manner Moreouer wee must not wonder if the sensitiue appetite in particular make so great an impression in the body This proceedes from the sympathy which is found in those powers which are gouerned by the same soule which imployes them so as the sensitiue appetite comming to play her part shee doth stirre vp the mouing faculty of the heart the which dilates it selfe or shrinkes vp according to the nature of the obiects which haue made impression vpon the sensitiue appetite whence grow al the alterations which are made in the body of man And here we must remember that nature hath fashioned the heart in such sort as it is in perpetual motion according vnto which it sometimes extendes it selfe and sometime retires of it selfe with a certaine measure and proportion the which continuing within the bounds which nature hath prescribed it as conformable vnto the condition of the creature this motion is wholy naturall but if it once come to breake this law and shew it selfe more violent or more slow then the nature of the creature requires the naturall harmony is broken and there followes a great alteration in the body of the creature Of all the powers of the soule those of the sensitiue appetite onely cause the alteratioÌ„ of this motion whose actions alone may make it more violent or more slowe then the lawes of nature doe allow And hence it comes that none but the actions of the sensitiue appetite are made with a visible change of the body and with a sensible alteration of the naturall constitution Yet as in this change the heart receiues an alteration so the spirits the blood and other humours are agitated and mooued beyond ordinary the which doth wholy trouble the naturall constitution of the creature The which happens after this manner The obiects of the senses strike first vpon the imagination and then this power hauing taken knowledge of theÌ„ conceiues them as good or bad as pleasing or troublesome and importune then afterwards propounds them as clothed with those qualities to the creature which apprehending them vnder this last coÌ„sideration excites the concupiscible or irascible power of the soule and induceth them to imbrace or flye them and by the impression of its motion agitates the spirits which we cal Vitall the which going from the heart disperse themselues throughout the whole body and at the same instant the blood which deriues froÌ„ the liuer participating in this agitatioÌ„ flowes throughout the veynes and casts it selfe ouer all the other parts of the body So as the heart and liuer beeing thus troubled in their naturall dispositions the whole body fâ—eles it selfe mooued not onely inwardly but also outwardly according to the nature of that passioÌ„ which doth trouble it For in motions of ioy and desire the heart melts with gladnesse In those of sorrow and trouble it shrinks vp and freezeth with griefe In those of choler and resolution it is inflamed and all on fire In those of feare it growes pale and trembling A Louers words are sweete and pleasing and those of a cholerick man are sharpe and rough Finally there riseth no passion in the soule which leaueth not some visible trace of her agitation vpon the body of man Lastly wee may gather from the definition of passion that this alteration which happeneth in the body is contrary to the lawes of nature for that as we haue said it transports the heart beyond the bounds which nature hath prescribed it and doth agitate it extraordinarily Hence it growes that amoÌ„g al the motioÌ„s of the sensitiue appetite those only are propâ—â—ly called passioÌ„s which are accompanied with some notable defect For as we call passions of the body diseases wounds paines inflammations incisions and all other violent accidents which happen extraordinarily So wee properly call passions of the soule those infirmities wherewith she is afflicted and troubled as pittie feare bashfulnesse or shame loue hatred desires Choler and the rest For in this subiect the word Passion is not taken in that sense whereas wee say that a subiect suffers when as it receiues some new forme bee it that at the comming of this forme it lose any thing of its owne or not as when the ayre is enlightned with the Sunne beams without losing any thing of her first constitution nor in that sense wherein we say that a subiect suffers when as it receiues a new quality which doth expell another whether it bee concurrent to its nature or contrary vnto it as when water growes cold or is made hot But the word Passion is taken here for a change which is made in man contrary to his naturall constitution and disposition from the which hee is as it were wrested by this change In which sense the Phylosophers say that things suffer when as they are drawne from their naturall disposition to a course that is contrary to their nature In the mean time you must not wonder if we ground the irregularity of the change which these passions breed vpon the disorder which the sensitiue appetite stirred vp by the sensible obiects casts into the heart being a thing which wee must constantly beleeue that this power of the soule