thing that hath any corresponcy with him so as respecting him whom he loues as another himselfe hee cannot but bee inflamed with this consideration The Platonicians had another reason the which in my opinion concurres with this Loue say they makes an impression in the soule of him that loues of the Image and forme of the thing beloued But man loueth not onely his being and his true and reall forme but also his imaginary forme as appeares by pictures and looking-glasses in which we behold with content our portraicts formes Wherefore there is a certaine Passion for the thing beloued in whose soule he doth contemplate his forme which Loue hath ingrauen After this manner resemblance breedeth Loue and vnites the affections of men The truth hereof appeares for that men do commonly loue those that are allyed vnto them in neernesse of blood so as Kinsmen doe commonly loue one another or by some conformity of humours and complexions which maketh melancholy men loue the company of their like and Iouiall spirits delight in the company of them that are pleasant Or by some commerce of profession which maketh Philosophers to loue Philosophers and Painters delight in Painters Or some equality of age which makes young men delight in the company of youth and olde men to conuerse with them that are graue Or some coherence of manners which makes good men loue the vertuous and the wicked seeke after such as are wickedly affected But notwithstanding that which we haue said that coÌ„monly men of one profession loue one another must bee vnderstood according to the true nature of things for by occasion and accident this coÌ„formity of professions may ingender hatred and enuy that is to say when as they of one trade and profession liuing of their art and labour hinder one another as for example when as a tradsman hauing gotten some reputation doth hinder the profit of his companions then iealousie riseth amongst them according to the saying of an Ancient The Potter enuies the Potter The Philosophers giue an excellent reason hereof He that loues say they loues himselfe more deerely then all other things besides for that he is vnited to himselfe by Essence and Nature whereas hee is not conioyned to him that he loues but by some accidentall and externall forme And therefore if this conformity crosseth his priuate good and be preiudiciall vnto him hee findes himselfe more strictly tied vnto himselfe then to his like wherefore seeing his losse concurring with his passion he whom hee loued being an obstacle to his desire he growes odious vnto him as opposite to his good Men doe also loue those that aspire to the same honors and dignities at the least when they may attaine vnto them and enioy them together without any obstacle or wrong one vnto another For competency causing an hinderance as it did in the pursuit of the Consulate at Rome it happeneth as wee haue said of men of the same profession that it excites enuy and hatred Wherefore in the loue of women they can endure no corriuals for that with honesty they cannot be enioyed by two They also loue those with whom they haue any familiarity which is not scrupulous hauing free liberty without apprehension of disdaine to doe and say things in their presence which they would not act or speake before the world As for example they affect those before whom they may freely discourse of their loues of their pursuites and of their other Passions But wee must remeÌ„ber that there are some things which are dishonest of themselues the which a good man may neither do or speak before the world or before his friends But there are others which are shameful only in the opinioÌ„ of the world and not according to the truth of things and these a good man vsing an honest familiarity with his friends may doe and speake in their presence although he would not doe it in publike before the world like vnto King Agesilaus being in priuate with his children playd with them with a fatherly liberty but beeing surprized by one who knew not how farre the loue of a father might extend he was discontented Men also testifie that they loue those before whom they are ashamed to doe or say those things which are of themselues shamefull or dishonest wherein wee may say that the Persians gaue good testimony of their loue to their wiues when as they caused them to retire from their banquets being vnwilling that their eies shold be spectators of their excesse admitting none but their Concubines For this respect and reuerence which they gaue them was a signe of true Loue for that wee are ashamed to commit any vnworthy Act before them wee affect They also willingly imbrace such as they haue seene faithfull and constant in their affections and who loue equally both present absent For which consideration they desire to insinuate themselues into their friendship which testifie their loue vnto the dead who adorne their Tombes erect Statues and make other monuments for them to preserue their memory among men They also affect such as abandon not their friends in the crosses and iniuries of fortune whereof wee haue a worthy example in the subiect of Damon and Pithias whereof the one beeing condemned to die by the tyrant Dionisius and desiring some respite to goe and settle the affaires of his house his companion yeelded himselfe a pledge for his returne with this condition that if hee returned not backe within the prefixed time hee should vndergo the rigour of the same sentence but the condemned man presenting himselfe at the day appointed the tyrant was so rapt with admiration to see the faith which he had vnto his friend in a matter of that importance and of so great danger that in stead of putting him to death he coniured these two perfect friends to accept of him as a third man in their friendship Behold how the most sauage and vntamed spirits are forced to loue those that shew an vnuiolable constancy in their affectioÌ„s Men doe also loue such as they see full of freedome and without dissimulation towards them In which ranke they nuÌ„ber such as make no scruple to discouer their errors vnto them and who entertaine them freely with their priuate passions For as wee haue shewed before we blush not to say or doe in priuate with our friends that which we would not doe publickely before the world Wherefore as he that is ashamed to doe any thing before another shewes that hee loues him not perfectly so he that hath not this apprehension giues a manifest testimony that he hath a full confidence in his friendship wherefore wee loue such as make shewe to rely vpon vs euen discouering their imperfections vnto vs. Againe they affect those whose authority is not fearefull vnto them whose power they thinke they shall haue no cause to apprehend for no man euer loued him whom he feared seruilely and herein Tyrants abuse themselues thinking to seâ—le
