vertuous directed with the square of Gods lawe and prudence if the inferior appetite or passions obey and concurre with the will then with much more ease pleasure and delight vertuous actions are accomplished performed Yea oftentimes they take away the molestations and tediousnesse that occurre in the practise of good woorks For example often in prayer men feele arridity lothsomnesse and paine yet if the sensible appetite get a little delight therein if Cor caro exultant in Deum that is our heartes and flesh reioyce in God then paine is turned into pleasure and a molesting service into a delightfull obsequie Hereupon the Philosophers and Fathers perceyving what commodities these passions afforded to a vertuous soule with divers similitudes declared their service Some say they were Cic. 3. Tusc sparkes of fire apt to kindle vertue others that they Basil hom cont irâ—sc Basil de virgiâ—â—tate were souldiers armed to attend their captayne They be like water sayth Basil that sustayneth oyle above that it may swimme purely and not be infected with earth others compare them with horses which draw a coach Lactant. lib. 6. c. 17. so the passions draw the soule to the fruition of her vertuous obiects Cicero in 4 Tuscâ—lan calleth anger cotem the whetstone of fortitude And indeede mee thinkes the passions of our minde are not vnlike the foure humours of our bodies whereto Cicero well compares them in the aforesayd Booke for if blood fleugme choller or melancholy exceede the due proportion required to the constitution and health of our bodies presently we fall into some disease even so if the passions of the Mynde bee not moderated according to reason and that temperature vertue requyreth immediatly the soule is molested with some maladie But if the humours be kept in a due proportion they are the preservatives of health and perhappes health it selfe By this Discourse may be gathered that Passions are not onely not wholy to be extinguished as the Stoicks seemed to affirme but sometimes to be moved and stirred vp for the service of vertue as learnedly Plutarch teacheth Plutarch in libro de virtâ— aâ—â—r for mercie and compassion will move vs often to pitty as it did Iob Quia ab infantia mea mecum crevit miseratio Compassion grewe with mee from my infancy and it came with me out of my mothers wombe therefore hee declareth what succour hee gave to the poore Iob 31. 18. Ire and indignation will pricke forward the friendes of God to take his quarrell in hand and revenge him of his enemies So Christ mooved with zeale which is a passion of love bordering vpon anger cast the buyers and sellers out of the Temple of Ierusalem because Zelus domus tuae commedit me the Iohn 2. zeale of thy house did eate me The passion of shamefastnesse brideleth vs of many loose affections which would otherwise bee ranging abroad The appetite of honour which followeth yea and is due vnto vertue encourageth often noble spirites to attempt most dangerous exploytes for the benefite of their countries feare Eccle. 1. 27. 2. Cor. 7. 9. expelleth sinne sadnesse bringeth repentance delight pricketh forward to keepe Gods commandements and Psal 118. 32. to bee briefe passions are spurres that stirre vp sluggish and idle soules from slouthfulnesse to diligence from carelesnesse to consideration Some questionlesse they almost by force draw to goodnesse and others withdraw from vice For if that many noble Captaynes had not possessed by nature such vehement passions of glory and honour they would never have atchieved such excellent victories for the good of the Common-weale If many rare wittes had not been pressed with the same affections we should never have seene Homers Poetrie nor Platoes Divinitie nor Aristotles Philosophie nor Plinies Historie nor Tullies Eloquence for Honour they aymed at and although perhaps they tooke thier ayme too high affecting more glory than their labour deserved or compleasing themselues more in the opinions and fancies of men than reason required yet no doubt but if they had levelled right and at no more than their workes merited nor more prized the opinions and honours given by men then they in very deede had beene to bee esteemed without all question they had obtayned more renowne and their passions had bin occasions of great good to all their posterity as now they profite them although they proceeded from their Authors vanitie I take it that shamefastnes in women restrayneth them from many shamefull offences and feare of punishment retaineth from theft and the remorce of conscience calleth many sinners to the grace of God Hereby wee may conclude that Passions well vsed may consist with wisedome against the Stoickes and if they be moderated to bee very serviceable to vertue if they be abused and overruled by sinne to be the nurcery of vices and pathway to all wickednesse And as I thinke the Stoickes were of this opinion for they said that feare and heavinesse was Aegritudo quaedam or animi Cic. 4. Tusâ—ul adversanteratione contractio An explication of the division of our sensitive appetite into Concupiscibile and Irascibile that is Coveting and Invading CHAP. V. BEfore we do declare the number of passions that issue out of our soules it is necessary to premitte a common division of our sensuall appetite found out by experience allowed of by Philosophers and Arist. lib. 1. Rhetor. c. 10. Damasc li. 2. fidâ—i orthod cap. 12. Thom. 1â— q. 23. a. 1. scolastici ibidem approved by Divines that is in concupiscibile which in English may be termed Coveting Desiring Wishing and irascibile that is Anger Invading or Impugning for so I thinke it may better be called These coveting and invading appetites are not two faculties or powers of the soule but one onely power and facultie which hath two inclinations as we have but one power or facultie of seeing but two eyes one power of hearing with two eares so wee have one sensuall appetite with two inclinations the one to covet the other to invade In the manner of explicating these two inclinations both Divines and Philosophers dissent yet two explications there are as more common so more probable and more conforme to reason The first may bee declared after this manner Wee see by experience that beastes sometimes have great facilitie to prosecute or obtayne those obiects they covet as for example a horse the grasse which groweth in the pasture where he feedeth sometimes they have great difficulty as for the Lyon to eate a Beare sometimes they have great facility to eschew that evill they hate as a Woolfe or a Foxe to escape with his prey from a little Curre other times we prove they have extreame difficultie to avoyde it as a Bull to fly from a Lyon Nowe the authors of this explication conclude that the coveting appetite inclineth onely to the obtayning of those obiects which may easily be come by and to the eschewing of those that may easily be
attayning vnto learning Whereupon grew those dissenting and contradicting Sectes of Peripatetikes Academikes Stoickes Epicures Thomists and Scotists Realles and Nominalles but by the disprooving of one anothers opinion which proceeded from the difficulty of vnderstanding and conceyving of Learning V. Ignorance and Errours about God YEt if men by sweate and labour by distilling their Braynes and spending their Spirits in studies at last could winne the victory of Errours and Ignorance then all paynes were sufficiently rewarded the interest would defray the expences of the Voyage But alas how many have wandered in a vast desart of learning amongst brambles and bryars not able to passe forward nor returne backeward who would thinke men could be ignorant of the Maiestye of God which all bruite and Interroga Iumenta et docebunt â—e Volatilia Coeli indicabunt tibi loquere terrâ— respondebit tibi narrabunt pisces Maris Quis ignorat quod manus Domini haec omnia fecerat Iob. 12 7. senselesse creatures confesse and yet such is and hath beene the palpable ignorance of the world that in place of God some worshipped Calves others Serpents other Crocodiles others Onions and Garlike I omit how many supposed very wise adored the Sunne Moone and Starres the Elements of earth fire and water for these errours might have carried some shew of wisedome in respect of the other absurdities How could men be more besotted than to imagine God by whom they lived mooved and were whose goodnesse sustayned them whose power vpheld them whose wisedome directed them to be a Crocodile or a Calfe or Commoâ—a quibus vtimur lucem qua â—rutmur spiritum quem ducimus a Deo nobis dari impartiri vâ—demus Cic. pro Rosâ— Amer. that Divinitie could inhabite such savage Beasts where was the imortall soule the Image of the Trinity the faculty of vnderstanding the power of apprehending iudging and discoursing Were all these drowned in darkenesse did no sparke of light or life shine over them O ignorance intollerable O blindnesse more grosse than not to see when the Sunne lodgeth in his Zenith VI. Ignorance and Errours about our Soules and bodies BVt some will say Gods Maiesty dazeled theyr eyes they were not able by the weake light of Nature to behold so super-excellent a glory well at least they might have knowne themselves for what was more neere them then their owne soules and bodies their five senses the operations of vnderstanding and affecting the Passions of the Minde and alterations of the body yet the Ignorance and Errours which both inchaunted them and inveigle vs are almost incredible I could propound above a hundreth questions about the Soule and the body which partly are disputed of by Divines partly by naturall and morall Philosophers partly by Physitians all which I am of opinion are so abstruse and hidden that they might be defended as Problemes and eyther parte of Contradiction alike impugned Some I will set downe that by them coniecture may be made of the rest Problemes concerning the substance of our Soules 1 WHether in mens bodies there reside more formes then one 2 Whether it can bee demonstrated by naturall reason that the Soule is immortall 3 How can the Soule extend it selfe thorow the whole body being a Spirit indivisible inextensed and able whole and entire to reside in one only and indivisible poynt 4 How are the Soule and Body Spirite and Flesh coupled together what chaynes what fetters imprison a spirituall Substance an immortal Spirit in so base stinking and corruptible a carâ—â—asse 5 How by punishing the flesh or hurting the body the Soule feeleth payne and is afflicted 6 Whether the hayres spirites blood choler fleugme skinne fatte nayles marrow be animated or no. 7 Whether the Bones and Teeth be sensitive or no. 8 How the Soule contayneth those three degrees of vegetative sensitive and reasonable 9 How these three degrees do differ 10 How the Soule of a Child being contained and dispersed in so little a body when it is borne afterward dilateth it selfe and spreadeth in the body of a man 11 When an Arme or a Legge is cut off by chance from the Body what becommeth of the Soule which informed that part 12 Why departeth the Soule from the Body in a vement Problemes concerning the faculties in generall Sicknesse it being immortall and independing of the Body able to live in ayre water or fire 13 How many faculties do spring from the Soule 14 How they spring in order one depending vpon an other or without any dependance 15 How do they differ from the Soule 16 Whether are they subiected in the Soule Body or the whole 17 What dependance hath our vnderstanding vpon Problemes concerning our vnderstanding the imagination 18 How a corporall imagination concurre to a spirituall conceit 19 What is apprehension and conceyving 20 What iudgement and affirming 21 What discourse and inferring 22 How these three differ what is their obiects 23 How apprehend wee so many things together without confusion 24 How are these three operations of our wit subordinated 25 How they erre 26 How they may be certified 27 What is a vitall acte of Vnderstanding 28 How the formes faculties habites and Soule it selfe concurre to such an acte about every one of these foure many questions may easily be propounded but hardly resolved 29 What is a Habite 30 How ingendred 31 How augmented 32 How diminished and corrupted 33 In what faculties of our Soules habites principally allodge 34 Whether the acte or habite be more perfite 35 How are habits distinguished in the same faculty 36 How the habites of our imagination and vnderstanding of our sensible appetite and will differ when they tend vnto sensible obiects 37 What is the vniversall obiect of our Vnderstanding every thing or onely the trueth of things 38 Whereupon commeth the difficulty we finde in Vnderstanding proceedeth it from the obiect or the weakenesse of the faculty or both 39 How doth Reason direct and correct Sense 40 Whether knowledge concurreth as an efficient cause to effect the operations of our will or no. 41 What is Arte what the Idaea in the Artificers minde by whose direction hee frameth his woorkes what is Prudence Wisedome the internall speech and words of the minde 42 What is the habite of principles 43 What the law of Nature and how engrafted in our Vnderstanding 44 What is Conscience 45 Whence-from proceedeth Remorce 46 What is evidence and certitude in Knowledge and how they differ 47 How Knowledge and perfit Science differ from credulity and opinion and whether feare be necessarily included in every opinion 48 If ever man had such a demonstration as Aristotle describeth in his first Booke of Posteriors 49 Whether a Demonstration once had can ever be lost or no. 50 Why can we not come by as firme knowledge in Logick Physicks or Metaphysicks as in Mathematicks 51 How wee vnderstand discourse and dispute in Dreames 52 Whether children discourse actually or no.