bee it the irascible or coÌ„cupiscible hath its se at and mansion in the heart The which cannot be denied in the subiect of feare for that such as are transported therwith call back the blood and heate vnto the heart as to the place where feare doth exercise her tyranny therewith to defend themselues considering also that those creatures which haue the greatest and largest hearts are most fearefull for that their heate is more dispersed and consequently lesse able to resist the assaults of feare Some haue not beleeued that it was so of other passions but haue appointed theÌ„ their seates else-where and haue maintained that some did reside in the liuer others in the spleene and some in the gall as for anger they haue lodged it in the gall whereas choler resides which doth inflame it But they haue giuen loue his quarter in the liuer for that the saÌ„guine coÌ„plexion is inclined to loue for ioy they haue seated it in the Spleen for that melancholy proceeds from the distemperature of this part But notwithstanding this it is most certaine that both the powers of the sensitiue appetite I mean the Irascible and Concupiscible reside in the heart the which beeing the fountaine of life of all vital operations must also bee a lodge retraite to those appetites which nature hath gigiueÌ„ the creature to preserue his life to chase away those perils which may threaten it Wherby we see that the passioÌ„s of desire or anger are felt preseÌ„tly in the heart trouble the natural coÌ„stitution as soon as they rise wherby followeth a strange alteration throughout the whole body for the springs caÌ„not be troubled but the streams wil feele of it And therefore the passions being too vehement and making a violeÌ„t impressioÌ„ vppoÌ„ the hart they cause
be better vnderstood by experience then expounded by words Fiâ—st of all there is not any man which doth not feele in the midst of the ioy which hee receiues his heart to dilate it selfe and as it were open with gladnesse from whence it sends the signes tokens to the countenance by the laughter whicâ—â—t â—irres vp in the mouth where it causeth a visible change They that are tender hearted are apt to receiue the impressions of ioy and heauines like vnto soft wax wherein they do easily imprint the formes which are laid vpon them They that haue them firme and hot by reason of the heate conceiue ioy easily by reason of their constancy preserue it longer Whereas contrariwise they that haue it cold and hard are capable of heauinesse melancholly which makes an impression easily by reason of the coldnesse with the which she hath an affinity maintaines it selfe long by reason of the hardnesse as we see happen vnto melancholy men For sadnesse is an earthly Passion cold and dry whereas ioy is moist and hot And therefore it is easily framed in the hearts of children of young men and of those which are of a good complexion from this ioy which makes the heart to spread and dilate it selfe like vnto a flower growes laughter which is no Passion but an exterior effect of an interior Passion For the sweetnesse of Pleasure makes the heart to moue and open to receiue the forme euen as when wee go to meete a friend and open our armes when he presents himselfe vnto vs. And this his motion and interior ioy ascends vp vnto the countenance but it appeares chiefely in the opening of the mouth whereas laughter is framed and hath his seate from thence disperseth it self to the eyes and the rest of the face although that some hold it hath his seate within man and about his heart But to take away all kind of difficulty wee must vnderstand that sometimes laughter comes meerely from a corporall motion as that which proceeds from the tickling of the arme holes so as there haue bin seene sword players die laughing for that they haue beene wounded in that place Sometimes it riseth from indignation and despight which we haue conceiued of any thing we behold vnwillingly as we reade of Hannâ—bal who seeing the Carthaginians lament their estates for that the Romaines were maisters of their fortunes beganne to laughâ— whereat one being amazâ—d said vnto him that it was an act of great inhumanity to laugh at the teares of his fellow Citizens to whom he answered that this laughter was no signe of his ioy but a token of his despight for that he scorned the fruitlesse teares of those who lamented rather their particular losse then the misery of their common weale But when it is an effect of our passion and a signe of pleasure which our heart receiueth from pleasing obiects which present themselues vnto our senses it comes from a quicke and suddaine motion of the soule which desiring to expresse her ioy excites a great abundance of hot blood and multiplies the vitall spirits which agitate and stir vp the muscles which are about the heart those raise vp the muscles which are of either side of the mouth which vpon this occasion opens with a visible change of the whole forme of the face But it riseth from the pleasure and ioy which our soule conceiueth by reason of the pleasing obiects which present themselues vnto our sense It