also Compares them Discernes them and Iudgeth of them the which the particular sences cannot do for that they are limitted and tyed to their particular obiects and neuer exceed the bounds thereof For the Eyes are onely imployed to iudge of the difference of Colours as betwixt White and Blacke and neuer seeke to â—eddle with that which concernes the Sound Smelling or the other Qualities which haue nothing common with Colours The Common sence then is necessary to iudge thus generally of all the obiects of the other Sences that by meanes thereof the Creature may distinguish that which is healthfull from that is hurtfull But to the end the Knowledge which this sence doth gather from the Obiects whose formes are presented vnto it by the Exterior sences be not lost by their absence it sends all it hath gathered Compared and Distinguished to another Power meerely Knowing which is called the Imaginatiue as that wherein are grauen the formes of things which are offred vnto it by the Common sence to the end the Knowledge may remaine after they are vanished away Besides this Imaginatiue there is another power proper to preserue things which is the memory the which although it bee not directly ordained to Iudge but rather to serue as a Store-house and Treasury to shut vp and to preserue the formes of things which are imprinted in her yet for that she doth continually represent vnto the Common sence the formes which are consigned vnto her she may well bee sayd also to helpe to Knowledge These then are the three Interior powers capable of Knowledge to the which although that some adde others yet I wil hold with their opinion who not willing to multiply the powers without necessity reiect them as superfluous seeing the Imaginatiue power sufficeth to do all the offices which are attributed vnto them There are then in the Sensitiue soule eight knowing faculties fiue Externall and three Internall as we haue shewed As for the Appetitiue powers where the desires are formed there are but two that is to say the Concupiscible or desiring power and the Irascible or Angry power The one of which without the other sufficeth not for the health of the Creatures For if the Lyon had no other inclination nor any other spurre of desire then to runne after meate fit for his nourishment doubtlesse the least difficulty and obstacle he should incounter would hinder the pursuite of his prey for that hee should be without any desire to surmount this difficulty and so he should not be able to preserue his life for want of nourishment In like manner men would bee daunted for the least crosses they should finde in the pursuite of any good thing or in the auoiding of euill and although the danger were not great nor vrgent yet would they not dare to oppose themselues and incounter it And so they would yeeld to these difficulties and not pursue the obiects of their desires how great soeuer their inclination were to seeke them Wherefore prouident Nature to preuent this inconuenience besides the other powers hath giuen vnto the Sensitiue soule two Appetites that is to say the Concupiscible and the Irascible whereof this last when as any difficulty ariseth and opposeth it selfe to the desire of the Concupiscible comes presently to succour it and inflaming the blood excites Choler Hope Courage or some other like Passion destinated and ordained to make him surmount the difficulties which crosse the contentment of the Soule For that which concernes the powers of the Sensitiue soule there remaines none but the faculty mouing from one place to another which is disperst and resides in the sinnewes Muscles and Ligaments and which is dispersed ouer all the members of the Creature This Power being commanded by the Appetite doth presently exercise his office seruing for an instrument to that part of the blood which for the great subtility and purenes thereof hath gotten the name of Spirit To come now to the Reasonable soule it hath two principall Powers the one indued with Knowledge which is the vnderstanding and the other capable of Desire which is the Will the which being blind as all the Appetites are naturally she followeth in the pursuite of her obiects the light of the vnderstanding by reason whereof she is termed the Intellectuall Appetite but more properly the Will The office of our vnderstanding particularly of that which we call possible is to receiue and in receiuing to know and in knowing to offer vnto the will those kinds or formes which are sent vnto it from the Imagination It is true that being a more Noble power then the Sensitiue it cannot receiue those Images and formes so materiall grosse and sensible as they are of themselues in their particular being for that they are not proportionable to the purity and excellency of her condition By reason whereof the Philosophers haue placed in our soules another power wonderfully Noble whose office is to purge and to clothe as it were with a new Lustre all the Images or formes which are found in the Imagination or fantasie and by the meanes of this Light to cause those formes which