inclineth to peace blood to rise and thirst after the shedding of the blood of their enemies so contrariwise another sort of musicke pacifieth the minds of men and rendreth them quiet and peaceable The Arcadians by musicke as I sayd aboue were transformed and transported from sauagenesse to ciuilitie from fiercenesse to affabilitie from crueltie to humanitie And questionlesse as nothing is more opposit to a warlike heart which neuer ceaseth from killing than an effeminate heart which is wholy addicted to louing so if musicke can make warriers womanish it will consequently render them quiet tractable and peaceable Diuers other passions besides the related are moued by musicke as mercie and compassion and for this purpose many beggers with songs demaund their almes and specially the Germains where the man the wife and their children make a full begging quier according to the Italian prouerbe Cosi Vanno cattando Li Tudesci cantando Li Francesipiangendo Li Spagnioli biastemando Thus goe a begging The Germanes singing The French men weeping The Spaniards cursing That is the poore needie Spaniards will sometime curse if a man denie them almes There are also some stately maiesticall songs and consorts of musicke which with a certaine paused grauitie seeme to inuite a mans heart to magnanimitie for they release I know not what resemblance of action and gesture consorting with great personages Many more passions doubtlesse are stirred vp with musicke and Saint Augustine is of opinion that all for hee did perceiue Aug. lib. 10. conf cap. 33. Omnes affectus spiritus nostri pro sui diuersitate habere proprios modos in voce atque cantu quorum nescio qua occulta familiaritate excitentur But to knit vp this discourse there remaineth a question to be answered as difficult as any whatsoeuer in all naturall or morall philosophie viz. How musicke stirreth vp these passions and moueth so mightily these affections What hath the shaking or artificiall crispling of the aire which is in effect the substance of musicke to doe with rousing vp choler afflicting with melanlancholie iubilating the heart with pleasure eleuating the soule with deuotion alluring to lust inducing to peace exciting to compassion inuiting to magnanimitie It is not so great a meruaile that meat drinke exercise and aire set passions aloft for these are diuers waies qualified and consequently apt to stirre vp humors but what qualitie carie simple single sounds and voices to enable them to worke such wonders I had rather in this point read some learned discourse than deliuer mine opinion neuerthelesse in such an obstruse difficultie he that speaketh most apparently and probably saith the best and therefore I will set downe those formes or manners of motion which occurre to my mind and seeme likeliest The first is a certaine sympathie correspondence or proportion betwixt our soules and musick and no other cause can be yeelded Who can giue any other reason why the loadstone draweth yron but a sympathie of nature Why the Needle toucht but with such a stone should neuer leaue looking towards the North Pole who can render other reason than sympathie of nature If we make a suruey of all birds of the aire fishes of the sea beasts of the land we shall find euery sort affect a proper kind of food a lyon will eat no hay nor a bull beefe a horse eateth bread and a leopard abhorreth it a kite liueth vpon carrion and a hen cannot endure it if a man should beat his braine to find out the reason no better can be giuen than sympathie of nature So we may say that such is the nature of our soules as musicke hath a certaine proportionat sympathie with them as our tasts haue with such varieties of daintie cates our smelling such varietie of odours c. The second manner of this miracle in nature some assign and ascribe to Gods generall prouidence who when these sounds affect the eare produceth a certaine spirituall qualitie in the soule the which stirreth vp one or other passion according to the varietie of voices or consorts of instruments Neither this is to be meruailed at for the very same vpon necessitie we must put in the imagination the which not being able to dart the formes of fancies which are materiall into the vnderstanding which is spirituall therefore where nature wanteth Gods prouidence supplieth So corporall musicke being vnable to worke such extraordinarie effects in our soules God by his ordinarie naturall prouidence produceth them The like we may say of the creation of our soules for men being able to produce the bodie but vnable to create the soule man prepareth the matter and God createth the forme so in musicke men sound and heare God striketh vpon and stirreth vp the heart The third maner more sensible palpable is this that the very sound it selfe which according to the best philosophie is nothing else but a certaine artificiall shaking crispling or tickling of the ayre like as we see in the water crispled when it is calme and a sweet gale of wind ruffleth it a little or when wee cast a stone into a calme water we may perceiue diuers warbling naturall circles which passeth thorow the eares and by them vnto the heart and there