is certaine that as new things and not expected prouoke most ioy in our hearts so they stirre vs vp sooner to laughter For proof whereof hauing once accustomed our selues to see spectacles and sights how pleasing soeuer they be they doe not moue vs to laugh as they did when wee first behelde them And in like manner profound cogitations and meditations hinder laughter wherefore wise men doe not laugh so easily as others as well for that they haue alwayes their spirits busied and imployed about some serious meditations which will not suffer them to regard such triuiall things as commonly make the Vulgar to laugh As also for that the great knowledge they haue of things hinders them from esteeming many of those things newe or strange which the common sort admire And withall their complexion doâ—h contribute thereunto for that most commonly it inclines to melancholy which makes them pensiue and more difficult to moue to ioy The reason why many things please at the first approach and afterwards lose this grace by custome and continuance proceedes from nothing else but that at the first sight our thought is â—ied vnto it with a certaine vehemency which yeelding by little and little makes the pleasure decay The which is not onely seene in the obiects of the sight whereof our eyes growing weary by little begin to slacke in their action and to become more negligent in beholding them but also in the obiects of all the other senses wherewith our soule is loathed in the end after too long a continuance The reason is for that as in the action of the eyes the vitall spirits consume by the vehemency of the attention so in all other operations of the senses the disposition of the Organs alter and are changed by the motion and by the impression which the obiects that vnite themselues vnto our senses make so as it is impossible that the creature should long enioy one kinde of pleasure or suffer the same griefe And moreouer as we haue sayd before that diuersity as an Image of the changes of Nature is pleasing hath also a place in this subiect for that men are weary alwayes to enioy the same pleasures and see the same obiects Wherefore the continuance causeth distaste how sweete soeuer the possession be And therefore Lucian brings in a man who beeing made a god was weary of his diuinity and desired to dye that he might bee no more and his reason was that the life of men did not seeme tedious vnto him but onely for that hee still beheld the same things one Sunne one and the same Moone the same Starres the same meates and the same Pleasures which change not their face wherfore sayd he tasting nothing but the same thing in this Diuinity where I am I am weary and thereupon would needes dye to change Moreouer there are men who are wonderfull sensible of ioy which bee they to whom all things seem new as children and the ignorant multitude whom any sights prouoke to laugh whereas wise men are nothing mooued The complexion doth also helpe much to ioy as they which abound in blood and haue it not cholericke and adust but pure and sweete are Iouiall by nature and loue to laugh Whereas mellancholy men are hardly mooued to ioy The delight or pleasure which wee conceiue of the obiects which are agreeable vnto vs doth vsually stirre vp in vs an ardent desire and as it were a thirst of a new or a more full enioying The which proceedes
which are aboue all feared The first are such as are very happy which haue many friends abundance of wealth great Spirits great power and which haue not yet tryed the miseries of this life For this great felicity this immoderate wealth this exceeding power and the other aduantages of nature and Fortune make men hardy insolent outragious and to contemne all the world Whereas on the other side pouerty and weaknesse make men fearefull for that the callamity which doth presse vs being the obiect of Feare they which neither haue meanes nor power to defend themselues haue cause to apprehend The second sort of men are they which thinke they haue suffered the cruellist afflictions that can bee endured in this life and whom the custome of forepasâ—ed miseries haue made insensible of future calamities as they that are led to execution after that they haue bene tortured in prison But the chiefe reason why these men haue abandoned all Feare is that which Aristotle alledgeth that To haue an apprehension of the things which afflict vs there must bee some hope or some shew to be freed from it by industry And therefore Feare makes vs fly to Counsells and to seeke out remedies For no man consults of a businesse that is desperate So as these men seeing no reliefe in their affaires as they haue no more hope so they cannot Feare And touching that which Aristotle saith that Feare makes vs flie to Counsells some one may make a question whether that Feare doth contribute any thing to make men more wise and more disperse their Feare Whereunto the answere is easie that Feare makes an impression in vs of greater care to seeke for Counsell to fortifie vs against the calamities that do threaten vs but many times it doth hinder vs from reaping