were Materiall Sensible and Singular to become so purified from these earthly conditions as they seeme Vniuersall and so well proportioned to the purenesse of our vnderstanding as they easily receiue the impression Thus then the powers of all the three Soules concurre in man in regard of the Rationall the which as more Noble then the Sensitiue or Vegetatiue comprehends all their powers and withall addes many things to their perfection In the meane time wee must consider that man hath no kind of command neither ouer the powers of the Vegetatiue soule whose actions are meerely naturall nor ouer those of the Sensitiue soule which are destinated to Knowledge as the Interior and Exterior sences vnlesse it bee by accident when as by a resolution of his will hee denies these powers the meanes which are necessary to put them in action but hee may well haue power ouer those of the Sensitiue Appetite which are proper to obey the discourse of reason and the command of the Will as ouer the Irascible and Concupiscible To the end then that amidst the bond of the Intellectuall powers with the Sensitiue and the communication and correspondency which is betwixt them for the exercise of their functions we may the better see how the lesse Noble obey and serue the more Noble and execute their offices wee must heere represent the forme As soone as the Exterior sences busied about the Obiects which are proper for them haue gathered the formes of things which come from without they carry them to the common sence the which receiues them iudgeth of them and distinguisheth them and then to preserue them in the absence of their obiects presents them to the Imagination which hauing gathered them together to the end she may represent them whensoeuer need shall require she deliuers them to thâ— custody of the Memory from
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
escaped them or which apprehend to feele the rigor And for this reason they which haue liued long are commonly inclined to pitty both for that experience hath taught them that neither Diademe nor Crowne nor riches honors health nor present prosperities can shelter man from the stormes and tempests which assaile his life as also for that age filles them with iudgement and makes them wise not to trust to fortune which seemes to haue no other constancy but alwayes inconstant in the fauours which she bestowes vpon vs. In like manner men subiect to infirmities weake persons and destitute of meanes who see themselues exposed to all kinds of outrages yea and learned men who haue the knowledge of the accidents and miseries of this life are easily moued to pitty for that they can duely consider of things and iudge vprightly of the affaires of the world Wherefore an excellent and wise Romane Captaine hauing defeated a mighty King of Macedon in battaile when as they brought this miserable Prince prisoner vnto him hee rose from his seate and with teares in his eyes went to meet him as a great personage fallen by some misfortune or by the wrath of the gods into that lamentable accident And hauing cast himselfe at his feete hee could not endure it but raisd him vp with all humanity Afterwards retiring himselfe and thinking deepely of the miseries of this life he made a speech vnto his children and to the young men that were about him to purge their soules from all insolency and vanity by so prodigious an example of humaine frailty But wee must returne to our discourse They that haue wife children and a great number of friends are also inclined to pity for that as we haue said they still apprehend the common miseries and think that the like misfortunes hang ouer their families But they that are transported with a violent Passion of Courage Choller or Hardinesse are nothing moued for that the heate of their blood and the excesse of their Passion will not suffer them to thinke seriously of these things and to care for future euents An extraordinary feare doth also hinder the feeling of pitty for that they which are seazed therewith being tied to their priuate miseries haue no time to thinke of another mans So he that hath lost his children or seene his house burnt thinkes not of him that is led to the gallowes or to bee broken on a wheele But we put in the ranke of those which are touched with pitty those soules which haue not yet lost all feeling of mankind but beleeue that there are yet good men liuing in the world For they that imagine there are no vertuous persons vpon earth perswade themselues also that all men deserue the miseries they suffer and by that reason beleeue that they are vnworthy of compassion Whereof we haue a monstrous example in that Athenian who had no Pleasure in this world but to see the â—â—ine of mankind Finally men suffer theÌ„selues to be moued â—o pitty when as they remember that they haue groned vnder the burthen of afflictions which they see other men endure Or when as they apprehend the â—ike calamities may befall them or their friends But let vs see what things are worthy of pitty and compassion They are generally all those which cause Griefe to the mind or torment to the body Those which take away life make families desolate and cause some gre at changes and alterations in the fortunes of men As for example punishment violent deaths disgraces pouerty in age incureable diseases great languishings insupportable want or extreame pouerty treachery or losse of friends burnings and shipwracke are all miserable things and excite to pitty Wee may also put in this rancke the monstrous deformities of counterfaite bodies the accidents of limmes lamed or benummed and the ruines which happen to men by the treachery of those from whom they should expect all support Wee may also comprehend the miseries which befall vs often or which happen after other accidents And in like manner the benefits which come out of season As if a Prince should send presents of gold and siluer to one that were dead of hunger