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Full text of "The anatomy of melancholoy, what it is, with all the kinds, causes, symptoms, prognostics, and several cures of it. In three partitions. With their several sections, members and subsections, philosophically, medically, historically, opened and cut up. By Democritus Junior. With a satirical preface, conducing to the following discourse"

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l-'HO  NTISI'IKCK    TO   TIIK      ORIGINAL     KIHTION 

JL 


ANATOMY  OF 

MKLAXUIOLY 


II  'luil  it  is.  with  all  Ihe  kinds,  causes, 
synifitoms./troantistifs  k  several  cures  of  it 

In   tlmv  I'.  trillions.  with  thi-ir  si'vt-ral 
Sections,  numbers  &  subjections. 


lli.tlitrifiillij  ii/iniril  \  nil  nji. 
BY 

Ih'rnocritus  Jujunr 


With  a  Siitijiiiiil  I'rrliiiY  (i 

li>  //if  li'llimiini 
The  Si.r/h  Kililinii    a>rrr<-tf<l  mill 

Illllllllflllfll  III!    lilf   All/In'/' 

Hnnif  Inlit  iiiitn-liiiii  ii ni  niif-ruit  uliif  flulri 


K  o  &er T        D  ur1"o  n  C  *** 

THE 

ANATOMY  OF  MELANCHOLY, 

WHAT  IT  IS, 


ALL  THE  KINDS,  CAUSES,  SYMPTOMS,  PROGNOS 
TICS,  AND  SEVERAL  CURES  OF  IT. 

IN   THREE   PARTITIONS. 


WITH  THEIR   SEVERAL 

SECTIONS,  MEMBERS,  AND  SUBSECTIONS,    PHILOSOPHICALLY, 
MEDICALLY,  HISTORICALLY  OPENED  AND  CUT  UP. 

BY  DEMOCRITUS    JUNIOR.  ;     ^ 


•WITH 


A  SATIRICAL  PREFACE,  CONDUCING  TO  THE  FOLLOWING  DISCOURSE. 
A   NEW    EDITION 

CORRECTED  AND  ENRICHED   BT  TRANSLATIONS   OF   THE   NUMEROUS   CLASSICAL 
EXTRACTS. 

VOL.  I. 


/3 

DUCKWORTH    &   CO., 

HENRIETTA  STREET,  COVENT  GARDEN,  W.  C. 

LONDON. 


THK  UNIVERSITY  PRESS,  CAMBRIDGE,  U.S.A. 
PUBLISHED  igoj 


A\ 


v 


HONORATI8SIMO   DOMINO, 

SOS  MINV8  VIRTUTE  8UA,  QUAM   GENERIS  SPLENDORE, 
ILLV8TRI8SIMO, 

GEORGIO  BERKLEIO, 

MILITI  DE  BALKEO,  BARONI  DE  BERKLEY,  MOUBRET,  SEQRAVK 

D.  DE  BRUSE, 

DOMLNO    SUO    MULTIS    NOMINIBUS    OBSERVANDO, 
BANG  BUAM 

MELANCHOLIA    ANATOMEN, 

JAM   SEXTO   REVFSAM,  D.   D. 

DKMOCRITUS  JUNIOR. 


ADVERTISEMENT. 

'T*HE  work  now  restored  to  public 
notice  has  had  an  extraordinary 
fate.  At  the  time  of  its  original  publi 
cation  it  obtained  a  great  celebrity, 
which  continued  more  than  half  a  cen 
tury.  During  that  period  few  books 
were  more  read,  or  more  deservedly 
applauded.  It  was  the  delight  of  the 
learned,  the  solace  of  the  indolent,  and 
the  refuge  of  the  uninformed.  It  passed 
through  at  least  eight  editions,  by  which 
the  bookseller,  as  WOOD  records,  got  an 
estate;  and,  notwithstanding  the  objec 
tion  sometimes  opposed  against  it,  of  a 
quaint  style,  and  too  great  an  accumu 
lation  of  authorities,  the  fascination  of 
its  wit,  fancy,  and  sterling  sense,  have 
borne  down  all  censures,  and  extorted 
praise  from  the  first  writers  in  the  Eng 
lish  language.  The  grave  JOHNSON  has 
praised  it  in  the  warmest  terms,  and  the 


ADVERTISEMENT.  v 

ludicrous  STERNE  has  interwoven  many 
parts  of  it  into  his  own  popular  perform 
ance.  MILTON  did  not  disdain  to  build 
two  of  his  finest  poems  on  it ;  and  a 
host  of  inferior  writers  have  embellished 
their  works  with  beauties  not  their  own, 
culled  from  a  performance  which  they 
had  not  the  justice  even  to  mention. 
Change  of  times,  and  the  frivolity  of 
fashion,  suspended,  in  some  degree,  that 
fame  which  had  lasted  near  a  century; 
and  the  succeeding  generation  affected 
indifference  towards  an  author,  who  at 
length  was  only  looked  into  by  the 
plunderers  of  literature,  the  poachers 
in  obscure  volumes.  The  plagiarisms 
of  Tristram  Shandy,  so  successfully 
brought  to  light  by  Dr.  FERRIAR,  at 
length  drew  the  attention  of  the  public 
towards  a  writer,  who,  though  then  little 
known,  might,  without  impeachment  of 
modesty,  lay  claim  to  every  mark  of  re 
spect  ;  and  inquiry  proved,  beyond  a 
doubt,  that  the  calls  of  justice  had  been 
little  attended  to  by  others,  as  well  as 
the  facetious  YORICK.  WOOD  observed, 
more  than  a  century  ago,  that  several 
authors  had  unmercifully  stolen  matter 


vi  ADVERTISEMENT. 

from  BURTOIST  without  any  acknowledg 
ment.  The  time,  however,  at  length 
arrived,  when  the  merits  of  the  An 
atomy  of  Melancholy  were  to  receive 
their  due  praise.  The  book  was  again 
sought  for  and  read,  and  again  it  became 
an  applauded  performance.  Its  excel 
lences  once  more  stood  confessed,  in  the 
increased  price  which  every  copy  offered 
for  sale  produced  ;  and  the  increased  de 
mand  pointed  out  the  necessity  of  a 
new  edition.  This  is  now  presented  to 
the  public  in  a  manner  not  disgraceful 
to  the  memory  of  the  author;  and  the 
publisher  relies  with  confidence,  that  so 
valuable  a  repository  of  amusement  and 
information,  will  continue  to  hold  the 
rank  to  which  it  has  been  restored, 
firmly  supported  by  its  own  merit,  and 
safe  from  the  influence  and  blight  of 
any  future  caprices  of  fashion.  To  open 
its  valuable  mysteries  to  those  who  have 
not  had  the  advantage  of  a  classical 
education,  translations  of  the  countless 
quotations  from  ancient  writers  which 
occur  in  the  work,  are  now  for  the  first 
time  given,  and  obsolete  orthography  is 
in  all  instances  modernised. 


ACCOUNT    OF    THE    AUTHOR 


ROBERT  BURTON  was  the  son  of  Ralph  Burton,  of  an  ancient 
and  genteel  family  at  Lindley,  in  Leicestershire,  and  was  born 
there  on  the  8th  of  February,  1576.*  He  received  the  first  rudi 
ments  of  learning  at  the  free  school  of  Sutton  Coldfield,  in  War 
wickshire^  from  whence  he  was,  at  the  age  of  seventeen,  in  the 
long  vacation,  1593,  sent  to  Brazen  Nose  College,  in  the  condition 
of  a  commoner,  where  he  made  a  considerable  progress  in  logic 
and  philosophy.  In  1599  he  was  elected  student  of  Christ  Church, 
and,  for  form  sake,  was  put  under  the  tuition  of  Dr.  John  Ban 
croft,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Oxford.  In  1614  he  was  admitted  to 
the  reading  of  the  Sentences,  and  on  the  29th  of  November,  1616, 


*  His  elder  brother  was  William  Bur 
ton,  the  Leicestershire  antiquary,  born 
24th  August,  1575,  educated  at  Sutton 
Coldfield,  admitted  commoner,  or  gentle 
man  commoner,  of  Brazen  Nose  College, 
1591 ;  at  the  Inner  Temple,  20th  May, 
1593;  B.A.  22d  June,  1694;  and  after 
wards  a  barrister  and  reporter  in  the 
Court  of  Common  Pleas.  "But  his 
natural  genius,"  says  Wood,  "  leading 
him  to  the  studies  of  heraldry,  genealo 
gies,  and  antiquities,  he  became  excellent 
iu  those  obscure  and  intricate  matters; 
and,  look  upon  him  as  a  gentleman,  was 
accounted,  by  all  that  knew  him,  to  be 
the  beat  of  nil  time  for  those  studies,  w 


may  appear  by  his  '  Description  of  Leices 
tershire.'  "  His  weak  constitution  not 
permitting  him  to  follow  business,  he  re 
tired  into  the  country,  and  his  greatest 
work,  "  The  Description  of  Leicester 
shire,"  was  published  in  folio,  1622.  He 
died  at  Falde,  after  suffering  much  in 
the  civil  war,  6th  April  1645,  and  was 
buried  in  the  parish  church  belonging 
thereto,  called  Hanbury. 

t  This  is  Wood's  account.  His  will 
says,  Nuneaton;  but  a  passage  in  this 
work  [vol.  ii.  p.  159,]  mentions  Sutton 
Coldfleld :  probably  he  may  have  been  at 
both  schools. 


8  Account  of  the  Author. 

had  the  vicarage  of  St.  Thomas,  in  the  west  suburb  of  Oxford, 
conferred  on  him  by  the  dean  and  canons  of  Christ  Church,  which, 
with  the  rectory  of  Segrave,  in  Leicestershire,  given  to  him  in 
the  year  1636,  by  George,  Lord  Berkeley,  he  kept,  to  use  the 
words  of  the  Oxford  antiquary,  with  much  ado  to  his  dying  day. 
He  seems  to  have  been  first  beneficed  at  Walsby,  in  Lincolnshire, 
through  the  munificence  of  his  noble  patroness,  Frances,  Count 
ess  Dowager  of  Exeter,  but  resigned  the  same,  as  he  tells  us,  for 
some  special  reasons.  At  his  vicarage  he  is  remarked  to  have 
always  given  the  sacrament  in  wafers.  Wood's  character  of  him 
is,  that  "  he  was  an  exact  mathematician,  a  curious  calculator  of 
nativities,  a  general  read  scholar,  a  thorough-paced  philologist,  and 
one  that  understood  the  surveying  of  lands  well.  As  he  was  by 
many  accounted  a  severe  student,  a  devourer  of  authors,  a  melan 
choly  and  humorous  person ;  go  by  others,  who  knew  him  well,  a 
person  of  great  honesty,  plain  dealing  and  charity.  I  have  heard 
some  of  the  ancients  of  Christ  Church  often  say,  that  his  com 
pany  was  very  merry,  facete,  and  juvenile ;  and  no  man  in  his 
time  did  surpass  him  for  his  ready  and  dexterous  interlarding  his 
common  discourses  among  them  with  verses  from  the  poets,  or 
sentences  from  classic  authors ;  which  being  then  all  the  fashion 
in  the  University,  made  his  company  the  more  acceptable."  He 
appears  to  have  been  a  universal  reader  of  all  kinds  of  books,  and 
availed  himself  of  his  multifarious  studies  in  a  very  extraordinary 
manner.  From  the  information  of  Hearne,  we  learn  that  John 
Bouse,  the  Bodleian  librarian,  furnished  him  with  choice  books  for 
the  prosecution  of  his  work.  The  subject  of  his  labour  and  amuse 
ment,  seems  to  have  been  adopted  from  the  infirmities  of  his  own 
habit  and  constitution.  Mr.  Granger  says,  "  He  composed  this 
book  with  a  view  of  relieving  his  own  melancholy,  but  increased 
it  to  such  a  degree,  that  nothing  could  make  him  laugh,  but  going 
to  the  bridge-foot  and  hearing  the  ribaldry  of  the  bargemen,  which 
rarely  failed  to  throw  him  into  a  violent  fit  of  laughter.  Before 
he  was  overcome  with  this  horrid  disorder,  he,  in  the  intervals  of 
his  vapours,  was  esteemed  one  of  the  most  facetious  companions  in 
the  University." 

His  residence  was  chiefly  at  Oxford ;  where,  in  his  chamber  in 
Christ  Church  College,  he  departed  this  life,  at  or  very  near  the 
time  which  he  had  some  years  before  foretold,  from  the  calculation 
of  his  own  nativity,  and  which,  says  Wood,  "  being  exact,  several 


Account  of  the  Author. 


9 


of  the  students  did  not  forbear  to  whisper  among  themselves,  that 
rather  than  there  should  be  a  mistake  in  the  calculation,  he  sent 
up  his  soul  to  heaven  through  a  slip  about  his  neck."  Whether 
this  suggestion  is  founded  in  truth,  we  have  no  other  evidence 
than  an  obscure  hint  in  the  epitaph  hereafter  inserted,  which  was 
written  by  the  author  himself,  a  short  time  before  his  death.  His 
body,  with  due  solemnity,  was  buried  near  that  of  Dr.  Robert 
Weston,  in  the  north  aisle  which  joins  next  to  the  choir  of  the 
Cathedral  of  Christ  Church,  on  the  27th  of  January,  1639-40. 
Over  his  grave  was  soon  after  erected  a  comely  monument,  on 
the  upper  pillar  of  the  said  aisle,  with  his  bust,  painted  to  the 
life.  On  the  right  hand  is  the  following  calculation  of  his 
nativity : — 


10  Account  of  the  Author. 

and  under  the  bust,  this  inscription  of  his  own  composition  :— 

Faucis  notus,  paucioribos  ignotus, 

Hio  jacet  Denwcrittu  junior 

Cui  vitam  dedit  et  mortem 

Melancholia. 
Ob.  8  Id.  Jan.    A.  G.  MDCZZXIZ. 

Arms: — Azure  on  a  bend  O.  between  three  dogs'  heads  O.  a 
crescent  G. 

A  few  months  before  his  death,  he  made  his  will,  of  which  the 
following  is  a  copy : — 

EXTRACTED  FROM  THE  REGISTRY  OF  THE  PREROGATIVE  COURT 
OF  CANTERBURY. 

In  Nomine  Dei  Amen,  August  16th  One  thousand  six  hundred  thirty 
nine  because  there  be  so  many  casualties  to  which  our  life  is  subject 
besides  quarrelling  and  contention  which  happen  to  our  Successors  after 
our  Death  by  reason  of  unsettled  Estates  I  Robert  Burton  Student  of 
Christchurch  Oxon.  though  my  means  be  but  small  have  thought  good 
by  this  my  last  Will  and  Testament  to  dispose  of  that  little  which  I  have 
and  being  at  this  present  I  thank  God  in  perfect  health  of  Bodie  and  Mind 
and  if  this  Testament  be  not  so  formal  according  to  the  nice  and  strict 
terms  of  Law  and  other  Circumstances  peradventure  required  of  which  I 
am  ignorant  I  desire  howsoever  this  my  Will  may  be  accepted  and  stand 
good  according  to  my  true  Intent  and  meaning  First  I  bequeath  Animam 
Deo  Corpus  Terrse  whensoever  it  shall  please  God  to  call  me  I  give  my 
Land  in  Higham  which  my  good  Father  Ralphe  Burton  of  Lindly  in  the 
County  of  Leicester  Esquire  gave  me  by  Deed  of  Gift  and  that  which  I 
have  annexed  to  that  Farm  by  purchase  since,  now  leased  for  thirty-eight 
pounds  per  Ann.  to  mine  Elder  Brother  William  Burton  of  Lindly  Esquire 
during  his  life  and  after  him  to  his  Heirs  I  make  my  said  Brother  William 
likewise  mine  Executor  as  well  as  paying  such  Annuities  and  Legacies 
out  of  my  Lands  and  Goods  as  are  hereafter  specified  I  give  to  my  nephew 
C&ssibilan  Burton  twenty  pounds  Annuity  per  Ann.  out  of  my  Land  in 
Higham  during  his  life  to  be  paid  at  two  equall  payments  at  our  Lady 
Day  in  Lent  and  Michaelmas  or  if  he  be  not  paid  within  fourteen  Days 
after  the  said  Feasts  to  distrain  on  any  part  of  the  Ground  on  or  any  of 
my  Lands  of  Inheritance  Item  I  give  to  my  sister  Katherine  Jackson  dur 
ing  her  life  eight  pounds  per  Ann.  Annuity  to  be  paid  at  the  two  Feast* 
equally  as  above  said  or  else  to  distrain  on  the  Ground  if  she  be  not  paid 
after  fourteen  days  at  Lindly  as  the  other  tome  is  out  of  the  said  Land 
Item  I  give  to  my  Servant  John  Upton  the  Annuity  of  Forty  Shillings  out 
of  my  said  Farme  during  his  life  (if  till  then  my  Servant)  to  be  paid  on 
Michaelmas  day  in  Lindley  each  year  or  else  after  fourteen  days  to  dis 
train  Now  for  my  goods  I  thus  dispose  them  First  I  give  an  C">  pounds  to 


Account  of  the  Author.  11 

Christ  Church  in  Oxford  where  I  have  BO  long  lived  to  buy  five  pounds 
Lands  per  Ann.  to  be  Yearly  bestowed  on  Books  for  the  Library  Item  I 
give  an  hundredth  pound  to  the  University  Library  of  Oxford  to  be  be- 
etowed  to  purchase  five  pound  Land  per  Ann.  to  be  paid  out  Yearly  on 
Books  as  Mrs.  Brooks  formerly  gave  an  hundred  pounds  to  buy  Land  to 
the  same  purpose  and  the  Rent  to  the  same  use  I  give  to  my  Brother 
George  Burton  twenty  pounds  and  my  watch  I  give  to  my  Brother  Ralph 
Burton  five  pounds  Item  I  give  to  the  Parish  of  Seagrave  in  Leicestershire 
where  I  am  now  Rector  ten  pounds  to  be  given  to  certain  Feoffees  to  the 
perpetual  good  of  the  said  Parish  Oxon  #  Item  I  give  to  my  Niece  Eugenia 
Burton  One  hundredth  pounds  Item  I  give  to  my  Nephew  Richard  Burton 
now  Prisoner  in  London  an  hundredth  pound  to  redeem  him  Item  I  give 
to  the  Poor  of  Higham  Forty  Shillings  where  my  Land  is  to  the  Poor  of 
Nuneaton  where  I  was  once  a  Grammar  Scholar  three  pound  to  my  Cousin 
Pnrfey  of  Wadlake  [Wadley]  my  Cousin  Purfey  of  Calcott  my  Cousin 
Hales  of  Coventry  my  Nephew  Bradshaw  of  Orton  twenty  shillings  a  piece 
for  a  small  remembrance  to  Mr.  Whitehall  Rector  of  Cherkby  myne  own 
Chamber  Fellow  twenty  shillings  I  desire  my  Brother  George  and  my 
Cosen  Purfey  of  Calcott  to  be  the  Overseers  of  this  part  of  my  Will  I  give 
moreover  five  pounds  to  make  a  small  Monument  for  my  Mother  where 
she  is  buried  in  London  to  my  Brother  Jackson  forty  shillings  to  my  Ser 
vant  John  Upton  forty  shillings  besides  his  former  Annuity  if  he  be  my 
Servant  till  I  die  if  he  be  till  then  my  Servant  f— ROBERT  BURTON— 
Charles  Russell  Witness — John  Pepper  Witness. 

An  Appendix  to  this  my  Will  if  I  die  in  Oxford  or  whilst  I  am  of  Christ 
Church  and  with  good  Mr.  Paynes  August  the  Fifteenth  1639. 

I  Give  to  Mr.  Doctor  Fell  Dean  of  Christ  Church  Forty  Shillings  to  the 
Eight  Canons  twenty  Shillings  a  piece  as  a  small  remembrance  to  the  poor 
of  St.  Thomas  parish  Twenty  Shillings  to  Brasenose  Library  five  pounds 
to  Mr.  Rowse  of  Oriell  Colledge  twenty  Shillings  to  Mr.  Heywood  axes,  to 
Dr.  Metcalfe  axes,  to  Mr.  Sherley  xxa.  If  I  have  any  Books  the  University 
Library  hath  not,  let  them  take  them  If  I  have  any  Books  our  own  Library 
hath  not,  let  them  take  them  I  give  to  Mrs.  Fell  all  my  English  Books  of 
Husbandry  one  excepted  to  her  Daughter  Mrs.  Kathe- 

rine  Fell  my  Six  Pieces  of  Silver  Plate  and  six  Silver  Spoons  to  Mrs  lies 
my  Gerards  Herball  to  Mrs.  Morris  my  Country  Farme  Translated  out  of 
French  4.  and  all  my  English  Physick  Books  to  Mr.  Whistler  the  Recorder 
of  Oxford  I  give  twenty  shillings  to  all  my  fellow  Students  M™  of  Arts  a 
Book  in  fol.  or  two  a  piece  as  Master  Morris  Treasurer  or  Mr  Dean  shall 
appoint  whom  I  request  to  be  the  Overseer  of  this  Appendix  and  give  him 
for  his  pains  Atlas  Geografer  and  Ortelius  Theatrum  Mond'  I  give  to  John 
Fell  the  Dean's  Son  Student  my  Mathematical  Instruments  except  my 
two  Crosse  Staves  which  I  give  to  my  Lord  of  Donnol  if  he  be  then  of  the 
House  To  Thomas  lies  Doctor  lies  his  Son  Student  Salnntch  on  Paurrhelia 

•  So  in  th«  Register.  t  So  in  the  Register. 


12  Account  of  the  Author. 

and  Lncian's  Works  in  4  Tomes  If  any  books  be  left  let  my  Executors  dis 
pose  of  them  with  all  such  Books  as  are  written  with  my  own  hands  and 
half  my  Melancholy  Copy  for  Crips  hath  the  other  half  To  Mr.  Jones 
Chaplin  and  Chanter  my  Surveying  Books  and  Instruments  To  the  Ser 
vants  of  the  House  Forty  Shillings  BOB.  BURTON— Charles  Russell 
Witness— John  Pepper  Witness— This  Will  was  shewed  to  me  by  the 
Testator  and  acknowledged  by  him  some  few  days  before  his  death  to 
be  his  last  Will  Ita  Tester  John  Morris  S  Th  D.  Prebendari'  Eccl  Chri' 
Oxon  Feb.  8, 1639. 

Probatum  fuit  Testamentum  suprascriptum,  &c.  11°  1640  Juramento 
Willmi  Burton  Fris'  et  Executoris  cui  &c.  de  bene  et  fideliter  ad- 
ministrand.  &c.  coram  Mag'ris  Nathanaele  Stephens  Rectore  Eccl. 
de  Drayton,  et  Edwardo  Farmer,  Clericis,  vigore  commissionis, 
&o. 

The  only  work  our  author  executed  was  that  now  reprinted, 
which  probably  was  the  principal  employment  of  his  life.  Dr. 
Ferriar  says,  it  was  originally  published  in  the  year  1617;  but 
this  is  evidently  a  mistake ;  *  the  first  edition  was  that  printed  in 
4to,  1621,  a  copy  of  which  is  at  present  in  the  collection  of  John 
Nichols,  Esq.,  the  indefatigable  illustrator  of  the  History  of  Leices 
tershire  ;  to  whom,  and  to  Isaac  Reed,  Esq.,  of  Staple  Inn,  this 
account  is  greatly  indebted  for  its  accuracy.  The  other  impres 
sions  of  it  were  in  1624, 1628, 1632,  1638, 1651-2,  1660,  and  1676, 
which  last,  in  the  title-page,  is  called  the  eighth  edition. 

The  copy  from  which  the  present  is  reprinted,  is  that  of  1651-2 : 
at  the  conclusion  of  which  is  the  following  address  : — 

"To  THE  READER. 

u  Be  pleased  to  know  (Courteous  Reader)  that  since  the  last  Impression 
of  this  Book,  the  ingenuous  Author  of  it  is  deceased,  leaving  a  Copy  of  it 
exactly  corrected,  with  several  considerable  Additions  by  his  own  hand ; 
this  Copy  he  committed  to  my  care  and  custody,  with  directions  to  have 
those  Additions  inserted  in  the  next  Edition;  which  in  order  to  his  com 
mand,  and  the  Pnblicke  Good,  is  faithfully  performed  in  this  last  Impres 
sion." 

H.  a  (i.  e.  HEN.  CRIPPS.) 

•Originating,  perhaps,  in  a  note,  p.  448,  printed  In  1676,  there  seems  very  little 
6th  edit.  (TO!,  ill,  p. '29,  of  the  present),  tn  reason  to  doubt  that,  in  the  note  aboT« 
which  a  book  is  quoted  as  haying  been  alluded  to.  either  1624  has  been  a  mis- 
"  printed  at  Paria,  1624,  teven  yean  after  print  for  1628,  or  seven  years  for  three 
Barton's  first  edition."  As,  however,  yean.  The  numerous  typographical  cr 
ib*  editions  after  that  of  1621,  are  regu-  rata  in  other  parts  of  the  work  strongly 
larly  marked  in  succession  to  the  eighth,  aid  this  latter  supposition. 


Account  of  the  Author.  13 

The  following  testimonies  of  various  authors  will  serve  to  show 
the  estimation  in  which  this  work  has  been  held : — 

1  The  ANATOMY  OF  MELANCHOLY,  wherein  the  author  hath  piled  up 
variety  of  much  excellent  learning.  Scarce  any  book  of  philology  in 
our  land  hath,  in  so  short  a  time,  passed  so  many  editions." — Fuller's 
Worthies,  fol.  16. 

"  'Tis  a  book  so  fall  of  variety  of  reading,  that  gentlemen  who  have 
lost  their  time,  and  are  put  to  a  push  for  invention,  may  furnish  them 
selves  with  matter  for  common  or  scholastical  discourse  and  writing."— 
Wood's  Athenas  Oxoruensis,  vol.  i.  p.  628, 2d  edit. 

"  If  you  never  saw  BURTON  UPON  MELANCHOLY,  printed  1676, 1  pray 
look  into  it,  and  read  the  ninth  page  of  his  Preface,  '  Democritus  to 
the  Reader.'  There  is  something  there  which  touches  the  point  we  are 
upon;  but  I  mention  the  author  to  you,  as  the  pleasantest,  the  most 
learned,  and  the  most  full  of  sterling  sense.  The  wits  of  Queen  Anne's 
reign,  and  the  beginning  of  George  the  First,  were  not  a  little  beholden  to 
him." — Archbishop  Herring's  Letters,  12mo,  1777,  p.  149. 

"BURTON'S  ANATOMY  or  MELANCHOLY,  he  (Dr.  Johnson)  said,  was 
the  only  book  that  ever  took  him  out  of  bed  two  hours  sooner  than  he 
wished  to  rise." — BosweWs  Life  of  Johnson,  vol.  i.  p.  680,  8vo.  edit. 

"  BURTON'S  ANATOMY  OF  MELANCHOLY  is  a  valuable  book,"  said  Dr. 
Johnson.  "  It  is  perhaps,  overloaded  with  quotation.  But  there  is  great 
spirit  and  great  power  in  what  Burton  says  when  he  writes  from  his  own 
mind." — Ibid.  vol.  ii.  p.  826. 

"  It  win  be  no  detraction  from  the  powers  of  Milton's  original  genius 
and  invention,  to  remark,  that  he  seems  to  have  borrowed  the  subject 
of  V Allegro  and  II  Penseroso  together  with  some  particular  thoughts, 
expressions,  and  rhymes,  more  especially  the  idea  of  a  contrast  between 
these  two  dispositions,  from  a  forgotten  poem  prefixed  to  the  first  edition 
of  BURTON'S  ANATOMY  OF  MELANCHOLY,  entitled,  '  The  Author's  Ab 
stract  of  Melancholy;  or,  A  Dialogue  between  Pleasure  and  Pain.'  Here 
pain  is  melancholy.  It  was  written,  as  I  conjecture,  about  the  year  1600. 
I  will  make  no  apology  for  abstracting  and  citing  as  much  of  this  poem 
as  will  be  sufficient  to  prove,  to  a  discerning  reader,  how  far  it  had  taken 
possession  of  Milton's  mind.  The  measure  will  appear  to  be  the  same ; 
and  that  our  author  was  at  least  an  attentive  reader  of  Burton's  book,  may 
be  already  concluded  from  the  traces  of  resemblance  which  I  have  inci 
dentally  noticed  in  passing  through  the  £' Allegro  and  77  Penseroso."— 
After  extracting  the  lines,  Mr.  Warton  adds,  "  as  to  the  very  elaborate 
work  to  which  these  visionary  verses  are  no  unsuitable  introduction,  the 
writer's  variety  of  learning,  his  quotations  from  scarce  and  curious  books, 
his  pedantry  sparkling  with  rude  wit  and  shapeless  elegance,  miscella- 


14  Account  of  the  Author. 

neons  matter.  Intermixture  of  agreeable  tales  and  illustrations,  and, 
perhaps,  above  all,  the  singularities  of  his  feelings,  clothed  in  an  on 
common  quaintness  of  style,  have  contributed  to  render  it,  even  to  modern 
readers,  a  valuable  repository  of  amusement  and  information." —  Wartori1! 
Milton,  2d  edit.  p.  94. 

"  THB  ANATOMY  OF  MELANIMOLY  Is  a  book  which  has  been  univer 
sally  read  and  admired.  This  work  is,  for  the  most  part,  what  the  author 
himself  styles  it,  4  a  cento;'  but  it  is  a  very  ingenious  one.  His  quota 
tions,  which  abound  in  every  page,  are  pertinent;  but  if  he  had  made 
more  use  of  his  invention  and  less  of  his  commonplace-book,  his  work 
would  perhaps  have  been  more  valuable  than  it  is.  He  is  generally  fre« 
from  the  affected  language  and  ridiculous  metaphors  which  disgrace  most 
of  the  books  of  his  time." — Granger't  Biographical  History. 

"  BUBTON'B  ANATOMY  OP  MELANCHOLY  a  book  once  the  favourite  of 
the  learned  and  the  witty,  and  a  source  of  surreptitious  learning,  though 
written  on  a  regular  plan,  consists  chiefly  of  quotations:  the  author  hat 
honestly  termed  it  a  cento.  He  collects,  under  every  division,  the  opin 
ions  of  a  multitude  of  writers,  without  regard  to  chronological  order,  and 
has  too  often  the  modesty  to  decline  the  interposition  of  his  own  senti 
ments.  Indeed  the  bulk  of  his  materials  generally  overwhelms  him. 
In  the  course  of  his  folio  he  has  contrived  to  treat  a  great  variety  of 
topics,  that  seem  very  loosely  connected  with  the  general  subject;  and, 
like  Bayle,  when  he  starts  a  favourite  train  of  quotations,  he  does  not 
scruple  to  let  the  digression  outrun  the  principal  question.  Thus,  from 
the  doctrines  of  religion  to  military  discipline,  from  inland  navigation  to 
the  morality  of  dancing-schools,  everything  is  discussed  and  determined." 
— Fcrriar't  Illustrations  of  Sterne,  p.  68. 

"  The  archness  which  BURTON  displays  occasionally,  and  his  indul 
gence  of  playful  digressions  from  the  most  serious  discussions,  often  give 
his  style  an  air  of  familiar  conversation,  notwithstanding  the  laborious 
collections  which  supply  his  text.  He  was  capable  of  writing  excellent 
poetry,  but  he  seems  to  have  cultivated  this  talent  too  little.  The  Eng 
lish  verses  prefixed  to  his  book,  which  possess  beautiful  imagery,  and 
great  sweetness  of  versification,  have  been  frequently  published.  His 
Latin  elegiac  verses  addressed  to  his  book,  show  a  very  agreeable  turn  for 
raillery."— 7«d  p.  68. 

"  When  the  force  of  the  subject  opens  his  own  rein  of  prose,  we  discover 
valuable  sense  and  brilliant  expression.  Such  is  his  account  of  the  first 
feelings  of  melancholy  persons,  written,  probably,  from  his  own  experi 
ence."  [See  p.  161,  of  the  present  edition.]— Ibid.  p.  60. 

"During  a  pedantic  age,  like  that  in  which  BURTON'S  production 
appeared,  it  must  have  been  eminently  serviceable  to  writers  of  many 
descriptions.  Henon  the  unlearned  might  furnish  themselves  with  appro- 


Account  of  the  Author.  15 

priate  scraps  of  Greek  and  Latin,  whilst  men  of  letters  would  find  their 
inquiries  shortened,  by  knowing  where  they  might  look  for  what  both 
ancients  and  moderns  have  advanced  on  the  subject  of  human  pas 
sions.  I  confess  my  inability  to  point  out  any  other  English  author 
who  has  so  largely  dealt  in  apt  and  original  quotation." — Mamucrip. 
note  of  the  late  George  Sleevent,  Eiq.,  M  AM  copy  qf  THE  ANATOMY  or 

MXLAKCHOLT 


DEMOCRITUS  JUNIOR  AD  LIBRUM  StJUM. 


VADB  liber,  qualis,  non  ansim  dicere,  fcelix, 

Te  nisi  fcelicem  fecerit  Alma  dies, 
Vade  taraen  quocunque  lubet,  quascunque  per  oras, 

Et  Geniutn  Domini  fac  imitere  tui. 
I  blandas  inter  Gbarites,  mystamque  saluta 

Musarum  quemvis,  si  tibi  lector  erit. 
Bura  colas,  urbem,  subeasve  palatia  regam, 

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

Da  te  morigerum,  perlegat  usque  lubet. 
Est  quod  Nobilitas,  est  quod  desideret  heros, 

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

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

Sed  nullus;  muscas  non  capiunt  Aquike. 
Non  vacat  bis  tempus  fugitivum  impendere  nngis, 

Nee  tales  cnpio ;  par  mihi  lector  erit. 
Si  matrona  gravis  casu  diverterit  istnc, 

Illustris  domina,  ant  te  Comitissa  legat : 
Est  quod  displiceat,  placeat  quod  forsitan  illis, 

Ingerere  his  noli  te  modb,  pande  tamen. 
At  si  virgo  tuas  dignabitur  inclyta  chartas 

Tangere,  sive  scbedis  hsereat  ilia  tnis: 
Da  modo  te  facilem,  et  qusedam  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  mens  *  (nam  diligit  istas) 

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

Sive  aget  in  ludis,  pulpita  sive  colet, 

*  Hsec  comic6  dicta  oave  ne  malA  oftpiM. 
I.  2 


18  Democritus  Junior  ad  Librum  Suum. 

Sive  in  Lycceo,  et  nugas  evolverit  istas, 
Si  quasdam  mendas  viderit  inspiciens, 
Da  veniam  Author!,  dices ;  nam  plurima  vellet 

Expungi,  quse  jam  displicuisse  sciat. 
Sive  Melancholicus  quisquam,  sea  blandus  Amator, 

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

Malta  istic  forsan  non  mal&  nata  leget. 
Quod  fugiat,  caveat,  quodque  arnplexabitur,  ista 

Pagina  fortassis  promere  multa  potest. 
At  si  quis  Medicos  coram  te  sistet,  amice 
Fac  circumspecte,  et  te  sine  labe  geras: 
Inveniet  namque  ipse  meis  quoque  plurima  script!*, 

Non  leve  subsidium  qua  sibi  forsan  erunt. 
Si  qnis  Causidicos  chartas  impingat  in  istas, 

Nil  in ih i  vobiacnm,  pessima  turba  vale; 
Sit  nisi  vir  bonns,  et  juris  sine  fraude  peritus, 

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

Hue  oculoa  vertat,  quae  velit  ipse  legat; 
Gandidns  ignoscet,  metuas  nil,  pande  libenter, 

Offensus  mendis  non  erit  ille  tuis, 
Landabit  nonnulla.     Venit  si  Rhetor  ineptus, 

Limata  et  tersa,  et  qui  ben6  cocta  petit, 
Claude  citus  librum;  nulla  hie  nisi  ferrea  verbs, 
Offendent  stomachum  quse  minus  apta  suum. 
At  si  quis  non  eximius  de  plebe  poeta, 

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

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

Zoilus  et  Momus,  si  rabiosa  cohors : 
Binge,  freme,  et  noli  turn  pandere,  turba  malignis 

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

Contemnes,  tacite  scommata  quseque  feres. 
Frendeat,  allatret,  vacuas  gannitibus  auras 
Impleat,  baud  cures;  his  placuis.se  nefas. 
Verum  age  si  forsan  divertat  purior  hospes, 

Cuique  sales,  ludi,  displiceantque  joci, 
Objiciatque  tibi  sordes,  lascivaque:  dices, 
Lasciva  est  Domino  et  Musa  jocosa  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. 


Democritus  Junior  ad  Librum  Suum.  19 

Sed  nee  pelle  tamen;  lasto  omnes  accipe  vultn, 

Qnos,  quas,  vel  quales,  inde  vel  unde  viros. 
Gratns  erit  quicunque  venit,  gratissimus  hospes 

Quisquis  erit,  facilis  difficUisque  mihi. 
Nam  si  cnlparit,  quasdam  culpasse  juvabit, 

Culpando  faciet  me  meliora  sequi. 
Sed  si  laudarit,  neque  laudibus  efferar  nllia, 

Sit  satis  hisce  mails  opposuisse  bonum. 
HSBO  sont  qn»  nostro  placuit  mandare  libflllo, 

Et  qu«  dimittens  dicere  jussit  Hems. 


DEMOCKITUS  JUNIOR  TO  HIS  BOOK. 


PARAPHRASTIC    METRICAL    TRANSLATION. 

Go  forth  my  book  into  the  open  day; 

Happy,  if  made  so  by  its  garish  eye. 
O'er  earth's  wide  surface  take  thy  vagrant  way, 

To  imitate  thy  master's  genius  try. 
The  graces  three,  the  Muses  nine  salute, 

Should  those  who  love  them  try  to  con  thy  lore. 
The  country,  city  seek,  grand  thrones  to  boot, 

With  gentle  courtesy  humbly  bow  before. 
Should  nobles  gallant,  soldiers  frank  and  brave 

Seek  thy  acquaintance,  hail  their  first  advance: 
From  twitch  of  care  thy  pleasant  vein  may  save, 

May  laughter  cause  or  wisdom  give  perchance. 
Some  surly  Cato,  Senator  austere, 

Haply  may  wish  to  peep  into  thy  book: 
Seem  very  nothing — tremble  and  revere : 

No  forceful  eagles,  butterflies  e'er  look. 
They  love  not  thee :  of  them  then  little  seek, 

And  wish  for  readers  tri tiers  like  thyself. 
Of  ludeful  matron  watchful  catch  the  beok, 

Or  gorgeous  countess  full  of  pride  and  pelf. 
They  may  say  "  pish  I  "  and  frown,  and  yet  read  on; 

Cry  odd,  and  silly,  coarse,  and  yet  amusing. 
Should  dainty  damsels  seek  thy  page  to  con, 

Spread  thy  best  stores:  to  them  be  ne'er  refusing: 
Say,  fair  one,  master  loves  thee  dear  as  life; 

Would  he  were  here  to  gaze  ou  thy  sweet  look. 
Should  known  or  unknown  student,  free'd  from  strito 

Of  logic  and  the  schools,  explore  my  book: 
Cry  mercy  critic,  and  thy  book  withhold: 

Be  some  few  errors  pardon'd  though  observ'd: 
An  humble  author  to  implore  makes  bold. 

Thy  kind  indulgence,  even  nndeserv'd 


Democritus  Junior  to  his  Book.  21 

Should  melancholy  wight  or  pensive  lover, 

Courtier,  snug  cit,  or  carpet  knight  so  trim 
Our  blossoms  cull,  he'll  find  himself  in  clover, 

Gain  sense  from  precept,  laughter  from  our  whim. 
Should  learned  leech  with  solemn  air  unfold 

Thy  leaves,  beware,  be  civil,  and  be  wise: 
Thy  volume  many  precepts  sage  may  hold, 

His  well  fraught  head  may  find  no  trifling  prize. 
Should  crafty  lawyer  trespass  on  our  ground, 

Caitiffs  avaunt !  disturbing  tribe  away ! 
Unless  (white  crow)  an  honest  one  be  found; 

He'll  better,  wiser  go  for  what  we  say. 
Should  some  ripe  scholar,  gentle  and  benign, 

With  candour,  care,  and  judgment  thee  peruse : 
Thy  faults  to  kind  oblivion  he'll  consign; 

Nor  to  thy  merit  will  his  praise  refuse. 
Thou  may'st  be  searched  for  polish'd  words  and  verse; 

By  flippant  spouter,  emptiest  of  praters : 
Tell  him  to  seek  them  in  some  mawkish  verse: 

My  periods  all  are  rough  as  nutmeg  graters. 
The  doggrel  poet,  wishing  thee  to  read, 

Reject  not ;  let  him  glean  thy  jests  and  stories. 
His  brother  I,  of  lowly  sembling  breed: 

Apollo  grants  to  few  Parnassian  glories. 
Menac'd  by  critic  with  sour  furrowed  brow, 

Momus  or  Troilus  or  Scotch  reviewer: 
Ruffle  your  heckle,  grin  and  growl  and  vow: 

Ill-natured  foes  yon  thus  will  find  the  fewer. 
When  foul-mouth'd  senseless  railers  cry  thee  down, 

Reply  not;  fly,  and  show  the  rogues  thy  stern: 
They  are  not  worthy  even  of  a  frown : 

Good  taste  or  breeding  they  can  never  learn; 
Or  let  them  clamour,  turn  a  callous  ear, 

As  though  in  dread  of  some  harsh  donkey's  bray 
If  chid  by  censor,  friendly  though  severe, 

To  such  explain  and  turn  thee  not  away. 
Thy  vein,  says  he  perchance,  is  all  too  free: 

Thy  smutty  language  suits  not  learned  pen. 
Reply,  Good  Sir,  throughout,  the  context  see : 

Thought  chastens  thought;  so  prithee  judge  again 
Besides,  although  my  master's  pen  may  wander 

Through  devious  paths,  by  which  it  ought  not  stray 
His  life  is  pure,  beyond  the  breath  of  slander: 

So  pardon  grant ;  'tis  merely  but  his  way. 
Some  rugged  ruffian  makes  a  hideous  rout — 

Brandish  thy  cudgel,  threaten  him  to  baste; 
The  filthy  fungus  far  from  thee  cast  out ; 

Such  noxious  banquets  never  suit  my  taste. 


22  Democritus  Junior  to  his  Book. 

Yet,  calm  and  cautious  moderate  thy  ire, 

Be  ever  courteous  should  the  case  allow— 
Sweet  malt  is  ever  made  by  gentle  fire: 

Warm  to  thy  friends,  give  all  a  civil  bow. 
Even  censure  sometimes  teaches  to  improve, 

Slight  frosts  have  often  cured  too  rank  a  crop, 
So  candid  blame  my  spleen  shall  never  move, 

For  skilful  gard'ners  wayward  branches  lop, 
Go  then,  my  book,  and  bear  my  words  in  mind; 
Guides  safe  at  once  and  oleasant  them  you'll  find. 


THE  ARGUMENT  OF  THE  FRONTISPIECE/ 


TEX  distinct  Squares  here  seen  apart, 
Are  joined  in  one  by  Cutter's  art. 


Old  Democritug  under  a  tree, 
Sits  on  a  stone  with  book  on  knee ; 
About  him  hang  there  many  features, 
Of  Cats,  Dogs,  and  such  like  creatures, 
Of  which  he  makes  anatomy, 
The  seat  of  black  choler  to  see. 
Over  his  head  appears  the  sky, 
And  Saturn  Lord  of  melancholy. 


To  the  left  a  landscape  of  Jealousy, 
Presents  itself  unto  thine  eye. 
A  Kingfisher,  a  Swan,  an  Hern, 
Two  fighting-cocks  you  may  discern, 
Two  roaring  Bulls  each  other  hie, 
To  assault  concerning  Tenery. 
Symbols  are  these ;  I  say  no  more, 
Conceive  the  rest  by  that's  afore. 


The  next  of  solitariness, 
A  Portraiture  doth  well  express, 
By  sleeping  dog,  cat :  Buck  and  Doe, 
Hares,  Conies  in  the  desart  go : 
Bats,  Owls  the  shady  bowers  over, 
In  melancholy  darkness  hover. 
Mark  well :  If 't  be  not  as't  should  be, 
Blame  the  bad  Cutter,  and  not  me. 

IV. 

I*  th'  under  column  there  doth  stand 
Inamorato  with  folded  hand ; 
Down  hangs  his  head,  terse  and  polite, 
Some  ditty  sure  he  doth  indite. 
His  lute  and  books  about  him  lie, 
As  symptoms  of  his  vanity. 
If  this  do  not  enough  disclose, 
To  paint  him,  take  thyself  by  th'  nose. 


Hypoeondriaeut  leans  on  his  arm, 
Wind  in  his  side  doth  him  much  harm, 
And  troubles  him  full  sore,  Qod  knows, 
Much  pain  he  hath  and  many  woes. 
About  him  pots  and  glasses  lie, 
Newly  brought  from's  Apothecary. 
This  Saturn's  aspects  signify, 
Tou  see  them  portray !d  in  the  sky. 


Beneath  them  kneeling  on  his  knee, 
A  superstitious  man  you  see : 
He  fasts,  prays,  on  his  Idol  fixt, 
Tormented  hope  and  fear  betwixt : 
For  hell  perhaps  he  takes  more  pain, 
Than  thou  dost  heaven  itself  to  gain 
Alas  poor  soul,  I  pity  thee, 
What  stars  incline  thee  so  to  be  ? 


But  see  the  madman  rage  downright 
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  was 
His  picture  keeps  still  in  thy  presence  ; 
'Twixt  him  and  thee,  there's  no  difference 


VIII,  IX. 

Borage  and  HeUebor  fill  two  scenes, 
Sovereign  plants  to  purge  the  veins 
Of  melancholy,  and  cheer  the  heart, 
Of  those  black  fumes  which  make  it  smart ; 
To  clear  the  brain  of  misty  fogs, 
Which  dull  our  senses,  and  Soul  clogs. 
The  best  medicine  that  e'er  God  made 
For  this  malady,  if  well  assay 'd. 


Now  last  of  all  to  fill  a  place, 
Presented  is  the  Author's  face ; 
And  in  that  habit  which  he  wears, 
His  image  to  the  world  appears. 
His  mind  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  frown  or  scoff  at  it, 
Deride  not,  or  detract  a  whit. 
For  surely  as  thou  dost  by  him, 
He  will  do  the  same  again. 
Then  look  upon't,  behold  and  see, 
As  thou  like'st  it.  so  it  likes  thee. 
And  I  for  it  will  stand  in  view, 
Thine  to  command,  Reader,  adieu. 


*  These  verses  refer  to  the  Frontispiece,  which  is  divided  into  ten  compartment* 
that  are  here  severally  explained.  The  author's  portrait,  mentioned  in  the  tenth 
stanza,  is  copied  in  page  7. 


THE  AUTHOR'S  ABSTRACT  OF  MELANCHOLY, 


WHIN  I  go  musing  all  alone, 
Thinking  of  divers  things  fore-known, 
When  I  build  rustics  in  the  air, 
Void  of  sorrow  and  void  of  fear, 
Pleasing  myself  with  phantasms  sweet, 
Methinks  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, 
And  crown  my  soul  with  happiness. 
All  my  joys  besides  are  folly, 
None  so  sweet  as  melancholy. 
When  I  lie,  sit,  or  walk  alone, 

I  sigh,  I  grieve,  making  great  mone, 
In  a  dark  grove,  or  irksome  den, 
With  discontents  and  Furies  then, 
A  thousand  miseries  at  onc« 

Mine  heavy  heart  and  soul  ensconce, 
All  my  griefs  to  this  are  jolly, 
None  so  sour  as  melancholy. 
Methinks  I  hear,  methinks  I  see, 
Sweet  music,  wondrous  melody, 
Towns,  palaces,  and  cities  fine ; 
Here  now,  then  there  ;  the  world  is  mine, 
Kare  beauties,  gallant  ladies  shine, 
Whate'er  Is  lovely  or  divine. 
All  other  joys  to  this  are  folly, 
None  so  sweet  as  melancholy. 
Methinks  I  hear,  methinks  I  see 

I 1  hosts,  goblins,  fiends  ;  my  fantasy 
Presents  a  thousand  ugly  shapes, 
Headless  bears,  black  men,  and  apes, 
Doleful  outcries,  and  fearful  sights, 
My  sad  and  dismal  soul  affright*. 

All  my  griefs  to  this  are  jolly, 
Mone  so  damn'd  as  melancholy. 


Methinks  I  court,  methinks  I  kiss, 
Methinks  I  now  embrace  my  mistress. 

0  blessed  days,  0  sweet  content, 
In  Paradise  my  time  is  spent. 

Such  thoughts  may  still  my  fancy  move, 
So  may  I  ever  be  in  love. 
All  my  joys  to  this  are  folly, 
Naught  so  sweet  as  melancholy. 
When  I  recount  love's  many  frights, 
My  sighs  and  tears,  my  waking  nights, 
My  jealous  fits  ;  0  mine  hard  fate 

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

All  my  griefs  to  this  are  jolly, 
Naught  so  harsh  as  melancholy. 
Friends  and  companions  get  you  gone, 
"Tis  my  desire  to  be  alone  ; 
Ne'er  well  but  when  my  thoughts  and  I 
Do  domineer  in  privacy. 
No  (it-ill,  no  treasure  like  to  this, 
'Tis  my  delight,  my  crown,  my  bliss. 
All  my  joys  to  this  are  folly, 
Naught  so  sweet  as  melancholy. 
Tis  my  sole  plague  to  be  alone, 
I  am  a  beast,  a  monster  grown, 
I  will  no  light  nor  company, 
I  find  it  now  my  misery. 
The  scene  is  turn'd,  my  joys  are  gone, 
Fear,  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 
More  joy,  than  still  to  laugh  and  smite 
In  pleasant  toys  time  to  beguile  ? 
Do  not,  0  do  not  trouble  me, 
So  sweet  content  I  feel  and  see. 
All  my  joys  to  this  are  folly, 
None  so  divine  as  melancholy. 
I'll  change  my  state  with  any  wretch, 
Thou  canst  from  jail  or  dunghill  fetch 
My  pain's  past  cure,  another  hell, 
I  may  not  in  this  torment  dwell ! 
Now  desperate  I  hate  my  life, 
Lend  me  a  halter  or  a  knife; 
All  my  griefs  to  this  are  jolly. 
Naught  so  damn'd  as  melancholy. 


DEMOCRITUS  JUNIOR 

TO   THE   READER. 


GENTLE  Reader,  I  presume  thou  wilt  be  very  inquisitive 
to  know  what  antic  or  personate  actor  this  is,  that  so  inso 
lently  intrudes  upon  this  common  theatre,  to  the  world's 
view,  arrogating  another  man's  name  ;  whence  he  is,  why  he 
doth  it,  and  what  he  hath  to  say ;  although,  as 1  he  said, 
Primum  si  noluero,  non  respondebo,  quis  coacturus  est?  I 
am  a  free  man  born,  and  may  choose  whether  I  will  tell ; 
who  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,  Quum  vides  velatam, 
quid  inquiris  in  rem  absconditam  ?  It  was  therefore  "overed, 
because  he  should  not  know  what  was  in  it.  Seek  not  after 
that  which  is  hid  ;  if  the  contents  please  thee,  "  *  and  be  for 
thy  use,  suppose  the  Man  in  the  Moon,  or  whom  thou  wilt  to 
be  the  Author ; "  I  would  not  willingly  be  known.  Yet  in 
some  sort  to  give  thee  satisfaction,  which  is  more  than  I 
need,  I  will  show  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  satire,  some  ridiculous  treatise  (as  I  myself  should 
have  done),  some  prodigious  tenet,  or  paradox  of  the  earth's 

i  Seneca  in  livlo  in  mortem  Claudii  Cae-  htec  tibl  nsni  sint,  quemris  a'ictorem  •» 
Mris.  a  Lib.  de  Uuriositate.  *  Mod6  gito.  Weckcr. 


26  Democrittis  to  the  Header. 

motion,  of  infinite  worlds,  in  infinite  vacuo,  ex  fortuitd  ato~ 
morum  coUisione,  in  an  infinite  waste,  so  caused  by  an  acci 
dental  collision  of  motes  in  the  sun,  all  which  Democritus 
held,  Epicurus  and  their  master  Lucippus  of  old  maintained, 
and  are  lately  revived  by  Copernicus,  Brunus,  and  some 
others.  Besides,  it  hath  been  always  an  ordinary  custom,  as 
4  Gellius  observes,  "  for  later  writers  and  impostors,  to  broach 
many  absurd  and  insolent  fictions,  under  the  name  of  so 
noble  a  philosopher  as  Democritus,  to  get  themselves  credit, 
and  by  that  means  the  more  to  be  respected,"  as  artificers 
usually  do,  Novo  qui  marmori  ascribunt  Praxatilem  suo. 
Tis  not  so  with  me. 

*  Non  hie  Centauros,  non  Gorgonaa,  Harpyasque 
Invenies,  hominem  pagina  nostra  sapit. 

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

Thou  thyself  art  the  subject  of  my  discourse. 

8  Quicquid  agnnt  homines,  votum,  timor,  ira,  voluptas, 
Gaudia,  discursus,  nostri  farrago  libelli. 

Whate'er  men  do,  vows,  fears,  in  ire,  in  sport, 
Joys,  wand'rings,  are  the  sum  of  my  report. 

My  intent  is  no  otherwise  to  use  his  name,  than  Mercurius 
Gullobelgicus,  Mercurius  Britannicus,  use  the  name  of  Mer 
cury,  *  Demoeritus  Christianus,  &c. ;  although  there  be  some 
other  circumstances  for  which  I  have  masked  myself  under 
this  vizard,  and  some  peculiar  respect  which  I  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,  was  a  little  wearish  old  man,  very  melancholy  by 
nature,  averse  from  company  in  his  latter  days,7  and  much 
given  to  solitariness,  a  famous  philosopher  in  his  age,  *cocevus 
with  Socrates,  wholly  addicted  to  his  studies  at  the  last,  and 

1  Lib.  10,  c.  12.    Multa  a  mate  feriatls  sen  edit.  Colonia),  1616.         •  Hip.  Epist. 

in  Democriti  nomine  commenta  data,  no-  Damegct.        «  Laert  lib.  9.        7  Hortulo 

billtatis,    anctoritattsque   ejus    perfugio  sihi    oellulam    aeligeng,  ibique   seipsuta 

ntontibu*.          »  Mnrtinlis.  lib.  10,  eplgr.  includen*,  visit  nolitarius.         •  Floruit 

14.       *  JUT.  Sat.  1.       «  Auth.  Pet.  Bea-  Olympiads  80 ;  700  anuU  post  Troiam. 


Democritus  to  the  Reader.  27 

to  a  private  life ;  wrote  many  excellent  works,  a  great  divine, 
according  to  the  divinity  of  those  times,  an  expert  physician, 
a  politician,  an  excellent  mathematician,  as  1  Diacosmus  and 
the  rest  of  his  works  do  witness.  He  was  much  delighted 
with  the  studies  of  husbandry,  saith  a  Columella,  and  often  I 
find  him  cited  by  *  Constantinus,  and  others  treating  of  that 
subject.  He  knew  the  natures,  differences  of  all  beasts, 
plants,  fishes,  birds  ;  and,  as  some  say,  could  4  understand  the 
tunes  and  voices  of  them.  In  a  word,  he  was  omnifariam 
doctus,  a  general  scholar,  a  great  student ;  and  to  the  intent 
he  might  better  contemplate,  6 1  find  it  related  by  some,  that 
he  put  out  his  eyes,  and  was  in  his  old  age  voluntarily  blind, 
yet  saw  more  than  all  Greece  besides,  and  'writ  of  every 
subject,  Nihil  in  toto  opifido  natures,  de  quo  non  scripsit.1 
A  man  of  an  excellent  wit,  profound  conceit ;  and  to  attain 
knowledge  the  better  in  his  younger  years  he  travelled  to 
Egypt  and  8  Athens,  to  confer  with  learned  men,  *  "  admired 
of  some,  despised  of  others."  After  a  wandering  life,  he 
settled  at  Abdera,  a  town  in  Thrace,  and  was  sent  for  thither 
to  be  their  lawmaker,  recorder,  or  town-clerk,  as  some  will ; 
or,  as  others,  he  was  there  bred  and  born.  Howsoever  it 
was,  there  he  lived  at  last  hi  a  garden  in  the  suburbs,  wholly 
betaking  himself  to  his  studies  and  a  private  life,  10  "  saving 
that  sometimes  he  would  walk  down  to  the  haven,  uand 
laugh  heartily  at  such  variety  of  ridiculous  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  this  habit  ?  I  confess,  indeed,  that 
to  compare  myself  unto  him  for  aught  I  have  yet  said,  were 
both  impudency  and  arrogancy.  I  do  not  presume  to  make 

>  Diacoa.  quod  cunctis  operibus  facile  ica,  liberales  disciplinaa,  artiumque  om- 

eicellit.     Laert.  *  Col.  lib.  I.e.  1.  nium  peritiam  callebat.         1  Nothing  in 

'  Const,  lib.  de  agric.  passim.         *  Voltt-  nature's  power  to  contrive  of  which  ha 

cram  voces  et  linguas  intelligere  se  dicit  has  not  written.        8  Veni  Athenas,  et 

Abderitans  Ep.  Hip.          *  Sabellicus  ex-  nemo  me  no vit .        »  Idem  contemptui  et 

empl.  lib.  10.    Oculis  se  privavit,  ut  me-  admiration!  habitus.      w  Solebat  ad  por- 

lias  contemplation!  operam  daret.  sub-  tarn  ainbulare,  et  inde,  &c.     Hip.  Kp. 

limi  rir  ingenio.  profundae  cogitationis,  Dameg.  u  Perpetuo  risu  pulmonem 

fcc.         *  Naturalia,  moralia,  uiathemat-  agitare  solebat  Democritus.    JUT.  S»t  7 


28  Democritus  to  the  Reader. 

I 

any  parallel,  Antistat  mihi  mittibus  trecentis,  1parvus  sum, 
nullus  sum,  aliurn  nee  spiro,  nee  spero.  Yet  thus  much  I 
will  say  of  myself,  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  college  of 
Europe,  3  augustissimo  collegia,  and  can  brag  with  8Jovius, 
almost,  in  ed  luce  domicilii  Vaticani,  totius  orbis  celeberrimi, 
per  37  annos  multa  opportunaque  didici  ; "  for  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  mem 
ber  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  profes 
sion  a  divine,  yet  turbine  raptus  ingenii,  as  6he  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  smattering  in  all,  to  be  aliquis  in  omnibus,  nullus  in 
ringulisf  which  T  Plato  commends,  out  of  him  8  Lipsius  ap 
proves  and  furthers,  "as  fit  to  be  imprinted  in  all  curious 
wits,  not  to  be  a  slave  of  one  science,  or  dwell  together  in 
one  subject,  as  most  do,  but  to  rove  abroad,  centum  puer 
artium,  to  have  an  oar  in  every  man's  boat,  to  *  taste  of 
every  dish,  and  sip  of  every  cup,"  which,  saith  10  Montaigne, 
was  well  performed  by  Aristotle,  and  his  learned  countryman 
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 

1  Non  inm   dlgnns  praeatare  mate] la.  cupidisetcurlosis  ingonii?  imprimendum, 

Mart.       *  Christ  Church  In  Oxford.  nt  sit  tails  qul  null!  rel  seiriat,  aut  ex- 

1  Pnefat.  hist.        «  Keeper  of  our  college  acte  unum  allquld  elaboret,  alia  negli- 

library,  lately  revived  by  Otho  Ntcolson,  gens,  ut  artifices,  &c.          »  Dellbare  gra- 

Enquire.        »  Scallger.        •  Somebody  In  turn  de  quocunque  clbo,  et  pitisare  d« 

everything,  nobody  In  each  thing.      'In  quocunque  dolio  jucundum.       10  Essays, 

Thmt.       «  Phil.  Stoic.  11.  dlff.  8.    Dogma  lib.  8. 


Democritus  to  the  Reader.  29 

complain,  and  truly,  qui  ubique  est,  nusquam  est,1  which 
8  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,  judgment.  I  never  travelled 
but  in  map  or  card,  in  which  my  unconfined  thoughts  have 
freely  expatiated,  as  having  ever  been  especially  delighted 
with  the  study  of  cosmography.  'Saturn  was  lord  of  my 
geniture,  culminating,  &c.,  and  Mars  principal  significator  of 
manners,  in  partile  conjunction  with  my  ascendant ;  both  for 
tunate  in  their  houses,  &c.  I  am  not  poor,  I  am  not  rich ; 
nihil  est,  nihil  deest,  I  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  compe 
tence  (Ictus  Deo)  from  my  noble  and  munificent  patrons, 
though  1  live  still  a  collegiate  student,  as  Democritus  in  his 
garden,  and  lead  a  monastic  life,  ipse  mihi  theatrum,  seques 
tered  from  those  tumults  and  troubles  of  the  world,  Et  tan- 
quam  in  specula  positus  (4as  he  said),  in  some  high  place 
above  you  all,  like  Stoicus  Sapiens,  omnia  scectila,  preeterita 
presentiaque  videns,  uno  velut  intuitu,  I  hear  and  see  what  is 
done  abroad,  how  others  6run,  ride,  turmoil,  and  macerate 
themselves  in  court  and  country,  far  from  those  wrangling 
lawsuits,  aulce  vanitatem,  fori  ambitionem,  ridere  mecum  soleo. 

1  laugh  at  all,  'only  secure  lest  my  suit  go  amiss,  my  ships 
perish,  corn  and  cattle  miscarry,  trade  decay,  I  have  no  wife 
nor  children  good  or  bad  to  provide  for.     A  mere  spectator 
of  other  men's  fortunes  and  adventures,  and  how  they  act 
their  parts,  which  methinks  are  diversely  presented  unto  me 
as  from  a  common  theatre  or  scene.     I  hear  new  news  every 
day,  and  those  ordinary  rumours  of  war,  plagues,  fires,  inun 
dations,  thefts,  murders,  massacres,  meteors,  comets,   spec- 

1  He  that  Is  everywhere  la  nowhere,  strepitum,  conteutionea,  &e.  •  Gyp. 

2  Praefat.  bibliothec.         3  Ambo  fortes  et  ad  Donat.     Unice  securus,  ne  excidam  in 
fortunati,  Mars  idem  magisterii  dominus  foro,  aut  la  marl  Indico  bonis  elua,  de 
juxta    primam    Leovittii    regulam.  dote  filiae,  patrfmonio  filii  non  gum  solici- 
*  Hensius.        5  Calide  ambientes,  solicite  tua. 

Utigantes,  ant  misere  excidentes,  yoces. 


30  Democritus  to  the  Reader. 

trums,  prodigies,  apparitions,  of  towns  taken,  cities  besieged 
in  France,  Germany,  Turkey,  Persia,  Poland,  &c.,  daily  mus 
ters  and  preparations,  and  such  like ;  which  these  tempestuous 
times  afford,  battles  fought,  so  many  men  slain,  monomachies, 
shipwrecks,  piracies,  and  sea-fights;  peace,  leagues,  strata 
gems,  and  fresh  alarms.  A  vast  confusion  of  vows,  wishes, 
actions,  edicts,  petitions,  lawsuits,  pleas,  laws,  proclamations, 
complaints,  grievances,  are  daily  brought  to  our  ears.  New 
books  every  day,  pamphlets,  currantoes,  stories,  whole  cata- 
logues  of  volumes  of  all  sorts,  new  paradoxes,  opinions, 
schisms,  heresies,  controversies  in  philosophy,  religion,  &c. 
Now  come  tidings  of  weddings,  maskings,  mummeries,  enter 
tainments,  jubilees,  embassies,  tilts  and  tournaments,  trophies, 
triumphs,  revels,  sports,  plays  ;  then  again,  as  in  a  new  shifted 
scene,  treasons,  cheating  tricks,  robberies,  enormous  villainies 
in  all  kinds,  funerals,  burials,  deaths  of  princes,  new  discov 
eries,  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  pur- 
chaseth,  another  breaketh ;  he  thrives,  his  neighbour  turns 
bankrupt;  now  plenty,  then  again  dearth  and  famine;  one 
runs,  another  rides,  wrangles,  laughs,  weeps,  &c.  Thus  I 
daily  hear,  and  such  like,  both  private  and  public  news, 
amidst  the  gallantry  and  misery  of  the  world ;  jollity,  pride, 
perplexities  and  cares,  simplicity  and  villainy;  subtlety, 
knavery,  candour,  and  integrity,  mutually  mixed  and  offering 
themselves ;  I  rub  on  privus  privatus ;  as  I  have  still  lived, 
BO  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  Democritus 
to  the  haven  to  see  fashions,  I  did  for  my  recreation  now  and 
then  walk  abroad,  look  into  the  world,  and  could  not  choose 
but  make  some  little  observation,  non  tarn  sagax  observator 
ae  simplex  recitator,1  not  as  they  did,  to  scoff  or  laugh  at  all. 
but  with  a  mixed  passion. 

i  Not  K>  cagaciouj  an  obMrrer  M  simple  a  narrator. 


Democritus  to  the  Reader.  31 

1 "  Bilera  saep6,  jocum  vestri  movfire  tumultus." 

Ye  wretched  mimics,  whose  fond  heats  have  been, 
How  oft!  the  objects  cf  my  mirth  and  spleen. 

I  did  sometime  laugh  and  scoff  with  Lucian,  and  satiri 
cally  tax  with  Menippus,  lament  with  Heraclitus,  sometimes 
again  I  was  *petulanti  splene  cachinno,  and  then  again, 
*urere  bilisjecur,  I  was  much  moved  to  see  that  abuse  which 
I  could  not  mend.  In  which  passion  howsoever  I  may  sym 
pathize  with  him  or  them,  'tis  for  no  such  respect  I  shroud 
myself  under  his  name  ;  but  either  in  an  unknown  habit  to 
assume  a  little  more  liberty  and  freedom  of  speech,  or  if  you 
will  needs  know,  for  that  reason  and  only  respect  which  Hip 
pocrates  relates  at  large  in  his  Epistle  to  Damegetus,  wherein 
he  doth  express,  how  coming  to  visit  him  one  day,  he  found 
Democritus  in  his  garden  at  Abdera,  in  the  suburbs,  4  under 
a  shady  bower,  6  with  a  book  on  his  knees,  busy  at  his  study, 
sometimes  writing,  sometimes  walking.  The  subject  of  his  < 
book  was  melancholy  and  madness ;  about  him  lay  the  car 
casses  of  many  several  beasts,  newly  by  him  cut  up  and 
anatomized ;  not  that  he  did  contemn  God's  creatures,  as  he 
told  Hippocrates,  but  to  find  out  the  seat  of  this  atra  bili$,  or  • 
melancholy,  whence  it  proceeds,  and  how  it  was  engendered 
in  men's  bodies,  to  the  intent  he  might  better  cure  it  in  him 
self,  and  by  his  writings  and  observations  'teach  others  how 
to  prevent  and  avoid  it  Which  good  intent  of  his,  Hippoc 
rates  highly  commended ;  Democritus  Junior  is  therefore 
bold  to  imitate,  and  because  he  left  it  imperfect,  and  it  is  now 
lost,  quasi  succenturiator  Democriti,  to  revive  again,  pros 
ecute,  and  finish  in  this  treatise. 

You  have  had  a  reason  of  the  name.  If  the  title  and  in 
scription  offend  your  gravity,  were  it  a  sufficient  justification 
to  accuse  others,  I  could  produce  many  sober  treatises,  even 

1  Hor.  Ep.  lib.  1,  six  20.        *  Per.    A  posite  considebat,  super  genna  yolumen 

laugher  with  a  petulant  spleen.       *  Hor.  habens,  et  utrinque  alia  patentia  parata, 

lib.  1,  sat.  9.       *  Secundum  moenia  locus  dissectaque  animalia  cumulathn  strata, 

erat  froudosis  populis  opacus,  ritibusqne  quorum  viscera  rimabatur.  *  Cum 

ipoute  natis,  teuuis  prope aqua  defluebat,  mundus  extra  se  sit,  et  mente  eaptus  sit, 

plaoide  murmurans,  ubi  sedile  et  domns  et  nesciat  se  languere,  ut  medelam  adhih- 

Democriti  conspiciebatur        6  Ipse  com-  eat. 


32  Democritus  to  the  Reader. 

sermons  themselves,  which  in  their  fronts  carry  more  fantas 
tical  names.  Howsoever,  it  is  a  kind  of  policy  in  these  days, 
to  prefix  a  fantastical  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  antic  pic 
ture  in  a  painter's  shop,  that  will  not  look  at  a  judicious 
piece.  And,  indeed,  as  *  Scaliger  observes,  "  nothing  more 
invites  a  reader  than  an  argument  unlocked  for,  unthought 
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  Seneca)  to  make  him  loiter  by  the  way 
that  went  in  haste  to  fetch  a  midwife  for  his  daughter,  now 
ready  to  lie  down."  For  my  part,  I  have  honourable  *  prece 
dents  for  this  which  I  have  done:  I  will  cite  one  for  all, 
Anthony  Zara,  Pap.  Episc.,  his  Anatomy  of  Wit,  in  four 
sections,  members,  subsections,  &c.,  to  be  read  in  our  libra 
ries. 

If  any  man  except  against  the  matter  or  manner  of  treat 
ing  of  this  my  subject,  and  will  demand  a  reason  of  it,  I  can 
allege  more  than  one ;  I  write  of  melancholy,  by  being  busy 
to  avoid  melancholy.  There  is  no  greater  cause  of  melan 
choly  than  idleness,  "  no  better  cure  than  business,"  as 
4  Rhasis  holds ;  and  howbeit,  stultus  labor  est  ineptiarum,  to 
be  busy  in  toys  is  to  small  purpose,  yet  hear  that  divine 
Seneca,  aliud  agere  qitam  nihil,  better  do  to  no  end,  than 
nothing.  I  wrote,  therefore,  and  busied  myself  in  this  play 
ing  labour,  otiosaq.  diligentid  lit  vitarem  torpor  em  feriandi 
with  Vectius  m  Macrobius,  atq.  otium  in  utile  verterem  nego- 
tium. 

•  Simul  et  jucunda  et  idonea  dicere  vitse, 
Lectorem  delectando  simul  atque  monendo. 

1  Scaliger.  Bp.  ad  Patisonem.      Nihil  trioein  parturient!  flliae  aecersentl  moram 

magis  lectorem  inyitat  quani  Inopln&tum  Injicere  possunt.      *  Anatomy  of  Popery, 

argumentum,  neque  vendibilior  merx  est  Anatomy  of  Immortality,  Angelas  Baku), 

quim  petulans  liber.        •  Lib.  zx.  o.  11.  Anatomy  of  Antimony,  &c.           *  Cont. 

Minui  sequuntur  inscriptionutn  festivita-  1.  4,  e.  9.     Non  eat  cura  mellor  quam 

tM.          *  Prw&t.  Nat.  Hist.  Patri  obsto-  labor.        *  Hor.  De  Arte  Poet 


Democritus  to  the  Reader.  33 

Poets  would  profit  or  delight  mankind, 

And  with  the  pleasing  have  th'  instructive  join'd. 

Profit  and  pleasure,  then,  to  mix  with  art, 
T'  inform  the  judgment,  nor  offend  the  heart, 
Shall  gain  all  votes. 

To  this  end  I  write,  like  them,  saith  Lucian,  that  "  recite 
to  trees,  and  declaim  to  pillars  for  want  of  auditors  ; "  as 

1  Paulus  JEgineta  ingenuously  confesseth,  "  not  that  anything 
was   unknown   or   omitted,  but  to  exercise  myself,"  which 
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  show  myself  (Scire  tuum  nihil  est,  nisi  te 
scire  hoe  sciat  alter).     I  might  be  of  Thucydides's  opinion, 

2  "  to  know  a  thing  and  not  to  express  it,  is  all  one  as  if  he 
knew  it  not."     When  I  first  took  this  task  in  hand,  et  quod 
ait  *itte,  impeUente  genio  negotium  suscepi,  this  I  aimed  at ; 
*  vel  ut  lenirem  animum  scribendo,  to  ease  my  mind  by  writ 
ing  ;  for  I  had  gravidum  cor,  fcetum  caput,  a  kind  of  impos- 
thume  in  my  head,  which  I  was  very  desirous  to  be  unladen 
of,  and  could  imagine  no  fitter  evacuation  than  this.    Besides,  i 

I  might  not  well  refrain,  for  ubi  dolor,  ibi  digitus,  one  must  I  1^ 
needs  scratch  where  it  itches.  I  was  not  a  little  offended 
with  this  malady,  shall  I  say  my  Mistress  "  melancholy,"  my 
JEgeria,  or  my  malus  genius  ?  and  for  that  cause,  as  he  that 
is  stung  with  a  scorpion,  I  would  expel  clavum  clavo,  6  com 
fort  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  Aris- 
tophanes's  frogs  in  his  belly,  still  crying  Brecc,  ckex,  coax, 
coax,  oop,  oop,  and  for  that  cause  studied  physic  seven  years, 
and  travelled  over  most  part  of  Europe  to  ease  himself 
To  do  myself  good  I  turned  over  such  physicians  as  our 

1  Non  quod  de  noYO  quid  addere,  aut  a  si  nesciret.      *  Jovius  Praef.  Hist. 

re  te  rib  us  prsetennissum,  sed  p  reprise  ex-  *  Erasmus.        5  Otium  otio  dolorem  d«- 

etcitationis  causa.        -  Qui  novit,  neque  lore  sum  solatus.        «  Obaerrat.  1.  1. 
Id  quod  sen  tit  exprimit,  perinde  est  ac 

VOL.  I.  8 


84  Democritus  to  the  Reader. 

libraries  would  afford,  or  my  l  private  friends  impart,  and 
have  taken  this  pains.  And  why  not  ?  Cardan  professeth 
he  wrote  his  book,  "  De  Consolatione  "  after  his  son's  death, 
to  comfort  himself;  so  did  Tully  write  of  the  same  subject 
with  like  intent  after  his  daughter's  departure,  if  it  be  his  at 
least,  or  some  impostor's  put  out  in  his  name,  which  Lipsius 
probably  suspects.  Concerning  myself,  I  can  peradventure 
affirm  with  Marius  in  Sallust,  a "  that  which  others  hear  or 
read  of,  I  felt  and  practised  myself;  they  get  their  knowl 
edge  by  books,  I  mine  by  melancholizing."  Experto  crede 
Roberto.  Something  I  can  speak  out  of  experience,  cerum- 
nabilis  eocperientia  me  docuit;  and  with  her  in  the  poet, 
*  Hand  ignara  malt  miseris  succurrere  disco  ;  I  would  help 
others  out  of  a  fellow-feeling ;  and,  as  that  virtuous  lady  did 
of  old,  4 "  being  a  leper  herself,  bestow  all  her  portion  to 
build  an  hospital  for  lepers,"  I  will  spend  my  time  and 
knowledge,  which  are  my  greatest  fortunes,  for  the  common 
good  of  all. 

Yea,  but  you  will  infer  that  this  is  6  actum  agere.  an  un 
necessary  work,  cramben  bis  coctam  apponere,  the  same  again 
and  again  in  other  words.  To  what  purpose  ?  6  "  Nothing 
is  omitted  that  may  well  be  said,"  so  thought  Lucian  in  the 
like  theme.  How  many  excellent  physicians  have  written 
just  volumes  and  elaborate  tracts  of  this  subject  ?  No  news 
here  ;  that  which  I  have  is  stolen  from  others,  7  Dicitque  mihi 
mea  pagina,  fur  es.  If  that  severe  doom  of  8  Synesius  be 
true,  "  it  is  a  greater  offence  to  steal  dead  men's  labours,  than 
their  clothes,"  what  shall  become  of  most  writers  ?  I  hold 
up  my  hand  at  the  bar  among  others,  and  am  guilty  of  felony 
in  this  kind,  habes  confttentem  reum,  I  am  content  to  be 
pressed  with  the  rest.  'Tis  most  true,  tenet  insanabik  multoi 

1  M.  Job.  Rons,  our  Protobib.  Oxon.  I  learn  to  pity  them."       *  Cam  den,  Ipsi 

M.  Hopper,  M.  Guthridge,  &c.        *  Qua  elephantiasi  correpta  elephantiasis  hos- 

1111  audlre  et  legere  sclent,  eornm  partlm  plcium  construxit.     *  Iliada  post  Home- 

ridi  egomet.  alia  gessl,  quw  1111  literls,  rum.         •  Nihll  praetenninHuin   quod  I 

•go  militando  didicl,  none  TOB  ezistlmate  quoris  die!   possit.  '  Martlalis. 

beta  an  dicta  pluris  sint.        *  DldoVirg.  »  Magis    impium    mortuorum    lucubra 

'  Taught  by  that  Power  that  pities  me,  tiones,   quim  restes  furari. 


Democritus  to  the  Reader.  85 

tcribendi  cacoethes,  and  lu  there  is  no  end  of  writing  of  books," 
as  the  Wise-man  found  of  old,  in  this  2  scribbling  age,  especial 
ly,  wherein  8  "  the  number  of  books  is  without  number,  (as  a 
worthy  man  saith,)  presses  be  oppressed,"  and  out  of  an  itch 
ing  humour  that  every  man  hath  to  show  himself,  4  desirous 

of  fame  and  honour  (scribimus  indocti  doctique ),  he  will 

write  no  matter  what,  and  scrape  together  it  boots  not  whence. 
*"  Bewitched  with  this  desire  of  fame,  etiam  mediis  in  morbis, 
to  the  disparagement  of  their  health,  and  scarce  able  to  hold 
a  pen,  they  must  say  something,  6 "  and  get  themselves  a 
name,"  saith  Scaliger,  "  though  it  be  to  the  downfall  and  ruin 
of  many  others."  To  be  counted  writers,  scriptores  ut  salu- 
tentur,  to  be  thought  and  held  Polumathes  and  Polyhistors, 
apud  imperitum  vulgus  ob  ventosce  nomen  artis,  to  get  a  paper 
kingdom :  nulld  spe  qucestus  sed  ampld  famee,  in  this  precip 
itate,  ambitious  age,  nunc  ut  est  seeculum,  inter  immaturam 
eruditionem,  ambitiosum  et  prceceps  ('tis  7  Scaliger's  censure)  ; 
and  they  that  are  scarce  auditors,  vix  auditores,  must  be  mas 
ters  and  teachers,  before  they  be  capable  and  fit  hearers. 
They  will  rush  into  all  learning,  togatam  armatam,  divine, 
human  authors,  rake  over  all  indexes  and  pamphlets  for 
notes,  as  our  merchants  do  strange  havens  for  traffic,  write 
great  tomes,  Gum  non  sint  re  verd  doctiores,  sed  loquaciore*, 
whereas  they  are  not  thereby  better  scholars,  but  greater 
praters.  They  commonly  pretend  public  good,  but  as  8  Ges- 
ner  observes,  'tis  pride  and  vanity  that  eggs  them  on;  no 
news  or  aught  worthy  of  note,  but  the  same  in  other  terms. 
Ne  feriarentur  fortasse  typography,  vel  ideo  scribendum  est 
aliquid  ut  se  vixisse  testentur.  As  apothecaries  we  make  new 
mixtures  every  day,  pour  out  of  one  vessel  into  another ;  and 
as  those  old  Romans  robbed  all  the  cities  of  the  world,  to  set 


1  Eccl.  nit  *  Libros  Eunuchi  gig-  Baronius.       •  Ex  minis  alienae  exi?tima- 

nunt,  steriles  pariunt.        3  D.  King  prae-  tionis   sibi   gradum  ad   famam  struunt. 

fat.  lect.  Jonas,  the  late  right  reverend  1  Exercit.  288.  8  Omnes  sibi  famam 

Lord  B.  of  London.       *  Homines  famelici  quserunt  et  quovis  modo  in  orbem  spargt 

gloriae  ad  ostentationera  ernditionls  nn-  contendnnt,  at  novae  alicnjns  rei  habean- 

diqne  congerunt.    Buchananus         =  gf-  tor  auctores.     Praef.  biblioth. 
faciuati  etiam  laudis  amore,  &c     Justus 


36  Democritus  to  the  Header. 

out  their  bad-sited  Rome,  we  skim  off  the  cream  of  other 
men's  wits,  pick  the  choice  flowers  of  their  tilled  gardens  to 
set  out  our  own  sterile  plots.  Castrant  olios  ut  libros  suos  per 
se  graciks  alieno  adipe  sujfarciant  (so  *  Jovius  inveighs). 
They  lard  their  lean  books  with  the  fat  of  other's  works. 
Ineruditi  fures,  &c.  A  fault  that  every  writer  finds,  as  I  do 
now,  and  yet  faulty  themselves,  1Tnum  literarum  homines, 
all  thieves :  they  pilfer  out  of  old  writers  to  stuff  up  their 
new  comments,  scrape  Ennius's  dunghills,  and  out  of  2  De- 
mocritus's  pit,  as  I  have  done.  By  which  means  it  comes  to 
pass,  *  "  that  not  only  libraries  and  shops  are  full  of  our  putrid 
papers,  but  every  close-stool  and  jakes,  Scribunt  carmina  qua 
legunt  cacantes  ;  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.  8  Heretofore  learning  was  graced  by  judicious  schol 
ars,  but  now  noble  sciences  are  vilified  by  base  and  illiterate 
scribblers,"  that  either  write  for  vainglory,  need,  to  get 
money,  or  as  parasites  to  flatter  and  collogue  with  some 
great  men,  they  put  out  7  burros,  quisquiliasque  ineptiasque. 
'Amongst  so  many  thousand  authors  you  shall  scarce  find 
one,  by  reading  of  whom  you  shall  be  any  whit  better,  but 
rather  much  worse,  quibus  inficitur  potiiis  quam  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  great  book  is  a  great  mischief.  10  Cardan  finds  fault 
with  Frenchmen  and  Germans,  for  their  scribbling  to  no 
purpose,  non  inquit  ab  edendo  deterreo,  modo  novum  aliquid 
inveniant,  he  doth  not  bar  them  to  write,  so  that  it  be  some 

*  Praefat.  hist          1  Plautus.          *  E  sordent  ob  homines.         *  Ana.  pac. 

Democriti  pnteo.        *  Non  tarn    refertae  *  Inter  tot  mille  yolumina  vix   unus  • 

Mbliotheoe  quam  cloaca.          *  Et  quic-  cujus  lectione  quis  mellor  evadat,  immc 

quid  cartis  amicitur  ineptis.          5  Kpist.  pot  ins  non  pejor.       *  Palingenius.  What 

M  Petal,  in  regno  Franciae  omnibus  acri-  does  any  one,  who  reads  such  works,  learn 

tend!  datur  libertas,  paucis  facultas.  or  know  but  dreams  and  trifling  things 

*  Ollm  literae  ob  homines  in  precio,  nunc  1°  Lib.  6,  de  Sap 


Democritus  to  the  Reader.  37 

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  ?  l "  He 
must  have  a  barren  wit,  that  in  this  scribbling  age  can  forge 
nothing.  2  Princes  show  their  armies,  rich  men  vaunt  their 
buildings,  soldiers  their  manhood,  and  scholars  vent  theii 
toys;"  they  must  read,  they  must  hear  whether  they  will  or  no. 

8  Et  quodcunque  serael  chartis  illeverit,  omnes 
Gestiet  a  forno  redeuntes  scire  lacuque, 
Et  pueros  et  anus — • 

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

*  What  a  company  of  poets  hath  this  year  brought  out,"  as 
Pliny  complains  to  Sossius  Sinesius.  *  "  This  April  every 
day  some  or  other  have  recited."  What  a  catalogue  of  new 
books  all  this  year,  all  this  age  (I  say),  have  our  Frankfort 
Marts,  our  domestic  Marts  brought  out?  Twice  a  year, 
'  "  Proferunt  se  nova  ingenia  et  ostentant,  we  stretch  our  wits 
out,  and  set  them  to  sale,  magno  conatu  nihil  agimus.  So 
that  which  6  Gesner  much  desires,  if  a  speedy  reformation 
be  not  had,  by  some  Prince's  Edicts  and  grave  Supervisors, 
to  restrain  this  liberty,  it  will  rim  on  in  infinitum.  Quis  tarn 
avidus  librorum  heUuo,  who  can  read  them  ?  As  already,  we 
shall  have  a  vast  chaos  and  confusion  of  books,  we  are  7  op 
pressed  with  them,  8  our  eyes  ache  with  reading,  our  fingers 
with  turning.  For  my  part  I  am  one  of  the  number  nos  numertu 
surma  (we  are  mere  ciphers)  :  I  do  not  deny  it,  I  have  only 
this  of  Macrobius  to  say  for  myself,  Omne  meum,  nihil  meum, 
'tis  all  mine  and  none  mine.  As  a  good  housewife  out  of 
divers  fleeces  weaves  one  piece  of  cloth,  a  bee  gathers  wax 

1  Sterile  oportet  esse  ingeninm  quod  in  arguantur  auctorum  furta  et  millics  rep- 
hoc  scripturientum  pruritus,  &c.  etita  tollantur,  et  temere  scribendi  li- 
>  Cardan,  praef.  ad  Consol.  *  Hor.  lib.  1,  bido  coerceatur,  aliter  in  infinitum  pro 
sat.  4.  4  Epist.  lib.  1.  Magnum  poeta-  gressura.  7  Onerabuntur  ingenia,  nemo 
rum  prorentum  annus  hie  attulit,  mense  legendis  sufficit.  8  Libris  obruimur 
April!  nullus  fere  dies  quo  non  aliquis  re-  oculi  legendo,  manus  volitando  dolent 
citavit.  «  Idem.  «  Principibua  et  Fam.  Strada  Momo.  Lucretiua. 
doctoribug  deliberandum  relinquo,  at 


38  Democritiis  to  the  Reader. 

and  honey  out  of  many  flowers,  and  makes  a  new  bundle  of 
all,  Floriferis  ut  apes  in  saltibus  omnia  libant,  I  have  labori 
ously  l  collected  this  Cento  out  of  divers  writers,  and  that 
sine  injurid,  I  have  wronged  no  authors,  but  given  every 
man  his  own  ;  which  a  Hierom  so  much  commends  in  Nepo- 
tian ;  he  stole  not  whole  verses,  pages,  tracts,  as  some  do 
nowadays,  concealing  their  authors'  names,  but  still  said  this 
was  Cyprian's,  that  Lactantius,  that  Hillarius,  so  said  Minu- 
tius  Felix,  so  Victorinus,  thus  far  Arnobius  :  I  cite  and  quote 
mine  authors  (which,  howsoever  some  illiterate  scribblera 
account  pedantical,  as  a  cloak  of  ignorance,  and  opposite  to 
their  affected  fine  style,  I  must  and  will  use)  sumpsi,  non 
Burripui  ;  and  what  Varro,  lib.  6,  de  re  rust,  speaks  of  bees, 
minime  makfica  nuttius  opus  vetticantes  faciunt  deterius,  1 
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  qudm  unde  sumptum 
sit  apparet,  which  nature  doth  with  the  aliment  of  our  bodies 
incorporate,  digest,  assimilate,  I  do  concoquere  quod  hausi,  dis 
pose  of  what  I  take.  I  make  them  pay  tribute,  to  set  out  this 
my  Maceronicon,  the  method  only  is  mine  own,  I  must  usurp 
that  of  *  Wecker  e  Ter.  nihil  dictum  quod  non  dictum  priug, 
methodus  sola  artificem  ostendit,  we  can  say  nothing  but  what 
hath  been  said,  the  composition  and  method  is  ours  only,  and 
shows  a  scholar.  Oribasius,  .^Esius,  Avicenna,  have  all  out  of 
Galen,  but  to  their  own  method,  diverso  stilo,  non  diversd  fide. 
Our  poets  steal  from  Homer ;  he  spews,  saith  JElian,  they  lick 
it  up.  Divines  use  Austin's  words  verbatim  still,  and  our  story 
dressers,  do  as  much ;  he  that  comes  last  is  commonly  best. 

donee  quid  grandins  setas 
Postera  sorsque  ferat  melior.  •* 

Though  there  were  many  giants  of  old  in  Physic  and  Philos- 

1  Quioquid  ubique  bene  dictum  facio  illnd  Gyp.  hoc  Lact.  Hind  Hilar.  est,  ita 

meuni.  et  illnd  nunc  nieis  a'l  compendi-  Victorinus,  in  hunc  modum  loquutus  eft 

am,  nanc  ad  fidcm  et  auctoritatem  alienis  Arnobius,  &c.       '  Praef.  ad  Syntax  med 

ezprimo  verbis,  omneg  auctores  meos  cli-  *  Until  a  later  age  and  a  happier  lot  pity 

nntea  ease  arbitror.  &c.     Sarisburiensis  dace  something  more  truly  grand. 
•d  Polycrat.  prol.    '     *  In  Epitaph.  Nep. 