of his Auditors I remember a Preacher in Italy who had such power over his Auditors affections that when it pleased him he could cause them shead aboundance of teares yea and with teares dropping downe their cheâ—ks presently turne their sorrow into laughter and the reason was because he himselfe being extreamely passionate knowing moreover the Arte of mooving the affections of those Auditors and besides that the most part were women that heard him whose passions are most vehement and mutable therefore hee might have perswaded them what hee listed The same commoditie may be gathered by all other Oratours as Embassadours Lawyers Magistrates See Aristotle Rhetorikes Captaines and whatsoever would perswade a multitude because if once they can stirre a Passion or Affection in their Hearers then they have almost halfe perswaded them for that the forces of strong Passions marvellously allure and draw the wit and will to judge and consent vnto that they are mooved Many things more might be saide concerning this matter but in all the other Chapters folowing except this first I meane to touch this point very largely As this Treatise affordeth great riches to the Physitian of the soule so it importeth much the Physitian of the bodie for that there is no Passion very vehement but that it alters extreamely some of the foure humors of the bodie and all Physitians commonly agree that among diverse other extrinsecall causes of diseases one and not the least is the excesse of some inordinate Passion for although it busieth their braines as also the naturall Philosophers to explicate the manner how an operation that lodgeth in the soule can alter the bodie and moove the humors from one place to another as for example recall most of the bloud in the face or other partes to the heart as wee see by daily experience to chance in feare and anger yet they consent that it See Fracastoriuâ— libr. de sympathia lib. 2. de intellectione circa medium may proceede from a certaine sympathie of nature a subordination of one part to another and that the spirites and humors wait vpon the Passions as their Lords and Maisters The Physitians therefore knowing by what Passion the maladie was caused may well inferre what humor aboundeth consequently what ought to be purged what remedy to be applied after how it may be prevented If all the aforesaide Professions may challenge each one a part in this Discourse surely the good Christian whose life is a warrefare vpon earth he who if he love his soule killeth it he whose studie principally standeth Iob 7. 1. in rooting outvice and planting of vertue hee Mar. 8. 35. whose indevour specially is imployed in crucifying old Adam and in refining the image of Christ he who pretendeth to be ruled by reason and not tyrannized by preposterous affection this man I say may best peruse this matter he may best meditate it he may best know where lieth the cave of those Serpents and Basiliskes who sucke out the sweete blood of his soule hee may see where the thorn sticketh that stingeth his heart finally he may view his domesticall enemie which never Matt. 10. 36. permits him to be quiet but molesteth in prosperitie deiecteth in adversitie in pleasure makes him dissolute in sadnesse desperate to rage in anger to tremble in feare in hope to faint in love to languish These were those temptations of the flesh that S. Paul did punish 1. Corint 9. 27 saying Castigo corpus meum in servitutem redigo I chasten my body and bring it into servitude these were those members the same Apostle exhorted vs to mortifie vpon earth Mortificate membra vestra quae Coloss 3. 5. sunt super terram Seeing then how all the life of a spirituall man ought to bee imployed in the expugnation of these molestfull Iebusites without all doubt it importes him much to knowe the nature of his enemies their stratagems and continuall incursions even vnto the gates of the chiefest castell of his soule I meane the very witte and will Not only the mortified Christian had need to know well his passions because by brideling them he winnes a great quietnesse of minde and enableth himselfe better to the service of God but also the civil Gentleman and prudent Polititian by penetrating the nature and qualities of his affections by restraining their inordinate motions winneth a gratious cariage of himselfe and rendereth his conversation most gratefull to men for I my selfe have seene some Gentlemen by blood and Noblemen by birth yet so appassionate in affections that their company was to most men intollerable for true is that Salomon saide Vir iracundus provocat Prover 15. 18. rixas qui patiens est mitigat suscitatas An angry man raiseth brawles but a patient man appeaseth them after they be raised And therefore howe vngratefull must his company seeme whose passions over-rule him and men had neede of an Astrolabe alwayes to see in what height or elevation his affections are lest by casting forth a sparke of fire his gun-powdred minde of a sodayne be inslamed I omit how he may insinuate himselfe into other mens love and affections how in traveling in strange countries he may discover to what passion the people are most inclined for as I haue seene by experience there is no Nation in Europe that hath not some extraordinarie affection either in pride anger lust inconstancie gluttonie drunkennesse slouth or such like passion much it importeth in good conversation to know exactly the companies inclination and his societie cannot but be gratefull whose passions are moderate and behaviour circumspect I say nothing of Magistrates who may by this matter vnderstand the inclinations and dispositions of their inferiors and subiects But finally I will conclude that this subiect I intreat of comprehendeth the chiefe obiect that all the antient Philosophers aymed at wherein they placed the most of their felicitie that was Nosce teipsum know thy selfe the which knowledge principally consisteth of a perfit experience every man hath of himselfe in particular and an vniversall knowledge of mens inclinations in common the former is helped by the latter the which knowledge is delivered in this Treatise What we vnderstand by Passions and Affections CHAP. II. THree sortes of actions proceede from mens soules some are internall and immateriall as the actes of our wittes and willes others be meere externall and materiall as the acts of our senses seeing hearing moving c. others stand betwixt these two extreames and border vpon them both the which wee may best discover in children because they lacke the vse of reason and are guided by an internall imagination following nothing else but that pleaseth their sences even after the same maner as bruite beastes doe for as we see beastes hate love feare and hope so doe children Those actions then which are common with vs and beastes wee call Passions and Affections or pertuâ—bations of the mind Motus saith saint
men were patient And great men were valiant And red men were loyall All the world would be equall To this seemeth not vnlike an other olde saying of theirs From a white Spaniard A blacke Germaine And a red Italian Liberâ—nos Domine And we in English To a red man reade thy reed With a browne man breake thy bread At a pale man draw thy knife From a blacke man keepe thy wife The which we explicate after this sort The redde is wise The browne trustie The pale peevish The blacke lustie By which auncient Proverbes may be collected the verity of the assertion set downe that divers complexions are inclined to divers passions and in generall I take them to be very true and verified in the most part for that the same causes which concurre to the framing of such a constitution serve also to the stirring vp of such a passion as for example a little man having his heate so vnited and compacted together and not dispersed into so vast a carkasse as the great man therefore he by temperature possesseth more spirits and by them becommeth more nimble lively chollericke hastie and impatient Many more discourses I could deliver about this subiect but indeede it requireth a whole booke for I might declare what Passions they are subiect vnto whom Nature monstrously hath signed what affectious rule Rustickes possesse Cittizens tyrannize over Gentlemen which are most frequented in adversity and which in prosperity I might discourse over Flemmings Frenchmen Spaniardes Italians Polans Germanes Scottishmen Irishmen Welchmen and Englishmen explicating their nationall inclinations good or bad but every one of these exacteth a whole Chapter and perhaps some of them more prowd than wise would be offended with the trueth for this passion of Pride over-ruleth all the children of Adam for we see very few will confesse their owne faultes and then they thinke their reputation disgraced when they are singled from the rest and condemned of some vice therefore See Lerâ—nuâ— Lemâ—ius de complexion lui they must of force have it although they will not heare it Thus I will ende this matter referring the Reader to the next bookes where handling the passions in particular I shall have occasion more in particular to touch this vniversall subiect The manner how Passions are mooved CHAP. XI AS the motions of our Passions are hidde from our eyes so they are hard to bee perceived yet for the speculation of this matter I thinke it most necessary to declare the way and maner of them the which will give light not onely to all the Discourses following but also to all the Chapters preceding First then to our imagination commeth by sense or memorie some obiect to be knowne convenient or disconvenient to Nature the which beeing knowne for Ignoti nulla cupido in the imagination which resideth in the former part of the braine as we proove when we imagine any thing presently the purer spirites flocke from the brayne by certayne secret channels to the heart where they pitch at the doore signifying what an obiect was presented convenient or disconvenient for it The heart immediatly bendeth either to prosecute it or to eschewe it and the better to effect that affection draweth other humours to helpe him and so in pleasure concurre great store of pure spirites in payne and sadnesse much melancholy blood in ire blood and choller and not onely as I sayde the heart draweth but also the same soule that informeth the heart residing in other partes sendeth the humours vnto the heart to performe their service in such a woorthie place In like maner as when we feele hunger caused by the sucking of the liver and defect of nourishment in the stomacke the same soule which informeth the stomacke resideth in the hand eyes and mouth and in case of hunger subordinateth them all to serve the stomacke and satisfie the appetite thereof Even so in the hunger of the heart the splene the liver the blood spirites choller and melancholy attende and serve it most diligently By this manifestly appeareth that we insinnuated in the last Chapter howe the diversities of complexions wonderfully increase or diminish Passions for if the imagination bee very apprehensive it sendeth greater store of spirites to the heart and maketh greater impression likewise if the heart be very hote colde moyst tender cholericke sooner and more vehemently it is stirred to Passions thereunto proportionated finally if one abound more with one humour than another he sendeth more fewell to nourish the Passion and so it continueth the longer and the stronger ⸪ The second Booke wherein are declared foure effects of inordinate Passions ⸫ AFter the declaration of the foure causes of our Passions formall materiall efficient and finall the order of methode requireth wee shoulde entreate of their effectes and proprieties And heere I must speake specially of inordinate passions because although those which be ordinate participate in parte some of those effectes yet for that the inordinate principally cause them therefore I thought good to sette them downe as more necessary and that by them coniecture be made of the rest There be foure proprieties consequent to inordinate Passions blindenesse of vnderstanding perversion of will alteration of humours and by them maladies and diseases and troublesomnesse or disquietnesse of the soule The first proprietie I meane to handle in this Chapter the other in the three next following Passions blinde the Iudgement CHAP. 1. WIse men confesse and ignorant men prove that Passions blind their iudgements and reason for as Saint Basil saide Quemadmodum oculis turbatis Basil psal c. 23. 