was bound to the soule of Beniamin his sonne to signifie that hee loued him tenderly as his owne soule and life And of Ionathan it is saide that his soule was knit with the soule of Dauid which phrase is afterward expounded by the Scripture where it is saide that Ionathan loued Dauid as his owne soule Wee are also commaunded to loue GOD with all our soule as also with all our heart and minde Therefore Iesus Christ sayeth that whosoeuer seeketh and saueth his soule shall lose it but hee that hateth and loseth it for his sake shall finde it and saue it vnto eternall life In which wordes the soule is not onely taken for the life but also for all the commodities thereof and for the desires of the flesh such as are glorie honours riches pleasures delights ease and all kinde of prosperitie for the obtaining of which things many turne aside from the way of saluation and take the path that leadeth to destruction Also we reade many places in the Scriptures in which the soule is taken not only for the whole person liuing but also for the person dead yea for the dead body and sometimes for the spirite separated from the body But wee must well consider in what sence there is mention made of the death of the soule Balaam wisheth that his soule might die the death of the iust but hee speaketh after the manner of the Hebrews who vse many times to say My soule and thy soule for my selfe and thy selfe or for my person and thy person according to that before mentioned that the name of soule and of flesh are often taken for the whole man and for that which wee call Person For this cause whereas Moses sayde that GOD sware by himselfe Ieremie and Amos say that hee sware by his soule in the same sence and signification Likewise the name of Soule is not onely taken for a liuing person but also for him that is dead as when it is written in the Law Let none of you be defiled by the dead among his people it is in the Hebrew ouer the soule of his people that is ouer the dead body of any of the people by touching it after it is dead And when Iob saieth that the soule of a man draweth to the graue and his life to the buryers and that God deliuereth his soule from going into the pit he taketh not the name of soule for that spirituall essence that giueth life vnto man but for the life it selfe or for the man and body it selfe which is laide in the graue after death So that his meaning is no other then to say that God deliuereth man from death whereby otherwise he should be brought into the pit And when Dauid saith Lord thou hast brought vp my soule out of
the graue hee sheweth after very euidently what he vnderstandeth by his soule when he saieth Thou hast reuiued me from them that goe downe into the pit Hee taketh this worde Soule in the same sense when he saieth that God deliuered his soule from death and from the midst of lions and when he prayeth him to deliuer his soule from the sword his desolate soule from the power of the dogge For it is easie to iudge by these wordes that he taketh not the soule in these places for the essence of the soule and proper substance thereof because the soule can not be smitten with the sword nor deuoured of lions nor carried away by dogges Therefore seeing the soule is so often put in the Scripture for corporall life which endeth with the body and which the soule giueth vnto it by meanes of those instruments which it hath in the body the name of Spirite is many times vsed therein to signifie more specially this essence and spirituall substance which wee call the soule and which may be separated both from the body and blood as that which liueth after the death of the body Therefore Dauid did so vse the word Spirite when he recommended his soule to God by the same wordes which Iesus Christ vsed vpon the crosse Afterward Saint Steuen tooke it in the same sense when he saide Lorde Iesus receiue my spirite For this is that spirite of which Salomon saieth that it returneth to God that gaue it after that the body is returned to the earth and to dust of which it consisteth And yet this difference is not alwayes obserued in the Scriptures For as wee haue already heard both the heart and soule and spirite are oftentimes generally and indifferently put for all the partes and powers of the soule and not onely for those of men but also of beastes as when the Wise man attributeth spirit vnto them hauing regard to this corporall life For when Salomon speaketh so it is in consideration of this life that consisteth in breath which is also called Spirit in the holy Scriptures which vse one the same word to signifie both wind and breathing and whatsoeuer we call spirit taking it both for the soule of man for the Angelicall natures and for the Diuine nature Therefore Iob speaking of this present life sayth So long as my breath is in me and the spirit of God in my nosethrilles my lippes surely shall speake no wickednesse and my tongue shall vtter no deceit But when Saint Paul saieth The same spirite beareth witnesse with our spirite that wee are the children of God hee taketh the worde Spirite in an other sence then Iob did in the place nowe alleadged For in the first place hee taketh the name of Spirite for the Spirite of GOD and in the second place for the Spirite of man which signifieth the humane soule It is true that