the Theatre where two so violent motions were formed should enjoy Peace amidst War In fine Fear and Audacity ended their differences in thy Person thou didst suffer these two affections to possess thy Heart without dividing it whilst thou wert in thine Agony in the Garden thou gavest confidence to thine Apostles and when the thought of death made such havock in thy Soul thou didst encourage Martyrs to the Combat thou preparest Crowns for their Victories and procuring them strength by thy weaknesses thou ordainest them to be the Champions of thy Church Militant But whatever help they received from thy Grace their Victories were never like thine they found more obedience in the World than in themselves and have confessed it cost them less to overcome wild Beasts than to vanquish their own Passions Famous Martyrs have been known who having overcome Lyons could not quell their own choler and have suffered themselves to be born away with Impatience after they had endured Tortures Their Combats were not always followed with good Success they were oft-times in one and the same day both Conquered and Conquerors They gave way to Voluptuousness after they had triumphed over Grief and having had courage enough to be Martyrs they wanted resolution to be continent How often have they wisht for Death that they might be freed from these domestick enemies and to that end sighed and made vows When thy Providence gave them over to their own weakness they despaired of their Salvation finding no support save in thy Goodness they begun all their wrestlings by Prayer and professed that to overcome their Passions they must be animated by thy Spirit and assisted by thy Power Thou art the sole Conqueror that wert never worsted in this War thy Affections never betrayd thy Reason and thy power hath been as absolute in thy Person as in thy Kingdom These Passions of our Soul changed nature in thine by the use thou madest of them they became Virtues Thou conceivedst no love which did not turn it self into Charity thou didst excite no Choler that was not just indignation and thou feltest no pity but it was transformed into Mercy All that in our Nature is Humane was Divine in thine and the unconfused Mixture of two Natures whereof thou art composed made thy passions to be rather Miracles than Virtues Thy Anger served as an Officer to thy Fathers Iustice thy Compassion was the Interpreter of His Mercy and thy Love an earnest of His Good will How happy was that distressed man that drew tears from thine eyes how rich was that poor one whose wants thou didst bewail how puissant was the oppressed whose interests thou maintainedst how innocent was that Offender whose Conversion was wrought by thy Tears and how glorious was the infamous Sinner to whom thou witnessedst thy Love by thy Complaints and Sighs Heaven had a regard to all the motions of thy Soul the eternal Father never denied any thing to thy Tears and his Thunder-bolts never failed to fall upon their heads on whom thy just Anger called for punishment Thy Passions were the Organs of thy Divinity thy Sighs were no less powerful than thy Words and without using either Prayers or Vows the Desires were sufficient to make known thy Will What Admiration did these Motions of thy Soul cause in the Seraphim with what astonishment were those pure Intelligences strucken when they considered that God taking our nature upon him took part of her feelings and no part of her weaknesses That he wept with the wretched without interessing his happiness That he was Angry at those that were injured without troubling his Quiet That with the needy he formed desires without loss of his Abundance And that with Lovers he felt the flames of Love without enduring their Disturbances What a miracle was it to see that Anger should be kindled in thy Soul without trouble thereunto That Pity should wound thy Heart without weakning it That it should be enflamed with Love yet not consumed That it should be eaten up with Sorrow yet not disquieted What can I do less in honour of so many Wonders than to consecrate our Passions unto thee What less submission can I make to thy adored Power than loudly to avouch that there is none but thou who can teach us the use of these Motions And that it appertains only to thy Wisdom to change our Anger into Indignation our Pity into Mercy and our Love into Charity Indeed it is thou alone who canst rule our passions thou art he only who workest our good out of our Evil and of Poysons composest Antidotes Thou knowest men by their Inclinations thou seest without studying them the motions of their hearts and making benefit thereof dost wisely conduct them to thy end Thou employest Fear to take off a covetous man from those perishable Riches which possess him thou makest a holy use of Despair to withdraw from the World a Courtier whose youth had been mis-imployed in the service of some Prince thou makest an admirable use of Disdain to extinguish there with a lovers flames who is enslave by a proud beauty thou employest Choler to disabuse a Souldier whom a dissembling General feeds with vain hopes thou makest excellent use of Grief to cure a sick man who sought for his Souls happiness in his Bodies health and lost the remembrance of Heaven by being to strongly fastened to the Earth In fine thou makest Chains of all our Passions to unite our Wills to thine thou minglest Grace with Nature and makest Angels by the same disorders as they would have been made Devils Sin is the Theatre of thy Power as well as Nothing thou makest thy greatest Works issue out of two Subjects whereof the one is Barren the other Rebellious Out of Nothing thou drawest Existence and out of Sin thou extractest Grace thou findest every thing in its contrary and by an effectual violence which can proceed only from an infinite Power thou compellest Nothing to produce men and sin to make Saints But after these two Miracles which are thy Master-pieces we see not any thing more wonderful than the use which thou art able to make of our Passions for the changing of our Wills thou makest that serve thy designes which did serve thine enemies thou savest men by those Weaknesses which would have been their undoing and bestowing on them a little Divine Love thou turnest all their Passions into Virtues For when once Charity begins to reign in their souls they fear nothing but sin they wish for nothing but Grace Thou art the end of their Desires as thou art the object of their Love They change Condition without changing Nature though they have Passions they commit no more Offences and losing neither Hope nor Despair neither Audacity nor Fear neither Love nor Hatred they are free from all the mischiefs which accompany these Passions when they are Faulty But certainly if thy Mercy appear in well husbanding the inclinations of thy Friends to their
Nature ordained pleasure in all actions these two Virtues which go to the composure of a chaste and continent man would be likewise of no use Clemency sweetens Choler and did not this Passion animate Princes to revenge the virtue whereby it is moderated would not deserve praise But if Passions be so much befriended by so many several virtues they are not thereof unthankful for when instructed in their whole they repay them with use and serve them faithfully The best part of Circumspection is composed of Fear which though it be accused to seek out the evil before it happen it prepares us either quietly to undergo it or happily to evade it Hope is serviceable to Fortitude and 't is she that by her Promises doth encourage us to the undertaking of gallant Actions Boldness is Valour 's faithful Companion and all great Conquerors owe the glory of their Generosity to this Passion Choler maintains Justice and animates Judges to punish the Guilty Briefly there is no Passion which is not serviceable to Virtue when they are governed by Reason and those who have so cried them down make us see they never knew their use nor worth The SECOND DISCOURSE What the Nature of Passions is and in what Faculty of the Soul they reside GODS Greatness is so elevated as Man cannot attain to the Knowledge thereof without abasing it and his Unity is so simple as it is not to be conceived unless divided Philosophers gave him different Names to express the diversity of his Perfections and by calling him sometimes Destiny sometimes Nature sometimes Providence they introduced a plurality of Gods and made all men Idolaters The Soul being the Image of God the same Philosophers did likewise divide it and not being able to comprehend the simplicity of its Essence they believed it was corporeal They imagined it had parts as well â—s the Body and though they were more subtle they were not less veritable They multiplied the Cause with its Effects and â—aking her divers Faculties for different Naâ—ures they contrary to the Law of Reason gave divers forms to the same composure But Truth which together with Faith came down upon earth teacheth us that the Soul is but one in its Essence and that it hath undergone several Names only to express the variety of its operations for when it gives life unto the body and when by natural heat which proceeds from the heart as from its Center it preserveth all the â—arts thereof it is called Form when it discerns colours by the Eye and distinguisheth of sound by the Ear Sense When she raiâ—eth her self a little higher and by discoursing infers one Truth by another she is called Understanding When she preserves her thoughts to employ them about her own affairs or that she draws from forth her treasury the Riches which â—she had lock'd therein men stile her Memory when she loveth that which pleaseth her or hates that which nauseates her she is termed Will but all her several Faculties which differing in their employments do notwithstanding agree in their substance make but one Soul and are like so many Rivulets derived from the same Spring-Head Prophane Philosophy arriving at length to the knowledge of this truth makes use of divers comparisons to express her Now she represents the Soul in the Body as an Intelligence in the Heavens the virtue whereof is displayed through all the Spheres thereof Anon they figure her out unto us as a Pilot who guides his Vessel sometimes as a King who governs his State But Christian Philosophy hath been more fortunate when coming even to the original of the soul it hath made us know what effects she produceth in the Body by the very same which God produceth in the world For though this infinite essence depends not upon the world which he hath created and that without interessing his might he may undo his own workmanship yet is he shed abroad in all the parts thereof there is no intermedium which he fills not up He applies himself to all Creatures in their operations and without dividing his unity or weakning his power he gives light with the Sun he burneth with the fire he he refresheth with the water and he brings forth fruit with the trees He is as great on earth as he is in Heaven though his effects do differ his power is alwaies equal and the stars which shine above our heads cost him no more than the grass which we tread under our feet So is the soul dispersed in the body and penetrates all the parts thereof It is as noble in the hand as in the heart and though applying her self to the disposition of the Organs she speaks by the Mouth seeth by the Eyes and heareth by the Ears yet is she but one Spirit in her Essence and in her differing Functions her Unity is not divided nor her Power weakned 'T is true that not finding the same dispositions in every part of the Body she produceth not the same