beateth and tickleth it in such sort as it is moued with semblable passions For as the heart is most delicat and sensatiue so it perceiueth the least motions and impressions that may be and it seemeth that musicke in those celles playeth with the vitall and animate spirits the onely instruments and spurres of passions In like maner we perceiue by a little tickling of our sides or the soles of our feet how we are mooued to laughter yea and the very heart strings seeme in some sort to be mooued by this almost sencelesse motion And in confirmation hereof we may bring two apt coniectures The first is in our own hands or face the which if we smooth tickle presse downe nip heat or coole wee perceiue diuers sorts diuersities of sensations and feele our selues sundry wayes affected if such varieties we find in a thicke skin how much more in a tender heart farre more apter to feele than any member else of our bodie The second coniecture is the filing of iron and scraping of trenchers which many naturally yea and almost all men before they be accustomed vnto them abhorre to heare not only because they are vngratefull to the eare but also for that the aire so carued punisheth and fretteth the heart The last and best manner I take to be that as all other sences haue an admirable multiplicitie of obiects which delight them so hath the eare and as it is impossible to expound the varietie of delights or disgustes which we perceiue by them and receiue in them for who can distinguish the delights wee take in eating fish flesh fruit so many thousand sauces and commixtions of spices with fish flesh and fruit so in musicke diuers consorts stirre vp in the heart diuers sorts of
heart is dilated or coarcted more or lesse Many more wayes they may be distinguished but the best and most easie division I take this to be these which I will set downe explicated after this maner First all our Passions eyther tend to some good or fly some evill if they tende to good and prosecute it then the good prosecuted may bee considered in three maners absolutely in it selfe and so we have the passion of love or as of vs to be possessed and enioyed and so we have the passions of Desire and Hope and if it bee vehement it incourageth men to attempt many difficulties often to be more bold than wise Thirdly if the thing desired be present and possessed then riseth vp the passion of Pleasure and Delight so that our affections are carryed to good thinges eyther absolutely future or present for good thinges passed although they often stirre in a man pleasure yet they are conceyved after a sorte of presence either because they were acceptfull to God then and so please him yet or for the present testimony of a good conscience for the precedent vertuous actions or finally for the credite honour and glory which remayneth with those who were witnesses of our good behaviour and godly proceedings If our Passions eschew evill eyther absolutely by hatred or some future evill by feare or some present evill by pensiuenesse and sadnesse And vnto these six love desire pleasure hatred feare and sadnesse all ordinate and inordinate Passions may easily be reduced as in every particular Treatise shal be declared Neverthelesse I can not but allowe that common division of Thomas Aquinas admitted by scholâ—sticall Doctours as very convenient because in very deede wee proove some notable differences in so many passions howbeit not essentiall but accidentall yet in my iudgement this I have betaken mee to ought to bee preferred as more easie to be perceyued more expedient to be declared and more methodicall to bee remembred Besides if every diversity or change we finde in passions were a sufficient reason to encrease their number without doubt I could adde welnie eleven more as Mercy Shamefastnesse Excandescencie Envy Emulation Anxitie Confidence Slouthfulnesse Zelotypia Exanimation Iactation or Boasting with many more And if you answere that these may bee included in those eleaven as inferior Species in their superiours even so say I those five that Thomas Aquinas putteth in the invading appetite I can reduce to those sixe I have set downe as members thereunto belonging The seate place and subiect of the Passions of the Minde CHAP. VII FIrst it cannot bee doubted of but that the passions of our mindes worke diuers effects in our faces wherefore a Poet sayd wisely O quam difficile est crimen non prodere vultu How hard is it a fault with face not to bewray And to the same effect sayd Salomon In facie prudentis Prouerb 17. lucet sapientia oculi stultorum in finibus terrae In the face of a wise man Wisedome shineth the eyes of fooles in the limittes of the land And in another place Cor hominis immutat faciem sive in bona sive in mala Eccles 13. 26. The heart of a man changeth his countenance whether it be in good or evill for in anger and feare we see men eyther extreame pale or high coloured in melancholy and sadnesse the eyes are heavy in ioy and pleasure the motions of the eyes are lively and pleasant according to the olde proverbe Cor gaudens exhilerat Proverb â— faciem a reioycing heart maketh merry the face And questionlesse wise men often thorowe the windowes of the face behold the secrets of the heart according to that saying of Salomon Quomodo in aquis Prou. 27. 