Finally it is a miserable thing neuer to haue felt any good or contentment in this life or if any hath happened not to haue had meanes to enioy it But for that these obiects of misery do not alwayes make an equall impression in our senses we must now know who they bee whom wee do chiefely pitty when we see them ingaged in any misery First of all wee are greatly moued to compassion and mercy to those persons whom we haue knowne familiarly and with whom we haue had some kind of friendship at the least if they be not strictly tied vnto vs by naturall affinity and blood For as for those which touch vs so neere we haue a feeling more violent then that of pitty In regard whereof wee reade of Amasis King of Egypt who seeing his own son drawne to execution he neeuer shed one teare as if he had had no feeling whereas perceiuing one of his friends opprest with pouerty and begging his bread hee wept bitterly thinking that teares were not sufficient to witnesse his first Griefe but they were due vnto the second In like manner those strange accidents which happen to those of our blood and which touch vs so neere are full of horror amazement and by their excesse suppresse our teares yea and depriue vs of our speech as if the spirit were wholy retired to consider of the violence of our Griefe whereas the miseries of our other friends mollifie our courrages and by the wound they make in our hearts send teares vnto the eyes which we powre forth and are as it were the blood of that part wounded and opprest with affliction Moreouer men haue pitty of those whom they see neere vnto some great misfortune As when they are ready to be buried in the waues of the sea by some accident of shipwracke or of those who are to haue a member cut off or to receiue some notable violence yea or some indignity Particularly men are toucht with pitty when as they that are exposed to outrages or endure great calamities are their equalls in age in humors in quallities in exercise or in breeding For all these things make deepe impressions in the thought that they are subiect to the like miseries wherefore they are moued to take coÌ„passion of their miseries being an ordinary thing to pitty those which suffer any affliction which we ourselues apprehend And to the end we may be sensible in the feeling of a misfortune which befalls another wee must haue it as it were present before our eyes for that we are not much moued with those miseries whose forme is remote from vs. As for example wee are not much moued to teares by the relation of the miseries which the slaues of Byserte and Algier endure And in like sort our hearts are not much
those fearefull things which present themselues vnto the imagination of man This confidence may grow from the opinion wee haue that the euill which treatneth vs is far from vs or from our beleefe that if it should present it selfe we should bee able to surmount it As when a Citty hath a conceit that no man will attempt any thing against the peace of her Cittizens and if they should they were able to repell the iniury and to endure the attempts of their enemies this beleefe makes them hardy and assured Secondly it may grow for that although wee finde our selues weake and vnable to resist our enemies yet wee beleeue that wee shall bee powerfully assisted by our Allies with whose ayde wee hold our selues inuincible As for example although the Duke of Saiwy bee not able of himselfe to resist the Armes of Spaine yet being fortified with the alliance of this Crowne hee doth not apprehend them neither is hee affraid to incense them knowing that the assistance of the Christian King protects him of that side Thirdly this confidence may grow for that wee beleeue wee haue neither receiued nor done iniury to any man which should make vs apprehend reuenge And againe for that we thinke wee haue no enemies or else that they are so feeble and weake as they cannot annoy vs. It may also grow in regard that they who haue power to hurt vs are our friends and liue in good correspondency with vs and haue assisted vs in our occurrents as for our part we haue endeauored to bind theÌ„ vnto vs by al occasions which haue bene offered So the Allies of great Kings feare not their power although it be fearefull to the rest of the world By this meanes wee find that there are diuerse sorts of persons which are full of Hardinesse and assurance First they are hardy which imagine that all things shall succeed happily in regard of their former felicities So Alexander vndertaking the conquest of India apprehended nothing by reason of the happy victories and tryumphes which he had gotten ouer the Persians So Caesar being ouertaken with a cruel storme and in a small barke feared nothing but to confirme the resolution of his Pilot whom the storme had amazed he wisht him not to feare seeing hee carried Caesar and his fortunes Secondly they are hardy who hauing beene ingaged in great dangers haue yet escaped for they imagine that good Fortune which hath beene so fauorable vnto them in so many other occasions full of despaire will not abandon them in that present danger Finally men are not troubled in dangers for two reasons either for want of experience or for the hope they haue to be speedily releeued As for example they that go by sea hauing neuer seene the horror of tempests imagine that the maisters and such as guide the ship are expert in their facultie and that they will easily preserue them from shipwracke so as they are not amazed although the stormes and waues seeme to threaten them their death Thirdly men are full of assurance when as they see such as equall them not or do not exceed them in power make no demonstration of feare conceyting that they are assured they haue more cause to continue constant Men not only hold them inferior vnto them whom they haue exceeded but also such as cannot enter into comparison with them or at the least are not more powâ—rfull then those whom they haue vanquished