of the Heart which could not get out during this constraint But why doth he keep in his breath Why he keeps in his breath Doubtless to fortifie the motion of the other parts for that we commonly never employ this action but when we intend to give a great blow to do some other great endeavour The reason of this Effect is drawn from the nature of the Motion which is to be on some stable thing whereon the body moving upholds it self It 's thus that Beasts move that Birds flie and that Fish swim and that all other things move for in all these motions the Earth the Air and the Water or some other Body remains firm and resists the thing agitated and in proportion as the resistance and firmness is greater the motion also is greater and stronger Now as the parts of Animals lean more the one upon the other when any of them is to perform any powerful motion it 's necessary the rest keep close and even to the furthermost which contribute thereunto It must finde without it self somewhat which may sustain it self otherwise the motion of the first of these will be weak and their actions will be the less perfect Whence it comes that Birds are troubled to flye when their Legs are broken that we run not so well when our Hands are tied and leap but ill unless we stiffen our Arms and shut our Fists because those parts in the condition they then are cannot uphold as they ought to do the motions of the rest The Soul then which hath a secret knowledge of all what is beneficial unto her and who knows that in violent endeavors there must be a great and strong support for those organs which are to move retains the Breath that that air which is stopped in the Lungs may keep up the Muscles of respiration and that pressing them on all sides she stiffens them to support the rest which are engaged in the action So that we are not content onely to stop the breath but we drive it and cause it to descend down that the diaphragma may dilate it self and press the neighboring parts which thereby are rendred more fit to support those which are in motion In pursuit he shuts his Lips and his Tteeh as well the better to stop the passages of respiration as to confirm the parts whether it be that their confirmation truly contributes to the great designs we have spoken of or whether the Soul is abused in the choice she makes as being useless as it often happens in divers other occasions wherein she is hindered by Passion to discern things and to remember the true use of the organs That Coldness which is observed in the beginnings of Boldness Whence comes the coldness of the Face is nothing but a certain constancy and assurance of countenance which is not astonished at the sight of danger and which also witnesseth neither ardor nor impatience to fight And it hath been so called because that besides that it is the property of cold to render things immoveable defect of heat is commonly called Coldness Now this constancy and outward assurance comes from that which is made in the Soul and in the Spirits and which retaining the humors and the parts in the posture she findes them in hinders the blood from retiring or expanding it self and the organs from moveing For in this condition the countenance must not change colour must remain firm and settled must appear cold and resolute at the encounter of difficulties But the first cause of all these effects is that at that time the Soul raiseth it self not yet up against the enemy onely prepares herself for the combate as hath been said for when she assaults him the Spirits must rise up with her must carry blood and redress to the face and fill all with vivacity ardor and impatience The fierceness of the Countenance This Coldness is followed with a noble fierceness which animates the countenance of a Bold man chiefly when he goes into danger for it appears not commonly in the first motions of Boldness nor in the heat of fight but onely when he is ready for the assault and marcheth towards the Enemy So that it seems it is as a mean betwixt his staiedness at first and that ardor which transports him at last In effect as this Fierceness is a kind of severe and disdainful Pride which comes from the presumption and scorn which Boldness useth to inspire The Soul cannot be susceptible of it before she hath conceived a great opinion of her own strength because that is the ground of her Pride nor after she hath found any strong resistance because that makes her perceive the danger greater then she fancied it and that therefore she ought not to slight it It 's therefore onely when she is ready to fight for then she is full of the esteem which she hath of herself and then she disdains the enemy whose forces she hath not yet experimented However it be the Head is then kept erect and the Brow lifted up the look quick and full of assurance the countenance swell'd and double-gorged and hath I know not what in it that 's rude and disdainful Now all these are the effects and characters of Pride as in its place shall be said For the Soul which in this Passion swells it self raiseth up the Head lifts up the Brows and swels the Face as if she thought more room to enlarge her self or by those exterior motions she would make that appear which she hath in herself An assured look comes from that considence which accompanies its Pride and that severe and disdainful countenance from the indignation she hath to finde obstacles in her designs The Posture and the Gate contribute also to this Fierceness for all the Body keeps it self streight and set and if he stir his march is haughty and proud The Stature erects it self because the Soul raiseth and stiffens it self in the design which she hath to assault which puts the Body into such a posture as is most advantagious for it to act as we said in the Discourse of Hope As for the proud Gate it s that which Aristotle calls Magnifick which is natural to Lions and is a sign of strength and of greatness of Courage It 's performed with great and grave paces balancing the Body on either side and at every step lifting inwards and forewards the Shoulders But how difficult soever it be to express this action to the life it s yet harder to finde the true cause thereof Some have sought it in the same temperature which renders the Body robustious and have said that constitution being more firm and solid their parts also were more united and shut together and so they communicated the motion wherewith they were agitated to one another and in pursuit that when the Legs did lift themselves up and advance to go the Shoulders must be moved in the same manner Of a truth if all those