Democritus  to  the  Readet.  39 

ophy,  yet  I  say  with  l  Didacus  Stella,  "  A  dwarf  standing  on 
the  shoulders  of  a  giant  may  see  farther  than  a  giant  him 
self;"  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  ^Elianus  Montaltus,  that  famous  physi 
cian,  to  write  de  mortis  capitis  after  Jason  Pratensis,  Heur- 
nius,  Hildesheim,  &c.,  many  horses  to  run  in  a  race,  one 
logician,  one  rhetorician,  after  another.  Oppose  then  what 

thou  wilt, 

Allatres  licet  usque  nos  et  usque, 
Et  Gannitibus  improbis  lacessas. 

1  solve  it  thus.     And  for  those  other  faults  of  barbarism, 

2  Doric  dialect,  extemporanean  style,  tautologies,  apish  imita 
tion,  a  rhapsody  of  rags  gathered  together  from  several  dung 
hills,  excrements  of  authors,  toys  and  fopperies  confusedly 
tumbled  out,  without  art,  invention,  judgment,  wit,  learning, 
harsh,  raw,  rude,  fantastical,  absurd,  insolent,  indiscreet,  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  myself.     '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  myself  to  read  him  or 
thee  so  writing ;  'tis  not  opera  pretium.     All  I  say  is  this, 
that  I  have  8  precedents  for  it,  which  Isocrates  calls  perfugium 
Us  qui  peccant,  others  as  absurd,  vain,  idle,  illiterate,  &c. 
Nonnutti  alii  idem  fecerunt ;  others  have  done  as  much,  it 
may  be  more,  and  perhaps  thou  thyself,  Novimus  et  qui  te, 
&c.     We  have  all  our  faults ;  scimus,  et  hanc  veniam,  &c. ; 
4  thou  censurest  me,  so  have  I  done  others,  and  may  do  thee, 
Cedimus  inque  vicem,&c.,  'tis  lex  taliones,  quid  pro  quo.     Go 
now,  censure,  criticize,  scoff,  and  rail. 

6  Nasutus  sis  usque  licet,  sis  de'nique  nasus: 
Non  potes  in  nugas  dicere  plura  meas, 
Ipse  ego  quam  dixi,  &c. 

1  In  Luc.  10,  torn.  2.    Pigmei  Qigantum  apes.    Lipsius  adversus  dialogist.      *  Uno 

huiueria  impositi  plusquam  ipsi  Gigantes  absnrdo  dato  mille  sequuntur.        *  Noa 

vidcnt.        2  Nee  aranearum  textua  ideo  dubito  multos  lectores  hie  fore  stulto*. 

melior  quia  ex  Be  flla  gignuntur,  nee  nos-  *  Martial,  13,  2. 
tor  ideo  vilior,  quia  ex  alieuis  libamus  ut 


40  Democritus  to  the  Reader. 

Wert  thou  all  scoffs  and  flouts,  a  very  Momns, 
Than  we  ourselves,  thou  canst  not  say  worse  of  us. 

Thus,  as  when  women  scold,  have  I  cried  whore  first,  and 
in  some  men's  censures  I  am  afraid  I  have  overshot  myself, 
Laudare  se  vani,  vituperare  stulti,  as  I  do  not  arrogate,  I  will 
not  derogate.  Primus  vestrum  non  sum,  nee  tmus,  I  am  none 
of  the  best,  I  am  none  of  the  meanest  of  you.  As  I  am  an 
inch,  or  so  many  feet,  so  many  parasangs,  after  him  or  him,  I 
may  be  peradventure  an  ace  before  thee.  Be  it  therefore  as 
it  is,  well  or  ill,  I  have  essayed,  put  myself  upon  the  stage  ; 
I  must  abide  the  censure,  I  may  not  escape  it  It  is  most 
true,  stylus  virum  arguit,  our  style  bewrays  us,  and  as  *  hunt 
ers  find  their  game  by  the  trace,  so  is  a  man's  genius  descried 
by  his  works,  Multo  melius  ex  sermone  quam  lineamentis,  de 
moribus  hominum  judicamus ;  it  was  old  Cato's  rule.  I 
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  Erasmus,  nihil  morosius  hominum  judiciig, 
there  is  naught  so  peevish  as  men's  judgments ;  yet  this  is 
some  comfort,  utpalata,  sicjudicia,  our  censures  are  as  vari 
ous  as  our  palates. 

9  Tres  mihi  convive  prope  dissentire  videntur, 
Poscentes  vario  multum  diversa  palato,  &c. 

Three  guests  I  have,  dissenting  at  my  feast, 
Requiring  each  to  gratify  his  taste 
With  different  food. 

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  men's  fancies  are  inclined.  Pro  captu 
lectoris  habent  suafata  libelli.  That  which  is  most  pleasing 
to  one  is  amaracum  sui,  most  harsh  to  another.  Quot  homines, 
tot  sententiee,  so  many  men,  so  many  minds  ;  that  which  thou 
condemnest  he  commends.  *  Quod  petis,  id  sane  est  invisurr 

1  Ut  venatorw  feram  6  yestlglo  impreeso,  virum  scriptiuncula     Lipa.  <  Hor 

*  Hor. 


Democritus  to  the  Reader.  41 

actdumque  duobus.  He  respects  matter,  thou  art  wholly  for 
words ;  he  loves  a  loose  and  free  style,  thou  art  all  for  neat 
composition,  strong  lines,  hyperboles,  allegories  ;  he  desires  a 
fine  frontispiece,  enticing  pictures,  such  as  *  Hieron.  Natali 
the  Jesuit  hath  cut  to  the  Dominicals,  to  draw  on  the  reader's 
attention,  which  thou  rejectest;  that  which  one  admires, 
another  explodes  as  most  absurd  and  ridiculous.  If  it  be  not 
point  blank  to  his  humour,  his  method,  his  conceit,  *si  quid 
forsan  omissum,  quod  is  animo  conceperit,  si  qua  dictio,  &c. 
If  aught  be  omitted,  or  added,  which  he  likes,  or  dislikes, 
thou  art  mancipium  paucee  lectionis,  an  idiot,  an  ass,  nuttus 
et,  or  plagiarius,  a  trifler,  a  trivant,  thou  art  an  idle  fellow  ; 
or  else  it  is  a  thing  of  mere  industry,  a  collection  without  wit 
or  invention,  a  very  toy.  2  Facilia  sic  putant  omnes  quce  jam 
facta,  nee  de  salebris  cogitant  ubi  via  strata;  so  men  are 
valued,  their  labours  vilified  by  fellows  of  no  worth  them 
selves,  as  things  of  nought,  who  could  not  have  done  so  much. 
Unusquisque  abundat  sensu  suo,  every  man  abounds  in  his 
own  sense ;  and  whilst  each  particular  party  is  so  affected, 
how  should  one  please  all  ? 

»  Quid  dem?  quid  non  dem?    Renuis  tu  qnod  jubet  ille. 

What  courses  must  I  choose? 
What  not  ?    What  both  would  order  yon  refuse. 

How  shall  I  hope  to  express  myself  to  each  man's  humoui 
and  *  conceit,  or  to  give  satisfaction  to  all  ?  Some  understand 
too  little,  some  too  much,  qui  similiter  in  legendos  libros,  atque 
in  salutandos  homines  irruunt,  non  cogitantes  quales,  sed  qui- 
bus  vestibus  induti  sint,  as  'Austin  observes,  not  regarding 
what,  but  who  write,  *orexin  habet  auctoris  celebritas,  not 
valuing  the  metal,  but  stamp  that  is  upon  it,  Cantharum  as- 
piciunt,  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 

*  Antwerp,  fol.  1607.  1  Muretns.    Muretus.  B  Lib.  1,  de  ord..  cap  11 

1  Lipsius.       3  Hor.       *  Fieri  non  potest,    «  Erasmus. 
at  quod  qiiisque    cogitat,  dicat    unus. 


42  Democritus  to  the  Reader. 

*  Baronius  hath  it  of  Cardinal  Caraffa's  works,  he  is  a  mere 
nog  that  rejects  any  man  for  his  poverty.    Some  are  too  par 
tial,  as  friends  to  overween,  others  come  with  a  prejudice  to 
carp,  vilify,  detract,  and  scoff  (qui  de  me  forsan,  quicquid 
est,  omni  contemptu  contemptius  judicant)  ;  some  as  bees  for 
honey,  some  as  spiders  to  gather  poison.     What  shall  I  do  in 
this  case  ?  As  a  Dutch  host,  if  you  come  to  an  inn  in  Germa 
ny,  and  dislike  your  fare,  diet,  lodging,  &c.,  replies  in  a  surly 
tone,  1 " aliud  tibi  quceras  diversorium"  if  you  like  not  this, 
get  you  to  another  inn :  I  resolve,  if  you  like  not  my  writing, 
go  read  something  else.     I  do  not  much  esteem  thy  censure, 
take  thy  course,  it  is  not  as  thou  wilt,  nor  as  I  will,  but  when 
we  have  both  done,  that  of  a  Plinius  Secundus  to  Trajan  will 
prove  true,  "  Every  man's  witty  labour  takes  not,  except  the 
matter,  subject,  occasion,  and   some  commending  favourite 
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)  heroum  quorun- 
dam,  pontificum,  et  virorum  nobilium  familiaritatem  et  amici- 
tiam,  gratasque  gratias,  et  multorum  4  bene  laudatorum  laudes 
sum  inde  promeritus,  as  I  have  been  honoured  by  some  wor 
thy  men,  so  have  I  been  vilified  by  others,  and  shall  be.     At 
the  first  publishing  of  this  book,  (which  6  Probus  of  Persius's 
satires),  editum  librum  continuo  mirari  homines,  atque  avide 
deripere  coeperunt,  I  may  in  some  sort  apply  to  this  my  work. 
The  first,  second,  and   third  editions   were   suddenly  gone, 
eagerly  read,  and,  as  I  have  said,  not  so  much  approved  by 
some,  as  scornfully  rejected  by  others.     But  it  was  Democ 
ritus   his  fortune,  Idem  admirationi  et   f  irrisioni  habitus. 
'Twas    Seneca's   fate,  that   superintendent  of  wit,  learning, 
judgment,  '  ad  stuporem  doctus,  the  best  of  Greek  and  Latin 
writers,  in  Plutarch's  opinion  ;  "  that  renowned  corrector  of 

*  Anna).  Tom.  8,  ad  annum  860.    Est  fautor,  occasio,  commendatorque  contln- 

porcus  ille  qui  sacerdotem  ex  amplltudine  gat.      *  Prsef.  hist.      *  Laudari  a  laudato 

redituum  sordide  demetitur.        1  Erasm.  laus  est.         *  yit.   Persii.          t  Minuet 

dial.         2  Epist.  lib.  6.    Cujusque  inge-  praesentia  famam         •  Lipsius  Judic.  da 

niuni  noo  statiin  emurgit,  nisi  materiaa  Seneca. 


Democritus  to  the  Reader.  43 

vice,"  as  *  Fabius  terms  him,  "  and  painful  omniscious  philos 
opher,  that  writ  so  excellently  and  admirably  well,"  could  not 
please  all  parties,  or  escape  censure.  How  is  he  vilified  by 
8  Caligula,  Agellius,  Fabius,  and  Lipsius  himself,  his  chief 
propugner  ?  In  eo  pleraque  pernitiosa,  saith  the  same  Fabius, 
many  childish  tracts  and  sentences  he  hath  sermo  ittaboratus, 
too  negligent  often  and  remiss,  as  Agellius  observes,  oratio 
vulgaris  et  protrita,  dicaces  et  ineptce  sententia,  eruditio  ple- 
beia,  an  homely  shallow  writer  as  he  is.  In  portions  spinas 
et  fastidia  habet,  saith  *  Lipsius ;  and,  as  in  all  his  other 
works,  so  especially  hi  his  epistles,  (dice  in  argutiis  et  ineptiis 
occupantur,  intricatus  alicubi,  et  parum  compositus,  sine  copid 
rerum  hoc  fecit,  he  jumbles  up  many  things  together  imme- 
thodically,  after  the  Stoics'  fashion,  parum  ordinavit,  multa 
accumulavit,  &c.  If  Seneca  be  thus  lashed,  and  many  famous 
men  that  I  could  name,  what  shall  I  expect  ?  How  shall  1 
that  am  vix  umbra  tanti  philosophy  hope  to  please  ?  u  No 
man  so  absolute  (8  Erasmus  holds)  to  satisfy  all,  except  an 
tiquity,  prescription,  &c.,  set  a  bar."  But  as  I  have  proved  in 
Seneca,  this  will  not  always  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,  non  sum  adeo  informis,  I  would  not  be  6  vilified. 

•  laudatus  abunde, 
Non  fastiditus  si  tibi,  lector,  ero. 

I  fear  good  men's  censures,  and  to  then*  favourable  acceptance 
I  submit  my  labours, 

'  et  linguas  mane ipiorum 
Contemno. 

As  the  barking  of  a  dog,  I  securely  contemn  those  malicious 

1  Lib.  10.    Plurimnm  studii,  multam  temporis  prsescriptio,   semota  judicand] 

rerum  cognitionem,  omnem    studiorum  libertate,  religione  quadam  animos  occu- 

materiam,  &c.,  multa  in  eo  probanda,  pint.        <  Hor.  Ep.  1,  lib.  19.        *  JSquA 

multa  adiniranda.       *  Snet.    Arena  sine  turpe  frigidfe  laudari  ac  insectanter  vitu- 

ealce.       *  In  trod  net.  ad  Sen.      3  Judic.  perari.     Phavorinus  A.Gel.  lib.  19,  cap  2 

de  Sen.  Viz  aliquis  tarn  absolutug,  ut  6  Ovid,  trist.  11,  eleg.  6.  '  Juvou.  sat.5 
alter!  per  omiiia  satisfaciat  nM  longa 


44  Democritus  to  the  Reader. 

and  scurrile  obloquies,  flouts,  calumnies  of  railers  and  de 
tractors  ;  I  scorn  the  rest.  What  therefore  I  have  said,  pro 
tenuitate  med,  I  have  said. 

One  or  two  things  yet  I  was  desirous  to  have  amended  if 
I  could,  concerning  the  manner  of  handling  this  my  subject, 
for  which  I  must  apologize,  deprecari,  and  upon  better  advice 
give  the  friendly  reader  notice :  it  was  not  mine  intent  to 
prostitute  my  muse  in  English,  or  to  divulge  secreta  Minervce, 
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  English ;  they  print  all, 

cuduntque  libellos 
In  quorum  foliis  vix  simia  nuda  cacaret: 

But  in  Latin  they  will  not  deal ;  which  is  one  of  the  reasons 
1  Nicholas  Car,  in  his  oration  of  the  paucity  of  English  writ 
ers,  gives,  that  so  many  flourishing  wits  are  smothered  in 
oblivion,  lie  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  remissly,  as  it  was  first  conceived ; 
but  my  leisure  would  not  permit ;  fed  nee  quod  potui,  nee 
quod  volui,  I  confess  it  is  neither  as  I  would,  nor  as  it  should 

be. 

1  Cum  relego  scripsisse  pudet,  quia  plnrima  cerno 
Me  quoque  quse  fuerant  judice  digna  lini. 

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

Ei  quod  gravissimum,  in  the  matter  itself,  many  things  I  dis 
allow  at  this  ptfesent,  which,  when  I  writ,  *  Non  eadem  est 
eetas,  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  I  wisely  done)  observed  that  precept 

of  the  poet, nonumque  prematur  in  annum,  and  have 

taken  more  care :  or,  as  Alexander  the  physician  would  have 

>  Ant  artls  tnsctl  ant  quswtui  magls    Lond.  Exeus.  1676.  *  Ovid,  d*  pout 

qUH&  Uterls  student,    hab.   Cantab,  et    Eleg.  1,  6.        *  Hor. 


Democritus  to  the  Reader.  45 

done  by  lapis  lazuli,  fifty  times  washed  before  it  be  used  1 
should  have  revised,  corrected,  and  amended  this  tract ;  but  1 
had  not  (as  I  said)  that  happy  leisure,  no  amanuenses  or  as 
sistants.  Pancrates  hi  1Lucian,  wanting  a  servant  as  he 
went  from  Memphis  to  Coptus  in  Egypt,  took  a  door-bar,  and 
after  some  superstitious  words  pronounced  (Eucrates  the  re- 
lator  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,  turned  his  man  to  a  stick  again.  I  have  no  such 
skill  to  make  new  men  at  my  pleasure,  or  means  to  hire 
them ;  no  whistle  to  call  like  the  master  of  a  ship,  and  bid 
them  run,  &c.  I  have  no  such  authority,  no  such  benefac 
tors,  as  that  noble  *  Ambrosius  was  to  Origen,  allowing  him 
six  or  seven  amanuenses  to  write  out  his  dictates ;  I  must  for 
that  cause  do  my  business  myself,  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  young 
ones,  but  even  so  to  publish  it,  as  it  was  first  written,  quic- 
quid  in  buccam  venit,  in  an  extemporean  style,  as  a  I  do 
commonly  all  other  exercises,  effudi  quicquid  dictavit  genius 
meus,  out  of  a  confused  company  of  notes,  and  writ  with  as 
small  deliberation  as  I  do  ordinarily  speak,  without  all  affec 
tation  of  big  words,  fustian  phrases,  jingling  terms,  tropes, 
strong  lines,  that  like  t  Acestes'  arrows  caught  fire  as  they 
flew,  strains  of  wit,  brave  heats,  elogies,  hyperbolical  exorna- 
tions,  elegances,  &c.,  which  many  so  much  affect  I  am 
1 aquae  potor,  drink  no  wine  at  all,  which  so  much  improves 
our  modern  wits,  a  loose,  plain,  rude  writer,  fawn  voco  ficum, 
et  ligonem  ligonem,  and  as  free,  as  loose,  idem  calamo  quod  in 
mente,  *  I  call  a  spade  a  spade,  animis  heec  scribo,  non  auribus^ 
I  respect  matter,  not  words ;  remembering  that  of  Cardan, 
verba  propter  res,  non  res  propter  verba:  and  seeking  with 

1  Tom.  3.        Philopseud.  accepto  pea-  uno,  as  he  made  verses.  f  Virg. 

gnlo,  quum  carmen  quoddam   dixisset,  •  Non  eadem  a  summo  expectes,  mini* 

effecit  ut   ambularet,  aqnam  hauriret,  moque  poeta.  *  Stylus  hie  nullus 

uraam  pararet,  &c.  *  Euseblus,  pneter  parrhesiam. 

eeelM.  hist.  Ub.  6.  *  Stans  pede  iu 


46  Democntus  to  the  Header. 

Seneca,  quid  scribam,  non  quemadmodum,  rather  what  than 
how  to  write :  for  as  Philo  thinks,  " l  He  that  is  conversant 
about  matter,  neglects  words,  and  those  that  excel  in  this  art 
of  speaking,  have  no  profound  learning, 

2  Verba  nitent  phaleris,  at  nullas  verba  medullas 
Intus  habent — 

Besides,  it  was  the  observation  of  that  wise  Seneca,  "  *  when 
you  see  a  fellow  careful  about  his  words,  and  neat  in  his 
speech,  know  this  for  a  certainty  that  man's  mind  is  busied 
about  toys,  there's  no  solidity  in  him.  Non  est  omamentum 
virile  concinnitas:  as  he  said  of  a  nightingale,  vox  es,  prceterea 
nihil,  &c.  I  am  therefore  in  this  point  a  professed  disciple 
of  *  Apollonius  a  scholar  of  Socrates,  I  neglect  phrases,  and 
labour  wholly  to  inform  my  reader's  understanding,  not  to 
please  his  ear ;  'tis  not  my  study  or  intent  to  compose  neatly, 
which  an  orator  requires,  but  to  express  myself  readily  and 
plainly  as  it  happens.  So  that  as  a  river  runs  sometimes  pre 
cipitate  and  swift,  then  dull  and  slow ;  now  direct,  then  per 
ambages;  now  deep,  then  shallow;  now  muddy,  then  clear; 
now  broad,  then  narrow ;  doth  my  style  flow  :  now  serious, 
then  light ;  now  comical,  then  satirical ;  now  more  elaborate, 
then  remiss,  as  the  present  subject  required,  or  as  at  that 
time  I  was  affected.  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 
champaign,  there  inclosed ;  barren  in  one  place,  better  soil  in 
another:  by  woods,  groves,  hills,  dales,  plains,  &c.  I  shall 
lead  thee  per  ardua  montium,  et  lubrica  vallium,  et  roscida 
cespitum,  et  *  glebosa  camporum,  through  variety  of  object" 
that  which  thou  shalt  like  and  surely  dislike. 

1  Qui  rebus  se  ezereet,  rerba  negligft,  dum.    Epist.  lib.  1,  21.  4  Philostra- 

et  qui  callet  artera  dicendi,  nullam  dis-  ttu,  lib.  8,  Tit.  Apol.    Negllgebat  orato- 

clplinam  habet  recognitam.        *  Pallln-  riam  facnltatem,  et  penitns  aspernabatnr 

gpnius.     Words  may  be  resplendent  with  ejus  professores,  quod  linguam  duntaxat, 

ornament,  bat  they  contain  no  marrow  non  autom  mentem  redderent  erudltio- 

within.  >  Oujusounque  oratlonem  rem.  *  Hie  enim,  quod  Seneca  da 

rides  politam  et  aolicltam,  scito  animum  Ponto,  bos  herbam,  ciconla  larlsam,  canls 

Ut  pusUlig  occupatum,  In  scriptia  nil  soli-  leporem,  yirgo  florem  legat. 


Democritus  to  the  Header.  47 

For  the  matter  itself  or  method,  if  it  be  faulty,  consider  I 
pray  you,  that  of  Columetta,  Nihil  perfectum,  awt  d  singulari 
consummatum  mdustrid,  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  /eras  capere,  non  omnes ;  he  is  a  good 
huntsman,  can  catch  some,  not  all ;  I  have  done  my  endeav 
our.  Besides,  I  dwell  not  in  this  study,  Non  hie  sulcos  dud- 
mm,  non  hoc  pulvere  desudamus,  I  am  but  a  smatterer,  I  con 
fess,  a  stranger,  2  here  and  there  I  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  Te 
rence,  but  three  hundred.  So  many  as  he  hath  done  in 
Cardan's  subtleties,  as  many  notable  errors  as  8  Gul.  Laurem- 
bergius,  a  late  professor  of  Kostocke,  discovers  in  that  anat 
omy  of  Laurentius,  or  Barocius  the  Venetian  in  Sacro  boscus. 
And  although  this  be  a  sixth  edition,  in  which  I  should  have 
been  more  accurate,  corrected  all  those  former  escapes,  yet 
it  was  magni  laboris  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  which  is  written.  If  aught 
therefore  be  amiss  (as  I  grant  there  is),  I  require  a  friendly 
admonition,  no  bitter  invective,  *  Sint  musis  socii  Charites, 
Furia  omnis  abesto,  otherwise,  as  in  ordinary  controversies 
funem  contentionis  nectamus,  sed  cui  bono?  We  may  con 
tend,  and  likely  misuse  each  other,  but  to  what  purpose  ?  We 
are  both  scholars,  say, 

«  Arcades  am  bo, 
Et  cantare  pares,  et  respondere  parati. 

Both  young  Arcadians,  both  alike  inspir'd 
To  sing  and  answer  as  the  song  requir'd. 

If  we  do  wrangle  what  shall  we  get  by  it?     Trouble  and 

1  Pet.  Natmitts  not.  in  HOT.  *  Non  nt  canis  Nilmn  lambens.  *  Supra  bit 
We  colonus  domicilium  habeo,  sed  topi-  mille  notabiles  errores  Laurentii  demon 
aril  In  morem,  hinc  inde  florem  velllco,  stravi,  &o.  *  Philo  da  Con. 


48  Democritus  to  the  Header. 

wrong  ourselves,  make  sport  to  others.  If  I  be  convict  of 
an  error,  I  will  yield,  I  will  amend.  Si  quid  bonis  moribus, 
si  quid  veritati  dissentaneum,  in  sacris  vel  humanis  literis  a 
me  dictum  sit,  id  nee  dictum  esto.  In  the  mean  time  I  re 
quire  a  favourable  censure  of  all  faults  omitted,  harsh  com 
positions,  pleonasms  of  words,  tautological  repetitions  (though 
Seneca  bear  me  out,  nunquam  nimis  dicitur,  quod  nunquam 
satis  dicitur)  perturbations  of  tenses,  numbers,  printers' 
faults,  &c.  My  translations  are  sometimes  rather  paraphrases 
than  interpretations,  non  ad  verbum,  but  as  an  author,  I  use 
more  liberty,  and  that's  only  taken  which  was  to  my  purpose. 
Quotations  are  often  inserted  in  the  text,  which  makes  the 
style  more  harsh,  or  in  the  margin  as  it  happened.  Greek 
authors,  Plato,  Plutarch,  Athenaeus,  &c.,  I  have  cited  out  of 
their  interpreters,  because  the  original  was  not  so  ready.  I 
nave  mingled  sacra  prophanis,  but  I  hope  not  profaned,  and 
in  repetition  of  authors'  names,  ranked  them  per  accidens,  not 
according  to  chronology;  sometimes  Neoterics  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. 

1  Nunquam  ita  quicquam  bene  subducta  rations  ad  vitaiu  fait, 
Quin  res,  setas,  usus,  semper  aliquid  apportent  novi, 
Aliquid  moneant,  ut  ilia  quoe  scire  te  credas,  nescias, 
Et  qua;  tibi  putaris  priraa,  in  exercendo  at  repudias. 

Ne'er  was  aught  yet  at  first  contrived  so  fit, 
Bat  use,  age,  or  something  would  alter  it; 
Advise  thee  better,  and,  upon  peruse, 
Make  thee  not  say,  and  what  thou  takest  refuse. 

But  I  am  now  resolved  never  to  put  this  treatise  out  again, 
Ne  quid  nimis,  I  will  not  hereafter  add,  alter,  or  retract ;  I 
have  done.  The  last  and  greatest  exception  is,  that  I,  being 
a  divine,  have  meddled  with  physic, 

•  Frambesarius,  Sennertna,  Ferandu*,  &c.        1  Tar.  Adelph. 


Democritus  to  the  Header.  49 

i  Tantumne  est  ab  re  tua  otii  tibi, 
Aliena  ut  cures,  eaque  nihil  quas  ad  te  attinent? 

Which  Menedemus  objected  to  Chremes ;  have  I  so  much 
leisure,  or  little  business  of  mine  own,  as  to  look  after  other 
men's  matters  which  concern  me  not  ?  What  have  I  to  do 
with  physic  ?  Quod  medicorum  est  promittant  medici.  The 
*  Lacedemonians  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  dehonestabatur  pessimo  auctore,  it  had  no  better  an 
author;  let  some  good  man  relate  the  same,  and  then  it 
should  pass.  This  counsel  was  embraced,  factum  est,  and  it 
was  registered  forthwith.  Et  sic  bona  sententia  mansit,  ma~ 
Iw  auctor  mutatus  est.  Thou  sayest  as  much  of  me,  stoma- 
chosus  as  thou  art,  and  grantest,  peradventure,  this  which  I 
have  written  in  physic,  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,  of  which  had  I  written  ad  ostentationem  only,  to 
show  myself,  I  should  have  rather  chosen,  and  in  which  I 
have  been  more  conversant,  I  could  have  more  willingly  lux 
uriated,  and  better  satisfied  myself  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  de 
ducted  from  the  main  channel  of  my  studies,  in  which  I  have 
pleased  and  busied  myself  at  idle  hours,  as  a  subject  most 
necessary  and  commodious.  Not  that  I  prefer  it  before  divin 
ity,  which  I  do  acknowledge  to  be  the  queen  of  professions, 
and  to  which  all  the  rest  are  as  handmaids,  but  that  in  divin 
ity  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  teams 
of  oxen  cannot  draw  them  ;  and  had  I  been  as  forward  and 

1  Heaut  Act  1,  seen.  1.       *  Gellius,  lib.  18,  cap.  3. 
*^TOL.  I.  4 


50  Democritus  to  the  Header. 

ambitious  as  some  others,  I  might  have  haply  printed  a  ser 
mon  at  Paul's  Cross,  a  sermon  in  St.  Marie's  Oxon,  a  sermon 
in  Christ-Church,  or  a  sermon  before  the  right  honourable, 
right  reverend,  a  sermon  before  the  right  worshipful,  a  ser 
mon  in  Latin,  in  English,  a  sermon  with  a  name,  a  sermon 
without,  a  sermon,  a  sermon,  &c.  But  I  have  been  ever  as 
desirous  to  suppress  my  labours  in  this  kind,  as  others  have 
been  to  press  and  publish  theirs.  To  have  written  in  contro 
versy  had  been  to  cut  off  an  hydra's  head,  llis  litem  general,  one 
begets  another,  so  many  duplications,  triplications,  and  swarms 
of  questions.  In  sacro  betto  hoc  quod  still  mucrone  agitur, 
that  having  once  begun,  I  should  never  make  an  end.  One 
had  much  better,  as  a  Alexander,  the  sixth  pope,  long  since 
observed,  provoke  a  great  prince  than  a  begging  friar,  a 
Jesuit,  or  a  seminary  priest,  I  will  add,  for  inexpugnabik 
genus  hoc  hominum,  they  are  an  irrefragable  society,  they 
must  and  will  have  the  last  word ;  and  that  with  such  eager 
ness,  impudence,  abominable  lying,  falsifying,  and  bitterness 
in  their  questions  they  proceed,  that,  as  he  8  said,  furorne 
ccecus,  an  rapit  vis  acrior,  an  culpa,  responsum  date  ?  Blind 
fury,  or  error,  or  rashness,  or  what  it  is  that  eggs  them,  I 
know  not,  I  am  sure  many  times,  which  *  Austin  perceived 
long  since,  tempestate  contentionis  serenitas  charitatis  obnubi- 
latur,  with  this  tempest  of  contention,  the  serenity  of  charity 
is  overclouded,  and  there  be  too  many  spirits  conjured  up 
already  in  this  kind  in  all  sciences,  and  more  than  we  can 
tell  how  to  lay,  which  do  so  furiously  rage,  and  keep  such  a 
racket,  that  as  6  Fabius  said,  "  It  had  been  much  better  for 
some  of  them  to  have  been  born  dumb,  and  altogether  illit 
erate,  than  so  far  to  dote  to  their  own  destruction." 

At  melius  fuerat  non  scribere,  namque  tacere  * 
Tutum  semper  erit,— 

1  Et  inde  catena  quaedam  fit,  quae  has-  *  Lib.  12,  cap.  1.    Mutos  nascl,  et  omul 

redes  etiam  ligat.  Cardan.  Heiisius.  gcicutia  egere  satius  fuisset,  quam  sic  in 

*  Malle  Be  bellum  cum  magno  principe  propriam  perniciem  insanire.        *  But  it 

gerere.  quam  cum  uno  ex  fratrum  men-  would  be  better  not  to  write,  for  eilenc* 

dicaritium    ordine         *  Hor.   epol.   lib.  is  the  safer  course. 
od.  7           «  Epist.  86,  ad  Caaulam  presb. 


Democritus  to  the  Reader.  51 

Tis  a  general  fault,  so  Severinus  the  Dane  complains  Mn 
physic,  "  unhappy  men  as  we  are,  we  spend  our  days  in 
unprofitable  questions  and  disputations,"  intricate  subtleties, 
de  land  caprind,  about  moonshine  in  the  water,  "  leaving  in 
the  mean  time  those  chiefest  treasures  of  nature  untouched, 
wherein  the  best  medicines  for  all  manner  of  diseases  are  to 
be  found,  and  do  not  only  neglect  them  ourselves,  but  hinder, 
condemn,  forbid,  and  scoff  at  others,  tnat  are  willing  to  in 
quire  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  not  a 
melancholy  divine,  that  can  get  nothing  but  by  simony,  pro 
fess  physic  ?  Drusianus  an  Italian  (Crusianus,  but  corruptly, 
Trithemius  calls  him)  2  "  because  he  was  not  fortunate  in  his 
practice,  forsook  his  profession,  and  writ  afterwards  in  divin 
ity."  Marcilius  Ficinus  was  semel  et  simul ;  a  priest  and  a 
physician  at  once,  and  8  T.  Linacer,  in  his  old  age,  took  orders. 
The  Jesuits  profess  both  at  this  time,  divers  of  them  permissu 
superiorum,  chirurgeons,  panders,  bawds,  and  midwives,  &c. 
Many  poor  country  vicars,  for  want  of  other  means,  are 
driven  to  their  shifts ;  to  turn  mountebanks,  quacksalvers, 
empirics,  and  if  our  greedy  patrons  hold  us  to  such  hard 
conditions,  as  commonly  they  do,  they  will  make  most  of  us 
work  at  some  trade,  as  Paul  did,  at  last  turn  taskers,  malt 
sters,  costermongers,  graziers,  sell  ale  as  some  have  done,  or 
worse.  Howsoever  in  undertaking  this  task,  I  hope  I  shall 
commit  no  great  error  or  indecorum,  if  all  be  considered 

1  Infelix    mortalitas  inutilibus  quaes-  et    alios    prohibemus,   impedimus.   con- 

tionibus  ac  disceptationibus  vitam  tradu-  demuamus,    ludibriigque    afnciinus. 

cinuis,   naturae  principes  thesauros,   in  *  Quod  in  praxi  minime  fortunatus  esset. 

quibus  gravissimae  morborum  medicines  medicinam  reliquit,  et  ordinibus  initiatu» 

collo-atae  sunt,  interim  intactos  relinqui-  in  Tbeologia  postmodum  scripsit.     Ge» 

mug.    Nee  ipsi  solum  relinquimus,  sed  ner  Bibliotheca.        »  P.  Jovius. 


62  Dcmocritus  to  the  Header. 

aright,  I  can  vindicate  myself  with  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  of  pictures  and  maps,  prospectives 
and  chorographical  delights,  writ  that  ample  theatre  of  cities ; 
the  other  to  the  study  of  genealogies,  penned  theatrum  ge- 
nealofficum."  Or  else  I  can  excuse  my  studies  with  a  Lessius 
the  Jesuit  in  like  case.  It  is  a  disease  of  the  soul  on  which  I 
am  to  treat,  and  as  much  appertaining  to  a  divine  as  to  a  phy 
sician,  and  who  knows  not  what  an  agreement  there  is  betwixt 
these  two  professions  ?  A  good  divine  either  is  or  ought  to 
be  a  good  physician,  a  spiritual  physician  at  least,  as  our  Sa 
viour  calls  himself,  and  was  indeed,  Mat  iv.  23 ;  Luke,  v. 
18 ;  Luke,  vii.  8.  They  differ  but  in  object,  the  one  of  the 
body,  the  other  of  the  soul,  and  use  divers  medicines  to  cure ; 
one  amends  animam  per  corpus,  the  other  corpus  per  ani- 
mam,8  as  our  Regius  Professor  of  physic  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,  pre 
sumption,  &c.,  by  applying  that  spiritual  physic ;  as  the  oiher 
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  spiritual  as  a  corporal  cure,  I  could  not  find 
a  fitter  task  to  busy  myself  about,  a  more  apposite  theme,  so 
necessary,  so  commodious,  and  generally  concerning  all  sorts 
of  men,  that  should  so  equally  participate  of  both,  and  re 
quire  a  whole  physician.  A  divine  in  this  compound  mixed 
malady  can  do  little  alone,  a  physician  in  some  kinds  of  met 
ancholy  much  less,  both  make  an  absolute  cure. 


*  Altering  sic  altera  poscit  opera. 

when  in  friendship  join'd 
A  mutual  succour  in  each  other  find. 

>  M.  W.  Burton,  preface  to  his  deacrip-  allena  riderl  debet  a  theologo,  fcc.,  agitut 

tton  of  Leicestershire,  printed  at  London  de  morbo  animse.        *  D.  Clayton  in  eo> 

by  W.  Jaggard,  for  J.  White,  1022.      *  In  mitiis,  anno  1021         «  Hor 
HygiaiUcon,  neque  enim  tueo   tracUtio 


Democntus  to  the  Reader.  53 

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.  I  had  Jupiter  in  my  sixth  house ;  I  say 
with  l  Beroaldus,  non  sum  medians,  nee  medicines  prorsug  ex 
pers,  in  the  theory  of  physic  I  have  taken  some  pains,  not 
with  an  intent  to  practice,  but  to  satisfy  myself,  which  was  a 
cause  likewise  of  the  first  undertaking  of  this  subject. 

If  these  reasons  do  not  satisfy  thee,  good  reader,  as  Alex 
ander  Munificus,  that  bountiful  prelate,  sometimes  bishop  of 
Lincoln,  when  he  had  built  six  castles,  ad  invidiam  operis 
eluendam,  saith  a  Mr  Cambden,  to  take  away  the  envy  of  his 
work  (which  very  words  Nubrigensis  hath  of  Roger  the  rich 
bishop  of  Salisbury,  who  in  king  Stephen's  time  built  Shir- 
burn  castle,  and  that  of  Devizes),  to  divert  the  scandal  or 
imputation,  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  con 
sidered  of  the  matter  of  this  my  subject,  rem  substratam,  mel 
ancholy,  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  ap 
pear  in  the  ensuing  preface.  And  I  doubt  not  but  that  in 
the  end  you  will  say  with  me,  that  to  anatomize  this  humour 
aright,  through  all  the  members  of  this  our  Microcosmus,  is 
as  great  a  task,  as  to  reconcile  those  chronological  errors  in 
the  Assyrian  monarchy,  find  out  the  quadrature  of  a  circle, 
the  creeks  and  sounds  of  the  northeast,  or  northwest  pas 
sages,  and  all  but  as  good  a  discovery  as  that  hungry  *  Span 
iard's  of  Terra  Australis  Incognita,  as  great  trouble  as  to 
perfect  the  motion  of  Mars  and  Mercury,  which  so  crucifies 

*  Lib.  depestll.            *  In  Newark,  in  coenobia,  et  collegia   religioeis   implevit 

Nottinghamshire.     Cum  duo  ediflcSsset  *  Ferdinando  de  Quir.  anno  1612.    An 

eaatella,  ad  tollendam  structionis  inridi-  sterdatni  impress. 
am, eteipiandam  maculam,  duo  instituit 


54  Democritus  to  the  Reader. 

our  astronomers,  or  to  rectify  the  Gregorian  Kalender.  I  am 
BO  affected  for  my  part,  and  hope  as  1  Theophrastus  did  by 
his  characters,  "  That  our  posterity,  0  friend  Policies,  shall 
be  the  better  for  this  which  we  have  written,  by  correcting 
and  rectifying  what  is  amiss  in  themselves  by  our  examples, 
and  applying  our  precepts  and  cautions  to  their  own  use." 
And  as  that  great  captain  Zisca  would  have  a  drum  made  cf 
his  skin  when  he  was  dead,  because  he  thought  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  terrify  his  foes.  Yet 
one  caution  let  me  give  by  the  way  to  my  present,  or  my 
future  reader,  who  is  actually  melancholy,  that  he  read  not 
the  a  symptoms  or  prognostics  in  this  following  tract,  lest  by 
applying  that  which  he  reads  to  himself,  aggravating,  appro 
priating  things  generally  spoken,  to  his  own  person  (as  mel 
ancholy  men  for  the  most  part  do),  he  trouble  or  hurt  him 
self,  and  get  in  conclusion  more  harm  than  good.  I  advise 
them  therefore  warily  to  peruse  that  tract,  Lapides  loquitur 
(so  said  8  Agrippa  de  occ.  Phil.)  et  caveant  lectores  ne  cere 
brum  Us  excutiat.  The  rest  I  doubt  not  they  may  securely 
read,  and  to  their  benefit.  But  I  am  over-tedious,  I  pro 
ceed. 

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  4  Cyprian  adviseth  Donat,  "  supposing  him 
self  to  be  transported  to  the  top  of  some  high  mountain,  and 
thence  to  behold  the  tumults  and  chances  of  this  wavering 
world,  he  cannot  choose  but  either  laugh  at,  or  pity  it."  S. 
Hierom,  out  of  a  strong  imagination,  being  in  the  wilderness, 
conceived  with  himself,  that  he  then  saw  them  dancing  in 

1  Praefat.  ad  Characters*  :  Spero  «nlm  turn.   Panlisper  te  crede  rabdnci  In  ardni 

fO  Policies)  Hhros  nontros  meliores  inde  montia  vertieem  celaiorem,  speculate  ind« 

futures,  quod  istiugmodi  memoriae  man-  rerum  jacentium  facies,  et  oculis  in  di* 

data  reliquerimuR,  ex  preceptis  et  exem-  versa  porrectis,  fluctuantls  mundi  tur 

plii  nofttria  ad  Tit  am  accommodate,  ut  ae  bines  Intuerl,  jam  siinul  ant  ridebls  ant 

Inde  corrigant.        *  Part  1,  sect.  8.  misereberis,  &o 
•  Pnrf.  lectori.       «  Ep.  2. 1, 2.  ad  Don*. 


Democritus  to  the  Header.  55 

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  Epichthomus  Cosmopo^ 
lites  expressed  not  many  years  since  in  a  map)  made  like  a 
fool's  head  (with  that  motto,  Caput  hellebore  dignum)  a 
crazed  head,  cavea  stultomm,  a  fool's  paradise,  or  as  ApolU>- 
nius,  a  common  prison  of  gulls,  cheaters,  flatterers,  &c.,  and 
needs  to  be  reformed.  Strabo,  in  the  ninth  book  of  his  geog 
raphy,  compares  Greece  to  the  picture  of  a  man,  which  com 
parison  of  his,  Nic.  Gerbelius,  in  his  exposition  of  Sophia- 
nus's  map,  approves ;  the  breast  lies  open  from  those  Acroce- 
raunian  hills  in  Epirus,  to  the  Sunian  promontory  in  Attica ; 
Pagae  and  Magaera  are  the  two  shoulders  ;  that  Isthmus  of 
Corinth  the  neck ;  and  Peloponnesus  the  head.  If  this  allu 
sion  holds  'tis  sure  a  mad  head ;  Morea  may  be  Moria,  and 
to  speak  what  I  think,  the  inhabitants  of  modern  Greece 
swerve  as  much  from  reason  and  true  religion  at  this  day,  as 
that  Morea  doth  from  the  picture  of  a  man.  Examine  the 
rest  in  like  sort,  and  you  shall  find  that  kingdoms  and  prov 
inces  are  melancholy,  cities  and  families,  all  creatures,  veg 
etal,  sensible,  and  rational,  that  all  sorts,  sects,  ages,  condi 
tions,  are  out  of  tune,  as  in  Cebes's  table,  omnes  errorem 
Ubunt,  before  they  come  into  the  world,  they  are  intoxicated 
by  error's  cup,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest  have  need  of 
physic,  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  nil  molitur  inepte,  who  is  not 
brain-sick  ?  Folly,  melancholy,  madness,  are  but  one  disease,  ^\ 
Delirium  is  a  common  name  to  all.  Alexander,  Gordonius,  f 
Ja&on  Pratensis,  Savanarola,  Guianerius,  Montaltus,  confound 
them  as  differing  secundum  magis  et  minus ;  so  doth  David, 
Psal.  xxxvii.  5.  "I  said  unto  the  fools,  deal  not  so  madly," 
and  'twas  an  old  stoical  paradox,  omnes  stultos  insanire,  *  all 

"•  Contror.  1,  2,  cont.  7,  &  1,  6,  coot.    Damasippus  Stoicus  probat  omues  stalto* 
Horatius.      *  Idem,  Hor.  1,2.   Satyra3.     insanire. 


56  Democritus  to  the  Header. 

fools  are  mad,  Ihough  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  disposi 
tion,  "  ill  dispositions  beget  habits,  if  they  persevere,"  saith 
1  Plutarch,  habits  either  are,  or  turn  to  diseases.  'Tis  the 
same  which  Tully  maintains  in  the  second  of  his  Tusculans, 
omnium  insipientum  animi  in  morbo  sunt,  et  perturbatorum, 
fools  are  sick,  and  all  that  are  troubled  in  mind ;  for  what  is 
sickness,  but  as  3  Gregory  Tholosanus  defines  it, "  A  dissolution 
or  perturbation  of  the  bodily  league,  which  health  com 
bines  ; "  and  who  is  not  sick,  or  ill-disposed  ?  in  whom  doth 
not  passion,  anger,  envy,  discontent,  fear  and  sorrow  reign  ? 
Who  labours  not  of  this  disease  ?  Give  me  but  a  little  leave, 
and  you  shall  see  by  what  testimonies,  confessions,  argu 
ments,  I  will  evince  it,  that  most  men  are  mad,  that  they 
had  as  much  need  to  go  a  pilgrimage  to  the  Anticyrae  (as  in 
*  Strabo's  time  they  did)  as  in  our  days  they  run  to  Compos- 
tella,  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. 

That  men  are  so  misaffected,  melancholy,  mad,  giddy- 
headed,  hear  the  testimony  of  Solomon,  Eccl.  ii.  12.  "And 
I  turned  to  behold  wisdom,  madness  and  folly,"  &c.  And 
ver.  23 :  "  All  his  days  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,  sor 
row,  madness,  for  part,  or  all,  truly,  or  metaphorically,  'tis  all 
one.  Laughter  itself  is  madness  according  to  Solomon,  and 
as  St.  Paul  hath  it,  "  Worldly  sorrow  brings  death."  "  The 
hearts  of  the  sons  of  men  are  evil,  and  madness  is  in  their 
hearts  while  they  live,"  Eccl.  ix.  3.  "  Wise  men  themselves 
are  no  better,"  Eccl.  i.  18.  "  In  the  multitude  of  wisdom  is 

1  Tom.  2,  Symprm.  lib.  5,  e.  6.    Animi  ftederis   in  corpora  existentte,  aicut  «t 

affectionea,  it  diutius  inhrreant,  pravos  ganitaa  est  consentient!*  bene   corporU 

generant  habitus.  *  Lib.  28,  cap.  1,  consummatio    quaedam.  *  Lib.    9 

Bynt.  art.  mir.    Morbtu  nihil  est  aliud  Oeogr.      Plural  olim  genteg  Bafigabant 

quam  dlsso'utio  quaedam  ac  perturbatio  llluo  sanltati*  cauaft. 


Democritus  to  the  Reader.  57 

much  grief,  and  he  that  increaseth  wisdom  increaseth  sorrow,* 
chap.  ii.  17.  He  hated  life  itself,  nothing  pleased  him ;  he 
hated  his  labour,  all,  as  ihe  concludes,  is  "sorrow,  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  justify  his  own 
actions.  "  Surely  I  am  more  foolish  than  any  man,  and  have 
not  the  understanding  of  a  man  in  me,"  Prov.  xxx.  2.  Be 
they  Solomon's  words,  or  the  words  of  Agur,  the  son  of 
Jakeh,  they  are  canonical.  David,  a  man  after  God's  own 
heart,  confesseth  as  much  of  himself,  Psal.  xxxvii.  21,  22. 
"  So  foolish  was  I  and  ignorant,  I  was  even  as  a  beast  before 
thee."  And  condemns  all  for  fools,  Psal.  liii. ;  xxxii.  9 ; 
xlix.  20.  He  compares  them  to  "  beasts,  horses,  and  mules, 
in  which  there  is  no  understanding."  The  Apostle  Paul 
accuseth  himself  in  like  sort,  2  Cor.  xi.  21.  "I  would  you 
would  suffer  a  little  my  foolishness,  I  speak  foolishly."  "  The  *-  ' 
whole  head  is  sick,"  saith  Esay,  "  and  the  heart  is  heavy," 
cap.  i.  5.  And  makes  lighter  of  them  than  of  oxen  and 
asses,  "  the  ox  knows  his  owner,"  &c. :  read  Deut.  xxxii.  6 ; 
Jer.  iv. ;  Amos,  iii.  1 ;  Ephes.  v.  6.  "  Be  not  mad,  be  not 
deceived,  foolish  Galatians,  who  hath  bewitched  you  ? " 
How  often  are  they  branded  with  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  men's  action. 

I  know  that  we  think  far  otherwise,  and  hold  them  most 
part  wise  men  that  are  in  authority,  princes,  magistrates, 
2  rich  men,  they  are  wise  men  born,  all  politicians  and 
statesmen  must  needs  be  so,  for  who  dare  speak  against 
them  ?  And  on  the  other,  so  corrupt  is  our  judgment,  we 
esteem  wise  and  honest  men  fools.  Which  Democritus  well 
signified  in  an  epistle  of  his  to  Hippocrates :  *  the  "  Abde- 
rites  account  virtue  madness,"  and  so  do  most  men  living. 

1  Kccle*.  i.  24.          *  Jure  hseredltario    *  Apud  quo?  virtus,  insania  et  furor  MUM 
•pen  jubentur   Eupbormio  Satyr.  dicitur. 


58  Democritui  to  the  Reader. 

Shall  I  tell  you  the  reason  of  it?  '  Fortune  and  Virtue, 
Wisdom  and  Folly,  their  seconds,  upon  a  time  contended  in 
the  Olympics ;  every  man  thought  that  Fortune  and  Folly 
would  have  the  worst,  and  pitied  their  cases ;  but  it  fell  out 
otherwise.  Fortune  was  blind  and  cared  not  where  she 
stroke,  nor  whom,  without  laws,  Andabatarum  instar,  &c. 
Folly,  rash  and  inconsiderate,  esteemed  as  little  what  she. 
said  or  did.  Virtue  and  Wisdom  gave  a  place,  were  hissed 
out,  and  exploded  by  the  common  people ;  Folly  and  For 
tune  admired,  and  so  are  all  their  followers  ever  since; 
knaves  and  fools  commonly  fare  and  deserve  best  in  world 
lings'  eyes  and  opinions.  Many  good  men  have  no  better 
fate  in  their  ages ;  Achish,  1  Sam.  xxi.  14,  held  David  for  a 
madman.  *  Elisha  and  the  rest  were  no  otherwise  esteemed. 
David  was  derided  of  the  common  people,  Ps.  ix.  7,  "  I  am 
become  a  monster  to  many."  And  generally  we  are  ac 
counted  fools  for  Christ,  1  Cor.  xiv.  "  We  fools  thought  hia 
life  madness,  and  his  end  without  honour,"  Wisd.  v.  4. 
Christ  and  his  Apostles  were  censured  in  like  sort,  John  x. ; 
Mark  iii. ;  Acts  xxvi.  And  so  were  all  Christians  in 
4  Pliny's  time,  fuerunt  et  alii  similis  dementia,  &c.  And 
called  not  long  after,  *  Vesaniee  sectatores,  eversores  hominum, 
polluti  novatores,  fanatici,  canes,  malefici,  venefici,  Galilcei 
homunciones,  &c.  'Tis  an  ordinary  thing  with  us,  to  ac 
count  honest,  devout,  orthodox,  divine,  refigious,  plaindealing 
men,  idiots,  asses,  that  cannot,  or  will  not  lie  and  dissemble, 
shift,  flatter,  accommodare  se  ad  ewn  locum  ubi  nati  sunt, 
make  good  bargains,  supplant,  thrive,  patronis  inservire ; 
tolennes  ascendendi  modos  apprehendere,  leges,  mores,  consue- 
tudines  recte  observare,  candide  laudare,  fortiter  defendere, 
tententias  amplecti,  dubitare  de  nullis,  credere  omnia,  accip- 
ere  omnia,  nihil  reprehendere,  coster  aque  qua  promotionem 
ferunt  et  securitatem,  qua  sine  anibage  fcelicem  reddunt  homi- 

1  Calcagnintu  Apol.  omnes  mirabantur,  rlsa,  et  plnrea  bine  habet  aectatores  stul 

pntantes     illisum    Iri    gtultitiam.      Bed  titia.        »  Non  est  respondendum  ntulto 

pneter  expectotionem  re«  evenit,  Andax  oecnndum  stultitlam.        »  2  Reg.  7. 

rtultitla  in  earn  Irruit,  be.,  ilia  cedit  ir-  «  Lib.  10.  ep.  97.  *  Aug.  ep.  178 


Democritus  to  the  Reader.  59 

nem,  et  vere  saptentem  apud  nos ;  that  cannot  temporize  as 
other  men  do,  l  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  fool 
hath  said  in  his  heart,"  Psal.  liii.  1.  "  And  their  ways  utter 
their  folly,"  Psal.  xlix.  14.  2 "  For  what  can  be  more  mad, 
than  for  a  little  worldly  pleasure  to  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  works  we  do  so  much  esteem,  that 
gave  precepts  of  wisdom  to  others,  inventors  of  Arts  and 
Sciences,  Socrates  the  wisest  man  of  his  time  by  the  Oracle 
of  Apollo,  whom  his  two  scholars,  8  Plato  and  4  Xenophon, 
so  much  extol  and  magnify  with  those  honourable  titles, 
"  best  and  wisest  of  all  mortal  men,  the  happiest  and  most 
just ; "  and  as  *  Alcibiades  incomparably  commends  him  ; 
Achilles  was  a  worthy  man,  but  Bracides  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  Brach- 
manni,  ^Ethiopian  Gymnosophists,  Magi  of  the  Persians, 
Apollonius,  of  whom  Philostratus,  Non  doctus,  sed  natus 
gapiens,  wise  from  his  cradle,  Epicurus  so  much  admired  by 
his  scholar  Lucretius : 

Qni  genns  humanum  ingenio  superavit,  et  omnes 
Perstrinxit  stellas  exortus  at  setherius  sol. 

Whose  wit  excell'd  the  wits  of  men  as  far, 
As  the  snn  rising  doth  obscnre  a  star, 
Or  that  so  much  renowned  Empedocles. 

t  Ut  vix  humana  videatur  stirpe  creatus. 

l  Quis  nisi  mentis  inops,  &o.      *  Quid  apprime    sapientisslmi,    et     jnstissiml 

Insanius  quam  pro  momentanea  foelici-  *  Xenop.  1, 4,  de  dictis  Socratia  ad  flnem 

tate  aster nis    te    mancipare    suppliciis?  talis  fttit  Socrates   quern  omnium   opti 

*  In  fine  Phaedonis.    Hie  finis  fuit  amici  mum  et  foelicissimum  statoam.        *  IJk 

nostri,  8  Eucrates,  nostro  quidem  jndicio  25,  Platonia  Convirio.        t  Lucretius. 
mnifl'n  quoa  experti  snmus  optiml  et 
_ 


60  Democritus  to  the  Reader. 

All  those  of  whom  we  read  such  l  hyperbolical  eulogiums, 
as  of  Aristotle,  that  he  was  wisdom  itself  in  the  abstract, 2  a 
miracle  of  nature,  breathing  libraries,  as  Eunapius  of  Lon- 
ginus,  lights  of  nature,  giants  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,  phcenix,  atlas,  monstrum,  portentum 
hominis,  orbis  universi  musceum,  uHimus  humante  natures 
conatus,  naturae  maritus. 

merito  cui  doctior  orbis 
Submissis  defert  fascibus  imperium. 

As  JElian  writ  of  Protagoras  and  Gorgias,  we  may  say  of 
them  all,  tantum  a  sapientibus  abfuerunt,  quantum  a  virit 
pueri,  they  were  children  in  respect,  infants,  not  eagles  but 
kites ;  novices,  illiterate,  Eunuchi  sapientite.  And  although 
they  were  the  wisest,  and  most  admired  in  their  age,  as 
he  censured  Alexander,  I  do  them,  there  were  10,000  in  his 
army  as  worthy  captains  (had  they  been  in  place  of  com 
mand),  as  valiant  as  himself;  there  were  myriads  of  men 
wiser  in  those  days,  and  yet  all  short  of  what  they  ought  to 
be.  *  Lactantius,  in  his  book  of  wisdom,  proves  them  to  be 
dizzards,  fools,  asses,  madmen,  so  full  of  absurd  and  ridicu 
lous  tenets,  and  brain-sick  positions,  that  to  his  thinking  never 
any  old  woman  or  sick  person  doted  worse.  4  Democritus 
took  all  from  Leucippus,  and  left,  saith  he,  "  the  inheritance 
of  his  folly  to  Epicurus,"  6insanienti  dum  sapientife,  Syc. 
The  like  he  holds  of  Plato,  Aristippus,  and  the  rest,  making 
no  difference, 6 "  betwixt  them  and  beasts,  saving  that  they 
could  speak."  T  Theodoret  in  his  tract,  De  cur.  grec.  affect. 
manifestly  evinces  as  much  of  Socrates,  whom  though  that 

1  Anaxagoraa   olim    mens    dlctns   ab  de  sap.  e.  17  et  20,  omnes  Philosophi, 

tntlquis.         t  Regula  naturae,  naturae  aut    stulti,  aut    insani;    nulla    anus, 

mlraculum,   ipsa   eruditio,    deemonium  nullus  aeger  Ineptius  deliravit.        <  De- 

hominia,  sol  scicntiarum,  mare,  sopliia,  mocritns  a  Leucippo  doctus,   hoeredita- 

antistes  llterarum  et  saplenttae,  ut  Sci-  tern  stultifies  reliquit  Epic.           6  Hor. 

oppius  olim  de  Seal,  et  Hetnsius.    Aquila  car.  lib.  1,  od.  84, 1,  epicur.      »  Nihil  la* 

In  nublbns,  Imperator  literatorum,  col-  terest  inter  bos  et  bestiaa  nisi  quod  lo> 

omen    liters  rum,    abyssng    erudition!*,  quantur.  de  sa.  1,  26,  c.  8.          7  Oap.  d« 

Buropae,    Scaliger.         » Lib.  8,  yirt. 


Democritus  to  the  Header.  Al 

Oracle  of  Apollo  confirmed  to  be  the  wisest  man  then  living, 
and  saved  him  from  plague,  whom  2000  years  have  admired, 
of  whom  some  will  as  soon  speak  evil  as  of  Christ,  yet  revera, 
he  was  an  illiterate  idiot,  as  1  Aristophanes  calls  him,  irrisor 
et  ambitiosus,  as  his  master  Aristotle  terms  him,  scurra  Atti- 
cus,  as  Zeno,  an  a  enemy  to  all  arts  and  sciences,  as  Athaj- 
neus,  to  philosophers  and  travellers,  an  opinionative  ass,  a 
caviller,  a  kind  of  pedant ;  for  his  manners,  as  Theod.  Cy« 
rensis  describes  him,  a  *  Sodomite,  an  atheist,  (so  convict  by 
Anytus,)  iracundus  et  ebrius,  dicax,  fyc.,  a  pot-companion,  by 
Plato's  own  confession,  a  sturdy  drinker;  and  that  of  all 
others  he  was  most  sottish,  a  very  madman  in  his  actions  and 
opinions.  Pythagoras  was  part  philosopher,  part  magician, 
or  part  witch.  If  you  desire  to  hear  more  of  Apollonius,  a 
great  wise  man,  sometime  paralleled  by  Julian  the  apostate  to 
Christ,  I  refer  you  to  that  learned  tract  of  Eusebius  against 
Hierocles,  and  for  them  all  to  Lucian's  Piscator,  Icaromenip- 
pus,  Necyomantia :  their  actions,  opinions  hi  general  were  so 
prodigious,  absurd,  ridiculous,  which  they  broached  and  main 
tained,  their  books  and  elaborate  treatises  were  full  of  dotage, 
which  Tully  ad  Atticum  long  since  observed,  delirant  ple- 
rumq.  ;  scriptores  in  libris  suis,  their  lives  being  opposite  to 
their  words,  they  commended  poverty  to  others,  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  f  Seneca  tells  them  home)  could  moderate  his  affec 
tions.  Their  music  did  show  us  flebiles  modos,  fyc.,  how  to 
rise  and  fall,  but  they  could  not  so  contain  themselves  as  in 
adversity  not  to  make  a  lamentable  tone.  They  will  measure 
ground  by  geometry,  set  down  limits,  divide  and  subdivide, 
but  cannot  yet  prescribe  quantum  homini  satis,  or  keep 
within  compass  of  reason  and  discretion.  They  can  square 
circles,  but  understand  not  the  state  of  their  own  souls,  de« 

1  Neb.  et  llama.  *  Omnium  disc!-    urn  obibat,  &e.        f  Seneca.  Scia  rotun- 

plinarum    iguarus.  *  Pulchrorum    da  metiri,  sed  non  tuum  animum. 

idolescentuui  causa  frequenter  gymnasi 


62  Democritus  to  the  Reader. 

scribe  right  lines  and  crooked,  &c.,  but  know  not  what  is  right 
in  this  life,  quid  in  vita  rectum  sit,  ignorant ;  so  that  as  he 
sai:l,  Nescio  an  Anticyram  ratio  ittis  destinet  omnem.  I  think 
all  the  Anticyrae  will  not  restore  them  to  their  wits, l  if  these 
men  now,  that  held  2Xenodotus  heart,  Crates  liver,  Epic- 
tetus  lantern,  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.  iii.  19.  "  The  wisdom  of 
this  world  is  foolishness  with  God,  earthly  and  devilish,"  as 
James  calls  it,  iii.  15.  "  They  were  vain  in  their  imagina 
tions,  and  their  foolish  heart  was  full  of  darkness,'  Rom.  i.  21, 
22.  u  When  they  professed  themselves  wise,  became  fools." 
Their  witty  works  are  admired  here  on  earth,  whilst  their 
souls  are  tormented  hi  hell  fire.  In  some  sense,  Christiani 
Orassiani,  Christians  are  Crassians,  and  if  compared  to  that 
wisdom,  no  better  than  fools.  Quis  est  sapiens  ?  Solus  Deus, 
*  Pythagoras  replies,  "  God  is  only  wise,"  Rom.  xvi.  Paul 
determines,  "  only  good,"  as  Austin  well  contends,  "  and  no 
man  living  can  be  justified  in  his  sight."  "  God  looked  down 
from  heaven  upon  the  children  of  men,  to  see  if  any  did  un 
derstand,"  Psalm  liii.  2,  3,  but  all  are  corrupt,  err.  Rom.  iii. 
12,  "None  doth  good,  no  not  one."  Job  aggravates  this,  iv. 
18,  "  Behold  he  found  no  steadfastness  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  fools, 
and  the  8  Scripture  alone  is  arx  Minervce,  we  and  our  writ 
ings  are  shallow  and  imperfect  But  I  do  not  so  mean  ;  even 
in  our  ordinary  dealings  we  are  no  better  than  fools.  "  All 
our  actions,"  as  4  Pliny  told  Trajan,  "  upbraid  us  of  folly,"  our 
whole  course  of  life  is  but  matter  of  laughter ;  we  are  not 
soberly  wise ;  and  the  world  itself,  which  ought  at  least  to  be 
wise  by  reason  of  his  antiquity,  as  6  Hugo  de  Prato  Florido 

1  Ab  nberibiu  sapient  ia  lactati  «ecn-    *  Hie    profnndiRiimae    Sophiae     fodirue 
MM  non  pommnt.  *  Cor  Xeuodoti  et    *  Panegyr.     Trajaao  omnes  actiones  ex- 

ieeur  CratetU  •  Lib.  de  uat.  boni.     probrare  stultitiam  yidentur.        »  Ser.  i, 


Democritus  to  tne  Header.  63 

will  Lave  it,  semper  stultizat,  "  is  every  day  more  foolish  than 
other ;  the  more  it  is  whipped,  the  worse  it  is,  and  as  a  child 
will  still  be  crowned  with  roses  and  flowers."  We  are  apish 
in  it,  asini  bipedes,  and  every  place  is  full  inversorum  Apule- 
iorum,  of  metamorphosed  and  two-legged  asses,  inversorum 
Silenorum,  childish,  pueri  instar  bimuli,  tremula  patris  dor- 
mientis  in  ulna.  Jovianus  Pontanus,  Antonio  Dial,  brings 
in  some  laughing  at  an  old  man,  that  by  reason  of  his  age 
was  a  little  fond,  but  as  he  admonisheth  there,  Ne  mireris  mi 
hospes  de  hoc  sene,  marvel  not  at  him  only,  for  tota  hcec  civ- 
itas  delirat,  all  our  town  dotes  in  like  sort,  *  we  are  a  com 
pany  of  fools.  Ask  not  with  him  in  the  poet,  3  Larvce  hunc 
intemperite  insaniceque  agitant  senem  ?  What  madness  ghosts 
this  old  man,  but  what  madness  ghosts  us  all  ?  For  we  are 
ad  unum  omnes,  all  mad,  semel  insanivimus  omnes,  not  once, 
but  always  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  pueri,  young  and  old,  all  dote,  as  Lactantius 
proves  out  of  Seneca  ;  and  no  difference  betwixt  us  and  chil 
dren,  saving  that,  majora  ludimus,  et  grandioribus  pupis,  they 
play  with  babies  of  clouts  and  such  toys,  we  sport  with 
greater  baubles.  We  cannot  accuse  or  condemn  one  another, 
being  faulty  ourselves,  deliramenta  loqueris,  you  talk  idly,  or 
as  *  Mitio  upbraided  Demea,  insanis,  auferte,  for  we  are  as 
mad  our  ownselves,  and  it  is  hard  to  say  which  is  the  worst. 
Nay,  'tis  universally  so,  4  Vitam  regit  fortuna.  non  sapi' 
entia. 

When  6  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  both  anger  and  much  envy,  yet  in  all  com 
panies  he  would  openly  profess  it  When  '  Supputius  in  Pon 
tanus  had  travelled  all  over  Europe  to  confer  with  a  wise 

In  domi  Pal.    Mundns  qui  ob  antiquita-  puellae.     Hor.  *  Plautus   Aubular. 

tern  deberetesse  sapiens,  semper  stultizat,  8  Adelph.    act    5,    seen.  8  4  Tolly 

•tnullin  fiagellis  alteratur,  sed  ut  puer  Tusc.  5,  fortune,  not  wisdom,  govern! 

mlt  rosis   et   tloribiis  coronari.  our  lives.  5  Plato  Apologia  So-ratUi 

1  Insauuiu  te  omnes  pueri,  clamantque  •  Ant.  dial. 


64  Demoentus  to  the  Reader 

man,  he  returned  at  last  without  his  errand,  and  could  find 
aone.  l  Cardan  concurs  with  him,  "  Few  there  are  (for 
aught  I  can  perceive)  well  in  their  wits."  So  doth  8  Tully, 
"  I  see  everything  to  be  done  foolishly  and  unadvisedly." 

Die  sinistrorsuin,  hie  dextrorsum,  unus  utrique 
Error,  sed  variis  illudit  partibus  omnes. 

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

*  They  dote  all,  but  not  alike,  Mavta  yap  irdatv  opaia,  not  in 
the  same  kind,  "  One  is  covetous,  a  second  lascivious,  a  third 
ambitious,  a  fourth  envious,"  &c.  as  Damasippus  the  Stoic 
hath  well  illustrated  in  the  poet, 

*  Desipiunt  omnes  seque  ao  tu. 

And  they  who  call  you  fool,  with  equal  claim 
May  plead  an  ample  title  to  the  name. 

Tis  an  inbred  malady  in  every  one  of  us,  there  is  semina- 
rium  stultifies,  a  seminary  of  folly,  "  which  if  it  be  stirred  up, 
or  get  ahead,  will  run  in  infinitum,  and  infinitely  varies  as 
we  ourselves  are  severally  addicted,"  saith  6  Balthazar  Cas- 
tilio ;  and  cannot  so  easily  be  rooted  out,  it  takes  such  fast 
hold,  as  Tully  holds,  altce  radices  stultitia,  *  so  we  are  bred, 
and  so  we  continue.  Some  say  there  be  two  main  defects  of 
wit,  error,  and  ignorance,  to  which  all  others  are  reduced ; 
by  ignorance  we  know  not  things  necessary,  by  error  we 
know  them  falsely.  Ignorance  is  a  privation,  error  a  positive 
act.  From  ignorance  comes  vice,  from  error,  heresy,  &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.  7  Sic  plerumque  agitat  stuhos  inscitia,  as  he  that 
examines  his  own  and  other  men's  actions  shall  find. 

1  Lib.  8,  de  Bap.  panel  nt  video  sanae  Eat  in  unoqnoq.  ;  nostrum  semlnarium 

mentis  aunt.       *  Stulte  et  incaute  omnia  aliquod  stultitiie,  quod  si  quando  excite- 

agi   video.  *  Insanla  non  omnibus  tur  in  inflnitum  facile  excrescit.     6  Pri- 

eadem.  Eranm.  cbil.  8,  cent.  10,  nemo  maque  lux  vitw  prima  erroris  erat.     7  Ti- 

mortalium  qui  non  aliqua  in  re  desipit,  bullug,  stulti  pretsereunt  dies,  their  wiU 

licet  nlius  alio  morbo  laboret,  hie  libid-  are  a  wool-gathering.    So  fools  commonly 

Into,  ille  avaritiae,    ambitlonia.  inyidiaa.  dote. 
«  Hot  1.2,  sat.  8.        *  Lib.  1,  de  aullco 


Democritus  to  the  Reader.  65 

*  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  had  sufficiently  viewed,  and  looked  about, 
Mercury  would  needs  know  of  him  what  he  had  observed 
He  told  him  that  he  saw  a  vast  multitude  and  a  promiscuous, 
their  habitations  like  molehills,  the  men  as  emmets,  "he 
could  discern  cities  like  so  many  hives  of  bees,  wherein  every 
bee  had  a  sting,  and  they  did  nought  else  but  sting  one 
another,  some  domineering  like  hornets  bigger  than  the  rest, 
some  like  filching  wasps,  others  as  drones."  Over  their 
heads  were  hovering  a  confused  company  of  perturbations, 
hope,  fear,  anger,  avarice,  ignorance,  &c.,  and  a  multitude  of 
diseases  hanging,  which  they  still  pulled  on  their  pates. 
Some  were  brawling,  some  fighting,  riding,  running,  sotticiie 
ambientes,  cattide  litigantes,  for  toys  and  trifles,  and  such 
momentary  things.  Their  towns  and  provinces  mere  fac 
tions,  rich  against  poor,  poor  against  rich,  nobles  against 
artificers,  they  against  nobles,  and  so  the  rest.  In  conclusion, 
he  condemned  them  all  for  madmen,  fools,  idiots,  asses,  0 
gtulti,  gucenam  hcec  est  amentia  ?  0  fools,  O  madmen,  he 
exclaims,  insana  studia,  insani  labores,  fyc.  Mad  endeav 
ours,  mad  actions,  mad,  mad,  mad,  *  0  seclum  insipiens  et 
irifacetum,  a  giddy-headed  age.  Heraclitus  the  philosopher, 
out  of  a  serious  meditation  of  men's  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  ridiculous,  and  he  was  so 
far  carried  with  this  ironical  passion,  that  the  citizens  of 
Abdera  took  him  to  be  mad,  and  sent  therefore  ambassadors 
to  Hippocrates,  the  physician,  that  he  would  exercise  his  skill 
upon  him.  But  the  story  is  set  down  at  large  by  Hippocra 
tes,  in  his  epistle  to  Damogetus,  which  because  it  is  not 
impertinent  to  this  discourse,  I  will  insert  verbatim  almost  as 
it  is  delivered  by  Hippocrates  himself,  with  all  the  circum 
stances  belonging  unto  it. 

*  Dial,  con  tern  plantes,  Tom.  2.        1  CatuUiu. 
.     VOL.  I.  6 

* 


66  Democritus  to  the  Reader. 

When  Hippocrates  was  now  come  to  Abdera,  the  poopl* 
of  the  city  came  flocking  about  him,  some  weeping,  some 
entreating  of  him,  that  he  would  do  his  best  After  some 
little  repast,  he  went  to  see  Democritus,  the  people  following 
him,  whom  he  found  (as  before)  in  his  garden  in  the  suburbs 
all  alone,  * "  sitting  upon  a  stone  under  a  plane  tree,  without 
hose  or  shoes,  with  a  book  on  his  knees,  cutting  up  several 
beasts,  and  busy  at  his  study."  The  multitude  stood  gazing 
round  about  to  see  the  congress.  Hippocrates,  after  a  little 
pause,  saluted  him  by  his  name,  whom  he  resaluted,  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  *  "  busy  in  cutting  up  several 
beasts,  to  find  out  the  cause  of  madness  and  melancholy." 
Hippocrates  commended  his  work,  admiring  his  happiness 
and  leisure.  And  why,  quoth  Democritus,  have  not  you 
that  leisure  ?  Because,  replied  Hippocrates,  domestic  affairs 
hinder,  necessary  to  be  done  for  ourselves,  neighbours, 
friends;  expenses,  diseases,  frailties  and  mortalities  which 
happen  ;  wife,  children,  servants,  and  such  businesses  which 
deprive  us  of  our  time.  At  this  speech  Democritus  profusely 
laughed  (his  friends  and  the  people  standing  by,  weeping  in 
the  mean  time,  and  lamenting  his  madness).  Hippocrates 
asked  the  reason  why  he  laughed.  He  told  him,  at  the  vani 
ties  and  the  fopperies  of  the  time,  to  see  men  so  empty  of  all 
virtuous  actions,  to  hunt  so  far  after  gold,  having  no  end  of 
ambition ;  to  take  such  infinite  pains  for  a  little  glory,  and  to 
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,  others  horses,  some  to 
desire  to  be  obeyed  in  many  provinces,*  and  yet  themselves 
will  know  no  obedience.  4  Some  to  love  their  wives  dearly 

1  Bab  ramow  platano   aedentem,  BO-  Inquit  animalia  qua  Tides  propterea  geco, 

lum,  dlacalceatum,  super  lapidem,  Talde  non  Dei  opera  perosug,   Bed  fellis  blllsq. 

pal IMu m  ac  marilen turn,  prom issabarba,  naturatn  disqulreng.         *  Aiiftt.  1.   1,  in 

llbrnm  super  genlbus  habentem.        *  De  Gen.   Jumenti  et  senri  tui    obsequinm 

furore,  mania,    melancholia    scrtbo,   ut  rigide  poatulas,   et  tn    nullum   praeatal 

ociam  quo  pacto  In  hominibuB  gignatur,  alii*,  nee  lost  Deo.         *  Cxores  ducunt 

fiat,  creacat,  cumuletur,  minuatur ;  base  mox  foraa  ejiciunt. 


Democritus  to  the  Reader.  67 

At  first,  and  after  awhile  to  forsake  and  hate  them ;  beget 
ting  children,  with  much  care  and  cost  for  then*  education 
yet  when  they  grow  to  man's  estate,  l  to  despise,  neglect,  and 
leave  them  naked  to  the  world's  mercy.  2  Do  not  these  be 
haviours  express  their  intolerable  folly  ?  When  men  live  in 
peace,  they  covet  war,  detesting  quietness,  8  deposing  kings, 
and  advancing  others  in  their  stead,  murdering  some  men  to 
beget  children  of  their  wives.  How  many  strange  humours 
are  in  men !  When  they  are  poor  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  them,  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,  4  the 
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  will  defame  and  kill  one 
another,  commit  all  unlawful  actions,  contemning  God  and 
men,  friends  and  country.  They  make  great  account  of 
many  senseless  things,  esteeming  them  as  a  great  part  of 
their  treasure,  statues,  pictures,  and  such  like  movables,  dear 
bought,  and  so  cunningly  wrought,  as  nothing  but  speech 
wanteth  in  them,  6  and  yet  they  hate  living  persons  speaking 
to  them.*  Others  affect  difficult  things ;  if  they  dwell  on 
firm  land  they  will  remove  to  an  island,  and  thence  to  land 
again,  being  no  way  constant  to  their  desires.  They  com 
mend  courage  and  strength  in  wars,  and  let  themselves  be 
conquered  by  lust  and  avarice ;  they  are,  in  brief,  as  dis 
ordered  in  their  minds,  as  Thersites  was  in  his  body.  And 
now,  methinks,  0  most  worthy  Hippocrates,  you  should  not 
reprehend  my  laughing,  perceiving  so  many  fooleries  in  men  ; 

1  Pnerog     smant,     mox     fnstidiunt.  eitias  agunt.      6  Idola  inanimate  amant, 

*  Quid  hoc  ab  insanil  deest  ?         *  Reges  animate,    odio     habent,    sic    pontiflcli 

ellgunt ,  deponunt.       *  Contra  parentes,  »  Credo  equidem  Tiros  ducoiit  *  manner* 

fratres.  eires  perpetuo  riiantur,  et  inimi-  Yultux 


68  Democritus  to  the  Reader. 

1  for  no  man  will  mock  his  own  folly,  but  that  which  he  seetb 
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  can 
not  agree  in  their  own  trades  and  professions,  much  less  in 
their  lives  and  actions. 

When  Hippocrates  heard  these  words  so  readily  uttered, 
without  premeditation,  to  declare  the  world's  vanity,  full  of 
ridiculous  contrariety,  he  made  answer,  that  necessity  com 
pelled  men  to  many  such  actions,  and  divers  wills  ensuing 
from  divine  permission,  that  we  might  not  be  idle,  being  noth 
ing  is  so  odious  to  them  as  sloth  and  negligence.  Besides, 
men  cannot  foresee  future  events,  in  this  uncertainty  of 
human  affairs ;  they  would  not  so  marry,  if  they  could  fore 
tell  the  causes  of  their  dislike  and  separation ;  or  parents,  if 
they  knew  the  hour  of  their  children's  death,  so  tenderly 
provide  for  them  ;  or  an  husbandman  sow,  if  he  thought  there 
would  be  no  increase ;  or  a  merchant  adventure  to  sea,  if  he 
foresaw  shipwreck ;  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. 

Deraocritus  hearing  this  poor  excuse,  laughed  again  aloud, 
perceiving  he  wholly  mistook  him,  and  did  not  well  under 
stand  what  he  had  said  concerning  perturbations  and  tran 
quillity  of  the  mind.  Insomuch,  that  if  men  would  govern 
their  actions  by  discretion  and  providence,  they  would  not 
declare  themselves  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  demigods,  for  want  of_und€ 
standing.  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-mor 
row  is  hurled  on  the  other ;  and  not  considering  these  mat- 

1  Suam  B tultitiam  persplclt  nemo,  Bed  alter  alterum  deridet. 


Democritus  to  the  Reader.  69 

ters,  they  fall  into  many  inconveniences  and  troubles,  covet 
ing  things  of  no  profit,  and  thirsting  after  them,  tumbling 
headlong  into  many  calamities.  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  superfluities,  and  unprofitable  things, 
which  bring  nothing  with  them  but  grief  and  molestation. 
As  a  fat  body  is  more  subject  to  diseases,  so  are  rich  men  to 
absurdities  and  fooleries,  to  many  casualties  and  cross  incon 
veniences.  There  are  many  Hiat  take  no  heed  what  hap- 
peneth  to  others  by  bad  conversation,  and  therefore  over 
throw  themselves  in  the  same  manner  through  their  own 
fault,  not  foreseeing  dangers  manifest  These  are  things  (0 
more  than  mad,  quoth  he,)  that  give  me  matter  of  laughter, 
by  suffering  the  pains  of  your  impieties,  as  your  avarice, 
envy,  malice,  enormous  villanies,  mutinies,  unsatiable  desires, 
conspiracies,  and  other  incurable  vices ;  besides  your  2  dis 
simulation  and  hypocrisy,  bearing  deadly  hatred  one  to  the 
other,  and  yet  shadowing  it  with  a  good  face,  flying  out  into 
all  filthy  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  inconstant  as  they  are.  When  they  are 
young,  they  would  be  old ;  and  old,  young.  8  Princes  com 
mend  a  private  life  ;  private  men  itch  after  honour ;  a  magis 
trate  commends  a  quiet  life ;  a  quiet  man  would  be  in  bis 
office,  and  obeyed  as  he  is  ;  and  what  is  the  cause  of  all  this, 
but  that  they  know  not  themselves?  Some  delight  to  de 
stroy,  4  one  to  build,  another  to  spoil  one  country  to  enrich 
another  and  himself.  6In  all  these  things  they  are  like 

1  Denique  sit  finis  querendl,  cumque  dederit,  seu  sors  objecerit,  ilia  con  ten  tug 

habeas  plus,  pauperism  metuas  minus,  vivat.   &c,     Hor.          *  Diruit,   sedifleat, 

et  finire   laborem  incipias,   partis  quod  mutat    quadrata    rotundis.      Trajanus 

arebas,  utere.     Hor.         -  Astutam  rap-  pontem  struxit  super  Danubium,  quern 

ido  servas  sub  pectore  vulpem.     Et  cum  successor  ejus  Adrianus  statim  demolivit. 

vulpe  positus  pariter  vulpinarier.    Cret-  &  Qul  quid  in  re  ab  infantibns  differunt, 

Izandum  cum  Crete.        3  Qui  fit  Mecse-  quibus  niens  et  sensus  slue  ratione  inett, 

DM  at  nemo  quarn  sibi  sortem,  Seu  ratio  quicquid  sese  his  oflert  rolupe  est  * 


70  Democritu*  to  the  Header. 

children,  in  whom  is  no  judgment  or  counsel,  and  resemble 
beasts,  saving  that  beasts  are  better  than  they,  as  being  con 
tented  with  nature.  1  When  shall  you  see  a  lion  hide  gold 
in  the  ground,  or  a  bull  contend  for  better  pasture  ?  When 
a  boar  is  thirsty,  he  drinks  what  will  serve  him,  and  no 
more ;  and  when  his  belly  is  full,  ceaseth  to  eat ;  but  men 
are  immoderate  in  both,  as  in  lust — they  covet  carnal  copula 
tion  at  set  times ;  men  always,  ruinating  thereby  the  health 
of  their  bodies.  And  doth  it  not  deserve  laughter  to  see  an 
amorous  fool  torment  himself  for  a  wench ;  weep,  howl  for  a 
misshapen  slut,  a  dowdy  sometimes,  that  might  have  his 
choice  of  the  finest  beauties  ?  Is  there  any  remedy  for  this 
in  physic?  I  do  anatomize  and  cut  up  these  poor  beasts, 

*  to  see  these  distempers,  vanities,  and  follies,  yet  such  proof 
were  better  made  on  man's  body,  if  my  kind  nature  would 
endure  it ;  *  who  from  the  hour  of  his  birth  is  most  miserable, 
weak,  and  sickly;  when  he  sucks,  he  is  guided  by  others, 
when   he   is   grown   great,  practiseth   unhappiness  *  and  is 
sturdy,  and  when  old,  a  child  again,  and  repenteth  him  of  his 
life  past.     And  here  being  interrupted  by  one  that  brought 
books,  he  fell  to  it  again,  that  all  were  mad,  careless,  stupid. 
To  prove  my  former  speeches,  look  into  courts,  or  private 
houses.     6  Judges  give  judgment  according  to  their  own  ad 
vantage,  doing  manifest  wrong  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.     £>pjne_ 
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 

1  Idem  Plut.  » Ut  Inaante  cauaam  Qui    gedet    crimina    judicature,     &c. 

dUquiram  brute  macto  et  seco,  cum  hoc  «  Tu  pessimus  omnium  latro  eg,  as  a  thief 

potiua  in  hominibug  inveatigandum  esset.  told    Alexander   in    Curtiug.      Damnat 

•  Totug  a  nativitate  morbua  est.         «  In  forag  judez,  qnod  into*  operator.   Cy 
vigore  furibundus,  quum  decrescit  In-  prian. 

»  Cyprian,  ad  Donatum. 


Democritus  to  the  Reader.  71 

dance,  sing,  laugh,  feast,  and  banquet,  whilst  others  sigh, 
languish,  mourn,  and  lament,  having  neither  meat,  drink,  nor 
clothes.  1  Some  prank  up  their  bodies,  and  have  their  minds 
full  of  execrable  vices.  Some  trot  about  ato  bear  false 
witness,  and  say  anything  for  money  ;  and  though  judges 
know  of  it,  yet  for  a  bribe  they  wink  at  it,  and  suffer  false 
contracts  to  prevail  against  equity.  Women  are  all  day 
a  dressing,  to  pleasure  other  men  abroad,  and  go  like  sluts  at 
home,  not  caring  to  please  their  own  husbands  whom  they 
should.  Seeing  men  are  so  fickle,  so  sottish,  so  intemperate, 
why  should  not  I  laugh  at  those^to  whom  "folly  seems  wis 
dom,  will  not  be  cured,  and  perceive  it  not  ? 

