't is wisedome to hold their peace Quisque Tacenâ— sapit and Love makes the most ignorant to become witty for he teaches them the wit to love Love a great Master sure must be Who can so soon teach Clowns Philosophie So sings Marini and Tasso In lov's school what cannot be learn'd I wonder that Lovers should desire and long for nothing more than the dark night as a reward for their services or an earnest of their enjoyments as if not deserving the amorous delights they waiâ—e for night to have the opportunity to steal them do not the eyes infinitely encrease the enjoâ—ments of a beauty and does not the sight according to Plato enflame the affections of the body in a moment and being assisted by the objects seen renews with mighty power and creats fresh desires in our hearts and souls This is truth and wherefore then is darkness so much longed for whose black vaile can only hide the charm's of beauty from the eyes Wherefore is that black night so much wish'd for which only Eclipses the beloved Sun Most understanding most divine lovers They know love is not begot or bâ—ed but by Silence being therefore willing to beget affection in their Mistresses hearts they first seek out the deepest silence which ordinarily makes its residence in the solitary Palace of the night Hatred is the of spring of the Tongue which commonly affronts and wounds the calmest and most patient spirits which makes its venom the more incureable and insupportable and therefore all those that have much Tongue are naturally odious and hated For this cause Scilla according to the testimony of Plutar hated the Athenians more for their words than actions Now then if the Tongue be so great an enemy unto love by the reason of contraries love is the only child and issue of Silence And from whence proceeds the love of Princes towards their favorites but from their Silence should not the favorites be faithful Privado's to conceale the secrets and vices of their Princes they could never bear such sway and so Tyrannize over their affections as they do The Athenians were once invited by the Ambassadors of King 〈◊〉 and these to trace a path to the love and favour of the King knowing that all they said would come to his ear they all in a vain oftentation bragg'd and vanâ—ed either of their Births Valours or other high deserts only Zenon alone more wise than all the rest kept himself silent For which cause one of the Ambassadors asked him Zeno and what shall we tell the King of thee Tell him replied Zenon that in Athens there is an old man that can hold his Tongue a most prudent answer and worthy of so great a Philosopher since the love of Princes cannot be obtain'd but by Silence Women do not love men so entirely as they would because they are not more secret could they but hope or be assured of Silence in them they would love them all most infinitely and conforme themselves readily to any of their desires And women expecting love from Men to them again cannot believe there is any true love where there is not an inviolable Silence 〈◊〉 da Lamporecohlo says that only by being verily thought to have no Tongue it bred and inspired love and lasciviousness in the very bosoms of those Nunns that had made vowes of Chastity and virginity and therefore Marino when he would perswade his Lady to love bragg'd that he had Silence in possession And our excellent Master Cowley â—en out of Wisdome women out of pride The pleasant theses of love do hide That may secure thee but thou hast yet from me a more infalliable security For ther 's no danger I shall tell The joyes which are to me unspeakable What thing Sirs is more hideous and fearful then the stormy Sea unruly implacable unmerciful which though it contain the worlds greatest riches in its own empire already does yet every day swallow up the Merchants wares and treasures Those that do not dread and hate its deafning roarings must either be ignorant of its power and danger or lodg a heart of brass within them when it murmurs softly t is treacherous and deceitful and if it loudly roare then t is infinitely perilous But yet if with an absolute gentle calm it smoothes its self into a Looking-glass or so far imitate the even vault of Heaven as to wear the perfect Image of the Sun with all its beauty in its warry bosom which any curious Eye may safely look upon without offending the sight Then who does not delight in 't and love it who does not praise and admire it By this therefore appears that love is the child of Silence Wherefore is the Musick and Harmocy of the Sphear's so much celebrated and lov'd but because t is so silent to our ears which Silence alone does create and beget our venerations and love towards it Nay the very Heavens it self becomes fearful and hateful to us when with a thundering mouth and a fiery Tongue it blasts or threatens poor Mortals and on the contrary how much it is beloved when with a clear and serene Countenance it smiles upon us and by its Silence seems to study new blessings for us And wherefore is Silence so strictly commaded to all religious people but because Silence begets love and therefore they by a sacred and Religious Silence should strive to get the love of God in their hearts and learn what veneration is due to such a Majesty But whil'st I make Love to be the ofspring of Silence I would not have my much talk beget your hatred towards me Nor would I have it said to me Aut sile aut meliora quovis afferos silentio I shall therefore now hold my peace hoping that my silence will beget your Love towards me III. What thing does most prejudice the Beauty of the Face BEauty is natures silent Letter of recommendation written in divine Characters which flatteringly insnares the Soul to its most sweet Tyranny whose empire by how much it is the more excellent so much the shorter is it's duration for the greater the beauty the shorter liv'd it is and the more tempting and grateful to our Eyes the sooner does it flie away T is but a flash of Lightning which vanishes as soon almost as it appears and cannot be fixed even by the possessors of it themselves Poor Beauty somtimes transform'd by Age into a grave where it lies buried alive in the deep wrincles of its own ruin'd face and sighs for ever after for its own frailty sometimes tormented with the passions of the Soul or the various accidents of Fortune sometimes fowly blasted by envious Tongues or an unhandsome disease and most commonly hurried to the Chambers of death in the midst of its florid spring or maturer summer by the inexorable cruelty of fate Briefly it is the decree of Heaven that all things
then by showing the coales and sooty smoak upon his face The face can never express its grief for the sick heart so well as by cloathing it self in such a mourning habit Nor can the beloved give any credit to his affection unless she see him cloud his face with sorrow grieving for his lost heart and liberty Who can deny but such a face must needs become an Ethiope which is continually exposed so neer the rayes of two most ardent suns Omnia combusta nigrescunt That lover which does not cloath his face with black detracts from the merits of his Mistriss as if the beams that daâ—ted from her eyes had not the power to draw a veile of darkness over his face The lovers face ought to appear in such a manner as is most likely to move his Ladies Eye to pitty and what colour is more likely to obtain that pitty than black and mourning weeds which death it self doth mingle with its horrours The lover ought to wear upon his face the signs of what he ever most desires and what should a lover more desire either to receive or steal his amorous enjoyments than a dark midmight whereof this black is a good Simbol on his face The lovers face ought to be black thereby to show his Lady the secrecy of his affections as having hid them from the Eyes and knowledg of the world amid'st that darkness or else to demonstrate his constancy which like the black receives no alteration nor cannot mask it self under any new appearance as other colours do The lover ought to seek all advantages for his beloved and therefore having a black face it will preserve her sight Nor does the black dissipate or segregate those purer Atomes and lively spirits issuing from her eyes Nigrum vim obtinet congregandi Black is a sign of an indefatigable and robust strength ever much desired by the beloved because they presuppose a great heat in that brest which hath even cann'd and scorch'd the very face And then t is likewise a sign of a great humility that even the very beauty of the face is retreated from thence into the heart in honor and reverence of her presence By the Frontispiece we come to a great knowledge of the work by this Porch we may give a guess of the whole Fabrick and how can we then describe the amorous Hell in a heart but by the funest horrors of a black face Paleness in a face is not alwayes a sign of love Those that betray and they that are betray'd such as fear or hope or hate or envy have ordinarily a constant paleness dwelling on their Cheeks A lover cannot merit any thing by such a Colour which may proceed from so may different causes hardly known by the lover himself Other more brisk