Effects and in this point this Illustrious Captive is infinitely inferiour to God for as he is infinite and was able to make all things out of nothing he can likewise make all things out of every Creature and without any respect to their Inclinations make them serve his Will. So we see he hath used the Fire to sweeten the pains of his Servants that he hath used the Light to blind his Enemies that he hath made the Flouds turn back to give passage to his Friends and that he hath made the Earth open to swallow those that rebell against him But the Soul whose power is limited cannot operate without dependance upon the Organs and though she be spiritual in her Nature yet is she corporeal in her Operations This is that which hath made the Philosophers consider her in three several estates which are so different the one from the other that if in the first she approach near the Dignity of the Angels in the second she is in no better condition than the Beast of the Field and in the last she differs not much from the Nature of Plants for in this acceptation she hath no other employment than to nourish the Body she is in to digest Food to convert it into Bloud and by a strange Metamorphosis to make one and the same Matter thicken into Flesh stiffen into Nerves harden into Bones extend into Branches and lengthen into Grisles she augments her Parts by nourishing them she in time perfects her Workmanship and by her pains brings it to its just Greatness Solicited by Providence she takes care to maintain the World she thinks how to restore what she hath received and to preserve her species produceth the like In this acception her workmanship is not more noble than that of Plants which nourish themselves by the Influences of Heaven grow up by the heat of the Sun and get root downward by their Succors and Moisture In the second estate she becomes sensible and
alwaies waited that Reason might make them serve his Designs Ours for the most part do surprize us and are so ready to be moving that the wisest men cannot keep back their first motions they are so given to disorder as the â—east occasion sets them on fire their sleep is so unquiet as the least matter will awaken them they are so given to war that upon the least provocation they take up Arms and make more spoil upon their own Territories then would an enemies army do Their disorder proceeds not so much from their Objects as from their humour and it fares with their storms as it doth with those who being at the bottom of the Sea mount up again by their proper motion But they caused no tempests in Iesus Christ or if sometimes their waves went high they were led on by Reason which alwaies kept the power to appease the trouble she had caused As their birth depended upon his Will so made they no Progress or advancement but by his permission and their moving proceeded alwaies from some reasonable cause Men betake themselves to things which merit not their Love and have oft times strong Passions for weak and woful Subjects Imprudency seeks them in Choler and not weighing the difference of faults they punish a word as rigorously as they do a Murderer their ambition is blind their desires unruly their sadness ridiculous and who shall compare all their Passions with the causes which produce them will find them all to be unjust A Consul made a slave be eaten by Lampreys for having broken a Glass A Princes anger caused a Town to be drowned in the bloud of its Inhabitants and to revenge an injury done to an Image of Brass or Marble made 7000 men the lively Image of God lose their lives Sorrow hath made Idols to comfort her Fathers not able to raise agaiâ— their dead Children have deified them through an excess of love and sorrow have built Temples unto them after they had taken them out of their Graves In fine all the motions of our souls are irrational we cannot measure or bound our joy nor our displeasures our hatred exceeds our injuries our love is more ardent than the subâ—ect which sets it on fire and we ground â—irm hopes upon perishable things But the Passions of the Son of God were so reguâ—ated as in their motions a man might observâ— the worth of the subject which caused â—hem to arise he was not angry save only â—o revenge the injuries done unto his father â—r punish the impieties of those who proâ—haned his Temple he had no affection â—â—ve for those that did deserve it if he saw â—o perfection in his friends he loved such â—s he would place there and loving them he â—ade them worthy of his love he never â—â—rrowed save upon great occasion and â—hough the cross was a sufficient object of â—rief I verily believe his soul was more â—arrowly touched with the horror of our â—s than with the shame or cruelty of his â—unishment Such regulated Passions ceaâ—d when he pleased and their continuâ—ce was no less subject to his Empire than was their Progress We are not masters of our Passions as in their birth they set at nought our advice they laugh at our Counsels during their course they never stay till they be weary and we owe not our quiet so much to their Obedience as to their Weakness When they are violent our care cannot overcome them and there are some of them so stifâ—necked as they will not die but together with us therefore we ought to suppress them in their birth and to advise with Reason whether it be to any purpose to draw Souldiers into the field who when they have their Weapons in their hands despise the Authority of their chief Commander The beginning of War depends oft times upon two Parties but the end thereof depends alwaies upon the victory and he is not easily brought to a peace when he finds his Advantage lies in the continuance of War All these rules prove false in the Passions of Iesus Christ. He did even exceed therein when the Subject did deserve it though they were chafed they becamâ— calm as soon as he would have them so tâ— be Their heat as it was reasonable so waâ— it as soon extinguished as kindled so as joy did immediately succeed sadness and onâ— might at the same time see pleasingness take the same place in his countenance which Choler had possest It is peradventure for this reason that Saint Ierome could not resolve to call the agitations of the soul of our Saviour Iesus Christ Passions believing that to name them as Criminals was to injure their innocence and that there was injustice in giving the same name to things the conditions whereof were so different But every one knows that qualities change not nature and that the Passions of the Son of God were not less natural for being more obedient than are ours In my opinion it is a new obligation which we have to his goodness that he hath not despised our weakness he will eternally reproach us if we desire not his glory since he coveted our welfare if we fight not against his enemies since he hath overcome ours if we shed not tears for injuries done unto him since he hath shed his blood for our sins And he will have just occasion to complain upon our Ingratitude if our Passions serve not â—o witness our Love to him since he hath â—mployed all his to assure us of his Charity The Second Treatise Of the disorder of Passions in Man The FIRST DISCOURSE Of the corruption of Nature by Sin THough there be many wonderful things in man which deserve consideration that his qualities witness unto us the greatness power of his Creator there is nothing more remarkable in him than his constitution for he is composed of a body and soul he in his person unites Heaven and Earth and being more monstrous than are the Centaures in the Fable he is both Angel and Beast as the power of God appeareth in the uniting of these two so different parties his wisdome is no less evidently seen in the good intelligence they hold for though they had contrary inclinations that the one should bow downward towards the earth whereof it was formed and that the other should raise it self up towards heaven from whence it had its original yet God did so well temper their desires and in the diversity of their conditions so streightly united their wills by original justice as the soul shared in all contentments of the body without any injury to her self and the body served to all the designs of the soul without doing any violence to its self In this happy estate the soul commanded with mildness the body obeyed with delight and whatsoever object presented it self these two parties did always agree But this happiness continued no longer than our first father was obedient to God
and that all the assistance that man can hope for from Grace is so handsomly to manage Passions as that they may defend virtue and oppugn vice The FOURTH DISCOURSE That opinions and the senses do cause the disorder of our Passions THough sin be the original of all our mischief and that all the miseries we undergo are the punishments for our faults we seem to take pleasure in increasing them by our evil guidance and that we invent every day new penalties to which divine Justice had not condemned us we are not contented to know our Passions are revolted and that without the assistance of Grace Reason cannot regulate them we nourish their disorder and to make them the more insolent we admit of Opinions which raise them up at their pleasure For of a thousand Passions which are raised in our soul there are not any two that take truth for their guide and the evil which they apprehend or the good which they desire appear rather so to be than that they are so indeed To mend this disorder we must take cognizance of opinion mark her birth and progress Opinion is not so much a judgment of the understanding as of the Imaginations whereby she doth either approve of or condemn things which the senses represent unto her This is the most usual evil of our Life and if it were as constant as it is common our condition would be very sad but it changeth at every moment that which is the cause of its birth causeth likewise the death thereof And Imagination forsakes it with as much ease as she gave it entertainment It taketh its rise from our senses and from the reports of the world so as it is no marvel if the best grounded opinion cannot subsist long since the foundations thereof are so bad for our senses are liars and like inchanted glasses they present disguised Objects unto us Their Reports are seldom uninteressed and as they fasten themselves to objects they endeavour to engage Imagination When I consider the soul as a Prisoner in the body I bewail her condition and I wonder not if she so oft takes falshood for truth because it entereth by the gate of the senses this divine Spirit is inclosed in the body not having any other cognizance save what she borroweth either from the Eyes or the Ears thereof and these two senses which by nature seem so particularly appropriated to knowledge are such deceivers as their devices are for the most part but impostures blindness is to be preferred before their false Lights and they had better leave us in our ignorance than help us to such malignant and so doubtful knowledge They consider only the appearances of things they stop at accidents their weakness cannot penetrate into substances they are like the Sun and as they take all their light from him they endeavour to imitate him in their actions Every one thinks that this goodly Planet is extreamly useful to us when it comes about our Horizon and that it affords those beauties to nature which darkness had bereft it of But the Platonicks have found that the advantage we receive thereby equals not the prejudice it bringeth along with it for when it discovers the earth unto us it hides the Heavens from us when it exposeth Lilies and