It  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,  4  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  world  in  his  time,  and 
this  was  the  cause  of  his  laughter;  and  good  cause  he 

had. 

*  Olim  jure  quidem,  nuno  plus  Democrite  ride; 
Quin  rides  ?  vita  haec  mine  mage  ridicula  est. 

Democritus  did  well  to  laugh  of  old, 

Good  cause  he  had,  but  now  much  more; 

This  life  of  ours  is  more  ridiculous 
Than  that  of  his,  or  long  before. 

Never  so  much  cause  of  laughter^s~now,  never  so  many 
fools  and  madmen.  'Tis  not  one  *  Democritus  will  serve  turn 
to  laugh  in  these  days  ;  we  have  now  need  of  a  "  Democritus 
to  laugh  at  Democritus  ; "  one  jester  to  flout  at  another,  one 
foci  to  flare  at  another ;  a  great  stentorian  Democritus,  as  big 

1  Vultus  magna  cura,  magna  anlmi  in-  ease   dicunt.  *  Siquidem    sapientias 

curia.     Am.  Marcel.         2  Horrenda  res  guse  admiratione  me  cornplevit,  offend! 

e»t,  vix  dno  verba  sine  mendacio  profe-  gapientissimum  virum,  qui  salvos  potest 

runtur:  etqnain  vis  solenniter  homines  ad  omnes  homines   reddere.  6  E  Qraec. 

Yeritatem  dicendam  invitentur,  pejerare  epij.          *  Flares  Democriti  nuno  non 

tamen  non  dubitant,  ut  ex  decem  testi-  sufflciunt,  opus  Demoorito  qui  Demooil 

bus  vix  anus  verum  dieat.     Calv.  in   8  torn  rideat.  Eras.  Moria. 
John,  Serin  1.        *  Sapientiam  insaniam 


72  Democritus  to  the  Reader. 

as  that  Rhodian  Colossus.  For  now,  as  l  Salisburiensis  said  in 
his  time,  tolas  mundus  histrionem  agit,  the  whole  world  plays 
the  fool ;  we  have  a  new  theatre,  a  new  scene,  a  new  comedy 
of  errors,  a  new  company  of  personate  actors,  volupite  sacra 
(as  Calcagninus  willingly  feigns  in  his  Apologues)  are  cele 
brated  all  the  world  over,  *where  all  the  actors  were^  madmen 
and  fools,  and  every  hour  changed  habits,  or  took  that  which 
came  next.  He  that  was  a  mariner  to-day,  is  an  apothecary 
to-morrow ;  a  smith  one  while,  a  philosopher  another,  in  his 
volupice  ludis ;  a  king  now  with  his  crown,  robes,  sceptre, 
attendants,  by  and  by  drove  a  loaded  ass  before  him  like  a 
carter,  &c.  If  Democritus  were  alive  now,  he  should  see 
strange  alterations,  a  new  company  of  counterfeit  vizards, 
whifflers,  Cumane  asses,  maskers,  mummers,  painted  puppets, 
outsides,  fantastic  shadows,  gulls,  monsters,  giddy-heads,  but 
terflies.  And  so  many  of  them  are  indeed  (2  if  all  be  true 
that  I  have  read).  For  when  Jupiter  and  Juno's  wedding 
was  solemnized  of  old,  the  gods  were  all  invited  to  the  feast, 
and  many  noble  men  besides :  Amongst  the  rest  came  Chrys- 
alus,  a  Persian  prince,  bravely  attended,  rich  in  golden  at 
tires,  in  gay  robes,  with  a  majestical  presence,  but  otherwise 
an  ass.  The  gods  seeing  him  come  in  such  pomp  and  state, 
rose  up  to  give  him  place,  ex  habitu  hominem  metientes  ;  8  but 
Jupiter  perceiving  what  he  was,  a  light,  fantastic,  idle  fellow, 
turned  him  and  his  proud  followers  into  butterflies  ;  and  so 
they  continue  still  (for  aught  I  know  to  the  contrary)  roving 
about  in  pied  coats,  and  are  called  chrysalides  by  the  wiser 
sort  of  men  ;  that  is,  golden  outsides,  drones,  flies,  and 
of  no  worth.  Multitudes  of  such,  &c. 

"  ubique  invenies 
Stultos  avaros,  sycophantas  prodigos."  f 

1  I'olyorat.  lib.  3,  cap.  8,  e  Petron.  spicuus,  levis  alioquin  et  nulling  eonsilii, 
•  Ubi  omnes  delirabant,  omnes  insani,  &c.,  magno  fastu  ingredient!  asgurgunt 
fcc. ,  hodie  nau ta.  crag  phi  losophug ;  hodie  dii,  &c.  *  Sed  hominis  levitatem  Jupi- 
faber,  crag  pharmacopeia;  hie  modo  re-  ter  perspiciens,  at  ta  (inquit)  esto  bom- 
gem  agebat  multo  satellitio,  tiara,  et  billo,  &c.,  pro tinusq.  vestis  ilia  manicata 
•ceptro  ornatus,  nunc  Till  amietus  cen-  in  alas  versa  est,  et  mortales  inde  Chry- 
ticulo,  asinum  clitellarium  impellit.  salides  vocant  hujusmoili  homines. 
l  Calcagninus  Apol.  Crysalus  e  caeteria  t  You  will  meet  covetous  fooU  and  prodi- 
auto  dives,  manicato  poplo  et  tiara  con-  gal  sycophants  everywhere. 


Democritus  to  the  Reader.  73 

Many  additions,  much  increase  of  madness,  folly,  vanity, 
should  Democritus  observe,  were  he  now  to  travel,  or  could 
get  leave  of  Pluto  to  come  and  see  fashions,  as  Charon  did 
in  Lucian  to  visit  our  cities  of  Moronia  Pia,  and  Moronia 
Foelix ;  sure  I  think  he  would  break  the  rim  of  his  belly 
with  laughing.  1  Si  foret  in  terris  rideret  Democritus, 
seu,  &c. 

A  satirical  Roman  in  his  time,  thought  all  vice,  folly,  and 
madness  were  all  at  full  sea,  2  Omne  in  preecipiti  vitium  stetit. 

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

them, 

8  "  Mox  daturi  progeniem  vitiosiorem," 

And  yet  with  crimes  to  us  unknown, 

Our  sons  shall  mark  the  coming  age  their  own, 

and  the  latter  end  (you  know  whose  oracle  it  is)  is  like  to  be 
worse.  'Tis  not  to  be  denied,  the  world  alters  every  day, 
Ruunt  urbeSj  regna  transferuntur,  SfC.,  variantur  habitus,  leges 
innovantur,  as  4  Petrarch  observes,  we  change  language,  hab- 
its,  Jaws,  customs,  manners,  but  not  vices,  not  diseases,  not 
the  symptoms  of  folly  and  madness,  they  are  still  the  same. 
And  as  a  river,  we  see,  keeps  the  like  name  and  place,  but 
not  water,  and  yet  ever  runs,  f  Labitur  et  labetur  in  omne 
volubilis  cevum ;  our  times  and  persons^ajter,  vices  are  the 
same,  and  ever  will  be ;  look  how  nightingales  sang  of  old, 
cocks  crowed,  kine  lowed,  sheep  bleated,  sparrows  chirped, 
dogs  barked,  so  they  do  still ;  we  keep  our  madness  still,  play 
the  fools  still,  nee  dum  finitus  Orestes ;  we  are  of  the  same 
humours  and  inclinations  as  our  predecessors  were ;  you  shall 
find  us  all  alike,  much  at  one,  we  and  our  sons,  et  nati  nato- 
rum,  et  qui  nascuntur  ab  ittis.  And  so  shall  our  posterity 
continue  to  the  last  But  to  speak  of  times  present. 

1  Juven.          *  Juven.          *  Be  bello    tamen  habetis  quis  pejor  sit.          '  Hot 
Jutl.    1.  8,  o.  11.      Iniqoitates    vestrae    *  Lib  6,  Epist.  8.        t  Hot. 
•eminent  latent,  inque  dies  singulos  cer- 


74  Democritus  to  the  Reader. 

If  Democritus  were  alive  now,  and  should  but  see  the  su 
perstition  of  our  age,  our  *  religious  madness,  as  a  Moteran 
calls  it,  Religiosam  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  *  Capuchin,  a  Franciscan,  a  Pharisaical  Jesuit,  a  man- 
serpent,  a  shave-crowned  Monk  in  his  robes,  a  begging  Friar, 
or  see  their  three-crowned  Sovereign  Lord  the  Pope,  poor 
Peter's  successor,  servus  servorum  Dei,  to  depose  kings  with 
his  foot,  to  tread  on  emperors'  necks,  make  them  stand  bare 
foot  and  bare-legged  at  his  gates,  hold  his  bridle  and  stirrup, 
&c.  (O  that  Peter  and  Paul  were  alive  to  see  this !)  If  he 
should  observe  a  4  Prince  creep  so  devoutly  to  kiss  his  toe, 
and  those  Red-cap  Cardinals,  poor  parish  priests  of  old,  now 
Princes'  companions;  what  would  he  say?  Ccelum  ipsum 
petitur  stultitia.  Had  he  met  some  of  our  devout  pilgrims 
going  barefoot  to  Jerusalem,  our  Lady  of  Lauretto,  Rome,  S. 
lago,  S.  Thomas's  Shrine,  to  creep  to  those  counterfeit  and 
maggot-eaten  relics ;  had  he  been  present  at  a  mass,  and 
seen  such  kissing  of  Paxes,  crucifixes,  cringes,  duckings,  their 
aeveral  attires  and  ceremonies,  pictures  of  saints,  6  indul 
gences,  pardons,  vigils,  fasting,  feasts,  crossing,  knocking, 

kneeling  at  Ave-Marias,  bells,  with  many  such ; -jucunda 

rudi  spectacula  plebis,  *  praying  in  gibberish,  and  mumbling 
of  beads.  Had  he  heard  an  old  woman  say  her  prayers  in 
Latin,  their  sprinkling  of  holy-water,  and  going  a  proces- 
sion, 

1  Supers  titio  est  inaanua  error.  *  Lib.  oblationibus,  votis,  solutionibus,  jejuniis, 
8,  hist.  Belg.  *  Lucan.  *  Father  coenobite,  aomniU,  horia,  organls,  oantile- 
Angelo,  the  Duke  of  .loyeux,  going  bare-  ni*,  campanla,  simulachris,  missis,  pur- 
foot  over  the  Alps  to  Home,  &c.  «  Si  gatoriia,  mitris,  breviariis,  bullis,  lustralt- 
eui  intueri  vacet  qun  patiuntur  supersti-  bus,  aquis,  rasurU,  unctionibus,  candelia, 
ttosi,  invenies  tarn  indecora  honeatis,  tarn  calicibua,  crucibus,  map  pis,  ceiiiis,  thu- 
tndigna  liberig,  tain  di-sslmilia  sanis,  ut  ribulia,  iucautationibus,  eXorcUmis,  spa 
nemo  fuerU  dubitaturus  furere  eos,  li  Us,  legendla,  xc.  Baleug  de  actia  Rom 
earn  paucioribua  furerent.  Senec.  Pont.  •  Pleasing  spectacles  to  the  ig 
s  Quid  dicam  de  eorum  indulgentib,  noraut  poor. 


Democritus  to  the  Reader.  73 

*  "  incedunt  monachorura  agmina  mille ; 
Quid  memorem  vexilla.  cruces,  idolaque  culta,  &c." 

Their  breviaries,  bulls,  hallowed  beans,  exorcisms,  pictures^ 
curious  crosses,  fables,  and  baubles.  Had  he  read  the  Golden 
Legend,  the  Turks'  Alcoran,  or  Jews'  Talmud,  the  Rabbins' 
Comments,  what  would  he  have  thought  ?  How  dost  thou 
think  he  might  have  been  affected  ?  Had  he  more  particu 
larly  examined  a  Jesuit's  life  amongst  the  rest,  he  should 
have  seen  an  hypocrite  profess  poverty,  *and  yet  possess 
more  goods  and  lands  than  many  princes,  to  have  infinite 
treasures  and  revenues ;  teach  others  to  fast,  and  play  the 
gluttons  themselves ;  like  the  watermen  that  row  one  way 
and  look  another.  a  Vow  virginity,  talk  of  holiness,  and  yet 
indeed  a  notorious  bawd,  and  famous  fornicator,  lascivum  pecus, 
a  very  goat.  Monks  by  profession,  *  such  as  give  over  the 
world  and  the  vanities  of  it,  and  yet  a  Machiavelian  rout 
4  interested  in  all  manner  of  state ;  holy  men,  peacemakers, 
and  yet  composed  of  envy,  lust,  ambition,  hatred,  and  malice  ; 
firebrands,  adult  a  patrice  pestis,  traitors,  assassinats,  hdc  itur 
ad  astro,  and  this  is  to  supererogate,  and  merit  heaven  for 
themselves  and  others.  Had  he  seen  on  the  adverse  side, 
jjome  of  our  nice  and  curious  schismatics  in  another  extreme, 
abhor  all  ceremonies,  and  rather  lose  their  lives  and  livings, 
than  do  or  admit  anything  Papists  have  formerly  used, 
though  hi  things  indifferent,  (they  alone  are  the  true  Church, 
sal  terrcB  cum  sint  omnium  insulsissimi).  Formalists,  out  of 
fear  and  base  flattery,  like  so  many  weathercocks  turn 
round,  a  rout  of  temporizers,  ready  to  embrace  and  maintain 
all  that  is  or  shall  be  proposed  in  hope  of  preferment; 
another  Epicurean  company,  lying  at  lurch  like  so  many 
vultures,  watching  for  a  prey  of  Church  goods,  and  ready  to 
rise  by  the  downfall  of  any ;  as  6  Lucian  said  in  like  case, 

*  Th.  Neageor.  1  Dum  simulant  longer,  their  madness  shall  be  known  to 

speruere.  acquisiverunt  sib!  80  annorum  all  men.        *  Benignitatis  sinus  solebat 

upatio  bis  centena  millia  librarum  annua.  ease,  nuno  litium  officina  curia  Komana. 

Arnold.         -  Et  quum  interdiu  de  rirtute  Bndaeus.         &  Quid  tibi  videtur  facturui 

loquuti  gunt,  sero  in  latibulis  dunes  agi-  Democritus,  si  hornm  spectator  contigi* 

tant  labors  nocturne,  Agryppa.  «  1  set  ? 

Tim.  iii.  13.    But  they  shall  prevail  no 


76  Democritus  to  the  Header. 

what  dost  thou  think  Democritus  would  have  dune,  had  he 
been  spectator  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 
the  gap,  some  for  zeal,  some  for  fear,  quo  se  cunque  rapit 
tempestas,  to  credit  all,  examine  nothing,  and  yet  ready  to 
die  before  they  will  abjure  any  of  those  ceremonies  to  which 
they  have  been  accustomed?  others  out  of  hypocrisy  fre 
quent  sermons,  knock  their  breasts,  turn  up  their  eyes,  pre 
tend  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  battles,  so  many  thousands  slain  at  once,  such  streams 
of  blood  able  to  turn  mills ;  unius  ob  noxam  furiasque,  or  to 
make  sport  for  princes,  without  any  just  cause,  *  "  for  vain 
titles  (saith  Austin),  precedency,  some  wench,  or  such  like 
toy,  or  out  of  desire  of  domineering,  vainglory,  malice, 
revenge,  folly,  madness,"  (goodly  causes  all,  ob  quas  uni- 
versus  orbis  bettis  et  ctedibus  tnisceatur,)  whilst  statesmen 
themselves  in  the  mean  time  are  secure  at  home  pam 
pered  with  all  delights  and  pleasures,  take  their  ease,  and 
follow  their  lusts,  not  considering  what  intolerable  misery 
poor  soldiers  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  persuasion  of  a  few 
debauched,  hair-brain,  poor,  dissolute,  hungry  captains,  par 
asitical  fawners,  unquiet  Hotspurs,  restless  innovators,  green 
heads,  to  satisfy  one  man's  private  spleen,  lust,  ambition, 
avarice,  &c. ;  tales  rapiunt  scelerata  in  prcelia  causes.  Flos 
kominum,  proper  men,  well  proportioned,  carefully  brought 
up,  able  both  in  body  and  mind,  sound,  led  like  so  many 
1  beasts  to  the  slaughter  in  the  flower  of  their  years,  pride, 

*  Ob  Itianea  ditionum  titulos,  ob  pre-    malitia.  quod  cnpido  domlnandl,  libido 
reptuin  locum,  ob  intercepUm  mulier-    nocendi,    &c.  >  Helium   rem  plan* 

•julam,  vel  quod  e  stultitia  iiatuin,  Tel  e    belluas  nuui  vocat  Morus.    Utop.  lib.  2. 


Democritus  to  the  Reader.  77 

and  full  strength,  without  all  remorse  and  pity,  sacrificed  to 
Pluto,  killed  up  as  so  many  sheep,  for  devils'  food,  40,000  at 
once.  At  once,  said  I,  that  were  tolerable,  but  these  wars 
last  always,  and  for  many  ages ;  nothing  so  familiar  as  this 
hacking  and  hewing,  massacres,  murders,  desolations — ignoto 
ccelum  clangore  remugit,  they  care  not  what  mischief  they 
procure,  so  that  they  may  enrich  themselves  for  the  present ; 
they  will  so  long  blow  the  coals  of  contention,  till  all  the 
world  be  consumed  with  fire.  The  *  siege  of  Troy  lasted 
ten  years,  eight  months,  there  died^870,000  Grecians, 
670,000  Trojans,  at  the  taking  of  the  city,  and  after  were 
slain,  276,000  men,  women,  and  children  of  all  sorts. 
Caesar  killed  a  million,  3  Mahomet  the  second  Turk,  300,000 
persons ;  Sicinius  Dentatus  fought  in  a  hundred  battles, 
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; 
Scaeva,  the  Centurion,  I  know  not  how  many ;  every  nation 
had  their  Hectors,  Scipios,  Caesars,  and  Alexanders !  Our 
"Edward  the  Fourth  was  in  26  battles  afoot;  and  as  they 
jio  all,  he  glories  in  it,  'tis  related  to  his  honour.  At  the 
siege~of  Hierusalem,  1,100,000  died  with  sword  and  famine. 
At  the  battle  of  Cannas,  70,000  men  were  slain,  as  *  Polyb- 
ius  records,  and  as  many  at  Battle  Abbey  with  us;  and 
'tis  no  news  to  fight  from  sun  to  sun,  as  they  did,  as  Con- 
stantin'e  and  Licinius,  &c.  At  the  siege  oTDstend  (the 
devil's  academy)  a  poor  town  in  Aspect,  a  small  fort,  but  a 
great  grave,  120,000  men  lost  their  lives,  besides  whole 
towns,  dorpes,  and  hospitals  full  of  maimed  soldiers ;  there 
were  engines,  fire-works,  and  whatsoever  the  devil  could 
invent  to  do  mischief  with  2,500,000  iron  bullets  shot  of  40 
pounds'  weight,  three  or  four  millions  of  gold  consumed. 
*  "Who  (saith  mine  author)  can  be  sufficiently  amazed  at 
their  fiinty  hearts,  obstinacy,  fury,  blindness,  who  without 

iMnngter.      Coemog.  1    5,  e.   8.    E     *  Comlnetw.          *Lib.8.         «  Hist,  of 
Diet.   Creteng.  a  Jovius  Tit  ejus.     the  siege  of  Ostend,  fol.  23 


78  Democntus  to  the  Reader. 

any  likelihood  of  good  success,  hazard  poor  soldiers,  and  lead 
them  without  pity  to  the  slaughter,  which  may  justly  be 
called  the  rage  of  furious  beasts,  that  run  without  reason 
upon  their  own  deaths  ; "  *  quis  modus  genius,  quee  furia, 
qua  pestis,  fyc. ;  what  plague,  what  fury  brought  £O  devilish, 
so  brutish  a  thing  as  war  first  into  men's  minds?  Who 
made  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, 
Ego  te  divinum  animal  finxi,  fyc.  ?  I  made  thee  an  harm 
less,  quiet,  a  divine  creature ;  how  may  God  expostulate,  and 
all  good  men  ?  yet,  horum  facta  (as  f  one  condoles)  tantum 
admirantur,  et  heroum  numero  habent :  these  are  the  brave 
spirits,  the  gallants  of  the  world,  these  admired  alone,  tri 
umph  alone,  have  statues,  crowns,  pyramids,  obelisks  to  their 
eternal  fame,  that  immortal  genius  attends  on  them,  hac 
itur  ad  astra.  When  Rhodes  was  besieged,  ' fossae  urbis 
cadaveribus  repletce  sunt,  the  ditches  were  full  of  dead  car 
casses  ;  and  as  when  the  said  Solyman,  great  Turk,  belea 
guered  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  oaths,  vows,  promises,  by  treachery  or 

otherwise  ;   2 dolus  an  virtus  ?   quis  in  hoste  requirat  f 

leagues  and  laws  of  arms,  (8  silent  leges  inter  arma),  for  their 
advantage,  omnia  jura,  divina,  humana,  proculvata  plerum- 
que  sunt ;  God's  and  men's  laws  are  trampled  under  foot,  the 
sword  alone  determines  all ;  to  satisfy  their  lust  and  spleen, 
they  care  not  what  they  attempt,  say,  or  do,  4  Rara  fides, 
probitasque  viris  qui  castra  sequuntur.  Nothing  so  com 
mon  as  to  have  '"father  fight  against  the  son,  brother 
against  brother,  kinsman  against  kinsman,  kingdom  against 
kingdom,  province  against  province,  Christians  against  Chris- 

•  Eranmu  de  bello.    Ut  placldum  illnd  *  Tally.       <  Lncan.        *  Pater  in  flllnm, 

animal  benevolentiae  natum  tarn  ferina  afflnia  in  afflnem,  amlcug  in  amicum,  fcc. 

recordll  in  mntuam  rueret  perniciem.  Regto  cnm  regione,  regnum  regno  collidl- 

t  Rich.  Dinoth.  praefat.    Belli  civilis  (Jal.  tnr.     Populus  populo  in  mutuam  per- 

1  Jorius.        a  Doing,  aaperitaa,  in  jus-  niciem,  belluarum  insttr  sanffuinolenU 

U«-     propria  bellorum   negotla.     Tertul.  ruentium. 


Democritus  to  the  Reader.  79 

dans ; "  a  quibus  nee  unquam  cogitatione  fuerunt  kesi,  of 
whom  they  never  had  offence  in  thought,  word  or  deed. 
Infinite  treasures  consumed,  towns  burned,  flourishing  cities 
sacked  and  ruinated,  quodque  animus  meminisse  horret, 
goodly  countries  depopulated  and  left  desolate,  old  inhabitants 
expelled,  trade  and  traffic  decayed,  maids  deflowered,  Vir- 
gines  nondum  thalamis  jugatce,  et  comis  nondum  positis 
ephcebi  ;  chaste  matrons  cry  out  with  Andromache,  *  Con- 
cubitum  max  cogar  pati  ejus,  qui  interemit  ffectorem,  they 
shall  be  compelled  peradventure  to  lie  with  them  that  erst 
killed  their  husbands  ;  to  see  rich,  poor,  sick,  sound,  lords, 
servants,  eodem  omnes  incommodo  macti,  consumed  all  or 
maimed,  &c.  Et  quicquid  gaudens  scelere  animus  audet,  et 
perversa  mens,  saith  Cyprian,  and  whatsoever  torment, 
misery,  mischief,  hell  itself,  the  devil,  1fury  and  rage  can 
invent  to  their  own  ruin  and  destruction;  so  abominable  a 
thing  is  2  war,  as  Gerbelius  concludes,  adeo  fceda  et  abom- 
inanda  res  est  beUum,  ex  quo  hominum  ceedes,  vastationes,  fyc., 
the  scourge  of  God,  cause,  effect,  fruit  and  punishment  of  sin, 
and  not  tonsura  humani  generis,  as  Tertullian  calls  it,  but 
ruina.  Had  Democritus  been  present  at  the  late  civil  wars 

in  France,  those  abominable  wars beUaque  matribus  detes- 

tata,  *  "  where,  in  less  than  ten  years,  ten  thousand  men  were 
consumed,  saith  Collignius,  twenty  thousand  churches  over 
thrown  ;  nay,  the  whole  kingdom  subverted  (as  *  Richard 
Dinoth  adds).  So  many  myriads  of  the  commons  were 
butchered  up,  with  sword,  famine,  war,  tanto  "odia^  utrinque 
ut  barbari  ad  abhorrendam  lanienam  obstupescerent,  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,  a  hundred  thousand  men 
slain,  f  one  writes ;  6  another,  ten  thousand  families  were 

*  Libanii  declam.      1  Traenim  et  furor  tis  ezciss.        «  Belli  eirilis  Gal.  1.  1,  hoe 

Bellonae     consultores,    &c.,     dementes  ferali  bcllo  et  ceedibus  omnia  repleverunt, 

sacerdotes  sunt.      ^  Bellum  quasi  bellua  et  regnum  amplissimum  &  fundamentit 

•t   ad    omnia    scelera   furor    Immissus.  pene  everterunt,  plebis  tot  m yriadea  gla- 

•CJallorum  decies  centum  millla  cecide-  dio,  bello,  feme  miaerabiliter  perierunt. 

runt.    Ecclesiarum  20  millia  fundamen-  t  Pont.   Huterus.         t  Comineus.      Ut 


80  Democrtius  to  the  Reader. 

rooted  out,  "  That  no  man  can  but  marvel,  saith  Comineus, 
at  that  barbarous  immanity,  feral  madness,  committed  betwixt 
men  of  the  same  nation,  language,  and  religion."  l  Quit 
furor,  0  cives  ?  "  Why  do  the  Gentiles  so  furiously  rage," 
saith  the  Prophet  David,  Psal.  ii.  1.  But  we  may  ask,  why 
do  the  Christians  so  furiously  rage  ?  *  Arma  volunt,  quare 
poscunt,  rapiuntque  juventus  ?  "  Unfit  for  Gentiles,  much 
less  for  us  so  to  tyrannize,  as  the  Spaniard  in  the  West 
Indies,  that  killed  up  in  forty-two  years  (if  we  may  believe 
1  Bartholomaeus  a  Casa,  their  own  bishop)  twelve  millions  of 
men,  with  stupend  and  exquisite  torments ;  neither  should  I 
lie  (said  he)  if  I  said  fifty  millions.  I  omit  those  French  mas 
sacres,  Sicilian  even-songs,  8the  Duke  of  Alva's  tyrannies, 
our  gunpowder  machinations,  and  that  fourth  fury,  as  4  one 
calls  it,  the  Spanish  inquisition,  which  quite  obscures  those 

ten  persecutions,  6 seevit  toto  Mars  impius  orbe.     Is  not 

this  8  mundus  furiostts,  a  mad  world,  as  he  terms  it,  insanum 
bellum  1  are  not  these  mad  men,  as  t  Scaliger  concludes, 
qui  in  pradio  acerba  morte,  insanice  sues  memoriam  pro  per- 
petuo  teste  relinquunt  posteritati ;  which  leave  so  frequent 
battles,  as  perpetual  memorials  of  their  madness  to  all  suc 
ceeding  ages  ?  Would  this,  think  you,  have  enforced  our 
Democritus  to  laughter,  or  rather  made  him  turn  his  tune, 
alter  his  tone,  and  weep  with  7  Heraclitus,  or  rather  howl, 
'  roar,  and  tear  his  hair  in  commiseration,  stand  amazed  ;  or 
as  the  poets  feign,  that  Niobe  was  for  grief  quite  stupefied, 
and  turned  to  a  stone  ?  I  have  not  yet  said  the  worst,  that 
which  is  more  absurd  and  *  mad,  in  their  tumults,  seditions, 
civil  and  unjust  wars, 10  quod  stulte  suscipitur,  impie  geritur, 
misere  finitur.  Such  wars  I  mean  ;  for  all  are  not  to  be 
condemned,  as  those  fantastical  anabaptists  vainly  conceive. 

nuUu*  non  execratnr  et  admiretur  era-  "  Tmplong  war    rages    throughout    the 

delitatem,  et  barbaram  insaniam,   qua  whole  world."        •  Jansenius  Qallobelgi- 

Inter   homines  eodem  cub  ccelo    natos,  cus  1596.    Mundus  furiosus,   inscriptio 

ejnsdem  linguae,  sangulnis.  religionis,  ex-  libri.        t  Exercitat.  260,    senn.  4. 

•reebatur.      >  Lucan.      *  Virg.      2  BUh-  7  Fleat  Horaclitus  an  rideat  Democrlttu. 

op  of  Cuseo,  an  eye-witness.        >  Read  8  Curaelevesloquuntur,  ingentesstupent. 

Meteran  of  his   stnpend    cruelties.  '  Arma  amens  capio,  nee  sat  rationis  la 

t  Hensius  Austriaco.          t  Virg.   Georg.  armLs.         1°  Erasmus 


Democritus  to  the  Reader.  81 

Our  Christian  tactics  are  all  out  as  necessary  as  the  Roman 
acies,  or  Grecian  phalanx ;  to  be  a  soldier  is  a  most  noble 
and  honourable  profession  (as  the  world  is),  not  to  be  spared, 
they  are  our  best  walls  and  bulwarks,  and  I  do  therefore 
acknowledge  that  of  *  Tully  to  be  most  true,  "  All  our  civil 
affairs,  all  our  studies,  all  our  pleading,  industry,  and  com 
mendation  lies  under  the  protection  of  warlike  virtues,  and 
whensoever  there  is  any  suspicion  of  tumult,  all  our  arts 
cease;"  wars  are  most  behoveful,  et  bettatores  agricolis 
civitati  sunt  vtiliores,  as  f  Tyrius  defends ;  and  valour  is 
much  to  be  commended  in  a  wise  man;  but  they  mistake 
most  part,  auferre,  trucidare,  rapere,  falsis  noirrinibus  vir- 
tutem  vacant,  &c.  ('Twas  Galgacus's  observation  in  Tacitus) 
they  term  theft,  murder  and  rapine,  virtue,  by  a  wrong 
name,  rapes,  slaughters,  massacres,  &c.,  jocus  et  ludtis,  are 
pretty  pastimes,  as  Ludovicus  Vives  notes.  1"They  com 
monly  call  the  most  harebrain  blood-suckers,  strongest 
thieves,  the  most  desperate  villains,  treacherous  rogues, 
inhuman  murderers,  rash,  cruel  and  dissolute  caitiffs,  courage 
ous  and  generous  spirits,  heroical  and  worthy  captains, 
a  brave  men  at  arms,  valiant  and  renowned  soldiers,  pos 
sessed  with  a  brute  persuasion  of  false  honour,"  as  Pontus 
Huter  in  his  Burgundian  history  complains.  By  means  of 
which  it  comes  to  pass  that  daily  so  many  voluntaries  offer 
themselves,  leaving  their  sweet  wives,  children,  friends,  for 
sixpence  (if  they  can  get  it)  a  day,  prostitute  {heir-lives  and 
limbs,  desire  to  enter  upon  breaches,  lie  sentinel,  perdue, 
give  the  first  onset,  stand  in  the  fore-front  of  the  battle, 
marching  bravely  on,  with  a  cheerful  noise  of  drums  and 
trumpets,  such  vigour  and  alacrity,  so  many  banners  stream 
ing  in  the  air,  glittering  armours,  motions  of  plumes,  woods 
of  pikes,  and  swords,  variety  of  colours,  cost  and  magnifi- 

*  Pro  Murena.      Omnes  urbanae  res,  simos  haberi    propugnatores.   fidissimos 

omnia    studia,    onmis    forensis    laus    et  duees  habent,  bruta  persuasione  donati. 

industria  latet  in  tntela  et  praesidio  bel-  2  Eobanus  Hessus.     Quibus  omnis  in  ar* 

licae  yirtutis,   et  simul  atque  increpuit  mis  vita  placet,  non  ulla  jurat  nisi  morte, 

euspicio    tumultus    artes    illico    nostraa  nee  ullam  esse  putaut  yitam,  quae  no» 

conticescunt.         t  Ser.  13.          1  Crude-  assueverit  armis. 
lissimos  ssevissimosque    latrones,    fortis- 

VOL.   I.  6 


82  Democritu*  to  the  Reader. 

cence,  as  if  they  went  in  triumph,  now  victors  to  the  Capitol, 
and  with  such  pomp,  as  when  Darius's  army  marched  to 
meet  Alexander  at  Issus.  Void  of  all  fear  they  run  into 
imminent  dangers,  cannon's  mouth,  &c.,  ut  vulneribus  suit 
ferrum  hostium  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  unum 
extinguitur,  'tis  gone  in  an  instant  Of  15,000  proletaries 
slain  in  a  battle,  scarce  fifteen  are  recorded  in  history,  or  one 
alone,  the  General  perhaps,  and  after  awhile  his  and  their 
names  are  likewise  blotted  out,  the  whole  battle  itself  is  for 
gotten.  Those  Grecian  orators,  summa  vi  ingenii  et  elo- 
guentiee,  set  out  the  renowned  overthrows  at  Theremopyke, 
Salamis,  Marathon,  Micale,  Mantinea,  Cheroncea,  Platcea. 
The  Romans  record  their  battle  at  Cannas,  and  Pharsalian 
fields,  but  they  do  but  record,  and  we  scarce  hear  of  them. 
And  yet  this  supposed  honour,  popular  applause,  desire  of 
immortality  by  this  means,  pride  and  vainglory  spur  them  on 
many  times  rashly  and  unadvisedly,  to  make  away  them 
selves  and  multitudes  of  others.  Alexander  was  sorry,  be 
cause  there  were  no  more  worlds  for  him  to  conquer,  he  is 
admired  by  some  for  it,  animosa  vox  videtur,  et  regia,  'twas 
spoken  like  a  Prince ;  but  as  wise  3  Seneca  censures  him, 
'twas  vox  iniquissima  et  stultissima,  'twas  spoken  like  a  Bed 
lam  fool ;  and  that  sentence  which  the  same  8  Seneca  ap 
propriates  to  his  father  Philip  and  him,  I  apply  to  them  all, 
Non  minores  fuere  pestes  mortalium  quam  inundatio,  qudm 
conflagratio  quibus,  &c.,  they  did  as  much  mischief  to  mortal 
men  as  fire  and  water,  those  merciless  elements  when  they 
rage.  4  Which  is  yet  more  to  be  lamented,  they  persuade 
them  this  hellish  course  of  life  is  holy,  they  promise  heaven 
to  such  as  venture  their  lives  betto  sacro,  and  that  by  these 

1  Lib.  10,  Tit.  Scanperbeg.  *  Null!  MM,  qni  in  prcelio  fuderit  animam.  I>« 
beatiores  habitl,  quim  qui  in  prceliig  ceci-  Benef.  lib.  2,  c.  1.  *  Nat.  qutest.  lib.  3. 
di**«nt.  Briaoniua  de  rep.  Persarum.  1.  *  BoteruB  Ainphltridion.  Busbequiul 
8,  fill.  8, 44.  Idem  Lactantiug de  Romania  Tare.  hist.  Per  cedes  et  Bangainem  pa 
ct  Greets.  Idem  AuimianuH,  lib.  28,  de  rare  hominibus  asoenaum  in  coeluni  pa 
Pvtbii.  Jadlcatur  U  solos  beatus  apud  tant,  Lactan.  de  faUa  relig.  1.  1,  cap.  8. 


Democritus  to  the  Reader.  88 

bloody  wars,  as  Persians,  Greeks  and  Romans  of  old,  as 
modern  Turks  do  now  their  commons,  to  encourage  them  to 
fight,  ut  cadant  infeliciter.  "  If  they  die  in  the  field,  they 
go  directly  to  heaven,  and  shall  be  canonized  for  saints." 
(O  diabolical  invention !)  put  in  the  Chronicles,  in  perpetuam 
rei  memoriam,  to  their  eternal  memory ;  when  as  in  truth, 
as  1some  hold,  it  were  much  better  (since  wars  are  the 
scourge  of  God  for  sin,  by  which  he  punisheth  mortal  men's 
peevishness  and  folly)  such  brutish  stories  were  suppressed, 
because  ad  morum  institutionem  nihil  habent,  they  conduce 
not  at  all  to  manners,  or  good  life.  But  they  will  have  it 
thus  nevertheless,  and  so  they  put  note  of  a  "  divinity  upon 
the  most  cruel  and  pernicious  plague  of  human  kind,"  adore 
such  men  with  grand  titles,  degrees,  statues,  images,  8  honour, 
applaud,  and  highly  reward  them  for  their  good  service,  no 
greater  glory  than  to  die  in  the  field.  So  Africanus  is  ex 
tolled  by  Ennius;  Mars,  and  *  Hercules,  and  I  know  not 
how  many  besides  of  old,  were  deified;  went  this  way  to 
heaven,  that  were  indeed  bloody  butchers,  wicked  destroyers, 
and  troublers  of  the  world,  prodigious  monsters,  hell-hounds, 
feral  plagues,  devourers,  common  executioners  of  human 
kind,  as  Lactantius  truly  proves,  and  Cyprian  to  Donat,  such 
as  were  desperate  in  wars,  and  precipitately  made  away 
themselves,  (like  those  Celtes  in  Damascen,  with  ridiculous 
valour,  ut  dedecorosum  putarent  muro  ruenti  se  subducere,  a 
disgrace  to  run  away  for  a  rotten  wall,  now  readyj*^  fall  on 
their  heads,)  such  as  will  not  rush  on  a  sword's  point,  or 
seek  to  shun  a  cannon's  shot,  are  base  cowards,  and  no 
valiant  men.  By  which  means,  Model  orbis  mutuo  sanguine, 
the  earth  wallows  in  her  own  blood,  6Scewit  amor  ferri  et 
scelerati  insania  belli ;  and  for  that,  which  if  it  be  done  in 
private,  a  man  shall  be  rigorously  executed,  *  "  and  which  is 

1  Quoniam  bella  acerbissima  Dei  fla-  signiunt.  *  Et  quod  dolendum,  ap- 

gella  aunt  quibus  hominum  pertinaciam  plausum  habent  et  occursnm  Tin  tales. 

punit,  ea  perpetu*  oblivione  sepelienda  «  Herculi  eadem  porta  ad  coelum  patuit 

potius    quam  memoriae  mandanda  pie-  qui  inagnam  generis  hnmani  partem  per- 

riqne  judicant.    Rich.  Dinoth.  praef.  hist,  didit.          *  Virg.  Jfoeid.  7.          •  Homi- 

Gall.  2  Ouentam    hnmani  generis  cidinm  quum  committunt  singuli,  crimen 

pastern  et  periiiciem,  diviiii  tatis  uota  in-  est,  quum  pablice  Keritur.  Tirtug  TOO*- 


84  Democritus  to  the  Reader. 

no  less  than  murder  itself;  if  the  same  fact  be  done  in  pub 
lic  wars  it  is  called  manhood,  and  the  party  is  honoured  foi 

it" *  Prosperum  et  fcelix  scehis,  virtus  vocatur. 

We  measure  all  as  Turks  do,  by  the  event,  and  most  part, 
as  Cyprian  notes,  in  all  ages,  countries,  places,  scevitice  mag 
nitude  impunitatem  sceleris  acguirit,  the  foulness  of  the  fact 
vindicates  the  offender.  a  One  is  crowned  for  that  for  which 
another  is  tormented:  Hie  crucem  sceleris  pretium  tulit,  hie 
iiadema ;  made  a  knight,  a  lord,  an  earl,  a  great  duke,  (as 
Agrippa  notes)  for  which  another  should  have  hung  in  gib 
bets,  as  a  terror  to  the  rest, 

*  "  et  tamen  alter, 
Si  fecisset  idem,  caderet  sab  jadice  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  office  may  securely  rob  whole  provinces,  undo 
thousands,  pill  and  poll,  oppress  ad  libitum,  flea,  grind,  tyran 
nize,  enrich  himself  by  spoils  of  the  commons,  be  uncontrol 
lable  in  his  actions,  and  after  all,  be  recompensed  with  tur- 
gent  titles,  honoured  for  his  good  service,  and  no  man  dare 
find  fault,  or  '  mutter  at  it. 

How  would  our  Democritus  have  been  affected  to  see  a 
wicked  caitiff,  or  7 "  fool,  a  very  idiot,  a  funge,  a  golden  ass,  a 
monster  of  men,  to  have  many  good  men,  wise  men,  learned 
men  to  attend  upon  him  with  all  submission,  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 
bombast  epithets,"  to  smother  him  with  fumes  and  eulogies, 

tnr.  Cyprianns.         1  Seneca.      Success-  In  servitutem  habentem,  ob  Id  dun  taut 

fill  rice  is  called  Yirtue.  *  Juven.  quod  el  contingat   aureorum  numlsma* 

*  De  Tanit.   sclent,  de  princip.  nobilita-  turn  cumulus,  ut  appendices,  et  addita- 
ti».        «  Juven.  Sat.  4.        *  Pausa  rapit,  menta  numismatum.    Morns,  Utopia, 
quod  Natta  reliquit.     Tn  peftftiraus  om-  *  Eorumque  detestantur  Utopienses  in- 
iiium  latro  es,  as  Demetrius  the  Pirate  Bantam,  qui  divinos  honores  iis  imperti- 
told  Alexander  in  Curtius.        »  Non  ausl  unt,  quos  sordidos  et  araros  agnoscunt: 
mutlre,  &c.    Ssop.          T  Improbum  et  non  alio  respectu  honorantes  quam  quoj 
•tultum,  si  diTitein  multoe  bonoa  Tiro*  dites  sint.    Idem,  lib.  2. 


Democritus  to  the  Reader,  85 

whom  they  know  to  be  a  dizzard,  a  fool,  a  covetous  wretch, 
a  bea^t,  &c.,  "because  he  is  rich?"  To  see  sub  exuviit 
leonis  onagrum,  a  filthy  loathsome  carcass,  a  Gorgon's  head 
puffed  up  by  parasites,  assume  this  unto  himself,  glorious 
titles,  in  worth  an  infant,  a  Cuman  ass,  a  painted  sepulchre, 
an  Egyptian  temple  ?  To  see  a  withered  face,  a  diseased, 
deformed,  cankered  complexion,  a  rotten  carcass,  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  angel-like  divine  countenance,  a  saint,  an  humble  mind,  a 
meek  spirit  clothed  in  rags,  beg,  and  now  ready  to  be  starved  ? 
To  see  a  silly  contemptible  sloven  in  apparel,  ragged  in  his 
coat,  polite  hi  speech,  of  a  divine  spirit,  wise  ?  another  neat 
in  clothes,  spruce,  full  of  courtesy,  empty  of  grace,  wit,  talk 
nonsense  ? 

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  segetem,  the  Tribunal  a  labyrinth,  so  many  thousand 
suits  in  one  court  sometimes,  so  violently  followed  ?  To  see 
injustissimum  stepe  juri  prcesidentem,  impium  religioni,  im- 
peritissimum  eruditioni,  otiosissimum  labori,  monstrosum  hu- 
manitati  ?  to  see  a  lamb  l  executed,  a  wolf  pronounce  sen 
tence,  latro  arraigned,  and  fur  sit  on  the  bench,  the  judge 
severely  punish  others,  and  do  worse  himself,  *eundem  fur- 
turn  facere  et  punire,  8  rapinam  plectere,  quum  strips*  raptor  f 
Laws  altered,  misconstrued,  interpreted  pro  and  con,  as  the 
4Judge  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- 
bitrium  judicis,  still  the  same  case,  5  "  one  thrust  out  of  his 
inheritance,  another  falsely  put  in  by  favour,  false  forged 

l  Cyp.  2,  ad  Donat.  ep.  Ut  reus  inno-  merces.  Petronius.  Quid  feciant  leges 

sens  pereat,  sit  nocens.  Judex  damnat  ubi  sola  pecunia  regnat?  Idem.  5  Hio 

Coras,  quod  intus  operatur.  2  Sidonius  arcentur  hsereditatibus  liberi,  hie  dona- 

Apo.  8  S.ilvianus  1.  3,  de  providen.  tur  bonis  alienis,  falsum  consulit,  alter 

Ergo  judicium  nihil  est  nisi  publica  testamentum  corrumpit,  &c.    Idem 


86  Democritus  to  the  Reader. 

deeds  or  wills."  Incisee  leges  negliguntur,  laws  are  made  and 
not  kept ;  or  if  put  in  execution,  l  they  be  some  silly  ones 
that  are  punished.  As  put  case  it  be  fornication,  the  father 
will  disinherit  or  abdicate  his  child,  quite  cashier  him  (out 
villain,  begone,  come  no  more  in  my  sight) ;  a  poor  man  is 
miserably  tormented  with  loss  of  his  estate  perhaps,  goods, 
fortunes,  good  name,  forever  disgraced,  forsaken,  and  must 
do  penance  to  the  utmost ;  a  mortal  sin,  and  yet  make  the 
worst  of  it,  nunquid  aliud  fecit,  saith  Tranio  in  the  2  poet, 
nisi  quod  faciunt  summis  nati  generibus  ?  he  hath  done  no 
more  than  what  gentlemen  usually  do.  8  Neque  novum,  neque 
mirum,  neque  secus  quam  alii  solent.  For  in  a  great  person, 
right  worshipful  Sir,  a  right  honourable  Grandy,  'tis  not  a 
venial  sin,  no,  not  a  peccadillo,  'tis  no  offence  at  all,  a  common 
and  ordinary  thing,  no  man  takes  notice  of  it;  he  justifies  it 
in  public,  and  peradventure  brags  of  it, 

*  "  Nam  quod  turpe  bonis,  Titio,  Seioque,  decebat 
Crispinum  " 

For  what  would  be  base  in  good  men,  Titius,  and  Seius,  became  Criapinus. 

*  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  muUa  supplicia,  quam  medico 
multa  funera,  'tis  the  governor's  fault  Libentius  verberant 
quam  docent,  as  schoolmasters  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  with  good  policy,  and  take  away  the  occasions, 
than  let  them  run  on,  as  they  do  to  their  own  destruction ;  root 
out  likewise  those  causes  of  wrangling,  a  multitude  of  law- 

1  Vexat  cemnirft  columban.        l  Plant.  1.         •  Decenmntnr  furl  grarla  et  hor- 

moBtel.         *  Idem.         *  Jnven.  Sat.  4.  renda  supplicia,  qunm  potius  providen- 

1  Quod  tot  ulnt  fares  et  mendiei,  magfo-  dum  mulMforetnefuressint,  neouiquam 

tratuum  eulpl  fit,  qui  tnaloa  imltantur  tarn  dlra  furandi  aut  pereucdi  sit  neces- 

pneceptoren,  qui  disclpulos  llbentlus  yer-  sitas.     Idem. 
Meant  qu&in  docent.    Morua,  Utop.  lib. 


Democritus  to  the  Reader.  87 

yers,  and  compose  controversies,  lites  lustrales  et  seculares,  by 
some  more  compendious  means."  Whereas  now  for  every 
toy  and  trifle  they  go  to  law,  1  mugit  litibus  insanum  forum, 
et  scevit  invicem  discordantium  rabies,  they  are  ready  to  pull 
out  one  another's  throats  ;  and  for  commodity  a  "  to  squeeze 
blood,"  saith  Hierom,  "  out  of  their  brother's  heart,"  defame, 
lie,  disgrace,  backbite,  rail,  bear  false  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  cries  Eia  Socrates,  Eia  Xantippe ;  or 
some  corrupt  Judge,  that  like  the  "Kite  in  ^sop,  while 
the  mouse  and  frog  fought,  carried  both  away.  Generally 
they  prey  one  upon  another  as  so  many  ravenous  birds,  brute 
beasts,  devouring  fishes,  no  medium,  *  omnes  hie  aut  captantur 
aut  captant ;  aut  cadavera  quce  lacerantur,  aut  corvi  qui  lace- 
rant,  either  deceive  or  be  deceived ;  tear  others  or  be  torn 
in  pieces  themselves  ;  like  so  many  buckets  in  a  well,  as  one 
riseth  another  falleth,  one's  empty,  another's  full ;  his  ruin  is 
a  ladder  to  the  third ;  such  are  our  ordinary  proceedings. 
What's  the  market?  A  place,  according  to  6Anacharsis, 
wherein  they  cozen  one  another,  a  trap ;  nay,  what's  the 
world  itself?  6A  vast  chaos,  a  confusion  of  manners,  as 
fickle  as  the  air,  domicilium  insanorum,  a  turbulent  troop  full 
of  impurities,  a  mart  of  walking  spirits,  goblins,  the  theatre 
of  hypocrisy,  a  shop  of  knavery,  flattery,  a  nursery  of  villainy, 
the  scene  of  babbling,  the  school  of  giddiness,  the  academy 
of  vice  ;  a  warfare,  ubi  veils  nolis  pugnandum,  aut  tineas  aut 
succumbas,  in  which  kill  or  be  killed  ;  wherein  every  man  is 
for  himself,  his  private  ends,  and  stands  upon  his  own  guard. 
No  charity,  7  love,  friendship,  fear  of  God,  alliance,  affinity, 
consanguinity,  Christianity,  can  contain  them,  but  if  they  be 
any  ways  offended,  or  that  string  of  commodity  be  touched, 

1  Boterus  de  augment,  nrb.  lib.  3,  emporium,  theatrum  hypocrisies,  &c. 
cap.  3.  *  E  fraterno  corde  sanguinem  1  Nemo  coelum,  nemo  jusjumndum, 
eliciunt.  3  Milvus  rapit  ac  deglubit.  nemo  Jovem  pluria  facit,  sed  oonei 
*  Petronius  de  Crotone  civil.  &  Quid  apertis  oculis  bona  sua  computalt.  Pa- 
forum?  locos  quo  alius  alium  eircnm-  tron 
remit.  »  Vastum  chaos,  larrarum 


88  Democritus  to  the  Reader. 

they  fall  foul.  Old  friends  become  bitter  enemies  on  a  sad 
den  for  toys  and  small  offences,  and  they  that  erst  were  will 
ing  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  reconciled.  So  long  as  they  are  be- 
hoveful,  they  love,  or  may  bestead  each  other,  but  when  there 
is  no  more  good  to  be  expected,  as  they  do  by  an  old  dog, 
hang  him  up  or  cashier  him ;  which  1  Cato  counts  a  great 
indecorum,  to  use  men  like  old  shoes  or  broken  glasses,  which 
are  flung  to  the  dunghill ;  he  could  not  find  in  his  heart  to 
sell  an  old  ox,  much  less  to  turn  away  an  old  servant ;  but 
they,  instead  of  recompense,  revile  him,  and  when  they  have 
made  him  an  instrument  of  their  villainy,  as  2  Bajazet  the 
second  Emperor  of  the  Turks  did  by  Acomethes  Bassa,  make 
him  away,  or  instead  of  8  reward,  hate  him  to  death,  as  Silius 
was  served  by  Tiberius.  In  a  word  every  man  for  his  own 
ends.  Our  summum  bonum  is  commodity,  and  the  goddess 
we  adore  Dea  moneta,  Queen  money,  to  whom  we  daily  offer 
sacrifice,  which  steers  our  hearts,  hands,  4  affections,  all ;  that 
most  powerful  goddess,  by  whom  we  are  reared,  depressed, 
elevated,  6  esteemed  the  sole  commandress  of  our  actions,  for 
which  we  pray,  run,  ride,  go,  come,  labour,  and  contend  as 
fishes  do  for  a  crumb  that  falleth  into  the  water.  It's  not 
worth,  virtue,  (that's  bonum  theatrale,)  wisdom,  valour,  learn 
ing,  honesty,  religion,  or  any  sufficiency  for  which  we  are 
respected,  but  *  money,  greatness,  office,  honour,  authority ; 
honesty  is  accounted  folly ;  knavery,  policy ;  7  men  admired 
out  of  opinion,  not  as  they  are,  but  as  they  seem  to  be ;  such 
shifting,  lying,  cogging,  plotting,  counterplotting,  temporizing, 
flattering,  cozening,  dissembling,  8 "  that  of  necessity  one  must 

1  Plutarch.  Tit.  ejus.    Indecorum  anl-  odium  reddltur.    Tac.          <  Faucis  cha- 

matts  ut  calceis  utl  aut  ritria,  quse  nbl  rior   eat  fides  quam  pecunia.      Salust. 

fracta    abjicimus,    nam    ut    de    meipso  6  Prlma  fere  vota  et  cnnctis,  &c. 

dioam,   nee   borem    senem   vendideram,  •  Et   genus  et   fonnain  regina  pecunia 

nedum  hominem  natu  grandem  laboria  donat.     Quantum  quisque  sua  nummo- 

mcium  s  Jovius.      Cum  innumera  rum  servat  in  area,  tantum  habet  et  fidel. 

Ulius    beneflcia   rependere    non    posset  1  Non  &  peritii  aed  ab  ornatu  et  vul^f 

aliter,  interflci  juasit.  *  Beneficia  yoclbus  habemnr  excellentes.    Cardan.  1 

«o  usque  laeta  sunt  dum  Tidentnr  folvi  2,  de  cons.          8  Perjurata  suo  postponit 

posse,  ubi  multum  autevenere  pro  gratia  numina  lucre,  Mercator.   Ct  necessarian 


Democritus  to  the  Reader.  89 

highly  offend  God  if  he  be  conformable  to  the  world,"  Oreti- 
zare  cum  Crete,  "  or  else  live  in  contempt,  disgrace,  and  mis 
ery."  One  takes  upon  him  temperance,  holiness,  another 
austerity,  a  third  an  affected  kind  of  simplicity,  when  as  in 
deed  he,  and  he,  and  he,  and  the  rest  are  l "  hypocrites,  ambi 
dexters,"  outsides,  so  many  turning  pictures,  a  lion  on  the 
one  side,  a  lamb  on  the  other.3  How  would  Democritus  have 
been  affected  to  see  these  things  ! 

To  see  a  man  turn  himself  into  all  shapes  like  a  chameleon, 
or  as  Proteus,  omnia  transformans  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  one  he  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  serpent, 
as  meek  as  a  lamb,  and  yet  again  grin  like  a  tiger,  weep  like 
a  crocodile,  insult  over  some,  and  yet  others  domineer  over 
him,  here  command,  there  crouch,  tyrannize  in  one  place,  be 
baffled  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  parasangs  betwixt  tongue  and  heart,  men  like  stage- 
players,  act  variety  of  parts,  "give  good  precepts  to  others, 
soar  aloft,  whilst  they  themselves  grovel  on  the  ground. 

To  see  a  man  protest  friendship,  kiss  his  hand,  *  quern  mal 
let  truncatum  videre,  6  smile  with  an  intent  to  do  mischief,  or 
cozen  him  whom  he  salutes,  *  magnify  his  friend  unworthy 
with  hyperbolical  eulogiums ;  his  enemy  albeit  a  good  man, 
*o  vilify  and  disgrace  him,  yea  all  his  actions,  with  the  ut 
most  that  livor  and  malice  can  invent. 

To  see  a  'servant  able  to  buy  out  his  master,  him  that 

lit  vel  Deo  displicere,  Tel  ab  hominibus  Silv.          6  Arridere  homines  ut  sseviant, 

contemn!,  Texari,  negligl.      1  Qui  Curios  blandlii  ut  fallant.     Gyp.  ad  Donatum. 

simulant  et  Bacchanalia  Tirunt.      »  Tra-  *  IX>TB  and  hate  are  like  the  two  ends  of 

gelapho  similes    Tel    centauris,   sursum  a  perspective  glass,  the  one  multiplies, 

homines,  deorsum  equi.          3  Precept!*  the  other  makes  less.        *  Mlnistri  locu- 

cuis  coelum  promittunt.  Ips!  interim  pul-  pletiores  iis  quibns  minlstratur,  serruf 

mis  terreni  vilia  mancipia.         *  jEueas  inajores   opes    habens    quam    patronui 


90  Democritus  to  the  Header. 

carries  the  mace  more  worth  than  the  magistrate,  which 
Plato,  lib.  11,  de  leg.,  absolutely  forbids,  Epictetus  abhors. 
A  horse  that  tills  the  1  land  fed  with  chaff,  an  idle  jade  have 
provender  in  abundance ;  him  that  makes  shoes  go  barefoot 
himself,  him  that  sells  meat  almost  pined ;  a  toiling  drudge 
starve,  a  drone  flourish. 

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

2 "Rides?  majore  chachinno 

Concutitur,  flet  si  lachrymas  conspexit  amici." 

'  Alexander  stooped,  so  did  his  courtiers ;  Alphonsus  turned 
his  head,  and  so  did  his  parasites.  *  Sabina  Poppea,  Nero's 
wife,  wore  amber-coloured  hair,  so  did  all  the  Roman  ladies 
in  an  instant,  her  fashion  was  theirs. 

To  see  men  wholly  led  by  affection,  admired  and  censured 
out  of  opinion  without  judgment ;  an  inconsiderate  multitude, 
like  so  many  dogs  in  a  village,  if  one  bark  all  bark  without  a 
cause ;  as  fortune's  fan  turns,  if  a  man  be  in  favour,  or  com 
manded  by  some  great  one,  all  the  world  applauds  him ;  *  if 
in  disgrace  in  an  instant  all  hate  him,  and  as  at  the  sun  when 
he  is  eclipsed,  that  erst  took  no  notice,  now  gaze  and  stare 
upon  him. 

To  see  a  man  *  wear  his  brains  in  his  belly,  his  guts  in  his 
head,  an  hundred  oaks  on  his  back,  to  devour  a  hundred  oxen 
at  a  meal,  nay  more,  to  devour  houses  and  towns,  or  as  those 
anthropophagi, 7  to  eat  one  another. 

To  see  a  man  roll  himself  up  like  a  snowball,  from  base 
beggary  to  right  worshipful  and  right  honourable  titles,  un 
justly  to  screw  himself  into  honours  and  offices ;  another  to 
starve  his  genius,  damn  his  soul  to  gather  wealth,  which  he 

1  Qul  terram  colunt  equi  paleia  pascun-  rap.  6.       *  Plinius,  1.  87,  cap.  8,  capillo* 

tor,  qul  oUantur  caballl  avenl  saginan-  hahuit  succineos,  exinde  factum  ut  om- 

tur,  discalceatus  discurrit  qui  calces  allig  nes  puellse  Romante  colorem  ilium  affeo- 

fecit.         » Juven.     Do  you  laugh?  he  is  tarent.  *  Odit  damnatoa.     JUT. 

ihaken   by  itiU   greater    laughter  ;   he  •  Agrippa  ep.  28, 1.  7.  Quorum  cerebrum 

weeps  also  when  he  has  beheld  the  tears  est  In  ventre,  ingenium  in  patinis. 

of  his  friend.      •  Bodin.  lib.  4,  de  repub.  '  Psal.    They  eat  up  my  peop>e  as  bread 


Democritus  to  the  Reader.  91 


shall  not  enjoy,  which  his  prodigal  son  melts  and  consumes 
in  an  instant.1 

To  see  the  nano^iav  of  our  times,  a  man  bend  all  his 
forces,  means,  time,  fortunes,  to  be  a  favourite's  favourite's 
favourite,  &c.,  a  parasite's  parasite's  parasite,  that  may  scorn 
the  servile  world  as  having  enough  already. 

To  see  an  hirsute  beggar's  brat,  that  lately  fed  on  scraps, 
crept  and  whined,  crying  to  all,  and  for  an  old  jerkin  ran  of 
errands,  now  ruffle  in  silk  and  satin,  bravely  mounted,  jovial 
and  polite,  now  scorn  his  old  friends  and  familiarj^neglect  his 
kindred,  insult  over  his  betters,  domineer  over  all. 

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

To  see  a  fond  mother,  like  ^Esop's  ape,  hug  her  child  to 
death,  a  a  wittol  wink  at  his  wife's  honesty,  and  too  perspic 
uous  in  all  other  affairs ;  one  stumble  at  a  straw,  and  leap 
over  a  block ;  rob  Peter,  and  pay  Paul ;  scrape  unjust  sums 
with  one  hand,  purchase  great  manors  by  corruption,  fraud 
and  cozenage,  and  liberally  to  distribute  to  the  poor  with  the 
other,  give  a  remnant  to  pious  uses,  &c.  Pennywise,  pound- 
foolish  ;  blind  men  judge  of  colours ;  wise  men  silent,  fools 
talk ;  *  find  fault  with  others,  and  do  worse  themselves~f-J^de- 
nounce  that  in  public  which  he  doth  in  secret;  and  which 
Aurelius  Victor  gives  out  of  Augustus,  severely  censure  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 

1  Absumit  haeres  ctecnba  dignior  ser-  obllvisci  suorum.  Idem  Aristippus  Chari- 

Tata  centum  claribus,  et  mero  distinguet  demo  apud  Lucianum.  Omnino  stultitiae 

pavimentis  superbo,   pontificum  potiore  cnjusdam  ease  puto,  &c.  t  Execrarf 

eoenis  .  Uor.        *  Qui  Thaidem  pingere,  publiceqttodoccnlteagat.    Salvianus  lib. 

Inflate  tibiam,  erispare  crines.      *  Doctus  de  pro.  acres  ulciscendis  yitiis  quibus  iptt 

epectare  lacunar.       s  Tailing.     Est  enim  rehementer  indulgent, 
proprium  staltitige  aliorum  cemere 


92  Democritus  to  the  Header. 

year's  end ;  A  country  colone  toil  and  moil,  till  and  drudge 
for  a  prodigal  idle  drone,  that  devours  all  the  gain,  or  lasciv 
iously  consumes  with  fantastical  expenses ;  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  immortality, 
desire  to  be  happy,  and  yet  by  all  means  avoid  death,  a  neces 
sary  passage  to  bring  him  to  it. 

To  see  a  foolhardy  fellow  like  those  old  Danes,  qui  decol- 
lari  mcdunt  quam  verberari,  die  rather  than  be  punished,  in  a 
sottish  humour  embrace  death  with  alacrity,  yet  1  scorn  to 
lament  his  own  sins  and  miseries,  or  his  dearest  friends' 
departures. 

To  see  wise  men  degraded,  fools  preferred,  one  govern 
towns  and  cities,  and  yet  a  silly  woman  overrules  him  at 
home  ;  *  Command  a  province,  and  yet  his  own  servants  or 
children  prescribe  laws  to  him,  as  Themistocles's  son  did  in 
Greece ;  a "  What  I  will  (said  he)  my  mother  will,  and  what 
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.  0  viveret 
Democritus  I 

4  To  insist  in  every  particular  were  one  of  Hercules's 
labours,  there's  so  many  ridiculous  instances,  as  motes  in  the 
sun.  Quantum  est  in  rebus  inane!  (How  much  vanity 
there  is  in  things !)  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, 
easy  to  be  discerned.  How  would  Democritus  have  been 
moved,  had  he  seen  f  the  secrets  of  their  hearts  ?  If  every 

1  Adamos  eccl.  hist.  cap.  212.    Siquls  femulum  regit  sine  strepltu  domi. 

damnatus  fuerit,  laetus  ease  gloria  est;  *  Quicquid  ego  yolo  hoc  vult  mater  mea, 

Dam  lachrymas  et  planctum  cseteraque  et  quod  mater  vult,  facit  pater.      8  Oves, 

eompunctionum  genera  qua  nos  salubria  olim  mite  pecus,  nunc  tarn  indomitum  et 

eensemus,  ita  abominantur  Dani,  ut  nee  edax  ut  homines  devorent,  &c.     Morug 

pro  peccatia  nee  pro  Uefunctia  amicis  ulli  Utop.  lib.  1.          *  Diversos  variis  tribull 

Here  liceat.        *  Orbl  dat  leges  foras,  vix  natura  furores.        t  Demoorit.  ep.  prsed 


Democritus  to  the  Reader.  93 


man  had  a  window  in  his  breast,  which  Momus  would  have 
had  in  Vulcan's  man,  or  that  which  Tully  so  much  wished  it 
were  written  in  every  man's  forehead,  Quid  quisque  de  re- 
publicd  sentiret,  what  he  thought ;  or  that  it  could  be  effected 
in  an  instant,  which  Mercury  did  by  Charon  hi  Lucian,  by 
touching  of  his  eyes,  to  make  him  discern  semel  et  simul  ru 
mores  et  susurros. 

"  Spes  hominum  caecaa,  morbos,  votumqne  labores, 
Et  passim  toto  volitantes  sethere  curas." 

"  Blind  hopes  and  wishes,  their  thoughts  and  affairs,  -~ 
Whispers  and  rumours,  and  those  flying  cares." 

That  he  could  cubiculorum  obductas  foras  reclttdere  et  secreta 
cordium  penetrare,  which  *  Cyprian  desired,  open  doors  and 
locks,  shoot  bolts,  as  Lucian's  Gallus  did  with  a  feather  of 
his  tail;  or  Gyges's  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  2  Martianus  Capel- 
la's  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  alchemists, 
the  philosopher's  stone,  new  projectors,  &c.,  and  all  those 
works  of  darkness,  foolish  vows,  hopes,  fears,  and  wishes, 
what  a  deal  of  laughter  would  it  have  afforded  ?  He  should 
have  seen  windmills  in  one  man's  head,  an  hornet's  nest  in 
another.  Or  had  he  been  present  with  Icaromenippus  in 
Lucian  at  Jupiter's  whispering  place,  8  and  heard  one  pray 
for  rain,  another  for  fair  weather  ;  one  for  his  wife's,  another 
for  his  father's  death,  &c. ;  "  to  ask  that  at  God's  hand  which 
they  are  abashed  any  man  should  hear ; "  How  would  he 
have  been  confounded  ?  Would  he,  think  you,  or  any  man 

Hos  dejemntes  et  potantes  deprehendet,  qnotidianis  motibus  agitarent,  relucebat. 

hos  Yomentes,   illos    litigantes,    insidias  3  0  Jupiter  contingat  mihi  aurum  haered- 

molientes,    suffragantes,    venena     mis-  itag,    &c.     Multos   da,   Jupiter,    annos, 

centes.  In  amicorum  accusationem  sub-  Dementia  quanta  est  hominum,  turpiasi- 

scribentes,  hos  gloria,  illos  ambitione,  cu-  ma  vota  diis  insusurrant,  si  qui?  admor- 

pidi'ate,  mente  captos,  &o.      lAdDonat.  erit  aurem,  conticescunt ;  et  quod  sciw 

ep.  2, 1. 1.    0  si  posses  in  specula  sublimi  homines  nolunt,  Deo  uarraut.    Senec.  ep 

eonstitutus,  &c.     2  Lib.  1,  de  nup.  Philol.  10,  1.  1. 
In  qua  quid    singuli  nationum  populi 


94  Democritus  to  the  Reader. 

else,  say  that  these  men  were  well  in  their  wits  ?  Hcec  sant 
esse  hominis  quit  sanusjuret  Orestes  ?  Can  all  the  hellebore 
in  the  Anticyrae  cure  these  men  ?  No  sure,  *  "  an  acre  of 
hellebore  will  not  do  it." 

That  which  is  more  to  be  lamented,  they  are  mad  like 
Seneca's  blind  woman,  and  will  not  acknowledge,  or  l  seek 
for  any  cure  of  it,  for  pauci  vident  morbum  suum  omnes 
amant.  If  our  leg  or  arm  offend  us,  we  covet  by  all  means 
possible  to  redress  it ;  a  and  if  we  labour  of  a  bodily  disease, 
we  send  for  a  physician ;  but  for  the  diseases  of  the  mind 
we  take  no  notice  of  them  ;  *  Lust  harrows  us  on  the  one 
eide ;  envy,  anger,  ambition  on  the  other.  We  are  torn  in 
pieces  by  our  passions,  as  so  many  wild  horses,  one  in  dispo 
sition,  another  in  habit;  one  is  melancholy,  another  mad; 
4  and  which  of  us  all  seeks  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,  be 
cause  nobody  should  discern  him.  Every  man  thinks  with 
himself,  Egomet  videor  mihi  sanus,  I  am  well,  I  am  wise,  and 
laughs  at  others.  And  'tis  a  general  fault  amongst  them  all, 
that  8  which  our  forefathers  have  approved,  diet,  apparel, 
opinions,  humours,  customs,  manners,  we  deride  and  reject  in 
our  tune  as  absurd.  Old  men  account  juniors  all  fools,  when 

they  are  mere  dizzards ;  and  as  to  sailors, terrceque  ur- 

besque  recedunt they  move,  the  land  stands  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  sev 
eral  customs;  Greeks  have  condemned  all  the  world  but 

*  Plantna    Meneoh.    non    potent   haec  hum.  affec.  morbornmque  cura.         *  Bt 

res    Hellebori   jngere    obtinerier.  qnotuaquisque  tamen  est  qui  contra  tot 

1  Eoque  gravior  morbus  quo  ignotior  pe-  pestes  medicum  requtrat  vel  eegrotare  se 

rlclitanti.        *  Quae  leedunt  oculos,  festi-  agnoscat?  ebullit  ira,  &c.     Et  uos  tamen 

nan  demere ;  R!  quid  est  animum,  differs  segros  esse  negamus.     Incolumes   rnedi- 

eurandi  tempus  In  annum.    Hor.        *  Si  cum  recusant.     Prsesens  setas  stnltitiam 

eaput,  crus  dolet,  brachium,  fcc.,  medi-  priscis  ezprobrat.    Bud.  de  affec.  lib.  6. 

turn  accenlmus,  recte  et  honeste,  si  par  *  Senes  pro  s tultis  habent  juvenes.  Baltli 

etlam  Indtutria  in  animi  morbis  ponere-  Cast. 
tor.    Job.   Pelenus  Jesuita.  Ub.    2,  de 


Democritus  to  the  Header.  95 


themselves  of  barbarism,  the  world  as  much  vilifies  them 
now  ;  we  account  Germans  heavy,  dull  fellows,  explode  many 
of  their  fashions ;  they  as  contemptibly  think  of  us  ;  Span 
iards  laugh  at  all.  and  all  again  at  them.  So  are  we  fools 
and  ridiculous,  absurd  in  our  actions,  carriages,  diet,  apparel, 
customs,  and  consultations ;  we  l  scoff  and  point  one  at 
another,  when  as  in  conclusion  all  are  fools,  *  "  and  they  the 
venest  asses  that  hide  their  ears  most"  A  private  man  if 
he  be  resolved  with  himself,  or  set  on  an  opinion,  accounts 
all  idiots  and  asses  that  are  not  affected  as  he  is^ —  *n& 
rectum,  nisi  quod  placuit  sibi,  ducit,  that  are  not  so  minded, 
1  (quodque  volunt  homines  se  bene  vette  putant,)  all  fools  that 
think  not  as  he  doth ;  he  will  not  say  with  Atticus,  Suam 
quisque  sponsam,  mihi  meam,  let  every  man  enjoy  his  own 
spouse ;  but  his  alone  is  fair,  suus  amor,  fyc.,  and  scorns  all 
in  respect  of  himself,  4  will  imitate  none,  hear  none  6  but  him 
self,  as  Pliny  said,  a  law  and  example  to  himself.  And  that 
which  Hippocrates,  in  his  epistle  to  Dionysius,  reprehended 
of  old,  is  verified  in  our  times,  Quisque  in  olio  superjluum 
esse  censet,  ipse  quod  non  habet  nee  curat,  that  which  he  hath 
not  himself,  or  doth  not  esteem,  he  accounts  superfluity,  an 
idle  quality,  a  mere  foppery  in  another;  like  -3Ssop's  fox, 
when  he  had  lost  his  tail,  would  have  all  his  fellow  foxes  cut 
off  theirs.  The  Chinese  say,  that  we  Europeans  have  one 
eye,  they  themselves  two,  all  the  world  else  is  blind ;  (though 
t  Scaliger  accounts  them  brutes  too,  merum  pecus,)  so  thou 
and  thy  sectaries  are  only  wise,  others  indifferent,  the  rest 
beside  themselves,  mere  idiots  and  asses.  Thus  not  ac 
knowledging  our  own  errors  and  imperfections,  we  securely 
deride  others,  as  if  we  alone  were  free,  and  spectators  of  the 
rest,  accounting  it  an  excellent  thing,  as  indeed  it  is,  Aliend 
optimum  frui  insanid,  to  make  ourselves  merry  with  other 
men's  obliquities,  when  as  he  himself  is  more  faulty  than  the 

1  Clodius  accnsat  moechos.          *  Om-  imitantur,  ipsi  sibi  exemplo.    Plin.  epist. 

niutn  Btultissimi  qui  auriculas  studios^  lib.  8.        5  Null!  alteri  sapere  concedit 

tegunt.     Sat.  Menip.       »  Hor.  Epist.  2.  ne  desipere  videatnr.  Agrip.        t  Omnii 

*  Prosper.  *  Statim  sapiunt,  statim  orbis  persecbio  a  Penis  ad  Lusitaniam. 

Ml  ant,  neminem   rnverentur,  neminem 


96  Democritus  to  the  Reader. 

rest,  mutato  nomine,  de  tefabula  narratur,  he  may  take  him 
self  by  the  nose  for  a  fool ;  and  which  one  calls  maximum 
stultitifE  specimen,  to  be  ridiculous  to  others,  and  not  to  per 
ceive  or  take  notice  of  it,  as  Marsyas  was  when  he  contended 
with  Apollo,  non  intettigens  se  deridiculo  haberi,  saith  *  Apu- 
leius;  'tis  his  own  cause,  he  is  a  convicted  madman,  as 
1  Austin  well  infers  "  in  the  eyes  of  wise  men  and  angels  he 
seems  like  one,  that  to  our  thinking  walks  with  his  heels 
upwards."  So  thou  laughest  at  me,  and  I  at  thee,  both  at  a 
third ;  and  he  returns  that  of  the  poet  upon  us  again,  2  Hei 
mihi,  insanire  me  aiunt,  quum  ipsi  ultro  insaniant.  We 
accuse  others  of  madness,  of  folly,  and  are  the  veriest  diz- 
zards  ourselves.  For  it  is  a  great  sign  and  property  of  a 
fool  (which  Eccl.  x.  3,  points  at)  out  of  pride  and  self-conceit 
to  insult,  vilify,  condemn,  censure,  and  call  other  men  fools 
(Non  videmus  manticee  quod  a  tergo  esf)  to  tax  that  in  others 
of  which  we  are  most  faulty ;  teach  that  which  we  follow  not 
ourselves ;  For  an  inconstant  man  to  write  of  constancy ;  a 
profane  liver  prescribe  rules  of  sanctity  and  piety ;  a  dizzard 
himself  make  a  treatise  of  wisdom ;  or  with  Sallust  to  rail 
downright  at  spoilers  of  countries,  and  yet  in  f  office  to  be  a 
most  grievous  poller  himself.  This  argues  weakness,  and  is 
an  evident  sign  of  such  parties'  indiscretion.  *  Peccat  uter 
nostrum  cruce  dignius  ?  "  Who  is  the  fool  now  ?  "  Or  else 
perad venture  in  some  places  we  are  all  mad  for  company, 
and  so  'tis  not  seen,  Satietas  erroris  et  dementia,  pariter 
absurditatem  et  admirationem  tottit.  'Tis  with  us,  as  it  was 
of  old  (in  4  Tully's  censure  at  least)  with  C.  Pimbria  in  Rome, 
a  bold,  hairbrain,  mad  fellow,  and  so  esteemed  of  all,  such 
only  excepted,  that  were  as  mad  as  himself;  now  in  such  a 
case  there  is  *  no  notice  taken  of  it 

•  2  Florid.     1  August.  Quails  in  oca  lls    nm  est  insaniendum    turba.    8«n. 
hominum  qui  Inversls  pedibus  ambnlat,    «  Pro  Roscio  Amerino,  et  quod  inter  om- 
talU  in  oculis  eapientum  et  angel       •  i     TIPS 
qui  iibi  placet,  aut  cui  passiones 
nantur.  *  Plautus  Menechmi 

t  OoTernor   of   Asnirh   by   Ciesar'i 
potntmeut.       *  Nunc  sanitatia  patr 


Democritus  to  the  Reader.  97 

"  Nimirum  insanus  paucis  videatur ;  e6  quod 
Maxima  pars  hominum  morbo  jactatur  eodem." 

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

But  put  case  they  do  perceive  it,  and  some  one  be  mani 
festly  convicted  of  madness,  l  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,  scrib 
bling,  prating,  for  which  he  is  ridiculous  to  others,  2on  which 
he  dotes,  he  doth  acknowledge  as  much ;  yet  with  all  the 
rhetoric  thou  hast,  thou  canst  not  so  recall  him,  but  to  the 
contrary  notwithstanding,  he  will  persevere  in  his  dotage. 
'Tis  amabilis  insania,  et  mentis  gratissimus  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,  madness,  yet 
4 "  an  angry  man  will  prefer  vengeance,  a  lascivious  his 
whore,  a  thief  his  booty,  a  glutton  his  belly,  before  his  wel 
fare."  Tell  an  epicure,  a  covetous  man,  an  ambitious  man, 
of  his  irregular  course,  wean  him  from  it  a  little,  pol  me  occi- 
distis  amid,  he  cries  anon,  you  have  undone  him,  and  as  8  a 
"  dog  to  his  vomit,"  he  returns  to  it  again  ;  no  persuasion  will 
take  place,  no  counsel,  say  what  thou  canst, 

"  Clames  licet  et  mare  coelo 

Confundas,  surdo  narras,"  * 

demonstrate  as  Ulysses  did  to  6  Elpenor  and  Gryllus,  and  the 
rest  of  his  companions,  "  those  swinish  men,"  he  is  irrefraga 
ble  in  his  humour,  he  will  be  a  hog  still ;  bray  him  in  a  mor 
tar,  he  will  be  the  same.  If  he  be  in  an  heresy,  or  some 
perverse  opinion,  settled  as  some  of  our  ignorant  Papists  are, 

t  genus  unum  stulti-  gulam.  ambitiosus  honores,  avarus  opes, 

e  putas.      2  Stultum  &c.,  odimus  haec  et  accersimua.  Cardan, 

•ncedere  vernm,  At-  1.  2,  de  conso.       *  Prov.  xxvi.  11. 

Hor.          *  Odi  nee  *  Although  you  call  out,  and  confound 

ssse  quod  odi.  Ovid  the  sea  and  sky,  you  still  address  a  deaf 

r  omnes  insanimus.  man.       *  Plutarch.  Gryllo.  suilli  homilies 

x  prseponlt,  iracun-  sic  Clem.  Alex.  TO. 
praedam,  parasitus 


98  Democritus  to  the  Reader. 

convince  his  understanding,  show  him  the  seveial  follies  and 
absurd  fopperies  of  that  sect,  force  him  to  say,  veris  vincor, 
make  it  as  clear  as  the  sun,  l  he  will  err  still,  peevish  and  ob 
stinate  as  he  is  ;  and  as  he  said  2  si  in  hoc  erro,  libenter  erro,  nee 
hunc  errorem  auferri  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  4  mad  or 
no,  6  Heus  age  responds  ?  are  they  ridiculous  ?  cedo  quemvis 
arbitrum,  are  they  san<e  mentis,  sober,  wise,  and  discreet? 

have  they  common  sense  ? °  uter  est  insanior  horum  ? 

I  am  of  Democritus's  opinion  for  my  part,  I  hold  them 
worthy  to  be  laughed  at ;  a  company  of  brainsick  dizzards, 
as  mad  as  7  Orestes  and  Athamas,  that  they  may  go  "  ride 
the  ass,"  and  all  sail  along  to  the  Anticyrae,  in  the  "  ship  of 
fools"  for  company  together.  I  need  not  much  labour  to 
prove  this  which  I  say  otherwise  than  thus,  make  any  sol 
emn  protestation,  or  swear,  I  think  you  will  believe  me  with 
out  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  question  ;  for  what  said  our  comical 
Mercury  ? 

6  "  Justum  ab  injustis  petere  insipientia  est. 

I'll  stand  to  your  censure  yet,  what  think  you  ?  " 

But  forasmuch  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.  '  Nunc 
accipe  quare  desipiant  omnes  ague  ac  tu.  My  Urst  argu 
ment  is  borrowed  from  Solomon,  an  arrow  drawn  out  of  his 

1  Non  persuadebis,  etiamsi  persuaseris.  is  the  more  mad.        1  Vesanum  exagitat 

*  Tally       3  Male  cum  illis  insanirc,  quam  pueri,  innuptseque  puellae.        *  Plautug 

earn  alils  bene  sentire.       «  Qui  inter  hog  •  Hor.  1.  2,  sat.  2.     Superbam  stultitiara 

enntriuntur  non  magls  sapere  possunt,  Plinius  vocat.  7,  epiat.  21,  quod  aemel  dbd 

?nlm  qni  in  culinS  bene  olere.     Petron.  fixum  ratumquo  sit. 
P«niut.        «  Hor.  2,  ser.  whkh  of  these 


Democntus  to  the  Reader.  99 

sententious  quiver,  Pro.  iii.  7,  "Be  not  wise  in  thine  own 
eyes."  And  xxvi.  12,  "  Seest  thou  a  man  wise  in  his  own 
conceit  ?  more  hope  is  of  a  fool  than  of  him."  Isaiah  pro- 
nounceth  a  woe  against  such  men,  chap.  v.  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  tha^fhink  too  well  of  themselves,  an  especial 
argument  to  convince  them  of  folly.  Many  men  (saith 
1  Seneca)  "  had  been  without  question  wise,  had  they  not  had 
an  opinion  that  they  had  attained  to  perfection  of  knowledge 
already,  even  before  they  had  gone  half-way,"  too  forward, 
too  ripe,  prceproperi,  too  quick  and  ready,  *cito  prudentes, 
cito  pii,  cito  mariti,  cito  patres,  did  sacerdotes,  cito  omnes 
officii  capaces  et  curiosi,  they  had  too  good  a  conceit  of  them 
selves,  and  that  marred  all ;  of  their  worth,  valour,  skill,  art, 
learning,  judgment,  eloquence,  their  good  parts ;  all  their 
geese  are  swans,  and  that  manifestly  proves  them  to  be  no 
better  than  fools.  In  former  times  they  had  but  seven  wise 
men,  now  you  can  scarce  find  so  many  fools.  Thales  sent 
the  golden  Tripos,  which  the  fishermen  found,  and  the  oracle 
commanded  to  be  *  "  given  to  the  wisest,  to  Bias,  Bias  to 
Solon,"  &c.  If  such  a  thing  were  now  found,  we  should  all 
fight  for  it,  as  the  three  goddesses  did  for  the  golden  apple, 
we  are  so  wise ;  we  have  women  politicians,  children  meta 
physicians;  every  silly  fellow  can  square  a  circle,  make 
perpetual  motions,  find  the  philosopher's  stone,  interpret 
Apocalypses,  make  new  Theories,  a  new  system  of  the  world, 
new  logic,  new  Philosophy,  &c.  Nostra  ittique  regio,  saith 
8  Petronius,  "  our  country  is  so  full  of  deified  spirits,  divine 
souls,  that  you  may  sooner  find  a  god  than  a  man  amongst 
us,"  we  think  so  well  of  ourselves,  and  that  is  an  ample  testi 
mony  of  much  folly. 

My  second  argument  is  grounded  upon  the  like  place  of 

1  Mul ti  sapientes  procul  dubio  fuissent ,  prasentibns   plena    est    muninlbuj ,   nt 

§i  Be  non  put&ssent  ad  sapientise  summum  facilius    possis    deum    quam    hominm 

pervenisse.         -  Idem.          *  Plutarchus  invenire. 
Solone.  Detur  sapientiori               a  Tarn 


100  Democritus  to  the  Reader. 

Scripture,  which  though  before  mentioned  in  effect,  yet  for 
some  reasons  is  to  be  repeated  (and  by  Plato's  good  leave,  I 
may  do  it, l  fa  rd  KdMv  pri&tv  aMev  /3Aa7rra)  "  Fools  (saith  David) 
by  reason  of  their  transgressions,"  &c.  Psal.  cvii.  17.  Hence 
Musculus  infers  all  transgressors  must  needs  be  fools.  So 
we  read  Rom.  ii.  "  Tribulation  and  anguish  on  the  soul  of 
every  man  that  doeth  evil ; "  but  all  do  evil.  And  Isaiah, 
Ixv.  14,  "  My  servants  shall  sing  for  joy,  and  2  ye  shall  cry 
for  sorrow  of  heart,  and  vexation  of  mind."  "Pis  ratified  by 
the  common  consent  of  all  philosophers.  "  Dishonesty  (saith 
Cardan)  is  nothing  else  but  folly  and  madness."  *  Probus  quis 
nobiscum  vivit  ?  Show  me  an  honest  man,  Nemo  malus  qui 
non  stuttuSy  'tis  Fabius's  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,  westward,  when  he  is  bound  to  the 
east  ?  or  hold  him  a  wise  man  (saith  *  Musculus)  "  that  pre 
fers  momentary  pleasures  to  eternity,  that  spends  his  master's 
goods  in  his  absence,  forthwith  to  be  condemned  for  it  ? " 
Nequicquam  sapit  qui  sibi  non  sapit,  who  will  say  that  a 
sick  man  is  wise,  that  eats  and  drinks  to  overthrow  the  tem 
perature  of  his  body  ?  Can  you  account  him  wise  or  discreet 
that  would  willingly  have  his  health,  and  yet  will  do  nothing 
that  should  procure  or  continue  it  ?  8  Theodoret,  out  of  Plo- 
tinus  the  Platonist,  "  holds  it  a  ridiculous  thing  for  a  man  to 
live  after  his  own  laws,  to  do  that  which  is  offensive  to  God, 
and  yet  to  hope  that  he  should  save  him  ;  and  when  he  vol 
untarily  neglects  his  own  safety,  and  contemns  the  means,  to 
think  to  be  delivered  by  another ; "  who  will  say  these  men 
are  wise  ? 

A  third  argument  may  be  derived  from  the  precedent,  6  all 

1  Pnlchnun  bis  dlcere  non  nocet.  mi  sententia  yiyere,  et  qu«  diis  ingrata 

•  Malefactors.  »  Who  can  find  a  gunt  exequi,  et  tamen  &  soils  diis  velle 

Adthful  man  ?      Prov.  zx.  6.  4  In  salvos  fieri  quum  propriae  Ralutis  curam 

Psal.  xltx.     Qui  momentanea  sempiter-  abjecerlnt.    Theod.  o.  6,  de  prortd.  lib  dfl 

nis,  qui  dilapidat  her!  absentis  bona,  mox  curat.  grace,  affect.        *  Sapiens  sibi  qui 

In  jus    yocandus    et    damnandna.  imperiosus,  &c.    Hor.  2,  ser.  7. 
1  Purquam  ridiculum  est  homines  ex  anl- 


Democritus  to  the  Header.  101 

men  are  carried  away  with  passion,  discontent,  lust,  pleas 
ures,  &c. ;  they  generally  hate  those  virtues  they  should  love, 
and  love  such  vices  they  should  hate.  Therefore  more  than 
melancholy,  quite  mad,  brute  beasts,  and  void  of  reason,  so 
Chrysostom  contends ;  "  or  rather  dead  and  buried  alive,"  as 
1  Philo  Judeus  concludes  it  for  a  certainty,  "  of  all  such  that 
are  carried  away  with  passions,  or  labor  of  any  disease  of 
the  mind."  "  Where  is  fear  and  sorrow,"  there  2  Lactantius 
stiffly  maintains,  "  wisdom  cannot  dwell. 