1. c. As when the eyes are troubled wee can not perceive exactly the obiects of our sight even so when the heart is troubled no man can come by the knowledge of trueth the which similitude Saint Chrysostome declareth more aptly Chrysost hom 1. in Iohan. Sicat oculorum acies c. As the facultie of our eyes being pure and bright it laboureth nothing to deprehend the least moaths but if an evill humour descende from the head or some darkenesse fall vpon the eyes a dimme cloude is cast before the pearles thereof which permitteth them not to see even grosse blockes So it befalleth to the soule when every inordinate affection is purged that might offend her shee seeth all thinges convenient most aptly but being troubled with many affections all that vertue shee leeseth neyther can shee behold any high thing To the authoritie of these Fathers experience agreeth for I never knewe any man troubled with a vehement passion of hatred ire or love who would not bring many reasons to confirme his purpose although after he had performed his pleasure and the tempestuous passion was past hee condemned himselfe and thought his fact vitious and his reasons frivolous The which experience teacheth vs that men for the most parte are not very good iudges in their owne causes specially for the Passion of Love which blindeth their iudgement for which
bee verified who thinketh that the Bulles with white spots which continued ever among the Egyptians and were adored for their god Apis was ever engendred by the acte of Aug. de â—ir c. 5 the Diuell to deceive the Egyptians who caused in the braine of the Cowe while she was in conceaving the imaginations of such a coloured Bul which imagination wrought so mightily that she conceaved the like and so they never wanted spotted Buls Galen also reporteth Galen de Theriaca ad Pison Gen. 30. that a woman beholding a most beautifull picture conceaved and brought forth a most beautifull childe by a most deformed father wee have also in the scriptures the like experience in Iacob who to cause his Ewes conceave speckled lambes put sundry white roddes in the chanels where the beasts were watered and thereby the lambes were yeaned party-coloured These prooved experiments by the censure of Aristotle a sage Philosopher and Galen a sound Physitian proceeded from a vehement imagination in the time of conception And for this cause saith Aristotle wee see the yonglings of bruite beastes for most parte to resemble in colours figures temper greatnesse proprieties and conditions their siers and dammes but in men we observe farre otherwise for wise parents beget foolish children vertuous vitious and contrariwise foolish parents wise children and vitious vertuous faire parents procreate foule children and deformed parents faire children and among the children of the same parents one will bee wise another foolish one fayre another foule The cause of this varietie are the various imaginations of the Parents at the time of their Conception Beastes therefore not being distracted with these various Imaginations conceave not with such diversitie I am not ignorant that Huartes in his triall of Wittes derideth this reason and saith that this answere of Aristotle savoureth of great simplicitie for he resolveth all this varietie into the multiplicity diversity of nourishment which men receive far different from beasts which is vniforme and for most part the same as also for that generation is an operation of the vegetative and not of the sensitive soule But by his leave Aristotles opinion is as probable as his and both ioyned together make one complete perfit For albeit generation be an action of our vegetive soule yet it is subordinate greatly qualified by the sensitive for divers imaginations of more or lesse pleasure in that acte inciteth more or lesse thereunto and so causeth a perfitter or more vnperfitte generation The varietie also of nourishment and qualities or tempers of the seede more or lesse concurre therewithall The fourth effect of Passions which is disquietnesse of the Minde CHAP. IIII. HEe that should see Hercules raging Orestes trembling Cain ranging Amon pining Dido consuming Archimedes running naked would little doubt that Passions mightily change and alter the quiet temper and disposition of the Minde for if peace bee a concord or consort of our sensuall soule with reason if then the Mind be quiet when the Will ruled by Prudence overruleth moderateth and governeth Passions questionlesse then the soule is troubled when Passions arise vp and oppose themselves against Reason Inordinate affections as experience teacheth many waies disquiet the Minde and trouble the peaceable state of this pettie common-weale of our soule but specially by five by Contradiction by Contrarietie by Insatiabilitie by Importunitie by Impossibilitie Contradiction § I. BY two wayes the Subiectes of every Common-weale vsually disturbe the State and breede civill broyles therein the first is when they rise vp and rebel against their King the second is when they brawle one with another and so cause riots and tumults the former is called Rebellion the latter Sedition After the same manner Passions either rebell against Reason their Lord and King or oppose themselves one against another that I call Contradiction this Contrarietie The former he well vnderstood that sayde Spiritus concupiscit Gal. 5. adversus carnem caro adversus Spiritum The Spirit affects against the Flesh the Flesh against the Spirit This internall Combate and spirituall Contradiction every spirituall man daily perceyveth for inordinate Passions will he nill he cease not almost hourely to rise vp against Reason and so molest him troubling the rest and quietnesse of his Soule It is related in the life of S. Anselme our Archbishop of Canterbury that walking In vita Anselâ—â— into the fieldes hee saw a Shepheardes little boy who had caught a Birde and tyed a stone to her legge with a thread and ever as the Bird mounted vp to soare aloft the stone drewe her downe againe The venerable olde man much mooved at this sight fell presently a weeping lamenting thereby the miserable condition of men who no sooner did endevour to ascend to Heaven by contemplation but the Flesh and Passions haled the heart backe againe and drew it downe to earth enforcing the Soule to lie there like a beast which should haue soared in the Heavens like an Angell For these rebellious Passions are like craftie Pioners who while Souldiers liue carelesly within their Castle or at least not much suspect they vndermine it and breake in so vpon them that they can hardly escape in like maner these Affections vndermine the vnderstandings of men for while the wittes are eyther carelesse or imployed in other affayres there creepeth vp into their heartes some one or other perverse Passion which transporteth the Soule cleane another way in so much as that with extreame difficultie she can recall her selfe againe and reduce her Affections vnto their former quietnesse and peaceable temper Who seeth and â—eeleth not that often times while Reason attendeth to Contemplation a villanous Passion of Love withdraweth the attention and with an attoxicated delight imprisoneth the Affection who perceyveth not that divers times Reason would pardon all iniuâ—ies and Ire opposeth it selfe importuning revenge who experimenteth not that Reason woulde willingly fast and abstayne from delicacies but inordinate Delight will feast and endure no austerities who knoweth not that Reason often prescribeth yea vrgeth to labour and payne for the service of God or to performe the affaires of the worlde and Sensualitie would passe her time idlely And after this sort almost continually inordinate Passions contradict right Reason Contrarietie of Passions §. II. THe Egyptians fought against the Egyptians the East winde riseth often against the West the South against the North the Winde against the Tyde and one Passion fighteth with an other The cholericke Cavalliere would with death revenge an iniurie but feare of killing or hanging opposeth it selfe against this Passion Gâ—â—ttonie would have dainties but Covetousnesse prescribeth parsimonie Lecherie would raigne and dominier but dreadfulnesse of infamie and feare of diseases draw in the raynes of this inordinate Affection By which opposition we may easily perceive how vnquiet is the heart of a passionate man tossed like the Sea with contrary windes even at the same time and moment An other