and lively colours cannot signifie love a lovers soul is too much oppressed to leave such signs of joy upon the face The face does first of all declare the passions of the soul and is the truest Index of the heart therefore to conclude I do believe there is no colour that can so well befit a lovers face as black alone II. That Silence is the true Father of Love SO great is the love that is bred in me towards your selves most vertuous Academ When I observe your favourable silence and attention to what I say that I find my self oblig'd to affirm that silence is the true Parent or Father of love I shall not at this time go to distinguish of the sorts of love because I would not confound them But I will treat of love in general because the practise of one single love shews either a want of affection or of deserts Silence Illusters Academs is very ancient it being indeed brother to that darkness out of which the first light was extracted Nay if it were possible for any thing to have had being before the eternal being of God himself certainly it must have been Silence Now on the other hand Love according to Plato's and Hesiods testimony was the first deity which the veneration of antiquity brought forth and therefore it could not possibly have any other Parent then Silence But suppose we that Love is the child of Venus which nevertheless I dare not believe because true love cannot have its Original in an impure breast how ever Silence was the Father of it For says Epicharis Silence inspires women with good thoughts and Nicostrates delivers that 't is the reward and wages of chastity Democritus that it serves for a rare Ornament and Sophocles that it adds much honor and reputation to them In a word all the spoiles which the pride and Luxury of Asia or the novelties that Africa produces could not so much beautifie and adorne a woman as Silence alone does it being the most desireable thing that can be in them And should we then believe that Venus the most haughty and ambitious of all the Goddesses who to heighten and add luster to her beauty and Majesty sent poor Psyche even to the bottom of the lowest Hell has not had to do with Silence and made use of her amorous Soveraignity first of all on him who has so much amability and Phiâ—lias surely for the same reason plac'd the Tortoyse which is the Hâ—ero-glyphiek of silence at the feet of that Goddess as 't were to put her in remembrance of her dearest and first lover Nor ought this truth to be doubted at all since adulterers above all other things do love Silence But it may be objected that it does not conclude that Silence is the true Father of Love because Venus has had some amorous league and interest with it since unchaste women at all times abandoning themselves to the wanton embraces of any one cannot themselves easily know the right Father of their Issues unless somtimes it may be guessed by the resemblance which it bears with the true Parent Let us therefore examine what resemblance there is betwixt this love and Silence by the Greeks was figured very young and handsome and so littlewise is love described to be pretty and youthful Silence is represented holding one finger upon its mouth to shew 〈◊〉 cannot speak and love being but a baby or childe cannot surely pronounce one word which is experimented in lovers who grow dumb at the very pâ—esence of the beloved object and wherefore did antiquity portray Silence with two wings as they did Love unless to demonstrate the Image of the Father and the Son Who then can doubt Silence having been beloved by Venus and love bearing the same shape and Image with silence but that it must needs be the true Son of Silence But will you also see how a like they are in their manners and customs Love alwayes rewards those that Love Love the reward of Love In like manner the rewards of Silence do never fail Tutta Silentii praemia Silence makes the most foolish become wise for
of Civility than of Conscience If I have not performed it sufficiently that cannot be esteemed a crime or make me deserve their hate since he acquits himself fully that performs what he is able and is not defective to his power in serving them X. Whether blushing be a sign of Vertue THose that believes that blushing is a sign of Vertues ought only know how to Blush But I who have by experience found the prejudice of blushing can affirme with reason that it is rather an argument of vice than of virtue An accident that flows from many unhandsome causes and imperfections cannot be a sign of merit since no man can be thought praise worthy for what he does accidently and therefore what esteem can he deserve for that which is not his but accidently They that blush do fear So Arist. will have it Rubescunt qui timore officiuntur He that fears is pusillanimous and base Degeneres animos timor arguit Sings Virg. Therefore who can affirm that fear the Of-spring and Issue of baseness can be a testimony of vertue Blushing be tokens shame for our errors Rubescunt says Alex. ab Alex. qui pudent He that is asham'd hath erred and shall we then believe that to be a good effect which proceeds from so bad a cause That the Plants of Vertue should spring from roots of Vice They that have such flames in their faces must needs have a fire in their bosomes and who can affirme that soul is not black that is ever exposed to so much heat or that heart not suffocated which is buried amidst so many Coales Cinders Blushing is a reproof for some guilt as if the bloud were sent from the heart into the face to correct or restrain the errors of the hand or tongue He that blushes cannot merit because that act is violent not voluntary and even as we cannot sin without the assent of the will so neither can one merit without the consent of the Soul or mind Blushing is an affect of the Ambition of the heart which perhaps would express its sentiments beyond the volibility of the tongue but wanting the power of speech imprints those Characters on the Cheeks to be the better understood The accidental signs and appearances in the face of Heaven can be token nothing but malignant effects 〈◊〉 do ever presage some evils The face of man is the Heaven of thaâ— Microcosme being marked therefore with those signs of blushes it cannot betoken any Vertue Blushing is nothing else but a concourse of blood Rubor says Simplicius fit cum sanguis recurrit à corde ad faciem Wrath Ambition Lust and a thousand other vices are occasioned by the concourse of blood and therefore cannot deserve praise or signifie vertue Blushing is an imperfection and therefore Women who are more imperfect and more enclined to commit errors than men are more subject to blush Lovers wax pale because knowing that blushing betokens no vertue or goodness it cannot help them to attain the affections or esteem of their beloved and indeed who would not suspect that heart of cruelty that wears those bloody Colours on the Face Wiser in this then any other thing are many Women who to conceale this sign of shame paint themselves to hide their blushing that so the most curious eye may not be able to find them guilty of the least crime or errour Wherefore do you think wise nature ordaines men old men especially to become bloodless pale and wan and their faces to be covered with overgrowing hair but only to hinder or hide their blushing it being convenient only for Women and Children as most subject to failings and guilty errours I have chosen to speak this whil'st every one was drouzy that I might not be seen to Blush And I have blamed it that I might not be thought to praise my self being so subject to this imbecillity And I would have said more did I not fear I should be forced to blush at my Prolixity XI Whether one can Kiss their beloved without Lasciviousness or Sensuality SOme verily esteem Kissing to be a thing of smal moment Rem ajunt esse oscula inanem Says Theoc. And this is so approved by Piâ—istratus a Tyrant of Athens a man otherwise odious for his enormous cruelty who being instigated by his wife to chastize a youth that had Kissed her daughter openly in the street he smiling said what would'st thou have done to thy enemies since thou desirest I should punish him who by kissing thy daughter shows he is her friend Guarini likewise makes but smal reck'ning of it since he writes One Kiss for so much pain and trouble Cruel One Kiss for so much Faith my hearts dear Jewel The great reward you vow'd and promised me Cannot with empty Kisses payed be But that one can Kiss the beloved person without Lasciviousness or Sensuality I believe it an impossible supposition and a conceit of such an imagination as knows or has no other ground of truth than in their souls that know not the power of Kisses T is true that a Kiss as Plato says is a conjunction of the Soul more than the Lips transmitting sweet and lively spirits into eithers heart Dum semibulco suavio Meum puellum suavior Dulcemque florem spiritus Duco ex aperto tramite Anima tune aegra saucia Cucurrit ad labiae mihi c. Now this Conjunction withall being made with these humane and corporial organes it is impossible but they must impart some Lascivious sensuality thereby and affect the sences with it Which Plato also affirms saying that love is begotten by some certain invisible spirits which subtilly are transmitted from the beloved Eyes into the Lovers heart Qui videtis peccat qui non te viderit ergo Non cupiet facti crimina lumen habit If therefore it be true that the Eyes by vertue of their looks only have so much power to inchant a soul what cannot the Lips do which are so full of those Amorous Philters and can so easily call forth the Soul unto them There 's none shall either Hands or Lips controule I 'le Kiss thee through I 'le Kiss thy very Soul Quid enim aliud faciunt says Favorinus qui ora mutus tangunt quam animas conjungunt and Rufinus the Poet Tangit autem non in summis laboris sed trahens Os animam etiam ex unguibus extrahit A Kiss violated Claudius Caesar to the incestuous match with Agrippina Kisses are Lovers rewards to which they aspire with Myriads of Prayers and sighs and services And therefore if Kissing were without sensuality Lovers would never shew so much greedy desire and avidity for them nor would the beloved be so niggardly and sparing of them Petrarch who understood perhaps more than any other what were the effects of Love speaking of his Laura's Kisses says A Kiss it is makes every one rejoyce Now if the sight or beholding others only Kiss have