Roses to our sight it hinders us from seeing the Stars and takes from us the sight of the most beautiful part of the world So the senses take from us the cognizance of divine things to furnish us with the like of what is humane They make us only see the appearances of objects and hide their truth from us We remain ignorant under these bad Masters and our Imagination being informed but by their reports we can only conceive false opinions I find therefore that Nature is more severe unto us than is Religion and that it is much more difficult to be rational than to believe aright for though the truths which Religion proposeth unto us are of so high a nature as our understanding cannot comprehend them though she demand of us a blind obedience and that to believe her mysteries we must subdue our Reason and give the Lie to all our Senses yet this commandment is not injurious If she take from us our liberty she preserves our honour she frees our understanding from the tyranny of our senses she submits it to the legitimate Empire of the supream Intelligence which she illustrates unto us by her light she takes us from earth that she may raise us up to Heaven and takes not from us the use of Reason save only to make us acquire the merit of Faith But Nature ingaging our soul in our body makes her a slave to our senses and obligeth her in her noblest operations to consult with those that are blind and to draw her light from out their darkness Hence it is that all our knowledge is full of errour and that truth is never without falshood that opinions are uncertain and that our Passions which obey them are always out of order The worlds report is no surer a Guide and those who listen thereunto are likely never to enjoy true rest for this rumour is nothing else but the opinion of the people which is not the truer for being the more common That which seemeth to authorize it doth condemn it and nothing ought to make it more suspected than the great number of its partakers The nature of man is not so well regulated as that the best things be those that please most people ill opinions as well as good ones ground themselves upon the number of their approvers and when we would side with any opinions we ought not to number but to weigh the Votes The common people who gape after liberty delight to live in servitude never make use of Judgment and in worldly affairs which of all others ought to be the most free they are rather led by Example than by Reason they follow those who go before and not examining their Opinions they embrace they defend them for after having recived them they desire to divulge them as in factions they endeavour to engage others on their Party and to make their malady prove contagious In so much as Seneca's Maxime proves true That man is not only failing to himself but unto others and that he communicates his errors to all those that come nigh him When our Imagination is filled with ill Opinions she exciteth a thousand disorders in the inferior part of our soul and raiseth up Passions according to her pleasure for being blind they cannot discern whether the good or bad which is proposed to them be only likely or true and abused by the Imagination whose Empire they reverence they either draw nearer unto or fly further from objects their blindness serves them for excuse and they lay their faults upon that hath deceived them But to prevent this disorder the understanding must keep it self in its authority it must assubject Imagination to its
and contentedly forgo them But the chief use we ought to make of so noble a Passion is thereby to raise us up to God and to make thereof a glorious chain to fasten us inseparably to him as he is the only object of Love he is also the only object of desires they miss of their end when they keep aloof from him they lose themselves when they seek not him and they stop in the midst of their course when they come not full home to him He is the Spring-head of all perfections and as they are without mixture of default there is nothing in them which is not perfectly wishable we see some creatures which have certain charms which make them be desired but then they have imperfections to make them be undervalued the Sun is so full of glory and beauty as it hath made Idolaters one part of the world doth yet worship it and Christian Religion which is spread over the whole earth hath not been able to dis-deceive all Infidels yet hath its weaknesses which teacheth Philosophers that it is but a creature the light thereof is bounded and cannot at one and the same time enlighten the two halves of the world it suffers Eclipses nor can it shun them it grows faint and sees it self obscured by a constellation not so great nor glorious as it self it hath benign influences it hath also malignant ones if it concur with the birth of man it doth the like to his death if it be the father of flowers it is also their Paricide if the brightness thereof serve to light us it doth also dazle us if the heat thereof warm Europe it scorcheth Africa so as the noblest of all constellations hath its defaults and if it cause desire in us it is also cause of aversions under-valuations but God hath nothing that is not lovely innumerable numbers of Angels see all his perfections and are destin'd to honor them they have immortal lovers which adore them from the beginning of the world men who know them desire them and wish death unto themselves that they may enjoy them this Summum bonum is that which we ought to seek after for him it is that our wishes were given us our heart is sinful when it divides its love and gives but one part thereof to him that deserves the whole Gods abundance and mans indigence are the first links of alliance which we contract with him He is all and we are nothing He is a depth of mercy and we are a depth of misery He hath infinite perfections and we faults without number He possesseth no greatness which is not to be wisht for we suffer no want which obliges us not to make wishes He is all desirable and we are all desire and to express our nature aright it will suffice to say that we are only a meer capacity of good there is no part of our Body nor faculty of our Soul which doth not oblige us to seek him we make Inrodes in the world by our desires we wander in our affections but after having considered the beauty of Heaven and the riches of the Earth we are constrained to return again unto our selves to fix our selves on him who is the ground-work of our being and to confess that none but God alone is able to fill the capacity of our heart Let us draw these advantages from our misery and let us rejoyce that Nature hath endowed us with so many desires since they have wings which raise us up to God and chains which fasten us to him Upon all other occasions desires are useless and after having made us Long a long time they furnish us not with what they made us hope for they torment us whilst they possess us and when despair causes them to die they leave us only shame and sorrow for having listned to so evil Councellors I know very well that they awaken the Soul and that they endue it with vigor to compass the good which it wishes for but the good success of our undertakings depends not upon their efficacy and should the things that we love cost us nothing but desires all ambitious men would be Kings all covetous men rich and we should hear no Lovers complain of the rigors of their Mistresses or of their infidelity women would take their Husbands from their Graves Mothers would cure their sick children and captives would regain their liberty we should do as many Miracles as make wishes and all mischief would be banish'd from off the earth since men can wish but experience shews us they are for the most part impotent and that their accomplishment depends upon the supream providence which at its pleasure can turn them into effects those that concern our souls health are never useless fervency in wishing is sufficient to make a man good our conversion depends only upon our will our desire animated by Grace blots out all our sins and though God be so great he hath only cost them wishes that possess him this Passion dilates our soul and makes us capable of the good we wish for she extends our heart and prepares us to receive the happiness which she procures us In fine she gets audience of God makes her self be understood without speaking and she hath such power in heaven as nothing is denied to her demands she glorified Jesus Christ and the Saints Christ takes from them the most ancient of his Names and before he was known by that of Saviour of the world he was already known by that of the desired of all the people His Prophets honoured him with this title before he was born He who shewed us the time of his coming took his title from his wishes and merited to be called the man of Desires His Vows did advance the Mystery of the Incarnation the like of the Virgin did obtain the accomplishment thereof ours will taste the effect thereof if they grow not weary in begging them at Gods hands The FOURTH DISCOURSE Of the Nature Proprieties and Effects of the good evil use of Eschewing NAture would have failed us at our need if having endued us with Love to good things she had not furnished us with desire to seek after them These good things which now are cause of our happiness would cause all our punishments if being permitted to love them we should be forbidden to wish for them the Summum bonum would only serve to make us miserable and the virtue which it hath to attract hearts would contribute to our misery if we wanted a capacity of atchieving it We should have equal reason to complain of her charity if having imprinted in our hearts the hatred of evil she had not likewise engraven therein that Passion which we call Shunning or Eschewing to make us keep aloof from it for we should see our enemy and not have the power to defend our selves from him we should have an aversion from vice yet should be enforced to
