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THE 

Anatomy  of 

MELAl^CHOLY 

'hL  tliree  Partiticaxs  wifH  ^eir  >severalL  j 
ASecflions, members  ki  sutleclions, 

(T)  e  mo  en  Uu   fju  moi^ . ' 

{^Jl-trn  a SafurvcaJC  Wrera ce.  Coridacirw 
to  ^/ic    touCo-u/tna  u)tscoufjc-  . 
j/u.   tta-niA.  ooihan,   c^rrr-ecl-ea  an^ 
atufTnc?ife^  tu  me  ^7ufnoy~^. 

niur^iLnctum.aut  rmscm/'  I'fue  <ruL-i. 


J-'t'^YtOoru^. 


THK 

ANATOMY 

OF 

MELANCHOLY, 

WHAT  IT  IS,  WITH  ALL  THE 

KINDS  CAUSES,  SYMPTOMES,  PROGNOSTICS, 

AND 

SEVERAL  CURES  OF  IT. 

IN  THREE  PARTITIONS. 

•WITH   THEIR   SEVERAL 

SECTIONS,    MEMBERS,   &  SUBSE  CTIONS, 

I'HILOSOPHICALLY,  MEDICINALLY,  HISTOEJCALLY  OPENED  AND  CUT  UP. 
BY 

DEMOCRITUS  JUNIOR. 

WITH 

A  SATYRICAL  PREFACE  COIVDUCING  TO  THE  FOLLOWING  DISCOURSE. 

A  ^EW  EDITION. 

TO   ■WHICH   IS   PREFIXED 

THE  LIFE  OF  THE  AUTHOR. 


VOL.  I. 


LONDON : 

PRINTED  FOR  THOMAS  M'LEAN,  HAYMARKET;  R.  GRIFFIN  &  CO, 
GLASGOW :  AND  J.  GUMMING,  DUBLIN. 

182G. 


HONORATISSDIO    DOMINO, 

NON  MINVS  VIRTVTE  SVA, 
QUAM  GENERIS 

SPLEMDORE, 

ILLVSTRISSIMO, 

GEORGIO     BERKLEIO 

MILTI  DE  BALNEO, 
BAllONI    DE    BERKLEY, 

Mouhrey,  Stgrave, 

D.  DE  BRUSE, 

DOMINO   SVO  MULTIS  NOMINIBUS  OBSERVANDO, 
HANG  SUAM 

MELANCHOLI.E 

ANATOMEN, 
JAM  SEXTO 

REVISAM, 
D.  D. 

DEMOCRITUS  Junior. 


De?nocrUus  Junior  ad  Librum  suum. 


VADE  liber,  qualis,  non  ausim  dicere,  foelix, 

Te  nisi  foelicem  fecerit  alma  dies, 
Vade  tamen  quocimque  lubet,  quascunquo  per  oras,. 

Et  Geaium  Domini  fac  imitere  tui. 
I  blandas  inter  Charites,  mystamque  saluta 

Musarum  quemvis,  si  tibi  lector  erit. 
Rura  colas,  urbeni,  subeasve  palatia  regum, 

Submisse,placide,  te  sine  dente  geras. 
Nobilis,  aut  siquis  te  forte  inspexerit  heros, 

Da  te  moiigerura,  perlegat  usque  lubct. 
Est  quod  Nobilitas,  est  quod  desideret  heros, 

Gratior  haec  forsan  charta  placere  potest. 
Si  quis  morosus  Cato,  tetricusque  Senator 

Hunc  etiam  librum  forte  videre  velit, 
Sive  magistratus,  turn  te  reverenter  habeto ; 

Sed  nuUus  ;  muscas  non  capiunt  aquilse. 
Non  vacat  his  tempus  fugitivum  irapendere  nuo-js. 

Nee  tales  cupio  ;  par  mihi  lector  erit. 
Si  matrona  gravis  casu  diverterit  istuc, 

lUustris  domina,  aut  te  Comitissa  legat: 
Est  quod  displiceat,  placeat  quod  forsitan  illis, 

lugerere  his  noli  te  modo,  pande  tamen. 
At  si  virgo  tuas  dignabitur  inclyta  chartas 

Tangere,  sive  schedis  heereat  ilia  tuis  : 
Da  modo  te  facilem,  et  quaedam  folia  esse  memento 

Conveniant  oculis  quse  magis  apta  suis. 
Si  generosa  ancilla  tuos  aut  alma  puella 

Visura  est  ludos,  annue,  pande  lubens. 
Die,  Utinam  nunc  ipse  meus*  (nam  diligitistas) 

In  praisens  esset  conspiciendus  herus. 
Ignotus  notusve  mihi  de  gente  togata 

Sive  aget  in  ludis,  pulpita  sive  colet, 
Sive  in  Lycseo,  et  nugas  evolverit  istas. 

Si  quasdam  mendas  viderit  inspiciens, 
Da  veniam  auctori,  dices  ;  nam  plurima  vellet 

Expungi,  qu8e  jam  displicuisse  sciat. 
Sive  Melancholicus  quisquam,  sen  blandus  Amator^ 

Aulicus  aut  Civis,  seu  bene  comptus  Eques 
Hue  appellat,  age  et  tuto  te  crede  legenti, 

Multa  is  tic  forsan  non  male  nata  leget. 
Quod  fugiat,  caveat,  quodque  amplexabitur,  ista 

Pagina  fortassis  promere  multa  potest. 

*  Haec  cornice  dicta,  cave  ne  male  eapias. 


Democritus  Junior  ad  Librum  suiim. 

At  si  quis  Medicus  coram  te  sistet,  amice  • 

Fac  circumspecte,  et  te  sine  labe  geras  : 
Iiiveniet  namque  ipse  meis  quoque  plurima  scriptis, 

Non  leve  subsidium  quae  sibi  forsan  erunt. 
Si  quis  Causidicus  chartas  impingat  in  istas, 

Nil  mihi  vobiscum,  pessima  turba  vale  : 
Sit  nisi  vir  bonus,  et  juris  sine  fraude  peritus ; 

Tum  legat,  et  forsan  doctior  inde  siet. 
Si  quis  cordatus,  facilis,  lectorque  benignus 

Hue  oculos  vertat,  quee  velit  ipse  legat ; 
Candidus  ignoscet,  raetuas  nil,  pande  libenter, 

OfFensus  mendis  non  erit  ille  tuis, 
Laudabit  nonnuUa.     Venit  si  Rhetor  ineptus, 

Limata  et  tersa,  et  qui  bene  cocta  petit, 
Claude  citus  librum  ;  nulla  hcic  nisi  ferrea  verba, 

OfFendent  stomachum  quas  minus  apta  suum. 
At  si  quis  non  eximius  de  plebe  poeta, 

Annue  ;  namque  istic  plurima  ficta  leget. 
Nos  sumus  e  numero,  nullus  mihi  spiral  Apollo, 

Grandiloquus  Vates  quilibet  esse  nequit. 
Si  Criticus  Lector,  tumidus  Censorque  molestus, 

Zoilus  et  Momus,  si  rabiosa  cohors  : 
Hinge,  freme,  et  noli  tum  pandere,  turba  malignis 

Si  occurrat  sannis  invidiosa  suis  : 
Fac  fugias  ;  si  nulla  tibi  sit  copia  eundi, 

Contemnes  tacite  scommata  quteque  feres. 
Frendeat,  allatret,  vacuas  gannitibus  auras 

Impleat,  baud  cures ;  his  placuisse  nefas. 
Verum  age  si  forsan  divertat  purior  hospes, 

Cuique  saleSj  ludi,  displiceantque  joci, 
Objiciatque  tibi  sordes,  lascivaque  :  dices, 

Lasciva  est  Domino  etMusajocosa  tuo, 
Nee  lasciva  tamen,  si  pensitet  omne  ;  sed  esto ; 

Sit  lasciva  licet  pagina,  vita  proba  est. 
Barbarus,  indoctusque  rudis  spectator  in  istam 

Si  messem  intrudat,  fuste  fugabis  eum  : 
Fungum  pelle  procul  (jubeo);  nam  quid  mihi  fungo  ? 

Conveniunt  stomacho  non  minus  ista  suo. 
Sed  nee  pelle  tamen  ;  laeto  omnes  accipe  vultu, 

Quos,  quas,  vel  quales,  inde  vel  unde  viros. 
Gratus  erit  quicunque  venit,  gratissimus  hospes 

Quisquis  erit,  facilis  difficilisque  mihi. 
Nam  si  culparit,  quaedam  culpasse  juvabit. 

Culpando  faciet  me  meliora  sequi. 
Sed  si  laudarit,  neque  laudibus  etferar  ullis, 

Sit  satis  hisce  malis  opposuisse  bonum. 
Haec  sunt  quae  nostro  placuit  mandare  libello, 

lit  quae  dimittens  discere  jussit  Herus. 


The  Author's  Abstract  of  Melancholy ^  A,aAoy;;;?. 


WHEN  I  go  musing  all  alone. 
Thinking    of   clivers    things    fore 

known. 
When  I  build  castles  in  the  aj  r, 
Void  of  sorrow  and  void  of  feare, 
Pleasing   myself  with  phantasms 

sweet, 
Mcthinks  the  time  runs  very  fleet. 
All  my  joys  to  this  are  folly, 
Naught  so  sweet  as  melancholy. 
When  I  lie  waking  all  alone, 
Recounting  what  I  have  ill  done, 
My  thoughts  on  me  then  tyrannize, 
Fear  and  sorrow  me  surprise. 
Whether  I  tarry  still  or  go, 
Methinks  the  time  moves  very  slow. 
All  my  griefs  to  this  are  jolly, 
Naught  so  sad  as  melancholy. 
When  to  myself  I  act  and  smile, 
With  pleasing  thoughts  the  time 

beguile, 
By  a  brook  side  or  wood  so  green. 
Unheard,  unsought  for,  or  unseen, 
A  thousand  pleasures  do  me  bless, 
Andcrownmysoule  with  happiness. 
All  my  joyes  besides  are  folly, 
None  so  sweet  as  melancholy. 
When  I  lie,  sit,  or  walk  alone, 
I^  sigli,    I    grieve,    making   great 

mone. 
In  a  dark  grove,  or  irksome  den, 
With  discontents  and  Furies  then, 
A  thousand  miseries  at  once 
Mine    heavy  heart   and  soule  en- 
sconce. 
All  my  griefs  to  this  are  jolly, 
None  so  sour  as  melancholy. 
Me  thinks  1  hear,  me  thinks  I  see, 
Sweet  music,  wondrous  melodic. 
Towns,  palaces,  and  cities  fine  ; 
Here  now,  then  there ;  the  w  arid  is 

mine. 
Rare  beauties,  gallant  ladies  shlce, 
Wliat  e'er  is  lovely  or  divine. 
All  other  joyes  to  this  are  folly, 
None  so  sweet  as  melancholy. 
Methinks  1  hear,  methinks  I  see 
Ghosts,  goblins,  fiends ;  my  phan- 

tasie 
Presents  a  thousand  ugly  shapes, 
Headless  bears,  black  men,  and 

apes, 
Doleful  outcries,  and  fearful  sights, 
My  sad  and  dismall  soule  affrights. 
All  my  gri€fs  to  this  are  jolly. 
None  so  damn'd  as  melancholy. 


Me  thinks  I  court,  me  thinks  I  kiss. 
Me  thinks  I  now  embrace  my  mis- 
triss. 

0  blessed  dayes,  O  sweet  content. 
In  paradise  my  time  is  spent. 
Such  thoughts  may  still  my  fancy 

ttiove, 
So  may  I  ever  be  in  love. 

All  my  joyes  to  this  are  folly. 
Naught  so  sweet  as  melancholy. 
When  I  recount  loves  many  frights. 
My   sighs   and  tears,  my  waking 

nights, 
My  jealous  fits  ;  O  mine  hard  fate 

1  now  repent,  but 'tis  too  late. 
No  torment  is  so  bad  as  love. 
So  bitter  to  my  soule  can  prove. 

All  my  griefs  to  this  are  jolly, 
Naught  so  harsh  as  melancholj. 
Friends  and  companions   get  you 

gone, 
'Tis  my  desire  to  be  alone  ; 
Ne'er  well  but  when  my  thoughts 

and  I 
Do  domineer  in  privacie. 
No  gemm,  no  treasure  like  to  this, 
'Tis  my  delight,  my  crown,  my  bliss. 
All  my  joyes  to  this  are  folly,  . 
Naught  so  sweet  as  melanchofy. 
'Tis  my  sole  plague  to  be  alone, 
I  am  a  beast,  a  monster  grown, 
I  will  no  light  nor  company, 
I  finde  it  now  my  misery. 
The  scean  is  turn'd,  my  joyes  are 

gone,; 
Feare,discontent,and  sorrows  come. 
All  my  griefs  to  this  are  jolly. 
Naught  so  fierce  as  melancholy. 
I'll  not  change  life  with  any  King, 
I  ravisht  am ;  can  the  world  bring 
Morejoy ,then  still  to  laughandsmile, 
In  pleasant  toyes  time  to  beguile  ? 
Do  not,  O  do  not  trouble  me, 
So  sweet  content  I  feel  and  see. 
All  ray  joyes  to  this  are  folly. 
None  so  divine  as  melancholy. 
I'll   change   my    state    with    any 

wretch 
Thou  canst  from  gaole  or  dungliill 

fetch  : 
My  pain's  past  cure,  another  hell, 
I  may  not  in  this  torment  dwell, 
Now  desperate  1  hate  my  life. 
Lend  me  a  halter  or  a  knife  ; 
All  my  griefs  to  this  are  jolly. 
Naught  so  damn'd  as  melancholy. 


T/w  Arfptment  of  l.he  Frontispiece. 


TEN    (lisliijct    Squares   here   seen 

apart, 
Are  joyn'd  in  one  by  Cutter's  art, 

1.  Old  Democritus  under  a  tree, 
Sits  on  a  stone  with  book  on  knee; 
About  liim  hang  there   many  fea- 
tures 

Ofcats,dogs,andsuchlikecreatures, 
Of  v/hich  he  makes  anatomy, 
The  seat  of  black  choler  to  see. 
Over  his  head  appears  the  skie. 
And  Saturn  Lord  of  melancholy. 

2.  To  the  left  a  landscape  of  Jea- 

lousie. 
Presents  itself  unto  thine  eye, 
A  kingfislier,  a  swan,  an  hern. 
Two  fighting  cocks  you  may  discern, 
Two  roaring  bulls  each  other  hie, 
To  assault  concerning  venery. 
Symbolesarcthese;!  say  no  more. 
Conceive  the  rest  by  that's  afore. 

3.  The  next  of  solitariness, 

A  portraiture  doth  well  express. 
By  sleeping  dog,  cat ;  buck  and  do, 
Hares,  conies  in  the  desart  go  : 
Bats,  owls  the  shady  bowers  over 
In  melancholy  darkness  hover. 
Markwell:  If 'Ibe  not  as't  should  be 
Blame  the  bad  Cutter,  and  not  me. 

4.  Ith'    under  column   there    doth 

stand 
Inamorato  with  folded  hand  ; 
Down  hangs  his  head,  terse    and 

polite. 
Some  dittic  sure  he  doth  indite. 
Bis  lute  and  books  about  him  lie. 
As  symptomes  of  his  vanity. 
If  this  do  not  enough  disclose, 
To  paint  him,  take  thyself  by  th' 

nose. 
S.Hypochondriacus  leans  on  his  arm 
Winde  in  his  side  doth  him  much 

harm, 
And  troubles  him  full    sore,  God 

knows, 
Much  pain  he  hath  and  many  woes, 
About  him  pots  and  glasses  lie, 
Newly  brought  from's  Apothecary. 
This  Saturn's  aspects  signifie, 
"Vou  see  them  portraid  in  the  skic. 


G.  Beneath  tiieiii  kneeliisg-  on   liis 

knee, 
A  superstitious  man  you  see  ; 
He  fasts,  prays,  on  his  idol  fixt. 
Tormented  hope  and  feare  betwixt : 
For  hell  perhaps  he  takesmore  pain. 
Then  thou  dost  heaven  itself  lo  gain, 
Alas  poor  soule,  I  pitie  thee. 
What  stars  incline  thee  so  to  be  ? 

7.  But  see  the  madmen  rage  down- 

right 

With  furious  looks,  a  ghastly  sight! 

Naked  in  chains  bound  doth  he  lie 

And  roars  amain  he  knows  not  why! 

Observe  him  ;  for  as  in  a  glass. 

Thine  angry  portraiture  it  v/as. 

His  picture  keep  still  in  thy  pre- 
sence ; 

Twixt  him  and  thee  there's  no  dif- 
ference. 

8.  9.   Borage  and  liellebor  fill  two 

scenes, 
Sovereign  plants  to  purge  the  veins 
Of  melancholy,  and  chear  the  heart 
Of  those  black  fumes  which  make  it 

smart; 
To  clear  the  brain  of  misty  fogs. 
Which  dull  our  senses,  and  soule 

clogs. 
The  best  medicine  that  ere    God 

made 
For  this  malady,  if  well  assaid. 

10.  Now  last  of  ail  to  fdl  a  place. 
Presented  is  the  Author's  face  ; 
And  in  that  habit  which  he  wears. 
His  image  to  the  world  appears, 
His  minde  no  art  can  well  express. 
That  by  his  writings  you  may  guess. 
It  was  not  pride,  nor  yet  vain  glory, 
(Though  others  do  it  commonly) 
Made  him  do  this:    if    you    must 

know, 
The  Printer  would  needs  have  it  so. 
Then  do  not  frowne  or  scofte  at  it. 
Deride  not,  nor  detract  a  whit, 
For  surely  as  thou  dost  by  him, 
He  will  do  the  same  again. 
Then  look  upon't,  behold  and  sec, 
As  thou  lik'st  it,  so  it  likes  thee. 
And  I  for  it  will  stand  in  view, 
Thine  to  command,  Reader,  adieu. 


DEMOCRITUS  JUNIOR 

TO   THE   READER. 


GENTLE  loader,  I  presume  thou  wilt  be  very  inquisitive 
to  know  what  antick  or  personate  actor  this  is,  that  so  in- 
solently intrudes,  upon  this  common  theatre,  to  the  worlds 
view,  arrogating'  another  mans  name,  whence  he  is,  why  he 
doth  it,  and  what  he  hath  to  say.  Although,  ''as  he  said, 
Primum,  si  nohiero,  non  respondebo  :  quis  coacturus  est  ?  (I 
am  a  free  man  born,  and  may  chuse  whether  I  w  ill  tell ;  w  ho 
can  compel  me  ?)  if  I  be  urged,  I  will  as  readily  reply  as  that 
Egyptian  in  ^  Plutarch,  when  a  curious  fellow  would  needs 
know  what  he  had  in  his  basket,  Qnum  vides  velatam,  quid 
inquiris  in  rem  ahsconditam  ?  It  was  therefore  covered,  be- 
cause he  should  not  know  what  was  in  it.  Seek  not  after  that 
which  is  hid:  if  the  contents  please  thee,  "  and  he  for  thjf 
use,  suppose  the  man  in  the  moon,  or  tvhom  thou  wilt,  to  be  the 
author:  1  would  not  willingly  be  known.  Yet,  in  some  sort 
to  give  thee  satisfaction,  Avhich  is  more  than  I  need,  I  will 
shew  a  reason,  both  of  this  usurped  name,  title,  and  subject. 
And  first  of  the  name  of  Democritus  ;  lest  any  man,  by  reason 
of  it,  should  be  deceived,  expecting  a  pasquil,  a  satyre,  some 
ridiculous  treatise  (as  I  myself  should  have  done,)  some  pro- 
digious tenent,  or  paradox  of  the  earths  motion,  of  infinite 
worlds,  ininfinito  vacuo,  ex JortuitdutomorumcoUisione,  in  an 
infinite  waste,  so  caused  by  an  accidental  collision  of  motes  in 
thesun,  all  which  Democritusheld,  Epicurus  and  their  master 
Leucippus  of  old  maintained,  and  are  lately  revivedby  Coper- 
nicus, Brunus,  and  some  others.-  Besides,  it  hath  been  always 

=*  Seneca,  in  Ludo  ia  mortem  Claodii  Ca;saris.  ^  Lib.  de  Curiositate. 

*■  Rlodo  haec  tibi  usui  sint.  qnem^'is  auctorem  fingito.     Wecker. 
VOL,   I.  K 


2  DEMOCRITUS    TO    THE    READER. 

an  ordinary  custom,  as  ''Gellius  observes,^or  later  writers  and 
impostors,  to  broach  many  absurd  and  insolent  fictions,  under 
the  name  oj'so  noble  a  philosopher  as  Democritus,  to  get  them- 
selves credit,  and  by  that  means  the  more  to  be  respected,  as  ar- 
tificers usually  do,  novo  quimarmoriascribunt  Praxitelem  sua. 
'Tis  not  so  with  me. 

*  Non  hie  Centauros,  non  Gorgonas,  Harpyiasque, 
Invenies  ;  hominem  pagina  nostra  sapit. 

No  Centaurs  here,  or  Gorgons,  look  to  find  : 
My  subject  is  of  man  and  humane  kind. 

Thou  thy  self  art  the  subject  of  my  discourse. 

^  Quidquid  agunt  homines,  votum,  timor,  ira,  voluptas, 
Guadia,  discursus,  nostri  farrago  libelli. 

Whate'er  men  do,  vows,  fears,  in  ire,  in  sport, 
Joys,  wandrings,  are  the  summ  of  my  report. 

My  intent  is  no  otherwise  to  use  his  name,  than  Mercurius 
Gallobelio-icus,  Mercurius  Britannicus,  use  the  name  of  Mer- 
curic, s  Democritus  Christianus,  &c.  although  there  be  some 
other  circumstances  for  which  I  have  masked  myself  under 
this  visard,  and  some  peculiar  respects,  which  1  cannot  so  well 
express,  until  I  have  set  down  a  brief  character  of  this  our 
Democritus,  what  he  was,  with  an  epitome  of  his  life. 

Democritus,  as  he  is  described  by  ^  Hippocrates,  and  '  Laer- 
tius,  Mas  a  little  wearish  old  man,  very  melancholy  by  nature, 
averse  from  company  in  his  later  dayes, ''  and  much  given  to 
solitariness,  a  famoms  philosopher  in  his  age, '  cosevous  with 
Socrates,  wholly  addicted  to  his  studies  at  the  last,  and  to  a 
private  life  ;  writ  many  excellent  works,  a  great  divine,  ac- 
cording to  the  divinity  of  those  times,  an  expert  physician,  a 
politician,  an  excellent  mathematician,  as  "  Diacosmus  and 
the  rest  of  his  works  do  witness.  He  was  much  delighted  with 
the  studies  of  husbandry,  saith  "  Columella;  and  often  I  find 
him  cited  by  °  Constantinus  and  others  treating  of  thatsubject. 
He  knew  the  natures,  differences  of  all  beasts,  plants,  fishes, 
birds;  and,  as  some  say,  could  p understand  the  tunes  and 
voices  of  them.  In  a  word,  he  was  omnifariam  doctus,  a  g-ene- 
ral  scholar,  a  great  student ;  and,  to  the  intent  he  mig-ht  better 
contemplate,  'i  I  find  it  related  by  some,  that  he  put  out  his 

''Lib.  '10.  c.  \9.     Multa  a  male    feriatis   in  Deinocriti  nomine  commenta  data, 
nobilitatis,  auctoritatisque  ejus  perfugio  utentibus.  t  Martialis,  lib.  10. 

epigr.   ]4.  fJuv.   Sat.  1.  k  Auth.  Pet.  Besseo,   edit  Colonial   1616. 

■'  Hip.  Epist.  Damaget.  •  Laert.   lib.  9.     .  k  Hortiilo  sibi  cellnlam 

seli^eiis,  ubique  seipsum  iucludens,  vixit  solitariiis.  1  Fiornit  Olj^nipiade 

80 ;  700  annis  post  Trojam.  >"Diaco8.  quod  cunctis  opevibus  facile 

exceliit.  Laert.  »  Col.  lib.  1.  c.  1.  «  Const,  lib.  de  agric.  passim. 

1'  Volucrum  voces  et  linguas  intelligere  se  dicit  Abderitanus,  Ep.  Hip.  'i  Sabellicus, 
exempl.  lib.  10.  Oculis  se  privavit,  ut  melius  contemplationi  operam  daret,  sublimi 
vir  ingenio,  profundaj  cogitationis,  &c. 


DCMOCRITUS    TO    THE    READRR.  3 

eyes,  and  was  in  liis  old  ao-e  voluntarily  blind,  yet  saw  move 
tliari  all  Greece  beside.*;,  and  "^  writ  of  every  subject :  Ni  hil  in 
toto  opificio  natnrce^  de  qiio  non  scripsit :  a  man  of  a  n  ex- 
cellent wit,  profound  conceit ;  and,  to  attain  knowledge  the 
better  inhis  younger  years, lie  travelled  to  Egypt  and ^  At  bens, 
to  confer  witb  learned  men,  ^admired  of  some,  despised  of 
others.      After  a  wandring-  life,  he  setled  at  Abdera,  a  town 
in  Thrace,  and  was  sent  for  thither  to  be  their  law-maker, 
recorder,  or  town-clerk,  as  some  will ;  or  as  others,  he  was 
there  bred  and  born.  Howsoever  it  was,  there  he  lived  at  last 
in  a  garden  in  the  suburbs,  wholly  betaking'  himself  to  his 
studies  and  a  private  life,  "  sorinr/  that  sometimes  he  uwiild 
n-nlk  down  to  the  haven,  '^  and  lavcjh  lieartihj  at  such  variety 
of  ridic7iloHS  objects,  which  there  he  saw.     Such  a  one  was 
Democritus. 

But,  in  the  mean  time,  how  doth  this  concern  me,  or  upon 
what  reference  do  I  usurp  his  habit?  I  confess,  indeed,  that 
to  compare  my  self  unto  him  for  ought  T  have  yet  said,  were 
both  impudency  and  arrogancy.     I  do  not  presume  to  make 
any  parallel.  Antistat  mihi  millihus  trecentis :  ^  parvus  sum  : 
nullus  sum  ;  altum  nee  spiro,   nee  spero.     Yet  thus  much  I 
will  say  of  my  self,  and  that  I  hope  without  all  suspicion  of 
pride,  or  self-conceit,  I  have  lived  a  silent,  sedentary,  solitary, 
private  life,  mihi  et  Musis,  in  the  university,  as  long-  almost  as 
Xenocrates  in  Athens,  ad  senectam  fere,  to  learn  wisdom  as 
he  did,  penned  up  most  part  in  my  study :  for  I  have  been 
brought  up  a  student  in  the  most  flourishing  colleg-e  of  Eu- 
rope, ^  augustissimo  coller/io,  and  can  brag  with  *  Jovius,  al- 
most, in  ed  luce  domicilii  Vaticani,  totius  orbis  celeherrimi,  per 
37  annos  multa  opportunaqtie  didici  ;  tor  thirty  years  I  have 
continued  (having' the  use  of  as  good  '^libraries  as  ever  he  had) 
a  scholar,  and  would  be  therefore  loth,  either,  by  living  as  a 
drone,  to   be  an  unprofitable   or  unworthy  member  of  so 
learned  and  noble  a  society,  or  to  write  that  which  should  be 
any  way  dishonourable  to  such  a  royal  and  ample  foundation. 
Something'  I  have  done  :  though  by  my  profession  a  divine, 
yet  turbine  raptus  ingenii,  as  ''  he  said,  out  of  a  running 
wit,  an  unconstant,  unsettled  mind,  I  had  a  great  desire  (not 
able  to  attain  to  a  superficial  skill  in  any)  to  have  some  smat- 
tering in  all,  to  be  aliquis  in  omnibus,  nullus  in  singulis  ; 

^  Naturalia,  moralia,  mathematica,  liberates  disciplisas,  artiumqne  omnium  peri- 
tiam,  callebat.  *  Veni  Athenas  ;  et  nemo  me  novit  slJem  contemptui 

et  admiratioai  habitus.  "Solebat  adportam  ambiilare,  et  inde,  &c.     Hip.  Ep. 

Dameg.  '^  Pei-petuo  risu  pulmonem  agitaie  dolebat  Democritus.     Juv.  Sat.  7. 

>  Non  sum  dignns  prsestare  matellam.     Mart.  ^  Christ  Church  in  Oxford. 

*  Pnefat.  hist,  •>  Keeper  of  our  college  library  lately  revised  by  Otho  Nicolson. 

Esquire.  ^  Scaliger. 

B   2 


4  .  DEMOCRITUS   TO    THE    READER. 

which  ''Plato  commends,  out  of  him  "^  Lipsius  approves  and 
furthers,  as  fit  to  he  imprinted  in  all  curious  wits,  not  to  be 
a  slave  of  one  science,  or  dwell  altogether  in  one  subject,  as 
most  do,  but  to  rove  abroad,  centum  puer  artium,  to  have  an 
oar  in  every  mans  boat,  to  ^  taste  of  every  dish,  and  to  sip  of 
every  cup ;  which,  saith  ^Montaigne,  was  well  performed  by 
Aristotle,  and  his  learned  countrey-man  Adrian  Turnebus. 
This  roving'  humour  (though  not  with  like  success)  I  have 
ever  had,  and,  like  a  ranging'  spaniel,  that  barks  at  every  bird 
he  sees,  leaving-  his  game,  I  have  followed  all,  saving  that 
which  I  should,  and  may  justly  complain,  and  truly,  quiubique 
est,  nusquam  est,  which  §  Gesner  did  in  modesty  ;  that  I  have 
read  many  books,  but  to  little  purpose,  for  want  of  good 
method,  I  have  confusedly  tumbled  over  divers  authors  in  our 
libraries  with  small  profit,  for  want  of  art,  order,  memory, 
judgement.     I  never  travelled  but  in  map  or  card,  in  which 
my  unconfined  thoughts  have  freely  expatiated,  as  having 
ever  been  especially  delighted  witli  the  study  of  cosmography. 
•^  Saturn  was  lord  of  my  geniture,  culminating,  &c.  and  Mars 
principal  significator  of  manners,  in  partile  conjunction  with 
mine  ascendent ;  both  fortunate  in  their  houses,  &c.     I  am 
not  poor,  I  am  not  rich  ;  nihil  est,  nihil  deest ;  1  have  little,  I 
want  nothing  :  all  my  treasure  is  in  Minerva's  tower.  Greater 
preferment  as  I  could  never  get,  so  am  I  not  in  debt  for  it.    I 
have  a  competency  (laus  Deo)  from  my  noble  and  munificent 
patrons.  Though  Hive  still  a  collegiat  student,  as  Democritus 
in  his  garden,  and  lead  a  monastique  life,  ipse  mihi  theatrum, 
sequestred  from  those  tumults  and  troubles  of  the  world,  et 
tamquam  in  specula positus  ('as  he  said,)  in  some  high  place 
above  you  all,  like  Sto'icus  sapiens,  omnia  scscula  prceterita 
prasentiaque  videns,  uno  velut  intuitu,  I  hear  and  see  what  is 
done  abroad,  how  others  ''run,  ride,  turmoil,  and  macerate 
themselves  in  court  and  countrey.  Far  from  those  wrangling- 
law-suits,  aulcE  vanitatem,foriambitionem,  ridere  mecum  soleo: 
I  laugh  at  all,  ^  only  secure,  lest  my  suit  go  amiss,  my  ships 
perish,  corn  and  cattle  miscarry,  trade  decay,  /  have  no  wife, 
nor  children,  good  or  had,  to  provide  for  ;   a  meer  spectator 
of  other  mens  fortunes  and  adventures,  and  how  they  act 
their  parts,  which  me  thinks  are  diversely  presented  unto 

<'InThejet.  dphJi.  Stoic,  li.  diff.  8.     Dogma  cupidis  et  curiosis  ingeniis 

impriraendum,  nt  sit  talis  qui  nulli  rei  serviat,  aut  exacte  umim  aliquid  elaboret,  alia 
negligens,  nt  artifices,  &c.  «  Delibare  gratum  de  quocunque  cibo,  et  pitissare 

de  quocunque  dolio  jucundum.  '  Essays,  lib.  3.  §  Prsefat.  bibliothec. 

*'Ambo  fortes  et  fortunati.     Mars  idem  magisterii  dominiis  juxta  primam  Leovitii 
regulam.  >  Heinsius.  k  Calide  ambientes,  solicite  litigantes,  aut  misere 

excidentes,  voces,  strepitum,  contentiones,  &c.  '  Cyp.  ad  Donat.     Unice  se- 

curus,  ne  excidam  in  foro,  aut  in  mari  Indico  bonis  eluam,  de  dole  filise^  patrimonio 
tilii  non  sum  solicitus. 


DEMOCRITIJS    TO    THE    READER.  5 

me,  as  from  a  common  theatre  or  scene.  I  hear  new  news 
every  day :  and  those  ordinary  rumours  of  war,  plag-nes,  fires, 
inundations,  thefts,  murders,  massacres,  meteors,  comets, 
spectrums,  prodigies,  apparitions,  of  towns  taken,  cities  be- 
sieged in  France,  Germany,  Turky,  Persia,  Poland,  &c. 
daily  musters  and  preparations,  and  such  like,  which  these 
tempestuous  times  alford,  battles  fought,  so  many  men  slain, 
monomachies,  shipwracks,  piracies,  and  sea-fight!^,  peace, 
leagues,  stratagems,  and  fresh  alarms — a  vast  confusion  of 
vows,  M'ishes,  actions,  edicts,  petitions,  law-suits,  pleas,  laws, 
proclamations,  complaints,  grievances — are  daily  brought  to 
our  ears  :  new  books  every  day,  pamphlets,  currantoes,  stories, 
whole  catalogues  of  volumes  of  all  sorts,  new  paradoxes, 
opinions,  schisms,  heresies,  controversies  in  philosophy,  re- 
ligion, &c.  Now  come  tidings  of  weddings,  maskings,  mum- 
meries, entertainments,  jubiles,  embassies,  tilts,  and  torna- 
ments,  trophies,  triumphs,  revels,  sports,  playes  :  then  again, 
as  in  a  new  shifted  scene,  treasons,  cheating  tricks,  robberies, 
enormous  villanies  in  all  kinds,  funerals,  burials,  death 
of  princes,  new  discoveries,  expeditions;  now  comical,  then 
tragical  matters.  To  day  we  hear  of  new  lords  and  officers 
created,  to  morrow  of  some  great  men  deposed,  and  then 
again  of  fresh  honours  conferred  :  one  is  let  loose,  another 
imprisoned  :  one  purchaseth,  another  breakefh  :  he  thrives, 
his  neighbour  turns  bankrupt ;  now  plenty,  then  again  dearth 
and  famine  ;  one  runs,  another  rides,  wrangles,  laughs,  weeps, 
&c.  Thus  1  daily  hear,  and  such  like,  both  private  and  pub- 
lick  news.  Amidst  the  gallantry  and  misery  of  the  world, 
jollity,  pride,  perplexities  and  cares,  simplicity  and  villany, 
subtlety,  knavery,  candour  and  integrity,  mutually  mixt  and 
offering  themselves,  I  rub  on,  privus  privatus  :  as  I  have  still 
lived,  so  I  now  continue  statu  quo  prius,  left  to  a  solitary  life, 
and  mine  own  domestic  discontents ;  saving  that  sometimes, 
ne  quid  mentiar^  as  Diogenes  went  into  the  city  and  Demo- 
critus  to  the  haven,  to  see  fashions,  I  did  for  my  recreation 
now  and  then  walk  abroad,  look  into  the  world,  and  could 
not  chuse  but  make  some  little  observation,  non  tarn  sagax 
observator,  ac  simplex  recitator,  not,  as  they  did,  to  scoff  or 
laugh  at  all,  but  with  a  mixt  passion  : 

"  Bilem,  saepe  jocum  yestri  movere  tumultus. 

1  did  sometime  laugh  and  scofFwith  Lucian,  and  satyrically 
tax  with  Menippus,  lament  with  Heraclitus,  sometimes  again 
I  was  ^  petulanti  splene  cachinno,  and  then  again,  "  urere  bilis 
jecur,  1  was  much  moved  to  see  that  abuse  which  I  could 
not  amend  :  in  which  passion  howsoever  I  may  sympathize 

<"  Hor.  "  Per,  "  Hor. 


6  DEMOCRTTUS    TO    THE    READER. 

witli  liin»  or  tliem,  'tis  for  no  such  respect  I  shroud  my  self 
uiuler  his  name,  but  either,  in  an  unknown  habit,  to  assume  a 
little  more  liberty  and  freedom  of  speech,  or  if  you  will  needs 
knoAv,  for  that  reason  and  only  respect  which  Hippocrates 
relates  at  large  in  his  epistle  to  Damegetus,  wherein  he  doth 
express,  hoM,  coming-  to  visit  him  one  day,  he  found  Demo- 
critus  in  his  garden  at  Abdera,  in  the  suburbs,  p  imder  a  shady 
bower,  'i  with  a  book  on  his  knees,  busie  at  his  study,  some- 
time writing,  sometime  walking-.  The  subject  of  his  book  was 
melancholy  and  madness :  about  him  lay  the  carkasses  of 
many  several  beasts,  newly  by  him  cut  up  and  anatomized ; 
not  that  he  did  contemn  Gods  creatures,  as  he  told  Hippo- 
crates, but  to  find  out  the  seat  of  this  atra  bilis,  or  melancholy, 
whence  it  proceeds,  and  how  it  is  engendred  in  mens  bodies, 
to  the  intent  he  might  better  cure  it  in  himself,  by  his  writings 
and  observations  "^  teach  others  how  to  prevent  and  avoid  it. 
Which  good  intent  of  his  Hippocrates  highly  commended,  De- 
mocritus  Junior  is  therefore  bold  to  imitate,  and,  because  he 
left  it  imperfect,  and  it  is  now  lost,  quasi  succenturiator  Demo- 
criti,  to  revive  again,  prosecute,  and  finish  in  this  treatise. 

You  have  had  a  reason  of  the  name.  If  the  title  and  in- 
cription  offend  your  gravity,  were  it  a  sufficient  justification 
to  accuse  others,  I  could  produce  many  sober  treatises,  even 
sermons  themselves,  which  in  their  fronts  carry  more  phantas- 
tical  names.  Howsoever,  it  is  a  kind  of  policy  in  these  dayes, 
to  prefix  a  phantastical  title  to  a  book  which  is  to  be  sold:  for 
as  larks  come  down  to  a  day-net,  many  vain  readers  will  tarry 
and  stand  gazing,  like  silly  passengers,  at  an  antick  picture  in 
a  painters  shop,  that  will  not  look  at  a  judicious  piece.  And 
indeed,  as  *  Scaliger  observes,  nothing  more  invites  a  reader 
than  an  argument  unlookedfor,  unthouffht  of,  and  sells  better 
than  a  scurrile  pamphlet,  turn  maxime  cum  novitas  excitat 
palatum.  Many  men  saith,  *  Gellius,  are  very  conceited 
in  their  inscriptions^  and  able,  (as  '  Pliny  quotes  out  of  Se- 
neca) to  make  him  loyter  by  the  way,  that  icent  in  haste  to 
^fetch  a  mid-ivife  J'or  his  daughter,  now  ready  to  lye  down. 
For  my  part,  I  have  honourable  "  precedents  for  this  1  have 
done :  I  will  cite  one  for  all,  Anthonie  Zara  Pap.  Episc.  his 

I'  Secmidutn  moenia  locus  erat  frondosi«  populis  opacus,  vitibusque  sponte  natis : 
teniiis  prope  a(iiia  delluebat,  placide  murmurans,  ubi  sedile  et  domus  Democriti  con- 
spiciebatnr.  q  Ipse  composite  considebat,  super  genua  volumen  habens,  et 

utniique  aha  patentia  parata,  dissectaque  aniraalia  cumulatiin  strata,  quorum  viscera 
nmabatur.  •  rCnin  ninndus  extra  se  sit.  et  mente  captus  sit,  et  nesciat  se  languere, 
lit  medelam  adhibeat,  >■  Scaliger,  Ep.  ad  Patisonem.  Nihil  magis  lectorem  invi- 

tnt  (jiiam  inopinatiini  argumentnm  ;  neque  vendibilior  merx  est  quam  petulans  liber. 
!»■  t    (j'^-'^'i  ^''    .'^^''"''''  ^^1"""t"'"  'uscriptionum  festivitates.  '  Praefat.  Nat. 

Hist.  I  atn  obstetriceiu  partuvienti  filis>,  accersenti  moram  injicere  possunt.  "Ana- 
tomy of  1  opery.  Anatomy  of  Immortality.  Angelus  Scalas,  Anatomy  of  Anti- 
mony, &C.  i.  o  '  .1 


DEMOCRITUS    TO    THE    READER.  7 

Anatomy  of  Wit,  in  four  sections,  members,  subsections,  &c. 
to  be  read  in  our  libraries. 

If  any  man  except  against  the  matter  or  manner  of  treating- 
of  this  my  subject,  and  will  demand  a  reason  of  it,  I  can  allege 
more  than  one.  1  write  of  melancholy,  by  being  busie,  to 
avoid  melancholy.  There  is  no  greater  cause  of  melancholy 
than  idleness,  no  better  cure  than  business,  as  ""  Rhasis  holds : 
and  howheit,  St ultus  labor  est  ineptiarum,  to  be  busied  in  toyes 
is  to  small  purpose,  yet  hear  that  divine  Seneca,  better  aliud 
agere  quani  nihil,  better  do  to  no  end,  than  nothing.  I  writ 
therefore,  and  busied  my  self  in  this  playing  labour,  otiosdque 
dilifjentid  ut  vitarem  torporem  Jhriandi,  with  Vectius  in  Ma- 
crobius,  atque  otium  in  utile  verterem  negotium  ; 

^  — Simul  et  jucunda  et  idonea  dicere  vitse, 
Lectorem  delectando  simul  atque  munendo. 

To  this  end  I  write,  like  them,  saith  Lucian,  that  recite  to 
trees,  and  declaim  to  pillars,  Jor  wayit  oj' auditors  ;  as  '■  Pau- 
lus  vEgineta  ingenuously  confesseth,  not  that  any  thing  was 
unknown  or  omitted,  but  to  exercise  my  self  (w  hich  course 
if  some"  took,  I  think  it  would  be  good  for  their  bodies,  and 
much  better  for  their  souls;)  or  peradventure,  as  others  do, 
for  fame  to  shew  my  self  (^S'cJre  timm  nihil  est,  7iisi  te  scire  hoc 
sciat  alter.)  I  might  be  of  Thucydides  opinion,  ^  to  knoic  a 
thing  and  not  to  express  it,  is  all  one  as  if  he  kneiv  it  not. 
When  I  first  took  this  task  in  hand,  el,  quod  ait  ^  ille,  im- 
pellente  genio  negotium  suscepi,  this  T  aimed  at,  "^  vel  ut 
lenirem  animum  s'cribendo,  to  ease  my  mind  by  w  riting,  for 
I  had,  gravidum  cor,  fetum  caput,  a  kind  of  imposthume  in 
my  head,  which  I  was  very  desirous  to  be  unladen  of,  and 
could  imagine  no  fitter  evacuation  than  this.  Besides,  I  might 
not  well  refrain  ;  for,  ubi  dolor,  ihi  digitus,  one  must  needs 
Scratch  where  it  itches.  I  was  not  a  little  offended  with  this 
malady,  shall  I  say  my  mistris  melancholy,  my  Egeria,  or 
my  malus  genius ;  and  for  that  cause,  as  he  that  is  stung 
with  a  scorpion,  I  would  expel,  clavum  clavo,  '^  comfort  one 
sorrow  with  another,  idleness  with  idleness,  ut  ex  viperd 
theriacum,  make  an  antidote  out  of  that  which  was  the 
prime  cause  of  my  disease.  Or  as  he  did,  of  whom  "^  Felix 
Plater  speaks,  that  thought  he  had  some  of  Aristophanes 
frogs  in  his  belly,  still  crying  Brecc  ekex.,  coax,  oop,  oop, 
and  for  that  cause  studied  physick  seven  years,  and  travelled 

xCont  1.   4.  c.  9.     Non  est  cara  melior  qnam  labor.  y  Hor.  ^Nonquod 

de  novo  qaid  addere,  ant  a  veteribas  prwtemiissum,  sed  pi-oprisE  exf-rcitatioms  caussa. 
»  Qui  novit,  neqae  id  quod  sentit  exprimit,  perinde  est  ac  si  nesciret.  Jovins, 

Praef.  Hist  c  Erasmus.  iOtium  otio,  dolorem  dolore,  sum  solatus. 

<=  Observat.  1.  1. 


8  DEMOCRITUS    TO    THE    READER. 

over  most  part  of  Europe,  to  ease  himself;  to  do  my  self  gootl, 
I  turned  over  such  physicians  as  our  libraries  would  afford,  or 
my  8  private  friends  impart,  and  have  taken  this  pains.  And 
why  not  ?  Cardan  professeth  he  writ  his  book  De  consola- 
tione,  after  his  sons  death,  to  comfort  himself;  so  did  Tully 
write  of  the  same  subject  with  like  intent  after  his  daughters 
departure,  if  it  be  his  at  least,  or  some  impostors  put  out  in 
his  name,  which  Lipsius  probably  suspects.  Concerning-  my 
self,  1  can  peradventure  affirm  with  Marius  in  Sallust,  ^  that 
which  others  hear  or  read  oJ\  I  felt  and  practised  my  self: 
they  get  their  knowledge  hy  hooks,  I  mine  by  melancholizing : 
experto  crede  Roberto.  Something  I  can  speak  out  of  ex- 
perience, (ermnnabilis  experientia  me  dociiit ;  and  with  her  in 
the  poet,  '  Hand  ignara  mail  miseris  succurrere  disco.  I 
would  help  others  out  of  a  fellow-feeling,  and  as  that  vertuous 
lady  did  of  old.  ^  being  a  leper  her  self,  bestoic  all  her  portion 
to  build  an  hospital  for  lepers,  1  will  spend  my  time  and  know- 
ledge, which  are  my  greatest  fortunes,  for  the  common  good 
of  ail. 
.  Yea,  but  you  will  inferr  that  is  '  actum  agere,  an  unne- 
cessary work,  cramben  bis  coctam  apponere,  the  same  again 
and  again  in  other  words.  To  what  purpose?  ^  Nothing  is 
omitted  that  may  well  be  said:  so  thought  Lucian  in  the  like 
theam.  How  many  excellent  physicians  have  written  just 
volumes  and  elaborate  tracts  of  this  subject  ?  no  news  here: 
that  which  I  have  is  stoln  from  others;  ^  dicitque  mihi  mea 
pagina,  fur  es.  If  that  severe  doom  of  °  Synesius  be  true, 
it  is  a  greater  offence  to  steal  dead  mens  labours,  than  their 
cloaths,  what  shall  become  of  most  writers?  I  hold  up  my 
hand  at  the  bar  amongst  others,  and  am  guilty  of  felony  in 
this  kind  :  habes  conjitentem  reum,  I  am  content  to  be  pressed 
with  the  rest.  'Tis  most  true,  tenet  insanabile  multos  scri- 
bendi  cacoethes  ;  and  f  there  is  no  end  of  icriting  of  booLs,  as 
the  wise  man  found  of  old,  in  this  '^  scribling  age  especially, 
wherein  ^  the  number  of  books  is  ivithout  number,  (as  a  worthy 
man  saith)  presses  be  oppressed,  and  out  of  an  itching  humour, 
that  every  man  hath  to  shew  himself,  *  desirous  of  fame  and 

honour,  (scribimus  indocti  doctique )  he  will  write,  no 

matter  what,   and   scrape    together,   it   boots  not  whence. 

g  M.  Joh.  Rous,  our  Protobib.  Oxon.  Mr.  Hopper,  Mr.  Guthridge,  &c.  >>  Quae 
illi  audire  et  Icgere  solent,  eoroui  partini  vidi  egotnet,  alia  gessi :  quae  illi  literis,  ego 
rnililundo  didici.     Nunc  vos  existiniate,  facta  an  dicta  pinris  sint.  'Dido, 

Virg.  ^  Camden,  Ipsa  elepliantiasi  correpta  elephantiasis  hospitium  constraxit. 

I  Tliada  post  Hoineruin.  '"Nihil  prKtermissiun  quod  a  quovjs  dici  possit. 

n  Martialis.  "Magis  impium  mortuoruoi  lucubrationes  qnam  vestes  furari. 

pEccI.  ult.       1  Libros  eunuchi  gignunt,  steriles  pariunt.        ''D.  King,  praefat.  lect. 
Jonas,  the  late  right  reverend  lord  bishop  of  London.  '  Homines  famelici  glorias 

ad  ostentationem  eraditiouis  uudique  congerunt.     Cuchanauus. 


DEMOCRITUS   TO    THE    READER.  9 

*  Bewilched  ickJi  this  desire  of  fame,  etiam  mediis  in  mor- 
bis,  to  the  disparagement  of"  tlieir  health,  and  scarce  able  to 
hold  a  pen,  they  must  say  soTnething,  "and get  themselves  a 
name,  saith  Scaligar,  though  it  he  to  the  doicnfall  and  mine 
of' many  others.  To  be  counted  writers,  scriptores  ut  saluten- 
tur,  to  be  thought  and  held  Polyraathes  and  Polyhistors, 
apiid  imperitum  vulyus  oh  ventosce  nomen  artis,  to  get  a  paper 
kingdom  :  nnlfd  spe  qncestils,  sed  ampldj'amce,  in  this  preci- 
pitate, ambitions  age,  nunc  nt  est  sceculum,  inter  immaturam 
eruditionem,  ambitiosum  et  jnccceps  ('tis  ""  Scaliger's  censnre) 
and  they  that  are  scarce  auditors,  vix  auditores,  must  be 
masters  and  teachers,  before  they  be  capable  and  fit  hearers. 
They  will  rush  into  all  learning  togatam,  armatam,  divine, 
humane  authors,  rake  over  all  indexes  and  pamphlets  for 
notes,  as  our  merchants  do  strange  havens  for  traffick,  write 
great  tomes,  cum  non  sint  reverd  doctiores,  sed  loquaciores, 
when  as  they  are  not  thereby  better  scholars,  but  greater 
praters.  They  commonly  pretend  publick  good  :  but,  as 
Gesner  >  observes,  'tis  pride  and  vanity  that  eggs  them  on  ; 
no  news,  or  ought  worthy  of  note,  but  the  same  in  other  terms. 
Ne J'eriarentur  Jortasse  typoyraphi,  vel  ideo  scribendum  tst 
aliquid  nt  se  vixisse  testentur.  As  apothecaries,  we  make  new 
mixtures  every  day,  pour  out  of  one  vessel  into  another;  and 
as  those  old  Romans  rob'd  all  the  cities  of  the  world,  to  set 
out  their  bad  sited  Rome,  we  skim  off  the  cream  of  other 
mens  wits,  pick  the  choice  floAvers  of  their  till'd  gardens  to 
set  out  our  own  sterile  plots.  Castrant  alios,  ut  libros  siios, 
per  se  graciles,  alieno  adipe  suffarciant  (so  *  Jovius  inveighs); 
they  lard  their  lean  books  with  the  fat  of  others  works. 
Ineruditijures,  Src.  (a  fault  that  every  writer  finds,  as  I  do 
now,  and  yet  faulty  themselves)  ^  Trium  literarum  homines, 
all  thieves;  they  pilfer  out  of  old  writers  to  stuff  up  their  new 
comments,  scrape  Ennius  dung-hils,  and  out  of  ^  Democritus 
pit,  as  I  have  done.  By  which  means  it  comes  to  pass,  ''  that 
not  only  libraries  and  shops  are  J'ull  oj'  our  putid  papers,  but 
every  close-stool  and  Jakes  :  Scribunt  carmina,  quw  legunt  ca- 
cantes ;  they  serve  to  put  under  pies,  to  "^  lap  spice  in,  and 
keep  roast  meat  from  burning.  With  us  in  France,  saith 
''  Scaliger,  every  man  hath  liberty  to  write,  but  few  ability. 
*  Heretofore  learning  was  graced  by  judicious  scholars,  but 

'  Effascinati  etiam  laiidis  araore,  8cc.     Justus  Baronius.  "  Ex  ruinis  aliens 

existirnationis  sibi  gradum  ad  famara  struunt.  ^^  Exercit288.  >  Omnes  sibi 

famam  qiisenint,  et  quovis  modo  in  orbem  spargi  contendunt,  ut  novae  alicujus  rei 
habeanter  auctores.     I'nef.  biblioth.  »  Prsf.  hist  ^  Plautus.  "  Et  De- 

mocriti  puteo.  ^  Non  tam  refertae  bibliothecae  quam  cloaca.  <"  Et  quidquid 

chartis  amicitur  ineptis.  d  Epist.  ad  Petas.  In  regno  Francis  omnibjis  scribendi 

datur  libertas,  paucis  facuUas.  <"  Olina  liferse  ob  homines  in  pietio,  nunc  sordent 

'ib  homines. 


10  DEMOCRITUS  TO  THE  READER. 

now  noble  sciences  are  vilified  by  base  and  illiterate  scrihlers, 
that  either  write  for  vain-glory,  need  to  get  money,  or  as 
parasities  to  flatter  and  collogue  with  some  great  men  :  they 
put  out  ^  hurras,  quisquiliasque,  ineptiasque.  ^  Avionx)  so  many 
thousand  authors  you  shall  scarce  find  one,  by  reading  of 
whom,  you  shall  he  any  whit  the  better,  but  rather  much  worse, 
qnibus  inficitur  potius,  quani  perficitur,  by  which  he  is  rather 
infected,  than  any  way  perfected. 

'^  Qui  talia  legit, 


Quid  didicit  tandem,  quid  scit,  nisi  somnia,  nugas  ? 

So  that  oftentimes  it  falls  out  (which  Callimachus  taxed  of 
old)  a  gTeat  book  is  a  great  mischief.  »  Cardan  finds  fault 
with  Frenchmen  and  Germans,  for  their  scribling  to  no  pur- 
pose: non,  inquit,  ah  edendo  deterreo,  modo  novum  aliquid  in- 
veniant :  he  doth  not  bar  them  to  write,  so  that  it  be  some  new 
invention  of  their  own;  but  we  weave  the  same  web  still,  twist 
the  same  rope  again  and  again  :  or  if  it  be  a  new  invention, 
'tis  but  some  bauble  or  toy  which  idle  fellows  write,  for  as  idle 
fellows  to  read  :  and  who  so  cannot  invent  ?  ''  He  must  have 
a  barren  wit,  that  in  this  scribling  age  can  forge  nothing. 
^  Princes  shew  their  armies,  rich  men  vaunt  their  buildings, 
souldiers  their  manhood,  and  scholars  vent  their  toyes;  they 
must  read,  they  must  hear,  whether  they  will  or  no. 

"»  Et  quodcumque  seme!  chartis  illeverit,  omnes 
Gestiet  a  furno  redeuntes  scire  lacuque, 
Et  pueros  et  anus . 

What  once  is  said  and  writ,  all  men  must  know, 
Old  wives  and  children  as  they  come  and  go. 

Wliat  a  company  of  poets  hath  this  year  brought  out !  as  Pliny 
complains  to  Sosius  Senecio.  °  This  Ai^r'A,  every  day  some  or 
other  have  recited.  What  a  catalogue  of  new  books  all  this 
year,  all  this  age  (I  say),  have  our  Frank-furt  marts,  our  do- 
mestick  marts  brought  out !  twice  a  year,  ° projerunt  se  nova 
ingenia  et  ostentant :  we  stretch  our  wits  out,  and  set  them  to 
sale ;  magna  conatu  nihil  agimus.  So  that,  which  p  Gesner 
much  desires,  if  a  speedy  reformation  be  not  had,  by  some 
princes  edicts  and  grave  supervisors,  to  restrain  this  liberty, 
it  will  run  on  in  infinitum.     Quis  tarn  avidus  librorum  helluo, 

>  f  Ans.  pac.  g  Inter  tot  miUe  volnmina  vix  unum  a  cujus  lectione  qnis  melior 

eradat,  immo  potius  non  pejor.  h  Palingenins.  •  Lib.  5.  de  sap.  ^  Sterile 

oportet  esse  ingenium  quod  in  hoc  scripturientiim  pmritu,  &c.  '  Cardan  praef. 

ad  consol.  m  Hor.  ser.  1.  sat  4.  "  Epist.  lib.  1.  Magnum  poetarum  proventum 

annus  hie  attulit :  mense  April!  nullus  fere  dies  quo  non  aliquis  recitavit.  oldem. 

V  Pnncipibus  et  doctoribus  deliberandum  relinquo,  ut  arguantur  auctorem  furta,  et 
millies  repetita  toUantur,  et  temere  scribendi  libido  coerceatur,  aliter  in  infinitam  pro- 
gressura. 


DEMOCRITUS    TO    THE    READER.  I  I 

wlio  can  read  them?  As  already,  we  shall  have  a  vast  chaos, 
and  confusion  of  books:  we  are  i' oppressed  with  them;  ''our 
eyes  ake  with  reading',  our  finj^ers  with  turning-.  For  my  part, 
I  am  one  of  the  number  ;  ?ios  nnmerus  snmus:  I  do  not  deny 
it.  I  have  only  this  of  Macrobius  to  say  for  myself,  Omtie 
menm,  nihil  metim,  'tis  a!l  mine,  and  none  mine.  As  a  good 
house-wife  out  of  diverse  fleeces  Aveaves  one  piece  of  cfoth, 
a  bee  gathers  wax  and  honey  out  of  many  flowers,  and  makes 
a  new  bundle  of  all, 

Floriferis  ut  apes  in  saltibus  omnia  libant, 

I  have  laboriously  ^  collected  this  cento  out  of  various  writers, 
and  that  sine  injuria  :  I  have  wronged  no  authors,  but  given 
every  man  his  own  ;  which  ^  Ilierom  so  much  commends  in 
Nepotian  ;  he  stole  not  v/hole  verses,  pages,  tracts,  as  some  do 
now  a  days,  concealing  their  authors  names ;  but  still  said  this 
was  Cyprians,  that  Lactautius,  that  Hilarius,  so  said  Minutius 
Felix,  so  Victorinus,  thus  far  Arnobius  :  I  cite  and  quote 
mine  authors  (which,  howsoever  some  illiterate  scriblers  ac- 
count pedantical,as  a  cloke  of  ignorance,  and  opposite  to  their 
affected  fine  style,  I  must  and  will  use)  sunipsi,  non  surripui  ; 
and  what  Varro,  lib.  6.  de  re  rust,  speaks  of  bees,  viinime 
malejica,nullius  opus  vellicantes  J'aciunt  deterius,  I  can  say  of 
myself.  Whom  have  I  injured?  The  matter  is  theirs  most 
part,  and  yet  mine  :  apparet  unde  sumptum  sit  (which  Seneca 
approves)  ;  aliud  tamen,  quam  unde  sumptum  sit,  apparet ; 
which  nature  doth  with  the  aliment  of  our  bodies,  incorpo- 
rate, digest,  assimilate,  I  do  concoquere  quod  hausi,  dispose  of 
what  I  take  :  I  make  them  pay  tribute,  to  set  out  this  ray 
Maceronican  :  the  method  only  is  mine  own  :  I  must  usurp 
that  of '  Wecker  e  Ter.  nihil  dictum  quod  non  dictum  prius  : 
methodus  sola  artijicem  ostendit :  we  can  say  nothing  but  what 
hath  been  said,  the  composition  and  method  is  ours  only, 
and  shews  a  scholar.  Oribasius,  Aetius,  Avicenna,  have  all 
out  of  Galen,  but  to  their  own  method,  diverso  stylo,  non  di- 
versd  Jide.  Our  poets  steal  from  Homer ;  he  spews,  saith 
vElian,  they  lick  it  up.  Divines  use  Austins  words  verbatim 
still,  and  our  story-dressers  do  as  much  ;  he  that  comes  last 
is  commonly  best, 

donee  quid  grandius  tetas 

Postera,  sorsque  ferat  melior. 

f  Onerabuntur   ingenia,  nemo  legendis   sutBcit.  q  Libris  obruimur  :  ocnli 

legendo,  inanus  volitando  dolent.     Fara.  Strada,  Momon.  Lucretius.  ''Qnidquid 

ubiijire  bene  dictum  facio  meum,  et  illud  nunc  meis  ad  compendium,  nunc  ad  fidem 
et  auctoritatem  alienis,  expriiuo  verbis  :  omnes  anctores  meos  ciientes  esse  arbitror,  &c. 
Sarisburiensis  ad  Polycrat.  prol.  *  In  Epitaph.  Nep.  illud  Cyp.  hoc  l^act.  illud 

Hilar,  est,  it*  Victorians,  in  huuc  luodum  loquutus  est  Arnobius,  &c.  '  Pra;f,  ad 

Syntax,  mtd. 


12  DEMOCRITUS  TO  THE  READER. 

Though  there  were  many  giants  of  old  in  physic  and  philo* 
sophy,  yet  I  say  with  "  Didacus  Stella,  ^  dwarf  standing  on 
the  slwulders  of  a  giant,  may  see  farther  than  a  giant  himself ; 
I  may  likely  add,  alter,  and  see  farther  than  my  predecessors  : 
and  it  is  no  greater  prejudice  for  me  to  indite  after  others, 
than  for  J^lianus  Montaltus,  that  famous  physician,  to  write 
do  morbis  capitis  after  Jason  Pratensis,  Heurnius,  Hildesheim, 
&c.  Many  horses  to  run  in  a  race,  one  logician,  one  rheto- 
rician, after  another.     Oppose  then  what  thou  wilt, 

AUatres  licet  usque  nos  et  usque, 
Et  gannitibus  improbis  lacessas  ; 

I  solve  it  thus.  And  for  those  other  faults  of  barbarism, 
"^  Dorick  dialect,  extemporanean  style,  tautologies,  apish  imi- 
tation, a  rhapsody  of  rags  gathered  together  from  several 
dung-hills,  excrements  of  anthors,  toyes  and  fopperies  con- 
fusedly tumbled  out,  without  art,  invention,  judgement,  wit, 
learning,  harsh,  raw,  rude,  phantastical,  absurd,  insolent,  in- 
discreet, ill-composed,  indigested,  vain,  scurrile,  idle,  dull 
and  dry;  I  confess  all  ('tis  partly  affected):  thou  canst  not 
think  worse  of  me  than  I  do  of  my  self.  'Tis  not  worth  the 
reading,  I  yield  it :  I  desire  thee  not  to  lose  time  in  perusing 
so  vain  a  subject ;  I  should  be  peradventure  loth  my  self  to 
read  him  or  thee  so  writing  :  'tis  not  operce  pretium.  All  I 
say,  is  this,  that  I  have  ^  precedents  for  it,  which  Isocrates 
calls  perfugium  iis  qui  peccant,  others  as  absm'd,  vain,  idle, 
illiterate,  &c.  Nonnulli  alii  idem  fecerunt,  others  have  done  as 
much,  it  may  be  more,  and  perhaps  thou  thy  self:  Novimus 
et  qui  te,  ^-c.  we  have  all  our  faults  ;  scimiis,  et  hanc  veniam, 
Sf-c.  ^  thou  censurest  me,  so  have  I  done  others,  and  may  do 
thee  :  Coedimus,  inque  vicem,  Sfc,  'tis  lex  talionts,  quid  pro  quo. 
Go  now  censure,  criticise,  scoff  and  rail. 

"  Nasutus  sis  usque  licet,  sis  denique  nasus, 
Non  potes  in  nugas  dicere  plura  meas, 
Ipse  ego  quam  dixi,  &c. 

Wer'st  thou  all  scoffs  and  flouts,  a  very  Momus, 
Than  we  our  selves,  thou  canst  not  say  worse  of  us. 

Thus,  as  when  women  scold,  have  1  cryed  whore  first ;  and, 
in  some  mens  censures,  I  am  afraid  1  have  overshot  my  self. 
Laudare  se  vani,  vituperare  stulti:  as  I  do  not  arrogate,  I 
will  not  derogate.  Primus  vestrum  non  sum,  nee  imus,  I  am 
none  of  the  best,   I  am  none  of  the  meanest  of  you.     As  I 

_ "  In  Luc.  10.  torn  2.  Pygmsei  gigantum  huraeris  impositi  plus  quam  ipsi  gigantes 
yident.  ,  x  Nee  aranearum  textus  ideo  melior,  quia  ex  se  fila  gignuntur,  nee  noster 
ideo  vilior,  quia  ex  alienis  libaraus,  ut  apes.     Lipsius  adversus  dialogist.  y  Uno 

absurdo  dato,  miUe  sequuntur.  zNon  dubilo  inultos  lectores  liic  fore  stultoe. 

*  Martial  13.  2. 


DEMOCRITUS  TO  THE  READER.  13 

am  an  inch,  or  so  many  feet,  so  many  parasauges,  after  him 
or  him,  I  may  be  peradventure  an  ace  before  thee.  Be  it 
therefore  as  it  is,  Avell  or  ill,  I  have  assayed,  put  my  self  upon 
the  stao-e  ;  I  must  abide  the  censure  ;  1  may  not  escape  it.  It 
is  most  true,  stifhis  virum  arr/uit,  our  style  bewrayes  us,  and 
''hunters  find  their  game  by  the  trace,  so  is  a  mans  genius 
described  by  his  works  :  multo  melius  ex  sermoiie  (piam  linen- 
vientis,  de  morihis  hominnm  jvdicamns  ;  'twas  old  Cato's  rule. 
t  have  laid  myself  open  (I  know  it)  in  this  treatise,  turned 
mine  inside  outward  :  I  shall  be  censured,  I  doubt  not;  for, 
to  say  truth  with  Erasmas,  nihil  mo I'osius  hominum  pidiciis, 
there's  nought  so  pievish  as  mens  judgements  :  yet  thisis  some 
comfort — ut  palatct,  sic  judicia,  ouv  censures  are  as  various  as 
our  palats. 

•■  Tres  mihi  convivse  prope  dissentire  videntur, 
Poscentes  vario  uinkum  diversa  palato,  &c. 

Our  writings  are  as  so  many  dishes,  our  readers  guests  ;  our 
books  like  beauty;  that  which  one  admires,  another  rejects; 
so  are  we  approved  as  mens  fancies  are  inclined. 
Pro  captu  lectoris  habent  sua  fata  libelli. 

That  which  is  most  pleasing  to  one  is  amaracum  sni,  most 
harsh  to  another.  Qtiot  homines,  tot sententice,  so  many  men, 
so  many  minds  :  that  which  thou  condemnest,  he  commends. 

^  Quod  petis,  id  sane  est  invisum  acidumpue  duobus. 
He  respects  matter;  thou  art  wholly  for  words:  he  loves  a 
loose  and  free  stile  ;  thou  art  all  for  neat  composition,  strong- 
lines,  hyberboles,  allegories  :  he  desires  a  fine  frontispiece,  en- 
ticing pictures,  such  as  Hieron.  Natali*  the  Jesuit  hath  cut 
to  the  Dominicals,  to  draw  on  the  readers  attention,  which 
thou  rejectest;  that  M'hich  one  admires,  another  explodes  as 
most  absurd  and  ridiculous.  If  it  be  not  point-blank  to  his 
humour,  his  method,  Ins  conceit,  '  si  quid  forsan  omissum, 
quod  is  animo  ro)irpprrit,si  qua-  dictio,  cVc  if  o^ight  be  omitted, 
or  added,  which  he  likes,  or  dislikes,  thou  art  mancipinm 
paucw  lectionis,  an  idiot,  an  ass,  nullus  es,  or  plaf/iarius,  a 
trifler,  a  triviant,  thou  art  an  idle  fellow;  oV  else  'tis  a  thing 
of  nicer  indusrry.  a  collection  without  wit  or  invention,  a 
very  toy.  '  Fa  cilia  sic  putant  omnes  quae  jam  facta,  nee  de 
salehris  cof/itant,  uhi  via  strata  ;  so  men  are  valued,  their  la- 
bours vilified,  by  fellows  of  no  Morth  themselves,  as  things 
of  nought  :  who  could  not  have  done  so  much  ?  vumipnsqne 
ahundat  sensusuo,  every  man  abounds  in  his  own  sense  ;  and 

•> Ut  venatores  ferain  e  vestigio  impresso,  vinim  scriptiuncula.     Lips.  c  Hor. 

dHor.  ♦Antwerp,  fol.  1607.  •  Muretns.  fLipsius. 


14  DEMOCRITITS    TO    THE    READER. 

wliilest  each  particular  party  is  so  affected,  Iiow  should  one 
please  all  ? 

^  Quid  dem  ?  quid  non  dem  ?  Renuis  tu,  quod  jubet  il!e. 

Ijow  shall  I  hope  to  express  my  self  to  each  mans  humor  and 
'' conceit,  or  to  give  satisfaction  to  all  ?  Some  understand  too 
little,  some  too  much,  qui  similiter  in  legendos  libros,   atque 
in  salutandos  homines  irrnunt,  non  corjitantes  quales,  sed  qui 
bus  vestibus  induti  shit,  as  '  Austin  observes,  not  reg-arding" 
what,   but  who  write,  "^  oreorin  habet  cmctoris  celehritas,  not 
valuing  the  mettal,  but  the  stamp  that  is  upon  it ;  ccuitharnm 
aspiciuni,  non  quid  in  eo.    If  he  be  not  rich,  in  great  place, 
polite  and  brave,  a  great  doctor,  or  full  fraught  with  grand 
titles,  though  never   so  well  qualified,  he  is  a  dunce.      But 
as   *Baronius  hath   it  of  cardinal   Caraffa's  works,  he  is  a 
meer  liog  that  rejects  any  man  for  his  poverty.    Some  are  too 
partial,  as  friends  to  overween  ;  others  come  with  a  prejudice 
to  carp,  vilifie,  detract  and  scoff;  (^qui  de  mej'orsan  quidquid 
est,  omui  contemptu  contempfius  judicant^  some  as  bees  for 
honey,  come  as  spiders  to  gather  poyson.  What  shall  I  do  in 
this  case  ?    As  a  Dutch  host,  if  you  come  to  an  inn  in  Ger- 
many, and  dislike  your  fare,  diet,  lodging,  &c.  replyes  in  a 
surly  tone,  '  uUud  tibi  quasras  diversorium,  if  you  like  not  this, 
get  you  to  another  inn  :  1  resolve,  if  you  like  not  my  writing, 
go  read  something  else.  I  do  not  much  esteem  thy  censure: 
take  thy  course :  'tis  not  as  thou  wilt,  nor  as  I  will :  but  when 
we  have  both  done,  that  of  "Plinius  Secundus  to  Trajan  will 
prove  true,  Every  mans  witty  labour  takes  not,  except  the  mat- 
ter,snhject,  occasion,  and  some  commendinyj'avourite  happen  to 
it.    If  I  be  taxed,  exploded  by  thee  and  some  such,  I  shall 
haply  be  approved  and  commended  by  others,  and  so  have 
been  (expertus  loquor  ;)  and  may  truly  say  with  "  Jovius  in  like 
case  {absit  verbo  Jactantia)  hcroum  quorundam,  pontificum,  et 
virorum  nohiliumJamiUaritatem  et  amicitiam,  gratasque  gra- 
tias,  et  multorum  "bene  landatorum  laudes  sum  inde  promeritus  :  - 
as  I  have  been  honoured  by  some  worthy  men,  so  have  I  been 
vilified  by  others,  and  shall  be.     At  the  first  publishing  of 
this  book,  (which  i'  Probus  of  Persius  satyrs)  editum  librmn 
continuo  mirari  homines,  atque  avide  deripere  ccepernnt,  I  may 
in  some  sort  a])ply  to  this   my  work.     The  first,  second, 
and  third  edition  were  suddenly  gone,  eagerly  read,  and, 

fvllor.  'i  Fieri  Don  potest,  ut  quod  quisque  cogitat,  dicat  unus.     Muretns. 

'iT       '■  ^^  ^^^'  *^^P"  ^'*  ""  Erasmus.  *  Aniial.  torn.  3.  ad  annum  360. 

Est  porcus  ille  qui  sacerdotem  ex  amplitudine  redituuni  sordide  demetitur.     'Erasra. 
J;'^'-  .     '"  Epist.  1.  6.     Cujusque  ingeniuiu  nou  statim  enicrgit,  nisijuateria; 

fautor,  orcasio,  commendatorque  contingat,  "  Pra;f.  hist.  »  Laudari  a 

laudato  laus  tst.  PVit.  Persii. 


DEMOCRITUS    TO    THE    READER.  15 

as  I  hare  said,  not  so  much  approved  by  some,  as  scornfully 
rejected  by  others.  But  it  was  Democritns  his  fortune,  Idem 
admirationi  et  *irrisioni  habitus.  'Twas  Seneca's  fate  :  that 
superintendant  of  wit,  learning-,  judgement,  ^^ad  stuporem 
doctus,  the  best  of  Greek  and  Latin  writers,  in  Plutarch's 
opinion;  that  renoicned  corrector  of  vice,  ns  "^  Fabius  terms 
him,  and  painful  omniscious  philosopher  that  icrit  so  excel- 
lenthj  and  admirably  well,  could  not  please  all  parties,  or 
escape  censure.  How  is  he  villiiied  by  =  Caligula,  Agellius, 
Fabius,  and  Lipsius  himself,  his  chief  propugner?  In  eo  ple^ 
raqiie perniciosa,  saith  the  same  Fabius  :  many  childish  ti^acts 
and  sentences  he  hath,  sermo  illaboratus,  too  negligent  often 
and  remiss,  as  Agellius  observes,  oratio  vulgaris  et  protrita^ 
dicaces  et  ineptCE  sententia,  eruditio  plebeia,  an  homely  shal- 
low writer  as  he  is.  In  partibus  spinas  etjastidia,  habet,  saith 
*  Lipsius;  and,  as  in  all  his  other  works,  so  especially  in  his 
Epistles,  alice  in  argutiis  et  ineptiis  occupantnr :  intricatus 
alicubi,  et  parum  compositns,  sine  copid  rerum  hoc  fecit :  he 
fumbles  up  many  things  together  imraethodically,  after  the 
Stoicks  fashion  :  parum  ordinavit  multa  accumnlavit,  Sec.  If 
Seneca  be  thus  lashed,  and  many  famous  men  that  I  could 
name,  what  shall  I  expect  ?  How  shall  I  that  am  vix  nmbra 
tanti philosophi,  hope  to  please?  No  man  so  absolute,  'Eras- 
mus holds,  to  satisjieall, except  antiquity, prescription, ^c.  set 
a  bar.  But  as  1  have  proved  in  Seneca,  this  will  not  alwayes 
take  place,  how  shall  I  evade?  'Tis  the  common  doom  of 
all  writers  :  I  must  (I  say)  abide  it :  I  seek  not  applause  ; 
"  Non  ego  ventosce  venor  suffragia  plebis  ;  again,  nan  sum  adeo 
inj'ormis  :  I  would  not  be  vilified  "; 

''laudatus  abunde, 

Non  fastiditus  ti  tibi,  lector  ero. 

I  fear  good  mens  censures;  and  to  their  favourable  acceptance 
I  submit  my  labours, 

et  linguas  mancipiorum 


Contemno- 

As  the  barking  of  a  dog,  [  securely  contemn  those  malicious 
and  scunile  obloquies,  flouts,  calumnies  of  railers  and  de- 
tractors ;  I  scorn  the  rest.  What  therefore  I  have  said,  pro 
tenuitate  vied  I  have  said. 

*  Minuit  prsBsentia  famam.  q  Lipsius,  Judic.  de  Seneca."  r  Lib.  10. 

Plurimuin  studii,  multam  rerum  cognitionem,  omnem  studiorum  materiani,  ficc- 
multa   in   eo    probanda,   multa   admiranda.  « Suet.    Arena   sine    calce. 

*  Introdnc    ad  Sen.  'Judic  de  Sen.     Vix   aliquis  lam   absolutns,   ut   alteri 

per  omnia  satisfaciat,  nisi  longa  temporis  pra;scriptio,  semota  judicandi  libertate, 
reKgione  quiidam   animos  occuparit.  "  Hor.   £p.   \.  lib.  29.  ^^  /Eque 

turpe  frigide  laudari  ac  insectanter  \atnperari.  Phavorinus.  A.  Gel.  lib.  19.  c.  2. 
>  Ovid.  Trist.  1.  eleg.  6.  ^  Juven.  Sat.  5. 


16  DEMOCRITUS  TO  THE  READKR. 

One  or  tv\'o  thinosyet  I  was  desirous  to  have  amended,  if  I 
could,  concerniiiiT-  t!ie  manner  of  handling  this  my  subject,  for 
which  I  must  apologize,  </e/?rec«r<,  and  upon  better  advicegive 
the  friendly  reader  notice.  It  was  not  mine  intent  to  prosti- 
tute my  muse  in  English,  or  to  divulge  secreta  Minprvce^  but 
to  have  exposed  this  more  contract  in  Latin,  if  I  could  have 
got  it  printed.  Any  scurrile  pamphlet  is  welcome  to  our 
mercenary  stationers  in  Englisli  :  they  print  all, 

cuduntque  libellos, 

In  quorum  foliis  vix  simia  nuda  cacaret : 

but  in  Latin  they  will  not  deal  :  wliich  is  one  of  the  reasons 
^Nicholas  Car,  in  his  Oration  of  the  paucity  of  English  writers 
gives,  that  so  many  flourishing  wits  are  smothered  in  oblivion, 
lye  dead  and  buried,  in  this  our  nation.  Another  main  fault 
is,  that  I  have  not  revised  the  copy,  and  amended  the  style, 
which  now  flows  remisly,  as  it  was  first  conceived  :  but  my 
leisure  would  not  permit :  J^eci nee  quod poiui,  nee  (juod  voltii, 
I  confess  it  is  neither  as  I  would,  or  as  it  should  be. 

''Cum  relego,  scripsisse  pudet,  quia  plurima  cerno, 
Me  quoque  quae  fuerant  judice  digaa  lini. 

When  I  peruse  this  tract  which  I  have  writ, 
I  am  abash'd,  and  much  I  hold  unfit. 

Et  quod  gravissimum,  in  the  matter  it  self,  many  things  I  dis- 
allow at  this  present,  which  when  1  writ,  "JVon  eademest  cvtas 
non  mens.  I  would  willingly  retract  much,  &c.  but  'tis  too 
late.     I  can  only  crave  pardon  now  for  what  is  amiss. 

I  might  indeed  (had  1  wisely  done)  observed  that  precept 
of  the  poet, 

— — nonumque  prematur  in  annum, 

and  have  taken  more  care  :  or  as  Alexander  the  physician 
would  have  done  by  lapis  lazuli,  fifty  times  washed  before  it 
be  used,  I  should  have  revised,  corrected,  and  amended  this 
tract ;  but  I  had  not  (as  I  said)  that  happy  leisure,  no  ama- 
nuenses or  assistants.  Paucrates  in  '^  Lucian,  wanting  a  ser- 
vant as  he  went  from  Memphis  to  Coptus  in  iEgypt,  took 
a  door  bar,  and,  after  some  superstitious  words  pronounced, 
(Eucrates  the  relator  was  then  present)  made  it  stand  up  like 
a  serving  man,  fetch  him  water,  turn  the  spit,  serve  in  supper, 
and  what  work  he  would  besides  ;  and  when  he  had  done  that 
service  he  desired,  turn'd  his  man  to  a  stick  again.     I  have  no 

»  Aiit  artis  inscii,  aut  qusestiii  rnagis  quam  Uteris  student,  iiab.  Cantab,  et  Lond. 
exc.is.  167G.  bOvid.  do  Pont.  eleg.  1.  6.  -(^  Hor.  'iTo.n.  3.. 

Fhilopseud.  accepto  pessiilo,  qimm  carmen  quoddam  dixisset,  effecit  ut  arabularet, 
aquam  haunret,  coenam  paiarct,  &c. 


DEMOCRITUS    TO    THE    READER. 


l7 


such  skill  to  make  nen^  men  at  my  pleasure,  or  means  to  hire 
them,  no  whistle,  to  call,  like  the  master  of  a  ship,  and  bid 
them  run,  &c.  1  have  no  such  authority,  no  such  benefactors, 
as  that  noble  *  Ambrosius  was  to  Origen,  allowing-  him  six  or 
seven  amanuenses  to  write  out  his  dictates  ;  1  inust,  for  that 
cause,  do  my  business  my  self,  and  was  therefore  enforced,  as 
a  bear  doth  her  whelps,  to  bring-  forth  this  confused  lump :  I 
had  not  time  to  lick  it  into  form,  as  she  doth  her  yonngones, 
but  even  so  to  publish  it,  as  it  was  first  written,  tjuidcjuid  in 
buecam  venit :  in  an  extemporean  style,  (as  "^  1  do  commonly 
all  other  exercises)  ejftidi  quidquid  dicfovit  (jenms  mens ;  out 
of  a  confused  company  of  notes,  an<l  writ  with  as  small  deli- 
beration as  I  do  ordinarily  speak,  without  all  afFectation  of 
big  words,  fustian  phrases,  jingling-  terms,  tropes,  strong- 
lines,  (that,  like  *  Acestes  arrows,  caught  fire  as  they  flew) 
strains  of  wit,  brave  heats,  elegies,  hyperbolical  exornations, 
elegancies,  &c.  which  many  so  much  afiect  1  am  ^  aqmv 
potor,  drink  no  wine  at  all,  which  so  much  improves  our  mo- 
dern wits;  a  loose,  plain,  rude  writer,  ^"c?///i  voco  f?cum,  et 
li()onem  ligofiem,  and  as  free,  as  loose  :  idem  calamo  quod  hi 
mente:  ?  I  call  a  spade  a  spade  :  animis  hccc  scriho,  von  avri- 
bus,  I  respect  matter,  not  words ;  remembering-  that  of  (Jardan, 
verba  propter  res,  nan  res  propter  verba;  and  seeking-  with 
Seneca,  quid  scribam,  non  quemadmodnm,  rather  what,  than 
how  to  write.  For,  as  Philo  thinks,  ^  he  that  is  conversant  about 
matter,  neglects  ivords ;  and  those  that  excell  in  this  art  of 
speaking,  have  no  proj'ound  learning : 

'  Verba  nitent  pbaleris  ;  at  nullas  verba  medullas 
lutus  habent 

Besides,  it  was  the  observation  of  that  M'ise  Seneca,  ^  when 
you  see  a  fellow  careful  about  his  words,  and  neat  in  hisspeechy 
know  this  for  a  certainty,  that  mans  mind  is  busied  about 
toyes,  there^s  no  solidity  in  him.  .A  o??.  est  ornamentum  virile 
concinnitas  :  as  he  said  of  a  nightingale, 

vox  es,  praetcrea  nihil,  &c. 

I  am  therefore  in  this  point  a  professed  disciple  of 'Apollo- 
niiis.ascholarofSocrates:  I  neglect  phrases,and  labour  wholly 
to  inform  my  readers  understanding-,  not  to  please  his  ear;  'tis 

♦  Eusebius,  eccles.  hist.  lib.  6.  <"  Stans  pede  in  uno,  as  he  made  verses. 

*Virg.  fNon  eadem  a  suramo  expectes,  minimoque  poeta.  k  Stylus 

hie  nalhis  praeter  parrhesiani.  h  Qui  rebus  se  eiercet,  verba  neglig:it ;  et  qui 

callet  artem  dicendi,  nullani  discipHnam   habet  recognitam.  '  Palingenius. 

''  Cujuscunque  orationem  vides  politam  et  solicitam,  scito  aniraum  in  pusillis  occupa- 
tum,  in  scriptis  nil  Bolidum,     Epist.  lib.  1.  21.  i  Philostratus,  lib.  8.  vit.  Apol. 

Negligebat  oratoriam  facultatem,  et  penitus  aspernabatur  ejus  professores,  quod  lin- 
guam  duntaxat,  non  autem  mentem,  redderent  eruditiorem. 

VOL.    I.  C 


18  DEMOCRITUS  TO  THE  READER. 

not  my  study  or  intent  to  compose  neatly,  which  an  orator  re- 
quires, but  to  express  my  self  readily  and  plainly  as  it  hap- 
pens :  so  that,  as  a  river  runs,  sometimes  precipitate  and  swift, 
then  dull  and  slow;  now  direct,  then  per  ambages;  now  deep, 
then  shallow;  now  muddy,  then  clear;  now  broad,  then  nar- 
row ;  doth  my  style  flow — now  serious,  then  light ;  now 
comical,  then  satyrical ;  now  more  elaborate,  then  remiss,  as 
the  present  subject  required,  or  as  at  that  time  I  was  affect- 
ed. And  if  thou  vouchsafe  to  read  this  treatise,  it  shall  seem 
no  otherwise  to  thee,  than  the  way  to  an  ordinary  traveller, 
sometimes  fair,  sometimes  foul ;  here  champion,  there  in- 
closed; barren  in  one  place,  better  soil  in  another.  By 
woods,  groves,  hills,  dales,  plains,  &c.  T  shall  lead  thee 
per  ardua  montiuni,  et  lubrica  vallium,  et  roscida  cespitum,  et 
*  g^ehosa  camporum,  through  variety  of  objects,  that  which 
thou  shalt  like,  and  surely  dislike. 

For  the  matter  it  self  or  method,  if  it  be  faulty,  consider,  I 
pray  you,  that  of  Columella:  nihil perj'ectum,  ant  a  singnlari 
consummatum  industrid  :  no  man  can  observe  all ;  much  is  de- 
fective no  doubt,  may  be  justly  taxed,  altered,  and  avoided  in 
Galen,  Aristotle,  those  great  masters.  Boni  venatoris,  ('"one 
holds)  plures  feras  capere,  non  omnes.  He  is  a  good  hunts- 
man ran  catch  some,  not  all :  I  have  done  my  endeavour. 
Besides,  I  dwell  not  in  this  study  :  non  hie  snlcos  ducimns  ; 
non  hoc  pulvere  desndamus :  I  am  but  a  smatterer,  I  confess, 
a  stranger :  °  here  and  there  T  pull  a  flower.  I  do  easily  grant, 
if  a  rigid  censurer  should  criticize  on  this  which  i  have  writ, 
he  should  not  find  three  sole  faults,  as  Scaliger  in  Terence, 
but  three  hundred,  so  many  as  he  hath  done  in  Cardans  Sub- 
tleties, as  many  notable  errors  as  °Gul.  Laurembergius,  a  late 
professor  of  Rustocke,  discovers  in  thatanatomy  of  Laurentius, 
or  Barocius  the  Venetian  in  Sacroboscus.  And  although  this 
be  a  sixth  edition,  in  which  I  should  have  been  more  accurate, 
corrected  all  those  former  escapes,  yet  it  was  maqni  lahoris 
opus,  so  difficult  and  tedious,  that  (as  carpenters  do  find  out 
of  experience,  'tis  much  better  build  a  new  sometimes,  than 
repair  an  old  house)  I  could  as  soon  write  as  much  more,  as 
alter  that  Aviiich  is  written.  If  ought  therefore  be  amiss,  (as  I 
grant  there  is)  1  require  a  friendly  admonition,  no  bitter  in- 
vective : 

P  Sint  Musis  socise  Charites  ;  Furia  omnis  abesto. 

Otherwise,  as  in  ordinary  controversies,  funem  contentionis 

*  Hie  enim,  quod  Seneca  de  Ponto,  bos  herbatn,  ciconia  larisam,  canis  leporem, 
virso  florem  legat  '"Pet.  Nannius,  not.  in  Hor.  "      n  Non  hie  cnlonus 

douiieiliiuu  habeo ;  sed,  topiarii  in  uiorem,  hiue  inde  florem  vellico,  ut  canis  Nilum 
lujiibens.  o  Supra  bis  uulle    notabiles  errores   Laureiitii  demonatra\i,   &c. 

t>  Philo  de  Con. 


DEMOrRITlTS    TO    THE    READER.  19 

vprtamns :  sed  cin  bono  ?    Wc  may  coTaend,  and  likely  mis- 
use each  other  :  but  to  what  purpose  ?  We  are  both  scholars, 

say, 

''  Arcades  ambo, 

Et  cantare  pares,  et  respondere  parati. 

If  Ave  do  MTangle,  what  shall  Me  get  by  it  ?    Trouble  and 
wrong-  our  selves,  make  sport  to  others.     If  I  be  convict  of 
an  error,  I  will  yield,  I  will  amend.  Si  qnhlhonh  morihm,  si 
quid  verltati  dissentaneum,  in  sacris  vel  humanis  Uteris  a  me 
dictvm  sit,  id  nee  dictum  esto.    In  the  mean  time  I  require  a 
favourable  censure  of  all  faults  omitted,  harsh  compositions, 
pleonasmes  of  words,  tautological  repetitions,  (though  Seneca 
bear  me  out  minqnam  nimis  dicitnr,  quod  minquam  satis  dici- 
tnr)  perturbation  of  tenses,  numbers,  printers  fluilts,  &c.     My 
translations  are  sometimes  rather  paraphrases,  than  interpre- 
tations; non  adverbnm;  but,  as  an  author,  I  use  more  liberty, 
and  that's  only  taken,  which  was  to  my  purpose.     Quota- 
tions are   often  inserted  in  the  text,  which  make  the  style 
more  harsh,  or  in  the  margent,  as  it  hapned.     Greek  authors, 
Plato,  Plutarch,  Athenjeus,  &c.  I  have  cited  out  of  their  in- 
terpreters, because  the  original  was  not  so  ready.     I  have 
mingled   sacra  profanis,  but  I  hope  not  prophaned,  and,  in 
repetition  of  authors  names,  ranked  them  per  accidens,  not 
according  to  chronology  ;  sometimes  neotericks  before  an- 
cients, as  my  memory  suggested.     Some  things  are  here  al- 
tered, expunged  in  this  sixth  edition,  others  amended,  much 
added,  because  many  good  *  authors  in  all  kinds  are  come  to 
my  hands  since  ;  and  'tis  no  prejudice,  no  such  indecorum,  or 
oversight. 

'  Nunquam  ita  quidquam  bene  subducta  ratione  ad  vitani  fuit, 
,  Quin  res,  aetas,  usiis,  semper  aliquid  apportet  novi, 
Aliqtiid  moneat;   ut  ilia,  quae  scire  te  credas,  nescias, 
Et,  quae  tibi  put^ris  prima,  in  experiundo  ut  vepudies. 
Ne'er  was  ought  yet  at  first  contriv'd  so  fit, 
But  use,  age,  or  something,  would  alter  it; 
Advise  thee  better,  and,  upon  peruse, 
Make  thee  not  say,  and,  what  thou  tak'st,  refuse. 
But  I  am  now  resolved  never  to  put  this  treatise  out  again  : 
ne  quid  nimis,  I  will  not  hereafter  add,  alter,   or  retra'ct ;   I 
have  done. 

The  last  and  greatest  exception  is,  that  I,  being-  a  divine, 
have  medled  with  physick  : 

^Tantumne  est  ab  re  tua  otii  tibi, 

Aliena  ut  cures,  eaque  nihil  qune  ad  te  attinent  ? 

q  Virg.  ♦  Franibesarius,  Seunertus,  Ferandus,  &c.  r  Ter.  Adelph, 

«  Heaut  act.  1.  seen.  1. 

c2 


20  DEMOCRITUS  TO  THE  READER. 

(which  Menedemus  objected  to  Chremes)  have  I  so  much 
leisure  or  little  business  of  mine  own,  as  to  look  afier  other 
mens  matters,  which  concern  me  not  ?  What  have  1  to  do 
with  physick  ?  qnod  medicornm  est,  promittant  medici.  The 
*Lacedaimoninns  were  once  in  counsel  about  state  matters  :  a 
debauched  fellow  spake  excellent  well,  and  to  the  purpose  :  his 
speech  was  generally  approved  :  a  grave  senator  steps  up,  and 
by  all  means  would  have  it  repealed,  though  good,  because 
dehonestabatnr  pessimo  auctore,  it  had  no  better  an  author ; 
let  some  good  man  relate  the  same,  and  then  it  should  pass. 
This  counsel  was  cinbra.ce-},J'actum  est,  and  it  was  registered 
forthwith  ;  et  sic  bona  sententia  mansit,  mains  auctor  miitatus 
est.  Thou  sayest  as  much  of  me,  stomachous  as  thou  art,  and 
grantest  peradventure  this  which  I  have  written  in  pliysick, 
not  to  be  amiss,  had  another  done  it,  a  professed  physician, 
or  so  ;  but  why  should  I  meddle  with  this  tract  ?  Hear  me 
speak  :  there  be  many  other  subjects,  I  do  easily  grant,  both 
in  humanity  and  divinity,  fit  to  be  treated  of,  which,  had  I 
written  ad  ostentationem  only,  to  show  my  self,  I  should  have 
rather  chosen,  and  in  which  1  have  been  more  conversant,  I 
could  have  more  willingly  luxuriated,  and  better  satisfied  my 
self  and  others  ;  but  that  at  this  time  I  was  fatally  driven 
upon  this  rock  of  melancholy,  and  carried  away  by  this  by- 
stream,  which,  as  a  rillet,  is  deducted  from  the  main  chanel 
of  niy  studies,  in  which  I  have  pleased  and  busied  my  self  at 
idle  hours,  as  a  subject  most  necessary  and  commodious: — 
not  that  I  prefer  it  before  divinity,  which  I  do  acknowledge 
to  be  the  queen  of  professions,  and  to  which  all  the  rest  are 
as  handmaids,  but  that  in  divinity  I  saw^  no  such  great  need  : 
for,  had  I  written  positively,  there  be  so  many  books  in  that 
kind,  so  many  commentators,  treatises,  pamphlets,  expositions, 
sermons,  that  whole  teems  of  oxen  cannot  draw  them  ;  and, 
had  I  been  as  forward  and  ambitious  as  some  others,  I  might 
have  haply  printed  a  sermon  at  Pauls  Cross,  a  sermon  in  St. 
Maries  Oxon,  a  sermon  in  Christ  Church,  or  a  sermon  be- 
fore the  right  honourable,  right  reverend,  a  sermon  before  the 
right  worshipful,  a  sermon  in  Latine,in  English,  a  sermon  with 
a  nan»e,  a  sermon  without,  a  sermon,  a  sermon,  &c.  But  1 
Jiave  ever  been  as  desirous  to  suppress  my  labours  in  this  kind, 
as  others  have  been  to  press  and  publish  theirs.  To  have 
written  in  controversie,  had  been  to  cut  off  an  Hydras  head  : 
"  lis  lifem  (/('ftcrat ;  one  begets  another  ;  so  many  duplications, 
triplications,  and  swarms  of  questions,  in  sacro  hello  hoc  quod 
styli  mucrone  rt//y7wr,  that  having-  ouqc  began,  I  should  never 

•  Gellius,  lib.  IS.  c.  '.i.  «  Et  inde  catena  qutedain  fit,  quae  hjeredes  etiam 

ligat.  Cardan.  IltinsiHs. 


DEMOCRITUS    TO    THE    READER.  21 

make  an  end.  One  had  much  better,  as  "  Alexander  the 
Sixth,  pope,  long- since  observed,  provoke  a  g-reat  prince  than 
a  begging- friar,  a  Jesuite,  or  a  seminary  priest:  I  will  add,  for 
ine.rpi/f/nahile  genus  hoc  homhn/m  :  they  are  an  irrefragable 
society:  they  must  and  will  have  the  last  word,  and  that 
with  such  eagerness,  impudence,  abominable  lying,  falsifying, 
and  bitterness  in  their  questions  they  proceed,  that,  as  >  he 
snidj'urorne  ccecus^  an  rapit  vis  acrior,  an  culpa  ?  responsum 
date.  Blind  fury  or  errour,  or  rashness,  or  what  it  is  that 
eggs  them,  1  know  not,  I  am  sure,  many  times;  which  ^Austin 
perceived  long-  since :  tempestate  contentioms,  serenitas,  cha- 
ritatis  ohnuhilatur  :  with  this  tempest  of  contention,  the  se- 
renity of  charity  is  over-clouded  ;  and  there  be  too  many 
spirits  conjured  up  already  in  this  kind  in  all  sciences,  and 
more  than  Ave  can  tell  how  to  lay,  which  do  furiously  rage, 
and  keep  such  a  racket,  that  as  '-^  Fabius  said,  it  had  been 
much  better  for  some  of  them  to  have  been  born  dumb,  and 
altogether  illiterate^  than  so  far  to  dote  to  their  oicn  destruc- 
tion. 

At  melius  fuerat  non  scribere  :  namque  tacere 
Tutum  semper  erit. 

'Tis  a  general  fault — so  Severinus  the  Dane  complains  ''in 
physick — unhappxf  men  as  ice  are,  tve  spend  our  daies  in  un- 
proftable  questions  and  disputations^'intricnte  subtilties,rfe  land 
caprind  about  moonshine  in  the  water,  leaving  in  the  mean 
time  those  chief  est  treasures  of  nature  untouched,  icherein  the 
best  medicines  for  all  manner  of  diseases  are  to  be  founds  and 
do  not  onlg  neglect  them  our  selves,  but  hinder, condemn,  forbid, 
and  scoff  at  others,  that  are  ivilling  to  empdre  after  them. 
These  motives  at  this  present  have  induced  me  to  make  choice 
of  this  medicinal  subject. 

If  any  physician  in  the  mean  time  shall  infer,  ne  sutor  ultra 
crepidam,  and  find  himself  grieved  that  I  have  intruded  into 
his  profession,  I  will  tell  him  in  brief,  I  do  not  otherwise  by 
them,  than  they  do  by  us,  if  it  be  for  their  advantage. 
I  know  many  of  their  sect  which  have  taken  orders  in 
hope  of  a  benefice  :  'tis  a  common  transition  :  and  why  may 


^  Malle  se  bellum  cum  magno  principe  gerere,  qnam  cum  nno  ex  fratrnmmendican- 
tiam  orHine.  >  Hor.  epofl.  lib.  od.  7.  ^Epist  86.  ad  Casulam  presb. 

»  Lib.  I'i.  cap.  1.  Mntos  nasci,  et  omni  scientia  egere,  satins  fiiisset,  qnam  sic  in 
propriam  perniciem  insanire.  bJnfgiJx  niortalitas  !  Iniitilibus  quacstionibiis 

ac  discj^ptationibus  vitani  traducitniis  ;  naturre  principes  thesanros,  in  quibus  gravis- 
sitnae  morborum  medicinfe  collocatae  sunt,  interim  intactos  reiinqnimus  ;  nee  ipsi 
solum  relinqiumus,  sed  et  alios  prohibemus,  impedimus,  condemnaniii.«,  liidibriisqiie 
afiicimns. 


22  DEMOCRITUS  TO  THE  READER. 

not  a  melancholy  divine,  that  can  get  nothing-  but  by  si- 
mony, profess  physick  ?  Drusianus,  an  Italian,  (Crusianus 
but  corruptly,  Trithemius  calls  him)  ""  because  he  was  not 
fortmmte  in  Ms  practice,Joisook  his  profession,  and  writ  after - 
tvards  in  diviuiij/.  Marcilius  Ficinus  was  semel  et  sinml,  a 
priest  and  a  physician  at  once ;  and  ''  T.  Linacer,  in  his  old 
ag-e,  took  orders.  The  Jesuites  profess  both  at  this  time  : 
divers  of  them,  permissu  snperioriim  chirurg-ions,  panders, 
bawds,  and  niidwives,  &c.  Many  poor  countrey-vicars,  for 
want  of  other  means,  are  driven  to  their  shifts;  to  turn 
mountebanks,  quacksalvers,  empricks  :  and  if  our  greedy 
patrons  hold  us  to  such  hard  conditions,  as  commonly  they 
do,  tljey  will  make  most  of  us  work  at  some  trade,  as  Paul  did 
— at  last  turn  taskers,  maltsters,  costermougers,  g-rasiers,  sell 
ale,  as  some  have  done,  or  worse.  Howsoever,  in  undertak- 
ing this  task,  1  hope  I  shall  commit  no  great  errour,  or  inde- 
corum^ if  al!  be  considered  aright.  I  can  vindicate  my  self 
w^ith  Georgius  Braunus,  and  Hieronymus  Hemingius,  those 
two  learned  divines,  who,  (to  borrow  a  line  or  two  of  mine 
*^  elder  brother)  drawn  by  a  natural  love,  the  one  oj"  pictures 
and  maps,  prospectives  and chororpaphical delights,  wiit  that 
ample  Theatre  of  Cities;  the  other  to  the  study  of  genealogies, 
penned  Theatrum  Genealogicum:  or  else  I  can  excuse  my 
studies  with  ^  Lessiusthe  Jesuiteinlike  case — It  isadisease  of 
tlie  soul,  on  which  I  am  to  treat,  and  as  much  appertaining-  to 
a  divine  as  to  a  physician  ;  and  who  knows  not  what  an  agree- 
ment there  is  betwixt  these  tAvo  professions?  A  good  divine 
either  is,  or  ought  to  be,  a  good  physician,  a  spiritual  physician 
at  least,  as  our  Saviour  calls  himself,  and  was  indeed,  Mat.  4. 
23.  Luke  5.  18.  Luke  7«  8.  They  differ  but  in  object,  the 
one  of  the  body,  the  other  of  the  soul,  and  use  divers  medi- 
cines to  ciu'e  I  one  i\n\enAs,animam per corpns,the  other  corpus 
per  animam,  as  ^'our  regius  professour  of  physick  well  informed 
us  in  a  learned  lecture  of  his  not  long  since.  One  helps  the 
vices  and  passions  of  the  soul,  anger,  lust,  desperation,  pride, 
presumption,  &c.  by  applying  that  spiritual  physick,  as  the 
other  uses  proper  remedies  in  bodily  diseases.  Now,  this  being 
a  common  infirmity  of  body  and  soul,  and  such  a  one  that  hath 
as  much  need  of  a  spiritual  as  a  corporal  cure,  I  could  not  find 
a  fitter  task  to  busie  my  self  about — a  more  apposite  theam, 
so  necessary,  so  commodious,  and  generally  concerning  all 

"  Quod  in  praxi  miuime  fortunatns  esset,  medicinam  reliquit,  et,  ordinibus  initiatas, 
in  theologia  postmodimi  scripsit.     Oesner,  Hibliotheca.  <•  P.  Jovius.  «M. 

VV.  iJurton,  Preface  to  liis  Description  of  Leicestershire,  printed  at  London  by  W. 
Jaggard  for  S.  White,  l&*-2.  •  In  Hygiasticon ;  neque  enim  hasc  tractatio  aliena 

videri  debet  a  theologo,  &.c.  agitur  de  morbo  aninije.  g  D.  Clayton,  in  comitiiB, 

anno  lOil. 


DEMOCRITUS    TO     THE    READER.  23 

sorts  of  men,  that  should  so  equally  participate  of  both,  and 
require  a  whole  physician.  A  divine,  in  this  compound  mixt 
malady,  can  do  little  alone ;  a  physician,  in  some  kinds  of 
melancholy,  much  less  :  both  make  an  absolute  cure  : 

■*  Alterius  sic  altera  poscit  opem  : 
and  'tis  proper  to  them  both,  and,  I  hope,  not  unbeseeming- 
me,  who  am  by  my  profession  a  divine,  and  by  mine  inclina- 
tion a  physician.  1  had  Jupiter  in  my  sixth  house ;  I  say,  with 
iBeroaldus,  wow  sum  medicns,  nee  mediciufe  prorsus  expers  ;  in 
the  theorick  of  physic  I  have  taken  some  pains,  not  with  an 
intent  to  practise,  but  to  satisfie  my  self;  which  was  a  cause 
likewise  of  the  first  undertaking  of  this  subject. 

If  these  reasons  do  not  satisfie  thee,  good  reader— as  Alex- 
ander Munificus,  that  bountiful  prelate,  sometime  bishop  of 
Lincoln,  when  he  had  built  six  castles,  ad  invidiam  operis 
eluendam,  saith  ^  3Ir.  Crambden,  to  take  away  the  envy  of  his 
work,  (which  very  words  Nubrigensis  hath  of  Roger  the  rich 
bishop  of  Salisbury,  who,  in  king  Stephens  time,  built  Shir- 
burn  castle,  and  that  of  Devises)  to  divert  the  scandal  or  impu- 
tation which  might  be  thence  inferred,  built  so  many  religious 
houses—  If  this  my  discourse  be  over  medicinal,  or  savour  too 
much  of  humanity,  I  promise  thee  that  I  will  hereafter  make 
thee  amends  in  some  treatise  of  divinity.  But  this,  I  hope, 
shall  suffice,  when  you  have  more  fully  considered  of  the  mat- 
ter of  this  my  subject,  rem  substratum,  melancholy  madness, 
and  of  the  reasons  following,  which  were  my  chief  motives— 
the  generality  of  the  disease,  the  necessity  of  the  cure,  and  the 
commodity  or  common  good  that  will  arise  to  all  men  by  the 
knowledge  of  it,  as  shall  at  large  appear  in  the  ensuing  pre- 
face. And  I  doubt  not  but  that  in  the  end  you  wdl  say  with 
me,  that  to  anatomize  this  humour  aright  through  all  the 
members  of  this  our  microcosmus,  is  as  great  a  task  as  to  re- 
concile those  chronological  errours  in  the  Assyrian  monarchy, 
find  out  the  quadrature  of  a  circle,  the  creeks  and  sounds  of 
the  north-east  or  north-west  passages,  and,  all  out,  as  good  a 
discovery  as  that  hungry  ^  Spaniards  of  Terra  Austral  is  Incog- 
nita  as  great  trouble  as  to  perfect  the  motion  of  3Iars  and 

Mercury,  which  so  crucifies  our  astronomers,  or  to  rectifie  the 
Gregorian  kalendar.  I  am  so  affected,  for  my  part,  and  hope, 
as  ™  Theoprastus  did  by  his  Characters,  that  our  posterity, 

1'  Hor.  i  Lib.  de  pestil.  ^  In  Newark  in  Nottinghamshire.     Cnm  dno 

Eedificasset  castella,  ad  toUendam  stmctionis  imidiam,  et  expiandam  macnlam  dno 
instituit  coenobia  et  collegis  religiosis  implevit.  '  Ferdmando  de  Qnin 

anno  1612.  Amsterdami  impress.  n>  Prsefat  ad  Characteres.     Spero  emm   O 

Polycles,  liberos  nostros  meliores  inde  futiiros,  quod  istiusmodi  memoriae  mandata 
reliquerimos,  ex  prsceptis  et  exemplis  nostris  ad  vitam  accommodatis,  at  $e  mde 
corrigaDt 


24  DEMOCRITUS  TO  THE  READER. 

friend  Poly  des,  shall  he  better  for  this  which  iveJiavetvriiten, 
hy  correcting  and  rectifying  what  is  amiss  in  themselves  b:f 
our  examples,  and  applying  our  precepts  and  cautioiis  to  their 
own  use.  And,  as  that  great  captain,  Zisca,  would  have  a 
drum  made  of  his  skin  when  he  was  dead,  because  he  thoug^ht 
the  very  noise  of  it  would  put  his  enemies  to  flight,  I  doubt 
not  but  that  these  following  lines,  when  they  shall  be  recited, 
or  hereafter  read,  will  drive  away  melancholy  (though  I  be 
gone),  as  much  as  Zisca's  drum  could  terrific  his  foes.  Yet 
one  caution  let  me  give  by  the  way  to  my  present  or  future 
reader,  who  is  actually  melancholy — that  he  read  not  the 
"  symptomes  or  prognosticks  in  the  following  tract,  lest,  by  ap- 
plying that  which  he  reads  tohimself,aggravating,  appropriat- 
ing things  generally  spoken,  to  his  own  person  (as  melancholy 
men  for  the  most  part  do),  he  trouble  or  hurt  himself,  and  get, 
in  conclusion,  more  harm  than  good.  I  advise  them  there- 
fore warily  to  peruse  that  tract.  Lapides  loquitur  (so  said 
*'  Agrippa,  de  occ.  Phil.)  et  caveant  lector es  ne  cerebrum  iis 
excutiat.  The  rest,  I  doubt  not,  they  may  securely  read,  and 
to  their  benefit.     But  1  am  over-tedious  ;  1  proceed. 

Of  the  necessity  and  generality  of  this  which  I  have  said,  if 
any  man  doubt,  I  shall  desire  him  to  make  a  brief  survey  of 
the  world, as  ^Cyprian  adviseth  Donate—Supposing  himself  to 
be  transported  to  the  top  of  some  high  mountain,  and  thence 
to  behold  the  tumults  and  chances  of  this  wavering  world,  he 
cannot  chuse  but  either  laugh  at,  or  pity  it.  St.  Hierom,  out 
of  a  strong  imagination,  being  in  the  wilderness,  conceived 
with  himself  that  he  then  saw  them  dancing  in  Rome  ;  and  if 
thou  shalt  either  conceive,  or  climb  to  see,  thou  shalt  soon 
perceive  that  all  the  world  is  mad,  that  it  is  melancholy,  dotes; 
that  it  is  (which  Epichthonius  Cosmopolites  expressed  not 
many  years  since  in  a  map)  made  like  a  fools  head  (with 
that  motto,  caput  helteboro  dignum)  a  erased  head,  caveastul- 
torum,  a  fools  paradise,  or  (as  Apollonius)  a  common  prison 
of  gulls,  cheaters,  flatterers,  &c.  and  needs  to  be  reformed. 
Strabo,  in  the  ninth  book  of  his  Geography,  compares  Greece 
to  the  picture  of  a  man ;  which  comparison  of  his  Nic.  Ger- 
belius,  in  his  exposition  of  Sophianus  map,  approves — The 
breast  lies  open  from  those  Acroceraunian  hills  in  Epirus,  to 
the  Sunian  promontory  in  Attica;  Pagae  and  Megara  are  the 
two  shoulders ;  that  Isthmos  of  Corinth  the  neck  ;  and  Pelo- 
ponnesus the  head.      If  this  allusion  hold,  'tis,  sure,  a  mad 


"  Part  I.  sect.  3.  "  Praef.  Lectori.  P  Ep.  2.  1.  2.  ad  Donatum.     Panllispcr 

fe  crede  subduci  in  ardui  montis  verticem  relsiorera  :  gpeculare  inde  rerum  jacenfiutn 
faries;  et,  ocuHs  in  diversa  porrectis,  fluctuantis  mundi  turbines  intnere  :  jam  simal 
aut  ridebis  aut  misereberis,  Sec. 


DEMOCRITUS  TO  THE  READER.  25 

head — Morea  may  be  Morki;  and,  to  speak  what  I  tliink,  the 
inhabitants  of  modern  Greece  swerve  as  much  from  reason 
and  true  rebgion  at   this  day,  as  that  IMorea  doth   from  the 
picture  of  a  man.  Examine  the  rest  inbke  sort;  and  you  shall 
find  that  kingdoms  and  provinces  are  melancholy,   cities  and 
families,  all  creatures,  vegetal,  sensible,  and  rational— that  all 
sorts,  sects,  ages,  conditions,  are  out  of  tune  :  asin  Cebes  table, 
omnes  errorem  bibunt :  before  they  come  into  the  world,  they 
are  intoxicated  by  errours  cup — from  the  highest  to  the  lowest, 
have  need  of  physick;  and  those  particular  actions  in  ">  Seneca, 
where  father  and  son  prove  one  another  mad,  may  be  general : 
Porcius  Latro  shall  plead  against  us  all.  For  indeed  who  is  not 
a  fool,  melancholy,  mad? — ^  Qui  nilmolitur  itiepte  ;  who  is  not 
brain-sick  ?  Folly,  melancholy,  madness,  are  but  one  disease  ; 
delirium  is  a  common  name  to  all.      Alexander  Gordonius, 
Jason  Pratensis,  Savanarola,Gnianerius,Montaltus,  confound 
tem,  as  differing  secundum  magis  et  minus  ;   so  doth   David, 
Psal.  37.  5.  /  said  unto  thejools,  deal  not  so  madly  :  and  'twas 
an  old  Stoical  paradox,  omnes  stultos  insanire, — ^  all  fools  are 
mad,  though   some  madder  than  others.     And  who  is  not  a 
fool  ?  who  is  free  from  melancholy  ?  who  is  not  touched  more 
or  less  in  habit  or  disposition  ?  If  in  disposition,  ill  disposi- 
tions beget  habits  ;  if  they  persevere,  saith  *  Plutarch,  habits 
either  are  or  turn  to  diseases.     'Tis  the   same  Mhich  Tully 
maintains  in   the  second  of  his  Tusculanes,  omnium  insipien- 
turn  animi  in  morbo  sunt,  et  perturbatorum  :  fools  are  sick, 
and  all  that  are  troubled  in  mind:  for  what  is  sickness,  but, 
as  "  Gregory  Tholosansus  defines  it,  a  dissolution  or  perturba- 
tion of  the  bodily  league  tchioh  health  combines  ?  and  who  is 
not  sick,  or  ill  disposed  ?   in  whom  doth  not  passion,  anger, 
envy,  discontent,  fear,  and  sorrow,  reign  ?  Avho  labours  not  of 
this  disease  ?  Give  me  but  a  little  leave,  and  you  shall  see  by 
what  testimonies,  confessions,  arguments,  I  will  evince  it,  that 
most  men  are  mad,  that  they  had  as  much  need  to  go  a  pil- 
grimage to  the  Anticyrae  (as  in  "^  Strabo's  time  they  did),  as  in 
our  dayes  they  run  to   Corapostella,  our  Lady  of  Sichem  or 
Lauretta,  to  seek  for  help — that  it  is  like  to  be  as  prosperous 
a  voyage  as  that  of  Guiana,  and  that  there  is  much  more  need 
of  hellebore  than  of  tobacco. 


qControv.  1.  2.  cont.  7.  et  1.  6.  cont,  'Horatiusr  si,]em  Hor.  1.  2. 

sat.  3.     Damasippus  Stoic  lis  probat  omnes  stultos  insanire.  ' 'I  oni.  2.  sympos. 

lib.  5.  c.  6.  Animi  affectiones,  si  diutius  inhaereant,  pravos  generant  habitus.  "Lib 
28.  cap.  1.  Synt.  art  mir.  Morbus  niliil  est  alind  quain  dissolutio  quaedam  ac  pertur- 
batio  foederis  in  corpore  existentis,  sicutet  sanitas  «st  consentipntis  bene  corporis  con- 
sumiuatio  quse.dani.  '^  Lib.  9.  Geogr.     Plures  olim  geutes  navigabant  illuc 

sanitatis  caussa. 


26  DEMOCRITUS  TO  THE  READER. 

That  men  are  so  misaffected,  melancholy,  mad,  giddy- 
headed,  hear  the  testimony  of  Solomon,  Eccles.  ,2.  12.  And 
I  turned  to  behold  wisdom^  madness,  and  Jolly,  ^c.  And 
ver.  23.  All  his  dayes  are  sorrow,  his  travel  grief,  and  his 
heart  taketh  no  rest  in  the  night.  So  that,  take  melancholy 
in  what  sense  you  will,  properly  or  improperly,  in  disposition 
or  habit,  for  pleasure  or  for  pain,  dotage,  discontent,  fear, 
sorrow,  madness,  for  part,  or  all,  truly,  or  metaphorically,  ^tis 
all  one.  Laughter  it  self  is  madness,  according  to  Solomon; 
and,  as  St.  Paul  hath  it,  worldly  sorrorv  brings  death.  The 
hearts  of  the  sons  of  men  are  evil;  and  madness  is  in  their 
hearts  while  they  live,  Eccles.  9. 3.  Wise  men  themselves  are 
no  better,  Eccles.  1.  18.  In  the  multitude  of  ivisdom  is  much 
grief;  and  he  that  increaseth  wisdom,  increaseth  sorrow,  cap. 
2.  17.  He  hated  life  it  self;  nothing  pleased  him ;  he  hated 
his  labour;  all,  as  y  he  concludes,  is  sorroic,  grief  vanity, 
vexation  of  spirit.  And,  though  he  were  the  wisest  man  in  the 
world,  sanctuarium  sapientice,  and  had  wisdom  in  abundance, 
he  will  not  vindicate  himself,  or  justifie  his  own  actions. 
Surely  I  am  more  foolish  than  any  man,  and  have  not  the 
understanding  of  a  man  in  me,  Prov.  33.  2.  Be  they  Solo- 
mon's words,  or  the  words  of  Agur  the  son  of  Jakeh,  they  are 
canonical.  David,  a  man  after  Gods  own  heart,  confesseth  as 
much  of  himself,  Psal,  37-  21.  22.  So  foolish  was  I  and 
ignorant,  I  teas  even  as  a  beast  before  thee — and  condemns  all 
for  fools,  Psal.  93,  and  32.  9.  and  4^.  20.  He  compares 
them  to  beasts,  horses,  and  mules,  in  which  there  is  no  under- 
standing. The  apostle  Paul  accuseth  himself  in  like  sort, 
2.  Cor.  11.21.  I  would  you  would  suffer  a  little  my  fool- 
ishness ;  I  speak  foolishly.  The  whole  head  is  sick,  saith 
Esay;  and  the  heart  is  heavy,  cap.  1.  5.  and  makes  lighter 
of  them  thati  of  oxen  and  asses  ;  the  ass  knows  his  owner,  Sfc. 
read  Deut.  32.  6.  Jer.  4.  Amos  3.  1.  Ephes.  5,  6.  £e 
not  mad,  be  not  deceived :  foolish  Galatians,  who  hath  be- 
witched you  ?  How  often  are  they  branded  from  this  epithet 
of  madness  and  folly  !  No  word  so  frequent  amongst  the 
fathers  of  the  church  and  divines.  You  may  see  what  an 
opinion  they  had  of  the  world,  and  how  they  valued  mens 
actions. 

I  know  that  we  think  far  otherwise,  and  hold  them,  most 
part,  wise  men  that  are  in  authority — princes,  magistrates, 
'■^  rich  men — they  are  wise  men  born :  all  politicians  and  states- 
men must  needs  be  so  ;  for  who  dare  speak  against  them  ? 
And  on  the  other,  so  corru^,*.  is  our  judgement,  we  esteem  wise 


y  Ecclea,  1. 24.  ^  Juje  haereditario  sapere  jubentur.    Euphonnio,  Satyr. 


DEMOCRITUS   TO    THE    READER.  27 

ami  lionest  men  fools  ;  v/bicb  Democritus  well  siguifiecl  in  an 
epistle  of  his  to  Hippocrates ;  '^  the  Abderites  account  vertue 
madness  ;  and  so  do  most  men  living-.  Shall  I  tell  you  the 
reason  of  it?  ^Fortune  and  Vertife  (Wisdom  and  Folly  their 
seconds)  upon  a  time  contended  in  the  Olympicks  ;  every  man 
thousfht  that  Fortune  and  Folly  would  have  the  worst,  and 
pittied  their  cases.  But  it  fell  out  otherwise.  Fortune  was 
blind,  and  cared  not  where  she  stroke,  nor  whom,  without 
laws,  andahatarnm  instar,  Sj-c.  Folly,  rash  and  inconsiderate, 
esteemed  as  little  what  she  said  or  did.  Vertue  and  Wisdom 
gave  place,  '^were  hissed  out,  and  exploded  by  the  conniion 
people — Folly  and  Fortune  admired  ;  and  so  are  all  their  fol- 
lowers ever  since.  Knaves  and  fools  commonly  fare  and  de- 
serve best  in  worldlings  eyes  and  opinions.  Many  good  men 
have  no  better  fate  in  their  ages.  Achish,  1  Sam.  ^1.  14.  held 
David  for  a  madman.  ''  Elisha  and  the  rest  were  no  otherwise 
esteemed.  David  was  derided  of  the  common  people,  Psal.  9. 7. 
/  am  become  a  monster  to  many.  And  generally  we  are  ac- 
counted fools  for  Christ,  1  Cor.  1 4.  WeJ'ools  thouyht  his  lije 
inadness  and  his  end  without  honour,  Wisd.  5.  4.  Christ  and 
his  Apostles  were  censured  in  like  sort,John  10.  Mark  3.  Acts 
26.  And  so  were  all  Christians  in  ^^Plinys  time  :  J'vernnt  et 
alii  similis  dementice,  ^-c.  and  called  not  long  after,  ^ vesa- 
nice  sectatores,  eversores  honiinum,  polluti  novatores,  fanatici^ 
canes,  malefici,  venejici,  Galilcei  homunciones,  ^-c.  'Tis  an 
ordinary  thing  with  us  to  account  honest,  devout,  orthodox, 
divine,  religious,  plain-dealing  men,  ideots,  asses,  that  can- 
not or  will  not  lye  and  dissemble,  shift,  flatter,  accommodare 
se  ad  eum  locum  nbi  nati  sunt,  make  good  bargains,  supplant, 
thrive,  patronis  inservire,  solennes  ascendencli  modos  appre- 
hendere,  leges,  mores,  consuetudines  recte  observare,  candide 
landare,  Jortiter  dej'endere,  sententias  amplecti,  dubitare  de 
nnllis,  credere  omnia,  accipere  omnia,  nihil  reprehendere, 
ccvteraque  qua;  promotionemj'erunt  et  securitatem,  qucc  sine 
amhaye  Jelicem  reddunt  hominem,  et  vere  sapientem  apud  Jios 
— that  cannot  temporize  as  other  men  do,  s  hand  and  take 
bribes,  &c. — but  fear  God,  and  make  a  conscience  of  their 
doings.  But  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  knows  better  how  to  judge 
— he  calls  them  fools.  The  J'ool  hath  said  in  his  heart,  Psal. 
53.  1 .  And  their  wayes  utter  their  Jolly,  Psal.  49.  14.  ^For 
ivhat  can  be  more  mad,  than  for  a  little  worldly  pleasure,  to 

*  Apud  quos  virtus,  insania  et  furor  esse  dicitiir.  b  Calcagniiius,  Apol  OniDes 

niirabantur,  putantes  illisutu  iri  Stultitiam.  Sad  prajter  eTpectatiouem  res  evenit. 
Audax  Stultitia  in  earn  irruit,  8cC.  ilia  cedit  irrisa;  et  plures  hiiic  habet  sectatores 
StuUitia.  "'  Non  est  respondendum  stulto  secundum  stultitiam,  <12  Reg.  7. 

*  Lib.   JO.  ep.   97.  ^Aug.  ep.  178.  g  Quis,  nisi  mentis  inops,  iscc. 

'^  Quid  iusanius  quam  pro  momentanea  felicitate  seternis  te  uiancipare  suppliciis  ? 


28  DEMOCRITUS  TO  THE  READER. 

procure  unto  themselves  eternal  punishment  ?  as  Gregory  and 
others  inculcate  unto  us. 

Yea  even  all  those  great  philosophers  the  world  hath  ever 
had  in  admiration,  whose  Morks  we  do  so  much  esteem,  that 
o-ave  precepts  ofwisdom  to  others,  inventersofarts  and  sciences 
— Socrates,  the  wisest  man  of  his  time  by  the  oracle  of  Apollo, 
whom  his  two  scholars  ''Plato  and  ^Xenophon  so  much  extol 
and  magnifie  with  those  honourable  titles,  hest  and  wisest  of 
all  mortal  men,  the  happiest  and  most  just ;  and  as  *AIcibiades 
incomparably  commends  him  ;  "  Achilles  was  a  worthy  man, 
but  Brasidas  and  others  were  as  worthy  as  himself;  Antenor 
and  Nestor  were  as  good  as  Pericles ;  and  so  of  the  rest :  but 
none  present,  before,  or  after  Socrates,  nemo  veterum  neque 
eorum  qui  nunc  sunt,  were  ever  such,  will  match,  or  come  near 
him" — those  seven  wise  men  of  Greece,  those  Britain  Druids, 
Indian  Brachmanni,  ^Ethiopian  Gymnosophists,  Magi  of  the 
Persians — Apollonius,  of  whom  Philostratus,  non  doctus,  sed 
natus  sapiens,  wise  from  his  cradle — Epicurus,  so  much  ad- 
mired by  his  scholar  Lucretius ; 

Qui  p-enus  humanum  ingenio  superavit,  et  omnes 
Perstrinxit,  Stellas  exortus  ut  setherius  Sol 

Whose  wit  excell'd  the  wit  of  men  as  far. 
As  the  Sun  rising  doth  obscure  a  star 

or  that  so  much  renowned  Empedocles, 

*  Ut  vix  humana  videatur  stirpe  crcatus 

all  those,  of  whom  w^e  read  such  ""  hyperbolical  eulogiums  ;  as 
of  Aristotle,  that  he  was  Avisdom  itself  in  the  abstract,  "  a  mi- 
racle of  nature,  breathing  libraries,  (as  Eunapius  ofLonginus) 
lights  of  nature,  gyants  for  wit,  quintessence  of  wit,  divine 
spirits,  eagles  in  the  clouds,  fallen  from  heaven,  gods,  spirits, 
lamps  of  the  world,  dictators, 

(Nulla  ferant  talem  secla  futura  virum) 
monarchs,  miracles,   superintendents  of  wit   and    learning 
Oceanus,  phwnix,  Atlas,  nonstrum,  portentum  hominis,  orbis 
universi  musaum,  ultimus  humana;  naturae  conatus,  natures 
maritus, 

merito  cui  doctior  orbis 

Submissis  defert  fascibus  imperium, 

k  In  fine  Phaedonis.  Hie  finis  fuit  amici  nostri,  o  Eucrates,  nostro  qHidem 
juHicio,  oniniiiiu  quos  experti  sunius"optirai  et  apprime  sapientissirai,  et  justissimi. 
'  Xenop  1.  4.  de  dictis  Socratis,  ad  finem.  Talis  fuit  Socrates,  quem  omnium  opti- 
mum et  felicissimum  statuam.  *  Lib.  25.  Plantonis  Convivio.  *  Lucre- 
tius, ni  Anaxagoras  dim  Mens  dictus  ab  antiquis.  "  Regula  naturae, 
naturae  miraculum,  ipsa  eruditio,  dsemonium  hominis,  sol  scientiarnm.  mare,  sophia, 
antistes  litcrarum  et  sapientia',  ut  Scioppius  olim  de  Seal,  et  Heinsius.  Aquila  in 
nubibus,  imperator  literatorum,  columen  literarum,  abyssus  eruditionis,  ocellus 
Eiiropec,  Scaliger. 


DEMOCRITUS  TO  THE  READER.  29 

as  iElian  writ  of  Protaooras  and  Gorf^ias — ^we  may  say   of 
them  all,   tantum  a  snpientibus  ahj'neritnt,  quantum  a  this 
pueri,  they  were  children  in  respect,  infants,  not  eaofles  but 
kites,  novices,  illiterate,  euiiuchi  snpientice.     And,  althoug-h 
they  were  the  wisest  and  most  admired  in  their  age,  as  he 
censured  Alexander,  I  do  them:  there  were  10,000  in  hisarmy 
as  M'orthy  captains  (had  they  been  in  place  of  command),  as 
valiant  as  himself;  there  were  myriads  of  men  wiser  in  those 
dayes,  and  yet  all  short  of  what  they  ought  to  be.     °  Lactan- 
tius,  in  his  book  of  Wisdom,  proves  them  to  be  dizards,  fools, 
asses,  mad-men,  so  full  of  absurd  and  ridiculous  tenets  and 
brain-sick  positions, that,  to  his  thinking,  neverany  old  woman 
or  sick  persion  doted  worse,    p  Deniocritus  took  all  from  Leu- 
cippus,  and  left,  saith  he,  the  iuheritance  of  his  folly  to  Epi- 
curus :  '^  insamenti  dum  scipientice,  ^-c.      The  like  he  holds  of 
Plato,  iVristippus,  and  the  rest,  making  no  difference  ^betwixt 
them  and  beasts,  saving  that  tliey  could  speak.      ^  Theodoret, 
in  his  tract  De  Cur  Groic.  Affect,  manifestly  evinces  as  much 
of  Socrates,  whom  though  that  oracle  of  Apollo  confirmed 
to  be  the  wisest   man  then  living,  and  saved  him  from  the 
plague,  whom  2000  years  have  admired,  of  whom  some  will 
as  soon   speak  evil  as  of  Christ,  yet  re  vera,  he  was  an  illi- 
terate ideot,  as*Aristophanes  calls  him — irrisor  et  ambitiosus, 
as  his  master  Aristotle  terms  him,  scurra  ^tticus^  v.s  Zeno, 
an  "enemy  to  all  arts  and  sciences,  as  Athenffius,  to  philoi^o- 
phers  and  travellers,  an  opinionative  asse,  a  caviller,  a  kind  of 
pedant;  for  his  manners,  (as  Theod.  Cyrensis  describes  him) 
a  *  Sodomite,  an  atheist,  (so  convict  by  Anytus)  Iracnndus  et 
ebrius,  dicax,  ^-e.  a  pot  companion,  by  Plato's  own  confes- 
sion, a  sturdy   drinker ;  and  that  of  all  others  he  was  most 
sottish,  a  very  mad-man  in  his  actions  and  opinions.     Pytha- 
goras was  part  philosopher,  part  magician,  or  part  witch.     If 
you  desire  to  hear  moreof  Apollonius, agreat  Mise  man, some- 
time paralleled  by  Julian  the  apostate,  to  Christ,  I  refer  you  to 
thatlearned  tract  of  Eusebius  againstHierocles — and,  forthem 
all,  to  Lucian's  Piscator,Icaromenippiis,  Necyomantia.    Their 
actions,  opinions  in  general,  were  so  prodigious,  absurd,  ridi- 
culous, which  they  broached  and  maintained  ;  tlieir  l.ooks  and 
elaborate  treatises  were  full  of  dotage;  which  Tully  ((id  At- 
ticuni)  long  since  observed — delirant  plerumque  scriptores  in 
libris  suis  —  their  lives  being  opposite  to  their  words,  they  com- 

o  Lib.  3.  de  sap   c.  \7.  et  '20.     Omnes  philosophi  aut  stulti  aut  insani :  nalla  anus, 
niil:us  aeger,  inejjtius  deliravit.  1>  Deraocritus,  a  Leucippo  doctus,  hsBreditateui 

stultitiae  reliqnit  Epicuro.  1  Hor.  car  lib.  1.  od.  34.  r  Nihil  interest  inter 

hos  et  bestias,  nisi  quod  loqimntur.     Desa  1.26  c.  S.  ^  Cap.  de  virt.  'Neb. 

et  Ranis.  "  Oinniam   disciplinanira  ijnarus.  *  Pulcliroruiu  adolescentam 

causa  frequenter  ^innasium  obibat,  &c. 


30  DF.MOrRITUS    TO    THE    READER. 

mended  poverty  toothers,  and  were  most  covetous  themselves, 
extolled  love  and  peace,  and  yet  persecuted  one  another  with 
virulent  hate  and  malice.  They  could  give  precepts  for  verse 
and  prose  ;  but  not  a  man  of  them  (as  *  Seneca  tells  them 
home)  could  moderate  his  affections.  Their  musickdid  shew 
us Jlebiles  modos,  Sfc.  how  to  rise  and  fall;  but  they  could  not 
so  contain  themselves,  as  in  adversity  not  to  make  a  lainentable 
tone.  They  will  measure  g-round  by  geometry,  set  down 
limits,  divide  and  subdivide,  but  cannot  yet  prescribe  qnantv.m 
homini  satis,  or  keep  within  compass  of  reason  and  discretion. 
They  can  square  circles,  but  understand  not  the  state  of  their 
own  souls  —describe  right  lines,  and  crooked,  &c.  but  know 
not  what  is  right  in  this  life — quidiuvitd  rectum  sit,  ignorant: 
so  that,  as  he  said, 

Nescio,  an  Anticyratn  ratio  illis  destinet  omncm. 

I  think  all  the  Anticyrae  will  not  restore  them  to  their  wits. 
"^  If  these  men  now,  that  held  >  Zenodotus  heart,  Crates  liver, 
Epictatus  lanthorn,  were  so  sottish,  and  had  no  more  brains 
than  so  many  beetles,  what  shall  we  think  of  the  commonalty  ? 
what  of  the  rest  ? 

Yea,  but  (will  you  infer)  that  is  true  of  heathens,  if  they 
be  conferred  with  Christians,  1  Cor.  3,  19.  The  ivisdom  of' 
this  world  is  Joolishness  with  God,  earthhf  and  devilish,  as 
James  calls  it,  3.  15.  They  were  vain  in  their  imaginations  ; 
and  their  foolish  heart  was  foil  of  darkness.  Rom.  1.21,  22. 
When  they  profossed  themselves  wise,  became  fools.  Their 
witty  works  are  admired  here  on  earth,  whilst  their  souls  are 
tormented  in  hell  fire.  In  some  sense,  Christiani  Crassiani, 
Christians  are  Crassians,  and,  if  compared  to  that  wisdom,  no 
better  than  fools.  Quis  est  sapiens  ?  Solus  Dens,  *  Pytha- 
g-oras  replies:  God  is  only  wise. — Rom.  16.  Paul  determines, 
only  f/ood,  as  Austin  well  contends;  and  no  man  living  can  be 
jnstijied  in  his  sight.  God  looketh  downfoom  heaven  upon  the 
children  of  men,  to  see  ij'  any  did  understand.  Psalm  bo.  2.  3. 
but  all  arc  corrupt,  erre.  Rom.  3.  12.  JVowe  doth  good,  ?io 
not  one.  Job  aggravates  this,  4.  18-  Behold,  he  found  no 
stedfoistness  in  his  servants,  and  laid  folly  upon  his  angels,  19. 
How  much  more  on  them  that  dwell  in  houses  of  clay  !  In  this 
sense,  we  are  all  as  fools ;  and  the  ^  Scripture  alone  is  arx 
Minervce  ;  we  and  our  writings  are  shallow  and  imperfect. 
But  I  do  not  so  mean  :  even  in  our  ordinary  dealings,  v»'e  are 


*  Seneca.     Scis  rotunda  metiri,  sed  non  tuum  ani'mum.        '^  Ab  uberibus  sapientid 
lactati,  ccecutire  r.on   possnnt.  >  Cor  Zenodoti,  et  jecur  Cratetis.  *  Lib.  de 

nat.  boni.  '  Hie  profundissimae  sophiaj  fodinaj. 


DEMOCRITUS  TO  THE  READER.  31 

no  better  than  fools.  All  our  actions,  as  =*  Pliny  told  Trajan, 
upbraid  us  oj'jofli/:  our  whole  course  of  life  is  but  matter  of 
laughter :  we  are  not  soberly  wise ;  and  the  world  it  self,  which 
ouoht  at  least  to  be  wise  by  reason  of  his  antiquity,  as  ^Hugo 
de  Prato  Florido  will  have  it,  semper  stnlfizat,  is  every  day 
morejoofish  than  other :  the  more  it  is  ichippcd,  the  wore  it 
is :  and,  as  a  child,  will  still  be  crowned  with  roses  andjfoivers. 
We  are  apish  in  it,  asini  bipedes ;  and  every  place  is  full 
hwersorum  Apuleiorum^  of  metamorphosed  and  two-legged 
asses,  inversnrnm.  Silenormn,  childish,  pveri  instar  bimnli, 
tremuld  patris  dormientis  in  ulna.  Jovianus  Pontanus  (An- 
tonio Dial.)  brings  in  some  laughing-  at  an  old  man,  that  by 
reason  of  his  age  was  a  little  fond  :  but,  as  he  admonishetli 
there,  ne  mireris,  mi  hospes,  de  hoc  sene,  marvel  not  at  him 
only;  for  tota  ha;c  civitas  delirium,  all  our  town  dotes  in  like 
sort;  "^we  are  a  company  of  fools.  Ask  not,  with  him  in  the 
poet,  ''  Larvce  hunc,  intemperio',  insaniceqne,  ar/itant  senem  ? 
What  madness  ghosts  this  old  man  ;  what  madness  ghosts 
us  all  ?  For  we  are,  ad  unum  omnes,  all  mad  ;  semel  insani- 
vimus  omnes :  not  once,  but  alwaj^s  so,  et  semel,  et  simul,  et 
semper,  ever  and  altogether  as  bad  as  he  ;  and  not  senex  bis 
puer,  delira  anus  ;  but  say  it  of  us  all,  semper  pneri  ;  young 
and  old,  all  dote,  as  Lactantius  proves  out  of  Seneca;  and 
no  difference  betwixt  us  and  children,  saving  that  majora 
ludimvs,  et  grandioribus  pupis,  they  play  with  babies  of  clouts, 
and  such  toys,  we  sport  with  greater  babies.  We  cannot 
accuse  or  condemn  one  another,  being  faulty  ourselves;  de- 
liramenta  loqneris,  you  talk  idly,  or,  as  ''  Micio  upbraided 
Demea,  insanis  ?  anj'er  ;  for  we  are  as  mad  our  own  selves  ; 
and  it  is  hard  to  say  which  is  the  worst.  Nay,  'tis  univer- 
sally so, 

fVitam  regit  fortuna,  non  sapientia. 

When  §  Socrates  had  taken  great  pains  to  find  out  a  wise 
man,  and,  to  that  purpose,  had  consulted  with  philosophers, 
poets,  artificers,  he  concludes  all  men  were  fools ;  and,  though 
it  procured  him  !)oth  anger  and  much  envy,  yet  in  all  com- 
panies he  would  openly  profess  it.  When  *  Supputius  in 
Pontanus  had  travelled  all  over  Europe  to  conferr  with  a  wise 
man,  he  returned  at  last  without  his  errand,  and  could  fiiid 
none.     ''  Cardan  concurs  with  him:  I^ew  there  are  (Jar  ought 

3  Paneg>-r.Trajano.  Omnes  actiones esprobrare stuUitiam  \-identur.  ''Sen 4  in 
doini  Pal.  M'.mdus,  cpii  ob  anti(ji!itafem  deberet  esse  sapiens,  semper  stultizat,  et  nullis 
flagellis  alteratur  ;  s<'d,  et  piier,  vuit  rosis  et  floribus  coronari.  >^  Insanum  te  omnes 
pneri,  clamantquepiiella;.  Hor.  <*  pjautos,  Aulular.  «  Adelph/act.  5  seen.  8. 
'Tully,  Tusc.  5.  ?  Plato,  Apologia  Socratis.  *  Ant.  Dial.  "Lib.  3.  de.  sap. 
Pauci,  ut  video,  san*  aientis  sunt. 


32  DEMOCRITUS  TO  THE  READER. 

I  can  perceive)  well  in  their  wits.  So  doth  ''Tally  :  /  sec 
every  thing  to  he  done  J'oolishly  and  unadvisedly. 

lUe  sinislrorsum,  hie  dextrorsum  abit :  unus  utrique 
Error;  sed  variis  illudit  partibus  omnes. 

One  reels  to  this,  anotlier  to  that  wall ; 
'Tis  the  same  errour  that  deludes  them  all. 

'  They  dote  all,  but  not  alike,  (Mav;a  yov  -nxaiv  o/y^otx)  not  in 
the  same  kind.  One  is  covetous^  a  second  lasclvimis,  a  third 
ambitions,  a  fourth  envious,  Sfc-  as  Damasippus  the  Stoick 
hath  well  illustrated  in  the  poet, 

^  Desipiunt  omnes  seque  ac  tu. 

'Tis  an  inbred  maladie:  in  every  one  of  us,  there  is  spminarivm 
stultiti(B,  a  seminary  of  folly,  which,  if' it  be  stirred  up^  or  get 
a  head,  will  run  in  infinitum,  and  injinitehf  varies,  as  ice  our 
selves  are  severally  addicted,  (saitli  '  Balthazar  Castilio)  and 
cannot  so  easily  be  rooted  out;  it  takes  such  hold,  as  Tully 
ho\ds,alt(e  radices  stiiltitice  ;  '"  so  we  are  bred,  and  so  we  con- 
tinue. Some  say  there  be  two  main  defects  of  wit — errour  and 
ignorance — to  which  all  others  are  reduced.  By  ignorance  we 
know  not  things  necessary;  by  errour  we  know  them  falsly.  Ig- 
norance is  a  privation,  errour  a  positive  act.  From  ignorance 
comes  vice,  from  errour  heresie,  &c.  But  make  how  many 
kinds  you  will,  divide  and  subdivide  ;  few  men  are  free,  or 
that  do  not  impinge  on  some  one  kind  or  other.  "  Sic  ple- 
rumque  agitat  stultos  inscitia,  as  he  that  examines  his  own  and 
other  mens  actions,  shall  find. 

*  Charon, in  Lucian,  (as  he  wittily  feigns)  was  conducted  by 
Mercury  to  such  a  place,  where  he  might  see  all  the  world  at 
once.  After  he  hadsufficiently  viewed, and  looked  about.  Mer- 
cury would  needs  know  of  him  what  he  had  observed.  He  told 
him  that  he  saw  a  vast  multitude,  and  a  promiscuous;  their 
habitations  like  mole-hills;  the  men  as  emmets:  he  could 
discern  cities  like  so  many  hives  oj'  bees,  wherein  every  bee 
had  a  sting  ;  and  they  did  nought  else  but  sting  one  another  ; 
some  domineering  like  hornets,  bigger  thin  the  rest,  some 
like  filching  wasps,  others  as  dro?ies.  Over  their  heads  were 
hovering  a  ci>ufnsed  company  of  perturbations,  hope,  fear, 
anger,  avarice,  ignorance,  &c  and  a  multitude  of  diseases 
hanging,  which  they  still  pulled  on  their  pates.     Some  were 

•>  Stulte  et  incaiite  omnia  agi  video.  '  Insania  non  omnibus  eadem.  Erasm.  cl;il. 
.3.  cent.  10.  Nemo  mortaliiim  qui  non  aliqua  in  re  desipit,  licet  alius  alio  inorbo  laboiet, 
hie  libidinis,  ille  aviritiai,  ambitionis,  invidiae.  "^  Hor.  1.  2.  sat.  3.         'Lib.  1.  de 

aulico.  Est  in  unoquoque  nostrunri  seminaritnn  aliqiiod  stultitiaj,  qiioil  si  qiiando  ex- 
citetur.  iu  infinitum  ihcile  excrescit.  "'Priniaqiie  hix  vitai  prima   furoris  erat. 

"Tibulliis.  Stiilti  pratereunt  dies;  their  wits  are  a  wool-gathering.  So  fools  com- 
monly dote.  *  Dial  contemplantes,  torn.  2: 


DEMOCRITUS  TO  THE  READER.  S3 

brawling,  some  fighting-,  riding-,  running,  soUcite  amhientes^ 
callide  litigantes,  for  toyes,  and  triHes,  and  such  momentany 
things — their  towns  and  provinces  meer  factions,  rich  against 
poor,  poor  against  rich,  nobles  against  artificers,  they  against 
nobles,  and  so  the  rest.  In  conclusion,  he  condemned  them  all 
for  mad-men,  fools,  ideots,  asses — O  stulti  !  qnoenam  hcec  est 
amentia  ?  O  fools  !  O  mad-men  !  he  exclaims,  insana  studia, 
iiisani  labores,  dj-c.  Mad  endeavours !  mad  actions !  mad !  mad  ! 
mad  !  "  O  seclum  insipiens  et  vijicetnm  !  a  giddy-headed  aoe. 
Heraclitus  the  philosopher,  out  of  a  serious  meditation  of  mens 
lives,  fell  a  weeping,  and  with  continual  tears  bewailed  their 
misery,  madness^  and  folly.  Democritus,  on  the  other  side, 
burst  out  a  laughing;  their  whole  life  seemed  to  him  so  ridicu- 
lous :  and  he  was  so  far  carried  with  this  ironical  passion,  that 
the  citizens  of  Abdera  took  him  to  be  mad,  and  sent  therefore 
embassadors  to  Hippocrates  the  physician,  that  he  Mould  ex- 
ercise his  skill  upon  him.  But  the  story  is  set  down  at  laro-e 
by  Hippocrates,  in  his  Epistle  to  Damagetus,  which,  because 
it  is  not  impertinent  to  this  discourse,  I  will  insert  verbatim 
almost,  as  it  is  delivered  by  Hippocrates  himself,  with  all  the 
circumstances  belonging  unto  it. 

When  Hippocrates  was  come  to  Abdera,  the  people  of  the 
city  came  flocking  about  him,  some  weeping,  some  intreatino- 
of  him  that  he  would  do  his  best.  After  some  little  repasf, 
he  went  to  see  Democritus,  the  people  following  him,  whom 
he  found  (as  before)  in  his  garden  in  the  suburbs,  all  alone, 
P  sitting  upon  a  stone  under  a  plans  tree,  without  hose  or  shoes, 
with  a  book  on  his  knees,  cutting  up  several  beasts,  and 
busie  at  his  stndg.  The  multitude  stood  gazing  round  about, 
to  see  the  congress.  HippQcrates,  after  a  litlle^pause,  saluted 
him  by  his  name,  whom  he  re-saluted,  ashamed  almost  that 
he  could  not  call  him  likewise  by  his,  or  that  he  had  forgot  it. 
Hippocrates  demanded  of  him  what  he  was  doing.  He  told 
him  that  he  was  '^busie  in  cutting  up  several  beasts,  to  Jind 
out  the  cause  of  madness  and  melancholy.  Hippocrates 
commended  his  work,  admiring  his  happiness  and  leisure. 
And  why,  quoth  Democritus,  hav€  not  you  that  leisure  ? 
Because,replyed  Hippocrates,  domestical  affairs  hinder,neces- 
sary  to  be  done,  for  our  selves,  neighbours,  friend*— expences, 
diseases,frailties  and  mortalities  which  happen— wife,childreu, 
servants,  and  such  businesses,  which  deprive  us  of  our  time. 

"Catullus.  P Sub  ramosa  platano  sedentem,  solum,  discalceatnm,  super 

lapidem,  valde  pallidum  ac  macilentura,  promissa  barba,  librum  super  genibus  ha- 
bentem.  'iDe  furore,  mania  melancholia  scribo,  nt  sciam  duo  pacto  in  ho- 

minibus  giguatnr,  fiat,  crescat,  cumuletur,  minuatur.  Hac  (iniquit)'  auimalia.  qu* 
vides,  propterea  seeo,  non  Dei  opera  perosus,  sed  fellis  bilisque  uaturam  disqui- 
rens.  ^ 

VOL.   I  D 


34  DEMOORITUS  TO  THE  READER. 

Atthisspcorh  Domocritus  profu^el}'  laughed  (liis  friends,  and 
the  people  standing- l>y,  weeping  in  the  mean  time,  and  lament- 
irjg-  his  madness).      Hippocrates  asked   the  reason  why  he 
laughed,     fie  told  him,  at  the  vanities  and  fopperies  of  the 
time,  to  sec  men  so  eiiipty  of  all  virtuous  actions,  to  hunt  so 
far  after  gold,  having  no  end  of  ambition — to  take  such  intinite 
pains  for  a  little  glory,  and  fo  be  favoured  of  men — to  make 
such  deep  mines  into  the  earth  for  gold,  and  many  times  to 
find  nothing-,  with  loss  of  their  lives  and  fortunes — some  to 
love  dogs,  otliers  horses,  some  to  desire  to  be  obeyed  in  many 
proviiices,'and  yet  themselves  will  knoM  no  obedience — *some 
to  love  their  wives  dearly  at  first,  and,  after  a  while,  to  forsake 
and  hate  them — begetting-  children,  M'ith  much  care  and  cost 
for  their  education,  yet,  when  they  grow  to  mans  estate,  *to 
despise,  neglect,  and  leave  them  naked  to  the  worlds  mercy. 
"  Do  not  these  behaviours   express   their   intolerable  folly  ? 
When  men  live  in  peace,  they  covet  war,  detesting  quietness, 
"^  deposing-  kings  .and  advancing  others  in  their  stead,  murder- 
ing some  men,  to  beget  children  of  their  wives.     How  many 
strange  humours  are  in  men  !    When  they  are  ])Oor  and  needy, 
they  seek  riches ;  and,  when  they  have  them,they  do  not  enjoy 
them,  but  hide  them  under  ground,  or  else  wastefully  spend 
them.      O  wise  Hippocrates !  I   laugh  at  such  things  being 
done,  but  much  more  when  no  good  comes  of  tiiem,  and  when 
they  are  done  to  so  ill  purpose.     There  is  no  truth  or  justice 
found  amongst  them;  for  they  daily  plead  one  against  another, 
ythe  son  against  the  father  and  the  mother,  brother  against 
brother,  kindred  and  friends,  of  the  same  quality;  and  all  this 
for  riches,  whereof,  after  death,  they  cannot  be  possessors. 
And  yet — notwithstanding-  they  \^ill  defanse  and  kill  one  an- 
other, commit  all  unlr.wfid  actions,  contemning  God  and  men, 
friendsan<lcoiintrey — they  makegreataccountofmany  sense- 
less things,  esteeming  them  as  a  great  part  of  their  treasure 
statues,  pictures,  and  such  like  moveables,  dear  boug-ht,and  so 
cunningly  wrought,  *  as  nothing- but  speech  wanteth  in  them  ; 
^an<l  yet  they  hate  living-  persons  speaking  to  them.     Others 
afi'ect  difiicult  things  :  ii"  they  dwell  on  firm  land,  they  will  re- 
move to  an  island  thence  to  land  again,  being  no  way  con- 
stant to  their  desires.   They  commend  courage  and  strength  in 
wars,  and  let  themselves  be  conquered  by  lust  and  avarice. 
They  are,  in  brief,  as  disordered  in  their  minds,  as  Thersitcs 

# 

■■  Anst.  1.  1.  in  Gen.  .fumenti  et  sen'i  tui  ob.sec(niiini  rigide  posttilas  ;  et  tii  nullnni 
piajstas  aliis,  iicc  ipsi  Deo.  sUxores  clncnnt,iii()x  foras  ejiciunt.  '  Piierosamunt, 
mox  fastidiunt.  "(^iiidlioc  ab  iiisania  depst^  "^  Rcges  eligmit,  deponnrst. 

yContra  parente.s,  frativs,  rives,  perpedio  rixaritiir,  et  ininiicitiasaonnf.  *  Cn-do 

rqnideni,  \ivos  diipeut  do  maiirtore  vultus.         '  Idoia  iuanimata  araant ;  animalaodio 
haljt.nl ;  .sio  poiitificii. 


DEMOCRITUS  TO  THR  READER.  35 

was  in  his  body.  And  now  me  thinks,  O  most  worthy  Hip- 
pocrates !  you  should  not  reprehend  my  laughini^,  perceiving 
so  many  fooleries  in  men  ;  ""  for  no  man  will  mock  his  own  folly, 
but  that  which  he  seeth  in  a  second  ;  and  so  they  justly  mock 
one  another.  The  drunkard  calls  him  a  glutton,  whom  he 
knows  to  be  sober.  Many  men  love  the  sea,  others  husbandry: 
briefly,  they  cannot  agree  in  their  own  trades  and  professions, 
much  less  in  their  lives  and  actions. 

When  Hippocrates  heard  these  words  so  readily  uttered, 
w  ithout  premeditation,  to  declare  the  worlds  vanity,  full  of 
ridiculous  contrariety,  he  made  answer,  that  necessity  com- 
pelled men  to  many  such  actions, and  divers  wills  ensuingfrom 
divine  permission,  that  we  might  not  be  idle,  seeing*  nothing  is 
so  odious  to  them  as  sloth  and  negligence.  Besides,  men  can- 
not forsee  future  events,  in  the  uncertainty  of  humane  affairs  ; 
they  would  not  so  marry,  if  they  could  foretell  the  causes  of 
their  dislike  and  separation  ;  or  parents,  if  they  knew  the  hour 
of  their  chiidrens  death  so  tenderly  provide  for  them  ;  or  an 
Inisbandman  sow,  if  he  thought  there  would  be  no  increase ; 
or  a  merchant  adventure  to  sea,  if  he  foresaw  shipwrack ;  or 
be  a  magistrate,  if  presently  to  be  deposed.  Alas  !  worthy 
Democritus,  every  man  hopes  the  best;  and  to  that  end  he 
doth  it ;  and  therefore  no  such  cause,  or  ridiculous  occasion  of 
laughter. 

Democritus,  hearing  this  poor  excuse,  laughed  again  aloud, 
perceiving  he  wholly  mistook  him,  and  did  not  well  understand 
what  he  had  said  concerning  perturbations,  and  tranquillity  of 
the  mind — insomuch,  that,  if  men  Mould  govern  their  actions 
by  discretion  and  providence,  they  w  ould  not  declare  theih- 
selves  fools  as  now  they  do ;  and  he  should  have  no  cause  of 
-laughter:  but  (quoth  he)  they  swell  in  this  life,  as  if  they  were 
immortal,  and  demi-gods,  for  want  of  understanding.  It  were 
enough  to  make  them  wise,  if  they  would  but  consider  the 
mutability  of  this  world,  and  how  it  wheels  about,  nothing- 
being  firm  and  sure.  He  that  is  now  above,  to  morrow  is 
beneath  ;  he  that  sate  on  this  side  to  day,  to  morrow  is  hurled 
on  the  other ;  and,  not  considering  these  matters,  they  fall  into 
many  inconveniences  and  troubles,coveting  things  of  no  profit, 
and  thirsting  after  them,  tumbling  headlong  into  many  cala- 
mities— so  that,  if  men  would  attempt  no  more  than  what  they 
can  bear,  they  should  lead  contented  lives — and,  learning  to 
know  themselves,  would  limit  their  ambition,  ''they  would 
perceive  then  that  nature  hath  enough,  without  seeking  such 

•»Snam  stulfitiam  perspicit  nemo,  sed  alter  al'erum  deridet.  bDenjque  sit  finis 

qua?rendi:  cuinque  habeas  plus,  Paiiprfiem  metuas  minus,  et  iinire  laborem  Incipias, 
parto,  quod  avebas  ;  uterc.     Ilor. 


36  DEMOCRITUS     TO     THE     UEADFR. 

sup(M-fl  11  ili('s,rin«lunprofi  table  tliinos,wbicli1)rit»onothiiig- with 
theiii  but  j^riefand  molestation.    As  a  fat  body  is  more  subject 
to  diseases,  so  are  rich  men  to  absurdities  and  fooleries,  to 
many  casualties  and  cross  inconveniencies.     There  are  many 
that  take  no  heed  what  happeneth  to  others  by  bad  conversa- 
tion, and  therefore  overthrow  themselves  in  the  same  manner 
throniih   tiieir  own  fault,    not  foreseeino;  danoers  manifest. 
"^Fhese  are  tilings  (O  more  than  mad  !  rpioth  he)  that  give  me 
matter  of  laughter,  by  suffering  the  pains  of  your  impieties, 
as  your  avarice   envy,  malice,  enormous  villanies,  mutinies, 
unsatiabh;  desires,  conspiracies,  and  other  incurable  vices— be- 
sides your'dissinndation  and  hypocrisie,bearing  deadly  hatred 
one  to  tiie  other,  and  yet  shadowing  it  with  a  good  face— flying 
out  into  all  lilthy  lusts,  and  transgressions  of  all  laws,  both  of 
nature  and  civility.      Many  things,  which  they  have  left  off, 
after  a  while  they  fall  to  again — husbandry,  navigation — and 
leave  again,  fickle  and  unconstant  as  they  are.     When  they 
are  young,  they  Mould  l)e  old,  and  old,  young.  "^Princes  com- 
mend a  private  life  ;  private  nien  itch  after  honour:  a  maoi- 
stratecommendsaquietlife;  a  quietman  would  bein  his  office, 
and  obeyed  as  he  is  :  and  what  is  the  cause  of  all  this,  but  that 
they  know  not  themselves  1  Some  delight  to  destroy,  *^  one  to 
build,  another  to  spoil  one  countrey  to  enrich  another  and 
himself.    'In  all  these  things  they  are  like  childran.  in  whom 
is  no  judgeaient  or  counsel,  and  resemble  beasts,  saving  that 
beasts  are  better  than  they,  as  being  contented  with  nature. 
sVVhen  shall  you  see  a  lion  hide  gold  in  the  ground,  or  a  bull 
contend  for  a  better  pasture  ?  When  a  boar  is  thirsty,  he  driidvs 
what  will  serve  him,  and  no  more  ;  and,  M'hen  his  belly  is  full, 
he  ceaseth  to  oat ;  but  men  are  inunoderate  in  both,  as  in  lust — 
they  covet  carnal  copulation  at  set  times ;  men  always,  ruinat- 
itig  tluneby  the  health  of  their  bodies.     And  doth  it  not  de- 
serve laughter,  to  see  an  amorous  fool  torment  himself  for  a 
wench,  weep,   howl  for   a  mis-shaj>en  slut,   a  dowdy  some- 
times, that  might  have  his  choice  of  the  finest  beauties?     Is 
there  any  remedy  for  this  inphysick?  'J  doanatomize  and  cut 
u[)  thes(;  poor  beasts,  to  see  these  distempers,  vanities,  and 
follies  :  yet  such  proof  were  better  made  on  mans  body,  (if  my 


•■  Astiitani  vapido  sprvat  snli  pectore  vulpetn.  — Et,  cum,  vulpp  positiis,  parifpr  vnl- 
pinaripr. — Crf(inaii(luiii  cum  Crctp.  ''Qui  (it,  Ma-cenas,  ut  npiuo,  quam  sibi  sorfom 
Spu  nifio  (lederif,  spu  sdrs  ol>jpcpiit,  ilia  Contpiilus  vivat?  8.:o    Hor.  •' Dlruit, 

aMlillcat,  iiuifat  ((uadrafa  loinndis — Trajaiius  jmiitpni  stiiixit  super  DMinibiitm,  (|iiPin 
suicpssoi-  ejus  Adrianus  statim  demolitus.  'Qua  quid  iu  re  ab  inl'antihus  diflerunt. 
cpiibus  mens  et  S(>nsus  sine  ratinue  inest  ?  Quidqnid  srse  his  oilert,  volupp  est.  .-  Idem 
Pint.  I:  Iftin.saniit"  caussam  <lis(|uiiam,  bruta  macto  e^  soco,  cum  hop  potius  in  ho- 
minii)ns  invi  .sti"andnm  esset. 


DEMOCRITIJS    TO    Tllli;     READER.  37 

kind  nature  would  endure  it)  '  wlio,  from  the  hour  oC  his 
birth,  is  most  miserable,  weak,  and  sickly :  when  he  sucks,  he 
is  guided  by  others,  when  he  is  grown  great, practiseth  unhap- 
piness,  '^  and  is  sturdy?  and,  when  old,  a  child  again,  and 
repenteth  him  of  his  life  |>ast.  And  here  being  interrupted  by 
one  that  brought  books,  he  fell  th  it  again,  that  all  were  mad, 
careless,  stupid.  To  prove  my  Ibrmer  speeches,  look  into 
courts,  or  private  houses.  'Judges  give  judgement  according 
totheirown  advantage,doingnianifestwrong  to  poor  innocents 
to  please  others.  Notaries  alter  sentences,  and,  for  money, 
lose  their  deeds.  Some  make  false  moneys  :  others  counterfeit 
false  weights.  Some  abuse  their  parents,  yea  corrupt  their 
own  sisters ;  others  make  long  libels  and  pasquils,  defaming 
men  of  good  life,  and  extol  such  as  are  lewd  and  vicious. 
Some  rob  one,  some  another  :  '"magistrates  make  laws  against 
thieves,  and  are  the  veriest  thieves  themselves.  Some  kill 
themselves,  others  despair,  not  obtaining. their  desires.  Some 
dance,  sing,  laugh,  feast,  and  banquet,  whilst  others  sigh,  lan- 
guish, mourn,  and  lament,  having-  neither  meat,  drink,  nor 
clothes.  "Some  prank  np  their  bodies,  and.  jtave  their  minds 
full  of  execrable  vices.  Some  trot  about,  "-to  bear  false  witness, 
and  say  any  thing  for  money:  and  tliough  judges  know  of  it,yet 
for  a  bribe  they  wink  at  it,  and  suffer  false  contracts  to  prevail 
ai^ainst  equity.  Women  are  tdi  day  a  dressing,  topleasure  other 
men  abroad,  and  go  like  sluts  at  home,  not  caring  to  please  the  r 
own  husbands,  whom  (hey  should.  Seeing  men  are  so  fickle, 
so  sottish,  so  intemperate,  why  should  Jsot  1  laugh  at  those, 
to  whom  f  folly  seems  wisdom,  will  not  be  cured,  and  per- 
ceive it  not? 

Jt  grew  late  :  Hippocrates  left  him  ;  and  no  sooner  was  he 
come  away,  but  all  the  citizens  came  about  flocking-,  to  know 
how  he  liked  him.  He  told  them  in  brief,  that,  notwithstand- 
ing those  small  neglects  of  his  attire,  body,  diet,  i  the  world 
had  not  a  wiser,  a  more  learned,  a  more  honest  man  ;  and 
they  were  much  deceived,  to  say  that  he  was  mad. 

Thus  Democritus  esteemed  of  the  Morld  in  his  time  ;  and 
this  was  the  cause  of  his  lauo-hter :  and  oood  cause  he  had. 


'Totus  a  nativitate  morbus  est  i^  In  vigore  fiiribiindus,  quuni  decrescit  insana- 

bilis.  'Cyprian,  ad  Donatum.  Qui  sedet,  crimina.judicaturus,  &c.  '"  Tu 

pessimus  omnium  latro  es,  as  a  thief  told  Alexander  in  Ciirtius. —  Dainnat  foras 
judex,  quod  intus  operatur.  Cyprian.  "  Vultus  magna  cura  ;  magna  auinii  iucu- 

ria.  Ani.  Marcel.  "  Horrenda  res  est '  vix  duo  verba  sine  mendacio  proferuntur  : 
et,  quamvis  solenniter  homines  ad  \eritatem  dicendam  invitentur,  pejerare  (amen 
non  dubitant ;  ut  ex  decern  testibus  vix  unus  verum  dicat.  Calv.  in  8.  Job.  Serm. 
1.  PSapientiam  insaniam  esse  dicunt  iSiquidem  sapientia;  sua;  aduiiratione 

me  complevit  ;  olfendi  sapientissimnm  virum,  qui  salvos  potest  omnes  homines, 
reddere. 


38  DKMOCUITUS     TO     THE  'HEADER. 

■^Olim  jure  qiiidcm,  nunc  plus,  Democrite,  ride. 
Quin  rides?  vita  hsec  nunc  mage  ridicula  est. 

Democritus  did  weil  to  laugh  of  old: 

Good  cause  lie  had,  but, now  much  more  : 

This  life  of  ours  is  niort^ridiculous 
Than  that  of  his,  or  long  l)eforc. 

Never  so  much  cause  of  laugliter,  as  now  ;  never  so  uia'iy 
lools  anil  mad  men.  'Tis  not  one  ^  Democritus  will  serve  turn 
to  laugh  in  these  days :  we  have  now  need  of  a  Democritus 
to  lauf/h  at  Democritus,  one  jester  to  flout  at  another,  one  fool 
to  Hear  at  another — a  great  Stentorian  Democritus,  as  big  as 
that  Rhodian  Colossus;  for  now,  as  * Salisburiensis  said  in 
his  time,  totus  mundus  histriouem  ayit — the  whole  world 
playes  the  fool :  we  have  a  new  theatre,  a  new  scene,  a  nevr 
comedy  oferrours,  a  new  company  of  personate  actors:  Volupicc 
sdcrce  (as  Calcagninus  wittily  feigns  in  his  Apologues)  are  ce- 
lebrated all  the  world  over,  *  where  all  the  actors  were  mad 
men  and  fools,  and  every  hour  changetl  habits  or  took  that 
which  came  next.  He  that  was  a  mariner  to  day,  is  an  apo- 
thecary tomorrow, a  smith  one  while,  a  philosopher  another, 
in  his  Volupia;  ludis—n  king  now  with  his  crown,  robes, 
scepter,  attendants,  by  and  by  diove  a  loaded  asse  before  him 
like  a  carter,  &c.  If  Democritus  were  alive  now,  he  should 
see  strange  ah  erations,  anew  company  of  counterfeit  vizards, 
whitlers,  Cunsane  asses,  maskers,  mummers,  painted  puppets, 
oufsides,  phantastick  shadows,  guls,  monsters,  giddy-headsj 
butter-flies :  au<)  so  many  of  them  are  indeed  ("  if  all  be  true 
tliat  I  have  read);  for,  when  Jupiter  and  Junos  wedding-  was 
solemnized  Oi  old,  the  gods  were  all  invited  to  the  feast,  and 
many  noble  men  besides :  amongst  the  rest  came  Chrysalus,  a 
Persian  prince,  bravely  attended,  rich  in  golden  attires,  in  gay 
robes,  with  a  majestical  presence,  but  otherwise  an  asse.  The 
gods,  seeing  him  come  in  such  pomp  and  state,  rose  up  to  give 
him  place,  ex  hahitu  honiinem  metientes ;  "but  Jupiter,  per- 
ceiving what  he  was — alight,  phantastick,  idle  felloAA- — turned 
him  and  his  proud  followers  into  butter-flies:  and  so  they  con- 
tinue still  (for  ought  I  know  to  the  contrary),  roving  about  in 


-  '  E.  Gra;c.  cpip;.  *Plures  Democriti  nunc  non  siilKciunt.     Opus  Democrito, 

qui  Dcu'ooritinn  rifleat.     Eras.  Moria.  'I'olycrat.  lib.  3.  cap.  8.  e  Petron. 

*  Ubi  unincs  delirabant,  omnes  insani,  &c.  hodie  nanta,  eras  philosophus  ;  hodie 
fabtr,  eras  i)liarinacopola  ;  hie  modo  regein  fi^ebat  multo  satellitio,  tiar.^,  et  sceptro 
ornaliis,  nnnr,  vili  amictus  centicnlo,  asinnrn  clitellarinm  impellit.  "Calcagni- 

iins,  Apol.  Chrysalus  e  ca'teris,  auro  dives,  manicato  peplo  et  tiara  conspicuus,  levis 
alioqiiin  et  iiiiliitis  consilii,  &c.  Mai,'no  iastii  ingredienti  assurgunt  Dii,  &c.  "  Sed 

hottiinis  U'vitateni  Jupiter  perspicicns,  at  tir(inquit)  eato  bombilio,  &c.  prdtinusqfie 
v»-3tis  ilia  luanicula  in  alas  versa  eat;  et  inortales  inde  Chrysalides  vocant  hujusmodi 
homines. 


DEMOCRJTUS  TO  THE  READER.  39 

pied-coats,  and  are  called  Chrysalides  by  the  wiser  sort  of 
men— that  is,  golden  outsides,  drones,  flies,  and  things  of  no 
worth.     Multitudes  of  such,  &c. 

-ubique  invenies 


Stultos  avaros,  sycophantas  prodigos. 

Many  additions,  much  increase  of  madness,  folly,  vanity  should 
Democritus  observe,  were  he  now  to  travel,  or  could  get  leave 
of  Pluto  to  come  to  see  fashions,  (as  Charon  did  in  Lncian)  to 
visit  our  cities  of  Moronia  Pia,  and  Moronia  Felix— sure  1 
think  he  would  break  the  rim  of  his  belly  laughing-. 

*  Si  foret  in  terris,  ridernt  Democritus,  seu,  &c 

A  satyrical  Roman,  in  his  time,  thought  all  vice,  folly,  and 
madness,  were  all  at  full  sea, 

''  Omne  in  prsecipiti  vitium  stetit. 

*  Josephus  the  historian  taxeth  his  countrymen  Jews  for 
bragging  of  their  vices,  publishing  their  follies,  and  that  they 
did  contend  amongst  theujselves,  who  should  be  most  notorious 
in  villanies  :  but  we  flow  higher  in  madness,  far  beyond  them^ 

c  Mox  daturi  progeniem  vitiosiorem  ; 

and  the  latter  end  (you  know,  v/hose  oracle  it  is)  is  like  to  be 
worst.  'Tis  not  to  be  denied  ;  the  world  aUers  every  day. 
Ruunt  iirhes,  rerpia  trail sfernntur,  ^'C  vnrimttur  hahitm,  lorjes 
mnovantnr,  as  '-^  Petrarch  observes— Ave  change  language, 
habits,  laws  customs,  manners,  but  not  vices,  not  diseases, 
not  the  symptoms  of  folly  and  madness  ;  they  are  stdl  the 
same.  And,  as  a  river  (we  see)  keeps  the  like  name  and  place, 
but  not  water,  and  yet  ever  runs, 

(*  Labitur  et  labetur  in  omne  vulubilis  eevum) 
our  times  and  persons  alter,  vices  are  the  same,  and  ever  will 
be.  Look  how  nightingals  sang  of  old,  cocks  croAved,  kme 
lowed,  sheep  bleated,  sparrows  chirped,  dogs  barked;  so  they 
do  still  :  we  keep  our  madness  still,  play  the  fools  stdl,  wee 
dumjimtus  Orestes  ;  we  are  of  the  same  humours  and  inclina- 
tions as  our  predecessors  were  ;  you  shall  find  us  all  alike, 
much  at  one,  we  and  our  sons, 

Et  nati  natorum,  et  qui  nascentur  ab  illis  ; 
and  so  shall  our  posterity  continue  to  the  last.     But  to  speak 
of  times  present — 

«Juven.  I'Juven.  •De  bello  Jucl.  1.  8.  c.  11.     TniMuitates  vestra> 

nminein  latent ;  inque  dies  siogulos  certainen  habetis,  quis  lujor  sit  '  Hor. 

■'  Lib.  5.  Epist.  S.  •  Hor. 


40  DEMOCRITUS    TO    THE    READER. 

If  Democritus  were  alive  now,  and  should  but  see  the  su- 
perstition of  our  age,  our  "^  religious  madness,  as^Meteriwi 
calls  it,  relifposam  insaniam — so  many  professed  Christians, 
yet  so  few  imitators  of  Christ,  so  much  talk  of  religion,  so 
much  science,  so  little  conscience,  so  much  knowledge,  so 
many  preachers,  so  little  practice — such  variety  of  sects,  such 
have  and  hold  of  all  sides, 

*  obvia  signis  signa,  &c. — 

such  absurd  and  ridiculous  traditions  and  ceremonies — if  he 
should  meet  a^  Capouchin,  a  Franciscan,  a  pharisaical  Jesuite, 
a  man-serpent,  a  shave-crowned  mcnk  in  his  robes,  a  begging 
frier,  or  see  their  three-crowned  soveraign  lord  the  pope,  poor 
Peter's  snccessour,  serviis  servorum  Dei,  to  depose  kings  with 
his  foot,  to  tread  on  emperours  necks,  make  them,bare-foot  and 
bare-legg'd  at  his  gates,  hold  his  bridle  and  stirrup,  &c.  (O 
that  Peter  and  Paul  were  alive  to  see  this!) — if  he  should  ob- 
serve a''  prince  creep  so  devoutly  to  kiss  his  toe,  and  those  red- 
cap cardinals,  poor  parish  priests  of  old,  now  princes  com- 
panions— what  would  he  say  ?  Calum  ipsumpeiitur  stnltitici. 
Had  he  met  some  of  our  devout  pilgrims  going  bare-foot  to 
Jerusalem,  our  lady  of  Lauretto,  Rome,  St.  lago,  S.  Thomas 
shrine,  to  creep  to  those  counterfeit  and  maggot-eaten  reliques 
— had  he  been  present  at  a  masse,  and  seen  such  kissing  of 
paxes,  crucifixes,  cringes,  duckings,  their  several  attires  and 
ceremonies,  pictures  of  saints,  '  indulgencies,  pardons,  vigils, 
fasting,  feasts,  crossing,  knocking,  kneeling  at  Ave  Maries^ 
bells,  with  many  such 

juctinda  rudi  spectacula  plebi, 

praying  in  gibberish,  and  mumbling  of  beads — had  he  heard 
an  old  woman  say  her  prayers  in  Latine,  their  sprinkling  of 
holy  water,  and  going  a  procession, 

( ■ *  monachorum  incedunt  agmina  mille  ; 

Quid  memorem  vexilla,  cruces,  idolaque  culta,  &c. 

their  breviaries,  bulls,  hallowed  beads,  exorcisms,  pictures, 
curious  crosses,  fables,  and  babies — had  he  read  the  Golden 
Legend,  the  Turks  Alcoran,  or  Jews  Talmud,  the  Rabbins 

fSiiperstitio  est  in samis  error.         '  Lib.  8.  hist.  Belg.  *  Lncan.  sFa- 

Uier  Angelo,  tlie  Duke  of  Joyeuse,  goin^r  bare-foot  over  the  Alps  to  Rome,  &c. 
||  Si  cui  intueri  Vcicet  quie  patiuntiir  superstitiosi,  invenies  tarn  indecora  honestis,  tam 
indigna  liberis,  tam  dissimilia  sanis.  nt  nemo  fuerit  dubitaturus  fiirere  eos,  si  cum 
paiicioribiis  fnrerent.     Senec.  '  Quid  dicam  de  eorura  indulf;entiis,  oblationibus, 

votis,  solutionihu.'!,  jejuiiiis,  coenohiis,  vigiliis,  somniis,  horis,  org-anis,  cantilenis, 
campanis,  siriiulacris,  missis,  purgatoriis,  mitris,  breviariis,  buUis,  lustralibus  aquis, 
rasuris,  unctioiiibus,  candelis,  calicibus,  crncibus,  niappis,  cereis,  thriribulis,  incanta- 
tioiiibus,  exorcismis,  sputis,  legendis,  &.c.  Baleus,  dc  actis  Rom.  Pont  *  Th. 

Nauger. 


DEMOCRITUS    TO    THE    READER.  ^       41 

Comments,  what  would  he  have  thought  ?  How  dost  thou 
think  he  might  have  been  affected  ?  Had  lie  more  particularly 
examined  a  Jesuites  life  amongst  the  rest,  he  should  have  seen 
an  hypocrite  profess  poverty,  "^  aud  yet  possess  more  goods  and 
lands  than  many  princes,  to  have  infinite  treasures  and  reve- 
nues— teach  others  to  fast,  and  play  the  gluttons  themselves  ; 
like  watermen,  that  rowe  one  way  and  look  another — '  vow 
virginity,  talk  of  holiness,  and  yet  indeed  a  notorious  bawd, 
and  famous  fornicator,  lascivvm  pecns,  a  very  goat — monks 
by  profession*,  such  as  give  over  the  world,  and  the  vanities 
of  it,  and  yet  a  Machiavellian  rout  "^  interested  in  all  matters 
of  state — holy  men,  peace-makers,  and  yet  composed  of  envy, 
lust,  ambition,  hatred  and  malice,  fire-brands,  adnlta  jmtricc 
pestis,  traitours,  assassinates — hac  itnr  ad  astra  ;  and  this  is 
to  supererogate,  and  merit  heaven  for  themselves  and  others ! 
Had  he  seen  on  the  adverse  side,  some  of  our  nice  and  cu- 
rious schismaticks  in  another  extream,  abhor  all  ceremonies, 
and  rather  lose  their  lives  and  livings,  than  do  or  admit  any 
thing  papists  have  formerly  used,  though  in  things  indifferent 
(they  alone  are  the  true  church,  sal  terrce,  cum  sint  onininm 
insiflsissimi) — formalists,  out  of  fear  and  base  flattery,  like  so 
many  weather-cocks,  turn  round — a  rout  of  temporisers, ready 
to  embrace  and  maintain  all  that  is  or  shall  be  proposed,  in 
hope  of  preferment — another  Epicurean  company,  lying  at 
lurch  as  so  many  vultures,  watching  for  a  prey  of  church 
goods,  and  ready  to  rise  by  the  down- fall  of  any — as  "  Liician 
said  in  like  case,  what  dost  thou  think  Domocritus  would  have 
done,  had  he  been  spectatour  of  these  things;  or,  had  he  but 
observed  the  common  people  follow  like  so  many  sheep  one 
of  their  fellows  drawn  by  the  horns  over  a  gap,  some  for  zeal, 
some  for  fear,  quo  se  cumqne  rapit  tempestas,  to  credit  all, 
examine  nothing,  and  yet  ready  to  dye  before  they  will  abjure 
any  of  those  ceremonies,  to  which  they  have  been  accustomed 
— others  out  of  hypocrisie  frequent  sermons,  knock  their 
breasts,  turn  up  their  eyes,  pretend  zeal,  desire  reformation, 
and  yet  professed  usurers,  gripers,  monsters  of  men,  harpies, 
devils,  in  their  lives,  to  express  nothing  less  ?  ' 

What  would  he  have  said,  to  see,  hear,  and  read  so  many 
bloody  battels,  so  many  thousands  slain  at  once,  such  streams 
of  blood  able  to  turn  mills,   unins  oh  noxam  Juriasque,  or  to 


k  Dutn  simulant  spernere,  acquisivernnt  sibi  30  annorum  spatin  bis  centena  miliia 
librarum  annua.  Arnold.  '  Et  quiiin  interdiu  de   virtiite    loqnuti   sunt,    sero 

in  latibulis  clunes  agitant  labore  nocturno.  Agrippa.  *  2  Tim.  3.  13. — But  they 

shall  prevail  no  longer:  their  madness  shall  be  evident  to  all  men.  "'Benigni- 

tatis  sinus  solebat  esse,  nunc  Jitium  otVicina,  ruria  Ilomana.   Biidaius.  »  Quid 

tibi  videtur  facturus  Democritus,  si  horum  spectator  conti^isset? 


42  DEMOCRITUS    TO    TirE    READER. 

make  sport  lor  ])rinces,  v/ithoiit  any  just  cause,  *  for  vain 
titles  (saitli  Austin)  precedency ,  some  ivench,  or  snch  like  toy^ 
or  o?(t  oj'  desire  oj'  domineering^  vain-rflory,  malice^  revenge^ 
Jolly ^  madness^  (g-oodly  causes  all,  oh  qiias  universus  orbis 
bellis  et  ccedibns  misceatur)  vrhilest  statesmen  themselves  in 
tbe  mean  time  are  secure  at  home,  pampered  with  all  delights 
and  pleasures,  take  their  ease,  and  foHov,-  their  lust,  not  con- 
sidering* Avhat  intolerable  misery  poor  souidiers  endure,  their 
often  wounds,  hunger,  thirst,  &c.  ?  The  lamentable  cares, 
torments,  calamities  and  oppressions,  that  accompany  such 
proceedings,  they  feel  not,  take  no  notice  of  it.  So  wars  are 
begun,  by  the  persicasion  of  debauched,  hair-brained,  poor, 
dissolute,  hungry  captains,  parasitical  fawners,  unquiet  hot- 
spurs, restless  innovators,  green  heads,  to  satisjie  one  mans 
private  spleen,  lust,  ambition,,  arxirice,  Sj-c.  tales  repiunt 
scelerata  in  proelia  caussaj.  Flos  hominum,  proper  men,  w  ell 
proportioned,  carefully  brought  up,  able  both  in  body  and 
mind,  sound,  led  like  so  many  °  beasts  to  the  slaughter  in  the 
llower  of  their  years,  pride,  and  full  strength,  without  all  re- 
morse and  pitty,  sacrificed  to  Pluto,  killed  up  as  so  many 
sheep,  for  devils  food,  40000  at  once.  At  once,  said  I  ? — 
that  were  tolerable  :  but  these  wars  last  alwayes ;  and  for 
many  ages,  nothing  so  familiar  as  this  hacking  and  hewing, 
massacres,  murders,  desolations — 

( ignoto  coelum  clangore  remugit) 

they  care  not  what  mischief  they  procure,  so  that  they  may  en- 
rich themselves  for  tire  present :  they  will  so  long  blow  the  coals 
of  contention,  till  all  the  world  be  consumed  with  fire  The 
I'seigeof  Troy  lasted  ten  years,eightmonths :  there  died 870000 
Grecians,  670000  Trojans  :  at  the  taking  of  the  city,  and  after, 
wereslain276000  men,women,and  children,  of  all  sorts.  Csesar 
killed  a  million,  Mahomet  the  "i  Second  Turk  SOOOO  persons  ; 
Sicinius  Dentats  fought  in  an  hundred  battels ;  eight  times  in 
single  combat  he  overcame,  had  forty  wounds  before,  was 
rewarded  with  140  crowns,  triumphed  nine  times  for  his  good 
service.  M.  Sergius  had  32  wounds;  Scseva  the  centurion,  I 
know  not  how  many  ;  every  nation  hath  their  Hectors,  Scipios, 
Caesars,  and  Alexanders.  Our  "^  Edward  the  Fourth  was  in  26 
battels  afoot :  and,  as  they  do  all,  he  glories  in  it ;  'tis  related 
to  his  honour.  At  the  siege  of  Hierusalem»  1 100000  died  with 
sword  and  fanline.     At  the  battel  of  Cannas,  70000  men  were 


*  Ob  inanes  ditionam  titulos,  ob  praereptum  locum,  ob  interceptam  muliercu- 
lam,  vel  quod  e  stultitia  natum,  vel  e  malitia,  quod  cupido  dominandi  libido 
nocendi,  &.c.  oBelluni  rem  plane    belluiuau   vocat  Morus,    Utop.    lib.  2. 

p  Munster.    Cosmog.  1,  5.  c.  3.  E   Diet.  Cretens.   ;  'i  Jovius,    vit.    ejus. 

"•  Comineus. 


DRMOCRITUS  TO  THE  UEADKR.  43 

slain,  *iis  Polybius  rocon!s,an<l  as  ninny  at  Battle  Ahhye  \\\\h 
us  ;  and  'tis  no  news  to  fight  from  sun  to  sun,  as  they  did,  as 
Constantine  and  Licinius,  &c.  At  the  siege  of'Ostend,  (the 
devils  aeadeniy)  a  poor  town  in  respect,  a  small  tort,  but  a 
great  grave,  It^'OOOO  men  lost  their  lives,  besides  whole  towns, 
dorpes,  and  hospitals,  fidl  of  maimed  souldiers.  There  were 
engines,  fire-works,  and  whatsoever  the  devil  could  invent  to 
domischief,with  2500000iroJi  bulletsshot  of  40 pounds  weight, 
three  or  four  millions  of  gold  consumed.  ^Who  (sailh  mine 
author)  ca«  be  siijfficienthf  amazed  at  their  Ji'mty  hearts^  ohsti- 
vaci/,  J^iry,  blindness^  who,  rcithovt  any  likelyhood  oj'  yood 
snccesH,  hazard  poor  sovkUers,  and  lead  them  without  pitty  to 
the  slauyhter^  which  muiy  justly  be  called  the  rage  oj'jurious 
beasts,  that  run  icithont  reason  vpon  their  oivn  deaths  ?  *  quis 
mains  yenius,  (piw  JFitria,  quae  pesfis,  ^-c.  what  plague,  what 
Fury,  brought  so  devillish,  so  bruitisli  a  thing  as  war  first  into 
mens  minds  ?  Who  had  so  soft  and  peaceable  a  creature, 
born  to  love,  mercy,  meekness,  so  to  rave,  rage  like  beasts,  and 
run  on  to  their  own  destruction  ?  how  may  Nature  expostulate 
with  mankind,  Eyo  te  divinvm  animal  finxi,  S^c.  I  made 
thee  an  harmless,  quiet,  a  divine  creature  !  how  may  God  ex- 
postulate, and  all  good  men  !  yet,  horumj'ucta  (as  *  one  con- 
tloles  [tantum  admirantnr,  et  heroutu  nnmero  habent :  these 
are  the  brave  spirits,  the  gallants  of  the  world,  these  admired 
alone  triumph  alone,  have  stf;tues,  crowns,  pyramids,  obelisks 
to  their  eternal  fame,  that  immortal  genius  attends  on  them  : 
hac  itnr  ad  astra.  When  Rhodes  was  besieged,  *^Josse  iirbis 
cadaveribns  repletw  sunt,  the  ditches  were  full  of  dead  car- 
cases ;  and  (as  when  the  said  Solyiaan  great  Turk  beleagred 
Vienna)  they  lay  level  with  the  top  of  the  walls.  This  they 
make  a  sport  of,  and  will  do  it  to  their  friends  and  confederates, 
against  oathes,  vows,  promises,  by  treachery  or  otherwise—' 
"  dolus  an  virtus,  quis  in  hosts  requirat? 

leagues  and  laws  of  arms  ("  silent  leyes  inter  arma :  for  their 
advantage,  omnia  jura,  divina,  humana,  proculcata  plernm- 
que  sunt)  Gods  and  mens  laws,  are  trampled  under  foot ; 
the  sword  alone  determines  all ;  to  satisfie  their  lust  and 
spleen,  they  care  not  what  they  attempt,  say  or  do  : 

y  Rara  fides,  probitasque,  viris  qui  castra  sequuntur. 


*Lib.3.  •'Hist,  of  the  Siege  of  Ostend,  fol.  23.  •Erasmus 

de  belle.       Ut  placiduui  ill«d  animal  benevolentia;  natum  tam  ferina   vecordia  in 
mirtuam  rueret  perniciem.  *  Rich.  Dinoth,  praefat.  Belli  civilis  Gal.  i  Jo- 

viiw.  "  Dolus,    aeperitas,    iiijustitia,   propria    bellorum    netjotia.      Terlul. 

•''Tully.  y  Liicau. 


44  DKMOCRITUS  TO  THE  READER. 

Nothing*  so  coininoii  as  to  have  ^father  Jifjlit  against  the  son, 
brother  atjauist  brother,  kinsman  against  kinsman,  kingdom 
aqninst  kingdom,  province  against  province,  Christians  against 
Christians,  a  quibus  nee  unquani  cogitatione  fuerunt  lasi,  of 
whom  they  never  had  offence  in  thought,  word,  or  deed. 
Infhiite  treasures  consumed,  towns  burned,  flourishing  cities 
sacked  and  ruinated — quodqne  animus  memhiisse  horret,  goodly 
countries  depopulated  and  left  desolate,  old  inhabitants  ex- 
pelled, trade  and  traffick  decayed,  maids  deflowered, 

Virgines  nondum  thalamis  jugatae, 
Et  comis  nondum  positis  ephebi;    • 

chaste  matrons  cry  out  with  Andromache,  *  Concubitum  mox 
cogar  pati  ejus,  qui  interemit  Hectorem,  they  shall  be  com- 
pelled peradventure  to  lye  with  them  that  erst  killed  their 
husbands — to  see  rich,  poor,  sick,  sound,  lords,  servants, 
eodem  omnes  incommodo  mactati,  consumed  all  or  maimed,  &c. 
et  quidquid  gandens  scelere  animus  audet,  et  perversa  mens, 
saith  Cyprian,  and  whatsoever  torment,  misery,  mischief,  hell 
it  self,  the  devil,  ^fury  and  rage  can  invent  to  their  own 
ruine  and  destruction  :  so  abominable  a  thing  ^  is  war,  as 
Gerbelius  concludes — adeoj'oeda  et  abominanda  res  est  beltum, 
ex  quo  hominum  ccedes,  vastationes,  ^-c. — the  scourge  of  Gorl, 
cause,  effect,  fruit  and  punishment  of  sin,  and  not  tonsura 
humani  generis,  as  Tertullian  calls  it,  but  ruina.  Had  Demo- 
critus  been  present  at  the  late  civil  wars  in  France,  those 
abominable  wars, 

(- bellaque  matribus  detestata) 

'  where  in  less  than  ten  years,  ten  hundred  thousand  men  icere 
consumed,  saith  Collignius,^0  thousand  churches  overthrown, 
nay  the  whole  kingdom  subverted,  (as  ''Richard  Dinoth  adds) 
so  many  myriads  of  the  commons  were  butchered  up,  with 
sword,  famine,  war,  tanto  odio  utrinque,  ut  barbari  ad  ab- 
horrendam  lanienam  ohstupescerent,  with  such  feral  hatred, 
the  world  was  amazed  at  it — or  at  our  late  Pharsalian  fields  in 
the  time  of  Henry  the  Sixth,  betwixt  the  houses  of  Lancaster 
and  York,  an  hundred  thousand  men  slain,  *  one  writes,  *=  an- 
other, ten  thousand  families  were  rooted  out,  that  no  man  can 
but  marvel,   \^saith  Comineus,)  at  that  barbarous  immanity, 

'  Pater  in  filium,  affinis  in  affinem^  amicus  in  amicutn,  &c.  Regio  cum 
regione,  regnum  regno  colliditnr,  populus  populo,  in  miituam  perniciem,  bel- 
luariim  instar  sanguinolente  ruentium.  *  Labanii  tleclam.  '^  Ira  enim  et 

furor  Bellonse  consultores,  &c.  dementes  sacerdotes  sunt.  b  Bellum   quasi 

bellua,  et  ad  omnia  scelera  furor  immissus.  c  Gallorura  decies  centum  millia 

ceciderunt,  eccleaiarum  20  millia  fundamentis  excisa.  <i  Belli  civilis  Gal.  1.  1. 

hoc  ferali  bello  et  casdibus  omnia  replcverunt,  et  regnum  amplissimum  a  fundamen- 
tis pene  everterunt ;  plebis  tot  myriades  gladio,  bello,  fame  miserabiliter  perierunt. 
*  Pont.  Huterus.  «■  Comineus.     Ut  nullus  non  execretur  et  adrairetur  crudeli- 

tatem,  et  barbaram,  insanium,  quaj  inter  homines  eodem  sub  coelo  nates,  ejusdem 
linguae^  sanguinis,  religionis,  exercebatur. 


DEMOCRITUS  TO  THE  READER.  45 

frral  madupsa,  committed  heticpon  men  of'  the  same  nation, 
Idminarfp,  and  rflif/ion.  ""Qnhfvror,  O  cAves?  Why  do  the 
f/p/itiles  soj'nrioiish/  rune  ?  saitb  the  prophet  David,  Psal.  2. 1. 
But  we  may  ask,  why  do  the  Christians  so  furiously  rage  ? 

•  Arma  volunt,  quare,  poscunt,  rap'mntque  juvenlus? 

Unfit  for  o-entiles,  much  less  for  us,  so  to  tyrannize,  as  the 
Spaniards  in  the  West  Indies,  that  killed  up  in  42  years  (if  we 
may  believe  '^Bartholomisus  a  Casa  their  own  bishop.)  12 
millions  of  men,  with  stupend  and  exquisite  torments ;  neither 
should  I  lye,  (said  he)  if  I  said  50  millions.  I  omit  those 
French  massacres,  Sicilian  evensoncrs,  =the  duke  of  Alva's 
tyrannies,  our  g;ir.i-powder  machinations,  and  that  fourth  Fury 
(as  •>  one  calls  it),  the  Spanish  inquisition,  which  quite  ob- 
scures those  ten  persecutions — 

'sajvit  coto  Mars  impius  orbe. 

Is  not  this  ^  minidiiftjv.riosus,  a  mad  world,  as  he  terms  it,  insa- 
mim  helhim  ?  are  not  these  mad  men,  as  *Scaliger  concludes, 
(jin  hi  prcel'ia,  acerbd  morie,  insanice  sine  memoriam  pro  per- 
petuo  teste  relhiqinnii  posterifati — which  leave  so  frequent 
batteh-,  as  perpetual  memorials  of  their  madness  to  all  succeed- 
ino-aoes?  Would  this,think  you,have  enforced  ourDemocritus 
to  laughter,  or  rather  made  him  turn  his  tune,  alter  his  tone, 
and  weep  Avith '  Heraclitus,  or  rather  howl,  ™  roar,  and  tear  his 
hair,  in  commiseration — stand  amazed;  or  as  the  poets  faign, 
that  Niohe  was  for  orief  quite  stupified.and  turned  to  a  stone? 
1  have  not  yet  said  the  worst.  That  which  is  more  absurdimd 
"  mad — in  their  tumults,  seditions,  civil  and  unjust  wars,  "quod 
stulte  snscipitnr.  hnpie  f/erifnr,  misere  Jinkiir — such  wars,  I 
mean  ;  for  all  are  not  to  l3e  condemned,  as  those  phantastical 
Anabaptists  vainly  conceive.  Our  Christian  tacticks  are,  all 
out,  as  necessary  as  the  Roman  acies,  or  Grecian  phalanx. 
To  be  a  souldier  is  a  most  noble  and  honourable  profession,  (as 
the  world  is)  not  to  be  spared.  They  are  our  best  walls  and  bul- 
warks ;  and  I  <lo  therefore  acknowledge  that  of  *  TuUy  to  be 
most  true,  .^III  onr  civil  affairs,  all  onr  studies,  all  our  plead- 
iug,  industry,  and  commendation,  lies  under  the  protection  etf 
warlike  veriues;  and,  tchensoever  there  is  any  suspicion  of  tu- 


i'    e  Lncan.  *Virs.  f  Bishop  of  Cusco,  an  eye  witness.  ?ReadMete- 

'ran,  of  his  .stiipcnd  cruelties.  1' Heinsins,  Austriac.  '  Virgr-    Georg. 

k  Jansenius  Gallohelaricus,  1596   Mnndus  furiosns,  inscriptio  libri.  *  Exercitat. 

250  .serm.  4  i  Fleat  Heraclitus,  an  radieat  Deinocritus  ?  m  Curn-  leves  lo- 

qiinntur,   ingentes  stnpent.  "Arma  ameni    capio,  nee  sat  rationis  in  arinis. 

"  Erasmns.  *  Pro  >Iura;na.      Omnes  urhanae  res,  omnia  stiidia,  omnis  foreusis 

laiis  et  iudustria  latet  in  tutela  et  prajsido  bellica-  \-irtutis;  et,  aiiuul  atqae  increpuit 
suspicio  tuniultiis,  artes  illico  nostra;  conticescunt. 


46  DEMOCRITUS    TO    THE    READER. 

viult,  all  our  arts  cease :  wars  are  most  behoveful ;  et  hella- 
tores  aqricoUs  civltati  sunt  vJ'diores^  as  *  Tyrius  defends :  and 
valour  is  much  to  be  commended  in  a  wise  man ;  but  they  mis- 
take most  part :  anjerre,  trucidare,  rapere  falsis  nomimbus 
virtntem  vacant,  Src.  ('Twas  Galgacus  observation  in  Tacitus) 
tliey  term  theft,  murder,  and  rapine,  vertue,  by  a  wrong-  name: 
rapes,  slaughters,  massacres,  &c.  jocvs  et  ludus,  are  pretty 
pastimes,  as  Ludovicus  Vives  notes.  ^They  commonly  call  the 
m*>st  hair-brain  blood-suckers,  strovyest  thieves,  the  most  des- 
perate villains,  trecherous  rogues,  inhumane  murderers,  rash, 
cruel  and  dissolute  caitiffs,  courageous  and  generous  spirits, 
heroical  and  worthy  captains,  '^bra,ve  men  at  arms,  valiant  and 
reiioirned  souldiers,  possessed  with  a  brute  perswasion  oj" false 
honour,  asPontus  Hater  in  his  Burgundian  history  complains  : 
by  means  of  wliich,  it  comes  to  pass  that  daily  so  many  vo- 
luntaries offer  themselves,  leaving  their  sweet  wives,  children, 
friends, — for  sixpence  (if  they  can  get  it)  a  day, prostitute  their 
lives  and  limbs,  desire  to  enter  upon  breaches,  lye  sentinel, 
perdue,  give  the  first  onset,  stand  in  the  fore-front  of  thebattel, 
marching  bravely  on,  with  a  cheerful  noise  of  drums  and 
trumpets,  such  vigour  and  alacrity,  so  many  banners  streaming- 
in  the  ayr,  glittering  armours,  motions  of  plumes,  woods 
of  pikes,  and  swords,  variety  of  colours,  cost  and  magnifi- 
cence, as  if  they  went  in  triumph,  now  victors,  to  the  Capitol, 
and  with  such  pomp,  as  v»'hen  Darius  army  marched  to  meet 
Alexander  at  Issus,  Void  of  all  fear,  they  run  into  eminent 
danger,s,  canons  mouth,  he.  ut  vnlneribus  suis  Jerrum  hos- 
tiuni  hebetent,  saith  "^  Barletius,  to  get  a  name  of  valour, 
honour  and  applause,  which  lasts  not  neither;  for  it  is  but  a 
mere  flash,  this  fame,  and,  like  a  rose,  intra  diem  iinum  extin- 
guiliir,  'tis  gone  in  an  instant,.  Of  15000  proletaries  slain  in 
a  battel,  scarce  fifteen  are  recorded  in  history,  or  one  alone, 
the  general  perhaps  ;  and  after  a  while,  his  and  their  names 
are  likewise  blotted  out ;  the  Avhole  battel  it  self  is  forgotten. 
Those  Grecian  orators,  summd  vi  ingeuii  et  eloquentice,  set 
out  the  renowned  overthrows  at  Thermopylae,  Salamine, 
Marathon,  Mycale,  Maniinea,  Chceronea,  Platea  :  the 
Romans  record  their  battel  at  Cannas,  and  Pharsalinn  fields; 
but  they  do  but  record  ;  and  we  scarce  hear  of  them.  And  yet 
this  supposed  honour,  j)0[iular  applause,  desire  of  immortality 
by  this  means,  pride  and  vain-glory,  spurs  them  on  many  times 

*  Ser.  13.  P  CnirleHssimos  saivissimosque  latrones,  fortissiinns 

propng^natovps,  fidelissinios   duces,  liabent,  brufa  persiiasione  donati.  '!  Eo- 

baniis  Ht'ssns.  Quibus  omnis  in  annis  Vita  placet,  non  uUa  juvat,  nisi  morte  ; 
nee  ullaui  E.s.se  putant  vitam,  quaj  nou  assueverit  arniis.  r  Lib.  10.  vit.  Scan- 

derbeg. 


DEMOCRITUS  TO  THE  READER.  47 

rashly  and  unadvisedly  to  make  away  themselves  and  mul- 
titudes of  others.  Alexander  was  sorry,  because  there  were 
no  more  worlds  for  him  to  conquer :  he  is  admired  by  some  for 
it :  animosa  voxvidetur,et  regin :  'twas  spoken  like  a  prince  : 
but  (as  wise  ^Seneca  censures  him)  'twas  ro.T  inup^sainia  et 
stultissivia :  'twas  spoken  like  a  bedlam  fool ;  and  that  sen- 
tence which  the  same  '  Seneca  appropriates  to  his  fatherPhilip 
and  him,  I  apply  to  them  all — Non  inhwres  J'nere  pesfps 
mortalium  quam  innndatio,  qnam  cnujffar/ratio^  cjuibis,  4*c. 
they  did  as  much  mischief  to  mortal  men,  as  fire  and  water, 
those  merciless  elements  when  they  rage.  "  Which  is  yet 
more  to  be  lamented,  they  perswade  them  this  liellish  course 
of  life  is  holy  :  they  promise  heaven  to  such  as  venture  their 
lives  be/lo  sacra,  and  that,  by  these  bloody  wars, (as  Persians, 
Creeks,  and  Romans  of  old,  as  modern  Turks  do  now  their 
commons,  to  encourage  them  to  fight,  lit  cadaut  irrf'eliciter,) 
if  they  die  in  the  Jield,  therj  f/o  directhf  to  heaven^  and  shall 
he  canonizedj'or  saints,  (O  diabolical  invention  I)  put  in  the 
clironicles,  in  perpetuam  rei  memoriam,  to  their  eternal 
meujory;  when  as  in  truth,  as  ''some  hold  it,  it  were  much 
better  (since  wars  are  the  scourge  of  God  for  sin,  by  which  he 
punisheth  mortal  mens  pievishness  and  folly)  sr.ch  brutish 
stories  were  suppressed,  because  admornm  institniionem  nihil 
hahent,  they  conduce  not  at  all  to  manners,  or  good  life.  But 
they  will  have  it  thus  nevertheless;  and  so  they  put  a  note 
o{  y  dirinitif  upon  the  most  cruel  and  pernicious  plafjue  oj' hu- 
mane kind,  adorn  such  men  -with  grand  titles,  degrees,  statues, 
images — "=  honour,  applaud  and  highly  reward  them  for  their 
good  service — no  greater  glory  than  to  dye  in  the  field  !  So 
Africanus  is  extolled  by  Ennius :  and  :Viars,and  ""ilerculesjand 
I  know  not  how  many  besides,  of  old  v.  ere  deified,  went  this 
w^ay  to  heaven,  that  were  indeed  bloody  butchers,  wicked 
destroyers,  and  troublers  of  the  world,  prodigious  uionsters, 
hell-hounds,feral  plagues, devourers,  conunoJi  executioners  of 
humane  kind,  (as  Lactantius  truly  proves,  and  Cyprian  to 
Donat)  such  as  were  desperate  in  wars,  and  precipitately  made 


"Null;  heatiores  hahiti,  quam  qui  in  proeliis  cecidissent.  Brisoniiis,  rie  rep. 
Persariiin.  1.  3.  fol.  3.  44.  Idem  Lactandiis  df  Romanis  et  Gra^cis.  Idt-m  Ammi- 
anus,  III),  'i;?.  de  Parthis.  J'ldicatur  is  solus  Ijeatus  apiid  eos,  qui  in  pra^lio  fnde- 
rit  aiiiiiiaui.  De  Benef.  lib.  2.  c.  1.  'Nat.  qiutist.  lib.  3.  "  Buttrus  Asnphitri- 

4non.  Biisbequiiis,  Turc.  hist. 'Per  cwdes  et  sangainem  patere  hominibus  ascensuin 
in  coelnm  putaiit.  Lactiint.  de  fal.sa  reiig.  1.  1.  cap.  S.  'f  Quoniani   belia   acer- 

!>issinia  Dei  ilagella  sunt,  (piibas  hoiuiimm  j)ertinaciain  piinit.  ta  perpetiiA. 
oblivione  sepelieiida  potios  qiiaui  memoria;  mandanda  plerique  indicant.  Kicli. 
Dinoth.   pra;}'.  hist.   Gall.  i  Cruentam  humani  generis  pe.stein  et  pemiciem 

divinitatis  nota  insigniuuL  ^Et  (quod  dolenduui)  applaiisum  hubent  et  occur- 

sum  viri  tales.  a  Herculi  eadem  porta  ad  coeluoi  patuit,  qui  magnam  geueris 

humani  partem  perdidit. 


48  DEMOCRITUS  TO  THE  READER. 

aAvay  themselves,  like  those  Celtes  in  Damascen,  with  ridicu- 
lous valour,  ut  dedecorosum  putarent  muro  ruenti  se  siibdu- 
cere,  a  disgrace  to  run  away  from  a  rotten  wall,  now  ready  to 
fall  on  their  heads.  Such  as  will  not  rush  on  a  swords  point, 
or  seek  to  shun  a  canons  shot,  are  base  cowards,  and  no 
valient  men.  By  wiiicli  means,  Madet  orbis  mutuo  sanguine^ 
the  earth  wallows  in  her  own  blood  :  "ScevU  amor  Jerri  et 
scelerata  insania  belli ;  and  for  that,  which  if  it  be  done  in 
})rivate,  a  man  shall  be  rigorously  executed,  ^and  tvliich  is 
no  less  than  murder  it  self]  if' the  same  fact  be  done  inpublick 
in  wars, it  is  called  manhood,  and  the  party  is  honoured  for  it, 

"^  prosperum  etfelix  scelus  virtus  vocalur We  measure 

all,  as  Turks  do,  by  the  event;  and,  most  part,  as  Cyprian 
notes,  in  all  ages,  countreys,  places,  soivitice  matjnitudo  im- 
punitatem  sceleris  acquirit — the  foulness  of  the  fact  vindi- 
cates the  oft'euder.  ^  One  is  crowned  for  that  which  another 
is  tormented, 

(Ille  crucem  sceleris  pretium  tulit,  hie  diadema) 

made  a  knight,  a  lord,  an  earl,  a  great  duke,  (as  ^  Agrippa 
notes)  for  which  another  should  have  hung  in  gibbets,  as  a 
terror  to  the  rest — 


-fet  tamen  alter, 


Si  fecisset  idem,  caderet  subjudice  morum. 

A  poor  sheep-stealer  is  hanged  for  stealing  of  victuals,  com- 
pelled peradventure  by  necessity  of  that  intolerable  cold, 
hunger,  and  thirst,  to  save  himself  from  starving :  but  a  ^^  great 
man  in  officemay  securely  rob  v/hole  provinces,undo  thousands, 
pill  and  pole,  oppress  ad  libitum,  fley,  grind,  tyrannize,  enrich 
himself  by  spoils  of  the  commons,  be  uncontrollable  in  his 
actions,  and,  after  all,  be  recompensed  v.ith  turgent  titles, 
honoured  for  his  good  service  ;  and  no  man  dare  find  fault, 
or  ^  mutter  at  it. 

HoAv  would  our  Democritus  have  been  affected,  to  see  a 
wicked  caitiff,  or  J'ool,  a  very  ideot,  a  funye,  a  golden 
ass,  a  monster  of  man,  to  have  many  good  men,  tvise  men. 


!>  Virg.   JEneid.  7.  'iHomicidium   qnum   committunt  singuli,  crimen  ^si^^ 

quum  publice  geritiir,  virtus  vocatiir.  Cyprianus.  •=  Seneca.  'i  Jnvcn.  '^  De'*' 

vanit.  scient.  de  princip.  nobilitatis,         'Juven.  Sat    4.  Pansa  rapit,  quod  Natta 

reliquit. — Tu  pessiinus  omuiiim  latio  es,  as  Deojetrius  the  pyrat  told  Alexander, 
in   Curtius.  ''Non  ausi  mutire,  &c.   iEsop.  '  linprobuin   et  stultniii. 

si  diviteni,  uiiiltos  bonos  ^  iros'in  servitute  habentem,  (ob  id  duntaxat  quod  ei  contingat 
aureorum  nuiuisiniitum  cumulus)  ut  appendices  et  additamenta  numisuiatuni.  Morus, 
Utopia. 


DEMOCRITUS    TO    THE    READER.  49 

learned  men  to  attend  upon  him  with  all  sulmission,  as  an 
appendix  to  his  riches,  for  that  respect  alone,  because  he  hath 
more  wealth  and  money,  '-"  and  to  honour  him  with  divine  titles, 
and  bumhast  epithets,  to  smother  him  >vith  fumes  and  eulo- 
gies, Mhom  they  knew  to  be  a  dizard,  a  fool,  a  covetous 
wretch,  a  beast,  &c.  bpcanse  he  is  rich  ! — to  see  sub  exnviis 
leonis  onaqrum,  a  filthy  loathsome  carkass,  a  Gorg-ons  head 
pufted  up  by  parasites,  assume  thus  unto  himself  glorious  titles, 
in  Avorth  an  infant,  a  Cuman  ass,  a  painted  sepidchre,  an 
Egyptian  temple  ! — to  see  a  withered  face,  a  diseased,  de- 
formed, cankered  complexion,  a  rotten  carkass,  a  viperous 
mind,  and  Epicurean  soul,  set  out  with  orient  pearls,  jewels, 
diadems,  perfumes,  curious,  elaborate  works,  as  proud  of  his 
clothes  as  a  child  of  his  new  coats — and  a  goodly  person,  of 
an  angeiick  divine  countenance,  a  saint,  an  humble  mind,  a 
meek  spirit  clothed  in  rags,  beg%  and  noM"  ready  to  be  starved  ! 
— to  see  a  silly  contemptible  sloven  in  apparel,  ragged  in  his 
coat,  polite  in  speech,  of  a  divine  spirit,  wise  !  another  neat 
in  clothes,  spruce,  full  of  courtesie,  empty  of  grace,  wit,  talk 
non-sense ! 

To  see  so  many  lawyers,  advocates,  so  many  tribunals,  so 
little  justice  :  so  many  magistrates,  so  little  care  of  common 
good  ;  so  many  laws,  yet  never  more  disorders — tribunal 
litium  ser/etem,  the  tribunal  a  labyrinth — so  many  thousand 
suits  in  one  court  sometimes,  so  violently  followed  ! — to  see 
i.'ijustissinmm  sape  juri  prwsidentum,  impium  relifjioni,  im- 
peritissi niutn  eruditioni,  otiosissimum  labori,  monstrosum  hu- 
manitati !  To  see  a  lamb  ''  executed,  a  woolf  pronounce  sen- 
tence, Latro  arraigned,  and  Fur  sit  on  the  bench,  the  judg-e 
severely  punish  others,  and  do  worse  himself,  '^  eundem  fur- 
tum  facere  et  punire,  ^  rapinam  plectere,  qnum  sit  ipse 
raptor  ! — Laws  altered,  misconstrued,  interpreted /?ro  and  cow, 
as  the  "judge  is  made  by  friends,  bribed,  or  otherwise  affected 
as  a  nose  of  wax,  good  to-day,  none  to-morrow  ;  or  firm  in  his 
opinion,  cast  in  his  !  Sentence  prolonged,  changed,  ad  ar~^ 
hitriumjudicis  ;  still  the  same  case,  ^  one  thrust  out  oj"  his  in- 
heritance, another  J'alsbf  put  in  by  favour,  false  forged  deeds 
or  wills,  Inciscc  leges  negliguntur,  laws  are  made  and  not 
kept ;  or,  if  put  in  execution,  §  they  be  some  silly  ones  that  are 


»  Eorumque  detestantur  Utiopienses  iDsaniam,  qui  divinos  honores  iis  impendunt, 
(Juos  sordidos  et  avaros  agnoscunt ;  non  alio  respecta  honorantes,  quani  quod  dites 
sint    Idem.  lib.  2.  ''Cyp.  2.  ad  Douat  I'p  iit  reus  innocens  pereat,  tit  nocens. 

Judex  damnat  foris,  quod  intu.s  operalnr.  i'  Sidonius  Apo.  ^  Salvianus,  I.  3. 

de  provid.  ''  Ergo  judicium  nihil  est  nisi  publica  merces.     Petronius.      Quid 

faciant  leges,  ubi  sola  pecuuia  regnat  ?     Idem.  'Hie  arcentur  haeredita- 

tibiis  liberi ;  hie  donntnr  bonis  alienis  ;  falsum  coasulit ;  alter  testameutum  cornirapit, 
&c.     Idem.  ?  Vexat  ceusura  columbas. 

VOL.    I.  B 


50  DEMOCRITUS    TO    THP:    READER. 

piiiiislied.  As,  put  case  it  to  be  fornication,  the  father  will  dis- 
inherit or  abdicate  his  child,  quite  casheer  him  (out  villain  !  be 
gone !  come  no  more  in  my  sight)  :  a  poor  man  is  miserably 
tormented  with  loss  of  his  estate  perhaps,  goods,  fortunes, 
oood  name,  for  ever  disgraced,  forsaken,  and  must  do  penance 
to  the  utmost : — a  mortal  sin  !  and  yet,  make  the  worst  of  it, 
niimquid  almdj'ecit,  saith  Tranio  in  the  ^  poet,  nisi  quodfaci- 
unt  summis  nnti  f/eneribus  ;  he  hath  done  no  more  than  what 
gentlemen  usually  do  — 

C'Neque  novum,  neque  mirum,  neque  "secus  quam  alii  sclent) 

for,  in  a  great  person,  right  worshipful  sir,  aright  honourable 
grandee,  'tis  not  a  venial  sin,  no  not  a  peccadillo :  'tis  no  of- 
fence at  all,  a  common  and  ordinary  thing :  no  man  takes 
notice  of  it;  he  justifies  it  in  puMick,  and  peradventure  brags 
of  it; 

^  Nam  quod  turpe  bonis,  Titio,  Seioque,  decebat 
Crispinum 

"^  many  poor  men,  younger  brothers,  &c,  by  reason  of  bad 
policy,  and  idle  education  (for  they  are,  likely,  brought  up  in 
no  calling),  are  compelled  to  beg  or  steal,  and  then  hanged  for 
theft ;  than  which,  what  can  be  more  ignominious  ?  non  minus 
enim  turpe  principi  midta  supplicia,  quam  medico  multa 
fvnera  :  'tis  the  governours  fault.  Libentius  verberant  quam 
doccnty  as  school-masters  do  rather  correct  their  pupils,  than 
teach  them  when  they  do  amiss.  ""  They  had  more  need 
provide  there  should  be  no  more  thieves  and  beggars,  as  they 
ought  icith  good  policy,  and  take  away  the  occasions,  than 
Ift  them  run  on,  as  they  do,  to  their  oum  destruction — root  out 
likewise  thosecauses  of  w  rangling,a  multitude  of  lawyers, and 
compose  controversies,  lites  histrales  et  secnlares,  by  some 
more  compendious  means  ;  whereas  now,  for  every  toy  and 
tritle,  they  go  to  law,  Q  3Iugit  litibus  insanum  fornm,  et  scevit 
invicem  discordaniium  rabies)  they  are  ready  to  pull  out 
one  anothers  throats;  and,  for  commodity  ^  to  squeeze  blood 
(saith  Hieorum)  out  r^' their  brothers  hearts,  defame,  lye,  dis- 
grace, backbite,  rail,  bear  Mse  witness,  swear,  forswear,  fight 
and  wrangle,  spend  their  goods, lives,  fortunes,  friends,  undo 
one  another,  to  enrich  an  harpy  advocate,  that  preys  upon 
them  both,  and  cryes,  eia^  Socrates!  eia,  Xanthippe!  or  some 


"  Plniit,  Mostel.  I'ldem.  f  Juven.  Sat.  4.  <l  Quod  tot  sint  fiires 

et  niendici,  inagistratii'im  culpa  fit,  qui  malos  iinitantiir  praeceptoies,  qui  discipulos 
lihentins  verberant  quam   docent.      Morus,  Utop.   lib.  1.  <"  Decenumter  furi 

gnivia    et  horrenda    supplicia,    quuiii    potius   prnvidendum     niulto    foret    tie    fares 
sint,  TIP  cuiqiiam  tarn  dira  furaiidi  aut  pereundi  sit  necessitas.      Idem.  'Bo- 

terus,  de  augnien.   urb.  lib.  3.  cap.  3.  sE  fraterno  corde  snngiiinem  eli- 

ciiint. 


DEMOCRITCS   TO    THE    READER.  51 

rornipt  judge,  that  like  the  «  kite  in  ^Esop,  while  the  mouse 
and  frog  fought,  carryed  both  away.  Generally  they  prey  one 
upon  another,  as  so  many  ravenous  birds,  brute  beasts, devour- 
iiig  fishes  :  no  mediuvi  ;  omnes  ^  Mc  aut  captantur  ant  captant; 
ant  cadavera  qu(S  lacerantur,   aut  corvi  qui  lacer ant —either 
deceive  or  be  deceived — tear  others,  or  be  torn  in  pieces  them- 
selves; like  so  many  buckets  in  a  well,  as  one  riseth,  another 
falleth  ;  one's  empty,another's  full ;  his  mine  is  a  ladder  to  the 
third;  such  are  our  ordinary  proceedings.   VVhat's  the  market? 
a  place  (according  to  *=  Anacharsis)  vvherein  they  cozen  one 
another,  a  trap ;  nay,  what's  the  world  it  self?  ^  a  vast  chaos,  a 
confusion  of  manners,  as  fickle  as  the  air,  d&micilium  hisano- 
rum,  a  turbulent  troop  full  of  impurities,  a  mart  of  walkino- 
spirits,  gobJins,  the  theatre  of  hypocrisie,  a  shop  of  knavery, 
flattery,  a  nursery  of  villany,  the  scene  of  babling,  the  school 
of  giddmess,  the  academy  of  vice ;  a  warfare  ubi  (veils,  noils  J 
purpiandum  ;  ant  vincas  aut  succumbas  ;  in  which  kill  or  be 
killed;  M'herein  every  man  is  for  himself,  his  private  ends,  and 
stands  upon  his  own  guard.      No  charity,  Move,  friendship, 
fear  of  God,   alliance,  affinity,  consanguinity,    Christianity, 
can  contain  them  ;  but  if  they  be  any  wayes  offended,  or  that 
strmg  of  commodity  be  touched,  they  fail  foul.     Old  friends 
become  bitter  enemies  on  a  suddain,  for  toyes  and  small  of- 
fences ;  and  they  that  erst  were  willing  to  do  all  mutual  offices 
of  love  and  kindness,  now  revile,  and  persecute  one  another 
to  death,  with  more  than  Vatinian  hatred,  and  will  not  be 
reconcded.    So  long  as  they  are  behoveful,  they  love,  or  may 
bestead  each  other;  but,  when  there  is  no  more  good  to  be 
expected,  as  they  do  by  an  old  doo-,  hang  him  up  or  casheer 
him  ;  which  '  Cato  counts  a  great  indecorum,  to  use  men  like 
old  shoos  or  broken  glasses,  which  are  flung  to  thedunghil  : 
he  could  not  find  in  his  heart  to  sell  an  ox,  much  less,  to 
turn  aM'ay  an  old  servant :  but  they  in  stead  of  recompence, 
revile  him ;  and  when  they  have  made  him  an  instrument  of 
their  villany,  (as  sBajazet  the  second,emperorof  theTurks,did 
by  Acomethes  Bassa)  make  him  away,  or,  in  stead  of'  reward, 
hate  him  to  death,  as  Silius  was  served  by  Tiberius.     In  a 
word,  every  man  for  his  own  ends.      Our  summum  bonum  is 

3  Milvus  rapit  ac  deglubit.  b  Petronius,  de  Crotone  civit.  c  Quid  forum  ? 

ecus  quo  ahus  ahum  circumven.t.  d  Vastum  chaos,  larvarum  emporium,  thea'- 

f"  ■  '»>  1^°'="«"'«.  ^c-  ^.  \^^J^o  coelum,  uemo  jusjurandum,  nemo  Jovem,  pluris 
lacit  ,  sed  omnes  aperhs  oculis  bona  sua  computant.     Petron.  fPlutarch   vit 

ejus.  Indecorum  animatis  i.t  calceis  uti  aut  vitris,  qua>,  ubi  fracta,  abjicimns  ;  nam' 
nt  de  miepso  d.cam,  nee  boyem  seneni  vendiderim,  nedum  horainem  natu  ffrandem' 
laboris  socium.  .'Jovius.  Cummnumera  illii.sbeneficia  rependere  non  possit  aliter' 
merhcijussit.  "  Beneficia  eousque  lata  sunt,  dum  videutur  solvi  posse  ;  ubi 

multum  anterenere,  pro  gratia  odium  redditur.    Tac. 

E    2 


52  DEMOCRITUS  TO  THE  READER. 

commodity  ;  and  the  goddess  we  adore,  Dea  monetay  queen 
money,  to  whom  we  daily  offer  sacrifice ;  which  steers  our 
hearts,  hands,  ^  affections  all — that  most  powerful  goddess, 
by  whom  we  are  reared,  depressed,elevated,''esteemed  the  sole 
commandress  of  our  actions — for  which  we  pray,  run,  ride, 
go,  con.e,  labour,  and  contend  as  fishes  do  for  a  crum  that 
falleth  into  the  water.  If  s  not  worth,  vertue,  (that's  honum  the- 
atrale)  wisdom,  valour,  learning,  honesty,  religion,  or  any 
sufficiency,  for  which  we  are  respected,  but  '^money,  greatness, 
office,  honour,  authority.  Honesty  is  accounted  folly;  knavery, 
policy ;  '^  men  admired  out  of  opinion,  not  as  they  are,  but  as 
they  seem  to  be  :  such  shifting,  lying,  cogging,  plotting  coun- 
terplotting, temporizing-,  flattering',  cozening',  dissembling, 
'^that  of  necessity  one  must  highly  offend  God,  if'  he  be  con- 
Jormable  to  the  icorld.,  (Crstizare  cum  Crete)  or  else  live  in 
contempt,  disgrace,  and  misery.  One  takes  upon  him  tem- 
perance, holiness ;  another,  austerity;  a  third,  an  affected  kind 
of  simplicity  ;  when  as  indeed  he,  and  he,  and  he,  and  the  rest, 
are  ^hypocrites,  ambodexters,  out-sides,  so  many  turning  pic- 
tures, a  e  lion  on  the  one  side,  a  lamb  on  the  other.  How 
would  Democritus  have  been  affected  to  see  these  things  ? 

To  see  a  man  turn  himself  into  all  shapes  like  a  camelion,or, 
as  Proteus,  omnia  transj'ormans  sese  in  miracula  rerum,  to 
act  twenty  parts  and  persons  at  once,  for  his  advantage — to 
temporize  and  vary  like  Mercury  the  planet,  good  with  good, 
bad  with  bad;  having  a  several  face,  garb,  and  character  for 
every  onehe  meets — of  all  religions,  humours,  inclinations — to 
fawn  like  a  spaniel,  mentitis  et  mimicis  obsequiis,  rage  like 
a  lion,  bark  like  a  cur,  fight  like  a  dragon,  sting  like  a  ser- 
pent, as  meek  as  a  lamb,  and  yet  again  grin  like  a  tygre, 
weep  like  a  crocodile,  insult  over  some,  and  yet  others  domi- 
neer over  him,  here  command,  there  crouch  ;  tyrannize  in  one 
place,  be  bafiled  in  another ;  a  wise  man  at  home,  a  fool  abroad 
to  make  others  merry. 

To  see  so  much  difference  betwixt  words  and  deeds,  so 
many  parasanges  betwixt  tongue  and  heart — men,  like  stage- 
players,  act  variety  of  parts,  ''  give  good  precepts  to  others  to 
soar  aloft,  whitest  they  themselves  grovel  on  the  ground. 


»  Paucis  carior  est  fidas  quam  pecunia.     Sallust.  •>  Prima  fere  vota  et 

cnnctis,  &c.  t'  Et  genus  et  formam  regina  pecunia  donat.     Quantum  quisque 

sua  nnininorum  sennt  in  area,  Tantum  habet  et  fidei.  ^'Non  a  peritia,  sed 

ab  ornatn  er  viilgi  vocibus,  habemur  excellentes.     Cardan  1.  2.  de  cons.  i' Per- 

jurata  suo  postponit  numina  lucro  INTercator. — Ut  necessarium  sit  vel  Deo  displicere, 
vel  ab  hoiiiinibus  contemni,  vexari,  negligi.  '  Qui   Curios  simulant,  et 

Bacchanalia  vivunt.  ?TragelapLo  similes  vel   Centauris,  sursum  homines, 

deorsum  equi.  ''  Prseceptis  suiscoelum  promittunt,  ipsi  interim pulveris  terreni 

vilia  mancipia. 


DEMOCRITUS  TO  THE  READER.  53 

To  see  a  man  protest  friendship,  kiss  his  hand,  ^qnem 
mallet  irmicatum  videre,^  smile  with  an  intent  to  do  mischief, 
or  cozen  him  whom  he  sahites,  ^  magnifie  his  friend  unworthy 
with  hyberbolical  elogiums— his  enemy  albeit  a  good  man, 
to  vdifie  and  disgrace  him,  yea,  all  his  actions,  with  the  utmost 
livor  and  malice  he  can  invent. 

To  see  a  '^  servant  able  to  buy  out  his  master,  him  that  car- 
ries  the  mace  more  worth  than  the  magistrate;  which  Plato 
[lib.  11.  de  leg.)  absolutely  forbids,  Epictetus  abhors.  An 
horse  that  tills  the  ^land  fed  with  chaff,  an  idle  jade  have 
provender  in  abundance;  him  that  makes  shoos  go  bare-foot 
himself,  him  that  sells  meat  almost  pined;  a  toiling  drudo-e 
starve,  a  drone  flourish.  ° 

To  see  men  buy  smoke  for  wares,  castles  built  with  fools 
heads,  men  like  apes  follow  the  fashions,  in  tires,  oestures 
actions  :  if  the  king  laugh,  all  laugh  ;  *  ' 

-  Rides  ?  majore  cachinno 


Concutitur:  flet,  si  lacrymas  conspexit  amici. 

8  Alexander  stooped:  so  did  his  courtiers:  Alphonsus  turned 
his  head;  and  so  did  his  parasites.  •>  Sabina  Popptea,  Neros 
wife,  wore  amber-colour'd  hair;  so  did  all  the  Roman  ladies 
m  an  instant;  her  fashion  was  theirs. 

To  see  men  wholly  led  by  affection,  admired  and  censured 
out  of  opinion  without  judgement :  an  inconsiderate  multitude 
like  so  many  dogs  in  a  village,  if  one  bark,  all  bark  without 
a  cause  :  as  fortunes  fan  turns,  if  a  man  be  in  favour,  or  com- 
mended  by  some  great  one,  all  the  world  applauds  him  •  -if 
in  disgrace,  m  an  instant  all  hate  him,  and  as  the  sun  when 
he  IS  eclipsed,  that  er»5t  took  no  notice,  now  gaze,  and  stare 
upon  him.  ° 

To  see  a  ^  man  wear  his  brains  in  his  belly,  bis  guts  in  his 
head,  an  hundred  oaks  on  his  back,  to  devour  an  hundred 
oxen  at  a  meal;  nay  more,  to  devour  houses  and  towns,  or 
as  those  anthropophagi,  '  to  eat  one  another. 

Tosee  a  man  roll  himself  up,  like  a  snow-ball,frombase  beo-- 
garytorightworshipfulandrighthonourabletitles,unjustlyto 

Jj^Tf^  ^^''''  T    *"  ^^"^A^^  hominps,  ut  ssviant :  blandiri  ut  fallant.     Cyp. 

ad  Donatum.  c  Love  and  hate  are  like  the  two  ends  of  a  perspective  elasT 

rainistratur ;  servus  majores  opes  habens  quam  patronns.  ebui  terram  coTunt 

Srca'ic  os^^hX  t"'  ''"M'^''^-'  cabalii  ave^a  ,aginantur:  discaieeaTuTdircuS 
qiucalceosah.s  facit.  f  Jnven.  sBodiu.  lib.  4.  de  repub.  c.  6.  h  pjinju^' 

ill"  affLSil"  1  ^li^r ""  T'" t  ^^'^*°'" '^ 

luuni  anectareot  ■  Odit  damnatos.  Juv.  k  A^r  npa  ep.  28   1  7     Oimrnm 


54!  DEMOCRITUS    TO    THE    READER. 

screw  himself  into  honours  and  offices;  another  to  starve  liis 
ge7mis,  damn  his  soul,  to  gather  wealth,  which  he  shall  not  011- 
joy,  which  his  prodigal  ^son  melts  and  consumes  in  an  instat't. 

To  see  the  Ko(,Mt,-nXixv  of  our  times,  a  man  bend  all  his  forces, 
means,time,fortunes,  to  be  afavourites  favourites  favourite,&c. 
a  parasites  parasites  parasite,  that  may  scorn  the  servile  world, 
as  having  enough  already. 

To  see  an  hirsute  beggars  brat,that  lately  fed  on  scraps,crept 
and  whin'd,  crying  to  all,  and  for  an  old  jerkin  ran  of  errands, 
now  ruffle  in  silk  and  satten,  bravely  mounted,  jovial  and 
polite,  now  scorn  his  old  friends  and  familiars,  neglect  his 
kindred,  insult  over  his  betters,  domineer  over  all. 

To  see  a  scholar  crouch  and  creep  to  an  illiterate  peasant 
for  a  meals  meat ;  a  scrivener  better  paid  for  an  obligation, 
a  faulkner  receive  greater  wages  than  a  student ;  a  lawyer  get 
more  in  a  day,  than  a  philosoper  in  a  year  ;  better  reward  for 
an  hour,  than  a  scholar  for  a  twelve  nioneths  study ;  him  that 
can  ''  paint  Thais,  play  on  a  fiddle,  curl  hair,  &c.  sooner  get 
preferment  <han  a  philologer  or  a  poet. 

To  see  a  fond  mother,  like  ^Esops  ape,hug  her  child  to  death, 
a  *=  wittal  wink  at  his  wives  honesty,  and  too  perspicuous  in  all 
other  affairs ;  one  stumble  at  a  straw,  and  leap  over  a  block ; 
rob  Peter,  and  pay  Paul ;  scrape  unjust  summs  with  one  hand, 
purchase  great  manners  by  corruption,  fraud,  and  cozenage, 
and  liberally  to  distribute  to  the  poor  with  the  other,  give  a 
remnant  to  pious  uses,  &c. — penny  wise,  pound  foolish ;  blind 
men  judge  of  colours ;  Avise  men  silent,  fools  talk;  ^  find  fault 
with  others,  and  do  worse  themselves ;  *"  denounce  that  in 
public  which  he  doth  in  secret;  and  (which  Aurelius  Victor 
gives  out  of  Augustus)  severely  censures  that  in  a  third,  of 
which  he  is  most  guilty  himself. 

To  see  a  poor  fellow,  or  an  hired  servant,  venture  his  life  for 
his  new  master,  that  will  scarce  give  him  his  wages  at  years 
end ;  a  countrey  colone  toil  and  moil,  till  and  drudge  for  a  pro- 
digal idle  drone,  that  devours  all  the  gain,  ^r  lasciviously  con- 
sumes with  phantastical  expences  ;  a  noble  man  in  a  bravado 
to  encounter  death,  and,  for  a  small  flash  of  honour,  to  cast 
away  himself;  a  worldling  tremble  at  an  executor,  and  yet  not 
fear  hell-fire  ;  to  wish  and  hope  for  inmiortality,  desire  to  be 


'Absuraet  haeres  Csecuba  dignior  servata  centum  clavibus,  et  mero  distinguet 
pavimcntum  superbis  poiitificuin  potiore  coenis.  Hor.  b  Qui  Thaidem  pingere,  inflare 
tibiam,  crispare  crines.  cDoctus  spectare  lacunar.  ^  q^uHJus.  Est  enim  proprium 
stultitiae  aliorum  cernere  vitia,  oblivisci  suorum.  Idem  Aristippus  Charidemo  apnd 
Lucianum,     Omnino  stultitiaj  cujusdam  esse  puto,  &c.  «  Execrari  publice  quod 

occulte  agat.     Salvianus,  lib.  de  pro.    Acres  ulciscendis  vitiis  quibus  ipsi  vehementer 
indulgent. 


DEMOCRITUS    TO    THE    READER.  65 

happy,  and  yet  by  all  means  avoid  death,  a  necessary  passage 
to  bring  him  to  it. 

To  see  a  fool-hardy  fellow,  like  those  old  Danes,  fpii  decoi- 
lari  malunt  qnam  verberari^  dye  rather  than  be  punished,  in 
a  sottish  humour  imbrace  death  with  alacrity,  ''yet  scorn  to 
lament  his  own  sins  and  miseries,  or  his  dearest  friends  de- 
parture. 

To  see  wise  men  degraded,  fools  preferred,  one  govern 
towns  and  cities,  and  yet  a  silly  woman  over-rules  him  at 
home  ;  command  a  province,  and  yet  his  own  ''  servants  or 
children  prescribe  laws  to  him,  as  Themistocles  son  did  in 
Greece  ;  "  What  I  will  (said  he)  my  mother  xvill,  and  ivhat 
my  mother  will,  my  father  doth.  To  see  horses  ride  in  a 
coach,  men  draw  it;  dogs  devour  their  masters  ;  towers  build 
masons;  children  rule;  old  men  go  to  school ;  women  wear 
the  breeches  ;  ''sheep  demolish  towns,  devour  men,  &c.  and 
in  a  word,  the  world  turned  upside  downward.  O  !  viveret 
Democritus  ! 

•^To  insist  in  every  particular,  were  one  of  Hercules  labours; 
there's  so  many  ridiculous  instances,  as  motes  in  the  sun. 
Quantum  est  in  rebus  inane  !  And  who  can  speak  of  all  ? 
Crimine  ab  uno  disce  omnes  ;  take  this  for  a  taste. 

But  these  are  obvious  to  sense,  trivial  and  well  known,  easie 
to  be  discerned.  How  would  Democritus  have  been  moved, 
had  he  seen  *  the  secrets  of  their  hearts  !  If  every  man  had  a 
window  in  his  breast,  which  Momus>vould  havehad  in  Vulcan's 
man,  or  (that  which  Tully  so  much  wisht)  it  were  Avritten 
in  eveiy  mans  forehead,  Quid  quisqne  de  republicd  sentirei, 
what  he  thought;  or  that  it  could  be  effected  in  an  instant, 
which  Mercury  did  by  Charon  in  Lucian,  by  touching  of  his 
eyes,  to  make  him  discern  semel  et  simul  rumores  et  susurros, 

Spes  hominum  csecas,  morbos,  votumque,  labores, 
Et  passim  toto  volitantes  sethere  curas — 

Blind  hopes  and  wishes,  their  thoughts  and  affairs, 
Whispers  and  rumours,  and  those  flying  cares — 


»Adamu8,  eccl.  hist.  cap.  212.  Siquis  damnatus  fuerit,  Istus  esse  gloria  est ;  nam 
lacrymas,  et  planctum,  caeteraque  compiinctionumgen*ra,qu£e  nos  salubria  censeu»us,ita 
abominatur  l)ani,utnecpropeccatis  nee  pro  defnnctis  amicis  ulli  flere  liceat.  ''Orbi 
dat  leges  foris,  vix  famuliim  regit  sine  strepitu  donii.  «  Quidquid  ego  volo,  hoc  vult 
mater  raea,  et  quod  mater  vult,  facit  pater.  <^  Oves,  oliui  mite  pecus,  nunc  tarn 

indomitum  et  edax,  nt  homines  devoreiit,Sic.     Morus.  Utop.  lib.  1.  ^Diversos 

variis  tribuit  natura  furores.  fDemocrit.  ep.  prsed.      Hos  dejerantes  et  potantes 

deprehendet,  hos  voraentes.illos  litigantes,  insidias  molientes,  suflragantes  venena  mis- 
centes,  in  amicorum  apcusationem  subscriheutes,  hos  gloria^iilos  ambitione,  cupiditate, 
luente  captos,  &c. 


fi6  DEMOCniTUS    TO    THE    HEADER. 

that  be  could  cuhicnlornm  ohdnctas  fores  recludcre,  et  secrc- 
ta  cordium  penetrare,  (which  *  Cyprian  desired)  open  doors 
and  K>cks,  shoot  bolts,  as  Lucians  Gall  us  did  with  a  feather  of 
his  tail ;  or  Gyi>es  invisible  ring-,  or  some  rare  perspective 
glass,  or  otacousticon,  which  would  so  multiply  species,  that 
a  man  might  hear  and  see  all  at  once  (as  ''  Martianus  Capellas 
Jupiter  did  in  a  spear,  which  he  held  in  his  hand,  which  did 
present  unto  him  all  that  was  daily  done  upon  the  face  of  the 
earth)  observe  cuckolds  horns,  forgeries  of  alchymists,  the 
philosophers  stone,  new  projectors,  &c.  and  all  those  works  of 
darkness,  foolish  vows,  hopes,  fears,  and  wishes,  what  a  deal 
of  laughter  would  it  have  aflorded !  He  should  have  seen 
wind-mills,  in  one  mans  head,  an  hornets  nest  in  an  other. 
Or,  had  he  been  present  with  Icaromenippus  in  Lucian  at 
Jupiters  whispering  place,  '^  and  heard  one  pray  for  rain,another 
for  fair  weather ;  one  for  his  wives,  another  for  his  fathers 
death,  &c.  to  ask  that  at  Gods  hand,  ichich  they  are  abashed 
any  man  should  hear;  how  would  we  have  been  confounded  ! 
would  he,  tliiiik  you,  or  any  man  else,  say  that  these  men 
were  well  in  their  wits  ? 

Hgec  sani  esse  hominis  qui  sanusjuret  Orestes  ? 

Can  all  the  hellebore  in  the  Anticyraj  cure  these  men  ?     No, 
sure, ''  an  acre  oj'  hellebore  will  not  do  it. 

That  which  is  more  to  be  lamented,  they  are  mad  like  Se- 
necas  blind  woman,  and  will  not  acknowledge,  or  *'seek  for 
any  cure  of  it ;  for  pauci  vident  morhnm  suum,  omnes  amant. 
If  our  'leg  or  arm  oftend  us,  we  covet  by  all  means  possible  to 
redress  it ;  g  and  if  we  labour  of  a  bodily  disease,  we  send  for 
a  physician  ;  but,  for  the  diseases  of  the  mind,  we  take  no  no- 
tice of  them.  Lust  harrows  us  on  the  one  side,  envy,  anger, 
ambition  on  the  other.  We  are  torn  in  pieces  by  our  passions 
as  so  many  wild  horses,  one  in  disposition,  another  in  habit ; 
one  is  melancholy,  another  mad  ;  and  which  of  us  all  seeks 


^Ad  Donat.  ep.  2.  lib.  1.  O  si  posses  iu  specula  sublimi  constitutiis,  &c.  bLib. 
1.  de  niip.  Philol.  in  qua,  quid  singiili  natiouuin  populi  quotidianis  tnotibus  agitarent, 
reliicebat.  <=  Q  Jupiter !  contingat  iiiihi  auriim,  bajreditas,  &c.  Miiltos  da,  Jupiter, 
annos  !  Dementia  quanta  est  hominum  !  tur|jissima  vota  Diis  insusurrant:  si  quia 
adnioverit  aurein,  conticescunt ;  et  quod  scire  homines  nolnnt,  Deo  narrant.  Senec.  ep. 
10.  lib.  I.  ''Ptautus,  Menaech.  Non  potest  haec  res  heliebori  jugere  obtinerier. 

f  Eoque  gravior  morbus,  quo  ignotior  periclitanti.  f  Quae  laedunt  oculos,  festinas 

demere  ;  siquidEstanimura,  differs curandi  tempu*  in  annum.     Hon  sSicaput, 

crus  dolet,  brachium,  &c.  medicum  accersimus,  recte  et  honeste,  si  par  etiam  iodustria 
in  animi  morbisponeretur.  Job.  Peletiua  Jesuita.  lib.  2.  de  hum.  aftec.  morboniraque 
cura.  h  Et  quotusqiiisque  tamt-n  est,  qui  contra  tot  pestes  medicum  requirat,  vel 

aegrotare  se  agnoscat  ?  ebullit  ira,  &r.  Et  nos  tamen  a-grosesse  negamus.  Incolumes 
medicum  recusant. 


DEMOCRITUS    TO    THE    HEADER.  5/ 

for  help,  doth  acknowledge  his  error,  or  knows  he  is  sick? 
As  that  stupid  fellow  put  out  the  candle,  because  the  biting 
fleas  should  not  find  him  ;  he  shrouds  himself  in  an  unknown 
habit,  borrowed  titles,  because  no  body  should  discern  him. 
Every  man  thinks  with  himself,  eyomet  videor  mihi  samis,  I 
am  well,  I  am  wise,  and  laughs  at  others.  And  'tis  a  general 
fault  amongst  them  all,  that^'  which  our  fore- fathers  have  ap- 
proved, diet,  apparel,  opinions,  humours,  customs,  manners, 
we  deride  and  reject  in  our  time  as  absurd.  ''  Old  men  ac- 
count juniors  all  fools,  when  they  are  mere  dizards ;  and  (as, 
to  sailers, 

terrseque  urbesque  recedunt 

they  move ;  the  land  stand  still)  the  world  hath  much  more 
wit ;  they  dote  themselves.  Turks  deride  us,  we  them ; 
Italians  Frenchmen,  accounting  them  light  headed  fellows  ; 
the  French  scoff  again  at  Italians,  and  at  their  several  cus- 
toms :  Greeks  have  condemned  all  the  world  but  themselves 
of  barbarism ;  the  world  as  much  vilifies  them  now :  we  ac- 
count Germans  heavy,  dull  fellows,  explode  many  of  their 
fashions;  they  as  contemptibly  think  of  us;  Spaniards  laugh 
at  all,  and  all  again  at  them.  So  are  we  fools  and  ridiculous, 
absurd  in  our  actions,  carriages,  dyet,  apparel,  customs  and 
consultations ; "  we  scoff  and  point  one  at  another,  when  as,  in 
conclusion,  all  are  fools,  "^and  they  the  veriest  asses  that  hide 
their  ears  most.  A  private  man,  if  he  be  resolved  with  him- 
self, or  set  on  an  opinion,  account  all  ideots  and  asses  that 
are  not  affected  as  he  is, 

« (nil  rectum,  nisi  quod  placuit  sibi,  ducit) 

that  are  not  so  minded,  ^(cpiodqne  volunt  homines,  se  bene  velle 
jnitant)  all  fools  that  think  not  as  he  doth.  He  will  not  say 
with  Atticus,  suam  qulsqne  spon^avi,  mihi  meant,  let  every 
man  enjoy  his  own  spouse  ;  but  his  alone  is  fair,  siais  amor, 
^•c.  and  scorns  all  in  respect  of  himself,  ?  will  imitate  none,hear 
none  ''but  himself,  as  Pliny  said,  a  law  and  example  to  him- 
self. And  that  which  Hippocrates,  in  his  epistle  to  Dionysius, 
reprehended  of  old,  is  verified  in  our  times,  Quisque  in  alio 
snperfliinm  esse  censet,  ipse  quod  non  habet,  nee  curat  ;  that 
Mhicn  he  hath  not  himself  or  doth  not  esteem,  he  accounts 
superfluity,  an  idle  quality,  a  mere  foppery  in  another;  like 
^Esops  fox,  when  he  had  lost  his  tail,  would  have  all  his 
fellow  foxes  cut  off  theirs.      The  Chinese  say  that  we  Euro- 

=<  Preesena  aetas  stultitiam  priscis  exprobrat  Bud.  de  affec.  lib.  5.  *"  Senas 

pro  staltis  habent  JQvenes.  Balth.     Cast.  <- Clodios  accusal  moschos 

"*  Omnium  stultissimi  qui  anriculasstudiose  tegunt.  Sat.  Menip.  ''  Hor.  Epist.  2. 

f  Prosper.  S  Statint  sapiunt,  statiDi  gciunt,  neminem  reverentur,  neminem  imi- 

tantur,  ipsi  sibi  exemplo.  Piiu.  ep.  lib.  8.  *>  Nulli  ^IterJ  sapere  concedit,  ae 

desipere  videatur.    Agrip. 


58  DEMOCRITUS  TO  THE  READER. 

peans  have  one  eye,  they  themselves  two,  all  the  world  else  is 
blind  (though  ^Scaliger  accounts  them  brutes  too,  meriim 
pecus) :  so  thou  and  thy  sectaries  are  only  wise,  others  indiffer- 
ent ;  the  rest, beside  themselves,  meer  ideots  and  asses.  Thus 
not  acknowledging  our  own  errors  and  imperfections,  we  se- 
curely deride  others,  as  if  we  alone  were  free,  and  spectators  of 
the  rest,  accounting  it  an  excellent  thing,  as  indeed  it  is, 
aliend  optimum  Jrui  insanid,  to  make  our  selves  merry  with 
other  mens  obliquities,  when  as  he  himself  is  more  faulty  than 
the  rest :  mutato  nomine,  tie  tej'abula  nari'atur :  he  may  take 
himself  by  the  nose  for  a  fool ;  and,  which  one  calls  maximum 
stultitice  specimen,  to  be  ridiculous  to  others,  and  not  to  per- 
ceive or  take  notice  of  it,  as  Marsyas  when  he  contended  with 
Apollo,  non  intelligens  se  deridiculo  haberi,  saith  ''  Apuleius  ; 
'tis  his  own  cause ;  he  is  a  convict  mad-man,  as  "^  Austin 
well  infers  :  In  the  eyes  of' wise  men  and  angds  he  seems  like 
one,  that  to  our  thinking  icalks  icith  his  heels  upwards.  So 
thou  laughest  at  me,  and  I  at  thee,  both  at  a  third  ;  and  he  re- 
turns that  of  the  poet  upon  us  again,  ^  Hei  nihi !  iusanire 
me  aiunt,  quum  ipsi  uttro  insaniant.  We  accuse  others  of  mad- 
ness, of  folly,  and  are  the  veriest  dizards  our  selves :  for  it  is 
a  great  sign  and  property  of  a  fool  (which  Eccl.  10.  3.  points 
at),  out  of  pride  and  self-conceit,  to  insult,  vilifie,  condemn, 
censure,  and  call  other  men  fools  (Mon  videmus  manticcs  quod 
a  tergo  est),  to  tax  that  in  others,  of  which  we  are  most  faulty ; 
teach  that  which  we  follow  not  our  selves;  for  an  inconstant 
man  to  write  of  constancy,  a  prophane  liver  prescribe  rules  of 
sanctity  and  piety,  a  dizard  himself  make  a  treatise  of  wis- 
dom, or,  with  Sallust,  to  rail  down-right,  at  spoilers  of  coun- 
treys,  and  yet  in  "  office  to  be  a  most  grevious  poller  himself. 
This  argues  weakness,  and  is  an  evident  sign  of  such  parties 
indiscretion.  ^  Peccat  uter  nostrum  ctuce  diqnius?  Who  is 
the  fool  now  ?  Or  else  peradventure  in  some  places  we  are  ^  all 
mad  for  company ;  and  so  'tis  not  seen  :  societas  erroris  et 
dementice  jmriter  absurditatem  et  admiratiojiem  tollit.  'Tis 
with  us,  as  it  was  of  old  (in  ''Tullies  censure  at  least)  with  C. 
Fimbria  in  Rome,  a  bold,  hair-brained,  mad  fellow,  and  so 
esteemed  of  all,  such  only  excepted,  that  were  as  mad  as  him- 
self: now  in  such  a  case  there  is  no  notice  taken  of  it. 


aOmnisorbis  ......  a  Persia  ad  Lusitanium.  b  2  Florid.  «  August. 

Qualis  in  oculis  hominum  qui  inversis  pcdibus  atnbulat,  talis  in  oculis  sapientum  et 
angelorum  qui  sibi  placet,  aut  cui  passiones  dominantur.  J  Plautus,  Menaechmi. 

«Govemaur  of  Africk  by  Caesars  appointment.  fNunc  sanitatis  patrocinium  est 

insanientium  turba.  Seu.  sPro  Roscio  Amerino.     Et,  quod  inter  omnes  constat, 

insanissimus,  nisi  inter  eos,  qui  ipsi  quoque  insaniunt.  '■  Necesse  est  cum  iasani- 

entibus  fnrere,  nisi  soIhs  relinqueris.     Petrouius. 


DEMOCRITUS  TO  THE  READER.  59 

Nimirum  insanus  paucis  videatur,  eo  quod 
Maxima  pars  hominum  morbo  jactatur  eodcm. 

When  all  are  mad,  where  all  are  like  opprest, 
Who  can  discern  one  mad  man  from  the  rest  ? 

But  put  tlie  case  they  do  perceive  it  and  some  one  be  mani- 
festly convict  of  madness ;  "  he  now  takes  notice  of  his  folly, 
be  it  in  action,  gesture,  speech,  a  vain  humour  he  hath  in 
building",  bragging,  jangling,  spending,  gaming,  courting, 
scribling,  prating,  for  which  he  is  ridiculous  to  others,  ''on 
w  hich  he  dotes ;  he  doth  acknowledge  as  much  :  yet,  with  all 
the  rhetorick  thou  hast,  thou  canst  not  so  recall  him,  but,  to 
the  contrary,  notwithstanding,  he  will  persevere  in  his  dotage. 
'Tis  amahilis  insania,  et  mentis  gratissinms  error,  so  pleasing, 
so  delicious,  that  he  ^  cannot  leave  it.  He  knows  his  error, 
but  will  not  seek  to  decline  it.  Tell  him  what  the  event  will 
be,  beggary,  sorrow,  sickness,  disgrace,  shame,  loss,  mad- 
ness; yet  ^an  angry  man  will  prej'er  vengeance,  a  lascivious 
his  whore,  a  thief  his  booty,  a  glutton  his  belly,  bejore  his 
icelf'are.  Tell  an  epicure,  a  covetous  man,  an  ambitious 
man,  of  his  irregular  course ;  wean  him  from  it  a  little,  (Pol! 
me  occidistis,  amici  ! )  he  cryes  anon,  you  have  undone  him  ; 
and,  as  "^  a  dog  to  his  vomit,  he  returns  to  it  again  :  no  per- 
swasion  will  take  place,  no  counsel :  say  what  thou  canst, 

Clames,  licet,  et  mare  cselo 


Confundas, surdo  narras  : 

demonstrate,  as  Ulysses  did  to  ^^^Elpenorand  Gryllus  and  the 
rest  of  his  companions  those  sicinish  men,  he  is  irrefragable 
in  his  humour ;  he  will  be  a  hog  still  :  bray  him  in  a  morter ; 
he  will  be  the  same.  If  he  be  in  an  heresie,  or  some  perverse 
opinion,  settled  as  some  of  our  ignorant  papists  are,  convince 
his  understanding,  shew  him  the  several  follies  and  absurd 
fopperies  of  that  sect,  force  him  to  say,  veris  vincor,  make  it 
as  clear  as  the  sun,  s  he  will  err  still,  peevish  and  obstinate 
as  he  is;  and  as  he  said,  ^ si  in  hoc  erro,  lihenter  erro,  nee 
hunc  error  em  aiiferri  mihi  volo ;  I  will  do  as  I  have  done, 
as  my  predecessors  have  done,  'and  as  my  friends  now  do:  I 
will  dote  for  company.     Say  now,  are  these  men  ^  mad  or 

*  Quoniam  non  est  genns  unum  stultitise,  qua  me  insanire  putas?      bStoltam  me 
fateor,  liceat  concedere  venim,  Atqne  itiara  insanum.     Hor.  cQdi :  nee  possum 

cupiens  non  esse  quod  odi.  Ovid.  Errore  grato  libenter  omnes  insanimus.  ^  Ama- 
tor  scortum  vitae  pr^ponit,  iracundus  vindictam,  fur  pradam,  parisatus  gnlam,  ara- 
bitiosus  honores,  avarus  opes,  &c.  odimus  haec  et  accersiraus.  Cardan.  1.  2.  de 
conso.  >?  Prov.  2G.  11.         'Plutarch.     Gryllo.  suilli  homines, sic  Clem.  Alex.  vo. 

gNon  persuadebis,  etiamsi  persuaseris.  t'Tully.  '  Malo  cum  illis  insanire, 

qnam  cum  aliis  bene  sentire.  i^Qui  inter  hos  enutriontur,  non  magis  sapere  pos- 

sunt,  qtiam  qui  in  culiua  bene  olere.     Petron.     _, 


60  DEMOCRITUS  TO  THE  READER. 

no  ?  ^  Heus,  affe,  responds  !  are  they  ridiculous  ?  cedo  quemvis 
arbitrum  ;  are  they  sance  mentis,  sober,  wise,  and  discreet  ? 
have  they  common  sense  ? 

''uter  est  insanior  horum  ? 

I  am  of  Democritus  opinion,  for  my  part ;  I  hold  thern  worthy 
to  be  laughed  at :  a  company  of  brain-sick  dizards,  as  mad 
as  •=  Orestes  and  Athamas,  that  they  may  go  ride  the  ass,  and 
all  sail  along  to  the  Anticyrs,  in  the  skip  of'  fools,  for  com- 
pany together.  I  need  not  much  labour  to  prove  this  which 
I  say,  otherwise  than  thus,  make  any  solemn  protestation,  or 
swear  ;  I  tliink  you  will  believe  me  without  an  oath  ;  say  at  a 
word,  are  they  fools?  I  refer  it  to  you,  though  you  be  likewise 
fools  and  madmen  yourselves,  and  I  as  mad  to  ask  the  ques- 
tion :  for  what  said  our  comical  Mercury  ? 

^  Justum  ab  injustis  petere  insipientiaest. 

rie  stand  to  your  censure  yet,  what  think  you? 

But,  for  as  much  as  I  undertook  at  first,  that  kingdoms, 
provinces,  families,  were  melancholy  as  well  as  private  men, 
I  will  examine  them  in  particular ;  and  that  which  I  have 
hitherto  dilated  at  random,  in  more  general  terms,  I  will  par- 
ticularly insist  in,  prove  with  more  special  and  evident  argu- 
ments, testimonies,  illustrations,  and  that  in  brief. 

e  Nunc  accipe,  quare 

Desipiant  omnes  seque  ac  tu. 

My  first  argument  is  borrowed  from  Solomon,  an  arrow 
drawn  out  of  his  sententious  quiver,  Prov.  3.  7.  be  not  wise 
in  thine  own  eyes.  And  26.  12.  ^ Seest  thou  a  man  wise  in 
his  own  conceit  ?  more  hope  is  of  a  fool  than  of  him.  Isaiah 
pronounceth  a  woe  against  such  men,  (cap.  5.  21.)  that  are 
wise  in  their  own  eyes,  and  prudent  in  their  own  sight.  For 
hence  we  may  gather,  that  it  is  a  great  offence,  and  men  are 
much  deceived  that  think  too  well  of  themselves,  and  an  espe- 
cial argument  to  convince  them  of  folly.  Many  men  (saith 
s  Seneca)  had  been  without  question  wise,  had  they  not  had  an 
opinion  that  they  had  attained  to  perfection  of  knowledge  al- 
ready, even  before  they  had  gone  halfway,  too  forward,  too 
ripe,  prtBproperi,  too  quick  and  ready,  ^  cito  prudentes,  cite 
p'ii,  cito  mariti,  cito  patres,  cito  sacerdotes,  cito  omnis 
officii  capaces  et  curiosi  :  they  had  too  good  a  con- 
ceit of  themselves,    and  that   marred  all — of  their  worth, 

»Persius.  ''Hor.  2,  ser.  cVesanum  exagitantpueri,  innuptseque  pnellse. 

d  Plautus.  e  Hor.  I.  2.  sat.  2.  f  Superbam  stultitiam  Plinius  vocat.  7.  ep.  21. 

quod  semel  dixi,  fixum  ratumque  sit.  gMulti  sapientes  procnldubio  fuissent,  si 

sese  non  putassent  ad  sapientise  summum  pervenisse.  hidem. 


DEMOCRITUS    TO    THE    READER.  6l 

valour,  skill,  art,  learning,  judgement,  eloquence,  their  good 
parts  :  all  tlieir  geese  are  swans  :  and  that  manifestly  proves 
them  to  be  no  better  than  fools.  In  former  times  they  had  but 
seven  wise  nien  ;  now  you  can  scarce  find  so  many  fools. 
Thales  sent  the  golden  tripos^  which  the  fisherman  found,  and 
the  oracle  commanded  to  be  ^given  to  the  wisest,  to  Bias, 
Bias  to  Solon,  &c  If  such  a  thing  Avere  now  found,  Ave 
should  all  fight  for  it,  as  the  three  goddesses  did  for  the  golden 
apple— we  are  so  wise  :  we  have  women-politicians,  children 
metaplj^'sicians :  every  silly  fellow  can  square  a  circle,  make 
perpetual  motions,  find  the  philosophers  stone,  interpret  Apo- 
calypsis,  make  new  theoricks,  a  new  systeme  of  the  Avorld, 
new  logick,  new  philosophy,  &c.  Nostra  nti(pterprpo,stiit\i 
''Petronius,  our  covnlrey  is  so  Jull  oj' deijied  spirits,  divine 
souls,  that  you  may  sooner  find  a  God  than  a  man  amongst  us; 
we  think  so  well  of  our  selves,  and  that  is  an  ample  testimony 
of  much  folly. 

My  second  argument  is  grounded  upon  the  like  place  of 
Scripture,  whicii,  though  before  mentioned  in  eflfect,  yet  for 
some  reasons  is  to  be  repeated  (and,  by  Platos  good  leave,  I 
may  <lo  it :  '■^<?tox«Xov  ^Sev  hJev  /SxaTm/)  I^ools  (saith  David) 
by  reason  oj' their  transyressions,  Sfc.  Psal.  107.  IJ-  Hence 
Muscuius  inferrs,  all  transgressors  must  needs  be  fools.  So 
we  read  Ivom.  2.  Trihulation  and  anyuish  on  the  soul  of 
every  man  that  doth  evil ;  but  all  do  evil.  And  Isai.  65.  14. 
31y  servants  shall  sing  for  joy,  and  "^  ye  shall  cry  for  sorrow 
of  heart,  and  vexation  of  mind.  'Tis  ratified  by  the  com- 
mon consent  of  all  philosophers.  Dishonesty  {sahh  Cardan) 
is  nothing  else  but  folly  and  madness.  ^  Probus  quis  nobiscum 
vivit?  Shew  me  an  honest  man.  JVemo  malus,  qui  non 
stultus :  'tis  Fabius  aphorism  to  the  same  end.  If  none 
honest,  none  wise,  then  all  fools.  And  well  may  they  be  so 
accounted :  for  who  will  account  him  otherwise,  qui  iter 
adornat  in  occidentem,  quum properaret  in  orientem  ?  that  goes 
backward  all  his  life,  Avestward  Avhen  he  is  bound  to  the  east? 
or  holds  him  a  Avise  man  (saith  'Muscuius)  thit  prefers 
momentary  phasures  to  eternity,  that  spends  his  masters  goods 
in  his  absence, forthwith  to  be  condemnedfor  it  ?  Necquidquani 
sapit,  qui  sibi  non  sapit.  Who  will  say  that  a  sick  man  is 
Avise,  that  eats  and  drinks  to  overthroAv  the  temperature 
oi  his  body  ?     Can  you  account  him  Avise  or  discreet  that 


^Pliitarchus,  Solone.  Dctiir  sapientiori.  ^Tabv  praesentibiis  plena  est  nnmiiiibas, 
lit  facilius  possis  Deiim  qnani  hoiuinem  invenire.  c  Pulchriim  bis  dicere  non  nocet 
d  Malefactors.  «-  W  lio  can  find  a  faithful  man  ?  Prov.  'lO.  6.         flu  Psal.  49.     Qui 

praefert  monientanea  sempiternis,  qnidilapidat  heri  absentis  boua,inox  in  jus  vocandus 
et  daninaudus. 


62  DEMOCRITUS  TO  THE  READER. 

would  willingly  have  his  health,  and  yet  will  do  nothing  that 
should  procure  or  continue  it?  ^Theodoret,  (out  of  Plotinus 
the  Platonist)  holds  it  a  ridiculous  thing  for  a  man  to  live 
after  his  own  laws,  to  do  that  w>hich  is  offensive  to  God,  and 
yet  to  hope  that  he  should  save  him  ;  and,  when  he  voluntarily 
neglects  his  own  safety,  and  contemns  the  means,  to  think 
to   he  delivered  by  another.       Who  will  say  these  men  are 


wise 


1 


A  third  argument  may  be  derived  from  the  precedent.  ^  All 
men  are  carried  away  with  passion,  discontent,  lust,  pleasures, 
&c.  They  generally  hate  those  vertues  they  should  love,  and 
love  such  vices  they  should  hate  Therefore  more  than  melan- 
choly, quite  mad,  bruitbeasts,  and  void  of  reason,  (soChrysos- 
tome  contends)  or  rather  dead  and  buried  alive,  as  "  Philo 
Juda?us  concludes  it  for  a  certainty,  of  all  such  that  are  carried 
away  with  passions,  or  labour  of  any  disease  of  the  mind.  Where 
is  fear  and  sorrow,  there  (''Lactantius  stifly  maintains)  wisdom 
cannot  divell. 

qui  cupiet,  metuet  quoque  porro. 

Qui  metuens  vivit,  liber  mihi  non  erit  unquam. 

Seneca  and  the  rest  of  the  Stoicks  are  of  opinion,  that,  where 
is  any  the  least  perturbation,  wisdom  may  not  be  found. 
What  more  ridiculous,  (as  ''Lactantius  urgeth)  than  to 
hear  how  Xerxes  whipped  the  Hellespont,  threatened  the 
mountain  Athos,  and  the  like  ?  To  speak  ad  rem,  who  is 
free  from  passion  ?  ^  Mortalis  nemo  est,  quem  non  attingat 
dolor  morbusve,  (as  s  Tully  determines  out  of  an  old  poem) 
no  mortal  men  can  avoid  sorrow  and  sickness  ;  and  sorrow  is 
an  unseparable  companion  of  melancholy.  ^  Chrysostome 
pleads  farther  yet,  that  they  are  more  than  mad,  very  beasts, 
stupified,  and  void  of  common  sense  :  for  how  (saith  he) 
shall  I  know  thee  to  be  a  man,  when  thou  kickest  like  an  ass^ 
neighest  like  an  horse  after  tcomen,  ravest  in  lust  like  a  hull, 
ravenest  like  a  bear,  stingest  like  a  scorpion,  rakest  like  a  icolf, 


^  Perquam  ridicnlum  est  homines  ex  animi  sententia  vivere,  et,  quae  Diis  in- 
grata  sunt,  exequi,  et  tamen  a  solis  Diis  velle  salvos  fieri,  quum  propriaj  salatis 
curam  abjecerint.      Theod.  c.  6.  de  provid.  lib.  de  curat.  Grajc.  affect.  h  Sa- 

piens, sibi  qui  iniperiosus,  &c.      Hor.  2.  Ser.  7.  <^  Conclus.  lib.  de  vie.  offer. 

Certum  est  animi  morbis  laborantes  pro  mortuis  censendos.  dLib.  de  sap. 

Ubi   timor  adest,   sapientia   adesse   nequit.  *"  Quid  insanius  Xerxe  Helles- 

pontum  verberante  ?  &c.  f  Eccles.  21.  12.     Where  is  bitterness,  there  is  no 

nnderstanding^.      Prov.  12.   16.     An  angry  man  is  a  fool.  §3  Tusc.  Injuria  in 

sapientem  non  cadit.  '>  Horn.  6.  in  2  Epist.  ad  Cor.  Hominem  te  agnoscere 

nequeo,  cum  tamquam  asinus  recalcitres,  lascivias  ut  taurus,  hinnias  nt  equus 
post  mulieres,  ut  ursus  ventri  indulgeas,  quum  rapias  ut  lupus,  8cc.  At  (inquis) 
formam  hominis  habeo.  Id  niagis  territ,  quum  ferara  humana  specie  vidcre  me 
putem. 


DEMOCRITUS    TO    THE    HEADER.  63 

as  subfile  as  a  fox,  as  impudent  as  a  dog  ?  Shall  I  say  tJiou  art 
a  man,  thou  hast  all  the  symplomes  of  a  beast  ?  How  shall  I 
know  thee  to  be  a  man  ?  By  thy  shape  ?  That  affrights  me 
more,  tvhen  I  see  a  beast  in  likeness  of  a  man. 

""  Seneca  calls  that  of  Epicurus,  maynificam  vocem,  an  he- 
roical  speech,  a  fool  still  begins  to  live,  and  accounts  it 
a  filthy  liohtness  in  men,  every  day  to  lay  new  foundations 
of  their  life  :  but  who  doth  otherwise  ?  One  travels  ;  another 
builds  ;  one  for  this,  another  for  that  business ;  and  old  folks 
areas  far  out  as  the  rest:  O  dementem  senectutem  !  Tully 
exclaims.  Therefore  young,  old,  middle  age,  all  are  stupid, 
and  dote. 

''^Eneas  Sylvius,  amongst  many  others,  sets  down  three 
special  wayes  to  find  a  fool  by.  He  is  a  fool  that  seeks  that 
he  can  notfind:  he  is  a  fool  that  seeksthat,  which, being  found, 
will  do  him  more  harm  than  good  :  he  is  a  fool,  that,  having 
variety  of  ways  to  bring  him  to  his  journeys  end,  takes  that 
which  is  worst.  If  so,  me  thinks  most  men  are  fools.  Examine 
their  courses,  and  you  shall  soon  perceive  what  dizards  and 
mad  meii  the  major  part  are. 

Beroaldusv/ili  have  d.iunkards,  afternoon-men,  and  such  as 
more  than  ordinarily  delight  in  drink,  to  be  mad.  The  first 
pot  quencheth  titirst  (so  Panyasis  the  poet  determines  in 
Athenjeus):  secnnda  Gratiis,  Moris,  et  Dionysio — the  second 
makes  merry  :  the  third  for  pleasure :  quarta  ad  insaniam, 
the  fourth  makes  them  mad.  If  this  position  be  true,  what 
a  catalogue  of  mad  men  shall  we  have  !  what  shall  they  be 
that  drink  foiu'  times  four?  JVonne  supra  omnen  fnrorem^ 
supra  omncm  insaniam,  rcddunt  insanissimos  ?  I  am  of  his 
opinion,  they  are  more  than  mad,  much  worse  than  mad. 

The  ^Abderites  condemned  Democritus  for  a  mad  man,  be- 
cause he  was  sometimes  sad,  and  sometimes  again  profusely 
merry.  Hac  patrid  (saith  Hippocrates)  ob  risumfurere  et  iu- 
sanire  dicunt :  his  countrey  men  hold  him  mad,  because  he 
laughs  ;  ^  and  therefore  he  desires  him  to  advise  all  his  friends 
at  Rhodes,  thai  they  do  not  laugh  too  much,  or  he  over  sad. 
Had  those  Abderites  been  conversant  with  us,  and  but  seen 
what  "^  fleering  and  grinning  there  is  in  this  age,  they  would 
certainly  have  concluded,  we  had  been  all  out  of  our  wits. 


aEpist.  1.  2.  13.        Stultns  semper  incipit  ^^vere.     Fceda  hominiiin  levitas  !  nova 
quotidie  fiindamenta  yitai  ponere,  novas  spes,  &c.  '' De  ciirial.  miser.     Stiiltus. 

qui  qnrerit  quod  nequit  invenire,  st'dtus  qui  quffirit  quod  nocet  iuventuiu,  stultus  qui 
cum  plures  hahet  calles,  deteriorem  deligit.  Mihi  videntur  onines  deliri,  ameutes, 
&c.  «  Ep.  Damageto.  '^  Amicis  nostris  Rhodi  dicito,  ne  nimiura  rideant, 

aut  nitniutn  tristes  sint.  '■  Per  multum  risum  poteris  cojjuoscere  stultum. 

Offic.  3.  c.  9. 


64-  DEMOCRITUS     TO    THE     READER. 

Aristotle,  in  liis  Ethicks,  hohXn,  J elix  idemcine  sapiens,  to  be 
wise  and  happy,  rre  reciprocal  terms.  Bonus  idevicpte  sapiens 
honesUis.  'Tis  ''Tallies  paradox:  wise  men  are  free,  hut 
fools  are  slaves:  liberty  is  a  power  to  live  according  to  his 
own  laws,  as  mc  will  ourselves.  Who  hath  this  liberty? 
Who  is  free  ? 

-^  sapiens  sibique  imperiosus. 


Quern  neque  paiiperies,  neqne  mors,  neque  vincula  terrenl ; 
Responsare  cupidinibus,  contemnere  honores 
Fortis,  et  in  seipso  totus  teres  atque  rotundus. 

He  is  wise  that  can  command  his  own  will. 
Valiant  and  constant  to  himself  still. 
Whom  poverty,  nor  death,  nor  bands  can  fright, 
Checks  his  desires,  scorns  honours,  just  and  right. 

But  where  shall  such  a  man  be  found?  if  no  where,  then  e 
diametro,  we  all  are  slaves,  senseless,  or  worse^     Nemo  malus 
felix.     But  no  man  is  happy  in  this  life,  none  good  ;  there- 
fore no  man  wise. 

•^  Rari  quippe  boni 

For  one  vertue,  you  shall  find  ten  vices  in  the  same  party — 
paud  Promethei,  multi  Epimethei.  We  may  perad venture 
usurp  the  name,  or  attribute  it  to  others  for  favour,  as  Carolus 
Sapiens,  Philippus  Bonus,  Ludovicus  Pius,  &c.  and  describe 
the  properties  of  a  wise  man,  asTullydoth  an  orator,  Xeno- 
phon  Cyrus,  Castilio  a  courtier,  Galen  temperament ;  an 
aristocracy  is  described  by  politicians.  But  where  shall  such 
a  man  be  found  ? 

Vir  bonus  et  sapiens,  qualem  vix  repperit  unum 
Millibus  e  multis  hominum  consultus  Apollo. 

A  wise,  a  good  man  in  a  million, 
Apollo  consulted  could  scarce  find  one. 

A  man  is  a  miracle  of  himself:  but  Trismegistus  adds,  maxi- 
mum miraculum  homo  sapiens :  a  wise  man  is  a  wonder  :  miilti 
thyrsicferi,  panci  Bacchi. 

Alexander,  when  he  was  presented  with  thatrich  and  costly 
casket  of  King  Darius,  and  every  man  advised  him  what  to 
put  in  it,  he  reserved  it  to  keep  Homers  works,  as  the  most 
precious  jewel  of  humane  wit :  and  yet  ^  Scaliger  upbraids 
Homers  Muse,  nutricem  insance  sapiential,  a  nursery  of 
madness,  '^  imjjudent  as  a  court  lady,  that  blushes  at  nothing. 
Jacobus  Micyllus,  Gilbertus  Cognatus,  Erasmus,  and  almost 

a  Sapientes  liberi,  stulti  aervi.     Libertas  est  potestas,  &c.  b  Hor.  2.  ser  7. 

cjnven.    ,       JHypercrite.  ^ Ut  mulier  aulica  nullias  pudens. 


DRMOCRITUS    TO    THE    RriADRR.  65 

all  posterity,  admire  Luciaiis  luxuriant  wit:  yet  .Seal iger  re- 
jects him  in  liis  censure,  and  cails  liiui  flie  Cerberus  of  the 
Muses.  Socrates,  wliom  a!!  t!;e  wor/d  so  much  magnified,  is, 
by  Lactantius  and  Theodoret,  condemned  Tor  a  fo(d.  Phitaich 
extolls  Senecns  wit  beyond  a!!  the  Greeks — iinUl  secmidns : 
yet  "  Senega  saith  of  himself,  lahen  \  would  solace  my  self' 
v-ith  (I  J'ool,  I  refect  upon  my  sflj' ;  and  there  I  have  him. 
Cardan,  in  his  sixteenth  book  ofSubtilties,  reckons  up  twelve 
supereminent,  acute  philosophers,  for  worth,  subtlety,  and 
wisdom — Archimedes,  Galen,  Vitruvius,Arc!iytas  Tarentinus, 
Euclide,  Geber,  thr.t  first  inventer  of  alg-ebra,  Aikindus  the 
nratliematiciau,  both  Arabians,  with  others.  But  his  trinmviri 
t^rranim.  \\\x  i>eyond  the  rest,  the  Ptolemajus,  Plotinus,  Hippo- 
crates. Scaliger  (exercitat.  2^4)  scoffs  at  this  censure  of 
his,  calls  some  of  them  carpenters,  and  mechanicians  :  he 
makes  Galen  fitiihriain  Hippocraiis,  a  skirt  of  Hippocrates  : 
and  the  said ''  Cardan  himself  elscM  here  condemns  both  Galen 
and  Hippocrates  for  ledious.iess,  obscurity ,  confusion.  Para- 
celsus will  l^ave  them  both  meer  ideots,  infants  in  physick  and 
philosophy,  ScaligerandCardan admire Suissetthe calculator, 
qui  pene  modnm  exce.ssit  hiimivii  ingenii  ;  and  yet  "  Lud.  Vivas 
calls  them  rmyas  Snisseticas :  and  Cardan  opposite  to  him- 
self in  another  place,  contemns  those  antients  in  respect  of 
times  present,  "^^  major  esq  .le  7iostros^  ad  prccscutes  collatos, 
juste  pneros  appellari.  In  conclusion,  the  said  ^  Cardan  and 
Saint  Bernard  will  admit  none  into  this  catalogue  of  wise  men, 
n)ut  only  proj)]!ets  and  apostles  :  how  th.ey  esteem  themselves, 
you  have  heard  before.  We  are  worldly-wise,  admire  our 
selves,  and  seek  for  applause:  but  hear  Saint  ^Bernard,  quanta 
magis Joras  es  sapiens,  tanto  magis  intus  stultvs  efficeris,  S^c. 
in  omnibus  es  prudens,  circa  teipsum  insipiens :  the  more 
wise  thou  art  to  others,  the  more  fool  to  thy  self.  I  may 
not  deny  but  that  there  is  some  folly  approved,  a  divine  fury, 
a  holy  madiiess.,  even  a  spiritual  drunkenness  in  the  saints 
of  God  thomselves :  Sanclam  insaniam  Bernard  calls  it, 
(though  not,  as  blaspheming  '' Vorstitus  would  inferr  it  as 
a  passion  incident  to  God  himstlf,  but)  familiar  to  good 
men,  as  that  of  Paul,  52  Cor.  he  urns  a  fool,  S^c.  and  Rom. 
9.  he  wiseth  himself  to  he  undtJiematized  J'or  them.  Such 
is  that  drunkenness  which    Ficinus    speaks   of,    v/hen  the 


''Epist.    33.   Qiiaiido  futuo  delectiri  volo,  noa  est  longe  qiia*rcntlu3 ;    me  video. 
''Priino  contradicenHum.  ^Lil).  de  caiissis  corrupt,  artiiiin.  ''Actione  ad 

subtil,  in  Seal.  fol.  Y2.  -2(3.  c  Lib.  1.  de  sap.  'Vide,  miser  houio,  quia 

totuin  est  vanitas,  toluni  stultitia,  totum  dementia,  quidquid  facisiu  hoc  niundo,  prajter 
hoc  solum  quod  propter  Deuin  fucis.     Ser.  de  miser,  liom.  b'  In  2  Platonis,  dial. 

1.  de  jnsto.  I'Dum  irain  et  odium  in  Deo  revera  ponit. 

VOL.    I  F 


66  DEMOCRITUS  TO  THE  READER. 

soul  is  elevated  and  ravished  with  a  divine  taste  of  that  heavenly 
nectar,  which  the  poets  deciphered  by  the  sacrifice  of  Diony- 
sius,  and  in  this  sense,  with  the  poet,  ^  insanire  luhet :  as  Austin 
exhorts  us,  ad  ebrietatem  se  quisque  paret ;  let's  all  be  mad 
and  ''drunk.  But  we  commonly  mistake  and  go  beyond  our 
commission  :  we  reel  to  the  opposite  part ;  "  we  are  not  capa- 
ble of  it ;  '^and,  as  he  said  of  the  Greeks,  Vos  Grasci  semper 
pueri,  vos  Britanni,  Gallic  Germani,  Itali,  Sfc.  you  are  a  com- 
pany of  fools. 

Proceed  now  a  partibus  ad  totnm,  or  from  the  whole  to 
parts,  and  you  shall  find  no  other  issue.  The  parts  shall  be 
sufficiently  dilated  in  this  following-  preface.  The  whole  must 
needs  follow  by  a  sorites  or  induction.  Every  multitude  is 
mad,  ^  hellua  mnltorum  capitum,  precipitate  and  rash,  with- 
out judgement,  stidtum  animal,  a  roaring-  rout.  ^  Roger  Bacon 
proves  it  out  of  Aristotle — vulgtis  dividi  in  oppositum  contra 
snpientes :  quod  vidyo  videtur  vernm,Jalsnm  est  ;  that  which 
the  commonalty  accounts  true,  is  most  part  false ;  they  are 
still  opposite  to  wise  men ;  but  all  the  world  is  of  this  humour 
(vulgus);  and  thou  thyself  art  de  vidgo,  one  of  the  common- 
alty ;  and  he,  and  he  ;  and  so  are  all  the  rest;  and  therefore 
(as  Phocion  concludes)  to  be  approved  in  nought  you  say  or 
do,  meer  ideots  and  asses.  Begin  then  where  you  will,  go 
backward  or  forward,  choose  out  of  the  whole  pack,  wink  and 
choose  :  you  shall  find  them  all  alike — never  a  barrel  better 
herring. 

Copernicus,  Atlas  his  successor,  is  of  opinion,  the  earth  is 
a  planet,  moves  and  shines  to  others,  as  the  moon  doth  to  us. 
Digges,  Gilbert,  Keplerus,  Origanus,  and  others,  defend  this 
hypothesis  of  his  in  sober  sadness,  and  that  the  moon  is  in- 
habited. Tf  it  be  so  that  the  earth  is  a  moon,  then  we  are 
also  giddy,  vertiginous,  and  lunatick,  within  this  sublunary 
maze. 

I  could  produce  such  arguments  till  dark  night.  If  you 
should  hear  the  rest, 

Ante  diem  clause  componet  Vesper  Olympo  : 

but,  according  to  my  promise,  1  will  descend  to  particulars. 
This  melancliofy  extends  it  self  not  to  men  only,  but  even  to 
vegetals  and  sensibles.  1  speak  not  of  those  creatures  which 
are  saturnine,  melancholy  by  nature,  (as  lead,  and  such  like 
minerals,  or  those  plants,  rue,  cypress,  «&c.  and  hellebore 


»Virg.  1,  Eel.  3.  t>Ps.  inebriabuntiir  ab  ubertate  domus.  ^^InPaal. 

104.  Aust.  "1  In  Platonis  Tim.  sacerdos  .'Egyptiiis.  «  Hor.  Vulgus  iiisa- 

num.  f  Paret  ea  divisio  probabilis,  &;c.  ex  Arist.  Top  lib.  1.  c.  8.  Rog.  Bac. 

Epist,  de  secret,  art.  et.  n«t.  c.  8.  Non  est  judicium  in  vulgo. 


DEMOCRITUS  TO  THE  READER.  G7 

itself,  of  which  ■*  A  grip  pa  treats,  fishes,  l)irds,  and  beasts, 
hares,  conies,  dormice,  i*tc.  owls,  bats,  night-birds)  but  that 
artificial,  which  is  perceived  in  them  all.  Remove  a  plant;  it 
will  pine  away;  which  is  especially  perceived  in  date-trees, 
as  yon  may  read  at  large  in  Constantines  husbandry — that 
antipathy  between  the  vine  and  the  cabbage,  vine  and  oyle. 
Pitt  a  bird  in  a  cage ;  he  will  dye  for  snllenness  ;  or  a  beast  in 
a  pen,  or  take  his  young  ones  or  companions  from  him;  and  see 
what  efif'ect  it  will  cause.  But  who  perceives  not  these  com- 
mon passions  of  sensible  creatures,  fear,  sorrow,  &;c.?  Of  all 
other,  dogs  are  most  subject  to  this  malady, in  so  much, some 
hold  they  dream  as  men  do,  and  through  violence  of  melan- 
choly, run  mad.  I  could  relate  many  stories  of  dogs,  that 
iiavo  <}yed  for  grief,  and  pined  away  for  loss  of  their  masters; 
but  they  are  common  in  every  ''author. 

Kingdoms,  j)rovinces,and  politick  bodies,  are  likewise  sen- 
sible and  subject  to  this  disease,  as  "^  Boterus,  in  his  Politicks, 
hath  proved  at  large.  As,  in  hnniane  bodies,  (saith  he)  there 
be  divers  al/erations  proceediiic/  J'rom  humours,  so  there  be 
many  diseases  in  a  conimon-ivealth,  which  do  as  diversely 
happen  J'rom  several  distempers,  as  you  may  easily  perceive 
by  their  particular  symptoms.  For  where  you  shall  see  the 
people  civil,  obedient  to  God  and  princes,  judicious,  peace- 
able and  quiet,  rich,  fortunate,  ''  and  flourish,  to  live  in  peace, 
in  unity  and  concord,  a  countrey  well  tilled,  many  fair  built 
and  populous  cities,  nhi  incolw  nitent,  as  old  ""  Cato  said,  the 
people  are  neat,  polite,  and  terse,  vhi  bene  beateqne  vivnnt, 
(which  our  politicians  make  the  chief  end  of  a  common-wealth; 
and  w  hich  '  Aristotle,  Polit.  lib.  3.  cap.  4.  calls  commnne  bo- 
num,  Polybius,  lib.  6,  optabilem  et  selectum  statnm,)  that 
countrey  is  free  from  melancholy ;  as  it  was  in  Italy  in  the  time 
of  Augustus,  now  in  China,  now  in  many  other  flourishing 
king'doms  of  Europe.  But  whereas  you  shall  see  many  dis- 
contents, common  grievances,  complaints,  poverty,  barbarism, 
beggary,  plagues,  wars,rebe!lions,  seditions,  mutinies,  conten- 
tions, idleness,  riot, epicurism,  the  land  lye  untilled,  waste, full 
of  bogs,  fens,  desarts,  &c.  cities  decayed,  base  and  poor  towns, 
villages  depopulated,  the  people  squalid,  ugly,  uncivil ;  that 
kingdom,  that  countrey,  must  needs  be  discontent,  melan- 
choly, hath  a  sick  body,  and  had  need  to  be  reformed. 


a  De  occult,  philosoph.  1.  I.e.  25.  et  19.  ejiisd.  1.  Lib.  10.  cap.  4.  *>  See  Lip- 

sius,  epist.  ''  De  politia  illiistrium,  lib.  1.  cap.  4.  Ut  in  hiiiiianis  corpnribus  variae 

accidunt  imitafiones  corporis  animirpie,  sic  in  repablica,  Sec.  ''  Ubi  reges  phi- 

losophantur.     Plato.  f  Lib.  de  re  rust.  fVel  publicam  iitilitatem.     Sains 

publica  suprema  lex  esto.      Beata  civitasj  non,  ubi  pauci  beati,  sed  tota  civitas  beata. 
Plato,  quarto  de  repub. 

f2 


68  DEBIOCRITUS    TO.  THE    READER. 

Now  that  cannot  we^l  be  effected;  till  tlie  causes  of  these 
Dialadiesbe  first  removed,  which  comuiouly  proceed  from  their 
own  default,  or  some  accidental  inconvetiieuce  ;  as  to  be  site 
in  a  bad  cJime,  too  far  north,  steril,  in  a  barren  place,  as  the 
desart  of  Libya,  desarts  of  Arabia,  places  void  of  waters,  as 
those  of  Lop  and  Belgian  in  Asia,  or  in  a  bad  air,  as  at  Alex- 
andretta,  Bantam,  Pisa,  Durazzo,  S.  John  de  Ullua,  &c.  or  in 
danger  of  the  seas  continual  inundations,  as  in  many  places 
of  the  Low-Countreys  and  elsewhere,  or  near  some  bad  neigh- 
bours, as  Hungarians  to  Turks,  Podolians  to  Tartars,  or  al- 
most any  bordering  countries,  they  live  in  fear  still,  and,  by 
reason  of  hostile  incursions,  a're  oi'tentimes  left  desolate.    So 
are  cities  by  reason   ^  of  wars,  fires,   plagues,  inundations, 
''wild  beasts,  deca}'^  of  trades,  barred  havens,  the  seas  violence, 
as  Antwerp  may  witness  of  late;  Syracuse  of  old,  Brundusium 
in  Italy,  Rhye  and  Dover  with  us,  find  many  that  at  this  day 
suspect  tlie  seas  fury  and  rage,  and  labour  against  it,  as  the 
Venetians  to  (heir  inestimable  charge.  Butthe  most  frequent 
maladies  are  such  as  proceed  from  themselves,  as,  first,  when 
religion  and  Gods  service  is  neglected,  innovated, or  altered  — 
where  they  do  not  fear  God,  obey  tiieir  prince — where  athe- 
ism, epicurism,  sacrilege,  simony,  &c.  and  all  such  impieties 
are  freely  committed — that  countrey  cannot  prosper.  When 
Abraham  came  to  Gerar,  and  saw  a  bad  land,  he  said,  sure 
the  fear  of  God  was  not  in  that  place;     '^  Cyprian  Echovius, 
a  Spanish  chorogTapher,  above  all  other  cities  of  Spain,  com- 
mends Borciuo,  hi  which  there  was  no  beggar,  tio  man  poor, 
^•c.  but  all  rich  and  in  good  estate :  and  he  gives  the  reason, 
because  theij  iverc  more  religions  than  their  neighbours.  Why 
vv  as  Israel  so  often  spoiled  by  their  enemies,  led  into  captivity, 
&c.  but  for  their  idolatry,  neglect  of  Gods  word,  for  sacrilege, 
even  for  one  Achans  fault?   And  what  shall  we  expect,  that 
have  such  multitudes  of  Achans,  church-robbers,  simoniacal 
patrons,    &c.?  how  can. they  hope  to   flourish,   that  neglect 
divine  duties,  that  live,  most  part,  like  epicures  ? 

Other  common  grievances  are  generally  noxious  to  a  body 
politick  ;  alteration  of  laws  and  customs,  breaking  privileges, 
general  oppressions,  seditions,  &c.  observed  by  '^  Aristotle, 
Bodin,  Boleiu?,  Junius,  Arniscus,  &c.  I  will  only  point  at 
some  of  the  cLiefest.      ^  Impotentia  gubernandi,  ataxia,  con- 


^  Mantua,  vsb!  miseras  minium  vicina  CremonfE.  bjntenlum  a  feris,  nt 

oliin  Mauritania,  &c.  '- Di^iiciis  Hispanife  an.  .1604.     Nemo  raain«,  nemo 

pauper  ;  opliuuis  cjnisqiK'  atque  flitissiniiis.     l^ie,  saiictecjue  vivebant ;  summa(|iie  cum 
veneiatione  et  timorc,  diviao  caitiiJ,  sacrisque  rebus,  incumbebant.  "  Polit. 

1.  u.  c.  3.  eUatorus,  polit.  lib.  1.  c.  1.  Cum  nempe  princeps  rerum  gerendaruiii 

imperi!.t;.s,  se^nis,  cscitans,  sniqiie  luuneris  iramemor,  anit  fatuas  est. 