beans and because the Ancients were ever particularly Religious towards beans This is Pliny's sentiment Faba ab hoc Pytagorica sententia damnata quoniam mortuorum animae sunt in ea ut alii tradidere In eadem peculiaris Religio For my part I should believe that piercing Genius who from antiquity deserved the attribute of divine intended by somewhat that was very remote from the cognizance of those times to instruct posterity and in particular those that should have the fortune and virtune to interpret the hidden Misteries of his Symbols Whence I perswade my self that he meant that men should abstain not from Fabis but Facbis That is from doing ill things twice since for the first time we may meet with all the favours of compassion but at the repitition we deserve no less than the severest castigation XVI In Dispraise of Women VVOman is the fairest and most amiable object in the world the greatest and most precious gift God has bestowed upon humanity Because by means of her the spirit of man is raised to contemplation and contemplation carries our desires to the knowledg of things divine we may say with reason therefore that woman was bestowed upon us for an earnest and an essay of the blessings of heaven and for this perhaps the Flamins loosing their wives were deprived of their sacred office to demonstrate that the womans perfection added merit to the sacrifices and who does not see for a woman man forgets himself nay becomes his own enemy and if at any time he fix his eyes upon a beauteous face his body trembles and at the same instant burns and freezes and like those who unexpectedly beholds some divine object is agitated and moved with a celestial fury Finally being recovered and having recollected their spirits again they reverence women in their thoughts Love them with their souls and acknowledging all that is due to a Deity offer themselves upon the alter of a Ladies heart their victime and sacrifice Consider therefore in what trouble I am involved since I must blame the noblest work of God and the greatest Miracle on Earth But here I now am against women who may justly glory in their fortune that the meanest of all men is chosen to single out and muster up their defects Woman is an imperfect Animal an errour of nature and a Monster of our species If difformed she is a torment to the Eye if beauteous a plague to the heart If beloved she becomes a Tyrant if hated an inveterate enemy she knows no mean distinguishes with no reason and knows not that Justice hath a being In her thoughts she is inconstant in her desires inordinate and implacable in her anger Her Love proceeds from interest her faith from necessity and her Chastity from fear If she speak she lies when she smiles she deceives and if she weep betrayes Her mouth is ordinarily filled with the honey of flattery but her breast with the poyson of envy with her Eyes she affascinates with her arms inchaines with Kisses stupifies and with the other delights robs the intellect and reason and transforms men into beasts In a word the tempests of the Sea the fury of a Torrent the greediness of fire the Miseries of poverty and all other evils are smal in Comparison of a woman who is so great an evil as cannot be exprest Homer introducing Agamemnon for speaker makes him say that with all the power and liberty of Imagination there cannot be conceived or found a more envious and wicked thing than a women T is the opinion likewise of Menander who asserts the woman to be a compendium a center and a treasury of all Evils because where Women be there wickedness abounds like the sands in the Sea And therefore St. Jerome writes that to find a woman inriched with goodness is as rare as a Phaenix And the Lawgivers d to demonstrate that 't is not at all necessary to have Laws for things which rarely or never happen bring for example that there is no need of having any Laws for good women as being things which in my opinion are seen hardly in any age Because goodness in a woman is a wonderfull accident and against nature with reason therefore did Plato doubt whether he should assign a place for women among beasts or rational creatures in regard of the imbecilliâ—ty imperfection and malice of their sex The Poets representing Pallas for the Goddess of Wisdome say she was born without a mother only of Jove's brain to teach us that wisedome never proceeds from women who are totally deprived of Counsel and prudence And wherefore Sirs do the most enormous vices and the greatest sins pass under feminine names but because women are the Compendium and center of all that is most wicked and execrable in the world and therefore no wonder if they have merited titles equal to their deserts from the most renowned authors Horace calls then deceitful Apulcius wicked Catull variable Plut naught and malicious Sil. Ital. Imbellis Ausonius cunning Juvenal Prodigal Euripede a grand Evil Aristophanes Libidinous Homer contentious Nicetas accursed Seneca the teachers and fomenters of all baseness In a word Femina nulla bona est si bona contigit ulla Nescio quo satto mala facto bona est Optum a nulla potest eligi alia alia pejor est Hear Ariosto I beseech you thus he praises the Woman Importunate proud and disrespectful Without or Love or Faith or any Counsel Temerary Cruel Unjust Ungrateful Born to the Worlds Eternal plague most hatefull And now â—irs I think I have performed my obligation I hope the women will pardon me if they have taken any offence at my words because I was bound to obey herein speaking evil of a Sex which is holy and from whom I have received my being But he hath said nothing that has spoken ill nor does the Sun loose any of its brightness though it be cursed by the Ethiopians XVII What naturall defect is the most Excusable T Is the Conclusion of the most wise that excessive or over much sleep is a Servile vice an enemy to the most worthy discipline prejudicial as Plato asserts both to body soul and action I nevertheless who alwayes have a sleepy and drowsie spirit do easily flatter my self with this persuasion that amongst all natural deffects it is the most excuseable That deffect sirs is most excusable which is most natural whil'st nature operates in us But what thing is more natural than sleep if we will believe Aristotle which is a gift of God given us to restore strength and refresh our wearied Limbs after hard labour The Contemplation of death is one of the first Lessons by which wise men undertake and pretend to teach us to live well Murder Avarice sensuality and other such like kinds of Vices will hardly