1â— resplendent vultus prospicientium sic corda hominum manifesta sunt prudentibus as the faces of those which looke into waters shine vnto them so the heartes of men are manifest vnto the wise not that they can exactly vnderstand the heartes which bee inscrutable and onely open vnto God but that by coniectures they may aime well at them for as he which beholdeth his face in the water doth not discerne it exactly but rather a shadowe than a face even so he that by externall phisiognomy and operations will divine what lyeth hidden in the heart may rather conceive an image of that affection that doth raigne in the minde than a perfite and resolute knowledge yet doubtlesse this small shadow may help much Superiors or Examiners to trace out divers matters and get light of the secrets of mens affections as Alexander the great endued with this experience once prooved who after hee had wonne the citie of Tarson belonging to Darius entring vpon a hote summers day naked into the river Cydmus and Quâ—ntuâ— Curtius lib. 3. thereby catching a vehement agâ—w insomuch that hee could not proceede against his enemies which then were very neere wherefore he resolved himselfe to take some vehement medicine that presently should eyther amend him or end him An ancient Physition which from his youth had alwayes attended vppon him called Philip of Acarnon promised that he would prepare him such a potion the matter was concluded but whilest the Physition prepared the medicine Parmenio a captaine whom Alexander of all others loved and trusted most vnderstanding Alexanders determination sent him a letter disswading him by all meanes not to deale with the potion of Philip because he vnderstood he was corrupted by Darius Alexanders enemy with promise of a thousand talents and his sister in marriage that he should kill him Alexander astonied with these newes was cast into a woonderfull perplexitie Shall I adventure thought he to drinke this medicine What if it be poyson Shall I not then be accounted the cause of mine owne death Shall I suspect the fidelitie of my Physition Or shall I suffer my enemy to kill me in my bedde While he was in this deliberation the Physitian brought him the potion When the King sawe him he raysed himselfe vpon his elbow and taking his letter in his left hand with the other hand hee tooke the cuppe and strait supped it off when he had done so hee delivered the letter to Philip to reade and whilest hee was reading he beheld him continually in the face supposing that if hee had bin faulty some token would have appeared in his countenance when Philip had read the letter he shewed more tokens of displeasantnesse than of feare the which with the loving words of the Physitian assured Alexander of his servants fidelity and caused him not onely to reiect all feare of death but also to conceyve an extrarodinary hope of amendment as indeede not long after it proved By this example superiours may learne to coniecture the affections of their subiectes mindes by a silent speech pronounced in their very countenances And this poynt especially may bee observed in women whose passions may easily be discovered sor as harlots by the light and wanton motions of
their eyes and gestures may quickely be marked so honest matrons by their grave and chaste lookes may soone be discerned To which effect the Spose sayd vnto his Spouse Vulnerasti cor meum in vno oculorum tuorum Cantic 4. 9. Thou hast wounded my heart with one of thine eyes because thorow the window of her eye hee beheld the chastitie of her heart By this wee may knowe the cause why children and epsecially women cannot abide to looke in their fathers masters or betters faces because even nature it selfe seemeth to teach them that thorowe their eyes they see their heartes neyther doe we holde it for good manners that the inferiour should fixe his eyes vpon his superiors countenance and the reason is because it were presumption for him to attempt the entrance or privy passage into his superiors minde as contrariwise it is lawful for the superior to attempt the knowledge of his inferior The Scriptures also teach vs in the face of a harlot to reade the impuritie of her heart Mulieris fornicatiâ— in extollentia oculorum Eccles 26. in palpebris illius agnoscetur The fornication of a woman shall be knowen by the lifting vp of her eyes and in her eye-bries Hereby also we may perceyve the cause of blushing for that those that have committed a fault are therein deprehended or at least imagine they are thought to have committed it presently if they be Candidae naturae that is of an honest behaviour and yet not much grounded in vertue they blush because nature beeing afrayd lest in the face the fault should be discovered sendeth the purest blood to be a defence and succour the which effect commonly is iudged to proceede from a good and vertuous nature because no man can but allowe that it is good to bee ashamed of a fault And thus to conclude we must confesse that Passions have certayne effectes in our faces howbeit some doe