in this place hee taketh it for the soule and for the spirit such as it is in regenerate men but when hee saieth elsewhere that the spirite of man knoweth the things of man hee taketh the spirite simply for a humane Spirite and for the vnderstanding part thereof Likewise the name of soule is put not onely for this naturall life and for the will and affections but also for the selfe same thing that is comprehended by this worde Spirite when one woulde signifie thereby the greatest excellencie of the soule As when Dauid sayeth Our soule waiteth for the Lord for hee is our helpe and our shield Surely our heart shall reioyce in him because wee trusted in his holie name And againe My soule reioyceth in the Lorde and is glad in his saluation And when Saint Peter sayeth Abstaine from fleshly lustes which fight against the soule and haue your conuersation honest among the Gentiles hee taketh the name of Soule for the spirituall man who hath his minde and all his affections well ruled according to the will of GOD. As then wee haue heard in what sort the soule may die in regarde of this corporall life according to the phrase of the Scriptures and of the Hebrewes so by this which Saint Peter saieth that fleshly lustes fight against the soule wee may learne after what manner the soule may be said to die and to be slaine For nothing can bring death vnto it but sinne Wherefore it is not said without good reason in the Booke of Wisedome that the mouth that telleth lies slayeth the soule Albeit then the soule is immortall in that it can neuer be without life no more then the Angelles who are spirites like to it neuerthelesse it is after a sort mortall so farre forth as being farre off separated from God through sinne it liueth no more that blessed life wherewith it shoulde liue if it were vnited and ioyned vnto him by true faith and sincere obedience For it shoulde enioy the selfe same life which the heauenly Angelles with the soules and spirites of the blessed doe enioy As contrariwise the soules of the wicked liue with the same life that the Diuelles doe which is called dead because it is a more accursed life then death it selfe and therefore called the second and eternall death Nowe wee may thinke our selues sufficiently taught touching the diuerse significations in which the name of Soule is taken It seemeth to mee that wee haue spoken enough of the Anatomy of the bodie and soule of which the most of our discourses hitherto were made which may suffice for the contentation of euery one that will keepe himselfe within the bounds and limits set downe vnto vs by the wisedome of GOD in his word But to finish this whole matter concerning the soule which we haue chiefly considered in her parts powers and effects we are further yet to be instructed in the creation generation nature and immortalitie thereof And because they are marueilous difficult matters and such as are not without great contrarieties of opinions euen amongest the learned I am of opinion that these things are to be discoursed of according to that manner of teaching of the ancient Academickes which wee followed in our first meeting namely vpon the theame propounded vnto vs to ballance the arguments on the one part with the reasons of the other side that so we may diligently search out the trueth Notwithstanding it shal be lawfull for vs to deliuer our opinion so long as wee ground it vpon the infallible testimonie of the worde of God leauing to euery one his libertie to iudge which is best and to embrace and follow the same For our entrance therefore into so goodly a matter thou shalt beginne ASER to morrowe to declare vnto vs what thou shalt thinke good concerning this proposition namely whether the soule is begotten with the body and of the seede thereof or whether it be created apart and of another substance and what is requisit for vs to know therein The end of the
knowledge of God and obedience to his will bringeth to our heart wee may also iudge whether there be a paradise and another life and other ioy besides this which we receiue by corporall pleasures as beasts doe For this ioy that commeth to vs from such pleasures is common to vs with them vsually it endeth in sorowe and sadnesse But they haue no other that commeth vnto their soule of which they may haue any appehension as we haue And by the same consideration we may also in some sort iudge of that happines in which we shall be in the other life when this ioy shal be perfect in vs wherof we haue here but a very smal taste in respect of that we shal haue when we shal be fully reformed according to Gods image so that both our vnderstanding reason wil shal be made cōformable vnto him because we shal be wholy swallowed vp in his loue Contrariwise if here we feele a Hel which we cary about vs and which greatly tormenteth vs after we haue offended the maiesty of God especially when we haue cōmitted some horrible crimes this also is another argument whereby we may iudge whether there be not a Hel and vengeance from God to be executed vpon his enemies in another life For that sorow which our crimes committed doe breede in our hearts is within vs as a brand of this fire of Gods wrath which is daily kindled in vs more more Wherfore if there be in vs already such a vehemēt heat thereof when as yet the Lord