if you do grant this Caprichio give me leave to conclude that there is nothing more proper to nourish affection than tears since they are milk and Love is still a Child If any one should ask a Lover they would return this answer that the tears are no other than the quintescence of the soul distilled through those Eyes which pretend to teach us thereby how liberal we should be of our Love to them who do so prodigally wast their souls for us Others have said that tears are extracted from the purest blood in the heart which may serve us for an argument that if the blood of Caesar dead had power to move the souls of the Romans to a Mutiny much more will these living drops of the fair weepers Eyes be able to stir up our Affections to Mutinies and Tumults And if you say that this might be tumultuous because a Tyrants remember that beauty likewise is no other than a Tyrant But to know whether the power of tears be greater than of singing consider that these move by nature only and singing all by Art I know you will not deny but that a spring which casts forth pure and murmuring streams out of its Rocky bosome naturally does flatter and delight our sences more then those magnificent and stately Romane fountains though those artificial structures have no stone in them which is not worth a treasure A pure and unsophisticated beauty how much more it does charme and captivate our hearts than such as are made handsome only by art your selves may judg who have so often yeilded to their commanding swetness The Poets seigned Cupid always naked to shew us that a natural beauty naked of all false cloathing artifice does soonést tempt insnaâ—e and wound the soul but if you reflect upon singing you shall not find one note which is not artificial nor hear one sigh but what is seign'd somtimes it seems to languish in a whyning passion and tell sad tales then streight turns into joyful strains again Dissembling all its passions cunningly changing it self into an hundred severall humors of mirth and sadness and if it have any thing pleasing in it it must be somthing only natural and how can the soul possibly Love that singing which glories in its bewitching fraud and vaunts that it obtains respect and reverence only by a sweet nothingness To express the power of singing sayes one it is an inchantment but sirs if you will know how much weeping prevailes above it remember that that Armida who otherwhile triumphed over the Marrial Squadrons by power of her inchantments was forced to make use of her tears to add more Vigour to those very inchantments So that the spirits and furies themselves are too weak to resist the charms of a beauteous weeper Nor need we wonder at it for theirs at most is but an infernal power and the tears dropping from a handsome Face are no less than the showers even of a clouded heaven Musitians themselves confess that to add more vigour to their singing they are necessitated to make use of frequent sighs trembling quavers and soft languishing strains and what else are these but parts of sorrow and weeping These they make use of because otherwise that musiâ—k would seem to have no life or spirit in it that could not humor its passion with a deep sadness and sighing affection Consider therefore the power of weeping from which even singing it self does borrow so much help That Ambiâ—ious Musitian gloried that he had redeemed his dear Euridice from Hell by the powerful sweetness of his voice But let me rather say that if he did obtain her because he sung so excellently well perhaps he lost her so suddenly again because he did not weep sufficiently And what can you imagine the heavens desires or expects from us unless it be Love When it so often poures down shours of tears Pythagoras believed that the Sphears were ever making a sweet harmony But I see that we often returne thanks to heaven for its weeping but never for its imaginary musick Poets have sometimes commended a beauty hid under a mourning Cypress vayle as if the resplendant Beams of such a beauty being concentred together should through that obscurity thus united have the more power to make a speedy conquest over the Soul Now observe Sirs that a weeping beauty is a beauty clad in its morning weeds which should merit our affections the sooner because it seems to put on that sad habit to perform the obsequies for your expired liberty By the Law of Nature we should give credit to their affections which can bring good witness that they Love Now what are such tears else but testimonies of a heart that Loves sincerely which come to Natures tribunal attending on the Soul to demand a Reciprocall Correspondence Aristotle says that our tears are a kind of sweat and if we justly merit wages for sweat and labour who can deny the reward of Love to those fair Eyes which perhaps sweat and pant lying under the burden of an amorous affection Tears have such efficacy to Enamour that I believe the offerings of Myrrhe and Incense are grateful and pleasing to the gods for no other Reason but because they are Tears though shed by senceless trees Those lighted Candles which often shine upon a sacred Altar where we implore the grace of Heaven if you but marke it do never burn without letting fall some drops like tears perhaps to teach fair Eyes that if the tears even of inanimate lights have power to move the heavens the drops of two such bright and living torches must needs have as much influence on Men. We do not ordinarily ascribe any other Epithets to musick than those of melody and sweetness But when we treat of tears we use to call them by a more Viril name womens arms or Weapons Now do you guess Sirs whether they be not potent since they have obtained even the name of Weapons And I believe it was for no other reason that the gods blinded Cupids Eyes but only because if he could have added tears to the power he hath already there were no means left for any to resist his power and might Our infant age does most require the Love and tender affection of others by reason of our own insufficiency And yet natures Care has provided us with nothing else in that age but only our tears And are they so potent in our infancy that even a child though bound by Nature and reason to be under the Fathers Tuition and Jurisdiction Yet weeping tenderly does seem to claime and often over swayes the parents will Who will say then that tears are not most powerfull instruments since they have so much strength though managed by a weak unskilful Child Tears are the Language of the Soul and passions taught us by natures self that it might be the better understood by every one Tears are the Souls Ambassadours which being sent to declare the state of its own
affections does often lye in waite and catch the liberty of others They require no other Audience but our Eyes knowing those requests are most potent which pass through them into the heart They express their Message without a Tongue and are silent with wonderful efficacy Consider then the power of those tears which being dumb can yet perswade so sweetly Nature it self seems in this contest to yeild the palme of Victory to tears since she has framed the Arches of the Eye-brows over their Cisterns to declare that they are triumphant Such are the Prerogatives of Tears that they may be thought injured when but compared to singing Consider Sirs that if at any time a disdainful passion turns Gyant-like a rebel against that Heaven of beauty they opening their Flood gates can quickly drown'd them in the precious Deluge Or if at any time a stubborn soul resolve to be reconciled again to the offended Diety of Love these Advocates present the humble Petitions which never are rejected If somtimes the thoughts reflect upon a wished for happiness these officious associates do strait way waite upon the grateful memory If somtimes one do absent themselves from their dear Countrey or from their dear beloved object these alone are wont to be left behind I know not if I should say together as Companions with the soul or as pledges for it If sometimes the affection be Gasping and dying nay quite dead in the breast of disdainful Lovers nothing but these can bring it to life again an extinguished affection being often raised into a flame again by being only deplorated Now what can be compared or paralelled with these tears which have the power and vertue even to revive the dead But Sirs if you please briefly in one argument to comprehend the power of tears consider that they have not been afraid to appear and fall in this House of Musick and even contest with that musick it self for the Preheminence FINIS a Ep. 1. b Nel. 5. dell in f. c Genesis cap. 1 a Arist. de Col. a Arist. loc cit a Passim amorem ex antiquissimis dis esse concedetur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 conviviâ— b Caeâ— Rho. lib. 8. cap. 25. a Claud Minoe sop l'alicate emb 106. b Silentium mulieri prestat ornamentum Arist. 1. Poâ—et c Inhumanis silentia nihil optubilius 〈◊〉 oalcay d Luc. Apul. Meth. lib. 3. a Piero vader Giero lib. 12. b Cart. p. 136. a Marins b dante c cal 〈◊〉 di silent d Marini Idie Past. e Torqua Taste a Plut. lib. 3. quest conu q. 6. b Nimia facilitate linguae amicittiis odia suve dere a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 5. b Nullum garrulum qui non odiosis sil cael calea descrip silentii c Plut. de Garruâ— d Plut. loc cit Garrul a Boccac Decameron a Maria. Nella Lera p. 3. b Cowleys Mistriss the enjoyment a Formosa facies nula commendatio est Pub. Sir apud stob b Scias nec gratius quidquam decore nec brevitus Sueton lib. 11. cap. 18. a Lunanus senem vocal animatum quod dam sepuletirum Ovid 6. Inf. a Pulchritudo est radius divina bonitatis Plut. de Pla. Philo. b Pulchri est splendor divini luminis Plat. c Pastor Fido. d Tam insignis erat apud Priscos Virgicum uxoris c. Claud. Minoe sopra gli Embl. d' alciato lib. 47. p. 238. a Parum puduum haberetur de quarumor quam vis viri potuit sed ea demum summa marovalis pudicitriae laus haberetur si mulier adeo conclusa viveret ut nullus esset qui de ea vel bene vel male loqui posset Minoâ— loc cit b Laqueos unde tendit amor a Loc. Cit. Juvenal Latis X. Ovid Lib. 8. Amor. Ele. 4. vi 41. b Argumentum est difformis pudicitia Sent. 8. de Benf. Cap. Ep. 15. ver 289. a Pet. valer lib 35. b Loc. cit a Loc. Cit. b Probl. Sest 2 quest 26. a Boceace Labyrinth a Homer Illi b Alex ab Alex lib. 7. cap. 9. a In his 3. Book b Orlando Eurioso Canto 24. Stan. 2. a Max. Tyrius Dissert a Lib. 7. Epi. 27. b Plant. Cistel Act. 1. Sc. 1. a In his tenth Book of Pensieri a Giraldus Dia. 9. b Act. 3. Asia c Act. 5. sce 2. a Idie 5. b Lib. 2. Ele. 5. a Hâ—ist Lib. 1. b Lib. 2. Ped. c Stobeus Marâ— Fi. a Loc. Cit. a Aler. Ti. b Isid. a Lib. 1. Epist. 