DEMOCRITUS  TO  THE  READER.  69 

fusion,  in  government,  which  proceeds  from  unskilful  slothful, 
griping-,  covetous,  unjust,   rash,  or  tyrannizing  magistrates, 
when  they  are  fools,  ideots,  children,  proud,  wilful,  partial, 
undiscreet,  oppressors,  giddy  heads,  tyrants,  not  able  or  unfit 
to  man  ige  such  offices.     "  Many  noble  cities  and  flourish ino- 
kingdoms  by  that  means  are  desolate ;  the  whole  body  groans 
uiider  such  iicads  ;  and  all  the  members  must  needs  be  misaf- 
fected,  as  at  this  day  those  goodly  provinces  in  Asia  Minor, 
&c.  groan  under  the  burthen  of  a  Turkish  government;  and 
those  vast  kingdoms  of  Muscovia,Russia,  "^  underatyrannizino- 
duke.      Who  ever  heard  of  more    civil  and  rich  populous 
countreys  than  those  of  Greece,  Asia  Minor,  abouiidhuf  lokh 
all  ""  wealth,  multitude  qfmhabitant^,J'oi'ce,potver,  splendor, 
and  magnificence  ?  and  that  miracle  of  countreys,  ''  the  Holy 
Land,  that,  in  so  small  a  compass  of  ground,  could  maintain 
so  many  towns,  cities,  produce  so  many  fighting- men  ?  Egypt 
another  Paradise, now  barbarous  and  desait,  and  almost  waste, 
by  the  despotical  government  of  an  imperious  Turk,  intolera- 
hili  sermtuiis  juf/o  premltur  (''one  saith):  not  only  fire  and 
M'ater,  goods  or  lands,  .^ed  ipse  spiritus  ah  insolent  is  simi  vic- 
toris pendet  mitu  :  such  is  their  slavery,  their  lives  and  souls 
depend  upon  his  insolent  will  and  command — a  tyrant  that 
spoylsall  wheresoeverhe  comes  ;  insomuch  that  an    historian 
complains,  if  an  old  inhabitant  should  noiv  see  them,  he  would 
not  know  them  ;  if  a  traveller,  or  stranr/er,  it  would  grieve 
his  heart  to  behold  them — whereas  (^'Aristotle  notes)  nova^ 
exactiones,  nova  onera  im'posita,  new  bujdens   and  exactions 
daily  come  upon  them,  (iike  those  of  which  Zosimus,  lib.  il.) 
so  grievous  ut  viri  uxores,  patres  flias  prosiituerent^  ut  ex- 
actoribus  e  qucestu,  Sj-c  they  must  needs  be  discontent :  hinc 
civitatum  gemitus  et  ploraivs,  as  '^  Tully  holds ;  hence  come 
those  complaints  and  tears  of  cities />oor,  miserable,  rebellions^ 
anddesperate  subjects,  as  '  Hippolytus  adds  :  and,  ''as  a  judi- 
cious countrey-man  of  ours  observed  not  long  since  in  a  sur- 
vey of  that  great  Duchy  ofTtiscany,  the  people  lived  much 
grieved  and  discontent,  as  appeared  by  their  manifold  and 
manifest  complainings  in  that  kind  ;  that  the  state  u-as  like  a 
body  which  had  latelg  taken  physick,  whose  humours  are  not 
yet  icell  settled,  and  weakened  so  much  by  purging,  that  nothing 
was  left  but  melancholy. 

"Non  viget  re«publica  cujns  caput  infirniatur.  Salisburiensis,  c.  22.  ''See 

D-  Fletcliers  relation,  and  Alexander  (J;if,'iiinus  history.  c  Abundans  omni 

divitiarum  allluentia,  incolarum  multitudiue,  splendore,  ac  potentia.  <l  Not 

above  200  miles  in  length,  60  in  breadth,  according  to  Adricomius.  »•  Ro- 

mulus Amaseus.  f  Sabellicus.     Si  quis  incoia  vetus,  non  a^'nosceret ;  ai 

quis  peregrinus,  ingeiniscereL  ?Polit  1.  5.  c.  6.  Crudelitas  principiini,  im- 

punitas  scelerum,  viohtio  legum,  prrulatus  pecuniae  publica-,  &:c.  ii  Epist. 

'  De  increm.  nrb.  cap.  20.  Subditi  luiseri,  rebelles,  desperati^  S^c.  ^  R.  Dalliugton^ 

1596,  conclasio  libri. 


70  DEMOCRITUG  TO  THE  READER. 

Whereas  the  princes  and  potentates  are  immoderate  in  lust, 
hypocrites,  epicures,  of  no  religion,  but  in  shew — Quid  hy- 
poerisij'ragilms  ?  what  so  brittle  and  unsure  ?  what  sooner 
subverts  their  estates,  than  wandring  and  raging  lusts  on  their 
subjects  wives,  daughters  ?  to  say  no  worse.  They  that  should 
J'acem  proeferre,  lead  the  way  to  all  vertuous  actions,  are  the 
ringleaders  oftentimes  of  all  mischief  and  dissolute  courses; 
and  by  that  means  their  countries  are  plagued, '"  and  they  them- 
selves of'tenrvined^  baiiishedor  murdered  by  conspiracy  oj' their 
subjects,  as  Sardanapalus  was,  Dionysius  junior,  Helioga- 
balus,  Periauder,  Pisistratus,Tarquinius,Timocrates,  Childe- 
ricus,  Appius  Claudius,  Andronicus,  Galeacius  Sforsia,  Alex- 
ander Medices,  &c. 

Whereas  the  princes  or  great  men  are  malicious,  envious, 
factious,  ambitious,  enudators,  they  tear  a  common-M  ealth 
asunder,  as  so  many  Gne/Jes  and  Gibellines,  disturb  the  quiet- 
ness of  it,  ''and,  Avith  mutual  murders,  let  it  bleed  to  death. 
Our  histories  are  too  full  of  such  barbarous  inhumanities, 
and  the  miseries  that  issue  from  them. 

Whereas  they  be  like  so  many  horse-leeches,  hungry,  grip- 
ing, corrupt,^  covetous,  avaritice  mrt«c?/>?'a,ravenousas  wolves, 
(for,  as  Tully  writes,  qui  prccest,  prodest ;  et  qui  pecudibus 
jnwest,  debet  eornm  utilitati  inservire)  or  such  as  prefer  their 
private  before  the  publick  good  (for,  as  ^  he  said  long  since, 
res  privatfc publicis  semper  officerej—ov  whereas  they  be  illite- 
rate, ignorant,  empiricks  in  policy,  uhi  deestj'acultas, "  virtus, 
(Aristot.  pol.  5.  cap.  8.)  et  scieutia,  wise  only  by  inheritance, 
and  in  authority  ]>y  birth-right,  or  for  their  wealth  and  titles 
— there  must  needs  be  a  fault,  *^  a  great  defect,  because,  as  an 
8  old  philosopher  afSrms,  such  men  are  not  alwayes  fit — of' an 
infinite  number,  J'eiv  alone  are  senators  ;  and  oj'  those  few, 
J'etver  good:  and  oj'  that  small  number  oj' honest  good  and 
noble  men,  few  that  are  learned,  wise  discreet,  and  sjifficient, 
able  to  discharge  such  places — it  must  needs  turn  to  the  con- 
fusion of  a  state. 

For,  as  the  ^  princes  are,  so  are  the  people ;  qnalis  rex, 


a  Boterus,  I.  9.  c.  4      Poiit.  Quo  fif  iit  mit  rebus  desperalis  exiilent,  aiit  conjiiratione 
subditoHim  crudelissiine  tandem  trucidentur.  *•  Miituia  odiis  et  casdibiis 

exhausti,  &c.  '  Jiiicra  ex  nialis,  sceleratisque  caussis.  "iSallust. 

•For  most  part,  we  misiake  the  name  of  politicians,  accounting  such  as  read 
Machiavel  and  Tacitus,  great  statesmen,  that  can  dispute  of  political  precepts, 
supplant  and  overthrow  their  adversaries,  enrich  themselves,  get  honour,  dis- 
semble. But  what  is  this  to  the  bene  esse,  ov  preser\ation  of  a  common-wealth? 
f  Imperium  suapte  sponte  corruit.  sApul.  Prim.  Flor.  Ex.  innu- 

luerabilibns,  pauci  senatores  genere  nobiles  ;  e  consularibus  pauci  boni  :  e  bonis 
adhuc  p;iuri  cruditi.  h  ;is}on  solum  vitia  roucipiunt  ipsi  principes,  sed  etiam 

infunduut  in  civitatem ;  plusque  exemplo,  quiim  peccato,  nocent  Cic.  1.  de  le- 
gibuf. 


DEMOCRITUS  TO  THE  READER.  71 

talis  grex  :  and,  which  ^  Antigones  right  well  said  of  old,  qui 
Macedonicc  regem  erndit,  omnes  etiam  subditos  erudit^  he  that 
teacheth  the  king-  of  Macedon,  teacheth  all  his  subjects,  is 
a  true  saying  still. 

For  princes  are  the  glass,  the  school,  the  book. 
Where  subjects  eyes  do  learn,  do  read,  do  look, 

Velocius  et  citius  nos 

Corrumpunt  vitiorum  exempla  domestica,  magnis 
Cum  subeant  animos  auctoribus 

their  examples  are  soonest  followed,  vices  entertained :  if  they 
be  prophane,  irreligious,  lascivious,  riotous,  epicures,  fac- 
tious, covetous,  ambitious,  illiterate,  so  will  the  commons  most 
part  be,  idle,  unthrifts,  prone  to  lust,  drunkards,  and  therefore 
poor  and  needy  {■},  Trevio.  araca-iv  if/.voiBi,  >c«;  xAKov^ytuv,  for  poverty 
begets  sedition  and  villany)  upon  alloccasionsready  tomutiny 
and  rebel,  discontent,  still  complaining,murmuring,grudging, 
apt  to  all  outrages,  thefts,  treasons,  murders,  innovations,  in 
debt,  shifters,  cozeners,  outlaws,  projlif/atce  Jhmce  ac  vitce. 
It  was  an  old  **  politicians  aphorism,  they  that  are  poor  and 
had,  envy  rich,  hate  good  meUy  abhor  the  present  government, 
wish  Jor  a  netv^  and  would  have  all  turned  topsie  turvy. 
When  Catiline  rebelled  in  Rome,  he  got  a  company  of  such 
debauched  rogues  together  :  they  were  his  familiars  and  coad- 
jutors, and  such  have  been  your  rebels,  most  part,  in  all  ages — 
Jack  Cade,  Tom  Straw,  Kette,  and  his  companions. 

Where  they  be  generally  riotous  and  contentious,  where 
there  be  many  discords,  many  laws,  many  law-suits,  many 
lawyers,  and  many  physicians,  it  is  a  manifest  sign  of  a  dis- 
tempered, melancholy  state,  as  ^  Plato  long  since  maintained : 
for,  where  such  kind  of  men  swarm,  they  will  make  more  work 
for  themselves,  and  that  body  politick  diseased,  which  was 
otherwise  sound — a  general  mischief  in  these  our  times,  an 
imsensible  plague,  and  never  so  many  of  them;  which  are 
now  multiplyed  (fiaith  Mat.  Geraldus, ''  a  lawyer  himself,)  as  so 
many  locusts,  not  the  parents,  hut  the  plagues  oj'  the  countrey, 
and,  for  the  most  part,  a  supercilious,  bad,  covetous,  litigious 
generation  oJ"  men — ^  crumenimulga  natio,  6fc.  a  purse-milk- 
ing  nation,  a  clamorous  company,  gowned  vultures,  '  qui 

^Epist.  ad.  Zen.  Juven.  Sat.  4.  Panpertas  sfeditionem  gignit  et  nialeficium.  Arist, 
pol.  2.  c.  7.  ''  Sallust.  Semper  in  civitate,  quibus  opos  nuUse  sunt,  bonis  invident ; 
Vetera  odere  ;  nova  exoptant ;  odio  suamm  rerum  mutari  omnia  petunt.  'De 

legibus.  Profligata'  inrepub,  disciplinfe  est  indicium  jurisperitorum  numerus,  et  medi- 
conimcopia.  ''  In  prajf.  stud,  juris.  Multiplicantur  nunc  in  terris,  ut  locusta;,  non 

patria;  parentes,  sed  pestes,  pessimi  homines,  majore  ex  parte  superciliosi,  conteutiosi, 
&c. — licitum  latrocinium  exercent.  e  Dousa,  epid.  Loquutuleia  turba,  vultares 

togatj.  ffiarc.  Argon. 


72  DEMOCUITUS    TO    THE    READER. 

ex  mjurid  vivunt  et  sanguine  civium,  thieves  and  seminaries 
of  discord,  worse  than  any  polers  by  the  high  way  side,  auri 
accipitres,  ami  exterehronides,  pecuniarnm  lianiiohc,  qna- 
drnplatores,  curicE  harpar/onefi,  Jori  tintiunabula  monstra  Jio- 
minum,  mangones,  Src.  that  take  upon  them  to  make  peace, 
but  are  indeed  the  very  disturbers  of" our  pence,  a  company  of 
irreligious  harpyes,  scraping,  griping,  cntch- poles,  (I  mean 
om*  common  hungry  petty -foggeYs,r{dmiasJ'oreuses — love  and 
honour,  in  the  mean  time,  all  good  laws,  and  worthy  lawyers, 
that  are  so  many  ^oracles  and  pilots  of  a  well  governed  com- 
mon-wealth) without  art,  without  judgement,  that  do  more 
Iiarm,  as  ^  Livy  saith,  quam  bella  externa^  James,  raorhive^ 
than  sickness,  wars,  hunger,  diseases ;  and  cause  a  most 
incredible  destruction  oj'  a  cortimon-ioealth,  saith ''Sesellius, 
a  famous  civilian  sometimes  in  Paris.  As  ivy  doth  by  an 
oke,  imbrace  it  so  long,  until  it  hath  got  the  heart  out  of 
it,  so  do  they  by  such  places  they  inhabit :  no  counsel  at  all, 
no  justice,  no  speech  to  be  had,  nisi  eum  prccmulseris  :  he 
must  be  fed  still,  or  else  he  is  as  mu!e  as  a  fish  ;  better  open  an 
oyster  without  a  knife.  Expertocredr,  (saith  '^  Salisburiensis) : 
in  manus  eoram  millies  incidi ;  et  Charon  immitis,  qui  nulli 
pepercitunq?iam,  his  huge  clementior  est — I  speak  out  oj' expe- 
rience ;  I  have  been  a  thousand  times  aniGugst  them  ;  and 
Charon  himself  is  more  gentle  than  they  :  ^  he  is  contented  with 
his  single  pay  ;  but  they  multiply  still :  they  are  never 
satisfied:  besides  they  have  damnijicas  linguas,  (as  he  terms 
it)  nisi  J'wiibns  argenteis  vincias  :  they  must  be  feed  to  say 
nothing,  and  *g:t  more  to  hold  their  peace,  than  we  can  to 
say  our  best.  Thej  will  speak  their  clients  fair,  and  invite 
them  to  their  tables  :  but  (as  he  follows  it)  ^  of  all  injustice^ 
there  is  none  so  pernicious  as  that  oj' theirs,  tchich,  when  they 
deceive  most,  will  seem  to  be  honest  men.  They  take  upon 
them  to  be  peace-makers,  etj'overe  caussas  humilium,  to  help 
them  to  their  right :  patrocinantur  afflictis  ;  ^  but  all  is  for  their 
own  good,  ut  loculos  pleniorum  exhauriant :  they  plead  for 
poor  men  gratis  ;  but  they  are  but  as  a  stale  to  catch  others. 
if  there  be  no  jar,  'they  can  make  a  jar,  out  of  the  law  it  self 
find  still  some  quirk  or  other,  to  set  them  at  odds,  and  con- 
tinue causes  so  long,  (lustra  aliquot  J  I  know  not  how  many 


a  Jnrisconsnlti  domiis  oraculum  civifatis.     TuUy.  b  Xjijj.  3.  ^Ijib.]. 

de  rep.  Gallori'.m.     Incredibilem  reipiib.  perniciem  aflferunt.     t  <iPolycrat.  lib. 

«'  Is  stipe  contentus  ;  at  hi  asses  integros  sibi  multiplicari  jubent.  '  Plus  acci- 

pitint  tacere,  qnam  tios  loqui.  sTotius  injustitioe.  nulla  capitalior,  qn^iii  eoruin, 

qui,  cum  raaxiine  decipiunt,  id  agunt  ut  boni  viri  esse  videantur.  ''  Nam,  quo- 

cunijne  modo  caussa  procedat,   hoc   semper  agitnr,  ut  loculi  inipleantur,  etsi  avaritia 
nequit  satiari.  '  Camden,  iu  Norfolk.     Qui,  si  nihil  sit  litium,  e  juns  apicibus 

lites  taniLii  serere  caileut. 


DEMOCRITUS  TO  THR  READER.  73 

yearsjbefore  the  causeis  heard:  and  when 'tisjiulged  and  deter- 
niiiiCMl,  by  reason  of  some  tricks  ami  errours,  it  is  as  fresh  to 
begin,  after  twice  seven  years  sometimes,  as  it  was  at  first ;  and 
so  they  prolong  time,  delay  suits  till  they  have  enriclied  them- 
selves, and  beggared  their  clients.  And,  as  "■  Cato  inveighed 
against  Isocrates  scholars,  we  may  justly  tax  our  wranglino- 
lawyers, — they  do  cori'ienescere  in  lUihvs^  are  so  litigious  and 
busie  here  on  earth,  that  1  tliink  they  will  |)!ead  their  clients 
causes  hereafter,  some  of  them  in  hell.  ^  Simierus  complains, 
amongst  the  Suissers,  of  the  advocates  in  his  time,  that,  when 
they  should  make  an  end,  they  begin  controversies,  and  pro^ 
tract  their  caitses  many  years,  persu-ading  them  their  title  is 
good,  till  their  patrimomes  he  consumed,  and  that  they  have 
spent  more  in  seeking,  than  the  thing  is  worth,  or  they  shall 
get  by  the  recovery.  So  that  he  that  goes  to  law  (as  the  pro- 
verb is)  <=  holds  a  wolf  by  the  ears  ;  or,  as  a  sheep  in  a  storm 
runs  for  shelter  to  a  brier,  if  he  prosecute  his  cause,  he  is  con- 
sumed :  it"  he  surcease  his  suit,  he  loseth  all :  what  difference  ? 
They  had  wont  heretofore,  saith  ''Austin,  to  end  matters,  per 
communes  arbitros ;  and  so  in  Sv,  itzerland,  (we  are  informed 
by  "  Simierus)  they  had  some  common,  arbitrators  or  dayes- 
men  in  every  town,  that  made  a  J'riendly  composition  betwixt 
man  and  man :  and  he  much  wonders  at  their  honer,t  simplicity^ 
that  could  keep  peace  so  ivell,  and  end  such  great  causes  hif 
that  means.  At  "^^Fez  in  Africk.  they  have  neither  lawyers 
nor  advocates  ;  but,  if  there  be  any  controversie  amongst 
them,  both  parties,  plaintifJ'and  defendant,come  to  their  Alfa- 
kinsor  chief  judge;  and  at  once,  without  any  farther  appeals 
or  pitiful  delays,  the  cause  is  heard  and  ended.  Our  fore- 
falliers,(as  ^a  worthy  chorographer  of  ours  observes)  had  m  ont, 
pauculiscruculis  aureis,  with  a  few  golden  crosses,  and  lines  in 
verse,  to  njake  all  conveyances,  assurances.  And  such  was  the 
candour  and  integrity  ofsucceeding'  ages.that  a  deed, (as  I  have 
oft  seen)  to  convey  a  Avhole  manor,  was  implicite  contained  in 
some  twenty  lines,  or  thereabouts;  like  that  scede  or  scytala 
Laconica,  so  much  renowned  of  old  in  all  contracts,  which 
''Tully  so  earnestly  commends  to  Atticus,  Plutarch  in  his 


X 


*  Plutarch,  vit    Cat.  Caussas  apiul   imeroifli^ias  in  suaiu    fiuem    receperunf,  pa- 
trociriio  suo  tuebantiir.  ''  Lib.  2.  de  Helvet.  repub.  Non  explicaudis,  sed  mo- 

lic'iidis  controversiis  operain  dant,  ut  lites  in  miiltos  annos  extrahautur  suiuina 
cuni  niolestia  utriusque  partis,  et  duin  interea  patririionia  exhauriuntiir.  ••■  Lnpum 

auribus  tenent  "^Hor.  cLib.  de  Hdlvet.  repub.  Judicesquocunque 

pago  constitiumt,  qui  arnica  aliqna  transactione,  si  fieri  possit,  iites  tollanL  Ego 
majorutn  nostroruui  simplicitutem  adiiiiror.  qui  sic  caussas  gravissimaa  com- 
posuerint,  &c.  'Clenard  1.  I.  ep.  Si  qua;  controversia;,  utraque  pars  ju- 

dicem  adit:  is  seinel  et  simul  rem  tiansigit,  audit:  nee  quid  sit  apellatio, 
lacrymosffique  mora;,  noscunt.  >-'  Camden.  ''  Lib.  10.  epist.  ad  Atticum, 

epist  11. 


74  DKMOCttlTUS    TO    THE     READER. 

Lysander,  Aristotle,  polit.  Thiicy elides,  lib.  \,  ^  Diodorus, 
and  Siiidas,  approve  and  magnifie,  for  that  Laconick  brevity  in 
this  kind  ;  and  well  they  might ;  for,  according  to  ''Tertullian, 
certa  sunt paucis,  there  is  much  more  certainty  in  fewer  words. 
And  so  was  it  of  old  throughout :  but  now  many  skins  of 
parchment  will  scarce  serve  turn :  he  that  buys  and  sells  a 
house,  must  have  a  house  full  of  writings ;  there  be  so  many 
circumstances,  so  many  words,  such  tautological  repetitions 
of  all  particulars  (to  avoid  cavillation  they  say) :  but  we  find,by 
our  woeful  experience,  that,  to  subtle  wits,  it  is  a  cause  of  much 
more  contention  and  variance  ;  and  scarce  any  conveyances© 
accuratety  penned  by  one,  which  another  will  not  find  a  crack 
in,  or  cavil  at:  if  any  word  be  misplaced,  any  little  errour, 
all  is  disannulled.  That  Avhich  is  law  to  day,  is  none  to  mor- 
row :  that  which  is  sound  in  one  mans  opinion,  is  most  faulty 
to  another;  that,  in  conclusion,  here  is  nothing  amongst  us  but 
contention  and  confusion.  We  bandy  one  against  another  ; 
and  that,  which  long-  since  ^  Plutarch  complained  of  them  in 
Asia,  may  be  verified  in  our  times — These  men,  here  assembled, 
come  not  to  sacrifice  to  their  pods,  to  offer  Jupiter  their  first 
J'ruits,  or  merriments  to  Bacchns ;  hut  an  yearly  disease,  exas- 
peratiruf  Asia^  hath  brought  them  hither,  to  make  end  of 
their  controversies  and  law  suits.  'Tis  multitndo  perdentium 
etpereuntium,  a  destructive  rout,  that  seek  one  anothers  ruine. 
Such,  most  part,  are  our  ordinary  suitors,termers,  clients :  new 
stirs  every  day,  mistakes,  errours,  cavils,  and  at  this  present, 
(as  I  have  heard)  in  some  one  court,  I  know  not  how  many 
thousand  causes  :  no  person  free,  no  title  almost  good,  with 
such  bitterness  in  following,  so  many  slights,  procrastinations, 
delay es, forgery, such  cost  (for  infinite  sums  arc  inconsiderately 
spent)  violence  and  malice,  I  know  not  by  whose  fault,  law- 
yers, clients,  laws,  both  or  all :  but  as  Paul  reprehended  the 
''  Corinthians  long  since,  I  may  more  appositely  infer  now  : 
There  is  aj'ault  amongst  you  ;  and  I  speak  it  to  your  shame. 
Is  there  not  a  ^wise  man  amongst  you,  to  judge  between  his 
brethren  ?  but  that  a  brother  goes  to  law  with  a  brother  ?  And 
*  Christs  counsel  concerning  law-suits  was  never  so  fit  to  be 
inculcated,  as  in  this  age  :  ^ Agree  with  thine  adversary 
quickly  J  Sfc.  Matth.  5.  25. 


aBiblioth.  I.  3.  ^XAh.  de  Anim.  ^  Lib.  major,  morb.  corp.  an  aniini.     Hi 

non  conveninnt,  ut  dlis  more  majorum  sacra  faciant,  non  ut  Jovi  primitias  offerant, 
aut  Baccho  comissationes  ;  sed  anniversarius  morbus,  exasperans  Asian),  hue  eo» 
coegit,  ut  contentiones  hie  peragant.  "•  1  Cor.  6.  5.  6.  f  Stulti,  quando 

demum  sapietis  ?     Psal.  49.  8.  f  Of  which  text  read  two  learned  sermons,  *  so 

intituled,  and  preached  by  our  Regius  Professour,  D.  Prideaux  :  printed  at  London 
by  Foelix  Kingston,  1621. 


DEMOCRITUS    TO    THE    READliR.  75 

I  ooiilil  ropeat  many  such  particular  grievances,  wliich  must 
disturb  a  body  politick  : — to  shut  up  all  in  brief,  where  good 
government  is,  prudent  and  wise  princes,there  all  things  thrive 
and  prosper;  peace  and  happiness  is  in  that  land  :  where  it  is 
otherwise,  all  things  are  ugly  to  behold,  incult,  barbarous,  un- 
civil; a  paradiseis  turned  to  a  wilderness.  This  island  amongst 
the  rest,  our  next  neighbours  the  French  and  Germans,  may  be 
a  sufficient  witness,  that  in  a  short  time,  by  that  prudent  po- 
licy of  the  Romans,  was  brought  from  barbarism :  see  but  what 
Ctesar  reports  of  us,  and  Tacitus  of  those  old  Germans  :  they 
were  once  as  uncivil  as  they  in  Virginia  ;  yet,  by  plantino-  of 
colonies  and  good  laws,  they  became,  from  barbarous  outlaws, 
'"  to  be  full  of  rich  and  populous  cities,  as  now  they  are,  and 
most  flourishing  kingdoms.  Even  so  might  Virginia,and  those 
wild  Irish,  have  been  civilized  long  since,  if  that  order  had 
been  heretofore  taken,  which  now  begins,  of  planting  colonies, 
&c.  I  have  read  a ''discourse,  printed  anno  161'2,  discovering 
the  true  causes,  why  Ireland  teas  never  intirehi  subdued,  or 
brought  under  obedience  to  the  croicn  of  England,  until  the 
beginiiing  of  his  Majesties  happy  reign.  Yet,  if  his  reasons 
Avere  thoroughly  scanned  by  a  judicious  politician,  I  am  afraid 
he  would  not  altogether  be  approved,  but  that  it  would  turn  to 
the  dishonour  of  our  nation,  to  suffer  it  to  lye  so  lon<r  ■^yaste. 
Yea,  and  if  some  travellers  should  see  (to  come  neerer  home) 
those  rich  United  Provinces  of  Holland,  Zeal;?nd,  &c.  over 
against  us,  those  neat  cities  and  populous  towns,  full  of  most 
industrious  artificers,  '^so  much  land  recovered  from  the  sea, 
and  so  painfully  preserved  by  those  artificial  inventions,  so 
wonderfully  approved,  as  that  of  Bemster  in  Holland,  ut  nihil 
huic  par  aut  simile  invenias  in  toto  orbe,  saith  Bertius  the 
geographer — all  the  Avorld  cannot  match  it :  '^  so  many  naviga- 
ble channelsfrom  pflace  to  place,  made  by  mens  hands,&c.and, 
on  the  other  side,  so  many  thousand  acres  of  our  fens  lie 
drowned,  our  cities  thin,  and  those  vile,  poor,  and  ugly  to 
behold  in  respect  of  theirs  ;  our  trades  decayed,  our  stilt  run- 
ning rivers  stopped,  and  that  beneficial  use  of  transportation 
wholly  neglected  ;  so  many  havens  void  of  ships  and  towns, 
so  many  parks  and  forests  for  pleasure,  barren  heaths,  so 
many  villages  depopulated,  &c.  I  think  sure  he  would  find 
some  fault 

1  may  not  deny  but  that  this  nation  of  ours  doth  bene  audire 
apudexteros — is  a  most  noble,  a  most  flourishing  kingdom,  by 

aSaepius  bona  materia  cessat  sine  artifice.  Sabellicus,  de  Germania.  Si  quis  vide- 
ret  Germaniam  nrhibus  hodie  exrnlfani,  non  diceret,  iit  olira,  trist^ni  cultii,  aspe- 
ram  c<rlo,  terranitn  infonut-ni.  *> fiy  his  Majesties  Attorney  General  there.  <  As 
Zeipfand,  Bemster  in  Hoilanil,  kc.  d  From  Gaunt  to  S'luce,  from  Bruges  to  the 

seaj  8ic. 


76  DEMOCRITUS  TO  THE  READER. 

comnion  consent  of  all  -^  geogTaphers,  hislorians,  politicians  : 
'tis  uniea  velut  ar:i\  and  r/hich  Quintius  in  Livy  said  of  the 
inhabitants  of  Peloponnesus,  mfsy  be  well  applyod  to  us,  we  are 
testiid'mes  testa  sua  inclmice — like  so  many  tortoises  in  our 
shells,  safely  defended  by  an  an^Tysea,  as  a  wall,  on  al!  sides: 
our  island  hath  many  such  honourable  eufogiums;  and,  as  a 
learned  countrey-man  of  ours  right  well  hath  it, ''  Ever  shice 
the  Normans  first  coming  into  England,  this  coimtreg,  both 
for  military  matteis  and  all  other  of  civility^  hath  been  pa- . 
ralleVd  ivith  the  most  flourishing  king doms_  of  Europe,  atid 
our  Christian  ivorld — a  blessed,  a  rich  coimtrey,  and  one  of 
the  fortunate  isles  ;  and,  for  some  thiiigs,  "^  preferred  before 
other  countries,  for  expert  seamen,  our  laborious  discoveries, 
art  of  navigation,  true  merchants — ihey  carry  the  bell  away 
from  all  otfier  nations,  even  the  Portugals  and  Hollanders 
themselves — '^  without  all  fear ,  (saitli  Bot  ems)  fur  roicing  the 
ocean  whiter  and  ■8?tmmer  ;  and  two  of  their  captains,  icith 
no  less  valour  than  fortune^  have  sailed  round  about  the  world. 
•=  We  have  beside  many  particular  blessings,  whicfi  our  neigh- 
bours want — the  gospel  truly  preached,  church  discipline 
established,  long  peace  and  quietness — free  from  exactions, 
foraign  fears,  invasions,  domestical  seditions — v/ell  manured, 
^fortitied  by  art,  and  nature,  and  now  most  happy  in  that  for- 
tunate union  of  England  and  Scotland,  which  our  forefathers 
have  laboured  to  eii'ect,  and  desired  to  see  :  but,  in  which  we 
excell  all  others,  a  wise,  learned, religious  king,  another  Numa, 
a  second  Augustus,  a  true  Josiah,  most  worthy  senators,  a 
learned  clergy,  an  obedient  commonalty,  &c.  Yet,  amongst 
many  roses,  some  thistles  grow,  some  bad  weeds  and  enormi- 
ties, which  much  disturb  the  peace  of  this  body  politick, 
eclipse  the  honour  and  glory  of  it,  fit  to  be  rooted  out,  and 
with  all  speed  to  be  reformed. 

The  first  is  idleness,  by  reason  of  which  we  have  many 
swarms  of  rogues  and  beggars,  theeves,  drunkards,  and  dis- 
contented persons,  (whom  Lycurgus,  in  Plutarch,  calls  morbos 
reipub,  the  boils  of  the  common-wealth)  many  poor  people  in 
all  our  towns,  civitates  ignobiles,  as  s  Polydore  calls  them, 
base  built  cities,  inglorious,  poor,  small,  rare  in  sight,  ruinous, 
and  thin  of  inhabitants.  Our  land  is  fertile  (we  may  not  deny), 
full  of  all  good  things;  and  why  doth  it  not  then  abound  with 
cities,  as  well  as  Italy,  France,  Germany,  the  Low-Countreys  ? 

'^Ortelius,  Boterus,  Mercator,  Meteranus,  &c.  ^Jam  inde  non  belli  gloria, 

quam  humanitatis  cultu,  inter  florentissimas  orbis  Christiaui  gentes  imprimis  floruit, 
Camden,  Brit,  de  Normanis.  "^  Geog.  Keeker.  d  fam  hyeme  quam  aestate 

intrepide  sulcant  oceanum ;  et  duo  illorum  duces,  non  minore  audacia  quam  fortu- 
na,  totius  orbem  terrio  circumnavigarunt.      Amphitheatro  Boterus.  f  A  fertile 

«oil,  good  air,  &c.  tin,  lead,  wool,  saffron,  &c.  f  Tota  Britannia  unica  velut 

arx.  Boter.  g  Lib.  1.  hist. 


DEMOCRITUS    TO    THE     P.F.ADF.R.  77 

because  their  policy  hath  been  otherwise  ;  and  we  are  not  so 
thrifty,  civoiimspect,  industrious.  Idleness  is  the  malm  c/cni- 
us  of  our  nation  :  for,  (as  -'  Boterus  justly  aroues)  fertility  of  a 
countrey  is  not  enouoh,  except  art  and  industry  be'joyned 
unto  it.  According-  to  Aristotle,  riches  are  neither  natural  or  ar- 
tificial :  natural  are  good  land,  fair  mines,  &c.  artificial,  are 
manufaolures,  coines,  &c.  Many  kingdoms  are  fertile,  l)ut  thin 
of  iidiabitants,  as  that  duchy  of  Piedmont  in  Italy,  wliich 
Leander  Arbertus  so  much  magnifies  for  corn,  wine,  fruits, 
&c.  yet  nothing-  near  so  populous  as  those  which  are  more 
barren.  ^En(j/,and  smth  he  (London  onhj  excepted)  hath 
nevei- a  populous  city,  and  yet  a  f miff ul  countrey .  I  find 
46  cities  and  walled  towns  in  Alsatia,  asm«ll  province  in  Ger- 
many, 50  castles,  an  infinite  number  of  villages,  no  oroiind 
idle — no,  not  rocky  places,  or  tops  of  hills,  "are  nntifled,  as 
^  Munster  infovnieth  us.  In  '^  Greichgea,  small  territory  on  the 
Necker,  24  Italian  miles  over,  I  reatl  of  20  wailed  towris,  in- 
numerable villages,  each  one  containing  150  houses  most  part, 
besides  castles  aisd  noblemans  palaces.  I  observe,  in  ^Turinoe 
in  Dutchland,  (twelve  miles  over  by  their  scale)  12  coiinties, 
and  in  them  141  cities,  '2000  villages,  144  towns,  250caslles 
— in  'Bavaria,  34  cities,  46  towns,  &c.  "PortmjalUa  iutpram- 
7*w,  a  small  plot  of  ground,  hath  1460  parishes,  I30monasre- 
ries,  200  bridges.  Malta,  a  barren  island,  yields  '^^0000  inhabit- 
ants. But  of  all  the  rest,  I  admire  Lues  Guicciardines  relations 
of  the  Low-Countries.  Holland  hath  26cities,40U  great  viII»oes 
— Zeland,  10  cities,  102  parishes— Brabant,  26  cities,  f()2 
parishes— Flanders,  28  cities,  90  towns,  1 134  villages,  besides 
abbies,  castles,  &c.  The  Low- Countries  generally  have  three 
cities  at  least  for  one  of  ours,  and  those  far  more  populous  and 
rich  :  and  what  is  the  cause,  but  their  industry  and  excellency 
in  all  manner  of  trades,  their  commerce,  which  is  maintained 
bya  muUitudeof  tradesmen,  somany  excellent  channelsmade 
by  art,  and  opportune  havens,  to  which  (hey  buijd  their  cities? 
all  which  we  have  in  like  measure,  or  at  least  may  have.  But 
their  chiefest  loadstone,  which  draws  all  manner  of  commerce 
and  merchandise,  which  maintains  their  present  estate,  is  not 
fertility  of  soyl,  bi-t  industry  (hat  enricheth  them  :  the  gold 
mines  of  Peru  or  Nova  Hispaniamay  not  compare  with  (hem. 
They  have  neither  gold  nor  silver  of  their  own,  wine  nor  oylj 
or  scarce  any  corn  growing  in  those  United  Provinces,  little  or 


a  Incremenf.  nro.  lib.  I.  cap.  9.  b  Angiiae,  excepto  Loiidino,  nulla  est  civitas 

mpmoralnhs,  licet  ea  natio  rerum  omnium  copia  ahiindet.  ••  Cosmog.  lib.  3.  cap. 

119.  Villaruin  non  est  numenis  ;  milliis  locus  otiosus,  aut  incuitiis.  dChytrens 

orat   edit.  Fiancof.  1.">S:).  <•  Magiuus  Geog.  '  Oitelius  e  Vaseo  et  Pet.  de 

Medina.  "An  hundred  families  iu  each. 


7^^  DEMOORITUS    TO    THE    READER. 

no  wood,  tin, lead,  iron,  silk,  wool,  any  stuff  almost,  or  mettle ; 
and  yet  Hungary,  Transilvania,  that  brasr  of  theirmines, fertile 
Eng^land,  cannot  compare  with  them.  I  dare  boldly  say,  that 
neither  France,  Tarentum,  Apulia,  Lombardy,  or  any  part 
of  Italy,Valence  in  Spain, orthat  pleasant  Andalusia,  with  their 
excellent  fruits,  wine,  and  oyl,  two  harvests- — no,  not  any  part 
of  Europe,  is  so  flourishing-,  so  rich,  so  populous,  so  full  of 
good  ships,  of  well  built  cities,  so  abounding  with  all  things 
necessary  for  the  use  of  man.  'Tis  our  Indies,  an  epitome 
of  China,  and  all  by  reason  of  their  industry,  good  policy,  and 
commerce.  Industry  is  a  loadstone  to  draw  all  good  things  ; 
that  alone  makes  countries  flourish,  cities  populous,  ^and  will 
enforce,  by  reason  of  much  manure  which  necessarily  follows, 
a  barren  soyl  to  be  fertile  and  good,  as  sheep  (saith  ^Dion) 
mend  a  bad  pasture. 

Teil  me,  politicians,  why  is  the  fruitful  Palestina,  noble 
Greece,  ^gypt,  Asia  Minor,  so  much  decayed,  and  (meer 
carcasses  now)  fain  from  that  they  were?  The  gTound  is  the 
same  ;  but  the  government  is  altered ;  the  people  are  grown 
slothful,  idle;  their  good  husbandry,  policy,  and  industry,  is 
decayed.  NonJ'atujata  aut  effeta  hnnms;  (as  ""  Columella  well 
informs  Sylvinus)  sed  nostra  f.t  inertia,  &c.  May  a  man  be- 
lieve that  which  Aristotle  in  his  Politicks, Pausanias,8tepha- 
nus,  Sophianus,  Gerbelius,  relate  of  old  Greece?  1  find  here- 
tofore 70  cities  in  Epirus  (overthrown  by  Paulus  iEnu'lius),  a 
goodly  province  in  times  past, '' now  left  desolate  of  good 
towns,  and  almost  inhabitants — 62  cities  in  Macedonia,  in 
Strabo's  time.  I  find  30  in  Laconia,  but  now  scarce  so  many 
villages,  saith  Gerbelius.  If  any  n)an,  from  Mount  Tiiygetus, 
should  view  the  countrey  round  about,  and  see  tot  delicias^ 
tot  urhes  per  Peloponnemni  dispersas,  so  many  delicate  aijd 
brave  built  cities,  with  such  cost  and  exquisite  cu'ining,  so 
neatly  set  outin  Peloponnesus,  ''he  should  perceive  them  now 
ruinous  and  overthrown,  burnt,  waste,  desolate,  and  laid  level 
with  the  ground.  IncrediJnle  dictu,  Sfc  And  as  he  laments, 
Quisy  taliaj'ando,  Temperet  a  lacrymis  ?  Quis  tarn  durns  aut 
J'errens,  (so  he  prosecutes  it)  who  is  he  that  can  sufficiently 
condole  and  commiserate  these  mines?  Where  are  tliose  4000 
cities  of  iEgypt,  those  100  cities  in  Crete  ?  Are  ihey  now  con«e 
totwo?  Whatsaith  Pliny,  and  iElian,  of  old  Italy  ?  There  v/ere, 
in  former  ages,  1 166  cities  :  Blondus  and  Machiavelboth  grant 


»  Pop'.ili  multitndo  diliprenti  cultura  fecimdat  solum.     Bofer.  1.  8.  c,  3.  ^  Orat. 

35.     Terra  nbi  oves  stabulantur,  optima  agricolis  ob  stercus.  ("De  re  rust.  1.  2. 

cap;  1         <iHodie  nrbibus  desobitiir,  et  magn;i  ex  parte  inco!isdestituit:ir,   Gerbt'lius 
desc.  Grsecise.  lib.  6  ''  Videhit  eas  f'ere  omnes  aut  exersas,  aut  solo  cequatas, 

aut  in  rudera  foedissime  dejectas,     Gerbelius. 


DKMOCRITUS  TO  THE  READER.  79 

them  now  nothing-  near  so  populous  and  full  of  g-ood  towns,  as 
in  the  time  of  Augustus  (fornow  Leander  Aibertus  can  find  but 
SOO  at  most),  and,  if  we  may  give  credit  to  *  Livy,  not  then 
so  strong  and  puissant  as  of  old  :  They  mustered  70  letjions 
hijbrmer  times,  which  now  the  known  world  toill  scarce  yield, 
Alexander  built  70  cities  in  a  short  space  for  his  part ;  our 
sultans  and  Turks  demolish  twice  as  many,  and  leave  all 
desolate.  Many  will  not  believe  but  that  our  island  of  Great 
Britain  is  now  more  populous  than  ever  it  was :  yet  let  them 
read  Bede,Leland,and  others;  they  shall  find  it  most  flourished 
in  the  Saxon  Heptarchy,  and  in  the  Conquerours  time  was 
far  better  inhabited,  than  at  this  present.  See  that  Doomsday- 
Book  :  and  shew  me  those  thousands  of  parishes,  which  are 
now  decayed,  cities  ruined,  villages  depopulated,  &c.  The 
lesser  the  territory  is,  commonly  the  richer  it  is — parvus^  sed 
beuecnltus,af/er — as  those  Athenian,Laced8emonian, Arcadian, 
Elean,  Sicyonian,  Messenian,  &c.  common-wealth  of  Greece 
make  ample  proof— as  those  imperial  cities  and  free  states 
of  Germany  may  witness — those  cantons  of  Svvitzers,  Rhseti, 
Grisons,  Walloons,  territories  of  Tuscany,  Lucca  and  Sienna 
of  old,  Piedmont,  Mantua,  Venice  in  Italy,  llaguse,  &c. 

That  prince,  then  fore,  (as ''  Boterus  adviseth)  that  Mill  have 
a  rich  country,  and  fair  cities,  let  him  get  good  trades,  privi- 
leges, painful  inhabitants,  artificers,  and  suffer  no  rude  matter 
unwrought,  as  tin,  iron,  wood,  lead,  &c.  to  be  transported  out 
of  his  countrey — '  a  thing  in  part  seriously  attempted  amongst 
as,  but  not  effected.  And  because  industry  of  men,  and 
nmltitude  of  trade,  so  much  avails  to  the  ornament  and  en- 
riching of  a  kingdom,  those  ancient  '^  Massilians  would  admit 
no  man  into  their  city  that  had  not  some  trade.  Selym  the 
First,  Turkish  Emperour,  procured  a  thousand  good  artificers 
to  be  brought  from  Tauris  to  Constantinople.  The  Polanders 
indented  with  Henry  duke  of  Anjou,  their  new  chosen  king-, 
to  bring  with  him  an  hundred  families  of  artificers  into  Poland. 
James  the  first  in  Scotland  (as  '^Buchanan  writes)  sent  for  the 
best  artificers  he  could  get  in  Europe,  and  gave  them  gieat  re- 
wards to  teach  his  sul)jects  their  several  trades.  Edward  the 
Third,  our  most  renowned  king,  to  his  eternal  memory, 
brought  cloathing  first  into  this  island,  transporting  some  fa- 
milies of  artificers  from  Gaunt  hither.  How  many  goodly 
cities  could  1  reckon  up,  that  thrive  wholly  by  trade,  where 


!>Lib.   7.   Septuaginta    olitn    legiones    scripta;  tlicuntiir  ;    qnas    vires   liodie.   Sec. 
•'Polit.  1.  3.  c.  8.  'For  dying  of  cloaths,  and  dressing,  &c.  •'  Valer.  lib.  2. 

c.  1  ^  Hist.  Scot.  lib.  10.  Magnis  propositis  pra;nuis,  ut  Scoti  ab  iis  edoc«- 

rentur. 


M)  DEMOrRiTU'i     TO     TJIE     ItEAPFR. 

tliousasidsorinbabftaiUsfive  singular  wpll  by  tlieir  fiiigerends, 
as  Florence  in  Italy  by  making  cloth  of  gold;  great  Millan  by 
silk,  and  all  curious  works ;  Arras  in  Artois  by  those  fair 
hangings;  many  cities  in  Spain,  many  in  France,  Germany, 
have  none  other  maintenance,  especially  those  witliin  the  land. 
*  Media,  m  Arabia  Petr^ea,  stands  in  a  most  unfruitful  coun- 
try, that  wants  water,  amongst  the  rocks,  (as  Vertomannus 
describes  it) ;  and  yet  it  is  a  most  elegant  and  pleasant  city, 
by  reason  of  the  trafHck  of  the  east  and  west.  Ormns,  in 
Persia,  is  a  must  famous  mart  town,  hath  not  else  but 
the  opportunity  of  the  haven  to  mnke  it  flourish.  Corinth, 
a  noble  city,  {lumoi.  Grceclce,  Tully  call  it)  the  eye  of 
Greece,  by  reason  of  Cenchreas  and  Leclieus,  fbose  excel- 
lent ports,  drew  all  the  trafiick  of  the  Ionian  and  /Egea))  seas 
to  it ;  and  yet  the  country  about  it  was  cnrva  et  Sfqjprciliosa, 
(as  ''Strabo  terms  it)  rugged  and  harsh.  We  may  say  the 
same  of  Athens,  Actium,  Thebes.  Sparta,  and  most  of 
those  towns  in  Greece.  Noreniberg  in  Germany  is  sited  in  a 
most  barren  soil,  yet  a  noble  imperial  city,  by  the  sole  indus- 
try of  artificers,  and  cunning  trades  :  they  drew  the  riches  ol' 
ntost  countreyes  to  tJjem;  so  expert  in  manufactures,  that,  as 
Sallust  long  since  gave  out  of  the  like,  sedem  (vr'imce  in  ex- 
tremis diffitis  habeni ;  their  soul,  or  intellectus  affens,  was 
placed  in  their  fingers  ends;  and  so  we  may  say  of  Basil,  Spire, 
Cambray,  Francfurt,  &c.  It  is  almost  incredible  to  speak 
what  some  nrite  of  Mexico,  and  the  cities  adjoyning  to  it : 
no  place  \n  the  world,  at  their  first  discovery,  more  populous. 
"  Mat.  Iiiccius  the  Jesuite,  and  sorae  others,  relate  of  the  in- 
dustry of  the  Chinaes  most  populous  countreys,  not  a  beggar, 
or  an  idle  person  to  be  seen,  and  how  by  that  means  ihey  pros- 
per and  flourish.  We  have  the  same  means — able  bodies, 
pliant  wits,  matter  of  all  sorts,  wooll,  flax,  iron,  tin,  lead, 
wood,  &c.  many  excellent  subjects  to  work  upon ;  only  indus- 
try is  wanting.  We  send  our  best  commodities  beyond  the 
seas,  which  they  can  make  good  use  of  to  their  necessities,  set 
themselves  a  work  about,  and  severally  improve,  sending  tha 
same  to  us  back  at  dear  rates,  or  else  make  toyes  atui  babies 
of  the  tails  of  them,  which  they  sell  tons  again,  at  as  great  a 
reckoning  as  they  bought  tlie  whole.  In  most  of  our  cities, 
some  few  excepted,  like  ^  Spanish  loiterers,  we  live  wholly 
by    tipling  :    inns   and  ale-houses,  malting,    are   their  best 


ajVfunst.  cosni.  1.  5.  c.  74:  Agro  omnium  leruiii  infecundissii-ao,  aqua  indinente, 
inter  saxeta,  urbs  taiaen  elegantissima,  ob  oiientis  negotiation's  et  ocritlentis. 
b  Lib.  8.  Oeogr.  ob  asperum  s\i\m\.  c  Lib.  Edit,  a  nic.  Tregant.  Belg.  A. 

1616.  exuedit.  in  Sinas.  ^  Ubi  nobiks  probii  locoliabent  ailem  aiiquain  protiteri. 

Clenard.  ep  1.  1. 


DEMOCRITITS    TO     TllK     READER.  81 

ploughs;  their  greatest  traffick,  to  sell  ale.  ^Meteran  and 
some  others  object  to  us,  that  we  are  no  whit  so  industrious  as 
the  Hollanders:  Manual  trades,  (saith  he)  xchich  are  viore 
curious  or  troublesome,  are  whollif  exercised  hi/  stramjers:  they 
dwell  ill  a  sea  full  of  fish  ;  hut  they  are  so  idle,  they  icill  not 
catch  so  much  as  shall  serve  their  own  turns,  but  buy  it  of  their 
neiyhhours.  .  Tush  !  ^  Mare  liberum :  they  fish  under  our 
noses,  and  sell  it  to  us,  when  they  have  done,  at  their  own 
prices, 

-Pudet  hsec  opprobrla  nobis 


Et  dici  potuisse  et  non  potuisse  ret'elli. 

I  am  ashamed  to  hear  this  objected  by  strangers;  and  know 
not  how  to  answer  it. 

Amongst  our  towns  there  is  only '^London  that  bears  the  face 
of  a  city — '^epitoine  Britannia',  a  famous  emporium,  second  to 
none  beyond  seas,  a  noble  mart :  but  sola  crescit,decrescentibus 
aliis  ;  and  yet,  in  my  slender  judgement,  defective  in  many 
things.  The  rest  (*"  some  i'ew  excepted)  are  in  mean  estate, 
ruinous  most  part,  poor  and  full  of  beggars,  by  reason  of  their 
decayed  trades,  neglected  or  bad  policy,  idleness  of  their  in- 
habitants, and  riot,  which  had  rather  beg  or  loyter,  and  be 
ready  to  starve,  than  work. 

1  cannot  deny  but  that  something  may  be  said  in  defence 
of  our  cities,  "^that  they  are  not  so  fair  built,  (for  the  sole 
magnificence  of  this  kingdom  concerning  buildings,  hath  been 
of  old  in  those  Norman  castles  and  religious  houses)  so  rich, 
thick  sited,  populous,  as  in  some  other  countreys.  Besides  the 
reasons  Cardan  gives,  {Subtil.  Lib.  11.)  we  want  wine  and  oyl, 
their  two  harvests ;  we  dwell  in  a  colder  air,  and,  for  that 
cause,  must  a  little  more  liberally  ^  feed  of  flesh,  as  all  North- 
ern countreys  do.  Our  provision  will  not  therefore  extend 
to  the  maintenance  of  so  many :  yet,  notwithstanding,  wo 
have  matter  of  all  sorts,  an  open  sea  of  traflick,  as  well 
as  the  rest,  goodly  havens.      And  how  can  we  excuse  our 


^Lib.  ll?.  Belg.  Hist.  Non  tamlaboriosi,  utBelgse,  sed,  utHispani,  otiatores,  vitani 
\\t  plurimiiin  otiosam  agentes  :  artes  manuarioe,  qnoe  plnrimuni  habent  in  se  laboris  et 
difticultatis,  majoreraque  requirunt  industriam,  a  peregrinis  et  exteris  exercentur :  babi- 
tant  in  piscosissimo  niari  ;  interea  tantiim  non  piscantur  quantum  insula;  suflecerit,  sed 
a  vicinis  emere  coguntiir.  t"  Grotii  Liber.  <-"  Urbs  animis  nuraeroqiie  potens, 

et  robdre  genti«.  Scabger.  ^  Camden.  <■  York,  Bristow,  Norwich,  Worcester,  ^c. 
fN.  Gainsford's  areument,  "Because  gentlemen  dwell  wth  us  in  the  countrey  villages, 
our  cities  are  I'^ss,"  is  nothing  to  the  purpose.  Put  300  or  400  villiiges  in  a  shire,  and 
every  village  yield  a  gentleman  :  what  is  400  families  to  increase  one  of  our  cities  or 
to  contend  with  theirs,  which  stand  thicker  ?  and  whereas  ours  usually  consist  of  7000, 
theirs  consist  of  40000  inhabitants.  ?  Maxiiua  pars  victiis  in  carne  coiisistit 

Polyd.  Lib.  1.  Hist. 

VOL.    I.  "  G 


82  DEMOCRITUS    TO    THfi    READER. 

negligence,  our  riot,  drunkenness,  &c.  and  such  enormities 
that  follow  it  ?  We  have  excellent  laws  enacted,  (you  will  say) 
severe  statutes,  houses  of  correction,  &c. — to  small  purpose,  it 
seems:  it  is  not  houses  will  serve,  but  cities  of  correction  :  ''our 
tradesg'enerallyoughtto  be  reformed,  wants  supplyed.  In  other 
countreys,  they  have  the  same  grievances,  I  confess,  (but  that 
doth  not  excuse  us)  ^  wants,  defects,  enormitiesy  idle  drones, 
tumults,discords,contention,law-suits,many  laws  made  against 
them  to  repress  those  innumerable  brawls  and  law-suits,  excess 
in  apparel,  diet,  decay  of  tillage,  depopulations,  *^  especially 
against  rogues,  beggars,  ^Egyptian  vagabonds  (so  termed  at 
least)  which  have  ''swarmed  all  over  Germany,  France,  Italy, 
Poland, (as  you  may  read  in  "^MunsterjCranziuSjand  Aventinus) 
as  those  Tartars  and  Arabians  atthis  day  do  in  the  eastern  coun- 
treys— yet,  (such  hath  been  the  iniquity  of  all  ages)  as  it  seems, 
to  small  purpose.  Nemo  in  nostra,  civitate  mendicus  esto,  saith 
Plato:  he  will  have  them  purged  from  a  *  common- wealth, 
"  as  a  bad  humour  J'rom  the  hody,  that  are  like  so  many  ulcers 
and  boils,  and  must  be  cured  before  the  melancholy  body  can 
be  eased. 

What  Carolus  Magnus,  the  Chinese,  the  Spaniards,  the 
duke  of  Saxony,  and  many  other  states  have  decreed  in  this 
case,  read  Arniseus,  cap.  19.  Boterus,  lihro  8.  cap.  2.  Osorius, 
de  Rebus  gest.  Eman,  lib.  II.  When  a  countrey  is  over- 
stored  with  people,  as  a  pasture  is  oft  over-laid  with  cattle, 
they  had  wont  in  former  times  to  disburden  themselves,  by 
sending"  out  colonies,  or  by  wars,  as  those  old  Romans  ;  or  by 
employing  them  at  home  about  some  publick  buildings,  as 
bridges,  rode-wayes,  (for  which  those  Romans  were  famous 
in  this  island)  as  Augustus  Csesar  did  in  Rome,  the  Spaniards 
in  their  Indian  mines,  as  at  Potosa  in  Peru,  where  some 
thirty  thousand  men  are  still  at  work,  six  thousand  furnaces 
ever  boyling,  &c.  ''  aqueducts,  bridges,  havens,  those  stu- 
pend  works  of  Trajan,  Cladius  at  'Ostium,  Dioclesiani 
Thermse,  Fucinus  Lacus,  that  Pirseeum  in  Athens,  made  by 
Themistocles,  amphitheatrums  of  curious  marble,  as  at  Ve- 
rona, Civitas  Philippi,  and  Heraclea  in  Thrace,  those  Appian 
and   Flaminian  wayes,  prodigious  works  all  may  witness; 

a  Refrsenate  monopolii  licentiam  ;  pauciores  alantur  otlo  ;  redintegretnr  agricolatio ; 
lanificiuni  instauretur ;  ut  sit  honestum  negotiurn,  quo  se  exerceat  otiosa  ilia  tinba. 
Nisi  his  malis  niedentur,  friistra  exercent  justitiam.  Mor.  Utop.  Lib.  1.  b]\Jan- 

cipiis  locuples,  ejjetserisCappadociimrex.  Hor.  c  Regis  dignitatis  non  estexercere 
imperium  in  mendicos,  sed  in  opulentos.  Non  est  regni  decus,  sed  carceris  esse  custos. 
Idem.  '1  Colhivies  hominum  niirabilis,  excocti  sole^  itnmnndi  veste,  fcedi  visii,  furtis 
imprimis  acres,  &c.  ''Cosmog.  lib.  3.  c.  5.  f  Seneca  Hand  munis  ttirpia 

principi  multa  supplicia,  quam  medico  miUta  funera.  B  Ut  pituitam  et  bilem  a 

corpore  (II.  de  leg.)  oranes  vult  exterminari.  ''See  Lipsius,  Admiranda.  '  De 
quo  Suet,  in  Claudio  ;  et  Plinius,  c.  36. 


DEMOCRITUS  TO  THE  READER.  83 

and  (rather  than  they  should  be  '^  idle)  as  those  ''  ^Egyptian 
Pharaohs,  3Ioeris,  and  Sesostris,  did,  to  task  their  subjects  to 
build  unnecessary  pyramids,  obelisks,  labyrinths,  chanels, 
lakes,  gigantian  works  all,  to  divert  them  from  rebellion,  riot, 
drunkenness  ;  "  quo  scilicet  alantur,  et  ne  vagando  laborare 
desuescant. 

Another  eye-sore  is  that  Avant  of  conduct  and  navigable 
rivers, — a  great  blemish,  (as  ^  Boterus,  •=  Hippolytus  a  Colli- 
bus,  and  other  politicians  hold)  if  it  be  neglected  in  a  com- 
mon-wealth. Admirable  cost  and  charge  is  bestowed  in  the 
Low-Countreys  on  this  behalf,  in  the  Duchy  of  Mdan,  terri- 
tory of  Padua,  in  '  France,  Italy,  China,  and  so  likewise 
about  corrivations  of  Maters,  to  moisten  and  refresh  barren 
grounds,  to  drean  fens,  bogs,  and  moors.  Massiuissa  made 
many  inward  parts  of  Barbary  and  Numidia  in  Africk  (be- 
fore his  time  incult  and  horrid)  fruitful  and  bartable  by  this 
means.  Great  industry  is  generally  used  all  over  the  eastern 
countreys  in  this  kind,  especially  in  iEgypt,  about  Babylon 
and  Damascus,  (as  Vertoraannus  and  ^Gotardus  Arthus  re- 
late) about  Barcelona,  Segovia,  Murcia,  and  many  other 
places  of  Spain,  3Iilan  in  Italy  :  by  reason  of  which,  their 
soil  is  much  improved,  and  infinite  commodities  arise  to  the 
inhabitants. 

The  Turks  of  late  attempted  to  cut  that  Isthmos  betwixt 
Africk  and  Asia,  which ''Sesostris  and  Darius,and  some  Pha- 
raohs of  ^Egypt  had  formerly  undertaken,  but  with  ill  success 
(as  '  Diodorus  Siculus  records,  and  Pliny) ;  for  that  the  Red- 
sea,  being  three  ^  cubits  higher  than  iEgypt,  would  have 
drowned  all  the  countrey,  coepto  destiterant,  they  left  off. 
Yet  (as  the  same  '  Diodorus  writes)  Ptolemy  renewed  the 
work  many  years  after,  and  absolved  it  in  a  more  opportune 
place. 

That  Isthmos  of  Corinth  was  likewise  undertaken  to  be  made 
navigable  by  Demetrius,  by  Julius  Caesar,  Nero,  Domitian, 
Herodes  Atticus,  to  make  a  speedy  "'passage,  and  less  dan- 
gerous,from  the  Ionian  and^Egaean  seas :  but,  because  it  could 
not  be  so  well  effected,  the  Peloponnesians  built  a  Mall, like  our 
Picts  wall,  about  Schoenus  where  Neptunes  temple  stood,  and 

=»  Ut  egestati  simul  et  ignavise  occurratur,  opificia  condiscantnr,  tenues  sableventur. 
Bodin.  1.  6.  c.  2.  num.  (3,  7.  bAraasis,  .-Egypti  rex,  legem  promiilgavit,  ut 

omnes  subditi  quotanni.s  rationein  redderent  unde  \  iverent.  '^  Bascoldus,  discursu 

polit.  cap.  2.   "  •!  Lib.  1.  de  increm  urb.  cap.  6.  "  Cap.  5.  de  increm  urb. 

Qmis  flumen,  lucus,  aut  meru,  illuit.  f  Incredibilem  commoditatem, 

vectura  mercium,  tre.s  fluvii  navigabiles,  &c.  Boterus,  de  Gallia.  ?  Heroditiis, 

'■  Ind.  Orient,  cap.  2.  Rotam  m  medio  flumiue  cnnstituunt,cui  ex  pellibns  animaliuin 
coDsutos  utres  api)endunt :  hi,  duni  rota  movetur,  aquani  per  canales,  &c.  '  Centum 
pedes  lata  fossa,  30  alta.  "<  Contrary  tothat  of  Archimedes,  who  holds  the  super- 

ficies of  all  waters  even.  '  Lib.  \.  cap.  3.  ■"  Dion.  Pansanias, 

et  Nic.  Gerbelius,  Munster.  Cosm.lib.  4.  cap.  36.  Ut  brevoirforet  nangatio,  et  minus 
neririilosa. 

o2 


84       ,  DEMOCRITUS  TO  THE  READER. 

in  the  shortest  cut  over  the  Isthmos,  (of  which  Diodorus,  lib, 
\\.  Herodotus,  lib.  8.  Uran. — our  later  writers  call  it  Hex- 
amilium)  which  Ainiirath  the  Turk  demolished,  the  Vene- 
tians, anno  145S,  repaired  in  fifteen  dayes  with  thirty  thou- 
sand men.  Some,  saith  Acosta,  would  have  a  passage  cut 
from  Panama  to  Nonibre  de  Dios  in  America  ;  but  Thuanus 
and  Serres,  the  French  historians,  speak  of  a  f.mious  aque- 
duct in  France,  intended  in  Henry  the  Fourths  time,  from  the 
Loyr  to  the  Seine,  and  from  Rhodanusto  the  Loyr,  the  like  to 
which  was  formerly  assayed  by  Doniitian  the  emperour, 
"  froniArar  to  Mosella,  (which  Cornelius  Tacitus  speaks  of  in 
the  thirteenth  of  his  Annals),  after  by  Charles  the  great,  and 
others.  Much  cost  hath  in  former  times  been  bestowed  in 
either  new  making  or  mending  chanels  of  rivers,  and  their 
passages,  (as  Aurelianus  did  by  Tiber  to  make  it  navigable  to 
Rome,  to  convey  corn  from  iEgypt  to  the  city  :  vadum  alvei 
tnmentis  effodit,  sahh  Vopiscus,  et  Tiberis  ripas  extrnxit ;  he 
cut  fords,  made  banks,  &c.)  decayed  havens,  which  Claudius 
the  emperour,  with  infinite  pains  and  charges,  attempted  at 
Ostia,  (as  I  have  said)  the  Venetians  at  this  day,  to  preserve 
their  city.  Many  excellent  means,  to  enrich  their  territories, 
have  been  fostered,  invented  in  most  provinces  of  Europe,  as 
planting  some  Indian  plants  amongst  us  ;  silk-worms  ;  ^  the 
very  mulberry  leaves  in  the  plains  of  Granado,  yield  thirty 
thousand  crowns  per  annum  to  the  king  of  Spains  coffers, 
besides  those  many  trades  and  artificers  that  are  busied  about 
them  in  the  kingdom  of  Granado,  Murcia,  and  all  over  Spain. 
In  France,  a  great  benefit  is  raised  by  salt,  &c.  Whether 
these  things  might  not  be  as  happily  attempted  with  us,  and 
with  like  success,  it  may  be  controverted — silk-worms 
(I  mean)  vines,  fir-trees,  &c.  Cardan  exhorts  Edward  the 
Sixth  to  plant  olives,  and  is  fully  perswaded  they  would  pros- 
per in  this  island.  With  us,  navigable  rivers  are  most  part 
neglected.  Our  streams  are  not  great,  1  confsss,  by  reason  of 
the  narrowness  of  the  island :  yet  they  run  smoothly  and  even, 
not  headlong,  swift,  or  amongst  rocks  and  shelves,  as  foam- 
ing- Rhodanus  and  Loyre  in  France,  Tigris  in  Mesopotamia, 
violent  Durius  in  Spain,  with  cataracts  and  whirl-pools,  as  the 
Rhine  and  Danubius,  about  Schafhausen,  Lausenburgh, 
Linz,  and  Cremmes,  to  endanger  navigators  ;  or  broad  shal- 
low, as  Neckar  in  the  Palatinate,  Tibris  in  Italy  ;  but  calm  and 
fair  as  Arar  in  France,  Hebrus  in  Macedonia,  Eurotasin  La- 
conia  :  they  gently  glide  along,  and  might  as  well  be  repaired, 
many  of  them,  (I  mean  Wie,  Trent,  Ouse,  Thamasis  at  Ox- 

.  *  Charles  the  great  went  about  to  make  a  channel  from  Rhine  to  Danubius.  Bil. 
Pirkiraerus,  descript,  Ger.  the  ruinesare  yet  seen  about  Wessemberg,  from  Rednich 
to  Altemul.  Ut  navigabilia  inter  se  Occidentis  et  Septentrionis  litora  fierent. 
^Maginus,  Geogr.  Sijulerus^  de  rep.  Hclvet.  lib.  1.  descript. 


DExMOCRITUS    TO    THE    READER.  85 

ford,  the  defect  of  which  we  feel  in  the  mean  time)  as  the 
river  of  Lee  from  Ware  to  London.  B.  Atwater  of  ohl,  or 
(as  some  will)  Henry  the  first,  ''made  a  channel  from  Trent 
to  Lincoln,  navigable;  which  now,  saith  Mr.  Cambden,  is 
decayed  :  and  much  mention  is  made  of  anchors,  and  such 
like  monuments,  found  about  old  ''  Verulamium  :  good  ships 
have  formerly  come  to  Exeter,  and  many  such  places,  whose 
chanels,  havens,  ports,  are  now  barred  and  rejected.  We 
contcnm  this  benefit  of  carriage  by  waters,  and  are  therefore 
compelled,  in  the  inner  parts  of  this  island,  because  porterage 
is  so  dear,  to  eat  up  our  commodities  our  selves,  and  live  like 
so  many  boars  in  a  sty,  for  want  of  vent  and  utterance. 

We  nave  many  excellent  havens,  royal  havens,  Falmouth, 
Portsmouth,  Milford,  &c. — equivalent,  if  not  to  be  preferred, 
to  that  Indian  Havanna,  old  Brundilsium  in  Italy,  Aulis  in 
Greece,  Ambracia  in  Acarnania,  Sudaiu  Crete, — which  have 
few  ships  in  them,  little  or  no  traffic  or  trade, — which  have 
scarce  a  village  on  them,  able  to  bear  great  cities:  sedvide- 
rint  politici.  I  could  here  justly  tax  many  other  neglects, 
abuses,  errors,  defects  among  us,  and  in  other  countreys — de- 
populations, riot,  drunkenness,  &c.  and  many  such,  qnce 
nunc  in  aurem  snsnrrare  non  lihet.  But  I  must  take  heed,we- 
(juid  f/ravius  dicam,  that  I  do  not  overshoot  my  self — Sns 
M'mervnm — I  am  forth  of  my  element,  as  you  peradventure 
suppose ;  and  sometimes  Veritas  odium  parity  as  he  said  ; 
verjuice,  and  oatmeal  is  goodjor  a  parret :  for,  as  Lucian  said 
of  an  historian,  I  say  of  a  politician,  he  that  will  freely  speak 
and  write,  must  be  for  ever  no  subject,  under  no  prince  or 
law,  but  lay  out  the  matter  truly  as  it  is,  not  caring  what  any 
can,  will,  like  or  dislike. 

We  have  good  laws  (I  deny  not)  to  rectify  such  enormi- 
ties ;  and  so  in  all  other  countreys;  but,  it  seems,  not  al- 
M'ayes  to  good  purpose.  We  had  need  of  some  general  vi- 
sitor  in  our  age  that  should  reform  what  is  amiss — a  just  army 
of  Rosie-cross  men  ;  for  they  will  amend  all  matters,  (they 
say)  religion,  policy,  manners,  with  arts,  sciences,  &c. — 
another  Attila,  Tamberlane,  Hercules,  to  strive  with  Ache- 
loiis,  Auyece  stabulum  purfjare,  to  subdue  tyrants,  as  '  he 
did  Diomedes  and  Busiris;  to  expel  thieves,  as  he  did  Cacus 
and  Lacinius  ;  to  vindicate  poor  captives,  as  he  did  Hesione  ; 
to  pass  the  torrid  zone,  the  desarts  of  Libya,  and  purge  the 
world  of  monsters  and  Centaures — or  another  Theban  Crates 
to  reform  our  manners,  to  compose  quarrels  and  controver- 
sies, as  in  his  time  he  did,  and  was  therefore  adored  for  a  god 

» Camden  in  Lincolnshire.     Fossedike.  '' Near  S.  Albons,     .      '  Liiius  Girald. 

Nat.  Comes. 


86  DEMOCRITUS  TO  THE  READER. 

in  Athens.  As  Heicules  '^purged  the  ivorld  of  monsters,  and 
subdued  them,  so  did  hejight  against  envy,  lust,  anger,  ava- 
rice, ^'C.  and  all  those  J'eral  vices  and  monsters  of  the  mind. 
It  were  to  be  wished  ^v^  had  some  such  visitor,  or  (if  wishing- 
would  serve)  one  had  such  a  ring  or  rings,  as  Timolaiis  de- 
sired in  '^Lucian,  by  vertue  of  which  he  should  be  as  strong  as 
ten  thousand  men,  or  an  army  of  gyants,  go  invisible,  open 
gates  and  castle  doors,  have  what  treasure  he  would,  transport 
himself  in  an  instant  to  Avhat  place  he  desired,  alter  affections, 
cure  all  manner  of  diseases,  that,  he  might  range  over  the 
world,  and  reform  all  distressed  states  and  persons,  as  he 
would  himself.  He  might  reduce  those  wandering  Tartars  in 
order,  that  infest  China  on  the  one  side,  Muscovy,  Poland, 
on  the  other;  and  tame  the  vagabond  Arabians  that  rob  and 
spoil  those  eastern  countreys,  that  they  should  never  use  more 
caravans,  or  janizaries  to  conduct  them.  He  might  root  out 
barbarism  out  of  America,  and  fully  discover  Terra  Australis 
Incognita;  find  out  the  north-east  and  north-west  passages ; 
drean  those  mighty  Maeotian  fens;  cut  down  those  vast  Her- 
cynian  woods,  irrigate  those  barren  Arabian  desarts,  &c. 
cure  us  of  our  epidemical  diseases,  scorbutum,  plica,  morbus 
Neapolitanus^  S\c.  end  all  our  idle  controversies;  cut  off  our 
tumultuous  desires,  inordinate  lusts ;  root  out  atheism,  im- 
piety, heresie,  schism  and  superstition,  which  now  so  cru- 
cifie  the  world ;  catechise  gross  ignorance,  purge  Italy  of 
luxury  and  riot,  Spain  of  superstition  and  jealousie,  Germany 
of  drunkenness,  all  our  northern  countreys  of  gluttony  and  in- 
temperance ;  castigate  our  hard-hearted  parents,  masters,  tu- 
tors; lash  disobedient  children,  negligent  servants;  correct 
these  spendthrifts  and  prodigal  sons  ;  enforce  idle  persons  to 
work;  drive  drunkards  ofi'the  ale-house ;  repress  thieves,  visit 
corrupt  and  tyrannizing  magistrates,  &c.  But,  as  L.  Licinius 
taxed  Timolaiis,  you  may  us.  These  are  vain,  absurd,  and 
ridiculous  wishes,  not  to  be  hoped :  all  must  be  as  it  is. 
•^Boccalinus  may  cite  common-wealths  to  come  before  Apollo, 
and  seek  to  reform  the  world  it  self  by  commissioners ;  but 
there  is  no  remedy  ;  it  may  not  be  redressed  :  desinent  homi- 
nes turn  demum  stultescere,  quayido  esse  desinent  :  so  long- 
as  they  can  wag'  their  beards,  they  will  play  the  knaves  and 
fools. 

Because,  therefore,  it  is  a  thing  so  difficult,  impossible,  and 
far  beyond  Hercules  labours  to  be  performed,  let  them  be  rude, 

=*  Apuleius,  lib.  4.  Flor.  Lar  familiaris  inter  homines  a;tatis  suae  cultus  est,  litium 
omnium  et  jurgiorum  inter  propinquos  arbiter  et  disceptator.  Adversus  iracundiam, 
invidiam,  avaritiam,  libidinem,  cateraque  animi  humani  vitia  et  raonstra  pbiloso- 
phus  isle  Hercules  fiiib.     Pestes  eas  mentibus  exegit  omnes,  &c.  *>  Yotis  Navig, 

•^  Ragguaglio,  part  2.  cap.  2.  et  part  3.  c.  17.  - 


DEMOCUITUS  TO  THE  READER.  87 

stupid,  lo  norant,  inciilt :  lapis  super  lapidem  sedeat ;  and  as 
the  '  apologist  will,  resp.  ttissi  et  graveolentia  lahoret,  mun- 
dus  vitio  ;  let  them  be  barbarous  as  they  are  ;  let  them  "^  ty- 
rannize, epicurize,  oppress,  luxuriate,  consume  themselves 
with  factions,  superstitions,  law-suits,  wars  and  contentions, 
live  in  riot,  poverty,  want,  misery ;  rebel,  wallow  as  so  many 
swine  in  their  own  dung-,  with  Ulysses  companions :  stnltos 
jnbeo  esse  libenter.  I  will  yet,  to  satisfie  and  please  my  self, 
make  an  Utopia  of  mine  own,  a  new  Atlantis,  a  poetical  com- 
mon-wealth of  mine  own,  in  which  I  will  freely  domineer, 
build  cities,  make  laws,  statutes,  as  I  list  my  self.  And  why 
may  I  not? 


pictoribus  atque  poetis,  &c. 


You  know  what  liberty  poets  ever  had ;  and,  besides,  my  pre- 
decessor Democritus  was  a  politician,  a  recorder  of  Abdera,  a 
law-maker,  as  some  say ;  and  why  may  not  I  presume  so  much 
as  he  did  ?  Howsoever,  I  will  adventure.  For  the  site,  if  you 
will  needs  urge  me  to  it,  I  am  not  fully  resolved  :  it  may  be 
in  Terra  Anstralis  Incof/nita  ;  there  is  room  enough  (for,  of 
my  knowledge,  neither  that  hungry  Spaniard,  '*  nor  Mercurius 
Britannicus,  have  yet  discovered  half  of  it)  or  else  one  of 
those  floating  islands  in  Mare  del  Zur,  which,  like  the  Cy- 
anean  isles  in  the  Euxine  sea,  alter  their  place,  and  are  ac- 
cessible only  at  set  times,  and  to  some  few  persons;  or  one  of 
the  Fortunate  isles;  for  who  knows  yet  where,  or  which  they 
are  ?  There  is  room  enough  in  the  inner  parts  of  America,  and 
northern  coasts  of  Asia.  But  I  will  choose  a  site,  whose 
latitude  shall  be  45  degrees  (I  respect  not  minutes),  in  the 
midst  of  the  temperate  zone,  or  perhaps  under  the  sequator, 
that  '^  paradise  of  the  world,  uhi  semper  virens  laurus,  ^c. 
Avhere  is  a  perpetual  spring-.  The  longitude,  for  some  reasons, 
I  will  conceal.  Yet  he  it  knoum  to  all  men  hy  these  presents, 
that  if  any  honest  gentleman  will  send  in  so  much  money,  as 
Cardan  allows  an  astrologer  for  casting  a  nativity,  he  shall  be  a 
sharer;  I  will  acquaint  him  with  my  project;  or,  if  any 
worthy  man  will  stand  for  any  temporal  or  spiritual  office  or 
dignity,  (for,  as  he  said  of  his  archbishoprick  of  Utopia,  'tis 
sanctns  ambitus,  and  not  amiss  to  be  sought  after)  it  shall  be 
freely  given,  without  all  intercessions,  bribes,  letters,  &c.  his 
own  worth  shall  be  the  best  spokesman  ;  and  (because  we 
shall  admit  of  no  deputies  or  advowsons)  if  he  be  sufficiently 
qualified,  and  as  able  as  Milling  to  execute  the  place  himself, 
he  shall   have  present  possession.     It  shall  be  divided  into 

•' Valent.  Andreic  Apologf.  manip.  604.  *"  Qui  sordidus  est,  sordescat  adhuc, 

fHor.         d  Ferdinando  Quir.  16ia.  t  Vide  Acosta  et  Laet. 


88  BEMOCRITUS  TO  THE  READER. 

twelve  or  thirteen  provinces  ;  and  those,  by  hills,  rivers,  rode- 
wayes,  or  some  more  eminent  limits,  exactly  bounded.  Each 
province  shall  have  a  metropilis,  which  shall  be  so  placed 
as  a  center  almost  in  a  circumference,  and  the  rest  at 
equal  distances,  some  twelve  Italian  miles  asunder,  or  there- 
about ;  and  in  them  shall  be  sold  all  things  necessary  for  the 
use  of  man,  statis  horis  et  diehus  :  no  market-towns,  markets 
or  fairs;  for  they  do  but  beggar  cities  (no  viUage  shall  stand 
above  six,  seven,  or  eiglit  miles  from  a  city)  except  those  em- 
poriums which  are  by  the  sea  side,  general  staples,  marts,  as 
Antwerp,  Venice,  Bergen  of  old,  London,  &c.     Cities,  most 

{)art,  shall  be  situate  upon  navigable  rivers  or  lakes,  creeks, 
lavens — and,  for  their  form,  regular,  round,  square,  or  long 
square,^  with  fair,  broad,  and  straight  ^  streets,  houses  uni- 
form, built  ofbrick  and  stone,  like  Bruges,  Bruxels,  Rhegiura 
Lepidi,  Berna  in  Switzerland,  Milan,  Mantua,  Crema,  Cam- 
balu  in  Tartary  described  by  M.  Polus,  or  that  Venetian  Pal- 
ma.  1  will  admit  very  few  or  no  suburbs,  and  those  of  baser 
building,  walls  only  to  keep  out  man  and  horse,  except  it  be 
in  some  frontier  towns,  or  by  the  sea  side,  and  those  to  be 
fortified  '^  after  the  latest  manner  of  fortification,  and  site  upon 
convenient  havens,  or  opportune  places.  In  every  so  built 
city  I  M'ill  have  convenient  churches,  and  separate  places  to 
bury  the  dead  in,  not  in  church -yards — a  citadella  (in  some, 
not  all)  to  command  it,  prisons  for  offenders,  opportune 
market-places  of  all  sorts,  for  corn,  meat,  cattle,  fuel,  fish, 
&c.  commodious  courts  of  justice,  public  halls  foi"  all  so- 
cieties, burses,  meeting-  places,  armories,  "^  in  which  shall  be 
kept  engines  for  quenching  fire, — artillery  gardens,  publick 
walks,  theatres,  and  spacious  fields  allotted  for  all  gymnicks, 
sports,  and  honest  recreations, — hospitals  of  all  kinds  for 
children,  orphans,  old  folks,  sick  men,  mad  men,  souldiers, 
— pest-houses,  &c.  (not  built />recan'o,  or  by  gowty  benefac- 
tors, who,  when  by  fraud  and  rapine  they  have  extorted  all 
their  lives,  oppressed  whole  provinces,  societies,  &c.  give 
something  to  pious  uses,  build  a  satisfactory  alms-house, 
school,  bridge,  &c.  at  their  last  end,  or  before  perhaps ; 
which  is  no  otherwise  than  to  steal  a  goose,  and  stick  down 
a  feather,  rob  a  thousand  to  relieve  ten)  and  those  hospitals 
so  built  and  maintained,  not  by  collections,  benevolences, 
donaries,  for  a  set  number,  (as  in  ours)  just  so  many  and  no 
more  at  such  a  rate,  but  for  all  those  who  stand  in  need,  be 
they  more  or  less,  and  that  ex  publico  (prarioj  and  so  still 
maintained  :    no)i   nobis   solum    nati    sumus,    ^-c.       I    will 

a  Vide  Patridum,  lib.  8.  tit.  10.  de  Instit.  Reip.  h  {jjc  olim  Hippodatnus 

Milesius.  Arist.  polit.  c.  11.  et  VitrnviHs,  1.  1.  c.  ult.  c  With  walLs  of  earth,  &c. 

dDe  his,  Plin.  epist.  42.  lib.  10.  et  Tacit.  Aiiiial.  13.  lib. 


DEMOCRITUS   TO   THE   READER.  89 

have  conduits  of  sweet  and  good  water,  aptly  disposed  in 
each  town,   common   ^  granaries,  as  at  Dresden  in   Misnia, 
Stetin  in  Pome'land,  Noremberg-,  &c.   colleges  of  mathema- 
ticians, musicians,  and  actors,  as  of  old  at  Lebedum  in  Ionia, 
^  alchymists,  physicians,  artists  and  philosophers:  that  all  arts 
and  sciences  may  sooner  be  perfected  and  better  learned;  and 
publick  historiographers,  (as  amongst  those  antient  'Persians, 
qui  in  commentarios  rejerehant  qnce  memoratu  digna  f/ere' 
bantnr)  informed  and   appointed    by  the  state  to  register  all 
famous  acts,  and  not  by  each  insufficient  scribler,  partial  or 
parasitical  pedant,  as  in  our  times.       L  will  provide  publick 
schools,  of  all  kinds,  singing,  dancing,  fencing,  &c.  especially 
of ''  grammar  and  languages,  not  to  be  taught  by  those  tedious 
precepts  ordinarily  used,  but  by  use,  example,  conversation,  as 
travellers  learn  abroad,  and  nurses  teach  their  children.  As  I 
will  have  all  such  places,  so  will  1  ordain  <^publick  governours, 
fit  officers  to  each  place,  treasurers,   sediles,  quaestors,  over- 
seers of  pupils,  widows  goods,  and  all  publick  houses,  &c.  and 
those,    once  a  year,  to  make  strict  accounts   of  all  receipts, 
expences,    to  avoid  confusion  ;  et  sic  fiet  ut  non  absumanf, 
(as  Pliny  to  Trajan)  qitod  pndeat  dicere.       They  shall    be 
subordinate  to  those  higher  officers,   and  governours  of  each 
city,  which  shall  not  be  poor  tradesmen,  and  mean  artificers, 
but  noblemen  and  gentlemen,  which  shall  be  tyed  to  residence 
in  those  towns  they  dwell  next,  at  such  set  times  and  seasons  : 
for  I  see  no  reason  (Avhich  *Hippolytus  complains  of)  that  it 
should  be  more  dishonourable  for  noblemen  to  govern  the  city, 
than  the  countrey,  or  unseeniingly  to  dwell  there  note,  than  of 
old.     "I  will  have  no  bogs,  fens,  marishes,  vast  woods,  desarts, 
heaths,  commons,  but  all  inclosed  (yet  not  depopulated,  and 
therefore  take  heed  you  mistake  me  not) ;  for  that  which  is 
common,  and  every  mans,  is  no  mans  :  the  richest  countreys 
are  still  inclosed,  as  Essex,  Kent,  with  us,  <fec.  Spain,  Italy  ; 
and  where  inclosures  are  least  in  quantity,  they  are  best  ^  hus- 


aVide  Brisonium,  de  regno  Pers.jib.  3.  de  his,  et  Vegetium,  lib.  2  cap,  3.  de 
Annona.  b  Not  to  make  gold,  hut  for  matters  of  physick.  cBresonins. 

Josepl-.us,  lib.  21.  antiq.  .lud.  cap.  6.  Herod,  lib.  3.  d  So  Ltid.  Vives  thinks 

best,  Comminius  and  others.  >-•  Plato  3.  de  leg.  .'Ediles  creari  vult,  qui  fora, 

fontes,  vias,  portus,  plateas,  et  id  genus  alia  procureut.— Vide  Isaacum  Poniannm, 
de  civ.  Atnstel   ha;c  omnia,  ice.  Gotardum  et  alios.  f  De  iucreui.  urb. 

cap.  13.  Ingenue  fateor  me  non  intelligere  cur  ignobilius  sit  urbes  bene  munitas 
rolere  nunc  quam  olim,  aut  casa>  nisticae  prsesse  quam  urbi.  Idem  I'bertus 
Foliot,  de  Neapoli.  sr  Ne  tantillurn  quidem  soli  incultnm  relinquitur ;  ut 

verum  sit  ne  pollicem  quidem  agri  in  his  reginnibus  sterilem  aut  infecundum  reperiri. 
Marcus  Hemmgius,  Angustaaus,  de  regno  Cliiiut,  1.  1.  c.  3.  '■  M. 

Carew,  in  his  Survey  of  Cornwall,  saith,  that,  before  that  conntrey  was  inclosed,  the 
liusbandinen  drank  water,  did  eat  little  or  no  bread,  fol.  (ifi.  lib.  1.  their  apparel 
was  coarse:  they  went  bare-legged;  their  dwelling  was  correspondent ;  but  since 
•nclosure,  they   live    decently,  and  have  money  to  spend  ;  (fol.  23.)   when    their 


90  DEMOCRITUS  TO  THE  READER. 

banded,  as  about  Florence  in  Italy,  Damascas  in  S}Tia,  &c. 
which  are  liker  gardens  than  fields.  I  will  not  have  a  barren 
acre  in  all  my  territories,  no  not  so  much  as  the  tops  of  moun- 
tains :  where  nature  fails,  it  shall  be  supplyed  by  art;  ''lakes 
and  rivers  shall  not  be  left  desolate.  All  common  high- wayes, 
bridges,  banks,  corrivations  of  waters,  aqueducts,  chanels, 
piiblick  works,  buildings,  &c.  out  of  a  "^  common  stock,  cu- 
riously maintained  and  kept  in  repair ;  no  depopulations,  in- 
grossings,  alterations  of  wood,  arable,  but  by  the  consent  of 
some  supervisors,  that  shall  be  appointed  for  that  purpose, 
to  see  what  reformation  ought  to  be  had  in  all  places,  what 
is  amiss,  how  to  help  it ; 

Et  quid  quseque  ferat  regie,  et  quid  quseque  recusal ; 

what  ground  is  aptest  for  wood,  what  for  corn,  what  for  cattle, 
garden,  orchyards,  fishponds,  &c.  with  a  charitable  division  in 
every  village,  (not  one  domineering  houj^e  greedily  to  swallow 
up  all,  which  is  too  common  with  us)  what  for  lords,  '^what  for 
tenants :  and  because  they  shall  be  better  encouraged  to  im- 
prove such  lands  they  hold,  manure,  plant  trees,  drean,  fence, 
&c.  they  shall  have  long  leases,  a  known  rent,  and  known  fine, 
to  free  them  from  those  intolerable  exactions  of  tyrannizing 
landlords.  These  supervisors  shall  likewise  appoint  what 
quantity  of  land  in  each  manor  is  fit  for  the  lords  demesns, 
what  for  holding  of  tenants,  how  it  ought  to  be   husbanded, 

(<iUt  Magnetes  equis,  Minyee,  gens  cognita  remis,) 

how  to  be  manured,  tilled,  rectified,  •'and  what  proportion  is 
fit  for  all  callings,  because  private  possessors  are  many  times 
idiots,  ill  husbands,  oppressors,  covetous,  and  know  not  how 
to  improve  their  own,  or  else  wholly  respect  their  own,  and 
not  public  good. 

Utopian  parity  is  a  kind  of  government,  to  be  wished  for, 
^rather  than  effected,  Respuh.  Chistianopolitana,  Campanellas 
City  of  the  Sun,  and  that  new  Atlantis,  witty  fictions,  but  meer 
chimeras  :  and  Platos  community  in  many  things  is  impious. 


fields  were  common,  their  wool  was  coarse  [Cornish  hair :  but,  since  inclosure, 
it  is  almost  as  good  as  Cotswol,  and  their  soil  much  mended.  Tusser,  c.  52. 
of  his  Husbandry,  is  of  his  opinion,  one  acre  inclosed  is  worth  three  common. 
The  conntrey  inclosed  I  praise :  The  other  delighteth  not  me ;  For  nothing  of 
wealth  it  doth  raise,  &c.  «  Incredibilis  navigiorum  copia  :  nihilo  pauciores 

in  aquis  quam  in  continenti  commorantur.  M.  Riccius,  expedit.  in  Sinas,  1.  1. 
c.  o.  ,  bTo  this  purpose,  Arist.  polit.  2.  c.  6,  allows  a  third  part  of  their 

revenews,  Hippodamus  half.  "-"Ifa  lex  agraria  dim  Romae.  <*  Lu- 

canus,  i.  6.  f  Hie  segetes,  illic  veniunt  felicius  uvpe;  Arborei  fetus  alibi,  at- 

que  injussa  virescunt^Gramina.     Virg.  1.  Georg.  f  Joh.  Valeut.  Andreas, 

Lord  Verulam. 


DEMOCRITUS  TO  THE  READER.  9l 

absurd  and  ridiculous;  it  takes  away  all  splendor  and  magni- 
ficence. 1  will  have  several  orders,  degrees  of  nobility,  and 
those  =^  hereditary,  not  rejecting- younger  brother.-?  in  the  mean 
time ;  for  they  sliall  be  sufficiently  provided  for  by  pensions, 
or  so  qualified,  brought  up  in  some  honest  calling,  they  shall 
be  able  to  live  of  themselves.  I  will  have  such  a  proportion  of 
ground  belonging  to  every  barony  :  he  that  buyes  the  land, 
shall  buy  the  barony :  he  that  by  riot  consumes  his  patrimony, 
and  antient  demesns,  shall  forfeit  his  honours.  As  some  dig- 
nities shall  be  hereditary,  so  some  again  by  election  or  gift 
(besides  free  offices,  pensions,  annuities)  like  our  bishopricks, 
prebends,  the  Bassas  palaces  in  Turky,  the  *>  procurators 
liouses,  and  offices  in  Venice,  which  (like  the  golden  apple) 
shall  be  given  to  the  worthiest  and  best  deserving  both  in  war 
and  peace,  as  a  reward  of  their  worth  and  good  service,  as  so 
many  goals  for  all  to  aim  at,  (honosalit  artes)  and  encourage- 
ments to  others.  For  I  hate  those  severe,  unnatural,  harsh, 
German,  French,  and  Venetian  decrees,  which  exclude  ple- 
beians from  honours  :  be  they  never  so  wise,  rich,  vertuous, 
valiant,  and  well  qualified,  they  must  not  be  patritians,  but 
kee|)  tlieir  own  rank  :  this  is  natnrce  helbnn  hiferre,  odious 
to  God  and  men  ;  I  abhor  it.  My  form  of  Government  shall 
be  monarchical ; 

( "^  nunquam  libertas  gratior  exstat, 

Quam  sub  rege  pio,  &c.) 

few  laM  s,  but  those  severely  kept,  plainly  put  down,  and  in 
the  mother  tongue,  that  every  man  may  understand.  Every 
city  shall  have  a  peculiar  trade  or  privilege,  by  which  it  shall 
Ite  cliiefiy  maintained  :  'and  parents  shall  teach  their  children, 
(one  of  three  at  least)  bring  up  and  instruct  them  in  the  mys- 
teriesof  thcirown  irade.  In  each  town,these  several  tradesmen 
shall  be  so  aptly  disposed,  as  they  shall  free  the  rest  from  dan- 
ger or  offence.  Fire-trades,  as  smiths,  forge-men,  brewers, 
bakers,  metal-men,  &c.  shall  dwell  apart  by  themselves; 
dyers,  tanners,  fel-mongers,  and  such  as  use  water,  in  con- 
venient places  by  themselves:  noisome  or  fulsome  for  bad  smells, 
as  butchers  slaughter-houses,  chandlers,  curriers,  in  remote 
places,  and  some  back  lanes.  Fraternities  and  companies  I  ap- 
prove of,  as  merchants  burses,  colleges  of  druggers,  phy- 
sicians, musicians,  &c.  but  all  trades  to  be  rated  in  the  sale  of 
wares,  as  our  clerks  of  the  market  do  bakers  and  brewers ; 

a  So  it  is  io  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  and  Francr.  *>See  Contarenns  and 

Oaoriiis  de  rebus  jjestis  Enianuelis.  <■  Claudian,  1.  7.  ''  Herodotus,  Erato 

1.  6.  Ciuu  j'Efryptiis  Lacedeerponii  in  hoc  congnnint,  qnod  eonim  pracones, 
tibicines,  coqui,  et  reli(iui  artifices,  in  paterno  artificio  succedunt,  et  coqiius  a  coquo 
gignitiir,  et  paterno  opere  perseverat.  Idem  Marcus  Polus,  de  Qtiinzay.  Idem  Oso- 
rius,  de  Euianuele  rege  Lusitauo.     Riccius,  de  Sinis. 


92  DEMOCRITrS    TO    THE    READER. 

corn  it  self,  what  scarcity  soever  shall  come,  not  to  exceed 
such  a  price.  Of  such  wares  as  are  transported  or  brought  in, 
''if  they  be  necessary,  commodious,  and  such  as  nearly  con- 
cern mans  life,  as  corn,  wood,  cole,  &c.  and  such  provision 
we  cannot  want,  I  will  have  little  or  no  custom  paid,  no  taxes  ; 
but  for  such  things  as  are  for  pleasure,  delight,  or  ornament, 
as  wine,  spice,  tobacco,  silk,  velvet,  cloth  of  gold,  lace,  jewels, 
&c.  a  greater  impost.  I  will  have  certain  ships  sent  out 
for  new  discoveries  every  year,  ^  and  some  discreet  men  ap-  ' 
pointed  to  travel  into  all  neighbour  kingdoms  by  land,  which 
shall  observe  wha^artificial  inventions  and  good  laws  are  in 
our  countreys,  customs,  alterations,  or  ought  else,  concerning 
war  or  peace,  which  may  tend  to  the  common  good  ; — eccle- 
siastical discipline,  penes  episcopos,  subordinate  as  the  other : 
no  impropriations,  no  lay  patrons  of  church-livings,  or  one  pri- 
vate man,  but  common  societies,  corporations,  &c.  and  those 
rectors  of  benefices  to  be  chosen  out  of  the  universities,  exa- 
mined and  approved  as  the  literati  in  China.  Noparisli  to  con- 
tain above  a  thousand  auditors.  If  it  were  possible,  I  would 
have  such  priests  as  should  imitate  Christ,  charitable  lawyers 
should  love  their  neighbours  as  themselves,  temperate  and 
modest  physicians,  politicians  contemn  the  world,  philosophers 
should  know  themselves,  noblemen  live  honestly,  tradesmen 
leave  lying  and  cozening,  magistrates  corruption,  &c.  But  this 
is  impossible ;  I  must  get  such  as  I  may.  1  will  therefore  have 
''of  lawyers,  judges,  advocates,  physicians,  chyrurgions,  &c. 
a  set  number  ;  '^  and  every  man,  if  it  be  possible,  to  plead  his 
own  cause,  to  tell  that  tale  to  the  judge,  which  he  doth  to  his 
advocate,  as  at  Fez  in  Africk,  Bantam,  Aleppo,  Raguse,  siiatn 
quiscpie  cmissam  dicere  tenetur ;  those  advocates,  chyrurgions 
and  ''physicians,  which  are  allowed  to  be  maintained  out  of  the 
'^  common  treasure  ;  no  fees  to  be  given  or  taken,  upon  pain  of 
losing  their  places  ;  or,  if  they  do,  very  small  fees,  and  when 
sthe  cause  is  fully  ended.  ''He  that  sues  any  man  shall  put  in 
a  pledge,  Avhich  if  it  be  proved  he  hath  wrongfully  sued  his 


» Hippol.  a  Collibus,  de  increm.  urb.  c.  20.  Plat.  7.  de  legibus.  Qiise  ad 
vitam  necessaria,  et  quibus  carere  non  possumus,  nullum  dependi  vectigal,  Sec. 
''Plato,  12,  de  legibus,  40  annos  natos  vult,  ut,  si  quid  memorabile  viderint  apud 
exteros,  hoc  ipsum  in  rempub.  recipiatur.  <"  Simlerus,  in  Helvetia. 

«i  Utopienses  caussidicos  excludunt,  qui  caussas  cullide  et  vafre  tractent  et  dLsputent. 
Iniquissiinum  censent  hoininem  uUis  obligari  legibus,  qua;  aut  nuinerosiores  sunt 
quam  ut  perlegi  queant,  aut  obscuriores  quam  ut  a  qnovis  possint  intelligi. 
Volunt  ut  suam  quisque  caussam  agat,  eamqne  referat  judiciquara  narraturus  fuerat 
patrono:  sic  minus  erit  anibaguui,  et  Veritas  facilius  elicietiir,  Mor.  Utop.  1.  2. 
•■  Medici  ex  publico  victum  sumunt.     Boter.  1.  1.  c.  5.  de  /Egyptiis.  f  De  his, 

lege  Patrit.  1.  3.  tit.  8.  de  reip.  Instit.  S  ;fiihil  a  clientibus  patroni  accipiant, 

priusquam  lis  finita  est.  Barcl.  Argen.  lib.  3.    .  i'  It  is  so  in  most  free  cities  in 

Germany. 


DEMOCRITUS  TO  THE  READER.  93 

adversary,  rashly  or  malitiously,  he  shaFl  forfeit  and  lose. 
Or  else,  before  any  suit  begin^  the  plaintiffshall  have  his  com- 
plaint approved  by  a  set  delegacy  to  that  purpose  :  if  it  be  of 
moment,  heshall  besuffered,as  before,  to  proceed;  if  otherwise, 
they  shall  determine  it.  All  causes  shall  be  pleaded  suppresso 
nomine,  the  parties  names  concealed,  if  some  circumstances 
do  not  otherwise  require.  Judges  and  other  officers  shall  be 
aptly  disposed  in  each  province,  villages,  cities,  as  common 
arbitrators  to  hear  causes,  and  end  all  controversies;  and  those 
not  single,  butthree  at  least  on  the  bench  at  once,  todetermine 
or  give  sentence;  and  those  again  to  sit  by  turns  or  lots,  and 
not  to  continue  still  in  the  same  office.  No  controversie  to 
depend  above  a  year,  but,without  all  delays  and  further  appeals, 
to  be  speedily  dispatched,  and  finally  concluded  in  that  time 
allotted.  These  and  allotherinferiour  magistrate^,  to  be  chosen 
^as  the  Uterari  in  China,  or  by  those  exact  suffrages  of  the 
''Venetians ;  and  such  again  not  be  eligible,  or  capable  of  ma- 
gistracies, honours,  offices,  except  they  be  sufficiently "  c|uali- 
fied  for  learning,  manners,  and  that  by  the  strict  approbation 
of  deputed  examinators:  ''first,  scholars  to  take  place,  then, 
souldiers;  fori  am  of  Vegetius  his  opinion,  a  scholar  deserves 
better  than  a  souldier,  because  unius  cctatis  sunt  qnce  Jortiter 
Jinnt  qnce  vera  pro  ntilitnte  reipiib.  scribuntnr,  oeterna : 
a  souldiers  work  lasts  for  an  age,  a  scholars  for  ever.  If 
they  '' misbehave  themselves,  they  shall  be  deposed,  and  ac- 
cordingly punished;  and,  whether  their  offices  be  annual  'or 
otherwise,  once  a  year  they  shall  be  called  in  question,  and 
give  an  account:  for  men  are  partial  and  passionate,  merciless, 
covetous,  corrupt,  subject  to  love,  hate,  fear,  favour,  &c.  omne 
sub  rer/no  (jraviore  rerjnum.  Like  Solons  Areopagites,  or 
those  Roman  censors,  some  shall  visit  others,  and  t' be  visited 
invicem  themselves :  ''they  shall  oversee  that  no  proling  officer, 
under  colour  of  authority,  shall  insult  over  his  inferiors,  as  so 
many  wild  beasts,  oppress,  domineer,  fley,  grinde,  or  trample 
on,  be  partial  or  corrupt,  but  that  there  be  ccquabile  juSfjus- 


=>  Matt.  Riccias,  exped   in  Sinas,  1.  1.  c.  5,  de  examinatione  electionnm  copiose 
agit,  &c.  bContar.  de  repub.  Venet.  I.  1.  <"Osor.  1.  ll.de  reb.  gest  Eman. 

Qui  in  Uteris  maximos  propressus  fecerint,  maximis  honoribus  «fBciuntur;  secundus 
honoris  gradus  militibus  assigoatur  :  postremi  ordinis  mechanicis.  Doctorum  ho- 
iniDiiii)  jndiciis  in  altiorem  loRum  (jnisqiie  pr«fertnr:  et  qui  a  pUirimis  approbatur, 
ampliores  in  rep.  diguitates  conse(iuifur.  Qui  in  hoc  examine  primas  habet,  iusigni 
I)er  totam  vitam  dignitate  insignitur,  marchioni  similis,  ant  duci,  apud  nos. 
•'  Cedant  arma  to^x.  t  \s  ;„  Bema,  Lucerne,  Fribnrge  in  Switzerland,  a 

vitious  liver  is  incapable  of  any  office  ;  if  a  senator,  instantly  dejjosed.  Sim- 
lerus.  fNot  above  three  years,  Aristot.  polit.  5.  c.  8.  "  Nam  quis  cnsto- 

diet  ipsos  custodes  ?  ''  Cytreus,  in  Greisgeia.      Qui  non  ex  sublimi  de- 

spiciant  inferVores,  nee  nt  bestias  conculcent  sibi  subditos,  auctoritatis  nomini  con- 
fisi,  &c. 


94  DEMOCRITITS    TO    THE    READER. 

tice  equally  done,  live  as  friends  and  brethren  together;  and 
(which  ^Sesellius  would  have  and  so  much  desires  in  his  king- 
dom of  France)  a  diapason  andsiceet  harmony  oj' kings, princes, 
nobles,  and  plebeians,  so  mutually  tyedand  involved  in  love,  as 
well  as  laws  and  authority,  as  that  they  never  disagree,  insult, 
or  incroach  one  upon  another.  If  any  man  deserve  well  in 
his  office,  he  shall  be  rewarded ; 


-quis  enim  virtutem  amplectitur  ipsam. 


Praemia  si  toUas  ?— r 

He  that  invents  any  thing  for  publick  good  in  any  art  or 
science,  writes  a  treatise,  ^  or  performs  any  noble  exploit  at 
home  or  abroad,  '^  shall  be  accordingly  enriched,  ^  honoured, 
and  prefeiTed.  I  say,  with  Hannibal  in  Emiius,  Hostem  qui 
Jeriet^  mihi  erit  Carthaginiensis  :  let  him  be  of  what  condi- 
tion he  will,  in  all  offices,  actions,  he  that  deserves  best  shall 
have  best. 

Tilianus,  in  Philonius,  (out  of  a  charitable  mind  no  doubt) 
wisht  all  his  books  were  gold  and  silver,  jewels  and  precious 
stones,  ^  to  redeem  captives,  set  free  prisoners,  and  relieve  all 
poor  distressed  souls  that  wanted  means  :  religiously  done,  I 
deny  not ;  but  to  what  purpose  ?  Suppose  this  Mere  so  well 
done,  within  a  little  after,  though  a  man  had  Croesus  wealth 
to  bestow,  there  would  be  as  many  more.  Wherefore  I  will 
suffer  no  ^beggars,  rogues,  vagabonds,  or  idle  persons  at  all, 
that  cannot  give  an  account  of  their  lives,  how  they  s  maintain 
themselves.  If  they  be  impotent,  lame,  blind,  and  single, 
they  shall  be  sufficiently  maintained  in  several  hospitals,  built 
for  that  purpose ;  if  married  and  infirm,  past  work,  or,  by  in- 
evitable loss  or  some  such  like  misfortune,  cast  behind, — by 
distribution  of ''corn, house-rent  free,annual  pensions  or  money, 
they  shall  be  relieved,  and  highly  rewarded  for  their  good  ser- 
vice they  have  formerly  done  :  if  able,  they  shall  be  enforced 


aSeselHus  de  rep.  Gallorum,  lib.  I.  et  2.'  !  ^Si  qnis  egregium  aiit  bello  aut 

pace  perfecerit.  Sesel.  1.  1.  <;  Ad  regendam  renipub.  soli  literati  admittuntnr  ; 

uec  ad  earn  rem  gratia  magistratuum  aut  regis  indigent;  omnia  ab  exploratacujusqHe 
scientia  et  virtiite  pendent.     Riccias,  1.  1.  c.  5.  ''In  defuncti  locum  eum 

jussit  subrogari,  qui  inter  majores  virtute  reliquis  prasiret ;  non  fuit  apud  mortales 
ullam  excellentius  certamen,  aut  cujus  victoria  magis  esset  expetenda ;  nou  enim 
inter  celeres,  celerrimo,  non  inter  robustos,  robustissimo,  &c.  e  Nullum 

videres  vel  in  hac  vel  in  vicinis  regionibus  paupereni,  nullum  obaeratum,  &c. 
fNullus  mendicus  apud  Sinas  ;  nemini  sano,  quamvis  oculis  orbatus  sit,  mendicare 
permittitur  :  omnes  pro  viribus  laborare  coguntur  ;  casci  molis  trusatilibus  versandis 
addicuntur:  soli  hospitiis  gaudent,  qui  ad  labores  sunt  inepti.  Osor.  1.  11.  de  reb. 
gest.  Eman.  Heming.  de  reg.  Chin.  1  1.  c  .3.  Gotard.  Artli.  Orient  Ind.  deser. 
sAlex.  ab  Alex.  3.  c.  12.  i' Sic  olim  Ronia3.     Isaac,  Pontau.  de  his  optime. 

Amstol.  1.  2.  c,  9. 


PEMOCRITUS  TO  THE  READER;  95 

to  work,     ^  For  I  see  no  reason  (as  ''he  said)  ichy  an  epicure 
or  idle  drone,  a  rich  glutton,  a  usurer,  should  live  at  ease^ 
and  do  nothing,  live  in  honour^  in  all  manner  of  pleasures, 
and  oppress   others,  ivhen  as,  in  the  mean  time,  a  poor  la- 
bourer,  a  smith,   a  carpenter,    an   husbandman — that  hath 
spent  his  time  in  continual  labour,  as  an  asse  to  carry  bur- 
dens,  to  do  the  common-wealth  good,  and  without  whom  we 
cannot  live — shall  be  left  in  his  old  age  to  begg  or  starve, 
and  lead  a  miserable  life,  worse  than  ajument:     As  ""  all  con- 
ditions shall  be  tied  to  their  task,  so  none  shall  be  over  tired, 
but  have  their  set  times  of  recreations  and  holidayes,  indul- 
gere  genio,  feasts  and  merry  meeting^s,  even  to  the  meanest 
artificer,  or  basest  servant,  once  a  week  to  sing  or  dance, 
(though  not  all  at  once)  or  do  whatsoever  he  shall  please, 
(like  "^  that  Saccarii  festii  amongst  the  Persians,  those  Sa- 
turnals  in  Rome)  as  well  as  his  master.       ''  If  any  be  drunk, 
he  shall   drink  no  more  wine  or  strong  drink  jn  a  twelve 
moneth  after.     A  bankrupt  shall  be  ^  catademiatus  in  amphi- 
theatro,  publickly  shamed  ;  and  he  that  cannot  pay  his  debts, 
if  by  riot  or  negligence  he  hath  been  impoverished,  shall  be 
for  a  twelve  moneth  imprisoned:  if  in  that  space  hiscreditours 
be  not  satisfied,  s  he  shall  be  hanged.     He  ''that  commits  sa- 
crilege, shall  lose  his  hands  ;  he  that  bears  false- witness,  or  is 
of  perjury  convict,  shall  have  his  tongue  cut  out,  except  he 
redeem  it  with  his  head.    Murder,  'adultery,  shall  be  punished 
by  death,   ''  but  not  theft,  except  it  be  some    more  griev- 
ous offence,  or  notorious  oftenders  :  otherwise  they  shall  be 
condemned   to  the  gallies,   mines,   be  his  slaves  >vhom  they 
oflfended,  during  their  lives.     I  hate  all  hereditary  slaves,  and 
that  duram  Persarum  legem,  as  '  Brisonius  calls   it ;    or  as 


a  Idem  Aristot.  pol.   5.  c.  8.  Vitiosum,  qiiam  soli  pauperum   liberi  ediicantur   ad 
labores,  nohiliuin  et  divitiim  in  voluptatibus  et  deliciis.  ''Qiui-  h;fc  iiijiistitia, 

utnobilis  f|uispiani,  aut  f(it!ner;Uor,  qui  nihil  agat,  lantam  et  splendidam  vitam  agat. 
otio  et  deliciis,  qiium  interim  auriga,  faber,.  agricola,  quo  respub.  carere  non  potest, 
vitam  adeo  miseram  ducat,  lit  pejor  quani  .iuTnentorum  sit  ejus  conditio  ?  Iniqua 
resp.  quaj  dat  parasitis,  adulatoribiis,  inaniiim  voluptatum  artificibns,  generosis  et 
otiosis,  tanta  niunera  prodigit,  at  ctmtra  agricolis,  caibonariis,  aurigis,  fabiis,  &,c. 
nihil  prospicit,  sed  eoruni  abusa  labore  llorentis  letatis,  fame  penset  et  spruinnis. 
Mor.  Utop.  1.  2.  -lu  Segoyia  nemo  otiosus,  nemo  mendicus,  nisi  per  ajtatem  ant 

niorbum  opus  facere  non  potest:  nulli  deest  unde  \ictuni  quajrat,  aut  quo  se  exer- 
ceat-  Cypr.  Echovius  Delit.  Hispan.  Nulliis  Cenevae  otiosus,  ne  septennis  puer. 
Paulus  Heuzner,  Itiner.  ■' Athena-us,  1.  12.  ''Simlerus,  de  repub.  HelveL 

fSpartian,  olim  RomaJ  sic.  (-'He  that  provides  not  for  his  family  is  worse  than 

a  thief.  Paul.  '■  Alfredi  lex.  Utraquc  nianus  et  lingua  prajcidatur,  nisi  eam  capite 

redemerit.  '  Si  quis  nuptam  stuprarit,  virga  virilis  ei  prpecidatur;  si  mulier, 

nasus  et  auricula  pra'cidatur.  Alfredi  lex.  En  leges  ipsi  Veneri  Martiqne  tinien- 
das  !  k  Pauperes  non  peccant,  puum  extrema  necessitate  coacti  rem  alienamca- 

piunt.  Moldonat.  summula  qua;st.  8.  art  3.  Ego  cum  illis  senlio  qui  licere  pu- 
tant  a  divite  clam  accipere,  qui  tenetur  pauperi  subvenire.  Emmannel  Sa.  Aphor. 
coniess.  '  Lib.  2.  de  reg.  Persarum. 


96  DEMOCRITUS    TO    THE    READER. 

^  Ammianus,  impendio  Jbrmidatas  et  ahommandas  leges,  per 
quas  oh,  noxam  unius,omms  propinqnitas perit :  hard  law,  that 
wife  and  children,  friends  and  allies,  should  suffer  for  the  fa- 
thers offence ! 

No  man  shall  marry  until  he  **  be  25,  no  woman  till  she  be 
20,  ^  nisi  aliter  dispensatumjherit.  If  one  "^die,  the  other  party 
shall  not  marry  till  six  months  after ;  and,  because  many  fami- 
lies are  compelled  to  live  niggardly,  exhaust  and  undone  by 
great  dowers,  ""  none  shall  be  given  at  all,  or  very  little,  and 
that,bysupervisors,rated:  they  thatare foul  shall  have  agreater 
portion;  if  fair,  none  at  all,  or  very  little;  'however,  not  to 
exceedsuch  arate  as  those  supervisors  shall  thinkfit.  And  when 
once  they  come  to  those  years,  poverty  shall  hinder  no  man 
from  marriage,  or  any  other  respect ;  shut  all  shall  be  rather 
inforced  than  hindered,  ''  except  they  be  '  dismembered,  or 
grievously  deformed,  infirm,  or  visited  with  some  enormous 
hereditary  disease,  in  body  or  mind  :  in  such  cases,  upon  a 
great  pain  or  mulct  ^  man  or  woman  shall  not  marry ;  other 
order  shall  be  taken  for  them  to  their  content.  If  people 
over-abound,  they  shall  be  eased  by   '  colonies. 

™  No  man  shall  wear  weapons  in  any  city.  The  same  attire 
shall  be  kept,  and  that  proper  to  several  callings,  by  which 
they  shall  be  distinguished.  "^  LuxnsJimeriimshdW  be  taken 
away,  that  intempestive  expence  moderated,  and  many  others. 
Brokers,  takers  of  pawns,  biting  usurers,  I  will  not  admit ; 
yet,  because  Mc  cum  hominihus  non  cum  diis  agitur  °  we  con- 
verse here  with  men,  not  with  gods,  and  for  the  hardness  of 
mens  hearts,  I  will  tolerate  some  kind  of  usury.  If  we  were 
honest,  I  confess,  fsi  probi  essenmsj  we  should  have  no  use 
of  it ;  but,  being  as  it  is,  we  must  necessarily  admit  it.  How- 
soever most  divines  contradict  it, 

(Dicimus  inficias ;  sed  vox  ea  sola  reperta  est) 


"  =>Lib.  24.  b  Aliter  Aristoteles — a  man  at  25,  a  woman  at  20.  Polit.  ^Lex 

olim  Lycurgi.  hodie  Chinensium ;  Vide  Pliitarchum,  Riccium,  Hemminginm, 
Amiseum,  Nevisanum,  et  alios  de  hac  quasstione.  "*  Alfredus.  '"  Apud  La- 

cones  olim  virgines  sine  dote  nubebant.  Boter  1.  3.  c.  3.  fLege  cautum  non 

ita  pridem  apud  Venetos,  ne  quis  patritius  dotem  excederet  1500  coron.  sBux. 

Synag.  Jud.  Sic  Judaji.  Leo  Afer,  Al'iicse  descript.  ne  sint  aliter  incontientes,  ob 
reipub.  bonum,  ut  August.  Cassar.  orat.  ad  coelibes  Romanos  olim  edocuit. 
''Morbo  laborans,  qui  in  prole m  facile  diftunditur,  ne  genus  humanimi  foeda  con- 
tag^one  Isedatur,  juventute  cast  ratur  :  mulieres  tales  procul  a  consortio  virorum  ab- 
legantur,  &c.  Hector  Boethius,  hist.  lib.  1.  de  vet.   Scotorum  moribus.  '  Spe- 

ciosissimi  juvenes  liberis  dabunt  operam.     Plato,  5.  de  legibus,  ''The  Saxons 

exclude  dumb,  blind,  leprous,  and  such  like  persons,  from  all  inheritance,  as  we  do 
fools.  '  Ut  olim  Romani,  Hispani  hodie,  &c.  '"Riccius,  lib.  IL  cap. 

5.  de  Sinarum  expedit.  Sic  Hispani  cogunt  iVlauros  arma  deponere.  So  it  is  in  most 
Italian  cities.  n  Idem  Plato,  12,  de  legibus.     It  hath  ever  been  immo- 

derate.  >Vide  Gail.  Stuckiura,  antiq.  convival.  lib.  1.  cap.  26.  "  Plato,  9.  de 

legibus. 


DEMOCRITUS  TO  THR  READER.  97 

it  must  be  winked  at  by  pobticiaiis.  And  yet  some  great  doc- 
tors approve  of  it,  Calvin,  Bucer,  Zanohius,  P,  Martyr,  be- 
cause, by  so  uiany  grand  hiwyers,  decrees  of  emperours, 
princes  statutes,  customs  of  common- wealths,  cliurches  ap- 
probations, it  is  permitted,  8ic.  I  will  therefore  allow  it ;  but 
to  no  private  persons,  not  to  every  man  that  will ;  to  orphans 
only,  maids,  widows,  or  such  as  by  reason  of  their  age,  sex, 
education,  ignorance  of  trading,  know  not  otherwise  how  to 
employ  it;  and  those,  so  approved,  not  to  let  it  out  apart,  but 
to  bring  their  money  to  -^common  bank  which  shall  be  allow- 
ed in  every  city,  as  in  Genoua,  Geneva,  Noremberg,  Venice, 
at  ^'5,  (),  7?  not  above  8  per  centum,  as  the  supervisors,  or 
ccrarii  prcvfccti,  shall  think  fit.  ''  And,  as  it  shall  not  be  lawful 
for  each  man  to  be  an  usurer  that  will,  so  shall  it  not  be  lawful 
for  all  to  take  up  money  at  use — not  to  prodigals  and  spend- 
thrifts, but  to  merchants,  young  tradesmen,  and  such  as  stand 
in  need,  or  know  honestly  how  to  employ  it,  whose  necessity, 
cause,  and  condition,  the  said  supervisors  shall  approve  of, 

1  will  have  no  private  monopolies,  to  enrich  one  man,  and 
beggar  a  multitude — ''multiplicity  of  offices,  of  supplying  by 
deputies :  weights  and  measures  the  same  throughout,  and 
those  rectified  by  the  prhhum  mobile,  and  suns  motion  ; 
threescore  miles  to  a  degree,  according  to  observation  :  lOOO 
geometrical  paces  to  a  mile,  five  foot  to  a  pace,  twelve  inches 
to  a  foot,  &,c.  and,  from  measures  known,  it  is  an  easie  matter 
to  rectifie  weights,  &c.  to  cast  up  all,  and  resolve  bodies  by 
algebra,  stereometry. 

I  hate  wars,  if  they  be  not  adpopuli  salutem^  upon  urgent 
occasion. 

Odiinus  accipitrem,  quia  semper  vivit  in  armis. 

*  Offensive  wars,  except  the  cause  be  very  just,  1  will  not  allow 
of:  for  I  do  highly  magnifie  that  saying  of  Hannibal  to 
Scipio,  in  'L\\y—It  had  been  a  blessed  thimj  for  you  and  us, 
if  God  had  given  that  mind  to  our  predecessors^  that  you  had 


»  As  those  Lombards  beyond  seas,  (though  with  siitne  reformation)  mens  pie- 
tatis,  or  bank  of  charity,  (as  Malines  terms  it,  cap.  33.  Lex  Mercat.  part  2.)  that 
lend  money  upon  easie  pawns,  or  take  money  upon  adventure  for  mens  lives. 
''That  proportion  will  make  merchandise  increase,  land  dearer,  and  better  im- 
proved, as  he  hath  judicially  proved  in  his  tract  of  usury,  exhibited  to  the  Parlia- 
ment anno  IG'iL  i  Hoc  fere  Zanchius,  com.  in  4.  cap.  ad  Ephes.  sequis- 
sniiam  vocat  usuram  et  charitati  Christiante  cousentaneam,  modo  non  exigant,  &c. 
nee  omnes  dent  ad  foenus,  sed  ii  qui  in  pecuniis  bona  habent,  et  ob  aetatem,  sexum, 
artis  alicujus  i:,'norantiam.  non  possunt  uti.  Nee  omnibus,  sed  mercatoribus,  et  iis 
qui  hontste  impendent,  &c.  d  Idem  npud  Persas  olim.  Lego  Brisonium. 
•^Idein  Plato,  de  It  gibus.  "Lib.  30  Optimum  quidem  fuerat  earn  putribus 
nostris  meutem  a  Diis  datani  esse,  ut  vos  Italiaj.nos  Africa  imperiocoutenti  essemus. 
Neque  emm  Sicilia  aut  Sardinia  satis  digna  pretia  sunt  pro  tot  classibus,  Stc. 

vol..   i  H 


98  DEMOCRITUS  TO  THE  READER. 

been  content  with  Italy,  tee  with  AJ'rick.  For  neither  Sicily 
nor  Sardinia  are  worth  such  cost  and  pains,  so  many  fleets 
are  armies,  or  so  many  Jhmous  captains  lives.  Omnia  pr.itis 
tentanda:  fair  means  shall  first  be  tried.  "^  Perayit  tranquilla 
potestas.  Quod  violenta  nequit.  I  will  have  them  proceed 
with  all  moderation  ;  but  (hear  you  !)  Fabius  my  general,  not 
Minutius;  nain  ^qui  consilio  nititur,  plus  hostibus  nocet, 
quam  qui,  sine  animi  ratione,  viribus :  and,  in  such  wars,  to 
abstain  as  much  as  is  possible  from 'depopulations,  burning- of 
towns,  massacring-  of  infants,  &c.  For  defensive  wars,  I 
will  have  forces  still  ready  at  a  small  warning,  by  land  and  sea, 
a  prepared  navy,  souldiers  in  prpcinctn,  et,  quam  '^  Bonfinius 
apud  Hungaros  svos  vult,  virgam  ferream,  and  money 
which  is  nervus  belli,  still  in  a  readiness  and  a  sufficient 
revenue,  a  third  part  (as  in  old  '^  Rome  and  Egypt)  reserved 
for  the  common-wealth ;  to  avoid  those  heavy  taxes  and 
impositions,  as  well  to  defray  this  charge  of  wars,  as  also 
all  other  publick  defalcations,  expences,  fees,  pensions,  repa- 
rations, chaste  sports,  feasts,  donaries,  rewards,  and  entertain- 
ments. All  things  in  this  nature  especially  I  will  have  ma- 
turely done,  and  with  great  '^deliberation  :  ne  quid  ^temere, 
ne  quid  remisse,  ac  timide  fiat.  Sed  quo  feror  hospes  ?  To 
prosecute  the  rest  would  require  a  volume.  Manum  de  ta- 
belld  !  I  have  been  over-tedious  in  this  subject :  I  could  have 
here  willingly  ranged ;  but  these  straits  wherein  I  am  includ- 
ed will  not  permit. 

From  common-wealths  and  cities,  I  will  descend  to  families, 
which  have  as  many  corrosives  and  molestations,  as  frequent 
discontents,  as  the  rest.  Great  affinity  there  is  betwixt  a  poli- 
tical and  oeconomical  body ;  they  differ  only  in  magnitude 
and  proportion  of  business  (so  Scaliger  ''writes):  as  they 
have  both,  likely,  the  same  period,  as  'Bodin  and  ''Peucer  hold, 
out  of  Plato,  six  or  seven  hundred  years,  so,  many  times, 
they  have  the  same  means  of  their  vexation  and  overthrows ; 
as,  namely,  riot,  a  common  mine  of  both,  riot  in  building, 
riot  in  profuse  spending",  riot  in  apparel,  &c.  be  it  in  what  kind 
soever,  it  produceth  the  same  effects.  A  'chorographer  of  ours, 
speaking  o&i^er  of  ancient  families,  why  they  are  so  frequent 
in  the  north,  continue  so  long*,  are  so  soon  extinguished  in  the 
south,  and  so  few,  gives  no  other  reason  but  this,  luxus  omnia 

''Claiulian.  t'Tiiucydides.  «  A  depopulation e  cgrorum,  incendiis, 

et  cjusinodi  factis  immanibus.  Plato.  dflungar,  dec.  1.  lib.  9.  **Sesel- 

lins,  lib.  2.  de  repub.  Gal.  valde  enim  est  indecorum,  ubi  quid  prteter  opinionem 
accidit,  dicere,  Non  putaram,  preesertim  si  res  prascaveri  potuerit.  Livius,  lib.  1. 
Dion.  1.  2.  Diodorus  Siculus,  lib.  2.  'Peragit  tranquilla  potestas.  Quod 

violenta  nequit.     Clandian.  pBellum  nee  timenduni  nee  provocandum. 

Plin.  Panegyr.  Trajano.  ''  Lib.  3.  poet.  cap.  19.  >  Lib.  4.  de 

repub.  cap.  2.  iiPeucer.  lib.  I.  de  divinaf.  l  Cambden,  in  Cheshire. 


dEmocritus  to  the  reader.  99 

disaipnvit,  riot  hath  consumed  all.  Fine  cloaths  and  curious 
buildinos  came  into  this  island,  as  he  notes  in  his  annals,  not 
so  many  years  since,  non  sine  dispendio  hospitalkatis,  to  the 
decay  of  hospitality.  Honv  beit,  many  times  that  >vord  is  mis- 
taken; and,  under  the  name  of  bounty  and  hospitality,  is 
shrowdod  riot  and  prodigality ;  and  that,which  is  condemnable 
in  it  self  well  used,  hath  been  mistaken  heretofore,  is  become: 
by  its  abuse,  the  bane  and  utter  ruine  of  many  a  noble  family, 
for  some  men  live  like  the  rich  g-lutton,  consuming  themselves 
and  their  substance  by  continual  feasting  and  invitations, — 
with  "  Axylos  in  Homer,  keep  open  house  for  all  comers,  giv- 
ing-entertainmentto  such  as  visit  them, "'keepingatable  beyond 
their  means,  and  a  company  of  idle  servants  (though  not  so 
frequent  as  of  old)--are  blown  up  on  a  sudden,  and  (as  Actaeon 
was  by  his  hounds)  devoured  by  their  kinsmen,  friends,  and 
multitude  of  followers.  *^It  is  a  wonder  that  Paulus  Jovius 
relates  of  our  northern  countreys,  what  an  infinite  deal  of 
meat  mo  consume  on  our  tables ;  that  I  may  truly  say,  'tis  not 
bounty,  not  hospitality,  as  it  is  often  abused,  but  riot  in  excess, 
gluttony,  and  prodigality;  ameer  vice:  it  brings  in  debt,  want, 
and  beggary,  hereditary  diseases,  consumes  their  fortunes,  and 
overthrows  the  good  temperature  of  their  bodies.  To  this  I 
might  here  well  add  their  inordinate  expence  inbuilding,those 
phantastical  houses,  turrets,  walks,  parks,  &c.  gaming,  excess 
of  pleasure,  and  that  prodigious  riot  in  apparel,  by  which 
means  they  are  compelled  to  break  up  house,  and  creep  into 
holes.  Sesellius,  in  his  common  wealth  of  '^  France,  gives  three 
reasons  why  the  French  nobility  were  so  frequently  bankrupts; 
F'irst,  because  they  have  so  many  law-sidts  and  contentw7is, 
one  upon  another^  ivhich  were  tedious  and  costly  :  hy  ichicJi 
means  it  came  to  pass,  that  commonly  latcyers  bought  them  out 
of  their  possessions^  A  second  cause  was  their  riot ;  thet/ 
lived  beyond  their  means,  and  icere  therefore  swallowed  up 
by  merchants,  (La-Nove,  a  French  writer,  yields  five  reasons 
of  his  countrey-mens  poverty,  to  the  same  effect  almost,  and 
thinks  verily,if  the  gentry  of  France  were  divided  into  ten  parts, 
eight  of  them  would  be  found  much  impaired  by  sales,  mort- 
gages, and  debts,  or  wholly  sunk  in  their  estates.)  The  last 
was  immoderate  excess  in  apparel,  which  consumed  their  reve- 


'Iliad,  lib.  6.  ''Vide  Pntoani  Conium  ;  Goclenium  de  jjortenfosls  coenis 

nostroriim  fcriipoiiitn.  ••  Mirabile  dictii  est,  qaantnm  opsoniorum  una  domus 

.singulis  diebiis  ab.siimat ;  steriiuntur  mens;e  in  oimies  pene  horas,  calentibtis  semper 
cduliis,  descript.  Britan.  <i  Lib.  1.  de  rep.  Galloruni.     Quod  tot  lite.s  et 

raus.sse  jbrenses  alias  ferantar  ex  aliis,  in  immensiim  producantur,  ct  niagiin.s  siimp- 
tus  reqi'.irant;  nnde  fit  ut  juris  adniinistri  pleninuine  nobiliiini  possessiones  adquirant, 
turn  quod  suniptuOse  vi\ant,  et  a  tuercatoribus  absorbeautiir,  et  splendissiine  ^-es- 
<iantnr,  )!cc. 

II  2 


100  DEMOeRITllS    TO    THE    READER. 

nueSy     How  this  concerns  and  agrees  with  our  present  state, 
look  you.  But  of  this  elsewhere.  As  it  is  in  a  mans  body — if 
either  head,  heart,  stomach,  liver,  spleen,  or  any  one  part  be 
misatfected,  all  the  rest  suffer  with  it — so  it  is  with  this  oeco- 
nomical  body  :  if  the  head  be  naug-ht,  a  spendthrift,  a  drunk- 
ard, a  whoremaster,  a  gamester,  how  shall  the  family  live  at 
ease  ?  ■^  Ipsa  si  cupiat,  Salus  servare  prorsus  non  potest  hanc 
Jamiliam;  (as  Demea  said  in  the  comedy)  safety  herself  can- 
not save  it.     A  good,  honest,  painfnl  man  many  times  hath  a 
shrew  to  his  wife — asickly,  dishonest,  slothful,  foolish,  careless 
woman  to  his  mate — a  proud,peevishflurt,  a  liquorish,  prodigal 
quean  ;  and  by  that  means  all  goes  to  ruin  :  or,  if  they  differ  in 
nature — he  is  thrifty,  she  spends  all  ;  he  wise,  she  sottish  and 
soft — what  agreement  can  there  be?  what  friendship  ?  Like 
that  of  the  thrush  and  swallow  in  ^Esop  ;  instead  of  mutual 
love,  kind  compellations,  whore  and  thief  is  heard ;  they  fling 
stools  at  one  anotliers  heads.     ^  Qiice  intemperies  vexat  hanc 
Jamiliam  ?     All  enforced  marriages  commonly  produce  such 
effect;  or,  if  on  their  behalf's  it  be  well,  as  to  live  and  agree 
lovingly  together,  they  may  have  disobedient  and  unruly  chil- 
dren, that  take  ill  courses    to  disquiet  them  :  "their  son  is  a 
thief,  aspendthrift,  their  daughter  a  whore;  a  '^stepmother, 
or  a  daughter  in  law,disterapers  all;  ''or  else,  for  want  of  means, 
many  tortures  arise — debts, dues,  fees,dowries,joyntures,  lega- 
cies to  be  paid,  annuities  issuing  out;  by  means  of  which,  they 
have  not  wherewithall  to  maintain  themselves  in  that  pomp  as 
their  predecessorshave  done,  bring  up  or  bestowtheir  children  . 
to  their  callings,  to  their  birth  and  quality,  '^and  will  not  de- 
scend to  their  present  fortunes.  Oftentimes  too,  to  aggravate 
the   rest,  concurr  many  other   inconveniences — unthankful 
friends,  decayed  friends,  bad  neighbours,  negligent  servants, 
{s  servij'nraces,  versipelles,  callidi,  occlusa  sibi  mi  He  clavihus 
reserant,  furtimque  raptant,  consuvmnt,  lir/nriunt)  casualties, 
taxes,muicts,  chargeable ofHces,vain  expences,entertainments, 
loss  of  stock,  enmities,  emulations,  frequent  invitations,  losses, 
suretiship,  sickness,  death  of  friends,  and  (that  which  is  the 
gulf  of  all)  improvidence,  ill  husbandry,  disorder  and  confu- 
sion ;  by  which  means  they  are  drenched  on  a  sudden  in  their 
estates,  and  at  unawares  precipitated  insensibly  into  an  inex- 
tricable labyrinth  of  debts,    cares,  woes,  want,    grief,  dis- 
content and  melancholy  it  self. 


aTer.  bAmphit.     Plant.  <■  Paling.  Filius  aut  fur.  dCatuscnra. 

mure,  duo  galli  simul  in  rede,  at  glotes  bina^  nunquam  vivnnt  sine  lite.  ••  Res 

augusta  domi,  f  When  pride  and  beggary  meet  in  a  family,  they  roar  and  howl, 

auil  cause  as  niatiy  flashes  of  diacontents,  as  fire  and  water,  when  they  concur,  make 
thunder  claps  iu  tlie  skies.  S  Plautus,  Aulular. 


DEMOCRITUS  TO  THE  READER.  JOl 

1  have  done  with  families,  and  will  now  briefly  run  over 
some  few  sorts  and  conditions  of  men.  The  most  secure, 
happy,  jovial, and  merry  in  the  worlds  esteem,  are  princes  and 
great  men,  free  from  melancholy;  but,  for  their  cares,  miseries, 
suspicions,  jealousies,  discontents,  folly,  and  madness,  I  refer 
you  to  Xenophons  Tyrannus,  where  king  Hieron  discourseth 
at  large  with  Simonides  the  poet,  of  this  subject.  Of  all  others, 
they  are  most  troubled  with  perpetual  fears,  anxieties,  inso- 
much, that  (as  he  said  in  "  Valerius)  if  thou  kneM  est  with 
what  cares  and  miseries  this  robe  were  stuffed,  thou  wouldst 
not  stoop  to  take  it  up.  Or,  put  case  they  be  secure  and  free 
from  fears  and  discontents,  yet  they  are  void  ''of  reason  too 
oft,  and  precipitate  in  their  actions.  Read  all  our  histories, 
qnas  de  stvltis  prodidere  stulti — Iliades,  ^neides,  Annales — 
and  what  is  the  subject  ? 

Stultorum  regum  et  populorum  continet  aestus. 

How  mad  they  are,  how  furious,  and  upon  small  occasions, 
rash  and  inconsiderate  in  their  proceedings,  how  they  dote, 
every  page  almost  will  witness  : 

delirant  reges,  plectuntur  Achivi. 

Next  in  place,  next  in  miseries  and  discontents,  in  all  man- 
ner of  hairbrain'd  actions,  are  great  men:  procnla  Jove,  procul 
ajvlmine  :  the  nearer,  the  worse.  If  they  live  iu  court,  they 
are  up  and  down,  ebb  and  flow  with  their  princes  favours,  (/w- 
fjeninvi  vultu  statque  caditque  .s?/o)  now  aloft,  to  morrow  down, 
(as  '^Polybius  describes  them)/?  A;e  so  many  casting  counters,now 
oj'cfold,  to  morrow  oj"  silver,  that  vary  in  worth  asthecompu- 
tant  will ;  now  they  stand Jor  unites,  to  morrow J'or  thousands; 
now  hejore  all,  and  anon  behind.  Beside,  they  torment  one 
another  with  mutual  factions,  emulations  ;  one  is  ambitious, 
another  enamoured  ;  a  third,  in  debt,  a  prodigal,  over-runs  his 
fortunes  ;  a  fourth,  solicitous  with  cares,  gets  nothing,  &c. 
But,  for  these  mens  discontents,  anxieties,  I  refer  you  to  Lu- 
cians  tract,  de  mercede  conductis,  '^  JEneas  Sylvius,  {Uhidinis 
et  stnltitice  servos,  he  calls  them)  Agrippa,  and  many  others. 

Of  philosophers  and  scholars,  priscce  sapientice  dictatores, 
I  have  already  spoken  in  general  terms.  Those  superintend- 
ents of  wit  and  learning,  men  above  men,  those  refined  men, 
minions  of  the  Muses, 


a  Lib.  7.  cap.  6.  h  Pellihir  in  bellis  sapicntia  :  ^i  geritnr  res.     Vetus  pro- 

verbinm.  Ant  rejrem  aut  fatuiim  nasci  oportere.  «■  Lib.  L  hist.  Rom.  similes 

abacalorum  calculis,  secundum  computantis  arbitrium,  moHo  ajrei  sunt,  raudo  anrei ; 
ad  nntum  regis,  nunc  beati  sunt,  nunc  niiseri.  ''  ^Erumnosique  SoloneSj  in 

•Sa.  3.  De  miser,  curialium. 


102  DEMOCUITUS    TO    THE    READER, 

-*  mentemque  habere  queis  bonam. 


Et  esse  ''corcuiis,  datum  est, — 

•^  these  acute  and  subtle  sophisters,  so  much  honoured,  have 
as  much  need  of  hellebore  as  others. 

'1  O  medici,  mediam  pertundite  venam. 


Read  Lucians  Piscator,  and    tell  how  he  esteemed  them; 
i\grippas  tract  of  the  Vanity  of  Sciences ;  nay  read  their  own 
works,  their  absurd  tenents,  prodigious  paradoxes,  e^  risum  te- 
neatis  amici  ?  You  shall  find  that  of  Aristotle  true,  nullum 
magnum  ingenium  shiemixturd  dementi ce  ;  they  have  a  worm, 
as  well  as  others:  you  shall  find  a  phantastical  strain,  a  fustian, 
a  bombast,  a  vain  glorious  humour,  an  afi'ected  stile,  &c.  like  a 
prominentthred  in  an  uneven  woven  cloth,run  parallel  through- 
out their  works;  and  they  that  teach  wisdom,  patience,  meek- 
ness, are  the  veryest  dizards,  hairbrains,  and  most  discontent, 
^  In  the  multitude  of  wisdom  is  grief;  and  he  that  encreaseth 
trisdom^  encreaseth  sorrow.       1  need  not  quote  mine  author. 
They  that  laugh  and  contemn  others,  condemn  the  world  of 
folly,  deserve  to  be  mocked,  are  as  giddy-headed,  and  lie  as 
open,  as  any  other.  'Deniocritus,  that  common  liouter  of  folly, 
was  ridiculous  hiisiself :  barking  Menippus,  scoffing  Lucian, 
satyrical  Lucilius,  Petronius,  Varro,  Persius,  &c.  may  be  cen- 
sured with   the  rest ;  Loripedem  rectus  derideat,  JEthiopem 
albus.  Bale,  Erasmus,  Hospinian,  Vivos,  Kemnisius,  explode, 
as  a  vast  ocean  of  Obs  and  Sols,  school  divinity;  ^a  labyrinth; 
of  intricable  questions,  unprofitable  contentions  :  incredihilem^ 
delirationeniy  one  calls  it.       If  school  divinity  be  so  censured,, 
subtilis  ^Scotus  lima  veritatis,  Occam  irrefragabilis,  cvjus 
ingenium  Vetera  omnia  ingenia    subvertit,  dfc.   Bacanthrope, 
Doctor  Resolutus,  and  Corculum  TheologicB  Thomas  himself, 
Doctor  ^  Seraphicus,   cui  dictavit,  Angelus,   ^c.  what  shall 
become  of  humanity?  Ars  stulta,  what  can  she  plead  ?  what 
can  her  followers  say  for  themselves ;  Much  learning-  ^  cere~ 
diminuit-brum,  hath  crackt  their  sconce,  and  taken  such  root, 
that  tribus  Anticyris  caput  insanabile,  hellebore  it  self  can  do 
no  good,  nor  that  renoMued  •  lanthorn  of  Epictetus,  by  which, 
if  any  man  studied, he  should  be  as  wise  as  he  was.  But  all  will 
not  serve.  Rhetoricians,  in  ostentationem  loquacitatis,  multa 
agitant — out  of  their  volubility  of  tongue,  will  talk  much  to 


'^V,  DouscE  Epid.  lib.  1.  c.  13.  hHoc.  cognoraento  cohonestati  Roinse,  qui 

ffeteros  niortales  sapientia  praestarent.     Testis  Pliu.  lib.  7.  cap.  34.  clnsanire 

parant  certa  ratione  modoque  :  mad  by  the  book,  they.  ''  Juvenal.  ^  Solo- 

mon, f  Communis  irrisor  stuUitiae.  ?  Wit,  whither  wilt  ?  hgcaliger, 

exercitat.  324.  'Vit.  ejus.  ><  Ennius.  'Lucian.  Ter  mille  dracninis 

olira  empta  ;  studens  inde  sapieutiam  adipiscetiur 


DEMOCRITUS    TO    THE    READER.  103 

no  purpose.  Orators  can  perswado  other  men  what  tliey  will, 
quo  vohint  nnde  volunf^  move,  pacific,  &c.  but  cannot  settle 
their  own  brains.  AThat  saith  Tully  ?  Malo  indisertam  pru- 
dent iam,  qnavi  lo(ptacem  stnffitiam  ;  and  (as  '^  Seneca  seconds 
him)  a  wise  mans  oration  should  not  be  polite  or  solicitous. 
''  Fabius  esteems  no  better  of  most  of  them,  either  in  speech, 
action,  gesture,  than  as  men  beside  themselves,  i.isanos  c?e- 
clamatores  ;  so  doth  Gregory  ;  non  mihi  sapit  qui  sermoney 
sed  quij'actis,  sapit.  Make  the  best  of  him,  a  good  oratour  is 
a  turn- coat,  an  evil  man;  bonus  orator  pessirmis  vir ;  his 
tongue  is  set  to  sale;  he  is  a  raeer  voice  (as  ''he  said  of  a 
nightingal);  dat  sine  mente  sonum ;  an  hyperbolical  liar,  a 
flatterer,  a  parasite,  and  (as  '^Ammianus  Marcellinus  will)  a 
corrupting  cosener,  one  that  doth  more  mischief  by  his  fair 
speeches,  than  he  that  bribes  by  money  ;  for  a  man  may  with 
more  facility  avoid  him  that  circumvents  by  money,  than  him 
that  deceives  with  glosing  terms  ;  which  made  *  Socrates  so 
much  abhor  and  explode  them.  ^^Fracastorius,  a  famous 
poet,  freely  grants  all  poets  to  be  mad ;  so  doth  "  Scaliger ; 
and  who  doth  not  ?  (Ant  insanit  Jiomo,  aut  versus  facit,  Hor. 
Sat.  7.  /.  2.  Insanire  lubet,i.  e.versus  componere,  Virr/.  Eel. 3. 
So  Servius  interprets)  all  poets  are  mad,  a  company  of  bitter 
satyrists,  detractors,  or  else  parasitical  applauders;  and  what 
is  poetry  it  self,  but  (as  Austin  holds)  vinum,  erroris  ab  ebriis 
doctoribus  propinatum  ?  You  may  give  that  censure  of  them 
in  general,  which  Sir  Thomas  More  once  did  ofGennanus 
Brixius  poems  in  particular. 


• vehuntur 


In  rate  Stultitise  :  sylvam  habitant  Furiae. 

Budseus,  in  an  epistle  of  his  to  Lupsetus,  will  have  civil  law 
to  be  the  tower  of  wisdom ;  another  honours  physick,  the 
quintessence  of  nature ;  a  third  tumbles  them  both  down,  and 
sets  up  the  flag  of  his  own  peculiar  science.  Your  supercilious 
criticks,  grammatical  triflers,  note-makers,  curious  antiqua- 
ries, find  out  all  the  mines  of  wit,  ineptiarum  dolicias, 
amongst  the  rubbish  of  old  writers:  ^pro  stnltis  habent,  nisi 
aliquid  snffieiant  invenire,  quod  in  aliorum  seriptis  vertant 
vitio :  all  fools  with  them  that  cannot  find  fault :  they  correct 
others,  and  are  hot  in  a  cold  cause,  puzzle  themselves  to  find 
out  how  many  streets  in  Rome,  houses,  gates,  towers,  Ho- 

=»Epist.  21.  1.  lib.  Non  oportet  orationem  sapientis  esse  politam  aut  solicitam. 
■•Lib.  3.  cap.  13.  MuUo  anhelitu  jactatione,  i'urentes,  pectus,  fronteni  credentes,  &c. 
<=  Lipsias,  Voces  sunt,  pneterea  nihil.  '  Lib.  30.  Plus  mali  face  re  videtur  qui 

oratione  quara  qui  pretio  quemvis  corrnmpit ;  nam,  &c.  •-'  In  Clorg.  Platonis. 

f  In  Naugerio.        >■'  Si  furor  sit  Lywus,  &c.  quoties  furit,  furit,  fnrit,  aroans,  bibens,  et 
poeta,  &c.  iiMorus,  lltop.  lib.  IJ. 


104  DEMOCRITUS    TO    THE    READER. 

mers  counfiey,  /Eneas  mother,  Niobes  daug-hter,  an  Sappho 
puhlica  J'uerif  ?  ovum   ^prius   extiterit,   an  gallina?  SfC   et 
alia,  quce  dediscenda  essent,  si  scires,  as  "^Seneca  holds — 
what  clothes  the  senators  did  wearin  Rome,  what  shews,  how 
they  sate,  where  they  went  to  the   close  stool,  how  many 
dishes  in  a  mess,  what  sauce  ;  which,  for  the  present,  for  an 
historian  to  relate,  (^  according  to  Ludovic.  Vives)  is  very  ri- 
diculous, is  to  them  most  precious  elaborate  stuif,  they  ad- 
mired for  it,  and  as  proud,  as  triumphant  in  the  mean  time 
for  this  discovery,  as  if  they  had  won  a  city,  or  conquered  a 
province  as  rich  as  if  they  had  found  a  mine  of  gold  ore. 
Quosvis  auctores  absurdis  commcntis  suis  percacant  et  stereo- 
runt,  one  saith  :  they  bewray  and  daub  a  company  of  books 
and  good  authors,  with  their  absurd   comments,  (correcto- 
rum  sterquilinia  '^  Scaliger  calls  them)   and  shew  their  wit  in 
censuring  others, — a  company  of  foolish  note-makers,  hum- 
ble-bees, dors  or  beetles :  inter  stercora  nt  plurimum  versan- 
tur,  they  rake  over  all  those  rubbish  and  dunghills,  and  pre- 
fer a  manuscript  many  times  before  the  Gospel   itself,  ^  the- 
saurum  criticum,  before  any  treasure,  and  with  their  delea- 
turs,  alii  leguntsic,  mens  codex  sic  hahet,  w '\i\\  i\\eiv  postremm 
editiones,  annotations,  castigations,  &c.  make   books   dear,' 
themselves  ridiculous^  and  do  no  body  good  :  yet,  if  any  man 
dare  oppose  or  contradict,  they  are  mad,  up  in  arms  on  a  sud- 
den ;  how  many  sheets  are  written  in  defence,  how  bitter  in- 
vectives, what  a  j)ologies  ?  ^  Epiphy Hides  has  sunt  et  mere  7mgo3. 
But  1  dare  say  no  more  of,  for,  with,  or  against  them,  be- 
cause I  am  liable  to  their  lash,  as  well  as  others.      Of  these 
and  the  rest  of  our  artists  and  philosophers,  1  will  generally 
conclude,  they  are  a  kind  of  mad  men,  (as  s  Seneca  esteems  of 
them)  to  make  doubts  and  scruples,  how  to  read  them  truly, 
to  mend  old  authors,  but  will  not  mend  their  own  lives,  or 
teach  us  ingenia  sanare,  memoriam   ojfficiorum   ingerere,  ac 
fidem  in  rebus  humanis  retinere,  to  keep  our  wits  in  order,  or 
rectify  our  manners.     Numquid  tibi  non  demens  videtur,  si  istis 
operam  impenderit?  is  not  he    mad  that  draws  lines  with 
Archimedes,  whiles  his  house  is  ransacked,  and  his  city  be- 
sieged, when  the  whole  world   is  in  combustion, — or  we, 
whilest  our  souls  are  in  danger,  (mors  sequitur,  vitajugit} 
to  spend  our  time  in   toys,  idle  questions,  and  things  of  no 
worth  ?  ^ 

That  ''lovers  are  mad,  I  think  no  man  will  deny.  Amare 
simul  et  supsre  ipsi  Jovi  non  datur  ;  Jupiter  himself  cannot 
intend  both  at  once. 


a  Macrob.  Satur.  7.  16.  bEpist.  16.  «  Lib.  de  caussis  corrup.  artium. 

eEdit.  7.  volimi.  lano  Grutero. 
He  bcneficiis.  ''  Deliriiis  et  ainens  dicatiiv 


a  IVlacrob.  Satur.  7.  10.  "JKr -. 

dLib.  2.  ill  Ausonium,  cap.  19.  et  32.  ffidit.  7.  voliim.  lano  Grutero. 

f  Aristophauis  Ranis.  8  Lib. 


nierito.  Hor.     Seneca. 


DEMOCRITUS  TO  THE  READER.  105 

a  Non  bene  conveniunt,  nee  in  una  sede  morantur, 
Majestas  et  amor. 

Tully  when  he  was  invited  to  a  second  marriage,  replied, 
he  could  not  s'unul  amare  et  sapere^  be  wise  and  love  both 
together.  ^  Est  Orais  iile ;  vis  est  immedicahilis  ;  est  ra- 
bies insana  :  love  is  madness,  a  hell,  an  incurable  disease; 
impotcntem  et  insanam  libidinem  *^  Seneca  calls  it,  an  impotent 
and  raging  lust.  1  shall  dilate  this  subject  apart :  in  the  mean 
time  let  lovers  sigh  out  the  rest. 

"^  Nevisanus  the  lawyer  holds  it  for  an  axiome,  viost  vomen 
are  fools,  ^consilium  feminis  invalidum)  Seneca,  men,  be 
they  young  or  old;  who  doubts  it?  youth  is  mad,  as  Elius  in 
Tully,  Stuiti  adolescent}! li,  old  age  little  better,  deliri  senes, 
^•c.  Theophrastus,  in  the  107  year  of  his  age,  'said  he  then 
began  to  be  wise,  turn  sapere  coepit,  and  therefore  lamented 
his  departure.  If  wisdom  come  so  late,  where  shall  we  find  a 
w  ise  man  ?  our  old  ones  dote  at  threescore  and  ten.  I  would 
cite  more  proofs  and  a  better  author;  but  for  the  present, let 
one  fool  point  at  another.  §  Nevisanus  hath  as  hard  an 
opinion  of  ''  rich  men — wealth  and  7cisfiom  cannot  dwell  to- 
ff ether  ;  stultitiam  patiuntur  opes ;  'and  they  do  commonly 
^  inj'atuare  cor  hominis,  besot  men  ;  and  as  we  see  it,  J'ools 
have  fortune  :  '  sapientia  non  invenitnr  in  terra  suaviter  vi- 
ventium.  For,  beside  a  natural  contempt  of  learning,  which 
accompanies  such  kind  of  men,  innate  idleness,  (for  they 
will  take  no  pains)  and  which,'"  Aristotle  observes,  ubi  7ne7is 
plnrima,  ibi  minima  fortuna  ;  ubi  plnrimujortuna,  ibi  mens 
perexigua  ;  great  wealth  and  little  wit  go  commonly  together ; 
they  have  as  much  brains,  some  of  them,  in  their  heads  as 
in  their  heels  ;  besides  this  inbred  neglect  of  liberal  sciences, 
and  all  arts,  which  should  excolere  mentem,  polish  the  mind, 
they  have  most  part  some  gullish  humour  or  other,  by  which 
they  are  led  ;  one  is  an  Epicure,  an  atheist,  a  second  a 
gamester,  a  third  a  whoremaster,  (fit  subjects  all  forasatyrist 
to  work  upon) 

"Hicnuptarum  insanit  amoribus,  hie  pueroriini ; — 

°  one  is  mad  of  hawking,  hunting,  cocking  ;  another  of  ca- 
rousing, horse-riding,  spending ;  a  fourth,  of  building,  fight- 
ing, &c. 

a  Ovid.  Met.  b  Plutarch.  Amatorio  est  amor  insanns.  "^  E  pisL  39. 

^SylvK  Diiptialis.  1.  1.  num.  11.     Omnes  mulieres,  ut  plurimum  stulta;.  '^  Ari- 

stotle, f  Dolere  se  dixit,  quod  turn  vita  egrederetur.  ff  Lib.  1.  niim.  11. 

Sapientia  et  divitine  vix  simnl  possideri  possunt.  ^  They  get  their  wisdom  by 

eating  pie-crust,  some.  *  Xfr.ixxrx  tok  Sy»ToK  ytyirxi  xtpfoavyr,.     Opes  qui. 

dem  mortalibus  sunt  amentia.     Theognis.  ''  Fortuna,  nimium  quem  fovet,  stol- 

tum  facit.  '  Job.  28.  ■»  Mag.  moral,  lib.  2.  et  lib.  1.  sat.  4.  "  Hor. 

ser.  1.  sat.  4  "  Insana  gula,  insanae  obstructiones,  insanam  venandi  stadium — 

Di.scordia  demens.     \  irg.  ^'En. 


106  DEMOCRITUS  TO  THE  READER. 

Insanit  veteres  statuas  Damasippus  emendo; 

Damasippus  hath  an  humoui"  of  his  own,  tobetalktof;  ^He- 
liodorus  the  Carthaginian  another.  In  a  word,  as  Scaliger  con- 
cludes of  them  all,  they  are  statiim  erectce  stultitice,  the  very 
statues  or  pillars  of  folly.  Chuse,  out  of  all  stories,  him  that 
Lath  been  most  admired  ;  you  shall  still  find  multa  ad  lau- 
dem,  midta  ad  vituperationem  marjnijica,  as  ^  Berosus  of  Se- 
miramis  :  omnes  mortales  militia,  triumphis  divitiis,  Sfc.  tnm  et 
luocu,  ccede,  coeterisque  vitiis,  antecessit :  as  she  had  some  good, 
so  had  she  many  bad  parts. 

Alexander,  a  worthy  man,  but  furious  in  his  anger,  over- 
taken in  drink  :  Caesar  and  Scipio  valiant  and  wise,  but  vain- 
glorious, ambitious  ;  Vespasian  a  worthy  prince,  but  covetous  : 
^^  Hannibal,  as  he  had  mighty  vertues,  so  had  he  many  vices  ; 
unam  virtutem  7nille  vitia  comitantur,  as  Machiavel  of  Cos- 
mus  Medicos,  he  had  two  distinct  persons  in  him.  I  will  de- 
termine of  them  all,  they  are  like  these  double  or  turning  pic- 
tures ;  stand  before  which,  you  see  a  fair  maid  on  the  one 
side,  an  ape  on  the  other,  an  omIc  :  look  upon  them  at  the 
first  sight,  all  is  well ;  but  farther  examine,  you  shall  find 
them  wise  on  the  one  side,  and  fools  on  the  other ;  in  some 
few  things  praise- worthy,  in  the  rest  incomparably  faulty.  I 
will  say  nothing  of  their  diseases,  emulations,  discontents, 
wants,  and  such  miseries ;  let  Poverty  plead  the  rest  in  Ari- 
stophanes Plutus. 

Covetous  men,  amongst  others,  are  most  mad  ;  ^  they  have 
all  the  symptoms  of  melancholy — fear,  sadness,  suspicion,  &c. 
as  shall  be  proved  in  his  proper  place  : 

Danda  est  hellebori  multo  pars  maxima  avails. 

And  yet,  methinks,  prodigals  are  much  madder  than  they> 
be  of  what  condition  they  will,  that  bear  a  publick  or  private 
purse;  as  a  ^Dutch  writer  censured  Richard  the  rich  duke  of 
Cornwal,  suing  to  be  emperour,  for  his  profuse  spending,  qui 
effudit  pecuniam  ante  pedes  principum  electorum  sicut  aqtiam, 
that  scattered  money  like  water;  I  do  censure  them.  Stulta 
Anglia,  (saith  he)  quce  tot  denariis  spotite  est piivata  ;  stulti 
principes  Alemanice,  qui  nohilejus  suum  pro  pecnnid  vendi- 
derunt.  Spend-thrifts,  bribers,  and  bribe-takers,  are  fools  ; 
and  so  are  '^all  they  that  cannot  keep,  disburse,  or  spend, 
their  moneys  well. 

'  aHeliodorus  Carthaginiensis  ad  exlremnm  orbis  sarcophagotestamentome  hicjassi 
condier,  ut  viderem  an  quis  insanior  ad  me  visendum  usque  ad  haec  loca  penetraret. 
Ortelius,  in  Gad.  ''If  it  be  his  work ;  which  Gasper  Veretus  suspects.  <"  Livy. 
Ingentes  virtutes  ;  ingentia  vitia.  *>  Hor.  Qiiisquis  ambitione  mala  aut  argenti 

pallet  amore  ;  Quisquis  Inxuria,  tristiqne  superstitione.  Per.  e  Chronica  Slavonica, 
ad  annum  1257.  de  cujus  pecunia  jam  incredibilia  dixerimt.  f  A  fool  and  his  money 
are  soon  parted. 


DEMOCRITUS  TO  THE  READER.  lO/ 

I  niioht  say  tlie  like  of  angry,  peevish,  envious,  ambitious 
('Antiei/ras  melior sorhere  meracas) , Epicures,atljeists, scliism- 
aticks,  hcreticks  :  hi  omups  haheiit  hnaxjinatioiiem  lasam 
(saitli  Nyniannus;)  and  t/icir  madness  shall  he  evident,  2 
Tim.  3.  .9.  i^Fabatus,  an  Italian,  holds  sea-faring-  men  all  mad; 
the  ship  is  mad,  for  it  never  stands  still:  the  mariners  are  mady 
to  expose  themsehies  to  such  imminent  danrjers :  the  icaters  are 
raffing  mad,  in  perpetual  motion :  the  winds  are  as  mad  as 
the  rest :  they  hiow  not  whence  they  come,  whither  they  would 
go :  and  those  men  are  maddest  of  all,  that  go  to  sea  ifor  one 
fool  at  home,  they  find  forty  abroad.  He  was  a  mad  man 
that  said  it ;  and  thou,  peradventure  as  mad  to  read  it. 
•^  Felix  Platerus  is  of  opinion  all  alchymists  are  mad,  out 
of  their  wits  ;  ^  Athenasus  saith  as  much  of  fidlers,  et  Musarum 
luscinias,  ^musicians;  omnes  tihicines  insaniu?it ;  ubi  semel 
efflant,  avolat  illico  mens;  in  comes  musick  at  one  ear  ;  out 
goes  wit  at  another.  Proud  and  vain  glorious  persons  are 
certainly  mad  ;  and  so  are  lascivious;  I  can  feel  their  pulses 
beat  hither;  horn  mad  some  of  them,  to  let  others  lye  with 
their  wives,  and  wink  at  it. 

To  insist  §  in  all  particulars,  were  an  Herculean  task, 
to  ''reckon  up  Hnsanas  substructiones,  insanos  lahores,  insa- 
num  luxum,  mad  labours,  mad  books,  endeavours,  carriao-es 
gross  ignorance,  ridiculous  actions,  absurd  gestures,  insanam 
gulam,  insaniam  villarum,  insana  jnrgia,  as  Tully  terms 
them,  madness  of  villages,  stupend  '  structures,  as  those 
^Egyptian  pyramids,  labyrinths  and  Sphinges,  which  a  com- 
pany of  crowned  asses,  ad  ostentationem  opum,  vainly  built, 
when  neither  the  architect  nor  king  that  made  them,  or  to 
what  use  and  purpose,  are  yet  known.  To  insist  in  their 
hypocrisie,  inconstancy,  blindnesss,  rashness,  dementem  te- 
meritatem,  fraud,  cozenage,  malice,  anger,  impudence,  in- 
gratitude, ambition,  gross  superstition,  ^  tempora  infecta  et 
adulatione  sordida,  as  in  Tiberius  times,  such  base  flattery, 
stupend,  parasitical  fawning  and  colloguing,  &c.  brawls,  con- 
flicts, desires,  contentions,  it  would  ask  an  expert  Vesalius  to 
anatomize  every  member.  Shall  I  say?  Jupiter  himself, 
Apollo,  Mars,  &c.  doted  :  and  monster-conquering  Hercu- 
les, that  subdued  the  world,  and  helped  others,  could  not 

«  Orat.de  imag,— Ambitiosus  et  andax  naviget  Anticyras.  bNavis  stiilta, 

quae  conUnuo  movetur  ;  nantae  stulti,  qui  se  periculis  exponnnt ;  aqua  insana,  qute  sic 
fremit,  &c.  aer  jactatur,  &c.  qui  mari  se  committit,  stolidum  unum  terra  fu- 
giens,  40  man  invenit.     Gasper  Ens.  Moros.  c  Cap.  de  alien,  mentis. 

"Dipnosophist-  lib.  8.  ^Tibicines  niente  capti.     Erasm.  Cbil.  4.  cen.  7. 

f  Prov.  30.  Insana  libido.— Hie,  rogo,  non  furor  est  ?  non  est  ha-c  mentula  demens  ? 
Mart.  ep.  74.  1.  S.  v  Mille  pnellaruni  et  puerorum  mille  furores.  h  Uter 

est  insanior  horum?  Hor.  Ovid.^Virg.  Plia.  '  Plin.  lib.  36.  k  Tacitus 

3  Annal.  ' 


108  DEMOCRITUS  TO  THE  READER. 

relieve  himself  in  this  :  but  mad  he  was  at  last.  And  where 
shall  a  man  walk,  converse  with  whom,  in  what  province^ 
city,  and  not  meet  with  Signior  Deliro,  or  Hercules  Furens, 
Msenades,  and  Corybantes '?  Their  speeches  say  no  less.  '-"E 
J'ungis  nati  homines  ;  or  else  they  fetched  their  pedigree  from 
those  that  were  struck  by  Sampson  with  the  jaw-bone  of  an 
ass,  or  from  Deucalion  and  Pyrrha's  stones;  for  durum  genus 
sumus  ^  marmorei  sumus  ;  we  are  stony-hearted,  and  savour 
too  much  of  the  stock,  as  if  they  had  all  heard  that  inchant- 
ed  horn  of  Astolpho  (that  English  duke  in  Arios-to),  which 
never  sounded  but  all  his  auditors  were  mad,  and  for  fear 
ready  to  make  away  themselves  ;  ^  or  landed  in  the  mad  haven 
in  the  Euxine  sea  of  Daphnis  insana,  which  had  a  secret  qua- 
lity to  dementate  ;  they  are  a  company  of  giddy-heads,  after- 
noon men ;  it  is  a  midsomer-moon  still,  and  the  dog-dayes 
last  all  the  year  long  :  they  are  all  mad.  Whom  shall  I  then 
except?  Ulricus  Huttenus*^  JSTemo ;  nam  Nemo  omnibus  horis 
sapit  ;  Nemo  nascitur  sine  vitiis  ;  crimine  Memo  caret  ;  JV*e- 
mo  sorte  sua  vivit  contentus ;  Nemo  in  amore  sapit  ;  Nemo 
bonus  ;  Nemo  sapiens ;  Nemo  est  ex  omni  parte  beatus,  Sfc. 
and  therefore  Nicholas  Nemo,  or  Monsieur  Nobody,  shall  go 
free  :  Quid  valeat  nemo,  nemo  referre  potest.  But  whom 
shall  I  expect  in  the  second  place  'i  such  as  are  silent:  vir sa- 
pit qui  pauca  loquitur  ;  *"  no  better  way  to  avoid  folly  and 
madness,  than  by  taciturnity.  Whom  in  a  third;  all  sena- 
tors, magistrates ;  for  all  fortunate  men  are  wise,  and  con- 
querors valiant,  and  so  are  all  great  men  ;  non  est  bonum 
ludere  cum  di'is  ;  they  are  wise  by  authority,  good  by  their 
office  and  place  ;  Jiis  licet  impiine  pessimos  esse,  (some  say)  we 
must  not  speak  of  them  ;  neither  is  it  fit :  per  me  siut  omnia 
protinus  alba  ;  I  will  not  think  amiss  of  them.  Whom  next? 
Stoicks  ?  Sapiens  Stoicus  ;  and  he  alone  is  subject  to  no  per- 
turbations, (as  *^  Plutarch  scoffs  at  him)  he  is  not  vexed  ivitk 
torments,  or  burnt  withjire^  foiled  bij  his  adversary,  sold  of 
his  enemy.  Though  he'  be  ^crinkled,  sand-blind,  toothless, 
and  deformed ;  yet  he  is  most  beautij'ul,  atid  like  a  god,  a 
king  in  conceit,  though  not  tvorth  a  groat.  He  never  dotes, 
never  mad,  never  sad,  drunk  ;  because  vertue  cannot  be  taken 


a  Ond.  7.  Met.  E  fungis  nati  homines,  ut  olim  Corinthi  primsevi  illius  loci  accolas, 
quia  stolidi  et  fatui  fungis  nati  dicebantiir.      Idem  et  alibi  dicas.  bPamian. 

Strada,  de  bajulis,  de  marmore  semisculptis.  «  Arrianus,  periplo  maris  Euxini, 

portus  ejus  meminit,  et  Gillius.  1.  3,  de  Bosphor.  Thracio.  Et  iaurus  insana,  quae, 
allata  in  convivium,  convivas  omnes  insania  affecit  Gnliel.  Stucchius,  comment,  &c. 
<^  Lepidum  poema,  sic  inscriptum.  f  Stultitiam  dissimulate  non  potes,  nisi 

taciturnitate.  f  Extortus,  non  cruciatur  ;  ambustus,  non  laeditur ;  prostratus 

in  lucta,  nou  vincitur ;  non  fit  captivus  ab  hoste  venandatus.  Et  si  rugosus,  senex, 
cdentulus,  luscus,  deformis,  formosus  tamen,  et  deo  similis,  felix,  dives,  rex,  nulliiiSu 
egeus,  etsi  deuario  non  sit  dignus. 


DEMOCRITITS    TO    THE    READER.  10,9 

away  (as  ^  Zeno  holds)  by  rpnso?i  of  stronrf  apprehensmn : 
but  he  vvas  mad  to  say  so.  ^Atiticyrcc  caelo  huic  est  opvs,  ant 
dolahrd  :  he  had  need  to  be  bored,  and  so  had  all  his  fellows, 
as  wise  as  they  would  seem  to  be.  Chrysippus  himseHlibe- 
rally  grants  them  to  be  fools  as  well  as  others,  at  certain  times, 
upon  some  occasions  :  amitti  virtvtem  ait  per  ehrietatem, 
ant  atnhilarhim  morhum:  it  maybe  lost  by  drunkenness  or 
melancholy  ;  he  may  be  sometimes  cra/ed  as  well  as  the  rest : 
'  ad  sumtnam,  sapiens,  nisi  qnnm  pitnita  molesta.  I  should 
here  except  some  cynicks,  Menippus,  Diogenes,  thatTheban 
Crates,  or,  to  descend  to  these  times,  that  omniscious,  only 
wise  fraternity  "^  of  the  Rosie  Cross,  those  great  theologues, 
politicians,  philosophers,  physicians,  philologers,  artists,  &c. 
of  whom  S.  Bridget,  Albas  Joacchimus,  Leicenbergiu?^,  and 
such  divine  spirits,  have  prophesied,  and  make  pronuse  to  the 
world,  if  at  least  there  be  any  such,  (Hen.  "^  Neuhusius  nmke 
a  doul3t  of  it,  *  Yalentinus  Andreas,  and  others)  or  an  Elias 
ArtifextheirTlieophrastian  master;  whom  though  Libavius  and 
many  deride  and  carp  at,  yet  some  will  have  to  be  the  §  renewer 
aj'  all  arts  and  sciences,  reformer  of  the  world,  and  now 
living ;  for  so  Johannes  Montanus  Strigoniensis  (that  great 
patron  of  Paracelsus)  contends,  and  certainly  avers  ^a  most 
divine  man,  and  the  quintessence  of  wisdom,  wheresoever  he 
is  :  for  he,  his  fraternity,  friends,  &c.  are  all  '  hethrothed  to 
wisdom,  if  he  may  believe  their  disciples  and  followers.  I 
must  needs  except  Lipsius  and  the  pope,  and  expunge  their 
name  out  of  the  catalogue  of  fools ;  for,  besides  that  parasitical 
testimony  of  Dousa, 

A  sole  exoriente,  Mseotidas  usque  paludes. 
Nemo  est,  qui  Juste  se  oequiparare  queat — 

Lipsius  saith  of  himself,  that  he  was  ''  humani  (fencris  qnidani 
padaf/o(/us  voce  et  stylo,  a  grand  signior,  a  master,  a  tutor 
of  us  all ;  and  for  thirteen  years,  he  brags,  how  he  sowed  wis- 
dom in  (he  Low  Countreys,  (as  Ammonius  the  philosopher 
sometimes  did  in  Alexandria)  ^  cum  hnmanitate  literas,  et  sa- 
pientiam  cum  prndenlid  :  anfisies  sapientice,  he  shall  be  sapi- 
entnm  octacns.  The  pope  is  more  than  a  man,  as '"  his  parrots 
often  make  him — a  deuii-god  ;  and  besides  his  holiness  can- 
not err,  in  cathedra  belike  :  and  yet  some  of  them  have  been 


a  Ilium  contendunt  non  injuria  affici,  non  insania,  non  inebriari,  quia  virtus  non 
eripitur  ob  coiistantes  compiehensioues.  Lij)S.  Phys.  Stoic,  lib.  3.  dilli.  IS,  •'Tarreus 
Hebus,  epig.  10-2.  1.  8.  c  Hor,  '' Fratres  sanct.  Rostra- Criicis.  t  An 

sint,  quales  sint,  nude  nonien  illud  asciverint.  ''Turn  Babel.  -Omnium  artiurn 
et  scieutiarum  instaurator.  i'  Divinus  ille  vir,  anctornotarum  in  ep.  Rog.  Bacon,  ed. 
Hauibur,  ItiOS.  'Sapientiae  desponsati.  k  Sohus  hie  est  sapiens,  alii  volitant 

\elut  umbrae.  'In  ep.  ad  Balihas.  Moretum.  "'  Rejectiunculie  ad  Patavuin 

Feiinus  ci.n  reliqais. 


110  DEMOCRITUS    TO    THE    HEADER. 

magicians, hereticks,  atheists,  children ;  and,  as  Platina  saith 
of  John  22,  Et  si  vir  literatus,  multa  soliditatem  et  levitatem 
jyroB  sejirentia  egit,  solkli  et  socordis  vir  ingenii ;  a  scholar 
sufficient;  yet  many  things  he  did  foolishly.  Lightly  I  can  say 
no  more  in  particular,  but  in  general  terms  to  the  rest,  they  are 
all  mad,  their  wits  are  evaporated, and  (as  Ariosto  feigns,  1.34) 
kept  in  jars  above  the  moon. 

Some  lose  their  wits  with  love,  some  with  ambition, 

Some,  following  '^  lords  and  men  of  high  condition. 

Some  in  fair  jewels  rich  and  costly  set, 

Others  in  poetry  their  wits  forget. 

Another  thinks  to  be  an  alcymist, 

Till  all  be  spent,  and  that  his  number's  mist. 

Convictfools  they  are,  mad  men  upon  record  ;  atid,  T  am  afraid, 
past  cure,  many  of  them  ;  ^crepunt  ingenia;  the  symptomes 
are  manifest ;  they  are  all  of  Cotam  parish  : 

c  Quum  furor  baud  dubius,  quum  sit  manifesta  phrenesis, 

what  remains  then  '^  but  to  send  for  lorarios,  those  officers  to 
carry  tliem  all  together  for  company  to  Bedlam,  and  set 
Rabelais  to  be  their  physician. 

If  any  man  shall  ask  in  the  mean  time,  who  I  am,  that  so 
boldly  censure  others,  tunnllanehahesintia?  Have  I  no  faults? 
« Yes,  more  than  thou  hast,  whatsoever  thou  art.  Nos  numerus 
sumus :  I  confess  it  again,  1  am  as  foolish,  as  mad  as  any  one. 

^Insanus  vobis  videor:  non  deprecor  ipse. 
Quo  minus  insanus 

I  do  not  deny  it ;  demens  de  pnp^do  dematur.  My  comfort  is,  I 
have  more  fellows,  and  those  of  excellent  note.  And  though  I 
be  not  so  right  or  so  discreet  as  I  should  be,  yet  not  so  mad, 
so  bad  neither,  as  thou  perhaps  takest  me  to  be. 

To  conclude,  this  being  granted,  that  all  the  world  is  me- 
lancholy, or  mad,  dotes,  and  every  member  of  it,  I  liave 
ended  my  task,  and  sufficiently  illustrated  that  which  I  took 
upon  me  to  demonstrate  at  first.  At  this  present  I  have  no 
more  to  say.  His  sanam  mentem  Democritus ;  I  can  but 
wish  my  self  and  them  a  good  physician,  and  all  of  us  a  better 
mind. 


a  Ma^um  viram  sequi  est  sapere  some  think ;  others  desipere.    Catul.        •>  Plant. 
Mensech.  <=  In  Sat.  14.  ''  Or  to  send  for  a  cook  to  the  Anticyrte,  to  make 

hellebore  pottage,  settle-brain  pottage.  e  Aliqnantulum  tamen  iude  rae  solabor, 

quod  una  cum  multis  et  sapientibus  et  celeberrimis  viris  ipse  insipiens  sim ;  quod  de  se, 
Menippus  Luciani  in  Necyomantia.  •  Petronius,  in  Catalect. 


DEMOCRITUS    TO   THE    READER.  HI 

And  altliouoh,  fortheabovenamed  reasons,!  had  a  just  cause 
to  undertake  this  subject,  to  point  at  these  particular  species  of 
dotage,tl>atsomen  might  acknowledge  their  imperfections,and 
seek  to  reform  what  is  amiss  ;  yet  I  have  a  more  serious  intent 
at  this  time  ;  and — to  omit  al!  impertinent  digressions — to  say 
no  more  of  such  as  are  improperly  melancholy,  or  meta- 
phorically mad,  lightly  mad,  or  in  disposition,  as  stupid, 
angry,  drunken,  silly,  sottish,  sullen,  proud,  vain-glorious, 
ridiculous,  beastly,  pievish,  obstinate,  impudent,  extravagant, 
dry,  doting,  dull,desperate,hair-brain'd,&c.  mad,frantick,fool- 
ish,  heteroclites,  which  no  new  ^hospital  can  hold, no  physick 
help — my  purpose  and  endeavour  is,  inthe  following- discourse 
to  anatomize  this  humour  of  melancholy,  through  all  his  parts 
and  species,  as  it  is  an  habit,  or  an  ordinary  disease,  and  that 
philosoj)hicalIy,  medicinally — to  shew  the  causes,  symptoms 
and  several  cures  of  it,  that  it  may  be  the  better  avoided ; 
moved  thereunto  for  the  generality/  of  it,  and  to  do  good,  it 
being  a  disease  so  frequent,  as  ''Mercurialis  observes,  inthfse 
our  dayes  ;  so  often  happenhiff,  saith  "  Laurentius,  in  our  mv^e- 
rahle  times,  as  few  there  are  that  feel  not  the  smart  of  it.  Of 
the  same  mind  is  MW^w  Montaltus,  •^  Melancthon,  and  others ; 
« Julius  Caesar  Claudinus  calls  it  the  fountain  of  all  other  dis- 
eases, and  so  common  in  this  crazed  ar/e  oj' ours,  that  scarce 
otie  of  a  thousand  isj'reefrom.  it ;  and  that  splenetick  hypo- 
condriacal  wind  especially,  which  proceeds  from  the  spleen 
and  short  ribs.  Seeing  then  it  is  a  disease  so  grievous,  so  com- 
mon, I  know  not  wherein  to  do  a  more  general  service,  and 
Spend  my  time  better,  than  to  prescribe  means  how  to  prevent 
and  cure  so  universal  a  malady,  an  epidemical  disease,  that 
so  often,  so  much,  crucifies  the  body  and  mind. 

If  I  have  over-shot  my  self  in  this  which  hath  been  hitherto 
said,  or  that  it  is  (which  I  am  sure  some  >vill  object)  too  phan- 
tastical,  toe  lir/ht  and  comical  for  a  divine,  too  satjfricalfor 
one  of  my  profession,  I  will  presume  to  answer  with  'Eras- 
mus in  like  case,  'Tis  not  I,  but  Democritus  :  Democritus 
di.rit :  you  must  consider  what  it  is  to  speak  in  ones  own  or 
anothers  person,  an  assumed  habit  and  name;  a  difference  be- 
twixt him  that  affects  or  acts  a  princes,  a  philosophers,  a  ma- 
gistrates, a  fools  part,  and  him  that  is  so  indeed;  and  what 


"That,  I  menn,  of  Antlr.  Vnle.  Apolopr.  mancip.  1.  1.  pt26.  Apol.  •> Ha:c affectio 
nostris  temporiVnis  freqiientissinia.  (^  Cap.  15.  de  Mel.  ''Deanima.  Nostro  hoc 
saiciilo  iiioiljiis  freqiientissimiis.  «  Consult.  98,  Adeo  nostris  (empoiihiis  frequenter 
inRniit,  nt  nullus  fere  ab  ejus  labe  imniiinis  reperiatiir,  et  omnium  fere  niorhoruui 
occasio  existat.  f  ISIor.  Encom.  Si  quis  calumnietur  levius  esse  quam  decet  theologum, 
ant  mordacius  quam  decent  Christianum. 


112  DEMOCRITUS  TO  THE  READER. 

liberty  those  old  satyrists  have  had:  it  is  a  cento  collected 
from  others  :  not  I,  but  they,  that  say  it. 

Dixero  si  quid  forte  jocosius,  hoc  mihi  juris 
Cum  venia  dabis ■ 

Take  heed  you  mistake  me  not.  If  I  do  a  little  forget  my 
self,  1  hope  you  will  pardon  it.  And  to  say  truth,  why  should 
any  man  be  offended,  or  take  exceptions  at  it  ? 

^  Licuit,  semp  erque  licebit, 

Parcere  personis,  dicere  de  vitiis. 

It  lawful  was  of  old,  and  still  will  be, 

To  speak  of  vice,  and  let  the  name  go  free. 

1  hate  their  vices,  not  their  persons.  If  any  be  displeased  or 
take  ought  unlo  himself,  let  him  not  expostulate  or  cavil  with 
him  that  said  it  (so  did  ^  Erasmus  excuse  himself  to  Dorpius, 
si  parva  licet  compnnere  magnis  ;  and  so  do  I)  :  but  let  him  be 
anf/ry  with  himself,  that  so  betrayed  and  opened  his  own 
faults  in  applying  it  to  himself'.  ""  If  he  be  guilty  and  deserve 
it,  let  him  amend,  whosoever  he  is,  and  not  be  angry.  He 
thathatethcorrectionis  afool,Vrov.  12. 1.  If  he  be  not  guilty, 
it  concerns  him  not;  it  is  not  my  freeness  of  speech,  but  a 
guilty  conscience,  a  gauled  back  of  his  own,  that  makes  him 
winch. 

Suspicione  si  quis  crrabit  suA, 

Et  rapiet  ad  se,  quod  erit  commune  omnium, 

Stulte  nudabit  animi  conscientiam, 

I  deny  not,this,whichIhavesaid, savours alittleofDemocritus. 
^  Quamvis  ridentem,  dicere  vervm  (piid  vital?  one  may  speak  in 
jest,  and  yet  speak  truth.  It  is  somew^hat  tart,  I  grant  it  : 
acriora  orexim  excitant  embammata,  as  he  said ;  sharp  sauces 
increase  appetite ; 

^  Nee  cibus  ipse  juvat,  morsu  fraudatus  aceti. 

Object  then  and  cavil  what  thou  wilt,  I  ward  all  w^ith  Demo- 
critus  buckler;  his  medicine  shall  salve  it;  strike  Avhere 
thou  wilt,  and  w  hen  :  Democritus  dixit ;  Democritus  will 
answer  it.  It  was  written  by  an  idle  fellow,  at  idle  times,about 
our  Saturnalian  or  Dionysian  feast,  when,  as  he  said,  mdlum 
libertati  pericnlum  est,  servants  in  old  Rome  had  liberty  to 
say  and  do  what  tliem  list.     When  our  country-men  sacrificed 

a|Hor.  Sat.  4  1.  1.  ^Epi.  ad  Dorpinra  de  Moria.  Si  quispiam  ofTendatur,- 

et  sibi  vindicet,  non  habit  quod  expostulet  cum  eo  qui  scripsit ;  ipse,  si  volet,  secutn 
agat  injiiriam,  utpote  sui  proditor,  qui  declaravit  hoc  ad  se  proprie  pertinere.  eg; 

quis  se  liesum  clamabit,  aut  couscientiam  prodit  suam,  autcerte  metum.  Phaed.  1.  3. 
yEsop.  Fab.  dHor.  ^Mait.  1.  7,  ^-i.  f  Ut  hibet,  feriat  :  abstergain 

hos  ictus  Deiuocviti  »harinaco. 


UKMOCRITIIS     TO      IMIR     READF.R.  113 

to  tlioir  goddess  *  V;icuna,  and  sat  tiplijig-  by  their  Vacunal 
tires,  1  writ  this,  and  published  this.  Ovnq  c>.eye»  it  is  nemiriis 
nihil.  The  time,  plijce,  persons,  and  all  circumstances,  apo- 
lo<>i/e  for  me;  and  why  may  I  not  then  be  idle  with  others? 
speak  my  mind  freely?  li'  yon  deny  me  this  liberty,  upon 
these  presiimpfions  1  will  take  it :   1  say  again,  1  will  take  it. 

b  Si  quis  est,  qui  dictum  in  se  inclementius 
Exisiimabit  esse,  sic  existimet. 

If  any  man  take  exceptions,  let  him  turn  the  buckle  of  his 
oirdle ;  I  care  not.  I  owe  thee  nothing-,  reader  :  I  look  for  no 
favour  at  thy  hands;  1  am  independent  :   1  fear  not. 

No.   I  recant;   I  will   not;   I  care  ;  I  fear;  I  confess   my 
fiult,  acknowledge  a  great  offence; 

motes  proestat  coraponere  fluclus  : 


I  have  overshot  myself;  I  have  spoken  foolishly,  rashly,  un- 
advisedly, absurdly;  I  liave  anatomized  mine  own  folly.  And 
now,  methiuks,  upon  a  sudden  I  am  awaked  as  it  were  out  of 
a  dream  ;  1  have  had  a  raving  nt,  a  phantastical  fit,  ranged  up 
and  down,  in  and  out ;  I  have  insulted  over  m»)st  kind  of  men, 
abused  some,  olfended  others,  wronged  my  self;  and  now,  be- 
ing recovered,  and  perceiving- mine  error,  cry  with '^  Orlando, 
Solvete  mi.  Pardon  (O  botii  !)  that  which  is  past ;  and  I  will 
make  yon  amends  in  (hat  which  is  to  come  :  I  promise  you  a 
more  sober  discourse  in  my  following  treatise. 

If,  through  weakness,  folly,  passion,  "^discontent,  ignorance, 
I  have  said  amiss,  let  it  be  forgotten  and  forgiven.  I  acknow- 
ledg-e  that  of  "^  Tacitus  to  be  true,  Asperrpfacetice,  ubi  nimis  ex 
vero  traxere,  acj-PTti  sui  mpmoriam  relinqwint:  a  bitter  jeast 
leaves  a  sting  behind  it ;  and  as  an  honorable  man  observes, 
^  They  fiar  a  sahjrists  wif,  he  their  memoires.  I  may  justly 
suspect  the  worst;  and,  thoui>h  I  hope  1  have  wronged  no 
man,  yet,  in  Medeas  words,  I  v,  ill  crave  pardon, 

lllud  jam  voce  extrema  peto, 

Ne,  si  qua  iioster  dubius  effudit  dolor, 
Mancant  in  animo  verba:  sed  melior  tii)i 
Memoria  nostri  subeat ;  hsec  irsa  data 
Oblitereiitur 


»Rusticonitn  dfa  prasesse  vacantibns  et  otiosis  pntabatar,  cui  post  labores  agricola 
sacriticabat.  Plin.  1.  3.  c.  1-2.  Ovi'l.  1.  6.  Fast.  Jam  qutxiue  cum  fiunt  antiquae 
sacra  Vaciinae,  Aute  Vaciinales  stantque  sedentijue  f'>cos.     Rosiniis.  h^'gi-^ 

prol.  Eunuch.  -■  Ariost.  1.  39.  st  ."jS.  ^  Ut  enira  ex  stndiis  gandiom,  sic 

stadia  ex  hilaritate  proveniunt.  Plinius  Maximo  sno,  pp.  lib.  8.  ^  Annal.  15. 

f  Sir  Francis  Bacon  in  his  Essayes,  now  Viscouut  H.  Aibanes. 

VOL.    I.  I 


U4  DEMOCRITUS  TO  THE  READER. 

And,  n  my  last  words,  this  I  do  desire, 
That  what  in  passion  I  have  said,  or  ire, 
May  be  forgotten,  and  a  better  mind 
Be  had  of  us,  hereafter  as  you  find. 

I  earnestly  requestevery  private  man,  as  Scaliger  did  Cardan, 
not  to  take  offence.  I  will  conclude  in  his  lines,  Si  me  cogni- 
tum  haberes  non  solum  donates  nobis  hasjacetias  nostras,  sed 
etiam  indic/num  duceres,  tam  humanum  animum,  lene  inge- 
nium,  vel  minimum  suspicionem  deprecari  oportere.  If  thou 
knewest  my  ^  modesty  and  simplicity,  thou  wouldst  easily 
pardon  and  forgive  what  is  here  amiss,  or  by  thee  miscon- 
ceived. If  hereafter,  anatomizing  this  surly  humour,  my 
hand  slip,  and,  as  an  unskilful  prentice,  I  launch  too  deep, 
and  cut  through  skin  and  all  at  unawares,  make  it  smart,  or 
cut  awry,  ''  pardon  a  rude  hand,  an  unskilful  knife ;  'tis  a 
most  difficult  thing  to  keep  an  even  tone,  a  perpetual  tenor, 
and  not  sometimes  to  lash  out ;  difficile  est  satyram  non  scri- 
bere ;  there  be  so  many  objects  to  divert,  inward  perturba- 
tions to  molest;  and  the  very  best  may  sometimes  err;  ali- 
quando  bonus  dormitat  Homerus :  it  is  impossible  not  in  so 
much  to  overshoot : 

opere  in  lingo  fas  est  obrepere  somnum. 

But  what  needs  all  this  ?  I  hope  there  will  no  such  cause  of 
offence  be  given  ;  if  there  be, 

cNemo  aliquid  recognoscat :  nos  mentimur  omnia. 

I'le  deny  all  (my  last  refuge),  recant  all,  renounce  all  I  have 
said,  if  any  man  except,  and  with  as  much  facility  excuse,  as 
he  can  accuse :  but  I  presume  of  thy  good  favour,  and  gra- 
cious acceptance,  gentle  reader.  Out  of  an  assured  hope  and 
confidence  thereof,  I  will  begin. 


"Quod  Probtis  Persii  p/oyfa^o?  virginali   verecundia   Persium  fuisse   dicit,  ego, 
&c.  ''Quas  aut  incuria  indit,  aiit  humana  parum  cavit  fiatuia.     Hor.  '^Prol. 

Plant. 


Lectoi'i  male  feriato. 


TIJ  vero  cavesh,  edico,  (jiiisqnis  es,net€meresugilles  authorem 
hupisce  operis,  aut  cnvillntor  irrideas.  Imo  ne  vel  ex  aliorum 
ceusurd  incite  ohloquaris,  (vis  dicam  verbo  ?)  nequid  nasutulns 
iuepte  improbes,  ant  falso  fiiufas.  Nam  si  talis  reierd  sit, 
fpialemprcB  sefert.  Junior  Deinocritus,  seniori  Democrito  sal- 
tern affiiiis,  aut  ejus  genium  vel  tantillum  sapiat ;  actum  de  te  ; 
censorem  asqne  ac  delatorem  ^aget  e  contra  (petulant!  splene 
cum  sit);  sufflabit  te  ini^cos,  comminuet  in  sales,  addo  etiam, 
et  deo  Risui  te  sacrificabit. 

Iterum  moneo,  tie  quid  cavillere,  ne  (dum  Democritum 
Junioreni  conviciis  inf antes,  aut  ignominiose  vituperes,  de  te 
nan  male  sentientem)  tu  idem  audias  ab  amico  cordaio,  quod 
olim  vulgus  Al)deritanum  ab  '' Hippocrate,  concivem  bene  me- 
ritum  et  popularem  suum  DemocriHim  pro  insano  liabens: 
Nee  tu,  Democrite,  sapis ;  stulti  autem  et  insani  Abderita. 

"  Abderitanae  pectora  plebis  babes. 

H(Bc  te  paucis  admonitum  volo,  maleferiate  Lector.     Jlbi. 

1  Si  me  commorit,  melius  non  tan-ere,  clamo.  Hor.  b  HinDor  Pniot   Ha 

mageto  Accers.tns  sum,  ut  nemocritum,  ta.nquam  insanam,  curaX  sed  i" 
jiuan,  con,^ru  non.  per  Jovem,  desipienti*  negotium,  sed  rerum  omnium' recepC 
lum  deprehend, ;  ej.«,„e  mgen.nm  demiraf us  s,un.  Abderitanos  vero  tan  quam  Don 
sanos  accusav,,  veratn  potione  ipsos  potius  eguisse  dio  ns.  c  Mart     ^ 


i2 


HERACLITE,  /leas !  miser o  sic  convenit  cevo  : 

Nil  nisi  turpe  vides,  nil  nisi  triste  vides. 
Ride  etidm,  quantumque  lubet,  Democrite,  ride  : 

Nbn  nisi  vana  vides,  non  nisi  stulta  vides, 
Isjletu,  hie  risu,  modo  gaudei    ;  unus  utrique 

Sit  licet  usque  labors  sit  licet  usque  dolor. 
Nunc  opus  est  (nam  tosus,  eheu  !  jam  desipit  orbisj 

Mille  Heraclitis,  milleque  Democritis. 
Nunc  opus  est  (tanta  est  insania)  tratiseat  omnis 

Mundus  in  Anticyras^  gramen  in  Hellehorum. 


SYNOPSIS 


FIRST    PARTITION. 


r  Their 
Causes. 
Subs.  1. 


Or 


Defiuition, 
Member, 
Division. 
Subs.  2. 


Impulsive:       J    Sin,  Concupiscence,  &c. 

Instrumental;^    Intemperance,  all  second  causes, 
'(        &c. 
rOf  the  body   .-    Epidemical,  as  Plague,  Plica,  &.c. 
300  which      \        or 
are  (    Particular,  as  Gout,  Dropsie,  &c. 

rlu  disposition:  as  all  perturbations,  evil 
atiection,  &c. 


/  Of  the  head 
or  mind. 
Subs.  3. 


_.  Or         j  Dotage. 

V  Subs.  'A.  \  \  Phrensie. 

Madness. 
/  E(  sfa.oie. 
Habits  as   (  i-jcanthropia. 
Subs.  -I.        1  Chorus  sancti  Viti. 
Hydrophobia. 

Possession  or  obsession  of 
Devils. 
*^MeIancholy.    See  V. 
rlls  .Equivocations,  in  Disposition,  Improper,  &c.  Suhspct.  5. 


r 


Iflemb.  2. 
To  its  ex  • 
plication,  ,'a 
digression 
ofanatomy, 
in  which 
observe 
parts  of 
Subs.  I. 


Body 
hath 
parts 
Hubs. 


contained,  as 


containing 


r  Humours,  Blood,  Phlegm, 
J        Choler,  Melancholy. 
1   Spirits  ;  vital,  natural,  ani- 
|_      mal. 

r  Sihiilctr  :  spemiatical,  or  flesh, 
J        bones,  nervfs,  8cc. 
1   Dissimilar  :  brain,  heart,  liver, 

l_      &c.  Subs.  4. 


Soul  and  his  faculties,  as 


I  Vegetal.  Subs.  ■ 
<    Sensible.  Subs. 


-    6,7,  S. 

Rational.  Subs.  9,  10,  II 


Memh.  3. 

Its  definition,  name,  difference.  Sub.  I. 

The  part  and  parties  affected,  affection,  &:c.  Subs.  2. 

The  matter  of  melancholy,  natural,  unnatural,  &c.  Subs.  4. 

r  Of  thf  head  alone,  Hy-  i  with  their  seve 
Proper,  to  I  pochoudriacal.or  windy  )  ral  causes,  syni 
parts,  as     ^   melancholy.     Of  the      ^   ptomes,prognos 

ks,  cures. 


Species,  or 
kinds, 
which  are 


ancnoiy,  natural,  unnatural,  6 

r  Of  thf  head  alone, 

per,  to  J   pochoudriacal.or  wi 

ts,  as     ^   melancholy.     Of  tli 

(^  whole  body. 

Or 


\   pto 


Indefinite;  as  Love-melancholy,  the  subj-^ct  of  the  third 
Partition. 


Its  Causes  in  general.  Sect.  2.  A. 

Its  Symptomes  or  si>;ns.  Sect,  3.  B. 

Its  Prognosticks  or  indications.  i>ect.  4.  4. 

Its  cures  :  the  subject  of  the  second  Partition. 


118 


SYNOPSIS    OF     rhli    FIRST    PARTITION. 


Superna' 
tural 


5  As 
Or 


Or 


r- 


A. 

Sect.  2. 
Causes  of 
Melancholy 
are  either 


Natural 


V^ 


O 


r 


Or 


VJ^ 


Outward, 
or  adven- 
titious, 
^  which  are 


Evident, 
outward, 
remote,  ad- 
ventitious. 


As  from  God  immediately,  or  by  second  causes,  ^tib.  I. 
Or  from  the  devil  immediately,  with  a  digression  of 
the  nature  of  spirits  and  devils.  Suh.  2. 
r  mediately,  by  magicians,  witches.  Sub.  .3. 
/'Primary,  as  stars,  proved  by  aphorisms,   sij^ns  from 
physiognomy,  metoposcopy,  chiromancy.  Sub.  A. 
^CongenitCj  r  Old  age,  temperament.  Sub.  5. 
inward         ^  Parents,   it  being   an    hereditary 
from  I      disease.  Sub.  6. 

ecf ssary,  see    b • 
^Nurses.  Sub.  1- 
Bducation, 

Sub.  2. 
Terrors,  af- 
Irights.  Sub.  3. 
Scoffs,  calum- 
nies, bitter 
jests.  Sub.  4. 
Loss  of  liberty, 
servitude,  im- 
prisonment. 
Sub.  5. 
Poverty  and 

want.  Sub.  6. 
An  heap  of 
other  acci- 
dents, death  of 
friends,  loss, 
&c.  Sub.  7. 
Ill  which     the   body 
works  on  the  mind, 
and   this    malady  is 
caused     by     prece- 
dent    diseases,     as 
agues,    pox,   &c.  or 
temperature  innate. 
Sub.  1. 
Or      by       particular 
parts     distempered, 
as      brain,       heart, 
spleen,  liver,  mesen- 
tery,   pylorus,     sto- 
mach,  &c.  Sub.  2. 


Or 


Contingent, 
inward,  an- 
tecedent, 
tiearest. 
Memh.  5. 
Sect.  2. 


V. 


Particularly  to  the  three  species.    See  n 


n 

Particular 
causes 
Sect.  2. 
Memb.  5. 


n 


Of  head  Me- 
lancholy are. 
Sub.  3. 


Inward 


Or 


Outward 


f  Of  hypochon-  f 

\  driacal,  or       3 

windy  melan-  J 

eholy  are,        \ 

Over  all  the 
body  are. 
Sub,  5. 


Inward 

Or 
Outward 


Innate  humour,  or   from   distemperature 
adust. 
A  hot  brain,  corrupted  blood  in  the  brain. 
Excess  of  veuery,  or  defect. 
AgUes  or  some  precedent  disease. 
Fumes  arising  from  the  stomach,  &c. 
Heat  of  the  sun  immoderate. 
A  blow  on  the  head. 

Overmuch  use  of  hot  wines,  spices,  gar- 
lick,  onions,  hot  baths,  overmuch  waking, 
&c. 

Idleness,  solitariness,  or  overmuch  study, 
vehement  labour,  &c. 
Passions,  perturbations,  &c. 
f  Default  of  spleen,  belly,  bowels,  stomachy 
J    mesentery,  meseraick  veins,  liyer,  &c. 
S  Months  of  hemorrhoids  stopt,  or  any  other 
'    ordinary  evacuation. 
(  Those  six  non-natural  things  abused. 
^  Liver  distempered,  stopt,  over  hot,  apt  to 
I    ingender  melancholy,  temperature  innate. 
Bad  diet,  suppressing  of  hemorrhoids,  &£C. 
and  such  evacuations,  passions,  cares,  &c, 
those  six  uon- natural  things  abused. 


SYNOPSIS    OF    THE    URSI     PARTITJON. 


119 


Bread;  coarse  and  black,  &c. 
Drink  ;  thick,  thin,  sowre,  &(;. 
Water  unclean,  milk,  nyl,  vinegar,  wine,  spices, 
&c. 


Sub-      . 
stance   ( 


Flesh 


/Diet  of- 
fending in 
Sub.  3. 


Herbs, 
Fish, 

&c. 


Necessary 
causes,  as 
those  six 
non-natural 
things, 
which  are, 
Sect.  2. 
Memh.  S. 


Quali- 
ty, as 


.  Quan- 
Ntity 


Parts ;  heads,  feet,  entrails,  fat,  bacon, 
blood,  &c. 

(  Bief,  pork,  venison,  hnres. 
Kinds  <       goats,  pigeons,  peacocks, 

t      fen-fowl,  &c. 
Offish;  all  shell-fish,  hard  and  slimy 

fish,  &c. 
Of  herbs;   pulse,  cabbage,    niellons, 
arlick,  onions,  ike. 
roots,  raw  fruits,  hard  and  windy 
meats. 


V-     n 


Preparing,  dressing,  sharp  sauces,  salt  meats, 
indurate,  sowced,  fryed,  broiled,  or  made- 
dishes,  &c.  ' 

Disorder  in  eating,  immoderate  eating,  or  at 

unseasonable  times,  &c.  Subsec.  2. 
Custom ;  delight,  appetite,  altered,  &c.  Subs.  3. 


Retention  and 
evacuation. 
Subs.  4. 


I  Costiveness,  hot  baths,  sweating,  issues  stop- 
<  ped,  Venus  in  excess,  or  in  defect,  phlebo- 
i     tomy,  purging,  &c. 

Air;  hot,  cold,  tempestaous.  dark,  thick,  foggy,  moorish,  &c.  Subs.  5. 

Exercise,    (  Unseasonable,  excessive,  or  defective,  of  botly  or  minde. 
Sub-  6.    I     solitariness,  idleness,  a  life,  out  of  action,  &c. 

Sleep  and  waking,  unseasonable,  inordinate,  over  much,  OTcr  little,  &c. 
Sub.  7. 

Sorrow,caiise  and  symptome,  Sub.i.  Fear, 
cause  and  symptome.  Sub.  5.  Shame,  re- 
pulse, disgrace,  &c.  Sub.  6.     Envy  and 
'Irasci-^       malice,  52//>.  7.  Emulation,  hatred,  fac- 
bie         I       tion,  desire  of  revenge,  jSw6.  8.    Anger 
a  cause,  Sub.  9.      Discontents,  cares, 
miseries.  Sub.  10. 
or      ^  Vehement  desires,  ambition.  Sub.  11.  Co- 
(       vetousness,  ^uxofyufiav.  Sub.  12,  Lore 
\     of  pleasure,  gaming  in  excess,  &c.  Sub. 
coticu-    }     13.  Desire  of  praise,  pride,  vain-glory, 
pisci-    \     &€.  S«6.  14.   Love  of  learning,  study  in 
I  ble.        J     excess,  with  a  digression  of  the  misery 
I     of  scholars,  and  why  the  Muses  are  me- 
^  (^    lancholy.  Sub.  15. 


Memb.Z.Sect.2. 
Passions  and 
perturbations 
of  the  mind. 
Subs.  2.    With 
a  dig^ression  of    •< 
the  force  of 
imagination. 
Sub.  2.  and  divi- 
sion of  passions 
into  Stib,  3. 


120 


SYNOPSIS    OF    THE    FIRST    PARTITTO.V. 


(■". 


B. 

SymptomeM 
of  melan- 
choly are 
either 
ct.Z. 


Body,  as  ill  digestion,  crudity  wind,'  dry  brains,  hard  belly, 
thicil  blood,  ranch  waking, heaviness  and  palpitation  of  heart, 
leaping  in  many  places,  &c.     Sub.  1. 

y- ^  /"  Fear  and  sorrow  without  a  just  cause,  sus- 

ri^onimon  |       picion,  jealousie,  discontent,  solitariness, 

to  all  01  <       irksoraeness,  continual  cogitations.restless 

most,  ^      thoughts,  vain  iniaginatiunSj  &c.  Subs.  2. 


/^Celestial  influences,  as  b  "U  c? ,  f'^c.  parts 
of  the  body,  heart,  brain,  liver,  spleen, 
stomach,  &cc. 

/Sanguine  are  merry  still  laugh- 
ing, pleasant,  meditating  on 
playes,  women,  mtisick,  &c. 
Qr  Phlegmatick,     slothful,     dull, 

)       heavt,  &:c. 
Humours  (  Cholerick,    furious,    impatient, 
subject     to    hear    and     see 
strange  apparations,  &c. 
Black,  solitary,  sad  ;  they  think 
they     are    bewitcht,     dead, 
V    &c. 

Or  mixt  of  these  four  humours  adust,  or  not 
adust,  infinitely  varied. 


Particular 
to  private 
persons, 
accordin;^ 
to  Sub.:i. 


Their  several 
customs,  con- 
ditions, disci- 
pline, &c. 


Coutinuance 
of  time  as  the 
humor  is  i 
tended  or  r 
mitted,  &c. 


■'Ambitious  thinks  himself 
a  king,  a  lord ;  covet- 
ous runs  on  his  money  ; 
lascivious  on  his  mis- 
tfis  ;  religious  hath  re- 
velations, visions,  is  a 
prophet,  or  troubled  in 
mind  ;  a  scholar  on  his 
book,  &c. 


Pleasant  at  tirst,  hardly 
discerned  :  afterwards 
harsh  and  intolerable,  if 
inveterate. 


Hence 
some 
lake 
three 
degrees, 


I 


Falsa  cogila- 

tio. 
Cogitata  lo- 

qui. 
Exsequi    lo- 

quutum. 


I  By    fits,   or    continuate,   as 
V,  (      the  object  varies,    pleas- 

ing or  displeasing. 
Simple,  or  as  it  is  mixt  with  other  diseases,  apoplexies,  gout,  caninus 
\appetitus,  &c.  so  the  symptomes  are  various. 


SYNOPSIS    OF    THE    FIRST    PARTlTIOiV. 


121 


Particular 
svmptiimes 
to  the  three 
distinct 
species. 
Hfct.  3. 
Mem.  2. 


/Head- 
mclan- 
choly. 
Sub.  1. 


•  In  body 


} 


Hypo- 
chondria- 
cal or 
windy 
nieiau- 
choiy. 
Sub.  2. 


Over  all 
the  body. 
Sub.  3. 


Or 


In  mind. 


lu  l>ody 


Or 


In  mind. 


In  body 

Or 

In  mind. 


Head-ach,  binding,  heaviueis,  vertigo,  lipht- 
L  ness.  singing  of  the  ears,  much  waking, 
fixed  eyes,  high  colour, r'>d  eyes, hard  belly, 
f  dry  body  ;  no  ^rt- it  sign  of  melancholy  in 
^     the  other  parts. 

Continual  fear,  sorrow,  suspicion,  discontent, 
siiperlluous  cares,  solicitude,  anxiety,  per- 
petual cogitation  of  such  toyes  they  are  pos- 
sessf  d  with,  thoughts  like  dreams,  &c. 


VN'ind,  rumbling  in  the  guts,  belly-ake,  heat 
ill  the  boueis,  convulsions,crudities,  short 
wiiid.soivrand  sharp belchings, cold  sweat, 
pain  in  the  left  side,  sutl'ocation,  palpita- 
tion, heaviness  of  the.  heart,  singing  in  the 
ears,  much  spittle,  and  Jiioist,  J!>:c. 


(  Fearful,  sad,  suspicious,  discontent,anxiety, 
-[  8.:r.  Lascivious  by  reason  of  much  wind, 
(.      troublesome  dreams,  affected,  by  fits,  &c. 


{ 


Black,  most  part  lean,  broad  ^eins,  gross, 
thick  blood,  their  hemorrhoids  commonly 
stopped,  &.C. 

^  Fearful,  sad,  solitary,  hate  light,  averse  from 
i  company,  feariul  dreams,  &c. 


Symptomes   of  nuns,  maids,  and  widows 
mind,  &c. 


melancholy,   in   body  and 


Why  they  are  so  fearful,  sad,  suspicious  without  a  cause, 
why  solitary,  why  melancholy  men  are  witty,  why  they 
suppose  they  hear  and  see  strange  voices,  visions,  appa- 
ritions. 

Why  they  prophesie,  and  speak  strange  languages ;  whence 
comes  tlieir  crudity,  rumbling,  convulsions,  cold  sweat, 
heaviness  of  hecirt,  patpitation,  cardiaca,  fearful  dreams, 
prodigious  phantasies. 


Prognosticks 
of  melan- 
choly. 
Sect.  4. 


yTeuding  to  good 
as 


Tending  to  evil  as 


V 


Corollaries  and 
qaestions. 


scabs,  itch,  breaking  out,  &c. 
jaundise. 
emorrhoids  voluntarily  open, 
appear. 


•  Leanness,  dryness,  hollow-eyed,  &c. 
Inveterate  melancholy  is  incurable. 
If  cold  it  degenerates  oft^n  into  epilepsie,  apo- 
plexy, dotage,  or  into  blindness. 
If  hot,  into    madness,    despair,    and    violent 
death. 


f  The  grievousness  of  this  above  all  other  diseases. 
1  The  diseases  of  the  mind  are  more  {rrievoos  than 
I       those  of  the  body. 

/  Whether  it  he  lawful,  in  this  rase  of  inelan- 
^       rholv,  for  a  man  to  offer  violence  to  himself. 

How  a  melancholy  or  mad  man,  oll'ering  violence 
\.    to  himself  is  to  be  censured. 


THE 


FIRST    PARTITION, 


/'SECTION". 
THE  FIRST  J  MEMBER. 

I  SUBSECTION. 


Maii^ji  Excellency,  Fall,  Miseries,  Infirmities  ;  The  causes  of 

them. 

Mmis^Excellency.']  ITlAN,  the  most  excellent  and  noble 
creature  of  the  world,  the  principal  and  mif/hty  work  of' God, 
wonder  oj'natnre,  as  Zoroaster  calls  him ;  avdacis  naturee  mira- 
ciilum,  the "  marvail  oJ'7narvails,ns  Plato ;  the  ^ abridgement  and 
epitome  oftheworld,  as  Pliny;  microcosmus,  a  little  world,a  mo- 
del of  the  world,  *^soveragn  lord  of  the  earth,  viceroy  of  the 
world,  sole  commander  and  governour  of  all  the  creatures 
in  it ;  to  whose  empire  they  are  subject  in  particular,  and 
yield  obedience ;  far  surpassing- all  the  rest,  not  in  body  only, 
but  in  soul ;  ^imayinis  imago,  *"  created  to  Gods  own  ^  image 
to  that  immortal  and  incorporeal  substance,  with  all  the  facul- 
ties and  powers  belonging  unto  it ;  was  at  first  pure,  divine, 
perfect,  happy,  ^created  after  Godin  true  holiness  andrighte- 
otisness;  Deo  congrnens,  tree  from  all  manner  of  infirmities, 
and  put  in  Paradise,  to  know  God,  to  praise  and  glorifie  him, 
to  do  his  will, 

Ut  dis  consimiles  parturiat  deos, 
(as  an  old  poet  saith)  to  propagate  the  church. 

Man's  fall  and  misery.^  But  this  most  noble  creature, 
Heu  iristis,  et  lacrymosa  commutatio  !  Q  one  exclaims) 
O    pitiful   change  !  is  fallen    from    that  he  was,   and  for- 

»  Magnum  miraculiim.  '' Mundi  epitome,  naturae  delicia;.  <"  Finis  re- 

rum  omnium,  cui  subliinaria  serviunt.     Scalig.  exercit.  365.  sec.  3.  Vales,  de  sacr. 
Phil.  c.  5.  ti  Ut  in  nnmisraate  Capsaris  imago,  sic  in  houiine  Dei.  e  Cien.  1. 

f  Imago  mundi  in  corpore,  Dei  in  anim;i.      Exemplumquc  Dei  qnisque  est  in  imagine 
parva.  S  Eph.  4.  24.  '•  Palanterius. 


2  Diseases  in  General.  [Part  1.  Sec.  1. 

feited  his  estate,  become  miserabilis  homuncio,  a  castaway,  a 
caitiff,  one  of  the  most  miserable  creatures  of  the  world,  if  he  be 
considered  in  hisowii  natiire,an  imregenerate  nian,  and  somuch 
obscured  by  his  fall,  that  (some  few  reliques  excepted)  he  isin- 
feriour  to  a  beast  :  "  man  in  honour  that  under standeth  not,  is 
like  unto  beasts  that  perish  ;  so  David  esteems  him  :  a  monster 
by  stupend  metamorphosis,  ^  a  fox,  a  dog-,  a  hog- ;  Avhat  not? 
Quantum  mutatus  ah  illo  I  How  much  altered  from  that  he 
was  ;  before  blessed  and  happy,  now  miserable  and  accursed ; 
'^  he  must  eat  his  meat  in  sorroiv,  subject  to  death  and  all  manner 
of  infirmities,  all  kinds  of  calamities. 

A  description  oj'  melancholy.']  Great  travel  is  created 
for  all  men,  and  an  heavy  yoke  on  the  sons  of  Adam,  from 
the  day  that  they  go  out  of  their  mothers  womb,  unto  that 
day  they  return  to  the  mother  of  all  things  ;  namely^  their 
thoughts,  and  fear  of  their  hearts,  and  their  imagination 
of  things  they  wait  for,  and  the  day  of  death.  From  him 
that  sitteth  in  the  glorious  throne,  to  him  that  sitteth  be- 
neath  in  the  earth  and  ashes — from  him  that  is  cloathed  in 
blue  silk,  and  weareth  a  croivn,  to  him  that  is  cloathed  in 
simple  linnen — tcrath,  envy,  trouble  and  unquietness,  and 
fear  of  death^  and  rigour  and  strife,  and  such  things^  come 
to  both  man  and  beast,  but  sevenfold  to  the  ungodly ''.  All 
this  befalls  him  in  this  life,  and  peradventure  eternal  misery 
in  the  life  to  come. 

Impulsive  causes  of  mans  misery  and  infrmities.'j  The 
impulsive  cause  of  these  miseries  in  man,  this  privation  or 
destruction  of  Gods  image,  the  cause  of  death  and  diseases, 
of  all  temporal  and  eternal  punishments,  Avas  the  sin  of  our 
first  parent  Adam,  ^  in  eating- of  the  forbidden  fruit,  by  the 
devils  instigation  and  allurement — his  disobedience,pride,  am- 
bition, intemperance,  incredulity,  curiosity ;  from  whence  pro- 
ceeded original  sin,  and  that  general  corruption  of  mankind — 
as  from  a  fountain  flowed  all  bad  inclinations,and  actual  trans- 
gressions, which  cause  our  several  calamities,inflicted  upon  us 
for  our  sins.  And  this  belike,  is  that  which  our  fabulous  poets 
have  shadowed  unto  us  in  the  tale  of  ^Pandoras  box,  whicn,  be- 
ing opened  throughher  curiosity, filled  the  world  full  of  all  man- 
ner of  diseases.  It  is  not  curiosity  alone,  but  those  other  cry- 
ing sins  of  ours,  which  pull  these  several  plagues  and  miseries 
upon  our  heads.  For  ubi  peccatum,  ibi  procella,  as  §  Chry- 
sostom  well  observes.     ^  Fools,  by  reason  of  their  transgres- 

*  Ps.  49.  20.  bljascivia  superat  equiuoa,  impudentia  canem,  astu  vnlpem, 

furore  leonem.  Chrys.  23.  Gen.  c  Gen.  3.  17.  d  Ecclus.  40. 1, 2,  3,  4,  5, 8. 

e  Gen.  3.  16.  f  Ilia  cadens  tcgmen  manibus  decussit,  et  una  Perniciem  im- 

misit  raiseris  mortalibus  atram.  Hesiod.  J.  oper.  t'Hom.  5,  ad  pop,  Antioch. 

iPsal.  107. 17. 


."\r<Miib.  l.Siibs.  1.]      Disea'ies  ill  (r^jwrai  '] 

.•<ion,  (Did  because  of  their  iniquities  are  afflieted.  '■'  Fear 
Cometh  like  svddeu  desolation,  and  destruction  like  a  whirle- 
winde,  affiiction  and  anfjui>di,  because  they  did  not  tear  God. 

Are  yon  shaken  ivith  rears? ^  (as  Cyprian  well  urcj-eth  to 
Deaietrius,)  are  you  molested  with  dearth  and  famine  ?  is  your 
health  crusheth  with  raf/inr/  diseases  ?  Is  mankind  rjene- 
rally  tormented  with  epidemical  mnludics  ?  'tis  allj'or  yonr 
sins.  Hag'.  1.9,  10.  Amos  1.  Jer.  /•  God  is  angry,  punisbeth, 
and  tbreatenetb,  because  of  their  obstinacy  and  stubbornness, 
they  will  not  turn  unto  him.  "^IJ' the  earth  he  barren  thenjbr 
want  of  rain ;  if,  dry  and  sqnalid,  it  yield  7io  fruit  ;  if  your 
J'ountnins  be  dried  up,  your  icine  corn,  and oyle  blasted ;  ijfthe 
air  be  corrupted,  and  men  troubled  irith  diseases,  'tis  by  reason 
of  their  sins, which  (like  the  blood  of  Abel)  cry  aloud  to  heaven 
for  veng'eance.  Lam.  5.  l5.  That  we  hare  sinned,  therejore 
our  hearts  are  heavy,  Isa.  59.  M,  12.  We  roar  like  bears, 
and  mourn  like  doves,  and  want  health,  ^'C.J'or  our  sins  and 
trespasses.  But  this  we  cannot  endure  to  hear,  or  to  take 
notice  of.  Jer.  2.  30.  We  are  smitten  in  vain,  and  receive 
no  correction  ;  and  cap.  5.  o.  Thou  hast  stricken  them  ; 
but  they  have  not  sorrowed;  they  have  refused  to  receive  cor- 
rection ;  they  have  not  returned.  Pestilence  he  hath  sent;  but 
they  have  not  turned  to  him,  Amos.  4.  "^  Herod  could  not  abide 
John  Baptist,  nor  ^  Domitian  endure  Apollonius  to  tell  the 
causes  of  the  plague  atEphesus,  his  injustice,  incest,  adultery, 
and  the  like. 

To  punish  therefore  thisblindness  and  obstinacy  of  ours,  as 
a  concomitant  cause  and  principal  agent,  is  Gods  just  judg'e- 
ment,  in  bringing-  these  calamities  upon  us,  to  chastise  us,  (I 
say)  for  our  sins,  and  to  satisfie  Gods  wrath :  for  the  law 
requires  obedience  or  punishment,  as  you  may  read  at  large, 
Deut.  28.  15.  IJ' they  will  not  obey  the  Lord,  and  keep  his 
commandments  and  ordinances,  then  all  these  curses  shall  come 
upon  them.  ^Cursed  in  the  town,  and  hi  the  field,  Sfc. 
8  Cuised  in  the  fruit  of  the  body,  &:c.  ^  The  Lord  shall  send 
thee  trouble  and  shame,  because  of  thy  wickedness.  And  a 
little  after,  '  The  Lord  shall  smite  thee  with  the  botch  of 
JEgypt,  and  with  emrods,and  scab,  and  itch  ;  and  thou  canst 
not  be  healed ;  ^  with  madness^    blindness,   and  astonishing 


a  Prov.  1.  27.  I'  Quod  antern  crebriiis  bella  concntiant,  qaod  sterilitas  et 

fames  solicitudineni   cuinulent,  quod  savientibus   murbis   valetiido   frangitur,   quod 
hinnanuiu  genus  luis  populations  vastatur  ;  ob  peccatnm  omnia.     Cypr.  '^  Si  raro 

desnper  pluvia  descendat,  si  terra  situ  pnl  veris  sqaaleat,  si  \ix  jejunas  et  pallidas  herbas 
sterilis  gleba  prodncat,  si  turbo  vineam  debilitet,  &c.  Cypr.  "*  Mat.  14.  3. 

«  Philostratus,  lib.  8.  vit.  Apollonii.     Injustitiam  ejus,  et  sceleratas  nnptias^  et  caetera 
quae  praeter  rationem  fecerat,  morborum  caussas  dixit.  f  16.  ?18         ''20. 

'  Vers.  17.  ^  23.  Deus,  quoa  diligit,  castigat. 


4  I)i.fieases  in  GerwraL         [Part.  1.  See.  1. 

of  heart.  Thi^  Paul  seconds,  Rom.  2.  9.  Tribulation  and 
anguish  on  the  soul  of  every  manthat  doth  evil.  Or  else  these 
chastisements  are  inflicted  upon  us  for  our  humiliation,  to 
exercise  and  try  our  patience  here  in  this  life,  to  bring-  us 
home,  to  make  us  know  God  and  onr  selves,  to  inform  and 
teach  us  wisdom.  ^Therefore  is  my  people yone  into  captivity, 
because  they  had  no  knowledge  ;  therefore  is  the  wrath  of  the 
Lord  kindled  against  his  people,  ami  he  hath  stretched  out  his 
hand  upon  them,.  He  is  desirous  of  our  salvation,  *'  nostrce 
salutis  ayi«?MS,saithLeranius,  and  for  that  cause  pulls  us  by  the 
ear  many  tiuies,  to  put  us  in  mind  of  our  duties,  that  they 
which  erred  might  have  *=  understanding,  (as  Isay  speaks, 
29.  24.)  and  so  to  be  reformed.  I  am  afflicted  and  at  the  point 
of  death,  so  David  confesseth  of  himself,  Psal.  88.  lb.  v.  9. 
Mine  eyes  are  sorroirful  through  mine  affiiction :  and  that 
made  him  turn  unto  God.  Great  Alexander,  in  the  midst  of 
all  his  prosperity,  by  a  company  of  parasites  deified,  and  now 
made  a  god,  when  he  saw  one  of  his  wounds  bleed,  remem- 
bered that  he  was  bat  a  man,  and  remitted  of  his  pride.  In 
morbo  recolligit  se  animus,  as  '^  Pliny  well  perceived ;  in 
sickness  the  mind  refects  upon  it  self,  with  Judgement  sur- 
veys it  self,  and  abhors  itsj'ormer  courses  ;  insomuch  that  he 
concludes  to  his  friend  Maximus,  ^that  it  were  the  period  of 
all  philosophy,  if  ive  could  so  continue,  sound,  or  perform  but 
a  part  of  that  ivhich  we  promised  to  do,  being  sick.  Who  so 
is  wise  then,  ivill  consider  these  things,  as  David  did,  (Psal. 
144.  verse  last)  and,  whatsoever  fortune  befall  him,  make  use 
of  it — if  he  be  in  sorrow,  need,  sickness,  or  any  other  ad- 
versity, seriously  to  recount  with  himself,  why  this  or  that 
malady,  misery,  this  or  that  incurable  disease, is  inflicted  upon 
him;  it  may  be  for  his  good ;  '^'sic  expedit,  as  Peter  said  of 
his  daughters  ague.  Bodily  sickness  is  for  his  souls  health  ; 
periiset  nisi  per iiset  ;  had  he  not  been  visited,  he  had  utterly 
perished ;  for  "  the  Lordcorrecteth  himwhom  he  loveth,  even  as 
a  father  doth  his  child  in  rvhom  he  delighteth.  If  he  be  safe 
and  sound  on  the  other  side,  and  free  from  all  manner  of  in- 
firmity ;  ^  et  cui 

Gratia,  forma,  valetudo  contiiigat  abunde, 
Et  mundus  victus,  non  deficiente  crumena — 

^  Isa.  5.  13.  vers.  15.  b  Nostras  saltitis  avidus,  continenter  anres  vtllicat, 

ac  calamitate  sabinde  nos   exercet.     Levimis  Lemn.    I.  2.  c.  29.  de   occult,   nat. 
mir.  c  Vexatio  dat  intellectiim.     Esay2S.  19.  *i  Lib.  7.  Cum.  judirio, 

mores   et  facta    recognoscit,    et  se  intuetiir  — Dmn  fero  langnorem,  fero  religioiiis 
amorem  :  Bxpers  langiioris,  non  sum  memor  hujus  amoris.  •?  Summam  esse 

totius  philosopliia;,  ut  talcs  esse  sani  perseverenms,  qnales  nos  fiituros  esse  infirmi 
profiteraur.  f  Petrarcli.  8  Prov.  3.  12,  '' Hor.  Epist.  lib.  1.  4. 


Memb.  1.  Subs.  1.]     Disea.'iest  in  Genpral.  5 

And  that  he  have  grace,  beauty,  favour,  health, 
A  cleanly  diet,  and  abound  in  wealth — 

yet,  in  the  midst  of  his  prosperity,  let  him  remember  that 
caveat  of  Moses,  ^  heivare  that  he  do  not  forget  the  Lord 
his  God ;  that  he  be  not  puffed  up,  but  acknowledge  them 
to  be  his  good  gifts  and  benefits,  and  ^  the  more  he  hath,  to 
be  more  thanhful,  (as  Agapetianus  adviseth)  and  use  them 
aright. 

Instrumental  causes  of  oiir  infirmities.']  Now  the  instru- 
mental causes  of  these  our  infirmities  are  as  diverse,  as  the 
infirmities  themselves.  Stars,  heavens,  elements,  &c.  and 
all  those  creatures  which  God  hath  made,  are  armed  against 
sinners.  They  were  indeed  once  good  in  themselves  ;  and 
that  they  are  now,  many  of  them,  pernicious  unto  us,  is 
not  in  their  nature,  but  our  corruption  which  hath  caused 
it.  For,  from  tlie  fall  of  our  first  parent  Adam,  they  have 
been  changed,  the  earth  accursed,  the  influence  of  stars 
altered  ;  the  four  elements,  beasts,  birds,  plants,  are  now 
ready  to  offend  us.  The  principal  thinr/sjor  the  use  of  man 
are  water,  fire,  iron,  salt,  meal,  wheat,  hony,  milk,  oile,  wine, 
clothing,  good  to  the  godlg,  to  the  sinners  turned  to  evil, 
Ecclus.  39.  26.  Fire  and  hail,  and  famine,  and  dearth,  all 
these  are  createdfor  vengeance,  Ecclus.  39.  29.  The  heavens 
threaten  us  with  their  comets,  stars,  planets,  with  their 
great  conjunctions,  eclipses,  oppositions,  quartiles,  and  such 
unfriendly  aspects ;  the  air  with  his  meteors,  thunder  and 
lightning,  intemperate  heat  and  cold,  mighty  winds,  tempests, 
unseasonable  weather  ;  from  which  proceed  dearth,  famine, 
plague,  and  all  sorts  of  epidemical  diseases,  consuming- 
infinite  myriads  of  men.  At  Cayro  in  iEgypt,  every  third 
year,  (as  it  is  related  by  *=  Boterus,  and  others)  300000  dye  of 
the  plague ;  and  200000  in  Constantinople,  every  fifth  or 
seventh  at  the  utmost.  How  doth  the  earth  terrific  and  oppress 
us  with  terrible  earthquakes,  which  are  most  frequent  in 
-^  China,  Japan,  and  those  eastern  climes,  swallowing-  up  some- 
times six  cities  at  once  !  How  doth  the  water  rage  with  his 
inundations,  irruptions,  flinging  down  towns,  cities,  villages, 
bridges,  &c.  besides  shipwracks;  whole  islands  are  sometimes 
suddenly  over-whelmed  with  all  their  inhabitants,  as  in 
"  Zeland,  Holland,  and  many  parts  of  the  continent  drowned, 
as  the  'lake  Erne  in  Ireland!  " Nihilque  prceter  arciuni  ca- 


»Deut.  8.  11.     Qui  stat,  ■videat  ne  cadat.  bQoanto  luajoribiis  benefiriis  a 

Deo  cumulatur^  tanto  obligationem  se  debitorem  fateri.  <■  Boterus  He  Inst. 

Urbiiim.  ''  Lage  hist,  relationem  Lod.  Frois  de  rebus  Jai)onicis  ad  annum 

li>96.  "■  Guicciard.  descript.  Belg.  an.  1421.  '  (Jiraldus  Cainbrens. 

ffjanus  Dousa,  ep.  lib.  I.  car.  10. 


6  Diseases  in  General.         [Part  J.  Sec,  1. 

fhvera  patenti  ceminiusfreto.  In  the  fenns  of  Freesland, 
1^30,  l)y  reason  of  tempests,  ''the  sea  drowned  mult  a  Jwminnm 
niiJlia,  et  jumenta  sine  yinmero,  all  the  country  ahnost,  men  and 
cattle  in  it.  How  doth  the  fire  rage,  that  jnerciless  element, 
consamino"  in  an  instant  whole  cities  !  What  town  of  any  an- 
tiquity or  note,  hath  not'heen  once,  again  and  again,  bv  t!je 
fm-y  of  this  merciless  ejjpment,  defaced,  ruinated^  and  left 
desolate?     In  a  word, 

''Ignis  pepercit?  unda  mergit:  aeris 
Vis  pestilentis  aequori  ereptum  necat ; 
Bello  superstes,  tabidus  morbo  peril. 

Whom  fire  spares,  sea  doth  drown  ;  whom  sea, 
Pestilent  ayre  doth  send  to  clay ; 
Whom  war  scapes,  sickness  takes  away. 

To  descend  to  more  particulars,  how  many  creatures  are  at 
deadly  feud  with  men!  Lions,  wolves,  bears,  &c.  some 
M^ith  hoofs,  horns,  tusks,  teeth,  nails  :  how  many  noxious 
serpents  and  venomous  creatures,  ready  to  oifend  us  with 
sting',  breath,  sig^ht,  or  quite  kill  us  !  How  many  pernicious 
fishes,  plants,  gums,  fruits,  seeds,  flowers,  &c.  could  1  reckon 
up  on  a  sudden,  which  by  their  very  smell,  many  of  them, 
touch,  taste,  cause  some  grievous  malady,  if  not  death  it  self! 
Some  make  mention  of  a  thousand  several  poysons  :  but  these 
are  but  trifles  in  respect.  '^The  greatest  enemy  to  man  is 
man,  who,  by  the  devils  instigation,  is  still  ready  to  do  mis- 
chief— his  own  executioner,  a  wolf,  a  devil  to  himself  and 
others.  We  are  all  brethren  in  Christ,  or  at  least  should  be — 
members  of  one  body,  servants  of  one  Lord;  and  yet  no  fiend 
can  so  torment,  insult  over,  tyrannize,  vex,  as  one  man  doth 
another.  Let  me  not  fall,  therefore,  (saith  David,  when  wars, 
plague,  famine,  were  offered)  into  the  hands  of  men,  merciless 
and  wicked  men  : 

■Vix  sunt  homines  hoc  nomine  digni; 


Quamque  lupi,  ssevae  plus  feritatis  habent. 

.  We  can,  most  part,  foresee  these  epidemical  diseases,  and 
likely,avoid  them.  Dearths,  tempests, plagues, our  astrolog-ers 
foretell  us :  earth-quakes,inundations,ruines  of  houses,consum- 
ing  fires,  come  by  little  and  little,  or  make  some  noise  before- 
hand ;  but  the  knaveries,  impostures,  injuries,  and  villanies  of 
men  no  art  can  avoid.  We  can  keep  our  professed  enemies 
from  our  cities,  by  gates,  walls  and  towers,  defend  our  selves 


»Munster.  1.  3.  Cos.  cap.  462.  •>  Buchanan.  Baptist.  <^  Homo  homini 

lupus;  homo  homini  daemon.  ^Ovid.  de  Trist  1.  5.     Eleg.  7. 


Memb.  1.  Subs.  1.]       Diseases  in  General.  7 

from  thieves  and  robbers  by  watchfulness  and  weapons  :  but 
this  malice  of  men,and  their  pernicious  endeavours,  no  caution 
can  divert,  no  vig-ilancy  foresee,  we  have  so  many  secret  plots 
and  devices  to  mischief  one  another  ;  sometimes  by  the  devils 
help,  as  magicians,  "^  witches;  sometitnes  by  impostures,  mix- 
tures, poysons,  stratagems,  single  con>bats,wars,  (wo  hack  and 
hew,  as  if  we  were  adinternecionem  M«i<?,  likeCadrnus  souldiers 
born  to  consumeoneanother : — 'tis  an  ordinary  thing  to  read  of 
an  hundred  and  two  hundred  thousand  men  slain  in  a  battle) 
besides  all  manner  of  tortures,  brasen  bulls,  racks,  wheels, 
strappadoes,  guns,  engines,  &c.  ^Ad  unum  corpus  humanum 
supplicia  plura,  quam  membra :  we  have  invented  more  tor- 
turing instruments  than  there  be  several  members  in  a  mans 
body,  as  Cyprian  well  observes.  To  come  nearer  yet,  our  own 
parents,  by  their  offences,  indiscretion,  and  intemperance,  arc 
our  mortal  enemies.  *"  Thejathers  have  eaten  soivr  grapes  ; 
and  the  childrens  teeth  are  set  on  ed(je.  They  cause  our  grief 
many  times,  and  put  upon  us  hereditary  diseases,  inevitable 
infirmities :  they  torment  us  ;  and  we  are  ready  to  injure  our 
posterity, 

'^  mox  daturi  progeniem  vitiosiorem  ; 

and  the  latter  end  of  the  world,  as  ^  Paul  foretold,  is  still  like 
to  be  worst.  We  are  thus  bad  by  nature,  bad  by  kind,  but 
far  worse  by  art,  every  man  the  greatest  enemy  unto  himself. 
We  study  many  times  to  undo  our  selves,  abusing-  those  good 
gifts  which  God  hath  bestowed  upon  us,  health,  wealth, 
strength,  wit,  learning,  art,  memory,  to  our  own  destruc- 
tion :  ^ Perditio  tua  ex  te.  As  e  Judas  Maccabaeus  killed  Apol- 
lonius  with  his  own  weapons,  we  arm  ourselves  to  our  own 
overthrows  :  and  use  reason,  art,  judgement,  all  that  should 
help  us,  as  so  many  instruments  to  undo  us.  Hector  gave 
Ajax  a  sword,  which,  so  long  as  he  fought  against  enemies, 
served  for  his  help  and  defence  ;  but  after  he  began  to  hurt 
harmless  creatures  with  it,  turned  to  his  own  hurtless  bowels. 
Those  excellent  means,  God  hath  bestowed  on  us,  well  im- 
ployed,  cannot  but  much  avail  us :  but,  if  otherwise  perverted, 
they  ruine  and  confound  us ;  and  so,  by  reason  of  our  indis- 
cretion and  weakness,  they  commonly  do  :  we  have  too  many 
instances.  This  S.  Austin  acknowledgeth  of  himself  in  his 
humble  Confessions ;  promptness  of  loit,  memory,  eloquence, 
they  were  Gods  good  gij'ts;  hut  he  did  not  use  them  to 
his  glory.      If  you   will   particularly   know   how,  and  by 


^Miscent  aconita  novercae.  ''Lib.  2.  Epist.  2.  ad  Donatum.  "^  Ezech. 

18.  2  d  Hor.  1.  3.  Od.  6.  e  2  Tim.  3.  2.  f  Ezech.  18.  3L 

s  1  Mace.  3.  12. 

VOL.    I  K 


8  Diseases  in  General.         [Part  1.  Sec.  1. 

what  means,  consult  pliysiciaiis ;  and  tbey  will  tell  you,  that  it 
is  in  offentling'  some  of  those  six  noii-natural  things,  of  whicl^ 
I  shall  after  ^dilate  more  at  large  :  they  are  the  causes  of  our 
infirmitiesjour  surfeiting,  and  drunkenness,ourimmoderate  in- 
satiable lust,  and  prodigious  riot.  Plures  crapnla^quam  gladius, 
is  a  true  saying — the  board  consumes  more  than  the  sword.  Our 
intemperance  itis,tliat  pulls  so  many  several  incurable  diseases 
upon  our  heads,^  that  hastens  old  age,  perverts  our  tempera- 
ture, and  brings  upon  us  sudden  death.  And,  last  of  all,  that 
which  crucifies  us  most,  is  our  own  folly,  madness,(«/wos  Jupiter 
perdit,  dementat ;  by  substraction  of  his  assisting  grace,  God 
permits  it)  weakness,  want  of  government,  our  facility,  and 
proneness  in  yielding  to  several  lusts,  in  giving  way  to  every 
passion  and  perturbation  of  the  mind ;  by  which  means  we  me- 
tamorphose our  selves,  and  degenerate  into  beasts ;  all  which 
that  prince  of  ^  poets  observed  of  Agememnon,  that,  when  he 
was  well  pleased,  and  could  moderate  his  passion,  he  was — os 
oculosque  Jovipax — like  Jupiter  in  feature,  Mars  in  valour, 
Pallas  in  wisdom,  another  God ;  but,  when  he  became  angry, 
he  was  a  lyon,  atiger,  a  dog,  &c.  there  appeared  no  sign  or  like- 
ness of  Jupiter  in  him  :  so  we,  aslong  as  we  are  ruled  byreason, 
correct  our  inordinate  appetite,  and  conform  our  selves  to 
Gods  word,  are  so  many  living  saiuts  :  but,  if  we  give  reins 
to  lust,  anger,  ambition,  pride,  and  follow  our  own  wayes,  we 
degenerate  into  beasts,  transform  our  selves,  overthrow  our 
constitutions,  ''provoke  God  to  angei,  and  heap  upou  us  this 
of  melancholy,  and  all  kinds  of  incurable  diseases,  as  a  just 
and  deserved  punishmept  of  our  sins. 


SUBSECT.  II. 

r  DEFINITION  7 
THE  {  NUMBER  \  OF  DISEASES. 

I  DIVISION        J 

Vt  hat  a  disease  is,  almost  every  physician  defines.  '^Fer- 
nelius  calleth  it  an  affection  of' the  body  contrary  to  nature — 
^  Fuchsius  and  Crato,  an  hindrance,  hurt^  or  alteration  of 
any  action  oj^the  body, or  part  oj'it — sTholosainus,  a  dissolution 
of' that  league  which  is  hetiveen  body  and  soul,  and  a  pertur* 


*  Part.  1.  Sect.  2.  Memb.  2.  ''  Neqyitiaest^  quae  te  non  sinit  esse  senem. 

<■  Homer.  Iliad.  <>  Intemperantia,  liixus,  ingluvies,  et  infiuita  hujusmodi 

flagitia,  quae  divinas  poenas  merentur.  Crato.  *' Fern-  Path.  1.  I.  c.  1.  Morbus 

est  afFectii'3  contra  uaturam  corpori  insidens.  '  Fuohs.  Instit.  1,  3.  Sect.  1.  c  3. 

a  quo  priiDiira  vit^atur  actio.  §  Dissolatio  foederis  in  cprpgrP;  iit  sanitas  est 

eoQsutnmatio. 


Mem.  1.  Subs.  2.]     Def.  JVum.  Div.  of  Diseases.  9 

hation  of  it ;  as  Jiealth  theperfection,  and  makes  to  the  preser- 
vation of  it — ^  Labeo  in  Agellius,  an  ill  hahit  of  the  body, 
opposite  to  nature,  hindering  the  use  of  it — others  otherwise, 
all  to  this  efTect. 

Nnmher  of  diseases.]  How  many  diseases  there  are,  is  a 
question  not  yet  determined.  ''Pliny  reckons  up  300,  from 
the  crown  of  the  head  to  the  sole  of  the  foot :  elsewhere  he 
saith,  morhornm  infinita  mnltitudo,  their  number  is  infinite. 
Howsoever  it  was  in  those  times,  it  boots  not ;  in  our  dayes, 
I  am  sure  the  number  is  much  auo-mented  : 

— '^  macies,  et  nova  febrium 

Terris  incubuit  cohors : 

for,  besides  many  epidemical  diseases  unheard  of,  and  altooe- 
ther  unknown  to  Galen  and  Hippocrates,  as  scorhntum,  small 
pox,  plica,  siceatinff  sickness,  morbus  Gallicus,  6fc.  we  have 
many  proper  and  peculiar  almost  to  every  part. 

JVb  man  free  from  some  disease  or  other.]  No  man 
amongst  us  so  sound,  of  so  good  a  constitution,  that  hath  not 
some  impediment  of  body  or  mind.  Qnisque  suos  patimur 
manes  ;  we  have  all  our  infirmities,  first  or  last,  more  or  less. 
There  will  be,  peradventure,  in  an  age,  or  one  of  a  thousand, 
like  Zenophilus  the  musician  in  ''Pliny,  that  may  happily  live 
105  years  without  any  manner  of  impediment;  a  Pollio 
Komulus,  that  can  preserve  himself  «i/;?7/i  wine  and  oyle ;  a 
man  as  fortunate  as  Q.  Metellus,  of  whom  Valerius  so  much 
brags ;  a  man  as  healthful  as  Otto  Herw  ardus,  a  senator  of 
Ausborrow  in  Germany,  (whom  *Leovitius  the  astroloo-er 
brings  in  for  an  example  and  instance  of  certainty  in  his  art) 
who,becausehehad  the  significatours  in  his  geniture  fortunate, 
and  free  from  the  hostile  aspects  of  Saturn  and  Mars,  being  a 
very  old  man,  e  could  not  remember  that  ever  he  teas  sick. 
•^  Paracelsus  may  brag,  that  he  could  make  a  man  live  400 
years  or  more,  if  he  might  bring  him  up  from  his  infancy,  and 
diet  him  as  he  list ;  and  some  physicians  hold,  that  there  is 
no  certain  period  of  mans  life,  but  it  may  still,  by  temperance 
and  physick,  be  prolonged.  We  find  in  the  mean  lime,  by 
common  experience,  that  no  man  can  escape,  but  that  of 
'  Hesiod  is  true : 

nX£/)j  [xtv  yxf  yxicc  aoocuv,  rrXBUfi  Ss  ^xXxa^ffx. 

AVTOlJ.aTOt  ^OlTU(7l. 

»  Lib.  4.  cap.  2.  Morbus  est  habitus  contra  naturara,  qui  usum  ejus,  &c. 
b  Cap.  11.  lib.  7.  ^-  Herat.  d  Cap.  50.  lib.  7.  Centum  et  rjuinque  vixit  annos 

sine  ullo  incommodo.  e  Intus  mulso,  foras  oleo.  f  Exemplis  gcnitur. 

prsefixis  Ephemer.  cap.  de  infirmitat  g  Qui,  quoad  paeritiee  iiltimain  me- 

inoriam  recordari  potest,  non  tn«aiimt  se  asgrotum  decnbuisse.  h  Lib.  de  vita 

ioDga.  i  Oper.  et  dies.  , 


10  Div.  of  the  Diseases  of  the  Head.     [Part.  1 .  Sec.  I , 

Th'  earth's  full  of  maladies,  and  full  the  sea, 
Which  set  upon  us  both  by  night  and  day. 

Division  of  diseases.']  If  you  require  a  more  exact  division 
of  these  ordinary  diseases  which  are  incident  to  men,  I  refer 
you  to  physicians  :  "they  will  tell  you  oi  acute  and  chronick, 
Jirst  and  secimdary,  lethales,  salutares,  errant^  fixed,  simple, 
compound,  connexed,  or  consequent,  belonging"  to  parts  or  the 
whole,  in  habit  or  in  disposition,  ^-c.  My  division  at  this  time 
(as  most  befitting  my  purpose)  s^hall  be  into  those  of  the 
body  and  mind.  For  them  of  the  body,  (a  brief  catalogue  of 
which  Fuchsius  hath  made,  Institut.  lib.  3.  sect.  I.  cap.  1 1.) 
I  refer  you  to  the  voluminous  tomesof  Galen,  Aretffius,Rhasis, 
Avicenna,  Alexander,  Paulus,  Aetius,  Cordonerius,  and  those 
exact  neotericks,  Savanarola,  Cappivaccius,  Donatus  Alto- 
marus,  Hercules  de  Saxonia,  Mercurialis,  Victorius,  Faven- 
tiiuis,  Wecker,  Piso,  &c.  that  have  methodically  and  elabo- 
rately written  of  them  all.  Those  of  the  mind  and  head  1 
will  briefly  handle,  and  apart. 


8UBSECT.  111. 

Division  of  the  Diseases  of  the  Head. 

JL  HESE  diseases  of  the  mind,  forasmuch  as  they  have  their 
chief  seat  and  organs  in  the  head,  are  commonly  repeated 
amongst  the  diseases  of  the  head,  which  are  divers,  and  vary 
much  according  to  their  site  :  for  in  the  head,  as  there  be 
several  parts,  so  there  be  divers  grievances,  which,  according 
to  that  division  of  ''  Heurnius,  (which  he  takes  out  of  Arcu- 
lanus)  are  inward  or  outward  (to  omit  all  others  which  per- 
tain to  eyes  and  ears,  nostrils,  gums,  teeth,  mouth,  palate, 
tongue,  wesel,  chops,  face,  &c.)  belonging  properly  to  the 
brain,  as  baldness,  falling  of  hair,  furfair,  lice,  &c.  '^Inward 
belonging  to  the  skins  next  to  the  brain,  called  dura  and  pia 
mater,  as  all  head  aches,  &c.  or  to  the  ventricles,  caules, 
kells,  tunicles,  creeks,  and  parts  of  it,  and  their  passions,  as 
caros,  vertigo,  incubus.,  apoplexie,  falling-sickness.  The 
diseases  of  the  nerves  ;  crampes,  stupor,  convulsion,  tremor ^ 
palsie ;  or  belonging  to  the  excrements  of  the  brain,  c«- 
tarrhes,  sneezingi  rheunies,  distillations ;  or  else  those  that 


'   1  See  Fernehus,  Path.  lib.  1.  9,  10,  11,  I'i.      Fuchsiu.s,   instit.  I.  3.  sect.  1.  c.  7. 
Wecker.  Synt.  •'PiEelat.  de  morbis  capitis.     In  capite  ut  variap  habitant 

partes,  ita  varife  querelae  ibi  eveniiint.  =^  Of  which  react  HeuruiiiS;,  Montaltas,. 

Hildesheim,  Quercetan,  Jason  Pratensis,  &;c. 


Memb.  1.  Subs,  4.]      Dimisea  of  the  Mind.  \  \ 

pertain  to  tbe  substance  of  the  brain  itself,  in  which  are  con- 
ceived, plaensie,  fefkarcfie,  ?nefaucholif,  madiienH,  weak  me- 
inorij,  sopor,  or  coma  mrjilki  and  vic/if.  coma.  Out  of  these 
again  I  will  single  such  as  properly  be'lono-  to  the phantmie,  or 
imagination,  or  reason  it  self,  which  ^Laurentius  calls  the 
diseases  of  the  mind;  and  Hildesheim,  morftos  imaf/inationis, 
nnt  rationis  1(ss(b,  which  are  three  or  four  in  number, /?/trPM- 
sie,  madness,  melanchobf,  dotage,  and  their  kinds,  as  hydro- 
phobia, Igcantropia,  chorus  sancti  Viti,  morbi  dcemoniaci ; 
which  I  will  briefly  touch  and  point  at,  insisting  especially  in 
this  oi  melanchohj,  as  more  eminent  than  the  rest,  and  that 
through  all  his  kinds,  causes, symptomes,  prognosticks,  cures; 
as  Lonicerus  hath  done  de  Apoplexid,  and  many  other  of  such 
particular  diseases.  Not  that  I  fiud  fault  with  those  which 
have  written  of  this  subject  before,  as  Jason  Pratensis,  Lauren- 
tius  Montaltus,  T.  Bright,  &c.  they  have  done  very  well  in 
their  several  kinds  and' methods  :  yet  that  which  one  omits, 
another  may  haply  see;  that  which  one  contracts,  another  may 
inlarge.  To  conclude  with  ''  Scribanius,  that  which  they  had 
neglected,  or  perfunctorily  handled,  ice  may  more  thoroughly 
examine ;  that  which  is  "^ohscurely  delivered  in  them,  may  be 
perspicuously  dilated  and  amplified  by  us,  and  so  made  more 
familiar  and  easie  for  every  mans  capacity,  and  the  common 
good;  which  is  the  chief  end  of  my  discourse. 

SUBSECT.  IV. 

Dotage,  Phrensie,  Madness,  Hydrophobia,  Lycantropia, 
Chorus  sancti  Viti,  Extasis. 

Delirium,  dotage.]  JJOTAGE,  fatuity,  or  folly,  is  a  com- 
mon name  to  all  the  following  species,  as  some  will  have  it. 
•^Laurentius  and  '^  Altomarus  comprehended  madness,  melan- 
choly, and  the  rest,  under  this  name,  and  call  it  the  summum 
genus  of  them  all.  If  it  be  distinguished  from  them,  it  is 
natural  or  ingenite,  which  comes  by  some  defect  of  the  organs, 
and  over-moist  brain,  as  we  see  in  our  common  fools  ;  and  is 
for  the  most  part  intended  or  remitted  in  particular  men, and 
thereupon  some  are  wiser  than  other;  or  else  it  is  acquisite,  an 
appendix  or  symptome  of  some  other  disease,  which  comes 
or  goes  ;  or,  if  it  continue,  a  sign  of  melancholy  it  self. 


"Cap.  2.  de  raelanchol.  b  Cap.  2.  He  Physiolo^ia  sa-arnm.     Quod  alii  minus, 

rerte   tortasse    dixerinf,    nos    examinere,   melius    dijudicare,   corrigere    studeamus. 
•^tap.  4.  de  rael.  >'  Art.  med.  c.  7. 


1,2  Diseases  of  the  Mind.         [Part.  1.  Sec.  \, 

Phretisie.]  Phrenitis  (which  the  Greeks  derive  from  tlie 
word  (pgijv)  is  a  disease  of  the  mind,  with  a  coiitimial  madness 
or  dotage,  which  hath  an  acute  fever  annexed,  or  else  an  in- 
flammation of  the  brain,  or  the  membranes  or  kells  of  it,  with 
an  acute  fever,  which  causeth  madness  and  dotage.  It  differs 
from  melancholy  and  madness,  because  their  dotage  is  without 
an  ague  :  this  continual,  with  waking,  or  memory  decayed, 
&c.  3Ielancholy  is  most  part  silent,  this  clamorous ;  and  many 
such  like  differences  are  assigned  by  physicians. 

Madness.^  Madness,  phrensie,  and  melancholy,  are  con- 
founded by  Cels«s,andmany  writers ;  others  leave  outp/jrew.sie, 
and  make  madness  and  melancholy  but  one  disease ;  which 
'^  Jason  Pratensis  especially  labours,  and  that  they  differ  only 
secundum  maj'us  or  minus,  in  quantity  alone,  the  one  being  a 
degree  to  the  other,and  both  proceeding  from  one  cause.  They 
differ  intenso  et  remisso  gradu,  saith  ^  Gordonius,  as  the  hu- 
mour is  intended  or  remitted.  Of  the  same  mind  is  *=  Aretaus, 
Alexander  Tertullianus,  Guianerius,  Savanrola,  Heurnius  ; 
and  Galen  himself  writes  promiscuously  of  them  both,  by  rea- 
son of  their  affinity :  but  most  of  our  neotericks  do  handle  them 
apart,  whom  I  w^ill  follow  in  this  treatise.  Madness  is  there- 
fore defined  to  be  a  vehement  dotage  ;  or  raving  without  a 
fever,  far  more  violent  than  melancholy,  fuW  of  anger  and  cla- 
mour, horrible  looks,  actions,  gestures,  troubling  the  patient* 
with  far  greater  vehemency  both  of  body  and  mind,  without  all 
fear  and  sorrow,  with  such  impetuous  force  and  boldness,  that 
sometimes  three  or  four  men  cannot  hold  them ;  differing  only 
in  this  from  phrensie,  that  it  is  without  a  fever,  and  their  me- 
mory is,  most  part,  better.  It  hath  the  same  causes  as  the 
other,  as  choler  adust,and  blood  incensed,  brains  inflamed,  &c. 
'^  Fracastorius  adds,  a  due  time  and  full  age  to  this  definition, 
to  distinguish  it  from  children,  and  will  have  it  confrmed  im- 
potency  to  separate  it  from  such  as  accidently  come  and  go 
again,  as  hy  taking  henbane,  nightshade,  wine,  ^c.  Of 
this  fury  there  be  divers  kinds  ^  ecstasie,  which  is  familiar 
with  some  persons,  as  Cardan  saith  of  himself,  he  could  be  in 
one  when  he  list;  in  Avhich  the  Indian  priests  deliver  their 
oracles,  and  the  Avitches  in  Lapland  (as  Olaus  Magnus  writeth, 
I.  3.  cap.  18    extasi  omnia  ])rcedicere)  answer  all  questions 


*  Plerique  medici  nno  complexu  perstringunt  Iios  duos  morbos,  quod  ex  eadem 
caussa  oriantur,  quodque  magnitudine  et  modo  solum  distent,  et  alter  gradus  ad  al- 
terum  existat.     Jason  Pratens.  '^  Lib.  Med.  <=  Pars  manias  raihi  videtur. 

"1  Insanus,  est  qui  setate  debita,  et  tempore  debito,  per  se,  non  momentaneam  et  fu- 
gacem,  ut  vini,  solani,  hyoscyami,  sed  confirmatam  liabet  impotentiam  bene  operandi 
circa  intellectum.  1.2.  de  intellectione.  «  Of  which  read  Felix  Plater,  cap.  8.  de 

mentis  alienatione. 


Memb.  1.  Subs.  4.]       Du  eases  of  the  Mi  it  d.  13 

in  an  extasi^  ydii  will  ask  ;  what  your  friends  do,  where  they 
are,  how  they  fare,  &c.  The  other  speeirs  of  this  fury  are 
enthusiasms,  revelations,  and  visions,  so  often  mentioned  by 
Greo-ory  and  Beda  in  their  works;  obsession  or  possession  of 
deYi\s,  Sibijlline  prophets,  M\d  poetical  Furies  ;  such  as  come 
by  eatin«'  noxious  herbs,  tarantulas  stingins^,&c.  which  som6 
reduce  tZ  this.  The  most  known  are  lycantropia,  hjdropho- 
bia,  chorus  sancti  Viti. 

Lycanihropia.]    Li/canthropia,  which  A  vicenna  calls  cncu- 
butfi,  others  lupinam'insamam,  or  wolf-madness,  when  men 
run  howling  about  graves  and  fields  in  the  night,  and  will  not 
be  perswaded  but  that  they  are  wolves,  or  some  such  beasts— 
*  Aetius  and  ^  Paul  us  call  it  a  kind  oi  meUmchohf ;  but  I  should 
rather  refer  it  to  madness,  as  most  do.     Some  make  a  doubt  of 
it,  whether  there  be  any  such  disease.     ^Donat.  ab  Altomari 
saith,  that  he  saw  two  of  them  in  his  time:  •»  Wierus  tells  a 
story  of  such  a  one  at  Padua,  1541,  that  would  net  believe  to 
the  contrary,but  that  he  was  a  wolf.  He  hath  another  instance 
of  a  Spaniard  who  thought  himself  a  bear.      ^  Forestus  con- 
firms as  much  bv  many  examples ;  one,  amongst  the  rest,  of 
which  he  was  an  eye  witness,  at  Alcmaer  in  Holland— a  poor 
husbandman  thatstill  hunted  about  graves,  and  kept  in  church- 
yards, of  a  pale,  black,  ugly,  and  fearful  look.     Such,  belike, 
dr  little  better,  where  king  Prcetus  ^.daughters,  that  thought 
themselves  kine  ;  and  Nebuchadnezzar,  in  Daniel,  as  some  in- 
terpreters hold,  was  only  troubled  with  this  kind  of  madness. 
This  disease  perhaps  gave  occasion  to  that  bold  assertion  of 
s  Pliny,  some  men  icere  turned  into  wolves  in  his  time,  and 
from  wolves  to  men  again;  and  to  that  fable  of  Pausanias,  of  a 
man  that  was  ten  years  a  wolf,  and  afterwards  turned  to  his 
former  shape  :  to  ^  Ovids  tale  of  Lycaon,  &c.     He  that  is  de- 
sirous to  hear  of  this  disease,  or  more  examples,  let  him  read 
Atistin  in  his  eighteenth  book  de  Civitate  Dei,  cap.  5  ;  Mi- 
zaldus,  cent.  5.  77;  Sckenkius,  lib.  1.  Hildesheim,  spicil.  2. 
de  Mania  ;  Forestus,  lib.  10.  de  Morbis  Cerebri ;  Glaus  Mag- 
nus; Vincentius  Bellavicensis, spec. met.  lib.  31.  c.  122;  Pierius, 
Bodine,   Zuinger,    Zeilgur,  Peucer,   Wierns,  Spranger,  ^c. 
This  malady,  saith  Avicenna,  ti'oubleth  men  most  m  tebruary, 
and  is  now  a  dayes  frequent  in  Bohemia  and  Hungi'y,  accord- 
ino-  to'  Heurnius.     Schernitzius  will  have  it  common  in  Livo- 
nia.    They  lye  hid,  most  part,  all  day,  and  go  abroad  in  the 


pr»s«g.  Deemonum.  1.  3.  cap.  21.  ^  J  Observat.  hk  10.  de  morbis  cerebri,  c.  15. 

f  Hippocrates,  lib.  de  insania.  sLib.  8.  cap.  22.  Homines  mterdum  lupos  fien  , 

et  coBtra.  hMet  1.  1.  *Cap.  de  Man. 


14  Diseases  of  the  Mhd.       [Part.  1.  Sec.  I. 

night,  barking-,  howling-,  at  graves  and  deserts  ;  ^  they  have 
usually  hollow  eyes,  scabbed  legs  and  thighs,  very  dry  and 
pale,  '^  suith  Altoraarus :  he  gives  a  reason  there  of  all  the 
symptomes,  and  sets  down  a  brief  cure  of  them. 

Hydrophobia  is  a  kind  of  madness,  well  known  in  every 
village,  which  comes  by  the  biting  of  a  mad  dog,  or  scratching- 
(saith  '^  Aurelianus),  touching,  or  smelling  alone  sometimes 
(as  '^  Sckenkius  proves),  and  is  incident  to  many  other  creatures 
as  well  as  men  ;  so  called,  because  the  parties  ajffected  cannot 
endure  the  sight  of  water,  or  any  liquor,  supposing  still  they 
see  a  mad  dog  in  it.  And  (which  is  more  wonderful)  though 
they  be  very  dry,  (as  in  this  malady  they  are)  they  will  rather 
dye  than  drink.  ^  Coelius  Aurelianus, an  ancient  writer,  makes 
a  doubt  whether  this  hydrophobia  be  a  passion  of  the  body  or 
the  mind.  The  part  affected  is  the  brain  :  the  cause  poyson 
that  romes  from  the  mad  dog,  which  is  so  hot  and  dry,  that 
it  consumes  all  the  moisture  in  the  body.  '^Hildesheim  relates 
of  soma  that  dyed  so  mad,  and  being  cut  up  had  no  water, 
scarce  blood,  or  any  moisture  left  in  them.  To  such  as  are 
so  affected,  the  fear  of  water  begins  at  fourteen  dayes  after  they 
are  bitten,  to  some  again  not  till  forty  or  sixty  dayes  after  : 
commonly,  saith  Heurnius,  they  begin  to  rave,  flye  water,  and 
glasses,  to  look  red,  and  swell  in  the  face,  about  twenty  dayes 
after,  (if  some  remedy  be  not  taken  in  the  mean  time),  to  lye 
awake,  to  be  pensive,  sad,  to  see  strange  visions,  to  bark  and 
howl,  to  fall  into  a  swoun,  and  oftentimes  fits  of  the  falling 
sickness,  »Some  say,  little  things  like  whelps  will  be  seen 
in  their  urines.  If  any  of  these  signs  appear,  they  are  pf>st 
recovery.  Many  times  these  symptomes  will  not  appear  till 
six  or  seven  moneths  after,  saith  ''  Codronchus ;  and  some 
times  not  till  seven  or  eightyears,as  Guianerius  ;  twelve.as  Al- 
bertus  ;  six  or  eight  moneths  after,  as  Galen  holds.  Baldus  the 
great  lawyer  dyed  of  it :  an  Augustin  frier,  and  a  woman  in 
Delph,  that  were  '  Forestus  patients,  were  miserably  consumed 
with  it.  The  common  cure  in  the  countrey  (for  such  at  least 
as  dwell  near  the  sea  side)  is  to  duck  them  over  head  and  ears 
in  sea  water;  some  use  charms ;  every  good  wife  can  prescribe 
medicines.  But  the  best  cure  to  be  had  in  such  cases,  is  from 
the  most  approved  physicians.  They  that  will  read  of  them, 
may  consult  with  Dioscorides,  lib.  6.  cap.  37.  Heurnius,  Hil- 
deshiem,  Capivaccius,  Forestus,  Sckenkius,  and,  before  all 
others,  Codronchus  an  Italian,  who  hath  lately  written  two 
exquisite  books  of  this  subject. 

a  Ulcerata  crura  ;  sitis  ipsis  adest  immodica;  pallidi ;  lingua  sicca,  *•  Cap.  9, 

art.  Hydrophobia.  c  Ijib,  3-  cap.  9.  ^Lib.  7.  de  VcDenis.  «  Lib.  3. 

cap.  13.  de  inorbis  acutis.  fSpicil.  2.  g  Sckenkius,  7.  lib.  de  Venenis. 

liLib.  de  Hydrophobia.  'Observat.  lib.  10.  25. 


Mem.  I.  Subs,  4.]         Dfamses  nf  the  M'md  15 


Chorus  sancAi  VitiA  Chorus  sancti  Fr/?',  or  S.  Vitus  danco; 
the  lacivious  dance,  'Paracelsus  callf^  it,  because  they  that  are 
taken  with  it,  can  do  nothing  but  dance  till  they  be  dead,  or 
cured.  It  is  so  called,  for  that  the  parties  so  troubled  were 
wont  to  go  to  S.  Vitus  for  help  ;  and,  after  they  had  danced 
there  a  while,  they  were  '^certainly  freed.  'Tis  strange  to  hear 
how  long  they  will  dance,  and  in  what  manner,  over  stools, 
forms,  tables;  even  great-bellied  women  sometimes  (and yet 
never  hurt  their  children)  Avill  dance  so  long  that  they  can 
stir  neither  hatid  nor  foot,  but  seem  to  be  quite  dead.  One 
in  red  cloaths  they  cannot  abide.  Musick,  above  all  things 
they  love  ;  and  therefore  magistrates  in  Germany  Avill  hire 
musicians  to  play  to  them,  and  some  lusty  sturdy  companions 
to  dance  with  them.  This  disease  hath  been  very  common 
in  Germany,  as  appears  by  thoserelationsof  "^Sckenkius,  and 
Paracelsus  in  his  book  of  Madness,  who  brags  how  many  se- 
veral persons  he  hath  cured  of  it.  Felix  Piaterus  [de  Mentis 
Alienat.  cap.  3.)  reports  of  a  woman  in  Basil  whom  he  saw, 
that  danced  a  whole  moneth  together.  The  Arabians  call  it 
a  kind  of  palsie.  Bodine,  in  his  fifth  book  de  Repuh.  cap.  1. 
speaks  of  this  infirmity  ?  Monavius,  in  his  last  epistle  to 
Scoltizius,  and  in  another  to  Dudithus,  where  you  may  read 
more  of  it. 

The  last  kind  of  madness  or  melancholy  is  that  demoniacal 
(if  I  may  so  call  it)  obsession  or  possession  of  devils,  which 
Piaterus  and  others  would  have  to  be  preternatural :  stupend 
things  are  said  of  them,  their  actions,  gestures,  contortions^ 
fasting,  prophesying,  speaking*  languages  they  were  never 
taught,  &c.  many  strange  stories  are  related  of  them,  which 
because  some  will  not  allow,  (for  Deacon  and  Darrel  have 
written  large  volumes  on  this  subject  pro  et  con.)  1  voluntarily 
omit. 

•^  Fuchsius,  Institvt.  lib.  3.  sec.  Leap.  11,  Felix  Plater, 
*  Laurentius,  add  to  these  anotlier  ^furif  that  proceeds  from 
love,  and  another  from  sfnchf,  another  divine  or  relifjious  fury; 
but  these  more  properly  belong  to  melanchobf ;  of  all  which  I 
will  speak  '  apart,  intending  to  write  a  whole  book  of  them. 


^Lascivam  choream.     To.  4.  de  inorbis  amentium.      Tract.  I.  b.Eventn.  ut 

pkirimuni,  rem  ipsaui  cotnprobante.  c  Lib.  1,  cap.  de  Mania.  <'Cap.  3. 

de  mentis  alienat.  i  Cap.  4.  de  mel.  'PART.  3. 


l6  Mphinehofy  in  Dispoftitio)}.       [Vart.  \,  Sect  ]. 


SIJBSECT.  V. 

Melancholy  in  Disposition,  impropeily  so  called. 
Equivocation^. 

-ELANCHOLY,  the  subject  of  our  present  discourse,  is 
either  in  disposition  or  habit.  In  disposition  is  that  transitory 
melancholy  which  come  and  g^oes  upon  every  small  occasion  of 
sorrow,  need,  sickness,  trouble,  fear,  grief,  passion,  or  pertur- 
bation of  the  mind,  any  manner  of  care,  discontent  or  thought, 
which  causethanguish,dulness,heavinessandvexationofspirit, 
any  wayes  opposite  to  pleasure,  mirth,  joy,  delight,  causing 
frowardness  in  us,  or  a  dislike.  In  which  equivocal  and  impro- 
persense,  we  call  him  melancholy,  that  is  dull,  sad,  sowr,  lump- 
ish, ill  disposed,  solitary,  any  way  moved,  or  displeased.  And 
from  these  melancholy  dispositions  "  no  man  living  is  free,  no 
Stoick,  none  so  wfee,  none  so  happy,  none  so  patient,  so 
generous,  so  godly,sodivine, that  can  vindicate  himself;  so  well 
composed,  but  more  or  less,  sometime  or  other,  he  feels  the 
smart  of  it.  Melancholy,  in  this  sense,  is  the  character  of  mor- 
tality. ^  Man,  that  is  born  oj^ a  woman,  is  oj' short  continuance, 
andfidloftronhle.  Zeno,  Cato,  Socrates  himself, — whom 
•^iElian  so  highly  commends  for  a  moderate  temper,  that 
nothing  could  disturb  him  ;  but  going  out,  and  coming  in,  still 
Socrates  kept  the  some  serenity  of  countenance,  ichat  misery 
soever  befell  him — (if  we  may  believe  Plato  his  disciple)  was 
much  tormented  with  it.  Q.  Metellus,  in  whom  '^ Valerius 
gives  instance  of  all  happiness,  the  most  fortunate  man  then 
living,  born  in  that  most  flourishing  city  of  Rome,  of  noble 
parentage,  a  proper  man  of  person,  well  qualified,  healthful^ 
rich,  honourable,  a  senator,  a  consul,  happy  in  his  tvife,  happy 
in  his  children,  S^c.  yet  this  man  was  not  void  of  melancholy; 
he  had  his  share  of  sorrow.  '^  Polycrates  Samius,  that  flung 
his  ring  into  the  sea,  because  he  would  participate  of  discon- 
tent with  others,  and  had  it  miraculously  restored  to  him 
again  shortly  after  by  a  fish  taken  as  he  angled,  was  not  free 

aDe  quo  homine  securitas?    de  quo  certum  gaudium?  Quocunque  se  convertit,  in 
terrenis  rebus  ainaritudinem  aniini  inveniet.  Aug.  in  Psal.  8.  5.  ''Job.  1.  14. 

c  Omni  tempore  Socratem  eodem  vultu  videri,  sive  domum  rediret,  sive  domo  egi-e- 
deretur.  d  Lib.  7.  cap.  1.  Natus  in  florentissima  totius  orbis  civitate,  no- 

bilissimis  parentibus,  corporis  vires  habuit,  et  rarissiinas  animi  dotes,  uxorem  con- 
spicuam,  pndicam,  felices  liberos,  consulare  decuSj  sequentes  triumphos,  8ic. 
e  ^lian. 


Mem.  1.  Subs.  5.]         Melancholy  in  Disposition.  17 

from  melancholy  dispositions.  No  man  can  cure  liimsclf ;  tlie 
very  gods  had  bitter  pangs,  and  frequent  passions,  as  their 
own  ^  poets  put  upon  them.  In  general  >>  as  the  heaven,  so  is 
our  life,  sometimes  fair ,  sometimes  overcast,  tempestuous,  and 
serene:,  as  in  a  rose,  fowers  and  prickles :  in  the  year  it  self, 
a  temperate  summer  sometimes,  a  hard  ivinter,  a  drowth,  and 
then  again  pleasant  showers ;  so  is  our  life  intermixt  with 
joyes,  hopes,  fears  sorrows,  calumnies  ;  Invicem  cedunt  dolor 
et  voluptas  :  there  is  a  succession  of  pleasure  and  pain. 


medio  de  fonte  leporum 


Surgit  amari  aliquid,  quod  in  ipsis  floribus  angat. 

JEve}i  in  the  midst  of  lauyhhuf  there  is  sorroiv  (as  ^  Solomon 
holds)  ;  even  in  the  midst  of  all  our  feasting  and  jollity,  (as 
*  Austin  infers  in  his  Com.  on  Psal.  4l)  there  is  g-riefand  dis- 
'  content.  Inter  delicias,  semper  alif/uid  smvi  nos  stranqulat : 
for  a  pint  of  honey,  thou  shalt  here  likely  find  a  gallon  of  gaul  ; 
for  a  dram  of  pleasure,  a  pound  of  pain  ;  for  an  inch  of  mirth, 
an  ell  of  moan  ;  as  ivy  doth  an  oak,  these  miseries  encompass 
our  life ;  and  'tis  most  absurd  and  ridiculous  for  any  mortal 
man  to  look  for  aperpetual  tenour  of  happiness  in  his  life.  No- 
thingso  prosperous  and  pleasant,  but  it  hath  ^some  bitternessin 
it,  some  complaining,  some  g^rudging ;  'tis  all  y>.vKvir^K^ov,  a 
mixt  passion,  and,  like  a  cherjuer  table,  black  and  white ;  men, 
families,  cities,  have  their  falls  and  wanes,  now  trines,  sextiles, 
thenquartiles  and  oppositions.  VYe  are  not  here,  as  those  angels, 
celestial  powers  and  bodies,  sun  and  moon,  to  finish  our  course 
without  all  offence,  with  such  constancy,  to  continue  for  so 
many  ages;  but  subject  to  infirmities, miseries,  interrupt,  tossed 
and  tumbled  up  anddown,carried  about  with  every  small  blast, 
often  molested  and  disquieted  upon  each  slender  occasion,  ^un- 
certain, brittle ;  and  so  is  all  that  we  trust  unto.  ^' And  he  that 
knows  not  this,  and  is  not  armed  to  endure  it,  is  not  ft  to  live  in 


a  Homer  Iliad.  ''Lipsins,  cent.3.  ep.  45.  Ut  coelnni,  sic  nos  homines  sumiis  : 

illad  ex  intervallo  nubibus  obducitur  et  obscuratar.  Inrosario  Acres  spinis  intermixti. 
Vita  similis  aeri ;  udum  mode,  sudum,  tempestas,  serenitas  :  ita  vices  renim  sant) 
prsemia  gaudiis,  et  sequaces  curw.  c  Lucretius,  1.  4.  1124.  d  Prov.  14.  s! 

Extremum  gaudii  luctus  occupat  fNatalitia  inquit  celebrantur  ;  nuptia;  liic 

sunt ;  at  ibi  quid  celebratur,  quod  non  dolet,  quod  non  transit  ?  f  Apuleios, 

4.  florid.  Nihil  quidquid  homini  tam  prosperum  divinitus  datum,  quin  eiadmixtum  sit 
aliquid  diflTicultatis,  ut  etiam  amplissima  quaqua  latitia,  subsit  qu;cpiam  vel  parva  queri- 
monia,  conjugatioue  quadam  mellis  et  feilis.  g  Caduca  nimirum  et  fragilia,  et 

puerilibus  consentanea  crependiis,  sunt  ista  quae  vires  et  opes  humanje  vocantur:  af- 
fluunt  subito  :  repente  dilabuntur  ;  nullo  in  loco,  nulla  in  persona,  stabilibus  nixa  radi- 
cibus  consistunt ;  sed  incertissimo  flatu  fortune,  quosin  sublime  extulenint,  improviso 
recorsu  destitutes  in  profundo  miserianim  valle  miserabiliter  immergunt.  V^alerias,  1. 6. 
c- 9.  ''Huic  seculo  parumaptus  es  ;  ant  potius  omnium  nostrorum  condi- 

tionem  ignoras,  qnibus  reciproco  quodam  nexu,  &c-  Lorchanus  Gallobelgicus,  lib.  3. 
ad  annum  1598. 


18  Melancholy  hi  Disposition.      [Parf.  1.  Sec.  1. 

this  ivortd  (as  one  condoles  our  time);  he  knows  net  the  condi- 
tion oj'it,  where.,  with  a,  reciprocal  tye,  pleasure  and  pain  are 
still  united,  and  succeed  one  another  in  a  ring.  Exi  e  mundo; 
get  thee  gone  hence,  if  thou  canst  not  brook  it:  there  is  no 
way  to  avoid  it,  but  to  arm  thyself  with  patience,  with  mag- 
nanimity, to  =*  oppose  thyseSf  unto  it,  to  suffer  affliction  as  a 
good  souldier  of  Christ,  as  ''Paul  adviseth,  constantly  to  bear 
it.  But  forasmuch  as  so  i'ew  can  embrace  this  good  counsel  of 
his,  or  use  it  aright,  but  rather,  as  so  many  bruit  beasts,  give 
way  to  their  passion,  voluntarily  subject  and  precipitate  them- 
selves into  a  labyrinth  of  cares,  woes,  miseries,  and  suffer  their 
souls  to  be  overcome  by  them,  cannot  arm  themselves  with 
that  patience  as  they  ought  to  do,  itfalleth  out  oftentimes  that 
tliese  disjyositions  become  habits,  and  many  affects  contemned 
(as  "^  Seneca  notes)  make  a  disease.  Even  as  one  destination., 
not  yet  cfroiim  to  custome,  makes  a  cough,  but  continual  and 
inveterate  causeth  a  consumption  of  the  lungs  ;  so  do  these 
our  melancholy  provocations  ;  and,  according' as  the  humour 
itself  is  intended  or  remitted  in  men,  as  their  temperature  of 
body  or  rational  soul  is  better  able  to  make  resistance,  so  are 
they  more  or  less  affected  :  for  that  which  is  but  a  flea-biting 
to  one,  causeth  unsufi'erab'e  torment  to  another;  and  which 
one  by  his  singular  moderation  and  well  composed  carriage 
can  happily  overcome,  a  second  is  no  whit  able  to  sustain  ; 
but,  upon  every  small  occasion  of  mis-conceived  abuse,  injury, 
grief,  disgrace,  loss,  cross,  rumour,  &c.  (if  solitary  or  idle) 
yields  so  far  to  passion,  thathis  complexion  is  altered,  his  di- 
gestion kindred,  his  sleep  gone,  his  spirits  obscured,  and  his 
heart  heavy,  his  hypocondries  mis-affected  ;  wind,  crudity,  on 
a  sudden  overtake  him,  and  he  himself  overcome  w'lih  melan- 
choly. As  it  is  with  a  man  imprisoned  for  debt,  if  once  in  the 
goal,  every  creditor  will  bi  ing  hisaction  against  him,and  there 
likely  hold  him — if  any  discontent  seise  upon  a  patient,  in  an 
instant  all  other  perturbations  (for  qnii  data  porta,  ruunt)  will 
set  upon  him  ;  and  ihen,  like  a  lame  dog  or  broken-winged 
goose,  he  droops,  and  pines  away,  and  is  brought  at  last  to 
that  ill  habit  or  malady  of  melancholy  it  self;  so  that  as  the 
philosophers  make  ''  eight  degrees  of  heat  and  cold,  we  may 
make  eighty-eight  of  melancholy,  as  the  parts  affected  are  di- 
versely seised  with  it,  or  have  been  plunged  more  or  less 
into  this  infernal  gulf,  or  waded  deeper  into  it.     But  all  these 


=>Hor.snm  omnia  stiidia  dirigi  debent,  ut  hnmana  fortiter  feramiis.  ''2  Tim. 

2.  3.  cEpjst.  9().  1.  lO.  Aft'ectusfrequpntesconteniptique  niorbum  faciunt.. 

Destillatio  una,  nee  adhnc  ic  niorem  adducta,  tussirn    facit;  assidiia  et  violenta, 
phthisiin.  <i  Calidum  ad  octo  :  fVigidiim  ad  octo.     Una  hirnndo  non  fucit 

asstateni. 


Mem.  2.  Subs.  1.]     Digression  of  Anatomy.  19 

melanchohi  fits,  howsoever  pleasing-  at  first,  fur  displeasini;', 
violent  and  tyrannizing  over  those  whom  they  seise  on  for 
the  tiuje — yet  these  fits,  I  say,  or  men  affected,  are  but  im- 
properly so  called,  because  they  continue  net,  but  come  ;md 
go,  as  by  some  objects  they  are  moved.  This  melanchohi^  of 
which  we  are  to  treat,  is  an  habit,  morbus  sonticus,  or  chro'ni- 
cus,  a  cronick  or  contiiuiate  disease,  a  settled  humour,  as 
'^  Aurelianus  and  '' others  call  it,  not  errant,  but  fixed  ;  and 
as  it  was  long-  increasing,  so,  now  being  (pleasant  or  painful) 
grown  to  an  habit,  it  will  hardly  be  removed. 

SECT.  I.— ME3iB.  II. 
SUBSECT.  I. 

Diyression  oj'  Anatomy. 

l^EFORE  I  proceed  to  define  the   disease  of,  melancholy^ 
what  it  is,  or  to  discourse  farther  of  it,  I  hold  it  not  imperti- 
nent to  make  a  brief  digression   of  (be  anatomy  of  the  body 
and  faculties  of  the  soul,  for  the  better  understanding  of  that 
which  is  to  follow :  because  many  hard  Mords  will  often  oc- 
cur, as  myrache,  liyjjochondries,  hccmorrhoicU,  S^c.   imayina- 
iion^  reason,  hnmonrs,  spirits,  vital,   natural,  animal,  nerves, 
veins,  arteries,  chylus,  piiuita:  which  of  the  vulgar  will  not 
s<»  easily  be  perceived,  what  they  are,  how  sited,  and  to  what 
end  they  serve.  And,  beside,  it  may  peradventiue  give  occa- 
sion to  some  men  to  examine  more  accurately,  search  farther 
into  this  most  excellentsubject,(and  thereupon,  with  thatroyal 
•"  prophet,  to  praise  God  ;  Jar  a  man  is  fearfully  and  iconder- 
fidly  made,  and  curiously  icrouyltt)  that  have  time  and  leisure 
enouoh,  and  are  sufficiently  informed  in  all  other  worldly 
busiii^ess,  as  to  make  a  good  bargain,  buy  and  sell,  to  keep  and 
make  choice  of  a  fair  hauk,  hound,  horse,  $cc.  but,  for  such 
matters  as  concern  the  knowledge  of  themselves,  they  are 
wholly  ignorant  and  careless  ;  they  know  not  what  this  body 
and  soul  are,  how  combined,  of  what  parts  and  faculties  they 
consist,  or  how  a  man  differs  from  a  dog.     And  what  can  be 
more  ignominious  and  filthy  (as  '^  Melancthon  well  inveighs) 
than  for  a  man  not  to  knoic  the  structure  and  composition  cf 
his  oicn  body?  especially  since  the  knoicledye  of  it  tends  so 
much  to  the  preservation  of  his  health,  and  information  of  his 
manners.    To  stir  them  up  therefore  to  this  study,  to  peruse 


»  Lib.  1.  c.  6.  b  Puchsins^  |.  c.  sec  cap  7.     Hildesheini,  fol.  130.  <^PsaI» 

39.  13.  <•  De  aniina.     Tnrpe  enim  est  homini  ignorare  sai  cor|)oris  (ut  ita 

dicana)  aedificium,  praesertim  cum  ad  valetudinem  et  mores  haec  cognitio  plurimam 
conducat. 


20  Division  of  the  Body.       [Part.  1.  Sec.  1. 

those  elaborate  works  of  ^  Galen,  Bauliiims,  Plater,  Vesalius 
Falopius,  Laurentius,  Remelinus,  &c.  which  have  written 
copiously  in  Latin — or  that  which  some  of  our  industrious 
countrey-men  have  done  in  our  mother  tongue,  not  long 
since,  as  that  translation  of  ''  Columbus,  and  '^  Microcosmo- 
gTaphia,  in  thirteen  books — I  have  made  this  brief  digression. 
Also  because  '^Wecker,  "^Melancthon, '^Fernelius,  ^Fuchsius, 
and  those  tedious  tracts  de  Aninid  (which  have  more  compen- 
diously handled  and  written  of  this  matter)  are  not  at  all 
times  ready  to  be  had — to  give  them  some  small  taste  or 
notice  of  the  rest,  let  this  epitome  suffice. 


SUBSECT.  II. 

Division  of  the  Body,     Humours.     Spirits. 

\JF  the  parts  of  the  Body  there  may  be  many  divisions  :  the 
most  approved  is  that  of  ''Laurentius,  out  of  Hippocrates, 
which  is,  into  parts  contained  or  containing.  Contained  are 
either  humours  or  spirits. 

Humours.^  A  humour  is  a  liquid  or  fluent  part  of  the  body, 
comprehended  in  it,  for  the  preservation  of  it,  and  is  either 
innate  or  born  with  us,  or  adventitious  and  acquisite.  The 
radical  or  innate  is  daily  supplyed  by  nourishment,  which 
some  call  cambium,  and  make  those  secundary  humours  of 
ros  and  gluten  to  maintain  it ;  or  acquisite,  to  maintain  these 
four  first  primary  humours,  coming  and  proceeding  from  the 
first  concoction  in  the  liver,  by  which  means  chylus  is  exclud- 
ed. Some  divide  them  into  profitable,  and  excrementitious. 
But  *  Crato  (out  of  Hippocrates)  will  have  all  four  to  be  juyce, 
and  not  excrements,  without  which  no  living  creature  can  be 
sustained  ;  which  four,  though  they  be  comprehended  in  the 
mass  of  blood,  yet  they  have  their  several  aflfections,  by  which 
they  are  distinguished  from  one  another,  and  from  those  ad- 
ventitious, peccant^  or  ^  diseased  humours^  as  Melancthon 
calls  them. 

Blood.l  Blood  is  a  hot,  sweet,  temperate,  red  humour, 
prepared  in  the  mesaraicke  veins,  and  made  of  the  most  tem- 
perate parts  of  the  chylus  in  the  liver,  whose  office  is  to  nou- 
rish the  whole  body,  to  give  it  strength  and  colour,  being 
dispersed, by  the  veins,  through  every  part  of  it.     And  from  it 


^Densapart.  ^  History  of  man.  cD.  Crook  e.  ^  In  gyntaxi* 

eDeanima  finstit.  lib.  1.  s  Physiol.  1.  1,2.  hAnat.  1. 1. 

c.  18.  '  In  Micro.    Snccos,  sine  quibus  animal  sustentari  non  potest,        ^  Mor- 

b«sos  huraorcs. 


Meiiib.  2.  Subs.  2.]         Similar  Parts.  21 

spirits  are  first  begotten  in  the  heart,  which  afterwards,  by 
the  arteries^  are  cotnmiinicated  to  the  other  parts. 

Pituita,  or  phlegm,  is  a  cold  and  moist  humour,  beo-otten 
of  the  cokler  part  of  the  chjlus  (or  wliite  juice  comini*-  out  of 
the  meat  digested  in  tlie  stomach)  in  the  liver;  his  office  is  to 
nourish  and  moisten  the  members  of  the  body,  which,  as  the 
tongue,  are  moved,  that  they  be  not  over-dry. 

Choler  is  hot  and  dry,  bitter,  beg-otten  of  the  hotter  parts 
of  the  chijlus,  and  gathered  to  the  gall :  it  helps  the  natural 
heat  and  senses,  and  serves  to  the  expelling  of  excrements. 

Melancholy.^  Melancholy,  cold  and  dry,  thick,  black,  and 
sovvr,  begotten  of  the  more  feculent  part  of  nourishment,  and 
purged  from  the  spleen,  is  a  bridle  to  the  other  two  hot  hu- 
mours, blood  and  choler,  preserving  them  in  the  blood,  and 
nourishing  the  bones.  These  four  humours  have  some  ana- 
logy with  the  four  elements,  and  to  the  four  ages  in  man. 

Serum,  Sweaf,  Tears.']  To  these  humours  you  may  add  se- 
rum, which  is  the  matter  of  urine,  and  those  excrementitious 
humours  of  the  third  concoction,  sweat  and  tears. 

Spirits.]  Spirit  is  a  most  subtle  vapour,  which  is  express- 
ed from  the  blood,  and  the  instrument  of  the  soul  to  perform 
all  his  actions ;  a  common  tye  or  medium  betwixt  the  body 
and  the  soul,  as  some  Avill  have  it;  or  (as  ■' Paracelsus)  a 
fourth  soul  of  it  self.  Melancthon  holds  the  fountain  of  these 
spirits  to  be  the  heart ;  begotten  there,  and  afterward  con- 
veyed to  the  brain,  they  take  another  nature  to  them.  Of 
these  spirits  there  be  three  kinds,  according  to  the  three 
principal  parts,  femm,  heart,  liver;  natural,  vital,  animal. 
The  natural  are  begotten  in  the  liver,  and  thence  dispersed 
through  the  veins,  to  peitbrm  those  natural  actions.  The 
vital  spirits  are  made  in  the  heart  of  the  natural,  which  by 
the  arteries,  are  transported  to  all  the  other  parts  :  if  these 
spirits  cease,  then  life  ceaseth,  as  in  a  syncope  or  swouning". 
The  animal  spirits,  formed  of  the  vital,  brought  up  to  the 
brain,  and  diffused  by  the  nerves,  to  the  subordinate  mem- 
bers, give  sense  and  motion  to  them  all. 

SUBSECT.  III. 
Similar  parts. 

Similar  parts.']  -CONTAINING  parts,  by  reason  of  then- 
more  solid  substance,  are  either  homoffemal  or  heterogeneal, 
similar  or  dissimilar  ;  (so  Aristotle  divides  them,  lib.  Leap.  1. 
de  Hist.  Animal.  Laurentius,  cap.  20.  lib.  1.)  Similar,  or  ho- 
mogeneal,  are  such  as,  if  they  be  divided,  are  still  severed  into 

\^  '  Spirjtalis  anima. 


22  Similar  Parts.  [Part.  1 .  Sec.  I . 

parts  of  the  same  nature,  as  water  into  water.  Of  these  some 
he  spermaiical,  Home  ffeshy,  or  carnal  ^  Spermatical  are 
such  as  are  immediately  beg-otten  of  the  seed,  which  are 
bones,  gristles,  lif/aments,  membranes,  nerves,  arteries^  veins, 
skins,  fibers  or  strin(/s,J'at. 

Bones.'j  The  bones  are  dry  and  hard,  begotten  of  the 
thickest  of  the  seed,  to  strengthen  and  sustain  other  parts  ; 
some  say  there  be  three  hundred  and  four,  some  three  hundred 
and  seven,  or  three  hundred  thirteen,  in  mans  body.  They 
have  no  nerves  in  them,  and  are  therefore  without  sense. 

A  gristle  is  a  substance  softer  than  bone,  and  harder  than 
the  rest,  flexible,  and  serves  to  maintain  the  parts  of  motion. 

Ligaments  are  tliey  that  tye  the  bones  together,  and  other 
parts  to  the  bones,  with  their  subserving- tendons.  J\Iembranes 
ofSce  is  to  cover  the  rest. 

JSTerves,  or  smews,i\re  membranes  without,and  full  of  marrow 
within  :  they  proceed  from  the  brain,  and  carry  the  animal 
spirits  for  sense  and  motion.  Of  these  some  be  harder,  some 
softer :  the  softer  serve  the  senses ;  and  there  be  seven  pair  of 
them.  The  first  be  the  optick  nerves,  by  which  we  see  ;  the 
second  move  the  eyes  ;  the  third  pair  serve  for  the  tongue  to 
taste;  the  fourth  pair  for  the  taste  in  the  palat ;  the  fifth  be- 
long to  the  ears  ;  the  sixth  pair  is  most  ample,  and  runs  almost 
over  all  the  bowels ;  the  seventh  pair  moves  the  tongue.  The 
harder  sinews  serve  for  the  motion  oi"  the  inner  parts,  proceed- 
ing from  the  narrow  in  the  back,  of  whom  there  be  thirty 
combinations — seven  of  the  neck,  twelve  of  the  breast,  &c. 

Arteries.]  Arteries  are  long  and  hollow,  with  a  double  skin 
to  convey  the  vital  spirits;  to  discern  which  the  better,  they  say 
that  Versalius  the  anatomist  was  wont  to  cut  up  men  alive. 
••They  arise  in  the  leftside  of  the  heart,  and  are  principally  two, 
from  which  the  rest  are  derived,  aorta  and  venosa.  Aorta  is 
the  root  of  all  the  other,  which  serves  the  whole  body;  the 
other  goes  to  the  lungs,  to  fetch  ayr  to  refrigerate  the  heart. 

Veins.]  Veins  are  hollow  and  round  like  pipes;  arising  from 
the  liver,  carrying  blood  and  natural  spirits,  they  feed  all  the 
parts.  Ofthese  there  be  two  chief,  vena  porta,  B.nd  vena  cava, 
from  which  the  rest  are  corrivated.  That  vena  porta  is  a  vein 
coming  from  the  concave  oif  the  liver,  and  receiving  those 
mesaraical  veins,  by  whom  he  takes  the  c%/ms  from  the  stomach 
and  guts,  and  conveys  it  to  the  liver.  The  other  derives 
blood  from  the  liver,  to  nourish  all  other  dispersed  members. 
The  branches  of  that  vena  porta  are  the  mesaraical  and 
haemorrhoids.      The  branches  of  the  cava  ave  inward  or  out" 

=»Laurentius,  c.  20. 1.  1.  Anat.  ^  lu  these  they  observe  the  beating  of  the 

pulse. 


Mem.  2.  Subs.  4.]     Anatomy  of  the  Borhf.  2S 

ward — inward — seminal  or  emnlgent — outward,  in  the  head, 
arms,  feet,  &c.  and  have  several  names. 