doeth kindle but a litle the fire-brands of his wrath in our heartes how great shal it then be when all his wrath shal be set on fire Certainly they are very dull that doe not well consider and vnderstand it Now we haue heard heretofore how the heathen Philosophers concluded the immortalitie of mans soule by the nature thereof affirming that it is not created or compounded of corruptible matter but is of a celestiall and diuine nature by reason of that knowledge which it hath not onely of particular and corporal things as the soule of beastes hath but also of vniuersall and spirituall things and namely of God of numbers of order of the difference betweene vertue and vice and betweene honest and dishonest things For the knowledge of al these things is so naturall to mens soules that they are within them albeit they haue not receiued thē from without eyther by doctrine or instruction Whereby a man may easily iudge yea it followeth necessarily that they are created of a more excellent nature then is that of the elements of a nature that is incorruptible and perpetuall Wherefore it is verie euident that this knowledge thus naturall to mens soules is a certaine testimonie that they are not borne at all aduenture but are created by great arte and by a woonderfull prouidence of that diuine and eternall nature by which they haue their beeing namely God their Creatour for which cause also the knowledge of him shineth in vs. So also we may well iudge that God hath not in vaine placed in our nature the knowledge of the difference that is betweene vertue and vice betweene things honest and dishonest and that griefe which is to take vengeance in vs of those vices and crimes of which wee feele our selues guiltie And therefore the Heathen themselues concluded that there was not onelie a diuine iustice and nature which discerned good men from euill but also that there was another life after this in which this iudgement should bee made For they considered what great torments the wicked feele in their heartes and conscience after they haue committed horrible crimes and that there is none so audacious and obdurate not the greatest mocker and contemner of God and of his iudgments that can be who can always exempt himselfe from this dolour and paine notwithstanding hee labour with all his might to the contrarie For there is alwayes a certaine secrete vertue of Gods iustice which goeth beyonde them all and euermore punisheth the wicked Nowe it is certaine that these things come not thus to passe at all aduenture In like manner it is not possible that this knowledge which men haue to discerne vertues from vices shoulde bee a casuall thing and come thus to passe at aduenture without the certaine prouidence of God For if it were so that there were no punishment appoynted for vices and no more benefite or ioye prepared of God for the good then for the euill it should follow that all this knowledge shoulde bee giuen to man in vaine For it should doe him no more good then if hee were without it as brute beasts are Moreouer seeing all the wicked are not punished in this life it followeth necessarily that there is another life wherein they shal be punished and in which also God wil acknowledge the iust and cause them to enioy that good which he hath prepared for them For God cannot bee God but he must bee all-good aliust and almightie If hee be good hee cannot hate the good or them that doe it but loue them so as that hee cannot doe otherwise For howe shoulde hee not loue his like And as he cannot hate goodnesse or good men so hee cannot loue euill nor the wicked that follow after it but hateth them necessarily as contrarie to his nature Nowe Loue is of that nature that it cannot but desire and procure the good and honour of him whome it loueth as contrariwise hatred cannot but desire and procure the hurt and dishonour of him whome it hateth It followeth then necessarily that God beeing good and iust loueth good and iust men desiring and procuring their honour and their good and contrariwise that he hateth vniust and wicked men desiring and procuring their confusion and ruine And if hee haue this desire and this will no doubt but hee can easily and doeth also execute the same seeing hee is all-iust and almightie Truely this conclusion cannot seeme to bee ill grounded and those Heathen Philosophers who thereupon haue concluded the immortalitie of soules and the iudgement of God in another life had good reason so to doe For it is taken not only from the nature of man and from that image of God after which he was created but also from the very nature of God So that whosoeuer gainesayeth the same hath no more reason then if he saide that there is no God and that God is not God and that man is not man and that he differed in nothing from a beast neither God from the deuill And so not onely all nature shoulde bee ouer-throwen but God also the author and Creator thereof For we see almost vsually that the wickedst men haue the greatest honors in this world and liue most at their ease as we haue alreadie shewed If then there be a God and any prouidence and iustice in him now who can so much as thinke there is none but hee may also perswade