the fruits which we might gather without this apprehension The reason of the first is that Feare representing the danger hanging ouer our heads and hard to be auoyded it binds vs to seeke the meanes to diuert it and makes vs to craue aduice of our friends to supply our weaknesse The reason of the second is for that they which are troubled with Feare or transported with any other Passion imagine things to be greater or lesse then they are so as they that loue value the things beloued much they that Feare represent them more horrible Wherefore in that regard all Passions are enemies to wise Counsells and good resolutions Of the Effects of Feare CHAP. 2. THE Effects of Feare are diuerse strange for to leaue the impression which it makes in the mind of man whereof we will speake hereafter she doth produce all these effects vpon his body First shee shrinkes vp his heart and doth weaken it by the liuely apprehension which she doth giue it of the affliction By reason whereof all the heate that is in his face is forced to flie vnto it to succour it and when as that sufficeth not the blood of the other parts flow also vnto it So as they that are affrighted grow pale For prouident nature to preserue the life of man hauing thus call'd backe the blood and spirits from all the parts to succour the heart which is the fountaine speedily leaues the other parts wholy vnfurnisht and naked In regard whereof the blood being that which giues colour and makes man to haue a sanguine hew it being fled his complexion fades and hee growes pale For the same reason they that are amazed are presently surprized with a continuall shaking for that the heate which resides in the blood and spirits being that which supports and fortifies the members of man being destitute thereof they can hardly support themselues but tremble and shake in that manner And whereas the hands and lippes shew greater signes of alteration then the rest the reason is for that those parts haue a more strict bond with the heart and haue lesse blood then the rest and therefore cold doth more easily make an impression vpon them Finally the members which haue a particular connexion with the heart haue also a particular feeling of his agitation wherein it is strange that as trembling is an effect of the want of heate and that Feare chaseth the heate vnto the heart to preserue the center of life yet they that are terrified haue their hearts agitated and they beate in them as if they were destitute of heate The reason is although that prouident nature to preserue the heart sends downe the heate from aboue yet Feare doth not suffer it to subsist long there but doth chase it lower for that in them that feare their spirits grow thicke and become more heauy by reason of the cold which imaginatioÌ„ doth produce that they are not able to resist the danger which doth threaten them So as the spirits being growne thus heauy by reason of the cold which this imagination leaues tends downeward and remaines not about the heart They that are surprized with feare feele strange alteration and are wonderfully dry for that the heate which nature hath drawne about the heart burnes and filles the bowells with an exceeding heate which makes him to desire cold and moist things wherein thirst consists to quench this troublesome alteration to refresh the Creature and to free it from this insupportable heate And for that in this motion of feare the heate descends it made Homer to say of him that was without courage that his heart was fallen to his heeles after which there commonly followes many accidents which slacken and vnknit all the ioynts and ligatures of the body but especially they that are terrified haue their tongs tied can hardly speak causing them to â—umble in their discourses yea their voyce is very shrill and weake for that it is abandoned by the heate which should entertaine her force whereas in choler it shewes it selfe more strong for that the heate which ascends fortifies it makes it more powerfull Moreouer feare makes the hayres to stand vp with horror for that in the absence of heaâ—e the cold congealeth and stoppes the conduicts by which it passeth So as the haire as it were opprest in the rootes by the cold which diuerts their naturall nourishment for that they cannot suffer a strange humour full of excrements which doth rot them they stand vpright with horror the which sometimes workes so strange an effect by her vehemency as they make young men grow graye in an instant whereof wee haue a memorable example in the age of our fathers during the reigne of the Emperour Charles the fift For Francis Gonzague hauing caused a young man of his house to bee committed to prison for that he suspected hee had conspired against him this miserable young man was so terrified with his affliction as the same night hee was cast into prison his haire grew all white In the morning his Keeper seeing him thus changed went and made report thereof to Gonzague who being amazed at this prodigie coÌ„ceiued that it was a testimony of