shew them more evidently than others Yet wee may not say that this face is the roote and kore where the Passions reside but onely the rhinde and leaves which shew the nature and goodnesse of both the roote and the kore That there are Passions in the reasonable soule CHAP. VIII NOw that we have determined how the Passions must dwell in an other soyle than the face the order of methode requireth wee should wade deeper into the soule to view if in the reasonable part we might finde out their habitation And to be briefe in this poynt I thinke it cannot Three causes why there bee affections in the will like those which reside in the sensitiue appetite be douted vpon but that there are some affections in the highest and chiefest part of the soule not vnlike to the Passions of the Minde for to God the Scriptures ascribe love hate ire zeale who cannot be subiect to any sensitive operations And therefore as in him they are perfections and we are commaunded and may imitate him in them there is no reason why they should be denyed vnto vs in such sort as they be perfite and that is principally in the Will Besides we know most certaynely that our sensitive appetite cannot love hate feare hope c. but that by imagination or our sensitive apprehension we may conceyve for Malum amare possumus incognitum vero amare non possumus wee may love an ill thing but wee cannot love an vnknowne thing nowe experience teacheth vs that men doe feare the iudgements of God they love him and hope in him they hate sinne and finally exercise many notable affections which reason prescribeth and whereunto the sensitive apprehension ascendeth not Furthermore as beneath shall be declared the sensitive appetite often yea and for the most part traleth and haleth the will to consent and follow her pleasures and delights even for the same reason that she pretendeth the as for example I would to God it were not true howe oft yeeldeth the will to the appetite in procuring sensuall pleasures and pastimes for no other ende than to pleasure the vnpleasable appetites and lustes of the flesh this experience more pregnantly prooveth it than any reason can confirme it finally as our witte vnderstandeth whatsoever our senses perceive even so our will may affect whatsoever out passions doe follow for as the obiect of the wit is all trueth teall or apparant so the obiect of our will is all goodnesse indeede or carrying the glosse thereof Neverthelesse I must confesse that these affections which reside in the will differ much in nature and qualitie from those that inhabite the inferior partes of the soule because these being bredde and borne in the highest part of the soule are immateriall spirituall independant of any corporall subiect but those of the sensitive appetite are materiall corporall and depending vpon some bodily instruments as beneath shall be delivered That the heart isc the peuliar place where that Passions allodge CHAP. IX NO Philosopher can deny but that our Passions are certayne accidents and qualities whose immediate subiect house and lodging is the very facultie and power of the soule because all vitall operations of which sort Passions are challenge by right that the mother which hatched them should also sustayne them and harbour them in her owne house But a question may be demaunded and not easily resolved whether the faculty of our sensitive appetite hath allotted vnto it some peculiar part of the body where shee exerciseth her proper functions and operations for as wee see by experience the facultie of seeing the power of hearing the sense of smelling tasting and touching have assigned vnto them divers corporall instruments habitations or seates wherein they see heare smell taste and touch as eyes eares nose tongue flesh and sinewes nowe the question propounded is thus to bee vnderstood whether may there be determined any Parte of the bodie wherein peculiarly the passions of the minde are effected To which question I answere that the very seate of all Passions is the hearte both of men and beastes divers reasons move me to this opinion First the very common experience men trie daily and hourely in themselves for who loveth extreamely and feeleth not that passion to dissolve his hearte who reioyceth and proveth not his heart dilated who is moyled with heavinesse or plunged with payne and perceiveth not his heart to bee coarcted whom inflameth ire and hath not heart-burning By these experiences wee proove in our hearts the working of Passions and by the noyse of their tumult wee vnderstande the woorke of their presence The second reason is because as our sensitive apprehension hath her seate in the brayne for we all proove that in vnderstanding we especially bend the force of our soule to the former part thereof so the affections and passions in proportionate manner must have some corporall organ and instrument and what more convenient than the heart for as the brayne fitteth best for the softnesse and moysture to receyve the formes