But howsoever all Philosophers agree that the Soul cannot be happy in a miserable body and that she cannot endue it with life without sharing in the miseries thereof if her noblest part be touched with Joy while the body languisheth with pain that which inanimates it must be sensible thereof to pay interests for the services she gets thence she must be miserable for company Even the Soul of Jesus Christ thrice-happy as it was failed not to be afflicted and a miracle was done in the order of Glory that the society might not be broken which Nature hath put between the Soul and the Body it is then agreed upon that these two parts that compose man cannot be separated in their suffering and that the torment of the one must of necessity be the others punishment they love too well to forsake one another in their afflictions and unless the violence of pain break the chains wherewith they are linked together their miseries must be common I should moreover think that the condition of the Soul is more deplorable than that of the Body for besides that to make her subject to sufferings be to injure her worth and that it is a piece of Injustice to force her to feel evils from which by Nature she is exempted she sentenceth her self to new sufferings and the love which she beareth to her Body obligeth her to resent with sorrow the pains which it endureth she together with it is sensible thereof seeing that she is the Original of Sense and as if this torment were not sufficient she draws another upon her self by compassion and afflicts her self with the Thought of all that which really torments it she makes much of its maladies after she hath shared in the suffering of them she grows sad with the conceit of them and of a single grief makes double Martyrdom true it is that this Faculty hath so much commerce with the Senses as she cannot resent their evils without communicating her pains unto them her trouble disquieteth them and as the sufferings of the Body are cause of the like in the Soul by a Law as just as necessary the pain of the Soul produceth the like of the Body This feeling is in my Opinion true Sadness which is nothing else but a dislike which is formed in the inferior part of the Soul by the fight of Objects which are displeasing to her Very strange are the effects of so Melancholick a Passion for when she is but in a mean she makes them eloquent without Rhetorick she teacheth them Figurative speeches to exaggerate their Discontents and to hear them speak the greatest pains seem to be less than what they suffer but when she is Extream by a clean contrary effect she astonisheth the Spirit she interdicts the use of the Senses she dries up Tears stifles Sighes and making men stupid she affords Poets the liberty of feigning that she changeth them into Rocks when she is of long continuance she frees us from the earth and raiseth us up to Heaven for it is very hard for a man in misery to covet life when it is full of pain and Sorrow and when the Soul hath great conflicts for a Body which doth continualy exercise her patience All men are not so poorly spirited as was that Favorite of Augustus who did so much covet life that Torments could not make him forgo the desire thereof who gloried in his Verses that he would have loved Life amidst Tortures that he would have been a Votary for the prolonging of it upon the Rack and that the cruellest sufferings that might be would have seemed swift to him so as he might therein have found Life I well believe that excess of pain would have made him be of another mind and that he would have confess'd that to die quickly is better than to live long in pain or had he persisted in his first Opinion we should be bound to confess that poorly-spirited men are more wilful than are those that are couragious and that the desire of Glory makes not so great impression in us as the desire of life But to return to my Subject when Grief is violent it loosneth the soul from the Body and causeth the death of the man for Sadness and Joy have this of resemblance in their difference that both of them attempt upon our lives when they are in extreams The heart dilates it self by Joy it opens it self to receive the good which is offer'd tastes it with such excess of pleasure as it faints under the weight thereof and meets with death in the midst of its Happiness It shuts it self up by Sorrow claps to the door upon the evil that besiegeth it and very improvidently delivers it self into the hands of a Domestick enemy to free it self from one that is a stranger for its Violence causeth its anguish and the care he takes to defend it self augments its pain and hastens its death Oft-times also its negligence makes it miserable it suffers it self to be surpriz'd by Sorrow for not having foreseen it and being no longer in a condition to defend it self when Sorrow arriveth it is forced to give way thereunto In fine Sadness makes us weep when it hath seized on our heart it wageth war with our Eyes it evaporateth by Sighes it glides down by Tears and weakens it self in the production thereof for a man that weeps easeth himself and comforts himself whilst he complains he finds somewhat of delight in his lamentations and if they be signs of his sufferings they are likewise the cure thereof As Choler dischargeth it self by Railing Sorrow being more innocent drops away by Tears and abandons the Heart when it gets up into the Face Having seen its effects it remains that we consider what use may be made thereof and in what conditions it may become Innocent or Offensive The FIFTH DISCOURSE Of the bad use of Pain and Sorrow THose who believe that Delight is Virtues most dangerous Enemy will never think that Sorrow can side with Vice and we shall have much ado to perswade them that there be some Sadnesses which are faulty yet we see but few of them that are innocent and most of those that draw tears from us are either unjust or unreasonable for man is become so esseminate that every thing hurts him Sin hath made him so wretched that he numbers the privation of pleasures amongst his pains and thinks he hath just cause to afflict himself when he possesseth not all that he desires the number of his evils is encreased by his abjectedness and he that in the first ages knew no other pain but Sickness and Death now vexeth himself for Disgrace and Poverty The witness of his Conscience is not sufficient for his Virtue and if he have not applause on Earth joyned to the approbation of Heaven he imagineth himself to be infamous the riches of Nature do not satisfie his Desires and though he have all things
false greatness all their advantages vanish away as shadows before the Sun and we turn our valuation into disesteem our love into hatred and our desires into detestation Prophane Philosophy desirous to find out a remedy to so many evils gives us counsel which makes us despair for she will have us to moderate our desires without reforming our Soul she inhibits us the use of wishes as if the mischief lay only in them and adviseth us to wish for nothing if we woul be happy she builds her felicity in the cutting off of this Passion She thinks to have pronounced an Oracle when by the mouth of Seneca she says that he who hath bounded his desires is as happy as Iupiter and that without increase of riches or addition to delight If we would find a solid contentment we need only lessen our desires But certainly in flattering us she abuseth us and promising us an Imaginary happiness she bereaves us of the means how to come by a true one For she leaves us in the indigency wherein sin hath plac'd us and forbids us the use of desires she leaves us with the Inclination which nature hath endowed us withal for the Summum bonum will not suffer us to seek after it she will have us to be poor and yet to have no feeling thereof and that to the misfortune of poverty we add the like of insolence and pride When we shall reign in heaven and shall find our perfect happiness in the fruition of the Summum bonum we shall banish all wishes But as long as we grovel upon earth and that we suffer evils which inforce us to seek for remedies we shall conceive just desires and shall learn from religion how to make use of them to the glory of Iesus Christ and salvation of our own souls The THIRD DISCOURSE Of the good use of Desire THough there be nothing more common than Desires there is nothing more rare then the good use thereof and of as many as make wishes there are but very few that know how to rule them well for this Passion is as free as Love and as she is in her first production she cannot endure to be constrained she is so glorious as that she receives no Laws but from the Summum bonum she sets not by the authority of Princes and knowing that she holds not of their Empire she is not affrighted at their threats nor is she moved by their promises Therefore Kings who sufficiently know the extent of their power offer not to intrench upon her liberty they punish actions forbid words but they leave thoughts and desires to his guidance who seeing them in the bottom of the heart can eternally recompense or punish them they make no laws to retain them they confess God is only able to suppress them and that he is the only Soveraign whose prerogative it is to say unto his Subjects you shall not covet They therefore are to be esteemed insolent who undertake to reform desires unassisted by his Grace and all the advices we can give to regulate them do necessarily presuppose his assistance but after having rendred this acknowledgment to him from whom we receive whatsoever we have of good me thinks we may prescribe certain conditions to the use of this Passion which may make it glorious and useful to us Nature hath endowed us with desires only to come by the good which we have not and which is necessary for us they are help in our need they are the hands of our will as those parts of the body labour for all the rest our desires take pains for all the Passions of our Soul and by their care oblige our Love and Hatred but this advantage would be prejudicial to us if being given us to assist our poverty we should make use thereof to increase it Therefore before we engage our selves in the pursuit of a good we must be well assured whether it be great enough or no to inrich us and if the enjoyment thereof will cause those desires to die to which the want thereof gave birth for if it do only irritate and if in lieu of healing our evils it make them worse a man must be mad to continue the desire I would then only desire those real good things which may free me from my miseries and to the end that my Passion may be rational I would only wish them as far forward as they ought to be wished I would weigh their qualities and I would fit my wishes to their merits I would endeavour riches not to serve my vain-glory but to supply my wants I would endeavour meat for sustenance not to provoke appetite I would endeavor honour as an aid to virtue in its birth and which hath need of some foreign help to defend it against vice yea I would endevor harmless pleasures but I would shun their excess and I would remember that they are of the nature of those fruits that are pleasing in tast but are harmful to the body thus moderated our desires would be rational if they fix us to things on earth necessity will serve us for excuse and we shall esteem the servitude glorious which will be common to us with Saints We must have a care likewise to have only weak desires for things perishable and to hold a hanck in such desires as may be violently taken from us The Stoicks Philosophy is too austere to be listned unto their maxims tend more to make us despair than to instruct us for it absolutely inhibits us the desire of such things as we may be bereft of and it employeth all its sophistical reasons to perswade us that the good which we come by by our desires cannot be a true good Christian Philosophy which knows very well that our felicity is not within us and that we must forgo our selves ere we fasten to the Summum bonum blames this Maxim but as she is not likewise ignorant that we may be bereft of other goods she ordains us to desire them without anxiety and to consider we are not so sure of their possession but that it may sometimes meet with interruption she prepars us for their loss when she permits us to seek after them she teacheth us that the desire of things perishable ought not to be eternal and that we must possess without too much of addition what ought to be forgon without sorrow she teacheth us that the goods of Fortune and of Nature depend upon divine Providence which doth not give us but lend us them which refuseth them to her friends and grants them to her enemies and which doth so bestow them as if they be not marks of hatred neither are they testimonies of her love by these good reasons she fairly perswades us that they ought not to be the principal objects of our desires and that to follow our Soveraigns intentions we must love them with coolness desire them with moderation possess them with indifferency