or continually to keep ones Arms stiff then if we used them to different motions because that all the Muscles agitate therein without taking any rest and herein there is but a part engaged which rests also when the other is in action Every muscle in particular grows stiff when its work operates but that is because it grows hard now it hardens by pressing and contracting the parts together for having no other action but to contract and shut up it self to bring towards it the members it ought to move it must needs take up less room and therefore its parts must be the more streightned whence this hardness comes Which although it happens out of necessity forbears not also to be sought for by the Soul as a thing which may render the body stronger and the less exposed to injuries and it is for the same reason that the skin of Animals streightens it self when they will defend themselves whence it follows that their hair and feathers stand on end as we have elsewhere declared Besides this stifness the Muscles and the skin may also acquire another by tention But because there are two sorts of it the one which is made by drawing strongly those things which may be extended as a rope or parchment the other of filling them with some body as a baloon it 's certain that Constancy cannot render those parts firm and strong by this but onely by the former And this happens when the Muscles cause a member to bend very much for those which are opposed to them and which do not agitate are constrained to lengthen out and extend themselves and by this extention they become firm and so render the skin hard It 's thus that this Passion sometimes extends the hands that the inside which they oppose to the danger may become harder and consequently more fit to resist ill As for the Body it grows stiff not onely when all its parts are stiffened but also by the support and weight which it giveth it self Now it may be upheld by some exterior prop for the Soul which puts it self on the defensive seeks both in and out of it self all what can stiffen it So that when a man is assaulted he who hath somewhat at his back to stay him up and help to support him against the effort of his enemy may make the better resistance The body also upholds it self by the situation and posture which it takes for by advancing a foot or widening a little the legs it makes for it self as it were a prop or a butteress to support it self which hinders it from being overturned on that side it rests on Add also how it also enlargeth its Basis and doth that which Art ordains for great pillars which are better upheld the larger and greater the pedestal is Lastly by making it self weighty it s less subject to be shaken because that augmenting its weight it the better resists the motion of those things which beat against it and so renders it more firm and more stable in its situation But how can it make it self heavy Certainly it is not that it hath more weight then it had but it is that it makes it more efficient by the motion which it gives it self for weighty things have much more strength and make incomparably a greater impression when they are moved when the Body therefore stiffens it self it burthens all the superior parts on the lower and those pressing the earth by the motion of the Muscles which are destined for that purpose they make an effort which augments the force of the weight which they sustain and so render the Body more firm and less easie to be shaken Besides these motions this Passion employs also that of the Hands to oppose herself against the shock she is threatened withal for as they are parts destined to the service of the body she freely exposeth them and hazards them to save it from danger and useth them as Barriers to stop the enemy or as a Buckler to receive the assaults for which cause she opens them that she may cover and defend a greater space she extends them to render them stronger and harder and she advanceth them that she may break and dead the violence of the blows which she cannot hinder from falling on it This is what we had to say of the Characters of Constancy for the rest which we have observed in its description they belong unto her onely by reason of those Passions which sometimes mix themselves with her So Cries Sighs Tears Groans the weakness of the Body proceed all from Pain Indignation Threatnings Blows follow Boldness or Anger The sweetness of the Eyes the gayness of the Countenance arise from the contentment which Love Desire and Hope propose PART III. CHAP. I. The Characters of Anger ALthough Anger be a flame which Nature kindles in the soul of all Animals The Elogy of Anger and that it may be compared to that fire which shines in the Stars for the preservation of the Universe It 's strange that it 's almost never considered but as a frightful Comet which declares and produceth nothing but fire and sword and that Humane Reason should be so unjust as always to condemn a Passion which always fights for Reason and for Justice Yes without doubt since she is onely raised in the Soul to repel injuries and to chastise those she believes have unjustly offended her we may boldly say that she never arms herself but against Violence and ever sides with Reason and Equity It is not but that men which abuse all the most useful presents of Nature do often make it serve evill designs but besides that to judge according to Reason of the price and value of things we must not consult concerning the abuses which are found in them nor the ill use which may be made of them It 's certain that when she appears most unjust she hath motives which seem equitable that she must at least have the appearance of Justice to oblige her to take arms and that if she be deceived therein it is not she that is to be accused but rather Malice and Error who call her to their releif As we do not blame Souldiers who are of a Princes Guard when they follow him in temerous enterprises and that it 's sometimes the duty of a good Subject to obey a Tyrant neither must we condemn Anger which was submitted to Reason to serve for its guard and defence when she follows it in its irregularities and obeys its orders how unjust soever they be In a word it is not in corruption we are to seek the purity of Anger we must go back to its source and enquire in the first channels wherein it runs if it hath Vertues and Qualities useful for life and worthy the praise we have given it If it be then true that she comes from Nature and that this Nature is nothing else but the Art of God and the effusion of his goodness and wisdom