Fibrce,  Fat,  Flesh.]  Fihra>  are  strinofs,  white  and  solid, 
dispersed  throuoh  the  whole  member,and  rig-ht.obliquo.trans- 
verse,  all  which  have  their  several  uses.  Fat  is  a  similar 
part,  moist,  without  blood,  composed  of  the  most  thick  and 
unctuous  matter  of  the  blood.  The  ^skin  covers  the  rest, 
and  hath  cuticulam,  or  a  little  skin  under  it.  Flesh  is  soft 
and  ruddy,  composed  of  the  congealing  of  blood,  &c. 


SUBSECT.  IV. 

Dissimilar  parts. 

Dtssim r LA R parts  are  those  which  we  call  orrfanical  or  instru- 
mental; and  they  be  inward ov  outward.  The  chiofest  outward 
parts  are  situate  forward  or  backward.  Forward,x\\e  crown  and 
foretop  of  the  head,  skull,  face,  forehead,  temples,  chin,  eyes, 
ears,  nose,  &c.  neck,  breast,  chest,  upper  and  lower  part  of  the 
belly,  hypochondries,  navel, groyn,  flank,  &c.  Backward,  the 
hinder  part  of  the  head,  back,shoulders,sides,loyns,hip-bones, 
OS  sacrum,  buttocks,  &c.  Or  joynts,  arms,  hands,  feet,  leggs, 
thighs,  knees,  &c.  Or  common  to  both,  which,  because  they 
are  obvious  and  well  known,  I  have  carelessly  repeated,  eaque 
prcectpua  et  (/randiora  tantum:  quod  reliqnum,  ex  libris  de 
anima,  qui  volet,  accipiat. 

//m'arrfoy^a/i/ca/parts,  which  cannot  be  neew^  are  divers  in 
number,  and  have  several  names,functions,and  divisions;  but 
that  of'  Laurentius  is  most  notable,  into  noble, or  icpioble  parts. 
Of  the  noble  there  be  three  principal  parts,  to  which  all  the 
rest  belong,  and  whom  they  serve — brain,  heart,  licer ;  accord- 
ing to  whose  site,  three  regions,  or  a  threefold  division  is  made 
of  the  whole  body;  as,  first,  of  the  head,  in  which  the  animal 
organs  are  contained,  and  brain  it  self,  which  by  his  nerves 
gives  sense  and  motion  to  the  rest,  and  is  (as  it  were)  a  privy 
counsellour,  and  chancellour,  to  the  heart.  The  second  region 
is  the  chest,  or  middle  belh/,  in  which  the  heart  as  king  keeps 
his  court,  and  by  his  arteries  communicates  life  to  the  whole 
body.  The  third  region  is  the  lower  belly,  in  which  the  liver 
resides  as  a  legate  a  latere,  with  the  rest  of  those  natural 
organs,serving  for  concoction,nouris;hmenf,expelling  of  excre- 


*  Cujus  est  pars  similaris  a  vi  ciitifica,  iit  inlpriora  mimiat.     Capivac.  Anat.  pag.  2,r2. 
Anat.  lib.  I.  c.  19.     Celebris  est  et  pervulgata  partium  divisio  iu  princiwes  et  iguobles 
partes. 

VOL.   I.  r 


24  Anatomy  of  the  Bochf.       [Part.  1.  Sec.  1. 

menfs.  This  lower  region  is  distinguished  from  the  upper  by  the 
midriff,  or  diaphragma,  andis  subdivided  again  by  ^some  into 
three  concavities,  or  regions,  upper,  middle,  and  lower — the 
upper,  of  the  hypocondries,in  whose  right  side  is  the  liver,  the 
left  the  spleen{i'rQm.  which  is  denominated  hypochondriacal  me- 
lancholy) the  second,  of  the  navel  and  flanks,  divided  from  the 
first  by  the  rim — the  last,  of  the  water-course,  which  is  again 
subdivided  into  three  other  parts.      The  Arabians  make  two 
parts  of  this  region, epigastrium,  and  hypoc/astrium  ;  upper,  or 
lower.      Epigastrium  they  call  mirach,  from  whence  comes 
mirachialis  melancholia,  sometimes  mentioned  of  them.     Of 
tliese  several  regions  I  will  treat  in  brief  apart;  and,  first,  of 
the  third  region,  in  which  the  natural  organs  are  contained. 
The  lower  region.     Natural  Organs.']      But  you  that  are 
readers,   in  the  mean  time,  suppose  you  were  noic  brought 
into  some  sacj'ed  temple,  or  majestical  palace,  (as  ''  Melanc- 
thon  saith)  to  behold  not  the  matter  only,  but  the  singular 
art,  tvorkmanship,  and   counsel  oj'  this  our  great   Creator. 
And  'tis  a  pleasant  and  profitable  speculation,  ij^it  be  consi- 
dered aright.      The  parts  of  this  region,  which  present  them- 
selves to  your  consideration  and  view,  are  such  as  serve  to  wm- 
trition  or  generation.     Those  of  nutrition  serve  to  the  first  or 
second  concoction,  as  the  oesophagus  or  gullet,  which  brings 
meat  and  drink  into  the  stomach.     The  ventricle  or  stomacn, 
which  is  seated  in  the  midst  of  thatpart  of  thebelly  beneath  the 
midriff',  the  kitchen  (as  it  were)  of  the  first  concoction,  and 
which  turns  our  meat  into  chylus.      It  hath  two  mouths,  one 
above,  another  beneath.  The  upper  is  sometimestaken  for  the 
stomach  it  self:  the  lower  and  nether  door  (as  Wecker  calls  it) 
is  named  pylorus.    This  stomach  is  sustained  by  a  large  kell  or 
kaull,  called  omentum  ;  which  some  will  have  the  same  with 
periton(BU7n\,  or  rim  of  the  belly.  From  the  stomach  to  the  very 
J'undament,  are  produced  the  guts  or  infestina,  which  serve  a 
little  to  alter  and  distribute  the  chylus,  and  convey  away  the 
excrements.    They  are  divided  into  small  and  great,  by  reason 
of  their  site  and  substance,  sleufler  or  thicker  :  the  slender  is 
duodenum,  or  whole  gut,  M'hich  is  next  to  the  stomach,  some 
twelve  inches  long  (saith '^Fuchsius).  Jejmmm,  or  empty  gut, 
continue  to  the   other,  which   hath    many  mesaraick   veins 
annexed  to  it,  which  take  part  of  the  chylus  to  the  liver  from 
it,      Ilion,  the  third,  which  consists  of  many  crinkles,  which 
serves  with  the  rest  to  receive  keep,  and  distribute  the  chylus 
froxwihe  stomach.     The  thick  guts  are  three,  the  blind  giit, 

*  D.  Crook,  out  of  Galen  and  others.  '» Vos  vero  veluti  in  templnm  ac  sa- 

crarium  quoddain  vos  duci  putetis,  &c.     Suavis  et  utilis  cognitio.  «  Lib.  1. 

eap.  12.  sect,  5, 


Mem.  2.  .Sul>>;.  4]      Aiiaforfn/  of  the  Both'.  25 

colon  aiul  rtffht  (jut.      The   hlhid  is  a  lliiok  and  short  «-ut, 
Jiaving'  one  mouth  in  which  the  ilion  and  colon  meet:  itreceives 
the  excrements,  and  convey^^  them  to  the  colon.      This  colon 
Iiath  many  windini>s,  that  the  excrements  pass  not  away  too 
fast :  the rif/ht  r/nt  isstrainht,  and  conveys  theexcrenients  to 
tbej'nn dame nt,  whose  lo  ver  part  is  bound  up  with  certain  mus- 
cles, called  sphincteres,  \hi\t  the  excrements  may  he  tlie  hetter 
contained,  until  such  time  a  man  be  willini:;-  to  g-o  to  the  stool. 
In  the  midst  of  these  guts  is  situated  the  mesenterium  or  midriff'^ 
composed  ofmany  veins, arteries,  andnuich  fat,  serving  chiefly 
to  sustain  the  guts.     All  these  parts  serve  the  first  concoction. 
To  the  second,  which  is  busied  either  in  refining  the  good 
nonrishment,  or  expelling  the  bad,  is  chieHy  l)elonging  the 
liver,  like  in  colour  to  congealed  blood,  the  shop  of  blood, 
situate  in  the  right  hi/pocondrv,  in  figure  like  to  an  half  moon  ; 
(jenerosum  membrnm,  Melancthon  stiles  it;  a  generous  part; 
it  serves  to  turn  the  chylns  to  blood,  for  the  nourishment  of  the 
body.      The  excrements  of  it  are  either  cho/erick  or  wateri/y 
which  the  other  subordinate  parts  convey.  The  f/all,  placed  in 
the  concave  of  the  liver,  extracts  choler  to  it :  the  spleen,melan- 
chohf ;  which  is  situate  on  the  left  side,  over  against  the  liver^ 
a  spungy  matter  that  draws  this  black  choler  to  it  by  a  secret 
vertiie,  and  feeds  upon  it,  conveying  the  rest  to  the  bottom  of 
the  stomach,  to  stir  up  appetite,  or  else  to  the  guts  as  an  excre- 
ment. That  watery  matter  the  two  kidneys  expurgate  by  those 
emulgent  veins,  and  ureters.     The  emulgent  draw  this  super- 
fluous moisture  from  the  blood ;  the  two  ureters  convey  it  to 
the  bladder,  which,  by  reason  of  his  site  in  the  loMer  belly, 
is  apt  to  receive  it,  having  two  parts,  neck  and  bottom  :  the 
bottom  holds  the  water;  the  neck  is  constrhiged  with  a  muscle, 
which,  as  a  porter,  keeps  the  water  fromrumiing  out  against 
our  will. 

Members  of  generation  are  conunon  to  both  sexes,  or 
peculiar  to  one  ;  which,  because  they  are  impertinent  to  my 
purpose,  I  do  voluntarily  omit. 

jyiiddle  Ref/ion.']  Next  in  order  is  the  middle  ref/ion,  or 
chest,  which  comprehends  the  vital  faculties  and  parts;  which 
(as  I  have  said)  is  separated  from  the  lower  belly  by  the  dia- 
phrafpna  or  midriff,  which  is  a  skiti  consisting  of  many  nerves, 
membranes  ;  and,  amongst  oth(;r  uses  it  hath,  is  the  instru- 
ment of  laughing.  There  is  also  a  certain  thin  membrane,  full 
of  sinews,  which  covereth  the  whole  chest  within,  and  is  called 
pleura,  the  seat  of  the  disease  called /y/f^Mr/.s/,",  when  it  is  in- 
flamed. Some  add  a  third  skin,  which  is  termed  mediasfinus, 
Avhich  divides  the  chest  into  two  j>arts,  right  and  left.  Of  this 
region  the   principal  part  is  the  /r/art,  which  is  the  seat  and 

L  2 


26  Anatomy  of' the  Body.      [Part.  1.  Sec.  1. 

fountain  of  life,  of  heat,  of  spirits,  of  pulse  and  respiration  : 
the  sun  of  our  body,  the  king  and  sole  commander  of  it :  the 
seat  and  organ  of  all  passions  and  affections ;  {primiimvwens, 
ultimum  moriens  :  it  lives  first,  and  dies  last  in  all  creatures)  of 
a  pyraniidical  form, and notmuch  unlike toapine-apple;  '^apart 
worthy  of  admiration,  that  can  yield  such  variety  of  afi'ections, 
by  whose  motion  it  is  dilated  or  contracted,  to  stir  and  com- 
mand the  humours  in  the  body ;  as,  in  sorrow,  melancholy ;  in 
anger,  choler  ;  in  joy,  to  send  the  blood  outwardly ;  in  sorrow, 
to  call  it  in ;  moving  the  humours,  as  horses  do  a  chariot. 
This  heart,  though  it  be  one  sole  member,  yet  it  maybe  divided 
into  two  creeks,  right  and  left.  The  right  is  like  the  moon  in- 
creasing, bigger  than  the  other  part,  and  receives  blood  from 
vena  cciva,  distributing  some  of  it  to  the  lungs,  to  nourish 
them,  the  rest  to  the  left  side,  to  ingender  spirits.  The  left 
creek  hath  the  form  of  a  cotie,  and  is  the  seat  of  life,  which 
(as  a  torch  doth  oyl)  draws  blood  unto  it,  begetting-  of  it  spirits 
aiid  fire;  and,  as  fire  in  a  torch,  so  are  spirits  in  the  blood; 
and,  by  that  great  artery  called  aorta,  it  sends  vital  spirits  over 
the  body,  and  takes  aire  from  the  lungs,  by  that  artery  which 
is  called  venosa  ;  so  that  both  creeks  have  their  vessels  ;  the 
right  two  veins ;  the  left  two  arteries,  besides  those  two  com- 
mon anfractuous  ears,  which  serve  them  both ;  the  one  to 
hold  blood,  the  other  aire,  for  several  uses.  The  lungs  is  a 
thin  spungy  part,  like  an  oxe  hoof,  (saith  ''  Fernelius)  the 
town-clark  or  cryer  {^  one  terms  it),  the  instrument  of  voice, 
as  an  orator  to  a  king ;  annexed  to  the  heart,  to  express  his 
thoughts  by  voice.  That  it  is  the  instrument  of  voice  is  ma- 
nifest, in  that  no  creature  can  speak  or  utter  any  voice, 
which  wanteth  these  lights.  It  is  besides,  the  instrument  of 
respiration,  or  breathing ;  and  its  office  is  to  cool  the  heart, 
by  sending  ayre  unto  it  by  the  venosal  artery,  which  vein 
comes  to  the  lungs  by  that  aspera  arteria,  which  consists  of 
many  gristles,  membranes,  nerves,  taking  in  ayre  at  the  nose 
and  mouth,  and,  by  it  likewise,  exhales  the  fumes  of  the  heart. 
In  the  upper  region  serving  the  animal  faculties,  the  chief 
organ  is  the  brain,  which  is  a  soft,  marrowish,  and  white  sub- 
stance, ingendered  of  the  purest  part  of  seed  and  spirits,  in- 
cluded by  many  skins,and  seatedwithintheskuil  or  brain-pan; 
and  it  is  the  most  noble  organ  under  heaven,  the  dwelling  house 
and  seat  of  the  soul,  the  habitation  of  wisdom,  memory,  judge - 


»  Haec  res  est  praecipiie  digna  admiratione,  qnod  tanta  affectuum  varietate  cietur 
cor,  quod  omenes  res  tristes  et  laetaj  statim  corda  feriunt  et  movent.  ^  Physio 

I.  1.  c.  8.  c  Ut  orator  regi,  sic  piilmo,  vocis  instrumentum,  annectitiir  cordi, 

&c.  Melaucth. 


Mem.  2.  Sub.  5]       Anatomy  of  the  Soul.  27 

ment,  reason,  and  in  which  man  is  most  like  unto  God  :  and 
therefore  nature  hath  covered  it  with  a  skull  of  hard  bone, 
and  two  skins  or  membranes,  whereof  the  one  is  called  dura 
mater,  or  meninx,  the  other  pia  mater.  The  dura  mater  is 
next  to  the  skull,  above  the  other,  which  includes  and  protects 
the  brain.  When  this  is  taken  away,  the  pia  mater  is  to  be  seen, 
a  thin  membrane,  the  next  and  immediate  cover  of  the  brain, 
and  not  covering  only,  but  entering  into  it.  The  brain  it  self 
is  divided  into  two  parts,  theybre  and  hinder  part.  The  Jbre 
part  is  much  bigger  than  the  other,  which  is  called  the  little 
brain  in  respect  of  it.  This^bre  part  hath  many  concavities, 
distinguished  by  certain  ventricles,which  are  the  receptacles  of 
the  spiritSjbrought  hither  by  the  arteries  from  the  heart,and  are 
there  refined  to  a  more  heavenly  nature,  to  perform  the  actions 
of  the  soul.  Of  these  ventricles  there  be  three,  right,  left, 
and  middle.  The  right  and  left  answer  to  their  site,  and  beget 
animal  spirits;  if  they  be  any  way  hurt,  sense  and  motion 
ceaseth.  These  ventricles,  moreover,  are  held  to  be  the  seat  of 
the  common  sense.  The  middle  ventricle  is  a  common  con- 
course and  cavity  of  them  both,  and  hath  two  passages ;  the  one 
to  receive  pituita;  and  the  other  extends  it  self  to  the  fourth 
creek  :  in  this  place  imagination  and  cogitation :  and  so 
the  three  ventricles  of  the  fore  part  of  the  brain  are  used.  The 
fourth  creek,  behind  the  head,  is  common  to  the  cerebral  or 
little  brain,  and  marrow  of  the  back-bone,  the  least  and  most 
solid  of  all  the  rest,  which  receives  the  animal  spirits  from  the 
other  ventricles,  and  conveys  them  to  the  marrow  in  the  back, 
and  is  the  place  where  they  say  the  memory  is  seated. 


SUBSECT.  V. 

Of  tJie  Soul  and  her  Faculties. 

According  to  =^  Aristotle,  the  soul  is  defined  to  be  iynxi- 
%ua,  perfectio  et  actus  primus  corporis  orgamci,  vitam  ha- 
bentis  in  protentid — the  perfection  or  first  act  of  an  organical 
body,  having  power  of  life ;  which  most  ''philosophers  approve. 
But  many  doubts  arise  about  the  essence,  subject,  seat,  di- 
stinction,  and  subordinate  faculties  of  it.  For  the  essence  and 
particular  knowledge,  of  all  other  things  it  is  most  hard  (be  it 
of  man  or  beast)  to  discern,  as  *^  Aristotle  himself,  ''  Tully, 
*  Picus  Mirandula,  *^Tolet,  and  other  neoterick  philosophers 

»  Dc  aniin.  c.  1.  *"  Scalig.  cxerc.  307.    Tolet.  in  lib.  de  aoima,  cap,  ].  &«% 

•"  D^  anima,  cap.  }.  <*  Tnsenl.  qnsc8<.  '  Lib.  fi.  Doct.  VaJ.  Gentil.  c.  13. 

pag.  1216.  ^Aristot. 


28  Anatomy  of  the  Soul.         [Part.  1.  Sec.  I, 

confess.  "*  We  can  understand  all  things  hy  her  ;  hut,  ivhat  she 
is,  ice  cannot  apprehend.  Some  therefore  make  one  soul,  di- 
vided into  three  principal  faculties ;  others^three  distinct  souls; 
(which  question  of  late  hath  been  much  controverted  by  Picolo- 
mineus,  and  Zabare])'^Paracelsus  will  have  four  souls,  addingto 
the  three  granted  faculties,  a  spiritual so?il ;  (which  opinion  of 
liis,  CampanelUi,  in  his  book  de  "^Sensu  rerum,  u)uch  labours  to 
demonstrate  and  prove,  because  carkasses  bleed  at  the  sight  of 
the  murderer;  with  many  such  arguments :)  and  ''some,  again, 
one  soul  of  all  creatures  whatsoever,  differing  only  in  organs  ; 
and  that  beasts  have  reason  as  well  as  men,  though,  for  some 
defect  of  organ,  not  in  such  measure.  Others  make  a  doubt, 
whether  it  be  all  in  all,  and  all  in  every  part ;  which  is  amply 
discussed  in  Zabarel  among  the  rest.  The  ^  common  division 
of  the  soul  is  into  three  principal  faculties,  vegetal,  sensitive, 
and  rational,  which  make  three  distinct  kind  of  living"  crea- 
tures— vegetal  plants,  sensible  beasts,  rational  men.  How 
these  three  princijial  faculties  are  distinguished  and  connected, 
humano  ingenio  inaecessum  videtur,  is  beyond  humane  capa- 
city, as  *  Taurellus,  Philip,  Flavins,  and  others,  suppose.  The 
inferiour  may  be  alone;  but  the  superiour  cannot  subsist 
without  the  other  ;  so  sensible  includes  vegetal,  rational,  both 
which  are  contained  in  it  (saith  Aristotle)  ut  triyonus  in  tetra- 
gono,  as  a  triangle  in  a  qudrangle. 

Vegetal  soul.]  Vegetal,  the  first  of  the  three  distinct  facul- 
ties, is  defined  to  be  a  substantial  act  of  an  organical  body, 
by  which  it  is  nourished,  augmented,  and  begets  another  like 
unto  it  self':  in  which  definition,  three  several  operations  are 
specified,  altrix,  aiwtrix,  procrcatrix.  The  first  is  s  nutrition, 
whose  object  is  nourishment,  meat,  drink  and  the  like ;  his 
organ  the  liver,  in  sensible  creatures  ;  in  plants,  the  root  or 
sap.  His  oflice  is  to  turn  the  nutriment  into  the  substance 
of  the  body  nourished,  which  he  performs  by  natural  heat. 
This  nutritive  operation  hath  four  other  subordinate  functions 
or  powers  belonging  to  it — attraction,  retention,  digestion,  ex- 
pulsion. 

Attraction.']  ^'Attraction  is  a  ministring  faculty,  which  (as 
a  loadstone  doth  iron)  draws  meat  into  the  stomach,  or  as  a 
lamp  doth  oyle ;  and  this  attractive  power  is  very  necessary 
in  plants,  which  suck  up  moisture  by  the  root,  as  another 
mouti),  into  the  sap,  as  a  like  stomach. 

*Aiiinia  quaeqne  intelliginius  ;  et  taiuen,  qiiaj  sit  ipsa,  intelligere  non  valemus. 
'^  Spiritnaleii!  animam  a  reliquis  distinctatn  tuetur,  etiam  in  cadavere  inhpereutem  post 
njortem  per  aliquot  menses.  fLili.  3.  cap  31.  <i  Ccelius,  lib.  2. 

c.  31.  Piutarcii.  in  Grillo.  Lips.  cen.  1.  ep.  50.  Jossius  de  Risn  et  Fletu,  Averroes, 
Campanelia,  8^c.  '■  Philip,  de  Aninia,  ca.  1.  Coelius,  20.  antiq.  cap  3.     Plu- 

tarch, de  placit.  Philos.  t'De  vit.  et.  mort.  part.  2.  c.  3.  prop.  1.  de  vit.  etraort.2. 

c.  22.  F]sJntritio  est  alinienti.  transraufafio,  viro  naturalis.  Seal,  exerc   101. 

sect.  17.  h  yee  more  ol'  attraction  iu  Seal,  exerc.  343. 


Mem.  2.  Subs.  5.]     Anatomy  of  the  Soul.  29 

Retention.']  Retention  keeps  it,  lieing  attracted  unto  the 
stomach,  until  such  time  it  be  concocted ;  for,  if  it  should 
pass  away  straight,  the  body  could  not  be  nourished. 

Digestion.]  Digestion  is  performed  by  natural  heat ;  for, 
as  the  flame  of  a  torch  consumes  oyle,  wax,  tallow,  so  doth  it 
alter  and  digest  the  nutritive  matter.  Indigestion  is  opposite 
unto  it,  for  want  of  natural  heat.  Of  this  digestion  there  be 
three  differences,  maturation,  elixation,  a^sation. 

Maturation.]  Matiiration  is  especially  observed  in  the 
fruits  of  trees,  which  are  then  said  to  be  ripe,  when  the  seeds 
are  fit  to  be  sown  again.  Crudity  is  opposed  to  it,  which 
gluttons,  Epicures,  and  idle  persons  are  most  subject  unto, 
that  use  no  exercise  to  stir  up  natural  heat,  or  else  choke  it, 
as  too  much  wood  puts  out  a  fire, 

Elixation.]  Elixation^is  the  seething  of  meat  in  the  sto- 
mach, by  the  said  naturad  heat,  as  meat  is  boyled  in  a  pot ; 
to  which  corruption  or  putrefaction  is  opposite. 

Assation.]  Assation  is  a  concoction  of  the  inward  moisture 
by  heat ;  his  opposite  is  simiustulation. 

Order  of  concoction  J'our-J'ohlP\  Besides  these  three  several 
operationsofrf?Vjres^iow,  there  is  a  four-fold  order  of  concoction; 
mastication,  or  chewing  in  the  mouth  ;  chylijication  of  this  so 
chewed  meat  in  the  stomach  :  the  third  is  in  the  /?fer,  to  turn 
this  chylus  into  blood,  called  sanguijication  ;  the  last  is  assi' 
mulation,  which  is  in  every  part. 

Expulsion.]  Expulsion  is  a  power  of  «?/fr?V?ow,  by  which  it 
expells  all  superfluous  excrements  and  reliques  of  meat  and 
drink,  by  the  guts,  bladders,  pores  ;  as  by  purging,  vomiting, 
spitting,  sweating,  urine,  hairs,  nails,  &:c. 

Augmentation.]  As  this  nutritivejaculty  serves  to  nourish 
the  body,  so  doth  the  augmenting J'aculty  (the  second  operation 
or  power  of  the  vegetal  J'aculty)  to  the  increasing  of  it  in  quan- 
tity, according  to  all  dimensions,  long,  broad,  thick,  and  to 
make  it  grow  till  it  come  to  his  due  proportion  and  perfect 
shape  ;  which  hath  his  period  of  augmentation,  as  of  consump- 
tion, and  that  most  certain,  as  the  poet  observes  : 

Stat  sua  cuique  dies ;  breve  et  irreparabile  tempus 
Omnibus  est  vitee 

A  terra  of  life  is  set  to  every  man, 

Which  is  but  short;  and  pass  it  no  one  can. 

Generation.']  The  last  of  these  vegetal  Jciculties  h  gene- 
ration^ which  begets  another  by  means  of  seed,  like  unto  it 
self,  to  the  perpetual  preservation  of  the  species.  To  this  fa- 
culty they  ascribe  three  subordinate  operations  :  the  first  to 
turn  nourishment  into  seed,  &c. 


30  Anatomy  of  the  SouL  [Pari.  1.  Sec.  I. 

Life  and  death  concomitants  of  the  vegetal  JacultiesJ^  Ne- 
cessary concomitants  or  affections  of  this  vegetal  J'acwlty  are 
life  and  his  privation,  death.  To  the  preservation  of  Ute  the 
natural  heat  is  most  recjuisite,  though  siccity  and  humidity, 
and  those  first  qualities,  be  not  excluded.  This  heat  is  like- 
vise  in  plants,  as  appears  by  their  increasing,  fructifying',  &c. 
though  notso easily  perceived.  Tn  all  bodies  it  must  have  radi- 
cal ^moisture  to  preserve  it,that  itbenot  consumed  ;  to  which 
preservation  our  clime,  countrey,  temperature,  and  the  good 
or  bad  use  of  those  six  non-natural  things,  avail  much)  for, 
as  this  natural  heat  and  moisture  decayes,  so  doth  our  life  it 
self:  and,  if  not  prevented  before  by  some  violent  accident,  or 
interrupted  through  our  own  default,  is  in  the  end  dryed  up 
by  old  age,  and  extinguished  by  death  for  want  of  matter,  as 
a  lamp,  for  defect  of  oyl  to  maintain  it. 


SUBSECT.  VI. 

OJ'  the  sensible  Soul. 

jS  EXT  in  order  is  the  sensible  J  acuity,  which  is  as  far  beyond 
the  other  in  dignity  ,as  ;i  beast  is  preferred  to  a  plant,having  those 
vegetal  powers  included  in  it.  'Tis  defined  an  act  of  an  or- 
ganical  body,  by  which  it  lives^  hath  sense,  appetite,  Judgement^ 
breath,  and  motion.  His  object,  in  general,  is  a  sensible  orpas- 
sible  quality  because  the  sense  is  affected  with  it.  The  general 
organ  is  the  brain,  from  which  principally  the  sensible  opera- 
tions are  derived.  The  sensible  soulh  divided  into  two  parts, 
apprehending  or  moving.  By  the  apprehensive  power,  we  per- 
ceive the  species  of  sensible  things,  present  or  absent,  and  re- 
tain them  as  wax  doth  the  print  of  a  seal.  By  the  moving',  the 
body  is  outwardly  carried  from  one  place  to  another,  or  in- 
wardly moved  by  spirits  and  pulse.  The  apprehensive i'acuhy  is 
subdivided  into  two  parts,  hnvardov outward — outivard,as  the 
five  senses,  of  touching,  hearing,  seeing,  smelling,  tasting  ;  to 
which  you  may  add  Scaligers  sixth  sense  of  titillation,  if  you 
please,or  thatofspcec/i,which  is  the  sixth  external  sense,accord- 
ing  to  Lullius.  Inward  are  three,  common  sense, phantasie,  me- 
mory. Those  five  outward  senses  have  their  object  in  outward 
things  only,  and  such  as  are  present,  as  the  eye  sees  no  colour 
except  it  be  at  hand,  the  ear  sound.  Three  of  these  senses  are 
of  commodity,  hearing,  sight, and  smell;  two  of  necessity,  touch 

^  Vita  consistit  in  calido  €i  liumido. 


Meuib.  2.  Subs.  6.]     Anatoiuif  of  the  Sold.  SI 

and  taste,  without  which  we  cannot  live.  Besides,  the  sensi- 
tive power  is  active  or  passive — active,  as,  in  sig-ht,  the  eye 
sees  the  colour  ;  passive,  when  it  is  hurt  by  his  object,  as  the 
eye  by  the  sun  beams,  (according  to  that  axiom,  visible  forte 
destruit  seusnm)  or  if  the  object  be  not  pleasing,  as  a  bad 
sound  to  the  ear,  a  stinking  smell  to  the  nose,  &c. 

Sit/Jit.]     Of  these  five  senses,  sight  is  held  to  be  most  pre- 
cious, and  the  best,  and  that  by  reason  of  his  object ;  it  sees 
the  whole  body  at  once;  by  it  we  learn,  and  discern  all  things — 
a  sense  most  excellent  for  use.     To  the  sight  three  things  are 
required  ;  the  object,  the  organ,  and  the  medium.     The  object 
in  general  is  visible,  or  that  which  is  to  be  seen,  as  colours, 
and  all  shining  bodies.      The  medium  is  the  illumination  of 
the  air,  which  comes  from  ^  light,  commonly  called  rfj«/>/ia- 
vum  ;  for,  in  dark,  we  cannot  see.     The  organ  is  the  eye,  and 
chiefly  the  apple  of  it,  which,  by  those  optick  nerves  concur- 
rino-  both  in  one,  conveys  the  sight  to  the  common  sense. 
Betwixt  the  organ  and  the  object,  a  true  distance  is  required, 
that  it  be  not  too  near,  or  too  far  ofil     Many  excellent  ques- 
tions appertain  to  this  sense,  discussed  by  philosophers;  as, 
M'hether  this  sight  be  caused  intra  mittendo,  vel  extra  mit- 
tendo.  tVc.  by  receiving  in  the  visible  species,  or  sending  of 
them  out;  which  ^  Plato,  ^Plutarch,  '^  JMacrobius,  "^  Lactan- 
tius,  and  others,  dispute.      And  besides,  it  is  the  subject  of 
the  perspectives,    of  which  Alhazen   the  Arabian,   Vitellio, 
Roger  Bacon,  Baptista  Porta,  Guidus  Ubaldus,  Aquilonius, 
&c.  have  written  whole  volumes. 

Hearinq.']  Hearing,  a  most  excellent  outward  sense,  by 
which  ice  learn  and  get  knoicledge.  His  object  is  sound,  or  that 
which  is  heard;  the  medium,  ayre;  organ,  the  ear.  To  the 
sound  which  is  a  collision  of  the  air,  tliree  tilings  are  re- 
quired ;  a  body  to  strike,  as  the  hand  of  a  musician  ;  the  body 
strucken,  which  must  be  solid  and  able  to  resist;  as  a  bell, 
hue-string  ;  not  wooll,  or  spunge ;  the  medium,  the  air, 
which  is  imvard  or  outward;  the  outward,  being  struck  or 
collided  by  a  solid  body,  still  strikes  the  next  air,  until  it  come 
to  that  inward  natuml  air,  which,  as  an  exquisite  organ,  is 
contained  in  a  little  skin  formed  like  a  drum-head, and,  struck 
upon  by  certain  small  iiistauments  like  drum-sticks,  conveys 
the  sound,  by  a  pair  of  nerves  appropriated  to  that  use,  to  the 
common  sense  as  to  a  judge  of  sounds.  There  is  great  variety 
and  much  delight  in  them;  for  the  knowledge  of  which  con- 
sult with  Boethius,  and  other  musicians. 


"Lumen  est  actus   perspicni.     Lumen  a  luce  provenit ;  Jiix  est  in  corpore  lucido. 
*>Id  FhsEcioD.  '  I'fitur.  7.  c.  14.  '-Lac.  cap.  8.  cle  opif.  Dei,  J. 

«  De  pract.  Philos.  -1. 


32  Anatomy  of  the  Soul.       [Part.  J .  Sec.  1 . 

SmellitK/.]  Smelling  is  an  outward  sense^  which  appre^ 
hcnds  by  the  nostrils  drawing  in  air  ;  and,  of  all  the  rest,  it  is 
the  weakest  sense  in  men.  The  organ  in  the  nose,  or  two 
small  hollow  pieces  of  flesh  a  little  above  it:  the  medium  the 
air  to  men,  as  water  to  fish  :  the  object,  smell,  arising  from  a 
mixt  body  resolved,  which  whether  it  be  a  quality,  fume,  va- 
pour, orexhalation,  I  will  ncit  now  dispute,  or  of  their  differ- 
ences, and  how  they  are  caused.  This  sense  is  an  organ  of 
health,  as  sight  and  hearing  (saith  ^Agellius)  are  of  discipline ; 
and  that  by  avoiding  bad  smells,  as  by  choosing  good,  which 
do  as  much  alter  and  affect  the  body  many  times,  as  diet  it 

self. 

TasteJ]  Taste,  a  necessary  sense,  which  perceives  all  sa- 
vours by  the  tongue  and  palat,  and  that  by  means  of  a 
thin  spittle,  or  watery  juice.  His  organ  is  the  tongue  with 
his  tasting  nerves ;  the  medium,  a  watery  juice  ;  the  object, 
taste,  or  savour,  which  is  a  quality  in  the  juice,  arising  from 
the  mixture  of  things  tasted.  Some  make  eight  species  or 
kinds  of  savour,  bitter,  sweet,  sharp,  salt,  &c.  all  which  sick 
men  (as  in  an  ague)  cannot  discern,  by  reason  of  their  organs 
misaffected. 

Tonchinq.']  Touch,  the  last  of  the  senses,  and  most  igno- 
ble, yet  of  as  great  necessity  as  the  other,  and  of  as  much 
pleasure.  This  sense  is  exquisite  in  men,  and,  by  his  nerves 
dispersed  all  over  the  body,  perceives  any  tactile  quality.  His 
organ  the  nerves;  his  object,  those  first  qualities,  hot,  dry, 
moist,  cold ;  and  those  that  follow  them,  hard,  soft,  thick, 
thin,  &c.  Many  delightsome  questions  are  moved  by  philo- 
sophers about  these  five  senses,  their  organs,  objects,  metliums, 
which  for  brevity  I  omit. 

SUBSECT.  VH. 

Of  the  Inward  Senses. 

Common  sense.]  INNER  senses  are  three  in  number,  so 
called,  because  they  be  within  the  brain-pan,  as  common  sense, 
phantasie,  memory.  Their  objects  are  not  only  things  present, 
but  they  perceive  the  sensible  species  of  things  to  come,  past, 
absent,  such  as  were  before  in  the  sense.  This  common  sense 
is  the  judge  or  moderator  of  the  rest,  by  whom  we  discern  all 
differences  of  objects ;  for  by  mine  eye  I  do  not  know  that  I 
see,  or  by  mine  ear  that  1  hear,  but  by  my  common  sense,  who 
judgeth  of  sounds  and  colours  :  they  are  but  the  organs  to 
bring  the  species  to  be  censured  ;  so  that  all  their  objects  are 
his,  and  all  their  offices  are  his.  The  forepart  of  the  brain  is 
his  organ  or  seat. 

i»  Lib.  1 9.  cap.  2. 


Mem.  2.  Subs.  7.]       Analomy  of  the  Soul.  33 

PJiantasie]  Phantasie,  or  imagination,  which  some  call 
fcstimairve.  or  cogitative,  (confirmed,  s^ith  ^Feruelins,  by 
frequent  meditation)  is  an  inner  sense,  which  doth  more  fully 
examine  the  species  perceived  by  common  sense,  of  things 
present  or  absent,  and  keeps  them  longer,  recalling  them  to 
mind  aoain,  or  making-  new  of  his  own.  In  time  of  sleep,  this 
facuhy"is  free,  and  many  times  conceives  strange,  stupend, 
absurd  shapes,  as  in  sick  men  we  commonly  observe.  His 
organ  is  the  middle  cell  of  the  brain  ;  his  objects,  ?i\\  the  spe- 
cies communicated  to  him  by  the  common  sense,  by  compa- 
rison of  which,  he  feigns  infinite  other  unto  himself.  In  me- 
lancholy  men,  this  faculty  is  most  powerful  and  strong,  and 
often  hurts,  producing  many  monstrous  and  prodigious  things, 
especially  if  it  be  stirred  up\v  some  terrible  object,  presented 
to  it  from  common  sense  or  memory.  In  poets  and  painters, 
mrt7?«a^?ow  forcibly  works,  as  appears  by  their  several  fictions, 
anticks,  images,  as  Ovid's  house  of  Sleep,  Psyches  palace  in 
Apuleius,  &c.  In  men  it  is  subject  and  governed  by  reason, 
or  at  least  should  be ;  but,  in  brutes,  it  hath  no  superiour, 
and  is  ratio  hrutornm,  all  the  reason  they  have. 

Memory.']  Memory  luyes  up  all  the  species  which  the  senses 
have  brouiiht  in,  and  records  them  as  a  good  recjister,  that 
they  may  be  forth-coming  when  they  are  called  for  hy  phan- 
tasie and  reason.  His  object  is  the  same  with  phantasie ;  his 
seat  and  organ,  the  back  part  of  the  brain. 

Afections  of  the  senses,  sleep  and  waking.]  Tfje  afl'ections 
of  these  senses  are  sleep  and  leaking,  common  to  all  sensible 
creatures.  Sleep  is  a  rest  or  binding  of  the  outtcard  senses, 
and  of  the  common  sense,  for  the  preservation  of  body  and 
so?d  (as  '•  Scaliger  defines  it)  ;  for,  when  the  common  sense 
resteth,  the  outWard  senses  rest  also.  The  phantasie  alone  is 
Iree,  and  his  commander,  reason  ;  as  appears  by  those  mia- 
ginary  dreams,  which  are  of  divers  kinds,  natural  divine, 
dcemoniacal,  ^c.  which  vary  according  to  humours,  diet,  ac- 
tions, objects,  &c.  of  which,  Artemidorus,  Cardan  us,  and 
Sambucus,  with  their  several  interpretators,  have  written 
great  volumes.  This  ligation  of  senses  proceeds  from  an  in- 
hibition of  spirits,  the  way  being  stopped  by  which  they 
should  come;  this  stopping  is  caused  of  vapours  arising  out 
of  the  stomach,  filling  the  nerves,  by  which  the  spirits  should 
be  conveyed.  When  these  vapours  are  spent,  the  passage  is 
open,  and  the  spirits  perform  their  accustomed  duties  ;  so 
that  waking  is  the  action  and  motion  of  the  senses,  which  the 
spirits,  dispersed  over  all  parts,  cau.^e. 


a  Phys.  1.  5.  c.  8.  bExercit  280. 


31  Anaiomij  of  the  Soul.        [Part.  1.  Sect.  1. 

SUBSECT.  VIII. 
Of  the  Moving  Faculty. 

Appetite.']  J-  HIS  moving  faculty  is  the  other  power  of  the 
sensitive  soul,  which  causeth  all  those  inward  and  outward 
animal  motions  in  the  body.  It  is  divided  into  two  faculties, 
the  power  of  appetite  and  of  moving  from  place  to  place. 
This  of  appetite  is  threefold,  (so  some  will  have  it)  natural, 
as  it  signifies  any  such  inclination,  as  of  a  stone  to  fall  down- 
ward, and  such  actions  as  retension,  expulsion,  which  de- 
pend not  of  sense,  but  are  vegetal,  as  the  appetite  of  meat 
and  drink,  hunger  and  thirst.  Sensitive  is  common  to  men 
and  brutes.  Voluntary,  the  third,  or  intellective,  which  com- 
mands the  other  two  in  men,  and  is  a  curb  unto  them,  or  at 
least  should  be  (but  for  the  most  part  is  captivated  and  over- 
ruled by  them  :  and  men  are  led  like  beasts  by  sense,  giving 
reins  to  their  concupiscence  and  several  lusts)  ;  for  by  this 
appetite  the  soul  is  led  or  inclined  to  follow  that  good  which 
the  senses  shall  approve,  or  avoid  that  which  they  hold  evil. 
His  object  being  good  or  evil,  the  one  he  embraceth,  the 
other  he  rejecteth — according  to  that  aphorism,  omnia  appe- 
tunt  honuni ,  all  things  seek  their  own  good,  or  at  least  seem- 
ing- good.  This  power  is  inseparable  from  sense  ;  for,  where 
sense  is,  there  is  likewise  pleasure  and  pain.  His  organ  is 
the  same  with  the  common  sense,  and  is  divided  into  two 
powers,  or  inclinations,  concupiscible  or  irascible,  or  (as  "  one 
translates  it)  coveting,  anger -invading,  or  impugning.  Con- 
cupiscible covets  alwayes  pleasant  and  delightsome  things, 
and  abhors  that  which  is  distasteful,  harsh,  and  unpleasant. 
Irascible,  ^  quasi  aversans  per  iram  et  odium  as  avoiding  it 
with  anger  and  indignation.  All  affections  and  perturbations 
arise  out  of  these  two  fountains,  which  although  the  Stoicks 
make  light  of,  we  hold  natural,  and  not  to  be  resisted.  The 
good  affections  are  caused  by  some  object  of  the  same  nature  ; 
and,  if  present,  they  procure  joy,  which  dilates  the  heart,  and 
preserves  the  body:  if  absent,  they  cause  hope,  love,  desire, 
and  concupiscence,  The  bad  are  simple  or  mixt:  simple, 
for  some  bad  object  present,  as  sorrow,  which  contracts  the 
heart,  macerates  the  soul,  subverts  the  good  estate  of  the  body, 
hindering  all  the  operations  of  it,  causing  melancholy,  and 
many  times  death  itself ;  or  future,  as  fear.  Out  of  these  two 
arise  those  mixt  affections  and  passions  of  anger,  which  is  a 
desire  of  revenge — hatred,  which  is  inveterate  anger — zeal 

*T.  W.  Jesnit,  b  his  Passions  of  the  Mind.  ^Veleurio. 


Mem.  2.  Subs.  9.]     Anatomy  of  the  Soul.  35 

wliich  is  offended  with  him  wlio  hurts  that  he  loves — and 
fw^xatgExfticiaj,  a  compound  aftection  of  joy  and  hate,  when  we 
rejoyce  at  other  mens  mischief,  and  are  grieved  at  their  pros- 
perity— pride,  self-love,  emulation,  envy,  shame,  &c.  of  which 
elsewhere. 

Movincf  from  place  to  place,  is  afaculty  necessarily  follow- 
ing- the  other:  for  in  vaiu  were  it  otherwise  to  desire  and  to 
abhor,  if  we  had  not  likewise  power  to  prosecute  or  eschew, 
by  moving  the  body  from  place  to  place.  By  this  faculty 
therefore  we  locally  move  the  body,  or  any  part  of  it,  and  go 
from  one  place  to  another:  to  the  better  performance  of  whicli, 
three  things  are  requisite— ;-that  which  moves  ;  by  what  it 
move*i;  that  which  is  moved.  That  which  moves  is  either 
the  ellicient  cause,  or  end.  The  end  is  the  object,  which  is 
desired  or  eschewed,  as  in  a  dog  to  catch  a  hare,  &c.  The 
efficient  cause  in  man  is  reason,  or  his  subordinate  phantasie, 
which  apprehends  good  or  bad  objects;  in  brutes,  imaghiation 
alone,  which  moves  the  appetite,  the  appetite  this  faculty, 
which,  by  an  admirable  leagueof  nature,  and  by  mediation  of 
the  spirit,  commands  the  organ  by  which  it  moves  ;  and  that 
consists  of  nerves,  muscles,  cords,  dispersed  through  the  whole 
body,  contracted  and  relaxed  as  the  spirits  will,  which  move  the 
muscles,  or  *  nerves  in  the  midst  of  them,  and  draw  the  cord, 
and  so,  per  conseqiiens,  the  joynt,  to  the  place  intended.  That 
which  is  moved  is  the  body  or  some  member  apt  to  move. 
The  motion  of  the  body  is  divers,  as  going,  running,  leaping, 
dancing,  sitting',  and  such  like,  referred  to  the  predicament 
of  sittis.  Worms  creep,  birds  flye,  fishes  swim ;  and  so  of 
parts,  the  chief  of  which  is  respiration  or  breathing,  and  is 
thus  performed  :  the  outward  air  is  drawn  in  by  the  vocal  ar~ 
tery,  and  sent  by  mediation  of  the  midriftothe  lungs,  which, 
dilating  themselves  as  a  pair  of  bellows,  reciprocally  fetch  it 
in,  and  send  it  out  to  the  heart  to  cool  it ;  and  from  thence, 
now  being  hot,  convey  it  again,  still  taking  in  fresh.  Such 
a  like  motion  is  that  of  the  pulse,  of  which,  because  many 
have  written  whole  books,  I  will  say  nothing-. 

SUBSECT.  IX. 
Of  the  Rational  Soul, 

XN  the  precedent  subsections,  I  have  anatomized  those  infe- 
riour  faculties  of  the  soul ;  the  rational  xenwiineXh,  a  pleasant 
hut  a  doubtful  subject  (as  ''one  terms  it),  and  with  the  like 
brevity  to  be  discussed.    Many  erroneous  opinions  are  about 

aNervi  a  spirita  moventur,  spiritaa  ab  anima.    Melanct.  •>  Velcario.    Ju- 

enndnm  et  anceps  subjectum. 


36  Anatomy  of  the  Soul.  [Part.  1.  Sec.  1. 

the  essence  and  original  of  it;  whether  it  be  fire,  as  Zeno  held ; 
harmony,  as  Arisfoxenus;  number,  as  Xenocrates;  whether  it 
he  organical,  or  inorganical ;  seated  in  the  brain,  heart,  or 
blood;  mortal,  or  immortal;  how  it  comes  into  the  bod}'. 
Some  hold  that  it  is  ex  traduce,  as  Phil.  1.  de  Animd,  Tertul- 
Uan,  Lactaniius  de  opific.  /)e?,  cap.  19.  Huf/o,  lib.de  Spiritu 
et  Animd,  Vincentius  Bellavic,  spec,  natural,  lib.  23.  cap.2.et 
11.  Hippocrates,  Avicenna,  and  many  ^  late  writers;  that  one 
man  begets  another,  body  and  soul ;  or,  as  a  candle  from  a 
candle,  to  be  produced  from  the  seed  :  otherwise,  say  they,  a 
man  begets  but  half  a  man,  and  is  worse  than  a  beast,  that 
beg"ets  both  matter  and  form  ;  and,  besides,  the  three  faculties 
of  the  soul  must  be  together  infused  ;  which  is  most  absurd,  as 
they  hold,  because  in  beasts  they  are  begot  (the  two  inferiour  [ 
mean),  and  may  not  be  Avell  separated  in  men.  ''Galen  sup- 
poseth  the  soul  crasin  esse,  to  be  the  temperature  it  self;  Tris- 
megistus,  Musasus,  Orpheus,  Homer,  Pindarus,  Pherecydes 
Syrius,  Epictetus,  with  the  Chaldees  and  ^Egyptians,  affirmed 
the  soul  to  be  immortal,  as  did  those  Britan '  Druides  of  old. 
The  "^  Pythagoreans  defend  metempstfchasis  and  paligenesia — 
that  souls  go  from  one  body  to  another,  epotd  prius  Lethes 
unda,  as  men  into  wolves,  bears,  dogs,  hogs,  as  they  were  in- 
clined in  their  lives,  or  participated  in  conditions  : 


■ ''inque  ferinas 

Possumus  ire  domes,  pecudumque  in  pectora  condi. 

'^Lucians  cock  was  first  Euphorbus,  a  captain  : 

Ille  ego,  (nam  memini)  Trojani  tempore  belli, 
Paiithoides  Euphorbus  eram, 

a  horse,  a  man,  a  spunge.  "Julian  the  Apostatatliought  Alex- 
anders soul  was  descended  into  his  body  :  Plato,  in  Tima.o, 
and  in  his  Pha'don,  (for  ought  1  can  perceive)  dillers  not  much 
from  this  opinion,  that  it  was  from  God  at  first,  and  knew  all; 
but,  being-  inclosed  in  the  body,  it  forgets,  and  learns  anew, 
which  he  calls  reminiscentia  ,  or  recalling',  and  that  it  was 
put  into  the  body  for  a  punishment,  and  thence  it  goes  into 
a  beasts,  or  mans,  (as  appears  by  his  pleasant  fiction  de  sor^ 
titione  animarum,  lib.  10.  de  rep.)  and,  after  "  ten  thousand 
years,  is  to  return  into  the  former  body  again  : 

aGoclenius,  in  •4"^%o^-  pag.  302.     Bright,  inPhys.  Scrih.  1.  1.  David  Criisitis,  Me- 
lancthoDj  Hippius  Hernius,  JLevinus  Leiiinius,  &c.  t'Lib.  an  raoresseqnan- 

tur,  &c,  <^  Ca;sar.  6.  coin.  ''Kead  iiilneas  Gazeus  dial,  of  llie  inimoitality 

of  the  soul.  t  Ovid,  uic-t.  15.  'la  Gallo.  Idem.  ;;  Niiephonis, 

liist.  I.  10.  c.  35.  1' Pined. 


Mem.  2.  Subx.  J).]         Anatomy  of  tlw  Soul.  :]7 

—  "post  varies  annos,  per  mille  figuras, 


Rursus  ad  huuianae  tertiir  primordia  viite. 

Others  deny  the  immortality  of  it,  which  Poinponatiis  ofPadua 
decided  out  of  Aristotle  not  long-  since,  Pltmn.^  Avunculus, 
cap.  7.  lib.  2.  et  lib.  7.  cap.  55.  Seneca,  lib.  7.  epist.  ad  Lu- 
cilium,  epist.  55.  Diccearchus,  in  Tidl.  Tusc.  Epicurus, 
Aratus,  Hippocrates,  Galen,  Lucretius,  lib.   1. 

(Pr^eterea  gigni  pariter  cum  corpore,  et  una 
Crescere  sentimus,  parilerque  senescere,  nientum) 

A  verroes,  and  I  know  not  how  many  neotericks.  ''  This  q?t.es- 
tion  of  the  immortality  oj'the  soul  is  diver  si  ly  and  wonderfully 
inipuyned  and  disputed,  especially  anionyst  the  Italians  oj' 
late,  saith  Jab.  Colerns,  lib.  de  inimort.  anima,  cap.  1.  The 
Popes  themselves  have  doubted  of  it.  Leo  Decimii«,  that 
Epicurean  Pope,  as  ''some  record  of  him,  caused  this  ques- 
tion to  be  discussed  pro  and  con  before  him,  and  concluded 
at  last,  as  a  prophane  and  atheistical  moderator,  with  that 
verse  of  Cornelius  Gallus, 

Et  redit  in  nihilum,  quod  fuit  ante  niliil. 

it  bej^an  of  nothing' ;  and  in  nothing-  it  ends.  Zeno  and  his 
Stocks  (as''  Austin  quotes  him)  supposed  the  soul  so  long-  to 
continue,  till  the  body  was  fully  putrified,  and  resolved  into. 
materia  prima  :  but,  after  that,  inj'umos  evanescere,  to  be  ex- 
tinguished and  vanish  ;  and  in  the  meantime  Avhilst  the  body 
was  consuming,  it  wandrod  all  abroad,  et  e  longinquo  multa 
annunciare,  and  (as  tliat  C'lazomenian  Ilermotimus  averred) 
saw  pretty  visions,  and  suffered  1  know  not  what. 

c- Errant  exsangues  sine  corpore  et  oSsibus  umbrae. 

Others  grant  the  immortality  thereof;  but  they  make  many  fa- 
bulous  lictioiis  in  the  mean  time  of  it,  after  the  departure  from 
the  body — like  Platos  Elysian  f]fHds,and  the  Turkic  paradise. 
The  souls  of  good  men  they  deified  ;  the  bad,  (saith  "^^  Austin) 
became  devils,  as  they  supposed  ;  with  njany  sucli  absurd  te- 
nents,  which  he  hath  confuted.  Hierom,  Austin,  and  other 
fathers  of  the  church,  hold  that  the  soul  is  innnortal,  created 
of  nothing-,  and  so  infused  into  the  child  or  emhrio  in  his 
mothers  womb,  six  months  after  the  « conception  ;  not  as 
those  of  brutes,  which  are  ex  traduce,  and,  dying  with  them, 

*Claudian.  lib.  1.  de  rapt.  Proserp.  ''Hax  qua;stio  miiltos  per  annos  varie  ac 

mirabiliter  impiignata,  &c.  i'  Colerus  ibid.  '^  De  eccles.  dos;.  cap.  16. 

•"Ovid.  4.  M«»t.  'Bonoruni  lares,  ninlornin  vero  larvas  pt  lemiiiTs.  i'Some 

sai-  at  three  days,  some  six  weeks,  others  otherwise. 


38  Anatomy  of  the  Soul.         [Part.  1.  Sec.  1. 

vanisli  into  nothing' — to  wisose  divine  treatises,  and  to  the 
Scriptures  themselves,  I  rejourn  all  such  atheistical  spirits,  as 
Tully  did  Atticus,  doubtino-  of  this  point,  to  Platos  Phffidon  : 
or,  if  they  desire  philosophical  proofs  and  demonstrations,  I 
refer  them  to  Niphus,  Nic.  Farentimus  Tracts  of  this  subject, 
to  Fran,  and  John  Picus  in  digress,  sup.  3,  de  jlnhnd,  Tholo- 
.sanus,  Fugnhimis,  to  Soto,  Canns,  Thomas,  Pereshis,  Dandi- 
nus  Colerus,  to  that  elaborate  Tract  in  Zanchius,  to  Tolets 
Sixly  Reasons,  and  Lessius  Twenty-two  Arguments,  to  prove 
the  immortality  of  the  soul.  Campanella,  lib.  de  sensu  rermn,  is 
large  in  the  same  discourse,  Albertinus  the  Schoolman,  .Jacob. 
Nactantus,  to7n.  2.  op.  handleth  it  in  four  questions— Antony 
Brunus,  Aonius  Palearius,  Marinus  x\Iarcennus,  with  many 
others.  This  reasonable  soul,  which  Austin  calls  a  spiritual 
substance  moving  it  self,  is  defined  by  philosophers  to  be  the 
first  substantial  act  of  a  natural,  humane,  organical  bodif,  hij 
which  a  man  lives,  perceives  and  understands,  feely  doing  all 
things,  and  with  election:  out  of  which  definition  we  may 
gather,  that  this  rational  soul  includes  the  powers,  and  per>» 
forms  the  duties,  of  the  two  other,  which  are  contained  in  it : 
and  all  three  faculties  make  one  soul,  which  is  inorganical  of 
it  self  (although  it  be  in  all  parts),  and  incorporeal,  using  their 
organs,  and  working  by  them.  It  is  divided  into  two  chief 
parts,  differing  in  office  only,  not  in  essence — the  understand- 
ing, which  is  the  rational  power  apprehending ;  the  ivill,  %vhich 
is  the  rational  power  moving :  to  which  two,  all  the  other  ra- 
tional powers  are  subject  and  reduced. 


SUBSECT.  X. 

Of  the  Understanding. 

Understanding  is  a  power  of  the  soul,  ^by  which  we 
perceive,  know,  remember,  and  judge,  as  well  singulars  as 
universals,  having  certain  innate  notices  or  beginnings  of 
arts,  a  refecting  action,  by  tchich  it  judgelh  of  his  own 
doings,  and  examines  them.  Out  of  this  definition,  (besides 
his  chief  office,  which  is  to  apprehend,  judge  all  that  he  per- 
forms, without  the  help  of  any  instrument  or  organs)  three  dif- 
ferences appear  betwixt  a  man  and  a  beast :  as,  first,  the  sense 
only  comprehends  singularities,  the  undersJanciing  univer- 
salities :  secondly,  the  sense  hath  no  innate  notions  :  thirdly, 
brutes  cannotreflectupon  themselves.  Bees  indeed  make  neat 

aMelanct. 


}.Ifim.  2.  Siihs.  10.]         Anatomy  of  the  Soul.  39 

ami  curious  works,and  many  other  creatures  besides;  but  when 
they  have  done  they  cannot  judge  of  them.  His  object  is 
God,E'ws,all  nature,and  whatsoever  is  to  be  understood  :  which 
successively  it  apprehends.  The  object  first  moving-  the  vnder- 
standing,  \s,  some  sensible  thinof;  after,  by  discoursing,  the  mind 
findsout  the  corporeal  substance, and  from  thence  thespiritual. 
His  actions  (some  say)  arc  apprehension,  composition ^  division, 
discoursinfi^  reasoning , memory ,  (which  some  include  minven- 
twn),  ^uA  judgement.  The  conjmon  divisions  are  of  the  under- 
standing-, agent,  ni\d  patient ;  specnlative,  ami  practick ;  in 
habit,  or  in  act ;  simple,  or  compound.  The  agent  is  that  which 
is  called  the  wit  of  man,  acumen  or  subtilty,  sharpness  or  in- 
vention, when  he  doth  invent  of  himself  without  a  teacher,  or 
learns  anew — which  abstracts  those  intelligible  species  from  the 
phantasie,  and  transfers  them  to  the  passive  understanding, 
^because  there  is  nothing  in  the  understanding,  which  was  not 
first  in  the  sense.  That  which  the  imagination  hath  taken  from 
the  sense,  this  agent  judgeth  of,  whether  it  be  true  or  false ; 
and,  being  so  judged,  he  commits  it  to  the  passible  to  be  kept. 
The  agent  is  a  doctor  or  teacher;  X\\e  passive,  a  scholar;  and 
his  office  is  to  keep  and  farther  judge  of  such  things  as  are  com- 
mitted to  his  charge  ;  as  a  bare  and  rased  table  at  first,  capable 
of  all  forms  and  notions.  Now  these  notions  are  two-fold,  ac- 
tions or  habits:  actions,  by  which  we  take  notions  of,  and  per- 
ceive things  :  habits,  which  are  durable  lights  and  notions, 
which  Me  may  use  when  we  will.  '\Some  reckon  up  eight  kinds 
of  them,  sense,  experience,  intelligence,  faith,  suspicion,  errour, 
opinion,  science  ;  to  which  are  added  art,  prudency,  wisdom  ; 
as  also  ^synteresis,  dictamen  rationh,  conscience  ;  so  that,  in  all, 
there  be  fourteen  species  of  the  understanding,  of  which  some 
are  innate,  as  the  three  last  mentioned ;  the  other  are  gotten 
by  doctrine,  learning,  and  use.  Plato  will  have  all  to  be 
innate  :  Aristotle  reckons  up  but  five  intellectual  habits  :  two 
practick,  as  prudency,  whose  end  is  to  practice,  to  fabricate  ; 
wisdom,  to  comprehend  the  use  and  exj)eriments  of  all  notions 
and  habits  whatsoever;  which  division  of  Aristotle,  (if  it  be 
considered  aright)  is  all  one  with  the  precedent :  for  three 
being  innate,  and  five  acquisite,  the  rest  are  improper,  imper- 
fect, and,  in  a  more  strict  examination,  excluded.  Of  all  these 
1  should  more  amply  dilate,  but  my  subject  will  not  pennit. 
Three  of  them  I  will  oidy  point  at,  as  more  necessary  to  my 
following  discourse. 

Synteresis,  or  the  purer  part  of  the  conscience,  is  an  innate 


^  Niliil  in  intellfctu,  quod  non  pr'iH.i  fiirrtt  in  sensu.  ''Velciirio,  ''The  piife 

j):\rt  of  the  conscirncr. 

VOL.    I.  M 


40  Anatomy  of  the  Soul.      [Part  1.  Sec.  1. 

habit,  and  doth  signifie  a  conservation  of  the  knoivledge  of  the 
law  of  God  and  Nature,  to  know  good  or  evil:  and  (as  our 
divines  hold)  it  is  rather  in  the  understanding y  than  in.  the  loill. 
This  makes  the  major  proposition  in  a  practick  syllogism. 
The  dictatem  rationis  is  that  which  doth  admonish  us  to  do 
good  or  evil,  and  is  the  minor  in  the  syllogism.  The  con- 
science is  that  which  approves  good  or  evil,  justifying  or  con- 
demning our  actions,  and  is  the  conclusion  of  the  syllogism  ; 
as  in  that  familiar  example  of  Regulus,  the  Roman,  taken  pri- 
soner by  the  Carthaginians,  and  suffered  to  go  to  Rome,  on 
that  condition  he  should  return  again,  or  pay  so  much  for  his 
ransom.  The  synteresis  proposeth  the  question;  his  word, oath, 
promise,  is  to  be  religiously  kept,  although  to  his  enemy,  and 
that  by  the  law  of  nature — '^  do  not  that  to  another,  which  thou 
wouldst  not  have  done  to  thy  self.  Dictatem  applies  it  to  him, 
and  dictates  this  or  the  like  :  Regulus,  thou  wouldst  not  ano- 
ther man  should  falsifie  his  oath,  or  break  promise  with  thee  ; 
conscience  concludes,  Therefore,  Regulus,  thou  dost  well  to 
perform  thy  promise,  and  oughtest  to  keep  thine  oath.  More 
of  this  in  Religious  Melancholy. 


SUBSECT.  XI. 

Of  the  Will. 

WILL  is  the  other  power  of  the  rational  soul,  Svhich  covets 
or  avoids  such  things  as  have  been  before  judged  and  appre- 
hended by  the  understanding.  If  good,  it  approves  ;  if  evil, 
it  abhors  it:  so  that  his  object  is  either  good  or  evil.  Aristotle 
calls  this  our  ra^{o«a/  appetite;  for  as,  in  the  sensitive,  we  are 
moved  to  good  or  bad  by  our  appetite,  ruled  and  directed  by 
sense ;  so,  in  this,  we  are  carried  by  reason.  Besides,  the 
sensitive  appetite  hath  a  particular  object,  good  or  bad  ;  this, 
an  universal,  immaterial :  that  respects  only  things  delectable 
and  pleasant;  this  honest.  Again,  they  differ  in  liberty.  The 
sensual  appetite  seeing  an  object,  if  it  be  a  convenient  good, 
cannot  but  desire  it ;  it  evil,  avoid  it :  but  this  is  free  in  his 
essence,  ""much  now  depraved,  obscured,  and  fain  from  hisjirst 
perfection,  yet,  in  some  of  his  operations,  still  free,  as  to  go, 
walk,  move  at  his  pleasure,  and  to  choose  whether  it  will  do,  or 
not  do,  steal,  or  not  steal.    Otherwise  in  vain  were  laws,  de- 

^  Quod  tibi  fieri  non  vis,  alteri  ne  feceris.  ^  Res  ab  intellectu  monstratis  re- 

ci()it,  vel  rejicitj  approbat,  vel  iraprobat,    Philip. —Ignoti  nulla  cupido,  t  Me- 

anctliou.     (Jperatioues  pleruniqiie  feraj,  etsi  libera  sit  ilia  in  essentia  sua. 


Mom.  2.  Subs.  11.]         Audtomy  of  the  Sovl.  41 

liortations,  exhortations,  counsels,precepts,  rewards,  promises, 
threats,  and  punishments:  and  God  should  be  the  author  of 
sin.  But,  in  ''spiritual  things  we  Avill  no  good  ;  prone  to  evil, 
(except  we  be  regenerate,  and  led  by  the  spirit,)  mo  are  eo-- 
ged  on  by  our  natural  concupiscence,  and  there  is  arx^ix,  a 
confusion  in  our  powers ;  ''  our  wJioIp  will  is  averse  Jrom  God 
and  his  law,  not  iu  natural  things  only,  as  to  eat  and  drink, 
lust,  to  which  we  are  led  headlong  by  our  temperature  and 
inordinate  appetite : 

c  Nee  nos  obniti  contra,  nee  tendere  tantum, 
SuflBcimus, 

we  cannot  resist ;  our  coiicupiscence  is  orig-inally  bad,  our 
heart  evil ;  the  seat  of  our  affections  captivates  and  enforceth 
will ;  so  that,  in  voluntary  things  we  are  avei-se  from  God  and 
goodness,  bad  by  nature,  by  ^ignorance  worse  ;  by  art,  discip- 
line, custome,  we  get  many  bad  habits,  suffering- 'tbem  to  do- 
mineer and  tyrannize  over  us ;  and  the  devil  isstill  ready  at 
hand  with  his  evil  suggestions,  to  tempt  our  depraved  will  to 
some  ill  disposed  action,  to  precipitate  us  to  destruction,  except 
our  will  he  swayed  and  counterpoised  again  M'ith  some  divine 
precepts,  and  good  motions  of  the  Spirit,which  many  times  re- 
strain, hinder  and  check  us,  when  we  are  in  the  full  career  of 
our  dissolute  courses.  So  David  corrected  himself  when  he 
had  Saul  at  a  vantage.  Revenge  and  malice  were  as  two  vio- 
lent oppugners  on  the  one  side ;  but  honesty,  religion,  fear  of 
God,  with-held  him  on  the  other. 

The  actions  of  the  will  are  velle  and  nolle,  to  will  and  nill, 
(which  two  v/ords  comprehend  all ;  and  they  are  g-ood  or  bad, 
accordingly  as  they  are  directed)  and  some  of  them  freely  per- 
formed by  himself;  although  the  Stoicks  absolutely  deny  it, 
and  will  have  all  things  inevitably  done  by  destiny,  imposino- 
a  fatal  necessity  upon  us,  which  we  may  not  resist :  yet  we  say 
that  our  will  is  free  in  respect  of  us,  and  things  contin^-ent, 
howsoever,  in  respect  of  God's  determinate  counsel,  they  are 
inevitable  and  necessary.  Some  other  actions  of  the  icillnre 
performed  by  the  inferiour  powers,  which  obey  him,  as  the 
sensitive  and  mox-Ancf  appetite ;  as  to  open  our  eyes,  to  go  hi- 
ther and  thither,  not  to  touch  a  book,  to  speak  fair  or  foul :  but 
this  appetite  is  many  times  rebellious  in  us,  and  will  not  be 
contained  within  the  lists  of  sobriety  and  terapprance.  It  was 
(as  1  said)  once  well  agreeing  with  reason  ;  and  there  was  an 

a  In  civiiibus  libera,  bed  non  in  spirilualibi's      Osiander.  *>  Tota  voluntas 

aversa  a  Deo      Omnis  homo  mendax.  c  Vir;;.  d  Vel  propter  ignirantiam, 

qiiod  bonis  studiis  non  sit  instructa  mens,  nt  debuit,  aut  divinis  prseceptis  exculta. 

y\2 


42  Anatomy  of  thfi  Soul.  [Part.  1.  Sec.  1. 

excellent  consent  and  harmony  betwixt  them  :  but  that  is  now 
dissolved,  they  often  jar;  reason  is  overborne  by  passion, 

(Fertur  equisauriga;  neque  audit  currus  habenas) 

as  so  many  wild  horses  run  away  with  a  chariot,  and  will  uot 
be  curbed.  We  know  many  times  what  is  good,  but  will  not 
do  it,  as  she  said, 

^  Trahit  invitam  nova  vis  ;  aliudque  cupido, 

Mens  aliud,  suadet: 

lust  counsels  one  thing,  reason  another;  there  is  a  new  re- 
luctancy  in  men. 

^  Odi :  nee  possum,  cupiens,  non  esse,  quod  odi. 

We  cannot  resist ;  but,  as  Phaedra  confessed  to  her  nurse,  '^qiKS 
logueris,  vera  sunt ;  sed  Juror  suggerit  sequi  pejora :  she  said 
well  and  true  (she  did  acknowledge  it) ;  but  head-strong  pas- 
sion and  fury  made  her  to  do  that  which  was  opposite.  So 
David  knew  the  filthiness  of  his  fact,  what  a  loathsome,  foid, 
crying  sin  adultery  was ;  yet,  notwithstanding,  he  would  com- 
mit murther,  and  take  away  another  man's  wife — enforced, 
against  reason,  religion,  to  follow  his  appetite. 

Those  wa??ira/ and ue^e^a/ powers  are  notcommanded  by  will 
at  all ;  for  who  can  add  one  cubit  to  his  stature  ?  These  other 
may,  but  are  not :  and  thence  come  all  those  head-strong  pas- 
sions, violent  perturbations  of  the  mind,  and  many  times  vi- 
tious  habits,  customs,  feral  diseases,  because  we  give  so  much 
way  to  our  appetite^  and  follow  our  inclination,  like  so  many 
beasts.  The  principal  habits  are  two  in  number,  vertue  and 
vice,  whose  peculiar  definitions,  descriptions,  differences,  and 
kinds,  are  handled  at  large  in  the  ethicksy  and  are  indeed  the 
subject  of  moral  philosophy, 

MEMB.  III. 
SUBSECT.  1. 

Definition  of  Melancholy,  Name,  Difference. 

JJ-AVING  thus  briefly  anatomized  the  body  and  soul  of  man, 
as  a  preparative  to  the  rest — I  may  now  freely  proceed  to  treat 
of  my  intended  object  to  most  mens  capacity :  and,  after  many 
ambages,  perspicuously  define  what  thismelanchoiyis,  shew  his 
name,  and  differences.    The  7iame  is  imposed  from  the  matter, 

*  Medea,  Ovid.  ^  Ovid.  n  Seneca,  Hipp. 


Mem.  3.  Snbs.  1.]     Definition  of  Melancholy,  43 

and  disease  denominated  from  the  material  cause,  (as  Bruel  ob- 
serves) MfXayxoXiat,  quasi  MiXatv  xp^ri,  from  black  choler.  And 
whether  it  be  a  cause  or  an  effect,  a  disease  or  symptome,  let 
Donatus  Altomarus,  and  Salvianus,  decide ;  I  will  not  contend 
abftut  it.  It  hath  several  descriptions,  notations,  and  defini- 
tions. * Fracastorius,  in  his  second  book  of  intellect,  calls 
those  melancholy,  ichom,  abundance  of  that  same  depraved 
humour  of  black  choler  hath  so  misaffected,  that  they  become 
mad  thence,  and  dote  in  most  things,  or  in  all,  belonging  to 
election,  will,  or  other  manifest  operations  of  the  understanding. 
''Melanelius  out  of  Galen,  Ruffus,  Aetius,  describe  it  to  be  a 
had  and  peevish  disease,  which  makes  men  degenerate  into 
beasts;  Galen,  a  privation  or  infection  of  the  middle  cell  of  the 
heady  ^c.  defining*  it  from  the  part  aflfected  ;  which  '^ Flercules 
de  Saxonia  approves,  libA.  cap.  16.  calling-  it  a  deprivation  of 
the  priticipal  function  ;  Fuchsius,  lib.  1  cap.  ^3.  Arnoklus 
Breviar.  lib.  1.  cap  18.  Guianerius,  and  others.  By  reason  of 
black  choler,  Paulusadds.  Halyabbas  simply  calls  itacowwo- 
tion  of  the  mind;  Aretseus,  ^  a  perpetual  anguish  of  the  soul, 
fastened  on  one  thing,  without  an  ague ;  which  definition  of  his, 
Merrialis  (de  affect,  cap.  lib.  l.cap.  lO.)  taxeth ;  butTElianus 
Montaltus,  defends,  (lib.  de  morb.  cap  1.  de  Melan.)  for  sufli- 
cient  and  good.  The  common  sort  define  it  to  be  a  kind  of 
dotage  without  a  fever,  having,  for  his  ordinary  companions^ 
fear  and  sadness,  without  any  apparent  occasion.  So  doth 
Laurentius,  cap.  4.  Piso,  lib.  1.  cap.  43.  Donatus  Altomarus 
cap. 'J.  art.  medic.  Jacchinus,m  com.  in  lib.  9.  Rhasisad  Al- 
jnansor,  cap.  lo.  Valesius,  exerc.  IJ.  YuchHhvi,institut.  S.sec.l. 
c.  1 1,  ^c.  which  common  definition,  howsoever  approved  by 
most,  ^Hercules  de  Saxonia  will  not  allow  of,  nor  David  Cru- 
sius,  Theat.  morb.  Herm,  lib.  2.  cap.  6:  he  holds  it  insuffi- 
cient, ^as  rather  shewing  what  it  is  not,  than  what  it  is  ;  as 
omitting  the  specifical  difference,  the  phantasieand  brain:  but 
I  descend  to  particulars.  The  summum  genius  is  dotage,  or 
anguish  of  the  mind,  saith  Aretaeus  : — of  a  principal  part,  Her- 
cules de  Saxonia  adds,  to  distinguish  it  from  cramp  and  palsie, 
and  such  diseases  as  belong  to  the  outward  sense  and  motions  ; 
**  depraved,'*  ^to  distinguish  it  from  folly  and  madness,  (which 
Montaltus  makes  angor  a?imt  to  separate)  in  which  those  func- 
tions are  not  depraved,  but  rather  abolished ;   "  without  an 

a  Melancholicos  vocamus,  qnos  exsuperantia  vel  pravitas  melancholiae  ita  male 
habet,  ut  inde  insaniant  vel  in  omnibus,  vel  in  pluribus,  iisqne,  manifestis,  sive  ad  rec- 
tam  rationem,  voluntatem,  pertinent,  vel  electionem,  vel  intellectus  operationes.  •>  Pes- 
eimum  et  pertinacissirnura  morbum,  qui  homines  in  brnta  degenerare  cogit.  <^  Panth. 
Med.  d  Angor  animi  in  una  contentione  detixus,  absque  febre.  "Cap.  16. 

1.  1.  -  __  •  Eorum  definitio,  morbus  quid  non  sit,  potius  quam  quid  sit,  explicat. 
K  Animae  functiones  imminuntur  in  fatuitate,  toUuntur  in  mania,  depravantur  solum  in 
melaDchoIia.    Here,  de  Sax.  cap.  1.  tract,  de  Meiauch. 


M  Of  the  Parts  afectedy  tjc.      [Part.  1.  Sec.  1. 

aqne^  is  ailded  by  all,  to  sever  it'  from  phrensie,  and  that 
melanchoty  which  is  in  a  pestilent  fever.  '•^  Fear  and  son'o?^?' 
make  it  differ  from  madness:  ^^ without  a  caitse^'  is  lastly  in- 
serted, to  specific  it  from  all  other  ordinary  passions  of^Jear 
and  sorrow."  We  properly  call  that  dotage,as  "Laurentius  in- 
terprets it,  when  some  one  principal  J'aculty  of  the  mind,  as 
imagination  or  reason^  is  corrupted,  as  all  melancholy  persons 
have.  It  is  without  a  fever,  because  the  humour  is,  most  part, 
cold  and  dry,contrary  to  putrefaction.  Fear  and  sorroic  are  the 
true  characters  and  inseparable  companions  of  most  me/awcAo/?/, 
not  all,  as  Her.  de  Saxonia  (Tract,  postumo  de  Melancholia, 
cap.  2.)  well  excepts;  for,  to  some,  it  is  most  pleasant,  as  to 
such  as  laugh  most  part ;  some  are  bold  again,  and  free  from 
all  manner  of  fear  and  orrief,  as  hereafter  shall  be  declared. 


SUBSECT.  II. 
Of  the  parts  aff^ected.     Affection.     Parties  affected. 

oOME  difference  I  find  amongst  writers,  about  the  principal 
part  affected  in  this  disease,  whether  it  be  the  brain  or  heart, or 
some  other  member.  Most  are  of  opinion  that  it  is  the  brain  ; 
for,  being  a  kind  ot\lota(je,\t  cannot  otherwise  be,  but  that  the 
brain  must  be  affected,  as  a  similar  part,  be  it  by  ^  consent  or 
essence,  not  in  his  ventricles,  or  any  obstructions  in  them,  (for 
then  it  would  be  an  apoplexie,  or  epilepsie,  as  '^  Laurentius  well 
observes)  but  in  a  cold  dry  distemperature  of  it  in  his  sub- 
stance, which  is  corrupt  and  become  too  cold,  or  too  dry,  or 
else  too  hot,  as  in  madmen,  and  such  as  are  inclined  to  it : 
and  this  '^Hippocrates  confirms,  Galen,  Arabians, and  mositof 
our  new  writers.  Marcus  de  Oddis  (in  a  consultation  of  his, 
quoted  by ""  Hildesheim),  and  five  others  there  cited,  are  of  the 
contrary  part,  because  fear  and  sorroAv,  which  are  passions,  be 
seated  in  the  heart.  But  this  objection  is  sufficiently  answered 
by  *  Montaltus,  who  doth  not  deny  that  the  heart  is  affected  (as 
s  Melanelius  proves  out  of  Galen)  by  reason  of  his  vicinity  ; 
and  so  is  the  midriff  nnd  many  other  parts.  They  docom- 
pati,  and  have  a  fellow-feeling  by  the  law  of  nature  :  but,  for 
as  much  as  this  malady  is  caused  by  precedent  imaginaiion, 
with  the  appetite,  to  whom  spirits  obey ,and  are  subject  to  those 

''  Cap.  4.  de  inel.  h  Per  consensnni ,  sive  per  essentiam.  "  "^  Cap.  4. 

^^  niel,  ''  Sec  7.  He  mor.  vulgar,  lib.  6.  e  Spicil.  de  melancholia, 

f  Cap.  3.  de  niel.  Pars  aft'ecta  cerebrum,  sive  per  consensum,  sive  per  cerebrum  con- 
tingat;  et  proceitiui,  auctoritate  et  ratione  stabiliUir.  M  Lib.  de  mel.     Cor  vero, 

vicinitaiis  ratione,  una  aflicitiir,  ac  septum  tiaiisversuui,  ac  stomachus,  cum  dorsali 
spiua,  &c. 


Mem.  3.  Subs.  2.J     Oft/ie  Parts  affected,  ^c.  45 

principal  parts ;  the  brainmust  needs  primarily  be  mis-affected, 
as  the  seat  of  reason  ;  and  then  the  heart,  as  the  seat  of  affec- 
tion, ''Capivaccius  and  Merculialis  have  copiously  discussed 
this  question ;  and  both  conclude  the  object  is  the  inner 
brain,  and  from  thence  it  is  communicated  to  the  heart,  and 
other  inferiour  parts,  which  sympathize  and  aremuch  troubled, 
especially  when  it  comes  by  consent,  and  is  caused  by  reason  of 
the  stomach,  or  myrache  (as  the  Arabians  term  it),  or  whole 
body,  liver,  or  ^  spleen,  which  are  seldom  free,  pylorus  mesa- 
raick  veins,  ^-c.  For  our  body  is  like  a  clock ;  if  one  wheel  be 
amiss,  all  the  rest  are  disordered  ;  the  whole  fabrick  suffers ; 
with  such  admirable  art  and  harmony  is  a  man  composed, such 
excellent  proportion,  as  Lodovicus  Vives,  in  his  Fable  of 
man,  hath  elegantly  declared. 

As  many  doubts  almost  arise  about  the  "^  q^c^ion,  whether 
it  heimayination  or  reason  alone,  or  both,  Hercvdes  de  Saxo- 
nia  proves  it  out  of  Galen,  Aetius,  and  Altomarus,  that  the 
sole  fault  is  in  ''  imayination  ;  Bruel  is  of  the  same  mind:  Mon- 
taltus  (in  his  2  cap.  of  Melancholy )  confutes  this  tenet  of 
theirs,  and  illustrates  the  contrary  by  many  examples,  as  of 
him  that  thought  himself  a  shell-fish ;  of  a  nun,  and  of  a  des- 
perate monk  that  would  not  be  perswaded  but  that  he  was 
damned.  Reason  was  in  fault  (as  well  as  imagination),  which 
did  not  correct  this  error.  They  make  away  themselves  often- 
times, and  suppose  many  absurd  and  ridiculous  things,  ^hy 
doth  notreason  detect  the  fallacy,  settle,  and  perswade,  if  she 
be  free?  '^Avicenna  therefore  holds  both  corrupt;  to  M'hom 
most  Arabians  subscribe.  The  same  is  maintained  by  ^  Are- 
tceus,  Gorgonius,  §  Guianerius,  &c.  To  end  the  controversie, 
no  man  doubts  of  imagination,  but  that  it  is  hurt  and  misaf- 
fected  here.  For  the  other,  1  determine  (with  ^  Albertinus 
Bottonus,  a  doctor  of  Padua)  that  it  is  first  in  imagination, 
and  afterwards  in  reason,  if  the  disease  be  inveterate,  or  as  it 
is  of  more  or  less  of  continuance  ;  but  by  accident,  as '  Here, 
de  Saxonia  adds  :  faith,  opinion,  discourse,  ratiocination,  are 
all  accidentally  depraved  by  the  default  of  imagination. 

Parties  affected.^  To  the  part  affected,  I  may  here  add  the 
parties,  which  shall  be  more  opportunely  spoken  of  elsewhere 


a  Lib.  1.  cap.  10.     Subjectam  est  cerebrum  interius.  bRaro  quisqnam 

tnmoreni  eflFugit  lienis,  qui  hoc  inorb  afficitur.     Piso.     Qnis  affectns.  <"  See 

Donat.  ab  Altomar.  J  Facultas  iuiagiuandi,  non  co^tandi,  nee  memoraDdi, 

Isesa  hie.  «  Lib.  3.  Fen.  1.  Tract.  4.  cap.  8.  f  Lib.  3.  cap.  5.  (.'Lib. 

Med.  cap.  19.  part  2.  Tract.  15.  cap.  2.  hHildesheira,  spicil.  2.  de  Melanc. 

fol.  207,  et  fol.  127.  Quandoqne  etiam  rationalis  si  affectiis  inveteratas  sit.  'Lib. 
postnmo  de  Melanc.  edit  1620.  Depravatur  tides,  discnrsus,  opinio,  &c.  per  vitinm 
imaginationis,  ex  accidenti. 


46  Of  the  Parts  affected.         [Part  I.  Sec.  1. 

now  only  signified.  Such  as  liave  the  Moon,  Saturn,  Mer- 
cury iwiH'^&^cieA  in  their  genitures — such  as  live  in  over-cold, 
or  over-hot  climes — such  as  are  born  of  melancholy  parents, 
as  offend  in  those  six  non-natnra!  things,  are  black,  or  of  an 
high  sanguine  complexion,  "that  have  little  heads,  that  have 
a  hot  heart,  moist  brain,  hot  liver  and  cold  stomach,  have  been 
long  sick — such  as  are  solitary  by  nature,  great  students,  given 
to  much  contemplation,  lead  a  life  out  of  action — 'are  most  sub- 
ject to  melancholy.  Of  sexes,  both,  but  men  more  often  ;  yet 
^  women  mis-affected  are  far  more  violent,and  grievously  trou- 
bled. Of  seasons  of  the  year,  the  autumn  is  most  melancholy. 
Of  peculiar  times,  old  age,  from  which  natural  melancholy  is 
almost  an  inseparable  accident;  but  this  artificial  malady  is 
more  frequent  in  such  as  are  of  a  *=  middle  age.  Some  assign 
forty  years  ;  Gariopontus,  30 ;  Jubertus  excepts  neither  young- 
nor  old  from  this  adventitious.  ''Daniel  Sennertus  involves  all 
of  all  sorts,  out  of  common  experience;  in  omnibus  omnino  cor- 
poribus,  cujuscnnque  co;istitutionis,  dominatur:  Aetius  and 
Aretsenus  ascribe  intv>  the  number  not  only  ^  discontented,  pas- 
sionate, and  miserable  persons,  swarthy,  black,  but  such  as  are 
most  merry  and  pleasant,  scoffers,  and  high  coloured.  Generally, 
*saith  Rhasis,  "  the  finest  ivits,  and  most  generous  spirits,  are 
hej'ore  other,  obnoxious  to  it.  I  cannot  except  any  complexion, 
any  condition,  sex,  or  age,  but  ''fools  and  Stoicks,  which  (ac- 
cording- to  "Synesius)  are  never  troubled  with  any  manner  of 
passion,but(as  Anacreonscica</«,sf«e  sanguine et  dolor e) similes 
J'ere  diis  sunt.  Erasmus  vindicates  fools  from  this  melancholy 
catalogue,  because  they  have  most  part  moist  brains  and  light 
hearts ;  ^  thei/  are  Jree  J rom  ambition,  envy,  shame,  and  J'ear  ; 
they  are  neither  troubled  in  conscience,  nor  macerated  withcaresy 
tQ  ivhich  our  whole  lij'e  is  most  subject-  * 


a  Qui  parvum  caput  habent,  insensati  plerique  sunt.        Arist.  in  physiognomic. 
''Aretasus,  lib.  3.  c.  5.  <■  Qui  prope  statum  sunt.     Aret.     Mediis  convenit 

aetatibus.     Piso.  <•  De  quartano.  -  •=  Pronus  ad  melancholiam  non  tarn 

niaestiis,  sed  et  hilares,  jocosi,  cachinnantes,  irrisores,  et  qui  plerumque  prajrubri  sunt. 
fLib.  ).  part.  *i.  cap.  11.  gQui  suntsubtilis  ingenii,  etmulfse  perspicacitatis, 

de  facili  incidunt  in  melancholiam.  lib.  1.  cont.  tract.  9.  ^  Nunquam  sanitate 

mentis  excidit,  ant  dolore  capitur.     Erasm.  "In  laud,  calvit.  ''Vacant 

conscientise  carniticina,  nee  pudefiuut,  nee  verentnr,  liec  dilaceraatur  millibus  cura^ 
rum,  quibus  tola  vita  obnoxia  est, 


Mem.  3.  Sv.ha.  Jj.]       Matter  of  MduHcliolij.  47 

SUBSECT.  III. 
Of  the  matter  of  Melancholy. 

\JV  the  matter  of  melancholy,  there  is  much  question  be- 
twixt Avicen  and  Galen,  as  you  may  read  in  ^  Cardan's  Con- 
tradictions, ''Valesius  controversies,  31ontanus,  Prosper  Ca!e- 
nus,  Capivaccius, '^  Bright,  ''Ficinus,  that  have  written  either 
whole  tracts,  or  copiously  of  it,  in  their  several  treatises  of 
this  subject.  *=  What  this  hnmotir  is,  or  whence  it  proceeds, 
how  it  is  inr/endered  in  the  body,  neither  Galen,  nor  any  old 
writer,  hath  sufficiently  discussed,  as  Jacchinus  thinks ;  the 
neotericks  cannot  agree.  Montanus,in  his  consultations,  holds 
melancholy  to  be  material  or  immaterial ;  and  so  doth  Arcu- 
laniis.  The  material  is  one  of  the  four  humours  before  men- 
tioned, and  natural ;  the  i/«wj«fena? or  adventitious,  acquisite, 
redundant,  unnatural,  artificial,  which  '^Hercules  de  Saxonia. 
will  have  reside  in  the  spirits  alone,  and  to  proceed  from  an 
hot,  cold,  dry,  moist  distemperature,  ichich,  icithont  matter, 
alters  the  brain  aiid  functions  of  it,  Paracelsus  mIioIK-  re- 
jects and  derides  this  division  of  four  humours  and  com- 
plexions ;  but  our  Galenists  generally  approve  of  it,  subscrib- 
ing to  this  opinion  of  3Iontanus. 

This  material  melancholy  is  either  simple  or  mixt — offend- 
ing- in  (niantity  or  quality,  varying-  according  to  his  place, 
Mhere  it  setleth,  as  brain,  spleen,  mesaraick  veins,  heart, 
M'omb,  and  stomach — or  differing- according  to  the  mixture  of 
those  natural  humours  amongst  themselve;^,  or  four  unnatural 
adust  humours,  as  they  are  diversely  tempered  and  mingled. 
If  natural  melancholy  abound  in  the  body,  which  is  cold  and 
dry,  .sY>  that  it  be  more  ^  than  the  body  is  well  able  to  bear,  it 
must  needs  be  distempered  (saith  Faventius)  and  diseased  :  and 
so  the  other,  if  it  be  depraved,  whether  it  arise  from  that  other 
melancholy  o^choler  adust,  or  from  blood,  produceth  the  like 
efiects,  and  is,  as  Montaltus  contends,  if  it  come  by  adustion 
of  humours,  most  part  hot  and  dry.  Some  difference  I  find, 
whether  this  melancholy  matter  may  be  ingendred  of  all  four 
humours,  about  the  colour  and  temper  of  it.  Galen  holds  it  may 


'    a  Lib.  1.  tract.  3.  contradic.  18.  "'Lib.  1.  cont.  21.  ^Bright,  cap.  16. 

rt  Lib.  1.  cap.  6.  de  saoit.  tuenda.  c  Quisve  aut  qualis  sit  humor,  aut  qnas 

istius  differentia,  et  quomodo  fiisnatiir  in  corpore,  scrntaiidmn  ;  ac  enim  in  re  niulti 
veteram  laboraverunt ;  nee  facile  accipere  ex  Galeno  sententiam,  ob  loquendi  varie- 
tatem.  Leon.  Jac.  com.  in  9.  Rhasis,  cap.  ]6.  in  i'.  Khasis.  i  Tract,  postum. 

de  Melan.  edit.  Venetiis,  1620.  cap.  7  et  ,S.  Ab  inteinperie  calida,  hiimida,  &c. 
?  Secundnin  magis  aut  minii-s  :  si  in  corpore  fiierit  ad  inteniperiem,  plu!>qmun  corpus 
iialubriter  ferre  polerit ;  judt  corpus  morbosuin  efBcitiir. 


48  Matter  of  Melancholy .  [Part  I.  Sec.  1. 

))e  ingendred  of  three  alone,  excluding  flegm,  or  pituita ; 
whose  true  assertion  ^  Valesius  and  Menaraus stifly  maintain: 
and  so  doth  '' Fuchsius,  Montaltus, '^Montanus.  How  (say  they) 
can  white  become  black?  But  Hercules  de  Saxonia  {I. post,  de 
viela.  c.  8.)  and '^  Cardan  are  of  the  opposite  part  (it  may  be  in- 
gendred of  flegm,  e/siraro  con  fin  gat,  though  it  seldom  come  to 
pass);  so  is«Guianerius,andLaurentius(c.  l,),withMelancthon, 
(in  his  book  de  Animd,  and  chapter  of  humours;  he  calls  it 
asininam,  dull,  swinish  melancholy,  and  saith  that  he  was  an 
eye  witness  of  it) ;  so  is  *  Wecker.  From  melancholy  adust 
ariseth  one  kind,  from  choler  another,  which  is  most  brutish  ; 
another  from  flegm,  which  is  dull ;  and  the  last  from  bloody 
which  is  best.  Of  these,  some  are  cold  and  dry,  others  hot  and 
dry,  s  varying  according  to  their  mixtures,  as  they  are  intended 
and  remitted.  And  indeed, as  Rodericus  a  Fons.  (cons.  12.  /.) 
determines, ichorous,and  those  serous  matters,  being  thickned, 
become  flegm;  and  flegm  degenerates  into  choler;  choler  adust 
becomes  aniyinosa  melancholia,  as  vinegar  out  of  purest  wine 
putrified,  or  by  exhalation  of  purer  spirits,  is  so  made,  and  be- 
comes sowrandsharp;  and,  fromthesharpness  of  this  huniour, 
proceed  much  waking',  troublesome  thoughts  and  dreams,  &c, 
so  that  I  conclude  as  before.  If  the  humour  be  cold,  it  is 
(saith  ''  Faventinus)  a  cause  oj' dotage,  and  produceth  milder 
symptomes  :  ij'  hot,  they  are  rash,  raving  mad,  or  inclining  to 
it.  If  the  brain  be  hot,  the  animal  spirits  are  hot,  much  mad- 
ness follows,  with  violent  actions:  if  cold,  fatuity  and  sottish- 
ness  ('Capivaccius).  ''  The  colour  of  this  mixture  varies  like- 
wise according  to  the  mixture^  he  it  hot  or  cold  ;  ^tis  sometimes 
blacky  sometimes  not  (Altomarus).  The  same  'Melanelius 
proves  out  of  Galen  :  and  Hippocrates,  in  his  book  oi Melan- 
choly (if  at  least  it  be  his)  giving  instance  in  a  burning  coal, 
which,  when  it  is  hot,  shines,  when  it  is  cold,  looks  black ;  and 
so  doth  the  humour.  This  diversity  of  melancholy  matter  pro- 
duceth diversity  of  effects.  If  it  be  within  the  ""body,  and 
not  putrified,  it  causeth  black  jaundise;  if  putrified,  a  r|uartan 
ague  :  if  it  break  out  to  the  skin,  leprosie  ;  if  to  parts,  several 
maladies,  as  scurvy,  &c.  If  it  trouble  the  mind,  as  it  is  di- 
versely mixt,  it  produceth  several  kinds  of  madness  and  dot- 
age ;  of  which  in  their  place. 

aLib.  1.  controvers.  cap.  21.  b  Lib.  1.  sect.  4.  c.  4.  ^Concil.  26, 

•^Lib.  2.  contradic.  cap.  11.  «De  feb.  tract,  diff.  2.  c.  1.  Non  est  uegandum  ex 

hac  fieri  melancholicos.  fin  Syntax.         e  Varie  aduritur  et  miscetur,  nnde  varias 

amentium  species.  Melanct.  •'  Humor  frigidus  delirii  caussa ;  furoris  calidus,  &c. 

'Lib.  1.  cap.  10.  de  affect,  cap.  kNigrescit  hie  humor,  ah'quando  super- 

calefactus,  aliquando  superfrigefactus.  cap.  7.  i  Humor  hie  niger  aliquando 

prseter  modum  calefactus,  et  alias  refrigeratus  evadit:  nam  recentibus  carbonibus  ei 
f|uid  simile  accidit,  qui,  durante  flamma,  pellucidissime  candent,  ea  exstincta  prorsiis 
nigrescunt.     Hippocrates,  ™  Guianerius,  difl'.  2.  cap.  7. 


jVlem.  3.  Sub.s.  4.]      Species  oj  Me  lane  holy.  49 

8UBSECT.  IV. 

Of  the  species  or  kinds  oj^  Melancholy. 

1  ▼  HEN  llie  matter  is  divers  and  confused,  how  should  it 
otherwise  be,  but  that  the  species  should  be  divers  and  con- 
fused .''  Many  new  and  old  writers  have  spoken  confusedly  of  it, 
confoundinome/«w-cAo(?/  and madness,ns "Heurnius,Giiianerius, 
Gordoiiius,  Sallustius  Salvianus,  Jason  Pratensis,  Savanarola, 
that  will  have  madness  no  other  than  melancholy  in  extent,  difj 
fcriiig-  (as  1  have  said)  in  degrees.  Some  make  two  distinct 
species,  as  Rutfns  Ephesius  an  old  writer,  Oonstantinus, 
Africiiniis,  Aretaeus,  '^  Aurelianus, '  Paulus  iEgineta  :  others 
acknowledge  a  multitude  of  kinds,  and  leave  them  indetinite, 
as  A{5tius  (in  his  Tetrahiblos,)  ^  Avicenna  {lib.  3  Feri.  1  Tract. 
4.  cap.  18.),  Arculaiius,  {cap.  16.  in  9),  Rhasis,  Montanus 
{med.  part.  I).  ^ IJ' natural  melancholy  he  adust,  it  makeih 
one  kind ;  ij"  blood,  another  ;  ifcholer,  a  third,  differiny  from 
the  first ;  and  so  many  several  opinions  there  are  about  the  kinds  ^ 
as  there  be  men  themselves.  Hercules  de  Saxonia  sets  down 
two  kinds,  material  and  immaterial ;  one  from  spirits  alone, 
the  other  J'rom  humours  and  spirits.  Savanarola  (/?///;,  II, 
Tract.  ().  cap.  1.  de  a; gritud.  capitis)  will  have  the  kinds  to  be 
infinite;  one  from  the  myrache,  called  myrachialis  of  the 
Arabians  ;  another  stomachalis  from  the  stomach  ;  another 
from  the  liver,  heart,  womb,  hcemorrhoids ;  ^  one  beginning ^ 
another  consummate.  Melancthon  seconds  him;  ^us  the  hu- 
mour is  diversely  adust  and  mixt,  so  are  the  species  divers.  But 
what  these  men  speak  of  species,  1  think  ought  to  be  under- 
stood of  symptomes;  and  so  doth  'Arculanus  interpret  him- 
self: infinite  species,  id  est,  symptomes  :  and,  in  that  sense,  (as 
Jo.  Gorrhteus  acknowledgeth  in  his  medical  definitions)  the 
species  are  infinite  ;  but  they  may  be  reduced  to  three  kinds, 
by  reason  of  their  seat — head,  body,  and  hypoeondries.  This 
threefold  division  is  approved  by  Hippocrates  in  his  book  of 
Melancholy  (if  it  be  his,  which  some  suspect)  by  Galen  {lib.  a. 
de  loc  affectis^  cap.  6),  by  Alexander  (/j'6.  1.  cap  16,)  Rhasl% 
{lib.  1.  Continent.  Tract,  9.  lib.  1.  cap.  16),  Avicenna,  and 

aNon  est  mania,  nisi  estensa  melancholia.  ^Cap.  6.  lib.  1,  f  2Ser.  2. 

cap.  9.  Morbus  hio  est  oranifarius.  d  Species  iudefinitse  sunt.  *'  Si  aduratur 

naturalis  melancholia,  alia  sit  species  ;  si  sanguis,  alia  ;  si  flava  bilis,  alia,  diversa  a 
primis.  Maxima  est  inter  has  dillerentia;  et  tot  doctorum  senteutia",  qnot  ipsinumero 
sunt.  '  Tract,  de.  mel.  cap.  7.  ^Quapdara  inripiens,  quaedam  consummata. 

•^Cap.  de  humor,  lib.  de  anima.  Varie  aduritnr  et  miscetur  ipsa  melancholia;  unde 
variiB  amentium  species.  '  Cap.  16.  in  9.  Rhasis. 


50  Species  of  Melancholy.       [Part.  1 .  Sec,  I. 

most  of  our  new  writers.  Th.  Erastus  makes  two  kinds ;  one 
perpetual,  which  xahead melancholy ;  the  other  interrupt, which 
comes  and  goes  by  fits,  which  he  subdivides  into  the  other  two 
kinds,  so  that  all  comes  to  the  same  pass.  Some  ag-ain  make 
four  or  five  kinds  with  Rodericus  a  Castro  {de  morbis  mnlier. 
lib,  2.  c.  3.)  and  Lod.  Mercatus,  who  (in  his  second  book 
de  mulier.  affect,  cap.  4.)  will  have  that  melancholy  of  nuns, 
widows,  and  more  antient  maids,  to  be  a  peculiar  species  of 
melancholy  differing  from  the  rest.  Some  will  reduce  enthu- 
siasts, extatical  and  demoniacal  persons,  to  this  rank,  adding- 
^love  melancholy  to  the  first,  and  lycanthropia.  The  most 
received  division  is  into  three  kinds.  The  first  proceeds  from 
the  sole  fault  of  the  brain,  and  is  called  head  melancholy :  the 
second  sympathetically  proceeds  from  the  whole  body,  when 
the  whole  temperature  is  melancholy  ;  the  third  ariseth  from 
the  bowels,  liver,  spleen,  or  membrane  called  mesenterinm, 
named  hypocondriacal,  or  icindy  melancholy,  which  ^  Lau- 
rentius  subdivides  into  three  parts,  from  those  three  members, 
hepatich,  splenetick,  mesaraick.  Love  melancholy  (which  A  vi- 
cenna  calls ?7/w/j7')  and  lycanthropia  (which  he  calls  cncubnihe) 
are  commonly  included  in  head  melancholy  :  but  of  this  last 
(which  Gerardusde  Solo  calls  amoreos,  and  most  knir/ht  melafi- 
choly,)  with  that  of  reliyions  melancholy,  virginum  et  viduarum 
maintained  by  Rod.  a  Castro  and  Mercatus),  and  the  other 
kinds  of /ore  m€lancholy,lwi\\  speak  apart  by  themsel  vesin  my 
third  partition.  The  three  precedent  species  are  the  subject 
of  my  present  discourse,  which  I  will  anatomise,  and  treat 
of,  through  all  their  causes,  symptoraes,  cures  together,  and 
apart ;  and  every  man,  that  is  in  any  measure  affected  with 
this  malady,  may  know  how  to  examine  it  in  himself,  and 
apply  remedies  unto  it. 

It  is  a  hard  matter,  T  confess,  to  distinguish  these  three  spe- 
cies one  from  the  other,  to  express  their  several  causes,  symp- 
tomes,  cures,  being  that  they  are  so  often  confounded  amongst 
themselves,  having  such  affinity,  that  they  can  scarce  be  dis- 
cerned by  the  most  accurate  physicians ;  and  so  often  intermixt 
with  otherdiseases  that  the  best  experienced  have  beenplunged. 
Montanus  {consil.  26.)  names  a  patient  that  had  this  disease  of 
melancholy,  and  caninus  appetitus,hoth  together ;  and  {consiL 
23.)  with  vertigo — ^Julius  Csesar  Claudinus,  with  stone, 
gout,  jaundice — Trincavellius,  with  an  ague,  jaundice,  ca- 
ninus appetitns,  S^c.  ''  Paulus  Regoline,  a  great  doctor  in 
his  time,  consulted  in  this  case,  was  so  confounded  with  a 
confusion  of  symptomes,  that  he  knew  not  to  what  kind  of 

="  LaurentiuS;  cap.  4.  de  mel.  ^Cap.  13.  1 480.  et  116  consult, 

consil,  ] '2.  fi  HHdeshieni,  spicil.  2.  fol.  166. 


Memb.  3.  Subs.  4.]     Species  of  Melancholy.  51 

melancholy  to  refer  it.  ''Trincavellius,  Fallopius,  andFran- 
canzanus,  famous  doctors  in  Italy,  all  three  conferred  with 
about  one  party  at  the  same  time,  gave  three  different  opinions: 
and,  in  another  place,  Trincavellius  being  demanded  \vhat  he 
thought  of  a  melancholy  young  man,  to  whom  he  was  sent 
for,  ingenuously  confessed  that  he  was  indeed  melancholy, 
but  he  knew  not  tOM'hat  kind  to  reduce  it.  In  his  seventeenth 
consultation,  there  is  the  like  disagreement  about  a  melancholy 
monk.  Those  symptomes,  which  others  ascrii)e  to  misaftect- 
ed  parts  and  humours,  ''Here,  de  Saxonia  attributes  wholly 
to  distempered  spirits,  and  those  immaterial,  as  I  have  said. 
Sometimes  they  cannot  well  discern  this  disease  from  others. 
In  Reinerus  Solinanders  Counsels,  sect,  consil.  5.  he  and  Dr. 
Brande  both  agreed,that  the  patients  disease  washypochondria- 
cal  melancholy.  Dr.  Matholdus  said  it  was  asthma,  and  no- 
thing else.  "  Solinander  and  Guarionius,  lately  sent  for  to  the 
melancholy  duke  of  Cleve,  with  others,  could  not  define  what 
species  it  was,  or  agree  amongst  themselves;  the  species  are  so 
confounded  ;  as  in  Cassar  Claudinus  his  forty  fourth  consulta- 
tion for  a  Polonian  count :  in  his  judgement,  '^  he  laboured  of 
head  melancJwli/,  and  that  which  proceeds Jrom  their  hole  tem- 
perature, both  at  once.  1  could  give  instance  of  some  that  have 
had  all  three  kinds  semel  etsimnl,  and  some  successively.  So 
that  I  conclude  ofour  melancholy  species,  as  ^  many  politicians 
do  of  their  pure  forms  of  common- wealths — monarchies,  aris- 
tocracies, democracies,  are  most  famous  in  contemplation;  but, 
in  practice,  they  are  temperate  and  usually  mixt,  (so  *  Polybius 
enformeth  us)  as  the  Lacedfemonian,  the  Roman  of  old 
German  now,  and  many  others.  What  physicians,  say  of  dis- 
tinct species  in  iheir  books,  it  much  matters  not,  since  that  in 
their  patients  bodies  they  are  commonly  mixt.  In  such  ob- 
scurity therefore,  variety  and  confused  mixture  of  symptomes, 
causes,  how  difficult  a  thing  is  it  to  ti'eat  of  sev^eral  kinds  apart; 
to  make  any  certainty  or  distinction  among  so  many  casualties, 
distractions,  when  seldom  two  men  shall  be  like  affected  per 
omnia  !  'Tis  hard,  I  confess ;  yet  nevertheless  I  Avill  adventure 
through  the  midst  of  these  perplexities,  and,  led  by  the  clue  or 
thread  of  the  best  writers,  extricate  myself  out  of  a  labyrinth 
of  doubts  and  errours,  and  so  proceed  to  the  causes. 

»  Trincavellius,  torn.  1.  consil.  15  et  16.  ^Cap.  13.  tract,  post,  de  inelan. 

<•-  Guarion.  cons.  raed.  2.  d£,aboravit  per  essentiam,  et  a  toto  corpore.  *  Ma- 

chiavel,  &c.  Sraithus,  de  rep.Angl.  cap.  8.  lib.  1.  Buscoldus,  discur.  polit  discurs.  5 
•ap.  7.  Arist.  1.  3.  polit.  cap.  ult     Keckerm.  alii,  &c.  '  Lib.  6. 


52  '         ,      Causes  of  Melancholy.       [Part.  1.  Sec.  I. 


SECT.  II. 

MEMB.  I. 

SUBSECT.  I. 

Causes  of  Melancholy.     God  a  cause. 

IT  is  in  vain  to  speak  of  cures,  or  think  oj"  remedies,  until  such 
time  as  we  have  considered  oj"  the  causes  ;  so  ^Galen  prescribes 
(Glauco);  and  the  common  experience  of  others  confirms,  that 
those  cures  must  be  unperfect,  lame,  and  to  no  purpose,where- 
inthe  causes  have  not  first  been  searched,  as  ''Prosper  Calenius 
well  observesin  his  tract  dealra  bile  to  Cardinal  Csesius  :  inso- 
much that^Ferneliusj9?/i.§  a  kind  of  necessity  in  the  knowledge 
oJ"  the  causes,  and,  unthout  ivhich,  it  is  impossible  to  cure  or 
prevent  any  manner  of  disease.  Empericks  may  ease,  and  some- 
times help,but  not  thoroughly  root  out :  sublatd  caussd,  tollitur 
effectus,  as  the  saying  is ;  if  the  cause  be  removed,  the  effect  is 
likewise  vanqnished.  It  is  a  most  difficult  thing  (I  confess) 
to  be  able  to  discern  these  causes,  whence  they  are,  and,  in 
such  "^  variety,  to  say  what  the  beginning  was.  ^  He  is  happy 
that  can  perform  it  aright.  I  will  adventure  to  guess  as  near 
as  I  can,  and  rip  them  all  up,  from  the  first  to  the  last, yeneral, 
and  particular  to  every  species,  that  so  they  may  the  better 
be  descried. 

General  causes  are  either  supernatural  or  natural.  Super- 
natural are  from  God  and  his  angels,  or,  by  Gods  permission 
from  the  devil  and  his  ministers.  That  God  himself  is  a 
cause  for  the  punishment  of  sin,  and  satisfaction  of  his  justice, 
many  examples  and  testimonies  of  holy  Scriptures  make  evi- 
dent unto  us:  Psal.  107-  17.  Foolish  men  are  plagued  for 
their  offence,  and  by  reason  of  their  wickedness  :  Gehazi  was 
strucken  with  leprosie  (2  Reg.  5.  2J,)  Jehoram  with  dysentery 
and  flux,  and  great  distress  of  the  bowels  (2  Chron.  21.  15,) 
David  plagued  for  numbering  his  people  (I  Par.  21),  Sodom 
and  Gomorrah  swallowed  up.  And  this  disease  is  peculiarly 
specified,  Psal.  127.  12.  He  brought  down  their  heart  through 
heaviness.  Deut.  28.  28.  He  stroke  them  with  madness^ 
blindness,  and  astonishment  of  heart.     ^  An  evil  spirit  teas 


a  Primo  artis  curativae.  ^  Nostri  pritnum  sit  propositi  affectioniim  caussas 

indagare.  Res  ipsa  hortari  videtur ;  namalioqni  earum  curatio  manca  et  inutilis  esset. 
cPath.  lib.  1.  cap.  11.  Rerum  cognoscere  caussas,  medicis  imprimis  neces?arium; 
sine  quo,  nee  morbum  curare,  nee  pracavere,  licet.  <l  Tanta  eniiu  niorbi  vanetas 

ac  differentia,  ut  non  facile  dignoscatnr,  unde  initinra  morbus  sumpserit.  Melanelius, 
e  Galeno.  «Felix,  qui  potuit  rerum  cognoscere  caussas  !  H  Sam.  K?.  14. 


Memb.  1.  Subs.  ].]      Cavses  of  Melancholy.  53 

se7it  bff  the  Lord  npon  Sani,  to  vex  him.  *  Nebuchadnezzar 
did  eat  grass  like  an  oxe  ;  and  his  heart  was  made  like  the 
beasts  of  the  field.  Heathen  stories  are  full  of  such  punish- 
ments. Lycurg-us,  because  he  cut  down  the  vines  in  the 
country,  was  by  Bacchus  driven  into  madness ;  so  wasPentheus 
and  his  mother  Aj^ave,  for  neglecting-  their  sacrifice.  ^  Censor 
Fulvius  ran  mad  for  untiling  Juno's  temple,  to  cover  a  new  one 
of  his  own,  which  he  had  dedicated  to  Fortune,  ""  and  teas 
coi  founded  to  death  icith  r/riefand  sorrow  of  heart.  When 
Xerxes  would  have  spoiled  **  Apollos  temple  at  Delphos  of 
those  infinite  riches  it  possessed,  a  terrible  thunder  came  from 
heaven,  and  struck  4000  men  dead;  the  rest  ran  mad.  "A 
little  after,  the  like  happened  to  Brennus  (lightning-,  thunder, 
earthfjuakes)  upon  sucn  a  sacrilegious  occasion.  If  we  may 
believe  our  pontificial  writers,  they  will  relate  unto  us  many 
strange  and  prodigious  punishments  in  this  kind,  inflicted  by 
their  saints  ; — how  ^  Clodovseus,  sometime  king  of  France,  the 
son  of  Dagobert,  lost  his  wits  for  uncovering  the  body  of  S. 
Denis  ;  and  how  a  ?  sacrilegious  Frenchman,  that  would  have 
stolen  away  a  silver  image  of  S.  John,  at  Birgburge,  became 
frantick  on  a  suddain,  raging  and  tyrannizing-  over  his  oavu 
flesh  ; — of  a  ^  lord  of  Rhodnor,  that,  coming-  from  hunting  late 
at  night,  put  his  dogs  into  S.  Avans  church,  (Llan  Avan  they 
called  it)  and,  rising  betimes  next  morning,  as  hunters  use  to 
do,  found  all  his  dogs  mad,  himself  being  suddenly  strucken 
blind; — of  Tiridates,  an  '  Armenian  king,  for  violating  some 
holy  nuns,  that  Avas  punished  in  like  sort,  with  loss  of  his  wits. 
But  poets  and  papists  may  go  together  for  fabulous  tales  ;  let 
them  free  their  own  credits.  Howsoever  they  fain  of  their 
Nemesis,  and  of  their  saints,  or,  by  the  devils  means,  may  be 
deluded  ;  Ave  find  it  true,  that  nltor  a  terc/o  Dens,  ^  He  is  God 
the  ai"r?;*/7er, as  David  stiles  him  ;  and  that  it  is  our  crying  sins 
that  pull  this  and  many  other  maladies  on  our  own  heads  ; 
that  he  can,  by  his  angels,  which  are  his  ministers,  strike  and 
heal  (saith  'Dionysius)  Avhomhe  Avill  ;  that  he  can  plague  us 
by  his  creatures,  sun,  moon,  and  stars,  Avhich  he  useth  as  his 


»  Dan.  5.  21.  •>  Lactant.  instit.  lib.  2.  cap.  8.  «  fllente  captns,  et  smnrao 

animi  niarovp  consumptus,  ^  Munster.  cosmog.  lib.  4.  cap.  43.      De  coelo 

siibsternebantur  ;  tnniqiiam  insani,  de  saxis  praecipitati,  Sec.  ''Livius,  lib.  3.S. 

fOaguin.  1.  3.  c.  4.  Qnod  Dionysii  corpus  discoopenierat,  in  insaDiam  incidit. 
gldeii),  lib.  9.  sub  Carol.  6.  Sacrorutn  contemptor,  templi  foribus  eftractis,  dum 
D.  Johannis  argenteam  sinialacrum  rapere  contendit,  simulacrum  aversa  facie  dorsum 
eiversat;  nee  mora,  sacrilegus  mentis  inops,  atque  in  semet  insaniens,  in  proprios 
artus  desaent.  hGiraldns  Cambrensis,  lib.  1.  cap.  1.     Itinerar.  Cambria;, 

i  Delrio,  torn.  3.  lib.  8.  sect.  3.  quaesL  3.  kPsal.  44.  I.  iLib.  8. 

cap.  de  Hierar. 


54  Causfisof  3Iol(tnchohj.     [Part.  1 .  .Soc.  5. 

instruments,  as  a  lnis]>andnian  (saith  Zanchius)  dofli  an 
Latchet     Hail,  snow,  winds,  &c. 

(^Et  conjurati  veniunt  in  classica  venti; 

as  in  Joshuas  time,  as  in  Pharaohs  reign  in  ^Egypt)  they  are 
but  as  so  many  executioners  of  his  justice.  He  can  make  tlie 
proudest  spirits  stoop,  and  cry  out,  with  Julian  tlie  Apostate, 
Vicistl,  GaUlcce  !  or,  with  A  polios  priest  in '' Chrysostome,  O 
cfehini!  O  terra!  uncle  hostl'i  Inc  ?  What  an  esiemy  is  this  ? 
and  pray  with  David,  acknowledging-  his  power,  /«m  iceakened 
find  sore  hroken  ;  I  roar  for  the  firiej' of  mhie  heart ;  mine  heart 
panteth,  S^c.  (Psal.  38.  8.)  O  Lord,  rebuke  me  not  in  thine 
anger,  neither  chastise  me  in  thy  wrath  (Psal.  38.  1 ).  Make  me 
to  hear  joy  and  gladness,  that  the  bones  ivhich  thou  hast  hroken, 
may  rejoice  (Psal.  51  •  8.  and  verse  12.)  Restore  to  me  the  joy 
of' thy  salvation,  and  stablish  me  with  thy  free  spirit.  For  these 
causes,belike,'=Hippocrates  would  haveaphysician  takespecial 
notice  whether  the  disease  come  not  from  a  divine  supernatural 
cause,  or  whether  it  follow  the  course  of  nature.  But  this  is 
farther  discussed  by  Fran.  Valesius(</e  sacr.  philos.  cap.  8.), 
'^  Fernelius,  and  ^  J.  Caesar  Claudinus,  to  whom  T  refer  you, 
how  this  place  of  Hippocrates  is  to  be  understood.  Paracelsus 
is  of  opinion,  that  such  spiritual  diseases  (for  so  he  calls  them) 
are  spiritually  to  be  cured,  and  not  otherwise.  Ordinary 
means  in  such  cases  will  not  avail  :  non  est  reluctandum  cum 
Deo,  When  that  monster-taming-  Hercules  overcame  all  in 
the  Olympicks,  Jupiter  at  last,  in  an  unknown  shape^  wrestled 
with  him  ;  the  victory  was  uncertain,  till  at  length  Jupiter 
descried  himself,  an(i  Hercules  yielded.  No  striving  with 
supream  powers  : 

Nil  juvat  immensos  Cratero  promittere  moutes  : 

physicians  and  physick  can  do  no  good  ;  hve  must  submit  our- 
selves under  the  mighty  Aawr/o/'Gorf,acknowledge  our  offences, 
call  to  him  for  mercy.  If  he  strike  us,  una  eademcpie  maims 
vulnus  opemque  feret,  as  it  is  with  them  that  are  wounded  with 
the  spear  of  Achilles;  he  alone  must  help;  otherwise  our 
diseases  are  incurable,  and  we  not  to  be  relieved. 


aClandian.  •'De  Babila  martyre.  cLib.  cap.  5.  prog.  (iLib.  J. 

de  abditis  rerum  caussis.  'Respons.  med.  12.  resp.  f  1.  Pet.  5.  6. 


Mem.  1.  Subs.  2.]     Causes  of  Melancholy.  55 


SUBSECT.  II. 


A  Digression  of  the  natvre  of  Spirits,  bad  Angels,  or  Devils, 
and  hoiv  they  cause  Melancholy. 

jljLOW  far  the  power  of  spirits  and  devils  doth  extend,  and 
whether  they  can  cause  this  or  any  other  disease,  is  a  serious 
question,  and  worthy  to  be  considered  :  for  the  better  under- 
standing of  which,  1  will  make  a  brief  digression  of  the  nature 
of  spirits.  Andjalthoug-h  the  question  be  very  obscure(accord- 
ing-  to  '"  Postellusj^w//  of  controversie  and  amhignity,  beyond 
thereach  of  humanecapacity — {fateor  excedere  vires  intentionis 
meroe,  saith  ^  Austin  ;  I  confess  1  am  not  able  to  understand  it; 
finitum  de  infmto  non  potest  statuere :  we  can  sooner  determine 
with  Tully,  {de  nat.  deorum,)  quid  non  sint,  quam  quid  sint ;  our 
subtle  schoolmen,Cardans,  Scaligers,  profound  Thomists,jPra- 
castorianaetFerneliana  acies,  are  weak,  dry,obscure,defective, 
in  these  mysteries  ;  and  all  our  quickest  wits,  as  an  owles  eyes 
at  the  sun's  light,  wax  dull, and  are  not  sufficient  to  apprehend 
them) — yet,  as  in  the  rest,  I  will  adventure  to  say  something  to 
this  point.  In  former  times,  (as  we  read,  Acts  23,)  the  Saddu- 
cees  denied  that  there  were  any  such  spirits,  devils,  or  angels. 
So  did  Galen  the  physician,  the  Peripateticks,  even  Aristotle 
himself,  as  Pomponatius  stoutly  maintains,  and  Scaliger  in 
some  sort  grnnts;  though  Dandinus the  Jesuite  {com.  in  lib.^.de 
animd)  stifly  denies  it.  Snbstantice  separata,  and  intelligences, 
arethesamewhichChristians  call  angels, and Platonists  devils; 
for  they  name  all  the  spirits,  doemones.  be  they  good  or  bad  an- 
gels, as  Julius  Pollux  {Onomnsticon,  lib.  1.  cap.  1.)  observes. 
Epicures  and  atheists  are  of  the  same  mind  in  general, because 
they  never  saw  them.  Plato,  Plotinus,  Porphyrins,  Jamblicus, 
Proclus,(insisting  in  the  steps  ofTrisniegistus,Pythagorasand 
Socrates)  make  no  doubt  of  it ;  nor  Stoicks,  but  that  there  are 
such  spirits,  though  much  erring  from  the  truth.  Concerning 
the  first  beginning  of  them,  the  '^  Thalmudists  say  that  Adam 
had  a  wife  called  Lilis,  before  he  married  Eve,  and  of  her  he 
begat  nothing  but  devils.  The  Turks ''  Alcoran  is  alto^ciher  as 
absurd  and  ridiculous  in  this  point ;  but  the  scripture  informs 


»  Lib.  1.  c.  7.  de  orbis  concordift.   In  nulla  re  msjor  foit  altercatio,  major  ohscan'tas, 
minor  opinionum  concordia  quam  de  dxmoDlbus  et  snbstantiis  separati-:.  •'Lib.  .3. 

de  Trinit.  Cap.  1.  ''  Pererius,  in  Genesin,  lili.  4.  in  cap.  3.  v.  23  J  See 

Strozzius  Cifo<jna,  omnifarae  Mag.  lib.  2.  c.  15.  J.  Aubanus,  Bredenbailiius. 

VOL.  I.  N 


66  Nature  of  Devils.  [Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

us  Christians,  how  Lucifer,  the  chief  of  them,  with  his  asso- 
ciates, '^  fell  from  heaven  for  his  pride  and  ambition — created 
of  God,  placed  in  heaven,  and  sometimes  an  angel  of  light, 
now  cast  down  into  the  lower  aerial  sublunary  parts,  or  into 
hell,  and  delivered  into  chains  of  darkness  (2  Pet.  2.  4.)  to  be 
kept  unto  damnatijon. 

J^ature  of  Devilt^^  There  is  a  foolish  opinion,  which  some 
hold,  that  they  are  tne  souls  of  men  departed;  good  and  more 
noble  were  deified  ;  the  baser  groveled  on  the  ground,  or  in 
the  lower  parts,  and  we«e  devils  ;  the  which,  with  Tertullian, 
Porphyrins  the  philosopher,  M.  Tyrius,  ser.  27.  maintains. 
These  spirits,  he  ^  saith,  ivhich  we  call  angels  and  devils,  are 
nought  but  souls  of  men  departed,  which,  either  through  love 
and  pity  of  their  friends  yet  living,  help  and  assist  theniy 
or  else  persecute  their  enemies,  whom  they  hated ;  as  Dido 
threatned  to  persecute  ^Eneas  : 

Omnibus  umbra  locis  adero  :  dabis,  improbe,  poenas. 

They  are  (as  others  suppose)appointed  by  those  higher  pow- 
ers to  keep  men  from  tneir  nativity,  and  to  protect  or  punish 
them,  as  they  see  cause ;  and  are  called  boni  and  mali  genii 
by  the  Romans — heroes,  lares,  if  good,  lemures  or  larvas,  if  bad 
— by  the  Stoicks,  governours  of  countries,  men,  cities,  saith 
•^Apuleius ;  Deos  appellant,  qui  ex  hominum  numero,  juste  ac 
prudenter  vitce  curriculo  gubernato,pro  numine,  postea  ab  ho- 
minibus  prcsditifanis  et  cceremoniis  vulgo  admittuntur,  ut  in 
Mgypto  Osiris,  Sfc.  Prwstites  Capella  calls  them  ivhich  pro- 
tected  particular  men  as  well  as  princes.  Socrates  had  his 
dasmonium  saturninum  et  igneum,  which,  of  all  spirit  is  best, 
ad  sublimes  congitationes  animum  erigentem,  as  the  Platonists 
supposed;  Plotinus  his;  and  we  Ciiristians,  our  assisting  an- 
gel, as  Andreas  Victorellas,  a  copious  writer  of  this  subject, 
Ludovicus  de  La  Cerda  the  Jesuite,  in  his  voluminous  tract  de 
Angela  Custode,  Zanchiiis,  and  some  divines  think.  But  this 
absurd  tenet  of  Tyrius,  Proclus  confutes  at  large  in  his  book 
de  Anima  et  D<smone. 

^  Psellus,  a  Christian  and  sometimes  tutor  (saith  Cuspinian) 
to  Michael  Parapinatius,  emperourof  Greece,  a  great  observer 
of  the  nature  of  devils,  holds  they  are  *  corporeal,  and  have 
aerial  bodies ;  that  they  are  mortal,  live  and  dye  (which  Martia- 
nusCapella  likewise  maintains,  butourChristian  pholosophers 


'•' Aiigelus  per  superbiiim  sepnratus  a  Deo,  qui  invcritate  nonstctit,  Austin.  ^  Ni- 
hil aliud  sunt  Dajnioiies,  quaiii  nuriw  aninui-,  qua?,  coipore  deposito,  priorem  miserati 
vitam,  co.^natis  snccurrnnt,  eoininoti  inisfricordiA,  &c.  *'i)e  Dto  Socratis. 

d  He  lived  500  years  since.  *  Apnleius,     Spiritns  aniiiialia  sunt  animo  passibilia, 

mente  rationalia,  corpore  aeria,  tempore  .sempiterna. 


Mem.  I.  Subs.  2]       JS'ature  of  Demh.  57 

explode);  that '  they  are  nourished,  and  have  pxcrementsi ;  that 
they  feel  pain,,  if  they  he  hnrt  {\\h\c\\  Cardan  confirms,  and 
Scaliger  justly  laughs  him  to  scorn  for;  .si  pascantur  acre, 
cur  non  pur/nant  ob  pnrioretn  aera  ?  ^~c.)  or  stroken:  and  if 
their  bodies  be  cut,  with  admirable  celerity  they  come  tooe- 
ther  again.  Austin  [in  Gen.  lib.  3.  Uh.  arbit.)  approves  as 
much  :  nintata  cam  corpora  in  deterioi-em  analitatem  aeris 
spissioris:  so  doth  Hieroni  {Commeyit.  in  epii^t.  ad  Ephes. 
cap.  3.),  Origen,  Tertullian,  Lactantius,  and  many  ancient 
fathers  of  the  church,  that,  in  their  fall,  their  bodies  were 
changed  into  a  more  aerial  and  gross  substance.  Bodine 
lib.  4.  Theatri  Naturce,)  and  David  Crusius  {Hermeticce 
Philosophies  lib  4.  cap.  4 )  by  several  arguments  proves  an- 
gels and  spirits  to  be  corporeal :  quidqnid  continetur  in  loco^ 
corporemn  est :  at  spiritus  continetiir  in  loco .  ergo.  Sispiritns 
sunt  quanti,  erunt  corporei:  at  sunt  quanti,  ergo.  Sunt  finiti^ 
ergo  quanti,  S)C.  ^  Bodine  goes  further  yet,  and  will  have  these 
anim(B  separatee,  c/enii,  spirits,  angels,  devils,  and  so  likewise 
souls  of  men  departed,  if  corporeal  (which  he  most  eagerly 
contends),  to  be  of  some  shape,  and  that  absolutely  round,  like 
sun  and  moon,  becaiise  that  is  the  most  perfect  form,  qua;  nihil 
habit  asperitatis,nihilangulis  incisum,  nihil  anfractibus  involu- 
tum,nihileminens,  sedinter  corpora perf ecf a  est perfectissimum  : 
therefore  all  spirits  are  corporeal  (he  concludes),  and  in  their 
proper  shapes  round.  That  they  can  assume  other  aerial  bodies, 
all  manner  of  shapes  at  their  pleasures,  appear  in  what  likeness 
they  will  themselves  ;  that  they  are  most  swift  in  motion,  can 
pass  many  miles  in  an  instant,  and  so  likewise  '^transform  bodies 
of  others  into  what  shape  they  please,  and  with  admirable  cele- 
rity remove  them  from  place  to  place;  (as  the  angel  did  Ha- 
bakkuk  to  Daniel,and  as  Philip  the  deacon  was  carried  awayby 
thespirit,when  he  had  baptised  the  eunuch  ;  so  did  Pythagoras 
and  Apollonius  remove  themselves  and  others, with  manysuch 
feats)  that  they  can  represent  castles  in  the  ayre,  pallaces, 
armies,  spectnuns,  prodigies,  and  such  strange  objects  to  mor- 
tal mens  eyes,  ''  cause  smells,  savours,  &c.  deceive  all  the 
senses  ;  most  writers  of  this  subject  credibly  believe  ;  and  that 
they  can  foretell  future  events,  and  do  many  strange  miracles 


»Nntniintar,  et  excreroenta  habent;  quod  pnlsata  doleant,  solido  pprciissa  corpora. 
•'  Lib.  4.  Theol   nat.  fol.  535.  cCyprianus,  in  Epist.  Monies  etiam  et  animalia 

transferri  possnnt :  as  the  devil  did  Christ  to  the  top  of  the  pinnacle  ;  and  witches  are 
often  translated.  See  more  in  Stroz/ius  Cicogna,  lib  .3.  cap.  4.  oninif.  nia^.  Peraera 
8'ibducere,  et  in  sublime  corpora  ferre  possunt.  Biarimnns.  — {\icussi  dolent,  et 
ijruntnr  in  conspicnos  cineres.      Agrippa,  lib.  3.  cap.  de  occul.  Philos.  <' Acrippa, 

de  occull.  Philos.  :ib.  3.  cap.  18.  ^    W  > 


58  Nature  of  Devils,         [Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

Junos  imag-e  spake  to  Camillus,  and  Fortunes  statue  to  the 
Roman  matrons,  with  many  such.  Zanchius,Bodine,  Sponda- 
nus,  and  others,  are  of  opinion  that  they  cause  a  true  metamor- 
phosis, (as  Nebuchadnezar  was  really  translated  into  a  beast, 
Lots  M'ife  into  a  pillar  of  salt,  Ulysses  companions  into  hog's 
and  dogs  by  Circes  charms)  turn  themselves  and  others,as  they 
do  witches  into  cats,  dogs,  hares,  crows,  &c.(Strozzius  Cicogna 
hath  many  examples,  lib.  3.  omnif.  mag.  cap  4.  et  5.  which  he 
there  confutes,  as  Austin  likewise  doth,  de  civ.  Dei  lib.  IS.) — 
that  they  can  be  seen  when  and  in  what  shape,  and  to  whom 
they  will  (saith  Psellus,  Tametsi  nil  tale  viderim,  nee  optem 
videre,  though  he  himself  never  saw  them  nor  desired  it),  and 
use  sometimes  carnal  copulation  (as  elsewhere  1  shall  ^  prove 
more  at  large)  with  women  and  men.  Many  will  not  believe 
they  can  be  seen ;  and,  if  any  man  shall  say,  swear,  and  stifly 
maintain,  (though  he  be  discreet  and  wise,  judicious  and  learn- 
ed) that  he  hath  seen  them,  they  account  him  a  timorous  fool, 
a  melancholydizard,  a  weak  fellow,  a  dreamer,  a  sick  or  a  mad 
man  ,■  they  contemn  him,  laugh  him  to  scorn  ;  and  yet  Marcus, 
of  his  credit,  told  Psellus,  that  he  had  often  seen  them.  And 
Leo  Suavius,  a  Frenchman,  (c  8.  inCommentar.l.  l.Paracelsi 
de  vita  louffd,  out  of  some  Platonists)  will  have  the  ayre  to  be 
as  full  of  them  as  snow  falling  in  the  skies,  and  that  they  may 
be  seen,  and  withal  sets  down  the  means  how  men  may  see 
them  ;  Si  irreverberatis  oculis^  sole  splendente,  versus  caelum 
co?iti?iuaverint  obtutus,  ^c.and  saith  moreover  he  tryed  it,(/)rcB- 
missorumjeci  experimentum)Hnd  it  was  true,  that  the  Platonists 
said.  Paracelsus  confesseth  that  he  saw  them  divers  times  and 
conferred  with  them  ;  and  so  doth  Alexander  ab  ^  Alexandro, 
that  he  sojound  it  by  experience,  when  as  bej'ore  he  doubted  of 
it.  Many  deny  it,  saith  Lavater,  {de  spectris,  part.  1.  c.  2.  et 
part  2.  c.  1  I.)  because  they  never  saw  themselves :  But,  as  he 
reports  at  large  all  over  his  book,  especially  c.  19.  part.  1,  they 
are  often  seen  and  heard,  and  familiarly  converse  with  men,  as 
Lod.  Vives  assureth  us,  innumeral)le  records,  histories,  and 
testimonies  evince  in  all  ages,  times,  places,  and  ^all  travellers 
besides.  In  the  West  Indies,  and  our  northern  climes,  7iihil 
familiar  ills  quam  in  agris  et  urbibns  spiritus  videre,  audirey 
qui  vetent,  jubeant,  Sfc.  Hieronynius  {vita  Panli),  Basil  {ser- 
40),  Nicephorus,  Eusebius,  Socrates,  Sozomenus,  '^Jacobus 
Boissardus  (in  his  tract  despirituum  apparitionibus),   Petrus 


»  Part.  3.  sect.  2.  Mem.  Sabs.  1.  Love  Melancholy.  •>  Genial,  dieriim 

Ita   sibi   visum  et  compertum,    quuin    prins,  an    essent,  ambigeret  — Fidem    suam 

libeiet                 i  Lib,  1.  de  verit.  Fidei.  Bcnzo,  &c.  ^  £,iij_  jg  Divinatione 
et  Magia. 


Mem.  1.  Subs.  2.]         Nature  of  Devils.  59 

Loyerus  (/.  de  spectris)W\evw^  (1,  1.)  have  infinite  variety  of 
sucli  examples  of  apparitions  of  spirits,  for  him  to  read  that 
farther  doubts,  to   his  ample  satisfaction.      One   alone  I  will 
briefly  insert.      A  noble  man  in  Germany  was  sent  ambassa- 
dour  to  the  king  of  Sueden  (for  his  name,  the  time,  and  such 
circumstances,   I   refer   you   to  Boissardus,    mine  *  author). 
After  he  had  done  his  business,  he  sailed  for  Livonia,  on  set 
purpose  to  see  those  familiar  spirits,  which  are  there  said  to 
be  conversant    with    men,    and    do    their   drudgery   works. 
Amongst  other  matters,  one  of  them  told  him  where  his  wife 
was,  in  what  room,  in  what  cloatbes,  what  doing,  and  brought 
him  a  ring  from  her,  which  at  his  return,  non  sine  omnium 
admiratiotie,  he  found  to  be  true;  and  so  believed  that  ever 
after,  which  before  he  doubted  of.     Cardan  (/.  19.  de  subtil.) 
relates  of  his  father  Facius  Cardan,  that,  after  the  accustomed 
solemnities,  An.   1491,  13  August,  he  conjured  up  seven  de- 
vils in  Greek  apparel,  about  40  years  of  age,  some  ruddy  of 
complexion,  and  some  pale,  as  he  thought :  he  asked  them 
many   questions;  and  they  made   ready  answer,  that  they 
were  aerial  devils,  that  they  lived  and  died  as  men  did,  save 
that  they  were    far  lono-er  liv'd,  (seven  or  eight    hundred 
•'years,)  and  that  they  did  as  much  excel  men  in  dignity,  as 
we  do  juments,  and  were  as  far  excelled  again  of  those  that 
were  above  them :  our  ^governours  and  keepers  they  are  more- 
over, (which  ''  Plato  in  Critias  delivered  of  old,)  and  subordi- 
nate to  one  another  :  ut  enini  homo  homini,  sic  dcemon  dcemotii 
dominatur ;  they  rule  themselves  as  well  as  us  ;  and  the  spirits 
of  the  meaner  sort  had  commonly  such  offices,  as  we  make 
horse-keepers,  neat-herds,  and  the  basest  of  us,  overseers  of 
our  cattle;  and  that  we  can  no  more  apprehend  their  natures 
and  functions,  than  an  horse  a  mans.     They  knew  all  thino-s, 
but  might  not  reveal  them  to  men;  and  ruled  and  domineered 
over  us,  as  we  do  over  our  horses ;  the  best  king  amongst  us, 
and  the  most  generous  spirits,   were  not  comparable  to  the 
basest  of  them.      Sometimes  they  did  instruct  men  and  com- 
municate their  skill,  reward  and  cherish,  and  sometimes  again 
terrifie  and  punish,  to  keep  them  in  awe,  as  they  thought  f^t; 
nihil  magis  cupientes  (saith  Lysius,  Phjfs.  Stdiconan)  quam 
adorationem  hominum.      The  same  author  Cardan  in  his  Hy- 
perchen,  out  of  the  doctrine  of  Stoicks,  will  have  some  of  these 
genii  (for  so  he  calls  them)  to  be  "  desirous  of  mens  company. 


Cap.  8.     Transportavit  in  Livoniam,  cnpiditate  videndi,  &c.  •>  Sic  Hesiodus 
de  Nymphis,  >ivere  dicit  JO  setateg  phoenicum.  r  Castodes  homi- 
num et  provinciarum,  &c.   tanto  meliores  horainih.is,  quanto  hi  brutis  animantibus. 
rrajsides,  pastores,  gubernatores  hominum,  iit  illi  animalium.  ^  Nalura  fami- 
Jiares  ut  canes  hominibus ;  multi  aversantur  et  abhorrent. 


60  Nature  of' Spirits.  [Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

very  affable,  and  familiar  with  them,  as  dogs  are  ;  others  again 
to  abhor  as  serpents,  and  care  not  for  them.  The  same,  belike, 
Trithemius  calls  igneos  et  svblunares,  qui  nnnquam  demergunt 
ad  irtjeriora,  ant  vix  nlluni  habent  in  terris  commercium :  "gene- 
rally they  Jar  excellmen  in  worthy  as  a  man  the  meanest  worm  ; 
though  some  of  them  are  inj'eriour  to  those  of  their  own  rank  in 
worth,  as  the  black  guard  in  aprinces  court,  and  to  men  again^ 
as  some  degenerate,  base  rational  creatures  are  excelled  of  brute 
beasts 

That  they  are  mortal,  besides  these  testimonies  of  Cardan, 
Martianus,  &c.  many  other  divines  and  philosophers  hold 
(post  prolixum  tempus  moriuntur  omnes),  the  ''  Platonists,  and 
some  Rabbines,  Porphyrins  and  Plutarch,  as  appears  by  that 
relation  of  Thamus  :  '^The  great  god  Pan  is  dead:  Apollo  Py- 
thias ceased  ;  and  so  the  rest.  S.  Hierome,  in  the  life  of 
Paul  the  eremite,  tells  a  story  how  one  of  them  appeared  to 
S.  Anthony  in  the  wilderness,  and  told  him  as  much.  ''Paracel- 
sus, of  our  late  writers,  stifly  maintains  tliat  they  are  mortal, 
live  and  die,  as  other  creatures  do.  Zosimus  (I.  2.)  farther 
adds,  that  religion  and  policy  dies  and  alters  w  itn  them.  The 
*  Gentiles  gods,  he  saith,  were  expelled  by  Constantine ;  and, 
together  with  them,  imperii  Romanimajestas  etj'ortuna  inte- 
riit  et  jnojligata  est  ;  the  fortune  and  majesty  of  the  Roman 
empire  decayed  and  vanished;  as  that  heathen  in  "^Minutius 
formerly  bragged,  when  the  Jews  were  overcome  by  the  Ro- 
mans, the  Jews  god  was  likewise  captivated  by  that  of  Rome ; 
and  Rabsakeh  to  the  Israelites,no  god  should  deliver  them  out 
of  the  hands  of  the  Assyrians.  But  these  paradoxes  of  their 
power,  corporeity,  mortality,  taking  of  shapes,  transposing 
bodies,  and  carnal  copulations,  are  sufficiently  confuted  by 
Zanch.  (c.  10.  /.  4)  Pererius,  (in  his  comment)  and  Tostatus 
(questions  on  the  sixth  of  Gen.)  Th.  Aquin.  S.  Austin,  Wie- 
rus,  Th.  Erastus,  Delrio,  {torn.  2.  /.  2  qvcBst.  29.)  Sebastian 
Michaelis  {cap.  2.  de  spiritibns),  D.  Reinolds  {lect.  47.)  They 
may  deceive  the  eyes  of  men,  yet  not  take  true  bodies,  or  make 
a  real  metamorphosis :  but  as  Cicogna  proves  at  large,  they 
&re^illusori(e  et  prcestigiatrices  transj'ormationes  (omnif'.  mag. 
lib.  4.  caj).  4),  meer  illusions  and  cozenings,  like  that  tale  of 
Pasetis  obulus  in  Suidas,  or  that  of  Autolycus,  Mercuries  son, 


a  Ab  homine  plus  distant,  qnam  homo  ab  ignol)ilissimo  verna ;   et  taman  quidam  ex 
his  ab  hominibus  siiperantur,  ut  homines  a  feris,  &c.  *>  Cibo  et  potu  uti,  et 

Venere  cum  liominibus,  ac  tandem  mori      Cicogna,  I.  part  lib.  2.  c.  3.        ^Plutarch, 
de  defect,  oraciilornni.  ''Lib.  de  Zilphis  et  Pygmwis.  ^  Dii  gentium  a 

Constantino  profligati  sunt,  &c.  f  Octavian.  dial.  Judieorum  deum  fuisse  Romano- 

rum  numiiiibus  una  cum  gente  capiivum.  S  Omnia  spiritibus  plena  ;  et  ex  eorum 

Concordia  et  discordia  omnes  boni  et  mali  efTectus  pronianant,  omnia  humana  reguntur. 
Paradox,  veterum,  de  quo  Cicogna,  omnif.  mag.  I  2.  c   3. 


Mem.  1.  Subs.  2.]  Nature  of  Spirits.  Gl 

that  dwelt  in  Parnassus,  who  got  so  much  treasure  by  cozen- 
age and  stealth.  His  father  Mercury,  because  he  could  leave 
him  no  wealth,  taught  him  many  fine  tricks  to  get  means ;  "for 
he  could  drive  away  mens  cattel,  and,  if  any  pursued  him, 
turn  them  into  what  shapes  he  would,  and  so  did  mightily  en- 
rich himself;  hoc  aMn  maximam  prcedam  est  adsequutus. 
This,  no  doubt,  is  as  true  as  the  rest ;  yet  thus  much  in  ge- 
neral, Thomas,  Durand,  and  others  grant,  that  they  have  un- 
derstanding far  beyond  men,  can  probably  conjecture,  and 
^  foretell  many  things  :  they  can  cause  and  cure  most  diseases, 
deceive  our  senses ;  they  have  excellent  skill  in  all  arts  and 
sciences;  and  that  the  most  illiterate  devil  is  qnovis  homine 
scientior,  as  "^  Cicogna  maintains  out  of  others.  They  know 
the  vertues  of  herbs,  plants,  stones,  minerals,  &c.  of  all  crea-^ 
lures,  birds,  beasts,  the  four  elements,  stars,  planets ;  can  aptly 
apply  and  make  use  of  them  as  they  see  good,  perceiving  the 
causes  of  all  meteors,  and  the  like;  Dant  se  coloribns,  (as 
**  Austin  hath  it,)  accovimodttnt  sejiguris,  adhccrent  sonis,  suh- 
jiciunt  se  odoribus,  irif'nndunt  se  saporibus,  omnes  sensns,  etiam 
ipsam  intellif/entiam,  dcemones  fallunt :  they  deceive  all  our 
senses,  even  our  understanding"  itself,  at  once.  ''They  can 
produce  miraculous  alterations  in  the  ayre,  and  most  wonder- 
ful effects,  conquer  armies,  give  victories ;  help,  further,  hurt, 
cross,  and  alter  humane  attempts  and  projects,  {Dei  permissu) 
as  they  see  good  themselves.  ^Vhen  Charles  the  great  in- 
tended to  make  a  channel  betwixt  the  Rhine  and  Danubius, 
look,  what  his  workmen  did  in  the  day,  these  spirits  flung 
down  in  the  night :  ut  conaturex  desisteret, pervicere.  Such 
featscan  they  do.  But  that  which  Bodine  (/.  4.  Theat.  nat.) 
thinks,  (following-  Tyrius  belike  and  the  Platonists)  they  can 
tell  the  secrets  of  a  mans  iieart,  ant  cogitationes^  honmmm,  is 
most  false  :  his  reasons  are  weak,  and  sufficiently  confuted  by 
Zanch.  {lib.  4.  cap.  9.),  Hierom,  {lib.  2.  com.  in  Mat.  ad 
cap.  15.)  Athanasius  {qucest.  "21 .  ad  Antiockum  Priiicipem), 
and  others. 

Orders.^  As  for  those  orders  of  good  and  bad  devils — which 
the  Platonists  hold,  is  altogether  erroneous;  andthoseEthnicks 


i'Oves,  quaa  abacturus  erat,  in  qnascnnque  formas  vertebat.  Pausanias,  Hyginns. 
*>  Austin,  in  1.  2.  de  Gen.  a  literam,  cap.  17.  Partim  quia  snbtilioris  sensns  acimiine, 
partim  scientia  callidiore  vigent,  et  experientia  propter  niaRnani  longitudinem  vitae, 
partim  ab  angelis  discunt,  &c.  ^Lib.  .3.  oninif.  mag.  cap  3.  Lib.  18.  quaest. 

eQuum  tanta  sit  et  tani  profunda  spirituum  scientia,  mirnm  non  est  tot  tantasque  res 
visu  admirabiles  ab  ipsis  patrari,  et  quidem  rerum  naturaliuni  ope.  quas  niulto  melius 
intelligunt,  multoque  pentius  suis  locis  et  teniporibus  applicare  uorunt  qua m  homo. 
Cicogna.  '  Aventinus.  Quidquid  interdiu  exhauriebatur,  nocte  explebatur. 

Inde  pavefacti  curalore.s,  &c. 


62  Nature  of  SpiAts.  [Part.  1 .  Sec.  2. 

honi  anfl  mali  gpnii  are  to  be  exploded.  These  heathen  writ- 
ers aofree  not  in  this  point  among  themselves,  as  Dandinus 
notes  ;  an  shit  ^  mail,  nnn  conveniunt ;  some  will  have  all  spirits 
jTOod  or  bad  to  us  by  a  mistake ;  as,  if  an  oxe  or  horse  could 
discourse,  he  would  say  the  butcher  was  his  enemy  because  he 
killed  him,  the  grasier  his  friend  because  he  fed  him  ;  an  hunter 
preserves  and  yet  kills  his  game;  and  is  hated  nevertheless 
of  his  game  ;  nee  piseatorem  piscis  amare  potest,  Sf-c.  But 
Jamblicus,Psell uSjPIutarch, and  most Platonists, acknowledge 
bad,  et  ah  eorum  mahjiciis  cavenduni,  for  they  are  enemies  of 
mankind;  and  this  Plato  learned  in  Egypt,  that  they  quar- 
relled with  Jupiter,  ''and  were  driven  by  him  down  to  hell. 
That  which  <^Apuleius,  Xenophon,  and  Plato  contend  of  So- 
crates dcemonium,  is  most  absurd  ;  that  which  Plotinus  of  his, 
that  he  had  likewise  Deum  pro  dcemomo  ;  and  that  which  Por- 
phyry concludes  of  them  all  in  general,  if  they  be  iieglected 
in  their  sacrifice,  they  are  angry  ;  nay  more,  as  Cardan  in  his 
Hyperchen,  will,  they  feed  on  mens  souls  :  elementa  sunt 
plantis  elementum,  animalibus  plantce,  hominibus  animaliay 
ernnt  et  homines,  aliis,  non  antem  diis  ;  nimis  enim.  remota  est 
eorum  natura  a  nostra  ;  qua  propter  dwmonihus :  and  so,  be- 
like, that  we  have  so  many  battles  fought  in  all  ages,  coun- 
tries, is  to  make  them  a  feast,  and  rheir  sole  delight  But  to 
return  to  that  1  said  before — if  displeased,  they  fret  and  chafe, 
(for  they  feed,  belike,  on  the  souls  of  beasts,  as  we  do  on 
their  bodies)  and  send  many  plagues  ainongstus;  but,  if 
pleased,  then  they  do  much  good  ;  is  as  vain  as  the  rest,  and 
confuted  by  Austin  (/.  9.  c.  8.  de  Civ.  Dei,)  Euseb.  (/,  4. 
prcepar.  Evang.  c.  6)  and  others.  Yet  thus  much  I  find, 
that  our  school-men  and  other  •*  divines  make  nine  kinds  of 
bad  spirits,  as  Dionysius  hath  done  of  angels.  In  the  first 
rank,  are  those  false  gods  of  the  Gentiles,  which  were  adored 
heretofore  in  several  idols,  and  gave  oracles  at  Delphos,  and 
elsewhere ;  whose  prince  is  Beelzebub.  The  second  rank 
is  of  lyars  and  sequivocators,  as  Apollo  Pythius,  and  the 
like.  The  third  are  those  vessels  of  anger,  inventors  of  all 
mischief;  as  that  Theutus  in  Plato;  Esay  calls  them  "^vessels 
of  fury;  their  prince  is  Belial.  The  fourth  are  malicious  re- 
vengingdevils;  and  their  prince  is  Asmodaeus.  The  fifth  kind 
are  cozeners,  such  as  belong  to  magicians  and  witches;  their 
prince   is   Satau.       The  sixth  are  those  aerial  devils,  that 


aJnlib.  2, de  anima,  text    29.  Honieriis  indiscriminatim  omnes  spiritus  dseraones 
vocat.  ''A  Jove  ad  inferos  pulsi,  &c.  cDe  Deo  Socratis.     Adest 

milii  divina  sorte  djenioniumquoddam,  aprinia  pueritia  me  sequutnin  ;  sajpe  dissuadet ; 
impellit  nonniin(iiiam,  instar  vocis.  Plato.  d  Agrippa,  lib.  3.  de  occul.  ph.  c.  18» 

Zanch.  Pictorius,  Pererius,  Cicogna^  1.  3.  cap.  1.  »"  Vasa  iraej  c.  13. 


Mem.  1.  Subs.  2.]      J^ature  of  Spirits.  63 

^  corrupt  the  aire,  and  cause  plagues,  thunders,  fires,  &c. 
spoken  of  in  the  Apocalyps,  and  Paul  to  the  Ephesians  names 
them  the  princes  of  the  ayre  ;  Meresin  is  their  prince.  The 
seventh  is  a  destroyer,  captain  of  the  Furies,  causing  wars, 
tumults,  combustion,  uproars,  mentioned  in  the  Apocalyps, 
and  called  Abaddon.  The  eight  is  that  accusing  or  calum- 
niating' devil,  whom  the  Greeks  call  A;afo^o?,  that  drives  men 
to  despair.  The  ninth  are  those  tempters  in  several  kinds ; 
and  their  prince  is  Mammon.  Psellus  makes  six  kinds,  yet 
none  above  the  moon.  Wierus,  in  his  Psendomonarchid 
Dcemonis,  out  of  an  old  book,  makes  many  more  divisions 
and  subordinations,  with  their  several  names,  numbers,  offices, 
&c.  but  Gazseus  (cited  by  ''  Lipsius)  will  have  all  places  full  of 
angelsjspirits,  and  devils,above  and  beneath  the  moon,8etheriaI 
and  aerial,which  Austin  cites  out  ofForro,  /.  7.  deCic.Dei,  c.  6. 
The  celestial  devils  above,  and  aerial  beneath,  or  as ''some 
will,  gods  above,  semidei  or  half  gods  beneath,  lares,  heroes, 
f/enii,  which  clime  higher,  if  they  lived  well  (as  the  Stoicks 
held),  but  grovel  on  the  ground,  as  they  were  baser  in  their 
lives,  nearer  to  the  earth  ;  and  are  7nanes,  lemnres,  lamicB,  ^-c. 
^  They  will  have  no  place  void,  but  all  full  of  spirits,  devils,  or 
some  other  inhabitants  ;  Plennm  caelum,  aer,  aqua,  terra,  et 
omnia  sub  terra,  saith  Gazaeus ;  though  Anthony  Kusca  (in  his 
book  de  InJ'erno,  lib.  5.  cap.  7.)  would  confine  them  to  the 
middle  region,  yet  they  w  ill  have  them  every  where  ;  ^  not  so 
much  as  an  hair  breadth  empty  in  heaven,  earth,  or  waters, 
above  or  under  the  earth.  The  air  is  not  so  full  of  flies  in 
summer,  as  it  is  at  all  times  of  invisible  devils  :  this  *^  Paracelsus 
stifly  maintains,  and  that  they  have  every  one  their  several 
chaos;  others  will  have  infinite  Morlds,  and  each  world  his 
peculiar  spirits,  gods,  angels,  and  devils,  to  govern  and 
punish  it. 

Singula  p  nonnulli  credunt  quoque  sidera  posse 
Dici  orbes  :  terramque  appellant  sidus  opacum, 
Cui  minimus  divftm  prsesit. 

^  Gregorius  Tholosanus  makes  seven  kinds  of  setherial 
spirits  or  angels,  according  to  the  number  of  the  seven  planets. 
Saturnine,  Jovial,  Martial,  &c-  of  which  Cardan  discourseth, 
lib.  20  de  subtil,  he  calls  them  substantias  primas ;  Olympicos 
dceviones,  Trithemius,   qxii  proesunt   Zodiaco,  ^c.   and   will 


a  Quibiis  datum  est  nocere'terrae  et  mari,  &c.  b  Physiol  Stoicornm  e  Senec. 

lib.  1.  cap.  28.  ''  Usque  ad  Junam  animas  esse  sethereas,  vo«arique  heroas, 

lares,  genios.  "^  -Mart.  Capella.  e  ^fihil  vacuum  ab  his,  ubi  vel  capillam 

in  aerem  vel  aquam  jacias.  ( Lib.  de  Zilp.  •  Palingenius.  h  Lib.  7. 

cap.  34.  et  5.  Syntax,  art.  mirab. 


g4  J^ature  of  Spirits,  [Part.  I.  Sec.  2. 

have  them  to  be  good  angels  above,  devils  beneath  the  moon ; 
their  several  names  and  offices  he  there  sets  down,  and  (which 
Dionysius,  of  angels)  w  ill  have  several  spirits  for  several  coun- 
treys,  men,  offices,  &c.  which  live  about  them,  and  as  so  many 
assisting  powers,  cause  their  operations  ;  will  have,  in  a  word, 
innumerable,  and  as  many  of  them  as  there  be  stars  in  the 
skies.  '^  Marcilius  Ficinus  seems  to  second  this  opinion,  out 
of  Plato,  or  from  himself,  I  know  not,  (still  ruling  their  in- 
feriours,  as  they  do  those  under  them  again,  all  subordinate  ; 
and  the  nearest  to  the  earth  rule  us  ;  whom  we  subdivide  into 
o-ood  and  bad  angels,  call  gods  ordevils,  astheyhelp  or  hurt  us, 
and  so  adore,  love  or  hate)  but  it  is  most  likely  from  Plato,  for 
he,  relyin""  wholly  on  Socrates,quemmori  potius  qiiammentiri 
volnisse  scribit,  out  of  Socrates  authority  alone,  made  nine 
kinds  of  them :  which  opinion,  belike,  Socrates  took  from 
Pythagoras,  and  he  from  Trismegistus,  he  from  Zoroaster — 
first,  God,  secondly,  ideae,  thirdly,  intelligences,  fourthly, 
arch-angels,  fifthly,  angels,  sixthly,  devils,  seventhly,  heroes, 
eio-hthly,  principalities,  ninthly,  princes  ;  of  which  some  were 
absolutely  gootl,  as  gods,  some  bad,  some  indifferent  inter 
deos  et  homines,  as  heroes  and  damones,  which  ruled  men, 
and  were  called  genii,  or  (as  ^  Proclus  and  Jamblicus  will)  the 
middle  betwixt  God  and  men,  principalities  and  princes, 
which  commanded  and  swayed  kings  and  countreys,and  had 
places  in  the  sphears  perhaps;  for,  as  every  sphear  is  higher, 
so  hath  it  more  excellent  inhabitants ;  which,  belike,  is  that 
Galilgeus  a  Gaiiiseo  and  Kepler  aims  at  in  his  Nuncio  Siderio, 
when  he  will  have  '^  Saturnine  and  Jovial  inhabitants,  and 
which  Tycho  Brahe  doth  in  some  sort  touch  or  insinuate  in 
one  of  his  epistles  :  but  these  things  ^  Zanchius  justly  ex- 
plodes, cap.  3  lih.  4,  P.  Martyr,  in  4.  Sam.  2S. 

So  that  according  to  these  men,  the  number  of  getherial 
spirits  must  needs  be  infinite  :  for  if  that  be  true  that  some  of 
our  mathematicians  say,  that  if  a  stone  could  fall  from  the 
starry  heaven,  or  eighth  sphear,  and  should  pass  every  hour  an 
hundred  miles,  it  would  be  sixty-five  years,  or  more,  before  it 
would  come  to  the  ground,  by  reason  of  the  great  distance  of 
heaven  from  earth,  which  contains  (as  some  say)  one  hundred 
and  seventy  millions  eight  hundred  and  three  miles, — besides 
those  other  heavens,  (whether  they  be  crystalline  or  watery, 
which  Maginus  adds)  which  perad  venture  hold  as  much  more, 


a  Comment,  in  dial.  Plat  de  amore,  c.  .5.  Ut  sphaera  qusslibet  super  nos,  ita  prae- 
stantiores  habet  habitatores  sua;  sphserae  ronsortes,  ut  habet  nostra.  *>  LiS.  de 

aninid  et  da-mone.      Medii  inter  deos  et  homines,  divina  ad  nos,  et  nostra  sequaliter 
ad  deos  fenmt.  ^  Saturninas  et  Joviales  accolas.  djn  loca  detrusi  sunt 

infra  coelestes  orbes,  in  aerem  scilicet  et.infra,  iibi  jndiciogeneraii  reservantur. 


Mem.  1.  Subs.  2.]  JWiture  of  Devils.  65 

— how  mnny  such  spirits  may  it  contain  ?  And  yet,  for  all 
this  •*  Thomas,  Al'oertus,  and  most,  hold  that  there  be  far  more 
angels  than  devils. 

Suhlnnanj  devils,  and  their  kinds.]  But,  be  they  more  or 
less,  qnod  svpra  nos,  nihil  ad  nos.  Howsoever,  as  Martianus 
foolishly  supposeth,  celherii  dccmones  non  curant  res  humnnas  ; 
they  care  not  for  us,  do  not  attend  our  actions,  or  look  for 
us ;  those  aetherial  spirits  have  other  worlds  to  reign  in,  belike, 
or  business  to  follow.  We  are  only  now  to  speak  in  brief  of 
these  sublunary  spirits  or  devils.  For  the  rest,  our  divines 
determine  that  the  devil  hath  no  power  over  stars,  or  heavens. 
^ Carmimhus  ccelo  possnnt  deducere  Innam,  SjC.  Those  are 
poetical  fictions  ;  and  that  they  can  ""sisiere  aquam Jtmiis^  et 
vertere  sidera  retro,  6f-c.  as  Canidia  in  Horace,  'tis  all  false. 
''They  are  confined,  until  the  day  of  judgement,  to  this  sub- 
lunary world,  and  can  work  no  further  than  the  four  elements, 
and  as  God  permits  them.  Wherefore,  of  these  sublunary 
devils,  though  others  divide  them  oihernise  according  to  their 
several  places  and  offices,  Psellus  makes  six  kinds,  fiery, 
aerial,  terrestrial,  watery,  and  subterranean  devils,  besides 
those  faires,  satyrs,  nymph,  &c. 

Fiery  spirits  or  deviisare  such  asconunonly  work  by  blazin'y 
stars,  firedrakes,  or  icpiesfatvi,  w  hich  lead  njen  often  in  fiii- 
mina,  ant  pra^cipitia,  saith  Bodine  {lib.  2.  Theat.  natiircc, 
fol.  221.)  Quos,  inquit,  arcere  si  volunt  viatores,  clard  voce 
Denm  appellare,  aut  prond  facie  terrain  contimjente  adorare 
oportet :  et  hoc  amuletnm  majorihns  tiostris  accept  inn  f err  e  de- 
bemus,  Sfc.  Likewise  they  counterfeit  suns  and  moons,  stars 
oftentimes,  and  sit  on  ship  masts ;  in  navicfiormn  summitatihus 
visimtnr  ;  and  are  called  Discnri  (as  Eusebius,  /.  contra  Philo- 
sophos,  c.  48,  informeth  us,  out  of  the  authority  of  Zeno- 
phanes) ;  or  little  clouds,  ad  motnm  nescio  qnem  volantes  ; 
which  neverappear,  saith  Cardan,  but  they  signifie  some  mis- 
chief or  other  to  come  unto  men,  though  some  again  will  have 
them  to  portend  good,  and  victory  to  that  side  they  come 
towards  in  sea  fights;  St.  Elmes  fires  they  commonly  call  them, 
and  they  do  likely  appear  after  a  sea  storm.  Radzivilius, 
the  Polonian  duke,  calls  this  apparition  Sancti  Germani 
sidus ;  and  saith  moreover,  that  he  saw  t!ie  same  after  in  a 
storm,  as  he  was  sayling,  1582,  from  Alexandria  to  Rhodes. 
Our  stories  are  full  of  such  apparations  in  all  kinds.  Some 
think  they  keep  their  residence  in  that  Hecla  mountain  in 

a  Q.  36.  art.  9.  h  VirR.  8.  Ec.  <•  /En.  4.  ^  Austin.  Hoc  dixi,  ne 

quis  existimet  liabitare  ibi  mala  dstmonia,  nbi  solem  et  liinain  et  stellas  Deus  ordiovit. 
Et  alibi:  nemo  arl>itraretnr  dEemonem  coelis  liabitare  cum  anp;«'lis  .suis,  unde  lap.snm 
crediniiis.  Id.  Zauch.  I.  4.  c.  .3.  de  angel  malis.  Pereriiis,  in  tJen.  cap.  G.  lib.  8.  in 
ver.  2. 


66  Digression  of  Spirits.         [Part.  J.  Sec.  2. 

Island,  i^tna  in  Sicily,  Lipara,  Vesuvius,  &c.  These  devils 
were  worshipped  heretofore  by  that  superstitious  «:t^^e/:x,avT£;a, 
and  the  like. 

Aerial  spirits  or  de^vils  are  such  as  keep  quarter,  most  part, 
in  the  ^  air,  cause  many  tempests,  thunder,  and  lightnings, 
tear  oaks,  fire  steeples,  houses,  strike  men  and  beasts,  make  it 
rain  stones  (as  in  Livies  time),  wooll,  frogs,  &c.  counterfeit 
armies  in  the  air,  strange  noises,  swords,  &c.asat  Vienna  before 
the  coming  of  the  Turks,  and  many  times  in  Rome,  as  Scheret- 
zius,  /.  de  sped.  c.  1  part.  I.  Lavater,  de  spect.  part.  I.e.  17, 
Juliu«  Obsequens,  an  old  Roman,  in  his  book  of  prodigies,  ah 
urb.  cond.  505, '' Machiavel  hath  illustrated  by  many  examples, 
and  Josephusin  his  book  de  belloJudiaco,hefore  the  destruction 
of  Jerusalem.  All  which  Guil.  Postallus  (in  his  first  book,  c.  7. 
de  orbis  concordid)  useth  as  an  effectual  argument  (as  indeed 
it  is)  to  perswade  them  that  will  not  believe  there  be  spirits  or 
devils.  They  cause  whirlwinds  on  a  sudden,  and  tempestuous 
storms ;  which  though  our  meteorologists  generally  refer  to 
natural  causes,  yet  I  am  of  Bodines  mind  {Theat  Nat.  I.  2.) 
they  are  more  often  caused  by  those  aerial  devils,  in  their  se- 
veral quarters  ;  for  tempestatibus  se  ingei  wit,  seiith  '^Rich.  Ar- 
gentine ;  as  when  a  desperate  man  makes  away  with  himself, 
which  by  hanging  or  drowning  they  frequently  do,  (asKorn- 
mannus  observes,  de  mirac.  mort.  part.  7-  c.  76)  tripiidium 
agentes,  dancing  and  rejoicing  at  the  death  of  a  sinner.  These 
can  corrupt  the  air,  and  cause  plagues,  sickness,  storms,  ship- 
wrecks, fires,  inundations.  At  Mons  Draconis  in  Italy,  there  is 
a  most  memorable  example  in ''JovianusPontanus  :;and  nothing 
so  familiar  (if  we  may  believe  those  relations  of  Saxo  Gramma- 
ticus,  Olaus  Magnus,  Damianus  A.  Goes)  as  for  witches  and 
sorcerers,  in  Lapland,  Lithuania,  and  all  over  Scandia,  to  sell 
winds  to  marriners,  and  cause  tempests ;  which  Marcus  Paulus 
the  Venetian  relates  likewise  of  the  Tartars.  These  kind  of 
devils  are  much  *  delighted  in  sacrifices,  (saith  Porphyry) 
held  all  the  world  in  awe,  and  had  several  names,  idols, 
sacrifices  in  Rome,  Greece,  ^Egypt,  and  at  this  day  tyran- 
nize over,  and  deceive,  those  Ethnicks  and  Indians,  being 
adored  and  worshipped  for  '^gods:  for  the  Gentiles  gods 
were  devils  (as  ^  Trisniegistus  confesseth  in  his  Asclepius; 
and  he  himself  could  make  them  come  to  their  images  by 
magick  spells),   and    are   now  as  much   respected  by  our 

aDomus  diiunnt,  muros,  dejiciunt,  iramiscent  se  turbinibus  et  procellis  et  pulverem 
instar  columnae  evehunt.     Cicogna.  I.  5.  c.  5.  b  Quajgt.  jn  Liy.  ^ He 

praestigiis  daemonum,  c.  16.     Convelli  culmina  videmus.  prostemi  sata,  &c.  <*De 

bello  Neapolitano,  lib.  5.  e  Suffitibus  g'audent.     Idem  Just.  Mart.  Apol.  pro 

Christianis.  f  In  Dei  imitationem,  saith  Eusebius.  B  Dii  gentium 

dasmouia^  &c.  ego  in  eorum  statuas  pellexi. 


Memb.  1.  Subs.  2.]     Digression  of' Spirits.  67 

papists  (saith  ^  Pictorius)  vvder  the  name  of  saints.  These 
are  they  which,  Cardan  thinks,  desire  so  much  carnal  copu- 
lation with  M'itches  Incuhi  and  Succuhi),  transform  bodies, 
and  are  so  very  cold,  if  they  be  touched  ;  and  that  serve 
magicians.  His  father  had  one  of  them,  (}"  as  he  is  not 
ashamed  to  relate)  an  aerial  devil,  bound  to  him  for  twenty 
and  eight  years.  As  Ag-rippas  dog  had  a  devil  tyed  to  his  col- 
ler,  some  think  that  Paracelsus  (or  else  Erastus  belies  him) 
had  one  confined  to  his  sword  pummel ;  others  wear  them  in 
rings,  &c.  Jannes  and  Jambres  did  many  things  of  old  by 
their  help,  Simon  Magus,  Cinops,  ApoUonius  Tyaneus,  Jam- 
blicus,  and  Trithemius  of  late,  that  shewed  Maximilian  the 
emperour  his  >vife,  after  she  was  dead ;  et  verrucam  in  collo 
ej'ns  (saith  ''Godolman),  so  much  as  the  wart  in  her  neck. 
Delrio,  (fib.  2.)  hath  divers  examples  of  their  feats;  Cicogna, 
lib.  3.  cap.  3,  and  Wierus  in  his  book  de  proestig.  dcBmonum^ 
Boissardus,  de  niagis  et  veneficis. 

Water-devils  are  those  wff?arfes  or  water  nymphs  which  have 
been  heretofore  conversantabout  waters  and  rivers.  The  water 
(as  '^Paracelsus  thinks)  is  their  chaos,  wherein  they  live.  Some 
call  Xhem  fairies,  and  say  that  Habundia  is  their  queen.  These 
cause  inundations,  many  times  shipwracks,  and  deceive  men 
divers  wayes,  as  Succubce,  or  otherwise,  appearing-  most  part 
(saith  Trithemius)  in  Momens  shapes.  Paracelsus  hath  several 
stories  of  them  that  have  lived  and  been  married  to  mortal 
men,  and  so  continued  for  certain  years  with  them,  and 
after,  upon  some  dislike,  have  forsaken  them.  Such  a  one 
as  Eg-eria,  with  whom  Numa  was  so  familiar,  Diana,  Ceres 
&c.  ^Olaus  ]Magnushath  a  long'  narration  of  one  Hotherus,  a 
king  of  Sweden,  that,  having-  lost  his  company  as  he  was  hunt- 
ing- one  day  met  with  these  water  nymphs  or  fairies,  and  was 
feasted  by  them ;  and  Hector  Bocthius,  of  Macbeth  and  Banco, 
two  Scotisii  lords,  that,  as  they  were  wandering-  in  woods,  had 
their  fortunes  told  them  by  three  strange  women.  To  these 
heretofore  they  did  use  to  sacrifice,  by  that  v^^yi.x^nu'x,  or  divi- 
nation by  waters. 

Terrestrial  devils  are  those  ^  lares,  genii  ^Jennies,  satyrs, 
s  M  ood-nyniphs,  foliots,  fairies,  Robin  GoodJ'ellous,  Trnlli,  ^-c. 
which  as  they  are  most  conversant  with  men,  so  they  do 
them  most  harm.  Some  think  it  was  they  alone  that  kept  the 
heathen   people  in  awe  of  old,  and  had  so  many  idols  and 


»  Et  nunc  siih  divorum  nomine  coluntnr  a  pontificiis.  b  Lib.  11.  de  rerum 

Tar.  r  Lib.  3.  rap.  3.  de  niagis  et  veneficis,  &.C.  "^  Lib.  de  Zilphis. 

•'Lib.  3.  f  Pro  salute  hominiuiLcxrubare  se  simulant;  sed  in  eoram  uerniciem 

omnia  moliuntur.     Aust.  eDrjades,  Oriadcs,  Hamadryades. 


68  Digression  of' Spirits.       [Part.  I.  Sec.  2. 

temples  erected  to  them.  Of  this  range  was  Dag-on  among-st 
the  Philistins,  Bel  amongst  tlie  Babylonians,  Astartes  amongst 
the  Sidonians,  Baal  amongst  the  Samaritans,  Isis  and  Osiris 
amoiiost  the  .Egyptians,  &c.  Some  put  our  '^  fairies  into  this 
rank,  which  have  been  in  former  times  adored  with  much  su- 
perstition, with  sweeping-  their  houses,  and  setting  of  a  pail  of 
clean  water,  good  victuals, and  the  like;  and  then  they  should 
not  be  pinched,  but  find  money  in  their  shoes,  and  be  for- 
tunate in  their  enterprizes.  These  are  they  that  dance  on 
heaths  and  greens,  as  ^  Lavater  thinks  with  Trithemius,  and, 
as'^Olaus  Magnus  adds,  leave  t'nat  green  circle,  which  we 
commonly  find  in  plain  fields,  which  others  hold  to  proceed 
from  a  meteor  falling",  or  some  accidental  rankness  of  the 
ground ;  so  nature  sports  herself.  They  are  sometimes  seen  by 
old  women  and  children.  Hieron.  Pauli,  in  his  description 
of  the  city  of  Bereino  in  Spain,  relates  how  they  have  been 
familiarly  seen  near  that  town,  about  fountains  and  hills  :  Jion- 
iiunquam  (saith  Trithemius)  in  sua  lafihnia  montinin  simpli- 
ciores  homines  ducmit,  stnpenda  imrantihus  ostendentes  mira- 
cula,  molarum  sonitns,  spectacnla,  Sj-c.  Giraldus  Canibrensis 
gives  instance  in  a  monk  of  Wales  that  was  so  deluded,  '^Pa- 
racelsus reckons  up  many  places  in  Germany,  where  they  do 
usually  walk  in  little  coats,  soine  two  foot  long'.  A  bigger 
kind  there  is  of  them,  called  with  us  hohaohlius,  and  Robin 
GoodJ'ellorvs,  that  would  in  those  superstitious  times,  grind 
corn  for  a  mess  of  milk,  cut  wood,  or  do  any  manner  of 
drudgery  work.  They  would  mend  old  irons  in  those  iEolian 
isles  of  Lipara,  in  former  ages,  and  have  been  often  seen  and 
heard.  "Tholosanus  calls  them  Trnllosand  Gefulos,cind  saith 
that  in  his  dayes  they  were  connnon  in  many  places  of  France. 
Dithmarus  Bleskenius,  in  his  description  of  Island,  reports  for 
a  certainty,  that  almost  in  every  family  they  have  yet  some  such 
familiar  spirits;  and  Felix  Malleolus,  iu  !iis  book  de  crudel. 
dcemon.  affirms  as  much,  that  these  Trolii,  or  Telchines,  are 
very  common  in  Norway, '^  and  seen  to  do  drudgery  work; 
to  draw  water,  saith  Wierus,  [lib  1.  cap.  22.)  dress  meat,  or 
any  such  thing-.  Another  sort  of  these  there  are,  Avhich  fre- 
quent forlorn  ?  houses,  which  the  Italians  caW  JoUots,  most 
part  innoxious,  ^'  Cardan  holds :     They   will  make   strange 


a  Elvas  Olans  vocat.  lib.  3.  >>  Part.  1.  cap.  19.  <=  Lib.  3.  cap.  11.  El- 

vanim  choreas  Olaus  lib.  3.  vocal.      Saltum  adeo  profunde  in  terras  imprimunt,  nt 
locus  insigni  deinceps  virore  orbicularis  sit,  et  granien  non  pereat.  *•  Lib.  de 

Zilph.  et  Pygma;is,  Olaus,  1.  3.  f  Lib.  7.  cap.  14.     Qui  et  in  famulitio  viris  et 

feminis  inserviunt,  conclavia  scopis  purgant,  patinas  mnndant,  ligna  portant,  equos 
curant,  &c.  f  Ad  ministeria  utuntur.  S  Where  treasure  is  hid  (as  some 

think),  or  some  murder,  or  such  like  villany  committed.  ''  Lib.  16.  de  rerum 

varietat. 


Mem.  I.  Subs.  2.]     f  Digression  of  Spirits.  69 

noises  in   the  night,    howl    sometimes  pitrifuHy,  and  then 
laugh  again,  oavse great  flames  atid  sudden  liahtslflinrf  stones, 
rattle  chains,  shave  men,  open  doors,  and  shvt    them,  fiinn 
doivn  platters,  stools,  chests,  sometimes  appear  in  the  lihenesse 
of  hares,  crows,  black  dogs,  S^-c.  of  which  read  =^  Pet.  Thyraeus 
the  Jesuit  (in  his  Tract  'de  locis  infestis,  part.   1  et  cap.  4.) 
who  will  have  them  to   be  devil's,  or  the  souls  of  damned 
men  that  seek  revenge,  or  else  souls  out  of  purgatory  that 
seek  e.-ise.    For  such  examples,  peruse  ^  .Sig !>iinundus  Scheret- 
zius,  lib.  de  spectris,  part.  I.  c  1.  which  lie  saith  he  took  out 
of  Luther  most  part ;  there  be  many  instances.  ^Plinius  Secun- 
dus  remembers  such  a  house  at  Athens,  which  Athenodorus 
the  philosopher  hired,  which  no  nmn  durst  inhabit  for  fear  of 
devils.     Austin  (de  Civ.  Dei,  lib.  22   cap.  8.)  relates  as  much 
o{  Hesperms  the  tribunes  house  at  Zubeda  near  their  city  of 
Hippo,  vexed  with  evil  spirits  to  his  great  hinderance  ;  cnm 
afflictione  animalinm  et  servorum.  suorwn.     Many  such  in- 
stances are  to  be  read  in  Niderius,  Formicar.  lib.  5.  cap.  1 9.  3 
Src     Whether  I   may  call  these  Zim  and  Othim,  which  Isay 
cap.   13.  21.  speaks  of,  I  make  a  doubt.      See  more  of  these 
m  the  said  Scheretz.  lib.  1.  de  sped.  cap.  4  :  he  is  full  of  ex- 
amples.     These  kind  of  devils  many  times  appear  to  men 
and  affright  them  out  of  their  wits,  sometimes   walking-  at 
'^  noon-day,  sometimes  at  nights,   counterfeiting  dead  mens 
ghosts,  as  that  of  (Jalignla,  which  (saith  Suetonius)  was  seen 
Jo  walkm  Lavinias  garden  :  where  his  body  was  buried,  spirits 
haunted,  and  the  house  wliere  he  dyed  :  «=  Nulla  nox  sine  ter- 
rors transacta,  donee  incendio  consumpta ;   every  nio-ht  this 
bapned,  there  was  no  quietness,  till  the  house  was  Burned. 
About  Hecla  in  Island,  ghosts  conuiionly  walk,  animus  niorl 
tuorum   simuiantes,  saith   Jo.   Anan.    lib.    3.    de  nat    deem 
Olaus,  lib.  2.  cap.  2.     Natal.   Taliopid.    lib.  de  apparit.  spir 
-Koj-mannus,  de  mirac.  mort.part.  1.  cap.  44.     Such  sights  are 
frequently   seen    circa  sepnlcra  et  monasteria,  saill?Lavat 
hb.  I.  cap.  19.  in  monasteries  and  about  church-yards,  loca 
paludinosa,  ampla  a;dijicia,  solitaria,  et  cmle  honiimim   no- 
tata,  cVc      Thyreus  adds,   nbi  gravins  peccatum  est  commis- 
sum,  impn,  paupermn  oppressores,  et  nequiter  insiqnes  habi- 
tant.     These  spirits  often  forerell   mens  deaths,  by  several 
signs,    as  knocking,   groanings,    &c.  though  Rich.   Aroen- 


»Vel  sp.ntns  snnt  lu.jusmod.  damnaton.m,  vel   e  purpatorio,  vel  ipsi  da-mones 
;,  ,    "yuKlam  lemures  doint-sticis  instnimentis  noctu  l.sdunt :  i.atinas   ollas' 

cantharas.  et  aha  vasa.  rfej.c.nt;  et  qui.lam  voces  e.nittunt,  ejulant,  riLum  e„  ittunt' 
^c.  ut  canes  nig:n,  feles,  varus  ionms,  &c.  c  Epist.  1.  7.  d  Meridionalf.« 

d^mones  Cicoprna  r«lls  them,  or  Ahustores,  I.  .3.  cap.  9.  -  Sueton   c   69  in S 

liguh\.  fStrozzius  Cicogna.  iib.  \i.  ...ap.  cap.  5  ^^' 


a 


70  Digression  of' Spirits.         [Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

tine,  c.  18.  de  prcesfigiis  dcemojium,  will  ascribe  these  pre- 
dictions to  good  angels,  out  of  the  authority  of  Ficinus  and 
others  ;  prodigia  in  obitu  principum  scepius  contingunt,  ^-c.  as, 
in  the  Lateran  church  in  "^  Rome,  the  popes  deaths  are  fore- 
told by  Sylvesters  tomb.  Near  Rupes  Nova  in  Finland,  in  the  " 
kingdom  of  Sweden,  there  is  a  lake,  in  which,  before  the  go- 
vernour  of  the  castles  dyes,  a  spectrum^  in  the  habit  of  Arion 
with  his  harp,  appears,  and  makes  excellent  musick,  like  those 
blocks  in  Cheshire,  which,  (they  say)  presage  death  to  the 
master  of  the  family  ;  or  that  ''  oak  in  Lanthandran  park  in 
Cornwall,  which  foreshews  as  much.  Many  families  in  Eu- 
rope are  so  put  in  mind  of  their  last,  by  such  predictions,  and 
many  men  are  forewarned  (if  we  may  believe  Paracelsus)  by 
familiar  spirits,  in  divers  shapes,  as  cocks,  crows,  owls,  which 
often  hover  about  sick  mens  chambers,  vel  quia  morientiiim 
J'ceditatem  sentiunt,  as '^Baracellus  conjectures,  et  ideo  super 
tectum  infirmorum  crocitant,  because  they  smell  a  corse ;  or 
for  that  (^  Bernardinus  de  Bustis  thinketh)  God  permits  the 
devil  to  appear  in  the  form  of  crows,  and  such  like  creatures, 
to  scare  such  as  live  wickedly  here  on  earth.  A  little  before 
Tullies  death,  (saith  Plutarch)  the  crows  made  a  mighty  noise 
about  him ;  tumultuose  perstrepentes,  they  pulled  the  pillow 
from  under  his  head.  Rob.  Gaguinus,  hist.  Franc,  lib.  8. 
telleth  such  another  wonderful  story  at  the  death  of  Jo- 
hannes de  Monteforti,  a  French  lord,  anno  1345.  Tanta 
corvorum  multitudo  cedibus  morientis  insedit,  qnantam  esse  in 
Gallia  nemo  judic asset.  Such  prodigies  are  very  frequent  in 
authors.  See  more  of  these  in  the  said  Lavater,  Thyreus,  de 
locis  infes/is,  part.  3.  cap.  58,  Pictorius,  Delrio,  Cicogna, 
lib.  3.  cap.  D.  Necromancers  take  upon  them  to  raise  and  lay 
them  at  their  pleasures  ;  and  so  likewise  those  which  Mizal- 
dus  calls  ./Imbulones,  that  walk  about  midnight  on  great 
heaths  and  desart  places,  which  (saith  •=  Lavater)  draw  men  out 
of  the  ivaif,  and  lead  them  all  night  a  bg-wag,  or  quite  bar 
them  of  tlieir  icag.  These  have  several  names  in  several 
places;  we  commonly  call  them  pucks.  In  the  desarts  of 
Lop  in  Asia,  such  illusions  of  walking  spirits  are  often  per- 
ceived, as  you  may  read  in  M.  Paulus  the  Venetian  his  travels. 
If  one  lose  his  company  by  chance,  these  devils  will  call  him 
by  his  name,  and  counterfeit  voices  of  his  companions  to 
seduce  him.     Hieronym.  Pauli,  in   his  book  of  the  hills  of 


a  IJem.  c.  18.  bM.  Cary.     Survey  of  Cornwall,  lib.  2.  fol   140.  «  Horfo 

Geniali,  fol.  137.  dPart.  1.  c.  19.     Abdncunt  eos  a  recla  via,  et  viam  iter  fa- 

cientibiis  intercludiint.  e  Lib   1.  cap.  44.     Daemonuni  cernuntiir  et  audiuntur 

ibi  freqiientes  illiisiones  ;  unde  viatoribus  caveudum,  lie  se  dissocient,  aut  a  tergo 
maneaut  ;  voces  eniui  fiuguut  socioruiu,ut  a  recto  itinere  abducant,  &c. 


Mem.  1.  Subs.  2.]      Dir/reitsion  of  Spirits,  71 

Spain,  relates  of  a  great  *  mount  in  Cantabria,  where  such 
spectnims  are  to  be  seen.  Lavatcr  and  Cicog-na  have  variety  of 
examples  of  spirits  and  walking-  devils  in  this  kind.  Some- 
times they  sit  by  the  high-way  side,  to  give  men  falls,  and  make 
their  horses  stumble  and  start  as  they  ride,  (if  you  will  believe 
the  relation  of  that  holy  man  Ketellus,  ''in  Nubrigensis,)  that 
had  an  especial  grace  to  see  devils,  gratiam  divinitns  collatam, 
and  talk  with  them,  et  impnvidus  cum  spiritihus  sermoneni 
miscere,  without  offence  :  and  if  a  man  curse  or  spur  his  horse 
for  stumbling,  they  do  heartily  rejoyce  at  it ;  with  many  such 
pretty  feats. 

Subterranean  devils  are  as  common  as  the  rest,  and  do  as 
much  harm.  Olaus  3Iagnus  {lib.  6.  cap.  19)  makes  six 
kinds  of  them,  some  bigger,  some  less.  These  (saith  "  Mun- 
ster)  are  commonly  seen  about  mines  of  metals,  ar.d  are  some 
of  them,  noxious;  some  again  do  no  harm.  The  metal-men 
in  many  places  account  it  good  luck,  a  sign  of  treasure  and  rich 
ore,  when  they  see  them.  Georgius  Agricola  (in  his  book  de 
siibterraneis  animantibus,  cap.  37)  reckons  two  more  notable 
kinds  of  them,  which  he  calls  '^Gcetuli  and  Cobali ;  both  are 
cloathed  after  the  manner  of  metal-men,  and  icill  many  times 
imitate  their  works.  Their  office,  as  Pictorius  and  Paracelsus 
think,  is  to  keep  treasure  in  the  earth,  that  it  be  not  all  at  once 
revealed  ;  and,  besides,  *  Cicogna  avcrrs.  that  they  are  the 
frequent  causes  of  those  horrible  earth-quakes,  which  often 
swallow  vp,  not  only  houses  but  ichole  ishmds  and  cities :  in 
his  third  book,  cap.  11,  he  gives  many  instances. 

The  last  are  conversant  about  the  center  of  the  earth,  to 
torture  the  souls  of  damned  men  to  the  day  of  judgement. 
Their  egress  and  regress  some  suppose  to  be  about  .Etna, 
Lipara,  Mons  Hecla  in  Island,  Vesuvius,  Terra  del  Fuego,  Sec. 
because  many  shreeks  and  fearful  ciyes  are  continually  heard 
thereabouts,  and  familiar  apparitions  of  dead  men,  ghosts,  and 
goblms. 

Their  offices,  operations,  study.']  Thus  the  devil  reigns,  in  a 
thousand  severed  shapes,  as  a  roariny  lyon,  still  seeks  whom 
he  may  devour^  (I  Pet.  5.)  by  earth,  sea,  land,  air,  as 
yet  unconfined,  though  '^some  will  have  his  proper  place  the 
air — all  that  place  betwixt  us  and  the  moon,   for  tliem  that 


»  Mons  stf  rilis  et  nivosus,  iibi  intempesta  nocte  umbrae  apparent.  ^  Lib.  2. 

cap.  21.  Offendicula  faciunt  transeuutibus  in  via  ;  et  petulanter  rident,  cum  vel  ho- 
niiuem  vel  jumentum  ejus  pedes  atterere  faciant,  et  maxime  si  homo  maledictis  et  cal- 
caribus  stevita.  <^ln  cosmogr.  ^i  Vestiti  more  metallicoriiiii,  gestus  et 

opera  eorum  imitantur.  «•  Immisso  in  terra;  oarceres  vento,  horribiles  terra;  niotus 

efficiunt,  quibus  saepe  non  domus  mode  et  turres,  sed  civitates  iotegne  et  insalae, 
haustae  sunt.  f  Hieron.  in  3  Ephes.  Idem  Michaelis  c.  4.  de  spiritibus.     Idem 

Thyreus  de  locis  infestis. 

VOL.    1  O 


72  Digression  of  Spirits.       [Part  1.  Sec.  2, 

transgressed  the  least,  and  hell  for  the  wickedest  of  them  ;  luc 
veliit  in  carcere  ad Jinem  mundi,  tunc  hi  locum  Jiinestiorem 
trudendi,  as  Austin  holds,  de  Civif.  Dei,c.  22.  lib.  14.  cap.  S. 
et  23.  But,  be  where  he  will,  he  rageth  where  he  may ;  to  com- 
fort himself  (as  ^  Lactantius  thinks)  with  other  mens  falls, 
he  labours  all  he  can  to  bring-  them  into  the  same  pit  of  per- 
dition Avith  him ;  for  ''  mens  miseries,  calamities^  and  mines 
are  the  devils  banqueting  dishes.  By  many  temptations  and 
several  engines,  he  seeks  to  captivate  our  souls.  The  lord  of 
lyes,  saitli  •^  Austin  ;  as  he  ^vas  deceived  himself  he  seeks  to 
deceive  others  ;  the  ring-leader  to  all  naughtiness;  as  he  did 
by  Eve  and  Cain,  Sodom  and  Gomorrha^  so  would  he  do  by 
all  the  world.  Sometimes  he  tempts  by  covetousness,  drunk- 
enness, pleasure,  pride,  &c.  errs,  dejects,  saves,  kills,  protects, 
and  rides  some  men,  as  they  do  their  horses.  He  studies  oiir 
overthrow  and  generally  seeks  our  destruction;  nnd,  al- 
though he  pretend  many  times  humane  good,  and  vindicate 
himself  for  a  god,  by  curing  of  several  diseases,  csgris  sanita- 
tem,  et  ccecis  luminis  usum  restitnendo,  (as  Austin  declares, 
lib.  10.  de  civit.  Dei,  cap.  6.)  as  Apollo,  iEsculapius,  Isis,  of 
old  have  done ;  divert  plagues,  assist  them  in  wars,  pretend 
their  happiness ;  yet  nihil  his  impurius,  scelesti?fs,  tiihil  hu- 
viano  generi  hifestius  ;  nothing  so  impure,  nothing  so  perni- 
cious, as  may  well  appear  by  their  tyrannical  and  bloody  sa- 
crifices of  men  to  Saturn  and  Moloch  (which  are  still  in  use 
amongst  those  barbarous  Indians),  their  several  deceits  and 
cozenings  to  keep  men  in  obedience,  their  false  oracles,  sacri- 
fices, their  superstitious  impositions  of  fasts,  penury,  &c. 
heresies,  superstitions,  observations  of  meats,  times,  &c.  by 
which  they  '^  crucifie  the  souls  of  mortal  men,  as  shall  be 
shewed  in  our  treatise  of  religious  melancholy.  Modico  adhvc 
tempore  sinitur  malignari,  as  ^  Bernard  expresseth  it :  by 
Gods  permission  he  rageth  a  while,  hereafter  to  be  confined  to 


»  Lactantius,  2   de  origine  erroris,  cap.  15.     Hi  maligni  spiritiis  per  omnem  terram 
vagantur,  et  solatium  pertlitionis  suoe  perdendis  horninibus  operantur.  b  Morta- 

liiim  calatnitates  epula;  sunt  raalorum  daemonuni.     Synesius.  c  Dominus  men- 

dacii,  a  seipso  deceptus,  alios  drcipere  cupit.  Adversarius  huniani  generis.  Inventor 
mortis,  superbia;  institutor,  radix  malitiae,  scelerum  caput,  princeps  omnium  vitiorum, 
furit  inde  in  Dei  contumeiiam,  homiuum  perniciem.  De  horum  conatibus  et  opera- 
tionibus,  lege  Epiphanium,  2  torn.  lib.  2.  Dionysium,  c.  4.  Ambros.  Epistol.  lib.  10. 
ep.  84.  August,  de  civ.  Dei,  lib  .5.  c.  9.  lib.  8.  cap.  22.  lib.  9.  18.  lib.  10,  21. 
Theophil.  in  12.  Mat.  Pasil.  ep.  141.  Leonem  Ser.  Tbeodoret.  in  11  Cor.  ep.  22. 
Chrys.  hom.  .53.  in  12.  Gen.  Greg,  in  1.  c.  John  Barthol.  de  prop.  1.  2.  c.  20, 
Zanch.  1.  4.  de  malis  angelis.  Perer.  in  Geo.  1.  8.  in  c.  6.  2.  Origen.  Sfepe  prceliis 
intersunt ;  itinera  et  negotia  nostra  qusecunque  dirigunt,  clandestinis  subsidiis  optatos 
saepe  prajbent  successus.     Pet.  Mar.  in  Sam.,  &c.     Ruscara  de  Inferno.  J  Et 

velut  mancipia  circumfert.     Psellus,  *"  Lib.  de  transmut.     Malac.  ep. 


Mem.  1.  .Subs.  2.]     Digression  of  Spirks.  73 

hell  and  darkness,  which  is  prepared  for  him  and  his  angeh 
Matt.  25. 

How  far  their  power  doth  extend,  it  is  hard  to  determine. 
"What  the  ancients  hekl  of  their  effects,  force,  and  operations, 
I  will  briefly  show  you.  Plato,  in  Critias,  and  after  him,  his 
followers,  gave  out  that  these  spirits  or  devils  icere  mens  go- 
rernours  and  keepers,  ovr  lords  and  masters,  as  ice  are  of  onr 
cattle.  ^  They  govern  provinces  and  kingdoms  by  oracles, 
auguries,  dreams,  regards  and  punishments,  prophesies,  in- 
spirations, sacrifices,  and  religious  superstitions,  varied  in  as 
many  forms,  as  tiiere  be  diversity  of  spirits:  they  send  wars, 
plagues,  peace,  sickness,  health,  dearth,  plent)^,  ^  adstantes 
Mc jam  nobis,  spectantes  et  arhifrantes,  S,c.  (as  appears  by 
those  histories  of  Thiicydides,  Livius,  Dionysius  Halicarnas- 
seus,  with  many  others,  that  are  full  of  their  wonderful  stra- 
tagems) and  were  therefore,  by  those  Roman  and  Greek  com- 
mon-wealths, adored  and  worshipped  for  gods,  with  prayers, 
and  sacrifices,  &c.  '^  In  a  w  ord,  hihil  magis  cpia^runt,  (piam 
metum  et  admirationem  hominuni ;  and  (as  another  hath  it) 
did  non  potest,  quam.  impotenti  ardore  in  homines  dominium, 
et  divinos  cultus,  maligni  spiritus  affectent.  Trithemius  in 
his  book  de  septem  secundis,  assigns  names  to  such  angels  as 
are  governours  of  particular  provinces  (by  what  authority  I 
knownot),  and  gives  themseveral  jurisdictions.  Asclepiades  a 
Grecian,Rabbi  Achiba  the  Jew,  Abraham  Avenezra.and  Rabbi 
Azareel,  Arabians,  (as  I  find  them  cited  by '^  Cicogna)  farther 
add,  that  they  are  not  our  governours  only,  sed  ex  eoriim 
Concordia  et  discordidjboniet  mali  aifectus  promanant ;  but  as 
they  agree,  so  do  we  and  our  princes,  or  disagree ;  stand  or 
fall.  Juno  was  a  bitter  enemy  to  Troy,  Apollo  a  good  friend, 
Jupiter  indifferent  :  JEqua  Vejius  Teucris,  Pallas  iniqnaj'uit ; 
some  are  for  us,  still  some  against  us ;  premente  Deo,J'ert  Dens 
alter  opem.  Religion,  policy,  publick  and  private  quarrels, 
wars,  are  procured  by  them  ;  and  they  are  "^  delighted  perhaps 
to  see  men  fight,  as  men  are  Avith  cocks,  bulls  and  dogs,  bears, 
&c.  Plagues,  dearths,  depend  on  them,  our  bene  and  male 
esse,  and  almost  all  our  other  peculiar  actions,  (for,  as  Anthony 
Rusca  contends,  lib.  5.  cap.  18,  every  man  hath  a  good  and 
a  bad  angel  attending  of  him  in  particular,  all  his  life  long, 
which  Jamblicus  calls  dxemonejn)  preferments, losses,weddings, 
deaths,  rewards,  and  punishments,  and  (as  '  Proclus  will 
all  offices   whatsoever  :   alii  genetricem,  alii  opijicem  jwtes- 


3  Cnrtodes  sunt  liominnm,  nt  nos   animalium  :  turn  et  pro\ineiis  praepositi  regunt 
auguriis,  somniis,  oraculis,  praemiis,  &:c.  b  UpsJug^  Physiol.  Stoic,  lib.  l.cap.  19. 

eLeo  Suavis.     Idem  et  Trithemius.  ^  Omnif.  mag.  lib.  2.  rap.  S.*?.  .        ^  Ludus 

deorum  snmus.  f  Lib.  de  anima  et  d«mone, 

o2 


74  Digression  of  Spirits.  [Part  1.  Sec.  ^. 

tat  em  hahent,  ^c.  and  several  names  they  give  tbem  ac- 
cording to  their  offices,  as  Lares,  Indir/etes,  Prcestites,  SfC.  - 
When  the  Arcades,  in  that  battel  at  Chreronea,  which  was 
foughtagainstKingPhilip  for  the  liberty  of  Greece,had  deceit- 
i'ully  carried  themselves, —  long  after,  in  the  very  same  place, 
diis  G rcEcicJc ultorihiis,  (saith  mine  anthor)  they  were  miserably 
slain  by  Metellus  the  Roman  :  so  likewise,  in  smaller  matters, 
they  will  have  things  fall  out,  as  these  boni  and  mali  genii 
favour  or  dislike  lis.  Saturnini  nou  conveniunt  Jovialihus,  ^c. 
He  i\\iii\&  Saturninus,  shall  never  likely  be  preferred.  ''That 
base  fellows  are  often  advanced,  undeserving  Gnathoes,  and 
vicious  parasites,  when  as  discreet,  wise,  vertuous,  and  worthy 
men  are  neglected,  and  unrewarded,they  refer  to  those  domi- 
neering spirits,  orsubordinate  genii:  as  they  are  inclined,  or  fa- 
vour men,so  they  thrive,are  ruled  and  overcome;  for,  (as  ''Liba- 
nius  supposeth)  iis  our  ordinary  conflicts  and  contentions,  ge- 
nhisgenio  cedit  et  ohtemper at ^owe  genius  yields  and  is  overcome 
by  another.  All  particular  events  almost  they  refer  to  these 
private  spirits;  and  (as  Paracelsus  adds)  they  direct,  teach,  in- 
spire, and  instruct  men.  Never  was  any  man  extraordinarily 
famous  in  any  art,  action,  or  great  commander,  that  had  not 
Jamiliarem  dwrnonem,  to  inform  him,  as  Numa,  Socrates, 
and  many  such,  as  Cardan  illustrates,  cap.  128-  Arcanis  pru- 
dential civilis,  ^  speciali  siquidem  gratia,  se  a  Deo  donari  as- 
serunt  magi,  a  geniis  coilestibus  instrni,  ah  iis  doceri.  But 
these  are  most  erroneous  paradoxes,  inepfw  etjahulosa;  nugce, 
rejected  by  our  divines  and  Christian  churches.  'Tis  true, 
they  have,  by  Gods  permission,  power  over  us ;  and  we  find 
by  experience,  that  they  can  'Uiurt,  not  our  fields  only,  cattel, 
goods,  but  our  bodies  and  minds.  At  Hammel  in  Saxony, 
an.  1484.  20  Jnnii,  the  devil,  in  the  likeness  of  a  pied  piper, 
carryed  away  1 30  children,  that  were  never  after  seen.  Many 
times  men  are  ^  affriglxted  out  of  their  wits,  carried  away 
quite  (as  Scheretzius  illustrates,  lib.  ] .  c.  4.)  and  severally  mo- 
lested by  his  means.  Plotinus  the  Platonist  (lib.  J 4.  advers. 
G^wos^)  laughs  them  to  scorn,  that  hold  the  devil  or  spirits  can 
cause  any  such  diseases.     Many   think   he    can  work  upon 


'^  Quoties  fit,  ut  principes  novitiutn  aulicum  divitiis  et  dignitatibu3  pene  obruant, 
et  multorum  annorum  ministrnni,  qui  iioa  seinel  pro  hero  periculum  subiit,  ne  te- 
runcio  donent,  &c.  Idem.  Quod  philosophi  non  remunerenter,  cum  scurra  et  in- 
eptus  ob  iusulsum  jocum  saspe  prsemium  reportet,  inde  fit,  &;c.  b  Lib.  de 

crnent.  cadaver.  '^  Boissardus,  c.  0.  magia.  <*  Godelmannus,  cap.  3. 

lib.  1.  de  Magis.  idem  Zancbius,  lib.  4.  cap.  10  et  11.  de  malis  angelis.  e  No- 

civa  raelancholia  furiosos  elficit,  et  quandoque  penitus  interficit.  G.  Picolomineus  ; 
idenique  Zanch.  cap.  10,  lib.  4.  Si  Deus  permittat;  corpora  nostra  movere  possunt,  al- 
terare,  quovis  morborum  et  malorum  genere  afficere,  imo  et  in  ipsa  penetrare  et 
sa^nre. 


Mem.  I.  Subs.  2.]      Digression  of  Spirits.  "5 

the  body,  biitnotiipon  the  mind.  But  experience prononnceth 
otherwise,  than  he  can  work  both  upon  body  and  mind.  Tcrfu]- 
lian  is  of  this  opinion  (c.  22.)  'that  he  can  came  both  sickness 
and  health,  and  that  secretin'.  ''Taurellus  adds,  by  clancnlar 
poysons  he  can  infect  the  bodies,  and  hinder  the  operations 
of  the  bowels,  though  we  perceive  it  not  ;  closehj  creepinr/  into 
them,  saith  ''  Lipsius,  and  so  crucifie  our  souls;  et  uoeivd  melan- 
cholidfnriososefficit.  For,  being  a  spiritual  body,  he  struo-o-Ies 
-with  our  spirits,  saith  Rogers,  and  suggests  (accordino-  to 
''  Cardan,  verba  sine  voce,  species  sine  visn)  envy,  lust,  anoer, 
&c.  as  he  sees  men  incb'ncd. 

The  manner  how  he  performs  it,  Biarmannus,  in  his  oration 
against  Bodine,  sufficiently  declares.  He  <"  begins  first  with 
the  phantasie,  and  moves  that  so  stronglg,  that  no  reason  is 
able  to  resist.  Now  the  2Jhantasie  he  moves  by  mediation  of 
humours;  although  many  physicians  are  of  opinion,  that  the 
devil  can  alter  the  mind,  and  produce  this  disease,  of  himself. 
Quibnsdam  medicorum  visum,  saith 'Avicenna,  quod  melan- 
cholia contingat  a  dcemonio.  Of  the  same  mind  is  Psellus, 
and  Rhasis,  the  Arab,  {lib.  I.  Tract.  9.  Conf.)  nhat  this 
disease  proceed'^  especially  from  the  devil,  and  from  him 
alone.  Arculanus,  cap.  6.  in.  9.  Rhasis,  iEIianus  Montallus 
in  his  9  cap.  Daniel  Sennertus,  lib.  1.  part.  2.  cap.  II,  con- 
firm as  much,  that  the  devil  can  cause  this  disease  ;  by  reason, 
many  times,  that  the  parties  affected  prophesie,  speak  strange 
language,  but  non  sine  interventu  humoris,  not  without  the 
humour,  as  he  interprets  himself;  no  more  doth  Avicenna:  si 
contingat  a  damonio,  sufficit  nobis  7it  convertat  complexionem 
ad  choleramnigram,  et  sit  caussa  ejiis propinqua  cholera  niqra  ; 
the  immediate  cause  is  choler  adust;  -which  "  Pomponatius  like- 
wise labours  to  make  good  :  Galgerandus  of  Mantua,  a  famous 
physician,  so  cured  a  dasmoniacal  women  in  his  time,  that 
spake  all  languages,  by  purging  black  choler  :  and  thereupon, 
belike,  this  humour  of  melancholy  is  called  balneum  diaboli, 
the  devils  bath  ;  the  devil,  spying  his  opportunity  of  such  hu- 
mours, drives  them  many  times  to  despair,  fury,  rao-e,  &-c. 
mingling  himself  amongst  these  humours.  This  is  tha?  which 
Tertullian  averrs,  corporibus  injligunt  acerbos  casus,  animaque 


^  Inducpre  potest  morbos  et  sanitates.  bViscerum  actiones  potest  Inliibere 

latenter,  et  venenuj  nobis  ignotis  corpus  inficere.  c  Irrepentos  corporibus  oc 

culto  morbos  fin^^unt,  mentes  terrent.  membra  distorquent.  Lips.  Pi.vs.  Stoic.  I  J 
'':  '.■'•         .  .    '  De  rerum  var.  1.  lO.  c.  93.  e  Q„un,  mens  immediate  de- 

cipi  neqnit,  primum  movet  phantasiam,  et  ita  obfirmat  vanis  conceptibus,  ut  ne- 
quem  facultafi  a;stiraativa>,  ratiwuve  locuui  relinquat.  Spiritus  malusinvadit  animam 
turbat  sensus,  m  furorem  conjicit.     Austin,  de  \it.  beat.  'Lib.  3.  F'en.  l' 

Tract.  4.  c.  18.  i  A  dicuioue  luaxime  proficisci,  et  sa^pe  solo.  '  *>  Lib  de 

meant.  ; 


76  Digression  of  Spirits.       [Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

repentinos ;  membra  distorquent,occulterepentes,Si-c.  and, which 
Lemnius  goes  about  to  prove,  immiscent  se  mali  genii  pravis 
Immorihus.  at  que  afrce  bili,  Sfc.  and  ^  Jason  Pratensis,  that  the 
devil,  being  a  slender  incomprehensible  spirit,  can  easily  insi- 
nuate and  ivind  himself  into  humane  bodies,  and  cunninghf 
couched  in  our  boivels,  vitiate  our  healths,   terrijie  our  souls 
withj'earj'ul  dreams,  and  shake  our  mind  with  furies.     And  in 
another  place,  These  unclean  spirits  settled  in  our  bodies,  and 
now  mixt  ivith  our  melancholy  humours,  do  triumph,  as  it  were, 
and  sport  themselves  as  in  another  heaven.      Thus  he  argues, 
and  that  they  go  in  and  out  of  onr  bodies,  as  bees  do  in  a  hive, 
and  so  provoke  and  temptus,  as  they  perceive  our  temperature 
inclined  of  itself,  and  most  apt  to  be  deluded.     ^  Agrippa  and 
Lavater  are  perswaded  that  this  humour  invites  the  devil  to  it, 
wheresoever  it  is  in  extremity  ;  and,  of  all  other,  melancholy 
personsare  most  subject  to  diabolical  temptations  and  illusions, 
and  most  apt  to  entertain  tlieni,  and  the  devil  best  able  to  work 
upon  them ;  but,  whether  by  obsession  or  possession,  or  other- 
wise,  I  will  not  determine  ;  'tis  a  difficult  question.      iJelrio 
the  Jesuite,  {torn.  3.  lib.  6)  Springer  and  his  colleague,  {mall, 
malej'.)  Pet.  Thyreus  the  Jesuite,  {lib.  de  dcemoniacis,  de  locis 
inj'estis,  de  terrificationibus  nocturnis)  Hieronymus  Mengus 
(Flagel.  deem.)  and  others  of  that  rank  of  pontifical  writers, 
it  seems,  by  their  exorcisms  and  conjurations,  approve  of  it, 
having  forged  many  stories  to  that  purpose.     A  nun  did  eat  a 
lettice  '^icithout  grace,  or  signing  it  with  the  sign  of  the  crosj^ 
and  was  instantly  possessed.     Durand,  lib.  6.  Rational,  c.  86. 
num.  8)  relates  that  he  saw  a  wench  possessed  in  Bononia  with 
two  devils,  by  eating  an  unhallowed  pomegranate,  as  she  did 
afterwards  confess,  when  she  was  cured  by  exorcisms.     And 
therefore  our  papists  do  sign  themselves  so  often  with  the  sign 
of  the  cross,  «e  dcemon  ingredi  ausit,  and  exorcise  all  manner 
of  meats,  as  being-  unclean  or  accursed  otherwise,  as  Bellar- 
mine  defends.     Many  such  stories  I  find  amongst  pontificia! 
writers,  ''to  prove  their  assertions;  let  them  free  their  own 
credits :  some  few  I  will  recite  in  this  kind  out  of  most  ap- 
proved physicians.     Cornelius  Gemma  {lib.  2.  de  nat.  mirac. 
c.  4)  relates  of  a  young  maid,  called   Katherine  Gualter,  a 
coopers  daughter,  an.  1571  ?  that  had  such  strange  passions  and 
convulsions,  three  men  could  not  sometimes  hold  her.     She 
purged  a  live  eele,  which  he  saw,  a  foot  and  a  half  long  and, 

a  Cap.  de  mania,  lib.  Ae  morbis  cerebri.  Dffiinones,  quum  sint  tenues  et  incompre- 
hensibiles  spiritus,  se  insiniiare  corporibus  hnmanis  possunt,  et  occult  in  visceribus 
operti,  valetRclinem  vitiare,  somniisaniinasterrere,et  mentes  furoribus  quatere.  Insi- 
nuant  se  melancholicoruui  penetralibusintus,  ibique  considunt  et  deliciantur,  tamquam 
in  regioue  c larissimoium  sideruni^  coguntqne  aninium  furere.  ^iAh.  1.  cap.  0. 

occult,  philos.  part.  1.  cap.  1.  de  spectris.  <■  Sine  cruce  et  sanctificatione  ;  sic  a 

dymone  obsessa.  dial.  ^  Greg.  pag.  c.  9. 


Mem.  I.  Subs.  2.]     Causes  of  Melancholy.  77 

touched  himself;  but  the  eele  afterwards  vanished  :  slie  vo- 
mited some  twenty-four  poundsof  fulsome  stuff  of  all  colours, 
twice  a  day  for  fourteen  dayes ;  and,after  that,shc  voided  great 
balls  of  hair,  pieces  of  wood,  pigeons  dung,  parchment,  goose 
dung,  coals;  and,  after  them,  two  pound  of  pure  blood,  and 
then  again  coals  and  stones  (of  which  some  had  inscriptions) 
bigger  than  a  walnut,  some  of  ihem  pieces  of  glass,  brass,  &c. 
besides  paroxysmes  of  laughing,  weeping,  and  extasies,  &c.  Et 
hoc  {inquit)  cioii  horrorc  vidl,  this  I  saw  witii  iiorrour.  They 
could  do  no  good  on  her  by  physick,  but  left  Uvs  to  the  clergy. 
Marcellus  Donanis  lib.  2.  c.  1.  dc  med  dirab.)  hath  such 
another  story  of  a  countrey  felloAV,  that  had  four  knives  in  his 
belly,  instar  serra;  dentatos,  indented  like  a  saw,  every  one  a 
sptin  long,  and  a  wreath  of  hair  like  a  globe,  with  much  bag- 
o-aoe  of  like  sort,  wonderful  to  behold.  How  it  should  come 
into  his  guts,  he  concludes,  certe  nan  alio  qnam  dcemonis  as- 
tutid  et  dolo.  Laufjius  (Epist.  med.  lib.  1.  Epist.  3SJ  hath 
many  relations  to  this  effect,  and  so  hath  Christopherus  a  Vega. 
Wierus,  Skenkius,  Scribanius,  all  agree  that  they  are  done  by 
the  subtilty  and  illusion  of  the  devil.  If  you  shall  ask  a  rea- 
son of  this,  'tis  to  exercise  our  patience;  for  as  "Tertullian 
holds.  Virtus  non  est  virtns,  nisi  comparem  habet  ali/piem^ 
in  quo  superando  vim  siumi  ostendat ;  'tis  to  try  us  and  our 
faith;  'tis  for  ovu*  offences,  and  the  punishment  of  our  sins, 
by  Gods  permission  they  do  it;  caruijices  vindictoi  justa.  Dei, 
as  ^  Tolosanus  stdes  them,  executioners  of  his  will  :  or  rather 
as  David  Psal.  78.  ver.  49.  He  cast  upon  them  the  fierce- 
ness of  his  aiufer,  indignation,  wrath,  and.vexation,  by  send- 
ing out  of  evil  angels.  So  did  he  afflict  Job,  Saul,  the  lunaticks 
and  da?moniacal  persons  whom  Christ  cured,  Matth.  4.  8. 
Luke  4.  1 1.  Luke  13.  Mark  9.  Tobit  8.  3,  &c.  This,  I 
say,  happeneth  for  a  punishment  of  sin,  for  their  want  of  faith, 
incredulity,  weakness,  distrust,  &c. 


SUBSECT.  IIL 


Of  Witches  and  Magicians^  how  they  cause  Melancholy. 

JL  OU  have  heard  what  the  devil  can  do  of  himself:  now 
you  shall  hear  what  he  can  perform  by  his  instruments,  who 
are  many  times  worse  (if  it  be  possible)  than  he  himself,  and 
to  satisfie  their  revenge  and  lust,  cause  more  mischief;  multu 

»  Peuult.  dc  opitic.  Dei.  •>  Lib.  28.  cap.  -26.. Tom.  ± 


78  Causes  of  Melancholy.       [Part.  1.  Sec.  ^, 

enim  mala  non  egisset  dcemon,  nisi  provocatus  a  sagis,  as 
*  Erastus  thinks:  much  harm  had  never  been  done,  had  he  not 
been  provoked  by  witches  to  it.  He  had  not  appeared  in  Sa- 
muels shape,  if  the  witch  of  Endor  had  left  him  alone ;  or  re- 
presented those  serpents  in  Pharaohs  presence,  had  not  the  ma- 
gicians urged  him  unto  it :  nee  morbos  vel  hominibus  vel  hrutis 
in/iigeret,  (Erastus  maintains)  si  sagce  quiescerent ;  men  and 
cattle  might  go  free,  ifthe  witches  would  let  him  alone.  Many 
deny  Avitches  at  all,  or,  if  there  be  any,  they  can  do  no  harm. 
Of  this  opinion  is  Wierus,  {lib.  3.  cap.  b^.  prcestig.  deem,) 
Austin  Lerchemer  a  Dutch  writer,  Biarmannus,  Ewichius, 
Euwaldus,  our  countryman  Scot :  with  him  in  Horace, 

Somnia  terrores  magicos,  miracula,  sagas, 
Nocturnos  lemures,  portentaque  Thessab,  risu 
Excipiunt ■- 

they  laugh  at  all  such  stories :  but  on  the  contrary  are  most 
lawyers,  divines,  physicians,  philosophers,  Austin,  Hermingius, 
Dangeus,  Chytra;us,  Zanchius,  Aretius,  &c.  Delrio,  Springer, 
''Niderius,  (lib.  5.  Formicar.)  Cuiatius,  Bartolus,  {consil.  6. 
torn.  I.)  Bodine,  (dcemoniant.  lib.  2.  cap.  8)  Godelman,  Dam- 
hoderius,  &c.  Paracelsus,  Erastus,  Scribanius,  Camerarius,&c. 
The  parties  by  whom  the  devil  deals,  may  be  reduced  to  these 
tivo — such  as  command  him,  in  shew  at  least,  as  conjurers, 
and  magicians,  (whose  detestable  and  horrid  mysteries  are 
contained  in  their  book  called  '^  Arbatell ;  dcEmones  enim  ad- 
vocati  prccsto  sunt,  seque  exorcismis  et  conjuratiojiibus  quasi 
cogi  patiunlur,  ut  miserum  magorum  genus  in  impietate  deti- 
neant,)  or  such  as  are  commanded,  as  witches,  that  deal  ex 
parte  implicite  or  explicite,  as  the  ^  King  hath  well  defined. 
Many  subdivisions  there  are,  and  many  several  species  of  sor-^ 
cerers,  witches,  inchanters,  charmers,  &c.  They  have  been 
tolerated  heretofore,  some  of  them  ;  and  magick  hath  been 
pubiickly  professed  in  former  times,  in  *  Salamanca,  *^  Cracovia, 
and  other  places,  though  after  censured  by  several  -^univer- 
sities, and  now  generally  contradicted,  though  practised  by 
some  still,  maintained  and  excused,  tamquamres  secreta,  quce 
non  nisi  viris  magnis  et  peculiari  benejicio  de  ccelo  instru^tis 
communicatur  (I  use  ''  Boissardus  his  words) ;  and  so  far  ap- 
proved by  some  princes,  ut  nihil  ausi  aggredi  in  politicis. 


5  De  lamiis.  ^  Et  quomodo  venefici  fiaiit,  enarrat.  •"  De  quo  plura 

legas,  in  Boissardo,  lib.  1.  de  praestig,  t'Rex  Jacobus,  D^monol.  I.  1.  c.  3. 

*■  An  university  ia  Spain,  in  old  Castile.  fThe  chief  town  in  Poland. 

a  Oxford  and  Paris,     See  linern  P.  Lnmbardi.  h  Pr«-fat.  de  magis  et  vene- 

ficis,  lib. 


Mom.  I.  Subs.  3.]     Causes  of  Melancholy.  79 

in  sacris,  in  consiliis,  sine  eornm  arhitrio  ;  they  consult  still 
with  them,  and  dare  indeed  do  nothing-  without  their  advice. 
Nero  and  HeJiogabalus,  Maxentius,  and  Julianus  Apost^.ta, 
were  never  so  much  addicted  to  magick  of  old,  as  some  of 
our  modern  princes  and  popes  themselves  are  now  adayes. 
Erricus,  king  of  Sweden,  had  an  "*  inchanted  cap,  by  vertne 
of  which,  and  some  magical  murmur  or  whispering  terms,  he 
could  command  spirits,  trouble  the  ayre,  and  make  the  wind 
stand  which  way  he  would ;  insomuch  that,  when  there  wps 
any  great  wind  or  storm,  the  common  people  were  wont  to 
say,  the  king"  now  had  on  his  conjuring  cap.  But  such  exam- 
ples are  infinite.  That  which  they  can  do,  is  as  much  almost  as 
the  devil  himself,  who  is  still  ready  to  satisfie  their  desires, 
to  oblige  them  the  more  unto  him.  They  can  cause  tempests, 
storms;  which  is  familiarly  practised  by  witches  in  Norway, 
Island,  as  I  have  proved-  They  can  make  friends  enemies,  and 
enemies  friends,  by  philters;  ^  turpes  amores  cotici/iare,  en- 
force love,  tell  any  man  where  his  friends  are,  about  what  em- 
ployed, though  in  the  most  remote  places  ;  and,  if  they  will, 
''■  hrinr/  their  sweethearts  to  them  hy  night,  vpon  a  yoats  hack 
flyiny  in  the  ayre,  (Sigismund  Scheretzius,  pr/r^  1.  cap.  9-  de 
spect.  reports  contidently,  that  he  conferred  with  sundry  such, 
that  had  been  so  carried  many  miles,  and  that  he  heard  witches 
themselves  confess  as  much)  hurt,  and  infect  men  and  beasts, 
vines,  corn,  cattle,  plants,  make  women  abortive,  not  to  con- 
ceive, ''  barren  men  and  women  imapt  and  nnahle,  married 
and  unmarried,  fifty  several  v/ays,  (saith  Bodine,/.  2.  c.  2.)  flye 
in  the  ayre,  meet  Avhen  and  where  they  will,  as  Cicogna  proves, 
and  (Lavat.  de  spec.  part.  2.  c.  17.)  steal  yoimy  children  ontajf 
their  cradles,  ministerio  d?emonum,  and  put  deformed  in  their 
rooms,  ti'hich  rre  call  chanyelinys,  (saith  ^Scheretzius, />«r^  ). 
c.  6)  make  men  victorious,  fortunate,  eloquent :  (and  there- 
fore in  those  ancient  monomaehics  and  combats,  they  were 
searched  of  old,  'if  they  had  no  magical  charms)  they  can 
make  s  stick-frees,  such  as  shall  endure  a  rapiers  point,  mus- 
ket shot,  and  never  be  wounded  ;  (of  >vhich  read  more  in  Bois- 
sardifs,  cap.  6.  de  Mayici,  the  manner  of  the  adjuration,  and 
by  whom  'tis  made,  where  and  how  to  be  used  inexpeditionihns 
helUcis,  prcEliis,  dnellis,  ^e.  with  many  peculiar  instances  and 
examples)  they  can  walk  in  fiery  furnaces,  make  men  feel 


aRotatutn  pileum  habebat,  quo  ventos  %iolentos  cieret,  aerem  tnrbaret,  et  in  qDam 
partem,  i^c.  b  Erastus.  <"  Ministerio  hirci  noctnmi.  dSteriles 

nuptos  et  inhabiles.  Vide  Petrum  de  Palnde,  lib.  4.  distinct  34.  Panlum  Gniclandum, 
^Infantes  matribus  suffurantur ;  aliis  suppositiiis  in  locnra  veronim  conjectis, 
'MiHes.  eD.  Luther,  in  primnm  praeceptnm,  et  Leon.  Varius.Iib.de 

fascino. 


80  Cause$  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

no  pain  on  the  rack,  ant  alias  torturas  sentire ;  they  can 
stanch  blood,  =•  represent  dead  mens  shapes,  alter  and  turn 
themselves  and  others  into  several  forms  at  their  pleasures.'* 
i^gaberta,  a  famous  witch  in  Lapland,  would  do  as  much 
publickly  to  all  spectatours — modo  pusilla,  modo  amis,  modo 
procera  ut  quercits,  modo  vacca,  avis,  cohdwr,  ^c.  now 
young,  now  old,  high,  low,  like  a  cow,  like  a  bird,  a  snake, 
and  what  not  ?  She  could  represent  to  others  what  forms  they 
most  desired  to  see,  shew  them  friends  absent,  reveal  secrets, 
maxima  omnium  admiratione,  &c.  And  yet,  for  all  thissubtilty 
of  theirs,  (as  Lipsius  well  observes,  Physioloff.  Stoicor.  lib.  1. 
cap  17.)  neither  these  magicians,  nor  devils  themselves,  can 
takeaway  gold  or  letters  out  of  mine  or  Crassus  chest,  et  clien- 
telis,  suis  largiri ;  for  they  are  base,  poor,  contemptible  felloAvs, 
most  part :  as  ''■  Bodine  notes,  they  can  do  nothing  in  judicum 
decreta  aut  pcenas,  in  regum  consilia  vel  arcana,  nihil  in  rem 
nummariam  aut  thesauros  ;  they  cannot  give  money  to  their 
clients,  alter  judges  decrees,  or  counsels  01  kings :  these  minuti 
genii  cannot  do  it :  altiores  genii  hoc  sibi  adservdrunt ;  the 
higher  powers  reserve  these  things  to  themselves.  Now  and 
then,  perad  venture,  there  may  be  some  more  famous  magicians, 
(like Simon  Magus, ''  Appollonius  Tyaneus,  Pastes,  Jamblicus, 
*^  Odo  de  Stellis)  that  for  a  time  can  build  castles  in  the  ayre, 
represent  armies,  &c.  (as  they  are  ^said  to  have  done)  com- 
mand wealth  and  treasure,  feed  thousands  with  all  variety  of 
meats  upon  a  sudden,  protect  themselves  and  their  followers 
from  all  princes  persecutions,  by  removing  from  place  to  place 
in  an  instant,  reveal  secrets,  future  events,  tell  what  is  done  in 
far  countries,  make  them  appear  that  dyed  long  since,  &c.  and 
do  many  such  miracles,  to  the  worlds  teiTovu',  admiration, 
and  opinion  of  deity  to  themselves":  yet  the  devil  forsakes 
them  at  last ;  they  came  to  wicked  ends ;  and  raro  aut  mm- 
quam  such  impostors  are  to  be  found''.  The  vulgar  sort  of 
them  can  work  no  such  feats.  But  to  my  purpose — they  can, 
last  of  all,  cure  and  cause  most  diseases  to  such  as  they  love 
or  hate,  and  this  of  'melancholy  amongst  the  rest.  Paracelsus 
(torn.  4.  de  morbis  amentium,  tract.  1.)  in  express  words  affirms, 
miiltijaschiantur  in  melancholiam  ;  many  are  bewitched  into 
melancholy,  out  of  his  experience.  The  same  saith  Danasus, 
lib.  3.  de  sortiariis.      Vidi,   inquit,  qui  melancholicos  morbos 


»Lavat.  Cicog,  i^Boissardus,  de  M«gis.  «  Daemon,  lib.  3.  c.  3. 

«l  Vide  Philostratutn,  vita  ejus;  Boissardum  de  Magis.  e Nubrigensis.  Lege 

lib.  1.  cap.  19.  fVide  Suidam  de  Paset.        ?  E)e  cruent.  cadaver.         hErastus, 

Adolphus,  Scribanius.  '  Virg.  Mwcid.  4.  incantatricem  describens  ; 

Haec  se  carminibus  promittit  solvere  mentes,  Quas  velit,  ast  aliis  duras  imittere 


Meoi.  i.  Subs.  4.]      Causes  of  Melmcholy.  81 

f/ravissimos  mduxerunt :  I  have  seen  those  that  have  caused 
melancholy  in  the  most  grievous  manner,  "dn/ed  up  xvomens 
paps,  cured  f/out,  palsie ;  this  and  apoplexij.J'aUimj -sickness^ 
which  no  pliysick  conld  help,  solo  tactu,  by  touch  alone.  Ru- 
land  (in  his  3.  Cent.  Cura9{.)  gives  an  instance  of  one  David 
Helde,  a  young-  man,  who,  by  eating  cakes  which  a  witch 
gave  him,  mox  delirare  capit,  began  to  dote  on  a  sudden, 
and  was  instantly  mad.  F.H.  D.  in  ''Hildesheim,  consulted 
about  a  melancholy  man,  thought  his  disease  was  partly  ma- 
gical, and  partly  natural,  because  he  vomited  pieces  of  iron 
and  lead,  and  spake  such  languages  as  he  had  never  been 
taught;  but  such  examples  are  common  in  Scribanius,  Her- 
cules de  Saxonia,  and  others.  The  means  by  which  they  work, 
are  usually  charms,  images,  (as  that,  in  Hector  Boethius,  of 
king  Duffe  characters  stamped  of  sundry  metals,  and  at  such 
and  such  constellations,  knots,  amulets,  words,  philters,  &c. 
M'hich  generally  make  the  parties  affected,  melancholy;  as 
*^  Monavius  discourseth  at  large  in  an  epistle  of  his  to  Acolsius, 
giving-  instance  in  a  Bohemian  barron  that  was  so  troubled 
by  a  philter  taken.  Not  that  there  is  any  power  at  ail  in  those 
spells,  charms,  characters,  and  barbarous  words ;  but  that 
the  devil  doth  use  such  means  to  delude  them  ;  ut  fi deles 
inde  mcif/os  (saith  ''Libanius)  in  officio  retineat,  turn  in  con- 
sortimn  malpf'aciorum  vocet. 


SUBSECT.  IV. 

Stars  a  cause.     Signs  from  Physiognomy^  Metoposcopy, 
Chiromancy. 

Natural  causes  are  either  ^rirnon/  and  universal,  or  secnn- 
dary  and  more  particular.  Primary  causes  are  the  heavens, 
planets,  stars,  &c.  by  their  influence  (as  our  astrologers  hold) 
producing  this  and  such  like  effects.  I  Mill  not  here  stand 
to  discuss,  obiter,  whether  stars  be  causes  or  signs ;  or  to 
apologise  for  judicial  astrology.  If  either  Sextus  Empiricus, 
Picus  Mirandula,Sextus  ab  Heminga,  Pererius,  Erastus,  Cham- 
bers, &c.  have  so  far  prevailed  with  any  man,  that  he  will 
attribute  no  vertue  at  all  to  the  heavens,  or  to  sun  or  moon, 


aGodelmanuus,  cap.  7.  lib.  1.  Nutricum  mammas  praesiccant ;  solo  tactu  poda^am, 
apoplexiam,  paralysin.  et  alios  morbos,  quos  medicina  curare  non  poterat  b  Factus 
inde  maniacus.     Spic.  2.  fol.  147.  c Omnia  philtra,  etsi  inter  se  differant,  hoc 

habent  commune,  quod  hominem  efficiant  meiancholicura.     epist.  231.     Scholtzii. 
•*  De  cruent.  cadaver. 


82  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part,  J.  Sec.  2, 

more  than  he  doth  to  tlieir  signs  at  an  inn-keepers  post,  or 
tradesmans  shop,  or  generally  condemn  all  such  astrolooical 
aphorisms  approved  by  experience — I  refer  him  to  Bellan- 
tius,Pirovanus,Marascallerus,Goclenius,  Sir  Christopher  Hey- 
don,  &c.  If  thou  shalt  ask  me  what  I  think,  I  must  answer, 
(nam  et  doctis  hisce  errorihns  versatns  sum)  they  do  incline 
but  not  compell,  (no  necessity  at  all  :  ^agunt  non  cor/imf) 
and  so  gently  incline,  that  a  wise  man  may  resist  them  ;  sa- 
])iens  dominahitur  astris :  they  rule  us;  but  God  rules  them. 
All  this  (me  thinks)  ''Joh.  de  Indaoine  hath  comprized  in 
brief:  queer  is  a  me  quantum  in  nobis  operantur  astra?  Sfc. 
Wilt  thou  knoiv  hoivjar  the  stars  work  upo7i  us  ?  I  say  they  do 
hut  incline,  and  that  so  yently,  that^  if  we  will  be  ruled  by 
reason,  they  have  no  power  over  us  ;  but  if  ice  follow  our  own 
nature,  and  be  led  by  sense,  they  do  as  much  in  us,  as  in  brute 
beasts;  and  we  are  no  better:  so  that,  I  hope,  I  may  justly  con- 
clude with  '^CajetanfCoelumvehicuhandivina;  virtutis,8fc.  that 
the  heaven  is  Gods  instrument,  by  mediation  of  which  he  go- 
verns and  disposeth  these  elementary  bodies— oragreat  book, 
whose  letters  are  the  stars,  (as  one  calls  it)  wherein  are  writ- 
ten many  strange  things  for  such  as  can  read — •*  or  an  excel- 
lent harp,  made  by  an  eminent  ivorkman,  on  ichich  he  that  can 
but  play,  will  make  most  admirable  musick.  But  to  the  pur- 
pose— 

^Paracelsus  is  of  opinion,  that  a  physician,  tvithout  the 
knowledge  of  stars,  can  neither  understand  the  cause  or  cure 
of  any  disease — either  of  this,  or  gout,  not  so  much  as  tooth- 
ache— except  he  see  the  peculiar  geniture  and  scheme  of  the 
party  affected.  And  for  this  proper  malady,  he  will  have  the 
principal  and  primary  cause  of  it  proceed  from  the  heaven, 
ascribing  more  to  stars  than  humours,  ^  and  that  the  constel- 
lation alone,  many  times,  producefh  melancholy,  all  other 
causes  setapart.  He  gives  instance  in  lunatick  persons,  that  are 
deprived  of  their  wits  by  the  moons  motion  ;  and,  in  another 
place,  refers  all  to  the  ascendent,  and  will  have  the  true  and 
chief  cause  of  it  to  be  sought  from  the  stars.  Neither  is  it  his 
opinion  only,  but  of  many  Galenists  and  philosophers,  though 


»  Astra  regunt  homines ;  et  regit  astra  Dens.         '  •>  Chorom.  lib.  Qiiseris  a  dkj 

qnantum  operantur  astra  ?  dico,  in  nos  nihil  astr  nrgere,  sed  animos  proclives  trahere; 
qui  sic  tamen  liberi  sunt,  ut,  si  ducem  sequantar  rationem,  nihil  efficiant;  sin  vero  oa- 
tiiram  id  agere  quod  in  brutis  I'ere.  <^  Coelum  vehiculum  divinae  \irtutis,  cujus 

mediante  motu,  lumine,  et  influentia.  Dens  elementaria  corpora  ordinat,  et  disponit. 
Th.  de  Veio.  Cajetanus  in  Psa.  104.  d  Mundus  iste  quasi  lyra  ab  excellentissimo 

quodam  artifice  concinnata^  quamqui  norit,  mirabiles  elicietharmonias.  J.  Dee.  Apho- 
rismo  11.  «  Medicus,  sine  coeli  peritia  nihil  est,  &c.  nisi  genesim  sciverit,  ne 

tantillnm  potent,  lib.  de  podag.  fConstellatio  in  caussa  est:  et  influentia  coeli 

morbum  hunc  movet,  interdgm  omnibus  aliis  amotis.  Et  alibi.  Origo  ejus  a  ccelo 
petenda  est.  Tr.  de  morbis  amentium. 


Mem.  1.  Subs.  4,]  Causes  of  Melancholij.  8S 

they  notso  stifly  and  peremptorily  maintain  as  much.  Tkisva- 
riet!/  of  melancliolij  symptomes  proceeds  from  the  stars,  saith 
•'Melaiicthon.     The  most  generous  melancholy  (as  that  of  Au- 
oustus)  comes  from  the  conjunction  of  Saturn  and  Jupiter  in 
Libra;  the   bad,   (as  that  of  Catiline)  from   the  meeting  of 
Saturn  and  the  moon  in  Scorpio.  Jovianus  Pontanus,  in  his 
tenth  book,  and  thirteenth  chapter  de  rebus  coelestiMis,  dis- 
courseth  to  this  purpose  at  large.      Ex  atra  bile  varii  f/ene- 
rantur   morbi,    Sfc.       ^  Many  diseases  proceed  from   black 
choler,  as  it  shall  be  hot  or  cold;  and  thouyh  it  be  cold  in  its 
oicn  nature,  yet  it  is  apt  to  be  heated,  as  water  may  be  made 
to  boyle,  and  burn  as  bad  as  fre ;  or  made  cold  as  ice  ;  and 
thence  proceed  such  variety  of  symptomes  :  some  mad,  some 
solitary ;    some    lauc/h,  some  rage,    dsc- — the   cause    of   all 
which  intemperance'  he  will  have  chiefly  and  primarily  pro- 
ceed from  the  heavens— '/'/om  theposition  of  Mars,  Saturn, 
and  Mercury.      His  aphorisms  be  these  :  '^  Mercury  in  any 
geniture,  if  he  shall  he  found  ?«  Virgo,  or  Pisces  his  opposite 
sif/n,  and  that  in  the  horoscope,  irradiated  by  those  quartih 
aspects  of  Saturn  or  Mars,  the  child  shall  be  mad  or  melan^ 
choly.     Again,  ^  He  that  shall  have  Ssitmn  or  Murs,  the  one 
culminatiny,  the  other  in  the  fourth  house,  ivhen  he  shall  be 
horn,  shall  be  melancholy  ;  of  tvhich  "he  shall  be  cured  in 
time,  ?y  Mercury  behold  them.     ^ If  the  moon  be  in  conjunc- 
tion or  opposition,  at  the  birth-time,  with  the  sun,  Saturn,  or 
Mars,   or  in  a  quartile  aspect  tvith  them   (e  malo  coeli  loco, 
Leovitius  adds)  many  diseases  are  signified ;  especially  the 
head  and  brain  is  like  to  be  mis-affected  with  pernicious  hu- 
mours, to  be  melancholy,  lunatick,  or  mad.      Cardan  adds, 
quartd  lund  natos,  eclipses,  earth-quakes.  Garcasus  and  Leo- 
vitius will  have  the  chief  judgement  to  be  taken  from  the  lord 
of  the  geniture;  or  when  there  is  no  aspect  betwixt  the  moon 
and  Mercury,   and  neither  behold  the  horoscope,   or  Saturn 
and  Mars  shall   be  lord  of  the  present  conjunction  or  oppo- 
sition in  Sagittary  or  Pisces,   of  the  sun  or  moon,  such  per- 
sons are  commonly  epileptick,  dotCjdaemoniacal,  melancholy^ 

;;.  a  Lib.  de  aDima,  cap.  de  humorib.  Ea  varietas  in  melancholia  habet  ccelestes 
caussas  (i   Tj  et  1|.  in  D  ci    ^  et  D  in  «!,.  ''Ex  atra  bile  varii  generantur 

morbi,  perinde  ut  ipse  multum  calidi  aut  frigidi  in  se  habuerit,  quum  utiique  suscipi- 
endo  quam  aptissima  sit,  tametsi  suapte  natura  frigida  sit.  Annon  aqua  sic  afficitur 
a  calore  ut  ardeat ;  et  a  frigore  ut  in  glaciem  concrescat?  et  ha;c  varietas  distinctio- 
num,  alii  flent,  rident,  &c.  <=  Hanc  ad  intemperantiam  gignendam  plurimum 

confert  ^  et  fj  positus,  &c.  ,         rt  g  Quoties  alicujus  genitura  in  m  et  >£  ad- 

verso  signo  positus,  heroscopum  partiliter  tenuerit,  atqiie  etiain  a  <J  vel  '^  O  radio 
percussus  fuerit,  natus  ab  insania  vexabitur.  «  Qui  ^  et  ^  habet,  alterum  in 

culinine,  alterum  imo  coelo,  cum  in  lucem  venerit,  melancholicus  erit,  a  qua  sanabi- 
tur,  si  g  illoa  irradiariL  f  Hac  configiuratione  natus,  aut  lunaticus,  aut  mente 

captus. 


^4  Causes  of' Melancholy .         [t'art.  1.  Sec.  2. 

But  see  more  of  these  aphorisms  in  the  aljove-named  Ponta- 
nus,  Garcaeus,  cap.  23.  de  Jud  geniinr.  Schoner.  Ub.  1.  cap. 
8.  which  he  hath  gathered  out  of  ^Ptolemy,  Albubater,  and 
some  other  Arabians,  Junetine,  Ranzovius,  Lindhout,  Origan, 
&c.  But  these  men  you  will  reject  peradventure,  as  astrolo- 
gers, and  therefore  partial  judges;  then  hear  the  testimony  of 
physicians,  Galenists  themselves.  ^  Crato  confesseth  the  in- 
fluence of  stars  to  have  a  great  hand  to  this  peculiar  disease: 
so  doth  Jason  Pratensis,  Lonicerius  {prarfat  de  Apople.rid) 
Ficinus,  Fernelius,  &c.  "^P.  Cnemander  acknowledgeth  the 
stars  an  universal  cause,  the  particular  from  parents,  and  the 
use  of  the  six  non-natural  things.  Baptista  Port.  7?m^. /,  I. 
c.  10, 12,  15,  will  have  them  causes  to  every  particular  iiidi- 
vidnum.  Instances  and  examples,  to  evince  the  truth  of  those 
aphorisms,  are  common  amongst  those  astrologian  treatises. 
Cardan,  in  his  thirty-seventh  geniture, gives  instance  in  Math. 
Bolognius,  Camerar,  hor.  natalit.  centur.  J.  genit.  6.  et  7.  of 
Daniel  Gare,  and  others,  but  see  Garcasus,  cap.  33.  Luc. 
Gauricus,  Tract  6.  de  Azemeuis,  ^c.  The  time  of  this  me- 
lancholy is,  when  the  significators  of  any  geniture  are  directed 
according  to  art,  as  the  hor.  moon,  hylech,  &c.  to  the  hostile 
beams  or  terms  of  T?  and  $  especially,  or  any  fixed  star  of 
their  nature,  or  if  ^  ,  by  his  revolution,  or  transitiis,  shaU  of- 
fend any  of  those  radical  promissors  in  the  geniture. 

Other  signs  there  are  taken  from  physiognomy,  metopos- 
copy,  chiromancy,  which  because  Joh.  de  Indagine,  and  Rot- 
man  (the  landgrave  of  Hassia  his  mathematician)  not  long 
since  in  his  Chiromancy,  Baptista  Porta,  in  his  celestial  Phy- 
siognomy, have  proved  to  hold  great  affinity  M^ith  astroloo-y^ 
to  satisfie  the  curious,  I  am  the  more  willing  to  insert. 

The  general  notions''  physiognomers give,  be  these  :  black 
colour  argues  natural  melancholy  ;  so  doth  leanness,  hirsute- 
ness,  broad  veins,  much  hair  on  the  hroivs,  saith  '^  Gratanaro- 
lus,  cap.  7.  and  a  little  head,  out  of  Aristotle  :  high  sanguin6 
red  colour  shews  head  melancholy  ;  they  that  stutter  and  are 
bald,  will  be  soonest  melancholy,  as  Avicenna  supposeth) 
by  reason  of  the  driness  of  their  brains.  But  he  that  will 
know  more  of  the  several  signs  of  humours  and  wits  out  of 
physiognomy,  let  him  consult  with  old  Adamantus  and  Pole- 


"  Ptolemaens,  Centiloquio,  et  quadripartito  tribuit  omnium  melancholicornm  sym- 
ptomata  siderum  influentiis.  bArte  Medici.  Accedunt  ad  has  caussas  aftectiones 
siderum.  Plurimum  incitant  et  provocant  influentise  coelestes.  Velcurio,  lib.  4. 
cap.  15.  c  Hildesheim,  spicil.  2.  de  mel.  d  Joh.  de  Indag.  c.  9.  Mont- 

altus,  cap.  23.  «  Caput  parvuin  qui  hahent,  cerebrum  habent  etspiritns  ple- 

ramqueangustos.— Facile  incidunt  iu  melautholiam  rubicundi.    Aetius,    IdemMoU- 
taltus,  c.  21.  e.  Galeno. 


Mem,  ].  Subs,  4.]       Causes  of  Melancholy.  85 

inus,  that  comment,  or  rather  paraphrase,  upon  Aristotles 
Physiognomy,  Baptista  Portas  four  pleasant  books,  Michael 
Scot  de  secrctis  natures,  John  de  Indagine,  Moiftaltus,  Antony 
Zara,  auat.  bufeiiiorum,  sect.  2.  memh.  23.  et  lib.  4. 

Chiromancy  hath  these  aphorisms  to  foretell  melancholy. 
Tasnier,  Uh.  5.  cap.  2.  (who  hath  comprehended  thesunimof 
John  de  Indagine,   Tricassus,  Corvinus,   and  others,  in    his 
book)  thus  hath  it :  '•'The  Saturnine  liae  f)oinf}Jrom  the  rascefta 
throufjh  the  hand,  to  Satiirns  mount,  and  there  intersected  by 
certain   little  lines,  argues  mehnicholy ;  so  if  the  vital  and 
natural  make  an  acute  anyle.       Aphorism  100  :   The  Satur- 
nine, epatick,  and  natural  lines,  making  a  gross  triangle  in  the 
hand,  argue   as  much  ;  which   Gochnius   (cap.  5.  Chiras.) 
repeats  verbatim  out  of  him.      In  general,  they  conclude  all, 
that,  if /S'a^j^rws  mount  be  full  of  many  small  lines  and  inter- 
sections, "^  such  men  are  most  part  melancholy,  miserable,  and 
full  of  disq7iietness,  care  and  trouble,  continually  vexed  with 
anzious  and  bitter  thoughts,    ahcay  sorrowful,  fearful,  sus- 
picious :  they  delight  in  husbandry,  buildings,  pools,  marshes, 
springs,  woods,  rcalks,  Sfc.     ThaddaUs  Haggesius,  in  his  Me- 
toposcopia,  hath  certain  aphorisms  derived  from  Satnrns  lines 
in  the  forehead,  by  which  he  collects  a  melancholy  disposition; 
and  '^Baptista  Porta  makes  observations  from  those  other  parts 
of  the  body,  as,  ifaspotbe  over  the  spleen  ;  '^or  in  the  nails, 
if  it  appear  black,  it  signifeth  much   care,  grief,  contention, 
and  melancholy.     The  reason  he  refers  to  the  humours,  and 
gives  instance  in  himself,  that,  for  seven  years  space,  he  had 
such  black  spots  in  his  nails,  and  all  that  while  was  in  perpe- 
tual law-sutes,  controversies  for  his  inheritance,  fear,  loss  of 
honour,  banishment,  grief,  care,  &c.  and  when  his  miseries 
ended,  the  black  spots  vanished.    Cardan,  in  his  book  de  libris 
propriis,  tells  such  a  story  of  his  own  person,  that  a  little  be- 
fore his  sons  death,  he  had  a  black  spot,  which  appeared  in 
one  of  his  nails,  and  dilated  it  self  as  he  came  nearer  to  his 
«nd.    But  I  am  over-tedious  in  these  toyes,  w  hich  (howsoever, 
in  some  mens  too  severe  censures,  they  may  be  held  absurd  and 
ridiculous)  I  am  the  bolder  to  insert,  as  not  borrowed  from 
circumforanean  roguesand  Gipsies,  but  out  of  the  writing-s  of 
worthy  philosophers,  and  physicians,  yet  living-,  some  of  them, 


"  Satumia,  a  rascetta  per  tnediam  nianutn  decurrens,  usque  ad  radicem  montis  Sa- 
turni,  a  par\'is  lineis  intersecta,  arguit  melancholicos.     Aphoris.  78.  *  Agi- 

tantuc  miseriis,  continuis  inquietudinibus,  neque  unquam  a  solicitudine  liberi  sunt: 
aniie  afflignntur  amarissimis  intra  cogitationibus,  semper  tristes,  siispiciosi,  meticu- 
losi :  cogitationes  sunt,  velle  agrum  colere,  stagna  amant  et  paludes,  &c.  Job.  de  Inr 
dagie.  bb.  1.      -     c  Ccelestis  Physiogn.  lib.  10.  dCap,  14.  lib-  5.  Idem  Macula 

m  UDgulis  nigrae,  lites,  rixas,  melancholiam  significant,  ab  humore  in  corde  tali. 


86  Causes  of'  Melancholy,       [  Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

and  lelig-ioiis  professors  in  famous  universities,  who  are  able 
to  patronize  that  which  they  have  said,  and  vindicate  them- 
selves from  all  cavillers  and  ignorant  persons. 


SUBSECT.  V. 

Old  age  a  cause. 

SECUNDARY  peculiar  causes  efficient  (so  called  in  re- 
spect of  the  other  precedent)  are  either  congenitce^  in- 
ternee innata,  as  they  term  them,  inward,  innate,  inbred  ; 
or  else  outward  and  adventitious,  which  happen  to  us  after  we 
are  born  :  conoenite,  or  born  with  us,  are  either  natural,  as 
old  age,  or  prater  naturam  (as  ''Fernelius  calls  it),  that  dis- 
temperature,  which  we  have  from  our  parents  seed,  it  being 
an  hereditary  disease.  The  first  of  these,  which  is  natural  to 
all,  and  which  no  man  living'  can  avoid,  is  ''old  age,  which 
being  cold  and  dry,  and  of  the  same  quality  as  melancholy  is, 
must  needs  cause  it,  by  diminution  of  spirits  and  substance^ 
and  increasing  of  adust  humours.  Therefore  '^Melancthon 
avers  out  of  Aristotle,  as  an  undoubted  truth,  senes  plerumque 
delirdsse  in  senectd,  that  old  men  familiarly  dote,  ob  atram 
bilem,  for  black  choler,  which  is  then  superabundant  in  them  : 
and  Rhasis,  that  Arabian  physician,  (in  his  Co7it.  lib.  1.  cap. 
9.)  calls  it  *^  a  necessary  and  inseparable  accident  to  all  old 
and  decrepit  persons.  JIfter  seventy  years,  (as  the  ^  Psalmist 
saith)  all  is  trouble  and  sorrow  ;  and  common  experience  con- 
firms the  truth  of  it  in  weak  and  old  persons,  especially  in 
such  as  have  lived  in  action  all  their  lives,  had  great  imploy- 
ments,  much  business,  much  command,  and  many  servants, 
to  oversee,  and  leave  off  ea.'  abrupto  ;  as  ^Charles  the  Fifth 
did  to  'King  Philip,  resign  up  all  on  a  sudden.  They  are 
overcome  with  melancholy  in  an  instant;  or,  if  they  do  con- 
tinue in  such  courses,  they  dote  at  last,  (senex  bis  puerj 
and  are  not  able  to  manage  their  estates,  through  common 
infirmities  incident  to  their  age;  full  of  ache,  sorrow,  and 
grief,  children  again,  dizards;  they  carle  many  times  as 
they  sit,  and  talk  to  themselves  ;  ^they  are  angry,  waspish, 
displeased  with  every  thing,  suspicious  of  all,  wayward, 
covetous^  hard,  (saith  Tully)  self-willed,  superstitious,  self- 
conceitedf  braggers  and  admirers  of  themselves,  as  Balthasar 

*  Lib.  1.  Path.  ell.  ^  Venit  eninij  properata  malis,  inopina  senectus : 

Et  dolor  aetatem  jussit  inesse  meam.  Boethius,  met.  1.  de  consol.  philos.  c  Cap. 

de  humoribus,  lib.  de  anima.  ^  Necessarium  accidens  decrepitis,  et  inseparabile 

e  Psal,  90.  10.  fMeteran.  Belg.  hist.  lib.  1.  '  g  Sunt  morosi,  et  anxii,  et 

iracnndi,  et  difficiles  senes,  si  quseruuus,  etiam  avari,    Tull.  de  senectute. 


Mem.  1.  Subs.  6.]     Causes  of  Melancholy .  87 

Castalio  hath  truly  noted  of  them.  This  natural  infirmity  is 
most  eminent  in  old  women,  and  such  as  are  poor,  solitary,  live 
in  most  base  esteem  and  beggary,  or  such  as  are  witches  ; 
insomuch  that  ^  Wierus,  Baptista  Porta, Ulricus  Molitor,  Ed- 
wicus,  do  refer  all  that  witches  are  said  to  do,  to  imagination 
alone,  and  this  humour  of  melancholy.  And  whereas  it  is 
controverted,  whether  they  can  bewitch  cattle  to  death,  ride 
in  the  air  upon  a  coulstaft'  out  of  a  chimne3'-top,  transform 
themselv^es  into  cats,  dogs,  &c.  translate  bodies  from  place  to 
place,  meet  in  companies,  and  dance,  as  they  do,  or  have  car- 
nal copvdation  with  the  devil,  they  ascribe  all  to  this  redun- 
dant melancholy,  which  domineers  in  them,  to  ''somniferous 
potions,  and  natural  causes,  the  devils  policy.  Non  Iccdunt 
omnino,  (saith  W  ierus)  ant  quid  mirumjaciuut,  (de  Lamiisy 
lib.  3.  cap.  S6.)  nt  putatvr :  solum  vitiatam  Jiabent  phanta- 
siam  ;  they  do  no  such  wonders  at  all,  only  their  "  brains  are 
crazed.  **  They  think  they  are  icitches  and  can  do  hurt,  but  do 
not.  But  this  opinion  Bodine,  Erastus,  Danteus,  Scribanius, 
Sebastian  Michaelis,  Campauella,  (de  Sensu  rerum,  lib.  4, 
cap.'d.)  '^  Dandinus  the  Jesuit,  (lib.  2.  de  Animd)  explode; 
^  Cicogna  confutes  at  large.  That  witches  are  melancholy, 
they  deny  not,  but  not  out  of  corrupt  jjhantasie  alone,  so  to 
delude  themselves  and  others,  or  to  produce  such  effects. 


SUBSECT.  VI. 

Parents  a  cause  by  propagation. 

A  HAT  other  inward  inbred  cause  of  melancholy  is  our  tem- 
perature, in  whole  or  part,  which  we  receive  from  our  parents, 
which  spernelius  calls/?r<E^er  naturam,  orunnatural,itbeingan 
hereditary  disease  ;  for  as  he ''justifies,  quale parentum,  maxime 
patris,  semen  obtiyerit,  tales  evadunt  simulares  spermaticceque 
partes :  quocumqjie  etiam  morbo  pater,  quum  generate  tenetur, 
cumsemine  transfert  in  prolem  :  such  as  the  temperature  of  the 
father  isjsuch  is  the  sons;  and,  look,  what  disease  thefatherhad 


»  Lib.  2.  de  Aulico.  Senes  avari,  morosi,  jactabundi,  philanti,  deliri,  snperstitiosi, 
suspiciosi^  &c.  Lib.  3.  de  lamiis,  c,  17.  et  18.  ''SolamiTDj  opinm,  lapi  adeps, 

lac.  asini,  &c.  sanguis  infantum,  &c.  «  Corrupta  estiis  ab  hnmore  melancholico 

phantasia.     Nymannus.  ''Putant  se  Ijedere,  quando  non  laedunt.  «Qui 

haec  in  imaginationis  vim  referre  conati  sunt,  aut  atrae  bilis,  inanera  prorsus  laborem 
susceperunt.  f  Lib.  3.  cnp.  4.  omnif.  mag.  ?  Lib.  I.e.  11.  path.  '■  Vt 

arthritici,  epilep.  Sec. 

VOL.  1.  P 


88  Causes  of  Melancholy.       [Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

when  he  begot  him,  his  son  will  have  after  him,  *  and  is  as 
well  inheritor  of  his  infirmities,  as  oj'his  lands.  And  where  the 
complexion  and  constitution  of  the  father  is  corrupt,  there, 
C'saith  Roger  Bacon)  the  complexion  and  constitution  of  the 
son  must  needs  he  corrupt ;  and  so  the  corruption  is  derived 
from  the  father  to  the  son.  Now  this  doth  not  so  much  appear 
in  the  composition  of  the  body,  according  to  that  of  Hippo- 
crates, ^in  habit,  proportion,  scarrs,  and  other  lineaments;  but 
in  manners  and  conditions  of  the  mind; 

Et  patrum  in  nates  abeunt,  cum  semine,  mores. 

Seleucus  had  an  anchor  on  his  thigh ;  so  had  his  posterity,  as 
Trogus  records,  /.  15.  Lepidus  (in  Pliny,  /.  7.  c.  17)  was  pur- 
blind; so  was  his  son.  That  famous  family  of  iEnobarbi  were 
knownof  old,  and  so  surnamed,  from  their  red  beards.  The 
Austrian  lip,  and  those  Indians  flat  noses,  are  propagated  ;  the 
Bavarian  chin,  and  goggle  eyes  amongst  the  Jews,  as  '^  Bux- 
torfius  observes.  Their  voice,  pace,  gesture,  looks,  are  likewise 
derived,  with  all  the  rest  of  their  conditions  and  infirmities ; 
such  a  mother,  such  a  daughter ;  their  very  ^  affections  Lem- 
nius  contends  to  follow  their  seed,  and  the  malice  and  bad  con- 
ditions of  children  are  many  times  wholly  to  be  imputed  to  their 
parents.  I  need  not  therefore  make  any  doubt  of  melancholy, 
but  that  it  is  an  hereditary  disease.  ^Paracelsus  in  express 
words  affirms  it,  lib.  de  morb.  amentium.  To.  4.  TV.  1 ;  so 
doth  s  Crato  in  an  epistle  of  his  to  Monavius  :  so  doth  Bruno 
Seidelius,  in  his  book  de  morbo  incurab.  Montaltus  proves 
{cap.  II.)  out  of  Hippocrates  and  Plutarch,  that  such  here- 
ditary dispositions  are  frequent ;  et  hanc  (inquit)  feri  reor 
ob  participatum  melancholicam  intemperantium  (speaking  of 
a  patient)  :  I  think  he  became  so  by  participation  of  melan- 
choly. Daniel Sennertus  (/i6. 1.  part.  2.  cap.  9.)  will  have  this 
melancholy  constitution  derived  not  only  from  the  father  to  the 
son,  but  to  the  whole  family  sometimes  ;  quandoque  totisfami- 
His  hcereditativam.  •'Forestus  in  his  Medicinal  Observations, 
illustrates  this  point  with  an  example  of  a  merchant  his  patient 


aUt  filii,  non  tarn  possessionum,  qiiam  morborum  hseredes  sint.  bEpist.  de 

secretis  artis  et  natiiraj,  c.  7.  Nam  in  hoc  quod  patres  corrupt!  sunt,  generant  filios 
corruptse  complexionis,  et  compositionis ;  etfilii  eorum,  eadem  de  caussa,  se  corrum- 
punt;  et  sic  derivata  corruptio  a  putribns  ad  filios.  ^  Non  tam  (inquit  Hippocrates) 
gibbos  et  cicatrices  oris  et  corporis  habitum  apioscis  ex  iis.sed  veruni  incessum,  gestus, 
mores,  morbos,  &c.  ''  Synagog-.  Jud.  «  AtYectus  parentum  in  fetus 

transeuut,  et  puerorum  malitia  parentibus  imputanda,!.  4.  cap.  3,  de  occult,  nat.  mirac. 
f  Ex  pituitosis  pituitosi,  ex  biliosis  biliosi,  ex  lienosis  et  melancholicis  melancholici. 
sEp.  174.  in  Scoltz.  Nascitur  nobiscum  ilia,  aliturque,  et  una  cum  parentibus  habe> 
mus  malum  hunc,  Jo.  Pelesius,  lib.  2.  de  cura  humanorum  aflfectuum.  ^  Lib.  10. 
observ.  15, 


Mem".  1;  Subs.  G.]       Causes  of  Melanchobi.  89 

that  had  this  infirmity  by  inlioritance;  so  doth  Rodericus 
a  Fonseca,  {Tom.  1.  cows?//.  69)  by  an  instance  ofa young  man 
that  was  so  affected  ex  matre.  melancholic  a,  had  a  melancholy 
mother,  et  vicfu  melanchoHco,  and  bad  diet  together.  Ludo- 
vicus  Mercatus,  a  Spanish  physician,  (in  that  excellent  tract, 
which  he  hath  lately  written  of  hereditary  diseases,Tbm.  2.  oper. 
lib.  5.)  reckons  up  leprosie,  as  those  ^Galbots  in  Gascony,  he- 
reditary lepers,  pox,  stone,  gout,  epUepsie,  &c.  Amongst  the 
rest,  this  and  madness  after  a  set  time  comes  to  many,  whicli 
he  calls  a  miraculous  thing  in  nature,  and  sticks  for  ever  to 
them  as  an  incurable  habit.  And,  that  which  is  more  to  be 
wondered  at,  it  skips  in  some  families  the  father,  and  goes  to 
the  son,  ^  or  takes  every  other,  and  sometimeji  every  third,  hi 
a  lineal  descent,  and  doth  not  alicayes  produce  the  same,  hut 
some  like,  and  a  symboliziny  disease.  Tliesesecundary  causes, 
hence  derived,  are  commonly  so  powerful,  that  (as  "=  Wolphius 
holds)  S(Bpe  mutant  decreta  siderum ;  tiiey  do  often  alter  the 
primary  causes,  and  decrees  of  the  heavens.  For  these  reasons, 
belike,  the  church  and  common-wealth,  humane  and  divine 
laws,  have  conspired  to  avoid  hereditary  disaases,  forbidding 
such  marriages  as  are  any  whitallyed  ;  and,  as  Mercatus  ad- 
viseth  all  families,  to  take  such,  si  fieri  possit,  qncE  ma.rime 
distant  naturd,  and  to  make  choice  of  those  that  are  most  dif- 
fering in  complexion  from  them  :  if  they  love  their  own,  and 
respect  the  common  good.  And  sure,  I  think,  it  hath  been 
ordered  by  Gods  especial  providence,  that,  in  all  ages,  there 
should  be,  (as  usually  there  is)  once  in  "^six  hundred  years,  a 
transmigration  of  nations  to  amend  and  purifie  their  blood,  as 
we  alter  seed  upon  our  land,and  that  there  should  be  as  it  were  an 
inundation  of  those  northern  Goths  and  Vandales,  and  many 
suchlike  people  which  came  out  of  that  continent  of  Scandia, 
and  Sarmatia  (as  some  suppose,)  and  over-ran,  as  a  deluge, 
most  part  of  Europe  and  Africk,  to  alter  (for  our  good)  our 
complexions,  which  were  much  defaced  with  hereditary  in- 
firmities, which  by  our  lust  and  intemperance  we  had  con- 
tracted. A  sound  generation  of  strong  and  able  men  were 
sent  amongst  us,  as  those  northern  men  usually  are,  innocu- 
ous, free  from  riot,  and  free  from  diseases;  to  qualifie  and 
make  us  as  those  poor  naked  Indians  are  generally  at  this 
day,  and  those  about  Brasile,  (as  a  late  ^  writer  observes)  in 


aMaginus,  Geog.  bSaepe  non  eundem,  sed  similem  producit  effectum,  et 

illaeso  parente  transit  in  nepotem.  cj)ial.  praefix.  genituris  Leovitii.  <<Bo(]in. 

de  rep.  cap.  de  periodis  reip.  «■  Claudius  Abaville,  Capurhion.  in  his  voyage  to 

Maragnan.  1614.  c.  45.  Nemo  fere  a"'^rotus,  sano  omnes  et  robusto  corpora,  vivunt 
aiiDos  120,  140,  sine  medicina.  Idem- Hector  Boethius  de  insulis  Orchad.  etDamianus 
a  Goes  de  Scandia. 

p2 


90  Causes  of  Melancholy.         [Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

tlieisleof  Maragnan,  free  from  all  hereditary  diseases,  or  other 
contagion,  whereas,  without  help  of  physick,  they  live  com- 
monly an  hundred  and  twenty  years  or  more  ;  as  in  the  Or- 
chades  and  many  other  places.  Such  are  the  common  effects 
of  temperance,  and  intemperance ;  but  I  will  descend  to  par- 
ticulars, and  shew  by  what  means,  and  by  whom  especially, 
this  infirmity  is  derived  unto  us. 

I^ilii  ex  senibusnati  raro  sunt  ^rmi  temperamenti  :  old  mens 
children  are  seldom  of  a  good  temperament,  (as  Scoltzius 
supposeth,  consult.  177)  ^wd  therefore  most  apt  to  this  disease : 
and,  as  '^  Levinus  Lemnius  farther  adds,  old  men  beget,  most 
part,  wayward,  peevish,  sad,  melancholy  sons,  and  seldom 
merry.  ''He  that  begets  a  child  on  a  full  stomach,  will  either 
have  a  sick  clifld,  or  a  crazed  son  (as  ''  Cardan  thinks,  contra- 
dict, med.  lib.  1.  contradict.  18)  ;  or,  if  the  parents  be  sick  or 
have  any  great  pain  of  the  head,  or  megrim,  head-ache,  ('^Hie- 
ronymus  Wolfius  doth  instance  in  a  child  of  Sebastian  Cas- 
talio's)  or  if  a  drunken  man  get  a  child,  it  will  never,  likely, 
have  a  good  brain,  as  Gellius  argues,  lib.  12.  cap.  1.  JEbrii 
gignunt  ebrios ;  one  drunkard  begets  another  saith  ''Plutarch, 
(sym.  lib.  1,  qucest.  5.)  whose  sentence  ^  Lemnius  approves, 
/.  I.e.  4.  Alsarius  Crutius  Gen.  de  qui  sit  med.  cent,  3. 
fol.  182.  Macrobius  lib.  I.  Avicenna  lib.  S.  Fen.  21. 
Tract  1.  cap.  8.  and  Aristotle  himself  sect.  2.  prob.  4. 
Foolish,  drunken,  or  hair-brain  women,  most  part  bring  forth 
children  like  unto  themselves,  morosos  et  languidos  :  and  so 
likewise  he  that  lyes  with  a  menstruous  woman.  Intemperantia 
Veneris,  quam  in  nautis  prcesei-tim  insectatur  ^  Lemnius,  qui 
uxores  ineunt,  nulla  menstrui  decursus  ratione  habitd,  nee  ob' 
servato  interlunio,  prcecipua  caussa  est,  iioxia,  perniciosa : 
(concubitum  lumc  exitialem  ideo,  et  pestij'erum,  vocat  Rode- 
Ticus  a  Castro,  Lusitanus ;  detestantur  ad  unum  omnes  medici) 
turn  et  quarto,  lund  concepti,  infelices  plerumque  et  ametites, 
deliri,  stolidi,  morbosi,  impuri,  invalidi,  tetrci  lue  sordidi, 
minime  mtales,  omnibus  bonis  corporis  atque  animi  destituti: 
ad  laborem  nati,  si  seniores,  (inquit  §  Eustathius)  ut  Hercules, 
et  alii.  ^  Judcei  maxime  insectantur  fcedum  hunc  et  immun- 
dum  apud  Christianas  concubitum,  ut  illicitum  abhorrent,  et 
apud  suos  prohibent ;  et  quod  Christiani  toties  leprosi, 
amentes,  tot  morbilli,  impetiyines,  alphi,  psorce  cutis  et  Juciei 


i^Lib.  4.  c.  3.  de  occult,  nat.  mir.  Tetricos  plerumque  filios  senes  progeneiant  et 
tristes,  rarius  exhilarates.  ''Coitus  super  repletionem  pessimus,  etfilii  qui  turn  gig- 
nuntur,  aut  morbosi  sunt,  aut  stolidi.  e  Dial,  prsefix.  Leovitio.  ^  L.  de  ed.  liberis. 
•^De  occul.  nai  mor.Temulentse  et  stolidse  mulieres  liberos  plerunque  prodiicunt  sibi 
similes.  f  Lib.  2.  c.  8.  de  occult,  nat  mir.     Good  master  schoolmaster,  do  not 

englisW  this-  gDe  nat.  mul.  lib.  3.  cap.  4.  h  Buxendorphiuj*,  c.  13.  Syuag. 

Jud.  Ezek.  18. 


Meiiib.  1.  Subs.  6.]      Causes  of  Melancholy.  91 

decolor ationes,  tarn  multi  morbi  epidemici,  acerbi,  et  venenosi 
sint,  in  hunc  immundum  concubitum  rejiciunt ;  et  crudeles  in 
pifjnora  vocant,  qui,  qnartd  lund,  projiiiente  hac  mensinni 
illuvie,  concubitum  hunc  nnn  perhorrescunt.  Damnavit  olim 
divina  lex,  et  morte  mulctavit  hujusviodi  homines  (Lev.  18.  20) 
et  inde  nati  si  quideformes  ant  mutili,  pater  dilapidatus,quod 
non  contineret  ab  ^immundd  muliere.  Gregorius  J\Iaynus,pe' 
tienti  Augustino  numquid  apud  ^  Britannos  kujusmodi  concu- 
bitum toleraret,  severe  prolnbuit  viris  suis  turn  misceri  Jeminas 
in  consnetis  suis  nienstruis,  Sfc.  I  spare  to  English  this  which 
I  have  said.  Another  cause  some  give — inordinate  diet,  as  if  a 
man  eat  garlick,  onions,  fast  over-much,  study  too  hard,  be 
over  sorrowful,  dull,  heavy,  dejected  in  mind,  perplexed  in  his 
thoughts,  fearful,  &c.  their  children  (saith  ^  Cardan  subtil, 
lib.  J  8)  will  be  miich subject  to  madness  and  nielancholg ;  Jor, 
ij'  the  spirits  of  the  brain  be  fusled  or  mis-affected  by  such 
means  at  such  a  time,  their  children  icill  bejusled  in  the  brain  ; 
they  will  be  dull,  heavy,  timorous,  discontented  all  their  lives. 
Some  are  of  opinion,  and  maintain  that  paradox  or  problem, 
that  wise  men  beget  commonly  fools.  Suidas  gives  instance 
in  Aristarchus  the  grammarian ;  duos  reliquit  Jilios,  Aristar- 
chum  et  Aristachorum,  ambos  stultos;  and  (which  ''Erasmus 
urgeth  in  his  Moria)  fools  beget  wise  men.  Card,  subtil.  I.  12. 
gives  this  cause  :  quoniam  spiritus  sapicntium  ob  studium  re- 
solvuntur,  et  in  cerebrumferuntur  a  corde :  because  their  na- 
tural spirits  are  resolved  by  study,  and  turned  into  animal ; 
drawn  from  the  heart,  and  those  other  parts,  to  the  brain. 
Lemnius  subscribes  to  that  of  Cardan,  and  assigns  this  reason, 
quod persolvant  debitum  languide,  et  oscitanter  ;  undej'etus  a 
parentum  generositate  desciscit:  they  pay  their  debt  (as  Paul 
calls  it)  to  their  wives  remisly ;  by  which  means  their  children 
are  weaklings,  and  many  times  idiots  and  fools. 

Some  other  causes  are  given,  which  properly  pertain  to,  and 
proceed  from,  the  mother.  If  she  be  over-dull,  heavy,  angry, 
peevish,  discontented,  and  melancholy,  not  only  at  the  time  of 
conception,  but  even  all  the  while  she  carries  the  child  in  her 
womb,  (saith  Fernelius,/>fl^/((.  /.  1.  1 1)  her  son  will  be  so  like- 
wise affected  ;  and  worse,  (as*  Lemnius  adds,  /.  4.  c.  7)  if  she 
grieve  overmuch,  be  disquieted,or  by  any  casualty  beaft'righted 
and  terrified  by  some  fearful  object,  heard  or  seen,  she  endan- 


»Drusiu3,  obs.  lib.  3,  cap.  20.  bfied.  Eccl.  hist.  lib.  1.  c.  27.  respon.  10. 

•^  Nam  spiritus  cerebri  si  turn  male  afficiantur,  tales  prorreant ;  et  quales  fnerint  af- 
fectus,  tales  filiorum:  ex  tristibus  tristes,  ex  jacandis  jacnndi  nascDDtor,  &c. 
<*  Fol.  229.  mer.  Socrates  children  were  fools.  Sab.  «  De  occol.  nat.  mir.  Pica, 

morbus  mulierum. 


92  Causes  oj' Melancholy.         [Part.  1 .  Sec.  2. 

eers  her  child,  andspoils  the  temperature  of  it ;  for  the  strange 
imaoination  of  a  woman  works  effectually  upon  her  infant, 
that  (as  Baptista  Porta  proves,  Pliysiog.  ecelestis,  l.b.c.  2)  she 
leaves  a  mark  upon  it;  which  is  most  especially  seen  in  such 
as  prodigiously  long  for  such  and  such  meats  :  the  child  will 
love  those  meats,  saith  Fernelius,  and  be  addicted  to  like  hu- 
mours. ^  If' a  c/reat-bellied  womaji  see  a  hare,  her  child  will 
often  have  an  hare-lip,  as  we  call  it.  Garcaeus,  de  Judiciis  fje- 
niturarum,  c.  33.  hath  a  memorable  example  of  one  Thomas 
Mickell,  born  in  the  city  of  Brandeburge,  1551,  ^that  icent 
reeling  and  staggering  all  the  dayes  of  his  life,  as  if  he  would 
fall  to  the  ground,  because  his  mother,  being  great  with  child, 
saw  a  drunken  manreeling  in  the  street.  Such  an  other  1  find 
in  Martin  Wenrichiusjcow.  c?eor^Mmows^rorMm,c.  J  7.  ^Isaw, 
(saith  he)  at  Wittenberge  in  Germany,  a  citizen  that  looked 
like  a  carkass.  /  asked  him  the  cause :  he  replyed,  his  mother , 
token  she  bore  him  in  her  womb,  saw  a  carkass  by  chance,  and 
was  sore  affrighted  with  it,  that  ex  eo  fetus  ei  assimilatus : 
from  a  ghastly  impression,  the  child  was  like  it. 

So  many  several  wayes  are  we  plagued  and  punished  for 
our  fathers  defaults  ;  in  so  much  that  (as  Fernelius  truly  saith) 
'^it  is  the  greatest  part  of  our  felicity  to  be  well  born  ;  and  it 
wei'e  happy  for  humane  kitid,ifonly  such  parents,  as  are  sound 
of  body  and  mind,should  be  suffered  to  marry.  An  husband- 
man will  sow  none  but  the  best  and  choicest  seed  upon  his 
land  ;  he  will  not  rear  a  bull  or  an  horse,  except  he  be  right 
shapen  in  all  parts,  or  permit  him  to  cover  a  mare,  except  he 
be  well  assured  of  his  breed  ;  we  make  choice  of  the  best  rams 
for  our  sheep,  rear  the  neatest  kine,  and  keep  the  best  dogs; 
quanta  id diligentius  in  procrearidis  liberis  observandum?  and 
how  careful  then  should  we  be  in  begetting  of  our  children?  In 
former  time,  some  ^  countreyshave  been  so  chary  in  this  behalf, 
so  stern,  that,  if  a  child  were  crooked  or  deformed  in  body  or 
mind,  they  made  him  away;  so  did  the  Indians  of  old  (by  the 
relation  of  Curtius),  aud  many  other  well-governed  common- 
wealths, according  to  the  discipline  of  those  times.    Here- 


a  Baptista  Porta,  loco  prad.     Ex  leporum  intuitn  plerseque  infantes  edunt  bifido  su- 
periore  labello.  b  Quasi  inox  in  terram  collapsunis,  per  omnem  vitam  ince- 

debat,  cum  mater  gravida  ebrium  hominem  sic  incedentem  viderat.  f  Civem 

facie  cadaverosa,  qui  dixit,  &c.  <•  Optimum  bene  nasci ;  maxima  pars  ff  lici- 

tatis  nostras  bene  nasci ;  quamobrem  prasclare  humane  gencri  consultum  videretur,  si 
soli  parentes  bene  habiti  et  sani  liberis  operam  darent.  <>  Infantes  infirmi  pra;- 

cipitio  necati.  Bohemus,  lib.  3  c.  3.  Apud  Laconesoliiu.  Lipsius,  epist.  85  cent, 
ad  Belgas,  Dionysio  Villerio,  Siqnos  aliqiia  membrorum  parte  inuUIes  notaverint,  na- 
carijubent. 


Mem.  3.  Subs.  3.]       Causes  of  Melancholy .  93 

tofore,  in  Scotland,  (saith  '^  Hect.  Boetliius)  if  any  were  visited 
with  the  Jailing  sickness,  madness,  gout,  leprosie,  or  any  suck 
dangerous  disease,  which  was  likely  to  be  propagated  from  the 
father  to  the  son,  he  teas  instantly  gelded  ;  a  woman  kept  from 
all  company  of  men  ;  and  if  by  chance,  having  some  such  dis- 
ease, she  were  found  to  be  %vith  child,  she  with  her  brood  were 
buried  alive:  and  this  was  done  for  the  common  good, lest  the 
whole  nation  should  be  injured  or  corrupted.  A  severe  doom, 
you  will  say,  and  not  to  be  used  among-st  Christians,  yet  more 
to  be  looked  into  than  it  is.  For  now,  by  our  too  much  facility 
in  this  kind,  in  giving  way  for  all  to  marry  that  will,  too  much 
liberty  and  indulgence  in  tolerating  all  sorts,  there  is  a  vast  con- 
fusion of  hereditary  diseases,  no  family  secure,  no  man  almost 
free  from  some  grievous  infirmity  or  other.  When  no  choice  is 
had,  but  still  the  eldest  must  marry,  as  so  many  stallions  of  the 
race ;  or,  if  rich,  be  they  fools  or  dizzards,  lame  or  maimed,  un- 
able, intemperate,  dissolute,  exhaust  through  riot,  (as  he  said) 
^  jure  htjcreditario  sapere  jubentur  ;  they  must  be  wise  and  able 
by  inheritance  ;  it  comes  to  pass  that  our  generation  is  corrupt ; 
we  have  many  weak  persons,  both  in  body  and  mind,  many  feral 
diseases  raging  amongst  us,  crazed  isiavMes,  parentes  peremp- 
tores  ;  our  fathers  bad  ;  and  we  are  like  to  be  worse. 


MEMB.  II. 
SUBSECT.  I. 

Bad  diet  a  cause.     Substance.     Quality  of  meats. 

-According  to  my  proposed  method,  having  opened 
hitherto  these  secundary  causes,  which  are  inbred  with  us,  I 
must  now  proceed  to  the  outward  and  adventitious,  which  hap- 
pen unto  us  after  we  are  born.  And  those  are  either  evident, 
remote  ;  or  inward,  antecedent,  and  the  nearest  :  continent 
causes  some  call  them.  These  outward,  remote,  precedent 
causes  are  subdivided  again  into  necessary  and  not  necessary. 
J^ecessary  (because  we  cannot  avoid  them,  but  they  will  alter 
us,  as  they  are  used,  or  abused)  are  those  six  non-natural  things, 
so  much  spoken  of  amongst  physicians,  which  are  principal 
causes  of  this  disease:  for,almostin  every  cousultation,whereas 

»Lib.  1.  de  veterum  Scotorum  moribus.  Morbo  comitiali,  dementia,  raa»iri,  lepra, 
&c.  aut  simili  labe,  quae  facile  in  proiem  trannmittitiir,  laborantes  inter  [eos,  'ingenti 
facta  inilagine,  inventos,  ne  gens  fceda  contagionc  laederetur,  ex  iis  nata,  castraverant; 
mnlieres  hujnsmodi  procnl  a  virorum  consortio  ableganint ;  quod  si  hartun  aliquacon- 
cepisse  inveniebatur,  simnl  cum  fetn  nonditm  edito,  defodiebatar  viva.  ''Eaphormio 
Satyr. 


94  Causes  of  Melancholy.        [I^art  1.  Sec.  1. 

tliey  shall  come  to  speak  of  the  causes,  the  faultis  found,  and 
this  most  part  objected  to  the  patient ;  jaeccavif  circa  res  sex 
non  natnrales :  he  hath  still  offended  in  one  of  those  six.  Mon- 
tanus,(cowsi7. 22.)  consul  ted  about  amelancholy  Jew,  givesthat 
sentence;  so  did  Frisemelica  in  the  same  place;  and,  in  his  two 
hundred  forty  fourth  counsel,  censuringa  melancholy  souldier, 
assigns  that  reason  of  his  malady :  ^He  offended  in  all  those  six 
non-natural  things,  which  were  the  outward  causes,  from  which 
came  those  inward  obstructions  ;  and  so  in  the  rest. 

These  six  non-natural  things  are  diet,  retention,  and 
evacuation,  which  are  more  material  than  the  other,  because 
they  make  new  matter,  or  else  are  conversant  in  keeping  or 
expelling  it.  The  other  four  are,  air,  exercise,sleeping,waking, 
and  perturbations  of  the  mind,  which  only  alter  the  matter. 
The  first  of  these  is  diet,  which  consists  in  meat  and  drink, 
and  causeth  melancholy,  as  it  offends  in  substance  oraccidents, 
that  is  quantity,  quality,  or  the  like.  And  well  it  may  be 
called  a  material  cause,  since  that,  as  **  Fernelius  holds,  it  hath 
such  a  power  in  begetting  of  diseases,  and  yields  the  matter 
and  sustenance  of  them  ;  for  neither  air,  nor  perturbations, 
7ior  any  of  those  other  evident  causes,  take  place  or  work  this 
effect,  except  the  constitution  of  body  and  preparation  of  hu- 
mours do  concur ;  that  a  man  may  say,  this  diet  is  the 
mother  of  diseases,  let  the  father  be  what  he  icill ;  and  from 
this  alone,  melancholy  and  frequent  other  maladies  arise. 
Many  physicians,  I  confess,  have  written  copious  volumes  of 
this  one  subject,  of  the  nature  and  qualities  of  all  manner  of 
meats;  as,  namely,  Galen,  Isaac  the  Jew ;  Halyabbas,  Avicenna, 
Mesne,  also  four  Arabians;  Gordonius,Villanovanus,  Wecker, 
Johannes  Bruernius,  sitologia  de  Esculentis  et  Proculentis, 
Michael  Savanarola,  Tract.  S.  cap.  8.  Anthony  Fumanellus, 
lib.  de  regimine  senum.  Curio  in  his  comment  on  Schola 
Salerna, Godefridus  Stekiusai'te med.  MarsiliusCognatus,  Fici- 
nus,  Ranzovius,  Fonseca,  Lessius,  Magninus,  regim.sanitatis, 
Frietagius,  Hugo  Fridevallius,  &c.  beside  many  other  in 
•^English;  and  almost  every  pecidiar  physician  discourseth  at 
large  of  all  peculiar  meats  in  his  chapter  of  melancholy.  Yet, 
because  these  books  are  not  at  hand  to  every  man,  I  will  briefly 
touch  Avhat  kind  of  meats  ingenderthis  humour,  through  their 
several  species,  and  which  are  to  be  avoided.     How  they  alter 


a  Fecit  omnia  delicta,  quae  fieri  possnnt,  circa  res  sex  non  naturales  ;  et  eas  fueriint 
raussBR  extrinseccE,  ex  quibiis  postea  orta;  sunt  obstructiones.  bPath,  I.  I.e.  2. 

Maxiniiim  in  gignendis  morbis  vim  obtinet,  pabulum,  materiamque  morbi  suggerens  : 
nam  nee  ab  aere,  nee  a  perturbationibus,  vel  aliis  evidentibus  canssis  morbi  sunt,  nisi 
consentiat  corporis  prseparatio,  et  humorum  eonstitutio.  Ut  semel  dicam,  una  gula  est 
omnium  morborum  mater,  etiamsi  alius  est  genitor.  Ab  hac  morbi  spoute  saepe 
t-jnanaut,  nulla  alia  eogente  caussa.  ^Cogan,  Eliot,  Vauban,  Vener. 


Mem.  S.  Sub^.  1.]     Causes  of  Jielamholy.  95 

and  change  the  matter,  spirits  first,  and  after  humours,  hy 
wl)ich  we  arc  preserved,  and  the  constitution  of  our  body, 
Fernelius  and  others  will  shew  you.  I  hasten  to  the  thing-  it 
self:  and,  first,  of  such  diet  as  offends  in  substance. 

Beef.']  Beef,  a  strong  and  hearty  meat  (cold  in  the  first 
degree,  dry  in  the  second,  saith  Gal  /.  3.  c.  1.  de  alimfac.) 
is  condemned  by  him,  and  all  succeedingauthors,to  breed  gross 
melancholy  blood ;  good  for  such  as  are  sound,  and  of  a  strong 
constitution,  for  labouring  men,  if  ordered  aright,  corned, 
young  of  an  ox,  for  all  gelded  meats  in  every  species  are  held 
best;  or,  if  old,  ^  such  as  have  been  tired  out  with  labour,  are 
preferred.  Aubanus  and  Sabellicus  commend  Portugal  beef 
to  be  the  most  savoury,  best,  and  easiest  of  digestion  ;  we  com- 
mend ours :  but  all  is  rejected  and  unfit  for  such  as  lead  aresty 
life,  any  ways  inclined  to  melancholy,  or  dry  of  complexion. 
Tales  (Galen  thinks)  de  facili  melancholicis  cBgriiudbiihiis 
capiuntvr. 

Pork.']  Pork,  of  all  meats,  is  most  nutritive  in  his  own  na- 
ture, but  altogether  unfit  for  such  as  live  at  ease,  or  are  any 
Mays  unsound  of  body  or  mind;  too  moist,  full  of  huiuours, 
and  therefore  noxia  delicatis,  saith  Savanarola,  ex  eanim  usii 
lit  duhitetur,  cnifehris  qunrtana  (jeneretnr :  naught  for  queasie 
stomachs,  in  so  much,  that  frequent  use  of  it  may  breed  a 
quartan  ague. 

Goat.]  Savanarola  discommends  goats  flesh,  and  so  doth 
*>  Bruerinus,  /.  13.  c.  19,  calling  it  a  filthy  beast,  and  rammish; 
and  therefore supposeth  it  will  breedrank  and  filthysubstance  : 
yetkid,such  as  are  young  and  tender,  Isaac  excepts,Bruerinus, 
and  Galen,  /.  1.  c.  1.  de  alimentornmfacultatibus. 

Hart.]  Hart,  cuid  red  deer,  ^  Jtat'h  a»  evil  name  ;  it  yields 
(/ross  nutriment ;  a  strong  and  great  grained  meat,  next  unto 
a  horse,  which  although  some  countries  eat,  as  Tartars  and 
they  of  China,  yet  '^  Galen  condemns.  Young  foals  are  as  com- 
monly eaten  in  Spain,  as  red  deer,  and  to  furnish  their  navies, 
about  Malaga  especially,  often  used.  But  such  meats  ask 
long  baking  or  seething,  to  qualifie  them;  and  yet  all  will 
not  serve. 

Venison,  Fulloio  Deer.]  All  venison  is  melancholy,  and 
begets  bad  blood  :  a  pleasant  meat  in  great  esteem  with  us 
(for  we  have  more  parks  in  England  than  there  are  in  all 
Europe  besides)  in  our  solemn  feasts.     'Tis  swuewhat  better, 


»  Fnetagius.  ''Non  laudatur,  qiiia  ui'-'ancholicum  prsebetalimentam. 

•■Male  alit  cervma  (inqnit  FrietaRius):   crassissinmin  et  atribilarium  siippeditat  ali- 
f"^"!""'-  ''  I-'ih.  de  subtiliss.  diccla.     Equina  caro  et  asinina  equinis  danda  est 

huniinibus  et  asininis. 


96  Causes  of  Melancholy.      [Part.  1.  Sec.  2 

Lunted,  tban  otherwise,  and  well  prepared  by  cookery;  but 
generally  bad,  and  seldom  to  be  used. 

Hare.]  Hare,  a  black  meat,  melancholy,  and  hard  of  diges- 
tion :  it  breeds  incubus,  often  eaten,  and  causeth  fearful  dreams; 
so  doth  all  venison,  and  is  condemned  by  a  jury  of  physicians. 
Mizaldus  and  some  others  say  that  hare  is  a  merry  meat,  and 
that  it  will  make  one  fair,  as  Martials  epigram  testifies  to  Gellia; 
but  this  is  per  accidens,  because  of  the  good  sport  it  makes, 
merry  company,  and  good  discourse  that  is  commonly  at  the 
eating  of  it,  and  not  otherwise  to  be  understood. 

Conies.]  ^  Conies  are  of  the  nature  of  hares.  Magninas 
compares  them  to  beef,  pig,  and  goat,  Reff.  sanit.part.  3.  c.  17  : 
yet  young  rabbets,  by  all  men  are  approved  to  be  good. 

Generally,  all  such  meats  as  ai-e  hard  of  digestion,  breed 
melancholy.  Aretseus,  lib.  7.  cap.  5,  reckons  up  heads  and 
feet,  •'bowels,  brains,  entrails,  marrow,  fat,  blood,  skins,  and 
those  inward  parts,  as  heart,  lungs,  liver,  spleen,  &c.  They 
are  rejected  by  Isaac,  lib.  2.  part.  3.  Magninus,  joar^  3.  cap. 
17.  Bruerinus,  lib.  12.     Savanarola,  Rub.  32.  Tract.  2. 

Milk.]  Milk,  and  all  that  comes  of  milk,  as  butter  and  cheese, 
curds,  &c.  increase  melancholy  (whey  only  excepted,  which  is 
most  wholesome.)  ""  Some  except  ass-esmilk.  The  rest,  to  such 
as  are  sound,  is  nutritive  and  good,  especially  for  young 
children  ;  but,  because  soon  turned  to  corruption,  "^not  good 
for  those  that  have  unclean  stomacks,  are  subject  to  headach, 
or  have  green  wounds,  stone,  8cc.  Of  all  cheeses,  I  take  that 
kind  which  we  call  Banbury  cheese  to  be  the  best.  Exvetustis 
^pessimus,  the  older,  stronger,  and  harder,  the  worst,  as  Lan- 
gius  discourseth  in  his  Epistle  to  Melancthon,  cited  by 
Mizaldus,  Isaac,  p.  5.  Gal.  3.  de  cibis  boni  sued,  ^-c. 

I^owl.]  Amongst  fowl,  ^peacocks  and  pigeons,  all  fenny 
fowl,  are  forbidden,  as  ducks,  geese,  swans,  herns,  cranes, 
coots,  didappers,  waterhens,  with  all  those  teals,  curs,  shel- 
drakes, and  peckled  fowls,  that  come  hither  in  winter  out  of 
Scandia,  Muscovy,  Greenland,  Friezland,  which  half  the  year 
are  covered  all  over  with  snow  and  frozen  up.  Though  these 
be  fair  in  feathers,  pleasant  in  taste,  and  have  a  good  outside 
(like  hypocrites),  white  in  plumes,  and  soft,  their  tlesh  is  hard, 
black,  unwholesome,  dangerous,  melancholy  meat.  Gravant 
et  putrejaciunt  stomachum,  saith  Isaac,  part.  b.  de  vol,  their 
young  ones  are  more  tolerable  ;  but  young  pigeons  he  quite 
disproves. 

a  Parum  abaunt  a  natura  leporum.     Bruerinus,  1.  13.  cap.  25.  puUorum  tenera  et 
optima.  *"  lUaudabilis  succi  nauseam  provocant.  c  Piso.  Altomar. 

d  Curio.  Frietagius,  Magninus.  part.  3.  cap.  17. — Mercurialis,.  de  affect,  lib.  f.  c.  10. 
excepts  all  milk  meats  in  hypocondriacal  melancholy.  «  Wecker,  Syntax,  theor. 

p.  2.  Isaac,  Bruer.  lib.  15.  cap.  30.  et  31. 