and vnchangeable Incredulitie contrary to beleefe and opinion Of the diuers acceptions of this word Beleefe or Faith The description of Faith It is good for a man to knowe his owne ignorance 1. Cor. 2. 14. Foure meanes to knowe certainely those things that are to be beleeued Of generall experience Of the knowledge of principles Of the naturall knowledge of God in men The vse both of the naturall and of the written law Of natural iudgement Of the fourth meane of knowledge Hebr. 11. Of the image of God in man Ephes 4. 24. The difference betwixt soule and spirite Matth. 10. 39. rom 13. 1. Esay 40. 5 6. Iuc 3. 6. Rom. 8. 6. Genes 1. How God proceedeth in the creation of his workes How the powers of the soule manifest themselues How they haue their degrees in growth Luke 1. 80. The difference betwixt reason and iudgement and contemplation Why some haue preferred Philosophie before riches Of the benefits that commeth by the contemplation of diuine things Of the contemplation that is after this life When all men shall be of one iudgement The actiue life must be ioyned with the contemplaiue The obiect of the will is as large as that of the mind What great confusion is in our corrupt nature Of the desires that are in creatures Three kindes of appetites Of the Naturall appetite Of hunger and thirst Two kindes of Sense Of the seate of the naturall appetite Of the sensitiue appetite kinds thereof The vse of the sinewes Of the affections The ende of knowledge The best thingsin beasts are sensuall Beasts haue no Will. Matth. 5. From whence the desires of all creatures ought to be deriued What Will is and how it worketh How reason is set ouer the Will Diuers acceptions of the words Reason Will Psal 115. Matth. 6. The Will is the chiefest appetiteâ— The Wil aymeth alwaies at good The Will is free and vnconstrayned Of the image of God in the Will Good is alwayes the obiect of the Will Diuers degrees in the actions of Will How the Wâ— coÌ„mandeth the appetite The difference betwixt the natural and regenerated man What is the chief good that meere naturall men seeke after What good men are taught to ayme at by the heauenly light How we must cary our selues both in prosperity and aduersity Of the frailety of mans estate Of the power of the Will in all actions Why men preferre earthly things before heauenly Will sometime reiecteth all counsaile What freedome the Will hath in outward actions The neere coniunction of Reason and Will Euâ—â— spirites haue power ouer the Will The difference of mans obedience to God from that of other creatures Difference betwixt Knowledge and Affections Of the discord betweene the heart and the braine A comparison Rom. 1. 18. verse 21. How the Scripture taketh the word heart Matth. 22. 40. Of the agreement that ought to be betweene the minde and the heart Why the heart is taken sometime for the seate of reason Deut 29 4. Matth. 22. 37. 1. King 3. 12. Rom. 1. 24 25. Pleasure of it owne nature a gift of God The end of mans creation Of the second belly of the body Ezech. 27. 4. ionas 2. 4. matth 12. 40. Of the midriffe and of his vse Of the skinnes of the breast and of their vse Of the cawle of the heart Of the fashion of the heart Of the water in the cawle of the heart Of the office of the heart Of the lungs and of their vse How the lungs couer the heart How the heart agreeth with the heauens Of the arteries and their office How the vitall spirites agree with the aire and windes Of the double motion of the heart and the vses thereof An admonition to mutuall loue 1. Iohn 3. 20. Whereof the striking of the breast arose Of the substance of the heart The situation of the heart Of the counterpoize of the heart A good lesson for euery one Deuter. 5. ezech 20. Of the two voide places in the heart and of their vse What the vitall spirite is Of the great artery Aâ—example of â—utuall succour Of the veiny â—â—â—ery Of the doores and pipes of the heart Goodly instructions for al men Moderation is 〈◊〉 be kept in all things Superfluitie to be auoided in all things Good counsell for Princes Man was created not onely to be but also to be well What the affections are Two kindes of affections What affections goe before iudgement Agreement betweene the temperature of the body and the affections of the soule The affections can doe much with the body â—oy good for the body and Griefe hurtful to it How the agreement betweene the body and the soule may be discerned Naturall qualities breede diseases Men are more carefull for the health of their bodies then of their soules The affections breed the health or sicknes of the soule How the soule receiueth from the body in regard of the diuers temperatures thereof Agreement betweene corporall and spirituall Physicke Luke 21. 34. Rom. 13. 3. Ephes 5. 18. Act. 13. 2. Iudge 20. 26. Psal 69. 10. Esth 4. 16. The knowledge of physicke necessary for all Sinne is the cause of all disorder discases and of death Three things to be considered in the facultie of Knowledge How habâ—tes are bred in the minde Foure things to be considered in the Will and desires Of natural inâ—linations and affections Rom. 1. 30. 2. Tim. 3. 3. Leuit. 19. 18. matth 5. 43. Of the vâ—â—â—lines of our naturall affections 2. Tim. 3. 