/ 

'  qui  cupiet,  metuet  quoqne  porrb, 
Qui  metuens  vivit,  liber  mihi  non  erit  unquam.'  "  *  — - 

Seneca  and  the  rest  of  the  stoics  are  of  opinion,  that  where  ia 
any  the  least  perturbation,  wisdom  may  not  be  found. 
"  What  more  ridiculous,"  as  *  Lactantius  urges,  "  than  to  hear 
how  Xerxes  whipped  the  Hellespont,"  threatened  the  Moun 
tain  Athos,  and  the  like  ?  To  speak  ad  rem,  who  is  free  from 
passion  ?  4  Mortalis  nemo  est  quern  non  attingat  dolor,  mor- 
busve,  as  5  Tully  determines  out  of  an  old  poem,  no  mortal  ' 
men  can  avoid  sorrow  and  sickness,  and  sorrow  is  an  insep 
arable  companion  from  melancholy.  '  Chrysostom  pleads  far 
ther  yet,  that  they  are  more  than  mad,  very  beasts,  stupefied, 
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  a 
horse  after  women,  ravest  in  lust  like  a  bull,  ravenest  like  a 
bear,  stingest  like  a  scorpion,  rakest  like  a  wolf,  as  subtle  as  a 
fox,  as  impudent  as  a  dog  ?  Shall  I  say  thou  art  a  man,  that 
ha3t  all  the  symptoms  of  a  beast  ?  How  shall  I  know  thee  to 
be  a  man  ?  by  thy  shape  ?  That  affrights  me  more,  when 
I  see  a  beast  in  likeness  of  a  man." 

1  Conclus.  lib.  de  Tic.  offer,  certum  est  in  sapientem  non  cadit.        «  Horn.  6,  in  2 

animi  morbis  laborantes  pro  mortuis  cen-  Epist.  ad  Cor.  Hominem  te  agnoscere  ne- 

eendos.      2  Lib.  de  sap.    Ubi  timor  adest,  queo,  cum  tanquam  asinus  recalcitres, 

eapieiitla  adesse  nequit.  *  He  who  is  lascivias  ut  taurus,  hinnias  ut  equus  post 

desirous,  is  also  fearful,  and  he  who  lives  mulieres,    ut    ursus    ventri    indulges*, 

In  fear  never  can  be  free.        8  Quid  insa-  quum  rapias  ut  lupus,  &c.,  at,  inquia, 

nius    Xerxe   Hellespontum    verberante*  formam  hominis  habeo,  Id  magis  terret, 

fcc.     *  Eccl.  xxi.  12.   Where  is  bitterness  quum  feram  humanSl  specie  videre  m* 

there  is  no  understanding.     Prov.  xii.  16  putemi 
man  is  a  fool.     5  3  Tusc.  Injuria 


102  Democritus  to  the  Reader. 

1  Seneca  calls  that  of  Epicurus,  magnificam  vocem,  an  he- 
roical  speech,  "  A  fool  still  begins  to  live,"  and  accounts  it  a 
filthy  lightness  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  folka 
are  as  far  out  as  the  rest ;  0  dementem  senectutem,  Tully  ex 
claims.  Therefore  young,  old,  middle  age,  all  are  stupid, 
and  dote. 

*  JEneas  Sylvius,  amongst  many  other,  sets  down  three 
special  ways  to  find  a  fool  by.  He  is  a  fool  that  seeks  that 
he  cannot  find;  he  is  a  fool  that  seeks  that,  which  being 
found  will  do  him  more  harm  than  good ;  he  is  a  fool,  that 
having  variety  of  ways  to  bring  him  to  'his  journey's  end, 
takes  that  which  is  worst  If  so,  methinks  most  men  are 
fools ;  examine  their  courses,  and  you  shall  soon  perceive 
what  dizzards  and  mad  men  the  major  part  are. 

Beroaldus  will  have  drunkards,  afternoon  men,  and  such 
as  more  than  ordinarily  delight  in  drink,  to  be  mad.  The 
first  pot  quencheth  thirst,  so  Panyasis  the  poet  determines  in 
Athenteus,  secunda  gratiis,  horis  et  Dionysio ;  the  second 
makes  merry,  the  third  for  pleasure,  quarto,  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  four  tunes  four  ?  Nonne  supra  omnem  furorem, 
supra  omnem  insaniam  reddunt  insanissimos  ?  I  am  of  his 
opinion,  they  are  more  than  mad,  much  worse  than  mad. 

The  2Abderites  condemned  Democritus  for  a  mad  man, 
because  he  was  sometimes  sad,  and  sometimes  again  pro 
fusely  merry.  Hdc  Pairid  (saith  Hippocrates)  ob  risum 
furere  et  insanire  dicunt,  his  countrymen  hold^4iim  mad 
because  he  laughs ;  *  and  therefore  "  he  desires  him  to  ad 
vise  all  his  friends  at  Rhodes,  that  they  do  not  laugh  too 

I  Epist.  lib.  2, 18.    Stultus  pemper  inci-  qul  cum  plures  habet  calles,  deteriorem 

pit  vivere,  foeda  hominum  levitas,  nova  delimit.      Mihi    videntur    omncs    dellri, 

quotidie  fundamenta  vifce  ponere,  novas  amentes,    &c.         2  Ep.   Damageto. 

ipea,  &c.        *  Decurial.  miser.    Stultus,  s  Amicis  nostris  Rhodi  dlclto.  ne  nimiuin 

qul  quserit  quod  nequit  invenire.  gtultus  rideant,  aut  nlmlnm  tristes  slat. 
qul  quterit  quod  nocet  inventuin,  stultuB 


Democritus  to  the  Reader.  108 

much,  or  be  over  sad."  Had  those  Abderites  been  con 
versant  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. 

Aristotle  in  his  ethics  holds  faiKx  idemque  sapiens,  to  be 
wise  and  happy,  are  reciprocal  terms,  bonus  idemque  sapiens 
honestus.  'Tis  3  Tully^  paradox,  "  wise  men  are  free,  but 
fools  are  slaves,"  liberty  is  a  power  to  live  according  to  his 
own  laws,  as  we  will  ourselves ;  who  hath  this  liberty  ?  who 

is  free  ? 

/ 

8  "  sapiens  sibique  imperiosus, 

Qnem  neque  pauperis,  neque  mors,  neque  vincula  terren^^ 
Responsare  cupidinibns,  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  bauds  can  fright, 
Checks  his  desires,  scorns  honours,  just  and  right." 

But  where  shall  such  a  man  be  found  ?  If  nowhere,  then 
e  diametro,  we  are  all  slaves,  senseless,  or  worse.  Nemo 
mains  fcelix.  But  no  man  is  happy  in  this  life,  none  good, 

therefore  no  man  wise.      *  Rari  quippe  boni For  one 

virtue  you  shall  find  ten  vices  in  the  same  party ;  pauci 
Promethei,  mulii  Epimethei.  "We  may  peradventure  usurp 
the  name,  or  attribute  it  to  others  for  favour,  as  Carolua 
Sapiens,  Philippus  Bonus,  Lodovicus  Pius,  &c.,  and  describe 
the  properties  of  a  wise  man,  as  Tully  doth  an  orator,  Xeno- 
phon  Cyrus,  Castilio  a  courtier,  Galen  temperament,  an  aris 
tocracy  is  described  by  politicians.  But  where  shall  such  a 
man  be  found  ? 

"  Vir  bonus  et  sapiens,  qualem  vix  repperit  nnum 
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- 

1  Per  multum  risum  poteris  cognosce-    &c.  3  Hor.  2,  ser.  7.  *  Jurm 

re  atultum.    Offlc.  3,  c.  9.         »  Sapientes    "  Good  people  are  scarce." 

liberi,  stulti  servi,  libertas  est  potestas, 


104  Democritus  to  the  Header. 

mum  miraculum  homo  sapiens,  a  wise  man  is  a  wonder; 
in  Lilt!  Thirsigeri,  pauci  BaccM. 

Alexander  when  he  was  presented  with  that  rich  and  costly 
casket  of  king  Darius,  and  every  man  advised  him  what  to 
put  in  it,  he  reserved  it  to  keep  Homer's  works,  as  the  most 
precious  jewel  of  human  wit,  and  yet  *  Scaliger  upbraids 
Homer's  muse,  Nutricem  insance  sapientice,  a  nursery  of 
madness,  2  impudent  as  a  court  lady,  that  blushes  at  nothing. 
Jacobus  Mycillus,  Gilbertus  Cognatus,  Erasmus,  and  almost 
all  posterity  admire  Lucian's  luxuriant  wit,  yet  Scaliger 
rejects  him  in  his  censure,  and  calls  him  the  Cerberus  of 
the  muses.  Socrates,  whom  all  the  world  so  much  magni 
fied,  is  by  Lactantius  and  Theodoret  condemned  for  a  fool. 
Plutarch  extols  Seneca's  wit  beyond  all  the  Greeks,  nuUi 
$ecundus,  yet  *  Seneca  saith  of  himself,  "  when  I  would  solace 
myself  with  a  fool,  I  reflect  upon  myself,  and  there  I  have 
him."  Cardan,  in  his  Sixteenth  Book  of  Subtilties,  reckons 
up  twelve  supereminent  acute  philosophers,  for  worth,  sub 
tlety,  and  wisdom :  Archimedes,  Galen,  Vitruvius,  Architaa 
Tarentinus,  Euclid,  Geber,  that  first  inventor  of  Algebra, 
Alkindus  the  Mathematician,  both  Arabians,  with  others. 
But  his  triumviri  terrarum  far  beyond  the  rest,  are  Ptolo- 
maeus,  Plotinus,  Hippocrates.  Scaliger,  exerdtat.  224,  scoffs  at 
this  censure  of  his,  calls  some  of  them  carpenters  and  mech 
anicians,  he  makes  Galen  fimbriam  Hippocratis,  a  skirt  of 
Hippocrates ;  and  the  said  4  Cardan  himself  elsewhere  con 
demns  both  Galen  and  Hippocrates  for  tediousness,  obscurity, 
confusion.  Paracelsus  will  have  them  both  mere  idiots,  in 
fants  in  physic  and  philosophy.  Scaliger  and  Cardan  admire 
Suisset  the  Calculator,  qui  pene  modum  excessit  humani  in- 
ffenii,  and  yet  6  Lod.  Vives  calls  them  nugas  Suisseticas ; 
and  Cardan,  opposite  to  himself  in  another  place,  contemns 
those  ancients  in  respect  of  times  present,  6  Majoresque  nostrot 

1  Hypocrit.  »  Ut   nmller   aulica  centium.          •  Lib.  de   causls  corrupt 

nnllius  pudeng.        *  Epist.  88.     Quando  artium.  <  Actione  ad  subtil,  in  Seal 

Cktao  delectari  volo  non  est  longe  qute-  fol.  1226. 
nndug,  me  yidec            *  Primo  contradi- 


Democritus  to  the  Readei.  105 

ad  presantes  collates  just'e  pueros  appeUari.  In  conclusion 
the  said  1  Cardan  and  Saint  Bernard  will  admit  none  into  this 
catalogue  of  wise  men,  2  but  only  prophets  and  apostles  ;  how 
they  esteem  themselves,  you  have  heard  before.  We  are 
worldly-wise,  admire  ourselves,  and  seek  for  applause ;  but 
hear  Saint  8  Bernard,  quanta  magis  foras  es  sapiens,  tanto 
magis  intus  stultus  effic&ris,  fyc.,  in  omnibus  es  prudens,  circa 
teipsum  insipiens  ;  the  more  wise  thou  art  to  others,  the  more 
fool  to  thyself.  I  may  not  deny  but  that  there  is  some  folly 
approved,  a  divine  fury,  a  holy  madness,  even  a  spiritual 
drunkenness  in  the  saints  of  God  themselves ;  sanciam  in- 
saniam  Bernard  calls  it,  (though  not  as  blaspheming^Yors- 
tius  would  infer  it,  as  a  passion  incident  to  God  himself,  but) 
familiar  to  good  men,  as  that  of  Paul,  2  Cor.  "  he  was  a  fool," 
&c.,  and  Rom.  ix.  he  wisheth  himself  to  be  anathematized  for 
them.  Such  is  that  drunkenness  which  Ficinus  speaks  of, 
when  the  soul  is  elevated  and  ravished  with  a  divine  taste 
of  that  heavenly  nectar,  which  poets  deciphered  by  the  sac 
rifice  of  Dionysius,  and  in  this  sense  with  the  poet,  6  insanire 
lubet,  as  Austin  exhorts  us,  ad  ebrietatetn  se  quisque  paret, 
let's  all  be  mad  and  6  drunk.  But  we  commonly  mistake, 
and  go  beyond  our  commission,  we  reel  to  the  opposite  part, 
7  we  are  not  capable  of  it,  8  and  as  he  said  of  the  Greeks,  Vbs 
Greed  semper  pueri,  vos  Britanni,  Gatti,  Germani,  liali,  tyc., 
you  are  a  company  of  fools. 

Proceed  now  a  partibus  ad  totum,  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  multi 
tude  is  mad,  *  bellua  multorum  capitum,  (a  many-headed 
beast,)  precipitate  and  rash  without  judgment,  stultum  ani 
mal,  a  roaring  rout.  10  Roger  Bacon  proves  it  out  of  Aristotle, 

1  Lib.  1,  de  sap.        *  Vide  miser  homo,  iram   et   odium    in   Deo   reyera    ponit. 

quia  totum  est  vanitas,  totum  stultitia,  5  Virg.  1,  Eel.  3          »  Ps.  inebriabuntur 

totuin  dementia,  quicquid  facis  in  hoc  ab  ubertate  domfts.  *  In  Psal.  civ. 

mundo,  prseter   hoc  solum  quod   prop-  Austin.  8  In  Platonis  Tim.  sacerdos 

ter  Deum  facis.      Set.   de   miser,   horn.  JSgyptius.  9  Hor.  vulgus  insauum. 

3  In 2  Platonis  dial.  1,  dejusto.        *  Dum  w  Patet   ea  divisio    probabilis,    &c  ,   ex 


106  jDemocritus  to  the  Header. 

Vulgus  dividi  in  oppositum  contra  sapientes,  quod  vtdgo  vide- 
tur  verum,  falsum  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  vulgo,  one  of  the  commonalty  ;  and  he,  and  he,  and  so 
are  all  the  rest ;  and  therefore,  as  Phocion  concludes,  to  be 
approved  in  nought  you  say  or  do,  mere  idiots  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  ;  if  it  be  so  that  the  earth  is  a  moon,  then  are  we 
also  giddy,  vertiginous,  and  lunatic  within  this  sublunary 
maze. 

I  could  produce  such  arguments  till  dark  night ;  if  you 
should  hear  the  rest, 

"  Ante  diem  clause  component  vesper  Olympo: " 

"  Through  such  a  train  of  words  if  I  should  run, 
The  day  would  sooner  than  the  tale  be  done :  " 

but  according  to  my  promise,  I  will  descend  to  particulars. 
This  melancholy  extends  itself  not  to  men  only,  but  even  to 
vegetals  and  sensibles.  I  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 
itself,  of  which  xAgrippa  treats,  fishes,  birds,  and  beasts, 
hares,  conies,  dormice,  &c.,  owls,  bats,  night-birds,  but  that 
artificial,  which  is  perceived  in  them  all.  Remove  ^rplant,  it 
will  pine  away,  which  is  especially  perceived  in  date-trees,  as 
you  may  read  at  large  in  Constantino's  husbandry,  that  an 
tipathy  betwixt  the  vine  and  the  cabbage,  wine  and  oil.  Put 
a  bird  in  a  cage,  he  will  die  for  sullenness,  or  a  beast  in  a 

Arist.  Top.  lib.  1,  c.  8.  Rog.  Bac.  Fplst.  In  vulgo.  1  De  occult.  Phllosoph.  L  1, 
de  secret,  art  et  nat.  c.  8,  non  eat  judicium  c.  25,  et  19,  ejuad.  1,  Lib.  10,  cap.  4. 


Democritus  to  the  Header.  107 

pen,  or  take  his  young  ones  or  companions  from  him,  and  see 
what  effect  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,  insomuch  some 
hold  they  dream  as  men  do,  and  through  violence  of  melan 
choly  run  mad ;  I  could  relate  many  stories  of  dogs  that  have 
died  for  grief,  and  pined  away  for  loss  of  their  masters,  but 
they  are  common  in  every  1  author. 

Kingdoms,  provinces,  and  politic  bodies  are  likewise  sensi 
ble  and  subject  to  this  disease,  as  2  Boterus  in  his  politics  hath 
proved  at  large.  "  As  in  human  bodies  (saith  he)  there_be 
divers  alterations  proceeding  from  humours,  so  there  be  many 
diseases  in  a  commonwealth,  which  do  as  diversely  happen 
from  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,  peaceable  and 
quiet,  rich,  fortunate,  8  and  flourish,  to  live  in  peace,  in  unity 
and  concord,  a  country  well  tilled,  many  fair  built  and  popu 
lous  cities,  ubi  incolce  nitent,  as  old  4  Cato  said,  the  people  are 
neat,  polite  and  terse,  ubi  bene,  beateque  vivunt,  which  our 
politicians  make  the  chief  end  of  a  commonwealth ;  and  which 
'  Aristotle  Polit.  lib.  3,  cap.  4,  calls  Commune  bonum,  Polybius, 
lib.  6,  optabilem  et  selectum  statum,  that  country  is  free  from 
melancholy ;  as  it  was  in  Italy  in  the  time  of  Augustus,  now 
in  China,  now  in  many  other  flourishing  kingdoms  of  Europe. 
But  whereas  you  shall  see  many  discontents,  common  griev 
ances,  complaints,  poverty,  barbarism,  beggary,  plagues,  wars, 
rebellions,  seditions,  mutinies,  contentions,  idleness,  riot,  epi 
curism,  the  land  lie  unfilled,  waste,  full  of  bogs,  fens,  deserts, 
&c.,  cities  decayed,  base  and  poor  towns,  villages  depopulated, 
the  people  squalid,  ugly,  uncivil ;  that  kingdom,  that  country, 
mus;  needs  be  discontent,  melancholy,  hath  a  sick  body,  and 
had  need  to  be  reformed. 

i  See  Lipsius  epist.      *  De  politia  Ulus-  *  Lib.  de  re  rust.       *  Vel  publicam  utili- 

tiium  lib.  1,  cap.  4,  ut  in  humanis  cor-  tatem :  salus  publiea  suprema  lex  esto. 

poribos  variae  accidunt  mutationes  cor-  Beata  civitas  non  ubi  pauci  bead,   sed 

ports,  animique,  sic  in  republic-!,   &c.  tola  civitas  beata.    Plato^quarto  de  r» 

*  Ubi  regt-s  philosophantur,  Plato.  publiea. 


108  Democritus  to  the  Header. 

Now  that  cannot  well  be  effected,  till  the  causes  of  these 
maladies  be  first  removed,  which  commonly  proceed  from 
their  own  default,  or  some  accidental  inconvenience :  as  to  be 
situated  in  a  bad  clime,  too  far  north,  sterile,  in  a  barren 
place,  as  the  desert  of  Lybia,  deserts  of  Arabia,  places  void 
of  waters,  as  those  of  Lop  and  Belgian  in  Asia,  or  in  a  bad 
air,  as  at  Alexandretta,  Baniam,  Pisa,  Durazzo,  S.  John  de 
UUoa,  Sfc.,  or  in  danger  of  the  sea's  continual  inundations,  as 
in  many  places  of  the  Low  Countries  and  elsewhere,  or  near 
some  bad  neighbours,  as  Hungarians  to  Turks,  Podolians  to 
Tartars,  or  almost  any  bordering  countries,  they  live  in  fear 
still,  and  by  reason  of  hostile  incursions  are  oftentimes  left 
desolate.  So  are  cities,  by  reason  *of  wars,  fires,  plagues, 
inundations,  2  wild  beasts,  decay  of  trades,  barred  havens,  the 
sea's  violence,  as  Antwerp  may  witness  of  late,  Syracuse  of 
old,  Brundusium  in  Italy,  Rye  and  Dover  with  us,  and  many 
that  at  this  day  suspect  the  sea's  fury  and  rage,  and  labour 
against  it  as  the  Venetians  to  their  inestimable  charge.  But 
the  most  frequent  maladies  are  such  as  proceed  from  them 
selves,  as  first  when  religion  and  God's  service  is  neglected, 
innovated  or  altered,  where  they  do  not  fear  God,  obey  their 
prince,  where  atheism,  epicurism,  sacrilege,  simony,  &c.,  and 
all  such  impieties  are  freely  committed,  that  country  cannot 
prosper.  When  Abraham  came  to  Gerar,  and  saw  a  bad 
land,  he  said,  sure  the  fear  of  God  was  not  in  that  place. 
1  Cyprian  Echovius,  a  Spanish  chorographer,  above  all  other 
cities  of  Spain,  commends  "  Borcino,  in  which  there  was  no 
beggar,  no  man  poor,  &c.,  but  all  rich,  and  in  good  estate,  and 
he  gives  the  reason,  because  they  were  more  religious  than 
their  neighbours  ; "  why  was  Israel  so  often  spoiledHby  their 
enemies,  led  into  captivity,  &c.,  but  for  their  idolatry,  neglect 
of  God's  word,  for  sacrilege,  even  for  one  Achan's  fault? 
And  what  shall  we  expect  that  have  such  multitudes  of 

1  Mantua  vae  misone    nlmlum  vicina  optimus  quisque  atqne  ditisiimus.     Pi« 

Cremonae.        *  Interdum  a  ferls,  ut  olim  sancteque     vivdmnt,    Bummaque    CUM 

Mauritania,  ftc.  a  Deliciis  Hispanise  veneratione  et  timore,  divinf  cultui,  u> 

wino  1604.    Nemo  malus,  nemo  pauper,  crisque  rebus  incumbehant 


Democritus  to  the  Reader.  109 

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 
politic ;  alteration  of  laws  and  customs,  breaking  privileges, 
general  oppressions,  seditions,  &c.,  observed  by  l  Aristotle, 
Bodin,  Boterus,  Junius,  Arniscus,  &c.  I  will  only  point  at 
some  of  the  chiefest.  2  Impotentia  gubernandi,  ataxia,  con 
fusion,  ill-government,  which  proceeds  from  unskilful,  slothful, 
griping,  covetous,  unjust,  rash,  or  tyrannizing  magistrates, 
when  they  are  fools,  idiots,  children,  proud,  wilful,  partial, 
indiscreet,  oppressors,  giddy  heads,  tyrants,  not  able  or  unfit 
to  manage  such  offices ;  8  many  noble  cities  and  flourishing 
kingdoms  by  that  means  are  desolate,  the  whole  body  groans 
under  such  heads,  and  all  the  members  must  needs  be  dis 
affected,  as  at  this  day  those  goodly  provinces  in  Asia  Minor, 
&c.,  groan  under  the  burden  of  a  Turkish  government ;  and 
those  vast  kingdoms  of  Muscovia,  Russia,  *  under  a  tyran 
nizing  duke.  Who  ever  heard  of  more  civil  and  rich  popu 
lous  countries  than  those  of  "  Greece,  Asia  Minor,  abounding 
with  all  8  wealth,  multitudes  of  inhabitants,  force,  power, 
splendour,  and  magnificence  ?  "  and  that  miracle  of  countries, 
'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  desert, 
and  almost  waste,  by  the  despotical  government  of  an  impe 
rious  Turk,  intolerabili  servitvtis  jugo  premitur  (*  one  saith) 
not  only  fire  and  water,  goods  or  lands,  sed  ipse  spiritus  ab 
insolentissimi  victoris  pendet  nutu,  such  is  their  slavery,  their 
lives  and  souls  depend  upon  his  insolent  will  and  command. 
A  tyrant  that  spoils  all  wheresoever  he  comes,  insomuch  that 
an  8  historian  complains,  "  if  an  old  inhabitant  should  now  see 

1  Polit.  1. 6,  c.  8.    *  Boterus  Polit.  lib.  1,  divi  tiarum  affluentia  incolarum  multi  tu- 

e.  1.     Cum  nempe  princeps  rerum  ger-  dine  splendore  ac  potentia.  •  Not 

endarum     imperitus,    segnis,     oscitans,  above  200  miles  in  length,  60  in  breadth, 

Buique  mnnerte  immemor.  ant  fatuus  est.  according  to  Adricomius.         1  Komului 

*  Nou  viget  respublica  cujus  caput  in-  Amascus.        *  Sabellicus.    Si  qtiis  incola 

flrmatur.     Salisburiensis,  c.  22.        *  See  vetus,  non  agnoaceret,  si  quis  peregrinug, 

Dr.  Fletcher's  relation,  and  Alexander  ingemisceret. 
Qagninus:s  history.        &  Abandons  omnl 


110  Democritus  to  the  Reader. 

them,  he  would  not  know  them ;  if  a  traveller,  or  stranger,  it 
would  grieve  his  heart  to  behold  them."  Whereas  J  Aristotle 
notes,  Novae  exactiones,  nova  onera  imposita,  new  burdens 
and  exactions  daily  come  upon  them,  like  those  of  which 
Zosimus,  lib.  2,  so  grievous,  ut  viri  uxores,  patres  filios  prosti- 
tuerent  ut  exactoribus  e  questu,  Sfc.,  they  must  needs  be  discon 
tent,  hinc  civitaium  gemitus  et  ploratus,  as  a  Tully  holds ;  hence 
come  those  complaints  and  tears  of  cities,  "  poor,  miserable, 
rebellious,  and  desperate  subjects,"  as  8  Hippolitus  adds ;  and 

*  as  a  judicious  countryman  of  ours  observed  not  long  since, 
in  a  survey  of  that  great  Duchy  of  Tuscany,  the  people  lived 
much  grieved  and  discontent,  as  appeared  by  their  manifold 
and  manifest  complainings  hi  that  kind.      "  That  the  state 
was  like  a  sick  body  which  had  lately  taken  physic,  whose 
humours  are  not  yet  well  settled,  and  weakened  so  much  by 
purging,  that  nothing  was  left  but  melancholy." 

Whereas  the  princes  and  potentates  are  immoderate  in 
lust,  hypocrites,  epicures,  of  no  religion,  but  in  show  ;  Quid 
hypocrisi  fragilius  ?  what  so  brittle  and  unsure?  what  sooner 
subverts  their  estates  than  wandering  and  raging  lusts,  on 
their  subjects'  wives,  daughters  ?  to  say  no  worse.  That  they 
should  facem  prceferre,  lead  the  way  to  all  virtuous  actions, 
are  the  ringleaders  often  tunes  of  all  mischief  and  dissolute 
courses,  and  by  that  means  their  countries  are  plagued, 
* "  and  they  themselves  often  ruined,  banished,  or  murdered 
by  conspiracy  of  their  subjects,  as  Sardanapalus  was,  Diony- 
sius,  junior,  Heliogabalus,  Periander,  Pisistratus,  Tarquinius, 
Timocrates,  Childericus,  Appius  Claudius,  Andronicus,  Galea- 
cius  Sforsia,  Alexander  Medices,"  &c. 

Whereas  the  princes  or  great  men  are  malicious,  ^envious, 
factious,  ambitious,  emulators,  they  tear  a  commonwealth 
asunder,  as  so  many  Guelfs  and  Gibelines  disturb  the  quiet 
ness  of  it,  *  and  with  mutual  murders  let  it  bleed  to  death ; 

1  Polit.  1. 5,  c.  6.  Cradelitas  principum,  1696,  concluslo  llbri.        »  Boterus  1.  9, 

ImpunitaRscelerum,  violatio  legum,  pecu-  o.  4.     Polit.  Quo  fit  ut  aut  rebus   despe- 

latua  pecuniae  publics,  etc.          *  Epint.  ratts  exulent,  ant  conjuratione  subdito- 

*  De  increm.  urb.  cap.  20,  subditi  niiseri,  rum  crudelissime   tandem   trucidentur. 
rebellee,  desperati,  fcc.     <  R.  Darlington.  »  Mutuis  odiifl  et  csedibun  ezhausti,  ko. 


Democritus  to  the  Header.  Ill 


our  histories  are  too  full  of  such  barbarous  inhumanities,  and 
the  miseries  that  issue  from  them. 

"Whereas  they,  be  like  so  many  horseleeches,  hungry, 
griping,  corrupt,  l  covetous,  avaritice  mancipia,  ravenous  as 
wolves,  for  as  Tully  writes :  qui  prceest  prodest,  et  qui  pecudi- 
bus  prteest,  debet  eorum  utilitati  inservire :  or  such  as  prefer 
their  private  before  the  public  good.  For  as  2  he  said  long 
since,  res  privates  publicis  semper  officere.  Or  whereas  they 
be  illiterate,  ignorant,  empirics  in  policy,  ubi  deest  facultas 
8  virtus  (Aristot.  pol.  5,  cap.  8,)  et  scientia,  wise  only  by  in 
heritance,  and  in  authority  by  birthright,  favour,  or  for  their 
wealth  and  titles  ;  there  must  needs  be  a  fault,  4  a  great  de 
fect  ;  because,  as  an  5  old  philosopher  affirms,  such  men  are 
not  always  fit  "  Of  an  infinite  number,  few  noble  are  sena 
tors,  and  of  those  few,  fewer  good,  and  of  that  small  number 
of  honest,  good,  and  noble  men,  few  that  are  learned,  wise, 
discreet,  and  sufficient,  able  to  discharge  such  places,  it  must 
needs  turn  to  the  confusion  of  a  state." 

For  as  the  6  Princes  are,  so  are  the  people ;  Qualis  Bex, 
talis  grex  ;  and  which  7  Antigonus  right  well  said  of  old,  qui 
Macedonia  regem  erudit,  omnes  etiam  subditos  erudit,  he  that 
teaches  the  king  of  Macedon,  teaches  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 

Corrnmpnnt  vitiorum  exempla  domestica,  magnis 
Cum  subeant  animos  auctoribus."  * 

Their  examples  are  soonest  followed,  vices  entertained,  if 

1  Lucra  ex  mails,  sceleratisque  causia.  biles,  e  consularibus  pauci  bonl,  e  bonig 
*  Sallust.  s  For  most  part  we  mistake  adhuc  pauci  eruditi.  «  Non  solum  vitia 
the  name  of  Politicians,  accounting  such  concipiunt  ipsi  principes,  Bed  etiam  te 
as  read  Machiavel  and  Tacitus,  great  fundunt  in  civitatera,  plusque  exemplo 
statesmen,  that  can  dispute  of  politic-Hi  quam  peccato  nocent.  Cic.  1,  de  legibus. 
precepts,  supplant  and  overthrow  their  '  Epist.  ad  Zen.  Juven.  Sat.  4.  Pauper, 
adversaries,  enrich  themselves,  get  hon-  tas  seditionem  gignit  et  maleficium,  Arist. 
ours,  dissemble ;  but  what  is  this  to  the  Pol.  2,  c.  7.  *  Vicious  domestic  exam- 
bene  esse,  or  preservation  of  a  Common-  pies  operate  more  quickly  upon  us  when 
wealth?  *  Imperium  suapte  sponte  suggested  to  our  rnindfl  by  high  author! 
eorruit.  »Apul.  Prim.  Flor.  Kx  innu-  ties. 
merabilibus,  pauci  Senatores  genere  no- 


112  Democritus  to  the  Reader. 

they  be  profane,  irreligious,  lascivious,  riotous,  epicures,  fao 
tious,  covetous,  ambitious,  illiterate,  so  will  the  commons  most 
part  be,  idle,  unthrifts,  prone  to  lust,  drunkards,  and  therefore 
poor  and  needy  (17  nsvia  araatv  tynoiei  Kal  naKovpyiav,  for  poverty 
begets  sedition  and  villany)  upon  all  occasions  ready  to 
mutiny  and  rebel,  discontent  still,  complaining,  murmuring, 
grudging,  apt  to  all  outrages,  thefts,  treasons,  murders,  inno 
vations,  in  debt,  shifters,  cozeners,  outlaws,  Profligates  farrue 
ac  vita.  It  was  an  old  *  politician's  aphorism,  "  They  that 
are  poor  and  bad  envy  rich,  hate  good  men,  abhor  the  pres 
ent  government,  wish  for  a  new,  and  would  have  all  turned 
topsy  turvy."  When  Catiline  rebelled  in  Rome,  he  got  a 
company  of  such  debauched  rogues  together,  they  were  his 
familiars  and  coadjutors,  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  lawsuits,  many 
lawyers  and  many  physicians,  it  is  a  manifest  sign  of  a  dis 
tempered,  melancholy  state,  as  2  Plato  long  since  maintained ; 
for  where  such  kind  of  men  swarm,  they  will  make  more 
work  for  themselves,  and  that  body  politic  diseased,  which 
was  otherwise  sound.  A  general  mischief  in  these  our  times, 
an  insensible  plague,  and  never  so  many  of  them ;  "  which 
are  now  multiplied  (saith  Mat.  Geraldus,  8  a  lawyer  himself,) 
as  so  many  locusts,  not  the  parents,  but  the  plagues  of  the 
country,  and  for  the  most  part  a  supercilious,  bad,  covetous, 
litigious  generation  of  men.  4  Orumenimulga  natio,  fyc.  A 
purse-milking  nation,  a  clamorous  company,  gowned  vultures, 
*qui  ex  injuria  vivent  et  sanguine  civium,  thieves  and  semi 
naries  of  discord ;  worse  than  any  pollers  by  the  highway 
side,  cmri  accipitres,  auri  exterebronides,  pecuniarum  hamtolee, 

i  Sallust.    Semper  in   civitate  quibus  juris.    Multiplicantur  none  in  terris  ut 

opes  nullas  sunt,  bonis  in  vide  tit,  vetera  locus  tse  non  patrias  parentes,  sed  pestes, 

odere.    nova    exoptant,     odio     suarum  pessimi  homines,  majore  ex  parte  super- 

rerujn  mutarl  omnia  petunt.  *  De  ciliosi,  conteutiosi,  &c.,  Ucitum  latrocini- 

le(fibus.    Profligate  in  repub.  disciplines  um  exercent.        *  Dousa  epid.  loquieleia 

est  indicium  jurigperitorum  nnmerus,  et  turba,  vultures  togati.  •  Bare.  Argen 
medicorum  copia.  *  In  prsef.  stud. 


Democritus  to  the  Reader.  113 

gitadruplatores,  curice  harpagones,  fori  tintinabula,  monstra 
hominum,  mangones,  fyc.,  that  take  upon  them  to  make  peace, 
but  are  indeed  the  very  disturbers  of  our  peace,  a  company 
of  irreligious  harpies,  scraping,  griping  catchpoles,  (I  mean 
our  common  hungry  pettifoggers,  x  rabulas  forenses,  love  and 
honour  in  the  mean  time  all  good  laws,  and  worthy  lawyers, 
that  are  so  many  2  oracles  arid  pilots  of  a  well-governed  com 
monwealth.)  Without  art,  without  judgment,  that  do  more 
harm,  as  8  Livy  said,  quam  bella  externa,  fames,  morbive,  than 
sickness,  wars,  hunger,  diseases  ;  "  and  cause  a  most  incredi 
ble  destruction  of  a  commonwealth,"  saith  *  Sesellius,  a 
famous  civilian  sometimes  in  Paris,  as  ivy  doth  by  an  dak* 
embrace  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  premulseris,  he  must 
be  fed  still,  or  else  he  is  as  mute  as  a  fish,  better  open  an 
oyster  without  a  knife.  Experto  crede  (saith  6  Salisburiensis) 
in  manus  eorum  miUies  incidi,  et  Charon  immitis,  qui  nutti 
pepercit  unquam,  his  longe  clementior  est ;  "  I  speak  out  of 
experience,  I  have  been  a  thousand  times  amongst  them,  and 
Charon  himself  is  more  gentle  than  they ;  8  he  is  contented 
with  his  single  pay,  but  they  multiply  still,  they  are  never 
satisfied,"  besides  they  have  damnificas  linguas,  as  he  terms 
it,  nisi  funibus  argenteis  vincias,  they  must  be  fed  to  say 
nothing,  and  *  get  more  to  hold  their  peace  than  we  can  to 
say  our  best.  They  will  speak  their  clients  fair,  and  invite 
them  to  their  tables,  but  as  he  follows  it,  7 "  of  all  injustice 
there  is  none  so  pernicious  as  that  of  theirs,  which  when  they 
deceive  most,  will  seem  to  be  honest  men."  They  take  upon 
them  to  be  peacemakers,  et  fovere  causas  humilium,  to  help 
them  to  their  right,  patrocinantur  afflictis,  8  but  all  is  for 
their  own  good,  ut  loculos  pleniorum  exhauriant,  they  plead 

'*  Jurisconsult!  domus  oraculum  ciri-  nos  loqui.  7  Totius  injusHtue  nulla 

tatis.  Tnlly.  »  lib.  3.  8  Lib.  3.  capitalior,  quim  cerum  qui  cum  maxirae 

*liib.  1,  de  rep.  Gallorum,  incred-  decipiunt,  id  agunt,  ut  boni  viri  eesa 

ibilem  reipub.  perniciem  afferunt. —  videantur.  8  Nam  quocunque  modo 

*  Polycrat.  lib.  «  Is  stipe  contentus,  causa  procedat,  hoc  semper  agitur,  ut 

et  hi  nsses  integros  sibi  mitltiplicari  ju-  loculi  impleantur,  etsi  avaritta  nequit 

bent.  *  Plus  accipiunt  tacere,  quam  satiari. 

VOL.  I.  8 


114  Democritus  to  the  Reader. 

for  poor  men  gratis,  but  they  are  but  as  a  stale  to  catch 
others.  If  there  be  no  jar,  1  they  can  make  a  jar,  out  of  the 
law  itself  find  still  some  quirk  or  other,  to  set  them  at  odds, 
and  continue  causes  so  long,  lustra  aliquot,  I  know  not  how 
many  years  before  the  cause  is  heard,  and  when  'tis  judged 
and  determined  by  reason  of  some  tricks  and  errors,  it  is  as 
fresh  to  begin,  after  twice  seven  years  some  times,  as  it  was 
at  first ;  and  so  they  prolong  time,  delay  suits  till  they  have 
enriched  themselves,  and  beggared  their  clients.  And,  as 
2  Cato  inveighed  against  Isocrates's  scholars,  we  may  justly 
tax  our  wrangling  lawyers,  they  do  consenescere  in  litibus,  are 
so  litigious  and  busy  here  on  earth,  that  I  think  they  will 
plead  their  client's  causes  hereafter,  some  of  them  in  hell. 

*  Simlerus  complains  amongst  the  Suissers  of  the  advocates 
in  his  time,  that  when  they  should  make  an  end,  they  began 
controversies,  and  "protract  their  causes  many  years,  per 
suading  them  their  title  is  good,  till  their  patrimonies  be  con 
sumed,  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  proverb  is,  4  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  consumed,  if  he  surcease  his  suit 
he  loseth  all ; 6   what  difference  ?     They  had  wont  hereto 
fore,  saith  Austin,  to  end  matters,  per  communes  arbitros ; 
and  so  in  Switzerland    (we   are   informed  by    6  Simlerus), 
"  they  had  some  common  arbitrators  or  daysmen  in  every 
town,  that  made  a  friendly  composition  betwixt  man  and  man, 
and  he  much  wonders  at  their  honest  simplicity,  that  could 
keep  peace  so  well,  and  end  such  great  causes  by  that  means. 
At 7  Fez  in  Africa,  they  have  neither  lawyers  nor  advocates  ; 

1  Camdeu  in  Norfolk :  qui  nl  nihil  sit  *  Hor.    «  Lib.  de  Helvet.  repnb.    Judice* 

'itium  6  juris  apicibus  lites  tamen  gerere  quocunque  pago  const-it n  u nt  qui  amic9 

callent.        -Plutarch.   Tit.   Cat.  causa*  aliqui  trangactione,  si  fieri  possit,  lites  tol- 

apud    inferog  quag  in   guain    fldem  re-  hint.     Ego  majorum  nostrorum  simplici- 

oeperunt,    patrocinio     suo    tuebuntur.  tatem  adiniror,  qui  die  causas  gravisgiinai 

*  Lib.  2,  de  Helvet.  repnb.  non  explican-  compoguerint ;  &c.        "  Clenard  1.  1,  ep 
dig,  Bed  moliendis  controversy's   operam  Si  quse  controversies  utraque  pars  ju- 
dant.  ita  ut  lites  in  multos  annos  extra-  dicem  adit,  is  gemel  et  simul  rem  traiist 
bantur  gummi  cum  molestia  utrisque  ;  git,  audit :  Dec  quid  sit  appellatio,  lach 
l>.-i  rt  is  et  d  inn  interea  patrimonia  exhauri-  rymoseeqne  morse  noscunt. 

antur        *  Lupum  auribus  tenent 


Democritus  to  the  Header.  115 

but  if  there  be  any  controversies  amongst  them,  both  parties 
plaintiff  and  defendant  come  to  their  Alfakins  or  chief  judge, 
"  and  at  once,  without  any  farther  appeals  or  pitiful  delays, 
the  cause  is  heard  and  ended."  Our  forefathers,  as  l  a  worthy 
chorographer  of  ours  observes,  had  wont  paucvlis  cruculis 
aureis,  with  a  few  golden  crosses,  and  lines  in  verse,  make  all 
conveyances,  assurances.  And  such  was  the  candour  and 
integrity  of  succeeding  ages,  that  a  deed  (as  I  have  often 
eeen)  to  convey  a  whole  manor,  was  implicite  contained  in 
gome  twenty  lines  or  thereabouts ;  like  that  scede  or  Sytala 
Laconica,  so  much  renowned  of  old  in  all  contracts,  which 
2  Tully  so  earnestly  commends  to  Atticus,  Plutarch  in  fiis 
Lysander,  Aristotle  polit. :  Thucydides,  lib.  1.  8  Diodorus 
and  Suidas  approve  and  magnify,  for  that  laconic  brevity  in 
this  kind  ;  and  well  they  might,  for,  according  to  4  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  repeti 
tions  of  all  particulars,  (to  avoid  cavillation  they  say ;)  but 
we  find  by  our  woful  experience,  that  to  subtle  wits  it  is  a 
cause  of  much  more  contention  and  variance,  and  scarce  any 
conveyance  so  accurately  penned  by  one,  which  another  will 
not  find  a  crack  in,  or  cavil  at ;  if  any  one  word  be  mis 
placed,  any  little  error,  all  is  disannulled.  That  which  is  a 
law  to-day,  is  none  to-morrow ;  that  which  is  sound  in  one 
man's  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 
5  Plutarch  complained  of  them  in  Asia,  may  be  verified  in 
our  times.  "  These  men  here  assembled,  come  not  to*  sacri 
fice  to  their  gods,  to  offer  Jupiter  their  first-fruits,  or  merri- 

1  Camden.         "  Lib.  10,  epist.  ad  At-  JOT!  primitias  offerant,  aut  Baccho  com- 

tieum,   epist.  11.  3  Biblioth.   1.   3.  messationes,   sed  anniversarius   morbut 

*  Lib.  de  Anim.  5  Lib.  major  morb.  exasperans  Asiam  hue  ecs  coegit,  ut  coo 

corp.  an  animl.     Hi  non  conveniunt  ut  tentiones  hie  peragant 
diis  more  majorum  sacra  faciant,  non  ut 


116  Democritus  to  the  Reader, 

meats  to  Bacchus  ;  but  an  yearly  disease,  exasperating  Asia, 
hath  brought  them  hither,  to  make  an  end  of  their  contro 
versies  and  lawsuits."  'Tis  multitude  perdentium  et  pereun- 
tium,  a  destructive  rout  that  seek  one  another's  ruin.  Such 
most  part  are  our  ordinary  suitors,  termers,  clients,  new  stirs 
every  day,  mistakes,  errors,  cavils,  and  at  this  present,  as  I 
have  heard  in  some  one  court,  I  know  not  how  many  thou 
sand  causes  ;  no  person  free,  no  title  almost  good,  with  such 
bitterness  hi  following,  so  many  slights,  procrastinations, 
delays,  forgery,  such  cost  (for  infinite  sums  are  inconsider 
ately  spent),  violence  and  malice,  I  know  not  by  whose  fault, 
lawyers,  clients,  laws,  both  or  all ;  but  as  Paul  reprehended 
the  *  Corinthians  long  since,  I  may  more  positively  infer  now : 
"  There  is  a  fault  amongst  you,  and  I  speak  it  to  your  shame, 
Is  there  not  a  2  wise  man  amongst  you,  to  judge  between  his 
brethren  ?  but  that  a  brother  goes  to  law  with  a  brother." 
And  *  Christ's  counsel  concerning  lawsuits,  was  never  so  fit 
to  be  inculcated  as  in  this  age :  8  "  Agree  with  thine  adver 
sary  quickly,"  &c.  Matth.  v.  25. 

I  could  repeat  many  such  particular  grievances,  which 
must  disturb  a  body  politic.  To  shut  up  all  in  brief,  where 
good  government  is,  prudent  and  wise  princes,  there  all 
things  thrive  and  prosper,  peace  and  happiness  is  hi  that 
land  ;  where  it  is  otherwise,  all  things  are  ugly  to  behold, 
incult,  barbarous,  uncivil,  a  paradise  is  turned  to  a  wilder 
ness.  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  policy  of  the  Romans,  was 
brought  from  barbarism  ;  see  but  what  Caesar  reports  of  us, 
and  Tacitus  of  those  old  Germans,  they  were  once  as  uncivil 
as  they  in  Virginia,  yet  by  planting  of  colonies  and  good  laws, 
they  became  from  barbarous  outlaws,  4  to  be  full  of  rich  and 

1 1  Cor.  Ti.  5,  6.  *  Stulti  quanclo  mons.  *  Saepins  bona  materia  cesaat 

lemum  sapietis?      Ps.   xlix.  8.         *  So  sine  artifice.      Sabellicus  de  Germania. 

Intituled,    and    preached    by    our    Re-  Si  qnis  videret  Gennaniam  urbibus  hodi« 

p:us    Professor,    D.    Prideaux;    printed  excultam,  non   diceret  ut   olim  tristem 

at  London  by  Foellx  Kingston,  1621.  cultu,  asperam  coelo,  terrain  informem 
>  Of  which  Text  read  two  learned  Ser- 


Democritus  to  the  Reader.  117 

populous  cities,  as  now  they  are,  and  most  flourishing  king 
doms.  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  l discourse,  printed  anno  1612.  "Discovering  the 
true  causes  why  Ireland  was  never  entirely  subdued,  or 
brought  under  obedience  to  the  crown  of  England,  until  the 
beginning  of  his  Majesty's  happy  reign."  Yet  If  his  reasons 
were  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  lie  so  long  waste. 
Yea,  and  if  some  travellers  should  see  (to  come  nearer  homey 
those  rich,  united  provinces  of  Holland,  Zealand,  &c.,  over 
against  us- ;  those  neat  cities  and  populous  towns,  full  of  most 
industrious  artificers,  2  so  much  land  recovered  from  the  sea, 
and  so  painfully  preserved  by  those  artificial  inventions,  so 
wonderfully  approved,  as  that  of  Bemster  in  Holland,  ttt  nihil 
huic  par  out  simile  invenias  in  toto  orbe,  saith  Bertius  the 
geographer,  all  the  world  cannot  match  it,  8so  many  navi 
gable  channels  from  place  to  place,  made  by  men's  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  still  run 
ning  rivers  stopped,  and  that  beneficial  use  of  transportation, 
wholly  neglected,  so  many  havens  void  of  ships  and  towns, 
BO  many  parks  and  forests  for  pleasure,  barren  heaths,  so 
many  villages  depopulated,  &c.,  I  think  sure  he  would  find 
some  fault. 

I  may  not  deny  but  that  this  nation  of  ours,  doth  bene 
audire  apud  exteros,  is  a  most  noble,  a  most  flourishing  king 
dom,  by  common  consent  of  all  4  geographers,  historians, 
politicians,  'tis  unica  velut  arx,*  and  which  Quintius  in  Livy 
said  of  the  inhabitants  of  Peloponnesus,  may  be  well  applied 
to  us,  we  are  testudines  testa  sua  inclusi,  b'ke  so  many  tor- 

1  By  his  Majesty's  Attorney -General  Bruges  to  the  sea,  &o.  * Orteliua, 
there.  3  As  Zeipland,  Bemster  in  Hoi-  Boterus,  Mercator,  Meteranus,  fee  — 
land,  &c.  *  From  Gaunt  to  Sluce,  from  *  "  The  citadel  par  excellence." 


118  Demowitus  to  the  Reader. 

toises  in  our  shells,  safely  defended  by  an  angry  sea,  as  a  wall 
on  all  sides.  Our  island  hath  many  such  honourable  eulogi- 
uras  ;  and  as  a  learned  countryman  of  ours  right  well  hath  it, 
luEver  since  the  Normans  first  coming  into  England,  this 
country  both  for  military  matters,  and  all  other  of  civility, 
hath  been  paralleled  with  the  most  flourishing  kingdoms  of 
Europe  and  our  Christian  world,"  a  blessed,  a  rich  country, 
and  one  of  the  fortunate  isles ;  and  for  some  things  a  preferred 
before  other  countries,  for  expert  seamen,  our  laborious  dis 
coveries,  art  of  navigation,  true  merchants,  they  carry  the 
bell  away  from  all  other  nations,  even  the  Portugals  and 
Hollanders  themselves ;  8 "  without  all  fear,"  saith  Boterus, 
"  furrowing  the  ocean  winter  and  summer,  and  two  of  then* 
captains,  with  no  less  valour  than  fortune,  have  sailed  round 
about  the  world."  *  We  have  besides  many  particular  bless 
ings,  which  our  neighbours  want,  the  Gospel  truly  preached, 
church  discipline  established,  long  peace  and  quietness  free 
from  exactions,  foreign  fears,  invasions,  domestical  seditions, 
well  manured,  6  fortified  by  art,  and  nature,  and  now  most 
happy  in  that  fortunate  union  of  England  and  Scotland, 
which  our  forefathers  have  laboured  to  effect,  and  desired 
to  see.  But  in  which  we  excel  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  enormities,  which  much  disturb 
the  peace  of  this  body  politic,  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,  thieves,  drunkards,  and  dis 
contented  persons  (whom  Lycurgus  in  Plutarch  calls  morbo* 
reipiiMicfe,  the  boils  of  the  commonwealth),  many  poor  people 
in  all  our  towns.  Oivitates  ignobiles  as  *  Polydore  calls  them, 

I  Jam   fade   non    minus   belli  gloria,  duo  illorum  daces  non  minore  audacid 

quira  humanitatls  cultu  Inter  florentis-  quim   fortun-i   totius   orbem   terrse  clr- 

gimas    orbls   Christian!  gentcs  imprimis  cumnavigarunt.    Amphitheatre  Boterus. 

floruit.      Camden  Brit,   de  Normannis.  «  A  fertile  soil,  good  air,  &c.     Tin,  Lead. 

« Oeog.  Keeker.         *  Tarn  hieme  quim  Wool,  Saffron,  Sc.          *  Tota  Britannia 

•state    Intrepid*    aulcant  Oceanum.  et  unlca  velut  arx.   Boter.        •  Lib.  1,  hilt 


Democritus  to  the  Reader.  119 

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  Countries  ? 
because  their  policy  hath  been  otherwise,  and  we  are  not  so 
thrifty,  circumspect,  industrious.  Idleness  is  the  mains  genius 
of  our  nation.  For  as  *  Boterus  justly  argues,  fertility  of  a 
country  is  not  enough,  except  art  and  industry  be  joined  unto 
it;  according  to  Aristotle,  riches  are  either  natural  or  arti 
ficial  ;  natural,  are  good  land,  fair  mines,  &c.,  artificial,  are 
manufactures,  coins,  &c.  Many  kingdoms  are  fertile,  but 
thin  of  inhabitants,  as  that  Duchy  of  Piedmont  in  Italy^ 
which  Leander  Albertus  so  much  magnifies  for  corn,  wine, 
fruits,  &c.,  yet  nothing  near  so  populous  as  those  which  are 
more  barren.  2 "  England,"  saith  he,  "  London  only  ex- 
cepted,  hath  never  a  populous  city,  and  yet  a  fruitful  coun 
try."  I  find  46  cities  and  walled  towns  in  Alsatia,  a  small 
province  in  Germany,  50  castles,  an  infinite  number  of  vil 
lages,  no  ground  idle ;  no,  not  rocky  places,  or  tops  of  hills 
are  untilled,  as  8Munster  informeth  us.  In  *Greichgea,  a 
small  territory  on  the  Necker,  24  Italian  miles  over,  I  read 
of  20  walled  towns,  innumerable  villages,  each  one  containing 
150  houses  most  part,  besides  castles  and  noblemen's  palaces. 
I  observe  in  8Turinge,  in  Dutchland  (twelve  miles  over  by 
their  scale),  12  counties,  and  in  them  144  cities,  2,006  vil 
lages,  144  towns,  250  castles.  In  'Bavaria,  34  cities,  46 
towns,  &c.  7  PortugaUia  interamms,  a  small  plot  of  ground, 
hath  1,460  parishes,  130  monasteries,  200  bridges.  Malta, 
a  barren  island,  yields  20,000  inhabitants.  But  of  all  the 
rest,  I  admire  Lues  Guicciardine's  relations  of  the  Low 
Countries.  Holland  hath  26  cities,  400  great  villages.  Zea 
land,  10  cities,  102  parishes.  Brabant,  26  cities,  102  parishes. 
Flanders,  28  cities,  90  towns,  1,154  villages,  besides  abbeys, 

1  Increment,  orb.  1. 1,  e.  9.  *  An-  menu,  nnllns  locuj  otiosus  ant  incnltus. 

glue,  excepto  Londlno,  nulla  est  ciritas  *  Chytreus    orat.    edit.    Francof.    1588. 

memorabilia,  licet  ea  natio  rerum  om-  6  Maginns  Geog.        •  Ortelius  e  Vaseo  et 

niuni    copia    abundet.  »  Cosmog.  Pet.  de  Medina.  :  An  hundred  :ami 

Lib.  8,  cop.  119.    Villaram  non  est  nu-  lies  in  each. 


120  Democritus  to  the  Reader. 

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  excel 
lency  in  all  manner  of  trades  ?  Their  commerce,  which  is 
maintained  by  a  multitude  of  tradesmen,  so  many  excellent 
channels  made  by  art  and  opportune  havens,  to  which  they 
build  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  soil,  but  industry  that  en- 
richeth  them ;  the  gold  mines  of  Peru,  or  Nova  Hispania  may 
not  compare  with  them.  They  have  neither  gold  nor  silver 
of  their  own,  wine  nor  oil,  or  scarce  any  corn  growing  in 
those  united  provinces ;  little  or  no  wood,  tin,  lead,  iron,  silk, 
wool,  any  stuff  almost,  or  metal ;  and  yet  Hungary,  Transyl 
vania,  that  brag  of  their  mines,  fertile  England,  cannot  com 
pare  with  them.  I  dare  boldly  say,  that  neither  France, 
Tarentum,  Apulia,  Lombardy,  or  any  part  of  Italy,  Valence 
in  Spain,  or  that  pleasant  Andalusia,  with  their  excellent 
fruits,  wine  and  oil,  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,  1and  will  enforce 
by  reason  of  much  manure,  which  necessarily  follows,  a  bar 
ren  soil  to  be  fertile  and  good,  as  sheep,  saith  a  Dion,  mend  a 
bad  pasture. 

Tell  me,  politicians,  why  is  that  fruitful  Palestina,  noble 
Greece,  Egypt,  Asia  Minor,  so  much  decayed,  and  (mere 
carcasses  now)  fallen  from  that  they  were  ?  The  ground  is 
the  same,  but  the  government  is  altered ;  the  people  are 
grown  slothful,  idle;  their  good  husbandry,  policy,  and  in- 

1  Popull   multitude  diligente   culturft    *  Orat.  86.     Terra  ubi  ovee   stabulanttu 
focundat  solum       Boter.  1.  8.  e.  8  optima  agricolis  ob  stercus. 


Democritus  to  the  Reader.  121 

dustry  is  decayed.  Non  fatigata  aut  ejfceta  humus,  as  l  Colu- 
mella  well  informs  Sylvinus,  sed  nostrd  Jit  inertia,  tyc.  May 
a  man  believe  that  which  Aristotle  in  his  politics,  Pausanias, 
Stephanus,  Sophianus,  Gerbelius  relate  of  old  Greece  ?  I  find 
heretofore  seventy  cities  in  Epirus  overthrown  by  Paulus 
^Emilius,  a  goodly  province  in  times  past,  2  now  left  desolate 
of  good  towns  and  almost  inhabitants.  Sixty-two  cities  in 
Macedonia  in  Strabo's  time.  I  find  thirty  in  Laconia,  but  now 
scarce  so  many  villages,  saith  Gerbelius.  If  any  man  from 
Mount  Taygetus  should  view  the  country  round  about,  and  see 
tot  delicias,  tot  urbes  per  Peloponnesum  dispersas,  so  many  deli 
cate  and  brave  built  cities  with  such  cost  and  exquisite  ctm^ 
ning,  so  neatly  set  out  in  Peloponnesus,  8  he  should  perceive 
them  now  ruinous  and  overthrown,  burnt,  waste,  desolate, 
and  laid  level  with  the  ground.  Incredibik  dictu,  fyc.  And 
as  he  laments,  Quis  talia  fando  Temperet  a  lachrymis  ?  Quis 
tarn  durus  aut  ferreus  ?  (so  he  prosecutes  it)*  Who  is  he 
that  can  sufficiently  condole  and  commiserate  these  ruins  ? 
Where  are  those  4,000  cities  of  Egypt,  those  100  cities  in 
Crete  ?  Are  they  now  come  to  two  ?  What  saith  Pliny 
and  .(Elian  of  old  Italy?  There  were  in  former  ages  1,166 
cities  ;  Blondus  and  Machiavel,  both  grant  them  now  nothing 
near  so  populous,  and  full  of  good  towns  as  in  the  time  of 
Augustus  (for  now  Leander  Albertus  can  find  but  300s  at 
most),  and  if  we  may  give  credit  to  4  Livy,  not  then  so  strong 
and  puissant  as  of  old  :  They  mustered  seventy  Legions  in  for 
mer  times,  which  now  the  known  world  will  scarce  yield.  Al 
exander  built  seventy  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 

1  De  re  rust.  1.  2,  cap.  1.     The  soil 

i*  not  thed  or  exhausted,  but  has  *  Not  eren  the  hardest  of  our  foes  could 
become  barren  through  our  sloth.  hear, 

*  Hodie  urbibus  desolatur,  et  magna  ex       Nor  stern  Ulysses  tell  without  a  tear, 
parte  incolis  destituitur.    Gerbelius  desc. 

Grsecise,  lib.  6.  3  Videbit  eas  fere  om-  *  Lib.  7.  Septuaginta  olim  legionet 
nes  aut  eversas,  ant  solo  sequatag,  aut  in  script*  dicuntur;  quas  vires  hodie ,  fce 
rudera  foedissime  dejecta*.  Gerbelius 


122  Democritus  to  the  Reader 

read  Bode,  Leland,  and  others,  they  shall  find  it  most  ^our« 
ished  in  the  Saxon  Heptarchy,  and  in  the  Conqueror's  time 
was  far  better  inhabited  than  at  this  present.  See  that 
Domesday-Book,  and  show  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  bene  cultus  ager.  As  those  Athenian,  Lacede 
monian,  Arcadian,  Aelian,  Sycionian,  Messenian,  &c.,  com 
monwealths  of  Greece  make  ample  proof,  as  those  imperial 
cities  and  free  states  of  Germany  may  witness,  those  Cantons 
of  Switzers,  Rheti,  Grison?,  Walloons,  Territories  of  Tuscany, 
Luke  and  Senes  of  old,  Piedmont,  Mantua,  Venice  in  Italy, 
Ragusa,  &c. 

That  prince,  therefore,  as  *  Boterus  adviseth,  that  will  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,  wool,  lead,  &c.,  to  be  transported  out 
of  his  country, — 2  a  thing  in  part  seriously  attempted  amongst 
us,  but  not  effected.  And  because  industry  of  men,  and  mul 
titude  of  trade  so  much  avails  to  the  ornament  and  enriching 
of  a  kingdom ;  those  ancient  *  Massilians  would  admit  no  man 
into  their  city  that  had  not  some  trade.  Selym,  the  first 
Turkish  emperor,  procured  a  thousand  good  artificers  to  be 
brought  from  Taurus  to  Constantinople.  The  Polanders  in 
dented  with  Henry,  Duke  of  Anjou,  their  new-chosen  king, 
to  bring  with  him  an  hundred  families  of  artificers  into  Po 
land.  James  the  First,  in  Scotland,  (as  4  Buchanan  writes,) 
sent  for  the  best  artificers  he  could  get  in  Europe,  and  gave 
them  great  rewards  to  teach  his  subjects  their  several  trades. 
Edward  the  Third,  our  most  renowned  king,  to  his  eternal 
memory,  brought  clothing  first  into  this  island,  transporting 
some  families  of  artificers  from  Gaunt  hither.  How  many 
goodly  cities  could  I  reckon  up,  that  thrive  wholly  by  trade, 
where  thousands  of  inhabitants  live  singular  well  by  their 

i  Polit.  1.  8,  c.  8.  *  For  dyeing  of    propositis  pnemiis,  nt  Scot!  ab  iis  edoc» 

sloths,  and  dressing,  &c.        *  Valer.  1.  2,     rentur. 
i.  1          «  Hist.   Scot    Lib.   10     Magnia 


Democritus  to  the  Reader.  123 

fingers'  ends  !  As  Florence  in  Italy  by  making  cloth  of  gold  ; 
great  Milan  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  -within  the  land.  l  Mecca  in  Arabia  Petraea,  stands  in 
a  most  unfruitful  country,  that  wants  water,  amongst  the 
rocks  (as  Vertomanus  describes  it),  and  yet  it  is  a  most  ele 
gant  and  pleasant  city,  by  reason  of  the  traffic  of  the  east 
and  west.  Ormus  in  Persia  is  a  most  famous  mart-town, 
hath  nought  else  but  the  opportunity  of  the  haven  to  make  it 
flourish.  Corinth,  a  noble  city,  (Lumen  Groeciae,  Tully  calls 
it,)  the  Eye  of  Greece,  by  reason  of  Cenchreas  and  Lecheaa, 
those  excellent  ports,  drew  all  that  traffic  of  the  Ionian  and 
JEgean  seas  to  it ;  and  yet  the  country  about  it  was  curva  et 
superciliosa,  as  2  Strabo  terms  it,  rugged  and  harsh.  We  may 
say  the  same  of  Athens,  Actium,  Thebes,  Sparta,  and  most 
of  those  towns  in  Greece.  Nuremberg  in  Germany  is  sited 
in  a  most  barren  soil,  yet  a  noble,  imperial  city,  by  the  sole 
industry  of  artificers,  and  cunning  trades,  they  draw  the  riches 
of  most  countries  to  them,  so  expert  in  manufactures,  that  as 
Sallust  long  since  gave  out  of  the  like,  Sedem  animce  in  ex 
tremis  digitis  habent,  their  soul,  or  inteUectus  agens,  was  placed 
in  their  fingers'  end;  and  so  we  may  say  of  Basil,  Spire, 
Cambray,  Frankfort,  &c.  It  is  almost  incredible  to  speak 
what  some  write  of  Mexico  and  the  cities  adjoining  to  it,  no 
place  in  the  world  at  their  first  discovery  more  populous, 
8  Mat.  Riccius,  the  Jesuit,  and  some  others,  relate  of  the  in 
dustry  of  the  Chinese  most  populous  countries,  not  a  beggar 
or  an  idle  person  to  be  seen,  and  how  by  that  means  they 
prosper  and  flourish.  We  have  the  same  means,  able  bodies, 
pliant  wits,  matter  of  all  sorts,  wool,  flax,  iron,  tin,  lead,  wood, 
&c.,  many  excellent  subjects  to  work  upon,  only  industry  is 
wanting.  We  send  our  best  commodities  beyond  the  seas, 

1  Munst.    cosm     1.    5,    e.   74.      Agra  Occidental.          *  Lib.  8,  Geogr.  ob  asp*- 

omnium    rernm     nfcecundissimo,    aqua  rum  situm.      *  Lib.  Edit.  &  Nic.  Tregant 

indigent*,  inter  saxeta,  urbs  tamen  ele-  Belg.  A    1616,  expedit.  in  Sinas. 
gantUgima,  ob  Orientis  negotiations  et 


124  Democritus  to  the  Reader. 

which  they  make  good  use  of  to  their  necessities,  set  them- 
selves  a  work  about,  and  severally  improve,  sending  the  same 
to  us  back  at  dear  rates,  or  else  make  toya  and  baubles  of  the 
tails  of  them,  which  they  sell  to  us  again,  at  as  great  a  reck 
oning  as  the  whole.  In  most  of  our  cities,  some  few  ex» 
cepted,  like  l  Spanish  loiterers,  we  live  wholly  by  tippling- 
inns  and  alehouses.  Malting  are  their  best  ploughs,  their 
greatest  traffic  to  sell  ale.  2  Meteran  and  some  others  object 
to  us,  that  we  are  no  whit  so  industrious  as  the  Hollanders  : 
u  Manual  trades  (saith  he)  which  are  more  curious  or  trouble 
some,  are  wholly  exercised  by  strangers  ;  they  dwell  in  a  sea 
full  of  fish,  but  they  are  so  idle,  they  will  not  catch  so  much 
as  shall  serve  their  own  turns,  but  buy  it  of  their  neighbours." 
Tush  8  Mare  liberum,  they  fish  under  our  noses,  and  sell  it  to 
us  when  they  have  done,  at  their  own  prices. 

"  Pudet  hsec  opprobria  nobis 
Et  dici  potttisse,  et  non  potuisse  refelli." 

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

Amongst  our  towns,  there  is  only  4  London  that  bears  the 
face  of  a  city,  5  Epitome  Britannia,  a  famous  emporium,  sec 
ond  to  none  beyond  seas,  a  noble  mart ;  but  sola  crescit,  de- 
crescentibus  aliis  ;  and  yet  in  my  slender  judgment,  defective 
in  many  things.  The  rest  ('  some  few  excepted)  are  in 
mean  estate,  ruinous  most  part,  poor,  and  full  of  beggars,  by 
reason  of  their  decayed  trades,  neglected  or  bad  policy,  idle 
ness  of  their  inhabitants,  riot,  which  had  rather  beg  or  loiter 
and  be  ready  to  starve,  than  work. 

I  cannot  deny  but  that  something  may  be  said  in  defence 
of  our  cities,  7  that  they  are  not  so  fair  built,  (for  the  sole 

1  TJbl  nobiles  probl  loco  habent  artem  all-  turn  non  piscantur  quantum  inaulee  suf 

quam  proflteri.  Cleonard.ep.  1. 1.      *Lib.  fecerlt,   Bed  a  vicinls   emere  cognntur 

18,  Belg.  Hist,  non  tarn  laboring!  ut  Belgae,  *  Grotii  Liber.        *  Urbs  animis  numero- 

sril  ut  Hiapani  otiatores  vitam  ut  pluri-  que   potens,  et  robore  gentis      Scaliger. 

mum  otiosam  agentes;  artes  manuariae  6  Camden.        *  York.  Bristol,  Norwich, 

ou«e  plurlmum  habent  in  se  laboris  et  dif-  Worcester,  &c.        *  M.  Oainsford's  Argu- 

ficultatta,  mnjoretnque  requlrunt  Indus-  ment:  Because  gentlemen  dwell  with  us 

triam,  a  pcroprinis  et  exteris  exercentur;  in  the  country  villages  our  cities  are  less, 

habitant  In  plscosisgimo  marl,  Interea  tan  U  nothing  to  the  purpose;   put  thret 


Democritus  to  the  Reader.  123 

magnificence  of  this  kingdom,  concerning  buildings,  hath  been 
of  old  hi  those  Norman  castles  and  religious  houses,)  so  rich, 
thick  sited,  populous,  as  in  some  other  countries ;  besides  the 
reasons  Cardan  gives,  Subtil.  Lib.  11,  we  want  wine  and  oil, 
their  two  harvests ;  we  dwell  in  a  colder  air,  and  for  that 
cause  must  a  little  more  liberally  l  feed  of  flesh,  as  all  north 
ern  countries  do  :  our  provisions  will  not  therefore  extend  to 
the  maintenance  of  so  manyj  yet  notwithstanding  we  have 
matter  of  all  sorts,  an  open  sea  for  traffic,  as  well  as  the  rest, 
goodly  havens.  And  how  can  we  excuse  our  negligence,  our 
riot,  drunkenness,  &c.,  and  such  enormities  that  follow  it? 
We  have  excellent  laws  enacted,  you  will  say,  severe  stat 
utes,  houses  of  correction,  &c.,  to  small  purpose  it  seems ;  it\ 
is  not  houses  will  serve,  but  cities  of  correction  ;  2  our  trades 
generally  ought  to  be  reformed,  wants  supplied.  In  other 
countries  they  have  the  same  grievances,  I  confess,  but  that 
doth  not  excuse  us,  *  wants,  defects,  enormities,  idle  drones, 
tumults,  discords,  contention,  lawsuits,  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  4  swarmed  all  over  Germany, 
France,  Italy,  Poland,  as  you  may  read  in  8  Munster,  Cran- 
zius,  and  Aventinus  ;  as  those  Tartars  and  Arabians  at  this 
day  do  in  the  eastern  countries ;  yet  such  has  been  the  iniquity 
of  all  ages,  as  it  seems  to  small  purpose.  Nemo  in  nostrd 
civitate  mendicus  estorf  saith  Plato ;  he  will  have  them 
purged  from  a  *  commonwealth, 7  "  as  a  bad  humour  from  the 

hundred  or  four  hundred  villages  in  a  frustra  exereent  justitiam.    Mor.  TJtop. 

shire,  and  every  village  yield  a  gentle-  Lib  1.        *  Maucipiis  locuples  egc.t  serls 

man,  what  is  four  hundred  families  to  Cappadocum  rex.     Hor.        *  Regis  digni- 

ricrease  one  of  our  cities,  or  to  contend  tatis  non  est  exercere  imperium  in  men- 

with  theirs,  which  stand  thicker  ?    And  dicos  sed  in  opulentos.     Non  est  regni 

whereas    ours    usually  consist  of  seven  decus,  sed  carceris  esse  custos.     Idem, 

thousand,  theirs  consist  of  forty  thou-  *  Colluvies  hominum   mirabiles    excocti 

sand  inhabitants.      l  Maxima  pars  victfts  solo,  immundi  vestes  fcedi  visu,  furti  im 

in  carne  consistit.    Polyd.  Lib.  1,  Hist,  primis  acres,    &c.        6  Cosmog.   lib.   3, 

SRefnenate    monopolii    licentiam,   pau-  cap.  5.        t  "  Let  no  one  in  our  city  b» 

ciores  alantur  otio,  redintegretur  agrico-  a    beggar."        •  Seneca.    Haud    minus 

latio,  laniflcium  instauretur,  ut  sit  ho-  turpia  principi   multa   supplicia,  quim 

nestuin  negotium  quo  se  exerceat  otiosa  medico  multa  funera.        7  Ac  pituitam  et 

ilia  turba.    Nisi    his    mali.J    medentur,  bilem  a  corpore  (11  de  lejgt.;  omnes  vuU 


126  Democritus  to  the  Reader. 

body,"  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,  th" 
Duke  of  Saxony,  and  many  other  states  have  decreed  in 
this  case,  read  Arniseus,  cap.  1 9  ;  Boterus,  libro  8,  cap.  2 ; 
Osoriiis  de  Rebus  gest.  Eman.  lib.  11.  When  a  country  is 
overstocked  with  people,  as  a  pasture  is  oft  overlaid  with 
cattle,  they  had  wont  in  former  times  to  disburden  them 
selves,  by  sending  out  colonies,  or  by  wars,  as  those  old 
Romans  ;  or  by  employing  them  at  home  about  some  public 
buildings,  as  bridges,  road-ways,  for  which  those  Romans 
were  famous  in  this  island ;  as  Augustus  Caesar  did  in  Rome, 
the  Spaniards  in  their  Indian  mines,  as  at  Potosi  in  Peru, 
where  some  30,000  men  are  still  at  work,  6,000  furnaces 
ever  boiling,  &c.,  *  aqueducts,  bridges,  havens,  those  stupend 
works  of  Trajan,  Claudius,  at  2  Ostium,  Dioclesiani  Therma, 
Fucinus  Lacus,  that  Piraeum  in  Athens,  made  by  Themisto- 
cles,  amphitheatrums  of  curious  marble,  as  at  Verona,  Civitas 
Philippi,  and  Heraclea  in  Thrace,  those  Appian  and  Fla- 
minian  ways,  prodigious  works  all  may  witness ;  and  rather 
than  they  should  be  *idle,  as  those  *  Egyptian  Pharaohs, 
Maris,  and  Sesostris  did,  to  task  their  subjects  to  build  un 
necessary  pyramids,  obelisks,  labyrinths,  channels,  lakes,  gi 
gantic  works  all,  to  divert  them  from  rebellion,  riot,  drunken 
ness,  6Quo  scilicet  alantur,  et  ne  vagando  laborare  desuescant. 

Another  eyesore  is  that  want  of  conduct  and  navigable 
rivers,  a  great  blemish  as  *  Boterus,  *  Hippolitus  a  Collibus, 
and  other  politicians  hold,  if  it  be  neglected  in  a  common 
wealth.  Admirable  cost  and  charge  is  bestowed  in  the 
Low  Countries  on  this  behalf,  in  the  duchy  of  Milan,  territory 
of  Padua,  in  8France,  Italy,  China,  and  so  likewise  about  cor- 

•xtenntuarl.       1  See  Lipsius  Admiranda.  dlscursu  polit.  cap.  2,  "  whereby  they  are 

*  De  quo   Suet,  in  Olaudio,  et    I'linius,  supported,  and  do  not  become  vagrants 
e.  86.        8  Ut  egeatati  siniul  et  ignaviae  by   being  less    accustomed  to  labour." 
occurratur,  opiflcia  condiscantur,  tenues  «  Lib.  1,  de  increm.  Urb.  cap.  6.        7  Cap. 
Bubleventur.     Bodin.  1.  6, c. 2,  num.6,  7.  6,  de  increm.  urb.     Quas  flumen,  lacul 

*  Amasis  JEgyptl  rex  Icgem  promulgavit,  aut  mare  alluit.           8  Incredibilem  ooui- 
ut  omnes  subditi    quotannis    rationem  moditatem,  vivturl  mercium  tres  fluYil 
taddereiit  uude  viverent.        '•>  JJuacoldus  naviga biles,  &c.     Boterus  de  OallUu 


Democritus  to  the  Reader.  127 

rivations  of  water  to  moisten  and  refresh  barren  grounds,  to 
drain  fens,  bogs,  and  moors.  Massinissa  made  many  inward 
parts  of  Barbary  and  Numidia  in  Africa,  before  his  time  in- 
cult  and  horrid,  fruitful  and  bartable  by  this  means.  Great 
industry  is  generally  used  all  over  the  eastern  countries  in 
this  kind,  especially  in  Egypt,  about  Babylon  and  Damascus, 
as  Vertomannus  and  l  Gotardus  Arthus  relate ;  about  Barce 
lona,  Segovia,  Murcia,  and,  many  other  places  of  Spain, 
Milan  in  Italy ;  by  reason  of  which  their  soil  is  much  im 
poverished,  and  infinite  commodities  arise  to  the  inhabitants. 

The  Turks  of  late  attempted  to  cut  that  Isthmus  be 
twixt  Africa  and  Asia,  which  2  Sesostris  and  Darius,  and 
some  Pharaohs  of  Egypt  had  formerly  undertaken,  but  withV 
ill  success,  as  8  Diodorus  Siculus  records,  and  Pliny,  for  that 
Red  Sea  being  three  4  cubits  higher  than  Egypt,  would  have 
drowned  all  the  country,  coepto  destiterant,  they  left  off;  yet 
as  the  same  6  Diodorus  writes,  Ptolemy  renewed  the  work 
many  years  after,  and  absolved  it  in  a  more  opportune 
place. 

That  Isthmus  of  Corinth  was  likewise  undertaken  to  be 
made  navigable  by  Demetrius,  by  Julius  Caesar,  Nero,  Domi- 
tian,  Herodes  Atticus,  to  make  a  speedy  'passage,  and  less 
dangerous,  from  the  Ionian  and  ^Egean  seas ;  but  because  it 
could  not  be  so  well  affected,  the  Peloponnesians  built  a  wall 
like  our  Picts's  wall  about  Schaenute,  where  Neptune's  tem 
ple  stood,  and  in  the  shortest  cut  over  the  Isthmus,  of  which 
Diodorus,  lib.  11,  Herodotus,  lib.  8,  Vran.  Our  latter 
writers  call  it  Hexamilium,  which  Amurath  the  Turk  de 
molished,  the  Venetians,  anno  1453,  repaired  in  15  days  with 
30,000  men.  Some,  saith  Acosta,  would  have  a  passage  cut 
from  Panama  to  Nombre  de  Dios  in  America ;  but  Thuanus 
and  Serres  the  French  historians  speak  of  a  famous  aqueduct 

1  Herodotus.          *  Ind.  Orient,  cap.  2.  Archimedes,   who  holds  the   superficies 

Rotam  in  medio  flnmine  constituunt,  cui  of  all  waters  even.        8  Lib.  1,  cap.  & 

ex  prfllbus  .inimalium   consutos  uteres  « Dion.    Pausanias,    et  Nic.     Gerbelius 

appendunt,  hi  dum  rota  movetur.  aquam  Minister.  Cosm.  Lib.  4,  cap.  36.     Ut  bre- 

per  canales,  &c.  *  Centum  pedes  lata  vior  foret  navigatio  et  minus  periculos*. 
fossa,  80  alta.  *  Contrary  to  that  of 


128  Democritus  to  the  Header. 

in  France,  intended  in  Henry  the  Fourth's  time,  from  the 
Loire  to  the  Seine,  and  from  Rhodanus  to  the  Loire.  The 
like  to  which  was  formerly  assayed  by  Domitian  the  em 
peror,  1  from  Arar  to  Moselle,  which  Cornelius  Tacitus 
speaks  of  in  the  13th  of  his  Annals,  after  by  Charles  the 
Great  and  others.  Much  cost  hath  in  former  times  been  be 
stowed  in  either  new  making  or  mending  channels  of  rivers, 
and  their  passages,  (as  Aurelianus  did  by  Tiber  to  make  it 
navigable  to  Rome,  to  convey  corn  from  Egypt  to  the  city, 
vadum  alvei  tumentis  ejffbdit  saith  Vopiscus,  et  Tiberis  ripen 
extruxit,  he  cut  fords,  made  banks,  &c.,)  decayed  havens, 
which  Claudius  the  emperor,  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,  2  the  very  mulberry  leaves  in  the  plains  of  Granada 
yield  30,000  crowns  per  annum  to  the  king  of  Spain's  coffers, 
besides  those  many  trades  and  artificers  that  are  busied  about 
them  in  the  kingdom  of  Granada,  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  persuaded  they  would  pros 
per  in  this  island.  With  us,  navigable  rivers  are  most  part 
neglected ;  our  streams  are  not  great,  I  confess,  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  Loire  in  France,  Tigris  in  Mesopotamia 
violent  Durius  in  Spain,  with  cataracts  and  whirlpools,  as  the 
Rhine,  and  Danubius,  about  Shaffausen,  Lausenburgh,  Linz, 
and  Cremmes,  to  endanger  navigators ;  or  broad  shallow,  as 

i  Charles  the  Great  went  about  to  make  Rednich  to  Altimul.    Ut  narlgabllia  inter 

n  channel  from  the  Rhine  to  the  Danube,  de    Occidentis    et    Septentrionis    littora 

Bil   Pirkimerus  descript.  Ger.  the  ruins  flerent.          *  Maf#nu8  Geosfr.     Simlerni 

ire   vet    *)en    about   Wessenburg  fmn  de  rep.  Ilelvet.  lib.  1,  describit 


Democrltus  to  the  Reader.  129 

Neckar  m  the  Palatinate,  Tibris  in  Italy ;  but  calm  and  fair 
as  Arar  in  France,  Hebrus  in  Macedonia,  Eurotas  in  Lacc- 
nia,  they  gently  glide  along,  and  might  as  well  be  repaired 
many  of  them  (I  mean  Wye,  Trent,  Ouse,  Thamisis  at 
Oxford,  the  defect  of  which  we  feel  hi  the  mean  time)  as  the 
River  of  Lee  from  Ware  to  London.  B.  Atwater  of  old,  or 
as  some  will  Henry  L, 1  made  a  channel  from  Trent  to  Lin 
coln,  navigable ;  which  now,  saith  Mr.  Camden,  is  decayed, 
and  much  mention  is  made  of  anchors,  and  such  like  monu 
ments  found  about  old  *Verulamium,  good  ships  have  for 
merly  come  to  Exeter,  and  many  such  places,  whose  chan 
nels,  havens,  ports,  are  now  barred  and  rejected.  We  con 
temn  this  benefit  of  carriage  by  waters,  and  are  therefore 
compelled  in  the  inner  parts  of  this  island,  because  portage  is 
so  dear,  to  eat  up  our  commodities  ourselves,  and  live  like  so 
many  boars  in  a  sty,  for  want  of  vent  and  utterance. 

We  have  many  excellent  havens,  royal  havens,  Falmouth, 
Portsmouth,  Milford,  &c.,  equivalent  if  not  to  be  preferred 
to  that  Indian  Havanna,  old  Brundusium  in  Italy,  Aulis  in 
Greece,  Ambracia  in  Acarnia,  Suda  in  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,  sed  viderint 
politid.  I  could  here  justly  tax  many  other  neglects,  abuses, 
errors,  defects  among  us,  and  in  other  countries,  depopula 
tions,  riot,  drunkenness,  &c.,  and  many  such,  qiue  nunc  in 
aurem  susurrare  non  libet.  But  I  must  take  heed,  ne  quid 
gravius  dicam,  that  I  do  not  overshoot  myself,  Sus  Minervam, 
I  am  forth  of  my  element,  as  you  peradventure  suppose ;  and 
sometimes  veritas  odium  parit,  as  he  said,  "  verjuice  and  oat 
meal  is  good  for  a  parrot."  For  as  Lucian  said  of  an  histo 
rian,  I  say  of  a  politician.  He  that  will  freely  speak  and 
write,  must  be  forever  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. 

1  Camden  in  Lincolnshire.    Fossedike.  *  Near  3.  Albans,  "  which  must  nol 

now  be  whispered  in  the  ear." 

VOL.  L  9 


130  Democritus  to  the  Reader. 

We  have  good  laws,  I  deny  not,  to  rectify  such  enormities, 
and  so  in  all  other  countries,  but  it  seems  not  always  to  good 
purpose.  We  had  need  of  some  general  visitor  in  our  age, 
that  should  reform  what  is  amiss ;  a  just  army  of  Rosie-crosse 
men,  for  they  will  amend  all  matters  (they  say),  religion,  pol 
icy,  manners,  with  arts,  sciences,  &c.  Another  Attila,  Tam 
erlane,  Hercules,  to  strive  with  Achelous,  Augece  stabulum 
purgare,  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 
deserts  of  Lybia,  and  purge  the  world  of  monsters  and 
Centaurs ;  or  another  Theban  Crates  to  reform  our  manners, 
to  compose  quarrels  and  controversies,  as  in  his  time  he  did, 
and  was  therefore  adored  for  a  god  in  Athens.  "  As  Her 
cules  9  purged  the  world  of  monsters,  and  subdued  them,  so 
did  he  fight  against  envy,  lust,  anger,  avarice,  &c.,  and  all 
those  feral  vices  and  monsters  of  the  mind."  It  were  to  be 
wished  we  had  some  such  visitor,  or  if  wishing  would  serve, 
one  had  such  a  ring  or  rings,  as  Timolaus  desired  in  *  Lucian 
by  virtue  of  which  he  should  be  as  strong  as  10,000  men,  or 
an  army  of  giants,  go  invisible,  open  gates  and  castle  doors, 
have  what  treasure  he  would,  transport  himself  in  an  instant 
to  what  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  coun 
tries,  that  they  should  never  use  more  caravans,  or  janizaries 
to  conduct  them.  He  might  root  out  barbarism  out  of  Amer 
ica,  and  fully  discover  Terra  Australis  Incognita,  find  out  the 
northeast  and  northwest  passages,  drain  those  mighty  Ma>o- 
tian  fens,  cut  down  those  vast  Hircinian  woods,  irrigate 

1  LUiua  Girald.  Nat.  comes.        *  Apu-  diam,    Invidiam,    araritinm,    libidlnem, 

Iritis,  lib.  4,  Flor.  Lar.  flunillaris  inter  ceteraque  anlmi  human!  ritia  et  monstra 

homines  retails  sum  cultus  eat,  litium  phllosophvu  iste  Hercules  fuit.      Pestet 

omnium  et  turgiorum  inter  propinquoa  eas  mentibug  ezegit  omnes,  fcc.        *  Vo 

arblter  et  dixceptator.  Adrerius  Iracun-  tls  narig. 