Mem.  2.  Subs.  I.]     Causes  oj  Melancholy.  97 

Fislies.']  Rhasis  aiul  "MjJgninus  discommend  all  fish,  and 
say,  theyl)reed*?7'&'cos?7ies,  slimy  nutriment, little  and  humorous 
nourishment;  Savanarola  adds  cold,  moist;  and  phleomatick, 
Isaac;  and  therefore  unwholsomefor  all  cold  and  melancholy 
complexions.  Others  make  a  difference,  rejecting*  only  among- 
fresh-water  fish,  eel,  tench,  lamprey,  craw-fish,  (which  Bright 
approves,  cap.  6),  and  such  as  are  bred  in  muddy  and  standing 
Avaters,  and  have  a  taste  of  mud,  as  Franciscus  Bonsuetus 
poetically  defines.     (Lib.  de  aquatilibris) 

Nam  pisces  omues,  qui  stagna  lacusque  frequentant, 
Semper  plus  succi  deteriores  habent. 

All  fish,  that  standing:  pools  and  lakes  frequent, 
Do  ever  yield  bad  juyce  and  nourishment. 

Lampreys,  Paulus  Jovius  (c.  34.  de  jnscibus  Jluvial.)  highly 
magnifies,  and  saith,  none  speak  against  them,  but  inepti  and 
scrnpvlosi  ;  some  scrupidous  persons;  hwi^ eels (c.  S3,)  heab- 
liorreth :  in  all  places,  at  all  times,  all  physicians  detest  them, 
especially  about  the  solstice.  Gomesius  (lib.  1.  c.  22.  de  sale) 
tloth  immoderately  extol  sea-fish,  which  others  as  much  vilifie, 
and,  above  the  rest,  dryed,  sowced,  indurate  fish,  as  ling-^ 
fumados, red-herrings,  sprats, stock-fish,  haberdine,  poor-john, 
all  shell-fish.  ^Tim  Bright  excepts  lobster  and  crab,  Mes- 
sarius  commends  salmon,  which  Bruerinus  contradicts,  lib.  22. 
c.  17.  Magninus  rejects  congre,  sturgeon,  turbot,  mackerel, 
skate. 

Carp  is  a  fish  of  which  I  know  not  what  to  determine.  Fran- 
ciscus Bonsuetus  accounts  it  a  muddy  fish.  Hippolytus  Sal- 
vianus,  in  his  book  de  Piscium  naturd  prccparatione,  which 
was  printed  at  Rome  in  folio  1541,  (with  most  elegant  pic- 
tures) esteems  carp  no  better  than  a  slimy  watery  meat.  Pau- 
lus Jovius,  on  the  other  side,  disallowing  tench,  approves  of 
it;  so  doth  Dubravius  in  his  book  offish-ponds.  Frietagius 
^  extols  it  for  an  excellent  wholesome  meat,  and  puts  it  amongst 
the  fishes  of  the  best  rank  ;  and  so  do  most  of  our  countrey 
gentlemen,  that  store  their  ponds  almost  with  no  other  fish. 
But  this  controversie  is  easily  decided,  in  my  judgement, 
by  Bruerinus,  /.  22.  c,  13.  The  difference  riseth  from  the 
site  and  nature  of  pools, '^  sometimes  muddy,  sometimes  sweet: 
they  are  in  taste  as  the  place  is,  from  whence  they  be  taken.  In 

»Cap_  18.  part  3,  '' Omni  loco  et  omni  tempore  medici  detestantiir  anguillas, 

praesertim  circa  soistitium.     Daranantiir  tain  sanis  turn  aegris.  <"  Cap.  6.  in  his 

Trdct  of  Melancholy.  ''Optime  nutrit,  omnium  judicio,  intfr  primsp  notap  pisws 

gn?fu  prap'^lanti.  «  Non  est  rliibiuni,  r\W\n,  pro  viiarioiiini  situ  ac  naturi),  niagnas 

alimcutorum  soitianUii  diffeientias,  alibi  siiavioies,  alibi  lulultLtiores. 


98  Causes  of  Melancholy.      [Part.  I.  Sec.  2. 

like  manner  almost,  we  may  conclude  of  other  fresh-fish.  But 
see  more  in  Rondeletius,  Bellonius,  Oribasius,  lib.  7-  cap.  22. 
Isaac,  /.  I.  especially  Hippolytus  Sal vianus,  who  is  instar  om- 
nium, solus,  Sfc.  Howsoever  they  may  be  wholesome  and  ap- 
proved, much  use  of  them  is  not  good.  P.  Forestus,  in  his 
Medicinal  Observations,  ^relates,  that  Carthusian  fryers,  whose 
living  ismost  part  fish,  are  more  subject  to  melancholy  than  any 
other  order;  and  that  he  found  by  experience,  being  sometimes 
their  physician  ordinary  at  Delph  in  Holland.  He  exemplifies 
it  with  an  instance  of  one  Buscodnese,  a  Carthusian  of  a  ruddy 
colour, and  well  liking,  that,  by  solitary  living  and  fish-eating, 
became  so  misafli'ected. 

Herbs.']  Amongst  herbs  to  be  eaten,  I  find  gourds,  cow- 
cumbers,  coleworts,  melons,  disallowed,  but  especially  cab- 
bage. It  causeth  troublesome  dreams,  and  sends  up  black 
vapours  to  the  brain.  Galen,  {loc.  affect.  I.  3.  c.  6)  of  all 
herbs,  condemns  cabbage  ;  and  Isaac,  lib.  2.  c.  I.  animce  gra- 
vitatemfacit,  it  brings  heaviness  to  the  soul.  Some  are  of 
opinion,  that  all  raw  herbs  and  sallets  breed  melancholy  blood, 
except  Ijugloss  and  lettice.  Crato  {consil.  21.  lib.  2)  speaks 
against  all  herbs  and  worts,  except  borrage,  bugloss,  fennel, 
parsly,  dill,  bawn,  succory.  Magninus,  (regim.  sanitatusy  3. 
part.  cap.  3 1 )  omnes  lierboe  simpllciter  maloB,  via,  cibi :  all  herbs 
are  simply  evil  to  feed  on  (as  he  thinks).  So  did  that  scoft- 
ing  cook  in  ''  Plautus  hold. 

. Non  ego  ccenam  condio,  ut  alii  coqui  soleut, 

Qui  mihi  condita  prata  in  patinis  proferunt, 
Boves  qui  convivas  faciunt,  herbasque  aggerunt. 

Like  other  cooks,  I  do  not  supper  dress, 

That  put  whole  medows  in  a  platter, 
And  make  no  better  of  the  guests  than  beeves, 

With  herbs  and  grass  to  feed  them  fatter. 

Our  Italians  and  Spaniards  do  make  a  whole  dinner  of  herbs 
and  sallets  (which  our  said  Plautus  calls  coenas  terrestres,  Ho- 
race, coBiias  sine  sanguine)  ;  by  which  means,  as  he  follows  it, 

*^  Hie  homines  tarn  brevem  vitam  colunt 

Qui  herbas  hujusmodi  in  alvum  suam  congerunt : 

Formidolosum  dictu,  non  esu  modo, 

Quas  herbas  pecudes  non  edunt,  homines  edunt. 

Their  livves,  that  eat  such  herbs,  must  needs  be  short; 
And  'tis  a  fearful  thing  for  to  report, 

a  Obaervat.  16.  lib.  10.  ''  Pseudolus;  act.  3.  seen.  2.     =  Plautus,  ibid,   j 


Mem.  2.  Subs.  1.]     Causes  of  Melancholy.  99 

That  men  should  feed  on  such  a  kind  of  meat, 
Which  very  juments  would  refuse  to  eat. 

^  They  are  >vindy,  and  not  fit  therefore  to  be  eaten  of  all  men 
raw,  though  (qualified  witli  oyl,  but  in  broths,  or  otherwise. 
See  more  of  these  in  every  ^  husbandman  and  herbalist. 

Roots.']  Roots  {etsi  quarundanKjenthim  opes  sint,  saith  Brue- 
rinus — the  wealth  of  some  countries,  and  sole  food)  are  windy 
and  bad,  or  troublesome  to  the  head  ;  as  onyons,  oarlick  scul- 
lions,turneps,carrets,vadishes,parsnips.  CraU)(lib.2. consil.il.) 
disallows  all  roots;  though  "^^  some  approve  of  parsnips  and 
potatoes.  'I  Magninus  is  of  Cratos  opinion — *  t/ieif  trouble  the 
mind,  sendinr/  gross  fumes  to  the  bruin,  make  r.ien  mad,  espe- 
cially garlick,  onyons,  if  a  man  liberally  feed  on  them  a  year 
together.  Guianerius  {tract.  15.  cap.  2.)  complains  of  all 
manner  of  roots,  and  so  doth  Bruerinus,  even  parsnips  them- 
selves, which  are  the  best ;  Lib.  9.  cap.  14.  jmstinacurum  usus 
succos  f/if/nit  improbos. 

Fruits.]  Crato  (consil.  21.  lib.  1)  utterly  forbids  all  manner 
of  fruits,  as  pears,  apples,  plums,  cherries,  strawberries,  nuts 
medlers,  serves,  &c.  Sanrjuinem  in/iciunt,  saith Villanovanus  ; 
they  infect  the  blood;  and  putrifie  it,  Magninus  holds  and' 
must  not  therefore  be  taken, fiflcjfti,  autquantitate  magna, wot 
to  make  a  meal  of,  or  in  any  great  quantity.  'Cardan  makes 
that  a  cause  of  their  continual  sickness  atFessa  in  Africk,iec«Mse 
they  live  so  much  on  fruits,  eating  them  thrice  a  day.  Lau- 
rentius  approves  of  many  fruits,  in  his  Tract  of  Melanchohf, 
which  others  disallow,  and,  amongst  the  rest,  apples,  (which 
some  likewise  commend)  as  sweetnigs,  pairmains,  pippins,  as 
good  against  melancholy  ;  but  to  him  that  is  any  May  inclined 
to  or  touched  with  this  malady,  ^Nicholas  Piso,in  his  Practicks, 
forbids  all  fruits,  as  windy,  or'to  be  sparingly  eaten  at  least, and 
not  raw.  Amongst  other  fruits,  ^  Bruerinus  (out  of  Galen) 
excepts  grapes  and  figs;  but  I  find  them  likewise  rejected. 

Pulse.]  All  pulse  are  naught,  beans,  pease,  fitches,  &'c. 
they  fill  the  brain  (saith  Isaac)  with  gross  fumes,  breed  black 
thick  blood,  and  cause  troublesome  dreams.  And  therefore 
that  which  Pythagoras  said  to  his  scholars  of  old,  may  be  for 
ever  applyed  to  melancholy  meu.Afabisabstitiete;  eat  no  pease 


aQuare  rectms  valetadini  suae  quisque  consnlet,  qui,  lapsus  prioruni  parentum 
raemor,  eas  plane  vel  omisent  vel  parce  degustarit.  Kersleius,  cap.  4.  de  \t-ro  iisu  med 
«>  In  Mizaldo  de  Horto,  P.  Crescent  Herbastein,  &c.  e  Cap.  J3.  part.  3.  Br\<^\it 

in  his  Tract  of  Mel.  '' Intt-llectum  turbant,  producunt  iusaniain.  <=Aiidi>i' 

(inqnit  Magnin.)  qaod,  si  quis  ex  iis  per  annum  continue  comedat,  in  insaniain  caderet' 
c.  13.     liuprobisucci  sunt.  cap.  1-2.  ' De  rermu  vaiietat.      lu  Fes>a  pleriimoue 

ni')rbosi,  quod  fnii^us  .jniedc^nt  ler  in  die.         -  Caj>.  de  mel.         '•  tiib.  11.  c.  3     ' 


TOO  ,  Cames  of  Melancholy.       [Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

nor  beans.  Yet,  to  such  as  will  need  eat  them,  I  would  give 
this  counsel;  to  prepare  them  according  to  those  rules  that 
Arnoldus  Villanovanus  and  Frietag-ius  prescribe,  for  eating- 
and  dressing-  fruits,  herbs,  roots,  pulse,  &c. 

Spices^  Spices  cause  hot  and  head  melancholy,  and  are, 
for  that  cause,  forbidden  by  our  physicians,  to  such  men  as  are 
inclined  to  this  malady,  as  pepper,  ginger,  cinnamon,  cloves, 
mace,  dates,  &c.  hony  and  sugar.  ^Some  except  hony :  to 
those  that  are  cold,  it  may  be  tolerable ;  but ''  dulcia  se  in  hilem 
vertunt ;  they  are  obstructive.  Crato  therefore  forbids  all  spice 
(in  a  consultation  of  his  for  a  melancholy  schoolmaster),  omnia 
aromatica,  et  quidquid  sanguinem  adurit  :  so  doth  Fernelius, 
consil.  45  ;  Guianerius,  tract.  15.  e.  2;  Mercurialis,  cons.  189. 
To  these  I  may  add  all  sharp  and  sowre  things,  luscious,  and 
over  sweet,  or  fat,  as  oyl,  vinegar,  verjuice,  mustard,  salt;  as 
sweet  things  are  obstructive,  so  these  are  corrosive.  Gomesius 
(in  his  book  de  sale,  I.  1.  c.  21)  highly  commends  salt;  so  do 
Codronchus  in  his  tract  de  sale  absinthii,  Lemn.  /.  3.  c.  9.  de 
occult,  nat.  mir.  Yet  common  experience  finds  salt,  and  salt- 
meats  to  be  great  procurers  of  this  disease  :  and  for  that  cause, 
belike,those  Egyptian  priests  abstained  from  salt,  even  somuch 
as  in  their  bread,  ut  sine pertnrbatione  anima  esse^,  saith  mine 
author — that  their  souls  might  be  free  from  perturbation. 

Bread."]  Bread  that  is  made  of  baser  grain,  as  pease,  beans, 
oats,  rye,  or  *"  over-hard  baked,  crusty  and  black,  is  often 
tspoken  against  as  causing  melancholy  juyce  and  wind.  John 
Mayor,  in  the  first  book  of  his  History  of  Scotland,  contends 
much  for  the  wholesomeness  of  oaten  bread,  it  was  objected 
to  him  then  living  at  Paris  in  France,  that  his  countrymen 
fed  on  oats  and  base  grain,  as  a  disgrace ;  but  he  doth  ingenu- 
ously confess,  Scotland,  Wales,  and  a  third  part  of  England, 
did  most  part  use  that  kind  of  bread  ;  that  it  was  wholsome 
as  any  grain,  and  yielded  as  good  nourishment.  And  yet 
Wecker  (out  of  Galen),  calls  it  horse  meat,  and  fitter  for  ju- 
ments  than  men  to  feed  on.  But  read  Galen  himself,  (^Lib.  1. 
De  cibis  boni  et  malt  sued)  more  largely  discoursing  of  corn 
and  bread. 

Wine.]  All  black  wines, over-hot,  compound,  strong  thick 
drinks,  as  Muscadine,  Malmsie,  Allegant,  Rumny,  Brown - 
bastard,  Metheglen,  and  the  like,  of  which  they  have  thirty 
several  kinds  in  Muscovy — all  such  made  drinks  are  hurtful 
in  this  case,  to  such  as  are  hot,  or  of  a  sanguine  cholerick  com- 


»  Bright  (c.  6.)  excepts  hony.  *>  Hor.  apud  Scoltzium,  consil.  I86.  «  Ne 

eomedas  cnutam,  choleram  quia  gignit  adustam.    Schol.  Sal. 


Memb.  1.  Subs.  2.]     Causesi  of  Melancholy.  101 

plexion,young-,  or  inclined  tohead-raelancholj^tfor  many  times 
the  drinking  of  wine  alone  causeth  it.  Arculanus  (e.  16.  in  9. 
Rhash)  puts  in  ^  wine  for  a  g-reat  cause,  especially  if  it  be  im- 
moderately used.  Guianerius  {Trac.  15  c.  2)  tells  a  story  of  two 
Dutchmen,  to  whom  he  gave  entertainment  in  his  house,  that, 
*'in  one  months  space,  ivere  both  melancholg  by  drinkinrj  of  wine  : 
one  did  nought  but  sing,  the  other  sigh.  Galen  (/,  de  ransis 
morb.  c.  3),  Matthiolns  (on  Dioscorides)  and,  above  all  other, 
Andreas  Bachins,  /.  3.  18,  19,  29)  have  reckoned  upon  those 
inconveniences  that  come  by  wine.  Yet,  notwitiistanding  all 
this,  to  such  as  are  cold,  or  sluggish  melancholy,  a  cup  of  wine 
is  good  physick ;  and  so  doth  Mercurialis  grant,  consil.  25.  In 
that  case,  if  the  temperature  be  cold,  as  to  most  melancholy  men 
it  is,  wine  is  much  commended,  if  it  be  moderately  used. 

Cider,  Perry.]  Cider  and  Perry  are  both  cold  and  windy 
drinks,  and,  for  that  cause,  to  be  neglected ;  and  so  are  all 
those  hot  spiced  strong  drinks. 

Beer.']  Beer,  if  it  be  over  new  or  over  stale,  over  strong,  or 
not  sod,  smell  of  the  cask,  sharp,  or  so\\t,  is  most  unwholsome, 
frets,  and  gauls,  &c.  Henricus  Ayrerus,  in  ^  a  consultation  of 
his,  for  one  that  laboured  of  hypocondriacal  melancholy,  dis- 
commends beer ;  so  doth  ^  Crato  (in  that  excellent  counsel  of 
his,  lib.  2.  consil.  21)  as  too  windy,  because  of  the  hop.  But 
he  means,  belike,  that  thick  black  Bohemian  beer  used  in 
some  other  parts  of  ^  Germany. 

-nil  spissius  ilia, 


Dum  bibitur ;  nil  clarius  est,  dum  mingitur ;  unde 
Constat,  cjuod  multas  faeces  in  corpore  linquat — 

Nothing  comes  in  so  thick ; 
Nothing  goes  out  so  thin  ; 
It  must  needs  follow,  then. 
The  drugs  are  left  within — 

^s  that  old  ^poet  scoffed,  calling  it  Stygi/e  rnonstrum  conforme 
palndi,  a  monstrous  drink,  like  the  river  Styx.  But  let  them 
say  as  they  list,  to  such  as  are  accustomed' unto  it,  'tis  a  most 
wholsome  (Sso  Polydor  Virgil  calleth  it)  and  a  pleasattt  drinks- 
it  is  more  subtil  and  bitter  for  the  hop,  that  rarities  it,  and 
hath  an  especial  vertue  against  melancholy,  as  our  herbalists 
confess,  Fuchsius  approves,  lib.  2.  sect.  2.  instit.  cap.  11.  and 
many  others. 

«  Vinum  turbidum.  b  Ex  vini  patentia  bibitione,  duo  Alemanni  in  uno  mense 

melancholici  facti  sant  <■  HildesLeim,  spicil.  fol.  '273.  JCrassum  general 

sangTunem.  eAbout  Dantzick,  Inspruce,  Hamburg,  Lvpsick.  fHenricus 

Abnncensis.  cPotus  turn  salubris  turn  jucundus,  I.  I. 


102-  Causesi  of  Melancholy.     [Part.  I.  Sec. '2. 

Waters.']  Standing-  waters,  thick  and  ill  colouied,  such  as 
come  forth  of  pools  and  motes,  where  hemp  hath  been 
steeped;  of-  slimy  fishes  live,  are  most  unwholsome,putrified, 
and  full  of  mites,  creepers,  slimy,  muddy,  unclean,  con  upt, 
impure,  by  reason  of  the  suns  heat,  and  still  standing-.  They 
cause  foul  distemperatures  in  tlie  body  and  mind  of  man,  are 
unfit  to  make  drink  of,  to  dress  meat  with,  or  to  be  ^  used 
about  men  inwardly  or  outwardly.  They  are  good  for  many 
domestical  uses,  to  wash  horses,  water  cattle,  &c.  or  in  time 
of  necessity,  but  not  otherwise.  Some  are  of  opinion,  that 
such  fat  standing  waters  make  the  best  beer,  and  that  seething- 
doth  defecate  it,  as  ^  Cardan  holds  {lib.  13.  subtil.)  it  mends 
the  substance  and  savour  of  it ;  but  it  is  a  paradox.  Such 
beer  may  be  stronger,  but  not  so  wholsome  as  the  other,  as 
•*  Jobertus  truly  justifieih,  out  of  Galen,  {Paradox,  dec.  1. 
Paradox.  5)  that  the  seething-  of  such  impure  v,aters 
doth  not  purge  or  purify  them.  Pliny  {lib.  31.  c.  3.)  is  of 
the  same  tenet ;  and  P.  Crescentius,  agricult.  lib.  1.  et  lib.  4. 
c.  11.  et  c.  45.  Pamphilius  Herilachus,  /.  4.  denat.  aqnarum, 
such  waters  are  naught,  not  to  be  used,  and  (by  the  testi- 
mony of  "^  Galen)  breed  agues,  dropsies,  pleurisies,  splenetick 
and  melancholy  passions,  hurt  the  eyes,  cause  a  bad  tem- 
.perature,  and  ill  disjwsition  oj'the  ichole  body,  with  bad  colour. 
This  Jobertus  stifly  maintains,  {Paradox,  lib.  1.  jjart.  5)  that 
it  causeth  bleer  eyes,  bad  colour,  and  many  loathsome  diseases 
to  such  as  use  it.  This,  which  they  say,  stands  with  good 
reason  ;  for,  as  geographers  relate,  the  water  of  Astracan 
breeds  worms  in  such  as  drink  it.  *  Axius,  or  (as  now  called) 
Verduri,  the  fairest  river  in  Macedonia,  makes  all  cattle 
black  that  taste  of  it.  Aliacmon,  now  P.eleca,  another  stream 
in  Thessaly,  turns  cattle  most  part  white,  si  potui  ducas. 
I.  Aubanus  Bohemus  referrs  that  ^struma,  or  poke  of  the 
Bavarians  and  Styrians,  to  the  nature  of  their  waters,  as 
g  Munster  doth  that  of  the  Valesians,  in  the  Alps ;  and  *>  Bodine 
supposeth  the  stuttering-  of  some  families  in  Aquitania,  about 
Labden,  to  proceed  from  the  same  cause,  and  that  thejilth 
is  derived  from  the  tvater  to  their  bodies.  So  that  they 
that  use  filthy  standing,  ill-coloured,  thick,  muddy  water, 
must  needs  have  muddy,  ill-coloured,  impure,  and  infirm 
bodies  :  and,  because  the  body  works  upon  the  mind,  they 

a  Galen.  1.  1.  de  san.  tuenci.     Oavendae  sunt  aquse  qua  ex  stagnis  hauriuntur,  et 
quae  turbidse  et  male  olentes,  &c.  ^  Innoxinm  reddit  et  bene  olentem. 

c  Contendit  hsec  vitia  coctione  non  emendari.  <i  Lib.  de  bonitate  aquae.     Hy- 

dropem  auget,  lebresputridas,  splenein,tusses  ;  nocetoculis  ;  malum  habitum  corporis 
et  colorem.  «  Mag.  Nigritatem  inducit,  si  pecora  biberint.  f  Aquse  ex 

nivibus  coactae  strumosos  faciunt.  b' Cosmog.  1.  3.  cap.  .36.  ''Method. 

hist.  cap.  b.  Balbutiunt  Lahdoni  in  Aquitania  ob  aquas  ;  atquf   hi  niorbi  ab  aquis  ia 
corpora  deri\'antiir. 


Mem.  2.  Subs.  -2.]         Di/et  a  Cause.  103 

shall  have  grosser  understandinof,  «lull,  fogoy,  melancholy 
spirits,  an«l  be  really  subject  to  all  manner  of  infirmities. 

To  these  noxious  simples  we  may  reduce  an  infinite  num- 
ber of  compound,  artificial  made  dishes,  of  which  our  cooks 
aflford  us  a  great  variety,  as  taylors  do  fashions  in  our  apparel. 
Such  are  =*  puddings  scuffed  with  blood,  or  otherwise  composed, 
baked  meats,  sowced,  indurate  meats,  fryed.  and  broiled,  but- 
tered meats,  condite,  powdered,  and  over-dryed,  ^  all  cakes, 
simnels,  buns,  cracknels,  made  with  butter,  spice,  &c.  frit- 
ters, pancakes,  pies,  salsages,  and  those  several  sawces,  sharp, 
or  over  sweet,  of  which  scientia  popitife,  (as  Seneca  calls  it) 
hath  served  those 'Apician  tricks,  and  perfumed  dishes,which 
Adrian  the  Sixth,  pope,  so  much  admired  in  the  accounts  of  his 
predecessouT Leo (lecimns ;  and  which  prodioiousriot  and  pro- 
digality have  invented  in  this  age.  These  do  generally  ingen- 
der  gross  humours,  fill  the  stomach  with  crudities,and  all  those 
inward  parts  with  obstructions.  Montanus  (cnnsil.  22)  gives 
instance  in  a  melancholy  Jew,  that,  by  eating  such  tart  sawces, 
made  dishes,  and  salt  meats,  with  which  he  was  over-much 
delighted,  became  melancholy,  and  was  evil  affected.  Such 
examples  are  familiar  and  conunon. 


SUBSECT.  11. 

Quantity  of  Dyet  a  cause. 

-i-  HERE  is  not  so  much  harm  proceeding  from  the  substance 
it  self  of  meat,  and  quality  of  it,  in  ill-dressing  and  prepar- 
ing, as  there  is  from  the  quantity,  disorder  of  time  and  place, 
unseasonable  use  of  it,  ''  intemperance,  over-much  or  over- 
little  taking  of  it.  A  true  saying  it  is,  Plures  crapula  quam 
rjladius;  this  gluttony  kills  more  than  the  sword;  this  omni- 
vorantia,  ethomicida  tfula^  this  all  devouring,  and  murdering 
gut.  And  that  of  ^ Pliny  is  truer;  simple  diet  is  the  best  : 
heapinr/  tip  of  several  meats  is  pernicions,  and  sawces  worse; 
many  dishes  bring  many  diseases.      '  Avicen  cryes  out,  that 


"  Ednlia  ex  sanguiue  et  snffocato  parta.     Hildesheim.  b  Ctipedia  vpro  pla- 

centae, bellaria,  commentaque  alia  ciiriosa  pistorum  et  coqnorum  gustiii  ser\iei)tiam, 
conciliant  morbos  tnra  corpori  turn  aiiimo   itisanabiles.      Philo  Judaeus,  lib.  de  vic- 
•  timis.     P.  Jov.  vita  ejus.  c  As  lettice  steeped  in  wine,  birds  fed  with  fennel  and 

su^ar,  as  a  popes  concubine  used  in  Avignion.     Stephan.  <i  Animse  upgotiam 

ilia  facessit,  et  deteinpio  Dei  immundum  stabulum  facit     Peletius,  10.  c.  eLib. 

11,  c.  52.  Honriini  cibus  utilissimus  simplex  ;  acervatio  cibonim  pestifera,  et  con- 
dimenta  perniciosa  ;  multos  morbos  niulta  fereula  ferunt.  ''31  Dec   2.  c.     Ni- 

hil detenus  quam  si  teinpus  justo  longius  comedendo  protrahatnr,  et  varia  ciborona 
genera  conjungantur ;  inde  morborum  scatorigo,  qua  ex  repngnantia  humorum 
oritur. 

VOL.    I.  O 


104  Dypt  a  Cause.  [Part.  I.  Sec.  2. 

nothing  is  worse  than  to  ^ feed  on  many  dishes,  or  to  protract 
the  time  of  meals  longer  than  ordinary  ;  from  thence  proceed 
our  infirmities  ;  and  'tis  the  fountain  of  all  diseases,  which 
arise  out  of  the  repugnancy  of  gross  humours.  Thence,  saith 
'^  Fernelius,  comes  crudities,  wind,  oppilations,  cacochymia, 
plethora,  cachexia,  bradypepsia  :  *>  hinc  suhitcc  mortes,  atque 
intestata  senectus;  suddain  death,  &c.  and  what  not. 

As  a  lamp  is  choked  with  a  multitude  of  oyl,  or  a  little, 
fire  with  overmuch  wood,  quite  extinguished ;  so  is  the  natural 
heat,  with  immoderate  eating,  strangled  in  the  body.  Perni- 
ciosa  sentina  est  abdomen  insaturabile,  one  saith — an  insa- 
tiable paunch  is  a  pernicious  sink,  and  the  fountain  of  all  dis- 
eases,  both  of  body  and  mind.  "^  Mercurialis  will  have  it  a 
peculiar  cause  of  this  private  disease.  Solenander  {consol.b. 
sect.  3)  illustrates  this  of  Mercurialis,  with  an  example  of  one 
so  melancholy,  ab  intempestivis  comissationibus,  unseason- 
able feasting.  ^  Crato  confirms  as  much,  in  that  often  cited 
counsel,  21.  lib.  2,  putting  superfluous  eating  for  a  main  cause. 
But  what  need  I  seek  farther  for  proofs  ?  Hear  '^  Hippocrates 
himself,  lib.  2,  aphoris.  10.  Impure  bodies,  the  more  they 
are  nourished,  the  more  they  are  hurt ;  for  the  nourishment  is 
putrifed  with  vicious  humours. 

And  yet,  for  all  this  harm,  which  apparently  follows  surfet- 
ting  and  drunkenness,  see  how  we  luxuriate  and  rage  in  this 
kind.  Read  what  Johannes  Stuckius  hath  written  lately  of 
this  subject,  in  his  great  volumn  De  Antiquorum  Conviviis,  and 
of  our  present  age :  quam  ^ portentoscB  ca>ncB,  prodigious  sup- 
pers :  s  qui^  dum  invitant  ad  ccenam,  ejferunt  ad  sepulcrum, 
what  Fagos,  Epicures,  Apetios,  Heliogables  our  times  atford? 
Lucullus  ghost  walks  still ;  and  every  man  desires  to  sup  in 
Apollo  :  ^sops  costly  dish  is  ordinarily  served  up. 

_•'  Magis  ilia  juvant,  quse  pluris  emuntur : 


the  dearest  cates  are  best ;  and  'tis  an  ordinary  thing  to  be- 
stow twenty  or  thirty  pound  on  a  dish,  some  thousand  crowns 
upon  a  dinner.  'Muley-Hamet,  king  of  Fez  and  Morocco, 
spent  three  pound  on  the  sawce  of  a  capon :  it  is  nothing  in 
our  times  :  we  scorn  all  that  is  cheap.  We  loath  the  very 
^  light,  (some  of  us,  as  Seneca  notes)  because  it  comes  free ;  and 

aPath.  1.  1.  C.14.  b  Juv.  Sat.  5.  cNimia  repletio  ciboram  facit  me- 

laDcholicum.  "^  Comestio  superflua  cibi,  et  portus  quantitas  nimia.  « Im- 

pura  corpora  quanto  magis  Isedis :  putrefacit  enim  alinientum  vitiosus  humor, 
f  Vid.  Goclen.  de  portentosis  ccenis,  &c.     Puteani  Cora.  8  Amb.,  lib. 

de  Jeju.  cap.  14.  '■  Juvenal.  '  Guicciardin.  ''  Na.  quaest.  4. 

«a.  ult.  fastidio  est  lumen  gratuitum ;  dolet  quod  solem,  quod  spiritum,  emere  non 
possimus,  quod  hie  aer,  noe  emptus,  ex  facili,  &c.  adeo  nihil  placet,  nisi  quod  ca- 
rum  est. 


Mem.  2.  Subs.  2.]  Dyet  a  Cause.  105 

we  are  offended  with  the  suns  heat,  and  those  cool  blasts,  be- 
cause we  buy  them  not.  This  air  we  breath  is  so  common, 
we  care  not  for  it ;  nothinof  pleaseth  but  what  is  dear.  And, 
if  we  be  "^  witty  in  any  thing-,  it  is  ad  yvlam  :  if  we  study  at 
all,  it  is  erudito  lu.ru,  to  please  the  palat,  and  to  satisfie  the 
o^ut.  A  cook  oj'  old  was  a  base  knave  (as  ''Livy  complains), 
but  now  a  great  man  in  request :  cookery  is  become  an  art,  a 
noble  science :  cooks  are  r/entlemen  :  venter  deus.  They 
wear  their  brains  in  their  bellies,  and  their  guis  in  their 
heads,  (as  "  Agrippa  taxed  some  parasites  of  his  time)  rushing- 
on  their  own  destruction,  as  if  a  man  should  run  upon  the 
point  of  a  sword;  usque  dum  rumpantur,  comedunt :  ^all  day, 
all  night,  let  the  pjiysician  say  what  he  will — imminent 
danger  and  feral  diseases  are  now  ready  to  seize  upon  them— 
they  will  eat  till  they  vomit,  (edunt  ut  vomant ;  vomu7it  ut 
edant,  saith  Seneca;  which  Dion  relates  of  Vitellius,  Solo 
transitu  ciborum  iiutriri  judicatus :  his  meat  did  pass  throuo-h, 
and  away)  or  till  they  burst  again.  "  Strac/e  animantium  veti- 
trem  onerant ;  and  rake  over  all  the  world,  as  so  many  "^^slaves, 
belly-gods,  and  land-serpents ;  et  totus  orbis  ventri  iiimis  an- 
ffustus  ;  the  whole  world  cannot  satisfie  their  appetite.  ^Sea, 
land,  rivers,  lakes,  ^-c.  may  not  give  content  to  their  raqinq 
guts.  To  make  up  the  mess,  what  immoderate  drinking 
in  every  place  !  Senem  potum  pota  trahehat  anus  :  how  they 
flock  to  the  tavern !  as  if  they  wevefruges  consumere  nati, 
born  to  no  otherend  than  to  eat  and  drink,  (like  Offellius  Bibu- 
ius,  that  famous  Roman  parasite,  qui,  dum  vixit,  aut  bibit  aut 
minxit)  as  so  many  casks  to  hold  wine ;  yea,  worse  than  a 
cask,  that  marrs  wines,and  it  self  is  not  marred  by  it.  Yet  these 
are  brave  men  ;  Silenus  ebrius  was  no  braver  :  et  qucejue- 
runt  vitia,  mores  sunt:  'tis  now  the  fashion  of  our  times,  an 
honour  :  nunc  vero  res  ista  eo  rediit  (as  Chrysost.  serm.  80. 
in  5.  Ephes.  comment)  ut  effeminata  redendceque  ignavice 
loco  habeatur,  nolle  inebriari ;  'tis  now  come  to  that  pass, 
that  he  is  no  gentleman,  a  very  milk  sop,  a  clown,  of  no 
bringing  up,  that  will  not  drink,  fit  for  no  company  :  he  is 
your  only  gallant  that  plays  it  off'  finest,  no  disparagement 
now  to  stagger  in  the  streets,  reel,  rave,  &c.  but  much  to  his 
fame  and  renown  ;  as,  in  like  case,  Epidicus  told  Thesprio  his 
fellow  servant,  in  the '' poet.      jEdepol !  Jvcinus  improbum, 


■    "Ingeniosi  ad  gulam.  bOlim  vile  raancipium,  nunc  in  omni  festiraati- 

one  ;  nunc  ars  haberi  coepta,  &c.  <•  Epist.  28.  1,  7.  quorum  in  ventre  ingeninm, 

in  patinis,  &c.  "iln  lucem  coenat  Sertoriiis.  «  Seneca.  fMancipia 

gulae,  dapes  non  sapore  sed  sumptn  aestiniantes.  Seneca,  consol.  ad  Helyidium. 
g  SjBvientia  guttura  satiare  non  possunt  fluvii  et  maria.  yEueas  Sylvius,  de  raiser. 
liuriaJ.  I'Plautus. 

q2 


106  Dijet  a  Cause.  [Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

one  urged  :  the  other  replied,  At  jam  alii  fecere  idem;  erit 
illi  ilia  res  honori  :  'tis  now  no  fault,  there  be  so  many  brave 
examples  to  bear  one  out;  'tis  a  credit  to  have  a  strong  brain, 
and  carry  his  liquor  well  :  the  sole  contention,  who  can  drink 
most,  and  fox  his  fellow  soonest.  'Tis  the  summum  bonum  of 
our  tradesmen,  their  felicity,  life  and  soul,  (tantd  dulcedine 
affectant,  saith  Pliny,  lib.  14.  cap.  12,  ut  Jiiagna  pars  non 
aliud  vitce  prcemium  intelligani)  their  chief  comfort,  to  be 
merry  together  in  an  ale-house  or  tavern,  as  our  modern  Mus- 
covites do  in  their  mede-inns,  and  Turks  in  their  coifee-houses, 
Avhich  much  resemble  our  taverns :  they  will  labour  hard  all 
day  long,  to  be  drunk  at  night,  and  spend  totius  anni  labores 
(as  St.  Ambrose  adds) in  a  tipling  feast;  convert  day  into  night, 
as  Seneca  taxeth  some  in  his  times, pervertunt  ojfficia  noctiset 
lucis ;  when  we  rise,  they  commonly  go  to  bed,  like  our  An- 
tipodes, 

Nosque  ubi  primus  equis  Oriens  afflavit  anhelis, 
Illis  sera  rubens  accendit  lumina  Vesper. 

So  did  Petronius  in  Tacitus,  Heliogabalus  in  Lampridius, 

a  Nodes  vigilabat  ad  ipsum 

Mane;  diem  totum  stertebat. 


Symdiris  the  Sybarite  never  saw  the  sun  rise  or  set,  so  much 
as  once  in  twenty  years.  Verres,  against  whom  Tully  so  much 
inveighs,  in  winter  he  never  was  extra  tectum,  vix  extra 
lectiim,  never  almost  out  of  bed,  ''still  wenching,  and  drink- 
ing ;  so  did  he  spend  his  time,  and  so  did  myriads  in  ourdayes. 
They  have  gymnasia  bibonum,  schools  and  rendezvous;  these 
Centaures  and  Lapithaetoss  pots  and  bowls,  as  so  many  balls, 
invent  new  tricks,  as  salsages,  anchoves,  tobacco,  caveare, 
pickled  oysters,  herrings,  fumadoes,  &c.  innumerable  salt- 
meats  to  increase  their  appetite,  and  study  how  to  hurt  them- 
selves by  taking  antidotes,  ''■  to  carry  their  drink  the  better  : 
^and  when  naught  else  serves,  they  will  go  forth,  or  be  con- 
veyed out,  to  empty  their  gorge,  that  they  may  return  to  drink 
afresh.  They  make  laws,  insanas  leges,  contra  bibendifoU 
lacias,  and  "^  brag-  of  it  when  they  have  done,  crowning  that 
man  that  is  soonest  gone,  as  their  drunken  predecessours 
have  done,  f*  quid  ego  video  ?  Ps.  Ciim  corona  Pseudo- 
lum  ebrium  tuvmj  and,  when  they  are  dead,  Mill  have  a 

aHor.  ^  Diei  brevitas  conviviis,  noctis  longitudo  stupns,  conterebratur. 

cEt,  quo  pins  capiaut,  irritamenta  excogitantur.  d  Foras  portantur,  ut  ad  con- 

vivium  reportentur;  repleri  ut  exhauriant,  et  exhaiirire  ut  bibant    Ambros.  eln- 

gentia  vasa,  velut  ad  ostentationein,  &c.  fPlautiis. 


Mem.  2.  Subs.  2.]  Dyet  a  Cause.  107 

can  of  wine,  with  ^  Marons  old  woman,  to  be  engraven  on 
their  tombs.  So  they  triumph  in  villany,  and  justifie  their 
wickedness,  Mith  Rabelais,  that  French  Lucian,  "  drunken- 
ness is  better  for  the  body  than  physick,  because  there  be 
more  old  drunkards,  than  old  physicians."  Many  such  frothy 
arguments  they  have,  ''inviting  and  encouraging  others  to  do 
as  they  do,  and  love  them  dearly  for  it  (no  glew  like  to  that 
of  good  fellowship.)  So  did  Alcibiaues  in  Greece,  Nero, 
Bouosus,  Heliogabalus  in  Rome  (or  Alegabalus  rather,  as  he 
Avas  stiled  of  old,  as  "^  Ignatius  proves  out  of  some  old  coyns)  ; 
so  did  many  great  men  still,  as  ^  Heresbachius  observes, 
When  a  prince  drinks  till  his  eyes  stare  like  Bitias  in  the  poet. 

■C  ille  impiger  hausit 


Spuraantera  vino  pateram)- 


and  comes  off  clearly,  sound  trumpets,  fife  and  drums,  the 
spectators  will  applaud  him;  the  ^bishop  himself,  (if  hebelye 
them  not)  with  his  chaplain,  icill  stand  bji,  and  do  as  much  ; 
O  dignum  principe  haustnm  !  'twas  done  like  a  prince.  Our 
Dutchmen  invite  all  comers  u'ith  a  pail  and  a  dish  :  velut  in- 
J'undibula,  integras  obbas  exhanriunt,  et  in  monstros^is  poculis 
ipsi  monstrosi  vio7istrosius  epotant,  making  barrels  of  their 
bellies.  Incredibile  dictu,  (as  "  one  of  their  own  country- 
men complains)  ^  (juantnm  liqnoris  immodestissima  gens  ca- 
piat, Sfc.  Hoio  they  love  a  man  that  ivill  be  drunk,  crown 
him,  and  honour  him  for  it,  hate  him  that  will  not  pledge 
him,  stab  him,  kill  him  :  a  most  intolerable  offence,  and  not  to 
be  forgiven.  '  He  is  a  mortal  enemy  that  will  not  drink 
with  him,  as  Munster  relates  of  the  Saxons.  So,  in  Poland, 
he  is  the  best  servitor,  and  the  honestesl  fellow,  (saith  Alex- 
ander Gaguinus)  ^that  drinkeih  most  healths  to  the  honour  of  his 
master  ;  he  shall  be  rewarded  as  a  good  servant,  and  held  the 
bravest  fellow,  that  carries  his  liquor  best ;  when  as  a  brewers 
horse  will  bear  much  more  than  any  sturdy  drinker;  yet,  for  his 
noble  exploits  in  this  kind,  he  shall  be  accounted  a  most  valiant 
man;  for  ^  tam  inter  epulas  fortis  vir  esse  potest  ac  in  bello, 
as  much  valour  is  to  be  found  in  feasting,  as  in  fighting  ;  and 


»Lib.  3.  Anthol.  c.  20.  •'Gratiam  conciliant  potando.  f  Notis  ad 

CsEsares.  <i  Lib.  de  educandis  principuin  lihertis.  ^Virg.  fJdem 

Btrenui  potori*  episcopi  sacfllanus,  cum  ingentem  pateram  exhaurit  princeps. 
?  Bohemus,  in  Saxonia.  Adeo  immoderate  etimmodeste  ab  ipsis  bibiturj  ut,  in  compo 
tationibus  suis,  non  cyathis  solum  et  cantharis  sat  infuodere  possint,  sed  impletam 
mulctrale  apponant,  et  scutella  injecta  hortantur  quemlibet  ad  libitum  potare.  •>  Dicta 
incredibile,  quantum  hujusce  liquoris  immodesta  gens  capiat :  plus  potantem  araicissi- 
mum  habent,  etserto  coronant,  inimicissinium  e  contra  qui  non  vult,  et  c«de  et  fustibui 
erpiaat  >  Qui  potare  recusat,  hostis  habetur ;  et  caede  nonnumquam  res 

expiatnr.  ''  Qui  melius  bibit  pro  salute  domini,  melior  habetur  minister. 

'  Grace,  poeta  apud  Stobseum,  ser.  18. 


108  I>yet  a  Came.  [Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

some  of  o«r  city  captains,  and  carpet  knights,  will  make  this 
good  and  prove  it.  Thus  they  many  times  wilfully  pervert  the 
good  temperature  of  their  bodies,  stifle  their  wits,  strangle 
nature  and  degenerate  into  beasts. 

Some  again  are  in  the  other  extream,  and  draw  this  mischief 
ontheir  heads  by  too  ceremonious  and  strict  diet,  being  over- 
precise,  cockney-like,  and  curious  in  their  observation  of 
meats,times,  as  that  Merficnm  statica  prescribes — just  so  many 
ounces  at  a  dinner  (which  Lessiusenjoins),  so  much  at  supper; 
not  a  little  more,  nor  a  little  less,  of  such  meat,  and  at  such 
hours  ;  a  dyet  drink  in  the  morning,  cock-broth,  China-broth, 
at  dinner,  plumb-broth,  a  chicken,  a  rabbet,  rib  of  a  rack  of 
mutton,  wing  of  a  capon,  the  merry-thought  of  a  hen,  &c. — 
to  sounder  bodies,  this  is  too  nice  and  most  absurd.  Others 
offend  in  over-much  fasting;  piningadayes,(saith^Guianerius) 
and  waking  a  nights,  as  many  Moors  and  Turks  in  these  our 
times  do.  Anchorites^  monks,  and  the  rest  oj'that  superstitious 
rank,  (as  the  same  Guianerius  witnesseth,  that  he  hath  often 
seen  to  have  hapned  in  his  time)  through  immoderate  J^astingy 
have  been  frequently  mad.  Of  such  men,  belike,  Hippocrates 
speaks,  ( I  Aphor.  5)  when  as  he  saith,  ^they  more  offend  in 
too  sparing  diet,  and  are  worse  damnified,  than  they  that  feed 
liberalkf  and  are  ready  to  surfeit. 


SUBSECT.  III. 


Custom  of  Dyet ^  Delight,  Appetite,  Necessity,  how  they  cause 
or  hinder, 

J^  O  rule  is  so  general,  which  admits  not  some  exception;  to 
this  therefore  which  hath  hitherto  been  said,  (for  I  shall  other- 
wise put  most  men  out  of  commons)  and  those  inconveniences 
which  proceed  from  the  substance  of  meats,  an  intemperate  or 
unseasonable  use  of  them,custom  somewhat  detracts,  and  quali- 
fies, according  to  that  of  Hippocrates,  2  Aphoris.  50.  ""  Such 
things  as  ive  have  been  long  accustomed  to,  though  they  he  evil 
in  their  oivn  nature,  yet  they  are  less  offensive.      Otherwise  it 

»  Quide  die  jejiinant,  et  nocte  vigilant,  facile  cadunt  in  melancholiam  ;  et  qui  naturae 
moduin  excediint,  c.5.  tract.  15.  c.  2.  Longa  famis  tolerantia,  ut  iis  SEepe  acciditqui 
tanto  cum  fervore  Deo  servire  ciipiunt  per  jejunium,  quod  maniaci  efficiantur,  ipse  vidi 
88epe.  b  In  tenui  victu  agri  delinquuit ;  ex  quo  fit  ut  majori  afBciantur  detri- 

mento,  majorque  fit  error  temn  quam  pleniore  victu.>  f  Quae  longo  tempore 

consueta  sunt,  etiamsi  deteriora,  minus  in  assuetis  molestare  solent. 


Mom.  2.  Subs.  3.]      Causes  of  Melancholy.  109 

might  well  be  objected,  that  it  were  ameer  "tyranny  to  live  after 
those  strict  rules  of  physick ;  for  custom  '"  doth  alter  nature  it 
self;  and  to  such  as  are  used  to  them,  it  makes  bad  meats  whol- 
some,  and  unseasonable  times  to  cause  no  disorder.  Cider  and 
perry  are  windy  drinks ;  (so  are  all  fruits  windy  in'themselves, 
cold  most  part)  yet,  in  some  shires  of '^England,  Normandy  in 
France,  Guipuscovain  Spain, 'tis  their  common  drink ;  and  they 
are  no  whit  offended  with  it.  In  Spain,  Italy,  and  Africk,  they 
live  most  on  roots,  raw  herbs,  camels  "^  milk,  and  it  agrees  well 
with  them ;  which  to  a  stranger  will  cause  much  grievance.  In 
Wales,  lacticiniis  vescuntur,  (as  Humfrey  Lluyd  confesseth,  a 
Cambro-Brittain  himself,  in  his  elegant  epistle  to  Abrahura  Or- 
telius)  they  live  most  on  white  meats ;  in  Holland  on  fish, 
roots,  "  butter ;  and  so  at  this  day  in  Greece,  as  ^  Bellonius 
observes,  they  had  much  rather  feed  on  fish  than  flesh.  With 
us,  maxima  pars  rictus  in  came  consistit ;  we  feed  on  flesh 
most  part,  (saith  "Polydor  Virgil)  as  all  northern  countreys  do; 
and  it  would  be  very  offensive  to  us  to  live  after  their  dyet,  or 
they  to  live  after  ours :  we  drink  beer,  they  wine  :  they  use  oyl, 
we  butter  :  we  in  the  north  are  ''great  eaters,  they  most  sparing 
in  those  hotter  countreys:  and  yet  they  and  we,  following  our 
own  customs,  are  well  pleased.  An  Ethiopian  of  old,seeingan 
Europaean  eat  bread,  wondered,  quomodo  stercoribus  vescentes 
viveremus,  how  he  could  eat  such  kind  of  meats ;  so  much 
differed  his  countrey-men  from  ours  in  dyet,  that  (as  mine 
'  author  infers),  si  (juis  illorumvictum  apudnos  cemulari  vellet; 
if  any  man  should  so  feed  with  us,  it  would  be  all  one  to 
nourish,  as  cicuta,  uconitum,  or  hellehor  it  self.  At  this  day, 
in  China,  the  common  people  live,  in  a  manner,  altogether  on 
roots  and  herbs  ;  and,  to  the  wealthiest,  horse,  ass,  mule,  dogs,, 
cat-flesh  is  as  delightsome  as  the  rest :  so  ""Mat.  Riccius  the 
Jesuit  relates,  who  lived  many  years  amongst  them.  The. 
Tartars  eat  raw  meat,  and  most  commonly  '  horse-flesh,  drink 
milk  and  blood,  as  the  Nomades  of  old — • 


»  Qui  medice  vivit,  misere  vivit.  b  Consuetude  altera  natara.  "^Here- 

fordshire, Gloucestershire,  Worcestershire.  >i  Leo  Afer.  I.  1.  solo  camelorum 

lacte  contenti,  nil  prajterea  delitiiirum  ambiunt.  e  FJandri  vinum  butyro  dilu- 

tnni  bibunt  (nauseo  referens) :  ubique  butyrum,  inter  omnia  fercula  et  bellaria,  locum 
obtineL     Steph.  praefat.  Herod.  fDelectantur  Graeci  piscibus  magis  quam  car- 

nibus.  gLib.  1.  hist.  Aug.  '' P,  Joyius  desrrip.  Britonam.     They  sit, 

eat  and  drink  all  day  at  dinner  in  Island,  Muscoyy,  and  those  northern  parts, 
'  Suidas,  vit.  Herod,  nihilo  cura  eo  melius  quam  siquis  cicutam,  aconitum,  Stc. 
''Expedit.  in  Sinas,  lib.  1.  c.  3.  hortensium  herbarum  et  olerum  apud  Sinas  qnam 
apud  nos  longe  frequentior  usus  ;  complures  quippe  de  vulgo  reperias  nulla  alia  re, 
vel  tenuitatis  vel  religionis  caussa,  vescentes.  Equos,  mulos,  asellos,  8cc.  xque  fere 
vescuntur,  ac  pabula  omnia.  Mat.  Riecius,  lib.  5,  c.  13.  '  Tartari  mulis,  equis 

vescnntnr,  et  crudis  camibus,  et  fruges  coutemnont,  dicentes,  hoc  jumentorum  pabulum 
et  boam,  nou  hominuin. 


110  Causes  of  Melancholy.        [Part.  1.  Spc.  2. 

(Et  lac  concretum  cum  sanguine  potat  equino). 

They  scoff  at  our  Europeans  for  eating-  bread,  which  they  call 
tops  of  weeds,  and  horse-meat,  not  fit  for  men ;  and  yet  Scaliger 
accounts  them  a  sound  and  witty  nation,  living  an  hundred 
years  ;  even  in  the  civilcst  conntrey  of  them,  they  do  thus, 
as  Benedict  the  Jesnite  observed  in  his  travels,  from  the  great 
Mog-ors  court  by  land  to  Paquin,  which  Riccius  contends  to 
be  the  same  with  Cambulu  in  Cataia.  In  Scandia,  their  bread 
is  usually  dryed  fish,andso  likewise  in  the  Shetland  Isles;  and 
their  other  fare,  as  in  Is'and,  (saith  '"  Dithmarus  Bleskenius) 
butter,  cheese,  and  fish ;  their  drink,water,  their  lodging-  on  the 
ground.  In  America,  in  many  places,  their  bread  is  roots, 
their  meat  palmitos,pinas,  potatoes,  &c.  and  such  fruits.  There 
be  of  them,  too,  that  familiarly  drink  ''salt  sea  water,  all  their 
lives,  eat  "  raw  meat,  grass,  and  that  with  delight :  with  some, 
fish,  serpents,  spiders;  and  in  divers  places  they  "^  eat  mans 
flesh  raw,  and  rosted,  even  the  emperour  '^Metazuma  himself. 
In  some  coasts  again,  *one  tree  yields  them  coquernuts,  meat 
and  drink,  fire-fuel,  apparel  (with  his  leaves),  oyl,  vinegar, 
cover  for  houses,  &c.  end  yet  these  men,  going  naked,  feeding 
coarse,  live  commonly  a  hundred  years,  are  seldom  or  never 
sick  ;  all  which  dyet  our  physicians  forbid.  In  Westphaling-, 
they  feed  most  part  on  fat  meats  and  wourts,  knuckle-deep, 
and  call  it  ^  cerebrum  Jovis ;  in  the  Low  Countreys,  with 
roots ;  in  Italy,  frogs  and  snails  are  used.  The  Turks,  saith 
Busbequius,  delight  most  in  fryed  meats.  In  Muscovy, garlick 
and  onions  are  ordinary  meat  and  sauce,  which  would  be 
pernicious  to  such  as  are  unaccustomed  to  them,delightsometo 
others ;  and  all  is  *" because  they  liave  been  brought  up  unto  it. 
Husbandmen,  and  such  as  labour,  can  eat  fat  bacon,  salt  gross 
meat,  hard  cheese,  &c.  (O  dura  messorum  ilia  !)  coarse  bread 
at  all  times,  go  to  bed  and  labour  upon  a  full  stomach  ;  which 
to  some  idle  persons  would  be  present  death,  and  is  against  the 
rules  of  physick;  so  that  custom  is  all  in  all.  Our  travellers 
» find  this  by  common  experience :  when  they  come  in  far  coun- 
treys, and  use  their  dyet,  they  are  suddenly  offended ;  as  our 
Hollanders  and  Englishmen,  when  they  touch  upon  the  coasts 
of  Africk,  those  Indian  capes  and  islands,  are  commonly  mo- 


alslandiae  descriptione.  Victiis  eoruin  butyro,  lacte,  caseo  consistit :  pisces  loco 
panis  habeiit;  potns  aqua,  aut  serum  ;  sic  vivunt  sine  medicina  multi  ad  annos  200. 
bLaet.  Occident.  Ind.  dscrip.  11].  c.  10.  Aquani  inarinaiii  bibere  sueti  absque  noxii. 
cDavies  second  voyage.  I'Patagones.  'Benzo  et  Fer.  Cortesius,  lib.  novus 

orbis  inscrip.  f  Linscoften,  c.  FjG.  palnia;  instar,  totius  orbis  arboiibus  longe 

prsestantior.  s  Lips.  ep.  li  Teneris  assuescere  mnltuin.  '  Re pentinae 

niutatiuncs  uoxaiii  pariunt,     Hippocrai.  aphorism.  21.  ep.  6.  sect.  3. 


Mem,  2.  Subs.  S.]         Causes  of' Melancholy.  Ill 

lested  with  calentures,  fluxes,  and  much  distempered  by  rea- 
son of  their  fruits.  ■'  Perer/rina,  etsi  suaria,  solent  vessentibns 
pprturhatwnes  insir/nes  acljerre  ;  strange  meats,  thoug-h  plea- 
sant, cause  notable  alterations  and  distempers.  On  the  other 
side,  use  or  custom  mitigates  or  makes  all  good  again,  JMi- 
thridates,  by  often  use,  (-vhich  Pliny  wonders  at)  was  able  to 
drink  poyson  ;  and  a  maid,  (as  Curtius  records)  sent  to  Alex- 
ander from  king  Porus,  was  brought  up  with  poyson  from 
her  infancy.  The  Turks  (saith  Bellonius,  lib.  3.  cap.  15) 
eat  opium  familiarly,  a  dram  at  once,  which  we  dare  not  take 
in  grains.  ''Garcius  ab  Horto  writes  of  one  whom  he  saw  at 
Goa  in  the  East  Indies,  that  took  ten  drams  of  opium  in  three 
dayes ;  and  yet  consnlfo  Inr/nehatnr,  spake  understandingly ; 
so  mucli  can  custom  do.  "^Theophrastus  speaks  of  a  shepherd 
that  could  eat  hallehor  in  substance.  And  therefore  (Jardan 
conclu'les  (out  of  Galen)  consuetndinem  ntcunque J'erendam, 
nisi  ralde  malam  ;  custom  is  howsoever  to  be  kept,  except  it  be 
extreme  bad.  He  ad\  iseth  all  men  to  keep  their  old  customs, 
and  that  by  the  authority  of '^ Hippocrates  himself;  dandnm 
aliquid  temporl^  Ktati,  regioni,  consuetudinl,  and  therefore 
to  *  continue  as  they  began,  be  it  diet,  bath,  exercise,  &c.  or 
Avhatsoever  else. 

Another  exception  is  delight,  or  appetite  to  such  and  such 
meats.  Though  they  be  hard  of  digestion,  melancholy;  yet 
as  (Fuchsius  excepts,  cap.  6.  lib.  Insfit.  sect  2)  ^ the  .stomach 
doth  readibf  dif/esf,  and  rc'illinf/b/  eatertahi  svch  meats  ire  love 
most,  and  are  pleasinr/  to  ns,  abhors  on  the  other  side  such  as 
ire  dista.'iie ;  which  Hippocrates  confirms  Jlphoris  2.  38. 
Some  cannot  endure  cheese,  out  of  a  secret  antipathy,  or  see 
a  roasted  duck,  which  to  others  is  a  «  delightsome  meat. 

The  last  exception  is  necessity,  poverty,  want,  hunger,  M'hich 
drives  men  many  times  to  do  that  which  otherwise  they  are 
loath,  cannot  endure,and  thankfully  to  accept  of  it;  asbeverao-e 
in  ships,  and,  in  sieges  of  great  cities,  to  feed  on  dogs,  cats,  rats, 
and  men  themselves.  Three  out-laws,  in  ''Hector  Boethius, 
being  driven  to  their  shifts,  did  eat  raw  flesh,  and  flesh  of  such 
fowl  as  they  could  catch,  in  one  of  the  Hebrides,  for  some  few 
moneths.  These  things  do  mitigateordisaunul  thatwhich  hath 
been  said  of  melancholy  meats,  and  make  it  more  tolerable  ; 
but,  to  such  as  are  wealthy,  live  plenteously,  at  ease,  may 
take  their  choice,  and  refrain  if  they  will,  these  viands  are 

«  Bnierimw,  L  1.  c.  2S.  I'Siinpl.  uied.  c.  4.  1.  1.  <-Henmins,  1.  3. 

c.  19.  prax.  med.  <"Aphoris    17.  *^  In  dubiis  consuetndinem  seqna- 

tur  at|ole.sceii.s.  et  in  coeptis  perseveret.  f  Qui  cum  voltiptate  assiimunf ur  cibi, 

Vf  ntriculns  avidius  coniplectitur,  txptditinsqup  concoquit ;  ft.  qua-  displicent,  aver- 
s«*tur.  ■'■■  Mothing  against  a  good  stomach,  as  the  savin-.;  is.  h  LJb.  7. 

Hist  Scot. 


J  12        Retention  and  Evacuation^  Causes.     [Part.  1.  Sec*  2. 

to  be  forborn,  if  tliey  be  inclined  to  or  suspect  melancholy, 
as  they  tender  their  healths;  otherwise,  if  they  be  intenope- 
rate,  or  disordered  in  their  dyet,  at  their  peril  be  it.  Qui 
monet,  amat,  Ave,  et  cave. 


SUBSECT.  IV. 

Retention  and  Evacuation  a  cause,  and  how. 

Of  retention  and  evacuation  there  be  divers  kinds,  which 
are  either  concomitant,  assisting,  or  sole  causes  many  times 
of  melancholy.  ^  Galen  reduceth  defect  and  abundance  to 
this  head  ;  others,  ^  all  that  is  separated  or  remains. 

Costiveness.]  In  the  first  rank  of  these,  T  may  well  reckon 
up  costiveness,  and  keeping  in  of  our  ordinary  excrements, 
which,  as  it  often  causeth  other  diseases,  so  this  of  melancholy 
in  particular.  '^  Celsus  (lib.  1.  cap.  3)  saith  it  produceth 
inflammation  of  the  head,  dulness,  cloudiness,  head-ach,  8j-c. 
Prosper  Calenus  (Uh.  de  atrd  bile)  will  have  it  distemper 
not  the  organ  only,  ''  but  the  mind  it  self' by  troubling  oj'it ; 
and  sometimes  it  is  a  sole  cause  of  madness,  as  you  may  read 
in  the  first  book  of''  Skenkiushis  Medicinal  Observations.  A 
young  merchant,  going  to  Nordeling  fair  in  Germany,  for  ten 
dayes  space  never  went  to  stool :  at  his  return,  he  was  grievously 
melancholy,  ^thinking  that  he  was  robbed,  and  would  not  be 
perswaded,  but  that  all  his  money  was  gone.  His  friends 
thought  that  he  had  some  phi Itrum  given  him:  butCnelinus, 
a  physician,  being  sent  for,  found  his  §  costiveness  alone  to  be 
the  cause,  and  thereupon  gave  him  a  clister,by  which  he  was 
speedily  recovered.  Trincavellius  (consult.  35.  lib.  1)  saith  as 
much  of  a  melancholy  lawyer,  to  whom  he  administered  phy- 
sick ;  and  Kodericus  a  Fonseca  {consult.  85.  torn.  2.)  ^  of  a  pa- 
tient of  his,  that  for  eight  dayes  was  bound,  and  therefore  me- 
lancholy affected.  Other  retentions  and  evacuations  there  are, 
not  simply  necessary,  butat  some  times;  as  Fernelius  accounts 
them,  (Path.  lib.  1.  cap.  lb)  as  suppression  of  emrods,  mo- 
nethly  issues  in  women,  bleeding  at  nose,  immoderate,  or  no 
use  at  all  of  Venus ;  or  any  other  ordinary  issues. 

'Detention  of  emrods,  or  monethly  issues,  Villanovanus 
{Breviar.  lib.  1.  cap.  18)  Arculanus,(ca/?.  16.  in.  9.  Rasis)  Vit- 
torius  Faventinus,  (pract.  may.  Tract.  2.  cap.  15)  Bruel,  &c. 


a 30.  artis.  ''Quae  excernuntur  aut  siibsistunt.  ^  Px  ventre  snppresso, 

inflammationes,  capitis  dolores,  caligines,  crescunt.  ^  Excrementa  retenta  men- 

tis agitationem  parere  solent.  «  Cap.  de  mel.  fTam  delirus,  ut  vix  se 

hominem  agnosceret.  gAIvus  astrictuscaiissa.  '' Per  octo  dies  alvum 

siccuiu  habet,  et  nihil  reddit.  'Sive  per  nares,  sive  hacmorrhoides. 


Mem.  2.  Subs.  4.     Retention  and  Evacuation^  Causes.        113 

put  for  ordinary  causes.  Fuchsias  (/.  2.  sect.  5.  c.  50)  ^oes 
farther,  and  saith,*^/tfl^  many  men,  nnspasonahhj  cured  of  the 
emrods,  have  been  corrupted  tvith  melanchobf ;  seekinr/  to 
avoid  Scylla,  they  fall  into  Charyhdis,  Galen  (/.  de  hum. 
commen.  3.  ad  text.  26)  illustrates  this  by  an  example  of  Lu- 
cius Martius,  whom  he  cured  of  madness,  contracted  by  this 
means  ;  and  ''  Skenkius  hath  other  two  instances  of  two  me- 
lancholy and  mad  women,  so  caused  from  the  suppression  of 
their  moneths.  The  same  may  be  said  of  bleeding  at  the 
nose,  if  it  be  suddenly  stopt,  and  have  been  formerly  used,  as 
•^  Villanovanus  urgeth  ;  and  "^  Fuchsius  {lib.  2.  sect.  5.  cap.  S3) 
stifly  maintains,  that  without  great  danger,  such  an  issue  may 
not  be  stayed. 

Venus  omitted  produceth  like  effects.  Matthiolus  (epist.  5. 
I.  penult.)  ^avoucheih  of  his  knowledge,  that  some  through 
hashfulness  abstained  from  venery,  and  thereupon  became  very 
heavy  and  dull;  and  some  others,  that  were  very  timorous, 
melancholy,  and  beyond  all  measure  sad.  Orihasius  (jyied. 
Collect,  i.  6.  c.  37)  speaks  of  some,  '  That,  if  they  do  not 
use  carnal  copulation,  are  continually  troubled  with  heaviness 
and  head-ach ;  and  some  in  the  same  case  by  intermission  of  it. 
Not  use  of  it  hints  many ;  Arculanus  (c.  6.  in  9.  Rasis)  and 
Magninus  {part.  3.  cap.  5)  think,  because  ^it  sends  up  poi' 
soned  vapours  to  the  brain  and  heart.  And  so  doth  Galen 
himself  hold,  that  if  this  natural  seed  be  over-long  kept  (in 
gome  parties)  it  turns  to  poison.  Hieronymus  Mercurialis,  in 
his  chapter  of  Melancholy,  cities  it  for  an  especial  cause  of  this 
malady,  ''  priapismus,  satyriasis,  ^c.  Haliabbas  (5  Theor.  c. 
36)  reckons  up  this  and  many  other  diseases.  Villanovaniis 
(Breviar.  I.  1.  c.  18^  saith  he  knew  ^  many  monks  and 
widows,  grievously  troubled  with  melancholy,  and  that  from, 
this  sole  cause.  ""Ludovicus  Mercatus  (/.  2.  de  muUerum  af- 
fect, cap.  4)  and  Rodericus  a  Castro  (de  morbius  mulier.  I.  2. 
c.  3)  treat  largely  of  this  subject,  and  will  have  it  produce  a 
peculiar  kind  of  melancholy,  in  stale  maids,  nuns,  and  widows, 
ob  snpprcssionem  mensium  et  Venerem  omissam,  timidce,  ma^stcc, 


"Multi,  intempestive  ab  hEemorrhoidibus  curati,  melancholia  correpli  sunt.     Incidit 
in  Scyllam,  &c.  ''Lib.  1.  de  Mania  « Breviar  1.  7.  c.  18.  "iNon.sine 

niagno  incommodo  ejus,  cui  sanguis  a  naribus  prouianat,  noxii  sanguinis  vacuatio  im- 
pediri  potest.  '■  iNoyi  qnosdani,  pra?  pudore  a  coitu  abstiueiites,  torpidos  pi- 

grosiiue  factos;  nonnullos  etiam  nieiancliolicos  pr;rter  moduui  ma'stos,  tiiiiidosciue. 
fNonnuUi,  uisi  coeant,  assidue  capitis  gravitate  infestantur.  Dicit  se  Dovisse  quos- 
dam  tristes,  et  ita  factos  ex  intermissione  Veneris.  s  Vapores  venenatos  mittU: 

sperma  ad  cor  et  cerebrum.  Sperma,  plus  diu  retentum,  transit  in  venenum.  ''Graves 
prodncit  corjwris  et  animi  tugritudines.  'Ex  spernmte  supra  niodum  rctento, 

uionachos  et  viduas  melaucholicos  sape  fieri  vidi.  ''Melancholia,  orta  a  vasis 

semiuariis  in  utcro. 


1 14         Retention  and  Evacuation,  Causes.     [Part  1.  Sec.  2. 

anxicB,  verecnndce,  suspiciosa^,  languentes,  consilii  inopes,  cum 
summd  vitce  et  rerum  meliorum  desperatione,  Sfc.  they  are  me- 
lancholy in  the  highest  degree,  and  all  for  want  of  husbands. 
jElianu,  Montaltus  (cap.  37.  de  melanchol)  confirms  as  much 
out  of  Galen;  so  doth  Wierus.  Christophorus  a  Vega  {de 
art  med.  lib.  3.  cap.  14)  relates  many  such  examples  of  men 
and  women,  that  he  had  seen  so  melancholy.  Felix  Plater, 
in  the  first  book  of  his  Observations,  *  tells  a  story  of  an 
antient  gentleman  in  Alsatia,  that  married  a  young  wife,  and 
teas  not  able  to  pay  his  debts  in  that  kind  for  a  long  time  to- 
gether, by  reason  oj'his  several  infirmities.  But  she,  because 
of'  this  inhibition  oj'  Venus,  foil  into  a  horrible  Jury,  and 
desired  every  one  that  came  to  see  her,  by  ivords,  looks,  and 
gestures,  to  have  to  do  with  her,  ^'C.  ''Bernard us  Paternus, 
a  physician,  saith,  he  knew  a  good  honest  godly  priest,  that, 
because  he  ivould  neither  willingly  marry,  nor  make  use  of  the 
stews,  foil  into  grievous  melancholy  fits.  Hildesheim  {spicil. 
2)  hath  such  another  example  of  an  Italian  melancholy 
priest,  in  a  consultation  had  anno  1580.  Johon  Pratensis 
gives  instance  in  a  married  man,  that,  from  his  wifes  death 
abstaining,  "after  marriage  became  exceeding  melancholy: 
Rodericus  a  Fonseca,  in  a  young  mansomis-aiFecled,  tom.  2. 
consult.  85.  To  these  you  may  add,  if  you  please,  that  con- 
ceited tale  of  a  Je\v,  so  visited  in  like  sort,  and  so  cured,  out 
of  Poggius  Florentinus. 

Intemperate  Venus  is,  all  out,  as  bad  in  the  other  extream. 
Galen  (/.  6,  de  morbis  popular,  sect.  5.  text.  26)  reckons  up 
melancholy  amongst  those  diseases  which  are  '^exasperated 
byvenery:  so  dodi  Avicenna,  ("J.  3.  c.  ll)  Oribasius,  {loc. 
citat.)  Ficinus,  {lib.  2.  de  sanitate,  tuendd)  Marsilius  Cogna- 
tus,  Montaltus,  {cap.  27)  Guianerius,  {Tract. '5.  cap.'H.)  Mag- 
ninus,  {cap.  b.part.  3)  Ogives  the  reason,  because  Ht  infri- 
gidates  and  dry es  up  the  body,  consumes  the  spirits;  and  would 
therefore  have  all  such  as  are  cold  and  dry,  to  take  heed  of 
and  to  avoid  it  as  a  mortal  enemy.  Jacchinus  {in  9.  Rasis, 
cap.  15)  ascribes  the  same  cause,  and  instanceth  in  a  patient 
of  his,  that  married  a  young  wife  in  a  hot  summer,  ^and  so 


aNobilis  seneX  Alsatus  javenem  uxorem  duxit:  at  ille,  colico  dolore  et  multis 
morbis  correptus,  non  potuit  praestare  oflScium  mariti,.  vix  inito  matrimonio  aegrotus. 
Ilia  in  horrendum  I'urorem  incidit,  ob  Venerem  cohibitam,  ut  omnium  earn  invisentium 
congressum,  voce  vultu,  gestu,  expeteret:  et  quum  non  consentirent,  molossos  Angli- 
canos  magno  expetiit  clamore.  •>  Vidi  sacerdotenj  optimum  et  pium,  qui,  qued 

nollet  uti  Venere,  in  melancholica  symptomata  incidit.  <=  Ob  abstinentiam  a 

concubitu  incidit  in  melancholiam.  <iQu8e  a  coiru  exacerbantur.         eSuperfluum 

coitura  caussam  ponunt.  f  Exsiccat  corpus,  spiritus  consumit,  &c-  caveant  ab  hoc 

sicci,  velut  inimico  raortali.  e  Ita  exsiccatus^  ut  e  melancholico  statim  furtit 

inaanus  ;  ab  humectantibus  curatus. 


Mem.  2.  Subs.  4.]  Retention  and  Eracuation,  Causes.       115 

dryed  himself'  with  chamher-xcork,  that  he  became,  in  short 
space,  from  melancholi/,  mad:  he  cured  liim  by  inoistiiinjr 
remedies.  The  like  example  [  find  in  Lselius  a  Fonte  Eu^-ubi- 
nus,  (consult.  129)  of  a  oentleraan  of  Venice,  that,  upon  the 
same  occasion,  was  first  melancholy,  afterwards  mad.  Read 
in  him  the  story  at  large. 

Any  other  evacuation  stopped  will  cause  \\,  as  mcII  as 
these  above  named,  be  it  bile,  '^  ulcer,  issue,  &c.  Hercules 
de  Saxonia,  {lib.  1.  cap.lQ)  and  Gordonius,  verifie  this  out  of 
their  experience.  They  saw  one  m  ounded  in  the  head,  who, 
as  long-  as  the  sore  was  open,  lucida  habnit  mentis  intervalluy 
was  well ;  but,  Avhen  it  was  stopped,  rediit  melancholia,  his 
medancholy  fit  seized  on  him  again. 

Artificial  evacuations  are  much  like  in  effect,  as  hot-houses, 
bath,  blood-letting-,  purging,  unseasonably  and  inmioderately 
used.  ^  Baths  dry  too  much,  if  used  in  excess,  be  they  natural 
or  artificial,  and  offend,  extream  hot  or  cold;  ''one  dries,  the 
other  refrigerates,  over-much.  Montanus  (consil.  137)  saith 
they  over-heat  the  liver.  Job.  Struthius  {Stigmat.  artis,  I.  4 
c.  9)  contends,  "^that  if  one  stay  longer  than  ordinary  at  the 
hath,  go  in  too  oj't,  or  at  unseasonable  times,  he  putrijies  the 
humonrs  in  his  body.  To  this  purpose  writes  Magninus  (/.  3. 
c.  5).  Guianerus  (Tract.  15  c.  21)  utterly  disallows  all  hot 
baths  in  melancholy  adust.  ^I  saw  (saith  he)  a  man  that 
laboured  of  the  gout,  who,  to  be  freed  of  his  malady,  came  to  the 
hath,  and  u-as  instantly  cured  of  his  disease,  but  got  another 
v'orse,  and  that  u-as  madness.  But  this  judgement  varies,  as 
the  humour  doth  in  hot  or  cold.  Baths  may  be  good  for  one 
melancholy  man,  bad  for  another:  that  which  will  cure  it  in 
this  party,  may  cause  it  in  a  second. 

Phlebotomy.'\  Phlebotomy,  many  times  neglected,  may  do 
much  harm  to  the  body,  when  there  is  a  manifest  redundance 
of  bad  humours  and  melancholy  blood  ;  and  when  these 
humours  heat  and  boyl,  if  this  be  not  used  in  time,  the  parties 
afi'ected,  soinfiamed,  are  in  great  danger  to  be  mad  ;  but  if  it 
be  unadvisedly,  importunely,  immoderately,  used,  it  doth  as 
much  harm  by  refrigerating  the  body,  dulling  the  spirits,  and 
consumingthem.  As  Job. '  Curio,in  his  tenth  chapter,  \^  ell  re- 
prehends, such  kind  of  letting  blood  doth  more  hurt  than  oood ; 
8  the  humours  rage  much  more  than  they  did  before  ;  and  is 
so  far  from  avoiding  melancholy,  that  it  increaseth  it,  and 

a  Ex  caiiterio  et  ulcere  exsiccato.  b  Gord.  c.  10.  lib.  1,  disconinieiids  cold 

baths,  as  noxious.  =  Sicruni  rf  dilunt  corpus.  J  Si  quis  longiiu  moretur 

in  lis,  aut  ninus  frequenter  aut  importune  utatur,  huniores  piitrefacit.  «  Efco 

•anno  superiore  quamdam  guttosum  vidi  adusfum,  qui,  ut  liberaretur  de  gutta  ad 
balnea  accessit,  et,  de  gutta   liberatus,  maniacus  factus  est  fQn  Schola 

Salernitana.  sCalefactio  et  ebullitio  per  venae  iucisiouein  tnagis  saepe  incitatur 

et  augetur  ;  maiore  inipetu  huniores  per  corpus  discurruut. 


116  Bad  Air,  a  Cause.  [Part  1.  Sec.  2 

weakneth  the  sight.  ''Prosper  Caleniis  observes  as  much  of  all 
phlebotomy,  except  they  keep  a  very  good  diet  after  it :  yea 
and  as  ^'LeoiiartusJacchinus  speaks  out  of  his  own  experience, 
=  the  blood  is  much  hlacher  to  manif  mew  aj'ter  their  letting 
of  blood  than  it  was  at  first.  For  this  cause,  belike  Sallust. 
Salvinianus  (I.  2.  c.  1)  will  admit  or  hear  of  no  blood-lelting 
at  all  in  this  disease,  except  it  be  manifest  it  proceeds  from 
blood.  He  was  (it  appears,  by  his  own  words  in  that  place) 
master  of  an  hospital  of  mad  men,  '^  and  found  bi/  long  expe- 
rience, that  this  kind  of  evacuation,  either  in  head,  arm,  or  any 
other  part,  did  more  harm  than  good.  To  this  opinion  of  his 
*  Felix  Plater  is  quite  opposite  :  though  some  ivink  at,  disalloiv, 
and  quite  contradict,  all  phlebotomy  in  melancholy,  yet  by  long 
experience  I  have  found  innumerable  so  saved,  after  they  had 
been  twenty,  nay,  sixty  times  let  blood,  and  to  live  happily  after 
it.  It  was  an  ordinary  thing  of  old,  in  Galens  time,  to  take  at 
once  from  such  men  six  pound  of  blood,  which  we  now  dare 
scarce  take  in  ounces :  sed  viderint  medici:  great  books  are 
written  of  this  subject. 

Purging-  upward  and  downward,  in  abundance  of  bad  hu- 
mours omitted,  may  be  for  the  worst ;  so  likewise,  as  in  the  pre- 
cedent, if  over-much,  too  frequenter  violent,  it  ^weakneth 
their  strength,  saith  Fuchius  (/.  2.  sect.  2.  c  17) ;  or,  if  tSey  be 
strong  or  able  to  endure  physick,  yet  it  brings  them  to  an  ill 
habit ;  they  make  their  bodies  no  better  than  apothecaries 
shops ;  this,  and  such  like  infirmities,  must  needs  follow. 

SUBSECT.  V. 
Bad  Air  a  cause  of  Melancholy. 

Air  is  a  cause  of  great  moment,  in  producing  this  or  any 
other  disease,  being  that  it  is  still  taken  into  our  bodies  by 
respiration,  and  our  more  inner  parts.  ^  If  it  he  impure  and 
foggy,  it  dejects  the  spirits,  and  causeth  diseases  by  infection 
of  the  heart,  as  Paulus  hath  it  {lib.  1.  c.  49.)  Avicenna, 
(/.  1)  Gal.  {de  san  tuendd),  Mercurialis,  Montaltus,  &c. 
^  Fernelius  saith,  a  thick  air  thickneth  the  blood  and  hu- 

'  a  Lib.  de  flatnlenta  Melancholia.  Frequer.s  sanguinis  missio  corpus  extenuat. 
b  In  9  Rhasis.     Atram  bilem  parit,  et  visum  debilitat.  '-  Multo  nigrior  spec- 

tatur  sanguis  post  dies  quosdam,  quam  fuit  ab  initio.  ''  Non  laudo  eos  qui  in 

desipientia  docent  secandam  esse  venani  frontis,  quia  spiritus  debilitatur  ir.de,  et  ego 
longa  experientia  obsei-vavi  in  proprio  xenodocliio,  quod  disipientes  ex  phlcbotoinia 
magis  laeduntur,  et  magis  desipiiint ;  et  melancholici  stepe  fiunt  inde  pejores.  ^  De 
mentis alienat  cap.  3.  etsimultos  hoc  impiobassesciara.innumeroshac  rationesanatos 
longa  observatione  cognovi,  qui  vigesies,  sexagies  venas  tundendo,.  &c.  f  Vires 

debilitat.  g  Impurus  aer  spiritus  dejicit ;  infecto  corde  gignit  morbos.         •'  San- 

gninem  densat,  ethumores,  P.  1.  c.  13. 


Mem.  2.  Subs.  5.]       Causes  of  Melancholy.  117 

mours,  ''Lemnius  reckons  up  two  main  thing's,  most  proKt- 
able  and  most  pernicious  to  our  bodies — air  and  diet :  and 
this  peculiar  disease  iiothinosooner  causeth('' Jubertus  holds) 
than  the  air  wlicrein  tee  breathe  and  live.  "  Such  as  is  the 
air,  such  be  ourspirits;  and,  as  our  spirits,  such  are  our  hu- 
mours. It  ott'ends,  commonly,  if  it  be  too  '  hot  and  dry, 
thick,  fuliginous,  cloudy,  blustering,  or  a  tempestuous  air. 
Bodine  (in  his  fifth  book  de  repnh.  cap.  I.  5.  of  his 
Method  of  History)  proves  that  hot  countreys  are  most  trou- 
bled with  melancholy,  and  that  there  are  therefore  in  Spain, 
Africk,  and  Asia  Minor,  great  numbers  of  mad  men,  inso- 
much, that  they  are  compelled,  in  all  cities  of  note,  to  build 
peculiar  hospitals  for  them.  Leo  ^  A  Utr  (lib.  3  de  Fessd  nrhc), 
Ortelius,  and  Zuinger,  confirm  as  much.  They  are  ordinarily 
so  cholerick  in  their  speeches,  that  scarce  two  words  pass 
without  railing  or  chiding  in  common  talk,  and  often  quarrel- 
ling in  their  sU'eets-  ^  Gordonius  will  have  every  man  take 
notice  of  it.  Note  this  (saith  he)  that  in  hot  countreys,  it 
is  far  more Jamiliar  than  in  cold :  although  this  we  have  now 
said  be  not  continually  so ;  for,  as  "  Acosta  truly  saith,  under 
the  aequator  it  self,  is  a  most  temperate  habitation,  wholsom 
air,  a  paradise  of  pleasure  :  the  leaves  ever  green,  cooling 
showres.  But  it  holds  in  such  as  are  intemperately  hot,  as 
^  Johannes  a  Meggen  found  in  Cyprus,  others  in  Malta, 
Apulia,  and  the  'iloly  Land,  where,  at  some  seasons  of  the 
year,  is  nothing  but  dust,  their  rivers  dryed  up,  the  air  scorch- 
ing- hot,  and  earth  inHamed ;  insomuch  that  many  pilgrims, 
^oing  barefoot,  for  devotion  sake,  from  Joppa  to  Jerusalem 
upon  the  hot  sands,  often  run  mad,  or  else  quite  overwhelmed 
with  sand,  profundis  arenis,  as  in  many  parts  of  Africk, 
Arabia  Deserta,  Bactriana,  now  Charassan,  when  the  west 
wind  blows,  ^involuti  arenis  transeiintes  necantur.  '  Her- 
cules do  Saxonia,  a  professor  in  Venice,  gives  this  cause,  why 
so  many  Venetian  womeii  are  melancholy,  quod  din  sub  sole 
deyant,  they  tarry  too  long  in  the  sun.  Montanus  (consiL  21), 
amongst  other  causes,assigns  this,  why  that  Jew  his  patient  was 
mad,  (juod  tarn  multum  exposuit  se  calori  etjriyori ;  he  ex- 
posed himself  so  much  to  heat  and  cold.     And,  for  that  reason, 


»Lib.  .3.  cap.  3.  b  Lib.  de  qiiartana.      Ex  aere  ambiente  contrahitur  humor 

melancholiciis.  <"  Qualis  aer,  talis  s))iritus  ;  et  ciijusmodi  apiritiis,  huniores. 

■JjElianiis  Montaltiis,  c.  11.  calidns  et  siccus,  frigidus  et  siccus,  pahidinosus,  crassus. 
'■  Multa  hie  in  xenodochiis  fanaticoruin  niillia,  cjuas  strictissinie  catenata  servantur. 
f  Lib.  med.  part.  2.  c.  19.  Inteliige,  quod  in  calidis  regionibus  frequenter  .-icpidit 
mania,  in  frigidis  autem  tarde.  ?Lib.2.  '•  Hodopericon,  c.  7.  'Apulia 

aestivo  calore  maxitue  fervet,  ita  ut  ante  finem  Maii  peiie  exusta  sit.  ^  Maginus 

Pers.  'Pantheo,  seu  Pract.  med.  1.  1.  c.  IG.     Venetee  inulieres,  quae  diu  sub 

sole  vivunt,  aliquando  melancholic^  evaduht 


118  Causes  of  Melancholy .      [Part.  1.  Sec  2. 

in  Venice  there  is  little  stirring-  in  those  brick-paved  streets  in 
suninier  about  noon;  they  are  most  part  then  asleep;  as  they 
are  likewise  in  the  great  Mogors  countreys,  and  all  over  the 
East  Indies.  At  Aden,  in  Arabia,  as  ^Lodovicus  Vertoniannus 
relates  in  his  travels,  they  keep  their  markets  in  the  night, 
to  avoid  extremity  of  heat;  and  in  Ormus,  like  cattle  in  a  pas- 
ture, people  of  all  sorts  lyo  up  to  the  chin  in  water  all  day  long. 
At  Braga  in  Portugal,  Burgos  in  Castile,  Messina,  in  Sicily, 
all  over  Spain  and  Italy,  their  streets  are  most  part  narrovv,  to 
avoid  the  sun-beams.  The  Turks  wear  great  turbans,  adfu' 
gandos  soils  radios,  to  refract  the  sun  beams ;  and  much  in- 
convenience that  hot  air  of  Bantam  in  Java  yields  to  our 
men,  that  sojourn  there  for  traffick;  where  it  is  so  hot,  ^thnt 
they  that  are  sick  oj'  the  pox,  life  commonly  bleaching  in  the 
s?tn,  to  dry  up  their  sores.  Such  a  complaint  I  read  of  those 
Isles  of  Cape  Verde,  fourteen  degrees  from  the  aeT|uator :  they 
do  male  audire :  '^one  calls  them  the  unhealthiest  clime  of 
the  world,  for  fluxes,  fevers,  frenzies,  calentures,  which  com- 
monly seize  on  sea-faring  men  that  touch  at  them,  and  all  by 
reason  of  a  hot  distemperature  of  the  air.  The  hardiest  men 
are  offended  with  this  Jieat ;  and  stitFest  clowns  cannot  resist 
it,  as  Constantine  affirms,  Ayricult.  1 2.  c.  45.  They  that  are 
naturally  born  in  such  air,  may  not  ''endure  it,  as  Niger  records 
of  some  part  of  Mesopotamia,  now  called  Diarbecha;  qui- 
husdam  in  locis  scevienii  cestu  adeo  suhjecta  est,  ut  pleraque 
animaliajervore  solis  et  coeli  extinguantur ;  'tis  so  hot  there 
in  some  places,  that  men  of  the  countrey  and  cattle  are  killed 
with  it;  and  Adricomius,  of ''Arabia  Felix, by  reason  ofmyrrhe, 
frankincense,  and  hot  spices  there  growing,  the  air  is  so  ob- 
noxious to  iheir  brains,  that  the  very  inhabitants  at  some 
times  cannot  abide  it,  much  less  weaklings  and  strangers, 
f  Anatus  Lusitanus  {cent.  1.  curat.  45)  reports  of  a  young  maid, 
that  was  one  Vincent  a  curriers  daughter,  some  thirty  years  of 
age,  that  would  wash  her  hair  in  the  heat  of  the  day  (in  July^ 
and  so  let  it  dry  in  the  sun,  §  to  make  it  yelloiv  ;  but  by  that 
means,  tarrying  too  long  in  the  heat,  she  inflamed  her  head, 
and  made  her  self'  mad. 

Cold  air,  in  the  other  extream,  is  almost  as  bad  as  hot;  and 
sodoth  Montaltus  esteem  of  it,  (c.  11)  if  it  be  dry  withal.  In  those 
northern  countreys  the  people  are  therefore  generally  dull 


a  Navig.  1.  2.  c.  4,  corninercia  tiocte,  hora  seciintla,  ob  niinios,  qui  sieviunt  iuterdiii, 
sestus,  exercent  ^  Morbo  Callico  laboraiitos  exponuut  ad  solem,  ut,  niorbos 

exsiccent.  "^Sir  Rich.  Haukins,  in  his  Observations,  sect.  13  ^  Hippo- 

crates, .3.  Aphorismorum,  idem  ait.  •"  Idem  Ma^inus  in  Persia  f  Descrip. 

Ter.  sanct.  ?  Quum  ad  solis  radios  in  leone  longam  moram  Intheret^  ut  capillos 

fluvos  reddcret,  in  maniam  incidit 


Mem.  2.  Subs.  5.]         Bad  Air,  a  Causa.    -  I], 9 

Iieavy,  and  many  witches ;  wliich  (as  1  liave  before  quoted) 
Saxo  Graniniaticus,  Olaus,  Baptista  Porta,  ascribe  to  melan- 
choly.    But  tliese  cold  climes  are  more  subject  to  natural  me- 
lancholy (not  this  artificial)  which  iscoldaiid  dry:  for  which 
cause '^Mercuriiis  Britannicus,  belike,  putsmelancholy  men  to 
inhabit  just  under  the  pole.  The  worst  of  the  three  is  a ''  thick, 
cloudy,  misty,  foggy  air,  or  such  as  comes  from  fens,  moorish 
grounds,  lakes,   muckhills,  draug-hts,  sinks,  where  any  car- 
kasses,  or  carrion  lyes,  or  from  whence  any  stinking  fulsom 
smell  comes.  Galen,  Avicenna,  Mercurialis,  new  and  old  phy- 
sicians, hold  that  such  air  is  unwholsom,  and  ing^enders  me- 
lancholy, plagues,  and  what  not.      '  Alexandretta,  an  haven 
town  in  the  Mediterraneaojsea,  Saint  John  deUllua,  an  haven 
in  Nova-Hispania,  are  much  condemned  for  a  bad  air,  so  as 
Durazzo  in  Albania,  Lithuania,  Ditmarsh,  Pomptinaj  paludes 
in  Italy,  the  territories  about  Pisa,  Ferrara,  &c.  Rumney  marsh 
with  us,  the  hundreds  in  Essex,   the  fens  in  Lincolnshire. 
Cardan  {de  rernm  varietate,  I.  17.  c.  D6)  finds  fault  with  the 
site  of  those  rich  and  most  populous  cities  in  the  Low  Coun- 
treys,    as  Bruges,  Gant,   Amsterdam,  Leyden,  Utrecht,  &c. 
the  air  is  bad,  and  so  at  Stockholm  in  Sweden,  Regium  in 
Italy,  Salisbury  with  us,  Hull  and  Lin.     They  may  be  com- 
modious for  navigation,  this  new  kind  of  fortification,  and 
many  other  good  necessary  uses  ;  but  are  they  so  wholsom  ? 
Old  Rome  hath   descended  from  the  hills  to  the  valley;  'tis 
the  site  of  most  of  our  new  cities,   and  held  best  to  build  in 
plains,  to  take  the  opportunity  of  rivers.     Leander  Albertus 
pleads  hard  for  the  air  and  site  of  Venice,  though  the  black 
moorish  lands  appear  at  every  low  water.     The  sea,  fire,  and 
smoke,   (as  he  thinks)  qualifie  the  air;  and  •^ some  suppose 
that  a  thick  foggy  air  helps  the  memory,  as  in  them  of  Pisa 
in  Italy;  and  our  Cambden  (out  of  Plato)  commends  the  site^ 
of  Cambridge,  because  it  is  so  near  the  fens.  But,  let  the  site 
of  such   places  be  as  it  may,  how  can  they  be  excused  that 
have  a  delicious  seat,  a  pleasant  air,  and  all  that  nature  can 
afford,  and  yet,  through  their  own  nastiness  andsluttishness, 
immund  and  sordid  manner  of  life,  suffer  their  air  to  putrifie, 
and  themselves  to  be  choked  up  ?  Many  cities  in  Turkey  do 
male  audire  in  this  kind  ;  Constantinople  it  self,  where  com- 
monly carryon  lyes  in  the  street.      Some  find  the  same  fault 
in  Spain,   even  in  Madrit,    the  kings  seat,   a  most  excellent 
air,  a  pleasant  site;  but  the  inhabitants  are, slovens,  and  the 
streets  uncleanly  kept. 

/»Mandns  alter  et  idem,  sen  Terra  Anstralis  incognita.  i> Crassns,  et  tnrbidns 

T\  f"'**^"^  ^*^""'*  an>njain.  ^  Commonly  called  Srandarone.  in  Asia  iMinor. 

•*  Atlas  Geographicus.     Memoria  valent  Pisani,  quod  crassiore  fniantur  aere. 

VOT,.  I  I, 


120  Causes  of  Melancholy.        [Part  1.  Sec.  2. 

A  troublesom  tempestuous  air  is  as  bad  as  impure ;  rough 
and  foul  weather,  impetuous  winds,  cloudy  dark  dayes,  as  it 
is  commonly  with  us  :  ccelum  visujhedum,  ^  Polydore  calls  it 
— a  iilthy  sky,  et  in  quo  facile  generantur  nubes  ;  as  Tullies 
brother  Quintus  wrote  to  him  in  Rome,  being  then  quyestor 
in  Britain.  In  a  thick  and  cloudy  air,  (saith  Lemnius)  men 
are  tetrick,  sad,  and  peevish :  and  if  the  western  winds  blow, 
and  that  there  be  a  calm,  or  a  fair  sunshine  day,  there  is  a  kind 
of  alacrity  in  mens  minds ;  it  cheers  up  men  and  beasts,  but  if 
it  be  a  turbulent,  rough,  cloudy,  stormy  weather,  men  are  sad, 
lumpish,  and  much  dejected^  angry,  waspish,  dull,  and  melan- 
choly.    This  was  '^Virgils  experiment  of  old, 

Verum,  ubi  tempestas,  et  coeli  mobilis  humor, 
Mutavere  vices,  et  Jupiter  htimidus  Austro — 
Vertuntur  species  aniraorum,  et  pectora  motus 
Concipiunt  alios 

But  when  the  face  of  heaven  changed  is 

To  tempests,  rain,  from  season  fair. 
Our  minds  are  altered,  and  in  our  breasts 

Forthwith  some  new  conceits  appear. 

and  who  is  not  weather-wise  against  such  and  such  conjunc- 
tions of  planets,  moved  in  foul  weather,  dull  and  heavy  in  such 
tempestuous  seasons  ?  '^  Gelidum  contristat  Aquarius  annum  ; 
the  time  requires  and  the  autumn  breeds  it ;  winter  is  like 
unto  it,  ugly,  foul,  squalid ;  the  air  works  on  all  men,  more  or 
less,  but  especially  on  such  as  are  melancholy,  or  inclined 
to  it,  as  Lemnius  holds  :  '^they  are  most  moved  with  it ;  and 
those  tvhich  are  already  mad,  rave  doicnright,  either  in  or 
against  a  tempest.  Besides,  the  devil  many  times  takes  Ms 
opportunity  of  such  storms  ;  and,  when  the  hmnours  by  the  air 
be  stirred,  he  goes  on  tvith  them,  exagitates  our  spirits,  and 
vexeth  our  souls  ;  as  the  sea-umves,  so  are  the  spirits,  and  hu- 
mours in  our  bodies  tossed  ivith  tempestuous  tvinds  and  storms. 
To  such  as  are  melancholy  therefore,  Montanus  {consil.  24) 
will  have  tempestuous  and  rough  air  to  be  avoided,  and  [con- 
sil. 27)  all  night  air,  and  would  not  have  them  to  walk  abroad, 
but  in  a  pleasant  day.  Lemnius  {lib.  3.  cop.  3)  discommends 
the  south  and  eastern  winds,  commends  the  north.  Montanus 

a  Lib.  1,  hist.  lib.  1.  cap.  41.  Aura  densa  ac  caliginosa  tetrici  homines  existunt,  et 
subtristes.  Et.  cap.  3.  Flante  subsolano  et  Zephyro,  maxima  in  mentibus  honjinum 
alacritas  existit,  mentisque  erectio,  ubi  coelum  solis  splendore  nitescit.  Maxima  de- 
jectio  moerorque,  siquando  aura  calioinosa  est.  ^  Geor.  <^  Hor. 

<lMens  quibus  vacillat,  ab  aere  cito  oftenduntnr;  et  multi  insani  apud  Belgas  ante 
tempestates  sajviunt,  aliter  quieti.  Spiritus  qiioque  aeris,  et  mali  genii,  aliquando  se 
tempestatibus  ingerunt,  et  menti  humanae  se  latenter  insinuant,  eamqne  vexant,  ex- 
agitant :  et,  ut  Huctus  marini,  humanuni  corpus  ventis  agitatur. 


Mem.  2.  Subs,  6.]  Idleness  a  Came.  121 

(consil.  31)  ^unll  not  any  windows  to  he  opened  in  the  ni(/7it  : 
(consil.  'M9.etco)ml.  230)  he  discommends  especially  the  south 
Avind,  and  nocturnal  air :  so  doth  ^  Plutarch  :  tlie  nioht  and 
darkness  makes  meu  sad ;  the  like  do  all  subterranean  vaults, 
dark  houses  in  caves  and  rocks ;  desert  places  cause  melan- 
choly in  an  instant,  especially  such  as  have  not  been  used  to 
it,  or  otherwise  accustomed.  Read  more  of  air  in  Hippocrates, 
i\etius,  lib.  3.  a  c.  171-  ad  175.  Oribasius,  a  c.  1.  ad  22. 
Avicen.  /.  1.  can.  Fen.  2,  doc.  2.  Fen.  1.  c.  123.  to  the  12,  &c. 


SUBSECT.  VI. 

Immoderate  Exercise  a  Cause,  and  how.  Solitariness,  Idleness. 

jS  OTHING  so  good,  but  it  may  be  abused.  Nothing  better 
tliau  exercise  (if  opportunely  used)  ibr  the  preservation  of  the 
body  :  nothing  so  bad,  if  it  be  unseasonable,  violent,  or  over- 
much. Fernelius  (out  of  Galen,  Path.  lib.  1.  cap.  16)  saith, 
*"  that  viiich  exercise  and  weariness  consumes  the  spirits  and 
substance,  rejriperates  the  body  :  and  such  humours  tchick 
nature  would  have  otherivise  concocted  and  expelled,  it  stirs 
up,  and  makes  them  rage ;  which  being  so  enraged,  diversely 
affect  and  trouble  the  body  and  mind.  So  doth  it,  if  it  be  un- 
seasonably used,  upon  a  full  stomach,  or  when  the  body  is 
full  of  crudities,  which  Fuchsius  so  much  inveighs  against, 
(Lib.  2.  instit.  sect.  2.  cap  4)  giving  that  for  a  cause, why  school- 
boys in  Germany  are  so  often  scabbed,  because  they  use  ex- 
ercise presently  after  meats.  '^  Bayerus  puts  in  a  caveat 
against  such  exercise,  because  it  ^  corrupts  the  meat  in  the 
stomach,  and  carries  the  same  juice  raw,  and  as  yet  undigestedy 
into  the  veins  (saith  Lemnius):  tchich  there piitrijies,  and  con- 
founds the  animal  spirits.  Cvtdo  (consil.  2J .  /.  2.)  'protests 
against  all  such  exercise  after  meat,  as  being  the  greatest 
enemy  to  concoction  that  may  be,  and  cause  of  corruption  of 
humours,  which  produce  this  and  many  other  diseases.  Not 
without  good  reason  then,  doth  Sallust,  Salvianus  (1.2.  c.  1), 
and  Leonartus  Jacchinus  (?/«  9  Rhasis),  Mercurialis,  Arcula- 
nus,  and  many  other,  set  down  ?  immoderate  exercise  as  a 
most  forcible  cause  of  melancholy. 

n  Aer  noctii  densatur,  et  cogit  nioestitiam.  b  Lib.  de  Iside  et  Osiride. 

<■  Multa  dpfatigatio  spiritns,  virinmqiie  substantiam,  exhaiirit,  et  corpus  refrigerat.  Hu- 
niores  corruptos,  qui  aliter  a  natura  concoqui  et  domari  possint,  et  demmn  blande  ex- 
cludi,  irritat,  et  quasi  in  fuiorem  agit,  qui  postea  (mota  Camarina)  tetro  vapore  corpus 
varie  lacessunt,  aniniiiinqne.  "'In  venimecom,  Libro  sic  inscripto.  elustit. 

ad  vit.  Christ  cap.  44.  Cibos  crudos  in  venas  rapit,  qui  piitrescenfes  illicspiritus  ani- 
niales  inficiniit  f  Ciudi  hfec  hunioris  copia  per^enas  aggeritur  ;  unde  morbi 

jnultiplices.  s:  Immodicum  exerciti\im. 

K   2 


122  Causes  of  Melancholy .         [Part.  1.  Sec,  2. 

Opposite  to  exercise  is  idleness  (the  badge  of  gentry),  or 
want  of  exercise,  the  bane  of  body  and  mind,  the  nurse  of 
naughtiness,  step-mother  of  discipline,  the  chief  author  of  all 
mischief,  one  of  the  seven  deadly  sins,  and  a  sole  cause  of  this 
and  many  other  maladies,  the  devils  cushion,    (as  ^  Gualter 
calls  it)  his  pillow  and  chief  reposal ;  for  the  mind  can  never 
rest,  hut  still  meditates  on  one  thing  or  other :  except  it  he 
occupied  about  some  honest  business,  of  his  oicn  accord  it 
rusheth  into  melancholy.     ^  As  too  much  and  violent  exercise 
offends  on  the  one  side,  so  doth  an  idle  life  on  the  other  (saith 
Crato);  it  Jills  the  body  full  of  fleym,  gross  humours,  and  all 
manner  of  obstructions,  rheums,  catarrhs,  S^c.      Rhasis  (cont. 
lib.  1.  tract.  9)  accounts  of  it  as  the  greatest  cause  of  melan- 
choly.    "^  I  have  often  seen,  (saith  he)  that  idleness  begets  this 
humour  more  than  any  thing  else.     Montaltus  (c.  1.)  seconds 
him  out  of  his  experience  :  ^they  that  are  idle  are  far  more 
subject  to  melancholy,  than  such  as  are  conversant  or  employed 
about  any  office  or  business.      ^  Plutarch  reckons  up  idleness 
for  a  sole  cause  of  the  sickness  of  the  soul:  there  are  those 
(saith  he)  troubled  in  mind  that  have  no  other  cause  but  this. 
Homer  (//iac?.  1)  brings  in  Achilles  eating  of  his  own  heart  in 
his  idleness, because  he  might  not  fight.  Mercurialis,  consil.  86, 
for  a  melancholy  young  man,  urgeth  ^  it  as  a  chief  cause  :  why 
was  he  melancholy  ?  because  idle.     Nothing  begets  it  sooner 
encreaseth  and  continuethitoftener,than  idleness  ; — adisease 
familiar  to  all  idle  persons,  an  inseparable  companion  to  such 
as  live  at  ease  (jpingui  otio  desidiose  agentes)  a  life  out  of  ac- 
tion, and  having  no  calling  or  ordinary  employment  to  busie 
themselves  about;  that  have  small  occasions;  and  though 
they  have,  such  is  theirlaziness,dulness,  they  will  not  compose 
themselves  to  do  ought ;  they  cannot  abide  work,  though  it  be 
necessary,  easie,  as  to  dress  themselves,  write  a  letter,  or  the 
like.  Yet,  as  he  that  is  benummed  with  cold,  sits  still  shaking, 
that  might  relieve  himself  with  a  little  exercise  or  stirring,  do 
they  complain,  but  will  not  use  the  facile  and  ready  means  to 
do  themselves  good ;  and  so  are  still  tormented  with  melan- 


a  Horn.  31.  in  1.  Cor.  6.  Nam,  qua  mens  hominis  quiescere  non  possit.  sed. 
continuo  circa  varias  cogitationes  discmrat,  nisi  honesto  aliqao  negotio  occupetur,  ad 
meiancholiam  sponte  deiabitur.  b Crato,  consil.  21.     Ut  iinmodica  corporis 

exercitatio  nocet  corporibus,  ita  vita  deses  et  otiosa  :  otium  animal  pituitosura  reddit, 
viscernm  obstructiones,  et  crebras  fluxiones,  et  morbos  concitat.  <^Et  vidi  quod 

una  de  rebus  quae  magis  generat  meiancholiam,  est  otiositas.  <iReponitur  otium 

ab  aliis  caussa  ;  et  hoc  a  nobis  observatum,  eos  huic  malo  magis  obnoxios  qui  plane 
otiosi  sunt,  quam  eos  qui  aliquo  munere  versantur  exsequendo.  e  De  Tranquil, 

animee.     Suntquos  ipsum  otium  in  aniuia  conjicit  ajgritudinem.  _  ^Nihilest 

quod  ajque  melaucholiam  alat  ac  augeat,  ac  otium  et  abstinentia  a  corporis  et  animi 
exerritatiouibus. 


Mem.  2.  Subs.  G.]        Idleness  a  Cause.  123 

clioly.  Especially  if  they  had  been  formerly  brought  up  to 
business,  or  to  keep  much  company,  and  upon  a  sudden  come 
to  lead  a  sedentary  life,  ''it  crucifies  their  souls,  and  seizeth  on 
them  in  an  instant ;  for,  whilest  they  are  any  ways  imployed,  in 
action,  discourse,  about  any  business,  sport  or  recreation,  or  in 
company  to  their  liking,  they  are  very  well ;  but,  if  alone  or 
idle,  tormented  instantly  again  :  one  days  solitariness,  one 
hours  sometimes,  doth  them  more  harm,  than  a  weeks  phy- 
sick,  labour  and  company  can  do  good.  Melancholy  seizeth 
on  them  forthwith,  being  alone,  and  is  such  a  torture,  that,  as 
wise  Seneca  well  saith,  malo  mihi  male  quam  molliter  esse,  I 
had  rather  be  sick  than  idle.  This  idleness  is  either  of  body 
or  mind.  That  of  body  is  nothing  but  a  kind  of  benumming 
laziness,  intermitting  exercise,  which  (if  we  may  believe  ''Fer- 
nelius)  causeth  crudities,  obstructions,  excremental  humours, 
quencheth  the  natural  heat.,  dulls  the  spirits,  and  makes  them 
unapt  to  do  any  thing  ichatsoever. 

•^  Neglectis  urenda  filix  innascitur  agris. 

As  fern  grows  in  untild  grounds,  and  all  manner  of  weeds,  so 
do  gross  humours  in  an  idle  body  :  ignavum  corrumpnnt  otia 
corpus.  A  horse  in  a  stable,  that  never  travels,  a  hawk  in  a 
mew,  that  seldom  flies,  are  both  subject  to  diseases ;  which,  left 
unto  themselves,  are  most  free  from  any  such  incumbrances. 
An  idle  dog  will  be  mangy ;  and  how  can  an  idle  person  think 
to  escape?  Idleness  of  the  mind  is  much  worse  than  this  of 
the  body:  wit  without  employment  is  a  disease,  ^cerugo 
animi,  rnbigo  ingenii :  the  rust  of  the  soul,  «  a  plague,  a  hell 
it  self;  maximum  animi  nocumoitum,  Galen  calls  it.  ^ ^s, 
in  a  standing  pool,  worms  andjilthy  creepers  increase,  (et  vi- 
tium  capiunt,  ni  moveantur,  aqnce  ;  the  water  itself  putrifies, 
and  air  likewise,  if  it  be  not  continually  stirred  by  the  wind)  so 
do  evil  and  corrupt  thoughts  hi  an  idle  person  ;  the  soul  is  con- 
taminated. In  a  common-wealth,  where  is  no  public  enemy, 
there  is,  likely  civil  wars,  and  they  rage  upon  themselves  : 
this  body  of  ours  when  it  is  idle,  and  knows  not  how  to  be- 
stow it  self,  macerates  and  vexeth  it  self  with  cares,  griefs, 
false  fears,  discontents,  and  suspicions ;  it  tortures  and  preys 
upon  his  own  bowels,  and  is  never  at  rest.  This  much  1  dare 
boldly  say,  he  or  she  that  is  idle,  be  they  of  what  condition 
they  will,  never  so  rich,  so  well  alllied,  fortunate,  happy — let 

^  J  Nihil  magis  exceecat  intellectum,  quam  otium.  Gordonius,  de  observat.  vit  hum. 
lib.  1.  bPath.  lib,  1.  cap.  17.  exercitationis  intermissio  inertem  calorem,  langnidoa 
spinlus,  et  ignavos,  et  ad  omnes  actiones  segniores,  reddit ;  cruditates,  obstructiones, 
et  excrementorum  proventus  facit.  c  Hor.  Sen  1.  Sat.  3.  <!  Seneca,  ♦'Moero- 
rem  animi,  et  maciem,  Plutarch  calls  it  f  Sicut  in  stagno  generantur  vermes,  sic 

in  otioso  mate  cogitationes.    Sen. 


1^4  Causes  of  Melancholy,  [Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

them  have  all  thing's  in  abundance,  and  felicity,  that  heart  can 
wish  and  desire,all  contentment — so  long*  as  he  or  she,  or  they, 
are  idle,  they  shall  never  be  pleased,  never  well  in  body  and 
mind,  but  weary  still,  sickly  still,  vexed  still,  loathing  still, 
weeping,  sighing,  grieving,  suspecting,  offended  with  the 
world,  with  every  object,  wishing  themselves  gone  or  dead,  or 
else  carried  away  with  some  foolish  phantasie  or  other.  And 
this  is  the  true  cause  that  so  many  great  men,  ladies,  and  gen- 
tlewomen, labour  of  this  disease  in  countrey  and  city ;  for 
idleness  is  an  appendix  to  nobility  ;  they  count  it  a  disgrace  to 
work,  and  spend  all  their  days  in  sports,  recreations,  and  pas- 
times, and  will  therefore  take  no  pains,  be  of  no  vocation ; 
they  feed  liberally,  fare  well,  want  exercise,  action,  employ- 
ment, (for  to  work,  I  say,  they  may  not  abide)  and  company 
to  their  desires;  and  thence  their  bodies  become  full  of  gross 
humours,  wind,  crudities,  their  minds  disquieted,  dull,  heavy, 
&c.  Care,jealousie,  fear  of  some  diseases,  sullen  fits,  weeping- 
fits,  seize  too  ^familiarly  on  them  :  for,  what  will  not  fear  and 
phantasie  work  in  an  idle  body?  what  distempers  will  they  not 
cause?  When  the  children  of  Israel  murmured  ^against 
Pharaoh  in  iEgypt,  he  commended  his  officers  to  double  their 
task,  and  let  them  get  straw  themselves,  and  yet  make  their  full 
number  of  brick  :  for  the  sole  cause  why  they  mutiny,  and 
are  evil  at  ease,  is,  they  are  idle.  When  you  shall  hear  and 
see  so  many  discontented  persons  in  all  places  where  you  come, 
so  many  several  grievances,  unnecessary  complaints,  fears,  sus- 
picions%  the  best  means  to  redress  it,  is  to  set  them  awork,  so 
to  busie  their  minds  ;  for  the  truth  is,  they  are  idle.  Well 
they  may  build  castles  in  the  air  for  a  time,  and  sooth  up  them- 
selves with  phantastical  and  pleasant  huraours;  but  in  the  end 
they  will  prove  as  bitter  as  gal! ;  they  shall  be  still,  I  say,  dis- 
content, suspicious,  "^  fearful,  jealous,  sad,  fretting  and  vexing 
of  themselves  ;  so  long-  as  they  be  idle,  it  is  impossible  to  please 
them.  Otio  qui  nescit  uti,  phis  habet  neyotii,  quam  qui  neyo^ 
tium  in  negotio,  as  that  ^  Agellius  could  observe  :  he  that 
knows  not  how  to  spend  his  time,  hath  more  business,  care, 
grief,  anguish  of  mind,  than  he  that  is  most  busie  in  the  midst 
of  all  his  business.  Otiosus  animus  nescit  quid  volet :  an  idle 
person  (as  he  follows  it)  knows  not  when  he  is  Avell,  what  he 
would  have,  or  whither  he  would  go  ;  quam  illuc  ventmn  est, 
mine  lubet ;  he  is  tired  out  with  every  thing,  displeased  with 
all,  weary  of  his  life  :  nee  bene  domif  nee  militicEf  neither  at 


'  Now  this  le^,  now  that  arm,  now'their  head,  heart,  &c.  *>Exod.  5. 

•^  (For  they  cannot  well  tell  vvhat  aileth  them,  or  what  they  wonld  have  themselves) 
my  heart,  my  head,  my  husband,  my  son,  &c.  >i  Pro,  18.  Pigrum  dejiriet  timer 

— Htaiif.ontimoruineuon.  "^  Lib. 19.  c.  10. 


Mem.  2.  Subs.  G.]         Idleness  a  Cause.  125 

home,  nor  abroad;  errat,  et  prceter  vitam  vivit  ;  he  wanders, 
and  lives  besides  himself.  In  a  word,  what  the  mischievous 
effects  of  laziness  and  idleness  are,  I  do  not  find  any  where 
more  accurately  expressed,  than  in  these  verses  of  Philolaches 
in  the  ="  Comical  Poet,  which,  for  their  elegancy,  I  will  in 
part  insert. 

Novarum  sedium  esse  harbltror  similem  ego  horainem, 
Quando  hie  natus  est.     Ei  rei  argumenta  dicam. 
^des  quando  sunt  ad  amussim  expolitse, 
Quisque  laudat  fabrum,  atque  exemplum  expetit,  &c. 
At  ubi  illo  migrat  nequam  homo  indiligensque,  &c. 
Tempestas  venit,  confringit  tegulas,  imbricesque,  &a 
Putrefacit  aiir  operam  fabri,  &c. 
Dicam  ut  homines  similes  esse  sedium  arbitremini. 
Fabri  parentes  fundamentum  substruunt  liberorum  ; 
Expoliunt,  docent  literas,  nee  parcunt  sumptui. 
Ego  autem  sub  fabrorum  potestate  frugi  fui ; 
Postquam  autem  migravi  in  ingenium  meura, 
Perdidi  operam  fabrorum  iUico,  oppido, 
Venit  ignavia;  ea  mihi  tempestas  fuit, 
Adventuque  suo  grandinem  et  imbrem  attulit. 
Ilia  mihi  virtutem  deturbavit,  &c. 

A  young-  man  is  like  a  fair  new  house :  the  carpenter  leaves  it 
well  built,  in  good  repair,  of  solid  stuff;  but  a  bad  tenant  lets 
it  rain  in,  and,  for  want  of  reparation,  fall  to  decay,  &c.  Our 
pai'ents,  tutors,  friends,  spare  no  cost  to  bring  us  up  in  our 
youth,  in  all  manner  of  vertuous  education ;  but  when  we  are 
left  to  ourselves,  idleness,  as  a  tempest,  drives  all  vertuous 
motions  out  of  our  minds ;  et  nihili  sumus  ;  on  a  sudden,  by 
sloth  and  such  bad  ways,  we  come  to  naught. 

Cozen  o-erman  to  idleness,  and  a  concomitant  cause,  which 
goes  hand  in  hand  with  it,  is  ^nimia  solitudo,  too  much  soli- 
tariness— by  the  testimony  of  all  physicians,  cause  andsymp- 
tpme  both  :  but  as  it  is  here  put  for  a  cause,  it  is  either  coact, 
enforced,  or  else  voluntary.  Enforced  solitariness  is  commonly 
seen  in  students,  monks,  friers,  anchorites,  that,  by  their  order 
and  course  of  life,  must  abandon  all  company,  society  of  other 
men,  and  betake  themselves  to  a  private  cell ;  otio  superstitioso 
seclusi  (as  Bale  and  Hospinian  well  term  it),  such  as  are  the 
Carthusians  of  our  time,  that  eat  no  flesh  (by  their  order),  keep 
perpetual  silence,  never  go  abroad  ;  such  as  live  in  prison,  or 
some  desert  place,  and  cannot  have  company,  as  many  of  our 
countrey  gentleman  do  in  solitary  houses ;  they  must  either  be 
alone  without  companions,  or  live  beyond  their  means,  and 

»  Plautus,  Prol.  Mostel.  ^Piso,  MontaltuSj  Merciuialis,  &c. 


126  Causes  of  Melancholy.       [Part.  J.  Sec.  2. 

entertain  all  comers  as  so  many  hosts,  or  else  converse  with 
their  servants  and  hinds,  such  as  are  unequal,  inferior  to 
them,  and  of  a  contrary  disposition;  or  else,  as  some  do,  to 
avoid  solitariness,spend  their  time  with  leud  fellows  in  taverns, 

,  and  in  ale-houses,  and  thence  addict  themselves  to  some  un- 
lawful disports,  or  dissolute  courses.  Divers  again  are  cast 
upon  this  rock  of  solitariness  for  want  of  means,  or  out  of  a 
stronp:  apprehension  of  some  infirmity,  disgrace  ;  or,  through 
bashfulness,  rudeness,  simplicity,  they  cannot  apply  themselves 
to  others  company.  Nullum  solum  irif'elici  f/ratius  solitu- 
dine,  ubi  nullus  sit  qui  miseriam  exprohret.  This  enforced 
solitariness  takes  place,  and  produceth  his  effect  soonest,  in 
such  as  have  spent  their  time  jovially,  peradventure  in  all 
honest  recreations,  in  good  company,  in  some  great  family  or 
populous  city,  and  are  upon  a  sudden  confined  to  a  desart 
country  cottage  far  off,  restrained  of  their  liberty,  and  barred 
from  their  ordinary  associates.  Solitariness  is  very  irksoni 
to  such,  most  tedious,  and  a  sudden  cause  of  great  inconve- 
nience. 

Voluntary  solitariness  is  that  which  is  familiar  with  melan- 
choly, and  gently  brings  on,  like  a  Siren,  a  shooing-horn,  or 
some  Sphinx,  to  this  irrevocable  gulf:  ""a  primary  cause  Piso 
calls  it ;  most  pleasant  it  is  at  first,  to  such  as  are  melancholy 
given,  to  lie  in  bed  whole  dayes,  and  keep  their  chambers,  to 
walk  alone  in  some  solitary  grove,  betwixt  wood  and  water,  by 
a  brook  side,  to  meditate  upon  some  delightsome  and  pleasant 
subject,  which  shall  aflfect  them  most;  amahilis  insania^  and 
mentis  fjratissimus  error.  A  most  incomparable  delight  it  is 
so  to  melancholize,  and  build  castles  in  the  air,  to  go  smilijig 
to  themselves,  acting-  an  infinite  variety  of  parts,  Avhich  they 
suppose,  and  strongly  imagine  they  represent,  or  that  they  see 
acted  or  done.  Blanda  quidem  ah  initio,  saith  Lemnius,  to 
conceive  and  meditate  of  such  pleasant  things  sometimes, 
^present,  past,  or  to  come,  as  Rhasis  speaks.  So  delightsome 
these  toyes  are  at  first,  they  could  spend  whole  days  and 
nights  without  sleep,  even  whole  years  alone  in  such  con- 
templations, and  phantastical  meditatiqns,  which  are  like 
unto  dreams ;  and  they  will  hardly  be  drawn  from  them, 
or  willingly  interrupt.  So  pleasant  their  vain  conceits  are, 
that  they  hinder  their  ordinary  tasks  and  necessary  busi- 
ness; tliey  cannot  address  themselves  to  them,  or  almost  to- 
any  study  or  imployment :  these  phantastical  and  bewitching 

•thoughts so  covertly, so  feelingly,  so  urgently,  so  continually, 
set  upon,  creep  in,  insinuate,  possess,  overcome,  distract,  and 

•'  A  (piibus  nialiini,  velut  a  primaria  causiiA,  occasionem  nactum  est.  *>  Jucunda 

reriiiu  pncstiitiimi,  pireteritariun  et  pufuturaruin  meditatio. 


jMem.  2.  Subs.  C]  Idleness,  a  Cause.  127 

detain  them,  they  cannot,  1  say,  go  about  their  more  necessary 
business,  stave  ofior  extricate  themselves,  but  are  ever  musintr, 
mehnicholizing,  and  carried  along,  as  he  (they  say)  that  is  led 
round  about  an  heath  with  a  Puck  in  the  night.  They  run 
earnestly  on  in  this  labyrinth  of  anxious  and  solicitous  melan- 
choly meditations,  and  cannot  well  or  willingly  refrain,  or  easily 
leave  off,  winding-  or  unwinding"  themselves,  as  so  many 
clocks,  and  still  pleasing  their  humours,  until  at  last  the  scene 
is  turned  upon  a  sudden,  by  some  bad  object :  and  they,  being 
now  habituated  to  such  vain  meditations  and  solitary  places, 
can  endure  no  company,  can  ruminate  of  nothing  but  harsh 
and  distasteful  subjects.  Fear,  sorrow,  suspicion,  s?«6?7w/icMs 
/>?fc?or,  discontent,  cares,  and  weariness  of  life,  surprize  them  in 
a  moment ;  and  they  can  think  of  nothing"  else :  continually 
suspecting,  no  sooner  are  their  eyes  open,  but  this  infernal 
plague  of  melancholy  seizeth  on  them,  and  terrifies  their  souls, 
representing  some  dismal  object  to  their  minds,  which  now,  by 
no  means,  no  labour,  no  perswasions,  they  can  avoid ;  hceret 
lateri  lethnlis  ariindo ;  they  may  not  be  rid  of  it ;  ^  they  cannot 
resist.  I  may  not  deny  but  that  there  is  some  profitable  medi- 
tation, contemplation,  and  kind  of  solitariness,  to  be  embraced, 
which  the  fathers  so  highly  commended — ''Hierom.Chrysostom, 
Cyprian,  Austin,  in  whole  tracts,  which  Petrarch,  Erasmus, 
Stella,  and  others,  so  much  magnifie  in  their  books — a  para- 
dise, an  heaven  on  earth,  if  it  be  used  aright,  good  for  the 
body,  and  better  for  the  soul ;  as  many  of  those  old  monks 
used  it,  to  divine  contemplations ;  as  Similus  a  courtier  in 
Adrians  time,  Dioclesian  the  emperour,  retired  themselves, 
&c.  ill  that  sense,  Vatia  solus  scit  vhere :  Vatia  lives  alone  ; 
Avhich  the  Romans  were  wont  to  say,  when  they  commended  a 
countrey  life  ;  or  to  the  bettering  of  their  knowledge,  as  Demo- 
critus,  Cleanthes,  and  those  excellent  philosophers,  hav^e  ever 
done,  to  sequester  themselves  from  the  tumultuous  world;  or, 
as  in  Plinies  villa  Laurentana,  Tullies  Tusculan,  Jovius  study, 
that  they  m\^\\iheiier  vacare studiis et Deo,  serve  God  and  fol- 
low their  studies.  Methinks,  therefore,  our  too  zealous  inno- 
vators were  not  so  well  advised  in  that  general  subversion  of 
abbies  and  religious  houses,  promiscuously  to  fling  down  all. 
They  might  have  taken  away  those  gross  abuses  crept  in 
amongst  them,  rectified  such  inconveniences,  and  not  so  far  to 
have  raved  and  raged  against  those  fair  buildings,and  everlasing- 
monuments  of  our  forefathers  devotion,  consecrated  to  pious 


»  Facilis  descensus  Averni ;  Sedrevocaregradum.saperasqueevadere  ad  auras,  Hie 
labor,  lioc  opus  est.  Virg.  ^  Hieronymiis,  ep.  7'2.  dixit  oppida  et  urbes  videri 

sil)i  tetros  carceres,  solitudiiipm   Paradisutn  ;    solnui    scorpionibns   infectum,   sacco 
iiuiictus,  hunii  Cubans,  aquii  et  herbis  victitans,  RomanLs  pfsetulit  deliciis. 


J  28  Causes  of  Melancholy .         [Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

uses.  Some  monasteries  and  collegiate  cells  might  have  been 
well  spared,  and  their  revenues  otherwise  imployed ;  here  and 
there  one,  in  good  towns  or  cites  at  least,  for  men  and  women 
of  all  sorts  and  conditions  to  live  in,  to  sequester  themselves 
from  the  cares  and  tumults  of  the  world,  that  were  not  desir- 
ous or  fit  to  marry,  or  otherwise  willing-  to  be  troubled  with 
common  affairs,  and  know  not  well  where  to  bestow  themselves, 
to  live  apart  in,  for  some  conveniency,  g-ood  education,  better 
company  sake  ;  to  follow  their  studies  (1  say)  to  the  perfection 
of  arts  and  sciences,  common  good,  and,  as  some  truly  de- 
voted monks  of  old  had  done,  freely  and  truly  to  serve  God: 
for  these  men  are  neither  solitary,  nor  idle,  as  the  poet  made 
answer  to  the  husbandman  in  ^Esop,  that  objected  idleness 
to  him,  he  was  nevei  so  idle  as  in  his  company  ;  or  that  Scipio 
African  us  in  ^Tully,  numquani  minus  solus,  quam  quum  solus  ; 
niimquam  minus  otiosus,  quam  quum  esset  otiosus  ;  never  less 
solitary  than  when  he  was  alone,  never  more  busie,  than 
when  he  seemed  to  be  most  idle.  It  is  reported  by  Plato, 
in  his  dialogue  de  Amove,  in  that  prodigious  commendation  of 
Socrates,  how,  a  deep  meditation  coming  into  Socrates  mind 
by  chance,  he  stood  still  musing,  eodem  vestigio  cogitabund?is, 
from  morning  to  noon ;  and,  when  as  then  he  had  not  yet 
finished  his  meditation,  perstabat  cogitatis:  he  so  continued 
till  the  evening :  the  souldiers  (for  he  then  followed  the  camp) 
observed  him  with  admiration,  and  on  set  purpose  watched 
all  night;  but  he  persevered  immoveable  ad  exortum  solis, 
till  the  sun  rose  in  the  morning-,  and  then,  saluting-  the  sun, 
went  his  wayes.  In  what  humour  constant  Socrates  did  thus, 
I  know  not,  or  how  he  might  be  affected  ;  but  this  would  be 
])ernicious  to  another  man;  what  intricate  business  might  so 
really  possess  him,  I  cannot  easily  guess.  But  this  is  otiosum 
otium  ;  it  is  far  otherwise  with  these  men,  according  to  Sene- 
ca :  omnia  nobis  mala  solitudo  persnadet ;  this  solitude  un- 
doeth  us  ;  pugnat  cum  vita  sociali;  'tis  a  destructive  solitari- 
ness. These  men  are  devils,  alone,  as  the  saying  is :  homo  solus 
aut  devs,  aut  dcemon ;  a  man,  alone,  is  either  a  saint  or  a  devil; 
metis  ejus  aut  languescit,  aut  tumescit ;  and  ^vcb  soli!  in  this 
sense  ;  woe  be  to  him  that  is  so  alone!  These  wretches  do  fre- 
quently degenerate  from  men,  and  of  sociable  creatures,  be- 
come beasts,  monsters,  inhumane,  ugly  to  behold,  misanthropi; 
they  do  even  loath  themselves,  and  hate  the  company  of  men, 
as  so  many  Timons,  Nebuchadnezars,  by  too  much  indulging 
to  these  pleasing  humours,  and  through  their  own  default. 
So  that  which  Mercurialis  (consil.  1 1)  sometimes  expostulated 
with  his  melancholy  patient,  may  be  justly  applied  to  every 

aoffic.  3.  i^Eccl.  4. 


3Ieiu.  2.  Subs.  7.]     Slecpiny  and  waking^  Causes.  129 

solitary  and  idle  person  in  particular:  ^natura  de  te  videtur 
ennqueri  posse,  6fc.  nature  maij  justbj  complain  of  thee^  that, 
whereas  she  c/ave  thee  a  ffood  uholesome  temperature,  a  sound 
bodji,  and  God  hath  ffiv'n  thee  so  divine  and  excellent  a  soul, 
so  many  r/ood  parts  and  profitable  f/ifts,  thou  hast  not  onhj 
contemned  and  rejected,  but  hast  corrupted  them,  polluted 
them,  orerthrotcn  their  temperature,  and  perverted  those  gifts 
with  riot,  idleness,  solitariness,  and  rnaiiy  other  wayes  ;  thou 
art  a  traitoiir  to  God  and  Mature,  an  enemy  to  thy  self' and 
to  the  icorld.  Perdiiio  tua  ex  te  ;  thou  hast  lost  thy  self  wil- 
fully, cast  aw  ay  thy  self ;  thou  thyself  art  the  efficient  cause 
oj' thine  own  misery,  by  not  resisting  such  vain  cogitations,  hut 
giving  way  unto  them. 


SUBSECT.  VII. 

Sleeping  and  leaking,  Causes. 

*  T  HAT  I  have  formerly  said  of  exercise,  I  may  now  repeat 
of  sleep.  Nothing-  better  than  moderate  sleep ;  nothing-  worse 
than  it,  if  it  be  in  extreams,  or  unseasonably  used.  Tt  is  a 
received  opinion,  that  a  melancholy  man  cannot  sleep  over- 
much :  sontnus  supra  modum  prodest  ;  as  an  only  antidote; 
and  nothing  ofiends  them  more,  or  causeth  this  malady  sooner, 
than  waking'.  Yet,  in  some  cases,  sleep  may  do  more  harm 
than  good,in  that flegmatick,swinish,coJd.  and  sluggish  melan- 
choly, which  Melancthon  speaks  of,  that  thinks  of  waters,sio'h- 
•ing-  most part,&c.  'It  duls  thespirits  (if  overmuch)  and  senses, 
fills  the  head  full  of  gross  humours,  causeth  destinations, 
rheums,  great  store  of  excrements  in  the  brain,  and  all  the 
other  parts,  as  "^  Fuchsius  speaks  of  them,  that  sleep  like  so 
many  dormice.  Or,  if  it  be  used  in  the  day  time,  upon  a 
full  stomach,  the  bodyill  composed  to  rest,  or  after  hard  meats, 
it  increaseth  fearful  dreams,  incubus,  night  walking,  cryino- 
mn,  and  much  unquietness.  Such  sleep  prepares  the  body,  as 
''  one  observes,  to  many  perilous  diseases.  But,  as  I  have  said, 
waking-  overmuch  is  both  a  symptome  and  an  ordinary  cause. 
It  causeth  driness  of  the  brain,  J'rensie,  dotage,  and  makes  the 

^  Natura  de  te  vidctiir  conqueri  posse,  qnorl,  cum  ab  ea  teniperatissimum  corpns 
adepliis  sis  ;  tarn  prjBcIariim  a  Deo  ac  utile  donum,  non  contempsisfi  modo,  venitn 
corrupisti,  focdasti,  prodidisti,  optiniam  temperaturam  otio,  crapida,  et  aliis  vitje 
erroribiis,  &c.  '' Path.  lib.  cap.  ] 7.     Fern,  corpus  iufrigidat ;  omnes  sensns, 

mentisf.Mie  vires,  forporc  debilitat.  cLib.  2.  sect.  2.  cap.  4.     MaETDam  excre- 

nientoruin  vim  i.  rrbro  et  aliis  partibus  coacervat.  '' .f  o.  Refztus,  lib.  de 

r»'bus  6  Dou  uatinalibus.  Praparat  corpus  talis  sonmus  ad  multas  periculosas  a?gri- 
tudines. 


130  Causes  of  Melancholy.         [Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

bodif  dry,  lean,  hard,  and  ugly  to  behold,  as  "^  Lemuius  liatli  it. 
The  temperature  of  the  brain  is  corrupted  by  it,  the  humours 
adust,  the  eyes  made  to  sink  into  the  head,  choler  increased, 
and  the  whole  body  inflamed;  and,  (as  may  be  added  out  of  Ga- 
len, 3.  de  sanitate  tuendd,  Avicenna  3.  i.)^  it  overthroics  the 
natural  heat  ;  it  causeth  crudities,  hurts  concoction  ;  and  what 
not?  Not  without  good  cause,  therefore,  Crato  (cows//.  21. 
lib.  2.),  Hildeshiem  (spiciL  2.  de  delir.  et  Mania),  .Jacchinus, 
Arculanus  (on  Rhasis),  Guianerius,  and  Mercurialis,  reckon 
up  this  overmuch  wakeing,  as  a  principal  cause. 


MEMB.  III.     SUBSECT.  I. 

Passions  and  Perturbations  of  the  Mind,  how  they  cause 
Melancholy. 

As  that  Gymnosophist,  in  •=  Plutarch,  made  answer  to  Alex- 
ander (demanding-  which  spake  best),  every  one  of  his  fellows 
did  speak  better  than  the  other  ;  so  may  I  say  of  these  causes, 
to  him  that  shall  require  which  is  the  greatest,  every  one  is 
more  grievous  than  other,  and  this  of  passion  the  greatest  of 
all ;  a  most  frequent  and  ordinary  cause  of  melancholy,  ^fulmen 
perturhationum (P'\cco\oxmwen%cdi\\^  it),  this  thunder  and  light- 
ning of  perturbation,  which  causeth  such  violent  and  speedy 
alterations  in  this  our  microcosm,  and  many  times  subverts  the 
good  estate  and  temperature  of  it:  for,  as  the  body  works  upon 
the  mind,  by  his  bad  humours,  troubling- the  spirits,  and  send- 
ing gross  fumes  into  the  brain,  and  so  per  consequens,  disturb- 
ing- the  soul,  and  all  the  faculties  of  it, 

— —"  Corpus  onustum  : 

Hesternis  vitiis,  animutn  quoque  prsegravat  una, 

with  fear,  sorrow,  &c.  which  are  ordinary  symptomes  of  this 
disease ;  so,  on  the  other  side,  the  mind  most  effectually 
works  upon  the  body,  producing,  by  his  passions  and  perturb- 
ations, miraculous  alterations,  as  melancholy,  despair,  cruel 
diseases,  and  sometimes  death  it  self;  insomuch  that  it  is  most 
true  which  Plato  saitli  in  his  Charmides  ;  omnia  corporis 
mala  ab  animd  procedere ;    all  the  *  mischiefs  of  the  body 

'  =»  Instit.  ad  vitam  optimam,  c.  26,  cerebro  siccitatem  adfert,  phrenesin  et  delirium : 
corpus  aridum  facit,  squalidum,  strigosum  ;  humores  adurit ;  temperamentum  cerebri 
corrumpit ;  maciem  inducit :  exsiccat  corpus,  bilem  accendit,  profundosreddit  oculos, 
calorem  anget.  b  Naturalem  calorem  dissipat :  la;sa.  concoctione,  cruditates  facit. 

Attenuaut  juvcnum  vigilatee  corpora  noctes.  t' Vita  Alexand.  •^Grad.l. 

c.  14.  cHor.  f  Perturbationes  clavi  sunt,  quibus  corpori  animus  ceu 

patibulo  affigitur.  Jamb,  de  myst. 


Memb.  3.  Subs.  1.]     Perturbations  of  the  Mind.  131 

proceed  from  the  soul :  and  Democritus  in  *  Plutarch  urg-eth, 
Damnation  iri  animam  a  corpore  ;  if  the  body  should,  in  this 
behalf,  bring- an  action  against  the  soul,  surely  the  soul  would 
be  cast  and  convicted,  that  by  her  supine  negligence,  had 
caused  such  inconveniences,  having-  authority  over  the  body, 
and  usinu  it  for  an  instrument,  as  a  smith  doth  his  hammer, 
saith  i' Cyprian,  imputing-  all  those  vices  and  maladies  to  the 
mind.  Even  so  doth  ''Philostratus,  wo«  coinqninatur  cojpus, 
nisi  consensu  animce ;  the  body  is  not  corrupted,  but  by  the 
soul,    ^  Lodovicus  Vlves  will  have  such  turbulent  commotions 

,  proceed  from  ignorance  and  indiscretion.  All  philosophers 
impute  the  miseries  of  the  body  to  the  soul,  that  should  have 
governed  it  better  by  command  of  reason,  and  hath  not  done 
it.  The  Stoicks  are  altogether  of  opinion  (as  ^  Lipsius  and 
^Piccolomineus  record)  that  a  wise  man  should  be  a9ra6>jf, 
withoutall  manner  of  passionsand  perturbations  whatsoever,  as 
s  Seneca  reports  of  Cato,  the  ''  Greeks  of  Socrates,  and  '  Jo. 
Aubanusofanation  in  Africk,  so  free  from  passion,  or  rather 
so  stupid,  that,  if  they  be  wounded  with  a  SAvord,  they  will 
only  look   back.     ''Lactantius  (2  instit.)  will  exclude /ear 

Jroni  a  wise  man :  others  except  all,  some  the  g-reatest  pas- 
sions. But,  let  them  dispute  how  they  will,  set  down  in  thesi, 
g-ive  precepts  to  the  contrary  ;  we  find  that  of  'Lemnius  true 
by  common  experience  ;  no  mortal  man  is  free  from  these 
perturbations :  or  if  he  be  so,  sure  he  is  either  a  god,  or  a 
block.  They  are  born  and  bred  Avith  us,  vt^e  have  them  from 
our  parents  by  inheritance  :  a parentibus  habemus  malum  hunc 
assem,  saith'"Pelezius  ;  nascitur  una  nobiscum,  aliturque  ;  "'tis 
propagated  from  Adam  ;  Cain  was  melancholy,  °  as  Austin 
hath  it ;  and  who  is  not?  Good  discipline,  education,  philoso- 
phy, divinity,  (I  cannot  deny)  may  mitigate  and  restrain  these 
passions  in  some  few  men  at  some  limes ;  but,  most  part,  they 
domineer,  and  are  so  violent,  ''tliat — as  a  torrent,  (torrens 
velnt  af/f/ere  rnpto)  bears  down  all  before,  and  overflows  his 
banks,  sternit  arjros,  sternit  sata — they  overwhelm  reason, 
judgement,  and  pervert  the  temperature  of  the  body.  Fertnr 
P  equis  aurir/a,  neque  audit  currus  habenas.  Now  such  a  man 
(1  saith  Austin)  that  is  so  led,  in  a  wise  mans  eye,  is  no  better 


a  Lib.  de  sanitat  tuend.  h  Prole?,  de  virtute  Christi.     Quae  utitnr  corpore, 

ut  faber  malleo.  c  Vita  Apollonii,  lib.  1.  dLib.  de  anim.  abinconsi- 

derantia,  et  ignorantia  omnes  animi  motiis.  e  De  Physiol.  Stoic.  f  Grad.  1. 

c.  32.  eEpist.  104.  I'iEIianus.  '  Lib.  1.  cap.  fi.  si  quis  ense 

perciisserit  eos,  tantnm  respiciunt  k  Terror  in  sapiente  esse  non  debet.  i  De 

occult,  nat.  inir.  1.  1.  c.  16.     Nemo  mortalium,   qui  atlectibus  non  ducatur  :  qui  non 
movetur,  aut  saxum  aut  Dens  est.  ni  Instit.  1.  2.  de  hamanorum  affect,  niorbo- 

rumque  curat.  "  Epist.lO.'j.  "  tJranatensis.  PVirg.  q  De 

civit.  Dei,  1.  14.  c.  0.  qnalis  in  oculis  hominuoi,  qui  iuversis  pedibiis  ambulat,  talis  in 
oculis  sapientnm,  cui  paasioues  dominantur. 


132  Causes  of  Melancholy.      [Part.  1.  Sec.  S'. 

than  he  that  stands  upon  his  head.  It  is  doubted  by  .some, 
f/ravioresne  niorhi  apertiirhationibns,an  ab  humor  thus,  whethev 
humours  or  perturbations  cause  the  more  grievous  maladies. 
But  we  fiud  that  of  our  Saviour  (Mat.  26.  41)  most  true:  the 
spirit  is  willing  ;  the  flesh  is  iceak  ;  we  cannot  resist;  and  this 
of''  Philo  Judasus  :  perturbations  often  offend  the  body,  and  are 
mostjrequent  causes  of  melancholy,  turning  it  out  of  the  hinges 
of  his  health.  Vivos  compares  them  to  ''  icinds  upon  the  sea; 
some  only  move,  as  those  great  gales;  but  others,  turbulent, 
quite  overturn  the  ship.  Those  which  are  light,  easie,  and  more 
seldom,  to  our  thinking,  do  us  little  harm,  and  are  therefore 
contemned  of  us:  yet,  if  they  be  reiterated,  '^  as  the  rain  (saith 
Austin)  doth  a  stone^  so  do  these  perturbations  penetrate  the 
mind,  ''and  (as  one  observes)  produce  a  habit  of  melancholy 
at  the  last,  which  having  gotten  the  mastery  in  our  soids,may 
well  be  called  diseases. 

How  these  passions  produce  this  effect,  ^  Agrippa  hath  han- 
dled at  large,  Occult.  Philos.  A  1 1.  c.  63  ;  Cardan,  /.  J  4.  subtil. 
Lemnius,  /.  1.  c.  12.  de  occult,  nat.  mir.  et  lib.  1.  cap.  16; 
Suarez,  Met.  disput.  18.  sect.  1.  art.  25;  T.  Bright,  cap.  12. 
of  his  Melancholy  Treatise;  Wright  the  Jesuite,  in  his  book 
of  the  Passions  of  the  Mind,  &c. — thus  in  brief — To  our  ima- 
o'ination  cometh,  by  the  outward  sense  or  memory,  some  object 
to  be  known  (residing  in  the  foremast  part  of  the  brain),  which 
he  misconceiving  or  amplifying,  presently  communicates  to  the 
heart,  the  seat  of  all  affections.  The  pure  spirits  forthwith  flock 
from  the  brain  to  the  heart,  by  certain  secret  channels,  and  sig- 
nifie  what  good  or  bad  object  was  presented  ;  '^^  which  imme- 
diately bends  itselfto  prosecute  or  avoid  it, and, withal, draweth 
with  it  other  humours  to  help  it.  So,  in  pleasure,  concur  great 
store  of  purer  spirits  ;  in  sadness,  much  melancholy  blood;  in 
ire,  choler.  If  the  imagination  be  very  apprehensive,  intent, 
and  violent,  it  sends  great  store  of  spirits  to  or  from  the  heart, 
and  makes  a  deeper  impression,  and  greater  tumult :  as  the 
humours  in  the  body  be  likewise  prepared,  and  the  temperature 
it  self  ill  or  well  disposed,  the  passions  are  longer  and  stronger: 
so  that  the  first  step  and  fountain  of  all  our  grievances  in  this 


a  Lib.  de  Decal.  passiones  maxiine  corpus  offendimt,  et  aniniani,  etfrequentisiimai; 
causste  melancholia;,  dimoventes  ab  ingenio  et  sanitate  pristinii,  1.  3.  de  anima. 
1j  F'ra?na  et  stimuli  animi :  velut  inmari  qnasdam  aura;  leves,  qna^dam  placida3,qu;e(lam 
tin-bulenta!  ;  sic  in  corpore  quajdam  aftectiones  excitant  tantum,  qufedam  ita  movent, 
ut  de  statu  judicii  depellant.  ^Ut  gutta  lapidem,  sic  paullatira  life  penetrant 

animum.  ''  Usu  valeates,  recte  rnorbi  animi  vocr.ntur.  f  Imaginatio 

movet  corpus,  ad  cujus  niotum  excitantav  hnmores,  et  spiritus  vitales.qnibns  alteratnr. 
f  Eccles.  13.  26.  The  heart  alters  the  countenance  to  good  or  evil ;  and  distrnctiou 
of  the  mind  causeth  distemperature  of  the  body. 


Mem.  3.  Subs.  2.]     Of  the  Force  of  Imaybiatiou.  133 

kind  is  ""Itesa  hnnffinatio^  which,  mis-informing  the  heart, 
causeth  all  these  distemperatures,  alteration  and  confusion  of 
spirits  and  humours;  by  means  of  Mdiich,  so  disturbed,  concoc- 
tionis  hindred,  and  the  principal  parts  are  much  debilitated ;  as 
''Dr.  Navan'e  well  declared,  being  consulted  by  JNIontanus 
about  a  melancholy  Jew.  The  spirits  so  confounded,  the 
nourishment  must  needs  be  abated,  bad  humours  increased, 
crudities  and  thick  spirits  engendered,  with  melancholy  blood. 
The  other  parts  cannot  perform  their  functions,  having  the 
spirits  drawn  from  them  by  vehement  passion,  but  fail  in  sense 
and  motion  :  so  we  look  upon  a  thing',  and  see  it  not;  hear 
and  observe  not ;  which  otherwise  would  much  affect  iis,  had 
we  been  free.  I  may  therefore  conclude  with '^Arnold us, 
maxima  vis  est  pliantasice  ;  et  huic  nnifere,  non  antem  corpoiis 
intemperiei,  omnis  melancholice  caussa  est  ascribenda :  great  is 
the  force  of  imagination  ;  and  much  more  ought  the  cause  of 
melancholy  to  be  ascribed  to  this  alone,  than  to  the  distem- 
perature  of  the  body.  Of  which  imagination,  because  it  hath 
so  great  a  stroke  in  producing  this  malady,  and  is  so  power- 
ful of  it  self,  it  will  not  be  improper  to  my  discourse,  to  make 
a  brief  digression,  and  speak  of  the  force  of  it,  and  how  it 
causeth  this  alteration.  Which  manner  of  digression  how- 
soever some  dislike,  as  frivolous  and  impertinent,  yet  I  am  of 
'^Beroaldus  his  opinion,  such  digressions  do  mightibf  delight 
and  refresh  a  tceary  reader ;  they  are  like  saicce  to  a  bad 
stomach  ;  and  I  do  therefore  most  willingly  use  them. 


SUBSECT.  II. 

Of  the  Force  of  Imagination. 

▼  T  IIAT  Imagination  is,  I  have  sufficiently  declared  in  my 
digression  of  the  anatomy  of  the  soul.  I  will  only  now  point 
at  the  Avonderful  effects  and  power  of  it;  which,  as  it  is  eminent 
in  all,  so  most  especially  it  rageth  in  melancholy  persons,  in 
keeping-  the  species  of  objects  so  long,  mistaking,  amplifying 
them  by  continual  and  "  strong*  meditation,  until  at  length  it 
produceth  in  some  parties  real  effects,  causeth  this,  and  many 


»  Spiritiis  et  sanguis  a  lassa  imaginutione   contaminantur ;  hnniores  enim  mntati 
actionis  animi  immutant.     Piso.  bJIontani  consil.  '22.     Ha-  vero  quomodo 

caaseot  inelancholiain,  clarum  ;  et  qnod  concoctionein  impediant,  et  inenibra  princi- 
palia  debilitent.  'Breviar.  1.  1.  cap.  18.  d  Solunt  hujusmodi  egressiones 

favorabiliteroblectare,et  lectorenilassumjucunde  refovere,stoinachunK|uenauseantein, 
quodam  quasi  condiinento,  reficere  :  et  ego  libenter  excurro.  "' Ab  imagiiiafi.me 

oriuntur  airectiones,  quibiis  aniina  compouitur,  aut  tiirbatur  de  tiirbatur,  Jo.  Sarisbur- 
]Matolog.  lib.  4.  c.  10. 


134  Causes  of  Melancholy.     [Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

oilier  malrtdios.  And  although  this  phantasie  of  ours  be  a 
subordinate  faculty  to  reason,  and  should  be  ruled  by  it,  yet  in 
many  men,  through  inward  or  outward  distemperaturesj^defect 
of  organs,  which  are  unapt  or  hindred,  or  otherwise  contami- 
nated, it  is  likewise  unapt,  hindred,  and  hurt.  This  we  see 
verified  in  sleepers,  which,by  reason  of  humours,  and  concourse 
of  vapours  troubling  the  phantasie,imagine  many  times  absurd 
and  prodigious  tilings,  and  in  such  as  are  troubled  with  incubus^ 
or  witch-ridden  (as  we  call  it)  :  if  they  lie  on  their  backs,  they 
suppose  an  old  woman  rides  and  sits  so  hard  upon  them,  that 
they  are  almost  stifled  for  want  of  breath  :  when  there  is  no- 
thing offends  but  a  concourse  of  bad  humours,  which  trouble 
thephantasie.  This  is  likewise  evident  in  such  as  walk  in  the 
night  in  their  sleep,  and  do  strange  feats :  ^  these  vapours  move 
the  phantasie,  the  phantasie  the  appetite,  which,  moving-  the 
a«?»i«/ spirits,  causeth  the  body  to  walk  up  and  down,  as  if  they 
were  awake.  Fracast.  (/.  3.  de  intellect.)  refers  all  extasies  to 
this  force  of  imagination;  suchaslye  whole  dayes  together  in  a 
trance,  as  that  priest  whom  ''Celsus  speaks  of,  that  could  sepa- 
rate himself  from  his  senses  when  he  list,  and  lie  like  a  dead 
man  void  of  life  and  sense.  Cardan  brags  of  himself,  that  he 
could  do  as  much,  and  that  when  he  list.  Many  times  such 
men,  when  they  come  to  themselves,  tell  strange  things  of  hea- 
ven and  hell,  what  visions  they  have  seen;  as  that  S'^Owen  in 
Matthew  Paris,  that  went  into  S*  Patricks  Purgatory,  and  the 
monk  of  Evesham  in  the  same  author.  Those  common  appari- 
tions in  Bedeand  Gregory, SaintBrigets  revelations,  Wier,/.3.  de 
lamiis  c.  11, Caesar  Vanninus  in  his  Dialogues, &c.reduceth,  (as 
I  have  formerly  said)  with  all  those  tales  of  witches  progresses, 
dancing",  riding,  transformations,operations,  &c.  to  the  force  of 
^imagination,  and  the  ''devils  illusions.  The  like  effects  almost 
are  to  be  seen  in  such  as  are  awake  ;  how  many  chimaras,  an- 
ticks,  golden  mountains,  and  castles  in  the  air,  do  they  build 
unto  themselves!  I  appeal  to  painters,  mechanicians,  mathe- 
maticians. Some  ascribe  all  vices  to  a  false  and  corrupt  ima- 
gination, anger,  revenge,  lust,  ambition,  covetousness,  which 
prefers  falshood,  before  that  which  is  right  and  good,  deluding 
the  soul  with  false  shows  and  suppositions.  «BernardusPenottus 
will  have  heresie  and  superstition  to  proceed  from  this  fountain; 
as  he  falsely  imagineth,so  he  believeth ;  and  as  he  conceiveth  of 
it,  so  it  must  be,  and  it  shall  be  ;  contra  gentes,  he  will  have  it 

aScalig.  exercit.  \  ^  Qui,  qnoties  volehat,  mortuo  similisjacebat,  auferens  se  a 

sensibus  ;  et,  quum  punfreretur,  doloreni  non  seDsit.  <^  Idem  Nytnannus,  oiat. 

de  Imaginat.  <*  Verbis  et  unctionibns  se  consecrant  daemoni  pessima;  mulieres, 

qui  iis  ad  opus  suum  utitnr,  et  eanim  phantasiam  regit,  ducitque  ad  loca  ab  ipsis  desi- 
derata :  corpora  vero  earum  sine  sensu  permanent,  quaj  umbra  cooperit  diabolus,  ut 
nolli  sint  conspicua  ;  et  post,  umbra  sublata,  propriis  corporibus  eas  restituit,  1.  3.  c.  11. 
Wier.  *■  Denario  medico. 


Mem.  3.  Subs.  2.]     Of  the  Force  of  Tmaffination.  135 

so.  But  most  especially  in  passions  and  affections,  it  shews 
strange  and  evident  effects :  what  will  not  a  fearful  man  con- 
ceive in  the  dark  ?  what  strange  forms  of"  bugbears,  devils, 
witches,  goblins  ?  Lavater  imputes  the  greatest  cause  of  spec- 
trums,  and  the  like  apparitions,  to  fear,  which,  above  all  other 
passions,  begets  the  strongest  imagination  (saith  "^  Wierus)  ; 
and  so  likewise  love,  sorrow,  joy,  &c.  Some  die  suddenly,  as 
she  that  saw  her  son  come  from  the  battel  at  Cann*,  &c, 
Jacob  the  patriarch,  by  force  of  imagination,  made  peckled 
lambs,  laying  peckled  rods  before  his  sheep.  Persina,  that 
^Ethiopian  queen  in  Heliodorus,  by  seeing"  the  picture  of  Per- 
seus and  Andromeda,  in  stead  of  a  blackmoor,  was  brought  to 
bed  of  a  fair  white  child  ;  in  imitation  of  whom,  belike,  an 
hard  favoured  fellow  in  Greece,  because  he  and  his  wife  were 
both  deformed,  to  get  a  good  brood  of  children,  efef/antissi- 
mas  imaf/ines  in  thalamo  collocavit,  <Sc.  hung  the  fairest  pic- 
tures he  could  buy  for  money  in  his  chamber,  that  his  wije,  by 
frequent  sight  of  them,  might  conceive  ayid  bear  such  children. 
And,  if  we  may  believe  Bale,  one  of  Pope  Nicholas  the  thirds 
concubines,  by  seeing  of  ''a  bear,  was  brought  to  bed  of  a 
monster.  If  a  woman,  (saith  "  Lemnius)  at  the  time  of'  her 
conception,  think  of  another  man  present  or  absent,  the  child 
will  be  like  him.  Great-bellied  women,  when  they  long,  yield 
us  prodigious  examples  in  this  kind,  as  moles,  warts,  scars, 
harelips,  monsters,  especially  caused  in  their  children  by  force 
of  a  depraved  phantasie  in  them.  Ipsam  speciem,  quam  animo 
ejffigiat,fetui  inducit :  she  imprints  that  stamp  upon  her  child, 
which  she  '^  conceives  unto  herself.  And  therefore  Lodovicus 
Vives  (^lib.  2.  de  Christ,  fem.)  gives  a  special  caution  to  great- 
bellied  women,  ''that  they  do  not  admit  such  absurd  conceits 
'  and  cogitations,  but  by  all  means  avoid  those  horrible  objects, 
-heard  or  seen,  or  filthy  spectacles.  Some  will  laugh,  weep, 
sigh,  groan,  blush,  tremble,  sweat,  at  such  things  as  are  sug- 
gested unto  them  by  their  imagination.  Avicenna  speaks  of 
one  that  could  cast  himself  into  a  palsie  when  he  list ;  and 
some  can  imitate  the  tunes  of  birds  and  beasts,  that  they  can 
hardly  be  discerned.  Dagobertus  and  Saint  Francis  scars  and 
wounds,  like  to  those  of  Christs  (if  at  the  least  any  such  were). 


*  Solet  timor,  proe  omnibus  affectibus,  fortes  imagtnationes  {jignere  ;   post,  amor, 
&c.  1.  3.  c.  8.  b  Ex  viso  urso,  taleni  peperit.  f  Lib.  I.  cap.  4.  de  oc- 

cult, nat.  tuir.  Si,  iuter  amplexus  et  suavia,  cogitet  de  uno  aut  alio  absente,  ejus 
eflSgies  solet  in  fetu  elucere.  >)  Quid  non  fetui,  adhuc  mati'i  anito,  subita 

spiritiium  vibratione,  per  nervos,  quibus  matrix  cerebro  conjuiicta  est,  impriniit 
impraegnatae  iraagiuatioV  ut,  si  imaginetur  malum  granatum,  illius  uotas  secuta 
proferet  fetus ;  si  leporem,  infuns  editur  supremo  labello  bitido,  et  dissecto. 
Vehemeus  cogitatio  movet  reruni  species.      VVier.  1.  3.  cap.  8.  c  J^^e,  duiu 

uterum  gestent,  admittant  absurdas  cogitationes  :  sed  et  visu^  audituqne  foeda  et 
horrenda  devitent. 

VOL.    I.  S 


13fi  Causes  of  Melanclwhj.         [Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

*  Agrippa  supposeth  to  have  liapned  by  force  of  imagination. 
That  some  are  turned  to  wolves,  from  men  to  women,  and 
women  again  to  men,  (which  is  constantlybelieved)  tothesame 
imagination  ;  or  from  men  to  asses,  dogs,  or  any  other  shapes — 
^  Wierus  ascribes  all  those  famous  transformations  to  ima- 
gination.    That,  in  hydrophobia,  they  seem  to  see  the  picture 
of  a  do2f  still  in  their  water;  '^that  melancholy  men,  and  sick 
men,  conceive  so  many  phantastical  visions,  apparitions  to 
themselves, and  have  such  absurd  apparitions,  as  that  they  are 
kings, lords,  cocks, bears,  apes,  owls ;  that  they  are  heavy,  light, 
transparent,  great  and  little,  senseless  and  dead,  (as  shall  be 
shewed  more  at  large,  in  our  '^  Sections  of  Symptomes)  can  be 
imputed  to  nought  else,  but  to  a  corrupt,  false,  and  violent  ima- 
gination.    It  works  not  in  sick  ana  melancholy  men  only, 
but  even  most  forcibly  sometimes  in  such  as  are  sound  :  it 
makes  them  suddenly  sick,  and  '^  alters  their  temperature  in 
an  instant.     And  sometimes  a  strong  conceit  or  apprehension, 
as  *  Valesius  proves,  will  take  away  diseases:  in  both  kinds,  it 
will  produce  real  effects.     Men,  if  they  see  but  another  man 
tremble,  giddy,  or  sick  of  some  fearful  disease,  their  apprehen- 
sion and  fear  is  so  strong  in  this  kind,  that  they  will  have  the 
same  disease.    Or  if,  by  some  sooth-sayer,  wise-man,  fortune- 
teller, or  physician,  they  be  told  they  shall  have  such  a  disease, 
they  will  so  seriously  apprehend  it,  that  they  will  instantly 
labour  of  it — a  thing  familiar  in  China   (saith  Riccius  the 
Jesuit  :)'if'it  be  told  them  that  they  shall  be  sick  on  such  a  day, 
when  that  day  comes,  they  tcill  surely  be  sick,  and  will  be  so 
terribly  afflicted,  that  sometimes  they  die  upon  it.      Dr.  Cotta 
(in  his  Discovery  of  ignorant  Practitioners  of  Physick,  cap.  8.) 
hath  two  strange  stories  to  this  purpose,  what  phansie  is  able 
to  do ;  the  one  of  a  parsons  wife  in  Northamptonshire,  anno 
1607,  that,  coming  to  a  physician,  and  told  by  him  that  she  was 
troubled  with  the  sciatica,  as  he  conjectured,  (a  disease  she  was 
free  from)  the  same  night  after  her  return,  upon  his  words,  fell 
into  a  grievous  fit  of  a  sciatica:  and  such  another  example  he 
hath  of  another  good  wife,  that  was  so  troubled  with  the  cramp; 
after  the  same  manner  she  came  by  it,  because  her  physician 
did  but  name  it.     Sometimes  death  itself  is  caused  by  force  of 
phantasie.     I  have  heard  of  one,  that,  coming  by  chance  in 


a  Occult.  Philos.  1.1.  c.  64.  ''Lib.  3.  de  Lamiis,  cap.  10.  "^AjTrippa, 

lib.  1.  cap.  64.  ^Sect.  3.  memb.  1.  subsect.  .3.  «  Malleus  malefic.  Ibl.  77. 

Corpus  mutari  potest  in  diversas  a'gritudines,  ex  forti  apprehensione.  fFr.  Vales. 

1.  5.  cont.  6.  Noniiumquam  etiani  morbi  diutiirni  consequuntur,  quandofiue  curantur. 
eExpedit.  in  Sinas,  1.  1.  c.  9.  Tantuin  porro  multi  prajdictoribus  hisce  tribuunt,  ut 
ipse  nietus  fidem  faciat :  nam,  si  pr^dictum  iis  fiierittali  die  eos  morbo  corripiendos, 
ii,  ubi  dies  adveuerit,  in  morbum  incidunt :  etj  vi  metiis  afflictij  cum  segritudine,  ali- 
quando  etiain  ctuu  niorte,  colluctantur. 


Mcin .  3 .  S  libs.  2.  ]     Of  the  Force  of  Imarjinatiov .  1 37 

oompany  of  him  that  was  thoiioht  to  be  sick  of  the  plaonie 
(which  was  not  so,)  fell  doM  n  siuhlenly  dead.  Anotlior  was  sick 
of  the  plague  with  conceit.  One,seeinf>-  his  fellow  \vt  blood, 
falls  down  in  aswoun.  Another(saitli "  Cardan,  out  ol'Aristonc) 
fell  down  dead, (which  is  taniiliar  to  women  at  any  jj'hastly  sight) 
seeing  but  a  man  hanged.  A  Jew  in  France  (saith  ^  Lxlovicus 
Vives)  came  by  chance  over  a  dangerous  passage  or  plank,  thatr 
lay  over  a  brook,  in  the  dark,  without  harm;  the  next  day,  per 
ceiving"  what  danger  he  was  in,  fell  down  dead.  Many  will  nt»t 
believe  such  stories  to  be  true,  but  laugh  commonly,  and  deride 
when  they  hear  of  them  :  but  let  these  men  consider  with 
themselves,  (as  '^-  Peter  Byarus  illustrates  it)  if  they  were  set  to 
walk  upon  a  plank  on  high,  they.  %A'ould  begiduy,  upon  which 
theydare  securely  walk  upon  theground.  Many,(saithAgrippa) 
'^strong  hearted  men  otherwise,  tremble  at  such  sights  ;  daze/, 
and  are  sick,  iffheg  look  but  down  from  an  Mf/k  place  ;  and 
what  moves  them  bid  conceit  ?  As  some  are  so  molested  by 
phantasie  ;  so  some  again,  by  fancy  alone  and  a  good  conceit, 
are  as  easily  recovered.  We  see  commonly  the  tooth-ach,  gout, 
falling-sickness,  biting*  of  a  mad  dog-,  and  many  such  maladies, 
cured  by  spells,  words,characters, and  charms;  and  many  green 
wounds,  by  that  now  so  much  used  ungnentum  armarium,  mag- 
netically cured ;  which  Crolliusand  Goclenius  in  a  book  of  late 
have  defendpd,  Libaviusin  a  just  tract  as  stiHy  contradicts,  and 
most  men  controvert.  All  the  world  knows  there  is  no  vertue  in 
such  charms,  or  cures,  but  a  strong  conceit  and  opinion  alone, 
(as'Pomponatius  \\o\(\s)ivhichforceth  a  motion  of  the  humours, 
spirits,  and  blood ;  ichich  takes  atcay  the  cause  of  the  maladg 
from  the  parts  affected.  The  like  we  may  say  of  our  magical 
eff'ects,superstitious  cures,and  such  as  aredone  by  mountebanks 
and  wizards.  As,  by  icicked incredulity,  many  men  are  hurt,  (so 
saith  *  Wierus  of  charms,  spells,  Si,c.)wefnd,  in  our  expe- 
rience, by  the  same  means  many  are  relieved.  An  empirick 
oftentimes, and  a  silly  chirurgion,  doth  more  strange  cures,than 
a  rational  physician.  Nymannus  gives  a  reason — because  the 
patient  puts  his  confidence  in  him;  ^ which  Aviceima /r/v^er.<f 
before  art,  precepts,  and  all  remedies  whatsoever.  'Tis  opinion 
alone,  (saith  *>  Cardan)  that  makes  or  mans  physicians  ;  and  he 
doth  the  best  cures,  according  to  Hippocrates,  in  whom  most 

a  Subtil.  18.  b  Lih.  3.  de  anitna,  cap.  de  mel.  =  Lib.  de  Peste.  J  Lili.  I. 
cap.  6.^.  Ex  alto  despicientes,  aliqtii  pras  tiinore  contreniiscunt,  caliaant,  iiifirniantur  ; 
sic  siugiiltus,  febres,  iiiorbi  comitiale.s,  <iuaiifloqne  seqmintnr,  qiiaiidoque  receduut. 
"  Lib.  df  Incantatione.  liiiasinatio  .subitum  Immorum  et  spiritnnni  iiiotiini  infert  ; 
nnde  vario  artectu  rapitur  sans;iiis,  ac  una  inorbificas  caiissas  partibus  allL-ctis  eripit. 
f  L.  3.  c.  IS.  de  praestijc.  Ut  impia  credulitate  qui.s  la-ditiir,  sic  et  levari  eiindeni  cre- 
dibile  est,  usuque  observatuui.  i  .E^O''  persuasio  et  iiducia  oniiii  arti  et  consilio  et 

meclicina;  prteftrenda.  Avictn.        •' Plures  aanat,  in  quem  plures  confidunt.    lib.  de 
sa|Heutiu. 

s  2 


138  Cames  of  Melancholy.         [Part.  I.  Sec.  2. 

trust.  So  diversly  doth  this  phantasie  of  ours  affect,  turn,  and 
wind,  so  imperiously  command  our  bodies,  which,  as  another 
^Proteus,  or  a  cameleoriy  can  take  all  shapes,  and  is  oj' such 
force  (as  Ficinus  adds)  that  it  can  icork  upon  others,  as  well  as 
ourselves.  How  can  otherwise  blear-eyes  in  one  man  cause  the 
like  affection  in  another  ?  Why  doth  one  man's  yawning  ^  make 
anotheryawn?  one  mans  pissing",  provoke  a  second  many  times 
to  do  the  like?  Why  doth  scraping  of  trenchers  offend  a  third, 
or  hacking  of  files?  Why  doth  a  carkass  bleed,  when  the  mur- 
therer  is  brought  before  it,  some  weeks  after  the  murther  hath 
been  done?  Why  do  witches  and  old  women  fascinate  and  be- 
witch children?  but  (as  Wierus,  Paracelsus,  Cardan,  Mizaldus, 
Valleriola,C8esarVanninus,Campanella,and  many  philosophers 
think)  the  forcible  imagination  of  the  one  party  moves  and  alters 
the  spirits  of  the  other.  Nay  more,  they  can  cause  and  cure  not 
onlydiseases,maladies,and  several  infirmities,by  this  means,  (as 
Avicenna,  de  anim.  I.  4.  sect.  4.  supposeth)  in  parties  remote, 
but  move  bodies  from  their  places,  cause  thunder,  lightning, 
tempests;  which  opinion  Alkindus,Paracelsus,and  some  others, 
approve  of :  so  that  T  may  certainly  conclude,  this  strong  con- 
ceit or  imagination  is  astrum  hominis,  and  the  rudder  of  this  our 
ship,  which  reason  should  steer,  but,  over-borne  by  phantasie, 
cannot  manage,  and  so  suffers  it  self  and  this  whole  vessel  of 
ours  to  be  over-ruled,  and  often  over-turned.  Read  more  of 
this  in  Wierus,  /.  3.  de  Lamiis,  c.  8,  9, 10.  Franciscus  Vale- 
sius,  med.  controv.  I.  5.  cont.  6.  Marcellus  Donatus,  /.  2.  c.l. 
de  hist.  med.  mirabil.  Levinus  Lemnius,  de  occult,  nat.  mir. 
/.I.e.  12.  Cardan,  /.  18.  de  rer?im  var.  Corn.  Agrippa,  de 
occult.  Philos.  cap.  64,  65.  Camerarius,  1.  Cent.  cap.  54,  hora- 
rum  subcis.  Nymannus,  inorat.  de  Imag.  Laurentius,  and  him 
that  is  instar  omnium^  Fienus,  a  famous  physician  of  Antwerp, 
that  wrote  three  books  de  viribus  imaginationis,  I  have  thus 
far  digressed,  because  this  imagination  is  the  medium  deferens 
of  passions,  by  whose  means  they  work  and  produce  many 
times  prodigious  effects  ;  and  as  the  phantasie  is  more  or  less 
intended  or  remitted,  and  their  humours  disposed,  so  do  per- 
turbations move  more  or  less,  and  make  deeper  impression. 

aMarciliHs  Ficinus,  1.  13.  c.  18.  de  theolog.  Platonica.  Imaginatio  est  tanquam 
Proteus  vel  cliauiseleon,  corpus  propriuia  et  alienuni  nouaumquam  afficiena.  ^  Cur 
oscitantes  oscitent.    Wierus. 


Mem.  3.  Subs.  3.]     Division  of  Perturbations.  139 

SUBSECT.  III. 

Division  of  Perturbations . 

Perturbations  and  passions,  which  trouble  the  phan- 
tasie,  though  they  dwell  between  the  confines  of  sense  and 
reason,  yet  they  rather  follow  sense  than  ;eason,  because  they 
are  drowned  in  corporeal  ors^ans  of  sense.  They  are  com- 
monly ^  reduced  into  two  inclinations,  irascible,  and  concu- 
piscihle.  The  Thomists  subdivide  them  into  eleven,  six  in  the 
coveting,  and  five  in  the  invading.  Aristotle  reduceth  all  to 
pleasure  and  pain ;  Plato,  to  love  and  hatred  ;  *>  Vives,  to  g-ood 
and  bad.  If  good,  it  is  present,  and  then  we  absolutely  joy  and 
love :  or  to  come,  and  then  we  desire  and  hope  for  it :  if  evil,  we 
absolutely  hate  it :  if  present,  it  is  sorrow  ;  if  to  come,  fear. 
These  four  passions  *=  Bernard  compares  to  the  wheels  of  a 
chariot,  by  which  ice  are  carryed  in  this  world.  All  other 
passions  are  subordinate  under  these  four,  orsix,assome  will — 
love,  joy,  desire,  hatred,  sorrow,  fear.  The  rest,  as  anger,  envy, 
emulation,  pride,  jealousie,  anxiety,  mercy,  shame,  discontent, 
despair,  ambition.avarice,&c.  are  reducible  unto  the  first :  and, 
if  they  be  immoderate,  they  '^consume  the  spirits  ;  and  melan- 
choly is  especially  caused  by  them.  Some  few  discreet  men 
there  are,  that  can  govern  themselves,  and  curb  in  those  inordi- 
nate affections,  by  religion,  philosophy,  and  such  divine  pre- 
cepts of  meekness,  patience,  and  the  like ;  but  most  part,  for 
want  of  government,  out  of  indiscretion,  ignorance,  theysuflfer 
themselves  Avholly  to  be  led  by  sense,  and  are  so  far  from  re- 
pressing rebellious  inclinations,  that  they  give  all  encourage- 
ment unto  them,  leaving  the  rains,  and  using  all  provocations 
to  further  them.  Bad  by  nature,  worse  by  art,  discipline,  «cus- 
tom,education,  and  a  perverse  will  of  their  own,  they  follow  on, 
wheresoever  theirunbridled  aflfections  will  transport  them,  and 
do  more  out  of  custom,  self  will,  than  out  of  reason.  Contn- 
max  voluntas  (as  3Ielancthon  calls  it)  malum  facit :  this  stub- 
born will  of  ours  perverts  judgement,  which  sees  and  knows 
what  should  and  ought  to  be  done,  and  yet  will  not  do  it. 
3/awc?/>?ar/?fte,  slaves  to  their  several  lusts  and  appetite,  they 
precipitate  and  plunge  *  themselves  into  a  labyrinth  of  cares: 

'T.  W.  Jesuit.  '>3.  jg  Aniraa.  cSer.  35.  Hae  qaatuor  passiones  sunt 

tamquam  rotae  in  curru,  quibus  vehimur  hoc  mando.  <i  Hanim  quippe  iramode- 

ratione,  spiritus  marcescunt,  Fernel.  I.  1.  Path.  c.  18.  <=Mala  consuetudine  de- 

pravatur  ingenium,  ne  bene  faciat.     Prosper  Calenus.  I.  de  atra  bile.     Plara  facinnt 

homines  e  consuetudine,  quam  e  ratione. — A  teneris  assuescere  multum  est Video 

ineliora  proboque  ;   deteriora  sequor.     Ovid.       'Nemo  i*ditur,  nisi  a  seipso. 


140  Causes  of  Melancholy.       [Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

blin«le(l  with  lust,  blinded  with  ambition,  '^  they  seek  that  at 
God'  hands,  which  they  may  yive  unto  themselves  if'  they 
covld  hut  re/'rain  from  those  cares  and pertvrhations,  v)here- 
with  they  continually  macerate  their  mindes.  But  giving  way 
to  these  vioI<;nt  passions  of  fear,  grief,  shame,  revenge,  hatreif, 
malice,  &c.  they  are  torn  in  pieces,  as  Acta^on  was  with  his 
dogs,  and  ''crucifie  tlieir  own  souls. 


SUBSECT.  IV. 

Sorrow,  a  Cause  oj"  Melancholy. 

Sorrow.  -_- 
Insanus  dolor.  xN  this  catalogue  of  passions,  which  so  much 
torment  the  soul  of  man,  and  cause  this  malady,  (for  I  M'ill 
briefly  speak  of  then\  ail,  and  in  their  order)  the  first  place 
in  this  irascible  appetite  may  justly  be  challenged  by  sor- 
row—  an  inseparable  companion,  ''  the  tnother  and  dauyhter 
of  melancholy,  her  epitome,  symptome,  and  chief  cause.  Ah 
Hippocrates  hath  it,  they  beget  one  another,  and  tread  in  a 
ring-;  for  sorrow  is  both  cause  and  symptome  of  this  disease. 
How  it  is  a  sj'mptome,  shall  be  shewed  in  his  place.  That  it  is 
a  cause,  all  the  world  acknowledge.  Dolor  nonnullis  insanice 
caussaj'uit,  et  aliorum.  morhornm  insanahilium,  saith  Plutarch  to 
Apollonius ;  a  cause  of  madness,  a  cause  of  many  other  dis- 
eases; a  sole  cause  of  this  mischief,  '' Lemnius  calls  it.  So 
doth  Rhasis,  co7it.  I.  I.  tract.  9.  Guianerius,  tract.  15.  c.  5. 
And,  if  it  take  root  once,  it  ends  in  despair,  as  "^  Felix  Plater 
observes,  and,  (as  in  ^Cebes  table)  may  well  be  coupled  with 
it.  sChrysostom,  in  his  seventeenth  epistle  to  Olympia,  de- 
scribes it  to  be  a  cruel  torture  oJ'  the  soul,  a  most  inexplicable 
ffrief,  poisoned  worm,  consnminy  body  and  soul,  and  gnawing 
the  very  hearty  a  perpetual  executioner,  continual  night,  jjro- 

''Multi  se  in  inquietudinem  praecipitant:  ambitione  et  ciipiditatibus  excsDcati,  non 
jntclligiint  se  illud  a  tliis  petere,  quod  sibi  ipsis,  si  veliiit,  praestare  possint,  si  curis  et 
perturbationibiis,  qtiibus  assidne  se  macerant,  imperare  vellent.  ''Taiito  studio 

miseriaruin  caussas,  et  aliincnta  doloium,  quajrimns ;  vitarnque,  secus  felicissiniam, 
tristem  ct  miserabilem  efticimiis.      Petrarch,  pra^fat.  de  Remediis,  &c.  c  Timor 

et  meestitia,  si  diu  perseverent,  raussa  et  soboles  atri  liumoris  sunt,  et  in  circulum  se 
procreant.  Hip.  Aplioris.  23.  ].  6.  Idem  Moutaltus,  cap.  19.  Victoriiis  Faventinua, 
pract.  iraag.  ■'  Multi  ex  mcerore  et  nietu  hue  dehipsi  sunt.     Lemn.  lib.  i. 

cap.  16.  <?  Mulfa  cnra  et  tristitia  faciunt  accedere  melancholiam  :  (cap.  3.  de 

mentis  alien.)  si  altas  radices  agat,  in  veram  fixamque  degenerant  melancholiam,  et  in 
desperationem  desinit.  *Ille,  lucius  ;  ejus  vero  soror  desperatio  simul  ponifur. 

K  Aniniiuiim  crudele  tormentut.i,  dolor  inexplicabilis,  tinea,  non  solum  ossa,  sed  corda, 
pertingens,  ]ierpetuus  caruifex,  viresanima;  consumens,  jnsis  nox  ettenebraj  profuuda^, 
teinpestfui,  ct  tuibo,  et  fvbris  wm  apparens,  omni  igue  validius  incendcns,  longior,  et 
pugua  fincm  iiou  liabens — Crucem  circtimiert  dolor,  faciemque  omni  tyraiiuo  crudelio- 
rem  \)rx  se  l^rt. 


Mem.  3.  Subs.  4.]     Sorrow,  a  Cause  oj' Me  fane  hoi  i/.         141 

Jound  darkness,  a  whirlwind,  a  tempest,  an  ar/ue  twt  appear- 
ing, heating  worse  than  any  fire,  and  a  battle  that  hath  no  end. 
It  crucifies  icnrse  than  any  tyrant :  no  tortvre,  no  strappado, 
no  bodily  punishment^  is  like  unto  it.  'Tis  the  eao-le,  without 
question,  which  the  poets  fained  to  gnaw  ^Prometheus  heart; 
and  no  heaviness  is  like  unto  the  heaviness  of  the  heart  (Ecclus. 
25.  15,16).  ^  Every  perturbation  is  a  misery;  but  grief  a 
cruel  torment,  a  domineering  passion.  As  in  old  Rome,  M-hen 
the  Dictator  was  created,  all  inferiour  magistracies  ceased — 
when  grief  appears,  all  other  passions  vanish.  It  dries  up 
the  bones  (saith  Solomon,  c.  VJ.  Prov.);  makes  them  hollow- 
ey'd,  pale,  and  lean,  furrow-faced,  to  have  dead  looks,  wrinkled 
brows,  riveled  cheeks,  dry  bodies,  and  quite  perverts  their 
temperature,  that  are  misafFected  with  it;  as  Elenora,  that 
exiJ'd  mournful  duchess,  (in  our  *^  English  Ovid)  laments  to 
her  noble  husband,  Humphrey  duke  of  Gloucester — • 

.Sawest  thou  those  eyes,  in  whose  sweet  cheerful  look, 
Duke  Humphrey  once  such  joy  and  pleasure  took, 
Sorrow  hath  so  despoil'd  me  of  all  grace, 
Thou  couldst  not  say  this  was  my  Elnor's  face. 
Like  a  foul  Gorgon,  &c. 

^  It  hindei-s  concoction,  refrigerates  the  heart,  takes  away  sto- 
mach, colour,  and  sleep  ;  thickens  the  blood  (•=  Fernelius  L  1. 
c.  IS.  demorb,caussis),  contaminates  the  spirits,  (^Piso)  over- 
throws the  natural  heat,  perverts  the  good  estate  of  body  and 
mind,  and  makes  them  weary  of  their  lives,  cry  out,  howl, 
and  roar,  for  very  anguish  of  their  souls.  David  confessed  as 
much  (Psal.  38.  8.)  I  have  roared  for  the  very  disquietness  of 
my  heart :  and  (Psal.  1 19. 4.  part.  4.  v.)  my  soul  meltethaway 
for  very  heaviness :  (vers.  38.)  /  am  like  a  bottle  in  the  smoak. 
Antiociius  complained  that  he  could  not  sleep,  and  that  his 
heart  fainted  for  grief.  "  Christ  himself,  vir  dolorum,  out  of 
an  apprehension  of  grief,  did  sweat  blood,  (Mark  14):  his 
soul  was  heavy  to  the  death,  and  no  sori'ow  was  like  unto  his. 
Crato  {consil.  21.  /.  2)  gives  instance  in  one  that  was  so  melan- 
choly by  reason  of'  grief;  and  Montanus  {consil.  30)  in  a  noble 


a  Nat.  Conies,  Mythol.   1.  4.  c.  6.  bTnlly,  8.  Tusc.  oninis  pcrtiirbatio  mi- 

seria  ;  et  carnificina  est  dolor.  <"  M.  Draji.on,  in  his  Her.  ep.  d  Crato 

consil.  21.  lib.  '2.  moestitia  universum  infrigidat  corpus,  calorem  innatam  estinguit, 
appetitom  destruit.  «  Cor  refrigerat  tristritia,  spiritus  exsiccat,  innatumque  calo- 

rem obruit,  vigilias  inducit,  concoctionein  labefactat,  sanguinem  incrassat,exaggeratqne 
melancholicum  snccum.  f  Spiritus  et  sanguis  hoc  contaminatur.  Piso.        "  Marc.  o. 

16.  11.         ii  Mcerore  maceror,  marcesco^  et  consenesro,  mist-r  ;  os.sa  atqne  pellis  sum 
misera  macritudiu*.     Plaut. 


142  Causes  of  Melancholy.         [Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

matron,  ^  that  had  no  other  cause  of  this  miscMff.  J.  S.  D. 
(in  Hildesheim)  fully  cured  a  patient  of  his,  that  was  much 
troubled  with  melancholy,  and  for  many  years  ;  ^  hut  after- 
wards by  a  little  occasion  of  sorrow,  he  fell  into  his  former 
fits,  and  was  tormented  as  before.  Examples  are  common,  how 
it  causeth  melancholy,  *=  desperation,  and  sometimes  death  it 
self;  for  (Eccliis.  38.  I  ^.)  of  heaviness  comes  death.  Worldly 
sorrow  causeth  death  (2  Cor  7. 10.  Psal.  31.  10.)  My  life  is 
wasted  ivith  heaviness,  and  my  years  ivith  mourning.  Why 
was  Hecuba  said  to  be  turned  to  a  dog  ?  Niobe,  into  a  stone  ? 
but  that  for  grief  she  was  senseless  and  stupid.  Severus  the 
emperour  '^  dyed  for  grief;  and  how  ^many  myriads  besides! 

Tanta  illi  est  feritas,  tanta  est  insania  luctAs ! 

Melancthon  gives  a  reason  of  it — ^  the  gathering  of  much  me- 
lancholy blood  about  the  heart ;  which  collection  extingnisheth 
the  good  spirits,  or  at  least  dulleth  them, ;  sorrow  strikes  the 
heart,  makes  it  tremble  and  pine  away,  with  great  pain :  and 
the  black  blood,  drawn  from  the  spleen,  and  diffused  under  the 
ribs  on  the  left  side,  makes  those  perilous  hypochondriacal  con- 
vulsions, which  happen  to  them  that  are  troubled  with  sorrow. 


SUBSECT.  V. 

JFeart  a  Cause, 

C.^'OSEN  german  to  sorrow,  k  fear,  or  rather  a  iikter,—fdns 
Achates,  and  continual  companion— an  assistant  and  a  principal 
agent  in  procuring  of  this  mischief;  a  cause  and  symptome  as 
the  other.  In  a  word,  as  §  Virgil  of  the  Harpies,  I  may  justly 
say  of  them  both, 

Tristius  baud  illis  monstrum ;  nee  ssevior  ulla 
Pcstis,  et  ira  DeAm,  Stygiis  sese  extulit  undis. 

A  sadder  monster,  or  more  cruel  plague  so  fell. 

Or  vengeance  of  the  gods,  ne'er  came  from  Styx  or  Hell. 

a  Malum  inceptum  et  actum  a  tristitia  sola.  b  Hildesheim,  specil.  2.  de 

nielancholiA.  Mcerore  animiposteaacceflente,  in  priorasymptomataincidit.  «  Vives,  3. 
de  aniiiKi,  c.  dd  moerore,  Sabin.  in  Ovid.  ^  Herodian.  1.  .3.      Mcerore  magis  qiiam 

morbo  consuiuptus  est.  fBothwellius  atribilarius  obiit,  Bnzarrus  Gemiensis 

hist.  &.C.  f  Moeslitiii  cor  quasi  percussnm  constringitiir,  tremit,  et  languescit^ 

cum  acri  sensu  doloris.  In  tristitia,  cor  iiigiens  attrahit  ex  splene  lentum  humorem|me- 
lancholitum,  qui,  effiiFus  sub  costis  in  sinistro  latere,  hypochondriacos  flatus  facit :  quod 
sape  accidit  iis  (jiii  diuturna  cura  et  mastitia  conflictantur.  Melancthon,  g  Lib.  3. 
.i;u.  4. 


Mem.  U.  Subs.  5.]  Fear,  a  Cause.  143 

This  foul  iiend  of  fear  was  worshipped  heretofore  as  a  god 
by  the  Lacedemonians,  and  most  of  those  other  torturing' 
*aflrections,and  so  was  sorrow,amongst  the  rest,  under  the  name 
of  Angerona  Dca;  they  stood  in  such  awe  of  them,  as  Austin 
{de  Civitat.  Dei,  lib.  4.  cap.  8.)  noteth  out  of  Varro.     Fear  was 
commonly  ''adored  and  painted  in  their  temples  with  a  lions 
head;  and  (as  Macrobius  records,  1.  10.     Saturnalium)     ''In 
the  calends  of  January,  Jlngerona  had  her  holy  day,  to  ichom, 
in  the  temple  of  Vohipia,  or  goddess  oj" pleasure,  their  augures 
and  bishops  did  yearly  sacrifice  ;   that,  being  propitious  to 
them,  she  might  expel  all  cares,  anguish,  and  vexation  of  the 
mind,  for  that  year  J'ollmving.     Many  lamentable  effects  this 
fear  causeth  in  men,  as  to  be  red,  pale,  tremble,  sweat;  '^  it 
makes  sudden  cold  and  heat  to  come  over  all  the  body,  palpi- 
tation of  the  heart,  syncope,  &c.     It  amazeth  many  men  that 
are  to  speak,  or  shew  themselves  inpublick  assemblies,  or  be- 
fore some  great  personages,  as  Tully  confessed  of  himself,  that 
he  trembled  still  at  the  beginning  of  his  speech  ;  and  Demos- 
thenes, that  great  orator  of  Greece,  before  Philippus.    It  con- 
founds voice  and  memory,  as  Lucian  wittily  brings  in  Jupiter 
Tragoedus  so  much  afraid  of  his  auditory,  when  he  was  to 
make  a  speech  to  the  rest  of  the  gods,  that  he  could  not  utter  a 
ready  word,but  was  compelled  to  use  Mercuries  help  in  prompt- 
ing.    Many  men  are  so  amazed  and  astonished  with  fear,  they 
know  not  where  they  are,  what  they  say,  *=  what  they  do ;  and 
(that  which  is  worst)  it  tortures  them,  many  dayes  before,  with 
continual  affrights  and  suspicion.     It  hinders  most  honourable 
attempts,  and  makes  their  hearts  ake,  sad,  and  heavy.  They  that 
live  in  fear,  are  never  free,  'resolute,  secure,  never  merry,  but 
in  continual  pain  ;  that,  as  Vives  truly  said,  nulla  est  miseria 
viajor  quam  metus  ;  no  greater  misery,  no  rack,  no  torture, 
like  imto  it ;  ever  suspicious,anxious,solicitous,  they  are  child- 
ishly drooping  without  reason,  withoutjudgement,  ^especially 
if  some  terrible  object  be  offered,  as  Plutarch  hath  it.      It 
causeth  oftentimes  sudden  madness,  and  almost  all  manner  of 
diseases,  as  I  have  sufficiently  illustrated  in  my  ''digression  of 
the  Force  of  Imagination,  and  shall  do  more  at  large  in  my 


a  Et  metura  ideo  deam  sacranint,  ut  bonara  mentem  concederet.     Varro,  Lactan- 
tins,  Anpr.  *  *>  Lilius  Giralrl.   Syntag.  1.  de  diis  rniscellaneis.  ^  Calendis 

Jan.  feriae.  sunt  divae  Axgerona*,  cui  pontifices  in  sacello  Voltipiae  sacra  faciunt,  qnod 
angores  et  animi  solicitudines  propitiata  propellat.  <' Timor  inducit 

frigus,  cordis  palpitationein,  vocis  defectum,   atque  pallorera.     Agrippa,  1.   1.  «  63. 
Timidi  semper  spiritus  habent  frigidos.     Mont  «  Effusas  cernens  fngientes 

agmine  turmas,  Quis  niea  nunc  inflat  coriiua  ?  Faunus  ait.     Alciat  f  Metus 

nou  solum  memoriara  consternat,  sed  et  institutnni  animi  onme  et  laudabilem  cona- 
tum  impedit      Thucydides.  s  Lib.  de  fortitiKline  et  virtute  Alexandri.     L'b 

prope  res  adfuit  terribilis.  *'  Sect.  2.  Mem.  3.  Subs.  2. 


144  Causea  of  Melancholy.      [Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

section  of '' Terrours.  Fear  makes  our  imagination  conceive 
what  it  list,  invites  the  devil  to  come  to  us,  (as  '^  Agrippa  and 
Cardan  avouch),  and  tyrannizeth  overour  phantasie  more  than 
all  other  atlections,  especially  in  the  dark.  We  see  this  verified 
in  most  men  ;  as  "^Lavater  saith,  qua'  rnettmnt,  Jinf/U7it ;  what 
they  fear  they  conceive,  and  faign  unto  themselves ;  they  think 
they  see  goblins,  haggs,  devils,  and  many  times  become 
melancholy  thereby.  Cardan  {suhtil.  lib.  18.)  hath  an  example 
of  such  an  one,  so  caused  to  be  melancholy  (by  sight  of  a  bug- 
bear) all  his  life  after.  Augustus  Caesar  durst  not  sit  in  the 
dark  ;  nisi  aliquo  assidente,  saith  '^  Suetonius,  numqnam  tene- 
bris  evigilavit.  And  'tis  strange  what  women  and  children 
will  conceive  unto  themselves,  if  they  go  over  a  church-yard 
in  the  night,  lye  or  be  alone  in  a  dark  room  ;  how  they  sweat 
and  tremble  on  a  sudden.  Many  men  are  troubled  with  future 
events,  foreknoAvledge  of  their  fortunes,  destinies,  as  Severus 
the  emperour,  Adrian  and  Domitian :  quod  sciret  ultimum 
vitcc  diem,  saith  Seutonius,  vAilde  solicitns  ;  much  tortured  in 
mind  because  he  foreknew  his  end  ;  with  many  such,  of 
which  I  shall  speak  more  opportunely  in  ^  another  place. 
Anxiety,  mercy,  pitty,  indignation,  &c.  and  such  fearful 
branches  derived  from  these  two  stems  of  fear  and  sorrow,  I 
voluntarily  omit.  Read  more  of  them  in  *  Carol  us  Pascalius, 
^  Dandinus,  &c. 

SUBSECT.  VI. 

Shame  and  Disgrace,  Causes. 

oHAME  and  disgrace  cause  most  violent  passions,  and  bit- 
ter pangs.  Ob  jmdorem  et  dedecus  puhlicum,  ob  eirorcm 
commissum,  scepe  moventur  generosi  animi  (Felix  Plater,  lib, 
3.  de  alienat.  mentis)  :  Generous  minds  are  often  moved  with 
shame,  to  despair,  for  some  publick  disgrace.  And  he  (saith 
Philo.  lib.  2.  de  provid.  dei)  ''  that  subjects  himself  to  fear  ^ 
grief,  ambition,  shame,  is  not  happy,  but  altogether  miserable, 
tortured  with  continual  labour,  care,  and  misery.  It  is  as 
forcible  a  batterer  as  any  of  the  rest.  '  Many  men  neglect  the 
tumults  of  the  icorld,  and  care  not  for  glory,,  and  yet  they  are 

a  Sect.  2.  Mem.  4.  Subs?.  .3.  b  Subtil.  18.  lib.    Timor  attrahit  ad  se  dsemonas. 

Timor  et  error  multnm  in  hominibus  possunt.  *■  Lib.  de  Spectris,  ca.  3.    Fortes 

rare  spectra  vident.  quia  minus  timent.  ^  Vita  ejus.  «  Sect.  2.  Memb.  4. 

Sabs.  7.  >De  %'irt.  et  vitiis.  B  Com.  in  Arist.   de  Anima.  ''Qui 

mentem  subjecit  timoris  dominationi,  cnpiditatis,  doloris,  ambitionis,  pudoris,  felix 
DOD  est,  sed  omnino  miser  :  assiduis  laboribiis  torcjuetur  et  miseria.  '  Multi 

contemnunt  mundi  strepitum,  reputant  pro  nihilo  ploriam,  sed  timent  infamiam,  of- 
fensiouem,  repulsam.  Voluptatem  severissime  coutemniint;  in  dolore  sunt  molli- 
orts  ;  gloriam  negligunt ;  franguntur  iniamia. 


Mem.  3-  Subs.  6.]     Shame  and  Disgrace,  Cannes.  145 

afraid  of  infamy,  repulse^  disgrace :  {Tnl.qffic.  I.  1.)  they  can 
severely  contemn  pleasure,  hear  rjrief  indifferently;  but  they 
are  quite  '■>■  battered  and  broken  rviih  reproach  and  obloquy 
{siquidem  vita  etfamajmri  passu  ambulant),  and  are  so  de- 
jected many  times  for  some  public  injury,  disgrace,  as  a  box 
on  the  car  by  their  inferiour,  to  be  overcome  of  their  adversary, 
foiled  in  the  field,  to  be  out  in  a  speech,  some  foul  fact  com- 
mitted or  disclosed,  &c.  that  they  dare  not  come  abroad  all 
their  lives  after,butmelancholize  in  corners,  and  keep  inholes. 
The  most  generous  spirits  are  most  subject  to  it.  Spiritns  altos 
fran(iit  et  yenerosos:  Hieronym.  Aristotle,  because  he  could 
not  understand  the  motion  of  Euripus^  for  grief  and  shame 
drowned  himself:  Calius  Rodoginus  (antiquar.  lee.  lib.  29. 
cap.  8.)  Homerns  pudore  consumptus,  was  swallowed  up  with 
this  passion  of  shame,  ''  because  he  could  not  unfold  the  fish- 
erman's riddle.  Sophocles  killed  himself,  ''for  that  a  tra- 
gedy of  his  was  hissed  off'  the  stage.  (Valer.  Max.  lib.  9. 
cap.  \2.)  Lucretia  stabbed  her  self;  and  so  did  "^  Cleopatra, 
rrhen  she  satv  she  that  ivas  reserved  for  a  triumph,  to  avoid 
the  infamy.  Antonius,  the  Roman,  ^  after  he  ivas  overcome 
of  his  enemy,  for  three  days  space  sat  solitary  in  the  fore-part 
<f  the  ship,  abstaining  from  all  company,  even  of  Cleopatra 
her  self  and  aftericards,  for  very  shame,  butchered  himself 
(Plutarch,  vita  ejus).  ApoUonius  Rhodius  ^wilfully  banisJied 
himself  forsaking  his  countrey,  andall  his  dear  friends,  because 
he  was  out  in  reciting  his  poems,  (Plinius,  lib.  7- cap.  ^3). 
A  jax  ran  mad,  because  his  arms  were  ajudged  to  Ulysses.  In 
China,  'tis  an  ordinary  thing  for  such  as  are  excluded  in  those 
famous  tryals  of  theirs,  or  should  take  degrees,  for  shame  and 
grief  to  lose  their  wits  s  (Mat.  Kicc'ms,  expedit.  ad  Sinas,  I.  3. 
c.  9).  Hostratus  the  fryer  took  that  book  which  Reuclin  had 
writ  against  him,  under  the  name  of  Epist.  obscurorum  viro- 
rum,  so  to  heart,  that,  for  shame  and  grief,  he  made  away  him- 
self'*' {.Jovius,inelogiisJ.  A  grave  and  learned  minister,  and  an 
ordinary  preacher  at  Alcmar  in  Holland,  was  (one  day,  as  he 
Malkcd  in  the  fields  for  his  recreation)  suddenly  taken  with  a 
lask  or  looseness,  and  thereupon  compelled  to  retire  to  the  next 


« Graving  contumeliam  ferimus  quam  detrimentnm,  ni  abjecto  nimis  aninio  siinns. 
Pint,  in  Timol.  f"  Quod  pi.scatoris  scnisma  solvere  non  posset.  <■  Ob 

tragwdiani  explosam,  mortem  sibi  siadio  conscivit.  •'  Ciiiu  vidit  in  triumpliuin 

se  servari,  cau.ssa  ejus  iginnninix  vitiiiidai  inortcin  sibi  conscivit.     Pltit.  •"Bel- 

le victus,  per"tres  dies  srdil,  in  prora  iiavis,  abstiuens  ab  oir.ni  consorfio,    etiani 
Cleopatra;;  postea  se  interlVcit.  '" Cum  male  rccitasset  Ar^onautica,  ob  pudo- 

rem  exulavit.  F  Qiiidatn,  pra?  verecum'.ia  simul  et  dolore,  in  insaniam  incidunt, 

eo  <(uod  a  literatorum  gradu  in  cxaiuiiie  excluduntur.  '' Hostratus  cuculiatus 

adco    {viavitt/r    on    Keucliiii    iibrum,   qui  inscribifur,  EpistoliS   obscurorum  viruru.ui, 
dolore  siuiul  tt  pudore  sau'  iulus,  ut  stipsum  interfecerit. 


146  Causes  of  Melancholy.         [Part.  I.  Sec.  2; 

ditch ;  but,  being  ^  surprized  at  unawares  by  some  g-entle- 
woman  of  his  parish  wandering  that  way,  was  so  abashed,  that 
he  did  never  after  shew  his  head  in  publick,  or  come  into  the 
pulpit,  but  pined  away  with  melancholy  :  Pet.  Forestus,  med. 
observnt.  lib.  \0.  observat.  12.)  So  shame  amongst  other 
passions  can  play  his  prize. 

I  know  there  be  many  base,  impudent,  brazen-faced  rogues, 
that  will  ^  nulla  pallescere  culpa,  be  moved  with  nothing, 
take  no  infamy  or  disgrace  to  heart,  laugh  at  all ;  let  them  be 
proved  perjured,  stigmatized,  convict  rogues,  thieves,  trai- 
tours,  lose  their  ears,  be  whipped,  branded,  carted,  pointed  at, 
hissed,  reviled,  and  derided,  (with  ^Ballio  the  baud  in  Plautus) 
they  rejoyce  at  it ;  cantores probos !  babcE  !  and  bombax  !  what 
care  they  ?     We  have  too  many  such  in  our  times. 

-Exclamat  Melicerta  perisse 


Frontem  de  rebus. 


Yet  a  modest  man,  one  that  hath  grace,  a  generous  spirit,  ten- 
der of  hisreputation,wiIl  be  deeply  wounded,and  so  grievously 
affected  with  it,  that  he  had  rather  give  myriads  of  crowns,  lose 
his  life,  than  suffer  the  least  defamation  of  honour,  or  blot  in  his 
good  name.  >\nd,  if  so  be  that  he  cannot  avoid  it, — as  a  night- 
ingale, qu€c,  cantando  victa,  moritur,  (saith  **  Mizaldus)  dies 
for  shame,  if  another  bird  sing  better — he  languisheth  and 
pineth  away  in  the  anguish  of  his  spirit. 


SUBSECT.  VII. 

Envy,  Malice,  Hatred,  Causes. 

JbiNVY  and  malice  are  two  links  of  this  chain  ;  and  both 
(asGuianerius,  Tract.  15-  cap.  2.  proves  out  of  Galen,  3  Apho- 
rism, com.  22.)  ^  cause  this  malady  by  themselves,  especially  if 
their  bodies  be  otherwise  disposed  to  melancholy.  'Tis  Valescus 
de  Taranta  and  Felix  Platerus  observation :  ^  envy  so  gnawes 
many  men's  hearts,  that  they  become  altogether  melancholy. 
And  therefore,  belike,  Solomon  (Prov.  14.  13.)  calls  it,  the 
rotting  of  the  bones ;  Cyprian,  vulnus  occultum. 

=1  Prompter  ruborem    confusns,   stati    coepit  delirare,    &c.   ob    suspicionem,  quod 
vili  ilium  crimine  acc'usarent  ^  Horat.  «  Pg.  Impudice.  B.  Ita  est.  Ps. 

sceleste.  B.  dicis  vera.  Ps.  verbero.  B.  quippini  ?  Ps.  furcifer.  B.  factum  optime. 
Ps.  snciofraude.  B.  sunt  mea  istarc.  Ps.  parricida.  B.  perge  tu.  P.  sacrilege.  B.  fa- 
teor.  Ps.  perjure.  B.  vera  dicis.  Ps.  pernicies  adolescentum.  B.  acerrime.  Ps.  fur. 
B.  babse  !  Ps.  fugitive.  B.  bombax!  Ps.  fraus  populi.  B.  planissime.  Ps.  impure  le- 
no,  coemim.  B.  cantores  probos  !  Pseudolus,  act.  1.  seen.  3.  <•  Cent.  7.  e 

Plinio.  <=  Multos  videmus,  propter  invidiam  et  odium,  in  melancholiam  inci- 

disse  ;  et  illos  potissimum  quorum  corpora  ad  hanc  apta  sunt.  f  Invidia  affli- 

git  homines  adeo  et  corrodit,  ul  hi  melancholic!  penitus  fiant. 


Mem.  3.  Subs.  7.]    Envy,  Malice,  Hatred,  Causes.  14/ 

—  *Siculi  non  invenfere  tyranni 


Majus  tormentum  : 

the  Sicilian  tyrants  never  invented  the  like  torment.  It  cru- 
cifies their  souls,  withers  theirbodies, makes  them  hoUow-ey'd, 
•'pale,  lean,  and  g-hastly  to  behold  (Cyprian,  ser.  2.  de  zelo  et 
livore).  '^  As  a  moth  gnaws  a  ijarment^  so,  (saith  Chrysostome) 
doth  envy  consume  a  man  ;  to  be  a  livino-  anatomy,  a  skeleton  • 
to  he  a  lean  and  '^pale  carcass,  quickened  with  a  •=  fiend  (Hall,  in 
Charact.);  for,  so  often  as  an  envious  wretch  sees  another  man 
prosper,  to  be  enriched,to  thrive, and  be  fortunate  in  the  world 
to  get  honours,  offices,  or  the  like,  he  repines,  and  oTieves : 

rintabesciique  videndo 


Successus  hominum' 

Suppliciumque  suum  est :  ' 

he  tortures  himself,  if  his  equal,  friend,  neig-hbour,  be  preferred 
commended,  do  well ;  if  he  understand  of  it,  it  oauls  him 
afresh ;  and  no  greater  pain  can  come  to  him,  than  to  hear  of 
another  mans  well  doino- ;  'tis  a  dagger  to  his  heart,  every 
such  object.  He  looks  at  him  (as  they  that  fell  down  in  Lucians 
rock  of  honour)  with  an  envious  eye,  and  will  damage  him- 
self to  do  the  other  a  mischief,  (Atque  cadet  subito,  dmn  super 
hoste  cadat)  as  he  did,  in  ^sop,  lose  one  eye  willing-ly,  that  his 
fellow  might  lose  both,  or  that  rich  man,  in  *Quintilian 
that  poysoned  the  flowers  in  his  garden,  because  his  neio-hl 
hours  bees  should  get  no  more  honey  from  them.  His  wliole 
life  is  sorrow  ;  and  every  word  he  speaks,  a  satyr e ;  nothing- 
fats  him  but  other  mens  mines;  for,  to  speak  in  a  word,  envy  is 
nought  else  but  tristitia  de  bonis  alienis,  sorrow  for  other 
mens  good,  be  it  present,  past  or  to  come  ;  et  yaudium  de 
adyersis,  and  ''joy  at  their  harms,  opposite  to  mercy,  *  which 
grieves  at  other  mens  mischances,  and  misafl^ects  the  body  in 
another  kind ;  so  Damascen  defines  it,  lib.  2.  de  orthod.  fid, 
Thomas,  2.  2.  fjutsst.  36.  art.  1.  Aristotle,  /.  2.  Rhet.  c.  4.  et 
10.    Plato,  Philebo,     Tully,  3.  Tusc.     Greg.  Nic.  /.  de  virt. 

'^i^'"-'    J       L    "'  ^'^  ^"'^"^  minax,  torviis  aspectus,  pallor  in  facie,  in  labis  tremor 
stridor  in  dentibus,  &c.  «•  Ut  tiuea  cnrrodit  vestinientum,  sir  invidia  euni   qui 

zelatur,  consumit.  d  PaHor  in  ore  sedet,  macies  in  corpore  toto.     Nusquam 

recta  acies ;  livent  rubigme  denies.  eDiaboli  expressa  imago,  toxicurn  charitatis 

veneuum  aiiiicitiai,  abyssus  mentis;  non  est  eo  monstiosius  moustrum,  damnosius 
damnum:  unt,  torret,  discrucuit,  macie  etsqualore  conticit.  Austin.  Domin.  prim.  Ad- 
vent. 'Ovid.  KDeclam.  1.3,  linivit  tlores  maleficis  succis,  in  venenum  mella 
convertens  h  Statins  cereis  Basilius  eos  comparat,  qui  iiqnefiunt  ad  prasentiam 
soils,  qua  aln  gaudent  et  oruantur;  muscis  alii,  qua;  ulceribus  gaudent,  amcena  prater- 
cunt,  sistunt  in  foetidis.  ■  Misericordia  etiam,  quie  tristitia  qujedaiu  est  smoe 
Uiiserantis  corpus  male  afficit,     Agrippa,  1.  1.  cap.  6;i.  ' 


us  Causes  of  Mclancholtj.        [Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

aninifP,  c.  VZ.  Basil,  dc  InviiUd.  Piiularus,  Od.  1.  ser.  5;  "and 
we  iiixl  it  true.  'Tis  a  comiiiou  disease,  and  almost  natural  to 
us,  (as  "Tacitus  holds)  to  envy  another  mans  prosperity  :  and 
'tis  in  most  men  an  incurable  disease.  ^  I  have  read,  saitli 
Marcus  Aurelius,  Greek,  Hebrew,  Chaldee  authors  ;  I  have 
consulted  with  many  wise  men,  for  a  remedy  fot  envy:  I  could 
find  none,  hut  to  renounce  all  happiness,  and  to  he  «  wretch, 
and  miserahle  for  ever.  'Tis  the  beginning-  of  hell  in  this  lise 
and  a  passion  not  to  be  excused.  "^  Every  other  sin  hath  some 
pleasure  annexed  to  it,  or  ivill  admit  oj'an  excuse  ;  envy  alone 
toants  both.  Other  sins  last  but  for  a  ivhile  :  the  gut  may  be 
satis  fed ;  ancjer  remits  ;  hatred  hath  an  end ;  envy  never 
ceaseth.  (Cardan  lib.  2.  de  sap.)  Divine  and  humane  examples 
are  very  familiar:  you  may  run  and  read  them,  as  that  of  Saul 
and  Dav^id,  Cain  and  Abel :  anr/ebat  ilium  non  proprium  pec- 
catum,  sed  Jratris  prosperifas,  saith  Theodoret ;  it  was  his 
brothers  good  fortune  gauled  him.  Rachel  envied  her  sister, 
being-  barren,  (Gen.  30)  Josephs  brethren,  him  (Gen,  37.) 
David  had  a  touch  of  this  vice, as  he  confesseth  (•'Ps?l.  37),  ^Jle- 
remy  and  "^Habbakuk  :  they  repined  at  others  good :  but  in  the 
end  they  corrected  themselves.  V^dl.Jb'.fret  not  thyself, S^c. 
Domitian  spited  Agricola  for  his  worth,  s  that  a  private  man 
should  be  so  much  ylorijied.  ''  Cascinna  was  envyed  of  his  fel- 
low-citizens, because  he  was  more  richly  adorned.  But,  of  all 
others,  'women  are  most  weak:  ob  pulchritudinem,  invidice 
sunt  Jemince  (Musseus)  :  aut  amat,  aut  odit :  nihil  est  tertium 
(Granatensis)  :  they  love,  or  hate  :  no  medium  amongst  them, 
Implacabiles  plerumque  l<vs(e  nmlieres.  Agrippina  like,  ^a 
woman,  if  she  see  her  neiyhbour  more  neat  and  elegant,  richer  in 
tires,jewels,  or  apparel,is  enraged,  and,  like  a  lioness,  sets  upon 
her  husband,  rails  at  her,  scoffs  at  her,  and  cannot  abide  her ; 
so  the  Roman  ladies,in  Tacitus,did  at  Solanina,Cfficinna's  wife, 
'  because  she  had  a  better  horse,  and  better  furniture  ;  as  if  she 
had  hurt  them  with  it,  they  were  much  offended.  In  like  sort 
our  gentlewomen  do  at  their  usual  meetings ;  one  repines  or 


ainsituin  mortalibus  a    iiatiirc\  rccentem  aliorum  felicitatem  tegris  oculis  infueri. 
Hist.  1.  2.  Tacit.  ■>  Legi  Chalilieos,  (Irascos,  Hebra;os ;  con.suliii  sapientes, 

pro  reiuedio  invidia;  ;  hoc  enim  inveni,  reminciare  felicitati,  et  per])etiio  miser  esse. 
«  Omiie  peccatum  aut  excusationcm  secum  habet,  aut  volnptatem  ;  .sola  invidia  utraque 
caret  lleliqua  vitia  finem  habeut ;  ira  defervescit ;  gnia  sntiatur;  odium  fiiiem  lial>et, 
invidia  nuinquam  quiescit.  ^Urebat  me  jemulatio  propter  stuKos.  i*  Hier. 

12.1.  'Hab.  I.  s  Invidit  privati  noiiieu  supra  principis  atSolli.  ''Tacit. 

Hist.  lib.  2.  part.  6.  '  Perituras  dolore  et  invidia,  si  quam  viderint  ornatioreiii  se  in 

publicum  prodiisse.     Platina,  dial,  amoruui.  i^  Aut.  Guianerius,  lib.  2.  cap.  8. 

vit.  M.  Aurelii.  Femina,  vicinam  eleganlius  se  vestitam  videns,  Itenre  instar  in  viruin 
insurgit,  &c.  'Quod  insignis  eqiio  et  Oatro  veheretur,  quaniquaia  nuUius  cum 

injuria,  ornatum  ilium,  tanqnam  Isesa',  gravabautur. 


Mem.  3.  Subs.  8.]     Emulation,  Hatred,  ^-r.  149 

scoffs  at  anothers  bravery  and  happiness,  Myrsine,  an  Attick 
wench,  was  niurthered  other  fellows,  'because  she  did  excel  the 
rest  in  beauty,  (Constantine,  Ar/ricult.  I.  11.  c.  7).  Every 
village  will  yield  such  examples. 


SUBSECT.  VITI. 

A^/mulation,  Hatred,  Faction,  Desire  of  Revenye,  Causes. 

Out  of  this  root  of  envy, ''spring-  those  feral  branches  of  fac- 
tion, hatred,  livor,  emulation,  which  cause  the  like  grievances, 
and  are  serroi  animce,the  sawesof  the  soul, "^^co us t ernatio ni s  pleni 
aif'ectus,  affections  full  of  desperate  amazement ;  or,  as  Cyprian 
describes  emulation,  it  is  ''  a  moth  oj'the  soul,  a  consumption,  to 
make  another  ma7is  happiness  his  misei'y,to  torture,  crucifie,and 
execute  himself',  to  eat  his  oicn  heart.  Meat  and  drink  can  do 
such  men  no  r/ood:  they  do  ahcays  grieve,  siyh,  and  yroan,  day 
and  niqht  without  intermission  ;  their  breast  is  torn  a  sunder : 
and  a  little  after,  ^whosoererhe  is  whom  thou  dost  emulate  and 
envy,  he  may  avoid  thee  ;  but  thou  canst  neither  avoid  him,  nor 
thyself'.  Wheresoever  thou  art,  he  is  with  thee;  thine  enemy 
is  ever  in  thy  breast ;  thy  destruction  is  icithin  thee  ;  thou  art  a 
captive  bound  hand  and  foot,  as  long  as  thou  art  malicious  and 
envious,  and  canst  not  be  conif'orted.  It  was  the  devilsrtver- 
throiv ;  and,  whensoever  thou  art  thoroughly  affected  with  this 
passion,  it  wdl  be  thine.  Yet  no  perturbation  so  frequent,  no 
passion  so  common. 

Ka»  9rTW^(3?  Tnu^u  (pOovEs;,  y.xi  aoi^o?  aoi^a;. 

A  potter  emulates  a  potter; 

One  smith  envies  another : 
A  begg:ar  emulates  a  begijar ; 

A  sinsring  man  his  brother. 

'Quod  pulchritiuline  onines  excelleret,  puellas  indignata;  occiderunt.  ''Late 

patet  iinidia-  fecuiida  pernities  ;  et  livor  radix  omnium  maluruin,  foDS  cladiuin:  inde 
odium  sin-git,  a;mulatio.     Cyprian,  ser.  2/de  Livore.  i"  Valerius,  1.3.  cap.  9. 

''  Qualis est animi tinea, quaitaijes  pectoris,  zelarein  aUero,velaliornmfelicitatem.suani 
facere  iniseriam,  et  velut  qiiosdam  pectori  suo  admovere  carnifices,  coffitationibus  et 
sensibiis  suis  adhibere  tortores,  qui  se  intestinis  cruciatibiis  lacerent  ?  Non  cibus  tahbus 
la;tus,  non  potus  potest  esse  jucundus  :  suspiratur  semper  et  gemifiir,  etdoletur  dies  et 
noctes  ;  pectus  sine  intermissione  laceratur.  ^  Quisquis  est  ille,  (piem  <«nuilaris, 

cui  invides,  is  te  subterfugere  potest :  at  tu  nonte  :  ubicuuqne  fugeris,  adversariustuus 
tecum  est;  hostis  tuus  semper  in  pectore  tuo  est,  pernities  intus  inclusa :  ligatus  es, 
vinctus,  zelo  douiinante  cajjtivus  :  nee  solatia  tibi  ulla  subveuiunt :  hinc  diabolns,  inter 
initia  statim  luundi,  et  periit  primus,  et  perdidit.  Cyprian,  ser.  2.  de  zelo  et  livore. 
'Hesiod,  op.  et  dies. 


150'  Causes  of  Metancholif.        [Part.  1.  See.  2. 

Every  society,  corporation,  and  private  family,  is  full  of  it ; 
it  takes'liold  almost  of  all  sorts  of  men,  from  the  prince  to  the 
ploughman  ;  even  amongst  gossips  it  is  to  be  seen ;  scarce  three 
in  a  company,  but  there  is  siding,  faction,  emulation,  between 
two  of  them,  some  si»m/^as,jarr, private  grudge,heart-burning 
in  the  midst  of  them.  Scarce  two  g-entlemen  dwell  together 
in  the  country,  (if  they  be  not  near  kin  or  linked  in  marriage) 
but  there  is  emulation  betwixt  them  and  their  servants,  some 
quarrel  or  some  grudge  betwixt  their  wives  or  children,friends 
and  followers,  some  contention  about  wealth,  gentry,  pre- 
cedency, &c.  by  means  of  which,  (like  the  frog  in  ^  ^Esop, 
that  ivould  swell  till  she  was  as  big  as  an  ox,  hut  burst  her 
self'  at  last)  they  will  stretch  beyond  their  fortunes,  call- 
ings, and  strive  so  long,  that  they  consume  their  substance  in 
law-suits,  or  otherwise  in  hospitality,  feasting,  fine  clothes, 
to  get  a  few  bumbast  titles ;  for  ambitiosd  paupertate  labora- 
mus  omnes  ;  to  outbrave  one  another,  they  will  tire  their  bodies, 
macerate  their  souls,  and,  through  contentions  or  mutual  in- 
vitations, beggar  themselves.  Scarce  two  great  scholars  in  an 
age,  but  with  bitter  invectives  they  fall  foul  one  on  the  other, 
and  their  adherents — Scotists,  Thomists,  Reals,  Nominals, 
Plato  and  Aristotle,  Galenists  and  Paracelsians,  &c.  it  holds 
in  all  professions. 

Honest  ''emulation  in  studies,  in  all  callings,  is  not  to  be  dis- 
liked: ' Us  ingeniorum  cos,  as  one  calls  it — the  whetstone  of  wit, 
the  n^rse  of  wit  and  valour ;  and  those  noble  Romans,  out  of 
this  spirit,  did  brave  exploits.  There  is  a  modest  ambition, 
as  Themistocles  was  roused  up  with  the  glory  of  Miltiades  ; 
Achilles  trophies  moved  Alexander. 


*=  Ambire  semper  stulta  confidentia  est 
Ambire  numqaam  deses  arrogantia  ei 


est : 

'tis  a  sluggish  humour  not  to  emulate  or  sue  at  all,  to  with- 
draw himself,neglect, refrain  from  such  places,honours,  offices, 
through  sloth,  niggardliness,  fear,  bashfulness,  or  otherwise, 
to  which,  by  his  birth,  place,  fortunes,  education,  he  is  called, 
apt,  fit,  and  well  able  to  undergo  :  but,  when  it  is  immoderate, 
it  is  a  plague  and  a  miserable  pain.  What  a  deal  of  money  did 
Henry  the  eighth,  and  Francis  the  first,  king-  of  France,  spend 
at  that  '^famous  interview!  and  how  many  vain  courtiers,  seek- 
ing each  to  outbrave  other,  spent  themselves,  their  lively-hood 
andfortunes,and  dyed  beggars !  ^  Adrian  the  emperour  was  so 
galled  with  it,  that  he  killed  all  his  equals ;  so  did  Nero.    This 

a  Rana,  cn>jida  sequandi  bovem,  se  distendebat,  &c.  byEtnidatio  alit  iiigenia. 

Paterculus,  poster.  Vol.  <^Grotius,  Epig-  lib.  1.  "J  Anno  1519,  betwixt 

Ardes  and  Quine.  *  Spartian. 


Mem.  3.  Subs.  8.]     Mmulation,  Hatred,  Sfc.  151 

passion  made  *  Dionysius  the  tyrant  banish  Plato  and  Philoxe- 
nus  the  poet,  because  they  did  excell  and  eclipse  his  i^lory,  as 
lie  thought ;  the  Romans  exile  Coriolanus,  confine  Caniillus, 
murder  Scipio;  the  Greeks,  by  ostracism,  to  expel  Aristides, 
Micias,  Alcibiades,  imprison  Theseus,  make  away  Phocion,&c, 
When  Richard  the  first,  and  Philip  of  France,  were  fellow  soul- 
diers  together  at  the  siege  of  Aeon,  in  the  Holy  land,  and 
Richard  had  approved  himself  to  be  the  more  valiant  man, in  so 
much  that  all  mens  eyes  were  upon  him,  it  so  gauled  Philip, 
(^Francnm  urebat  regis  victoria,  saith  mine  ''  author ;  tarn  cB(/re 
J'erebat  Richardi  f/loriam,  ut  carpere  dicta,  cuhimniari  J'aclu) 
that  he  cavilled  at  all  his  proceedings,  and  fell  at  length  to  open 
defiance.  He  could  contain  no  longer,  but,  hasting  home,  in- 
vaded his  territories,  and  professed  open  war.  Hatred  stira  up 
contention,  (Prov.  10. 12);  and  they  break  out  at  last  into  im- 
mortal enmity, into  virulency,and  more  thanV  aniinian  hateand 
rage ;  ""  they  persecute  each  other,  their  friends,  followers,  and 
all  their  posterity,  with  bitter  taunts,  hostile  wars,  scurril  invec- 
tives,libels,  calumnies,  fire,  sword,  and  the  like,  and  will  not  be 
reconciled.  Witness  that  Guelf  and  Gibelline  faction  in  Italy; 
that  of  the  Adurni  and  Fregosi  in  Genoa;  thatofCneius 
Papirius  and  Quintus  Fabius  in  Rome ;  Cassar  and  Pompey  ; 
Orleans  and  Burgundy  in  France ;  York  and  Lancaster  in 
England.  Yea,  this  passion  so  rag'eth  ^  many  times,  that 
it  subverts,  not  men  only,  and  families,  but  even  populous 
cities.  '^  Carthage  and  Corinth  can  witness  as  much  ;  nay 
flourishing  kingdoms  are  brought  into  a  wilderness  by  it. 
This  hatred,  malice,  faction,  and  desire  of  revenge,  invented 
first  all  those  racks,  and  wheels,strappadoes, brazen  bulls,  feral 
engines,  prisons,  inquisitions,  severe  laws,  to  macerate  and  tor- 
ment one  another.  How  happy  might  we  be,  and  end  our  time 
with  blessed  days,  and  sweet  content,  if  we  could  contain  our 
selves,  and,  as  we  ought  to  do,  put  up  injuries,  learn  humility, 
meekness,  patience,  forget  and  forgive,  (as  in  'Gods  word  we 
areinjoyned),  compose  such  final  controversies  amongst  our 
selves,  moderate  our  passions  in  this  \i\ndi,  and  think  better  of 
others  (as  §  Paul  would  have  us)  than  oj'our  selves  ;  he  of  like 
affection  one  towards  another ^  and  not  avenge  onr  selves,  but 
nave  peace  loith  all  men.  But  being  that  we  are  so  peevish  and 
perverse,  insolent  and  proud,  so  factious  and  seditious,  so  mali- 


»  Plutareh.  b  Johannes  Heraldus,  I.  2.  c.  12.  de  bello  sac.  «  Nulla  dies 

tantum  poterit  lenire  furorem.— .Sterna  bella  pace  aublata  gcrunt. — Jurat  odium, 
nee  ante  invisura  esse  desinit,  quaui  esse  desiit.     Paterculus,  vol.  1.  '^  Ita  SEevit 

haec  Stygia  ministra,  ut  urbes  subvertat  aliquando,  deleat  populos,  proviiicias  alioqui 
florentes  redigat  in  solitudines,  niortales  vero  miseros  in  profunda  iniseriarum  valle 
miserabiliter  immergat.  «  Carthago,  aemula  Romaui  imperii,  t'unditua  interiit^ 

Sallust  Catil.     .      fPaul.3.  CoK  e  Rom.  12. 


152  Causes  of  Melancholy.       [Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

cious  and  envious,  we  do  hivicem  angariare^  maul  and  vex  one 
another,  torture,  disquiet,  and  precipitate  our  selves  into  that 
gulf  of  woes  and  cares,  aggravate  our  misery  and  melancholy, 
heap  upon  us  hell  and  eternal  damnation. 


SUBSECT.  IX. 

Anger,  a  Cause, 

Anger,  a  perturbation  which  carries  the  spirits  outwards, 
preparing  the  body  to  melancholy,  and  madness  it  self — 
ira  furor  brevis  est ;  and  (as  '^  Piccolomineus  accounts  it)  one 
of  the  three  most  violent  passions.  ^  Aretaeus  sets  it  down  for  an 
especial  cause  (so  doth  Seneca,  ep.  18-  1.  1.)  of  this  malady. 
•^  Magninus  gives  the  reason  ;  exjrequenti  ird  supra  modmn 
calejiunt ;  it  over-heats  their  bodies ;  and,  if  it  be  too  frequent, 
it  breaks  out  into  manifest  madness,  saith  S.  Ambrose.  'Tis  a 
known  snying ;  Juror  Jit  Icesa  scepius  patientia  ;  the  most  pa- 
tient spirit  that  is,  if  he  be  often  provoked,  will  be  incensed  to 
madness ;  it  will  make  a  devil  of  a  saint ;  and  therefore  Basil 
(belike)  in  his  Homily  de  Ird,  calls  it  tenehras  rationis,  mor- 
hum  animce  et  dcsmotieni  pessimum  ;  the  darkning  of  our  under- 
standing, and  a  bad  angel.  '^Lucian  (in  Ahdicato,  Tom.  1.) 
will  have  this  passion  to  work  this  effect,  especially  in  old 
men  and  women.  Anger  and  calumny  (saith  he)  trouble  them 
at  first,  and,  after  a  while,  break  out  into  open  madness :  many 
things  cause  Jury  in  women,  especially  if  they  love  or  hate 
overmuch,  or  envy,  be  much  grieved  or  angry  ;  these  things, 
by  little  and  little,  lead  them  on  to  this  malady.  From  a  dis- 
position, they  proceed  to  an  habit ;  for  there  is  no  difference 
betwixt  a  mad  man  and  an  angry  man,  in  the  time  of  his  fit. 
Anger,  as  Lactantius  describes  it,  (i.  de  Ird  Dei,  ad  Donatum, 
c.  5)  is  ^  sceva  atiimi  tempestas,  Sfc.  a  cruel  tempest  of  the  mind, 
making  his  eyes  sparkle  fire,  and  stare,  teeth  gnash  in  his  head, 
his  tongue  stutter,  hisj'ace  pale  or  red  ;  and  what  more  filthy 
imitatioti  can  be  oj'a  mad  man  ? 


»Grad.  1.  c.  54.  b  Ira,  et  moeror,  et  ingens'animi  consternatio,  melancho- 

licos  facit.     Aretjeus.     Ira  immodica  gignit  insaniam.  <=  Reg.  sanit.  parte  2. 

c.  8.  In  apertam  insaniam  mox  ducitur  iratus.  "'  Gilberto  Cognato  iuterprete. 

Multis,  et  praesertim  senibus,  ira  irapotens  insaniam  facit,  et  importuna  calumnia : 
haec  initio  perturbat  aninium  ;  pauUatim  vergit  ad  insaniam.  Porro  rauliernm  corpora 
multa  infestant,  et  in  hunc  morbum  adducunt,  prascipjie  si  qu£B  oderint  aut  invi- 
deant,  &,c.  hsec  pauUatim  in  insaniam  tandem  evadunt.  «  S»va  animi  tempestas, 

tantos  excitans  iluctus,|ut  statim  ardescant  oculi,  os  tremat,  lingua  titubet,  dentes  coa- 
crepent.  Sec. 


Mem.  3.  Subs.  9.]        ^nger,  a  Cansf.  153 

'  Ora  tument  ira  ;  fervescunt  sanguine  venae  ; 
Luinina  Gorgoneo  ssevius  angue  micant. 

They  are  void  of  reason,  inexorable,  blind,  like  beasts  and 
monsters  for  the  time,  say  and  do  they  know  not  what,  curse 
swear,  rail,  fight  and  what  not  ?  How  can  a  mad  man  do 
more  ?  as  he  said  in  the  comedy,  ^  iracuniUd  non  sum  apud 
me;  I  am  not  mine  own  man.  If  these  fits  be  immoderate, 
continue  long-,  or  be  frequent,  without  dou))t  they  provoke 
madness.  Montanus  (consil.  21)  had  a  melancholy  Jew  to  his 
patient ;  he  ascribes  this  for  a  principal  cause  :  irascehatur  le- 
vibus  de  canssis ;  he  was  easily  moved  to  anger.  Ajax  had  no 
other  beginning  of  his  madness;  and  Charles  the  sixth,  that 
lunatick  French  king,  fell  into  this  misery,  out  of  the  extre- 
mity of  his  passion,  desire  of  revenge,  and  malice  ;  ''incensed 
against  the  duke  of  Britain,  he  could  neither  eat,  drink,  nor 
sleep  for  some  days  together :  and  in  the  end,  about  the  calends 
of  July,  1392,  he  became  mad  upon  his  horse-back,  drawing 
his  sword,  striking  such  as  came  neer  him  promiscuously,  and 
so  continued  all  the  days  of  his  life.  (JEmil.  lib.  10.  Gal.  hist.) 
Hegesippus  (de  excid.  urbis  Hieros.  /.I.e.  37)  hath  such  a 
story  of  Herod,  that,  out  of  an  angry  fit,  became  mad,  and  "^leap- 
ing out  of  his  bed,  he  killed  Jossippus,  and  played  many  such 
Bedlam  pranks.  The  whole  court  could  not  rule  him  fora  long 
time  after.  Sometimes  he  was  sorry  and  repented,much  grieved 
for  that  he  had  done, postquam  deferbuit  ira;  by  and  by  out- 
ragious  again.  In  hot  cholerick  bodies,  nothing  so  soon 
causeth  madness,  as  this  passion  of  anger,  besides  many  other 
diseases,  as  Pelesius  observes,  (Cap.  21.  /.  1.  de  hum.  affect, 
canssis)  Sauf/uinem  immirmit.  Jet  aitr/et :  and,  as  "  Valesius 
controverts,  (Med.  controv.  lib.  5.  contro.  8.)  many  times  kills 
them  quite  out.  If  this  were  the  worst  of  this  passion,  it  were 
more  tolerable:  Hmt  it  rttines  and  subverts  whole  towns, 
8  cities, Jamilies,  and  kingdoms.  Nulla  pestis  humano  generi 
plurisstetit,  saith  Seneca,  (de  Ira,  lib.  1.)  no  plague  hath  done 
ma^ikind  so  much  harm.  Look  into  our  histories  ;  and  you  shall 
almost  meet  with  no  other  subject,  but  what  a  company  ''  of 
hair-brains  have  done  in  their  rage.  We  may  do  well,  there- 
fore, to  put  this  in  our  procession  amongst  the  rest :  From  all 
blindness  of  heart,  from  pride,  vain'glmy,  and  hypocrisy, from 
envy,  hatred,  and  malice,  anger,  and  all  such  pestiferous  per- 
turbations, good  Lord,  deliver  lis  ! 

»Ovi(l.  b Terence.  einfensus  Britaimiae  duci,  et  in  ultionem  versus, 

nee  cibum  cepit,  nee  quietem  ;  ad  Calendas  Julias,  139"2,  comites  occidit.  "In- 

dignatione  nimia  furens,  animiqne  irapotens,  exsiliit  de  leeto :  furentem  non  capiebat 
aula,  &c.  eAn  ira  possit  hominem  interiniere.  •  Abernethy.  sAs 

Troy,  sjevse  memorem  Jtinonis  ob  iram.  i'  Stultorum  regum  et  popaloram  con- 

tinet  xstus. 

T  2 


154  Causes  of  Melancholy.      [Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

SUBSECT.  X. 

Discontents,  Cares,  Miseries,  Sfc.  Causes. 

ills  CONTENTS,  cares,  crosses,  miseries,  or  whatsoever  it 
is  that  shall  cause  any  molestation  of  spirits,  grief,  anguish,  and 
perplexity,  may  well  be  reduced  to  this  head.  Preposterously 
placed  here,  in  some  mens  judgements,  they  may  seem:  yet,  in 
that  Aristotle  in  his  ''Rhetorick  defines  these  cares,  as  he  doth 
envy,  emulation,&c.  still  by  grief,  I  think  I  may  well  rank  them 
in  this  irascible  row;  beingthat  they  are,as  the  rest,both  causes 
and  symptomes  of  this  disease,  producing  the  like  inconveni- 
ences, and  are,  most  part,  accompanied  with  anguish  and  pain 
(the  common  etymology  will  evince  it — cura,quasicorura) ;  de- 
nientes  curce,  insomnes  curae,  damnosce  cur(s,  tristes,  mordaces, 
carnijices,  ^c.  biting,  eating,  gnawing,  cruel,  bitter,  sick,  sad, 
unquiet,pale,tetrick,  miserable,  intolerable  cares  (as  the  poets'* 
call  them) ;  worldly  cares,  and  are  as  many  in  number  aslhe  sea 
sands.  '^Galen,Fernelius,Felix  Plater,Valescus  deTaranta,  &c. 
reckon  afflictions,miseries,even  all  these  contentions,and  vexa- 
tions of  the  mind,  as  principal  causes,  in  that  they  take  away 
sleep,  hinder  concoction,  dry  up  the  body,  and  consume  the 
substance  of  it.  They  are  not  so  many  in  number,  but  their 
causes  be  as  divers,  and  not  one  of  a  thousand  free  from  them, 
or  that  can  vindicate  himself,  whom  that  Ate  dea — 

**  Per  hominum  capita  molliter  ambulans, 
Plantas  pedum  teneras  habens — 

Over  mens  heads  walking  aloft. 
With  tender  feet  treading  so  soft — 

Homers  goddess  Ate,  hath  not  involved  into  this  discontented 
•rank,  or  plagued  with  some  misery  or  other.  Hyginus 
(fab.  220)  to  this  purpose  hath  a  pleasant  tale.  Dame  Curaby 
chance  went  over  a  brook,  and,  taking  up  some  of  the  dirty 
slime,  made  an  image  of  it.  Jupiter,  eftsoons  coming  by,  put 
life  to  it;  but  Cura  and  Jupiter  could  not  agree  what  name  to 
give  him,  or  who  should  own  him.   The  matter  was  referred  to 

a  Lib.  2.  Invidia  est  dolor,  et  ambitio  est  dolor,  &c.  b  Insomnes,  Claudianus. 

tristes,  Virg,  mordaces,  Luc.  edaces,  Hor.  mcestas,  amarae,  Ovid,  damnosse,  inquietae. 
Mart,  urentes,  rodentes,  Mant.  &c.  <=  Galen.  1.  3.  c.  7,  de  locis  affectis.  Homines 
sunt  maxime  melancholici,  quaudo  vigiliis  multis,  et  solicitudinibus,  et  laboribus,  et 
curis,  fuerint  circumventi.  *  Lucian.  Podag.  e  Omnia  imperfecta,  confusa, 

et  pertnrbationc  plena.     Cardan. 


Mem.  3.  Subs.  10.]     Discontents,  Cares,  ^c.  155 

Saturn  as  judge  :  lie  gave  this  arbitrement :  his  name  shall  be 
Homo  ab  hmno :  Cura  eum  possideat  quamdiu  vivat :  Care 
shall  have  him  whil'st  he  lives ;  Jupiter  his  soul,  and  Tellus  his 
body  when  he  dies.     But,  to  leave  tales — A  general  cause,  a 
continuate  cause,  an  inseparable  accident  to  all  men,  is  dis- 
content, care,  misery.     Were  there  no  other  particular  afflic- 
tion (which  who  is  free  from?)  to  molest  a  man  in  this  life,  the 
very  cogitation  of  that  common  misery  were  enough  to  mace- 
rate, and  make  him  Aveary  of  his  life  ;  to  think  that  he  can 
never  be  secure,  but  still  in  danger,  sorrow,  grief,  and  perse- 
cution.    For,  to  begin  at  the  hour  of  his  birth,  as  ^  Pliny  doth 
elegantly  describe  it,  he  is  born  naked,  and  Jails  ^  a  whining 
at  the  very  first ;  he  is  stvadled  and  bound  up,  like  a  prisoner  ; 
cannot  help  himself;  and  so  he  continues  to  his  lives  end ; 
cnj usque  J'erce  pabulum,  saith  '^  Seneca,  impatient  of  heat  and 
cold,  impatient  of  labour,  impatient  of  idleness,  exposed  to 
Fortunes  contumelies.     To  a  naked  marriner  Lucretius  com- 
pares him,  cast  on  shore  by  shipwrack,  cold  and  comfortless 
in  an  unknown  land  :  ^  No  estate,  age,  sex,  can  secure  himself 
from  this  common  misery.     A  man,  that  is  born  of  a  womauy 
is  of  short  continuance,  and  full  of  trouble  (Job  14. 1.  22)  ; 
and,  while  his  fiesh  is  upon  him,  he  shall  be  sorroivjul:  and^ 
while  his  soul  is  in  him,  it  shall  mourn.     All  his  days  are  sor- 
roiCf  and  his  travels  grief:  his  heart  also  taketh  not  rest  in  the 
night;  (Ecclus.  2.  23.  and  2.   II)  all  that  is  in  it,  is  sor- 
row  and  vexation  of  spirit ;  *  ingress,  progress,  regress,  egress^ 
much  alike.      Blindness  seizeth  on  us  in  the  beginning,  labour 
in  the  middle,  grief  in  the  end,  errour  in  all.    What  day  ariseth 
to  us,  tvithout  some  grief,  care,  or  anguish  ?  or  what  so  secure 
and  pleasing  a  morning  have  we  seen,  that  hath  not  been  over- 
cast  before  the  evening  ?  One  is  miserable,  another  ridiculous, 
a  third  odious.      One  complains  of  this  grievance,  another  of 
that.     A liquando  nervi,  aliquando  pedes,  vexant,  (Seneca)  nunc 
destillatio,  nunc  hepatis  morbus  ;  nunc  deest,  nunc  superest, 
sanguis :  now  the  head  akes,  then  the  feet,  now  the  lungs,  then 
the  liver,  &c.     Huic  census  exuberat ;  sed  est  pudori  degener 
sanguis,  Sfc.     He  is  rich,  but  base  born;  he  is  noble,  but 
poor  :  a  third  hath  means;  but  he  wants  health,  peradventure, 
or  wit  to  manage  his  estate.     Children  vex  one,  wife  a  second, 
&c.     J^emo  facile  cum  conditione  sua  concordat,,  no  man  is 

a  Lib.  7.  nat.  hist.  cap.  1.      Hominem  nudam  et  ad  vagitum  edit  natura.     Flens  ah 
initio^  devinctiis  jacet,  &c. 

''  Axxfv^cuv  <yfvo/xr)v,  nat  ^xx-fvaxi  aTraQvyKTnW 
Tai  ysvo?  xvQpwrruv  tto^voxkpvtov,  aa6sn^,  o;xt«ov. 
Lacrymans  natus  sum,  et  lacrymans  morior,  &c.  *;  Ad  Marinuui.  ^  Boethias. 

einitium  caecitas,  progressum  labor,  exitum  dolor,  error  omnia:  quem  tranquillum, 
qucEso,  quem  non  laboriosiim  aut  anxium  diem  egimus  ?    Petrarch. 


156  Causes  ofMekuieliohj.       [Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

pleased  with  his  fortune ;  a  pound  of  sorrow  is  familiarly  mixt 
with  a  dram  of  content;  little  or  no  joy,  little  comfort,  but 
^  every  where  danger,  contention,  anxiety  in  all  places.  Go 
where  thou  wilt ;  and  thou  shalt  find  discontents,  cares,  woes, 
complaints,  sickness,  diseases,  incumbrances,  exclamations. 
//'  thou  look  into  the  market,  there  (saith  ^  Chrysostom)  is 
brawling  and  contention  ;  if  to  the  court,  there  knavery  and 
flattery,  Sf-c.  if  to  a  private  mans  house,  there's  cark  and  care, 
heaviness^  Sfc.     As  he  said  of  old, 

"^  Nil  homine  in  terrA  spiral  miserum  magis  alma  : 

No  creature  so  miserable  as  man,  so  g-enerally  molested,  ^  in 
miseries  of  body,  hi  miseries  of  mind,   miseries  of  heart,  in 
viiseries  asleep,  in  miseries  awake,  in  miseries  loheresoever  he 
turns,  as  Bernard  found.      Numquid  tentatio  est  vita  humana 
super  terrain  ?     A  meer  temptation  is  our  life;  (Austin,  con- 
fess.  lib.  10.  cap.  28.)  catena  perpetuorum  malorum  ;  et  quis 
potest  molestias  et  difficultates  pati  ?     Who  can  endure  the 
miseries  of  it  ?     ^  In  prosperity  we  are  insolent  and  intolerable, 
dejected  in  adversity,  in  all  fortunes  foolish  and  miserable.  *Tn 
adversity,  I  wish  for  prosperity  ;  and,  in  prosperity,Iani  afraid 
of  adversity.      What  mediocrity  may  he  found?  ichere  is  no 
temptation  ?  what  condition  of  life  is  free  ?     "  Wisdom  hath 
labour  annexed  to  it,  glory  envy  ;  riches  and  cares,  children  and 
hicnmbrances,  pleasure  and  dh-eases,  rest  and  beggary,  go  toge- 
ther ;  as  if  a  man  were  therefore  born,  (as  the  Platonists  hold) 
to  be  punished  in  this  life,  for  some  precedent  sins :  or  that,  as 
•^  Pliny  complains.  Nature  may  be  rather  accounted  a  step- 
mother, than  a  mother  unto  us,  all  things  considered :  no  crea- 
tures life  so  brittle,  so  full  of  fear,  so  mad,  so  furious;  only  man 
is  plagued  with  envy,  discontent,  grief  covetousness,  ambition, 
superstition.     Our  whole  life  is  an  Irish  sea,  wherein  there  is 
nought  to  be  expected,  but  tempestuous  storms,  and  trouble- 
some waves,  and  those  infinite ; 


3  Ubiqne  periculum,  ubique  dolor,  ubique  naafragium,  in  hoc  ambituj  qnocunque 
me  vertam.     Lipsius.  **  Horn.  10-    Si  in  forum  ioveris,  ibi  rixae,  et  pugnae  ;  si 

in  curiam,  ibi  fraiis,  adulatio ;  si  in  domum  privatam,  &c.  <^  Homer.  <•  Multis 

repletur  homo  niiseriis,  corporis  miseriis,  animi  miseriis,  dum  dormit,  dum  vigilat,  qno- 
cunque se  vertit.  Lususqiie  rerum,  temporumque  nascimur.  '^  In  blandiente  for- 
tunaintoIerandi,incaiamitatibnsh]gubrt's,  semper  stultietmiseri.  Cardan.  fPros- 
pera  in  adversis  desidero,  et  adversaprosperistimeo:  quis  inter  haec  medins  locus,  ubi 
non  sit  hnnianaD  vitae  tentafio?  S  Cardan,  consol.  Sapientiae  labor  anuexus,  gloriae 
invidia,  divitiis  cura;,  soboii  solicitiido,  volnptati  morbi,  quieti  paupertas,  ut  quasi  luen- 
dorum  scelerum  caussa  nasci  hominem  possis  cum  Platonistis  agnoscere.  ^  Lib.  7. 
cap.  1 .  Non  satis  aestimare,  an  uieiior  parens  natura  homini,  an  tristior  noverca, 
fuerit.  Niilli  i'ragilior  vita  pavor,  confusio,  rabies  major  ;  uni animantium  ambitio  data, 
luclus,  avaritia  ;  uni  supeistitio. 


Mem.  3.  Subs.  10.]     Discontents,  Cares,  ^c.  157 

(^Tantuin  malorum  pelagus  aspicio, 
Ut  non  sit  inde  enatandi  copia) 

no  Halcyonian  times,  wherein  a  man  can  hold  himself  secure, 
or  agree  with  his  present  estate  :  but  as  Boethius  infen's,  Hhere 
is  somethinff  in  every  one  oj'us,  ivhich,  bej'ore  tryal,  ice  seek, 
and  having  tryed,  abhor :  •=  rce  earnestly  ivish,  and  eagerly 
covet,  and  are  eftsoons  iveary  of  it.  Thus  betwixt  hope  and 
fear,  suspicions,  angers, 

''Inter  spemque  metumque,  timores  inter  et  iras, 

betwixt  falling  in,  falling  out,  &c.  we  bangle  away  our  best 
days,  befool  out  our  times,  we  lead  a  contentious,  discontent, 
tumultuous,  melancholy,  miserable  life  ;  insomuch  that,  if  we 
could  foretel  what  was  to  come,  and  it  put  to  our  choice,  we 
should  rather  refuse,  than  accept  of,  this  painful  life.  In  a 
word,  the  world  itself  is  amaze,  a  labyrinth  of  errours,  a  desart, 
a  wilderness,  a  den  of  thieves,cheaters,&c.  full  of  filthy  puddles, 
horrid  rocks,  precipitiums,  an  ocean  of  adversity,  an  heavy 
yoke,  wherein  infirmities  and  calamities  overtake  and  follow 
one  another,  as  the  sea-waves  ;  and,  if  we  scape  Scylla,  we  fall 
foul  on  Charybdis  ;  and  so  in  perpetual  fear,  labour,  anguish, 
we  run  from  one  plague,  one  mischief,  one  burden,  to  another, 
diiram  servientes  servitntem ;  and  you  may  as  soon  separate 
weight  from  lead,  heat  from  fire,  moystness  from  water,  bright- 
ness from  the  sun,  as  misery,  discontent,  care,  calamity ,danger, 
from  a  man.  Our  towns  and  cities  are  but  so  many  dwellings 
of  humane  misery ,?';?  which,  grief  and  sorrow,  (^  as  he  right  well 
observes  out  of  Solon)  innumerable  troubles,  labours  cf  mortal 
men,  and  all  manner  of  vices,  are  included,  as  in  so  many  pens. 
Our  villages  are  like  mole-hills,  and  men  as  so  many  emmets, 
busie,  busie  still,  going  to  and  fro,  in  and  out,  and  crossing- 
one  anothers  projects,  as  the  lines  of  several  sea-cards  cut  each 
other  in  a  globe  or  map;  now  light  and  merry,  but  (^as 
one  follows  it)  by-and-by  sorroiiful  and  heavy  ;  noiv  hoping, 
then  distrusting  ;  now  patient,  to  morrow  crying  out ;  note 
pale,  then  red  ;  running,  sitting,  sweating,  trembling,  halting, 
Sfc.  Some  few  amongst  the  rest,  or  perhaps  one  of  a  thou- 
sand, may  be  pullus  Jovis,  in  the  worlds  esteem,  gallinas 

»  Euripides.  i>  De  consol.  1.  2.     Nemo  facile  cum  conditione  sua  concordat. 

Inest  singulis  quod  imperiti  petant,  experti  horreant.  c  Esse  in  honore  jnvat, 

mox  displicet.  "Jfior.  «  Borrhaeus  in  6.  Job.     Urbes  et  oppida  nihil  aliud 

snnt  quam  humananim  aerumnarnm  domicilia,  quibus  luctus  et  moeror,  et  morta- 
liam  varii  infinitique  labores,  et  omnis  generis  vitia,  quasi  septis  incladuntur. 
^Nat  Chytreus,  de  lit.  Europae.  Lsetus  nunc,  raox  tristis  ;  nunc  sperans,  paallo  post 
diffidens  ;  patiens  hodie,  eras  ejulans  ;  nunc  pallens,  rubens,  currens,  sedens,  claudi> 
cans,  trejnens,  &c. 


158  Causes  of  Melancholy.      [Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

Jilins  alh(S,  an  Iiappy  and  fortunate  man,  ad  invidiamj'elixj  be- 
cause rich,  fair,  well  allied,  in  honour  and  office ;  yet  peradven- 
ture  ask  himself,  and  he  will  say,  that,  of  all  others,  'he  is  most 
miserable  and  unhappy.  A  fair  shooe,  Aic  soccus  nevus,  elec/ans, 
as  he  ''said;  sed  nescis  ubi  urat ;  but  thou  knowest  not  where 
it  pincheth.  It  is  not  another  mans  opinion  can  make  me 
happy  :  but  (as  ^  Seneca  well  hath  it)  he  is  a  miserable  icretch, 
that  doth  not  account  himself'  happy  :  though  he  be  soveraiyn 
lord  oj'  a  world,  he  is  not  happy,  (f'he  think  himself  not  to  be  so; 
for  what  availeth  it  what  thine  estate  is,  or  seem  to  others,  if  thou 
thy  self  dislike  it  ?  A  common  humour  it  is  of  all  men  to  think 
well  of  other  mens  fortunes,  and  dislike  their  own  : 

^  Cui  placet  alterius,  sua  nimirum  est  odio,  sors : 

but  ^  qua  Jit,  Mcecenas,  SfC.  how  comes  it  to  pass  ?  what's  the 
cause  of  it?  Many  men  are  of  such  a  perverse  nature,  they  are 
well  pleased  with  nothing,  (saith  ^Theodoret)  neither  with 
riches  nor  poverty  :  they  complain  when  they  are  well,  and, 
ivhen  they  are  sick,  grumble  at  all  fortunes,  prosperity  and 
adversity  ;  they  are  troubled  in  a  cheap  year,  in  a  barren  : 
plenty,  or  not  plenty,  nothing  pleaseth  them,  war  nor  peace, 
with  children,  nor  without.  This,  for  the  most  part,  is  the 
humour  of  us  all,  to  be  discontent,  miserable  and  most  un- 
happy, as  we  think  at  least ;  and  shew  me  him  that  is  not 
so,  or  that  ever  was  otherwise.  Quintus  Metellus  his  felicity 
is  infinitely  admired  amongst  the  Romans,  insomuch,  that 
(as  8  Paterculus  mentioneth  of  him)  you  can  scarce  find,  of 
any  nation,  order,  age,  sex,  one  for  happiness  to  be  compared 
unto  him  :  he  had,  in  a  word,  bona  animi,  corporis,  et  fortunes, 
goods  of  mind,  body,  and  fortune ;  so  had  P.  Mutanius 
^  Crassus.  Lampsaca,  that  Lacedaemonian  lady,  was  such 
another  in  'Plinies  cowc^xX,  a  kings  wife,  a  kings  mother,  a 
kings  daughter  ;  and  all  the  world  esteemed  as  much  of  Poly- 
crates  of  Samos.  The  Greeks  brag  of  their  Socrates,  Phocion, 
Aristides ;  the  Psophidians  in  particular  of  their  Aglaiis, 
omni  vita  felix,  ab  omni  periculo  immunis  (which,  by  the 
way,  Pausanias  held  impossible  ;)  the  Romans  of  their  ^  Cato, 

a  Sua  cuique  calamitas  prsecipua.  *>  Cn.  Graecinus.  <^  Epist.  9.  1.  7. 

Miser  est  qui  se  beatissimum  non.judicat  ;  licet  imperet  niundo,  non  est  beatus,  qui 
ue  non  putat :  quod  enim  riifert,  qualis  status  tuus  sit,  si  tibi  videtur  malus  ? 
<•  Hor.  ep.  1.  1.4.  ^Hor.  ser.  1.  sat.  1.  f  Lib.  de  curatGraec.  affec.  cap.  6. 

de  provident.  Multus  nihil  placet ;  atque  adeo  et  divitias  damnant,  et  paupertatem  ; 
de  morbis  expostulant ;  bene  valentes,  graviter  ferunt ;  atque,  ut  semel  dicam,  nihil 
eos  delectat,  &c.  s  Vix  ullius  gentis,  aetatis,  ordinis,  hominem  invenies,  cujus 

felicitatem  fortunae  Metelli  compares.     Vol.  1.  .    ''  P-  Crassus  Mutianus  quinque 

habuisse  dicitur  rerum  bonarura  maxima,  quod  esset  ditissiraus,  quod  essetnobilissimus, 
eloquenfissimus,  jurisconsultissiinus,  pontifex  maxiraus.  '  Lib.  7.  Regis  filia, 

fegis  uxor,  regis  mater.  ^  Qui  nihil  uuquam  mali  aut  dixit,  aut  fecit,  quod  aliter 

facere  non  potuit. 


Mem.  3.  Subs.  10.]     Discontents,  Cares,  %-c,  159 

Curius,  Fabriciiis,  for  their  composed  fortunes,  and  retired 
estates,governmentofpassions,and  contempt  of  the  world  :  yet 
none  of  all  these  was  nappy  or  free  from  discontent — neither 
Metellus,  Crassus,  nor  Polycrates;  for  he  died  a  violent  death, 
and  so  did  Cato  :  and  bow  much  evil  doth  Lactantius  and 
Theodoret  speak  of  Socrates! — a  weak  man — and  so  of  the 
rest.  There  is  no  content  in  this  life  ;  but  (as  ^he  said)  all 
is  vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit  ;  lame  and  imperfect.  Hadst 
thou  Sampsons  hair,  Milos  strength,  Scanderbegs  arm,  So- 
lomons wisdom,  Absaloms  beauty,  Croesus  his  wealth,  Pa- 
setis  ohnlum,  Caesars  valour,  Alexanders  spirit,  Tullys  or 
Demosthenes  eloquence,  Gyges  ring,  Perseus  Pegasus,  and 
Gorgons  head,  Nestors  years  to  come,  all  this  would  not 
make  thee  absolute,  give  thee  content  and  true  happiness  in 
this  life,  or  so  continue  it.  Even  in  the  midst  of  all  our  mirth 
jollity,  and  laughter,  is  sorrow  and  grief;  or,  if  there  be  true 
happiness  amongst  us,  'tis  but  for  a  time  ; 

^  Desinit  in  piscem  mulier  forraosa  superne ; 

a  fair  morning  turns  to  a  lowring  afternoon.  Brutus  and  Cas- 
sius,  once  renowned,  both  eminently  happy — yet  you  shall 
scarce  find  two  (saith  Paterculus)  quos  fortuna  maturim  de- 
stituerit,  whom  fortune  sooner  forsook.  Hannibal,  a  conqueror 
all  his  life,  met  with  his  match,  and  was  subdued  at  last : 

Occurrit  forti,  qui  mage  fortis  erat. 

One  is  brought  in  triumph,  as  Caesar  into  Rome,  Alcibiades 
into  Athens,  coronis  aureis  donatus,  crowned,  honoured,  ad- 
mired ;  by-and-by  his  statues  demolished,  he  hissed  out,  mas- 
sacred, &c.  '^  Magnus  Gonsalva,  that  famous  Spaniard,  was 
of  the  prince  and  people  at  first  honoured,  approved;  forth- 
with confined  and  banished.  Adniirandas  actiones  graves 
plentmque  sequnntur  invidice,  et  acres  ca/j/wnw  ('tis  Polybius 
bis  observation)  :  grievous  enmities,  and  bitter  calumnies,  com- 
monly follow  renowned  actions.  One  is  born  rich,  dies  a 
begoar;  sound  to  day,  sick  to  morrow;  now  in  most  flou- 
rishing estate,  forlunate  and  happy,  by-and-by  deprived  of  his 
goods  by  foreign  enemies,  robbed  by  thieves,  spoiled,  capti- 
vated, impoverished,  as  they  of  "^  Rabbah,/??/^  under  iron  saws, 
and  under  iron  harroics,  and  under  axes  of  iron,  and  cast  into 
the  tile- kiln. 

«  Quid  me  felicem  toties  jactAstis,  amici  ? 
Qui  cecidit,  stabili  non  erat  ille  gradu. 

»  Solomon,  Ecclefl.  1.  14.  h  Hor.  Art  Poet.  <•  Jovius,  vita  eiui. 

i  2  Sam.  12.  31.  e  Boethius,  lib.  1.  met.  1. 


]60  Causes  of  Melancholy.         [Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

He  that  erst  marched  like  Xerxes  with  innumerable  armies,  as 
rich  as  Croesus,  now  shifts  for  himself  in  a  poor  cock-boat,  is 
bound  in  iron  chains,  with  Bajazet  the  Turk,  and  a  foot-stool 
with  Aurelian,  for  a  tyrannizing  conquerour  to  trample  on.    So 
many  casualties  there  are,  that,  as  Seneca  said  of  a  city  con- 
sumed with  fire,  7ma  dies  interest  inter  maximam  civitatem  et 
ymllam,  one  day  betwixt  a  great  city,  and  none ;  so  many  griev- 
ances from  outward  accidents,  and  from  our  selves,  our  own 
indiscretion,  inordinate  appetite  ;  one  day  betwixt  a  man  and 
no  man.     And  (which  is  worse)  as  if  discontents  and  miseries 
would  not  come  fast  enough  upon  us,  homo  homini  dcemon  ; 
we  maul,  persecute,  and  study  how  to  sting,  gaul,  and  vex  one 
another  with  mutual  hatred,  abuses,  injuries;  preying  upon, 
and  devouring,  as  so  many  ''ravenous  birds  ;  and,  as  juglers, 
panders,  bawds,  cosening  one  another;  or  raging  as  ''wolves, 
tygers,  and  devils,  we  take  a  delight  to  torment  one  another; 
men  are  evil,  wicked,  malicious,  treacherous,  and  "^naught,  not 
loving   one   another,  or  lovin»-  themselves,   not   hospitable, 
charitable,  nor   sociable  as   they  ought   to   be,   but   coun- 
terfeit,  dissemblers,    ambodexters,   all  for  their  own   ends, 
hard-hearted,    merciless,   pittiless ;    and,   to   benefit   them- 
selves, they  care  not  what  mischief  they  procure  to  others. 
^  Praxinoe   and  Gorgo,   in    the   poet,  when    they   had   got 
in  to  see  those   costly  sights,  they  then  cryed  bene  est,  and 
would  thrust  out  all  the  rest ;  when  they  are  rich  themselves, 
in  honour,  preferred,  full,  and  have  even  that  they  would, 
they  debar  others  of  those  pleasures  which  youth  requires,  and 
they  formerly  have  enjoyed.     He  sits  at  table  in  a  soft  chair  at 
ease ;  but  he  doth  not  remember  in  the  mean  time,  that  a 
tired  water  stands  behind  him,  an  hungrji  J'elloic  ministers  to 
him  full:  he  is  athirst  that  gives  him  drink,  (saith  ^Epictetus) 
and  is  silent   ivhiles   he  speaks  his  pleasure ;  pensive,  sad, 
when  he  laughs.     Pleno  se  proluit  auro  ;  he  feasts,  revels,  and 
profusely  spends,  hath  variety  of  robes,  sweet  musick,  ease, 
and  all  the  pleasure  the  world   can  afford,  whilst  many  an 
hunger-starved  poor  creature  pines  in  the  street,  wants  clothes 
to  cover  him,  labours  hard  all  day  long,  runs,  rides  for  a  trifle, 
fights  peradventure  from  sun  to  sun,  sick  and  ill,  weary,  full 
of  pain  and  grief,  is  in  great  distress  and  sorrow  of  heart.     He 


a  Omnes  hic  aut  captantur,  aut  captant ;  aut  cadavera  quae  lacerantur^  aiit  corvi  qui 
lacerant.     Petron.  ^  Homo  omne  monstrum  est ;  ille  nam  superat  feras ;  lupos- 

que  et  ursos  pectore  obscure  tegit.     Heins.  «  Quod  Paterculus  de  populo  Ro- 

mano, durante  bello  Punico,  per  annos  115,  aut  bellura  inter  eos,  aut  belli  prasparatio, 
aut  infida  pax,  idem  ego  de  mundi  accolis.  <•  Theocritus,  Idyll.  15.]  e  Qui 

sedet  in  mensa,  non  meminit  sibi   otiose  ministrare  negotiosoSj  edenti  esurientes, 
bibenti  sitientes,  &c. 


3Ieiii.  8.  Subs.  10]     Discontents,  Cares,  ^c.  IGl 

lothes  and  scorns  his  inferiour,  bates  or  emulates  bis  equal, 
envies  bis  superior,  insults  over  all  suob  as  are  under  bim, 
as  if  he  were  of  another  species,  a  demi-god,  not  subject  to 
any  fall,  or  humane  infirmities.  Generally  they  love  not,  are 
not  beloved  aoain  :  they  tire  out  others  bodies  with  continual 
labour,  they  themselves  living-  at  ease,  caringfor  none  else,«ii 
nati;  and  are  so  far  many  times  from  putting  to  their  helping 
hand,  that  they  seek  all  means  to  depress,  even  most  worthy 
and  well  deserving,  better  than  themselves,  those  whom  they 
are,  by  the  laws  of  nature,  bound  to  relieve  and  help,  as  much 
as  in  them  lyes:  they  will  let  them  cater- waul,  starve,  beg  and 
hang,  before  they  will  any  wayes  (though  it  be  in  their  power) 
assist  or  ease:  ''so  unnatural  are  they  for  the  most  part,  so 
unregardful,  so  hard-hearted,  so  churlish,  proud,  insolent,  so 
dogged,  of  so  bad  a  disposition.  And,  being  so  brutish,  so 
devilishly  bent  one  towards  anotlier,  how  is  it  possible,  but 
that  M'c  shoidd  be  discontent  of  all  sides,  full  of  cares,  woes, 
and  miseries  ? 

If  thisbe  not  a  sufficient  proof  of  their  discouient  and  misery, 
examine  every  condition  and  calling*  apart.     Kings,  princes, 
monarchs,  and  magistrates,  seem  to  be  most  happy  ;  but  look 
into  their  estate,  you  shall  ^  find  them  to  be  most  encombred 
with  cares,  in  perpetual  fear,  agony,  suspicion,  jealousie  ;  that, 
as  "^  he  said  of  a  crown,  if  they  knew  but  the  discontents  that 
accompany  it,  they  would  not  stoop  to  take  it  up.     Quern  mihi 
regem   dabis,    (saith   Chrysostom)  non  curis  plenum  ?   what 
king  canst  thou  shew  me,  not  full  of  cares?  "^ Look  not  on  his 
croicn,  but  consider  his  afflictions  ;  attend  not  his  number  of 
servants,  but  multitude  oj' crosses.      JS^ihil  aliud  potestas  cut- 
minis,  (puim  tempestas  mentis,  as  Gregory  seconds  him  :  sove- 
raignty  is  a  tempest  of  the  soul  :  Sylla  like,  they  have  brave 
titles,  but  terrible  fits — splendorem  titulo,  cruciatum  animo  ; 
which  made  *  Demosthenes  vow,  si  vel  ad  tribunal,  vel  ad 
inter i turn  duceretur,  if  to  be  a  judge,   or  to  be  condemned, 
^vere  put  to  his  choice,  he  would  be  condemned.     Rich  men 
are  in  the  same  predicament  :  what  their  pains  are,  stulti 
nesciunt,  ipsi  sentiunt — they  feel,  fools  perceive   not,  as    I 
shall    prove    elsewhere ;    and   their   wealth    is   brittle,    like 
childrens  rattles  ;  they  come  and  go ;   there  is  no  certainty 
in  them  ;   those  whom  they  elevate,  they  do  as  suddenly 


aQnnnrloiii  adolescentia  sua  ipsi  \ixerint  lantius,  et  liberius  voluptates  siias  exple- 
verint,  illi  gTiatis  imjwnimt  duriores  continentiae  leses.  ^  Lugubris  Ate  liictuqne 

fero  resjntn  tnmlHas  oljsi'lHt  aices. — Res  est  inquieta  felicitas.  "^  Pins  aloes  qnam 

mellis  habet — Non  humi  jarentem  tolleres.     Valer.  1.  7.  r.  .3.  ''  Non  diaHema 

aspicias,  sed  vitarn  afllictione  rpfertam,  non  catervas  satellitum,  sed  ciirarum  multitu- 
dincm.  '  As  Plutarch  rilateth. 


162  Causes  of  Melancholy.      [Part.  J.  Sec.  2. 

depress  and  leave  in  a  vale  of  misery.  The  middle  sort  of 
men  are  so  many  asses  to  bear  burdens  ;  or,  if  they  be  free, 
and  live  at  ease,  they  spend  themselves,  and  consume  their 
bodies  and  fortunes  with  luxury  and  riot,  contention,  emula- 
tion, &c.  The  poor  1  reserve  for  another  ^  place,  and  their 
discontents. 

For  particular  professions,  I  hold,  as  of  the  rest,  there's  no 
content  or  security  in  any.  On  what  course  will  you  pitch  ? 
how  resolve?  To  be  a  divine?  'tis  contemptible  in  the  worlds 
esteem  :  to  be  a  lawyer  ?  'tis  to  be  a  wrangler  :  to  be  a  phy- 
sician? ^pudet  lotii ;  'tis  loathed:  a  philosopher?  a  mad 
man  :  an  alchymist .?  a  begger  :  a  poet  ?  esmit,  an  hungry 
jack  :  a  musician  ?  a  player  :  a  school-master?  a  drudge  :  an 
husband-man  ?  an  emmet :  a  merchant  ?  his  gains  are  uncer- 
tain :  a  mechanician  ?  base  :  a  chirurgion  ?  fulsome  :  a  trades- 
man ?  a'^lyar:  ataylor?  a  thief :  a  serving-man.^  a  slave: 
a  souldier  ?  a  butcher :  a  smith,  or  a  metal-man  ?  the  pot's 
never  from's  nose  :  a  courtier  ?  a  parasite.  As  he  could  find 
no  tree  in  the  wood  to  hang  himself,  I  can  shew  no  state  of 
life  to  give  content.  The  like  you  may  say  of  all  ages :  children 
live  in  a  perpetual  slavery,  still  under  the  tyrannical  govern- 
ment of  masters :  young  men,  and  of  riper  years,  subject  to 
labour,  and  a  thousand  cares  of  the  world,  to  treachery, 
falshood,  and  cozenage : 

** Incedit  per  ignes, 

Suppositos  cineri  doloso  : 

*  old  are  full  of  aches  in  their  bones,  cramps  and  convulsions, 
silicernia,  dull  of  hearing,  weak-sighted,  hoary,  wrinckled, 
harsh,  so  much  altered  as  that  they  cannot  know  their  own 
face  in  a  glass,  a  burden  to  themselves  and  others  :  after 
seventy  years,  all  is  sorrow  (as  David  hath  it ;)  they  do  not 
live,  but  linger.  If  they  be  sound,  they  fear  diseases  ;  if  sick, 
weary  of  their  lives  :  rion  est  vivere,  sed  valere^  vita.  One 
complains  of  want,  a  second  of  servitude,  ^another  of  a  secret 
or  incurable  disease,  of  some  deformity  of  body,  of  some  loss, 
danger,  death  of  friends,  shipwrack,  persecution,  imprison- 
ment, disgrace,  repulse,  «  contumely,  calumny,  abuse,  injury, 
contempt,  ingratitude,  unkindness,  scoffs,  flouts,  unfortunate 
marriage,  single  life,  too  many  children,  no  children,  false 


a  Sect.  2.  mem.  4.  subsect.  6.  ''  Stercus  et  urina,  medicorum  fercula  prima, 

c  Nihil  lucrantur,  nisi  admodum  mentiendo,     TuU.  Offic.  ''Hor.  1.  2.  od.  1. 

RRarus  felix  idemque  senex.     Seneca,  in  Here.  CEtaeo.  f  Omitto  aegros,  exsules, 

mendicos,  quos  nemo  audet  felices  dicere.     Card.  lib.  8.  c.  46.  de  rer.  var.        e  Spre- 
taeque  injuria  formiv. 


Mem.  3.  Subs.  11.]         JimhHwn^  a  Cmise.  163 

servants,  unhappy  children,  barrenness,  banishment,  oppres- 
sion, frustrate  hopes,  and  ill  success,  &c. 

»Talia  de  genere  hoc  (adeo  sunt  multa)  loquacem  ut 
Delassare  valent  Fabium 

talking  Fabius  will  be  tyred  before  he  can  tell  half  of  them ; 
they  are  the  subject  of  whole  volumes,  and  shall  (some  of 
them)  be  more  opportunely  dilated  elsewhere.  In  the  mean 
time,  thus  much  I  may  say  of  them,  that  generally  they  crucifie 
the  soul  of  man,  ''  attenuate  our  bodies,  dry  them,  wither 
them,  rivel  them  up  like  old  apples,  and  make  them  as  so 
many  anatomies  (^  ossa  atque  pellis  est  totus,  ita  cnris  ma- 
cet)  ;  they  cause  tempus  J'cedum  et  sqnalidnm,  cumbersome 
dayes,  ingrataque  tempora,  slow,  dull,  and  heavy  times;  make 
us  howl,  roar,  and  tear  our  hairs  (as  Sorrow  did  in  "^  Cebes 
table),  and  groan  for  the  very  anguish  of  our  souls.  Our 
hearts  fail  us,  as  Davids  did  (Psal.  40.  12.)  Jor  innumerable 
troubles  that  compassed  him  ;  and  we  are  ready  to  confess  with 
Hezekiah,  (Isa.  58.  17.)  behold!  for  felicity^  I  had  bitter 
grief:  to  weep  with  Heraclitus,  to  curse  the  day  of  our  birth, 
with  Jeremy  (20.  14),  and  our  stars  with  Job ;  to  hold  that 
axiom  of  Silenus,  *  better  never  to  have  been  born,  and  the  best 
next  of  all,  to  dye  quickly  ;  or,  if  we  must  live,  to  abandon 
the  world,  as  Timon  did,  creep  into  caves  and  holes,  as  our 
anchorites  ;  cast  all  into  the  sea,  as  Crates  Thebanus ;  or,  as 
Theombrotus  Ambraciotes  four  hundred  auditors,  precipitate 
our  selves  to  be  rid  of  these  miseries. 


SUBSECT.  XI. 

Concupiscible  Appetites,  as  Desires,  Ambition,  Causes. 

1  HESE  concupiscible  and  irascible  appetites  are  as  the 
two  twists  of  a  rope,  mutually  mixt  one  with  the  other, 
and  both  twining  about  the  heart ;  both  good,  (as  Austin 
holds,  /.  14.  c.  9.  de  civ.  Dei)  ^  if  they  be  moderate;  both  per- 
nitiousifthey  beexorbitunt.  This  concupiscible  appetite,  how- 
soever it  may  seem  to  carry  with  it  a  shew  of  pleasure  and  de- 
light, and  our  concupiscences  most  part  affect  us  with  con- 
tent and  a  pleasing  object,  yet,  if  they  be  in  extieams,  they 
rack  and  wring  us  on  the  other  side.  A  true  saying  it  is,  desire 
hath  no  rest,  is  infinite  in  it  self,  endless,  and  (as  s  one  calls  it)  a 

»HoD.       bAttennant  rigiles  corpns  miserabile  curse.         <■  Plautus.         ^H^c,  quae 
crines  revellit,  .^rumna.  «  Optimum  non  nasci,  aut  cito  mori.  '^Bonae, 

si  rectam  rationem  sequautur  ;  malse,  si  exorbitant.  eTho.  Buovie.  Prob.  18. 


164  Causes  of  Melancholy.         [Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

perpetual  rack,  =*or  horse-mill  (according-  to  Austin),  still  go- 
ing round  as  in  a  ring.  They  are  not  so  continual^  as  divers  : 
Jacilius  atomos  dinumerare  possem,  (saith  ^  Bernard)  quam 
motus  cordis  ;  nunc  Jiccc,  mmc  ilia  cogito  :  you  may  as  well 
reckon  up  the  motes  in  the  sun,  as  them.  '^^  It  extends  it  self 
to  evei'y  tlmuf  (as  Guianerius  will  have  it)  that  is  superfluously 
sought  after,  or  to  any  ^Jervent  desire  (as  Fernelius  interprets 
it) :  be  it  in  what  kind  soever,  it  tortures,  if  immoderate,  and 
is  (according  to  *  Plater  and  others)  an  especial  cause  of  me- 
lancholy. Miiltuosis  concupiscentiis  dilaniantur  cogitationes 
mece,  ^Austin  confessed — that  he  was  torn  a-pieces  with  his 
manifold  desires  ;  and  so  doth  §  Bernard  complain,  that  he 
could  not  rest  for  them  a  minute  of  an  hour  :  this  I  would 
have,  and  that,  and  then  I  desire  to  he  such  and  such.  'Tis 
a  hard  matter  therefore  to  confine  them,  being  they  are  so  va- 
rious and  many,  and  unpossible  to  apprehend  al!.  I  will  only 
insist  upon  some  few  of  the  chief,  and  most  noxious  in  their 
kind,  as  that  exorbitant  appetite  and  desire  of  honour,  which 
we  commonly  call  amhition  ;  love  of  money,  which  is  covet- 
ousness,  and  that  greedy  desire  of  gain  ;  self-love,  pride,  and 
inordinate  desire  of  vain-glory  or  applause  ;  love  of  study  in 
excess;  love  of  ivomeu  (which  will  require  a  just  volume  of 
it  self)  :  Of  the  other  I  will  briefly  speak,  and  in  their  order. 
Amhition,  a  proud  covetousness  or  a  dry  thirst  of  honour,  a 
great  torture  of  the  mind,  composed  of  envy,  pride  and  covet- 
ousness, a  gallant  madness,  one  ^  defines  it,  a  pleasant  poyson, 
Ambrose,  a  canker  of  the  soul;  an  hidden  plague  ;  'Bernard, 
a  secret  poyson,  the  father  of  livor,  and  mother  of  hypocrisie, 
the  moth  of  holiness,  and  cause  of  madness,  crucifying  and  dis- 
quieting all  thai  it  takes  hold  of  ^  Seneca  calls  it,  7'em  solici- 
tam,  timidam,  vanam,  ventosam,  a  windy  thing,  a  vain,  solici- 
tous, and  fearful  thing  :  for,  commonly,  they  that,  like  Si- 
syphus, roll  this  restless  stone  of  ambition,  are  in  a  perpetual 
agony,  still  '  perplexed,  semper  taciti,  tristesque  recedunt, 
(Lucretius)  doubtful,  timorous,  suspicious,  loth  to  oftend  in 
word  or  deed,  still  cogging',  and  colloguing-,  embracing',  cap- 
ping-, cringing,  applauding-,  flattering,  fleering,  visiting,  wait- 
ing at  mens  doors,  with  all  affability,  counterfeit  honesty, 


=>  Molam  asinariaui.  b  Tract,  de.  Inter,  c.  92.  >■  Circa  qnamlibet  rem 

mundi  haec  passio  fieri  potest,  quaa  siiperflue  diligatur.  d  Ferventius  desi- 

deriiim.  e  Imprimis  vero  appetitus,  &c,  3.  de  alien,  ment.  '  Conf. 

1.  c.  29.  KPer  diversa  loca  vagor  ;  nullo  temporis  moinento  quiesco  ;  talis 

et  talis  esse  cupio  ;  illud  atque  illud  habere  desidero.  ''  Ambros.  1.  3.  super 

Lucam.  aerugo  anima;.  'Nihil  animum  crociat,  niiiil  molestius  inquietat; 

secretum  virus,  pestis  occulta,  &.c.  epist.  120.  ^  Ep.  88.  'Nihil  infeli- 

ciiis  his;  quautus  iis  timor,  quanta  dubitatio,  quantiis  conatus,  quanta  solicitudo !  nulla 
illis  a  molestiis  vacua  hora. 


Mem.  3.  Subs.  11.]       Ambition,  a  Cause.  165 

and  humility^  If  that  will  not  serve,  if  once  this  humour  (as 
''  Cyprian  describes  it)  possess  his  thirsty  soul,  amhitionis  sul- 
suqo  nbi  hihnlam  animam  possidet,  by  nook  and  by  crook  he 
will  obtain  it ;  andjrom  his  hole  he  will  climbe  to  all  honours 
and  offices,  if  it  he  possible  for  him  to  get  up  ;  Jiatterinff  one, 
bribing  another,  he  will  leave  no  means  unassay'd  to  win  all. 
'^  It  is  a  wonder  to  see  how  slavishly  these  kind  of  men  subject 
themselves  when  they  are  about  a  sute,  to  every  inferior  per 
son ;  what  pains  they  will  take,  run,  ride,  cast,  plot,  counter- 
mine, protest  and  sm  ear,  vow,  promise,  what  labours  undergo, 
early  up,  down  late;  how  obsequious  and  affable  they  are,  how 
popular  and  courteous,  how  they  grin  and  fleer  upon  every 
man  they  meet ;  with  what  feasting-  and  inviting-,  how  they 
spend  themselves  and  their  fortunes,  i  n  seeking  that,many  times, 
which  they  had  much  better  be  without  (as  ''  Cineas  the  ora- 
tor told  Pyrrhus) ;  with  what  waking  nights,  painful  hours, 
anxious  thoughts,  and  bitterness  of  mind,  inter  spemqne  me- 
tiimqne,  distracted  and  tired,  they  consume  the  interim  of  their 
time.  There  can  be  no  greater  plague  for  the  present.  If 
they  do  obtain  their  sute,  which  with  such  cost  and  solicitude 
they  have  sought,  they  are  not  so  freed  :  their  anxiety  is  anew 
to  begin;  for  they  are  never  satisfied;  nihil  aluidni si  imperium 
spirant ;  their  thoughts,  actions,  endeavours  are  all  for  sove- 
raignty  and  honour ;  like  '^Lues  Sforsia  (that  huffing  duke  of 
Milan,  a  man  of  singular  wisdom,  but  profound  ctndntion, 
born  to  his  own,  and  to  the  destruction  ofltalg)  though  it  be  to 
their  own  mine,  and  friends  undoing,  they  will  contend;  they 
may  not  cease ;  but  as  a  dog  in  a  M'heel,  a  bird  in  a  cage,  or 
a  squirrel  in  a  chain,  (so'Budaeus  compares  them)  ^they  climbe 
and  climbe  still  with  much  labour,  but  never  make  an  end, 
never  at  the  top.  A  knight  would  be  a  baronet,  and  then  a 
lord,  and  then  a  viscount,  and  then  an  earl,  &c.  a  doctor  a 
dean,  and  then  a  bishop;  from  tribune  (o  praetor:  from  bai- 
liff to  m;>yor :  first  this  office  and  then  that :  as  Pyrrhus,  (in 
,  ''Plutarch)  they  will  first  have  Greece,  then  Africk,  and  then 
Asia,  and  swell  with  iEsops  frog  so  long,  till  in  the  end  they 


»  Semper  attonitas,  semper'pavidus  quid  dicat,  faciatve  :  ne  displiceal,  hamilitatem 
simulat,  honestateni  mentitur.  •>  Cypr.  Prolog,  ad  ser.  to.  2.  Ciinctos  honorat, 

universis  inclinat,  subseqnitur,  obsequitur ;  frequentat  curias,  visitat  optiinates, 
amplexatiir,  applandit,  adiilatur:  per  fas  et  nefas  e  latebris,  in  omnein  grailmn  nbi 
aditus  patet,  si  ingerit,  discurrit.  c  Turbse  cogit  ambitio  regem  inscrvire, 

nt  HoDierus  Agaraemnonem  querenlem  indncit.  <i  Pliitarchus.  Qnin  con- 

viveiunr,  et  in  otio  nos  oblectemns,  qiioniani  in  promptn  id  nobis  sit,  &c.   _  _  e  Jo- 

vius,  hist  1.  1.  Yir  singulari  prudentia,  sed  profunda  ambitione  ;  ad  exitium  Italia; 
natus.  f  Ut  liedera  arbori  adharet,  sic^ambitio.  &c.  P  Lib.  .3.  de 

coDtemptu  reriim  fortuitarum.  Maguo  conatu  et  impetu  nioventur;  super  eodem 
centre  rotati,  non  proficiunt,  nee  ad  finem  perveniunt.  ^  Vita  Pyrrhi. 


16G  Causes  of  Melancholy.       [Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

hurst,  or  come  down,  with  Sejanus,  ad  Gemonias  scalas,  and 
break  their  own  necks ;  or  as  Evangelus  the  piper,  (in  Lucian) 
thatblewhispipesolong,  that  he  fell  down  dead.  If  he  chance 
to  miss,  and  have  a  canvass,  he  is  in  hell  on  the  other  side  ; 
so  dejected,  that  he  is  ready  to  hang  himself,  turn  heretick, 
Turk,  or  traytor,  in  an  instant.  Enraged  against  his  enemies, 
he  ''rails,  swears,  fights,  slanders,  detracts,  envies,  murders  ; 
and  for  his  own  part,  si  appetitum  explere  non  potest,  J'urore 
corripitur  ;  if  he  cannot  satisfie  his  desire,  (as  ^  Bodine  writes) 
he  runs  mad  :  so  that,  both  wayes,  hit  or  miss,  he  is  distracted 
so  long  as  his  ambition  lasts ;  he  can  look  for  no  other  but 
anxiety  and  care,  discontent  and  grief,  in  the  mean  time — "^mad- 
ness itself,  or  violent  death,  in  the  end.  The  event  of  this  is 
common  to  be  seen  in  populous  cities,  or  in  princes  courts ;  for 
a  courtiers  life  (as  Budaeus  describes  it)  is  a  ^  galUjnaiifhf  of 
ambition,  lust,  fraud,  imposture^  dissimulation,  detraction, 
envy,  pride;  the  court,  a  common  conventicle  of  flatterers, 
time-servers ;  politicians,  Sfc.  or  (as  ^  Anthony  Perez  will) 
the  suburbs  of  hell  it  self.  If  you  will  see  such  discontented 
persons,  there  you  shall  likely  find  them  :  '  and  (which  he  ob- 
served of  the  markets  of  old  Rome) 

Qui  perjurum  convenire  vulthominem,  milto  in  Comitium  ; 
Qui  mendacem  et  gloriosum,  apud  Cloacinoe  sacrum ; 
Dites,  damnosos  maritos,  sub  Basilica  quaerito,  &c. 

Perjur'd  knaves,  knights  of  the  post,  lyers,  crackers,  bad 
husbands,  &c.  keep  their  several  stations,  they  do  still,  and 
alwayes  did,  in  every  commonwealth. 


SUBSECT.  XII. 

4>tXa§yi;gia,  Covetousness,  a  Cause. 

X  LUTARCH  (in  his  shook  whether  the  diseases  of  the 
body  be  more  grievous  than  those  of  the  soul)  is  of  opi- 
nion, if  you  icill  examine  all  the  causes  of  our  miseries  in 
this  Irfe,  you  shall  find  them,  most  part,  to  have  had  their 

»  Ambitio  in  Insaniam  facile  delabitar,  si  excedat.     Patritius,  I.  4.  tit,  20.  de  regis 
instit.  bLib.  5.  de  rep,  cap.  1.  <^  Imprimis  vero  appetitus,  sen  concupiscentia 

nimia  rei  alicujns  honestis  vel  inhonestfe,  phantasiara  laediint;  unde  multi  ambitiosi, 
philauti,  irati,  avari,  &c,  insani,  Felix  Plater,  1.  3.  de  mentis  alien.  d  Anli- 

ca  vita  coUuvies  ambitionis,  cupiditatis,  simulatiouis,  impoSturse,  fraudis,  invi- 
diae,  superbias  Titanicae:  diversorium  aula,  et  commune  conventiculura,  assentan- 
di  artificum,  &c,  Budaeus  de  asse.  lib.  .5.  c  In  his  Aphor.  fPlautus, 

Curcul.  act.  4.  see.  1.  sTom,  2.  Si  examines,  omnes  raiseriae  caussas  vel  a 

furioso  contendendi  studio,  vel  ab  injusta  cupiditate,  originem  traxisse  scies.— 'Idem 
fere  Chryiostomus,  Com.  m  c,  6.  ad  Romao.  ser.  11.  - 


Mem.  3.  Subs.  12.]      Covefonsneis,  a  Cause.  1/57 

ber/inninc/  Jrom  stubborn  anffer,  that fiiriong  desire,  of' conten- 
tion, or  some  unjust  or  immoderate  affection^  as  covetousness^ 
Sec.     From  M'lience  are  tears  and  contentions  amont/st  you  ? 
*  S*.  James  asks  :  I  will  add  usury,  fraud,  rapine,  simony,  op- 
pression, lyiufr,  swearing,  bearing-  false  witness,  &.c.  are  they 
not  from  this  fountain  of  covetousness,  that  greediness  in  get- 
ting, tenacity  in  keeping,  sordidity  in  spending  ?  that  ihey  are 
so  wicked,  *' unjust  ajfainst  (rod,  their  neif/hbour,  themselves, 
all  comes  hence.     7  he  desire  of  money  is  the  root  of  all  evil, 
and  they  that  lust  aj'ter  it,  pierce  themselves  through  with  many 
sorroics,!  Tim.  6.  10.      Hippocrates  therefore,  in  his  epistle 
to  Crateva  an  herbalist,  gives  him  this  good  counsel,  that,  if 
it  were  possible, "  amongst  other  hearbs,  he  should  cut  up  that 
tveed  oj'  covetousness  by  the  roots,  that  there  be  no  remainder 
left  i   and  then   knew  this  for  a  certainty,  that,  for/ether  with 
their  bodies,   thou  maist  ipiickly  cure  all  the  diseases  oj'  their 
minds;  for  it  is   indeed  the  pattern,   image,   epitome,  of  all 
melancholy,  the  fountain  of  many  miseries,  much  discontent, 
care  and  woe — this  inordinate  or  immoderate  desire  oJ' gain, 
to  get  or  keep  money,  as ''Bona venture  defines  it ;  or,  as  Austin 
describes  it,  a  madness  of  the  soul ;  Gregory,  a  torture ;  Chry- 
sostom,  an  unsatiable  drunkenness;  Cyprian, blindness,  spe- 
ciosnm  supplicium,  a  plague  subverting-  kingdoms,  families, 
an  "incurable  disease;   Budseus,  an  ill  habit,  ^yielding  to  no 
Temedies ;  (neither  iEsculapius  nor  Plutus  can  cure  them) 
a    continual   plague,  saith  Solomon,   and  vexation  of  spirit, 
another  hell.     I  know  there  be  some  of  opinion,  that  covetous 
men  are  happy,  and  worldly-wise,  that  there  is  more  pleasure 
in  getting  wealth   than  in  spending,  and  no  delight  in  the 
world  like  unto  it.      'Twas  Bias  problem  of  old,  With  what 
art  thou  not  weary  ?  with  getting  money.      §  What  is  most 
delectable  ?  to  gain.     What  is  it,  trow  you,  that  makes  a  poor 
man  labour  all  his  life  time,  carry  such  great  burdens,  fare 
so  hardly,  macerate  himself,  and  endure  so  much  misery,  un- 
dergo such  base  offices  withso  great  patience,  to  rise  up  early, 
and  lye  down  late,  if  there  were  not  an  extraordinary  delight 
in  getting  and  keeping  of  money  ?  What  makes  a  merchant, 
that  hath   no  need,  satis  superque  domi,  to  range  over  all 


"Cap.  4.  1.  •>  lit  sit  ininnus  in  Dfum,  in  proxitniiru,  in  seipsnm.  cSi 

vero,  Crateva,  inter  ca^teras  herbanini  radices,  avaritiae  radicem  secare  posses  ania- 
ratn,  ut  ntillse  reliquia;  essent,  probe  sclto,  Sec  ^Cap.  6.  Diaetje  saliitis.  Avaritia 

est  amor  imnioderatus  pecuniw  vel  acqnirendas  vel  retinendap.  •-■  Mains  est 

morbus,  maleque  atficit  avaritia,  siqiiidein  censeo,  &c.  Avaritia  ditlinilins  curatur 
quain  insania  ;  quoniamhac  omnes  fere  iiiedici  lahorant  Hip.  ep.  Abderit.  '  Feruin 
profecto  diramque  ulcus  anirai,  remediis  non  cedens,  medendo  exasperatur.  jQua 
re  non  es  lasius  ;  Incrum  iaciendo.     Quid  maxime  delectabile?  iucrari. 