2. Rom. 1. Of true loue towards a manâ— selfe towardâ— his Gen. 22. Naturall inclinations are seeds of vertues or vices The originall of all diseases What a habite is Of the force of custome Sweat is Gentleman-vsher to vertue The cause and profite of an habite What affection is froÌ„ whence vertue and vice first spring The fountaine of morall philosophie Why the affections are giuen to the soule The affections compared to the windes Of commotions perturbations How 〈◊〉 the iudgement can preuaile ouer the affections The originall of violent motionâ— in the soule A similitude shewing the perilous motions of of the soule The effects of a prudent and wise man Of the variety of affections The cause of all motions in the â—oule Two kindes of punishments Of the generation nature and kindes of the afâ—ections How the affections are bred or brideled one of another Goodly similitudes The first motion of the heart is an image of the second Griefe or Ioy in all the affections Ioy appeareth in the face The effects of laughter in the face 2. Cor. 6. 11 12 What is meant by bowels in the Scripture 1. King 3. 26. Col. 3. 12 13 14. The true workes of a Christian 1. Ioh. 3. 17 18. Isay 58. 10. What ioy is How the heart chuseth euil for good What sorrow is Of melancholy The effect of sorrowe A commendable vse of teares Rom. 12. 15. A comparison Psa 34. 8 9 10. Vers 19. 21.
Shame Impudencie a very dangerous disease Ierem. 3. 3. Ezech. 2. 4. and 3. 7. The cause of rednesse in the face in blushing A cause of feare in men The rule of all true iudgement Shame of well doing The cause why men deceiue themselues What pride is Two kindes of pride Three causes why God created man so excellent Of a good kind of pride Ecclus. 10. 14 19. Of the euil pride Ecclus. 10. 7. Who are most giuen to pride Causes of pride What vices follow pride Pride lifteth men against God Prou. 13. 10. Pride bred of vertue A similitude A remedy against pride Three kindes of the Vegetatiue facultie in the soule A profitable meditation Of the third and last belly of the body The office of heate in man The power order and office of the Vegetatiue soule A similitude taken from 〈…〉 A good lesson for euery one Of the seates of the naturall vertues How excrements are voyded Of the growing of bodies Wherein the natural vertues differ ech from other How meate nourisheth the body How mettals and stones growe The true cause or nourishing in creatures The instruments of the naturall powers of the soule How the soule vseth the instruments of the body Of the Ventricle and stomackâ— Of the figure of the stomacke Of the mouths of the stomacke How the name of the heart is abused The originall of appetite The doore of the vpper Orifice Of the lower Orifice Of the small strings of the Orifices The stomake compared to a pot on the fire Howe the stomacke is placed Of the substance of it How it is warmed by other neighbour partes Of 〈◊〉 Kell or Kall The causes of appetite in the stomach The originall of hunger The stomach compared to a wombe The office of the lower Orifice The poorer sort are not to be contemned The necessitie of the bowelles The number and names of the guttes The bowelles haue two couerings Of the Peritone or inner â—ine of the belly ioyned to the kall The vses of it The substance of the bowels The bowels are made of two coates Of the three 〈◊〉 gutâ— Of their names The Duodene or stomacke gut The hungry gut The Ileon or folded Gut Of the three great Guts The blinde Gut The fift gut called Colon or the great gut The colike and Ileacke passions The straight gut The vse of it Of the muscle Sphincter A lesson against pride Against the contempt of inferiour persons Of the Mesentery Of the Mesareon The chiefe vse of it Other vses of the Mesentery Of the Meseraicall veines Their vse Of the Pancreas or sweet bread The vses of it Of the liuer and excellencie thereof The seconde coction is made in the liuer Foure degrees of concoction in the liuer The fountaines of the blood and veines spirites and arteries Our life compared to a lamp Two great veines in the body The Port-veine The hollow veine Eccles. 12. 6. A place of Salomon expounded Of the arterie Aorta A similitude What a humour is Of the nature of blood Of the cholericke humour Of the flegmaticke humour Of the melancholicke humor The agreement betwixt the humours and the elements How the humours and elements agree in places Agreement betwixt the great garden of the world and that of the litle world A goodly conteÌ„plation in nature Of the heart of plants The body of man compared to a garden Mans life in the midst of two waters Vapours ascending vp to the braine Watry clouds in the braine Inconueniences that come from the braine Instruction for euery one Testimonie of the prouidence of God Gen. 9. 4 5. The mixture of the humors necessary The causes of health and of sicknesse Sinne the cause of all the discord in the world The causes of death A politike instruction Of the cholericke humor Of the Gall and of his bladder The vses of the cholericke humour Of the melancholicke humor Of the spleene What effects follow the oppilation of the liuer The commodities of the melancholike humour Of the flegmatike humour and profite of it Of the kidneyes Emulgent vcines How the vrine is made yellow Of the Vreteres and of the bladder Of the necke of the bladder What it is to be a naturall diuine What communion ought to be among men Why the humors are taken in the euill part The cause of mens ingratitude The agreement betweene the maners and humors of the body By what meanes the naturall humors corrupt The originall of Feuers and other diseases The corruption of the flegmatike humour Of the cholerike humour From whence all sortes of agues proceede The corruption of the melancholie humor From whence madnesse commeth Three chiefe workers of mens actions He speaketh of such goodnes and vertues as were â—o esteemed of by the heathen that knew not their naturall corruption God ruleth in all and ouer all Ierem. 