Democritus  to  the  Reader.  131 

those  barren  Arabian  deserts,  &c,,  cure  us  of  our  epidemical 
diseases,  scorbutum,  plica,  morbus  Neapolitanus,  Sfc.,  end  all  our 
idle  controversies,  cut  off  our  tumultuous  desires,  inordinate 
lusts,  root  out  atheism,  impiety,  heresy,  schism,  and  superstition, 
whioh  now  so  crucify  the  world,  catechize  gross  ignorance, 
purge  Italy  of  luxury  and  riot,  Spain  of  superstition  and 
jealousy,  Germany  of  drunkenness,  all  our  northern  country 
of  gluttony  and  intemperance,  castigate  our  hard-hearted  par 
ents,  masters,  tutors ;  lash  disobedient  children,  negligent  ser 
vants,  correct  these  spendthrifts  and  prodigal  sons,  enforce 
idle  persons  to  work,  drive  drunkards  off  the  alehouse,  re 
press  thieves,  visit  corrupt  and  tyrannizing  magistrates,  &c. 
But  as  L.  Licinius  taxed  Timolaus,  you  may  us.  These  are 
vain,  absurd  and  ridiculous  wishes  not  to  be  hoped ;  all  must 
be  as  it  is,  *  Bocchalinus  may  cite  commonwealths  to  come 
before  Apollo,  and  seek  to  reform  the  world  itself  by  com 
missioners,  but  there  is  no  remedy,  it  may  not  be  redressed, 
desinent  homines  turn  demum  stuUescere  quando  esse  desinent, 
BO  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's  labours  to  be  performed ;  let  them  be 
rude,  stupid,  ignorant,  incult,  lapis  super  lapidem  sedeat,  and 
as  the  6  apologist  will,  resp.  tussi,  et  graveolentia  laboret,  mun- 
dus  vitio,  let  them  be  barbarous  as  they  are,  let  them  6  tyran 
nize,  epicurize,  oppress,  luxuriate,  consume  themselves  with 
factions,  superstitions,  lawsuits,  wars  and  contentions,  live  in 
riot,  poverty,  want,  misery ;  rebel,  wallow  as  so  many  swine 
in  their  own  dung,  with  Ulysses's  companions,  sttdtosjubeo  esse 
libenter.  I  will  yet,  to  satisfy  and  please  myself,  make  an 
Utopia  of  mine  own,  a  new  Atlantis,  a  poetical  commonwealth 
of  mine  own,  in  which  I  will  freely  domineer,  build  cities, 
make  laws,  statutes,  as  I  list  myself.  And  why  may  I  not  ? 
*  Pictoribus  atque  poetis,  fyc.  You  know  what  liberty 
poets  ever  had,  and  besides,  my  predecessor  Democritus  was 

1  Raggnalios,  part  2,  cap.  2,  et  part  3,    004.       *  Qui  sordidus  est.  soideocat  ad 
c.  17.      *  Velent.  Andrew  Apolog.  manip.    hue.        *  Hor 


132  Democritus  to  the  Reader. 

a  politician,  a  recorder  of  Abdera,  a  lawmaker  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  Australi  Incog- 
nita,  there  is  room  enough  (for  of  my  knowledge  neither  that 
hungry  Spaniard,*  nor  Mercurius  Britannicus,  have  yet  dis 
covered  half  of  it),  or  else  one  of  those  floating  islands  in 
Mare  del  Zur,  which  like  the  Cyanian  isles  in  the  Euxine 
sea,  alter  their  place,  and  are  accessible  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  forty-five  de 
grees  (I  respect  not  minutes)  in  the  midst  of  the  temperate 
zone,  or  perhaps  under  the  equator,  that  fparadise  of  the 
world,  ubi  semper  virens  laurus,  fyc.,  where  is  a  perpetual 
spring ;  the  longitude  for  some  reasons  I  will  conceal.  Yet 
"  be  it  known  to  all  men  by  these  presents,"  that  if  any  hon 
est  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  archbishopric  of  Utopia,  'tis  sanctus  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  dep 
uties  or  advowsons,  if  he  be  sufficiently  qualified,  and  as  able 
as  willing  to  execute  the  place  himself,  he  shall  have  present 
possession.  It  shall  be  divided  into  twelve  or  thirteen  prov 
inces,  and  those  by  hills,  rivers,  roadways,  or  some  more  emi 
nent  limits  exactly  bounded.  Each  province  shall  have  a 
metropolis,  which  shall  be  so  placed  as  a  centre  almost  in  a 
circumference,  and  the  rest  at  equal  distances,  some  twelve 
Italian  miles  asunder,  or  thereabout,  and  in  them  shall  be  sold 
all  things  necessary  for  the  use  of  man ;  statis  horis  et  diebtu, 

•  FerOluaudo  Qutf .  1612.          t  Vide  Ac-osta  et  Laiet. 


Democritus  to  the  Reader.  133 

no  market  towns,  markets  or  fairs,  for  they  do  bat  beggar 
cities  (no  village  shall  stand  above  six,  seven,  or  eight  miles 
from  a  city),  except  those  emporiums  which  are  by  the  sea 
side,  general  staples,  marts,  as  Antwerp,  Venice,  Bergen  of 
old,  London,  &c.,  cities  most  part  shall  be  situated  upon  nav 
igable  rivers  or  lakes,  creeks,  havens ;  and  for  their  form, 
regular,  round,  square,  or  long  square,  *  with  fair,  broad,  and 
straight  2  streets,  houses  uniform,  built  of  brick  and  stone, 
like  Bruges,  Brussels,  Bhegium  Lepidi,  Berne  in  Switzer 
land,  Milan,  Mantua,  Crema,  Cambalu  in  Tartary,  described 
by  M.  Polus,  or  that  Venetian  palma.  I  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  seaside,  and  those  to  be  fortified  8  after  the  latest  manner  of 
fortification,  and  situated  upon  convenient  havens,  or  opportune 
places.  In  every  so  built  city,  I  will  have  convenient  churches, 
and  separate  places  to  bury  the  dead  in,  not  in  churchyards ; 
a  citadetta  (in  some,  not  all)  to  command  it,  prisons  for  offend 
ers,  opportune  market-places  of  all  sorts,  for  corn,  meat,  cattle, 
fuel,  fish,  commodious  courts  of  justice,  public  halls  for  all 
societies,  bourses,  meeting-places,  armouries,  4  in  which  shall 
be  kept  engines  for  quenching  of  fire,  artillery  gardens,  pub 
lic  walks,  theatres,  and  spacious  fields  allotted  for  all  gymnastic 
sports,  and  honest  recreations,  hospitals  of  all  kinds,  for  chil 
dren,  orphans,  old  folks,  sick  men,  mad  men,  soldiers,  pest- 
houses,  &c.,  not  built  precario,  or  by  gouty  benefactors,  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  almshouse,  school  or  bridge, 
&c.,  at  their  last  end  or  before  perhaps,  which  is  no  other 
wise  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 

1  Vide  Patritium,  lib.  8,  tit.  10,  de  In-  1. 1,  c.  nit.  *  With  walls  of  earth,  &c. 
rtit.  Reijiub.  *  Sic  olim  Ilippodamus  <  De  his  Plln.  epist.  12,  lib.  2,  et  Tacit 
Mileeius  4rist.  polit.  cap.  11,  et  Vitruvius  Annal.  18  lib. 


134  Democritus  to  the  Reader. 

a  rate,  but  for  all  those  who  stand  in  need,  be  they  more  or 
less,  and  that  ex  publico  terario,  and  so  still  maintained,  non 
nobis  solum  nati  sumus,  fyc.  I  will  have  conduits  of  sweet 
and  good  water,  aptly  disposed  in  each  town,  common  J  gran 
aries,  as  at  Dresden  in  Misnia,  Stetein  in  Pomerland,  Nor- 
emberg,  &c.  Colleges  of  mathematicians,  musicians,  and 
actors,  as  of  old  at  Labedum  in  Ionia,  2  alchemists,  physi 
cians,  artists,  and  philosophers ;  that  all  arts  and  sciences  may 
sooner  be  perfected  and  better  learned  ;  and  public  historiog 
raphers,  as  amongst  those  ancient  8  Persians,  qui  in  commen 
taries  referebant  quce  memoratu  digna  gerebantur,  informed 
and  appointed  by  the  state  to  register  all  famous  acts,  and  not 
by  each  insufficient  scribbler,  partial  or  parasitical  pedant,  as 
in  our  times.  I  will  provide  public  schools  of  all  kinds,  sing 
ing,  dancing,  fencing,  &c.,  especially  of  grammar  and  lan 
guages,  not  to  be  taught  by  those  tedious  precepts  ordinarily 
used,  but  by  use,  example,  conversation,4  as  travellers  learn 
abroad,  and  nurses  teach  their  children ;  as  I  will  have  all 
such  places,  so  will  I  ordain  6  public  governors,  fit  officers  to 
each  place,  treasurers,  aediles,  questors,  overseers  of  pupils, 
widows'  goods,  and  all  public  houses,  &c.,  and  those  once  a 
year  to  make  strict  accounts  of  all  receipts,  expenses,  to 
avoid  confusion,  et  sic  fiet  ut  non  absumant  (as  Pliny  to  Tra 
jan,)  quodpudeat  dicere.  They  shall  be  subordinate  to  those 
higher  officers  and  governors  of  each  city,  which  shall  not 
be  poor  tradesmen,  and  mean  artificers,  but  noblemen  and 
gentlemen,  which  shall  be  tied  to  residence  in  those  towns 
they  dwell  next,  at  such  set  times  and  seasons ;  for  I  see  no 
reason  (which  *  Hippolitus  complains  of)  "  that  it  should  be 
more  dishonourable  for  noblemen  to  govern  the  city  than  the 
country,  or  unseemly  to  dwell  there  now,  than  of  old."  T I 

>  Vide    Brlsonium    de    regno    Perse  alia  procurent.  Vide  Isaacum  Pontanum 

lib.  3,  de  his  et  Vegetium,  lib.  2,  cap.  8,  de  civ.  Amstel.  hive  omnia,  &c.,  Gotar- 

de  Annona.        *  Not  to  make  gold,  but  dumet  alios.     «  De  Increm.  urb.  cap.  13. 

for  matters  of  physic.  »  Bresoniiis  Ingenue  foteor  me  non  intelligere  cur  ig- 

Josephu*,  lib.  21,  antiquit.  Jud.  cap.  6.  nobilius  sit  urbes  bene  muni  tax  colere 

Herod,  lib.  8.        «  So  Lod.  Vives  thinks  nunc  quim  olim,  aut  casae  rustics  prse- 

btwt.  Com mineus,  and  others.        *  Plato  ease  quim  urbi.     Idem  Ubertus  Foliot.. 

8,  de  legg.  iEdiles  creari  rult,  qui  fora,  de  Neapoli.       ?  Ne  tantillnm  quidem  sou 

foateH,  Tias,  portus,  plateas,  et  id  genus  iucultum  reliuquitur,  at  rerun  lit   n« 


Democritus  to  the  Reader.  135 

will  have  no  bogs,  fens,  marshes,  vast  woods,  deserts,  heaths, 
commons,  but  all  inclosed ;  (yet  not  depopulated,  and  there 
fore  take  heed  you  mistake  me  not ;)  for  that  which  is  common, 
and  every  man's,  is  no  man's ;  the  richest  countries  are  still 
inclosed,  as  Essex,  Kent,  with  us,  &c.,  Spain,  Italy ;  and 
where  inclosures  are  least  in  quantity,  they  are  best  l  hus 
banded,  as  about  Florence  in  Italy,  Damascus  in  Syria,  &c^ 
which  are  liker  gardens  than  fields.  I  will  net  have  a  bar 
ren  acre  in  all  my  territories,  not  so  much  as  the  tops  of 
mountains ;  where  nature  fails,  it  shall  be  supplied  by  art ; 
'lakes  and  rivers  shall  not  be  left  desolate.  All  common 
highways,  bridges,  banks,  corrivations  of  waters,  aqueducts, 
channels,  public  works,  building,  &c.,  out  of  a  8  common  stock, 
curiously  maintained  and  kept  in  repair;  no  depopulations,, 
engrossing*,  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  quceque  ferat  regio,  et  quid  quee- 
que  recuset,  what  ground  is  aptest  for  wood,  what  for  corn, 
what  for  cattle,  gardens,  orchards,  fishponds,  &c.,  with  a  char 
itable  division  hi  every  village,  (not  one  domineering  house 
greedily  to  swallow  up  all,  which  is  too  common  with  us) 
what  for  lords,  4  what  for  tenants ;  and  because  they  shall  be 
better  encouraged  to  improve  such  lands  they  hold,  manure, 
plant  trees,  drain,  fence,  &c.,  they  shall  have  long  leases,  a 
known  rent,  and  known  fine  to  free  them  from  those  intoler 
able  exactions  of  tyrannizing  landlords.  These  supervisors 
shall  likewise  appoint  what  quantity  of  land  in  each  manor 

pollicem  quldem  agri  in  his  regionibus  Cotswol.  and  their  soil   much  mended, 

gterilem  aut  infcecundum  reperiri.    Mar-  Tusser,  cap.  62,  of  his  husbandry,  is  of 

cug    Hemingius    Augustanus    de   regno  his  opinion,  one  acre  inclosed,   is  worth 

China1,  1.  1,  c.  3.          l  M.  Carew,  in  his  three  common.    The  country  inclosed  I 

surrey  of  Cornwall,  saith  that  before  that  praise ;  the  other  deliguteth  not  me,  for 

country  was   inclosed,  the  husbandmen  nothing   of  wealth  it   doth    raise,    &c. 

drank  water,  did  eat  little  or  no  bread,  2  Incredibilis    navigioruin    copia,  nihilo 

fol.  66,  lib.  1,  their  apparel  was  coarse,  pauciores  in  aquis,  quim  in  continent! 

they  went  barelegged,  their  dwelling  was  commorantur.      M.  Kicceus  ezpedit    in 

ten-respondent;  but  since  inclosure,  they  Sinas,  1.  1,  c.  3.          *  To  this   purpose 

live  decently,  and  have  money  to  spend  Arist.  polit.  2,  c.  6,  allows  a  third  part-  of 

(fol.  23) ;  when  their  fields  were  common,  their  revenues.  Hippodamus  half.       *  I  to 

their  wool  was  coarse,  Cornish  hair;  but  lex  Agraria  olim  Roiuae. 
lino*   inclosure,  it  is  almost  as  good  as 


136  Democritus  to  the  Reader. 

is  fit  for  the  lord's  demesnes,  x  what  for  holding  of  tenants 
how  it  ought  to  be  husbanded,  ul  a  magnetis  equis,  Minyce  gent 
cognita  remis,  how  to  be  manured,  tilled,  rectified,  *  hie 
tegetes  veniunt,  ittic  foelicius  uvee,  arborei  foetus  alibi,  atque 
iry'ussa  virescunt  Gramina,  and  what  proportion  is  fit  for  all 
callings,  because  private  professors  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,  Respub.  Christianopolitana,  Campanel- 
la's  city  of  the  Sun,  and  that  new  Atlantis,  witty  fictions,  but 
mere  chimeras  and  Plato's  community  in  many  things  is  im 
pious,  absurd  and  ridiculous,  it  takes  away  all  splendour  and 
magnificence.  I  will  have  several  orders,  degrees  of  nobility, 
and  those  hereditary,  not  rejecting  younger  brothers  in  the 
mean  time,  for  they  shall  be  sufficiently  provided  for  by  pen 
sions,  or  so  qualified,  brought  up  in  some  honest  calling,  they 
shall  be  able  to  live  of  themselves.  I  will  have  such  a  pro 
portion  of  ground  belonging  to  every  barony,  he  that  buys 
the  land  shall  buy  the  barony,  he  that  by  riot  consumes  his 
patrimony,  and  ancient  demesnes,  shall  forfeit  his  honours.4 
As  some  dignities  shall  be  hereditary,  so  some  again  by  elec 
tion,  or  by  gift,  (besides  free  offices,  pensions,  annuities,)  like 
our  bishoprics,  prebends,  the  Basso's  palaces  in  Turkey,  the 
6  procurator's  houses  and  offices  in  Venice,  which,  like  the 
golden  apple,  shall  be  given  to  the  worthiest,  and  best  de 
serving  both  in  war  and  peace,  as  a  reward  of  their  worth 
and  good  service,  as  so  many  goals  for  all  to  aim  at  (honot 
alit  artes),  and  encouragements  to  others.  For  I  hate  these 
severe,  unnatural,  harsh,  German,  French,  and  Venetian  de 
crees,  which  exclude  plebeians  from  honours,  be  they  never 
BO  wise,  rich,  virtuous,  valiant,  and  well  qualified,  they  must 

1  Hie  negates,  illic  veniunt  fcelicius  uv»,  Andreas,  Lord  Verulam.          *  So  fa  It 

Arborei  foetus  alibi,  atque  injuara  Tires-  in  the  kingdom  of  Naples  and  France. 

cunt  Oramina.    Virg.  I  Georg.        *  Lu-  *  See  Contarenus  and  Osorius  d*  rebui 

oanui,  1.  6.        *  Virg.        *  Job  Valent.  jrestis  EmanunlU. 


Democritiu  to  the  Reader.  137 

not  be  patricians,  but  keep  their  own  rank,  this  is  nature 
bettum  inferre,  odious  to  God  and  men,  I  abhor  it.  My  form 
of  government  shall  be  monarchical. 

*  "  nunquam  libertas  gratior  extat, 
Quam  sub  Rege  pio,"  &c. 

Few  laws,  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 
be  chiefly  maintained ;  1  and  parents  shall  teach  their  chil 
dren  one  of  three  at  least,  bring  up  and  instruct  them  in  the 
mysteries  of  their  own  trade.  In  each  town  these  several 
tradesmen  shall  be  so  aptly  disposed,  as  they  shall  free  the 
rest  from  danger  or  offence  ;  fire-trades,  as  smiths,  forge-meiv 
brewers,  bakers,  metal-men,  &c.,  shall  dwell  apart  by  them 
selves  ;  dyers,  tanners,  felmongers,  and  such  as  use  water  in 
convenient  places  by  themselves ;  noisome  or  fulsome  for  bad 
smells,  as  butchers'  slaughter-houses,  chandlers,  curriers,  in 
remote  places,  and  some  back  lanes.  Fraternities  and  com 
panies,  I  approve  of,  as  merchants'  bourses,  colleges  of  drug 
gists,  physicians,  musicians,  &c.,  but  all  trades  to  be  rated  in 
the  sale  of  wares,  as  our  clerks  of  the  market  do  bakers  and 
brewers  ;  corn  itself,  what  scarcity  soever  shall  come,  not  to 
exceed  such  a  price.  Of  such  wares  as  are  transported  or 
brought  in,  a  if  they  be  necessary,  commodious,  and  such  as 
nearly  concern  man's  life,  as  corn,  wood,  coal,  &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,  de 
light,  or  ornament,  as  wine,  spice,  tobacco,  silk,  velvet,  cloth 
of  gold,  lace,  jewels,  &c.,  a  greater  impost.  I  will  have  cer 
tain  ships  sent  out  for  new  discoveries  every  year,  8  and  some 
discreet  men  appointed  to  travel  into  all  neighbouring  king* 

*  Claudian  1.   7.      "  Liberty  neyer  is  Emanuele  rege  Lusitano.      Riccius    d« 

more  gratifying  than  under  a  pious  king.''  Sinis.        *  Hippol.  i  collibus  de  increm. 

*  Herodotus  Erato  lib.  6.    Cum  ^Egyptiis  urb.  c.   20.     Plato  idem  7,  de  legibus, 

Lacedemonii   in   hoc   congrunnt,   quod  quse  ad  vitam  necessaria,  et  quibus  ca- 

eorum  pnecones,  tibicines,  coqui,  et  reli-  rere  non  possumus,  nullum  depend!  Tec- 

aui  artifices,  in  paterno  artifieio  succe-  tigal,  &c.  3  Plato  12,  de  legibus.  40 

dunt,  et    coquus  i  coquo  gignitur,  et  anuos  natos  vult,  ut  si  quid  memorabilt 

paterno  opere  perseverat.     Idem  Marcus  yiderent  apud  exteros,  hoc  ipsnm  in  not 

Polus    de    Quinzay      Idem    Osorius  de  pub.  recipiatur. 


138  Democritus  to  the  Header. 

Joins  by  land,  which  shall  observe  what  artificial  inventions 
and  good  laws  are  in  other  countries,  customs,  alterations,  or 
aught  else,  concerning  war  or  peace,  which  may  tend  to  the 
common  good.  Ecclesiastical  discipline,  penes  Episcopos, 
subordinate  as  the  other.  No  impropriations,  no  lay  patrons 
of  church  livings,  or  one  private  man,  but  common  societies, 
corporations,  &c.,  and  those  rectors  of  benefices  to  be  chosen 
out  of  the  Universities,  examined  and  approved,  as  the  literati 
in  China.  No  parish  to  contain  above  a  thousand  auditors. 
If  it  were  possible,  I  would  have  such  priests  as  should  imi 
tate  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.  I  will  therefore  have  *  of  lawyers,  judges, 
advocates,  physicians,  chirurgeons,  &c.,  a  set  number,  2  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  Africa,  Bantam,  Aleppo,  Ragusa,  suam  quisque 
causam  dicere  tenetur.  Those  advocates,  chirurgeons,  and 
"physicians,  which  are  allowed  to  be  maintained  out  of  the 
4  common  treasury,  no  fees  to  be  given  or  taken  upon  pain 
of  losing  their  places  ;  or  if  they  do,  very  small  fees,  and 
when  the  *  cause  is  fully  ended.  6  He  that  sues  any  man 
shall  put  in  a  pledge,  which  if  it  be  proved  he  hath  wrong 
fully  sued  his  adversary,  rashly  or  maliciously,  he  shall  for 
feit,  and  lose.  Or  else  before  any  suit  begin,  the  plaintiff 
shall  have  his  complaint  approved  by  a  set  delegacy  to  that 
purpose ;  if  it  be  of  moment  he  shall  be  suffered  as  before,  to 
proceed,  if  otherwise,  they  shall  determine  it.  All  causes 

1  Slmlerus  In  Helvetia.        *  Utopienses  no;  sic  minus  erlt  ambagum,  et  veritai 

causidico.i  excludunt,  qui  cauwa  callide  fucilius    elicietur.      Mor.     Utop.     I.    2 

«t  vitfre  tmctent  et  disputant.    Iniquissi-  *  Medici    ex    publlco    victum    suuiunt 

mum  cement  hominem  ullis  obligarl  legi-  Boter.  1.  1,  c  5,  de  jEgyptiis.        4  De  Ins 

bug,  quae  aut  numerosiores  8unt,  quim  lege  Patrit.  1.  3,  tit.  8,  de   reip.   I  nstit. 

ut  perlegi  quean  t,  aut  obnouriores  quim  *  Nihil    &   clientibu8    patroni  accipiaut, 

ut  i  qncivU  ponsint  intelligi.     Volunt  ut  priusquam  lis  finita  est.    Barcl.  Argen 

§uani  quisque  causam  agat,  eamque  refe-  lib.  8.        *  It  is  so  in  most  tree  citiei  in 

nt  J  udici  quam  narraturu*  fuerat  patro-  Germany. 


Democritus  to  the  Reader.  139 

shall  be  pleaded  suppresso  nomine,  the  parties'  names  con 
cealed,  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,  but 
three  at  least  on  the  bench  at  once,  to  determine  or  give  sen 
tence,  and  those  again  to  sit  by  turns  or  lots,  and  not  to  con 
tinue  still  in  the  same  office.  No  controversy  to  depend 
above  a  year,  but  without  all  delays  and  further  appeals  to 
be  speedily  despatched,  and  finally  concluded  in  that  time 
allotted.  These  and  all  other  inferior  magistrates  to  be 
chosen  *  as  the  literati  in  China,  or  by  those  exact  suffrages  of 
the  *  Venetians,  and  such  again  not  to  be  eligible,  or  capable 
of  magistracies,  honours,  offices,  except  they  be  sufficiently 
*  qualified  for  learning,  manners,  and  that  by  the  strict  appro 
bation  of  reputed  examiners  ;  4  first  scholars  to  take  place, 
then  soldiers ;  for  I  am  of  Vigetius  his  opinion,  a  scholar  de 
serves  better  than  a  soldier,  because  Unius  cetatis  &~nt  guts 
fortiter  jiunt,  qua  vero  pro  Militate  Jieipub.  scribuntur,  ceter- 
na :  a  soldier's  work  lasts  for  an  age,  a  scholar's  forever.  If 
they  6  misbehave  themselves,  they  shall  be  deposed,  and  ac 
cordingly  punished,  and  whether  their  offices  be  annual  6  or 
otherwise,  once  a  year  they  shall  be  called  in  question,  and 
give  an  account ;  for  men  are  partial  and  passionate,  mer 
ciless,  covetous,  corrupt,  subject  to  love,  hate,  fear,  favour, 
&c.,  omne  suit  regno  graviore  regnum  ;  like  Solon's  Areopa- 
gites,  or  those  Roman  Censors,  some  shall  visit  others,  and 
7  be  visited  invicem  themselves,  8  they  shall  oversee  that  no 
prowling  officer,  under  colour  of  authority,  shall  insult  over 

1  Mat.  Riccius  exped.  in  Sinas,  1. 1,  c.  5,  mas  babet,  insigni  per  totam  vit.im  dig. 

Q8  examinatione  electionum  copiose  agit,  nitate  insignitur,  marchioni  similis,  aut 

&c.  2  Contar.  de  repub.  Venet.  1. 1.  duel  apud  nos.  4  Cedant  arma  togie. 

3  Osor  1.  11,  de  reb.  gest.  Eman.     Qui  in  *  As  in    Berne,   Lucerne,    Friburge,   in 

literis  maximos  progressus  fecerint  maxi-  Switzerland,  a  vicious  liver  is  unoapable 

mis  hoi ioribus  afficiuntur,  secundus  ho-  of  any  office ;  if  a  Senator,  instantly  de- 

noris  gradus  militibus  assignatur,  pos-  posed.    Simlerus.  °  Not  above  three 

tremi     ordinis     mecbanicis,     doctorum  years,  Ariat.  polit.  5,  c.  8.        7  Nam  quis 

hominum    judiciis    in    altioiem    locum  custodiet  ipsos  custodes?        *  Cytreus  in 

quisq ;  prsefertur.  et  qui  a  plurimis  ap-  Greisgeia.    Qui  nou  ex sublimi  despician t 

probatur,    ampliores    in   rep.   dignitates  inferiores,  nee  ut  bestias  conculcent  sibl 

conaequitur.     Qui  in  hoc  examine  pri-  subditos,  auctoritatis  nomini  confisi,  &c. 


140  Democritus  to  the  Reader. 

his  inferiors,  as  so  many  wild  beasts,  oppress,  domineer,  flea, 
grind,  or  trample  on,  be  partial  or  corrupt,  but  that  there  be 
(equabile  jus,  justice  equally  done,  live  as  friends  and  breth 
ren  together ;  and  which  1  Sesellius  would  have  and  so  much 
desires  in  his  kingdom  of  France,  "  a  diapason  and  sweet  har 
mony  of  kings,  princes,  nobles,  and  plebeians  so  mutually  tied 
and  involved  in  love,  as  well  as  laws  and  authority,  as  that 
they  never  disagree,  insult  or  encroach  one  upon  another." 
If  any  man  deserve  well  hi  his  office  he  shall  be  rewarded. 

"  quis  eniin  virtu  tern  amplectitur  ipsam, 
Prcemia  si  tollas?  "  * 

He  that  invents  anything  for  public  good  in  any  art  or 
science,  writes  a  treatise, a  or  performs  any  noble  exploit,  at 
home  or  abroad,  8  shall  be  accordingly  enriched,  4  honoured, 
and  preferred.  I  say  with  Hannibal  in  Ennius,  Hostem  qui 
feriet  erit  mihi  Carthoginiensis,  let  him  be  of  what  condition 
he  will,  in  all  offices,  actions,  he  that  deserves  best  shall 
have  best. 

Tilianus  in  Philonius,  out  of  a  charitable  mind  no  doubt, 
wished  all  his  books  were  gold  and  silver,  jewels  and  pre 
cious  stones,  f  to  redeem  captives,  set  free  prisoners,  and 
relieve  all  poor  distressed  souls  that  wanted  means ;  relig 
iously  done,  I  deny  not,  but  to  what  purpose  ?  Suppose  this 
were  so  well  done,  within  a  little  after,  though  a  man  had 
Crossus's  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 

1  8e*ellius  de  rep.  Qallorum.  lib.  1  &  2.  inter  celeres  celerrimo,  non  inter  robusto* 

•  "  For  who  would  cultivate  virtue  itself,  robustireimo,  &c.  t  Nullum  videres 

If  you  were  to  take  away  the  reward?  "  rel  in  hao  vel  in  vicinis  regionibus  pau- 

'  8i  quis  egreginm  aut  belloaut  pace  per-  perem,  nullum  ohaeratum,  &c.        *  Nul- 

fecerit.    Sesel.  1.  1.  *  Ad  regeudam  lus  mendicus  apud  Sinaa,  nemini  sino. 

rempub.  soli  literati  admittuntur,  nee  ad  quamvta  oculis   turbatus  sit,  mendicare 

earn  rem  gratia  magiatratuutn  aut  regis  permittitur,  ornnes  pro  viribus  laborare 

Indigent,  omnia  ezplorata  cujusq  ;  scien-  coguntur,  creci  molis  trusatilibus  versan- 

tia  et  rirtute  pendent.    Biccius,  Hb.  1.  die addicuntur,  soli  hospitiis gaudent,  qui 

cap.  6.        4  In  defuncti  locum  eumjussit  ad  labores  aunt  inepti.     Oaor.  1.  11,  de 

•ubrogari.  qui  inter  majores  virtute  reli-  reb.  ge.st.  Kman.  Heming.  de  reg.  Chin, 

quid  prueiret;    non  fuit  apud  niortales  1.  1,  o.  8.     Ootard.  Arth.  Orient  Ind 

nllum  excellentius  certamen,  aut  cujus  deaor. 
Victoria  magis  esset  expetenda,  non  enim 


Democritus  to  the  Header.  141 

lives  how  they  *  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  inevitable  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  service  they  have  formerly 
done ;  if  able,  they  shall  be  enforced  to  work.  8  "  For  I  see 
no  reason  (as  *  he  said)  why  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, 
when  as  in  the  mean  time  a  poor  labourer,  a  smith,  a  Car 
penter,  an  husbandman  that  hath  spent  his  time  in  continual 
labour,  as  an  ass  to  carry  burdens  to  do  the  commonwealth 
good,  and  without  whom  we  cannot  live,  shall  be  left  in  his 
old  age  to  beg  or  starve,  and  lead  a  miserable  life  worse  than 
a  jument."  As  6  all  conditions  shall  be  tied  to  their  task,  so 
none  shall  be  overtired,  but  have  their  set  times  of  recrea 
tions  and  holidays,  indulgere  genio,  feasts  and  merrymeet- 
ings,  even  to  the  meanest  artificer,  or  basest  servant,  once  a 
week  to  sing  or  dance,  (though  not  all  at  once,)  or  do  what 
soever  he  shall  please ;  like  *  that  Saccarum  festum  amongst 
the  Persians,  those  Satumals  in  Rome,  as  well  as  his  master. 
7  If  any  be  drunk,  he  shall  drink  no  more  wine  or  strong 
drink  in  a  twelvemonth  after.  A  bankrupt  shall  be  8  Cata- 
demiatus  in  Amphitheatro,  publicly  shamed,  and  he  that  can 
not  pay  his  debts,  if  by  riot  or  negligence,  he  have  been  im 
poverished,  shall  be  for  a  twelvemonth  imprisoned,  if  in  that 

1  Alex,  ab  Alex.  8,  c.  12.         *  Sic  olim  toribna,  inanium  roluptatum  artlflcibiia 

RotniB   Isaac.   Pontan     de    his    nptime.  generoeis et  otiosis  tanta  munera prodigit, 

Amstel.  1.  2,  c.  9.  *  Idem  Aristot.  at  oontri  agricolis,  carbonariis,  aurigig, 

pol.  o,  c.  8.    Vitiosum  qnum  soli  pau-  fabris,  &c.,   nibil  prospicit,  se  I   eorum 

perum  liberi  educantur  ad  laboros.  no-  abtisa  labore  florentis  retntb,  fame  penset 

bilium    et  divitum  in    Yoluptatibus    et  et  aerumnis,  Mor.  Utop.  1.  2.          5  In  Se- 

deliciis.        *  QUSB  haec  injustitia  ut  nob-  govia  nemo  otiosus,  nemo  mendicus  nisi 

ilis   quisplam,  aut  foenerator  qui   nihil  per  aetatem  ant  morbum  opus  facere  non 

agat,  lautani  et  splendidam  vi tain  agat,  potest :  null!  deest  unde  vie t uin  quaerat, 

otio  et  deliriis,   qunm  interim    auriga,  aut  quo  se  exerceat.      C'ypr.   Echovius 

febei    agricola,  quo  rtwpub.  carere  non  Delit.  Hispun.  Nullns  OenevaB  otiosus,  n« 

potest,   vitam   adeo  miseram  ducat,   ut  septennta  puer.     Paulus  Heuzner  Itiner. 

pejorquam  jumentorum  sit  ejus  conditio?  <  Athenaeu.*,  1.  12.     T  Simlerus  de  rcpub. 

Iniqua  resp    quae  dat  parasitia    adula-  Helve  t.  *  Spartian.  olim  Eomae  nio 


142  JJemocritiu,  to  the  Reader. 

space  his  creditors  be  not  satisfied,  *  he  shall  be  hanged.  He 
*  that  commits  sacrilege  shall  lose  his  hands ;  he  that  bears 
false  witness,  or  is  of  perjury  convicted,  shall  have  his  tongue 
cut  out,  except  he  redeem  it  with  his  head.  Murder,  8  adul 
tery,  shall  be  punished  by  death,  *  but  not  theft,  except  it  be 
some  more  grievous  offence,  or  notorious  offenders ;  other 
wise  they  shall  be  condemned  to  the  galleys,  mines,  be  his 
slaves  whom  they  have  offended,  during  their  lives.  I  hate 
all  hereditary  slaves,  and  that  duram  Persarum  legem  as 

I  Brisonius    calls  it ;  or  as  *  Ammianus,  impendio  formidatas 
et  abominandas  leges,  per  quas  ob  noxam  unius,  omnis  pro- 
pmquitas  perit,  hard  law  that  wife  and  children,  friends  and 
allies,  should  suffer  for  the  father's  offence. 

No  man  shall  marry  until  he  *  be  twenty -five,  no  woman  till 
she  be  twenty, 8  nisi  aliter  dispensatum  fuerit.  If  one  9  die,  the 
other  party  shall  not  marry  till  six  months  after ;  and  because 
many  families  are  compelled  to  live  niggardly,  exhaust  and 
undone  by  great  dowers, 10  none  shall  be  given  at  all,  or  very 
little,  and  that  by  supervisors  rated,  they  that  are  foul  shall 
have  a  greater  portion ;  if  fair,  none  at  all,  or  very  little ; 

II  howsoever  not  to  exceed  such  a  rate  as  those  supervisors 
shall  think  fit.     And  when  once  they  come  to  those  years, 
poverty  shall  hinder  no  man  from  marriage,  or  any  other 
respect,  12but  all  shall  be  rather  enforced   than   hindered, 
18  except  they  be  "  dismembered,  or  grievously  deformed,  in- 

1  He  that  provides  not  for  his  family,  niseutn,    Nevisanum,    et    alios   de    hao 

is  worse  than  a  thief    Paul.            *  Al-  quaestione.           8  Alfredus.           1°  Apud 

fredi  lex :  utraq ;  manus  et  linsrua  prsec-  Lacones  olim  yirgines  sine  dote  nubebant. 

idatur,  nisi  earn  capite  redemerit.        8  Si  Boter.  1.  8,  c.  8.          n  Lege  cautum  non 

quis   nuptam  stupr.lrit,   virga  virilis  ei  ita    pridera  apud  Venetos,  ne  quis  Pa- 

praecidatur;  si  mulier,  naaus  et  auricula  tritius    dotem    excederet    1,600    coron. 

oraecidantur.    Alfred!  lex.    En  leges  ipsi  w  Bux.  Synag.  Jud.  Sic  Judeei.    Leo  Afer 

Veneri  Martique  timcndas.        <  Pauperes  Africse  descript.  ne  sint  aliter  inconti- 

non  peccant,  quum  extremft  necessitate  nentes  ob  reipub.  bonuin.     Ut  August, 

coactl,  rem  alienam  capiunt.    Maldonat.  Caesar,   orat.  ad   caelibes  Homanos  olim 

mmmula  quaest.   8,  art.  8.      Ego  cum  edocuit.            1:i  Morbo  laborans,  qul  in 

lllis  sentlo  qui  licere  putant  a  dlvite  clam  protein  facile  dlffunditur,  ne  genus  hu- 

accipere,  qui  tenetnr  pauper!  subvenire.  inanum  foeda  contagione  laedatur,  juven- 

Emmanuel  Sa.     Aphor.  confess.       *  Lib.  tute  castratur,  mulieres  tales  procul  & 

2,    de    reg.    Persarum.             •  Lib.    24.  consortio  Tlrorum  ablegantur,  &c.    Hec- 

'  Aliter  Aristoteles,  a  man  at  twenty-five,  tor  Boethius  hist.  lib.  1,  de  vet.  Scoto- 

a  woman  at  twenty,  polit.        •  Lex  olim  rum  moribns.            H  Speciosissimi  jn- 

Ucurgi,  hodie  Chinengium;    Tide   Plu-  venes  llberis  dabunt operam.    Plato  5, d« 

tarchum,    Kincium,    Hemmlngium,  Ar-  legibus. 


Democritus  to  the  Header.  143 

firm,  or  visited  with  some  enormous  hereditary  disease,  in 
body  or  mind ;  in  such  cases  upon  a  great  pain,  or  mulct, 
1man  or  woman  shall  not  marry,  other  order  shall  be  taken 
for  them  to  their  content.  If  people  overabound,  they  shall 
be  eased  by  2  colonies. 

8  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.  *  Luxus  funerum  shall  be 
taken  away,  that  intempestive  expense  moderated,  and  many 
others.  Brokers,  takers  of  pawns,  biting  usurers,  I  will  not 
admit ;  yet  because  hie  cum  hominibus  non  cum  diis  agitur, 
we  converse  here  with  men,  not  with  gods,  and  for  the  hard 
ness  of  men's  hearts,  I  will  tolerate  some  kind  of  usury.' 
If  we  were  honest,  I  confess,  si  probi  essemus,  we  should 
have  no  use  of  it,  but  being  as  it  is,  we  must  necessarily 
admit  it.  Howsoever  most  divines  contradict  it,  dicimu* 
inficias,  sed  vox  ea  sola  reperta  est,  it  must  be  winked  at  by 
politicians.  And  yet  some  great  doctors  approve  of  it,  Cal 
vin,  Bucer,  Zanchius,  P.  Martyr,  because  by  so  many  grand 
lawyers,  decrees  of  emperors,  princes'  statutes,  customs  of 
commonwealths,  churches'  approbations,  it  is  permitted,  &c., 
I  will  therefore  allow  it.  But  to  no  private  persons,  nor  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  then1  money  to  a  6  common 
bank  which  shall  be  allowed  in  every  city,  as  in  Genoa, 
Geneva,  Nuremberg,  Venice,  at  *  five,  six,  seven,  not  above 
eight  per  centum,  as  the  supervisors,  or  cerarii  prcefecti  shall 

i  The  Saxons  exclude  dumb,  blind,  Seas,  though  with  some  reformation, 
leprous,  and  such  like  persons  from  all  mons  pietatis,  or  bank  of  charity,  as  Ma- 
inheritance,  as  we  do  fools.  2  Ut  olim  lines  terms  it,  cap.  33,  Lex  mercat. 
Romani,  Hispani  hodie.  &c.  *  Riccius  part  2,  that  lend  money  upon  easy 
lib.  11,  cap.  5,  de  Sinarum  expedit.  sic  pawns,  or  take  money  upon  adventure 
Hispani  cogunt  Mauros  anna  deponere.  for  men's  lives.  '  'I  hat  proportion 
So  it  is  in  most  Italian  cities.  *  Idem  will  make  merchandise  increase,  land 
Plato  12,  de  legibus,  it  hath  ever  been  dearer,  and  better  improved,  as  he  hath 
Immoderate,  vide  Gull.  Stuckium  antiq.  judicially  proved  in  his  tract  of  usury, 
eonvival.  lib.  1,  cap.  26.  *  Plato  9,  de  exhibited  to  the  Parliament  anno  1821. 
legibus  3  As  those  Lombards  beyond 


144  Democritus  to  the  Header. 

think  fit.  l  And  as  it  shall  not  be  lawful  for  each  man  to  lie  an 
usurer  that  will,  so  shall  it  not  be  lawful  for  all  to  take  up 
money  at  use,  not  to  prodigals  and  spendthrifts,  but  to  mer 
chants,  young  tradesmen,  such  as  stand  in  need,  or  know  hon 
estly  how  to  employ  it,  whose  necessity,  cause  and  condition 
the  said  supervisors  shall  approve  of. 

I  will  have  no  private  monopolies,  to  enrich  one  man,  and 
beggar  a  multitude,  a  multiplicity  of  offices,  of  supplying  by 
deputies,  weights  and  measures,  the  same  throughout,  and 
those  rectified  by  the  Primum  mobile,  and  sun's  motion, 
threescore  miles  to  a  degree  according  to  observation,  1,000 
geometrical  paces  to  a  mile,  five  foot  to  a  pace,  twelve  inches 
to  a  foot,  «fec.,  and  from  measures  known  it  is  an  easy  matter 
to  rectify  weights,  &c.,  to  cast  up  all,  and  resolve  bodies  by 
algebra,  stereometry.  I  hate  wars  if  they  be  not  ad  popidi 
salutem,  upon  urgent  occasion,  *"ocKmu$  accipitrem,  quia 
semper  vivit  in  armis"  "offensive  wars,  except  the  cause  be 
very  just,  I  will  not  allow  of.  For  I  do  highly  magnify  that 
saying  of  Hannibal  to  Scipio,  in  *  Livy,  "  It  had  been  a 
blessed  thing  for  you  and  us,  if  God  had  given  that  mind 
to  our  predecessors,  that  you  had  been  content  with  Italy, 
we  with  Africa.  For  neither  Sicily  nor  Sardinia  are  worth 
such  cost  and  pains,  so  many  fleets  and  armies,  or  so  many 
famous  Captains'  lives."  Omnia  prius  tentanda,  fair  means 
shall  first  be  tried.  *  Peragit  tranquiUa  potestas,  Quod  vio- 
lenta  nequit.  I  will  have  them  proceed  with  all  moderation  ; 
but  hear  you,  Fabius  my  general,  not  Minutius,  nam\  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 

1  Hoc  fere  ZanchiuR  com.  In  4  cap.  ad  the  hawk,  because  he  always  lives  in  bat- 

Ephea.   sequiscimam   vocat    uauram,  et  tie."       3  Idem  Plato  de  legibus.      *  Lib. 

charitati  Christianas  conaentaneam,  modo  30.  Optimum  quidcm  fuerat earn  patribua 

non  exlgant,    &c.,  nee  onines   dent  ad  nostris  mentem  a  dlis  datam  ease,  ut  vos 

ftentu.  sed  ii  qui  in  pecunlia  bona  habent,  Italiae,  nos  Africne  imperio  content!  esae- 

et  ob  aetatem,  wxiini,  artis  alicujua  ig-  inns.     Neque  enim  Sicilia  aut  Sardinia 

norantiam,  non  poaaunt  uti.     Nee  omni-  satis  digna  precio  aunt  pro  tot  classibus, 

bus  sed  mercatoribua  et  iis  qui  honeste  &c.  *  Clandian.          t  Thucydidea. 

Impendent,  &c.        *  Idem  apud  Persas  •  A  depopnlatione,  agrorum  incendiis,  et 

olim,  lege  Brisonlum  *  "  We  hate  ejusmodi  factia  immanibua.     Plato. 


Democritus  to  the  Header.  145 

of  infants,  &c.  For  defensive  wars,  I  will  have  forces  still 
ready  at  a  small  warning,  by  land  and  sea,  a  prepared  navy, 
soldiers  in  procinctu,  ei  quam  *  JBonftnius  apud  Hungaros 
tuos  vult,  virgam  ferream,  and  money,  which  is  nervus  belli, 
still  in  a  readiness,  and  a  sufficient  revenue,  a  third  part  as 
in  old  l  Rome  and  Egypt,  reserved  for  the  commonwealth ; 
to  avoid  those  heavy  taxes  and  impositions,  as  well  to  defray 
this  charge  of  wars,  as  also  all  other  public  defalcations,  ex 
penses,  fees,  pensions,  reparations,  chaste  sports,  feasts,  dona- 
ries,  rewards,  and  entertainments.  All  things  in  this  nature 
especially  I  will  have  maturely  done,  and  with  great  2  delib 
eration  :  ne  quid  *temere  ne  quid  remisse  ac  timide  fiat ;  Sed 
quo  feror  hospes  ?  To  prosecute  the  rest  would  require  a 
volume.  Manum  de  tabella,  I  have  been  over  tedious  in 
this  subject ;  I  could  have  here  willingly  ranged,  but  these 
straits  wherein  I  am  included  will  not  permit. 

From  commonwealths  and  cities,  I  will  descend  to  families, 
which  have  as  many  corsives  and  molestations,  as  frequent 
discontents  as  the  rest.  Great  affinity  there  is  betwixt  a 
political  and  economical  body ;  they  differ  only  in  magnitude 
and  proportion  of  business  (so  Scaliger  4  writes)  as  they  have 
both  likely  the  same  period,  as  *  Bodin  and  e  Peucer  hold,  out 
of  Plato,  six  or  seven  hundred  years,  so  many  tunes  they 
have  the  same  means  of  their  vexation  and  overthrows ;  as 
namely,  riot,  a  common  ruin  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  7  corographer  of 
ours  speaking  obiter  of  ancient  families,  why  they  are  so 
frequent  in  the  north,  continue  so  long,  are  so  soon  extin 
guished  hi  the  south,  and  so  few,  gives  no  other  reason  but 
this,  luxus  omnia  dissipavit,  riot  hath  consumed  all,  fine 
clothes  and  curious  buildings  came  into  this  island,  as  he 

*  Hangar,  dec.  1,  lib.  9.        1  Sesellius,  lento  nequit. Clandian.      »  Belltun 

lib.  2,  de  repub.  Gal.  valde  enim  est  inde-  nee  timendum  nee  provocandum.  Plin. 
coruin,  ubi  quod  prater  opinionem  acci-  Panegyr.  Trajano.  4  Lib.  3.  poet.  cap. 
dit,  dicere,  Non  putiram,  presertim  si  19.  5  Lib.  4,  de  repub.  cap.  2.  *  Pen- 
res  prae  averi  potuerit.  Livius,  lib.  1.  cer.  lib.  1,  de  divinat.  1  Camdeii  if 

Dion.  lib.  2.    Diodorus  Siculus,  lib.  2. Cheshire. 

*  Peragit  tranquilla  potest  as,  Quod  vio- 

VUL.  i.  10 


146  Democntus  to  the  Reader 

Dotes  in  his  annals,  not  so  many  years  since  ;  non  sine  dit 
pendio  hospitalitatis,  to  the  decay  of  hospitality.  Howbeil 
many  times  that  word  is  mistaken,  and  under  the  name  of 
bounty  and  hospitality,  is  shrouded  riot  and  prodigality,  and 
that  which  is  commendable  in  itself  well  used,  hath  been  mis 
taken  heretofore,  is  become  by  his  abuse,  the  bane  and  utter 
ruin  of  many  a  noble  family.  For  some  men  live  like  the 
rich  glutton,  consuming  themselves  and  their  substance  by 
continual  feasting  and  invitations,  with  1Axilon  in  Homer, 
keep  open  house  for  all  comers,  giving  entertainment  to  such 
as  visit  them,  M  keeping  a  table  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  countries,  what  an  infinite  deal  of  meat  we  con 
sume  on  our  tables ;  that  I  may  truly  say,  'tis  not  bounty, 
not  hospitality,  as  it  is  often  abused,  but  riot  and  excess, 
gluttony  and  prodigality ;  a  mere  vice ;  it  brings  in  debt, 
want,  and  beggary,  hereditary  diseases,  consumes  their  for 
tunes,  and  overthrows  the  good  temperature  of  their  bodies. 
To  this  I  might  here  well  add  their  inordinate  expense  in 
building,  those  fantastical  houses,  turrets,  walks,  parks,  &c., 
gaming,  excess  of  pleasure,  and  that  prodigious  riot  in  ap 
parel,  by  which  means  they  are  compelled  to  break  up  house, 
and  creep  into  holes.  Sesellius  in  his  commonwealth  of 
4  France,  gives  three  reasons  why  the  French  nobility  were 
so  frequently  bankrupts  :  "  First,  because  they  had  so  many 
lawsuits  and  contentions  one  upon  another,  which  were 
tedious  and  costly ;  by  which  means  it  came  to  pass,  tliat 
commonly  lawyers  bought  them  out  of  their  possessions. 

1  Iliad.  6  lib.  *  Vide  Puteani  Co-  causa  forenses,  alise  ferantur  ex  aliis,  in 

mum,  Goelenlum   de  portentous  cnenis  immensum     producantur,    et     magnos 

noetrorum  tempornm.      *  Mirabtle  dicta  sumptus    requirant,   uncle  fit    ut  jurifl 

e*t,  quantum  opsonlorum   una   domus  administri  plerumque  nobilium  posaes- 

•ingulis    diebus    absunmt,    sturnuntur  stones  adquirant,  turn  quod  sumptuon* 

mensae  in  omne«  pone  boras,  ealentibus  yivant,  et  &  mercatoribus  absorbentur  rt 

aemper  edullis.    Descrip.  Britan.      «  Lib.  gplendidisaime  re»tiantur,  &«. 
1,  d«  rep.  Qallorum;  quod  tot  lltes  at 


Democritits  to  the  Reader.  147 

A  second  cause  was  their  riot,  they  lived  beyond  their  means, 
and  were  therefore  swallowed  up  by  merchants."  (La  Nove, 
a  French  writer,  yields  five  reasons  of  his  countrymen's  pov 
erty,  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,  mortgages,  and  debts,  or 
wholly  sunk  in  their  estates.)  "  The  last  was  immoderate 
excess  in  apparel,  which  consumed  their  revenues."  How 
this  concerns  and  agrees  with  our  present  state,  look  you. 
But  of  this  elsewhere.  As  it  is  in  a  man's  body,  if  either 
head,  heart,  stomach,  liver,  spleen,  or  any  one  part  be  mis- 
affected,  all  the  rest  suffer  with  it ;  so  is  it  with  this  econom 
ical  body.  If  the  head  be  naught,  a  spendthrift,  a  drunkard, 
a  whoremaster,  a  gamester,  how  shall  the  family  live  at  ease  ? 
1  Ipsa  si  cupiat  solus  servare  prorsw,  non  potest,  hanc  famil- 
iam,  as  Demea  said  in  the  comedy,  Safety  herself  cannot 
save  it.  A  good,  honest,  painful  man  many  times  hath  a 
shrew  to  his  wife ;  a  sickly,  dishonest,  slothful,  foolish,  careless 
woman  to  his  mate ;  a  proud,  peevish  flirt ;  a  liquorish,  prodi 
gal  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  ^sop,  instead  of  mutual 
love,  kind  compellations,  whore  and  thief  is  heard,  they  fling 
stools  at  one  another's  heads.  2  Qua  intemperies  vexat  hanc 
familiam  ?  All  enforced  marriages  commonly  produce  such 
effects,  or  if  on  their  behalfs  it  be  well,  as  to  live  and  agree 
lovingly  together,  they  may  have  disobedient  and  unruly 
children,  that  take  ill  courses  to  disquiet  them,  *  "  their  son 
is  a  thief,  a  spendthrift,  their  daughter  a  whore ; "  a  step 
4  mother,  or  a  daughter-in-law,  distempers  all ;  5  or  else  for 
want  of  means,  many  torturers  arise,  debts,  dues,  fees,  dowries, 
jointures,  legacies  to  be  paid,  annuities  issuing  out,  by  means 
of  which,  they  have  not  wherewithal  to  maintain  themselvee 

1  Ter.        *  Amphit.  Plant.       *  Paling,    nunquam  Yivunt  sine  lite.          •  BM  in 
Kllius  ant  fur.  *  Catun  enm  mure,    grata  domJ. 

dno  falli  dmul  in  aede,  Et  glotes  bins 


148  Democrittis  to  the  Header. 

in  that  pomp  as  their  predecessors  have  done,  bring  up  or 
bestow  their  children  to  their  callings,  to  their  birth  and 
quality,  Jand  will  not  descend  to  their  present  fortunes. 
Oftentimes,  too,  to  aggravate  the  rest,  concur  many  other 
inconveniences,  unthankful  friends,  decayed  friends,  bad 
neighbours,  negligent  servants,  2  seroi  furaces,  versipettes,  col- 
Udij  occlusa  sibi  mitte  clavibus  reserant,  furtimque ;  raptant^ 
consumunt,  liguriunt  ;  casualties,  taxes,  mulcts,  chargeable 
offices,  vain  expenses,  entertainments,  loss  of  stock,  enmities, 
emulations,  frequent  invitations,  losses,  suretyship,  sickness, 
death  of  friends,  and  that  which  is  the  gulf  of  all,  improvi 
dence,  ill  husbandry,  disorder  and  confusion,  by  which  means 
they  are  drenched  on  a  sudden  in  their  estates,  and  at  un 
awares  precipitated  insensibly  into  an  inextricable  labyrinth 
of  debts,  cares,  woes,  want,  grief,  discontent,  and  melancholy 
itself. 

I  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  world's  esteem  are  princes  and 
great  men,  free  from  melancholy;  but  for  their  cares,  mis 
eries,  suspicions,  jealousies,  discontents,  folly,  and  madness,  I 
refer  you  to  Xenophon's  Tyrannus,  where  king  Hieron  dis- 
courseth  at  large  with  Simonides  the  poet,  of  this  subject. 
Of  all  others  they  are  most  troubled  with  perpetual  fears, 
anxieties,  insomuch  that,  as  he  said  in  'Valerius,  if  thou 
knewest  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 
4  of  reason  too  oft,  and  precipitate  in  their  actions,  read  all 
our  histories,  quos  de  stultis  prodidere  stulti,  Iliades,  JEneides. 
Annales,  and  what  is  the  subject  ? 

"  Stultoram  regain,  et  populoram  continet  sestus." 

1  When  pride  and  beggary  meet  in  a  claps  in  the  skies.         *  Plautus  Anlular 

flunlly,  they  roar  and  howl,  and  cause  as  *  Lib.  7,  cap.  6.         *  Pellltnr  in  bellis  sa 

many  flashes  of  discontents,  as  fire  and  pientla,  vigeriturres.  Vetus  proverb! vim 

water,  when  they  concur,  make  thunder-  ant  regeoi  aut  fatuum  nasci  oportert 


Democritus  to  the  Header.  149 

The  giddy  tumults  and  the  foolish  rage 
Of  kings  and  people. 

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

•*  deli  runt  reges,  plectuntur  Achivi." 

When  doting  monarohs  urge 

Unsound  resolves,  then*  subjects  feel  the  scourge. 

Next  in  place,  next  in  miseries  and  discontents,  in  all  man 
ner  of  hairbrain  actions,  are  great  men,  procul  d  Jove,  procul 
a  fulmine,  the  nearer  the  worse.  If  they  live  in  court,  they 
are  up  and  down,  ebb  and  flow  with  their  princes'  favours, 
Ingenium  vultu  statque  caditque  stto,  now  aloft,  to-morrow 
down,  as  *  Polybius  describes  them,  "  like  so  many  casting 
counters,  now  of  gold,  to-morrow  of  silver,  that  vary  in 
worth  as  the  computant  will ;  now  they  stand  for  units,  to 
morrow  for  thousands ;  now  before  all,  and  anon  behind." 
Beside,  they  torment  one  another  with  mutual  factions,  emu 
lations  ;  one  is  ambitious,  another  enamoured,  a  third  in  debt, 
a  prodigal,  overruns  his  fortunes,  a  fourth  solicitous  with 
cares,  gets  nothing,  &c.  But  for  these  men's  discontents, 
anxieties,  I  refer  you  to  Lucian's  Tract,  de  mercede  con- 
ductis,  a^Eneas  Sylvius  (libidinis  et  stvltitice  servos,  he  calls 
them),  Agrippa,  and  many  others. 

Of  philosophers  and  scholars  priscee  sapientice  dictatores,  I 
have  already  spoken  in  general  terms,  those  superintendents 
of  wit  and  learning,  men  above  men,  those  refined  men,  min 
ions  of  tha  muses, 

*  "  mentemque  habere  qnftls  bonam 
Et  esse  *  corculis  datum  est." 

'These  acute  and  subtle  sophisters,  so  much  honoured,  have 

1  Lib.  1,  hist.  Rom.     Similes  tot  baccu-  Kpid.  lib.  1.  e.  18.          4  Hoe  cognoment* 

lorum  calculis,  secundiim   computantig  cohonestati  Romae,  qui  cgeteros  mortalef 

arbitrium,  modi  aerei  sunt,  mod6  aurei;  sapientia  praestarent,  testis  Plin.  lib.  7, 

ad  nutum  regia  nunc  beati  sunt  nunc  cap.  84.      *  Insanire  parant  certa  rationc 

miseri.        2  ^rumnosique  Solones  in  Sa.  modoque,  mad  by  the  book  they,  &«. 
3.    De  miser,  curialium.          *  F.  Dousa 


150  Democritus  to  the  Reader. 

as  much  need  of  hellebore  as  others.    1 0  medici  mediam 

pertundite  venam.  Read  Lucian's  Piscator,  and  tell  how  he 
esteemed  them ;  Agrippa's  Tract  of  the  vanity  of  Sciences ; 
nay,  read  their  own  works,  their  absurd  tenets,  prodigious 
paradoxes,  et  risum  teneatis  amid  f  You  shall  find  that  of 
Aristotle  true,  nuRum  magnum  ingenium  sine  mixtura  de~ 
mentice,  they  have  a  worm  as  well  as  others ;  you  shall  find  a 
fantastical  strain,  a  fustian,  a  bombast,  a  vainglorious  humour, 
an  affected  style,  &c.,  like  a  prominent  thread  in  an  uneven 
woven  cloth,  run  parallel  throughout  their  works.  And  they 
that  teach  wisdom,  patience,  meekness,  are  the  veriest  diz- 
zards,  hairbrains,  and  most  discontent  2  "  In  the  multitude 
of  wisdom  is  grief,  and  he  that  increaseth  wisdom,  increaseth 
sorrow."  I  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. 
'Democritus,  that  common  flouter  of  folly,  was  ridiculous 
himself,  barking  Menippus,  scoffing  Lucian,  satirical  Lucilius, 
Petronius,  Varro,  Persius,  &c.,  may  be  censured  with  the 
rest,  Loripedem  rectus  derideat,  jffithiopem  albus.  Bale, 
Erasmus,  Hospinian,  Vives,  Kemnisius,  explode  as  a  vast 
ocean  of  obs  and  sols,  school  divinity.  *  A  labyrinth  of  in- 
tricable  questions,  unprofitable  contentions,  incredibilem  deli' 
rationem,  one  calls  it.  If  school  divinity  be  so  censured 
subtilis  6  Scotus  lima  veritatis,  Occam  irrefragaJnlis,  cujus  in 
genium  vetera  omnia  ingenia  subvertit,  fyc.  Baconthrope,  Dr 
Besolutus,  and  Corculum  Theologice,  Thomas  himself,  Doctor 
6  Seraphicus,  cui  dictavit  Angelus,  fyc.  What  shall  become 
of  humanity  ?  Ars  stutia,  what  can  she  plead  ?  What  can 
her  followers  say  for  themselves  ?  Much  learning,  7  cere 
diminuit-brum,  hath  cracked  their  sconce,  and  taken  such 
root,  that  tribus  Anticyris  caput  insanabile,  hellebore  itself 
can  do  no  good,  nor  that  renowned  8  lantern  of  Epictetus,  by 

1  Jurenal.     "  0  Physicians !  open  the  •  Vit.  (Jus.  1  Knniun.  >  Luoian 

middle  Teln."         »  Solomon.         *  Com-  Ter  mille  dnchmis  olim  empta;  student 

munla  Irrlaor  gtultittae.        *  Wit  whither  Inde  sapientiam  adipiscetur 
wUtr           *  Scaliger  exercltat.  824. 


Democritus  to  the  Reader.  151 

which  if  any  man  studied,  he  should  be  as  wise  as  he  was 
But  all  will  not  serve  ;  rhetoricians,  in  ostentationem  loquaci' 
tatis  multa  agitant,  out  of  their  volubility  of  tongue,  will  talk 
much  to  no  purpose,  orators  can  persuade  other  men  what 
they  will,  quo  volunt,  unde  volunt,  move,  pacify,  &c.,  but  can 
not  settle  their  own  brains,  what  saith  Tully  ?  Malo  indeser- 
tam  prudentiam,  quam  loquacem  stultitiam  ;  and  as  *  Seneca 
seconds  him,  a  wise  man's  oration  should  not  be  polite  or 
solicitous.  2  Fabius  esteems  no  better  of  most  of  them,  either 
in  speech,  action,  gesture,  than  as  men  beside  themselves, 
insanos  declamatores  ;  so  doth  Gregory,  Non  mihi  sapjt  qui 
sermone,  sed  qui  factis  sapit.  Make  the  best  of  him,  a  good 
orator  is  a  turncoat,  an  evil  man,  bonus  orator  pessimus  vir, 
his  tongue  is  set  to  sale,  he  is  a  mere  voice,  as  8  he  said  of  a 
nightingale,  dot  sine  mente  sonum,  an  hyperbolical  liar,  a 
flatterer,  a  parasite,  and  as  4Ammianus  Marcellinus  will,  a 
corrupting  cozener,  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  glozing  terms ;  which  made  6  Socrates  so 
much  abhor  and  explode  them.  6  Fracastorius,  a  famous  poet, 
freely  grants  all  poets  to  be  mad ;  so  doth  7  Scaliger ;  and 
who  doth  not  ?  Aut  insanit  homo,  aut  versus  facit  (He's 
mad  or  making  verses),  Hor.  Sat.  vii.  1,  2,  Insanire  lubet,  i.  e. 
versus  componere.  Virg.  3  Eel ;  So  Servius  interprets  it,  all 
poets  are  mad,  a  company  of  bitter  satirists,  detractors,  or  else 
parasitical  applauders  ;  and  what  is  poetry  itself,  but  as  Aus 
tin  holds,  Vinum  erroris  ab  ebriis  doctoribus  propinatum  ? 
You  may  give  that  censure  of  them  in  general,  which  Sir 
Thomas  More  once  did  of  Germanus  Brixius's  poems  in  par 
ticular. 

"  vehnntur 
In  rate  stultitise,  sylvam  habitant  Furiae."  8 

1  Epist.  21,  1,  lib.    Non  oportet  ora-  facere  Tidetur  qui  oratione   quim    qui 

tionem  sapientis  esse  politam  aut  solici-  prsetio  quern  vis  corrumpit :    nam,    &c. 

tarn.        2  Lib.  3.  cap.  13,  multo  anhelitu  5  In  Qorg.  Platouis.  *  In  naugerio. 

jactatione  furentes  pectus,  frontem  cae-  7  Si  furor  sit  Lyseus,  &c.,  quoties  furit, 

denies,   &o.  *  Lipsius,   voces  sunt,  furit,  furit,  amans,  bibens,  et  Poeta,  &c. 

praterea  nihil.  «  Lib.  80,  plus  mail  *  "  They  are  borne  in  the  bark  of  folly, 


152  Democritus  to  the  Reader. 

Budaeus,  in  an  epistle  of  his  to  Lupsetus,  will  have  civ? 
law  to  be  the  tower  of  wisdom  ;  another  honours  physic,  the 
quintessence  of  nature ;  a  third  tumbles  them  both  down,  and 
sets  up  the  flag  of  his  own  peculiar  science.  Your  super 
cilious  critics,  grammatical  triflers,  note-makers,  curious  anti 
quaries,  find  out  all  the  ruins  of  wit,  ineptiarum  delicias, 
amongst  the  rubbish  of  old  writers ;  1  Pro  stultis  habent  nisi 
aliquid  sufficiant  invenire,  quod  in  aliorum  scriptis  vertant 
vitioj  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 
mer's  country,  JEneas's  mother,  Niobe's  daughters,  an  Sap 
pho  puWica  fuerit  ?  ovum  *prius  extiterit  an  gattina !  $•<?., 
et  alia  qua  dediscenda  essent  scire,  si  scires,  as  "Seneca 
holds.  What  clothes  the  senators  did  wear  in  Rome,  wbat 
shoes,  how  they  sat,  where  they  went  to  the  closestool,  how 
many  dishes  in  a  mess,  what  sauce,  which  for  the  present  for 
an  historian  to  relate,  4  according  to  Lodovic.  Vives,  is  very 
ridiculous,  is  to  them  most  precious  elaborate  stuff,  they 
admired  for  it,  and  as  proud,  as  triumphant  in  the  mean 
time  for  this  discovery,  as  if  they  had  won  a  city,  or  con 
quered  a  province  ;  as  rich  as  if  they  had  found  a  mine  of 
gold  ore.  Quosvis  auctores  absurdis  commentis  suis  per- 
cacant  et  stercorant,  one  saith,  they  bewray  and  daub  a  com 
pany  of  books  and  good  authors,  with  their  absurd  comments, 
eorrectorum  sterqvilinia  8  Scaliger  calls  them,  and  show  their 
wit  in  censuring  others,  a  company  of  foolish  note-makers 
bumblebees,  dors,  or  beetles,  inter  stercora  ut  plurimum  ver 
tantur,  they  rake  over  all  those  rubbish  and  dunghills,  and 
prefer  a  manuscript  many  times  before  the  Gospel  itself, 
*thesaurum  criticum,  before  any  treasure,  and  with  their 
deleaturg,  alii  legunt  sic,  meus  codex  sic  habet,  with  theii 
vostremee  editiones,  annotations,  castigations,  &c.,  make  books 
dear,  themselves  ridiculous,  and  do  nobody  good,  yet  if  any 

and  dwell  in  the  grove  of  madness."  eorrup.  artium.  *  Lib.  2,  In  Ausontum, 
1  Uonu  Utop.  lib.  11.  *  Maerob.  Satnr.  cap.  19  et  32.  «  Edit  7,  TOlnm.  Jano 
7, 16.  *  Eplflt.  1C.  *  Lib.  de  cauato  Qutero. 


Democritus  to  the  Reader.  168 

man  dare  oppose  or  contradict,  they  are  mad,  up  in  arms  or* 
a  sudden,  how  many  sheets  are  written  in  defence,  how  bitter 
invectives,  what  apologies  ?  *Epiphittedes  hce  sunt  ut  mera 
nuffce.  But  I  dare  say  no  more  of,  for,  with,  or  against 
them,  because  I  am  liable  to  their  lash  as  well  as  others. 
Of  these  and  the  rest  of  our  artists  and  philosophers,  I  will 
generally  conclude  they  are  a  kind  of  madmen,  as  *  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  qfficiorum  in- 
gerere,  ac  fidem  in  rebtts  humanis  retinere,  to  keep  our  wits 
in  order,  or  rectify  our  manners.  Numquid  tibi  demens  vide- 
tur,  si  istis  operam  impendent  ?  Is  not  he  mad  that  draws 
lines  with  Archimedes,  whilst  his  house  is  ransacked,  and  his 
city  besieged,  when  the  whole  world  is  in  combustion,  or  we 
whilst  our  souls  are  in  danger,  (mors  sequitur,  vita  fugif)  to 
spend  our  time  in  toys,  idle  questions,  and  things  of  no 
worth? 

That  8  lovers  are  mad,  I  think  no  man  will  deny,  Amare 
simttl  et  sapere,  ipsi  Jovi  non  datur,  Jupiter  himself  cannot 
intend  both  at  once. 

4  "  Non  bene  conveniunt,  nee  in  nnft  sede  morantur 
Majestas  et  amor." 

Tully,  when  he  was  invited  to  a  second  marriage,  replied, 
he  could  not  sirmd  amare  et  sapere,  be  wise  and  love  both 
together.     6  Est  orcus  iUe,  vis  est  immedicabilis,  est  rabies         fe 
insana,  love  is  madness,  a  hell,  an  incurable  disease ;   im- 
potentem  et  insanam  libidinem  '  Seneca  calls  it,  an  impotent       t 
and  raging  lust.     I  shall  dilate  this   subject  apart;   in  the 
mean  time  let  lovers  sigh  out  the  rest. 

'Nevisanus  the  lawyer  holds  it  for  an  axiom,  "most 
women  are  fools,"  8  consilium  fceminis  invalidum  ;  Seneca, 

1  Arlstophanls  Ranis.  *  Lib.  de  Amatorio  est  amor  insanus.  •  Epist. 

beneficiis.          s  Delirus  et  amens  dicatur  89.  '  Sylvse  nuptialis.  1. 1,  num.  11. 

amans.     Hor.   Seneca.          *  Orld.   Met.  Omnes  mul'ieres  ut  plurimusi    etultsa 

"Majesty  and  Lore  do  not  agree  well,  >  Aristotle. 
nor  dwell  together."              &  Plutarch. 


154  Democritus  to  the  Reader. 

men,  be  they  young  or  old ;  who  doubts  it,  youth  is  mad  as 
Elius  in  Tully,  Stulti  adolescentrtli,  old  age  little  better,  deliri 
senes,  Sfc.  Theophrastus,  in  the  107th  year  of  his  age, '  said 
he  then  began  to  be  wise,  turn  sapere  ccepit,  and  therefore 
lamented  his  departure.  If  wisdom  come  so  late,  where 
shall  we  find  a  wise  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.  a  Nevisanus 
hath  as  hard  an  opinion  of  *  rich  men,  "  wealth  and  wisdom 
cannot  dwell  together,"  stultitiam  patiuntur  opes,  *  and  they 
do  commonly  6  infatuare  cor  hominis,  besot  men  ;  and  as  we 
see  it,  "  fools  have  fortune ; "  6  Sapientia  non  invenitur  in 
terra  suaviter  viventium.  For  beside  a  natural  contempt  of 
learning,  which  accompanies  such  kind  of  men,  innate  idle 
ness  (for  they  will  take  no  pains),  and  which  'Aristotle 
observes,  ubi  mens  plurima,  ibi  minima  fortuna,  ubi  plurima 
fortuna,  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  for  a  satirist  to  work  upon)  ; 

•  "  Hie  nnptarum  insanit  amoribos,  hie  puerorum." 

One  burns  to  madness  for  the  wedded  dame; 
Unnatural  lusts  another's  heart  inflame. 

9  one  is  mad  of  hawking,  hunting,  cocking ;  another  of  carous 
ing,  horse-riding,  spending ;  a  fourth  of  building,  fighting,  &c^ 
Insanit  veteres  statuas  Damasippus  emendo,  Damasippus  hath 

1  Dolere  se  dlrit  quod  turn  rita  egred-  *  Fortuna  niminm  quern  fbret,  stnltum 

eretur.          *  Lib.  I,  num.  11,  sapientia  ficit.        •  Job.  28.        7  Mag.  moral,  lib. 

et  diTitiss  vix  simul  possideri  possunt.  2,  et  lib.  1,  sat.  4.        *  Hor.  lib.  1,  sat.  4 

1  They  get  their  wisdom  by  eating  pie-  •  Inoana  gula.  insanae  obstructiones,  in 

crust  some        4  xfnjfiaTa  rotf  tfvyrotc  sanum  renandi  studium    discordla   d« 

yivtrat  ajpoovvTi.    Opes  quldem  mor-  mens.    Vu-g.  ^n. 
Ullbus  iunt  amentia.     Theognls. 


Democritus  to  the  Reader.  155 

an  humour  of  his  own,  to  be  talked  of;  1Heliodorus  the 
Carthaginian,  another.  In  a  word,  as  Scaliger  concludes  of 
them  all,  they  are  Statuce  erectce  stukitice,  the  very  statues  or 
pillars  of  folly.  Choose  out  of  all  stories  him  that  hath  been 
most  admired,  you  shall  still  find,  multa  ad  laudem,  multa  ad 
vituperationem  magnified,  as  2  Berosus  of  Semiramis ;  omnes 
mortales  militia,  triumphis,  divitiis,  fyc.,  turn  et  luxu,  ccede, 
cceterisgue  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  covet 
ous  ;  8  Hannibal,  as  he  had  mighty  virtues,  so  had  he  many 
vices  ;  unam  virtutem  mitte  vitia  comitantur,  as  Machiavel  of 
Cosmo  de  Medici,  he  had  two  distinct  persons  in  him.  I 
will  determine  of  them  all,  they  are  like  these  double  or 
turning  pictures ;  stand  before  which  you  see  a  fair  maid,  on 
the  one  side  an  ape,  on  the  other  an  owl ;  look  upon  them 
at  the  first  sight,  all  is  well,  but  further  examine,  you  shall 
find  them  wise  on  the  one  side,  and  fools  on  the  other;  in 
some  few  things  praiseworthy,  in  the  rest  incomparably 
faulty.  I  will  say  nothing  of  their  diseases,  emulations,  dis 
contents,  wants,  and  such  miseries ;  let  poverty  plead  the 
rest  in  Aristophanes's  Plutus. 

Covetous  men,  amongst  others,  are  most  mad,  4  They  have 
all  the  symptoms  of  melancholy,  fear,  sadness,  suspicion,  &c., 
as  shall  be  proved  in  its  proper  place. 

"  Danda  est  Hellebori  multo  pars  maxima  avaris.' 

Misers  make  Anticyra  their  own ; 
Its  hellebore  reserv'd  for  them  alone. 

And  yet  methinks  prodigals  are  much  madder  than  they, 

1  Heliodorus   Carthagintensis   ad   ex-  suspects.       *  Liyy.    Ingentes    virtutes. 

tremum  orbis  sarcophago  testamento  me  ingentia  rltla.        4  Hor.     Quiaquis  am- 

hie  jussi  condler,  et  ut  viderem  an  quls  bitione  mala  ant  argent!  pa  Jet  amore 

insanior  ad  me  visendum  usque  ad  hrec  Qulsquifl  luxurift,  tristiquesi  perstitkw* 

loca  penetraret.     Ortellus  In  Gad.  Per. 
1  If  It  be  his  work,  which  Gasper  Veretua 


156  Democritus  to  the  Header. 

oe  of  what  condition  they  will,  that  bear  a  public  or  private 
purse  ;  as  '  Dutch  writer  censured  Richard  the  rich  duke  of 
Cornwall,  suing  to  be  emperor,  for  his  profuse  spending, 
qui  effudit  pecuniam  ante  pedes  principium  Electorum  sicut 
aquam,  that  scattered  money  like  water ;  I  do  censure  them, 
Stulta  Anglia  (saith  he)  guts  tot  denarii$  sponte  est  privata, 
stulti  principes  Alemanice,  qui  nobtte  jus  suum  pro  pecunid 
vendiderunt ;  spendthrifts,  bribers,  and  bribe-takers  are  fools, 
and  so  are  a  all  they  that  cannot  keep,  disburse,  or  spend 
their  moneys  well. 

I  might  say  the  like  of  angry,  peevish,  envious,  ambitious ; 

*  Anticyras  melior  sorbere  meracas;  Epicures,  Atheists,  Schis 
matics,  Heretics ;  hi  omnes  habent  imaginationem  Icesam  (saith 
Nymannus)  "  and  their  madness  shall  be  evident."     2  Tim. 
iii.  9.     4  Fabatus,  an  Italian,  holds  seafaring  men  all  mad ; 
"  the  ship  is  mad,  for  it  never  stands  still ;  the  mariners  are 
mad,  to  expose  themselves  to  such  imminent  dangers ;  the 
waters  are  raging  mad,  in  perpetual  motion ;  the  winds  are 
as  mad  as  the  rest,  they  know  not  whence  they  come,  whither 
they  would  go  ;  and  those  men  are  maddest  of  all  that  go  to 
sea ;  for  one  fool  at  home,  they  find  forty  abroad."     He  was 
a  madman  that  said  it,  and  thou  peradventure  as  mad  to  read 
it.     8  Faelix  Platerus  is  of  opinion  all  alchemists  are  mad,  out 
of  their  wits  ;  e  Atheneus  saith  as  much  of  fiddlers,  et  musa- 
rum  luscinias,  7  Musicians,  omnes  tibicines  insaniunt ;   ubi 
temel  ejflant,  avolat  ittico  mens,  in  comes  music  at  one  ear, 
out  goes  wit  at  another.      Proud  and  vainglorious  persons 
are  certainly  mad  ;  and  so  are  8  lascivious  ;  I  can  feel  their 
pulses  beat  hither ;  horn-mad  some  of  them,  to  let  others  lie 
with  their  wives,  and  wink  at  it 

To  insist  *  in  all  particulars,  were  an  Herculean  task,  to 

i  Cronlea  Slavonic*  ad  annum  1257,  de  gieng,  40  marl   inrenit.     Gaspar   Ens. 

cujus  pecunlajain  incredibilia  dixerunt.  More?.            *  Cap.    de     alien,    mentis. 

*  A  fool  and  his  money  are  soon  parted.  «  Dipnosophist.  lib.  8.              1  Tibicinei 

*  Oral,   de   imag.   ambitiosus    et  audax  mente  Capti.     Erastn.   Chi.   14,  oer.   7. 
nariget  Anticyras.      «  Naris  stulta,  qua  *  Prov.  80.  Insana  libido.  Hie  rof?o  non 
eontinuo  moretnr;  nautas  stulti  qui  tie  furor  est,  non  est  haec  mentula  demens. 
periculifi  ezponunt;  aqua  insana  quse  sto  Mart.  ep.  74.  1.  8.           •  Mille  puellarnm 
fremlt,  &c. ;  a8r  jactatur,  &c. ;  qui  marl  et  puerorum  rallle  Jurorea 

se  commlf.tit  stolidum  unum  terra  fu- 


Democritus  to  the  Reader.  157 

'reckon  up  "insanas  substructiones,  insanos  lab  res,  insanum 
luxum,  mad  labours,  mad  books,  endeavours,  carnages,  gross 
ignorance,  ridiculous  actions,  absurd  gestures ;  insanam  gulam. 
insaniam  vittarum,  insana  jurgia,  as  Tully  terms  them,  mad 
ness  of  villages,  stupend  structures ;  as  those  ^Egyptian  Pyra 
mids,  Labyrinths  and  Sphinxes,  which  a  company  of  crowned 
asses,  ad  ostcntationem  opum,  vainly  built,  when  neither  the 
architect  nor  king  that  made  them,  or  to  what  use  and  pur 
pose,  are  yet  known ;  to  insist  in  their  hypocrisy,  inconstancy, 
blindness,  rashness,  deinentem  temeritatem,  fraud,  cozenage, 
malice,  anger,  impudence,  ingratitude,  ambition,  gross  super 
stition,  8  tempora  infecta  et  adulatione  sordida,  as  in  Tiberius's 
times,  such  base  flattery,  stupend,  parasitical  fawning  and 
colloguing,  &c.,  brawls,  conflicts,  desires,  contentions,  it  would 
ask  an  expert  Vesalius  to  anatomize  every  member.  Shall 
I  say  ?  Jupiter  himself,  Apollo,  Mars,  &c.,  doted ;  and 
monster-conquering  Hercules  that  subdued  the  world,  and 
helped  others,  could  not  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,  Maenades,  and  Corybantes  ? 
Their  speeches  say  no  less.  4  E  fungis  nati  homines,  or  else 
they  fetched  their  pedigree  from  those  that  were  struck  by 
Samson  with  the  jawbone  of  an  ass.  Or  from  Deucalion 
and  Pyrrha's  stones,  for  durum  genus  sumus,  6  marmorei 
sumus,  we  are  stony-hearted,  and  savour  too  much  of  the 
stock,  as  if  they  had  all  heard  that  enchanted  horn  of  Astol- 
pho,  that  English  duke  in  Ariosto,  which  never  sounded  but 
all  his  auditors  were  mad,  and  for  fear  ready  to  make  away 
with  themselves ;  '  or  landed  in  the  mad  haven  in  the  Euxine 
sea  of  Daphnis  insana,  which  had  a  secret  quality  to  demen- 
tate  ;  they  are  a  company  of  giddy-heads,  afternoon  men,  it 

1  Uter  est  insanior  horum  ?  Hor.  Ovid,  semisculpti.  •  Arianus  periplo  marts 

Virg.  Plin.         *  Plin.  lib.  36.         *  Tacl-  Eurini  portus  ejus  meminit,  et  Gillius, 

tus  3,  Anpal.      *  Ovid.  7,  met.    E  fungis  1.  3,  de  Bosphor.  Thracio  et  lanms  insana 

nati  homines  ut  olim  Corinthi  primserl  quae  allata  in  convivium  conviras  omnef 

illius  loci  accolee,  quia  stolidi et  fetui  fun-  insanil  affecit.     Quliel.  Stucchius  com- 

gis  nati  dicebantur,  idem  et  alibi  dicas.  ment.,  &o. 
t  Famian     Stra.de  de  bajulia,  de  marmora 


158  Demccritus  to  the  Header. 

is  Midsummer  moon  still,  and  the  dogdays  last  all  the  year 
long,  they  are  all  mad.  Whom  shall  I  then  except  ?  Ulricua 
Huttenus  l  nemo,  nam  nemo  omnibus  horis  sapit,  Nemo  nasci- 
tur  sine  vitiis,  Crimine  Nemo  caret,  Nemo  sorte  sua  vivit  con- 
tentus,  Nemo  in  amore  sapit,  Nemo  bonus,  Nemo  sapiens, 
Nemo  est  ex  omni  parte  beatus,  fyc.,*  and  therefore  Nich 
olas  Nemo,  or  Monsieur  Nobody  shall  go  free,  Quid  valeat 
nemo,  Nemo  referre  potest  f  But  whom  shall  I  except  in  the 
second  place  ?  such  as  are  silent,  vir  sapit  qui  pauca  loqui' 
tur ;  3no  better  way  to  avoid  folly  and  madness,  than  by 
taciturnity.  Whom  in  a  third  ?  all  senators,  magistrates ; 
for  all  fortunate  men  are  wise,  and  conquerors  valiant,  and  so 
are  all  great  men,  non  est  bonum  ludere  cum  diis,  they  are 
wise  by  authority,  good  by  their  office  and  place,  his  licet 
impune  pessimos  esse  (some  say)  we  must  not  speak  of  them, 
neither  is  it  fit ;  per  me  sint  omnia  protinus  alba,  I  will  not 
think  amiss  of  them.  Whom  next  ?  Stoics  ?  Sapient 
Stoicus,  and  he  alone  is  subject  to  no  perturbations,  as  '  Plu 
tarch  scoffs  at  him,  "  he  is  not  vexed  with  torments,  or  burnt 
with  fire,  foiled  by  his  adversary,  sold  of  his  enemy ;  though 
he  be  wrinkled,  sand-blind,  toothless,  and  deformed ;  yet  he 
is  most  beautiful,  and  like  a  god,  a  king  in  conceit,  though  not 
worth  a  groat."  "  He  never  dotes,  never  mad,  never  sad, 
drunk,  because  virtue  cannot  be  taken  away,"  as  *  Zeno  holds, 
"  by  reason  of  strong  apprehension,"  but  he  was  mad  to  say 
so.  8  Anticyrte  caelo  huic  est  opus  aut  dolabrd,  he  had  need 
to  be  bored,  and  so  had  all  his  fellows,  as  wise  as  they  would 
seem  to  be.  Chrysippus  himself  liberally  grants  them  to  be 
fools  as  well  as  others,  at  certain  times,  upon  some  occasions, 
amitti  virtutem  ait  per  ebrietatem,  aut  atribilarium  morbum,  it 

1  Lepldum  poems  die  Inscriptum.  tus.       Et»i    rugosun,    senex    edentulug, 

*  "  No  one  is  wise  at  all  hours, — no  one  lusrus,  defonnis.  formosus  tumen,  et  deo 

born  without  faults, — no  one  free  from  similis,  felix,  dives,    rex   nullius  egeng, 

crime, — no  one  content  with  his  lot, — no  etui  denarlo  non  sit  diirnus.  *  Ilium 

one  In  love  wise, — no  good,  or  wise  man  conteudnnt  nonlnjuriiafflci,  non  InsanlJ, 

perfectly  happy."          *  Stultltlam  simu-  non  inebrlari,  quia  virtus  non  eripitur  ob 

Isrp  non  potea  nlnl  taciturnltate.        *  Ex-  constantes  comprehenMones.    Lips.  phys. 

tort'.m    non    crndatur,    ambustug    non  Stoic,  lib.  8,  diffl  18.        6  Tarreu*  Hebuf 

Iwdltnr.  pmxtratus  In  Incta.  oon  vinoi-  epig.  102, 1,  8. 
tor ;  non  fit  captirus  ab  hoste  renunda- 


Democritus  to  the  Readei.  159 

may  be  lost  by  drunkenness  or  melancholy,  he  may  be  some 
times  crazed  as  well  as  the  rest ;  l  ad  summum  sapiens  nisi 
quum  pituita  molesta.  I  should  here  except  some  Cynics, 
Menippus,  Diogenes,  that  Theban  Crates  ;  or  to  descend  to 
these  times,  that  omniscious,  only  wise  fraternity  *  of  the 
Rosicrucians,  those  great  theologues,  politicians,  philosophers, 
physicians,  philologers,  artists,  &c.,  of  whom  S.  Bridget, 
Albas  Joacchimus,  Leicenbergius,  and  such  divine  spirits 
have  prophesied,  and  made  promise  to  the  world,  if  at  least 
there  be  any  such  (Hen.  8  Neuhusius  makes  a  doubt  of  it, 
4  Valentinus  Andreas  and  others)  or  an  Elias  artifex  their 
Theophrastian  master;  whom  though  Libavius  and  many 
deride  and  carp  at,  yet  some  will  have  to  be  "  the  6  renewer 
of  all  arts  and  sciences,"  reformer  of  the  world,  and  now  liv 
ing,  for  so  Johannes  Montanus  Strigoniensis,  that  great  patron 
of  Paracelsus,  contends,  and  certainly  avers  6  "  a  most  divine 
man,"  and  the  quintessence  of  wisdom  wheresoever  he  is ;  for 
he,  his  fraternity,  friends,  &c.,  are  all  5  "  betrothed  to  wisdom," 
if  we  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  testi 
mony  of  Dousa, 

"  A  Sole  exoriente  Mseotidas  usque  paludes, 
Nemo  est  qui  justo  se  sequiparare  queat."  * 

Lipsius  saith  of  himself,  that  he  was  8  humani  generis  quidem 
peedagogus  voce  et  stylo,  a  grand  signior,  a  master,  a  tutor  of 
us  all,  and  for  thirteen  years  he  brags  how  he  sowed  wisdom 
in  the  Low  Countries,  as  Ammonius  the  philosopher  some 
times  did  in  Alexandria,  *  cum  humanitate  liter  as  et  sapien- 
tiam  cum  prudentia :  antistes  sapientice,  he  shall  be  Sapientum 
Octavus.  The  Pope  is  more  than  a  man,  as  10  his  parats 

1  Hor.      *  Fratres  sanct.  Rosete  crucis.  ing  Sun  to  the  Maeotid  Lake,  there  wai 

*  An  sint,  qnales  pint,  unde  nomen  illud  not  one  that  could  fairly  be  put  in  com 
Mciverint.         *  Turri  Babel.         5  Om-  parison  with  them."  «  Sc  lus  hlc  est 
nium  artium  et  scientiarum  instaurator.  sapiens  alii  volitant  Telut  umbras.       *  IB 

•  Divinus  ille  yir  auctor  notarum  in  epist.  ep.  ad  Balthas.    Moretum.        10  Rqeeti- 
Hog.  Bacon,  ed.  Hambur.  1608.          "  Sa-  unculae  ad  Patavum.     Felinus  cum  reli 
pientise  desponsati.        *  "  From  the  Ris-  quia. 