Againe men are full of Courage and resolution when as they see themselues furnished with all those things which may make theÌ„ feareful to their enemies Among the which we put store of coyne disposition of body greatnesse of minde extent of Empire support of friends the power of Armies and a great prouision of all that is necessary for the maintenance of a war Moreouer men hold themselues assured when they haue not offended any man or when such as they haue offended are not able to reuenge the iniurie And withall men are much assured when as they thinke that God is fauorable and assistant in their designes Wherefore in old time great Captaines of war were not wont to giue battaile before they had sacrificed vnto their gods and had seene in the intrailes of their sacrifices some happy presage of diuine assistance For the same occasion they consulted with Oracles attended the answers and were carefull to obserue the signes which were seene before the battaile so that sometimes the flying of an Eagle hath assured Armies that were amazed But without all these signes and presages men thinke that God is fauourable when as they thinke they fight for a good cause As when they haue taken Armes for religion for the seruice of their Prince for the maintenance of his Crowne and for their Countrey yea when as they imagine that the reuenge they pursue is iust and that they haue beene vnworthily abused The reason is for that Choler which is alwayes enflamed by the iniury receiued and not by that which wee doe vnto others makes men hardy perswading themselues that God assists them that are wronged and vniustly persecuted Lastly they that begin a warre are commonly hardy especially when they haue a conceit that the action will succeed and that the euent will answer the expectation As for the constitution of the body which may contribute to the Hardinesse and resolution of man It is certaine that such as haue much blood and spirits and which abound in heate are most commonly hardy and valiant For they haue great mindes and full of generosity which makes them to coÌ„temne dangers And if in the middest of hazards some part of the blood retires inwardly yet the better part keepes her seate and remaines firme and constant so as they neuer grow pale nor tremble like to other men But if before they fight the appreheÌ„sioÌ„ of daÌ„ger makes any impression in their soules they recouer themselues suddainely and expell the feare which would surprize them And for the same reason they which are full of wine may become more hardy not that this defect of it self doth contribute any thing to the greatnesse of Courage but for that wine enflames the blood by accident makes men valiant and withall they that are ouertaken with wine haue their reason captiuated and their iudgement troubled so as they cannot consider duely of the greatnesse of perill but imagine that all dangers are inferior to their force and resistance In the meane time we obserue that many which shew a great Hardinesse and courage to cast themselues into danger as soone as they finde themselues engaged are often amazed as we see in those that go valiaÌ„tly to a charge but finding resistance they turne their backs to the enemy where of wee can giue no other reason but that they are not valiant by iudgment but by the bounty of nature So as apprehending not the greatnesse of the danger before they enter but imagining that they shall vanquish whatsoeuer opposeth it selfe against them when
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
seeme to threaten him he goes couragiously to encounter them whereas when he is surprized by feare he faints and abandons himselfe vnto the misfortune his despaire rising from the difficulties which he apprehends in the good which he should hope for But to haue full knowledge of this subiect and of the whole matter we must in the end of this chapter shew how despaire is contrary to hope and seek the reason why it may sometimes make men valiant and to winne great victories First of all you must remember what wee haue formerly sayd that among the Passions of the soule they obserue two kinds of opposition The first is found among those that haue contrary things for obiects and that is onely a-among the passions of the Concupiscible part as for example betwixt Loue and Hatred whereof the one regards the good and the other the euill The second is obserued betwixt those that in truth regard the same obiect but with diuerse considerations and that is found among the Irascible passions whereof the one seekes the good and the other flies it by reason of the difficulty which doth inuiron it As for example Courage and Feare do both regard an imminent danger which presents it selfe to the imagination but courage lookes vppon it to encounter and vanquish it and feare regards it to auoyd it and flye from it if it be in her power After this manner then despaire is contrary to hope for that the obiect of hope which is a good difficult to obtaine drawes vs of the one side that is to say so farre as wee doe imagine a power to obtaine it But it doth reiect vs on the other side as when we apprehend that wee haue no meanes to enioy it for this apprehension daunts our resolution or that as Aristotle teacheth the impossibility which wee imagine in things makes vs to giue ouer their pursuit Wherefore in this consideration despaire is quite contrary to hope But some one may say How comes it that many times in warre despaire makes men valiant and giues them great victories as well as Hope for that it is not the custom of nature to produce the like effects from contrary causes To which we answer that when in the midst of despaire men resolue to fight valiantly as we reade of the English in the plaines of Poictiers where they tooke one of our Kings prisoner it happens for that they haue not lost all hope for they that see no apparence of safety by flying and apprehend that it cannot preserue them from falling