long after a felicity to come she confesseth she is not of this world and she thinks it not strange if shâ— be persecuted in an enemies Countrey she knows very well that she is called from this miserable world to another more happy and that having nothing to possess on earth she ought to hope for all in heaven All Christians who are instructed in her School do with a holy impatience expect the happy day wherein the Son of God will punish his enemies and crown his Subjects They think themselves already saved because they are so in hope and amongst so many evils that afflict them they solace themselves in this virtue which promiseth much but gives more for it never confounded any body and though she suffer such as lay claim to her to be persecuted she inspires them with so much courage as that far from resenting their sorrows they cast the happiness of Angels amidst their punishments and laugh at the cruelty of Tyrants and Hang-men let whatsoever accidents befall them they are always secure and knowing that Jesus Christ is the foundation of their Hope they look upon all the changes of the earth with calmness of mind But whatsoever advantage Christians may draw from the virtue we must confess that she hath nothing to do with that Passion which considers the time to come and which seeks out a good which is possible and difficult for the one is a Christian Virtue which resides in the Will and the other is a Passion which resides in the sensitive appetite the one is a meer effect of Nature the other is the pure work of Grace the one by its one strength can extend but to some ages the other by its proper vigor mounts even to eternity the one in brief makes not good all that it promiseth and failing in her word leaves her lovers in confusion and sorrow but the other is so faithful in her promises as those who have sought under her banners confess that her recompenses surpass all their services yet in these their differences nothing hinders them from agreeing the best use of humane Hope is to assubject it to divine Hope and to make it aspire by her assistance to the Possession of eternal happiness for though Passion know no eternity and that being engaged in the body she raiseth her self not much higher than the Senses she hath yet some inclination to follow after Grace and to suffer her self to be guided by her motions as she obeys Reason she may obey Godliness as she is useful to Moral Virtue she may be useful to Christian Virtue and if it be not to give her too much advantage I should think that as she inter meddles with Patience and Fortitude to frame Moral habits she may do the like with Hope and Charity to form super-natural habits But without engaging my self in a School-dispute it shall suffice me to say that if all our Passions may be sanctified by Grace Hope being of no worse condition than the rest may pretend unto the same favour and contribute to all the good works of a Christian. Neither do I doubt but that the Saints have made good use thereof and that enlightned by Faith they have placed all that hope in Jesus Christ which they placed in their Kings or in their gods whilst they lived in Paganism I doubt not but that this generous Passion which encouraged them in dangers for the glory of their Princes did animate them amidst flames for the quarrel of the Son of God and I am firmly of opinion that as by her own forces she made them good souldiers so assisted from above she made them couragious Martyrs for Nature is the ground-work of Grace and as Faith presupposeth Reason the fortitude of a Martyr did presuppose the hope of a man and it behoved that Passion should work in the hearts of those generous Champions whâ—st Grace wrought in their Wills God makes daily use of the mouths of his Prophets to explain his Mysteries when he discovers to them secrets to come he makes use of their words to declare them unto his people and he accords Nature with Grace in them to execute his Designes I therefore think that the best use a man can make of Hope is to assubject it to three Christian virtues which may make good use of her heat the first is that which bears her name and which by a harmless piece of cunning loosens her from the earth and gives her desires for heaven for though humane Hope be so generous yet cannot she pretend to the happiness of eternity and though in the souls of Alexander and Caesar she aspired to divine honours it hath not proceeded so much from any motion of her own as from the like of vain-glory but when she is instructed by faith when she knows that God hath chosen us to be his children and that Jesus Christ hath made us his brethren that we may be coheirs with him she wisheth with Humility for what the others wisht for out of Ambition The second Virtue which she may be serviceable unto is Patience which in all the evils she undergoes hath no other comfort than what Hope furnisheth her withal for while she fights with grief and pain she would be a thousand times opprest by their violence did not this glorious Passion point out unto her the Rewards which are prepared for her and if she did not sweeten the present evil by future happiness which Hope promiseth her To understand this you must know that Patience is a Virtue as mild as close she hath nothing of lustre and though she undertake great matters she spares Pomp and the Theater darkness and the desarts are pleasing unto her and she is content to fight in his prefence by whom she expects to be crown'd neither is she any ways given to use violence and though her enemies be so powerful she defends her self by suffering and makes us win the victory by the loss of our lives she hardly takes the liberty to complain and she shews so little feeling of outrages done unto her or of her sufferings as those who do not know her accuse her of stupidity So great a coldness ought to be animated by the heat of Hope and so mild a virtue requires the assistance of an active Passion During all her displeasures the recompenses which are promised her do only possess her and in the sorrows which she suffers she raiseth her self up to heaven upon the wings of Hope and with the eye of Faith seeth the happiness which is prepared for her But the chief use which we ought to make of this Pashon is when Fortitude grapples with grief and when she sets upon these dreadful enemies which endeavour to triumph over her Courage For there is this difference between Patience and Fortitude the first is content to suffer the second will be doing the one out of modesty hides her self the other out of generosity shews it self the one
HENRICUS Dom. CARY Baro. de Loppington Com de MONMOVTH The VSE of PASSIONS Written in French by J. F. Senault And put into English by Henry Earle of Monmouthâ— 167â— Passions araing'd by Reason here you see As shee 's Advis'd therein by Grace Divine But this yowll say 's but in Effigie Peruse this Booke and you in ev'ry line Thereof will finde this truth so prov'd that yow Must Reason contradict or grant it True THE USE OF PASSIONS Written in FRENCH By I. F. Senault AND Put into ENGLISH BY HENRY EARL of MONMOVTH LONDON Printed by W. G. for Iohn Sims at the Kings-Head at Sweetings-Alley end next House to the Royal Exchange in Cornhil 1671. THE AUTHORS Dedication of his Work To our Saviour Jesus Christ. IT is not without reason adored JESUS that I offer up unto thee this Work wherein I endevor to teach thy Servants how to use their Passions For to boot that all our thoughts are due unto thee because thou art the Eternal Thought of the Father and that whatsoever our Soul produceth are as so many Images of thine This belongs to thee by a double Title and cannot without some sort of Injustice be Dedicated to any other than thee Passions in that state whereunto they are brought by sin are Monsters which ought to be immolated upon thy Altars this Sacrifice succeeds those of the Old Testament As thou delightest in receiving a heart struck through with sorrow and consumed with love so dost thou with joy receive such Passions as Grace and Reason do consecrate unto thee neither dost thou despise the Motions of our soul when they are enlightned by Faith and inanimated by Charity thou art well pleased that being Priests and Victimes for thy Glory as thou hast been for our salvation we find some feelings in ourselves which we may immolate unto thee that in obedience to thy just Laws we sacrifice unto thee our love and our desires and that courageously suffocating our anger and our hatred we appease thy Iustice by the death of a part of our selves Thou likewise dost permit that without shedding the blood of these savage Beasts we tame them to make them serviceable to thy designes and that we employ our hopes and fears to overcome Vice and acquire Virtue But assuredly we cannot undertake this Combat nor hope for Victory therein without thy assistance for passions hold of thy Empire and since these slaves are become Rebels they are only to be reduced by thy Grace Thou by thy eternal Birth art the primitive Reason and the same term which we make use of in all Languages to express thy Personal proprieties teacheth us that thou art as well the Reason as the Word of thy Father To thee it belongeth to regulate all the Passions and if wise men have any command over theirs 't is for that their Reason flows from thine They are only wise in that they are reasonable and they are reasonable only in that they have the honour to be thy Images Grace it self whence the strength and light of thy Saints do derive flows from thy divine Person those great ones are not only Gods but Sons of God they bear thy Character in their Souls and the Father who looks upon them as thy Brethren loves them as his Children This Divine Quality makes them triumph over their Passions they owe all their victories to thy Alliance and if they tame the motions of their souls 't is because they have the honour to unite as thou dost Reason and Grace in their personages and to be by priviledge that which thou art by Nature Thy Actions since thou hast vouchsafed to become Man serve us for Instructions and we find examples in thy life which we may securely imitate Before thy temporal Birth we had no model which was not imperfect Virtue and Vice were intermingled in all men and the greatest Saints did no good works which were not accompanied with some defects Their Passions out-ran their Wisdom the first motions of them were so sudden and so violent that they could neither foresee them nor hinder them When they were once up and that Reason gathering her forces together gave them battel these Rebels joyned Insolence to Fury and argued Authority with their Soveraign Thus thy faithfullest Servants needed forgiveness in the war which they made against their passions and it behoved thy goodness to give light to illuminate these blind men Wisdom to conduct these giddy-headed People and Fortitude to overcome these Rebels But in thy sacred Person passions have no defect These wild Beasts are tamed these troublesom Seas are always calm these revolted Subjects are alwayes Obedient and by a Miracle as Rare as Illustrious these Enemies of our Reason do always agree with thine They raised themselves when thou ordainedst them so to do their first motions were in thy power they waited thy leave to be troubled Sorrow seized not on thy Heart Tears distilled not from thine Eyes and red-hu'd Anger or pale Fear appeared not in thy Face before thy Will which ruled all their motions had given them Permission They were so well instructed in all thy Designes as they seemed to be indued with Reason and Reason found such Obedience in the Inferior part of thy Soul that no Clouds were gathered together there which she her self had not there formed In the world Tempests are raised from the lower Elements Thunder-claps which make so hideous a noise in the Clouds take their original from the Valleys or the Rivers and all those Storms that trouble the clearness of the Ayr proceed from Vapors of the Sea or Exhalations of the Earth In men that are composed of Mud and Dirt their passions arise from their bodies their Revolts proceed from the senses and all these Tempests which molest their quiet take their vigour from Flesh and Bloud but in thy divine soul it fares clean otherwise thy Passions sprung from thy Reason it was the Soul that wrought upon the Body it was the Superior part that inanimated the Inferior and it was the primum Mobile that gave motion to all the other Spheres which did depend thereon Hence came it that thou didst enjoy a profound peace that thy Victories were without Combat or thy Triumphs without Victories Thou feltest no Disorders in thy Person all was calm in thy soul and even when sadness was grown to such a height as it was able to cause thee to die it was so submiss to Reason that to obey her it agreed with Ioy its Enemy Thou wert the most content and the most afflicted of all men Thou wert able to cause Envy in the most happy Compassion in the most miserarable and Astonishment in them both Love and Hatred were never at odds in thy heart These two contraries bear respect to each other Thy Reason had such absolute power over them that they preserved their opposition without losing their good Intelligence and men were astonished to see that thy Soul which was