160  Democritus  to  the  Reader. 

often  make  him,  a  demi-god,  and  besides  his  holiness  cannot 
err,  in  Cathedra  belike ;  and  yet  some  of  them  have  been 
magicians,  Heretics,  Atheists,  children,  and  as  Platina  saith 
of  John  22.  Etsi  vir  literatus,  multa  stoliditatem  et  Icevitatem 
prce  se  ferentia  egit,  stolidi  et  socordis  vir  ingenii,  a  scholar 
sufficient,  yet  many  things  he  did  foolishly,  lightly.  I  can 
say  no  more  than  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. 

M  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  Alchemist, 
Till  all  be  spent,  and  that  his  number's  mist." 

Convicted  fools  they  are,  mad  men  upon  record ;  and  I  am 
afraid  past  cure  many  of  them,  *  crepunt  inguina,  the  symp 
toms  are  manifest,  they  are  all  of  Gotam  parish : 

»"  Quura  furor  haud  dubius,  quum  sit  manifesta  phrenesis," 
(Since  madness  is  indisputable,  since  frenzy  is  obvious,) 

what  remains  then  *  but  to  send  for  Lorarios,  those  officers 
to  carry  them  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,  tu  nuUane  habes  vitia?  have  I  no 
faults?  4Yes,  more  than  thou  hast,  whatsoever  thou  art. 
Nos  numerus  sum-its,  I  confess  it  again,  I  am  as  foolish,  as 
mad  as  any  one. 

'"  Insanus  vobis  videor,  non  deprecor  ipse, 
Quo  minus  insanus," 

1  do  not  deny  it,  demens  de  populo  dematur.     My  comfort  is, 

1  Magnum    ylrum    sequl    est    sapere,  tage.         *  Aliquantulum  tamen  inde  m« 

some    think;    others     desipere.    Catul.  eolabor,  quod  uni  cum  multis  et  sapien- 

*  Plant.  Meneo.        -  In  Sat.  14.         *  Or  tibus  et  celeberrimis  viris  ipge  inslpiena 

to  send  for  a  cook  to  the  Anttcyne  to  aim,  quod  ee  Menippus  Lucianiin  Necyo- 

nake  hellebore  pottage,  settle-brain  pot-  maiitia.        8  Petrouiua  In  Catalecc. 


Democrituis  to  the  Reader.  161 

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  i 
melancholy,  or  mad,  dotes,  and  every  member  of  it,  I  have 
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 
myself  and  them  a  good  physician,  and  all  of  us  a  better 
mind. 

And  although  for  the  above-named  reasons,  I  had  a  just 
cause  to  undertake  this  subject,  to  point  at  these  particular 
species  of  dotage,  that  so  men  might  acknowledge  their  im 
perfections,  and  seek  to  reform  what  is  amiss ;  yet  I  have  a 
more  serious  intent  at  this  time  ;  and  to  omit  all  impertinent 
digressions,  to  say  no  more  of  such  as  are  improperly  melan 
choly,  or  metaphorically  mad,  lightly  mad,  or  in  disposition, 
as  stupid,  angry,  drunken,  silly,  sottish,  sullen,  proud,  vain 
glorious,  ridiculous,  beastly,  peevish,  obstinate,  impudent,  ex 
travagant,  dry,  doting,  dull,  desperate,  hairbrain,  &c.,  mad, 
frantic,  foolish,  heteroclites,  which  no  new  1  hospital  can  hold, 
no  physic  help;  my  purpose  and  endeavour  is,  in  the  fol 
lowing  discourse  to  anatomize  this  humour  of  melancholy, 
through  all  its  parts  and  species,  as  it  is  an  habit,  or  an  ordi 
nary  disease,  and  that  philosophically,  medicinally,  to  show 
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  a  Mercu- 
rialis  observes,  "  in  these  our  days ;  so  often  happening," 
saith  "Laurentius,  "in  our  miserable  times,"  as  few  there 
are  that  feel  not  the  smart  of  it.  Of  the  same  mind  is  ^Elian 
Montalius,  4  Melancthon,  and  others  ;  6  Julius  Caesar  Claudi- 
nus  calls  it  the  "  fountain  of  all  other  diseases,  and  so  com- 

1  That  I  mean  of  Andr.  Vale.  Apolog.  *  Consult.  98,  adeo  nostris  temporlbna 

manip.  1. 1  et  26,  Apol.        *  Hsec  affec-  frequenter  ingruit  tit  nullus  fere  ab  ejus 

tio   nostris    temporibus    frequenttasima.  labe  immunis  reperiatur  et  omnium  fere 

8  Cap.  15,  de  Mel.  *  De  animo  nostro  marborum  occasio  existat. 

hoc     saeculo    morbus     frequentissimug. 

voi*  t,  11 


162  Democritus  to  the  Header. 

mon  in  this  crazed  age  of  ours,  that  scarce  one  of  a  thousand 
is  free  from  it ; "  and  that  splenetic  hypochondriacal  wind 
especially,  which  proceeds  from  the  spleen  and  short  ribs. 
Being  then  a  disease  so  grievous,  so  common,  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  overshot  myself  in  this  which  hath  been  hitherto 
said,  or  that  it  is,  which  I  am  sure  some  will  object,  too  fan 
tastical,  u  too  light  and  comical  for  a  Divine,  too  satirical  for 
one  of  my  profession,"  I  will  presume  to  answer  with 
1  Erasmus,  in  like  case,  'tis  not  I,  but  Democritus,  Democ 
ritus  dixit ;  you  must  consider  what  it  is  to  speak  in  one's 
own  or  another's  person,  an  assumed  habit  and  name ;  a 
difference  betwixt  him  that  affects  or  acts  a  prince's,  a  phi 
losopher's,  a  magistrate's,  a  fool's  part,  and  him  that  is  so 
indeed ;  and  what  liberty  those  old  satirists  have  had ;  it  is  a 
cento  collected  from  others ;  not  I,  but  they  that  say  it 

2  "  Dixero  si  quid  forte  jocosius,  hoc  mihi  juris 
Cum  venia  dabis." 

Yet  some  indulgence  I  may  justly  claim, 
If  too  familiar  with  another's  fame. 

Take  heed,  you  mistake  me  not  If  I  do  a  little  forget 
myself,  I  hope  you  will  pardon  it  And  to  say  truth,  why 
should  any  man  be  offended,  or  take  exceptions  at  it  ? 

"  Licnit,  semperque  licebit, 
Parcere  personis,  dicere  de  vitiis." 

It  lawful  was  of  old,  and  still  will  be, 
To  speak  of  vice,  but  let  the  name  go  free 

I  hate  their  vices,  not  their  persons.  If  any  be  displeased, 
or  take  aught  unto  himself,  let  him  not  expostulate  or  cavil 
with  him  that  said  it  (so  did  *  Erasmus  excuse  himself  to 

1  Mor.    Encom.    A    quis    calumnletur  ytndicet,  non  habet  quod  expogtnlet  cum 

levius  esse  quam  decet  Theologum,  ant  eo  qul  no.ripsH,  ipte  si  volet,  secum  agat 

mordaciuB   quam    decent    Chrutianum.  injurtam,  utpote  sui   prodltor.  qul  deo- 

•  Hor.  Sat.  4,  1. 1.        «  Epi.  ad  I  orpium  laravit  hoc  ad  «e  propne  pertinore. 
4e  Moria.  si  qulspiam  offendatur  et  aibl 


Democritus  to  the  Seackr.  163 

Dorp? us,  si parva  licet  componere  magnis)  and  so  do  I ;  "but 
let  him  be  angry  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,  whoever  he  is,  and  not  be 
angry.  "  He  that  hateth  correction  is  a  fool,"  Prov.  xii.  1. 
If  he  be  not  guilty,  it  concerns  him  not ;  it  is  not  my  freeness 
of  speech,  but  a  guilty  conscience,  a  galled  back  of  his  own 
that  makes  him  wince. 

"  Snspicione  si  quis  errabit  su&, 
Et  rapiet  ad  se,  quod  erit  commune  omnium, 
Stnltfc  nudabit  animi  conscientiam."  * 

I  deny  not  this  which  I  have  said  savours  a  little  of  Democ 
ritus  ;  a  Quamvis  ridentem  dicere  verum  quid  vetat ;  one  may 
speak  in  jest,  and  yet  speak  truth.  It  is  somewhat  tart,  I 
grant  it;  acriora  orexim  excitant  embammata,  as  he  said, 
sharp  sauces  increase  appetite,  *  nee  cibus  ipse  jurat  morsu 
fraudatw  aceti.  Object  then  and  cavil  what  thou  wilt,  I 
ward  all  with  *  Democritus's  buckler,  his  medicine  shall  salve 
it;  strike  where  thou  wilt,  and  when;  Democritus  dixit, 
Democritus  will  answer  it.  It  was  written  by  an  idle  fellow, 
at  idle  times,  about  our  Saturnalian  or  Dyonisian  feasts,  when 
as  he  said,  nuttum  libertati  periculum  est,  servants  in  old  Rome 
had  liberty  to  say  and  do  what  them  list  When  our  coun 
trymen  sacrificed  to  their  goddess  6Vacuna,  and  sat  tippling 
by  their  Vacunal  fires,  I  writ  this,  and  published  this  oflrtf 
Bxyev,  it  is  neminis  nihil.  The  time,  place,  persons,  and  all 
circumstances  apologize  for  me,  and  why  may  I  not  then  be 
idle  with  others  ?  speak  my  mind  freely  ?  If  you  deny  me 
this  liberty,  upon  these  presumptions  I  will  take  it ;  I  say 
again,  I  will  take  it. 

'  "  Si  qnis  est  qui  dictum  in  se  inclementius 
Existimavit  esse,  sic  existimet." 

1  Si  qnis  se  Itesum  clamabit,  ant  con-  hos  ictus  Democriti  pharmaeos.  s  Bus* 
scientiam  prodit  suam,  aut  certe  metum.  ticorum  dea  preesse  vacantibus  et  otiosig 
Phsedr.  lib.  3.  J5sop.  Fab.  *  If  any  putabatur,  cui  post  labores  agricola  sac- 
one  shall  err  through  his  own  suspicion,  rificabat.  Plin.  1.  3,  c.  12.  Grid.  1.  6. 
and  shall  apply  to  himself  what  is  com-  Fast.  Jam  quoque  cum  fiunt  antiqnse 
mon  to  all,  he  will  foolishly  betray  a  con-  sacra  Vaaunae,  ante  Vacunales  stantqn« 
eiousness  of  guilt.  2  Hor.  3  Mart,  sedentque  focos.  Bosinus.  *  Ter.  pro" 
I  7.  22.  *  Ut  lubet  feriat,  abstergant  Eunuch. 


164  Democritus  to  the  Reader. 

If  any  man  take  exceptions,  let  him  turn  the  buckle  of  his 
girdle,  I  care  not.  I  owe  thee  nothing  (Reader),  I  look  for 
no  favour  at  thy  hands,  I  am  independent,  I  fear  not 

No,  I  recant,  I  will  not,  I  care,  I  fear,  I  confess  my  fault, 
acknowledge  a  great  offence, 

M  motos  pr«stat  componere  fluctns." 
(let's  first  assuage  the  troubled  waves.) 

I  have  overshot  myself,  I  have  spoken  foolishly,  rashly,  un 
advisedly,  absurdly,  I  have  anatomized  mine  own  folly.  And 
now  methinks  upon  a  sudden  I  am  awaked  as  it  were  out  of 
a  dream  ;  I  have  had  a  raving  fit,  a  fantastical  fit,  ranged  up 
and  down,  in  and  out,  I  have  insulted  over  the  most  kind  of 
men,  abused  some,  offended  others,  wronged  myself;  and 
now  being  recovered,  and  perceiving  mine  error,  cry  with 
1  Orlando,  Solvite  me,  pardon  (o  boni)  that  which  is  past,  and 
I  will  make  you  amends  in  that  which  is  to  come;  I  promise 
you  a  more  sober  discourse  in  my  following  treatise. 

If  through  weakness,  folly,  passion,  s  discontent,  ignorance, 
I  have  said  amiss,  let  it  be  forgotten  and  forgiven.  I  ac 
knowledge  that  of  8  Tacitus  to  be  true,  Asperce  facetiae  ubi 
nimis  ex  vero  traxere,  acrem  sui  memoriam  relinquunt,  a  bitter 
jest  leaves  a  sting  behind  it ;  and  as  an  honourable  man  ob 
serves,  * "  They  fear  a  satirist's  wit,  he  their  memories."  I 
may  justly  suspect  the  worst;  and  though  I  hope  I  have 
wronged  no  man,  yet  in  Medea's  words  I  will  crave  pardon. 

"  Illud  jam  voce  extrema  peto, 
Ke  si  qua  noster  dubius  effudit  dolor, 
Maneant  in  anirno  verba,  sed  melior  tibl 
Memoria  nostri  subeat,  haec  irae  data 
Obliterentur  " 

And  in  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. 

>  Afloat.  1.  39.  Staf.  58.  *  Ut  enlm  ep.  lib.  8.  *  Annul.  15.  *  Sir  Fran 
ex  studils  gaudium.sic  stadia  ez  hilari-  cu  Bacon  In  his  Essays,  now  Viscount  8t 
tato  proveniunt.  Pllnius  Maximo  HUO,  Albani 


Democritus  to  the  Reader.  165 

I  earnestly  request  every  private  man,  as  Scaliger  did  Car 
dan,  not  to  take  offence.  I  will  conclude  in  his  lines,  Si  me 
cognitum  haberes,  non  solum  donares  nobis  hasfacetias  nostras, 
sed  etiam  indignum  duceres,  tarn  humanum  animum,  lene  in- 
genium,  vel  minimam  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,  as  an  unskilful  'prentice  I  lance  too  deep,  and  cut 
through  skin  and  all  at  unawares,  make  it  smart,  or  cut  awry, 
1  pardon  a  rude  hand,  an  unskilful  knife,  'tis  a  most  difficult 
thing  to  keep  an  even  tone,  a  perpetual  tenor,  and  not  some 
times  to  lash  out ;  difficile  est  Satyram  non  scribere,  there  be 
so  many  objects  to  divert,  inward  perturbations  to  molest,  and 
the  very  best  may  sometimes  err ;  aliquando  bonus  dormitat 
Homerus  (sometimes  that  excellent  Homer  takes  a  nap),  it 

is  impossible  not  in  so  much  to  overshoot ; opere  in  longo 

fas  est  obrepere  somnum.  But  what  needs  all  this?  I  hope 
there  will  no  such  cause  of  offence  be  given;  if  there  be, 
8"  Nemo  aliquid  recognoscat,  nos  mentimur  omnia.  I'll  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  gracious  ac 
ceptance  (gentle  reader).  Out  of  an  assured  hope  and  con 
fidence  thereof,  I  will  begin. 

*  Quod  Probos  Persii  Burypddtof  vir-  *  Prol.  quer.  Plaut.     "  Let  not  any  one 

ginali  yerecundia  Persium  fuisse  dicit,  *»*«  *****  *•*>&&  to  himself,  they  ara  all 

ego,  &c.       i  Quas  aut  incuria  fudit,  aut  «»ut  fictions." 
huuia.ua  porum  cayit  natura.    Hor. 


LECTORI  MALE  FERIATO. 

fu  vero  cavesis  edico  qnisqais  es,  ne  temere  sugilles  Auctorem  hujusce 
operis,  aat  cavillator  irrideas.  Imo  ne  vel  ex  aliorum  censura  tacite  oblo- 
quaris  (vis  dicam  verbo)  ne  quid  nasutolus  inepte  improbes,  aut  falso  fingas. 
Nam  si  talis  revera  sit,  qualem  prae  se  fert  Junior  Democritus,  seniori  Do- 
mocrito  saltern  affinis,  aut  ejus  Genium  vel  taut  ilium  sapiat;  actum  de  te, 
jensorem  ceque  ac  delatorem  1  aget  e  contra  (petulanti  splene  cum  sit),  sut- 
flabit  te  in  jocos,  comminuet  in  sales,  addo  etiaru,  et  deo  ritui  te  sacrifica- 
bit. 

Iterum  moneo,  no  qaid  cavillere,  nedum  Democritum  Jwuorem  conviciis 
infames,  aut  ignominiose  vituperes,  de  te  non  male  sentientem:  tu  idem 
audias  ab  amico  cordato,  quod  olim  vulgus  AbderUanum  ab  ^BippocraU, 
concivem  bene  meritum  et  popularem  suum  Democritum,  pro  insano 
habeas.  Ne  tu  Democrite  sapis,  stulti  autem  et  insani  AbderiUe. 

*  "  Abderitanas  poctora  plebis  babes." 
Haec  te  paucis  admonitum  volo  (male  feriate  Lector),  abi. 


TO  THE  READER  AT  LEISURE. 

WHOEVER  you  may  be,  I  caution  yon  against  rashly  defaming  the  au 
thor  of  this  work,  or  cavilling  in  jest  against  him.  Nay,  do  not  silently 
reproach  him  in  consequence  of  others'  censnre,  nor  employ  your  wit  in 
foolish  disapproval,  or  false  accusation.  For,  should  Democritus  Junior 
prove  to  be  what  he  professes,  even  a  kinsman  of  his  elder  namesake,  or 
be  ever  so  little  of  the  same  kidney,  it  is  all  over  with  you ;  he  will  be 
come  both  accuser  and  judge  of  you  in  your  spleen,  will  dissipate  you  in 
jests,  pulverize  you  into  salt,  and  sacrifice  you,  I  can  promise  you,  to  the 
god  of  Mirth. 

I  further  advise  you,  not  to  asperse,  or  calumniate,  or  slander,  Democri 
tus  Junior,  who  possibly  does  not  think  ill  of  you,  lest  you  may  hear  from 
some  discreet  friend,  the  same  remark  the  people  of  Abdera  did  from  Hip 
pocrates,  of  their  meritorious  and  popular  fellow-citizen,  whom  they  had 
looked  on  as  a  madman ;  "  It  is  not  that  you,  Democritus,  that  art  wise 
but  that  the  people  of  Abdera  are  fools  and  madmen."  "  You  have  your 
self  an  Abderitian  soul ; "  and  having  just  given  you,  gentle  reader,  these 
few  words  of  admonition,  farewell 

1  Si  me  comm&rit,  mellus  non  tangere  negotium,  Bed  rerum  omnium  receptacu- 

elatno.    Hor.         2  Hippoc.  epist.  Dama-  luiii  deprehend),  ejusque  ingenium  demi- 

geto.      Accersltus  sum   ut  Democritum  ratus  sum.     Abderitanos  vero  tanquam 

tanquam    insanum  curarem,  sed  post-  non  sanos  aceusavi,  veratri  potione  ipsoa 

quaiu  conreni,  non  per  Jovem  desipientise  potius  eguisse  dicens.        3  Mart. 


HEKACLITK  fleas,  misero  sic  convenit  mo, 

Nil  nisi  turpe  vides,  nil  nisi  triste  vides. 
Bide  etiam,  quantumque  lubet,  Democrite  ride, 

Non  nisi  vana  Tides,  non  nisi  stulta  vides. 
Is  fletn,  hie  risu  modb  gaudeat,  unus  utrique 

Sit  licet  usque  labor,  sit  licet  usque  dolor. 
Nunc  opus  est  (nam  totus  eheu  jam  desipit  orbis) 

Mille  Heraclitis,  milleque  Democritis. 
Nunc  opus  est  (tanta  est  insania)  transeat  omnis 

lluudus  in  Auticyraa,  grameu  in  Helleborum. 


Weep,  0  Heraclitus,  it  suits  the  age, 

Unless  you  see  nothing  base,  nothing  sad. 
Laugh,  0  Democritus,  as  much  as  yon  please, 

Unless  you  see  nothing  either  vain  or  foolish. 
Let  one  rejoice  in  smiles,  the  other  in  tears ; 

Let  the  same  labour  or  pain  be  the  office  of  both. 
Now  (for  alas!  how  foolish  the  world  has  become), 

A  thousand  Heraclitus',  a  thousand  Democritus'  are  required. 
Mow  (so  much  does  madness  prevail),  all  the  world  most  be 

Sent  to  Antic  yra,  to  graze  on  Hellebore. 


JlHE 


SYNOPSIS  OF  THE  FIRST  PARTITION. 


Their 
Causes. 

Impulsive; 

Sin,  concupiscence,  &c. 

In  diseases, 

consider 

Subs.l. 
Or 

Instrumental; 

Of  the  body 
800,  which  are 

Intemperance,  all  second  causes,  &«. 

Epidemical,  as  Plague,  Plica,  &c. 
or 
Particular,  as  Gout,  Dropsy,  &c. 

Sect.  1. 

In  disposition  ;  as  all  perturbation! 

tlemb.l. 

Or 

evil  affect 

on,  &c. 

Definition,   • 

Member, 
Division. 

Of  the  head 

Or 

Dotage. 
Frenzy. 

Subs.  2. 

O..1..     Q 

Madness. 

aUOS.  o. 

Ecstasy. 

Habits,  as 

Lycanthropia. 

•  \ 

Subs.  4. 

Choreus  sancti  Viti. 

Hydrophobia. 

\ 

Possession  or  obsession  of 

Devils. 

Melancholy.    See  <p. 

Its  Equivocations,  in  Disposition,  Improper,  &c.     Subsect.  5. 
Memb.  2.                         ^«».i«^  ..  i  Humours,4.  Blood,  Phlegm,&e. 

To  its  expli 

Body 

(  Spirits;  vital,  natural,  animal. 

cation,  a 
digression 
of  anatomy, 
in  which 
observe 

hath      •           or         r  Similar;  spermatical,  or  flesh, 

Si    containing   J  JT6^  ^r8-'  &K     f^f'  * 
a.  (\IML      mug    -I  Djggimjigjp.  brain,  heart,  liver, 

I     &c.     Subs.  4. 

parts  of 
Subs.l. 

Soulandlts^ultie^H^     2t  t  7.  8. 

na 

<  Rational.     Subsect.  9,  10,  11. 

Memb.  3. 

V 

Melancholy  : 
In  which        < 
eouaider 

Its  definition,  name,  difference,  Subs.  1. 
The  part  and  parties  affected,  affectation,  &c.     Subs.  2. 
The  matter  of  melancholy,  natural,  unnatural,  &c.     Subs.  4. 

Species,  or 

^•••MSS 

ShoSrif°o 

?^j    •]  causes,   symptoms, 

kinds, 

M            1  wholi 

^prognostics,  cures, 

which  are 

Or 

Indefinite;  as  Love-melancholy,  the  subject  of  the  third 

Partition. 

Its  Causes  in  general.    Sect.  2.  A. 

Its  Symptoms  or  signs.     Sect 

8.  B. 

Its  Prognostics  or  indications.     Sect.  4. 
Its  cures;  the  subject  of  the  second  Partition. 

170 


Synopsis  of  the  First  Partition. 


As  from  Qod  immediately  ,  or  by  second  causes.  Suts  .  1 

Super 

Or  from  the 

devil  immediately,  with  a  digression  of  tht 

natural.  ' 

n 

iture  of 

spirits  and  devils.     Sub 

j.  2 

Or  mediately,  by  magicians,  witches.     Subs.  3. 

Primary,  as  stars,  proved  by  aphorisms,  signs  from 

physiognomy,  metoposcopy,  chiromancy.     Subs.  4. 

Congenite,  i  Old  age,  temperament.  Subs.  6. 
inward        {  Parents,  it  being  an  hereditary  dis 

'i  ^ 

§ 

Or 

from 

C     ease,  Subs.  Q 

1 

Necessary,  see  y  . 

«=! 

Nurses,  Sub.i.  1. 

3 

•4 

Education.  S.  2. 
Terrors,  affrights, 

XJ 

Subs.B. 

rjT 

Scotfg,calumnies, 

1 

Natural. 

Or 

Evident, 

5j 

bitter  jests,  S.4. 
Loss  of    liberty, 

ou     aru,     , 

S- 

servitude,    im> 

Or 

remote,    ad 
ventitious, 

prisonm't,  S.o. 
Poverty  and 

A. 

as, 

z 

want,  Subs.  6. 

Sect.  2. 

g 

A  heap  of  other 

Causes  of 
Melancholy 
•neither 

a 

Outward 
or  adven 

0_ 

^0 

accidents,  death 
of  friends,  low, 
&c.  Subs.  7. 

titious, 

r 

t" 

which  are 

In 

which   the    body 

works  on  the  mind, 

a 

a 

ad  this  malady  ia 

Contingent, 

caused  by  precedent 

Si 

inward,  an 

d 

seases;  as  agues, 

tecedent, 

pox,  &c.  or  tempera- 

nearest. 

t 

are  innate,  Subs.l. 

Memb.  5. 

Or  by  particular  parts 

Stct.2. 

d 

^tempered,  as 

b 

rain,  heart,  spleen, 

liver,mesentery,  py- 

k 

rus,  stomach,  &o. 

Particular  to  the  three  species.    See  n. 

Sub,.  2. 

Innate  humour,  or  from  distomperatura 

adust. 

T..  —  •  •  J 

A  hot  brain,  corrupted  blood  in  the  brain. 

jLUwaiu      • 

Excess  of  venery,  or  defect. 

Agues,  or  some  precec; 

ent  disease. 

'Of 

head    Mel- 

Fumes  arising  from  the  stomach,  &c. 

ancholy  are, 

or 

Heat  of  the  sun  Immoderate. 

Sui 

to.  8. 

A  blow  on  the  head. 

Overmuch  use  of  hot  wines,  spices,  garlie, 
onions,hotbaths,overniuch  waking,  &o. 

0 

utward 

Idleness,  solitariness,  o 

r  overmuch  itudr. 

n. 

vehement  labour,  &c. 

Particular 

Passions,  perturbations,  &c. 

cause*.           < 
Sect.  2. 

Of  hypoehon- 
driacal,  or 

Inward 

Default  of  spleen,  belly,  bowels,  stomach, 
mesentery,  miseraic  veins,  liver,  &o. 

mo  o 

windy    Melan- 

or 

Months  or  hemorrhoids  stopped,  or  any 

cho 

lyare, 

other  ordinary  evac 

lation. 

Outward  •{'  Those  six  non-natural  things  abused. 

Over  all  the 

Inward 

Liver  distempered,  stopped,  over-Lot,  apt 

body  are, 

to  engender  melancholy,  temperature 

Sui*.  6. 

' 

< 

innate. 

or 

IBad  diet,  suppression  of  hemorrhoids, 

Outward.- 

&c.,  and  such  evacuations,  passions, 
cares,  &c.,  those  six  non-natural  thing! 

abused. 

Synopsis  of  the  First  Partition. 


171 


8 

Neces 
sary 
causes, 

as 

those 
aix 
non- 
natural 
things, 
which 
are, 
Sect.  2. 
Memb. 
3. 


Diet 
offend 
ing  in 
Subs.3. 


Sub 
stance 


Bread;  coarse  and  black,  &c. 
Drink ;  thick,  thin,  sour,  &e. 
Water  unclean,  milk,  oil,  vinegar,  wine,  sp  ces,  &c. 

!  Parts;  heads,  feet,  entrails,  fat,  bacc  u, blood,  &o . 
Kinds  I  Beef'  P°rk>  venison,  hares,  goats,  pig- 
'  (  eons,  peacocks,  fen-fowl,  &c. 


Herbs, 

Fish, 

&o. 


Of  fish ;  all  shell-fish,  hard  and  slimy  fish,  &c. 
Of    herbs;     pulse,   cabbage,    melons,    garlic, 

onions,  &c. 

All  roots,  raw  fruits,  hard  and  windy  meats. 
Quali-    (  Preparing,  dressing,  sharp  sauces,  gait  meats,  indurate, 
ty,as  in  (     soused,  Cried,  broiled,  or  made  dish«B,  &c. 

i  Disorder  in  eating,  immoderate  eating,  or  at  unseason- 

i     able  times>  &c->  Subs-  2- 

(  Custom;  delight,  appetite,  altered,  &c.,  Subs.  8. 
Retention     and  i  Costiveness,     hot    baths,    sweating,     issues     stopped, 
evacuation,      <     Venus  in  excess,  or  in  defect,  phlebotomy,    purging, 
Subs.  4.  (      &c. 

Ah-;  hot,  cold,  tempestuous,  dark,  thick,  foggy,  moorish,  &c.,  Subs.  5. 
Exercise,  (  Unseasonable,  excessive,  or  defective,  of  body  or  mind,  solita- 
Subs.  6.  (  riness,  idleness,  a  life  out  of  action,  &c. 
Sleep  and  waking,  unseasonable,  iuordioate,overmuch,  overlittle,&c.Suta.7. 
Sorrow,  cause  and  symptom,  Subs.  4.  Fear, 
cause  and  symptom,  Subs.  5.  Shame,  re 
pulse,  disgrace,  &c.,  Subs.  6.  Envy  and 
malice,  Subs.  7.  Emulation,  hatred,  tac- 
tion,  desire  of  revenge,  Subs.  8-  Anger  a 
cause,  Subs.  9.  Discontents,  cares,  miser 
ies,  &c.,  Subs.  10. 

Vehement  desires,  ambition,  Sub*.  11.  Cov- 
etousness,  <jnAapyvplav,  Subs.  12.  Lovo 
of  pleasures,  gaming  in  excess,  &c.,  Subs. 
13.  Desire  of  praise,  pride,  vainglory,  &c., 
Subs.  14.  Love  of  learning,  study  in  ex 
cess,  with  a  digression  of  the  misery  of 
scholars,  and  why  the  muses  are  melan 
choly,  Subs.  15. 


Memb.  3,  Sect.  2. 
Passions  and 
perturbations  of 
the  mind. 
Subs.  2.     With 
a  digression  of 
the  force  of 
imagination. 
Subs.  2,  and  di 
vision  of  passions 
into,  Subs,  a 


Irascible 


concn- 
piscible. 


'  Body,  as  ill  digestion,  crudity,  wind,  dry  brains,  hard  belly,  thick  blood, 

much  waking,  heaviness  and  palpitation  of  heart,  leaping  hi  many 

fj 

places,  &c.,  Subs.  1. 

. 

Common 

Fear  and  sorrow  without  a  just  cause,  suspicion  jealousy, 

g 

to  all  or 

discon 

tent,  solitariness,  irksomeness,  continual  cogita- 

M 

most. 

tions,  restless  thoughts,  vain  imaginations,  Sc,e.,Subs.2. 

"^ 

Celestial  influences,  as  fy  ~l±  tf  ,  &c.,  parts  of  the  body, 

"3 

heart 

,  brain,  spleen,  stomach,  &c. 

3  . 

Sanguine  are  merry  still,  laughing,  pleasant, 

or 

Or, 

meditating  ou  plays,  women,  music,  &c. 

i 

H.. 

Phlegmatic,  slothful,  dull,  heavy,  &c. 

• 

i 

• 

u- 

Choleric,  furious,  impatient,  subject  to  hear 

Symp 
toms  of 

0 

Particu 

mours 

and  see  strange  apparitions,  &c. 
Black,  solitary,  sad  ;  they  think  they  are  be 

Mini  ir 

lar  to 

witched,  dead,  &c. 

cnoiy 

are 

TJ 

private 

Or  mixed  of  these  four  humours  adust,  or  not  adust, 

•ither    ' 

3 

persons, 

infini 

tely  varied,  &c. 

Sect.  3. 

i 

accord- 

Their  e 

everal  f  Ambitious,  thinks  himself  a  king.  a  lr>rd  ; 

i  ing  to 

S«6s.3,4. 

customs,  con 
ditions,  incli 

covetous.  runs  on  his  money;  lascivious, 
on  his  mistress  ;  religious,  hath  revela 

nation; 

,disci- 

tions,  visions,  is  a  prophet,  or  troubled 

pline,  &o. 

in  mind;  a  scholar,  on  his  book,  &c. 

Pleasant  at  first,  hardly  discerned  ;  after 

Contini 

lance 

wards  harsh  &  intolerable,  if  inveterate. 

«a     i-1,.. 

01  time  oo  vuo 

Hence  some  make  S  i'  r1     •<  ta  i 

tended  or  re- 

three  degrees.     \  £  Exequi  loquutum. 

initted, 

&c. 

By  fits,   or  continuate,  as  the  object 

V 

varies,  pleasing  or  displeasing. 

Simple,  or  as  it  is  mixed 

with  other  diseases,    apoplexies,  gout,  canintii 

appetitus,  &c.,  so  the  symptoms  are  various. 

172 


Synopsis  of  the  First  Partition. 


Head  mel 

ancholy.     • 

Subt.l. 

Hypo- 

chondria- 

cal  or 

Particular 

windy 
melan 

symptoms  to 
the  three  dig-    . 

choly. 
Subs.  2. 

tinct  species. 

Sfct.  8. 

Memb.Z. 

Orerall 

the  body.   ' 

Subs.  3. 

Symptoms  o 

mind,  &c 

A  reason 

of  these 

symp 

toms. 

Mcmb.  8. 

In  body 


In  mind. 


In  body 


In  mind. 


0. 

Prognostics 
of  melancholy. 

fiKi.4. 


Headache,  binding  and  heaviness,  vertigo, 
lightness,  singing  of  the  ears,  much 
wakiug,  fixed  eyes,  high  colour,  red  eyes. 
hard  belly,  dry  body  ;  DO  great  sign  or 
melancholy  in  the  other  parts. 

Continual  fear,  sorrow,  suspicion,  discon 
tent,  superfluous  cares,  solicitude,  anxie 
ty,  perpetual  cogitation  of  such  toys  they 
are  possessed  with,  thoughts  like  dreams, 
&c. 

Wind,  rumbling  in  the  guts,  bellyache,  heat 
in  the  bowel8,convul8ions,erudities,  short 
wind,  sour  and  sharp  belchings,  cold 
sweat,  pain  in  the  left  side,  suffocation, 
palpitation,  heaviness  of  the  heart,  singing 
in  the  ears,  much  spittle,  and  moist,  &c. 

Fearful,  sad,  suspicious,  discontent,  anxie 
ty,  &c.  Lascivious  by  reason  of  much 
wind,  troublesome  dreams,  affected  by 
fits,  &o. 

K~J       (  Black,  most  part  lean,  broad  veins,  gross, 
In  body    J     thick  blood,  thejr  hemorrhoids  common- 
or        (     ly  stopped,  &c. 

In  mind. 
Symptoms  of  nuns',  maids',  and  widows'  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,  apparitions. 

Why  they  prophesy,  and  speak  strange  language!  ; 
whence  comes  their  crudity,  rumbling,  convulsions, 
cold  sweat,  heaviness  of  heart,  palpitation,  cardiaca, 
fearful  dreams,  much  waking,  prodigious  fantasies. 

Morphew,  scabs,  itch,  breaking  out,  &e. 

Black  jaundice. 

If  the  hemorrhoids  voluntarily  open. 

If  varices  appear. 

Leanness,  dryness,  hollow-eyed,  &c. 

Inveterate  melancholy  is  incurable. 

If  cold,  it  degenerates  often  Into  epilepsy, 

apoplexy,  dotage,  or  into  blindness. 
If  hot,  into  madness,  despair,  and  violent 

death. 
The  grievousness  of  this  above  all  other 

diseases. 
The  diseases  of  the  mind  are  more  grievoul 

™ 


i  Fearful,  sad,    solitary,  hate   light,  ai 
1      from  company,  fearful  dreams,  &c. 


Tending  to  good,  as 


Tending  to  evil,  as 


Corollaries  and  ques 
tions. 


wheeT 


taw(ui,      this  case  of  mel 


ancholy,  for  a  man  to  offer  violence  to 
himself.     Neg. 

How  a  melancholy  or  mad  man  offering 
violence  to  himself,  is  to  be  censured 


THE  FIRST  PAETITION. 


THE  FIRST  SECTION,  MEMBER,  SUBSECTION. 


Marts  Excellency,  Fatt,  Miseries,  Infirmities  ;  The  causes  of 
them. 

Man's  Excellency. ,]  MAN,  the  most  excellent  and  noble 
creature  of  the  world,  "  the  principal  and  mighty  work  of 
God,  wonder  of  nature,"  as  Zoroaster  calls  him;  audacis 
naturae  miracidum,  "  the  *  marvel  of  marvels,"  as  Plato  ; 
u  the a  abridgment  and  epitome  of  the  world,"  as  Pliny ; 
Microcosmus,  a  little  world,  a  model  of  the  world,  "sover 
eign  lord  of  the  earth,  viceroy  of  the  world,  sole  commander 
and  governor  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 ;  4  Imaginis  Imago, 
*  created  to  God's  own  8  image,  to  that  immortal  and  incor 
poreal  substance,  with  all  the  faculties  and  powers  belonging 
unto  it ;  was  at  first  pure,  divine,  perfect,  happy,  7  "  created 
aft«r  God  in  true  holiness  and  righteousness ; "  Deo  con 
gruent,  free  from  all  manner  of  infirmities,  and  put  in  Para 
dise  tc  know  God,  to  praise  and  glorify  him,  to  do  his  will, 

1  Magnum  miracnlum.              *  Mnndl  Imago,  Me  in  homine  Dei.             *  Oen.  1. 

epitome,  naturae  deliciae.       *  Finis  rerum  •  Imago  mundi  in  corpora,  Del  in  aninuu 

omnium,  cui  sublunaria  servtunt.     Seal-  Exemplumque  dei  quisqu'  est  in  imagini 

Ig.   exercit.  865,  sec.  3.   Vales    de  sacr.  parra.        '  Eph.  iv.  24. 
1'hil.  e.  5.        *  Ut  in  nomismate  Cawaris 


174  Diseases  in  General.  [Part. 1.  sec.  I. 

Ut  diis  consimiles  parturiat  deos  (as  an  old  poet  saith)  tc 
propagate  the  church. 

Man's  Fall  and  Misery."]  But  this  most  noble  creature, 
Heu  tristis,  et  lachrymosa  commutatio  (a  one  exclaims)  O  piti 
ful  change !  is  fallen  from  that  he  was,  and  forfeited  his 
estate,  become  miserabilis  komuncio,  a  cast-away,  a  caitiff, 
one  of  the  most  miserable  creatures  of  the  world,  if  he  be 
considered  in  his  own  nature,  an  unregenerate  man,  and  so 
much  obscured  by  his  fall  that  (some  few  relics  excepted) 
he  is  inferior  to  a  beast,  3  "  Man  in  honour  that  understandeth 
not,  is  like  unto  beasts  that  perish,"  so  David  esteems  him ; 
a  monster  by  stupend  metamorphosis,  *  a  fox,  a  dog,  a  hog, 
what  not  ?  Quantum  mutatus  ab  iUo  ?  How  much  altered 
from  that  he  was ;  before  blessed  and  happy,  now  miserable 
and  accursed ;  4  u  He  must  eat  his  meat  in  sorrow,"  subject 
to  death  and  all  manner  of  infirmities,  all  kind  of  calamities. 

A  Description  of  Melancholy. ~\  6  "  Great  travail  is  created 
for  all  men,  and  an  heavy  yoke  on  the  sons  of  Adam,  from 
the  day  that  they  go  out  of  their  mother's  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  beneath  in 
the  earth  and  ashes  ;  from  him  that  is  clothed  in  blue  silk 
and  weareth  a  crown,  to  him  that  is  clothed  in  simple  linen. 
Wrath,  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  Cause  of  Man's  Misery  and  Infirmities.']  The 
impulsive  cause  of  these  miseries  in  Man,  this  privation  of 
destruction  of  God's  image,  the  cause  of  death  and  diseases, 
of  all  temporal  and  eternal  punishments,  was  the  sin  of  our 

1  Palanterltu.  «  Psal.  xUx.  20.    Chrys.  28,  Gen.        «  Gen.  lii.  18.       *  EC- 

*  Lnsoivil   superat   eqnum,   impudentift    clus.  iv.  1,  2,  8,  4,  6,  8. 
eanem,    astu    rulpem,    furore    leonem. 


Mem.  I,  subs.  1.]  Diseases  in   General.  175 

first  parent  Adarn,  1  in  eating  of  the  forbidden  fruit,  by  the 
devil's  instigation  and  allurement.  His  disobedience,  pride, 
ambition,  intemperance,  incredulity,  curiosity ;  from  whence 
proceeded  original  sin,  and  that  general  corruption  of  man 
kind,  as  from  a  fountain  flowed  all  bad  inclinations  and  actual 
transgressions  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  2  Pan 
dora's  box,  which  being  opened  through  her  curiosity,  filled 
the  world  full  of  all  manner  of  diseases.  It  is  not  curiosity 
alone,  but  those  other  crying  sins  of  ours,  which  pull  these 
several  plagues  and  miseries  upon  our  heads.  For  Ubi  pec- 
catum,  ibi  proceUa,  as  8  Chrysostom  well  observes.  4  "  Fools 
by  reason  of  their  transgression,  and  because  of  their  iniqui 
ties,  are  afflicted.  6  Fear  cometh  like  sudden  desolation,  and 
destruction  like  a  whirlwind,  affliction  and  anguish,"  because 
they  did  not  fear  God,  6 "  Are  you  shaken  with  wars  ?  "  as 
Cyprian  well  urgeth  to  Demetrius,  "  are  you  molested  with 
dearth  and  famine  ?  is  your  health  crushed  with  raging  dis 
eases  ?  is  mankind  generally  tormented  with  epidemical  mal 
adies  ?  'tis  all  for  your  sins,"  Hag.  i.  9,  10 ;  Amos  i. ;  Jer. 
vii.  God  is  angry,  punisheth  and  threateneth,  because  of 
their  obstinacy  and  stubbornness,  they  will  not  turn  unto 
him.  7  "  If  the  earth  be  barren  then  for  want  of  rain,  if  dry 
and  squalid,  it  yield  no  fruit,  if  your  fountains  be  dried  up, 
your  wine,  corn,  and  oil  blasted,  if  the  air  be  corrupted,  and 
men  troubled  with  diseases,  'tis  by  reason  of  their  sins ; " 
which  like  the  blood  of  Abel  cry  loud  to  Heaven  for  ven 
geance,  Lam.  v.  15.  "  That  we  have  sinned,  therefore  our 
hearts  are  heavy,"  Isa.  lix.  11,  12.  "We  roar  like  bears, 
and  mourn  like  doves,  and  want  health,  &c.,  for  our  sins  and 

i  Gen.  ill.  17.          *  Ilia  cadena  legmen  frangitur,   qudd  humannm  genna    luig 

manibus  decusslt,  et  una  pernidem  im-  populatione  vastatur ;  ob  peccatum  om- 

miait  mlseris  mortalibus  atram.     Hesiod.  nia.    Cypr.          1  Si  raro  desuper  pluvia 

1,  oper.  8  Horn.  6,  ad  pop.  An  tioch.  descendat,  si  terra  situ  pulveris  squalleat, 

«  Psal.  cvii.  17.       B  Pro.  I.  27.        «  Qudd  si  vix  jejunas  et  pallidas  herbas  sterili* 

autem  crebrius  bella  cpncutiant,  qudd  gleba  prodncat,  si  turbo  yineam  dcbilitet 

sterilitas  et  fames  solicitudinem  cwmu-  &c.    Cypr. 
lent,  quod  ssevientibus  niorbis  valetudo 


176  Diseases  in   General.  [Part.  I.  sec.  1 

trespasses."  But  this  we  cannot  endure  to  hear  or  to  take 
notice  of,  Jer.  ii.  30.  "  We  are  smitten  in  vain  and  receive 
no  correction  ; "  and  cap.  v.  3.  "  Thou  hast  stricken  them, 
but  they  have  not  sorrowed ;  they  have  refused  to  receive 
correction ;  they  have  not  returned.  Pestilence  he  hath  sent, 
but  they  have  not  turned  to  him,"  Amos  iv.  1  Herod  could 
not  abide  John  Baptist,  nor  2  Domitian  endure  Apollonius  to 
tell  the  causes  of  the  plague  at  Ephesus,  his  injustice,  incest, 
adultery,  and  the  like. 

To  punish  therefore  this  blindness  and  obstinacy  of  ours  as 
a  concomitant  cause  and  principal  agent,  is  God's  just  judg 
ment  in  bringing  these  calamities  upon  us,  to  chastise  us,  I 
say,  for  our  sins,  and  to  satisfy  God's  wrath.  For  the  law 
requires  obedience  or  punishment,  as  you  may  read  at  large, 
Deut.  xxviii.  15.  "  If  they  will  not  obey  the  Lord,  and  keep 
his  commandments  and  ordinances,  then  all  these  curses  shall 
come  upon  them.  8  Cursed  in  the  town  and  in  the  field,  &c. 

*  Cursed  in  the  fruit  of  the  body,  &c.     8  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 
Egypt,  and  with  emrods,  and  scab,  and  itch,  and  thou  canst 
not  be  healed.     7  With  madness,  blindness,  and  astonishing 
of  heart."     This  Paul  seconds,  Rom.  ii.  9,  "  Tribulation  and 
anguish  qn  the  soul  of  every  man  that  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  to  know  God  ourselves,  to  inform  and 
teach   us  wisdom.      8 "  Therefore   is   my  people   gone   into 
captivity,  because  they  had  no  knowledge ;  therefore  is  the 
wrath  of  the  Lord  kindled  against  his  people,  and  he  hath 
stretched  out  his  hand  upon  them."     He  is  desirous  of  our 
salvation.     9  Nostrce  salutis  avidus,  saith  Lemnius,  and  for 
that  cause  pulls  us  by  the  ear  many  times,  to  put  us  in  mind 

»  Mat.  xiT.  8.         *  Phllostratns,  lib.  8,  Deua  quo*  dlllglt.  casHgat.      *  IM.  T.  18, 

Tit.  Apollonil.     Injustitiam  ejus,  et  scele-  Terse  15.        *  Nostrae  salutis  avidus  con- 

rataa  nuptiafl,  et  cetera  quae  pneter  ra-  tinenter  aurefl  Telieat,  ac  calamitate  su- 

tionem  fererat,  morborum  causas  dlzit.  binde  new  exercet.     Levinua  Leinn.  1.  2, 

*  16.      « IS.      *  20.      «  Verse  27.     '  28.  e.  29,  de  occult,  nat.  mir. 


Mem.  I,  subs,  i.]          Diseases  in   General.  177 

of  our  duties :  u  That  they  which  erred  might  have  under 
standing,  (as  Isaiah  speaks  xxix.  21,)  and  so  to  be  reformed.* 
I  am  afflicted,  and  at  the  point  of  death,"  so  David  confess- 
eth  of  himself,  Psalm  Ixxxviii.  9,  15.  "  Mine  eyes  are 
sorrowful  through  mine  affliction  ; "  and  that  made  him  turn 
unto  God.  Great  Alexander  in  the  midst  of  all  his  pros 
perity,  by  a  company  of  parasites  deified,  and  now  made  a 
god,  when  he  saw  one  of  his  wounds  bleed,  remembered  that 
he  was  but  a  man,  and  remitted  of  his  pride.  In  morbo  recol- 
ligit  sv  animus,*  as  1  Pliny  well  perceived ;  "  In  sickness  the 
mind  reflects  upon  itself,  with  judgment  surveys  itself,  and 
abhors  its  former  courses ; "  insomuch  that  he  concludes  to 
his  friend  Marius,  2  "  that  it  were  the  period  of  all  philosophy, 
if  we  could  so  continue,  sound,  or  perform  but  a  part  of  that 
which  we  promised  to  do,  being  sick."  Whoso  is  wise  then, 
will  consider  these  things,  as  David  did  (Psal.  cxliv.,  verse 
last)  ;  and  whatsoever  fortune  befall  him,  make  use  of  it.  If 
he  be  in  sorrow,  need,  sickness,  or  any  other  adversity,  seri 
ously  to  recount  with  himself,  why  this  or  that  malady,  mis 
ery,  this  or  that  incurable  disease  is  inflicted  upon  him ;  it 
may  be  for  his  good,  8  sic  expedit,  as  Peter  said  of  his  daugh 
ter's  ague.  Bodily  sickness  is  for  his  soul's  health,  periisset 
nisi  periisset,  had  he  not  been  visited,  he  had  utterly  per 
ished  ;  for  4  "  the  Lord  correcteth  him  whom  he  loveth,  even 
as  a  father  doth  his  child  in  whom  he  delighteth."  If  he  be 
safe  and  sound  on  the  other  side,  and  free  from  all  manner  of 
infirmity  ;  6  et  cui 

u  Gratia,  forma,  valetudo  contingat  abunde 
Et  mundus  victus,  non  deficiente  crumena," 

"  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 

*  Vexario  dat  intellectum.  Isa.  xxviii.  languoris  non  sum  memor  hujuB  amoris. 

19.  In  sickness  the  mind  recollects  itself.  -  Summum  esse  totius  philosophise,  ut 

*  Lib.  7.  Cum  judicio,  mores  et  fucta  re-  tales  esse  perseveremus,  quales  nos  futu- 

eognoscit  et  se  intuetur.  Dum  fero  Ian-  ros  esse  inflrmi  profltemur.  *  Petrarch 

guorem,  fero  religion??  amorem.  Expers  *  Prov.  iii.  12  »  Hor.  Epia.  lib.  1,  4. 

VOL.  I.  12 


178  Diseases  in   General.  [Part.  i.  sec.  1 

caveat  of  Moses,  * "  Beware  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  thankful,"  (as  Agapetianus  adviseth)  and  use  them 
aright. 

Instrumental  Causes  of  our  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  the  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  things  for  the  use-^f  man,  are 
water,  fire,  iron,  salt,  meal,  wheat,  honey,  milk,  oil,  wine, 
clothing,  good  to  the  godly,  to  the  sinners  turned  to  evil," 
Ecclus.  xxxix.  26.  "  Fire,  and  hail,  and  famine,  and  dearth, 
all  these  are  created  for  vengeance,"  Ecclus.  xxxix.  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,  tem 
pests,  unseasonable  weather ;  from  which  proceed  deartli, 
famine,  plague,  and  all  sorts  of  epidemical  diseases,  consum 
ing  infinite  myriads  of  men.  At  Cairo  in  Egypt,  every  third 
year,  (as  it  is  related  by  2  Boterus,  and  others)  300,000  die 
of  the  plague  ;  and  200,000,  in  Constantinople,  every  fifth 
jr  seventh  at  the  utmost.  How  doth  the  earth  terrify  and 
oppress  us  with  terrible  earthquakes,  which  are  most  fre 
quent  in  *  China,  Japan,  and  those  eastern  climes,  swallowing 
up  sometimes  six  cities  at  once  ?  How  doth  the  water  rage 
with  his  inundations,  irruptions,  flinging  down  towns,  cities, 

1  Deut.  Till.   11.     Qui  stat  videat  ne    debitorem  feteri.  *  Boterus  tie  Iimt. 

cmdat.  *  Quanto  majorihiis  beneflcits  urbium.  *  Lege  hist,  relationeiu  Lod. 
fc  Deo  cumulatur,  tanto  obligatiorem  M  Froia  de  rebus  Japonicis  ad  annum  1696 


Mem.  1,  subs.  1.]  Diseases  in   General.  179 

villages,  bridges,  &c.,  besides  shipwrecks  ;  whole  islands  are 
sometimes  suddenly  overwhelmed  with  all  their  inhabitants 
in  *  Zealand,  Holland,  and  many  parts  of  the  continent 
drowned,  as  the  2  lake  Erne  in  Ireland  ?  8  Nihilque  prater 
arcium  cadavera  patenti  cemimus  freto.  In  the  fens  of 
Friesland  ]  230,  by  reason  of  tempests,  4  the  sea  drowned 
multa  hominum  miHia,  et  jumenta  sine  numero,  all  the  coun 
try  almost,  men  and  cattle  in  it.  How  doth  the  fire  rage, 
that  merciless  element,  consuming  in  an  instant  whole  cities  ? 
What  town  of  any  antiquity  or  note  hath  not  been  once, 
again  and  again,  by  the  fury  of  this  merciless  element,  de 
faced,  ruinated,  and  left  desolate  ?  In  a  word, 

'  a  Ignis  pepercit,  unda  ruergit,  aeris 
Vis  pestUentis  sequori  ereptum  necat, 
Bello  saperstes,  tabidus  morbo  pent." 

u  Whom  fire  spares,  sea  doth  drown;  whom  sea, 
Pestilent  air  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 
with  hoofs,  horns,  tusks,  teeth,  nails;  How  many  noxious 
serpents  and  venomous  creatures,  ready  to  offend  us  with 
stings,  breath,  sight,  or  quite  kill  us?  How  many  pernicious 
fishes,  plants,  gums,  fruits,  seeds,  flowers,  &c.,  could  I  reckon 
up  on  a  sudden,  which  by  their  very  smell  many  of  them, 
touch,  taste,  cause  some  grievous  malady,  if  not  death  itself? 
Some  make  mention  of  a  thousand  several  poisons ;  but  these 
are  but  trifles  in  respect.  The  greatest  enemy  to  man,  is 
man,  who  by  the  devil's  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 

1  Guicciard.  descript.  Belg.  anno  1421.  the  open  sea.  *  Munster.  1.  8.  Cos. 

*  Girahlus  Cambrens.        *  Janus  Donga,  cap.  462.          5  Buchanan.    Baptist, 

ap.  lib.  1,  car.  10.    And  we  perceive  noth-  *  Homo  homini  lupus,  homo  homini  d» 

ing,  except  the  dead  bodies  of  cities  in  mon. 


180  Diseases  in   General,  [Part.  I  sec.  1 

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, 
Qukmque  lupi,  saevae  plus  feritatis  habent." 

We  can  most  part  foresee  these  epidemical  diseases,  and 
likely  avoid  them  ;  Dearths,  tempests,  plagues,  our  astrologers 
foretell  us ;  Earthquakes,  inundations,  ruins  of  houses,  con 
suming  fires,  come  by  little  and  little,  or  make  some  noise 
beforehand ;  but  the  knaveries,  impostures,  injuries  and  vil- 
lanies  of  men  no  art  can  avoid.  We  can  keep  our  professed 
enemies  from  our  cities,  by  gates,  walls,  and  towers,  defend 
ourselves  from  thieves  and  robbers  by  watchfulness  and 
weapons ;  but  this  malice  of  men,  and  their  pernicious  en 
deavours,  no  caution  can  divert,  no  vigUancy  foresee,  we 
have  so  many  secret  plots  and  devices,  to  mischief  one 
another. 

Sometimes  by  the  devil's  help  as  magicians,  *  witches: 
sometimes  by  impostures,  mixtures,  poisons,  stratagems,  sin 
gle  combats,  wars,  we  hack  and  hew,  as  if  we  were  ad  inter- 
necionem  nati,  like  Cadmus's  soldiers  born  to  consume  one 
another.  '  Tis  an  ordinary  thing  to  read  of  a  hundred  and 
two  hundred  thousand  men  slain  in  a  battle.  Besides  all 
manner  of  tortures,  brazen  bulls,  racks,  wheels,  strappadoes, 
guns,  engines,  &c.  a  Ad  unum  corpus  humanum  supplicia 
plura,  quam  membra :  We  have  invented  more  torturing  in 
struments  than  there  be  several  members  in  a  man's  body, 
as  Cyprian  well  observes.  To  come  nearer  yet,  our  own 
parents  by  their  offences,  indiscretion  and  intemperance,  are 
our  mortal  enemies.  *  "  The  fathers  have  eaten  sour  grapes, 
and  the  children's  teeth  are  set  on  edge."  They  cause  our 
grief  many  times,  and  put  upon  us  hereditary  diseases,  inevi 
table  infirmities ;  they  torment  us,  and  we  are  ready  to  injure 
our  posterity; 

•  Grid,  de  Trist.  1.  5,  Eleg.  8.          1  Miscent  aconite  noyercw.  *  Lib.  2  Vpbt 

2,  ad  Donatum.       *  Kxech.  xTiii.  2. 


Mem.  1,  eubp  1.]          Diseases  in   General.  181 

i "  mox  dnturi  progeniem  vitiosiorem." 

44  And  yet  with  crimes  to  us  unknown, 
Our  sons  shall  mark  the  coming  age  their  own.'* 

and  the  latter  end  of  the  world,  as  2Paul  foretold,  is  still 
like  to  be  the  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  ourselves, 
abusing  those  good  gifts  which  God  hath  bestowed  upon  us, 
health,  wealth,  strength,  wit,  learning,  art,  memory  to  our 
own  destruction,  *  Perditio  tua  ex  te.  As  4  Judas  Maccabeus 
killed  Apollonius  with  his  own  weapons,  we  arm  ourselves 
to  our  own  overthrows ;  and  use  reason,  art,  judgment,  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  employed,  cannot  but  much  avail  us  ; 
but  if  otherwise  perverted,  they  ruin  and  confound  us  ;  and 
so  by  reason  of  our  indiscretion  and  weakness  they  commonly 
do,  we  have  too  many  instances.  This  St.  Austin  acknowl- 
edgeth  of  himself  in  his  humble  confessions,  "  promptness  of 
wit,  memory,  eloquence,  they  were  God's  good  gifts,  but  he 
did  not  use  them  to  his  glory."  If  you  will  particularly 
know  how,  and  by  what  means,  consult  physicians,  and  they 
will  tell  you,  that  it  is  in  offending  in  some  of  those  six  non- 
natural  things,  of  which  I  shall  6  dilate  more  at  large ;  they 
are  the  causes  of  our  infirmities,  our  surfeiting,  and  drunken 
ness,  our  immoderate  insatiable  lust,  and  prodigious  riot. 
Plures  crapula,  quam  gladiiis,  is  a  true  saying,  the  board 
consumes  more  than  the  sword.  Our  intemperance  it  is, 
that  pulls  so  many  several  incurable  diseases  upon  our  heads, 
that  hastens  "old  age,  perverts  our  temperature,  and  brings 
upon  us  sudden  death.  And  last  of  all,  that  which  crucifies 

i  Hor.  1.  3,  Od.  6.  »2Tim.  111.  2.    *  Part.  1,  Sec.  2,  Memb.  2.       «Nequltl» 

1  Ezcc.   xviii.  31.     Thy  destruction    is    est  quse   te   non  sinet  ease  senem. 
from  thyself.  « 21   Mace.  iii.   12. 


182  Def.t  Aum.,  Div.  of  Diseases.      [Part.  I.  sec.  1 

us  most,  is  our  own  folly,  madness,  (quos  Jupiter  perdit,  cfo- 
mental ;  by  subtraction  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  metamorphose 
ourselves  and  degenerate  into  beasts.  All  which  that  prince 
of  *  poets  observed  of  Agamemnon,  that  when  he  was  well 
pleased,  and  could  moderate  his  passion,  he  was — os  oculo$- 
que  Jovi  par  ;  like  Jupiter  in  feature,  Mars  in  valour,  Pallaa 
in  wisdom,  another  god ;  but  when  he  became  angiy,  he  was 
a  lion,  a  tiger,  a  dog,  &c.,  there  appeared  no  sign  or  likeness 
of  Jupiter  in  him  ;  so  we,  as  long  as  we  are  ruled  by  reason, 
correct  our  inordinate  appetite,  and  conform  ourselves  to 
God's  word,  are  as  so  many  saints ;  but  if  we  give  reins  to 
lust,  anger,  ambition,  pride,  and  follow  our  own  ways,  we 
degenerate  into  beasts,  transform  ourselves,  overthrow  our 
constitutions,  a  provoke  God  to  anger,  and  heap  upon  us  this 
of  melancholy,  and  all  kinds  of  incurable  diseases,  as  a  just 
and  deserved  punishment  of  our  sins. 

SUBSECT.  II. — The  Definition,  Number,  Division  of  Disease*. 

WHAT  a  disease  is,  almost  eveiy  physician  defines.  *  Fer- 
nelius  calleth  it  an  "  Affection  of  the  body  contrary  to  na 
ture."  4  Fuschius  and  Crato,  "  an  hinderance,  hurt,  or  alter 
ation  of  any  action  of  the  body,  or  part  of  it"  6  Tholosanus, 
"  a  dissolution  of  that  league  which  is  between  body  and  soul, 
and  a  perturbation  of  it ;  as  health  the  perfection,  and  makes 
to  the  preservation  of  it."  6  Labeo  in  Agellius,  "  an  ill  habit 
of  the  body,  opposite  to  nature,  hindering  the  use  of  it* 
Others  otherwise,  all  to  this  effect 

Number  of  Diseases.]  How  many  diseases  there  are,  is  a 
question  not  yet  determined ;  7  Pliny  reckons  up  three  hun« 

1  Homer.  Iliad.          »  Intemperantia.  c.    8,    a    quo    primum    vitiatur   actto 

luxus,  ingluvles,  et  infinita  hujuamodi  *  Dissolutio  foederis  in  corpora,  ut  sanitM 

flagitia,  quse  cli vinos   poenog  merentur.  est  consummntio.          •  Lib.   4,   cap.  2. 

Crato.          »  Fern.  Path.l.  1,  c.  1.    Mor-  Morbus  est  habitus  contra  naturam.  qul 

i>u»  est  affectug  contra  naturam  corpori  usum  ejiis,  &c.        "  Cap.  11,  lib  7 
Inwdcns.        <  Fusch.  Instit.  1.  8,  Sect.  1, 


Mem.  1,  sabs.  2.]    Def.,  Num.,  Div.  of  Diseases,  183 

dred  from  the  crown  of  the  head  to  the  sole  of  the  foot ;  else 
where  he  saith,  morborum  infinita  multitudo,  their  number  ig 
infinite.  Howsoever  it  was  in  those  times,  it  boots  not ;  in 
our  days  I  am  sure  the  number  is  much  augmented : 

*  "  maciee,  et  nova  febrium 
Terns  incubat  cohors." 

For  besides  many  epidemical  diseases  unheard  of,  and  alto 
gether  unknown  to  Galen  and  Hippocrates,  as  scorbutum, 
smallpox,  plica,  sweating  sickness,  morbus  Gallicus,  &c.,  we 
have  many  proper  and  peculiar  almost  to  every  part. 

No  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.  Quisque  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  one  hundred  and  five  years  without  any  manner 
of  impediment ;  a  Pollio  Romulus,  that  can  preserve  himself 
**  with  wine  and  oil ; "  a  man  as  fortunate  as  Q.  Metellus, 
of  whom  Valerius  so  much  brags ;  a  man  as  healthy  as 
Otto  Herwardus,  a  senator  of  Augsburg  in  Germany,  whom 
8  Leovitius  the  astrologer  brings  in  for  an  example  and 
instance  of  certainty  in  his  art ;  who  because  he  had  the 
significators  in  his  geniture  fortunate,  and  free  from  the 
hostile  aspects  of  Saturn  and  Mars,  being  a  very  cold  man, 
4 "  could  not  remember  that  ever  he  was  sick."  6  Paracelsus 
may  brag  that  he  could  make  a  man  live  four  hundred  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  man's  life ;  but  it  may  still  by  temperance 
and  physic  be  prolonged.  We  find  in  the  mean  time,  by 


*  Horat.  lib.  1,  ode  3.     "  Emaciation,  *  ExempHs    genitur.   prsefixis  Ephemer. 

and  a  new  cohort  of  fevers  broods  over  cap.  de  inflrmitat.        *  Qui.  quoad  pue- 

the  earth."        !  Cap.  50,  lib  7.     Centum  ritiae  ultimam  memoriam  recordari  potesi 

et  quinque  vixit  armos  sin*  tillo  incom-  non    meminit  se  tegrotum    docubuisse. 

OMdo.       *  Intus  mulso.  foras  oleo.  *  Lib.  de  vita  long* 


184  Diseases  of  the  Head.  [Part.  L  sec.  1 

common   experience,  that  no  man  can  escape,  but  that  of 
1  Hesiod  is  true  : 


"  IIA«77  fjh>  -yap  ydia  KOKUV, 
Novaoi  6'  avdpuirounv  ty'  fiftEpy  W  M  wxrl 


u  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  ;  2  they  will  tell  you  of  acute 
and  chronic,  first  and  secondary,  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)  shall  be 
into  those  of  the  body  and  mind.  For  them  of  the  body,  a 
brief  catalogue  of  which  Fuschius  hath  made,  Institut.  lib.  3, 
sect.  1,  cap.  11,  I  refer  you  to  the  voluminous  tomes  of 
Galen,  Areteus,  Rhasis,  Avicenna,  Alexander,  Paulus  JEtius, 
Gordonerius;  and  those  exact  Neoterics,  Savanarola,  Capi- 
vaccius,  Donatus  Altomarus,  Hercules  de  Saxonia,  Mer- 
curialis,  Victorius  Faventinus,  Wecker,  Piso,  &c.,  that  have 
methodically  and  elaborately  written  of  them  all.  Those  of 
the  mind  and  head  I  will  briefly  handle,  and  apart. 

SUBSECT.  HI.  —  Division  of  the  Diseases  of  the  Head. 

THESE  diseases  of  the  mind,  forasmuch  as  they  have  their 
chief  seat  and  organs  in  the  head,  which  are  commonly  re 
peated  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  accord 
ing  to  that  division  of  *  Heurnius,  (which  he  takes  out  of  Ar- 
culanus,)  are  inward  or  outward  (to  omit  all  others  which 
pertain  to  eyes  and  ears,  nostrils,  gums,  teeth,  mouth,  palate, 
tongue,  wesel,  chops,  face,  &c.)  belonging  properly  to  the 

1  Oper.  et  Dies  *  See  Fernelius  Path.  *  Prsefat.  de  morbis  capita.  In  caplte  at 
lib.  1,  cap.  9,  10.  11,  12.  Fuschius  instit.  variae  habitant  partes,  ita  variae  querala 
L  8,  Met.  1,  c.  7.  Wecker.  Sjrat.  ibi  eyeniunt. 


Mem.  1,  subs.  3.]    Div.  of  the  Diseases  of  the  Head.  185 

brain,  as  baldness,  falling  of  hair,  furfaire,  lice,  &c.  *  Inward 
belonging  to  the  skins  next  to  the  brain,  called  dura  and  pia. 
mater,  as  all  headaches,  &c.,  or  to  the  ventricles,  caules,  kels, 
tunicles,  creeks,  and  parts  of  it,  and  their  passions,  as  caro, 
vertigo,  incubus,  apoplexy,  falling  sickness.  The  diseases  of 
the  nerves,  cramps,  stupor,  convulsion,  tremor,  palsy;  or 
belonging  to  the  excrements  of  the  brain,  catarrhs,  sneezing, 
rheum?,  distillations;  or  else  those  that  pertain  to  the  sub 
stance  of  the  brain  itself,  in  which  are  conceived  frenzy, 
lethargy,  melancholy,  madness,  weak  memory,  sopor,  or  Coma 
Vigilia  et  vigil  Coma.  Out  of  these  again  I  will  single  such 
as  properly  belong  to  the  fantasy,  or  imagination,  or  reason 
itself,  which  2  Laurentius  calls  the  diseases  of  the  mind  ;  and 
Hildesheim,  morbos  imaginationis,  aut  rationis  l&sce,  (diseases 
of  the  imagination,  or  of  injured  reason,)  which  are  three  or 
four  in  number,  frenzy,  madness,  melancholy,  dotage,  and 
their  kinds  ;  as  hydrophobia,  lycanthropia,  Chorus  Sancti  Viti, 
morbi  dcemoniaci,  (St.  Vitus's  dance,  possession  of  devils,) 
which  I  will  briefly  touch  and  point  at,  insisting  especially  in 
this  of  melancholy,  as  more  eminent  than  the  rest,  and  that 
through  all  his  kinds,  causes,  symptoms,  prognostics,  cures ; 
as  Lonicerus  hath  done  de  apoplexid,  and  many  other  of  such 
particular  diseases.  Not  that  I  find  fault  with  those  which 
have  written  of  this  subject  before,  as  Jason  Pratensis,  Lau 
rentius,  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  enlarge.  To  conclude  with  *  Scribanius,  "  that  which 
they  had  neglected,  or  profunctorily  handled,  we  may  more 
thoroughly  examine ;  that  which  is  obscurely  delivered  iu 
them,  may  be  perspicuously  dilated  and  amplified  by  us  ; " 
and  so  made  more  familiar  and  easy  for  every  man's  capacity, 
and  the  common  good,  which  is  the  chief  end  of  my  dis« 
course. 

1  Of  which  read  Heurnius,  Montaltus,  minus  recte  fortasse  dixerint,  DOS  examl 

Hildesheim,  Quereetan,  Jason  Pratensis,  nare,  melius  dijudieare,  corrigere  stude 

&c.        8  Cap.  2,  de  melatichol.        a  cap.  amus. 
2,   de   Phisiologia   sagarnm;   Quod  alii 


186  Diseases  of  the  Mind.  [Part.  L  see  1 

SUBSECT.  IV. — Dotage,  Frenzy,  Madness,  Hydrophobia,  Ly 
canthropia,  Chorus  sancti  Viti,  Extasis. 

Delirium,  Dotage."]  DOTAGE,  fatuity,  or  folly,  is  a  com 
mon  name  to  all  the  following  species,  as  some  will  have  it. 
1  Laurentius  and  a  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-much  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  others ;  or  else  it 
is  acquisite,  an  appendix  or  symptom  of  some  other  disease, 
which  comes  or  goes  ;  or  if  it  continue,  a  sign  of  melancholy 
itself. 

Frenzy."]  Phrenitis,  which  the  Greeks  derive  from  the 
word  <t>mv  is  a  disease  of  the  mind,  with  a  continual  madness 
or  dotage,  which  hath  an  acute  fever  annexed,  or  else  an  in 
flammation  of  the  brain,  or  the  membranes  or  kels  of  it,  with 
an  acute  fever,  which  causeth  madness  and  dotage.  It  differs 
from  melancholy  and  madness,  because  their  dotage  is  with 
out  an  ague ;  this  continual,  with  waking,  or  memory  de 
cayed,  &c.  Melancholy  is  most  part  silent,  this  clamorous ; 
and  many  such  like  differences  are  assigned  by  physicians. 

Madness.']  Madness,  frenzy,  and  melancholy  are  con 
founded  by  Celsus  and  many  writers ;  others  leave  out 
frenzy,  and  make  madness  and  melancholy  but  one  disease, 
which  'Jason  Pratensis  especially  labours,  and  that  they 
differ  only  secundum  majus  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  4  Gor- 
donius,  as  the  humour  is  intended  or  remitted.  Of  the  same 
mind  is  6Areteus,  Alexander  Tertullianus,  Guianerius,  Savan 

'  Cap.  4,  dfl   mol.        »  Art.  Med.   7.  tndine  et  modo  nolum   distent,  et  altet 

1  Pleriqne    medici    uno    complezu    per-  gradus  ad  alterum  existiit.    Jason  Pra- 

etrlnKunt    hos  duos    niorbos.    quod  ex  tens.         *  Lib.   Med.         *  Pars  mature 

e^dem  causa  oriantur,  quodque  magnl-  mihi  yidetur. 


Mem.  1,  snbs.  4.]          Diseases  of  the  Mind.  187 

arola.  Heurnius  ;  and  Galen  himself  writes  promiscuously  of 
them  both  by  reason  of  their  affinity ;  but  most  of  our  ne- 
oterics  do  handle  them  apart,  whom  I  will  follow  in  this  trea 
tise.  Madness  is  therefore  defined  to  be  a  vehement  dotage ; 
or  raving  without  a  fever,  far  more  violent  than  melancholy, 
full  of  anger  and  clamour,  horrible  looks,  actions,  gestures, 
troubling  the  patients  with  far  greater  vehemency  both  of 
body  and  mind,  without  all  fear  and  sorrow,  with  such  impet 
uous  force  and  boldness,  that  sometimes  three  or  four  men 
cannot  hold  them.  Differing  only  in  this  from  frenzy,  that 
it  is  without  a  fever,  and  their  memory  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  confirmed  impotency,  to  sepa 
rate  it  from  such  as  accidentally  come  and  go  again,  as  by 
taking  henbane,  nightshade,  wine,"  &c.  Of  this  fury  there 
be  divers  kinds  ; a  ecstasy,  which  is  familiar  with  some  per 
sons,  as  Cardan  saith  of  himself,  he  could  be  in  one  when  he 
list ;  in  which  the  Indian  priests  deliver  their  oracles,  and  the 
witches  in  Lapland,  as  Olaus  Magnus  writeth,  1.  3,  cap.  18. 
Extasi  omnia  preedicere,  answer  all  questions  in  an  extasis 
you  will  ask  ;  what  your  friends  do,  where  they  are,  how 
they  fare,  &c.  The  other  species  of  this  fury  are  enthusi 
asms,  revelations,  and  visions,  so  often  mentioned  by  Gregory 
and  Beda  in  their  works;  obsession  or  posession  of  devils, 
sibylline  prophets,  and  poetical  furies  ;  such  as  come  by  eat 
ing  noxious  herbs,  tarantulas'  stinging,  &c.,  which  some  reduce 
to  this.  The  most  known  are  these,  lycanthropia,  hydropho 
bia,  chorus  sancti  viti. 

Lycanthropia.^  Lycanthropia,  which  Avicenna  calls  Cu- 
cubuth,  others  Lupinam  insaniam,  or  Wolf-madness,  when 
men  run  howling  about  graves  and  fields  in  the  night,  and 

1  Insjinns  est,  qul  rotate  debita.  et  tern-  erandi  circa  intellectum.  lib  2,  de  Intel- 

•ore  debito  per  sc,  non  moment-men m  et  lectione.       -  Of  which  read  Foeliz  Plate* 

fugacem,  ut  Tin],  solani.  Hyosoyami,  sed  cap.  3,  de  mentis  alienatione. 
ronfirmatam  habet  impotentiaui  bene  op- 


188  Diseases  of  the  Mind.  [Part.  I.  sec.  1. 

will  not  be  persuaded  but  that  they  are  wolves,  or  some  sucfc 
beasts.  *  ^Etius  and  2  Paulus  call  it  a  kind  of  melancholy  ; 
but  I  should  rather  refer  it  to  madness,  as  most  do.  Some 
make  a  doubt  of  it  whether  there  be  any  such  disease. 
8  Donat  ab  Altomari  saith,  that  he  saw  two  of  them  in  his 
time  ;  4  Wierus  tells  a  story  of  such  a  one  at  Padua,  1541, 
that  would  not  believe  to  the  contrary,  but  that  he  was  a 
wolf.  He  hath  another  instance  of  a  Spaniard,  who  thought 
himself  a  bear ;  6  Forrestus  confirms  as  much  by  many  ex 
amples  ;  one  amongst  the  rest  of  which  he  was  an  eye-wit 
ness,  at  Alcmaer  in  Holland,  a  poor  husbandman  that  still 
hunted  about  graves,  and  kept  in  churchyards,  of  a  pale, 
black,  ugly,  and  fearful  look.  Such  belike,  or  little  better, 
were  King  Praetus's  '  daughters,  that  thought  themselves  kine. 
And  Nebuchadnezzar  in  Daniel,  as  some  interpreters  hold, 
was  only  troubled  with  this  kind  of  madness.  This  disease 
perhaps  gave  occasion  to  that  bold  assertion  of  7  Pliny,  "  some 
men  were  turned  into  wolves  in  his  time,  and  from  wolves  to 
men  again  ; "  and  to  that  fable  of  Pausania?,  of  a  man  that 
was  ten  years  a  wolf,  and  afterwards  turned  to  his  former 
shape  ;  to  8  Ovid's  tale  of  Lycaon,  &c.  He  that  is  desirous 
to  hear  of  this  disease,  or  more  examples,  let  him  read  Austin 
in  his  eighteenth  book  de  Givitate  Dei,  cap.  5.  Mizaldus,  cent 
5,  77.  Sckenkiu$i  lib.  1.  Hildesheim,  spicel.  2,  de  Mania. 
Forrestiis,  lib.  10,  de  morbis  cerebri.  Olaus  Magnus,  Vin~ 
centius's  Bettavicensis,  spec.  met.  lib.  31,  c.  122.  Pieri us,  Bo- 
dine,  Zuinger,  Zeilger,  Peucer,  Wierus,  Spranger,  &c.  This 
malady,  saith  Avicenna,  troubleth  men  most  in  February, 
and  is  nowadays  frequent  in  Bohemia  and  Hungary,  accord 
ing  to  *  Heurnius.  Schernitzius  will  have  it  common  in  Li 
vonia,  They  lie  hid  most  part  all  day,  and  go  abroad  in  the 
night,  barking,  howling,  at  graves  and  deserts  5"  *"they 
Jiave  usually  hollow  eyes,  scabbed  legs  and  thighs,  very  dry 

1  Lib.  6.  cap.  11.        »  Lib.  8,  cap.  16.  22,  homines  interdum  lupos  fieri ;  et  con« 

»  Cap.  9,  Art.  med.        «  De  pnestig.  Dae-  tra.        •  Met.  lib.  1.       •  Cap.  de  Man 

tnonum.  1.  3.  cap.  21.         »  Obserrat.  lib.  •  Ulcerata  crnra,  ritis  tpsla  adest  inimodi 

10,  de  morbis  cerebri,  cap.  15.        «  Uip-  ca.  pallidi,  lingua  slcca. 
pocrates,  lib.  de  inaitnia.        r  Lib.  8,  cap. 


Mem.  1,  subs.  4.]          Diseases  of  the  Mind.  189 

and  pale,"  l  saith  Altomarus  ;  he  gives  a  reason  there  of  all 
the  symptoms,  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  scratch 
ing,  saith  a  Aurelianus ;  touching,  or  smelling  alone  sometimes 
as  "  Sckenkius  proves,  and  is  incident  to  many  other  creat 
ures  as  well  as  men ;  so  called  because  the  parties  affected 
cannot  endure  the  sight  of  water,  or  any  liquor,  supposing 
still  they  see  a  mad  dog  in  it.  And  which  is  more  wonder 
ful  ;  though  they  be  very  dry,  (as  in  this  malady  they  are,) 
they  will  rather  die  than  drink ;  4  Caelius  Aurelianus,  an  an 
cient  writer,  makes  a  doubt  whether  this  Hydrophobia  be  a 
passion  of  the  body  or  the  mind.  The  part  affected  is  the 
brain  ;  the  cause,  poison  that  comes  from  the  mad  dog,  which 
is  so  hot  and  dry,  that  it  consumes  all  the  moisture  in  the 
body.  6  Hildesheim  relates  of  some  that  died  so  mad ;  and 
being  cut  up,  had  no  water,  scarce  blood,  or  any  moisture  left 
hi  them.  To  such  as  are  so  affected,  the  fear  of  water  begins 
at  fourteen  days  after  they  are  bitten,  to  some  again  not  till 
forty  or  sixty  days  after;  commonly,  saith  Heurnius,  they 
begin  to  rave,  fly  water  and  glasses,  to  look  red,  and  swell  in 
the  face,  about  twenty  days  after  (if  some  remedy  be  not 
taken  in  the  mean  time)  to  lie  awake,  to  be  pensive,  sad,  to 
see  strange  visions,  to  bark  and  howl,  to  fall  into  a  swoon,  and 
oftentimes  fits  of  the  falling  sickness.  *  Some  say,  little  things 
like  whelps  will  be  seen  in  their  urine.  If  any  of  these  signs 
appear,  they  are  past  recovery.  Many  times  these  symptoms 
will  not  appear  till  six  or  seven  months  after,  saith  7  Codron- 
chus  ;  and  sometimes  not  till  seven  or  eight  years,  as  Gnia- 
nerius  ;  twelve  as  Albertus ;  six  or  eight  months  after,  as 
Galen  holds.  Baldus,  the  great  lawyer,  died  of  it ;  an  Au 
gustine  friar,  and  a  woman  in  Delft,  that  were  8  Forrestus' 
patients,  were  miserably  consumed  with  it.  The  common 
cure  in  the  country  (for  such  at  least  as  dwell  near  the  sea« 

l  Cap.  9,  art.  Hydrophobia.  »  Lib.  8,  •  Sckenkius,  7  lib.  de  Venenis.  1  Lib 
eap.  9.  *  Lib.  7,  de  Venenis.  <  Lib.  de  Hydrophobia.  SQbserrat.  Iff).  10, 25 
8,  cap.  18,  de  morbis  acutis.  *  Spicel.  2 


1  DO  Diseases  of  the  Mind.  [Part.  I.  sec.  1 

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  ap 
proved  physicians ;  they  that  will  read  of  them,  may  consult 
with  Dioscorides,  lib.  6,  c.  37,  Heurnius,  Hildesheim,  Capi- 
vaccius,  Forrestus,  Sckenkius,  and  before  all  others  Codron- 
chus  an  Italian,  who  hath  lately  written  two  exquisite  books 
on  the  subject. 

Chorus  sancti  Viti,  or  S.  Vitus*  dance ;  the  lascivious 
dance,  l  Paracelsus  calls  it,  because  they  that  are  taken  from 
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  awhile, 
they  were  2  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)  will  dance  so  long  that  they  can  stir 
neither  hand  nor  foot,  but  seem  to  be  quite  dead.  One 
in  red  clothes  they  cannot  abide.  Music  above  all  things 
they  love,  and  therefore  magistrates  in  Germany  will  hire 
musicians  to  play  to  them,  and  some  lusty,  sturdy  com 
panions  to  dance  with  them.  This  disease  hath  been 
very  common  in  Germany,  as  appears  by  those  relations  of 
8  Sckenkius,  and  Paracelsus  in  his  book  of  madness,  who 
brags  how  many  several  persons  he  hath  cured  of  it  Felix 
Platerus  de  mentis  alienat.  cap.  3,  reports  of  a  woman  in 
Basil  whom  he  saw,  that  danced  a  whole  month  together. 
The  Arabians  call  it  a  kind  of  palsy.  Bodine,  in  his  fifth 
book  de  Repub.  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 
Platerus  and  others  would  have  to  be  preternatural ;  stupend 

1  Lasciram  Choream.  To.  4,  de  morbia    plurimum  rcm  ipsam  comprobante 
amen ti urn.    Tract.  1.          *  Erentu  at    *  Lib.  1,  cap.  de  Mania 


Mem.  1,  SUDS.  6.J      Melancholy  in  Disposition.  191 

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  and  con.)  I  volun 
tarily  omit. 

1  Fuschius,  institut,  lib.  3,  sec.  1,  cap.  11,  Felix  Plater, 
a  Laurentius,  add  to  these  another  fury  that  proceeds  from 
love,  and  another  from  study,  another  divine  or  religious 
fury  ;  but  these  more  properly  belong  to  melancholy ;  of  all 
which  I  will  speak  *  apart,  intending  to  write  a  whole  book 
of  them. 

SUBSECT.   V. — Melancholy   in    Disposition,   improperly  so 
called,  Equivocations. 

MELANCHOLY,  the  subject  of  our  present  discourse,  is 
either  in  disposition  or  habit.  In  disposition,  is  that  tran 
sitory  melancholy  which  goes  and  comes  upon  every  small 
occasion  of  sorrow,  need,  sickness,  trouble,  fear,  grief,  pas 
sion,  or  perturbation  of  the  mind,  any  manner  of  care,  dis 
content,  or  thought,  which  causeth  anguish,  dulness,  heaviness 
and  vexation  of  spirit,  any  ways  opposite  to  pleasure,  mirth, 
joy,  delight,  causing  frowardness  in  us,  or  a  dislike.  In 
which  equivocal  and  improper  sense,  we  call  him  melancholy 
that  is  dull,  sad,  sour,  lumpish,  ill-disposed,  solitary,  any  way 
moved,  or  displeased.  And  from  these  melancholy  dispo 
sitions,  8  no  man  living  is  free,  no  stoic,  none  so  wise,  none  so 
happy,  none  so  patient,  so  generous,  so  godly,  so  divine,  that 
can  vindicate  himself;  so  well  composed,  but  more  or  less, 
some  time  or  other  he  feels  the  smart  of  it  Melancholy  in 
this  sense  is  the  character  of  mortality,  f  "  Man  that  is  born 
of  a  woman,  is  of  short  continuance,  and  full  of  trouble." 
Zeno,  Cato,  Socrates  himself,  whom  4  JElian  so  highly  com- 

1  Cap.  3,  de  mentis  alienat.        *  Cap.  in  Psal.  yiii.  5.        t  Job.  i.  14.        <  Omni 

4.  de  mel.        *  PART.   3.        *  De  quo  tempore  Socratem   ««dem  vultu  videri, 

homine  seeuritas,  de  quo  certum  gaudi-  sive  domum  rediret  siye  domo  egredero 

um?  quocunque  se  conrertit,  in  terrenis  tur. 
rebus  amuritueliuem  animiiuveniet.  Aug 


192  Melancholy  in  Disposition.         [Part.  I.  sec.  1. 

mends  for  a  moderate  temper,  that  "  nothing  could  disturb 
him,  but  going  out,  and  coming  in,  still  Socrates  kept  the 
same  serenity  of  countenance,  what  misery  soever  befell  him," 
(if  we  may  believe  Plato  his  disciple,)  was  much  tormented 
with  it.  Q.  Metellus,  in  whom  l  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,  honour 
able,  a  senator,  a  consul,  happy  in  his  wife,  happy  in  his 
children,"  &c.,  yet  this  man  was  not  void  of  melancholy,  he 
had  his  share  of  sorrow.  2  Polycrates  Samius,  that  flung  his 
ring  into  the  sea,  because  he  would  participate  of  discontent 
with  others,  and  had  it  miraculously  restored  to  him  again 
shortly  after,  by  a  fish  taken  as  he  angled,  was  not  free  from 
melancholy  dispositions.  No  man  can  cure  himself;  the  very 
gods  had  bitter  pangs,  and  frequent  passions,  as  their  own 
*  poets  put  upon  them.  In  general,  4  "  as  the  heaven,  so  is 
our  life,  sometimes  fair,  sometimes  overcast,  tempestuous,  and 
serene  ;  as  in  a  rose,  flowers  and  prickles  ;  in  the  year  itself, 
a  temperate  summer  sometimes,  a  hard  winter,  a  drought, 
and  then  again  pleasant  showers;  so  is  our  life  intermixed 
with  joys,  hopes,  fears,  sorrows,  calumnies  ; "  Invicem  cedunl 
dolor  et  voluptas,  there  is  a  succession  of  pleasure  and  pain. 