1. Galat. 1. Actes 9. 15. The nature of flegmatike persons The nature of a cholericke complexion The nature of the melancholicke body What natures are most abused by euill spirites Matth. 17. 15. mar 9. 20. luke 9. 39. How vigilant the Deuil is to hurt vs. What profit we reape by the knowledge of our complexions What natures we are to eschew The true meanes to cure our vices Matth. 7. 11. Luke 11. 13. Psal 127. 1. Verse 3. Genes 1. 28. The vertue of the blessing of God for generation Of the Radicall humour Of the defect of mans life with the causes therof What is meant by nature Genes 1. What Generation is What the generatiue power is What seede is What is meant by a vegetatiue soule Of the cause of monsters Malach. 2. 15. Two effectes of ignorance Of the similitude that is in generation From whence the seede commeth The seuerall vertues of the generatiue power The chiefe cause why the generatiue power was giuen to man Of the seate of Generation Hebr. 7. 10. Genes 35. 11. Psal 139. 13. Iob 10. 10 11 What is man properly Psalm 139. 5. Verse 6. Iob 10. 8. Psalm 36. and 138. A good lesson to be learned from our creation The afflictions of Gods children turne to their good No mans knowledge perfect Gen. 2. 4. The creation of the world and of man compared together An argumont of the prouidence of God Of the forme of an infant Of the After-burthen The first sixe dayes work from the conception Psal 139. 16. All the members receiue their forme together The nauill first made perfect When the seed is called Embryon When the burthen is called a child or infant When the childe fâ—â—st moueth Galens opinion of the birth of sonnes The word profitable for all Mans birth a woonderfull worke of God How the childe is nourished in the wombe The cause of child-birth Which is the easiest kinde of child-birth Why children cry when they are borne A testimonie of Gods prouidence in the wombe Gal. de vs◠〈◊〉 lib. 15. An argument against Atheists Psal 139. 17 18. 22. 9. Two things to be considered of in
desire were both ouertaken with the reuenging hand of God the one of them causing his seruant to be his Butcher and the other embruing his hands in his owne blood The like befell Lucretius a most notorious Atheist who being depriued of the right vse of his senses abused by him to the denying of God and of all religion slewe himselfe in the middest of his madnesse Pope Iohn the 13. may woorthily be enrolled in this band as he that was not ashamed to put vp ◠supplication to the deuill to send him goodlucke at dice and one day in the middest of his iollitie hee tooke a cuppe of wine and dranke to the deuill But by the iust iudgement of God hee was stabbed in with a dagger by one who tooke him committing adultery with his wife so that hee died thereof within eight dayes after Leo the tenth Pope of that name who thought there was neither heauen nor hell after this life and blasphemously saide that the Gospel of Christ was but a fable was sodainely striken dead with an extreame laughter which he fell into by reason of newes brought him of the slaughter and ouerthrowe of certaine French men in Italie by his meanes The French histories make mention of one Frances Rabelais who hauing sucked in this poison of Atheisme made a mock at al religion as Lucretius his forerunner had done before him but the selfe-same author defender of true religion that tooke frō Lucretius al vse of reason did so depriue this beast of all sense that as he led a brutish life so he died like a swine in the midst of his drunkennes deriding those that spake vnto him of God and of his mercy Iodellus likewise a French Poet and a professed Atheist as he gaue himselfe in his life time to write tragedies so he made a right tragicall end For hauing through gluttony and riot wasted his patrimony and wealth he fell into such extreame neede that hee was miserably famished for want of sustenance It would aske a long time to set downe the iudgements of God that haue iustly ouertaken sundry others of this abominable crew only I will rehearse one history worthy our knowledge concerning this matter mentioned by Enguerran in the second volume of his Histories In the raigne of Lewes the eleuenth and vpon the fift day of Iune 1464. there happened saieth he a wonderfull accident in the Palace at Paris whilest there was a controuersie in pleading betweene the Bishop of Angiers and a rich citizen of that towne whome the Bishop accused of notorious Atheisme namely that he had saide in the hearing of many that he beleeued not there was any god or deuill either any heauen or hell Now as the Bishops Aduocate rehearsed these woordes the place where they were pleading trembled very sore insomuch that with the shaking a stone fell downe from the toppe to the bottome but hurt no body albeit they were all taken with a