VOL.    I.  V 


168  Causefi  of  Melancholy.         [Part.  l.Sec.  2. 

the  world,  through  all  those  intemperate  *  zones  of  heat  and 
cold,  voluntarily  to  venture  his  life,  and  be  content  with  such 
miserable  famine,  nasty  usage,  in  a  stinking  ship,  if  there  were 
not  a  pleasure  and  hope  to  get  money,  which  doth  season  the 
rest, and  mitigate  his  indefatigable  pains?  What  makes  them 
o-o  into  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  an  hundred  fathom  deep,  en- 
dangering their  dearest  lives,  enduring  damps  and  filthy 
smells,  (when  they  have  enough  already,  if  they  could  be 
content,  and  no  such  cause  to  labour)  but  an  extraordinary 
delio-ht  they  take  in  riches?  This  may  seem  plausible  at  first 
shew,  a  popular  and  strong  argument:  but  let  him  that  so 
thinks,  consider  better  of  it ;  and  he  shall  soon  perceive  that 
it  is  far  otherwise  than  he  supposeth  ;  it  may  be  haply  pleas- 
ing at  the  first,  as,  most  part,  all  melancholy  is ;  for  such  men 
likely  have  some  lucida  hitervalla,  pleasant  symptomes  in- 
termixt :  but  you  must  note  that  of  ^  Chrysostom,  'tis  one 
thiuf/  to  be  rich,  another  to  be  covetous :  generally  they  are 
all  fools,  dizards,  mad-men,  '^miserable  wretches,  living  be- 
sides themselves,  sine  arte  fruendi,  in  perpetual  slavery,  fear, 
suspicion,  sorrow,  and  discontent ;  plus  aloes  quam  mellis  hu' 
bent  ;  and  are,  indeed,  rather  possessed  by  their  money,  than 
possessors;  as  "^ Cyprian  hath  it,  mancipati  pecuniis,  bound 
prentise  to  their  goods,  as  « Pliny;  or  as  Chrysostom,  servi 
divitiarum,  slaves  and  drudges  to  their  substance ;  and  we 
may  conclude  of  them  all,  as  '^Valerius  doth  of  Ptolemseus 
king  of  Cyprus,  he  rcas  in  title  a  king  of  that  island,  but  in 
his  mind,  a  miserable  drudge  of  money  : 

g  Potiore  metallis 


Libertate  carens- 


wanting  his  liberty,  which  is  better  than  gold.  Damasippus 
the  Stoick  (in  Horace)  proves  that  all  mortal  men  dote  by  fits, 
some  one  way,  some  another,  but  that  covetous  men  ^  are 
madder  than  the  rest :  and  he  that  shall  truly  look  into  their 
estates,  and  examine  their  symptomes,  shall  find  no  better  of 
them,  but  that  they  are  all  '  fools,  as  Nabal  was,  re  et  nomine 
(1  Reg,  15):  for,  what  greater  folly  can  there  be,  or  ^  mad- 
ness, than   to   macerate    himself  when   he  need  not?  and 


aExtretnos  curritmercator  ad  Indos.     Hor.  b  Horn.  2.  Aliud  avarus,  aliud 

Jives,  c  Divitiae,  ut  spinae,  animuin  hominis  timoribuSj  solicitndinibns,  ango- 

ribus*  mirifice  piingunt,  vexant,  cruciant.     Oieg.  in  Horn.  dgpist.  ad  Donat. 

cap.  2.  eLib.  9.  ep.  30.  f  Lib.  9.  cap.  4.  lusiilaB  rex  titiilo,  sed  animo 

pecunise  miserabile  mancipium.  e  Hor.  10.  lib.  1,  h  Danda  est  hellebori 

multo  pars  maxima  avaris.  '  Luke  12.  20.  Stiilte,  hac  nocte  eripiam  animam 

tuam.  ''  Opes  quidem  mortalibus  sunt  dementia.    Theog:. 


Mem.  3.  Snbs.  12.]     Covetoitsness,  a  Cause.  J  09 

when  (as  Cyprian  notes)  "  he  may  he  freed  from  his  hurdeji, 
and  eased  of  his  pains,  will  fjo  on  still,  his  tcealth  increasing, 
when  he  hath  enoiirjh,  to  (jet  more,  to  live  besides  himself,  to 
starve  his  r/enius,  keep  back  from  his  wife  ''and  children, 
neither  letting-  them  nor  other  friends  use  or  enjoy  that  which 
is  theirs  by  right,  and  which  they  much  need  perhaps  :  like  a 
hog-,  or  dog-  in  the  manger,  he  doth  only  keep  it,  because  it 
shall  do  nobody  else  good,  hurting-  himself  and  others;  and 
for  a  little  momentary  peif,  damn  his  own  soul.  They  are 
commonly  sad  and  tetrick  by  nature,asAchabs  spirit  was  be- 
cause he  could  not  get  Naboths  vineyard  (1.  Reg.  22);  and, 
if  he  lay  out  his  money  at  any  time,  though  it  be  to  necessary 
uses,  to  his  own  childrens  good,  be  brawls  and  scolds ;  his 
heart  is  heavy  ;  much  disquieted  he  is,  and  loth  to  part  from 
it :  miser  abstinet,  et  timet  nti  (Hor.)  He  is  of  a  wearish,  dry, 
pale  constitution,  and  cannot  sleep  for  cares  and  worldly  bu- 
siness; his  riches  (saith  Solomon)  will  not  let  him  sleep,  and 
unnecessary  business  which  he  heapeth  on  himself:  or,  if  ho 
dosleep, 'tisa  very  unquiet,  interrupt,  unpleasing  sleep,  with 
his  bags  in  his  arms, 

•congestis  undique  saccis 


Indormit  inhians  ; 

and,  though  he  be  at  a  banquet,  or  at  some  merry  feast,  he 
sighs  for  grief  of  heart  (as  '  Cyprian  hath  it),  and  cannot  sleep, 
though  it  be  upon  a  down  bed;  his  wearish  bodg  takes  no  rest, 
''^  troubled  in  his  abundance.,  and  sorroufnl  inplentg,  unhappu 
for  the  present,  and  more  unhappy  in  the  life  to  come  (Basil.) 
He  is  a  perpetual  drudge, ^restless  in  his  thoughts,  and  never 
satisfied,  a  slave,  a  wretch,  a  dust-worm;  semper  quod  idolo 
SKo  immolet,  sednlus  observat :  (Cypr.  prolog,  ad  sermon.)  still 
seeking  what  sacrifice  he  may  offer  to  bin  golden  god,  per  fas 
et  fief  as,  he  cares  not  how  ;  his  trouble  is  endless  :  ^  crescunt 
divitia  ;  tamen  curtcE  nescio  quidsemper  abest  rei :  his  wealth 
increaseth  ;  and  the  more  he  hath,  the  more  ^he  wants,  like 
Pharaohs  lean  kine,  which  devoured  the  fat,  and  were  not  sa- 
tisfied.    '•Austin  therefore  defines  covetousness,  quarumlibet 


Ed.  -,.  lib.  2.  Exonerare  cum  se  possit  et  relevare  ponderibus,  persnt  maris  foriiinia 
aucrentibiis  pertinaciter  incubare.  b  Non  amicis,  non  liberis,  non  ipsi  sibi  qnid- 

qnamimpertit:  possidet  ad   hoc  tantum,    ne  possidere  alteri  liceat,  &c.  Hieron.  ad 
faulin.  lam  deest quod  habet.  quam  quod  non  habet.  c  Epist   2.  lib.  2.  Suspirat 

in  convivio,  bibat  licet  gemmis,  et  to'ro  molliore  marcidum  corpus  condiderit,  visilat 
in  pluma.  d  Angnstatur  ex  abundantia,  contristatur  ex  opulentia,  infelix  pr*- 

sentibus  boms   infehcior  in  fufuris.  e  Hlorum  cogitatio  nunqnam  cessat,  qui  pecn- 

nias  supplere  diligunt      Guianer.  tract.  15.  c.  17.  f  Hor.  3.  Od.  24.  Quo  plus 

sunt  potee,  plus  sitiuntur  aqua;.  pHor.  1.  2.  Sat.  6.    O  si  angulus  ille  proxin.u, 

accedat,  qui  nunc  deformat  agellum  !  h  Lib.  3.  de  lib.  arbit.     Iramoritur  sludiis 

et  amore  senescit  habendi. 

u  2 


170  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

ferum  inhonestam  et  insatiabilem  cupiditatem^  an  unlionest 
and  unsatiable  desire  of  gain  ;  and,  in  one  of  his  epistles,  com- 
pares it  to  hell,  ^  which  devours  all,  and  yet  never  hath  enough,  a 
bottomless pit^  an  endless  misery  ;  in  quem  scopulum  avaiiticc 
cadaverosi  senes  ut  plurimum  impingunt ;  and,  that  which  is 
their  greatest  corrosive,  they  are  in  continual  suspicion,  fear,  and 
distrust.  He  thinks  his  own  wife  and  children  are  so  many 
thieves,  and  go  about  to  cozen  him,  bis  servants  are  all  false: 

Rem  suam  periisse,  seque  eradicarier, 

Et  divAm  atque  hominum  clamat  coiitinuo  fideoi, 

De  se  suo  tigillo  fumu  si  qua  exit  foras. 

If  his  doors  creek,  then  out  he  cryes  anon, 
His  goods  are  gone,  and  he  is  quite  undone. 

Timidus  Plutus,  an  old  proverb— as  fearful  as  Plutus  :  so  doth 
Aristophanes,  and  Lucian,  bring  him  in  fearful  still,  pale, 
anxious,  suspicious,  and  trusting  no  man.  ^  They  are  afraid  oj" 
tempests  J'or  their  corn,  they  are  ajraidof  their  friends,  lest 
they  should  ask  something  of  them,  beg  or  borrow  ;  they  are 
afraid  of  their  enemies,  lest  they  hurt  them  ;  thieves,  lest  they 
rob  them  ;  they  are  afraid  of  war,  and  afraid  of  peace,  afraid 
of  rich,  and  afraid  of  poor  ;  afraid  of  all.  Last  of  all,  they  are 
afraid  of  want,  that  they  shall  dye  beggars  ;  which  makes  thera 
lay  up  still,  and  dare  not  use  that  they  have  :  (what  if  a  dear 
year  come,  or  dearth,  or  some  loss  ?)  and  were  it  not  that  they 
are  loth  to  '^lay  out  money  on  a  rope,  they  would  be  hanged 
forthwith,  and  sometimes  dye  to  save  charges,  and  make  away 
themselves,  if  their  corn  and  cattle  miscarry,  though  they  have 
abundance  left,  as  '^Agellius  notes.  ^Valerius  makes  mention 
of  one,  that,  in  a  famine,  sold  a  mouse  for  two  hundred  pence, 
and  famished  himself.  Such  are  their  cares,  ^griefs  and  perpetual 
fears.  These  symptomes  are  elegantly  expressed  by  Theo- 
phrastus  in  his  character  of  a  covetous  man  :  s  lying  in  bed, 
he  asked  his  ivife  ichether  she  shut  the  trunks  and  chests  fast, 
the  capcase  be  sealed,  and  lohether  the  hall  door  be  bolted  ; 
and,  though  she  say  all  is  well,  he  riseth  out  of  his  bed  in  his 

^Avarus  vir  inferno   est  similis,  &c.  modum  non  habet,  hoc   egentior,  quo  plura 
habet.  ''Erasm.  Adag.  chil.  3.  cent.  7.  pro.  72.  Nulli  fidentes,  omnium  for- 

midant  opes  :  ideo  pavidum  malum  vocat  Euripides :  metuunt  tempestates  ob  frumen- 
tum,  amicos  ne  rogent,  initnicos  ne  laedant,  fures  ne  rapiant;  belium  timent,  pacem 
timent,  summos,  medios,  infimoa.  e  Hall  Char.  dAgellius,  lib.  3.  c.  1. 

Interdum  eo  sceleris  perveniuut,  ob  lucrum  ut  vitani  propriam  cornniutent.  *■  Lib  7. 
cap.  6.  f  Omiies  perpetuo  morbo  agitantur;  suspicatur  omnes  timidus,  sibiqueob 

aurum  insidiari  putat,  nunquam  quiescens.  Plin.  Prooem.  lib.  14.  ^Cap.  18. 

In  lecto  jacens,  interrogat  iixorem  an  arcam  probe  ciausit,  ancapsula,  &c.  E  lecto 
surgens  nudus,  et  absque  calceis,  accensa  lacerna  omnia  obiens  et  lustrans,  et  vix 
Konno  iadnlgens. 


Mem.  3.  Subs.  13.]     Love  of  Gaming,  Sfc.  171 

shirt,  barefoot^  and  hare  legged,  to  see  whether  it  he  so,  with 
a  dark  lanthorn  searching  every  corner,  scarce  sleeping  a  wink 
all  njo'ht.  Lucian,  in  that  pleasant  and  witty  dialogue  called 
Gallus,  brings  in  Micyllusthe  cobler  disputing  with  his  cock, 
sometimes  Pythagoras  ;  where,  after  much  speech  pro  and 
con,  to  prove  the  happiness  of  a  mean  estate,  and  discontents  of 
a  rich  man,  Pythagoras  his  cock  in  the  end,  to  illustrate  by 
examples  that  which  he  had  said,  brings  him  to  Gniphon  the 
usurers  house  at  mid-night,  and  after  that  to  Eucrates  ;  whom 
they  found  both  awake,  casting-  up  their  accounts,  and  telling 
of  their  money,  ''lean,  dry,  pale,  and  anxious,  still  suspecting 
lest  some  body  should  make  a  hole  through  the  wall,  and  so 
get  in ;  or,  if  a  rat  or  mouse  did  but  stir,  starting  upon  a  sud- 
den, and  running  to  the  door,  to  see  whether  all  were  fast. 
Plautus,  in  his  Aulularia,  makes  old  Euclio  ^  commanding 
Staphyla  his  wife  to  shut  the  doors  fast,  and  the  fire  to  be  put 
out,  lest  any  body  should  make  that  an  errant  to  come  to  his 
house:  when  he  washed  his  hands,  *^ he  was  loth  to  fling 
away  the  foul  water;  complaining  that  he  was  undone,  be- 
cause the  smoak  got  out  of  his  roof.  And  as  he  went  from 
home,  seeing  a  crow  scrat  upon  the  muck-hill,  returned  in  all 
haste,  taking  it  for  malum  omen,  an  ill  sign,  his  money  was 
digged  up ;  with  many  such.  He  that  will  but  observe  their 
actions,  shall  find  these  and  many  such  passages,  not  feigned 
for  sport,  but  really  performed,  verified  indeed  by  such  co- 
vetous and  miserable  wretches  ;  and  that  it  is 

— <"  manifesta  phrenesis, 

Ut  locuples  moriaris,  egenti  vivere  fatp — 

a  meer  madness,  to  live  like  a  wretch,  and  dye  rich. 


SUBSECT.  XIII. 

Xoue  of  Gaming,  ^-c.  and  Pleasures  immoderate  ;  Causes. 

XT  is  a  wonder  to  see,  how  many  poor  distressed  miserable 
wretches  one  shall  meet  almost  in  every  path  and  street  beg- 
ging for  an  alms,  that  have  been  well  descended,  and  some- 
times in  flourishing  estate,  now  ragged,  tatterred,and  ready  to 

»Curis  extenuatus,  vigilans,  ft  secum  supputans.  ^Cave,  quemqiiam  alienum 

in  aedes  intromiseris.  Ignetn  extingui  ^olo,  ne  canssae  qaidquam  sit,  quod  te  quis- 
qaam  quaeritet  Si  bona  Fortuna  veniat,  ne  intromiseris.  Occlude  sis  fores  ambobas 
pessulis.  Discnicior  animi,  quia  dome  abeundam  est  mihi.  Nimis  bercule  invitas 
abeo;  nee,  quid  agam,  scio.  <"  Plorat  aquara  profundere,  &c.  periit  dum  fumns 

de  tigUlo  exit  foras.  <*  Juv.  Sat,  14. 


172  Causes  of  Melancholy.         [Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

be  starved,  lingring  out  a  painful  life,  in  discontent  and  g-rief 
of  body  and  mind,  and  all  through  immoderate  lust,  gaming, 
pleasure,  and  riot.     'Tis  the  common  end  of  all  sensual  Epi- 
cures and  brutish  prodigals,  thatare  stupified  and  carried  away 
headlong  with  their  several  t)leasures  and  lusts.    Cebes,  in  his 
table,  S.  Ambrose,  in  his  second  book  of  Abel  and  Cain,  and, 
amongst  the  rest,  Lucian,   in  his  tract  de  Mercede  condnctis, 
hath  excellent  well  deciphered  such  mens  proceedings  in  his 
picture  of  Opnleniia,  whom  he  feigns  to  dwell  on  the  top  of  a 
high  mount,  much  sought  after  by  many  suiters.  At  their  first 
coming,  they  are  generally  entertained  by  Pleasure  and  Dalli- 
ance, and  have  all  the  content  that  possibly  may  be  given,  so 
long  as  their  money  lasts ;  but,  when  their  means  fail,  they 
are  contemptibly  thrust  out  at  a  back  door,  headlong,  and 
there  left  to  Shame,  Reproach,  Despair.     And  he,  at  first  that 
had  so  many  attendants,  parasites,  and  followers,  young  and 
lusty,  richly  array'd,  and  all  the  dainty  fare  that  might  be  had, 
with  all  kind  of  welcome  and  good  respect,  is  now  upon  a 
sudden  stript  of  all,  ^pa'e,  naked,  old,  diseased,  and  forsaken, 
cursing  his  stars,  and  ready  to  strangle  himself;  having  no 
other  company   but  Repentance,  Sorrow,  GrieJ]  Derision, 
lieggerif,  and  Contempl,  which  are  his  daily  attendants  to  his 
lives  end.  As  the  ''prodigal  sou  had  exquisite  musick,  merry 
company,  dainty  fare  at  first,  but  a  sorrowful  reckoning  in 
the  end ;  so  have  all  such  vain  delights  and  their  followers. 
^  Tristes   voluptatum  e.ritus,  nt  qidsquis  volnptatum  suarum 
reminisci  volet,  infellifjcf :  as  bitter  as  gall  and  wormwood  is 
their  last ;  grief  of  mind,  madness   it   self.       The  ordinary 
rocks  upon  which  such  men  do  impinge  and  precipitate  them- 
selves, are  cards,  dice,  hawks,  and  hounds,  Qnsanum  venandi 
studium,  one  calls  it — insanw  suhstructiones)  their  mad  struc- 
tures, disports,    playes,    &c.    when  they   are  unseasonably 
used,  imprudently  handled,   and  beyond   their  fortunes. — 
Some  men  are  consumed  by  mad  phantastical  buildings,  by 
making  galleries,  cloisters,  terraces,  walks,  orchards,  gardens, 
pools,    rillets,  bowers,    and    such  like  places  of    pleasure, 
(inuiiles  domos,  '^  Xenophon   calls   them)  which  howsoever 
they  be  delightsome   things  in  themselves,  and  acceptable 
to  all   beholders,  an   ornament,  and    befitting  some  great 
men,  yet    unprofitable  to  others,  and  the  sole  overthrow  of 
their  estates.     Forestus,  in  his  observations,  hath  an  example 
of  such  a  one  that  became  melancholy  upon  the  like  occa- 
sion,   having  consumed  his   substance    in   an   unprofitable 

^  Veniricosiis,  niidiis,  pallidiis,  Iseva  pudorem  occultans,  dextra  seipsum  strangu- 
Inns.  Occiirrit  antem  exeiinti  Poenitentia,  his  iniserum  conficiens,  &c.  ^  Luke,  15. 
c  Boefhins  •!  In  Oilcoiioiii.     Quid  si  nuuc  ostendam  eos  qui  magna  vi  argenti 

doinas  iiiulilfs  fedificant?  iuqirit  Socrates. 


Mem.  3.  Subs.  13.]      Love  of  Gaming,  ^-c.  173 

building-,  wbicb  would  afterward  yield  him  no  advantaore. 
Others,  I  say,  are  ^overthrown  by  those  mad  snorts  ofhawk- 
iu""  and  hunting- — honest  recreations,  and  fit  for  some  great 
men,  but  not  for  every  base  inferiour  person.       Whilst  they 
will  maintain  their  faulkoner,  dogs,  and  hunting  nags,  their 
wealth  (saith  ''Salnmtze)  nois  mcay  with  hounds,  and  their 
fortunes  ffye  away  tcith  haicks :  they  persecute  beasts  so  long, 
till,  in  tlie  end,  they  themselves  degenerate  into  beasts  (as 
'^  Agrippa  taxeth  them),  '*  Actseon  like;  for,  as  he  was  eaten  to 
death  by  his  own  dogs,  so  do  they  devour  themselves  and  their 
patrimonies,  in  such  idle  and  unnecessary  disports,  neglecting 
in  the  mean  time  their  more  necessary  business,  awd  to  follow 
their  vocations.    Over-mad  too  sometimes  are  our  great  men 
in  delighting  and  doting  too    much  on  it;  ^when  they  drive 
poor  h^ishandmenj'rom  their  tillage  (as  *  Sarisburiensis  objects, 
Polycrat.  l.  1.  c.  4),  fling  doivn  comitrey  J'arms,  and  whole 
totcns,  to  make  parks  andjorests,  starving  ineii  to  feed  beasts, 
and  ^punishing  in  the  mean  time  such  a  man  that  shall  molest 
their  game,  more  severely  than  him  that  is  otherwise  a  common 
hacker,  or  a  notorious  thief.     But  great  men  are  some  wayes 
to  be  excused  ;  the  meaner  sort  have   no  evasion  why  they 
should  not  be  counted  mad.    Poggius,  the  Florentine,  tells  a 
merry  story  to  this  purpose,  condemning  the  folly  and  imper- 
tinent business  of  such  kind  of  persons.     A  physician  of  Mi- 
lan, (saith  he)  that  cured  mad  men,  had  a  pit  of  water  in  his 
house,  in  which  he  kept  his  patients,  some  up  to  the  knees, 
some  to  the  girdle,   some  to  the  chin,  pro  modo  insanice,  as 
they  were  more  or  less  affected.    One  of  them  by  chance,  that 
was  well  recovered,  stood  in  the   door,  and  seeing*  a  gallant 
ride  by  with  a  hawk  on  his  fist,  well  mounted,  with  his  spa- 
niels after  him,  would  needs  know  to  what  use  all  this  prepa- 
ration served.  He  made  answer  to  kill  certain  fowl.     The  pa- 
tient demanded  again,  what  his  fowl  might  be  Avorth,  which 
he  killed  in  a  year.  Hereplyed,  five  or  ten  crowns;  and  when 
he  urged  him  further  what  his  dogs,  horse,  and  hawks,  stood 


» Sarisburiensis,  Polycrat  1.  1.  c.  4.  Venatores  omnes  adhuc  institutionem  redolent 
Centaurorum.  Raro  invenitur  quisquam  eoram  modestus  et  gravis,  raro  continens,  et, 
ut  credo,  sobrius  anquam.  ^  Pancirol.  Tit.  23.  Avolant  opet:  cum  accipitre. 

'■  Insignis  venatorum  stultitia,  et  supervacanea  cura  eoruni,  qui,  dum  nimiuDi  venati- 
oni  insistunt,  ipsi,  abjecta  omni  humanitate,  in  feras  degenerant,  ut  Actseon,  &c. 
d  Sabin.  in  Ovid.  Met  « Agrippa,  de  vanit.  scient     Insannni  venandi  studium, 

dum  a  novalibus  arcentur,  agricolje,  subtrabunt  praedia  rusticis,  agri  coloois  praeclu- 
dimtar,  sylvan  et  prata  pastoribus,  ut  augeanturpascuaferis. — Majestafis  reus  agricola, 
si  gustarit.  f  A  novalibus  snis  arcentur  agricolae,  dum  ferae  baheant  vagandi 

libertatera :  istis  ut  pascua  augeantur,  praedia  subtrahunlur,  &c.  .Sarisburiensis. 
v  Feris  quam  hominibus  squiores.  Cambd.  de  Ciiiil.  Conq.  qui  36  ecclesias  matrices 
depopulatus  est  ad  Forestam  Novam.      31at.  Paris. 


174  Causes  of  Melancholy.         [Part.  1.  Sec.  9. 

him  in,  L'e  told  him  four  hundred  crowns.  With  that  the  pa- 
tient bad  him  be  gone,  as  he  loved  his  life  and  welfare  ;  "  for, 
if  our  master  come  and  find  tliee  here,  he  will  put  thee  in  the 
pit  amongst  mad  men,  up  to  the  chin  ;"  taxing  the  madness 
and  folly  of  surh  vain  men,  that  spend  themselves  in  those 
idle  sports,  neolecting  their  business  and  necessary  affairs. 
Leo  Decimus,  tltat  hunting*  pope,  is  much  discommended  by 
'  Jovius  in  his  life,  for  his  inunoderate  desire  of  hawking-  and 
hunting,  in  so  much,  that  (as  he  saith)  he  would  sometimes 
live  about  Ostia  iveeks  an  moneths  together,  leave  suiters 
^  unrespected,  bulls  and  pardons  unsigned,  to  his  own  preju- 
dicCj  and  many  private  mens  loss  :  '^and,  if  he  had  been  by 
chance  crossed  in  his  sporty  or  his  game  not  so  good,  he  was  so 
impatient  that  he  would  revile  and  miscall  many  times  men  of 
great  worth  ivith  most  bitter  taunts,  look  so  sowr,  be  so  angry 
and  icaspish,  so  grieved  and  molested,  that  it  is  incredible  to 
relate  it.  But,  if  he  had  good  sport,  and  been  well  pleased 
on  the  other  side,  incredibili  mumficentid,  with  unspeakable 
bounty  and  munificence,  he  would  reward  all  his  fellow  hun- 
ters, and  deny  nothing  fo  any  suiter,  when  he  was  in  that 
mood.  To  say  truth,  'tis  the  common  humour  of  all  gamesters, 
as  Galatseus  observes:  if  they  win,  no  men  living  are  so  jo- 
vial and  merry;  but,  ''ifthey  lose,  though  it  be  but  a  trifle, 
two  or  three  games  at  tables,  or  dealings  at  cards  for  two 
pence  a  game,  they  are  so  cholerick  and  testy,  that  no  man 
may  speak  with  them,  and  break  many  times  into  violent 
passion*!,  oaths,  imprc^-^tions,  and  unbeseeming  speeches, 
little  differing  from  mad  men  for  the  time.  Generally  of  all 
gamesters  and  gaming,  if  it  be  excessive,  thus  much  we  may 
conclude,  that,  whether  they  win  or  lose  for  the  present,  their 
winnings  are  not  mnnera  J'ortunce,  sed  insidice,  as  that  wise 
Seneca  determines — not  fortunes  gifts,  but  baits;  the  com- 
mon catastrophe  is  ^beggery:  ^ut  pestis  vitam,  sic  adimit 
alea  pecuniam  ;  as  the  plague  takes  away  life,  so  doth  gaming 
goods  ;  for  ^omnes  nndi,  inopes  et  egeni; 

h  Alea  Scylla  vorax,  species  certissima  furti, 

Non  coiitenta  bonis,  animum  quoque  perfida  mergit, 

Fceda,  furax,  iniamis,  iiiers,  furiosa,  ruina. 

'^Tom.  2.  f^e  vitis  illiistrium,  1.  4.  de  vit.  Leon.  10.  l' Venationibus  adeo 

pprdite  sludebat  et  aucnpiis.  <■  Aut  infeliciter  venatus,  tarn  impatiens  inde,  ut 

siitnmos  ssepe  viros  acerbissiniis  conlumeliis  oneraret ;  et  incredibile  est,  quali  vultus 
atiiiiiique  hahitn  dolorem  iracundiamqiie  preferret,  &cc.  d  Unicuique  auteui 

hoc  a  nntuia  iiisituni  est,  nt  doleat,  sicubi  eriaverit  aut  deceptus  sit.  ^  Jiiven. 

S-.it  8.  Nee  enim  locnlis  comifantibus  itnr  ad  casum  tabulae  ;  posita  sed  luditurarca. — 
liemnius,  instit.  c.  44.  Mendaciorum  quidetn,  et  perjuriorum,  et  panpertatis,  mater  est 
aiea  :  iiiiflam  habens  patrimonii  reverentiam,  quum  illud  effuderit,  sensim  in  furta 
di'lnbitur  et  rapinas.     Saris.  Polycrat.  1.  1.  c.  5.  f  Damhoderns.  ?  Dan. 

SoHter.  1'  Petrar.  dial.  27. 


Mem.  3.  J^ubs.  13.]         Love  oJ'G(wiing,  Sfc.  175 

For  a  little  pleasure  they  take,  and  some  small  grains  and  get- 
tings  now  and  then,  their  wives  and  children  are  wringed  in  the 
meantime:  and  they  themselves,  with  the  loss  of  bofly  and  soul, 
rue  it  in  the  end.  I  will  say  nothing  of  those  prodigious  pro- 
digals, ^ perdendce  pecuniw  (fp)iitos,  (as  he  taxed  Anthony)  qui 
patrimoninm  sine  iillaj'ori  cnlnmmd  amittnnt,  (saith  ''Cyprian) 
and  <^  mad  Sybaritical  spendthrifts,  qmqvennd  comedimt  patri- 
monia  ca;na ;  that  eat  np  all  at  a  breakfast,  at  a  supper,  or 
amongst  bauds,  parasites,  and  pla}  ers  ;  consume  themselves 
in  an  instant,  (as  if  they  had  flung  it  into  ''Tyber)  with  great 
wagers,  vain  and  idle  expences,  &c.  not  themselves  only, but 
even  all  their  friends ;  as  a  man  t^esperately  swimming  drowns 
him  that  comes  to  help  him,  by  suretiship  and  borrowing  they 
Avill  willingly  undo  all  their  associates  and  allies  ;  ^iratipecu- 
niis,  as  he  saith — angry  with  their  money.  ^  What  tcifh  a  wan- 
ton eye,  a  fiqnorish  fonf/ne,  avd  a  f/amesome  hand,  when  they 
have  nndiscreeily  impoverished  themselves,  mortgaged  their 
wits  together  with  their  lands,  and  entombed  their  ancestors 
fair  possessions  in  their  bowels,  they  may  lead  the  rest  of  their 
dayes  in  prison,  as  many  times  they  do,  they  repent  at 
leisure  :  and,  when  all  is  gone,  begin  to  be  thrifty  :  but  sera 
est  injundo  parsimonia  ;  'tis  then  too  late  to  look  about ;  their 
s  end  is  misery,  sorrosv,  shame,  and  discontent.  And  well  they 
deserve  to  be  infamous  and  discontent,  ^  catamuliarr  in  amphi- 
theatro,  (as  by  Adrian  the  emperours  edict  they  were  of  old ; 
decoctores  ho.ioruin  snornm  ;  so  he  calls  them — prodigal  fools) 
to  be  publickly  shamed,  and  hissed  out  of  all  societies,  rather 
than  to  be  pitied  or  relieved.  'The  TuscanJ^  and  Boeotians 
brought  their  bankrupts  into  the  market  place  in  a  bier,  with 
an  empty  purse  carried  before  them,  all  the  bojes  followino-, 
where  they  sat  all  day,  cirrvmstante  plehe,  to  be  infamous 
and  ridiculous.  At  ^  Padua,  in  Italy,  they  have  a  stone  called 
the  stone'of  turpitude,  near  the  senate  house,  M'here  spend- 
thrifts, and  such  as  disclaim  nonpayment  of  debts,  do  sit  with 
-their  hinder  parts  bare,  that,  by  that  note  of  disgrace,  others 
may  be  terrified  from  all  such  vain  expence,  or  borrowing 
more  ihr.n  they  can  tell  how  to  pay.  The  'civilians  of  old 
set  guardians  over  such  brain-sick  prodigals,  as  they  did  over 
mad-men,  to  nioderate  their  expences,  that  they  should  not 
so  loosely  consume  their  fortunes,  to  the  utter  undoing  of 
their  families. 

^  Sallust.  ''Tom.  3.  S^r.  de  alea  "Plutiis,  in  Aristopli.  calls  all  such 

gamesters  nitul  men  ;  Si  in  ins^inum  liotiiinem  contis^ero.  Sponfanenm  ad  se  trahunt 
fiiroreni :  et  os.  et  nares,  et  ociilos,  rivos  facimit  fiiroris  et  diversona.  Chrys.  horn.  71. 
''Paschasins  Jtistns,  1.  1.  de  alea.  f  Seneca.  'Hall.  e'ln  Sat.  11. 

Sed  denciente  cniniena,  et  rrescente  gula,  qnis  te  manet  exitus — rebus  in  ventre'm 
mersi^?  "Spartian.  Adiiano  i  Alex.  ah.  Alfx.  I.  fi.  r.  10.     Idem  Geibelius, 

1.  3.  Gra;.  di^r.  >>  Fines  Moris.  'Justinian,  in  Diirestis. 


176  Causes  oj  Melancholy.        [Part.  1.  Sec-  2. 

I  may  not  here  omit  those  two  main  plagues,  and  common 
dotages  of  humane  kind,  wine  and  women,  which  have  in- 
fatuated and  besotted  myriads  of  people.  They  go  commonly 
together. 

^Qui  vino  indulget,  quemque  alea  decoquit,  iUe 
In  Venerem  putris. 

To  whom  is  sorrow,  saith  Solomon,  (Prov.  23.  39.)  to  whom  is 
wo,  but  to  such  a  one  as  loves  drink?  It  causeth  torture,  (vino 
tortus  et  ira)  and  bitterness  of  mind  (Sirac.  31.  21).  Vinnm 
y)/ro7'is,  Jeremy  calls  it  {chap.  15),  wine  of  madness,  as  well  he 
may  ;  for  hisanire  facit sanos,  it  makes  sound  men  sick  and  sad, 
and  wise  men  ''mad,  to  say  and  do  they  know  not  what.  Ac' 
cidit  hoclie  terribilis  casus  (saith  ^  St.  Austin)  :  hear  a  miser- 
able accident :  Cyrillus  son  this  day,  in  his  drink,  matremprwg- 
nantem  nequiter  oppressity  sororem  violare  voluit,patrem  occidit 
fere,  et  duas  alias  sorores  ad  mortem  vulneravit — would  have 
violated  his  sister,  killed  his  father,  &c.  A  true  saying  it  was  of 
him,  vino  dari  Icetitiam  et  dolorem;  drink  causeth  mirth,  and 
drink  causeth  sorrow  ;  drink  cmxHeih  poverty  and  want,  (Prov. 
2 1 .)  shame  and  disgrace.  J\Iulti  ignobiles  evasere  oh  vini  potum^ 
Sfc.  (Austin)  amissis  honoribus,  proj'nc/i  aberrdrnnt :  many 
men  have  made  shipwrack  of  their  fortunes,  and  go  like  rogues 
and  beggars,  having  turned  all  their  substance  into  anrum 
potabile,  that  otherwise  might  have  lived  in  good  worship  and 
happy  estate  ;  and,  for  a  few  hours  pleasure  (for  their  Hilary 
term's  but  short),  or  "^J'ree  madness  (as  Seneca  calls  it),  pur- 
chase unto  themselves  eternal  tediousness  and  trouble. 

That  other  madness  is  on  women.  .^postatare  facit  cor, 
(saith  the  wise  man)  *  atque  homini  cerherum  minuit.  Pleasant 
at  first  she  is  (like  Dioscorides  Rhododaphne,  that  fair  plant 
to  the  eye,  but  poyson  to  the  taste) ;  the  rest  as  bitter  as 
wormwood  in  the  end,  (Prov.  5.  4)  and  sharp  as  a  two-edged 
sword  (7.  21).  Her  house  is  the  way  to  hell,  and  goes  down 
to  the  chambers  oJ' death.  What  more  sorrowful  can  be  said? 
They  are  miserable  in  this  life,  mad,  beasts,  led  like  ^  oxen  to 
the  slaughter :  and  (that  which  is  worse)  whoremasters  and 
drunkards  shall  be  judged;  amittunt  gratiam,  (saith  Austin) 
perdunt  gloriam,  incurrunt  damnationem  (jeternam.  They  lose 
grace  and  glory  : 

— s  brevis  ilia  voluptas 

Abroo;at  seternum  coeli  decus. ■ 

they  gain  hell  and  eternal  damnation. 

"Persins,  Sat.  5.  bPocnliim  quasi  sinus,  in  quo  saepe  naufragiura  faciunt,  jac- 

tiirft  tuoi  pecuniae  tuna  mentis.  Erasm.  in  Prov.  Calicnm  remiges.  chil.  4.  cent.  7.  Pro. 
41.  <■  Ser.  33.  adiVat.  in  Eremo.  >' Liberas  iinius  horse  insaniam  aeterno 

teniporis  taedio  pensaut.  cMenander.  f  Prov,  5.  ? Merlin,  Cocc. 


Mem.'S.  Subs.  14.]     Philautia,  or  Self-love,  Sj-c.  177 


SUBSECT.  XIV. 

Philautia,   or  Self-love,  Vain-glory,  Praise,   Honour,  Immo- 
derate Applause,  Pride,  over-viuch  Joy,  dfc.  Causes. 

J^ELF-LOVE,  pride, and  vain-glory,  ^ccecns  amor  sni,  (which 
Chrysostoiiie  calls  one  of  the  devils  three  great  nets;  ''Bernard, 
an  arrow  which  pierceth  the  soul  through,  and  slayes  it ;  a 
sly  insensible  enemy,  not  perceived)  m'd  main  causes.  Where 
neither  anger,  lust,  covetousness,  fear,  sorrow,  &c.  nor  any 
other  perturbation,  can  lay  hold,  this  will  slily  and  insensibly 
pervert  us.  Quern  non  gula  vicit,  philautia  superavit  (saith 
Cyprian) :  whom  surfeiting  could  not  overtake,  self-love  hath 
overcome.  '  He  hath  scorned  all  money,  bribes,  gifts,  up- 
right otheru'ise  and  sincere,  hath  inserted  himself'  to  no  fond 
imagination,  and  sustained  all  those  tyrannical  concupiscences 
of  the  body,  hath  lost  all  his  honour,  captivated  by  vain-glory. 
(Chrysostoni.  sup.  Jo.)  Tu  sola  auimum  mentemoue  peruris^ 
f/loria:  a  great  assault,  and  cause  of  our  present  malady — 
although  we  do  most  part  neglect,  take  no  notice  of  it,  yet  this 
is  a  violent  battererofoursoulsjcausethmelancholy  and  dotage. 
This  pleasing"  humour,  this  soft  and  whispering  popular  air, 
amabilis  insania,  this  delectable  frensie,  most  irrefragable  pas- 
sion, mentis  grutissimus error,  this  acceptable  disease,  which  so 
sweetlysets  upon  us,  ravishethoursenses, lulls  oursouls  asleep, 
puffs  up  our  hearts  as  so  many  bladders,  and  that  without  all 
feeling,  ''  in  so  much  as  those  that  are  misajfected  ivith  it ,  never 
so  much  as  once  perceive  it,  or  think  of  any  cure.  We  com- 
monly love  him  best  in  this  "^  malady,  that  doth  us  most  harm, 
and  are  very  willing  to  be  hurt :  adulationibus  nostris  libenter 
favemus  (saith  'Jerome)  :  we  love  him,  we  love  him  for  it  : 
s  O  Bonciari,  suave,  suave fuit  a  te  tali  hcec  tribui ;  'twas  sweet 
to  hear  it ;  and,  as  ''Pliny  doth  ingenuously  confess  to  his  dear 
friend  Augurinus,  all  thy  icritings  are  most  acceptable,  but 
those  especially  that  speak  of  us :  again,  a  little  after  to  Maxi- 
uius,  '  /  cannot  express  hoiv  pleasing  it  is  to  me  to  hear  my 


aHor.  ''Sagitta,  quop  aiiimam  penetrat,  le\iter  penetrat,  sed  noaleve  infligit 

valniis.  sup.  cant.  "-"Qui  omiiem  pecuuiarum  contemtum  ha  bent,  et  nuUi  iniagina- 

tioni  totius  tnundi  se  immiscuerint,  et  tyrannicas  corporis  concupiscentias  sustinuerint, 
hi  mnltotics,  cajiti  a  vanii  g:loria,  omnia  perdiderunt.  <'  Hac  correpti  non  co^- 

tant  deiiiedtlA.  "^  Di,  taleui  a  terris  avertite  pe.stem.  '' Ep.  ad  Eiisto- 

cliium,  de  rustod.  virgin.  -'Lips.  Ep.  ad  Bonciarinni.  •'  Ep.  lib.  9.  Omnia 

tiia  scripla  (lulrberrinia  existimo,  maxiine  famen  ilia  qunc  de  nobis.  'Exprimere 

iiuu  posbuni,  quHui  sit  jurunduui,  &,c. 


178  Ciiuses  of  Melancholy.         [Fart.  I .  Sec.  2. 

self  commended.  Thoug-h  we  smile  lo  ourselves,  at  least  ironi- 
cally, v/hen  parasites  bedawb  us  with  false  encomions,  as  many 
princes  cannot  chuse  but  do,  qnum  tale  quid  nihil  intra  se  re- 
pererint,  when  they  know  they  come  as  far  short,  as  a  mouse 
to  an  elephant,  of  any  such  vertues  ;  yet  it  doth  us  good. 
Though  we  seem  many  times  to  be  angry,  ^and  hlnsh  at  our 
own  praises.,  yet  our  souls  inwardly  rejoice:  it  puffs  us  up  ; 
''tisjallax  suavitas,  blandus  dcemon,  makes  us  swell  beyond  our 
hounds, and Jorr/et  our  selves.  Hertwo  daughters  are  lightness 
of  mind,  immoderate  joy  and  pride,  not  excluding  those  other 
concomitant  vices,  which  "^  Jodocus  Lorichius  reckons  up  — 
bragging,  hypocrisie,  pievishness,  and  curiosity. 

Now  the  common  cause  of  this  mischief  ariseth  from  our 
selves  or  others  :  '^  we  are  active  and  passive.  It  proceeds  in- 
wardly from  our  selves,  as  we  are  active  causes,frora  an  over- 
weening conceit  we  have  of  our  good  parts,  own  worth,  (which 
indeed  is  no  v,  orth)  our  bounty,  favour,  grace,  valour,  strength, 
wealth,  patience,  meekness,  hospitality,  beauty,  temperance, 
gentry,  knowledge,  wit,  science,  art,  learning,  our ''excellent 
gifts  and  fortunes,  for  which  (Narcissus  like)  we  admire,  flat- 
ter and  applaud  our  selves,  and  think  all  the  world  esteems 
so  of  us;  and,  as  deformed  women  easily  believe  those  that 
tell  them  they  be  fair,  we  are  too  credulous  of  our  own  good 
parts  and  praises,  too  well  persM'aded  of  ourselves.  We  brag 
and  vendicate  our  ^  own  works,  (and  scorn  all  others  in  respect 
of  us  ;  infiati  scientid,  saith  Paul)  our  wisdom,  'our  learning: 
all  our  g'eese  are  swans :  and  we  as  basely  esteem  and  vilifie 
other  mens,  as  we  do  over-highly  prize  and  value  our  own. 
We  will  not  suffer  them  to  be  in  secundis,  no  not  in  tertiis  ; 
what !  mecum  confertur  Ulysses  ?  they  are  mures,  musca:,  cu- 
lices,  prce  se,  nitts  and  flies  compared  to  his  inexorable  and 
sui^ercilious,  eminent  and  arrogant  worship ;  though  indeed 
they  be  far  i.efore  him.  Only  wise,  only  rich,  only  fortunate, 
valorous,  and  fair,  puffed  up  with  this  tympany  of  self-con- 
ceit, as  the  proud  ?  Pharisee,  they  are  not  (as  they  suppose) 
like  other  men,  of  a  purer  and  more  precious  metal  :  ^  Soli 
rei.  gerendce  S7inf  efficaces  (which  that  wise  Periander  held 
of  such)  :  ■  jneditantur  omne  qui  prius  nefjotium,  Sfc.  Novi 
quemdam  (saith  ^  Erasmus)  I  knew  one  so  arrogant  that  he 


aHieron.   Et,  licet  nos  indignos  dicimns,  et  calidus  rubor  ora  perfundat,  attamenad 
landein  suain  intrinsecns  animae  la;tantur.  bThesaiir.  Theo.  cNec  euim 

mihi  cornea  fibra  est.     Per.  d  E  tnanibus  iliis  Inascentur  violae.  Pers.  1.  Sat. 

e  Omnia  enim  nostra  supra  modum  placent.  fFab.  1. 10.  c.  3.     Ridentur,  mala 

oni  componunt  carmina  :  veruin  Gaudent  scribentes,  et  se  venerantur,  et  nltro.  Si  ta- 
ceas  landaut  quidqiiid  scripsere,  beati.    Hor.Ep  2.1.1.         g  Luke  18.  10.  h  De 

ineliore  luto  fiuxit  prsBcordia  Titan.  'Anson,  sap.  k  Chil.  3.  cent.  19.  pro. 

97.     Qui  se  crederet  nemineni  uUa  in  re  prac-stantiorem. 


Mem.  3.  Subs.  14.]      Philantin,  or  Self-love,  t^e.  J79 

thought  himself  inferiour  to  no  man  living,  like  *  Callisthenes 
the  philosopher,  that  neither  held  Alexanders  acts,  or  any 
other  subject,  worthy  of  his  pen,  such  was  his  insolency  ;  or 
Seleucus,  king  of  Syria,  who  thought  none  fit  to  contend  with 
him  but  the  Romans ;  ''  eos  solos  dir/nos  ratus  (jnibuscitm  de 
imperio  certaret.  That  which  TuUy  writ  to  Afticus  lono- 
since,  is  still  in  force — "there  teas  never  yet  true  poet  or 
orator,  that  tho7ifjlit  any  other  better  than  himself'.  And  such, 
for  the  most  part,  are  your  princes,  potentates,  great  philoso- 
phers, historiographers,  authors  of  sects  or  heresies,  ar;d  all 
our  great  scholars,  as'^Hierom  defines:  a  natural  pMlo go- 
pher is  glories  creature,  and.  a  very  slave  of  rumour,  J'mne, 
and  popular  opinion :  and,  though  they  write  de  contemptu 
gloria:,  yet  (as  he  observes)  they  will  put  their  names  to  their 
books.  J  obis  etj'ama;  me  semper  dedi,  saitli  Trebellius  Pollio, 
I  have  wholly  consecrated  my  self  to  you  and  fame.  'Tis  all 
my  desire,  night  and  day,  'tis  all  my  study  to  raise  my  name. 
Proud  •'Pliny  seconds  him  ;  Qnamquam  O  !  3fc.  and  that  vain- 
glorious ^' orator  is  not  ashamed  to  confess  in  an  Epistle  of  his 
to  Marcus  Lecceius,  ardeo  incredibili  cupidtate,  d\-c.  I  burn 
with  an  incredible  desire  to  have  my  "  name  rec/istred  in  thy 
book.  Out  of  this  fountain  proceeds  all  those  cracks  and  braori, 

^  speranms   car mani  fingi  posses   linenda  cedro,  et  Icevi 

servanda  cupresso '  Non   usitatd    uec  tenui  ferar  pennd 

nee  in  terra  morabor  longius.     JVil  parvum  aut  humili 

modo,  nil  mortale,  loquor.      Dicar,  qua  violens  obstrepit  Au- 

Jidus. Exegi  moniimentiim  asre  perennius. — Jamque  opus 

exegi,  quod  nee  Jovis  ira,  nee  ignis,  <^''c.  cum  venit  ilia  dies, 
4'C.  parte  tamen  nvliore  mei  super  alta  perennis  astra  ferar, 
nomenque  erit  indelebile  nostrum — (This  of  Ovid  1  have  para- 
phrased in  English — 


And  when  I  am  dead  and  gone, 
My  corps  laid  under  a  stone, 
My  l;inie  shall  yet  survive, 
And  1  shall  be  alive, 
la  these  niy  works  for  ever. 
My  glory  shall  persever,  &c.) 


ftTanto  fastu  scripsit,  ut  Alexandri  gest;t  inferiora  scriptis  siiis  existinir^et.     Jo; 
Vossius,  lib.  1.  ciip.  9.  de  hist.  b  Plutarch.  \  it.  Cati.nis.  i-Neiiio  un- 

qtiam  poela  aut  orator,  qui  queniquam  sp  nieliorem  arbitraretur.  d  Consol.  ad 

Parainachiuiu.     Miindi  philosophiis,  glorias  'ninial,  et  popularisaiira- et  ruinoriini  veiiale 
mancipiiini.  f  Epist.  5.  Capitoni  siio.     Diebus  ac  noctibiis,  hoc  solum  cosito,  si 

qua  me  po.ssum  levare  homo.     Id  vote  meo  .siiflficit,  &c.  'Tullius.  g  Ut  no- 

men  meiim  scriptis  tuis  illustretur.  — Inqnics   animus  studio  :eternitatis  noctes  et  dies 
angebatur.     Heinsius,  orat  fiineb.  de  Seal.  ''Hor.  art.  Poet.  'Od.  uit.  1.  3, 

Jamque  opus  exegi — Vade,  liber  felix  !  Palingen.  lib.  ]S. 


ISO  Cmises  of  Melancholy.         [Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

and  that  of  Ennius, 

Nemo  me  lachrymis  decoret,  neque  funeral  fletu 
Faxit:  cur  ?  volito  vivu'  docta  per  ora  virum. — 

with  many  such  proud  strains,  and  foolish  flashes,  too  common 
with  writers.  Not  so  much  as  Democharis  on  the  ^Topicks, 
but  he  will  be  immortal.  Typotius,  deJamcUah^W  be  famous; 
and  well  he  deserves,  because  he  writ  of  fame ;  and  every 
trivial  poet  must  be  renowned, 

— — plausuque  petit  clarescere  vulgi. 

This  puflin^  humour  it  is,  that  hath  produced  so  many  great 
tomes,  built  such  famous  monuments,  strong  castles,  and 
Mausolean  tombs,  to  have  their  acts  eternized, 

Digito  monstrari,  et  dicier,  "  Hic  est!" 

to  see  their  names  inscribed,  as  Phryne  on  the  walls  ofThebes, 
Phryne  fecit.     This  causeth  so  many  bloody  battles, 

et  noctes  cogit  vigilare  serenas  ; 

long  journeys. 

Magnum  iter  intendb ;  sed  dat  mihi  gloria  vires 

gaininghonour,  a  little  applause,  pride,  self-glory,  vain-glory— 
that  is  it  which  makes  them  take  such  pains,  and  break  out 
into  those  ridiculous  strains,  this  high  conceit  of  themselves,  to 
•*  scorn  all  others,  ridiculo  Jastu  et  intolerando  contemtu,  (as 
^  Palffimon  the  grammarian  contemned  Varro,  secum  et  natas 
et  moriiuras  literas  jactans)  and  brings  them  to  that  height  of 
insolency,  that  they  cannot  endure  to  be  contradicted,  ^or  hear 
of  any  thing  hnt  their  own  commendation,  which  Hierom 
notes  of  such  kind  of  men  :  and  (as  *  Austin  well  seconds  him) 
"'tis  their  sole  stndy,  day  and  night,  to  be  commended  and  ap- 
plauded; when  as  indeed,  in  all  wise  mens  judgements,  quibus 
cor  sapit,  they  are  ^mad,  empty  vessels,  funges,  beside  them- 
selves, derided,  et  id  camelns  in  proverbio,  quasrens  cornua^ 
etiam  quas  habebat  anres  amisit  ;  their  works  are  toyes,  as  an 
almanack  out  of  date,  §  aucloris  pereunt  garrulitate  sui  ;  they 
seek  fame  and  immortality,  but  reap  dishonour  and  infamy ; 
they  are  a  common  obloquy,  insensati,  and  come  far  short  of 
that  which  they  suppose  or  expect.     C'  O  puer,  nt  sis  vitalis, 

ainlib.  8.  bj)e  ponte  dejicere."  <^  Siieton.  lib.  de  gram.  d  Nihil 

libenter  audiunt,  nisi  laudes  suas.  ^Epigt.  56.  Nihil  aliud  dies  noctesqne  co- 

gitant,  nisi  ut  in  studiis  siiis  laudentur  ab  hominihus.  fQuas  major  dementia 

aut  dici  aut  excogitari  potest,  quam  sic  ob  gloriam  cruciari  ?  Insaniam  istam,  Do-- 
mine,  longe  fac  a  me.     Austin,  conf.  lib.  10,  cap.  .37.  E  Mart.  1.  5.  51. 

I'Hor.  Sat.  1.1.2, 


Mom.  3.  Subs.  14.]      Vain-glon/,  PrideyJoy,  Praise.        181 

metuo.)  Of  so  many  myriads  of  poets,  rhetoricians,  philoso- 
phers, sophisters,  (as  *  Eusebius  mcU  observes)  which  have 
written  in  former  as^es,  scarce  one  of  a  thousands  works  re- 
mains ;  nomina  et  Uhrisimul  cum  corporibns inter iprunt ;  their 
books  and  bodies  are  perished  together.  It  is  not,  as  they 
vainly  think,  they  shall  surely  be  admired  and  immortal  :  as 
one  told  Philip  of  Macedon  insultino;  after  a  victory,  that  his 
shadow  was  no  longer  than  before,  we  may  say  to  thenj, 

Nos  demiramur,  sed  non  cum  deside  vulgo, 
Sed  velut  Harpyias,  Gorgonas,  et  Furias  : 

We  marvail  too,  not  as  the  vulgar  we, 
But  as  we  Gorgons,  Harpy,  or  Furies  see  : 

or,  if  we  do  applaud,  honour,  and  admire — quota  pars,  how 
small  a  part,  in  respect  of  the  M'hole  world,  never  so  much  as 
hears  our  names  !  how  few  take  notice  of  us  !  how  slender  a 
tract,  as  scant  as  Alcibiades  his  land  in  a  map  !  And  yet 
every  man  must  and  will  be  immortal, as  he  hopes,  aud  extend 
his  fame  to  our  Antipodes,  when  as  half,  no  not  a  quarter  of  his 
own  province  or  city,  neither  know's  nor  hears  of  him  :  but,  say 
they  did,  what's  a  city  to  a  kingdom,  a  kingdom  to  Europe, 
Europe  to  the  world,  the  world  it  self,  that  must  have  an  end,  if 
compared  to  the  least  visible  star  in  the  firmament,  eighteen 
times  bigger  than  if?  and  then,  if  those  stars  be  infinite,  and 
every  star  there  be  a  sun,  as  some  will,  and  as  this  sun  of 
ours  hath  his  planets  about  him,  all  inhabited;  what  propor- 
tion bear  we  to  them  ?  and  where'sour  glory  ?  Orbem  terrarum 
victor  Ronumus  habebat,  as  he  crackt  in  Petronius;  all  the 
world  was  under  iVugustus :  and  so,  in  Constantines  time,  Eu- 
sebius brags  he  governed  all  the  world  :  universum  mundum 

prcEclare  udmodnm  admhnstravit et   omnes   orbis  (jentes 

imperatori  subjecti :  so  of  Alexander  it  is  given  out,  the  four 
monarchies,  &c.  when  as  neither  Greeks  nor  Romans  ever  had 
the  fifteenth  part  of  the  now  known  world,  nor  half  of  that 
Avhich  was  then  described.  What  braggadocians  are  they  and 
we  then  !  qnam  brevis  hie  de  nobis  sernio  !  as  ^  he  said  :  " pudc' 
bit  aucti  nomiiiis:  how  short  a  time,  how  little  a  while,  doth 
this  fame  of  ours  continue !  Every  private  province,  every 
small  territory  and  city,  when  we  have  all  done,  will  yield  as 
generous  spirits,  as  brave  examples  in  all  respects,  as  famous  as 
ourselves — Cadwallader  in  Males,  Rollo  in  Normandy — Rob- 
bin-hood  and  Little  John  are  as  much  renowned  in  Sherwood, 
as  Caesar  in  Rome,  Alexander  in  Greece,  or  his  Hephaestion. 

»Lih.  r.ont.  Philos.  <-ap.  1.  ''Tiill.  som.  Scip.  <-°  Bot-thius. 


182  Causes  of  Melancholi/.       [Piirt.  1.  Sec.  2. 

*  Omnis  (Bias  omnisgue  populus  in  exemplum  et  admirationem 
venit:  every  town,  city,  book,  is  full  of  brave  soldiers,  sena- 
tors, scholars ;  and  though  ""  Brasidas  was  a  worthy  captain, 
a  g-ood  man,  and,  as  they  thought,  not  to  be  matched  in  La- 
cedfenion,  yet,  as  his  mother  truly  said,  plures  habet  Sparta 
Brasidd  meliores  ;  Sparta  had  many  better  men  than  ever  he 
was  :  and,  howsoever  thoa  adniirest  thyself,  thy  friend,  many 
an  obscure  fellow  the  v/orld  never  took  notice  of,  had  he  been 
in  place  or  action,  would  liave  done  much  better  than  he  or 
thyself. 

Another  kind  of  mad  men  there  is,  opposite  to  these,  that 
are  insensibly  mad,  and  know  not  of  it — such  as  contemn  all 
praise  and  glory,  think  themselves  most  free,  when  as  indeed 
they  are  most  mad:  calcant,  sed  alio  J'astu:  a  company  of 
cynicks,  such  as  are  monks,  hermites,  anachorites,  that  con- 
temn the  world,  contemn  themselves,  contemn  all  titles,  ho- 
nours, offices,  and  yet,  in  that  contenipt,  are  more  proud  thru 
any  man  living  whatsoever.  They  are  proud  in  humility  ; 
proud  in  that  they  are  not  proud  ;  sccpe  homo  de  vancefilorice. 
contemtu  vaimis  gloria  tin,  Rs  Austin  hath  it  (covjess.  lib.  10. 
cap.  38);  like  Diogenes,  intus  f/loriantur.,  they  brag  in- 
wardly, and  feed  themselves  fat  with  a  self-conceit  of  sanc- 
tity, which  is  no  better  than  hypocrisie.  They  go  in  sheeps 
russet,  many  great  men  that  might  maintain  themselves  in 
cloth  of  gold,  and  seem  to  be  dejected,  humble,  by  their 
outward  carriage,  when  as  inwardly  they  are  swoln  full  of 
pride,  arrogancy,  and  selfconceit.  And  therefore  Seneca 
adviseth  his  friend  Lucilius,  '^in  his  attire  and  (/e-ttvre,  out~ 
ward  actions,  especially  to  avoid  all  such  things  as  are  more 
notable  in  theinselves;  as  a  rugged  attire^  hirsute  head,  horrid 
heard,  contempt  of  money ^  coarse  lodging,  and  whatsoever 
leads  to  fame  that  opposite  irny. 

All  this  madness  yet  proceeds  from  ourselves  :  the  main 
engine  which  batters  us,  is  from  others;  we  aremeerly  passive 
in  this  business.  A  company  of  parasites  and  batterers, 
that,  with  immoderate  praise,  and  bumbastepithetes,glozing 
titles,  false  elogiums,  so  bedawb  and  applaud,  gild  over  many 
a  silly  and  undeserving  mai!,  that  they  clap  him  quite  out  of 
his  wits.  Res  imprimis  violenta  est  laudiim  placenta,  as  Hie- 
rom  notes  :  this  common  applause  is  a  most  violent  thing, 
(a  drum,  a  fife,  and  trumpet,  cannot  so  animate)  that  fattens 
men,  erects  and  dejects  them  in  an  instant. 


aPutean.  Cisalp.  hist.  lib.  1.         b  Plutarch.  Lycnrgo.  cEpist.  5.  lllud  te  admo- 

neo,  ne  eorura  more,  qui  non  proficere,  seil  conspici  cupiiiiit,  facias  aliqiia,  quaj  in  lia- 
bitu  tuo,  ant  genere  vitse,  notabilia  sint.  Asperum  cultum,  et  intonsnin  caput,  m  gli- 
gentiorem  barbam,  indictiim  argento  odium,  cubile  hnmi  poyitnra,  et  quidquid  aliud 
kndem  perversa  via  sequitur,  evita. 


Mem.  3.  Subs.  14.]    Vahi-rjlory,  Pride,  Joy,  Praise,  8fc.  183 

*Palma  negata  inacrum,  donata  redncit  opimum. 

It  makes  them  fat  and  lean,  as  frost  doth  conies.  ''  Andwho  is 
that  mortal  man  that  can  so  contain  himself',  that,  ij'  he  he  im- 
moderatebf  commended  and  applauded,  toil  I  not  he  moiled  ? 
Let  him  be  what  he  will,  those  parasites  wiil  overturn  Vava  : 
if  he  be  a  king-,  he  is  one  of  the  nine  worthies,  more  than  a 
man,  a  God  forthwith  "(edictum  Domini  Deiqne  nostri)  ;,  and 
they  will  sacrifice  unto  him : 

—  ''  divinos,  si  tu  patiaris,  honores 


Ultro  ipsi  dabimus,  meritasque  sacrabimus  aras. 

If  he  be  a  souldier,  thenThemistocles,  Epaminondas,  Hector, 
Achilles,  duo  J'nlmina  belli,  triumviri  terrarnm,  ^-c.  and  the 
valour  of  both  Scipios  is  too  little  for  him ;  he  is  invictissimusy 
serenissimus,  multis  tropccis  ornatissimus,  naiura:  dominus, 
although  he  be  lepus  r/aleatus,  indeed  a  very  coward,  a  milk 
sop,  '^  and  (as  he  said  of  Xerxes)  postremus  in  pugnd,  primus 
itijm/d,  and  such  a  one  as  never  durst  look  his  enemy  in  the 
face.  If  he  be  a  big-  man,  then  is  he  a  Sampson,  another  Her- 
cules: if  he  pronounce  a  speech,  another  Tully  or  Demos- 
thenes (as  of  Herod  in  the  Acts,  thevoyce  of  God,  and  not  of 
man) ;  if  he  can  make  a  verse,  Homer,  Virgil,  &c.  And  then 
my  silly  weak  patient  takes  all  these  elog-iums  to  himself;  if 
he  be  a  scholar  so  commended  for  his  ranch  reading,  excellent 
style,  method,  &c.  he  will  eviscerate  himself  like  a  spider, 
study  to  death  : 

Laudatas  ostentat  avis  Junonia  pennas  : 

peacock-like,  he  will  display  all  his  feathers.  If  he  be  a 
souldier,  and  so  applauded,  his  valour  extoH'd,  though  it  be 
impar  conrfressns,  as  that  of  Troilus  and  Achilles — infelix 
piier — he  will  combat  with  a  giant,  run  first  uj)on  a  breach  : 
as  another  *  Philippus,  he  will  ride  into  the  thickest  of  his 
enemies.  Commend  his  house  keeping,  and  he  will  beggar 
himself;  commend  his  temperance,  he  will  starve  himself. 

laudataque  virtus 

Crescit ;  el  immensum  gloria  calcar  habet. 

be  is  mad,  mad,  mad  !  no  whoe  with  him ; 

Impatiens  consortis  erit ; 

•    ^  ^j'*  **  ^"'^  ^^^°  **™  ^®"®  modulo  suo  metiri  se  novit,  ut  eum  assidiia  et 

imtnodicaelaudationes  non  moveant?  Hen.  Steph.  c  Mart.  ^Stroza. 

e  Justin.  f  Livius.  Gloria  tantum  elatus,  non  iia,  in  meilios  hostes  irrnere, 

Quod,  completis  muris,  conspici  se  pagnantem,  a  muro  spectantibus,  egregium 
ducebat. 

VOL.  T.  V 


184  Causes  of  Melancholy .         [Part.  I.  Sec.  2. 

he  will  over  the  ^  Alpes,  to  be  talked  of,  or  to  maintain  his  cre- 
dit. Commend  an  ambitious  man,  some  proud  prince  or  po- 
tentate :  si  plus  (equo  laudetiir,  (saith  ^  Erasmus)  cristas  erigit, 
exuit  hominem,  Deum  se  putat  ;  he  sets  up  his  crest,  and  will 
be  no  longer  a  man,  but  a  God. 

-•^  nihil  est,  quod  credere  de  se 


Non  audet,  quum  laudatur,  Dis  cequa  potestas. 

How  did  this  work  with  Alexander,  that  would  needs  be  Jupi- 
ters  son,  and  g-o,  like  Hercules,  in  a  lions  skin  ?  Doraitian,  a 
God,  (^  Dominus  Deus  noster  sic  fieri  juhet)  like  the  ®  Persian 
kings,  whose  image  was  adored  by  all  that  came  into  the  city 
of  Babylon.  Commodus  the  emperour  was  so  gulled  by  his 
flattering  parasites,  that  he  must  be  called  Hercules.  ^ Aa- 
tonius  the  Roman  Mould  be  crowned  with  ivy,  carried  in  a 
chariot,  and  adored  for  Bacchus.  Cotys,  king"  of  Thrace,  was 
married  to  ^  Minerva,  and  sent  three  several  messengers,  one 
after  another,  to  see  if  she  were  come  to  his  bed-chamber. 
Such  a  one  was  '^Jupiter  Menecrates,  Maximinus  Jovian  us, 
Dioclesianus  Herculeus,  Sapor  the  Persian  king,  brother  of 
the  sun  and  moon,  and  our  modern  Turks,  that  will  be  Gods 
on  earth,  kings  of  kings,  Gods  shadow,  commanders  of  all  that 
may  be  commanded,  our  kings  of  China  and  Tartaria  in 
this  present  age.  Such  a  one  was  Xerxes,  that  would  whip 
the  sea,  fetter  Neptune,  stultdjactantid,  and  send  a  challenge 
to  Mount  Athos  ;  and  such  are  many  sottish  princes,  brouglit 
into  a  fools  paradise  by  their  parasites.  'Tis  a  common  humour, 
incident  to  all  men,  when  they  are  in  great  places,  or  come  to 
the  solstice  of  honour,  have  done,  or  deserv'd  well,  to  ap- 
plaud and  flatter  themselves.  Stultitiam  suam  produnt,  6fc, 
(saith  *  Platerus)  your  very  tradesmen,  if  they  be  excellent, 
will  crack  and  brag,  and  shew  their  folly  in  excess.  ''  They 
have  good  parts ;  and  they  know  it ;  you  need  not  tell  them  of 
'It;  out  of  a  conceit  of  their  worth,  they  go  smiling  to  them- 
selves, and  perpetual  meditation  oftheir  trophies  and  plaudites: 
they  run  at  the  last  quite  mad,  and  lose  their  wits.  Petrarch, 
(/ife.  1.  de  contemptu  mundi)  confessed  as  much  of  himself; 

a],  demens,  et  ssevas  curre  per  Alpes;  Aude  aliquid,  &c.  Ut  pueris  placeas,  et 
declamatio  fias.  Juv.  Sat.  10.  bin  Mor.  Eucom.  c Juvenal.  Sat.  4. 

•1  Sueton.  c.  12.  in  Domitiano.  «^Brisonius.  f  Antonius,  ab  assentatoribus 

evectus,  Liberum  se  Patrem  appellari  jussit,  et  pro  deo  se  venditavit.  Redimitus 
hedera,  et  corona  velatus  aurea,  et  thyrsum  tenens,  cothurnisque  succinctas,  curru, 
velut  Liber  Pater,  vectus  est  Alexandria;.  Pater,  vol.  post-  e  Minervse  nuptias 

arabiit,  tanto  furore  percitus,  ut  satellites  mitteret  ad  videndum  nnm  dea  in  thalainiun 
venisset,  &c.  ''.Elian,  lib,  12.  i De  mentis  alienat.  cap.  3.  ^Se- 

qnitiirque  superbia  formam.  Livius,  lib.  11.  Oraculuni  est,  vivida  sspe  ingenialux- 
(iriare  hac,  et  evanescere ;  raultosque  sensum  penitus  amisisse.  Homines  iutuentur, 
ac  si  ipsi  non  essent  homines. 


Mem.  3.  Subs.  15.]         Studify  a  Cause,  185 

and  Cardan  (in  his  fifth  book  of  Wisdom)  gives  an  instance  in 
a  smith  of  Milan,  a  fellow  citizen  of  his,  ^  one  Galeus  de  Ru- 
beis,  that,  being  commendedfor  refindingof  an  instrument  of 
Archimedes,  for  joy  ran  mad.  Plutarch  (in  the  life  of  Artax- 
erxes)  hath  such  a  like  story  of  one  Chanius,  a  souldier,  that 
wouniled  king  Cyrus  in  battel,  and  grew  thereupon  so  '•  arro- 
gajit,  that,  in  a  short  space  aj'ter,  he  lost  his  wits.  So,  many 
men,  if  any  new  honour,  office,  preferment,  booty,  treasure, 
possession,  or  patrimony,  ex  insperato  fall  upon  them,  for 
immoderate  joy,  and  continual  meditation  of  it,  cannot  sleep, 
""  or  tell  what  they  say  or  do  ;  they  are  so  ravished  on  a  sud- 
den, and  with  vain  conceits  transported,  there  is  no  rule  with 
tliem.  Epaminondas  therefore,  the  next  day  after  his  Leuc- 
trian  victory,  ^  came  abroad  all  squalid  and  snh miss,  and  o-ave 
no  other  reason  to  his  friends  of  so  doing,  than  that  he^er- 
ceived  himself  the  day  before,  by  reason  of  his  good  fortune, 
to  be  too  insolent,  overmuch  joyed.  That  wise  and  vertuous 
lady  « <]ueen  Katharin,  dowager  of  England,  in  private  talk, 
upon  like  occasion,  said,  that  ^  she  would  not  toillinr/l}/  endure 
the  extremity  of  either  fortune  ;  but,  if  it  tvere  so  that  of  ne- 
cessity she  must  undergo  the  one,  she  rcould  be  in  adversity, 
because  comfort  teas  nevei'  counting  in  it;  but  still  counsel  and 
government  toere  defective  in  the  other :  they  could  not  mode- 
rate themselves. 


SUBSECT.  XV. 

Zore  of  Learning,  or  overmuch  Study.  With  a  Digression 
of  the  Misery  of  Scholars,  and  why  the  Muses  are  melan- 
choly. 

liEONA RTUS  Fuchsius  (Instit.  lib. 3. sect.!. cap.  1), Felix 
Plater  (lib.S.  de  mentis  alienat.)  Here,  de  Saxonia  {Tract,  post, 
demelanch.  cap.  3).  speak  of  a  g  peculiar  fury,  which  comes  by 
overmuch  study.  Fernelius  {lib.  1 .  cap.  18)  ''  puts  study, con- 
templation, and  continual  meditation,  as  an  especial  cause  of 

a  Galeus  de  Rnbeis,  civis  noster,  faber  ferrarins,  ob  inventionem  instnimenti,  coch- 
leae olim  Archimedis  dicti,  pra;  Isetitia  insanivit.  b  Insania  postmodum  coireptus, 
Ob  nimiam  inde  arrosantiam.  c  Bene  ferre  magnam  disce  fortunam.  Hor  — For- 
tunam  reverenter  habe,  quicunque  repente  Dives  ab  exili  pro^rediere  loco.  Ausonius. 
1  Frocessit  sqnalidns  et  snbmissns,  lit  hesterni  diei  gaudium  intemperans  liodie  casti- 
garet.  ^  Uxor  Hen.  VIII.  fNeulrius  se  fortunae  extreniiim  libenter  exper- 
tnram  dixit;  sed,  si  neceesitas  alteriiis  sabinde  imponeretiir.  optare  se  diflicilem  et 
adversam  ;  quod  in  hac  nulli  onquam  defuit  solatium,  in  altera  nuiltis  congilium,  &c 
l^od^  V  ives  K  Peculiaris  furor  qui  ex  Uteris  Ht  i'  Nihil  magis  auget,  ac 
assidua  studia,  et  profunda}  cogitationes. 

X  2 


186  Causes  of  Melancholy.         [Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

madness ;  and,  in  his  86  consul,  cites  the  same  words.     Jo. 
Arculanus  (m  lib.  Rliasis  ad  A Imayisorem,  cap.  16)  amongst 
other  causes,  reckons  up  studimn  vehemens :  so  doth  Levinus 
Lemnius  {lib.  de  occul.  nat.  mirac.  lib.  I.  cap.  16).      ^Many 
men  (saith  he)  come  to  this  malady  by  continual  ^  study,  and 
night-ivaking  ;  and.,  of  all  other  men,  scholars  are  most  subject 
to  it ;  and  such  (Rhasis  adds)  "that  have  commonly  the f  nest 
wits  (Cont.  lib.  1 .  tract.  9).    Marsilius  Ficinus {de  sanit.  tuendd, 
lib.  1.  cap.  7)  puts  melancholy  amongst  one  of  those  five  prin- 
cipal plagues  of  students:  'tis  a  couimon  maul  unto  them  all, 
and  almost   in    some   measure    an   inseparable   companion. 
Varro  (belike  for  that  cause)  calls  tristes philosophos  et  severos. 
Severe,  sad,  dry,  tetrick,  are  common  epithetes  to  scholars : 
and    ^  Patritius,    therefore,    in  the    Institution    of    Princes, 
would  not  have  them  to  be  great  students  :  for  (as  Machiavel 
holds)  study  weakens  their  bodies,  dulls  their  spirits,  abates 
their  streno-th  and  courage ;    and  good  scholars  are  never 
o-ood  souldiers ;  which  a  certain  Goth  well  perceived ;  for, 
when  his  country-men  came  into  Greece,  and  would  have 
burned  all  their  books,  he  cryed  out  against  it,  by  all  means 
they  should  not  do  it :  ®  leave  them  that  plague,  ivhich  in 
time   icill   consume    all  their   vigour,    and  martial  spirits. 
The  *  Turks  abdicated  Cornutus,  the  next  heir,  from  the  em- 
pire, because  he  was  so  much  given  to  his  book  ;  and  'tis  the 
common  teneut  of  the  world,  that  learning  dulls  and  dimi- 
nisheth  the  spirits,  and  so,  per  consequens,  produceth  me- 
lancholy. 

Two  main  reasons  may  be  given  of  it,  why  students  should 
be  more  subject  to  this  malady  thiHi  others.  The  one  is,  they 
live  a  sedentary,  solitary  life,  sibi  et  Musis,  free  from  bodily 
exercise,  and  those  ordinary  disports  which  other  men  use ; 
and  many  times,  if  discontent  and  idleness  concur  with  it 
(which  is  too  frequent),  they  are  precipitated  into  this  gulf  on  a 
sudden  :  but  the  common  cause  is  overmuch  study  ;  too  much 
learning  (as  s  Festus  told  Paul)  hath  made  thee  mad  :  'tis  that 
other  extreme  which  effects  it.  So  did  Trincavellius  (lib.  1. 
consil.  12.  et  13.)  find  by  his  experience,  in  two  of  his  pa- 
tients, a  young  baron,  and  another,  that  contracted  this  malady 
by  too  vehement  study  ;  so  Forestus  (observat.  L  10.  observ. 

a  Non  desunt,  qui  ex  jiigi  studio,  et  intempestiva  lucubratione,  hue  devenerunt  : 
hi  pi'se  cieteris^  enim  plerumque  melancholia  sclent  infestari.  *>  Study  is  a 

continual  and  earnest  meditation,  appiyed  to  some  thing  with  great  desire.  Tully. 
c  Et  illi  qui  sunt  subtilis  ingenii  et  multae  prfenieditationis,  de  facili  iucidunt  in  me- 
lancholiam.  dQb  studiorura  solicitudinem,  lib.  5.  tit.  5.  e  Gas- 

par  Ens.  Thesaur.  Polit,  Apoteles.  31.  Graecis  banc  pestem  relinquite,  quae  dubiuni 
nou  est  quin  brevi  omnemiis  vigorem  ereptura  Mo.rtiosque  spiritus  exhaustura  sit, 
ut  ad  iirina  tractanda  plane  inhabiles  futuri  sint.  f  Knolles,  Turk.  Hist, 

s  Act.  '26.  i?4. 


Mem.  3.  Subs.  15.]  Study,  a  Cause.  187 

13)  in  a  young  divine  in  Lovain,  that  was  mad,  and  said  *  he 
had  a  bible  in  his  head.  Marsilius  Ficinus  (de  sanit.  tuend. 
lib.  2.  cap.  I.  3,  4,  et  lib.  2.  cap.  10)  gives  many  reasons 
^ichy  students  dote  more  oj'ten  than  others:  the  first  is  their 
negligence  :  *=  other  men  look  to  their  tools  ;  a  painter  will  wash 
his  pensils  ;  a  smith  will  look  to  his  hammer^  anvil, Jorye  ;  an 
husbandman  will  7nend  his  plough-irons^  and  fjrind  his  hatchet 
ij'it  he  dull ;  aj'aulkner  or  huntsman  tvill  have  an  especial  care 
oj'his  hau-ks,  hounds,  horses,  dogs,  S^c.  a  musician  tc ill  string 
and  unstring  his  lute,  ^c.  only  scholars  neglect  that  instrument 
(their  brain  and  spirits,  I  meayi)  which  they  daily  use,  and  by 
which  they  range  over  all  the  world,  which  by  much  study  is 
consumed.  Vide  (saith  Lucian)  ne.Juniculum  nimis  intendendo, 
nliquando  ahrumpas:  see  thou  twist  not  the  rope  so  hard,  till 
at  length  it  ^  break.  Ficinus  in  his  fourth  chapter  gives  some 
other  reasons  :  Saturn  and  Mercury,  the  patrons  of  learning, 
are  both  dry  planets;  and  Griganus  assigns  the  same  cause, 
why  Mercurialists  are  so  poor,  and  most  partbeggers;  for  that 
their  president  Mercury  had  no  better  fortune  himself.  The 
Destinies,  of  old,  put  poverty  upon  him  as  a  punishment; 
since  when,  poetry  and  beggery  are  gemelli,  twin-born  brats, 
inseparable  companions ; 

*  And,  to  this  day,  is  every  scholar  poor  : 
Gross  gold  from  them  runs  headlong  to  the  boor : 

Mercury  can  help  them  to  knowledge,  but  not  to  money. 
The  second  is  contemplation,  hchich  dryes  the  brain,  and  ex- 
tinguisheth  natural  heat ;  Jbr  whilst  the  spirits  are  intent  to 
meditation  above  in  the  head,  the  stomach  and  liver  are  left 
destitute;  and  thence  come  black  blood  and  crudities,  by  de- 
fect of  concoction  ;  and  for  xcant  of  exercise,  the  superfluous 
vapours  cannot  exhale,  Sfc.  The  same  reasons  are  repeated 
by  Gomesius  (lib.  4.  cap.  1.  de  sale),  sNymannus  (orat.  de 
Imag.)  Jo.  Voschius  (///;.  2.  cap.  5.  de  peste);  and  something 


ajs'imiis  studiis  nielancholicns  evasit,  dicens,  se  Biblium  in  capite  habere.  bCar 
melancholiii  assidua,  crebrisqae  deliranientjs,  vexentur  eoruiii  aninii,  ut  desipere 
cogantur.  c  Solers  qailibet  artifex  instrnmenta  sua  diligentissinie  curat,  peni- 

cillos  pictor  ;  malleos  incodesque  faber  terrarius  ;  miles  equos  arnia  ;  venator,  auceps, 
aves  et  canes  ;  citharam  citharoedus,  &c.  soli  Musarum  mystaj  tarn  negligen'tes  sunt[ 
ut  instrumentum  illud,  quo  niunduni  universiim  nietiri  solent,  spiritutn  scilircf  penihis 
negligere  videantur.  .1  Areas,  (et  arnia  tua".  tibi  sunt  imitanda  Diana-)  Si 

nunquam  cesses  tendere,  mollis  erit.  Oyid.  eEpheraer.  'Contem- 

platio  cerebrum  exsiccat  et  estinguit  calorem  naturalem  ;  unde  cerebrnm  frigidum  et 
siccum  evadit,  quod  est  melancholicnm.  Accedit  ad  hoc,  quod  natura,  in  con- 
lemplatione,  cerebro  prorsus,  cordique  intenta,  stomachum  heparqne  destituit ;  unde, 
ex  ahmentis  male  coctis,  sanguis  crassos  et  niger  efficitur,  duni  nimio  otio  membrorHni 
nuperflui  vapores  non  exhaiaot,  t  Cerebrum  exsiccatur,  corpora  seusim  cra- 

cilescunL  ° 


188  Causes  of  Melancholy.         [Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

more  they  add,  that  hard  students  are  commonly  troubled 
with  gowtSjCatarrhes, rheums,  cachexia  bradijpepsia,  bad  eyes, 
stone  and  collick,  ^  crudities,  oppilations.i'er/jV/o,  winds,  con- 
sumptions, and  all  such  diseases  as  come  by  overmuch  sit- 
ting :  they  are  most  part  lean,  dry,  ill-coloured,  spend  their 
fortunes,  lose  their  wits,  and  many  times  their  lives  ;  and  all 
through  immoderate  pains,  and  extraordinary  studies.  If 
you  will  not  believe  the  truth  of  this,  look  upon  great  Tos 
tatus  and  Thomas  Aquinas  works;  and  tell  me  whether 
those  men  took  pains'?  peruse  Austin, Hierom,  &;c.  and  many 
thousands  besides. 

Qui  cupit  optatam  cursu  contingere  inetam, 
Malta  tulit,  fccitque  puer,  sudavit  et  alsit. 

He  that  desires  this  wished  goal  to  gain. 
Must  sweat  and  freeze  before  he  can  attain, 

and  labour  hard  for  it.  So  did  Seneca,  by  his  own  confession 
{ep.  8.):  ^  fiot  a  day  that  I  spend  idle  ;  part  of  the  night  I  keep 
nmie  eyes  open,  tired  tcith  wakiny,  and  noiv  shnnberinn,  to 
their  continnal  task.  Hear  Tully  {pro  Jirchid  Poetd):  whilst 
others  loytered,  and  took  their  pleasures,  he  was  continually 
at  his  book.  So  they  do  that  will  be  scholars,  and  that  to  the 
hazard,  (I  say)  of  their  healths,  fortunes,  wits,  and  lives.  How 
much  did  Aristotle  and  Ptolemy  spend  {unius  reyni  jnetium, 
they  say — more  than  a  kings  ransom),  how  many  crowns  jaer 
annum,  to  perfect  arts,  the  one  about  his  history  of  creatures, 
the  other  on  his  Almayest'l  How  much  time  did  Thebet  Ben- 
chorat  employ,  to  find  out  the  motion  of  the  eighth  sphear? 
forty  years  and  more,  some  write.  How  many  poor  scholars 
have  lost  their  wits,  or  become  dizards,  neglectiiig  all  worldly 
affairs,  and  their  own  health,  wealth,  esse  and  bene  esse,  to  gain 
knowledge!  for  which,  afterall  their  pains,  in  tbeworlds  esteem 
they  are  accounted  ridiculous  and  silly  fools,  ideots,  asses,  and 
(as  oft  they  are)  rejected,  condemned,  derided,  doting,  and  mad. 
Look  for  examples  in  Hildesheim  {spiciL2.de  mania  etdelirio:) 
read  Trincavellius  (/.  3.  consil.  36.  et.  c.  17),  Montanus 
(consil.  233),  *^  Garceus  (cle  Judic.  genit.  cap.  33),  Mercurialis 
{consil.  86.  cap.  !^5),  Prosper  '' Calenus  (in  his  book  de  atrd 
bile)  ;  go  to  Bedlam,  and  ask.     Or  if  they  keep  their  wits,  yet 

!>  Stiidiosi  sunt  cachectic),  et  minqnam  bene  colorati :  propter  debilitatem  digestivaj 
facultatis,  miiltiplicantiir  in  iis  superfluitates.  Jo.  Voschius,  part.  2.  cap.  5.  de  pestev 
b  Niillus  mihi  per  otiiim  dies  exit ;  partem  noctis  studiis  dedico,  non  vero  sonmo,  sed 
octilos,  vigilia  latigatos  cadentesquH,  in  opera  detineo.  >-■  Johannes  Haniischius 

Boheinus,  nat.  1.516,  eniditns  vir,  niniiis  studiis  in  phrenesin  incidit.     Montanus  iu- 
stanceth  in  a  Frenchman  of  Tolosa.  <'  Cardinalis  Cacius,  ob  laborein,  vigiiiani, 

et  diuturua  stiidia,  factits  uielanclioliciis. 


Mem.  3.  Subs.  15.]  Study,  a  Cause,  18,9 

they  are  esteemed  scrubs  and  fools,  "by  reason  of  their  car- 
riage ;  ajiei'  seven  years  study, 

''statua  taciturnius  exit 


Plenimque,  et  risum  populi  quatit : 

because  they  cannot  ride  an  horse,  which  every  clown  can  do; 
salute  and  court  a  gentlewoman,  carve  at  table,  cringe,  and 
make  congies,  which  every  common  swasher  can  do,  hospopu- 
lus  ridet :  they  are  laughed  to  scorn,  and  accounted  silly 
fools,  by  our  gallants.  Yea,  many  times,  such  is  their  misery, 
they  deserve  it :  a  nieer  scholar,  a  meer  ass. 
•^  Obstipo  capite,  et  figentes  lumine  terram^ 

Murmura  cum  secum  et  rabiosa  silentia  rodunt, 

Atque  cxporrecto  trutinantur  verba  labello, 

jEgroti  veteris  meditantes  somnia,  gigni 

De  nihilo  nihilum  ;  in  nihilum  nil  posse  reverti. 

^ ^who  do  lean  awry 

Their  heads,  piercing  the  earth  with  a  fixt  eye; 

When,  by  themselves,  they  gnaw  their  murmuring, 

And  furious  silence,  as  'twere  ballancing 

Each  word  upon  their  out-stretcht  lip,  and  when 

They  meditate  the  dreams  of  old  sick  men. 

As,  out  of  nothing  nothing  can  be  brought, 

And  that  which  is,  can  neer  he  tunid  to  nought. 

Thus  they  go  commonly  meditating  unto  themselves,  thus  they 
sit,  such  is  their  action  and  gesture.  Pulgosus  {I.  8.  c.  7) 
makes  mention  how  Th.  i\quinas,  supping  Avith  king  Lewis 
of  France,  upon  a  sudden  knocked  his  fistupon  the  table,  and 
cry ed,  conclusujti  est  contra  Manichccos  ;  his  wits  were  a  wool- 
gathering (as  they  say),  and  his  head  busied  about  other  mat- 
ters :  when  he  perceived  his  error,  he  was  much  ^  abashed. 
Such  a  story  there  is  ofArchiniedes  in  Vitruvius,  that,  having 
found  out  the  means  to  know  how  much  gold  was  mingled 
with  the  silver  in  king  Hierons  crown,  ran  naked  forth  of  the 
bath  and  cryed,  d^^mx,  1  have  found;  '  and  was  commonly  so 
intent  to  his  studies.,  that  he  never  pei'ceived  what  icas  clone 
about  him:  when  the  city  was  taken,  and  the  souldiers  now 
ready  to  rijle  his  house,  he  took  no  notice  oj'it.  ^  S*.  Bernard 
rode  all  day  long  by  the  Lemnian  lake,  andasked  at  last  where 
he  was  (Marullus,  lib.  2.  cap.  4.)      It  was  Democritus  carriage 

»Pers.  Sat.  3.      They  cannot  fiddle ;  but,  as  Themistocles  said,  he  could  make  a 
small  town  become  a  great  city.  b  Ingeninm,  sibi  quod  vanas  desumpsit  Atlienas, 

Et  septem  stadiis  annos  dedit,  insennitque  Libris  et  curis,  statua  taciturnius  exit  Ple- 
rumque,  et  risu  populum  quatit.    Hor.  ep.  2.  lib.  2.  <-Pers.  Sat.  ^  Translated 

by  M.  B.  Holiday.  ^    e  Thomas,  nibore  confusus,  dixit  se  de  argumento  cogitasse. 

f  Plutarch,  vita  Marcelli.  Nee  sensit  urbem  captam,  nee  milites  in  domuin  irruentes, 
adeo  inteutus  studiis,  SiC.  -.'Lib.  2,  tap.  18. 


190  Causes  of  Melanchol//.       [Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

alone  that  madethe  Abderites  suppose  U\m  to  have  been  mad, 
and  send  for  Hippocrates  to  cure  him:  if  he  had  been  in  any 
solemn  company,  he  would  upon  all  occasions  fall  a  laughing-. 
Theophrastus  saith  as  much  of  Heraclitus,  for  that  he  conti- 
nually wept,  and  Laertius  of  Menedemus  Lampsacenus,  be- 
cause he  ran  like  a  mad  man,  "saijing,  he  came  from  hell  as 
a  spie,  to  tell  the  devi/s  ivhat  mortal  men  did.  Your  greatest 
students  are  commonly  no  better — silly,  soft  fellows  in  their 
outward  behaviour,  absurd,  ridiculous  to  others,  and  no  Avhit 
experienced  in  worldly  business  :  they  can  measure  the  hea- 
vens, range  over  the  world,  teach  others  wisdom  ;  and  yet,  in 
bargains  and  contracts,  they  are  circumvented  by  every  base 
tradesman.  Are  not  these  men  fools  ?  and  how  should  they 
be  otherwise,  hut  as  so  many  sots  in  schools,  ichen  (as  ''  he 
well  observed)  theif  neither  hear  nor  see  such  things  as  are 
commonly  practised  abroad?  how  should  they  get  experience? 
by  Mdiat  means ?  "I  knew  in  my  time  many  scholars,  saitb 
iEneas  Sylvius,  (in  an  epistle  of  his  to  Gasper  Scitick,  chan- 
cellor to  tlie  emperour)  excellent  well  learned,  but  sor?ide,  so 
silly,  that  they  had  no  common  civility,  nor  knew  hoio  to 
manage  their  domestick  or  publick  affairs.  Paglarensis  was 
amazed,  and  said  his  farmer  had  surely  cozened  him,  when  he 
heard  him  fell  that  his  sow  had  eleven  pigs,  and  his  ass  had 
but  one  foal.  To  say  the  best  of  this  profession,  1  can  give 
no  other  testimony  of  them  in  general,  than  that  of  '' Pliny 
of  Isseus — he  is  yet  a  scholar;  than  ichich  kind  of  men 
there  is  nothing  so  simple,  so  sincere,  none  better ;  they  are, 
most  part,  harmless,  honest,  upright,  innocent,  plain  dealing 
men. 

Now,  because  they  are  commonly  subject  to  such  hazards 
and  inconveniences,  as  dotage,  madness,  simplicity,  &:c.  Jo. 
Voschius  would  have  good  scholars  to  be  highly  rewarded,  and 
had  in  some  extraordinary  respect  above  other  men,  '^  to  have 
greater  privileges  than  the  rest,  that  adventure  themselves  and 
abbreviate  their  lives  for  the  publick  good.  But  our  patrons 
of  learning  are  so  far,  now  a  dayes,  from  respecting-  the  Mu- 
ses, and  giving  that  honour  to  scholars,  or  reward,  which 
they  deserve,  and  are  allowed  by  those  indulgent  privileges  of 


a  Sub  FoiiiB  larva  circumivit  urbeni,  dictitans  se  exploratorem  ab  inferis  venisse, 
delaturnm  (JcCiiionibus  morialiura  peccata.  bPetronius.     Ego  arbitror  in  scho- 

lis  stultissimos  fieri,  quia  niliil  eoriini,  qiias  in  iisu  habemus,  aut  audiuut  aut  vident. 
•Novi,  meis  diehus,  plerosque  stinHis  literarnm  deditos,  qui  disciplinis  adinodum 
abiinduhaiit :  sed  hi  nihil  civiiitatis  habebant,  nee  rem  publ.  nee  doniesticam  regere 
norant.  .S'Liipuit  Pagiarensis,  et  i'lirti  villicum  aceusavit,  qui  suem  fetam  iindeciiu 
poicellos,  asinnni  nnum  duntaxat  pullnni,  euixam  rettilerat.  d  Lib.  1.  Epist.  3. 

Adiiue  scholastieus  tantum  est:  quo  genere  hominum,  nihil  ant  est  sinipiicius.  aut  sin- 
crriiis,  aut  melius,  *'3iirc  priviltgiandij  qui  ob  commune  bonum  abbreviant 

sibi  vitain. 


Mem.  3.  Subs.  15,]  Study,  a  Cause.  191 

many  noble  princes,  that,  after  all  their  pains  taken  in  the  uni- 
versities, cost  and  charge,  expenses,  irksoni  hours,  laborious 
tasks,  wearisome  dayes,rlaiig'ers,  hazards  (barred  inferim  from 
all  pleasures  which  other  men  have,  mewed  up  like  hawks  all 
their  lives)  if  they  chance  to  wade  through  them,  they  shall  in 
the  end  be  rejected,  contemned,  and  (which  is  their  greatest 
misery)  driven  to  their  shifts,  exposed  to  want,  poverty,  and 
beggery.     Their  familiar  attendants  are, 

'   a  Pallentes  Morbi,  Luctns,  Curaeque,  Laborque, 
Et  Metus,  et  malesuada  Fames,  et  turpis  Egestas, 
Terribiles  visu  formge 

Grief,  Labour,  Care,  pale  Sickness,  Miseries, 
Fear,  filthy  Poverty,  Hunger  that  cryes ; 
Terrible  monsters  to  be  seen  with  eyes. 

If  there  were  nothing  else  to  trouble  them,  the  conceit  of  this 
alone  were  enough  to  make  them  all  melancholy.  Most  other 
trades  and  professions,  after  some  seven  years  prenticeship,  are 
enabled  by  their  craft  to  live  of  themselves.  A  merchant 
adventures  his  goods  at  sea  ;  and,  though  his  hazard  be  great, 
yet,  if  one  ship  return  of  four,  he  likely  makes  a  saving  voyage. 
An  husbandmans  <>ains  are  almost  certain;  quihns  ipse  Jupiter 
nocere  non  potest  ('tis  ^  Catos  hyperbole,  a  great  husband  him- 
self) :  only  scholars,  methinks- are  most  uncertain,  unrespected, 
subject  to  all  casualties,  and  hazards :  for,  first,  not  one  of  a 
many  proves  to  be  a  scholar ;  all  are  not  capable  and  docile  ; 
ex  omni  lir/no  non  fit  Mercmins :  •=  we  can  make  majors  and 
officers  every  year,  but  not  scholars  :  kings  can  invest  knights 
and  barons,  as  Sigismond  the  emperour  confessed :  universities 
can  give  degrees  ;  and 

Tu  quod  es,  e  populo  quilibet  esse  potest  : 

but  he,  nor  they,  nor  all  the  world,  can  give  learning,  make 
philosophers,  artists,  oratours,  poets.  We  can  soon  say, 
(as  Seneca  well  notes)  O  virum  honnm  !  o  divitem  !  point  at  a 
rich  man,  a  good,  an  happy  man,  a  proper  man,  siontuose 
vestitum,  ealaniistratum,  bene  olentem  :  7naf/no  teniporis  ini' 
pendio  constat  luce  laudatio,  a  virum  lileratnm  !  but  'tis  not 
so  easily  performed  to  find  out  a  learned  man.  Learnings 
is  not  so  quickly  got :  though  they  may  be  willing-  to  take 
pains,  and  to  that  end  sufficiently  informed  and  liberally  main- 
tained by  tlieir  patrons  and  parents,  yet  few  can  compass  it :  or, 
if  they  be  docile,  yet  all  mens  m  ills  are  not  answerable  to 
their  wits ;  they  can  apprehend,  but  will  not  take  pains  ;  they 

^  Virg.  .^!)n.   lib.  6.  l)  Plutarch,  vita  ejus.     Certum  agricolationis  lucrum,  &:c. 

i'  Quotaiinis  liuut  cousules  et  proconsnles  :  rex  et  poeta  quotannis  non  nascitur. 


192  Causes  of  Melancholy.        [Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

areeitherseduced  by  bad  companions,  velinpuellamimpingunt, 
vel  in  poculum,  and  so  spend  their  time  to  their  friends  grief 
and  their  own  undoings.  Or,  put  case  they  be  studious,  in- 
dustrious, of  ripe  wits,  and  perhaps  good  capacities,  then  how 
many  diseases  of  body  and  mind  must  they  encounter  ?  No 
labour  in  the  world  like  unto  study.  It  may  be,  their  tempera- 
ture will  not  endure  it :  but,  striving  to  be  excellent,  to  know 
all,  they  lose  health,  wealth,  wit,  life,  and  all.  Let  him  yet 
happily  escape  all  these  h?iz?ir(ls,aireisintestinis,  with  a  body  of 
brass,  and  is  now  consummate  and  ripe;  he  hath  profited  in  his 
studies,  and  proceededwith  all  applause:  after  many  expences, 
he  is  fit  for  preferment:  where  shall  we  have  it?  he  is  as  far  to 
seek  it,  as  he  was  (after  twenty  years  standing)  at  the  first  day  of 
his  coming  to  the  university.  For,  what  course  shall  he  take, 
being  now  capableand  ready?  The  most  parable  and  easie,  and 
about  which  many  are  imployed,  is  to  teach  a  school,  turn 
lecturer  or  curat ;  and,  for  that,  he  shall  have  faulkners  wages, 
ten  pound  per  annum,  and  his  diet,  or  some  small  stipend,  so 
long  as  he  can  please  his  patron  or  the  parish;  if  they  approve 
him  not  (for  usually  they  do  but  a  year  or  two — as  inconstant, 
as  *they  that  cryed,  "Hosanna"  one  day,  and  "Crucifie  him'* 
the  other),  serving-man  like,  he  must  go  look  a  new  master : 
if  they  do,  what  is  his  reward  ? 

^  Hoc  quoque  te  inanet,ut  pueros  elementa  docentem 
Occupet  extremis  in  vicis  balba  senectus. 

Like  an  ass,  he  wears  out  his  time  for  provender,  and  can 
shew  a  stum  rod,  togam  tritam  et  laceram,  saith  ''Hffidus,  an 
old  torn  gown,  an  ensign  of  his  infelicity ;  he  hath  his  labour 
for  his  pain,  a  modicum  to  keep  him  till  he  be  decrepit ;  and 
that  is  all.  Grammaticus  non  est  Jelix,  ^c.  If  he  be  a 
trencher  chaplain  in  a  gentlemans  house,  (as  it  befel  ^  Eu- 
phormio)  after  some  seven  years  service,  he  may  perchance 
have  a  living  to  the  halves,  or  some  small  rectory  with  the 
mother  of  the  maids  at  length,  a  poor  kinswoman,  or  a  crakt 
chamber-maid,  to  have  and  to  hold  during  the  time  of  his  life. 
But,  if  he  offend  his  good  patron,  or  displease  his  lady  mistres 
in  the  mean  time, 

e  Ducetur  plant-i,  velut  ictus  ab  Hercule  Cacus, 
Poneturque  foras,  si  quid  tentaverit  unquam 
Hiscere 

as  Hercules  did  by  Cacus,  he  shall  be  dragged  forth  of  doors 
by  the  heels,  away  with  him.      If  he  bend  his  forces  to  some 

a  Mat.  21.  "  Hor.  ep.  20. 1.  I  <"  Lib.  1.  de  contem.  amor.         ^  Satyricon. 

e  Juv.  Sat  5. 


Mem.  3.  Subs.  15.]       Study,  a  Cause.  193 

other  studies,  with  an  intent  to  be  a  secretis  to  some  noble 
man,  or  in  such  a  place  with  an  embassadour,  he  shall  find 
that  these  personsrise,like  prentises,oneunder  another :  and  so, 
in  many  tradesmens  shops,  when  the  master  is  dead,  the  fore- 
man of  the  shop  commonly  steps  in  his  place.  Now  for  poets, 
rhetoricians,historians,  philosophers, ''mathematicians,  sophist- 
ers,  &c.  they  are  like  grashoppers :  sing^  they  must  in  summer, 
and  pine  in  the  winter ;  for  there  is  no  preferment  for  them. 
Even  so  they  were  at  first,  if  you  will  believe  that  pleasant 
tale  of  Socrates  which  he  told  fair  Pha?drus  under  a  plane-tree, 
at  the  banks  of  the  river  Ismenus.  About  noon,  when  it  was 
hot,  and  the  grashoppers  made  a  noise,  he  took  that  sweet 
occasion  to  tell  him  a  tale,  how  grasshoppers  were  once  scho- 
lars, musicians,  poets,  &c.  before  the  Muses  v,  ere  born,  and 
lived  without  meatanddrink,  and  for  that  cause  were  turnedby 
Jupiter  into  g-rashoppers:  and  may  be  turned  again,  in  Tithoni 
cicadas,  ant Lycirnvm  ranas,  for  any  reward  I  see  they  are  like 
to  have:  or  else  in  the  mean  time,  I  would  they  could  live,  as 
they  did,without  any  viaticum,  like  so  many ''ma?/?/coc?iate,those 
Indian  birdsof  Paradise,  as  we  commonly  call  them — those,  I 
mean,  that  live  with  the  air  and  dew  of  heaven,  and  need  no 
other  food  :  for,  being  as  they  are,  their  "rhetorick  only  serves 
them  to  curse  their  hadjhrtvnes  ;  and  many  of  ihem,  for  M^ant. 
of  means,  are  driven  to  hard  shifts;  from  grashoppers, they  turn 
humble-bees  and  wasps,  plain  parasites,  and  make  the  Muses 
mules,  to  satisfie  their  hunger-starved  panches,  and  get  a  meals 
meat :  To  say  truth,  'tis  the  common  fortune  of  most  scholars, 
to  be  servile  and  poor,  to  complain  pittifuily,  and  lay  open  their 
w^ants  to  their  respectless  patrons,  as  ''-  Cardan  doth,  as  ^  Xy- 
lander  and  many  others;  and  (which  is  too  common  in  those 
dedicatory  epistles)  for  hope  of  gain,  to  lye,  flatter,  and  with 
hyperbolical  elogiums  and  commendations,  to  magnifie  and 
extol  an  illiterate  unworthy  idiot,  for  his  excellent  vertues, 
Avhom  they  should  rather  (as  *  Machiavel  observes)  vilifie,  and 
rail  at  downrig-ht  for  his  most  notorious  villanies  and  vices. 
So  they  prostitute  themselves,  as  fidlers  or  mercenary  trades- 
men, to  serve  great  mens  turns  for  a  small  reward.  They  are 
like  "Indians  ;  they  have  store  of  gold,  but  know  not  the  worth 
of  it:  fori  am  of  Synesius  opinion,  ^\Kiuf/  Hierou  yot  more  hy 
Simonides  acquaintance,  than  Simonides  did  by  his :  they  have 


"  Ars  rolit  astia.  i' Aldrovandus,  de  Avibtis,  I.  12.  Gesner,  Sec.  •■  Literas 

habent,  qtit-is  sibi  et  fortnna;  sua;  inaledicant.     Sat.  Menip.  '^  Lib.  de  libris  prO- 

priis,  fol.  24.  '  rrajt'at.  translar.  Piotarch.  fPolit  dispiit.  Laiidibus  ex- 

toUunt  eos,  ac  si  virtutibiis  pollerent,  (jnos,  ob  infinita  acelera,  potiiis  vituperarc  opor- 
tt;rot.  c  Or,  as  hdrsi-s  know  not  tbi-ir  strencrth,  tliey  consider  not  tlieir  own 

worllt.  I'  Piura  i-x  >Siuiouidis  iauiiliaritate  Hierou  coiiscquutus  est,  quam  ex 

Hierouis  Simonides. 


194  Causes  of  Melancholy .         [Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

their  best  education,good  institution,sole  qualification  from  us  : 
and,  when  they  have  done  well,  their  honour  and  immortality 
from  us ;  vve  are  the  living-  tombs,registers,and  as  so  many  trum- 
petours  of  their  fames  :  what  was  Achilles,  without  Homer  ? 
Alexander,  without  Arrian  and  Curtius?  who  had  known  the 
Caesars,  but  for  Suetonius  and  Dion  ? 

a  Vixerunt  fortes  ante  Agamemnona 
Multi:  sed  omnes  illacrymabiles 
Urgentur,  ignotique,  longa 
Nocte,  carent  quia  vate  sacro. 

They  are  more  beholden  to  scholars,  than  scholars  to  them;  but 
they  under-value  themselves,  and  so,  by  those  great  men,  are 
kept  down.  Let  them  have  that  Encyclopaedia,  all  the  learn- 
ing- in  the  world ;  they  must  keep  it  to  themselves, ''  live  in  base 
esteem,  and  starve,  except  they  will  submit  (as  Budasus  well 
hath  it)  so  many  good  parts,  so  many  ensigns  oj'  arts,  vertues, 
and  be  slavishly  obnoxious  to  some  illiterate  potentate,  and  live 
under  his  insolent  worship,  or  honour,  like  parasites,  qui  tam- 
quam  mures,  alienumpanem  comedunt.  For,  to  say  truth,  artes 
hcB  71071  sunt  lucrativce,  (as  Guido  Bonat,  that  great  astrologer 
could  foresee)  they  be  not  gainful  arts  these,  sed  esurientes  et 
Jamelicce,  but  poor  and  hungry. 

*^  Dat  Galenus  opes  ;  dat  Justinianus  honores  ; 
Sed  genus  et  species  cogitur  ire  pedes  : 

Tlie  rich  physician,  honour'd  lawyers  ride, 
Whil'st  the  poor  scholar  foots  it  by  their  side. 

Poverty  is  the  Muses  patrimony  ;  and,  as  that  poetical  divinity 
teacheth  us,  when  Jupiters  daughters  were  each  of  them  mar- 
ried to  the  Gods,  the  Muses  alone  were  left  solitary,  Helicon 
forsaken  of  all  suters ;  and  I  believe  it  was,  because  they  had 
no  portion. 

Calliope  longum  coelebs  cur  vixit  in  sevum  ? 
Nempe  nihil  dotis,  quod  numeraret,  erat. 

Why  did  Calliope  live  so  long  a  maid? 
Because  she  had  no  dowry  to  be  paid. 

Ever  since  all  their  followers  are  poor  forsaken,  and  left  unto 
themselves;  in  so  much  that,  as  ^  Petronius  argues,  you  shall 

a  Hor.  lib.  4.  od.  9.  ^  Inter  inertes  ft  plebeios  fere  jacet,  ultimum  locum  ha- 

bens,  nisi  tot  artis  virtutisqne  insignia,  turpiter,  obnoxie,  supparasitando  fascibus  subje- 
cerit  protervsB  iusolentisqiie  potentise.  Lib.  1.  de  contemt.  rerutn  fortuitariun . 
t:  Buchanan,  cleg.  lib.  ^  In  Satyrico.  Intrat  senex,  sed  cultu  non  ita  speciosus,  ut 

facile  appareret  eum  hac  nota  literatiim  esse  ;  quos  divites  odisse  solent  Ego,  inquit, 
poeta  sum.  Qiiare  ergo  tam  male  vestitus  es  ?  Propter  hoc  ipsum  ;  amor  ingenii 
neminem  unquam  divitem  fecit. 


Mem.  3.  Subs.  15.]     W/iy  the  Muses  are  Melancholy.       ].95 

likely  know  them  by  tbeir  cloaths.  There  came,  saith  he, 
by  chance  into  my  company^  a  J'elloic,  not  very  spruce  to 
look  on,  that  I  could  perceive,  hij  that  note  alone,  he  iras  a 
scholar,  ichom  commosily  rich  men  hate.  I  asked  him  tchat 
he  teas :  he  answered,  a  poet.  I  demanded  ar/ain  why  he  teas 
xo  ruf/qed :  he  told  me,  this  kind  of  learning  never  made  any 
man  rich. 

^  Qui  pelago  credit,  magno  se  fcenore  tollit ; 
Qui  pugnas  et  castra  petit,  prsecingitur  auro ; 
Vilis  adulator  picto  jacet  ebrius  ostro  ; 
Sola  pruinosis  horret  tacundia  pannis. 

A  merchants  gain  is  great,  that  goes  to  sea  : 

A  souldier  embossed  all  in  gold : 
A  flatterer  lyes  fox'd  in  brave  array, 

A  scholar  only  ragged  to  behold. 

AH  which  our  ordinary  students  right  well  perceiving  in  the 
universities — how  unprofitable  these  poetical,  mathematical, 
and  philosophical  studies  are,  how  little  respected,  how  few 
patrons — apply  themselves  in  all  haste  to  those  three  commo- 
dious professions  of  law,  physick,  and  divinity,  sharing- tjiem- 
selves  between  them,  ''rejecting-  these  arts  in  the  mean  time, 
history,  philosophy,  philology,  or  lightly  passing  them  over, 
as  pleasant  toyes,  fitting  only  table  talk,  and  to  furnish  them 
Avith  discourse.  They  are  not  so  behoveful  :  he  that  can  tell 
his  money  hath  arithmetick  enough  :  he  is  a  true  geometri- 
cian, can  measure  out  a  good  fortune  to  himself;  a  perfect 
astrologer,  that  can  cast  the  rise  and  fall  of  others,  and  mark 
their  errant  motions  to  his  own  use.  The  best  opticks  are,  to 
reflect  the  beams  of  some  great  mens  favour  and  grace  to  shine 
upon  him.  He  is  a  good  engineer,  that  alone  can  make  an  in- 
strument to  get  preferment.  This  was  the  common  tenent 
and  practice  of  Poland,  as  Cromerus  observed,  not  long'  since, 
in  the  first  book  of  his  history:  their  universities  were  gene- 
rally base  ;  not  a  philosopher,  a  mathematician,  an  antiquary, 
&c.  to  be  found  of  any  note  amongst  them,  because  they  had 
no  set  reward  or  stipend;  but  every  man  betook  himself  to 
divinity,  hoc  solum  in  vt-tis  habens,  opimum  sacerdotium;  a 
good  personage  was  their  aim.  This  was  the  practice  of  some 
of  our  neer  neighbours,  as  '^  Lipsius  inveighs ;  they  thrust 
their  children  to  the  study  oj'  laiv  and  divinity,  before  they  be 
injbrmed  aright,  or  capable  oJ' such  studies.     Scilicet  omnibus 

*  Petronius  Arbiter.  ''Oppressus  paupertate  animus  nihil  exiniiiim  aut  sub- 

lime cogitare  potest     Amoenitates  literarum,  aut  elegantiain,  quoniatn  nihil  prsesidii 
in  his  ad  vitae  coniinodum  videt,  prirao  negligerc,  mox  odisse,  iucipit.     Heius. 
^  Epistol.  quast.  lib.  4.  ep.  21. 


196  Causes  of  Melanchohj .       [Part.  i.  Sec.  2. 

artibus  antistat  spes  lucri ;  at  formosior  est  cumulus  auri^ 
cjuam  quidquid  GrcBci  Latinique  delirantes  scripserunt.  Ex 
hoc  numero  deinde  veniuut  ad  gubernacula  relpub.  interavnt 
et  prcesunt  consiliis  recfum  ;  o  pater  I  o  patria!  so  he  com- 
plained ;  and  so  many  others :  for  even  so  we  find,  to  serve  a 
s>Teat  man,  to  get  an  office  in  some  bishops  court  (to  practise 
in  some  ^ood  town),  or  compass  a  benefice,  is  the  mark  we 
shoot  at,  as  being-  so  advantagious,  the  high  way  to  preferment. 
Although,  many  times,  for  ought  I  can  see,  these  men  fail  as 
often  as  the  rest  in  their  projects,  and  are  as  usually  frustrate  of 
their  hopes:  for,  let  him  be  a  doctor  of  the  law,  an  excellent 
civilian  of  good  worth,  where  shall  he  practise  and  expatiate? 
Their  fields  are  so  scant,  the  civil  law  with  us  so  contracted 
with  prohibitions, so  few  causes,  by  reason  of  ihose  all-devour- 
in"*  municipal  laws  (cjuibus  7iihil  illiterat'ms,  saith  ^Erasmus — 
an  illiterate  and  a  barbarous  study;  for,  though  they  be  never  so 
well  learned  in  it,  I  can  hardly  vouchsafe  them  the  name  of 
scholars,  except  they  be  otherwise  qualified)  and  so  i'ew  courts 
are  left  to  that  profession,  such  slender  offices,  and  those  com- 
moidy  to  be  compassed  at  such  dear  rates,  that  I  know  not  how 
an  ingenious  man  should  thrive  amongst  them.  Now,  for  phy- 
sicians, there  are  in  every  village  so  many  mountebanks,empe- 
ricks,quack-salvers,Paracelsians(as  they  call  themselves)  ,ca?/- 
sifici  et  sanicidce  (so  ^  Clenard  terms  them),  wisards,  alcumists, 
poor  vicars,  cast  apothecaries,  physicians  men,  barbers,  and 
good  wives,  professing  gTcat  skill,  that  I  make  great  doubt  how 
they  shall  be  maintained,  or  who  shall  be  their  patients.  Be- 
sides, there  are  so  many  of  both  sorts,  and  some  of  them  such 
harpyes,  so  covetous,  so  clamorous,  so  impudent,  and  (as'^he 
said)  litigious  idiots, 

Quibus  loquacis  afFatim  arrogantiae  est, 
Peritias  parum  aut  nihil, 

Nee  ulla  mica  literarii  sails; 
Crumenimuhija  natio, 

Loqimtuleia  turba,  litium  strophBe, 
Maligna  litigantium 

Cohors,  togati  vultures, 

Lavernse  alumni,  agyrtee,  &c, 

Which  have  no  skill,  but  prating  arrogance, 
No  learning,  such  a  purse- milking  nation, 

Gown'd  vultures,  thieves,  and  a  litigious  rout 
Of  couseners,  that  haunt  this  occupation, 

that  they  cannot  M-ell  tell  how  to  live  one  by  another,  but,  as 
he  jested  (in  the  comedy)  of  clocks,  they  were  so  many, ''w/./or 
pars  popuJi  aridd  reptant  fame,  they  are  almost  starved   a 

a  Ciceron.  dial.        ^  Epist.  lib.  2.         *  Ja-  Doiisa,  Epodon  lib.  2.  car.  2.         ^  Plauttis. 


Mem.  3.  Subs.  15.]      Why  the  Muses  are  MelaucfiOly.       197 

great  part  of  them,  and  ready  to  devour  their  fellows,  =*  et 
noxid  calliditate  se  corripere ;  such  a  multitude  of  pettifoggers 
and  empericks,  such  impostors,  that  an  honest  man  knows 
not  in  what  sort  to  compose  and  behave  himself  in  their  society, 
to  carry  himself  with  credit  in  so  vile  a  rout;  scientke  nomen,  tot 
sumtihus  partnm  et  viffiliis,  projiteri  dispudeat,  postqnmn,  Sfc. 
Last  of  all,  to  come  to  our  divines,  the  most  noble  profession 
and  worthy  of  double  honour,  but  of  all  others  the  most  dis- 
tressed and  miserable.  If  you  w\\\  not  believe  me,  hear  a  brief 
of  it,  as  it  was,  not  many  years  since,  publicly  preached  at  Pauls 
cross,  ''by  a  grave  minister  then,  and  now  a  reverend  bishop  of 
this  land.  We,  that  are  bred  yp  in  learning,  and  destinated  hy 
our  parents  to  thi"  end,  tee  suffer  our  childhood  in  the  grammer 
school,  li'hich  Austin  calls  rnagnam  tyrannidem,  et  grave  ma- 
lum, and  compares  it  to  the  torments  ofmarfyrdom  ;  ivhen  ive 
come  to  the  imiversity,  if  tee  live  of  the  coUeffe  allowance,  as 
Phalaris  objected  to  the  Leontines,  Travrm  iv^s^i:;,  ttMv  p^v^s  koh 
?"''^«,  needy  of  all  thinr/s  Init  hunger  and  fear  ;  or,  if  ve  he 
maintained  but  partly  by  07ir  parents  cost,  to  expend  in  [un]  ne- 
cessary maintenance,  hooks,  and  degrees,  before  we  come  to  any 
perfection,  five  hundreth pounds,  or  a  thousand  marks.  If,  by 
this  price  of  the  expence  of  time,  our  bodies  and  spirits,  our  sub- 
stance and  patrimonies,  ice  cannot  purchase  those  small  re- 
wards, which  are  ours  hy  law,  and  the  right  of  inheritance,  a 
poor  personage,  or  a  vicarage  of  50].  per'annum,  but  we  must 
pay  to  the  patron  for  the  lease  of  a  life  (a  spent  and  out-worn 
life),  either  in  annual  pension,  or  above  the  rate  of  a  coppyhold, 
and  that  with  the  hazard  and  loss  of  our  souls,  by  simony  and 
perjury,  and  the  forfeiture  of  all  our  spiritual  preferments,  in 
esse  and  posse,  both  present  and  to  come  ;  what  father  after  a 
while  ivill  be  so  improvident,  to  bring  up  his  son,  to  his  qreat 
charge,  to  this  necessary  beggery  ?  What  Christian  will  be  so 
irreligious,  to  bring  up  his  son  in  that  course  of  life,  which,  by 
all  probability  an(l  necessity,  cogit  ad  turpia,  enforcing  to  sin, 
willentangle  him  in  simony  and  per  jury ,  when  as  the  poet  saith, 

Invitatus  ad  haec  aliquis  de  ponte  negabit 

a  beggars  brat,  taken  from  the  bridge  ichere  he  sits  a  begging, 
if  he  kneiv  the  inconvenience,  had  cause  to  refuse  it.  This  be- 
ing thus,  have  not  we  wished  fair  all  this  whi'je,  that  are  initiate 
divines,  to  find  no  better  fruits  of  our  labours  ? 

^  Hoc  est,  cur  palles  ?  cur  quis  non  prandeat,  hoc  est  ? 
Do  we  macerate  our  selves  for  this?  is  it  for  this  we  rise  so 
early  all  the  year  long,  '^  leaping  (as  he  saith)  out  of  our  bexh, 
when  ive  hear  the  bejl  ring,  as  if  ice  had  heard  a  thunder  clap? 

»Barc.  Argenis.  lib.  3.  b  joh.  Howson,  4  Novembris,  1537.     The  sermon 

was  printed  by  Arnold  Hartfield.  <■.  Pers.  Sat.  3.  d  E  lecto  exsilientes, 

ad  subitum  tintinnabuli  plnusiini,  quasi  fiilniiue  territi.  1. 


19S  Causes  of  Melanclioly.         [Parf.  1.  Sec.  2. 

If  this  be  all  the  respect,  reward,  and  honour,  we  shall  have, 

»  Frange  leves  calamos,  et  scinde,  Thalia,  libellos  : 

let  us  give  over  our  books,  and  betake  our  selves  to  some 
other  course  of  life.     To  what  end  should  we  study  ? 

^  Quid  me  literulas  stulti  docuere  parentes  ? 

what  did  our  parents  mean  to  make  us  scholars,  to  be  as  far  to 
seek  of  preferment  after  twenty  years  study,  as  we  were  at  first? 
why  do  we  take  such  pains  ? 

Quid  tantum  iusanis  juvat  impallescere  chartis  ? 

If  there  be  no  more  hope  of  reward,  no  better  encouragement, 
I  say  again, 

Frange  leves  calamos,  et  scinde,  Thalia,  libellos  : 

let's  turn  souldiers,  sell  our  books,  and  buy  swords,  guns,  and 
pikes,  or  stop  bottles  with  them,  turn  our  philosophers  gowns 
(as  Cleanthes  once  did)  unto  millers  coats,  leave  all,  and  ra- 
ther betake  our  selves  to  any  other  course  of  life,  than  to  con- 
tinue longer  in  this  misery.  ^  Prcestat  de^tiscalpia  radere, 
guam  literariis  monumenth  maf/natumj'avorem  emendicare. 

Yea,  but  me  thinks  1  hear  some  man  except  at  these  words, 
that  (though  this  be  true  which  I  have  said  of  the  estate  of 
scholars,  and  especially  of  divines,  that  it  is  miserable  and 
distressed  at  this  time,  that  the  church  suffers  shipwrack  of 
her  goods, and  that  they  have  just  cause  to  complain)  there  is 
a  fault;  but  whence  proceeds  it?  if  the  cause  were  justly  ex- 
amined, it  would  be  retorted  upon  ourselves;  if  we  were  cited 
at  that  tribunal  of  truth,  we  should  be  foiiutl  guilty,  and  not 
able  to  excuse  it.  That  there  is  a  fault  among-  us,  I  confess ; 
and,  were  there  not  a  buyer,  there  would  not  be  a  seller:  but 
to  him  that  will  consider  better  of  it,  it  will  more  than  mani- 
festly appear,  that  the  fountain  of  these  miseries  proceeds  from 
these  griping-  patrons.  In  accusing  theiu,  1  do  not  altogether 
excuse  us :  both  are  faulty,  they  and  we :  yet, in  my  judgement, 
theirs  is  the  greater  fault,  more  apparent  causes,  and  much  to 
be  condemne'd.  For  my  part,  if  it  be  not  with  me  as  I  would, 
or  as  it  should,  I  do  ascribe  the  cause  (as  '^  Cardan  did  in  the 
like  case)  rneo  hif'ortiinio  potius  quam  illorum  sceleri,  to 
*  mine  own  infelicity,  rather  than  their  naughtiness,  (although 
I  have  been  baffled  in  my  time  by  some  of  them,  and  have  as 
just  cause  to  complain  as  another)  or  rather  indeed  to  mine 


a  Mart.  b  Mart  e  Sat.  Menip.  ^  Lib.  %  de  cons.  ^  I  had  no 

money  :  I  wanted  impudence  :  I  could  not  scramble,  temporize,  dissemble :  non  pran- 
deret  olus,  &c. — Vis,  dicam  ?  ad  palpandum  et  adulandum  penitus  insulsns,  recudi 
non  possum,  jam  senior,  ut  sim  talis ;  et  fingi  nolo,  utcunque  male  cedat  in  rem  meam, 
et  obscurus  inde  delitescam. 


Mcia.  3.  Subs.  15.]  Study ^  a  Cause.  1^9 

own  negligence;  for  I  was  ever  like  that  Alexander  (in  ''Plu- 
tarch) Crassus  his  tutor  in  philosophy,  who,  though  he  lived 
many  years  familiarly  with  rich  Crassus,  was  even  as  poor  when 
from,  (which  many  wondered  at)  as  when  he  came  first  to  him. 
He  never  asked;  the  other  never  gave  him  any  thini^-;  when  he 
travelled  with  Crassus,  he  borrowed  an  hat  of  him, at  his  return 
restored  it  again.  1  have  had  some  such  noble  friends,  ac- 
quaintance and  scholars;  but,  most  part,  (common  courtesies 
and  ordinary  respects  excepted)  they  and  I  parted  as  we  met: 

they  gave  me  as  much  as  1  requested,  and  that  was And  as 

Alexanderab  Alexandrio  (Genial,  d'ler.  l.6.c.  16)  madeanswer 
to  Hieronymus  Massainus,  that  wondred/pmm  pluris  ic^navos 
et  ifjnobiles  ad  dignkates  et  sacerdotia  promotos  quotidie 
videret,  when  other  men  rose,  stiil  he  was  in  the  same  state, 
eodeni  te/wreet  for  tuna,  cuimercedemlahorum  studlorumqne  de- 
beri  putaret,  whom  he  thought  to  deserve  as  well  as  the  rest — 
he  made  answer,  that  he  was  content  with  his  present  estate, 
was  not  ambitious:  and,  although  ohjurgahundus  suam  segni- 
tiem  accusaret,  cum  obscurce  sortis  homines  ad  sacerdotia  et 
pontificatns  evectos,  Sfc.  he  chid  him  for  his  backwardness,  yet 
he  was  still  the  same:  and  for  my  part  (though  I  be  not  worthy 
perhaps  to  carry  Alexanders  books)  yet,  by  some  overweening 
and  well  wishing  friends,  the  like  speeches  have  been  used 
to  me;  but  I  replyed  still,  with  Alexander,  that  I  had  enough, 
and  more  perad venture  than  I  deserved;  and,  with  Libanius 
Sophista,  that  rather  chose  (when  honours  and  offices  by  the 
emperour  were  offered  unto  him)  to  be  talis  sophista,  quam 
talis  viagistratus,  I  had  as  live  be  still  Democritus  junior, 
and  privus  privatus,  si  mihi  jam  daretur  optio,  quam  talis 

J'ortasse  doctor,  talis  dominus. Sed  quorsnm  haoc  ?    For  the 

rest,  'tis,  on  both  H\Ae%,facinus  detestandum  to  buy  and  sell 
livings,  to  detain  from  the  church  that  which  Gods  and  mens 
laws  have  bestowed  ori  it;  but  in  them  most,  and  that  from 
the  covetousness  and  ignorance  of  such  as  are  interested  in  this 
business.  I  name  covetousness  in  the  first  place,  as  the  rootof 
all  these  mischiefs,  which  (Achan  like)  compels  them  to 
commit  sacrilege,  and  to  make  simoniacal  compacts,  (and  what 
not?)  to  their  own  ends,  ''and  that  kindles  Gods  wrath,  brings  a 
plague,  vengeance,  and  an  heavy  visitation  upon  themselves  and 
others.  Some,  outof  that  insatiable  desire  of  filthy  lucre,  to  be 
enriched,  care  not  how  they  come  hy  it, per  fas  et  nej'as,  hook 
or  crook,  so  they  have  it.  And  others,  when  they  have,  with 
riot  and  prodigality,  imbezelled  their  estates,  to  recover  them- 


a  Vit.  Crassi.  Nee  facile  judicari  potest,  ntrumpanperior  cum  pritno  adCiassum.&c. 
b  Deiim  habent  iratum  ;  sibiqne  mortem  a^ternam  acqiiirunt,  aliia  miserabilem  ruinam. 
Serrariiis,  in  Josiiam.  7.     Eiiripidrs. 

VOL.    I.  Y 


Causes  of  Melnnchohj,         [Parf.  1.  Sec.  2, 

selves,  make  a  prey  of  the  church,  (robbing  it,  as  « Julian  the 
Apostate  (lid)  spoile  parsons  of  their  revenues  (in  keepin"-  half 
back, ''  as  a  great  man  amongst  us  observes)awrf^/mif  maintenance 
on  which  they  should  live;  by  means  whereof,  barbarism  is  in- 
creased, and  a  great  decay  of  Christian  professours  :  for  who 
will  apply  himself  to  these  divine  studies,  his  son,  or  friend, 
when,  after  great  pains  taken,  they  shall  have  nothing  where- 
upon to  live?    But  with  what  event  do  they  these  things? 

<^Opesque  totis  viribus  venamini : 
At  inde  messis  accidit  miserrima. 

They  toyle  and  moyle,  but  what  reap  they  ?     They  are  com- 
monly unfortunate  families  that  use  it,accursedin  their  progeny, 
and,  as  common  experience  evinceth,  accursed  themselves  in 
all  their  proceedings.     With  what  face  (as  he  '^quotes  out  of 
Austin)  can  they  expect  a  blessing  or  inheritance  from  Christ 
in  heaven,  that  defraud  Christ  of  his  inheritance  here  on  earth  ? 
I  would  all  our  siraoniacal  patrons,  and  such  as  detain  tithes, 
would  read  those  judicious  tracts  of  S"^  Henry  Spelman,  and  S'^ 
James  Sempil!,  knights;  those  late  elaborate  and  learned  trea- 
tises of  D"^  Tilslye  and  M'^  Montague,  which  they  have  written 
of  that  subject.      But  though  they  should  read,  it  would  be 
to  small   purpose  ;    dames,  licet,   et  mare   coclo   confundas ; 
thunder,  lighten,  preach  hell  and  damnation,  tell  them  'tis  a 
sin :   they  will  not  believe  it ;    denounce  and  terrific ;  they 
have  *  cauterised  consciences  ;  they  do  not  attend  ;  as  the  in- 
chantedadder,  they  stop  their  ears.    Call  them  base,  irreligious, 
prophane,barbarous.pagans,  atheists,  epicures,  (as  some  of  them 
surely  are)   with  the  bawd  in  Plautus,  Euge  !  optime  !  they 
cry;  and  applaud  themselves  with  that  miser,  himul  acnummos 
contemplor  in  area:  say  what  you  will,  quocunque  modo  rem: 
as  a  dog  barks  at  the  moon,  to  no  purpose  are  your  sayings  : 
take  your  heaven,  let  them  have  money — a  base,  prophane, 
epicurean,  hypocritical  rout.      For  my  part,  let  them  pretend 
what  they  will,  counterfeit  religion,  blear  the  worlds  eyes, 
bumbast  themselves,andstuffe  out  their  greatness  with  church 
spoils,  shine  like  so  many  peacocks — so  cold  is  my  charity,  so 
defective  in  this  behalf,  that  I  shall  never  think  better  of  them, 
than  that  they  are  rotten  at  core,  their  bones  are  full  of  epi- 
curean hypocrisie,  and  atheistical  marrow;  theyare  worse  than 
heathens.     For,  as  Dionysius  Halicarnasseus  observes  (Antiq,' 
Rom.  lib.  7).     ^Primum  locum,  ^-c.     Greeks  and  barbarians 

aNicephorus,  lib.  10  cap.  5.  ''Lord  Cook,  in  liis  Reports,  second  part, 

fol.  44.                'Euripides.  "^ Sir  Henry  Spelman,  de  non  teinerandis  Ecclesiis. 

e  1  Tim.  4.  2.               fHor.  sPrimuixi  locum  apud  onines  gentes  habet  patritius 

deoriim  cultus,   et  sceniorum  ;  nam  hunc   diutissime    custodiunt,   tarn   Gr-esci   qoam 
harbari,  &c. 


Mem.  3.  Subs.  15.]  Study,  a  Cause.  201 

observe  all  religioua  rites,  and  dare  not  break  them,  for  fear 
of  offending  their  gods:  but  our  simoniacal  contracters,  our 
senseless  Achans,  our  stupified  patrons,  fear  neither  God  nor 
Devil :  they  have  evasions  for  it;  it  is  no  sin,  or  not  due  jure 
dimno,  or,  if  a  sin,  no  greatsin,&c.  And,  thoiig-h  they  be  daily 
punished  for  it,  and  they  do  manifestly  perceive,  tliat,(as  he  said) 
frost  and  fraud  come  tofoulends;  yet  (as  '^Chrysostome follows 
it)  nulla  ex  poena  Jit  correctio;  et,  quasi  adversis  malitia  ho- 
minnm  provocetur,  erescit  quotidie  quod  puniatur :  they  are 
rather  worse  than  better  : 

iram  atque   aniraos  a  crimine  sutnunt; 

and  the  more  they  are  corrected,  the  more  they  offend:  but  let 
them  take  their  course,  (^  Rode,  caper,  viteni)  <^o  on  still  as 
they  beg-in,  ("'tis  no  sin!")  let  them  rejoyce  secure:  Gods 
vengeance  will  overtake  them  in  the  end;  and  these  ill  gotten 
goods,  as  an  eagles  feathers,  "^will  consume  the  rest  of  their 
substance:  itis^ anru7n  Tholosanum,  and  will  produce  no  better 
eftects.  Let  them  lag  it  up  saje,  and  make  their  conveyances 
never  so  close, lock  and  shut  ^foor,  saith^Chrysostome :  yet  fraud 
andcovetousness,  tico  most  violent  thieves,  are  still  included ;  and 
a  little  gain,  evil  gotten,  ivill  subvert  the  rest  oj'  their  goods. 
The  eagle  in  ^Esop,  seeing  a  piece  of  flesh,  now  ready  to  be  sa- 
crificed, swept  it  away  with  her  claws,  and  carried  it  to  her 
nest :  but  there  was  a  burning  coal  stuck  to  it  by  chance,  which 
unawares  consumed  her  young  ones,  nest  and  all  together.  Let 
our  simoniacal  church-chopping  patrons,  and  sacrilegious  har- 
pies, look  for  no  better  success. 

A  second  cause  is  ignorance,  and  from  thence  contempt ; 
siiccessit  odium  in  literas  ah  ignorantid  vulgi  ;  which  '^^Junius 
M'ell  perceived :  this  hatred  and  contempt  of  learning  proceeds 
out  of  ^ignorance;  as  they  are  themselves  barbarous,  idiots, 
dull,  illiterate,  and  proud,  so  they  esteem  of  others. 

Sint  Maecenates,  non  deerunt,  Flacce,  Marones  : 

let  there  be  bountiful  patrons,  and  there  will  be  painful  scholars 
in  all  sciences.  But,  when  they  contemn  learning,  and  tlftnk 
themselves  sufficiently  qualified,  if  they  can  write  and  read, 
scamble  at  a  piece  of  evidence,  or  have  so  much  Latin  as  that 
emperour  had,  ^^qui  nescit  dissimulare,  nescit  vivere,  they  are 
unfit  to  do  their  countrey  service,  to  perform  or  undertake 

"  Tom.  1.  de  steril.  trium  annorum  sub  Elia  serraone  b  Ovid.  Fast  cDe 

male  qiiaesitis  vix  c^audet  tertius  hteres.  d  Strabo,  1.  4.  Geo^.  «■  Nihil  facilius 

ones f  vertet,  qiiain  avaritia  et  frande  parta  Etsi  enjm  seiain  addas  tali  area;,  et  exteriore 
janua  et  vecte  earn  coinnuinias,  intus  tamen  fraudeni  et  avaritiam,  &c.  Ju  5  Corintli. 
f  Aead.  cap.  7.  g  Ars  neminem  habet  initnicum,  prieter  ignorantem.  h  fj, 

that  cannot  dissemble  cannot  live. 

y2 


202  Causes  of  Mdanclwly,         [Part.  1 .  Sec.  2. 

any  action  or  employment,  which  may  tend  to  tlie  good  of 
a  common-wealth,  except  it  be  to  fight,  or  to  do  countrey 
justice,  with  common  sense,  which  every  yeoman  can  like- 
wise do.  And  so  they  bring  up  their  children, rude  as  they  are 
themselves,  unqualified,  untaught,  uncivil  most  part.  ^  Quis 
e  nostra  juventute  legitime  instituitur  Uteris  ?  quis  oratores 
aut  philosoplws  tangit  ?  quis  historiam  legit,  illam  reruni 
agendarnm  quasi  animam  ?  Pracipitant  parentes  vota  sua,  ^-c. 
*twas  LipsJus  complaint  to  his  illiterate  countrey-men :  it  may 
be  ours.  Now  shall  these  men  judge  of  a  scholars  worth,  that 
have  no  worth,  that  know  not  whatbelongs  toastudentslabours, 
that  cannot  distinguish  between  a  true  scholar  and  a  tlrone?  or 
him  that  by  reason  of  a  voluble  tongue,  a  strong  voice,  a 
pleasing'  tone,  and  some  trivantly  Polyanthean  helps,  steals 
and  gleans  a  fev*'  notes  from  other  mens  harvests,  and  so  makes 
a  fairer  shew,  than  he  that  is  truly  learned  indeed ;  that  thinks 
it  no  more  to  preach,  than  to  speak,  ^  or  to  run  away  with 
an  empty  cart  (as  a  grave  man  said) ;  and  thereupon  vilifie 
us,  and  our  pains ;  scorn  us,  and  all  learning.  *^  Because 
they  are  rich,  and  have  other  means  to  live,  they  think 
it  concerns  them  not  to  know,  or  to  trouble  themselves  with 
it ;  a  fitter  task  for  younger  brothers,  or  poor  mens  sons, 
to  be  pen  and  inkhorn  men,  pedantical  slaves,  and  no  whit  be- 
seeming the  calling'  of  a  gentleman,  as  Frenchmen  and  Ger- 
mans commonly  do,  neglecting  therefore  all  humane  learning: 
what  have  they  to  do  with  it?  Let  marriners  learn  astronomy ; 
merchants  factors  study  arithmetick;  surveyors  get  them  geo- 
metry ;  spectacle-makers  opticks  ;  landleapers  geography ; 
town-clarks  rhetorick;  what  should  he  do  with  a  spade,  that 
hath  no  ground  to  dig?  or  they  with  learning-,  that  have  no 
use  of  it  ?  Thus  they  reason,  and  are  not  ashamed  to  let 
marriners,  prentises,  and  the  basest  servants,  be  better  quali- 
fied than  themselves.  In  former  times,  kings,  princes,  and 
emperours  were  the  only  scholars,  excellent  in  all  faculties. 

Julius  Csesar  mended  the  year,  and  writ  his  own  Commen- 
taries : 

— ci  media  inter  proelia,  semper 

Stellarum  coelique  plagis,  superisque  vacavit. 

•  Antoninus,  Adrian,  Nero,  Severus,  Julian,  &c.  ^Michael  the 
emperour,  and  Isacius,  were  so  much  given  to  theirstudies,  that 


»  Ei)fst.  quaest  lib.  4,  epist.  21.  Lipsius.  ^  Dr.  King,  in  his  last  lecture  ou 

.Jonah,  sometime  right  reverend  lord  bishop  of  London.  '^  Quibus  opes  et  otiuin, 

hi  barisaro  fastu  literas  coutemnunt.  ''  Lucan.  lib.  8.  «  Spartian.  Soliciti  de 

vebus  uimis,  '  Nicet.  1.  Anal.  Fumis  lucubrationum  sordebant. 


Mem.  3.  Subs.  15.]         Study,  a  Cause.  2Q3 

no  base  fellow  would  take  so  much  pains  :  Orion,  Perseus,  Al- 
phonsus,Ptolemaeus,famousf?stronomers;  Saber, Mitliridates, 
Lysimachus,  admired  physicians — Platoskings.all;  Evax,that 
Arabian  prince,amost  expert  jueller,  and  an  exquisite  philo- 
sopher ;  the  kings  of  vEgypt  were  priests  of  old,  and  chosen 
from  thence  :  Rex  idem   homiymm,  Phoehiqne,  sacerdos :  but 
those  heroical  times  are  past;  the  Muses  are  now  banished, 
in  this  bastard  age,  ad  sordida  tuf/itriola,  to  meaner  persons, 
and  confined  alone  almost  to  universities.      In  those  dayes, 
scholars  Avere  highly   beloved, '^  honoured,  esteemed,  as  old 
Ennius  by  Scipio  Africanus,  Virgil  by  Auo-ustus,  Horace  by 
Maecenas;  princes  companions  ;  dear  to  them,  as  Anacreon 
to  Polycrates,  Philoxenus  to  Dionysius,  and  highly  rewarded. 
Alexander  sent  Xenocrates  the  philosopher  fifty  talents,  be- 
cause he  was  poor,  visn  rernm  ant  eruditione  prcBStantes  viri 
mensis  olim  regnm  adhibiti,ns  Philostratus  relates  of  Adrian, 
and  Lampridius  of  Alexander  Severus.     Famous  clarks  came 
to  these  princes  courts,  vehtt  in  Lycaum,  as  to  an  university, 
and  were  admitted  to  their  tables,  quasi  dirihii  epulis  accum- 
bentes;  Archelalis,  that  Macedonian  king, Mould  notwillinolv 
sup  without  Euripides,  (amongst  the  rest  he  drank  to  bin? a"t 
supper  one  night,  and  gave  him  a  cup  of  gold  for  his  pains) 
delect  atus  poet  (V.  suavi  sermone :  and  it  Mas  fit  it  should  be  so, 
because  (as  ''Plato  in  his  Protagoras  mcH  saith)  a  good  philo- 
sopher as  much  excells  other  men,  as  a  great  king  doth  the 
commons   of  his  countrey  ;  and   ng^Hn, "  fiuoniam  illis  nihil 
deesf,  et  minime  etjere  solent,  et  disciplinas^  qnas  -profitentiir, 
soli  a  contemtu  vindicare  possnnt ;  they  needed  not  to  beij  so 
basely,  as  they  compell  '•  scholars  in  our  times  to  complain 
of  poverty,  or  crouch  to  a  rich  chuff'  for  a  meals  meat,   but 
could  vindicate  themselves,  and  those  arts  Mhich  they  pro- 
fessed.    NoM'  they  would  and  cannot;  for  it  is  held  by  some 
of  them,  as  an  axiom,  that  to  keep  them  poor,  will  make  them 
study  ;  they  must  be  dieted,  as  horses  to  a  race,  not  pamper- 
ed ;  ^alendos  volunt,  nan  sar/inandos,  ne  melioris  mentis  finm- 
mula  extingiiatur  :  a  lat  bird  Mill  not  sing,  a  fat  dog  cannot 
hunt;  and  so,  by  this  depression  of  theirs,  ^some  Avant  means, 
others  Mill,  all  Mant  s incouragement,  as  being  forsaken  al- 
most, and  generally  contemned.     'Tis  an  old  saying, 

Sint  Msecenatc-s,  nori  deernnt,  Flacce,  Marones  ; 

a  Grammaticis  olini  et  dialecticis  .ji.risque  professoribiis,  qui  specimen  fiuflitionis 
dedissent,  eadem  diernitatis  insignia  decreveruut  iniperatores.  fpiibus  ornabant  iieroas.  ' 
Erasm.  ep.  Jo.  Fabio  epis.  Vien.  b  Probus  vir  et  philosoplms  luagis  pr;vstat  inter 

alios  homines,  qnam  rex  iiiclytus  inter  plebeios.  '^Heinsins.  prtefat  Poematnni. 

'1  Servile  noraen  scholans  jam.  e  Seneca.  'Haud  facile  emer-jiiiit,  &c. 

?  Media  quod  iioctis  ab  bora  Sedisti,  (lua  nemo  faber.  qua  nemo  setlebr.t,  Qui  clocet 
obliquo  lanaui  diducere  feiro ;  Kara  tamen  nierces.  Juv.  Sat,  7. 


•iOt  Causes  of  Melanchohj.         [Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

and  'tis  a  true  saying  still.  Yet  oftentimes,  1  may  not  deny  it, 
the  main  fault  is  in  ourselves.  Ouracademicks  too  frequently 
offend  in  neglecting  patrons  (as  *  Erasmus  well  taxeth),  or 
making  ill  choice  of  them  ;  negliffwrns  ohlatos^  avt  amplecti- 
mur  parum  aptos :  or,  if  we  get  a  good  one,  non  studemus 
mutuis  officii s J'avor em  ejus  alere,  we  do  not  plye  and  follow 
him  as  we  should.  Idem  mi/ii accidit  adolescenti  (saith  Eras- 
mus, acknowledging  his  fault)  ;  et  gravissime  pecccivi :  and  so 
may  ''I  say  myself,  1  have  offended  in  this,  and  so  perad  venture 
have  many  others:  we  did  noirespondere  mciffnaturnjavoribiis, 
qui  cceperunt  nos  amplecti,  apply  our  selves  with  that  readi- 
ness we  should  :  idleness,  love  of  liberty,  {immodicus  amor 
libertatis  ejf'ecit,  ut  diu  cum  perjidis  amicis,  as  he  confesseth,  et 
pertinaci  paupertate,  colliictarer)  bashfulness,  melancholy, 
timorousness,  cause  many  of  us  to  be  too  backward  and  remi.ss. 
So  some  offend  in  one  extream,  but  too  many  on  the  other: 
"we  are,  most  part,  too  forward,  too  solicitous,  too  ambitious, 
too  impudent  :  we  commonly  complain  deesse  Mascenates^ 
want  of  encouragement,  want  of  means,  Mhen  as  the  true  de- 
fect is  our  want  of  worth,  our  insufficiency.  Did  Maecenas 
take  notice  of  Horace  or  Virgil,  till  they  had  shewed  them- 
selves first?  or  had  Bavins  and  Maevius  any  patrons?  Egrc' 
aium  specimen  dent,B2L\\h  Erasmus:  let  them  approve  them- 
selves worthy  first,  sufficiently  qualified  for  learning  and  man- 
ners, before  they  presume  or  impudently  intrude  and  put 
themselves  on  great  men,  as  too  many  do,  with  such  base 
flattery,  parasitical  colloguing,  such  hyperbolical  elogies  they 
do  usually  insinuate,  that  it  is  a  shame  to  hear  and  see.  Im- 
fiwdica;  lavdes  conciliant  invidiam,  potins  quam  laudcm  ;  and 
vain  commendations  derogate  from  truth;  and  we  think,  in 
conclusion,  non  melius  de  landato,  pejus  de  laudanfe,  ill  of 
both,  the  commender  and  commended.  So  we  offend;  but 
the  main  fault  is  in  their  harshness,  defect  of  patrons. 
How  beloved  of  old,  and  how  much  respected,  was  Plato  of 
Dionysius  !  How  dear  to  Alexander  was  Aristotle,  Demaratus 
to  Philip,  Solon  to  Croesus,  Anaxarchus  and  Trebatius  to  Au- 
gustus, Cassius  to  Vespasian,  Plutarch  to  Trajan,  Seneca  to 
Nero,  Simonides  to  Hieron  !  how  honoured  ! 

'Sed  lisec  prius  fuere  ;  nunc  recondita 
Senent  qiiiete : 

those  dayes  are  gope  ; 

Et  spes  et  ratio  studionim  in  Cacsare  tantiim  ; 

»  Chil.  4.  cent.  1    adag   1.  ''  Had  I  done  as  otlifr^  did,  put  my  self  forward, 

I  mipht  ba\e  haply  been  as  great  a  mau  a*  nmiy  of  oiy  eqiiaU.  <^  Catnllni^ 

Javcn. 


Mem.  3.  Subs.  15.]  Study,  a  Cause.  205 

as  he  said  of  old,  we  may  truly  say  now  :  he  is  our  amulet, 
our  ^suri,  our  sole  comfort  and  refuge,  our  Ptolemy,  our  com- 
mon Maecenas,  Jacobus  munijicus.  Jacobus  pacijicus,  mysta 
Musarum, rex  Platonicus :  grande  decus,  columenque  nostrum; 
a  famous  scholar  himself,  and  the  sole  patron,  pillar,  and 
sustainer  of  learning  :  but  his  worth  in  this  kind  is  so  well 
known,  that  (as  Paterculus,  of  Cato)  ;am  ipsum  laudare  nefas 
sit;  and  (which  ^  Pliny  to  Trajan)  seria  te  carmina,  honorque 
aternus  annalium,  non  ha>c  brevis  et  pudenda  prcedicatio, 
colet.     But  he  is  now  gone,  the  sun  of  ours  set;  and  yet  no 


night  follows. 


-Sol  occubuit ;  nox  nulla  sequuta  est. 


i 


We  have  such  another  in  his  room — 

Aureus  ;  et  simili  frondescit  virga  metallo  ; 

and  long  may  he  reign  and  flourish  amongst  us. 

Let  me  not  be  malitious,  and  lye  against  my  genius  ;  I 
may  not  deny,  but  that  we  have  a  sprinkling  of  our  gentry, 
here  and  there  one,  excellently  well  learned,  like  those  Fug- 
geri  in  Germany,  Dubartas,  Du  Plessis,  Sadael  in  France, 
Picus  Mirandula,  Scbottus,  Barotius  in  Italy  : 

Apparent  rari  nantes  in  gurgite  vasto ; 

butthey  are  butfewin  respect  of  the  multitude  :  the  major  part 
-^and  some  again  excepted,  that  are  indifferent)  are  wholly  bent 
for  hawks  and  hounds,  and  carried  away  many  times  with  in- 
temperate lust,  gaming,  and  drinking.  If  they  read  a  book  at 
any  time,  {si  quid  est  interim  otii  a  venatu,  poculis,  aledy 
scortis)  'tis  an  English  chronicle,  St.  Huon  of  Bordeaux, 
Amadis  de  Gaul,  &c.  a  play-book,  or  some  pamphlet  of 
news,  and  that  at  such  seasons  only,  when  they  cannot  stir 
abroad,  to  drive  away  time:  "^ their  sole  discourse  is  dogs, 
hawks,  horses,  and  what  news?  If  some  one  have  been  a  tra- 
veller in  Italy,  or  as  far  as  the  emperours  court,  wintered  in 
Orleance,  and  can  court  his  mistris  in  broken  French,  wear  his 
clothes  neatly  in  the  newest  fashion,  sing  some  choice  out- 
landish tunes,  discourse  of  lords,  ladies,  towns,  palaces, 
and  cities,  he  is  compleat,  and  to  be  admired  :  «■  otherwise  he 
and  they  are  much  at  one ;  no  difference  betwixt  the  master 
and  the  man,  but  worshipful  titles  :— wink,  and  choose  betwixt 

^  »Nemo    est  quern    non   Phoebus  hie    noster    solo    intuitu    lubentiorem    reddat 
ranegyr.  ^Virgil.  *■  Rarus  eniin  ferine  eensns  communis  in  ilia  Fortuna. 

Juv.  bat.  8.  f  Quis  enim  grenerosum  dixerit  bun*,  <iui  ludignus  cenere,  et  prse- 

cJaro  nomine  tantum  Insignis  ?  Juv.  Sat.  8.  or 


206  Causes  of  Melancholy.        [Part.  1.  Sec  2. 

him  that  sits  down  (clothes  excepted)  and  him  that  holds  the 
trencher  beliind  him.  Yet  these  men  must  be  our  patrons, 
our  gorernors  too  sometimes,  statesmen,  magistrates,  noble, 
great  and  wise  by  inheritance. 

Mistake  me  not  (1  say  again)  vos,  o  pafriciits  sanguis !  you 
that  are  worthy  senators,  gentlemen,  1  honour  your  names 
and  persons,  and  with  all  submissness,  prostrate  myself  to 
your  censure  and  service.  There  are  amongst  you,  1  do  in- 
genuously confess,  many  well  deserving'  patrons,  and  true 
patriots,  of  my  knowledg^e,  besides  many  hundreds  which  I 
never  sav/,  no  doubt,  or  heard  of — pillars  of  our  common- 
wealth, ^  whose  worth,  bounty,  learning,  forwardness,  true 
zeal  in  religion,  and  good  esteem  of  all  scholars,  ought  to  be 
consecrated  to  all  posterity  :  but,  of  your  rank,  there  are  de- 
boshed,  corrupt,  covetous,  illiterate  crew  again,  no  better  than 
stocks,  merum  pec?is  (tester  Deum,  non  mihi  videri  dignos 
ingenui  hominis  appellatione)  barbarous  Thradans,  (et  quis 
ille  Thrax  qui  hoc  neget  V)  a  sordid,  prophane,  pernicious 
company,  irreligious,  impudent  and  stupid,  (I  know  not  what 
epithets  to  give  them)  enemies  to  learning,  confounders  of 
the  church,  and  the  ruin  of  a  common-wealth.  Patrons  they 
are  by  light  of  inheritance,  and  put  in  trust  freely  to  dispose 
of  such  livings  to  the  churches  good  ;  but  (hard  task-masters 
they  prove)  they  take  away  their  straw,  and  compel  them  to 
make  their  number  of  brick  :  they  conmionly  respect  their 
own  ends;  commodity  is  the  steer  of  all  their  actions;  and 
him  they  present,  in  conclusion,  as  a  man  of  greatest  gifts, 
that  will  give  most :  no  penny,  '^no  Pater-noster,  as  the  say- 
ing- is.  Nisi  preces  avroj'ulcias,  amplius  irriias  ;  nt  Cerbe- 
rus qffd.  their  attendants  and  officers  must  be  bribed,  fed, 
and  made,  as  Cerberus  is  by  a  sop  by  him  that  goes  to  hell. 
It  was  an  ok!  saying,  omnia  Romte  venalia;  'tis  a  rag'  of  po- 
pery, which  will  never  be  rooted  out;  tliere  is  no  hope,  no 
good  to  be  done  without  money.  A  dark  may  offer  himself, 
approve  his '^ v/orth,  learning,  honesty,  religion,  zeal:  they 
wdl  commend  him  for  it;  but 

"^probitas  iaudatur,  et  alget. 


If  he  be  a  man  of  extraordinary  parts,  they  w  ill  flock  afar  oflT 
to  hear  him,  as  they  did,  in  Apuleius,  to  see  Psyche  :  rnulti 
mortales    conjiuebant    ad  videndmn    scbcuH  decus,  speculum 

^  1  have  often  met  with  my  self,  and  conferred  \vi<h,  divers  worthy  gentlemen  in 
the  countrey,  no  whit  inferiour,  it'  not  to  be  preferred  for  divers  kind  of  learning  to, 
many  of  our  academicks.  ''ipse,  licet  Musis  venias  comitatiis,  Honiere,  Si  nihil 

attuleris,  ibis,  Homere,  foras.  ""Et  legat  historicos,  auctores  noverit  ouines, 

Tamquam  ungues  digitosquc  suos.  Jiiv.  Sat.  7.  <i  Juvenal. 


Mem.  3.  Subs.  15.]  Study,  a  Cause.  207 

r/hriosnin  :  laudaUir  ah  omnibus ;  spectatur  ah  omnibus  ;  7iec 
q7iisr/uam,  non  re.r,  nan  ref/ius,  cupiens  ejus  nuptiarum,  petitor 
accedit ;  mirantur  qnidem  dhiinam  speciem  omnes  ;  sed,  ut  si- 
viulocrumfahrepolitum,  mirantur  :  many  mortal  men  came  to 
see  fair  Ps3che,  the  glory  of  her  age  :  they  did  admire  her, 
commend,  desire  her  for  her  divine  beauty,  and  gaze  upon 
her,  but,  as  on  a  picture  :  none  would  marry  her,  (pmd  indo^ 
tata :  fair  Psyche  had  no  money.     ""So  they  do  by  learning : 

''didicitjam  dives  avarus 


Tantum  admirari,  t.antum  laudare,  disertos, 
Ut  pueri  Junonis  avem 

Your  rich  men  have  now  learn'd  of  latter  dayes 
T'  admire,  commend,  and  come  together 

To  hear  and  see  a  worthy  scholar  speak, 
As  children  do  a  peacocks  feather. 

He  shall  have  all  the  good  words  that  may  be  given,  "  "^  a  pro- 
per man,  and  'tis  pity  he  hath  no  preferment,"  all  good  wishes  ; 
but,  inexorable,  indurate  as  he  is,  he  will  not  prefer  him,  though 
it  be  in  his  power,  because  he  isindotatus,  he  hath  no  money. 
Or,  if  he  do  give  him  entertainment,  let  him  be  never  so  well 
qualified,  plead  affinity,  consanguinity,  sufficiency,  he  shall 
serve  seven  y*  ars,  as  Jacob  did  for  Rachel,  before  he  shall  have 
it.  "If  he  will  enter  at  first,  he  must  get  in  at  that  simoniacal 
gate,  come  off"  soundiy,  and  put  in  good  security  to  perform 
all  covenants ;  else  he  will  not  deal  with,  or  admit  him.  But, 
if  some  poor  scholar,  some  parson  chaff,  will  offer  himself; 
some  trencher  cliaplain,  that  will  tak<^  it  to  the  halves,  thirds, 
or  accept  of  Avhat  he  will  give,  he  is  welcom  ;  be  conformable, 
preach  as  he  will  have  him,  he  takes  him  before  a  million  of 
others ;  for  (he  best  is  ahvayes  best  cheap :  and  then  (as  Hierom 
said  to  Cvvmathm)  patella  digmim  operculum :  such  a  patron, 
such  a  dark  ;  the  cure  is  well  supplied,  and  all  parties  pleased. 
So  that  is  still  verified  in  our  age,  which  '^  Chrysostome  com- 
plained of  in  his  time:  qui  opulentiores  sunt,  hi  ordinem  pa^ 
rasitorum  cof/unt  eos,  et  ipsos  tamquam  canes  ad  mensas  s?ias 
enutrinnt,  eorumque  impudentes  ventres  iniquarum  ccenarum 
reliquiis  dijferciunt,  iisdem  pro  arhitrio  abntenies:  rich  men 
keep  theselecturers,  and  fawning  parasites,  like  so  many  dogs, 
at  their  tables  ;  and,  filling  their  hungry  guts  with  the  offals  of 

=»  Tu  vero  licet  Orpheus  sis,  saxa  soiio  testudinis  emolliens,  nisi  plumbea  eoruia 
corda  auri  vel  eirgenti  malleo  emollias,  &c.  Salisburiensis,  Polycrat.  lib.  5.  c.  10. 
bJn\en.  Sat.  7.  ''Euge!  bene  I  no  need.     Doiisa  epod.  1.  3.  Dos  ipsa  scientia, 

sibiqiie  congiariuin  est.  ''  Qiiatnor  ad  portas  ecclesias  itiir  ad  omnes  ;  Sanguinis, 

ant  Simonis,  priesulis,  atque  Uei.  Holcot.  «  Lib.  contra  Gtntiles,  deBabilA 

niartiie. 


208  Causes  of  Melancholy.         [Part.  I.  Sec.  2. 

their  meat,  they  abuse  them  at  their  pleasure,  and  make  them 
say  what  they  propose,  ^^s  children  do  by  a  bird  or  a  but- 
ter fly  e  in  a  string,  pull  in  and  let  him  out  as  they  list,  do  they 
by  their  trencher  chaplains,  prescribe,  command  their  ivits,  let 
in  and  out,  as  to  them  it  seems  best.  If  the  patron  be  precise, 
so  must  his  chaplain  be;  if  he  be  papistical,  his  dark  must  be 
so  too,  or  else  be  turned  out.  These  are  those  clarks  which 
serve  the  turn,  whom  they  commonly  entertain,  and  present 
to  church  livings,  whilst  in  the  mean  time  we,  that  are  uni- 
versity-men, like  so  many  hide-bound  calves  in  a  pasture, 
tarry  out  our  time,  wither  away  as  a  flower  ungathered  in  a 
garden,  and  are  never  used  ;  or,  as  too  many  candles,  illumi- 
nate our  selves  alone,  obscuring  one  anothers  light,  and  are 
not  discerned  here  at  all ;  the  least  of  which,  translated  to  a 
dark  room,  or  to  some  countrey  benefice,  where  it  might  shine 
apart,  would  give  a  fair  light,  and  be  seen  over  all.  Whilst 
we  lye  waiting  here  (as  those  sick  men  did  at  the  pool  of  ''Be- 
thesda,  till  the  angel  stirred  the  water)  expecting  a  good  hour, 
they  step  between,  and  beguile  us  of  our  preferment.  I  have 
notyetsaid.  If,  after  lotig expectation,  much  expence,  travel, 
earnest  suit  of  our  selves  and  friends,  we  obtain  a  small  bene- 
fice at  last,  our  misery  begins  afresh;  we  are  suddenly  en- 
countered with  the  flesh,  world,  and  devil,  with  a  new  onset: 
we  change  a  quiet  life  for  an  ocean  of  troubles;  we  come  to  a 
ruinous  house,  which,  before  it  be  habitable,  must  be  neces- 
sarily (to  our  great  damage)  repaired  :  we  are  compelled  to 
sue  for  dilapidations,  or  else  sued  our  selves;  and,  scarce  yet 
setled,  M-e  are  called  upon  for  our  predecessors  arrerages: 
first  fruits,  tenths,  subsidies,  are  instantly  to  be  paid,  benevo- 
lence, procurations,  &c.  and  (which  is  most  to  be  feared)  we 
light  upon  a  crackt  title,  as  it  befell  Clenard  of  Brabant,  for 
his  rectory  and  charge  of  his  Beginse ;  he  was  no  sooner  in- 
ducted, but  instantly  sued,  ccepimusque  C^saith  he)  strenue  ti- 
tigare,  et  implacabili  bello  confligere :  at  length,[after  ten  years 
suit,  (as  long  as  Troyes  siege)  when  he  had  tired  himself,  and 
spent  his  money,  he  was  fain  to  leave  all  for  quietness  sake, 
and  give  it  up  to  his  adversary.  Or  else  we  are  insulted  over, 
and  trampled  on  by  domineering  oflricers,  fleeced  by  those 
greedy  harpyes  to  get  more  fees,  we  stand  in  fear  of  some 
precedent  lapse  :  we  fall  amongst  refractory,  seditious  secta- 
ries, peevish  puritans,  perverse  papists,  a  lascivious  rout  of 
atheistical  Epicures,  that   will   not   be  reformed,   or  some 

'^  Praescribunt,  imperant,  in  ordinem  cogiint;  ingenium  nostrum,  prout  ipsis  videbi- 
tur,  astringunt  et  relaxant,  ut  papilionem  pueri  aut  bruchnm  filo  demittunt,  aut  attra- 
hunt,  nos  a  libidine  sua  pendere  aequutn  censentes.     Heinsius.  b  John  5. 

tEpist.  1.  2.    Jain  siiffectus  in  locum  deiuortui...protiun8  exortus  est  ad\-ersariu»,  &.c. 
po^  multus  labores,  siiuitusj  &c. 


Mem.  3.  Subs.  15.]         Sttfdif,  a  Cause,  209 

litigious  people,  (those  wild  beasts  of  Epbesus  must  be 
fought  with)  that  will  not  pay  their  dues  without  much 
repining,  or  compelled  by  long  suit ;  laid  clericis  op- 
pido  if/f'esti^  an  old  axiom;  all  they  think  well  gotten  that  is 
had  from  the  ehurch;  and,  by  such  uncivil  harsh  dealings, 
they  make  their  poor  minister  weary  of  his  place,  if  not  his 
life:  and  put  case  ihey  be  quiet  honest  men,  make  the  best 
of  it,  as  often  it  falls  out,  from  a  polite  and  terse  academick,  he 
must  turn  rustick,  rude,  melancholise  alojie,  learn  to  forget, 
or  else,  as  many  do,  become  maltsters,  grasiers,  chapmen,  &c. 
(now  banished  from  the  academy,  all  commerce  of  the  Muses, 
and  confined  to  a  countrey  village,  as  Ovid  was  from  Rome  to 
Pontus)  and  daily  converse  with  a  company  of  idiots  and 
clowns. 

JVos  interim  quod  attinet  (nee  enivi  immunes  ah  hac  noxd 
siimus)  idem  reatus  manet ;  idem  nobis,  et  si  non  multo  gra- 
vins,  crimen  objici  potest :  nostra  enim  culpa  fit,  nostra  incu- 
rid,  nostra  avaritid,  quod  tarn  Jreqne7ites^  J'oedcequejiant  jn  ec- 
clesid  nunditiationes,  (templum  est  venale,  Deusque)  tot  sor- 
des  invehantur,  tanta  grassetur  impietas^  tanta  nequitia,  tarn 
insanus  miseriarum  Euripus,  et  turbarum  cestuarium,  nostro, 
inquam,  omnium  (academicorum  imprimis)  vitio  Jit.  Quod  tot 
resp.  malis  afficiatur,  a  nobis  seminarium  ;  ultra  malum  hoc 
accersimus,  et  qudvis  cotitumelid,  qudvis  interim  miserid  digni, 
qui  pro  virili  non  occiirrimus.  Quid  enim  Jieri  posse  spera- 
mns,  qnum  tot  indies  sine  delectu  pauper es  alumni^  terrce  Jilii, 
et  cujnscvnque  ordinis  Iiomunciones,  ad  gradus  certatim  ad- 
mittaninr  ?  qui  si  definitionem,  distinctionemque  unam  aut 
alteram  memoriter  edidicerint,  et  pro  more  tot  annos  in  dialec- 
ticd  posrierint,  non  refert  quo  profectu,  quales  demum  sint, 
idiota,  nugatores^  otiatores,  aleatores,  compotores,  indigni, 
libidinis  voluptatumque  administri, 

Sponsi  Penelopes,  nebulones,  Alcinoique, 

inodo  tot  annos  in  academid  insumpserint,  et  se  pro  togatis 
venditdrint ;  lucricaussd.et  ami  corn  m  inter  cess^iprcssentantur; 
addo  etiam^  et  magnificis  nonnunqnnm  elogiis  mornm  et  scieri- 
tice ;  et,jam  valedieturi,  testimonialibus  hisce  Uteris,  amplis^ 
sime  conscriptis  in  eorum  gratiam,  honor antur,  abiis,quijidei 
sii(B  et  existimationis  jacturam  procnldnbiofaciiinti.  Doctores 
enim  et  professores  (quod  ait  '^  ille)  id  unum  curant,  ut  ex 
professionibus  frecpientibus,  et  tumultuariis  potius  quam 
legitimis,  commodasua  promoveant,  et  ex  dispendio  publico 


»  Jan.  Acad.  cap.  G. 


210  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  Sec.  2. 

suura  faciant  incrementum.     Id  solum  in  votis  habent  annui 
plerumque  magistratus,  ut  ah  incipientium  numero  ^ pecunias 
emungant ;  nee  multuni  interest,  qui  sint,  literatores  an  lite- 
rati,  modo  pingues,   nitidi,    ad  aspectum  speciosi,  et  (quod 
verbo  dicam)pecuniosisint.     ^  Philosophastri  licentiantur  in 
artibus,  artem  qui  non  habent  ;  "  eosque  sapientes  esse  jubent, 
qui  nulla  prcfiditi  sunt  sapientia,  et  nihil  ad  gradura,  praeter- 
quam   velle,  adferunt.      Theologastri,    {solvant   modo)  satis 
superque  docti,  per  omnes  honorum  gradus  evehuntur  et  ascen- 
dunt.     Atque  hincjit  quod  tarn  viles  scurrce,  tot  passim  idiotcB^ 
literarum  crepusculo  positi,    larvce  pastorum,  circumj'oranei, 
vagi,  bardiyj'ungi,  crassi,  asini,  merum  pecus,  in  sacrosanctos 
theologicE  aditus  illotis  pedibus  irrumpant,  prceter  inverecun- 
dam  J'rontem  adferentes  nihil,  vulgares  quasdam  quisquilias^ 
et    scholarium  quondam  nugamenta,    indigna   quae   vel  reci- 
piantur  in  triviis.       Hoc  illud  indignum  genus  hominum  et 
famelicum,   indignum,  vagum,  ventris  mancipium,  ad  stivam 
potius  relegandum,  ad  haras  aptius  quam  ad  aras,  quod  divi- 
nas  hasce  literas  iurpiter  prostituit — hi  sunt  qui  pulpit  a  com- 
plent,  in  cedes  nobilium  irrepunt,  et  quum  reliquis  vitcc  desti- 
tuantvr  subsidiis,  ob  corporis  et  animi  egestatem,  aliarum  in 
repub.  partium  minhne  capaces  sint,  adsacram  hanc  anchor  am 
confuqiunt,  sacerdotium  quovis  modo   captantes,  non  ex  since- 
ritafe,  (quod  '^  Paulus  ait)  se  cauponantes  verbum  Dei.     JVe 
quis  interim  viris  bonis  detr actum  quidputet,  quos  liabet  ecclc" 
sia  Anqlicana  quamplurimos,  egregie  doctos,  illustres,intact(B 
famm  homines,  et  plures  J'orsan  quam  qucevis  Europce  pro- 
vincia;  ne  quis  a  Jlorentissimis  academiis,  qucB  viros  unde- 
quaqne  doctissimos,  omni  virtutum  genere  suspiciendos,  ahunde 
prodncunt ;  et  multo  plures  utraque  habitura,  multo  splendid 
dior  futura,  si  non  hce  sordes  splendidum  lumen  ejus  obj'us- 
carent,  obstaret  corruptio,  et  cauponantes  quccdam  Harpyice, 
proletariique,   bonum  hoc  nobis  non  inviderent.     Nemo  enim 
tarn  cwcd  mente,  qui  non  hoc  ipsum  videat ;  nemo  tam  stolido 
ingenio,  qui  non  intelligat ;    tam  pertinaci  judicio,   qui  non 
aqnoscat,  ab  his  idiotis  circumforaneis  sacram  pollui  theolo- 
qiam,  ac  coelestes  Musas,  quasi  proj'anum  quiddam,  prostitui. 
Viles  animae  et  effrontes  (sic  enim  Lutherns  ^  alicubi  vocat) 
lucelli  causs^,  ut  muscse  ad  mulctra,  ad  nobilium  et  herouni 
mensas  advolant :  in  spem  sacerdotii,  cujuslibet  honoris,  officii^ 
in  quamvis  aulam^  urbem  seingerunt,  adquodms  se  ministerium 
componunt : 

3  Accipiamus  pecuniam,  demlttamus  asinutn,  ut  apud  Patavinos  Italos.  bHos 

non  ita  pridem  perstrinxi,  in  Philosophastro,  Comoedia  Latina,  in  MAq  Christi  Oxon. 
pnblice  habita,  anno  1617.  Feb.  16.  ^  Sat.  Menip.  d  1  Cor.  7.  17. 

e  Comment,  in  Gal. 


Mem.  3.  Su!>s.  15.]    Wlifj  the  Muics  are  Mdanchob).         '2\\ 

— Ut  nervis  alienis  mobile  lignum 

Ducitur, 
*  offiim  sequentes,  psittacorum  more,  in  praeda?  spem  quidvis 
effutiunt;  ohsecundantes  paraski  (''Erasmus  ait)  quidvis  do- 
cent,  dicunt,  scribunt,  suadent,  et  contra  conscientiarn  pro- 
bant,  non  utsalutarem  reddant  gTegem,sed  ut  maonificam  sibi 
parent fortunain.  '^Opinionesquasvis  etdecreta contra  verbum 
Dei  astrnunt,  ne  oftendant  patronum,  sed  ut  retineant  fa- 
voreni  proceruni  et  populi  plausuni,  sibique  ipsis  opes  accu- 
mulent.  Eo  etenhn  plerumque  animo  ad  theologiam  accedvnt, 
non  ut  rem  divinam,  sed  ut  snani,  faciant ;  non  ad  ecclesiw 
bonmn  promovendnm,  sed  expilandum;  qucerentes  (cpiod  Pan- 
lus  ait)  non  quae  Jesn  Christi,  red  quse  siia,  non  Domini  the- 
saurum,  sed  ut  sibi  suisqiie  thesauri zetif.  J\''ec  tantum  Us, 
qui  viliorisjortuncc,  et  abjectce  sortis  sunt,  hoc  in  usu  est ; 
sed  et  medics,  summos^  elatos,  ne  dicam  episcopos,  hoc  malum 
invasit. 

*!  Dicite,  pontifices,  in  sacris  quid  facit  aurura  ? 

*'summos  sape  viros  transversos  agit  avaritia  ;  et  qui  reliqiiis 
morum  probitate  prcelncerent,  hi  facem  prceferunt  ad  simo- 
niam,  et  in  corruptionis  hunc  scopulum  impincfentes,  non 
tondetit  pecus,  sed  deglubunt,  et,  quocunqne  se  couferunt,  ex- 
pilant,  exhauriunty  abradunt,  macfnum  famos  suce,  si  non 
animce,  naufragium  facientes  ;  ut  non  ab  injimis  ad  summos, 
sed  a  summis  ad  infimos,  malum  promandsse  videattir,  et  illud 
verum  sit,  quod  ille  olim  lusit, 

Emerat  ille  prius,  vendere  jure  potest : 

Simoniacus  enim  (quod cum  Leone  dicam)  gratiam  non  acci- 
pit;  si  non  accipit,  I'on  habet;  et  si  non  habet,  nee  grains  po- 
test esse,  nee  gratis  dare  :  tantum  enim  absunt  istorum  non- 
nulli,  qui  ad  clavum  sedent,  a  promovendo  reliquos,  ut  penitus 
impediant,  probe  sibi  conscii,  quibus  artibus  illic  pervenerint  : 
*^nam  qui  ob  literas  emersisse  illos  credat,  desipit;  qui  vero  in- 
genii,eri!ditionis,  experientise,  probitatis,  pietatis,  et  Musarum 
id  esse  pretiuni  putat  {quod  olim  re  verdj'uit,  hodie  promitti- 
tur)  planissime  insanit.  Utcunque  vel  undecufique  malum  hoc 
oriqinem  ducat  (non  ultra  quaram)  ex  his  primordiis  cospit 
vitiorum  colluvies  ;  omnis  culamitas,  omne  miseriarum  agmen, 
in  ecchsiam  invehitur.  Hinc  tamjrequens  simonia ;  hinc  ortce 
querela,  J'raudes,  [imposturce  ;  ah  hocj'onte  se  derivdrunt  om- 
jies  nequitia, — ne  quid  obiter  dicam  de  ambitione,  adulatione 
plusqnam  aulicd,  ne  tristi  domicoenio  laborent,  de  luxu,  de 
J'oedo  nonnunquam  vitw  exemplo,  quo  nonnullos  ojj'enduntj  de 

a  Heinsius.        !>  Ecclesiast.  c  Luth.  in  Gal.  "i  Pers.  Sat.  2.  cSallnst. 

Sat.  Menip. 


212  Causes  of  Mdancholy.       [Part.  I.  See.  2. 

compotatione  Syharitica,  SfC.  Hinc  tile  squalor  academicns^ 
tristes  hac  tempestate  Camoense,  qnum  quivis  homiinculus,  ar- 
tium  ignarus,  his  artihns  assurgat,  hiinc  in  modum  promovea- 
tur  et  ditescat,  ambitiosis  appellationibus  insignis,  et  mnltis 
dignitatihus  augustus,  vulgi  oculos  perstringat ,  bene  se  liaheat, 
et  grandia  gradiens,  majestatem  quamdam  ac  amplitnditiem 
pros  se  J  evens,  miramqne  solicitudinem,  harba  reverendus,  toga 
nitiduSy  purpura  coruscus,  supellectilis  splendore  etfamulomm 
numero  maxime  conspicuus.  Quales  statua?  (quod  ait  ^ille) 
quae  sacrisin  aedibus  coluranis  imponuntur,  velut  oneri  ceden- 
tes  videntur,  ac  si  insudarent,  quuin  re  vera  sensu  sintcaren- 
tes,  et  nihil  saxeara  adjuvent  firinitatem  ;  Jltlantes  inderi  uo- 
lunt,  quum  sint  statuoe  lapidece,  umbratiles  re  vera  homuncio- 
nes,  fungi  for  san  et  bardi,  nihil  a  saxo  differentes  ;  quum  in- 
terim  docti  viri,  et  vitce  sanctioris  ornamentis  prwditi,  qui  ces~ 
turn  diei  sustineut^  his  iniqud  sorte  serviant,  minimo  forsan 
salario  contenti,  puris  nominibus  nuncupati,  humiles,  obscuri  ; 
multoque  digniores  licet,  egentes,  inhonorati,  vilamprivam  pri- 
vatam  agant;  tenuique  sepulti  sacerdotio,  vel  in  collegiis  suis 
in  asternum  incarcerati^  inglorie  delitescant : — sed  nolo  diutiiis 
hanc  mover e  sentinam.  Hinc  illce  lacryma,  lugubris  Musa- 
rum  habitus;  ^hinc  ipsa  religio  (quod  cum  Secellio  dicani)  in 
ludibrium  et  contemtum  adducitur,  ahjectum  sacerdotium^ 
(atque  hcBC  uhi  Jiunt,  ausim  dicere,  et  putidum  '^pntidi  dicte- 
riumde  clero  usurpare)  putidum  vulgus,  inops.rude,  sordiduw, 
melancholicum,  miserum,  despicabile,  contenmendum. 


MEMB.  IV.  SUBSECT.  I. 

Non-necessary,  remote^  outward,  adventitious y  or  accidental 
causes  ;  as  fir »t  from  the  Nurse. 

\JY  those  remote,  outward,  ambient  necessary  causes,  I 
liave  sufficiently  discoursed  in  the  precedent  member.  The 
non-necessary  follow ;  of  which  (saith  "^  Fuchsius)  no  art  can 
be  made,  by  reason  of  their  uncertainty,  casualty,  and  multi- 
tude ;  so  called  not-necessary,  because  (according  to  *  Ferne- 
lius)  they  may  be  avoided,  and  used  without  necessity. 
Many  of  these  accidental  causes,  which  I  shall  entreat  of  here, 
might  have  well  beea  reduced  to  the  former,  because  they 
cannot  be  avoided,  but  fatally  happen  to  us,  though  accident-' 
ally,  and  unawares,  at  some  time  or  other  :  the  rest  are  con- 

aBudaeiis,  de  Asse,  lib.  5.         bjjib.  de  rep.  Gallormn.        cCarapian.        ^  Prooem. 
lib.  2.  Nulla  ars  constitui  potest.  «Lib.  1.  c.  19.  de  morbonim  caussis.     Quas 

declinare  iinet,  ant  niill^  necessitate  ntimnr. 


Mem.  4.  Siilxs.  I.]  Nurse,  a  Cause.  ^13 

titigent  and  evitable,  and  more  properly  inserted  in  this  rank 
of  causes.     To  reckon  up  all,  is  a  thino-  unpossible;  of  some 
therefore  most  remarkable  of  these  contingent  causes  which 
produce  melancholy,  I  will  briefly  speak,  and  in  their  order. 
From  a  childs  nativity,  the  first  ill  accident  that  can  likely 
befall  him  in  this  kind,  is  a  bad  nurse,  by  whose  means  alone 
he  may  be  tainted  with  this  ''malady  from  his  cradle.     Anius 
Gellius  (/.  12.  c.  I)  bring-sin  Phavorinus,  that  eloquent  philo- 
sopher, proving"  this  at  large,  ^that  there  is  the  same  verttte 
and  property  in  the  milk  as  in  the  seed,  and  not  in  men  alone, 
hut  in  all  other  creatures.    He  gives  instance  in  a  kid  and  lamb : 
ij' either  of  them  suck  of  the  others  milk,  the  lamb  of  the 
goates,  or   the  kid  of  the  ewes,  the  wooll  of  the  one  tvill  be 
hard,  and  the  hair  of  the  other  soft.     Giraldus  Cambrensis 
(Itinerar.  Cambrias,  I.  1.  c.*2.)  confirms  this  by  a  notable 
example,  which  happened  in  his  time.     A  sow-pig-  by  chance 
sucked  a  brach,  and,  when  she  was  grown,  '^ would  miracu- 
lously hunt  all  manner  of  deer,  and  that  as  well,  or  rather 
better,  than   any  ordinary    hound.     His  conclusion  is,  ^  that 
men  and  beasts  participate  of  her  nature  and  conditions,  by 
whose  milk  they  are  fed.      Phavorinus  urgeth  it  farther,  and 
demonstrates  it  more  evidently,  that  if  a  nurse  be  ^  mis-shapen, 
unchaste,  unhonest,  impudent,  drunk,  "^^  cruel,  or  the  like,  the 
child  that  sucks  upon  her  breast  will  be  so  too :  all  other  affec- 
tions of  the  mind,  and  diseases,  are  almost  ingrafted,  as  it  were, 
and  imprinted  in  the  temperature  of  the  infant,  by  the  nurses 
milk,   as  pox,  leprosie,   melancholy,    &c.      Cato,  for  some 
such  reason,  would  make  his  servants  children  suck  upon  his 
wives  breast,   because,  by  that  means,  they  would  love  him 
and   his   better,  and  in  all  likelihood  agree  with  them.     A 
more  evident  example  that  the  minds  are  altered  by  milk,  can- 
not be  given,  that  that  of  ^Dion,  which  he  relates  of  Caligu- 
las  cruelty;  it  could  neither  be  imputed  to  father  nor  mother, 
but  to  his  cruel  nurse  alone,  that  anointed  her  paps  with  blood 
still  when  he  sucked,  which  made  him  such  a  nmrderer,  and 
to  express  her  cruelty  to  an  hair ;  and  that  of  Tiberius,  who 
was  a  common  drunkard,  because  his  nurse  was  such  a  one. 


aQiio  semel  est  imbuta  recens,  servahit  odorein  Testa  diu.     Hor.  b  Sicut 

valet  ad  fingendas  corporis  atque  anirai  simititudines  vis  et  natura  seminis,  sic  quo- 
que  lactis  proprietas.  Neque  id  in  horninibus  solum,  sed  in  peciulibus,  aniniad- 
Versaiii:  nam  si  oviiim  lacte  hcedi,  aut  capraruni  agni  alerentur,  consiat  Heri  iu  his 
lanam  duiiorem,  in  iliis  capillum  etigni  teneriorem.  c  Adiilta  in  feraruni  per- 

sequntione  ad  miraculum  usque  sagax.  ''Tarn  animal  quodlibet,  quani  homo,  ab 

ilia,  cujus  lacte  nutritur,  naturara  contrahit.  elmproba,  inlbrmis,  impudica, 

temulenta  nutrix,  &,c.  quoniam  in  moribus  effonnandis   maguam  sa?pe  partem  inge- 
nium  altricis  et  natura  lactis  tenet.  f  Hjrcanaeque  admorunt  ub«ra  tigres.     Virg. 

g  Lib.  "2.  de  Cajsaribus. 


SU  Cau.<ex  of  Melancholy.         [Part.  1.  Sec.  2: 

Et  si  delira  J'uerit,  (^one  observes)  injantulum  delirium  fa- 
ciei; ifshe  be  a  fool  oradolt,  the  child  she  nurseth  will  take  after 
her,  or  otherwise  be  misaffected  ;  which  Franciscus  Barbaras 
('I.  2.  lilt,  de  re  uxorid)  proves  at  full,  and  Ant.  Guivarra 
(lib.  2  de  Marco  Aurelio)  :  the  child  will  surely  participate. 
For  bodily  sickness,  there  is  no  doubt  to  be  made.  Titus,  Ves- 
pasians  son,  was  therefore  sickly,  because  the  nurse  was  so 
(Lampridius)  :  and,  if  we  may  believe  physicians,  many  times 
children  catch  the  pox  from  a  bad  nurse,  (Botaldus,  cap.  61.  de 
lue  Vener.)  Besides  evil  attendance,  negligence,  and  many 
ajToss  inconveniences,  which  are  incident  to  nurses,  much 
danger  may  so  come  to  the  child.  ''For  these  causes  Aristotle 
(Polit.  lib.  7.  c.  17),  Phavorinus,  and  Marcus  Aurelius, would 
not  have  a  child  put  to  nurse  at  all,  but  every  mother  to 
bring' up  her  own,  of  what  condition  soever  she  be;  for  a 
sound  and  able  mother  to  put  out  her  child  to  nurse,  is  na~ 
turw  intemperies  (so  '^  Guatso  calls  it)  :  'tis  fit  therefore  she 
should  be  nurse  her  self;  them^other  will  be  more  careful,  lov- 
ing and  attendant,  than  any  servile  woman,  or  such  hired 
creatures  ;  this  all  the  world  acknowledgeth  :  convementissi- 
mum  est  (as  Rod.  a  Castro,  de  nat.  midierum,  lib.  4.  c.  12,  iu 
many  words  confesseth)  matrem  ipsam  lactare  infantem,  (m  ho 
denies  that  it  should  be  so?)  and  which  some  women  most  cu- 
riously observe  ;  amongst  the  rest,  ''that  queen  of  France,  a 
Spaniard  by  birth,  that  was  so  precise  and  zealous  iu  this  be- 
half, that  when,  in  her  absence,  astrange  nurse  had  suckled  her 
child,  she  was  never  quiet  till  she  had  made  the  infant  vomit 
it  up  again.  But  she  was  too  jealous.  If  it  be  so,  as  many 
times  it  is,  they  must  be  put  forth,  the  mother  be  not  fit  or 
Well  able  to  be  a  nurse,  I  would  then  advise  such  mothers,  (as 
^Plutarch  doth  iu  his  book  de  liberis  educandis,  and  "^^S.  Hie- 
rome,  lib.  2.  epist.  27.  Lcrta^  deinstitut.Jil.  M?igx\m\x%,part.  2. 
Req.  sanit-  cap.  7,  and  the  said  Rodericus)  that  they  make 
choice  of  a  sound  woman,  of  a  good  complexion,  honest,  free 
from  bodily  diseases, if  it  be  possible,  and  all  passions  and  per- 
turbations of  the  mind,  as  sorrow,  fear,  grief,  §  folly,  melan- 
choly :  for  such  passions  corrupt  the  milk,  and  alter  the  tem- 
perature of  the  child,  which  now  being  ^  udtim  et  molle  lufum, 
is  easily  seasoned  and  perverted.  And  if  such  a  nurse  may 
be  found  out,  that  will  be  diligent  and  careful  withali,  let  Pha- 
vorinus and  M.  Aurelius  plead  how  they  can  against  it,  1  had 
rather  accept  of  her  in  some  cases  than   the   mother   her 


aBeda,  c.  27.  1. 1.  Eccles.  hist.  ^Ne  insitivo  lactis  alimento  dc^eneret  cor- 

pus, et  animus  corrunipatur.  <■  Lib.  3.  de  civ.  conserv.  <<  Stephanas. 

eTo.  2.  Nutrices  non  quasvis,  sed  maxime  probas,  deligamus.  ^Nutrix  non  sit 

lasciva  aut  temnlenta.     Hiei.  BProhibendum  ne  stolida  lacti-t.  ''Per«. 


Mem.  4.  Subs.  2.]  Ednnation,  a  Cause.  S15. 

8elf ;  and  (which  Booacialus  fhe  physician,  Nic.  fiiesius  the 
pohtician,  lib.  4.  deippnb.  cap.  8.  approves)  " name  nurses  are 
much  to  be  preferred  to  some  mothers.  For  why  may  not  the 
mother  be  naught,  a  peevish  drunken  fiurt,  a  waspish  chole- 
rickslut,a  crazed  piece,  a  fool,  (as  many  mothers  are)  unsound, 
as  soon  as  the  nurse  ?  There  is  more  choice  of  nurses  than 
mothers ;  and  therefore,  except  the  mother  be  most  vertuous, 
staid,  a  woman  of  excellent  good  parts,  and  of  a  sound  com- 
plexion, I  would  have  all  children,  in  such  cases,  committed 
to  discreet  strangers.  And  'tis  the  only  way  (as  by  marriage 
they  are  engrafted  to  other  families)  to  alter  the  breed,  or,"if 
any  thing  be  amiss  in  the  mother,  (as  Ludovicus  Mercatus 
contends,  Tom.2.  lib.  de  morb.  hcrred.)  to  prevent  diseases  and 
future  maladies,  to  correct  and  qualifie  the  childs  ill-disposed 
temperature,  which  he  had  from  his  parents.  This  is  an  ex- 
cellent remedy,  if  good  chcice  be  made  of  such  a  nurse. 

SUBSECT.  11. 

Education,  a  Cause  of  Melancholy  ^ 

JliDUCATlON,  of  these  accidental  causes  of  melancholy, 
may  justly  challenge  the  next  place;  for  if  a  man  escape  a 
bad  nurse,  he  may  be  undone  by  evil  bringing  up.  '^  Jason 
Pratensis  puts  this  of  education  for  a  principal  cause  :  bad 
parents,  step-mothers,  tutors,  masters,  teachers,  too  ri'>-orous, 
too  severe,  too  remiss  or  indulgent  on  the  other  side,  are  often 
fountains  and  furtherers  of  this  disease.  Parents,  and  such  as 
have  the  tuition  and  oversight  of  children,  offend  many  times 
in  that  they  are  too  stern,  alway  threatning,  chiding,  brawlino-, 
M'hipping,  or  striking:  by  means  of  which,  their  poor  childre^i' 
are  so  disheartned  and  cowed,  that  they  never  after  have 
any  courage,  a  merry  hour  in  their  lives,  or  take  pleasure  in 
any  thing.  There  is  a  great  moderation  to  be  had  in  such 
things,  as  matters  of  so  great  moment  to  the  making  or  marrino- 
of  a  child.  Some  fright  their  children  with  beggers,  bugbear?, 
and  hobgoblins,  if  they  cry,  or  be  otherways  unruly:  but,' 
they  are  much  to  blame  in  it,  many  times,  saith  Lavater  {de 
spectris,  part.  1.  cap.  5) :  ex  metn  in  morbos  (graves  bwidunt, 
et  noctu  dormientes  clamant ;  for  fear  they  fall  into  many  dis- 
eases, and  cry  out  in  their  sleep,  and  are  much  the  worse  for 
it  all  their  lives ;  these  things  ought  not  at  all,  or  to  be  sparingly 

»Nutrices  interdnm  matribus  sunt  meliores.  b  Lib.  de  morbis  capitis,  cap.  de 

mania.     Haod  postrema  caussa  siipputatur  edacatio,  mter  has  mentis  abalienationis 
eaussas. — Injusta  noverca. 

VOL.  I.  2 


3\g  Causes  of  Melancholy.        [Part.  1.  Sec.  S. 

done,  and  upon  just  occasion.      Tyrannical,  impatient,  hair- 
brain'd  school-masters,  aridi  magistri,  so  ^  Fabius  terms  them, 
Ajaces  flagelUferi,  are,  in  this  kind,  as  bad  as  hangmen  and 
executioners:  they  make  many  children  endure  a  martyrdom 
all  the  while  they  are  at  school:  with  bad  diet,  ifthey  board  in 
their  houses,  too  much  severity  and  ill  usage,  they  quite  per- 
vert their  temperature  of  body  and  mind — still  chiding,  ray- 
lino-,  frowning,  lashing,  tasking,  keeping,  that  they  arej'racti 
animis,  moped  many  times,  weary  of  their  lives,  ^  nimid  seve- 
ritate  dejiciunt  et  desperant,    and  think  no  slavery  in    the 
world  (as  once  I  did  myself)  like  to  that  of  a  grammar  scho- 
lar.      Prceceptorum  ineptiis  discrnciantur  ingenia  pueroruniy 
saith  Erasmus  :  they  tremble  at  his  voice,  looks,  coming  in. 
S'.  Austin,  in  the  first  book  of  his  confess,  and  4.  ca.  calls  this 
schooling  meticulosam  necessitatem,  and  elsewhere  a  martyr- 
dom, and  confesseth  of  himself,  how  cruelly  he  was  tortured 
in  mind  for  learning  Greek  ;  nulla  verba  noveram ;  ct  savis 
terroribus  et  pcenis,  ut  nossem,  instabatur  mihi  vehementer :  I 
knew  nothing  ;  and  with  cruel  terrours  and  punishment  I  was 
daily  compel'd.      '^Beza  complains  in  like  case  of  a  rigoruus 
schoolmaster  in  Paris,  that  made  him,  by  his  continual  thun- 
der and  threats,  once  in  a  mind  to  drown  himself,  had  he  not 
met  by  the  way  an  uncle  of  his  that  vindicated  him  from  that 
misery  for  the  time,  by  taking  him  to  his  house.     Trincavel- 
lius  {lib.  1.  consil.  16)  had  a  patient  nineteen  years  of  age, 
extreamly  melancholy,  ob  nimium  studium  Tarvitii  et  prce- 
ceptoris  minas,  by  reason  of  overmuch  study,  and  his  ''tutors 
threats.     Many  masters  are  hard  hearted,  and  bitter  to  their 
servants,  and    by  that  means   do  so  deject,  with   terrible 
speeches  and  hard  usage  so  crucifie  them,  that  they  become 
desperate,  and  can  never  be  recalled. 

Others  again,  in  that  opposite  extream,  do  as  great  harm  by 
their  too  much  remissness;  they  give  them  no  bringing  up,  no 
calling  to  busie  themselves  about,  or  to  live  in,  teach  them  no 
trade,  or  set  them  in  any  good  course ;  by  means  of  which, 
their  servants,  children,  scholars,  are  carried  away  with  that 
stream  of  drunkenness,  idleness,  gaming,  and  many  such  irre- 
gular courses,  that  in  the  end  they  rue  it,  curse  their  parents, 
and  mischief  themselves.  Too  much  indulgence  causeth  the 
like,  ^  inepta  patris  lenitas  etjhcilitas  prava,  when  as,  Micio- 
like,  with  too  much  liberty  and  too  great  allowance,  they  feed 
their  childrens  humours,  let  them  revel,  wench,  riot,  swagger, 


»L»b.2.  cap.  4.  *>  Idem.    Et,  quod  maxiuie  nocet,  dnm  in  teneris  itatitnent, 

nihil  conantur.  <^  Praefat.  ad  Testam.  ''  Plus  mentis  prsedagogico 

aupercilio  abstnlit,  qnain  unquam  preeceptis  snis  sapieatise  iustillaTlt.  <:Ter. 

Adal.  3.  4. 


Mem.  4.  Sub*.  2.|  Eduratiou^a  Came.  217 

ami  do  what  they  will  themselves,  and  then  punish  them 
with  a  noLse  of  musicians. 

"Obsonet,  potet,  oleat  unguenta  de  meo. 
Aniat  ?  dabitur  a  me  argentum,  diim  erit  commodum. 
Fores  efFregit?  restituentur;   discidit 

Vestem  ?  resarcietur .Facial  quod  lubet, 

Sumat,  consumai;,  perdat:  de(  return  est  pati. 

But,  as  Demea  told  him,  Ui  ilium  corrnmpi  sinis,  your  lenitv 
will  be  his  undoina^ ;  pravidere  v'ldeor  jam  diem  ilhim,  qunm 
hie  efiens  pro  I'll  (f  let  aliquo  militatum  ;  I  foresee  his  ruine.  So 
parents  often  err :  many  fond  mothers,  especially,  dote  so  much 
upon  their  children,  like ''^sops  ape,  till  in  the  end  they 
crush  them  to  death.  Corpornm  nutrices,  animarvm  noverccc, 
pampering- up  their  bodies  to  the  undoing-  of  their  souls,  they 
will  not  let  them  be  "^  corrected  or  controled,  but  still  soothed 
up  in  every  thing-  they  do,  tliat,  in  conclusion,  thei/  bring  sor- 
row, shame,  heaviness,  to  their  parents,  {Ecclus.  cap.  30. 8. 9) 
become  wanton,  stubborn,  toil f'ul,  and  disobedient ;  I'ude,  un- 
taught^ head-strong,  incorrigible,  and  graceless.  They  love 
them  so  Jbolishh/,  (saith  ''  Cardan)  that  theg  rather  seem  to 
hate  them,  bringing  them  not  up  to  vertue,  but  injury,  not  to 
learning,  but  to  riot,  not  to  sober  lij'e  and  conversation,  but  to 
all  pleasure  and  licentious  behaviour.  Who  is  he  of  so  little 
experience,  that  knows  not  this  of  Fabius  to  be  true  ?  *^ Educa- 
tion is  another  nature,  altering  the  mind  andicill,a7id  I  ivould 
to  God  (saith  he)  we  our  selves  did  not  spoile  our  childrens 
manners,  by  our  overmuch  cockering  and  nice  education,  and 
weaken  the  strength  oj'  their  bodies  and  minds.  That  causeth 
custom,  custom  nature,  &c.  For  these  causes,  Plutarch  (in  his 
book  rfe  lib.  educ.)  and  Hierom,  (epist.  lib.  I.  epist.  17.  to 
Lazta  de  institut.  jftlice)  gives  a  most  especial  charge  to  all  pa- 
rents, and  many  good  cautions  about  bringing-  up  of  children, 
that  they  be  not  committed  to  undiscreet,passionate,  Bedlam 
tutors,  light,  giddy-headed,  or  covetous  persons,  and  spare 
for  no  cost,  that  they  may  be  well  nurtured  and  taught;  it 
being  a  matter  of  so  great  consequence.  For,  such  parents  as 
do  otherwise,  Plutarch  esteems  like  them  V^a^  are  more  careful 

■Ter.  Adel.  act  1.  sc.  2.  ^Camerarius,  em.  77.  cent  2,  hath  elegantly  ex- 

pressed it  in  an  emblerae:  perdif  .^mando,  &c.  <:  I'rov.  13.  24.     He  that  spareth 

the  rod  hates  his  son.  <)  Lib.  2.  de  cousol.    Tam  stulte  pueros  diligimus,  nt 

odisse  potius  videaniur  •.  illos  noii  ad  \irtutem  sed  ad  injtiriain,  nou  ad  eruditionem 
sed  ad  luxiim,  non  ad  vitam  sed  voluptatemeducantes.  ^Lib.  1.  c.  3. 

Educatio  altera  natura  ;  alterat  aninios  et  voluntateiu  :  atqueatiDam(iDqiiit)  liberoruni 
nostrorum  mores  non  ipsi  perderemus,  qiium  infantiani  statim  deliciis  sohinius  ;  moi- 
lior  ista  edacatio,  quam  indulgentiani  vocamus,  nerves  imines,  et  mentis  et  corporis, 
frangit:  fit  ex  his  consuetudo,  inde  natura.  fPerinde  agit  ac  siqnia  de  calceo 

•it  solicitns,  pedem  nihil  cnret.  Javen.  Nil  patri  minnn  est  qnam  iilins. 

z2 


:§]8  Cmises  of  Melancholy.         [Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

of  their  shooes  than  of  their  feet,  that  rate  their  Avealth  above 
their  children.  And  he,  (saith  ^Cardan)  that  leaves  his  son 
to  a  covetous  schoolmaster  to  be  informed,  or  to  a  close  ahhy  to 
fast  and  learn  tcisdom  together,  doth  no  other,  than  that  he  be 
a  learned  fool,  or  a  sickly  wise  man. 


SUBSECT.  III. 

Terrours  and  Affrights,  Causes  of  Melancholy. 

jL  ULLY  (in  the  fourth  of  his  Tusculans)  disting-uisheth  these 
terrours  which  arise  from  the  apprehension  of  some  terrible 
object  heard  or  seen,  from  other  fears  ;  and  so  doth  Patritius 
{lib.  5.  tit.  4.  de  regis  institut.)  Of  all  fears,  they  are  most 
pernicious  and  violent,  and  so  suddainly  alter  the  whole  tem- 
perature of  the  body,  move  the  soul  and  spirits,  strike  such 
a  deep  impression,  that  the  parties  can  never  be  recovered, 
causing  more  grievous  and  fiercer  melancholy  (as  FelixPlater, 
c.  3.  de  mentis  alienat.  ^speaks  out  of  his  experience)  than  any 
inward  cause  whatsoever;  andimprints  it  self  so  forcibly  inthe 
spirits,  brain,  humours,  that,  if  all  the  mass  of  blood  were  let 
out  of  the  body,  it  could  hardly  be  extracted.  This  horrible 
kind  of  melancholy  (for  so  he  terms  it)  had  been  often  brought 
before  him,  and  troubles  and  affrights  commonly  men  and  ico- 
men,  young  and  old,  of  all  sorts.  "^  Hercules  de  Saxonia  calls 
this  kind  of  melancholy  (ab  agitatione  spirituum)  by  a  pe- 
cvdiar  name ;  it  comes  from  the  agitation,  motion,  contraction, 
dilatation  of  spirits,  not  from  any  distemperature  of  humours, 
and  produceth  strong  effects.  This  terrour  is  most  usually 
caused  (as  '^  Plutarch  will  have)Jrom  some  imminent  danger, 
when  a  terrible  object  is  at  hand,  heard,  seen,  or  conceived, 
"truly  appearing,  or  in  a  ^  dream  :  and  many  times,  the  more 
sudden  the  accident,  it  is  the  more  violent. 

f  Stat  terror  animis,  etcor  attonitum  salit, 
Pavidumque  trepidis  palpitat  venis  jecur. 

a  Lib.  3.  de  sapient.  Qui  avaris  paedagog^s  pueros  alendos  dant,  vel  clauses  in 
coenobiis  jejunare  simul  et  sapere,  nihil  aliud  agunt,  nisi  ut  sint  vel  non  sine  stultitia 
eruditi,  vel  non  Integra  vita  sapientes.  t"  Terror  et  metus,  maxime  ex 

improviso  accidentes,  ita  animum  corarnovent,  nt  spiritus  nunqnam  recuperent :  gra- 
vioremque  meiancholiani  terror  facit,  quam  quae  ab  interna  caussa  fit.  Impressiotam 
fortis  in  spiritibus  humoribusque  cerebri,  ut,  extracta  tota  sauguinea  massa,  aegre 
expriaiatnr  ;  et  haec  horrenda  species  melancholia;  frequenter  oblata  mihi,  omnes 
exercens,  viros,  juvenes,  senes.  c  Tract,  de  melan.  cap.  7.  et,  8.  Non  ab  intem- 

perie,  sed  agitatione,  dilatatione,  confractione,  molu  spirituum.  ^  Lib.  de  fort, 

et  virtnt.  Alex.  Prassertiiu  ineunte  periculo,  ubi  res  prope  adsunt  terribile.s.  ^Fit 

a  visione  horrenda,  revera  apparente,  vel  per  insomnia.     Platenis.  ^ A  painters 

wife  in  Basil,  1600,  somniavit  fiiium  bello  mortuum;  inde  melancholica  consolari 
jiolait.  %  Senec.  Here.  CEt. 


Mem.  4.  Subs.  3.]     Terrours  and  Affrights,  Causes.  2|9 

Their  soul's  affright,  their  heart  amazed  quakes, 
The  trembling  liver  pants  ith'  veins,  and  akes. 

Artemidorus  the  g^raminarian  lost  his  wits  by  the  unexpected 
sig-ht  of  a  crocodile  {Laiirentius,  7-  de  mefan.)  ^The  massacre 
at  Lions,  in. 1572,  in  the  reign  of  Charles  the  ninth,  was  so 
terrible  and  fearful,  that  many  ran  mad,  some  died,  great- 
bellied  women  were  brought  to  bed  before  their  time,  gene- 
rally all  affrighted  and  ag-ast.  Many  lose  their  wits  ''  %  the 
sudden  sight  of  some  spectrum  or  devil,  a  thing  very  common 
in  all  ages,  (saith  Lavater,  part.  1.  cap.  9.)  as  Orestes  did  at 
the  sight  of  the  Furies,  which  appeared  to  him  in  black  (as 
"^  Pausanias  records).  The  Greeks  call  them /xo^//,oXt;xfi«,  which 
so  terrifie  their  souls.  Or  if  they  be  but  affrighted  by  some 
counterfeit  devils  in  jest, 

( '^  ut  pueri  trepidant,  atque  omnia  csecis 

In  tenebris  metuunt- 

as  children  in  the  dark  conceive  hobgoblins,and  are  soreafraid, 
they  are  the  worse  for  it  all  their  lives  :  some,  by  sudden  fires 
earthquakes,  inundations,  or  any  such  dismal  objects.  Themi- 
son  the  physician  fell  into  an  hydrophobia  by  seeing  one  sick 
of  that  disease  (Dioscorides,  /.  6.  c.  33) :  or  by  the  sight  of  a 
monster,  a  carcase,  they  are  disquieted  many  months  follow- 
ing, and  catmot  endure  the  room  where  a  coarse  hath  been, 
for  a  world  would  not  be  alone  with  a  dead  man,  or  lye  in  that 
bed  many  years  after,  in  which  a  man  hath  died.  At  <"  Basil,  a 
many  little  children,  in  the  spring  time,  went  to  gather  flowers 
in  a  meadow  at  the  towns  end,  where  a  malefactor  hung  iu 
gibbets  :  all  gazing  at  it,  one  by  chance  flung  a  stone,  and 
made  it  stir;  by  which  accident  the  children  affrighted  ran 
away  :  one,  slower  than  the  rest,  looking  back,  and  seeing  the 
stirred  carcase  wag  towards  her,  cried  out  it  came  after,  and 
was  so  terribly  affrighted,  that  for  many  dayesshe  could  not 
rest,  eat,  or  sleep;  she  could  notbe  pacified,  but  melancholy  died- 
''In  the  same  town,  another  child,  beyond  the  Rhine,  saw  a 
grave  opened,and,uponthesightof  a  carcase,  was  so  troubled 
in  mind,  that  she  could  not  be  comforted,  but  a  little  after 
departed,  and  was  buried  by  it  (Platerus,  ohservat.  /.I).  A 
gentlewoman  of  the  same  city  saw  a  fat  hog  cut  up,  when  the 

aQuarta  pars  comment,  de  statu  relifrfonig  in  Gallia  sub  Carolo  \x.  1572.  ^  Ex 

occursu  daRmonnm  aliqui  furore  corripiuntur,  ut  experientia  notiim  est.  •"  Lib.  8. 

in  Arcad.  ^  Lucret.  «  Puellse  extra  urbem  in  prato  concurrentes,  &c. 

mcEsta  et  melancholica  domuni  rediit;  per  dies  aliquot  vexata,  dummortuaes*.  Plater, 
f  Altera  trans-Rhenana,  ingressa  sepulchnim  recens  apertum,  vidit  cadaver,  et  do- 
mum  subito  re  versa  putavit  earn  vocare  :  post  paucos  dies  obiit,  proximo  sepulcrocol- 
locata.  Altera,  nahbulum  sero  prBP.teriftns,  metuebat  ne  nrbe  exclusa  illic  pernocta- 
ret ;  unde  melancholica  facta,,  per  multos  annos  laboravit.     Platerus. 


S20  Cames  of  Melancholy.       [Part.  I.  Sec.  2* 

intrals  were  opened,  and  a  noysorae  savour  offended  her  nose, 
she  much  misliked,  and  would  not  longer  abide  ;  a  physician, 
in  presence,  told  her,  as  that  hog-,  so  was  she,  full  of  filthy  ex- 
crements, and  aggravated  the  matter  by  some  other  loathsome 
instances,  in  so  much,  this  nice  gentlewoman  apprehended 
it  so  deeply,  that  she  fell  forthwith  a  vomiting,  was  so  mightily 
distempered  in  mind  and  body,  that,  with  all  his  art  and  per- 
swasions,  for  some  months  after,  he  could  not  restore  her  to 
her  self  again  ;  she  could  not  forget  it,  or  remove  the  object 
out  of  her  sight  {Idem).  Many  cannot  endure  to  see  a  wound 
opened,  but  they  are  offended  ;  a  man  executed,  or  labour 
of  any  fearful  disease,  as  possession,  apoplexies,  one  be- 
M'itched  :  "or,  if  they  read  by  chance  of  some  terrible  thing, 
the  symptomes  alone  of  such  a  disease,  or  that  which  they  dis- 
like, they  are  instantly  troubled  in  mind,  agast,  ready  to  apply 
it  to  themselves  ;  they  are  as  much  disquieted,  as  if  they  had 
seen  it,  or  were  so  affected  themselves,  Hecatas  sibi  videntur 
somniare ;  they  dream  and  continually  think  of  it.  As  la- 
mentable effects  are  caused  by  such  terrible  objects  heard, 
read,  or  seen  :  auditus  maximos  motus  in  corpore  J'acit,  as 
^  Plutarch  holds  ;  no  sense  makes  greater  alteration  of  body 
and  mind;  sudden  speech  sometimes,  unexpected  news,  be  they 
good  or  bad,  prcevisa  minus  oratio,  will  move  as  much,  (ani- 
mum  ohruere,  et  de  sede  sua  depcere,  as  a  "^  philosopher  ob- 
serves) will  take  away  our  sleep  and  appetite,  disturb  and 
quite  overturn  us.  Let  them  bear  witness,  that  have  heard 
those  tragical  alarums,  out-cryes,  hideous  noises,  which  are 
many  times  suddenly  heard  in  the  dead  of  the  night  by  irrup- 
tion of  enemies  and  accidental  fires,  &c.  those  ''panick  fears, 
which  often  drive  men  out  of  their  wits,  bereave  them  of  sense, 
understanding,  and  all,  some  for  a  time,  some  for  their  whole 
lives;  they  never  recover  it.  The  '' Msdianites  were  so  af- 
frighted by  Gideons  souldiers,  they  breaking  but  every  one  a 
pitcher;  and  ^Hannibals  army,  by  such  a  panick  fear,  was  dis- 
comfited at  the  walls  of  Rome.  Augusta  Livia,  hearing  a  few 
tragical  verses  recited  out  of  Virgil,  (  Tu  Marcellus  eris,  ^c.) 
fell  down  dead  in  a  swoon.  Edinus,  king  of  Denmark,  by  a 
sudden  sound  which  he  heard,  ^was  turned  into  fury,  tvith  all 
his  men  {Cranzius,  I.  5.  Dan.  hist,  et  Alexander  ah  Alexan- 
dra, I.  3.  c.  5.)  Amatus  Lusitanus  had  a  patient,  that,  by  rea- 
son of  bad  tidings,  became  epilepticus  (cen.  2.  cura  90).  Car- 
dan (subtil.  I.  is)  saw  one  that  lost  his  wits  by  mistaking  of 

*  Subitus  occursus,  inopinata  lectio.  '^Lib.  de  auditioue.  c  Theod.  Pro- 

dromus,  lib.  7.  Amorum.  ''  Eft'uso  cernens  fugieutes  agnnne  turmas,  Qiiis  mea 

nunc  inflatcornuH  ?  FauDiis  ait.     Alciat,  einbl.  122.  ^Jiid.  6.  J9.  fPlutar- 

•huSj  vitS  ejus.  s  In  fui orem  f  urn  sociis  versus. 


Mem.  4.  Subs.  3.]      Terrours  and  Affrights^  Causes.         221 

an  echo.  If  one  sense  alone  can  cause  such  violent  commo- 
tions of  the  mind,  what  may  we  think,  when  hearing,  sight,  and 
those  other  senses,  are  all  troubled  at  once,  as  by  some  earth- 
quakes, thunder,  lightning,  lempests,  &c.  ?  At  Bologne  in 
Italy,  anno  1504,  there  was  such  a  fearful  earthquake  about 
eleven  a  clock  in  the  night,  (as  ^  Beroaldus  in  his  book  de  terrce 
motn,  hath  commended  to  posterity)  that  all  the  city  trembled, 
the  people  thought  the  world  was  at  an  end,  actum  de  morta- 
libus  ;  such  a  fearful  noise  it  made,  such  a  detestable  smell,  the 
inhabitants  were  infinitely  affrighted,  and  some  ran  mad.  Audi 
rem  atrocem,  et  annalibus  memorandam  (mine  author  adds)  : 
hear  a  strange  story  and  worthy  to  be  chronicled :  I  had  a 
servant  at  the  same  time,  called  Fulco  Argelanus,  a  bold  and 
proper  man,  so  grievously  terrified  with  it,  ''that  he  was  first 
melancholy,  after  doted,  at  last  mad,  and  made  away  himself. 
At  "^  Fuscinum  in  Japona,  there  was  such  an  earthquake  and 
darkness  on  a  sudden,  that  many  men  were  offended  toith  head- 
ach,  many  overwhelmed  ivith  sorrow  and  melancholy.  At  Mea- 
cum,  lohole  streets  and  goodly  palaces  were  overturned  at  the 
same  time  ;  and  there  ivas  such  an  hideous  noise  withal,  like 
thunder,  and  filthy  smell,  that  their  hair  stared  for  Jear,  and 
their  hearts  quaked ;  men  and  beasts  weie  incredibly  terrified. 
In  Sacai,  another  city,  the  same  earthquake  was  so  terrible 
unto  them,  that  many  were  bereft  of  their  senses;  and  others,  by 
that  horrible  spectacle,  so  much  amazed,  that  they  knew  not 
what  they  did.  Blasius,  a  Christian,  the  reporter  of  the  news, 
was  so  aftrighted  for  his  part,  that,  though  it  were  two  moneths 
after,  he  was  scarce  his  own  man,  neither  could  he  drive  the 
remembrance  of  it  out  of  bis  mind.  Many  times,  some  years 
following  they  will  tremble  afresh  atthe  "^remembrance  or  con- 
ceit of  such  a  terrible  object;  even  all  their  lives  long,  if  men- 
tion be  made  of  it.  Cornelius  Agrippa  relates  (outof  Gulielmus 
Parisiensis)  a  story  of  one,  that,  after  a  distasteful  purge  which  a 
physician  had  prescribed  unto  him,  Mas  so  much  moved,  ^  that 
at  the  veiy  sight  of  physick,  he  would  be  distempered :  though 
he  never  so  much  assmelled  to  it,  the  box  of  physicklong  after 
would  give  him  a  purge ;  nay  the  very  remembrance  of  it  did 


3  Snbitaneas  terrse  motus.  ^Cocpit  inde  desipere  cum  dispendio  sanitatis,  inde 

adeo  dementans,  ut  »ibi  ipsi  mortem  inferret,  c  Historica  relatio  de  rebus  Japonicis, 
tract.  2,  de  legal,  regis  Chinensis,  a  Lodovico  Frois  Jesuita,  A.  1596.  Fuscini  dere- 
pente  tanta  aeris  caligo  et  terrse  motus,  ut  multi  capita  dolerent,  plnrimis  cor  moerore  et 
melancholia  obrueretur.  Tautura  fremitum  edebat,  ut  tonitru  fragorem  imitari  videre- 
tur,  tantamque,  8cc.  In  urbe  Sacai  tarn  horriticus  fuit,  ut  homines  vix  sui  compotes 
essent,  a  sensibus  abalienati,  moerore  oppress!  tam  horrendo  spectaculo,  &c.  <*  Quun 
snbit  illius  tristissima  noctls  imago.  (  Qui  Koloaspectu  mediclua:  movebaturad 

porgandura. 


222  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

effect  it;  "like  travellers  and  seamen,  (saitli  Plutarch)  that  when 
they  have  been  sanded^  or  dashed  on  a  rock,  for  ever  after  foar 
not  that  mischance  only,  but  all  such  dangers  whatsoever. 


SUBSECT.   IV. 

Scoffs,  Calumnies,  bitter  Jests,  how  they  cause  Melancholy., 

At  is  an  old  saying-,  ^  a  blow  with  a  word  strikes  deeper 
than  a  blow  icith  a  sword:  and  many  men  are  as  much  gaitled 
with  a  calumny,  '^a  scurril  and  bitter  jest,  a  libel,  a  pasquil,  sa- 
tyre,  apologe,  epigram,  stage-playes,  or  the  like,  as  with  any 
misfortune  whatsoever.  Princes  and  potentates,  thatare  other- 
wise happy,  and  have  all  at  command,  secure  and  free,  quibus 
potentia  sceleris  impunitatem  fecit,  are  grievously  vexed  with 
these  pasquellinglibells  and  satyrs:  they  fear  arailing^Aretine, 
more  than  an  enemy  in  the  field  :  which  made  most  princes  of 
his  time  (as  some  relate)  alloic  him  a  liberal  pension,  that  he 
shouldnot  tax  them  in  his  satyrs.  The  gods  had  their  Momus, 
Homer  his  Zoilus,  Achilles  his  Thersites,  Philip  his  Demades  : 
the  Csesars  themselves  in  Rome  were  commonly  taunted. 
There  was  never  wanting  a  Petronius,a  Lucian,  in  those  times; 
nor  will  be  a  Rabelais,  an  Euphormio,  a  Boccalinus,  in  ours. 
Adrian  the  sixth,pope,^  was  so  highly  offended  and  grievously 
vexed  with  pasquils  at  Rome,  he  gav  e  command  that  statue 
should  be  demolished  and  burned,  the  ashes  flung  into  the 
river  Tiber,  and  had  done  it  forthwith,  had  notLudovicusSues- 
sanus,  a  facete  companion,  disswaded  him'to  the  contrary,  by 
telling  him  that  Pasquils  ashes  would  turn  to  frogs  in  the  bot- 
tom of  the  river,  and  croak  worse  and  lowder  than  before. 
Genus  irritabile  vatum  ;  and  therefore  ^  Socrates  (in  Plato)  ad- 
viseth  all  his  friends,  that  respect  their  credits,  to  stand  in  awe 
of  poets,  for  they  are  terrible  felloivs,  can  praise  and  dispraise  ^ 
as  they  see  cause. 

Hinc,  quam  sit  calamus  ssevlor  ense,  patet 
The  prophet  David  complains,  (Psal.   123.4)  that  his  soul 
teas  full  of  the  mocking  of  the  icealthy,  and  of  the  despiteful- 
ness  of  the  proud  ;  and  (Psal.  55.  4.)  for  the  voice  of  the  wicked^ 

aSicut  viatores,  si  ad  saxum  impegerint,  aut  nautae.  memores  sui  casus,  nonistaino- 
do  quK  offendunt,  sed  et  similia,  horrent  perpetuo  et  tremunt.  bLeviter  volant, 

graviter  vulnerant.  Bernardus.  c  Eusis  sauciat  corpus,  meutem  sermo.  <•  Sciatis 
eum  esse  qui  a  nemine  fere  aevi  sui  magnate  non  illustre  stipendiuni  habuit,  ne  mores 
ipsorum  satyris  suis  notaret     Gasp.  Barthius,  prasfat.  parnodid.  <=  Jovius,  in  vita 

ejus.  Gravissime  tulit  famosis  libellisnomen  saum  ad  Pasquilli  statnam  fuisse  lacera- 
tum;  decrevitque  ideo  statuam  demoliri,  &c.  <"  Plato,  lib.  13.  de  legibus.     Qui 

exlstimationem  curant,  poetas  Tcreantur,  quia  magnam  vim  habent  ad  laudanduiu  et 
yituperandum. 


Mem.  4.  Subs.  4.]  Scoffs,  Calumnies,  hitter  Jests,  ^e.        22-5 

S\c.  and  their  hate,  his  heart  trembled  within  him,  arid  the 
terrors  of'  death  came  upon  him  :  fear  and  horrible  fear,  Sfc. 
(and  Psal.  69.  20.)  Rebuke  hath  broken  my  heart  ;  and  I  am 
full  of  heaviness.  Who  hath  not  like  cause  to  complain,  and 
is  not  so  troubled,  that  shall  fall  into  the  mouths  of  such  men? 
for  many  are  of  so  ''petulant  a  spleen,  and  have  that  fignre  sar- 
casmus  so  often  in  their  mouths,  so  bitter,  so  foolish,  (as 
''Balthasar  Castilio  notes  of  them)  that  theif  cannot  speak,  hut 
thetj  must  bite  ;  they  had  rather  lose  a  friend  than  a  jest :  and 
what  company  soever  they  come  in,  they  will  be  scoffing-,  in- 
sultino-  over  their  inferiours,  especially  over  such  as  any  way 
depend  upon  them,  humoring,  misusing,  or  putting  gulleries 
on  some  or  other,  till  they  have  made,  by  their  humoring  or 
guUino-,  "^  ex  stnlto  insanum,  a  mope  or  a  noddy,  and  all  to  make 
themselves  merrv  : 


-'1  dummodo  risum 


Excutiat  sibi,  non  hie  cuiquam  parcit  amico  : 

friends,  neuters,  enemies,  all  are  as  one;  to  make  a  fool  a  mad- 
man, is  their  sport ;  and  they  have  no  greater  felicity  than  to 
scoff  andderide  others;  they  must  sacrifice  to  the  god  of  laugh- 
ter (with  them  in  *  Apuleius)  once  a  day,  or  else  they  shall 
be  melancholy  themselves :  they  care  not  how  they  grinde 
and  misuse  others,  so  they  may  exhilarate  their  own  persons. 
Their  w  its  indeed  serve  them  to  that  sole  purpose,  to  make 
sport,  to  break  a  scurrile  jest;  which  is  levissimus  ingenii 
fructus,  the  froth  of  wit  (as  'Tully  holds)  ;  and  for  this  they 
"are  often  applauded.  In  all  other  discourse,  dry,  barren,  stra- 
mineous, dull  and  heavy,  here  lyes  their  genius ;  in  this  they 
alone  excell,  please  themselves  and  others.  Leo  Decimus,  that 
scoffing  pope,  (as  Jovius  hath  registered  in  the  fourth  book  of 
his  life)  took  an  extraordinary  delight  in  humouring  of  silly  fel- 
lows, and  to  put  gulleries  upon  them  ;  s  by  commending  some, 
perswadhiif  others  to  do  this  or  that,  he  made  ex  stolidis  stul- 
tissinws  et  maxime  ridiculos,  ex  stultis  insanos — soft  fellows, 
stark  noddies  ;  and  such  as  were  foolish,  quite  mad — before  he 
left  them.  One  memorable  example  he  recites  there,  of  Ta- 
rascomus  of  Parma,  a  musician,  that  was  so  humoured  by  Leo 
Decimus, ,  and  Bibiena  his  second  in  this  business,  that  he 
thought  h.mself  to  be  a  man  of  most  excellent  skill,  (who  was 
indeed  a  ninny) ;  they  ^  made  him  set  foolish  songs,  and  in- 

»  Petulanti  splene  cachinno.  b  Curial.  lib.  2.    Ea  quorumdam  est  inscitia,  ut, 

quoties  loqui,  toties  inorrlere  licere  sibi  putent.  ^'Ter.  Euuuch.  <•  Hor. 

Ser.  1.  2.  Sat.  4.  "^  Lib.  2.  f  De  orat.  «  Laudando,  et  mira  iia  per- 

snadendo.  i>  Et  vana  inflatus  opinione,  incredibilia  ac  ridenda  quaedam  musiceti 

prascepta  commentaretur,  &c. 


S24  Causes  of  Melancholy.        [Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

vent  new  ridiculous  precepts,  which  they  did  highly  commend^  as 
to  tye  his  arm  that  played  on  tlie  lute,  to  make  him  strike  a 
sweeter  stroke,  ^  and  to  pull  down  the  Arras  hangings,  because 
the  voice  would  he  clearer,  by  reason  of  the  reverberation 
of  the  wall.  In  the  like  manner  they  perswaded  one  Barabal- 
lius  of  Caieta,  that  he  was  as  good  a  poet  as  Petrarch ;  would 
have  him  to  be  made  a  laureat  poet,  and  invite  all  his  friends  to 
his  instalment;  and  had  so  possessed  the  poor  man  with  a  con- 
ceit of  his  excellent  poetry,  that,  when  some  of  his  more  dis- 
creet friends  told  him  of  his  folly,  he  was  very  angry  with  them, 
and  said  ^  they  envy  ed  his  honour  and  prosperity.  It  was  strange 
(saith  Jovius)  to  see  an  old  man,  of  sixty  years,  a  venerable  and 
grave  old  man,  so  gulled.  But  what  cannot  such  scoffers  do, 
especially  if  they  find  a  soft  creature,  on  whom  they  may  work? 
Nay,  to  say  truth,who  is  so  wise,  or  so  discreet,  that  may  not  be 
humoured  in  this  case,  especially  if  some  excellent  wits  shall 
set  upon  him  1  He  that  mads  others,  if  he  vvere  so  humoured, 
would  be  as  mad  himself,  as  much  grieved  and  tormented ;  he 
might  cry  with  them  in  the  comedy,  Proh  Jupiter  !  tu  homo  me 
adigis  ad  insaniam :  for  all  is  in  these  things  as  they  are  taken  : 
if  he  be  a  silly  soul,  and  do  not  perceive  it,  'tis  well ;  he  may 
happily  make  others  sport,  and  be  no  whit  troubled  himself: 
but  if  he  be  apprehensive  of  his  folly,  and  take  it  to  heart,  then 
it  torments  him  worse  than  any  lash.  A  bitter  jest,  a  slander,  a 
calumny, pierceth  deeper  than  any  loss,  danger,  bodily  pain,  or 
injury  whatsoever ;  leviter  enim  volat,(as  Bernard,  of  an  arrow) 
sed graviter  vulnerat ;  especially  if  it  shall  proceed  from  a 
virulent  tongue,  it  cuts  (saith  David)  like  a  two-edged  sword. 
They  shoot  bitter  words  as  arrows  (Psal.  64.  3.);  and  they  smote 
with  their  tongues  (Jer.  18.  18),  and  that  so  hard  that  they 
leave  an  incurable  wound  behind  them.  Many  men  are  un- 
done by  this  means,  moped,  and  so  dejected,  that  they  are  never 
to  be  recovered ;  and,  of  all  other  men  living,  those  which  are 
actually  melancholy,  or  inclined  to  it,  are  most  sensible,  (as 
being  suspicious,  cholerick,  apt  to  mistake)  and  impatient  of  an 
injury  in  that  kind;  they  aggravate,  and  so  meditate  continu- 
ally of  it,  that  it  is  a  perpetual  corrosive,  not  to  be  removed, 
till  time  wear  it  out.  Although  they,  peradventure,  that  so 
scoff,  do  it  alone  in  mirth  and  merriment,  and  hold  it  optimum 
aliendfrui  insanid,  an  excellent  thing  to  enjoy  another  mans 
madness ;  yet  they  must  know  that  it  is  a  mortal  sin  (as 
*^  Thomas  holds),  and  (as  the  prophet  ^  David  denouncetn) 
they  that  use  it  shall  never  dwell  in  Gods  tabernacle. 


'  Ut  voces,  Qudis  parietibus  illiste,  suavius  ac  acutius  rcsilirent.  ''  Immortalitati 

ct  glorije  suae  prursus  invideutes.  ^^  3.  2d3e  quKst  75,  Irriso  mortale  peccatum. 

i  Psal.  15.  3. 


Mem.  4.  Subs.  4.]     Scoff s^  Calumnies,  bittei-  Jest  a,  S,'c.      225 

Such  scurrile  jests,  flouts,  and  sarcasms,  therefore,  ought  not 
at  all  to  be  used,  especially  to  our  betters,  to  those  that  are  in 
misery,  or  any  way  distressed  :  for,  to  siu'h,a?rwn7iarum  incre- 
mentasytit,  they  multiply  grief;  and  (as ''he  perceived)  mm?//^/* 
pudor,  in  mnlfis  iraamdia,  ^c.  many  are  asl)amed,  many  vexed, 
angred;  and  there  is  no  greater  cause  or  furtherer  of  melancholy. 
Martin  Cromerus,in  the  sixth  book  of  his  history,  hath  a  pretty 
storv  to  this  purpose,  of  Vladislaus  the  Second,  king  of  Poland, 
and  Peter  Dunnius,  earl  of  Shrine;  they  had  been  hunting  late, 
and  were  enforced  to  lodae  in  a  poor  cottage.  When  they  went 
to  bed,  Vladislaus  told  the  earl  in  jest,  that  his  m  ife  lay  softer 
Avith  the  abbot  of  Shrine  :  he  not  able  to  contain,  replyed,  £"/ 
tun  cum  Dabesso,  and  yours  with  Dabessus,  a  gallant  young 
gentleman  in  the  court  whom  Christina  the  queen  loved. 
Tetigit  id  dictum  principis  animnm;  these  words  of  his  so  galled 
the  prince,  that  he  was  long  after  tristis  et  cogitabundus,  very 
sad  and  melancholy  for  many  moneths:  but  they  were  the  earls 
utter  undoing;  for  when  Christina  heard  of  it,  she  persecuted 
him  to  death.  Sophia  the  empress,  Justinians  wife,  broke  a 
bitter  jest  upon  Narsesthe  eunuch,  (a  famous  captain,  then  dis- 
quieted for  an  overthrow  which  he  lately  had)  that  he  was  fitter 
for  a  distaff,  andteep  women  company,  than  to  wield  a  sword, 
or  to  be  general  of  an  army  :  but  it  cost  her  dear;  for  he  so  far 
distasted  it,  that  he  went  forthwith  to  the  adverse  part,  much 
troubled  in  his  thoughts,  caused  the  Lumbards  to  rebell,  and 
thence  procured  many  miseries  to  the  common-wealth.  Tibe- 
rius the  emperour  withheld  a  legacy  from  the  people  of  Rome, 
which  his  predecessorAugustushad  lately  given, and  perceiving 
a  fellow  sound  a  dead  coarse  in  the  ear,  would  needs  know 
wherfore  he  did  so  :  the  fellow  replyed,  that  he  wished  the  de- 
parted soul  to  signify  to  Augustus,  the  commons  of  Rome  were 
yet  unpaid  :  for  this  bitter  jest  the  emperour  caused  him  forth- 
with to  be  slain,  and  carry  the  news  himself.  For  this  reason, 
all  those  that  otherwise  approve  jests  in  some  cases,  andfacete 
companions,  (as  who  doth  not?)  let  them  laugh  and  be  merry, 
rtimpuntur  et  ilia  Codro ;  'tis  laudable  and  fit;  those  yet  will  by 
no  means  admit  them  in  their  companies,  that  are  any  wayes  in- 
clined to  this  malady ;  non  jocandum  cum  Us  qui  miseri  sunt  et 
(vrtimnosi:  no  jesting  with  a  discontented  person.  'Tis  Castilios 
caveat,  ''Jo.  Pontanus,  and  '^  Galateus,  and  every  good  mans : 

Play  with  me,  but  hurt  me  not : 
Jest  with  me,  but  shame  me  not. 

Com^Vrts  is  a  vertue  betwixt  rw.s'?jc?7?/andsc7<m7?7?/,twoextreams, 
as  affuhilitu  is  betwixt^a^^e/j/  and  contention :  it  must  not  ex- 

»  Balthasar  Castillo,  lib.  '2.  de  aiilico.        *>  De  sci  monc,  lib.  4.  cap.  3.  '  Fol.  55. 

Galatfuij. 


226  Causes  of  Melancholy.       [Part.   1.  Sec.  2. 

ceed ;  but  be  still  accompanied  with  that  *  a^^aQuii  or  inno- 
cency,  quoR  nemini  nocet,  omnem  hijurice  oblationem  abhorrens^ 
hurts  no  man,  abhors  all  offer  of  injury.  Though  a  man  be 
liable  to  such  a  jest  or  obloquy,  have  been  overseen,  or  commit- 
ted a  fold  fact,  yet  it  is  no  good  manners  or  humanity,  to  up- 
braid, to  hit  him  in  the  teeth  with  his  offence,  or  to  scoff  at 
such  a  one ;  'tis  an  old  axiom,  turpis  inreum  omnis  exp^obratio. 
I  speak  not  of  such  as  generally  tax  vice,  Barclay,  Gentilis, 
Erasmus,  Agrippa,  Fishcartus,  &c.  the  Varronists  andLucians 
of  our  time,  satyrists,  epigrammatists,  comcedians,  apologists, 
&c.  but  such  as  personate,  rail,  scoff,  calumniate,  perstringe 
by  name,  or  in  presence  offend  : 

i*  Ludit  qui  stolida  procacitate,  > 

Non  est  Sestius  ille,  sad  caballus ; 

'tis  horse-play  this ;  and  those  jests  (as  he  '^saith)  are  no  better 
than  injuries,  biting  jests,  mordentes  et  aculeati  ;  they  are  poy- 
soned  jests,  leave  a  sting  behind  them,  and  ought  not  to  be 
used. 

**  Set  not  thy  foot  to  make  the  blind  to  fall, 
Nor  wilfully  offend  thy  weaker  brother; 
Nor  wound  the  dead  with  thy  tongues  bitter  gall ; 
Neither  rejoice  thou  in  the  fall  of  other. 

If  these  rules  could  be  kept,  we  should  have  much  more  ease 
and  quietness  than  we  have,  less  melancholy  :  whereas,  on  the 
contrary,  we  study  to  misuse  each  other,  how  to  sting  and  gaul, 
like  two  fighting  boars,  bending  all  our  force  and  wit,  friends, 
fortunes,  to  crucifie  ^  one  anothers  souls ;  by  means  of  which, 
there  is  little  content  and  charity,  much  virulency,  hatred, 
malice,  and  disquietness  among  us. 

*  Tully,  Tusc.  quasst.  bMart.  lib.  1.  epig'.  35.  ^  Tales  joci  ab  injuriia 

pon  possint  discerni.  Galateus,  fo.  55.  d  Pybrac.  in  bis  Qnatrains,  37.  «  EgQ 
bnjns  misera  fatuitate  et  dementia  oonflictor.    TuU.  ad  Attic,  lib.  11. 


Mein.  4.  Subs.  5.]     Loss  of  Liberty,  Servitude,  c^e.  227 


SUBSECT.  V. 

Loss  of  Liberty,  Servitude,  Imprisonment,  how  they  cause 
Melancholy. 

A  O  tbis  catalogue  of  causes^   I  may  well  annex  loss  of 
liberty,  servitude,  or  imprisonment,  wbicb  to  some  persons 
is  as  g-reat  a  torture  as  any  of  tbe  rest.      Though  they  have 
all    things  convenient,  sumptuous  houses  to  their  use,  fair 
walks  and  gardens,  delicious  bowers,  galleries,  good  fare  and 
dyet,  and  all  things  corsespondent,  yet  they  are  not  content, 
because  they  are  confined,  may  not  come  and  go  at  their  plea- 
sure ;  have  and  do  what  they  will,  but  live  ^aliend  (juadrd, 
at  another  mans  table  and  command.      As  it  is  ''in  meats,  so 
is  it  in  all  other  things,  places,  societies,  sports ;  let  them  be 
never  so  pleasant,  conmiodious,  wholsom,  so  good  ;    yet  om- 
nium reriim  est  satietas,  there  is  a  loathing  satiety  of  all  things 
(the  children  of  Israel  were  tired  with  manna):  it  is  irksome 
to  them  so  to  live,  as  to  a  bird  in  a  cage,  or  a  dog  in  his  ken- 
nel ;  they  are  weary  of  it.      They  are  happy,  it  is  true,  and 
have  all  things  (to  another  mans  judgement)  that  heart  can 
wish,  or  that  they  themselves  can  desire,  bona  si  sua  norint  : 
yet  they  lothe  it,  and  are  tired  with  the  present.     Est  natura 
hominmn  novitatis  avida ;  mens  nature   is  still   desirous  of 
news,  variety,  delights;  and  our  wandering  affections  are  so 
irregular  in  this  kind,  that  they  must  change,  though  it  be  to 
the  worst.     Bachelors  must  be  married,    and  married  men 
would  be  bachelors  ;  they  do  not  love  their  own  wives, though 
otherwise  fair,  wise,  vertuous,,and  well  qualified,  because  they 
are  theirs:  our  present  estate  is  still  the  worst;  we  cannot  en- 
dure one  course  of  life  long  (et  quod  modo  voverat,  odit),  one 
calling  long  {essein  honorejuvat,  mox  displicet) ,  one  place  long, 

<^  RomcE  Tibur  amo  ventosus,  Tibure  Romam  : 
that  which  we  earnestly  sought,  we  now  contemn.  Hoc  quos- 
dam  affit  ad  mortem  (''  saith  Seneca)  quod  proposita  scope  mu- 
tando  in  eadem  revolvuntur,  et  non  relinqunnt  novitati  locum. 
Fastidio  coepit  esse  vita,  et  ipse  mundus  ;  et  subit  illud  rapi- 
dissimarum  deliciarum,  Quousque  eadem  ?  this  alone  kills 
many  a  man,  that  they  are  tyed  to  the  same  still ;  as  a  horse 
in  a  mill,  a  dog  in  awheel,  they  run  round,  without  alteration 
or  news ;  their  life  groweth  odious,  the  world  loathsome,  and 
that  which  crosseth  their  furious  delights,  What  ?-  still  the 
same  ?    Marcus  Aurelius  and  Solomon,  that  had  experience  of 

'Migeram  est  alien^  vivere  quadrii.     Juv.  bCrambe  bis  eocla. — Vitae  we 

redde  priori.  «Hor.  ^D«  tranquil,  nuimse. 


Cavsfs  of  Melancholy.       [Part,  I .  Sec,  2. 

all  worldly  delight  and  pleasure,  confessed  as  much  of  them- 
selves :  v/hat  they  most  desired,  was  tedious  at  last,  and  that 
their  lust  could  never  be  satisfied  ;  all  was  vanity  and  affliction 
of  mind. 

Now,  if  it  be  death  it  self,  another  hell,  to  be  glutted  with  one 
kind  of  sport,  dieted  with  one  dish,  tyed  to  one  place,  though 
they  have  all  thing's  otherwise  as  they  can  desire,  and  are  in 
heaven  to  another  mans  opinion — what  misery  and  discontent 
shall  they  have,  that  live  in  slavery,  or  in  prison  itself?  Quod 
tristius  morte,  in  servihite  vivendHm,as  Herniolaiis  told  Alex- 
ander in  ''Curtius;  Morse  than  death  is  bondage  :  ^'  hoc  animo 
scAto  omnes  fortes,  ut  mortem  servituti  anteponant  ;  all  brave 
men  at  arms  (Tully  holds)  are  so  affected.  '^  Equidem  ego  is 
sum,  qui  servitutem  extremum  omnium  malornm  esse  arbitror : 
I  am  he  (saith  Boterus)  that  account  servitude  the  extremity 
tf  misery.  And  what  calamity  do  they  endure,  that  live  with 
those  hard  task  masters,  in  gold-mines  (like  those  thirty 
thousand  '^  Indian  slaves  at  Potosa  in  Peru),  tin-mines, 
lead-mines,  stone-quarries,  cole-pits,  like  so  many  mould- 
warps  under  ground,  condemned  to  the  gallies,  to  perpetual 
drudgery,  hunger,  thirst,  and  stripes,  v/ithout  all  hope  of  de- 
livery ?  How  are  those  women  in  Turkic  affected,  that  most 
part  of  the  year  come  not  abroad  ;  those  Italian  and  Spanish 
aames,  that  are  mewed  up  like  hawks,  and  lockt  up  by  their 
jealous  husbands  ?  how  tedious  is  it  to  them  that  live  in  stoves 
and  caves  half  a  year  together  ?  as  in  Island,  Muscovy,  or 
under  the  •'pole  it  self,  where  they  have  six  moneths  perpetual 
night.  Nay,  what  misery  and  discontent  do  they  endure,  that 
are  in  prison  ?  They  want  all  those  six  non-natural  things  at 
once,  good  air,  good  dyet,  exercise,  company,  sleep,  rest,  ease, 
&c.  that  are  bound  in  chains  all  day  long,  suffer  hunger,  and 
(as  "^^Lucian  describes  it)  7niist  abide  that  fit  hy  stink,  andrat- 
ling  of  chains,  howling,  pitifil  out-crges,  that  prisoners  ns?t- 
ally  make :  these  things  are  not  only  troublesome,  but  intole- 
rable. They  lye  nastily  among  toads  and  frogs  in  a  dark  dun- 
geon, in  their  own  dung,  in  pain  of  body,  in  pain  of  soul,  as 
Joseph  did  (Psal.  105.  18,  They  hurt  his  feet  in  the  stocks  ; 
the  iron  entred  his  soul)  :  they  live  solitarily,  alone,  seques- 
tred  from  all  company  but  heart-eating  melancholy :  and,  for 
want  of  meat,  must  eat  that  bread  of  affliction,  prey  upon 
themselves.  Well  might  s  Arculanus  put  long  imprisonment 
for  a  cause,  especially  to  such  as,  having  lived  jovially  in  all 
sensuality  and  lust,  upon  a  sudden  are  estranged  and  debarred 

>  Lib.  8.  bTuUius  Lepiijo,  Fam.  10.  27.  c  Boterus,  1.  1.  poiit.  cap.  4. 

<*  Laet.  descrip.  Americae.  «  If  there  be  any  inhabitants.  '  In  Toxari. 

Interdiu  quidem  coilum  vinctum  est,  et  manus  constricta  ;  noctu  vero  totum  corpus 
vincitiir  :  ad  has  miserias  accedit  corporis  I'oelor,  strepitus  ejolantium,  souini  bre^itas  : 
hapc  omnia  plane  molesta  et  intolerabilia.  8  In  9  Rhasis. 


Mem.  4.  Subs.  ().]     Poverty  and  Want^  Cause.  229 

from  all  manner  of  pleasures  ;  as  were  Hunniades,  Edward 
and  Richard  the  Second,  Valerian  the  emperour,  Ba.jazet  the 
Turk.  If  it  be  irksome  to  miss  our  ordinary  companions  and 
repast  for  once  a  day,  or  an  hour,  what  shall  it  be  to  lose 
them  for  ever?  If  it  be  so  g-reat  a  delight  to  live  at  liberty,  and 
to  enjoy  that  variety  of  objects  the  world  affords,  what  misery 
and  discontent  must  it  needs  bring  to  him,  that  shall  be  now 
cast  headlong  into  that  Spanish  inquisition,  to  fall  from  hea- 
ven to  hell,  to  be  cubbed  up  upon  a  sudden  ?  how  shall  he  be 
perplexed  ?  what  shall  become  of  him  ?  =*  Robert,  duke  of  Nor- 
mandy, being  imprisoned  by  his  youngest  brother  Henry  the 
First,  ah  illo  die  inconsolabili  dolore  in  carcere  contahuit 
(saith  Matthew  Paris),  from  that  day  forward  pined  away  with 
grief.  '^  Jugiirth,  that  generous  captain,  brour/ht  to  Rome  in 
triumph^  and  aj'ter  imprimned,  throiigh  anf/iiish  oj"  his  soulj 
and  melancholy^  dyed..  ^  Roger,  bishop  of  Salisbury,  the  se- 
cond man  from  king"  Stephen,  (he  that  built  that  famous  cas- 
tle of  '^  Devises  in  Wiltshire)  was  so  tortured  in  prison  with 
hunger,  and  all  those  calamities  accompanying  such  men, 
*  ut  vivere  noluerit,  mori  nescierit,  he  would  not  live,  and 
could  not  dye,  betwixt  fear  of  death  and  torments  of  life. 
Francis,  king-  of  France,  was  taken  prisoner  by  Charles  the 
Fifth,  ad  mortem  fere  melancholicus,  saith  Guicciardine,  me- 
lancholy almost  to  death,  and  that  in  an  instant.  But  this  is 
as  clear  as  the  sun,  and  needs  no  further  illustration. 


SUBSECT.  VI. 

Poverty  and  Want,  Causes  of  Melancholy . 

X  OVERTY  and  want  are  so  violent  oppugners,  so  un- 
welcome guests,  so  much  abhorred  of  all  men,  that  I  may 
not  omit  to  speak  of  them  apart.  Poverty,  although  (if  con- 
sidered aright,  to  a  wise,  understanding,  truly  regenerate,  and 
contented  man)  it  be  donum  Dei,  a  blessed  estate,  the  way  to 
heaven  (as  ^  Chrysostome  calls  it),  Gods  gift,  the  mother  of 
modesty,  and  much  to  be  preferred  before  riches  (as  shall  be 
shewed  in  his  §  place),  yet,  as  it  is  esteemed  in  the  worlds  cen- 
sure, it  is  a  most  odious  calling,  vile  and  base,  a  severe  torture, 
summinn  scelus,  a  most  intolerable  burthen.     We  ''shun  it  all, 

»  William  the  Conqncrors  eldest  son.  •>  Sallust.  Romam  trinmpho  ductus, 

tandenique  in  carcerem  conjectus,  aninii  dolore  periit.  ^  Camden,  in  Wiltsii. 

Miserum  senem  ita  fame  et  calamitatibus  in  carcere  fregit,  inter  mortis  metum  et  vit* 
tormenta,  &c.  <i  Vies  hodie.  c  Seneca.  f  Com.  ad  Hei)raeo9. 

KPart.  2.  sect  3.  raemb.  .3.  •>  Quern,  ut  difficilem  morbiim,  piieris  tradere  fornai 

danaa.     Pl«t. 


230  Causes  of  Melancholij.  [Part.  1.  Sec.  t>. 

eane  pejus  et  angue  :  we  abhor  the  name  of  it, 

(*  Paupertas  fugitur  :  totoque  arcessitur  orbe-  •  •  • ) 

as  being  the  fountain  of  all  other  miseries,  cares,  woes,  labours 
and  grievances  whatsoever.  To  avoid  which,  we  will  take  any 
pains  ; 

( extremes  currit  mercator  ad  Indos) 

we  will  leave  no  haven,  no  coast,  no  creek  of  the  world,  un- 
searched,  though  it  be  to  the  hazard  of  our  lives  ;  we  will  dive 
to  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  and  to  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  ''five, 
six,  seven,  eight,  nine  hundred  fathom  deep,  through  all  the 
five  zones,  and  both  extreams  of  heat  and  cold :  we  will  turn 
parasites  and  slaves,  prostitute  our  selves,  swear  and  lye,  damn 
our  bodies  and  souls,  forsake  God,  abjure  religion,  steal,  rob, 
murder,  rather  than  endure  this  unsuii'erable  yoke  of  poverty, 
which  doth  so  tyrannize,  crucifie,  and  generally  depress  us. 

For,  look  into  the  world,  and  you  shall  see  men,  most  part, 
esteemed  according*  to  their  means,  and  happy  as  they  are 
rich  :  '^  uhique  tanti  qnisqne,  quantum  habuit,  J'uit.  If  he  be 
likely  to  thrive,  and  in  the  way  of  preferment,  who  but  he  ? 
In  the  vulgar  opinion,  if  a  man  be  wealthy,  no  matter  how  he 
gets  it,  of  what  parentage,  how  qualified,  how  vertuously  en- 
dowed, or  villanously  inclined  ;  let  him  be  a  bawd,  a  gripe, 
an  usurer,  a  villain,  a  pagan,  a  barbarian,  a  wretch,  '^Lucians 
tyrant  on  tvhoni  you  may  look  with  less  security,  than  on  the 
sun — so  that  he  be  rich  (and  liberal  withall)  he  shall  be  ho- 
noured, admired,  adored, reverenced,  and  highly  '^magnified. 
The  rich  is  had  in  reputation,  because  oj'  his  goods  (Eccles, 
10.  31)  :   he  shall   be  befriended  ;  Jor  riches  gather  many 

Jriends    (Prov.    19.   4;) multos   numerabit  amicos  ;    all 

happiness  ebbs  and  flows  with  his  money.  He  shall  be  ac- 
counted a  gracious  lord,  a  Meeceon^,  a  henefactor,  a  wise, 
discreet,  a  proper,  a  valiant,  a  fortunate  man,  of  a  generous 
spirit,  pullus  Jovis,  et  gallince  Jilius  alba?,  a  hopeful,  a  good 
man,  a  vertuous  honest  man.  Quando  ego  te  Junonium 
puerum,  et  matris  partum  vere  aureum,  as  ^Tully  said  of 
Octavianus,  while  he  was  adopted  Csesar,  and  an  ''  heir  appa- 
rent of  so  great  a  monarchy ;  he  was  a  golden  child.  All 
'  honour,  ofRces,  applause,  grand  titles,  and  turgent  epithets, 
are  put  upon  him;  omnes  omnia  bona  dicere;  all  mens  eyes 

a  Lucan.  1.  1.  ''As  in  the  silver  mines  in  Friburo;h  in  Germany.     Fines  RIo- 

rison.  c  Euripides.  dXom.  4.  dial.    Minore  periculo  solem  quain 

hunc  defixis  oculis  licet  intueri.  ^  Omnis  enim  res,  Virtus,  fama,  decus,  diviua 

humanaque,  pulchris  Divitiis  parent.  Hor.  Sen  1.  2.  Sat  3.  Clarus  erit,  fortis,  Justus, 
sapiens  etiam  rex,  Et  quidquid  volet.     Hor.  fEt  genus,  et  formam,  regina 

P^cuuia  donat.     Money  adds  spirits,  courage,  &c.  i?  Epist.  ult.  ad 

Atticura.  ''  Our  young  master^  a  fine  towardly  gentleman,  (God  bless  him  !) 

and  hopeful.  Why  ?  he  is  heir  apparent  to  the  right  worshipful,  to  the  right  honourable, 
&c.  iO  nummi,  nummi!  vobis  hunc  prsestat  honoreni. 


Mem.  4.  Subs,  fi.]      Povpr/y  and  Want,  Causes,  251 

are  upon  Iiiin,  "  God  bless  his  jrood  Worship!  his  honour!" 
»  ererymanspeaks  well  of  him  ;  every  man  presenfs.hira,  seeks 
and  sues  to  him  for  his  Jove,  favour,  and  protection,  to  serve 
him,  belong  unto  him  ;  every  matiriseth  to  him,  as  to  Themis- 
tocles  in  the  Oiympicks;  if  he  speak,  (as  of  Herod)  uoa- Dei, 
nan  homhns  !  the  -voice  of  God,  not  of  man  !  All  the  o-races, 
Veneres,  pleasures,  elegances  attend  him  :  ''g-olden  Fortune' 
accompanies  and  Jodg-eth  with  him,  and  (as  to  those  Romnn 
emperours)  is  placed  in  his  chamber. 


-^  Secuia  naviget  aurA, 


Fortuiiamque  suo  temperet  arbitrio; 

he  may  sail  as  he  will  himself,  and  temper  his  estate  at  his 
pleasure:  jovial  days,  splendor  and  mao-nificence, sweet  mu- 
S!ck,  dainty  fare,  the  oood  things   and   fat  of  the  land,  fine 
clothes,  rich  attires,  soft  beds,  down  pillows,  are  at  his  com- 
mand ;  all  the  world  labours  for  him;  thousands  of  artificers 
are  his  slaves,  to  drudge  for  him,  run,  ride,  and  post  for  him  : 
diymes  (for  Pytliia  phiUppizat),  lawyers,  physicians,  philo- 
sophers, scholars,  are  his,  wholly  devote  to  his  service.  Every 
man  seeks  his  acquaintance,  his  kindred,  to  match  with  him: 
yhough  he  be  an  aufe,  a  ninuy,a  monster,  agoos-cap,  uxorem 
ducat  Datmen,  when  and  whom  he  will :  hunc  optant  generum 
rex  et  rer/ina—he   is  an   excellent  ^  match  for   my  son,   my 
dau«-hter,  my  niece,  &c.     Quidquid  calcaverit  hie,  rosa  Jiet ; 
let  bim  go  whither  he  will,  trumpets  sound,  bells  ring,  &c.  all 
happiness  attends  him  ;  every  man  is  willing  to  entertain  him  ; 
he  sups  in  s  Apollo  wheresoever  he  comes:  what  preparation 
IS  made  for  his  ''  entertainment!  fish  and  fowl,  spices  and  per- 
fumes, all  that  sea  and  land  affords.     What  cookery,  masking- 
mirth,  to  exhilarate  his  person ! 

'  Da  Trebio  ;  pone  ad  Trebium  ;   vis,  frater,  ab  illis 
Hibus  ? 

What  dish  will  your  good  worship  eat  of? 


^  dulcia  poma, 

Et  quoscunque  feret  cultus  tibi  fundus  honores, 
Ante  Larem  gustet  venerabilior  Lare  dives. 

Sweet  apples,  and  whate're  thy  fields  aftbrd, 
Before  the  Gods  be  serv'd,  let  serve  thy  Lord. 

;  Exiude  sapere  eum  omnes  dicimus,  ac  quisque  fortnnam  habet.      Plaut.  Pseud, 
c  ^"^■^^.^^'"■tuna  pnncipnm  rubiculis  reponi  solita.     Julius  Capitolinus,  vitS  Antouiui. 
reironius.  .1  Theologi  opulentis  adhaerent,  jurisperiti  pecuniosis,  literati 

f  n^m '^'  '■'?f'Tj'''"\a'-t.fices.  e  Muiti  ilium  juvenes,  multa  petiere  puells. 

'  Duramodo  sit  dives,  barbarus  ille  placet.  ir  Plut.  in  Lucullo.     A  rich  cham- 

oer  so  called.  h  Pan.s  p,,„e  melior.  i  Juv.  Sat.  5.  k  Hor.  Sat.  5 


VOL.  I. 


A    A 


282  Cautes  of  Melancholy.        [Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

What  sport  will  your  honour  have  ?  hawking-,  hunting,  fish- 
ino-,  fowling,  bulls,  bears,  cards,  dice,  cocks,  players,  tum- 
blers, fidlers,  jesters,  &c.  they  are  at  your  good  worships  com- 
mand. Fair  houses,  gardens,  orchards,  terrasses, galleries,  cabi- 
nets, pleasant  walks,  delightsom  places,  they  are  at  hand ;  ^itt 
aureis  lac,  vinum  in  argenteis,  adolescentulcE  ad  nutiim  speci- 
osce,  wine,  wenches,  &c.  a  Turkie  paradise,  an  heaven  upon 
earth.     Though  he  be  a  silly  soft  fellow,  and  scarce  have 
common  sense,  yet  if  he  be  born  to  fortunes,  (as  I  have  said) 
^jure  hcereditario  sapere  juhetnr,  he   must  have  honour  and 
office  in  his  course  ;  '^  nemo,  nisi  dives,  honore  digitus  (Ambros. 
offic.  21);  none  so  worthy  as  himself:  he  shall  have  it;  atque 
esto  quidquid  Servius  aut  Labeo.  Get  money  enough,  and  com- 
mand ^  kingdoms,  provinces,  armies,  hearts,  hands,  and  affec- 
tions ;  thou  shalt  have  popes,  patriarks,  to  be  thy  chaplains  and 
parasites  ;  thou  shalt  have  (Tamberlain-like)  kings  to  draw  thy 
coach,  queens  to  be  thy  landresseSjCmperours  thy  foot-stools, 
build  more  towns  and  cities  than  great  Alexander,  Babel 
towers,  pyramids,  and  Mausoleail  tombs,  &c.  command  heaven 
and  earth,  and  tell  the  world   it  is  thy  vassal ;  auro  emitur 
diadema,  argento  coelum  pauditur,  denarius  philosophum  con- 
ducit,  jiummus  jus  cogit,  oholus  liter atum  pascit,  metallum  sa- 
nitatem  conciliat,  ces  arnicas  conglutinat.      And  therefore,  not 
without  o-ood  cause,  John  Medicos,  that  Rich  Florentine,  when 
he  lay  upon  his  death-bed,  calling  his  sons  Cosmus  and  Lau- 
rence before  him,  amongst  other  sober  sayings,  repeated  this, 
Animo  quieto  digredior,  quod  vos  sanos  et  divites  post  me  re- 
linquam;  it  doth  me  good  to  think  yet,   though  I  be  dying, 
that  I  shall  leave  you,  my  children,  sound  and  rich;  for 
wealth  sways  all.     It  is  not  with  us,  as  amongst  those  Lace- 
daemonian senators  of  Lycurgus  in  Plutarch — he  prejerred, 
that  deserved  best,  was  most  vertuous  andioorthy  of  the  place  ; 
^  not  swiftness,  or  strength,  or  wealth,  or  friends,  carryed  it 
in  those  dayes ;  hwt  inter  optimos  optimus,  inter  temperantes 
temperantissimus,  the  most  temperate  and  best.     We  have  no 
aristocracies  but  in  contemplation,  all  oligarchies,  wherein  a 
iew  rich  men  domineer,  do  what  they   list,  and  are   privi- 
leo-ed  by  their  greatness.     *^They  may  freely  trespass,  and  do 
as  they  please  ;  no  man  dare  accuse  them,  no  not  so  much  as 
mutter  against  them;  there  is  no  notice  taken  of  it;  they  may 
securely  do  it,  live  after  their  own  laws,  and,  for  their  mo- 


»  Bobemus,  de  Turcig ;  et  Bredenbach.  •>  Euphormio.  '■Quipecunian} 

habent,  elati  sunt  animis,  lofty  spirits,  brave  men  at  arms :  all  rich  men  are  generous, 
eouragious,  &c.  <iNummns  ait.  Pro  me  nubat  Cornubia  Roma;.  <!NQnfuit 

apud  mortales  ullum  excellentius.  certamen ;  nou  inter  celeres  celerrimo,  i^on  int§r  ro- 
busies  robugtissi mo,  &c.  f  Quidquid  libet  licet. 


Mem.  4.  Subs.  6.]        Poverty  and  Waat^  Causes.  23-'? 

ney,  get  pardons,  iiKliiloeiJces,  redeem  their  souls  from  piir- 
g-atory  ami  Isel!  it  self,^ — rfaustini  posmlet  area  Jovem.  Let 
them  be  Epicures,  or  atheists,  libertines,  Machiaveliaus,  (as 
often  they  are) 

'  Et  quamvis  perjiuus  erit,  sine  gente,  crucutiis, 

they  may  go  to  heaven  through  the  eye  of  a  needle  ;  u  they 
will  themselves,  they  may  be  canonized  for  saints,  they  shall 
be  ^  honourably  interred  in  Mausolean  tombs,  commended  hy 
poets,  registered  in  histories,  have  temples  and  statues  erected 

to  their  names e  manibns  iflh  nascentnr  violce. Tf  he 

be  bountiful  in  his  life,  and  liberal  at  his  death,  he  shall  have 
one  to  swear  (as  he  did  by  Claudius  emperour  in  Tacifus),  he 
saw  his  soul  go  to  the  heaven,  and  be  miserably  lamented  at 
his  funeral.  Amhuhaiuruni  coflerfin,  cVc.  Trimalchionis  To- 
panta,  in  Petronius,  recta  in  ccelum  abiit,  went  right  to  hea- 
ven; (a  base  quean  ;  "^  thon  wouldst  have  scorned  once  in  tJnf 
misery  to  hare  a  penny  from  her)  and  why?  modo  nnmmos 
vietiit,  she  measured  her  money  by  the  bushel.  These  prero- 
g"atives  do  not  usually  belong'  to  rich  men,  but  to  such  as  are 
most  part  seeming*  rich ;  let  him  have  but  a  good  "^  outside, 
he  carries  it,  and  shall  be  adored  for  a  God,  as  ''Cyrus  was 
amongst  the  Persians,  oh  splendidnm  apparafum,  for  his  gay 
tyres.  Now  most  men  are  esteemed  according  to  their  cloaths : 
in  our  giJlish  times,  whom  you  peradventure  in  modesty 
would  give  place  to,  as  being-  deceived  by  his  habit,  and  pre- 
suming- him  some  great  worshipful  man,  believe  it,  if  you  shall 
examine  his  estate,  he  will  likely  be  proved  a  serving  man  of 
no  great  note,  my  ladies  taylor.  his  lordships  barber,  or  some 
such  gull,  a  Fastidius  Brisk,  Sir  Petronell  Flash,  a  meer  out- 
side. Only  this  respect  is  given  him,  that  wheresoever  he 
comes,  he  may  call  for  w  hat  he  will,  and  take  place  by  reason 
of  his  outwarti  habit. 

But,  on  the  contrary,  if  he  be  poor,  (Pror.  15.  \b)  all  his 
dayes  are  miserable;  he  is  under  hatches,  dejected,  rejected, 
and  forsaken,  poor  in  purse,  poor  in  spirit :  Sprout  res  nobis 
Jluit,  ita  et  animus  se  habet :  s  money  gives  life  and  soul. 
Though  he  l)e  honest,  wise,  learned,  well  deserving,  noble  by 
birth, and  of  excellent  jjood  parts;  yet,  in  that  he  is  poor,  un- 
likely to  rise,  come  to  honour,  office,  or  good  means,  he  is  con- 
temned, neglected ;  J'rustra  sapit,  inter  litems  esnrit,  amicus 

»Hor.  Sat.  5.  lib.  2.  bCum  moritnr  dives,  concurrunt  undique  cives :  Paupeiis 

ad  fiinas  vix  est  ex  millibus  unns.  "^Et  modo  quid  fait?  ignoscat  mihi  genius tuus  ! 

noluisses  de  manu  ejus  nuintno^  accipere.  ''  He  that  wears  silk,  sattin,  velvet,  and 

fjold  lace,  must  needs  be  a  gentleman.  "  Est  sanguis  atque  npiritus  pecunia  mor- 

tolibos.  f  Euripides.  gXennpbon,  Cvropapd.  1.  8. 

.A  A  2  ' 


"234  Causes  of  Melancholy.         [Part.  l.Sec.  2. 

molestus.  ^  Tfhe  speak,  what  hahler  is  this  ?  (Ecclus.)  his 
nobility  without  wealth  is  ^projectd  vilior  alga,  and  he  not 
esteemed. 

Nos  viles  puUi,  nati  infelicibus  ovis ; 

if  once  poor,  we  are  metamorphosed  in  an  instant,  base  slaves, 
villains,  and  vile  drudges  ;  ^  for  to  be  poor,  is  to  be  a  knave,  a 
fool,  a  wretch,  a  wicked,  an  odious  fellow,  a  common  eye-sore : 
say  poor,  and  say  all  :  they  are  born  to  labour,  to  misery,  to 
carry  burdenslikejuments,/9«\s/«m  stercus comedere,  with  Ulys- 
ses companions,  and  (as  Chremylus objected  in  Aristophanes) 
^  salem  linffere,  lick  salt,  to  empty  jakes,  fay  channels,  •=  carry 
out  dirt  and  dunghils,  sweep  chimnies,  rub  horse-heels,  &c.  I 
say  nothing  of  Turks  galley-slaves,  which  are  bought  ^and  sold 
like  juments,  or  those  African  negroes,  or  poor  ^  Indian  drudges, 
qui  indies  hinc  inde  defer endis  onerihns  occumbunt ;  nam  qnod 
apud  nos  haves  et  asini  vehiint,  trahunt,  SjC.  id  omne  misellis 
Indis,  ^c.  they  are  ugly  to  behold,  and,  though  earst  spruce, 
now  rusty  and  squalid,  because  poor :  ^  immundas  J'ortunas 
wquum  est  squalorem  seqvi :  it  is  ordinarily  so.  '  Others  eat  to 
live,  but  they  live  to  drudge;  ^  servflis  et  miser  a  gens  nihil 
recusare  andet :  a  servile  generation,  that  dare  refuse  no  task. 


-'  Heus  tu,  Dore, 


Cape  hoc  flabellum,  ventulum  huic  facito,  dum  lavamus, 

sirrah,  blow  wind  upon  us  while  we  wash  ;  and  bid  your  fellow 
get  him  up  betimes  in  the  morning ;  be  it  fair  or  foul,  he  shall 
run  fifty  miles  a  foot  to  morrow,  to  carry  me  a  letter  to  ray 
mistress:  Sssia  adpistrinam ;  Sosia shall  tarry  at  home,  and 
grind  mault  all  day  long;  Tristan  thresh.  Thus  are  they  com- 
manded, being  indeed,  some  of  them,  as  so  many  foot-stools 
for  rich  men  to  tread  on,  blocks  for  them  to  get  on  horse 
back,  or  as  ^  walls  for  them  to  piss  on.  They  are  commonly 
such  people,  rude,  silly,  superstitious  ideots,  nasty,  unclean, 
lowsie,  poor,  dejected,  slavishly  humble  ;  and  as  °  Leo  Afer 
observes  of  the  commonalty  of  Africk,  natnrd  viliores  sunt, 
nee  apud  suos  duces  majore  in  pretio  quam  si  caries  essent : 
base  by  nature,  and  no  more  esteemed  than  dogs,  °  miseram, 
laboriosam,  calamitosam  vitam,  agunt,  et  inopem,  infelicem  ; 

ain  tenui  rara  est  facundia  panno.    Juv.  bHor.  c  Egere  est  ofi'endere ; 

et  indigere  scelestum  esse.    Sat.  Menip.  d  Plant,  act.  4.  e  Nullum  tam  bar- 

barum,  tam  vile  munus  est,  quod  non  lubentissime  obire  velitgensvilissima.         fLau- 
sius,  orat.  in  Hispaniam.  S  Laet.  descrip.  Americae.  hpjautiis.  'Leo 

Afer,  ca.  ult.  1.  1.       Edunt,  non  ut  bene  vivant,  sed  ut  fortiter  laborent.       Heinsius. 
k  Munster  de  ruslicis  Germanise,  Cosmog.  cap.  27.  lib.  3.  '  Ter.  Eunuch. 

n>  Pauper  panes  factus,  quem  caniculae  conimingant.  "Lib.  I.  cap.  u!t.  ^Deos 

omnes  illis  infensos  diceres ;  tam  pannosi,  fame  fracti,  tot  assidue  malis  afSciuntor, 
tamquam  pecora  qiiibus  splendor  ratiunis  emortuus. 


Mem.  4.  Subs  6.]     Poverty  and  Want,  Causes.  235 

rudiores  asinis,  ut  e  brutis  plane  natos  dicas ;  no  learning-, 
no  knowledge,  no  civility,  scarce  common  sense,  nought  but 
barbarism  amongst  them  ;  belhiino  more  vivunt,  neque  calceos 
gestant,  neqne  vestes ;  like  rogues  and  vagabonds,  they  go 
bare-footed  and  bare-legged,  the  souls  of  their  feet  being  as 
hard  as  horse  hoofs,  (as  "Iladzivilius  observed  at  Damiatain 
Egypt)  leading  a  laborious,  miserable,  wretched,  unhappy 
life,  ''  like  beasts  and  Juments,  if  not  ivorse  (for  a  ^  Spaniard  in 
Tucatau  sold  three  Indian  boyes  for  a  cheese,  and  an  hundred 
negroe  slaves  for  an  horse)  :  their  discourse  is  scurrility,  their 
suinmum  bonum  a  pot  of  ale.  There  is  not  any  slavery  which 
these  villains  will  not  undergo  :  inter  illos  plerique  latrinas 
evacnunt ;  alii  cnlinariam  cnrunt ;  alii  stabnlarios  agunt, 
nrinatores  ;  et  id  genns  similia  e.vcrcent,  ^-c.  like  those  people 
thatdwell  in  the  '^  Alps,  chimney-sweepers,  jakes-farmers,  dirt- 
daubers,  vagrant  rogues,  they  labour  hard  some,  and  yet  can- 
not get  clothes  to  put  on,  or  bread  to  eat ;  for  what  can  filthy 
poverty  give  else,  but  *  beggery,  fulsom  nastiness,  squalor, 
contempt,  drudgery,  labour,  ugliness,  hunger  and  thirst,  pedi- 
culornm  et  pulicum  nnmerum  (as  'he  well  followed  it  in  Aris- 
tophanes) tleas  and  lice?  pro  ^jrt//io  vestem  lacrram,  et  pro 
pulvinari  lapidem  bene  magmtm  ad  caput,  rags  for  his  ray- 
inent,  and  a  stone  for  his  pillow,  pro  cathedra,  ruptce  caput 
urnw,  he  sits  in  a  broken  pitcher,  or  on  a  block,  for  a  chair, 
et  malvce  ramos  pro  panibus  comedif,  he  drinks  water,  and 
lives  on  wort  leaves,  pulse,  like  a  hogg,  or  scraps  like  a  dog  : 
nt  nunc  nobis  vita  afficitur,  qnis  non  pntabit  insaniam  esse, 
infelicitatemqne  ?  (as  Chreniylus  concludes  his  speech)  as  we 
poor  men  live  now  adayes,  who  will  not  take  our  life  to  be 
8  infelicity,  misery,  and  madness  ? 

If  they  be  of  little  better  condition  than  those  base  villains, 
hunger-starved  beggars,  wandring  rogues,  those  ordinary 
slaves,  and  day-labouring  drudges,  yet  they  are  coumioniy  so 
preyed  upon  by  ''poling  officers  for  breaking  laws,  by  their 
tyrannizing  landlords,  so  flead  and  fleeced  by  perpetual  'ex- 
actions, that  though  they  do  drudge,  fare  hard,  and  starve 
their  Genius,  they  cannot  live  in  some  ''countries  ;  but  what 
they  have  is  instantly  taken  from  them  ;  the  very  care  they 
take  to  live,  to  be  drudges,  to  maintain  their  poor  families, 

»  Peregrin,  ^ieros.  ''Nihil  omnino  naeliorem  vitam  deg^nt,  quani  fera?  in  siJvis, 

jainenta  in  terns.     Leo  Afer.  <^  Bartholomseus  a  Casa.  -lOrfelius,  in  Hel- 

vetia. Qui  habitant  in  Csesia  valle  ut  plurimum  latomi,  in  Oscella  valle  cultromm 
fabri,  famarii  in  Vigetia,  sordiHam  genus  hominnm,  quod  repnrgandis  caminis  victum 
parat  « I  write  not  this,  any  wayes  to  upbraid,  or  scoffe  at.  or  misuse  poor  men, 

but  rather  to  condole  and  pity  them,  by  expressing,  &c.  fChremylns,  act  4,  Pint, 

ff  Panpertas  durum  onus  miseris  mortalibus.  ^  Vexat  censura  columbas. 

'  Deux  ace  non  possunt,  et  sixcinque  solvere  nolunt;  Omnibus  est  notum  quaire  tre 
•olvere  totiun,  '■Scandia,  Afnca,  Lituania. 


23(5  Causes  of  Melancholy.         [Part.  1.  Sec.  9.- 

their  trouble  and  anxiety,  takes  away  their  sleep  {Sirac.  31. 1); 
it  makes  them  Meary  of  tlieir  lives:  when  they  have  taken  all 
pains,  done  their  utmost  and  honest  endeavours,  if  they  be 
cast  behind  by  sickness,  or  overtaken  with  years,  no  man 
pities  them;  hard-liearted  and  merciless,  uncharitable  as  they 
are,  they  leave  them  so  distressed,  to  beg",  steal,  murmur,  and 
^  rebel,  or  else  starve  The  feeling-  and  fear  of  this  misery 
compelled  those  old  Romans,  whom  Meneniiis  Agrippa 
pacified,  to  resist  their  govenours — outlaws,  and  rebels  in  most 
places,  to  fake  up  seditious  amies ;  and  in  all  ages  hath  caused 
uproars,  murmurings,  seditions,  rebellions,  thefts,  murders, 
mutinies,  jarrs  and  contentions  in  every  commonwealth,  grudg- 
ing', repining,  complaining,  discontent  in  each  private  family, 
because  they  want  means  to  live  according  to  their  callings, 
bring  up  their  children ;  it  breaks  their  hearts,  they  cannot 
do  as  they  would.  No  greater  misery  than,  for  a  lord  to  have 
a  knights  living,  a  gentleman  a  yeomans,  not  to  be  able  to  live 
as  his  birth  and  place  requires.  Poverty  and  Avant  are  gene- 
rally corrosive  to  all  kinds  of  men,  especially  to  such  as  have 
been  in  good  and  flourishing  estate,  are  suddenly  distressed, 
^  nobly  born,  liberally  brought  up,  and,  by  some  disaster,  and 
casualty,  miserably  dejected.  For  the  rest,  as  they  have  base 
fortunes,  so  they  have  base  minds  correspondent — likebeetles,e 
stercore  orti,  e  stercore  victus,  in  stercore  delicimn — as  they 
were  obscurely  born  and  bred,  so  they  delight  and  live  in  ob- 
scenity; the}'  are  not  so  thoroughly  touched  with  it. 

Augustas  animas  angusto  in  pectore  versant. 

Yea  (that  which  is  no  small  cause  of  their  torments)  if  once 
they  come  to  be  in  distreS'?,  they  are  forsaken  of  their  fellows, 
most  part  neglected,  and  left  unto  themselves;  vts  poor  "^Te- 
rence in  Rome  was  by  Scipioj  I^lius,  and  Furius,  his  great 
and  noble  friends, 

Nihil  Publius 

Scipio  profuit,  nil  ei  Lselius,  nil  Furius, 

Tres  per  idem  tenipus  qui  agitabant  nobiles  faqillime. 

Horum  ille  opera  ne  domum  quidem  habuit  conductitiani. 

'Tis  generally  so : 

Tempera  si  fuerint  nubila,  solus  eris  ; 
he  is  left  cold  and  comfortless  -, 

NuUus  ad  amissas  ibit  amicus  opes ; 
all  flee  from  him,  as  from  a  rotten  wall,  now  ready  to  fall  on 

a  Montaigne,  in  his  Essayes,  speaks  of  certain  Indians  in  France,  that  being  asked 
how  they  liked  the  countrey,  wondered  how  a  few  rich  men  conld  keep  so  many  poor 
men  in  subjection,  that  they  did  not  cut  their  throats.  b  Augustas  anima»  am- 

moso  in  pectore  versans.  <  Donatns,  vit.  ejus. 


Mem.  4.  Subs.  6.]     Poverty,  and  Want,  Causes.  537 

their  heads.  Prov.  19.  4.  Poverty  separates  them  from  their 
*  neighbours : 

^  Dum  fortuna  favet,  vultum  servatis,  amici : 
Cum  cecidit,  turpi  vertitis  ora  fuga. 

Whil'st  fortune  favour'd,  friends,  you  smil'd  on  me: 
But,  when  she  fled,  a  friend  I  could  not  see. 

Which  is  worse  yet,  if  he  be  poor,  •=  every  man  contemns  him, 
insults  over  him,  oppressethhim,scoffs  at,  aggravates  his  misery, 

^  Quum  coepit  quassata  domus  subsidere,  partes 
In  proclinatas  omne  recumbit  onus. 
When  once  the  tottering  house  begins  to  shrink, 
Thither  comes  all  the  weight  by  an  instinct. 

Nay,they  are  odious  to  their  own  brethren,  and  dearest  friends : 
(Prov.  19.  7)  his  brethren  hate  him,  if  he  be  poor :  ^omnes 
vicini  oderunt,  his  neighbours  hate  him  (Prov.  14.  20.)  ^omnes 
me  noti  ac  ignoti  deservnt,  (as  he  complained  in  the  comedy) 
friends  and  strangers,  all  forsake'me.  Which  is  most  grievous, 
poverty  makes  men  ridiculous  : 

Nil  habet  infeiix  paupertas  durius  in  se, 

Quam  quod  ridicules  homines  facit : 

they  must  endure  §  jests,  taunts,  flouts,  blows  of  their  betters* 
and  take  all  in  good  part  to  get  a  meals  meat. 

^  Magnum  pauperies  opprobrium  jubet 
Quidvis  et  facere  et  pati. 

He,must  turn  parasite,  jester,  fool,  (cum  desipientibus  desipere^ 
saith  ^  Euripides),  slave,  villain,  drudge,  to  get  a  poor  living, 
apply  himself  to  each  mans  humour,  to  win  and  please,  &c.  and 
be  buffeted  when  he  hath  all  done  (as  Ulysses  was  byMelanthius 
^  in  Homer),  be  reviled,  baffled,  insulted  over,  for  ^potentiorum 
stultitia perferenda  est,  and  may  not  so  much  as  mutter  against 
it.  He  must  turn  rogue  and  villain  ;  for,  as  the  saying  is,  neces- 
sitas  cogitadturpia;  poverty  alone  makes  men  thieves,  rebels, 
murderers,  traitours,  assassinates,  {because  oj'poverty,  ice  have 
sinned,  Ecclus.  27. 1)  swear  and  forswear,  bear  false  w  itness, 
lye,  dissemble,any  thing,  as  I  say,  to  ad  vantage  themselves,  and 
to  relieve  their  necessities:  ^culpce  scelerisque  magistra  est: 
when  a  man  is  driven  to  his  shifts,  what  will  he  not  do  ? 

————si  miserum  fortuna  Sinonem 

Finxit,  vanum  etiam  mendacemque  improba  finget : 

»  Prov.  19.  7.  Tbongh  he  be  instant,  yet  they  will  not  bpetronias.  «  Non 

est,  qui  doleat  ^^ce^l :  ut  Petms  Christom,  jorant  se  homiDem  dob  norisse.  ^  Ovid, 
in  Trist.  t  Horat.  fTer.  Ennnchns,  act  2.  %  Quid  qnod  materiam 

prsBbet  caussamque  jocandi,  Si  toga  sordida  sit?     Juv.  Sat.  2.  >>  Hor.  <  la 

Pboenii.  k  Odyss.  17.  >  Ideo3.  »>  Mantuan. 


238  Causes  of  Melancholy.         [Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

he  will  betray  his  father,  prince,  and  coimtrey,  turn  Turk,  for- 
sake rehgion,  abjure  God  and  all :  nulla  tarn  horrenda prodiiio^ 
fjnam  illi  lucri  caussd  (saith  ^Leo  Afer)  perpetrare  nolhit, 
''Plato  therefore  calls  poverty  thievish,  sacrilefjious,  JUthy^ 
wicked,  and  mischievous ;  and  well  he  might ;  for  it  makes 
many  an  upright  man  otherwise  (had  he  not  been  in  want)  to 
take  bribes,  to  be  corrupt,  to  do  against  his  conscience,  to  sell 
his  tongue,  heart,  hand,  &c.  to  be  churlish,  hard,  unmerciful, 
uncivil,  to  use  iudirect  means  to  help  his  present  estate.  It 
makes  princes  to  exact  upon  their  subjects,  great  men  tyran- 
nize, landlords  oppress,  justice  mercenary,  lawyers  vultures, 
physicians  harpyes,  friends  importunate,  tradesmen  lyars,  ho- 
nest men  thieves,  devout  assassinates,  great  men  to  prostitute 
their  wives,  daughters,  and  themselves,  middle  sort  tt)  repine, 
commons  to  mutiny,  all  to  grudge,  murmur,  and  complain. 
A  great  temptation  to  all  mischief,  it  compels  some  miserable 
wretches  to  counterfeit  several  diseases,  to  dismember,  make 
themselves  blind,  lame,  to  have  a  more  plausible  cause  to  beg, 
and  lose  their  limbs  to  recover  their  present  wants.  Jodocus 
Damhoderius,a  lawyer  of  Bruges,  (/;raa:ire7'Mwcrimiwa/.c.  112) 
hath  some  notable  examples  of  such  counterfeit  cranks  ;  and 
every  village  almost  will  yield  abundant  testimonies  amongst 
us  ;  we  have  dummerers,  Abraham  men,  &c.  And  (that 
which  is  the  extent  of  misery)  it  enforceth  them,  through 
anguish  and  wearisomness  of  their  lives,  to  make  away  them- 
selves :  they  had  rather  be  hanged,  drowned,  «&c.  than  to 
lire  without  means. 

« In  mare  cetiferum,  ne  te  premat  aspera  egestas, 
Desili,  et  a  celsis  corrue,  Cyrne,  jugis. 

Much  better  'tis  to  break  thy  neck, 

Or  drown  thyself  i'  th'  sea, 
Than  suffer  irksome  poverty  : — 

Go  make  thy  self  away. 

A  Sybarite  of  old  (as  I  find  it  registered  in  '^Athenasus),  sup- 
ping i7i  Phiditiis  in  Sparta,  and  observing  their  hard  fare,  said 
it  was  no  marvel  if  the  Lacedaemonians  were  valiant  men  ;Jor 
his  part,  he  would  rather  run  upon  a  sivords  point  (and  so 
would  any  man  in  his  wits),  than  live  ivith  such  base  diet,  or 
lead  so  wretched  a  life.  *  In  Japonia,  'tis  a  common  thing  to 
stifle  their  children  if  they  be  poor,  or  to  make  an  abort ;  which 

r  aDe  Africa,  lib.  1.  cap.  ulL  ^  ^  i.  de  legibus.     Fnracissima  paupertas,  Racri- 

lega,  turpis,  flagitiosa,  omnium  malonim  opifex.  cTheognis.  "^  Dipno- 

sophist  lib.  1'2.  Millies  potins  moritiirum  (si  quis  sibi  mente  constaret)  qnam  tam 
vilis  et  aerumnosi  victus  communionem  habere.  f  Gasper  Vilela  JesniU,  epi A 

Japon !  lib. 


Meia.  4.  Subs.  6.]       Poverty  and  Want,  Causes.  239 

Aristotle  commends.  In  that  civil  commonwealth  of"  China, 
*the  mother  strangles  her  child,  if  she  be  not  able  to  bring  it 
up,  and  had  rather  lose  than  sell  it,  or  have  it  endure  such 
misery  as  poor  men  do.  Arnobius  {lib.  7.  adversns  r/entes), 
^  Lactantius  (lib.  5.  cap.  9),  objects  as  much  to  those  ancient 
Greeks  and  Romans  :  theif  did  expose  their  children  to  wild 
beasts,  strancjle,  and  knock  out  their  brains  acjainst  a  stone, 
in  such  cases.  If  we  may  give  credit  to  ""Munster,  amongst 
us  Christians,  in  Lituaniathey  voluntarily  mancipate  and  sell 
themselves,  their  wives,  and  children,  to  rich  men,  to  avoid 
hunger  and  beggery :  ''many  make  away  themselves  in  this 
extremity.  Apicius,  theRomr.n,whenhe  cast  up  his  accounts, 
and  found  but  100000 crowns  left,  murdered  himself,  for  fear 
he  should  be  famished  to  death.  P.  Forestus,  in  his  medicinal 
observations,  hath  a  memorable  example  of  two  brothers  of 
Lovian,  that,  being  destitute  of  means,  became  both  melan- 
choly, and,  in  a  discontented  humour,  massacred  themselves; 
another  of  a  merchant,  learned,  wise  otherwise  and  discreet, 
but,  out  of  a  deep  apprehension  he  had  of  a  loss  at  seas,  would 
not  be  persM'aded  but  (as  •'Ventidius,  in  the  poet)  he  should 
die  a  begger.  In  a  word,  thus  much  I  may  conclude  of  poor 
men,  that,  though  they  have  good  *  parts,  they  cannot  shew  or 
make  use  of  them  :  ^  ab  inopid  ad  virtuteni  obsepta  est  via  ; 
'tis  hard  for  a  poor  man  to  ^  rise ; 

Haud  facile  emergunt,  quorum  virtutibus  obslat 
Res  augusta  domi : 

the  wisdom  oj'the  poor  is  despised,  and  his  icords  are  not  heard 
(Eccles.  6.19):  his  works  are  rejected,  contemned  for  the  base- 
ness and  obscurity  of  the  author;  though  laudable  and  good 
in  themselves,  they  will  not  likely  take. 

Nulla  placere  diu,  neque  vivere,  carmina  possunt, 
Quae  scribuntur  aquse  potoribus. 

Poor  men  cannot  please :  their  actions,  counsels,  consultations, 
projects,  are  vilified  in  the  worlds  esteem:  amittunt  consilium 
tn  re,  which  Gnatho  long  since  observed.  '  Sapiens  crepidas 
sibi  nunr/uani,  JV'ec  soleas,J'ecit ;  a  wise  man  never  cobled  shoes ; 
as  he  said  of  old  ;  but  how  doth  he  prove  it  ?  I  am  sure  we 
find  it  otherwise  in  our  dayes;  ^ pridnosis  horret  J'acundia 
pannis.     Homer  himself  must  beg,  if  he  wants  means,  and  (as 

a  Mat.  Riccius,  expedit.  in  Sinas,  lib.  1.  c.  .3.  h  Yos  Romani  procreates  filios 

feris  et  canibus  exponitis,  nunc  strangulatis,  vel  in  saxiini  eliditis,  &c.  c[Cosmog.  4. 
lib,  cap.  22.  Vendunt  liberos  victu  carentes,  tamqiiain  pecora,  interdam  et  seipsoa, 
ut  apud  divites  satiirentiir  cibis.  <l  Vel  bonorum  desperatione  vel  malorum  per- 

pessione  fracti  et  fatigati,  plares  >ifelentas  manus  sibi  inferiint  <;  Hor.  f  Ingenio 
poteram  superas  volitare  per  arces :  Ut  me  piuma  levat,  sic  grave  mergit  Onus. 
8  Terent.  ''  Juvenal.  Sat.  3.  'Hor.  Sat.  3.  lib.  1.  i^Petronius. 


240  Cauaet  ofMdmw.holy.       [Part.  I.  Sec.  2. 

hy  report,  sometimes  he  did)  ^  go  from  door  to  door,  and  sing 
balla/ls,  icith  a  company  of  boyes  about  him.  This  common 
misery  of  theirs  must  needs  distract,  make  them  discontent 
and  melancholy,  as  ordinarily  they  are,  wayward,  pievish,  like 
a  weary  travailer,  (for 

''  Fames  et  mora  bikm  in  nares  conciunt) 

still  murmuring  and  repining.  Ob  inopiani  morosi  sunt,  qui- 
bus  est  male^  as  Plutarch  quotes  out  of  Euripides,  and  that 
comical  poet  well  seconds — 

*  Omnes,  quibus  res  sunt  minus  secundac,  nescio  quomodo 
Suspiciosi,  ad  contumeliam  omnia  accipiunt  magis ; 
Propter  suam  irripolentiam  se  credunt  negligi  : 

if  they  be  in  adversity,  they  are  more  suspicious,  and  apt  to  mis- 
take; they  think  themselves  scorned  by  reason  of  their  misery; 
and  therefore  many  generous  spirits,  in  such  cases,  withdraw 
themselves  from  all  company,  as  that  comedian  ^  Terence  i^ 
said  to  have  done  ;  when  he  perceived  himself  to  be  forsaken 
and  poor,  he  voluntarily  banished  himself  to  Stymphalus,  a 
base  town  in  Arcadia,  and  there  miserably  died  : 

— ad  summam  inopiam  redactus  : 

Itaque  e  conspectu  omnium  abiit,  Grsecise  in  terram  ultimam. 

Neither  is  it  without  cause  ;  for  we  see  men  commonly  re- 
spected according  to  their  means,  (*  an  dives  sit,  omnes qucerunt; 
nemo, an  bonns)and  vilified  if  they  be  in  bad  clothes.  '^Philo- 
poemen  the  orator  was  set  to  cut  wood,  because  he  was  so 
homely  attired,  s  Terentius  was  placed  at  the  lower  end  of 
Caecilius  table,  because  of  his  homely  outside.  ^  Dante,  that 
famous  Italian  poet,  by  reason  his  clothes  were  but  mean,  could 
not  be  admitted  to  sit  down  at  a  feast.  Gnatho  scorned  his 
old  familiar  friend,  because  of  his  apparel ;  ^  hominem  video 
pannis  annisque  obsitum;  Mc  ego  ilium  contempsi  prce  me. 
King  Perseus,  overcome,  sent  a  letter  to ''Paullus  iEmilius, 
the  Roman  general,  "  Perseus  P.  Consuli  tS"."  but  he  scorned 
him  any  answer,  tacite  exprobrans  Jortunam  suam  (saith  mine 
author),  upbraiding  him  with  a  present  fortune.  ^  Carolus 
Pugnax,  that  great  duke  of  Burgundy,  made  H.  Holland,  late 
duke  of  Exeter,  exil'd,  run  after  his  horse  like  a  lackey,  and 

a  Herodotus,  vita  ejus.  Scaliger,  in  poet.  Potentiornm  aedes  ostiatim  adiens,  ali- 
quid  accipiebat,  canens  carmitta  sua,  concomitante  eum  pnerorum  choro.  •'Plautns, 
Amph.        cTer.  Act.  4.  Seen.  3.  Adelph.  Hegio.         <*  Donat.  vita  ejus.  eEori- 

pides.        f  Plutarch,  vita  ejus.  S  Vit.  Ter.         h  Gomesius,  lib.  3.  c.  21.  de  saie. 

Ter.  Eanuch.  Act.  2.  Seen.  2.  i^Liv.  dec.  9.  1.  2.  iComineus. 


Mem.  3.  Subs.  7.]     Other  AccUknts  and  Grievances.         241 

would  take  no  notice  of  him  :  *  'tis  tbe  common  fashion  of  the 
Avorld  :  so  that  such  men  as  are  poor  may  justly  be  discontent, 
melancholy,  and  complain  of  their  present  misery ;  and  all  may 
pray  with  ''Solomon,  Give  me,  O  Lord,  neither  riches  nor  po- 
verty ;  feed  vie  with/hod  convenient  J  or  me. 


SUBSECT.  VII. 

An  heap  of  other  Arcidentf:  causinr/  Melancholy,  Death  of 
Friends,  Losses,  Sfc. 