thing to the purpose that wee perceiue better our desires of the soule without any corporall alteration of the body than either loue pleasure or hatred for this comment spoyleth the text because hardly we conceiue any actions of the soule but by these corporall alterations the which induce vs to name them according to Thomas his meaning neither is it true that we prooue by experience without the motions of the body more sensibly concupiscence than ioy or sadnesse and this assumption was admitted of Caietane without any probation Wherefore I thinke we may best say that of all passions wee prooue paine griefe sadnesse pleasure feare and delectation are most notoriously knowne yet because these vehement passions doe not affect vs so commonly but at certaine times and desires of those things we loue continue the longest and fall foorth oftenest therefore men called our sensitiue appetite Concupiscibilis coueting First of all then sadnesse most manifestly is knowne to vs because wee suffer often and feele most sensible paine then pleasure then feare the other are not so open but sometimes they may exceed and so more shew themselues as ire desperation c. Order of Passions in generation or production 2 DIuines and Philosophers commonly affirme that all other passions acknowledge loue to be their fountaine root and mother the reason I take to be for that al passions either prosecut some good or flie some euill those which flie euill as hatred feare sadnesse presuppose the loue of some good the which that euill depriueth as for example who hateth death but he which loueth life who feareth aduersity but he that loueth prosperitie who is pensiue in his sickenesse but hee that loueth health Loue then goeth before all those passions which eschew euil Amongst them which prosecute good loue likewise proceedeth for the passions of our minds are not vnlike the motions of our bodies For as things naturally mooued haue an appetite or naturall inclination to the place whereunto they are mooued mooue and rest therein as the water which runneth so fast downe the mountaines hath an instinct of Nature to be vnited with the Sea for which cause we see brookes and flouds runne with such a maine force to attaine thereunto when they come to the Sea presently they ioyne in friendship and liue in concord ioyning together as louing friends euen so we see in beastes the horse loueth water when hee is thirstie and therefore by desire hee seeketh out some riuer or fountaine when he hath found it he drinketh pleaseth himself therewith and so resteth contented This ordinarie course keepe passions but sometimes this subordination is changed for if a man bee wounded vpon a sodaine the present passion of griefe and ire inuade him and so per accidens in many other cases the foresaid order may be broken Order of Passions in Intention 3 IF we discourse of those Passions which reside in the sensitiue appetite it euer first intendeth pleasure and delight because therewith Nature is most contented from which intention followeth loue hatred ire and such like this passion beasts most desire yea children and sensuall persons wholy seeke after and direct almost their whole actions thereunto for pleasure is the polestare of all inordinat passions and if a man examine himselfe thorowly he shal find that riches glorie health learning and what else most men desire aime commonly at pleasure and delight of the body because these pleasures are easily perceiued and in them the soule seemeth to purchase a quiet rest Neuerthelesse vertuous men whose passiōs are ruled by reason leuel at a higher mark and subordinate pleasure to honestie and delight to vertue because as we say Glorie waiteth on Vertue as the shadow followeth the body euen so vnto good actions followeth a certaine pleasure and sweetnesse howbeit a good man giueth almes yet dooth he not giue it with intention men should commend him as hypocrites do and so be repayd with the pleasure of a good reputation but with the testimonie of a good conscience that hee doth it for the glorie of God Order of Passions in Dignitie 4 IF we compare our passions in dignitie or perfection then those wherewith we prosecute good are more excellent than those wherewith wee esteeme ill and among these loue holdeth the principall place and as a queene in dignitie preceadeth the rest because that loue vniteth the louer in affection with the obiect beloued loue is the root of other affections loue finally maketh vs friends with God and man All we haue said of passions residing in our sensitiue appetite the same we find in the reasonable passion of our will because the will hath such like acts specified of the same obiects directed to the same end for as a Rhetoritian will make an Epistle according to the rules of Grammer as well as a Grammarian euen so what our sensatiue appetite followeth or abhorreth the same our will may prosecute or detest THE FIFT BOOKE of the Passions of the Minde Wherein are deliuered the means to mooue Passions THe water which wee find in euery Citie by three wayes passeth into it either by fountaines or springs by riuers or conduits or by raine snow or halestones that is some water ariseth some passeth some descendeth so in like manner our imaginations or internall sences and consequently our Passions by three wayes are mooued by humours arising in our bodies by externall sences and secret passage of sensuall obiects by the descent or commaundement of reason How passions are stirred vp by humours was aboue deliuered here onely remaineth to declare how they are prouoked by sences and incited by the wit and will And first of all we will begin with the motions of sences as most knowne obuious and ordinarie How sences mooue Passions and specially our sight §. 1. GEnerally they loue and affect vanitie for what is that they loue or can loue in the world and worldly but vanitie that is neither before it is had contenteth nor when it is possessed fully pleaseth nor after it is departed satisfieth For such things are vaine which vanish away and are resolued into nothing They search after lies not onely because all worldly allurements yeeld no felicitie and contentation as they beare vs in hand but also for that in very deed and really they be lies shewing one thing in the rind and externall apparance and an other in the coare and internall essence for cousining arts falsifie and sophisticat nature causing copper seeme gold hypocrisie sanctitie and sences surfeits the soules solaces All sences no doubt are the first gates whereby passe and repasse all messages sent to passions but yet the scriptures in particular wonderfully exhort commaund and admonish vs to attend vnto the custodie and vigilance ouer our eyes Dauid who had once vnwarily glaunced awry and let goe the raines of his eyes at his passions importunity thought himselfe vnable without Gods speciall grace to guide direct and withdraw them from vanitie and therefore
how it commeth to passe that out of the same mouth should issue a cold wind to coole the hot pottage and a hot breath to warme the cold hands But musicke is much more miraculous for it moueth a man to mirth and pleasure and affecteth him with sorow and sadnesse it inciteth to deuotion and inticeth to dissolution it stirreth vp souldiers to warre and allureth citizens to peace Take away musicke from marriages and halfe the mirth Musick causeth mirth is mard depriue great bankets of musicke and the feast is not intire there is but sorrie dauncing where musicke is wanting dispoile tradesmen and labourers of naturall musicke and take from them a soueraigne preseruatiue Musicke causeth melancholy from paine Musicke therefore mooueth men to mirth and abateth the heauie humour of melancholie But how causeth musicke sorow and sadnesse What are Hieremies lamentable threens but a sorowfull song breathed ouer the citie of Hierusalem What are Dauids penitentiall Psalmes but monefull anthemes inclining the soule to sorow for sinne What are funebriall accents but ruthful lamentations for our friends eclipsed What else are those dolefull tunes which issue from languishing louers but offsprings of pensiue furies and origens of more vehement melancholie fits All poeticall fained fables or sophisticated histories are loaden with these wailing verses and swanlike or rather swinelike voices occasioned by mournfull despaire and feeding the same A sword serueth to defend right and is also an instrument Musicke stirreth vp deuotion to worke wrongs musicke in like manner eleuateth the mind to deuotion and pietie and abaseth the soule with effusion leuitie Elizeus as aboue I insinuated prepared 4. â—eg 3. his spirit to receiue the influence of prophesie by the meanes of musicke Dauid in penning Psalmes ordaining instruments prouiding musitians for the seruise of God by word and deed taught vs by the vertue of musicke to stirre men vp to deuotion and therefore registred that solemne sentence beseeming all Christians but specially musitians and worthy to be engrauen in their brests for eternall memorie Laudate Dominum in sono Psal 848. tubae laudate eum in psalterio cithera laudate eum in timpano choro laudate eum in chordis organo laudate eum in symbalis bene sonantibus laudate eum in cymbalis iubilationis omnis spiritus laudet dominum And for this cause it hath bene vsual among them in the old testament after any great grace or fauour shewed them by God to rouse vp their soules with musicall songs and instruments to giue him thankes and praise his name for the bestowing of such benefits imparting to them such great good or deliuering them from such euils When Israel had passed the read sea and therein beheld Pharoe and his host buried in the bottome of those wallowing waues Moyses with the men and Marie sister to Aaron Exod. 15. Iudith 16. Iud. 5. with the women sung panigeries of praises vnto God with hymnes and instruments the like we read of Iudith after she had vanquished Holophernes of Delbora c. And the Church for this same effect vseth the consorts of musical instruments and the harmonie of voices the which Saint Augustine greatly commendeth and Augustinus lib. 10. confess ca. 33 reporteth of himselfe what exceeding spirituall comfort he reaped thereby at the beginning of his conuersion what teares he shed and how he was internally moued For musicke hath a certaine secret passage into mens soules and worketh so diuinely in the mind that it eleuateth the heart miraculously and resembleth in a certaine manner the voices and hermonie of heauen and questionlesse there is nothing in this life which so sensibly discouereth vnto vs the pleasures of Paradice as a sweet consort of musicke True it is that this sensuall delight appertaineth more to yonglings in deuotion than graue perfit and mortified men for it serueth them as a sensuall obiect to ascend to God in spirit to contemplate his sweetnesse blessednesse and eternall felicitie and thereby contemne this world so full of vanitie and miserie but these who are more eleuated to God by reason than by sence ascend to him by serious meditations deepe considerations and exact penetrations of his word his maiestie attributes and perfections Wherefore Saint Augustine thought he offended when he was more moued with the melodie of the song than with the sence of the Psalme and for the same effect he highly commendeth Idem Ibidem Athanas Saint Athanasius Qui tam modico flexu vocis faciebat sonare lectorem psalmi vt pronuntianti vicinior esset quam canenti Who caused the reader of the psalme to sing with such a small inflexion of voyce that he seemed rather to say than to sing But yet for all this euen graue and most deuout men benefit their soules and not onely the simpler sort with the sweetnesse of musicke for although they lift vp their hearts to God persuaded rather by reason than induced by sence yet they cannot euer attend vnto such serious cogitations but now and then intermingle their deuotions with this sacred sensualitie and pleasant path which leadeth to the fountaine of spirituall comfort and consolation Musicke causeth wantennesse Aristotle in his common-wealth forbiddeth a certaine sort of lasciuious musicke and alloweth the Doricall which is of another kind for as in some mens gestures wordes and manner of deliuerie we discouer a certaine light wantonnesse so in some musick there is to be noted a manifest loose effeminatenesse and the experience is so sensible that it were superfluous to proceed any farther in proofe Alexander the great hearing Antigenida a most excellent Musick moueth â—â—e trumpeter sound his trumpet to battell was stirred vp in such sort to fight that his very friends were not secure from blowes which stood next him Saint Basil recounteth Basil in hom de legen lib. Gent. that one Timothie did so excell in musicke that if he vsed a sharpe and seuere harmonie he stirred men vp to anger and presently by chaunging his note into a more sweet and softer tune he moued them to mildnesse and peace and at a banket caused both these effects in Alexander the great The Naâ—â—ans in the east India to stirre themselues vp to battel hang at the pommels of their swordes certaine plates to make a noise thinking or proouing belike thereby how their hearts are incensed to warre In Europe we neuer see souldiors almost sight but first prouoked to warres with trumpets and drummes Tacitus reporteth that the Germanes inanimated themselues to the warres with singing the worthy wonders and heroicall exploits of Hercules And finally experience teacheth that not only men but also warlike horses with drummes and trumpets are inflamed to sight This effect of sounds and instruments cannot proceed but from the passion of ire which is raised vp and ruleth the soule occasioned or rather caused by them As musicke and instruments in one kind causeth souldiers Musicke