as if amiddest the mourning of our friends we chance to laugh vnaduisedly when wee enter into consideration with ourselues this lightnesse doth displease vs for that laughter agrees not well with mourning and there is nothing doth accord and concurre better with the condition of miserable men theÌ„ teares wherefore they are pleasing vnto them and by consequence sweeten their torments And not onely the teares which afflicted persons poure forth are sweete vnto theÌ„ but euen those of their friends do comfort them whereof wee may yeeld two reasons the one for that naturally they who grone vnder any burtheÌ„ feele his hand sweete which labours to discharge them or which helpe to support them So friends from whom pitty and compassion wrest teares in the middest of their friends misery endeauoring as it were to ease him of the burthen which doth presse him downe sweeten his paine and make him endure his affliction with more constancy and resolution The other for that he that sees his friends participate with his Griefe knowes thereby that their affections are sound and that they loue him sincerely which is the sweetest thing that may happen in this life wherfore this thought makes his affliction more supportable whereby hee comforts himselfe in his discontent But all these remedies are not so powerfull against Griefe as the contemplation of the first truth which dispersing her beames in our soules fills them with so pleasing a splendour as they remaine rauisht with ioy and content For it is certaine that this kind of contemplation is so sweete and delightfull of it selfe as it expells and disperseth all his cares and Griefe that applies himselfe vnto it The which shee workes the more powerfully if the soule be enflamed with the loue of true wisedom which consists in the contemplation of the first cause which is God So as the soule reioyceth in the middest of the afflictions of this life thinking still of the sweete Idea's of the glory of heauen In regard whereof some Martyres haue giuen a thousand testimonies of ioy in the midst of their torments And some marching bare-footed vpon burning coales haue protested constantly and truely that they thought they trod vpon Roses But we haue spoken sufficiently of Griefe in generall let vs now come vnto the buddes which she produceth and to the species in particular which are contayned vnder the generall as miserie indignation enuy and emulation without the explayning whereof this treaty would be imperfect Of Mercy and Indignation CHAP. 2. ALthough there bee some Philosophers who obseruing the impression and wound which the pitty wee haue of another mans miseries makes in our hearts haue absolutely condemned al the motions of this Passion as vnworthy the greatnesse of our courrages Yet we must confesse that amidst so many strange accidents which happen in the course of this life amiddest the great pouâ—rties and miseries of men the cruel infirmities banishments tortures punishments shipwracks burnings slaughters and all other calamities aswell priuate as publicke which makes them miserable they must haue abandoned all feeling of humanity if they should not be toucht with Griefe when as these miseries offer theÌ„selues vnto their eyes For notwithstanding the saying of these Philosophers that great spirits in the which vertue hath taken deepe roote see all things without perturbation and wipe away the teares of those that weepe without any motion that is to say that men perfectly vertuous giue almes to the poore stretch forth their hands vnto him that is in danger of shipwracke vntie the bonds of those that are in seruitude giue liberty to a sonne for the teares of his mother interre the bloody carcasse of him who hath bene transpierced with wounds and yet his heart is not toucht with any feeling of all these miseries yea and in these accidents they retaine still the same countenance with the which they behold playes shewes vpon a theater These are words which haue more shew and pompe then solide truth Let vs then leaue this inhumaine Philosophy which makes men rather stupid then constant to become insensible of the miseries of this life and let vs consider more exactly of the true nature of this Passion which giues vs a commendable feeling Mercy is a Griefe or feeling which we haue of another mans miseries whom we hold worthy of a better fortune This feeling and Griefe is framed in our soules for that we consider that what hath befallen him may happen to all the world And particularly for that wee imagine that the like misfortune may ouertake vs or some one of our friends for it is most certaine that such as feele their hearts toucht with pitty must bee in that estate as they thinke that either themselues or their friends may fall into the like accident and runne into the same misfortune that he hath done whose misery doth moue them to this commiseration Wherefore first of all they that are at the height of humaine miseries and cannot feare a more wretched condition then that whereunto they are reduced are neuer toucht with any kind of compassion for that no kinde of Griefe presents it selfe vnto their eies but they think they haue tried it