JLN  this  labyrinth  of  accidental  causes,  the  farther  I  wander, 
the  more  intricate  I  find  the  passage  ;  multce  ambages ;  and 
new  causes,  as  so  many  by-paths,  offer  themselves  to  be  dis- 
cussed. To  search  out  all,  were  an  Herculean  work,  and 
fitter  for  Theseus  :  I  will  follow  mine  intended  thred,  and 
point  only  at  some  few  of  the  chiefest; 

Death  of  friends.^  amongst  which,  loss  and  death  of  friends 
may  challenge  a  first  place.  Mulfi  tristantur  (as  *^  Vives  well 
observes)  post  delicias,  convivia,  diesfestos  ;  many  are  melan- 
choly after  a  feast,  holy-day,  merry  meeting,  or  some  pleasing- 
sport,  if  they  be  solitary  by  chance,  left  alone  to  themselves, 
without  employment,  sport,  or  want  their  ordinary  companions; 
some,  at  the  departure  of  friends  only  whom  they  shall  shortly 
see  again,  weep  and  howl,  and  look  after  them  as  a  cow  lows 
after  her  calf,  or  a  child  takes  on,  that  goes  to  school  after 
holidayes.  lit  me  levurat  tuns  adventus,  sic  discessus  ajfflixit, 
(which  "'  Tully  writ  to  Atticus)  thy  coming  was  not  so  wel- 
come to  mc  as  thy  departure  was  harsh.  Montanus  (consil. 
132)  makes  mention  of  a  countrey-woman,  that,  parting-  with 
her  friends  and  native  place,  became  grievously  melancholy 
for  many  years  ;  and  Trallanius,  of  another,  so  caused  for  the 
absence  of  her  husband  ;  which  is  an  ordinary  passion  amonost 
our  good  wives  ;  if  their  husband  tarry  out  a  day  longer  than 
his  appointed  time,  or  break  his  hour,  they  take  on  presently 
with  sighs  and  tears;  "he  is  either  robbed  or  dead  ;  some  mis- 
chance or  other  is  surely  befaln  him:"  they  cannot  eat,  drink, 
sleep,  or  be  quiet  in  mind,  till  they  see  him  again.  If  partino- 
of  friends,  absence  alone,  can  work  such  violent  effects,  what 
shall  death  do,  when  they  must  eternally  be  separated,  never 
in  this  world  to  meet  again?  This  is  so  grievous  a  torment 
for  the  time,  that  it  takes  away  their  appetite,  desire  of  life, 

■■•  He  that  hath  51.  per  annum  comingr  in  more  than  others,  scorns  him  that  hath  less, 
and  is  a  better  man.  h  Prov.  30.  8.        c  Q^  anima,  cap.  de  moerore.        <i  Lib.  13. 

aqaist. 


242  Causes  of  3felancholy.         [Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

extinguisheth  all  delights,  it  causeth  deep  sighs  and  groans, 
tears,  exclamations, 

(0  dulce  germen  raatris  !  o  sanguis  meus  ! 
Eheu  ;  tepentes,  &c, o  flos  tener  ! 

howling,  roarin<>-,  many  bitter  pangs, 

=*  (Lamtntis  gemituque  et  femineo  ululatu 
Tecta  fremunt) 

and  by  frequent  meditation  extends  so  far  sometimes,  ^f^ey 
think  they  see  their  dead  friends  continually  in  their  eyes,  oh- 
versantes  imagines,  as  Conciliator  confesseth  hesawhis  mothers 
ghost  presenting  herself  still  before  him.  Quod  nimis  miseri 
volunt,  hoc  facile  credunt ;  still,  still,  still,  that  good  father,  that 
good  son,  that  good  wife,  that  dear  friend,  runs  in  their  minds: 
totus  animus  hac  una  cogitatione  defxus  est,  all  the  year  long, 
as  *=  Pliny  complains  to  Romanus,  methinks  I  see  VirginiuSf 
I  hear  Virginius,  I  talk  icith  Virginius,  ^-c. 

'^  Te  sine,  vse  misero  mihi,  lilia  nigra  videntur, 
Pallentesque  rosse,  nee  dulce  rubens  hyacinthus; 
NuUos  nec-myrtus,  nee  laurus,  spiral,  odores. 

They  that  are  most  staid  and  patient,  are  so  furiously  carryed 
headlong  by  the  passion  of  sorrow  in  this  case,  that  brave  dis- 
creet men  otherwise,  oftentimes  forget  themselves,  and  weep 
like  children  many  moneths  together,  as  ^  if  that  they  to  water 
wouldf  and  will  not  be  comforted.  They  are  gone  !  they  are 
gone! 

Abstulit  atra  dies,  et  funere  mersit  acerbo  ! 

what  shall  I  do  ? 

.  Quis  dabit  in  lacrymas  fontem  mihi  ?  quis  satis  altos 

Accendet  gemitus,  et  acerbo  verba  dolori  ? 
Exhaurit  pietas  oculos,  et  hiantia  frangit 
Pectora,  nee  plenos  avido  smit  edere  questus ; 

Magna  adeo  jactura  premit,  &c. 

Fountains  of  tears  who  gives  ?  who  lends  me  groans, 

Deep  sighs,  sufficient  to  express  my  moans  ? 

Mine  eyes  are  dry,  my  breast  in  pieces  torn  ; 

My  loss  so  great,  I  cannot  enough  mourn. 
So  Stroza  filius,  that  elegant  Italian  poet,  in  his  Epicedium, 
bewails  his  fathers  death  ;  he  could  moderate  his  passions  in 
other  matters  (as  he  confesseth),  but  not  in  this ;  he  yields 
wholly  to  sorroAVj 

Nunc,  fateor,  do  terga  malis  ;  mens  ilia  fatiscit, 

Indomitus  quondam  vigor  et  constantia  mentis. 

a  Virg.  4.  Mn.        •>  Patre«  mortuos  coram  astantes,  et  filios,  &c.  Marcellus  Donatns. 
'  Epist.l.  2.    Virginium  video,  andio ;  defunctum  cogito,  alloquor.  ^  CalFhurniuB 

({rsBcus.  •  Chancer. 


Mem.  4.  Subs.  7.]     Other  Accidents  and  Grievances.         243 

How  doth  *  Quintilian  complain  for  the  loss  of  his  son,  to  de- 
spair almost!  Cardan  laments  his  only  child,  in  his  book  de 
libris  propriis,  and  elsewhere,  in  many  other  of  his  tracts,  ""St. 
Ambrose  his  brothers  death !  (an  ego  possum  non  cocjitare  de 
te,  aut  sine  lacrymis  cor/itare  ?  O  amari  dies  !  o  flehiles  nodes  !) 
Sfc.  Gregory  Nazianzen,  that  noble  Pulcheria !  (O  decorem,  ^-c. 
jflos  recenSy  piillulans,  Si-c.)  Alexander,  a  man  of  a  most  in- 
vincible courage,  after  Hepha?stions  death  (as  Curtius  relates), 
tridnumjacuit  ad  moriendnm  ohstinatns,  lay  three  dayes  to- 
gether upon  the  gTound,  obstinate  to  dye  with  him,  and  would- 
neither  eat,  drink,  nor  sleep.  The  Avoman  that  communed 
with  Esdras  {Uh.  2.  rap.  10),  M'hen  her  son  fell  down  dead, 
Jled  into  the  field,  and  would  not  retnrn  into  the  city,  hut  there 
resolved  to  remain,  neither  to  eat  nor  drink,  but  mourn  andj'ast 
until  she  dyed.  Rachel  weptjbr  hrr  children,  and  would  not 
be  comforted,  because  they  were  not  (Matt.  2.  18).  So  did 
Adrian  the  emperour  bewail  his  Antinoiis;  Hercules,  Hylas ; 
Orpheus,  Eurydrce  ;  David,  Absolon  (O  my  dear  son  Ab- 
solou)  ;  Austin,  his  mother  Monica;  Niobe,  her  children,  in- 
somuch, that  the  "  poets  feigned  her  to  be  turned  into  a  stone, 
as  being  stupified  through  the  extremity  of  grief.  "^  JEr/eus, 
sifpio  lugubrifilii  consternatus,  in  mare  se  prcecipitem  dedit, 
impatient  of  sorrow  for  his  sons  death,  drowned  himself. 
Our  late  physicians  are  full  of  such  examples.  Montanus 
(consil.  242)  ^  had  a  patient  troubled  with  this  infirmity,  by 
reason  of  her  husbands  death,  many  years  together:  Trinca- 
vellius  (/.  I.  c.  14)  hath  such  another,  almost  in  despair,  after 
his  ^'  mothers  departure,  ut  se  Jerma  prcecipitem  daret,  and 
ready  through  distraction  to  make  away  himself;  and  (in  his 
fifteenth  counsel)  tells  a  story  of  one  fifty  years  of  age,  that 
grew  desperate  upon  his  mothers  death  ;  and,  cured  by  Pha- 
lopius,  fell  many  years  after  into  a  relapse,  by  the  sudden 
death  of  a  daughter  which  he  had,  and  could  never  after  be 
recovered.  The  fury  of  this  passion  is  so  violent  sometimes, 
thai  it  daunts  whole  kingdoms  and  cities.  Vespasians  death 
Mas  pittifully  lamented  all  over  the  Roman  empire ;  totusorhis 
lugebat,  saith  Aurelius  Victor.  Alexander  commanded  the 
battlements  of  houses  to  be  pulled  down,  mules  and  horses  to 
have  their  manes  shorn  off,  and  many 'common  souldiers  to 
be  slain,  to  accompany  his  dear  Hepbaestions  death  ;  which 
is  now  practised  among-st  the  Tartars  :  when  ^a  great  Cham 
dyeth,  ten  or  twelve  thousand  must  be  slain,  men  and  horses, 


»  Prsefat.  lib  fl.  b  Lib  i\e  obita  Satyri  fratris.  «=  Ovid.  Met.  <i  Plot, 

vita  ejns.  '^Nobilia  matrona  melancholica  ob  mortem  mariti.  'Ex  matria 

•bitu  m  desperationem  incidit.  S  Mathias  a  Michon.  Boter.  Amphitheat. 


244  Causes  of  Melancholy.         [Part.  1.  Sec.  f. 

all  they  meet ;  and,  amoug-  those  *  pagan  Indians,  their  wives 
and  servants  vohmtary  dye  with  them.  Leo  Decimus  was 
so  much  bewailed  in  Rome  after  his  departure,  that  (as  Jovius 
^\yesout)^commiinis  sails,  pnblicahilaritas^thecoiximons^ieXx 
all  good  fellowship,  peace,  mirth,  and  plenty,  died  with  him; 
tamcjuam  eodem  sepulcro  cum  Leone  condita  lugehantur  ;  for  it 
was  a  golden  age  whilst  he  lived  ;  '^but,  after  his  decease,  an 
iron  season  succeeded,  barhara  vis,  etfoeda  vastitas,  et  dira 
malorum  omnmmincommoda,Mvnrs, plagues, vastity,  discontent. 
When  Augustus  Csesar  dyed,  saith  Paterculus,  orhis  riiinam 
thnueramus,  Ave  were  all  afraid,  as  if  heaven  had  fallen  upon 
our  heads.  ^Budseus  records,  how  that,  at  Lewis  the  twelfth 
his  death,  tam  suhita  mutatio^  nt  quiprins  digito  caelum  aitin- 
gere  videbantur,  nunc  humi  derepente  serpere,  sideratos  esse 
diceres,  they  that  were  erst  ia  heaven,  upon  a  sudden,  as  if 
they  had  been  planet  strucken,  lay  groveling  on  the  ground; 

*  Concussis  cecidere  animis,  ceu  frondibus  ingens 
Sylva  dolet  lapsis 

they  look't  like  cropt  trees^. 

'^At  Nancy  in  Lorain,  when  Claudia  Valesia,  Henry  the 
second  French  kings  sister,  and  the  dukes  wife,  deceased,  the 
temples  for  forty  dayeswere  all  shut  up,  no  prayers  nor  masses, 
but  in  that  room  where  she  was;  the  senators  all  seen  in  black; 
andjor  a  twelve  moneths  space  throughout  the  city,  they  were 
forbid  to  sing  or  dance. 

■  s  Non  ulli  pastes  illis  egere  diebus 

Frigida,  Dapbni,  boves  ad  flumina  ;  nulla  nee  amnem 
Libavit  quadrupes,  nee  graminis  attigit  herbam. 

How  were  we  affected  here  in  England  for  our  Titus,  deliciae 
humani  generis.  Prince  Henries  immature  death,  as  if  all  our 
dearest  friends  lives  had  exhaled  with  his!  ''Scanderbegs  death 
was  not  so  much  lamented  in  Epirus.  In  a  word,  as  'he  saith 
of  Edward  the  First  at  the  news  of  Edward  of  Caernarvan 
his  sons  birth,  immortaliter  gavisus,  he  was  immortally  glad, 
may  we  say  on  the  contrary  of  friendc  deaths,  immortaliter 
gementes,  we  are,  divers  of  us,  as  so  many  turtles,  eternally 
dejected  with  it. 


»  Lo.  Vertoman.  M.  Polus  Venetus,  lib.  1.  c.  54.  Periniunt  eos  qaos  in  vvl  ob- 
vios  habetit,  dicentes,  Ite,  et  domino  nostro  regi  servite  in  alia  vita.  Nee  tam  in  ho- 
mines insaniunt,  sed  in  equos,  &c.  ^  Vit.  ejus.  <=  Lib.  4.  vitae  ejus.  Auream 
aetatera  condiderat  ad  humani  generis  salutem,  quum  uos  statim  ab  optimi  principis 
excessu  vere  ferream  pateremur,  famem,  pestem,&c.  'i  Lib.  5.  de  asse.  •=  Mapb. 
^Ortelins,  Itinerario.  Ob  annum  integrum  a  cantu,  tripudiis,  et  saltationibus,  tota  ci- 
vitas  abstinerejubetur.  sVirg.  •>  See  Barletius,  de  vita  et  ob.  Scanderbeg. 
lib.  13.  hist.            i  Matth.  Paris. 


Mem.  4.  Sub«.  7.]      Other  Accidents  and  Grievances.         245 

There  is  another  sorrow,  which  ariseth  from  the  loss  of 
temporal  goods  and  fortnnes,  which  equally  afflicteth,  and 
may  go  hand  in  hand  with  the  precedent.  Loss  of  time,  loss 
of  honour,  office,  of  good  name,  of  labour,  frustrate  hopes  will 
much  torment;  but,  in  my  judgement,  there  is  no  torment  like 
unto  it,  or  that  sooner  procureth  this  malady  and  mischief : 

"Ploratur  lacrymis  amissa  pecunia  veris  : 

it  wrings  true  tears  from  our  eyes,  many  sighs,  much  sorrow 
from  our  hearts,  and  often  causeth  habitual  melancholy  it  self. 
Guianerius  {tract,  15.  5.)  repeats  this  for  an  especial  cause  : 
^loss  of  Jr lends,  and  loss  oj'  (foods,  make  many  men  melancholy 
{as  I  have  often  seen),  by  continual  meditation  oj'snch  things. 
The  same  causes  Arnoldus  VilJanovanus  inculcates  {Breviar. 
I.  1.  c.  18),  ex  rerum  amissione,  damno,  amicorum  morte,  Sfc. 
Want  alone  will  make  a  man  mad ;  to  be  sans  argent,  will 
cause  a  deep  and  grievous  melancholy.  Many  persons  are 
affected  like  ''Irishmen  in  this  behalf,  who,  if  they  have  a  good 
scimiter,  had  rather  have  a  blow  on  their  arm,  than  their 
weapon  hurt :  they  will  sooner  lose  their  life,  than  their  goods: 
andthe  grief  that  Cometh  hence,  continuethlong(saith  '^Plater), 
and,  out  of  many  dispositiotis,  procureth  an  habit.  ^  Montanus 
and  Frisemelica  cured  a  young  man  of  twenty  two  years  of 
age,  that  so  became  melancholy  ob  amissam  pecuniam,  for  a 
summ  of  money  which  he  had  unhappily  lost.  Sckenkius 
hath  such  another  story  of  one  melancholy,  because  he  over- 
shot himself,  and  spent  his  stock  in  unnecessary  building. 
•^ Roger,  that  rich  bishop  of  Salisbury,ca:M?«s  opibus  et  castris 
a  rege  Sfephano,  spoiled  of  his  goods  by  king-  Stephan,  vi 
doloris  absorptus,  atque  in  amentiam  versus,  indecenfia  fecit y 
through  grief  ran  mad,  spake  and  did  he  knew  not  what. 
Nothing  so  familiar,  as  for  men  in  such  cases,  through  anguish 
of  mind,  to  make  away  themselves.  A  poor  fellow  went  to 
hang  himself  (which  Ausonius  hath  elegantly  expressed  in  a 
neat  s  epigram),  but,  finding  by  chance  a  pot  of  money,  flung 
away  the  rope,  and  went  merrily  home ;  but  he  that  hid  the 
gold,  when  he  missed  it,  hanged  himself  with  that  rope  which 
the  other  man  had  left,  in  a  discontented  humour. 

At  qui  condiderat.  postquam  non  reperit  aiirum, 
Aptavil  cello,  quem  reperit,  laqueum. 

»  Juvenal.  bJIiilti,  qui  res  amatas  perdiderant,  ut  filios,  opes,  non  speraDte.i 

recaperare,  propter  assiduam  tulium  considerationera  melancholici  fiunt,  ut  ipse  vidi. 
e  Staoihurstiis,  Hib.  Hist.  <i  Cap.  3.  Melancholia  semper  venit  ob  jacturain  pe- 

cuniae, victoria!  repnlsam,  mortem  liberornra,  quibus  lon^o  post  tempore  animus  tor- 
qu«tar  i  «t  a  dispoiiitioBe  fit  Labitiis.         *Consil.  26.        '  NitbrigeQiti.         K  Epig.  *JS. 


£45  Causes  of  Melancholy.         [Part.  I.  Sec.  2. 

Such  feral  accidents  can  want  and  penury  produce.  Be  it  by 
suretiship,  shipwrack,  fire,  spoil  and  pillage  of  souldiers,  or 
what  loss  soever,  it  boots  not ;  it  will  work  the  like  effect,  the 
same  desolation  in  provinces  and  cities,  as  well  as  private  per- 
sons. The  Romans  were  miserably  dejected  after  the  battel  of 
Cannaa,  the  men  amazed  for  fear,  the  stupid  women  tore  their 
hair  and  cryed; — the  Hungarians,  when  their  king-  Ladislaus, 
and  bravest  souldiers,  were  slain  by  the  Turks :  luctus  puhlicus, 
Sfc. — the  Venetians,  when  their  forces  were  overcome  by  the 
French  king  Lewis,  the  French  and  Spanish  kings,  pope, 
emperour,  all  conspired  against  them,  at  Cambray,  the  French 
herald  denounced  open  war  in  the  senate,  Lauredane,  Vene- 
torum  dux,  Sj-c.  and  they  had  lost  Padua,  Brixia,  Verona,  Fo- 
rum Julii,  their  territories  in  the  continent,  and  had  now  no- 
shing left  but  the  city  of  Venice  it  self,  e?  urbi  qnoqne  ipsi  (saith 
'^  Bembus)  timendum  putarent,  and  the  loss  of  that  was  like- 
wise to  be  feared ;  tantus  repente  dolor  omnes  tenuit,  et  nun- 
quam  alias,  ^c.  they  were  pittifully  plunged,  never  before  in 
such  lamentable  distress.  Anno  1527,  when  Rome  was  sacked 
by  Burbonius,  the  common  souldiers  made  such  spoil,  that 
fair  **  churches  were  turned  to  stables,  old  monuments  and 
books  made  horse-litter,  or  burned  like  straw ;  reliques,  costly 
pictures  defaced ;  altars  demolished,  rich  hangings,  carpets, 
&c.  trampled  in  the  dirt;  '^their  wives  and  loveliest  daughters 
constuprated  by  every  base  cullion  (as  Sejanus  daughter  was 
by  the  hangman  in  public)  before«their  fathers  and  husbands 
faces;  noblemens  children,  and  of  the  wealthiest  citizens,  re- 
served for  princes  beds,  were  prostitute  to  every  common  soul- 
dier,  and  kept  for  concubines  ;  senators  and  cardinals  them- 
selves drag'd  along  the  streets,  and  put  to  exquisite  torments, 
to  confess  where  their  money  Mas  hid  ;  the  rest,  murdered  on 
heaps,  lay  stinking  in  the  streets  ;  infants  brains  dashed  out 
before  their  mothers  eyes.  A  lamentable  sight  it  was  to  see  so 
goodly  a  city  so  suddenly  defaced,  rich  citzens  sent  a  begging 
to  Venice,  Naples,  Ancona,  &c.  that  erst  lived  in  all  manner  of 
delights.  ''  Those  proud  palaces,  that  even  noio  vaunted  their 
tops  up  to  heaven,  were  dejected  as  low  as  hell  in  an  instant. 
Whom  will  not  such  misery  make  discontent  ?  Terence  the 
poet  drowned  himself  (some  say)  for  the  loss  of  his  comedies, 
which  suffered  shipwrack.  When  a  poor  man  hath  made  many 


»  Lib.  8.  Venot.  hist.  bTempla  omanientis  nudata,  spoliata,  iu  stabula  equorum 

et  asiuomtn  versa,  &c.     lufulje  liumi  conculcatae  pedibus,  &c.  =  In  oculis  mari- 

torum  dilectissiraae  conjuges  ab  Hispanorum  lixis  constupratae  sunt.     Filiae  magna- 
tiim  thoris  destinatse,  &c.  "l  Ita  fastu  ante  unuin  mensem  turgida  civitas,  *t 

(.aeurauiibus  cceliim  pulsare  visa,  ad  inferos  nsqiie  pn»rcis  diebns dejecta.      " 


Mem.  4.  Subs.  7.]     Otht^r  Accidents  and  Grievances.         2^7 

hungTy  niealis,  g-ot  tog-efher  a  small  sumin,  which  he  loseth  iti 
an  instant — a  scholar  spent  many  an  hours  study  to  no  pur- 
pose, his  labours  lost,  &c. — how  should  it  otherwise  be?  I 
may  conclude,  with  Greg-ory,  temporaliuni  amor  qnant urn  afficit, 
cum  Iiceret  possessio,  tantum,  qmnn  suhtrahitur,  nrit  doh>r ; 
riches  do  not  so  much  exhilarate  us  with  their  possession,  as 
they  torment  us  with  their  loss. 

Pear  from  ominons  accidents,  destinies  foretold.']  Next  to 
sorrow  still  I  may  annex  such  accidents  as  procure  fear;  for, 
besides  those  terrors  which  Ibave  ^before  touched,  and  many 
other  fears  (which  are  infinite),  there  is  a  superstitious  fear, 
(one  of  the  three  g-reat  causes  of  fear  in  Aristotle)  commonly 
caused  by  prodigies  and  dismal  accidents,  which  much  trouble 
many  of  us,  (Nescio  quid  animus  mihi  prcesarjit  mali,)  as,  if  a 
hare  cross  the  way  at  our  going-  forth,  or  a  mouse  g-naw  our 
clothes:  if  they  bleed  three  drops  at  the  nose,  the  salt  falls 
towards  them,  a  black  spot  appear  in  their  nails,  &c.  with 
many  such,  which  Delrio  {Tom.  2.  /.  3.  sect.  4),  Austin  Niphus 
(in  his  book  de  Auguriis),  Polydore  Virg.  (/.  3.  de  Prodif/iis), 
Sarisburiensis  {Polijcrat.  /.  1.  c.  13),  discuss  at  large.  They 
are  so  much  affected,  that,  with  the  very  strength  of  imagina- 
tion, fear,  and  the  devils  craft,  ^  theij  pull  those  misfortunes 
they  suspect  upon  their  oicn  heads,  mid  that  which  they  fear, 
shall  come  upon  them,  as  Solomon  foretelleth  (Prov.  10.  24), 
and  Isay  denounceth  (66,  4,)  which  if  "they  could  neglect  and 
contemn,  2could  not  come  to  pass.  Eorum  vires  nostrd  resident 
opinione,  ut  morbi  yravitas  ceyrotantium  cogitatione ;  they  are 
intended  and  remitted,  as  our  opinion  is  fixed,  more  or  less. 
N.  N.  dat  pwnas,  saith  ^  Crato  of  such  a  one  ;  utinam  non 
attraheret :  he  is  punished,  and  is  the  cause  of  it  « himself. 

'^Dum  fata  fugitnus,  fata  stulti  incurrimus  ; 
the  thing  that  I  feared,  saith  Job,  is  fain  upon  me. 

As  much  we  may  say  of  them  that  are  troubled  with  their 
fortunes,  or  ill  destinies  fore-seen ;  multos  umjit  prascientia 
inalorum:  the  fore-knowledge  of  what  shall  come  to  pass,  cru- 
cifies many  men,  fore-told  by  astrologers,  or  wizards,  iratum 
ob  caelum,  be  it  ill  accident,  or  death  it  self;  which  often  falls 
out  by  Gods  permission,  quia  damonem  timent,  (saith  Chry- 
sostom),  Dens  ideo  permit  tit  accidere.  Severus,  Adrian,  Do- 
raitian,  can  testify  as  much,  of  whose  fear  and  suspicion, 
Sueton,  Herodian,  and  the  rest  of  those  writers,  tell  strange 
stories   in   this  behalf.      eMontanus    {consil  31)   hath  one 

"  S'-ct.  2   Memb.  4  Subs.  3.  b  Accersuut  sibi  malum.              ^  Si  non  obser- 

vemus,  n>lnl  x  alent     Polydor  d  Consii.  26. 1.2.                e  Harm  watch,  harm 

wela.i'cholic  *                '^'     "^  **  ^  Jnvenis,  solicihis  de  futons  frustra,  factus 

VOL.  1.  ■  B  g 


248  Causes  of  Melancholy.         [Part.  I.  Sec.  2. 

example  of  a  youn^  man,  exceeding  melancholy  upon  this 
occasion.  Such  fears  have  still  tormented  mortal  men  in  all 
a^es,  by  reason  of  those  lying  oracles,  and  jugling'  priests. 
*There  was  a  fountain  in  Greece,  near  Ceres  temple  in  Achaia, 
where  the  event  of  such  diseases  was  to  be  known  :  a  glass  let 
down  by  a  thread,  S^c.  Amongst  those  Cyanean  rocks  at  the 
springs  of  Lycia,  was  the  oracle  of  Tlirixeus  Apollo,  ivhere  all 
jortiines  werejoretold,  sickness,  health,  or  what  they  would  be- 
sides: so  common  people  have  been  alnayes  deluded  with  future 
events.  At  this  day,  nietus  Juturorum  maxime  torquet  Sinas, 
this  foolish  fear  mightily  crucifies  them  in  China:  as  ^Mat- 
thew Riccius  the  Jesuit  informeth  us,  in  his  Commentaries  of 
those  countreys,  of  all  nations  they  are  most  superstitious,  and 
much  tormented  in  this  kind,  attributing-  so  much  to  their 
divinators,  nt  ipse  metus  JidemJ'aciat,  that  fear  it  self  and  con- 
ceit cause  it  to  ""  fall  out :  if  he  foretell  sickness  such  a  day, 
that  very  time  they  will  be  sick  (vimetus  ajffiictiina^yritudi- 
nem  cadunt),  and  many  times  dye  as  it  is  foretold.  A  true 
saying,  timor  mortis  morte  pejor,  the  fear  of  death  is  worse 
than  death  it  self;  and  the  memory  of  that  sad  hour,  to  some 
fortunate  and  rich  men,  is  as  bitter  as  gaul  (Eccles.  41.  1.) 
Inquietam  nobis  vitam  Jacit  mortis  metus :  a  worse  plague 
cannot  happen  to  a  man,  than  to  be  so  troubled  in  his  mind ; 
'tis  triste  divortium,  an  heavy  separation,  to  leave  their  goods, 
with  so  much  labour  got,  pleasure  of  the  world,  which  they 
have  so  deliciou,sly  enjoyed,  friends  and  companions  whom 
they  so  dearly  love,  all  at  once.  Axiochus  the  philosopher 
was  bold  and  couragious  all  his  life,  and  gave  good  precepts 
de  contemnendd  morte,  and  against  the  vanity  of  the  world,  to 
others;  but  being  now  ready  to  dye  himself,  he  was  mightily 
dejected;  hac  luce privabor ?  his  orbabor  bonis?  he  lamented 
like  a  child,  &c.  And  though  Socrates  himself  was  there  to 
comfort  him,  ubi  pristina  virtutum  jactatio,  O  Jlxioche?  yet 
he  was  very  timorous  and  impatient  of  death,  much  troubled 
in  his  mind:  imbellis  pavor  et  impatientia,  S)C,  O  Clot  ho  ! 
Megapetus  the  tyrant  in  Lucian  exclaims,  now  ready  to  de- 
part, let  me  live  a  while  longer.  ^  I  will  give  thee  a  thousand 
talents  of  gold,  and  two  boles  besides,  which  I  took  from 
Cleocritus,  worth  an  hundred  talents  apiece.  Woe's  me!  "^saith 
another,  what  goodly  manors  shall  I  leave!  what  fertile f elds  / 


aPausanias  in  Achaic.  lib.  7.  Ubi  omuiimi  eventus  dignoscuiitur.  Speculum 
tenni  suspensum  funiculo  deiuittunt :  et  ad  Cyaneas  petras,  ad  Lyciaj  fontes,  &c. 
''Expedit.  in  Sinas,  lib.  1.  c.  3.  •'Tiniendo  prajoccupat,  quod  vitat,  ultro, 

provocatque  ([uod  fugit,  gaudetque  mcerens,  et  lubens  miser  fuit.  Heinsius,  Anstriac. 
<i  Tom.  4.  dial.  8.  Cataplo.  Auri  piui  mille  talenta  me  bedie  tibi  daturum  promitto,  &c. 
*  Ibidem.  Hei  niihi !  quEe  reliqaenda  praidia  !  quam  fertiles  agri !  &e. 


Mem.  4.  Subs.  7.]     Other  Accidents  and  Orievances.         249 

what  a  fine  h-o^tae  !  what  pretty  children  !  how  many  servants! 
Who  shall  (father  my  r/rapes,  my  corn  ?  Must  I  now  dye,  so 
well  settled?  leave  all,  so  richly  and  well  provided  ?  Wo's 
me  !  lohat  shall  I  do  ?  ^Animula  vagnla,  blandula,  quce  nunc 
ahibis  iti  loca  ? 

To  these  tortures  of  fear  and  sorrow,  may  well  be  annexed 
curiosity,  that  irksome,  that  tyrannizing  care,  niniia  solicit  ado, 
^superjluovs  industry  about  unprofitable  thinys,  and  their  qna- 
lities,  US  Thomas  defines  it:  an  itching  humour  or  kind  of 
long-ing  to  see  that  which  is  not  to  be  seen,  to  do  that  which 
ought  not  to  be  done;  to  know  that  <=secret,  which  should 
not  be  known,  to  eat  of  the  forbiildea  fruit.  We  commonly 
molest  and  tire  our  selves  about  things  unfit  and  unnecessary, 
as  Martha  troubled  herself  to  little  purpose.  Be  it  in  religion, 
humanity,  magick,  philosophy,  policy,  any  action  or  study, 
'tis  a  needless  trouble,  a  meer  torment.  For  what  else  is 
school-divinity  ?  how  many  doth  it  puzzle  !  what  fruitless 
questions  about  the  Trinity,  resurrection,  election,  predesti- 
nation, repobration,  hell-fire,  &c.  how  many  shall  be  sav^ed, 
damned  ?  What  else  is  all  superstition,  but  an  endless  ob- 
servation of  idle  ceremonies,  traditions  ?  What  is  most  of  our 
philosophy,  but  a  labyrinth  of  opinions,  idle  questions,  pro- 
positions, metaphysical  terms  ?  Socrates  therefore  held  all 
philosophers  cavillers  and  mad  men;  circasubtilia  cavillatores 
pro  insanis  habuit,  palam  eos  arguens,  aaith  "^  Eusebius,  be- 
cause they  commonly  sought  after  these  things  quce  7iecpercipi 
a  nobis  neque  comprehendi  possent;  or,  put  case  they  did 
understand,  yet  they  were  altogether  unprofitable  :  for  what 
matter  is  it  for  us  to  know  how  high  the  Pleiades  are,  how  far 
distant  Perseus  and  Cassiopea  from  us,  how  deep  the  sea,  &c..'' 
we  are  neither  wiser,  as  he  follows  it,  nor  modester,  nor  better, 
nor  richer,  nor  stronger,  for  the  knowledge  of  it :  quod  supra 
nos  nihil  ad  nos.  I  may  say  the  same  of  those  genethliacal 
studies,  what  is  astrology,  but  vain  elections,  predictions?  all 
magick,  but  a  troublesome  error,  a  pernicious  foppery.'*  phy- 
sick,  but  intricate  rules  and  prescriptions.^  philology,  but  vain 
criticisms?  logick,  needless  sophisms.?  metaphysicks  them- 
selves, but  intricate  subtilties,  and  fruitless  abstractions  ? 
alcumy,  but  a  bundle  of  errors  .?  To  what  end  are  such  great 
tomes  ?  why  do  we  spend  so  many  years  in  their  studies  ? 
Much  better  to  know  nothing  at  all,  as  those  barbarous 
Indians  are  Avholly  ignorant,  than,  as  some  of  us,  to  be  so  sore 
vexed  about  unprofitable  toyes;  stultus  labor  est  ineptiarum; 


*  Adrian.  b  Tndtistria  snperflua  circa  res  mntiles.  <•  Flava  secreta 

Miuerva?  lit  x-iderat  Aglaurus.     Ov.  Met.  2.  <*  Contra  Philos.  cap.  61. 

B  B  2 


250  Causes  of  Melancholy .         [Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

to  build  an  house  without  pins,  make  a  rope  of  sand  ;  to  what 
end?  c?a  bono?  He  studies  on;  but,  as  the  boy  told  S*. 
Austin,  when  I  have  laved  the  sea  dry,  thou  shalt  understand 
the  mysterie  of  the  Trinity.  He  makes  observations,  keeps 
times  and  seasons ;  (and  as  ^Conradus  the  emperor  would  not 
touch  his  new  bride,  till  an  astrologer  had  told  him  a  masculine 
hour)  but  with  what  success?  He  travels  into  Europe,  Africk, 
Asia,  searcheth  every  creek,  sea,  city,  mountain,  gulf;  to  what 
end  ?  See  one  promontory  (saith  Socrates  of  old),  one  moun- 
tain, one  sea,  one  river;  and  see  all.  An  alchymist  spends  his 
fortunes  to  find  out  the  philosophers  stone  forsooth,  cure  all 
diseases,  make  men  long-lived,  victorious,  fortunate,  invisible, 
and  beggars  himself,misled  by  those  seducingimpostors  (which 
he  shall  never  attain)  to  make  gold :  an  antiquary  consumes 
his  treasure  and  time  to  scrape  up  a  company  of  old  coyns, 
statues,  rolls,  edicts,  manuscripts,  &c.  he  must  know  what  was 
done  of  old  in  Athens,  Rome,  what  lodging,  dyet,  houses, 
they  had,  and  have  all  the  present  news  at  first,  though  never 
so  remote,  before  all  others,  what  projects,  counsels,  consul- 
tations, &c.  quid  Juno  in  aurem  iususurret  Jovi,  what's  now 
decreed  in  France,  what  in  Italy :  who  was  he,  whence  comes 
he,  which  way,  whither  goes  he,  &c.  Aristole  must  find  out 
the  motion  of  Euripus ;  Pliny  must  needs  see  Vesuvius  ;  but 
how  sped  they  ?  One  loseth  goods,  another  his  life.  Pyrrhus 
will  conquer  Africk  first,  and  then  Asia :  he  will  be  a  sole 
monarch,  a  second  immortal,  a  third  rich,  a  fourth  commands. 
''  Turbine  magno  spes  solicitce  in  urbibus  errant;  we  run,  ride, 
take  indefatigable  pains,  all  up  early,  down  late,  striving  to 
get  that,  which  we  had  better  be  without :  Ardelions,  busie- 
bodies,  as  we  are,  it  were  much  fitter  for  us  to  be  quiet,  sit  still, 
and  take  our  ease.     His  sole  study  is  for  words,  that  they  be, 

Lepide  U^uq  compostoe,  ut  tesserulse  omnes, 

not  a  syllable  misplaced,  to  set  out  a  stramineous  subject;  as 
thine  is  about  apparel,  to  follow  the  fashion,  to  be  terse  and 
polite;  'tis  thy  sole  business;  both  with  like  profit.  His  only 
delight  is  building;  he  spends  himself  to  get  curious  pictures, 
intricate  models  and  plots ;  another  is  wholly  ceremonious  about 
titles,  degrees,  inscriptions;  a  third  is  over-solicitous  about  his 
diet;  he  must  have  such  and  such  exquiste  sauces,  meat  so 
dressed,  so  far  fetched,  jwerei^rmi  aeris  volucres,  so  cooked,  &c, 
something  to  provoke  thirst,  something  anon  to  quench  his 
thirst.  Thus  he  redeems  his  appetite  witTi  extrordinary  charge 
to  his  purse,  is  seldome  pleased  with  any  meal,  whilst  a  trivial 


s  Mat,  Paris.  ^  Seneca. 


Mem.  4.  Subs.  7.]     Other  Accidents  and  Grievances.        251 

stomach  useth  all  with  delight,  and  is  never  offended.  An- 
other must  have  roses  in  winter,  alieni  temporis  Jiores,  snow- 
water in  summer,  fruits  before  they  can  be  or  are  usually  ripe, 
artificial  gardens  and  fish-ponds  on  the  tops  of  houses,  all 
things  opposite  to  the  vulgar  sort,  intricate  and  rare,  or  else 
they  are  nothing  worth.  So  busie,  nice,  curious  wits,  make 
that  unsupportable  in  all  vocations,  trades,  actions,  employ- 
ments, which  to  duller  apprehensions  is  not  offensive,  earnestly 
seeking-  that  which  others  as  scornfully  neglect.  Thus, 
through  our  foolish  curiosity,  do  we  macerate  our  selves,  tire 
our  souls  and  run  headlong,  through  our  indiscretion,  per- 
verse will,  and  want  of  government,  into  many  needless  cares 
and  troubles,  vain  expences,  tedious  journeys,  painful  hours; 
and  when  all  is  done,  quorsum  hcec  ?  cui  boni  ?  to  what  end  ? 

*  Nescire  velle  quee  Magister  maximus 
Docere  non  vult,  erudita  inscitia  est. 

Unfortunate  Marriage^  Amongst  these  passions  and  irksome 
accidents,  unfortunate  marriage  may  be  ranked  :  a  condition 
of  life  appointed  by  God  himself  in  Paradise,  an  honourable 
and  happy  estate,  and  as  g^reat  a  felicity  as  can  befall  a  man 
in  this  world,  ''if  the  parties  can  agree  as  they  ought,  and  live 
as  ^  Seneca  lived  with  his  Paullina  :  but  if  they  be  unequally 
matched,  or  at  discord,  a  greater  misery  cannot  be  expected, 
to  have  a  scold,  a  slut,  an  harlot,  a  fool,  a  Fury  or  a  fiend  ; 
there  can  be  no  such  plague.  (Eccles.  26. 14)  He  that  hath 
her,  is  as  if  he  held  a  scorpion  ;  (and  26.  25)  a  wicked  u-ifs 
makes  a  sorry  countenance,  an  heavy  heart ;  and  he  had  rather 
dwell  icith  a  lyon,  than  keep  house  with  such  a  wife.  Her 
^  properties  Jovianus  Pontanus  hath  described  at  large  (Ant. 
dial.  Tom.  2 J  under  the  name  of  Euphorbia.  Or  if  they  be 
not  equal  in  years,  the  like  mischief  happens.  Csecilius  (in 
Agellius,  lib.  2.  cap.  23)  complains  much  of  an  old  wife  :  dum 
ejus  morti  inhio,  eyomet  mortuus  vivo  inter  vivos ;  whilst  I  gape 
after  her  death,  I  live  a  dead  man  amongst  the  living;  or,  if 
they  dislike  upon  any  occasion, 

*  Judge,  you  that  are  unfortunately  wed, 
What  'lis  to  come  into  a  loathed  bed. 

The  same  inconvenience  befalls  women. 

'At  vos,  o  duri,  miseram  lugete,  parentes, 
Si  ferro  aut  laqueo  laev^  hac  me  exsolvere  sorte 
Sustineo : 


»  Jo8.  Scaliger,  in  Gnomia.  •>  A  verttioas  woman  is  the  crown  of  lier  husband, 

Prov.  12.  4.  but  she,  &:c.  ^  Lib.  17.  epist  105.  "^  Titionatur,  caudela- 

bratar,  &c.  ^  Daniel;  in  Rosamund.  ^  Chalinorus,  lib.  9.  de  repub.  Angl. 


352  .     Causes  of  Melancholia.     ,  [Part.  1.. Sec.  2. 

Hard  hearted  parents,  both  lament  my  fate, 
If  self  I  kill  or  hang,  to  ease  my  state. 

^A  young"  g'entlewoman  in  Basil  was  married  (saith  Felix 
Plater,  observat.  I.  1.)  to  an  ancient  man  aj^ainst  her  will, 
whom  she  conld  not  atfect :  she  was  continually  melancholy, 
and  pined  away  for  grief;  and,  though  her  husband  did  all  he 
could  possibly. to  give  her  content,  in  a  discontented  humour 
at  length  she  hanged  her  self.  Many  other  stories  he  relates 
in  this  kind.  Thus  men  are  plagued  with  women,  they  again 
with  men,  when  they  are  of  divers  humours  and  conditions ; 
he  a  spendthrift,  she  sparing ;  one  honest,  the  other  dishonest, 
&c.  Parents  many  times  disquiet  their  children,  and  they 
their  parents.  ^A  Jvolish  son  is  the  heaviness  of  his  mother. 
Injusta  noverca :  a  stepmother  often  vexetli  a  whole  family,  i§ 
matter  of  repentance,  exercise  of  patience,  fuel  of  dissention, 
which  made  Catos  son  expostulate  with  his  father,  why  he 
should  offer  to  marry  his  client  Solinius  daughter,  a  young 
wench — cnjus  cavssa  novercam  induceret  ?  what  offence  had 
he  done,  that  he  should  marry  again  ? 

Unkind,  unnatural  friends,  evil  neighbours,  bad  servants, 
debts,  and  debates,  &c. — 'twas  Chilons  sentence,  comes  osris 
alieni  et  litis  est  miseria,  misery  and  usury  do  commonly  go 
together  ;  suretiship  is  the  bane  of  many  families ;  sponde, 
prasto  noxa  est :  he  shall  be  sore  vexed  that  is  surety  J'or  a 
stranrjer  (Pro v.  11.  15.),  and  he  that  hateth  suretiship  is  sure. 
Contention,  brawling,  law-suits,  falling  out  of  neighbours  and 
friends  [discordia  demens,  Virg.  ^n.  6),  are  equal  to  the  first, 
grieve  many  a  man,  and  vex  his  soul.  Nihil  sane  miser abilius 
eorum  mentihus  (as  ^Boter  holds) :  nothinr/  so  miserable  as  such 
men.,  full  of  cares,  griefs,  anxieties,  as  ifthei/  icere  slabbed  with 
a  sharp  sivord  :fear,  suspicion,  desperation,  sorrow  are  their 
ordinary  companions.  Our  Welchmen  are  noted,  by  some  of 
their  '^  own  writers,  to  consume  one  another  in  this  kind  ; 
but,  whosoever  they  are  that  use  it,  these  are  their  common 
symptomes,  especially  if  they  be  convict  or  overcome,  *  cast  in 
a  suit.  Arius,  put  out  of  a  bishoprick  by  Eustafhius,  turned 
heretick,  and  lived  after  discontented  all  his  life.  ^ Every 
repulse  is  of  like  nature;  heu  !  quanta,  de  spe  decidi!  Dis- 
grace, infamy,  detraction,  will  almost  efi'ectas  much,  and  that 


*  Elegans  virgo  in  vita  cuidam  e  nostratibus  nupsit,  &c.  •'Pror.  «=  De 

increm.  urb.  lib.  3.  c.  3.  TaiiKwiam  dim  mucrone  confossi :  his  nulla  requies,  nulla 
delectatio  ;  solicitudine,  ^emitu,  furore,  desperalione,  timore,  tauiquam  ad  perpetuam 
?erumnam  infeliciter  rapti.  ^iHumfredus  Lliiyd,  epist.  ad  Abrahamum  Ortelium. 

M.  Vaughau,  in  his  Golden  Fietce.  Litjbus  et  controversiis  usque  ad  omnium  bonorum 
coDsuraptionem  contendunt.  «  Spreteaque  injuria  fovmaj.  f  Quseque 

repulsa  gravis. 


3Iem.  4.  Subs.  7.]     Oilier  Accidents  and  Grievances.         253 

a  long  time  after.  Hipponax,  a  satyrical  poet,  so  vilified  and 
lashed  two  painters  in  his  iambicks,  ut  aniho  laqneo  se  snffoca' 
rent  (^Pliny  saith),  both  hanged  themselves.  AH  oppositions, 
dangers,  perplexities,  discontents,  ''to  live  in  any  suspence, 
are  of  the  same  rank :  potes  hoc  sub  casu  ducere  somnos  ?  who 
can  be  secure  in  such  cases  ?  Ill  bestowed  benefits,  ingratitude, 
unthankful  friends,  much  disquiet  and  molest  some.  Unkind 
speeches  trouble  as  many :  uncivil  carriage  or  dogged  answer, 
weak  women  above  the  rest,  if  they  proceed  from  their  surly 
husbands,  are  as  bitter  as  gaul,  and  not  to  be  digested.  A 
glass-mans  wife  in  Basil  became  melancholy,  because  her 
husband  said  he  would  marry  again  if  she  dyed.  JVo  cut,  to 
unkindnesSy  as  the  saying  is :  a  frown  and  hard  speech,  ill 
respect,  a  brow-beating,  or  bad-look,  especially  to  courtiers, 
or  such  as  attend  upon  great  persons,  is  present  death. 

Ingenium  vultu  statque  caditque  suo ; 

they  ebb  and  flow  w  ith  their  masters  favours.  Some  persons 
are  at  their  wits  ends,  if  by  chance  they  overshoot  themselves 
in  their  ordinary  speeches  or  actions,  which  may  after  turn 
to  their  disadvantage  ordisgrace,  or  have  any  secret  disclosed. 
Rouseus  (episf.  iiiiscel.  3)  reports  of  a  gentlewoman  twenty 
five  years  old,  that  falling  foul  with  one  of  her  gossips,  was 
upbraided  with  a  secret  infirmity  (no  matter  what),  in  publick, 
and  so  much  grieved  with  it,  that  she  did  thereupon  solitudines 
qucprere,  omuesah  seahlerjare, ac  tandem  ingravissimam  incidens 
melancholiam^coniahescere — forsake  all  company,  quite  moped, 
and  in  a  melancholy  humour  pine  away.  Others  are  much 
tortured  to  see  themselves  rejected,  contemned,  scorned,  dis- 
abled, diflfamed,  detracted,  undervalued,  or  '^  left  behind  their 
felloics.  Lucian  brings  in  ^Etamocles  a  philosopher  in  his 
Lapith.  convAvio,  much  discontented  that  he  was  not  invited 
amongst  the  rest,  expostulating  the  matter,  in  a  long  epistle, 
with  Aristaenetus  their  host.  Praetextatus,  a  robed  gentleman 
in  Plutarch,  would  not  sit  down  at  a  feast,  because  he  might 
not  sit  highest,  but  went  his  wayes  all  in  a  chafe.  We  see  the 
common  quarrellings  that  are  ordinary  with  us,  for  taking  of 
the  wall,  precedency,  and  the  like,  which  though  toyes  in 
themselves,  and  things  of  no  moment,  yet  they  cause  many 
distempers,  much  heart-burning  amongst  us.  Nothing  pierceth 
deeper  than  a  contempt  or  disgrace;  ''especially  if  they  be 
generous  spirits^  scarce  any  thing  affects  them  more  than  to 


*  Lib.  36.  c.  5.  b  Nihil  aeqiie  amarnm,  quani  Hiu  prndere  :  wnniore  qnidam 

anirnofernnt  pr.vcidi  spem  siiam,  quain  trahi.      Seneca. cap.  4.  lib.  2.  deBen. — Virg. 

Plater,  obst^rvaf.  I.  1.  ■"  Tnrpe  relinqni  est.   Hor.  <<  Scinnis  euiin  generosas 

Daturas  nulla  re  litius  move ri,  ant  gnnins  aSici,  qiiaiii  contemtu  ac  despicientiS. 


254  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

be  despised  or  vilified.  Croto  (consil.  16. 1.  2)  exemplifies  it, 
and  common  experience  confirms  it.  Of  the  same  nature  is 
oppression;  {Ecchis.  77)  surely  oppression  makes  a  man  mad; 
loss  of  liberty,  which  made  Brutus  venture  his  life,  Cato  kill 
himself,  and  ''Tully  complain,  omnem  hilaritatem  in  perpetuum 
amisi,  mine  heart's  broken,  I  shall  never  look  up,  or  be  merry 
again ;  ''  h(sc  jactura  intolerahilis  ;  to  some  parties  'tis  a  most 
intolerable  loss.  Banishment,  a  great  misery,  as  Tyrtseus 
describes  it  an  epigram  of  his, 

Nam  miserum  est,  patria  amissa,  Laribusque,  vagari 

Mendicum,  et  timida  voce  rogare  cibos. 
Omnibus  invisus,  quocumque  accesserit,  exsul 

Semper  erit ;  semper  spretus  egensque  jacet,  «&:c. 

A  miserable  thing  'tis  so  to  wander, 

And  like  a  beggar  for  to  whine  at  door. 
Contenm'd  of  all  the  world  an  exile  is, 

Hated,  rejected,  needy  still,  and  poor. 

Polynices,  in  his  conference  with  locasta,  in  "  Euripides, 
reckons  up  five  miseries  of  a  banished  man,  the  least  of 
which  alone  were  enough  to  deject  some  pusillanimous  crea- 
tures. Oftentimes  a  too  great  feeling  of  our  own  infirmities 
or  imperfections  of  body  or  mind  Avili  rivel  us  up ;  as,  if  we 
be  long  sick, 

(O  beata  sanitas  !  te  prsesente,  amoenum 
Ver  floret  gratiis ;  absque  te  nemo  beatus  : 

O  blessed  health  !  tliou  art  above  all  gold  and  treasure  {Ecclus, 
SO.  15),  the  poor  mans  riches,  the  rich  mans  bliss  :  without 
thee,  there  can  be  no  happiness)  or  visited  with  some  loath- 
some disease,  offensive  to  others,  or  troublesome  to  our  selves, 
as  a  stinking  breath,  deformity  of  our  limbs,  crookedness,' 
loss  of  an  eye,  leg,  hand,  paleness,  leanne^^s,  redness,  baldness, 
loss  or  want  of  hair,  &c.  hie  nhijluere  coepit,  diros  ictus  cordi 
inj'ert  (saith  ^Synesius,  he  himself  troubled  not  a  little  ob 
coma;  defectum),  the  loss  of  hair  alone  strikes  a  cruel  stroke  to 
the  heart.  Acco,  an  old  woman,  seeing  by  chance  her  face 
in  a  true  glass  (for  she  used  false  flattering  glasses,  belike,  at 
other  times,  as  most  gentlewomen  do)  animi  dolore  in  insaniam 
delapsa  est  (Coelius  Rhodoginus, /.  17.  c.  2)  ran  mad.  *Bro- 
teas,  the  son  of  Vulcan,  because  he  was  ridiculous  for  his 
imperfections,  flung  himself  into  the  fire.  Lais  of  Corinth, 
now  groM'n  old,  gave  up  her  glass  to  Venus;  for  she  could 
not  abide  to  look  upon  it. 

f  Qualis  sum,  nolo  ;  qualis  eram,  nequeo. 

=»  Ad  Atticnm  epist.  lib.  12.  bEpist.  ad  Brutum.  <"  lu  PhoeDiss. 

«*  lu  laadem  calrit.  *  Ovid.        -        fE  Cr«t. 


Mem.  4.  Subs.  7.J     Other  Accidents  and  Grievances.       255 

Generally,  to  fair  nice  pieces,  old  age  and  foul  linnen  are 
two  most  odious  tilings,  a  torment  of  torments  ;  they  may  not 
abide  the  thouirht  of  it. 


-*  6  Deorum 


Siquis  htec  audis,  utinam  inter  errem 

Nuda  leones ! 
Antequam  turpis  macies  decentes 
Occupet  malas,  tenera3que  succus 
Defluat  praedae,  speciosa  qusero 

Pascere  tigres. 

To  be  foul,  ugly,  and  deformed!  much  better  to  be  buried 
alive.  Some  are  fair,  but  barren  ;  and  that  gauls  them. 
Haiuiah  ^cept  sore,  did  not  eat,  and  was  troubled  in  spirit , 
and  all  for  her  barrenness  (1  Sam.  1),  and  (Gen.  30)  Rachel 
said  in  the  anguish  of  her  soul,  give  me  a  child,  or  I  shall  dye: 
another  hath  too  many:  one  was  never  married,  and  that's 
his  hell ;  another  is,  and  that's  his  plague.  Some  are  troubled 
in  that  they  are  obscure;  others  by  being  traduced,  slandered, 
abused,  disgraced,  vilified,  or  any  way  injured  ;  minime  rtiiror 
eos  (as  he  said)  qui  insanire  occipiunt  ex  injuria  ;  I  marvel  not 
at  all  if  offences  make  men  mad.  Seventeen  particularcauses 
of  anger  and  offence  Aristotle  reckons  them  up,  which,  for 
brevities  sake,  1  must  omit.  No  tydings  troubles  one ;  ill  re- 
ports, rumors,  bad  tydin^^s,  or  news,  hard  hap,  ill  success,  cast 
in  a  sute,  vain  hopes,  or  hope  deferred,  another ;  expectation, 
adeo  omnibus  in  rebus  molesta  semper  est  expectatio  (as  ^  Po- 
lybius  observes)  :  one  is  too  eminent,  another  too  base  born ; 
and  that  alone  tortures  him  as  much  as  the  rest;  one  is  out 
of  action,  company,  imployment ;  another  overcome  and  tor- 
mented with  worldly  cares,  and  onerous  business.  But  Avhat 
"  tongue  can  suffice  to  speak  of  all.? 

Many  men  catch  this  malady  by  eating  certain  meats, 
herbs,  roots,  at  unawares,  as  henbane,  nightshade,  cicuta, 
mandrakes,  &c.  "^  A  company  of  young  men  at  Agrigentum 
in  Sicily,  came  into  a  tavern ;  where  after  they  had  freely 
taken  their  liquor,  whether  it  were  the  wine  it  self,  or  some- 
thing mixt  with  it,  'tis  not  yet  known,  *^  but  upon  a  sudden 
they  began  to  be  so  troubled  in  their  brains,  and  their  phan- 
tasie  so  crazed,  that  they  thought  they  Avere  in  a  ship  at  sea, 
and  now  ready  to  be  cast  away  by  reason  of  a  tempest. 

a  Hor.  8.  Car.  Ode  27.  bHi.st.l.  6.  c Non,  inihi  si  centum  lingua 

sint  oraqiie  centum,  Omma  cau.s.sarnni  percurrere  nomina  possini.  dCoelius, 

I.  17.  c.  2.  c  ita  mentc  exagitati  sunt,  ut  in  trirenii  se  ronstitutos  piitarent,nia- 

ri(|ue  vagabunclotcmpestatejactatos:  pioinde  naulVaKiuni  vcriti,  ese.stis  unditjue  rebus, 
\asa  omii;a  in  viaiu  e  fiutstiis,  ecu  iu  mare,  pni;ti[.itaruut :  postridie,  &c. 


256  Causes  of  Melancholy.        [Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

Wherefore,  to  avoid  shipwreck  and  present  drowning,  they 
flung  all  the  goods  in  the  house  out  at  the  windows  into  the 
street,  or  into  the  sea,  as  they  supposed.  Thus  they  continued 
mad  a  pretty  season ;  and  being  brought  before  the  magistrate, 
to  give  an  account  of  this  their  fact,  they  told  him  (not  yet  re- 
covered of  their  madness)  that  what  was  done  they  did  for  fear 
of  death,  and  to  avoid  eminent  danger.  The  spectators  were 
all  amazed  at  this  their  stupidity,  and  gazed  on  them  still, 
whilst  one  of  the  antientest  of  the  company,  in  a  grave  tone, 
excused  himself  to  the  magistrate  upon  his  knees.  O  viri 
Triiones,  ego  in  imo  jacui ;  1  beseech  your  deities,  &c.  for  I 
was  in  the  bottom  of  the  ship  all  the  while  :  another  besought 
them,  as  so  many  sea  gods,  to  be  good  unto  them;  and,  if  ever 
he  and  his  fellows  came  to  land  again,  ^he  would  build  an  altar 
to  their  service.  The  magistrate  could  not  sufficiently  laugh 
at  this  their  madness,  bid  them  sleep  it  out,  and  so  went  His 
wayes.  Many  such  accidents  frequently  happen  upon  these 
unknown  occasions.  Some  are  so  caused  by  philters,  wandring 
in  the  sun,  biting  of  a  mad  dog,  a  blow  on  the  head,  stinging 
with  that  kind  of  spider  called  tarantula — an  ordinary  thing  (if 
we  may  believe  Skenck.  1.6. de  Venems)  in  Calabria  and  Apulia 
in  Italy  (Cardan,  suhtU.  L  9.  Scaliger,  exerciVa^.  185).  Their 
symptomesare  merrily  described  by  Jovianus  Pontanus  (^Ant, 
dial.)  how  they  dance  altogether,  and  are  cured  by  musick. 
''Cardan  speaks  of  certain  stones,  if  they  be  carried  about  one, 
which  will  cause  melancholy  and  madness  ;  he  calls  them  un- 
happy, as  an  "  adamant^  selenites,  ^-c.  which  drij  up  the  body, 
increase  cares,  diminish  sleep.  Ctesias  (in  Persicis)  makes 
mention  of  a  well  in  those  parts,  of  which  if  any  man  drink, 
^  he  is  mad  for  four  and  twenty  hours.  Some  lose  their  wits 
by  terrible  objects  (as  elsewhere  I  have  more  "  copiously  di- 
lated), and  life  it  self  many  times,  as  Hippolytus  affrighted  by 
Neptunes  sea-horses,  Athamas  by  Junos  Furies  :  but  these 
relations  are  common  in  all  writers. 

f  Htc  alias  poteram  et  plures  subnectere  caussas  : 
Sed  jumenta  vocant,  et  Sol  inclinat.     Eundum  est.     , 
Many  such  causes,  much  more  could  I  say, 
But  that  for  provender  my  cattle  stay, 
The  sun  declines,  and  I  must  needs  away. 

These  causes,  ifthey be  considered, and  comealone,  I  do'easily 
yield,  can  do  little  of  themselves,  seldome,  or  apart  (an  old  oak 
is  notfelledat  a  blow),  though  many  times  they  are  all  sufficient 

a  Aram  vobis  servatoribus  Diis  erigemus.  •>  Lib.  de  gemmis.  c  Quae 

gestatse  infelicem  et  tristem  reddunt,  cunis  augent.  corpus  siccant.  somnum  minntint. 
<i  Ad  uniiri)  diem  mente  alienatus.  «  Part.  ].  Sect.  2.  Subsect.  3.  f  Juven. 

Sat.  3. 


Mem.  5.  Subs.  1.]     OtJier  Occidents  and  Grievances.         257 

every  one  :  yet,  if  they  concurr,  as  often  they  do,  vis  unita 
fortior  : 

Et  quce  non  ol)sunt  singula,  miilta  nocent  ; 

they  may  batter  a  strong-  constitution  ;  as  "  Austin  said,  many 
c/rains  and  small  sands  sink  a  ship,  many  small  drops  make  a 
Jiood,  ^'C.  Often  reiterated,  many  dispositions  produce  an 
habit. 

MEMB.  V.     SUBSECT.  1. 

Continent,  inward,  antecedent,  next  Causes,  and  how  the  Body 
works  on  the  Mind. 

As  a  purly  liunter,  I  have  hitherto  beaten  about  the  circuit 
of  the  forrest  of  this  miscrocosmj  and  followed  only  those  out- 
Avard  adventitious  causes.  I  will  now  break  into  the  inner 
roouis,  and  rip  up  the  antecedent  immediate  causes  which  are 
there  to  be  found.  For,  as  the  distraction  of  the  mind,  amongst 
other  outward  causes  and  perturbation,  alters  the  temperature 
of  the  body,  so  the  distraction  and  distemper  of  the  body  will 
cause  a  distemperature  of  the  soul;  and  'tis  hard  to  decide 
which  of  these  two  do  more  harm  to  the  other.  Plato,  Cy- 
prian, and  some  others  (as  I  have  formerly  said),  lay  the 
greatest  fault  upon  the  soul,  excusing  the  body;  others  aoain, 
accusing  the  body,  excuse  the  soul,  as  a  principal  agent. 
Their  reasons  are,  because  *>  the  manners  dofolloicthe  tempera- 
ture of  the  body,  as  Galen  proves  in  his  book  of  that  subject, 
Prosper  Calenius,  deAtrd  Bile,  Jason  Pratensis,  crfec/J/ama, 
Lemnius,  /.  4.  c  16,  and  many  others.  And  that  which 
Gaulter  hath  commented  (horn.  10.  in  epist.  Johannis)  is  most 
true  ;  concupiscence  and  original  sin,  inclinations  and  bad 
humours,  are  ^radical  in  every  one  of  us,  causing- these  per- 
turbations, affections,  and  several  distempers,  offering  many 
times  violence  unto  the  soul.  Every  man  is  tempted  by  his  oicn 
concupiscence  (James  1. 14)  ;  the  spirit  is  wil liny  ;  but  the  flesh 
is  weak,andrebellethayainstthe  spirit, as  our  ''apostle  teacheth 
us  :  that  methinks  the  soul  hath  the  better  plea  against  the 
body,  which  so  forcibly  inclines  us,  that  we  cannot  resist ; 

Nee  nos  obniti  contra,  nee  tendere  tantum, 

Sufficimus. 
How  the  body,  being-  material,  worketh  upon  the  immaterial 
soul,  by  mediation  of  humours  and  spirits  Ayhich  participate  of 
both,  and   ill  disposed   organs,  Cornelius  Agrippa  hath  dis- 
coursed, lib.  I.  de  occult.  Philos.  cap.  63,  64,65.     Levinus 

aJntus  hesti;p  minuta;  mnltae  necant.  Nuniquirl  minutissima  sunt  pvanaarense? 
sed  SI  arena  anipliiis  in  nnvpin  inittatiir.  mergit  illani  Q-iam  niiniifa-  mittre  pluvia  ! 
el  tamcn  iiiij)l-nt  lluniiua,  (loimis  fjiriuat:  timenda  erso  riiina  niultitudinis,  si  non  mag- 
"'''"'"'."'•  *■  ^•Jwf  s  .si-quuntui  teinperaturani  corporis.  c  Scintilla'  latent  in 

ci.rponhus.  ritial.a. 


268  Causes  of  Melancholy.         [Part.  1.  Sec,  2. 

Lemnius,  lib.  1 .  de  occult,  nat.  mir.  cap.  1  ^.et  16.  et  21.  instrtut.  ad 
opt.  vit.  Perkins,  lib.  I.  Cases  of  Cons.  cap.  12.  T.  Bright, 
c.  10,  11,  12.  in  his  Treatise  oj"  Melancholy .  For,  as  ^  anger, 
fear,  sorrow,  obtrectation,  emulation,  &c.  si  mentis  intimos  re- 
cessusoccupdrint  (saith  ^Lemnius),  corpori  quoqueinfesta  sunt, 
et  illi  teterrimos  morbosinferunt,  cause  g-rievous  diseases  in  the 
body,  so  bodily  diseases  affect  the  soul  by  consent.  Now  the 
chiefest  causes  proceed  from  the  "^ heart,  humours,  spirits:  as 
they  are  purer,  or  impurer,so  is  the  mind,  and  equally  suffers, 
as  a  lute  out  of  tune  ;  if  one  string  or  one  organ  be  distem- 
pered, all  the  rest  miscarry  : 

^  Corpus,  onustum 

Hesternis  vitiis,  animum  quoque  praegravat  una. 

The  body  is  domicilium  animce^  her  house,  abode,  and  stay ; 
and,  as  a  torch  gives  a  better  light,  a  sweeter  smell,  according 
to  the  matter  it  is  made  of,  so  doth  our  soul  perform  all  her 
actions  better  or  worse,  as  her  organs  are  disposed  ;  or  as  wine 
savours  of  the  cask  wherein  it  is  kept,  the  soul  receives  a 
tincture  from  the  body,  through  which  it  works.  We  see  this 
in  old  men,  children,  Europeans,  Asians,  hot  and  cold  climes. 
Sanguin  are  merry,  melancholy  sad,  phlegmatick  dull,  by 
reason  of  abundance  of  those  humours;  andthey  cannot  resist 
such  passions  which  are  inflicted  by  them:  for,  in  thisinfirmity 
of  humane  nature  (as  Melancthon  declares),  the  understanding 
is  so  tied  to  and  captivated  by  his  inferiour  senses,  that  without 
their  help,  he  cannot  exercise  his  functions ;  and  the  will,  being 
weakned,  hath  but  a  small  power  to  restrain  those  outward 
parts,  but  suffers  herself  to  be  overi'uled  by  them  ;  that  I  must 
needs  conclude  with  Lemnius,  spiritns  et  humores  maximum 
nocumentum  obtinent,  spirits  and  humours  do  most  harm  in 
*  troubling  the  soul.  How  should  a  man  choose  but  be  cho- 
lerick  and  angry,  that  hath  his  body  so  clogged  with  abun- 
dance of  gross  humours .''  or  melancholy,  that  is  so  inwardly 
disposed  ?  That  thence  comes  then  this  malady,  madness, 
apoplexies,  lethargies,  &c.  it  may  not  be  denied. 

Now  this  body  of  ours  is,  most  part,  distempered  by  some 
precedentdiseasesjwhich  molest  his  inward  organs  and  instru- 
ments, and  so,  jaer  consequens,  cause  melancholy,  according  to 
the  consent  of  the  most  approved  physicians.  ^  This  humour 
(as  Avicenna,  /.  3.  Fen.  1.  Tract.  4.  c.  18.  Arnoldus,  breviar, 
l.l.c.  18.  Jacchinus,  comment,  in 9. Rhasis.  c.  15.  Montaltus, 

a  Sicut  ex  animi  affectionibus  corpus  languescit,  sic  ex  eorporis  vitiis  et  morborum 
plerisque  cruciatibus  animum  videmus  hebetari.     Galenus.  bLib.  1.  c.  16. 

<:  Corporis  itidem  morbi  animam  per  consensum,  a  lege  consortii,  afficiunt :  et,  quan- 
quam  ohjecta  multos  motus  turbulentos  in  homine  concitent,  prsecipua  tamen  caussa  ia 
corde,  et  humoribus,  spiritibusque,  consistit,  &c.  "^  Hor,  <^  Humores  pravi 

mentem  obnubilant.  f  Hie  humor  vel  a  partis  intemperie  generatur,  vel  relinquitur 

post  inflammationes,  vel  crassior  iu  venis  conclusus  vel  torpidus  malignam  qualitat«m 
contrahit. 


Mem.  5.  Subs.  2.]     Other  Accidents  and  Grievances         259 

e.  10.  Nicholas  Piso,  c.  deMelan.  <^-c.  suppose)  is  ber/otten  bj/ 
the  distemperatnre  oj'  some  inward  part,  innate,  or  left  aj'ter 
some  inflammation,  or  else  includedin  the  blood  after  an  '"  afpie, 
or  some  other  malif/nant  disease.  This  opinion  of  theirs  con- 
currs  witli  that  of  Galen,  /.  3.  c.  G.  de  locis  affect.  Guianerius 
^ives  an  instance  in  one  so  caused  by  a  quartan  ague ;  asid 
Montanus  {consil.  32),  in  a  young' man  of  twenty-eight  years 
of  age,  so  distempered  after  a  quartan,  Avhich  had  molestcjd 
him  for  five  years  together.  Hildesheim  (spicil.  2.  de  Mania) 
relates  of  a  Dutch  baron,  gi-ievously  tormented  with  melan- 
choly after  a  long-  ''ague.  Galen  (/.  de  atrd  bile,  c.  4)  puts 
the  plag'ue  a  cause  ;  Botaldus(in  his  book  de  hie  vener.  c.  2) 
the  French  pox  for  a  cause  ;  others,  phreiisie,  epilepsie,  apo- 
plexie,  because  those  diseases  do  often  degenerate  into  this. 
Of  suppression  of  ha3mrods,  hsemorrhagia,  or  bleeding-  at 
nose,  menstruous  retentions  (although  they  deserve  a  larger 
explication,  as  being  the  sole  cause  of  a  proper  kind  of  me- 
lancholy, in  more  ancient  maids,  nuns,  and  widows,  handled 
apart  by  Rodericus  a  Castro,  and  Mercatus,  as  I  have  else- 
where signified),  or  any  other  evacuation  stopped,  I  have 
already  spoken.  Only  this  I  will  add,  that  this  melancholy, 
which  shall  be  caused  by  such  infirmities,  deserves  to  be 
pittied  of  all  men,  and  to  be  respected  with  a  more  tender 
compassion  (according  to  Laurentius),  as  coming  from  a  more 
inevitable  cause. 


SUBSECT.  II. 

Distemperature  of  particular  Parts^  Causes. 

A  HERE  is  almost  no  part  of  the  body,  which,  being*  dis- 
tempered, doth  not  cause  this  malady,  as  the  brain  and  his 
parts,  heart,  liver,  spleen,  stomach,  i.iatrix  or  womb,  pylorus, 
myrache,  mesentery,  hypochondries,  mesaraick  veins  ;  and, in 
a  word  (saith  *=  Arculanus),  there  is  no  pari  tchich  canseth  not 
melancholy,  either  because  it  is  ad^ist,  or  doth  not  expel  the 
superfluity  of  the  nutriment.  Savanarola  (Pract.  major,  ru- 
bric. 11.  Tract.  G.  cap-  1)  is  of  the  same  opinion,  that  melan- 
choly is  ingendred  in  each  particular  part ;  and  '^  Crato  {in 


'Ssepe  constat  in  febre  hominem  melancholicutn  vel  post  febreni  retldi,  aut  aliiim 
morbnm.     Calida  intemperies  innata,  vel  a  febre  contracta.  ''Rare  qiiis  diutiirno 

morbo  laborat,  qui  non  sit  melancholicus.     Mercurialis,  de  affect,  capitis,  lib.  1.  c.  10. 
de  Melanc.  »^  Ad  nonum  lib.  Rhasis  ad  Almansor.  c.  16.      Uoiversaliter  a  qua- 

cunqne  parte  potest  fieri  melancholicus  ;  vel  quia  aduritur,  vel  quia  non  expellit  super- 
rtuitatem  excrenienti.  ^A  liene,  jecinore,  utero,  et  aliis  partibus,  oritur. 


260  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  1.  Sec.  ?. 

consil.  17.  lib.  2).  Gordonius,  who  is  instar  omiiium  (lib .  med. 
partic.  2.  cap  19),  confirms  as  much,  putting-  the  ""  matter  of 
melancholy  sometimes  in  the  stomach,  liver ^  heart,  brain,  spleen, 
myrach,  hypochondries,  when  as  the  melancholy  humour  resides 
there,  or  the  liver  is  not  well  cleansed  from  melancholy  blood. 

The  brain  is  a  familiar  and  frequent  cause,  too  hot,  or  too 
cold,  ^through  adust  blood,  so  caused (ns  Mercurialiswill  have 
it)  within  or  without  the  head  ;  the  brain  it  self  being  distem- 
pered. Those  are  most  apt  to  this  disease,  ^that  have  a  hot 
heart  and  moist  brain  ;  which  Montaltus  (cap.  11.  deJWelanch.) 
approves  out  of  Halyabbas,  Rhasis,  and  Avicenna.  Mercuri- 
alis  (consil.  11)  assigns  the  coldness  of  the  brain  a  cause; 
and  Sallustius  Salvianus  (^med.  lect.  a.  c.  1)  ''will  liHveharise 
from  a  cold  and  dry  distemperatureofthe  brain.  Piso,  Bene- 
dictus,  Victorius  Faventinus,  will  have  it  proceed  from  a  '^hot 
distemperature  of  the  brain  ;  and  '  Montaltus  (c<7jj.  10)  froni 
the  brains  heat,  scorching  the  blood.  The  brain  is  still  dis- 
tempered by  himself,  or  by  consent;  by  himself  or  his  pro- 
per atlection  (as  Faventinus  calls  it),  ^or  by  vapours  tvhich 
arise  from  the  other  parts,  and  fume  up  into  the  head,  altering 
the  animal J'aculties. 

Hildesheim  {spicil.  2.  de  Mania)  thinks  it  may  be  caused 
from  a  ^  distemperature  of  the  hearty  sometimes  hot,  sometimes 
cold.  A  hot  liver  and  a  cold  stomach  are  put  for  usual 
causes  of  melancholy.  Mercurialis  (consil.  \\.  et  consil.  6. 
consil.  86)  assignes  a  hot  liver  and  cold  stomach  for  ordinary 
causes.  ^Monavius(in  an  epistle  of  his  to  Crato,  in  Scoltzius) 
is  of  opinion  that  hypochondriacal  melancholy  may  arise  from 
a  cold  liver.  The  question  is  there  discussed.  Most  agree 
that  a  hot  liver  is  in  fault.  ^  The  liver  is  the  shop  of  humours, 
and  especially  causeth  melancholy  by  his  hot  and  dry  distem^ 
perature.  ^  The  stomachy  andmesardickveins  do  often  concurr, 
by  reasoji  of  their  obstructions ;  and  thence  their  heat  cannot  be 
avoided;  and  many  time»  the  matter  is  so  adust  and  inflamed 
in  those  parts,  that  it  degenerates  into  hypochondriacal  melan- 
choly.    Guianerius  (c.  2.  Tract.  15)  holds  the  mesaraick  veins 


1  Materia  melancholiae  aliquando  in  corde,  in  stomacho,  hepate,  hypochondriis,  my- 
rache,  splene,  cum  ibi  remanet  humor  melancholicus.  ''Ex  sanguine  adnsto, 

intra  vel  extra  caput.  c  Q^j  caiidum  cor  habent,  cerebrum  liumidum,  facile  nie- 

lancholici.  '-•  Sequitur  melancholia  malam  intemperiem  frijjidam  et  siccani  ipsius 

cerebri.  ^Saspe  fit  ex  calidiore  cerebro,  autcorpore  colligeute  melancholiam. 

Piso.  f  Vel  per  propriam  aiJectionem,  vel  per  cousensura,  cum  vapores  exhalant 

in  cerebrum.     Montalt.  cap.  14.  &Aut  ibi  gignitur  melancholicus  fumus,  aut 

aliunde  vehitur,  alterando  auimales  facultates.  •' Ab  intemperie  cordis,  niodo 

calidiore^  modo  frigidiore.  >  Epist.  239.  Scoltzii.  kOfficina  huinorum 

hepar  conourrit,  &c.  '  Ventriculus  et  veniE  mesaraicse  concurrunt,  quod  ha; 

partes  obstructae  sunt^  &c. 


Mem.  5.  Subs.  S.]       Causes  of  Head-Meluncholij.  26*1 

to  be  a  sufficient  *  cause  alone.  The  spleen  concurrs  to  this 
malady  (by  all  their  consents),  and  suppression  of  htenirods  : 
dam  non  exprirr/at,  altera  causa,  lien,  saith  Montaltus  :  if  it  be 
•*  too  cold  and  dry,  and  do  not  purr/e  the  other  parts  as  it  ouf/ht 
(Consil.  23).  Montanus  puts  the  "spleen  stoppf^dfov  a  great 
cause.  ''  Christophorusa  Vegar^^ports,  of  hisknovvledg-e,  that 
be  bath  known  melancholy  caused  from  putrified  blood  in 
those  seed  veins  and  womb  :  «Arculanus,yrom  thatruenstruous 
blood  turned  into  melancholt/,  and  seed  too  lorn/  detained  (as  1 
Lave  already  declared)  by  putrefaction  or  adustion. 

The  mesenterium,  or  midriffe,  diaphragma,  is  a  cause  (which 
the  "^^ Greeks  called  ip^fv*?),  because,  by  his  inflammation,  tiie 
mind  is  much  troubled  with  convulsions  and  dotage.  Ail 
these,  most  part,  offend  by  inflammation,  corrupting-  humours 
and  spirits,  in  this  non-natural  melancholy  ;  for  from  these  are 
ingendred  fuliginous  and  blackspirits.  And,  for  that  reason, 
8 Montaltus  (cap.  10.  de  caussis  melan)  will  have  the  pffltnent 
cause  oj' melancholy  to  he  hot  and  dry,  not  a  cold  and  dry  dis- 
temper at7ire,  as  some  hold,  from  the  heat  of  the  hroAn,  rostinq 
the  blood,  immoderate  heat  of  the  liver  and  bowels,  and  inflam- 
mation of  the  pylorus :  and  so  much  the  rather,  because  that 
(as  Galen  holds)  all  spices  injiame  the  blood,  solitariness,  wak- 
ing, agues,  study,  meditation,  all  which  heat ;  and  tlierffore 
he  concludes  that  this  distemper  at  ure  causing  adventitious  me- 
lancholy, is  not  cold  and  dry,  but  hot  and  dry.  But  of  this  I 
have  sufficiently  treated  in  the  matter  of  melancholy,  and 
hold  that  this  may  be  true  in  non-natural  melancholy  which 
produceth  madness,  but  not  in  that  natural,  which  is  more 
cold,  and  being  immoderate,  produceth  a  gentle  dotage ; 
^  which  opinion  Geraldus  de  Solo  maintains  in  his  comment 
upon  Bhasis. 

SUBSECT.  III. 

Causes  of  Head-Melancholy . 

xxFTER  a  tedious  discourse  of  the  general  causes  of  me- 
lancholy, I  am  now  returned  at  last  to  treat  in  brief  of  the 
three  particular  species,  and  such  causes  as  properly  appertain 


"Per  ae  san^inem  adurentea.  bLien  frigidus  et  siccus,  c.  13.  eSplen  oh- 

structus.  rf  De  arte  nitd.  lib.  3.  cap.  24.  « A  sant,nniiis  putredine  in  vasis  semiimrij.s 
et  utero,  etqimndoqiie  a  spermate  din  retento,  vel  sanguine  nienstnio  in  nielanciioliani 
verso  per  putrefactionem,  vel  adustionem.  'Magirus.  SfErgo  efliciens  caussa 

melancholiaj  est  calida  et  sicca  intemperies,  non  frigida  et  sicca,  quod  nuilti  opinati 
sunt;  oritur  eniui  a  calore  cerebri  assante  sanguinem,  tltc.  turn  quod  aroniata  sangui- 
nein  incendunt,  solitudo,  vigiliae,  febris  prsecedens,  nieditatio,  studiain ;  et  haec  omnia 
calefaciunt ;  ergo  ratuni  sit.  ''  Lib.  1.  cap.  13.  de  Melanch. 


262  Causes  of  Melancholy.         [Part.  1.  Sec.  2, 

unto  them.  Althoug'h  these  caases  promiscuously  concur  to 
each  and  every  particular  kind,  and  commonly  produce  their 
effects  in  that  part  which  is  most  weak,  ill  disposed,  and  least 
able  to  resist,  and  so  cause  all  three  species,  yet  many  of  them 
are  proper  to  some  one  kind,  and  seldom  found  in  the  rest: 
as,  for  example,  head-melancholy  is  commonly  caused  by  a 
cold  or  hot  distemperature  of  the  brain,  according'  to  Lauren- 
tius  {cap.  5.  de  melan.),  but,  as  ^  Hercules  de  Saxonia  con- 
tends, from  that  agitation  or  distemperature  of  the  animal  spi- 
rits alone.  Sallust.  Salvianus,  before  mentioned  (lib.  ?.  cap.  3. 
de  re  med.)  will  have  it  proceed  from  cold  :  but  that  I  take  of 
natural  melancholy,  such  as  are  fools,  and  dote  ;  for  (as  Galen 
Avrites,  lib.  4.  de  puis.  8.  and  Avicenna)  ^a  cold  and  moist 
brain  is  an  unseparable  companion  of  folly.  But  this  adven- 
titious melancholy,  which  is  here  meant,  is  caused  of  an  hot 
and  dry  distemperature,  as  '^Damascen  the  Arabian  {lib.  3. 
cap.  22)  thinks,  and  most  writers.  Altomarus  and  Piso  call 
it  '^an  innate  bnrtiing  nntemperateness,  turning  blood  and 
choler  into  melancholy.  Both  these  opinions  may  stand  good, 
as  Bruel  maintains,  and  Capivaccius,  si  cerebrum  sit  calidms^ 
^ifthe  brain  be  hot,  the  animal  spirits  will  be  hot,  and  thence 
comes  madness :  if  cold,  folly.  David  Crusius  (TAe«^  ^/torft. 
Hermet.  lib.  2.  cap.  6.  de  atrd  bile)  grants  melancholy  to  be  a 
disease  of  an  inflamed  brain,  and  cold  notwithstanding  of  itself: 
calida  per  accidens,  frigida  per  se,  hot  by  accident  only.  I 
am  of  Capivaccius  mind,  for  my  part.  Now  this  humour, 
according  to  Salvianus,  is  sometimes  in  the  substance  of  the 
brain, sometimes  contained  in  the  membranes  and  tunicles  that 
cover  the  brain,  sometimes  in  the  passages  of  the  ventricles  of 
the  brain,  or  veins  of  those  ventricles.  It  follows  many  times 
^ phrensie,  long  diseases,  agues,  long  abode  in  hot  places,  or 
under  the  sun,  a  blow  on  the  head,  as  Rhasis  informeth  us : 
Piso  adds  solitariness,  waking,  inflammations  of  the  head,  pro- 
ceeding most  part  sfrom  much  use  of  spices,  hot  wines,  hot 
meats  (all  which  Montanus  reckons  up,  consil.  22.  for  a  me- 
lancholy Jew;  and  Heurnius  repeats,  cap.  12.  de  Mania),  hot 
bathes,  garlick,  onions  (saith  Guianerius),  bad  aire,  corrupt, 
much  ''waking,&c.  retention  of  seed,  or  abundance,  stopping" 
of  hwmorrhagia,  the  midriffe  raisaflfected  ;  and  (according  to 


«  Lib.  .3.  Tract,  postiim.  de  melan.  i^A  fatuitate  inseparabilis  cerebri  frigiditas. 

c  Ab  interno  calore  assatur.         dlntemperiesinnata  exiirenn,  flavam  bilem  a.;  sangui- 
nem  in  melancholiam  convertens.  «  Si  cerebrum  sit  calidius,  fiet  spiritiis  auimalis 

calidior,  et  delirium  maniacum  ;  si  frigidior,  fiet  t'attiitas.  f  Melancholia  capitis 

accedit  post  phrenesim  ant  longam  moram  sub  sole,  aut  percussionem  in  capite.  cap. 
13.  lib.  1.  eQui  bibunt  vina  potentia,  et  saepe  sunt  sub  sole.  I'Cura*  vu- 

lidse,  largioris  vini  et  aromatuni  usus. 


Mem.  5.  Subs.  4]      Other  Accidents  and  Grievances.         263 

Tralliamis,  /.  l.lf))  ininioderate  cares,  troubles,  o-rjefs,  discon- 
tents, study,  meditation,  and,  in  a  word,  the  al)use  of  all  those 
six  non-natural  thini»^s.  Hercules  de  Saxonia  {cap.  16.  lib.  1) 
will  have  it  caused  from  a  -'cautery,  or  boyl  dried  up,  or  any 
issue.  Amatus  Lusitanus  (cent.  2.  cura  67)  gives  instance  in  a 
fellow  that  had  a  boyl  in  his  arm,  and,  ^ after  that  teas  healed, 
ran  mad;  and,  when  the  wound  ic  as  open,  he  was  cured  af/ain. 
Trincavellius  (consil.  13.  ///;.  I)  hath  an  example  of  a  melan- 
choly man  so  caused  by  overmucli  continuance  in  the  sun, 
frequent  useof  venery,  and  immoderate  exercise;  and  (in  his 
cons.  49.  lib.  3)  from  an  "  headpiece  overheated,  which  caused 
bead-melancholy.  Prosper  Calenus  brings  in  Cardinal  Caesius 
for  a  pattern  of  such  as  are  so  melancholy  by  long  btudy  :  but 
examples  are  infinite. 


SUBSECT.  IV. 

Causes  oj"  Hypochondriacal,  or  windy  Melancholy. 

J.N  repeating  of  these  causes,  I  must  cramhen  bis  coctam  appo- 
nere,saythatagainwhichl  have  formerly  said,  in  applying- them 
to  their  proper  species.  Hypochondriacal  or  flatuous  melan- 
choly is  that  which  the  Arabians  call  myrachial,and  is,  in  my 
judgement,  the  most  grievous  and  frequent,  though  Bruel  and 
Laurentius  make  it  least  dangerous,  and  not  so  hard  to  be 
known  or  cured.  His  causes  are  inward  or  outward  : — inward 
from  divers  parts  or  organs,  as  midriffe,  spleen,  stomach, 
liver,  pylorus,  womb,  diaphragma,  mesaraick  veins,  stopping 
of  issues,  &c.  Montaltus,  cap.  1.5.  out  of  Galen)  recites  '^heat 
and  obstruction  of  those  mesaraick  veins,  as  an  immediate 
cause,  by  which  means  the  passage  of  the  chylus  to  the  liver 
is  detained,  stopped,  or  corrupted,  and  turned  into  rumbling 
and  wind.  Montanus  {consil.  233)  hath  an  evident  demon- 
stration, Trincavellius  another  {lib.  1.  cap.  12),  and  Plater  a 
third  {observat.  lib.  I )  for  a  doctour  of  the  law  visited  Avith  this 
infirmity,  from  the  said  obstruction  and  heat  of  those  mesa- 
raick veins,  and  bowels;  quoniam  inter  ventrictdum  et  jecur 
vencc  eff'ervescunt,  the  veins  are  inflamed  about  the  liver  and 
stomach.  Sometimes  those  other  parts  are  together  misaflected, 
and  concurr  to  the  production  of  this  malady — a  hot  liver  or 
cold  stomach  or  cold  belly.     Look  for  instances  in  Hollerius, 


a  A.  canterio  et  ulcere  eisiccato.  >>  Ab  ulcere  curato  incidit  in  insaniam ;  aper'o 

vnluere,  ciinitiir.  ""A  s^alvaniinis  cilefdcta.  'i  rxiritiir  s-.iii;iiis,  et  venie 

obstruinitur,  qi-.ibns  obstnictis  prohibetur  transitus  chyli  ad  jecur,  corruinpitur,  et  in 
ruf;itus  et  tlatus  vrrtitur. 

VOL.    I.  C  (• 


2G4  Causes  of  Melancholy.         [Part.  1 .  Sec.  2. 

Victor,  Trincavellius,  consil.  35.  /.  3.     Hildesheim,  spicil.  2. 
fol.  13^2.  Solenander,  consil.  9.procive  Lug dunensi,  Montanus, 
consil.  229.  for  the  Earl  of  Monfort  in  Germany,    1549,  and 
Frisimelica  in  the  2S3  consultation  of  the  said  Montanus. 
J.  Cassar  Claudinus  gives  instance  of  a  cold  stomach  and  over- 
hot  liver,  almost  in  every  consultation,  co?i.  89,  for  a  certain 
count,  and  cow.  106,  for  aPolonian  baron  :  byreasonof  heat,  the 
blood  is  inflamed,  and  g-ross  vapours  senttothe  heart  and  brain. 
Mercurialis  subscribes  to  them,  (cons.  89)  *  the  stomach  heinxf 
misaffected,  which  he  calls  the  king  of  the  belly,  because,  if  he 
be  distempered,  all  the  rest  suffer  with  him,  as  being  deprived 
of  their  nutriment  or  fed  with  bad  nourishment ;  by  means  of 
which,  come  crudities,  obstructions,  wind,  rumbling,  griping, 
&c.  Hercules  de  Saxoni^,  besides  heat,  will  have  the  weakness 
of  the  liver  and  his  obstruction  a  cause,  J'acultatem  debilem 
jecinoris,  which  he  calls  "^  the  mineral  of  melancholy.  Lauren- 
tius  assigns  this  reason,  because  the  liver  overhot  draws  the 
meat  undigested  out  of  the  stomach,  and  burneth  the  humours. 
Montanus  {co7is.  244)  proves  that  sometimes  a  cold  liver  may 
be  a  cause.     Laurentius  (c.  12),  Trincavellius  (/i6.  12.  consil.) 
and  Gualter  Bruel,  seem  to  lay  the  greatest  fault  upon  the 
spleen,  that  doth   not  his  duty  in  purging  the   liver  as  he 
ought,  being  too  great,  or  too  little,  in  drawing  too  much 
blood  sometimes  to  it,  and  not  expelling  it,  as  P.  Cnemiandrus 
in  a  '^consultation  of  his  noted:    tnmorem  lienis,  he  names  it, 
and  the  fountain  of  melancholy.    Diodes  supposed  the  ground 
of  this  kind  of  melancholy  to  proceed  from  the  inflammation  of 
the  pylorus,  which  is  the  neather  mouth  of  the  ventricle. 
Others  assign  the  mesenterium  ormidrifte  distempered  by  heat, 
thewombmisaffected,  stopping  of  haemrods,  with  many  such  : 
all  which  Laurentius  (cap.  12)  reduceth  to  three,  mesentery, 
liver  and   spleen ;  from  whence  he  denominates  hepatick, 
splenetick,  and  mesaraick  melancholy.      Outward  causes  are 
bad  diet,  care,  griefs,  discontents,  and,  in  a  word,  all  those  six 
non-natural  things,  as  Montanus  found  by  his  experience(consil. 
244).  Solenander  (consil.  9.  for  a  citizen  of  Lyons  in  France) 
gives  his  reader  to  understand,  that  he  knew  this  mischief  pro- 
cared  by  a  medicine  of  cantharides,  which  an  unskilful  phy- 
sician ministered  his  patient  to  drink,  ad  venerem  excitandam. 
But  most  commonly  fear,  grief,  and  some  sudden  commotion 
or  perturbation  of  the  mind,  begin  it,  in  such  bodies  especially 
as  are  ill  disposed.     Melancthon  (tract.  14.  cap.  2.  deanimd) 
will  have  it  as  common  to  men,  as  the  mother  to  women,  upon 
some  grievous  trouble,  dislike,  passion,  or  discontent :  for,  as 

aStomacho  laeso,  robur  corporis  imminuitur ;  et  reliqua  membra  alimento  orbata,&c. 
••Cap.  !2.  'Hildesheim. 


Mem.  5.  Subs.  5.]      Other  Accidents  and  Grievances.         265 

Canierariiis  records  in  his  life,  Melancthon  himself  was  much 
troubled  with  it,  and  therefore  could  speak  out  of  experience. 
Montanus  (consil.  22.pro  delirunte  Judceo)  confirms  it :  *  orie- 
vous  symptomes  of  the  mind  brought  him  to  it.  Randolotius 
relates  of  himself,  that,  being-  one  day  very  intent  t<»  write  out  a 
physicians  notes,  molested  by  an  occasion,  he  fell  into  an  hy- 
pochondriacal fit,  to  avoid  which  he  drank  the  decoction  of 
wormwood,  and  was  freed.  ''Melancthon  {hebiff  the  disease 
is  so  tronhlesome  andjreqiienf)  holds  it  a  most  necessary  and 
profitable  study,  for  every  man  to  know  the  accidents  oj'ity 
and  a  dangerous  thiny  to  he  iynorant,  aiul  would  therefore 
have  all  men,  in  some  sort,  to  understand  the  causes,  symp- 
tomes, and  cures  of  it. 


SUBSECT.  V. 

Causes  of  Melancholy  from  the  ivhole  Body. 

iVS  before,  the  cause  of  this  kind  of  melancholy  is  inward 
or  outward  : — inward,  "  when  the  liver  is  apt  to  ingender  such 
a  humour,  or  the  spleen  weak  by  nature,  and  not  able  to  dis- 
charge his  office.  A  melancholy  temperature,  retention  of 
haemrods,  monthly  issues,  bleeding  at  nose,  long-  diseases 
agues,  and  all  those  six  non-natural  things,  increase  it ;  but 
especially  '^bad  dy  et  (as  Piso  thinks) ,  pulse,  salt  meat,  shell-fish, 
cheese,  black  wine,  &c.  Mercurialis  (out  of  Averrocs  and 
Avicenna)  condemns  all  herbs;  Galen  (lib.  3.  de  loc.  affect, 
cap.  7)  especially  cabbage  : — so  likewise  fear,  sorrow,  discon- 
tents, &c.  but  of  these  before.  And  thus  in  brief  you  have 
had  the  general  and  particular  causes  of  melancholy. 

Now  go  and  brag  of  thy  present  happiness,  whosoever  thou 
art ;  brag  of  thy  temperature,of  thy  good  parts ;  insult,  triumph, 
and  boast;  thouseestin  what  a  brittle  state  thou  art,  how  soon 
thou  maist  be  dejected,  how  many  several  ways,  by  bad  diet, 
bad  ayre,  a  small  loss,  a  little  sorrow  or  discontent,  an  ague,&c. 
how  many  sudden  accidents  may  procure  thy  ruine,  what  a 
small  tenure  of  happiness  thou  hast  in  this  life,how  weak  and  silly 
a  creature  thou  art.  Humble  thy  selfthereforeunder  the  mighty 
handofGod{\  Pet.  5.  6),  know  thy  self, acknowledge  thy  pre- 
sent misery,  and  make  right  use  of  it.  Qui  stat,  videat  ne  cadat. 

»Habnit  saeva  anitni  symptomata,  qua?  inipediu»t  concoctionem,  &c.  b  Usila- 

tissimus  morbus  cum  sit,  utile  est  hujiis  visceris  accidentia  considerare:  nee  leve  peri- 
culiim  hiijus  caussas  morbi  ignorantibns.  c  Jecur  aptum  ad  generandam  talem 

huiuorem.  splen  natiirii  imbecillior.     Piso,  Altomams  ;  Guianeriiis.  'i  Melancho- 

liam,  quae  fit  a  redundantia  humoris  in  toto  corpore,  victus  imprimis  generat,  qui  enin 
humorem  pnrit. 

cc  2 


266  Causes  of  Melancholy .         [Part.  1.  Sec.  3. 

Thou  dost  now  flourish,  and  hast  bona  animi,  corporis,  etj'or- 
tuncc,  goods  ol"  body,  mind,  and  fortune :  nescis  quid  seriis 
secum  vesper J'eratyihou  knowest  not  what  storms  and  tempests 
the  late  evening  may  bring  with  it.  Be  not  secure  then  ;  be 
sober  and  watch;  \f or  timamir  ever  enter  hahe,  if  fortunate  and 
rich  ;  if  sick  and  poor,  moderate  thy  self.     I  have  said. 

SECT.  III. 
MEMB.  I.    SUBSECT.  I. 

Symptomes^  or  signs  of  Melancholy  in  the  Body. 

JrARRHASlUS,  a  painter  of  Atliens,  amongst  those  Olyn- 
thian  captives  Philip  ofMacedon  broughthome  to  sell,  ''bought 
one  very  old  man  ;  and, when  he  had  him  at  Athens,  put  him  to 
extream  torture  and  torment,  the  better,  by  his. example,  to  ex- 
press the  pains  and  passions  of  his  Prometheus,  whom  he  was 
then  about  to  paint.  I  need  not  be  so  barbarous,  inhumane, 
curious,  or  cruel,  for  this  purpose  to  torture  any  poor  melancholy 
man  :  their symptomes  are  plain,  obvious, and  familiar:  there 
needs  no  such  accurate  observation  or  far  fetcht  object;  they 
delineate  themselves;  they  voluntarily  bewray  themselves; 
they  are  too  frequent  in  all  places;  I  meet  them  still  as  I  go ; 
they  cannot  conceal  it ;  their  grievances  are  too  well  known ; 
I  need  not  seek  far  to  describe  them. 

Symptomes  therefore  are  either '^  universal  or  particular,(saith 
Gordonius,  lib.  med.  cap.  19.  part.  ^)  to  persons,  to  species. 
Some  siyns  are  secret,  some  manifest ;  some  in  the  body,  some 
in  the  mind;  and  diver  sly  vary,  according  to  the  imvard  or 
outward  causes  (Capivaccius),  or  from  stars  (according  to 
Jovianus  Pontanus,  de  reb.  cosiest,  lib.  l(j.  cap.  13)  and  cce- 
lestial  influences,  or  from  the  humours  diversely  mixt  (Ficinus, 
lib.  1 .  cap.  4,  de  sanit.  tuendd).  As  they  are  hot,  cold,  natural, 
unnatural,  intended,  or  remitted,  so  will  Aetius  have  melan- 
c/io/ica c?e/iWamM/?//b?'mi«,  diversity  ofmelancholy  signs.  Lau- 
rentius  ascribes  them  to  their  several  temperatures,  delights, 
natures,  inclinations,  continuance  of  time,  as  they  are  simple  or 
mixt  with  other  diseases;  as  the  causes  are  divers,  so  must  the 
signs  be  almost  infinite,  (Altomarus,  cap.  7.  art.  med.)  and  as 
wineproduceth  divers  effects,  or  that  herb  tortocolla  (in  ''Lau- 

aAusonius.  ^Seneca,  cont.  lib.  10.  cont.  5.         t^Quaedara  universaliajjjarticii- 

laria  quEedara  ;  manifesta  qiiBstlani  in  corpore,  qiiajdani  in  cogitatioue  et  animo ;  qusedam 
a  stelli.s,  qiiaedam  ah  laimoribus,  quze,  ut  vininu  corpusTarie  disponit,  &c.  Diversa 
pl'Riitasmata  pro  varietate  caussae  externip,  internaj.  »'  Lib.  1.  de  risu.  fbl.  17.  Ad 
ejus  esiiiu  alii  sucl:int;  alii  vomuut,  iitnt,  bibunt,  saltant;  alii  rident,  tremunt,  doi- 
niiiint.  Sec. 


Mem,  1.  Subs.  1.]       Symptomes  of  Melancholy.  267 

reiitius),  which  makes  some  lanyh,  some  weep,  some  sleep, 
some  dance,  some  sing,  some  howle,  some  drink,  S^c.  so  doth 
this  our  melancholy  humour  work  several  signs  in  several 
parties. 

But  to  confine  them,  these  general  symptomes  may  be 
reduced  to  those  of  the  body  or  the  mind.  Those  usual 
sio-ns,  appearing  in  the  bodies  of  such  as  are  melancholy,  be 
th^se,  cold  and  dry,  or  they  are  hot  and  dry,  as  the  humour  is 
more'or  less  adust*.  From  Mhese  first  qualities,  arise  many 
other  second,  as  that  of  i^  colour,  black,  swarthy,  pale,  ruddy, 
&c.  some  are  impense  rvhri,  (as  Moutaltus,  cap.  16.  observes 
out  of  Galen, /*6. 3.  de  locis  affectis)  very  reil  andhigh  coloured. 
Hippocrates  in  his  book  "  deinsanid  et  melan.  reckons  up  these 
signs,  that  they  are  '^  lean,  withered,  hollow-eyed,  look  old, 
ininkled,  harsh,  much  troubled  with  wind,  and  a  yripiny  in 
their  bellies,  or  belly-ake,  belch  often,  dry  bellies  and  hard, 
dejected  looks,  fai/yy  beards,  sinying  of  the  ears,  vertiyo, 
liffht-headed,  little  or  no  sleep,  and  that  internqjt,  terrible 
fearful  dreams : 

e  Anna  sorer,  qua3  me  suspensam  insomnia  terrent? 

The  same  symptomes  are  repeated  by  Mclanelius  (in  his  book 
of  melancholy  collected  out  of  Galen,  Kuffus,  Aetius),  by 
Rhasis  Gordonius,  and  all  the  juniors — ^continual,  sharp,  and 
stinking  belchinys,  as  if  their  meat  in  their  stomach  were 
pntrified,or  thai  they  had  eaten  fish,  dry  bellies,  absurd  and  in- 
terrupt dreams,  and  many  phantastical  visions  about  their  eyes, 
vertiginous,  apt  to  tremble,  and  prone  to  venery.  sSome 
add  palpitation  of  the  heart,  cold  sweat,  as  usual  symptomes, 
and  a  leapino"  in  many  parts  of  the  body,  saltum  in  multis  cor- 
poris partibus,  a  kind  of  itching  (saith  Laurentius)  on  the  su- 
perficies of  the  skin,  like  a  flea-biting  sometimes.  '^  Mental tus 
(c.  21)  puts  fixed  eyes  and  much  twinkling  of  their  eyes  for  a 
sign;  and  so  doth  Av'\cenm\,oculoshahe7itespalpitantes,trauli, 
vehementer  rubicundi,  cVc  (I.  3.  Fen.  i.  Iract.  4  c.  I8.J 
They  stut  most  part,  which  he  took  out  of  Hippocrates  Apho- 
risms.     'Rhasis  makes  head-ach  and   a   binding  heaviness 


aT  Bright  cap  20.  bKiffrescit  hie  humor  aliquatido  snpercalefactns,  aliqiiando 
super('ri"efactus.  Melanel.  e  Gal.  --  Interprete  F.  Calvo.  JOciili  his  excayantur, 
venti  KiRnuntiir  circnm  praecordia,  et  acidi  riictiis,  sicci  Are  ventns,  vertigo,  tinnitus 
aurium,  sonini  pusilli,  somnia  terribiiia  et  interrupta  fVirg.  *.n.  '  A.ssiduip, 

e«que  acidse  ructationes,  quae  cibura  virnlentum  pisculentnmqne  mdorem  (etsi  nil  tale  in- 
eestHin  sit)  referaat,  ob  cruditateui.  Ventres  hisce  aridi,  soiiinus  i)leruinqne  parens  et 
interruptus,  somnia  absurdissima,  turbnlenta,  corporis  tremor,  capitis  gravedo,  strepitiis 
circa  aures,  et  visiones  ante  oculos,  ad  Venerem  prodigi.  ^  Altomarns,  Briiel,  I'lso, 
Montaltus  ^  Frequentes  habent  oculornm  nictationes  ;  aliqui  taiiien  fixis  oculis 

plernmque  sunt  *  Cent.  hb»  1 .  tact  9.  Signa  hiijns  morbi  sunt  plurimiis  saltus, 

sonitus  auriuin,  capitis  gravedo,  lingua  titubat,  oculi  excavantur,  Kc. 


268  Symptomes  of' Melancholy.         [Part.  1.  Sec.  3. 

for  a  principal  token,  much  leaping  of  icind  about  the  skin, 
as  tcell  as  stutting  or  tripping  in  speech,  Sfc.   hollow  eyes, 
gross  veins,  and  broad  lips.      To  some  too,   if  they  be  far 
^one,  mimical  gestures  are  too  familiar,  laughino-,  grinning-, 
fleerin"",    murmuring,    talking   to  themselves,   with  strange 
mouths  and  faces,  inarticulate  voices,  exclamations,  &c.     And, 
althouph  they  be  commonly  lean,  hirsute,  unchearful  in  coun- 
tenance, withered,  and  not  so  pleasant  to  behold,  by  reason  of 
those  continual  fears,  griefs,  and  vexations,  dull,  heavy,  lazy, 
restless,  unapt  to  go  about  any  business  ;  yet  their  memories 
are  most  part  good,  they  have  happy  wits,  and  excellent  appre- 
hensions.    Their  hot  and  dry  brains  make  them  they  cannot 
sleep  ;  ingentes  habent  et  crebras  vigilias  (Aretffius),  mighty 
and  often  watchings,  sometimes  waking  for  a  moneth,  a  year 
together.     ^Hercules  de  Saxonia  faithfully  averreth,  that  he 
hath  heard  his  mother  swear,  she  slept  not  for  seven  months 
together.     Trincavellius  (Tom.  2.  cons.  16)  speaks  of  one  that 
waked  fifty  days ;  and  Skenkius  hath  example  of  two  years  ; 
and  all  without  offence.     In  natural  actions,  their  appetite  is 
greater  than  their  concoction  :  rmilta  appetunt, panca  digerunt 
(as  Rhasis  liath  it);  they  covet  to  eat,  but  cannot  digest.     And, 
althou<*h  they  ^  do  eat  much,  yet  they  are  lean,  ill  liJdng,  (saith 
Aretreus),  icithered  and  hard,  mtich  troubled  with  costiveness, 
crudities,  oppillations,  spitting,  belching-,  &c.     Their  pulse  is 
rare  and  slow,  except  it  be  of  the  "  carotides,  which  is  very 
strono*;  but  that  varies  according  to  their  intended  passions  or 
perturbations,  as  Struthius  hath  proved  at  large  [Spigmaticce 
artis  I.  4.  c.  13).     To  say  truth,  in  such  chronick  diseases  the 
pulse  is  not  much  to  be  respected,  there  being  so  much  super- 
stition in  it,  as  ''  Crato  notes,  and  so  many  differences  in  Galen, 
that  he  dares  say  they  may  not  be  observed,  or  understood  of 
any  man. 

Theirurine  is  most  part  pale,  and  low  coloured  ;  nrinapavca, 
acris,  biliosa  (Arets^us),  not  much  in  f«uantity.  But  this,  in  my 
judgement,  is  all  out  as  uncertain  as  the  other,  varying  so  often 
according  to  several  persons,  habits,  and  other  occasions  not  to 
be  respected  in  chronick  diseases.  ^  Their  melancholy  excre- 
ments, in  some  very  much,  in  others  little,  as  the  spleen  plays  his 
part ;  and  thence  proceeds  wind,  palpitation  of  the  heart,  short 
breath,  plenty  of  humidity  in  the  stomach, heaviness  of  heart  and 
heartake,  and  intolerable  stupidity  and  dulness  of  spirits;  their 
excrements  or  stool  hard,  black  to  some,  and  little.     If  the 

a  In  Pantheon,  cap.  de  melancholia.  ^Alvus  arida  nihil  dejiciens;  cibi  capaces, 

nihilo  miniii!  tamen  extenuati  sunt.  «  Nic.  Piso.  Inflatio  carotidum,  &c.  ''  An- 
dreas Dudith  Rahamo.  ep.  lib.  3.  Crat.  epist.  Miilta  in  pulsibus  siiperstitio ;  ausim 
etiam  dicere,  tot  differentias,  qiire  rlescribuntur  a  Galeuo,  neque  intelligi  a  qiioqaam 
nee  observari  posse.  *  T.  Bi  iglil.  cap.  20. 


Meui.  J.  Subs.  2.]         Symptomes  in  the  Mind.  269 

heart,  brain,  liver,  spleen,  be  misaffected,  as  usually  (hey  are, 
many  inconveniences  proceed  from  them,  many  diseases  ac- 
company, as  incubus,  *  apoplexy,  epilepsie,  vertigo,  those 
frequent  Avakings  and  terrible  dreams,  ''intempestive  laughing, 
weeping,  sighing,  sobbing-,  bashfulness,  blushing,  trembling, 
sweating-,  swouning,  &c.  '^  AW  their  senses  are  troubled :  they 
think  they  see,  hear,  smell,  and  touch  that  which  they  do  not, 
as  shall  be  proved  in  the  following  discourse. 


SUBSECT.   II. 

Symptomes  or  Signes  in  the  Mind, 

/^ear. ]ArCULANUS  {in  9  Rhasis  adAlmansor.  cap.  16) 
will  have  these  symptomes  to  be  infinite,  as  indeed  they  are, 
varying  according  to  the  parties  ;  Jor  scarce  is  there  one  of  a 
thousand  that  dotes  alike  (^  Laurentius,  c.  16).  Some  few  of 
greater  note  I  will  point  at;  and,  amongst  the  rest,  fear  and  sor- 
row, which  as  they  are  frequent  causes,  so  if  they  persevere  long, 
according  to  Hippocrates  ^and  Galens  Aphorismes,  they  are 
most  assured  signs,  inseparable  companions,  and  characters  of 
meU.ncholy;  of  present  melancholy,  and  habituated,  saithMon- 
taltns  (c.  11),  and  common  to  them  all,  as  the  said  Hippocrates, 
Galen,  Avicenna,  and  all  neotericks,  hold.  But,  as  hounds 
many  times  run  away  with  a  false  cry,  never  perceiving  them- 
selves to  be  at  fault,  so  do  they  :  for  Diodes  of  old,  (whom 
Galen  confutes)  and,  amongst  the  juniors,  *  Hercules  de  Saxo- 
nia,  with  Lod.  Mercatus,  (cap,  1 7-  I-  1.  de  tiielan.)  take  just 
exception  at  this  aphorism  of  Hippocrates  ;  'tis  not  alwayes 
true,  or  so  generally  to  be  understood :  fear  and  sorrow  are  no 
common  symptomes  to  all  melancholy  :  npon  more  serious  con- 
sideration, I  find  some  (saith  he)  that  are  not  so  at  all.  Some 
indeed  are  sad,  and  not  fearful ;  some  fearfd  and  not  sad  ; 
some  neither  fearful  nor  sad;  some  both.  Yowx  kinds  he  ex- 
cepts, fanatical  persons,  such  as  were  Cassandra,  Manto,  Nico- 
strata,  Mopsus,  Proteus,  the  Sibylls,whom  ^Aristotle  confesseth 
to  have  been  deeply  melancholy.     Baptista  Porta  seconds  him 


*  Post  40.  aetat.  annum,  saith  Jaccbiniis,  in  15.  9.  Rhasis.     Idem  Mercurialis,  consiJ. 
86.  Trincavellius,  torn.  2.  cons.  1.  ''Gordonius.    Modo  ridenf,  mode  flent,  silent, 

&c.         cFernelius,  consil.  43.  et.  4.'5.  Montanus,  consil.  2.30.  Galen,  de  locis  affectis, 
lib.  3.  cap.  6.  d  Aphorism,  et  lib.  de  Melan.  «  Lib.  2.  cap.  6.  de  locis  affect. 

Timor  et  moestitia,  si  dintiiis  perseverent,  &c.  fTract.  postnmO  de  Melan.  edit. 

Venetiis  1620,  per  Bolziittam  bibliop.     Mihi  diligentius  banc  rem  considcranti,  patet 
qnosdam  esse,  qui  non  lahorant  mcorore  et  timore.  ?Prab.  lib.  3. 


270  Symptomes  oj'  Melancholy.         [Part.  1.  Sec.  S. 

(Physioff.  lib.  1 .  cap.  8)  :  they  were  atrd  bile percit't.     DaBino- 
niacal  pt^soiis,  and  such  as  speak  strange  languages,  are  of  this 
rank ;  some  poets ;  such  as  laugh  alwayes,  and  think  themselves 
kings,  cardinals,  &c.  sanguine  they  are,  pleasantly  disposed 
most  part,  and  so  continue.    ''Baptista  Porta  confines  fe^r  and 
sorrow  to  them  that  are  cold  ;  but  lovers,  Sibylls,  enthusiasts, 
he  wholly  excludes.  8o  that  I  think  I  may  truly  conclude,  they 
are  notalwayessad  and  fearful,  but  usually  so,  and  thn^t^witJiont 
a  cause  :  iiment  de  non  timendis  (Gordonius),  quccque  momenti 
non  sunt :  although  not  all  alike,  (saith  Altomarus)  "^  yet  all 
likely  fear,  "^  some  with  an  extraordinary  and  a  mighty  foar 
(Aretaeus).     ^JUanyJear  death,  and  yet,  in  a  contrary  humour^ 
make  away  themselves  (Galen,   lib.  3.  de  loc.  affect,  cap.  7). 
Some  ar6  afraid  thatheaven  will  fall  on  their  heads;  some,  they 
are  damned,  or  shall  be,     *  They  are  troubled  with  scruples  of 
conscieyice,  distrusting    Gods  mercies,   think    they  shall  go 
certainly  to  hell,  the  devil  will  have  them,  and  make  great 
lamentation  (Jason  Pratensis).     Fear  of  devils,  death,  that 
they  shall  be  so  sick  of  some  such  or  such  disease,  ready  to 
tremble  at  every  object,  they  shall  dye  themselves  forthwith,  or 
that  some  of  their  dear  friends  or  nearalliesare  certainly  dead ; 
imminesit  danger,  loss,  disgrace  still  torment  others,  &c.  that 
they  are  all  glass,  and  therefore  will  suffer  no  man  to  come  near 
them;  thatthey  are  all  cork,  aslightas  feathers;  others  as  heavy 
as  lead ;  some  are  afraid  their  heads  will  fall  off  their  shoulders ; 
that  they  have  frogs  in  their  bellies,  &c.  "Montanus  (consil.  23) 
speaks  of  one  that  durst  not  walk  alone  from  home,  for  fear 
he  should  swoon  or  die.     A   second   ^ fears   every   man    he 
meets  will  rob  him,  quarrel  xcith  him,   or  kill  him.     A  third 
dares  not  venture  to  walk  alone,  for  fear  he  should  meet  the 
devil,  a  thief,  be  sick;  fears  all  old  women  as  witches;  and 
every  black  dog  or  cat  he  sees,  he  suspecteth  to  be  a  devil  ; 
every  person  comes  nearhim  ismalificiated ;  every  creature, all 
intend  to  hurt  him,  seek  his  mine:  another  dares  not  go  over 
a  bridge,  come  near  a  pool,  rock,  steep  hill,  lye  in  a  cham- 
ber where  cross  beams  are,  for  fear  he  be  tempted  to  hang, 
drown,  or  precipitate  himself.      If  he  be  in  silent  auditory,  as 
atasermon,heis  afraid  he  shall  speak  aloud,  at  unawares,  some 


a  Physiog.  lib.  1,  c  8.     Quibus  miilta  fri^ida  bilis  atra,  stolidi  et  timidi ;  at  qui  ca- 
lidi,  ingeniosi,  ainasii,  divinosi,  spiritu  instigati,  &c.  •>  Omnes  exercent  metiis  et 

tristitia,  et  sine  cauasa.  i-' Omnes  tiinent,  licet  non  omnibus  idem  timendi  modus. 

Aetius,  Tetrab.  lib.  2.  sect.  c.  9.  J  Ingenti  pavore  trepidant.  «  Mnlti  mortem 

timent,  et  tamen  sibi  ipsis  mortem  consciscunt:  alii  coeli  ruinam  timent.  fAffligit 

eos  plena  scrupulis  conscientia  ;  divinse  misericordise  diftidentes,  Oreo  se  destinant, 
fceda  lamentatione  deplorantes.  S  Non  ausus  egredi  domo,  ne  deficeret.  hMulti 
daemoues  timent,  latrones,  insidias.     Aviceuna. 


Mem.  1.  Subs.  2.]         Symptomes  in  the  Mind.  271 

thing-  inu'ecent,  unfit  to  be  said.  If  he  be  locked  in  a  close 
room,  he  is  afraid  of  being- stifled  for  want  of  air,  and  still  carries 
bisket,  aquavits,  or  some  strong  waters  about  him,  for  fear  of 
deliqubims,  or  being  sick;  or,  if  he  be  in  a  throng,  middle  of 
a  church,  multitude,  where  he  may  not  well  aetout,  though 
he  sit  at  ease,  he  is  so  misaffected.  He  will  freely  promise, 
undertake  any  business  beforehand;  but,  when  it  comes  to  be 
performed,  he  daresnotadventure,  but  fears  an  infinite  number 
of  dangers,  disasters,  &c.  Some  are  ^afraid  to  he  hurned,  or 
that  the  ^r/ronnd  xcill  sink  under  them,  or  "^swallow  them 
(juick,  or  that  the  king  will  call  them  in  question  for  some J'act 
they  never  did,  (Rhasis,  cont.J  and  that  they  shall  surely  be 
executed.  The  terror  of  such  a  death  troubles  them  ;  and 
they  fear  as  much,  and  are  equally  tormented  in  mind,  '^  as 
they  that  have  committed  a  murder  ;  and  are  jjensive  without 
a  cause,  as  if  they  were  now  presently  to  he  put  to  death. 
(Plater,  cap.  3.  de  mentis  alienat.)  They  are  afraid  of  some 
loss,  danger,  that  they  shall  surely  lose  their  lives,  goods,  and 
all  they  have  ;  but  why,  they  know  not.  Trincavellius  {con- 
sil.  13.  lih.  1)  had  a  patient  that  would  needs  make  away 
himself,  for  fear  of  being  hanged,  and  could  not  be  perswaded, 
for  three  years  together,  but  that  he  had  killed  a  man.  Plater 
[ohservat.  lih.  1)  hath  two  other  examples  of  such  as  feared  to 
be  executed  without  a  cause.  If  they  come  in  a  place  Avhere  a 
robbery,  theft,  or  any  such  ofl^ence,  hath  been  done,  they  pre- 
sently fear  they  are  suspected,  and  many  times  betray  them- 
selves without  a  cause.  Lewis  the  eleventh,  the  French  kino-^ 
suspected  every  man  a  traitour  that  came  about  him,  durst 
trust  no  officer.  Alii Jormidolosi  omnium,  alii  quornmdam, 
(Fracastorius,  lib.  2.  de  Intellect.)  '^  some  fear  all  alike,  some 
certain  men,  and  cannot  endure  their  companies,  are  sick  in 
them,  or  if  they  be  from  home.  Some  suspect  ^treason  still; 
others  are  afraid  of  their  ^dearest  and  nearest  friends  (x\Ie- 
lanelius  e  Galeno,  RufFo,  Actio),  and  dare  not  be  alone  in  the 
dark,  for  fear  of  hobgoblins  and  devils:  he  suspects  every  thing 
lie  hears  or  sees  to  be  a  devil,  or  enchanted,  and  imagineth 
a  thousand  chimeras  and  visions,  which  to  his  thinking  he 
certainly  sees,  bugbears,  talks  M'ith  black  men,  ghosts,  gob- 
lins, he. 

'•  Omnes  sc  tcrrent  aurse,  sonus  excitat  omnis. 


a  Alii  comburi,  alii  de  rege.     Rhasis.  '•'Ne  terra  absorbeantur.     Forestas. 

c  Ne  terra  dehiscat.     Gordon.  d  Alii  tiinore  mortis  tenentur,  et  mala  gratia 

principiitn ;  pulaiil  se  aliqiiid  conunisisse,  et  ad  siippliciuin  requiri.  «•  Alius  do- 

iiifsticos  timet,  alius  omues.     Aetius.  f  Alii  tiiiieut  insidias.     Aiirel.  lib.  1.  de 

iiior!).  i:hrou.  c.  6.  sllle  carissiuios,  hie  oiunes  houiiues  citra  discriiucn,  timet 

i'  \iigil. 


272  Symptomes  of  Melancholy.         [Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

Another  through  bashfiilness,  suspicion,  and  timorousness, 
will  not  be  seen  abroad,  ^  love  darkness  as  life,  arid  cannot 
endure  the  light,  or  to  sit  in  lightsome  places;  his  hat  still  in 
his  eyes,  he  will  neither  see,  nor  be  seen  by  his  good  will  (Hip- 
pocrates, lib.  de  insania  et  melancholia).  He  dare  not  come 
in  company,  for  fear  he  should  be  misused,  disgraced,  over- 
shoot himself  in  gesture  or  speeches,  or  be  sick  ;  he  thinks 
every  man  observes  him,  aims  at  him,  derides  him,  owes  him 
malice.  Most  part,  ^they  are  afraid  they  are  beivitched, 
possessed  or  poisoned  by  their  enemies;  and  sometimes  they 
suspect  their  nearest  friends :  he  thinks  something  speaks  or 
talks  within  him,  or  to  him  ;  and  he  belcheth  of  the  poyson. 
Christophorus  a  Vega  {lib.  2.  cap.  1)  had  a  patient  so  troubled, 
that  by  no  perswasion  or  physick  he  could  be  reclaimed.  Some 
are  afraid  that  they  shall  have  every  fearful  disease  they 
see  others  have,  hear  of,  or  read,  and  dare  not  therefore  hear 
or  read  of  any  such  subject,  no  not  of  melancholy  it  self,  lest, 
by  applying  to  themselves  that  which  they  hear  or  read,  they 
should  aggravate  and  increase  it.  If  they  see  one  possessed, 
bewitched,  an  epileptick  paroxysme,  a  man  shaking  with  the 
palsie,  or  giddy  headed,  reeling  or  standing  in  a  dangerous 
place,  &c.  for  many  dayes  after,  it  runs  in  their  minds  ;  they 
are  afraid  they  shall  be  so  too,  they  are  in  like  danger,  as  Perk 
(c.  12.  se.  2.)  well  observes  in  his  Cases  of  Cons,  and  many 
times,  by  violence  of  imagination,  they  produce  it.  They 
cannot  endure  to  see  any  terrible  object,  as  a  monster,  a  man 
executed,  a  carcase,  hear  the  devil  named,  or  any  tragical  re- 
lation seen,  but  they  quake  for  fear ;  Hecatas  somniare  sibi 
videntur  (Lucian) ;  they  dream  of  hobgoblins,  and  may  not 
get  it  out  of  their  minds  a  long  time  after :  they  apply  (as  1  have 
said)  all  they  hear,  see,  read,  to  themselves  ;  as  "  Felix  Plater 
notes  of  some  young  physicians,  that  study  to  cure  diseases,catch 
them  themselves,  will  be  sick,  and  appropriate  all  symptomes 
they  find  related  of  others,  to  their  own  persons.  And  there- 
fore (quod  iterurn  moneo,  licet  nauseam  paret  lectori ;  mala 
decern  potius  verba,  decies  repetita  licet,  abundare,  quam 
unum  desiderari)  I  would  advise  him  that  is  actually  melan- 
choly, not  to  read  this  tract  of  symptomes,  lest  he  disquiet  or 
make  himself  for  a  time  worse,  and  more  melancholy  than  he 
wasbefore.    Generally  of  them  all  take  this — deinanibus  semper 


"  Hie  in  lacem  prodire  timet,  tenebrasque  qnaerit :  contra,  ille  caliginosa  fugit. 
b  Quidam  larvas  et  malos  spiritns  ab  iuimicis  veneficiis  et  incantationibus  sibi  putant 
objectari.  Hippocrates. — Potionem  se  veneficam  sumpsisse  putat ;  et  de  hac  ructare 
sibi  crebro  videtur.  Idem  Montaltus,  cap.  21.  Aetius,  lib.  2.  et  alii.  Trallianus,  1.  1. 
cap.  16.  c  Observat.  1. 1.  Quando  iis  nil  nocet,  nisi  quod  mulieribus 

melancholicis. 


Mem.  1.  Subs.  2.]         Symptomes  in  the  Mind.  2/3 

conqnernntiir  et  ^iwewf,  saitli  Arefasus ;  they  complain  oftoyes, 
and  fear  ''without  a  cause,  and  still  think  their  mehmcholy  to 
be  mostg-rievous ;  none  sobad  as  they  are;  thouo-h  it  be  nothino- 
in  respect,  yet  never  any  man  sure  was  so  troubled,  or  in  this 
sort:  as  really  tormented  and  perplexed,  in  as  great  an  aoony 
for  toyes  and  trifies  (such  things  as  they  will  after  lau^h  at 
themselves),  as  if  they  were  most  material  and  essentiarmat- 
ters  indeed,  worthy  to  be  feared,  and  will  not  be  satisfied. 
Pacific  them  for  one,  they  are  instantly  troubled  with  some 
other  fear;  alwayes  afraid  of  something,  which  they  foolishly 
imagine  or  conceive  to  themselves,  which  never  peradventure 
was,  never  can  be,  never  likely  will  be;  troubled  in  mind  upon 
every  small  occasion,  unquiet,  still  complaining,  grieving, 
vexing,  suspecting,  grudging,  discontent,  and  cannot  be  freed 
so  long  as  melancholy  continues.  Or,  if  their  minds  be  more 
quietfor  the  present,  and  they  free  from  forraign  fears,  outward 
accidents,  yet  their  bodies  are  out  of  tune,  they  suspect  some 
part  or  other  to  be  amiss ;  now  their  head  akes,  heart,  sto- 
mach, spleen,  &c.  is  misaffected  ;  they  shall  surely  have  this 
or  that  disease  ;  still  troubled  in  body,  mind,  or  both,  and 
through  wind,  corrupt  phantasie,  some  accidental  distemper, 
continually  molested.  Yet  for  all  this,  (as  ^  Jacchinus  notes) 
in  all  other  thinr/s  they  are  wise,  staid,  discreet,  and  do  no- 
thinxj  unheseeminy  their  diynity,  person,  or  place,  this  foolish, 
ridiculous  and  childish  fear  excepted,  Avhich  so  much,  so 
continually  tortures  and  crucifies  their  souls;  like  a  barkino- 
dog  that  alwayes  ba^vls,  but  seldom  bites,  this  fear  ever  mo*^ 
lesteth,  and,  so  long-  as  melancholy  lasteth,  cannot  be  avoided. 
Sorrow  is  that  other  character,  and  inseparable  companion, 
as  individual  as  saint  Cosmujj  and  Ddmxan,  Jidus  Achates,  as 
all  writers  witness,  a  common  symptome,  a  continual ;  and 
still  without  any  evident  cause,  "  moerent  omnes,  and  si  rorjes 
eos  reddere  caussam,  non  possunt ;  grieving  still,  but  why, 
they  cannot  tell :  ayelasti,  moesti,  coyitahundi,  they  look  as 
)t  they  had  newly  come  forth  of  Trophonius  den;  and,  though 
they  laugh  many  times,  and  seem  to  be  extraordinary  men-y 
(as  they  will  by  fits),  yet  extream  lumpish  again  in  an  instant, 
dull  and  heavy,  semel  et  siniul  merry  and  sad,  but  most  part 
sad ; 

•^  Si  qua  placent,  abeunt ;  iuimica  tenacius  baerent : 
sorrow  sticks  by  them  still,  continually  gnawing  as  the  vulture 

a  — tinieo  temen,  nieh.sqne  caussa-  nescius  caussa  est  metus.  Heinsi.is.  Austriaco. 
»  t,ap.  1.).  m  y  Khasts.  In  n.ultis  vidi :  prater  ratio.iam  semper  aliquid  timent  in  cseteris 
tanun  opti.ne  se  tiernnt,  ne(|ne  aliqnid  |>rwter  dmnitateni  coinniittuut  c  Alto- 

Jiiaiiis,  rap. /.— Arefwus.     Tristes  buut.  rfMaut.  Eel    1 


274  Symptomes  of  Melancholy .         [Part.  1.  Sec.  3, 

did  ^  Tityus  bowels;  and  tliey  cannot  avoid  it.  No  sooner  are 
their  eyes  open,  but,  after  terrible  and  troubl  esome  dreamsjtbeir 
heavy  hearts  begin  to  sigh :  they  are  still  fretting,  chafing,  sigh- 
ing-, grieving,  complaining,  finding  faults,  repining,  grudging, 
weeping,  /ie«?i'/o?iifimon^/ne??oi,vexing  themsel  ves,Misquieted  in 
mind,  with  restless,  unquiet  thoughts,  discontent,  either  for 
tlieir  own,  other  mens,  or  public  affairs,  such  as  concern  them 
not,  things  past,  present,  or  to  come  :  the  remembrance  of 
some  disgrace,  loss,  injury,  abuse,  &c.  troubles  them  now, 
being  idle,  afresh,  as  if  it  were  new  done ;  they  are  afiHicted 
otherwise  for  some  danger,  loss,  want,  shame,  misery,  that  will 
certainly  come  as  they  suspect  and  mistrust.  Luguhris  Ate 
frowns  upon  them,  insomuch  that  Aretagus  well  calls  it  ango- 
rem  animi,  a  vexation  of  the  mind,  a  perpetual  agony.  They 
can  hardly  be  pleased  or  eased,  though  in  other  mens  opinion, 
most  happy.     Go,  tarry,  run,  ride, 

c post  equitem  sedet  atra  cura  : 

they  cannot  avoid  this  feral  plague,  let  them  come  in  what 
company  they  will;  '^ hcEret  lateri  letalis  arundo  ;  as  to  a 
deer  that  is  struck,  whether  he  run,  go,  rest,  with  the  herd,  or 
alone,  this  grief  remains;  irresolution,  inconstancy,  vanity  of 
mind,  their  fear,  torture,  care,  jealousie,  suspicion,  &c.  con- 
tinues, and  they  cannot  be  relieved.  So  ^  he  complained  in 
the  poet, 

Domum  reverter  moestus,  atque  animo  fere 
Perturbato  atque  incerto,  prse  segrltudine. 
Assido:  accurrunt  servi ;  soccos  detrahunt. 
Video  alios  festinare,  lectos  sternere, 
Coenam  apparare  :  pro  se  quisque  sedulo 
Faciebant,  quo  illam  mihi  lenlrent  miseriam. 

He  came  home  sorrowfull,  and  troubled  in  his  mind;  his  servants 
did  all  they  possibly  could  to  please  him;  one  pulled  oflfhis 
socks ;  another  made  ready  his  bed,  a  third  his  supper;  all  did 
their  utmost  endeavours  to  ease  his  grief,  and  exhilarate  his 
person  ;  he  was  profoundly  melancholy ;  he  had  lost  his  son  ; 
illudangehat;  that  was  his  cor  do  limn,  his  pain,  his  agony,which 
could  not  be  removed.  Hence  it  proceeds  many  times,  that 
they  are  weary  of  their  lives ;  and  feral  thoug-hts,  to  offer 
violence  to  their  own  persons,  come  into  their  minds. 

Tcedinm  vitcB.']  Tcsdium  vitee  is  a  common  symptome ;  tarda 
Jiuunt,  ingrataquetempora ;  they  are  soon  tired  with  all  things ; 
they  will  now  tarry,  now  begone ;  now  in  bed  they  will  rise,  now 

a  Ovid.  Met.  4.  b  Inquies  animus  »^^  Hor.  1.  3.  Od.  1-  '^  Virg. 

eMened.  Heautont.  act.  1.  sc.  1. 


Mem.  1.  Subs.  9.]       Symptomes  in  the  Mind.  275 

lip,  tlieu  go  to  bed,  now  pleased,  then  again  displeased  ;  now 
they  like,  by  and  by  dislike  all,  weary  of"  all ;  seqnitur  nunc 
vivendi,  nunc  moriendi,  cupido,  saith  Aurelianus  {lib.  1 .  cap.  6), 
but,  most  part,  "^vitam  damn  ant ;  discontented,  disquieted,  per- 
plexed upon  every  light  or  no  occasion,  object :  often  tempted, 
I  say,  to  make  away  themselves  :  ^viverenolunt,  morinesciunt : 
they  cannot  dye,  they  will  not  live :  they  complain,  weep,  la- 
ment, and  think  they  lead  a  most  miserable  life ;  never  was  any 
man  so  bad,  or  so  before;  every  poor  man  they  see  is  more  for- 
tunate in  respect  of  them  ;  every  beggar  that  comes  to  the  door 
is  happier  than  they  are  ;  they  could  be  contented  to  change 
lives  with  them  ;  especially  if  they  be  alone,  idle,  and  parted 
from  their  ordinary  company,  molested,  displeased, or  provoked, 
grief,  fear,  agony,  discontent,wearisomness,  laziness,  suspicion, 
or  some  such  passion,  forcibly  seizeth  on  them.  Yet  by  and 
by,  when  they  come  in  company  again,  which  they  like,  or  be 
pleased,  snam  sententiam  rnrsus  damnant,  etvitce  solatia  delec- 
tantur  (as  Octavius  Horatianus  observes,  lib.  2.  cap.  5) ;  they 
condemn  their  former  dislike,  and  are  well  pleased  to  live.  And 
so  they  continue,  till  with  some  fresh  discontent  they  be  mo- 
lested again  ;  and  then  they  are  weary  of  their  lives,  weary  of 
all ;  they  will  dye,  and  shew  rather  a  necessity  to  live,  than 
a  desire.  Claudius,  the  emperour,  (as  ^Sueton  aescribes  him) 
had  a  spice  of  this  disease ;  for,  when  he  was  tormented  with 
the  pain  of  his  stomach,  he  had  a  conceit  to  make  away  him- 
self. Jul.  Caesar  Claudinus  (consil.  84)  had  a  Polonian  to  his 
patient,  so  affected,  that,  through  fear  ^  and  sorrow,  with  which 
he  was  still  disquieted,  hated  his  own  life,  wished  for  death 
every  moment,  and  to  be  freed  of  his  misery.  Mercurialis 
another,  and  another  that  was  often  minded  to  dispatch  him- 
self, and  so  continued  for  many  years. 

Suspicion.  Jealousie,  I  Suspicion  and  jealousie  are  general 
Anr/er  sine  caussd.  5  symptoraes  :  they  are  commonly  dis- 
trustful, timorous,  apt  to  mistake,  and  a m pi i tie, ^aci/e  iras- 
cibiles,  "^  testy,  pettish,  pievish,  and  ready  to  snarl  upon  every 
^ small  occasion,  cum  amicissimis,  and  without  a  cause,  datum 
vel  noil  datum,  it  Avill  be  scandalum  acceptum.  If  they  speak 
in  jest,  he  takes  it  in  good  earnest.  If  they  be  not  saluted,  in- 
vited, consulted  with,  called  to  counsel,&c.  orthat  any  respect, 
small   complement,   or   ceremony,  be   omitted,  they  think 


^  Altomaras.  ''Seneca.  ''Cap.  31.  Quo  (storaachi  dolore)  se  correptnm 

etiamde  consciscendamorte  cogitasse  dixit         J  Liiget,et  semper tristatiir,  solitudineru 
amat,  mortem  sibi  precatur,  vitam  propriam  odio  habet.  e  Facile  in  iramincidiint. 

Aret.  f  Ira  sine  caiissa  ;  velocitas  irae.     Savanarola,  pract.  major.  Yeloiitas  ira; 

signiim.     Avicenna,  1.  3.  Fen.  1.  tract.  4.  rap.  18. 


^76  Symptomes  of  Melancholy.         [Part.  1.  Sec.  3. 

themselves  neg-lected  and  contemned;  for  a  time  that  tortures 
them.  If  two  talk  together,  discourse,  whisper,  jest,  or  tel!  a 
tale  in  oeneral,he  thinks  presently  they  mean  him,  applyesalito 
himself,  de  se  piUat  omnia  did.  Or  if  they  tal  k  with  him,  he  is 
ready  to  misconstrue  every  word  they  speak,  and  interpret  it  to 
the  worst;  he  cannot  endure  any  man  to  look  steadily  on  him, 
speak  to  him  almost,  laugh,  jest,  or  be  familiar,  or  hemm,  or 
point,  cough,  or  spit,  or  make  a  noise  sometimes,  &c.  "He 
thinks  they  laugh  or  point  at  him,  or  do  it  in  disgrace  of  him, 
circumvent  him,  contemn  him ;  every  man  looks  at  hiu),  he  is 
pale,  red,  sweats  for  fear  and  anger,  lest  some  body  should  ob- 
serve him.  lie  works  upon  it;  and,  long-  after  this,  this  false 
conceit  of  an  abuse  troubles  him.  Montanus  {consil.  22)  g-ives 
instance  in  a  melancholy  Jew,  that  was  iracnndior  Adrid,  so 
waspish  and  suspicious,  tamj'acile  iratus^  that  no  man  could 
tell  how  to  carry  himself  in  his  company. 

Inconstancy.']  Inconstant  they  are  in  all  their  actions,  ver- 
tig-inous,  restless, unaptto  resolve  of  any  business;  they  will  and 
will  not,  perswaded  to  and  fro  upon  every  small  occasion  or 
word  spoken;  and  yet,  if  once  they  be  resolved,  obstinate,  hard 
to  be  reconciled  :  if  they  abhor,  dislike,  or  distaste,  oncesetled, 
though  to  the  better  by  odds,  by  no  counsel  or  perswasion  to  be 
removed :  yet,  in  mostthings,wavering,  irresolute,  unable  to  de-' 
liberate,  through  fe?iv;Jhciunt,etmoxJactip(enitet  (Aretseus); 
avari  et paullo post prodigi  ;  now  prodigal,  and  then  covetous, 
they  do,  and  by-and-by  repent  them  of  that  which  they  have 
done;  so  that  both  wayes  they  are  troubled,  whether  they  do 
or  do  not,  want  or  have,  hit  or  miss,  disc[uieted  of  all  hands, 
soon  weary,  and  still  seeking'  change;  restless,  I  say,  fickle, 
fuo'itive,  they  may  not  abide  to  tarry  in  one  place  long, 

b  (RomfE  rus  optans,  absentem  rusticus  urbem 
Tollit  ad  astra ) 

no  company  long',  or  to  persevere  in  any  action  or  business; 

e(Et  similis  regum  pueris,  pappare  minututn 
Poscit,  et  iratus  mammse  lallare  recusat) 

eftsoons  pleased,  and  anon  displeased:  as  a  man  that's  bitten 
with  fleas,  or  that  cannot  sleep,  turns  to  and  fro  in  his  bed, 
their  restless  minds  are  tossed  and  vary ;  they  have  no  patience 
to  read  out  a  book,  to  play  out  a  game  or  tAvo,  walk  a  mile, 
sit  an  hour,  &c.  erected  and  dejected  in  an  instant;  animated 
to  undertake,  and,  upon  a  word  spoken^  again  discouraged. 


aSuspicio;  diffidentia,  symptomata.      Crato,   Ep.   Julio  Alexandiiuo,  cons.   185. 
ScoltKii.  •>  Hon  ^  Pers.  Sat.  3. 


Mem.  1.  Subs.  2  ]       Symptomes  in  the  Mind.  277 

Passinnate.~\  Extream  passionate,  qmdqnid  volunt,  valde 
volunt ;  and  what  they  desire,  they  do  most  furiously  seek : 
anxious  ever  and  very  solicitous,  distrustful  and  timorous,  en- 
vious, malicious,  profuse  one  Avhile,  sparing  another,  but  most 
part  covetous,  muttering-,  repining,  discontent,  and  still  com- 
plaining, grudging-,  pievish,  injuriarum  tenaces,  prone  to  re- 
venge, soon  troubled, and  most  violent  inall  their  imaginations, 
not  affable  in  speech,  or  apt  to  vulgar  complement,  but  surly, 
dull,  sad,  austere;  cogitalmndi,  still  very  intent,  and  as  -^  Al- 
bertus  Durer  paints  Melancholy,  like  a  sad  woman,  leaning  on 
her  arm,  with  fixed  looks,  neglected  habit,  &c.  held  there- 
fore by  some  proud,  soft,  sottish,  or  half  mad,  as  the  Abdorites 
esteemed  of  Democritus  ;  and  yet  of  a  deep  reach,  excellent 
apprehension,  judicious,  wise,  and  witty:  for  I  am  of  that 
^  noblemans  mind,  melanchohf  advauceth  mens  conceits,  more 
than  any  hnmoicr  ?f?/ia#j?oeyer,  improves  their  meditations  more 
than  any  strong  drink  or  sack.  They  are  of  profound  judge- 
ment in  some  things,  although,  in  otheis,  nou  recte  judicant 
inquieti,  saith  Fracastorius,  (lib.  2.  delntell.)  and,  as  Arculanus 
(c.  1 6.  in  9  Rhasis)  terms  it,  judicium  plerumque  perversum, 
corrnpti,  cum  judicant  honesta  inhonesta,  et  amicitiam  hahent 
pro  inimicitid  :  they  count  honesty  dishonesty,  friends  as 
enemies ;  they  will  abuse  their  best  friends,  and  dare  not 
offend  their  enemies.  Cowards  most  part,  et  ad  inferendam, 
injuriam  timidissimi,  saith  Cardan  (lib.  8.  cap.  4.  de  rerum 
varietate):  loth  to  offend;  and,  if  they  chance  to  overshoot 
themselves  in  word  or  deed,  or  any  small  business  or  cir- 
cumstance be  omitted,  forgotten,  they  are  miserably  tormented, 
and  frame  a  thousand  dangers  and  inconveniences  to  them- 
selves, ex  mused  elephantem,  if  once  they  conceit  it:  over- 
joyed with  every  good  humour,  tale,  or  prosperous  event,  trans- 
ported beyond  themselves;  with  every  small  cross  again,  bad 
news,  misconceived  injury,  loss,  danger,  afflicted  beyond 
measure,  in  great  agony,  perplexed,  dejected,  astonished,  im- 
patient, utterly  undone ;  fearful,  suspicious  of  all :  yet  again, 
many  of  them,  desperate  hare-brains,  rash,  careless,  fit  to  be 
assassinates,  as  being  void  of  all  fear  and  sorrow,  according  to 
*^ Hercules  de  Saxonia,  most  audacious,  and  such  as  dare  walk 
alone  in  the  night,  through  deserts  and  dangerous  p laces, Jear- 
ing  none. 

Amorous^  They  are  prone  to  love,  and  "^easie  to  be  taken: 
propensi  adamorem  et  excandescentiam,  (Montaltus,  cap.  21.) 
quickly  inamored,  and  dote  upon  all,  love  one  dearly,  till  they 


a  In  his  Dutch- work  picture.  ,''  Howard,  cap.  7.  diflFer.  «  Tract,  de  mel. 

cap.  2.  Noctu  ambulant  per  sylvas,  et  loca  pericnlosa ;  neminem  timeiit.  ^  Facile 

araant.     Altom. 


278  Srjmptomes  of  Melancholy ,       [Part.  1.  Sec.  3. 

see  another,  and  then  dote  on  ber,  et  lianc^  et  lianc,  et  illanu  et 
omnes  ;  the  present  moves  most,  and  the  last  commonly  they 
love  best.  Yet  some  again,  anterotes,  cannot  endure  the  sio-ht 
of  a  woman,  abhor  the  sex,  as  that  same  melancholy  ^duke  of 
Muscovy,  that  was  instantly  sick,  if  he  came  but  in  sight  of 
them;  and  that  ^anchorite,  that  fell  into  a  cold  palsie,  when  a 
w^oman  was  brought  before  him. 

Humorous.']  Humorous  they  are  beyond  all  measure,  some- 
times profusely  laughing",  extraordinary  merry,  and  then  again 
weeping  without  a  cause,  (which  is  familiar  with  manygentle- 
women)groaning,sigh  ing,pensive,sad,al  most  distracted :  W7<//a 
absurdajingunt,  et.  aratione  aliena(s?iith  '^Frambesarius);  they 
feign  many  absurdities,  vain,  void'of  reason  :  one  supposeth 
himself  to  be  a  dog,  cock,  bear,  horse,  glass,  butter,  &c.  He 
is  a  giant,  a  dwarf,  as  strong  as  an  hundred  men,  a  lord,  duke, 
prince,  &c.  And,  if  he  be  told  he  hath  a  stinking  breath,  a 
great  nose,  that  he  is  sick,  or  inclined  to  such  and  such  a  dis- 
ease, he  believes  it  eftsoons,  and  perad venture,  by  force  of 
imagination,  will  work  it  out.  Many  of  them  are  immoveable, 
and  fixed  in  their  conceits;  others  vary,  upon  every  object 
heard  or  seen.  If  they  see  a  stage-play,  they  run  upon  that 
a  week  after;  if  they  hear  musick,  or  see  dancing,  they  have 
nought  but  bag-pipes  in  their  brain  :  if  they  see  a  combat, 
they  are  all  for  arms  :  ^if  abused,  an  abuse  troubles  them  long- 
after  :  if  crossed,  that  cross,  &c.  Restless  in  their  thoughts 
and  actions,  continually  meditating, 

velut  acgri  somnia,  vanae 


Finguntur  species ; 

more  like  dreamers  than  men  awake, they  feign  a  company  of 
an  tick,  fantastical  conceits;  they  have  most  frivolous  thoughts, 
impossible  to  be  effected ;  and  sometimes  think  verily  they  hear 
and  see  present  before  their  eyes  such  phantasms  or  goblins, 
they  fear,  suspect,  or  conceive,  they  still  talk  with,  and  follow 
them.  In  fine,  cof/itationes  somniantihus  similes,  id  vigilayit, 
quodalii  somniant,cogitahundi;  still  (saith  Avicenna,)they  wake, 
as  others  dream  ;  and  such,  for  the  most  part,  are  their  imagina- 
tions and  conceits,.^ absurd,  vain,  foolish  toyes  ;  yet  they  are 
^  most  curious  and  solicitous ;  continually  et  supra  modum 
(Rhasis,  cont.  lib.  I.  cap.  9.)  prcsmeditantnr  de  aliqnd  re.  As 
serious  in  a  toy,  as  if  it  were  a  most  necessary  business,  of 

a  Bodine.  ''Jo.  Major  vitis  patrum,  fol.  202.  Padlns  abbas,  eremita,  tanti 

solitudine  perseverat,  ut  nee  vestem  nee  vultum  niiilieris  ferre  possit,  &c.  ,^'  Con- 

sult, lib.  1.  17.  Cons,  <>  Generally,  as  they  are  pleased  or  displeased,  so  are 

their  continual  cogitations  pleasing  or  displeasing.  e  Omnes  exerceiit  vanae 

intensseque  animi  cogitationes,  (N.  Piso.  Bruel.)  tt  assiduse.  •  Curiosi  de  rebus 

minimis.     Aiftitus. 


Mem.  I.  Subs.  2.]       Symptoines  in  the  Mind,  279 

great  moment,  importance,  and  still,  still,  still  tbinkinfr-  of  it, 
sceviunt  in  se,  macerating  themselves.  Though  they  do  talk 
with  you,  and  seem  to  be  otherwise  employed,  and,  to  your 
thinking,  very  intent  and  busie,  still  that  toy  runs  in  their 
nnnd,  tliat  fear,  that  suspicion,  that  abuse,  that  jealousie,  that 
3gony,  that  vexation,  that  cross,  that  castle  in  the  air,  that 
crotchet,  that  whimsie,  that  fiction,  that  pleasant  waking 
dream,  whatsoever  it  is.  Nee  interroyant  (saith  ^Fracastorius, 
nee  interrogati  recte  respondent;  they  do  not  much  heed  what 
you  say ;  their  mind  is  <m  another  matter.  Ask  what  you  will ; 
they  donotattend,  or  much  intend  that  business  they  are  about, 
but  foro-et  themselves  what  they  are  saying,  doing,  or  should 
otherwise  say  or  do,  m  hither  they  are  going,  distracted  with 
their  own  melancholy  thoughts.  One  laughs  upon  a  sudden, 
another  smiles  to  himself,  a  third  frovvns,  calls,  his  lips  go 
still,  he  acts  with  his  hands  as  he  walks,  &c.  'Tis  proper  to 
all  melancholy  men  (saith  ''Mercurialis,  cow.  11),  uihat  conceit 
Aheif  have  once  entertained,  to  be  most  intent,  violent,  and  con- 
tinualhi  about  it.  Invitis  occnrit ;  do  what  they  may,  they 
cannot  be  rid  of  it;  against  their  wills  they  must  think  of  it  a 
thousand  times  over ;  perpetuo  molestantur,  nee  oblivisci  pos- 
sunt ;  they  are  continually  troubled  with  it,  in  company,  out 
of  company :  at  meat,  at  exercise,  at  all  times  and  places,  ^wo;« 
desinunt  ea,  quce  minime  volunt,  cogitare ;  if  it  be  offensive 
especially,  they  cannot  forget  it;  they  may  not  rest  or  sleep 
for  it,  but,  still  tormenting  themselves,  A^wj/p/ti  saxum  volmint 
sibi  ipsis,  as  '^  Brunner  observes  :  perpetua  calamitas,  et  mise- 
rabile  Jiafjellum. 

Bashf Illness.]  « Crato,  ^Laurentius,  and  Fernelius,  put 
bashful ness  for  an  ordinary  symptome  ;  subrnsticus  piulor,  or 
vitiosns  pndor,  is  a  thing  which  much  haunts  and  torments 
them.  If  they  have  been  misused,  derided,  disq-raced,  chidden, 
&c.  or,  by  any  ])erturbation  of  mind,  misaifected,  it  so  fsir 
troubles  them,  that  they  become  quite  moped  many  times,  and 
so  disheartned,  dejected,  they  dare  not  come  abroad,  into 
strange  companies  especially,  or  manage  their  ordinary  aftairs; 
so  childish,  timorous,  and  bashful,  they  can  look  no  man  in 
the  face.  Some  are  more  disquieted  in  this  kind,  some  less, 
longer  some,  others  shorter,  by  fits,  &c.  though  some,  on  the 
other  side  (according  to  ^  Fracastorius),  be  inverecnndi  et 
pertiuaces,  impudent  and  pievish.  But,  most  part,  they  are 
very  shamefac'd ;  and  that  makes  them  (with  Pet.  Blesensis, 

a  Lib.  ^  fie  hitell.  •> Hoc  melancholicis  omnibus  proprium,  nt, 

qiias  seniel  imagioationes  valde  receperint,  non  facile  rejiciant,  seJ  ha;  etiatnvel  invitis 

IVTJ\  "•.Sf"''"'*"'-  f ^       r  "  '^"""".«^«  «»-«•  "  Consil.  ined.  pro  Hvpochondriaco. 

•^  tonsil.  43.  fCap.  5.  K  Lib.  "2.  de  lutell 


VOL.  I. 


D    D 


280  Symptomes  of  Melancholij .         [Part.  1.  Sec.  2. 

Christopher  Urswick,  and  many  such)  to  refuse  honours, 
offices,  and  preferments,  which  sometimes  fall  into  their 
mouths:  they  cannot  speak,  or  put  forth  themselves,  as  others 
can  ;  timor  lios,pudor  impedlt  iilos  ;  timorousness  and  bashful- 
ness  hinder  their  proceedings  ;  they  are  contented  with  their 
present  estate,  unwilling-  to  undertake  any  office,  and  therefore 
never  likely  to  rise.  For  that  cause  they  seldome  visit  their 
friends,  except  some  familiars;  pauciloqni,  of  few  Avords,  and 
oftentimes  wholly  silent.  ^  Frambesarius,  a  Frenchman,  had 
two  such  patients,  omnbio  tacituruos :  their  friends  could  not 
g-et  them  to  speak:  Rodericus  aFouseca  (consult.  Tom.  2.  85. 
consil.)  gives  instance  in  a  young  man,  of  twenty  seven  years 
of  age,  that  was  frequently  silent,  bashful,  moped,  solitary, 
that  would  not  eat  his  meat,  or  sleep,  and  yet  again  by  'am 
apt  to  be  angry,  &c. 

SGlitariness.'j  Most  part  they  are  (as  Plater  notes),  desides, 
taciturn),  cegreimpuhi,  nee  nisi  coacti  procedimt^  9c.  they  will 
scarce  be  compelled  to  do  that  which  concerns  them,  though 
it  be  for  their  good  ;  so  diffident,  so  dull,  of  so  small  or  no 
complement,  unsociable,  hard  to  be  acquainted  v/ith,  especially 
of  strangers  ;  they  had  rather  write  their  minds,  than  speak, 
and  above  all  things  love  solitariness.  Ob  vohiptatem,  an  ob 
timorem,  soli  stmt  ?  Are  they  so  solitary  for  pleasure  (one 
asks),  or  pain  ?  for  both  :  yet  1  rather  think,  for  fear  and 
sorrow,  &c. 

^  Hinc  metuunt,  cupiuntque,  dolent,  fugiuncque,  nee  auras 
Respiciunt,  clausi  tenebris,  et  carcere  cseco. 

Hence  'tis  they  grieve  and  fear,  avoiding  lig:ht. 
And  shut  themselves  in  prison  dark  from  sight. 

As  Bellerophon  in  ""  Homer, 

Qui  miser  in  sylvis  mcereus  errabat  opacis. 
Ipse  suum  cor  edens,  hominum  vestigia  vitans — 

That  wandred  in  the  woods,  sad,  all  alone. 
Forsaking  mens  society,  making  great  moan — 

they  delight  in  floods  and  waters,  desert  places,  to  walk  alone 
in  orchards,  gardens,  private  walks,  back-lanes;  averse  fronx 
company,  as  Diogenes  in  his  tub,  or  Timon  Misanthropus, 
**  they  abhor  all  companions  at  last,  even  their  nearest  ac- 
quaintance, and  most  faniiliar  friends  ;  for  they  have  a  conceit 
(I  say),  every  man  observes  them,  will  deride,  laugh  to  scorn, 
or  misuse  them;  confining  themselves  therefore  wholly  to  their 
private  houses  or  chamherSf  J'uffiunt  homines  sine  caussd  (saith 

a  Consil.  15  ft  16.  lib.  1.  ^Virg.  ^n.  6.  ^  HJad.  6.  J  Si  malum 

exasperatur,  l»oiuJne»  odio  habent,  et  solitaria  petunt. 


Mem.  1.  Subs.  2.]       Stfinptontes  in  the  Mind.  2Sl 

Rliasis)  et  odio  Jiahent  {cant.  /.I.  c.  9):  they  will  dyet  them- 
selves, feed  and  live  alone.  It  was  one  ot'the  chiefest  reasons, 
why  the  citizens  of  Abdera  suspected  Democritus  to  be  melan- 
choly and  mad,  because  that  ('as  Hippocrates  related  in  his 
epistle  to  PhilopcEmenes)  ^hejorsook  the  city,  and  lived  in 
groves  and  holloio  trees,  upon  a  green  bank  by  a  brook  side^ 
or  confluence  of  waters,  all  day  long,  and  all  night.  Quce 
quidem  (saith  he)  plurimum  atra  bile  vexatis  et  melancholicis 
eveniunt ;  desertajrequentant,  hominumque  congressum  aver- 
santur  ;  ^  which  is  an  ordinary  thing  with  melancholy  men. 
The  Egyptians  therefore,  in  their  hieroglyphicks,  expressed  a 
melancholy  man  by  a  hare  sitting  in  her  form,  as  being  a  most 
timorous  and  solitary  creature  (Fieri us,  Hieroglyph.  I.  12). 
But  this  and  all  precedent  symptomes  are  more  or  less  appa- 
rent, as  the  humour  is  intended  or  remitted, hardly  perceived 
in  some,  or  not  at  all,  most  manifest  in  others.  Childish  in 
some,  terrible  in  others;  to  be  derided  in  one,  pitied  or  admired 
in  another;  to  him  by  fits,  to  a  second  continuate  :  and,  how- 
soever these  symptomes  be  common  and  incident  to  all  persons, 
yet  they  are  the  more  remarkable,  frequent,  furious,  and  vio- 
lent in  melancholy  men.  To  speak  in  a  word,  there  is  nothing 
so  vain,  absurd,  ridiculous, extravagant, impossible,  incredible, 
so  monstrous  a  chimaera,  so  prodigious  and  strange,  '^such  as 
painters  and  poets  durst  not  attempt,  which  they  will  notreally 
fear,  fain,  suspect,  and  imagine  unto  themselves :  and  that 
which  "^Lod.  Viv.  said  in  jest  of  a  silly  countrey  fellow,  that 
kill'd  his  ass  for  drinking  up  the  moon,  ut  lunam  mundo  red- 
der et ;  you  may  truly  say  of  them  in  earnest :  they  will  act, 
conceive  all  extreams,  contrarieties,  and  contradictions,  and 
that  in  infinite  varieties.  Melancholici  plane incredibilia  sibi. 
persuadent,  ut  inx  omnibus  sceculis  duo  repsrti  sint,  qui  idem 
imaghiatisinf  (Erastus,  de  Lamiis) ;  scarce  two  of  two  thousand 
that  concur  in  the  same  symptomes.  The  tower  of  Babel  never 
yielded  such  confusionof  tongues,  as  this  chaos  of  melancholy 
doth  variety  of  symptomes.  There  is  in  all  melancholy  simili- 
tudo  dissiniilis,  like  mens  faces,  a  disagreeing  likeness  still ; 
and  as,  in  a  river,  we  swim  in  the  same  place,  though  not 
in  the  same  numerical  water ;  as  the  same  instrument  affords 
several  lessons,  so  the  same  disease  yields  diversity  of  sym- 
ptomes; which  howsoever  they  be  diverse,  intricate,  and  hard 
to  be  confined,  I  will  adventure  yet,  in  such  a  vast  confusion 


^  Democritus  solet  noctes  et  dies  apud  se  degere,  plerumque  autem  inspeluncis,  anb 
amceuis  arbonim  ninbris  vel  in  tenebris,  et  mollibus  herbis,  vel  ad  aquarum  crebra  et 
quieta  fiueuta,  &c.  ^  Gaudet  tenebris,  aliturque  dolor.      Ps.  62.  Vigilavi,  et 

factu-s  sum  velut  nycticorax  in  domicilio,  passer  solitarius  in  teniplo.  <=  Et,  quaj 

vix  aiidet  tabula,  monstru  parit.  J  In  cap.  18.  1.  10.  de  civ.  Dei.     Lunam  ab 

asiuo  epotani  viden:>. 

D  d2 


282  Sipnptomes  of  MoMnchohj.         [Part.  I.  Sec.  S. 

and  orenerality,  to  bring-  them  into  some  order;  and  so  de- 
scend to  particulars. 


SUBSECT.  111. 

Particular  Symptomes  from  the  influence  of  Stars;  parts  of 
the  body,  and  humours. 

*^OME  men  have  peculiar  symptomes,  according-  to  their 
temperament  and  crisis,  wliich  they  had  from  the  stars  and 
those  celestial  influences,  variety  of  wits  and  dispositions,  as 
i^nthony  Zara  contends  (Anat.  ingen.  sect.  \.  memb.  11,  12, 
13,  14.^,  plurimum  irritant  infuentice  ccclestes,  unde  cientur 
animi  (eyritudines,  et  morbi  corporum.  ^  One  saith,  diverse 
diseases  of  the  body  and  mind  proceed  from  their  influences, 
**  as  1  have  already  proved  out  'of  Ptolemy,  Pontanus,  Lem- 
nius,  Cardan,  and  others,  as  they  are  principal  significators  of 
manners,  diseases,  mutually  irradiated,  or  lords  of  the  geniture, 
&c.  Ptolemaeus,  in  his  Centiloqiiy,  (or  Hermes,  or  whosoever 
else  the  author  of  tl>at  tract,)  attributes  all  these  symptomes, 
which  are  in  melancholy  men,  to  celestial  influences;  which 
opinion  Mercurialis  {de  affect,  lib.  1.  cap.  10)  rejects  :  but,  as 
I  say,  *=  Jovian  us  Pontanus  and  others  stifly  defend.  That  some 
are  solitary,  dull,  heavy,  churlish;  some  again  blith,  buxom, 
light  and  merry,  they  ascribe  wholly  to  the  stars.  As,  if 
Saturn  be  predominant  in  his  nativity,  and  cause  melancholy 
in  his  temperature,  then  ^  he  shall  be  very  austere,  sullen, 
churlish,  black  of  colour,  profound  in  his  cogitations,  full  of 
cares,  miseries,  and  discontents,  sad  and  fearful,  alwayes 
silent,  solitary,  still  delighting*  in  husbandry,  in  woods,  or- 
chards, gardens,  rivers,  ponds,  pools,  dark  walks  and  close ; 
cocfitationes  sunt  velle  cedificare,  velle  arbores  plantare,  arjros 
colere,  <Sfc.  to  catch  birds,  fishes,  &c.  still  contriving-  and 
musing  of  such  matters.  If  Jupiter  domineers,  they  are  more 
ambitious,  still  meditating  of  kingdoms,  magistracies,  offices, 
honours,  or  that  they  are  princes,  potentates,  and  how  they 
would  carry  themselves,  &c. — if  Mars,  they  are  all  for  wars, 
brave  combats,  monomachies,  testy,  cholerick,  hare-brain'd, 
rash,  furious,  and  violent  in  their  actions:  they  will  fain 
themselves  victors,  commanders,  are  passionate  and  satyrical 
in  their  speeches,  great  braggers,  ruddy  of  colour :  and  though 
they  be  poor  in  shew,  vile  and  base,  yet,  like  Telephus  and 
Peleus  in  the  ^  poet, 

Ainpullas  jactant,  et  sesquipedalia  verba; 

a  Velc.  1.  4.  c.  5.  b  Sect.  2.  Memb.  1.  Subs.  4,  «  De  reb.  coefest. 

lib.  10.  c.  13.  <'J.  de  Indagine  Goclenius.  ^  Hor.  de  Art.  Poet. 


Mem.  I.  Subs.  3.]     Symplomes  from  the  Stars^  Sfc.  283 

their  mouths  are  full  of  myriades,  and  tetrarchs  at  their  tongues 
end  : — if  the  Sun,  they  will  be  lords,  emperours,  in  conceit  at 
least,  and  monarchs,  give  offices,  honours,  &c. — if  Venus,  they 
are  still  courting  of  their  mistresses,  and  most  apt  to  love, 
amorously  given  ;  they  seem  to  hear  musick,  playes,  see  fine 
pictures,  dancers,  merriments,  and  the  like — ever  in  love,  and 
dote  on  all  they  see.  Mercurialists  are  solitary,  much  in 
contemplation,  subtile,  poets,  philosophers,  and  musing'  most 
part  about  such  matters.  If  the  Moon  have  a  hand,  they  are 
all  for  peregrinations,  sea-voyages,  much  affected  with  travels, 
to  discourse,  read,  meditate  of  such  things  ;  wandring  in  their 
thoughts,  divers,  much  delighting  in  waters,  to  fish,  fowl,  &c. 

But  the  most  immediate  symptomes  proceed  from  the 
temperature  it  self,  and  organical  parts,  as  head,  liver,  spleen, 
mesaraick  veins,  heart,  womb,  stomach.  Sec.  and  most  espe- 
cially from  distemperature  of  spirits  (which,  as  ''Hercules  de 
Saxonia  contends,  are  wholly  immaterial),  or  from  the  four 
humours  in  those  seats,  whether  they  be  hot  or  cold,  natural, 
unnatural,  innate  or  adventitious,  intended  or  remitted,  simple 
or  mixt,  their  diverse  mixtures,  and  several  adustions,  com- 
binations, which  may  1x5  as  diversly  varied,  as  those  ''four  first 
qualities  in  "^  Clavius,  and  produce  as  many  several  symptomes 
and  monstrous  fictions  as  wine  doth  effects,  which  (as  Andreas 
Bachius  observes,  lib.  3.  de  vino,  cap.  20)  are  infinite.  Of 
greater  note  be  these. 

If  it  be  natural  melancholy  (as  Lod.  Mercatus,  lib.  1.  cap. 
17.  de  melan.  T.  Bright,  c.  IG.  hath  largely  described)  either 
of  the  spleen,  or  of  the  veins,  faulty  by  excess  of  quantity,  or 
thickness  of  substance,  it  isra  cold  and  dry  humour,  as  Mon- 
tanus  affirms  (consiL  26)  ;  the  parties  are  sad,  timorous,  and 
fearful.  Prosper  Calenus,  in  his  book  de  atrd  bile.wW]  have 
them  to  be  more  stupid  than  ordinary,  cold,  heavy,  dull, 
solitary,  sluggish,  si  mnltam  atram  bilem  effriffidam  liabent. 
Hercules  de  Saxonia (c.  19./.  'jyiiolds  these) Iia'f  are iiatnralhf 
melancholy,  to  he  of  a  leaden  colour  or  black  (and  so  doth 
Guianerius,  c.  3.  tract.  15),  and  such  as  think  themselves  dead 
many  times,  or  that  they  see,  talk  with,  black  men,  dead  men, 
spirits  and  goblins  frequently,  if  it  be  in  excess.  These  sym- 
ptomes vary  according  to  the  mixture  of  these  four  humours 
adust,  which  is  unnatural  melancholy.  For  (as  Trallianus 
hath  written,  cap.   IC.  /.  'J)  ^  there  is  not  one  cause  of  this 


"Tract,  7.  de  Melan.  '"Haraidiim,  calidum.  frifridum,  siccuin.  <"Corn. 

in  1.  c.  Johannis  de  Sarrobosco.  rt  Si  residet  nielancliolia  natiiralis,  tnlt  s  plumbei 

colons  aut  iiigri,  stupidi,  solitarii.  <  Non  una  melancholia-  raiissa  est,  ntc  unus 

hmr.or  vitii  parens,   sed  plures,  et  alius  aliter  inutatiis:  uude  nou  oniiies  eadeiu  seu- 
fiuut  syraptoinata. 


284  Symptomes  of  Melancholy ,       [Pai't.  1.  Sec.  3. 

melancholy,norone  humour  which  begets  iti  but  divers  diversly 
intermixt;froin  whence  proceeds  this  variety  of  symptomes;  and 
those  varying  again  as  they  are  hot  or  cold.  ^  Cold  melancholy 
(saithBenedic.  VittoriusFaventinus,  prac.  mag.)  is  a  cause  of 
dotage,  and  more  mild  symptomes  ;  if  hot  or  more  adust,  of  more 
violent  passions,  and  furies.  Fracastorius  (/.  2.  de  intellect.) 
will  have  us  to  consider  well  of  it,  ^with  what  kind  of  melan- 
choly every  one  is  troubled  ;  for  it  much  avails  to  knoivit :  one 
is  inraged  by  fervent  heat ;  another  is  possessed  by  sad  and  cold; 
one  is  fearful,  shamfac''t ;  the  other  impudent  and  bold,as  Ajax, 

Arma  rapit,  Superosque  furens  in  proelia  poscit ; 

quite  mad,  or  tending  to  madness ;  nunc^hos,  nunc  impetit  illos. 
Bellerophon,  on  the  other  side,  solis  errat  male  sanus  in  agris^ 
wanders  alone  in  the  woods  :  one  despairs,  weeps,  and  is 
weary  of  his  life  ;  another  laughs,  &c.  All  which  variety  is 
produced  from  the  several  degrees  of  heat  and  cold,  which 
*^  Hercules  de  Saxonia  will  have  wholly  proceed  from  the 
distemperature  of  spirits  alone,  animal  especially,  and  those 
immaterial,  the  next  and  inmiediate  causes  of  melancholy,  as 
they  are  hot,  cold,  dry,  moist ;  and  from  their  agitation  pro- 
ceeds that  diversity  of  symptomes,  Avhich  he  reckons  up,  in 
the  ^  thirteenth  chapter  of  his  Tract  of  Melancholy,  and  that 
larg-ely  through  every  part.  Others  will  have  them  come  from 
the  divers  adustioa  of  the  four  humours,  which,  in  this  un- 
natural melancholy,  by  corruption  of  blood,  adust  choler  or 
melancholy  natural,  ^by  excessive  distemper  of  heat,  turned,  in 
comparison  of  the  natural,into  asharp  lye  by  force  of  adustiouj 
cause,  according  to  the  diversity  of  their  matter,  diverse  and 
strange  symptomes,  which  T.  Bright  reckons  up  in  his  follow- 
ing chapter.  So  doth  '^Arculanus,  according  to  the  four 
principal  humours  adust,  and  many  others. 

For  example,  if  it  proceeds  from  flegm  (which  is  seldom 
and  not  so  frequent  as  the  rest)  "  it  stirs  up  dull  symptomes, 
and  a  kind  of  stupidity,  or  impassionate  hurt:  they  are 
sleepy,  saith  "^  Savanarola,  dull,  slow,  cold,  blockish,  ass-like, 
asininam  melancholiam,  'Melancthon  calls  it,  they  are  much 
given  to  weeping,  and  delight  in  waters,  ponds,  pools,  rivers, 
fishing,  fowling,  ^-c.    (Arnoldus,  breviar.  J.  cap.  18)  they  are 


»  Humor  frigidns  delirii  caussa,  humor  calidus  faroris.  •>  Multum  refert  qua 

quisque  melancholia  teneatur  ;  hunc  ferveiis  et  accensa  agitat;  ilium  trisHs  et  frigens 
occupat:  hi  timidi,  illi  inverecundi,  intrepidi,  &,c.  <^  Cap.  7.  et  8.  Tract,  de 

Mel.  *•  Signa  melancholise  ex  intemperie  et  agitatione  spirituura  sine 

materia.  eT.  Bright,  cap.  16.  Treat.  Mel.  /P^P-  16.  in  9.  Rhasis. 

S  Bripht.  c.  16.  h  Pract.. major.    Somnians,  piger,  frigidus.  'De 

anim4  cap.  de  humor.     Si  a  phlegmate,  semper  in  aquis  fere  sunt,  et  circa  fluvio$ 
plerant  multum,  Sec 


Mem.  1.  Subs.  3.]     Symptomes  from  the  Stars,  ^c.  285 

"pale  of  colour,  slothful,  apt  to  sleep,  heavy;  ^  much  troubled 
icith  the  head-ach,  continual  meditation,  and  multciing-  to 
themselves;  they  dream  of  waters,  *^  that  they  are  in  danger 
of  drowning,  and  fear  such  things  (Rhasis).  They  are  fatter 
than  others  that  are  melancholy,  of  a  muddy  complexion, 
apter  to  spit,  sleep,  ''more  troubled  with  rheum  than  the  rest, 
and  have  their  eyes  still  fixed  on  the  ground.  Such  a  patient 
had  Hercules  de  Saxonia,  a  widow  in  Venice,  that  was  fat  and 
very  sleepy  still,  Christophorus  a  Vega,  another  affected  in  the 
same  sort.  If  it  be  inveterate  or  violent,  the  symptomes  are 
more  evident,  they  plainly  dote  and  are  ridiculous  to  others,  in 
all  their  gestures,  actions,  speeches:  imagining  impossibilities, 
as  he  in  Christophorus  a  Vega,  that  thought  he  was  a  tun  of 
wine,  ^ and  that  Siennois,  that  resolved  with  himself  not  to 
piss,  for  fear  he  should  drown  all  the  town. 

Jf  it  proceeds  from  blood  adust,  or  that  there  be  a  mixture 
of  blood  in  it,  '^'  such  are  commonly  ruddy  of  complexion,  and 
hiyh-coloured,  according  to  Sallust  Salvianus  and  Hercules 
de  Saxonia;  and,  as  Savanarola,  Vittorius  Faventinus  Empir. 
farther  add,  ^the  veins  of  their  eyes  be  red,  as  well  as  their 
faces.  They  are  much  inclined  to  laughter,  witty  raid  mej ry, 
conceited  in  discourse,  pleasant,  if  they  be  uotfar  gone,  much 
given  to  rausick,  dancing,  and  to  be  in  Momens  company. 
They  meditate  wholly  on  such  things,  and  think  ''  ihei/  see 
or  hear pJaycs,  dancing,  and  such  like  sports  (free  from  a:I  fear 
and  sorrow,  as  'Hercules  de  Saxonia  supposeth)  if  they  be 
more  strongly  possessed  with  this  kind  of  melancholy  (Ar- 
iioldus  adds,  Breviar.  lib.  1.  cap.  18),  like  him  of  Argos,  in 
the  poet,  that  sate  laughing  "^all  day  long,  as  if  he  had  been  at 
a  theatre.  Such  another  is  mentioned  by  '  Aristotle  Hvino-  at 
Abydos,  a  town  of  Asia  Minor,  that  would  sit  after  the  same 
fashion,  as  if  he  had  been  upon  a  stage,  and  sometimes  act 
himself;  now  clap  his  hands,  and  laugh,  as  if  he  had  been  well 
pleased  with  the  sight.  Wolfius  relates  of  a  countrey  fellow, 
called  Brunsellius,  subject  to  this  humour,  "^  ihat  beiny  by 
chance  at  a  sermon,  saw  a  woman  fall  off  from  a  form  half 


"Pigra  nascitur  ex  colore  palliilo  etalho.     Her.  de  Saxon.  bS'avannroIa. 

♦"Mnros  cadere  in  se,  ant  submeigi,  timent,  cmn  torpore  et  se'^nitie,  rt  fliiviivs  aniniit 
tales.  Alexand.  c.  16.  lib.  7.  <i  Semper  fere  dorniit  soiiinolo7ita,  c.  16.  I.  7. 

e  Laureutius.  f  Cap.  6.  de  niel.     Si  a  sangiiiue,  venit  ru'o.  do  oculoiiim  et  faciei, 

plurimus  risua.  S  Vensc  oculorum  snnt  rubric  ;  vide  an  prwcesserit  viui 

et  aromatiim  nsiis,  et  freqiiens  balneum.    Traliian.  lib.  1.  16.  an  prjecesserit  mora  sub 
sole.  li  Ridet  patiens,  .si  a  sanguine  ;  putat  se  videre  choreas,  miisicani  audire, 

judos,  &c.  'Cap.  2.  Tract,  de  Melan.  k  Hor.  ep.  lib.  2.     Qnidam  baud 

i£CnobiIi.s  Argis,  Sec.  l  Lib.  de  reb.  rair.  "'  Cum,  inter  concionnndion,  oiulier 

dormiens  e  subscllio  caderet,  et  omues  reliqui,  qui  id  viderent,   ridertut,  trii)us  post 
diebus,  &c. 


2S6  Symptonies  of' Melancholy.         [Part.  1.  Sec.  3. 

asleep  ;  at  which  object  most  of  the  company  laughed  ;  hut  he, 
for  his  part,  icas  so  much  moved,  that,  for  three  tchole  daies 
after  he  did  nothing  but  laugh  ;  by  ivhich  means  he  was  much 
wi'akned,  and  icorse  a  long  time  following .  Such  a  one  was 
old  Sophocles;  and  Democritus  himself  had  hi  lare  delirium, 
much  iu  this  vein.  Laurentius  (cap.  3.  de  melan.)  thinks  this 
kind  of  melancholy  which  is  a  little  adust  with  some  mixture 
of  blood,  to  be  that  which  Aristotle  meant,  when  he  said 
melancholy  men  of  all  others  are  most  witty,  which  causeth 
many  times  a  divine  ravishment,  and  a  kind  o^ enthusiasmus, 
which  stirreth  them  up  to  be  excellent  philosophers,  poets, 
prophets,  &c.  Mercurialis  (consiL  IJO)  gives  instance  in  a 
young  man  his  patient,  sanguine  melancholy,  ^ofa  great  ivit 
and  excellently  learned. 

If  it  arise  from  choler  adust,  they  are  bold  and  impudent, 
and  of  a  more  hair-brain  disposition,  apt  to  quarrel,  and  think 
of  such  things,  battels,  combats,  and  tneir  manhood ;  furious, 
impatient  in  discourse,  stiff,  irrefragable  and  prodig-ious  in 
their  tenents ;  and,  if  they  be  moved,  most  violent,  outrageous, 
''  ready  to  disgrace,  provoke  any,  to  kill  themselves  and  others; 
Arnoldus  adds,  stark  mad  by  fits;  '^  they  sleep  little,  their 
urine  is  subtle  and Jiery  ;  (Guianerius)  in  their  Jits  you  shall 
hear  them  speak  all  manner  cyf  languages,  Hebrew,  Greek,  and 
Lntine,  that  never  were  taught  or  knew  them  before.  Appo- 
nensis  (?/2  com.  in  Pro.  sec.  30)  speaks  of  a  mad  woman  that 
spake  excellent  good  Latine  ;  and  Rhasis  knew  another,  that 
could  prophesie  in  her  fit,  and  foretel  thing's  truly  to  come. 
''  Guianerius  had  a  patient  could  make  Latine  verses  when  the 
moon  was  combust,  otherwise  illiterate.  Avicennaand  some 
of  his  adherents  will  have  these  symptomes,  when  they  happen, 
to  proceed  from  the  devil,  and  that  they  are  rather  dcetnoniaci^ 
possessed,  tlian  mad  or  melancholy,  or  both  together,  as 
Jason  Pratensis  thinks;  immiscent  se  mali  genii,  SfC.  but  most 
ascribe  it  to  the  humour;  "which  opinion  Montaltus  {cap.2\) 
stifly  maintains,  confuting-  Avicenna  and  the  rest,  referring  it 
wholly  to  the  cjuality  and  disposition  of  the  humour  and  sub- 
ject, Cardan  {dererumvar.  lib.  8.  cap.  10)  holds  these  men, 
of  all  others,  fit  to  be  assassinates,  bold,  hardy,  fierce,  and 
adventurous,  to  undertake  any  thing  by  reason  of  their  choler 
adust.  ^  This  humour,  saith  he,jjrepares  them  to  endure  death 
itself,  and  all  manner  oj' torments,  with  invincible  courage ;  and 


* Jinenis,  et  non  vulgaris  eriiditionis.  b  Si  a  cholera,  furibundi  inierficiunt 

se  et  alios  ;  piitant  se  videre  piignas.  •■  Uiiiia  subtilis  et  iguea  ;  parutn  dormiBnt. 

''Tract.  15.  c.  4.  «  Ad  hapc  perpetranda  furore  rapti  diicuntur  ;  cruciatus  quosvis 

tolerant,  et  mortem  ;  et  furore  exacerbato  ;uiilpiif,  et  ad  supplicia  pluoinilautur  ;  uiirum 
est,  qiiautaiu  habeaut  iu  tornieutis  patieutiaiii. 


Mein.  1.  Subs.  3.]     Symptomesfrom  the  Stars,  ^c.  287 

*th  a  wonder  to  see  with  what  alacrity  they  will  nnderr/o  such 
tortures,  ut  supra  naturam  res  nideatur :  he  ascribes  this  ge- 
nerosity, fury,  or  rather  stupidity,  to  this  adustion  of  choler 
and  melancholy  :  but  I  take  these  rather  to  be  mad  or  des- 
perate, than  properly  melancholy  :  for  commonly  this  humour, 
so  adust  and  hot,  degenerates  into  madness. 

If  it  come  from  melancholy  it  self  adust,  those  men  (saitli 
Avicenna'')  are  usually  sad  and  solitary,  and  that  continualhf, 
and  in  excess,  more  than  ordinary  suspicions,  more  fearful^ 
and  have  long,  sore,  and  most  corrupt  imaginations  ;  cold  and 
black,  bashful,  and  so  solitary,  that  (as  •'Arnold  us  writes)  they 
will  endure  no  company;  they  dream  oj'  graves  still,  and  dead 
men,  and  think  themselves  bewitched  or  dead:  if  it  be  extream, 
they  think  they  hear  hideous  noyses,  see  and  talk  ""with  black 
jnen,  and  converse  familiarly  with  devils  ;  and  such  strange 
chimeras  and  visiojis  (Gordonius),  or  that  they  are  possessed 
by  them,  that  some  body  talks  to  them,  or  within  them.     Tales 
melanchoUci  plerumque  dcsmoniaci  (Montaltus,  consil.  26.  ex 
Avicenna).     Valescus  de  Taranta  had  such  a  woman  in  cure, 
^  that  thought  she  had  to  do  with  the  devil:  and  Gentilis  Ful- 
gosus  (quwst.  55)  writes  that  he  had  a  melancholy  friend,  that 
"^  had  a  black  man  in  the  likeness  of  a  souldier,  still  followino- 
him  M'heresoever  he  was.     Laurentius  (cap.  7)  hath  matiy 
stories  of  such  as  have  thoug-ht  themselves  bewitched  by  their 
enemies;  and  some  that  would  eat  no  meat,  as  being  dead. 
^  Anno  1550,  an  advocate  of  Paris  fell  into  such  a  melancholy 
fit,  that  he  believed  verily  he  was  dead  ;  he  could  not  be  per- 
swaded  otherwise,  or  to  eat  or  drink,  till  a  kinsman  of  his,  a 
scholer  of  Bourges,  did  eat  before  him,  dressed  like  a  corse. 
The  story  (saith  Serres)  Avas  acted  in  a  comedy  before  Charles 
the  Ninth.      Some  think  they  are  beasts,  wolves,  hogs,  and 
Gcry  like  dogs,   foxes,  bray  like  asses,  and  low  like  kine,  as 
king- Prcetus  daughters.  Hildesheim  {spicil.S.  de  Mania)  hath 
an  example  of  a  Dutch  Baron  so  affected ;  and  Trincavellius 
(lib.   1.   consil.  11)  another  of  a  noble  man  in  his  countrey, 
>>  that  thought  he  was  certainly  a  beast,  and  icould  imitate 
most  of  their  voices,  with  many  such  symptomes,  which  may 
properly  be  reduced  to  this  kind. 

If  it  proceed  from  the  several  combinations  of  these  four  hu- 


aTales  plus  caeteris  tinient,  et  continue   trisfantiir;  valde  suspiciosi,  solihiHinem 
riihgiint ;  corniptissimas  liabent  iinaKiiiatioiic.s,  &c.  b  Si  a  melanclioiia  adnsta 

tnstes,  de  sepulchns  somniaiit,  tinient  ne  iasciuentiir,  pntant  se  niortuos,  adspici  nev 
'"°''  "^  Videntiir  sibi  videre  inouachns  nigros  et  daemoues,  (t  suspensos  et 

mortnos.  <l  Quavis  nocte  se  cum  d;enione  coire  putavit.  e  Semper  fere 

vidissp  niilitem  niijruni  pr:Bsenteni.  '  Anthonv  de  Verdeur.  ?  Quidam  inuRitus 

bouni  a^mulantur,  et  pecoi  a  so  putauf ,  ut  Prwii  tilia;.  I'  Baro  quidanj  mugitus 

bourn,  et  rugitus  asiuoniui,  et  alioruiu  auirualiuiu  voces,  tfliugit. 


2S8  Symptomes  of  Melancholy,         [Part.  1.  Sec.  3. 

mours,  or  spirits  (Here,  de  Saxon,  adds  hot,  cold,  dry,  moist, 
dark,  confused,  setled,  constringed,  as  it  participates  of  mat- 
ter, or  is  without  matter),  the  symptomes  are  likewise  mixt. 
One  thinks  himself  a  g"iant,  another  a  dwarf;  one  is  heavy  as 
lead,  another  is  as  light  as  a  feather.  Marcellus  Donatus 
(/.  2.  cap.  41)  makes  mention,  out  of  Seneca,  of  one  Senecio,  a 
rich  man,  ^tliat  thought  himself  and  every  thing  else  he  had, 
great — great  wife,  great  horses  ;  could  not  abide  little  things, 
but  icould  have  great  pots  to  drink  in,  great  hose,  and  great 
shoos  bigger  than  his  feet — like  her  in  ''  Trallianus,  that  sup~ 
posed  she  could  shake  all  the  world  with  her  finger,  and  was 
afraid  to  clinch  her  hand  together,  lest  she  should  crush  the 
world  like  an  apple  in  pieces — or  him  in  Galen,  that  thought 
he  was  "  Atlas,  and  sustained  heaven  with  his  shoulders.  An- 
other thinks  himself  so  little,  that  he  can  creep  into  a  mouse- 
hole  :  one  fears  heaven  will  fall  on  his  head  :  a  second  is  a 
cock  ;  and  such  a  one  '^Guianerius  saith  he  saw  at  Padua,  that 
would  clap  his  hands  together, and  crow.  ^^ Another  thinks  he 
is  a  nightingal,  and  therefore  sings  all  the  night  long;  another, 
he  is  ail  glass,  a  pitcher,  and  will  therefore  let  no  body  come 
near  him;  and  such  a  one  *  Laurentius  gives  out  upon  his 
credit,  that  he  knew  in  France.  Christophorusa  Vega  (c«p.3. 
lih.  14),  Skenkius,  and  Marcellus  Donatus  (/.  2.  cap.  !),  have 
many  such  examples,  and  one,  amongst  the  rest,  of  a  baker  in 
Ferrara,  that  thought  he  was  composed  of  butter,  and  durst 
not  sit  in  the  sun,  or  come  near  the  fire,  for  fear  of  being 
melted ;  of  another  that  thought  he  was  a  case  of  leather, 
stuffed  with  wind.  Some  laugh,  weep;  some  are  mad, some 
dejected,  moped,  in  much  agony,  some  by  fits,  others  con- 
tinuate,  &c.  Some  have  a  corrupt  ear  (they  think  they  hear 
musick,  or  some  hideous  noise,  as  their  phantasie  conceives), 
corrupt  eyes,  some  smelling-,  some  one  sense,  some  another, 
s  Lewis  the  eleventh  had  a  conceitevery  thing  did  stink  about 
him  :  all  the  odoriferous  perfumes  they  could  ^eX,  would  not 
ease  him  ;  but  still  he  smelled  a  filthy  stink.  A  melancholy 
French  poet,  in  ''Laurentius,  being  sickof  a  fever,andtioubled 
with  waking,  by  his  physicians  was  appointed  to  use  unguen- 
tum  populenni  to  anoint  his  temples;  but  he  so  distasted  the 
smell  of  it,  that,  for  many  years  after,  all  that  came  near  him 
he  imagined  to  scent  of  it,  and  would  let  no  man  talk  with  him 


=>  Omnia  raagna  putabat,  uxorem  niagnam,  grandes  equos ;  abhorruit  omnia  i)arva ; 
magna  pocula,  et  calceamenta  pedibus  majora.  ''Lib.  1.  cap.  16.  Piitavit  se 

uno  digito  posse  totiim  mundiim  conterere.  •"  Sustinet  humeris  ccehim  cum 

Atlante.     Alii  coeli  ruinam  timent.  ^  Cap.  1.  Tract.  15.  Alius  se  gallum  pntat, 

alius  lusciniam.  eXrallianus.  fCap.  7.  de  mel.  g  Anthony  de  Verdeur. 

*  Cap.  7.  de  mel. 


Mem.  1.  Subs.  4.]      Symptomesfrom  Custome.  289 

but  aloof  off,  or  wear  any  new  clothes,  because  bethought  still 
they  smelled  of  it;  in  all  other  things  wise  and  discreet,  he 
Avould  talk  sensibly,  save  only  in  this.  A  g-entleman  in  Ly- 
mosen  (saith  Anthony  Verdeur),  Avas  persuaded  he  had  but 
one  legg :  affrighted  by  a  wild  boar,  that  by  chance  stroke  him 
on  the  legg,  he  could  not  be  satisfied  his  legg  was  sound  (iu 
all  other  things  well)  until  two  Franciscans,  by  chance  coming' 
that  wiiy,  fully  removed  him  from  the  conceipt.  Sed  abunde 
J'abularum  audivimus. 


SUBSECT.  IV. 

Si/mptomes  Jrom  education^  ciistomes,  continuance  of  time,  our 
conditioiiy  viixt  with  other  diseases,  by  Jits,  inclination,  Sfc. 

i\NOTHER  great  occasion  of  the  variety  of  these  symptomes 
proceeds  from  custom,  discipline,  education,  and  several  in- 
clinations. ''This  humour  will  imprint  in  melancholy  men 
the  objects  most  answerable  to  their  condition  of  life,  and  ordi- 
uary  actions,  and  dispose  men  according  to  their  several  studies 
and  callings.  If  an  ambitious  man  become  melancholy,  he 
forthwith  thinks  he  is  a  king,  an  emperour,  a  monarch,  and 
walks  alone,  pleasing  himself  with  a  vain  hope  of  some  future 
preferment,  or  present,  as  he  supposeth,  and  withal  acts  a 
lords  part,  takes  upon  him  to  be  some  statesman,  or  magnifico, 
makes  congies,  gives  entertainments,  looks  big,  &c.  Francisco 
Sansovinorecordsof  a  melancholy  man  in  Cremona,  that  would 
not  be  induced  to  believe,  but  that  he  was  pope,  gave  pardons, 
made  cardinals,  &c.  ^  Chistophorus  a  Vega  makes  mention 
of  another  of  his  acquaintance,  that  thought  he  was  a  kin<»- 
driven  from  his  kingdom,  and  was  very  anxious  to  recover 
his  estate.  A  covetous  person  is  still  conversant  about  pur- 
chasing of  lands  and  tenements,  plottingin  in  his  mind  how  to 
compass  such  and  such  mannors,  as  if  he  were  already  lord  of, 
and  able  to  go  through  with  it ;  all  he  sees  is  his,  re  or  spe  ; 
he  hath  devoured  it  in  hope,  or  else  in  conceit  esteems  it  his 
own  ;  like  him  in  "  Athena3us,  that  thought  all  the  ships  in 
the  haven  to  be  his  own.  A  lascivious  ?«flworrt/o  plots  all  the 
day  long  to  please  his  mistriss,  acts  and  struts,  and  carries 
himself,  as  if  she  were  in  presence,  still  dreaming  of  her,  as 
Pamphilus  of  his  Glycerium,  or  as  some  do  in  their  morning 


»  Laiirentiiis,  rap.  6.  •'Lih.  3.  cap.  14.  Qui  se  rte:pni  piitavit  rpRno  expnlanm. 

•  Dipnosopliist.  lib.    Thrasylaiispntaiit  omnes  uaves  in  i'iraeiiiu  portuiu  appelleutes 
siias  esse. 


srO  Symptomes  of' MelancUoty .      [Part.  J.  Sec.  3. 

sleep,  ^Marcellus  Donatus  knew  such  a  gentlewoman  in 
Mantua,  called  Elionora  Meliorina,  that  constantly  believed 
she  was  married  to  a  king,  and  ^  would  kneel  down  and  talk 
with  him,  as  if  he  had  been  there  present  with  his  associates ; 
and  if  she  had  found  by  chance  a  piece  of  glass  in  a  muck-hill 
or  in  the  street,  she  would  say  that  it  was  a  Jewell  sent  from 
her  lord  and  husband.  If  devout  and  religious,  he  is  all  for 
fasting-,  prayer,  ceremonies,  alms,  interpretations,  visions,  pro- 
phecies, revelations;  '^he  is  inspired  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  full 
of  the  spirit ;  one  while  he  is  saved,  another  while  damned,  or 
still  troubled  in  mind  for  his  sins;  the  devil  will  surely  have 
him,  &c.  3Iore  of  these  in  the  third  partition  of  love  melan- 
choly. ^  A  scholars  mind  is  busied  about  his  studies  ;  he  ap- 
plauds himself  for  that  he  hath  done,  or  hopes  to  do,  one 
while  fearing  to  be  out  in  his  next  exercise,  another  while 
contemning  all  censures  ;  envies  one,  emulates  another  ;  or 
else,  with  indefatigable  pains  and  meditation,  consumes  him- 
self. So  of  the  rest,  all  which  vary  according  to  the  more 
remiss  and  violent  impression  of  the  object,  or  as  the  humour 
it  self  is  intended  or  remitted  :  for  some  are  so  gently  melan- 
choly, that,  in  all  their  carriage,  and  to  the  outward  appre- 
hension of  others,  it  can  hardly  be  discerned,  yet  to  them  an 
intolerable  burden,  and  not  to  be  endured.  "^  Qiucdamocculta, 
(jnccdam  manifesta;  some  signs  are  manifest  and  obvious  to 
all  at  all  times,  some  to  few,  or  seldom,  or  hardly  perceived: 
let  them  keep  their  own  counsel,  none  will  take  notice  or 
suspect  them.  They  do  not  express  in  outward  shew  their 
depraved  imaginations  (as  '^  Hercules  de  Saxonia  observes), 
hut  conceal  them  ivholly  to  themselves,  and  are  very  icise  men, 
as  I  have  often  seen  :  some  fear  ;  some  do  not  fear  at  all,  as 
such  as  think  themselves  kings  or  dead;  some  havemore  signs, 
some  fewer,  some  great,  some  less;  some  vex,  fret,  still  fear, 
grieve,  lament,  suspect,  laugh,  sing,  weep,  chafe,  &c.  by  fits 
(as  I  have  said),  or  more  during  and  permanent.  Some  dote 
in  one  thing,  are  most  childish,  and  ridiculous,  and  to  be 
wondered  at  in  that,  and  yet,  for  all  other  matters,  most  dis- 
creet and  wise.  To  some  it  is  in  disposition,  to  another  irt 
habit;  and,  as  they  write  of  heat  and  cold,  we  may  say  of  this 
humour,  one  is  melancholicus  ad  octo,  a  second  two  degrees 
less,  a  third  half  way.   'Tis  super-particular,  sesquialtera,  ses- 


aDe  hist.  Med.  mirab.  lib.  2.  cap.  1.  i-Genibus  flexis  loqiii  cum  illo  voluit, 

et  adstare  jam  tum  putavit,  &c.  «  Gordonius.    Quod  sit  propbeta,  ef  inflatus  a 

Spiritu  Sancto.  ^  Qui  forensibus  caussis  insudat,  nil  nisi  arresta  cogitat,  et 

supplices  libellos  ;  alius  non  nisi  versus  facit.     P.  Forestus.  «  Gordonius. 

1  Verbo  non  exprimunt,necopere,sedalta  menfe  recondunt;  et  sunt  viri  prudentissimi, 
quos  ego  saepe  novi ;  cum  multi  sint  .sine  (imore,  tit  qui  se  reges  et  mortuosputant ; 
pluj'a  signa  c^uidam  habeut,  pauciora,  majora,  minora. 


Mem.  1.  Subs.  4.]      Sjpnptomes  from  Custome.  291 

qititertia, ^nd  superhipartiens  tertias,  quintas  melancholic^,  Src 
all  those  geometrical  proportions  are  too  little  to  express  it. 
""It  comes  to  mnni/  by  Jits,  and  goes  ;  to  others  it  is  continuate: 
many  (saith  *"  Faventiniis)  in  spring  and  fall  only  are  molested; 
some  once  a  year,  as  that  Roman,  "^  Galen  speaks  of;  '^  one, 
at  the  conjunction  of  the  moon  alone,  or  some  unfortunate 
aspects,  at  such  and  such  set  hours  and  times,  like  the  sea- 
tides  ;  to  some  women  when  they  be  with  child,  as  '^  Plater 
notes,  never  otherwise  ;  to  others  'tis  setled  and  fixed  :  to  one 
led  about  and  variable  still  by  that  ignis  J'atuns  of  phantasie, 
like  an  arthritis,  or  running  gout,  'tis  here  and  there,  and  in 
every  joint,  always  molesting  some  part  or  other;  or  if  the 
body  be  free,  in  a  myriad  of  forms  exercising  the  mind.  A 
second,  once  peradventure  in  his  life,  hath  a  most  grievous  fit, 
once  in  seven  years,  once  in  five  years,  even  to  the  extremity 
of  madness,  death,  or  dotage,  and  that  upon  some  feral  acci- 
dent or  perturbation,  terrible  object,  and  that  for  a  time,  never 
perhaps  so  before,  never  after.  A  third  is  moved  upon  all 
such  troublesome  objects,  cross  fortune,  disaster,  and  violent 
passions,  otherwise  free,  once  troubled  in  three  or  four  years. 
A  fouith,  if  things  be  to  his  mind,  or  he  in  action,  well  pleased 
in  good  company,  is  most  jocund,  and  of  a  good  complexion; 
if  idle,  or  alone,  a  la  mart,  or  carried  away  wljolly  Avith 
pleasant  dreams  and  phantasies,  but  if  once  crossed  and  dis- 
pleased, 

Pectore  concipiet  nil  nisi  triste  sue  : 

bis  countenance  is  altered  on  a  sudden,  his  heart  heavy;  irk- 
some thoughts  crucifie  his  soul,  and  in  an  instant  he  is  moped 
or  weary  of  his  life,  he  will  kill  himself.  A  fifth  complains  in 
his  youth,  a  sixth  in  his  middle  age,  the  last  in  his  old  age. 

Generally  thus  much  we  may  conclude  of  melancholy — that 
it  is  *  most  pleasant  at  first,  I  say,  mentis  yratissitmis  error,  a 
most  delightsomehumour,  to  be  alone,  dwell  alone,  walk  alone, 
meditate,  lye  in  bed  whole  dayes,  dreaming  awake  as  it  were, 
and  frame  a  thousand  phantastical  imaginations  unto  them- 
selves. They  are  never  better  pleased  than  when  they  are  so 
doing:  they  are  in  Paradise  for  the  time,  and  cannot  well  en- 
dure to  be  interrupt;  with  him  in  the  poet, 


Non  servastis,  ait- 


-^  pol !  me  occidistis,  amici, 


you  have  undone  him,  he  complains,  if  you  trouble  him:  tell 

^Trallianus,  lib.  1.16.  Alii  intenalla qiiibdan]  habent,  ut etiain  consiieta adnuDistreiif ; 
alii  in  continuo  delirio  -sunt,  &c.  "jPrag  mag.  Vere  tantuiii  et  niitiiniDO,  c  l^jl,. 

»le  htinioribus.  ''  Guianeriiis.  «  De  mentis  alienat.  cap.  3.  fLevinus 

Leranius;  Jason  Pratensis.     Blauda  ab  initio.  »  Hor. 


292  Symptomes  of  Melancholy.       [Part.  1.  Sec.  3. 

him  what  inconvenience  will  follow,  what  will  be  the  event; 
all  is  one  ;  cams  ad  vomitiim  :  ^  'tis  so  pleasant,  he  cannot  re- 
frain. He  may  thus  continue  peradventure  many  years  by 
reason  of  a  strong'  temperature,  or  some  mixture  of  business, 
which  may  divert  his  cogitations:  but,  at  the  last,  Icesa  ima- 
{^iiiatio,  his  phantasie  is  crazed,  and,  now  habituated  to  such 
toyes,  cannot  but  work  still  like  a  fate;  the  scene  altersupona 
sudden;  fear  and  sorrow  supplant  those  pleasing-  thoughts; 
suspicion,  discontent,  and  perpetual  anxiety  succeed  in  their 
places ;  so  by  little  and  little,  by  that  shooing--horn  of  idle- 
ness, and  voluntary  solitariness,  Melancholy,  this  feral  fiend, 
is  drawn  on ;  and 

^  Quantum  vertice  ad  auras 
^thereas,  tantum  radice  in  Tartara  tendit : 

it  was  not  so  delicious  at  first,  as  it  is  now  bitter  and  harsh  :  a 
cankered  soul  macerated  with  cares  and  discontents,  tcedinvi 
vitcE,  impatience,  agony,  inconstancy,  irresolution,  precipitate 
them  unto  unspeakable  miseries.  They  cannot  endure  com- 
pany, light, or  life  it  self, some;  unfit  for  action,  and  the  like. 
=  Their  bodies  are  lean  and  dryed  up,  withered,  ugly,  their 
looks  harsh,  very  dull,  and  their  souls  tormented,  as  they  are 
more  or  less  intangled,  as  the  humour  hath  been  intended,  or 
according  to  the  continuance  of  time  they  have  been  troubled. 
To  discern  all  which  symptomes  the  better,  "^  Rhasis  the 
Arabian  makes  three  degrees  of  them.  The  first  is  ^  falsa  co- 
qitatio,  false  conceits  and  idle  thoughts ;  to  misconstrue  and 
amplifie,  aggravating-  every  thing  they  conceive  or  fear:  the 
second  i^,falsa  cogitata  loqui,  to  talk  to  themselves,  or  to  use 
inarticulate,  incondite  voices,  speeches,  obsolete  gestures,  and 
plainly  to  utter  their  minds  and  conceits  of  their  hearts  by 
their  words  and  actions,  as  to  laugh,  weep,  to  be  silent,  not  to 
sleep,  eat  their  meat,  &c.  the  third  is  to  put  in  practice  that 
which  they  think  or  speak.  Savanarola  (Rnh.  11.  tract.  8. 
cap.  1.  de  cerjr Undine)  confirms  as  much:  ^when  he  begins  to 
express  that  in  loords,  ichich  he  conceives  in  his  heart,  or  talks 
idly,  or  goes  from  one  thing  to  another  (which  "  Gordonius 
calls  nee  caput  habentia,  nee  eaudam),  he  is  in  the  middle  way: 
^but,  ichen  he  begins  to  act  it  likeivise,  and  to  put  his  fopperies 
in  execution,  he  is  then  in  the  extent  of  melancholy  or  madness 

*  Facilis  descensus  Averni.         b  Virg.  <^  Corpus  cadaverostim.  Psa.  G7.  Carioaa 

est  facies  mea  prse  acrritudine  aninia3.  d  Lib.  9.  ad  Alniansorem.  «Practica. 

rnajore.  'Qiiuni  ore  lo(iiiitur  quae  corde  concepit,  qnuni  subito  de  una  re  ad 

aliud  transit,  neque  rationein  de  aliquo  reddit,  tunc  est  in  medio  :  at  quum  incipit  ope- 
rari  quaj  loquitur,  in  summo  graduest.  sCap.  19.  Partic.  2.    Loquitur  secum,  et 

ad  alios,  ac  si  vere  praesentes.  Aug.  c.  IL  lib.  de  curapro  tnortuis  gerenda.  Rhasis. 
hQuum  res  ad  hoc  devenit,  ut  ea,  quae  cogitare  coeperit,  ore  proniat,  atque  acta  per- 
jnisceat,  turn  perfecta  melanoholia  est. 


Mem.  1.  Subs.  4.]        Symptomes  from  Custome.  293 

it  self.  This  progress  of  melancholy  you  shall  easily  observe 
in  them  that  have  been  so  affected  :  they  go  smilino-  to  them- 
selves at  first,  at  length  they  laugh  out ;  at  first  solitary,  at  last 
they  can  endure  no  company :  or,  if  they  do,  they  are  now 
dizards,  past  sense  and  shame,  quite  moped  ;  they  care  not 
what  they  say  or  do  ;  all  their  actions,  words,  gestures  are 
furious  or  ridiculous.  At  first  his  mind  is  troubled  ;  he  doth 
not  attend  what  is  said ;  if  you  can  tell  him  a  tale,  he  cryes  at 
last,  what  said  you?  but  in  the  end  he  mutters  to  himself,  as 
old  Avomen  do  many  times,  or  old  men  when  they  sit  alone  ; 
upon  a  sudden  they  laugh,  whoop,  hollow,  or  run  away,  and 
swear  they  see  or  hear  players,  ^devils,  hobgoblins,  ghosts  ; 
strike,  or  strut,  &c.  grow  humorous  in  the  end.  Like  him  in 
the  poet — sccpe  ducefitos,scepedecemservos — he  will  dress  him- 
self, and  undress,  careless  at  last,  grows  insensible,  stupid,  or 
mad.  ^  He  howls  like  a  woolf,  barks  like  a  dog,  and  raves  like 
Ajax  and  Orestes,  hears  musick  and  outcryes,  which  no  man 
else  hears  ;  as'^he  did  whom  Amatus  Lusitanus  mentioneth 
{cent.  3.  citra  55),  or  that  woman  in '^Springer,  that  spake 
many  languages,  and  said  she  was  possessed ;  that  farmer,  in 
« Prosper  Calenus,  that  disputed  and  discoursed  learnedly  in 
philosophy  and  astronomy,  with  Alexander  Achilles  his  master, 
at  Boloigne  in  Italy.      But  of  these  I  have  already  spoken. 

VV  ho  can  sufficiently  speak  of  these  symptomes,  or  prescribe 
rules  to  comprehend  them  ?  As  Echo  to  the  painter  in  Auso- 
nius,  vane,  quid  affectas,  ^c.  foolish  fellow,  what  wilt?  if  you 
must  needs  paint  me,  paint  a  voice,  et  similem  si  vis  pin(/ere 
pinge  sonum:  if  you  will  describe  melancholy,  describe  a  phan- 
tastical  conceit,  a  corrupt  imagination,  vain  thoughts  and  dif- 
ferent; which  who  can  do  ?  The  four  and  twentyletters  make 
no  more  variety  of  words  in  divers  languages,  than  melancholy 
conceits  produce  diversity  of  symptomes  in  several  persons. 
They  are  irreg-ular,  obscure,  various,  so  infinite,  Proteus  him- 
self is  not  fio  divers  ;  you  may  as  well  make  the  moon  a  new 
coat,  as  a  true  character  of  a  melancholy  man;  as  soon  find 
the  motion  of  a  bird  in  the  air,  as  the  heart  of  man,  a  melan- 
choly man.  They  are  so  confused,  I  say,  divers,  intermixt 
with  other  diseases — as  the  species  be  confounded,  (which  '  I 
have  shewed)  so  are  the  symptomes ;  sometimes  with  head- 
ach,  cachexia,  dropsie,  stone  (as  you  may  perceive  by  those 
several  examples  and  illustrations,  collected  by  sHildesheim 
spicil.  2.  Mercurialis,  consil.  118.  cap.  6.  et  11),  with  head-ach| 

a  Melancholic  us  se  videre  et  audire  putat  daitnones.      Lavater,  de  spectris  par.  3 
cap.  2.  b  VVieriis,  1.  3.  c.  31.  <;  Michael,  a  musician.  ''Malleo  malJf 

•■  Lib.  de  atra  bile.  f  Part.  1.  Subs.  2.  Memb.  2.  s  De  delirio,  melancholia' 

et  mama.  ' 


294  Symptomes  of  Melancholy.        [Part.  1.  Sfec.  3. 

epilepsia,  priapismus(Trmcavellius, corm/.  12.  lib.l.consil,39} 
with  gout,  caninus  appeiitus  (Montanus,  const/.  26.  ^c.  23.  234. 
249),  with  falling--sickness,  head-ach,  vertigo,  lycanthropia, 
&c.  (.J.  Caesar  Claudiniis,  consult.  4.  consult.  80.  et  IIC)  M'ith 
gout,  agues,  heraroids,  stone,  &c.  Who  can  distinguish  these 
melancholy  symptomes  so  intermixt  with  others,  or  apply 
them  to  their  several  kinds,  confine  them  into  method  ?  'Tis 
hard,  I  confess  ;  yet  I  have  disposed  of  them  as  J  could,  and 
will  descend  to  particularize  them  according  to  their  species: 
for  hitherto  I  have  expatiated  in  more  general  lists  or  terms, 
speaking  promiscuously  of  such  ordinary  signs,  which  occur 
amongst  writers.  Not  that  they  are  all  to  be  found  in  one 
man  ;  for  that  were  to  paint  a  monster  or  chimera,  not  a  man  ; 
but  some  in  one,  some  in  another,  and  that  successively  or  at 
several  times. 

Which  I  have  been  the  more  curious  to  express  and  report, 
not  to  upbraid  any  miserable  man,  or  by  way  of  derision  (I 
rather  pity  them),  but  the  better  to  discern,  to  apply  remedies 
unto  them ;  and  to  shew  that  the  best  and  soundest  of  us  all  is 
in  great  danger  ;  how  much  we  ought  to  fear  our  own  fickle 
estates,  remember  our  miseries  and  vanities,  examine  and  hu- 
miliate our  selves,  seek  to  God,  and  call  to  him  for  mercy, 
that  needs  not  look  for  any  rods  to  scourge  our  selves,  since 
we  carry  them  in  our  bowels,  and  that  our  souls  are  in  a  mi- 
serable captivity,  if  the  light  of  grace  and  heavenly  truth  doth 
not  shine  continually  upon  us ;  and  by  our  discretion  to  mo- 
derate our  selves,  to  be  more  circumspect  and  wary  in  the 
midst  of  these  dangers. 


MEMB.II.    SUBSECT.  I. 

Symptomes  oj"  Head-Melancholy. 

If  ^  wo  symptomes  appear  about  the  stomach,  nor  the  blood  be 
misaffected,  andj'ear  and  sorrow  continue,  it  is  to  be  thought 
the  brain  it  self' is  troubled,  by  reason  of  a  melancholy  juyce 
bred  in  it,  or  otherumyes  conveyed  into  it;  and  that  evil  Juyce 
isj'rom  the  distemper ature  oj"  the  part,  or  left  after  some  in- 
Jlammation.  Thus  far  Piso.  But  this  is  not  alwayes  true  ; 
for  blood  and  hypochondries  both  are  often  affected  even  in 
head-melancholy.  ''Hercules  de  Saxonia  differs  here  from 
the  common  current  of  writers,  putting-  peculiar  signs  of  head- 

aNicholas  PIso.      Si  signa  circa  ventriculum  non  apparent,  nee  sanguis  male  affec- 
tus,  et  adsunt  timor  et  inoestitia,  cerebrum  ipsum  existiniandum  est,  &c.  ^' Tract. 

dp  mel.  c.  13,  &c.    Ex  jnteniperie  spirituiim,  et  cerebri  motii  et  tenebrositate. 


Mem.  2,  Subs,  1.]     Symptomes  of  Head-Melancholy .        295 

melanchol}',  from  the  sole  disfemperature  of  spirits  in  the 
brain,  as  they  are  hot,  cold,  dry,  moist,  all  whiiovt  matter, 
Jiom  the  motion  alone,  and  tenehrosity  of  spirits.  Of  melan- 
choly which  proceeds  from  humours  by  adustion,  he  treats 
apart,  with  their  several  symptomes  and  cures.  The  common 
sig-ns,  if  it  be  by  essence  in  the  head,  are  rndduiessofj'ace,  hir/h 
sanguine  complexion,  most  part,  (rubore  saturato,  ''one  calls  it)  a 
blewish,  and  sometimes  full  of  pumples,  with  red  eyes.  ( Avi- 
cenna,  /.  3.  Fen.  2.  Tract.  4.  e.  IJS.  Duretus,  and  others  out 
of  Galen  de  affect.  I.  3.  c.  6).  ^  Hercules  de  Saxonia,  to  this 
of  redness  efface,  adds  heaviness  of  the  head,  fixed  and  hollow 
eyes.  ''If  it  proceed  from  dryness  of  the  brain,  then  their 
heads  will  be  liyht,  vertiyinons,  and  they  most  apt  to  wake,  and 
to  continne  whole  months  together  without  sleep.  Few  excrc~ 
ments  in  their  eyes  and  nostrils ;  and  often  bald  by  reason  of 
excess  of  dryness,  Montaltus  adds(c.  17).  If  it  proceeds  from 
moisture,  dulness,  drowsiness,  head-ach  follows ;  and  (as 
Sallust.  Salviauus,  c.  1.  /.  2- out  of  his  own  experience  found) 
epileptical,  with  a  multitude  of  humours  in  the  head.  They 
are  very  bashful,  if  ruddy,  apt  to  l)lush,  and  to  be  red  upou 
all  occasions,  prcesertim  si  tnetus  accesserit.  But  the  chiefest 
symptome  to  discern  this  species,  as  I  have  said,  is  this,  that 
there  be  no  notable  signs  in  the  stomach,  hypochondries,  or 
elsewhere,  diyna,  as  '^  Montaltus  terms  them,  or  of  greater 
note,  because  oftentimes  the  passions  of  the  stomach  concurr 
with  them.  Wind  is  common  to  all  three  species,  and  is  not 
excluded,  only  that  of  the  hypochondries  is  ^  more  windy  than 
the  rest,  saith  Hollerius.  Aetius  (tetrab.  l.'2.  se.  2  c.9.  et  10) 
maintains  the  same :  'ifthere  be  more  signs,  and  more  evident,  in 
the  head  than  elsewhere,  the  brain  is  primarily  aftected,and  pre- 
scribes head-melancholy  to  be  cured  by  meats  (amongst  the  rest) 
void  of  wind,  and  good  juyce,  not  excluding-  wind,  or  corrupt 
blood,  even  in  head-melancholy  itself;  but  these  species  are 
often  confounded,  and  so  are  their  symptomes,  as  1  have  already 
proved.  The  symptomes  of  the  mind  are  suj)erfluous  and  con- 
tinual cogitations  ;  ^for,  when  the  head  is  heated,  it  scorcheth 


a  Facie  sunt  nibente  et  livescente,  qiiibiis  etiam  aliquando  adsunt  pustiila;.  b  Jo. 

Pantheon,  cap.  de  Mel,  Si  cerebrum  primario  afficiatiir,  adsiint  capitis  Rravitas,  fixi 
oculi,  &c.  c  Laurent,  cap.  5.  Si  a  cerebro,  ex  siccitate,  tnm  capitis  erit  levitas,  sitis, 
vigilia,  pancitas  supertluitatum  in  ociilis  et  paribus  (^Si  nulla  dipna  l<vsio  ventri- 

culo,  qnoniam,  in  liac  melancholia  capitis,  eiigna  nonnunquatn  ventriculi  pathemata 
coeunt :  duo  enim  hrec  membra  sibi  invicem  aft'ectionem  transmittunt.  «  Postreraa 

tnagis  flatuosa.  fSi  minus  niolestiie  circa  ventriculum  autventrem,  in  iiscerebriim 

primario  afficifur;  et  curare  oportet  hunc  aft'ectnm,  per  cibos  flatus  exsortes,  et  bonse 
concoctionis,  itc.  raro  cerebrum  afficitur  sine  ventriculo.  eSauguinem  adurit  ca- 

put calidius  ;  et  inde  fumi  nielancholici  adusti  animum  exagitaoL 

VOL.    I.  E  E 


296  Symptomes  of  Melancholy.         [Part.  1.  Sec.  3. 

the  blood;  and  from  thence  proceed  melancholy  fumes,  which 
trouble  the  wiwrf(Avicenna) .  They  are  very  cho]erick,and  soon 
Lot,  solitary,  sad, often  silent,  watchful,  discontent  (ilfow^a/^?/^, 
cap.  24).  If  any  thing-  trouble  them,  they  cannot  sleep,  but 
fret  themselves  still,  till  another  object  niitigate,  or  time  wear 
it  out.  They  have  grievous  passions,  and  immoderate  per- 
turbations of  the  mind,  fear,  sorrow,  &c.  yet  not  so  continu- 
ate,  but  that  they  are  sometimes  merry,  apt  to  profuse  laughter 
{which  is  more  to  be  wondered  at),  and  that  by  the  authority 
of '^  Galen  himself,  by  a  reason  of  mixture  of  blood;  prcerubri 
jocosis  delectantur,  et  irrisores  plerumgue  sunt:  if  they  be 
ruddy,  they  are  delighted  in  jests,  and  oftentimes  scoffers 
themselves,  conceited,  and  (as  Rodericus  a  Vega  comments 
on  that  place  of  Galen)  merry,  witty,  of  a  pleasant  disposition, 
and  yet  grievously  melancholy  anon  after.  Omnia  discunt 
sine  doctore,  saith  Aretaeus :  they  learn  without  a  teacher  ; 
and,  as  ^  Laurentius  supposeth,  those  feral  passions  and 
symptomes  of  such  as  think  themselves  glass,  pitchers,  fea- 
thers, &c.  speak  strange  languages,  proceed  a  calore  cerebri 
(if  it  be  in  excess),  from  the  brains  distempered  heat. 


SUBSECT.  II. 

Symptomes  of  windy  Hypochondriacal  Melancholy. 

IN  this  hypochondriacal  or  fatuous  melancholy^  the  symptomes 
are  so  ambif/uous,  (saith  ^  Crato,  in  a  counsel  of  his  for  a  noble- 
woman) that  the  jnost  excpdsite physicians  cannot  determine  of 
the  part  affected.  Matthew  Flaccias,  consulted  about  a  noble 
matron,  confessed  as  much,  that  in  this  malady,  he,  withHol- 
Ierius,Fracastorius,Falopius,andothers,being■tog•ivetheirsen- 
tenceofapartylabouring■ofhypochondriacalmelancholy,could 
not  find  out  by  the  symptomes,  which  part  was  most  especially 
affected  :  some  said  the  womb,  some  heart,  some  stomach,  &c, 
and  therefore  Crato  (consil-  24.  lib.  1)  boldly  avers,  that,  in  this 
diversityofsymptomeswhichcommonlyaccompany  this  disease 
•^  wo  physician  can  truly  say  what  part  is  affected.  Galen  (lib.  3. 
deloc.  affect.)  reckons  up  these  ordinary  symptomes  (which  all 
the  neotericks  repeat)  out  of  Diodes;  only  this  fault  he  finds  with 
him,  that  he  puts  not^mr  and  sorrow  amongst  the  other  signs. 

=>  Lib.  de  loc.  affect,  cap.  6.  ^Cap.6.  f^Hildesheim,  spicil.  1.  de  inel.   In 

hypochondriaca  melancholia,  adeo  ainbigua  sunt  symptomata,  ut  eliani  eserGitatissimi 
medici  deloco  affecto  statuere  non  possiat.  ii  Medici  de  loco  afl'ecto  nequeunt 

statuere. 


Mem.  2.  Subs.  2.]     Symptomes  of  windy  Melancholy.       297 

TrincavelliiJs  excuseth  Diodes  {Uh.  3.  consil.  35),  because  that 
oftentimes,  iu  a  stron*^  head  and  constitution,  a  generous  spirit, 
and  a  valiant,  these  symptomes  appear  not,  by  reason  of  his 
valour  and  courage.  ''Hercules  de  Saxonia(to  whom  I  sub- 
scribe) is  of  the  same  mind  (which  I  have  before  touched)  that 
J'ear  and  sorroiv  are  not  generally  symptomes  ;  some  fear,  and 
are  not  sad ;  some  be  sad,  and  fear  not ;  some  neither  fear  nor 
grieve.  The  rest  are  these,  beside  fear  and  sorrow,  ^  sharp 
belchinr/s,  J'ulsome  crudities^  heat  in  the  bowels^  wind  and 
rumbling  in  the  guts,  vehement  gripings,  pain  in  the  belly  and 
stomach  sometimes,  aj'ter  meat  that  is  hard  of  concoction, 
much  watering  of  the  stomach,  and  moist  spittle,  cold  sweat, 
importunus  sudor,  unseasonable  sweat  all  over  the  body,  (as 
Octavius  Horatianus,  lib.  2.  cap.  5.  calls  it)  cold  joynts,  in- 
digestions;  ^  they  cannot  endure  their  own  fulsome  belching  s; 
continual  wind  about  their  hypochondries,  heat  and  griping  in 
their  bowels ;  prsecordia  sursum  convelluntur,  midriff,  and 
bowels  are  pulled  up  ;  the  veins  about  their  eyes  look  red,  and 
swell  from  vapours  and  wind.  Their  ears  sing  now  and  then ; 
vertigo  and  giddiness  come  by  fits,  turbulent  dreams,  dri- 
ness,  leanness ;  apt  they  are  to  sweat  upon  all  occasions,  of  all 
colours  and  complexions.  Many  of  them  are  high  coloured, 
especially  after  meals ;  which  symptome  Cardinal  Csesius  was 
much  troubled  with,  and  of  which  he  complained  to  Prosper 
Calenus  his  physician,  he  could  not  eat,  or  drink  a  cup  of 
wine,  but  he  was  as  red  in  the  face,  as  if  he  had  been  at  a 
maiors  feast.  That  symptome  alone  vexeth  many.  '^  Some 
again  are  black,  pale,  ruddy  ;  sometime  their  shoulders  and 
shoulder-blades  ake  :  there  is  a  leaping  all  over  their  bodies, 
sudden  trembling,  a  palpitation  of  the  heart,and  that  cardiaca 
passio,  grief  in  the  mouth  of  the  stomach,  which  maketh  the 
patient  think  his  heart  itself  aketh,  and  sometimes  suffocation, 
dijfieulias  anhelitus,  short  breath,  hard  wind,  strong  pulse, 
swooning.  Montanus  {consil.  55),Trincavellius(/z7>.  3.  consil. 
36.  et.  37),  Fernelius  (cons.  43),  Frambesarius  {c&usult.  lib.l. 
consil.  17),  Hildesheim,  Claudinus,  &c.  give  instance  of  every 
particular.  The  peculiar  symptomes,  which  properly  belong  to 
each  part,  be  these.      If  it  proceed  from  the  stomach,  saith 


» Tract.  poHttuuo  de  rael.  Patavii  edit.  16'i0.  per  Bozettum  Bibliop.  cap.  2. 
bAcidi  ructus,  criiditates,  ajstus  in  prascordiis,  flatus,  interdnm  ventriculi  dolores  ve- 
hementes,  siinitoqiie  cibo  concoclu  diflicili,  sputum  huiuidum  idque  multuui  .seqnetur, 
8cc.  Hip.  ]ib.  de  iiiel.  Galeuus/Melanelius  e  Ruflb  et  Aetio,  Altoinnrus,  Piso,  Mon- 
tallus,  Bruel,  W'ecker,  &c.  <=  Circa  prascordia  de  assidua  inllatione  que- 

runtur  ;  et  cum,  sudore  totius  corporis  importune,  frigidos  articulos  sa>pe  patiuntnr,  indi- 
ge«tione  laborant,  ructus  sues  insuaves  perhorrescunt,  viscerum  dolores  habent 
«i  Montaltus,  c.  13.  Wecker,  Fuchsias,  c.  13.  Altomarus,  c.  7.  Laurentius,  c.  73. 
Bruel,  Cordou. 

E  E  2 


298  Symptomes  of  Melancholy.       [Part.  1.  Sec.  3. 

*  Savanarola, 'tis  full  of  pain,  wind.     Guianerius  adds,  ver- 
tiyo  nausea,  much  spitting-,  &c.      If  from  the  myrache,  a 
swelling-  and  wind  in  the  hypochondries,a loathing,  and  appe- 
tite to  vomit,  pulling-  upward.       If  from  the  heart,  aking-  and 
trembling- of  it,  much  heaviness.     If  from  the  liver,  there  is 
usually  a  pain  in  the  right  hypochondry.     If  from  the  spleen, 
hardness  and  grief  in  the  left  hypochondry,  a  rumbling,  much 
appetite  and  small  digestion  (Avicenna).      If  from  the  mesa- 
raiick  veins  and  liver  on  the  other  side,  little  or  no  appetite 
(Here,  de  Saxonia).     It" from  the  hypochondries,arumbling  in- 
flation, concoction  is  hindred,  often  belching,  &c.     And  from 
these  crudities,  windy  vapours  ascend  up  to  the  brain,  which 
trouble  the  imagination,  and  cause  fear,  sorrow,  dulness,  heavi- 
ness, many  terrible  conceits  and  chimeras,  as  Lemnius   well 
observes  (/.  1.  c.  16)  :   as  ^a  black  and  thick  cloud  covers  the 
sun,  and  intercepts  his  beams  and  light,  so  doth  this  melan- 
choly vapour  obnubilate  the  mind,  hiforce  it  to  many  absurd 
thouf/hts  and  imaginations,  and   compel  good,  wise,  honest, 
discreet  men  (arising-  to  the  brain  from  the  'lower  parts,  as 
smoak  out  of'  a  chimney)  to  dote,  speak,  and  do  that  which 
becomes  them  not,  their  persons,  callings,  wisdoms.     One,  by 
reason  of  those  ascending-  vapours  and  gripings  rumbling  be- 
neath, will  not  be  perswaded  but  that  he  hath  a  serpent  in  his 
guts,  a  viper;  another,  frogs.     Trallianus  relates  a  story  of  a 
woman,  that  imagined  she  had  swallowed  an  eel,  or  a  serpent; 
and  Felix  Platerus  (observat.  lib.  1)  hath  a  most  memorable 
example  of  a  countreyman  of  his,  that  by  chance  falling  into 
a  pit  where  frogs  and  frogs-spawn  was,  and  a  little  of  that 
water  swallovved,  began  to  suspect  that  he  had  likewise  swal- 
lowed frogs  spawn;  and,  with  that  conceit  and  fear,  his  phan- 
tasie  wrought  so  far,  that  he  verily  thought  he  had  young  live 
frogs  in  his  belly,  qui  vivebant  ex  alimento  suo,  that  lived  by 
his  nourishment,  and  was  so  certainly  perswaded  of  it,  that,  for 
manyyears  following,  he  could  not  be  rectified  in  his  conceit : 
he  studied  physick  seven  years  together,  to  cure  himself,  tra- 
velled into  Italy,  France,  and  Germany,  to  conferr  with  the  best 
physicians  about  it,  and,  anno  1609,  asked  his  counsel  amongst 
the  rest.     He  told  him  it  was  wind,  his  conceipt,  &c-  but  mor- 
dicus  contradicere,  et  ore  et  scriptis  probare  nitebatur :  no 
saying-  would  serve  :  it  was  no  wind,  but  real  frogs :  and  do 
you  not  hear  them  croak  ?  Platerus  would  have  deceived  him, 
by  putting  live  frogs  into  his  excrements :  but  he,  being  a  phy- 
sician himself,  would  not  be  deceived,  vir  prudens  alias,  et 

a  Pract.  major.  Dolor  iu  eo  et  ventositas,  uausea.  b  Ut  atra  densaque  nubes, 

soli  oU'usa,  ruJioset  lumen  ejus  intercipit  etoiluscat:  sic,  &c.  >-'ljtfumuse 

camiuo. 


iMem.  2.  Subs.  3.]   Sijmptomes  of  windy  Melancholij.         299 

doctus,?LVfhe  and  learned  man  otherwise,  a  doctor  of  pljysick;^ 
and  after  seven  years  dotage  in  this  kind,  aphantasid  liheratns 
est,  he  was  cured.  Laurentius  and  Goulart  have  many  such 
examples,  if  you  be  desirous  to  read  them.  One  commodity, 
above  the  rest  which  are  melancholy,  these  windy  flatuous  have 
— hicidaintervalla:  their  symptomes  and  gains  are  not  usu- 
ally so  continuate  as  the  rest,  but  come  by  fits,  fear  and  sorrow 
and  the  rest :  yet,  inanotlier,  they  exceed  all  others ;  and  that 
is, ''they  are  luxurious,  incontinent,  and  prone  to  venery,  by 
reason  oivf'\\\A,et  facile  amant,et  qvamlihet  Jcre  amant  (Jason 
Pratensis).  ''Rhasis  is  of  opinion,  that  Venus  doth  many  of 
them  much  good;  the  other  symptomes  of  the  mind  be  com- 
mon with  the  rest. 


SUBSECT.  III. 

Symptomes  of  Melancholy  abounding  in  the  whole  body. 

HEIR  bodies,  that  are  afiected  with  this  universal  mehui- 
choly,  are  most  part  black ;  •=  the  melancholy  jnyee  isrednndant 
all  over  ;  hirsute  they  are,  and  lean  ;  they  have  broad  \eiiis, 
their  blood  is  gross  and  thick.  ''  Their  spleen  is  rceah,  and  a 
liver  apt  to  ingender  the  humour;  they  have  kept  bad  diet,  or 
have  had  some  evacuation  stopped,  as  hsemroids,  or  months  in 
women,  which  *  Trallianus,in  the  cure,  would  have  carefully  to 
be  inquired,  and  withal  to  observeof  what  complexion  the  party 
is,  black  or  red.  For,  as  Forrestus  and  Hollerius  contend,  if 
4hey  be  black,  it  proceeds  from  abundance  of  natural  melan- 
choly ;  if  it  proceed  from  cares,  agony,  discontents,  diet,  exer- 
cise, &c.  they  may  be  as  well  of  any  other  colour,  red,  yellow, 
pale,  as  black,  and  yet  their  whole  blood  corrupt;  j)rar7ibri 
colore  sape  sunt  tales,  soipe  flavi  (saith  -Montaltus,  cap.  22). 
The  best  May  to  discern  this  species,  is  to  let  them  bleed  : 
if  the  blood  be  corrupt,  thick,  and  black,  and  they  witlial  free 
from  those  hypochondriacal  symptomes,  and  not  so  grievously 
troubled  with  them,  or  those  of  the  head,  it  argues  (hey.  are 
melancholy  a  toto  corpore.     The  fumes  which  arise  from  this 


T 


»  Hypochondriaci  maxime  aflectant  coire,  et  mnltiplicatnr  coitns  in  ipsis,  eo  qtiod 
ventositates  niultiplicantur  in  hypochondriis,  et  coitns  saepe  alievat  has  ventositates. 
b  Cont.  lib.  1.  tract  9.  f  Wecker.  Melancholicas  succus  toto  corpore  rcdundans. 

•iSpIennatura  imbeciliior.     Montaltus,  cap.  22.  <■  Lib.  1.  cap.  16.     [nterrngare 

convenit,  an  aliqua  evacuafionis  retentio  obvenerit,  viri  in  ha-morrlioid.  nii)lirnim  ni<=n- 
struis  :  et  vide  faciem  similiter,  an  sit  rubicnnda.  fNafuraleq  nijrri  arqiiijnti  a  toto 

corpore,  sa-pe  ribicundi.  t' Montaltus,  cap.  22.  Piso.  Ex  colon-  sanguinis,  si 

minaaii  yenam,  si  fluat  Digerj&.c. 


300  Symptomes  oj'  Melancholy.         [Part.  1.  Sec.  3. 

corrupt  blood,  disturb  the  mind,  and  make  them  fearful  andsor- 
rovvfu I,  heavy  hearted,  as  the  rest,  dejected,  discontented,  soli- 
tary, silent,  weary  of  their  lives,  dull  and  heavy,  or  merry,  &c. 
and,  if  far  g"one,  that  which  Apuleius  wished  to  his  enemy,  by 
way  of  imprecation,  is  true  in  them;  ^dead  mens  hones,  hob- 
goblins,  ghosts,  are  ever  in  their  minds,  and  meet  them  still  in 
every  tnrn:  all  the  bugbears  of  the  night,  and  terrours  and 
fairybabes  of  tombs  and  graves, are  before  their  eyes  andin  their 
thoughts,  as  to  women  and  children,  rfthey  be  in  the  dark  alone. 
If  they  hear,  or  read,  or  see,  any  tragical  object,  it  sticks  by 
them;  they  are  afraid  of  death,  and  yet  weary  of  their  lives ;  in 
theirdiscontcnted  humours,  they  quarrel  with  allthe  world, bit- 
terly inveigh,  tax  satyrically  ;  and,  because  they  cannot  other- 
wise vent  their  passions,  or  redress  what  is  amiss,  as  they  mean, 
they  will,  by  violent  death,  at  last  be  revenged  on  themselves. 


SUBSECT.  IV. 

Symptomes  of  Maids,  Jfuns,  and  Widows  Melancholy. 

-OECAUSE  Lodovicus  Mercatus  (in  his  second  book  de  mu- 
Her.  affect,  c.  4),  and  Rodericus  a  Castro  {demorb.mulier.c.  3. 
/.  2),  two  famous  physicians  in  Spain,  Daniel  Sennertus  of 
Wittenberg  [lib.  1.  part.  2.  cap.  13),  with  others,  have  vouch- 
safed, in  their  works  notlongsince  published,  to  write  two  just 
treatises  de  Melancholia  Virginmn,  Motiialinm,  et  Viduarum, 
as  a  peculiar  species  of  melancholy  (which  I  have  already 
specified)  distinct  from  the  rest,  (''for  it  much  differs  from 
thatwhich  commonly  befalls  men  and  other  women,  as  having' 
one  only  cause  proper  to  women  alone)  I  may  not  omit,  in  this 
general  survey  of  melancholy  symptomes,  to  set  down  the 
particular  signs  of  such  parties  so  misaffected. 

The  causes  are  assigned  out  of  Hippocrates,  Cleopatra, 
Moschion,  and  those  old  gynaociorum  scriptores,  of  this  feral 
malady,  in  more  ancient  maids,  widows,  and  barren  women, o6 
septum  transversum  violatum  (naith  Mercatus),  by  reason  of  the 
midriffe  or  diaphragma,  heart  and  brain  oflended  Avith  those 
vicious  vapours  which  come  from  menstruous  blood  :  infamma- 
tionem  arterice  circa  dorsum,  Rodericus  adds,an  inflammation  of 

»Aptil.  1.  1.  Semper  obvijp.  species  mortnornm:  qiiidquicl  umbranim  est.  nspiam, 
qui(l(|(ii(l  leinuriim  et.  larvaruni,  oculis  snis  as^geruut :  sibi  fingunt  omnia  noctinm  oc- 
misaciila,  omnia  bnstorum  formidamiiia  ;  omnia  stpiilcronim  ferrici'Iatnenta. 
•>Differt  enim  ab  ea  qiise  viris  et  reliqiiis  feminis  commuuiter  coutiugit,  propriam 
habeus  caussam. 


Mem.  2.  Subs.  4.]     Symptomes  of'  Women's  Melanchol}/.     301 

the  back,  which  with  the  rest  is  offended  by  "that  fub'g-inous 
exhalation  of  corrupt  seed,  troubling  the  brain,  heart  and 
mind  ;  the  brain  1  say,  not  in  essence,  but  by  consent ;  nni' 
versa  enim  hnjus  affect  its  causa  ah  utero  pendet,  et  a  sangvinis 
menstrni  malitUl  ;  for,  in  a  word,  the  whole  malady  proceeds 
from  that  inflammation,  putredity,  black  smoky  vapours,  &c. 
from  thence  come  care,  sorrow,  and  anxiety,  obfuscation  of 
spirits,  agony,  desperation  and  the  like,  which  are  intended 
or  remitted,  si  amatorius  accesserit  ardor,  or  any  other  violent 
object  or  perturbation  of  mind.  This  melancholy  may  happen 
to  widov,  s,  with  much  care  and  sorrow,  as  frequently  it  doth, 
by  reason  of  a  sudden  alteration  of  their  accustomed  course 
of  life,  &c.  To  such  as  lye  in  childe-bed,  oh  snppressam  pur- 
ff((tio)iem  ;  but  to  nunnes  and  more  ancient  maids,  and  some 
barren  women,  for  the  causes  abovesaid,  'tis  more  familiar ; 
crehrins  his  quam  reliqnis  accidit,  i?iqnit  Rodericus  ;  the  rest 
are  not  altogether  excluded. 

Out  of  these  causes  Rodericus  defines  it,  with  Aretaeus,  to 
be  anr/orem  animi,  a  vexation  of  the  mind,  a  sudden  sorrow 
from  a  small,  light,  or  no  occasion, ''with  a  kind  of  still  dotage 
and  grief  of  some  part  or  other,  head,  heart,  breasts,  sides, 
back,  belly,  &c.  with  much  solitariness,  weeping,  distraction, 
&c.  from  which  they  are  sometimes  suddenly  delivered,  be- 
cause it  comes  and  goes  by  fits,  and  is  not  so  permanent  as 
other  melancholy. 

But,  to  leave  this  brief  description,  the  most  ordinary  symp- 
tomes  be  these  :  jmlsatio  jnxta  dorsum,  a  beating  about  the 
back,  which  is  almost  perpetual;  the  skin  is  many  times  rouoh, 
squalid,  especially  (as  Aretffius  observes)  about  the  arms,  knees, 
and  knuckles.  The  midriffe  and  heart-strings  do  burn  and  beat 
very  fearfully;  and,  when  this  vapour  or  fume  is  stirred,  flyeth 
upward,  the  heart  itself  beats,  issore  grieved,  and  faints;/a?/ce« 
siccitate  prcechiduntur,  ut  difficulter  possit  ah  uteri  stranf/ula- 
tione  </jseer/«',  like  fits  of  the  mother;  alvus  plerisqueuil  reddif, 
aliis  exigunm,  acre,  hiliosum;  lotiumjiavvm.  They  complain 
many  times,  saith  Mercatus,ofa  great  pain  in  their  heads,  about 
their  hearts,  and  hypochondries,  and  so  likewise  in  their  breasts, 
which  are  often  sore  ;  sometimes  ready  to  swoon,  their  faces  are 
inflamed^  and  red,  they  are  dry,  thirsty,  suddenly  hot,  much 


»Ex  menstrni  sancrninis  tetra  ad  cor  et  cerebrum  exhalatione  :  vitiatnm  semen  men- 
tem  perturbat,  &c.  non  per  essentiam,  sed  per  consensnm.  Animus  mcerens  et  aoxias 
inde  malum  traliit,  etspiritiis  cerebri  obfuscantur:  qiiu>  cuucta  aug-eutiir,  >«:c.  •'Cnni 
tacito  delirio  ac  dolore  alicujus  partis  internse,  dorsi,  liyiinchondrii,  cordis  regionem  et 
upiversam  mammam  iiiterdumocciipanlis,  &c.  Cutis  aliquandosqiialida,  as|.era.  mgo- 
sa,  pra'cipue  ciihitis,  genibus,  et  digitorum  articub's  ;  prafcordia  iiitjenli  ^api-  (eriore 
aestaant  et  pulsant;  cumque  vapor  excitatus  sursuui  evulat,  corpalpitat  aiit  premitiir, 
animus  deficit,  Jcc. 


302  Symptdmes  of  Melancholy .         [Part.  1,  Sec.  ??. 

troubled  M'ith  wind,  cannot  sleep,  &c.  And  from  hence  proceed 
/er?wrtf/^'//ra/«e«/;ff,  a  brutish  kind  of  dotage,  troublesome  sleep, 
terrible  dreams  in  the  night,  suhrvsticus pudor ^et  verecnndia  ig- 
7iava,  a  foolishly  kind  of  bashfulness  to  some,  perverse  con- 
ceites  and  opinions,  ^  dejection  of  mind,  nnich  discontent,  pre- 
posterousjudgement.  They  are  apt  to  loath,  dislike,  disdain,  to 
be  weary  of  every  object,  &c.  each  thing  almost  is  tedious  to 
them;  they  pine  away,  void  of  counsel, aptto  weep, and  trendjle, 
timorous,  fearful,  sad,  and  out  of  all  hopes  of  better  fortunes. 
They  take  delight  in  nothing  for  the  time,butlove  to  be  alone 
and  solitary, though  that  do  them  more  harm.      And  thus  they 
are  affected  so  long' as  this  vapour  lasteth  ;  but,  by  and  by,  as 
pleasant  and  merry  as  ever  they  were  in  their  lives,  they  sing", 
discourse  and  laugh  in  any  good  company,  upon  all  occasions; 
and  so  by  fits  it  takes  them  now  and  then,  except  the  malady  be 
inveterate;  and  then  'tis  more  frequent,  vehement,  and  con- 
tinuate.     Many  of  ihem  cannot  tell  how  to  express  themselves 
inwords,how  it  holds  them,  what  ails  them  ;  youcannotunder- 
stand  them,  or  well  tell  what  to  make  of  their  sayings;  so  far 
gone  sometimes,  so  stupified  and  distracted,  they  think  them- 
selves bewitched  ;  they  are  in  despair,  apfcc  adfletitm^  despera- 
tionc7n,  dolores  viajumiset  hypochoiidrns.     Mercatus  therefore 
adds,  now  their  breasts,  now  their  hypochondries,  belly  and 
sides, then  their  heart  and  head  akes;  now  heat,  then  wind,  now 
this,  now  that  offends ;  they  are  weary  of  all ;  ''  and  yet  will  not, 
cannotagain  tell  how,  where  or>vhat  offends  them,  though  they 
be  in  great  pain, agony,  and  frequently  complain,  grie  ving,sigh- 
ing,  weeping'  and  Ci'\%conie\\ieds,i\\\,shie canssd rnanijestd,  most 
part;  yet,  I  say,  they  will  complain,  grudge,  lament,  and  not  be 
persuaded  butthatthey  are  troubled  with  an  evil  spirit;  which 
is  frequent  in  Germany,  (saith  Rodericus)  amongst  the  common 
sort,  and  to  such  as  are  most  grievously  atlected  ;  (for  he  makes 
three  degrees  of  this  disease  in  women)  they  are  in  despair, 
surely  forespoken  or  bewitched,  and  in  extremity  of  their  do- 
tage, (weary  of  their  lives)  sonje  of  theni  will  attempt  to  make 
away  themselves.      Some  think  they  see  visions,  confer  M'ith 
spirits  and  devils;  they  shall  surely  be  danmed,  are  afraid  of 
some  treachery,  imminent  danger,  and  the  like;  they  will  not 
speak,  make  answer  to  any  question,  but  are  almost  distracted. 


»Animi  dejectio,  perversa  rernm  existimatio,  prfeposternm  judicium.  FastidiossB, 
laniHieites,  taediosas,  consilii  inopes,  lacrymosEe,  timentes,  mcesta;,  cum  suintna  renim 
ineliorutn  desperatione,  uulla  re  delectantnr,  solihidinem  aniant,  &c.  b  Nolunt 

apprirc  molestianiquam  patinntv.r  ;  sed  ronqiii  rimfnr  taiiicn  de  CHpifejCorde,  niammis^ 
&,c.  Inpnfpoa  fere  nianiaci  pro.silirr,  ar  straiigiilrtri  ca|)innt,  tnilfa  oratioiiis  siiavifate 
ad  sptm  saliitis  recuperaiidam  erigi,  &r.  Fauiiliaies  uon  curaiit ;  non  Icquuntur,  noa 
respoudent.  Slc.  et  ha;c  gravjora,  ai.  Sec. 


Mem.  2.  Subs.  4.]  Symptomes  of  Women's  Melancholy.     303 

mad,  or  stupid  for  the  time,  and  by  fits :  and  thus  it  holds  them, 
as  they  are  more  or  less  affected,  and  as  the  inner  humour  is 
intended  or  remitted,  or  by  outward  objects  and  perturbations 
agoravated,  solitariness,  idleness,  &c. 

Many  other  maladies  there  are,  incident  to  young-  women, 
out  of  that  one  and  only  cause  above  specified,  many  feral  dis- 
eases.   1  will  not  so  much  as  mention  their  names:  melancholy 
alone  is  the  subject  of  my  present  discourse,  from  which  I  will 
not  swerve.       The  several  cures  of  this  infirmity,  concerning 
diet,  which  must  be  very  sparing,  phlebotomy,  physick,  in- 
ternal, external  remedies,  are  at  large  in  great  variety  in  ^Ro- 
dericus  a  Castro,  Sennertus,  and  Mercatus,  which  who  so 
will,  as  occasion  serves,  may  make  use  of.     But  the  best  and 
surest  remedy  of  all,  is  to  see  them  well  placed,  and  married  to 
good  husbands  in   due  time ;  Jmic  illce  lacrymce,  that's  the 
primary  cause,  and  this  is  the  ready  cure,  to  give  them  content 
to  their  desires.     I  write  not  this  to  patronize  any  wanton,  idle 
flurt,  lasciviousorlighthusMives,  which  are  too  forward  many 
times,  unruly,  and  apt  to  cast  away  themselves  on  him  that 
comes  next,  without  all  care,  counsel,   circumspection,  and 
Judgement.      If  religion,  good  discipline,  honest  education, 
wholsome  exhortation,  fair  promises,  fame  and  loss  of  good 
name,cannot  inhibit  and  deterr  such,  (which,  to  chaste  and  sober 
maids,  cannot  chuse  but  avail  much)  labour  and  exercise,  strict 
diet,  rigor,  and  threats,  may  more  opportunely  be  used,  and 
are  able  of  themselves  to  qualifie  and  divert  an  ill  disposed 
temperament.     For  seldome  shall  you  see  an  hired  servant,  a 
poor  handmaid,  though  ancient,  that  is  kept  hard  to  her  work 
and  bodily  labour,  a  coarse  countrey  wench,  troubled  in  this 
kind  ;  butnol)le  virgins,  nice  gentlewomen,  such  as  are  solitary 
and  idle,  live  at  ease,  lead  a  life  out  of  action  and  employment, 
that  fare  well ingreat houses, andjovial  companies,  illdisposed 
peradventure  of  themselves,  and  not  willing  to  make  any  resist- 
ance, discontented  otherwise,  of  weakjudgement,  able  bodies, 
and  subject  to  passions  (grandiores  viryines,  saith  Mercatus, 
steriles,  et  viduce,  plerumqiie  melanclioUccc )  such  for  the  most 
part  are  misaffected,  and  prone  to  this  disease.     I  do  not  so 
much  pity  them  that  may  otherwise  be  eased ;  but  those  alone, 
that,  out  of  a  strong  temperament,  innate  constitution,  arc  vio- 
lently carried  away  with  those  torrent  ofinward  humours,  and, 
though  very  modest  of  themselves,  sober,  religious,  vertuous, 
and  well  given  (as  many  so  distressed  maids  are),  yet  cannot 
make  resistance ;  these  grievances  willappear,this  malady  will 
take  place,  and  now  manifestly  shew  it  self,  and  may  not  other- 

a  Clysteres  et  helleborismum  Matthioli  sumnie  laiidat. 


301<  Sjjmptomes  of  Melancholy.         [Part.  1.  Sec.  3. 

wise  be  helped.  But  where  am  I?  Into  what  subject  have  1 
rushed  ?  What  have  I  to  do  with  nunns,  maids,  virgins,  widows? 
I  am  abachelormy  self,  and  lead  a  monastick  life  in  acollege: 
nee  ego  sane  ineptus,  qui  licec  dixerim;  I  confess  'tis  an  indeco- 
rum :  and  as  Pallas  a  virgin  blushed,  when  Jupiter  by  chance 
spake  of  love  matters  in  her  presence,  and  turn'd  away  her 
face  ;  me  reprimam  ;  though  my  subject  necessarily  require  it, 
I  will  say  no  more. 

And  yet  I  must  and  will  say  something  more,  add  a  word  or 
two  m  f/ratiam  virghium  et  viduarum,  in  favour  of  all  such 
distressed  parties,in  commiseration  oftheir  present  estate.  And, 
as  I  cannot  chuse  but  condole  their  mishap  that  labour  of  this 
infiniiity,  and  are  destitute  of  help  in  this  case,  so  must  I  needs 
inveigh  against  them  that  are  in  fault,  more  than  manifest  causes, 
and  as  bitterly  tax  those  tyrannizing  pseudopoliticians,  supersti- 
tious orders,  rash  vows,  hard-hearted  parents,  g'uardians,  unna- 
tural friends,  allies,  (call  them  how  you  will)  those  careless 
and  stupid  overseers,  that,  out  of  worldly  respects,  covetous- 
ness,  supine  negligence,  their  own  private  ends,  {cum  sibi  sit 
interimhene)  can  so  severely  reject,  stubbornly  neglect,  and  im- 
piously contemn,  without  all  remorse  and  pity,  the  tears,  sighs, 
groans,  and  grievous  miseries,  of  such  poor  souls  committed  to 
their  charge.  How  odious  and  abominable  are  those  supersti- 
tious and  rash  vows  of  popish  monasteries,  so  to  bind  and  inforce 
men  and  women  to  vow  virginity,  to  lead  a  single  life  against 
the  laws  of  nature,  opposite  to  religion,  policy,  and  humanity  ! 
so  to  starve,  to  offer  violence,  to  suppress  the  vigour  of  youth  ! 
by  rigorous  statutes,severe  laws,vain  perswasions,  to  debar  them 
of  that,  to  which  by  their  innate  temperature  they  are  so  furiously 
inclined,  urgently  carried,  and  sometimes  precipitated,  even  ir- 
resistibly led,  to  the  prejudice  oftheir  souls  health,  and  good 
estate  of  body  and  mind !  and  all  for  base  and  private  respects, 
to  maintain  their  gross  superstition,  to  inrich  themselves  and 
their  territories  (as  they  falsly  suppose)  by  hinderingsome  mar- 
riages, that  the  world  be  not  full  of  beggers,  and  their  paiishes 
pestered  with  orphans.  Stupid  politicians !  haccine  fieri  jiagi- 
tia  ?  ought  these  things  so  to  be  carried?  Better  marry  than 
hum,  Baith  the  apostle ;  but  they  are  otherwise  perswaded. 
They  will  by  all  means  quench  their  neighbours  house,  if  it  be 
on  fire;  but  that  fire  of  lust,  which  breaks  out  into  such  lament- 
able flames,  they  will  not  take  notice  of;  their  own  bowels 
oftentimes,  flesh  and  blood,  shall  so  rage  and  burn ;  and  they 
will  not  see  it.  Miserum  est,  saith  Austin,  seipsnm  non  mise- 
rescere  ;  and  they  are  miserable  in  the  mean  time,  that  cannot 
pity  themselves,  the  common  good  of  all,  and, /*er  cnnsequens, 
their  own  estates.      For  let  them  but  consider  M'hat  fearful 


Mem.  3.]  ^  Causes  of  these  Sympiomes.  305 

maladies,  feral  diseases,  o-ross  inconveniences  come  to  both 
sexes  by  this  enforced  temperance.  It  troubles  me  to  think  of, 
much  more  to  rchite,  those  frequent  aborts  and  murdering-  of 
infants  in  their  nunneries  (read  ''Kemnitius  and  others),  their 
notorious  fornications, thoscspintrias,tribadas,  ambubaias,  &c. 
those  rapes,  incests,  adulteries,  mastuprations,  sodomies,  bug-- 
o-eries,  of  monks  and  friers.  (See  Bales  Visitation  of  Abbies, 
^  Mercurialis,  Rodericus  a  Castro,  Peter  Forestus,  and  divers 
physicians.)  I  know  their  ordinary  apologies  and  excuses  for 
these  things  ;  sed  viderint  politic'},  medici^  thcolof/i :  I  shall 
more  opportunely  meet  with  them  "  elsewhere. 

Illius  viJuoe,  aut  patronum  virginis  hujus, 

Ne  me  forte  putes,  verbum  non  amplius  addam. 


MEMB.  III. 
Immediate  Cause  of  these  precedent  Sympiomes. 

A  O  o-ive  some  satisfaction  to  melancholy  men  that  are  troubled 
withthcsesymptomes,  abettermeans,  in  myjudgoment,cannot 
be  taken,  than  to  shew  them  the  causes  v.  hence  they  proceed  ; 
not  from  devils,  as  they  suppose,  or  that  they  are  bewitched  or 
forsaken  of  God,  hear  or  see,  &c.  as  many  of  them  think,  but 
from  natural  and  inward  causes ;  that,  so  knowing  them,  they 
may  better  avoid  the  effects,  or  at  least  endure  them  with  more 
patience.  The  most  grievous  and  common  symptomes  are  fear 
and  sorrow,and  that  without  a  cause,  to  the  wisest  and  discreet- 
est  men,  in  this  malady  not  to  be  avoided.  The  reason  why 
they  are  so,  Ai-tius  discusseth  at  large,  Tetrabib.  2.  2.  in  his 
first  problem  out  of  Galen,  lib.  2.  de  caussis  sympt.  1.  For 
Galen  imputeth  all  to  the  cold  that  is  black,  and  thinks  that  the 
spirits  being  darkned,  and  the  substance  ofthe  brain  cloudy  and 
dark,  all  the  objects  thereof  appear  tenible,  and  the''mind  it 
self,  by  those  dark,  obscure,  gross  fumes,  ascending  from  black 
humours,  is  in  continual  darkness,  fear, and  sorrow;  divers  ter- 
rible monstrous  fictions  in  a  thousand  shapes  and  apparitions 
occurr,withviolent  passions,  by  Mhich  the  brain  and  phantasie 
are  troubled  and  eclipsed.    '  Fracastorius  (lib.  2.  de  intellect.} 

»  Examen  cone.  Trident,  de  ca;libatu  sacerd.  ^  Cap.  de  Satyr,  et  Priapis. 

f  Fart.  3.  sect.  2.  jSlenib.  5.  Subs.  b.  •'  Vapores  crassi  et  ni^^ri  a  ventriciilo  in 

cercbnim  exhalaut.     Vi\.  Phitenis.  t  Calidi  hilares.  fri^idi  indispo.siti  ad  lali- 

tiam,  et  ideo  solitarii.  taritiirni,  non  <il(  tenebrns  iiiti  rnns,  iit  nie<lici  voliint,  sed  ob  fri- 
^us:  ninlti  inelancholiri  nocte  ainl>iil.int  intrepuii.  Vapores  melaiicliolici,  spiritibus 
luixti,  teuebraruui  caiissu;  sunt.     Cap.  1. 


306  Sipiiptcmes  of  Melancholy.         [Part.  1.  Sec.  3. 

tpjM  have  cold  to  he  the  cause  of  fear  and  sorrow  ;  for  such  as 
are  cold,  are  ill  disposed  to  mirth,  dull  and  heavy ^  by  na- 
ture solitary,  silent  ;  and  not  for  any  inward  darkness  (as 
physicians  think)  ;  for  many  melancholy  men  dare  boldhf  be, 
continue,  and  walk  in  the  dark,  and  delight  in  it :  solum  fri- 
yidi  timidi :  if  they  be  hot,  they  are  merry  ;  and  the  more*  hot 
the  more  furious,  and  void  of  fear,  as  we  see  in  mad  men  :  but 
this  reason  holds  not;  for  then  no  melancholy,  proceeding  from 
choler  adust,  should  fear.  Averroes  scoffs  at  Galen  for  his  rea- 
sons, and  brinos  five  arguments  to  refell  them  :  so  doth  Here, 
de  Saxonia  {Tract,  de  melan.  cap.  3)  assigning  other  causes, 
which  are  copiously  censured  and  confuted  by  ^Elianus  Montal- 
tus,  cap.  5.  et  6.  Lod.  Mercatus,  c?e  inter,  morb.  cur.  lib.  I. 
cap.  17.  Altomarus,  cap.  7-  de  mel.  Guianerius,  tract.  15. 
c.  I.  Bright,  cap.  17.  Laurentius,  cap.  5.  Valesius,  med. 
cont.  lib.  5.  con.  1.  ^  Distemper ature  (they  conclude)  makes 
black  juice ;  blackness  obscures  the  spirits;  the  spirits,  ob- 
scured, cause  fear  and  sorrow.  Laurentius  {cap.  13)  supposeth 
these  black  fumes  offend  especially  the  diaphragma  or  midriff, 
and  so,  per  consequens,  the  mind,  which  is  obscured,  as  ^the 
sun  by  a  cloud.  To  this  opinion  of  Galen,  almost  all  the 
Greeks  and  Arabians  subscribe,  the  Latines  new  and  old;  iw- 
tcrno3  tenebra:  ojfuscant  animum,  et  externa  nocent  pueris : 
as  children  are  frightened  in  the  dark,  soare  melancholy  men  at 
all  times,  '^as  having  the  inward  cause  with  them,  and  still  car- 
rying it  about.  Which  black  vapours,  whether  they  proceed 
from  the  black  blood  about  the  heart,  (asT.  W.  Jes.  thinks,  in 
his  Treatise  of  the  passions  of  the  mind)  or  stomach,  spleen, 
midriff,  or  all  the  misaffected  parts  together,  it  boots  not ; 
they  keep  the  mind  in  a  perpetual  dungeon,  and  oppress  it 
with  continual  fears,  anxieties,  sorrows,  &c.  It  is  an  ordi- 
nary thing  for  such  as  are  sound,  to  laugh  at  this  dejected 
pusillanimity,  and  those  other  symptomes  of  melancholy,  to 
make  themselves  merry  with  them,  and  to  wonder  at  such, 
as  toyes  and  trifles,  which  may  be  resisted  and  withstood,  if 
they  will  themselves  :  but  let  him  that  so  wonders,  consider 
Avith  himself,  that,  if  a  man  should  tell  him  on  a  sudden, 
some  of  his  especial  friends  were  dead,  could  he  choose  but 
grieve.'*  or  set  him  upon  a  steep  rock,  where  he  should  be 
in  danger  to  be  precipitated,  could  he  be  secure  ?  his  heart 
would  tremble  for  fear,  and  his  head  be  giddy.      P.  Byarus 


a  Intemperies  facit  succum  nigrum  j  nigrities  obscurat  spiritiim  ;  obscuratio  spirifus 
facit  metum  et  tristitiam.  *    b  Jjt  nubecula  solem  oiTnscat.     Constantinus, 

lib.  de  inelanch.  c  Altomarus,  c.  7.     Caussam  fimoris  circmnfert.     Ater 

humor    passionis    materia  ;   et  atri    spiritus   perpetuam    auiinre  domicilio   oflundunt 
uoctem. 


Mem.  3.]  Causes  of  these  Symptomes.  307 

(Tract,  de  pest.)  gives  instauoo  (as  I  have  said)  ^ and  put  case 
(saith  be)  in  one  that  jralks  upon  a  plank  ;  if  it  bfe  o?i  the 
ground,  he  can  safely  do  it;  hut  if  the  same  plank  he  laid  over 
some  deep  water,  instead  of  a  bridge,  he  is  vehemently  moved  ; 
and  ^tis  nothing  but  his  imagination,  forma  cadendi  impressa, 
to  which  his  other  members  andfaculties  obey.  Yea,  but  you 
infer,  that  such  men  have  just  cause  to  fear,  a  true  object  of 
fear :  to  have  melanclioly  men  an  inward  cause,  a  perpetual 
fume  and  darkness,  causing  fear,  grief,  suspicion,  which  they 
carry  with  them — an  object  which  cannot  be  removed,  but 
sticks  as  close,  and  is  as  inseparable,  as  a  shadow  to  a  body; 
and  who  can  expel,  or  over-run  his  shadow  :  remove  heat  of 
the  liver,  a  cold  stomach,  weak  spleen  :  remove  those  adust 
humours  and  vapours  arising  from  them,  black  blood  from  the 
heart,  all  outward  perturbations;  take  away  the  cause;  and 
then  bid  them  not  grieve  nor  fear,  or  be  heavy,  dull,  lumpish  : 
otherwise  counsel  can  do  little  good ;  you  may  as  well  bid  him 
that  is  sick  of  an  ague,  not  to  be  adry ;  or  him  that  is  wounded, 
not  to  feel  pain. 

Suspicion  follows  fear  and  sorrow  at  heels,  arising  out  of 
the  same  fountain;  so  thinks  ^Fracastorius,  that  fear  is  the 
cause  of  suspicion,  and  still  they  suspect  some  treachery,  or 
some  secret  machination  to  be  framed  against  them  ;  still  they 
distrust.  Restlessness  proceeds  from  Ihe  same  spring;  variety 
of  fumes  make  them  like  and  dislike.  Solitariness,  avoidino-  of 
light,  that  they  are  weary  of  their  lives,  hate  the  >vorld,  arise 
from  the  same  causes;  for  their  spirits  and  humours  are  opposite 
to  light ;  fear  makes  them  avoid  company,  and  absent  them- 
selves, lest  they  should  be  misused,  hissed  at,  or  overshoot 
themselves;  which  still  they  suspect.  They  are  prone  to  venery, 
by  reason  of  wind ;  angry,  waspish  and  fretting  still,  out  of 
abundance  of  choler,  which  causeth  fearful  dreams,  and  vio- 
lent perturbations  to  them,  both  sleeping  and  wakino-.  That 
they  suppose  they  have  no  heads,  flye,  sink,  they  are  pots, 
glasses,  &c.  is  wind  in  their  heads.  "  Here,  de  Saxouia  doth 
ascribe  this  to  the  several  motipns  in  the  animal  spirits,  their 
dilatation,  contraction,  confusion,  alteration,  tenebrosity,  hot 
or colddistemperuture,  excluding  all  material  humours.    ''Fra- 


a  Pone  exemplum,  quod  quia  potest  ambalare  super  trabetn  quae  est  in  via  :  sed  si 
sit  super  aquain  profundain,  loco  pontis,  non  aiubulabit  super  earn,  eo  quod  ima- 
ginatur  in  animo  et  timet  vehenienter,  forma  cadeudi  impressa,  cui  obediaut  mem- 
bra omnia,  et  facnltates  reliquaj.  •>  Lib.  2.  de  intellectione.  Suspiciosi  ob  ti- 
niorem  et  obliquum  discursum  ;  et  semper  inde  putant  sibi  fieri  insidias.  Lau- 
ren. 5.  cTract.de  mel.  cap.  7.  Ex  dilatatione,  contractione,  confusione, 
tenebrositate  spirituum.  calida,  frigida  inteniperie,  &c.  J  IlJud  inqui.iitione 
dignum,  cur  tain  I'alsa  recipiant,  habere  se  cornua,  esse  inortuo.i,  nasutos,  esse  aves  &c. 


SOa  Symptomes  of  Mel(tncholy.         [Part.  I.  Sec.  S. 

castoriiis  accounts  it  a  thing  ivorthy  of  inquisition,  why  they 
should  entertain  such  false  conceits^  as  that  they  have  horns, 
great  mioses,  that  they  are  birds,  beasts,  §'c.  why  they  should 
think  themselves  king's,  lords,  cardinals.  For  the  first, ''Fra- 
castorius  gives  two  reasons  :  one  is  the  disposition  of  the  body ; 
the  other,  the  occasion  of  the  phantasie^  as  if  their  eyes  be 
purblind,  their  ears  sing  by  reason  of  some  cold  and  rheume, 
&c.  To  the  second,  Laurentius  answers,  the  imaoination,  in- 
wardly or  outwardly  moved,  represents  to  the  understanding-, 
not  inticements  only,  to  favour  the  passion,  or  dislike ;  but  a 
very  intensive  pleasure  follows  the  passion,  or  displeasure;  and 
the  will  and  reason  are  captivated  by  delighting-  in  it. 

Why  students  and  lovers  are  so  often  melancholy  and  mad, 
the  philosopher  of  ''Conimbra  assigns  this  reason,  because^ 
by  a  vehement  and  continual  meditation  of  that  wherewith 
they  are  affected,  they  fetch  up  the  spirits  into  the  brain  ;  and, 
with  the  heat  brought  up  with  tltem,  they  incend  it  beyond  mea- 
sure ;  and  the  cells  of  the  inner  senses  dissolve  their  tempera- 
ture ;  which  being  dissolved,  they  cannot  perform  their  offices 
as  they  ought. 

Why  melancholy  men  are  witty,  (which  Aristotle  hath  long 
since  maintained  in  his  problems;  and  that  ''all  learned  men, 
famous  philosophers,  and  law-givers,  ad  unum  fere  omnes 
melancholici,  have  still  been  melancholy)  is  a  problem  much 
controverted.  Jason  Pratensis  will  have  it  understood  of  na- 
tural melancholy  ;  which  opinion  Melancthon  inclines  to,  in 
his  book  de  Animd,  and  Marcilius  Ficinus,  de  san.  tuen.  lib.  1. 
cap.  5)  but  not  simple ;  for  that  makes  men  stupid,  heavy, 
dull,  being  cold  and  dry,  fearful,  fools,  and  solitary,  but  mixt 
with  the  other  humours,  flegm  only  excepted  ;  and  they  not 
adust,  '^but  so  mixt,  as  that  blood  be  half,  with  little  or  no 
adustion,  that  they  be  neither  too  hot  nor  too  cold.  Aponensis 
(cited  by  Melancthon)  thinks  it  proceeds  from  melancholy  atlust, 
excluding  all  natural  melancholy,  as  too  cold.  Laurentius  con- 
demns his  tenent,  because  adustion  of  humours  makes  men 
mad,  as  lime  burns  when  water  is  cast  on  it.  It  must  be  mixt 
with  blood,  and  somewhat  adust ;  and  so  that  old  aphorism 
of  Aristotle  may  be  verified  :  nullum  magnum  ingenium 
sine  mixturd  dementia:,  no  excellent  wit  without  a  mix- 
ture of  madness.     Fracastorius  shall  decide  the  controversies 


a  I.  Dispositio  corporis.    2.  Occasio  imasrinationis.  I'ln  pro.  li.  de  ccelo. 

Veheinens  et  assidua  cogitatio  rei  erga  quam  afiiciinr,  spirifus  in  cerebrum  eyocat. 
c  Melancholici  ingeniosi  omnes,  sumnii  viriiu  artibus  et  disciplinis.  sive  circinn  impe- 
ratoriam  aut  reip.  discipliuam,  omnes  fere  melancholici.     Aristoteles.  'J  Adeo 

niiscentur,  ut  sit  duplura  sanguiuis  ad  rdiquu  duo. 


Meiii.  3  ]  Causes  of  these  Symptomes.  S09 

^ phlegmatick  are  dull:  sanyuine,  lively,  pleasant,  accepta- 
ble and  merry,  hut  7iot  tvitty :  cholerick  are  too  sioif't  in  mo- 
tion, and  furious,  impatient  of  contemplation,  deceitful  loits  : 
melancholy  men  have  the  most  excellent  wits,  but  not  all ;  this 
humour  may  be  hot  or  cold,  thick  or  thin  ;  if  too  hot,  they  are 
furious  and  mad ;  if  too  cold,  dull,  stupid,  timorous  and  sad: 
if  temperate,  excellent,  rather  inclining  to  that  extream  of 
heat,  than  cold.  This  sentence  of  his  will  agree  with  that  of 
Heraclitus;  a  dry  lig-ht  makes  a  wise  mind  ;  temperate  heat 
and  driness  are  the  chief  causes  of  a  good  wit ;  therefore,  saith 
^Elian,  an  elephant  is  the  wisest  of  all  bruit  beast,  because  his 
brain  is  dryest,  et  ob  atra:  bilis  copiam :  this  reason  Cardan 
approves  (subtil.  1.12).  Jo.  BaptistaSilvaticus,  a  physician  of 
Milan  (in  his  first  controversie)  hath  copiously  handled  this 
question  ;  Ralundus,  in  his  problems,  Ccelius  Rhodoginus, 
lib.  17.  Valleriola,  6*'  narrat.  med.  Here,  de  Saxonia,,  Tract, 
post,  demel.  cap.  3.  Lodovicus  Mercatus,  de  inter,  morb.  cur. 
lib.  cap.  17.  Baptista  Porta,  Physioy.  lib.  1.  c.  13.  and  many 
others. 

Weeping,  sighing,  laughing,  itching,  trembling,  sweating, 
blushing,  hearing  and  seeing  strange  noises,  visions,  wind, 
crudity,  are  motions  of  the  body,  depending  upon  these  pre- 
cedent motions  of  the  mind.  Neither  are  tears  affections,  but 
actions  (as  Scaliger  holds)  ;  ^the  voice  of  such  as  are  afraid 
trembles  because  the  heart  is  shaken  (Conimb.  prob.  Q. 
sec.S.desom.)  Why  they  stut  or  faulter  in  their  speech,  Mer- 
curialis  and  Montaltus  {cap.  17)  give  like  reasons  out  of  Hip- 
pocrates, ''  driness,  which  makes  the  nerves  of  the  tongue  tor^ 
pid.  Fast  speaking',  (which  is  a  symptome  of  some  few) 
Aetius  will  have  ea.used'^from  abu7tdance  ofivind,  and  swift- 
ness of  imagination :  "^  baldness  comes  from  excess  of  dryness  ; 
hirsuteness  from  a  dry  temperature.  The  cause  of  much  wak- 
ing in  a  dry  brain,  continual  meditation,  discontent,  fears,  and 
cares,  that  suffer  not  the  mind  to  be  at  rest :  incontinency  is 
from  wind,  and  an  hot  liver  (Montan us,  con*.  26).  Rumbling- 
in  the  guts  is  caused  from  wind,  and  wind  from  ill  concoc- 
tion, weakness  of  natural  heat,  or  a  distempered  heat  and  cold; 
•^ palpitation  of  the  heart,  from  vapours;  heaviness  and  aking-, 
from  the  same  cause.  That  the  belly  is  hard,  wind  is  a  cause, 
and  of  that  leaping  in  many  parts.     Redness  of  the  face,  and 


^  Lib.  2.  de  intellectione.  Ping^i  sunt  Minerva  phlegmatici :  sanguinei  amabiles, 
grati,  hilares,  at  non  ingeniosi  ;  cholerici  celeres  motu,  et  ob  id  contemplationis  im- 
patieutes  :  melancholici  solum  excellentes,  &c.  *>  Trepidantiuin  vox  trenmla, 

qui  cor  quatitur.  c  Ob  ariditatem  qua?  reddit  nervos  lingua;  torpidos. 

•>  Incoutinentia  liuguaj  ex  copia  ilatuain,  et  velocitate  imagiuationis.  eCalvities 

ob  siccitatis  excessum.  '  Aetius. 


310  Symptomes  of  Melancholy.         [Part.  1.  Sec.  3. 

'Selling',  as  if  they  were  flea-bitten,  or  stung  with  pis-mires, 
from  a  sharp  subtile  wind  :  *cold  sweat,  from  vapours  arising- 
from  the  hypocondries,  which  pitch  upon  the  skin;  leanness 
for  want  of  good  nourishment.  Why  their  appetite  is  so  g^reat, 
''Aetius  answers  :  os  ventris  J'rif/escit,  cold  in  those  inner 
parts,  cold  belly  and  hot  liver,  causeth  crudity;  and  intention 
proceeds  from  perturbations;  "^our  soul,  for  want  of  spiiits, 
cannot  attend  exactly  to  so  many  intentive  operations;  Ijeing- 
exhaust,  and  overswayed  by  passion,  she  cannot  consider  the 
reasons  which  may  disswade  her  from  such  affections. 

*^Bashfulnessand  blushing- is  a  passion  cojnmon  to  men  alone, 
and  is  not  only  caused  from  "^  some  shame  and  ignominy,  or  that 
they  are  guilty  unto  themselves  of  some  foul  fact  connnitted, 
but  (as  Fracastorius  well  determines)  ob  defectnm  proprmm, 
et  timorem,  Jrom  J'eur,  and  a  conceit  of  our  defects.  The 
J'ace  labours  and  is  troubled  at  his  presence  that  sees  our  dejects; 
and  nature,  tvillinr/  to  help,  sends  thither  heat  ;  heat  draws 
the  subtilest  blood;  and  so  we  blush.  They  that  are  bold, 
arrogant,  and  careless,  seldom  or  never  blush,  but  such  as  are 
fearyul.  Anthonius  Lodovicus,  in  his  book  de pudore,  will 
have  this  subtil  blood  to  arise  in  the  face,  not  so  much  for  the 
reverence  of  our  betters  in  presence,  ^butjor  joy  and  pleasure, 
or  if '  any  thiny  at  unainares  shall  pass  Jrom  us,  a  sudden  ac- 
cident^ occurse,  or  nieetiny,  (which  Disarius,  in  ''  Macrobius, 
confirms)  any  object  heard  or  seen  (for  blind  men  never  blush, 
asDandinus  observes ;  the  nightand  darkness  make  men  impu- 
dent)— or  that  we  be  staid  before  our  betters,  or  in  company 
we  like  not,  or  if  any  thing  molest  and  offend  us — erub'escentia 
turns  to  rubor^  blushing- to  a  continuate  redness.  'Sometimes 
the  extremity  of  the  ears  tingle,  and  are  red,  sometimes  the 
whole  face,  etsi  nihil  vitiosuni  commiseris,  as  Lodovicus  holds  : 
though  Aristotle  is  of  opinion,  onmis pudor  ex  vitio  commisso, 
all  shame  for  some  offence.  But  we  find  otherwise ;  it  may  as 
well  proceed  ''from  fear,  from  force,  and  inexperience,  (so 
'Dandinus  holds)  as  vice;  a  hot  liver,  saith  Duretus  (noiis 
in   HolleriumJ  ;  from  a  hot  brain,  Jrom   icind,   the  lunys 


a  Lauren,  c.  13.  bTehab  2.  ser.  2.  c.  10.  <=  Ant,  Lodovicus  proh, 

lib.  I.  sect.  5.  de  atrabilariis.  J Subrusticus  jmdor,  vitiosus  pudor,  f  0I» 

ignoniiniam  aut  turpedinein  facti,  &c.  f  Dc  symp.  et  antip.  cap.  12. 

Laborat  facJes  ob  prt^sentiam  ejus  qui  defectum  nostrum  videt  ;  et  iiatura,  quasi 
opem  latura,  calorem  illun  mittit ;  calor  sangninem  trahit ;  unde  rubor.  Audaces  nou 
rubent  &c.  g'Ob  gaudium  et  voluptatem,  foras  exit  sanguis,  aut  ob  nielioris 

reverentiam,  ant  ob  subitum  occursum,  aut  si  quid  incautius  excideril.  ''  Com. 

in  Arist.  de  anima.  Caeci  ut  piurimum  impudentes.  Nox  facit  impudentes. 
•  Alexander 'Aphrodisiensis  makes  all  bashfulness  a  vertue  ;  eamquese  ref'ertin  seipso 
experiri  solitum,  etsi  esset  admodum  senex.  k  Srepe  post  cibum  apti  ad 

ruborem,  ex  potu  vini,  ex  tiraore  ssepe,  et  ab  hepate  calido,  cerebro  calido,  &c. 
1  Com.  in  Arist.  de  animft.    Tarn  a  y\  et  incxperientia  quam  a  vitio. 


Mem.  3.]  Causes  of  these  Symptomes.  31 1 

heated,  or  ajler  drinkiny  of  wine,  strung   drink,  perturba- 
tions, Si'c. 

Laushter,  what  it  is,  saith  ^ Tally,  how  caused,  where,  and 
so  suddenly  breaks  out,  that,  desirous  to  stay  it,  we  cannot, 
how  it  comes  to  possess  and  stir  our  face,  veins,  eyes,  counte- 
nance, month,  sides,  let  Democritus  determine.  The  cause,  that 
it  often  aifects  melancholy  men  so  much,  is  g-iven  by  Gomesius 
(/.  3.  de  sale  genial,  cap.  IS) — abundance  of  pleasant  vapours, 
which,  in  sano^uine  melancholy  especially,  break  from  the 
heart,  ^  and  tickle  the  midriff,  because  it  is  transverse  and  full 
of  nerves ;  by  which  titillation  the  sense  being  moved,  and  the 
arteries  distended,  or  pulled,  the  spirits  from  thence  move  and 
possess  the  sides,  veins,  countenance,  eyes.  See  more  in  Jos- 
sius,  de  risti,  et fetu,  Vives,  3.  de  Animd.  Tears,  as  Scaliijer 
defines,  proceed  from  {[^rief  and  pity,  ^  or  from  the  heatiny  of 
a  moist  brain  ;  for  a  dry  cannot  weep. 

That  they  see  and  hear  so  many  phantasms,  chimeras,  noises, 
vitiions,  &c.  (as  Fienus  hath  discoursed  at  large  in  his  book 
of  imagination,  and  '^  Lavater,  de  spec tr is, part.  1 .  cap.  2,  3,4) 
their  corrupt  phantasie  makes  them  see  and  hear  that  which 
indeed  is  neither  heard  nor  seen.  Qui  multum  j'ej'unant,  aut 
noctes  ducunt  insomnes,  they  that  much  fast,  or  want  sleep, 
as  melancholy  or  sick  men  commonly  do,  see  visions,  or  such 
as  are  weak-sighted,  very  timorous  by  nature,  mad,  distracted, 
or  earnestly  seek.  Sabini,  quod  volunt,  somniant,  as  the 
saying  is  ;  they  dream  of  that  they  desire.  Like  Sarmiento 
the  Spaniard,  who,  when  he  was  sent  to  discover  the  Streinhts 
of  Magellan,  and  confine  places,  by  theprorex  of  Peru,  stand- 
ing on  the  top  of  an  hill,  amoenissimam  planitiem  despicere 
sibi  visusfuit,  cedijicia  magnijica,  quamplurimos  pagos,  altas 
turres,  splendida  templa,  and  brave  cities,  built  like  ours  in 
Europe;  not  (saith  mine  ^author)  that  there  was  any  such 
thing,  but  that  he  was  vanissimuset  ?timis  credulus,  and  would 
fain  have  had  it  so.  Or  (as  '  Lod.  3Iercatus  proves),  by  reason 
of  inward  vapours,  and  humours  from  blood,  choler,  &.c.  di- 
versly  niixt,  they  apprehend  and  see  outwardly,  as  they  sup- 
pose, diverse  images,  which  indeed  are  not.  As  they  that  drink 
wine  think  all  runs  round,  when  it  is  their  own  brain  ;  so  is 
it  with  these  men ;  the  fault  and  cause  is  inward,  as  Galen 
affirms ;  §  mad  men  and  such  as  are  near  death,  quas  extra  se 


»  2,  De  oratore.  Quid  ipse  risns,  quo  pacto  concitetur,  ubi  sit,  &:c.  ''Diaphrapma 
titillant,  quia  transvftrsuna  et  uervosum,  qua  tittillatione  raoto  sensn  atque  arteriis  liis- 
tentis,  spiritus  inde  latera,  venas,  os  oculos  occupant.  ••'  Ex  calefaclione  liumidi 

cerebri ;  nam  ex  sicco  iacrj'ma;  non  fluunt.  ii  Rt-s  inirandas  imag^inantur  ;  'et  putant 

se  videre  quae  nee  vident,  nee  audiunt..  "  Laet.  lil;.  13.  cap.  '2.  doscript.  India; 

Occident.  fLib.  1.  cap.  17.  cap.  de  mel.  ijjiiaani,  et  qui  luorti  vicini  sunt, 

res,  quas  extra  se  videre  putaut,  intra  Ofiili.s  habent 

VOL.    I.  F    i 


512  Symptomes  of  .Melancholy.         [Part.  1.  Sec.  3. 

videre putatit  imaf/i?ies,  hitra  oculos  habent ;  'tis  in  their  Ijrain, 
which  seems  to  be  before  them  ;  the  brain,  as  a  concave  olass, 
reflects  solid  bodies.  Senes  etiam  decrepiti  cerebrum  habent 
concavum  et  aridum^  ut  imafjinentnr  se  videre  (saith '"  Boissard  us) 
qn(S  non  sunt;  ohl  men  are  too  frequently  mistaken,  and  dote 
in  like  case:  or,  as  he  that  looketh  through  a  piece  of  red  glass, 
judgeth  every  thing  he  sees  to  be  red;  corrupt  vapours  mounting 
from  the  body  to  the  head,  and  distilling  again  from  thence  to 
the  eyes,  when  they  have  mingled  themselves  with  the  watery 
crystal  which  receiveth  the  shadows  of  things  to  be  seen,  make 
all  things  appear  of  the  same  colour,  which  remains  in  the 
humour  that  overspreads  our  sight,  as  to  melancholy  men  all 
is  black,  to  phlegmatick  all  white,  &c.  Or  else,  as  before,the 
organs,  corrupt  by  a  corrupt  phantasie,  (as  Lemnius,  lib.  J. 
cap.  16.  well  quotes)  ^  cause  a  great  agitation  of  spirits  and 
humours,  which  tcander  to  and  fro  in  all  the  creeks  of  the  brain^ 
and  cause  such  apparitions  before  their  eyes.  One  thinks  he 
reads  something  written  in  the  moon,  as  Pythagoras  is  said  to 
have  done  of  old  :  another  smells  brimstone,  hears  Cerberus 
bark :  Orestes,  now  mad,  supposed  he  saw  the  Furies  torment- 
ing him,  and  his  mother  still  ready  to  run  upon  him. 

O  mater!  obsecro,  noli  me  persequi 

His  Furiis,  adspectu  angiiineis,  horribilibus ! 

Ecce  !  ecce!  in  me  jam  ruunt ! 

but  Electra  told  him,  thus  raving  in  his  mad  fit,  he  saw  no 
such  sights  at  all ;  it  was  but  his  erased  imagination. 

Quiesce,  quiesce,  miser,  in  linteis  tuis  ; 
Non  cernis  etenim,  quae  videre  te  putas. 

So  Pentheus  (in  Bacchis  Euripidis)  saw  two  suns,  two 
Thebes;  his  brain  alone  was  troubled.  Sickness  is  an  ordinary 
cause  of  such  sights.  Cardan,  subtil.S:  mens  (sgra,  labor  ibus 
et  Jejuniisfracta,facit  eos  videre, audire,Sfc.  And.  Osiander 
beheld  strange  visions,  and  Alexander  ab  Alexandre,  both 
in  their  sickness,  which  he  relates  (de  rerum  varietat.  lib.  8. 
cap-  44).  Albategnius,  that  noble  Arabian,  on  his  death-bed, 
saw  a  ship  ascending  and  descending:  which  Fracastorius  re- 
cords of  his  friend  BaptistaTurrianus.  Weak  sight,and  a  vain 
persM'asion  withall,  may  effect  as  much,  and  second  causes 
concunHng,  as  an  oav.e  in  water  makes  a  refraction,  and  seems 
bigger,  bended. dodMe,  &c.  The  thickness  of  the  aire  may 
caiise  such  efi'ects ;  or  any  object  not  well  discerned  in  the  dark, 

•JCap.  10.  cle  spirit,  apparitione.  *'De  occult,  nat.  mirac. 


Mem. 'i.]  Causf>s  of  theii^  Symptovfies.  313 

feaT  and  phaiitasie  will  suspect  to  be  a  ghost,  a  devil,  &c. 
"  Quod  niiim  miseri  timent,  hoc  facile  cieduut :  we  are  apt  to 
believe,  and  mistake  insucli  cases.  Marcellus  Donatiis  {/ih.  2. 
cap.  1)  brings  in  a  story  out  of  Aristotle,  of  one  Antepheron, 
which  likely  saw,  wheresoever  he  was,  his  own  image  in  the 
aire,  as  in  a  glass.  Vitellio  {lib.  10.  perspect)  hath  such  an- 
other instance  of  a  familiar  acquaintance  of  his,  that,  after  the 
want  of  three  or  four  nights  sleep,  as  he  was  riding  by  a  river 
side,  saw  another  riding  with  him,  and  using  all  such  gestures 
as  he  did  ;  but  when  more  light  appeared,  it  vanished.  Ere- 
mites and  anachorites  have  frequently  such  absurd  visions,  re- 
velation;-, by  reason  of  much  fasting,  and  bad  diet :  many  are 
deceived  by  legerdemain,  as  Scot  hath  well  shewed  in  his 
book  of  the  discovery  of  witchcraft,  and  Cardan,  subtil.  18. 
Suffites,  perfumes,  suffumigation^,  mixt  candles,  perspective 
glasses,  and  such  natural  causes,  make  men  look  as  if  they 
Were  dead,  or  with  horse-heads,  bulls-horns,  and  such  like 
brutish  shapes,  the  room  full  of  snakes,  adders,  dark,  light, 
green,  red,  of  all  colours,  as  you  may  perceive  in  Baptistu 
Porta,  Alexis,  Albertus,  and  others: — glow-worms,  tire-drakes, 
meteors,  i(/nns  faluus,  (which  Plinius,  lib.  2.  cap.  37.  calls 
Castor  and  Pollux)  with  many  such  that  appear  in  moorish 
grounds,  about  church-yards,  moist  valleys,  or  where  battles 
have  been  fought ;  the  causes  of  which  read  in  Goclenius, 
Velcurius,  Finkius,  &c.  Such  feats  are  often  done,  to  frighten 
children,  with  squibs,  rotten  wood,  &c.  to  make  folks  look  as 
if  they  were  dead,  ''so/y7o7/tayores,bigger,  lesser, fairer,  fouler, 
ut  astantes  sine  capitibus  videaniwr,  ant  toti  ifjniti,  aut  forma 
dcemonitm.  ./Iccipe  pilos  cunis  nigri,  Sj-c.  saith  Albertus ;  and 
so  'tis  ordinary  to  see  strange  uncouth  sights  by  catoptricks ; 
who  knows  not  that  if,  in  a  dark  room,  the  light  be  admitted 
at  one  only  little  hole,  and  a  paper  or  glass  put  upon  it,  the 
sun  shining,  will  represent,  on  the  opposite  wall,  all  such  ob- 
jects as  are  illuminated  by  his  rayes?  With  concave  and 
cylinder  glasses,  we  may  reflect  any  shape  of  men,  devils, 
anticks,(as  magicians  most  part  do,  to  gull  a  silly  spectator  in 
a  dark  room)  we  will  our  selves,  and  that  hanging  in  the  air, 
when  'tis  nothing  but  such  an  horrible  image  (as "  Agiippa  de- 
monstrates) placed  in  another  room.  Roger  Bacon  of  old  is 
said  to  have  represented  hisown  image  walking  in  the  aire  by 
this  art,  though  no  such  thing  appearin  his  perspectives.     But, 


•'Seneca.  Quod  metuunt  nimis,  niinqiiHin  amoveri  posse  nee  tolli  putant.  ''  San- 
guis npupae  cum  melle  corapositus  et  centaurea,  Sec.  Albertus.  ^Lib.  1.  occult 
philos.  fmperiti  homines  ddjuionum  et  iinibrarum  imagines  videie  se'  putant,  qnuui 
niliil  sint  aliucf,  qaam  .Himnlacra  anirnae  expertia. 

F  F  2 


314  Symptomes  oj'  Melancholy.         [Part.  1.  Sec.  3. 

most  part,  it  is  in  the  l)rain  that  deceives  them ;  although  I  may 
not  deny,  but  that  oftentimes  the  devil  deludes  them,  takes? 
his  opportunity  to  sug-o-est,  and  represent  vain  objects  to  me- 
lancholy men,  and  such  as  are  ill  affected.  To  these  you  may 
add  the  knavish  impostures  of  jnglers,  exorcists,  mass-priests, 
and  mountebanks,  of  whom  Roger  Bacon  speaks,  &c.  de  mi- 
racnlis  natm-ce  et  artis,  cap.  1.  ''They  can  counterfeit  the 
voices  of  all  birds  and  bruit  beasts  almost,  all  tones  and  tunes 
of  men,  and  speak  within  their  throats,  as  if  they  spoke  afar 
off,  that  they  make  their  auditors  believe  they  hear  spirits, and 
are  thence  much  astonished  and  affrighted  with  it.  Besides, 
those  artificial  devices  to  over-hear  their  confessions,  like  that 
whispering-  place  of  Glocester  with  us,  or  like  the  Dukes  place 
at  Mantua  in  Italy,  where  the  sound  is  reverberated  by  aeon- 
cave  wall;  a  reason  of  which  Blancanus  in  his  Echometria 
gives,  and  mathematically  demonstrates. 