and prints of obiects for vnderstanding even so the heart endued with most fiery spirites fitteth best for affecting Lastly for what other reason in feare and anger become men so pale and wanne but that the blood runneth to the heart to succour it I saw once in Genoa a Bandite condemned to death and going to Execution to tremble so extraordinarily that he needed two to support him all the way and for all that he shivered extreamely Besides whence-from proceedeth laughter dauncing singing and many such externall singes of ioy but as wee say from a merrie heart therefore ioy and feare dwell in the heart Howbeit I thinke this most true and especially in those passions which are about obiectes absent as love hatred hope flight ire and such like yet I cannot but confesse that when the obiectes are present and possessed by sense then the passions inhabite not onely the heart but also are stirred vp in every part of the body whereas any sensitive operation is exercised for if wee taste delicate meates smell muske or heare musicke we perceyve notonely that the heart is affected but that also the passion of ioy delighteth those partes of our sences the like wee prove in payne and griefe for which cause commonly wee say our teeth ake our fingers toes or legges payne vs Payne therefore and Pleasure beeing Passions of the Minde and evermore felt in that part of the bodie where Sense exerciseth her operations therefore as touching is dispersed thorow the whole bodie even so the Passions of pleasure and payne for in everie parte if it bee cherished it reioyceth if be hurte it payneth Yet supposing the Passions principally reside in the hearte as wee perceyve by the concourse of humours thereunto wee may demaund two curious questions The former is for what ende hath Nature given this alteration or flocking of humours to the hearte It seemeth questionlesse for some good ende for God and Nature worke not by chaunce or without respecting some benefite of the subiect To the which question it may bee answered First Why humors flocke to the heart in passions that the humours concurre to helpe dispose and enable the heart to worke such operations for as we prove by experience if a man sleepe with open eyes although his sight be marvellous excellent yet he seeth nothing because in sleepe the purer spirites are recalled into the inner partes of the body leaving the eyes destitute of spirits and abandoned of force which presently in waking returne againe euen so I conceive the heart prepared by nature to digest the blood sent from the liver yet for divers respectes not to have the temperature which all Passions require for love will have heate and sadnesse colde feare constringeth and pleasure dilateth the heart therefore which was to bee subiect to such diversities of Passions by Nature was deprived of all such contrary dispositions as the Philosophers say that Materia prima caret omni forma quia omnes formas recipere debet And although the hearte hath more excesse of heate than colde yet a little melancholly blood may quickly change the temperature and render it more apt for a melancholly Passion The second reason may be for that these humours affecting the heart cause payne or pleasure thereby inviting Nature to prosecute the good that pleaseth and to flie the evill that annoyeth as in the Common-wealth Vertue ought to be rewarded with preferment and vice to be corrected with punishment even so in this little common-wealth of our bodies actions conformable to Nature are repayde with pleasure and passions disconsorting nature punished with payne The other question concerneth the efficient cause of these humours what causeth their motions to the heart they themselves as it were flie vnto the heart or the parte where they soiourned sendeth or expelleth them from her and so for common refuge they runne to the heart or finally the heart draweth them vnto it This difficultye requireth an answere whereby many such like questions may bee resolved as for example when the meate in our stomackes is sufficiently disgested the chile which there remayneth prepared to be sent to the liver for a further concoction doth it ascend thither by it selfe as vapours to the head or doth the stomacke expell it or the liver drawe and sucke it To this demaund I answere that in mine opinion the partes from whence these humours come vse their expulsive vertue sending the spirites choler or blood to serve the heart in such necessity as the hand lifteth vp it selfe to defend the head howbeit I doubt not but the heart also affected a little with the passion draweth more humors so encreaseth Many more curious obiections here I omit which perhaps would delight the more subtil wits but hardly of many to be conceived What sort of persons be most passionate CHAP. X. OVt of the precedent Chapter we may gather how that the heart is the seate of our passions that spirites and humours concurre with them here we may deduce a conclusion most certayne and profitable that according to the disposition of the heart humours and body divers sortes of persons be subiect to divers sortes of passions and the same passion affecteth divers persons in divers manners for as we see fire applyed to drie wood to yron to flaxe and gunpowder worketh divers wayes for in wood it kindleth with some difficulty and with some