into their enemies hands but will purchase them eternall shame with their miserie losing all hope of that side they resume new courage and resolue to sell their liues dearely and to reuenge their deaths gloriously Wherefore great Captaines haue alwaies held opinion that enemies should not bee thrust into despaire beeing put to flight but rather make them a bridge of gold to giue them meanes to passe riuers lest that finding themselues staied and despairing of all safety they should take more courage and generously reuenge their first basenesse by a cruell slaughter of their enemies Of Choler CHAP. 1. OF all the passions of the soule there is not any one that takes such deepe root or extends her branches farther then Choler wherof neither age condition people nor nation are fully exempt There are whole Countries which liuing vnder a sharp rough climate are not acquainted with pleasures There are others who contenting themselues with those benefits which nature presents vnto them are not enflamed with any ambition Some there be to whom misery is familiar as they fear not any accidents of fortune But there is not any ouer whom Choler doth not exercise her power and shew the excesse of her rage Yea she enflames whole kingdomes and Empires whereas the other passions doe onely trouble and agitate priuate persons Wee haue neuer seene a whole Nation surprized with the loue of one woman It was neuer foūd that a whole City hath beene transported with a desire to heape vp treasure Ambition doth puffe vp but certaine spirits But we see Cities Prouinces and whole States enflamed with Choler and transported by this fury with a publicke conspiracy of great small young and olde men and children Magistrates and multitude we see Commonalties whom this fury hath incensed runne all to Armes to reuenge a disgrace or a wrong which they pretend hath beene done them Wee haue also seene great and powerfull Armies which haue bene the terror of the world ruine themselues by this fury which hath thrust them into mutiny against their Commanders Wherefore if there be any passion which is pernicious vnto man-kind it is this which seemes neither to haue bounds nor limits nor any shew of reason It shall bee therefore fit to know the nature properties and effects thereof to the end wee may finde out some remedy to diuert the miseries which shee brings into the world Let vs begin by the Definition which giues a full light of the Essence of the thing and makes vs to know perfectly Choler is an ardent passion which vpon the apparence there is to be able to reuenge our selues incites vs to a feeling of a contempt and sensible iniury which we beleeue hath been vniustly done either to our selues or to those we loue Whereby it appeares first that Choler is accompanied with a heate which is framed and ingendred in vs for that this passion enflames the blood and spirits which are about the heart by meanes of the gall which in this heat exhales it selfe and ascends vnto the braine where it troubles our imagination This heate differs from that which proceedes from loue for that the heate which is found in loue tending to the thing beloued to vnite it selfe with it is mixt with a certaine sweetenesse so as the Philosophers compare it to the moderate heate of the ayre or blood Wherefore we say that sanguine complexions are most capable of loue that the bounty of the liuer wheras the blood is framed induceth to loue But the heate of Choler is boyling full of bitternesse and accompanied with sharpenes which tends to the destruction of the obiect which it pursues and is properly like to the heate of a great fire or to adust choler extraordinarily mooued which consumes the subiect whereunto it is fixed and therefore the Philosophers maintaine that it proceedes from the gall It appeares also by the Definition of Choler that she hath alwayes for obiect the particular persons which haue wronged vs. Wherein she differs from hatred which extends to a multitude of men As for example wee detest all murtherers all theeues all poysoners and all slanderers euen as wee abhorre all serpents vipers and venemous beasts And therefore it is not sufficient to satisfie our Choler that he that hath done vs wrong fall into some disaster which might suffice to giue satisfaction to our hatred But moreouer to giue vs full contentment hee must know that
tread all diuine and humaine lawes vnder feete to satiate her inâ—olency and rage Wherein doubtles she is more to bee blamed then all the other Passions wherewith the soule of man is afflicted For that the other Passions haue this property that euen at the very instant when as they are as it were in the height of their transport giue way somewhat to reason and yeeld in some sort vnto her commandements when as shee presents her self to pacifie them Whereas Choler doth like vnto Marriners which are amazed or corrupted and will giue no eare to the voice of their Pilot Or as mutinous souldiers which will not heare the aduice of their Leaders Yea shee despiâ—es truth if shee opposeth against her rage and although she come to know the innocency of the party whom shee persecutes yet she holds obstinacy more honorable then repentance So as nothing shal be able to make her desist from her vniust and violent pursuites And continuing this Iniustice against himselfe shee sometimes constraines the most couetous profusely to cast away their most pretious treasure and to make a heape of their wealth and then to set fire on it and many times also shee forceth ambitious men to refuse and reiect the honours which they had passionatly affected before their despight who doth not then see that this Passion more then any other quencheth the light of reason The cause is for that of all the Passions whether they haue the good for their obiect or regard the euill those cause the greatest perturbations in our soules which are the most violent there is not any that doth exceed or equall Choler in