Laws it must take heed lest opinion endeavour to establish her self and must consult with Reason to defend it self against Errour and Falshood thus will Passions always be peaceable and their motions being regulated they will be serviceable unto virtue The FIFTH DISCOURSE That there is more disorder in the passions of man than in those of Beasts BEfore we resolve this question we must discuss another and examine whether beasts be capable of these motions which we call Passions For as our Adversaries confound them with vices and as they will have all the affections of the inferiour part of our soul to be criminal they hold that beasts are exempt from them and that having no freedom or liberty one cannot impute unto them either Virtue or Sin That they are led on by an Instinct which cannot err and if sometimes they seem to do amiss we must attribute it to providence which disordereth them for our punishment or which suffereth their unruliness to put us in mind of our wickedness 't is therefore that their motions serve for plagues to all people and that the Infidels took counsel by the flying of Birds and the Entrails of Victims that they might know what was to come or what Heaven had decreed But though Beasts be exempt from sin and that they owe their innocency to their servitude they are not notwithstanding insensible All Philosophers acknowledge they have inclinations and aversions and that according as objects give against their eyes or ears they excite desire or fear in their Imaginations In effect the nethermost part of our soul hath such correspondency with our senses as that she borrows her name from them and is called sensitive insomuch as it is almost impossible but that any thing that entreth by those passages with any contentment or detestation should cause either pleasure or pain in the soul. As beasts have these two faculties which give them feeling and life we must necessarily conclude That they have Passions that they approach to what is good out of desire and shun what is evil out of dislike that they taste the one with joy and suffer the other with sorrow This reason is confirmed by examples for we see every day how Horses are brought to manage through the fear of punishment that the Spur quickens their memory that the noise of Trumpets puts them in good humor and that very hurts do animate their courage Bulls fight for glory and joining craft with strenth dispute as hotly for the â—eading of an Herd as Princes do for the â—onquest of a Kingdom Lions in their â—ighting covet not so much revenge as â—onour when they see their enemy on the â—round their choler is appeased and having â—aken up Arms only for glories sake they â—ontent themselves with this advantage â—nd gives life to what yields the victory â—n fine they are netled as well by jealousie as by love they love faithfulness punish Adultery and wash this fault in the bloud of the guilty It cannot then be doubted but that beasts have Passions and that they are agitated with those furious motions which trouble our quiet but the difficulty is to know whether theirs or ours be more violent and whether they or we be less regulated in our motions Truth it self obligeth us to confess that our advantages are prejudicial to us and that when very Reason becomes a slave unto our senses it serves only to make our affections more unreasonable Beasts apprehend not evil but when it is nigh at hand they discern not what is to come and do not much remember what is past the present only can make them unhappy But men go about to find out casualties before they happen they seem to have a design to hasten their misadvantages and that to enlarge Fortunes Empire they will prevent the evils to which she hath not yet given birth Their fear is employed both in whaâ— is pasâ— and in what is to come and as they tremble at a missfortune which hath ceased to be so they grow pale at a disaster which hath yet no being There are but few objects wherein beasâ— are concerned set aside those things which are necessary for the maintenance of their life and you shall find they consider all other things as indifferent But men cannot bound their desires either â—y reason or necessity they extend them too beyond what is useful and seek out superfluities to increase their punishments all their Passions are so out of order as that nothing can content them That which ought to appease them incenseth them and that which is given them to satisfie their hunger serves often times only to provoke it so as one may not be said to lie if he affirm That man is only ingenuous to his own loss and that he employs the goodness of his wit only to make himself more unfortunate or more faulty Beasts are stupid their temperature which holds of the Earth makes them insensible and happily exempts them from all those evils which hurt not the body save in as much as they have hurt the Imagination Bulls must be goaded on to make them furious and these heavy lumps whose soul is but a body do little unirritated Elephants endure all things at their Masters hands they think not themselves hurt unless they see their bloud when the pain is over their choler is appeased and they become as tractable as they were before but man is of so delicate a constitution as the slightest pain offends him his blood which is of the the nature of fire is easily moved and being once moved it hurries fury throughout all his parts This fury doth its greatest outrages about the heart for she furnisheth it with such Spirits as oftentimes she causeth that to die which gives life to the whole body and to revenge her self of a particular injury she hazzards the publick welfare To compleat this mischief this Passion is so shy in man as the least matter is sufficient to provoke it A word troubleth it a motion of the head offendeth it silence sets it going not finding any thing to entertain it it devours her own Entrails and by an excess of despair turns all her rage against her self In fine The life of Beasts being uniform and nature having given them bounds narrow enough they have but a few Passions almost all their motions are caused out of a fear which possesseth them or a desire wherewith they are affected But as the life of man is more mingled and that in the course thereof it is subject to a thousand different inconveniences his Passions rise up in a croud and wheresoever he goes he finds subjects of Choler and of Fear of Pleasure and of Sorrow Therefore it is that the Poets have feigned That his soul passeth into the body of divers Creatures and that taking all their evil qualities he uniteth in his person the guile of Serpents the fury of Tygers Choler of Lions teaching us by this Fiction That man
their hatred they leave it as an inheritance to their Children they oblige them to eternal enmity and make imprecations against them if they be ever reconciled to their enemies In fine this Passion is immortal and as it resides in the bottom of the soul it accompanieth her whithersoever she goeth doth not forgo her no not when she is loosened from the Body This it is which the Poets who are the most excellent Painters of our affections would represent unto us in the persons of Eteocles and Polynices who continued their hatred after death and who went to end the combat in Hell which they begun on earth this Passion lived in their bodies deprived of Sense it passed by a secret contagion into their funeral Pile and waged war in the flames which were to consume them But I wonder not that this Passion is so opinionated since it is so daring and I think it not strange that it continues after death since it hath made men resolute to lose their lives for love of revenge and that it makes them find some contentment in death provided they see their enemies accompany them therein For Hatred ceases to be true when it becomes discreet and we may say a man is not wholly possessed therewithal when to spare his own bloud he dares not shed the bloud of his adversary When he hath given himself over to the tyranny thereof he thinks he can never purchase the pleasures of revenge at too dear a rate And propose whatever punishment you list unto him he is well-pleased therewithal provided his Passion may be satisfied Atreus wisheth to be overwhelmed under the ruine of his Palace provided it fall upon his brothers head and so cruel a death seems pleasing to him so as he be therein accompanied by Theistes In short Hatred is very puissant since all torments are endured to give it satisfaction and it useth strange tyranny upon such as it possesseth since there is no fault which they are not ready to commit in obedience to it If the proprieties of Hatred be thus strange the effects thereof are no less fatal For as Love is the cause of all generous and gallant actions Hatred is the rise of all base and tragical actions And those who are advised by so bad a Counsellor are capable of all the evil that can be imagined Murder and Paricide are the ordinary effects of this unnatural Passion 'T was this that made us see in the day-break of the world that a man might die in the flower of his age and that one brother was not secure in the company of another 'T was this that found out weapons to dispeople the world to ruinate Gods goodliest workmanship 'T was this that making man forget the sweetnes of his nature taught him to mingle poyson in drinks to shed humane bloud at Banquets to kill under pretence of hospitality 't was this that first instituted that fatal art which teacheth us how to murder with method how to kill men handsomly and which forceth us to approve of Paricide if it be done according to the laws of the world 'T was this in fine and not avarice which tore up the bosom of the earth and which sought within the bowels thereof for that cruel Metal wherewith it exerciseth its fury And to describe in a few words all the evils it is cause of it will suffice to say that Anger is her first Master-piece Envy her Counsellor Despair her Officer and that after having pronounced bloudy sentences as Judge it self puts them in execution as Hangman 'T is true that hatred never comes to these extremities till it grow unruly but this unruliness is almost natural thereunto and unless Reason and Grace labour jointly how