difficulty is quenched but in flaxe soone it kindleth and quencheth in yron with great difficulty is it kindled and with as great extinguished but in gunpowder it is kindled in a moment and never can bee quenched till the powder be consumed Some men you shall see not so soone angrie nor yet soone pleased and such be commonly fleugmatike persons others you have soone angrie soone friended as those of a sanguine complexion and therefore commonly they are called good fellowes others be hardly offended and afterward with extreame difficulty reconciled as melancholy men others are all fiery and in a moment at every trifle they are inflamed and till their heartes be consumed almost with choller they never cease except they be revenged By this we may confirme that olde saying to be true Animi mores corporis temperaturam sequâ—ntur the manners of the soule followe the temperature of the body And as in maladies of the body every wise man feeleth best his owne griefe euen so in the diseases of the soule every one knoweth best his owne inclination neverthelesse as Physitions commonly affirme how there be certayne vniversall causes which incline our bodies to divers infirmities so there are certayne generall causes which move our soules to sundry passions First young men generally are arrogant prowde prodigall incontinent given to all sortes of pleasure Their pride proceedeth from lacke of experience for they will vaunt of their strength beautie and wittes because they have not yet tryed sufficiently how farre they reach how frayle they are therefore they make more account of them
Nathan propounded to David his owne fault as another mans case how the rich man by force bereaved the poore man of his sheepe having so many of his owne because he knew that Davids iudgement in his owne cause might easily be corrupted the selfesame did the good woman Thecuites to David for the recalling of Absolon And indeede the Passions not vnfittely may bee compared to greene spectacles which make all thinges resemble the colour of greene even so he that loveth hateth or by any other passion is vehemently possessed iudgeth all things that occurre in favour of that passion to be good and agreeable with reason so there scarse can be found any man that hateth or is angry with an other but hee thinketh his hatred and ire to be most iust and reasonable for in very deede while the Passion is afloate the execution and performance thereof is conformable and very convenient vnto our beastly sensuall appetite and therefore all beastes stinged by such passions presently proceede vnto execution but men having vnited in the same sensitive soule reason and discourse are bound both by the lawe of Nature and commaundement of God divers times to represse and resist such vnreasonable and beastly motions Yet I know some subtill witte would gladly vnderstand how it commeth to passe that vehement passions so vndermine the iudgement and suborne it to give sentence in favour of them for why may not the passion beeing in the hearte and inferior parte of the soule permitte the higher portion the tribunall seate of Reason alone without trouble or molestation as we see by experience that fire being drie and hotte by nature although it heateth yet that hindereth not the drying so why may not the witte iudge aright howbeit the passion affecteth a wrong To this obiection three reasons may be rendered The first I have largely delivered in my third Booke of the Ioyes of heaven and in summe this is the substance Our soule being of a determinate power and activitie cannot attend exactly to twoo vehement and intensive operations together as for example wee cannot attend perfectly to sweete musicke perceive daintie smelles or taste delicate meate all three or twoo of them at one time either for lacke of spirites or in regarde of the limitted influence of the soule which cannot impart sufficient activitie to such intensive operations wherefore the soule being possessed of a vehement passion her force is so exhausted in that action that if shee will continue therein shee can not exactly consider the reasons which may disswade her from attending or following such affections the passion therefore which hindereth and stoppâ—th the eyes of the vnderstanding from the consideration of those meanes which might moove the mind to withdrawe it selfe from that action may well bee saide to blinde the witte as hee which shutteth another mans eyes maketh him blindefolde not by taking away the power of seeing but onely by hindering it from action The second reason is not onely a privation of consideration of those thinges which may extinguish the passion but also an inforcement or constraint onely to consider those motives or reasons which tend in favour of that passion for although the mayne parte of the soules activitie bee haled away with the passion yet there remaineth some sparks of light in the vnderstanding to perceive what is represented vnto it as when we heare sweete excellent musicke we may perceyve some dainety smelles howebeit not in that perfection wee might if our soules were not distracted with hearing even so some life is left to be imployed to