ground of every mans love of himselfe is the Identitie of a man with himselfe for the lover and beloved are all one and the same thing because love being nothing else but a complacence or contentation in the goodnes or perfection one hath with a desier of the accomplishment thereof consequently as we ought both in grace and nature to preferre none before our selves in the affection of vertue and perfection so we should not love any above our selves From the Identitie of our selves and the love thereof necessarily followeth a certaine love to all them who are vnited any way vnto vs and the stricter this vnion is the stricter affection it engendreth and for that all things vnited have a kind of resemblance therefore Philosophers and Divines ground friendship vpon similitude here hence we love our kinsemen parents and children for the vnion and resemblance in blood students ground their friendship in the same kind of studies souldiers in martiall affaires courtiers in civill courtly carriage tradesmen in their artes marriners in navigation and finally all men of one profession love them of the same and Omne animal Eccles 13. diligit sibi simile and every beast affecteth the like liveth with the like consorteth with the like And the reason is because a man in this life by nature and grace by the instinct of his innate iudgement and reasonable affection prescribeth vnto himselfe an end in this world void of troubles and molestation quiet peaceable full of rest and contentation whereat all his labours thoughts and meditations levell moreover he being a sociable creature had need of men to help him in councell comfort him in griefes succour him in sundrie disasters of fortune which dayly and casually occurre and finally converse peaceably and agreeably with him all which none can performe better not so well as they whose natures and conditions are like vnto ours for what dissention can be among those men whose wills are one and the same what sorrowes can greatly molest vs where friends carrie their portions with vs and thereby alleviate a great part of their waight what counsell can preuaile against many friends who are wise discreet faithfull vertuous what conversation can be more gratefull then that where neither iniuries are offered nor suspected in few as vertue is the surest chaine wherewith men can be bound together so resemblance in vertue the surest foundation of friendship and a vertuous companie the happiest societie O my God of most pure and perfit loue thou spake the word and begot thine eternall word thou breathed out thy love and produced the holy ghost the life and soule of all true love as well create as increate thy love in Trinitie is one and the selfe-same identified in all the three persons and the selfe-same thing with their substance and therefore most intier inexplicable and perfit is your loue the which may not be termed friendship but rather charitable amitie of an indivisible vnitie Thy creatures are all beloued of thee because thou like a father in them hast imprinted and stamped a resemblance of thy Maiesty and because there is none so base and vnperfit but that all the goodnesse it hath resideth in thee much more perfitly then it selfe therefore no child so representeth his father as every creature thy Maiesty according to that perfection it enioyeth and thy boundlesse essence comprehendeth What shall I heere say of the image of thy essence and three persons in Trinitie engrauen in the center of every reasonable soule this were a matter too prolixe to discourse vpon but well I may conclude that if thou love all thy creatures for a darke cognisance they carry vpon their backs of thy glorious greatnesse no doubt but thou wilt love fauour man who beareth in the face of his soule thy perfit portrait and image in a farre higher degree much more might be added of the blood of Christ wherewith all soules are sprinkled who have put him on in their baptisme Long treatises might be penned of the supernaturall colours and celestiall graces of faith hope charitie and other infused vertues wherewith thy friends are refined enriched adorned beautified and thy image perfited but of this more diffusedly in my third booke of Threans Finally thy future resemblance which all thy faithfull servants shall possesse in glory of whom is verified that prophesie of S. Iohn Scimus quoniam cum apparuerit 1. Ioh. 3. similes ei erimus quoniam videbimus eum sicuti est Because we know when he appeareth we shall be like vnto him for that we shall see him as he is This glorious retreate of thy blessed face would affoord ample matter to praise thy goodnes extoll mans greatnes in felicitie declare the beautie of thy sacred beames wherewith our soules shall be gloriously inamelled excite vs to love thee heere more fervently to resemble thee there more lively but this large subiect would passe the strait compasse of my prefixed brevitie therefore O blessed God renew vs within so perfitly here that we may one day try this truth with thee there The 11. Motive to Love which is agreeablenesse with Nature IF a man should inquire why the Vine so loveth by nature the Elme that it wrappeth more kindly about it and bringeth forth more plentie and better grapes then planted at the roote of any other tree questionles no other reason could be giuen then a certaine secret sympathie of Nature a proportionate agreeablenes and naturall conveniencie What paine taketh the Hen to sitte so long vpon her egges what labour endure little Birdes to build their nestes to feede their yonglings to teach them by daily examples to avoyde dangers to procure foode to conserve protect and defend themselves all these and thousands such like proceed from a certaine Love grounded vpon the agreeablenesse and concordance with Nature So that small pleasures the poore Birdes finde to leave their owne provision sought with such labour to cramme their little ones and no great delight the Hen can reape by so daintily and carefully covering her egges but that the want of pleasure is supplied by the conformitie of Nature which therein is apertly shewed When we see beasts fight we commonly wish in our harts the victorie should happen rather to the one party then the other If a reason of this desire were demaunded it were impossible divers times to be rendred except we resolved it into a secret sympathie of nature likewise meeting with a companie of strangers which we never see men or women presently one shall perceive a certaine more affectuall fancie inclined to love one then an other although divers times both proportion comelinesse or I know not what other perfection be more spectable in the reiected then in the accepted The same we might say of divers meates drinks ayers smells lodgings apparell c. which agree and are conformable to some mens nature but marvellous hurtfull and offensive to others the which therefore are loved of those and abhorred
fields as Paradises of pleasure wherein was layd by the author of nature a reward for those who had not abused nature but grace being above nature affordeth vs more motives to vertue more helps to flie vice 11 What adamant heart can be so hardned with vice that the blood of Christ shall not breake why was he drawne vp the Crosse but to draw vs to vertue from vice Why cryed he longe à salute mea verba delictorum but because he crucified indeede our sinnes in his owne body which in vaine before without vertue of this passion had been washed with blood of goats and calves 12 The Sacraments of his Church those fountaines of grace those conduits of his passion those heavenly medicines those linckes and chaynes wherewith the members of Christes church are vnited in religion for what other effect were they instituted than for the watering of our soules to the encrease of vertue and the whole supplanting of vice 13 The internall gifts of God the armour of Faith Hope and Charitie with graces and favors wherewith the holy ghost endueth our soules fortifie vs against vice and habilitate exceedingly to vertue 14 The manifold inspirations of God the illustrations of his holy Angels which stand in battell aray to defend vs tend to no other end than to perswade vs to vertue and disswade vs from vice 15 Why hath God provided so many teachers and preachers but to be so many watchmen over the house of Israel to cry like Trumpets and blaze the sinnes of the house of Iacob lest by wallowing in wickednesse they reclaime no more to goodnesse 16 The holy scriptures were written with the finger of God as Registers of his eternall will letters of love to invite vs to vertue and threatnings of ire to dehort vs from vice therein by more sure authoritie he delivereth vnto vs whatsoever he had written more obscurely in the booke of Nature perswading directing counselling to goodnes pietie and religion disswading diverting threatning and terrifying from vice impietie and vngodlines wherefore one of the chiefest scopes for which the sacred Volume was sent from Heaven was to make vs decline from evill and do good dye to old Adam and live with Christ crucifie sinne and follow vertue 17 God by his infinite wisedome and charitie gave vs not only teachers in words but also actors in deeds not only them who filled our eares with godly perswasions but also them which represented vertue most lively to our eyes with good examples and holy actions so were the lives of Saintes in all ages as so many Orig. libr. 1. in Iob Grego ibid. Starres which gave vs