10. b Sat. 4. c Sat. 14. d Lib. 7. Epist. 27. e Lib. 5. Cap. 67. f Sue Lib. 2. a In bat minor b In the 2. de Bel. Pun. a Hist. An. Lib. 7. a Orl. Furioso b Sonnet 212. c Pastor Iside a Orl. Furcoso Canto 28. b Canto 10. 5. a Orlando a Orlandâ— a In 4. Politi a In his Eneids a In Prae. a Plut. a Madri 75. a Propert. Eleg. 21. Lib. â— b Sâ—rm 63. c In his Greek Epig. Lib. 7. a Sueton in his Câ—st a Hor. Lib. 1. Odeâ— 13. b Pastor Fide a In Prometh vers 727. a Liber 6. cap. 4. b In Pyrro c Lib. 10. cap. 29. d De Rep. Atti. Lib. 3. e Lib. 6. Rep. 26. a Pe. Valer. lib. 42. b In Hist. de Herb. Vert. c Claudianus a Higinius b De Var. Hist. Lib. 12. c Lib. 13. Metham d Mat. History a De Rom. Amor. lib. 1. b Trest lib. 2. Eleg. 1. c Lib. 5. El. 27. d Lib. 2. Eleg. 1. a Lib. 19. cap. 10. b Lucianus in negrim c Prop 2. d C. Tacitus 2. Annal. a 5. de Ge. Anim. b De Son et Vig. li. 2. d Cor. Gall. c Ser. 3. Pro. 33. a Loc. Cit. b Loc. Cit. c Loc. Cit. a Loc. Cit. b 1. de Pl. c Lib. 1. de Cons. Phylos d In Ed. a In Rhâ—t b Corn. Gall. c Orl. Fur. d Idil Fa. a De Leg. Dia. 7. b De Offi. 12. c 1 Eth. c. 13. a In his Mor. Chap. 9. a In his Medri b Pastor Fid. Act. 2. Sc. 1. c Act. 2. Sce. 2. a In his 2. de â—el Puni b Hist. An. lib. 7. c In Dieb Gen. d De Reb. Attic. e In Emb Alciat e De Educat liber f Minoe Loc. Cit. a Plant. in Pericl b Plut Apot. c In his Jerus a Apoll. Hist. Mirab. b 2. Tast. c Pli. Hist. Nat. lib. 18. a Loc. Cit. b Loc. Cit. a Dira quidem vis est marinorum fluctum Et vehemens fluvii ferventis impetus ignis est dira paâ—pertas alia inumeras sed nullum immanius est malum muliere Neque hujusmodi malum aut scribi possit Aut verbis exprimi a Eur apud Stob Serm. 7. b The saurus est malorum mala mulier vide sententia Ignatii Alb. pag. 22 c Hieron in Epist. e Plato de Leg. c Ea. his F. de Leg. a Mulier si forte dolosa Lib. 1. Serm. b Quantas Latebras nequissime mulieres c Quantum praecique multivola est mulier d Si quid sevendum est mulier mala atque malitiosae In Mil. e Parrietibusque domus inbellis femina servet Lib. 1. f Callida sed Medie veneris mihi vindices artem femina g Prodigia non sentit pereuntem femina censum Sat. 6. i Faeminae omnes urimus Libidince Lisistrata apud Aristoph h Nullum imanius est malum muliere apud stob sat 71 a Iliad Lib. 20. vers 25. b Maledicta sunt arma muliebria lib. 4. Man Commâ—m c Dux malorum faemina scelarum artifex d Cicero apud Petron. e Plaut Aul. Act. 2. Sc. 1. v. 1. 19. f Ariosto's Orlando g Sexus r. Sanctus est Ambros. Luc. a Labor somnus disciplinis adversi sunt Plato de Rep. Lib. 7. b Somnus enim multus nec corporibus nec animis neque rebus pereâ—dis Nat. conduci Plat. 7. de Legib. a Reveluntur honores ingenia per quietem prestantus at medela produntur furta conferunt thesauri de ani a Felices dimidia parte vita amiseris nibil distare Arist. Eth. cap. 13. b Vigilantibus vivium communem esse mundum fopilos in suum quamque discedere Plut. in Mor. a Somno quies verum placidissimâ— somni deorum Pare animi quam cura fugit quo corpore ducis Fessa ministeriis mulces reparasque labori Ovid 11. metam b Virg. Semper Vigil Metus Plun deâ—super c Convito morale del Rossi a Salut in Cal. a Stob Sermo Ga. The Academy being held that week in a Musitians House
ACCADEMICAL Discourses Vpon several Choice and Pleasant Subjects Written Originally in Italian by the Learned and Famous LOREDANO ENGLISHED By J. B. Gent. LONDON Printed by Tho. Mabb for John Playfere at the White Bear in the Upper Walk of the New-Exchange and Margaret Shears at the Blew Bible in Bedford Street 1664. Imprimatur Octob. 22. 1663. Roger L' Estrang THE Preface I Think it will be no smal obligation Friendly Reader to present these following Discourses of the Illustrious Loredano to thee Who having composed them occasionally for the Academy intended not they should appear in this slight dress before such as take the confidence to ensure the Sun of spots and can finde a Mole in the fair Face of Venus He knows that praise is the reward and result of Merit and that the applause of the Learned is not to be obtained without a more then ordinary Endeavour He hath often affirmed that in framing them he used no greater study or application than what proceeded from a flowing Vein summoned by necessity for quick dispatch nor expected other approbation then what is due for his blind obedience to the Laws of the Accademy acknowledging that things done by chance rarely succeed with praise That the Painters Temerity and Fortune who accidentally dashed his Pencil so happily on his imperfect Picture as to finish it was above Hope or Expectation succesful That the operations of the mind are of too great importance to be left to the unsteady conduct of Fortune and that although he ever was desirous to plead excuse for the imbecilities of his works yet he never pretended to so much confidence for his Negligence But I who am acquainted with the perfections of his Genius which makes his modesty become an Addition to his other glories and who knew that even what he produces without study cannot be ascribed to chance because Fortune alone cannot guide that quil which not wearied with its happy flights through Italy hath soared higher and passed into remoter Regions being by all Virtuosoes esteemed as a Mineral that can produce nothing of meaner Value then Gold have courted him with so many repeated Perswasions and Intreaties as have at length overcome his Nicety and made him condiscend to allow me the disposal of them as I thought fittest Indeed he engaged me to advertise thee to consider on what occasions they were composed that you might not expect such solid pieces as some others he hath and may set forth this being but the Sport the other the Labor of the Brain and Pen. The Illustrious Loredano not satisfied with these Writings but knowing he can do better supposeth he shall be judged of others as he judges of himself Whereas I am confident these Discourses will not want applause and the care I have taken that they should not die in obscurity will be gratefully accepted The Errours of the Press which like other corruptions of this Age are very rife spreading are left to thy Civility for Pardon Bear with them Judicious Reader and remembring what thou art consider how much humanity is subject to mistake THE Translator TO THE READER THese Ingenious Discourses have been entertained with so great esteem and applause in most other Countries of Europe that it would stick as a blemish either of Ignorance or Envy upon us if undervalued here VVhich I have little cause to fear in this curious Age since they are as rare as new to us there being nothing of this kind that I know extant in our Language These are indeed but the least part of them which if accepted may be followed by a greater Number hereafter And this celebrated author made better acquainted to our Nation by his choicer and more solid writings some whereof are ready for the Press VALE J. B. A TABLE OF THE Several Discourses I. VVHat Colour is most convenient in a Lovers Face 1 II. That silence is the true Father of Love 7 III. What thing does most prejudice the beauty of the Face 16 IV. What is the greatest favour a Lover can receive from his chast Mistris 23 V. Whether the Rose does presage Felicity or Infelicity to a Lover 28 VI. Wherefore in Câ—prus they protray'd Venus with a Beard 35 VII What the manner of the Florentine Kiss is and whence its Original 36 VIII Wherefore Physitians affect to Wear great Beards 42 IX That Woman is more faithful to Man than he to Woman 47 X. Whether blushing be a sign of Vertue 54 XI Whether one can Kiss their beloved without Lasciviousness or Sensuality 58 XII Wherefore it is said That Achiless's Lance did both wound and heal 64 XIII Wherefore Old people Sleep ordinarily less then young ones 71 XIV Whether Gifts or Stealth's do most Felicitate Lovers 76 XV. Wherefore Pythagoras Prohibited the use of Beans 80 XVI In dispraise of Women 85 XVII What Natural defect is the most Excuseable 91 XVIII Wherefore great Men do not ordinarily favour Vertuous persons reduced to necessity 96 XIX Whether is most potent to beget Affection Weeping or Singing 99 ACADEMICAL Discourses I. What Colour is most proper and convenient for a Lovers Face I Do believe that black is the only proper Colour for a Lovers Face and those which think otherwise either do not love or else deceive themselves He that loves is noble because love will not cast away his shafts upon ignoble breasts Nobilitas sub amore jacet Sings Ovid and Dante Amor ch'en cor gentil ratto s'apprende Now black is the noblest Colour because 't is the most ancient Tenebrae super universam terram and because it preserves the sight and because also it contains or comprehends all other Colours in it therefore as the most noble it is the most proper for a Lovers face The Lover is dead as 't were hear Plaut Ubi sum ibi non sum ubi non sum ibi est animus The amorous poyson issuing from a fair womans Eyes deprives the lover of his life and would not we have that lovers complexion black that is thus killed by poyson Should not the signes of his death be imprinted on his face Again Love is an amorous feaver which corrupting the noblest blood causes his death Therefore he that loves dying through the infection of that pestilential feaver cannot properly have any other colour on his face but Black The lover is oblig'd to improve his Ladies honor but what greater honor can the lover do his Lady then to serve as a shaddow or foyl to set forth her beauty with the greater luster The charms of beauty are never discern'd so well as by the inequality of such oppositions the snow never seems so pure and rarely white as when it falls upon the blackest soyle The affections of the heart are charactred and copied in the face therefore if the heart be in a flame the face must needs bear the signs of it and what greater tokens can a lover give that he nourishes a fire within his brest