vnderstanding albeit not so great because the soule is distracted with a Passion the which inforceth the witte onely to consider what may conduce to the continuation and preservation thereof the manner may thus bee declared for whatsoever we vnderstand passeth by the gates of our imagination the cosin germane to our sensitive appetite the gates of our imagination being prevented yea and welnie shutte vp with the consideration of that obiect which feedeth the passion and pleaseth the appetite the vnderstanding looking into the imagination findeth nothing almost but the mother and nurse of his passion for consideration where you may well see how the imagination putteth greene spectacles before the eyes of our witte to make it see nothing but greene that is serving for the consideration of the Passion Furthermore the imagination representeth to the vnderstanding not onely reasons that may favour the passion but also it sheweth them very intensively with more shew and apparance than they are indeede for as the Moone when she riseth or setteth seemeth greater vnto vs than indeede shee is because the vapours or clowdes are interposed betwixt our eyes and her even so the beauty and goodnesse of the obiect represented to our vnderstanding appeareth fayrer and goodlier than it is because a clowdy imagination interposeth a miste And here it falleth foorth as hee which is most studious is best learned and commonly he that is best learned is most studious so hee that once apprehendeth the pleasure of the passion ordinarily followeth it and the passion increaseth the imagination thereof and the stronger imagination rendreth the passion more vehement so that oftentimes they enter but with an inch and encrease an ell whereupon ensueth that a false imagination corrupteth the vnderstanding making it beleeve that thinges are better than they are in very deede And by this meanes the witte two wayes is troubled first in that the vehemency of the imagination causeth a vehement apprehension and iudgement of the witte secondarily the false representation breedeth a false conceite in the minde and by these wee prove the imagination and passions to prevaile so mightily that men in great payne or exceeding pleasure can scarce speake see heare or thinke of any thing which concerneth not their passion And for this same cause when wise men deale with any person wonderfully pensive commonly they endevour with reasons to diminish the cause of their griefe as if a woman hath lost her onely sonne in wars then to mittigate her sorrowe they will shewe her that death apprehendeth all men sooner or later it is a tribute must bee payde this worlde yeeldeth nothing but miserie happier are they that depart from it than those that enioy it his death was glorious for his Countrey for his Prince the which among valiant captaynes and noble mindes hath alwayes beene prized above tenne thousand lives if he had dyed an infarnous death for treason for rapine for iniustice then shee might have iustly lamented but in dying for iustice for obedience for vertue with glory she hath rather an exceeding occasion of ioy than a motive of griefe All which perswasions as you see tende to no other ende but to rectifie her iudgement and to represent vnto the vnderstanding those reasons which might rebate the passion of sorrowe concealed from it by the strong imagination of all those things which might encrease her griefe Besides the vehemencie of the
direct not my tongue manage not my wit move not my will without thy continual effectual and principal influence neither my heart can breathe my stomack disgest my pulses move my liver make concoction or any part of my body suck the vitall nourishment which restoreth lost forces and keepeth my life in continuance And therefore I may well say that thou art as necessary to preserve my being as in first imparting of it and as requisite to any thing I can do as my very soule substance and faculties which are principles of doing And therefore with what love should I incessantly affect thee who have such dependance vpon thee There be some fishes which presently dye if once they be taken out of the water no doubt but much more speedily should both my body and soule perish and be brought to nothing thing if they were not environed on every side above below within and without with the omnipotent vertue of thine immensive Maiesty The 13. Motive to Love which is the pardoning of Iniuries ALthough every vertue rendreth a man amiable yet some there be so immediately grounded vpon the base of love as liberality and magnificencie vpon goodnes and amity that they ravish wholy leade mens affections towards them for that by them love bountie powre out themselves by communication of what they have to others Contrarywise some other vertues so fortifie and establish a man in goodnes that they arme him invincibly and make him most potent either by mildnes not to perceive any Iniuries or so corroborate him with patience that he cannot or will not revenge them When Mary had murmured against Moses and for the foulenesse of her fault God who was most zealous of his servants estimation had stricken her with a