to moderate this Passion it easily becomes excessive The fierceness thereof is oft-times augmented by resistance like an impetuous torrent it overthrows all the banks which oppose its fury and when it 's forbidden any thing it believes it may lawfully do all things therefore the remedy which is ordained for Love is no less necessary for Hatred and to heal an evil which becomes incurable by time early withstandings must be made lest gaining strength it grow furious and be the death of its Physitian for having been negligent in its cure The FIFTH DISCOURSE Of the bad use of Hatred THough the greatest part of effects produced by Hatred may pass for disorders and that after having described the nature thereof it may seem unprofitable to observe the ill use that may be made of it yet that I may not fail in the laws that I have prescribed unto my self I will employ all this discourse in discovering the injustice thereof and I will make it appear to all the world that of as many Aversions as molest our quiet there is hardly any one that is rational For as all creatures are the workmanship of God and bear in their Foreheads the Character of him that produced them they have qualities which render them lovely and goodness which is the principal object of Love is so natural unto them as it is not to be separated from the Essence to cease to be good they must cease to be and as long as they have a subsistance in nature we are obliged to confess that there remains some tincture of goodness in them which cannot be taken from them without an absolute annihilation Thus God gave them his approbation when they were first made he made their Panegyrick after they were created and to oblige us to make much of them he hath taught us by his own mouth that they were exceeding good so as the Belief of their goodness is an Article of Faith in our Religion whatsoever opposition they may have to our humors or our inclinations we ought to believe that they have nothing of evil in them and that their very qualities which hurt us have their imployments and their use Poysons are serviceable for Physick and there are certain maladies which are not to be cured but by prepared poyson Monsters which seem to be errors of nature or ordained by Providence which cannot do amiss they do not only contribute by their ugliness to heighten the beauty of other creatures but are presages which advertise us of our misfortunes and which invite us to bewail our sins the very Devils themselves have lost nothing of their natural Advantages and the malice of their Will hath not been able to destroy the goodness of their essence and though they are compleated in evil they cease not to possess all the good which purely appertains unto their nature they have yet that beauty which they did Idolatrize they enjoy all their lights which they received at the first moment of their creation they have yet that vigor which makes a part of their being and were they not restrained by the power of God they would form thunder raise storms spread abroad contagions confound all the Elements 't is true that these their advantages
voluntarily condemned themselves to fearful punishments and who have esteemed all remedies pleasing which could cure so vexatious a malady Banishment is certainly one of the cruellest punishments which Justice hath invented to chastise the guilty it separates us from all we love and seems to be a long Death which leaves us a little life only to make us the more miserable Notwithstanding we have heard of a Mother who chose rather to suffer the rigor of this torment than the violence of Desire and who would accompany her son in his banishment that she might not be necessitated to lament his absence and wish for his return Thus Nature which saw that Desire was an affliction ordained Hope to sweeten it for whilst we are upon the earth we make no wishes whereof our mind doth not promise us the accomplishment these two motions of our soul are only divided in hell where divine Justice hath condemned her enemies to frame Desires void of hope and to languish after a happiness which can never befall them They long after the Summum bonum whatever hatred they conceived against that God which punisheth them they cease not notwithstanding to love him naturally and to wish they might enjoy him though they are not permitted to hope they shall This Desire is cause of all their sufferings and this languishment is a more insufferable torment than the scorching flames than the company of the Devils and than the eternity of their Prison could they be without Desire they should be without anguish and all those other pains which astonish vulgar souls would seem supportable to them were they not adjudged to wish a happiness which they cannot hope for But it is not in Hell only that this Passion is cruel she afflicteth all men upon earth and as she serveth divine Justice as a means wherewithal to punish the guilty she is serviceable unto mercy as an holy piece of cunning wherewithal to exercise the innocent for Gods goodness causeth them to consume in desires they are in a disquiet which cannot end but with their lives they strive to get free from their bodies they call in death into their succour and say with the Apostle I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ Justice employs Desires to revenge her self upon sinners and by a no less severe than rational guidance she gives them over to this Passion to torment them their desires tend only to afflict them and their soul frames unruly wishes which failing of effects leave them in a languishment which lasts as long as doth their life In fine Divinity knowing that this Passion is the cause of all our misfortunes hath thought that she could not describe Happiness better unto us than in teaching us it was the end of all Desires Philosophy would have said that it is the end of all our evils and the beginning of all our good that it makes us forget our miseries by the sweets of her delights but Divinity which very well knows that desires are the most violent punishments which we suffer here below is content to say that happiness was the period thereof that when we should begin to be happy we should cease to wish we must also confess that Desire fastens it self to all the other Passions of our soul and that it either furnisheth them with weapons wherewithal to fight or with strength to afflict us for those Passions which make most havock in our hearts would be either dead or languishing were they not animated with Desire Love is only cruel because it coveteth the presence of what it loveth Hatred gnaws not on our Bowels save only because it desireth revenge Ambition is only angersom because it aspires after Honour Avarice tortures the Avaritious only because it thirsts after riches and all Passions are only insupportable because they are accompanied by Desire which like a contagious Malady is shed abroad throughout all the affections of our Soul to make us miserable If it be thus cruel it is not much less shameful and we are obliged to confess that it is an evidence of our weakness and indigency for we never have recourse to wishes but when our power fails us our desires never do appear but when we cannot effect them they are marks of our impotency as well as of our love it teacheth Kings upon earth that their will exceeds their power and that they would do many things which they cannot I know that desires inheartens them to proud undertakings where difficulty is always mixt with glory I know they excite their courage and that they produce that general heat without which nothing of gallantry is either undertaken or effected but they likewise teach them that there is none but God alone who is able to do what he will that maketh not fruitless wishes and that it appertains to him to change when he pleaseth desires into effects he rather wills than wishes and doth rather resolve events than desire them but amongst Princes their impotency hinders oft-times the execution of their desires they are enforced to make Vows and to implore aid from Heaven when they fail of help on earth poor Alexander seeing his dear Ephestion die could not witness his love unto him but by his desires He who distributed the Crowns of Kings that he had conquered and who made Soveraigns Slaves could not restore health unto his Favourite the vows which he offered up to heaven for his amendment were as much evidences of his impotency as of his sorrow and taught the whole world that Princes wishes witness their weakness They are also publick marks in all men of hidden poverty for every soul that desires is necessitous the soul that desires forgoes her self to seek out in another what she finds missing in her she discovers her misery by making her desires known and teaches the whole world that the felicity which she possesseth is but in appearance since it satisfieth not all her desires Great Tertullian hath therefore worthily exprest the nature of this Passion when he says it is the glory of the thing desired and the shame of him that doth desire for a thing must be lovely to kindle our desires it must have charms which may draw us and perfections which may stay us but for certain likewise the will that doth desire must be indigent and must stand in need of somewhat which makes it seek out a remedy Desire then is the honour of beauty and the shame of the unchaste it is the glory of Riches and the Avaritious mans infamy the praise of dignity and the Ambitious mans blame and as oft as Princes are prone to this Passion it gives us to know that their fortune hath more of glittering in it than of real truth that she gives not all the contentments she promiseth since they are constrained to descend from their Thrones to quit their Palaces and by shameful prosecution to seek out a forreign good which they have
to abuse them and by irrational consequences which Philosophy cannot have taught them they conclude that they ought to be wicked because God is good and that we ought to offend him because he doth not punish his enemies had not these shameless sinners lost their judgment together with their Piety they would argue after another manner and say That since God is good man must be obedient that since he is prone to forgive man ought to have a care how to offend him and that since he loves the welfare of man man ought to love his Honour But certainly if they had not these just considerations Gods mercy should not maintain in them their foolish confidence for to boot that his Mercy agrees with his Justice and that the one doth not intrench upon the others rights he hath so temper'd his Promises with his Threats in the holy Scripture as they banish from out the soul of man both Despair and Presumption to assure those that despair he hath proposed Penitency unto them the gate whereof is open to all those that repent and to terrifie the presumptuous who through their delays despise his mercy he hath made the day of death uncertain and hath reduced them to a necessity of fearing a moment which as being unknown may surprize the whole world THE FOURTH TREATISE OF Audacity and Fear The FIRST DISCOURSE Of the Nature Proprieties and Effects of Audacity and Fear IF Virtues be the more to be valued by reason of the difficulties which accompany them if such as are most painful be most beautiful we must confess that among Passions Audacity ought to be esteemed the most glorious since it is the most difficult and that it undertakes to fight against whatsoever is most terrible in the world for though Hope be generous and that she be not pleased with what is good unless it be auster yet doth the beauty