should Tyrannize over that beauty which can alone Tyrannize over the Souls of those that in all other things do command the whole universe How ever there is nothing in my opinion which does so much prejudice the Beauty of a Face as Chastity I hope I shall need no excuse for my confidence in this beleif Nor do I fear the anger of that Goddess since indeed there is no such Deity as Chastity but only in the credulous opinions of Men. Beauty being a ray and splendor of the brightness and bounty of God ought to be communicable to all The Sun it self would loose its worth if with an interrested partiality it should deny its light and splendor to any creature What 's Beauty tell me if not viewd or viewed if not pursu'd or if pursu'd pursued by one alone But where chastity takes footing it kicks out all pretence of curiosity and will not suffer the least look or glance Chastity will have no other associate then it self t is a Melancholly Devil that still bolts up it self from all others in a solitary retiredness and fears the very whispering of the winds and the mutinies of its own thoughts Thus Beauty is prejudiced by it making it loose the attributes of divine and good by not communicating its glory and sweetness unto others Strickt Chastity will not permit a Lady to consult with her own Looking-glass nor to adorn her self so as to be able to contend for the precedency of Beauty with others It will not suffer her to curle her Locks into a winding Labyrinth to catch her lovers Nor add sometimes a graceful blush to her paler Cheeks to please and tempt fond gazers with that borrowed sweetness they must not hide any little defects or be so bold as to help natures mistakes with a skillfull curiosity much less may they cloath the whole Face with a false though fair vizard of youthful spring in their declining Autume or robb the Graves of their rich treasures of hair to weave a Crown for their own Heads and Majesty and does not this chastity therefore extramly wrong and spoile a beauty of its charms and advantages by denying those lawful Ornaments which only can preserve or advance its reputation The greatest glory of a beauty is to be the object and delight of all Eyes and as 't were the soul of all hearts That beauty is poor in power and merits which hath not the applause of every Tongue and like a supream Intelligence gives motion to all mens hearts and affections But if they be chast they leese so much of their value and esteem as they want services and obedience so much must they abate of their deserts as they are destitute of obsequious servants Thus again does chastity appear to be a prejudice to beauty robbing them of so many votaâ—ies so great applauses and daily adorations It being only a Placonical fancy to think that lovers can be satisfied and pleased with their Mistrisses chastity and not have any further aime in their Services The eyes are the perfection of the faces beauty and that with reason because they are composed all of light and for no other cause were they seated under the brows but to demonstrate that they ought to wear those arches in tryumph of their beauty Now chastity makes them bend and cast down their sight and looks having according to Philostratus no other nest or residence to shelter it self under but the Eye-lids See then how chastity deprives beauty of its chiefest Ornament hiding its most illustrious perfections and with some reason we may think that beauty but a dead one which hath already lost its Eyes and sight Fame which is the Eccho of all voyces proclaiming the glories of a beauteous Face renders it venerable to all hearts and desireable to every Eye But the chast beauty is oblig'd to concealâ— her self even from the Eye of Heaven and the Tongue of Fame it self She must not be contaminated by the sound of that trumpet which may be profan'd by a thousand falsities and so beauty must suffer for its reservedness and loose that general approbation and applause which would be published by the mouth of Fame to its most infinite advantage Love spreads his Nets and layes his ambushes in every place and others strengths and resistance seâ—ves only to make his victories the more glorious If a chast beauty then will secure it self from such a puissant enemy she must of necessity put on Armour Therefore Alicato teaching how Virgins should guard themselves represents Pallas armed with a weighty sheild in one hand and a strong Sphear in the other Now consider what a prejudice and trouble this must be to delicate beauties They must be constrained to sinke under the weight of heavy Armour and bury the sweetness of their lovely beauty within an Iron prison Unhappy beauty which for its chastity must ever stand upon a watchful guard and enjoy no other content or receive any other reward then its own fear and toyle Therefore all Authors conclude that beauty and charity are incompatible and cannot possibly dwell together that a chast breast is an argument of a deformed Face and therefore Ovid makes Paris write to Helena c that if she will be chast she must first cease to be beautiful for no other reason certainly but because chastity does so much wrong and prejudice to beauty that t is almost impossible a chast Lady should either be or believe her self to be beautiful And therefore wise antiquity will have Venus who is the fairest of all the Goddesses to be the most wanton and unchast to demonstrate that beauty can receive no greater prejudice than what proceeds from Chastity But I forget whilst I discourse of beauty how much I discover the deformity of my own Genius I beseech you pardon me and except of it because I knowing beauty to be the mother of love pretended by speaking of beauty to obtain the love of you all towards me IV. What is the greatest Favour that a Lover can receive from a Lady of Honor. VVOman is an abstract of all Natures glory and riches she is an amorous Heaven casting down most gracious influences and therfore innumerable are the favors which a lover from her liberal goodness may receive But I my self who never had so much merit or confidence as to aspire to the head have alwayes through humility prostrated and planted my greatest hopes beneath their feet and thought my ambition fairly satisfiâ—d when a Lady of Honor hath vouchsafed to trample on me I meane to tread on my foot and this I thought to be the greatest favor she could bestow to selicitate the vows and wishes of my heart esteeming it a happy Omen of the progress my love did make whilst her feâ—t were in that motion and an assurance I should be one day entirely possessed of her heart since our effections had already taken such good footing And truely what greater
favour can a lover receive since the foot is a guide to the head the instrument of motion an argument of the affections of the soul and of the defects of the body the supporter and base of a little world The Egyptians Hieroglyphiok of inconstancy was a foot not sustained at all by any thing and therefore when by an excessive savor my Mistriss would demonstrate how constant she ever resolved to be towards me she set her foot upon mine because a foot thus placed with stability did amongst the same Egyptians signifie a fixed constancy and duration Some others by the foot did use to represent a slave or Servant and indeed the feet may with reason be called the slaves and servants of the body because they are ever employed to support and carry up and down like slavish Potters the whole burden of all other members My Mistriss therefore being willing to entertain me for her servant vouchsafed to tread on my foot it being the custome of the ancient Conquerors to tread on the feet of their Prisoners to shew them their subjection The foot according to Valerius is the Symbole of a work quite perfected and finished Therefore we proverbially say ad calcem when we mean to declare the perfect termination of any thing What greater favour then would I receive from a Lady who by trampling on my foot did advertize me that the work was finished that is that my affection and faith had found a gracious acceptance and lodging in her Soul and Heart The foot as Aristotle sayes is the coldest of all the members and therefore Physiâ—ians above all