violence which doth inflame the whole blood and all the spirits which flowe about the heart which is the most powerfull organ of Passions by reason whereof there followes a wonderfull disorder not onely in the sensible and corporeall powers but euen in the reason For although she vse no corporeall organs in her proper functions yet to produce them forth shee hath need of the powers of the sences whose actions are crost and disquieted by the trouble which riseth in the heart and the whole body by reason whereof Choler doth darken yea hinder the whole light which she striues to cast forth whereof wee haue two apparant signes for that the members wherein the image of the heart doth most shine as the tong the eies the countenance feele the most violent force of this fury It is true that Aristotle sayth that Choler doth in some sort giue eare to reason But that must be vnderstood touching the report which she makes of the iniury receiued wherein shee takes a singular content but shee giues no â—are vnto her but reiects her aduertizements in the measure and moderation which shee ought to hold in the reuenge So as in truth there must bee some kind of reason to prouoke Choler for that men which are stupid dull are not capable of these motions but when this Passion is fully inflamed then she doth wholy darken reason And as the same Philosopher sayth that they which are full of wine and drinke are not mooued with any thing for that their reason being drowned in wine they are not capable to ballance an iniury or to obserue a contempt But such as are not fully drunke are moued to Choler for that there remaines some weake beames of iudgement to discerne that which hath an apparance of iniury or outrage but this PassioÌ„ riseth in them without subiect and without any great occasion for that their reason is captiuated by the wine which hath gotten the maistry Euen so in the beginning of Choler reason may giue some light to the Irascible power but wheÌ„ she hath gotten the absolute coÌ„mand and is become Mistresse of the senses Reason is darkened and is of no vse in a soule thus transported But we must not conceiue that this mischief is absolutely incurable but wee must rather imagine that as Helleborum hath power to cure mad men so there are remedies against Choler The most powerful are those which are taken from the Law of God who teacheth vs nothing but patience charity mildenesse humanity and sufferance But wee will rest satisfied to set downe the instructions of Philosophy which may serue to this effect First of all Philosophers aduise vs to entreate this passion as they do monsters and serpents whom they striue to smother as soone as they are disclosed for they will that man should haue a care to the beginning of Choler which many times ariseth from so light an occasion and so poore a subiect as it is vnworthy a great spirite should bee transported therewith And as it is easie to quench a fire of straw in the beginning but if we suffer it to take holde of more solid matter it passeth all our labour and industry and makes a pittifull ruine euen so he that will obserue Choler from the beginning seeing it beginne to fume and kindle for some light quarrell and small offence it is easie for him to suppresse it and to stay her course But if shee be once setled and beginnes to swell and that he himselfe blowes the bellowes that is to say if hee stirres it vppe and enflames it it will bee hard for him afterwards to quench it whereas he might easily haue done it before by silence Wherefore as Pilots foreseeing a tempest doe vsually retire themselues into a road or vnder the Lee of some rock before the storme come so he that feeles the first motions of Choler should haue recourse to reason and oppose it to the passion to controule her violence For the first meanes to vanquish Choler as an vniust tyrant is not to yeelde any obedience to her nor to beleeue her in any thing she saith or doth to inflame vs to reuenge we finde in other Passions that the liberty wee giue them brings some ease As when young men which are enflamed with Loue goe in maske make dances combates or feasts in fauour of the party they loue all this giues some ease vnto their passion and when as they suffer those that are afflicted to weep in the midst of their afflictions the teares they powre forth carry with them a part of their griefe But Choler hath nothing of al this she growes bitter and is incensed by the liberty wee giue her and is enflamed the more in that we giue way to her fury And as they that are subiect vnto the falling sickenesse hauing any signe or beginning of their fit retire themselues suddainly and take all the remedies which may diuert so troublesome an accident or at least hide the shame so they which see themselues transported with Choler should retaine themselues and striue to moderate their passion and diuert the infirmity which seekes to seaze vpon them Wherevnto they should the more willingly resolue for that all other passions doe but draw men to euill but this doth precipitate them those doe shake them but this doth ouerthrow them Those