And also for that they imagine that all the afflictions which may happen are as it were mixed with those they suffer Secondly they that at the height of worldly felicity haue no feeling of pitty but are rather transported with insolency and contempt then to haue any compassion of the miserable For imagining themselues to enioy all kind of ioyes contentments they presume that no disaster can befall them which may ouerthrow their fortunes for that this confidence is as a part of their felicity This second consideration made Aristotle to say that Mercy had no place in the diuine Essence for that it is soueraignely happy and that nothing is able to trouble or diminish her felicity But here he considers Mercy as a sensible Passion which doth moue and mollifie the heart and doth imprint a feeling of another mans misery in his soule which desires to releeue him And of this sort without doubt there can bee no Mercy found in God who is as free from Humaine Passions as the heauens and plannets are exempt from the qualities and impressions of the Elements but taking Mercy according to her effect which is to releeue the miserable were to ruine mankind which subsists by his bounty to deny that it is in him For this soueraigne felicity which hee enioyeth from all eternity without any apprehension that he may euer lose it doth not hinder him to releeue vs in our afflictions to draw vs out of our misery by the sole inclination of his bounty who hath nothing common with the hardnesse of Tyrants nor with the stupidity of the wretched But let vs returne to our discourse They that are capable of Mercy are such as first of all imagine themselues to bee subiect to the accidents of this life and who haue already tried and
his desires and intentions But whence comes the power which this Passion hath thus to vnite the subiects where it worketh This cannot well bee explicated without the aide of Philosophy First of all Loue say the Philosophers is a desire to enioy the good wee propound vnto our selues as proper for our content and capable to make vs in some sort better by the fruition But this enioying participation cannot bee effected but by vniting the obiect to our affection which is the same good we propound vnto our selues wherefore it is of the Essence of Loue that it produceth this vnion Hence it proceeds that the presence of the party beloued is so deare and pretious vnto vs and that we feele our selues filled with content when as we may enioy him to entertaine our thoughts to taste the sweetnesse of his company and to discouer our Passions whereas his absence and separation giues vs a thousand torments and afflicts vs with a thousand sorrowes and discontents which wee would redeeme with our liues Wherefore when as death doth take violently from vs those whom wee loue dearely and by this meanes hath condemned vs as it were to a perpetuall absence we striue to ease our griefe and sweeten our losse by transporting our selues often to the places where we were accustomed to see theÌ„ representing vnto our selues their portracts and images reading ouer their letters stil handling al the gages and monuments they left vs of their affection Sometimes the same gages and the same momuments of their affection displease vs and wee do so abhorre them as wee cannot indure to see them nor handle them but this growes from the griefe of their absence for that we then represent them as infallible signes of our losse which they figure vnto vs as irreparable by reason whereof their pictures fill vs with bitternes But on the other side when as the same things seeme vnto vs to supply the presence wee Loue them dearely and cannot bee weary to entertaine our selues with those thoughts And if amidst all this we can inuent any thing that may serue to preserue the memory more liuely in our soules wee imbrace the inuention and are wonderfully pleased with this art Wherein doubtlesse Artimesia Queene of Caria shewed an act of wonderfull Passion towards her husband Mausolus For death hauing taken him away this desolate Princesse not knowing how to pull the thornes of her sorrow out ofher soule she caused his body to be reduced to ashes and mingled them in her drinke meaning to make her body a liuing tombe whereas the reliques of her deare husband might rest from whom shee could not endure to liue separated The most subtile Philosophers giue a second reason of this vnion which ariseth froÌ„ Loue. Loue say they hath her feate in the Will they doe not consider it as a Passion onely which riseth in the sences but also as a quality which in the end becomes spirituall but there is this difference betwixt the vnderstanding and Will the vnderstanding goes not out of it selfe to ioyne with his obiect but rather he drawes the obiect vnto him whereof the Image is framed to produce his action like vnto a seale which prints its forme in the waxe But the Will being toucht with the Loue of her obiect suffers it selfe to bee drawne to his Image and going out of it selfe vnites it selfe vnto him to take his forme like vnto the waxe which receiues impressions of the seale