things Counsel their sick patients to keep their feet warm because by their natural coldness they are most apt to receive hurt from the evil qualities the aire does produce in them Therefore such a Lady could not favor me more eminently then to shew by treading on my foot that my affection had inflam'd her even the coldest parts and farthest extremities from the heart which by consequence are most frozen The ancients were wont to make signs with their feet when they adherr'd to any mans desires or opinions and from thence comes that Proverb Pedibus in Sententia discedere Now what greater honor could I receive or desire then to be ascertain'd of the Ladies affection Since by her foot she gave a sign of her compliance with my affection and testified her approbation of my service The refusal of any one to let us touch their feet is an argument of pride Therefore sayes Boccace L'havereste Levata in tanta superbia che le piante de piedi non le si sarrebbone potute tocare Now my Mistriss to shew that such a vice as haughtiness or pride had no Jurisdiction over her soul by this humility and excess of honor to me caused me to touch the sole of her Foot Achilles a Heroe so glorious as to merit that Homer should become the trumpet of his never dying fame who was envied by Alexander the great himself could not be wounded in any part but the heel have not I cause then to glory in this immortal favor vouchsafed by such a Lady who though she had a thousand other wayes to wound me yet that I might be paralelled to Achilles she would only stick me in the foot In fine I cannot but be proud of the honor my Lady did me shewing she so much esteemed me by treading on my foot that doubting least I should have quitted her affection she by that means seemed to constrain me to abide here for ever and who would not think it was a great honor to me that she should let me feel her weight But least I should make this discourse too long by a foot except of this my imbecilities which I sacrifice to our Prince as a tribute of my obedience as anciently the feet were Consecrated unto Mercury And I believe that he to conclude Who sets out at the Foot come to the place Sooner then he that sets out at the Face V. Whether the Rose do presage Felicity or Infelicity to a Lover I Should now cloathing the sentiments of my Soul with the beauty and ornaments of handsome words bless and thank that hand which being Prodigal of its favours hath vouchsafed to bestow a Rose on me the Queen of Flowers though its purple did not claime that just preheminence such gifts are common which oblige us but to common expressions My tongue has not so much sweetness or sufficiency as to satisfie these obligations which my heart is bound to acknowledg and I am the less capable to do it because the late learned discourser of dreames has so possessed and charmed my intellects that I can only wonder at the height of his inimitable Elequence that made it And then if I should say it has the precedency above all Flowers and for that cause perhaps it wears the Regal Ornaments that if Gardens were Heavens the Rose would be the Sun in those Heavens that it shuts it self up with the day because it fears to be in the obscurity or blasted by the malignity and treachery of the night that t is the Image and perfect mirror of Princes bearing in its self both the rewards and punishment that to beautifie it self it robbed Venus of her blood and the Gods of their Nector that 't is the glory of the spring a miracle of Nature and an excess of the benignity and bounty of heaven all these notwithstanding would be but poor conceits of a mendicated Eloquence either blazed already a thousand times by the common breath of Fame or infinitely beneath the just encommiums it deserves and the grandeur of its merits The Rose it self is a praise to its own self and for no other reason does its leaves sproute forth in the forms of tongues but to declare that it self is only worthy to proclaime and publish its own just praises and having not the benefit of speech though the Proverb says that Roses speaks yet it expresses it self sufficiently by its perfumed breath But how much the more worthy the Rose is amongst all other Flowers so much the more incertainty does it breed in this question whether it can presage happiness or infelicity to Lovers The Etymologie of the name Rose coming from Riso promises joy to my affections but as it may possibly come from the verbe Roderam it threatens me with the continual knowings and languishing of my Soul by concupiscence The sanguine Colour in the Rose prognosticates the blushes of my Cheeks if I should give my soul the liberty to doate and admire too much the beauties of any Face But it may also presage that I shall love a beauty so singular and excellent that it shall force each one to blush that shall but dare to contend with her for the priority of beauty I might fear least the bloody colour of the Rose should predict my Martyrdome for Love But on the other hand I am assured
power to stir up our affections how shall that person contain himself that Kisses actually Socrates says that seeing others Kiss and hearing the smacks of those united Lips is able to move and tempt the coldest heart An nescis hoc viro says one Nec quidem tangens si modo spectetur infigat etiam Longo ex intâ—rvallo aliquid ejusmodi quod insanire faciat Horace in an Ode will needs have it thought that Venus sweetens her Kisses with Nectar Dulcia barbare Laedentem oscula quae Venus Quinta parta sui Nectoeris imbuit And Lucan affirms Ganimedes osculationem nectare sibi esse dulciorem Now who can Kiss them without temptation or without sensuality relish such heavenly sweetness Hear Myrtillo discoursing of his Ladies Kisses O my Ergast that I could tell the pleasure Of those sweet Kisses But do thou hence guess it Those Lips that tasted it cannot express it Extract then all the sweetness that remains In Hybla-comes in Cyprian Sugar-Canes It will be nothing to that world of blisses I suckt from hence So a modern Poet being by his Mistris conjur'd he should not declare that she had vouchsafed him a Kiss replyes There is no fear or danger I should tell This Joy which is to me unspeakable Some Nations deprive that Woman of her dowry yea proclaime her an Adulteress that is convicted of bestowing or receiving a Kiss from any stranger This is therefore an argument that none can give a Kiss without Lasciviousness or sensuality Amongst Lovers the question is propounded whether he that gives or receives a Kiss from the beloved is most favoured The generality conclude 't is better to receive then give one because they think it impossible that a Mistriss can Kiss without she have an extraordinary affection and sensuality Briefly Kisses are the greatest incentives to Love Nihil est says Socrates Aâ— amorem incendendum acrius osâ—ulo Oscula si dederis fiam manifestus amator We read in Cicero That who ever will keep himself chast must above all things avoid Kissing Of the same mind is Socrates Quamobrem ait equidem abstineudum esse a formosorum osculis illi qui pudice ut vivere possit expetit because t is not possible to Kiss without Lasciviousness or Sensuality Inest etiam inanibus osculis suavis Voluptas Sayes Theoc. I conclude therefore with Austin that Osculari nihil sit aliud quam adulterari XII Wherefore it is said that Achillis Sphear did both wound and heal IT might be said that Achilles sphear or lance did both wound and heal because being managed by his strong Arme it did at the same time both wound and kill And who knows not that death is the cure of all things Our humanity is circumscribed with such infelicities that death alone can put an end to our troubles and begin our real happiness Mors est malorum liberatrix T is observable that two Dâ—ities employ'd themselves for the making of Achilleâ—'s Lance. Minerva fitted the stock and Uulcan the head or spear Minerva is the Hieroglyphick of Peace to whom the Olive is therefore dedicated Vulcan may be taken to signifie War since he provides weapons for all the other gods and arms the very hands of Jove with Thunderbolts Therefore t is not unlikely that the Ancients by Achilles Lance did signifie both War and Peace War which wounds men in their Estates Peace c which heales all the breaches and disorders caused by War Achilles was a Physitian being taught that art by Chiron who gave the name to Chyrurgery Therefore who knâ—w but he having learned by his study of Physick Chirurgery the art to Cure the wound by dresing the Weapon a thing ordinarily practised in our days though not without some superstition from thence this spear might be thought both to wound and heal or it might be from this consideration that Chyrurgery must hurt before it can heal Achilles was adored by the Spear-men or Lanciers as Alex. ab Alex. asserts In Epirus as Plutarch says In Pontus according to Pliny In Arcadia by Pausanias testimony In fine his name was venerated in two and twenty Temples where they burn'd incense and offered victimes to his Fame and Glory His Lance also merited attributes of Divinity Primos says Alex. ab Alex. Qui antiquissimi â—uerunt Hastos coluere caepisse and therefore