8  "  medio  de  fonte  leporum, 
Surgit  amari  aliquid  in  ipsis  floribus  angat." 

u  Even  in  the  midst  of  laughing  there  is  sorrow,"  (as  6  Solo 
mon  holds ;)  even  in  the  midst  of  all  our  feasting  and  jollity, 
as, 'Austin  infers  in  his  Com.  on  the  41st  Psalm,  there  is 
grief  and  discontent.  Inter  delicias  semper  aliquid  scevi  nos 

1  Lib.  7.  cap.  1.    Natus  in  florenttanima  obscuratur.     In  rosarfo  florea  splnis  In- 

totlus  orbis  civitate,  nobillsslmls  parenti-  termixti.    Vita  simills  aeri.  ndum  modi, 

bu«.  corporls  vires  habuit  et  mrissimas  gudum.  tompest-is.   oerenitas:   ita  vices 

aniini  dotes,  uxorem  consplcuam,  pudi-  rerum  sunt.  praemia  gaudiifi.  et  seqnaces 

earn,  felices  liberog,  consulate  decns.  so-  curie.       *  Lucretius.  1.4, 1124.       "Prov. 

quentes    trhimphos,    &c.  *  JElian.  xiv.  13.    Extremum  gaudii  luctus  occu- 

»  Homer.  Iliad.        *  LipninK,  cent.  8,  ep.  pat.          '  Natalitia  inquit  celebrantur, 

46,  ut  cirlnm.  sir  nos  homines  gumus :  nuptiae  hie  sunt;  at  ibi  quid  celebratur 

Ulud  ex  IntorvaUo  nubihiis  obducitur  et  ouod  non  dolet,  quod  non  transit? 


Mem.  I,  subs.  5.]      Melancholy  in  Disposition.  198 


t^  for  a  pint  of  honey  thou  shalt  here  likely  find  a 
gallon  of  gall,  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  it  is  most  absurd  and 
ridiculous  for  any  mortal  man  to  look  for  a  perpetual  tenure 
of  happiness  in  this  life.  Nothing  so  prosperous  and  pleas 
ant,  but  it  hath  *  some  bitterness  in  it,  some  complaining,  some 
grudging;  it  is  all  yfom>7rwcpov,  a  mixed  passion,  and  like  a 
checker  table,  black  and  white  men,  families,  cities,  have 
their  falls  and  wanes  ;  now  trines,  sextiles,  then  quartiles  and 
oppositions.  We  are  not  here  as  those  angels,  celestial  pow 
ers  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,  interrupted,  tossed  and 
tumbled  up  and  down,  carried  about  with  every  small  blast, 
often  molested  and  disquieted  upon  each  slender  occasion, 
8  uncertain,  brittle,  and  so  is  all  that  we  trust  unto.  *  "  And 
he  that  knows  not  this  is  not  armed  to  endure  it,  is  not  fit  to 
live  in  this  world  (as  one  condoles  our  time),  he  knows  not 
the  condition  of  it,  where,  with  a  reciprocality,  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  magnanimity,  to  *  oppose  thyself  unto  it,  to  suffer  afflic 
tion  as  a  good  soldier  of  Christ  ;  as  6  Paul  adviseth  constantly 
to  bear  it.  But  forasmuch  as  so  few  can  embrace  this  good 
counsel  of  his,  or  use  it  aright,  but  rather  as  so  many  brute 
beasts  give  a  way  to  their  passion,  voluntary  subject  and  pre 
cipitate  themselves  into  a  labyrinth  of  cares,  woes,  miseries, 

1  Apnleins  4,  florid.    Nihil   qnicqnid  flafrn  fortunes  quos  in  sublime  ertule- 

horniui  tarn  prosperum  divinitus  datum,  runt,   improvise   recursu    destitutes  iu 

quin  el  admixtum  sit  aliquid  difflcultatis,  profundo  miseriarum  valle  miserabiliter 

ut  etiatn  amplissima  quaque  Isetitft,  sub-  immergunt.    Valerius,  lib.  6,  cap.    11. 

eit  quaepiam  vel  parva  querimonia,  con-  8  Huic  seculo  parum  aptus  eg,  aut  potius 

jugatione     quudam     mellis     »t     fellis.  omnium  nostrorum  conditionem  iguoras, 

8  Caduca  nimirum  et  fragilia,  et  puerili-  quibus  reciproco  quodam  nexu,  &c.  Lor- 

bus  consentanea  crepundi  s,  sunt   ista  chanus  Qollobelgicug,  lib.  3,  ad  annum 

quse  Tires  et  opes  humanae  vocantur,  af-  1598.        *  Horsum    omnia  studia  dirigl 

fluunt  subito,  repents  delabuntur,  nullo  debent,  ut    humana    fortiter    feramua 

in  loco,  nulla  in  persona,  stabilibus  nixa  &  2  Tim  11.  8. 
r&dicibus    consistunt,    sed    incertissimo 

VOL.  I.  13 


194  Melancholy  in  Disposition.         [Part.  I.  sec.  1. 

and  suffer  their  souls  to  be  overcome  by  them,  cannot  arm 
themselves  with  that  patience  as  they  ought  to  do,  it  falleth 
out  oftentimes  that  these  dispositions  become  habits,  and 
u  many  affects  contemned  (as  *  Seneca  notes)  make  a  disease. 
Even  as  one  distillation,  not  yet  grown  to  custom,  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  insufferable 
torment  to  another ;  and  which  one  by  his  singular  modera 
tion,  and  well-composed  carriage  can  happily  overcome,  a 
second  is  no  whit  able  to  sustain,  but  upon  every  small  occa 
sion  of  misconceived  abuse,  injury,  grief,  disgrace,  loss,  cross, 
humour,  &c.,  (if  solitary,  or  idle,)  yields  so  far  to  passion,  that 
his  complexion  is  altered,  his  digestion  hindered,  his  sleep 
gone,  his  spirits  obscured,  and  his  heart  heavy,  his  hypochon- 
dries  misaffected ;  wind,  crudity,  on  a  sudden  overtake  him, 
and  he  himself  overcome  with  melancholy.  As  it  is  with  a 
man  imprisoned  for  debt,  if  once  in  the  jail,  every  creditor 
will  bring  his  action  against  him,  and  there  likely  hold  him. 
If  any  discontent  seize  upon  a  patient,  in  an  instant  all  other 
perturbations  (for — qua  data  porta  ruunt)  will  set  upon  him, 
and  then  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  itself.  So  that  as  the  philosophers 
make  2  eight  degrees  of  heat  and  cold,  we  may  make  eighty- 
eight  of  melancholy,  as  the  parts  affected  are  diversely  seized 
with  it,  or  have  been  plunged  more  or  less  into  this  infernal 
gulf,  or  waded  deeper  into  it.  But  all  these  melancholy  fits, 
howsoever  pleasing  at  first,  or  displeasing,  violent  and  tyran 
nizing  over  those  whom  they  seize  on  for  the  time ;  yet  these 
fits  I  say,  or  men  affected,  are  but  improperly  so  called,  be- 

1  Eplst.  96,  Ub.  10,  afTectus  freqnenteg  turaim  fecit,  awidua  et  violenta  phthlsim 
eontemptique  morbum  faciunt.  Distil-  *  Calidum  ad  octo  •  Mgidum  ad  ocfo 
latio  una  nee  adhuc  in  morem  adaucta,  Una  hirundo  non  fitcit  sestatem 


Mem.  2,  subs.  1.]        Digression  of  Anatomy.  195 

cause  they  continue  not,  but  come  and  go,  as  by  some  objects 
they  are  moved.  This  melancholy  of  which  we  are  to  treat, 
is  a  habit,  morbus  sonticus,  or  chronieus,  a  chronic  or  contin- 
uate  disease,  a  settled  humour,  as  1  Aurelianus  and  2  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.    MEMB.  H. 

SUBSECT.  I. — Digression  of  Anatomy. 

BEFORE  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  the  anatomy  of  the  body 
and  faculties  of  the  soul,  for  the  better  understanding  of  that 
which  is  to  follow ;  because  many  hard  words  will  often 
occur,  as  myrache,  hypochondries,  emrods,  &c.,  imagination, 
reason,  humours,  spirits,  vital,  natural,  animal,  nerves,  veins, 
arteries,  chylus,  pituita;  which  by  the  vulgar  will  not  so 
easily  be  perceived,  what  they  are,  how  cited,  and  to  what 
end  they  serve.  And  besides,  it  may  peradventure  give 
occasion  to  some  men  to  examine  more  accurately,  search 
further  into  this  most  excellent  subject,  and  thereupon  with 
that  royal  *  prophet  to  praise  God,  ("  for  a  man  is  fearfully 
and  wonderfully  made,  and  curiously  wrought,")  that  have 
time  and  leisure  enough,  and  are  sufficiently  informed  in  all 
other  worldly  businesses,  as  to  make  a  good  bargain,  buy  and 
sell,  to  keep  and  make  choice  of  a  fair  hawk,  hound,  horse, 
&c.  But  for  such  matters  as  concern  the  knowledge  of  them 
selves,  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. 

1  Lib.  1,  o.  6.       *  Fu9chius,  1.  8,  see.  1,  cap.  7.    HUdesheim,  fol.  ISO.        •  Pwl 
cndx.ll 


196  Division  of  the  Body.  [Part.  I.  sec.  1 

And  what  can  be  more  ignominious  and  filthy  (as  *  Melanc- 
thon  well  inveighs)  "  than  for  a  man  not  to  know  the  struc 
ture  and  composition  of  his  own  body,  especially  since  the 
knowledge  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  those  elaborate  works  of 
2  Galen,  Bauhines,  Plater,  Vesalius,  Falopius,  Laurentius, 
Remelinus,  &c.,  which  have  written  copiously  in  Latin ;  or 
that  which  some  of  our  industrious  countrymen  have  done  in 
our  mother  tongue,  not  long  since,  as  that  translation  of  *  Co 
lumbus  and  4  Microcosmographia,  in  thirteen  books,  I  have 
made  this  brief  digression.  Also  because  6  Wecker,  *  Melanc- 
thon,  7  Fernelius,  8  Fuschius,  and  those  tedious  Tracts  de 
Animd  (which  have  more  compendiously  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  epi 
tome  suffice. 

SUBSECT.  II. — Division  of  the  Body,  Humours,  Spirits. 

OF  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  supplied  by  nourishment, 
which  some  call  cambium,  and  make  those  secondary  hu 
mours  of  ros  and  gluten  to  maintain  it ;  or  acquisite,  to  main 
tain  these  first  four  primary  humours,  coming  and  proceed 
ing  from  the  first  concoction  in  the  liver,  by  which  means 
chylus  is  excluded.  Some  divide  them  into  profitable  and 
excrementitious.  But  10  Crato  out  of  Hippocrates  will  have 

1  De  anlraa.     Tnrpe  enim  eat  homini  *  De  Him  part.  *  History  of  man. 

Ignorare  sul  corporis  (ut  ita  dlcam)  aedl-  *  D.   Crooke.         *  In  By n taxi.         •  De 

ncitim,pr8esertlm  cum  adyaletudinem  et  Anima.        T  Instlt.  lib.  1.        8  Phyriol. 

mores  h«c  eognitio  plurimum  conducat.  1. 1,  2.        •  Anat.  1.  1,  o.  18.  IU  ID 


Mem.  2,  subs.  2.]         Division  of  the  Body.  197 

all  four  to  be  juice,  and  not  excrements,  without  which  no 
living  creature  can  be  sustained  ;  which  four,  though  they  b« 
comprehended  in  the  mass  of  blood,  yet  they  have  their 
several  affections,  by  which  they  are  distinguished  from  one 
another,  and  from  those  adventitious,  peccant,  or  l  diseased 
humours,  as  Melancthon  calls  them. 

Blood.~\  Blood  is  a  hot,  sweet,  temperate,  red  humour,  pre 
pared  in  the  meseraic  veins,  and  made  of  the  most  temperate 
parts  of  the  chylus  in  the  liver,  whose  office  is  to  nourish  the 
whole  body,  to  give  it  strength  and  colour,  being  dispersed 
by  the  veins  through  every  part  of  it.  And  from  it  spirits 
are  first  begotten  in  the  heart,  which  afterwards  by  the  arte 
ries  are  communicated  to  the  other  parts. 

Pituita,  or  phlegm,  is  a  cold  and  moist  humour,  begotten 
of  the  colder  part  of  the  chylus  (or  white  juice  coming  out 
of  the  meat  digested  in  the  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,  begotten  of  the  hotter  parts 
of  the  chylus,  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 
sour,  begotten  of  the  more  feculent  part  of  nourishment,  and 
purged  from  the  spleen,  is  a  bridle  to  the  other  two  hot 
humours,  blood  and  choler,  preserving  them  in  the  blood, 
and  nourishing  the  bones.  These  four  humours  have  some 
analogy  with  the  four  elements,  and  to  the  four  ages  in  man. 

Serum,  Sweat,  Tears."]  To  these  humours  you  may  add 
serum,  which  is  the  matter  of  urine,  and  those  excremen- 
titious  humours  of  the  third  concoction,  sweat  and  tears. 

Spirits.]  Spirit  is  a  most  subtile  vapour,  which  is  ex 
pressed  from  the  blood,  and  the  instrument  of  the  soul,  to 
perform  all  his  actions ;  a  common  tie  or  medium  between 
the  body  and  the  soul,  as  some  will  have  it ;  or  as  a  Paracel- 

Micro,  succos,  sine  quibua  animal  sustentari  non  potest.  1  Morboeoa  humoiee 
*  Spiritalis  anima. 


198  Similar  Parts.  [Part.  L  eec.  1 

BUS,  a  fourth  soul  of  itself.  Melancthon  holds  the  fountain  of 
these  spirits  to  be  the  heart  begotten  there,  and  afterward 
conveyed  to  the  brain,  they  take  another  nature  to  them. 
Of  these  spirits  there  be  three  kinds,  according  to  the  three 
principal  parts,  brain,  heart,  liver;  natural,  vital,  animal. 
The  natural  are  begotten  in  the  liver,  and  thence  dispersed 
through  the  veins,  to  perform  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  the 
spirits  cease,  then  life  ceaseth,  as  in  a  syncope  or  swooning. 
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  their 
more  solid  substance,  are  either  homogeneal  or  heterogeneal, 
similar  or  dissimilar;  so  Aristotle  divides  them,  lib.  1,  cap. 
1,  de  Hist.  Animal. ;  Laurentitis,  cap.  20,  lib.  1.  Similar, 
or  homogeneal,  are  such  as,  if  they  be  divided,  are  still 
severed  into  parts  of  the  same  nature,  as  water  into  water. 
Of  these  some  be  spermatical,  some  fleshy  or  carnal.  *  Sper- 
matical  are  such  as  are  immediately  begotten  of  the  seed, 
which  are  bones,  gristles,  ligaments,  membranes,  nerves, 
arteries,  veins,  skins,  fibres  or  strings,  fat. 

Bones.~\  The  bones  are  dry  and  hard,  begotten  of  the 
thickest  of  the  seed,  to  strengthen  and  sustain  other  parts ; 
some  say  there  be  304,  some  307,  or  313  in  man's  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  they  that  tie  the  bones  together,  and  other 
parts  to  the  bones,  with  their  subserving  tendons;  mem 
branes'  office  is  to  cover  the  rest. 

1  Laureutiua,  cap.  20,  lib.  1.    Anat. 


Mem.  2,  subs.  3.]  Similar  Parts.  199 

Nerves,  or  sinews,  are  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  optic  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  palate;  the  fifth  belong  to  the  ears;  the  sixth 
pair  is  most  ample,  and  runs  almost  over  all  the  bowels ;  the 
seventh  pan*  moves  the  tongue.  The  harder  sinews  serve 
for  the  motion  of  the  inner  parts,  proceeding  from  the  mar 
row  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  Vesalius  the  anatomist  was  wont  to  cut  up  men 
alive.  *  They  arise  in  the  left  side  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  serve  the 
whole  body ;  the  other  goes  to  the  lungs,  to  fetch  air  to  re 
frigerate  the  heart. 

Veins."]  Veins  are  hollow  and  round,  like  pipes,  arising 
from  the  liver,  carrying  blood  and  natural  spirits  ;  they  feed 
all  the  parts.  Of  these  there  be  two  chief,  Vena  porta  and 
Vena  cava,  from  which  the  rest  are  corrivated.  That  Vena 
porta  is  a  vein  coming  from  the  concave  of  the  liver,  and 
receiving  those  meseraical  veins,  by  whom  he  takes  the 
chylus  from  the  stomach  and  guts,  and  conveys  it  to  the 
liver.  The  other  derives  blood  from  the  liver  to  nourish  all 
the  other  dispersed  members.  The  branches  of  that  Vena 
porta  are  the  meseraical  and  haemorrhoides.  The  branches 
of  the  Cava  are  inward  or  outward.  Inward,  seminal  or 
emulgent.  Outward,  in  the  head,  arms,  feet,  &c.,  and  have 
several  names. 

Fibrce,  Fat,  Flesh.]  Fibrae  are  strings,  white  and  solid, 

I  In  these  they  observe  the  beating  of  the  pulso. 


200  Dissimilar  Parts.  [Part.  I.  sec.  1 

dispersed  through  the  whole  member,  and  right,  oblique, 
transverse,  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  1  skin  covers  the 
rest,  and  hath  Cuticulum,  or  a  little  skin  under  it.  Flesh  is 
soft  and  ruddy,  composed  of  the  congealing  of  blood,  &c. 

SUBSECT.  IV. — Dissimilar  Parts. 

DISSIMILAR  parts  are  those  which  we  call  organical,  or 
instrumental,  and  they  be  inward  or  outward.  The  chiefest 
outward  parts  are  situate  forward  or  backward ; — forward, 
the  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,  groin, 
flank,  &c. ;  backward,  the  hinder  part  of  the  head,  back, 
shoulders,  sides,  loins,  hipbones,  os  sacrum,  buttocks,  &c.  Or 
joints,  arms,  hands,  feet,  legs,  thighs,  knees,  &c.  Or  com 
mon  to  both,  which,  because  they  are  obvious  and  well 
known,  I  have  carelessly  repeated,  eaque  prcecipua  et 
grandiora  tantum ;  quod  reliquum  ex  libris  de  animd  qui 
volet,  accipiat. 

Inward  organical  parts,  which  cannot  be  seen,  are  divers 
in  number,  and  have  several  names,  functions,  and  divisions  •. 
but  that  of  a  Laurentius  is  most  notable,  into  noble  or  ignoble 
parts.  Of  the  noble  there  be  three  principal  parts,  to  which 
all  the  rest  belong,  and  whom  they  serve — brain,  heart, 
liver ;  according  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  itself,  which 
by  his  nerves  give  sense  and  motion  to  the  rest,  and  is,  as  it 
were,  a  privy  counsellor  and  chancellor  to  the  heart.  The 
second  region  is  the  chest,  or  middle  belly,  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, 

1  Cnjua  eat  pan  elmularl*  a  ri  cuti-    rta  est  et  perrulgata  partium  diyislo  la 
flea  ut  Interior*  muniat.     Capivac.  Anat.     priucipes  et  ignobiles  partes. 
pag .262.        *  Anat.  lib.  1,  c.  19.     Oleb- 


Mem.  2,  subs.  4.]         Anatomy  of  the  Body.  201 

in  which  the  liver  resides  as  a  Legal  a  latere,  with  the  rest  of 
those  natural  organs,  serving  for  concoction,  nourishment 
expelling  of  excrements.  This  lower  region  is  distinguished 
from  the  upper  by  the  midriff,  or  diaphragma,  and  is  sub 
divided  again  by  l  some  into  three  concavities  or  regions, 
upper,  middle,  and  lower.  The  upper  of  the  hypochondries, 
in  whose  right  side  is  the  liver,  the  left  the  spleen ;  from 
which  is  denominated  hypochondriacal  melancholy.  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  Hypogastrium,  upper  or  lower. 
Epigastrium  they  call  Mirach,  from  whence  comes  Mirachi- 
alis  Melancholia,  sometimes  mentioned  of  them.  Of  these 
several  regions  I  will  treat  in  brief  apart ;  and  first  of  the 
third  region,  in  which  the  natural  organs  are  contained. 

De  Animd. — The  Lower  Region,  Natural  Organs.]  But 
you  that  are  readers  in  the  mean  time,  "  Suppose  you  were 
now  brought  into  some  sacred  temple,  or  majestical  palace 
(as  a  Melancthon  saith),  to  behold  not  the  matter  only,  but 
the  singular  art,  workmanship,  and  counsel  of  this  our  great 
Creator.  And  it  is  a  pleasant  and  profitable  speculation,  if  it 
be  considered  aright."  The  parts  of  this  region,  which  pre 
sent  themselves  to  your  consideration  and  view,  are  such  as 
serve  to  nutrition  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  stomach,  which  is  seated  in  the  midst  of  that  part  of  the 
belly  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 
sometimes  taken  for  the  stomach  itself ;  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 

1  D.  Crook  out  of  Galen  and  others,    um  quoddam  vos  duci  putetU,  &c.    8ua 
TM  rero  Tel  uti  in  tempi  urn  ac  sacrari-    Tis  et  u  tills  cognitio. 


202  Anatomy  of  the  Body.  [Part  I  set.  i 

some  will  have  the  same  with  peritoneum,  or  rim  of  the  belly. 
From  the  stomach  to  the  very  fundament  are  produced  the 
guts,  or  intestina,  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  sub 
stance,  slender  or  thicker;  the  slender  is  duodenum,  or 
whole  gut,  which  is  next  to  the  stomach,  some  twelve  inches 
long,  saith  l  Fuschius.  Jejunum,  or  empty  gut  continuate  to 
the  other,  which  hath  many  meseraic  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  from  the 
stomach.  The  thick  guts  are  three,  the  blind  gut,  colon,  and 
right  gut.  The  blind  is  a  thick  and  short  gut,  having  one 
mouth,  in  which  the  ilion  and  colon  meet ;  it  receives  the 
excrements,  and  conveys  them  to  the  colon.  This  colon  hath 
many  windings,  that  the  excrements  pass  not  away  too  fast ; 
the  right  gut  is  straight,  and  conveys  the  excrements  to  the 
fundament,  whose  lower  part  is  bound  up  with  certain 
muscles  called  sphincters,  that  the  excrements  may  be  the 
better  contained,  until  such  time  as  a  man  be  willing  to  go  to 
the  stool.  In  the  midst  of  these  guts  is  situated  the  mesen- 
terium  or  midriff,  composed  of  many  veins,  arteries,  and 
much  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  nourishment  or  expelling  the  bad, 
is  chiefly  belonging  the  liver,  like  in  colour  to  congealed 
blood,  the  shop  of  blood,  situate  in  the  right  hypercondry,  in 
figure  like  to  a  half-moon —  Generosum  membrum,  Melancthon 
styles  it,  a  generous  part;  it  serves  to  turn  the  chylus  to 
blood,  for  the  nourishment  of  the  body.  The  excrements  of 
it  are  either  choleric  or  watery,  which  the  other  subordinate 
parts  convey.  The  gall  placed  in  the  concave  of  the  liver, 
extracts  choler  to  it ;  the  spleen,  melancholy ;  which  is  sit 
uate  on  the  left  side,  over  against  the  liver,  a  spongy  matter 

l  Lib.  1,  c»p.  12,  Sect.  6 


Mem.  2,  subs.  4.]         Anatomy  of  the  Body.  203 

that  draws  this  black  choler  to  it  by  a  secret  virtue,  and  feeds 
upon  it,  conveying  the  rest  to  the  bottom  of  the  stomach,  to 
stir  up  appetite,  or  else  to  the  guts  as  an  excrement.  That 
watery  matter  the  two  kidneys  expurgate  by  those  emulgent 
veins  and  ureters.  The  emulgent  draw  this  supeifluous 
moisture  from  the  blood ;  the  two  ureters  convey  it  to  the 
bladder,  which  by  reason  of  his  site  in  the  lower  belly,  is  apt 
to  receive  it,  having  two  parts,  neck  and  bottom  ;  the  bottom 
holds  the  water,  the  neck  is  constringed  with  a  muscle,  which, 
as  a  porter,  keeps  the  water  from  running  out  against  our 
will. 

Members  of  generation  are  common  to  both  sexes,  or  pe 
culiar  to  one ;  which,  because  they  are  impertinent  to  my 
purpose,  I  do  voluntarily  omit. 

Middle  Region.~\  Next  in  order  is  the  middle  region,  or 
chest,  which  comprehends  the  vital  faculties  and  parts  ;  which 
(as  I  have  said)  is  separated  from  the  lower  belly  by  the 
diaphragma  or  midriff,  which  is  a  skin  consisting  of  many 
nerves,  membranes ;  and  amongst  other  uses  it  hath,  is  the 
instrument  of  laughing.  There  is  also  a  certain  thin  mem 
brane,  full  of  sinews,  which  covereth  the  whole  chest  within, 
and  is  called  pleura,  the  seat  of  the  disease  called  pleurisy, 
when  it  is  inflamed  ;  some  add  a  third  skin,  which  is  termed 
Mediastinus,  which  divides  the  chest  into  two  parts,  right  and 
left ;  of  this  region  the  principal  part  is  the  heart,  which  is 
the  seat  and  fountain  of  life,  of  heat,  of  spirits,  of  pulse  and 
respiration — the  sun  of  our  body,  the  king  and  sole  com 
mander  of  it — the  seat  and  organ  of  all  passions  and  affec 
tions.  Primum  vivens,  ukimum  moriens,  it  lives  first,  and 
dies  last  in  all  creatures.  Of  a  pyramidical  form,  and  not 
much  unlike  to  a  pineapple  ;  a  part  worthy  of  *  admiration, 
that  can  yield  such  variety  of  affections,  by  whose  motion  it 
is  dilated  or  contracted,  to  stir  and  command  the  humours  in 
the  body.  As  in  sorrow,  melancholy ;  in  anger,  choler ;  in 

1  Haec  res  est  prsrcipue  digna  admin-    tar,  cor,  quod  omnes  res  tristes  <>t  beta 
lioue,  quod  tatita  affectuum  rarietate  cie-    statim  corda  feriunt  et  movent 


204  Anatomy  of  the  Body.  [Part.  I.  sec.  l 

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  may  be  divided  into  two 
creeks  right  and  left.  The  right  is  like  the  moon  increasing, 
bigger  than  the  other  part,  and  receives  blood  from  Vena  cava 
distributing  some  of  it  to  the  lungs  to  nourish  them  ;  the  rest 
to  the  left  side,  to  engender  spirits.  The  left  creek  hath  the 
form  of  a  cone,  and  is  the  seat  of  life,  which,  as  a  torch  doth 
oil,  draws  blood  unto  it,  begetting  of  it  spirits  and  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  ah*  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  common  anfrac 
tuous  ears,  which  serve  them  both ;  the  one  to  hold  blood, 
the  other  air,  for  several  uses.  The  lungs  is  a  thin  spongy 
part,  like  an  ox  hoof  (saith  l  Fernelius),  the  town-clerk  or 
crier  (2  one  terms  it),  the  instrument  of  voice,  as  an  orator  to 
a  king ;  annexed  to  the  heart,  to  express  their  thoughts  by 
voice.  That  it  is  the  instrument  of  voice,  is  manifest,  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  air 
unto  it,  by  the  venosal  artery,  which  vein  comes  to  the  lungs 
by  that  aspera  arteria,  which  consists  of  many  gristles,  mem 
branes,  nerves,  taking  in  air  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,  engendered  of  the  purest  part  of  seed  and  spirits,  in 
cluded  by  many  skins,  and  seated  within  the  skull  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,  judgment,  reason,  and  in  which  man  is  most  like 

1  Physio.  1. 1.  c.  8.       *  Ut  orator  red :  sic  pulmo  rocLs  instrumentum  an  lect!  tui 
cordl,  &c.    Hekneth. 


Mem.  2,  cubs.  5.]         Anatomy  of  the  Soul.  205 

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  in 
cludes  and  protects  the  brain.  When  this  is  taken  away,  the 
pia  mater  is  to  be  seen,  a  thin  membrane,  the  next  and  im 
mediate  cover  of  the  brain,  and  not  covering  only,  but  enter 
ing  into  it.  The  brain  itself  is  divided  into  two  parts,  the 
fore  and  hinder  part ;  the  fore  part  is  much  bigger  than  the 
other,  which  is  called  the  little  brain  in  respect  of  it  This 
fore  part  hath  many  concavities  distinguished  by  certain  ven 
tricles,  which  are  the  receptacles  of  the  spirits,  brought 
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  are  three — right,  left,  and  middle. 
The  right  and  left  answer  to  their  sight,  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  concourse 
and  concavity  of  them  both,  and  hath  two  passages — the  one 
to  receive  pituita,  and  the  other  extends  itself  to  the  fourth 
creek ;  in  this  they  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  cerebel 
or  little  brain,  and  marrow  of  the  backbone,  the  last  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  the  Soul  and  her  Faculties. 

ACCORDING  to  *  Aristotle,  the  soul  is  defined  to  be  tvreM' 
leta,  perfectio  et  actus  primus  corporis  organici,  vitam  habentit 
in  potentia  ;  the  perfection  or  first  act  of  an  organical  body 
having  power  of  life,  which  most  'philosophers  approve 

1  De  anim.  e.  1.       »  Scalig.  exerc.  807.    Tolet.  in  lib.  de  anima.  cap  1,  *c. 


206  Anatomy  of  the  Soul.  [Part.  l.  »«c.  L 

But  many  doubts  arise  about  the  essence,  subject,  seat,  dis 
tinction,  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  1  Aristotle  himself,  2  Tully, 
'Picus  Mirandula,  4Tolet,  and  other  Neoteric  philosophers 
confess : — *  "  We  can  understand  all  things  by  her,  but  what 
she  is  we  cannot  apprehend."  Some  therefore  make  one 
soul,  divided  into  three  principal  faculties  ;  others,  three 
distinct  souls.  Which  question  of  late  hath  been  much 
controverted  by  Picolomineus  and  Zabarel.  6  Paracelsus  will 
have  four  souls,  adding  to  the  three  grand  faculties  a  spiritual 
soul ;  which  opinion  of  his,  Campanella,  in  his  book  de  sensu 
rerum*  much  labours  to  demonstrate  and  prove,  because  car 
casses  bleed  at  the  sight  of  the  murderer ;  with  many  such 
arguments  :  And  7  some  again,  one  soul  of  all  creatures  what 
soever,  differing  only  in  organs ;  and  that  beasts  have  reason 
as  well  as  men,  though,  for  some  defect  of  organs,  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 
amongst  the  rest.  The  "common  division  of  the  soul  is 
into  three  principal  faculties — vegetal,  sensitive,  and  rational, 
which  make  three  distinct  kinds  of  living  creatures — vegetal 
plants,  sensible  beasts,  rational  men.  How  these  three  prin 
cipal  faculties  are  distinguished  and  connected,  Humano  in- 
genio  inaccessum  videtur,  is  beyond  human  capacity,  as 
•Taurellus,  Philip,  Flavius,  and  others  suppose.  The  in 
ferior  may  be  alone,  but  the  superior  cannot  subsist  without 
the  other ;  so  sensible  includes  vegetal,  rational  both  ;  which 
are  contained  in  it  (saith  Aristotle)  ut  trigonus  in  tetragono, 
as  a  triangle  in  a  quadrangle. 

Vcietal  Soul."]     Vegetal,  the  first  of  the  three  distinct  fac 
ulties,  is  defined  to  be  "  a  substantial  act  of  an  organical  body, 

1 1,  De  anltna.  cap.  1.     'Tuscul.  qusest.  f  Ocellus,  lib.  2,  e.  81.     Plutarch,    in 

»  Lib.  6,  Doct.  Va.  Qeutil.  c.  18,  pag.  1216.  Grille  Lips.  Cen.  1,  ep.  60.    Jossivw  da 

*  Aristot.        *  Anitnl  quseque  intelligl-  Risu  et  Fletu,  Ayerroes,  Campanella,  &c 

tnus,  et  tamen  qua  Bit  ipsa  intelligere  *  Philip,  de  Anima.   ca.   1.    Ccelius  20, 

non  ralemus.       «  Spiritualem  animam  a  antiq.  cap.  8.  Plutarch,  de  placit.  phtloa. 

reliquis  distinctam  tuetur,  etiatn  in  ca-  •  De  Tit.  et  mort.  part.  2,  c.  3,  prop.  1,  d« 

darere  inhterentem  post  mortem  per  all-  Tit.  et  mort.  2,  c.  22. 
quot  menseg.        *  Lib.  8,  cap    31. 


Mem.  2,  subs.  6.]          Anatomy  of  the  Soul.  207 

by  which  it  is  nourished,  augmented,  and  begets  an  Jthei  like 
onto  itself."  In  which  definition,  three  several  operations  are 
specified — altrix,  auctrix,  procreatrix ;  the  first  is  *  nutrition, 
whose  object  is  nourishment,  meat,  drink,  and  the  like ;  his 
organ  the  liver  in  sensible  creatures ;  in  plants,  the  root  or 
sap.  His  office  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, 
expulsion. 

Attraction.']  'Attraction  is  a  ministering  faculty,  which, 
as  a  loadstone  doth  iron,  draws  meat  into  the  stomach,  or  as 
a  lamp  doth  oil ;  and  this  attractive  power  is  very  necessary 
in  plants,  which  suck  up  moisture  by  the  root,  as  another 
mouth,  into  the  sap,  as  a  like  stomach. 

Retention.']  Retention  keeps  it,  being  attracted  into  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  oil,  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,  assation. 

Maturation.']  Maturation  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  natural  heat,  or  else  choke 
it,  as  too  much  wood  puts  out  a  fire. 

Elixation.']  Elixation  is  the  seething  of  meat  in  the  stom 
ach,  by  the  said  natural  heat,  as  meat  is  boiled  hi  a  pot ;  to 
which  corruption  or  putrefaction  is  opposite. 

Assation,']  Assation  is  a  concoction  of  the  inward  moisture 
by  heat ;  his  opposite  is  a  semiustulation. 

Order  of  Concoction  fourfold.]     Besides  these  three  sev- 

1  Nutritio  est  aliment!  tran=mutatio.  Tiro  naturalis.     Seal,  exerc.  101,  Me.  17 
See  more  of  Attraction  in  Seal.  exer.  843. 


208  Anatomy  of  the  Soul.  [Part.  I.  sec.  1 

eral  operations  of  digestion,  there  is  a  fourfold  order  of  con 
coction  : — mastication,  or  chewing  in  the  mouth  ;  chilification 
of  this  so  chewed  meat  in  the  stomach ;  the  third  is  in  the 
liver,  to  turn  this  chylus  into  blood,  called  sanguification ;  the 
last  is  assimulation,  which  is  in  every  part. 

Expulsion.']  Expulsion  is  a  power  of  nutrition,  by  which 
it  expels  all  superfluous  excrements,  and  relics  of  meat  and 
drink,  by  the  guts,  bladder,  pores ;  as  by  purging,  vomiting, 
spitting,  sweating,  urine,  hairs,  nails,  &c. 

Augmentation.']  As  this  nutritive  faculty  serves  to  nourish 
the  body,  so  doth  the  augmenting  faculty  (the  second  opera 
tion  or  power  of  the  vegetal  faculty)  to  the  increasing  of  it 
hi  quantity,  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 
consumption  ;  and  that  most  certain,  as  the  poet  observes  :— 

"  Stat  sna  caique  dies,  breve  et  irreparabile  tempos 
Omnibus  est  vita." 

"  A  term  of  life  is  set  to  every  man, 
Which  is  but  short,  and  pass  it  no  one  can." 

Generation."]  The  last  of  these  vegetal  faculties  is  gener 
ation,  which  begets  another  by  means  of  seed,  like  unto  itself, 
to  the  perpetual  preservation  of  the  species.  To  this  faculty 
they  ascribe  three  subordinate  operations : — the  first  to  turn 
nourishment  into  seed,  &c. 

Life  and  Death  concomitants  of  the  Vegetal  Faculties.'] 
Necessary  concomitants  or  affections  of  this  vegetal  faculty 
are  life  and  his  privation,  death.  To  the  preservation  of  life 
the  natural  heat  is  most  requisite,  though  siccity  and  humid 
ity,  and  those  first  qualities,  be  not  excluded.  This  heat  is 
likewise  in  plants,  as  appears  by  their  increasing,  fructifying, 
&c.,  though  not  so  easily  perceived.  In  all  bodies  it  must 
have  radical  *  moisture  to  preserve  it,  that  it  be  not  con 
sumed  ;  to  which  preservation  our  clime,  country,  tempera 
ture,  and  the  good  or  bad  use  of  those  six  non-natural  things 
avail  much.  For  as  this  natural  heat  and  moisture  decays, 

•  Vita  eonditit  in  calido  et  hnmldo. 


Mem.  2,  subs.  6.]         Anatomy  of  the  SouL  209 

BO  doth  our  life  itself;  and  if  not  prevented  before  by  some 
violent  accident,  or  interrupted  through  our  own  default,  is 
in  the  end  dried  up  by  old  age,  and  extinguished  by  death 
for  want  of  matter,  as  a  lamp  for  defect  of  oil  to  maintain  it 

SUBSECT.  VI. — Of  the  sensible  SouL 

NEXT  in  order  is  the  sensible  faculty,  which  is  as  far  be 
yond  the  other  in  dignity  as  a  beast  is  preferred  to  a  plant, 
having  those  vegetal  powers  included  in  it.  'Tis  defined  an 
u  Act  of  an  organical  body  by  which  it  lives,  hath  sense,  ap 
petite,  judgment,  breath,  and  motion."  His  object  in  general 
is  a  sensible  or  passible  quality,  because  the  sense  is  affected 
with  it.  The  general  organ  is  the  brain,  from  which  princi 
pally  the  sensible  operations  are  derived.  This  sensible  soul 
is  divided  into  two  parts,  apprehending  or  moving.  By  the 
apprehensive  power  we  perceive  the  species  of  sensible  things 
present,  or  absent,  and  retain  them  as  wax  doth  the  print  of 
a  seal.  By  the  moving,  the  body  is  outwardly  carried  from 
one  place  to  another ;  or  inwardly  moved  by  spirits  and 
pulse.  The  apprehensive  faculty  is  subdivided  into  two 
parts,  inward  or  outward.  Outward,  as  the  five  senses,  of 
touching,  hearing,  seeing,  smelling,  tasting,  to  which  you  may 
add  Scaliger's  sixth  sense  of  titillation,  if  you  please ;  or  that 
of  speech,  which  is  the  sixth  external  sense,  according  to 
Lullius.  Inward  are  three — common  sense,  fantasy,  mem 
ory.  Those  five  outward  senses  have  their  object  hi  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,  and  taste,  without  which  we  cannot  live.  Besides,  the 
sensitive  power  is  active  or  passive.  Active  in  sight,  the  eye 
sees  the  colour ;  passive  when  it  is  hurt  by  his  object,  as  the 
eye  by  the  sunbeams.  According  to  that  axiom,  Visibile  forte 
destruit  sensum.1  Or  if  the  object  be  not  pleasing,  as  a  bad 
sound  to  the  ear,  a  stinking  smell  to  the  nose,  &c. 

1 «'  Too  bright  an  object  destroys  the  organ." 

VOL.   I.  14 


210  Anatomy  of  the  Soul.  [Part.  I.  see.  1 

Sigld]  Of  these  five  senses,  sight  is  held  to  be  most 
precious,  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  illu 
mination  of  the  air,  which  comes  from  '  light,  commonly 
called  diaphanum  ;  for  in  dark  we  cannot  see.  The  organ  is 
the  eye,  and  chiefly  the  apple  of  it,  which  by  those  optic 
nerves,  concurring  both  in  one,  conveys  the  sight  to  the  com 
mon  sense.  Between  the  organ  and  object  a  true  distance 
is  required,  that  it  be  not  too  near,  nor  too  far  off.  Many 
excellent  questions  appertain  to  this  sense,  discussed  by  phi 
losophers  ;  as  whether  this  sight  be  caused  intra  mitiendo,  vel 
extra  mittendo,  fyc.,  by  receiving  in  the  visible  species,  or 
sending  of  them  out,  wjhich  a  Plato,  *  Plutarch,  4  Macrobius, 
'  Lactantius,  and  others  dispute.  And  besides  it  is  the  sub 
ject  of  the  perspectives,  of  which  Alhazen  the  Arabian,  Vi- 
tellio,  Roger  Bacon,  Baptista  Porta,  Guidus  Ubaldus,  Aqui- 
lonius,  &c.,  have  written  whole  volumes. 

Hearing."]  Hearing,  a  most  excellent  outward  sense,  "  by 
which  we  learn  and  get  knowledge."  His  object  is  sound, 
or  that  which  is  heard  ;  the  medium,  air ;  organ  the  ear.  To 
the  sound,  which  is  a  collision  of  the  air,  three  things  are 
required ;  a  body  to  strike,  as  the  hand  of  a  musician  ;  the 
body  struck,  which  must  be  solid  and  able  to  resist;  as  a 
bell,  lutestring,  not  wool,  or  sponge;  the  medium,  the  air; 
which  is  inward,  or  outward;  the  outward  being  struck  or 
collided  by  a  solid  body,  still  strikes  the  next  air,  until  it 
come  to  that  inward  natural  air,  which  as  an  exquisite  organ 
is  contained  in  a  little  skin  formed  like  a  drum-head,  and 
struck  upon  by  certain  small  instruments  like  drum-sticks, 
conveys  the  sound  by  a  pair  of  nerves,  appropriated  to  that 

1  Lumen  eat  «ettu  penpicui.    Lumen    pnet.  Phllo*.  4.       *  Lao.  e»p.  8,  de  opif 
ft  luce  proyenit,  lux  eat  in  corpora  lucido.    Del,  1. 
2  Batur .  7,  e.  14.        *  In  Phsedon         *  De 


Mem.  2,  subs.  6.]          Anatomy  of  the  Soul.  211 

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,  consult  with  Boethius  and  other  musicians. 

Smelling."]  Smelling  is  an  "  outward  sense,  which  appre 
hends  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 
mixed  body  resolved,  which,  whether  it  be  a  quality,  fume, 
vapour,  or  exhalation,  I  will  not  now  dispute,  or  of  their 
differences,  and  how  they  are  caused.  This  sense  is  an  organ 
of  health,  as  sight  and  hearing,  saith  l  Agellius,  are  of  dis 
cipline;  and  that  by  avoiding  bad  smells,  as  by  choosing 
good,  which  do  as  much  alter  and  affect  the  body  many  times, 
as  diet  itself. 

Taste."]  Taste,  a  necessary  sense,  "  which  perceives  all 
savours  by  the  tongue  and  palate,  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. 

Touching.']  Touch,  the  last  of  the  senses,  and  most  ignoble, 
yet  of  as  great  necessity  as  the  other,  and  of  as  much  pleas 
ure.  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  phi 
losophers  about  these  five  senses;  their  organs,  objects, 
mediums,  which  for  brevity  I  omit. 

1  Lib.  19,  cap.  a. 


212  Anatomy  of  the  Soul.  [Part.  I.  BOO.  1 

SUBSECT.  VII. — Of  the  Inward  Senses. 
Common  Sense.]  INNER  senses  are  three  in  number,  so 
called,  because  they  be  within  the  brain-pan,  as  common 
sense,  fantasy,  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  I  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  fore  part  of  the  brain  is  his  organ  or  seat. 

Fantasy.']  Fantasy,  or  imagination,  which  some  call  esti 
mative,  or  cogitative  (confirmed,  saith  1Fernelius,  by  fre 
quent  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  again,  or  making  new  of  his  own.  In  tune  of  sleep 
this  faculty  is  free,  and  many  times  conceives  strange, 
stupend,  absurd  shapes,  as  hi  sick  men  we  commonly  observe. 
His  organ  is  the  middle  cell  of  the  brain ;  his  objects  all  the 
species  communicated  to  him  by  the  common  sense,  by  com 
parison  of  which  he  feigns  infinite  other  unto  himself.  In 
melancholy  men  this  faculty  is  most  powerful  and  strong,  and 
often  hurts,  producing  many  monstrous  and  prodigious  things, 
especially  if  it  be  stirred  up  by  some  terrible  object,  pre 
sented  to  it  from  common  sense  or  memory.  In  poets  and 
painters  imagination  forcibly  works,  as  appears  by  their 
several  fictions,  antics,  images ;  as  Ovid's  house  of  sleep, 
Psyche's  palace  hi  Apuleius,  &c.  In  men  it  is  subject  and 
governed  by  reason,  or  at  least  should  be ;  but  in  brutes  it 
hath  no  superior,  and  is  ratio  brutorum,  all  the  reason  they 
have. 

l  Phb.  1.  6,  e.  8. 


Mem.  2,  subs.  8.]         Anatomy  of  the  SouL  213 

Memory.']  Memory  lays  up  all  the  species  which  the  senses 
have  brought  in,  and  records  them  as  a  good  register,  that 
they  may  be  forthcoming  when  they  are  called  for  by  fan 
tasy  and  reason.  His  object  is  the  same  with  fantasy, 
his  seat  and  organ  the  back  part  of  the  brain. 

Affections  of  the  Senses,  sleep  and  waking.']  The  affec 
tions  of  these  senses  are  sleep  and  waking,  common  to  all 
sensible  creatures.  "  Sleep  is  a  rest  or  binding  of  the  out 
ward  senses,  and  of  the  common  sense,  for  the  preservation 
of  body  and  soul "  (as  *  Scaliger  defines  it) ;  for  when  the 
common  sense  resteth,  the  outward  senses  rest  also.  The 
fantasy  alone  is  free,  and  his  commander  reason;  as  ap 
pears  by  those  imaginary  dreams,  which  are  of  divers  kinds, 
natural,  divine,  demoniacal,  &c.,  which  vary  according  to 
humours,  diet,  actions,  objects,  &c.,  of  which  Artemidorus, 
Cardanus,  and  Sambucus,  with  their  several  interpreters, 
have  written  great  volumes.  This  ligation  of  senses  pro 
ceeds  from  an  inhibition  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  cause." 


J 


SUBSECT.  VIII. — Of  the  Moving  Faculty. 


Appetite."]  THIS  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  downward, 
and  such  actions  as  retention,  expulsion,  which  depend  not 
on  sense,  but  are  vegetal,  as  the  appetite  of  meat  and  drink  j 

1  Exerclt.  280. 


214  Anatomy  of  the  Soul  [Part.  L  «eo.  1 

hungei  and  thirst.  Sensitive  is  common  to  men  and  brutes. 
Voluntary,  the  third,  or  intellective,  which  commands  the 
other  two  in  men,  and  is  a  curb  unto  them,  or  at  least  should 
be,  but  for  the  most  part  is  captivated  and  overruled  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  appetunt  bonum, 
all  things  seek  their  own  good,  or  at  least  seeming  good. 
This  power  is  inseparable  from  sense,  for  where  sense  is, 
there  are  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  J  one  translates 
it)  coveting,  anger,  invading,  or  impugning.  Concupiscible 
covets  always  pleasant  and  delightsome  things,  and  abhors 
that  which  is  distasteful,  harsh,  and  unpleasant.  Irascible, 
8  quasi  aversans  per  iram  et  odium,  as  avoiding  it  with  anger 
and  indignation.  All  aifections  and  perturbations  arise  out 
of  these  two  fountains,  which,  although  the  Stoics  make  light 
of,  we  hold  natural,  and  not  to  be  resisted.  The  good  affec 
tions  are  caused  by  some  object  of  the  same  nature ;  and  if 
present,  they  procure  joy,  which  dilates  the  heart  and  pre 
serves  the  body ;  if  absent,  they  cause  hope,  love,  desire,  and 
concupiscence.  The  bad  are  simple  or  mixed;  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  these  mixed  affections  and  passions  of  anger,  which 
is  a  desire  of  revenge ;  hatred,  which  is  inveterate  anger ; 
zeal,  which  is  offended  with  him  who  hurts  that  he  loves ; 
and  ImxatpeKonia,  &  compound  affection  of  joy  and  hate,  when 
we  rejoice  at  other  men's  mischief,  and  are  grieved  at  their 

»  T.  W.  Jefuite,  in  hti  Passion*  of  the  Minde.        *  Velcurio. 


Mem.  2,  snbs.  8.]          Anatomy  of  the  Soul.  215 

prosperity ;  pride,  self-love,  emulation,  envy,  shame,  &c.,  of 
which  elsewhere. 

Moving  from  place  to  place,  is  a  faculty  necessarily  follow 
ing  the  other.  For  in  vain  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 
which,  three  things  are  requisite :  that  which  moves ;  by 
what  it  moves ;  that  which  is  moved.  That  which  moves,  is 
either  the  efficient  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 
fantasy,  which  apprehends  good  or  bad  objects ;  in  brutes 
imagination  alone,  which  moves  the  appetite,  the  appetite  this 
faculty,  which,  by  an  admirable  league  of  nature,  and  by  me 
diation  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  consequent,  the  joint,  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,  re 
ferred  to  the  predicament  of  situs.  Worms  creep,  birds  fly, 
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  artery,  and  sent  by  mediation  of  the 
midriff  to  the  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. 

1  Herri  i  spirit u  morentur,  spiritus  ab  anima,  Melanct 


216  Anatomy  of  the  Soul.  [Part.  I.  sec.  1 


J 


SUBSECT.  EL — Of  the  Rational  Soul. 
IN  the  precedent  subsections  I  have  anatomized  those  in 
ferior  faculties  of  the  soul ;  the  rational  remaineth,  "  a  pkas- 
ant  but  a  doubtful  subject "  (as  1  one  terms  it),  and  with  the 
like  brevity  to  be  discussed.  Many  erroneous  opinions  are 
about  the  essence  and  original  of  it ;  whether  it  be  fire,  as 
Zeno  held  ;  harmony,  as  Aristoxenus  ;  number,  as  Xenocra- 
tes ;  whether  it  be  organical,  or  inorganical ;  seated  in  the 
brain,  heart  or  blood  ;  mortal  or  immortal ;  how  it  comes  into 
the  body.  Some  hold  that  it  is  ex  traduce,  as  Phil.  1,  de 
Anima,  Tertullian,  Lactantius  de  opific.  Dei,  cap.  19.  Hugo, 
lib.  de  Spiritu  et  Anima,  Vincentius  Bettavic.  spec,  natural, 
lib.  23,  cap.  2,  et  11.  Hippocrates,  Avicenna,  and  many 
a  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  begets  both  matter  and  form ;  and 
besides  the  three  faculties  of  the  soul  must  be  together  in 
fused,  which  is  most  absurd  as  they  hold,  because  in  beasts 
they  are  begot,  the  two  inferior  I  mean,  and  may  not  be  well 
separated  in  men.  *  Galen  supposeth  the  soul  crasin  esse,  to 
be  the  temperature  itself;  Trismegistus,  Musaeus,  Orpheus, 
Homer,  Pindarus,  Phaerecides  Syrus,  Epictetus,  with  the 
Chaldees  and  ^Egyptians,  affirmed  the  soul  to  be  immortal, 
as  did  those  British  *  Druids  of  old.  The  4  Pythagoreans 
defend  Metempsychosis ;  and  Palingenesia,  that  souls  go  from 
one  body  to  another,  epota  prius  Lethes  undd,  as  men  into 
wolves,  bears,  dogs,  hogs,  as  they  were  inclined  hi  their  lives, 
or  participated  in  conditions. 

t  "  inque  ferinas 
Possumus  ire  domus,  pecudumque  in  corpora  condi." 

'  Velcurio.  Jucundum  et  anceps  sub-  *  Bead  JSneaa  Gazeua  dial,  of  the  Immor- 

Jectum.       >  Qoclenius  In  "tv^oX.  pag.  tality  of  the   Soul.        t  Ovid.  Met.  1& 

802.    Bright  In  Phys.  Scrib.  1. 1.    David  "  We> who  may take  "P  our  abode  ln  *°& 

Crusius,  Melancthon,  Hippius  Hernius,  bwwtB,  or  be  lodged  iu  the  breasts  of  oat. 

Lerinua  Lemnlua,  &o.       *  Lib.  an  mores  tle-" 
•equantur,    &c.         *  Caesar.    6,   com. 


Mem.  2,  subs.  9.]          Anatomy  of  the  Soul. 

1  Lucian's  cock  was  first  Euphorbus  a  captain : 

"  Die  ego  (nam  memini)  Trojani  tempore  belli. 
Panthoides  Euphorbus  eram." 

A  horse,  a  man,  a  sponge.  2  Julian  the  Apostate  thought 
Alexander's  soul  was  descended  into  his  body :  Plato  in 
Timaeo,  and  in  his  Phaedon  (for  aught  I  can  perceive),  differs 
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  beast's,  or  man's,  as  appears  by  his  pleasant  fiction  de 
tortitione  animarum,  lib.  10,  de  rep.  and  after  *  ten  thousand 
years  is  to  return  into  the  former  body  again. 

*  "  post  varies  annos,  per  mQle  figuras, 
Rursus  ad  humause  fertur  primordia  vitas." 

Others  deny  the  immortality  of  it,  which  Pomponatus  of 
Padua  decided  out  of  Aristotle  not  long  since,  Plinius  Avun~ 
culus,  cap.  1,  lib.  2,  et  lib.  7,  cap.  55  ;  Seneca,  lib.  7,  epist.  ad 
Luciliwm  epist.  55  /  Dicearchus  in  Tull.  Tusc.  JEpicurus, 
Aratus,  Hippocrates,  Galen,  Lucretius,  lib.  1. 

"  (Praeterea  gigni  pariter  cum  corpore,  et  una 
Crescere  sentimus,  pariterque  senescere  mentem.)"  f 

Averroes,  and  I  know  not  how  many  Neoterics.  J  "  This 
question  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  is  diversely  and  won 
derfully  impugned  and  disputed,  especially  among  the  Italians 
of  late,"  saith  Jab.  Oolerus,  lib.  de  immort.  animce,  cap.  1. 
The  popes  themselves  have  doubted  of  it ;  Leo  Decimus,  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  profane  and  atheistical  moderator,  with  that 

1  In  Gallo.  Idem.       *  Nicephorus,  hist,  with  the  body,  grows  with  it,  and  decay* 

Hb.  10,  cap.  85.       «  Phaedo.        *  Clau-  with  it."       J  Haec  qujesdo  multoa  per 

dian,  lib.  1,  de  rap.    Proserp.        t "  Be-  annos  varie,  ac  mirabiliter  impugnau;, 

eides,  we  obserre  that  the  mind  is  born  &c.        §  Golems,  ibid 


218  Anatomy  of  the  Soul.  [Part.  I.  sec.  1. 

verse  of  Cornelius  Gallus,  Et  redit  in  nihilum,  quodfuit  ante 
nihiL  It  began  of  nothing,  and  in  nothing  it  ends.  Zeno 
and  his  Stoics,  as  *  Austin  quotes  him,  supposed  the  soul  so 
long  to  continue,  till  the  body  was  fully  putrefied,  and  re 
solved  into  materia  prima ;  but  after  that,  in  fumos  evanes- 
cere,  to  be  extinguished  and  vanished ;  and  in  the  mean  time, 
whilst  the  body  was  consuming,  it  wandered  all  abroad,  et  e 
longinquo  muha  annunciare,  and  (as  that  Clazomenian  Her- 
motimus  averred)  saw  pretty  visions,  and  suffered  I  know  not 
what,  f  Errant  exangues  sine  corpore  et  ossibus  umbrae. 
Others  grant  the  immortality  thereof,  but  they  make  many 
fabulous  fictions  in  the  mean  time  of  it,  after  the  departure 
from  the  body ;  like  Plato's  Elysian  fields,  and  that  Turkey 
paradise.  The  souls  of  good  men  they  deified  ;  the  bad 
(saith  *  Austin)  became  devils,  as  they  supposed ;  with  many 
such  absurd  tenets,  which  he  hath  confuted.  Hierome,  Aus 
tin,  and  other  Fathers  of  the  Church,  hold  that  the  soul  is 
immortal,  created  of  nothing,  and  so  infused  into  the  child  or 
embryo  in  his  mother's  womb,  six  months  after  the  a  concep 
tion  ;  not  as  those  of  brutes,  which  are  ex  traduce,  and  dying 
with  them  vanish  into  nothing.  To  whose  divine  treatises, 
and  to  the  Scriptures  themselves,  I  rejourn  all  such  atheis 
tical  spirits,  as  Tully  did  Atticus,  doubting  of  this  point,  to 
Plato's  Phaedon.  Or  if  they  desire  philosophical  proofs  and 
demonstrations,  I  refer  them  to  Niphus,  Nic.  Faventinus's 
tracts  of  this  subject.  To  Fran,  and  John  Picus  in  digress ; 
sup.  3,  de  Anima,  Tholosanus,  Eugubinus,  to  Soto,  Canas, 
Thomas,  Peresius,  Dandinus,  Colerus,  to  that  elaborate  tract 
in  Zanchius,  to  Tolet's  Sixty  Reasons,  and  Lessius's  Twenty- 
two  Arguments,  to  prove  the  immortality  of  the  soul.  Cam- 
panetta  lib.  de  Sensu  rerum,  is  large  in  the  same  discourse, 
Albertinus  the  Schoolman,  Jacob.  Nactantus,  torn.  2,  op. 
handleth  it  in  four  questions,  Antony  Brunus,  Aonius  Pale- 
arius,  Marinus  Marcennus,  with  many  others.  This  reason- 

*  De  eccleg.  dog.  cap.  16.  t  Oriel.  4,  rum  lares,  maloram  reri  terras  et  lem- 
Met.  "  The  bloodless  shades  without  ures.  *  Some  say  at  three  days,  som 
«ith«:  body  or  bones  wander."  1  Bono-  six  weeks,  others  otherwise. 


Mem.  2,  subs.  10.]        Anatomy  of  the  Soul  219 

able  soul,  which  Austin  calls  a  spiritual  substance  moving 
itself,  is  defined  by  philosophers  to  be  "the  first  substantial 
act  of  a  natural,  humane,  organical  body,  by  which  a  man 
lives,  perceives,  and  understands,  freely  doing  all  things,  and 
with  election."  Out  of  which  definition  we  may  gather,  that 
this  rational  soul  includes  the  powers,  and  performs  the  duties 
of  the  other  two,  which  are  contained  in  it,  and  all  three  fac 
ulties  make  one  soul,  which  is  inorganical  of  itself,  although 
it  be  in  all  parts,  and  incorporeal,  using  their  organs,  and 
working  by  them.  It  is  divided  into  two  chief  parts,  differ 
ing  in  office  only,  not  in  essence.  The  understanding,  which 
is  the  rational  power  apprehending ;  the  will,  which  is  the 
rational  power  moving ;  to  which  two,  all  the  other  rational 
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  reflecting  action,  by  which  it  judgeth  of  his  own  doings,  and 
examines  them."  Out  of  this  definition  (besides  his  chief 
office,  which  is  to  apprehend,  judge  all  that  he  performs, 
without  the  help  of  any  instruments  or  organs)  three  differ 
ences  appear  betwixt  a  man  and  a  beast.  As  first,  the  sense 
only  comprehends  singularities,  the  understanding  universal 
ities.  Secondly,  the  sense  hath  no  innate  notions.  Thirdly, 
brutes  cannot  reflect  upon  themselves.  Bees  indeed  make 
neat  and  curious  works,  and  many  other  creatures  besides ; 
but  when  they  have  done,  they  cannot  judge  of  them.  His 
object  is  God,  Ens,  all  nature,  and  whatsoever  is  to  be  under 
stood  ;  which  successively  it  apprehends.  The  object  first 
moving  the  understanding,  is  some  sensible  thing ;  after  by 
discoursing,  the  mind  finds  out  the  corporeal  substance,  and 
from  thence  the  spiritual.  His  actions  (some  say)  are  appre 
hension,  composition,  division,  discoursing,  reasoning,  memory, 

1  Melancthra. 


220  Anatomy  of  the  SouL  [Part. 1.  see  L 

which  some  include  in  invention,  and  judgment.  The  com 
mon  divisions  are  of  the  understanding,  agent,  and  patient ; 
speculative,  and  practical ;  in  habit,  or  in  act ;  simple,  or 
compound.  The  agent  is  that  which  is  called  the  wit  of  man, 
acumen  or  subtilty,  sharpness  of  invention,  when  he  doth 
invent  of  himself  without  a  teacher,  or  learns  anew,  which 
abstracts  those  intelligible  species  from  the  fantasy,  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,  the  passive  a  scholar ;  and 
his  office  is  to  keep  and  further  judge  of  such  things  as  are 
committed  to  his  charge ;  as  a  bare  and  rased  table  at  first, 
capable  of  all  forms  and  notions.  Now  these  notions  are  two 
fold,  actions  or  habits ;  actions,  by  which  we  take  notions  of, 
and  perceive  things ;  habits,  which  are  durable  lights  and 
notions,  which  we  may  use  when  we  will.  Some  reckon  up 
eight  kinds  of  them,  sense,  experience,  intelligence,  faith, 
suspicion,  error,  opinion,  science;  to  which  are  added  art, 
prudency,  wisdom ;  as  also  a  synteresis,  dictamen  rationis, 
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  practical,  as  prudency,  whose 
end  is  to  practise ;  to  fabricate ;  wisdom  to  comprehend  the 
use  and  experiments  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,  imperfect,  and  in  a  more 
strict  examination  excluded.  Of  all  these  I  should  more 
amply  dilate,  but  my  subject  will  not  permit.  Three  of  them 

1  NIhtl  In  Intellect!!,  quod  non  prius  fuerat  in  senau.  Velcnrlo.        *  The  pun  part 
of  the  conscience. 


J 


Mem.  2,  subs.  11.]        Anatomy  of  the  Soul.  221 

I  will  only  point  at,  as  more  necessary  to  iny  following  dis 
course. 

Synteresis,  or  the  purer  part  of  the  conscience,  is  an  innate 
habit,  and  doth  signify  "  a  conversation  of  the  knowledge  of 
the  law  of  God  and  Nature,  to  know  good  or  evil."  And  (as 
our  divines  hold)  it  is  rather  in  the  understanding  than  in  the 
will.  This  makes  the  major  proposition  in  a  practical  syllo 
gism.  The  dictamen  rationis  is  that  which  doth  admonish  us 
to  do  good  or  evil,  and  is  the  minor  in  the  syllogism.  The 
conscience  is  that  which  approves  good  or  evil,  justifying  or 
condemning  our  actions,  and  is  the  conclusion  of  the  syllo 
gism  ;  as  in  that  familiar  example  of  Regulus  the  Roman, 
taken  prisoner  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  ques 
tion;  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  wouldest  not  have  done  to 
thyself."  Dictamen  applies  it  to  him,  and  dictates  this  or  the 
like :  Regulus,  thou  wouldst  not  another  man  should  falsify 
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.  XL—  Of  the  Witt. 

WILL  is  the  other  power  of  the  rational  soul,  a "  which 
covets  or  avoids  such  things  as  have  been  before  judged  and 
apprehended  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  rational  appetite  ;  for  as,  in  the  sensi 
tive,  we  are  moved  to  good  or  bad  by  our  appetite,  ruled  and 
directed  by  sense  ;  so  in  this  we  are  carried  by  reason.  Be 
sides,  the  sensitive  appetite  hath  a  particular  object,  good  or 

1  Quod  tibi  fieri  non  yia,  alter!  ne  fec«-  ciptt,  Tel  rejidt ;  approbat,  Tel  improb»t 
ris.  »  Res  ab  intellect u  monstratas  re-  Philip.  Ignoti  nulla  cupido. 


222  Anatomy  of  the  Soul.  [Part.  I.  we.  L 

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 ;  if  evil,  avoid  it ;  but 
this  is  free  in  his  essence,  *  "  much  now  depraved,  obscured, 
and  fallen  from  his  first  perfection  ;  yet  in  some  of  his  opera 
tions  still  free,"  as  to  go,  walk,  move  at  his  pleasure,  and  to 
choose  whether  it  will  do  or  not  do,  steal  or  not  steal.  Other 
wise,  in  vain  were  laws,  deliberations,  exhortations,  counsels, 
precepts,  rewards,  promises,  threats  and  punishments ;  and 
God  should  be  the  author  of  sin.  But  in  a  spiritual  things 
we  will  no  good,  prone  to  evil  (except  we  be  regenerate,  and 
led  by  the  Spirit),  we  are  egged  on  by  our  natural  concupis 
cence,  and  there  is  ara^ia,  a  confusion  in  our  powers,  *  "  our 
whole  will  is  averse  from  God  and  his  law,"  not  in  natural 
things  only,  as  to  eat  and  drink,  lust,  to  which  we  are  led 
headlong  by  our  temperature  and  inordinate  appetite, 

4  "  Nee  nos  obniti  contra,  nee  tendere  tantfcm 
Sufficimus," 

we  cannot  resist,  our  concupiscence  is  originally  bad,  our 
heart  evil,  the  seat  of  our  affections  captivates  and  enforceth 
our  will.  So  that  in  voluntary  things  we  are  averse  from 
God  and  goodness,  bad  by  nature,  by  6  ignorance  worse,  by 
art,  discipline,  custom,  we  get  many  bad  habits ;  suffering 
them  to  domineer  and  tyrannize  over  us ;  and  the  devil  is 
still  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  be  swayed  and  counterpoised 
again  with  some  divine  precepts,  and  good  motions  of  the 
spirit,  which  many  times  restrain,  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 

1  Melancthon.  Operations  plerumque  "  We  are  neither  able  to  contend  against 

ferae,  etsi  llbera  sit  ilia  in  essentia  sua.  them,  nor  only  to  make  way."          *  Vel 

*  In  rivilibus  libera.  sed  non  in  spiritual!-  propter  ignorantiam,  quod  bonls  etudiit 

bns  Osiander.         *  Tota  voluntaa  a  versa  non  sit  instruct*  mens  ut  debuit,  aut  di 

i  Deo.   Omnla  homo  mendax.         *  Vlrg.  rinis  pneceptis  exculta. 


Mem.  2,  subs.  11.]        Anatomy  of  the  Soul.  223 

and  malice  were  as  two  violent  oppugners  on  the  one  side ; 
but  honesty,  religion,  fear  of  God,  withheld  him  on  the  other. 
The  actions  of  the  will  are  velle  and  nolle,  to  will  and  nill ; 
which  two  words  comprehend  all,  and  they  are  good  or  bad, 
accordingly  as  they  are  directed,  and  some  of  them  freely  per 
formed  by  himself ;  although  the  Stoics  absolutely  deny  it, 
and  will  have  all  things  inevitably  done  by  destiny,  imposing 
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 
gent,  howsoever  in  respect  of  God's  determinate  counsel,  they 
are  inevitable  and  necessary.  Some  other  actions  of  the  will 
are  performed  by  the  inferior  powers,  which  obey  him,  as  the 
sensitive  and  moving  appetite ;  as  to  open  our  eyes,  to  g( 
hither  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  temperance.  It 
was  (as  I  said)  once  well  agreeing  with  reason,  and  there  was 
an  excellent  consent  and  harmony  between  them,  but  that  is 
now  dissolved,  they  often  jar,  reason  is  overborne  by  passion : 
Fertur  equis  auriga,  nee  audit  currus  habenas,  as  so  many 
wild  horses  run  away  with  a  chariot,  and  will  not  be  curbed. 
"^Te  know  many  times  what  is  good,  but  will  not  do  it,  as  she 

said, 

*  "  Trahit  invitum  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, 
2  quce  loqueris,  vera  sunt,  sed  furor  suggerit  sequi  pejora  ;  she 
said  well  and  true,  she  did  acknowledge  it,  but  headstrong 
passion  and  fury  made  her  to  do  that  which  was  opposite. 
So  David  knew  the  filthiness  of  his  fact,  what  a  loathsome, 
foul,  crying  sin  adultery  was,  yet  notwithstanding,  he  would 
commit  murder,  and  take  away  another  man's  wife,  enforced 
against  reason,  religion,  to  follow  his  appetite. 

1  Med.  Ovid.        *  Ovid.       *  Seneca.  Hipp. 


224  Definition  of  Melancholy.         [Part.  I.  sec.  L 

Those  natural  and  vegetal  powers  are  not  commanded  by 
will  at  all ;  for  "  who  can  add  one  cubit  to  his  stature  ? " 
These  other  may,  but  are  not ;  and  thence  come  all  those 
headstrong  passions,  violent  perturbations  of  the  mind ;  and 
many  times  vicious  habits,  customs,  feral  diseases ;  because 
we  give  so  much  way  to  our  appetite,  and  follow  our  inclina 
tion,  like  so  many  beasts.  The  principal  habits  are  two  in 
number,  virtue  and  vice,  whose  peculiar  definitions,  descrip 
tions,  differences,  and  kinds,  are  handled  at  large  in  the  ethics, 
and  are,  indeed,  the  subject  of  moral  philosophy. 


\ 
MEMB.  HI. 


SUBSECT.  I. — Definition  of  Melancholy,  Name,  Difference. 

HAVING  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  men's  capacity;  and 
after  many  ambages,  perspicuously  define  what  this  melan 
choly  is,  show  his  name  and  differences.  The  name  is  im 
posed  from  the  matter,  and  disease  denominated  from  the 
material  cause ;  as  Bruel  observes,  Me^ov^oAta  quasi  Mckuiti 
X.otii,  from  black  choler.  And  whether  it  be  a  cause  or  an 
effect,  a  disease  or  symptom,  let  Donatus  Altomarus  and 
Salvianus  decide ;  I  will  not  contend  about  it.  It  hath 
several  descriptions,  notations,  and  definitions.  l  Fracasto- 
rius,  in  his  second  book  of  intellect,  calls  those  melancholy, 
"  whom  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."  a  Melaneliua 
out  of  Galen,  Ruffus,  JEtius,  describe  it  to  be  "a  bad  and 

1  MeUncholloog  vocamus,  quoa  exube-  rectam  rationem,  yolantatem  pertinent, 

rantia  yel  pravitas  Melancholias  Ita  male  relelectionem,  Tel  Intellect  As  operations*, 

habet,  ut  Inde  inRaniant  Tel  in  omnibus,  *  Pessimum  et  pertinaclsslmum  morbum 

Tel  in  pluribus  usque  manifestls  give  ad  qui  homines  in  bruta  degenerate  cogit. 


Mem.  3,  subs.  1.]       Definition  of  Melancholy.  225 

peevish  disease,  which  makes  men  degenerate  into  beasts : " 
Galen,  "  a  privation  or  infection  of  the  middle  cell  of  the 
head,"  &c.,  defining  it  from  the  part  affected,  which  !  Her 
cules  de  Saxonia  approves,  lib.  1,  cap.  16,  calling  it  "a 
depravation  of  the  principal  function  ;"  Fuschius,  lib.  1,  cap. 
23,  Arnoldus  Breviar.  lib.  1,  cap.  18,  Guianerius,  and  others ; 
"  By  reason  of  black  choler,"  Paulus  adds.  Halyabbas  sim 
ply  calls  it  a  "  commotion  of  the  mind."  Aretaeus,  2  "  a  per 
petual  anguish  of  the  soul,  fastened  on  one  thing,  without  an 
ague  ; "  which  definition  of  his,  Mercurialis  de  affect,  cap.  lib. 
1,  cap.  10,  taxeth ;  but  -5£lianus  Montaltus  defends,  lib.  de 
morb.  cap.  1,  de  Melon,  for  sufficient  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.  7,  art.  medic.,  Jacchinus, 
in  com.  in  lib.  9,  Rhasis  ad  Almansor,  cap.  15.  Valesius 
exerc.  17,  Fuschius,  institut.  3,  sec.  1,  c.  11,  fyc.,  which 
common  definition,  howsoever  approved  by  most,  8  Hercules 
de  SaxoniH,  will  not  allow  of,  nor  David  Crucius,  Theat.  morb. 
Herm.  lib.  2,  cap.  6,  he  holds  it  insufficient;  "as  4 rather 
showing  what  it  is  not,  than  what  it  is ; "  as  omitting  the 
specific  difference,  the  fantasy  and  brain ;  but  I  descend 
to  particulars.  The  summum  genus  is  u  dotage,  or  anguish 
of  the  mind,"  saith  Aretaeus  ;  "  of  the  principal  parts,"  Her 
cules  de  Saxonia  adds,  to  distinguish  it  from  cramp  and  palsy, 
and  such  diseases  as  belong  to  the  outward  sense  and  motions 
[depraved]  *  to  distinguish  it  from  folly  and  madness  (which 
Montaltus  makes  angor  animi,  to  separate)  in  which  those 
functions  are  not  depraved,  but  rather  abolished ;  [without 
an  ague]  is  added  by  all,  to  separate  it  from  frenzy,  and 
that  melancholy  which  is  in  a  pestilent  fever.  (Fear  and 
sorrow)  make  it  differ  from  madness ;  [without  a  cause]  ia 

1  Panth.  med.  *  Angor  anhnl  in  explicat.  *  Animae  functiones  immin- 

una  contentione  deflxus,  abgque  febre.  unntur,  in  fatuitate,  tolluntur  in  ma- 

*  Cap.  16,  1.  1.  *  Eorum  definitio  mor-  nia,  deprarantnr  solura  in  melancholii 

bus  quid  non  sit  potius  quam  quid  sit,  Here,  de  Sax.  cap.  1,  tract,  de  Melanch 

VOL.  i.  15 


226  Of  the  Parts  affected,  $c.         [Part.  i.  sec.  i 

lastly  inserted,  to  specify  it  from  all  other  ordinary  passions 
of  [fear  and  sorrow].  We  properly  call  that  dotage,  as 
1  Laurentius  interprets  it,  "  when  some  one  principal  faculty 
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  putrefac 
tion.  Fear  and  sorrow  are  the  true  characters  and  insep 
arable  companions  of  most  melancholy,  not  all,  as  Her. 
de  Saxonia,  Tract,  de  posthumo  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  grief,  as  hereafter  shall  be  declared. 

SUBSECT.   II. — Of  the   Part  affected.     Affection.     Parties 
affected. 

SOME  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  of  dotage,  it  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  apoplexy,  or  epilepsy,  as 
8  Laurentius  well  observes,  but  in  a  cold,  dry  distemperature 
of  it  in  his  substance,  which  is  corrupt  and  become  too  cold, 
or  too  dry,  or  else  too  hot,  as  in  madmen,  and  such  as  are  in 
clined  to  it ;  and  this  *  Hippocrates  confirms,  Galen,  the  Ara 
bians,  and  most  of  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  sorrow, 
which  are  passions,  be  seated  in  the  heart.  But  this  objection 
is  sufficiently  answered  by  6  Montaltus,  who  doth  not  deny  that 
the  heart  is  affected  (as  *  Melanelius  proves  out  of  Galen)  by 
reason  of  his  vicinity,  and  so  is  the  midriff  and  many  other 

1  Cap.  4,  de  mel.  *  Per  consensual  sive  per  cerebrum  contingat,  et  procerum 

tire  per  essentiam.  *  Cap.  4,  de  mel.  auctoritate  et  ratione  stabilitur.       «  Lib 

1  Sec.  7,  de  mor.  vulgar,  lib.  6.         *  Spi-  de  Mel.    Cor  vero  vicinitatis  ratione  nn4 

eel.  de  melancholia.        5  Cap.  8,  de  mel.  afflcitur,  acceptum  transversum  ac  stem- 

pars  affecta  cerebrum  sire  per  consensual,  achus  cum  dorsali  spina   &c. 


Mem.  3,  subs.  2.]       Of  the  Parts  affected,  fyc.  227 

parts.  They  do  compati,  and  have  a  fellow-feeling  by  the 
law  of  nature;  but  forasmuch  as  this  malady  is  caused  by 
precedent  imagination,  with  the  appetite,  to  whom  spirits 
obey,  and  are  subject  to  those  principal  parts,  the  brain  must 
needs  primarily  be  misaffected,  as  the  seat  of  reason ;  and 
then  the  heart,  as  the  seat  of  affection.  *  Cappivaccius  and 
Mercurialis  have  copiously  discussed  this  question,  and  both 
conclude  the  subject  is  the  inner  brain,  and  from  thence  it  is 
communicated  to  the  heart  and  other  inferior  parts,  which 
sympathize  and  are  much  troubled,  especially  when  it  comes 
by  consent,  and  is  caused  by  reason  of  the  stomach,  or 
myrach,  as  the  Arabians  term  it,  whole  body,  liver,  or 
8  spleen,  which  are  seldom  free,  pylorus,  meseraic  veins,  &c. 
For  our  body  is  like  a  clock,  if  one  wheel  be  amiss,  all  the 
rest  are  disordered ;  the  whole  fabric  suffers ;  with  such 
admirable  art  and  harmony  is  a  man  composed,  such  excel 
lent  proportion,  as  Ludovicus  Vives  in  his  Fable  of  Man 
hath  elegantly  declared. 

As  many  doubts  almost  arise  about  the  8  affection,  whether 
it  be  imagination  or  reason  alone,  or  both,  Hercules  de 
Saxonia  proves  it  out  of  Galen,  JEtius,  and  Altomarus,  that 
the  sole  fault  is  in  4  imagination.  Bruel  is  of  the  same 
mind ;  Montaltus  in  his  2  cap.  of  Melancholy  confutes  this 
tenet  of  theirs,  and  illustrates  the  contrary  by  many  ex 
amples  :  as  of  him  that  thought  himself  a  shell-fish,  of  a  nun, 
and  of  a  desperate  monk  that  would  not  be  persuaded  but 
that  he  was  damned  ;  reason  was  in  fault  as  well  as  imagina 
tion,  which  did  not  correct  this  error ;  they  make  away  them 
selves  oftentimes,  and  suppose  many  absurd  and  ridiculous 
things.  Why  doth  not  reason  detect  the  fallacy,  settle  and 
persuade,  if  she  be  free  ?  6  Avicenna  therefore  holds  both 
corrupt,  to  whom  most  Arabians  subscribe.  The  same  is 
maintained  by  *  Areteus,  7  Gorgonius,  Guianerius,  &c.  To 

1  Lib.  1,  cap.  10.     Suhjectum  eat  cere-  nandi,   non    cogitandi,   nee    metnorandi 

brnm  interius.          2  Raro  quisquam  tu-  laesa  hie.  5  Lib.  3,  Fen.  1,  Tract.  4, 

morem    effugit    lienis,    qui    hoc    morbo  cap.  8.        •  Lib.  3,  cap.  5.        7  Lib  MeA 

nfficitur,  Plan.    Quis  affectus.  a  See  cap.  19,  part.  2,  Trac.  16,  cap  2. 

Donat.  ab  A]  tomar.        *  Facultas  imagi- 


228  Of  the  Parts  affected,  $c.         [Part.  1.  sec.  1 

end  the  controversy,  no  man  doubts  of  imagination,  but  that 
it  is  hurt  and  misaffected  here  ;  for  the  other,  I  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  more  or  less  of  continuance ;  but  by 
accident,"  as  *  Her.  de  Saxonia  adds ;  "  faith,  opinion,  dis 
course,  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  else 
where,  now  only  signified.  Such  as  have  the  moon,  Saturn, 
Mercury  misaffected  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-natural  things,  are  black, 
or  of  a  high  sanguine  complexion,  8  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  subject  to  melancholy.  Of  sexes  both,  but 
men  more  often ;  yet  *  women  misaffected  are  far  more 
violent,  and  grievously  troubled.  Of  seasons  of  the  year,  the 
autumn  is  most  melancholy.  Of  peculiar  tunes :  old  age,  from 
which  natural  melancholy  is  almost  an  inseparable  accident ; 
but  this  artificial  malady  is  more  frequent  in  such  as  are  of 
a  4  middle  age.  Some  assign  forty  years,  Gariopontus  thirty. 
Jubertus  excepts  neither  young  nor  old  from  this  adven 
titious.  Daniel  Sennertus  involves  all  of  all  sorts,  out  of 
common  experience,  6in  omnibus  omnino  corporibus  cujus- 
cunque  constitutioms  dominatur.  JEtius  and  Aretius  f  ascribe 
into  the  number  "  not  only  "  discontented,  passionate,  and 
miserable  persons,  swarthy,  black ;  but  such  as  are  most 

1  HiMesheim  gpicel.  2,  de  Melano.  fol.  *  Aretetu,  lib.  3,  cap.  6.          4  Qui  prop* 

307,  et  fol.  127.     Quandoque  etiam  ra-  gtatum   sunt.      Aret.      Mediis  conrenit 

tlonalis  si  affectus  inyeteratus  sit.     *  Lib.  aetatibus,    Piso.  '  De    quartano. 

pOBthumo  de  Melanc.  edit.  1020,  cleprira-  f  Lib.    1,  part.  2,  cap.  11.        •  Primui 

tor   fides,    discursus,    opinio,   &c.,  per  ad  Melancholiam  non  tarn  moestug  Bed 

fttium    Iraaginationig,    ez    Accident!. —  et  hilaree,  jocosi,  cachinnantes,  irriaorvs 

1  Qui   parvuin  c&put  habent,  inaensatl  et,  qui  plerumque  praerubri  aunt, 
sunt.    Arist.  in  physiognomic. 


Mem.  3,  subs.  8.J          Matter  of  Melancholy.  229 

merry  and  pleasant,  scoffers,  and  high  coloured."  "  Gener 
ally,"  saith  Rhasis,  * "  the  finest  wits  and  most  generous 
spirits,  are  before  other  obnoxious  to  it ; "  I  cannot  except 
any  complexion,  any  condition,  sex,  or  age,  but  2  fools  and 
Stoics,  which,  according  to  8  Synesius,  are  never  troubled 
with  any  manner  of  passion,  but  as  Anacreon's  cicada,  sine 
sanguine  et  dolore  ;  similes  fere  diis  sunt.  Erasmus  vindi 
cates  fools  from  this  melancholy  catalogue,  because  they  have 
most  part  moist  brains  and  light  hearts ;  *  they  are  free  from 
ambition,  envy,  shame  and  fear ;  they  are  neither  troubled  in 
conscience,  nor  macerated  with  cares,  to  which  our  whole  life 
is  most  subject. 

SUBSECT.  III. — Of  the  Matter  of  Melancholy. 

OF  the  matter  of  melancholy,  there  is  much  question  be 
twixt  Avicen  and  Galen,  as  you  may  read  in  6  Cardan's 
Contradictions,  8  Valesius's  Controversies,  Montanus,  Prosper 
Calenus,  Cappivaccius,  *  Bright,  8  Ficinus,  that  have  written 
either  whole  tracts,  or  copiously  of  it,  in  their  several  trea 
tises  of  this  subject.  *  "  What  this  humour  is,  or  whence  it 
proceeds,  how  it  is  engendered  in  the  body,  neither  Galen, 
nor  any  old  writer,  hath  sufficiently  discussed,  as  Jacchinus 
thinks  ;  the  Neoterics  cannot  agree.  Montanus,  in  his  Con 
sultations,  holds  melancholy  to  be  material  or  immaterial ;  and 
so  doth  Arculanus  ;  the  material  is  one  of  the  four  humours 
before  mentioned,  and  natural.  The  immaterial  or  adventi 
tious,  acquisite,  redundant,  unnatural,  artificial ;  which  *  Her 
cules  de  Saxonia  will  have  reside  in  the  spirits  alone,  and  to 
proceed  from  a  "  hot,  cold,  dry,  moist  distemperature,  which, 

1  Qui  aunt  subtilis  ingenii,  et  multse  sanit  tuenda.  •  Quisve  aut  qualis  sit 

perspicacitatis  de  facili  incidunt  in  Mel-  humor,  aut  quae  istius  differentiae  et  quo- 

ancholiain,  lib.  1,  cont.  Tract.  9.  modo  gignantur  in  corpore,  scrutandum, 

*  Nunqufira  sanitate  mentis  excidit  aut  hie  enira  re  multi  veterum  laboraverunt, 

dolore  capitur.  Erasm  8  In  laud,  nee  facile  accipere  ex  Galeno  sententiam 

oaivit.  *  Vacant  conscientue  carnifi-  ob  loquendl  varietatem.  Leon.  Jacch. 

eina,  nee  pudeflunt,  nee  verentur,  nee  com.  in  9,  Rhasis  cap.  15,  cap.  16,  in  9, 

dilaeerantur  millibua  curarum,  quibus  Rhasis.  *  Lib.  posthum.  de  Melan. 

totavitaobnoxiaest.  «  Lib.  1,  tract.  3,  edit.  Venetiis  1620,  cap.  7  et  8.  Ab  iu 

contradic.  18.  •  Lib.  1,  cont.  21.  temperie  calida,  humida,  &c. 

Bright,  cs.  16  8  Lib.  1,  cap.  6,  de 


230  Matter  of  Melancholy  [Part.  I.  sec.  1 

without  matter,  alter  the  brain  and  functions  of  it.  Para 
celsus  wholly  rejects  and  derides  this  division  of  four  hu 
mours  and  complexions,  but  our  Galenists  generally  approve 
of  it,  subscribing  to  this  opinion  of  Montanus. 