light how to walke in the darkenesse of this life and so many spurres to pricke vs forward that we should not linger in so divine a voyage Their fervent charitie reprehendeth our tepiditie their diligence in Gods service our negligence their watching and praying our sluggishnes and indevotion 18 If there were a Kings sonne of most beautifull countenance and divine aspect resembling his father as much as a sonne could doe who would not iudge this Prince both inhumane and mad if he would cut mangle and disgrace his owne face with grieslie woundes and vgly formes What an iniurie were this against his father what an offence against all his parents Even such crueltie vse sinners to themselves and God because by sinning they deface and mangle that lively Image of the holy Trinitie drawne by God himselfe in the substance of theyr soules and so are iniurious not onely to themselves but also to their God their Father their King the holy and individed Trinitie 19 Who spoyleth Gods Temple is accounted irreligious who prophaneth his Church is thought sacriligious and who but he which hath lost all sparks of pietie dare adventure to attempt so heinous a crime Yet Vitious adventure and performe it they prophane their bodyes and soules they fell them to lust and wickednesse they expell the holy ghost from them they put him forth of his iust possession which he holdeth over them as a Father by vertue and after by wicked deserts enforce him as a iudge like prisoners to iayle them by iustice 20 Those which live in Christs true Catholike Church by communion of Saints enioy an other meane to doe well and that is the common prayers and supplications of the faithfull which beate continually at the gates of Gods mercy and doubtlesse returne not voyde agayne for many petitions God hardly can deny 21 A dioyne hereunto the supernaturall providence of God which feedeth the foule of the ayre and cloatheth the lillies of the field the which being so carefull of vnreasonable creatures what shall we thinke he doth to the faithfull questionlesse he neither will sleepe nor slumber that watcheth the house of Israel he will keepe his servants as the apple of his eye he will give them meate in due season he will finally sustaine their weakenesse erect them if they fall direct them if they erre succour them if they want refresh them in the heates of concupiscences mittigate the tempests of their temptations moderate the waves of wicked occasions 22 The horrible paines of Hell thundred in holy Writ the weeping and gnashing of teeth the woorme which will gnaw perpetually vpon the very heart of the soule with remorce of conscience those inextinguible flames of infernall fornaces that cruell hatred of griesly Divels and vgly hell-hounds those remedilesse paines and torments without hope of recoverie remission or mittigation and above all that privation and losse of the sight of the face of God prepared for all those that would serve him in sanctitie and holinesse of life all these evils certainely to be incurred I thinke might move sufficiently any wise man to looke about him what he doth whether he goeth what reckoning he must make for these be not May-games or Esops fables but sacred truths registred in Scriptures dayly put in execution hourely felt and of every wicked man to be prooved 23 If God had onely terrified vs from sinne with inexplicable paynes every discreete man might have had sufficient cause to abhorre it but besides having invited vs to vertue by promising ineffable ioyes who can now excuse vs what can we pretend With reward he pricks vs forward with torments he drawes vs backward he bridles our wantonnesse with one and spurres on our slouthfulnesse with the other 24 Vertue of it selfe even naked if neither reward had been promised nor punishment threatned might sufficiently have mooved vs to love her and follow her because she carrieth such a shew of honestie such internall beautie such a grace and excellencie that her possession may be thought a sufficient remuneration 25 The horrible punishments mentioned in Scriptures inflicted for sinne even in this life if we had grace might inforce vertue vpon vs for what cast Adam out of Paradise Sinne what wounded him in nature and spoyled him of grace Sinne what drowned the world Sinne what rained fire and
Passions I oppose the law of Nature the brevity of all pleasures for no Passion can long content the minde but even a gust of pleasure gulleth the soule and so cloyeth it that the very dainties seeme loathsome Nam ab assuetis non fit Passio If hereunto you adde so many diseases so many disgraces such infamy which commonly accompany exorbitant Passions You shall find that they have no such efficacy to pervert vs as the other to convert vs. The sixt Impediment is of Inconstancie MOst men feele in themselves a certayne Inconstancy whereby they become wonderfull various and fickle in theyr owne estates exercises and manner of living for if we discourse vniversally about the nature of man we shall finde him continually as it were in a cyrcle that is winding about pleasures or flying paynes and after a small while returning to them agayne For example who live in Citties desire to enioy a while the Countrey and those that possesse the free ayre of the Countrey wish the sights of Citties and both after a while loath that they most desired and would returne to theyr former estates and then after awearied of them they renue theyr desires and effectuate their purposes the selfe same we proove in senses wee see greene fields beautifull pallaces pleasant gardens But not long time this obiect will content vs shortly after the eyes beeing satiated then our eares must bee delighted with Musicke and after they are loathed then must we have varieties of meates the stomacke being filled then followeth rest then sight talke or such like exercises as wee vsed before and after this manner we rowle vp and downe Gods creatures ever thyrsting and never content even so in the servyce of God for our soules herein consort with our bodyes which are feeble and tender in youth but grow till they come to a certayne perfection the which once obtayned they returne agayne to theyr former imperfections ever fading consuming and resolving till they come to their finall decreement and as great weakenesse as they begunne withall In spirite and minde many beginne to doe well but after a while they loathe the very Manna of Heaven the best and most precyous liquors of Paradice savour not to them they seeme taynted they beginne in spirit and finish in flesh they follow God but after a while they sigh for onyons of Egypt And I needes must say that this inconstancy hath caused many soules miscarry and those which seemed to have entred the gates of Paradice fell most miserably into the dungeon of Hell This inconstancy raigneth not onely over the soule A certayne contrariety in the soule hindereth men from goodnesse at divers times as now the Sea ebbeth now floweth now is tempestuous now calmed but at the selfe same time it will and will not loveth and hateth affecteth God and his enemies the slesh and the world not vnlike to two contrary winds which at the selfe same time tosse the clowdes one beneath an other above one into the East the other into the West the which contention Saint Paul felt well when he sayde Sentio aliam legem in membris meis repugnantem legi mentis meae and Aug. lib. 8. coâ—sess cap. 10. S. Augustine in resolving himselfe to serve God sayd Nec planè volebam nec plenè nolebam ideo mecum contendebam but as he had pronounced before Ego eram qui volebam ego qui nolebam for indeede the lower part of the soule draweth the will one way and reason haleth another so that in the selfe same will there is a double motion the one to vertue the other to vice even as the Philosophers say the lower heavens are mooved from West to East by their proper motions and from East to West by the force of the first mooved or highest heaven But against this Inconstancy I can oppose many meanes to goodnesse of greater force and efficacy the which can more constantly further vs to goodnesse then inconstancy can incite vs to ilnesse have we not registred in holy Writ and sounding alwayes in our eares the inexplicable ioyes of Heaven promised to Vertue and the terrible paynes of Hell threatned to vice Will not the feare of Gods iudgement which hourely we attend enforce vs to watch and pray lest we be taken at vnawares May not the incertainty of our deaths moove vs to a constancy in life Will not so many warnings of death iudgement hell heaven so often inculcated sufficiently stirre vs vp to stand vpon our warde Cannot so many stayes of grace vphold and stay the inconstancy of Nature Howe many are withholden from wickednesse onely thorow terror of temporall punishment and shall not so many terrors countervaile a fickle and inconstant inclination Where lyeth the anchor of Hope and the vnmooveable grounds of Faith and charity The seventh Impediment is discontentment of our owne Estate AN other Impediment I thinke most men feele at one time or other which hindereth not a little the the progresse of Vertue and it is that none can be contented with their owne estates we perceive not onely a warre or battell in our mindes but also a certayne discontentment in our selves whereupon broke foorth those saying Nemo sorte sua contentus laudet diversa sequentes wee may be well compared to certayne sicke men who would ever be changing theyr beds yet they never finde rest for that the cause of theyr griefe lyeth not in the beds but in their bodies the reason why men live so discontented with their owne estates proceedeth from many crosses which every state condition exercise or office carrieth with it besides the often exercising of one thing engendreth fatiety and therefore alwayes Nature affecteth variety Against this tediousnes and loathing life many great helps I can obiect for those which attend indeed to serve God find a certaine secret Manna a Paradice of consolations which will easily mittigate the crosses and discontentments ministred by a nature ill inclined for as God permitteth no evill to escape vnpunished so he letteth passe no good vnrewarded and although this reward shall be reaped in the harvest of eternall life yet with a quiet conscience the tranquility of mind an internall peace and consolation in heavenly affaires he fully in this life recompenseth all disasters and calamities which occurre Cucurri viani Psal 118. 32. mandatorum tuorum said one dum dilatasti cor meum and as he that guideth by his providence the sterne of mens soules permitteth them not to bee moyled with tentations above the forces and habilities wherewith they are indued so likewise he will not see them so deiected with crosses that he wil not erect them with consolations so said he which well had tryed the passions of the crosse that Sicut abundant passiones Christi in nobis ita per ChristuÌ„ abundat consolatio nostra for as the passions of Christ aboundeth in vs even so by Christ aboundeth 2. Cor. 1. 5. Iudit 8. 20. Psal 93.