loathsome leaprie Moses as the scripture reporteth Num. 12. being the mildest man vpon earth could not suffer this iust punishment to be inflicted vpon her but presently demaunded of God that he would cure her Whereas it seemeth that he neither perceived the Iniury nor could indure the Revenge And in very deede it cannot but proceede from a noble magnanimious minde to contemne all base iniuries offered and to disdaine to repay condignely their deserts for whomsoever I iniure I impayre either his estimation or his riches or his body or his soule he then that can tollerate such harmes sheweth himselfe superior to all that fortune or nature can affoord Alexander the great went to visite Dioâ—enes the cynicall Philosopher who would not vouchsafe to visit him and demanded of him if he had need of any thing Yes marrie quoth Diogenes who satte in his philosophicall barrell that thou stand from before mee and hinder not the Sunne from comming to me Alexander was exceedingly delighted with this answere and so wondered at the maiestie of this Philosophers minde that after his departure perceiving his Nobles and Minions to mocke and ieast at such a satyricall and exoticall answere vnto their Emperour Well well quoth Alexander you may say what you will but I assure you if I were not Alexander I would wish to be Diogenes For hee desired in his heart to surmount all men and esteeme nothing and here he found Diogenes make none account of him whom hee deemed all the world feared and trembled to heare of But yet Alexander prooved not Diogenes one step further for if he had reviled him if he had whipped him divers other wayes iniuried him then he might have sayd in deede he was arrived at the haven of happinesse if he had tollerated them with patience and neither by deed word nor thought meditated or intended revenge for it is not so hard for a man to contemne that he hath not as to despise all he hath and patiently to suffer himselfe to be dispoyled of all he hath and besides in body to be afslicted as Iob or to be blinded as Tobie or cast in prison as Ioseph If Alexander so prized Diogenes vayne contempt proceeding from a popular bravado rooted in a private pride how would he have esteemed Saint Peter and the rest of the Apostles who left all and followed Christs innocencye tollerating with invincible patience a sea of afflictions crosses and iniuries But thou O blessed Saviour who ecclipsed thy Maiesty with our mortall ignominies and forsooke the vse of no Macedonian Empire but of the vniversall world to whom the vse as well as the dominion belonged for in the hemme of thy garmeÌ„t we finde writteÌ„ Apoc. 19. Rex Regum and Dominus Dominantium the King of Kings and Lord of Lords that is one of the basest graces and priviledges graunted to thine humanitie wherewith thy Divinitie as with a scarlet roabe was vayled was the proprietie and dominion over the world yet for all this ample inheritance over Iewe and Gentile thou hadst not so much house to cover thy head as Foxes which hold their holes and Birds that in fee-simple keepe their neasts What iniuries O sweet Iesu have sinfull soules exhaled breathed nay darted out against thy sacred humanitie frustrating it for as much as in them layd of all those noble effects which thou deserved for vs by thy most bitter death and passion and yet thou art so armed with humble mildnesse and compassion of heart that thou by internall favours and externall benefits cherishes them as though thou wert nothing offended with them but rather with opportune kindnesse seemes to contend with their importune malice with invincible patience exspecting their repentance What wrongs do wee offer every moment thy soveraigne Divinitie by transgressing thy commaundements and thereby iniurying all the attributes of thy Divine Maiesty And yet no sooner the prodigall childe sayeth peccavi O Father I have offended but thou falls vpon him with kisses and customarie favours forgetting his former follies no sooner the sinfull Magdalen batheth thy feete with mournefull teares but thou bathes her breast with pardoning ioyes Ah my God of all goodnes and mercy what shall I preferre in thee the benefits I have received from thy hands or the not present revenging of iniuries thou hast received from my hart for in them thou communicated thy goodnes conformably vnto thy will here thou sustayned dishonour against thy will that tended to glorifie thee and perfit vs this impugneth thee and destroyeth vs iniuries were violent benefits connaturall iniuries issued from corruption and aymed at destruction benefits proceeded from mercie and aymed at the reliefe of miserie iniuries deserved infamie and benefits recognition glory wherein then didst thou shew more love bounty in conferring benefits or pardoning iniuries Questionles in pardoning iniuries for temporall favours and spirituall graces all except Christs incarnation his merits and death argue but a limited greatnes not infinit because a gift amongst men is thought to proceed from a proportionable love vnto the gift as for example if a king give a 1000. pound we valew his love to the person who receiveth such a benefit in the degree of the