it might be that the Ancients to make us understand that the Chastizements of the gods were the means to correct and make us good said that Achilles Lance did both wound and heale T is beyond the reach of doubt that there is no surer or more infallible â—emedy to heal the sickness and disease of the Soul than the wholesome Physick of affections when the hand of God applies the wounding Corrosive which he after heals with balmes of Mercy and Peace It was a custome amongst the Ancients to ingarlondize and crown their Lances who knows therefore but Achilles adorned his and that perhaps with some hearb which he knew by his experience to be most effectual to heal wounds from whence this saying might have its Original and the people afterwards seeing the Iron which wounded and the hearb that healed might therefore say it did both wound and heal Here what Apuleus says of this hearb Hanc herbam Achilles invenit unde vulnere ferre facta sanat ob id Achilleos vocatur Therefore Claudian perhaps conformable to my opinion Sanâ—s Achilleis remeavit Thelephus herbis Cujus pertuler at viris sensit in imo Lethalem placidamque manum medicina per bassam Contigit populit quos fecerat ipse dolores But to what purpose do I heap up so many fancies and imaginations of my own since the ascersion that Achilles's Lance did both wound and heal is no Poetical fiction or curiosity of the Ancients but an Historical truth authenticated by the Arcany of nature You may read in Higinius and Chain how the King of Missia being wounded by Achilles and the wound proving incurable he addressed himself to the Oracle Where answer was returned that to cure his wound he must make use of the same Weapon that hurt him Telephus goes to the Greciaâ— Camp and there being joyfully received because the Oracle had foretold that without the assistance of Telephus Troy could not be taken he was healed by Achilles who scraping the rust of the head of the Lance and applying it to the wound cured him and therefore thus in Ovid. Ego Telephom Hasta Pugnantem domui vinctum orantemque refeci Wherefore Pliny affirms rust to â—e a remedy for wounds figuring Achilles in the posture of scraping the rust from his Spear and from hence therefore comes the saying that Achilles Spear did both wound and heal Nor shall we need to doube this since besides the forecited there are many other Authors which affirme it Hear Ovid Vulnus Achilleo quod quondam 〈◊〉 hoste
said nothing and he indeed hath said nothing who hath spoken ill XIX Which is most potent to beget affection Either a fair Face Weeping Or a fair one Singing The Plea for Weeping THat fair God who for his being the most beneficial to the world might above all others excuse the Idolatry of blind Gentilisme becoming inamoured of a young Maiden descended from the Throne of the Gods to try whether that divinity which had been able to obtaine the adoration of the Universe could gain an amorous affection in the heart of a Virgin He pursued implored tempted but she conspiring with nature was transmuted into a Laurel either to tryumph over his power or to shew that the resolutions of women many times do not participiate of the instability of the female Sex Miserable Apollo truly thou mightest rather have thought to have found even amongst the Rocks a heart that should have been molified at thy requests then amongst hearts a stone that would not relent for all thy prayers How much he was astonished every one may guess A certain Poet writes that imediately that God was seen to weep who otherwhile was ever wont to sing And who knows Perhaps he would tâ—y since his Cruell Daphne already as woman did not accept his singing whether as a Tree she would Love his tears which he poured on her from those two weeping Fountaines of his Eyes This Fable Illusterous Academs gives an occasion to doubt whether singing or weeping are the most potent instruments in a fair face to captivate a heart and from hence arises matter of contention betwixt these two The fair 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the fair singer Nor would the decision of their discord be so facile to end had they not equally agred to refer it to your sentence in whom they are confident to find together both the judgment of Paris and the integrity of Aristides The tears vaâ—nt to be the more powerful as having even Apollo's decision already in their favour since after he saw his dearest converted into a Tree he laid aside his Musick and makes tryal of his tears as if he thought them even so potent as to move the very trees therewith Consider Sirs that thee tears are the ofspring of the Eyes the pretty sisters of the sight taught and instructed in those Schooles of animated brightness where they profess no other Doctrine but to inamour Let singing therefore yeild its pretences which proceeding from the Mouth is as much inferiour to weeping both in power and efficacy as the tears are superior in the sublimity of their birth and nobleness of their Progenitours Nature has consigned our tears to no others Custody but the heart nor would she have their pomp and glory appear in any other place but in the Eyes as if she esteem'd them worthy to have those Kings of the Members for their Guardians and the fairest part of the body to be the Throne of their Majesty The Eyes were created to be the Miracles of beauty and the tears to be the Miracles of the Eyes and who is not astonished to behold them powering forth such floods of water from their Sphears or Element of Fire These in our sorrows serve us for funeral pomps and mournings and in our joyes they solemnize our excessive Contentmentâ— Dearest tears which in all occasions deserve to be the Ornaments of the Face Perhaps 't was for this reason that a Phylosopher fell so in Love with tears that he spent all his time constantly in weeping you will never find any man Sirs so in Love with singing as to judge it worthy of his continual and vertuous employment Consider therefore the efficaey of tears which even makes Philosophers enamoured with them They that call them by the simple name of Pearls do not fully express their dignity and worth Those are generated by the influence of the Sun but at a far distance from the Sun and these by the influence of two Suns and within the very Spheare of those Suns themselves Those are nourished in the water and these in the mid'st of flames Those are made fit by art to adorne the purity of a whiter neck and these are reserved by nature to enrich the beauties of a Rosie cheek Then let us call them pretious and if they be soft they may inform us thus much that if one of those being dissolved by Cleopatra had power to force Mark Anthony to confess his heart was overcome one of these liquified even by the hands of Nature her self with greater power shall constraine us to acknowledg that our affections are vanquished Love the great God of War does still invent new and various Stratagems to conquer and subdue our hearts and Souls Sometimes he attempts to overthrow us only with the sounds of precions metals sometimes erects his bridg upon the base of our most instable hopes sometimes assaults us with the sweetness of an inchanting voice and othertimes endeavours the Scalado upon the Cords of a well-tuned Instrument But in fine all these potent and flattering stratagems are nothing if compared to a fair weeping face Many times there are such who being stored with principles and resolutions of chastity will repel all those assaults and tryals though seconded and assisted with many tempting caresses and other provoking Artifices but when he beseiges us with a sea of tears ther 's no humanity can resist him none but such as glory in their Inhumanity and we may well believe he will expugne that obdure soul of its strongest fortress when he comes rowling and shouring in with such torrents of over-flowing tears Smith's do use to besprinkle their Coales with water which being after blown upon do burn with the greater ardour And Love being a smith's son does often use his Fathers policy For when he is resolved to inflame a heart most he first lets fall a soft showre of tears to moysten it and after with deep sighs blows it into a most consuming flame Even the Sun to make his Beams become more hot and scorching does seem to unite them together and dart them through a Cloud which is no other than rarified water which being condens'd desolves and drops in tears from Heaven again There is nothing which communicates more vigour and nourishment to plants than heat conjoyned with moisture If then it be true what some have said that Love is a plant 〈◊〉 may truly believe that nothing else is aâ—le to advance its growth so much as the Sun-shines of two fair Eyes mixed with the soft showres of their distâ—lling tears The Globes of those 〈◊〉 Suns being invironed with floods of tears can be esteemed no other than artificial 〈◊〉 which burne under the water and are the more ardent by reason of the Antiperistasis Excuse me Sirs if this conceit seem strange to you that I should say tears are the Milk of the Eyes and why must that be esteemed so unlikely that those Eyes should flow with milk which do so often bring forth Love And