base and drudging life Besides if all creatures by the instinct of Nature endevor so much to win theyr full and compleat perfection why should we degenerate so farre from our owne nature as not to accomplish that we lacke marke but the seede cast into the ground how it laboureth to die after to live how it fixeth his rootes pierceth the ground to enioy the Sunne and ayre erecteth the stem springs the huskes issues the eare yeelds with the wind and never giveth over till the corne bee brought to a full maturity we see how new wines beere and all liquors worke by boyling the rawer parts expelling the dregs reducing themselves to a due temper proportionated mixture and perfection if these insensible creatures so industriously labor to come to theyr end shal not we endevour to atchieve our end and felicity If they according to theyr small ability imploy theyr naturall talentes why should not wee endued with so many graces procure our owne good and perfection Why standeth God at Apoc. 3. 20. the doores of our heart beating but to enter in Why doe Gods servants crye out vpon our negligence but Iere. 25. 34. to bring vs to diligence Why doth God punish many in the prime of theyr yeeres in the fatte of theyr fortune in the glory of theyr prosperitye but to advertise vs by theyr examples of the inconstancy of this world and that wee might learne to bee wise by theyr losses to be vigilant and carefull by their carelesnesse Some more Impediments I could deliver as the many occasions offred dayly to do ill the great readinesse of matter and favourers thereof the insatiable desire possesseth our heartes of inordinate pleasures the admirable diligence in procuring temporall treasures the extreame delight all men conceyve in theyr owne actions the great account and estimation they do make of them how soone they despise or abase the enterprises of others how perverse and obstinate they live in their own opinions I could I say make long discourses vpon these particular obiects but that they may all be reduced to selfe-love inordinate Passions the world and the divell of which we have intreated largely before onely I will here adioyne the reason and cause of all this Treatise why we having so many meanes so forcible so divine Mat. 7. 15. 20. 16. 1. Pet. 4. 18. so continuall so supernaturall to serve God to follow Vertue to fly sinne and scarce halfe so many impediments leading vs to vice and vngodlinesse yet for one that doth well thousands doe ill and for one that goes to Heaven almost a million goes to hell and that the difficulty may seeme more apparant adde another consideration questionlesse all vniversall effectes proceede from vniversall causes as we see all men die therefore we gather that all have a Nature corruptible all men are subiect to Passions preventing and dissenting from reason therefore we inferre that Nature is corrupted even so since most men doe ill and few good and after this tenour in all Countries and Nations therefore we must finde out some generall cause Some will say that this proceedeth from originall sinne whereby our nature remayned corrupted and therefore prone to evill slow to good this reason indeede toucheth some remote cause but yet it doth not fully satisfie first because we have set downe all the internall effects and impious of-springs of originall sinne and yet they can not amount or countervaile the number of those helps we have to do good Besides it ought to be declared how originall sinne hath so infected nature that it is so feeble to vertue and so strong to vice for all the wounds which internally moove vs to sinne reside either in the wit will or sensitive appetite the which we have conferred with those stayes both God and good nature hath bestowed vpon vs to do well Furthermore by the passion of Christ his merits grace originall sinne is forgiven vs who by baptisme have put Gala. 3. 27. Ephes 5. 6. Tit. 3. 5. Eze 33. 12. Ioel. 2. 25. Ephes â— 5. Eze. 36. 26. Psal 33. 8. Psal 90. 13. on Christ he hath restored vnto vs his former favours adopted vs for children changed hearts of stone into hearts of flesh fortified our soules against vice enabled our faculties against sinne protected and guarded vs about with Angels for our defence against Sathan that our feet should not be stayed in the way of vertue by blocks stones our ghostly enemies cast in the narrow way that leadeth to heaven to hinder our voyage or frustrate our designements Therefore to conclude this matter I resolve my selfe that we have more meanes to do good then occasions to do ill and them also of their nature to be more forcible and potent neverthelesse for foure reasons more men are wicked then vertuous first for lack of prudent meditations secondly for ill education thirdly for palpable present delectation lastly for defect of due prefervation I meane first that men miscarrie so often in this peregrination for lack of good consideration because most of those meanes God hath vouchsafed to bestow vpon vs require a certaine meditation and ponderation for they be like hot coales the which you may take in your hands and presently cast away without burning because all actions welnie require time or space for their operations but if you hold them a while you shall feele their effects So it falleth forth in the mysteries of our faith he that meditateth burneth he that perfunctorily runneth over them scarse feeleth their heate In meditatione mea sayth David exardescit ignis in my Psal 38. 3. prayer fire is kindled because meditation bloweth the coales by consideration whereunto followeth the flame of love and affection for otherwise what profit can we take of the inconstancie of our lives and certaintie of our deaths of the severe and infallible iudgement of God the inexplicable paynes of hell the ineffable ioyes of heaven if we never consider them What availeth vs to have the scriptures that God punished in this life so many with extraordinary deaths that by sinnes we are spoyled of grace wounded in nature disenabled to goodnes incited to ilnes if we never ruminate them in our minds or ponder them in our considerations Questionlesse it were to swallow meate without chewing which rather endammageth health then restoreth the lost forces Wherefore I like well those wise godly men which every day allot themselves a certaine time stinting their howers for meditation propounding before the eyes of their consideration now one mysterie now an other now the passions of Christ then the pangs of death now the strict iudgements and punishments of God then the eternall delights layd vp for vs in his heavenly Paradice these therefore like fruitfull Psal 1. â— trees planted by the river sides render their fruites in due season these arme themselves in the morning to resist all encounters which may occurre the day time these be
indued women to retayne them from these shamefull actions the basenesse and brevitie of that pleasure she pretends vnvailable to that cost she bestoweth yet for all this losse she will hazard it she neither regardeth the good she leeseth nor the harmes she incurreth nor the little trifle she winneth transgresseth the law of nature the law of God the law of christianitie the law of friendship onely for lacke of prudent and mature consideration married to a wicked Wili and perverse affection That which I have sayde of this lewd Woman the same might be sayde of all sinners because the meanes to do well are so many and the dommages so great that every sinne consummate carrieth with it that I could make a whole booke of them and perhaps in time I will do it In the meane season gentle Reader whensoever occurreth any occasion apt to induce thy Will to offende God runne not too fast after it ponder a little crave helpe from above consider thy helpes expende thy harmes and presently thou shalt see that all tentations of this worlde will become like to the huge Statue that Nabuchodonozor beheld with the head of golde the breast of silver the belly of brasse the legges of yron Daniel c. 3. the feete of yron and earth for all pleasures are golden in the entraunce but still decrease to terrestriall and earthly substaunces towardes the ende they become lothsome and are accounted vilde the little stone without any humane hands cut from the mountayne will deiect and cast prostrate on the ground this huge masse of mettall I meane the grace of Christ all the multitude of tentations and suggestions of the Divell and then thou mayest raigne over them by grace in this life and glory in the end Amen FINIS A Succinct Philosophicall declaration of the nature of Clymactericall yeeres occasioned by the death of Queene Elizabeth ⸪ Written by T W LONDON Printed for Thomas Thorpe and are to be sold in Paules Church-yard at the signe of the Crane by Walter Burre 1604. A Succinct Philosophicall declaration of the nature of Clymactericall yeeres occasioned by the death of Queene Elizabeth ⸪ AFter the death of Queene ELIZABETH who died in the 70. yeere of her age which was the Clymactericall period of her life diuerse pregnant wits and curious Philosophers were assembled by chance togither among sundry other learned Discourses one demaunded of me what were these Clymactericall yeeres their nature and effects For quoth hee I haue heard many Philosophors and Phisitians talke of them but as yet I neuer throughly could pierce or penitrate them I aunswered him that the Treatise thereof required longer time then that place and present occasions afforded but that afterwards at more ley sure hee should vnderstand them if hee were desirous to learne The Gentleman importuned me so much as at last hee drew me to write this Discourse which followeth for that it seemeth not altogether impertinent to this explanation of Passions I thinke it not vnfit to be inserted in the last Booke of the Passions of the Minde because the same temper of body and propension to death which is the base of Clymactericall yeres the very same conferres much either to mooue Passions or hinder the opperations of the soule as in the progresse of this discourse shal plainly appeare Clymax in Greeke signifieth a Staire or a Ladder and metaphorically is applyed to the yeeres of a man or womans life as if the whole course of our dayes were a certaine Ladder compounded of so many steppes True it is that as the constitutions of mens bodies are for the most parte of two sortes the one is firme and strong the other more weake and feeble so the Phisitians by long experience haue obserued that the fatall ends of them who be of a lustie constitution finish for most part in some score of yeeres and so they number such persons periods by twentie 40. 