So  that  the  hearing  is  as  frequently  deluded  as  the  sight, 
from  the  same  causes  almost,  as  he  that  hears  bells,  will  make 
them  sound  what  he  list.  As  the  fool  thinketh,  so  the  bell 
clinketh.  Theophilus  (in  Galen)  thought  he  heard  musick, 
from  vapours  which  made  his  ears  sound,  &c.  Some  are  de- 
ceived by  echoes,  some  by  roaring  of  waters,  or  concaves  and 
reverberation  of  aire  in  the  ground,  hollow  places  and  walls. 
^  At  Cadurcum  in  Aquitany,  words  and  sentences  are  repeated 
by  a  strange  echo  to  the  full,  or  whatsoever  yOu  shall  play 
upon  a  musical  instrument,  more  distinctly  and  louder,  than 
they  are  spoken  at  first.  Some  echoes  repeat  a  thing  spoken 
seven  times,  as  at  Olympus  in  Macedonia  (as  Pliny  relates, 
Mb.S6-  cap.  15.),  some  twelve  times,  as  at  Charenton,  a  village 
near  Paris  in  PVance.  At  Delphos  in  Greece  heretofore  was 
a  miraculous  echo,  and  so  in  many  other  places.  Cardan 
{subtil.  I.  18)  hath  wonderful  stories  of  such  as  have  been  de- 
luded by  these  echoes.  Blancanus  the  Jesuite  (in  his  Echo- 
metria) hath  variety  of  examples,  and  gives  his  reader  full  satis- 
faction of  all  such  sounds,  by  way  of  demonstration.  ''At 
Barrey,  an  isle  in  the  Severn  mouth,  they  seem  to  hear  a  smiths 
forge:  so  at  Lipara,  and  those  sulphureous  isles,  and  many 
such  like  which  Olaus  speaks  of  in  the  continent  of  Scandia, 
and  those  northern  countries.  Cardan  (dererum  var.  I.  !5.c.84) 
mentioneth  a  woman,  that  still  supposed  she  heard  the  devil  call 
her,  and  speaking  to  her,  (she  was  a  painters  wife  in  Milan) 


'^ PytlionissBB,  vocuiu  varietatein  in  ventre  et  ;i'utture  fisigentes,  formant  voces  hiima- 
nasa  loiiRe  vel  prope,  pnmt  voluut,  ac  si  spiritu^  cuui  lioiuice  loqueietur  ;  et  sonosbru- 
toruui  fiiif;uni,  &c.  '' Tarn clare  tt  nrtjcuiate  aiidies  repetitiiin,  iit  perfectior  sit 

Eclio  qnam  ipse  dixeris.  <-■  Blo^^ing  oi'beJlovvs,  ami  knocking  of  liamajci 8,  ii  they 

a{ip]y  tlieir  tar  to  the  clilC 


Mem.  1.]  Proffnosticks  of  Melancholy.  315 

ami  many  sucb  illusions  and  voices,  which  proceed  most  part 
from  a  corrupt  imagination. 

Whence  it  comes  to  pass,  that  they  prophesie,  speak  several 
lang-uages,  talk  of  astronomy,  and  other  unknown  sciences  to 
them,  (of  which  they  have  been  ever  ig-norant)  ^I  have  in  brief 
touched:  only  this  I  will  here  add,  that  Arculanus,  Bodiu, 
{lib.  3.  cap.  6,  dwmon.)  and  some  others,  ''hold  as  a  manifest 
token  that  such  persons  are  possessed  with  the  devil,  (so  doth 
•^Hercules  de  Saxonia,and  Apponensis)  andfitonlyto  be  cured 
by  a  priest.  But  "^  Guianerius,  *  Montaltus,  Pomponatius  of 
Padua,  and  Lemnius  (lib.  2.  cap.  2),  refer  it  wholly  to  the 
ill-disposition  of  the  'humour,  and  that  out  of  the  authority  of 
Aristotle,  profe.  30.  1,  because  such  symptomes  are  cured  by 
purg-ing;  and  as,  by  the  striking  of  aflint,  fire  is  inforced,so,  by 
the  vehement  motions  of  spirits,  they  do  elicere  voces  inaudifas, 
compel  strange  speeches  to  be  spoken.  Another  argument  he 
had  from  Plato's  remimscentia,  which  is,  all  out,  as  likely  as 
that  which  -MarsiliusFicinus speaks  of  his  friend  Pierleonus; 
by  a  divine  kind  of  infusion,  he  understood  the  secrets  of 
nature,  and  tenents  of  Gnccian  and  barbarian  philosophers, 
before  ever  he  heard  of,  saw,  or  read  their  works  :  but  in  this 
I  should  rather  hold,  with  Avicenna  and  his  associates,  that 
such  symptomes  proceed  from  evil  spirits,  which  take  all  op- 
portunities of  humours  decayed,  or  otherwise,  to  pervert  the 
soul  of  man  ;  and  besides,  the  humour  itself  is  balneum  dui- 
holi,  the  devils  bath,  and  (as  Agrippa  proves)  doth  intice 
bim  to  seize  upon  them. 


SECT.  IV.    MEMB.  I. 

Prognosticks  of  Melanchohf. 

X  ROGNOSTICKS,  or  signs  of  things  to  come,  are  either 
good  or  bad.  If  this  malady  be  not  hereditary,  and  taken 
at  the  beginning,  there  is  good  hope  of  cure;  recens  curatiunem 
non  habet  difficilem,  saith  Avicenna  (/.  3.  Fen.  I .  Tract.  4. 
c.  18).  That  which  is  with  laughter,  of  all  others,  is  most 
secure,  gentle,  and  remiss  (Hercules  de  Saxonia).  ^  If  that 
evacuation  of  hcemrods,  or  varices  which  they  call  the  icater 

a  Memb.  1.  Sub.  3.  of  this  partition,  cap.  16.  in  9  Rhasis.  b  Si^a  djenionis 

nulla  sunt,  nisi  quod  loqnantur  ea  quaj  ante  nesciebant,  iit  Teutonicum  aut  aliud  idio- 
ma,  &c.  <•  Cap.  12.  tract,  de  me).  ''Tract  15.  c.  4.  *^  Cap  «) 

'  Mira  vis  concifat  humoros,  ardorque  vehemens  mpntem  exaKitaf,quiim.  Jvr.  gPrafat 
Jambliri  mysteiiis.  ''  Si  raelancholiris  haptnorrhoidts  superventrint,  varices   vei 

(ut  quibusdam  placet)  dfjua  inter  cuteui,  solvitur  malum.  '  ' 


316  Prognosticks  of  Melancholy.     [Part,  J.  Sec.  4. 

between  tlies/cm,  shall  happen  to  a  vielanchQly  man,  his  misery 
is  ended  (Hippocrates,  Jlphor.  6. 11).  Galen  {I.  6.  de  morbis 
vjilyar.  conu  8)  confirms  the  same  ;  and  to  tjiis  aphorism  of 
Hippocrates  all  the  Arabians,  new  and  old  Latines,  subscribe 
(Montaltus,  c  25.  Hercules  de  Saxonia,,Mercuria]is,  Vittorius, 
Faventius,  «&c.)  Skenkius  (/.  Lobservat.  vied.  c.  de  Mania) 
illustrates  this  aphorism,  with  an  example  of  one  Daniel  Federer 
a  coppersmith,  that  was  long  melancholy,  and  in  the  end  mad 
about  the  twenty-seventh  year  of  his  age :  these  varices  or 
water  began  to  rise  in  his  thighs ;  and  he  was  freed  from  his 
madness.  Marliis  the  Roman  was  so  cured,  some  say,  though 
with  great  pain.  Skenkius  hath  some  other  instances  of  wo- 
men that  have  been  helped  by  flowing  of  their  moneths, 
which  before  were  stopped.  That  the  opening  of  the  hajmrods 
will  do  as  much  for  men,  all  physicians  joyntly  signifie,  sothey 
be  voluntary,  some  say,  and  not  by  compulsion.  All  nielan- 
choly  men  are  better  after  a  quartane.  ''Jobertus  saitli, 
scarce  any  man  hath  that  ague  twice.  But,  whetlier  it  free 
him  from  this  malady,  'tis  a  question  ;  for  many  ])hysicians 
ascribe  all  along  agues  for  especial  causes,  and  aquartane  ag|iijB 
amongst  the  rest.  *>  Rhasis,  c,o?^l.  lib.  1.  tract.  9.  WJien  me- 
lancholy (jets  out  at  the  superficies  of  the  skin,  or  .jetties, 
breaking ''  out  in  scabs,  leprosie,  morphew,  or  is  purged  by 
stools,  or  by  the  vrine,  or  that  the  spleen  is  enlarged,  and 
those  varices  appear,  the  disease  is  dissolved.  Guianerius 
{cap.  5.  tract.  15)  adds  dropsie,  jaundise,  dysentery,  leprosie, 
as  good  signs,  to  these  scabs,  morphews,  and  breaking  out, 
and  proves  it,  out  of  the  sixth  of  Hippocrates  Aphorismes. 

Evil  prog-nosticks,  on  the  other  part.  Inveterata  melancho- 
lia incurabilis;  if  it  be  inveterate,  it  is  "^incurable  (a  connnon 
axiome)  ant  dij/iculfer  curabilis,  (as  they  say  that  make  the 
best)  hardly  cured.  This  Galen  witnesseth  (/.  3.  de  loc.  affect, 
cap.  6)  :  ^  be  it  in  whom  it  will,  or  from  what  cause  soever^ 
it  is  ever  long,  wayward,  tedious,  and  hard  to  be  cured,  if 
once  it  be  habitnated.  As  Lucian  said  of  the  gout,  she  was  Hhe 
queen  of  the  diseases,  and  inexorable,  may  we  say  of  melan- 
choly. Yet  Paracelsus  will  have  all  diseases  whatsoever  oi- 
rable,  and  lauglis  at  them  which  think  otherwise,as  T.  Erastus 
(part.  S)  objects  to  him;  although,  in  another  place,  hereditary 
cRseases  he  accounts  incurable,  and  by  no  art  to  be  ^removed. 


a  Cap.  10.  de  qiiartnna,  h(;„n,  sanguis  exit  per  superficiem,  et  residet  melan- 

pbolia  per  scabiein,  niorpheam  nigrara,  vet  expiirgatur  per  inferiorps  gartes,  vel  urinam, 
&C.  noil  prit,  8.c.  splen  magnificatur,  et  varices  apparent.  <■  Qrim  jam  ronversa  in 

riatiiram.  ^  Jn  qiiocimque  sii,  a  quacunque  cauRsa,  hypocop.  prfeserhm,  semper 

est  longa,  moiosa,  nrr  facile  curari  potest.  e  fjpgjna  morborum  et  inexorabilis. 

I  Qnine  delirium,  quod  oritur  a  paucitate  cerebii,  incurabile.      Hildesheim,  spicil.  dp 
Kiania.    . 


Mem.  1.]  Prognosticks  of  Melancholy.  317 

Hiklesheini  {spicil.  2.  de  mel.)  holds  it  less  dangferous,  ifouly 
*  imagination  be  hurt,  and  not  reason  :  ^  the  gentlest  is  from 
blood,  ivorsefrom  choler  adust,  but  the  worst  oj'  all  from  me- 
lancholg pntrijied.  "^  Bruel  esteems  hypochondriacal  least  dan- 
gerous, and  the  other  two  species(opposite  to  Galen)  hardest  to 
be  cured.  "^  The  cure  is  hard  in  man,  but  much  more  difficult 
in  women.  And  both  men  and  women  must  take  notice  of  that 
saying  of  Montanus  (pro  Abbate  Italo)  :  '^  this  malady  doth 
commonly  accompany  them  to  their  grave ; physiciansmat/  ease, 
and  it  may  lye  hidj'or  a  time  ;  but  they  cannot  quite  cure  it, 
but  it  will  return  again  more  violent  and  sharp  than  at  first,  and 
that  upon  every  small  occasion  or  errour :  as  in  Mercuries  wea- 
ther-beaten statue,  that  was  once  all  over  gilt,  the  open  parts 
were  clean,  yet  there  was  in fmbriis  aurum,  in  the  chinks  a 
remnant  of  gold — there  will  be  some  reliques  of  melancholy 
left  in  the  purest  bodies  (if  once  tainted),  not  so  easily  to  be 
rooted  out.  'Oftentimesit  degenerates  into  epilepsy, apoplexy, 
convulsions,  and  bl  indness,(by  the  authority  of  Hippocrates  and 
Galen)  sail  averr,  if  once  it  possess  the  ventricles  of  the  brain — 
Frambesarius,  and  Sallust  Sal  vianus'' adds,  if  it  get  into  the  op- 
tick  nerves,  blindness.  Mercurialis  {consil.20)  had  a  woman 
to  his  patient,  that  from  melancholy  became  epileptick  and 
blind.  '  If  it  come  from  a  cold  cause,  or  so  continue  cold, 
or  increase,  epilepsie,  convulsions  follow,  and  blindness;  or  else, 
in  the  end,  they  are  moped,  sottish,  and,  in  all  their  actions, 
speeches,  gestures,  ridiculous.  ""If  it  come  from  an  hot  cause 
they  are  more  furious  and  boisterous,  and  in  conclusion  mad. 
Calescentem  melancholiam  scepius  sequitur  mania.  '  If  it  heat 
and  increase,  that  is  the  common  event  :  "^ per  circuitus,  aut 
semper,  insanit ;  be  is  mad  by  fits,  or  altogether:  for  (as'^Sen- 
oertus  contends  out  of  Crato)  there  is  seminarium  ignis  in 
this  humour,  the  very  seeds  of  fire.  If  it  come  from  melan- 
choly natural  adust,  and  in  excess,  they  are  often  dfemouiacal 
(Montanus). 

"Seldom  this  malady  procures  death,  except  (which  is  the 
greatest,  most  grievous  calamity,  and  the  misery  of  all  fniseries) 
they  make  away  themselves;  which  is  a  frequent  thino-,  and 


»  Si  sola  imagioatio  Isedatur,  et  non  ratio.  <>  Mala  a  sanguine  fervenfe,  deterior 

a  bile  assata,  pessima  ab  atra  bile  putrefacta.  r.  Difticilior  ciira  ejiis  ^nte.  fit  vifio 

corporis  totius  et  cerebri.  <!  Difficilis  cnratn  in  viris,  mnlto  flifEcilior  in  feiniiiis. 

»•  Ad  interitum  plerumcjiie  homines  comitatur  :  licet  medici  le^ent  plerunique,  tariieii 
non  tollnnt  unqnam,  sed  recidet  acerbior  qnani  antea,  niiDJmA  occasione,  ant  errore. 
fPericulum  est,  ne  depreneret  ii>  epilepsiam,  apoplexiarn,  cotnul.sioiifni,'  c  acitate m. 
R  Montal.  c.  25.  Laurentius.  Nic.  Piso.  ''  Her.  de  Saxonia,  Aristotle,  Capiiacrius.' 

'  Favent.  Himior  J'rigidus  ssia  delirii  caussa,  fiirori.s  vero  humor  calidus.  k  fJenr- 

uitLS  calls  madness  .soboleiii  melancholia-.  'Alexander,  1.  I.  c.  18.  m  Lib.  ]. 

part.  2.  c.  11.  "Montalt.  c.  15.  Baro  mors  aut  niinquani,  nisi  sibi  ipsig 

inferant. 


318  PrognosticJcs  of  Melancholy.      [Part.  1.  Sec.  4. 

familiar  amohirstthem.  'Tis  =*  Hippocrates  observation,  Galens 
sentence,  (etsi  mortem  timent^  tamen  plerumque  sibi  ipsis  mor- 
tem consciscimt,  I.  3.  de  locis  affect,  cap.  J )  the  doom  of  all 
physicians.  'Tis  Rabbi  Moses  aphorism,  the  prog^nosticon  of 
Avicenna,  Rhasis,  Aetius,  Gordonius,  Valescus,  Altomarus, 
SallustSalvianus,  Capivaccius,Mercatus,HerculesdeSaxonia^ 
Piso,  Bruel,  Fuchsius,  all,  &c. 

*'Et  saepe  usque  adeo,  mortis  formidine,  vitce 
Percipit  infelix  odium,  lucisque  videndce, 
Ut  sibi  consciscat  moerenti  pectore  lelum. 

And  so  far  forth  deaths  terrour  doth  afFrio^ht, 
He  makes  away  himself,  and  hates  the  light : 
To  make  an  end  of  fear  and  grief  of  heart. 
He  voluntary  dies,  to  ease  his  smart. 

In  such  sort  doth  the  torture  and  extremity  of  his  misery  tor- 
ment him,  that  he  can  take  no  pleasure  in  his  life,  but  is  in  a 
manner  inforced  to  offer  violence  unto  himself,  to  be  freed 
from  his  present  insufferable  pains.  So  some  (saith  *^Fracas- 
torins)  mfury^  hut  most  in  despair,  sorrow,  Jear,  and  out  of 
the  anguish  and  vexation  of  their  souls  ^  ^,ff^r  violence  to  them- 
selves :for  their  life  is  unhappy  and  miserable.  They  can  take 
no  rest  in  the  niyht,  nor  sleep:  or,  if  they  do  slumber,  fearful 
dreams  arAonish  them.  In  the  day  time,  they  are  affrighted  still 
by  some  terrible  object,  and  torn  in  pieces  with  suspicion,  fear, 
sorrow,  discontents,  cares,  shame,  anguish,  &c.as  so  many  wild 
horses,  that  they  cannot  be  quiet  an  hour,  a  minute  of  time, 
but,  even  against  their  wills,  they  are  intent,  and  still  thinking 
of  it;  they  cannot  forget  it;  it  grinds  their  souls  day  and  night; 
they  are  perpetually  tormented,  a  burden  to  themselves,  as  Job 
was;  they  can  neither  eat,  drink,  or  sleep.  Psal.  107.  18. 
Their  soul  abhorreth  all  meat,  and  they  are  brought  to  deaths 
door,  '^ being  bound  in  misery  and  iron:  ^they  curse  their  stars 
(with  Job),  ^  and  day  of  their  birth,  and  wish  for  death  (for,  as 
Pineda  and  most  interpreters  hold,  Job  was  even  melancholy 
to  <lespair,  anl  almost  ^  madness  it  self) :  they  murmur  many 
times  against  the  world,  friends, allies,  all  mankind,even  against 
God  himself  in  the  bitterness  of  their  passion  :  ^  vivere  nolunt, 
mori  nesciunt ;  live  they  will  not,  die  they  cannot.     And,  in 


!i  Lib.  de  insan.   Fabio  Calvo  interprete.       NonniiUi   violentas    manus   sibi    infe- 
runt.  •>  Lncret.  1.  3.  «  Lib.  2.  de  Intell.     Sanpe  mortem  sibi  consois- 

cnnt  ob  timorem  et  tristitiam,  txA'in  vitas  allecti  oh  fiimreni  et  desperationem.  Est 
rnim  infera,  Str.  Ergo  sic  perpefno  afllictaJi  vitam  odernnt,  se  praecipitant,  his 
malig  caritiiri,  aut  interfir.iiint  se,  ant  tale  tpiid  commitlnnt.  ^Psal.  Ifl7.  10. 

fjob,  33.  'Job,  6.  8.  g  Vi  doloris  et  tristitia>  ad  insauiam  paene  rcdactus. 

*•  Seneca. 


Mem.  1.]  Prognosticks  of  Melancholy .  319 

the  midst  of  these  squalid,  \\s\y,  and  such  irksome  dayes,  they 
seek  at  last,  (finding  no  comfort,  "no  remedy  in  this  wretched 
life)  to  be  eased  of  all  by  death.  Omnia  appetunt  bonum, ; 
all  creatures  seek  the  best,  and  for  their  good,  as  they  hope, 
suh  specie,  in  shew  at  least,  ?;«>/  qnia  mori  pulchnim  putant ,  (saith 
*•  Hippocrates)  vel  quia  putant  inde  se  majorihus  malis  liberari, 
to  be  freed  as  they  wish.  Though,  many  times,as  ^Esops  fishes, 
they  leap  from  the  frying-pan  into  the  fire  it  self,  yet  they 
hoped  to  be  eased  by  this  means  ;  and  therefore,  (saith  Felix 
''  Platerus)  after  many  tedious  dayes,  at  last,  either  by  drown- 
ing, hanging,  or  some  such  fearful  end,  they  precipitate  or 
make  away  themselves  :  many  lamentable  examples  are  daily 
seen  amongst  u^:  alius  ante  fores  se  laqueo  suspendit^  (as  Se- 
neca notes)  alius  se  prcecipitavit  a  tecto,  ne  dominum  stomach' 
antem  audiret  ;  alius,  ne  reduceretur  afugd,ferrum  adegit  in 
viscera :  so  many  causes  there  are 

■ His  amor  exitio  est,  furor  his 

love,  grief,  anger,  madness ;  and  shame,  &c.  'Tis  a  common 
calamity,  '^  a  fatal  end  to  this  disease :  they  are  condemned  to  a 
violent  death,  by  a  jury  of  physicians,  furiously  disposed,  carried 
headlontr  by  their  tyrannizing  wills,  inforced  by  miseries;  and 
there  remains  no  more  to  such  persons,  if  that  heavenly  phy- 
sician, by  his  assisting  grace  and  merry  alone,  do  not  prevent, 
(for  no  humane  perswasion  or  art  can  help)  but  to  be  their  own 
butchers,and  execute  themselves.  Socrates  his  cicM?a,Lucretias 
dagger,  Timons  halter  are  yet  to  be  had ;  Catoes  knife,  and 
Neroes  sword  are  left  behind  them,  as  so  many  fatal  engines, 
bequeathed  to  posterity,  and  will  be  used,  to  the  worlds  end, 
by  such  distressed  souls :  so  intolerable,  unsufFerable,  grievous 
and  violent  is  their  pain,  *  so  unspeakable  and  continuate. 
One  day  of  grief  is  an  hundred  years,  as  Cardan  observes  : 
'tis  carnifcina  hominum,  angor  animi,  as  well  saith  Aretaeus, 
a  plague  of  the  soul,  the  cramp  and  convulsion  of  the  soul, 
an  epitome  of  hell;  and,  if  there  be  an  hell  upon  earth,  it  is  to 
be  found  in  a  melancholy  mans  heart : 

For  that  deep  torture  may  be  call'd  an  hell, 
When  more  is  felt,  than  one  hath  power  to  tell. 

Yea,  that  which  scoffing  Lucian  said  of  the  gout  in  jest,  I  may 
truly  affirm  of  melancholy  in  earnest. 


*  In  salntis  suae  desperatione  proponunt  sibi  mortis  desideriiira.      Oct.  Horaf.  1.  2. 
c.  5.  ''  Lib.  de  insania.     Sic  sic  jnvat  ire  per  umbras.  <"Cap.  .3.  de  mentis 

alienat.  Mresti  decnint,  dora  tandem  mortem,  qnam  timent,  snspendio  aiit  submer- 
sioDP,  aut  aliqna  alia  vi,  iit  multa  tristia  exempla  \idimns.  "^  Arcnianns,  in  9 

Rhasis.  r.  16.  Cavendiim,  ne  ex  alto  se  prTrripiteiit.  ant  alias  lardant.  ''O  onininm 
opinionibiiR  incogitabile  malnm  !  Liirian.  Mortesque  mille,  millc,  dum  vivit,  oeces, 
gerit,  peritque.     Heioeius,  Austriaco. 


320  Proynosticks  of  Melancholy,       [Part.  1.  Sec.  4. 

O  triste  nomen  !  O  Diis  obidile, 
*  Melancholia  lacrymosa,  Cocyti  filia ! 
Tu  Tartar!  specubus  opacis  edita 
Erinnys,  utero  quam  Megsera  suo  tulit, 
Et  ab  uberibus  aluit,  cuique  parvulse 
Amarulentum  in  os  lac  Alecto  dedit- 
Omnes  abominabiletn  te  dsemones 
Produxere  in  iucem,  exitio  mortalium. 

Et  paullo  post — 

Non  Jupiter  fert  tale  teluni  fulminis, 

Non  uUa  sic  procella  ssevit  aequoris, 

Non  impetuosi  tanta  vis  est  turbinis. 

An  asperos  sustineo  morsus  Cerberi? 

Num  virus  Echidnse  membra  mea  depascitur? 

Aut  tuoica  sanie  tincta  Nessi  sanguinis  ? 

lllacrymabile  et  immedicabile  malum  hoc. 

O  sad  and  odious  name  !  a  name  so  fell. 

Is  this  of  melancholy,  brat  of  hell. 

There  born  in  hellish  darkness  doth  it  dwell. 

The  Furies  brought  it  up,  Megsera's  teat, 

Alecto  gave  it  bitter  milk  to  eat : 

And  all  conspir'd  a  bane  to  mortal  men, 

To  bring  this  devil  out  of  that  black  den. 

Jupiters  thunderbolt,  nor  storm  at  sea, 

Nor  whirl-wind,  doth  our  hearts  so  much  dismay. 

What?  am  I  bit  by  that  fierce  Cerberus? 

Or  stung  by  ^serpents  so  pestiferous  ? 

Or  put  on  shirt  that's  dipt  in  Nessus  blood  ? 

My  pain's  past  cure ;  physick  can  do  no  good. 

No  torture  of  body  like  unto  it ; 

Siculi  nou  invenere  tyranni 

Majus  tormentum ; 

no  strappadoes,  hot  irons,  Phalaris  bulls, 

*= Nee  Ira  De6m  tantum,  nee  tela,  nee  hostis, 

Quantum  sola  noces  animis  illapsa. 

Joves  wrath,  nor  devils,  can 

Do  so  much  harm  to  th'  soul  of  man. 

All  fears,  griefs,  suspicions,  discontent.*,  iinbonities,  insuaivites, 
are  swallowed  up  and  drowned  in  this  Euripus,  this  Irish  sea, 
this  ocean  of  misery,  as  so  many  small  brooks;  'tis  coagulum 
omnium  a^rumnarum,  which  '^  Ammianus  applied  to  his  dis- 
tressed Palladius.  I  say  of  our  melancholy  man,  he  is  the 
cream  of  humane  adversity,  the  "  quintessence,  and  upshot  ; 

"  Regina  morborum,  cai  famulantur  omnes  et  obediunt.     Cardan.  bEhen  !  quis 

intns  Scorpio,  &c.  Seneca,  Act.  4,   Here.  CEt.  <■  Silius  Italicus.  <i  Lib.  29, 

eHic  omnis  imbonitas  etinsnavitasconsistit,|iut  TertiiUiani  verbis  utar,  orat.  ad  martyr. 


Mem.  1.]  Prognosticks  of  Melancholy.  321. 

all  other  diseases  whatsoever  are  but  flea-bitings  to  melancholy, 
in  extent :  'tis  the  pith  of  them  all, 

»  Hospitium  est  calamitatis.     Quid  verV)is  opus  est? 
Quamcunque  malam  rem  quesris,  illic  reperies. 

What  need  more  words  ?  'tis  calamities  inn, 
Where  seek  for  any  mischief,  'tis  within  ; 

aad  a  melancholy  man  is  that  true  Prometheus,which  is  bound 
to  Caucasus;  the  true  Tityus.whose  bovvels  are  still  by  a  vulture 
devoured(as  poets  feii^n);  for  so  doth  ''Lilius  Giraldus  interpret 
it  of  anxieties,  and  those  of  ufriping  cares;  and  so  ought  it  to  be 
understood.  In  all  other  maladies  we  seek  for  help :  if  a  leg  or 
an  arm  ake,  through  any  distemperature  or  wound,  or  that  we 
have.an  ordinary  disease,  above  all  things  Mhatsoeverwe  desire 
help  and  health,  a  present  recovery,  if  by  any  means  possible  it 
maybe  procured:  we  will  freely  part  with  allourotherfortunes, 
substance,  endure  any  misery,  drink  bitter  poisons,  swallow 
those  distasteful  pills,  sufferourjoynts  to  be  seared,  to  be  cutoff, 
any  thing  for  future  health;  so  sv,eet,sodear,  so  precious  above 
all  things  in  this  world  is  life  :  'tis  that  we  chiefly  desire,  long 
^nd  happy  days;  {""vmltos  da,  Jupiter,  cnvios  !)  increase  of  years 
all  men  wish  ;  but,  to  a  melancholy  man,  nothing  so  tedious, 
nothing  so  odious ;  that  which  they  so  carefully  seek  to  pre- 
serve,'' he  abhors,  he  alone.  So  intolerable  are  his  pains, 
some  make  a  question,  graviores  morbi  corporis  an  animi, 
whether  the  diseases  of  the  body  or  mind  be  more  grievous  : 
but  there  is  no  comparison,  no  doubt  to  be  made  of  it;  mulfo 
enim  sceiior  longeque  ent  atrocior  animi  quam  corporis  crucia- 
tus  (Lom.  /.  I.e.  12)  :  the  diseases  of  the  mind  are  far  more 

grievous. Totum  hie  pro  vulnere  corpus  f  hody  and  soul  is 

misafFected  here,  but  the  soul  especially.  So  Cardan  testifies 
(de  rerum.  var.  lib.  8.  40)  :  ^  iMaximus  Tyrius  a  Platonist,  and 
Plutarch,  have  made  just  volumes  to  prove  it.  ^  Dies  adimi( 
cegritvdinem  hominihus  ;  in  other  diseases  there  is  some  hope 
likely ;  but  these  unhappy  men  are  born  to  misery,  past  all 
hope  of  recovery ;  incurably  sick  ;  th*;  longer  they  live,  the 
worse  they  are  ;  and  death  alone  must  ease  them.' 

Another  doubt  is  made  by  some  plulosophers,  whether  it  be 
lawful  for  a  man  in  such  extremity  of  pain  and  grief,  to  make 
away  himself,  and  how  those  men  that  do  so  are  to  be  cen- 
sured. The  Platonists  approve  of  it,  that  it  is  lawful  in  such 
cases,  and  upon  a  necessity.  Plotinus  (/.  de  heatitiid.  c.  7), 
and  Socrates  himself  defends  it,  (in  Platos  Phaedon)  :  if  any 
man  labour  ofan  incurable  disease,  he  may  dispatch  himself,  if 

>  Plautus.  b  Vlt,  Hfrrnlis.  c  Persins.  -i  Qtiid  est  miserins  iu  vita,  quara 

Telle  Bion  ?  Seneca.         «  Tom.  2   Libello,  an  graviores  passiones),  &c.         f  Ter. 


322  P r Off  noslicks  of  Melancholy,     [Part  1.  Sec.  4, 

it  be  to  his  good.  Epicurus  and  his  followers,  the  Cynicks, 
arTd  Stoicks,in  general  affirm  it.  Epictetusai>d  "Seneca  amongst 
the  rest :  cjuamcmique  veram  esse  viani  ad  libertatem  ;  any  way 
is  allowable,  that  leads  to  liberty ;  •'  let  us  give  God  thanks, 
that  no  man  is  compelled  to  live  against  his  will:  '^  quid  ad 
hominem  clmiMra,  career,  custodia  ?  liberum  ostium  hahet ; 
death  is  always  ready  and  at  hand,  Vides  ilium  praicipitem 
locum,  illudjlumen  ?  dost  thou  see  that  steep  place,  that  river, 
that  pit,  that  tree  ?  there  is  liberty  at  hand  ;  effugia  servitutis 
et  dolores  sunt,  as  that  Laconian  lad  cast  himself  headlong, 
(non  serviam,  aiehat  puer)  to  be  freed  of  his  misery.  Every 
vein  in  thy  body,  if  these  be  nimis  operosi  exitus,  yviW  set  thee 
free :  quid  tua  refert,  finem  facias  an  accipias  ?  there's  no 
necessity  for  a  man  to  live  in  misery.  Malum  est  necessitati 
vivere  ;  sed  in  necessitate  vivere,  necessitas  nulla  est.  Igna- 
vns,  qui  sine  caussd  moritur  ;  et  stultus,  qui  cum  dolore  vivit 
{Idem,  epi.  58).  Wherefore  hath  our  mother  the  earth  brought 
out  poisons  (saith  ''Pliny)  in  so  great  a  quantity,  but  that  men 
in  distress  might  make  away  themselves?  which  kings  of  old 
had  ever  in  readiness,  ad  incerta  forttm(e  venenum  sub  cus- 
tode promptuni{L\vy  writes,)and  executioners  alwayesat  hand. 
Speusippus,  being  sick,  was  met  by  Diogenes ;  and,  carried  on 
his  slaves  shoulders,  he  made  his  moan  to  the  philosopher : 
but,  I  pitty  thee  not,  quoth  Diogenes,  qui,  cum  talis  sis,  vivere 
sustines :  thou  maist  be  freed  when  thou  wilt, — meaning  by 
death.  "^Seneca  therefore  commends  Cato,  Dido,  and  Lucretia^ 
for  their  generous  courage  in  so  doing,  and  others  that  volun- 
tarily die,  to  avoid  a  greater  mischief,  to  free  themselves  from 
'  misery,  to  save  their  honour,  or  vindicate  their  good  name,  as 
Cleopatra  did,  as  Sophonisba(Syphax  wife)  did,  Hannibal  did, 
as  Junius  Brutus,  as  Vibus  Virius,  and  those  Campanian  sena- 
toursin  Livy  (Dec.  3.  lib.  6),  to  escape  the  Roman  tyranny,  that 
poisoned  themselves.  Themistocles  drank  bulls  blood,  rather 
than  he  would  fight  against  his  countrey  ;  and  Demosthenes 
chose  rather  to  drink  poyson,Publius  Crassiflius,  Censorius, 
and Plancus,  those heroical Romans,  to  make  away  themselves, 
than  to  fall  into  their  enemies  hands.  How  many  myriads 
besides  in  all  ages  might  I  remember, 

■ qui  sibi  letum 

Insontes  peperere  manu,  &c. 

^Rbasis,  in  the  Macchabees,  is  magnified  for  it,  Sampsons 
death  approved.     So   did   Saul    and  Jonas  sin ;  and  many. 

»  Patetexitus  ;  si  piignare  non  vultis,  licet  fugere  :  qnis  vos  tenet  invitos  ?  De  provid. 
efip.  8.         *>  AgauiusDeogratias,  quod  nemo  invitiis  vita  feneri  potest.  ''  Epist.  'Jfi. 

Senec.  et  de  sacra.  2.  cap.  1.5.  et  Epi.st.  70.  et  12.  ''  Lib.  2.  cap.  83.  Terra  mater. 

Dostri  miserta.  f  Epist.  24.  71.  82.  f  Mac.  14.  42. 


Mem.  1.]  Prognosticks  of  Melancholy.  323 

worthy  men  and  women,  qnorummemoria  celehratur  mecclemdy 
sailh  *'  LiMninchus,  for  killing-  themselves  to  save  their  chastity 
and  honour,  when  Rome  was  taken  (as  Austin  instances,  /.  1. 
de  Cwit.  Dei,  cap.  16).     Jerome  vindicateth  the  same  {in  Jo- 
nam)  ;  and  Ambrose  (/.  3.  de  virrpnitate)  commendeth  Pela- 
gia  for  so  doini*-.     Easebius(/i7>.8.  cap.  15)  admires  aRoman 
matron  for  the  same  fact,  to  save   herself  from  the  lust  of 
Maxentius  the  tyrant.     Adelhelmus,  the  abbot  of  Malmesbury, 
calls  them  beatas  virgines,  quce  sic,  Sfc.      Titus  Pompouius 
Atticus,  that  wise,  discreet,  renowned  Roman  senator,  Tullys 
dear  friend,  when  he  had  been  long  sick,  as  he  supposed  of  an 
incurable  dkenac,  vitamque  produceret  ad  augendos  doloreSy 
sine  spe  salutis,  was  resolved  voluntarily  by  famine  to  dispatch 
himself,   to  be  rid  of  his  pain;  and  when  Agrippa  and  the 
rest  of  his  weeping  friends  earnestly  besought  him,   oscu- 
lautes  ohsecrarent,  neid,  quodnatura  cogeret,  ipse  acceterarety 
not  to  offer  violence  to  himself — with  a  settled  resolution  he 
desired  again  they  would  approve  of  his  good  intent,  and  not 
seek  to  dehort  him  from  it;  and  so  constantly  died,  precesfpie 
eorum  taciturnd  sua   ohstinatioue   depressit.      Even    so  did 
Corellius  Rufus,  another  grave  senator,   (by  the  relation  of 
Plinins  Secundus,  epist.  lib.  1.  epist.   12)  fannsh  himself  to 
death  ;  pedibus  correptus^  cum  incredibiles  cruciatus  et  indig- 
nissima  tormenta  pateretur,  a  cibis  omnino  abstinuit :  neither 
he  nor  Hispulla  his  wife  could  divert  him ;  but  destinatus 
mori  obstinatemagis,  Sfc.  die  he  would,  and  die  he  did.    So  did 
Lycurgus,  Aristotle,  Zeno,  Chrysippus,  Empedocles,   with 
myriads,  &c.    lnwarrs,for  a  man  to  run  rashly  upon  imminent 
dano-er,  and  present  death,  is  accounted  valour  and  magnani- 
mity; ''to  b<3  the  cause  of  his  own  and  many  a  thousands  ruine 
besides,  to  commit  wilful  murther  in  a  manner,  of  himself  and 
others,  is  a  glorious  thing;  and  he  shall  be  crowned  for  it.    The 
^  Massagetai  in  former  times, '^  Barbiccsms,  and  I  know  not 
what  nanonsbesides,  did  stifle  theirold  men,  after  seventy  years, 
to  free  them  from  those  grievances  incicent  to  that  age.     So 
did  the  inhabitants  of  the  island  of  Choa;  because  their  aire 
was  pure  and  good,  and  the  people  generaMy  long  lived,  ante- 
vertebant  fatum  snum,  priusquam  manci  forent,  aut    imbe- 
cillitas  accederet,  papavere  velcicutd;  wth  poppy  or  hem- 
lock they  prevented  death.     8"^  Thomas  Moore,  in  his  Utopia, 
commends  voluntary  death,  if  he  be  sibi  ait  aliis  molestusy 
troublesome  to  himself  or  others :  ^  especiaiy  if  to  live  be  a 


a  Viiidicatio  Apoc.  lib.  ''  As  amODgst  Turks  and  otheM.  c  Boiiemu.s,  de 

moribiis  gent.  ^^Elian.  lil>.  4.  cap.  1.    Oiniies  70  anninn'tfre8."tos  interticiimt. 

♦'"Lib.  2.     Prassertim  cum  lot nitadim  f4  vitn  .sit.  l-on.'i  spe',  (nlud,;iccii)a  via,  vtlnta 
earccre,  «c  exiniat,  vel  ul»  alii.s  eiinii  sua  vuluutate  putialur. 


324  Proyrwsticks  of  Melancholy,      [Part,  1.  Sec.  4. 

torment  to  him,  let  himjree  himself  with  his  own  hands  from 
this  tedious  life,  as  from  a  prison,  or  suffer  himself  to  be  freed 
by  others.  ^  And  'tis  the  same  tenant  M'liich  Laertius  relates 
of  Zeno,  of  old :  juste  sapiens  sibi  mortem  corisciscit,  si  in 
acerbis  doloribus  versetur,  membrorum  mutilatione,  aut  morbis 
cegre  curandis,  and  which  Plato  (9.  de  leyibus)  approves,  if 
old  age,  poverty,  ignominy,  &c.  oppress;  and  which  Fabius 
expresseth  in  effect  (Prosfat.  7.  Institut.)  nemo,  nisi  sua 
culpa,  diu  dolet.  It  is  an  ordinary  thing  in  China,  (saith  Mat. 
lliccius  the  Jesuit)  ^if  they  be  in  despair  of  better  fortunes,  or 
tyred  and  tortured  icith  misery,  to  bereave  themselves  of  life^ 
and  many  times,  to  spite  their  enemies  the  more^  to  hang  at 
their  door.  Tacitus  the  historian,  Plutarch  the  philosopher, 
much  approve  a  voluntary  departure,  and  Austin  (de  civ.  Dei, 
L  I.e.  29)  defends  a  violent  death,  so  that  it  be  undertaken  in 
a  good  cause :  nemo  sic  mortuus,  qui  non  fuerat  aliquundo 
moriturus :  quid  autem  interest,  quo  mortis  genere  vita  ista 
fniatur,  quando  ille,  cut  finitur,  iterum  mori  non  cogitur  ? 
SfC.  no  man  so  voluntarily  dies,  hxxivolens  nolens,  he  must  die 
at  last;  and  our  life  is  subject  to  innumerable  casualties:  who 
knows  when  they  may  happen  ?  utrum  satius  est,  unamperpeti 
moriendo,  an  omnes  timere  vivendo  ?  ''rather  suffer  one,  tiian 
fear  all.  Death  is  better  than  a  bitter  life  (Ec.  30.  17) :  '^and 
a  harder  choice  to  live  in  fear,  than,  by  once  dying,  to  be  freed 
from  all.  Cleombrotus  Ambraciotes  perswaded  I  know  not 
how  many  hundreds  of  his  auditors,  by  a  luculent  oration 
he  mad«  of  the  miseries  of  this,  and  happiness  of  that  other 
life,  to  precipitate  themselves:  and  (having  read  Platos  divine 
tract  de  animd)  for  examples  sake,  led  the  way  first.  Thf<t 
neat  epigram  of  Callimaehus  will  tell  you  as  much  : 

Jaraque  vak,  Soli  cum  diceret  Ambraeiotes, 
In  Styjjios  feitur  desiluisse  lacus, 

Morte  nihil  di^num  passus  :  sed  forte  Platonis 
Divini  exin7ium  de  nece  legit  opus. 

•^€aleflU9  and  his  Indians  hated  of  old  to  die  a  natural  death  : 
the  Circamcellians  and  Donatists,  loathing  life,  compelled 
others  to  make  theft  away  :-^^with  many  such*^:  but  these  are 


a  Nam  quis,  amphoran  exiccans,  faecem  exsorberet?  (Seneca,  epist.  58.)  quis  in 
poenas  et  risum  viveret '  Stulti  est  manere  in  vita,  cum  sit  miser.  ''  Expeclit. 

ad  Siaas  1.  1.  c.  9.  Vd  bonorum  desperatione,  vel  malorum  perpessione  iracti  et 
fatigati,  vel  manus  viot-iitas  sibi  inierant,  vel,  ut  inimicis  suis  aegre  faciant,  &;c. 
c  So  did  Anthouy,  Ggba,  Vitellius,  Otho,  Aristotle  hiniseltj  &c.  Ajax  in  despair, 
Cleopatra  to  save  her  louoiir.  <*  Inertias  deligitur  diu  vivere  in  tiniore  tot  mor- 

borum,  quam,  seinel  loriendo,  nullum  dienceps  formidare.  e  Curtius,  1.  16. 

•  Laqueus  prtecisus,  out.  1.  1.  5.  Quidain,  naufragio  facto,  amissis  tribus  liberis  et 
uxore,  suspendit  se;  tfaecidit  illi  quidaia  ex  proetereuntibus  laqueum  :  a  liberate  reirs 
fit  maleficii.     Seneo 


Mem.  1]  Prognosticks  of  Melancholy.  325 

false  and  jia^an  positions,  propbane  stoical  paradoxes,  wicked 
exainj)!es:  it  boots  not  what  heathen  pliilosophers  determinein 
this  kind :  they  are  impious,  abominable,  and  upon  a  wrong 
ground.      No  evil  is  to    be  done,  that  good  may  come  of  it  ; 
reclamat   Christus,  reclamat  scriptnra ;  God,  and   all   i^ood 
men  are  ''ag-ainst  it.     He  that  stabs  another,  can  kill  his  body; 
but  he  that  stabs  himself,  kills  his  own  soul.     ^  Male  meretur^ 
qui  d'lt  mendico,  quod  edat ;  nam  et  illud  quod  dat,  peril ;  et 
nil  producit  vitum  ad  miseriam :  he  that  gives  a  besjfgar  an 
almes  (as  that  comical  poet  said)  doth  ill,  because  he  doth  but 
prolong  his  miseries.      But  Lactantius  (/.  (i  c.  7.  de  vero  cut- 
tu)  calls  it  a  detestable  opinion,  and  fully  confutes  it  {lib.  3. 
de  sap.   cap.    IS);  and  S.  Austin    (ep.  b2.  ad  ^lacedonium, 
cap.  (yl.  ad  Dulcitium  Tribunum)  :  so  doth  Hierom,  to  Mar- 
ceila  of  BlaesfHas  death  ;  7ion  recipio  tales  animas,  S^-c.  he  calls 
such  men  martgres  stultoi  philosophic :  so  doth  Cyprian  (de 
duplici  martgrio)  :  si  qui  sic  moriantur,  aut  injirmitas,  cmt 
ambitio,  aut  dementia^  cogit  eos :  'tis  meer  madness  so  to  do ; 
'^  furor  est,  ne  moriare,  mori.      To  this  effect  writes  Arist  3. 
Ethic.  Lipsius,  Manuduc.  ad  Sto'icam  Philomphiam,  lib.  3. 
dissertat.  23:  but  it  needs  no  confutation.     This  only  let  me 
add,  that,  in  some  cases,  those**  hard  censures  of  such  as  offer 
violence   to  their  own    persons,  or  in  some  desperate  fit  to 
others,  which  sometimes  they  do  by  stabbing-,  slashing-,  &c. 
are  to  be  mitigated,  as  in  such  as  are  mad,  beside  themselves 
for  the  time,  or  found  to  have  been  long  melancholy,  and  that 
in  extremity  :  they  know  not  what  they  do,  deprived  of  reason, 
judgement,  all,  ^as  a  ship  that  is  void  of  a  pilot,   must  needs 
impinge  upon  the  next  rock,  or  sands,  and  suffer  shipwrack. 
^P.  Forestus  hath  a  story  of  two  melancholy  brethren  that 
made  away  themselves,  and  forsofoul  a  fact,  were  accordingly 
censured  to  be  infamously  buried,  as  in  such  cases  they  use, 
to  terrifie  others  (as  it  did  the  Milesian  virgins  of  old  :   but, 
upon  farther  examination  of  their  misery  and  madness,  the 
censure  was?revoked,  and  they  were  solemnly  interred,  as  Sau; 
was  by  David  (2  Sam.  2.  4),  and  Seneca  well  adviseth,  irascere 
interfectori,  sed  miserere  interj'ecti ;  be  justly  offended  with 


a  See  Lipsius,  Manuduc.  ad  Stuicaui  philosopliiatn,  lib.  3.  dissert.  22.     D.  Kings 
14  Lect  on  Jonas.    D.  Abbots  6  Lect  on  tlie  same  prophet.  b  Plautus. 

<:  Martial.  <*  As  to  be  buried  out  ot'  Ciiristiau  burial,  with  a  stake.     Idem  Plato 

(9.  de  legibus)  vult  separatim  sepeliri,  ijui  sibi  ipsis  mortem  conciscunt,  Sec.  lose  their 
goods,  8cc.  <=  NaWs,  desututa  uauclero,  iu  terribilem  alicjuem  scopulum 

impingit  fObservat.  =  .Seneca,  tract.  1.  1.  8.  c.  4.    y.ex,  homicida 

insepoltus  abjiciatur:  contradicitur,  eo  quod  ali'ere  sibi  manus  coactus  sit  assiduis 
malis ;  summam  inlelicitiiteui  suam  ia  hoc  removit,  quod  existimabat  licere  misero 
mori. 


326  Prognosticks  of  Melancholy.      [Part.  1.  Sec.  4. 

him,  as  he  was  a  murderer,  but  pity  hira  now,  as  a  dead  man. 
Thus  of  their  goods  and  bodies  we  can  dispose  ;  but  what  shall 
become  of  their  souls,  God  alone  can  tell ;  his  mercy  may  come 
inter  pontem  et  fontem,  inter  gladium  et  Juguluni,  betwixt  the 
bridge  and  the  brook,  the  knife  and  the  throat.  Quod  cuiquam 
contiget,  cuivis potest :  who  knows  how  he  may  be  tempted? 
It  is  his  case;  it  may  be  thine  : 

*  Quae  sua  sors  hodie  est,  eras  fore  vestra  potest. 

We  ought  not  to  be  so  rash  and  rigorous  in  our  censures, 
as  some  are  :  charity  will  judge  and  hope  best :  God  be  mer- 
ciful unto  us  all ! 

i'Buchauan,  Eleg.  lib. 


tr 


SYNOPSIS 


SECOND   PARTITION. 


r 


Mem. 


1. .  From  the  devil,  magicians,  witches,  &r.  by 
charms,  spels,  incantations,  images, &c. 
Quest.  1.  Whether  they  can  cure  tliis, 
or  other  such  like  diseases  ? 
Quest.  2.  Whether,  if  they  can  so  cure,  it 
^^„^,^,  be  lawful  to  seek  to  them  for  help? 

to  all,  /-•  I'limediately  from  God,  ((Joie;j(7ndpiu7)i, 

which  by  prayer,  &c. 

eon-         J  '^-  Q«es<.  l.WhetherSaints  and  their  reliqaes 

tains         \  *"^  can  help  this  infirmity? 

Qvest.  '2.  Whether  it  be  lawful  in  this 
case  to  sue  to  them  for  aid  ? 
Cure  of  rSubsect. 

melancholy      I  ].  F/uysaiflji,  in  whom  is  required 

is  either  \  ,r       ^  ■  1        nr  science,  confidence, honesty,&<:. 

2.  Patient,  in  whom  is  required 
obedience,    constancy,  willing- 
ness, patience,  confidence,  bounty, 

1  aici;  ujf  (  &c.  not  to  practise  on  himself. 

^  DiaBtetical  «y» 

3.  Physick,  \ 

which  con-  •    Pharmaceutical    y 
sists  of         i 

r  Chirurgical   xi 

^Particular  to  the  three  distii.ct  species  2S^VJl 

vol..  I.  tJ  o 


Lawful 
means, 
whicli  are 


4.  Medi 

ately  by 

Nature, 

which 

concerns 

and 

works  by 


328 


SYNOPSIS    OF    THE    SECOND    PARTITION. 


'T  Sect.  2. 
Diaetetical, 
which  con- 
sists in  re- 
forming 
those  six 
non-natural 
things,  as  in 


r 


^Matter  and 
quality. 
1.  Subs. 


Diet  recti 

tied. 

1.  Memb. 


Flesli 


Fish 


Herbs 


2.  Qnan- 
V,    tity. 


^felnb.  6. 
Passions 
and  per- 
turbations 
of  the  mind 
rectified 


(ouch  meats  as  are  easie  of  digestion,  wfll 
dressed,   hot,    sod,   &c.  young,   moist,    of 
good  nourishment,  &c. 
Bread  of  pure  wheat,  well  baked. 
Water  clear  from  the  fountain. 
Wine  and  drink  not  too  strong,  &c. 

r  Monntainbirds,partridge,phea- 

1      sant,  quails,  8tc. 

j  Hen,  capon,  muttons,  veai,  kid, 

\_     rabbit,  &c. 

f  That  live  in  gravelly  waters,  as 

-|       pike,  pearch,  trowt,  sea-fish, 

(.      solid,  white,  &c. 

{Borage,   bugloss,  bawm,  suc- 
cory, endive,  violets  in  broth, 
not  raw,  &c. 
c    •♦        ri     f  Raisins  of  the  sun,  apples  cor- 
l     "oots         ■!       rected  for  wind,  oranges, &c. 
>•  I       parsnips,  potatoes,  &c. 

f  At  seasonable  and  usual  times  of  repast,  in 
<       good  order,  not  before  the  first  be  concoct- 
(.      ed,  sparing,  not  overmuch  of  one  dish. 
Rectification  of  retention  and  evacuation,   as  costiveness,  venery, 
bleeding  at  nose,  months  stopped,  baths,  &c. 

Naturally    in   the    choice   and   site  of  our   countrey, 
i     dwelling-place,  to  be  hot  and  moist,  light,  wholsome, 
.      pleasant,  &tc. 
f  Artificially,  by  often  change  of  air,  avoiding  winds,  fogs, 

tempests,  opening  windows,  perfumes,  &c. 
Of  body  and  mind,  but  moderate,  as  hawking,  hunting, 
riding,   shooting,    bowling,  fishing,  fowling,  walking 
in  fair  fields,  gallerieS;  tennis,  bar. 
Of  mind,  as  chess,cards,tables,&;c.  to  see  plaj'es,  masks, 
^.      &c.  serious  studies,  business,  all  honest  recreations. 
Rectification  of  waking  and  terrible  dreams,  &c. 
Rectification  of  passions  and  perturbations  of  the  mind.  ^ 
Subsect. 

By  using   all  good  means   of  help,   confessing  to  a 
friend,  &c. 
Avoiding  all  occasions  of  his  infirmity. 
Not  giving  way  to  passions,  but  resisting  to  his  utmost. 
1^2,  By   fair  and  foul  means,  counsel,  comfort,  good   jier- 
swasion,  witty  devices,  fictions,  and  if  it  be  possible,  to 
satisfie  his  mind. 
Musick  of  all  sorts  aptly  applyed. 
Mirth,  and  merry  company. 
l^iiJemb. 

1.  General  discontents  and  grievances 
satisfied. 

2.  Particular  discontents,  as  deformity  of 
body,  sickness,  baseness  of  birth,  &c. 

3.  Poverty  and  want,  and  such  calamities 
and  adversities. 

4.  Against  servitude,  loss  of  liberty,  im- 
prisonment, banishment,  &c. 

Agf»inst  vain  fear.H^,  sorrows  for  death  of 
friends,  or  otherwise. 

6.  Against  envy,  livor,  hatred,  malice, 
emulation,  ambition,  and  self-love,  &c. 

7.  Against  repulses,  abuses,  injuries,  con- 
tempts, disgraces,  contumelies,  slanders, 
and  scoli's,  &c. 

8.  Against  all  other  grievous  and  ordinary 
symptomes    of   this    disease    of  melan- 


3.  Air,  recti- 
fied, with  a 
digression  of 
the  air. 


4.  Exercise. 


From 
himself 


I' 

In 


from  his 
friends. 


Sect.  3. 
A  consola- 
tory digres- 
sion, con- 
taining re- 
medies to  all 
discontents 
and  passions 
of  the  mind 


:• 


V 


choly. 


Sect.  4. 
Pharmnceu- 
tice,  or  Phy- 
sick  wliich 
ciireth  with 
medicines, 
with  a  di- 
greaiion  of 
this  kind  of 
physick,  is 
either 
Memb.  I. 
Subsect.  If. 


/Similes 
altenng 
melan- 
choly, 
with  H  di-  ( 
gression  \ 
ofexotick  j 
simples 
2.  Subs. 


SYNOPSIS   OF    THE    SECOND    PARTITION.  329 

To   the  heart ;    borage,    buglosse. 

acorzonera,  &c. 
To  the  head ;  balm,  hops,  nennphar, 
&c. 
f      /        /  j  Liver ;  eupatory,  artemisia,  &g. 

r^   f^   /Simples      ^Herbs.      /  Stomach ;  wormwood,  centory, peni- 
3.  Subs.     \      royal. 

Spleen;  ceterach,  ash,  tamerisk. 
To  purifie  the  blood  ;   endive,  suc- 
j      cory,  &c. 

I  Against  wind  ;  origan,  fennel,  anoi- 
^     seed,  &c. 
I  4.  Pretions  stones ;  as  smaragdes,  chelidonies, 
I      &c.     Alinerals  ;  as  gold,  &c. 

/■   Wines ;   as  of  hellebor. 


r 


r 


Com- 
pounds 
altering 
melan- 
choly, 
With  a  d 
gression 
of  com- 
pounds. 
1.  Subs. 


K 


fluide 


coDsiat- 
ing. 


f 


■X 


Out- 


bnglosse,  tamerisk,  &c. 
Syrups   of    borage,    bu- 
glosse,  hops,  epithyme. 
endive,  snccory,  &c. 
Conserves  of  violets,  mai- 
denhair,   borage,     bn- 
glosse, roses,  &c. 
Confections ;  treacle,  Mi- 
thridate,    eclegmes    oi- 
linctures. 

Diambra,  dianthos. 
Diamargaritnm  cali- 
dum. 
Diamoschum  dulce, 
Electuarium  de  gem- 
mis. 
Laetificans  Galeni  et 

Rhasis. 
Diamargaritam  frigi- 
um. 

iarrhodon  abbatis. 
"\  DiacoroUi,    diacodi- 
/    um,  with  their  tab- 
V.  lets. 
VCondites  of  all  sorts,  &c. 

JOyls  of  camomile,  violets,  roses,  8tc. 
Oyntments,  alabastritum,  populeum. 
Sec. 
Liniments,   plasters,    cerotes,    cata- 


solid  as 
those  aro- 
matical 
confec- 
tions. 


hot 


cold 


^Dia 
\    du 

JDia 


wardly  ^       plasms,  frontals,  fomentations,  epi 


^Purging  d 


used,  as 


I   I 


themes,  sacks,  bags,  odoramenti, 
posies,  &c.. 


^articnlar  to  the  three  diitinct  .species,  28  it  WR-, 


O  G  2 


330 


SYNOPSIS    OF    THE   SECOND    PARTITION. 


r 


Medicines 
purging 
melancholy, 
are  either 
Memb.  2. 


Simples 
purging 
melan- 
choly. 


3.  Snhs. 
Com- 
pounds 
purging 
melan  • 
\  choly. 


n  Chyrurgical  physick 
which  consists  of  Menib. 
3. 


\  Down- 
ward. 
(2.  Subs 


TT    "  ^ A       <  A^sarabacca^  lawrell,  white  hellebor,  scilla, 
1      P^  '^.  '      "j       or  sea  onyon,  antimony,  tobacco. 
/  as  vomits,      v.  ^     '  •" 

{More  gentle  ;  as  sena,  epithyme,  polypody, 
myrobalaues,  fumitory,  &c. 
Stronger ;  Aloes,  lapis  Armenus,  lapis  lazuli, 
black  hellebor. 
Mouth     /'      /'Liquid,    as     potions,    julips, 
I      syrups,   wine  of   hellebor, 
00  1     bugloss,  &c. 
%  )  Solid,  as  lapis  Armenus,  and 
=/     lazuli,  pills  of  Indy,  pills  of 
Si  \     fumitory,  &c. 

Electuaries,      diasena,     con 


Superior 
parts. 


faction  of  hamech,  hiero- 
logadiura,  &c. 
Not  swallowed,  as  gargarisms, 
masticatories,  &c. 
Nostrils  ;  sneezing  powders,odorament8,  per- 
V,    fumes,  &c. 

Inferiour  parts,  as  clysters   strong   and   weak,  and  sap- 
^     positories  of  Castilian  soap,  honey  boyled,  &c. 

I  Phlebotomy,    to  all  parts    almost,  and  all   the    distinct 
species. 
With  knife,  horsleeches. 
Cupping-glasses.  ,  ,       .  .        • 

Cauteries,  and  searing  with  hot  irons,  boanng. 
Dropax  and  sinapismns. 
Issues  to  several  parts,  and  upon  several  occasions. 


SYNOPSIS    OF   THE    SECOND    PARTITION. 


331 


2S  Sect.  5. 
Cure  of 
head-melan- 
choly. 
Memb.  I. 


I      1.  Subsecf. 
Moderate  diet,  meat  of  good  juice,  nioistning,  easie  of  digestion. 
Good  air. 

Sleep  more  than  ordinary. 
Excrements  daily  to  be  voided  by  art  or  nature. 
Exercise  of  body  and  mind  not  too  violent,  or  too  remiss,  passions  of 

the  mind,  and  perturbations  to  be  avoided. 
2.  Blood-letting,  if  there  be  need,  or  that  the  blood  be  corrupt,  in  the 
arm,  forehead,  &c.  or  with  cupping-glasses 

z' Preparatives ;  as  syrup  of  boraj^e,  bugloss,  epithyme, 

I      hops,  with  their  distilled  waters,  &c. 

XPurgers  ;  as  Montanusand  Matthiolus  helleborismus, 

3.  Prepa-         )     Quercetanus  syrup  of  hellebor,  extract  of  hellebor, 

ratives  and  "x      pulvisHali,  antimony  prepared,  RuZawrfiaq/ta  mira- 

purgers,  J     bilis:  which  are  used,  if  gentler  medicines  will  not 

/     take  place;  with  Arnoldus  vinum  buglossatum,  sena, 

C       cassia,  myrobalanes,  aurum  potabile,  or  before  Ha- 

mech,  pil.  Indse.  hiera.  pil.  de  lap.  Armeno,  lazuli. 

f     Cardans  nettles,  frictions,  clysters,  suppositories, 
sneezings,  masticatories,  nasals,  cupping  glasses. 
To  open  the  haemorrhoids  with  horsleeches  ;  to  apply 
horsleeches  to  the  forehead  without  scarification,  to 
'  the  shoulders,  thighs. 
Issues,  boating,  cauteries,  hot  irons  in  the  suture  of 
the  crown. 
/"  A  cup  of  wine  or  strong  drink. 

5.  Cordi-      V  Bezoars  stone,  amber,  spice. 

als,  resol-     J  Conserves  of  borage,  bugloss,  roses,  fumitory. 
verSj  hm-      \  Confection  of  alchermes. 
derers.  #  Electuarium  lalificans  Galeni  et  Rhasis,  ifc. 

^  Dianmr^aritutnj7-ig.  diaboraginattim,  Ifc. 
/^Odoraments  of  roses,  violets. 
Irrigations  of  the  head,  with  the  decoctions  of  nymphea, 

lettice,  mallows,  &c. 
Epithemes,  oyntments,  bags  to  the  heart. 
Fomentations  of  oyl  for  the  belly. 
Bathsof  Sweetwater,  in  which  were  sod  mallows,  vio- 

6.  Correct-  lets,roses,water-liIlies,borage  flowers,rams  heads,&c. 
orsof  acci-  ^  f  f  Poppy,  nymphea,  lettice, 
dents,  as,               f         .                «■ .  „ )     roses,     purslane,     hen- 

^•"•P'^^S     bane,  mandrake,    night- 
Inwardly    j  (     shade,  opium,  &c. 

taken,        (       or  .  Liquid,  as  syrups  of  poppy, 

y  verbasco,  violets,  roses. 
Com-       .PSolid,  as  requies  Nicholai, 
pounds.    )  Philonium     Romunttm, 
\^  '    laudanum  Paracelsi. 

rOyls  of   nymphea,   poppy,    violets, 
roses,  mandrake,  nutmegs. 
Odoraments  of  vinegar,   rose-water, 
opium. 
Outward-      Frontals  of  rose-cake,  rose-vinegar, 
ly  nstd,      /    nutmeg. 

Oyntments,  alabastritum,  niiguentuni 
populeum, simple  or  mixt  with  opium. 
Irrigations  of  the  head,  feet,  spunges, 
musick.niurninrand  noise  of  waters. 
Frictions  of  the  head,  and  outward 
parts,  sHCCuli  of  henbane, worm  wood 
at  his  pillow,  &;c. 
Against  terrible  dreams  ;  not  to  sup  late,  or  rat  pease, 
cabbajje,  venison,  meats  heavy  of  digestion,   use 
bawm,  harts-tongue,  &c. 
.\gainst  niddiuess  and  blushing,  invardand  outward 
^     remedies. 


H 


I 


33i 

ii  2.  Ulemb. 
Cure  of  me- 
lancholy over 
the  body. 


{ 


HJJ  Cure  of 
Hypochon-! 
driocnl  or 
windy  melan- 
choly. 
3.  Metnb. 


SYNOPSIS    OF    THE    SECOND    PAKTITION. 

Diet,  preparatives,  purp.es,  averters,  cordials,  correctors,  as  before : 
Phlebotomy,  in  this  kind  more  necessary,  and  more  Jrequenf. 
To  correct  and  cleanse  the  blood  with  fumitory,  sena,  succory,  dan- 
delion, endive,  &e. 
-Snbsect.  I. 

Phlebotomy,  if  need  require. 
Diet,  preparatives,  averters,  cordials,  purgers,  as  before,  saving  that 

they  must  not  be  so  vehement. 
Use  of  peny-royal,  wormwood,  centaury  sod,  which  alone  hath  cured 

many. 
To  provoke  arine  with  anniseed,  daucus,  asarum,  &c.  and  stools,  ii 

need  be,  by  clysters  and  suppositories. 
To  respect  the  spleen,  stomach,  liver,  hypochoudries. 
To  use  treacle  now  and  then  in  winter. 
To  vomit  after  meals  sometimes,  if  it  be  inveterate, 

^  50  f  Galanga,  gentian,  enula,  angelica, 
<  calamus  aromaticus,  zedoary,  chi- 
L      na,  condite  ginger,  &c. 

Peniroyal,rue,  calamint,  bay  leaves, 
and  berries,   scordium,  bettany, 
lavander,    camomile,    centaury, 
wormwood,  cumin,  broom,  orange 
pills 
Saffron,  cinnamon,  mace,  nutmeg, 
pepper,  musk,  zedoary  with  wine, 
&c. 
03  r  Aniseed,  fennel-seed,  ammi,  cari, 
Toespel  or  (^  q,       n  J       cumin,  nettle, bayes, parsley, gra- 

^'mA,  J       ^  (^      na  paradisi. 

Diani&um,   diagalanga,  diaciroinum,  dia- 

calaminthes,    electuarium    de     baccis 

lauri,   benedicta  laxativa,  &c.    pulvis 

carminativus,  et  pulvis  descrip.     Anti- 

dotario  Florentino,  aromaticuro   rosa- 

tnm,  Mithridate. 

Outwardly  used,  as  cupping-glasses  to  the  hypocho<Wries 

without  KcarificalioD,  oyl  of  camomile,  rue,  anniseed, 

1     their  decoctions,  &c. 


r 

liiwardly 
taken. 


ll 

on 

n 


THE 


SECOND    PARTITION. 


THE    CURE    OF    MELANCHOLY. 


f  SECTION. 
THE  FIRST -?MEiIBER. 

/SUBSECTION. 


Unlawful  Cures  rejected. 

aNV  ETERATE  melancholy,  howsoever  it  may  seem  to  be 
a  continuate,  inexorable  disease,  hard  to  be  cured, accompany- 
ing them  to  their  graves  most  part  (as  "Montanus  observes),  yet 
many  times  it  may  be  helped,  even  that  which  is  most  violent, 
or  at  least  (according  to  the  same  ''author)  it  may  he  mitigated 
and  much  eased.  J\i^il  desperandum.  It  may  be  hard  to  cure, 
but  not  impossible  for  him  that  is  most  grievously  affected,  if 
he  be  but  willing  to  be  helped. 

Upon  this  good  hope  I  will  proceed,  using  the  same  method 
in  the  cure,  which  I  have  former'y  used  in  the  rehearsing  of 
the  causes;  first  </e/ie?a/,  then  particular ;  and  those  accord- 
ing to  their  several  species.  Of  these  cures  some  he  lairj'ul, 
others  again  unlaicj'ul,  which,  though  frequent,  familiar,  and 
often  used,  yet  justly  censured,  and  to  be  controverted  :  as, 
first,  whether,  by  these  diabolical  means,  which  are  commonly 
practised  by  the  devil  and  his  ministers,  sorcerers,  witches, 
magicians,  &c.  by  spells,  cabalistical  words,  charms,  cha- 
racters, images,  amulets,  ligatures,  philtres,  incantations,  &:c. 
this  disease  and  the  like  may  be  cured?  and,  if  they  may, 
whether  it  be  lawful  to  make  use  of  them,  those  magnetical 
cures,  or  for  our  good  to  seek  after  such  means  in  any  case? 
The  first,  whether  they  can  do  any  such  cures,  is  questioned 

•  Consil.  23ri.  pro  Abliafe  Halo.  i-  Consil,  2.'5.     Ant  curai)itiir.  au<  cprtc  tniniiK 

alJicietiir,  si  volet. 


334  Cure  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  2.  Sec.  1. 

amongst  many  writers,  some  affirming,  some  denying.     Vale- 
siiis,  co7)t.  rued,  lib.b.  cap.  6.     MelliusMaleficor.     Heurnius, 
/,  3.  pract.  med.  cap.  28.     Coelius,    l\h.   16.  c.  16.     Delrio, 
torn.  3.     Wierus,   lib.  2.  prccstig.  deem.     Libanius,  Lavater, 
de  sped.  part.  2.  cap.  7.     Hoibrenner  the  Lutheran  in  Pisto- 
r?wwi,  Polydor.  A^irg".  I.   \.  de  prodig.     Tandlerus,  Lemnius, 
(Hippocrates  and  Avicenna  amongst  the  rest)  denythatspirits 
or  devils  have  any  power  over  us,  and  refer  all  (with  Pompo- 
natius  of  Padua)  to  natural  causes  and  humours.     Of  the  other 
opinion  are  ^od'mw^, DfEmonomantice,  lib.  3.  cap.  2.  Arnoldus, 
Marceilus  Empiricus,.J.  Pistorius,  Paracelsus,  ./^/}orfi.r.  Magic. 
Agrippn,  lib.  2.  de  occult.  Philos.  cap.  36.  69.  71.  72.  et  I.  3. 
c.  23.  e^  10.    Marcilius  Yic\ms, de vit.  ca;lit.compar.  cap.X'^. 
15.  18.  21.  Sfc.     Galeottus,  de  promiscud  doct.  cap.  24.     Jo- 
vianusPontauus,  Tom.  2.    Plin.  lib.  28.  c.  2.    Strabo,  lib.lb. 
Geoq.     Leo  Suavius :  Goclenius,  de  ung.  armar.     Oswoldus 
Croilius,  Ernestus  Burgravius,   D"^.  Flud,  &c. — Cardan   (de 
subt.)  brings  many  proofs  out  of  Ars  JVotoria,  and  Solomons 
decayed  works,  old  Hermes,  Artesius,  Costaben  Luca,  Pica- 
trix,  &c.  that  such  cures  may  be  done.     They  can  make  fire  it 
shall  not  burn,  fetch  back  thieves  or  stoln  goods,  shew  their 
absent  faces  in  a  glass,  make  serpents  lye  still,  stanch  blood, 
salve  gouts,  epilepsies,  biting  of  mad  dogs,  tooth-ach,  melan- 
choly, et   omnia   mundi   mala,   make  men  immortal,  young 
again,  as  the  ""Spaiiish  marquess  is  said  to  have  done  by  one  of 
his  slaves,  and  some,  which  juglers  in  •'China  maintain  still  (as 
Traoaltius  writes)  that  they  can  do  by  their  extraordinary  skill 
in  physick,  and  some  of  our  modern  chymists  by  their  strange 
lindjccks,  by  their  spels,  philosophers  stones  and  charms. 
"'  Many   doubt,   saith    Nicholas  Taurellus,    ichether   the   de- 
vil can  cure  such  diseases  he  hath  not  made  ;  and  some  Jlaily 
deny  it :  hoicsoever  common  experience  coti/irms  to  our  astonish- 
meiit,  that   magicians  can  work  such  feats,  and  that  the  de- 
vil without  impediment  can  penetrate  through  all  the  parts  of 
our  bodies,  and  cure  .such  maladies,  by  means  to  us  unknown. 
Daneus,in  his  tract  f?e,S'or^?«rm,  subscribes  totbisofTaurcllus; 
Erastus  (de  La  mi  is)  maintaineth  as  much  ;  and  so  do  most  di- 
vines,that,out  of  their  excellent  knowledge  and  long-experience, 
they  can  commit  '^  agentes  cum  paiientibus.  colligere  semina 
rerum,  eaque  matericE  applicare,  as  Austin  infers  {de  Civ.  Dei, 


a  Vide  Reiiatum  Morcy,  Anim.  in  scholatiiSalemit.  c.  38.      Si  afl  40  aniios  possent 
prorlucere  vitaoi,  cur  non  ad  ceiitiiiii  ?  si  ad  centum,  ciir  uon  ad  mille  ?  ^  Hist. 

Chint'Dsium.  *=  Alii  dubitant  an  dieiuoii  possit  morbos  curare  quos  nou  fecit;  alii 

iiegant;  sed  quotidiana  experientia  coiiiirmat,  iiiaRos  magiio  uiulforuinstupore  morbos 
curare^  singulas  corporis  partes  citra  impediuK  ntuin  perraeare,  et  mediis  nobis  ignotis 
curarel  '^  Ageutia  cuiu  i>atieutibus  conjuuguut. 


Mem.  I.  Subs.  I.]  Patient.  335 

et  de  Trinit.  lib.  13.  cap.  y.  et  8) :  tliey  can  work  stnpeiul  and 
admirable  conclusions;  we  see  the  effects  only,  but  not  tlie 
causes  of  them.  Nothing  so  familiar  as  to  hear  of  such  cures. 
Sorcerers  are  too  common  ;  cunning  men,  wizards,  and  white- 
witches  (as  they  call  ihein),  in  every  village,  which,  if  they  be 
sought  unto,  will  help  almost  all  infirmities  of  body  and  mind — 
servatorcs  in  Latine;  and  they  have  commonly  S*.  Catherines 
wheel  printed  in  the  roof  of  their  mouth,  or  in  some  other  part 
about  them;  resistunt  incantatorum  prcestigiis,  (-^Boissardus 
writes)  morhos  a  sagis  motos  propulsant,  Sfc.  that  to  doubt  of  it 
any  longer,  *'<>?•  not  to  believe,  wei'eto  run  into  that  other,  scsp- 
tical  extreme  of  hierednlity,  saith  Taurellus.  Leo  Suavius 
(in  his  comment  upon  Paracelsus)  seemes  to  make  it  an  art, 
which  ought  to  be  approved  :  Pistorius  and  others  stifly  main- 
tain the  use  of  charmes,  words,  characters,  &c.  Ars  vera  est; 
sed  panci  artifices  rejjeriuntnr ;  the  art  is  true,  but  there  be 
but  a  few  that  have  skill  in  it.  Marcellus  Donatus  (lib.  2.  de 
hist.  mir.  cap.  1)  proves,  out  of  Josephus  eight  books  of  anti- 
quities, that  '^Solomon  so  cured  all  the  diseases  of  the  mind  by 
spels,  charmes,  and  drove  aumy  devils,  and  that  Eleazar  did 
as  much  bejore  Vespasian.  Langius  {in  his  me d.epist.)  holds 
Jupiter  Menecrates,that  did  somany  stupend  cures  in  his  times, 
to  have  used  tl)is  art,  and  that  he  was  no  other  than  a  magician. 
Many  famous  cures  are  daily  done  in  this  kind ;  the  devil  is  an 
expert  physician  (as  Godeiman  calls  him,  lib.  1.  c.  18):  and 
God  permits  oftentimes  these  witches  and  magicians  to  pro- 
duce such  effects,  as  Lavater  {cap.  3.  lib.  8.  part.  3.  cap.  I), 
Polyd.  Virg.  (lib.  1.  de  prodigiis),  Delrio,  and  others,  admit. 
Such  cures  may  be  done;  and  Paracels.  (Tom.  4.  demorb. 
anient.)  stifly  maintains,  ''  they  cannot  othericise  be  cured  but 
by  spels,  seals,  and  spiritual  physick.  ^  Arnoldus  (lib.  de 
siyillis)  sets  down  the  making-  of  them ;  so  doth  Rulandus, 
and  many  others. 

Hoc  posito,  they  can  effect  such  cures,  the  main  question  is, 
whether  it  be  lawful,  in  a  desperate  case,  to  crave  their  help, 
or  ask  a  wisards  advice.  'Tis  a  common  practice  of  some 
men  to  go  first  to  a  witch,  and  then  to  a  physician  ;  if  one 
cannot,  the  other  shall  : 

Flectere  si  nequeunt  Superos,  Acheronta  movebunt. 

'It  matters  not,saith  Paracelsus,  ivhether  it  be  God  or  the  devil, 

*Cap.  11.  de  Servat.  !>  HfEC  alii  rident;  sed  vereor,  ne,  dam  Dohimas  esse 

crednli,  vitiiim  non  eftiii^amus  incrediilitatis.  ^  Refert  Solonionem  mentis  mor- 

hos cnrasse,  et  dsemones  abegisse  ipsos  carminiliiis,  quod  et  coram  Vespasiaiio  fecit 
Eleazar.  ii  Spiritiiales  morbi  spiritualiter  ciirari  debeiit.  '■  Sig:iilum  ex 

Hiiro  pecnliari  ad  inelanclioliaiii,  8cc.  'Lib.  1.  de  occult.   Pliilos.     Nihil  re- 

Cerl,  an  DcHs  an  diaboliis,  aui;eli  an  iininundi  spiritns,  legro  opem  ferant,  mudo  morbus 
ciiietur. 


336  Cure  of  Melancholy.         [Part.  2.  Sec.  1. 

ungels,  or  unclean  spirits,  cure  him,  so  that  he  be  eased.  If  a 
man  fall  into  a  ditch,  (as  he  prosecutes  it)  what  matter  is  it 
whether  a  friend  or  an  enemy  help  him  out?  and  if  I  be  trou- 
bled with  such  a  malady,  what  care  I  whether  the  devil  himself, 
or  any  of  his  ministers,  by  Gods  permission,  redeem  me?  He 
calls  a*  magician  Gods  minister  and  his  vicar,  applying  that  of 
vos  estis  Dii  prophanely  to  them  (for  which  he  is  lashed  by 
T.  Erastus, 7>ar#.  l.Jbl.  45)  ;and  elsewhere  he  encouragethhis 
patients  to  have  a  good  faith,  ^  a  strong  imagination,  and  they 
shall  Jind  the  effects  ;  let  divines  say  to  the  contrary  what  they 
will.  He  proves  and  contends  that  many  diseases  cannot 
otherwise  be  cured  :  incantatione  orti,  incantatione  curari  de- 
bent  ;  if  they  be  caused  by  incantation,  '^  they  must  be  cured  by 
incantation.  Constantius  (/.  4)  approves  of  such  remedies  : 
Bartolus the  lawyer,  Peter  iErodius(?'en<m.  Judic.  lib.3.  tit.  7.), 
Salicetus,  Godefridus,  with  others  of  that  sect,  allow  of  them, 
modo  sint  ad  sanitatem,  quce  a  magis  Jiunt,  secus  non  ;  so  they 
be  for  the  parties  good,  or  not  at  all.  But  these  men  are  con- 
futed by  Remigius,  Bodinus  (deem.  lib.  3.  cap.  2),  Godelmannus 
{lib.  1.  cap.  8),  Wierus,  Delrio,  (lib.  6.  qucest.  2.  Tom.  3. 
mag.  inquis.)  Erastus  (de  Lamiis)  :  all  '^  our  divines,  school- 
men, and  such  as  write  cases  of  conscience,  are  against  it ;  the 
scripture  it  self  absolutely  forbids  it  as  a  mortal  sin  (Levit, 
cap.  18,  19,20.  Deut.\8,^'c.  Rom.  S.  J9).  Evil  is  not 
to  be  done  that  good  may  come  of  it.  Much  better  it  were  for 
such  patients  that  are  so  troubled,  to  endure  a  little  misery  in  this 
life,  than  to  hazard  their  souls  health  for  ever;  and  (as  Delrio 
counselleth)  '^much  better  dye,  than  be  so  cured.  Some  take 
upon  them  to  expel  devils  by  natural  remedies,  and  magical 
exorcisms,  which  they  seem  to  approve  out  of  the  practice  of 
the  primitive  church,  as  that  above  cited  of  Josephus,  Eleazar, 
Irenaeus,Tertullian,  Austin.  Eusebius  makes  mention  of  such ; 
and  magick  it  self  hath  been  publickly  professed  in  some  uni- 
versities, as  of  old  in  Salamanca  in  Spain,  antl  Cracovia  in  Po- 
land :  but  condemned,  anno  1318,  by  the  chancellour  and  uni- 
versity of  ^Paris.  Our  pontifical  writers  retain  many  of  these 
adjurations  and  forms  of  exorcisms  still  in  their  church;  besides 
those  in  baptismused,  they  exorcise  meats,  and  such  as  are  pos- 
sessed, as  they  hold,  in  Christs  name.  Read  Hieron,  Mengus, 
cap.  3.  Pet.  Tyreus,/?ar?.3.ca/?.8.what  exorcisms  they  prescribe, 

»  Magus  minister  et  vicarius  Dei.  ^Utere  forti  imaginatione,  et  experieris 

effectum  ;  dicant  in  adversum  quidquid  volunt  theologi.  « Idem  Plinins  con- 

tendit,  quosdam  esse  morbos,  qui  incantationibus  solum  curentur.  "'Qui  talibus 

crednnt,  ant  ad  eorum  domos  euntes,  aut  suis  domibus  introducunt,  aut  interrogant, 
sciant  se  fidemChristianametbaptismum  prtevaricasse,  et  apostatas  esse.  Austin,  de 
superst.  observ.     Hoc  pacto  a  Deo  deticjhir  ad  diaboliira.     P.  Mart.  'Mori 

piaestat  qiiatn  siipeistitiose  sanari,  Dibquis.  mag.  I.  2,  c.  2.  sect.  ].  qusest.  I.  Tom.  '.i. 
''  P.  Lumbard. 


Mem.  2.]  Patient.  337 

besides  those  ordinary  meant;  of  *Jire,  siiffnmiyations,  lights, 
cutting  the  air  with  swords,  cap,  b'],  herbs,  odours  :  of  whi<h 
Tostatus  treats,  2  Heg.  cap.  16,  tjufest.  43.  You  shall  fiiul 
many  vain  and  frivolous  superstitious  forms  of  exorcisms 
among  them,  not  to  be  tolerated,  or  endured. 


jVJEMB.  II. 

Lawful  Cures,  Jirst  Jrom  God. 

-OEING  so  clearly  evinced  as  it  is,  all  unlawful  cures  are 
to  be  refused,  it  remains  to  treat  of  such  as  are  to  be  admit- 
ted: and  those  are  commonly  such  which  God  hath  appoint- 
ed, ''  by  vertue  of  stones,  herbs,  plants,  meats,  &c.  and  the 
like,  which  are  prepared  and  applyed  to  our  use,  by  art  and 
industry  of  physicians,  who  are  the  dispensers  of  such  treasures 
for  our  ^ood,  and  to  be  '^honoured  for  necessities  sake — Gods 
intermediate  ministers,  to  whom,  in  our  infirmities,  we  are  to 
seek  for  help  :  yet  not  so  that  we  rely  too  much,  or  wholly, 
upon  them.  A  Jove  principium  :  we  must  first  begin  with 
prayer,  and  then  use  physick;  not  one  without  the  other,  but 
both  together.  To  pray  alone,  and  reject  ordinary  means,  is 
to  do  like  him  in  ^Esop,  that,  when  his  cart  m  as  stalled,  lay 
flat  on  his  back,  andcryed  aloud,  "Help,  Hercules!"  but  that 
was  to  little  purpose,  except,  as  his  friend  advised  him,  rotis 
lute  ipse  annitaris,  he  whipt  his  horses  withal,  and  put  his 
shoulder  to  the  wheel.  God  works  by  means,  as  Christ  cured 
the  blind  man  with  clay  and  spittle. 

Grand um  est,  ut  sit  mens  sana  in  corpore  sano. 

As  we  must  pray  for  health  of  body  and  mind,  so  we  must  use 
our  utmost  endeavours  to  preserve  and  continue  it.  Some 
kind  of  devils  are  not  cast  out  but  by  fasting  and  prayer,  and 
both  necessarily  required,  not  one  without  the  other.  For  all 
ihe  physick  we  can  use,  art,  excellent  industry,  is  to  no  pur- 
pose without  calling  upon  God  : 

Nil  juvat  immensos  Cratero  promittere  monies : 

It  is  in  vain  to  seek  for  help,  run,  ride,  except  God  bless  us. 

non  Sicul'de  dapes 

'^  Dulcem  elaborabunt  saporem  : 

Non  avium  cithaiaeve  cantus,  


^Suffitus,  sladiorum  ictus,  &,r„  ^I'lhe  Lord  hath  created  medicines  nf  the 

rarth  ;  and  he  that  is  wise  will  not  abhor  them,  Ecclus.  38.  4.  'My  son,  fail  not 

iri  thy  sickness,  but  pray  unto  the  Lord  ;  and  he  will  make  thee  whole,  Ecclus  38.  9. 
Hue  omne  principium,  hue  i(:fei  exifuin.     Hor.  3.  raiTu.     Od.  6.  <iMusickand 

Sue  fare  can  do  no  good. 


333  Care  of  Melancholy.         [Part.  2.  Sec.  1. 

.     a  Non  domus  et  fundus,  non  aeris  acervus  et  auri, 
^groto  possunt  domino  deducere  febres. 

^  With  house,  with  land,  with  money,  and  with  gold, 
The  masters  fever  will  not  be  control'd. 

We  must  use  prayer  and  physick  both  together :  and  so,  no 
d'^ubt,  our  prayers  will  be  available,  and  our  physick  take 
efTect.  'Tis  that  Hezekiah  practised  (2  Kings  20),  Luke  the 
Evangelist ;  and  which  we  are  enjoyned  (Coloss.  4),  not  the 
patient  only,  but  the  physician  himself.  Hippocrates,  an  hea- 
then, required  tiiis  in  a  good  practitioner,  and  so  did  Galen. 
lib.  de  Plat,  et  Hipp.  dog.  lib.  9.  c  15;  and  in  that  tract  of 
his,  an  mores  sequantur  temp.  cor.  c.  11.  'tis  that  which  he 
doth  inculcate,  '=and  many  others.  Hyperius,  (in  his  first  book 
de  sacr.  script,  lect.)  speaking  of  that  happiness  and  good  suc- 
cess which  all  physicians  desire  and  hope  for  in  their  cures, 
^  tells  them,  that  it  is  not  to  be  e:rpected,  except,  with  a  true 
faith,  they  call  upon  God,  and  teach  their  patients  to  do  the  like. 
The  council  of  Lateran  {Canon.  22)  decreed  they  should  do  so: 
the  fathers  of  the  church  have  still  advised  as  much.  What- 
soever thou  takest  in  hand,  (saith  ^Gregory)  let  God  he  of  thy 
counsel :  consult  icith  him,  that  healeth  those  that  are  broken 
in  heart,  (Psal.  147.  3.)  and  bindeth  up  their  sores.  Other- 
wise, as  the  prophet  Jeremy  {cap.  46.  11)  denounced  to 
JEgypt,  in  vain  shalt  thou  use  many  medicines;  for  thou  shalt 
have  no  health.  It  is  the  same  counsel  which  '^Comineus,  that 
politick  historiographer,  gives  to  all  Christian  princes,  upon  oc- 
casion of  that  unhappy  overthrow  of  Charles  duke  of  Burgundy, 
by  means  of  which  he  was  extremely  melancholy,  and  sick  to 
death,  in  so  much  that  neither  physick  nor  perswasion  could 
do  him  any  good, — perceiving  his  preposterous  error  belike, 
adviseth  all  great  men,  in  such  cases,  ^toprayjirst  to  Godivith 
all  submission  and  penitency,  to  cotifess  their  sins,  and  then  to 
use  physick.  The  very  same  fault  it  was,  which  the  prophet 
reprehends  in  Asa  king  of  Juda,  that  he  relyed  more  on  phy- 
sick than  on  God,  and  by  all  means  would  have  him  to  amend 


»  Hor  I.  1.  ep.  2.  ''Sint  Crcesi  et  Crassi  licet,  non  hos  Pactolus,  anreas 

iindas  agens,  eripiet  unquatn  e  miseriis.  ''  Scientia  de  Deo  debet  id  medico 

infixa  esse.  Mesue  Arabs.  Sanat  omnes  ianguores  Deus.  For  you  shall  pray  to  your 
Lord,  that  he  would  prosper  that  which  is  given  for  ease,  and  then  use  physick. 
for  the  prolonging  of  life.     Ecclus.  38.  4.  ''  Omnes  optant  qiiamdam  in  me- 

dicina  felicitatem  ;  sed  banc  non  est  quod  expectent,  nisi  Deum  vera  fide  invocent, 
atque  segros  similiter  ad  ardentem  vocationeni  excitent.  eLemnius  e  Gregor. 

exhor.  ad  vitam  opt.  instit.  c.  48.  Quidquid  nieditaris  aggredi  ant  perficere,  Deum  in 
consilium  adhibeto.  f  Commentar.  lib.  7.    Ob  infelicem  pugnam  con- 

tristatus,  in  aegritudinem  incidit,  ita  ut  a  niedicis  cnrari  non  posset.  »In  his. 

animi  malis,  princeps  imprimis  ad  Deuui  i.>iccttur,  et  peccalis  vcuiam  cxoret ;  indc  ad 
Hitdiciyam,  &c. 


Mem.  2.]  Patient.  33<) 

it.  And  'tis  a  tit  caution  to  be  observed  of  all  other  sorts  of 
men.  The  prophet  David  was  so  observant  of  this  precept 
that,  in  the  greatest  misery  and  vexation  of  mind,  he  put  this 
rule  first  in  practice  :  (Psal.  7/.  3)  W ken  I  am  in  heaviness, 
I  will  think  on  God.  (Psal.  8b*.  4)  Comfort  the  soul  of  thy 
servant,  for  nnto  thee  I  lift  up  my  soul,  (and  verse  7.)  In 
the  day  of  trouble  will  I  call  upon  thee,  for  thou  hearest  me. 
(Psal.  54.  I)  Save  me,  O  God,  by  thy  name,  8fc.  (Psal.  82. 
Psal.  20)  And  'tis  the  commoji  practice  of  all  «rood  men  : 
(Psal.  107. 13)  ivhentheir  heart  was  himh  led  with  heaviness, theii 
cryed  to  the  LordiJi  their  trouble,  and  he  delivered  them  from, 
their  distress.  And  they  have  found  g-ood  success  in  so  doino- 
as  David  confesseth  (Psal.  30.  12) :  Thou  hast  turned  my 
mourniny  into  Joy;  thou  hast  loosed  my  .sackcloth,  and  girded 
me  with  yladness.  Therefore  he  adviseth  all  others  to  do  the 
like:  (Psal.  31.  24)  All  ye  that  trust  in  the  Lord,  be  stronn^ 
and  he  shall  establish  your  heart.  It  is  reported  by  ''Suidas 
speaking  of  Hezekiah,  that  there  was  a  great  book  of  old! 
of  king  Solomons  writing,  which  contained  medicines  for  all 
manner  of  diseases,  and  lay  open  still  as  they  came  into  the 
temple :  but  Hezekiah,  king  of  Jerusalem,  caused  it  to  be  taken 
away,  because  it  made  the  people  secure,  to  neglect  their  duty 
in  calling  and  relying  upon  God,  out  of  a  confidence  on  those 
remedies.  ^  Minutius,  that  worthy  consul  of  Rome,  in  an  ora- 
tion he  made  to  his  souldiers,  was  much  offended  Avith  them 
andtaxed  their  ignorance,  that,in  their  misery,  called  more  on 
him  than  upon  God.  A  general  fault  it  is  all  over  the  world  • 
and  Minutius  his  speech  concerns  us  all :  we  rely  moreonphy- 
sick,  and  seek  oftner  to  physicians,  than  to  God  himself.  As 
much  faulty  are  they  that  prescribe,  as  they  that  ask,  respect- 
ing wholly  their  gain,  and  trusting  more  to  their  ordinary  re- 
ceipts and  medicines  many  times,  than  to  him  that  made  them. 
I  would  wish  all  patients  in  this  behalf,  in  the  midst  of  their 
melancholy,  to  remember  that  of  Siracides,  (Ecc,  I.  12.) 
The  fear  of  the  Lord  is  glory  and  gladness,  and  rejoymnq . 
The  fear  of  the  Lord  maketh  a  merry  heart,  and  giveth  glad- 
ness, and  joy,  and  long  life  ;  and  ail  such  as  prescribe  pfay- 
sick,  to  begin  in  nomine  Dei,  as  '  Mesne  did,  to  imitate  La- 
lius  a  Fonte  Eugubinus,  that,  in  all  his  consultations,  still  con- 
dudes  with  a  prayer  for  the  good  success  of  his  business;  and 

»  Greg.  Tholos.  To.  -1.  1.  '58.  c.  7.  Syntax.  In  vestibulo  templi  Solomonis  liber  re 
mediorum  cujusqae  morbi  fuit,  quein  revulsit  Ezecliias,  quod  popiilus,  neglecto  Deo 
nee  invocato,  sanitatein  inde  peteret.  b  Livius,  I.  23.  Strepuut  aures  claraoribus 

plorantiuai  socionmi,  ssepius  nos  quani  Deorutn  iuvocantiura  opem.  <  Ruiandns 

adjuDgit  optimaiu  orationein  ad  finera  Eaipiricoruni.      IMerciirialis  (consil.  ^5)  ita  con- 
«;(adit.     Montauus  passim,  &:c.  et  pliire-i  alii,  &c. 


340  Cure  of  Melanchoh).  [Part.  2.  Sec  1. 

to  remember  that  of  Cra to,  one  of  their  predecessors, /w^e  ava- 
ritiam  :  et  sine  oratione  et  invocatione  Dei  nihil  facias  ;  avoid 
covetousness,  and  do  nothing  without  invocation  upon  God. 


MEMB.  III. 

Whether  it  he  lawful  to  seek  to  Saints  for  aid  in  this  disease. 

J.  HAT  we  must  pray  to  God,  no  man  doubts  :  but,  whether 
we  should  pray  to  saints  in  such  cases,  or  whether  they  can 
do  us  any  good,  it  may  be  lawfully  controverted — whether 
their  images,  shrines,  reliques,  consecrated  things,  holy  water, 
medals,  benedictions,  those  divine  amulets,  holy  exorcisms, 
and  the  sign  of  the  cross,  be  available  in  this  disease.  The 
papists,  on  the  one  side,  stifly  maintain,  how  many  melan- 
choly, mad,  daemoniacal  persons  are  daily  cured  atS'.  Antho- 
nies  church  in  Padua,  at  S^  Vitus  in  Germany,  by  our  Lady 
of  Lauretta,  in  Italy,  our  Lady  of  Sichem  in  the  Low  Coun- 
treys,  ^  (pice  et  ccecis  lumen,  cegris  salutem,  mortuis  vitam^ 
claudis  gressum  reddit,  omnes  morbos  corporis,  animi,  cu- 
rat, et  in  ipsos  dcemones  imperium  exercet:  she  cures  halt, 
lame,  blind,  all  diseases  of  body  and  mind,  and  commands 
the  devil  himself,  saith  Lipsius  :  25000  in  a  day  come  thither: 
^  quis  nisi  numen  in  ilium  locum  sic  induxit  ?  who  brought 
them  ?  in  anribus,  in  oculis  otmiium  gesta,  nova  novitia ; 
new  news  lately  done ;  our  eyes  and  ears  are  full  of  her 
cures ;  and  who  can  relate  them  all  ?  They  have  a  proper 
saint  almost  for  every  peculiar  infirmity  ;  for  poyson,  gouts, 
agues,  Petronella:  S,  Romanus  for  such  as  are  possessed :  Va- 
lentine for  the  falling  sickness ;  S*.  Vitus  for  mad  men,  &c. 
And  as,  ofold,*^  Pliny  reckons  up  gods  for  all  diseases,  (^Fehri 
fanum  dicatum  est)  Lilius  Giraldus  repeats  many  of  her  cere- 
monies: all  affections  of  the  mind  were  heretofore  accounted 
gods:  Love,  and  Sorrow, Vertue,  Honour,  Liberty,Contumely, 
Impudency,  had  their  temples ;  tempests,  seasons.  Crepitus 
ventriSf  Dea  Vacuna,  Dea  Cloacina :  there  M^as  a  goddess  of 
idleness,  a  goddess  of  the  draught  or  Jakes,  Prema,  Premun- 
da,  Priapus,  bawdy  gods,  and  gods  for  all  "^offices.  Varro 
reckons  up  30000  gods  ;  Lucian  makes  Podagra  (the  gout)  a 
goddess,  and  assigns  her  priests  and  ministers :  and  Melan- 


»  Lipsius.  bCap.  26.  "^  Lib.  2.  c.  7.  de'Deo.  Morbisque  in  genera  da- 

scriptifl, Deos  reperimus.  Selden.  prolog,  c.  3.  de  Diis  Syris.  Rosinus.  '•See  Liiii 

Giraldi  syntagma  de  Diis,  &c. 


Mem.  3.  j  Sahifs  Cure  rejected.  341 

choly  comes  not  behind  ;  for,  (as  Austin  mentionetli,  lib.  4.  de 
Civif.  Dei,  cap.  9)  there  was  of  old  Angerona  Dea^  and  she 
had  her  chappeland  feasts  ;  to  whom  (saith  ^  Macrobius)  they 
did  offer  sacrifice  yearly,  that  she  might  be  pacified  as  well  as 
the  rest.  'Tis  no  new  thing,  you  see,  this  of  papists ;  and,  in 
my  judgement,  that  old  doting  Lipsius  might  have  fitter  dedi- 
cated his  ''pen,  after  all  his  labours,  to  this  old  goddess  of  Me- 
lanciioly,  than  to  his  Virgo  Halensis,  and  been  her  chaplain; 
it  would  have  becomed  himbetter.  But  he,  poor  man,  ihought 
no  harm  in  that  which  he  did,  and  will  not  be  perswaded  but 
that  he  doth  well ;  he  hath  so  many  patrons,  and  honorable 
precedents  in  the  like  kind,  that  justify  as  much,  as  eagerly, 
and  more  than  he  there  saith  of  his  Lady  and  Mistris  :  read 
but  superstitious  Coster  and  Gretsers  Tract,  de  Crwce  Laur. 
Arcturus  Fanteus,  de  invoc.  Sanct.  Bellarmine,  Delrio,  dis. 
mag.  Tom.  3.  I.  6.  qucest.  2.  sect.  3.  Greg.  Tolosanus,  torn.  2, 
lib.  8.  cap.  24.  Syntax.  Strozius  Cicogna,  lib. 4;.  cap.  9.  Tyreus, 
Hieronymus  Mengus;  and  you  shall  find  infinite  examples  of 
cures  done  in  this  kind,  by  holy  waters,  reliques,  crosses,  ex- 
orcisms, amulets,  images,  consecrated  beads,  &c,  Barradius 
the  Jesuit  boldly  gives  it  out,  that  Christs  countenance,  and 
the  Virgin  Maries,  would  cure  melancholy,  if  one  had  looked 
steadfastly  on  them.  P.  Morales  the  Spaniard  (in  his  book  de 
pnlch.  Jes.  et  Mar.)  confirms  the  same  out  of  Carthusianus, 
and  I  know  npt  whom,  that  it  was  a  conmion  proverb  in  those 
daies,  for  such  as  were  troubled  in  mind,  to  say  Eamus  ad 
videndnm  /ilium  Marice  (let  us  see  the  son  of  Mary),  as  they 
do  now  post  to  S'.  Anthonies  in  Padua,  or  to  S*.  Hillaries  at 
Poictiers  in  France.  ''In  a  closet  of  that  church,  there  is  at 
this  day  S*.  Hillaries  bed  to  be  seen,<o  tvhich  they  bring  all  the 
mad  men  in  the  country  ;  and  after  some  prayers  and  other 
ceremonies,  they  lay  them  down  there  to  sleep,  and  so  they  re- 
cover. It  is  an  ordinary  thing  in  those  parts,  to  send  all  their 
mad  men  to  S*.  Hillaries  cradle.  They  say  the  like  of  S'.  Tu- 
bery  in  ^  another  place.  Giraldus  Cambrensis  {Itin.  Canib. 
c.  J)  tells  strange  stories  of  S.  Ciricius  staffe,  that  would  cure 
this  and  all  other  diseases.  Others  say  as  much  (as  *  Hospi- 
nian  observes)  of  the  Three  Kings  of  Colen ;  their  names 
written  in  parchment,  and  hung  about  a  patients  neck,  with  the 
sign  of  the  crosse,  will  produce  like  effects.  Read  Lipoman- 
nus,  or  that  golden  legend  of  Jacobus  de  Voragine,  you  shall 


»12  Cal.  Janiiarii  ferias  celebrant,  ut  angores  et  aniim  solicitudines  propitiata  de- 
pellat.  i)  Hanc  Diva;  pennam  consecravi,  Lipsins.  <"Jodocu8  Sincerus, 

itin,     Gallife,  1617.     Hue  mente  captos  deducunt,  et  statis  orationibus,  sacrisque  per- 
actis,  in  ilium  lectum  dormitmn  ponunt,  &c.  •!  In  Gallia  Narbonenai.  <?Lib. 

de  orig.  Festorum.     Collo  siispensa,  et  peigameno  inscripta,  cum  signo  crucis,  &c. 


,342  Cure  of  Mehwrhohf.  [Part.  2.  Sec.  1. 

have  infinite  stories, — or  those  new  relations  ot"  our  *  Jesuits  in 
Japona  and  China,  of  Mat.  Riccius,  Acosta,  Loiola,  Xaverius 
life,  &c.  Jasper  Belga,  a  Jesuit,  cured  a  mad  Avoman  by 
hanging  St.  Johns  Gospel  about  her  neck,  and  many  such. 
Holy  water  did  as  much  in  Japona,  &c.  Nothing-  so  familiar 
in  their  works,  as  such  examples. 

But  we,  on  the  other  side,  seek  to  God  alone.  We  say  with 
David,  (Ps.  46.  i)  God  is  our  hope  and  strength,  and  help  in 
trouble,  ready  to  bej'onnd.  For  their  catalogue  of  examples, 
we  make  no  other  answer,  but  that  they  are  false  fictions,  or 
diabolicatillusions,  counterfeit  miracles.  We  cannot  deny  but 
that  it  is  an  ordinary  thing-,  on  S'.  Anthonies  doy  in  Padua,  to 
bring-  divers  mad  men  and  demoniacal  persons  to  be  cured  : 
yet  we  make  a  doubt  whether  such  parties  be  so  affected  in- 
deed, but  prepared  by  their  priests  by  certain  oyntments  and 
drams,  to  cosen  the  commonalty,  as  ^  Hildesheim  well  saitli. 
The  like  is  commonly  practised  in  Bohemia,  as  Mathiolus 
gives  us  to  understand  in  his  preface  to  his  comment  upon 
Dioscorides.  But  we  need  not  run  so  far  for  examples  in  this 
kind  :  we  have  a  just  volume  published  at  home  to  this  pur- 
pose :  '^A  declaration  of  egregious  Popish  Impostures,  to 
wilh-draw  the  hearts  of  religious  men  under  pretence  of  cast- 
ing out  Devils,  practised  by  Father  Edmunds,  alias  Weston,  a 
Jesuit,  and  divers  Romish  Priests,  his  wicked  associates,  with 
tlieseveral  parties  names, confessions,examinations,  &c.  which 
were  pretended  to  be  possessed.  But  these  are  ordinary 
tricks,  only  to  get  opinion  and  money,  meer  impostures. 
iEsculapius  of  old,  that  counterfeit  God,  did  as  many  famous 
cures;  his  temple  (as  "^Strabo  relates)  was  daily  full  of  pa- 
tients, and  as  many  several  tables,  inscriptions,  pendants,  do- 
naries,  &c.  to  be  seen  in  his  church,  as  at  this  day  at  our  Lady 
of  Lorettas  in  Italy.     It  was  a  custome,  long  since, 

Suspendisse  potenti 

Vestimenta  maris  Deo Hor.  lib.  1.  od.  5. 

To  do  the  like,  in  former  times,  they  were  seduced  and  deluded 
as  they  are  now.  'Tis  the  same  devil  still,  called  heretofore 
Apollo,  Mars,  Neptune,  Venus,  ^Esculapius,  &c.   a&^Lactan- 


aEm.  Acosta,  com.  rerutn  in  Orieiite  gest.  a  societat.  Jesu,  anno  1568.   Epist.  Gon- 
salvi  Fernandis.  An.  1560,  e  Japonia.  >>  Spicil.  de  niorbis  dajmoniacis.     Sic  a 

sacrificulis  parati  unguentis  magicis  corpori  illitis,  ut  stnlfw  plebeculae  persuadeant  tales 
cnrari  a  Sancto  Antonio.  c  Printed  at  London,  4to.  by  J.  Roberts,  1005. 

d  Greg.  1.  8.      Cujiis  fanum  ajgrotantinm  multitudine  referttiui  undiquaque,  et  tabellis 
pendentibus,  in  quibus  sanati  languores  erant  iuscripti.  «=Maii  augeli  sumserunt 

olim  nomen  Jovis,  Junonis,  Apollinis,  &c.  quos  Gentiles  Deos  credebant:  nunc  i>.  Se- 
bastian!, Barbarae,  &c.  nomen  iiabent,  et  alioriun. 


Mem.  4.  Subs.  1.]  Patient.  343 

tius  (lib.  2.  de  orig.  erroris,c.  17)  observes.  The  same  Jupiter, 
and  those  bad  an<iels,  are  now  worshipped  and  adored  by  tlie 
name  of  vS*.  Sebastian,  Barbara,  &c.  Christopher  and  George 
are  come  in  their  places.  Our  Lady  succeeds  Venus  (as  they 
use  her  in  many  offices)  :  the  rest  are  otherwise  supply ed  (as 
^Lavater  writes)  ;  and  so  they  are  deluded  :  ^and  God  often 
winks  at  these  impostures,  hecanse  they  forsake  his  ivord,  and 
betake  themselves  to  the  devil,  as  they  do  that  seek  after  holy 
water,  crosses,  Src.  (Wierus,  lib.  4.  cap.  3).  What  can  these 
men  plead  for  themselves  more  than  those  heathen  gods?  the 
same  cures  done  by  both,  the  same  spirit  that  seduceth :  but 
read  more  of  the  pagan  gods  effects  in  Austin,  de  Civitate 
Dei,  I.  10.  cap.  6;  andof  ^Esculapius,  especially,in  Cicogna, 
/.  3.  cap.  8  :  or  put  case  they  could  help,  why  should  we  rather 
seek  to  them,  than  to  Christ  himself?  since  that  he  so  "^  kindly 
invites  us  unto  him  :  Come  unto  me  all  ye  that  are  heavy  laden, 
and  I  icill  ease  yon  (Matth.  II);  and  we  know  that  there  is 
one  God,  one  Mediator  bptunxt  God  and  man,  Jesus  Christ, 
(I  Tim.  2.  5),  icho  yave  himself  a  ransome  for  all  men.  We 
knorc  that  ice  have  an  advocate  with  the  Father,  Jesus  Christ 
( I  .John,  2.  I),  that  there  is  no  *^  other  7iame  under  heaven,  by 
which  we  can  be  saved,  but  by  his,  who  is  alwayes  ready  to 
hear  us,  and  sits  at  the  right  hand  of  God,  and  from  ^  whom 
we  can  have  no  repulse  :  solus  vult,  solus  potest  :  curat  uni- 
versos  tanquam  sinyulos,  et  *  unumquemque  nostrum  ut  solum  ; 
we  are  all  as  one  to  him;  he  cares  for  us  all  as  one;  and  why 
should  we  then  seek  to  any  other  but  to  him? 


MEM B.  IV.    SUBSECT.  I. 

Physician,  Patient,  Physick. 

Of  those  diverse  gifts  which,  our  apostle  Paul  saith,  God 
hath  bestowed  on  man,  thisof  physick  is  not  the  least,  but  most 
necessary,  and  especially  conducing  to  the  good  of  mankind. 
Next  therefore  to  God,  in  all  our  extremities  (for  of  the  Most 
Hiyh  Cometh  healing,  Ecclus.  38.  2)  we  must  seek  to,  and  rely 
upon  the  physician, ^who  is  mann.s  Dei  (saith  Hierophilus),  and 
to  whom  he  hath  given  knowiedge,that  he  might  be  glorified  in 


*  Part.  2.  cap.  9.  de  spect.     Veneri  substituunt  ^irginem  Mariam.  ''Adhsec 

ludibria  Deus  connivet  frequenter,  ubi,  relicto  verbo  Dei,  ad  Satanam  curritnr  ;  quales 
hi  sunt,  qui  aquam  lustralem,  crucem,  &c.  lubricaefidei  homiuibus  offerunt.  <■  Carior 
est  ipsis  hoiii'i,  qnain  sibi.  •'Paul.  f  B^-rnard.  f  Austin.  i;  licclus.  38. 

In  tlic  .sjo lit  ot"  great  uieu,  hi-  .sluli  be  in  admiration. 

VOL.   I.  H    II 


344  .  Cure  of  Melmicholy.  [Part.  2.  Sec.  I. 

his  wondrous  works.     With  such  doth  he  heal  men,  and  taketh 
away  their  pains  (Ecchis.  38. 6.  7) :  when  thou  hast  needofhim, 
let  him  not  go  from  thee.     The  hour  may  come  that  their  enter- 
prises may  have  good  success  (ver.  13.)  It  is  not  therefore  to  be 
doubted,  that,  ifwe  seek  a  physician  as  we  ought,  we  may  be 
eased  of  our  infirmities — such  a  one,I  mean,  as  is  sufficient,and 
worthily  so  called  ;  for  there  be  many  mountebanks,  quack- 
salvers, empiricks,  in  every  street  ahnost,  and  in  every  vilhige, 
that  take  upon  them  this  name,  make  this  noble  and  profitable 
art  to  be  evil  spoken  of  and  contemned,  by  reason  of  these 
base  and  illiterate  artificers  :  but  such  a  physician  I  speak  of, 
as  is  approved,  learned,  skilful,  honest,  &c.  of  whose  duty 
Wecker,  {Antid.  cap.  2.  ct  Syntax,  med.)  Crato,  Julius  Alex- 
andrinus,  (medic.)  Heurnius,  fprax.  med.  lib.  3.  cap.  1)  Sfc, 
treat  at  large.     For  this  particular  disease,  him  that  shall  take 
upon  him  to  cure  it,  ^Paracelsus  will  have  to  be  a  magician,  a 
chymist,  a  philosopher,  an  astrologer ;  Thurnesserus,  Seve- 
rinus  the  Dane,  and  some  other  of  his  followers,  require  as 
much  :  many  of  them  cannot  be  cured  but  by  magick.      ''Pa- 
racelsus is  so  stiff  for  those  chymical  medicines,  that,  in  his 
cures,  he  will  admit  almost  of  no  other  physick,  deriding  in 
the  mean  time  Hippocrates,  Galen,  and  all  their  followers. 
But  magick,  and  all  such  remedies,  I  have  already  censured, 
and  shall  speak  of  chymistry  ^elsewhere.  Astrology  is  required 
by  many  famous  physicians,  by  Ficinus,   Crato,  Fernelius, 
**  doubted  of,  and  exploded  by  others.    I  will  not  take  upon  me 
to  decide  the  controversie  my  self:    Johannes  Hossurtus, 
Thomas  Boderius,  and  Maginus  in  the  preface  to  his  Mathe- 
matical physick,  shall  determine  for  me.    Many  physicians  ex- 
plode astrology  in  physick,  (saith  he)  there  is  no  use  of  it : 
mia7n  artem  ac  quasi  temeriariam  insectantur,  ac  gloriam  sibi 
ab  ejus  imperitid  aucupari ;  but  I  will  reprove  physicians  by 
physicians,  that  defend  and  profess  it,  Hippocrates,  Galen, 
Avicen,  &c.  th^t  count  them  butchers  without  it,  homicidas 
medicos  astrologice   ignaros,  Sfc.     Paracelsus  goes   farther, 
and  will  have  his  physician  ^  predestinated  to  this  mans  cure, 
and  this  malady,  and  time  of  cure,  the  scheme  of  each  geniture 
inspected,  gathering  of  herbs,  of  administering,   astrologi- 
cally  observed ;  in  which  Thurnesserus,  and  some  iatromathe- 
matical   professors,   are  too  superstitious  in  my  judgement. 
*  Hellebor  ivill  ^Jielp^    but   not  alway,  not  given  by   every 


i*Tom.  4.  Tract.  3.  Ac  inorbis  amentium.      Horum  multi  non  nisi  a  magis  curandi  et 
astrologis,  quoniam  origo  ejus  a  coelis  petenda  est.  ''Lib.  de  Podagra. 

'Sect.  5.  J  Langius.  J.  Caesar  CUmdiuus,  consult.  '^Prajdestinatum 

ad  hunc  curanduni.       ^  •  Helleborus  curat:  sed  quod  ab  orani  datus  tuedico, 

vanum  est. 


Mem.  4.  Subs.  1.]  Patient.  345 

physician,  S^-c.  But  these  men  are  too  peremptory  and  self- 
conceited,  as  I  think.  But  what  do  I  do,  interposing-  in  that 
which  is  beyond  my  reach  ?  A  blind  man  cannot  judge  of  co- 
lours, nor  1  peradventure  ot'these  things.  Only  thus  much  I 
would  require,  honesty  ni  every  physician,  that  he  be  not 
o\er-careless  or  covetous,  Harpy-like  to  make  a  prey  of  his 
patient ;  carnificis  namque  est  (as  "  Wecker  notes)  inter  ipsos 
crnciatus  ingens  pretium  exposcere,  as  an  hungry  chyrurgion 
often  doth  produce  and  wier-draw  his  cure,  so  long  as  there 
is  any  hope  of  pay, 

Non  missura  cutem,  nisi  plena  crudris,  hirudo. 

Many  of  them,  to  get  a  fee,  will  givephysick  to  every  one  that 
comes,  when  there  is  no  cause  ;  and  they  do  so  irritare  silentem 
morhuni,  as^'Heurnius  coni[)lains,  stir  up  a  silent  disease,  as  it 
often  falleth  out,  which,  by  good  counsel,  good  advice  alone, 
might  have  been  hap|)ily  composed,  or,  by  rectification  of  those 
six:  non-natural  things,  otherwise  cured.  This  is  nalurw  helium 
inj'erre,  to  oppugn  nature,  and  make  a  strong  body  weak. 
Arnoldus,  in  his  eighth  and  eleventh  Aphorisms,  gives  cau- 
tions against,  and  expressly  forbiddeth  it.  "A  uiise physician 
will  not  f/ive  physick,  but  upon  necessity,  andjirst  try  medici- 
nal dyet,  hejore  he  proceed  to  medicinal  cure.  '^  In  another 
place  he  laughs  those  men  to  scorn,  that  think  longis  syrupis 
expugnare  dcemones  et  animi  phantasmata,  they  can  purge 
phantastical  imaginations,  and  the  devil,  by  physick.  Another 
caution  is,  that  they  proceed  upon  good  grounds,  if  so  be  there 
be  need  of  physick,  and  not  mistake  the  disease.  They  are 
often  deceived  by  the  "  similitude  of  symptomes,  saith  Heur- 
nins ;  I  could  give  instance  in  many  consultations,  wherein 
they  have  prescribed  opposite  physick.  Sometimes  they  go 
too  perfunclordy  to  work,  in  not  prescribing  a  just  'course  of 
physick.  To  stir  up  the  humour,  and  not  to  purge  it,  doth 
often  more  harm  than  good.  Montanus  {consil.  30)  inveighs 
against  such  perturbations,  that  purge  to  the  halves,  tire  na- 
ture, and  molest  the  body  to  no  purpose.  'Tis  a  crabbed  hu- 
mour to  purge — and,  as  Laurentius  calls  this  disease,  the  re- 
f)roach  of  physicians  ;  Bessardus,j^a</eZ/Mm  medicorum,  their 
ash — and,  for  that  cause,  more  carefully  to  be  respected. 

a  Antid.  gen.  lib.  3.  cap.  2.  bQuod  saepe  evenit,  (lib.  3.  cap.  1)  cum  non 

sit  necessitas.  Frustra  fatigant  reniediis  segros,  qui  victvis  ratione  curari  possunt. 
Heurnins.  c  ftlodestus  et  sapiens  medicus  nunquaui  properabit  ad  pharmacam, 

nisi  coffente  necessitate.  41.  Aphor.  Prudenset  pius  medicus  cibis  priusmedicinalibus, 
quara  medicinis  puns  morbura  expellere  satagat.  ^  Brev.  1.  c   18.  «  Simi- 

Htudo  saepe  bonis  medicinis  imponit.  f  Qui  melancholieis  praibent  remedia 

nou  satis  valida  Longiores  morbi  imprimis  solertiam  medici  postulant,  et  fideli- 
tatem:  qui  eniui  tumultuasio  lios  tractant,  vires  absque  ullo  commodo  leedunt  et 
frangunt,  &c. 

II  H  2 


346  Cure  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  2.  Sec.  I. 

Thoiioh  the  patient  be  averse,  saith  Laurentius,  desire  help, 
and  refuse  it  again,  though  heneglecthisown  health,  itbehoves 
a  good  physician  not  to  leave  him  helpless.  But,  most  part, 
they  offend  in  that  other  extream ;  they  prescribe  too  much 
physick,  and  tire  out  their  bodies  with  continual  potions,  to 
no  purpose.  Aetius  (tetrabib.  2.  2.  ser.  cap.  90)  will  have 
them  by  all  means  therefore  ^  to  give  some  respite  to  nature^ 
to  leave  off"  now  and  then  ;  and  Laelius  a  Fonte  Eugubinus, 
in  his  consultations,  found  it  (as  he  there  witnesseth)  often 
verified  by  experience,  ^  that  after  a  deal  of  physick  to  no 
purpose,  left  to  themselves,  they  have  recovered.  'Tis  that 
which  Nic.  Piso,  Donatus  Altomarus,  still  inculcate — dare 
requiem  naturw,  to  give  nature  rest. 


SUBSECT.  II. 

Concerning  the  Patient. 

W  HEN  these  precedent  cautions  are  accurately  kept,  and 
that  we  have  now  got  a  skilful,  an  honest  physician  to  our 
mind,  if  his  patient  will  not  be  conformable,  and  content 
to  be  ruled  by  him,  all  his  endeavours  will  come  to  no  good 
end.  Many  things  are  necessarily  to  be  observed  and  continued 
on  the  patients  behalf:  first,  that  he  be  not  too  niggardly 
miserable  of  his  purse,  or  think  it  too  much  he  bestows  upon 
himself,  and,  to  save  charges,  endanger  his  health.  The  Ab- 
derites,  when  they  sent  for  Hippocrates,  promised  him  what 
reward  he  would — '^  all  the  gold  they  had  ;  if  all  the  city  were 
gold,  he  should  have  it.  Naaman  the  Syrian,  when  he  went 
into  Israel  to  Elisha  to  be  cured  of  his  leprosie,  took  with  him 
ten  talents  of  silver,  six  thousand  pieces  of  gold,  and  ten 
change  of  rayments  (2  Kings,  5.  5).  Another  thing  is,  that 
out  of  bashful  ness  he  do  not  conceal  his  grief :  if  ought  trouble 
his  rainde,  let  him  freely  disclose  it. 

Stukorum  incurata  pudor  rnalus  ulcera  celat. 

By  that  means  he  procures  to  himself  much  mischief,  and  runs 
into  a  greater  inconvenience  :  he  must  be  willing  to  be  cured, 
and  earnestly  desire  it.  Pars  sanitatis  velle  sanarifuit.  (Se- 
neca) 'Tis  a  part  of  his  cure  to  wish  his  own  health  ;  and  not 
to  defer  it  too  long. 

^  Qui  blandiendodulce  nutrivit  malum, 
Sero  recusat  ferre  quod  subiit  jugum.         Et 

«  Naturae  remissioiieni  dare  oportet.  b  Pierique  hoc  morbo  medicina  nihil 

proffcissp  visisunt,  et  sibi  demissi  invaliierunt.  «  Abderitani,  ep,  Hippoc. 

Qnidqni-1  anri  apud  nos  est,  libenter  persolvemns,  ptiatnsi  tota  nrbs  nostra  anriini  esset. 
<i  Seneca. 


Mem.  4.  Subs.  2.]  Patient.  347 

»  Helleborum  frustra,  cum  jam  cutis  cegra  tumebit, 
Poscentes  videas  ;  venienti  occurrite  morbo. 

He  that  by  cherishing  a  mischief  doth  provoke, 
'Too  late,  a.t  last  refuseth,  to  cast  off  his  yoke. 

When 'the  skin  swels,  to  seek  it  to  appease 
With  hellebor,  is  vain  ;  meet  your  disease. 

By  this  means  many  times,  or  through  their  ignorance  in  not 
taking  notice  of  their  grievance  and  danger  of  it.  contempt, 
supine  negligence,  extenuation,wretchedness,  and  peevishness, 
they  undo  tliemselves.     The  citizens,   I  know  not  of  what 
city  now,  when    rumour   was  brought  their  enemies  were 
coming,  could  not  abide  to  hear  it;  and  when  the  plague  begins 
in  many  places,  and  they  certainly  know  it,  they  command 
silence,   and  hush  it  up:   but,  after  they  see  their  foes  now 
marching  to  their  gates,   and  ready  to  surprise  them,  they 
begin  to  fortifie  and  resist  when  'tia  too  late;  when  the  sick- 
ness breaks  out,  and  can  be  no  longer  concealed,  then  they 
lament  their  supine  negligence  :  'tis  no  otherwise  with  these 
men.     And  often,  out  of  prejudice,  a  loathing  and  distaste  of 
physick,  they  had  rather  dy,  or  do  worse,  than  take  any  of  it. 
Barbarous  irnmaniti/,  (''Melancthon  termes  it),  andj'olhj  to  he 
deplored,  so  to  contemn  the  precepts  oj'  health,  good  remedies, 
and  vohintaribf  to  pull  death,  and  man}/  maladies,  npon  their 
own  heads  :  though  many  again  are  in  that  other  extreme,  too 
profuse,   suspicious,  and  jealous  of  their  health,  too  apt  to 
take  physick  on  every   small   occasion,  to  aggravate  every 
slender  passion,  imperfection,  impediment:  if  their  finger  do 
but  ake,  run,  ride,  send  for  a  physician,  as  many  gentlewomen 
do,  that  are  sick,  without  a  cause,  even  when  they  will  them- 
selves, upon   every   toy  or  small   discontent;    and  when  he 
comes,  they  make  it  w  orse  than  it  is,  by  amplifying  that  which 
is  not.     *^  Hier,  Capivaccius  sets  it  down  as  a  common  fault  of 
all  melancholi/  persons,  to  satj  their  sympiomes  are  fireater  than 
they  are,  to  help  themselves ;  and  (which  JNIercurialis  notes, 
consil.  53)  to  he  more  "^  trouhlesome  to  their  physicians,  than 
other  ordinary  jiatients,  that  they  may  have  chanye  oj'physick. 
A  third  thing  to  be  required  in  a  patient,  is  co-ifiJence,  to 
be  of  good  chear,  and  have  sure  hope  that  his  physician  can 
help  him.     '^Damascen  the  Arabian  requires  likewise  in  the 


a  Per.  3.  Sat.  ^De  anima.     Barbara  taiiien  iiumanitate,  et  tleiiloranda  inscitia, 

contemnunt  prsecepta  sanitatis  :  mortem  et  niorbos  ultro  accersunt.  f  CodsiiI.  173. 

e  Sooltzio,  INlelanch.  -Egrorum  hoc  fere  propriiim  est,  at  gra\  iora  dicant  esse  sympto- 
mata,  (juam  revera  sunt.  J  Melancliolici  plerumque  medicis  snnf  molesti,  ut 

alia  iiliis  adjiiiij;ant.  '  Oportet  inlirnio  iniprimere  saliilem.  i;tciin<|iie  proniittere 

etsi  ipse  desperet.     Nullum  luedicanicutiim  tflitax,  uisi  nitdicus   itiaiu   fuerit  fortis 
imagiuatiunis. 


348  Curp  of  Jlelanchohf.         [Part.  2.  Sec.  1. 

physician  ])iiiiselt',  that  he  be  confident  he  can  cure  him, 
otherwise  his  physick  will  not  be  effectuall,  and  promise  with- 
all  that  he  will  certainly  help  him,  make  him  beleeve  so  at 
least.  ^  Galeottus  g*ives  this  reason,  becanse  the  forme  of 
health  is  contained  in  the  physicians  minde  ;  and,  as  Galen 
holds,  **  confidence  and  hope  do  more  (food  than  physick  ;  he 
cures  most,  in  whom  most  are  confident.  Axiochus,  sick  al- 
mostto  death,  at  the  very  sight  of  Socrates  recoveretl  his  former 
health.  Paracelsus  assigns  it  for  an  only  cause  why  Hippo- 
crates was  so  fortunate  in  cures,  not  for  any  extraordinary 
skill  he  had,  '^^  but  because  the  common  people  had  a  most 
stronr/  conceipt  of  his  ivorth.  To  this  of  confidence  we  may 
adde  perseverance,  obedience,  and  constancie,  not  to  change 
his  physician,  or  dislike  him  upon  every  toy  ;  for  he  that  so 
doth,  (saith ''Janus  Damascen)  or  consults  with  many, falls  into 
many  errours  ;  or  that  useth  many  medicines.  It  was  a  chief 
caveat  of  '^Seneca  to  his  friend  Lucilius,  that  he  should  not 
alter  his  physician,  or  prescribed  physick  ;  nothiny  hinders 
health  more :  a  wound  can  never  be  cured,  that  hath  severall 
plasters.  Crato  {consil.  186)  taxeth  all  melancholy  persons  of 
this  fault:  ^  lis  proper  to  them,  if  thinys  fall  not  out  to  their 
minde^  and  that  they  have  not  present  ease,  to  seek  another 
and  another  ;  (as  they  do  commonly  that  have  sore  eyes) 
twenty,  one  after  another  ;  and  they  still  promise  all  to  cure 
them,  try  a  thovs'tndremedies  ;  and  by  this  means  they  increase 
their  malady,  make  it  most  dangerous,  arid  difficil  to  be  cured. 
They  try  many  (saith  sMontanus)  and  profit  by  none:  and 
for  this  cause  {consil.  24)  he  injoyns  his  patient, before  he  take 
him  in  hand,  ''  perseverance  and  sufferance ;  for,  in  such  a 
small  tinip,  no yi  cat  matter  can  be  effected  ;  andnpon  that  con- 
dition he  will  administer  physick  ;  otherwise  all  his  endevour 
and  counsell  would  be  to  small  purpose.  And,  in  his  31  coun- 
sell  for  a  notable  matron,  he  tels  her,  '  f  she  will  be  cured, 
she  must  be  of  a  most  abiding  patience,  faitJful  obedience,  and 
singular  persevej-ance  ;  if  she  remit  or  despair,  she  can  expect 
or  hope  for  no  good  success.  Consil.  230,  for  an  Italian  abbot, 
he  makes  it  one  of  the  greatest  reasons  why  this  disease  is 


^  De  promise,  doct.  cap.  15.     Qiioniain  sanitatis  formam  animi  medici  continent, 
b  Spes  et  confidentia  plus  valent  qiiam  mcdicina.  <^Felicior  in  medicina  ob  fideni 

ethnicormn.  dAphoris.  89.     ,*Espr,  qui  pliiriinos  consulit  medicos,  plerumque 

in  errorein  singnloriim  cadit.  «Niliil  ita  saiiitatemirapedit,  ac  remedioiiiin  crebra 

nmtatio ;  noc  venit  vulnus  ad  cicatricem,  in  quo  diversa  medicanienta  tentantur. 
'Melancholicorum  propriura,  qunm  ex  eonitn  arbitrio  non  fit  subito  nmtatio  in  melius, 
alterare  medicos,  qui  quidvis,  &:c.  k  Consil.  31.     Puui  ad  varia  se  confenint, 

nullo  prosunt.  ''Imprimis  lioc  statuere  oportet,  requiri  perseverantiam,  ft 

tolerantiani.  Exiguo  enim  tempore  nihil  e^.  &c.  'Si  curari  vuit,  rptis  est  periinaci 
perse  verantifi,  fideli  obedientia,  et  paticntirt  smgulari  :  si  tttdet  aut  desperef,  nuUuni 
habebit  eft'ectum. 


Mem.  4.  Subs.  2.]  Patient.  349 

so  incurable,  ^  because  the  parties  are  so  restless  and  impa- 
tient^ andicill  therefore  have  him  that  inteiids  to  be  eased,  ^  to 
take  phy  sick  ^  not  for  a  monetli,  a  year,  hut  to  apply  himself  to 
their  prescriptions  all  the  dayes  of  his  life.  Last  of  all,  it  is  re- 
quired that  the  patient  be  not  too  bold  to  practise  upon  himself, 
without  an  approved  physicians  consent,  or  to  try  conclusions, 
if  he  read  a  receipt  in  a  book;  for,  so  many  grosly  mistake, 
and  do  themselves  more  harme  than  good.  That  which  is  con- 
ducing- to  one  man,  in  one  case,  the  same  time  is  opposite  to 
another.  '^  An  asse  and  a  mule  went  laden  over  a  brook,  the 
one  with  salt,  the  other  with  wool :  the  mules  riacke  was  wet  by 
chance;  the  salt  melted ;  his  burden  the  lighter,  and  he  there- 
by much  eased  :  he  told  the  asse,  who,  thinking  to  speed  as 
well,  wet  his  packe  likewiseat  the  next  water;  butit was  much 
the  heavier ;  he  quite  tired.  So  one  thin^  maybe  good  and  bad 
to  several  parties,  upon  divers  occasions.  Many  things  (saith 
''Penottus)  are  written  in  our  books,  which  seem  to  the  reader 
to  be  excellent  remedies  ;  but  they  that  make  use  of  them,  are 
often  deceived,  and  take,  for phy sick,  poyson.  I  remember,  in 
Valleriolas  observations,  a  story  of  one  John  Baptist,  a  Neapo- 
litan, that,  finding  by  chance  a  pamphlet  in  Italian,  written  in 
praise  of  hellebor,  would  needs  adventure  on  himself,  and  tookc 
one  dram  for  one  scruple:  and,  had  he  not  been  sent  for,  the 
poor  fellow  had  poysonedhimself.  From  whencehe  concludes 
(out  of  Damascenus,  2.  et  3.  Aphoris.)  ""  that,  icithont  exquisite 
knowledge,  to  work  out  of  bookes  is  most  dangerous :  hoic  un- 
savorie  a  thing  it  is  to  beleeve  writers,  and  take  upon  trusty 
as  this  patient  perceived  by  his  oicnperill.  I  could  recite  such 
another  example,  of  mine  own  knowledge,  of  a  friend  of  mine, 
that,  finding  areceipt  in  Brassivola,  would  needs  take  hellebor 
in  substance,  and  try  it  on  his  own  person;  but,  had  not  some 
of  his  familiars  come  to  visit  him  by  chance,  he  had  by  his  in- 
discretion hazarded  himself.  Many  such  I  have  observed. 
These  are  those  ordinary  cautions,  which  I  should  thinke  fit 
to  be  noted  ;  and  he  that  shall  keep  them,  as  '  Montanus  saith, 
shall  surely  be  much  eased,  if  not  throughly  cured. 

» j^gritadine  aniittuiit  patientiam  ;  et  inde  morbi  incnrabiles.  t  Non  ad  men- 

sem aat  aDnnm,  sed  oportettoto  vitae  curriculo  curationi  operam  darr.  I'Camera- 

rius,  emb.  55.  cent  2.  '^  Prsefat.  de  nar.  med.  In  libellis  qui  vulgo  versantur  apud 
literates,  incautiores  multa  legunt,  a  qiiibns  decipiuntiir,  exiniia  illis  :  sed  portento- 
snna  hanriunt  venenum.  ^Operari  ex  libris,  absque  co£;nitione  et  solerti  ingenio, 

periculosum  est.  L"nde  moneniur,  (luam  insipidnni  scriptis  aiictoribiis  cndere,  qood 
nir  SQO  didicit  periculo.  '  Consil.  23.    Hscc  omnia  sij  quo  oidine  decet.  egerit, 

vel  ciirabitur,  vel  certc  minus  afficietiir. 


350  Cure  of  Melancholy.         [Part.  2.  Sec.  I. 

SUBSECT.  III. 

Concerning  Physick. 

i  HYSICK  itself  in  the  last  place  is  to  be  considered ;  Jhr 
the  Lord  hath  created  medicines  of  the  earth  ;  and  he  that  is 
wise  ivill  not  abhorre  them,  Ecclus.  38.  4.  and  ver.  8.  of  such 
doth  the  apothecary  make  a  confection,  ^c.  Of  these  medi- 
cines there  be  divers  and  infinite  kindes,  plants,  metals,  ani- 
mals, &c.  and  those  of  severall  natures,  some  good  for  one, 
hurtfull  to  another:  some  noxious  in  themselves,  corrected  by 
art,  very  wholsome  and  good,  simples,  mixt,  &c.  and  therefore 
left  to  be  managed  by  discreet  and  skilful  physicians,  and 
thence  applied  to  mans  use.  To  this  purpose  they  have  in- 
vented method,  and  severall  rules  of  art,  to  put  these  remedies 
in  order,  for  their  particular  ends.  Physick  (as  Hippocrates 
defines  it)  is  naught  else  but  '^addition  and  substraction  ;  and, 
as  it  is  required  in  all  other  diseases,  so  in  this  of  melancholy 
it  ought  to  be  most  accurate;  it  being  (as  **  Mercurial  is  ac- 
knowledgeth)  so  common  an  affection  in  these  our  times,  and 
therefore  fit  to  be  understood.  Severall  prescripts  and  me- 
thods I  find  in  several  men  :  some  take  upon  them  to  cure  all 
maladies  with  one  medicineseverallyapplyed,  as  that /Jrtwacea, 
auruni  potabile,  so  much  controverted  in  these  dayes,  herba 
solis,  ^'c.  Paracelsus  reduceth  all  diseases  to  four  principal! 
heads,  to  whom  Severinus,  Ravelascus,  Leo  Suavius, and  others, 
adhere  and  imitate  :  those  are  leprosy,  gout,  dropsie,  falling- 
sickness  :  to  which  they  reduce  the  rest ;  as  to  leprosie,  ul- 
cers, itches,  furfures,  scabs,  &c.  to  gout,  stone,  cholick, 
tooth-ach,  head-ach,  &c.  to  dropsie,  agues,  jaundies,  ca- 
chexia, &c.  To  the  falling-sicknesse,  belong  palsie,  verti- 
go, cramps,  convulsions,  incubus,  apoplexie,  &c.  "  ''If  any 
of  these  four  principall  be  cured,  (saith  Ravelascus)  a// fAe 
iiferior  are  cured;  and  the  same  remedies  commonly  serve : 
but  tiiis  is  too  generall,  and  by  some  contradicted.  For  this 
peculiar  disease  of  melancholy,  of  which  1  am  now  to  speak, 
I  find  severall  cures,  severall  methods  and  prescripts.  They 
that  intend  the  practick  cure  of  melancholy,  saith  Duretus  in 
his  notes  to  Hollerius,  set  down  nine  peculiar  scopes  or  ends; 
Savanarola  prescribes  seven  es{)ecia!l  canons.  ^Elianus  Mont- 
altus,c<7/?.25.  Faventinus,inhisEnipericks, Hercules  de  Saxo- 
nia,  &c.  have  their  severall  injunctions  and  rules,  all  tending 
to  one  end.     The  ordinary  is  threefold,  which  '  mean  to  fol- 

a  Fncluins,  cap.  2.  lib.  1.  ''In  pract.  med.'^Hspc  aflfectio  nostris  teinporibus  fre- 

qiicnCissima  ;  erjjo  maxime  pertinct  ad  nos  hiijus  curationein  intclligtre.  I'Si  ali- 

quis  horuiu  morboruin  sumtnus  sauutur,  saiiautur  oinues  infeiiores. 


Mem.  1.  Subs.  1  ]  Dyet  rectified.  351 

low — Ai«/TflT»»t*),  Pharmaceutica,  and  Chirurgica^  diet  or 
living-,  apothecary,  chirurgery,  which  Wecker,  Crato,  Guia- 
nerius,  &c.  and  most  prescribe ;  of  which  I  will  insist,  and 
speak  in  their  order. 


SECT.  11. 
MEMB.  I.    SUBSECT.  1. 

Dyet  rectified  in  substance. 

JJlET,  ^/aiT»)Tix»,  victns  or  living,  according"  to  ^Fuchsius 
and  others,  comprehend  those  six  non-naturall  things,  which, 
1  have  before  specified,  are  especiall  causes,  and,  being  rec- 
tified, a  sole,  or  chief  partofthe  cure.     ''Johannes  Arculanus 
(^cap.  16.  in  9  Rhusis)  accounts  the  rectifying  of  these  six  a 
sufficient  cure.  Guianerius  (Trac?.  15.  cap.  9)  calls  them,  joro- 
priam  et  primam  curam,  the  principall  cure  :  so  doth  Monta- 
nus,  Crato,  Mercurialis,  Altomarus,  &  c.  first  (o  be  tried.    Lem- 
nius  {instit.  cap.  i2^)  names  them  the  hinges  of  our  health  ;  "^  no 
hope  of  recovery  without  them.     Reinerus  So!enander,  in  his 
seventh  consultation  fur  a  Spanish  young  gentlewoman,  that 
was  so  melancholy  she  cibhurred  all  company, and  would  notsit 
at  table  with  her  familiar  friends,  prescribes  this  physick  above 
the  rest ;  '*no  good  to  be  done  without  it.    ^Aretseus,  (^lib.  1. 
cap.  7)  an  old  physician,  is  of  opinion,  that  this  is  enough  of 
it  self,  if  the  party  be  not  too  far  gone  in  sicknesse.     ^  Crato,  in 
a  consultation  of  his  for  a  noble  patient,  tells  him  plainly,  that, 
if  his  highness  Mill  keep  but  a  good  diet,  he  will  Avarrant  him 
his  fovnter  health,     p^lontanus,  consil.  27j  for  a  nobleman  of 
France,  admonisheth  his  lordship  to  be  most  circumspect  in  his 
diet,  or  else  all  his  other  physick  will  ''be  to  small  purpose. 
The  same  injunction  1  finde  verbatim  in  J.  Casar  Claudinus. 
Respon.  34.     Scoltzii  consil.  183.     Trallianus,  cap.  IG.  lib.  1. 
Lajlius  a  Fonte  Engubinus  often   brags   that  he  hath  done 
more  cures  in  this  kinde  by  rectification  of  diet,  than  all  other 
physick  besides.     So  that,  in  a  word,  1  may  say  to  most  me- 


"  Instit,  cap.  8.  sect.  J.     Victiis  nomine  non  lam  cibns  et  potus,  seel  aer,  exercitatio, 
sommis,  vigilia,  et  reliqua;  res  sex  non  nafdrales,  continentur.  ''Sufficit  plernnique 

regimen  rerum  sex  uon-natiiraliiim.  <'Et  in  liis  putissima  sanitas  consistit.         ^"Si- 

hil  liic  agendum  sine  exqiiisita  vivendi  rnfionp,  ^c.  •-'Si  recens  malum  sit,  ad  pris- 

tinum  habitum  recnperandiim,  alia  medela  non  est  opus.  f  Consil.  99.  lib.  2.     .Si 

celsitudo  tua  rectam  victus  rationem,  ScC.         f-'Moneo,  doinine,  nt  sis  prudens  ad  vic- 
timi,  sine  quo  cwtera  reniedia  frnstra  adhiltentur.  i' Omnia  remedia  irrita  et  vana 

sine   lli^.     Novistis   me  plerosque,  ita  laborantes,  \icUi  pofius  quam   uiedicameutis 
curasse. 


352  Care  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  2.  Sec.  2. 

lancholy  men,  as  the  fox  said  to  the  wesell,  that  could  not  get 
out  of  the  garner,  Macra  cavum  repetas,  quern  macra  sub' 
Uti;  the  six  non-naturall  things  caused  it ;  and  they  must  cure 
it.  Which  howsoever  I  treat  of,  as  proper  to  the  meridian  of 
melancholy,  yet  nevertheless,  that  which  is  here  said,  with  him 
in  '^  Tully,  though  writ  especially  for  the  good  of  his  friends  at 
Tarentum  and  Sicily,  yet  it  will  generally  serve  ''most  other 
diseases,  and  help  them  likewise,  if  it  be  observed. 

Of  the  six  non-naturall  things,  the  first  is  diet,  properly  so 
called,  which  consists  in  meat  and  drink,  in  which  we  must 
consider  substance,  quantity,  quality,  and  that  opposite  to  the 
precedent.  In  substance,such  meats  are  generally  commended, 
which  are  "^  moist,  easie  of  digestion,  and  not  apt  to  enr/ender 
toinde,  notfn/ed,  nor  roasted,  but  sod,  (saith  Valescus,  Altoma- 
rus,  Piso,  &c.)  hot  and  moist,  and  of  good  7iourishment. 
Crato  (ConsiL%  I .  lib.  2)  admits  roast  meat,  '^  if  the  burned  and 
scorched  superficies,  the  brown  we  call  it,  be  pared  off.  Sal- 
vianus (lib. 2.  cap.  1)  cries  out  on  cold  and  dry  meats  ;  •'young 
flesh  and  tender  is  approved,  as  of  kid,  rabbets,  chickens, 
veale,  mutton,  capons,  hens,  partridge,  phesant,  quailes,  and 
all  mountain  birds,  which  are  so  familiar  in  some  parts  of 
Africa,  and  in  Italy,  and  (as  '  Dublinius  reports)  the  common 
food  of  boores  and  clownes  in  Palsestina.  Galen  takes  excep- 
tion at  mutton  ;  but  without  question  he  means  that  rammy 
nmtton,  which  is  in  Turkic  and  Asia  Minor,  which  have  those 
great  fleshie  tailes,  of  48  pound  weight,  as  Vertomannus  wit- 
nesseth,  navig.  lib.  2.  cap.  5.  The  lean  of  fat  meat  is  best ; 
and  all  manner  of  brothes,  and  pottage,  with  borage,  lettuce, 
and  such  wholesome  hearbs,are  excellent  good,  specially  of  a 
cock  boyled ;  all  spoon  meat.  Arabians  commend  brains ;  but 
s  Laurentius  (c.  8)  excepts  against  them ;  and  so  do  many  others ; 
I'ego-es  are  justified,  as  a  nutritive  wholsome  meat:  butter  and 
oyle  may  passe,  but  with  some  limitation  :  so '  Crato  confines 
it,  and  to  some  men  sparingly,  at  set  times,  or  in  sauce ;  and 
so  sugar  and  hony  are  approved.  ^  All  sharp  and  sowre  sauces 
must  be  avoided,  and  spices,  or  at  least  seldom  used :  and  so 
saffVon,  sometimes,  in  broth,  may  be  tolerated;  but  these  things 
may  be  more  freely  used,  as  the  temperature  of  the  party  is  hot 


al.  definibus.  Tarentinis  et  Siculis.  bModo  non  multura  elougentur.  ^Lib.  1. 
de  melan.  cap.  7.  Calidus  et  humidus  cibus  concoctii  facilis,  flatus  exsortes,  elixi,  non 
assi,  neque  cibi  frixi  sint,  ^  Si  interna  tantura  pulpa  devoretur,  non  superficies 

torrida  ab  igne.  ^  Bene  nutrientes  cibi  ;  tenella  aetas  rcultum  valet ;  carnes  non  vi- 

rosse,  nee  pingues.         fHodoepor.  peregr.  Hierosol.        (?  Inimica  stomacho.         ^Not 
fryed,  or  battered,  but  potched.  >Consil.  16.    Non  improttatur  biifynmi  ft  olei-m, 

si  tamenpbis  rjuam  parsit  non  prpfnndatiir  :  sacchari  et  meilis  usns  ntiiiterad  cjbornra 
•■ondimenta  comprobadir.  kMerciuialis,  consil.  88.     Acerba  omnia  evitentnr. 


Mem.  1.  Subs.  1.]  Dyet  rectijied.  353 

or  coUl,  or  as  lie  shall  find  inconvenience  by  them.  The  thin- 
nest, M  iiitest,  smallest  wine  is  best,  not  thick,  not  strono-;  and  so 
of  beer,  the  middling  is  fittest.  Bread  of  g-ood  wheat,  Dure,  well 
purged  from  the  bran,  is  preferred ;  Laurentius  (cap'.  8)  would 
have  it  kneaded  with  rain  water,  if  it  may  be  gotten. 

Water.]  Pure,  thin,  light  Avater  by  all  means  use,  of  o-ood 
smell  and  taste  ;  like  to  the  ayr  in  sight,  such  as  is  soon  hot 
soon  cold,  and  which  Hippocrates  so  much  approves,  if  at  least 
it  may  be  had.  Rain  avater  is  purest,  so  that  it  fall  not  down 
in  great  drops,  and  be  used  forthwith  ;  for  it  quickly  putre- 
fies. Next  to  it  fountain  water,  that  riseth  in  the  east,  and 
runneth  eastward,  from  a  quick  running  spring,  from  flinty 
chalky,  gravelly,  grounds  :  and  the  longer  a  river  runneth,  it 
is  commonly  the  purest ;  though  many  springs  do  yeeld  the 
best  water  at  their  fountains.  The  waters  in  hotter  countries, 
as  in  Turkic,  Persia,  India,  within  the  tropicks,  are  frequently 
purer  than  ours  in  the  north,  more  subtile,  thin,  and  liohter,  (as 
our  merchants  observe)  by  four  ounces  in  a  pound,  pleasanter 
to  drink,  as  good  as  our  beer,  and  some  of  them,  as  Choaspis  in 
Persia,  preferred  by  the  Persian  kings,  before  wine  it  self. 

a  Clitorio  quicunqiie  sitim  de  fonte  levarit, 
Vina  fugit,  gaudetque  meris  absteraius  undis. 

Many  rivers,  I  deny  not,  are  muddy  still,  white,  thick,  like  those 
in  China,  Nilus  in  ^Egypt,  Tibris  at  Rome,  but  after  they  be 
setled  two  or  three  dayes,  defecate  and  clear,  very  commodious 
usefull  and  good.  Many  make  use  of  deep  wels,  as  of  old,  in 
the  Holy  Land,  lakes,  cisterns,  when  they  cannot  be  better 
provided;  to  fetch  it  in  carts  or  gundilos,  as  in  Venice,  or 
camels  backs,  as  at  Cairo  in  ^Egypt:  ^Radzivilius  observed8000 
camels  daily  there,  employed  about  that  business.  Some  keep 
it  in  trunks,  as  in  the  East  Indies,  made  foursquare,  with  de- 
scendingsteps;  and 'tis  not  amiss:  for  I  would  not  have  any  one 
so  nice  as  that  Greecian  Calis,  sister  to  Nicephorus  emperour  of 
Constantinople,  and'^mamed  to  Dominicus  Silvius,  Duke  of 
Venice,  that,  out  of  incredible  wantonness,  communi  aqua  nil 
nolebat,  would  use  no  vulgar  water;  but  she  died  tantd  (saith 
mine  nnihoxn)  fa^tuUssimi  puris  copid,  of  so  fulsome  a  disease 
that  no  water  could  wash  her  clean.  '^  Plato  would  not  have  a 
traveller  lodge  in  a  city,  that  is  not  governed  by  laws,  or  hath 
not  a  quick  stream  running  by  it ;  illudeuim  animum,  hoc  cor- 
ruinpit  valetudinem  ;  one  corrupts  the  body,  the  other  the 
minde.     But  this  is  more  than  needs ;  too  much  curiosity  is 

^Ovid.     Met.  lib.  15.  •>  Peregr.  Hitr.  The  dukes  of  Venice  were  then 

permitted  to  marry.  ''De  Legibus. 


354  Cure  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  2.  Sec.  2. 

naught;  in  time  of  necessity  any  water  is  allowed.  Howsoever, 
pure  water  is  best,  and  which  (asPindarus  holds)  is  better  tha,n 
gold ;  an  iespeciall  ornament  it  is,  and  very  commodious  to  a  city 
(accordi  ng  to  ^Vegeti us)  whenjresh  springs  are  includedioithin 
the  wals:  as  at  Corinth,  in  the  midst  of  the  town  almost,  there 
was  arx  altissima  scatensjontibns,  a  goodly  mount  full  of  fresh- 
water springs:  if  nature  afford  them  not,  they  must  he  had  by 
art.  It  is  a  wonder  to  read  of  those  •'stupend  aqueducts;  and 
infinite  cost  hath  been  bestowed,  in  Rome  ofold, Constantinople, 
Carthage,  Alexandria,  and  such  populous  cities,  to  conveigh 
good  and  wholsome  waters:  read  •=  Frontinus,Lipsius,  deadmir. 
'^Plmius,  lib.  3.  cap.  11.  Strabo,  in  his  Geogr.  Thataqueduct 
of  Claudius  was  most  eminent,  fetched  upon  arches  15  miles, 
every  arch  109  foot  high  :  they  had  14  such  other  aqueducts, 
besides  lakes  and  cisterns,  700,  as  I  take  it :  '^every  house  had 

fjrivate  pipes  and  chanels  to  serve  them  fortheiruse.  Peter  Gil- 
ius,  in  hisaccurate  description  of  Constantinople,  speaks  of  an 
old  cistern  which  he  went  down  to  see,  336  foot  long,  180  foot 
broad,  built  of  marble,  covered  over  with  arch-work,  and  sus- 
tained by 336  pillars,  tMelve foot  asunder,  and  in  11  rowes,  to 
contain  sweetwater.  Infinitecostinchanelsand cisterns,  from 
Nilus  to  Alexandria,  hath  been  formerly  bestowed,  to  the  ad- 
miration of  these  times;  ^their  cisterns  so  curiously  cemented 
and  composed,  that  abeholder  would  take  them  to  be  all  of  one 
stone  :  when  the  foundation  is  laid,  and  cistern  made,  their 
bouse  is  half  built.  That  Segovian  aqueduct  in  Spain  is  much 
wondred  at  in  these  dayes,  ^upon  three  rows  of  pillars,  one 
above  another,  conveying  sweet  water  to  every  house :  buteach 
city  almost  is  full  of  such  aqueducts.  Amongst  the  rest,  ''he 
is  eternally  to  be  commended,  that  brought  thatnew  stream  to 
the  north  side  of  London  at  his  own  charge;  and  Mr.  Otho 
Nicholson,  founder  of  our  water-works  and  elegant  conduit  in 
Oxford.  So  much  have  all  times  attributed  to  this  element, 
to  be  conveniently  provided  of  it.  Although  Galen  hath  taken 
exceptions  at  such  waters  which  run  through  leaden  pipes, 
ob  cerussam  quae  in  iis  generatur,  for  (hat  unctuous  ceruse, 
which  causeth  dysenteries  and  fluxes;  'yet,  asAlsarius  Crucius 
of  Genua  weW  answers,  it  is  opposite  to  common  experience, 


>  Lib.  4.  ca.  10.    Magua  arbis  utilitas,  cum  perennes  fontes  mnris  includiintur ;  quod 
si  uatura  non  praestat,  effodiendi^  &c.  b  Opera  gigantixin  dicit  aliquis.  <^\)& 

aquaeduct.  ^  Curtius  fons  a  quadragesimo  lapide  in  arbem  opere  arcuato  perduc- 

tus.     Plin.  lib.  36.  15.  «  Quseque  donius  Rom*  fistulas  habebat  et  canales,  &c. 

f  Lib.  2.  ca  20.     Jod.  a  Meggen.  cap.  15.  pereg.  Hier.  Bellonius.  »Cypr.  Eclio- 

viu8,  delic.  Hisp.      Aqua  profluens  iiide  iu  ouines  fere  demos  ilucitnr  ;  in  puteisquoque 
aestivo  tempore  frigidissima  couservatur.  ''Sir  Hugh  Middktou,  barouet.  '  De 

quxsitis  med.  ceut  fol.  354. 


Mem.  1.  Subs.  1.]  Dyet  rectified.  355 

If  that  were  true,  most  of  our  Italian  cities,  Montpelier  in 
France,  with  infinite  others,  would  finde  this  inconvenience; 
but  there  is  no  such  matter.  For  private  families,  in  m  hat 
sort  they  should  furnish  themselves,  let  them  consult  with 
P.  Crescentius,  de  Agric.  I.  1.  c.  4.  Pamphilus  Hirelacus, 
and  the  rest. 

Amongst  fishes,  those  are  most  allowed  ofthatliveingravelly 
orsandy  waters,  pikes,  pearch,trout,gudoeon,smelts,flounders, 
&c.  Hippolytus  Salvianus  takes  exception  at  carp;  but  I  dare 
boldly  say,  with  ^Dubravius,  it  is  an  excellent  meat,  if  it  come 
not  from  ''muddy  pooles,  that  it  retain  not  an  unsavory  tast. 
Erinaceus  marimis  is  much  commended  by  Oiibasius,  Aetius, 
and  most  of  our  late  writers. 

•^  Crato  (consil.  21.  lib.  2)  censures  all  manner  of  fruits,  as 
subject  to  patrefaction,yettolerableatsome times;  aftermeales, 
at  second  course,  they  keep  down  vapours,  and  have  their  use. 
Sweet  fruits  are  best,  as  sweet  cherries,  plums, sweet  apples, 
peare-inaines,  and  pippins,  which  Laurentius  extols,  as  having 
a  peculiar  property  against  this  disease,  and  Plater  magnifies: 
omnibus  modis  appropriata  conveniunt ;  but  they  must  be  cor- 
rected for  their  windiness  :  ripe  grapes  are  good,  and  raysins 
of  the  sun,  nmsk-millions  w  ell  corrected,  and  sparingly  used. 
Figs  are  allowed  and  almonds  blanched.  Trallianus  discom- 
mends figs.  ^Salvianus  olives  and  capers,  which  ^others espe- 
cially like  of,and  so  ofpistick  nuts.  Montanus  and  Mercurialis 
(out  of  Avenzor)  admit  peaches.^peares,  and  apples  baked  after 
mealesjonlycorrected  with  sugar,  and  aniseed,  orfennell-seed; 
and  so  they  may  be  profitably  taken,  because  they  strengthen  the 
stomack,  and  keep  down  vapors.  The  like  may  be  said  of  pre- 
served cherries,  plums,  marmalit  of  plums,  quinces,  &c.  but 
not  to  drink  after  them,  s  Pomegranates,  lemons,  oranges 
are  tolerated,  if  they  be  not  too  sharp. 

^  Crato  will  admit  of  no  herbs,  but  borage,  bugloss,  endive, 
fennell,  aniseed,  bawme  :  Calenus  and  Arnoidus  tolerate 
lettuce,  spinage,  beets,  &c.  The  same  Crato  will  allow  no 
roots  at  all  to  be  eaten.  Some  approve  of  potatoes,  parsnips, 
but  all  corrected  for  winde.     No  raw  sallets;  but,  as  Lauren- 


a  De  piscibns  lib.  Habent  omnes  in  lautitiis,  raodo  non  sint  e  coenoso  loco.  b  De 
pise.  c.  2.  1.  7.  Piurimum  prajstat  ad  utilitatem  etjucunditatem.  Idem  Trallianns, 
lib.  1.  c.  16.     Pisces  petrosi,  et  molles  carne.  cfitsi  omnes  putredini  suut  obnoxii, 

ubisecundis  mensis,  inceptojam  priore,devorentur,  conimodi  succi  prosunt,  qnidulce- 
dine  sunt  praediti,  nt  dulcia  cerasa,  poina,  &c.  <iLib.2.  cap.  1.  e  Montanus, 

consil.  24.  '  Pyra  quae  grato  sunt  sapore,  cocta  mala,  poma  tosta,  et  saccliaro  vej 

anisi  semine  con.spersa,  ntiliter  statim  a  prandiovel  a  coenasumi  possunt,  eoquod  ven- 
tricnlam  roborent,  et  vapores  caput  petentes  repriraant.  Mont,  f  Punica  nrala 

commode  permittuntjir,  modj  nou  sint  austera  et  acida.  h  Olera  omnia,  pi-jeter 

boraginem,  bu.i^lossuui,  intyi)uiii,  feuii-u'iiin,  aiiisuiii,  melissom,  vitari  debent. 


356  Cure  of  Melancholij.  [Part.  2.  8ec.  2. 

tins  prescribes,  iii  broths;  and  so  Crato  commends  many  of* 
them:  or  to  use  borage,  hops,ba\vme,steeped  in  their  ordinary 
drink.  ^Avenzoar  magnifies  the  juice  of  a  pomegranate,  if 
it  be  sweet,  and  especially  rose-water,  which  he  would  have 
to  be  used  in  every  dish  ;  which  they  put  in  practice  in  those 
liot  countries  about  Damascus,  wliere  (if  we  may  beleeve  the 
relations  of  Vertomannus)  many  hogsheads  of  rose-water  are 
to  be  sold  in  the  market  at  once,  it  is  in  so  great  request 
with  them. 


SUBSECT.  II. 

Dyet  rectified  in  rpiajitity. 

3a  AN  alone,saith ''Cardan,  eates  and  drinks  without  appetite, 
and  useth  all  his  pleasure  without  necessity,  a?«iwffi  vilio  ;  and 
thence  come  many  inconveniences  unto  him :  for  there  is  no 
meat  whatsoever,  though  otherwise  wholsome  and  good,  but, 
if  unseasonably  taken,  or  immoderately  used,  more  than  the 
stomack  can  well  beare,  it  will  ingender  cruditie,  and  do  much 
harme.  Therefore  "  Crato  adviseth  his  patient  to  eat  but  twice 
a  day,  and  that  at  his  set  meales,  by  no  meanes  to  eat  with- 
out an  appetite,  or  upon  a  full  stomack,  and  to  put  seven 
houres  difference  betwixt  dinner  and  supper:  which  rule  if  we 
did  observe  in  our  colleges,  it  would  be  much  better  for  our 
healths  :  but  custome,  that  tyrant,  so  prevailes,  that,  contrary 
to  all  good  order  and  rules  of  physick,  we  scarce  admit  of  five. 
If,  after  seven  houres  tarrying,  he  shall  have  no  stomack,  let 
him  defer  his  meal,  or  eat  very  little  at  his  ordinary  time  of 
repast.  This  very  counsell  was  given  by  Prosper  Calenus  to 
CardinallCsesius,  labouring  of  this  disease;  and  ''Platerus  pre- 
scribes it  to  a  patient  of  his,  to  be  most  severely  kept.  Guia- 
nerius  admits  of  three  meals  a  day;  but  Montanus,  consil.  23. 
pro  Ah,  Italo,  ties  him  precisely  to  two.  And,  as  he  must  not 
eat  overmuch,  so  he  may  not  absolutely  fast;  for,  as  Celsus  con- 
tends {lib.  1),  Jacchinus  (15.  in  9  R/iasis),  ^repletion  and  in- 
anition may  both  do  harm  in  too  contrary  extreams.  Moreover, 
that  which  he  doth  eat,  must  be  well  ^chewed,  and  not  hastily 
gobled ;  for  that  causeth  crudity  and  winde  ;  and  by  all  means 


a  Mercurialia,  pract.  tned.  •»  Li.  2.  de  com.     Solus  homo  edit  bibitque,  &c. 

c  Consil.  21. 18.    Si  plus  ingreatur  quam  par  est,  et  ventriculus  tolerare|possit,  nocet,  et 
cruditates  f^enerat,  &c.  "^Observat.  lib.  1.     Assuescat  bis  in  die  cibos  snmere, 

certa  semper  bora.  "Ne  plus  ingerat,  cavendum,  quani  ventriculus  ferre  potest ; 

seraperque  surgat  a  mensa  aonsatur.  fSiquideiu  qui  aemimansum  velociteringe- 

runt  cibum,  ventiiculo  laborem  inferunt,  et  flatus  maxiraos  promovent.     Crato. 


Mem.  1.  Subs.  2.]  Dyet  rectified.  357 

to  eat  no  more  than  he  can  well  digest.  Some  think  (saith 
-'Trincavellius,  lib.  11.  cap.  29-  de  ciirand.  part,  hum.)  the  more 
they  eat,  the  more  they  nourish  themselves ;  eat  and  live,  as 
the  proverb  js,  not  knowinrj  that  onely  repaires  man  which  is 
well  concocted,  not  that  which  is  devoured.  Melancholy  men 
most  part  have  good  ''appetites,  but  ill  digestion;  and  for  that 
cause  they  must  be  sure  to  rise  with  an  appetite  :  and  that  which 
Socrates  and  Disarius  the  physicians,  in  cMacrobius,  so  much 
require,  S'.  Hierom  injoines  Rusticus.to  eat  and  drink  no  more 
than  will  '^satistie  hunger  and  thirst.  "  Lessiusthe  Jesuite  holds 
12,  13,  or  14  ounces,  or  in  our  northern  countries  16  at  most, 
(for  all  students,  weaklings,  and  such  as  lead  an  idle  seden- 
tary life)  oj' meat,  bread,  ^-c.  a  Jit  proportion  J'or  atchole  day^ 
and  as  much  or  little  more  of  drink.  Nothing  pesters  the 
body  and  minde  sooner  than  to  be  still  fed,  to  eat  and  ingurgi- 
tate beyond  all  measure,  as  many  do.  '^ By  overmuch  eating 
and  continuall  Jeasts,  they  siijle  nature,  and  choke  up  them- 
selves; xvhich,  had  they  lived  coursly,  or,  like  galley-slaves, 
been  tyed  to  an  oare,  might  have  happily  prolonged  many  fair 
years. 

A  great  inconvenience  comes  by  variety  of  dishes,  which 
causeth  the  precedent  distemperature,  §  than  ivhich  (saith 
Avicenna)  nothing  is  worse;  to  feed  on  diversity  of  meats  j  or 
overmuch,  Sertorius-like  in  lucem  cienare,  and,  as  commonly 
they  do  in  Muscovie  and  Island,  to  prolong  their  meals  all  day 
lonp-,  or  all  night.  Our  northern  countries  offend  especially 
in  this;  and  we  in  this  island  {ampliter  viventes  in  prandiis  et 
coenis,  as  ''Polydore  notes)  are  most  liberall  feeders,  but  to  our 
own  hurt.  ^  Persicos  odi,  puer,  apparatus:  excess  of  meat 
breedeth  sickness;  and  gluttony  causeth  cholerick  diseases :  by 
surfeiting,  many  perish ;  but  he  thatdieteth  himself,  prolong  eth 
his  life,  Ecclus.  37.  29,  30.  We  account  it  a  great  glory  for  a 
man  to  have  his  table  daily  furnished  with  variety  of  meats  :  but 
hear  the  physician  ;  he  puis  thee  by  the  ear  as  thou  sittest,and 
telleth  thee,  ^  that  nothing  can  be  more  noxious  to  thy  health, 
than  such  variety  and  plenty.     Temperance  is  a  bridle  of  gold ; 


a  Quidam  raaxime  comedere  nituntur,  putantes  ea  ratione  se  vires  refectnros ;  igno- 
rantes,  non  ea  quae  ingerunt  posse  vires  reficere,  sed  quae  probe  concoqnunt.  b Mal- 
ta appetunt ;  pauca  digerunt.  cSaturnal,  lib.  7.  cap.  4.  <iMi)dicus  et  tempera- 
tus  cibus  et  cami  et  aniraa;  utilis  est  «  Hygiasticon,  reg.  14.  IG  unciae  per  diem 
sufficiant,  computato  pane,  came  ovis,  vel  aliis  opsoniis,  et  totidem  vel  panio  pliires 
uncise  potiis.  f  Idem,  reg.  27.  Plures  in  domibus  snis  brevi  tempore  pascentes  ex- 
stingnnntur,  qui,  si  triremibus  vincti  fuissent,  aut  gregario  pane  pasti,  saniet  incolimies 
in  longam  aetatem  vitam  prorogassent.  g  Nihil  deterius  quam  diversa  nntrientia 
simul  adjungere,  et  comedendi  tempus  prorogare.  ^  Lib.  1.  hist.  '  Hor.  ad 
lib.  .5.  ode  ult.  i^Ciborum  \arietate  et  copia  in  eadem  niensa  nihil  nocentius  ho- 
mini  ad  salutem.     Fr.  Valeriola,  observ.  1.  2.  cap.  6. 


358  Cure  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  2.  Sec.  2. 

and  he  that  can  use  it  aright,  ^ego  non  sumniis  viris  comporo, 
scdsimillimum  Deo  judico,  is  liker  a  God  than  a  man  :  for  as 
it  will  transform  a  beast  to  a  man  again,  so  will  it  make  a  man 
a  God.  To  preserve  thine  honour,  health,  and  to  avoid  there- 
fore all  those  inflations,  torments,  obstructions,  crudities,  and 
diseases,  that  come  by  a  full  diet,  the  best  way  is  to  ''feed 
sparingly  of  one  or  two  dishes  at  most,  to  have  ventrem  bene 
moratum,  as  Seneca  calls  it;  '^to  choose  one  oj'many,  and  to 
Jeed  on  that  alone.,  as  Crato  adviseth  his  patient.  The  same 
counsell  ^Prosper  Calenus  gives  to  Cardinall  Csesius,  to  u«e  a 
moderate  and  simple  diet:  and,  though  his  table  be  jovially 
furnished  by  reason  of  his  state  and  guests,  yet,  for  his  own 
part,  to  single  out  some  one  savoury  dish,  and  feed  on  it.  The 
same  is  inculcated  by  ^  Crato  (consil.  9.  I.  '■2)  to  a  noble  per- 
sonage afiected  with  this  grievance  :  he  would  have  his  high- 
ness to  dine  or  sup  alone,  without  all  his  honorable  attendance 
and  courtly  company,  with  a  private  friend  or  so.  *a  dish  or 
two,  a  cup  of  Rhenish  wine,  &c.  Montanus,  consil.  24.  for  a 
noble  matron,  injoyns  her  one  dish,  and  by  no  means  to  drink 
betwixt  meals;  the  like,  consil.  2'i9.  or  not  to  eat  till  be  be 
an  hungry  ;  which  rule  Berengarius  did  most  strictly  observe, 
as  Hilbertus  Cenomanensis  Episc.  writes  in  his  life. 

-cui  non  fuit  unquam 


Ante  sitim  potus,  nee  cibus  ante  famen  : 

and  )vhich  all  temperate  men  doconstantly  keep.  It  is  a  fre- 
quent solemnity  still  used  with  us,  when  friends  meet,  to  go  to 
the  ale  house  or  tavern  ;  they  are  not  sociable  otherwise :  and 
if  they  visit  oneanothers  houses,  they  must  both  eat  and  drink. 
I  reprehend  it  not,  moderately  used :  but  to  some  men  nothing 
can  be  more  offensive ;  they  had  better  (I  speak  it  with  Saint 
s  Ambrose)  pour  so  much  water  iti  their  shooes. 

It  much  availes  likewise  to  keep  good  order  in  our  diet, 
^  to  eat  liquid  things  Jirsty  broaths,  Jish,  and  such  meats  as 
are  sooner  corrupted  in  the  stomach;  harder  meats  oj  digestion 
must  come  last.  Crato  ivould  have  the  supper  less  than  the 
dinner^  which   Cardan  [contradict,  lib.  1.   Tract.  5-  contra- 


aTul.  orat.  pro  M.  Marcel.  •'NuUus  cibum  sutnere  debet,  nisi  stomachus  sit 

vacuus.     Gordon,  lib.  med.  1,  1.  c.  11.  ^E  multis  eduliis  unum  elige,  relictisque 

caeteris,  ex  eo  comede.  <>  L.  de  atra  bile.     Simplex  sit  cibus,  et  non  varius  :  quod 

licet  dignitati  tuse  ob  convivas  diflScile  videatur,  &c.  <-■  Celsitudo  tua  prandeat 

sola,  absque  apparatu  aulico,  contentus  sit  illustrissimus  princeps  duobus  tantum  fercu- 
lis,  vinoque  Rheiiano  solum  in  inensa  utatur.  f  Semper  intra  satietatem  a  inensa 

recedat,  uno  ferenlo  contentus.         sLib.  de  Hel.  et  Jejunio.     Multo  melius  in  terram 
vina  fudisses.  h  Crato.     Multum  refert  non  ignorare  qui  cibi  priores,  &c.  liquida 

priecediint  carnium  jura,  pisces,  fructus.  8cc.     Cccna  brevior  sit  praudio. 


Mem.  1.  Subs.  2.]  Dijet  rectified.  359 

(Uct.  IS)  disallowes,  and  that  by  tlie  authority  of  Gaton,  7-  nrt. 
curat,  cap.  6;  and  for  four  reasons  he  will  have  the  supper  big- 
a^est.  I  have  read  many  treatises  to  this  purpose  ;  I  know  not 
how  it  may  concern  some  ^e\\  sick  men;  but,  for  my  part,  ije- 
nerally  for  all,  1  should  subscribe  to  that  custome  of  the  Ro- 
mans, to  make  a  sparing-  dinner,  and  a  liberal  supper;  all  their 
preparation  and  invitation  was  still  at  supper;  no  mention  of 
dinner.  Many  reasons  I  could  give ;  but  when  all  is  said  pro 
and  con,  ^Cardans  rule  is  best,  to  keep  that  we  are  accustomed 
luito,  though  it  be  naught:  and  to  follow  our  disposition  andap- 
petite  in  some  things  is  not  amiss;  to  eat  sometimes  of  a  dish 
whichishurtfull,ifwehaveanextraordinaryliking  toit.  Alex- 
ander Severus  loved  hares  and  apples  above  all  other  meats,  as 
''Lampridus  relates  in  his  life:  one  pope  pork,  another  peacock, 
&c.  what  harm  came  of  it?  I  conclude,  our  own  experience  is 
the  best  physician  :  that  diet  which  is  most  propitious  to  one,  is 
often  pernicious  to  another;  such  is  the  variety  of  palats,  hu- 
mours and  temperatures,  let  every  man  observe,  and  be  a  law 
unto  himself.  Tiberius,  in  <=Tacitus,  did  laugh  at  all  such,  that 
after  30  years  of  age  would  ask  counsell  of  others  concerning 
matters  of  diet :  I  say  the  same. 

These  few  rules  of  diet  he  that  keeps,  shall  surely  finde  great 
ease  and  speedy  remedy  by  it.  Itisawonderto  relate  that  pro- 
digious temperance  of  some  hermites,  anachorites,  and  fathers 
of  the  church.  He  that  shall  but  read  their  lives,  written  by 
Hierom,  Athanasius,  &c.  how  abstemious  heathens  have  bin 
in  this  kind,  those  Curii  and  Fabricii,  those  old  philosophers, 
as  Pliny  records  {lib.  11),  Xenophon  {lib.  1.  de  vit.  Socrat. 
emperoursaud  kings,  as  Nicephorus  relates  (£"00/65.  hist.  lib.  18. 
cap.  8),  of  Mauritius,  Lodovicus  Pius,  &c.  and  that  admi- 
rable "^  example  of  Lodovicus  Cornarus,  a  patritian  of  Venice, 
cannot  but  admire  them.  This  have  they  done  voluntarilv,  and 
in  health ;  what  shall  these  private  men  do,  that  are  visited  with 

sickness,andnecessarily'=injoynedtorecover  and  continue  their 
health?  It  is  a  hard  thing  to  observe  a  strict  diet;  et  qui  me- 
dice  vivit  misere  vivit,  as  the  saying  is;  cpiale  hoc  ipsum  erit 
tiivere,  his  si  privatusfueris?  as  good  be  buried,  as  so  much 
debarred  of  his  appetite;  excessit  medicina  malum,  the  physick 
is  more  troublesome  than  the  disease;  so  he  complained  in 
the  poet,  so  thou  thinkest:  yethe  that  loves  himself,  will  easily 
endure  this  little  misery,  to  avoid  a  greater  inconvenience  • 


a  Tract.  6.  contradict  1.  lib.  1.  b  Super  omnia  qnotidianum  leporem  habuit, 

et  pomis  mddsit.  c  Annal.  6.  Ridere  solebat  eos.  qui  post  30  atatis  annum,  ad 

coRnoscenda  corpori  sac  noxia  vel  atilia,  alicnjus  consilii  indigerent  d  A  Lessio 

edit.  1614.  "■  ;E?yptii  oliniomnes  morbos  rnrabant  vomitii  et  jejnnio.     BoKemus, 

lib.  1.  cap.  .'>. 

VOL.    I.  I   1 


360  Cura  of  Melancholy .  [Part.  2.  Sec.  2. 

€  mails  minimum^  better  do  this  than  do  worse.  And,  as  ^Tully 
holds,  better  he  temperate  old  man^  than  a  lascivious  youth. 
'Tis  the  only  sweet  thing,  (which  he  adviseth)  so  to  moderate 
our  selves,  that  we  may  hare  senectutem  in  juventute,  et  in 
senectute  juventutem,  be  youthful  in  our  old  age,  staid  in  our 
youth,  discreet  and  temperate  in  both. 


MEMB.  II. 
Retention  and  Evacuation  rectified. 

X  HAVE  declared  in  the  Causes,  what  harm  costiveness  hath 
done  in  procuring  this  disease :  if  it  be  so  noxious,  the  op- 
posite must  needs  be  good,  or  mean  at  least,  as  indeed  it  is,  and 
to  this  cure  necessarily  required ;  maxime  conducit,  saith  Mon- 
taltus,  cap.  27  ;  it  very  much  availes.  ^  Altoraarus  (cap.  7) 
commends  icalking  in  a  morning^  into  some  fair  green  pleasant 
fields  ;  hut  hy  all  means  first,  hy  art  or  nature,  he  will  have 
these  ordinary  excrements  evacuated.  Piso  calls  it  beneficium 
ventris,  the  benefit,  help,  or  pleasure  of  the  belly  :  for  it  doth 
much  ease  it.  Laurentius  (cap.  8),  Crato  (consil.  21.  /.  2) 
prescribes  it  once  a  day  at  least :  where  nature  is  defective,  art 
must  supply,  by  those  lenitive  electuaries,  suppositories,  con- 
dite  prunes,  turpentine,  clisters,  as  shall  be  shewed.  Prosper 
Calenus  {lib.  de  atrd  bile)  commends  clisters,  in  hypochon- 
driacal! melancholy,  still  to  be  used  as  occasion  serves.  "  Peter 
Cnemander,  in  a  consultation  of  hisjaro  hypochondriaco,  will 
have  his  patient  continually  loose,  and  to  that  end  sets  down 
there  many  forms  of  potions  and  clisters.  Mercurialis  (consil. 
88),  if  this  benefit  come  not  of  its  own  accord,  prescribes 
^  clisters  in  the  first  place  :  so  doth  Montanus,  consil.  24,  con- 
sil. 31.  et  229:  he  commends  turpentine  to  that  purpose: 
the  same  he  ingeminates,  consil.  230,  for  an  Italian  abbot. 
'Tis  very  good  to  wash  his  hands  and  face  often,  to  shift  his 
clothes,  to  have  fair  linnen  about  him,  to  be  decently  and 
comely  attired ;  for  sordesvitiant,  nastiness  defiles,  and  dejects 
any  man  that  is  so  voluntarily,  or  compelled  by  want ;  itdulleth 
the  spirits. 

Bathes  are  either  artificial!  or  natural!;  both  have  their  spe- 


»  Cat.  Major.  Melior  conditio  senis  viventis  ex  prsescriptio  artis  medicae,  qnam  ado- 
lescentis  Iniuriosi.  ''Debet  peramoena  exerceri,  et  loca  viridia,  excretis  prius 

arte  vel  natura  alvi  eicremeBtia.  «  Hildesheim,  spicil.  2.  de  mel.  Primum  omnium 
operam  dabis  ut  ting'ulis  diebus  habeas  ben»ficium  ventris,  semper  caveudo  ne  alvus 
ait  diatias  astricta.  *  Si  non  sponte,  clysteribns  pnrgetur. 


Mem.  2.]  Retention  and  Ecacuation  rectified,  36"i 

cial  uses  in  this  malady,  and  (as "^  Alexander  supposetb,  {lib.  1. 
cap.  16)yeeld  as  speedy  a  remedy,  as  any  other  pbysick  whatl 
^erer.     Aetius  would  have  them  daily  used,  assidna  balnea, 
letra.2.!iec.2.  c.9.  Galen  crakes  how  many  severall  cures  he 
hath  performed  in  this  kinde  by  use  of  bathes  alone,  and  Rufus 
pills,  moistning-  them  which  are  otherwise  dry.     Rhasis  makes 
It  a  principal!  cure  {tota  cnra  sit  in  humcciando)  to  bathe  and 
afterwards  anoint  with  oyle.       Jason  Pratensis,  Laurentius, 
ca;?.  8,  and  Montanussetdown  their  peculiar  formes  of  artificial! 
bathes.     Crato  (co«.s?7.  17.  lib,  S?)  commends  mallowes,  camo- 
mde,  violets,  borage,  to  be  boyled  in  it,  and  sometimes  faire 
water  alone;  and  in  his  following  counsell,  balneum  nqucB 
dulcis  solum  scepissime  profvisse  compertum  habcmus.      So 
doth  Fuchsius,  lib.  1.  cap.  33.      Frisimelica,  2.  consil.  42,  in 
Tnncavellius.  Some,  beside  hearbs,  prescribe  a  rammes  head 
and  other  things  to  be  boyled.     ''Fernelius  {consil.  44)  will 
have  them  used  JO  or    12  dayes  together;   to  which  he  must 
enter  fasting,  and  so  continue  in  a  temperate  heat,  and,  after 
that,  frictions  all  over  the  body.      Lalius  Eugubinus,  consil. 
142,  and   Christoph.   iErerus  in  a  consultation  of  his,  hold 
once  or  twice  a  week  sufficient  to  bathe,  the  ^  water  to  he 
warme,  not  hot,  for  fear  of  sweating.     Felix  Plater  (observ. 
lib.  I.  for  a  melancholy  lawyer)  ^  icill  have  lotions  of  the  head 
still  joyned  to  these  bathes,  with  a  lee  wherein  capital  hearbs 
have  been  boyled.    ^  Laurentius  speaks  of  bathes  of  milk,  which 
I  finde  approved  by  many  others.      And  still,  after  bath,  the 
body  to  be  anointed  with  oyl  of  bitter  almonds,  of  violets,  new 
or  fresh  butter,  'capons  grease,  especially  the  back  bone, and 
then  lotions  of  the  head,  embrocations,  &c.      These  kinde  of 
bathes  have  been  in  former  times  much  frequented,  and  di- 
versly  varied,  and  are  still  in  g-enerall  use  in  those  eastern  coun- 
tries.    The  Romanes  had  their  publick  baths  very  sumptuous 
and  stupend,  as  those  of  Antonius  and  Dioclesian.     Plin.  36, 
sail h  there  were  an  infinite  number  of  them  in   Rome,  and 
mightily  frequented.    Some  bathed  seven  times  a  day,  as  Corn- 
modus  the  emperour  is  reported  to  have  done  :  usually  twice  a 
day;  and  they  were  afteranointed  with  most  costly  oyntments; 
rich  women  bathed  themselves  in  milke,  some  in  the  milke  of 
500  she  asses  at  once.     We  have  many  mines  of  such  bathes 
found  in  this  island,  among  those  parietines  and  rubbish  of 


sBalDeorum  usiia  dulcium,  siqnid  alind,  ipsis  opitulatur.     Credo  haecdici  cum  aliqu4 
jactantia,  inquit  Montanus,  consil.  26.  bjn  quibus  jejunus  din  sedeat  eo  tem- 

pore, ne  sudorem  excitent  ant  maniiestum  teporeni,  sed  quadam  refrigeratione  humec- 
^^}'  ^  Aqua  non  sit  calida,  sed  tepida,  ne  sudor  sequatur.  <i  Lotiones  ca- 

pitis ex  liiivio,  in  quo  herbas  capitales  coxerint.  *Cap.  8.  de  mel.  f  Ant  ax- 

ongifi  pnlli.     Piso. 

I  i2 


362  Cure  of  Melancholy .  [Part.  2.  Sec.  g. 

old  Romane  townes.  Lipsius  {de  mag.  Urb.  Rom.  I.  3.  c.  8), 
Rosin  us,  Scot  of  Antwerp,  and  other  antiquaries,  tell  strange 
stories  of  their  baths.  Gillius  (/.  4:. cap.  ult.  Topogr.  Constant.) 
reckons  up  155  publicke  ''baths  in  Constantinople,  of  faire 
building-:  they  are  still  ''frequented  in  that  citie  by  the  Turkes 
of  all  sorts,  men  and  women,  and  all  over  Greece  and  those 
hot  countries ;  to  absterge,  belike,  that  fulsomeness  of  sweat, 
to  which  theyare  there  subject.  "^Busbequiusjin  his  epistles,  is 
very  copious  in  describing  the  manner  of  them,  how  their  wo- 
men go  covered,  a  maid  following  with  a  box  of  oyntment  to 
rub  them.  The  richer  sort  have  private  baths  in  their  houses; 
the  poorer  goe  to  the  common,  and  are  generally  so  curious 
in  this  behalf,  that  they  will  not  eat  nor  drink  until  they  have 
bathed  ;  before  and  after  meals  some,  ^andivillnot  make  tvater 
(hut  they  ivill  ivash  their  hands)  or  go  to  stool.  Leo  Afer 
(/.  3)  makes  mention  of  100  severall  baths  at  Fez  in  Africke, 
most  sumptuous,  and  such  as  have  great  revenues  belonging 
to  them.  Buxtorf  (c«/?.  li.  Synagog.  Jud.)  speaks  of  many 
ceremonies  amongst  the  Jews  in  this  kind ;  they  are  very  su- 
perstitious in  their  bathes,  especially  women. 

Naturall  bathes  are  praised  by  some,  discommended  by 
other;  but  it  is  in  a  divers  respect.  ''Marcus  deOddis,?*w  Hyp. 
affect,  consulted  about  baths,  condemns  them  for  the  heat  of 
the  liver,  because  they  dry  too  fast;  and  yet  by  and  by,  *  in 
another  counsell  for  the  same  disease,  he  approves  them  be- 
cause they  cleanse  by  reason  of  the  sulphur,  and  would  have 
their  water  to  be  drunk.  Aretseus  (c.  7)  commends  allome 
baths  above  the  rest;  and  ^Mercurialis  {consil.  88)  those  of 
Luca  in  that  hypochondriacall  passion.  He  would  have  his 
patient  there  15  dayes  together.,  and  drink  the  icater  of'  them, 
and  to  be  bucketed,  or  have  the  water  poivred  on  his  head. 
John  Baptista  Silvaticus  {cont.  64)  commends  all  the  baths 
in  Italy,  and  drinking  of  their  water,  whether  they  be  iron, 
allome,  sulphur ;  so  doth  ''  Hercules  de  Saxonia.  But,  in 
that  they  cause  sweat,  and  dry  so  much,  he  confines  himself  to 
hypochondriacall  melancholy  alone,  exceptingthatof  the  head, 
and  the  other.  Trincavellius  (consil.  14.  lib.  I)  prefers  those 
» Porrectan  baths  before  the  rest,    because  of  the  mixture 


aThermae.  Nyraphea.  "jSandes,  lib.  1.  saith  that  women  go  twice  a  week  to 

the  baths  at  least.  c  Epist.  3.  <i  Nee  alvum  excernunt,  quin  acjiiam  secuni 

portent,  qua  partes  obsccienas  lavent.     Busbequius,  ep.  .3.  Turcias.  <^  Hildesheim 

spicil.  2.  de  mel.     Hypochon.  si  non  adesset  jecoris  calidifas,  thermas  laudarem,  et  si 
non  nimia  humoris  exsiccatio  esset  metuenda.  f  Fol.  141.  &  Thermas 

Lucenses  adeat,  ibique  aquas  ejus  per  15  dies  potet :  et  calidarum  aquaruin  stiilicidiis 
turn  caput  turn  ventriculum  de  more  subjiciat.  i'lnpantl>.  'Aquae 

Porrectaua;. 


Mem.  2.]         Retention  and  Evacuation,  rectified.  363 

of  brasse,  iron,  allome;  and,co7zsi7.  35.  /.  3,  for  a  melancholy 
lawyer,  and  eonsil,  36,  in  that  hypochondriacal  passion,  the 
^  baths  of  Aquaria,  and,  SG  eonsil.  the  drinking  of  them.  Fri- 
simelica, consulted  among therest  (in  Trincavellius,  consil,¥i. 
lib.  2)  preferres  the  waters  of  ''Apona  before  all  artificiall 
baths  whatsoever  in  this  disease,  and  would  have  one  nine 
years  affected  with  hypochondriacall  passions,  flie  to  them,  as  an 
holy  anchor.  Of  the  same  minde  is  Trincavellius  himself 
there;  and  yet  both  put  a  hot  liver  in  the  same  party  for  a 
cause,  and  send  him  to  the  waters  of '^S.  Helen,  which  are 
much  hotter.  Montanus  (eonsil.  230)  magnifies  the  '*  Chal- 
derinian  Baths;  and  {eonsil.  237  ^t  '^^9)  he  exhorteth  to  the 
same,  but  with  this  caution,  ^that  the  liver  be  outtcardly 
anointed  icith  some  coolers,  that  it  be  not  overheated.  But 
these  baths  must  be  warily  frequented  by  melancholy  persons, 
or  if  used  to  such  as  are  very  cold  of  themselves;  for,  as  Ga- 
belius  concludes  of  all  Dutch  baths,  and  especially  those  of 
Baden,  they  are  (food for  all  cold  diseases,  hiaught  for  cho- 
lerick,  hot  and  dry,  and  all  infirmities  proeeediny  of  choler, 
inflammations  of  the  spleen  and  liver.  Our  English  baths, 
as  they  are  hot,  must  needs  incur  the  same  censure :  but 
D.Turner  of  old,  and  D.  Jones,  have  written  at  large  ofthera. 
Of  cold  baths  I  find  little  or  no  mention  in  any  physician  : 
some  speak  against  them:  « Cardan  alone  (out  of  Agathinus) 
commends  bathiny  in  fresh  rivers,  and  cold  rcaters,  and  ad- 
visetli  all  such  as  mean  to  live  lony  to  use  it ;  for  it  ayrees 
with  all  ayes  and  complexions,  and  is  most  profitable  for  hot 
temperatures.  As  for  sweating-,  urine,  bloud-letting  by  haem- 
rods,  or  otherwise,  I  shall  elsewhere  more  opportunely  speak 
of  them. 

Immoderate  Venus,  in  excess,  as  it  is  a  cause,  or  in  defect ; 
so,  moderately  used,  to  some  parties  an  only  help,  a  present 
remedy.  Peter  Forestus  calls  it,  aptissimum  remedium,  a  most 
apposite  remedy,  ^remittiny  anyer,  and  reason,  that  ^cas  other- 
tcise  bound.  Avicenna  (Pen.  3.  20J,  Oribasius  {med.  collect, 
lib.  6.  cap.  37),  contend,  out  of  Ruff  us  and  others,  '  that 
many  mad  men,  melancholy,  and  labouriny  of  the  falliny  sick- 
ness,  have  been  cured  by  this  alone.      Montaltus  (cap.  27. 

a  Aquae  Aqtiariae.  h  Ad  aqnas  Aponenses,  velnt  ad  sacram  anchoram,  con- 

fiigiat.  <■  John  Beanhiniis  (li.  3.  ca.  14.  hist,  admir.  fontis  BoIIensis  in  ducat. 

Wittemberg)  laudat  aquas  Bollenses  ad  inelancholicos  niorbos,   inoeroreni,  fascina- 
tionem,  aliaque  animi  pathemata.  ''Balnea  Chalderina.  '  Hepar  externe 

ungatur,  ne  calefiat.  'Nocent  calidis  et  siccis,  cholericis,  et  omnibu[s  raorbis  ex 

cholera,  hepatis,  splenisque  atlectionibus.  ?  Lib.  de  aqua.     Qui  breve  hoc  vit«e 

curriculum  cupiunt  sani  transigere,  frigidis  aquis  ssepe  lavare  debeut,  nulli  a?tati  cum 
sit  incongrua,  calidis  imprimis  utilis.  h  Solvit  Venus  rationis  vim  irapeditam, 

ingentes  iras  reDiittit^  &c.  'Multi  comitiales,  melancholici,  insani,  hujus  usu 

solo  sanati. 


S64  Cure  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  2.  Sec.  2. 

de  melan.)  wiil  have  it  drive  away  sorrow,  and  all  illusions  of 
the  brain,  to  purge  the  heart  and  brain  from  ill  smoakes  and 
vapours  that  offend  them  ;  ""  and  if  it  be  omitted^  as  Valescus 
supposeth,  it  makes  the  mind  sad,  the  hodi)  dull  and  heavy. 
Many  other  inconveniences  are  reckoned  up  by  Mercatus, 
and  by  Rodericus  a  Castro,  in  their  tracts  de  melancholia  vir- 
ginum  et  monialium :  oh  seminis  retentionem,  scevivnt  scepe 
moniales  et  virgines  ;  but,  as  Platerus  addes,  si  nuhaut,  sanan^ 
tur  ;  they  rave  single,  and  pine  away  ;  much  discontent ;  but 
marriage  mends  all.  Marcellus  Donatus  {lib.  2.  med.  hist, 
cap.  1.)  tells  a  storie  to  confirm  this,  out  of  Alexander  Bene- 
dictus,  of  a  maid  that  was  mad,  ob  menses  inhibitos  :  cum  in 
ojfficinam  meritoriam  incidisset,  a  quindecim  viris  eddem  nocte 
compressa,  mensium  largo  profluvio,  quod  pluribus  annis  ante 
constiterat,  non  sine  magna  pndore,  mane,  menti  restituta, 
discessit.  But  this  must  be  warily  understood  ;  for  as  Arnol- 
dus  objects,  lib.  I.  breviar.  18.  cap.  quid  coitus  ad  melan- 
cholicuni  succum  ?  What  affinity  have  these  t^vo?  ^except  it 
be  manifest  that  superabundance  of  seed  or  fulness  of  blood 
be  a  cause,  or  that  love,  or  an  extraordinary  desire  of  Venus, 
have  gone  before^  or  that,  as  Lod.  Mercatus  excepts,  they  be 
very  flatuous,  and  have  been  otherwise  accustomed  unto  it. 
Montaltus  {cap.  27)  will  not  allow  of  moderate  Venus  to  such 
as  have  the  gout,  palsie,  epilepsie,  melancholy,  except  they 
be  very  lusty,  and  full  of  blood.  '^Lodovicus  Antonius, /i6. 
med.  miscel.  in  his  chanter  of  Venus,  forbids  it  utterly  to 
all  wrestlers,  ditchers,  labouring  men,  &c.  ''Ficinus  and 
•Marsilius  Cognatus  put  Venus  one  of  the  five  mortall  ene- 
mies of  a  student :  it  consumes  the  spirits,  arid  iveakeneth  the 
brain.  Halyabbasthe  Arabian  (5.  Theor.  cap.  36),  and  Jason 
Pratensis,  make  it  the  fountain  of  most  diseases,  ^but  most 
pernicious  to  them  loho  are  cold  and  dry  ;  a  melancholy  man 
must  not  meddle  with  it,  but  in  some  cases.  Plutarch,  in  his 
book  de  san.  tuend.  accounts  of  it  as  one  of  the  three  princi- 
pall  signs  and  preservers  of  health,  temperance  in  this  kinde  : 
^to  rise  with  an  appetite,  to  be  ready  to  work,  and  abstain 
from  venery,  tria  saluberrima,  are  three  most  healthful  things. 
We  see  their  opposites,  how  pernicious  they  are  to  mankinde,  as 
to  all  other  creatures  they  bringdeath,andmanyferall  diseases : 


»  Si  omittatur  coitns,  contristat  et  plurimum  gravat  corpus  et  animum.  b  Nisi 

certo  constet  nimium  semen  aut  sanguinem  caussam  esse,  aut  amor  praecesserit,  aut, 
&c.  cAthletis,  arthriticis,  podagricis  nocet ;  nee  opportuna  prodest,  nisi  fortibus, 

et  qui  multo  sanguine  abundant.     Idem  Scaliger,  exerc.  269.     Turcis  ideo  luctato- 
ribus  prohibitum.  ^  De  sanit.  tuend.  lib.  1.  ^Lib.  1.  ca.  7.  Exhaurit  enim 

spiritus,  animnmque  debilitat.        f  Frigidia  et  siccis  corporibus  inimicissima.       g  V«»oi 
intra  satietatem,  impigram  eise  ad  laborem,  vitale  semen  consenare. 


Mem.  2.]       Retention  and  Evaeuation  rectijied.  365 

Immodicis  brevis  est  eetas  et  rara  senectus. 

Aristotle  gives  instance  in  sparrows,  which  are  parum  vivaces 
oh  salacitatem,  *short  lived  because  of  their  salacity,  which  is 
very  frequent,  as  Scoppius,  in  Priapeis,  will  better  inform  you. 
The  extremes  being  both  bad,  ''the  medium  is  to  be  kept, 
which  cannot  easily  be  determined.  Some  are  better  able  to 
sustain,  such  as  are  hot  and  moist,  phlegmatick,  as  Hippo- 
crates insinuateth,  some  strong*  and  lustie,well  fed  like  •=  Her- 
cules, "^  Proculus  the  emperour,  lusty  Laurence,  ^ prostibulum 
J'em,ince,Messa\mathe  empress,  that  by  philters,  and  such  kinde 
of  lascivious  meats,  use  all  means  to  ^inable  themselves,  and 
brag'  of  it  in  the  end ;  cojifodi  multas  enim^  occidi  vero  paucas 
per  ventrem  vidisti,  as  that  Spanish  §  Celestina  merrily  said : 
others  impotent,  of  a  cold  and  dry  constitution,  cannot  sustain 
those  gymnicks  without  great  hurt  done  to  their  own  bodies; 
of  which  number  (though  they  be  very  prone  to  it)  are  me- 
lancholy men  for  the  most  part. 


MEMB.  HI. 

Ayr  rectified.     With  a  digression  of  the  Ayr. 

iVS  a  long-winged  hawk,  when  he  is  first  whistled  off  the 
fist,  mounts  aloft,  and  for  his  pleasure  fetcheth  many  a  circuit 
in  the  ayr,  still  soaring  higher  and  higher,  till  he  be  come 
to  his  full  pitch,  and  in  the  end,  when  the  game  is  sprung, 
comes  down  amain,  and  stoopes  upon  a  sudden  ;  so  will  I, 
having  now  come  at  last  into  those  ample  fields  of  ayre,  wherein 
I  may  freely  expatiate  and  exercise  myself  for  my  recreation, 
a  while  rove,  wander  round  about  the  world,  mount  aloft  to 
those  ffithereall  orbs  andcelestiall  spheres,  and  so  descend  to  my 
former  elements  again  :  in  which  progress,  I  will  first  see 
whether  that  relation  of  the  ''  Frier  of  Oxford  be  true,  con- 
cerning those  northern  parts  under  the  pole,  (if  I  meet  obiter 
with  the  M'andring  Jew,  Elias  Artifex,  or  Lucians  Icarome- 
nippus,they  shall  be  my  guides)  whether  there  be  such4;  Euripes, 

»Nequitia  est,  quae  te  non  sinit  esse  senem.  ''Vide  Montanntn,  Pet.  Gode- 

fridnm,  Atnorum  lib.  2.  cap.  6.  Curiosuin  de  his,  nam  et  numerum  definite  Tal- 
mudistis,  unicuique  sciatis  assignari  suum  tempos,  &c.  cThespiadas  genuit. 

d  Vide  Lampridium,  vit.  ejus  4.  «  Et  lassata  viris,  &c.  '  Vid.  Mizald. 

cent.  8.  11.  Lemnium,  lib.  2.  cap.  16.  CatuUam  ad  Hypsithillam,  &c.  Ovid.  Eleg. 
lib.  3.  et  6,  &c.  Quot  itinera  una  uocte  confecisaent,  tot  coronas  ludico  Deo  puta 
Triphallo,  Marsiae,  Henna,  Priapo,  donarent.  Cingemus  tibi  mentulam  coronis, 
&c.  ePornoboscodid.  Gasp.  Bacthii.  h>Jich.  de  Lynn«,  cited  by  Mercator 

Ml  his  Map. 


366  Cure  of  Melancholy,  [Part.  2.  Sec.  2: 

and  a  great  rock  of  loadstones,  which  may  cause  the  needle 
in  the  compass  still  to  bend  that  way,  and  what  should  be  the 
true  cause  of  the  variation  of  the  compass,  '^is  it  a  magneticalt 
rock,  or  the  pole-star,  as  Cardan  will;  or  some  other  star  in  the 
bear,  as  Marsilius  Ficinus ;  or  a  magneticall  meridian,  as 
Maurolicus ;  vel  situs  in  vend  terrce,  as  Agricola  ;  or  the  near- 
ness of  the  next  continent,  as  Cabeus  will  ;  or  some  other 
cause,asScaliger,Cortesius,Conimbricenses,Peregrinus,  con- 
tend; why  at  the  Azores  it  looks  directly  north,  otherwise 
not?  In  the  Mediterranean  or  Levant  (as  some  observe)  it 
varies  7  grad.  by  and  by  12,  and  then  22.  In  the  Baltick 
Seas,  near  Rasceburg  in  Finland,  the  needle  runs  round,  if 
any  ships  come  that  way,  though  Martin  ''Ridley  write  other- 
wise, that  the  needle  near  the  pole  will  hardly  be  forced 
from  his  direction.  'Tis  fit  to  be  enquired  whether  certain 
rules  may  be  made  of  it,  as  11  grad.  Lond.  variat.  alibi  S6, 
^■c.  and,  that  which  is  more  prodigious,  the  variation  varies  in 
the  same  place :  now  taken  accurately,  'tis  so  much ;  after  a 
few  years,  tj-uite  altered  from  that  it  was  :  till  we  have  better 
intelligence,  let  our  D.  Gilbert  and  Nicholas  '^Cabeus  the  Je- 
suite,  that  have  both  written  great  volumes  of  this  subject, 
satisfi  e  these  inquisitors.  Whether  the  sea  be  open  and  navigable 
by  the  pole  arctick,  and  which  is  the  likeliest  way,  that  of 
Bartison  the  Hollander,  under  the  pole  itself,  which  for  some 
reasons  I  hold  best ;  or  hyjreinm  Davies,  or  Nova  Zembla. 
Whether  '^Hudsons  discovery  be  true  of  a  new  found  ocean, 
any  likelihood  of  Buttons  bay  in  50  degrees,  Hubberds  hope 
in  60 ;  that  of  nt  nltra  near  Sir  Thomas  Roes  welcome  in 
north-west  Fox,  being  that  the  sea  ebbs  and  flows  constantly 
there  15  foot  in  12  hours;  as  our  « new  cards  inform  us 
that  California  is  not  a  cape,  but  an  iland,  and  the  west- 
windes  make  the  nepe  tides  equall  to  the  spring,  or  that  there 
be  any  probability  to  pass  by  the  straights  of  Anian  to  China, 
by  the  promontory  of  Tabin.  If  there  be,  I  shall  soon  per- 
ceive whether  *  Marcus  Polus  the  Venetians  narration  be  true 
or  false,  of  that  great  city  of  Quinsay  and  Cambalu;  whether 
there  be  any  such  places,  or  that,assMatth.  Riccius  the  Jesuite 
hath  written,  China  and  Cataia  be  all  one,  the  great  Cham 
of  Tartary  and  the  king  of  China  be  the  same  :  Xuntain 
and  Quinsay,  and  the  city  of  Cambalu  be  that  new  Paquin, 
or  such  a  wall  400  leagues  long  to  part  China  from  Tar- 


a  Mons.  Sloto.      Some  call  it  the  highest  hill  in  the  world,  next  Teneriffe  in  the 
Canaries,  Lat.  81.  •>  Cap.  26.  in  his  Treatise  of  magneticke  bodies.  «Lege 

lib.  1.  cap.  23.  et  24.  de  magnetica  philosophia,  et  lib.  3.  cap.  4.  d  1612. 

«  M.  Brigs,  his  Map,  and  Northwest  Fox.  '  Lib.  2.  ca.  64.  de  nob.  civitat. 

Quinsay,  et  cap.  10.  de  Cambalu.  g  Jjib.  4.  exped.  ad  Sinas,  ca.  3.  et  lib.  5. 

c.  18. 


Mem.  3.]  Dif/ression  of'  Ayre,  367 

tary  ;  "Presbyter  John  be  in  Asia  or  Africk ;  M.  Poliis  Vene- 
tus  puts  him  in  Asia;  ''the  most  received  opinion  is,  that  he  is 
eniperour  of  the  Al)issines,  which  of  oid  was  ^Ethiopia,  now 
Nubia,  under  the  Equator  in  Africk.  Whether  ^  Guinea  be 
an  ihnid  or  part  of  the  continent,  or  that  hungry  '' Spaniards 
discovery  of  Terra  Australis  Incognita,  or  Magellanica,  be  as 
true  as  that  of  3fercurius  Britannicus,  or  his  ojp  Utopia,  or  his 
of  Lucinia.  And  yet  in  likelihood  it  may  be  so;  for,  without 
all  question,  it  being  extended  from  the  tropick  of  Capricorn  to 
the  circle  Antarctick,  and  lying  as  it  doth  in  the  temperate 
Zone,  cannot  chuse  but  yeeld  in  time  some  Nourishing  king- 
domes  to  succeeding  ages,  as  America  did  unto  the  Spaniards. 
Shouten  and  Le  Meir  have  done  well  in  the  discovery  of  the 
streights  of  Magellan,  in  finding  a  more  convenient  passage  to 
Mare  Pacificum:  me  thinks  some  of  our  modern  Argonautes 
should  prosequute  the  rest.  As  1  go  by  Madagascar,  I  wouldsee 
that  great  bird  «^Rucke,  that  can  carry  a  man  and  horse  or  an 
elephant,M'ith  that  Arabian  Phoenix  described  by 'Andricomius; 
see  the  pellicanesof  iEgypt,  those  Scythian  gryphes  in  Asia  : 
and  afterwards  in  Africk  examine  the  fountains  of  Nilus,  whe- 
ther Herodotus,  s  Seneca,  Plin.  lib.  5.  cap.  9.  Strabo,  lib.  5. 
give  a  true  cause  of  his  annuall  flowing, ''Pagaphetta  discourse 
rightly  of  it,  or  of  Niger  and  Senega:  examine  Cardan,  sSca- 
ligers  reasons,  and  the  rest.  Is  it  from  those  Etesian  winds, 
or  melting  of  snow  in  the  mountains  under  the  J^quator,  (for 
Jordan  yearly  overflows  m  hen  the  snow  melts  in  mount  Liba- 
nus)  or  from  those  great  dropping  perpetuall  showres,  which 
are  so  frequent  to  the  inhabitants  within  the  tropicks,  when 
the  sun  is  verticall,  and  cause  such  vast  inundations  in  Senega, 
Maragnan,  Orenoque,  and  the  rest  of  those  great  rivers  in 
Zona  Torrida,  which  have  commonly  the  same  passions  at  set 
times ;  and  by  good  husbandry  and  policy,  hereafter  no  doubt 
may  come  to  be  as  populous,  as  well  tilled,  as  fruitfull  as 
^Egypt  it  self,  or  Cauchinchina  ?  I  would  observe  all  those 
motions  of  the  sea,  and  from  what  cause  they  proceed ;  from 
the  moon  (as  the  vulgar  hold)  or  earths  motion,  which  Gali- 
leus,  in  the  fourth  dialogue  of  his  systeme  of  the  world,  so 
eagerly  proves,  and  firmly  demonstrates;  or  winds,  as  i^some 
will.      Why  in  that  quiet  ocean  of  Zur,  ?«  mari  pacijico,  it  is 


a  M.  Polus,  in  Asia,  Presb.  Job.  meminit.  lib.  2  cap.  30.  bAlInaresius  et  alii 

^  Lat.  10.  gr.  Aust.  d  Ferdinando  de  Quir.  anno  1612.  «  Alarum  pennje 

continent  in  longitiidine  12  passus  :  elephantem  in  sublime  tollere  potest.  Polus,  1.  3. 
c-  40.  'Lib.  2.  Descript.  terrse  sauctce.  i-'Natur.  (|uw.st.  lib.  4.  cap!  2 

>' Lib.  de  reg.  Congo.  '  Exeicit.47.  ^  See  M.  Carpenters  Geography,  lib.  2: 

cap.  6.  et  Bern.  Telesius,  lib.  de  mari. 


Cure  of  Melancholy.         [Part.  2.  S«e.  2. 

scarce  perceived,  in  our  British  seas  most  violent,  in  the  Medi- 
terranean and  Red  Sea  so  violent  and  irregular,  and  diverse  ? 
Why  the  current  in  that  Atlantick  ocean  should  still  be  in  some 
places  from,  in  some  ag-ain  towards  the  north,  and  why  they  come 
sooner  than  go  :  and  so  from  Moabar  to  Madagascar  in  that 
Indian  ocean,  the  merchants  come  in  three  weeks,  as  ^Scaliger 
discusseth,  they  retui'n  scarce  in  three  moneths,  with  the  same 
or  like  windes :  the  continuall  current  is  from  east  to  west. 
Whether  Mount  Athos,  Pelion,  Olympus,  Ossa,  Caucasus,  At- 
las, be  so  high  as  Pliny,  Solinus,  Mela  relate,  above  clouds, 
meteors,  uhi  nee  anrw  nee  venti  spirant,  (insomuch  that  they 
that  ascend  dy  suddenly  very  often,  the  aire  is  so  subtile) 
3250  paces  high,  according  to  that  measure  of  Dicaearchus, 
or  78  miles  perpendicularly  high,  as  Jacobus  Mazonius,  sec.  3. 
et  4.  expounding  that  place  of  Aristotle  about  Mount  Cau- 
casus; and  as  ''Blancanus  the  Jesuite  contends  out  of  Clavius 
and  Nonius  demonstrations  de  Crepuscul'is :  or  rather  32  sta- 
diums, as  the  most  received  opinion  is ;  or  4  miles,  which  the 
height  of  no  mountain  doth  perpendicularly  exceed,  and  is  equal 
to  the  greatest  depths  of  the  sea,which  is,  as  Scaliger  holds,  1580 
paces  {Exer.  38),  others  100  paces.  I  would  see  those  inner 
parts  of  America,  whether  there  be  any  suchgreatcity  of  Man- 
noa  or  Eldorado  in  that  golden  empire,  where  the  high  ways 
are  as  much  beaten  (one  reports)  as  between  Madrit  and  Vale- 
dolit  in  Spain ;  or  any  such  Amazones  as  he  relates,  or  giganti- 
calPatagonesin  Chica;  with  that  miraculous  mountain,  '^  Ybou- 
yapab  in  the  northern  Brasile,  cujusjugum  stemitur  in  amoenis- 
simam  j)lttft^itiem,  ^c.  or  that  of  Pariacacca,  so  high  elevated  in 
Peru.  '^The  pike  of  Tenerift^how  high  is  it?  79  miles,  or  52, 
as  Patricius  holds,  or  9  as  Snellius  demonstrates  in  his  Era- 
tosthenes :  see  that  Strang  '^  Cirknickzerksey  lake  in  Carniola, 
whose  waters  gush  so  fastoutof  the  ground,  that  they  will  over- 
take a  swift  horseman,  and  by  and  by,witb  as  incredible  celerity, 
are  supped  up:  which  Lazius  and  Warnerus  make  an  argument 
of  the  Argonautes  sayling  under  ground.  And  that  vast  den 
or  hole  called  ^Esmellen  in  Muscovia,  qjice  visitur  horren' 
do  hiatUf  ^c.  which,  if  any  thing  casually  fall  in,  makes 
such  a  roaring  noise,  that  no  thunder,  or  ordnance,  or  war- 
like engine,  can  make  the  like.     Such  another  is  Gilbers 


»  Exercit.  52.'  de  maris  mota  caussEe  investigandee  :  prima  reciprocationis,  secnnda 
varietatis,  tertia  celeritatis,  quarta  cessationis,  quinta  privationis,  sexta  coutrarietatis. 
•^Lib.  de  explicatione  locorum  Mathem.  Aristot.  ^Laet.  lib,  17.  cap.  13.  descrip. 

occid.  Ind,  d  Patritius  saith  52  miles  in  hejghth.  <'Luge  alii  vocant.  Geor. 

Werneras.    Aquae  tanta  celeritate  erumpunt  et  absorbentiir,  ut  expedite  equiti  nditHm 
mtercludant.  f  BpissarduS;  de  Magii,  cap.  de  Pilapiis, 


Meiii.  3.]  Digression  of  At/re.  369 

cave  in  Lapland,  with  many  the  like.  I  would  examine  the 
Caspian  sea,  and  see  where  and  how  it  exonerates  it  self,  after 
it  hath  takeu  in  Volga,  laxares,  Oxus,  and  those  great  rivers ; 
at  the  mouth  of  Oby,  or  where?  ^V'hat  vent  the  Mexican  lake 
hath,  the  Titician  in  Peru,  or  that  circular  pool  in  the  vale 
of  Terapeia,  (of  Avhich  Acosta,  /.  3.  c.  IG)  hot  in  a  cold  coun- 
try, the  spring  ef  which  boils  up  in  the  middle  twenty  foot 
square,  and  hath  no  vent  but  exhalation  :  and  that  o^  JIare 
mortunm  in  Palestina,  of  Thrasuraene,  at  Perusium  in  Italy: 
the  Mediterranean  it  self:  for,  from  the  ocean,  at  the  straights 
of  Gibraltar,  there  is  aperpetuall  current  into  the  Levant,  and 
so  likewise  by  the  Thracian  Bosphorus  out  of  the  Euxine  or 
Blacksea,  besides  all  thosegreat  rivers  of  Nilus,Padus, Rhoda- 
nus,  &c.  how  is  this  water  consumed  ?  by  the  sun,  or  other- 
wise? 1  would  find  out,  with  Trajan,  the  fountains  of  Danu- 
bius,  of  Ganges,  Oxus,  see  those  Egyptian  pyramids,  Trajans 
bridge,  Grotta  de  Sibylla,  Lucullus  fish-ponds,  the  temple  of 
Nidrose,  &:c.  and,  if  1  could,  observe  what  becomes  of  swal- 
lowes,  storkes,  cranes,  cuckowes,  nightingales,  redstarts,  and 
many  other  kinde  of  singing  birds,  water-fowls,  hawks,  &c. 
some  of  them  are  ouely  seen  in  summer,  some  in  winter ; 
some  are  observed  in  the  *  snow,  and  at  no  other  times  :  each 
have  their  seasons.  In  winter,  not  a  bird  is  in  Muscovie  to  be 
found  ;  but,  at  the  spring,  in  an  instant  the  woods  and 
hedges  are  full  of  them,  saith  ^Herbastein  :  how  comes  it  to 
pass?  do  they  sleep  in  winter,  like  Gesners  Alpine  mice?  or 
do  they  lye  hid  (as  ^^  Olaus  afiirmes)  i7i  the  bottome  oj"  lakes 
and  rivers,  spiritum  continentes  ?  often  so  found  hy  fisher- 
men hi  Poland  and  Scandia,  tico  torjether,  mouth  to  mouth, 
winq  to  icing ;  and,  ichen  the  spring  comes,  they  revive 
again,  or  if  they  be  brought  into  a  stove,  or  to  the  fire  side. 
Or  do  they  follow  tlie  sun,  as  Peter  Martyr  {legat.  Baby- 
lonica,  I.  2)  manifestly  convicts,  out  of  his  own  kaowledoe  ? 
for,  when  he  was  ambassadour  in  Egypt,  he  saw  swallowes, 
Spanish  kites,  ''  and  many  other  such  European  birds,  in  De- 
cember and  January  very  familiarly  flying,^and  in  great  abun- 
dance, about  Alexandria,  nbi  fioridce  tunc  arboresac  viridaria, 
or  lye  they  hid  in  caves,  rocks,  and  hollow  trees,  as  most  think, 
in  deep  tin-mines  or  sea-clifis,  *as  M"^  Carew  gives  out?   I  con- 


» In  carapis  Lovicen.  solum  visuntor  in  nive  ;  et  ubinam  %'ere,  Destate,  antamno  sa 
occultant  ?  Hermes,  Polit.  1. 1.  Jul.  Bellins.  ^  Statim  ineunte  vere  sylvae  strepunt 

eorum  cantilenis.     Muscovit.  commeni  «  Immergant  se  fluniinibns,  lucubasqae 

per  hyernem  totan,  &c.  "'Cwterasqae  Tolacres  Pontum  byemeadvenienta  e 

nostril  rfjfionibus  EuropRis  tranirolantei.  'SarrBy  of  Cornwall. 


370  Cure  of  Melancholy.         [Part.  2.  Sec.  2. 

elude  of  tbem  all,  for  my  part,  ^Minister  doth  of  cranes  and 
storks  :  whence  they  come,  wliither  they  goe^incompertum  ad' 
hue,  as  yet  we  know  not.  We  see  them  here,  some  in  summer, 
some  in  winter  :  their  commg  and  going  is  sure  in  the  night  : 
in  the  plains  of  Asia  (saith  he)  the  storkes  meet  on  such  a  set 
day,  he  that  comes  last  is  torn  in  pieces  ;  and  so  they  get^  them 
gon.  Many  strange  places,  Isthmi,  Eiiripi,  Chersonnesi, 
creekes,  havens,  promontories,  straights,  lakes,  bathes,  rocks, 
mountaines,  places,  and  fields,  where  cities  have  bin  ruined  or 
swallowed,  battels  fought,  creatures,  sea-monsters,  remora, 
&c.  minerals,  vegetals.  Zoophites  were  fit  to  be  considered  in 
such  an  expedition,  and,  amongst  the  rest,  that  of ''Herbastein 
his  Tartar  lambe,  '^Hector  Boethius  goos-bearing  tree  in  the 
Orchardes,  to  which  Cardan  (lib.  7.  cap.  36.  de  rerum  va- 
rietat.)  subscribes:  '' Vertomannus  wonderfull  palme,  that 
"  fly  in  Hispaniola,  that  shines  like  a  torch  in  the  night, 
that  one  may  well  see  to  write ;  those  sphericall  stones  in 
Cuba  which  nature  hath  so  made,  and  those  like  birds,  beasts, 
fishes,  crowns,  swords,  saws,  pots,  &c.  usually  found  in  the 
metall-mines  in  Saxony  about  Mansfield,  and  in  Poland  neer 
Nokow  and  Pallukie,  as  '^Munster  and  others  relate.  Many 
rare  creatures  and  novelties  each  part  of  the  world  affords : 
amongst  the  rest  I  Mould  know  for  a  certain  whether  there  be 
any  such  men,  as  Leo  Suavius  in  his  comment  on  Paracelsus 
de  sanit.  tuend.  and  s  Gaguinus  records  in  his  description  of 
Muscovie,  that,  in  JLucomoria,  a  province  in  Russia,  lye  fast 
asleep  as  dead  all  icinter,from  the  27  Jfovemher,  like  frog ges 
and  swallowes,  benumbed  with  cold,  a?id  about  the  24  of 
April  in  the  spring  they  revive  again,  and  goe  about  their 
business.  I  woukl  examine  that  demonstration  of  Alexander 
Picolomineus,  whether  the  earths  superficies  be  bigger  than 
the  seas  ;  or  that  of  Archimedes  be  true,  the  superficies  of  all 
water  is  ev  en.  Search  the  depth  and  see  that  variety  of 
sea- monsters    and  fishes,    mare-maids,    sea-men,    horses. 


aPorro  ciconise  quonam  e  loco  veniant,  quo  se  conferant,  incompertum  adhuc  ; 
agmen  venientium,  descendentium,  ut  grunm,  venisse  cemimus,  nocturnis  opinor  tem- 
poribus.  In  patentibus  Asiae  campis  certo  die  congregant  se,  earn  quae  novissime 
advenit  lacerant,  inde  avolant.     Cosmog.  1.  4.  c.  126.  b  Comment.  Muscov. 

c  Hist.  Scot.  I.  1.  d  Vertomannns,  1.  5.  c.  16.  mentionetn  a  tree  that  bears 

fruits  to  eat,  woodtobnrn,  bark  to  make  ropes,  wine  and  water  to  drink,  oyl  and  sugar, 
and  leaves  as  tiles  to  cover  houses,  flowers  for  clothes,  &c.  «  Animal  insec- 

tum  Cusino,  utquis  legere  vel  scribere  possit  sine  alterius  ope  luminis.  f  Cos- 

mog. lib.  1.  cap.  435.  et  lib.  3.  cap.  1.  Habent  ollas  a  natiura  formatas,  e  terra  extractas, 
similes  illis  a  figulis  factis,  coronas,  pisces,  aves,  et  onines  animantium  species. 
g  Ut  Solent  hirundines  et  ranse  praj  frigoris  magnitudine  niori,  et  postea,  redeunte  vere, 
24  Aprilis  reviviscere, 


Mem.  3.]  Digression  of  Ayr e.  371 

&c.  which  it  affords.  Or  whether  that  be  true  which  Jor- 
danus  Bruuus  scoffes  at,  that,  if  God  did  not  detain  it,  the 
sea  would  overflow  the  earth  by  reason  of  his  higher  site,  and 
which  Josephus  Blancanus  the  Jesuite,in  his  interpretation  on 
those  mathematicall  places  of  Aristotle,  foolishly  feares,  and  in 
a  just  tract  proves  by  many  circumstances,  that  in  time  the 
sea  will  waste  away  the  land,  and  all  the  g^lobe  of  the  earth 
shall  be  covered  with  waters  ;  risum  teneatis,  aniici  ?  what  the 
sea  takes  away  in  one  place  it  addes  in  another.  Mee  thinks 
he  might  rather  suspect  the  sea  should  in  time  be  filled 
by  land,  trees  grow  up,  carcasses,  &c.  that  all- devouring-  fire, 
omnia  devorans  et  consumens,  will  sooner  cover  and  dry  up 
the  vast  ocean  with  sands  and  ashes.  I  would  examine  the 
true  seat  of  that  terrestriall  ^Paradise,  and  where  Ophir  was, 
whence  Solomon  did  fetch  his  gold  ;  from  Peruana,  which 
some  suppose,  or  that  Aurea  Chersonnesus,  as  Dominicus 
Niger,  Arias,  Montanus,  Goropius,  and  others,  will.  I  would 
censure  all  Plinies,  Solinus,  Strabos,  S"^  John  Mandevils, 
Olaus  Magnus,  Marcus  Polus  lyes,  correct  those  errors  in 
navigation,  leforme  cosmographicall  chartes,  and  rectifie  lon- 
gitudes, if  it  were  possible;  notby  the  compass,  assome  dream, 
with  Mark  Ridley  in  his  treatise  of  magneticall  bodies,  cap  AS: 
for,  as  Cabeus  {rAacpiet.  jihilos.  lib.  3.  cap,  4.)  fully  resolves, 
there  is  no  hope  thence :  yet  I  would  observe  some  better 
meanes  to  find  them  out. 

I  would  have  a  convenient  place  to  go  down  with  Orpheus, 
Ulysses,  Hercvdes,  ''Lucians  Menippus,  at  St.  Patricks  purga- 
tory, at  Trophonius  den,  Hecla  in  Island,  ^Etna  in  Sicily,  to 
descend  and  see  what  is  done  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth;  do 
stones  and  metalls  grow  there  still  ?  how  come  firre  trees  to 
be  "  digged  out  from  tops  of  hills,  as  in  our  mosses  and 
marishes  all  over  Europe  ?  How  come  they  to  dig  up  fish 
bones, shells, beams,  iron-works, many  fathomes  under  ground, 
and  anchors  in  mountains,  far  remote  from  all  seas?  ''Anno 
1460,  at  Berna  in  Switzerland,  50  fathom  deep,  a  ship  was 
dig'd  out  of  a  mountain,  where  they  got  metall  ore,  in  which 
were  48  carcasses  of  men,  with  other  merchandise.  That 
such  things  are  ordinarily  found  in  tops  of  hils,  Aristotle 
insinuates  in  his  meteors,  ''Pomponius  Mela  in  his  first  book, 
c.  cle  Numidid;  and  familiarly  in  the  Alpes,  saith  *  Blancanus 
the  Jesuite,  the  like  to  be  seen.  Came  this  from  earth-quakes, 
or  from  Noahs  floud,  as  Christians  suppose  ?  or  is  there  a 

a  Vicl.  Pererium,  in  Gen.  Cor.  a  Lapide,  et  alios.  *>  In  Necyomantia, 

Tom.  2.  *-'  Fracastorius,  lib.  de  simp.    Georgius  Merula,  lib.  de  mem.     Jalius 

Billins,  &c.  ^  Simleriis,  Ortelius.     Brachiis  centum  sub  terra  reperta  est,  in 

qua  quadraginta  octo  cadavera  inerant,  anchora',  &c.  t'  Pisces  et  concha;  in 

uiontibus  reperiuntur.  f  Lib.  de  locis  Mathemat.  Aristot. 


372  Cure  of  MelanGhohj.  [Part.  f.  Sec.  2. 

vicissitudes  of  sea  and  land?  as  Anaximenes  held  of  old,  the 
mountains  of  Thessaly  would  become  seasj  and  seas  ag-ain 
mountains.  The  whole  world,  belike,  should  be  new  moulded, 
when  it  seemed  g^ood  to  those  all-commanding  powers,  and 
turned  inside  out,  as  we  do  hay-cocks  in  harvest,  top  to  bot- 
tom, or  bottom  to  top  ;  or,  as  we  turn  apples  to  the  fire,  move 
the  world  upon  his  center;  that  which  is  under  the  Poles 
now,  should  be  translated  to  the  ^Equinoctial!,  and  that  which 
is  under  the  torrid  zone,  to  the  circle  Arctique  and  Antarc- 
tique  another  while,  and  so  be  reciprocally  warmed  by  the 
sun ;  or,  if  the  worlds  be  infinite,  and  every  fixed  star  a  sun, 
with  his  compassing  planets  (as  Brunus  and  Campanella  con- 
clude), cast  three  or  four  worlds  into  one;  or  else  of  one  old 
world  make  three  or  four  new,  as  it  shall  seem  to  them  best. 
To  proceed,  if  the  earth  be  21500  miles  in  ^compass,  its  dia- 
meter is  7000  from  us  to  our  antipodes ;  and  what  shall  be 
comprehended  in  all  that  space  ?  What  is  the  center  of  the 
earth?  is  it  pure  element  only,  as  Aristotle  decrees,  inha- 
bited (as  ''Paracelsus  thinks)  with  creatures,  whose  chaos  is 
the  earth  :  or  with  fairies,  as  the  woods  and  waters  (according 
to  him)  are  with  nymphes,  or  as  the  aire  with  spirits?  Diony- 
siodorus,  a  mathematician  in  '^  Pliny,  that  sent  a  letter  ad 
siiperos  after  he  was  dead,  from  the  center  of  the  earth,  to  sig- 
nifie  what  distance  the  same  center  was  from  the  superficies  o^ 
the  same,  viz.  42000  stadiums,  might  have  done  well  to  have 
satisfied  all  these  doubts.  Or  is  it  the  place  of  hell,  as  Virgil 
in  his  jEneides,  Plato,  Lucian,  Dante,  and  others,  poetically 
describe  it,  andasmanyof  our  divines  think?  In  good  earnest, 
Anthony  Rusca,  one  of  the  society  of  that  Ambrosian  college 
in  Millan,  in  his  great  volume  de  Inferno,  lib.  1.  cap.  4?,  is 
stiflTe  in  his  tenent :  'tis  a  corporeall  fire  tow,  cap.  5.  /.  2.  as 
he  there  disputes.  Whatsoever  philosophers  ivrite,  (saith 
•^Surius)  there  be  certain  mouthes  of  hell,  and  place  appointed, 
for  the  punishment  of  mens  souls,  as  at  Hecla  in  Island, 
where'  the  ghosts  of  dead  men  are  familiarly  seen,  and  some- 
times talk  with  the  living.  God  would  have  such  visible 
places,  that  mortal  men  might  be  certainly  informed,  that 
there  be  such  punishments  after  death,  and  learn  hence  to 
fear  God.  Kranzius  {Ban.  hist.  lib.  2.  cap.  24)  subscribes 
to  this  opinion  of  Surius ;  so  doth  Colerus,  cap.  12.  lib.  de 
immortal.  animcB  (out  of  the  authority,  belike,  of  S'.  Gregory, 


a  Or  plain,  as  Patricins  holds,  which  Austin,  Lactantius,  and  some  others,  hold  of 
old  as  round  as  a  trencher.  b  Li.  de  Zilphis  et  Pygnijeis.  They  penetrate  the  earth, 
as  we  do  the  aire.  <=  Lib.  2.  c.  112.  <*  Coranientar.  ad  annum  15.37. 

Quidquid  dicunt  philonophi,  quaedam  suntTartari  ostia,  et  loca  peniendis  animisdesti- 
nata,  ut  Hecla  mens,  &c.  ubi  mortuornm  spiritus  visuntur,&c.  vohntDeus  eistare  talia 
loea,  ut  discant  mortales. 


Mem.  3.]  Digression  of  Ayre.  375 

Durand,  and  the  rest  of  the  schoolmen,  who  derive  as  much 
from  iEtna  in  Sicily,  Lipara,  Hiera,  and  those  sulphureous 
Vulcanian  islands)  making  Terra  del  Fuego,  and  those  frequent 
viilcanes  in  America,  of  which  Acosta,  lih.  3.  cap.  24.  that 
fearfuU  mount  Hecklebirg  in  Norway,  an  especiall  argument 
to  prove  it,  '^  where  lamentable  screeches  and  holdings  are  con- 
tinuallij  heard,  which  strike  terroiir  to  the  auditors ;  fiery 
chariots  are  commonly  seen  to  bring  in  the  souls  of  men  in  the 
likeness  of  croics,  anddivels  ordinarily  goe  in  and  out.  Such 
another  proofe  is  that  place  neer  the  pyramides  in  Egypt,  by 
Cairo,  as  well  to  confirm  this  as  the  resurrection,  mentioned  by 
^  Kormannus,  mirac.  mort.  lib.  1.  cap.  38.  Camerarius,  oper. 
sue.  cap.  37.  Bredenbachius,  pereg.  ter.  sanct.  and  some 
others,  ivhere  once  a  yeere  dead  bodies  arise  about  March, 
and  walk,  and  after  a  while  hide  themselves  again  :  thousands 
of  people  come  yearly  to  see  them.  But  these  and  such  like  tes- 
timonies others  reject,  as  fables,  illusions  of  spirits ;  and  they 
will  hare  no  such  locall  known  place,  more  than  Styx  or  Phle- 
geton,  Plutos  court,  or  that  poeticall  infernns,  where  Ho- 
mers soul  was  seen  hanging  on  a  tree,  &c.  to  which  they  fer- 
ried over  in  Charons  boat,  or  went  down  at  Hermione  in 
Greece,  compendiaria  ad  inferos  via,  which  is  the  shortest  cut, 
quia  nullum  a  mortuis  naulum  eo  loci  exposcunt,  (saith  "^  Ger- 
belius)  and  besides  there  were  no  fees  to  be  paid.  Well  then, 
is  it  hell,  or  purgatory,  as  ^eW^xmine  \  Limbus  patrum,  ?ls 
Gallicius  will,  andas  Ruscawill  (for  they  have  made  maps  of 
it), '^  or  Ignatius  parler.f'  Virgil,  sometimes  bishop  of  Saltburg  (as 
Aventinus,  anno  745,  relates)  by  Bonifacius  bishop  of  Mentz 
was  therefore  called  in  question,  because  he  held  antipodes, 
(which  they  made  a  doubt  v/hether  Christ  died  for),  and  so  by 
that  means  took  away  the  seat  of  hell,  or  so  contracted  it,  that  it 
could  bear  no  proportion  to  heaven,  and  contradicted  that  opi- 
nion of  Austin,  Basil,  Lactantius,  that  held  the  earth  round  as 
a  trencher  (whom  Acosta  and  common  experience  more 
largely  confute),  but  not  as  a  ball ;  and  Jerusalem,  where 
Christ  died,  the  middle  of  it;  or  Delos,  as  the  fabulous 
Greeks  fained  ;  because,  when  Jupiter  let  two  eagles  loose,  to 
fly  from  the  worlds  ends  east  and  Mest,  they  met  at  Delos. 
But  the  scruple  of  Bonifacius  is  now  quite  taken  away  by  our 
latter  divines  :  Franciscus  Ribera  {in  cap.  14.  Apocalyps.) 
will  have  hell  a  materiall  and  locall  fire  in  the  center  of  the 
earth,  200  Italian  miles  in  diameter,  as  he  defines  it  out  of 
those  words,  Exivit  sanguis  de  terra per  stadia  milie 


» Ubi  miserabiles  ejulantinm  voces  audiantur,  quae  auditoribas  horrorem  incutinnt 
kaud  vulgarem,  &.c.  ^  Ex  sepulcris  apparent  mense  Jlartio,  et  rursus  sub  terrain 

88  abscondiint,  &c.  cDescript  Grsec.  lib.  6.  de  Pelop.  <!  Conclave  IgnatiL 


'374  CureofMekmcholif.  [Part.  2.  Sec.  2. 

sexcenta,  Sfc.    But  Lessius  {Ub.  13.  de  mnrihus  div'mis,  cap.  24) 
will  have  this  locall  hell  far  less,  one  Dutch  mile  in  dia- 
meter, all  filled  with  fire  and  brimstone  ;  because,  as  he  there 
demonstrates,  that  space,  cubically  multiplyed,  will  make  a 
sphere  able  to  hold  eight  hundred  thousand  mil  lions  of  damned 
bodies    (allowing   each    body  six   foot  square)  ;  which  will 
abundantly  suffice,  cuin  certum  sit,  inquit,Jactd  suhductione^ 
nonjuturos  centies  mille  milliones  damna7idornm.      But,  if  it 
be  no  materiall  fire  (as  Sco-Thomas,  Bonaventure,  Soncinas, 
Vossius,  and  others  argue)  it  may  be  there  or  elsewhere,  as 
Keckerman  disputes.  System,  Theol.  for  sure  somewhere  it 
is  :  certum  est  alicnhi,  etsi  dejinitus  circulus  non  assignetur. 
I  will  end  the  controversie  in  ^Austins  words,  better  doubt  of' 
things  concealed^  than  to  contend  about  uncertaifities  :  luhere 
Abrahams  bosome  is,  and  helljire,  ^vix  a  mansuetis,  a  con- 
tentiosis  nunquam^  invenitur  ;  scarce  the  meek,  the  conten- 
tious shall  never  finde.     If  it  be  solid  earth,  'tis  the  fountain  of 
metals,  waters,  which  by  his  innate  temper  turns  aire  into 
water,  which  springs  up  in  severall  chinks,  to  moisten  the 
earths  superficies^  and  that  in  a  tenfold  proportion  (as  Aristotle 
holds);  or  else  these  fountains  come  directly  from  the  sea,  by 
<^  secret  passages,  and  so  made  fresh  again,  by  running  through 
the  bowels  of  the  earth;  and  are  either  thick,  thin,  hot,  cold, 
as  the  matter  or  minerals  are  by  which  they  pass  ;  or,  as  Peter 
Martyr  {Ocean.  Decad.  lib.  9)  and  some  others  hold,  from 
*^  abundance  of  rain  that  fals,  or  from  that  ambient  heat  and 
cold,  which  alters  that  inward  heat,  and  so  per  consequens  the 
generation  of  waters.     Or  else  it  may  be  full  of  winde,  or  sul- 
phureous innate  fire,  as  our  meteorologists  enform  us,  which, 
sometimes  breaking  out,  causeth  those  horrible  earth-quakes, 
which  are  so  frequent  in  these  dayes  in  Japan,  China,  and 
oftentimes  swallow  up  whole  cities.     Let  Lucians  Menippus 
consult  with  or  aske  of  Tiresias,  if  you  will  not  beleeve  philo- 
sophers :  he  shall  cleare  all  your  doubts  when  he  makes  a 
second  voiage. 

In  the  mean  time  let  us  consider  of  that  which  is  sub  dio, 
and  finde  out  a  true  cause,  if  it  be  possible,  of  such  accidents, 
meteors,  alterations,  as  happen  above  the  ground.  Whence 
proceed  that  variety  of  manners,  and  a  distinct  character  (as 
it  were)  toseverall  nations?  Some  are  wise,subtil,witty;  others 
dull,  sad,  and  heavy;  some  big,  some  little,  as  TuUy  de  Fato 


a  Melius  dubitare  de  occultis,  qiiani  litigaie  de  inctrtis,  ubi  flarama  inferni,  &c. 
i>  SeeDr,  Raynolds  prelect.  55.  in  Apoc.  cAs  they  come  from  the  sea,  so  they 

return  to  the  sea  again  by  secret  passages,  as  in  all  likelihood  the  Caspian  sea  vents 

tself  into  the  Euxiue  or  Ocean.  d  Seneca,  qua3st.  lib.  cap.  3,  4,  5,  6, 7,  8,  9, 

0,  11,  12,  de  caussis  aquarum  perpetnis. 


Mem.  3.]  Dnjroasionof  Aijre.  375 

Plato '  in  Timaeo,  Veg-etius,  ami  Botline  proves  at  large,  ?ne- 
thod.  cap.  5;  some  soft,  and  some  hardy,  barbarous,  civill, 
black,  dun,  wliite  :  is  it  from  the  aire,  from  the  soyle,  influ- 
ence of  stars,  or  some  other  secret  cause?  Why  doth  Africa 
breed  so  many  venemous  beasts,  Ireland  none?  Athens  owles, 
Creetnone?  ^ Why  hath  Daulis  and  Thebes  no  swallowes 
(so  Pausanias  informeth  us)  as  well  as  the  rest  of  Greece? 
'' Ithaca  no  hares,  Pontus  asses,  Scythia  swine  ?  whence  come 
this  variety  of  complections,  colours,  plants,  birds, beasts,  '^me- 
tals, peculiar  almost  to  every  place?  Why  so  many  thousand 
strange  birds  and  beasts  proper  to  America  alone,  as  Acosta  de- 
mands,//6. 4.  ca/>.  36?  were  they  created  in  the  six  dayes,  or 
ever  in  Noahs  Arke  ?  if  there,  why  are  they  not  dispersed  and 
found  in  other  countries?  It  is  a  thing-  (saith  he)  hath  long- 
held  me  in  suspence;  no  Greek, Latine,  Hebrew,  overheard  of 
them  before,  and  yet  as  different  from  our  European  animals, 
as  an  egg  and  a  chesnut :  and,  which  is  more,  kine,  horses, 
sheep,  &c.  till  the  Spaniards  brought  them,  were  never  heard 
of  in  those  parts.  How  comes  it  to  pass,  that,  in  the  same  site, 
in  one  latitude,  to  such  as  are  ^ericcc?,  there  should  be  such  dif- 
ference of  soyle,  complexion, colour,metall, aire, &c.  The  Spa- 
niards are  white,  and  so  are  Italians,  when  as  the  inhabitants 
about  "^  Caput  bonce  Spei  are  blackemores,  and  yet  both  alike 
distant  from  the  aequator :  nay,  they  that  dwell  in  the  same 
parallel  line  with  these  Negros,  as  about  the  straights  of  Ma- 
g"ellan,  are  white  coloured,  and  yet  some  in  Presbyter  Johns 
country  in  ^Ethiopia  are  dun  ;  they  in  Zeilan  and  Malabar, 
])arallel  with  them,  again  black:  Manamotapa  in  Africk,  and 
St.  Thomas  isle  are  extreme  hot,  both  under  the  line,  cole  black 
their  inhabitants,  whereas  in  Peru  they  are  quite  opposite  in 
colour,  very  temperate,  or  rather  cold;  and  yet  bothalike  ele- 
vated. Mosco,in53  degrees  of  latitude,  extreme  cold, as  those 
northern  countries  usually  are,  having- one  perpetual  hard  frost 
all  winter  long-:  and  in  52  deg.  lat.  sometimes  hard  frost  and 
snow  all  summer,  as  in  Buttons  bay,  &c.  or  by  fits;  and  yet 
*  Eng^land  neere  the  same  latitude,  and  Ireland,  very  moist, 


»  In  lis  nee  pullos  hirundines  excludont,  neque,.  &:c.  bXh.  Ravennas,  lib.  de 

vit.  honi.  prorog.  ca.  ult.  '^  At  Quito  in  Peru,  plus  auri  quam  terroe  foditur  in 

aurifodinis.  <iAd  Caput  Bona;  Spei  incolsB  sunt  nisierrimi.     Si  sol  caussa,  cur 

non  Hispani  et  Itali  aeque  nigri,  in  eadein  latitudine,  a;que  distantes  ab  /Equatore,  hi 
ad  Austrum,  illi  ad  Boream?  qui  sub  Presbytero  Johan.  habitant,  subfusci  sunt,  in 
Zeilan  et  Malabar  nigri,  jeque  distantes  ab  ^-Equatore,  eodemque  ca?li  parallelo:  sed 
hoc  magis  mirari  qnis  possit,  in  tola  America  nusquam  nigros  inveniri,  pra;ter  paucos 
ill  loco  Quareno  illis  dicto:  hu.jns  colons  caussa  efficiens,  [ca-live  an  trrra^  qualitas, 
an  soli  proprietas,  aut  ipsormn  honiinuin  innata  ratio,  aut  omnia?  Ortelius,  in  Africa, 
Tbeat.  t  Rpgjo  qnocunque  anni  tempore  temperatlssima.     Ortel.  jMultas  Gal- 

lire  et  ItaliEe  regiones,  molli  tepore,  et  benigna  quadam  temperie,  prorsus  antecellit. 
Jovins. 

VOL.   J.  K  K 


376  Cure  of  Melancholy.         [Part.  2.  Sec.  2. 

warme,  and  more  temperate  in  winter  than  Spain,  Italy,  or 
France.     Is  it  the  sea  that  causeth  this  difference,  and  the  aire 
that  comes  from  it  ?     Why  then  is  ^  Ister  so  cold  neere  the 
Euxine,  Pontus,  Bithynia,  and  all  Thrace?  frigidas  regiones 
Maginus  calls  them ;  and  yet  their  latitude  is  but  42,  which 
should  be  hot.    ''Quevira,  or  Nova  Albion  in  America,borderino- 
on  the  sea,  was  so  cold  in  July,  that  our  "  Englishmen  could 
hardly  endure  it.      At  Noremberga,  in  45  lat.  all  the  sea  is 
frozen  ice,  and  yet  in  a  more  southern  latitude  than  ours. 
New  England,  and  the  island  of  Cam  briall  Colchos,  which  that 
noble  gentleman  M'.  Vaughan,or  Orpheus  Junior,  describes  in 
his  Golden  Fleece,  is  in  the  same  latitude  with  little  Britaine  in 
France :  and  yet  their  winter  begins  not  till  January,  their 
spring  till  May ;  which  search  he  accounts  worthy  of  an  astro- 
loger :  is  this  from  the  easterly  winds,  or  melting  of  ice  and 
snow  dissolved  within  the  circle  arctick;  or  thatthe  aire,  being- 
thick,  is  longer  before  it  be  warm  by  the  sun  beams,  and,  once 
heated,  like  an  oven,  will  keep  it  self  from  cold?     Our  climes 
breed  lice:  ''Hungary  and  Ireland  wi«/e  audiunt  in  this  kinde  ; 
come  to  the  Azores,  by  a  secret  vertue  of  that  aire  they  are  in- 
stantly consumed,  and  all  our  European  vermine  almost,  saith 
Ortelius.  Egypt  is  watred  with  Nilus  not  far  from  the  sea  ;  and 
yet  there  it  seldom  or  never  rains :  Rhodes,  an  iland  of  the 
same  nature,  yeelds  not  a  cloud ;  and  yet  our  iland's  ever 
dropping  and  inclining  to  rain.     The  Atiantick  ocean  is  still 
subject  to  storms,  but  in  Del  Zur,  or  Mari  pacijico,  seldome  or 
never  any.      Is  it  from  topick  stars,  apertio  potarum,  in  the 
dodecatemories   or  constellations,  the  moons  mansions,  such 
aspects  of  planets,suchwinds,or  dissolving  ayre,  or  thick  ayre, 
which  causeth  this  and  the  like  differences  of  heat  and  cold? 
Bodin  relates  of  a  Portugal  embassadour,  that  coming  from 
•=  Lisbon  to  ^Dantzick  in  Spruce,  found  greater  heat  there 
than  at  any  time  at  home.      Don  Garcia  de  Sylva,  legat  to 
Philip  3  king  of  Spain,  residing  at  Spahan  in  Persia,  1619,  in 
his  letter  to  the  marquess  of  Bedmar,  makes  mention  of  greater 
cold  in  Spahan,  whose  lat.  is  31  gr.  than  ever  he  felt  in  Spain, 
or  any  part  of  Europe.  The  torrid  zone  was  by  our  predeces- 
sors held  to  be  inhabitable,  but  by  our  modern  travelers  found 
to  be  most  temperate,  bedewed  with  frequent  rains,  and  moist- 
ening showers,  the  brise  and  cooling  blasts  in  some  parts,  as 
8  Acosta  describes,  most  pleasant  and  fertile.     Arica  in  Chili  is 
by  report  one  of  the  sweetest  places  that  everthesunshinedon, 
Olympus  terrce,  an  heaven  on  earth :  how  incomparably  do 

a  Lat.  45  Danubii.  ^Quevira,  lat.  40.  cin  Sir  Fra.  Drakes  voiage 

«*|Lansius,  orat.  contra  Hungaros.  «  Lisbon,  lat.  38.  ^Dantzick,  lat.  54. 

sDe  nat.  novi  oibis,  lib.  1.  cap.  9.     SHavissimus  orauium  locus,  &c. 


Mem.  3.]  Dicfvession  of  t/lyre.  3/7 

someextoll  Mexico  \i\  Nova  HiJspania,  Peru,  Brasile,  &c.  ?  in 
soiueagaiu  hard,  dry,  sandy,  barren,  a  verydeserf,  and  still  in 
the  same  latitude.  Many  times  we  finde  great  diversity  of  aire 
in  the  same  ^country,  by  reason  of"  the  site  to  seas,  hills,  or 
dales,  want  of  Mater,  nature  of  soil,  and  the  like;  as,  in  .Spain, 
Arrag'on  is  aspera  et  sicca,  harsh  and  evil  inhabited;  Estrama- 
dura  is  dry,  sandy,  barren  most  part,  extreme  hot  by  reason  of 
his  plains,Andaluzia  another  paradise,  Valence  a  most  pleasant 
aire,  and  continually  g-reen ;  so  is  it  about  ''Granado,  on  the 
one  side  fertile  plains,  on  the  other,  coiitinuall  snow  to  be  seen 
all  summer  long  on  the  hill  tops.       That  their  Louses  in  the 
Alpes  are  three  quarters  of  the  yeer  covered  with  snow,  who 
knows  not?  That  Tenariffa  is  so  cold  at  the  top,  extreme  hot  at 
the  bottome :  Mons  Atlas  in  Africk,  Libanus  in  Pal^stina,  with 
many  such,  tantos  inter  ardores  jfidos  nivihus,  ^Tacitus  calls 
them,  and  Radzivilius  (epist.  2.  J'oL  27)   yeelds  it  to  be  far 
hotter  there  than  in  any  part  of  Italy  :  'tis  true  ;  but  they  are 
highly  elevated,  near  the  middle  region,  and  therefore  cold, 
ob  paiicam  solarium  rad.iornm  rcj'ractionem,  as  Serrarius  an- 
swers, com.  in  3.  cap.  Josua,qu(est.  5.     Abulensis,  qucest.  37. 
In  the  heat  of  summer,  in  the  kings  palace  in  Escuriall,  the 
aire  is  most  temperate,  by  reason  of  a  cold  blast  which  comes 
from  the  snowie  mountains  of  Sierra  de  Cadarama  hard  by, 
when  as  in  Toledo  it  is  very  hot :  so  in  all  other  countries. 
The  causes  of  these  alterations  are  commonly  by  reason  of  their 
neerness  (I  say)  to  the  middle  region  :  but  this  diversity  of  aire, 
in  places  equally  site,  elevated,  and  distant  from  the  pole,  can 
hardly  be  satisfied  w^ith  that  diversity  of  plants,  birds,  beasts, 
which  is  so  familiar  with  us.     With  Indians,  every  where,  the 
sun  is  equally  distant,  the  same  verticall  stars,  the  same  irra- 
diations of  planets,  aspects  alike,  the  same  neerness  ofseas,the 
same  superficies,  the  same  soyl,  or  not  much  diiierent.    Under 
the   iEquator  it  self,  amongst  the  Sienas,  Andes,  Lanes,  as 
Herrera,  Laet,  and  '^  Acosta  contend,  there  is  tarn  mirahilis  et 
inopinaia  varietas,  such  variety  of  weather,  nt  merito  exer- 
ceat  inf/enia,  that  no  philosophy  can  yet  finde  out  the  true 
cause  of  it.     When  I  consider  how  temperate  it  is  in  one  place, 
saith  <^  Acosta,  within  the  tropick  of  Capricorn,  as  about  La- 
Plate,  and  yet  hard  by  at  Potosn,  in  that  same  altitude,  moun- 
tainous alike,  extreme  cold  ;   extreme  hot  in  Brasile,  &c.  hw 
ego,  saith   Acosta,  philosophiam  Aristotelis  meteorologicam 
vehementer  irrisi,  cum,  Sfc.  when  the  sun  comes  neerest  to 


^  Tlie  same  variety  of  weather  Lod.  Gaicciardine  observes  betwixt  Liege  and  Aix 
not  far  distant.     Descript.  Belg.  ''Magin.  Qaadus.  >■  Hist.  lib.  5.         dLib. 

11.  cap.  7.  •^Lib.  2.  cap.  9.     Car  Potosa  et  Plata,  nrbes  in  tarn  tenui  intervalio, 

utraqtie  montosa,  &c.  .  - 

K  K  2 


378  Cure  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  2.  Sec.  2. 

tliem,  they  liave  great  tempests,  storms,  thunder  and  lightning, 
great  store  of  rain,  snow,  and  the  foulest  weather ;  when  the 
sun  is  verticall,  their  rivers  over-flow,  the  morning  fair  and 
hot,  noon  day  cold  and  moist :  all  which  is  opposite  to  us. 
How  comes  it  to  pass  ?  Scaliger(poe^ices  /.  3.  c.  \^)  discourseth 
thus  of  this  subject.  How  comes,  or  wherefore  is  this  ^eme- 
raria  siderum  dispositio,  this  rash  placing  of  stars,  or,  as  Epi- 
curus will,  J'ortuita,  or  accidentall  ?  Why  are  some  big,  some 
little  ?  why  are  they  so  confusedly,  unequally  site  in  the  hea- 
vens, and  set  so  much  out  of  order?  In  all  other  things.  Nature 
is  equall,  proportionable,  and  constant;  there  he justcedinien- 
siones,  et  prndens  partium  dispositio,  as  in  the  fabrick  of  man, 
his  eyes,  ears,  nose,  face, members  are  correspondent;  cur  non 
idem  caslo,  opere  omnium  pulcherrimo  ?  Why  are  the  heavens 
so  irregular,  neque  paribus  molihus,  7ieque paribus  intervallis? 
whence  is  this  difference?  DiversosQie  concludes)  efficere  lo- 
corum  Genios,  to  make  diversity  of  countries,  soils,  maners, 
customs,  characters  and  constitutions  among  us,  ut  quantum 
vicinia  ad  charitatem  addat,  sidera  distrahant  ad  perniciem  ; 
and  so  by  this  means  fluviovelmonte  distincti  sunt  dissimileSy 
the  same  places  almost  shall  be  distinguished  in  maners.  But 
this  reason  is  weak,  and  most  unsufRcient.  The  fixed  stars  are 
removed,  since  Ptolemies  time,  26  gr.  from  the  first  of  Aries ; 
and  if  the  earth  be  immovable,  as  their  site  varies,  so  should 
countries  vary,  and  divers  alterations  would  follow.  But  this 
we  perceive  not ;  as,  in  Tullies  time,  with  us  in  Britain,  caelum 
visujoedum,  et  in  quoj'acile  generantur  nubes,  ^c.  'tis  so  still. 
Wherefore  Bodine  (Tlieat.  nat.  lib.  2)  and  some  others  will 
have  all  these  alterations  and  effects  immediately  to  proceed 
from  those  genii,  spirits,  angels,  which  rule  and  domineer  in 
severall  places  ;  they  cause  storms,  thunder,  lightning,  earth- 
quakes, ruins,  tempests,  great  winds,  floods,  &c.  The  philo- 
sophers of  Conimbra  will  refer  this  diversity  to  the  influence 
of  that  empyrean  heaven  :  for  soine  say  the  excentricity  of  the 
sun  is  come  neerer  to  the  earth  than  in  Ptolemies  time ;  the 
vertue  therefore  of  all  the  vegetals  is  decayed  ;  ^  men  grow 
less.  Sec.  There  are  that  observe  new  motions  of  the  heavens, 
new  stars,  palantia  sidera,  comets,  clouds,  (call  them  what 
you  will)  like  those  Medicean,  Burbonian,  Austrian  planets 
lately  detected,  which  do  not  decay,  but  come  and  go,  rise 
higher  and  lower,  hide  and  shew  themselves  amongst  the  fixed 
stars,  amongst  the  planets,  above  and  beneath  the  moon,  at 
set  times,  now  neerer,  now  farther  off,  together,  asunder  ;  as 
he  that  plaies  upon  a  sagbut,  by  pulling  it  up  and  down,  alters 


a  Terra  initios  homines  nunc  educatj  atque  pusillos. 


Mem.  3.]  Digression  of  Ayr e.  379 

his  tones  and  tunes,  do  they  their  stations  and  places,  thouoh 
to  us  undiscerncd ;  and  from  those  motions  proceed  (as  they 
conceive)  divers  alterations.  Clavius  conjectures  otherwise: 
but  they  be  but  conjectures.  About  Damascus  in  Cocle-Syria 
is  a  ''paradise,  by  reason  of  the  plenty  of  waters  ;  i)i  promptu 
cmissa  est;  and  the  desarts  of  Arabia  barren,  because  of  rockes, 
rolling  seas  of  sands,  and  dry  mountaines;  (piod  inacjuosa, 
(saith  Adricomius)  montes  hahens  asperos,  saxosos,prcecipites, 
horroriset  mortis  speciemprce  seferentes,  uninhabitable  there- 
fore of  men,  birds,  beasts,  void  of  all  greene  trees,  plants  and 
fruits,  a  vast  rocky  horrid  wilderness,  which  by  no  art  can  be 
manured;  'tis  evident.  Bohemia  is  cold,  for  that  it  lyes  all 
along  to  the  north.  But  why  should  it  be  so  hot  in  Egypt,  or 
there  never  rain  ?  Why  should  those  "^Etesian  and  norlh-east- 
ern  winds  blow  continually  and  constantly  so  long  together,  in 
some  places,  at  set  times,  one  way  still,  in  the  dog- day es  only  ; 
here  perpetual  drought,  there  dropping  showres;  herefoooy 
mists, there  a  pleasantaire ;  here'^terriblethunderandliohtmno- 
at  such  set  seasons,  here  frozen  seas  all  the  yeare,  there'open  in 
the  same  latitude,  to  the  rest  no  such  thing,  nay  quite  opposite 
IS  to  be  found?  Sometimes  (as  in  ^Peru)  on  the  one  side  of 
the  mountaines  it  is  hot,  on  the  other  cold,  here  snow,  there 
winde,  M'ith  infinite  such.  Fromundus,  in  his  Meteors,  will 
excuse  or  salve  all  this  by  the  suns  motion  :  but  when  there  is 
such  diversity  to  such  asperioeci,  or  very  neare  site,  how  can 
that  position  hold  ? 

Who  can  give  a  reason  of  this  diversity  of  meteors?  that  it 
should  ram^stones,  frogs,  mice,  &c.  rats,  which  they  call 
lemmerm  Norway,  and  are  manifestly  observed  (as  ^Munster 
writes)  by  the  inhabitants,  to  descend  and  fall  with  some  fe- 
culent shoAvres,  and,  like  so  many  locusts,  consume  all  that  is 
green  LeoAfer  speaks  as  much  of  locusts;  aboutFez  in  Bar- 
bary  there  be  infinite  swarmes  in  their  fields  upon  a  sudden :  so 
at  Aries  in  France,  1553,  the  like  happened  by  the  same  mis- 
chief; all  their  grass  and  fruits  were  devoured;  maandincola- 
rmii  admiratwne  et  consternatione  (as  A^alleriola,  ^ohser.  vied, 
lib.  1.  obser.  1.  relates)  coehim  subito  obmnbrabrmt,  S^c  he 
concludes,  ^it  could  not  be  from  naturall  causes;  they  cannot 
imagine  whence  they  come,  but  from  heaven.  Are  these  and 
such  creatures,  corn,  wood,  stones,  worms,  avooII,  blood,  &c. 

aNav  1.  1.  c.  5.  bstrabo.  cAs  under  the  ^equator  in  many  parts 

showres  here  at  such  a  tune,  windes  at  such  a  time,  the  brise  (hev  call  it.  d  JvVd' 

Cortesius,  l.b.  Novus  orbis  inscnpt.  ^Lapidatum  est.  Li^ie.  fCosmo^' 

hh.  4  ca.  22.     Ha.  tempestahbus  decidnnt  e  nnbibus  foculenHs,  depascnnturque  more 
ocustarum  omnia  virenba.  g  HorL  Genial.     An  a  terra  sursum  rapiuntJa  ToTo 

iterumque  cum  pluvus  prsecipitantur?  &c.  F'""ii^  '«  so'o. 


380  Cure  of  Mekincholy.  [Part.  2.  Sec.  2. 

lifted  up  into  the  middle  region  by  the  sun  beams,  as  *  Para- 
celsus the  physician  disputes,  and  thence  let  fall  with  showres, 
or  there  ingendred?  ''Cornelius  Gemma  is  of  that  opinion,  they 
are  there  conceived  by  celestiall  influences:  others  suppose 
they  are  immediately  from  God,  or  prodigies  raised  by  art  and 
illusions  of  spirits,    which  are  princes  of  the  ayre;  to  whom 
Bodin  (lib.  2.  Theat.  nat.)  subscribes.     In  fine,  of  meteors  in 
generall,  Aristotles  reasons  are  exploded  by  BernardiuusTele- 
sius,  by  Paracelsus,  his  principles  confuted,  and  other  causes 
assigned,  sal,  sulphur,  mercury,  in  which  his  disciples  are  so 
expert,  thatthey  can  alter  elements,  and  separate  nt  their  plea- 
sure, make  perpetuall  motions,  not  as  Cardan,  Tasneir,  Pere- 
grinus,  by  some  magneticall  vertue,  but  by  mixture  of  elements; 
mitate  thunder,  like  Salmoneus,  snow,  hail,  the  seas  ebbing 
and  flowing-,  givelife  to  creatures  (as  they  say)  without  gene- 
ration, and  whatnot?   P.  Nonius  Saluciencis,  and  Kepler,  take 
u]>on  them  to  demonstrate  that  no  meteors,  cloudes,  fogges, 
'^vapours,  arise  higher  than  50  or  80  miles,  and  all  the  rest  to 
be  purer  aire  or  element  of  fire:  which   '^  Cardan, '^  Tycho, 
and  ^John  Pena  manifestly  confute  by  refractions,  and  many 
other  arguments,  there  is  no  such  element  of  fire  at  all.     If,  as 
Tycho  proves,  the  moon  be  distant  from  us  50  and  60  semi- 
diameters  of  the  earth:  and  as  Peter  Nonius  will  have  it,  the 
aire  be  so  august,  what  proportion  is  there  betwixt  the  other 
three  elements  and  it  ?  to  what  use  serves  it  ?  it  is  full  of  spi- 
rits which  inhabit  it,  as  the  Paracelsians  and  Piatonists  hold, 
the  higher  the  more  noble,  efuH  of  birds,  or  a  meer  vacuum  to 
nopurpose?  It  is  much  controverted  betwixtTychoBrahe  and 
Christopher liotman  theLantsgrave  of  Hessias  mathematician, 
in  their  Astronomicall  Epistles,  whether  it  be  the  same  dia- 
phanum,  cleerness,  matter  of  aire  and  heavens,  ortwo  distinct 
essences?  Christopher  Rotman,  John  Pena,  Jordanus  Brunus, 
with  many  other  mathematicians,  contend  it  is  the  same,  and 
'  one  matter  throughout,  saving  that  the  higher  still,  the  purer 
it  is,  and  more  subtile ;  as  they  finde  by  experience  in  the  top 
of  some  hills  in  ^  America :  if  a  man  ascend,  he  faints  instantly 
for  want  of  thicker  ayre  to  refrigerate  the  heart.     Acosta  (1.3. 
c.  9)  calls  this  mountain  Periacacain  Peru:  it  makes  men  cast 
and  vomit,  he  saith,  that  climb  it,  as  some  other  of  those  Andes 
do  in  the  desartsof  Chilafor  500  miles  together,  and,for  extre- 


"Tam  ominosus  proventus  innaturaies  canssas  referri  vix  potest.  ''Cosmog. 

c-  6.  c  Cardan  saith  vapours  rise  288  miles  fromtlie  earth,  Eratosthenes  48 

miles.  dDe  subtil.  1.  2.  f'ln  progymuas.  fPrajfat.  ad  Euclid, 

t-atop.  g  ManucodiatfE,  birds  that  live  continually  in  the  ayre,  and  are  never 

se_en  on  ground  but  dead.    See  Ulysses  Aldrovand.     Ornithol.  ycal.  exerc.  cap.229. 
''Laet.  descrip.  Amer. 


Mem.  3.]  Digression  of  Ayr  e.  381 

raity  of  cold,  to  lose  their  fingers  and  toes.  Tycho  will  have 
two  distinct  matters  of  heaven  and  ayre ;  but  to  say  truth, 
with  some  small  qualification,  they  have  one  and  the  selfsame 
opinion  about  the  essence  and  matter  of  heavens ;  that  it  is 
not  hard  and  impenetrable,  as  Peripateticks  hold,  transparent, 
of  a  quinta  essentia,  ""but  that  it  is  penetrable  and  soft  as  the 
ayre  it  self  is,  and  that  the  planets  move  in  it,  as  birds  in  the 
ayre,  fishes  in  the  sea.  This  they  prove  by  motion  of  comets, 
and  otherwise  (though  Claremontius  in  his  Antitycho  stiffly 
oppose)  which  are  not  generated,  as  Aristotle  teacheth,  in  the 
aeriall  region,  of  an  hot  and  dry  exhalation,  and  so  consumed; 
but,  as  Anaxagoras  and  Democritus  held  of  old,  of  a  celestial 
matter:  and  as  ''Tycho,  "^Helisgeus  lloeslin,  Thaddeus  Hag- 
gesius,  Pena,  Rotman,  Fracastorius,  demonstrate  by  their  pro- 
gress, parallaxes,  refractions,  motions  of  the  planets,  (which 
enterfeire  and  cut  one  anothers  orbs,  now  higher,  and  then 
lower,  as  $,  amongst  the  rest,  which  sometimes,  as  "^Kepler 
confirms  byhis  own  and  Tychos  accurate  observations,  comes 
nearer  the  earth  than  the  0,  and  is  again  eftsoons  aloft  in  Jupi- 
ters  orbs)  and  ^  other  sufficient  reasons,  far  above  the  moon  : 
exploding  in  the  mean  time  that  element  of  fire,  those  fictitious 
first  watry  movers,  those  heavens  I  mean  above  the  firma- 
ment, which  Delrio,  Lodovicus  Imola,  Patricius,  and  many 
of  the  fathers,  affirm ;  those  monstrous  orbes  of  eccentricks, 
and  eccentre  epicycles  deserentes ;  M'hich  howsoever  Ptolomy, 
Alhasen,  Vitellio,  Purbachius,  Maginus,  Clavius,  and  many 
of  their  associates  stiffly  maintain  to  be  reall  orbes,  excen- 
trick,  concentrick,  circles  cEquant,  Sec.  are  absurd  and  ridicu- 
lous. For  who  is  so  mad  to  think,  that  there  should  be  so 
many  circles, like  subordinate  wheels  in  a  clock,  all  impenetra- 
ble and  hard,  as  they  fain,  adde  and  substract  at  their  pleasure  ? 
^Maginusmakes  eleven  heavens,subdivided  into  theirorbes  and 
circles,  and  all  too  little  to  serve  those  particular  appearances: 
Fracastorius,  72  homocentricks  :  Tycho  Brahe,  Nicholas  Ra- 
meruSjHselisseusRoeslin,  have  peculiar  hypotheses  of  their  own 
inventions;  and  they  be  but  inventions,  as  most  of  them  ac- 
knowledge, as  we  admit  of  aequators,  tropicks,  colures,  cir- 
cles,arctique  and  antarctique,  for  doctrines  sake  (though  Ra- 


aEpist.  lib.  1.  p.  83.  Ex  qnibns  constat  nee  diversa  aeris  et  aetherisdiaphana  esse, 
nee  refractiones  aliunde  quam  a  crasso  aere  caussari. — Non  dura  ant  iuipervia,  sed 
liquida,  subtilis,  motuique  planetanim  facile  eedens.  bin  Progymn.  lib.  2.  ex- 

emplis  quinque.  c  InTheoria  nova  Met.  coelestium,  1578.  d  Epit.  Astron. 

lib.  4.  e  Malta  sane  hine  eonsequantur  absurda,  et  si  nihil  aliud,  tot  comela;  in 

jethere  animadversi,  qui  nulliasorbisdnctum  comitantur,  id  ipsnni  sufiicienter  refellunt. 
Tycho,  astr.  epist.  pag.  107,  f  In  Tlieoricis  planetanim,  three  above  the  firma- 

ment, which  all  wise  men  reject. 


382  Cure  of  Melancholy .  [Part.  2.  >Sec.  2. 

nius  tbinksthem  all  unnecessary)  they  will  have  them  supposed 
onely  for  method  and  order.  Tycho  hath  fained  I  know  not 
how  many  subdivisions  of  epicycles  in  epicycles,  &c.  to  cal- 
culate and  express  the  moons  motion  ;  but  when  all  is  done, 
as  a  supposition,  and  no  otherwise;  not  (as  he  holds)  hard, 
hu penetrable,  subtile,  transparent,  &c.  or  making  musick,  as 
Pythagoras  maintained  of  old,  and  Robert  Constantino  of 
late,  but  still  quiet,  liquid,  open,  &c. 

If  the  heavens  then  be  penetrable,  as  these  men  deliver,  and 
no  lets,  it  were   not  amiss,  in  this  aereall   progress,  to  make 
wings,  and  fly  up;  which  that  Turk,  in  Busbequius,  made  his 
fellow-citizens  in  Constantinople  beleeve  he  would  perfoi-m, 
and  some  new-fangled  wits,  me  thinks,  should  some  time  or 
other  finde  out:  or  if  thatmay  not  be,  yet  with  aGaliliesglass, 
or  Icaromenippus  wings  in  Lucian,  command   the  spheres 
and  heavens,   and  see  what  is  done  amongst  them  :  whether 
there  be  generation  and  corruption,  as  some  think,  by  reason 
offEthereall  comets,  that  in  Cassiopea  157*2,  that  in  Cygno 
1600,  that  in  Sagittarius  1604,  and  many  like,  which  by  no 
means  Jul.  Caesar  la  Galla,  that  Italian  philosopher,  (in  his 
physicall    disputation  with   Galileus,  de  phcenomeuis  in  orbe 
Lunoc,  cap.  9)  will  admit :  or  that  they  were  created  ab  initio, 
and  shew  themselves  at  set  times;  and,  as  ^Helisseus  RcEslin 
contends,  have   poles,  axeltrees,  circles  of  their  own,  and 
regular  motions.      For  non  pereunt,  sed  minuuntur  et  dispa- 
reW, ''Blancanus  holds:  they  come  and  go  by  fits,  casting- 
their  tailes  still  from  the  sun:  some  of  them,  as  a  burning  glass 
projects  the  sun  beams  from  it;  though  not  alwaies  neither; 
for  sometimes  a  comet  casts  his  taile  from  Venus,  as  Tycho  ob- 
serves ;  and,  as  '^Helisasus  Roeslin  of  some  others,  from  the 
moon,  with  little  stars  about  them,  ad  stiqyorem  astronomo- 
rum;  cum  multis  aliis  in  coelo  miraculis,  all  which  argue, 
with  those  Medicean,  Austrian,  and  Burbonian  stars,    that 
the  heaven  of  the  planets  is  indistinct,  pure  and  open,  in 
which  the  planets  move  certis   legihus  ac  metis.       Examine 
likewise,  an  caelum  sit  color atum  ?     Whether  the  stars  be  of 
that  bigness,    distance,  as  astronomers   relate,  so  many  in 
•^  number,  1026,  or  1725,  as  J.  Bayerus ;  or  as  some  Rabbins, 
29000  myriades;  or,  as  Galilie  discovers  by  his  glasses,  infi- 
nite, and   that  via  lactea,  a  confused  light  of  small  stars, 
like  so  many  nailes  in  a  door  :  or  all  in  a  row,  like  those 
12000  isles  of  the  Maldives,  in  the   Indie  ocean  ?  whether 
the  least  visible  star  in  the  eighth  sphere  be  18  times  bigger 

a  Theor.  nova,  ccelest  Meteor.  ^  Lib.  de  fabrica  miindi.  cLib.  de 

Cometis.  d  An  sit  crux  et  nubecula  in  coelis  ad  Polum  Antarcticum,  quod  ex 

Corsalio  refert  Patritius. 


Mem.  3.]  Digression  of  Ayr e.  383 

than. the  earth;  and,  as  Tycho  calculates,  14000semidiaineters 
distant  from  it?  VVhether  tliey  be  thicker  parts  of  the  orbes,  as 
Aristole  delivers;  or  so  many  habitable  Morlds, as Democritus? 
whether  they  have  light  of  their  own,  or  from  the  sun,  or 
give  light  round,  as  Patritius  discourseth?  An  ceque  distent  a 
ceutro  mundi?  Whether  light  be  of  their  essence;  and  that 
light  be  a  substance  or  an  accident  ?  whether  they  be  hot  by 
themselves  or  by  accident  cause  heat?  M^hether  there  be  such 
a  precision  of  the  a^nuinoxes,  as  Copernicus  holds,  or  that  the 
eight  sphere  move?  An  bene  philosophentur  R.  Bacon,  et 
J.  Dee,  Aphorism,  de  multiplicatione  specierimi  ?  Whether 
there  be  any  such  images  afscending-  with  each  degree  of 
the  Zodiack  in  the  east,  as  Aiiacensis  feignes  ?  An  aquasnper 
coehm?  as  Patritius  and  the  schoolmen  v^ill,  a  crystalline 
*  watry  heaven,  which  is  ^  certainly  to  be  understood  of  that  in 
the  middle  region  ?  for  otherwise,  if  at  Noahs  floud  the  water 
came  from  thence,  it  must  be  above  an  hundred  yeeres  fallino- 
down  to  us,  as  *=  some  calculate.  Besides,  an  terra  sit  ani- 
mata?  which  some  so  confidently  beleeve,  with  Orpheus, 
Hermes,  Averroes,  from  which  all  other  souls  of  men,  beasts' 
divels,  plants,  fishes,  &c.  are  derived,  and  into  which  ao-ain' 
after  some  revolutions,  as  Plato  in  his  Timaeus,  Plotinus  in  his 
Enneades,  more  largely  discusse,  they  return  (See  Chalcidius 
and  Bennius,  Platos  commentators)  as  all  philosophical! 
matter,  in  materiam  priniam.  Keplerus,  Patritius,  and  some 
other  neotericks,  have  in  part  revived  this  opinion :  and 
that  every  star  in  heaven  hath  a  soul,  angel,  or  intellioence 
to  animate  or  move  it,  &c.  or  to  omit  all  smaller  controversies 
as  matters  of  less  moment,  and  examine  that  main  paradox' 
of  the  earths  motion,  now  so  much  in  question  :  Ari- 
starchus  Samius,  Pythagoras  maintained  itof  okl,Democritus, 
and  many  of  their  schollers.  Didacus  Astunica,  Anthony  Fas- 
carinus  a  Carmelite,  and  some  other  commentators,  will  have 
Job  to  insinuate  as  much,  cap.  9.  ver.  4.  Qui  commovet 
terrain  de  loco  suo,  Sfc.  and  that  this  one  place  of  Scripture 
makes  more  for  the  earths  motion,  than  all  the  other  prove 
againstit:  whom  Pineda  confutes,  mostcontradict.  Howsoever 
it  is  revived  since  by  Copernicus,  not  as  a  truth,  but  a  suppo- 
sition, as  he  confesseth  himself  in  the  Preface  to  Pope  Nicholas, 
but  now  maintained  in  good  earnest  by  ^  Calcagninus,  Tele- 
sius,  Kepler,  Rotman,  Gilbert,  Digges,  Galileus,  Campa- 
nella,  and  especially  by  ^  Lansbergius,  naturce  ratioiii,    ^ 


.=>  Gilbertus  Origanus.  i.  See  this  discussed  in  Sir  Walter  Raleighs  history 

m  Zanch.  ad  Gasman.  c  Vid.  Fromundura,  de  Meteoris,  lib.  5.  artic.  5   et 

b  °  •  T63o"4  ''  Pec"liari  libello.  e  Comment,  in  motum  terrte  Middle. 


384  Cure  of  Melancholy .  [Part.  2.  Sec.  2.. 

veritati  consentaneum,  by  Orig-anus,  and  ^some  others  of  his 
followers.  For,  if  the  earth  be  the  center  of  the  world,  stand 
still,  and  the  heavens  move,  as  the  most  received  opinion  is, 
which  they  call  inordinatam  coeli  dispositionem^  though  stifly 
maintained  by  Tycho,  Ptolomaeus,  and  their  adherents,  quis 
ille  furor  ?  &c.  what  fury  is  that,  saith  ^  D"".  Gilbert,  satis 
animose,  as  Cabeus  notes,  that  shall  drive  the  heavens 
about  with  such  incomprehensible  celerity  in  24hour8s,  when 
as  every  point  of  the  firmament,  and  in  the  aequator,  must 
needs  move  (so  "  Clavius  calculates)  176660  in  one  246^''  part 
of  an  houre :  and  an  arrow  out  of  a  bow  must  goe  seven  times 
about  the  earth,  whilest  a  man  can  say  an  Ave  Maria,  if  it 
keep  the  same  space,  or  compass  the  earth  1884  times  in  an 
houre ;  which  is  supra  humanam  cogitationem,  beyond  human 
conceit :  Ocyor  et  jaculo,  et  ventos  coquante  sagittd.  A 
man  could  not  ride  so  much  ground,  going  40  miles  a  day, 
in  2904  yeeres,  as  the  firmament  goes  in  24  houres ;  or  so  much 
in  203  yeeres,  as  the  said  firmament  in  one  minute  ;  quod  in- 
credibile  videtur  :  and  the  '^pole  star,  which  to  our  thinking 
scarce  moveth  out  of  his  place,  goeth  a  bigger  circuit  than  the 
sun,  whose  diameter  is  much  larger  than  the  diameter  of  the 
heaven  of  the  sun,  and  50000  semidiameters  of  the  earth  from 
us,  with  the  rest  of  the  fi  xed  stars,  as  Tycho  proves.  To  avoid 
therefore  these  impossibilities,  they  ascribe  a  triple  motion  to 
the  earth,  the  sun  immovable  in  the  center  of  the  whole  world, 
the  earth  center  of  the  moon,  alone,  above  $  and  $,  beneath 
T?  ,  i;,  ^  ,  (or,  as  ^Origanus  and  others  wil,  one  single  motion 
to  the  earth,  still  placed  in  the  center  of  the  world,  Athich  is 
more  probable)  a  single  motion  to  the  firmament,  which  moves 
in  30  or  26  thousand  yeeres;  and  so  the  planets,  Saturne  in  30 
yeeres  absolves  his  sole  and  proper  motion,  Jupiter  in  12, 
Mars  in  3,  &c.  and  so  salve  all  apparences  better  than  any  way 
whatsoever :  calculate  all  motions,  be  they  in  longum  or  latum, 
direct,  stationary,  retrograde,  ascent  or  descent,  without  epi- 
cycles, intricate,  eccentricks,  &c.  rectius  commodiusque  per 
unicum  motum  terrce,  saith  Lansbergius,  much  more  certain 
than  by  those  Alphonsine,  or  any  such  tables,  which  are 
grounded  from  those  other  suppositions.  And  'tis  true,  they 
say,  according' to  optick  principles,  the  visible  apparances  of  the 
planets  do  so  indeed  answer  to  their  magnitudes  and  orbes,  and 
come  neerest  to  mathematical!  observations,  and  precedent  cal- 
culations; there  isnorepugnancy to physicall axiomes, because 


aPeculiari  libello.  ''See  M.  Carpenters  Geogr.  cap.  4.  lib.  1.  Campanella  et 

Origanus  prasf.  Ephemer.  where  Scripture  places  are  answered.  '^  De  Magnete. 

Commeut.  in  2.  cap.  sphaer.  Jo.  de  Sacr.  Bosc.  '•  Dist.  3.  gr.  1,  a  Polo. 

f  Praef.  Ephem. 


Mem,  3.]  Digression  of  Ay  re.  385 

no  penetration  of  orbes :  but  then,  between  the  sphere  of  Satnrne 
and  the  tirmaraent,  there  is  such  an  incredible  and  vast '^space  or 
distance  (7000000  semidiameters  of  the  earth,  as  Tycho  calcu- 
lates) void  ofstars:  and  besides,  they  do  so  inhance  the  big-ness  of 
thestars,  enlarge  the  circuit,  tosalve  those  ordinary  objections 
of  parallaxes  and  retrogradations  of  the  fixed  stars,  that  alter- 
ation of  the  poles,  elevation  in  severall  places  or  latitude  of 
cities  here  on  earth  (for,  say  they,  if  a  mans  eye  Avere  in  the 
firmament,  he  should  not  at  all  discern  that  great  annual  I  mo- 
tion of  the  earth,  but  it  \^ou!d  still  appear  p?/??c/ww  indivisible, 
and  seem  to  be  fixed  in  oneplace,  of  the  same  bigness)  thatitis 
quite  opposite  to  reason,  to  natural  philosophy,  and  all  out  as 
absurd  as  disproportionali  (so  some  will),  as  prodigious,  as  that 
of  the  Suns  swift  motion  of  heavens.  But  hoc  posito,  to  grant 
this  their  tenent  of  the  earths  motion  ;  if  the  eartli  move,  it  is 
a  planet  and  shines  to  them  in  the  moon,  and  to  the  other 
planetary  inhabitants,  as  the  moon  and  they  do  to  us  upon  the 
earth:  but  shine  she  doth,  as  Galilie,  ^Kepler,  and  others 
prove  ;  and  then  per  consequens,  the  rest  of  the  planets  are 
inhabited,  as  well  as  the  moon;  which  he  grants  in  his  disserta- 
tation  with  Galilies  Nuncius  Sidereus,  <=  that  there  he  Joviall 
and  Saturnine  inhahitants,  ^-c.  and  those  severall  planets  have 
their  severall  moons  about  them,  as  the  earth  hath  hers,  as 
Galileus  hath  already  evinced  by  his  glasses;  ''four  about 
Jupiter,  two  about  Saturne  (though  Sitius  the  Florentine,  For- 
tunius  Licetus,  and  Jul.  Ceesar  le  Galla  cavill  at  it)  :  yet 
Kepler,  the  emperours  mathematician,  confirms  out  of  his  ex- 
perience, that  he  saw  as  much  by  the  same  help,  and  more 
about  Mars,  Venus;  and  the  rest  they  hope  to  find  out,  per- 
adventure  even  amongst  the  fixed  stars,  which  Brunus  and 
Brutius  have  already  averred.  Then  (isay)  the  earth  and  they 
be  planets  alike,  inhabited  alike,  moved aboutthe  sun,  the  com- 
mon center  of  the  world  alike  :  and  it  may  be,  those  two  green 
children,  M'hich  ''Nubrigensis  speaks  of  in  his  time,  that  fell 
from  heaven,  came  from  thence ;  and  that  famous  stone  that 
fell  from  heaven,  in  Aristotles  time,  olymp.  84,  anno  tertio,  ad 
Capuce  Fluenta,  recorded  by  Laertius  and  others,  or  Ancile 


a  Which  may  be  fnll  of  planets,  perhaps,  to  us  unseen,  as  those  about  Jupiter,  &c. 
''Luna  circumterrestris  planeta  quum  sit,  consentanenm  est  esse  in  hina  \iventes 
creaturas;  et  singulis  planetarumslobissuiserviuDtcircnlatores  ;  ex  qua  consideratione 
de  eorutn  incolis  sunima  probabilitate  concludimus,  quod  et  Tychoni  Braheo,  e  sola 
consideratione  vastitatis  eorum,  visum  fuit.  Kepi,  dissert,  "cum  nun.  sid.  f.  29. 
i^Temperare  non  possuna  qiiin  ex  inventis  tnis  hoc  moneam,  veri  non  absimiJe,  non 
tarn  in  Luna,  sed  e tiam  in  Jove,  et  reliquis  planetis  incolas  esse.  Kepi.  fo.  26.  Si 
non  sint  accoUe  in  Jovis  globo,  qui  notent  adrairajjdam  hanc  varietatera  oculis,  cui 
bono  qnatuor  illi  planetae  Jovem  circumcursitant  ?  <f  Some  of  those  above  Jupiter 

I  have  seen  myself  by  the  help  of  a  glass  8  foot  lonj.  f  Rerum  Angl.  1.  1,  c.  27. 

de  viridibus  pueris. 


386  Cure  of  Melancholy,  [Part.  2.  Sec.  2. 

or  buckler  in  Numas  time,  recorded  by  Festus.  We  may 
likewise  insert  Avith  Campanella  and  Brnnus,  that  which  Py- 
thagoras, Aristarchiis  Samius,  Heraclitus,  Epicurius,Melissus, 
Democritus,  Lencippus,  maintained  in  their  ages,  there  be 
^infinite  u'orlds,  and  infinite  earths  or  systemes,  m  injinito 
{EtJiere  ;  which ''Eusebius  collects  out  of  their  tenents,  because 
infinite  stars  and  planets  like  unto  this  of  ours,  which  some 
stick  not  still  to  maintain  and  publikely  defend ;  sperahundus 
exspecto  innumerabilinm  mundorum  in  ceternitate  perambu- 
lationem,  ^-c.  (Nic.  Hill  Londinensis  philos.  Epicur.)  For 
if  the  firmament  be  of  such  an  incomparable  bigness,  as  these 
Copernicall  giants  will  have  it,  infimtum,autinJiniloproximum, 
so  vast  and  full  of  innumerable  stars,  as  being'  infinite  in 
extent,  one  above  another,  some  higher,  some  lower,  some 
neerer,  some  farther  oflf,  and  so  far  asunder,  and  those  so  huge 
and  great ;  insomuch,  that,  if  the  whole  sphere  of  Saturn,  and 
all  that  is  included  in  it,  totnm  aggregatuni  (as  Fromundus 
of  Lovain  in  his  tract  de  immobilitate  terrcc  argues)  evehatur 
inter  Stellas,  videri  a  nobis  no7i  poterit,  tarn  immanis  est  dis- 
tajitia  inter  tellurem  et  Jixas  ;  sed  itistar  puncti,  Sfc.  If  our 
world  be  small  in  respect,  why  may  we  not  suppose  a  plurality 
of  worlds,  those  infinite  stars  visible  in  the  firmament  to  be  so 
many  suns,  with  particular  fixt  centers;  to  have  likewise  their 
subordinate  planets,  as  the  sun  hath  his  dancing  still  round 
him?  which  cardinall  Cusanus,Walkarinus,  Brunus,  and  some 
others,  have  held,  and  some  still  maintain.  Animw  Ari- 
stotelismo  inniitritai,  et  minutis  speculatiofiibus  assiietw,  secus 
J'orsan,  ^-c.  Though  they  seem  close  to  us,  they  are  infinitely 
distant,  and  so  per  conseqnens,  there  are  infinite  habitable 
worlds:  what  hinders?  Why  should  not  an  infinite  cause 
(as  God  is)  produce  infinite  eflfects?  as  Nic.  Hill  {Democrit, 
philos.)  disputes :  Kepler  (I  confess)  will  by  no  means  admit 
of  Brunus  infinite  worlds,  or  that  the  fixed  stars  should  be  so 
nianysuns,withtheircompassingplanets;  yetthesaid  '^Kepler, 
betwixt  jestandearnestjinhisPerspective,  Lunar  Geography, 
^  et  Somnio  suo,  Dissertat.  cum  nunc,  sider.  seems  in  part  to 
agree  with  this,  and  partly  to  contradict.  For  the  planets,  he 
yeelds  them  to  be  inhabited;  he  doubts  of  the  stars  :  and  so 
dothTycho  inhis  Astronomicall  Epistles,  out  of  a  consideration 
of  their  vastity  and  greatness,  break  out  into  some  such  like 
speeches,  that  he  will  never  beleeve  those  great  and  huge  bodies 
were  made  to  no  other  use  than  this  that  we  perceive,  to  illu- 


a  Infiniti  alii  mundi,  vel,  ut  Brnnas/terrae,  hnic  nostrse  similes.  ("Libro  cont. 

philos.  cap.  29.  <=  Kepler,  fol.  2.  dissert.  Quid  impedit  quin  credamus  ex  his 

initiis,  plures  alios  mundos  detegendos,  vel  (ut  Democrito  placuit)  infinites  ?        d  Lege 
somnium  Kepleri,  edit.  1635. 


Mem.  3.]  Diyressio'Hr  of  Ayre.  387 

miuate  the  earth,  a  point  insensible,  in  respect  of  the  whole. 
But  who  shall  dwell  in  these  vast  bodies,earths,worlds,  ''if'theij 
be  inhabited?  rationall creatures?  as  Kepler  demands;  or  have 
they  souls  to  be  saved  ?  or  do  they  inhabit  a  better  part  oj'the 
world  than  we  do  ?  are  we  or  they  lords  of  the  world  ?  and  how 
are  all  things  made  for  man  ?  Difficile  est  nodum  hunc  expedire, 
eo  quod  nondum  omnia,  quae  hue pertineat,  explorata  habemus  ; 
'tis  hard  to  determin  ;  this  only  he  proves,  that  we  are  in 
prcccipuo  mundi  sinu,  in  the  best  place,  best  Avorld,  neerest 
the  heart  of  the  sun.  ''Thomas  Campanella,  a  Calabrian 
monk,  (in  his  second  book  de  sensu  rerum,  cap.  4)  subscribes 
to  this  of  Keplerus;  that  they  are  inhabited  he  certainly  sup- 
poseth,  but  with  what  kind  of  creatures  he  cannot  say ;  he 
labours  to  prove  it  by  all  means  :  and  that  there  are  infinite 
worlds,  having-  made  an  apologie  for  Galileus,  and  dedicates 
this  tenet  of  his  to  Cardinall  Cajetanus.  Others  freely  speak, 
mutter,  and  would  perswade  the  world  (as  "^Marinus  Marcenus 
complains)  that  our  modern  divines  are  too  severe  and  rigid 
against  mathematicians ;  ignorant  and  peevish,  in  not  ad- 
mitting their  true  demonstrations  and  certain  observations, 
that  they  tyrannize  over  art,  science,  and  all  philosophy,  in 
suppressing  theirlabours,(saithPomponatius)  forbidding  them 
to  write,  to  speak  a  truth,  all  to  maintain  their  superstition, 
and  for  their  profits  sake.  As  for  those  places  of  Scripture 
.which  oppugne  it,  they  will  have  spoken  ad  captum  vulgi,  and 
if  rightly  imderstood,  and  favorably  interpreted,  not  at  all 
against  it :  and  as  Otho  Gasman  (Astrol.  cap.  Impart.  1)  notes, 
many  great  divines,  besides  Porphyrins,  Proclus,  Simplicius, 
and  those  heathen  philosophers,  doctrind  et  cetate  venerandi, 
Alosis  Genesin  mundanatn  popularis  nescio  cujus  ruditatis^ 
quce  lonye  absit  a  vera  philosophornm  eruditione,  insimulant : 
for  Moses  makes  mention  but  of  two  planets,  0  and  d  .  no 
4  elements,  &c.  Reade  more  in  him,  in  ''  Grossius  and 
Junius.  But  to  proceed,  these  and  such  like  insolent  and  bold 
attempts,  prodigious  paradoxes,  inferences  must  needs  follow, 
if  it  once  be  granted,  which  Rotman,  Kepler,  Gilbert,  Dig- 
geus,  Origanus,  Galileus,  and  otliers  maintain  of  the  earths 
motion,  that   tis   a  planet,   and    shines  as   the  moon  doth, 


a  Quid  igitiir  inqnies,  si  sint  in  ccelo  plures  globi,  similes  nostrae  telluris  ?  an  cnm 
illis  certabimus,  qiiis  raeliorem  ruundi  plagam  teneat?  Si  nobiliores  illoriini  globi, 
nos  uon  suujus  creaturanim  rationalium  nobilissimi ;  c(nomodo  igitur  omnia  propter 
hominem?  quomodo  nos  doinini  operura  Dei  V    Kepler,  fol.  29.  i"  Francoibrt. 

quarto,  1620.  ibid.  40.  1()2'2.  ''  Prsefat.  in  Coiniiient.  in  (icnesin.     Modo  suadent 

theologos  summa  ignoratione  versari,  veras  -scientias  admittere  nolle,  et  tyraonidero 
exercere,  ut  eos  falsis  dogmatibns,  siiperstitiouibns,  et  religione  catholica  detineant. 
d  Theat,  Biblico. 