great feare Whereupon they went all presently out of the place vntill the next day when the matter was to be heard againe And then also the saide roome beganne to shake againe so that one of the sommers of the chamber sprang out of the mortesse and bowed downeward two feete but fell not All that were present supposed they should haue died no other death which caused them so violently to rush out that for haste some left their hattes some their cappes some their slippers behinde them neither durst any pleade any more there before it was throughly mended Nowe albert Enguerran speaketh nothing of the determination of that suite yet for asmuch as nothing commeth to passe by happe-hazard as they vse to speake but all things are guided by the good prouidence of God it is out of question that the Lorde woulde teach vs heereby howe wee shoulde detest and abhorre such execrable thoughtes and speeches seeing the very dumbe creatures as the stones the timber and the earth it selfe which of it owne nature is vnmooueable were so affected with the horrour thereof that they coulde not abide so much as to heare it spoken of without shaking But here some will say vnto mee that this labor might well haue bin spared considering that the sunne-shine of the Gospel which breaketh forth so cleerely in all quarters of the lande will quickely descry if any such ougly bird should once beginne to peepe out of the shell within the nest of this Iland And if the Athenians being meere heathen men banished Protagoras out of their territories and burnt his Bookes in a publike place because in the beginning of one of them he called the deity into question wee may not think but that in this land ouer-spread with the knowledge of God this monstrous brood shal be nipped in the head so soone as euer it shall dare to shew it selfe Indeed a man would thinke that Atheisme should not once be dreamed of or named amongst vs considering that we liue in those times of which the Prophets foretold That the earth should be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters that couer the sea that all the childrē of the Church should be taught of the Lord so that one neighbor shal not teach another saying Know the Lord for they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest saith the Lord. So a man woulde thinke that Fraunce hauing bin for these thirty yeeres vpwards almost continually scourged with ciuillwarres and that for the cause of religion shoulde bee so farre from being stained with the least spotte of Atheisme as that it might now at the length truely say with the Prophet Dauid It is good for me that I was afflicted for thereby haue I learned to keepe thy law And yet both this our Author and some other of that nation knowing that this infection hath seazed vpon many of their countrie-men haue laboured by their writings to suppresse the same And surely it is greatly to be feared that as their disguised attire couereth the bodies of many of our people maketh them deformed so this poison of Atheisme hath passed the narrow seas is landed in the hearts of no smal number to their vtter destruction both of bodie and soule Neither is this the feare of some few without any ground but of a great many wise and godly Christians who seeing the generall prophannesse of mens liues almost euery where both publikely crie out against the present infection and priuately bewaile the future euils that necessarily follow the same And albeit per aduenture there bee none amongest vs that are so farre gone in Atheisme as Ligneroles a French Courtier of late daies was who is said to haue made open profession thereof yet if the tree may be iudged of by the fruites the outward effects of mens liues doe shew the inward affections of their hearts he that hath but halfe an eye may see that there are a great many
haue giuen to any other besides himselfe and indeede all the creatures ioyned together are not able to diminish or to adde any thing thereunto whatsoeuer they doe but also because hee loueth vs hee is iealous of our saluation and desireth to reserue vs wholly to himselfe and to make vs partakers of his immortall blessednesse Therefore hee will not haue vs spoyle him of his glorie and forsake his seruice in regarde of that hurt and dammage which shoulde befall vs thereby For hee beareth that affection towardes vs which a good Father doeth towardes his children who loueth them not for any profite comming to him thereby but only for their owne good and because hee both will and ought to loue them This loue then which God beareth vnto vs causeth him to be iealous ouer vs when through impietie and wickednesse of life wee leaue him and ioyne our selues vnto his aduersary the deuill Whereupon hee doeth not onely become angry but is full of indignation also both against him and vs. For indignation is a griefe wrought in vs when wee see some good thing befall to an vnworthy person and him that is worthy depriued thereof This affection therefore proceedeth from the same roote from whence compassion springeth namely from the iudgement of that which is good and from the loue thereof But the diuersitie of both their obiects causeth them in some sort to be contrary affections forasmuch as indignation is bred in regarde of some good that hapneth to one that is vnworthy of