thereof invite her to seek after it and the charms thereof endue her with strength to overcome the difficulties which surround it but Audacity wants this assistance and considers an object which hath nothing in it of lovely she sets upon evil and coming in to the aid of Hope she denounceth war to her enemies and proposeth no other recompense in the combat but glory she is of the humour of Conquerors who leave all the booty to their Souldiers reserving only the honour to themselves For all those that describe her nature agree in this that she is a Passion of the Soul which goes in quest of dangers to grapple with them and overcome them she may therefore be termed a natural Fortitude and a disposition to that generous Virtue which triumphs in sorrow and in death as she undertakes nothing but what is difficult she is more severe than pleasing a certain severity may be seen in their countenances whom she inanimates which sufficiently shews that her delight lies in troubles and that she hath no other pastime than what she takes in overcoming Sorrows nothing comforts her but Glory nor doth any thing nourish her but Hope with this weak succour she assails all her enemies and gains almost as many victories as she fights battels But to afford this Discourse more light we must know that good and Evil are the two objects of all our Passions Love considers Good and employs Desire and Hope to obtain it sometimes the Good proves so hard to be come by that Love through Despair forgoes it thinking it a piece of wisdom to renounce a happiness which cannot be obtained Hatred detests Evil and to withstand an enemy which declares perpetual war with it she employs such Passions as hold of her Empire she makes use of Fear and of Eschewing to keep from it and sometimes she employs Boldness and Choler to fight with it and overcome it but as Despair would never forgo a difficult good did not Fear perswade that the difficulties which attend it cannot be overcome Audacity would never undertake to set upon a dreadful evil did not Hope promise her the victory so as these two Passions cease not to be of one mind though they have different objects though the one seek after what is good and the other provoke what is evil they both labour for the quiet of the mind and by several ways endeavour the same end The truth is the condition of the one is much more sweet than is that of the other for Hope hath only a respect to the good which she desires if sometimes she cast her eye upon the difficulties which surround it 't is rather out of necessity than inclination and if she hazard her self upon some danger 't is not so much out of glory as out of profit but boldness considers only what is evil and by a certain confidence which accompanies her in all her designs promiseth her self to overcome it by her own strength Hope doth easily engage her self and being as light as vain she undertakes all enterprizes which she judgeth to be glorious and feasible but she would thereby reap nothing but Confusion did not Audacity come in to her aid and by the greatness of that Courage which is natural to her happily execute that which her companion had rashly undertaken Hope resembles the Trumpets which sound the Charge but never enter into the scuffle Audacity contrariwise is of the nature of those Souldiers who are silent and keep all their forces to fight with the enemy Hope promiseth all things and gives nothing and abuseth men with fair words which are not always follow'd by good effects but Audacity promiseth nothing and performeth much she attempts even impossibilities to make good hopes promises and endeavours to overcome the difficulties which hinder the execution thereof In fine she is so generous that her designs though they be difficult cease not to be fortunate and she is so accustomed to overcome as the Poets to give some colour to her victories which she wins contrary to the Laws of war have feigned that she hath a Divinity which encourageth her and that her Deeds are rather Miraculous than Natural But to the end that these differing qualities may the more evidently appear I will add Examples to Reasons and make it known by certain remarkable Histories how much Daring is more considerable than Hope No Monarch was ever more powerful than Xerxes and his power never appeared more than when he framed the design of conquering Greece his Army was composed of two millions of men the field-room was too little to receive a Body of men the parts whereof were monstrous the earth groaned under the weight of the Engines which he caused to be carried about to battâ—r Towns which should resist him This dreadful number of Foot and Horse drained up rivers the hail of Arrows shot from so many hands darkned the Sun those who would flatter this Prince said that the Sea was not large enough to bear his shipping and that Greece was not great enough to quarter his Troops
guided by Wisdom she will alter her nature and of a simple Passion she will become a glorious Virtue Audacity and Fortitude consider the same object and their inclinations are so like as one may say that Fortitude is a rational Audacity and that Audacity is a natural Fortitude their enemies are common and they summon all their forces to fight with them they are agitated by the same motives and seek the same end For Fortitude according to her truest definition is a Science which teacheth us either to suffer or to beat back or to provoke injuries she constantly endures all the evils which Nature is subject to she will not be dispensed withal in general Rules and knowing that the necessity of death is a sentence pronounced against all men she never appeals from it with calmness of spirit she sees sickness approach the first remedy which she applies to cure them is to think that they arise from our constitution and that they make up a part of us contagion doth not astonish her be it either for that â—he looks upon it as a punishment of sin or that she considers it as an effect of Nature she accuseth not the stars of it and pretends not to be exempt from an evil which doth not pardon Princes with a noble neglect she beats back all such disasters as take all their strength from error and which do not offend our bodies but as they hurt our imagination she defends her self against Poverty by desiring only necessary things she despiseth Honours considering that they are oftner the recompense of Vice than of Virtue she laughs at Voluptuousness knowing that it is pleasing only in appearance and that under a specious name it hideth shameful and real pains she provokes sorrow to try her courage she seeks for calamity as an occasion to exercise her Virtue and if she had not tasted the disasters of life she would think her self ignorant of the better half of what she ought to know she hath rather a greediness than a desire after dangers and since the evil she undergoes contributes unto her glory she fore runs it thinking it a point of baseness to tarry expecting it In fine she hath overcome death in its most ghastly hue nor hath the cruelty of tyrants invented punishments over which Fortitude hath not triumphed Scoevola derided the flames and witnessed more constancy in seeing his hand burn than his enemies did in beholding it Regulus was an honour to the Rack whereon he died Socrates turn'd his Prison into a School his Executioners became his Disciples and the poyson which he swallowed made his innocence glorious Camillus suffer'd banishment calmly and Rome had remained captive had not this famons Exile restored unto her her liberty Cato slew himself and though he suffer'd himself to be overcome by impatience he may at least boast of having preserved his liberty But without making use of prophane examples where Virtue is always mingled with Vice we have no Martyr which hath not overcome some Tyrant in the severity of their sufferings given many proofs of their courage The Ignatii have provoked wild beasts and as if that Death had been a courtesie they sought after it with eagerness and endured it with pleasure the Laurences have vanquisht the flames and while their bodies distilled drop by drop upon the fire-brands their tongues reproached their Judges and gave praises to Jesus Christ the Clementâ— and Agathaes have wearied their Executioners their martyrdom endured thirty years the famousest Cities of the world have served for Theaters to their sufferings all the earth hath been water'd with their bloud and Heaven hath shewn a thousand miracles to prolong their lives and to make their Triumphs more famous But if Fortitude encouraged by Charity hath held out all these brunts and had the better of all these enemies Audacity may claim to a great share in the glory for it is she that maketh Martyrs and though Grace be more powerful than Nature yet doth she not despise the assistance thereof as the soul and body conspire together to practise Virtue Nature agrees with Grace to beat down sin Boldness is the ground work of all glorious actions and had not this noble Passion fill'd the heart of the first Christians Fortitude had not gotten such glorious victories they have so much of affinity between them as they cannot subsist asunder Fortitude languisheth without Audacity and Audacity without Fortitude is rash Virâ—â—e would be succor'd by Pasion Passiâ—â— guided by Virtue Audacity is the beginning of Fortitude and Fortitude is Auâ—â—cities perfection or to speak more â—early Audacity is an imperfect Virtue and Fortitude is an accomplisht Passion But to arrive at this perfection she must have three or four remarkable circumstances the first is that she be accompanied by Justice and Prudence for he that takes up arms to ruine his Countrey deserves not to be stiled Couragious his design dishonors his Passion and his Audacity becomes faulty for his not having chosen a lawful end Let Cataline take up arms let him encourage his souldiers to the battel by his examples let him be besmear'd with his own bloud mixt with that of his enemies let him die with his sword in his hand well advanced in the scuffle and let fury choler be seen in his visage even after death he shall never pass for a couragious man his Audacity was not discreet since trespassing against all the laws of Discretion he had undertaken so pernicious a design neither was it temperate since he won his souldiers good will only by satisfying their Avarice or Uncleanness of life it was not just because he had conspired against his Countrey and it was rather an obdurateness than a greatness of courage since to compass glory he committed Paricide The second is that the motive of Audacity be generous and that the daring man expose not his life upon a slight consideration for he very well knows his own worth and not born away with vain-glory he knows his life is precious he hath preserved it with much care and if he endanger it it must be for a subject that deserves it There is a great deal of difference between a valiant man and one that is desperate the latter seeks out death to free himself from misery but the other pursues it only to discharge his duty and content his inclination he will not then engage himself in danger to purchase a little honor he will not be guided by the example of the rash he values not those Maxims which are authorized by Folly and Indiscretion but he will go whithersoever the Trumpet summons him and will throw himself though single upon a Body of Horse if he have order so to do he will die a thousand times rather than forgo the station given him in charge and he will cover the place with his body which he is not able to defend with his sword The third is to try his own