388  Cure  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  9  Sec.  2. 

which  contains  in  it  ^both  lana  and  sea  as  the  moon  doth: 
for  so  they  find  by  their  glasses  that  mnculcE  in  facie  LuncB, 
the  brighter  parts  are  earth,  the  duskie  sea,  which  Thaies, 
Plutarch,  and  Pythagoras,  formerly  taught ;  and  manifestly 
discern  hilk  and  dales,  and  such  like  concavities,  if  we  may 
subscribe  to  and  beleeve  Galilies  observations.  But  to  avoid 
these  paradoxes  of  the  earths  motion  (which  the  church  of 
Rome  hath  lately  ^condemned  as  hcreticall,  as  appeares  by 
Blancanusand  Fromundus  writings),  our  latter  mathematicians 
have  rolled  all  the  stones  that  may  be  stirred;  and,  to  salve  all 
appearances  and  objections,  have  invented  new  hypotheses, 
and  fabricated  new  systems  of  the  world,  out  of  their  ov/n 
Daedalean  heads.  Fracastorius  will  have  the  earth  stand  still, 
as  before ;  and  to  avoid  that  supposition  of  eccentricks  and 
epicycles,  he  has  coined  72  homocentricks,  to  salve  all  ap- 
pearances. Nicholas  Ramerus  will  have  the  earth  the  center 
of  the  world,  but  moveable,  and  the  eighth  sphere  inmiove- 
able,  the  five  upper  planets  to  move  above  the  sun,  the  sun  and 
moon  about  the  earth.  Of  which  orbes,  '^^Tycho  Brahe  puts 
the  earth  the  center  immoveable,  the  stars  immoveable,  the 
rest  with  Ramerus,  the  planets  without  orbes  to  wander  in  the 
aire,  keep  time  and  distance,  true  motion,  according  to  that 
vertue  which  God  hath  given  them.  "^  Helisseus  Roeslin  cen- 
sureth  both,  with  Copernicus  (whose  hypothesis  de  terra; 
motn,  Philippus  Lansbergius  hath  lately  vindicated,  and  de- 
monstrated with  solid  arguments  in  a  just  volume,  Jansonias 
Cffisius  hath  illustrated  in  asphere).  The  said  Johannes  Lans- 
bergius, 1633,  hath  since  defended  his  assertion  againstall  the 
cavills  and  calumnies  of  Fromundus  his  Anti-Aristarchus, 
Baptista  Morinus,  and  Petrus  Bartholinus:  Fromundus,  1634, 
liath  written  against  him  again,  J.  Rosseus  of  Aberdine,  &c. 
(sound drummes and  trumpets)  whilest  Rosslin  (T  say)  censures 
all,  andPtolomseus  himself  as  unsufficient :  one  offends  against 
natural!  philosophy,  another  against  optick  principles,  a  third 
ao-ainst  mathematicall,  as  not  answering-  to  astrouomicall  ob- 
servations :  one  puts  a  great  space  betwixt  Saturnus  orbe  and 
the  eighth  sphere,  another  too  narrow.  In  his  own  hypothesis 
he  makes  the  earth,  as  before,  the  universall  center,  the  sun  to 
the  five  upperplanets :  to  the  eighth  sphere  he  ascribes  diurnall 
motion,  eccentricks  and  epicycles  to  the  seven  planets,  which 
hath  been  formerly  exploded ;  and  so, 

(Dum  vitant  stulti  vitia,  in  contraria  currunt) 


a  His  argumentis  plane  satisfecisti ;  do  maculas  in  luna  esse  maria;  do  lucidas 
partes  esse  terram.     Kepler,  fol.  16.  •>  Anno  1616.  c  In  HypotUes.  de 

mundo,  Edit.  1597.  JLugduni  1633. 


Mem.  3.]  Digression  of  Ayre,  389 

as  a  tinker  stops  one  hole  and  makes  two,  he  corrects  them, 
and  doth  worse  himself;  reformes  some,  and  marres  all.  In 
the  mean  time,  the  world  is  tossed  in  a  blanket  amongst  them; 
they  hoyse  the  earth  up  and  down  like  a  ball,  make  it  stand 
and  goe  at  their  pleasures.  One  saith  the  sun  stands ;  another, 
he  moves;  a  third  comes  in,  taking  them  all  at  rebound  ;  and, 
lest  there  should  any  paradox  be  wanting,  he  ^liudes  certain 
spots  and  cloudes  in  the  sun,  by  the  help  of  glasses,  which 
multiply  (saith  Keplerus)athingseen  a  thousand  times  bigger 
in  piano,  and  make  it  come  32  times  neerer  to  the  eye  of  the 
beholder:  but  see  the  demonstration  of  this  glass  in  ''Tardcby 
means  of  which,  the  sun  must  turn  round  upon  his  own  center, 
or  they  about  the  sun.  Fabricius  puts  only  three,  and  those 
in  the  sun  :  Apelles,  15,  and  those  without  the  sun,  floating- 
like  the  Cyanean  isles  in  the  Euxine  sea.  ^  Tarde  the  French- 
man hath  observed  33,  and  those  neither  spots  nor  clouds,  as 
Galikus  (Epist.ad  Fe/^erwmJ  supposeth,  but  planets  concen- 
trick  with  the  sun,  and  not  far  from  him,  witl'i  regular  motions. 
•^Christopher  Schemer  a  German  Suisser  Jesuit,  Ursica  Rosa, 
divides  them  in  maculas  etj'aculcts,  and  will  have  them  to  be 
fixed  i«  solis  superjicie,  and  to  absolve  their  periodicall  and 
regular  motion  in  27  or  28  dayes;  holding  withall  the  rotation 
of  the  sun  upon  his  center  :  and  are  all  so  confident,  that  they 
have  made  skemes  and  tables  of  their  motions.  The  ^  Hol- 
lander, in  his  dissertatiuncula  cum  Apelle,  censures  all ;  and 
thus  they  disagree  amongst  themselves,  old  and  new,  irrecon- 
cileable  in  their  opinions;  thus  Aristarchus,  thus  Hipparchus, 
thus  Ptolomaeus,  thus  Albateginus,  thus  Alfraganus,  thus 
Tycho,  thus  Romerus,  thus  Rcesliuus,  thus  Fracastorius,  thus 
Copernicus  and  his  adherents,  thus  Clavius  and  Maginus,  &c. 
with  their  followers,  vary  and  determine  of  these  celestiall 
orbs  and  bodies ;  and  so,  whilest  these  men  contend  about  the 
sun  and  moon,  like  the  philosophers  in  Lucians,  it  is  to  be 
feared  the  sim  and  moon  will  hide  themselves,  and  be  as 
much  oftended  as  'shee  was  witii  those,  and  send  another  mes- 
sage to  Jupiter,  by  some  new  fangled  Icaromenippus,  to  make 
an  end  of  all  those  curious  controversies,  and  scatter  them 
abroad. 

But  why  should  the  sun  and  moon  be  angry,  or  take  ex- 
ceptions at  mathematicians  and  philosophers,  when  as  the  like 
measure  is  offered  unto  God  himself,  by  a  company  of  theolo- 


»  Jo.  Fabricias,  de  macalis  in  sole,  Witeb.  1611.  ''In  Borboniis  sideribas. 

•^Lib.  de  Burboniis  sid.     StellsEsant  erraticae,  qua-  propriis  orbibas  feruntar,  non  lono^e 
a  sole  dissitis,  sed  juxta  solem.  d  Braccini,  fol.  1G30.  lib.  4.  cap.  b'l,  55,  59,  &c. 

e  Lugdnn.  Bat.  An.  161*2.  f  Ne  se  subducant,  et  relicta  statione  decessum 

parent,  at  curiositatia  finem  faciant. 


390  Cure  of  Melancholy.         [Part.  2.  Sec.  2. 

gasters?  They  are  not  contented  to  see  the  sun  and  moon,  mea- 
sure theirsiteand  biggest  distance  in  a  o-lass,  calculate  their  mo- 
tions, or  visit  the  moon  in  a  poeticall  fiction,  or  adream,  as  he 
saith  :  ^  audax  J'acbms  et  memorahile  nunc  incipiam,  neqne 
hoc  S(Bciilo  nsurpatum  prhis :  quid  in  Lnnce  regno  hue  node 
gestnm  sit,  exponam,  et  quo  nemo  unquam  nisi  soniniando  per- 
venit^  but  he  and  Menippus  :  or  as  ''Peter  Cuneus,  bond  fide 
again:  nihil  eorum,  quce  scripturus  sum,  verum  esse  scitote, 
^'C.  qucc  nee  facta,  nee  futura  sint,  dicam,  ^styli  tantnm  et 
ingeuii  caussd:  not  in  jest,  but  in  good  earnest,  these  gygan- 
ticall  Cyclopes  will  transcend  spheres,  heaven,  stars,  into  that 
empyrean  heaven  ;  soare  higher  yet,  and  see  what  God  him- 
self doth.  The  Jewish  Thalmudists  take  upon  them  to  deter- 
mine how  God  spends  his  Avhole  time,  sometimes  playing-  with 
Leviathan,  sometimes  over-seeing  the  world,  &c.  like  Lncians 
Jupiter,  that  spent  much  of  the  year  in  painting  butter-flies 
wings,  and  seeing  who  offered  sacrifice;  telling  the  houres 
when  it  should  rain,  how  much  snow  should  fall  in  such  a  place, 
w  hich  way  the  winde  should  stand  in  Greece,  which  way  in 
Africk.  In  the  Turks  Alcoran,  Mahomet  is  taken  up  to 
heaven,  upon  a  Pegasus  sent  a  purpose  for  him,  as  he  lay  in 
bed  with  his  wife,  and,  after  some  conference  with  God,  is  set 
on  ground  again.  The  pagans  paint  him  and  mangle  him  after 
a  thousand  fashions  ;  our  hereticks,  schismaticks,  and  some 
schoolmen,  come  not  far  behind:  some  paint  him  in  the  habit 
of  an  old  man,  and  make  maps  of  heaven,  number  the  angels, 
tell  their  severall  ''names, offices :  some  deny  God  and  his  pro- 
vidence ;  some  take  his  office  out  of  his  hand,  will  '^binde  and 
loose  in  heaven,  release,  pardon,  forgive,  and  be  quarter-master 
with  him;  some  call  his  Godhead  in  question,  his  power  and 
attributes,  his  mercy,  justice, providence;  they  will  know  with 
^  Csecilius,  why  good  and  bad  are  punished  together,  war,  fires, 
plagues,  infest  all  alike,  why  wicked  men  flourish,  good  are 
poor,  in  prison,  sick,  and  ill  at  ease.  Why  doth  he  suffer  so 
much  mischief  and  evill  to  be  done,  if  he  be  sable  to  help? 
why  doth  he  not  assist  good,  or  resist  bad,  reform  our  wills,  if 
be  be  not  the  author  of  sin,  and  let  such  enormities  be  com- 
mitted, unworthy  of  his  knov/ledge,  wisdome,  government, 
mercy,  and  providence?  why  lets  he  all  things  be  done  by  for- 
tune and  chance  ?     Others  as  prodigiously  enquire  after  his 


a  Hercules,  tuam  fidem  !    Satyra  Menip.  edit.  160S.  ^  Sardi  venales.   Satyr. 

Menip.  an.  1612.  '^  Puteani  Comus  sic  incipit,  or  as  Lipsius  Satyre  in  a  dream. 

dTrithemins,  1.  de  7.  secundis.  eThey  have  fetched  Trajanus  sonl  out  of  hell, 

and  canonize  for  saints  whom  they  list.  fin  Minutius.     Sine  delectu  tenipestates 

tangunt  loca  sacra  et  profana  ;  bonorum  et  malorum  fata  juxta  ;  nullo  ordine  res  fiunt : 
solnta  legihus  fortuna  dominatur.  ?Vel  malus  vel  impotens,  qui  peccatum  per- 

mittit,  &c.  unde  hsec  superstitio  ? 


Mem.  3.]  Dhfresdon  ofAyre.  391 

omnipotency,  an  posdt  plures  similes  creare  Deo.'i?  an  ex 
scarahcEO  Deum./  <,S'f.  et  quo  demum  metis,  sacrificuli?  Some, 
by  visions  and  revelations,  take  upon  them  to  be  familiar  with 
God,   and  to  be  of  privie  counsell  with  him;  they  will  tell 
how  many,  and  who,  shall  be  saved,  when  the  world  shall 
come  to  an  end,  what  year,  whatmoneth,  and  whatsoever  else 
God  hath  reserved  unto   himself,   and  to  his  angels.     Some 
ag-ain,  curious  phantasticks,  wilt  know  more  than  this,  and  en- 
quire, with    '^Epicurus,  what  God  did  before  the  v.orld  «'as 
made?  was  he  idle?  where  did  he  bide  ?  what  did  he  make 
the  world  of?  why  did  he  then  make  it,   and  not  before  ?  If 
he  made  it  new,    or  to  have  an  end,  how  is  he  unchanoeal^le, 
infinite?  &c.     Some  will  dispute,  cavill,  and  object,  a?Ju!ian 
did  of  old,  Mdiom  Cyriil  confutes,  as  Simon  Magus  is  fained 
to  do,inthat  ''dialogue  betwixt  him  and  Peter:  and  Ammonius 
the  philosopher,  in  that  dialogicall  disputation  with  Racha- 
rms  the  Christian.     If  God  be  infinitely  and  only  good,   why 
should  he  alter  or  destroy   the  world?  if  he  confound  that 
which  IS  good,  how  shall  himself  continue  good?  if  he  pull  it 
down  because  evil!,  how  shall  he  be  free  from  the  evill,  that 
made  it  evili?   &c.  with  many  such  absurd  and  brain-sick 
questions,  intricacies,  froth  of  humane  wit,  and  excrements  of 
curiosity,  &c.   which,  as  our  Saviour  told  his  inquisitive  dis- 
ciples, are  not  fit  for  them  to  know.     But  hoo !  I  am  now  ooue 
quite  out  of  sight :  I  am  almost  giddy  with  rovino-  aboul  •  I 
could  have  ranged  further  yet ;  but  I  am  an  infaSt,  and  not 
able  to  dive  into  these  profundities,  or  sound  these  depths  ; 
not  '^  able  to  understand,  much  less  to  discuss.     I  leave  the 
contemplation  of  these  things  to  stronger  wits,  that  have 
better  ability,  and  happier  leisure,  to  wade  into  such  philoso- 
phicall  mysteries:  for  put  case  I  Were  as  able  as  willino-,  vet 
what  can  one  man  do .?  I  will  conclude  with  '^  Scaliger,  I^qiia- 
qnam  nos  homines  snimis,  sed  partes  hominis :  ex  onmihis  ali- 
quidjieri potest,  idqne  non  viagnnm ;  ex  sinr/nfis  fere  nihil 
Besides  (as   Nazianzen  hath  \i)  Deiis  latere  nos  mnlta  voluit  : 
and  with   Seneca,  (cap.  35.   de  Cotneiis)  Quid  miramur  tarn 
rara  mundi  spectacnla  non  teneri  certis   legibus,  nondmn  in- 
telliyi  ?  multcB  swit  ijentes,  quas  taatum  de  facie  sciunt  ccb- 
Inm :  veniet  tempiis  fortasse,  qiw  ista,  quce  lumc  latent,  in 
lucem  dies  extrahat  lonc/ioris  ccvi  dilif/entid :  nna  atas  non 
sufficit:  posteri,  S^c.  when  God  sees  liis  time,  he  will  reveal 
these  mysteries  to  mortall  men,  and  shew  that  to  some  i'ew  at 

a  Quid  fecit  Deus:ante   ranndum  creattim  ?  uhi  vixit   otiosus  a  suo  subjecto,  &c. 

Lib.  3   recoR.   Pe  .  cap.  3.     Peter  answers  by  the  simile  of  an  cgge-shell/ which  is 

cunningly  made,  ye   of  necessity  to  be  broken;  so  is  the  world,  &c.  that  the  excellent 

git  on:s.''^""^"a"Etcrt  r84'''  '"^""^^*-  ''''  ™^  P'""^'^  '^-*'  -  ^-e  n>er- 


VOL.    I. 


L  L 


392  Cure  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  2.  Sec.  2. 

last,  which  he  hath  concealed  so  long.  Fori  am  of^his  mind, 
that  Columbus  did  not  find  out  America  by  chance,  but  God 
directed  him  at  that  time  to  discover  it :  it  was  contingent  to 
him,  but  necessary  to  God ;  he  reveals  and  conceals,  to  whom 
and  when  he  will :  and,  which  ''one  said  of  history  and  records 
of  former  times,  God  in  Jns providence^  to  check  our  presump^ 
tuous  inquisition,  icraps  up  all  things  in  uncertainty,  bars  us 
from  long  antiquity,  and  hounds  our  search  within  the  compass 
of  some  few  ages.  Many  good  things  are  lost,  which  our  pre- 
decessors made  use  o^,  as  Pancirolla  will  better  enform  you  ; 
many  new  things  are  daily  invented,  to  the  publike  good ; 
so  kingdomes,  men,  and  knowledge,  ebbe  and  flow,  are  hid 
and  revealed  :  and  when  you  have  all  done,  as  the  preacher 
concluded,  Nihil  est  S7ih  sole  novum.  But  my  melancholy 
spaniel*  quest,  my  game  is  sprung-,  and  I  must  suddenly  come 
doviai  and  follow. 

Jason  Pratensis,  in  his  book  de  morhis  capitis^  and  chapter 
of  Melancholy,    hath  these  words  out  of  Galen,  '^  Let  them 
come  to  me  to  know  what  meat  and  drink  they  shall  use  ;  and, 
besides  that,  I  will  teach  them  tchat  temper  of  ambieiit  aire 
they  shall  make  choice  of  what  wind,  what  countries  they 
shall  chuse,  and  ivhat  avoid.     Out  of  which  lines  of  his,  thus 
much  we  may  gather,  that,  to  this  cure  of  melancholy,  amongst 
other  things,  the  rectification  of  aire  is  necessarily  required. 
This  is  performed   either  in  reforming  naturall  or  artificial] 
aire.  Natural  is  that  which  is  in  our  election  to  chuse  or  avoid: 
and  'tis  either  general!,  to  countries,  provinces,  particular,  to 
cities,  towns,  villages,  or  private  houses.      What  harm  those 
extremities  of  heat  or  cold  do  in  this  malady,  1  have  formerly 
shewed  ;    the  medium  must  needs  be  good,  where  the  aire  is 
temperate,  serene,  quiet,  free  from  bogs,  fens,  mists,  all  man- 
ner of  putrefaction,  contagious  and  filthy  noisom  smels.    The 
** Egyptians  by  all  geographers  are  commended  to  be  hilares,  a 
conceited  and  merry  nation  ;  which  I  can  ascribe  to  no  other 
cause  than  the  serenity  of  their  aire.     They  that  live  in  the 
Orchades  are  registred  by  eHector  Boiithius  and  *^ Cardan  to 
be  fair  of  complexion,  long-lived,  most  healthful),  free  from 
all  manner  of  infirmities  of  body  and  mind,  by  reason  of  a 
sharp  purifying  aire,  which  comes  from  the  sea.    The  Boeotians 
in  Greece  were  dull  and  heavy,  crassi  Bceoti,  by  reason  of  a 
foggy  aire  in  which  they  lived, 


a  Laet.  descript.  occii.  Indise.  l^  Daniel,  principiohistorise.  <^Vemant 

ad  me,  audituri  quo  escnlento,  quo  item  pociilento  uti  debeant,  et  prseter  alimentam 
ipsutn,  potumque,  ventos  ipsos  docebo,  item  aeris  ambientis  temperiem,  insuper 
regiones  quas  eligere,  qiias  vitare,  ex  usu  sit.  ^Leo  Afer,  Maginus,  &:c. 

eLib.  1.  Scot.  Hist.  ^Lib.  1.  de  rer.  var. 


Mem.  3.]       '  Aifre  rectified.  ti^S 

(*  Beeotfim  in  crasso  jurares  acre  natum.) 
Attica  most  acute,  pleasant,  and  refined.    The  clime  cliangeth 
not  so  much  custouies,  manners,  wits  (as  Aristotle,  Polit. 
lib.  G.  cap.  4.  Vegetius,  Plato,  Bodine,  method,  hist,  cap,  5. 
hath  proved  at  larg-e)  as  constitutions  of  their  bodies,  and  tem- 
perature itself.  In  all  particular  provinces  we  see  it  confirmed 
by  experience ;  as  the  aire  is,  so  are  the  inhabitants,  dull, hea- 
vy, witty,  subtle,  neat,  cleanly,  clownish,  sick,  and  sound.   In 
'•Perigortin  France,  the  aire  is  subtile,  healthfull,  seldome  any 
plague  or  contagions  disease,  but  hilly  and  barren;  the  men, 
sound,  nimble,  and  lusty;  but  in  some  parts  of  Quienne  full  of 
moores  and  marishes,  the  people  dull,  heavy,  and  subject  to 
many  infirmities.       Who  sees  not  a  great  difl^erence  betwixt 
Surry,  Sussex,  and  Rumny  marsh,  the  -vvolds  in  Lincolnshire, 
and  the  fens?  He,  therefore,  that  loves  his  health,  if  his  ability 
will  give  him  leave,  must  often  shift  places,  and  make  choice  of 
such  as  are  wholsome,  pleasant,  and  convenient ;  there  is  no- 
thing better  than  the  change  of  aire  in  this  malady,  and,  gene- 
rally for  health,   to  wander  up  and  down,   as  those  '^Tartari 
Zamolhenses,  that  live  in  herds,  and  take  opportunity  of  times, 
places,  seasons.     The  kings  of  Persia  had  their  summer  and 
■winter  houses;  in  winter  at  Sardis,  in  summer  at  Susa ;  now 
atPersepolis,thenatPasargada.  Cyrus  lived  seven  cold  months 
at  Babylon,  three  at  Susa,  two  at  Ecbatana,  saith  -^  Xenophon, 
and  had  by  that  means  a  perpetual  spring.      The  great  Turk 
sojourns  sometimes  at  Constantinople,  sometimes  at  Adriano- 
ple,  &c.     The  kings  of  Spain  have  their  Escuriall  in  heat  of 
summer,  'Madrittefor  an  wholesome  seat,  Villadolitte  a  plea- 
sant site,  &c.  variety  of  secess?ts,  as  all  princes  and  great  men 
have,  and  their  severall  progresses  to  this  purpose.     Lucullus 
the  Roman  had  his  house  at  Rome,  at  Baiae,  &c.     ^When 
Cn.  Pompeius,  Marcus  Cicero,  (saith  Plutarch)  and  many  no- 
ble men,  in  the  summer  came  to  see  him,  at  supper  Pompeius 
jested  with  him, that  it  was  an  elegant  and  pleasant  village,full 
of  windows,  galleries,  and  all  offices  fit  for  a  summer  house; 
but,  in  hisjudgment,  very  unfit  for  winter:  Lucullus  made  an- 
swer, that  the  lord  of  the  house  had  wit  like  a  crane,  that 
changeth  her  country  with  the  season  ;  he  had  other  houses 
furnished  and  built  for  that  purpose,  all  out  as  commodious  as 
this.     So  TuUy  had  his  Tusculane,  Plinius  his  Lauretan  vil- 


aHorat.        b  Maginus.        c  Haitonns,  de  Tartaris.  <i  Cyropaed.  li.  8.  Perpetnnm 

inde  yer.  e  The  aire  so  clear,  it  never  breeds  the  plagiae.  '"Leander  Alber- 

tus,  in  Campania,  e  Plntarcho,  vitd  Lnculli.  Cum  Cn.  Pompeius,  Marcos  Cicero, 
multiqiie  nobiles  viri,  L.  Liicullum  sestivo  tempore  convenissent,  Pompeius  inter  coenan- 
diim  familiariter  jocatus  est,  earn  villara  imprimis  sibi  sumtuosam  et  elegaotem  ^-ideri 
fenestris,  porticibiis,  &c.  ' 

ll2 


394  Cure  of  Melancholy,  [Part.  2.  Sec.  2. 

lage,  and  every  g-entleman  of  any  fashion  in  our  times  hath  the 
like.     The  ^  bishop  of  Exeter  had  14  severall  houses  all  fur- 
nished, in  times  past.     In  Italy,  though  they  bide  in  cities  in 
winter,  which  is  more  gentleman-like,  all  the  summer  they 
come  abroad  to  their  country-houses,  to  recreate  themselves. 
Our  gentry  in  England  live  most  part  in  the  country  (except 
it  be  some  few  castles),  building  still  in  bottoms  (saith  ''Jovius) 
or  neer  woods,  corona  arhornm  virentium :  you  shall  know  a 
village  by  a  tuft  of  trees  at  or  about  it,  to  avoid  those  strong 
winds  wherewith  the  island  is  infested,  and  cold  winter  blasts. 
Some  discommend  moted  houses,  as  unwholsome,  (so  Camden 
saith  of  "^Ew-elme,   that  it  was  therefore  unfrequented,   ob 
stagni  vicini  hatitns)  and  all  such  places  as  be  neer  lakes  or 
rivers.     But  lam  of  opinion,  that  these  inconveniences  will 
be  mitigated,  or  easily  corrected,  by  good  fires,  as  ^  one  reports 
of  Venice,   that    ffraveolentia  and  fog  of  the  moors  is  suffi- 
ciently qualified  by  those  innumerable  smoaks.     Nay  more, 
''Thomas  Philol.  Ravennas,  a  great  physician,  contends  that 
the  Venetians  are  generally  longer  lived  than  any  city  in  Eu- 
rope, and  live,  many  of  them,  120  yeers.     But  it  is  not  water 
simply  that  so  nuich  ofi^ends,  as  the  slime  and  noisome  smels 
that  accompany  such  overflowed  places,  which  is  but  at  some 
few  seasons  after  a  floud,  and  is  sufficiently  recompensed  with 
sweet  smels  and  aspects  in  summer,    (Ver  pinf/it  vario  gem- 
mantia  prata  colore)    and  many  other  commodities  of  plea- 
sure and  profit ;  or  else  may  be  corrected  by  the  site,  if  it  be' 
somewhat  remote  from  the  water,  as  Liudly,  ^Orton  super 
montem,  s Drayton,  or  a  little  more  elevated,  though  neerer,  as 
^'Caucut,  as  '  Amington,  ^Polesworth,  ^Weddington,  (to  insist 
in  such  places  best  to  me  known)  upon  the  river  of  Anker  in 
Warwickshire,  ""Swarston,  and  °Drakesly  upon  Trent.     Or, 
howsoever,  they  be  unseasonable  in  winter,  or  at  some  times, 
they  have  their  good  use  in  summer.    If  so  be  that  their  means 
be  so  slender,  as  they  may  not  admit  of  any  such  variety,  but 
must  determine  once  for  all,  and  make  one  house  serve  each 
season,  I  know  no  men  that  have  given   better  rules  in  this 
behalf,   than  our  husbandry  writers.      °  Cato  and   Columella 

I)rescribe  a  good  house  to  stand  by  a  navigable  river,  good 
ligh-waies,  neer  some  city  and  in  a  good  soile ;  but  that  is 
more  for  commodity  than  health. 

a  Godwin,  vita  Jo.  Voysye  al.  Harman.  «  Descript.  Brit.  «In  Oxford- 
shire. dLeander  Albertus.  ^Cap.  21.  de  vit.  horn,  prorog.  fThe 
possession  of  Robert  Bradshaw,  Esq.  §  Of  George  Piirefey,  Esq.  i>The 
possession  of  William  Purefey,  Esq.  '  The  seat  of  Sir  John  Reppington,  Kt 
a  Sir  Henry  Goodieres,  lately  deceased.  'The  dwelling  house  of  Huni.  Ad- 
derly,  Esq.  mgir  John  Harpars,  lately  deceased.  "  Sir  George  Greseiles,  Kt. 
0  Lib.  1.  can.  2. 


Mem.  S.]  Ayre  rectijied.  395 

The  best  soile  commonly  yeelds  the  worst  aire:  a  dry  sandy 
plat  is  fittest  to  build  upon,  and  such  as  is  rather  hilly  than 
plain,  full  of  downes,  a  cotswold  country,  as  being-  most  com- 
modious for  hawking-,  hunting-,  wood,  waters,  and  all  manner 
of  pleasures.  Perigot  in  France  is  barren,  yet,  by  reason  of 
the  excellency  of  the  aire,  and  such  pleasures  that  it  affords, 
much  inhabited  by  the  nobility;  as  Noremberg  in  Germany, 
Toledo  in  Spain.  Our  countryman  Tusser  will  tell  us  so 
much,  that  the  fieldone  is  for  profit,  the  woodland  for  pleasure 
and  health,  the  one  commonly  a  deep  clay,  therefore  noisome 
in  winter,  and  subject  to  bad  high-wayes  :  the  other  a  dry 
sand.  Provision  may  be  had  elsewhere,  and  our  townes  are 
generally  bigger  in  the  woodland  than  fieldone,  more  fre- 
quent and  populous,  and  gentlemen  more  delight  to  dwell  in 
such  places.  Sutton  Coldfield  in  Warwickshire  (where  I  was 
once  a  grammar  schollar)  may  be  a  sufficient  witness,  which 
stands,  as  Camden  notes,  loco  ingrato  et  sterili,  but  in  an  ex- 
cellent aire,  and  full  of  all  maner  of  pleasures.  '"^  Wadley  in 
Barkshire  is  situate  in  a  vale,  though  notsoferti!  a  soile  as  some 
vales  afford,  yet  a  most  commodious  site,  wholsome,  in  a  de- 
licious aire,  a  rich  and  pleasant  seat.  So  Segrave  in  Leicester- 
shire (which  towne''  1  am  now  bound  to  remember)  is  sited 
in  a  champian,  at  the  edge  of  the  Avoids,  and  more  barren 
than  the  villages  about  it;  yet  no  place  likely  yeelds  a  better 
aire.  :And  he  that  built  that  faire  house,  '^Wollerton  in  Not- 
tinghamshire, is  nmch  to  be  commended,  (though  the  tract  be 
sandy  and  barren  about  it)  for  making  choice  of  such  a  place. 
Constantine  {fib.  2.  cap.  de  agricult.)  praiseth  mountaines, 
hilly,  steep  places,  above  the  rest  by  the  seaside,  and  such  as 
look  toward  the  '^  north  upon  some  great  river,  as  ^Farmack  in 
Darbishire  on  the  Trent,  environed  with  hils,  open  only  to  the 
north,  like  Mount  Edgemond  in  Cornwall,  which  M"^.  'Ca- 
rew  so  much  admires  for  an  excellent  seat:  such  as  is  the  ge- 
nerall  site  of  Bohemia:  serenat  Boreas;  the  north  wind  clari- 
fies ;  ^  hut  neer  lakes  or  marishes,  hi  holes,  obscure  places,  or 
to  the  south  and  west,  he  utterly  disproves :  those  winds  are 
unwholsome,  putrifying,  and  make  men  subject  to  diseases. 
The  best  building  for  health,  according  to  him,  is  in  ^  hif/h 
places,  and  in  an  excellent  prospect^  like  that  of  Cuddeston 


a  The  seat  of  G.  Pnrefey,  Esq.  i^For  I  am  now  incumbent  of  that  rectory,  pre- 

sented thereto  by  my  right  honorable  patron,  the  Lord  Berkly.  '=Sir  Francis  Wil- 

loiighby.  'iMontani  et  maritimi  salnbriores,  acclives,  et  ad  Boream  vergentes. 

«  The  dwelling  of  Sir  To.  Biirdet,  Knight  Baronet.  'In  his  Siirvay  of  Cornwall, 

book  2.  s  Frope  paludes,  stagna,  et  loca  concava,  vel  ad  Austrum,  vel  ad  Occi- 

dentem  inclinata;,  domus  sunt  morbosai.  h  Oportet  ig^tur  ad  sanitatem  doraasin 

altioribus  aedificarej  et  ad  speculationem. 


396  Cure  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  2.  Sec.  2. 

in  Oxfordshire  (which  place  I  must,  honoris  ergo,  mention)  is 
lately  and  fairly  ''built  in  a  good  aire,  good  prospect,  good 
soile,  both  for  profit  and  pleasure,  not  so  easily  to  be  matched. 
P.  Crescentius  (in  his  lib.  I.  de  Agric.  cap.  5)  is  very  copious 
in  this  subject,  how  a  house  should  be  wholsomely  sited,  in  a 
good  coast,  good  aire,  wind,  &c.  Varro  {de  re  rust.  lib.  1^. 
cap,  12.)  ^forbids  lakes  and  rivers,  marish  and  manured 
grounds :  they  cause  a  bad  aire,  gross  diseases,  hard  to  be 
cured  :  '^ij'it  be  so  that  he  cannot  help  it,  better  as  he  adviseth, 
sell  thy  house  and  land,  than  lose  thine  health.  He  that  re- 
spects not  this  in  chusing  of  his  seat,  or  building  his  house,  is 
mente  captus,  mad,  ^Cato  saith,  and  his  dwelling  next  to  hell 
it  self ,  according  to  Columella;  he  commends,  in  conclusion, 
the  middle  of  a  hill,  upon  a  descent.  Baptista  Porta  (Villcey 
lib.  1.  cap.  22)  censures  Varro,  Cato,  Columella,  and  those 
ancient  rusticks,  approving  many  things,  disallowing  some, 
and  will  by  all  means  have  the  front  of  an  house  stand  to  the 
south,  which  how  it  may  be  good  in  Italy  and  hotter  climes, 
I  know  not;  in  our  northern  countries  I  am  sure  it  is  best. 
Stephanus,  a  Frenchman  {proidio  rnstic.  lib.  1.  cap.  4)  sub- 
scribes to  this,  approving  especially  the  descent  of  an  hill  south 
or  south  east,  with  trees  to  the  north,  so  that  it  be  well  wa- 
tered ;  a  condition  in  all  sites,  which  must  not  be  omitted,  as 
Herbastein  inculcates, /i6. 1.  Julius  Csesar  Claudinus,  a  physi- 
cian, consult.  24  for  a  nobleman  in  Poland,  melancholy  given, 
adviseth  him  to  dwell  in  a  house  inclining  to  the  ^east,  and  ^by 
all  means  to  provide  the  aire  be  cleer  and  sweet ;  which  Mon- 
tanus  {consil.  229)  counselleth  the  earle  of  Monfort  his  pa- 
tient— to  inhabit  a  pleasant  house  and  in  a  good  aire.  If  it  be 
so  the  naturall  site  may  not  be  altered  of  our  city,  town,  vil- 
lage, yet  by  artificial  means  it  may  be  helped.  In  hot  coun- 
tries, therefore,  they  make  the  streets  of  their  cities  very 
narrow,  all  over  Spain,  Africk,  Italy,  Greece,  and  many  cities 
of  France,  in  Languedock  especially,  and  Provence,  those 
southern  parts  :  Monpelier,  the  habitation  and  university  of 
physicians,  is  so  built,  with  high  houses,  narrow  streets,  to  di- 
vert the  sun's  scalding  rayes,which  Tacitus  commends,  (lib.l5. 
Annal.)  as  most  agreeing  to  their  health,  s because  the  height 


a  By  John  Bancroft,  Dr.  of  Divinity,  my  quondam  tutor  in  Christ-Church,  Oxon,  now 
the  Right  Reverend  Lord  Bishop  of  Oxpn^  who  built  this  house  for  himself  and  his 
successors.  ^  Hyeme  erit  vehementer  frigida,  et  aestate  non  salubris :  paludes 

enim  faciunt  crassum  aerem,  et  difficiles  morbos.  c  Vendas  quot  assibus  possis, 

et  si  nequeas,  relinquas.  ^  Lib.  L  cap.  2.  In  Oreo  habitat.  c  Aurora  Musis 

arnica.  Vitruv,'  fjEdes  Orientem  spectantes  vir  nobilissimus  inhabitet,  et  caret 

ut  sit  aer  clarus,   hjcidus,  odoriferus.       Eligat  habitationem  optimo  aere  jucundam. 
s  Quouiam  angustse  itiuerum  et  altitude  tectomui  dod  perinde  solis  calorem  admittunt. 


Mem.  3.]  Ayre  recti/ied.  397 

of  buildings,  and  narrowness  of  streets,  keep  away  the  sun 
beams.  Some  cities  use  galleries,  or  arched  cloysters  towards 
the  street,  as  Damascus,  Bologna,  Padua,  Berna  in  Switzer- 
land, Westchester  with  us,  as  well  to  avoid  tempests,  as  the 
suns  scorching  heat.  They  build  in  high  hills  in  hot  coun- 
tries, for  more  aire ;  or  to  the  sea  side,  as  Baise,  Naples,  &c. 
In  our  northern  coasts  we  are  opposite;  Ave  commend  straight, 
broad,  open,  fair  streets,  as  most  befitting  and  agreeing-  to  our 
clime.  We  build  in  bottomes  for  warmth  :  and  that  site  of 
Mitylene  in  the  island  of  Lesbos,  in  the  iEgsean  Sea,  (which 
Vitrirvius  so  much  discommends,  magnificently  built  with  fair 
houses,  sed  imprudenter  positam^  unadvisedly  sited,  because 
it  lay  along  to  the  south,  and  when  the  south  wind  blew,  the 
people  were  all  sick)  would  make  an  excellent  site  in  our 
northern  climes. 

Of  that  arlificiall  site  of  houses  I  have  sufficiently  discours- 
ed: if  the  site  of  the  dwelling  may  not  be  altered,  yet  there  is 
much  in  choice  of  such  a  chamber  or  room,  in  opportune 
opening  and  shutting  of  windowes,  excluding  forrain  aire  and 
winds,  and  walking  abroad  at  convenient  times,  ''Crato,  a 
German,  commends  east  and  south  site  (disallowing  cold  aire 
and  northern  Minds  in  this  case,  rainy  weather  and  misty 
dayes)  free  from  putrefaction,  fens,  bogs,  and  muckhills.  If 
the  aire  be  such,  open  no  windowes ;  come  not  abroad.  Mon- 
tanus  will  have  his  patient  not  to  ''stir  at  all,  if  the  wind  be 
big  or  tempestuous,  as  most  part  in  March  it  is  with  us ;  or 
in  cloudy,  louring,  dark  dayes,  as  in  November,  which  we 
commonly  call  the  black  moneth;  or  stormy,  let  the  wind 
stand  how  it  will  :  consil.  27  and  30,  he  must  not  ^  open  a 
casement  in  had  tceather,  or  in  a  boisterous  season ;  consil. 
299,  he  especially  forbids  us  to  open  windows  to  a  south  wind. 
The  best  site  for  chamber  windows,  in  my  judgement,  are 
north,  east,  south  ;  and  which  is  the  worst,  west.  Levinus 
Lemnius  {lib.  3.  cap.  3.  de  occult,  nat.  mir.)  attributes  so  much 
to  aire,  and  rectifying  of  wind  and  windowes,  that  he  holds 
it  alone  sufficient  to  make  a  man  sick  or  well ;  to  alter  body 
and  minde.  ^A  deer  aire  cheares  np  the  spirits,  exhilarates 
the  minde  ;  a  thick,  black,  misty,  tempestuous,  cotitracts,  over- 
throios.  Great  heed  is  therefore  to  be  taken  at  what  times  we 
walke,  how  Ave  place  our  windows,  lights,  and  houses,  how 


3  Consil.  21.  li.  2.    Frigidus  aer,  nubilosus,  densns,  vitandus,  aeque  ac  venti  septem- 
trionales,  &c.  "j  Consil.  24.  cFenestrain  non  aperiat  <!  Disciitit  sol 

horrorem  crassi  spirituSj  mentem  exhilarat;  non  enim  tani  corpora,  qnam  et  aniini,mu- 
tationem  inde  snbeiint,  pro  coeli  et  ventorum  ratione,  et  sani  aliter  artecti  siintccplonn- 
bilo,  aliter  sereuo.  De  natnrA  ventorum,  see  Pliny,  lib.  2.  cap.  20,  '27,  28.  Strabo, 
li.  7.  &c. 


398  Cure  of  Melancholy .  [Part.  2.  Sec.  2. 

we  let  in  or  exch^de  this  ambient  aire.  The  Egyptian*;,  to 
avoid  iiumoderate  heat,  make  their  windows  on  the  top  of  the 
house,  like  chimiiies,  with  two  tunnels  to  drawa  tliroiighaire. 
In  >Spain  they  commonly  make  great  opposite  windows  with- 
out glass,  still  shutting  those  which  are  next  to  the  sun. 
So  likewise  in  Turkey  and  Italy  (Venice  excepted,  which 
brags  of  her  stately  glazed  palaces)  they  use  paper  windows 
to  like  purpose;  and  lye  siih  die,  in  the  top  of  their  flat-roofed 
houses,  so  sleeping  under  the  canopy  of  heaven.  In  some 
parts  of  ^  Italy  they  have  windmills,  to  draw  a  cooling  aire  out 
of  hollow  caves,  and  disperse  the  same  through  all  the  cham- 
bers of  their  palaces,  to  refresh  them;  as  at  Costoza  the  house 
of  Csesareo  Trento,  a  gentleman  of  Vicenza,  and  elsewhere. 
Many  excellent  means  are  invented  to  correct  nature  by  art. 
If  none  of  these  courses  help,  the  best  way  is  to  make  artifi- 
ciall  aire,  which  howsoever  is  profitable  and  good,  still  to  be 
made  hot  and  moist,  and  to  be  seasoned  with  sweet  perfumes, 
^pleasant  and  lightsome  as  maybe;  to  have  roses,  violets,  and 
sweet  smelling  flowers  ever  in  their  windows,  posies  in  their 
hand.  Laurentius  commends  water-lillies,  a  vessell  of  warm 
water  to  evaporate  in  the  room,  which  v/ill  make  a  more  de- 
lightsome perfume,  if  there  be  added  orange  flowers,  pills  of 
citrons,  rosemary,  cloves,  bayes,  rose-water, rose-vinegar,  bel- 
zoin,,  ladanum,  styrax,  and  such  like  gums,  which  make  a 
pleasantand  acceptable  perfume.  "^Bessardus  Bisantinus pre- 
fers the  smoak  of  juniper  to  melancholy  persons,  which  is  in 
great  request  with  us  at  Oxford,  to  sweeten  our  chambers. 
''Guianerius  prescribes  the  aire  to  beTupistened  with  water, 
and  sweet  herbs  boiled  in  it,  vine  and  sallow-leaves,  &c.  "^to 
besprinkle  the  ground  and  posts  with  rose-watervrose-vinegar, 
which  Avicenna  much  approves.  Of  colours  it  is  good  to  be- 
hold greenfred,  yellow,  and  white,  and  by  all  means  to  have 
light  enough  with  windows  in  the  day,  wax  candles  in  the 
night,  neat  chambers,  good  fires  in  winter,  merry  companions; 
for,  though  melancholy  persons  love  to  be  darke  and  alone, 
yet  darkness  is  a  great  encreaser  of  the  humour. 

Although  our  ordinary  aire  be  good  by  nature  or  art,  yet  it  is 
not  amiss,  as  1  have  said,  still  to  alter  it;  no  better  physickfor 
a  melancholy  man  than  change  of  aire  and  variety  of  places,  to 
travel  abroad  and  see  fashions.  ^  Leo  Afer  speakes  of  many  of 
his  countrymen  so  cured,  without  all  other  physick;  amongst 

a  Fines  Morison,  part.  1.  c.  4.  bAltoniarus,  cap.  7.  Bruel.     Aer  sit  lucidus, 

bene  olens,  humidus.  Montaltus  idem.  ca.  20.  Olfactus  rerum  suavinm.  Laurentius, 
c.  8.  <^  Ant.  Phiios.  cap.  de  melanc.  ^ Tract.  15.  c.  9.     Ex  redolentibus  her- 

bis  et  foliis  vitis  viniferse,  salicis,  &c.  cPavimentum  acetoet  aqua  rosacea  irrorare, 
Laurent,  c.  8.  f  Lib.  1.  cap.  de  morb.  Afrornni,  In  Nigritarum  rep;ione  tantaaeris 
teniperies,  ut  siqiiis  alibi  morbosus  eo  advehatur,  optiraaj  statim  sanitati  restituatur  ; 
quod  multis  accidisse  ipse  meis  oculis  vidi. 


Mem.  3.]  ^yre  rectified.  399 

the  Negroes,  there  is  such  an  excellent  aire,  that  if  any  of 
them  he  sick  elsewhere,  and  brought  thither,  he  is  instant /tj  re- 
covered ;  of  which  he  icas  often  an  ejie-witness.  "Lipsius, 
Zuinger,  and  some  other,  atkle  as  inucli  of  ordinary  travell. 
No  man,  saitli  Lipsiiis,  in  an  epistle  to  Phil.  Lauoius,  a  noble 
friend  of  his,  now  ready  to  make  a  voyage,  "^  can  be  such  a 
stock  or  stone,  whom  that  pleasant  speculation  nj'  countries, 
cities,  towns,  rivers,  will  not  affect.  '^Seneca  the  philoso- 
pher was  infinitely  taken  with  the  sight  of  Scipio  Airicanus 
house,  near  Linternum,  to  view  those  old  buildings,  cisterns 
liathes,  tombs,  &c.  And  how  was'^TuIly  pleased  v.ith  the 
sight  of  Athens,  to  behold  those  ancient  and  faire  buildino-s 
with  a  remembrance  of  their  worthy  inhabitants.  Paulus  ^Emi- 
lius,  that  renowned  Roman  captain,  after  he  had  conquered 
Perseus,  the  last  king  of  3Iacedonia,  and  nov/  made  an  end  of 
his  tedious  wars,  though  he  had  been  long  absent  from  Rome, 
and  much  there  desired,  about  the  beginning  of  autumne  (as 
*^Livy  describes  it)  made  a  pleasant  peregrination  all  over 
Greece,  accompanied  with  his  son  Scipio,  and  Alhenseus  the 
brother  of  king  Eumenes,  leaving  the  charge  of  his  army  with 
Sulpitius  Gallus.  By  Thessaly  he  went  to  Delpbos,  thence  to 
Megaris,  Aulis,  Athens,  Argos,  Lacedsemon,  Megalopolis,  &c. 
He  took  great  content,  exceeding  delight,  in  that  his  voyao-e ; 
as  who  doth  not  that  shall  attempt  the  like,  though  his  travell 
be  ad jactationem  mar/is  quam  ad  usum  reipub.  (as  "^one  Mell 
observes)  to  cracke,  gaze," see  fine  sights  and  fashions,  spend 
time,  rather  than  for  his  own  or  publike  good?  (asitistomany 
gallants  that  travel  out  their  best  daies,  together  with  their 
means,  manners,  honesty,  religion)  yet  it  availeth  howso- 
ever. For  peregrination  charmes  our  senses  with  such  un- 
speakable and  sweet  variety,  e  that  some  count  him  un- 
happy that  never  travelled,  a  kinde  of  prisoner,  and  pity 
his  case,  that  from  his  cradle  to  his  old  age  beholds  the  same 
still;  still,  still  the  same,  the  same  :  insomuch  that  ""Rhasis 
{cont.  lib.  I.  Tract.  2.)  doth  not  only  commend  but  en- 
joyn  travell,  and  such  variety  of  objects,  to  a  melancholy 
man,  and  to  hje  in  divers  innes,  to  be  draicn  into  severall 
companies.  Montaltus  {cap.  06)  and  many  neotericks  are  of 
the  same  minde.  Celsus  adviseth  him,  therefore,  that  will  con- 
tinue his  health,  to  have  variam  vitee  r/enus,  diversity  of  call- 
ings, occupations,  to  be  busied  about, '50/;ie;?77<es  to  live  in 

a  Lib,  de  peregrinat.  »>Epist.  2.  cen.  1.     Nee  qmsquam  tam  lapis  ant  frutex, 

qnem    non   titillat   amoena   ilia,  variaque    spectio    locoruni,    urbium,    gentium,    &;c. 
cEpist.  86.  d21ib.  delegibiis.    '  « Lib.  45.  fKeckernian,  prafatl 

polil.  P Fines  Morison,  c.  3.  part  1.  ''  Mutatio  tie  loco  in  locum,  itinera 

et  viagia  longa  et  indeterminata,  et  hospitare  in  diversii  diversoriis.  '  Modo  niri 

esse,  modo  in  tirbe,  saepius  iu  agro  venari,  &:c. 


400  "   Cure  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  2.  Sec.  2. 

the  city,  sometimes  in  the  countrey  ;  now  to  study  or  work,  to  he 
intent,  then  again  to  hawk  or  hunt,  swim,  run,  ride,  or  exercise 
himself.  A  good  prospect  alone  will  ease  melancholy,  as 
Gomesius  contends,  lib.  2.  c.  7.  deSale.  The  citizens  of  ^Bar- 
cino,  saith  he,  otherwise  penned  in,  melancholy,  and  stirring 
little  abroad,  are  much  delighted  with  that  pleasant  prospect 
their  city  hath  into  the  sea,  which,  like  that  of  old  Athens,  be- 
sides ^gina,  Salamina,  and  many  pleasant  islands,  had  all  the 
variety  of  delicious  objects:  so  are  those  Neapolitanes,  and  in- 
habitants of  Genua,  to  see  the  ships,  boats,  and  passengers, 
go  by,  out  of  their  windows,  their  M'hole  cities  being  sited  on 
the  side  of  an  hill,  like  Pera  by  Constantinople,  so  that  each 
house  almost  hath  a  free  prospect  to  the  sea,  as  some  part  of 
London  to  the  Thames:  or  to  have  a  free  prospect  all  over  the 
city  at  once,  as  at  Granado  in  Spain,  and  Fez  in  Africk,  the 
river  running  betwixt  two  declininghills,  the  steepness  causeth 
each  house  almost  as  well  to  oversee,  as  to  be  overseen  of  the 
rest.  Every  country  is  full  of  such  ^delightsome  prospects,  as 
well  within  land  as  by  sea,  asHermon  and  *^Rama  in  Palssstina, 
Colalto  in  Italy,  the  topof  Taygetus,orAcrocorinthus,  that  old 
decayed  castle  in  Cormth,  from  which  Peloponnesus,  Greece, 
the  Ionian  and  iEgsean  seas,  were,  semeZ  et  simul,  at  one  view 
to  be  taken.  In  Egypt  the  square  top  of  the  great  Pyramis  300 
yards  in  height,  and  so  the  sultans  palace  in  Grand  Cairo,  the 
country  being  plain,  hath  a  marvellous  faire  prospect,  as  well 
over  Nilus,  as  that  great  city,  five  Italian  miles  long,  and  two 
broad,  by  the  riverside:  from  mount  Sion  in  Jerusalem  the  holy 
land  is  of  all  sides  to  be  seen.  Such  high  places  are  infinite  : 
with  us,  those  of  the  best  note  are  Glassenbury  toM^er,  Bever 
castle,  Rodway  Grange,  "^Walsby  in  Lincolnshire,  where  I 
lately  received  a  real  kindness  by  the  munificence  of  the  right 
honourable  my  noble  lady  and  patroness,  the  Lady  Frances 
countess  dowager  of  Exeter ;  and  two  amongst  the  rest,  which 
I  may  not  omit  for  vicinities  sake,  Oldbury  in  the  confines  of 
Warwickshire,  where  1  have  often  looked  about  me  with 
great  delight,  at  the  foot  of  which  hill ''I  was  born;  and  Han- 
bury  in  Staffordshire,  contiguous  to  which  is  Falde  a  pleasant 
village,  and  an  ancient  patrimony  belonging  to  our  family, 
now  in  the  possession  of  mine  elder  brother  William  Burton, 
esquire.  ^Barclay  the  Scot  commends  that  of  Greenwich 
tower  for  one  of  the  best  prospects  in  Europe,  to  see  London 
on  the  one  side,  the  Thames,  ships,  and  pleasant  meadows,  on 

a  In  Catalonia  in  Spaine.  •>  Laudaturqne  domns,  longos  quK  prospicit  agros. 

«  Many  towns  there  are  of  that  name,  saith  Adricomiiis,  all  high-sited.  ^  Lately 

resigned  for  some  speciall  reasons.  "^  At  Lindley  in  Lecestershire^  the  pos- 

session and  dwelling  place  of  Ralph  Burton,  Esquire,  my  late  deceased  father.  f  In 

Icon  animorum. 


Mem.  4.]  Exercise  rectijied.  401 

the  other.  There  be  those  that  say  as  much  and  more  of  S'. 
Marks  steeple  in  Venice.  Yet  these  are  too  great  a  distance ; 
some  are  especially  affected  with  such  objects  as  be  near,  tosee 
passengers  go  by  in  some  great  rode  way,  or  boats  in  a  river, 
in  suhjcctinn  Jorum  despicere,  to  oversee  a  fair,  a  market- 
place, or  out  of  a  pleasant  window  into  some  thorough-fare 
street  to  behold  a  continual  concourse,  a  promiscuous  route, 
coming  and  going,  or  a  multitude  of  spectators  at  a  theater, 
a  maske,  or  some  such  like  shew.  But  I  rove:  the  sum  is  thif-, 
that  variety  of  actions,  objects,  aire,  places,  are  excellent  good 
in  this  infirmity  and  all  others,  good  for  man,  good  for  beast. 
"  Constantino  the  emperour  (lib.  18.  cap.  13  ex  Leontio)  holds 
it  an  only  cure  for  rotten  sheep,  and  any  manner  oj'sicke  cattel. 
Lfelius  a  Fonte  Eugubinus,  that  great  doctor,  at  the  latter  end 
of  many  of  his  consultations,  (as  commonly  he  doth  set  down 
what  success  his  physik  had)  in  melancholy  most  especially 
approves  of  this  above  all  other  remedies  whatsoever,  as  ap- 
pears, consult.  69.  consult.  229,  ^^c.  ^  Many  other  things 
helped;  but  change  of  aire  was  that  which  wrought  the  cure, 
and  did  most  good. 


MEMB.  IV. 

Exercise  rectijied  of  Body  and  Minde. 

X  0  that  great  inconvenience,  which  comes  on  the  one  side 
by  immoderate  and  unseasonable  exercise,  too  much  solitari- 
ness and  idleness  on  the  other,  must  be  opposed,  as  an  anti- 
dote, a  moderate  and  seasonable  use  of  it,  and  that  both  of 
body  and  minde,  as  a  most  materiall  circumstance,  much  con- 
ducing to  this  cure,and  to  thegenerall  preservation  of  our  health. 
The  heavens  themselves  run  continually  round;  thesunriseth 
and  sets;  the  moon  increaseth  and  decreaseth;  stars  and  planets 
keep  their  constant  motions ;  the  aire  is  still  tossed  by  the  winds ; 
the  waters  eb  and  flow,  to  their  conservation  no  doubt,  to  teach 
us  that  we  should  ever  be  in  action.  For  which  cause  Hierom 
prescribesRusticus  the  monk,  that  he  be  al  wayes  occupied  about 
some  business  or  other,  "^  that  the  devil  I  do  notjinde  him  idle. 
"^  Seneca  would  have  a  man  do  something,  though  it  be  to  no 
purpose.      ^  Xenophon  wisheth  one  rather  to  play  at  tables, 

»  iEgTotantes  oves  in  alinin  locnm  transportandje  sunt,  ut  alinm  aerem  et  aqaanipar- 
ticipantes,  coalescant  et  corroborentnr.  ^  Alia  ntilia  ;  sed  ex  mntatione  aeris  po- 

tissimuiu  curatns.  '^  Ne  te  da?mon  otiosiini  inveniat.  <•  Prajstat  alind  agere 

quani  nihil.  f  Lib.  .3.  de  dictis  Socratis.  Qui  tesseris  et  risua  excitando  vucast, 

aliquid  faciunt,  etai  iiceret  his  meliora  agere. 


402  Cure  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  2.  Sec.  g. 

dice,  or  make  a  jester  of  himself  (though  he  might  be  far 
better  imployed)  than  donothing.  ''TheiEgyptiansof  old,  and 
many  flourishing  commonwealths  since,  have  enjoyned  labour 
and  exercise  to  all  sorts  of  men,  to  be  of  some  vocation  and 
calling-,  and  to  give  an  account  of  their  thne,  to  prevent  those 
grievous  mischiefs  that  come  by  idleness  ;/b7',  a$Jodder,ivhip, 
and  hurthen,  heloncf  to  the  asse,  so  meat,  correction,  andworke, 
unto  the  servant,  Ecclus.  33.  23.  The  Turks  injoyn  all  men 
whatsoever,  of  what  degree,  to  be  of  some  trade  or  other:  the 
grand  Signior  himself  is  not  excused.  ^  In  our  memory 
(saith  Sabellicus)  Mahomet  the  Turke,  he  that  conquered 
Greece,  at  that  very  time  when  he  heard  ambassadours  oj' other 
princes,  did  either  carve  or  cut  wooden  spoones,  or  frame  some- 
thing upon  a  table.  '^This  present  sultan  makes  notches  for 
bows.  The  Jev/s  are  most  severe  in  this  examination  of  time. 
All  wel-governed  places,  towns,  families,  and  every  discreet 
person  will  be  a  law  unto  himself.  But,  amongst  us,  the  badge 
of  gentry  is  idleness :  to  be  of  no  calling*,  not  to  labour  (for 
that's  derogatory  to  their  birth),  to  be  a  meer  spectator,  a  drone, 
fruges  consumere  natus^  to  have  no  necessary  employment  to 
busie  himself  about  in  church  and  commonwealth  (some  few 
governers  excepted),  hut  to  rise  to  eat,  S^c.  to  spend  his 
dayes  in  hawking,  hunting,  &c.  and  such  like  disports  and  re- 
creations ('^  which  our  casuists  tax),  are  the  sole  exercise  almost 
and  ordinary  actions  of  our  nobility,  and  in  which  they  are 
too  immoderate.  And  thence  it  comes  to  pass,  that  in  city  and 
country  so  many  grievances  of  body  and  mind,  and  this  ferall 
disease  of  melancholy  so  frequently  rageth,and  now  domineers 
almost  all  over  Europe  amongst  our  great  ones.  They  know 
not  how  to  spend  their  times  (disports  excepted,  which  are  all 
their  business),  what  to  do,  or  otherwise  how  to  bestow 
themselves ;  like  our  modern  Frenchmen,  that  had  rather  lose 
a  pound  of  blood  in  a  single  combate,  than  a  drop  of  sweat  in 
any  honest  labour.  Every  man  almost  hath  something  or 
other  to  employ  himself  about,  some  vocation,  some  trade :  but 
they  do  all  by  ministers  and  servants;  adotia  dnntaxaf  se  nates 
existimant,  imo  ad  sui  ipsiiis  plerumque  et  aliorum  perniciem, 
«as  one  freely  taxeth  such  kinde  of  men ;  they  are  all  for  pas- 
times; 'tis  all  their  study;  all  their  invention  tends  to  this  alone, 
to  drive  away  time,  as  if  they  were  born,  some  of  them,  to  no 
other  ends.     Therefore  to  correct  and  avoid  these  errors  and 


a  Amasis  compelled  every  man  once  a  year  to  tell  how  he  lived.  •'Nostra 

memoria  Mahonietes  Otbomanus,  qui  Graiciae  iinperiura  siibvertit,  cum  oratomni  postu- 
lata  audiret  exterarum  gentium,  cochleari  lignea  assidue  cajlabat,  aut  aliquid  in  tabula 
affingebat.  <"  Sands,  fol.  37.  of  his  voyage  to  Jerusalem.  ■!  Perkins  cases 

of  conscience,  1.  3.  c.  4.  q.  3.  «  Luscinus  Grunnio. 


Meal.  4.]  Exercise  rectified.  403 

inconveniences,  our  divines,  physicians,  and  politicians,  so 
much  labour,  and  so  seriously  exhort :  and  for  this  disease  in 
particular,  ^tliere  can  he  no  better  cure  than  continvall  business, 
as  Rhasis  holds,  to  have  some  employment  or  other.,  which 
may  set  their  minde  aworhe,  and  distract  their  cogitations. 
Riches  may  not  easily  be  had  without  labour  and  industry,  nor 
learning  without  study;  neither  can  our  health  be  preserved 
without  bodily  exercise.  If  it  be  of  the  body,  Guianerius 
allowes  that  exercise  which  is  gentle,  ^  and  still  after  those 
or  dinar  yfrications,  which  must  be  used  every  morning.  Mon- 
taltus  (cap.  26)  and  Jason  Pratensis  use  almost  the  same 
words,  highly  commending  exercise,  if  it  be  moderate  :  a 
ivonderj'ul  help,  so  used,  Crato  calls  it,  and  a  r/reat  means  to 
preserve  our  health,  as  adding  strength  to  the  ichole  body,  in- 
creasing naturallheat,  by  means  oJ'which,the  nutriment  is  well 
concocted  in  the  stomacke,  liver,  and  veines,  Jeic  or  no  cru- 
dities left,  is  happily  distributed  over  all  the  body.  Besides, 
it  expells  excrements  by  sweat,  and  other  insensible  vapours; 
in  so  mnch  that  <=  Galen  prefers  exercise  before  all  physick, 
rectification  of  diet,  or  any  regimen  in  what  kinde  soever;  'tis 
Natures  physician.  ''Fulgentius(outof  Gordonius,  c?eco/?.«feri7, 
vit.  hom.  lib.l.  cap.  7)  tearms  exercise  a  spur  of  a  dull  sleep}/ 
nature,  the  comforter  of  the  members,  cure  of  infirmity,  death 
of  diseases,  destruction  of  all  mischief es  and  vices.  The 
fittest  time  for  exercise  i*?  a  little  before  dinner,  a  little  before 
supper,  *or  at  any  time  when  the  body  is  empty.  Montanus 
{consil.  31)  prescribes  it  every  morning  to  his  patient,  and 
that,  as  'Calenus  addes,  after  he  hath  done  his  ordinary  needs, 
rubbed  his  body,  trashed  his  hands  and  face,  combed  his  head 
and  gargarized.  What  kinde  of  exercise  he  should  use, 
Galen  tells  us,  lib.  2et  3.  de  sanit.  tuend.  and  in  what  measure, 
still  the  body  be  ready  to  sweat,  and  roused  up,  ad  ruborem, 
some  say,  7ion  ad  sudorem,  lest  it  should  dry  the  body  too 
much;  others  injoyn  those  wholesome  businesses, as  todio-so 
long  in  his  garden,  to  hold  the  plough,  and  the  like.  Some 
prescribe  frequent  and  violent  labour  and  exerciser,  as  sawing 


a  Non  est  ciira  melior  quam  injnns;ere  iis  necessaria,  et  opportuna  ;  operam  arlmlui- 
stratio  illis  magnum  sanitatis  increiiientiim,  et  qua?  repleant  aniinos  eonim,  et  incutiant 
iis  di versus  cot,ntatioDes.     ConL  1.  Tract.  9.  b^ute  exercitium,  leves  toto  corpore 

frjcationes  conveniunt.     Ad  hunc  tnorbiim  exercitationes,  qaum  recte  et  suo  tempore 
fiunt,  mirifice  conducnnt,  et  sanitatem  tuentar,  &c.  <^  Lib.  1.  de  san.  tuend. 

•*  Exercitium  naturic  dormientis  stimulatio,  membrnrnm  solatium,  morborum  medela, 
fnga  vitioriiin,  niedicina  ianguorum,  destnictio  omnium  malorura.     Crato.  «  Ali- 

mentis  in  ventriculo  probe  concoctis.  fjejuno  ventre,  vesica  et  a!vo  ab 

excrementis   purgato,  fricatis  raembris,  lotis  manibns  et  ocuiis,  &c.     Lib.    de   atra 
bile.  f  Quousque  corpus  uuiversum  intomescat,  et  floridam  appareat, 

sudoremqne,  &c. 


404  Cure  of  Melancholy.         [Part.  2.  Sec.  2. 

every  day,  so  long  together,  {epid.  6.  Hippocrates  confounds 
theraj  but  that  is  in  some  cases,  to  some  peculiar  men  ;  *  the 
most  forbid,  and  will  by  no  means  have  it  go  farther  than  a 
beginning  sweat,  as  being  ''perilous  if  it  exceed. 

Of  these  labours,  exercises,  and  recreations,  which  are  likcr 
wise  included,  some  properly  belong  to  the  body,  some  to  the 
mind,  some  more  easie,  some  hard,  some  with  delight,  some 
without,  some  within  doors,  some  naturall,  some  are  artificiall. 
Amongst  bodily  exercises,  Galen  commends  ludum  parvco  pilce, 
to  play  at  ball:  be  it  with  the  hand  or  racket,  in  tennis  courts,  or 
otherwise,  it  exerciseth  each  part  of  the  body,  and  doth  much 
good,  so  that  they  sweat  not  too  much.  It  was  in  greatrequest 
of  old  amongst  the  Greeks,  Romanes,Barbarians,mentioned  by 
Homer,  Herodotus,  and  Plinius,  Some  write,  that  Aganella,  a 
fair  maide  of  Corcyra,  was  the  inventor  of  it ;  for  she  pre- 
sented the  first  ball  that  ever  was  made,  to  Nausica,  the  daugh- 
ter of  king  Alcinoiis,  and  taught  her  how  to  use  it. 

The  ordinary  sports  which  are  used  abroad,  are  hawking, 
hunting  :  hilares  venandi  labores,  '^  one  calls  them,  because 
they  recreate  body  andminde;  "^another,  ^  the  best  exercise 
that  is,  by  which  alone  many  have  been  ^ freed  from  allferall 
diseases.  Hegesippus  {lib.  1.  cap.  37)  relates  of  Herod,  that 
he  was  eased  of  a  grievous  melancholy  by  that  means.  Plato 
(7  de  ley.)  highly  magnifies  it,  dividing  it  into  three  parts,  by 
land,  water,  ayre.  Xenophon  (in  Cyropced.}  graces  it  with  a 
great  name,  Deorum  munus,  the  gift  of  the  Gods,  a  princely 
sport,  which  they  have  ever  used,saith  Langius,  (epis^.  59.  lib.  2) 
as  well  for  health  as  pleasure,  and  do  at  this  day,  it  being  the 
sole  almost  and  ordinary  sport  of  our  noblemen  in  Europe,  and 
elsewhere  all  over  the  world.  Bohemus  {de  mor.  gent.  lib.  3. 
cap.  12.)  stiles  it  therefore  studmm  nobilium ;  commnniter 
venantur^  quod  sibi  solis  licere  contendunt ;  'tis  all  their  study, 
their  exercise,  ordinary  business,  all  their  talk  :  and  indeed 
some  dote  too  much  after  it;  they  can  do  nothing  else,  dis- 
course of  naught  else,  Paulus  Jovius  {descr.  Brit.)  doth  in 
some  sort  tax  our  &  English  nobility  for  it,  for  living  in  the 
country  so  much,  and  too  frequent  use  of  it,  as  if  they  had  no 
other  means  but  hawking  and  hunting  to  approve  themselves 
gentlemen  with. 

»  Omnino  sudorera  vltent.  cap.  7.  lib.  1.     Valescus  de  Tar.  *•  Exercitinm  si 

excedat,  valde  periculosum.  Sallust.  Salvianns,  de  remed.  lib.  2.  cap.  I.  <=  Camden 
in  Staffordshire.  ^  Fridevallius,  lib.  1.  cap.  2.  Optima  omnium  exercitationnm : 

multi  ab  hac  solummodo  morbis  liberati.  e  Josephus  Quercetanns,  dial,  polit. 

sect.  2.  cop.  11.     Inter  omnia  exercitia  prsestantise  laudem  meretur.  f  Chiron  in 

monte  Pelio,  prseceptor  heroum,  eos  a  morbis  animi  venationibus  etpuris  cibis  tuebatur. 
M.  Tyrius.  S  Nobilitas  omnis  fere  urbes  fastidit,  castellis  et  liberiore 

coelo  gaudet,  generisque  dignitatem  una  maxime  venatione  et  falconum  auciipiis 
ttietur. 


Mem,  4.]  Exercise  rectijied.  405 

Hawking  comes  neer  to  hunting,  the  one  in  the  aire,  as 
the  otheron  the  earth,  a  sport  as  mucii  affected  as  the  other,  by 
some  preferred.  -^It  was  never  heard  of  amongst  the  Romans, 
invented  some  1200  years  since,  and  first  mentioned  by  Fir- 
micus,  lih.  5.  cap.  8.  Tiie  Greek  emperours  began  it,  and 
now  nothing  so  frequent :  he  is  nobody  that  in  the  season  h?th 
not  a  hawke  on  his  fist :  a  great  art,  and  ^  many  books  written 
of  it.  It  is  a  wonder  to  hear  <=  what  is  related  of  the  Turkes 
officers  in  this  belialf,  how  many  thousand  men  are  employed 
about  it,  how  many  hawks  of  all  sorts,  how  much  rerenewes 
consumed  on  that  only  disport,  how  much  time  is  spent  at 
Adrianople  alone  every  year  to  that  purpose.  The  '^Persian 
kings  hawk  after  butterHies  with  sparrows,  made  to  that  use, 
and  stares;  lesser  hawks  for  lesser  games  they  have,  and 
bigger  for  the  rest,  that  they  may  produce  their  sport  to  all 
seasons.  The  Muscovian  emperours  reclaime  eagles  to  fly 
at  hindes,  foxes,  &c.  and  such  a  one  was  sent  for  a  present  to 
"  Queen  Elizabeth  :  some  reclaime  ravens,  castrils,  pies,  &c. 
and  man  them  for  their  pleasures. 

Fowling  is  more  troublesome,  but  all  out  as  delightsome  to 
some  sorts  of  men,  be  it  with  guns,  lime,  nets,  glades,  ginnes, 
strings,  baits,  pitfalls,  pipes,  calls,  stawking-horses,  setting- 
doggs,  coy-ducks,  &c.  or  otherwise.  Some  much  delight  to 
take  larks  with  day-nets,  small  birds  with  rhaffe-nets,  plovers, 
partridge,  herons,  suite,  &c.  Henry  the  third,  king  of  Castile, 
(as  Mariana  the  Jesuite  reports  of  him,  lib.  3.  cap.  7.)  was 
much  affected  hckh  catchinr/  of'quailes :  and  many  gentlemen 
take  a  singular  pleasure  at  morning  and  evening  to  go  abroad 
with  their  quaile-pipes,  and  will  take  any  paines  to  satisfie 
their  delight  in  that  kinde.  The  -  Italians  have  gardens  fitted 
to  such  use,  with  nets,  bushes,  glades,  sparing  no  cost  or  in- 
dustry, and  are  very  much  affected  with  the  sport.  Tycho 
Brahe,  that  great  astronomer,  in  the  Chorography  of  his  Isle 
of  Huena,  and  castle  of  Uraniburge,  puts  down  his  nets,  and 
manner  of  catching  small  birds  as  an  ornament,  and  a  recrea- 
tion, wherein  he  himself  was  sosietimes  employed. 

Fishing  is  a  kinde  of  hunting  by  water,  be  it  with  nets, 
weeles,  baits,  angling  or  otherwise,  and  yeeldsall  out  as  much 
pleasure  to  some  men,  as  dogs,  or  hawks,  ^  \chen  they  draw 


» Jos.  Scaliger,  comment,  in  Cirin.  fol.  34-1.     Salmuth.  23  de  Nov.  repert  com.  in 
Pancir.  bDemetrins  Constantinop.  de  re  accipitraria  liber,  a  P.  Gillar  Latine 

redditus.  /Elius.  epist.  Aquilac,  Symmachi,  et  Theodotionis  ad  Ptolemjenm,  &e 
'■-  Lonicerus,  Geffreos,  Jovius.  .)  S.  Anthony  Sherlies  relations. 

«  Hacluit.  f  Coturnicum  anciipio.  g  Fines  Morison,  part  3.  c.  8. 

'  Non  majorem  roluptatem  animo  capiant,  qaam  qui  feras  insectantar,  aut  missis 
canibus  comprehendiint,  qnam  retia  trahentes,  squaraosas  pecudes  in  ripns  ad- 
uiicnnt  * 


406  Cure  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  2.  Sec.  2. 

their  fish  upon  the  hank,  saith  Nic.  Hen&eWus,  Silesiographice 
cap.  S,  speaking"  of  that  extraordinary  delight  his  countrymen 
took  in  fishing-,  and  in  making  of  pooles.  James  Dubravius, 
that  Moravian,  in  his  book  de  pise,  telleth,  how  travelling  by 
the  highway  side  in  Silesia,  he  found  a  nobleman  ^booted  up 
to  the  ffroiiies,  v/ading  himself,  pulling  the  nets,  and  labour- 
ing as  much  as  any  fisherman  of  them  all  :  and  when  some 
belike  objected  to  him  the  baseness  of  his  office,  he  excused 
himself,  ^that  if  other  men  niiffht  hunt  hares,  why  should  not 
he  hunt  carpes?  Many  gentlemen  in  like  sort,  with  us,  will 
wade  up  to  the  arm-holes,  upon  such  occasions,  and  volun- 
tarily undertake  that  to  satisfie  their  pleasure,  which  apoor  man 
for  a  good  stipend  would  scarce  be  hired  to  undergo  Plutarch, 
in  his  book  de  soler.  animal,  speaks  against  all  fishing,  "^as  a 
filthy.,  base,  illiherall  imployment,  having  neither  wit  nor 
perspicacity  in  it,  nor  icorth  the  labour.  But  he  that  shall 
consider  the  variety  of  baits,  for  all  seasons,  and  pretty  devices 
which  our  anglers  have  invented,  peculiar  lines,  false  flies, 
severall  sleights,  &c.  will  say,  that  it  deserves  like  commen- 
dation, requires  as  much  study  and  perspicacity  as  the  rest, 
and  is  to  be  preferred  before  many  of  them;  because  hawking- 
and  hunting  are  very  laborious,  much  riding,  and  many 
dangers  accompany  them;  but  this  is  still  and  quiet  :.and  if  so 
be  the  angler  catch  no  fish,  yet  he  hath  a  wholsome  walk  to  the 
brook  side,  pleasant  shade,  by  the  sweet  silver  streams;  he 
hath  good  aire,  and  sweet  sraels  of  fine  fresh  meadow  flowers; 
he  hears  the  melodious  harmony  of  birds;  he  sees  the  swans, 
herons,  ducks,  water-hens,  cootes,  &c.  and  many  other 
fowle,  with  their  brood,  which  he  tliinketh  better  than  the 
noise  of  hounds,  or  blast  of  hofnes,  and  all  the  sport  that  they 
can  make. 

Many  other  sports  and  recreations  there  be,  much  in  use, 
as  ringing,  bowling,  shooting,  which  Askam  commends  in  a 
just  volume,  and  hath  in  former  times  been  injoyned  by  statute, 
as  a  defensive  exercise,  and  an  '^honour  to  our  land,  as  well 
may  witness  our  victories  in  France;  keelpins,  tronks,  coits, 
pitching'  bars,  hurling-,  wrestling,  leaping,  running,  fencing, 
mustring,  swimming,  wasters,  foiles,  foot-balls,  balown,  quin- 
tans, &c.  and  many  such,  which  are  the  common  recreations  of 
the  country  folks;  riding  of  great  horses,  running  at  rings,  tilts 
and  turnaments, horse-races,  wilde-goose  chases,  which  are  the 


a  More  piscatorum  cruribus  ocreatiis  b  Si  principibus  venatio  leporis  non  sit 

inhonesta,  nescio  quomodo  piscatio  cyprinorutn  videri  debeatpudefida.  "^  Om- 

nino  t.urpis  piscatio.nullo  studio  digna,  illiberalis  credita  est, quod  nullum  habet  ingenioin, 
nullam  perspicaciara.  "^  Praecipua  hinc  Anglia  gloria,  crebraj  victoriss  partse. 

Jovius. 


Mem.  4.]  Exercise  rectified.  4O7 

disports  ofgreater  men,  and  good  in  themselv^es,  tliouoh  many 
gentlemen,  by  that  means,  gallop  quite  out  of  their  fortunes. 
But  the  most  pleasant  of  all  outward  pastimes  is  that  of 
•Aretasus,  deamhulatio  per  amcena  loca,  to  make  a  petty 
progress,  a  merry  journey  now  and  then  with  some  gootl  coui- 
panions,  to  visit  friends,  see  cities,  castles,  towns, 

''Visere  ssepe  amnes  nitidos,  peramoenaque  Tempo, 
Et  placidas  summis  sectari  in  montibus  auras  : 
To  see  the  pleasant  fields,  the  crystall  fountains, 
And  ta^e  the  gentle  aire  amongst  the  mountains  : 
''to  walk  amongst  orchards,  gardens,  bowers,  mounts,  and  ar- 
bours, artificiaJI  wildernesses,  green  thickets,  arches,  groves, 
lawns,  rivulets,  fountains  and  such  like  pleasant  places,  like 
that  Antiochian  Daphne,  brooks,  pooles,  fish-ponds,  betwixt 
wood  and  water,  in  a  fair  meadow,  by  a  river  side,  '^uhi  varicc 
avium  cayitationes,  fiorum  colores,  pratorum  fricticeSy  cS'c. 
to  disport  in  some  pleasant  plain,  park,  run  lip  a  steep  hill 
sometimes,  or  sit  in  a  shady  seat,  must  needs  be  a  delectable 
recreation .  Hortus  principis  et  domus  ad  delectationemfucta^ 
cum  sylvd,  monte,  et  piscina,  vuhjo  La  Montagna:  the  princes 
garden  at  Ferrara, « Schottus  highly  magnifies,  with  the  groves, 
mountains,  ponds,  for  a  delectable  prospect:  he  was  much  af- 
fected with  it ;  a  Persian  paradise,  or  pleasant  parke,  could  not 
be  more  delectable  in  his  sight.  S.  Bernard,  in  the  description 
of  his  monastery,  is  almost  ravished  with  the  pleasures  of  it. 
A  sick  Unan  (saith  he)  sits  upon  a  green  hank;  and,  when  the 
dog-star  parcheth  the  plaines,  and  dries  up  rivers,  he  lies  in  a 
shadie  bow  re, 

Fronde  sub  arborea.  ferventia  temperat  astra, 
and  feeds  his  eyes  with  variety  of  objects,  hearbs,  trees :  and  In 
comfort  his  misery,  he  receives  many  delightsome  smels,  and 
fils  his  ears  with  that  sweet  and  various  'harmony  of  hirdes. 
Good  God !  (saith  he)  what  a  company  of  pleasures  hast 
thou  made  for  man  !  He  that  should  be  admitted  on  a  sud- 
den to  the  sight  of  such  a  palace  as  that  of  Escuriall  in  Spain, 
or  to  that  which  the  Moores  built  in  Granado,  Fountenblewe 
in  France,  the  Turkes  gardens  in  his  seraglio,  wherein  all 
manner  of  birds  and  beasts  are  kept  for  pteasnre,  wolves, 
bears,    lynces,   tygers,   lyons,   elephants,   &c.    or   upon  the 

»  Cap.  7.  b  Fracastorius.  «  Ambulationes  siibdiales,  quas  hortenses  at'rs- 

ministrant,  snb  fomice  viridi,  pampinis  ^irentibus  concanierata.  d  Tueo- 

phyclat.  <•  Itinerar.  Ital.  •  Sedet  ajgrotus  ciespite  viridi :  et  ciim  inclen.entin 

caniciilaris  terras  excoquit.et  siccat  Humina,  ipse  sectirus  sedet  sub  arborea  fronde  ot 
ad  doloris  sui  solatium,  naribus  suis  Rrauiioeas  redolet  species  ;  pascit  oculos  herbarnm 
amoena  viriditas  ;  aures  suavi  modulauiine  demulcct  pictarum  couceutus  avium  &c 
Deus  bone  !  quanta  pauperibus  procuras  solatia  !  ' 

VOL.  I.  MM 


408  Cvre  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  2.  Sec.  2. 

banks  of  that  Tbracian  Bosphoriis  :  the  popes  Belvedere  in 
Rome  ^as  ])leasing-  as  those  horti  pensiles  in  Babylon,  or  that 
Indian  kinas  delightsome  gardens  in  ''iElian;  or'^those  famous 
gardens  of  the  Lord  Cantelow  in  France,  could  not  choose, 
though  he  were  never  so  ill  apaid,  but  be  much  recreated  for 
the  time  ;  or  many  of  our  noblemens  gardens  at  home.  To 
take  a  boat  in  a  pleasant  evening',  and  with  musick  '^  to  row 
upon  the  waters,  which  Plutarch  so  much  applaudes,  ^Elian 
admires,upontheriver  Peneus,in  those  Thessalian  fields  beset 
with  green  bayes,  where  birdsso  sweetly  sing-,  that  passengers, 
enchanted  as  it  Mere  with  their  heavenly  musick,  omnium  la- 
bornm  et  ciiranim  ohllviscantnr,  forget  forthwith  all  labours, 
care  and  grief;  or  in  a  g^undilo  through  the  erande  canale  in 
\  enice,  to  see  those  goodly  palaces,  must  needs  refresh  and 
give  content  to  a  melancholy  dull  spirit.  Or  to  see  the  inner 
roomes  of  a  fair-built  and  sumptuous  aedifice,  as  that  of  the 
Persian  kings  so  much  renowned  by  Diodorus  and  Curtius,  in 
which  ail  was  almost  beaten  g"old,  ^chaires,  stooles,  thrones, 
tabernacles,  and  pillars  of  gold,  plane  trees,  and  vines  of  gold, 
grapes  of  precious  stones,all  the  other  ornaments  of  pure  gold, 

C  Fu!g-et  gemma  toris,  et  iaspide  fulva  supellex  ; 
Strata  micant  Tyrio ) 

with  sweet  odours  and  perfumes,  generous  M'ines,  opiparous 
fare,  &c.  besides  the  gallantest  young*  men,  the  fairest  §  vir- 
gins, puellce  scitulcB  ministrantes,  the  rarest  beauties  the  world 
could  aflord,  and  those  set  out  with  costly  and  curious  attires, 
ad  stuporem  ?ts(jne  spectantium,  with  exquisite  musick,  as  in 
^Trimalciiions  house,  in  every  chamber,  sweet  voices  ever 
sounding  day  and  night,  incomparahilis  luxus,  all  delights 
and  pleasures  in  each  kinde  which  to  please  the  senses  could 
possibly  be  devised  or  had,  convivce  coionati,  deliciis  ehriii 
^•€.  Telemachus  in  Homer  is  brought  in  as  one  ravished  al- 
most, at  the  sightof  that  magnificent  palace,  and  rich  furniture 
of  Menelaus,  when  he  beheld 

i  ^lis  fulgorem,  et  resonantia  tecta  corusco 
Auro,  atque  electro  nitido,  sectoque  elephanto, 
Aroentoque  simul.     Talis  Jovis  ardua  sedes, 
Aiilaque  Coslicol^m  stellans  splendcscit  Olympo. 


»  Diod.  Siculns,  Ub.  2.  ^  Lib.  1,3.  de  animal,  cap.  13.  c  Pet.  Gillins. 

Paul,  lleufzerus,  Itiuemr.  Italife,  1617.     Jod.  Sinceius,  Idueiar.  Galilee,  1617.  Simp, 
lib.  1.  qucest.  4.  "l  Juciiudissiuia  deaiubulalin  juxta  mare,  et  navigatio  prope 

terram.— In  iitraque  flnrainis  ripa.  •-'  Auiei  paues,  aurea  opsonia,  via  luar- 

garitanim  aceto  subacta,  &c.  f  Lucan.  B  300  pellices,  pocillatores,  et 

princernae  innumeri,  pueri  loti  purpura  induti,  &c.  ex  omnium  pulchritudiue  deledi. 
^  VWi  omnia  cantu  stiepiint.  '  Odyss.  8. 


Mem.  4,]  Exercise  rectified,  409 

Such  glittering  of  gold  and  brightest  brass  to  shine, 
Cleer  amber,  silver  pure,  and  ivory  so  fine  : 
Jupiters  lofty  palace  where  the  gods  do  dwell, 
Was  even  such  a  one,  and  did  not  excell. 

It  will  laxare  animos,  refresh  the  soule  of  man,  to  sec  fair- 
built  cities,  streets,  theaters,  temples,  obelisks,  &c.  The  tem- 
ple of  Jerusalem  was  so  fairly  built  of  white  marble,  with  so 
many  pyramids  covered  with  gold  ;  techunque  templi,fuivi) 
coruscans  aiiro,  nimio  snofuhjore  ohccecahat  oculos  itineran- 
tiiim,  Mas  so  glorious  and  so  g-Jistered  afar  off,  that  the  spec- 
tators might  not  well  abide  the  sight  of  it.  Buttheimur 
parts  were  all  so  curiously  set  out  with  cedar,  gold,  jewels, 
&c.  (as  he  said  of  Cleopatras  palace  iu  Egypt, 

"  Crassumque  trabes  absconderataurum) 

that  the  beholders  were  amazed.  V/hat  so  pleasant  as  to  see 
some  pageant  or  sight  go  by,  as  at  coronations,  weddings,  and 
such  like  solemnities ; — to  see  an  embassadour  or  a  prince  met, 
received,  entertained  with  masks,  shewe,  fireworks,  &c.— to 
see  two  kiug-s  fight  in  single  combat,  as  Porus  and  Alexander, 
Canutus  auu  Edmond  Ironside,  Scanderbeg  and  Ferat  Bassa 
the  Twrke,  when  not  honour  alone  but  life'it  self  is  at  stake 
(as  the  •<  poet  of  Hector,  '  ' 

—nee  enim  pro  tergore  tauri. 


Pro  bove  nee  certamen  erat,  quae  praemiu  cursAs 
Esse  Solent,  sed  pro  magni  vitaque  aniinaque 
Hectoris); 

to  behold  a  battle  fought,  like  that  of  Crcscy,  or  Agencourt,  or 
Poictiers,  qua  Jiescio,  (saith  P'roissard)  an  vetustas  iillam  pro- 
Jerrepossit  clariorem  ;—io  see  oim  ofCicsars  triumphs  in  old 
Rome  revived,  or  the  like;— to  bee  present  at  an  mtervieu, 
^as  that  famous  of  Henry  the  8%  and  Francis  the  first,  so 
much   renowned  all  over  Europe;   ubi  tanto  apparatu  (saith 
Hubertins  Vellius)  tamqve  friumpha/i  pompd  cm  bo  reqes  cum 
eorum  conjugibus  coiere,  ut  nulla  vnquani  cstas  tani  celebria 
festa  viderit  aut  audierit,  no  age  ever  saw  the  like.      So  in- 
finitely pleasant  are  such  shews,  to  the  sight  of  which  often 
times  they  will  come  hunredths  of  miles,  give  any  mony  for 
a  place,  and  remember  many  years  after  with  singular  delight. 
Bodine,when  he  was  embassadourin  England, said  hesaw"'ihe 
nobleman  go  in  their  robes  to  the  parliament  house,  sxmmd 
cum  jucfindilate  vidimus;  he   was   much  affected   with  the 
sight  of  it.     Pomponius  Columna,  saith  Jovius  in  his  life,  saw 

"Lucnn.  I.  ?.  i- Iliad.  10.  ^  Betwixt  Ardes  and  Guiiies,  1519. 

M  .M  2 


410  Cure  of  Melancholy,  [Part.  2.  Sec.  2. 

13  Frenchmen,  and  so  many  Italians,  once  fight  for  a  whole 
army  :  quod  jucundissimum  spectaculum  in  vita  dicit  sua,  the 
pleasantest  sight  that  ever  he  saw  in  his  life.  Who  would  not 
have  been  affected  with  such  a  spectacle  ?  Or  that  single  com- 
bat of  "Breaute  the  Frenchman,  and  Anthony  Schets  a  Dutch- 
man, before  the  walls  of  Sylvaducis  in  Brabant,  anno  1600. 
They  were  22  liorse  on  the  one  side,  as  many  on  the  other, 
which,  like  Livies  Horatii,  Torquati,  and  Corvini,  fought  for 
their  own  glory  and  countries  honour,  in  the  sight  and  view  of 
their  whole  city  and  army.  ''When  Julius  Ceesar  warred 
about  the  bankes  of  Rhene,  there  came  a  barbarian  prince 
to  see  him  and  the  Roman  army ;  and  when  he  had  beheld 
CcBsar  a  good  while,  "^  /  see  the  gods  now  (saith  he)  which  be- 
jore  I  heard  of,  necfeliciorem  iillam  vitce  mece  aut  optavi  aut 
sensi  diem  :  it  was  the  happiest  day  that  ever  he  had  in  his  life. 
Such  a  sight  alone  were  able  of  it  self  to  drive  away  melan- 
choly; if  not  for  ever,  yet  it  must  needs  expell  it  for  a  time. 
Radzivilius  was  much  taken  with  the  bassas  palace  in  Cairo; 
and,  amongst  many  other  objects  which  that  place  afforded, 
with  that  solemnity  of  cutting  the  bankes  of  Nilus,  by  Im- 
bram  Bassa,  when  it  overflowed,  besides  two  or  three  hundred 
guilded  gallies  on  the  water,  he  saw  two  millions  of  men  ga- 
thered together  on  the  land,  with  turbants  as  white  as  snow; 
and  twas  a  goodly  sight.  The  very  reading  of  feasts,  triumphs, 
interviews,  nuptials,  tilts,  turnaments,  combats,  and  mono- 
machies,  is mostacceptableund  pleasant.  "^FranciscusModius 
hath  made  a  large  collection  of  such  solemnities  in  two  great 
tomes,  which  M'ho  so  Mill  may  peruse.  The  inspection  alone 
of  those  curious  iconogiraphies  of  temples  and  palaces,  as  that 
of  the  Laterau  church  in  Albertus  Durer,  that  of  the  temple  of 
Jerusalem  in  '^Josephus,  Adricoaiius,  and  Villalpandus  :  that 
of  the  Escuriall  in  Guadas,  of  Diana  at  Ephesus  in  Pliny, 
Neros  golden  palace  in  Rome,  "^^Justinians  in  Constantinople, 
that  Peruvian  Ingos  in  sCusco,  iit  }ion  ah  hominibiis,  sed  a 
dcemoniis,  cGnstructum  videatur ;  S.  Marks  in  Venice  by 
Ignatius,  with  many  such  :  priscorum  artificum  opera  (saith 
that  ''interpreter  of  Pausanias)  the  rare  workmanship  of  those 
ancient  Greeks,  in  theaters,  obelisks,  temples,  stalues,  gold, 
silver,  ivory,  marble  images,  7ion  minore  ferme,  quiim  leipm- 
tur,  quani  quum  cernuntur,  animum  delectatione  complent^ 
afiect  one  as  mudi  by  reading*  almost,  as  by  sight. 


a  Senertius,  in  delicils.  fol.  487.  Veteri  Horatiorum  exeaipio,  virtute  et  successu  ad- 
mirabill,  cajsis  hostibus  17  in  conspectii  patrisj  &c.  tpaterculas,  vol.  post. 

>;  Quos  antea  aiidivi,  inoiii*,  hodie  vidi  Docs.  <i  Pandectae  Triumph,  to!. 

•^  Lib.  6.  cap.  1-1.  dc  V.Alo  Jud.  '  Propopius.  e  Laet.  lib.  10.  Amer. 

descri;)t.  '> Romulus  Amaseus,  prjefat.  Pausan. 


Mem.  4.]  Exercise  rectijied.  411 

The  country  hath  his  recreations,  the  city  his  several  gym- 
nicks  and  exercises,  may-games,  feasts,  wakes,  and  merry  meet- 
ings, to  solace  themselves.  The  very  being-  in  the  country,  that 
life  it  self,  is  a  sufficient  recreation  to  some  men,  to  enjoy  such 
pleasures,  as  those  old  patriarks  did.  Dioclesianthe  emperour 
was  so  much  affected  >yith  it,  that  he  gave  over  hisscepter,  and 
turned  gardiner.  Constantino  wrote  20  books  of  husbandry. 
Lysander,  when  embassadours  came  to  see  him,  bragged  of 
nothing-  more,  than  of  his  orchard:  hi  s^int  online  s  mei.  What 
shall  I  say  of  Cincinnatus,  Cato,  Tully,  and  many  such  ?  how 
have  they  been  pleased  with  it,  to  prune,  plant,  inoculate,  and 
graft,  to  shew  so  many  severall  kindes  of  pears,  apples,  plums, 
peaches,  &c. 

"Nunc  captare  feras  laqueo,  nunc  fallere  visco, 
Atque  etiam  magnos  canibus  circumdare  saltus, 
Insidias  avibus  moliri,  incendere  vepres. 

Sometimes  with  traps  deceive,  with  line  and  string 
To  catch  wild  birds  and  beasts,  encompassing 
The  grove  with  dogs,  and  out  of  bushes  firing. 


-et  nidos  avium  scrutari,  &.C. 


Jucundus,  in  hispreface  to  Cato,  Varro,  Columella,  &c.put  out 
by  him,  confesseth  of  himself,  that  he  was  mightily  delighted 
with  these  husbandry  studies,  and  took  extraordinary  pleasure 
in  them.  If  the  theorick  or  speculation  can  so  much  affect, 
what  shall  the  place  and  exercise  itself,  the  practick  part,  do.'* 
The  same  confession  I  find  in  Ilerbastein,  Porta,  Cauievarius, 
and  many  others,  which  have  written  of  that  subject.  If  niy 
testimony  were  ought  worth,  I  could  say  as  much  of  myself; 
I  am  vere  Saturninus  ;  no  man  ever  took  more  delight  in 
springs,  woods,  groves,  gardens,  walks,  fishponds,  rivers,  &c. 
But 

Tantalus  a  labris  sitiens  fugientia  capiat 
Fluraina  ; 

and  so  do  I :  velle  licet ;  potiri  non  licet. 

Every  palace,  every  city  almost  hath  his  peculiar  walkes, 
cloysters,  tarraccs,groves,  theaters,  pageants,  games,  and  seve- 
rall recreations;  every  country,  some  professed  gyninicks,  to 
exhilarate  their  minds,  and  exercise  their  hodyer-.  The  ''Greeks 
had  their  Olympian,  Pythian,  Isthmian,  Nemean  games,  in  ho- 
nour of  Neptune,  Jupiter,  Apollo;  Athens,  hers;  some  for  ho- 
iiour,garlands, crowns;  for  "^^beauty, dancing, rnnning,Ieaping, 

»Virg.  1.  Geor.  '"\ioten\a,  lib.  3.  polif.  cap.  ].  'Sefr  Atheiifetis,  dipnoso. 


412  Cure  of  iMelaiicholy.  [Part.  2.  Sec.  2 

like  oiirsilver  games.  The  ^Romanes  had  their  feasts  (as  the 
Athenians  and  Lacedaemonians  held  their  publike  banquets  in 
Prytaneo,  Panathenceis,  Thesmophoriis,  Phiditiis),  playes, 
naumachies,  places  for  sea-fights,  ''theaters,  amphitheaters 
able  to  contain  70000  men,  wherein  they  had  several  delight- 
some shews  to  exhilarate  the  people;  ''gladiators,  combats  of 
men  with  themselves,  witli  wild  beasts,  and  wild  beasts  one 
with  another,  like  our  bull-baitings,  or  bear-baitings  y^in  which 
many  country-men  and  citizens  amongst  us  so  much  delight 
and  so  frequently  use),  dancers  on  ropes,  juglers,  wrestlers, 
comedies,  tragedies,  publikely  exhibited  at  theemperours  and 
cities  charge,  and  that  with  incredible  cost  and  magnificence. 
In  the  Low-countries,  (as  ''Meteran  relates)  before  these  wars, 
they  had  many  solemn  feasts,  playes,  challenges,  artillery 
gardens,  colleges  of  rimers,  rhetoricians,  poets:  and  to  this 
day,  such  places  are  curiously  maintained  in  Amsterdam,  as 
appears  by  that  description  of  Isaacus  Pontanus,  rerum  Am^ 
stelrod.  lib.  2.  cap.  25.  So  likewise  not  long  since  at  Friburg 
in  Germany,  as  is  evident  by  that  relation  of ''Neander,  they 
had  ludos  septeiinales,  solemn  playes  every  seven  years,  which 
Bocerus  one  of  their  own  poets  hath  elegantly  described  : 

At  nunc  niagnifico  spectacula  slructa  paratu 
Quid  meinorein,  veteri  non  concessura  Quirino 
Ludorum  pompa,  &c. 

In  Italy  they  have  solemn  declamations  of  certain  select  young 
gentlemen  in  Florence  (like  those  reciters  in  old  Rome),  and 
publike  theaters  in  most  of  their  cities  for  stage-players  and 
others,  to  exercise  and  recreate  themselves.  All  seasons  al- 
most, all  places,  have  their  severall  pastimes;  some  in  som- 
mer,  some  in  winter;  some  abroad,  some  within  ;  some  of 
t!ie  body,  some  of  the  minde;  and  divers  men  have  divers  re- 
creations, and  exercises.  Domitian  the  emperour  was  much 
delighted  with  catching  flies;  Augustus  to  play  with  nuts 
amongst  children;  *  Alexander  Severus  was  often  pleased  to 
play  with  whelps  andyoung  pigs.  ^'Adrian  Vr'asso  wholly  ena- 
moured with  dogs  and  horses,  that  he  bestowed  monuments 
and  tombes  on  them,  and  buried  them  in  graves.     In  fowls 


»  Ludi  votivi,  sacri,  Indicri,  Ma^alenses,  Cereales,  Florales,  Martiales,  &c.     Rosi- 
nus,  5.  12.  iiSee  Lipsiiis,  Amphitheatrum.     Rosiniis^  lib.  5.     Meursiiis  de 

liidis  Grjecorum.  '1500  men  at  once,  tigers,  lions,  elephants,  horses,  dogs, 

beares,  &c.  ''Lib.  iilt.  et  1.  1.  ad  finem.     Consiietudine  non  minus  laudabili, 

ijuani  veteri,  contubernia  rhetonim,  rhythmicornm  in  urbibus  et  raunicipiis ;  certisqiie 
diebiis  exercebaiit  se  sagittarii,  i>ladiatores,  &c.  Alia  ingenii,  animique  exercitia,  qno- 
riim  pra?cipnum  studium,  principem  popnlum-traga-diis,  comoediis,  fabulis  scenicis, 
aliisqiie  id  genus  ludis  recreare.  «Orbis  terrij?  descript.  part.  3.  f  Lam- 

pnnius.  s  Spartiau. 


Mem.  4.]       •  Exercise  rectified.  413 

weather,  or  when  they  can  use  no  other  convenient  sports,  by 
reason  of  the  time,  as  we  do  cock- fig-h ting*  to  avoide  idleness 
I  think,  (thoug^h  some  be  more  seriously  taken  with  it,  spend 
much  time,  cost  and  charges,  and  are  too  solicitous  about  it.) 
^  Severus  used  partridges  and  quailes,  as  many  Frenchmen 
do  still,  and  to  keep  birds  in  cages,  with  which  he  was  nuich 
pleased,  when  at  any  time  he  had  leasure  from  publike  cares 
and  businesses.  He  had  (saith  Lampridius)  tame  pheasants, 
ducks,  partridges,  peacocks,  and  some  20000  ringdoves  and 
pigeons.  Busbequius,  the  eraperours  orator,  when  he  lay  in 
Constantinople,  and  could  not  stir  nuich  abroad,  kept  for  his 
recreation,  busying  himself  to  see  them  fed,  almost  all  manner 
of  strange  birds  and  beasts;  this  was  something,  though  not  to 
exercise  his  body,  yet  to  refresh  his  minde.  Conradus  Gesner, 
at  Zurick  in  Switzerland,  kept  so  likewise  for  his  pleasure  a 
great  company  of  wilde  beasts,  and  (as  he  saith)  took  great  de- 
light to  see  them  eat  their  meat.  Turkie  gentlewomen,  that 
are  perpetuall  prisoners,  still  mewed  up  according  to  the  cus- 
tome  of  the  place,  have  little  else  besides  their  houshold  busi- 
ness, or  to  play  with  their  children,  to  drive  away  time,  but  to 
dally  with  their  cats,  which  they  have  in  deliciis,  as  many  of 
onr  ladies  and  gentlewomen  use  monkies  and  little  doggs. 
The  ordinary  recreations  which  we  have  in  winter,  and  in 
most  solitary  times  busie  our  minds  with,  are  cardes,  tables 
and  dice,  shovelboard,  chesse-play,  the  philosophers  game, 
small  trunks,  shuttle-cock,  billiards,  musick,  masks,  sing- 
ing, dancing,  ulegames,  frolicks,  jests,  riddles,  catches,  pur- 
poses, questions  and  comnmnds, ''merry  tales  of  errant  knights, 
queens, lovers,  lords, ladies, giants,  dwarfes,  theeves,  cheaters, 
witches,  fayries,  goblins,  friers,  &c.  such  as  the  old  women 
told  Psyche  in  '^Apuleius,  Bocace  novels,  and  the  rest, 
quaritm  anditione  pueri  delectantur,  senes  tiarratione,  which 
some  delight  to  hear,  some  to  tell ;  all  are  well  pleased  with. 
Amaranthus  the  philosopher  metHermocles,  Diophantus,  and 
Philolaus,  his  companions,  one  day  busily  discoursing*  about 
Epicurus  and  Democritus  tenents,  very  solicitous  which  was 
most  probable  and  came  nearest  to  truth.  To  put  them 
out  of  that  surly  controversie,  and  to  refresh  their  spirits, 
he  told  them  a  ])leasant  tale  of  Stratocles  the  physicians 
wedding,  and  of  all  the  particulars,  the  company,  the  chear, 
the  musick,  &c.  for  he  Avas  new  come  from  it  ;  with  which 
relation  they  were  so  nuich  delighted,  (hat  Philolaus  wished 


'  Delertatiis  liisr.  cadildriiui,  porcelloniin.  nf  perHicpf!  in(pr  no  ])iignarpnt,  niif  iit  avcs 
parviilfp  .'siirsiim  ei  Hpoisiiii)  volifarpnt,  his  niaxiiiie  delrrtatus,  tit  solirih  Hmp.s  piihlicas 
snhlevaret.  ''  Bidiualrs  laste  ill  pussint  pmdiaere  noctes.  '  MiJes.  4. 


414  CureofJIelantholi/.  [Part.  2.  Sec.  2. 

a  blessing:  to  l^is  heart,  and  many  a  g-ood  wedding-,  ^  many 
such  merry  rneeting-s  mig-ht  he  be  at,  to  please  himself  toil k 
the  sif/hf,  mid  otheri*  with  the  narration  of  it.  Newes  are 
generally  welcome  to  all  our  ears:  avide  audimus ;  aures 
enim  homimim  tiovifate  Irevantur  (^  as  Pliny  observes),  we 
long-  after  rnmour,  to  hear  and  listen  to  it;  '^ densum  humeris 
blbit  aure  vuhpis.  We  are  most  part  too  inquisitive  and  apt 
to  hearken  after  newes;  which  Caesar  in  his  '' Cominentaries 
observes  of  the  old  Gaules;  they  would  be  ennuiring'  of  every 
carrier  and  passenger,  what  they  had  heard  or  seen,  Avhat 
newes  abroad  ? 

-quid  toto  fiat  in  orbe. 


Quid  Seres,  quid  Thraces  agant,  secreta  novercse, 
Et  pueri,  quis  amet,  &c. 

as  at  an  ordinary  with  us,  bakehouse,  or  barbers  shop.  When 
that  g-reat  Gonsalva  was  upon  some  displeasure  confined  by 
king  Ferdinand  to  the  city  of  Loxa  in  Andalusia,  the  onely 
comfort  (saitli  ^Jovius)  he  had  to  ease  his  melancholy  thoughts,' 
was  to  hear  newes,  and  to  listen  after  those  ordinary  occur- 
rents,  which  were  brought  him,  cum  primis,  by  letters  or 
otherwise  out  of  the  remotest  part  of  Europe.  Some  mens 
whole  delight  is  to  take  tobacco,  and  drink  all  day  long  in  a 
tavern  or  alehouse,  to  discourse,  sing,  jest,  roare,  talk  of  a 
cock  and  bull  over  a  pot,  &c.  or.  when  three  or  four  good 
companions  meet,  tell  old  stories  by  the  fire  side,  or  in  the 
5un,  as  old  folkes  usually  do,  qnai  aprici  meminere  series,  re- 
membriug  afresh  and  with  pleasure  ancient  matters,  and  such 
like  accidents,  which  happened  in  their  younger  ycares. 
Others  best  pastime  is  to  game:  nothing*  to  them  so  pleasant. 

'Hie  Veneri  iudulget,  hunc  decoqiiit  alea. 


Many  too  nicely  take  exceptions  at  cardes,  ^tables,  and  dice, 
and  such  mixt  lusorious  lots  (whom  Gataker  well  confutes), 
which,  though  they  be  honest  recreations  in  themselves,  yet 
may  justly  be  otherwise  excepted  at,  as  they  are  often  abused, 
and  forbidden  as  things  most  pernicious;  itisanam  rem  et 
damnosam,  ^Lemnius  calls  it:  for,  most  part,  in  these  kind  oj' 

a  O  Dii !  sitnilibu.s  saepe  con\'iviis  date  \\i  ipse  videndo  delectetur,  et  postmodum  nar- 
raiido  delectet.  Theod.  prodromns  Amortim,  dial,  interpret.  Gilberto  Gaulinio. 
b  Epist.  lib.  8.  Ruffino.  <"  Hor.  <*  Lib.  4.  Gallicae  consuetudinis  est,  ut 

viatores  etiara  invito.":  consistere  coganl,  et  quid  qnisque  eorutn  de  quaque  re  audieril 
«iit  "-ognorit,  qua^tan^.  f  Vita;  ejus,  lib.  nit.  fjuven.  StThey  ac- 

count Ihem  tinlawfiil,  because  sortilejions.  ^  Tnsitit.  c.  44.     In  his  ludis  ple- 

I'umqiie  non  ars  ant  peritia  vig;et,  sed  frans,  fallacia.  dolus,  astutiaj  casns^  foituna,  te- 
meritasj  locum  habent,  non  ratio,  consilium,  sapientia,  Sec. 


Mem.  4.]  Exercise  rectified.  415 

disports,  'tis  not  art  or  skill,  but  subtilty,  cunniicatchinrj, 
knavery,  chance  and  fortune,  carries  all  away  :  'tis  arnbula- 
toria  pecunia, 

• puncto  mobilis  horse 

Permutat  dominos,  et  cedit  in  altera  jura. 

They  labour,  most  part,  notto  pass  their  time  in  honest  disport, 
but  for  filthy  lucre,  and  covetousness  of  money.  Inffedissi- 
mum  lucrum  et  avaritiam  hombtum  convertitur,  as  Daneus 
observes.  Fons  fraudum  et  malejiciorum,  'tis  the  fountain  of 
cosenage  and  villany  :  *a  thing  so  common  all  over  Europe 
at  this  day,  and  so  yenerally  abused,  that  many  men  are 
utterly  undone  by  it,  their  means  spent,  patrimonies  consum- 
ed, they  and  their  posterity  beggered  ;  besides  swearing-, 
wrangling-,  drinking,  loss  of  time,  and  such  inconveniences, 
which  are  ordinary  concomitants  ;  ^Jor,  ichen  once  they  have 
f/ot  a  haunt  of  such  companies,  and  habit  oj" gaming,  they  can 
hardly  be  drawn Jrom  it ;  hut  ds  an  itch,  it  will  tickle  them; 
and,  as  it  is  with  whoremasters,  once  enter ed,they  cannot  easily 
leave  it  off ;  vexat  mentes  insana  cupido,  they  are  mad  upon 
their  sport.  And  in  conclusion  (which  Charles  the  Seventh, 
that  good  French  king,  published  in  an  edict  against  game- 
sters) unde  pia:  et  hilaris  vitce  snffugium  sibi  suisque  liberis^ 
totique  familiar,  cVc.  that  which  was  once  their  livelihood, 
should  have  maintained  wife,  children,  family,  is  now  spent 
and  gone  ;  mwror  et  algesias.  &c.  sorrow  «nd  begoary  suc- 
ceeds. So  good  things  may  be  abused  ;  and  that  which  was 
invented  to  '^ refresh  mens  weary  spirits  when  they  come  from 
other  labours  and  studies,  to  exhilarate  the  minde,  to  enter- 
tain time  and  company,  tedious  otherwise  in  those  long  soli- 
tary winter  nights,  and  keep  them  from  worse  matters,  an 
honest  exercise,  is  contrarily  perverted. 

Chesse-play  is  a  good  and  witty  exercise  of  the  mind,  for 
some  kinde  of  men,  and  fit  for  such  melancholy  (Rhasis  holds) 
as  are  idle,  and  have  extravagant  impertinent  thoughts,  or  trou- 
bled with  cares;  nothing  better  to  distract  their  mind,  and 
alter  their  meditations  ;  invented  (some  say)  by  the  '^generall 
of  an  army  in  a  famine,  to  keep  souldiers  from  mutiny  :  but 


"Ab 
|>ro 


Abiisus  tarn  freqiiens  horiip  in  Europa,  ut  plprique  crebro  harum  usu  patrimoniurn 
^•ro'undaut,  exhaiistisque  facultatibiis,  arl  inopiam  redigantur.  •'Ubi  semel 

prurigo  ista  aniraiitn  occupat,  aegre  discuti  potest ;  solicitantibus  undique  ejusdem  fa- 
ring hominibus,  damnosas  illas  volnptates  rppetnnt ;  qiiod  et  srortatoribus  insitnin,  8cc 
'■  Institiiitur  ista  exercitatio,  not!  liicri,  sed  valetndinis  et  oblpctamenti  ratione,  et  quo 
aoiinus  defatigatus  respiret,  novasqnp  vires  ad  snbeiindos  iabores  denno  concipiaf. 
•^  Lafrimciilorura  iudiis  inventus  ?•;»  a  dure,  nt,  nun  miles  intoleratjiii  fame  laboraret, 
altero  die  edens_^  aitero  liidens,  tamis  oblivisrprptnr.  Brilonins.  fc<ee  more  of  thi« 
S,aine  iu  Daniel  Souters  Palainedes,  \el  de  »'Briis  ludis,  I.  o. 


416  Cure  of  Melaneholy .         [Part.  2.  Sec.  2. 

if  it  proceed  from  over  much  study,  in  such  a  case  it  may  do 
more  iiarra  than  g-ood  ;  it  is  a  game  too  troublesome  for  some 
mens  braines,  too  full  of  anxiety,  all  out  as  bad  as  study;  be- 
sides, it  is  a  testy  cholerick  game,  and  very  offensive  to  him 
that  loseth  the  mate.  ^William  the  Conqueror,  in  his  younger 
yeares,  playing  at  chesse  with  the  prince  of  France,  (Dauphine 
was  not  annexed  to  that  crown  in  those  dayes)  losing  a  mate, 
knocked  the  chesse-board  about  his  pate,  which  was  a  cause 
afterward  of  much  enmity  betwixt  them.  For  some  such  rea- 
son it  is,  belike,  that  Patritius  (in  his  3.  book,  Tit.  12.  de  reg. 
ms^i/.)  forbids  his  prince  to  pi  ay  at  chesse  :  hawking  and  hunt- 
ing, riding,  &c.  he  will  allow  ;  and  this  to  other  men,  but  by 
no  means  to  him.  In  Muscovy,  where  they  live  in  stoves  and 
hot  houses  all  winter  long,  come  seldome  or  little  abroad,  it  is 
again  very  necessary,  and  therefore  in  those  parts  (saith  ^Her- 
bastein)  much  used.  At  Fessa  in  Africk,  where  the  like  in- 
convenience of  keeping  within  doors  is  through  heat,  it  is 
very  laudable  ;  and  (as  '^Leo  Afer  relates)  as  much  frequent- 
ed :  a  sport  fit  for  idle  gentlemen,  souldiers  in  garrison,  and 
courtiers  that  have  nought  but  love  matters  to  busie  them- 
selves about,  but  not  altogether  so  convenient  for  such  as  are 
students.  The  like  I  may  say  of  CI.  Bruxers  philosophy 
game,  D.  Fulkes  Metromachia  and  his  0?tranomachia,  with 
the  rest  of  those  intricate  astrologicall  and  geometricall  fic- 
tions, for  such  especially  as  are  mathematically  given  ;  and 
the  rest  of  those  curious  games. 

Dancing,  singing,  masking,  mumming,  stage-plaies,  how- 
soever they  be  heavily  censured  by  some  severe  Catoes,  yet,  if 
opportunely  and  soberly  used,  mayjustly  be  approved.  Melius 
estjodere,  quam  saltare,  saith  Austin;  but  what  is  that,  if 
they  delight  in  it?  ^Nemo  saltat  sobrins.  But  in  what  kinde 
of  dance?  I  know  these  sports  have  many  oppugners,  whole 
volumes  writ  against  them ;  when  as  all  they  say  (if  duly  con- 
vsidered)  is  hut  i(/noratio  elenchi ;  and  some  again,  because 
they  are  now  cold  and  wayward,  past  themselves,  cavel  at  all 
such  youthfull  sports  in  others,  as  he  did  in  the  comedy ;  they 
think  them,  illico  nasci  senes,  Sfc.  Some,  out  of  preeposterous 
zeal,  object  many  timestriviall  arguments,  and, because  of  some 
abuse,  will  quite  take  away  the  good  use,  as  if  they  should 
forbid  wine,  because  it  makes  men  drunk;  but,  in  my  judge- 
ment, they  are  too  stern  :  there  is  a  time  for  all  things,  a 
time  to  mourne,  a  time  to  dance  (Eccles.  3.  4) ;  a  time  to 
embrace,  a  time  not  to  embrace  (vers.  5) ;  and  nothing  better 
than  that  a  man  should  rejoyce  in  his  oiim  works  (vers.  22) 

.    a  f).  H;iy  ward,  in  vita  ejus.  hMuscovif.  rommeulHriiiin.  'Intprcive* 

Fessanaslatrunculorum  ludus  est  usitatissimus,'  lib.  'S.  de  Africa.  d  Tullius. 


Mem.  4.]  Exercise  rectified.  417 

For  my  part,  I  will  subscribe  to  the  kings  declaration,  and 
was  ever  of  that  mind,  those  May-g-ames,  wakes,  and  Whit- 
sonales,  &c.  if  they  be  not  at  unseasonable  hours,  may  justly 
be  permitted.  Let  them  freely  feast,  sing-,  and  dance,  have  their 
poppet-playes,  hobby-horses,  tabers,  crouds,  bag-pipes,  &c. 
play  at  ball,  and  barley-breaks,  and  what  sports  and  recrea- 
tions they  like  best.  h\  Franconia,  a  province  of  Germany, 
(saith^  Aubanus  Bohemus)  the  old  folks, after  evening-  prayer, 
went  to  the  ale-house,  the  younger  sort  to  dance  :  and,  to  say 
truth  with''Sarisburiensis,  satiusfuerat sic otiari,  quamturpius 
occupari,  better  do  so  than  worse,  as  without  question  other- 
wise (such  is  the  corruption  of  mans  nature)  many  of  them 
will  do.  For  that  cause,  playes,  masks,  jesters,  g-ladiators, 
tumblers,] uglers,&;c.  and  ail  thatcrewis  admitted  and  winked 
at:  "tota  jocnlarinm  scenaprocedit^  et  ideo  spectacula  admissa 
sunt,  et  infinita  tyrocinia  vanitatinn,nt  his  occupentur,  qui  per- 
niciosius  otiari  solent :  that  they  might  be  busied  about  such 
toyes,  that  would  otherwise  more  perniciously  be  idle.  So  that, 
as  ''Tacitus  said  of  the  astrologers  in  Rome,  we  may  say  of 
them,  genus  hominum  est,  quod  in  civitate  nostra  et  vitabitur 
semper  et  retinebitur ;  they  are  a  deboshed  company,  most 
part,  slill  spoken  against,  as  well  they  deserve  some  of  them, 
(for  I  so  relish  and  distinguish  them  as  fidlers,  and  musicians) 
and  yet  ever  retained.  Evil  is  not  to  be  done  (I  confess),  that 
good  mag  come  of  it:  but  this  is  evil  per  accidens,  and,  in  a 
qualified  sense,  to  avoid  a  greater  inconvenience,  may  justly  be 
tolerated,  S'^Thomas  Moore',  in  his  Utopian  Commonwealth, 
^-  as  he  will  have  none  idle,  so  will  he  have  no  man  labour  over 
hard,  to  be  toiled  out  like  an  horse :  'tis  more  than  slavish 
infelicitg,  the  life  of  most  of  our  hired  servants,  and  tradesmen 
elsewhere  (excepting  his  Utopians) :  but  half  the  dag  alottedfor 
work,  and  half  for  honest  recreation,  or  ivhatsoever  implogment 
theg  shall  think  fit  them  selves.  If  one  half- day  in  a  week  were 
allowed  to  our  houshold  servants  for  their  merry  meetings,  by 
their  hard  masters,  or  in  a  year  some  feasts,  like  those  Roman 
Saturnals,  1  think  they  would  labour  harder  all  the  rest  of  their 
time,  and  both  parties  be  better  pleased  :  but  this  needs  not 
(you  will  say) ;  for  some  of  them  do  nought  but  loyter  all  the 
week  long. 

This,   which  1  aim  at,  is  for  such  as  are  fracti  animisy 
troubled  in  mind,  to  ease  them,  over-toiled  on  the  one  part, 


i>De  mor.  gent.  bPolycrat.  J.  1.  cap.  8.  <=Idein  Sarisbnriensis.         d  Hist, 

lib.  1,  »'Nemo  desidet  otiosus  :  ita  nemo  asinino  more  ad  .serani  noctem  laborat; 

nam  ea  pliisfiuani  servilis  reniinna,  (jua;  opilicum  vita  est,  exceptis  Utopiensibns,  qui 
diem  in  "JI  horas  dividiiut,  1*2  duutaxut  operi  deputant,  reliqiiuni  sonino  et  cibo  ca- 
jusque  arbitrio  peruiiltiiur. 


418  CureofMelanclioly.         [Part.  2.  Sec.  2. 

to  refresh  :  over  idle  on  the  other,  to  keep  themselves  busied. 
And  to  this  purpose,  as  any  labour  or  employmeijt  will  serve 
to  the  one,  any  honest  recreation  will  conduce  to  the  other,  so 
that  it  be  moderate  and  sparing,  as  the  use  of  meat  and  drink; 
not  to  spend  all  their  life  in  g-aming-,  playing-,  and  pastimes,  as 
too  many  gentlemen  do;  but  to  revive  our  bodies  and  recreate 
our  souls  with  honest  sports :  of  which  as  there  be  divers  sorts, 
and  peculiar  to  severall  callings,  ages,  sexes,  conditions,  so 
there  be  proper  for  several  seasons,  and  those  of  distinct  na- 
tures, to  fit  that  variety  of  humors  which  is  amongst  them,  that 
if  one  will  not,  another  may;  some  in  summer,  some  in  winter, 
some  gentle,  some  more  violent,  some  for  the  mind  alone, 
some  for  the  body  and  mind:  (as,  to  some,  it  is  both  business 
and  a  pleasant  recreation  to  oversee  workmen  of  all  sorts, 
husbandry,  cattle,  horse,  &c.  to  build,  plot,  project,  to  make 
models,  cast  up  accompts,  &c.)  some  without,  some  within 
doors:  new,  old,  &c.  as  the  season  serveth,  and  as  men  are 
inclined.  It  is  reported  of  Phillippus  Bonus,  that  good  duke  of 
Burgundy,  (by  Lodovicus  Vives,  in  Epist.  and  Pont.  ^  Heuter 
in  his  history)  that  the  said  duke,  at  the  marriage  of  Eleonora, 
sister  to  the  king-  of  Portugal,  at  Bruges  in  Flanders,  which 
was  solemnized  in  the  deep  of  winter,  when  as  by  reason  of 
unseasonable  weather  he  could  neither  hawk  nor  hunt,  and 
Avas  now  tired  with  cards,  dice,  &;c.  and  such  other  domestical 
sports,  or  to  see  ladies  dance,  with  some  of  his  courtiers,  he 
would  in  the  evening  walk  disguised  all  about  the  town.  It  so 
fortuned  as  he  was  walking  late  one  night,  he  found  a  country 
fellow  dead  drunk,  snorting  on  a  bulk  :  ''he  caused  his  fol- 
lowers to  bring  him  to  his  palace,  and  there  stripping  him  of 
his  old  cloaths,  and  attiring  him  after  the  court  fashion,  when 
he  waked,  he  and  they  were  all  ready  to  attend  upon  his  ex- 
cellency, perswading  him  be  was  some  great  duke.  The  poor 
fellow,  admiring  how  he  came  there,  was  served  in  state  all 
the  daylong;  after  supper  he  saw  them  dance,  heard  musick, 
and  the  rest  of  those  court-like  pleasures:  but  late  at  night, 
when  he  was  well  tipled,  and  again  fast  asleep,  they  put  on  his 
old  robes,  and  so  conveighed  him  to  the  place  where  they  first 
found  him.  Now  the  fetlow  had  not  made  them  so  good  sport 
the  day  before,  as  he  did  when  he  returned  to  himself;  all  the 
jest  was,  to  see  how  he  "'looked  upon  it.  In  conclusion,  after 
some  little  admiration,  the  poor  man  told  his  friends  he  had 
seen  a  vision,  constantly  believed  it,  would  not  otherwise  be 


"Rerotn  Burgund.  lib.  4.  bJussit  hominem  deferri  ad  palatiom,  et  lecto  ducal' 

coliocari,  Stc.     Mirari  homo,  ubi  se  eo  loci  vide*.  "=  Qnid  interest,  iiKjuit  Lodo- 

vicns  Vires,  (epist.  ad  Francisc.  Bgrducem)  inter  diem  illins  et  nostros  aliquot  annos  ? 
nihil  penitns,  nisi  quod,  Sec. 


Mem.  4.]  Exercise  rectified.  '  419 

perswaded;  and  so  the  jest  ended.  »Antiochiis  Epiphanes 
would  often  disouise  himself,  steal  from  his  court,  and  go  into 
merchants,  goldsmiths,  and  other  tradesmens  shops,  sit  and 
talk  with  them,  and  sometimes  ride,  or  waike  alone,  and  fall 
aboord  with  any  tinker,  clowne,  serving  man,  carrier,  or  whom- 
soever he  met  first.  Sometimes  he  did  ex  insperato  give  a 
poor  fellow  money,  to  see  how  he  would  look,  or  on  set  pur- 
pose lose  his  purse  as  he  went,  to  watch  who  found  it,  and 
withall  how  he  would  be  affected ;  and  with  such  objects  he 
was  much  delighted.  Many  such  tricks  are  ordinarily  put  in 
practice  by  great  men,  to  exhilarate  themselves  and  others; 
all  which  are  harmless  jests,  and  have  their  good  uses. 

But,  amongst  those  exercises,  or  recreations  of  the  n)inde 
M'ithin  doors,  there  is  none  sogenerall,  so  aptly  to  be  applyed 
to  all  sorts  of  men,  so  fit  and  proper  to  expell  idleness  and  me- 
lancholy, as  that  of  study.  Studia  seneclutem  ohlectant,  udo- 
lescentiam  alnnt,  secundas  res  ornant,  adversis  perfugium  el 
solatium  prcehent^  domi  delect  ant,  ^-c.  find  the  rest  in  Tully 
pro  Archici  Poeta.  What  so  full  of  content,  as  to  read,  walke, 
and  see  mappes,  pictures,  statues,  jewels,  marbles,  which  some 
so  much  magnifie,  as  those  that  Phidias  madeof old, so  exqui- 
site and  pleasing  tobe  beheld,  that  (as ''Chrysostome  thinketh) 
if  antj  mail  be  sickly.,  troubled  in  minde,  or  that  cannot  sleep 
for  griefe,  and  shall  but  stand  over  against  one  of  Phidias 
images,  he  icill forget  all  care,  or  ichaisoever  else  may  molest 
him,  in  an  instant  ?  There  be  those  as  much  taken  with 
Michael  Angelos,  Raphael  d'Urbinos--,  Francesco  Francias 
pieces,  and  many  of  those  Italian  and  Dutch  painters,  which 
were  excellent  in  their  ages;  and  esteem  of  it  as  a  most 
pleasing  sight,  to  view  those  neat  architectures,  devices, 
scutchions,  coats  of  armes,  read  such  bookes,  to  peruse  old 
Coynes  of  severall  sorts  in  a  fair  gallery;  artificiall  works,  per- 
spective glasses,  old  reliques,  Roman  antiquities,  variety  of 
colours.  A  good  picture  is  falsa  Veritas,  et  muta  poesis  ; 
and  though  (as  '^Vives  saith)  artificialia  delectant,  sed  mox 
fastidimns,  artificiall  toyes  please  but  for  a  time;  yet  who  is 
he  that  will  not  be  moved  with  them  for  the  present  ?  When 
Achilles  v.as  tormented  and  sad  for  the  loss  of  his  dear  friend 
Patroclus,hfs  mother  Thetis  brought  him  a  most  elaborate  and 
curious  buckler  made  by  Vulcan,  in  which  wereengraven  sun, 
moon,  stars,  planets,  sea,  land,  men  fighting,  running,  riding, 
women  scolding,  hils,  dales,  towns,  castles,  brooks, rivers,  trees, 


aHen.  Stephau.  pra-fat.  Herodoti.  b QraL  H.  Siquis  animo  fuerit  afflictiis 

ant  a-ger,  nee  somnam  ndmittens,  is  mihi  videtur,  e  recione  stans  talis  imaginis,  obli- 
lisci  omaium  posse,  «m!e  humanse  vitaj  atrocia  et  diSicilia  accidere  solcat.  «-■  3.  De 

animl. 


420  Cure  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  2.  Sec.  2. 

&e.  with  many  pretty  laiulskips,  and  perspective  pieces;  with 
sight  of  which  he  was  infinitely  delighted,  and  much  eased 
ol"  his  grief. 

»  Continuo  eo  spectaculo  captus,  delenito  mcerore, 
Oblectabatur,  in  manlbus  tenens  Dei  splendida  dona. 

Who  wi)l  not  be  affected  so  in  like  case,  or  to  see  those  wcl- 
fiirnished  cloisters  and  galleries  of  those  Roman  cardinals,  so 
richly  stored  with  all  modern  pictures,  old  statues  and  anti- 
quities'?  Cum  se  spectaudo  recreet  simnl  et  legev do,  to  see 
their  pictures  alone,  and  read  the  description,  as  ''Boissardus 
well  addes,  whom  will  it  notafFect.?  which Bozius,Pomponius 
Lsetus,  Marlianus,  Schotfus,  Cavelerius,  Ligorius,  &c.  and  he 
himself  hath  well  performed  of  late.  Or  in  some  princes 
cabinets,  like  that  of  the  great  dukes  in  Florence,  of  Felix 
Platerus  in  Brasil,  or  noblemens  houses,  to  see  such  variety 
of  attires,  faces,  so  many,  so  rare,  and  such  exquisite  peeces, 
of  men,  birds,  beasts,  &c.  to  see  those  excellent  landskips, 
Dutch-works,  and  curious  cuts  of  Sadlier  of  Prage,  Albertus 
Durer,  Goltzius,  Urintes,  &c.  such  pleasant  peeces  of  perspec- 
tive, Indian  pictures  made  of  feathers,  China  works,  frames, 
thaumaturgical  motions,  exotick  toyes,  &c.  Who  is  he  that 
is  now  wholly  overcome  with  idleness,  or  otherwise  involved 
in  a  labyrinth  of  worldly  cares,  troubles  and  discontents, 
that  will  not  be  much  lightned  in  his  mind  by  reading  of 
some  inticing  story,  true  or  fained,  where,  as  in  a  glass,  he 
shall  observe  what  our  forefathers  have  done,  the  beginnings, 
ruins,  fals,  periods  of  coznmon-wealth,  private  mens  actions 
displayed  to  the  life,  &c.?  '^Plutarch  therefore  cals  them  se- 
cuiidas  mensas  et  ballaria,  the  second  course  and  junkets,  be- 
cause they  were  usually  read  at  noblemens  feasts.  VVho  is  not 
earnestly  affected  with  a  passionate  speech,  well  penned,  an 
elegant  poem,  or  some  pleasant  bewitching  discourse,  like  that 
of  '^Keliodorus,  ubi  ohlectatio  qncedam  placide  Jiuit,  cum 
hilaritaie  conjuncta?  Julian  the  Apostate  was  so  taken  with 
an  oration  of  Libanius  the  sophister,  that,  as  he  confesseth, 
he  could  not  be  quiet  till  he  had  read  it  all  out.  Legi  ora- 
tionem  tiiam  magna  ex  parte,  hesternd  die  ante  prandium : 
pransus  vera  sme  ulld  intermissione  totam  absolvi.  O  argu- 
menta!  O  composltiouem  !  1  nifiy  say  the  same  of  this  or  that 
pleasing  tract,  which  will  draw  his  attention  along  with  it.  To 
most  kind  of  men  it  is  an  extraordinary  delight  to  study.  For 
what  a  world  of  books  offers  itself,  in  all  subjecis,  arts,  and 


alljacl.  19.  I'Topogr.  Rora.  part.  1.  «  Quod  heroiim  convi\iis  legi 

solilct.  ''Mplanctlioii,  dc  Heliocloro.  _ 


Mem.  4.]  Exercise  reetijied.  421 

sciences,  to  the  sweet  content  and  capacity  of  the  reader?  In 
arithmetick,  geometry,  perspective,  optick,  astronomy,  archi- 
tecture, sculpturd  picturd,  ot^hich  so  many  and  such  elabo- 
rate treatises  are  of  late  written  ;  in  mechanicks  and  their 
mysteries,  military  matters,  navigation,  ''riding-  of  horses, 
''fencing,  swimming-,  gardening,  planting,  great  tomes  of  hus- 
bandry, cookery,  faulconry,  hunting,  fishing,  fowling,  &c. 
with  exquisite  pictures  of  all  sports,  games,  and  whatnot?  In 
musick,  metaphysicks,  natural  and  moral  philosophy,  philo- . 
logie,inpolicy,heraldry,genealogy,  chronology,  &c.  they  afford 
great  tomes,  or  those  studies  of  "^  antiquity,  &c.  et  '^  quid  snb- 
tiliu.s  arithmeticis  inventionihus  ?  (luid  jucimdius  mnsicis  ra- 
tionihus?  quid  dirinius  astronomicis  ?  quid  rectius  f/eome- 
tricis  demonst  ratio  nihil  s  ?  What  so  sure,  what  so  pleasant  ? 
Jle  that  shall  but  see  that  geometrical  tower  of  Garezenda  at 
Bologne,  in  Italy,  the  steeple  and  clock  at  Strasborough,  will 
admire  the  effects  of  art,  or  that  engine  of  Archimedes  to  re- 
move the  earth  itself,  if  he  had  but  a  place  to  fasten  his  in- 
strument; Arckimedis  cochlea,  and  rare  devises  to  corrivate 
waters,  musick  instruments,  and  trisyllable  echoes  again, 
and  again  repeated,  with  miriades  of  such.  What  vast  tomes 
are  extant  in  law,  physick,  and  divinity,  for  profit,  pleasure, 
practice,  speculation,  in  verse  or  prose,  &c.  ?  their  names 
alone  are  the  subject  of  whole  volumes:  we  have  thousands 
of  authors  of  all  sorts,  many  great  libraries  full  well  fur- 
nished, like  so  many  dishes  of  meat,  served  out  for  several 
palates ;  and  he  is  a  very  block  that  is  affected  with  none  of 
them.  Some  take  an  infinite  delight  to  study  the  very  lan- 
guages wherein  these  books  are  written,  Hebrew,  Greek,  Sy- 
riac,  Chalde,  Arabick,  &c.  Me  thinks  it  would  please  any  man 
to  look  upon  a  geographical  map,  {^ suavi  animum  delectatione 
allicere,  sb  incredibilem  rertim  varietatem  et  jucunditatem, 
et  ad  pleniorem  sui  cognitionem  excitare)  chorographical,  to- 
pographical delineations ;  to  behold,  as  it  were,  all  the  re- 
mote provinces,  towns,  cities  of  the  world,  and  never  to  go 
forth  of  the  limits  of  his  study;  to  measure,  by  the  scale  and 
compasse,  tiieir  extent,  distance,  examine  their  site.  Charles 
the  great  (as  Platina  writes)  hath  three  faire  silver  tables,  in 
one  of  which  superficies  was  a  large  map  of  Constantinople, 
in  the  second  Ronie  neatly  engraved,  in  the  third  an  exqui- 
site description  of  the  whole  world  ;  and  much  deii^^ht  he  took 
iu  them.      What  greater  pleasure  can   there  now  be,  than  to 


*Pliivines.                    ''TLil)aulL  "^As,  in  travelliug,  t!ie  rest  so  forward  and 

look  betbre  tliem,  an  antiquary  uione  looks  round  about  him,  seeing  thiu^s  past,  ice. 

hath  tt  coniplcat  horixon^  Januj  BilVons.  >>Cardi»:i.                   '-•Hoiidius,  prsfat. 
Merv-atoris. 


4^2  CMre  of  MeUmcholy.  [Part.  2.  Sec.  2. 

view  those  elaborate  maps  of  Orteliiis,  "Mercator,  Hoiulius, 
&c.  to  peruse  those  books  of  cities,  put  out  by  Braunus,  and 
Hogenbergius  ?  to  read  those  exquisite  descriptions  of  Maoi- 
nus,  Mu lister,  Herrera,  Laet,  Merula,  Boterus,  Leander  A!- 
bertus,  Camden,  Leo  Afer,  Adricomius,  Nic.  Gerbelius,  &c.  ? 
those  famous  expeditions  of  Christoph.  Columbus,  Americus 
Vesputius,  Marcus  Polus  the  Venetian,  Led.  Vertomannus, 
Aloysius  Cadamustus,  &c.  ?  those  accurate  diaries  of  Portu- 
gals,  Hollanders,  of  Bartison,  Oliver  aNort,  &c.  Hacluits  voy- 
ages, Pet.  Martyrs  Decades,  Bonzo,  Lerius,  Linschotens  re- 
lations, those  Hodoepericons  of  Jod.  a  Meggen,  Brocarde  the 
monke,  Bredenbachius,  Jo.  Dublinius,  Sands,  &c.  to  Jerusa- 
lem, Egypt,  and  other  remote  places  of  the  world  ?  those 
pleasant  itineraries  of  Paulus  Hentzerus,  Jodocus  Sincerus, 
Dux  Polonus,  &c.  to  read  Bellonius  observations,  P.  Gillius 
his  survayes ;  those  parts  of  America,  set  out,  and  curiously 
cut  in  pictures,  by  Fratres  a  Bry.  To  see  a  well  cut  herbal, 
hearbs,  trees,  Howers,  plants,  all  vegefals,  expressed  in  their 
proper  colours  to  the  life,  as  that  of  Matthiolus  upon  Diosco- 
rides,Delacampius,Lobel,  Bauhinus,  and  that  last  voluminous 
and  mighty  herbal  of  Besler  of  Noremberge,  wherein  almost 
every  plant  is  to  his  own  bignesse.  To  see  birds,  beasts,  and 
fishes  of  the  sea,  spiders,  gnats,  serpents,  flies,  &c.  all  crea- 
tures set  out  by  the  same  art,  and  truly  expressed  in  lively 
colours,  with  an  exact  description  of  their  natures,  vertues, 
qualities,  &c.  as  hath  been  accurately  performed  by  ^Elian, 
Gesner,  Ulysses  Aldrovandus,  Bellonius,  Rondoletius,  Hip- 
polytus  Salvianus,  &c.  ^  Arcana  coeli,  nature  secreta,  ordi- 
nem  universi  scire,  majoris  J'elicitatis  et  dulcedinis  est,  quani 
cogitatione  qtiis  assequi  possit,  aut  mortalis  sperare.  What 
more  pleasing  studies  can  there  be  than  the  raathematicks, 
theorick,  or  practick  parts  .''  as  to  survay  land,  makemaps, 
models,  dials,  &c.  with  which  I  was  ever  much  delighted  my 
self.  Talis  est  mathematum  pulchritudo,  (saith  *^  Plutarch)  ut 
his  indignum  sit  divitiarum  phaleras  istas  et  hvllas  et  jmeU 
laria  spectacula  comparari :  such  is  the  excellency  of  these 
studies,  that  all  those  ornaments  and  childish  bubbles  of 
wealth  are  not  worthy  to  be  compared  to  them  :  crede  mihi, 
(^ saith  one)  exstingni  dulce  erit  mathematicarum  artium  studio; 
I  could  even  live  and  die  with  such  meditations,  *and  take 
more  delight,  ^rue  content  of  mind  in  them,  than  thou  hast  in 
all  thy  wealth  and  sport,  how  rich  soever  thou  art.  And,  as 
^  Cardan  well  seconds  me,  honorijicum  magis  est  et  gloriosum 

1  Atlas  Geog.  bCardan.  c  Lib.  de  cnpid.  diiitianira.  dLeoh. 

Diggs,  prsefat.  ad  perpet.  prognost.     -  <>  Plus  capio  voluptatis,  &.c.  ^In  Hy- 

perehcu.  divis.  '■). 


Mem.  4.]  Exercise  recliju'd.  423 

Jtcec  intelligere,   quam  profinciis  prceesse,J'ormo.^um  aut  diieui 
juveyiem  esse.     The  like  pleasure  there  is  in  all  other  studies, 
to  such  as  are  truly  addicted  to  them:  ^easitnvkas,  (one  holds) 
uty  cum  quisea  degustaverit,  quasi  poculis  Circeis  captns,non 
possit  unqnam  ah  i His  divelli ;  the  like  s^ectnesse,  which,  as 
Circes  cup,  bewitcheth  a  student,  lie  cannot  leave  ot!',  as  well 
may  witnesse  those  many  laborious  houres,  dayes,atid  nights, 
spent  in  the  volumnious  treatises  written   by  them;  the  same 
content.     '^Julius  Scaliger  was  so  much  affected  with  poetry, 
that  he  brake  out  into  a  pathetical  protestation,  he  had  rather 
be  the  author  of  12  verses  in  Lucian,  or  such  an  ode  in  ^Ho- 
race, than  emperour  of  Germany.     ''Nicholas  Gerbelius,  that 
good  old  man,  was   so  much  ravished  with  a  few  Greek  au- 
thors restored  to  light,  Mith  hope  and  desire  of  enjoying-  tlic 
rest,  that  he  exclaims  forthwith,  Arahibiis  atqne  Indis  omnihus 
rrimits  diliores,  we  shall  be  richer  than   all  the  Arabick  or 
Indian  princes;    of  such  "^  esteem  they  were  with  him,  incom- 
parable worth  and  value.     Seneca  prefers  Zeno  and  Chrysip- 
pus  two  doting  Stoicks,  (he  was  so  much  enamoured  on  their 
works)  before  any  prince  or  general  of  an  army ;  and  Oron- 
tius  the  mathematician  so  far  admires  Archimedes,  that  he 
calls  him,  diiinum  et  homine  mnjorem,  a  petty  god,  more  than 
a  man ;  and  well  he  might,  for  ought  I  see,  if  you  respect 
fame  or  worth.     Pindarus  of  Thebes  is  as  much  renowned  for 
his  poems,  as  Epaminondas,  Pelopidas,  Hercules,  or  Bacchus, 
his  fellow  citizens,  for  their  warlike  actions  ;  et  sij'amam  re- 
spicias,  lion  pauciores  Aristotelisquavi  Alexandri  meniitierunt: 
(as  Cardan  notes)   Aristotle  is  more  known  than  Alexander; 
for  we  have  a  bare  relation  of  Alexanders  deeds;  but  Aristotle 
totus  vivit  in  monumentis,  is  whole  in  his  works  :  yet  1  stand 
not  upon  this;  the  delight  is  it,  Avhich  I  aim  at :    so  great 
pleasure,  such  sweet  content  there  is  in  study.     '  King  James, 
1605,  when  he  came  to  see  our  university   of  Oxford,  and. 
amongst  other  tedifices,  now  went  to  view  that  famous  library, 
renewed  by   S"^.  Thomas   Bodley,  in  imitation  of  y\lexander, 
at  his  departure  brake  out  into  that  noble  speech,  li"  1  were 
not  a  king,  I  would  be  a  university  man  :  "and  ij' it  were  so, 
that  I  must  be  a  prisoner^  if  I  mitjht  have  my  icish,  I  loould 
desire  to  have   no  other  prison  than   that  Ubrarif,  and  to   he 
chained  to ff ether  with  so  many  fjood  authors,  ct  mortius  ma- 


a  Cardan,  prfefat.  reruni  \ariet.  ''Poetices  lib.  cLib.  .3.  Ode  9. 

Douec  grains  eram  tibi,  ixc.  JDe  Pelopounes.  lib.  G.  descrip.  (Jra;c.  '^Qnos 

si  int<*gros  hahcremus,  Dii  boni!  quas  opes,  quos  the.satiros  teneremus!  flsaaik 

Wake,  iiiusae  recfiiautes.  S  Si  unquaui  niilii  iu  fatis  sit,  ut  capti\us  ducar,  si 

niihi  daretiir  optio,  hoc  cuperem  careers  concUuli,  his  cateuis  iiligari,  cimi  hisce  cap- 
tivi.s  roncafenatis  «>tateni  ajrrp. 

VOL.    1.  NN 


424  Cure  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  2.  Sec.  2. 

gistris.  So  sweet  is  the  delight  of  stutly,  the  more  learning- 
they  have,  (as  he  that  hath  a  dropsie,  the  more  he  drinks,  the 
thirstier  he  is)  the  more  they  covet  to  learn;  and  the  last  day  is 
prioris  discipnlns ;  harsh  at  first  learninjo-  is;  radices  amara;, 
hut  Jructns  dulces,  according  to  that  of  Isocrates,  pleasant  at 
last;  the  longer  they  live,  the  more  they  are  enamoured  with 
the  Muses.  Heinsius,  the  keeper  of  the  library  at  Leiden  in 
Holland,  was  mewed  up  in  it  all  the  year  long ;  and  that 
■which  to  thy  thinking  should  have  bred  a  loathing,  caused  in 
him  a  greater  liking*.  "  /  wo  sooner  (saith  he)  come  into  the  li' 
brariff  but  I  bolt  the  door  to  me,  excluding  lust,  ambition, 
avarice,  and  all  such  vices,  whose  nurse  is  Idlenesse  the 
mother  oj'  Ignorance,  and  Melancholy  herself;  and  in  the 
very  lap  oj  eternity,  amongst  so  many  divine  souls,  I  take  my 
seat,  with  so  loj'ty  a  spirit  and  sicect  content,  that  I  pitty  all 
our  great  ones,  and  rich  men,  that  kuoiv  not  this  happinesse. 
I  am  not  ignorant  in  the  mean  time  (notwithstanding  this 
which  1  have  said)  how  barbarously  and  basely  for  the  most 
part  our  ruder  gentry  esteem  of  libraries  and  books,  how  they 
neglect  and  contemn  so  great  a  treasure,  so  inestimable  a  be- 
nefit, as  ^sops  cock  did  the  jewel  he  found  in  the  dxmghil  ; 
and  all  through  error,  ig-norance,and  want  of  education.  i\nd 
'tis  a  wonder  withal  to  observe  how  much  they  will  vainly  cast 
away  in  unnecessary  expences,  (piot  modis pereant  (saith  ''Eras- 
mus) magnalibus  pecuniw,  quantum absuniant  alea,  scoria,  com- 
potationes,  profectioncs  non  necessari^,  pompa',  bella  cpicesita, 
ambitio,  colax,  morio,  ludio,  Q-c.M'hat  in  hawkes,  hounds,  law- 
suitSjVainbuil  ding,  gurmuiulizing,  drinking,  sports,  playes,  pas- 
times, &c.  Ifaweil-mindetlmanto  the  Siuseswouldsuetosome 
of  them  for  an  exhibition,  to  the  farther  maintenance  or  in- 
largement  of  such  a  work,  be  it  college,  lecture,  library,  or 
■whatsoever  el^e  may  tend  to  the  advancement  of  learning, 
they  are  so  unwilling,  so  averse,  they  had  rather  see  these 
which  are  already  with  such  cost  and  care  erected,  utterly 
ruined,  demolished,  or  otherwise  employed  ;  for  they  repine, 
many,  and  grudge  at  such  gifts  and  revenews  so  bestowed  : 
andtherefore  it  were  in  vain,  as  Erasmus  well  notes,  vel  ab  his, 
vel  a  negotiatoribus  qui  se  Mammonce  dediderunt,  improbnvi 
fortrsse  tale  offieium  eaigere,  to  soiicite  or  aske  any  thing  of 
such  men  (that  are,  likely,  damn'd  to  riches)  to  this  purpose. 
For  my  part,  I  pity  these  men  ;  stultos  jubeo  esse  libenter;  let 


aEpist.  Primiero.  Plernmque  in  qna  siiriul  ac  pedem  posni,  foribus  pessiiltim 
obdo;  ambitionein  autem,  aniorem.  iihidinem,  &c.  cxcludo,  q-.iorum  parens  est  ignctria, 
imperitia  nutrix  ;  et  in  ipso  aeternitatis  g^remio,  inter  tot  illustres  animas  sedem  mihi 
sumo,  cum  ingenti  quidem  anirao,  \xi  snbinde  n)agnatuni  me  misereat,  qui  felicitatem 
banc  ignoratit.  ^C\vl\,  2.  Cent.  1.  adag.  1. 


Mem.  4.  ]  fJ.rercise  rectijicd.  425 

thera  g-o  as  they  arc,  iu  the  catalogue  of  Ii:5iiorainus.  How 
much,  oil  the  other  side,  are  we  all  bound,  that  are  scholars;, 
to  those  munificent  Ptolemies,  bountirull  Mecccnates,  heroi- 

call  patrons,  divine  spirits, -^  qui  nobis  hcec  ofiaje- 

eernnt :  namqiie  erit  ille    mihi  semper  Deus tliat 

Imve  provided  for  us  so  many  well  furnished  libraries,  as 
well  in  our  publick  academies  in  most  cities,  as  in  our  private 
colleges?  How  shall  I  reniembtr  "^  S^  Thomas  Bodley, 
amongst  the  rest,  ^  Otho  Nicholson,  and  the  right  revereutl 
John  Williams,  lord  bishop  of  Lincolne,  (with  many  other 
pious  acts)  Avho,  besides  that  at  S*.  Johns  college,  in  Cam- 
bridge, that  in  AV^estminster,  is  now  likewise  \v\  Jieriwith  a  li- 
brary at  Lincolne  (a  noble  president  for  all  corporate  towns 
and  cities  to  imitate)  O  quern  te  ynemorem,  vir  illnstrisnmc  ! 
quibus  elocfiis  !  but  to  my  taske  again. 

Whosoever  he  is,  therefore,  that  is  overrun  with  solitariness, 
or  carried  away  with  pleasing'  melancholy  and  vain  conceits, 
and  for  want  of  imployment  knows  not  how  to  spend  his 
time,  or  crucified  with  worldly  care,  I  can  prescribe  him  no 
better  remedy  than  this  of  study,  to  compose  himself  to  the 
learning-  of  some  art  or  science  ;  provided  alwayes  that  his 
malady  proceed  not  from  overmuch  study;  for  in  such  cases 
he  addes  fuell  to  the  fire;  and  nothing  can  be  more  pernicioui?. 
Let  him  take  heed  he  do  not  overstretch  his  wits,  and  make  a 
skeleton  of  himself;  or  such  inamoratoes  as  read  nothing  but 
play-books,  idle  poems,  jests,  Araadis  de  Gaul,  the  Knight  of 
the  Sun,  the  Seven  Champions,  Palmerin  de  Oliva,  Huon  of 
Burdeaux",  &c.  Such  many  times  prove  in  the  end  as  mad 
as  Don  Quixot.  Study  is  only  prescribed  to  those  that  are 
otherwise  idle,  troubled  ui  miude,  or  carried  headlong  with  vain 
thoughts  and  imaginations,  to  distract  their  cogitations,  (al- 
though variety  of  study,  or  some  serious  subject,  would  do  (he 
former  no  harm)  and  divert  their  continual!  meditations  an- 
other way.  Nothing  in  this  case  better  than  study  ;  semper 
aliquid  memoriter  ediscant,  saitli  Piso  ;  let  them  learn  some- 
thing without  book,  translate,  transcribe,  &c.  read  the  scrip- 
tures, which  Hyperius  {lib.  1.  de  quoiid.  script.  lec.Jhl.  11~) 
holds  available  of  it  self:  ^  the  mind  is  erected  thereby  front 
all  worldly  cares,  and  hath  much  quiet  and  tranquillity  ;  for, 
as  *  Austin  well  hath  it,  'tis  scientia  scientiarwn,  omni  melle 
dulcior,  omni  pane  suavior,  omni  vino  hilarior  ;  'tis  the  best 
nepenthes,  surest  cordiall,  sweetest  alterative,  present'st  di- 


nVirg.  eclog.  1.  ''Founder  of  our  puhlike  library  in  Oxon.  <-'Otirs 

in  Christ-Church,  Oxon.  J  Aniojus  levatur  inde  a  curis,  multa  quiete  et  traa- 

quillitate  fruens.  ^  Ser.  3S,  ad  Fratres  Ereni. 

N  N  2 


496  Cure  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  2.  Sec.  2. 

verter  :  for  neither,  as  *  Chrysostome  well  adds,  those  boughs 
and  leaves  of  trees  which  are  plashed  for  cattle  to  stand  tot' 
der,  in  the  heat  of  the  day,  in  summer^  so  much  refresh  them 
ivith  their  acceptable  shade,  as  the  reading  of  the  scripture 
doth  recreate  and  comfort  a  distressed  soul,  in  sorrow  and  qf- 
fiction.  Paul  bids  pray  continually ;  quod  cibus  corpori, 
lectio  animce  facit,  saith  Seneca ;  as  meat  is  to  the  body, 
such  is  reading-  to  the  soul.  ''  To  be  at  leasure  ivithout  books 
is  another  hell,  and  to  be  buried  alive.  "^  Cardan  calls  a 
library  the  physick  of  the  soul;  '^divine  authors  for  tife  the 
mind,  make  men  bold  and  constant  ;  and  (as  Hyperius  adds) 
yodly  conference  ivill  not  permit  the  mind  to  be  tortured  icith 
absurd  coyitations.  Rhasis  injoynes  continual  conference  to 
such  melancholy  men,  perpetuall  discourse  of  some  history, 
tale,  poem,  news,  &c.  alternos  sermones  edere  ac  bibere^ 
aque  fucundum  quam  cibus,  sive  potus,  which  feeds  the 
minile,  as  meat  and  drink  doth  the  body,  and  pleaseth  as 
much :  and  therefore  the  said  Rhasis,  not  without  good  cause, 
woulde  have  some  body  still  talke  seriously,  or  dispute  with 
them,  and  sometimes  ^to  cavil  and  wranyle  (so  that  it  break 
not  out  to  a  violent  perturbation) ;  for  such  altercation  is  like 
stirring  of  a  dead  fire,  to  make  it  burn  afresh:  it  whets  a 
dull  spirit,  and  ivill  not  suffer  the  mind  to  be  droimiedin  those 
profound  cogitations.,  ivhich  melancholy  men  are  commonly 
troubled  with.  "^^  Ferdinand  and  Alphonsus,  kings  of  Arragoii 
and  Sicily,  were  both  cured  by  reading-  the  history,  one  of 
Curtius,  the  other  of  Livy,  when  no  prescribed  physick  would 
take  place,  s  Camerarius  relates  as  much  of  Laurence  Me- 
dices.  Heathen  philosophers  are  so  full  of  divine  precepts  in 
this  kinde,  that,  as  some  think,  they  alone  are  able  to  settle  a 
distressed  mind — 

''  Sunt  verba  et  voces,  quibus  hunc  lenire  dolorem,  &c. 

EpictetuSjPIutarch,  and  Seneca.  Quails  ille  !  quce  tela,  SRitli 
Lipsius,  adversus  omnes  animi  casus,  administrat,  et  ipsam 
mortem  !  quomodo  vitia  eripit,  infert  virtutes  !  when  I  read 
Seneca,  '  me  thinks  I  am  beyond  all  humane  fortunes,  on  the 
top  of  an  hill  above  mortalitie,     Plutarch  saith  as  much  of 


»Hom.  4.  de  pcenitentia.  Nam  neque  arborum  comae,  pro  pec.orum  tiiguriis  fractae, 
meridie  per  lestatem  optabilem  exhibentes  unibram,  eves  ita  reticiunt,  ac  scripturarum 
lectio  afflictas  angore  animas  solatur  et  recreat.  ^  Otium  sine  Uteris  mors  est,  et 

viv-i  hominis  sepiiltura.     Seneca.  ^Cap.  99.  I.  57.  derer.  var.  J  Forteiii 

reddunt  animuui   et  constautem  ;  et  pium  coiloquiiim  non  permittit  aninnim  absiirda 
cogitatione  torqueri.  p  Altercationibus    utantur,   quae   non  permittunt 

animiun  subraergi   profundis  cogitationibus,  de  quibus  otiose  cogitat,  et  tri^tatur  in  iis. 
''Bodiu.  prajfat.  ad  nietli.  hist.  b'Operum  subcis.  cap.  15.  •>  Hor, 

'  Fatendumest,  cacuniine  Olympi  constitn(ns  mihi  video.",  supra  ventos  et  procellas,  et 
omue.s  res  liiinianas. 


Mem.  4.J  Exercise  rectified.  42/ 

Homer ;  for  which  cause, belike,  Niceratus,  in  Xenophon,  was 
made  by  his  parents  to  con  Homers  Iliads  and  Odysses  without 
book,  ut  in  virnm  honum  evaderet,  as  well  to  make  him  a  good 
and  honest  man,  as  to  avoid  idleness.  If  this  comfort  may 
be  g-ot  by  philosophy,  what  shall  be  had  from  divinity?  What 
shall  Austin,  Cyprian,  Gregory,  Bernards  divine  meditations, 
afford  us  ? 

Qui,  quid  sit  pulclirum,quid  turpe,  quid  utile,  quid  non, 
rienius  et  melius  Chrysippo  et  Crantore  dicunt. 

Nay  what  shall  the  scripture  it  self,  which  is  like  an  apothe- 
caries shop,  wherein  are  all  remedies  for  all  infirmities  of  minde, 
purgatives,  cordials,  alteratives,  corroboratives,  lenitives,  &c.? 
Every  disease  of  the  som?,  saith  *  Austin,  hath  a  peculiar  medi- 
cine in  the  scripture ;  this  onely  is  required^  that  the  sick  man 
take  the  potion  which  God  hath  already  tempered.  ''Gregory 
calls  it  a  glass  tcherein  we  may  see  all  our  injirmities;  ignitnm 
colloquium,  Psalm  1 19, 140  ;  ^"Origen,  a  charme.  And  there- 
fore Hierome  prescribes  Rusticus  the  monke,  ^continnally  to 
read  the  scripture,  and  to  meditate  on  thattvhich  he  hath  read; 
for,  as  mastication  is  to  meat,  so  is  meditation  on  that  which  we 
read.  1  would,  for  these  causes,  wish  him  that  is  melancholy, 
to  use  both  humane  and  divine  authors,  voluntarily  to  impose 
sometaskeuponhiraself,todivert  his  melancholy  thoughts  ;  to 
study  the  art  of  memory,  Cosmus  Roselius,  Pet.  Ravennas, 
Scenkeliusdetectus,  or  practise  brachygraphy,&c.  that  will  ask 
a  o-reat  deale  of  attention :  or  let  him  demonstrate  a  proposition 
inEuclide  in  his  five  last  books,  extract  a  square  root,  orstudie 
alo-ebra;  than  which,  as  ^Clavius  holds,  in  all  humane  disci- 
plines, nothing  can  he  more  excellent  and  pleasant,  so  abstruse 
and  recondite,  so  bewitching,  so  miraculous,  so  ravishing,  so 
easie,  ivithall,  and  full  of  delight,  omnem  humanum  captum 
superare  videtur.  By  this  means  you  may  define  ex  ungue 
leonem,  as  the  diverbe  is,  by  his  thumb  alone  the  bigness  of 
Hercules,  or  the  true  dimensions  of  the  great  'Colossus,  So- 
lomons temple,  and  Domitians  amphitheater,  out  of  a  little 
part.  By  this  art  you  may  contemplate  the  variation  of  the 
23  letters,  which  may  be  so  infinitely  varied,  that  the  words 
complicated  and  deduced  thence  will  not  be  contained  within 


'  In  Ps.  36.     Omuis  morbus  aniroi  in  sc.ripturA  habet  medicinam  ;  tantuin  opus  pst,  ut 
qui  sit  reger,  non   reciiset  potiouem  quani  Dens  teuiperavit.  •>  In  moral,  spprnlnm 

quo  nos  intueri  possimus.  ■"  Horn.  28.  Ut  incantatione  virus  fiiijatur,  ita  lertione 

maluni.  diterum  atque  iterum  nioneo,  ut  animam  sacra;  Hcriptu^a^  lpctii>ne  nr- 

♦■upes.     Masticat  (li>inuDi  pabulum  nieditatio.  ''Ad.  2.  definit.  -.  elem.     In 

fliscipHnis  humauis  nihil  prscstantius  reperitur :  quippf  miracnla  qntrdam  numeroram 
Tuit  tam  abstrusa  ft  recondita.  tanta  nihilominus  facilitate  ct  voln|-tate,  ^iit,  &r. 
/  VVbicb  contained  lOaOOOO  weight  ol  brass. 


428  Cnie  of  Melunclwly.  [Part.  2.  Sec.  2. 

(he  compass  of  the  firmament:  ten  words  may  be  varied403£0 
several  vvayes :  by  this  art  you  may  examine  how  many  men 
may  stand  one  by  another  in  the  whole  superficies  of  the  earth  : 
some  say  1 48456800000000,  assignando  singulis  passum  qtia- 
dratum  ;  how  many  men,  supposing  all  the  world  as  habitable 
as  France,  as  fruitful!,  and  so  long  lived,  may  be  born  iit 
(50000  years;  and  so  may  you  demonstrate,  with  ''Archimedes^ 
how  many  sands  the  mass  of  the  whole  world  might  contain, 
if  all  sandy,  if  you  did  but  first  know  how  much  a  small  cube 
as  big  as  a  mustard-seed  might  hold;  with  infinite  such.   But, 
\\(  all  nature,  what  is  there  so  stupend  as  to  examine  and  cal- 
culate the  motion  of  the  planets,  their  magnitudes,  apogeums, 
perigeums,  excentricities,  how  far  distant  from  the  earth,  the 
bigness,  thickness,  compass  of  the  firmament,  each  star,  with 
their  diameters  and  circumference,  apparent  area,  superficies^ 
by  those  curious  helj)s  of  glasses,  astrolabes,  sextants,  qua- 
drants, of  which  TychoBrahein  his  mechanicks,  opticks  (''di- 
vine opticks),  arithmetick,  geometry,  and  such  like  arts  and 
instruments?    What  so  intricate,  and  pleasing  withall,  as  to 
peruse  and  practise  Heron  Aloxandrinus   works,  de  spirita- 
lilms,  demachinis  heUicis^  demacJdnd  se  movente,  Jordani  JV*e- 
siwraril  de  pouderibus  proposit.  13.  that  pleasant  tract  of  Ma- 
chometes  Bragdedinus  de  superfcierum  divisionibus,  Appol- 
lonius  Conicks,  or  Commandinus  labours  in   that  kinde,  de 
ceulro  f/ravitatis,  with  many  such  geometricall  theorems,  and 
problems?  Those  rare  instruments  and  mechanical  invention^ 
ofJac.  Bessonus,  and  Cardan  to  this  purpose,  with  many  such 
experiments  intimated  long-  since  by  Roger  Bacon  in  his  tract 
de  '^  Secreiis  ariis  et  naturce^  as  to  make  a  chariot  to  n\o\e  sine 
uniniali,  diving  boats,  to  walk  on  the  water  by  art,  and  to  fly 
in  the  air,  to  make  several  cranes  and  pullies,  quibns  homo 
Ivnhat  ad  se  mille  homines,  lift  up  and  remove  great  weights, 
milsto^ move  themselves,  Archytas  dove,  Albertusbrasen  head, 
and  such  tiiaumaturgical  works  ;  but  especially  to  do  strange 
miracles  by  glasses,  of  Avhich  Proclus  and  Bacon  writ  of  old, 
burningglassesj  multiplyingglasses,  perspectives,  ?{t  mins  homo 
appareat  exercitus,  to  see  afar  off,  to  represent  solid  bodies, 
by  cylinders  and  concaves,  to  walk  in  the  air,   nt  vorucifer 
videant  (saith  Bacon)  aurum  et  arf/entum,  et  fjuicquid  ali?idvo- 
Su.nt,  e/,  quum  veuiant  ad  locum  visionis,  nlliil  inneniani ,  which 
glasses  are  much  perfected  of  late  by  Baptista  Porta  and  Ga- 
lileus,  and  much  more  is  promised  by  Maginus  andMidorgius, 
to  be  performed  in  this  kinde.     Otacousticons  some  speak  of, 
to  intend  hearing,  as  the  other  dosiglit;  Marcellns  Vrencken, 
an  Hollander,  in  his  epistle  to  Burgraviiis,  makes  mention  of 

a  Vide  Ciavium,  in  com.  de  Saciobosco.  f  Piitaatias  ccclorura  sola  ppiica 

dijiK'.ica'.  c  Cap.  4.  et  5. 


Mem.  4.]  Ei:erciMe  rectified.  429 

a  friend  of  bis  that  is  about  an  instrument,  qiio  videhit  que^m 
altero  horizonte  sint.  Bat  our  alcbymists,  me  tbinks,  and  Ro- 
sie-cross  men  afford  most  rarities,  and  are  fuller  of  experi- 
ments :  tbey  can  make  gold,  separate  and  alter  metals,  extract 
oyls,  salts,  lees,  and  do  more  strange  works  tben  Geber,  Lul- 
lins,  Bacon,  or  any  of  tbose  ancients.  Crollius  bath  made, 
after  bis  master  Paracelsus,  cnirumj'ulminans,  or  aurum  vola- 
tile, wbich  shall  imitate  thunder  and  lightning,  and  crack 
lowder  than  any  gunpowder ;  Cornelius  Drible  a  perpetual 
motion,  inextinguible  lights,  limnnnon  ardens,  with  many  such 
feats :  see  bis  book  de  naturd  elementorum^  besides  hail,  wind, 
snow,  thunder,  lightning, &c.thosestrange fire-works,  devilish 
pettards,  and  such  like  warlike  machinations  derived  bence,of 
which  read  Tartalea  and  others.  Ernestus  Burgravius,  a  dis- 
ciple of  Paracelsus,  bath  published  a  discourse,  in  which  he 
specifies  a  lamp  to  be  made  of  mans  blood,  hicerna  vitce  et 
mortis  index,  so  he  terms  it,  which,  chymically  prepared  40 
dayes,  and  afterward  kept  in  a  glasse,  shall  shcAV  all  the  acci- 
dents of  this  life  ;  si  lampas  hie  clarus,  tunc  homo  hilaris  et 
sanus  corpore  et  animo  ;  si  nehulosus  et  depressus,  male  (vffici- 
tnr  ;  et  sic  pro  statu  hominis  variatur,  wide  sumptJis  sanguis; 
and,  which  is  most  wonderful,  it  dies  with  the  party;  cumho- 
mine  perit,  et  evanescit  ;  the  lamp,  and  the  man  whence  the 
blood  was  taken,  are  extinguished  together.  The  same  author 
hath  another  ti'act  of  jMunia,  (all  out  as  vain  and  prodigious  as 
the  first)  by  which  he  will  cure  most  diseases,  and  transferthem 
fromamanto  a  beast,  by  drawingblood  from  one,  and  applying 
it  to  the  other,  vel in plantam  deriiare,  and  an  aJexipharmacum 
(of  which  Boger Bacon  of  old.inhis  Tract,  de  retardanda  senec- 
tute)  to  make  a  man  young  again,  live  three  or  foure  hundred 
years :  besides  panaceas,  martial  amulets,  vnc/uentnm  armarium, 
balsouies, strange  extracts,  elixars,  and  such  likemagico-mag- 
netical  cures.  Now  whatsopleasingcan  there  beastbe  specu- 
lation of  these  things,  to  read  and  examine  such  experiments; 
or,  if  a  man  be  more  mathematically  given,  to  calculate,  or  per- 
use Napiers  Logaritbmes,  or  those  tables  ofartificiall  -^sinesand 
tangents,  not  long  since  set  out  by  mine  old  collegiate  good 
friend,  and  late  fellow  student  of  Christ-church,  in  Oxford, 
^'M.  E(bnund  Gunter,  which  will  perform  that  by  addition  and 
subtractiononly,wbichberetoforelvegiomontanus  tables  did  by 
multiplication  and  division, or  those  elaboratecondu.sions  of  his 
•^sector,  quadrant  and  crossestaflfe  ?  Or  let  him  that  is  melan- 
choly calculate  spherical  triangles,  square  a  circle,  cast  a  nati- 
vity,Avhicbhowsoeversometaxe.T  say  with  "^  Carcseus,  duhimns 
hoc  petulantibus  inyeniis,  we  v»'i!l  in  some  cases  allow:  or  let 

-Printed  at  Losulon,  anno  1620.  ^Late  astrononiv-reai^er  at  Gretham  colieje. 

r  Printed  at  Louden  by  William  Jones,  1623.  <*  FtkhU  Me<h.  Astrcl. 


430  Cure  of  Melancholy .  [Part.  2.  Sec.  2, 

him  make  an  epliemerides,  read  Suisset  the  calculators  works, 
Scaliger  de  emeudatione  temporum,  andPetavius  his  adversary, 
till  he  understand  them,  peruse  subtile  Scotus  andSuarez  meta- 
physicks,  or  school  divinity,  Occam,  Thomas,  Etisberus,  Du- 
rand,  &c.  If  ihose  other  do  not  affect  him,  and  his  means  be 
great,  to  imploy  his  purse  and  till  his  head,  he  may  go  find  the 
]>hilosophers  stone ;  he  may  apply  his  mind,  I  say,  to  heraldry, 
antiquity,  invent  impresses,  emblems  ;  make  epithalamiums, 
epitaphs,  elegies,  epigrams,  palindroma  epigrammata,  ana- 
grams, chronograms,  acrosticks  upon  his  friends  names ;  or 
write  a  comment  on  Martianus  Capella,  Tertullian  de  pallio^ 
the  Nubian  Geography,  or  upon  Mlia  Lcelia  Crispis^  as  many 
idle  fellowes  have  assayed ;  and  rather  than  do  nothing,  vary 
a  ''verse  a  thousand  waies  with  Putean,  so  torturing'  his  wits, 
or  as  Rainnerus  of  Luneburge,  ''2150  times  in  his  Proteus 
Poeticns,  or  Scaliger,  Chrysolithus,  Cleppisius,  and  others 
have  in  like  sort  done.  If  such  voluntary  tasks,  pleasure  and 
delight,  or  crabbednesse  of  these  studies,  will  not  yet  divert 
their  idle  thoughts,  and  alienate  their  imaginations,  they  nmst 
be  compelled,  saith  Christophorus  a  Vega,  cogi  debent,  I.  h. 
e.  14.  upon  some  mulct,  if  they  perform  it  not,  quod  ex  officio 
}?icumbat,\ostio(  creditor  disgrace,  such  as  areourpublick  uni- 
versity exercises.  For,  as  he  that  playesfor  nothing,willnot  heed 
his  game  ;  no  more  will  voluntary  imployment  so  thoroughly 
affect  a  student,  except  he  be  very  intent  of  himself,  and  take 
an  extraordinary  delight  in  the  study,  about  which  he  is  con- 
versant. It  should  be  of  that  nature  his  business,  which  vo- 
lens  nolens  he  must  necessarily  undergo,  and  without  great 
loss,  mulct,  shame,  or  hindrance,  he  may  not  omit. 

Now  for  women,  instead  of  laborious  studies,  they  have  cu- 
rious needle- works,  cut  works,  spinning, bone-lace,  and  many 
pretty  devises  of  their  own  making,  to  adorn  their  houses, 
cushions,  carpets,  chaires,  stools,  (for  she  eats  not  the  bread  of 
idleness,  Prov.  31.  27.  qu(esivit  lanam  et  linum)  confections, 
conserves,  distillations,  &c.  which  they  shew  to  strangers. 

'■  Ipsa  comes  proese  q\ie  operis  venientibus  ultro 
Hospitibiis  monstrare  solet,  non  segniier  horas 
Contestata  suas,  sad  nee  sibi  deperiisse. 

Which  to  her  guests  she  shews,  witli  all  herpelfe: 
"Thus  far  my  maids  ;  but  this  I  did  my  selfe." 

This  they  have  to busie  themselves  about,  houshold  offices,  iScc. 
''neatgardens,fullofexotick,versicolour5diversly  varied,  sweet 


•'  Tot  tibi  sunt  dotes,  virgo,  quot  sidera  ccclo.  ''  D<i,  pie  Chiiste,  iirbi  b  )na 

sit  pax  tempore  iiostro.  »  Chalonerus,  Lib.  0.  dc  Ktp.  Aug.  <*  Hortus 

roroutirins,  riiedicus,  et  culiuarius,.  fitc. 


jVJein.  4.]  Exercise  rectified.  431 

smelling;  flowers,  niul  plants  in  all  kinds,  which  they  are  most 
ambitious  to  got,  curious  to  preserve  and  keep,  proud  to  possess, 
and  much  many  times  brag  of".     Their  merry  meetings  and  fre- 
<|uent  visitations,  mutual  invitations  in  good  towns,  I  voluntarily 
omit,  which  are  so  much  in  use,  gossiping  among  the  meaner 
sort,  &c.  Old  folks  have  their  beads;  an  excellent  invention  to 
keep  them  from  idleness,  that  are  by  nature  melancholy,  and 
past  all  affairs,  to  say  so  many  paternosters,  (tcemarias,  creeds, 
if  it  were  not  prophane  and  superstitious.    In  a  word,  body  and 
mind  must  be  exercised,  not  one,  but  both,  and  thatin  a  medio- 
crity :  otherwise  it  will  cause  a  great  inconvenience.      If  the 
body  be  overtired,  it  tires  the  mind.     The  mind  oppresseth  the 
body,  as  with  students  it  oftentimes  fals  out,  Avho  (as  ^Plutarch 
observes)  have  no  care  of  the  body,  bvt  compel  that  which  is 
mortal,  to  do  as  much  as  that  which  is  immortal ;  that  which  is 
earthlif,  as  that  which  is  etherial.     Bitt  as  the  oxe,  tyred,  told 
the  camel  (both  serving  one  master)  that  refused  to  carrrj  some 
part  oj'hishnrden^  hej'oreitwere  long,  he  should  be  compelled  to 
carry  all  his  pack,  and  skin  to  boot  (which  by  and  by,  the  oxe 
being  dead,  Jell  out),  the  body  may  say  to  the  soul,  that  will  give 
him  no  respite  or  remission  :  a  little  after,  an  ague,  vertigo^ 
consumption  seiseth  on  them  both  ;  all  his  study  is  omitted,  and 
they  must  be  compelled  to  be  side  together.     He  that  tenders 
his  own  good  estate   and  health,  must  let  them  draw  with 
equal  yoke  both  alike,  ^  that  so  they  may  happily  enjoy  their 
wished  health. 


a  Tom.  1.  de  sanit.  tnend.  Qui  rationem  corporis  non  habent,  sed  cogunt  mortalcm 
iiiiruortali,  terrestrem  fethereae  feqnalem  praestare  industriara.  Caetenim  lit  camelo  usu 
venit,  qnod  ei  bos  pra;dixerat,  cum  eidem  servirent  domino,  et  parte  oneris  levare  illam 
camelus  recusassei,  paulo  post  et  ipsius  ciileui,  ettotiim  onus  congereturgestare  (quod 
mortuo  hove  irapletum\  ita  animo  qiioque  contingit,  d«m  defatigato  corjtori,  &:c, 
•>  Ut  piilchram  illam  et  amabilem  sanitatem  prii'stemus. 


432  Cure  of  Melmcliohj.         [Part.  2.  Sec.  2. 

MEMB.  V. 

Waking  and  terrible  dreams  reclijied. 

A.S  waking,  that  hurts,  by  all  means,  must  be  avoided,  so 
sleep,  which  so  much  helps,  by  like  waies,  ''must  be  procured^ 
by  nature  or  art,  inward  or  outivard  medicines,  and  be  protract- 
ed longer  than  ordinary,  if  it  may  be,  as  being  an  especiall 
help.  It  moystens  and  fattens  the  body,  concocts,  and  helps 
digestion,  as  we  see  in  dormice,  and  those  Alpine  mice  that 
sleep  all  winter,  (which  Gesner  speaks  of)  when  they  are  so 
found  sleeping  under  the  snow  in  the  dead  of  winter,  as  fat  as 
butter.  It  expels  cares,  pacifies  the  minde,  refresheth  the 
weary  limbs  after  long  work. 

b  Somne,  quies  rernm,  placidissime,  Somne,  Deorum, 
Pax  animi,  quern  cura  fugit,  qui  corpora,  duris 
Fessa  ministeriis,  mulces,  reparasque  labori. 

Sleep,  rest  of  things,  O  pleasing  deity. 
Peace  of  the  soul,  which  cares  doth  crucifie, 
Weary  bodies  refresh  and  moUifie. 

The  chiefest  thing  in  all  physick '^Paracelsus  calls  it,  omnia 
arcana  gemmarnm  superans  et  metallorum.  The  fittest  time  is 
^  tico  or  three  hour  es  after  supper ,  when  as  the  meat  is  now  settled 
at  the  bottome  of  the  stomach;  and 'tis  good  to  lie  on  the  right 
side  first,  because  at  that  site  the  liver  doth  rest  under  the  sto- 
mach, not  molesting  any  u'ay,  but  heating  him,  as  ajire  doth  a 
hettle,  that  is  put  to  it.  After  thefrst  sleep,  'tis  not  amiss  to  lie 
on  the  left  side,  that  the  meat  may  the  better  descend,  and  some- 
times again  on  thebelly,butneveron the  back.  Seven  or  eight 
liours  is  a  competent  time  for  a  melancholy  man  to  rest,  as 
Crato  thinks;  but,  as  some  do,  to  lie  in  bed,  and  not  sleep,  a 
day,  or  half  a  day  together,  to  give  assent  to  pleasing  conceits 
and  vain  imaginations,  is  many  wayes  pernicious.  To  procure 
this  sweet  moistning  sleep,  it's  best  to  take  away  the  occasions 
(if  it  1)0  possible)  that  hinder  it,  and  then  to  use  such  inward 
or  outward  remedies,  which  may  cause  it.  Constat  hodie  (saith 
Boissardus,  in  his  Tract  de  magid,  cap.  4)  multos  itafascinarij 


"  Interdicendae   vigiliae  ;  somni  paullo  iongiores  conciliandi.      Altomarus,  cap.  7. 
Soramis  supra  modum  prodest,  quovis  modo  conciliandus.    Piso.  •>  Ovid.  c  Ij, 

Hippoc.  Aphoris.  ^i  Crato,  cons.  21.  lib.  2.  Duabus  aut  tribus  horis  post  coenam, 

quHui  jam  cibus  ad  fundura  ventricidi  resederit,  priDium  super  latere  dextro  quiescen- 
diim,  quod  in  tali  decnbitii  jecur  sub  ventriculo  quiescat,  nou  gravans,  sed  cibum 
falefaciens,  pfrinde  ac  ignis  lebetem  qui  illi  admovetnr :  post  primum  somnuffi,  quies- 
cecdum  latere  sinistro,  S:c. 


Meui.  5.]  Wakhiff  and  Dreams  rectified.  433 

ut  nodes  intrrfras  exigant  msomneSy''stimmd  Inquielndine  aid' 
morum  et  corporiim :  many  cannot  sleep  lor  witches  and  fasci- 
nations, whichare  too  familiarin  some  places:  (bey  call  it,  dare 
alicui  malam  noctevi.  But  the  ordinary  causes  are  heat  and 
dryness,  which  must  first  be  removed.  '^  A  hot  and  dry  brain 
never  sleeps  well:  griefs,  feers,  cares,  expectations, anxieties, 
great  businesses,  Qhi  aurem  utramqiie  otiose  tit  dormias)  and 
all  violent  perturbations  of  the  mind,  must  in  some  sort  be 
qualified,  before  we  can  hope  for  any  good  repose.  He  that 
sleeps  in  the  day  time,  or  is  in  suspense,  fear,  any  way 
troubled  in  minde,  or  goes  to  bed  upon  a  full  '^  stomach,  may 
never  hope  for  quiet  rest  in  the  night.  Nee  enim  meritoria 
somnos  admittunt,  as  tlie  '^poetsaith:  innes  and  such  like 
troublesome  places  are  not  for  sleep;  one  calls  ostler,  another 
tapster;  one  cryes  and  shouts,  another  sings,whoupes, hollows, 

eabsentem  cantat  amicam, 

Multa  prolutus  vappa,  nauta  atque  viator. 

V/ho,  not  accustomed  to  such  noyses,  can  sleep  among-^t  them? 
llethatM'ill  intend  to  take  his  rest,  mustgoto  bed  animo  sceuro, 
qnieio,  et  libero,  with  a  'secure  and  composed  minde,  in  a  quiet 
place ; 

(Omnia  noctis  erunt  placida  composta  (jT.ictc) 
and  if  that  will  not  serve,  or  may  not  be  obtained,  to  seek  then 
such  means  as  are  requisite  :  to  lye  in  clean  linnen  and  sweet: 
before  he  goes  to  bed,  or  in  bed,  to  hear  ^siceet  musick, 
(wliicb  Ficinus  commends,  lib.  1 .  cap.  24)  or  (as  Jobcrtus,  med. 
pract.  lib.  3.  cap.  10)  ^  to  read  some  pleasant  author  till  he 
be  asleep,  to  have  a  bason  of  water  still  drojjpinrj  by  his  bed 
side,  or  to  lie  near  that  pleasant  murmure,  '  lene  sonantis  aqua:, 
some  floud-gates,  arches,  falls  of  water,  like  London  bridge, 
or  some  continuate  noise  which  may  bcnum  the  senses.  Lenis 
motus,  silenfium,  et  tenebrK,  turn  et  ipsa  voluntas,  sovmosja- 
eiunt ;  as  a  gentle  noyse  to  some  procures  sleep,  so,  which  Ber- 
nardius  Tilesius  (lib.  desomno)  well  observes,  silence,  in  a 
darke  roome,  and  the  will  itself,  is  most  available  to  others. 
Piso  commends  frications,  Andrew  Borde  a  good  draught  of 
strong  drink  before  one  goes  to  bed ;  I  si^y,  a  nutn.eg,  and  ale, 
or  a  good  draugl'.t  of  muscadine,  with  a  tost  and  a  nutmeg,  or  u 
posset  of  the  same,  which  many  use  in  a  morning,  but,  me 

»  Sscpius  accidit  mplaacholicis,  ut.  nimium  exsiccato  cerebro  vigiliis,  atteniientur. 
Ficinus,  lib.  1.  cap. '29.  bXer.  c  Ut  sis  nocte  levi.*.  .sit  tibi  cocoa 

brevis.  '' Jnven.  Sat.  .3.  «  Kor   Ser.  lib.  1 .  Sat.  i>.  f  Sejiositis  ciiris 

omnibus,  quantum  fieri  |>otest,  una  cum  vestibiis,  £.:c.    K;rkst.  f  Ad  buraiu  sou!- 

ni,  aures  suavibus  cantihiis  tt  .sonis  «lelcnirc.  ''  Lectiojucunda,  s>itt  sermo, 

ad  qutuj  attentior  a>iiui'a-s  convtrtiiur ;  atit  aqua  ab  alto  ;a  riibjectaic  pcMui  dckbatur, 
&c.  'O'.id, 


434)  Cttre  of  Melancholy,  [Part.  2.  Sec.  2. 

thinks,  for  such  as  have  dry  brains,  are  much  more  proper  at 
night.  Some  prescribe  a  *sup  of  vinegar  as  they  go  to  bed,  a 
spoonefuU,  saith  Aetius,  Te^ra6i6./i6. 3.«er.  2.  cap.  10.  lib.  6. 
cap.  10.  jEgineta,  lib.  3.  caj}.  14:.  Piso,  a  little  after  meat, 
^because  it  rarijies  melancholjj,  and  procures  an  appetite  to 
sleep.  Donat.  ab  Altomar.  cap.  7,  and  Mercurialis,  approve 
of  it,  if  the  malady  proceed  from  the '^spleen.  Sallust.  Salvian. 
(lib.  2.  cap.  1.  de  remed.)  Hercules  de  Saxonia,  (in  Pan.) 
iElianus  Montaltus,  (rfe  morb.  capitis,  cap:  28.  de  Melan.)  are 
altogether  against  it.  Lod.Mercat us  (rfe^w^er.mor 6.  cau.lib.l, 
cap.  17)  in  some  cases  doth  allow  it.  "^Rhasis  seems  to  de- 
liberate of  it:  though  Simeon  commend  it  (in  sawce  perad- 
venture)  he  makes  a  question  of  it:  as  for  baths,  fomentations, 
oyls,  potions,  simples  or  compounds,  inwardly  taken  to  this 
purpose,  *1  shall  speak  of  them  elsewhere.  If  in  the  midst 
of  the  night  when  they  lie  awake,  which  is  usuall,  to  toss  and 
tumble,  and  not  sleep,  ^Ranzovius  would  have  them,  if  it  bee 
in  warme  weather,  to  rise  and  walk  three  or  four  turnes  (till 
they  be  cold)  about  the  chamber,  and  then  go  to  bed  again. 

Against  fearfull  and  troublesome  dreams,  incubus,  and  such 
inconveniences,  wherewith  melancholy  men  are  molested,  the 
best  remedy  is  to  eat  a  light  supper,  and  of  such  meats  as  are 
easie  of  digestion,  no  hare,  venison,  beef,  &c.  not  to  lie  on  his 
back,  not  to  meditate  or  think  in  the  day  time  of  any  terrible 
objects,  or  especially  talke  of  them  before  hegoes  to  bed.  For, 
as  he  said  in  Lucian,  after  such  conference,  Hecatas  somniare 
mihi  videor,  1  can  think  of  nothing  but  hobgoblins  :  and,  as 
Tully  notes,  ^for  the  most  part  our  speeches  in  the  day  time 
cause  our  phantasie  to  icork  upon  the  like  in  our  sleep  ;  which 
Ennius  writes  of  Homer: 

Et  canis  in  somnis  leporis  vestigia  latrat: 

as  a  dog  dreames  of  an  hare,  so  do  men,  on  such  subjects  they 
thought  on  last. 

Somnia,  quae  mantes  ludunt  volitantibus  umbris, 
Nee  delubra  Deiim,  nee  ab  sethere  Numina  mittunt, 
Sed  sibi  quisque  facit,  &c. 

For  that  cause,  when  '^  Ptolemy  king  of  Egypt  had  posed  the 
70  interpreters  in  order,  and  asked  the  nineteenth  man,  what 
would  make  one  sleep   quietly  iu  the  night,  he  told  him, 


"  Aceti  sorbitio.  "  b  Attenuat  melancholiam,  et  ad  conciliandiim  somnum  jtivat. 

<•  Qood  lieni  acetum  conveniat  '^  Cont.  1,  tract.  9.  meditandum  de  aceto. 

••  Sect  5.  memb.  ].  snbsect.  6.  ^Lib.  de  sanit.  tnenda.  ?In  Som.  Scip. 

P'it  enim  fere  lit  cogitationes  nosfrnr  pt  sprmones  pariant  aliquid  in  sotnno,  <ji)a]e  de 
Uomero  sciibit  Euniiis,  de  quo  videlicet  sarpissiine  vigilans  solebat  cogita.re  et  loqui, 
'' Aiisteae  hist. 


Mem.  6.  .Subs.  1.]  Passions  rectijied.  435 

*  The  best  way  was  to  have  divine  and  celestiall  meditations,  and 
to  use  honest  actions  in  the  day  time.  ^Lod.  Vives  wonders  how 
schoolemen  could  sleep  quietly,  and  were  not  terrijiedin  the  niyht, 
or  walke  in  the  darke,  they  had  such  monstrous  questions,  and 
thought  of  such  terrible  matters  all  day  long.  They  had  need, 
among'st  the  rest,  to  sacrifice  to  God  Morpheus,  whom  "^Phi- 
lostratus  paints  in  a  white  and  black  coat,  with  a  horn  and 
ivory  box  full  of  dreams,  of  the  same  colours,  to  signify  good 
and  bad.  If  you  will  know  how  to  interpret  them,  read  Ar- 
temidorus,  Sambucus,  and  Cardan:  but  how  to  lielp  them,  "^I 
must  refer  you  to  a  more  convenient  place. 


ME3IB.  VI.    SUBSECT.  I. 

Perturbations  oftheminde  rectijied.  Fromhimself,  by  resisting 
to  the  utmost,  confessing  his  grief  to  a  friend,  ^'C. 

Whosoever  he  is,  that  shall  hope  to  cure  this  malady 
in  himself  or  any  other,  must  rectiHe  first  these  passions  and 
perturbations  of  the  minde  ;  the  chiefest  cUre  consists  in 
them.  A  quiet  mind  is  that  voluntas,  or  summum  bonum  of 
Epicurus;  non  dolere,  curis  vacare,  animo  tranquillo  esse,  not 
to  grieve,  but  to  want  cares,  and  have  a  quiet  soul,  is  the  only 
pleasure  of  the  world,  as  Seneca  truly  recites  his  opinion,  not 
that  of  eating  and  drinking,  which  injurious  Aristotle  mali- 
ciously puts  upon  him,  and  for  which  he  is  still  mistaken,  male 
audit  et  vapulat,  slandered  without  a  cause,  and  lashed  by  all 
posterity.  ""  Fear  and  sorrow  therefore  are  especially  to  he 
avoided,  and  the  minde  to  be  mitigated  with  mirth,  constancy^ 
good  hope  :  vain  terror,  bad  objects,  are  to  bee  removed,  and 
all  such  persons  in  whose  companies  they  be  not  well  pleased. 
Gualter  Bruel,  Fernelius,  consil.  43.  Mercurialis,  consil.  G. 
Piso,  Jacchinus,  cap.  15.  in  9  Rhasis,  Capivaccius,  Hilde- 
sheim,  &c.  all  inculcate  this  as  an  especiall  meanes  of  their 
cure,  that  their  ^  minds  be  quietly  jiacified,  vain  conceits  di- 
verted, if  it  be  possible,  with  terrors,  cares,  ^f  red  studies,  cogi- 
tationes,  and  whatsoever  it  is  that  shall  any  way  molest  or 


^  Optimnm  de  ccelestibos  et  honestis  medi'ari,  et  ea  facere.  •*  Lib.  3.  de 

caussis  corr.  art.  Tarn  niira  iiionstra  qniestionani  sKpe  nascuntiir  inter  eos,  ut  mirer 
eos  interdum  in  somniis  uon  terreri,  ant  de  illis  in  tent-bris  audere  verba  facere,  adeo 
res  sunt  moustrosw.  '-Icon.  lib.  1.  il  Sect.  Ti.  Tn,-nib.  1.  subs.  G.  "Animi 

perturb^itiones  siimme  fugiendae,  metas  potissimum  et  tri,stiti;i ;  eorumqne  loco,  animii.<i 
deniulcendns  hilaritate,  aninii  constantia,  bona  spe  ;  removendi  terrores,  et  eonim  con- 
sortium quos  uon  probant.  ''Phantasia;  eoruin  piaride  subvertendae,  ter- 
rores ab  aniino  retnovendi.  K  Ab  onini  fixA  cogitatione  qno\is  inudo 
avertaiitiir. 


43r>  Cure  of  Melanchoh}.  [Part.  2.  Sec.  2. 

trouble  the  soul,  because  tLat  othenvise  tli^re  is  bo  good  to  be 
tloue.  *  The  bodies  mischiefes,  a«  Plato  ])VOYes,  proceed J'roni 
the  soul :  and  if'  the  mind  be  not  Jirst  satisjied,  the  body  can 
never  be  cured.  Alcibiades  raves  (saith  ''  Maximus  Tyrius), 
and  is  sick;  his  furious  desires  carry  him  from  Lyceus  to  the 
pleading-  place,  thence  to  the  sea,  so  into  Sicily,  thence  to  La- 
cedsemon,  thence  to  Persia,  thence  to  Sanios,  tht;n  again  to 
Athens;  Critias  tyrannizeth  over  all  the  city;  Sardanapalus  is 
love-sick;  these  men  are  ill-aftected  all,  and  can  never  be 
cured,  till  their  minds  be  otherwise  qualified.  Crato  therefore, 
in  that  often  cited  counsell  of  his  for  a  noble  man  his  patient, 
when  he  had  sufficiently  informed  him  in  diet,  air,  exercise, 
Venus,  sleep,  concludes  with  these  as  matters  of  greatest  mo- 
ment :  (piod  reliquum  est,  animce  accidentia  corrigantur,  from 
which  alone  proceeds  melancholy  ;  they  are  the  fountain,  the 
subject,  the  hinges  whereon  it  turns,  and  must  necessarily  be 
reformed.  "^For  anger  stirs  choler,  heats  the  blood  and  vital 
spirits  :  sorrow  on  the  other  side  refrigerates  the  body,  and  ex- 
tinguisheth  natural  heat,  overihroics  appeiite,  hinders  concoc- 
tion, dries  up  the  temperature,  and  perverts  the  understand- 
ing:  fear  dissolves  the  spirits,  infects  the  heart,attenuates  the 
soul:  and  for  these  causes  all  passions  and  perturbations  must, 
to  the  uttermost  of  our  power,  and  most  seriously,  be  re- 
moved, .^lianus  Montaltus  attributes  so  much  to  them,  *■  that 
he  holds  the  rectification  of  them  alone  to  be  sufficient  to  the 
cure  of  melancholy  in  most  patients.  Many  are  fully  cured 
when  they  have  seen  or  heard,  &c.  enjoy  their  desires,  or  be 
secured  and  satisfied  in  their  minds.  Galen,  the  common 
masterof  themall,  from  whose  fountain  they  fetch  water,  brags 
(lib.  1.  de  san.  tuend.)  that  he  for  his  part  haJh  cured  divers  of 
this  infirmity,  .so/^^wi  animis  adrectuni  instituiis,hy  rightsettling 
alone  of  their  minds. 

Yea,  but  you  will  here  infer,  that  this  is  excellent  good  in- 
deed, if  it  could  be  done;  but  how  shall  it  be  effected,  by 
whom,  what  art,  what  means?  hie  labor,  hoc  opus  est.  'Tis  a 
natural  infirmity,  a  most  powerful  adversary :  all  men  are  sub- 
ject to  passions,  and  melancholy  above  all  others,  as  being-  dis- 
tempered by  their  innate  humors,  abundance  of  choler  adust, 


a  Cuncta  mala  corporis  ab  animo  procedunt,  quas  nisi  cnrentur,  corpus  curari  minime 
potest.  Charmid.  ^  Disputat.  an  inoihi  graviores  corporia  aa  aniuii. 

Renordo  interpret.  \Jt  parum  absit  a  furore,  rapitur  a  Lyceo  in  coac ionem,  a  concione 
ad  mare,  a  viari  in  Siciliaiii,  &c.  *^  Ira  biiem  movet,  sanguinena 

adurit,  vitaies  spiritus  accendit :  nioestitia  nniversum  corpus  infri^idat,  calorem 
innatiim  exstinguit,  appetituin  destruit,  concoctionem  impedit,  corpus  exsiccat,_  in- 
tellectum  pervertit.  Quamobrem  hac  omnia  prorsus  vitanda  sunt,  et  pro  virili  fu- 
gienda.  d  De  mel.  c.  25.    Ex  illis  solum  remediuin  ;  multi  ex  visis,  auditis,  &c. 

sauati  aunt. 


Metu.  6.  Subs.  1.]  Passions  r edified.  4H7 

weakness  of  parts,  outward  occurrences;  and  how  shall  thoy  ho 
avoided  ?  The  wisest  men,  greatest  philosophers,  of  most  ex- 
cellent wit,  reason,  judg-ement,  divine  spirits,  cannot  moderate 
themselves  in  this  behalf:  such  as  are  sound  in  body  and  mind, 
stoicks,  heroes,  Homers  gods,  all  are  passionate,  and  furiously 
carryed  sometimes;  and  how  shall  we  that  are  already  crazed, 
Jiacti animis,  sick  in  body, sickinmind,  resist?  we  cannot  per- 
form it.  You  may  advise  and  give  good  precepts,  as  who  can- 
not? But,  how  shall  they  be  put  in  practice?  I  may  not  deny 
but  our  passions  are  violent,  and  tyrannize  over  us;  yet  there 
be  means  to  curb  them;  though  they  be  headstrong,  they  may 
be  tamed,  they  may  be  qualified,  if  he  himself  or  his  friends 
will  but  use  their  honest  endeavours,  or  make  use  of  such 
ordinary  helps  as  are  commonly  prescribed. 

He  himself  (I  say);  from  the  patient  himself  the  iii-st  and 
chiefest  remedy  must  be  had ;  for,  if  he  be  averse,  peevish, 
waspish,  give  way  wholly  (o  his  passions,  will  not  seek  to  be 
helped,  or  ruled  by  his  friends,  how  is  it  possible  he  should 
be  cured  ?  But  if  he  be  willing  at  least,  gentle,  tractable,  and 
desire  his  own  good,  no  doubt  but  he  may  macpiam  morbi 
deponere  partem,  be  eased  at  least,  if  not  cured.  He  himself 
must  do  his  utmost  endeavour  to  resist  and  withstand  the  be- 
g'innings.  Principiis  obsta:  Give  not  zratcr  passar/e,  no  not 
a  little^  Eccles.  25.  27.  If  they  open  a  little,  they  will  make 
a  greater  breach  at  length.  Whatsoever  it  is  that  runneth  i>i 
his  mind,  vain  conceit,  be  it  pleasing  or  displeasing,  which 
so  much  affects  or  troubleth  him,  ^  by  all  possible  means  he 
must  withstand  it,  expel  those  vain,  ^false,  J'rivolons  imaf/ina" 
tions,  absurd  conceits.  Joined  J  cars  crndsorroices  (from  which, 
saith  Piso,  this  disease  primarihf  proceeds,  and  takes  his  first 
occasion  or  beginning )  by  doing  sometlwig  or  other  that  shall 
be  opposite  unto  them,  thinking  oj'  something  else,  persicading 
by  reason,  or  howsoever,  to  make  a  snddsn  alteration  oj'thcm. 
Though  he  have  hitherto  run  in  a  full  career,  and  pre- 
cipitated himself,  following*  his  passions,  given  reins  to  his 
appetite,  let  him  now  stop  upon  a  sudden,  curb  himself  in, 
and,  as  ''Lemnius  adviseth,  strive  against  with  all  his  potver, 
to  the  utmost  of  his  endeavour,  and  not  cherish  those  Jond 
imaginations,   which   so   covertly  creep  into  his  mind,  most 


3  Pro  viribnsannitendnm  in  prrorlirfis,  turn  in  aliis.  a  fiiiibiis  maliitn,  veluta  priniariii 
caussii,  occasionein  iiactuiaest:  imaginutionesahsiiidie  fal^a-qiio  et  nriGe.stitia  quaiciinqise 
snbierif,  propulsetur,  aut  alim!  agendo,  aut  ratione  persiimiendo  earnin  niiitationeni 
subito  facere.  ^  Ijib.  2.  c.  16.  de  occult,  nat.     Qnisqnis  Iniic  malo  obnoxius 

■est,  acriter  obsistat,  pt  snninia  cura  obluctetur,  nee  ullo  niodo  foveat  itna^rinationes 
tacite  obrepentes  animo,  blandas  ab  initio  et  antabiles,  sed  quae  adeo  convalescunt,  at 
Bulla  ratione  excuti  <jneant. 


438  Cure  of  Melanclwh).         [Part.  2.  Sec.  2, 

phasincj  and  amiable  at  first,  but  hitter  an  gall  at  last,  and 
so  head-strong,  that,  by  no  reason ^  art,  counsel,  or  persicasion, 
they  may  be  shaken  off.  Though  he  be  far  gone,and  habituated 
unto  such  phantasticall  imaginations,  yet,  (as  ''Tully  and  Plu- 
tarch advise)  let  hinioppose,  fortifie,  or  prepare  himself  ag'ainst 
them,  by  premeditation,  reason,  or  (as  we  do  by  a  crooked 
staffe)  bend  himself  another  way. 

b  Tu  tamen  interea  efFugito  quse  tristia  mentem 
Solicitant;  procul  esse  jube  ciirasque  metumque 
Pallentem,  ultrices  iras  ;  sint  omnia  laeta. 

In  the  mean  time  expel  them  from  thy  mind, 
Pale  fears,  sad  cares,  and  griefs,  which  do  it  grind, 
Revengeful  anger,  pain  and  discontent: 
Let  all  thy  soule  be  set  on  merriment. 

Curas  tolle  graves:  irasci  crede  profanum. 

If  it  be  idleness  hath  caused  this  infirmity,  or  that  heperceive 
himself  given  to  solitariness,  to  walk  alone  and  please  his 
mind  with  fond  imaginations,  let  him  by  all  means  avoid  it; 
'tis  abosome  enemy;  'tis  delightsome  melancholy,  a  friend  in 
shew,  but  a  secret  devil,  a  sweet  poyson  ;  it  will  in  the  end 
behis undoing;  lethimgopresently,taskorsethimseIf  a  work, 
get  some  good  company.  If  he  proceed,  as  a  gnat  flies  about 
a  candle  so  long  till  at  length  he  burn  his  body,  so  in  the  end 
he  will  undo  himself:  if  it  be  any  harsh  object,  ill  company, 
let  him  presently  go  from  it.  If  by  his  own  default  through  ill 
diet,  bad  aire,  want  of  exercise,  &c.  let  him  now  begin  to  re- 
form himself.  It  icon  Id  be  a  perfect  remedy  against  all  cor- 
ruption, (/"(as  '^ Roger  Bacon  hath  it)  we  could  but  moderate 
our  selves  in  those  six  non-nat7iral  things.  "^  //'  it  be  any 
disgrace,  abuse,  temporal  loss,  calumny,  death  of  friends,  im- 
prisonment, banishment,  be  not  troubled  loith  it ;  do  not  fear,  be 
not  angry,  grieve  not  at  it,  but  with  all  courage  sustain  it. 
(Gordonius, /ii.  1.  c.  15.  de  conser.  vit.)  Tu  contra  audentidr 
ito.  ^  If  it  be  sickness,  ill  success,  or  any  adversity,  (hat  hath 
caused  it,  oppose  an  invincible  courage;  fortifie  thy  self  by 
Gods  word;   or    otherwise,    mala    bonis    persuadenda,    set 


a  Tiisc.  aA  Apolloniiim.  ^  Frarastorins.  ^Epist.  (?e  secretis  artis  et 

natura',  cap.  7./le  retard,  sen.  Remediuni  contra  coiTuplionem  propriam,  sicpiilibetex- 
erceretregini'^n  sanitatis,  quod  coiisistat  in  rebus  sex  non  naturalibus.  '^  Proaliquo 

vitnperio  non  indi^!;neris,  iiec  pro  amissione  alicujus  rei,  ))>o  niorte  alirujiis,  nee  pro 
carcere,  nee  pro  exiiio,  nee  pro  alia  re,  nee  irasearis,  nee  timeas,  nee  doleas,  sed  cum 
summa  praeseniia  liase  sustineas.  f  Quod  si  incomnioda  adversitatis  infortunia 

hoc  malum  invexerint,  his  infractum  animum  ojjpona.s  :  Dei  verho  ejiisque  fidaciiV  te- 
surtnlcias,  iki:.     Leinnit<.'<,  lih.  1.  c.  IG. 


Mem.  6.  Subs.  1.]         Pasdo/ts  recfi/icd.  439 

prosperity  against  adversity  :  as  we  refresh  our  eyes  by  seeino- 
some  pleasant  meadow,  fountain,  picture,  or  the  lilce,  recreate 
thy  mind  by  some  contrary  object,  with  some  more  pleasing- 
meditation  divert  thy  thoughts. 

Yea,  but  you  infer  again,  facile  consilium  damns  aliis,  we 
can  easily  give  counsel  to  others ;  every  nmn,  as  the  saying-  is^ 
can  tame  a  shrew,  but  he  that  hath  her :  si  hie  esses,  aliter 
sentires:  if  you  were  in  our  misery,  you  would  find  it  other- 
wise ;  'tis  not  easily  performed.  We  know  this  to  be  true  ; 
we  should  moderate  our  selves ;  but  we  are  furiously  carry ed ; 
we  cannot  make  use  of  such  precepts ;  we  are  overcome,  sick, 
male  sani,  distempered,  and  habituated  in  these  courses;  we 
can  make  no  resistance  ;  you  may  as  well  bid  him  that  is  dis- 
eased, not  to  feel  pain,  as  a  melancholy  man  not  to  fear,  not  to 
be  sad  :  'tis  Avithin  his  blood,  his  brains,  his  whole  temperature : 
it  cannot  be  removed.  But  he  may  chuse  whether  he  will 
give  way  too  far  unto  it ;  he  may  in  some  sort  correct  himseli'. 
Aphilosopherwas  bitten  with  a  mad  dog;  and,  as  the  nature  of 
that  disease  is  to  abhor  all  waters,  and  liquid  things,  and  to 
think  still  they  see  the  picture  of  a  dog  before  them,  he  went, 
for  all  this,  reluct  ante  se,  to  the  bath,  and  seeing-  there  (as  he 
thought)  in  the  water  the  picture  of  a  dog,  with  reason  over- 
came this  conceit :  quid  cani  cum  halneo  ?  what  should  a  dog- 
do  in  abath?  a  meer  conceit.  Thou thinkest  thou  hearestand 
seest  devds,  black  men,  &c.  'tis  not  so;  'tis  thy  corrupt  phan- 
tasie ;  settle  thine  imagination ;  thou  art  well.  Thou  thinkest 
thou  hast  a  great  nose,  thou  art  sick,  every  man  observes  thee, 
laughs  thee  to  scorn:  perswade  thy  self 'tis  no  such  matter:  this 
is  fear  only,  and  vain  suspicion.  Thou  art  discontent,  thou 
artsad  and  heavy,  but  M'hy?  upon  what  ground.?  consider  of  it: 
thou  art  jealous,  timorous,  supicious;  for  whatcause.?  examine 
it  thoroughly  ;  thou  shalt  find  none  at  all,  or  such  as  is  to  be 
contemned,  such  as  thou  wilt  surely  deride,  and  contemn  in 
thyself,  when  it  is  past.  Rule  thy  self  then  with  reason; 
satisfie  thy  self;  accustom  thy  self;  wean  thy  self  from  such 
fond  conceits,  vain fears,strongimaginations, restless  thoughts. 
Thou  may  est  do  it :  est  in  nobis  assuescere  (as  Plutarch  saith) : 
we  may  frame  our  selves  as  we  will.  As  he  that  useth  an  up- 
right shooe,may  correct  the  obliquity  or  crookedness  by  wearing- 
it  on  the  other  side;  we  may  overcome  passions  if  we  will. 
Quicquid sibi  imperavit  animus,  obtinuit  (as  "Seneca  saith)  : 
mdli  tarn  feri  affectus,  ut  non  disciplind  perdomentur  :  what- 
soever the  will  desires,  shemay  command  :  no  such  cruel  affec- 
tions, but  by  discipline  they  may  be  tamed.     Voluntarily  thou 


»Lib.  2.  cle  ira. 
VOL.  I.  0  0 


440  Cure  of  Melancholy.         [Part.  2.  Sec.  2. 

wilt  not  do  this  or  that,  whicli  thou  oiio^htest  to  do,  or  refrain, 
&c.  but  when  thou  art  lashed  like  a  dull  jade,  thou  wilt  re- 
form it ;  fear  of  a  whip  will  make  thee  do,  or  not  do.  Do  that 
voluntarily  then  which  thou  canst  do,  and  must  do  by  com- 
pulsion :  thou  maist  refrain  if  thou  wilt,  and  master  thine 
affections.  ""As,  in  a  city,  (saith  Melancthon)  they  do  by  stub" 
bor?i  rebellious  rogues,  that  icill  not  submit  themselves  to  politi- 
cal judgment,  compel  them  by  force  ;  so  must  we  do  by  our 
ajfections.  If  the  heart  will  not  lay  aside  those  vicious  motions, 
and  the  phantasie  those  fond  imaginations,  we  have  another 
formof  government  toenforceandrefrainour  outivard members, 
that  they  be  not  led  by  our  jtassions.  If  appetite  will  not 
obey,  let  the  movini>-  faculty  over-rule  her  ;  let  her  resist  and 
compel  her  to  do  otherwise.  In  an  ag-ue,  the  appetite  would 
drink;  sore  eyes  that  itch,  would  be  rubbed  ;  but  reasonsaith 
no  ;  and  therefore  the  moving  faculty  will  not  do  it.  Our  phan- 
tasie would  intrude  a  thousand  fears,  suspicions,  chimeras 
upon  us  ;  but  we  have  reason  to  resist ;  yet  we  let  it  be  over- 
borne by  our  appetite.  ^  Imagination  enforceth  spirits,  which 
by  an  admirable  league  of  nature  compel  the  nerves  to  obey, 
and  they  are  several  limbs:  we  give  too  much  way  to  our  pas- 
sions. And  as,  to  him  that  is  sick  of  an  ague,  all  things  are 
distastful  and  unpleasant,  noti  ex  cibi  vitio,  saith  Plutarch, 
not  in  the  meat,  but  in  our  taste  :  so  many  things  are  offensive 
to  us,  not  of  themselves,  but  out  of  our  corrupt  judgement, 
jealousie,  suspicion,  and  the  like ;  we  pull  these  mischiefs 
upon  our  own  heads. 

If  then  onr  judgement  be  so  depraved,  our  reason  over-ruled, 
will  precipitated,  that  we  cannot  seek  our  own  good,  or  moderate 
ourselves, as  in  this  disease  commonly  it  is,  the  best  way  for 
ease  is  to  impart  our  misery  to  some  friend,  not  to  smother  it 
up  in  our  ov,n  breast;  alitur  vitium,  crescitque,  tegendo,  Sfc. 
and  that  which  was  most  offensive  to  us,  a  cause  of  fear  and 
grief,  quod  nunc  te  coquit,  another  hell ;  for 

<:  Strangulat  inclusus  dolor,  atque  exeesluat  intus, 

grief  concealed  strangles  the  soul ;  but  when  as  we  shall  but 
impart  it  to  some  discreet,  trusty,  loving  friend,  it  is ''instantly 
removed  by  his  counsel  happily,  wisdome,  perswasion,  advice, 

a  Cap  3.  de  affect,  aniin-  Ut  in  civitatibns  conturaaces,  qui  non  cedmit  politico  iin- 
perio.  vi  coerceiidi  sunt;  ita  Deus  uobis  iadidit  alteram  ioiperii  form  am  ;  si  cor  non  de- 
ponit  vitiosum  affectum,  membra  foras  coercenda  sunt,  ne  ruant  in  quod  afiectus  im- 
pellat :  et  locomotiva,  quae  herili  imperio  obtemperat,  aiteri  resistat.  ^  Imaginatio 

impellit  spiritus,  et  inde  nervi  moventur,  &c.  et  obtemperant  imaginationi  et  appetitui 
niirabili  fcedere,  ad  exsequendum  quod  jubent.  <=  Ovid.  Trist.  lib.  5.  d  Par- 

ticipes  inde  calamitatis  nostraj  sunt;  et,  velut  exonerata  ineos  sarcina,  onere  levamur. 
Arist.  Eth.  lib.  9. 


Mem.  6.  Subs,  l.j         Passions  rectified.  441 

his  good  means,  which  wccouhl  not  otherwise  apjjiy  unto  our 
selves,  A  friends  counsel  is  a  charm;  like  mandrake  Mine, 
cnras  sopit :  and  as  a  ^buU  that  is  tyed  to  a  fig-tree,  becomes 
gentle  on  a  sudden  (which  some,  saith  ''Plutarch,  interpret  of 
good  words),  so  is  a  savage,  obdurate  heart  mollified  by  faire 
speeches.  ^11  adversity  finds  ease  in  complaininrf  (as  *=  Isidore 
holds) ;  and  ^tis  a  solace  to  relate  it : 

friends  confabulations  are  comfortable  at  all  times,  as  fire  in 
winter,  shade  in  summer;  fpiale  sopor J'cssis  in  (jra7nine, meat 
and  drink  to  him  that  is  hungry  or  athirst.  Democritus  coliy- 
rium  is  not  so  soveraign  to  the  eyes,  as  iJiis  is  to  the  heart ; 
good  words  are  cheerful  and  powerful  of  themselves,  butmuch 
more  from  friends,  or  as  many  props,  mutually  sustaining  each 
other,  like  ivie  and  a  wal,  which  '^Camerarius  hath  well  illus- 
trated in  an  embleme.  Lenit  animnm  simplex  vel  scepe  nar- 
ratio,  the  simple  narration  many  times  easeth  our  distressed 
mind  ;  and  in  the  midst  of  greatest  extremities,  so  divers  have 
been  relieved,  by  ^exonerating  themselves  to  a  faithful  friend; 
he  sees  that  which  we  cannot  see  for  passion  and  discontent : 
he  pacifies  our  minds;  he  will  ease  our  pain,  asswage  our  anger. 
Quanta  inde  voluptas  !  quanta  securitas  !  Chrysostomeaddes: 
what  pleasure  !  what  security  by  that  means  !  s  Nothing  so 
available,  or  that  so  much  rejresheth  the  soul  of' man.  Tully, 
as  I  remember,  in  an  epistle  to  his  dear  friend  Atticus,  much 
condoles  the  defect  of  such  a  friend.  ^  I  live  here  (saith  he) 
in  a  great  'citie,  where  I  have  a  multitude  of  acquaintance,  hut 
not  a  man  of  all  that  companie,  with  whom  I  dare  familiar  I  if 
breath,  or  freely  jest.  Wherefore  I  expect  thee,  1  desire  thee, 
I  send  for  thee;  for  there  be  many  things  which  trouble  and 
molest  me ^  which,  had  I  but  thee  in  presence,  I  could  quid,  ly 
disburden  myself  of  in  a  ivalking  discourse.  The  like  perad- 
venture  may  he  and  he  say  with  that  old  man  in  the  comedy. 

Nemo  est  meorum  amicorum  hodie, 

Apud  quem  expromere  occulta  mea  audeam  : 

and  much  inconvenience  may  both  he  and  hesufi'er  in  the  mean 
time  by  it.  He  or  he,  or  whosoever  then  labours  of  this  ma- 
lady, by  all  means  let  him  get  some  trusty  friend, 

'Semper  habens  Pyladen  que  aliquem,  cui  curet  Oresten, 

a  Camerarius,  Embl.  26.  Cen.  2.  bSympos.  lib.  6.  cap.  10.  ^  Epist.  8.  lib. ."?. 

Adversa  fortunahabet  in  querelis  levamentum  ;  et  malornm  relatio,  &c.  d  Alloquiiim 
cari  jnvat,  et  solamen,  araici.  «  Emblem.  54.  cent.  1.  f  As  David  did  to 

Jonathan,  1  Sam.  20.  g  Seneca,  Epist.  67.  hHic  in  civitate  magna 

et  turba  magna  neminem  reperire  possumus,  quocmn  snspirare  familiariter,  ant  jocari 
libere,  possimus.  Quare  te  exspectamus,  te  desidetamns,  te  arcessimiis,  Miilta  sunt 
enim,  quae  me  solicitant  et  angunt^  quae  mihi  videor,  aures  tuas  nactus,  unius  ambuh- 
tion'js  sermone  exhaurire  posse.  '  Ovid. 

o  o2 


442  Cure  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  2.  Sec,  2. 

a  Pylades,  to  whom  freely  and  securely  he  may  open  himself. 
For,  as  in  all  other  occurrences,  so  it  is  in  this — si  quis  in  caelum 
ascendisset,  S^c.  as  he  said  in  ^Tully,  if  a  man  had  gone  to 
heaven,  seeti  the  beauty  of  the  skies,  stars  errant,  fixed,  &c.  in- 
suavis  erit  at/mira^io,  it  will  do  him  no  pleasure,excepthehave 
some  body  to  impart  what  he  hath  seen.  It  is  the  best  thing- 
in  the  world,  as  ''Seneca  therefore  adviseth  in  such  a  case,  to 
get  a  trusty  friend,  to  whom  we  may  freely  and  sincerely  pour 
out  our  secrets.  Nothing  so  delighteth  and  easeth  the  minde, 
as  when  ive  have  a  prepared  bosome,  to  which  our  secrets  may 
descend,  of  whose  conscience  ice  are  assured  as  our  own,  whose 
speech  may  ease  our  succourless  estate,  counsell  relieve,  mirth 
expell  our  mourning,  and  ivhose  very  sight  may  be  acceptable 
unto  us.  It  was  the  counsell  which  that  politick  '^Commineus 
gave  to  all  princes,  and  others  distressed  in  mind,  by  occasion 
of  Charles,  duke  of  Burgundy,  that  was  much  perplexed,  ^rsf 
to  pray  to  God,  and  lay  himself  open  to  him,  and  then  to  some 
speciallfriend,  ivhom  we  hold  most  dear,  to  tell  all  our  grievances 
to  him.  Nothing  so  forcible  to  strengthen,  recreate,  and  heal  the 
wounded  soul  of  a  miserable  man. 


SUBSECT.  II. 

Help  from  Friends  by  Counsell,  Comfort,  fair  and  foul  Means, 
witty  Devices,  Satisfaction,  Alteration  of  his  Course  of 
Life,  removing  Objects,  ^c. 

?  T  HEN  the  patient  of  himself  is  not  able  to  resist  or  over- 
come these  heart-eating  passions,  his  friends  or  physician 
must  be  ready  to  supply  that  which  is  wanting.  Suceerithu- 
manitatis  et  sapientice,  (which  ''  Tully  injoyneth  in  like  case) 
siquid  erratum,  curare,  aut  improvisum,  sua  diligentid  corri- 
geie.  They  must  alijoyn;  nee  satis  medico,  saith  ^^  Hippo- 
crates, suumfecisse  officium,  nisi  suum  quoque  cegrotus,  suum 
astantes,  6fc.  First  they  must  especially  beware,  a  melancholy 
discontented  person  (be  it  in  what  kinde  of  melancholy 
soever)  never  be  left  alone  or  idle  :  but,  as  physicians  prescribe 
physick,  cum  cusiodid,  let  them  not  be  left  unto  themselves 
but  with  some  company  or  other,  lestby  that  means  they  aggral 

^  De  amicitia.  b  De  tranquil,  c.  7.     Optimum  est  amicnm  fidelem  nancisci,  in 

quem  secreta  nostra  infundamus.  Niliil  aeque  oblectat  aninium,  quam  ubi  sint  prae- 
parata  pectora,  in  quas  tuto  secreta  descendant,  quorum  conscientia  a-qiie  ac  tua  ;  quo- 
rum serrao  solitudinem  leniat,  sententia  consilium  expediat,  hilaritas  tristitiam  dissipet, 
conspectusque  ipse  delectet  cComment.  1.7.     AdDeumconfugiamus,  et peccatis 

veniam  preceranr,  inde  ad  amicos,  et  cui  plurimumtribuimus,  nos  patefaciamus  totos,  et 
animi  vulnus  quo  affligimur :  nihil  ad  reficiendum  animum  efficacius.  i  Ep.  ad 

Q-  frat.  e  Aphor.  prim. 


Mem.  (J.  Subs.  2.]  Mind  rectified,  443 

vate  aud  increase  their  disease.  Non  oportet  cegros  hujusmodi 
esse  solos,  vel  inter  ignotos,  vel  inter  eos  quos  non  amant  aut 
negligunt,  as  Rod.  a  Fonseca,  (Tom.  1.  consul.  35)  prescribes. 
Lngentes  custodire  solemns,  (saith  ^  Seneca)  ne  soUtudine 
male  utantnr  ;  we  watch  a  sorrowful!  person,  lest  he  abuse  his 
solitariness :  and  so  should  we  do  a  melancholy  man ;  set 
him  about  some  business,  exercise,  or  recreation,  which  may 
divert  his  thoughts,  and  still  keep  him  otherwise  intent;  for 
his  phantasie  is  so  restless,  operative  and  quick,  that,  if  it  be 
not  in  perpetuall  action,  ever  employed,  it  will  work  upon 
•  it  self,  melancholize,  and  be  carried  away  instantly  with  some 
fear,  jealousie,  discontent,  suspicion,  some  vain  conceit  or 
other.  If  his  weakness  be  such,  that  he  cannot  discern  what 
is  amiss,  correct  or  satisfie,  it  behoves  them,  by  counsel,  com- 
fort, or  perswasion,  by  fair  or  foul  means,  to  alienate  his 
mind  by  some  artificial  invention  or  some  contrary  perswasion, 
to  remove  all  objects,  causes,  companies,  occasions,  as  may 
any  wayes  molest  him,  to  humour  him,  please  him,  divert 
him,  and,  if  it  be  possible,  by  alterino-  his  course  of  life,  to 
give  him  security  and  satisfaction.  If  he  conceal  his  griev- 
ances, and  will  not  be  known  of  them,  ^they  must  observe,  bg 
his  looks,  gestures,  motions,  phantasie,  ichat  it  is  that  offetidsy 
and  then  to  apply  remedies  unto  him.  Many  are  instantly 
cured  when  their  minds  are  satisfied.  "^  Alexander  makes 
mention  of  a  woman,  that,  by  reason  of  her  husbands  long 
absence  in  travel,  was  exceeding  peevish  and  melancholy  ;  buty 
ichen  she  heard  her  husband  teas  returned,  beyond  all  expec- 
tation,  at  thejirst  sight  of  him,  she  was  freed  from  all  fear, 
without  help  of  any  other  physick  restored  to  her  former 
health.  Trincavelius  (consil.  12.  lib.  1)  hath  such  a  story  of 
a  Venetian, that,  being  much  troubled  with  melancholy,  ^and 
ready  to  dye  for  grief  when  he  heard  his  wife  was  brought  to 
bed  of  a  son,  instantly  recovered.  As  Alexander  concludes, 
"if  our  imaginations  be  not  inveterate,  by  this  art  they  may 
be  cured,  especially  if  they  proceed  from  such  a  cause.  No 
better  Avay  to  satisfy,  than  to  remove  the  object,  cause,  occa- 
sion, if  by  any  art  or  means  possible  we  may  find  it  out.  If 
he  grieve,  stand  in  fear,  be  in  suspicion,  suspence,  or  any  way 
molested,  secure  him;  solvit ur  malum:  give  him  satisfaction; 
the  cure    is  ended  :    alter  his    course   of  life,  there    needs 


»Epist.  10.  ^  Observando  niofns,  gestus,  manus,  pedes,  octilos,  plianta- 

s'lam.     Piso.  fMiilier,  melaucholia  correpta  ex  longa  viri  perejjrinatione,  et 

jracunde  omnibus  respondeus,  quum  maritns  domum  reversus  prseter  spem,  &c. 
"*  Prae  dolore  moritiinis,  quntn  nuntiatuirj  esset  iixorem  peperisse  filiiim,  subito  recii- 
peravit.  «  Nisi  aflfectus  loDgo  tempore  infestaverit,  tali  artificio  inia'^inationes 

rnrare  portet,  prsesertim  ubi  malum  ab  his,  vclut  a  primaria  taussa,  occasiuoeni  ha- 
buerit. 


iU  Cure  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  2.  Sec.  2. 

no  other  pliysick.  If  the  party  be  sad,  or  otherwise  affected, 
consider  (saitli  Trallianus)  ^the  manner  of'it,  allcirciunstances, 
and  forthwith  make  a  sudd.en  alteration,  by  removing  the 
occasions;  avoid  all  terrible  objects,  heard  or  seen,  ^rnon- 
atrous  and  prodigious  aspects,  tales  of  devils,  spirits,  ghosts, 
Iragicall  stories:  to  such  as  are  in  fear,  they  strike  a  great  im- 
pression, renew  many  times,  and  recal  such  chimeras  and  ter- 
rible fictions  into  their  minds.  "^ Make  not  so  much  as  men- 
tion of  them  in  private  talk,  or  a  dumb  sheiv  tending  to  that 
purpose :  such  things  (saith  Galateus)  wre  offensive  to  their 
imaginations.  And  to  those  that  are  now  in  sorrow,  ** Seneca 
forbids  all  sad  companions,  and  such  as  lament :  a  groayiing 
companion  is  an  enemy  to  quietness.  ^  Or  if  there  he  any  such 
party,  at  whose  present  the  patient  is  not  well  pleased,  he  must 
be  removed:  gentle  speeches  and  fair  means  must  /irst  be  tryed; 
no  harsh  language  used,  or  uncomfortable  words  ;  not  expel, 
as  some  do,  one  madness  with  another ;  he  that  so  doth  is 
madder  than  the  patient  himself;  all  things  must  be  quietly 
composed  ;  eversa  non  evertenda,  sed  erigenda,  things  down 
must  not  be  dejected,  but  reared,  as  Crato  counselleth:  ^ he 
must  be  quietly  and  gently  used;  and  we  should  not  do  any 
thing-  against  his  mind,  but  by  little  and  little  effect  it.  As  an 
horse  that  starts  at  a  drum  or  trumpet,  and  will  not  endure 
the  shooting  of  a  piece,  may  be  so  manned  by  art,  and  ani- 
mated, that  he  can  not  only  endure,  but  is  much  more  ge- 
nerous at  the  hearing  of  such  things,  much  more  couragious 
than  before,  and  much  delighteth  in  it ;  they  must  not  be  re- 
formed ex  abrupto,  but,  by  all  art  and  insinuation,  made  to 
such  companies,  aspects,  objects,  they  could  not  formerly  away 
with.  Many  at  hrst  cannot  endure  the  sight  of  a  green 
wound,  a  sick  man,  which  afterward  become  good  chyrurgi- 
ans,  bold  empericks.  A  horse  starts  at  a  rotten  post  afar  off, 
M  hich,  coming  near,  he  quietly  passeth.  'Tis  much  in  the 
manner  of  making  such  kind  of  persons:  be  they  never  so 
averse  from  company,  bashful,  solitary,  timorous,  they  may  be 
made  at  last,  M'ith  those  Roman  matrons,  to  desire  nothing 
more  than,  in  a  publike  shew,  to  see  a  full  company  of  gladi- 
ators breath  out  their  last. 


=  Lib.  1.  cap.  16.     Si  ex  tristitia  aut  alio  affectu  coeperit;  speciera  considera  aut  aliud 
quid  eoniiu,  quae  siibitam  alterationem  facere  possunt.  bEvitandi  monstrifici 

aspectus,  &c.  cNeque  enim  tarn  actio  aut  recordatio  rerum  hujnsmodi 

displicet,  sed  iis  vel  gestus  alterius  imaginationi  adiimbrare,  vehementer  molestuni. 
Galat.  de  mor.  cap.  7.  d  Tranquil.     Praecipue  vitentur  tristes,  et  omnia  deplo- 

rantes:  tranquillitatiinimicus  est  comes  perturbatus,  omnia  gemens.  •'lilorum 

quoque  hominum,  aquorum  consortio abhorrent,  prsesenfia  amovenda,  nee  sermonibiis 
ingratis  obtunde"di.  Si  quis  insaniam  ab  insauia  sic  curari  sestimat,  et  proterve  utitur, 
magis  quam  pcger  insanit.     Crato,  consil.  184.  ScoHzii.  '^MoJliterac 

suavitcr  aeger  tractetuVj  nee  ad  ea  itdigatur  qua;  nou  curat. 


Mem.  6.  Subs.  2.]  Mind  rectified.  445 

If  they  may  not  otherwise  be  accustomed  to  brook  such  dis- 
tastful  and  displeasing  objects, the  best  way  then  is  generally  to 
avoid  them.  Montanus,  cotisil  229,  to  the  earl  of  Montfort  a 
courtier,  and  his  melancholy  patient, ad viseth  him  to  leave  the 
court,  by  reason  of  those  continual  discontents,  crosses,  abuses, 
"cares,  s?ispicions,emulations,  ambition,  anger,  jealousie,2vhich 
that  place  aforded,  and  ichich  surely  caused  him  to  be  so  me- 
lancholy at  thejirst : 

Maxima  quseque  domus  servis  est  plena  superbis : 
a  company  of  scoffers  and  proud  Jacks,  are  commonly  conver- 
sant and  attendant  in  such  places,  and  able  to  make  any  man 
that  is  of  a  soft  quiet  disposition  (as  many  times  they  do),  ex 
stnlto  insanum,  if  once  they    humor  him,  a  very  idiot,  or 
Starke  mad  :  a  thing  too  much  practised  in  all  common  so- 
cieties ;  and  they  have  no  better  sport  than  to  make  them- 
selves merry  by  abusing  some  silly  fellow,  or  take  advantage  of 
another  mans  weaknes.    In  such  cases,  as  in  a  plague,  the  best 
remedy  is  cito,  longe,  tarde,  (for  to  such  a  party,  especially  if 
he  be  apprehensive.there  cau  be  no  greater  misery)  to  gethmi 
quickly  gone  far  enough  off,  and  not  to  be  over-hasty  in  his 
return.     If  he  be  so  stupid,  that  he  do  not  apprehend  it,  his 
friends  should  lake  some  order,  and  by  their  discretion  supply 
that  which  is  wanting  in  him,  as  in  all  other  cases  they  ought 
to  do.     If  they  see  a  man  melancholy  given,  solitary,  averse 
from  company,  please  himself  with  such  private  and  vain  me- 
ditations, though  he  delight  in  it,  they  ought  by  all  means  to 
seek  to  divert  him,  to  dehort  him,  to  tell  him  of  the  event  and 
danger  that  may  come  of  it.     If  they  see  a  man  idle,  that,  by 
reason  of  his  means  otherwise,  will  betake  himself  to  no  course 
of  life,  they  ought  seriously  to  admonish   him,  he  makes  a 
noose  to  intangle  himself,  his  want  of  imployment  will  be  his 
undoing.     If  he  have  sustained  any  great  losse,  suffered  a  re- 
pulse, disgrace,  &c.  if  it  be  possible,  relieve  him.     If  he  desire 
ought,  let^him  be  satisfied  :  if  in  suspence,  fear,  suspicion, 
let^him  be  secured  :  and  if  it  may  conveniently  be,  give  him 
his  hearts  content ;  for  the  body  cannot  be  cured  till  the 
mind  be  satisfied.      ^  Socrates,  in  Plato,  would  prescribe  no 
physick  for  Charmides  head-ach,  till  frst  he  hud  eased  his 
troublesome  mind;  body  and  soul  viust  be  cured  toyether,  as 
head  and  eyes. 

c  Oculum  non  curabis  sine  toto  capite, 

Nee  caput  sine  toto  corpora. 

Nee  toium  corpus  sine  aninr^a. 

a  Ob  snspiciones,  curas,  fEmuhtionem,  ambitionetn,  iras,  &c.  qtias  locus  ille  minis, 
trat,  et  quae  fecissent  raelancholicum.  "  Nisi  pnus  aminum  ttirbafassimmn 

curaaset ;  nee  oculi  sine  capite,  nee  corpus  i-ine  aninia  cuiari  polp-.t.  U 

Graeco. 


446  Cure  of  Melancholy.         [Part.  2.  Sec.  2. 

If  that  may  not  he  hoped  or  expected,  yet  ease  him  with  com- 
fort, cheaiful  speeches,fair  promises,  and  good  words  ;perswade 
him  ;  advise  him.  Many,  saith  *Galen,  have  been  cured  by 
good  counsel  and  persivasion  alone.  Heaviness  of  the  heart  of 
man  doth  bring  it  down  ;  but  a  good  word  rejoiceth  it  (Prov. 
12.  25) ;  a7id  there  is  he  that  speaketh  words  like  the  pricking 
of  a  sword;  but  the  tongue  oj'a  wise  man  is  health  (ver.  18)  : 
oratio  namque  saucii  animi  est  remedium  ;  a  gentle  speech  is 
the  true  erne  of  a  wounded  soul,  as  bPIutarch  contends  out 
of  iEschylus  and  Euripides  :  if  it  be  wisely  administred,  it 
easeth  grief  and  pain,  as  divert  remedies  do  many  other 
diseases  ;  'tis  incantationis  instar,  a  charm,  ccstuantis  animi  re~ 
Jrigerinm,  that  true  nepenthes  of  Homer,  which  was  no  Indian 
plant  or  fained  medicine,  which  Epidamna,  Thonis  wife,  sent 
Helena  for  a  token,  as  Macrobius,  7.  Saturnal.  Goropius, 
Hermet.  lib.  9.  Greg.  Nanzianzen,  and  others,  suppose  but  op- 
portunity ofspeech:  for  Helenas  boule,  Medeas  unction,  Venus 
girdle,  Circes  cup,  cannot  so  inchant,  so  forcibly  move  or 
alter,  as  it  doth.  A  letter  sent  or  read  w  ill  do  as  much  ;  mnl- 
turn  allevor,  quuvi  tuas  literas  lego;  lam  much  eased, as  ^Tully 
Avrit  to  Pomponius  Atticus,  when  I  read  thy  letters ;  and  as 
Julianus  the  Apostate  once  signified  to  Maximus  the  philo- 
sopher— As  Alexander  slept  with  Homers  works,  so  do  I  with 
thine  epistles,  tanquam  Pceo7iiis  medicamentis,  easque  assidue 
tanqnam  recentes  et  novas  iteramus :  scribe  ergo,  et  assidue 
scribe;  or  else  come  thy  self:  amicus  ad  aniicum  venies. 
Assuredly  a  wise  antl  well  spoken  man  may  do  what  he  will 
in  such  a  case:  a  good  orator  alone,  as  '^Tully  holds,  can  alter 
affections  by  power  of  his  eloquence,  comfort  such  as  are  af- 
flicted, erect  such  as  are  depressed,  expel  and  mitigate  fear,  lust, 
anger,  &;c.  and  how  powerful  is  the  charm  of  a  discreet  and 
dear  friend! 

lUe  regit  dictis  animos,  et  temperat  iras. 

WJiat  may  not  he  effect?  as  "^Chremes  told  Menedemus, 
Fear  not ;  conceal  it  not,  O  friend:  but  tell  me  tchat  it  is  that 
troubles  thee  ;  and  I  shall  surely  help  thee  by  con  fort,  counsel^ 
or  in  the  matter  it  self  ^Arnoldus  (lih.  1.  breviar.  cap.  18) 
speaks  of  an  usurer  in  his  time,  that,  upon  a  loss  much  me- 
lancholy and  discontent,  was  so  cured.  As  imagination,  fear, 
grief,  cause  such  passions,    so  conceits  alone,  rectified  by 

a  Et  no8  nonpaucos  sanavimus,  animi  motibus  ad  debitnm  revocatis.  Jib.  1.  de  sanif. 
tnend.  b  Consol.  ad  ApoUonium.     Si  quis  sapienter  et  suo  tempore 

adhibeat,  remetlia  morbis  diversis  diversa  snnt :  dolentem  sermo  benignns  sublevat. 
'' Lib.  12.  Epist.  "^  De  nat.  Deoriim.   Consol atur  aiflictos;  dediicit  perterritos  a 

timore  ;  cupiHtates  imprimis,  et  iracundias,  comprimit.  «Heautou.  Act,  1. 

Seen.  1.  Ne  uietue  ;  ne  verere  ;  crede,  int]itam,  niihi :  aut  consolando,  aut  oonsilioj 
aut  re,  juvero.  'Novi  foeneratorem  avarura  apnd  mtos  sic  curiitum,  qui  multatu 

pecuaiam  araiserat. '' 


Mem.  6.  Subs.  2.]         Mind  rectified.  447 

^ood  hope,  counsel,  &c.  are  able  again  to  help  :  and  'tis  in- 
credible how  much  they  can  do  in  such  a  case,  as  ='Trinca- 
velius  illustrates  by  an  example  of  a  patient  of  his.  Porphy- 
rins the  philosopher  (in  Plotinus  life,  nritten  by  him)  relates, 
that,  being  in  a  discontented  humor  through  unsufferable 
anguish  of  mind,  he  was  going  to  make  away  himself:  but, 
meeting  by  chance  his  master  Plotinus,  who  perceiving  by 
his  distracted  looks  all  was  not  well,  urged  him  to  confess  hi's 
grief;  which  whan  he  had  heard,  he  used  such  comfortable 
speeches,  that  he  redeemed  him  e  faucibus  Erehi,  pacified  his 
unquiet  mind,  insomuch  that  he  was  easily  reconciled  to  him- 
self, and  much  abashed  to  think  afterwards  that  he  should  ever 
entertain  so  vile  a  motion.  By  all  means,  therefore,  fair  pro- 
mises, good  words,  gentle  perswasions,  are  to  be  used,  not  to 
be  too  rigorous  at  first,  ""or  to  insult  over  them,  not  to  deride, 
neglect,  or  contemn,  hut  rather,  as  Lemnius  exorteth,  to  pity, 
and  by  all  plausible  means  to  seek  to  reduce  them  :  but  if  satis- 
faction may  not  be  had,  mild  courses,  promises,  comfortable 
speeches,  and  good  counsel  will  not  take  place;  then,  as  Chris- 
topherus  a  Vega  determines,  lib.  3.  cap.  14.  de  Mel.  to  handle 
them  more  roughly,  to  threaten  and  chide,  saith  ^Altomarus, 
terrific  sometimes,  or,  as  Salvianus  will  have  them, to  be  lashed 
and  whipped,  as  we  do  by  a  starting  horse,  "^that  is  affrio-bted 
without  a  cause,  or,  as  ^Rhasis  adviseth,  one  ichile  to%peak 
fair  and  flatter,  another  while  to  terrific  and  chide,  as  they 
shall  see  cause. 

When  none  of  these  precedent  remedies  will  avail,  it  will 
not  be  amiss,  which  Savanarola  and  JEVmn  Montaltus  so 
much  commend,  clavum  clavo  pellere,  ^ to  drive  out  one  pas- 
sion with  another,  or  by  some  contrary  passion,  as  they  do 
bleeding  at  nose  by  letting  blood  in  the  arm,  to  expel  one  fear 
with  another,  one  grief  with  another,  e  Christopherus  a  Vega 
accounts  it  rational  physick,  non  alienum  a  ratione:  and 
Lemnius  much  approves  it,  to  use  an  hard  ivedye  to  an  hard 
knot,  to  drive  out  one  disease  with  another,  to  pull  out  a 
tooth,  or  wound  him,  to  geld  him,  ''saith  Platerus,  as  they 
did  epileptical  patients  of  old,  because  it  quite  alters  the  tem- 
perature, that  the  pain  of  the  one  may  mitigate  the  grief  of 


aLib.  1.  consil.  12.    Incredibile  dictn  quantum  juvent.  ''Nemo  istiusmodi 

conditionis  hominibus  insnltet,  aut  in  illos  sit  severior ;  venim  mispriae  potius  indo- 
lescat,  vicemque  deploret.  lib  2.  cap.  16.  fCap.  7.  Idem  Piso  Lanrentius, 

cap.  8.  <'  Quod  timet  nihil  est,  nbi  cogitur  et  videt,  "Una  vice 

blandiantur,  una  vice  iisdeni  lerrorem  incutiant.  ''Si  vero  fnerit  ex  novo  roalo 

andito,  vel  ex  animi  accideute,  aut  de  aniissione  mercium,  aut  morte  amici,  introducau- 
tur  nova  contraria  bis,  qu?"  ipsum  ad  gaudia  moveant  ;  de  Loc  srmper  niti  debrniiis, 
&c.  !-■  Lib.  3.  cap.  14.  •'  Cap.  3  Casliatio  oliui  a  veteribos  usa  im  morbis. 

desperatis,  &c. 


418  Cure  of  MelancTioly,        [Part.  2.  Sec.  2 

the  other;  ^and  Iknew  one  that  was  so  curedqfa  quartan  ague, 
by  the  sudden  coming  of  his  enemies  upon  him.  If  we  may  be- 
lie ve '^  Pliny,  w])ora  Scaliger  cals  me«rfacior?<mj9a?rem,  the  father 
of  lies,  Q.  Fabius  Maximus,  that  renowned  consul  ofRonie,ina 
battle  fought  with  the  king  of  the  Allobroges  at  the  river  Isau- 
lus,  was  so  rid  of  a  quartan  ague.  Valesius,  in  his  contro- 
versies, holds  this  an  excellent  remedy,  and,  if  it  be  discreetly 
used  in  this  malady,  better  than  physick. 

Sometimes  again,  by  some  '^fainedlye,  strange  newes,  witty 
device,  artificial  invention,  it  is  not  amiss  to  deceive  them. 
M.s  they  hate  those,  saith  Alexander,  that  neglect  or  deride, 
so  they  xcill  give  ear  to  such  as  will  sooth  them  up.  If  they 
say  they  have  sivallowed  froggs,  or  a  snake,  by  all  means 
grant  it,  and  tell  them  you  can  easily  cure  it :  'tis  an  ordinary 
thing.  Philodotus  the  physician  cured  a  melancholy  king, 
that  thought  his  head  was  oil",  by  putting  a  leaden  cap  thereon; 
the  w  eight  made  him  perceive  it,  and  freed  him  of  his  fond 
imagination.  A  woman,  in  the  said  Alexander,  swallowed  a 
serpent,  as  she  thought :  he  gave  her  a  vomit,  and  conveyed  a 
serpent,  such  as  she  conceived, into  the  bason;  upon  the  sight 
of  it,  she  w  as  amended.  The  pleasantest  dotage  that  ever  I 
read,  saith  •^Laurentius,  was  of  a  gentleman  at  Senes  in  Italy, 
who  was  afraid  to  piss,  lest  all  the  town  should  be  drowned ; 
the  physicians  caused  the  bells  to  be  rung  backward,  and  told 
him  the  town  was  on  fire;  whereupon  he  made  water,  and  was 
immediately  cured.  Another  supposed  his  nose  so  big  that  he 
should  dash  it  against  the  wall,  if  bestirred;  his  physician  took 
a  great  piece  of  flesh,  and  holding  it  in  his  hand,  pinched  him 
by  the  nose,  making  him  beleeve  that  flesh  was  cut  from  it. 
Forestus  (obs.  lib.  1)  had  a  melancholy  patient,  who  thought 
he  was  dead:  Hie  put  a  fellow  in  a  chest,  like  a  dead  man,  by 
his  beds  side,  and  made  him  reare  himself  a  little,  and  eat:  the 
melancholy  man  asked  the  counterfeit,  tchether  dead  men  use  to 
eat  meat  ?  he  told  him  yea ;  whereupon  he  did  eat  likewise, 
atid  2vas  cured.  Lemnius  {lib.  2.  cap.  6.  de  4.  complex.)  hath 
many  such  instances,  and  Jovianus  Pontaniis  {lib.  4.  cap.  2.  of 
Wisd.)  of  the  like:  but  amongst  the  rest  I  find  one  most  me- 
morable, registred  in  the  s  French  Chronicles,  of  an  advocate 


*Lib.  1.  cap.  5.  Sic  morbntn  morbo,  ut  clavnm  clavo,  retundimiis,  et  malo  Dodo 
malum  cuneum  adhibemus.  Novi  ego  qui  ex  subito  hostinm  incursu,  et  inopinato 
timorCj  quartanam  depulerat.  •>  Lib.  7.  cap.  50.     In  acie  pugnans  febre  quartana 

liberatiis  est.  ^  Jacchinus,  c.  15,  in  9  Rhasis.  Mont.  cap.  26.  d  Lib.  cap.  16. 

Aversantur  eos  qui  eorum  afl'ectus  rident,  contemnant.     Si  ranas  et  viperas  comedisse 
se  putant,  concedere  debeuius,  et  spem  de  cura  facere.  eCap.  8.  de  mel. 

f  Cistam  posuit  ex  medicorum  consilio  prope  eum,  in  quem  allum  se  mortuum  fingen- 
tern  posuit ;  hie  in  cista  jacens,  8cc.  s  SerreS;  1550. 


Moiii.  6.  Subs.  3.]  Perturbation  rectified.  44D 

of  Paris  before  ineutioiied,  who  hcleeved  verily  lie  was  dead, 
&c.  I  readamidtikule  of  examples,  of  melancholy  men  cured 
by  such  artificial  inventions. 


SUBSECT.  HI. 

Mustek  a  remedy. 

ItjLANY  and  sundiy  are  tlie  means  which  [)hilosonhers  and 
physicians  have  prescribed  to  exhilarate  a  sorrowful  heart,  to 
divert  those  fixed  and  intent  cares  and  meditations,  which 
in  this  malady  so  nmch  offend;  but,  in  my  judgement,  none 
so  present,  none  so  powerfull,  none  so  apposite,  as  a  cup  of 
strong-  drink,  mirth,  musick,  and  merry  company.  Ecclus. 
40.  20.  Wine  and  musick  rejoyce  the  heart,  "Rhasis  cont.  9. 
Tract.  15),  Altomarus  {cap.  7),  iElianus  Montaltus  (c.  26), 
Ficinus,  Bened.  Victor.  Faventinus,  are  almost  immoderate  in 
the  commendation  of  it;  a  most  forcible  medicine  ^  Jacchinus 
calls  it:  Jason  Pratensis,  a  most  admirable  thiny,  and  worthy 
of  consideration,  that  can  so  mo/life  the  mind,  and  stay 
those  tempestjwus  affections  of  it.  Musica  est  mentis  medi- 
cijia  moestce,  a  roaring-meg^  against  melancholy,  to  rear  and 
revive  the  languishing  soul ;  '^  affecting  not  onely  the  ears  but 
the  very  arteries,  the  vital  and  animal  spirits,  it  erects  the 
minde  and  makes  it  nimble.  Lemnius,  instit.  cap.  24.  This 
it  will  effect  in  the  most  dull,  severe,  and  sorrowful  souls, 
*"  expell  grief e  loith  mirth  ;  and,  if  there  bee  any  cloudes,  dust, 
or  dregges  of  cares  yet  lurking  in  our  thoughts,  most  potver- 
fully  it  wipes  them  all  away,  (Salisbur.  polit.  lib.  1 .  cap.  6) ; 
and  that  which  is  more,  it  will  perform  all  this  in  an  instant — 
^  chear  up  the  countenance,  expell  austerity,  bring  in  hilarity 
(Girald.  Camb.  cap.  12.  Topogr.  Hiber.)  informe  our  manners, 
-mitigate  anger.  Athenasurs  {Dipnosophist .  lib.  14.  cap.  10) 
calleth  it  an  infinite  treasure  to  such  as  are  endowed  with  it. 
Dulcisonum  reficit  tristia  corda  melos.     (Eobanus  Kessus) 

Many  other  ])roperties  "^  Cassiodorus  {cpist.  4)  reckons  up  of 
this  our  divine  musick,  not  only  to  expel  the  greatest  grieff-, 
but   it  doth   extenuate  fears  and  furies,  appeaseth  cruelty, 

a  In  9  Rhasis.  Mai;nam  vim  habet  musica.  ^  Cap.  de  Mania.   Admiranda  pro- 

fecto  res  est,  et  digna  expensione,  quod  sonorum  concinnitas  mentem  emolliat,  sistatque 
procellosas  ipsius  affectiones.  <=Langiiens  animus  inde  erigitur  et  reviviscit ; 

nee  tam  anres  afficit,  sed  et  sonitu  per  arterias  undique  diti'uso,  spiritus  turn  vifales  turn 
animates  excitat,  mentem  reddens  agilem,  &r,.  "i  iMnsica  venustate  sua  mentes 

severiores  capit,  &c.  f  Animos  tristes  subito  exhilarat,  nubilos  vultiis  serenat, 

austerltatem  reponit,  jiicunditatemexpunitj  barbariemque  facit  depon^regpntes,  mores 
instituit,  iracundiam  initigat.  'Cilhara  tristiham  juciiudaf,,  tuuiidos  furores 

cttteu'iat,  cruentaiii  MC\itium  blande  reticit^  languorem,  Sec. 


450  Cure  of  Melancholy.         [Part.  2.  Sec.  2. 

abateth  heaviness  ;  and,  to  such  as  are  watchfully  it  causetk 
quiet  rest ;  it  takes  away  spleen  and  hatred,  bee  it  instru- 
mental, vocall,  with  strings,  winde,  ^qucB  a  spiritu,  sine  ma- 
iiuum  dexteritate,  gubernetur,  Sfc.  it  cures  all  irksomeness  and 
heaviness  of  the  soul.  ^  Labouring  men,  that  sing  to  their 
M^ork,  can  tell  as  much;  and  so  can  soiildiers  when  they  go  to 
fight,  whom  terror  of  death  cannot  so  much  affright,  as  the 
sound  of  trumpet,  drum,  fife,  and  such  like  musick,  animates; 
metus  enim  mortis,  as  ^Censorinus  enformeth  us,  musicd  depel- 
litur.  It  makes  a  childe  quiet,  the  nurses  song;  and  many 
times  the  sound  of  a  trumpet  on  a  sudden,  bells  ringing,  a 
carrmans  whistle,  a  boy  singing  some  ballad  tune  early  in  the 
street,  alters,  revives,  recreates  a  restless  patient  that  cannot 
sleep  in  the  night,  &c.  In  a  word,  it  is  so  powerful  a  thing 
that  it  raviseth  the  soul,  regina  sensuum,  the  queen  of  the 
senses,  by  sweet  pleasure  (which  is  an  happy  cure) ;  andcorpo- 
rall  tunes  pacific  our  incorporeall  soul :  sine  ore  loquens,  domi- 
natum  in  animam  exercet,  and  carries  it  beyond  it  self,  helps, 
elevates,  extends  it.  Scaliger  (exercit.  302)  gives  a  reason  of 
these  effects,  <>  because  the  spirits  about  the  heart  take  in  that 
trembling  and  dancing  air  into  the  body,  are  moved  together, 
and  stirredup  with  it,  or  else  the  minde,  as  some  suppose,har- 
monically  composed,  is  roused  up  at  the  tunes  of  musick. 
And  'tis  not  onely  men  that  are  so  affected,  but  almost  all 
other  creatures.  You  know  the  tale  of  Hercules,  Gallus, 
Orpheus,  and  Amphion,  (felices  animasOv'\A  cals  them)  that 
could  saxa  movere  sono  testudinis,  &c.  make  stocks  and  stones, 
as  well  as  beasts,  and  other  animals,  dance  after  their  pipes  : 
the  dog  and  hare,  wolf  and  lamb, 

(Vicinumque  lupo  preebuit  agna  latus) 

clamosus  graculus,  stridula  comix,  et  Jovis  aquila,  as  Philo- 
stratus  describes  it  in  his  images,  stood  all  gaping  upon  Or- 
pheus; and  *  trees,  pulled  up  by  the  roots,  came  to  hear  him; 

Et  comitem  quercum  pinus  arnica  trahit. 

Arion  made  fish  follow  him,  which,  as  common  experience 
evinceth,  ^are  much  affected  with  musick.  All  singing  birds 
are  much  pleased  with  it,  especially  nightingales,  if  we  may 
beleeve  Calcagninus;  and  bees  among  the  rest,  though  they  be 
flying  away,  when  they  hear  any  tingling  sound,  will  tarry  be- 
hinde.     ^ Harts,  hindes,  horses,  dogs,  bears,  are  exceedingly 

a  Pet.  Aretine.  ^  Castilio,  de  aulic.  lib.  I.  fol.  27.'  «  Lib.  de  Natali, 

cap.  12.  dQuocl  spiritus,  qui  in  corde  agitant,  tremulnm  et  subsaltantem  recipiunt 

aerem  in  pectus,  et  incle  excitantur,  a  spiritu  muscnli  moventur,  &c.  *  Arbores 

radicibus  arulsae,  &c.  f  M.  Carew  of  Anthony,  in  descript.  Cornwal,  saith  of 

■whales,  that  they  will  come  and  shew  themselves  dancing;  at  the  sound  of  a  trumpet, 
fol.  35.  1.  et  fol.  1.54.  2.  book.  eDe  cervo,  eqao,  cane,  arso,  idem  com- 

pertnm ;  musica  afficiuntnr. 


Mem.  6.  Subs.  S.]        Perturhation  rectified.  451 

delighted  with  it,  Seal.  exerc-SO^.  Elephants,  Agrippa  addes, 
lib.  2.  cap.  24.  and  in  Lydia  in  the  midst  of  a  lake  there  be 
certain  floating-  ilands,  (if  ye  will  beleeve  it)  that,  after  musick, 
will  dance. 

But  to  leave  all  declamatory  speeches  in  praise  ^of  divine 
musick,  I  will  confine  my  self  to  my  proper  subject :  besides 
that  excellent  power  it  hath  to  expell  many  other  diseases,  it  is 
asoveraigne  remedy  against ''despair  and  melancholy,  and  will 
drive  away  the  devil  himself.  Canus,  aRhodian  fidler  in  "^Phi- 
lostratus,  when  Apollonius  was  inquisitive  to  know  what  he 
could  do  with  his  pipe,  told  him,  that  he  would  make  a  me- 
lancholy man  merry,  and  him  that  was  merry  much  merrier 
than  before,  a  lover  more  inamonred,  a  religious  man  more  de- 
vout^    Ismeuias  the  Theban,  ^  Chiron  the  Centaure,  is  said  to 
have  cured  this  and  many  other  diseases  by  musick  alcn?  :  as 
now  they  do  those,  saith  '^Bodine,  that  are  troubled  with  S. 
Vitus  Bedlam  dance.      'Timotheus  the  musician  compelled 
Alexander  to  skip  up  and  down,  and  leave  his  dinner  (like  the 
tale  of  the  frier  and  the  boy);  whom  Austin  {de  civ.  Dei, 
lib.  17.  cap.  14.)  so  much  commends  for  it.      Who  bath  not 
heard  how  Davids  harmony  drove  away  the  evill  spirits  from 
king  Saul?  (I  Sam.  16)andElisha,when  he  was  much  troubled 
by  importunate  kings,  called  for  a  minstrel ;  and^  ichen  he 
played,  the  hand  oftheLordcame  upon  him  (2  Kings,  3).  Cen- 
sorinus  {denatali,  cap.  12)  reports  how  Asclepiades  the  physi- 
cian helped  many  frantike  persons  by  this  means,  phreneticorum 
mentes  morho  turbatas. — Jason  Pratensis  {cap.  de  Mania)  hath 
many  examples,  how  Clinias  and  Empedocles  cured  some 
desperately  melancholy,  and  some  mad,  by  this  our  musick; 
which  because  it  hath  such  excellent  vertues,  belike,  §  Homer 
brings  in  Phemius  playing,  and  the  Muses  singing  at  the  ban- 
quet of  the  gods.  Aristotle,  Polit.  I.  8.  c.  5,  Plato  2,  de  legibus, 
highly  approve  it,  and  so  do  all  politicans.      The  Greekes, 
Romanes,  have  graced  musick,  and  made  it  one  of  the  liberal! 
sciences,  though  it  be  now  become  mercenary.     All  civill  com- 
monwealths allow  it:  Cneius  3Ianlius  (as  '^Livius relates)  A° 
ab  urb.  cond.  567,  brought  first  out  of  Asia  to  Rome  singing 
wenches, players,  jesters, and  all  kindeof  musick  to  thejrfeasts. 


a  Niimen  inest  numeris.  •>  Saepe  graves  morbos  modalatam  carmen  abegit, 

Et  dcsperatis  conciliavit  opem.  "Lib.  5.  cap.  7.     Mcereutibus  incerorem  adiuiain, 

la;tantera  veroseipsoreddam  hilariorera,  ainantem  calidiorem,  religiosiimdivinonumiue 
correptara,  at  ad  Deos  colendos  paratiorern.  "i  Natalis  Comes,  Myth.  lib.  4. 

cap.  12.  e  Lib.  5.  de  rep.     Curat  wusica  fnrorem  Sancti  V'iti.  f  Eisilire 

e  couvivio.     Cardan,  subtil,  lib.  13.  ?  Iliad  1.  *>  Libro9.  cap.  1.  Psaltrias, 

sambucistriasqae,  et  convivialia  Iiidorum  oblectamenta  addita  epulis,  es  Asia  invexit  io 
urbera. 


452  Cure  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  2.  Sec.  2, 

Your  princes,  empprour^:,  and  persons  of  any  quality,  main- 
tain it  in  their  courts:  no  mirth  without  musick.  S'  Thomas 
Moore  in  his  absolute  Utopian  common-wealth,  allowes  musick 
as  an  appendix  to  every  meal,  and  that  throughout,  to  all 
sorts.  Epictetus  c?\?,metisani  mutam prcesepe^  a  table  without 
musick  a  manger  ;  for  the  concent  of  musicians  at  a  banquet  is 
a  carbuncle  set  in  gold;  and  as  the  signet  of  an  emerald  well 
trimmed  with  gold,  so  is  the  melody  of  musick  in  a  pleasant 
banquet.  Ecclus.  32,  v.  5.  6.  ^  Lewes  the  eleventh,  when  he 
invited  Edward  the  fourth  to  come  to  Paris,  told  him,  that,  as  a 
principal!  partof  his  entertainment,  he  should  hear  sweet  voices 
of  children,  Tonicke  and  Lydian  tunes,  exquisite  musick,  he 

should  have  a .,  and  the  Cardinal!  of  Burbon  to  be  his 

confessor;  which  he  used  as  a  most  plausible  argument,  as  to  a 
sensuall  man  indeed  it  is.  ^Lucian,  in  his  book  de  saltatioue 
is  not  ashamed  to  confess  that  he  took  infinite  delight  in  sing- 
ing, dancing-,  musick,  womens  company,  and  such  like  plea- 
sures; and  if  thou  (saith  he)  (/«V/a/  but  hear  them  play  and 
dance,  I  know  thouwouldst  be  so  well  pleased  toith  tlie  object^ 
that  thou  wouldst  dance  for  company  thyself:  without  doubt 
thou  wilt  bee  taken  ivith  it :  So  Scaliger  ingenuously  con- 
fessetb,  exercit.  274.  ^I  am  beyond  all  measure  affected  with 
musick  ;  I  do  most  willingly  behold  them  dance  ;  I  am  mightily 
detained  and  allured  with  that  grace  and  comeliness  of  fair 
tcomen  ;  I  am  well  pleased  to  bee  idle  amongst  them.  And 
what  young  man  is  not  ?  As  it  is  acceptable  and  conducing 
to  most,  so  especially  to  a  melancholy  man ;  provided  alwaies, 
his  disease  proceed  not  originally  from  it,  that  he  bee  not  some 
light  inamorato,  some  idle  phantastick,  who  capers  in  conceit 
all  the  day  long,  and  thinks  of  nothing  else,  but  how  to  make 
jigs,  sonnets,  madrigals,  in  commendation  of  his  mistress. 
In  such  cases,  musick  is  most  pernicious,  as  a  spur  to  a  free 
horse  will  make  him  run  himself  blinde,  or  break  his  wind  ; 
incitamentum  enim  amoris  musica  ;  for  musick  enchants,  as 
Menander  holds;  it  will  make  such  melancholy  persons  mad; 
and  the  sound  of  those  jigs  and  horn-pipes  will  not  bee 
removed  out  of  the  ears  a  week  after.  ^  Plato,  for  this  rea- 
son, forbids  musick  and  wine  to  all  young  men,  because  they 
are  most  part  amorous,  ne  ignis  addatur  igni,  lest  one  fire 
increase  another.  Many  men  are  melancholy  by  hearing- 
musick;  but  it  is  a  pleasing  melancholy  that  it  cauSeth ;  and 


«  Comraineas.  bista  libenler  et  magna  rum  volnptafe  spectare  soleo.     Et 

scio  te  illecebris  Iiisce  capti-msiri,  et  insuper  tripiidiaturum  :  haudjdubie  demnlcebere. 
c  In  musicis  snpra  omnem  fidem  capior  et  oblector;  choreas  libentissime  aspicio  ;  pul- 
chrarum  ieininarum  venustate  detineor:  otiari  inter  has  solutus  curis  possum.  "^SDe 
legibus. 


Mem.  6.  Subs.  4.]       Parturhalion  reciljicd.  453 

therefore,  to  such  as  are  discontent,  in  wo,  fear,  sorrow,  or 
dejected,  it  is  a  most  present  remedy:  it  expels  cares,  alters 
their  grieved  minds,  and  easeth  in  an  instant.  Otherwise, 
saith  ''Plutarch,  miisica  magis  demeutat  qunm  vinum  :  musick 
makes  some  men  mad  as  a  tygre;  like  Astolphos  horn  in 
Ariosto,  or  Mercmies  golden  wand  in  Homer,  that  made  some 
Avake,  others  sleep,  it  hath  divers  effects:  and  ''Theophrastus 
right  well  prophesied,  that  diseases  were  either  procured  by 
musick,  or  mitigated. 


SUBSECT.  IV. 

JWirth  and  merry  company,  J'air  objects,  remedies. 

IRTH  and  merry  company  may  not  be  separated  from 
musick,  both  concerning  and  necessarily  required  in  this  busi- 
ness. Mirth  (saith  "Yives) purr/ eth  the  blood,  confirmeshealtlu 
causeth  a Jresh,  pleasing,  and  fine  colour,  prorogues  life,  whets 
the  wit,  makes  the  body  young,  lively,  and  fit  for  any  manner 
of  imployment.  The  merrier  heart,  the  longer  life :  a  merry 
hearths  the  life  ofthejlesh  (Prov.  14.  20) ;  Gladness  prolongs 
his  dayes  (Ecclus.  SO.  22) ;  and  this  is  one  of  the  three  Saler- 
nitan  doctors,  D.  Merryman,  T>.  Diet,  and  D.  Quiet,  ''which 

cure  all  diseases Mens  hilaris,  requies,  moderata  diceta. 

^  Gomesius  (prcejat.  lib.  3.  de  sal.  gen.)  is  a  great  magnifyer  of 
honest  mirth,  by  which  (saith  he)  wecuremany  passions  of  the 
mindeitiour  selves,  and  in  onrJricnds:yvhich^Ga[iiteusassignes 
for  a  cause  w hy  we  love  merry  companions:  and  well  they  de- 
serve it,  being  that  (as  §Maguinus  holds)ameny  companion  is 
better  than  musick,  and,  as  the  saying  is,  comes  jucundus  in  via 
pro  vehicnlo,  as  a  wagon  to  him  that  is  wearied  on  the  way. 
Jucmida  confabulation  sales,  joci,  pleasant  discourse,  jests,  con- 
ceits, merry  tales,  weZ/i?i  i;erione//iy/o&M/i,  (as  Petronius, ''Pliny, 
'  Spondanus,  ''Caelius,  and  many  good  authors  plead)  are  that 
sole  nepenthes  of  Homer,  Helenas  boule,  Venus  girdle,  sore- 


a  Sympos.  quffist.  5.     Blusica  multos  ma^s  demcntat  quani  vinum.  b  Aniini 

morbi  vel  a  musica  curantnr  vel  inferiintiir.  c  \S\h.  3.  de  aniina.     Lajtitia  piirgat 

saDgiiineni,  valetudinem  coiiservat,  colorem  inducit  florpntem,  nitidain,  gratuin. 
•i  Spiritus  temperat,  calorem  excitat,  naturaleni  virtutem  corroborat,  juvenile  corpus  diii 
servat,  vitam  prorogat,  iugeuium  acuit,  et  hominem  negotiis  quibnslibet  aptiorcui 
reddit.     Schola  Salem.  "Durn  contiimelia  vacant,  et  festiva  lenitate  mordent, 

mediocres  animi  a^grittidines  sanare  sclent,  &c.  '  De  nior.  fol.  .'J7.    Amaniiis  ideo 

eos  qui  sunt  faceti  et  jucundi.  S  Regini.  sanit.  part.  '2.     Nota  quod 

amicus  bonus  et  dilectus  socius  narrationibus  suis  jucundis  superat  omnem  melodiam. 
"Lib.  21.  cap.  27.  '  Comment,  in  4.  Odyss.  "^ Lib.  26.  c.  15. 


454  Cure  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  2.  See.  2. 

Downed  of  old  ^to  expell  grief  and  care,  to  cause  mirth  and 
gladness  of  heart,  if  they  be  rightly  understood,  or  seasonably 
applied.     In  a  word, 

bAmor,  voluptas,  Venus,  gaudium, 
Jocus,  Indus,  sermo  suavis,  suaviatio, 

are  the  true  nepenthes.  For  these  causes  our  physicians  gene- 
rally prescribe  this  as  a  principal  engine,  to  batter  the  walls  of 
melancholy,  a  chief  antidote,  and  a  sufficient  cure  of  it  self. 
By  all  means  (saith  '^Mesue)  procure  mirth  to  these  men,  in 
such  things  as  are  heard,  seen,  taated,  or  smelted,  or  any  ivay 
perceived ;  and  let  them  have  all  enticements,  and  fair  pro- 
mises, the  sight  of  excellent  beauties,  attires,  ornaments,  de- 
lightsome passages,  to  distract  their  minds  from  fear  and 
sorrow,  and  such  things  on  which  they  are  so  f  red  and  intent. 
'^  Let  them  use  hunting,  sports,  playes,  jests,  merry  company, 
as  Rhasis  prescribes,  which  ivill  not  let  the  minde  be  molested, 
a  cup  of  good  drinke  noiv  and  then,  hear  mnsick,  and  have 
such  companions  with  whom  they  are  especially  delighted, 
*  merry  tales  or  toyes,  drinking,  singing,  dancing,  and  ivhatso- 
ever  else  may  procure  mirth  :  and  by  no  means,  saith  Guiane- 
rius,  suffer  them  to  be  alone.  Benedictus  VictoriusFaventinus, 
in  his  Empericks,  accompts  it  an  especial  remedy  against  me- 
lancholy, *  to  hear  and  see  singing,  dancing,  maskers,  num- 
mers,  to  converse  tcith  such  merry  fellows,  and  fair  maids. 
For  the  beauty  of  a  woman  cheareth  the  countenance,  Ecclus. 
36.22.  sBeautyalone  is  a  soveraign  remedy  against  fear,  grief, 
and  all  melancholy  fits;  a  charm,  as  Peter  de  la  Seine  and  many 
other  writers  affirme,  a  banquet  it  self;  he  gives  instance  in 
discontented  Menelaiis  that  was  so  often  freed  by  Helenas 
fair  face:  and  ''Tully  (3  Tusc.)  cites  Epicurus  as  a  chief  patron 
of  this  tenent.  To  expell  grief,  and  procure  pleasance,  sweet 
smells,  good  diet,  touch,  taste,  embracing,  singing,  dancing, 
sports,  playes,  and,  above  the  rest,  exquisite  beauties,  quibus 
oculi  Jucunde  moventur  et  animiy  are  most  powerful  means  j 


a  Homericum  illud  nepenthes,  qnod  moerorem  tollit,  et  enthymiam  et  hilaritatem 
parit.  ''  Plant.  Bacch.  c  De  aegritud.  capitis.     Omni  niodo  generet  laeti- 

tiam  in  iis^  de  lis  quae  audiuntur  et  videntur,  aut  odorantur,  aut  gustantur,  aut  quocunque 
modo  sentiri  possunt,  et  aspectu  formarum  muUi  decoris  et  ornatus,  et  negotiatione 
jacunda,  et  blandientibus  ludis,  et  promissis  distrahantur  eorum  animi  de  re  aliqua 
quam  timent  et  dolent.  dUtantur  venationibns,  ludis,  jocis,  amicorum 

consortiis,  quae  non  sinunt  animum  turbaii,  vino, et  cantu,  etloci  mutatione,  etbiberia, 
et  gaudio,  et  quibus  prajcipue  delectantiir.  f  Piso  :  fabuliset  ludis  quajrenda 

delectatio.  His  verseturqui  maximegrati  sunt:  cantus  et  chorea  ad  lastitiam  prosunt. 
'Praecipue  valet  ad  expellendam  melancholiam  stare  in  cantibus,  ludis,  et  sonis,  et 
habitare  cum  familiaribus,  et  prajcipne  cum  piiellis  jncundis.  gPar.  5. 

de  avocamentis.  lib.  de  absolve ndo  luctu.  ''  Corpormn  complexns,  cantiu, 

ludi,  ioxtass,  &c. 


Mem.  r».  Subs.  4.]  Mind  rectijied  hy  Mirth.  4j5 

obviajbrma,  to  moet,  or  see  a  fair  maid  pas;s  by,  or  to  be  in 
company  with  her.  He  found  it  by  experience,  and  made  f^ood 
use  of  it  in  his  own  person,  if  Plutarch  bcly  him  not;  for  he 
reckons  up  the  names  of  some  more  elegant  pieces,  ^  Leontia, 
Boedina,  Hedieia,  Nicedia,  that  were  frequently  seen  in  Epi- 
curus g-a'*den,  and  very  familiar  in  his  Iiouse.     Neither  did  lie 
try  it  hinijelfalone;  butif  we  may  give  creditto  **  Athencciis!,  he 
practised  it  upon  others:  For,  when  a  sad  and  sick  patient 
was  brought  unto  him  to  be  cured,  lie  laid  him  on  a  doini  bed, 
croivned  him  with  a  f/arland  of  sweet-smellinrj  flowers,  in  a 
Jxiir  perfumed  closet  delicately  set  out ;  and  after  a  potion 
or  two  of  good  drink  which  he  administered,  he  brouyht  in  a 
beautiful  yony  « wench  that  could  play  upon  a  lute,  siny  and 
dance,  S^c.'    Tully  ('J  Tusc.)  scoffes  at  Epicurus  for  this  his 
prophane  physick  (as  well  he  deserved) ;  and  yet  Phavorinus 
and  Stobffius  highly  approve  of  it.     Most  of  our  looser  physi- 
cians, in  some  cases,  to  such  parties  especially,  allow  of  this; 
and  all  of  them  will  have  a  melancholy,  sad,  and  discontented 
person,  make  frequent  useof  honest  sports,  companies,  and  re- 
creations, et  incitandos  ad  Veneicm  (as  "^  Rodeiicus  a  Fonseca 
will)   aspectu  et  contactu  pulcherrimaium  feminarum  ;  to  he 
drawn  to  such  consorts,  whether  they  will  or  no;  not  to  be  an 
auditor  only,  or  a  spectator,  but  sometimes  an  actor  himself. 
Dulce  est  desipere  in  loco  ;   to  play  the  fool  now  and  then, 
is  not  amiss  ;  there  is  a  time  for  all  things.      Grave  Socrates 
would  be  merry  by  fits,  sing-,  dance,  and  take  his  liquor  too, 
or  else  Theodoret  belies  him;  so  would  old  Cato;  '^  Tully  by 
his  own  confession,  and  the  rest.     Xenophon,  in  his  Sympos. 
bring-s  in  Socrates  as  a  principal  actor ;  no  man  merrier  then 
himself;  and  sometimes  he  would  ''ride  a  cock  horse  with  his 
children, 

equitare  in  arundine  longa 

(though  Alcibiades  scoffed  at  him  for  it)  ;  and  well  he  might; 
for  now  and  then  (saith  Plutarch)  tlie  most  vertuous,  honest, 
and  gravest  men  will  use  feasts,  jests,  and  toys^  as  we  do  sauce 
to  our  meats.     So  did  Scipio  and  Laelius, 

^  Quin,  ubi  se,  a  vulgo  et  scena,  in  secreta  remorant 
Virtus  Scipiadse  et  mitis  sapientia  Lseli, 


»  Circa  hortos' Epicori  freqaentes.  b  Dynosoph.  lib.  10.  Coronnvit  florido 

serto  incendens  odores,  in  culcita  plumea  collocavit,  dulcicniam  potioneni  propinaus 
psallriam  adduxit,  &<;.  <^  Ut  reclinata  suaviter  in  lectnm  piiella,&c.  ''  Tom.  2. 

consult.  85.  «Epist  fam.  lib.  7.  22.  epist.  Heri  domum,  bene  jjotiis,  seroque 

redierani.  fValer,  Max.  cap.  8.  lib.  8.  Interposita  arundine  crurihns  stiis,  cum 

filiis  ludens,  ab  Alcibiade  risus  est.  ?  Hot. 

VOL.   I.  P  P 


45G  CVre  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  2.  Sec.  2^ 

Nugari  cum  illo,  et  discincti  ludere,  donee 
Decoqueretur  olus,  soliti 

Valorous  Scipio  and  gentle  LreHus, 
Removed  from  the  scene  and  rout  so  clamorous, 
Were  wont  to  recreate  themselves,  their  robes  laid  by, 
Whilst  supper  by  the  cook  was  making  ready. 

Macliiavel,  in  the  8  book  of  his  Florentine  history,  gives  this 
note  of  Cosmiis  Medices,  the  wisest  and  gravest  man  of  Iiis 
time  in   Italy,  that  he  would  '^  now  and  then  play  the  most 
eyregious  Jool   in    his   carriage,  and  was  so  much  given  to 
jesters^  players^  and  childish  .sports,  to  make  himself  merry ^ 
that  he  that  should  hut  consider  his  gravity  on  the  one  part, 
his  folly  and  lightness  on  the  other,  icould  surely  say,  there 
were  two  distinct  persons  in  him.     Now,  me  thinks  he  did 
well  in  it,   though  •'  Salisburiensis  be  of  opinion  that  magi- 
strates, senators,  and  grave  men,  should  not  descend  to  lighter 
sports,   ne  respublica  ludere  videatur ;  but,  as  ThemJstocleK, 
still  keep  a  stern  and  constant  carriage.     I  comniGad  Cosmus 
Medices,  and  Castrucciu«  Castnicanus,  then  whom  Italy  never 
knew  a  worthier  captain,  another  Alexander,  if  •=  Machiavel  do 
not  decieve  us  in  his  life  :   when  a  friend  of  his  reprehended 
him  for  dancing   beside  his  dignity  (belike  at  some  cushen 
dance)  he  told  him  again,  qui  sapit  inter diu,  vix  unquam  noctu 
desipit;  he  that  is  wise  in  the  day,  may  dote  a  little  in  the  night. 
Paulus  Jovius  relates  as  much  of  Pope  Leo  Deciums,  that  he 
was  a  grave,  discreet,  stay'd  man,  yet  sometimes  most  free, 
and  too  open  in  his  sports.     And  'tis  not  altogether  *^  unfit  or 
mis-beseeming  the  gravity  of  such  a  man,  if  that  decorum  of 
time,  place,  and  such  circumstances,  be  observed.     ^  Mi  see 
stidtitiam  consilis  brevem  :  and,  as  ^he  said  in  an  epigram  to 
his  wife,  I  would  have  every  man  say  to  himself,  or  to  his 
friend, 

Moll,  once  in  pleasant  company,  by  chance 
I  wisht  that  you  for  company  would  dance : 
Which  you  refus'd,  and  said,  your  years  require. 
Now,  matron-like,  both  manners  and  attire. 
Well,  Moll,  if  needs  you  will  be  matron-like. 
Then  trust  to  this,  I  will  thee  matron  like : 


»Hominibus  facetis  et  Indis  puerilibus  ultra  modum  deditus,  adeo  ut  sicut  in  eo  tam 
gravitatem  quam  levitatem  considerare  liberet,  duas  personas  distinctaa  in  eo  esse 
diceret.  •>  De  nugia  curial.  lib.  1.  cap.  4.  Magistratus  et  viri  graves  a  ludis 

levinribus  arcendi.  =  Machiavel.  vita  ejus.  Ab  amico  reprehensus,  quod  prseter 

di^itatem  tripudiis  operam  daret,  respondet,  &c.  •*  There  is  a  time  for  all 

things,  to  weep,  laugh,  mourOj  dance.  Eccles.  3.  4.  «  JJor.  ^Sir  John 

Harrington,  Epigr 


Mem.  G.  Subs.  4.]         Mind  rectified  by  Mirth.  -  437 

Yet  so  to  you  my  love  may  never  lessen, 
As  you,  for  church,  house,  bed  observe  this  lesson  : 
Sit  in  the  church  as  solemn  as  a  saint ; 
No  deed,  word,  thought,  your  due  devotion  taint : 
Vaile,  if  you  will,  your  head;  your  soul  reveal 
To  him  that  only  wounded  soules  can  heal. 
Be  in  my  house  as  busie  as  a  bee, 
Having  a  sting  for  every  one  but  me ; 
Buzzing  in  every  corner,  gath'ring  hony: 
Let  nothing  waste,  that  costs  or  yieldeth  mony. 
^And  when  thou  seest  my  heart  to  mirth  incline, 
Thy  tongue,  wit,  blood,  warm  wiih  good  cheere  and  wine  : 
Then  of  sweet  sports  let  no  occasion  scape, 
But  be  as  wanton,  toying,  as  an  ape. 

Thoseold  ^Greeks  had  their  Lnbentiam  i^mwi,  goddess  of  Plea- 
sance,  and  the  Lacedamonians,  instructed  from  Lycurgus,  did 
Beo  Risvi  sacnficare,  after  tlieir  Mars  especially,  and  in  times 
of  peace  ;  which  was  used  in  Thessaly,  as  it  appears  by  that 
of '^  Apjileius,  who  was  made  an  instrument  of  their  laughter 
hmiself ;  '^  because  laurfhiei-  and  merriment  was  to  season  their 
labours  and  modester  lij'e. 

^  Risus  enim  Divtlm  afque  hominum  est  sterna  voluptas. 
Princes  use  jesters,  players,  and  have  those  masters  of  revels 
m  fheir  courts.  The  Romans,  at  every  supper,  (for  they  had 
no  solemn  dinner)  used  musick,  gladiators,  jesters  &c  as 
Suetonius  relates  of  Tiberius,  Dion  of  Commodus  ;  and  so 
did  the  Greeks.  Besides  musick,  in  Xenophons  Sinnpos. 
1  hdrppns  ridendi  artijiex,  Philip,  a  jester,  was  brouo-ht  to 
make  sport.  Paulus  Jovius,  in  his  "eleventh  book  of  his 
history  hath  a  pretty  digression  of  our  English  customes, 
which  howsoever  some  may  miscouster,  I,  for  my  part,  will  in- 
terpret to  (he  best,  e  The  whole  nation,  beyond  all  other  mortal 
men,  is  most  given  to  banqueting  and  feasts;  for  theu  prolong 
them  majuj  houres  together,  with  dainty  'cheere,  exquisite 
mvsick,  and facete  jesters  ;  and  afterwards  they  fall  a  dancing 
and  courting  their  mistresses,  till  it  be  lath  in  the  night, 
)  ollaterran  gives  the  same  testimony  of  this  island,  commend- 
ing our  jovial  manner  of  entertainment,  and  oood  mirth  ;  and 
melhinks  he  saith  well;  there  is  no  harm  ^in  it;  lono- may 
tliey  use  it,  and  all  such  modest  sports.  Ctesins  report  of  a 
Persian   king,  that  had  150  maids  attending  at  his  (able,  to 

V>l^''llf^^  ^T  '■'  ""*  ^^Vf_^^\,  Thaula  nocte  volo.  „  Lii .  G iraldns .  hist 

■t  modesb  Mctus  cond.ment,.n,.  eQalcag.  epi:;.  -Cap.  61.     Id  dr lici  s 

r  h.  =   ;         u"  ''"","  1'"  '^"''.^  **  e.xq>nsitas  dap.  s.  interpositis  n.nsicis  et  joo.lato- 

r^^l^'^lZ^W^^r         ''''^       '''''^'  '"'  *"'''"''''  '"■°""'''''  '''°'^''*  '^^t  anioribus  fu-iui- 

p  v2 


458  Cure  of  Mela?icholy.         [Part.  2.  Sec.  2. 

play,  sing-,  and  daiice  by  turns;  and  "^  Lil.  Giraldus  of  an 
Ea'vptJan  prince,  that  kept  nine  virgins  stil!  to  wait  upon  him, 
and  tiiose  of  most  excellent.featnre,  m\d  sv/eet  voices,  which 
afterwards  gave  occasion  to  the  Greeks  of  that  fiction  of  the 
nine  muses.  The  king- of  ^Ethiopia  in  Africk,  most  of  our 
Asiaiick  princes,  have  done  so,  and  do;  those Sophies,Mooors, 
Tuikes,  &c.  solace  themselves  after  supper  amongst  their 
f'ueens  and  concubines,  qucv,  jucundioris  ohlectamenti  caussd 
(^saith  mine  author)  coram  re/je psallereet  saltareconsueverant ; 
iuking"  great  pleasure  to  hear  and  see  them  sing-  and  dance. 
This  and  many  such  means,  to  exhilarate  the  heart  of  men, 
have  been  still  practised  in  all  ages,  as  knowing  there  is  no 
better  thing  to  the  preservation  of  mans  life.  What  shall  I 
say  then,  but  to  every  melancholy  man, 

"^  Utere  convivis  non  tristibus  ;  utere  amicis 
Quos  nugai  et  risus  et  joca  salsa  juvant. 

Feast  often,  and  use  friends  not  still  so  sad, 

Vv  hose  jest  and  merranents  may  make  thee  glad. 

Use  honest  and  chast  sports,  scenical  shews,  playes,  games ; 

'^  Accedant  juvenuraque  chori,  mixtseque  puellee. 

And,  as  MarsiliusFicinns  concludes  an  epistle  to  Bernard  Cani- 
sianus  and  some  other  of  his  friends,  will  I  this  tract  to  all  good 
students;  "^  Live  merrily,  O  my  friends^  free  Jrom  cares,  per- 
plexity, anrjnish,  f/rief  of  mind  ;  live  merrily  ;  Isetitise  ccelum 
vos  creavit :  ^ acjain  and  ar/ain  I  request  you  to  be  merry  ;  if 
any  ihiny  trouble  your  hearts,  or  vex  your  souls,  neglect  and 
contemn  it  ;  s  let  it  passe.  ''  And  this  I  enjoyn  you,  not  as  a 
divine  alone,  but  as  a  physician  ;  for,  icithcut  this  mirth,  which 
iaihe  life a7id qui niessejice of  phy sick,  medici?ies,and  whatsoever 
is  nsed  and  apply ed  to  prolony  the  life  of  man,  is  dull,  dead, 
and  of  no  force.  Dumfata  sinnnt,  vivite  Iwli  (Seneca)  :  I  sjy 
]>e  merry  : 

'  Nee  lusibus  virentem 
Viducmus  hanc  juventam. 


a  Syntag.  Ae  Musis.  '>  Atbenams,  lib.  \'2  et  24.     Assiduis  niulierum  vocibiis, 

r -.iitutine  sympboniae  palatium  Persanim  regis  totum  personabat.  Jovius,  hist.  lib.  18. 
f  Eobanns  He.'ssus.  <i  Pracastorius.  ^Vivite  ergo  Iseti,  O  amici ;  procnl 

ai)  atigiistia,  vivite  Isti.  f  Iterum  precor  et  obtestor,  vivite  la;ti  :  illud,  quod 

cor  urit,  negiigife.  ?  Lsetns  in  praesens  aniirius  quod  ultra  est  oderit  curare. 

J  lor.  ^  He  was  both  sacerdos  et  medicus.  Hecc  autem  non  tam  ut  .sacerdos,  amiei, 
iiiando  vobis,  quam  nt  medicus;  nam  absque  hac  una  tamquam  medicinarum  vita,  me. 
dicina:.  omnes  ad  ^itam  producendam  adhibila;  moriuutur:  vi'vite  iseti.  '  Locheos. 

Anacreon. 


Mem.  6.  Subs.  4.]  Mind  rectified.  459 

It  was  Tiresias  the  prophets  counsel  to  ^Menippus,  that  tra- 
velled all  the  world  over,  even  down  to  hell  it  self,  to  seek 
content,  and  his  last  farewell  to  Menippus,  to  be  merry. 
^  Contemn  the  world  (saith  he)  and  count  all  that  is  in  it 
vanity  and  toyes :  this  only  covet  all  thy  life  loncj  ;  he  not 
curious,  or  over  solicitous  in  any  thiny,  but  with  a  tc  el  I  composed 
and  contented  estate  to  enjoy  thy  selj\  and  above  all  thinys  to 
be  merry. 

Si,  Mimnermus  uti  censet,  sine  amore  jocisque 
Nil  est  jucundum,  vivas  in  amore  jocisque. 

Nothing-  better,  (to  conclude  with  Solomon  Eccles.3.  22.)  then 
that  a  man  should  rejoyce  in  his  ajf'ccirs.  'Tis  the  same  advice 
which  every  physician  in  this  case  rings  to  his  patient,  as  ^Capi- 
vacciiis  to  his:  avoid  over  much  study  and  perturbations  oj' 
the  minde,  and,  as  much  as  in  thee  lies,  live  at  hearts  ease  : 
Prosper  Calenus  to  that  melancholy  cardinal  Ceesius,  '^amidst 
thy  serious  studies  and  business,  use  jests  and  conceits,  playes 
and  toycs,  and  whatsoever  else  may  recreate  thy  mind.  No- 
thing better  then  mirth  and  merry  company  in  tliis  malady. 
'  It  begins  with  sorrow  (saith  Montanus)  :  it  must  be  expelled 
with  hilarity. 

But  see  the  mischief;  many  men,  knowing-  that  merry 
company  is  the  only  medicine  against  melancholy,  will  there- 
fore neglect  their  business,  and  in  another  extream,  spend  all 
their  dayes  among-  good  fellowes  in  a  tavern  or  an  ale-house, 
and  know  not  otherwise  how  to  bestow  their  time  but  in 
drinking- ;  malt-w  orms,  men-fishes,  or  water-snakes,  ^  qui 
bibunt  solum  ranarum  more,  nihil  comede?ites,  like  so  many 
frogs  in  a  puddle.  'Tis  their  sole  exercise  to  eat  and  drink ; 
to  sacrifice  to  Volupia,  Rumina,  Edulica,  Potina,  3Iellona,  is 
all  their  religion.  They  wish  for  Philoxenus  neck,  Jupiters 
trinoctium,  and  that  the  sun  would  stand  still  as  in  Joshuas 
time,  to  satisfy  their  lust,  that  they  might  dies  noctesque  per- 
prcecari  et  bibere.  Flourishing  wits,  and  men  of  good  parts, 
good  fashion,  and  good  worth,  basely  prostitute  themselves  to 


••  Lucian.  Necyouiantia.  torn.  2.  i.  Oiiiiiia  ir.untlana  niipas  .xsiinia.     Hoc 

solum  tota  vitii  i)er.seqiiere,  ut,  prirsentibiis  bene  compositis,   minime  ciiriosus.  aut 
nlla  in  re  solicitns,  quain  pliiriumni  potts  vitam  hil.irciii  traducas.  c  Hildesheim, 

spicil.  2.  de  Mania  lol.  Kil.  Stiidia  literarnm  ft  aniiiii  perturbatinnes  fiigiat,  f-t  nuantnin 
potest,  jucunde  vivat  <i  Lib.  <ie  atia  bile.   (Jravioiibiis  curis  lndos  et  facetias  ali- 

qiiaudo  interpone,  jocos,  et  qunc  soleut  aniinum  relaxare.  <•  Con.'iil.  :W.  Mala 

valetudo  aucta  et  contracta  est  tiistitia,  ac  propte,-ea  exbilaratiojie  animi  umovenda. 
■  Athen.  dipnosoph.  lib.  1. 


460  Cure  of  Melancholy,         [Part.  2.  Sec.  2. 

every  rogues  company,  to  take  tobacco   and  drink,  to  roare 
and  sing  scurrile  songs  in  base  places. 

a  Invenies  aliquem  cum  percussore  jacentem, 
Permixtum  nautis,  aut  furibus,  aut  fugitivis  : 

Which  Thomas  Erastus  objects  to  Paracelsus,  that  he  would 
lye  drinking  all  day  long-  with  car-men  and  tapsters  in  a 
brothel-house,  is  too  frequent  amongst  us,  with  men  of  better 
note  :  like  Timocreon  of  Rhodes,  mnlla  hihens,  et  multa 
vorans,  Src.  they  drown  their  wits,  seeth  their  brains  in  ale, 
consume  their  fortunes,  lose  their  time,  weaken  their  tem- 
perature, contract  filthy  diseases,  rheumes,  dropsies,  calen- 
tures, tremor,  get  swoln  j.uglars,  pimpled  red  faces,  sore  eyes, 
&c.  heat  their  livers,  alter  their  complexions,  spoil  their 
stomacks,  overthrow  their  bodies,  (for  drink  drowns  more  then 
the  sea  and  all  the  rivers  that  fall  into  it) — meer  funges 
and  casks — confound  their  souls,  suppress  reason,  go  from 
Scylla  to  Charybdis,  and  use  that  which  is  an  help,  to  their 
undoing. 

^  Quid  refert,  morbo  an  ferro  pereamye  ruina  ? 

"  When  the  black  prince  went  to  set  the  exiPd  king  of  Castile 
into  his  kingdome,  there  was  a  terrible  battel  fought  betwixt 
the  English  and  Spanish ;  at  last  the  Spanish  fled ;  the 
English  followed  them  to  the  river  side,  ichere  some  drowned 
themselves  to  avoid  their  enemies,  the  rest  icere  killed.  Now 
tell  me  Avhat  difference  is  between  drowning  and  killing?  As 
good  be  melancholy  still  as  drunken  beasts  and  beggars. 
Company,  a  sole  comfort,  and  an  only  remedy  to  all  kind  of 
discontent,  is  their  sole  misery  and  cause  of  perdition.  As 
Rerniione  lamented  in  Euripides,  malce  mulieres  mefecerunt 
malam,  evil  company  marr'd  her,  may  they  justly  complain, 
bad  companions  have  been  their  bane.  For,  ^  mains  malum, 
vult,  ut  sit  sui  similis  ;  one  drunkard  in  a  company,  one  thief, 
one  whore  master,  wil  ,  by  his  good  will,  make  all  the  rest  as 
bad  as  himself: 


—  et  SI 


Nocturnes  jures  te  formidare  vapores, 

be  of  what  complexion  you  will,  inclination,  love  or  hate,  be 
it  good  or  bad,  if  you  come  amongst  them,  you  must  do  as 


•. [liven.  Sat.  8.  b  Hor.  '^  Froissard.  hist.  lib.  ].  Hispani.  cnm  An^lorum 

vires  ferre  non  possent,  in  fugam  se  dederunt,  &c.     Praecipites  in  flnviuni  se  dederunt, 
ne  in  hostiuni  maims  venirent.  '' Ter.  <=  Hor. 


Mem.  6.  Subs.  4.]  Mnd  rectijied.  iQl 

tliey  do  ;  yea,  "  though  it  be  to  the  prejiulice  of  your  health, 
you  must  drink  vetieninn  pro  vino.  Audso,  like  grass-hoppers* 
whilst  they  sing  over  their  cups  all  summer,  tiiey  starve  in 
winter;  and  for  a  little  vain  merriment,  shall  find  a  sorrowful 
reckoning  in  the  end. 


^  H  7r»0/  ri  «7n9i. 


END  OF  VOL.  I. 


l.ONDON  : 
PRINTED   BY   PLUMMER    AND   BRKWIS,   LOVE-LANK,   BASTCHEAP. 


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