it and compassion or pity ariseth of some euill that befalleth or is procured to him that hath not deserued it And of these two contrary affections mingled together a third affection is bred which in holy Scripture is called Zeale and Iealousie being taken in the good part Hereof it is that the loue and compassion which God hath of his children when he seeth them go about to bereaue themselues of that good which he wisheth them and the indignation that hee hath in regarde of the good which hapneth to the wicked in the accomplishment of their euill desires for to them euill is in steade of good causeth him to be mooued with iealousie and to bee auenged thereof For this cause the Prophet Ioel saieth Then will the Lorde be iealous ouer his land and spare his people And the Prophet Esay hauing declared to Ezechias the deliuerance of Ierusalem and the succour which GOD would send him against Senacherib saith That the zeale of the Lorde of Hostes will perfourme this In like manner when the true children and seruants of God beholde a confusion in steade of that order which the Lorde woulde haue obserued and which hee hath prescribed vnto his creatures they are greatly mooued in regarde of that zeale which they beare as well towardes GOD as towardes their neighbours For Zeale is nothing else but an indignation conceiued in respect of those things that are vnwoorthily done against him that is deare vnto vs and whome wee loue Therefore if wee loue GOD and his Statutes if wee loue the Common-wealth our Princes our Parents and all others whome wee ought to loue wee will bee iealous for them and can not beholde without indignation aniething done against them that ought not to bee This Indignation and Iealousie will induce vs to set our selues earnestly against all iniustice and to ouerthrowe it with all our might With this Iealousie Saint Paul was affected towardes the Corinthians when hee wrote thus vnto them I am iealous ouer you with godly iealousie for I haue prepared you for one husband to present you as a pure virgine vnto Christ. This kind of Zeale is very requisite in all the true seruants of God but chiefely in them that haue any publike charge whether it be in the Church or in the Common-wealth For except they bee endued with great Zeale towardes the glory of the Maiestie of GOD towardes iustice and all vertues they will neuer haue that care which they ought eyther of the honour and seruice of GOD or of publike benefite or to reprooue correct and punish vices or lastly to maintaine good Discipline vpright iustice and good conuersation in such sorte as becommeth them For this cause hath GOD giuen to the nature of man this affection of Zeale and Indignation for the communion that ought to bee in the societie of men to the ende there shoulde bee a right and indifferent distribution of all good things so that none of them shoulde light vpon the vnwoorthy that vse them ill but to such as deserue them and knowe howe to vse them aright Nowe when these affections are thus ruled they are very good and profitable but commonly they are abused vnto vice For Indignation is quickely bredde of Enuy which being vniust is also of a corrupt and badde iudgement so that an enuious bodie thinketh that whatsoeuer good thing an other hath befallen vnto him hee is vnwoorthy of it And so in like manner the Zeale that is without true knowledge bringeth foorth most pernicious effectes For it proceedeth from a loue which iudgeth not aright of the thing that mooueth it but esteemeth it to bee euill and woorthy of hatred whereas it is good and woorthy of loue Of this Zeale Saint Paul speaketh when hee sayeth of the Iewes I beare them recorde that they haue the zeale of God but not according to knowledge For being deceiued in their iudgement and calling themselues defenders and louers of the lawe of GOD they persecuted the Gospel which was the accomplishment of the Lawe and also them that beleeued in Iesus Christ insomuch that their very Zeale was through their ignoraunce turned into Crueltie and Tyranny which is a very dangerous zeale and ought most carefully to bee shunned of vs as that whereinto the best minded men of all doe commonly fall when they are blinded with ignoraunce as the Apostle Saint Paul propoundeth himselfe in this case for an example before hee was conuerted For hee freely confesseth that hee was a blasphemour a persecutour and an oppressour but hee did it ignorantly and through vnbeleefe There haue beene many such not onely amongest the Iewes but euen among the Heathen For albeit their Religion was altogether superstitious and idolatrous yet they alwayes maintained and defended it with very great zeale persecuting such as professed Christianitie among them and condemning them as the vilest and most detestable men vpon the earth But if the Lord be greatly offended when as wee beare hatred and enuy against any body wee cannot doubt but that this doeth likewise displease him when we commit these things being blinded with ignoraunce and that hee is carried with greater indignation against vs when wee maliciously cloake these vices with a false title of zeale of religion and of his glory thereby to reuenge our selues and to exercise our cruelties much more easily But let vs nowe proceede to consider of other affections of the