60. 80. 100. 120. And to Other count them by tens this purpose sayde Moses * whose eyes were neither darkned nor any tooth loosed * Centum viginti Deut. 31. 2. annorum sum hodie non possum vltra egredi ingridi I am now an hundred and twenty yeeres old I can no more goe out and come in that is no longer liue and so it fell out for that * same yeere Deut. 34. 7. he died And GOD himselfe said of man * Erunt Genes 6. 4. dies illius centum viginti anni The dayes of man shall be an hundred and 20. yeeres The next Clymactericall yeere in them of solide and virile constitution is an 100 and so the Scriptures report Numerus dierum vitae hominum vt Eccles 18. 8 multum centum anni The number of the dayes of the life of men at most is an 100 yeeres Another kinde of men whose complexion is weaker haue a lesser kinde of measure as they haue shorter life and yet these also be of two sorts some stronger some weaker the first Clymactericall yeeres are nine eighteene tweentie seauen thirty six forty fiue fifty foure sixty three seauenty two eighty one the seconds are seauen foureteene twenty one twenty eight thirty fiue forty twoo forty nine fifty six sixty three seauenty Of these two ages spake Dauid when hee sayde Dies annorum Psalme 89. 10. nostrorum in ipsis septuaginta anni Si autem in potentatibus octoginta anni amplius corum labor dolor The dayes of our yeeres are seauentie yeeres and if in Potentates they be eightie the labour and griefe is greater The most daungerous of all these passages or steps are the forty nine compounded vpon seuen times seauen and sixty three standing vppon nine times seauen and next to these is seauenty which containeth tenne times seauen they number them also by nine and so make eighty one the most perillous as comprehending nine times nine These obseruations then of Phisitians presupposed as true for men that are wise vertuous and experimented in their faculties ought to be belieued for wisdome and experience protect them from errour and honestie from lying and deceite it were good to examine and search out the cause of these notable alterations and daungers of death in the Clymactericall yeeres for those humors which alter the bodie and dispose it to sicknesse and death the same bend the soule to take inordinate affections and passions I haue heard some Phisitians resolue this doubt into the influence of heauens to wit that so manie courses of the Sunne Moone and Planets from the time of a mans Natiuitie worke such effects so that some men let them liue neuer so orderly after so manie circular motions of the Sunne and Moone haue warbled ouer their heads vppon necessitie they must fall into one sicknesse or another and so die Some others ground this varietie and daungerous diuersitie vppon the singular prouidence of God who hath created all thinges In numero pondere mensura and therefore hath
all times apt to receiue iests wherefore friendly iests euer carry with them a certaine respect this fault I find more common among Frenchmen and English than any other Nation Some in conuersation can discourse well for some two or three dayes but after that time their oyle is spent they thrust out all they haue of a suddaine after become very barren These men be not commonly wittie nor humble for wittie men seldome are drawne drie in conceits and humble men destill their knowledge according to their talents Much more might be handled in this point but because it rather concerneth ciuile conuersation than inuestigation of passions I will omit it VIII Discouerie of Passions in Writing WHo of purpose writeth obscurely peruetteth the naturall communication of men because we write to declare our minds and he that affecteth obscurity seemeth not to be willing that men should conceiue his meaning The holy Scriptures I alwayes except which for many causes admit some obscuritie But for men in their writing to follow such a phrase as hardly you can vnderstand what they say cannot but proceed either from confused vnderstanding because a cleere conceit breedeth perspicuous deliuerie or affectation of learning which springeth from pride for I haue knowne most excellent men endeuour to speake and write the greatest mysteries of our faith in such plaine maner that very deepe diuinitie seemed very easie And I truely am of opinion that he is the greatest Diuine and most profitable to the common-weale which can make his learning to be best conceiued To vse many Metaphors Poetical phrases in prose or incke-pot tearmes smelleth of affectation and argueth a proud childish wit To be peremptorie and singular in opinions to censure ill or condemne rashly without rendring some sound and strong reason for the most part proceedeth from singular selfe loue and a defectuous iudgement Some will condemne others for writing because they thinke there bee Bookes written more than sufficient This censure commeth either from a sluggish mind or enuious to see others good endeuours commended or else from grosse ignorance because they neither know the nature of mens wits nor the limits of humane vnderderstanding for if we see the art of sayling with the Compasse the exercise of Artillerie the manner of Printing of late yeeres inuented augmented and perfitted Why may not diuers Sciences already inuented be increased with new conceits amplified with better Demonstrations explaned in a more perspicuous manner deliuered in a more ordinat method Contrary to these be certaine itching spirits who put euery toy in print they prize their owne workes exceedingly and censure others iniuriously these may well be compared to certaine wild vines which bring forth many grapes but neuer mature them some doe it for same and some for gaine and both without discretion and against their owne credit Therefore great wisedome it were to write something discreetly that mens labours may not onely profit themselues but also be deriued to others for what doe we account good in it selfe if it bee not communicatiue of goodnesse to others Bonum est sui diffusinum Yet would I haue men not to blab out their conceits without meditation or good digestion because if in all actions it concerneth greatly a mans demeanour to effectuat them with deliberation and ripenesse so much more in writing which no man hasteth being distilled drop by drop from the pen and of it selfe permanent not as words communicatiue to some few present auditors but blazed to the world and sent to all posteritie Some men in writing flow with phrases but are barren in substance of matter and such are neither wittie nor wise others haue good conceits but deliuered after an affected manner they put a little liquor into too great a vessell Others are so concise that you need a commentarie to vnderstand them the former be not without all follie and the latter lacke not some pride yet those are more commendable than these for those onely are tedious thorow their prolixitie but these are molestfull because they require too great attention and make a man often spend many spirits to win a slender knowledge Many write confusedly without method and order and such comprehend not their matter others are too precise in diuisions in such sort that ere you come to the last part you haue forgotten the first members and this defect I find in many postils of scriptures Good distinctions breed perspicuitie but a multitude engendreth obscuritie and best I hold it so to distinguish that distinctions may rather be noted in matter than in words With this I thinke good to conclude the discouery of Passions in humane actions omitting much more that might bee said in this matter as what passions may bee discouered in laughing in disputing in crossing in negotiating and such like externall operations and especially two discourses I haue omitted or rather not printed though penned the one is a discouerie of passions in censuring bookes a matter not vnnecessarie for this criticall age wherein euery mans labours are araigned at the tribunall seat of euery pedanticall censurious Aristarchs vnderstanding The other is discouerie of passions in taking Tabacco The former treatise was violently kept from me and therefore not in my power to print the latter vpon some good considerations was for a time suspended but lest my labour should be too long and the Discourse too tedious I will leaue these and many more to the Readers wittie obseruation and deliberat iudgement Order or conference of Passions CHAP. III. WEe may conferre passions together in diuers manners First in knowledge secondly in generation thirdly in intention and fourthly in degree of perfection or dignitie What passion is first and best knowne vnto vs. 1 THomas affirmeth that no passion is more sensibly Thom. in 1. 2. q. 26. â— 1. ad primum knowne vnto vs than desire or concupiscence for rendring a reason why our coueting appetite is commonly called concupiscibilis he saith the cause is for that we name things as we conceiue them and therefore because we perceiue our desire most manifestly wee call it our coueting or desiring appetite for as he proueth out of Saint Augustine Loue then most is felt when it is absent from the obiect beloued But I cannot herein consent with Thomas because I thinke there is no man that euer perceiued in himselfe so vehement a desire of any thing he loued as sadnesse and griefe when he was afflicted with that he hated In feare also who perceiueth not most sensibly that passion wherin men doe tremble shake and shiuer yea sweat blood for very feare as Maldonatus relateth hee heard of those which saw a Maldo in 26. ca. 1. Mat. Arist. lib. 7. de histor arumal ca. 16. lib. 3. de part ani ca 5. strong man at Paris condemned to death sweat blood for very feare And he prooueth out of Aristotle that this effect may be naturall Neither Caietanes shift vpon Thomas serueth any