So as by this reason Loue is thoght to cause the vnion of him that loueth with the party beloued for that his will rauished by his loue hath no other Passion but to see her self vnited vnto her But these meditations are too nice for our subiect The second effect they attribute to Loue and which is as it were a branch and bud of the first is that it causeth the soule of him that loues to bee more where it loues then where it liues and that reciprocally the soule of the party beloued is more with the louer then with his owne body The reason is for that the soules of such as loue are perpetually attentiue to coÌ„template the image of that they loue and haue no other thoght nor greater pleasure then that they receiue by this sweete entertainment By reason whereof the soule making shew of a more exact presence where it doth most frequently worke it followes thereby that it is more with the party beloued then in its owne body But let vs heare the opinion of the Platonicians vpon this point The soule say they which is toucht to the quicke with Loue dying in iâ—s owne body findes life in that it loues And when this Loue is reciprocall it dies but once wheras it reuiues twice For he that loues dyes truly when as Loue makes him neglect and forget the causes of his life to thinke wholly vppon the party beloued but hee recouers his life doubly when as he sees himselfe imbraced and entertained by the party beloued and that he finds in his armes his deer Image which hee preserues more carefully then his own life Who will not then say they hold this death happy which is recompenced by two such sweete liues But this discourse of the Platonicians presupposeth an equall correspoÌ„dency in Loue without the which they maintaine that this Passion is full of despaire leaues nothing in our soules but importune and troublesome thornes Wherfore the Ancients said that to make Loue grow shee had neede of a brother But wee haue treated sufficiently of this Subiect They attribute other effects to Loue that is to say languishings extasies and amazements but that Loue must bee very violent which doth produce them And moreouer wee may consider these extasies and rauishâ—ments which may happen in a violent Loue after two sorts First we may obserue them as a true alienation of the sences which ariseth for that the spirit and will of him that loueth being wholy imployed in the contemplation and enioying of the thing beloued suffereth himselfe to bee so transported with this content as the soule remaines as it were quencht and without motion The which may also proceed from a more powerfull cause that is to say either from God or from euill spirits which somtimes stirre vp these rauishments and extraordinary extasies Secondly we may consider these extasies rauishments as a kind of madnes which transports them that Loue and makes them to commit many follies wherefore an Ancient sayd that Iupiter himselfe could not be wise and loue at one instant These extasies and rauishments produce sometimes prodigious effects in their soules that are afflicted with this Passion For that his soule that loues intirely is perpetually imployâ—ed in the contemplation of the party beloued and hath no other thoughts but of his merit the heate abandoning the parts and retiring into the braine leaues the whole body in great distemperature which corrupting and consuming the whole bloud makes the face grow pale wanne causeth
the trembling of the heart breeds strange convulsions and retires the spirits in such sort as he seemes rather an image of death then a liuing creature These accidents are followed with passionate and heart-breaking sighes as it appeared in young Antiochus at the sight of Stratonice Or when as they only make mention of her as if the spirit were eased and free from a heauy burthen and receiued content by this thought or presence Teares in like manner fly to succor this afflicted soule for that the heate which is mounted vp to the braine causeth the humor to dissolue and discharge it selfe by the eyes But this poore soule thus agitated hath no certaine consistence but floting betwixt hope and feare she sometimes giues signes of ioy sometimes markes of sorrow she is sometime frozen and congealed sometimes all on fire she goes she comes without any stay or rest and doth many things which shew that shee is as it were incensed For she proclames the merit and glory of that she loues and giues extraordinary commendations which are the signes of her rauishment Suddenly changing her humor shee makes her griefe and discontent ascend vp into heauen shee accuseth the innocent Starres she complaines of destiny and fortune and blames that which she loues and suddenly returning to herselfe shee condemnes herselfe of wrong Then she powres forth her spleene against such as she thinks haue crost her rest and hindred her content so as she suffers cruel tormēts in this agitatiō Many times euen in the heat of his Passion the party toucht with loue can indure no lōger discourse his words are short scarce intelligible for that the soule being thus tied to the obiect which