life of men since thereby we become liberal courteous and generous it teacheth us to be discreet obedient and faithful it renders us abundant eloquent and ingenious and for that same cause the wisest man among the ancients formerly said that he was ignorant in all things but in the art of love forasmuch as he esteem'd that love is the school of honor and vertue and that wheresoever it reigns it brings peace abundance and Felicity And indeed had it not been altered by men it had never produced any othereffects but those and we had not been obliged to have added to its Elogies the crimes of which it is accused and the ills which at all times it hath done through the whole world but as the fire how pure soever it be raiseth stinking and dangerous fumes if it take in a corrupted matter you are not to wonder if this divine flame being bred amongst those vices wherewith the nature of man is infected produceth only filthy desires forms only evil designs and if instead of the good things it ought to bring mankinde it cause only troubles anxiety and misfortunes We have not undertaken here to give an account of all its disorders neither will we stain this discourse with the blood and the infamy it hath brought into Families and States nor with the sacriledges wherewith it hath violated the most sacred things it will be sufficient to say that its the most dangerous enemie wisedom can have For as much as of all those passions which may disturb her there is only love against whom she hath no defence those which enter nimbly and impetuously into the minde are but almost of a moments continuance and reason finds its excuse in their precipitation those others which move slowly by little and little she perceives them coming and can either stop their passage or in that weak condition drive them away But love slides in so secretly that its impossible to observe its entry or its progresse like a maskt enemy it advanceth and seazeth on all the principal parts of the soul before it is discovered when there is no means to be found to get him out then he triumphs and wisedom and reason must become his slaves and 't is what in my opinion the ancients would have said when they fained Love sometimes to be the Father of the gods and sometimes that he was a Demon which causeth them to descend from Heaven to Earth Because its certain that this passion hath mastered the wisest men in the world and that it was not without cause that Lais once vaunted to have seen more Philosophers with her then of any other kinde of men But let us leave these subjects for lovers to entertain their complaints withall and without interessing our selves either in the praise or dispraise of love le ts consider from the Port where we are the stormes it raiseth in the soul and in the body The first wound that beauty gives the soul is almost insensible and although the poyson of love be already in her and that it s even disperst through all her parts yet doth she not beleeve herself sick or at least thinks not her mischief so great For as we doe not give to Bees the name they bear but only when they have a sting and wings so neither is love called love but when he hath his arrows and can flye that 's to say when he is pungent and unquiet At first we take it for a simple likeing or a complacency we bear to so lovely a Person with whose presence we are pleased of whom we delight to discourse whose remembrance is sweet and the desires we have to see and entertain her are so calm that wisedom with all its severity cannot condemn them even she approves them and passeth them for civilities and necessary duties but they are not long at a stand they by little and little encrease and at last by the frequent agitatiou of the Soul they kindle that fire which was there hid and cause that flame to encrease which burns and devours it then this pleasing image which never presented it self to the minde but with sweetness and respect becomes insolent and imperious it enters every moment or more fully to express it it never leaves it it mixeth with its most serious thoughts it troubles the most pleasing and profanes the most sacred it even slides into our dreams and by an insufferable perfidiousness it shews it self in them severe and cruel when there is nothing to be fear'd or abuseth us with a vain hope when we ought truly to dispair then love who before was but a child becomes the Father of all the passions but a cruel Father who hath no sooner produced one but he stiffles it to make room for an other which he spares no less then the former at once he causeth a hundred kinds of desires and designes to live and dye and to see Hope and Dispair Boldness and Fear joy and grief which he causeth continually to succeed one another Despight and Anger which he makes to flash out every moment the mixture of all these passions its impossible but you must fancie some great tempest where the fury of the wind raiseth throws down and confounds the waves where lightning and thunder breaks the clouds where light and darkness heaven and earth seem to return to their first confusion But as there are times when storms are more violent and more common there are also encounters wherein this tempest of Love is stronger and more frequent The chief in my opinion are the presence and the absence of the beloved person her love and her hate and the concurrence of a rival and we may say that these are the five acts wherein all the accidents and all the intricacies of this Passion are represented at least if there are others they pass behind the curtain and out of the spectators sight If it happen then that a lover be absent from his beloved object disquiet and fretting pursue him everywhere he hath no friends but are importunate the divertisements which were most pleasing to him are troublesome in short there is nothing in his life which displeaseth him not but silence and solitude as if he were possest with those strange diseases which makes us hate the light and men he loves nothing but darkness and deserts there he entertaines the woods the brooks the winds and the stars they have nothing as he fancies but what is conformable to the humour of her he loves and to the pains he suffers he calls them insensible as she is and finds them like him in perpetual agitation and after having a long time tormented his spirit with such like Chimeras he begins to think of those happy moments when he shall again see that desirable object that he may speak to her and give her an account of his sighs and of the tears he shed in her absence sometimes he meditates the complaints wherewith he must soften her rigor the