this life is subiect Finally they desire rather to vndertake those things which are honorable then that which concernes profit For that they gouerne themselues rather by their owne courage and the bounty of their nature which hath the honesty of things for obiect then by the discourse of reason which doth commonly propound for end that which is most profitable Young men doe also loue indifferently the company of such as are of their age and condition not making any curious choyce of their friends the which shewes that they haue more curiosity then care of that which may auaile them in the course of their liues They are also violent and obserue no moderation in their motions and actions so as if they loue they loue furiously and if they hate it is extreame and so in all other things they keepe no mediocrity The which grows from their presumption and for that they haue a conceit to know any thing which makes them to speake boldly and to defend their impertinencies wilfully They commit many errors but commonly they are the defects of youth which proceede from the heat of blood so as there is more insolency in their actions then affected crimes They are moreouer pittifull and gentle for that measuring others by their own innocency they beleeue that al the world is good and that they which suffer any extraordinary miserie haue not deserued it and for that reason they haue compassion of them Finally young men are pleasant witty and loue to laugh and to heare a witty ieast which they thinke is a signe of a good spirit and therefore admire him They also loue horses dogges huntings combates and other exercises which haue some kinde of violence or pleasure To conclude young men are commonly rich in inuention but poore in matters of iudgement they are fit for execution but incapable for any great dessigne They are borne to excite troubles but are not able to pacifie them they imbrace much but hold little they aspire to the end but looke not to the meanes and when they haue committed an error they will hardly acknowledge it and leaue it like vnto those resty horses which leape and bound and will neither stand still nor go forward As for those that grow to age they haue Passions in a manner quite contrary to young men for hauing liued long and beene often deceiued hauing themselues committed many errors and knowing also that the world is full of subtilty and villainy they are not assured of any thing but looke vpon all things with distrust and if they deliuer their opinion in any businesse it is with a kind of feare so as it seemes they will make it knowne that in all things there is more coniecture then certainty wherfore their ordinary restriction in their answers and discourses is It may be peraduenture it is true The which proceedes frō the great Idea they haue of the inconstancy of things the deceits of men For the same reason they are malicious being a meere malice to interpret as they doe all things in the worst sence and for the same reason they are also distrustfull and suspitious suspitious by reason of their distrust and distrustfull in regard of the experience they haue of things Finally they neuer loue entirely neither is their hatred furious but they loue commonly as if they should hate and they hate as if they shold he moued to loue Moreouer their courage is weake both in respect of the coldnes of their blood and spirits as also by reason of calamities past and the miseries which they haue tried And for this reason vnlesse they haue some spice of folly they doe seldome attempt any hardy enterprizes nor hazard their fortunes and honors but they are content to seeke that which may protect them from necessity whereby they are couetous and fast fearing to diminish that which they thinke is necessary for them whereunto they are drawne by experience which hath taught them how hard a thing it is to gather great wealth and how easie it is to lose it They are in like manner fearefull and encrease their apprehensions by imagination and by the fore-sight of the future wherewith they are alwayes troubled the which proceeds from the coldnesse of their blood For this coldnesse which is common to olde men makes them enclined to feare whereas heate incites courage and resolution Moreouer they loue life much and especially vpon the declining of their dayes for that men desire that naturally whereof they haue great neede and when as they feare it should fly from them then they desire it more passionately They commonly powre forth cōplaints which are signes of their weaknesse and which makes them importune And then they rather imbrace that which is profitable then what is honorable wherein they shew themselues commonly extreame euen base the which growes from the loue they beare vnto themselues For profit is the good of that priuate person that doth enioy it but honour tends to good absolutely without consideration of the interest of any particular After this they are rather impudent then bashfull for respecting not honour so much as their owne commodities they care not for the opinion of the world but contemne it Finally they renounce in a manner all good hopes and haue none but bad both for that they are distrustfull and fearefull as for that experience hath taught them that most things are bad and that they impaire daily so as they liue rather by memory then hope for that they haue not long to liue and haue liued long for hope is of future things and memory of what is past And this is the cause that old men are great talkers for that they take a singular content to commend the times past In our times say they we did this wee did that taking a wonderfull content to remember what is past As for their choler it is sudden and violent but it is like a fire of straw that is soon quencht Their desires are mortified or weake and cannot bee quickened or receiue any vigor vnlesse the loue of money possesse them And therefore they are temperate and loue frugality which is a kinde of sparing for that they gouerne themselues rather by the discourse of reason then by their owne genius or their proper inclination for as wee haue said discourse aymes at the end and courage hath a respect to honesty as a companion to vertue Their faults sauour more of iniustice then insolency or outrage They are inclined to mercy yea more then young men but for diuers reasons for young men are pittifull by humanity and old men by weaknesse whose age makes them apprehend the miseries wherewith they see other men afflicted as if it hung ouer their heads which is a consideration as wee haue said else-where moues to mercy and pitty And for this reason they doe nothing but complaine and they loue not to see any one laugh neither doe they willingly frequent any that are pleasant 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