it loues it cannot giue it self the leasure to speake of any other thing And that which is full of admiratiō this Passion doth so chāge trāsform men as it makes the wisest to commit great follies it humbles the grauest to seruices vnworthy of their rancke it makes the most glorious to become humble and meeke the couetous to be profuse and prodigall and cowards to shew themselues hardy and valiant But for that some of these effects exceed the ordinary of a morall Passion we will leaue them to discourse particularly of Iealousie vpon which subiects there are great controuersies and disputes that is to say whether it bee one of the effects of Loue as the Vulgar sort imagine or whether it be rather the poyson of Loue as others presuppose but we will referre the discourse to the following Chapter Of Iealousie whether it be an Effect and signe of Loue. CHAP. 5. THE Vulgar sort thinke that as the Sun runnes not his course without light so Loue cannot bee without Iealousie and they adde that as lightning is an infallible signe of Thunder which breakes forth so Iealousie is a certaine signe of Loue which desires to shew it selfe powerfully But they that haue a more exact and particular knowledge of Humane Passions maintaine that as the Sunne beeing come to the South which is the point of the perfection of his light casts no shadow but spreads his beames all pure vpon the earth so a true and perfect loue is not subiect to the inclinations of Iealousie And they say moreouer that this vniust Passion is no more a signe of Loue then stormes and tempests are shewes of faire weather this opinion is more probable for to begin with the proofs how can Iealousie subsist and remaine with Loue vnlesse we will ouerthrow the Lawes of Nature which suffer not two contraries to subsist in one subiect Is there any thing more contrary to Loue then Iealousie Can the world see a greater Antipathy then that which is obserued in these two qualities whereof the one doth participate with the condition of monsters and the other is the very Idea of perfection Loue vnites the wils and makes that the desires of them that loue striue to take as it were the same tincture to the end they may resemble one another And contrariwise what doth so much distract the Wills and diuide the hearts as Iealousie Loue binds vs to interpret fauourably of all the actions of the party beloued and to take in good part that which we ought to beleeue she hath done with reason whereas Iealousie makes bad interpretations not onely of her actions but euen of her very thoughts Is there any innocency that can bee sheltred from the outrages of this inhumane fury If the party beloued hath any ioy it then presupposeth a riuall if she be pensiue they are suspitions of contempt if shee speakes to another it is Infidelity if she haue wit they apprehend practises if shee be aduised they imagine subtilties if she be plaine they call it simplicity if shee bee well spoken it is affectednesse if she be courteous it is with a designe So as Iealousie is like vnto those counterfeit glasses which neuer represent the true proportion of the face and what more sinister iudgements could the most cruell enemy in the world giue of the party beloued But not content thus to blemish the particular perfections of that shee seemes to loue she seekes to depriue it of the sweetest content in this life which is by communicatiō with men of honor and merit who doe not visite her but for the esteeme they make of her vertues So as many times to please an importune who is himselfe a great burthen to them that suffer him shee must forbeare all good company What iustice can force a soule well bred to indure this brutish rigot Loue is a liuely fountaine of ioy and contentment which banisheth all cares and melancholy but Iealousie what is it else but a nursery of grief◠and waywardnesse whereas wee see thornes of despaire and rage to grow vp among the sweetest and most pleasing flowers that Nature can produce How then can any man beleeue that these two contrary Passions can subsist in one subiect If they oppose heereunto experience and the testimony of many persons worthy of credite which protest that they haue loued sincerely and yet were neuer without Iealousie and will thereby inferre that at the least Iealousie is a signe of loue which is the second thing we must incounter to satisfie that which hath bene formerly propounded it sufficeth to answer that although for respect we yeelde to those personages what they publish of their Passions yet as one Swallow makes no Spring so that which happens to particulars cannot prescribe a law to the generall But to containe our selues within the bounds of our first proposition we say that these persons are much deceiued in this subiect and their error growes for that they cannot giue proper names to things for that of a respectiue feare competible with loue whereof it is full they make an vniust Iealousie with the which Loue can no more subsist then water with fire They that loue intirely are in truth full of respect to the party beloued honor her with all the passions of