This  material  melancholy  is  either  simple  or  mixed;  of 
fending  in  quantity  or  quality,  varying  according  to  his  place, 
where  it  settleth,  as  brain,  spleen,  meseraic  veins,  heart, 
womb,  and  stomach ;  or  differing  according  to  the  mixture 
of  those  natural  humours  amongst  themselves,  or  four  unnat 
ural  adust  humours,  as  they  are  diversely  tempered  and 
mingled.  If  natural  melancholy  abound  in  the  body,  which 
is  cold  and  dry,  "  so  that  it  be  more  l  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  of  choler  adust,  or  from 
blood,  produceth  the  like  effects,  and  is,  as  Montaltus  con 
tends,  if  it  come  by  adustion  of  humours,  most  part  hot  and 
dry.  Some  difference  I  find,  whether  this  melancholy  mat 
ter  may  be  engendered  of  all  four  humours,  about  the  colour 
and  temper  of  it.  Galen  holds  it  may  be  engendered  of 
three  alone,  excluding  phlegm,  or  pituita,  whose  true  asser 
tion  aValesius  and  Menardus  stiffly  maintain,  and  so  doth 
8  Fuschius,  Montaltus,  *  Montanus.  How  (say  they)  can 
white  become  black  ?  But  Hercules  de  Saxonia,  lib.  post,  de 
mcla.  c.  8,  and  6  Cardan  are  of  the  opposite  part  (it  may  be 
engendered  of  phlegm,  etsi  raro  contingat,  though  it  seldom 
come  to  pass),  so  is  6  Guianerius  and  Laurentius,  c.  1,  with 
Melanct  in  his  Book  de  Anima,  and  Chap,  of  Humours ;  he 
calls  it  Asininam,  dull,  swinish  melancholy,  and  saith  that  he 
was  an  eye-witness  of  it ;  so  is  7  Wecker.  From  melancholy 
adust  ariseth  one  kind ;  from  choler  another,  which  is  most 
brutish ;  another  from  phlegm,  which  is  dull ;  and  the  last 
from  blood,  which  is  best.  Of  these  some  are  cold  and  dry, 

1  Secundum  magis  aut  minus  si  in  cor-  «  Concil.  26.      6  Lib.  2,  comradic.  cap.  11 

pore  fuerit,  ad  intemperieni   plusquam  •  De  feb.  tract,  diff.  2.  cap.  1,  MOM  est  ne> 

corpus  galubriter  ferre  poterit :  inde  cor-  gandum    ex    hac    fieri     Melancholico* 

pus  morbosum  effltur.  >  Lib.  1,  con-  1  In  Syntax, 

troyers.  cap. 21.      »  Lib.  1,  sect.  4,  cap.  4. 


Mem.  3.  subs.  4.]         Species  of  Melancholy.  231 

others  hot  and  dry,  1  varying  according  to  their  mixtures,  as 
they  are  intended,  and  remitted.  And  indeed  as  Rodericug 
a  Fons.  cons.  12,  1,  determines,  ichors,  and  those  serous  mat 
ters  being  thickened  become  phlegm,  and  phlegm  degenerates 
into  choler,  choler  adust  becomes  aruginosa  melancholia,  as 
vinegar  out  of  purest  wine  putrefied  or  by  exhalation  of  purer 
Bpirits  is  so  made,  and  becomes  sour  and  sharp ;  and  from  the 
sharpness  of  this  humour  proceeds  much  waking,  troublesome 
thoughts  and  dreams,  &c.,  so  that  I  conclude  as  before.  If 
the  humour  be  cold,  it  is,  saith  2  Faventinus,  "  a  cause  of 
dotage,  and  produceth  milder  symptoms  ;  if  hot,  they  are 
rash,  raving  mad,  or  inclining  to  it."  If  the  brain  be  hot, 
the  animal  spirits  are  hot ;  much  madness  follows,  with  vio 
lent  actions  ;  if  cold,  fatuity  and  sottishness,  8  Cappivaccius. 
4  "  The  colour  of  this  mixture  varies  likewise  according  to 
the  mixture,  be  it  hot  or  cold ;  'tis  sometimes  black,  some 
times  not,  Altomarus.  The  same  5  Melanelius  proves  out  of 
Galen ;  and  Hippocrates  in  his  Book  of  Melancholy  (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  6  body,  and 
not  putrefied,  it  causeth  black  jaundice  ;  if  putrefied,  a  quar 
tan  ague ;  if  it  break  out  to  the  skin,  leprosy ;  if  to  parts, 
several  maladies,  as  scurvy,  &c.  If  it  trouble  the  mind,  as 
it  is  diversely  mixed,  it  produceth  several  kinds  of  madness 
and  dotage  ;  of  which  in  their  place. 

SUBSECT.  IV. —  Of  the  species  or  kinds  of  Melancholy. 

WHEN  the  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 

1  Varie    aduritur,   et    miscefrur,  unde  prseter  modum  calefactus,  et  alias  refrige- 

Tarise  amentium  species,  Melanct.     2  Hu-  ratus  evadit :  naiu  reoentibus  carbor.ibua 

mor  frigidus  delirii  causa,  furoris  calidus,  ei  quid  simile  accidit,  qui  durante  ilain- 

&c.        3  Lib.  1,  cap.  10.  de  affect,  cap.  ma  pellucidissime  candent,  ei  extinct* 

*  Nittrescit  hie  humor,  aliquando  super-  prorsus     nigrescunt.      Hippocrates, 

calefactus,    aliquando    superfrigefactus,  6  Guianerius,  cliff.  2,  cap.  7 
ca.  7*        "  Humor  hie  niger  aliquando 


232  Species  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  1.  see.  1 

of  it,  confounding  melancholy  and  madness,  as  1  Heurnius, 
Guianerius,  Gordonius,  Salustius,  Salvianus,  Jason  Praten- 
sis,  Savanarola,  that  will  have  madness  no  other  than  melan 
choly  in  extent,  differing  (as  I  have  said)  in  degrees.  Some 
make  two  distinct  species,  as  Ruffus  Ephesius,  an  old  writer, 
Constantinus  Africanus,  Aretaeus,  2  Aurelianus,  8  Paulus  JEgi- 
neta ;  others  acknowledge  a  multitude  of  kinds,  and  leave 
them  indefinite,  as  JEtius  in  his  Tetrabiblos,  4Avicenna,  lib. 
3,  Fen.  1,  Tract.  4,  cap.  18.  Arculanus,  cap.  16,  in  9.  Rasis, 
Montanus,  med.  part.  1.  8  "  If  natural  melancholy  be  adust, 
it  maketh  one  kind ;  if  blood,  another ;  if  choler,  a  third,  dif 
fering  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  from  humours  and  spirits." 
Savanarola,  Rub.  11,  Tract.  6,  cap.  1,  de  cegritud.  capitis, 
will  have  the  kinds  to  be  infinite ;  one  from  the  myrach, 
called  myrachialis  of  the  Arabians ;  another  stomachalis, 
from  the  stomach ;  another  from  the  liver,  heart,  womb, 
hemrods  ;  fl  "  one  beginning,  another  consummate."  Melanc- 
thon  seconds  him,  T "  as  the  humour  is  diversely  adust  and 
mixed,  so  are  the  species  divers ; "  but  what  these  men  speak 
of  species  I  think  ought  to  be  understood  of  symptoms,  and  so 
doth  8  Arculanus  interpret  himself;  infinite  species,  id  est, 
symptoms ;  and  in  that  sense,  as  Jo.  Gorrheus  acknowledged 
in  his  medicinal  definitions,  the  species  are  infinite,  but  they 
may  be  reduced  to  three  kinds  by  reason  of  their  seat ;  head, 
body,  and  hypochondries.  This  threefold  division  is  approved 
by  Hippocrates  in  his  Book  of  Melancholy,  (if  it  be  hiis,  which 
some  suspect,)  by  Galen,  lib.  3,  de  loc.  ajfectis,  cap.  6,  by 
Alexander,  lib.  1,  cap.  16,  Rasis,  lib.  1,  Continent.  Tract.  9, 
Kb.  1,  cap.  16,  Avicenna,  and  most  of  our  new  writers.  Th. 

1  Non  est  mania,  nisi  extensa  melan-  et  tot  Doctorum  sententise,  quot  ipsi  nu- 

oholia.         *  Cap.  6.  lib.  1.         32Ser.  2.  mero  sunt.        *  Tract,  de  mel.  cap.  7. 

cap.    9.      Morbus    hie   est   omnifariua.  •  Quscdam  incipiens  quaedam   consum 

*  Species  indefinite  sunt.          6  Si  adura-  mata.        '  Cap.  de  humor,  lib.  de  anima. 

tur  naturalis  melancholia,  alia  fit  specie*,  varie  adnrltur  et  tniscetur  ipsa  uielan- 

•i  sanguia  alia,  ei  flavabilis  alia,  diversa  &  cholia,   unde    variaa   amentium   specie*, 

primls :  nmTima.  est  inter  has  differentia,  *  Cap.  16,  In  9  Basis. 


Mem.  3  subs.  4.]         Species  of  Melancholy.  238 

Erastus  makes  two  kinds ;  one  perpetual,  which  is  head  mel 
ancholy  ;  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  again  make  four  or  five  kinds, 
with  Rodericus  a  Castro,  de  morbis  mulier.  lib.  2,  cap.  3,  and 
Lod.  Mercatus,  who,  in  his  second  book  de  mulier.  affect, 
cap.  4,  will  have  that  melancholy  of  nuns,  widows,  and  more 
ancient  maids,  to  be  a  peculiar  species  of  melancholy  differing 
from  the  rest ;  some  will  reduce  enthusiasts,  ecstatical  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  sympa 
thetically  proceeds  from  the  whole  body,  when  the  whole  tem 
perature  is  melancholy ;  the  third  ariseth  from  the  bowels, 
liver,  spleen,  or  membrane,  called  mesenterium,  named  hypo- 
chondriacal  or  windy  melancholy,  which  2  Laurentius  sub 
divides  into  three  parts,  from  those  three  members,  hepatic, 
splenetic,  meseraic.  Love  melancholy,  which  Avicenna  calls 
Ilisha ;  and  Lycanthropia,  which  he  calls  cucubuthe,  are  com 
monly  included  in  head  melancholy ;  but  of  this  last,  which 
Gerardus  de  Solo  calls  amoreus,  and  most  knight  melancholy, 
with  that  of  religious  melancholy,  virginum  et  viduarum,  main 
tained  by  Rod.  k  Castro  and  Mercatus,  and  the  other  kinds 
of  love  melancholy,  I  will  speak  of  apart  by  themselves  in 
my  third  partition.  The  three  precedent  species  are  the 
subject  of  my  present  discourse,  which  I  will  anatomize  and 
treat  of  through  all  their  causes,  symptoms,  cures,  together 
and  apart ;  that  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,  I  confess,  to  distinguish  these  three 
species  one  from  the  other,  to  express  their  several  causes, 
symptoms,  cures,  being  that  they  are  so  often  confounded 
amongst  themselves,  having  such  affinity,  that  they  can 

1  Laurentius,  cap.  4,  de  mel.  *  Cap.  18 


234  Species  of  Melancholy.  fPart.  I.  sec.  1 

scarce  be  discerned  by  the  most  accurate  physicians;  and 
so  often  intermixed  with  other  diseases  that  the  best  ex 
perienced  have  been  plunged.  Montanus  consil.  26,  names  a 
patient  that  had  this  disease  of  melancholy  and  caninus  appe- 
titus  both  together ;  and  consil.  23,  with  vertigo,  l  Julius  Cae 
sar  Claudinus,  with  stone,  gout,  jaundice.  Trincavellius  with 
an  ague,  jaundice,  caninus  appetitus,  &c.  a  Paulus  Regoline, 
a  great  doctor  in  his  time,  consulted  in  this  case,  was  so  con 
founded  with  a  confusion  of  symptoms,  that  he  knew  not  to 
what  kind  of  melancholy  to  refer  it  *  Trincavellius,  Fallo- 
pius,  and  Francanzanus,  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  what  he  thought  of  a  melancholy  young  man  to 
whom  he  was  sent  for,  ingenuously  confessed  that  he  was 
indeed  melancholy,  but  he  knew  not  to  what  kind  to  reduce 
it  In  his  seventeenth  consultation  there  is  the  like  disagree 
ment  about  a  melancholy  monk.  Those  symptoms,  which 
others  ascribe  to  misaffected  parts  and  humours,  *  Here,  de 
Saxonia  attributes  wholly  to  distempered  spirits,  and  those 
immaterial,  as  I  have  said.  Sometimes  they  cannot  well  dis 
cern  this  disease  from  others.  In  Reinerus  Solinander's 
counsels,  (Sect,  consil.  5,)  he  and  Dr.  Brande  both  agreed, 
that  the  patient's  disease  was  hypochondriacal  melancholy. 
Dr.  Matholdus  said  it  was  asthma,  and  nothing  else.  4  Soli- 
nander  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  con 
founded,  as  in  Caesar  Claudinus,  his  forty-fourth  consultation 
for  a  Polonian  Count,  in  his  judgment  6  "  he  laboured  of  head 
melancholy,  and  that  which  proceeds  from  the  whole  temper 
ature  both  at  once."  I  could  give  instance  of  some  that  have 
had  all  three  kinds  semel  et  simul,  and  some  successively.  So 
that  I  conclude  of  our  melancholy  species,  as  f  many  politicians 

l  480    et    116,    consult,    consil.     12.    18,  tract,  posth.  de  melan.        *  Guarion 
*  Hlldesheim,  npieel.  2,  fol.  166.      3  Trin-    cons.  med.  2.  5  Laboravit  per  essen 

cayellius  torn.  2,  consil.  15  et  16.      *  Cap.    tiam  et  a  toto  corpora.  t  Machiarel 


Jfem.  n,  subs.  1.]  Causes  of  Melancholy.  235 

do  o(  their  pure  forms  of  commonwealths,  monarchies,  aris 
tocracies,  democracies,  are  most  famous  in  contemplation,  but 
i  a  practice  they  are  temperate  and  usually  mixed,  (so  *  Po- 
lybius  informeth  us,)  as  the  Lacedemonian,  the  Roman  of  old, 
German  now,  and  many  others.  What  physicians  say  of  dis 
tinct  species  in  their  books  it  much  matters  not,  since  that  in 
their  patients'  bodies  they  are  commonly  mixed.  In  such  ob 
scurity,  therefore,  variety  and  confused  mixture  of  symptoms, 
causes,  how  difficult  a  thing  is  it  to  treat  of  several  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 
will  adventure  through  the  midst  of  these  perplexities,  and, 
led  by  the  clue  or  thread  of  the  best  writers,  extricate  my 
self  out  of  a  labyrinth  of  doubts  and  errors,  and  so  proceed 
to  the  causes. 


SECT.  II.     MEMB.  I. 

SUBSECT.  I. — Causes  of  Melancholy.     God  a  cause. 

11  IT  is  in  vain  to  speak  of  cures,  or  think  of  remedies, 
until  such  time  as  we  have  considered  of  the  causes,"  so 
1  Galen  prescribes  Glauco ;  and  the  common  experience  of 
others  confirms  that  those  cures  must  be  imperfect,  lame, 
and  to  no  purpose,  wherein  the  causes  have  not  first  been 
searched,  as  2  Prosper  Calenius  well  observes  in  his  tract  de 
atra  bile  to  Cardinal  Caesius.  Insomuch  that  8  "  Fernelius  puts 
a  kind  of  necessity  in  the  knowledge  of  the  causes,  and  without 
which  it  is  impossible  to  cure  or  prevent  any  manner  of  dis 
ease."  Empirics  may  ease,  and  sometimes  help,  but  not  thor- 

&c.,  Smithus  de  rep.  Angl.  cap.  8,  lib.  1.  hortari  yidetur,  nam  alioqui  earum  cura- 

Buscoldus  discur.  polit.  discurs.  5.  cap.  7.  tio  manca  et  inutilis  esset.       3  Path.  lib. 

Arist.   1.  3,   polit.   cap.  ult.     Keckerm.  1,  cap.   11.     Rerum  cognoseere  causas 

alii,  &c.          *  Lib.  6.          J  Primo  artia  medicis  imprimis  necessarium,  sine  qua 

curativw.        2  Nostri  primum  sit  propos-  nee  morbum  curare,  nee  praecavere  lio»t 
it)  affectionum  causas  indagare ;  res  ipsa 


236  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  1.1  *eBB" 

oughly  root  out ;  suttatd  causa  tollitur  ejfectus,  as  the  saJ, 
is,  if  the  cause  be  removed,  the  effect  is  likewise  vanquish 
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.     a  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,  general  and  particular, 
to  every  species,  that  so  they  may  the  better  be  descried. 

General  causes  are  either  supernatural  or  natural.  "  Su 
pernatural  are  from  God  and  his  angels,  or  by  God's  per 
mission  from  the  devil "  and  his  ministers.  That  God  him 
self  is  a  cause  for  the  punishment  of  sin,  and  satisfaction  of 
his  justice,  many  examples  and  testimonies  of  holy  Scriptures 
make  evident  unto  us,  Ps.  cvii.  17.  "Foolish  men  are 
plagued  for  their  offence,  and  by  reason  of  their  wickedness." 
Gehazi  was  strucken  with  leprosy,  2  Reg.  v.  27.  Jehoram 
with  dysentery  and  flux,  and  great  diseases  of  the  bowels,  2 
Chron.  xxi.  15  David  plagued  for  numbering  his  people, 
1  Par.  21.  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  swallowed  up.  And  this 
disease  is  peculiarly  specified,  Psalm  cxxvii.  12.  "  He 
brought  down  their  heart  through  heaviness."  Deut.  xxviii. 
28.  "  He  struck  them  with  madness,  blindness,  and  aston 
ishment  of  heart."  8 "  An  evil  spirit  was  sent  by  the  Lord 
upon  Saul,  to  vex  him."  4  Nebuchadnezzar  did  eat  grass 
like  an  ox,  and  his  "  heart  was  made  like  the  beasts  of  the 
field."  Heathen  stories  are  full  of  such  punishments.  Ly- 
curgus,  because  he  cut  down  the  vines  in  the  country,  was 
by  Bacchus  driven  into  madness ;  so  was  Pentheus  and  his 
mother  Agave  for  neglecting  their  sacrifice.  6  Censor  Fulvius 
ran  mad  for  untiling  Juno's  temple,  to  cover  a  new  one  of  his 
own,  which  he  had  dedicated  to  Fortune,  8 "  and  was  con 
founded  to  death,  with  grief  and  sorrow  of  heart"  When 
Xerxes  would  have  spoiled  *  Apollo's  temple  at  Delphos  of 

1  Tanta  eniin  morbi  varietas  ac  dlffe-  cap.  8.  «  Mente  captus,  et  summo  ani- 

rentia,  ut  non  facile  dignoscatur  unde  mi  moerore  consumptus.  *  Minister 

initiuin  morbus  sumpserit.  Melaneliuf?  e  cosmog.  lib.  4.  cap.  43,  de  ccelo  substerne- 

Galeno.  «  Felix  qui  potuit  rerum  cog-  bantur,  tanquam  insani  de  saxis  pnecipi 

•oscere  causa*.  3 1  Sum.  xvi.  14.  tail,  &c. 

Dan.  y.  21  *  Lactant.  instit.  lib.  2. 


.tfem.  l,  subs.  1.]          Causes  of  Melancholy.  237 

those  infinite  riches  it  possessed,  a  terrible  thunder  came  from 
heaven  and  struck  four  thousand  men  dead,  the  rest  ran  mad. 
1 A  little  after,  the  like  happened  to  Brennus,  lightning,  thun 
der,  earthquakes,  upon  such  a  sacrilegious  occasion.  If  we 
may  believe  our  pontifical  writers,  they  will  relate  unto  us 
many  strange  and  prodigious  punishments  in  this  kind,  in 
flicted  by  their  saints.  How  *Clodoveus,  sometime  King  of 
France,  the  son  of  Dagobert,  lost  his  wits  for  uncovering  the 
body  of  St.  Denis  j  and  how  a  '  sacrilegious  Frenchman,  that 
would  have  stolen  a  silver  image  of  St.  John,  at  Birgburge, 
became  frantic  on  a  sudden,  raging,  and  tyrannizing  over  his 
own  flesh  ;  of  a  8  Lord  of  Rhadnor,  that  coming  from  hunt 
ing  late  at  night,  put  his  dogs  into  St.  Avan's  church,  (Llan 
Avan  they  called  it),  and  rising  betimes  next  morning,  as 
hunters  use  to  do,  found  all  his  dogs  mad,  himself  being  sud 
denly  stricken  blind.  Of  Tyridates,  an  4Armenian  king,  for 
violating  some  holy  nuns,  that  was  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  feign  of  their  Nemesis,  and  of  their  saints,  or  by  the 
devil's  means  may  be  deluded ;  we  find  it  true,  that  utior  a 
tergo  Deus,  6  "  He  is  God  the  avenger,"  as  David  styles  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) 
whom  he  will ;  that  he  can  plague  us  by  his  creatures,  sun, 
moon,  and  stars,  which  he  useth  as  his  instruments,  as  a  hus 
bandman  (saith  Zanchius)  doth  a  hatchet ;  hail,  snow,  winds, 
&c.  7 "  Et  conjurati  veniunt  in  classica  venti ; "  as  in 
Joshua's  time,  as  in  Pharaoh's  reign  in  Egypt ;  they  are  but 
as  so  many  executioners  of  his  justice.  He  can  make  the 
proudest  spirits  stoop,  and  cry  out  with  Julian  the  apostate, 

1  Llylus,  lib.  38.        *  Gaguin.  1.  3,  e.  4,  mora  sacrilegua  mentis  inops,  atqne  i» 

quod  Dionysii  corpus  discooperuerat,  in  semet  insaniens  in  proprios  artus  dessevit 

insaniam  incldit.          *  Idem,  lib.  9,  sub.  *  Giraldus  Cambrensia  lib.  1,  c.  1,  Itinerar 

Carol.  6,   saerorum  contemptor,   tempi!  Cambriae.        4  Delrio,  torn.  3,  lib.  6,  sect 

foribos  effractis,  dam  D.  Johannis  argen-  3,  quaest.  3.         5  Psal.  xliv.  1.         «  Lib 

team  simulacrum  rapere  contendit,  simu-  8.  cap.  de  Hierar.        7  Claudian. 
lacrum  arersi  facie  dorsom  ei  rersat,  nee 


238  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Pait.  I.  sec.  1 

Vicisli,  Galilcee  ;  or  with  Apollo's  priest  in  *  Chrysostom,  0 
ccelun.  !  6  terra  !  unde  hostis  hie  ?  What  an  enemy  is  this  ? 
And  pray  with  David,  acknowledging  his  power,  "  I  am 
weakened  and  sore  broken,  I  roar  for  the  grief 'of  mine 
heart,  mine  heart  panteth,"  &c.,  Psalm  xxxviii.  8.  "  0 
Lord  rebuke  me  not  in  thine  anger,  neither  chastise  me 
in  thy  wrath,"  Psalm  xxxviii.  1.  "Make  me  to  hear 
joy  and  gladness,  that  the  bones  which  thou  hast  broken, 
may  rejoice,"  Psalm  li.  8 ;  and  verse  12,  "  Restore  to 
me  the  joy  of  thy  salvation,  and  stablish  me  with  thy  free 
spirit."  For  these  causes  belike  a  Hippocrates  would  have  a 
physician  take  special  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  de  sacr.  philos.  cap.  8.  *  Fernelius,  and  4  J.  Caesar 
Claudinus,  to  whom  I  refer  you,  how  this  place  of  Hippoc 
rates  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  (we  must 
not  struggle  with  God).  "When  that  monster-taming  Her 
cules  overcame  all  in  the  Olympics,  Jupiter  at  last  in  an 
unknown  shape  wrestled  with  him ;  the  victory  was  uncer 
tain,  till  at  length  Jupiter  descried  himself,  and  Hercules 
yielded.  No  striving  with  supreme  powers.  Nil  juvat  im- 
mensos  Cratero  promittere  monies,  physicians  and  physic  can 
do  no  good,*  "  we  must  submit  ourselves  unto  the  mighty 
hand  of  God,"  acknowledge  our  offences,  call  to  him  for 
mercy.  If  he  strike  us,  una  eademque  mantis  vulnus  opem- 
gueferet,  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. 

i  De  Babilft  Martyre.         »  Lib.  cap.  5,    ris.         *  Respons.  med.  12,  reap.         •  1 
prog          (  Lib.  1,  de  Abditig  rerun  can-    P«t.  T.  6. 


Mem  1,  subs.  2.]  Nature  of  Devils.  239 

SUBSECT.  II. — A  Digression  of  the  nature  of  Spirits,  bad 

Angels,  or  Devils,  and  how  they  cause  Melancholy. 
How  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,  I  will  make  a  brief  digression  of  the  nature 
of  spirits.  And  although  the  question  be  very  obscure,  ac 
cording  to  *  Postellus, "  full  of  controversy  and  ambiguity," 
beyond  the  reach  of  human  capacity,  fateor  excedere  vires 
intentionis  mece,  saith  *  Austin,  I  confess  I  am  not  able  to 
understand  \i,finitum  de  infinito  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,  Fracastoriana  and  Ferneliana  acies,  are 
weak,  dry,  obscure,  defective  in  these  mysteries,  and  all  our 
quickest  wits,  as  an  owl's  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  xxiii.,  the  Sadducees  denied  that 
there  were  any  such  spirits,  devils,  or  angels.  So  did  Galen 
the  physician,  the  Peripatetics,  even  Aristotle  himself,  as 
Pomponatius  stoutly  maintains,  and  Scaliger  in  some  sort 
grants.  Though  Dandinus  the  Jesuit,  com.  in  lib.  2,  de 
animd,  stiffly  denies  it ;  substantice  separatee  and  intelligences, 
are  the  same  which  Christians  call  angels,  and  Platonists 
devils,  for  they  name  all  the  spirits,  dcemones,  be  they  good 
or  bad  angels,  as  Julius  Pollux  Onomasticon,  lib.  1,  cap.  1, 
observes.  Epicures  and  atheists  are  of  the  same  mind  in 
general,  because  they  never  saw  them.  Plato,  Plotinus, 
Porphyrius,  Jamblichus,  Proclus,  insisting  in  the  steps  of 
Trismegistus,  Pythagoras  and  Socrates,  make  no  doubt  of  it ; 
nor  Stoics,  but  that  there  are  such  spirits,  though  much 
erring  from  the  truth.  Concerning  the  first  beginning  of 

1  Lib.  1,  c.  7,  de  orbis  concordia.     In    quira  de  daemombus  et  substantiis  s«p 
nulia  re  major  fait  altercatio,  major  ob-    aratis.        *  Lib.  3.  de  Trinit.  cap.  1 
•nnritas,    minor  opinionnm    concordia, 


240  Nature  of  Devils.  [Part.  I.  sec.  X 

them,  the  J  Talmudists  say  that  Adam  had  a  wife  called  Lilis, 
before  he  married  Eve,  and  of  her  he  begat  nothing  but  devils. 
The  Turks'  2  Alcoran  is  altogether  as  absurd  and  ridiculous 
in  this  point ;  but  the  Scripture  informs  us  Christians,  how 
Lucifer,  the  chief  of  them,  with  his  associates,  "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  de 
livered  into  chains  of  darkness  (2  Pet.  ii.  4),  to  be  kept  unto 
damnation." 

Nature  of  Devils."]  There  is  a  foolish  opinion  which  some 
hold,  that  they  are  the  souls  of  men  departed,  good  and  more 
noble  were  deified,  the  baser  grovelled  on  the  ground,  or  in 
the  lower  parts,  and  were  devils,  the  which  with  Tertullian, 
Porphyrius  the  philosopher,  M.  Tyrius  ser.  27  maintains. 
"  These  spirits,"  he  *  saith,  "  which  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  them, 
or  else  persecute  their  enemies,  whom  they  hated,"  as  Dido 
threatened  to  persecute  ^Eneas  : 

"  Omnibus  umbra  locis  adero :  dabis,  improbe,  poenas." 

"  My  angry  ghost  arising  from  the  deep, 
Shall  haunt  thee  waking,  and  disturb  thy  sleep ; 
At  least  my  shade  thy  punishment  shall  know, 
And  Fame  shall  spread  the  pleasing  news  below." 

They  are  (as  others  suppose)  appointed  by  those  higher 
powers  to  keep  men  from  their  nativity,  and  to  protect  or 
punish  them  as  they  see  cause ;  and  are  called  boni  et  mail 
Genii  by  the  Romans.  Heroes,  lares,  if  good,  lemures  or 
larvae  if  bad,  by  the  Stoics,  governors  of  countries,  men, 
cities,  saith  f  Apuleius,  Deos  appellant  qui  ex  hominum  nu- 
mero  juste  ac  prudenter  vitee  curriculo  gubemato,  pro  numine, 

1  Pererius  In  Generin,  lib.  4,  In  cap.  3,  pore   deposito  prlorem    mtserati  vitam, 

r.  28.    *  See  Strozzius  Cicogna  omnifarte.  cognatis  guccurrunt  commoti  misericor- 

Mag.  lib.  2,  c.  15.    Jo.  Aubanus,  Breden-  dia,  &c.        t  De  Deo  Socratis.    All  those 

bachiug            3  Angelas  per  superblam  mortals  are  called  gods,  who,  the  course 

tcpnratus    it    Deo,  qui  In   veritate   non  of  life  being  prudently  guided  and  gor- 

-h-tit.      Austin.          *  Nihil  aliud  sunt  erned,  are  honored  by  men  with  temple* 

Deeniones  quain  nudse  animae  qua)  cor-  and  sacrifices,  as  Osiris  in  -*gypt,  fcc. 


Mem.  1,  subs,  a.j  Nature  of  Devils.  24i 

postea  ab  hominibus  prcediti  fanis  et  ceremoniis  vulgd  admit- 
tuntur,  ut  in  ^Egypto  Osyris,  Sfc,  Praestites,  Capella  calls 
them,  "  which  protected  particular  men  as  well  as  princes  : " 
Socrates  had  his  Dcemonium  Saturninum  et  ignium,  which 
of  all  spirits  is  best,  ad  sublimes  cogitationes  animum  eri- 
gentem,  as  the  Platonists  supposed ;  Plotinus  his,  and  we 
Christians  our  assisting  angel,  as  Andreas  Victorellus,  a 
copious  writer  of  this  subject,  Lodovicus  de  La-Cerda,  the 
Jesuit,  in  his  voluminous  tract  de  Angela  Custode,  Zanchius, 
and  some  divines  think.  But  this  absurd  tenet  of  Tyreus, 
Proclus  confutes  at  large  in  his  book  de  Animd  et  dcemone. 
1  Psellus,  a  Christian,  and  sometimes  tutor  (saith  Cuspic.- 
ian)  to  Michael  Parapinatius,  Emperor  of  Greece,  a  great 
observer  of  the  nature  of  devils,  holds  they  are  2  corporeal, 
and  have  "  aerial  bodies,  that  they  are  mortal,  live  and  die," 
(which  Martianus  Capella  likewise  maintains,  but  our  Chris 
tian  philosophers  explode,)  "  that  3  they  are  nourished  and 
have  excrements,  they  feel  pain  if  they  be  hurt  (which  Car 
dan  confirms,  and  Scaliger  justly  laughs  him  to  scorn  for; 
Si  pascantur  aere,  cur  non  pugnant  ob  puriorem  aera  ?  tyc.) 
or  stroken ; "  and  if  their  bodies  be  cut,  with  admirable 
celerity  they  come  together  again.  Austin,  in  Gen.  lib.  iii. 
lib.  arbit.,  approves  as  much,  mutata  casu  corpora  in  deteri 
orem  qualitatem  aeris  spissioris,  so  doth  Hierome.  Com 
ment.  in  epist.  ad  Ephes.  cap.  3,  Origen,  Tertullian,  Lac- 
tantius,  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  Naturae,  and  David 
Crusius,  Hermeticae  Philosophiae,  lib.  i.  cap.  4,  by  several 
arguments  proves  angels  and  spirits  to  be  corporeal ;  quic- 
quid  continetur  in  loco  Corporeum  est :  At  spiritus  continetur 
in  loco,  ergo.*  Si  spiritus  sunt  quanti,  erunt  Corporei  :  At 
\unt  quanti,  ergo.  Sunt  jiniti,  ergo  quanti,  fyc.  f  Bodine 

1  He  lived  500  years  since.  *  Apu-    solido  percussa  corpora.  *  Whatever 

leius :  spiritus  animalia  sunf.  ammo  pas-    occupies  space  is  corpo.real : — spirit  occu- 
sibilia,  mente  rationalia,  corpore  aeria,    pies  space,  therefore,  &c.  &c.      t  4  Lib.  4 
tempore  sempiterna.        3  Nufcriuntur,  et    Theol.  nat.  fol.  535 
ezcrementa  habent,  quod  pulgata  doleanfc 
VOL.  I.  16 


242  Nature  of  Devils.  [Part.  I.  sec  2 

goes  farther  yet,  and  will  have  these,  Animce  separatee  genii, 
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,  be 
cause  that  is  the  most  perfect  form,  quce  nihil  habet  asperi- 
tatis,  nihil  angulis  incisum,  nihil  anfractibus  involutum, 
nihil  eminens,  sed  inter  corpora  perfecta  est  perfectissimum  ; l 
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 
3  transform  bodies  of  others  into  what  shape  they  please,  and 
with  admirable  celerity  remove  them  from  place  to  place 
(as  the  Angel  did  Habakkuk  to  Daniel,  and  as  Philip  the 
deacon  was  carried  away  by  the  Spirit,  when  he  had  bap 
tized  the  eunuch  ;  so  did  Pythagoras  and  Apollonius  remove 
themselves  and  others,  with  many  such  feats)  ;  that  they 
can  represent  castles  in  the  air,  palaces,  armies,  spectrums, 
prodigies,  and  such  strange  objects  to  mortal  men's  eyes, 
*  cause  smells,  savours,  &c.,  deceive  all  the  senses  ;  most  writ 
ers  of  this  subject  credibly  believe  ;  and  that  they  can  foretell 
future  events,  and  do  many  strange  miracles.  Juno's  image 
spake  to  Camillus,  and  Fortune's  statue  to  the  Roman 
matrons,  with  many  such.  Zanchius,  Bodine,  Spondanus, 
and  others,  are  of  opinion  that  they  cause  a  true  meta 
morphosis,  as  Nebuchadnezzar  was  really  translated  into  a 
beast,  Lot's  wife  into  a  pillar  of  salt ;  Ulysses's  companions 
into  hogs  and  dogs,  by  Circe's  charms ;  turn  themselves  and 
others,  as  they  do  witches  into  cats,  dogs,  hares,  crows,  &c. 
Strozzius  Cicogna  hath  many  examples,  lib.  iii.  omnif.  mag. 
cap.  4  and  5,  which  he  there  confutes,  as  Austin  likewise 

i  Which  has  no  roughness,  angles,  Strozzius  Cicogna,  lib.  3,  cap.  4,  omnif. 
fractures,  prominences,  but  is  the  most  mag.  Per  aera  subducere  et  in  sublime 
perfect  amongst  perfect  bodies.  2  Oyp-  corpora  ferre  possunt,  Biannanus.  Per 
riainis  in  Epist.  monies  etiam  et  ani-  cussi  dolent  et  uruntur  in  conspicuos  ci- 
malia  transferri  possunt :  as  the  deril  did  neres,  Agrippa.  lib.  3,  cap.  de  occult.  Phi- 
Christ  to  the  top  of  the  pinnacle;  and  los.  *  Agrippa  de  occult  Philos.  lib.  8 
witches  are  often  translated.  See  more  Lu  cap.  18. 


»Iem.  1,  subs.  2.]  Nature  of  Devils.  243 

doth,  de  civ.  Dei,  lib.  xviii.  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  him 
self  never  saw  them  nor  desired  it ;  and  use  sometimes  car 
nal  copulation  (as  elsewhere  I  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  stiffly  maintain, 
though  he  be  discreet  and  wise,  judicious  and  learned,  that 
he  hath  seen  them,  they  account  him  a  timorous  fool,  a 
melancholy  dizzard,  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,  in  Commentar.  L  1, 
Paracelsi  de  vita  longd,  out  of  some  Platonists,  will  have  the 
air  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 
ccelurn  continuaverint  obtutw,  #&,*  and  saith  moreover  he 
tried  it,  prcemissorum  fed  experimentum,  and  it  was  true, 
that  the  Platonists  said.  Paracelsus  confesseth  that  he  saw 
them  divers  times,  and  conferred  with  them,  and  so  doth 
Alexander  ab  3  Alexandra,  "  that  he  so  found  it  by  experi 
ence,  when  as  before  he  doubted  of  it"  Many  deny  it,  saith 
Lavater  de  spectris,  part  i.  c.  2,  and  part  ii.  c.  11,  "  because 
they  never  saw  them  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,  innumerable  records,  histories,  and 
testimonies  evince  in  all  ages,  times,  places,  and  8  all  travel 
lers  besides ;  in  the  West  Indies  and  our  northern  climes, 
Nihil  familiarius  quam  in  agris  et  urbibus  spiritus  videre, 
audire  qui  vetent ,  jubeant,  fyc.  Hieronimus  vita  Pauli,  Basil 
ser.  40,  Nicephorus,  Eusebius,  Socrates,  Sozomenus,  f  Jaco- 

1  Part.  8,  Sect.  2,  Mem.   1,  Subs.  1,  Ita  sibi  visum  et  compertnm  quum  prim 

Love  Melancholy.        *  "  By  gazing  stead-  an  essent  ambigerct :  Fidem  suum  liberet 

fastly  on  the  sun  illuminated  with  his  *  Li.  1,  de  verit.  Fidei.  Benzo,  &c.      fLrt 

brightest  rays."  2  Genial,   dierum.  de  Divinatione  et  magil. 


244  Nature  of  Devils.  [Part.  I.  sec.  x 

bus  Boissardus  in  his  tract  de  spirituum  apparitionibuti 
Petrus  Loyerus  L  de  spectris,  Wierus  1.  1,  have  infinite 
variety  of  such  examples  of  apparitions  of  spirits,  for  him  to 
read  that  farther  doubts,  to  his  ample  satisfaction.  One 
alone  I  will  briefly  insert.  A  nobleman  in  Germany  was 
sent  ambassador  to  the  King  of  Sweden  (for  his  name,  the 
time,  and  such  circumstances,  I  refer  you  to  Boissardus, 
mine  *  Author).  After  he  had  done  his  business,  he  sailed  to 
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  clothes,  what  doing,  and 
brought  him  a  ring  from  her,  which  at  his  return,  non  sine 
omnium  admiratione,  he  found  to  be  true ;  and  so  believed 
that  ever  after,  which  before  he  doubted  of.  Cardan  1.  19, 
de  subtil,  relates  of  his  father,  Facius  Cardan,  that  after  the 
accustomed  solemnities,  An.  1491,  13  August,  he  conjured 
up  seven  devils,  in  Greek  apparel,  about  forty  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  longer  lived  (700  or  800  2  years); 
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  *  governors  and  keepers  they  are  moreover, 
which  f  Plato  in  Critias  delivered  of  old,  and  subordinate  to 
one  another,  Ut  enim  homo  homini,  sic  dcemon  dcemoni 
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,  over 
seers  of  our  cattle ;  and  that  we  can  no  more  apprehend  their 
natures  and  functions,  than  a  horse  a  man's.  They  knew  all 
things,  but  might  not  reveal  them  to  men;  and  ruled  and 

1  Cap.  8.      TransportaYit  in  Livoniam  llores  hominibus,  quanto  hi  bruti*  ant 

rupiditate  ridendi,  &c.       *  Sic  Hesiodus  mantibus.  t  Praesides.   Pastures, 

'le  Nymphls  vivere  dicit  10  estates  phne-  Quberuatorea  homlnum,  et  illi  anima 

nicum  Tel  9,  7,  20.          *  Custodes  hoini-  Hum. 
num  et  prcviuciarum,   &c.,  taiito  me- 


Mem.  1,  subs.  2.]  Nature  of  Spirits.  245 

domineered  over  us,  as  we  do  over  our  horses ;  the  best 
kings  amongst  us,  and  the  most  generous  spirits,  were  not 
comparable  to  the  basest  of  them.  Sometimes  they  did 
instruct  men,  ard  communicate  their  skill,  reward  and  cher 
ish,  and  sometimes,  again,  terrify  and  punish,  to  keep  them 
in  awe,  as  they  thought  fit,  Nihil  magis  ctrpientes  (saith 
Lysius,  Phis.  Stoicorum)  quam  adorationem  homifium.* 
The  same  Author,  Cardan,  in  his  Hyperchen,  out  of  the 
doctrine  of  Stoics,  will  have  some  of  these  Genii  (for  so  he 
calls  them)  to  be  *  desirous  of  men's  company,  very  affable 
and  familiar  with  them,  as  dogs  are ;  others,  again,  to  abhor  as 
serpents,  and  care  not  for  them.  The  same  belike  Tritemius 
calls  Ignios  et  sublunares,  qui  nunquam  demergunt  ad  inferi 
or  a,  aut  vix  uttum  hdbent  in  terris  commercium  ;  2  "  Gener 
ally  they  far  excel  men  in  worth,  as  a  man  the  meanest 
worm ;  though  some  of  them  are  inferior  to  those  of  their 
own  rank  in  worth,  as  the  blackguard  in  a  prince's  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  Rabbins,  Porphyrius  and  Plutarch,  as  appears  by 
that  relation  of  Thamus  :  4 "  The  great  god  Pan  is  dead  ;  " 
Apollo  Pythius  ceased;  and  so  the  rest.  St.  Hierome,  in 
the  life  of  Paul  the  Hermit,  tells  a  story  how  one  of  them 
appeared  to  St.  Anthony  in  the  wilderness,  and  told  him  as 
much.  6  Paracelsus  of  our  late  writers  stiffly  maintains  that 
they  are  mortal,  live  and  die  as  other  creatures  do.  Zozimus, 
1.  2,  further  adds,  that  religion  and  policy  dies  and  alters  with 
them.  The  'Gentiles'  gods,  he  saith,  were  expelled  by  Con- 
stantine,  and  together  with  them,  Imperil  Romani  majestas, 

*  "  Coveting  nothing  more  than  the  fcc.       s  Cibo  et  potu  utl  et  venere  cum 

admiration  of  mankind."         1  Natura  homlnibus  ac  tandem  mori,  Gicogna.  1, 

&miliares    ut   canes    hominibua    mnlti  part.  lib.  2,  c.  3.        *  Plutarch,  de  defect 

aversantur  et  abhorrent.       *  Ab  homine  oraculorum.        5  Lib.  de  Zilphis  et  Pig.- 

plug  distant  quam  homo  ab  ignobilissimo  meis.       «  Dii  gentium  a  Constautio  prof 

verne,  et  tain  en  quidam  ex  his  ab  ho-  ligati  sunt,  &c 
minibus  guperantur  ut  homines  a  feris, 


246  Nature  of  Spirits.  [Part.  I.  sec.  2 

etfortuna  interiit,  et  projligata  est ;  The  fortune  and  majesty 
of  the  Roman  Empire  decayed  and  vanished,  as  that  heathen 
in  *  Minutius  formerly  bragged,  when  the  Jews  were  over 
come  by  the  Romans,  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  suf 
ficiently  confuted  by  Zanch.  c.  10, 1.  4.  Pererius  in  his  com 
ment,  and  Tostatus  questions  on  the  6th  of  Gen.  Th.  Aquin., 
St.  Austin,  Wierus,  Th.  Erastus,  Delrio,  torn.  2, 1.  2,  quaest. 
29  ;  Sebastian  Michaelis,  c.  2,  de  spiritibus,  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  are  *  lHusoriee  et  prcestigiatrices  transforma- 
tiones,  omnif.  mag.  lib.  4,  cap.  4,  mere  illusions  and  cozen- 
ings,  like  that  tale  of  Pasetis  obulus  in  Suidas,  or  that  of 
Autolicus,  Mercury's  son,  that  dwelt  in  Parnassus,  who  got 
so  much  treasure  by  cozenage  and  stealth.  His  father  Mer 
cury,  because  he  could  leave  him  no  wealth,  taught  him  many 
fine  tricks  to  get  means,  f  f°r  he  could  drive  away  men's 
cattle,  and  if  any  pursued  him,  turn  them  into  what  shapes 
he  would,  and  so  did  mightily  enrich  himself,  hoc  astu  maxi- 
mam  prcedam  est  adsecutus.  This,  no  doubt,  is  as  true  as 
the  rest ;  yet  thus  much  in  general.  Thomas,  Durand,  and 
others,  grant  that  they  have  understanding  far  beyond  men, 
can  probably  conjecture  and  a  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  Quovis  homine  scientior  (more  knowing 
than  any  man),  as  8  Cicogna  maintains  out  of  others.  They 

*  Octoyian  dial.  Judaeortun  detun  fa-  qne  formas  yertebat  Pauaaniai,  Hyglnna. 

law  Romanorum   numinibus   una  cum  -  Austin  in  1.  2,  de  Gen.  ad  literam,  cap. 

gente  captiyum.          1  Omnla  spiritibus  17.     Partim  quia  gubtilioris  sensus  acu- 

plena,  et  ex  eorum  concordia  et  discordia  mine,  partim  scientia  calidioie  yigent  et 

omnes  bonl  et  mall  effectus  promanant,  ezperientia  propter  magnam   longitudi- 

omnia  bumana  reguntur  ;  paradoxa  yete-  nem  yitie,  partim  ab  Angelis  discunt,  fce 

rum  de  quo  Cicogna.  omnif.  mag.  1. 2,  c.  8.  *  Lib.  8,  omnif.  mag.  cap.  8. 
t  Oyec  quas  abacturus  eiat  in  quascuo- 


Mem.  1,  subs.  2.]  Nature  of  Spirits.  247 

know  the  virtues  of  herbs,  plants,  stones,  minerals,  &c. ;  of 
all  creatures,  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 
coloribub  (as  *  Austin  hath  it)  accommodant  se  Jiguris,  ad- 
fuerent  sonis,  subjiciunt  se  odoribus,  infundunt  se  saporibuf, 
cmnes  sensus  etiam  ipsam  inteUigentiam  dcemones  fallunt, 
they  deceive  all  our  senses,  even  our  understanding  itself 
at  once.  *  They  can  produce  miraculous  alterations  in  the 
air,  and  most  wonderful  effects,  conquer  armies,  give  vic 
tories,  help,  further,  hurt,  cross  and  alter  human  attempts 
and  projects  (Dei  permissu)  as  they  see  good  themselves, 
t  When  Charles  the  Great  intended  to  make  a  channel  be 
twixt  the  Rhine  and  the  Danube,  look  what  his  workmen  did 
in  the  day,  these  spirits  flung  down  in  the  night,  Ui  conatu 
Rex  desisteret,  pervicere.  Such  feats  can  they  do.  But  that 
which  Bodine,  1.  4j  Theat  nat,  thinks  (following  Tyrius 
belike,  and  the  Platonists,)  they  can  tell  the  secrets  of  a 
man's  heart,  aut  cogitationes  hominum,  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 
quaest  27,  and  Antiochum  Principem,  and  others. 

Orders.^  As  for  those  orders  of  good  and  bad  Devils, 
which  the  Platonists  hold,  is  altogether  erroneous,  and  those 
Ethnics  boni  et  mali  Genii,  are  to  be  exploded ;  these  hea 
then  writers  agree  not  in  this  point  among  themselves,  as 
Dandinus  notes,  An  sint  \mali  non  conveniunt,  some  will 
have  all  spirits  good  or  bad  to  us  by  a  mistake,  as  if  an  Ox 
or  Horse  could  discourse,  he  would  say  the  Butcher  was  his 
enemy  because  he  killed  him,  the  Grazier  his  friend  because 
he  fed  him ;  a  Hunter  preserves  and  yet  kills  his  game,  and 
is  hated  nevertheless  of  his  game ;  nee  piscatorem  piscis 

*  L.  18,  quest.        '  Quum  tanti  sit  et  mo,  Cicogna.        t  Aventimis,  qnicquid 

tarn  profunda  gpiritnm  scientia,  mirum  interdiu  exhauriebatur,  noctu  expleba- 

non  est  tot  tantagque  res  visu  admirab-  tur.      Inde     pavefacti    curatores,     &c. 

lies  ab  ipsis  patrari,  et  quidem  rernm  $  In  lib.  2  de  Anima  text.  29.      Homenw 

naturalium  ope  quas  multo  melius  Intel-  discriminatim  omnes  spiritus  daemon** 

Ugunt,  multoque  peritios   suis  locls  et  yocat. 
temporibus  applicare  norunt,  quam  ho- 


248  Nature  of  Spirits.  [Part.  I.  sec.  a. 

amare  potesl,  fyc.  But  Jamblichus,  Psellus,  Plutarch,  and 
most  Platonists  acknowledge  bad,  et  ab  eorum  maleficiit 
cavendum,  and  we  should  beware  of  their  wickedness,  for 
they  are  enemies  of  mankind,  and  this  Plato  learned  in 
Egypt,  that  they  quarrelled  with  Jupiter,  and  were  driven 
by  him  down  to  hell.*  That  which  1Apuleius,  Xenophon, 
and  Plato  contend  of  Socrates'  Daemonium,  is  most  absurd ; 
That  which  Plotinus  of  his,  that  he  had  likewise  Deum  pro 
D&monio  ;  and  that  which  Porphiry  concludes  of  them  all  in 
general,  if  they  be  neglected  in  their  sacrifice  they  are  angry ; 
nay  more,  as  Cardan  in  his  Hyperchen  will,  they  feed  on 
men's  souls,  Elementa  sunt  plantis  alimentum,  animalibus 
plantcs,  hominibus  animalia,  erunt  et  homines  aliis,  non 
autem  diis,  nimis  enim  remota  est  eorum  natura  a  nostrd, 
quapropter  dcemonibus  ;  and  so  belike  that  we  have  so  many 
battles  fought  in  all  ages,  countries,  is  to  make  them  a  feast, 
and  their  sole  delight ;  but  to  return  to  that  I  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  amongst  us  ;  but  if  pleased,  then  they  do  much  good ; 
is  as  vain  as  the  rest  and  confuted  by  Austin,  1.  9,  c.  8,  de 
Civ.  Dei,  Euseb.  1.  4,  praepar.  Evang.  c.  6,  and  others.  Yet 
thus  much  I  find,  that  our  Schoolmen  and  other  3  Divines 
make  nine  kinds  of  bad  spirits,  as  Dionysius  hath  done  of 
Angels.  In  the  first  rank  are  those  false  gods  of  the  Gen 
tiles,  which  were  adored  heretofore  in  several  Idols,  and  gave 
Oracles  at  Delphos,  and  elsewhere ;  whose  Prince  is  Beelze 
bub.  The  second  rank  is  of  Liars  and  ^Equivocators,  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  8  vessels  of  fury ;  their  Prince  is  BeliaL 
The  fourth  are  malicious  revenging  Devils  ;  and  their  Prince 
is  Asmodaeus.  The  fifth  kind  are  cozeners,  such  as  belong 

*  A  Jore  ad  inferos  pulsi,  &c.        1  De  nonnunquam       instar       ovis.      Plato. 

Deo    Socratis.   adest    mihi    divina  sorte  *  Agrippa,   lib.  3,  de  occult,  ph.  c.  18 

Dwmonlum  quoddam   A  prima  pueritia  Zanch.  Pie  torus,  Pererius  Cicogna.  1.  8 

me    eecutum,  ssepe   dissnadet,  impel  lit  cap.  1.        '  Vasa  Irae.  c.  13. 


Mem,  1,  subs.  2.]  Nature  of  Spirits.  249 

to  Magicians  and  Witches ;  their  Prince  is  Satan.  The 
sixth  are  those  aerial  devils  that  l  corrupt  the  air  and  cause 
plagues,  thunders,  fires,  &c. ;  spoken  of  in  the  Apocalypse, 
and  Paul  to  the  Ephesians  names  them  the  Princes  of  the 
air ;  Meresin  is  their  Prince.  The  seventh  is  a  destroyer, 
Captain  of  the  Furies,  causing  wars,  tumults,  combustions, 
uproars,  mentioned  in  the  Apocalypse  ;  and  called  Abaddon. 
The  eighth  is  that  accusing  or  calumniating  Devil,  whom  the 
Greeks  call  Aio/3oAof,  that  drives  men  to  despair.  The  ninth 
are  those  tempters  in  several  kinds,  and  their  Prince  is  Mam 
mon.  Psellus  makes  six  kinds,  yet  none  above  the  Moon  ; 
"Wierus  in  his  Pseudomonarchia  Daemonis,  out  of  an  old 
book,  makes  many  more  divisions  and  subordinations,  with 
their  several  names,  numbers,  offices,  &c.,  but  Gazaeus  cited 
by  2  Lipsius  will  have  all  places  full  of  Angels,  Spirits,  and 
Devils,  above  and  beneath  the  Moon,8  ethereal  and  aerial, 
which  Austin  cites  out  of  Varro  1.  vii.  de  Civ.  Dei,  c.  6. 
"  The  celestial  Devils  above,  and  aerial  beneath,"  or,  as  some 
will,  gods  above,  Semidei  or  half  gods  beneath,  Lares,  He 
roes,  Genii,  which  climb  higher,  if  they  lived  well,  as  the 
Stoics  held ;  but  grovel  on  the  ground  as  they  were  baser 
in  their  lives,  nearer  to  the  earth  ;  and  are  Manes,  Lemures, 
Lamiae,  &c.  *  They  will  have  no  place  but  all  full  of  Spirits, 
Devils,  or  some  other  inhabitants ;  Plenum  Cesium,  aer,  aqua, 
terra,  et  omnia  sub  terra,  saith  6  Gazaeus ;  though  Anthony 
Rusca  in  his  book  de  Inferno,  lib.  v.  cap.  7,  would  confine 
them  to  the  middle  Region,  yet  they  will  have  them  every 
where.  "  Not  so  much  as  a  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  stiffly  maintains,  and  that  they  have 
every  one  their  several  Chaos,  others  will  have  infinite  worlds, 
and  each  world  his  peculiar  Spirits,  Gods,  Angels,  and  Devils 
to  govern  and  punish  it. 

1  Quibus  datum  est  nocere  terras  et  heroas,  lares,  gcnios.        *  Mart.  Capella. 

marl,    &c.  *  Physiol.  Stoicorum  e  *  Nlb.il  vacuum  abhisubi  Tel  eapillum  la 

Senee.   lib.  1,  cap.  28.          3  Usque  ad  aere  vel  aqua  jaceas.         «  Lib  de  Zilp. 
tunam  aninias  ease  sethereai  yocarique 


250  Digression  of  Spirits.  [Part.  I.  sec.  2. 

"  Singula  *  nonnulli  credunt  quoque  sidera  posse 
Dici  orbes,  terramque  appellant  sidus  opacttm, 
Cui  minimus  divum  prsesit." 

"  Some  persons  believe  each  star  to  be  a  world,  and  this  earth  an  opaqu« 
star,  over  which  the  least  of  the  gods  presides." 

1  Gregorius  Tholsanus  makes  seven  kinds  of  ethereal 
Spirits  or  Angels,  according  to  the  number  of  the  seven 
Planets,  Saturnine,  Jovial,  Martial,  of  which  Cardan  dis- 
courseth  lib.  xx.  de  subtil,  he  calls  them  substantial  primas, 
Olympicos  dcemones  Tritemius,  qui  prcesunt  Zodiaco,  fyc., 
and  will  have  them  to  be  good  Angels  above,  Devi]s 
beneath  the  Moon,  their  several  names  and  offices  he  there 
sets  down,  and  which  Dionysius  of  Angels,  will  have  several 
spirits  for  several  countries,  men,  offices,  &c.,  which  live  about 
them,  and  as  so  many  assisting  powers  cause  their  operations, 
will  have  in  a  word,  innumerable,  as  many  of  them  as  there 
be  Stars  in  the  Skies,  f  Marcilius  Ficinus  seems  to  second 
this  opinion,  out  of  Plato,  or  from  himself.  I  know  not,  (still 
ruling  their  inferiors,  as  they  do  those  under  them  again,  all 
subordinate,  and  the  nearest  to  the  earth  rule  us,  whom  we 
subdivide  into  good  and  bad  angels,  call  gods  or  devils,  as 
they  help  or  hurt  us,  and  so  adore,  love  or  hate)  but  it  is 
most  likely  from  Plato,  for  he  relying  wholly  on  Socrates, 
quern  mori  potius  quam  mentiri  voluisse  scribit,  whom  he 
says  would  rather  die  than  tell  a  falsehood  out  of  Socrates'a 
authority  alone,  made  nine  kinds  of  them  ;  which  opinion 
belike  Socrates  took  from  Pythagoras,  and  he  from  Trismegis- 
tus,  he  from  Zoroasties,  first  God,  second  idea,  3.  Intelli 
gences  ;  4.  Archangels ;  5.  Angels ;  6.  Devils ;  7.  Heroes ; 
8.  Principalities ;  9.  Princes ;  of  which  some  were  abso 
lutely  good,  as  gods,  some  bad,  some  indifferent  inter  deos 
et  homines,  as  heroes  and  daemons,  which  ruled  men,  and 
were  called  genii,  or  as  J  Proclus  and  Jamblichus  will,  the 

•  Palingenins.        1  Lib.  7,  cap.  34  et  5.  tes,  ut  habet  nostra.        £  Lib.  de  Arnica. 

Syntax,   art.   mirab.         t  Comment  In  et  dsemone  med.  inter  deos  et  homines, 

dial.  Plat,  de  amore,  cap.  6.     Ut  spuaera  dicta  ad  nos  et  nostra  srqualiter  ad  deo« 

qtuellbet   super    n*,  ita   prsestantiorw  ferunt. 
habent  habitatores  tuw  sphaera  conaor- 


Mem.  1,  subs.  2.]  Digression  of  Spirits.  251 

middle  betwixt  God  and  men.  Principalities  and  Princes, 
which  commanded  and  swayed  Kings  and  countries ;  and 
had  several  places  in  the  Spheres  perhaps,  for  as  every 
sphere  is  higher,  so  hath  it  more  excellent  inhabitants ; 
which  belike  is  that  Galilaeus  h  Galileo  and  Kepler  aims  at 
in  his  Nuncio  Syderio,  when  he  will  have  l  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  explodes,  cap.  3,  lib.  4,  P.  Martyr, 
in  4  Sam.  28. 

So  that  according  to  these  men  the  number  of  ethereal 
spirits  must  needs  be  infinite ;  for  if  that  be  true  that  some 
of  our  mathematicians  say :  if  a  stone  could  fall  from  the 
starry  heaven,  or  eighth  sphere,  and  should  pass  every  hour 
an  hundred  miles,  it  would  be  sixty-five  years  or  more,  before 
it  would  come  to  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  peradventure  holds  as  much 
more,  how  many  such  spirits  may  it  contain  ?  And  yet  for 
all  this  2  Thomas  Albertus,  and  most  hold  that  there  be  far 
more  angels  than  devils. 

Sublunary  devils,  and  their  kinds.~\  But  be  they  more  or 
less,  Quod  supra  nos  nihil  ad  nos  (what  is  beyond  our  com 
prehension  does  not  concern  us).  Howsoever  as  Martianus 
foolishly  supposeth,  jSStherii  Dcemones  non  curant  res  hu- 
manas,  they  care  not  for  us,  do  not  attend  our  actions,  or  look 
for  us,  those  ethereal  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  had  no  power  over  stars,  or 
heavens ;  8  Carminibus  ccelo  possunt  deducere  lunam,  SfC.  (by 
their  charms  [verses]  they  can  seduce  the  moon  from  the 

1  Saturnirms  et  Joviales  accolas.      *  In    general!  reservantur.        *  q.  88,  art.  9 
loca  detrusi  sunt  infra  cselestes    orbes    3  Virg.  8  Eg. 
in  aerem   scilicet  et  infra    ubi  Judicio 


252  Digression  of  Spirits-  [Part.  I.  sec.  2. 

heavens).  Those  are  poetical  fictions,  and  that  they  can 
lsistere  aquam  fluviis,  et  vertere  sidera  retro,  fyc.  (stop  rivers 
and  turn  the  stars  backwards  in  their  courses)  as  Canadia  in 
Horace,  'tis  all  false.  2  They  are  confined  until  the  day  of 
judgment  to  this  sublunary  world,  and  can  work  no  farther 
than  the  four  elements,  and  as  God  permits  them.  Where 
fore  of  these  sublunary  devils,  though  others  divide  them 
otherwise  according  to  their  several  places  and  offices,  Psel- 
lus  makes  six  kinds,  fiery,  aerial,  terrestrial,  watery,  and 
subterranean  devils,  besides  those  fairies,  satyrs,  nymphs,  dec. 
Fiery  spirits  or  devils  are  such  as  commonly  work  by 
blazing  stars,  fire-drakes,  or  ignes  fatui ;  which  lead  men 
often  in  flumina  ant  prcecipitia,  saith  Bodine,  lib.  2,  Theat. 
naturae,  fol.  221.  Quos  inquit  arcere  si  volunt  viatores,  clard 
voce  Deum  appettare,  aut  pronam  facie  terram  contingente 
adorare  oportet,  et  hoc  amuletum  majoribus  nostris  acceptum 
ferre  debemus,  SfC.  (whom  if  travellers  wish  to  keep  off  they 
must  pronounce  the  name  of  God  with  a  clear  voice,  or  adore 
him  with  their  faces  in  contact  with  the  ground,  &c.)  ;  like 
wise  they  counterfeit  suns  and  moons,  stars  oftentimes,  and 
sit  on  ship  masts:  In  navigiorum  summitatibus  visuntur ; 
and  are  called  dioscuri,  as  Eusebius  1,  contra  Philosophos, 
c.  xlviii.  informeth  us,  out  of  the  authority  of  Zenophanes ; 
or  little  clouds,  ad  motum  nescio  quern  volantes  ;  which  never 
appear,  saith  Cardan,  but  they  signify  some  mischief  or  other 
to  come  unto  men,  though  some  again  will  have  them  to  pre 
tend  good,  and  victory  to  that  side  they  come  towards  in  sea- 
fights,  St  Elmo's  fires  they  commonly  call  them,  and  they  do 
likely  appear  after  a  sea-storm  ;  Radzivillius,  the  Polonian 
duke,  calls  this  apparition,  Sancti  Germani  sidus  ;  and  saith 
moreover  that  he  saw  the  same  after  in  a  storm  as  he  was 
sailing,  1582,  from  Alexandria  to  Rhodes.*  Our  stories  are 
full  of  such  apparitions  in  all  kinds.  Some  think  they  keep 

1  JKa.  4.        *  Austin :  hoc  dixl,  n«  quis  habltare  cum  Angells  Buis  undo  lapsnm 

extatimet  habitare  ibl  mala  daemonla  ubi  credirnus.      Idem  Zanch.  1.  4,  c.  8,  d» 

Solem  et  Lunam  et  Stellas  Deus  ordlnayit,  Angel,  malls.    Pererius  in  Gen.  cap.  6, 

•t  alibi  nemo  arbitraretur  Dsemonem  coelU  lib.  8,  in  rer.  2.        *  Perigram  Hieroeol. 


Mem.  1,  subs.  2.]          Digression  of  Spirits.  253 

their  residence  in  that,Hecla,  a  mountain  in  Iceland,  JEtua 
in  Sicily,  Lipari,  Vesuvius,  &c.  These  devils  were  wor 
shipped  heretofore  by  that  superstitious  nvpofiavreia, l  and  the 
like. 

Aerial  spirits  or  devils,  are  such  as  keep  quarter  most  part 
in  the  2air,  cause  many  tempests,  thunder,  and  lightnings, 
tear  oaks,  fire  steeples,  houses,  strike  men  and  beasts,  make 
it  rain  stones,  as  in  Livy's  time,  wool,  frogs,  &c.  Counterfeit 
armies  in  the  air,  strange  noises,  swords,  &c.,  as  at  Vienna 
before  the  coming  of  the  Turks,  and  many  tunes  in  Rome, 
as  Scheretzius  1,  de  spect.  c.  1,  part.  1.  Lavater  de  spect. 
part.  1,  c.  17.  Julius  Obsequens,  an  old  Roman,  in  his  book 
of  prodigies,  ab  urb.  cond.  505.  8  Machiavel  hath  illustrated 
by  many  examples,  and  Josephus,  in  his  book  de  bello  Ju- 
daico,  before  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem.  All  which  Guil. 
Postellus,  in  his  first  book,  c.  7,  de  orbis  concordia,  useth  as 
an  effectual  argument  (as  indeed  it  is)  to  persuade  them  that 
will  not  believe  there  be  spirits  or  devils.  They  cause  whirl 
winds  on  a  sudden,  and  tempestuous  storms ;  which  though 
our  meteorologists  generally  refer  to  natural  causes,  yet  I  am 
of  Bodine's  mind,  Theat.  Nat.  1.  2,  they  are  more  often  caused 
by  those  aerial  devils,  in  their  several  quarters ;  for  Tempes- 
tatibus  se  ingerunt,  saith  *  Rich.  Argentine ;  as  when  a  des 
perate  man  makes  away  with  himself,  which  by  hanging  or 
drowning  they  frequently  do,  as  Kornmannus  observes,  de 
mirac.  mort.  part.  7,  c.  76,  tripudium  agentes,  dancing  and 
rejoicing  at  the  death  of  a  sinner.  These  can  corrupt  the 
air,  and  cause  plagues,  sickness,  storms,  shipwrecks,  fires,  in 
undations.  At  Mons  Draconis  in  Italy,  there  is  a  most  mem 
orable  example  in  4  Jovianus  Pontanus ;  and  nothing  so 
familiar  (if  we  may  believe  those  relations  of  Saxo  Gram- 
maticus,  Olaus  Magnus,  Damianus  A.  Goes)  as  for  witches 
and  sorcerers,  in  Lapland,  Lithuania,  and  all  over  Scandia, 

i  Fire-  worship,  or  divination  by  fire.  1.  6,  c.  6.       *  Quest,  in  UT.        *  D« 

Domus  dirmmt,  muros  dejiciunt,  im-  praestigiis    daemonum,   c.   16.      Convellj 

mlscent  se  turbinibus  et  procellis  et  pul-  culmina    ridemus,    prosterni    sata,    &o 

reran  instar  columnar  evehunt.  Cicogna,  <  De  bello  Neapolitano  lib.  6. 


254  Digression  of  Spirits.  [Part.  I.  sec.  1 

to  sell  winds  to  mariners,  and  cause  tempests,  which  Marcus 
Paulus  the  Venetian  relates  likewise  of  the  Tartars.  These 
kind  of  devils  are  much  *  delighted  in  sacrifices  (saith  Por- 
phiry),  held  all  the  world  in  awe,  and  had  several  names, 
idols,  sacrifices,  in  Rome,  Greece,  Egypt,  and  at  this  day 
tyrannize  over,  and  deceive  those  Ethnics  and  Indians,  being 
adored  and  worshipped  for  2gods.  For  the  Gentiles'  gods 
were  devils  (as  *  Trismegistus  confesseth  in  his  Asclepius), 
and  he  himself  could  make  them  come  to  their  images  by 
magic  spells ;  and  are  now  as  much  "  respected  by  our 
papists  (saith  8  Pictorius)  under  the  name  of  saints."  These 
are  they  which  Cardan  thinks  desire  so  much  carnal  cop 
ulation  with  witches  (Incubi  and  Succubi),  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  relate4),  an  aerial  devil,  bound  to  him  for 
twenty  and  eight  years.  As  Agrippa's  dog  had  a  devil  tied 
to  his  collar;  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,  Apollo- 
nius  Tianeus,  Jamblichus,  and  Tritemius  of  late,  that  showed 
Maximilian  the  emperor  his  wife,  after  she  was  dead  ;  Et 
verrucam  in  cotto  ejus  (saith  6Godolman)  so  much  as  the  wart 
in  her  neck.  Delrio,  lib.  ii.  hath  divers  examples  of  their 
feats ;  Cicogna,  lib.  iii.  cap.  3,  and  Wierus  in  his  book  de 
prastig.  d&monum.  Boissardus  de  magis  et  veneficis. 

Water-devils  are  those  Naiads  or  water-nymphs  which 
have  been  heretofore  conversant  about  waters  and  rivers. 
The  water  (as  Paracelsus  thinks)  is  their  chaos,  wherein  they 
live  ;  some  call  them  fairies,  and  say  that  Habundia  is  their 
queen ;  these  cause  inundations,  many  times  shipwrecks,  and 
deceive  men  divers  ways,  as  Succuba,  or  otherwise,  appear- 

1  Suffltibua    gaudent.      Idem    Justin,  Btatuas  pellexl.      8  Et  nunc  sub  divorum 

Martyr  Apolog.  pro  Christianls.        *  In  nomine  coluntur  i  Pontiflciis.        *  Lib. 

Dei  imitationem,  saith  Eusebius.        *Dii  11,  de  rerum  ver.        6  Lib.  3,  cap.  3,  d« 

gentium  Daemonia,  &c.,  ego  in  eorum  magis  et  Teneficis,  &c.  Nereides. 


kem.  1,  subs.  2.]          Digression  of  Spirits.  255 

ing  most  part  (saith  Tritemius)  in  women's  shapes.  *  Para 
celsus  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  JEgeria,  with  whom  Numa  was  so  familiar, 
Diana,  Ceres,  &c.  2  Olaus  Magnus  hath  a  long  narration  of 
one  Hotherus,  a  king  of  Sweden,  that  having  lost  his  com 
pany,  as  he  was  hunting  one  day,  met  with  these  water- 
nymphs  or  fairies,  and  was  feasted  by  them ;  and  Hector 
Boethius,  of  Macbeth,  and  Banquo,  two  Scottish  lords,  that 
as  they  were  wandering  in  the  woods,  had  their  fortunes  told 
them  by  three  strange  women.  To  these,  heretofore,  they 
did  use  to  sacrifice,  by  that  vSpo/Mvreia,  or  divination  by 
waters. 

Terrestrial  devils  are  those  *  Lares,  Genii,  Fauns,  Satyrs, 
*  Wood-nymphs,  Foliots,  Fairies,  Robin  Goodfellows,  Trulli, 
&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 
temples  erected  to  them.  Of  this  range  was  Dagon  amongst 
the  Philistines,  Bel  amongst  the  Babylonians,  Astartes 
amongst  the  Sidonians,  Baal  amongst  the  Samaritans,  Isis 
and  Osiris  amongst  the  Egyptians,  &c. ;  some  put  our  f  fairies 
into  this  rank,  which  have  been  in  former  times  adored  with 
much  superstition,  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  fortunate  in  their  enterprises.  These  are  they  that 
dance  on  heaths  and  greens,  as  4  Lavater  thinks  with  Trite 
mius,  and  as  6  Olaus  Magnus  adds,  leave  that  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 

1  Lib.  de  Zilphis.        «  Lib.  3.        *  Pro  *  Part.  1,  cap.  19.        *  Lib.  8,  cap.  11. 

salute  hominum  excubare  se  simulant,  Elvarum  choreas  Olaus,  lib  3,  vocat  sal 

•ed  in  eoium  perniciem  omniamoliuntur.  turn  adeo  profumle  in  terras  imprimunt, 

Aust.          *  Dryades.  Oriades,  Hamadry-  ut  locus  insigni  deinceps  virore  orbicu 

,vde»-  t  Klvas    Olaus  vocat,   lib.  3.  laris  sit,  et  gnunen  non 


256  Digression  of  Spirits.  [Part.  I.  sec.  a 

seen  by  old  women  and  children.  Hierom.  Pauli,  in  hia 
description  of  the  city  of  Bercino  in  Spain,  relates  how  they 
have  been  familiarly  seen  near  that  town,  about  fountains  and 
hills  ;  Nonnunquam  (saith  Tritemius)  in  sua  latibula  monti- 
um  simpliciores  homines  ducant,  stupenda  mirantibus  osten- 
dentes  miracula,  nolarum  sonitus,  spectacula,  fyc.1  Giraldus 
Cambrensis  gives  instance  in  a  monk  of  Wales  that  was  so 
deluded.  a  Paracelsus  reckons  up  many  places  in  Germany, 
where  they  do  usually  walk  in  little  coats,  some  two  feet  long. 
A  bigger  kind  there  is  of  them  called  with  us  hobgoblins, 
and  Robin  Goodfellows,  that  would  in  those  superstitious 
times  grind  corn  for  a  mes?  of  milk,  cut  wood,  or  do  any 
manner  of  drudgery  work.  They  would  mend  old  irons  in 
those  .ZEolian  isles  of  Lipari,  hi  former  ages,  and  have  been 
often  seen  and  heard.  8  Tholosanus  calls  them  Trullos  and 
Getulos,  and  saith,  that  in  his  days  they  were  common  in 
many  places  of  France.  Dithmarus  Bleskenius,  in  his  de 
scription  of  Iceland,  reports  for  a  certainty,  that  almost  in 
every  family  they  have  yet  some  such  familiar  spirits ;  and 
Fcelix  Malleolus,  in  his  book  de  crudel.  dtemon.  affirms  as 
much,  that  these  Trolli  or  Telchines  are  very  common  hi 
Norway,  "  and  4  seen  to  do  drudgery  work  ;  "  to  draw  water, 
saith  Wierus,  lib.  i.  cap.  22,  dress  meat,  or  any  such  thing. 
Another  sort  of  these  there  are,  which  frequent  forlorn 
6  houses,  which  the  Italians  call  foliots,  most  part  innoxious, 
*  Cardan  holds :  "  They  will  make  strange  noises  in  the  night, 
howl  sometimes  pitifully,  and  then  laugh  again,  cause  great 
flame  and  sudden  lights,  fling  stones,  rattle  chains,  shave  men, 
open  doors  and  shut  them,  fling  down  platters,  stools,  chests, 
sometimes  appear  in  the  likeness  of  hares,  crows,  black  dogs, 
&c."  of  which  read  6  Pet  Thyraeus  the  Jesuit,  in  his  Tract. 

i  Sometimes    they  seduce  too  simple  gant,  patinas  mundant,  llgna  portant, 

men  into  their  mountain  retreats,  where  equos  curant,    &c.          *  Ad  miriisteria 

they  exhibit  wonderful  sights   to  their  utuntur.        »  Where  treasure  is  hid  (as 

marvelling  eyes,  and  astonish  their  ears  some  think)  or  some  murder,  or  such  like 

by  the  sound  of  bells,  &c.        *  Lib.  de  villany  committed.         *  Lib.  16,  de  re- 

Zilph.  et  Pigmaeis  Olaus,  lib.  8.        3  Lib.  rum  varietat.        «  Vel  spiritus  sunt  hu- 

7,  cap.  14,  qui  et  in  famulitio  viris  et  jusmodi  damnatorum,  Ye)  e  purgatoito, 

fieminis  inserriunt,  conclaria  scopis  pur-  vel  ipsi  daemones,  o.  4. 


Mem.  1,  subs.  2.]          Digression  of  Spirits.  257 

de  locis  infestis,  part.  1,  et  cap.  4,  who  will  have  them  to  be 
devils  or  the  souls  of  damned  men  that  seek  revenge,  or  else 
souls  out  of  purgatory  that  seek  ease;  for  such  examples 
peruse  *  Sigismundus  Scheretzius,  lib.  de  spectris,  part  1,  c.  1, 
which  he  saith  he  took  out  of  Luther  most  part ;  there  be 
many  instances.  a  Plinius  Secundus  remembers  such  a  house 
at  Athens,  which  Athenodorus  the  philosopher  hired,  which 
no  man  durst  inhabit  for  fear  of  devils.  Austin,  de  Civ. 
Dei,  lib.  22,  cap.  1,  relates  as  much  of  Hesperius  the  Trib 
une's  house,  at  Zubeda,  near  their  city  of  Hippos,  vexed  with 
evil  spirits,  to  his  great  hindrance,  Cum  afflictione  animalium 
et  servorum  suorum.  Many  such  instances  are  to  be  read  in 
Niderius  Formicar,  lib.  5,  cap.  xii.  3,  &c.  Whether  I  may 
call  these  Zim  and  Ochim,  which  Isaiah,  cap.  xiii.  21,  speaks 
of,  I  make  a  doubt.  See  more  of  these  in  the  said  Scheretz 
lib.  1,  de  sped.  cap.  4,  he  is  full  of  examples.  These  kinds 
of  devils  many  times  appear  to  men,  and  affright  them  out 
of  their  wits,  sometimes  walking  at  *  noonday,  sometimes  at 
nights,  counterfeiting  dead  men's  ghosts,  as  that  of  Caligula, 
which  (saith  Suetonius)  was  seen  to  walk  in  Lavinia's  gar 
den,  where  his  body  was  buried,  spirits  haunted,  and  the 
house  where  he  died,  *Nutta  nox  sine  terror e  transacta,  donee 
ineendio  consumpta ;  every  night  this  happened,  there  was 
no  quietness,  till  the  house  was  burned.  About  Hecla,  in 
Iceland,  ghosts  commonly  walk,  animas  mortuorum  simulan* 
tes,  saith  Joh.  Anan.  lib.  3,  de  not.  deem.  Olaus,  lib.  2,  cap.  2, 
Natal.  TaUopid.  lib.  de  apparit.  spir.  Kommannus  de  mirac. 
mort.  part.  1,  cap.  44,  such  sights  are  frequently  seen  circa 
sepulchra  et  monasteria,  saith  La  vat.  lib.  1,  cap.  19,  in  monas 
teries  and  about  churchyards,  loca  paludinosa,  ampla  cedificia, 
solitaria,  et  ceede  hominum  notata,  fyc.  (marshes,  great  build 
ings,  solitary  places,  or  remarkable  as  the  scene  of  some 
murder.)  Thyreus  adds,  ubi  gravius  peccatum  est  commissum, 

1  Quidam  lemures  domesticis  instru-  &c.        *  Epist.  lib.  7.        3  Meridionales 

mentis  noctu  ludunt :  patinas,  ollas,  can-  Dsemones  Cicogna calls  them  or  Alastore* 

tharas,  et  alia  vasa  dejiciunt,  et  quidam  1.  3,  cap.  9.             *  Suetou.  c.  69,  iv  C»- 

roces  emittunt,  ejulant,  risum  emittunt,  ligula 
Sec.,  at  canes  nigri,  feles,  Tariis  formis, 

VOL.  i.  17 


258  Digression  of  Spirits.  [Part,  i  sec.  a 

impii  pauperum  oppressores  et  nequiter  insignes  habitant 
(where  some  very  heinous  crime  was  committed,  there  the 
impious  and  infamous  generally  dwell).  These  spirits  often 
foretell  men's  deaths  by  several  signs,  as  knocking,  groanings, 
&c.,  *  though  Rich.  Argentine,  c.  18,  de  prcestigiis  damonum, 
will  ascribe  these  predictions  to  good  angels,  out  of  the  au 
thority  of  Ficinus  and  others ;  prodigia  in  obitu  principum 
stepius  contingunt,  Sfc.  (prodigies  frequently  occur  at  the 
deaths  of  illustrious  men),  as  in  the  Lateran  church  in 
f  Rome,  the  popes'  deaths  are  foretold  by  Sylvester's  tomb. 
Near  Rupes  Nova  in  Finland,  in  the  kingdom  of  Sweden, 
there  is  a  lake,  in  which,  before  the  governor  of  the  castle 
dies,  a  spectrum,  in  the  habit  of  Arion  with  his  harp,  appears, 
and  makes  excellent  music,  like  those  blocks  in  Cheshire, 
which  (they  say)  presage  death  to  the  master  of  the  family ; 
or  that 1  oak  in  Lanthadran  park  in  Cornwall,  which  fore 
shows  as  much.  Many  families  in  Europe  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  men's  chambers,  vel  quia  morientium  fceditatem 
tentiunt,  as  2  Baracellus  conjectures,  et  ideo  super  tectum  in- 
Jirmorum  crocitant,  because  they  smell  a  corse ;  or  for  that 
(as  8  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 
Tully's  death  (saith  Plutarch)  the  crows  made  a  mighty  noise 
about  him,  turmdtuose  perstrepentes,  they  pulled  the  pillow 
from  under  his  head.  Rob.  Gaguinus  hist.  Franc,  lib.  8, 
telleth  such  another  wonderful  story  at  the  death  of  Johannes 
de  Monteforti,  a  French  lord,  anno  1345,  tanta  corvorum 
muUitudo  tedious  morientis  insedit,  quantam  esse  in  GaUia 
n*mo  judicdsset  (a  multitude  of  crows  alighted  on  the  house 
of  the  dying  man,  such  as  no  one  imagined  existed  in  France). 

•  Strozrius  Cicogna.  Hb.  8.  mag.  cap.  6.  Genlali,  folio  187.  •  Part.  1,  o.  ID 
t  Idem  o.  18.  i  M.  Carew,  Surrey  of  Abducunt  eos  i  recta  yia,  et  riant  Itet 
Cornwall,  Ub.  2,  folio  140.  *  Horto  facientibus  iatercluduut. 


Mem.  1,  subs.  2.]         Digression  of  Spirits.  259 

Such  prodigies  are  very  frequent  in  authors.  See  more  of 
these  in  the  said  Lavater,  Thyreus  de  locis  infestis,  part  3, 
cap.  58.  Pictorius,  Delrio,  Cicogna,  lib.  3,  cap.  9.  Necro 
mancers  take  upon  them  to  raise  and  lay  them  at  their  pleas 
ures  ;  and  so  likewise  those  which  Mizaldus  calls  Ambulones, 
that  walk  about  midnight  on  great  heaths  and  desert  places, 
which  (saith  *  Lavater)  "  draw  men  out  of  the  way,  and  lead 
them  all  night  a  by-way,  or  quite  bar  them  of  their  way ; " 
these  have  several  names  in  several  places ;  we  commonly 
call  them  Pucks.  In  the  deserts  of  Lop,  in  Asia,  such  illu 
sions  of  walking  spirits  are  often  perceived,  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  Spain,  relates 
of  a  great  2  mount  in  Cantabria,  where  such  spectrums  are 
to  be  seen ;  Lavater  and  Cicogna  have  variety  of  examples 
of  spirits  and  walking  devils  in  this  kind.  Sometimes  they 
sit  by  the  highway  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  divinitus  cottatam, 
and  talk  with  them,  Et  impavidus  cum  spiritibus  sermonem 
miscere,  without  offence,)  and  if  a  man  curse  or  spur  his  horse 
for  stumbling,  they  do  heartily  rejoice  at  it ;  with  many  such 
pretty  feats. 

Subterranean  devils  are  as  common  as  the  rest,  and  do  aa 
much  harm.  Olaus  Magnus,  lib.  6,  cap.  19,  makes  six  kinds 
of  them ;  some  bigger,  some  less.  These  (saith  *  Munster) 
are  commonly  seen  about  mines  of  metals,  and  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 

1  Lib.  1,  cap.  44.    Dsemonum  eernun-  *  Lib.  2,  cap.  21.     Offendicula  faciunt 

turetaudiunturibifrequentesillusiones,  tranaeuntibus  in  via,  et  petulanter  ridet 

unde  viatoribus  cavendum  ne  se  disso-  cum  Tel  hominem  Tel  jumentum  ejuj 

zient,  aut  a  tergo  maneant,  voces  enim  pedes  atterere  faciant.  et  maxime  si  horn* 

flngunt  sociorum,  ut  i  recto  itinere  ab-  rualedictis  et  calcaribus  weviat.        *  In 

clucant,  &c.       -  MODS  sterilis  et  nivosus,  Cosmogr. 
ubi  intempesta  nocte  umbrae  apparent. 


260  Digression  of  Spirits.  [Part.  I.  sec.  2 

ore  when  they  see  them.  Georgius  Agricola,  in  his  book  d« 
tubterraneis  animantibus,  cap.  37,  reckons  two  irore  notable 
kinds  of  them,  which  he  calls  1  Getuli  and  Cobali,  both  "  are 
clothed  after  the  manner  of  metal-men,  and  will  many  times 
imitate  their  works."  Their  office,  as  Pictorius  and  Paracel 
sus  think,  is  to  keep  treasure  in  the  earth,  that  it  be  not  all 
at  once  revealed ;  and  besides, 2  Cicogna  avers  that  they  are 
the  frequent  causes  of  those  horrible  earthquakes  "  which 
often  swallow  up,  not  only  houses,  but  whole  islands  and 
cities  ; "  in  his  third  book,  cap.  11,  he  gives  many  instances. 

The  last  are  conversant  about  the  centre  of  the  earth  to 
torture  the  souls  of  damned  men  to  the  day  of  judgment; 
their  egress  and  regress  some  suppose  to  be  about  ^Etna, 
Lipari,  Mons  Hecla  in  Iceland,  Vesuvius,  Terra  del  Fuego, 
&c.,  because  many  shrieks  and  fearful  cries  are  continually 
heard  thereabouts,  and  familiar  apparitions  of  dead  men, 
ghosts  and  goblins. 

Their  Offices,  Operations,  Study. ~\  Thus  the  devil  reigns, 
and  in  a  thousand  several  shapes,  "as  a  roaring  lion  still 
seeks  whom  he  may  devour,"  1  Pet  v.,  by  earth,  sea,  land, 
air,  as  yet  unconfined,  though  *  some  will  have  his  proper 
place  the  air ;  all  that  space  between  us  and  the  moon  for 
them  that  transgressed  least,  and  hell  for  the  wickedest  of 
them,  Hie  velut  in  career  e  ad  finem  mundi,  tune  in  locum 
funestiorem  trudendi,  as  Austin  holds  de  Oivit.  Dei,  c.  22,  lib. 
14,  cap.  3  et  23  ;  but  be  where  he  will,  he  rageth  while  he 
may  to  comfort  himself,  as  "Lactantius  thinks,  with  other 
men's  falls,  he  labours  all  he  can  to  bring  them  into  the  same 
pit  of  perdition  with  him.  "  For  4  men's  miseries,  calamities* 
and  ruins  are  the  devil's  banqueting  dishes."  By  many 
temptations  and  several  engines,  he  seeks  to  captivate  our 


1  Vestiti  more  metallicorum,  gestus  et  bus.     Idem   Thyreus   de   locia  infest  in. 

opera  eorura  imitautur.        *  Immisso  In  >  Lactantius  2,  de  origine  erroris,  cap.  15, 

terra  carccres  yento  horribiles  terra  mo-  hi  malign!   spiritus  per  omnem  terrain 

tug  efficiunt,  quibug  gsepe  non   domus  ragantur,  et  solatium    perditionis   sun 

modo  et  turres,  fled  civitates  Integra  et  perdendi.«  hominibu.i  operantur.      <  Mor- 

tnaulae  haugtae  sunt.        *  Illerom.  in  3  talium  calamltates  epulee  suut  malorum 

Kphes.    Idei>  Michaelia,  e.  4,  de  spirit!-  dsemonum,  Synesitu. 


Mem.  i,  subs.  2.]         Digression  of  Spirits.  261 

souls.  The  Lord  of  Lies,  saith  *  Austin,  "As  he  was  de 
ceived  himself,  he  seeks  to  deceive  others,  the  ringleader  to 
all  naughtiness,  as  he  did  by  Eve  and  Cain,  Sodom  and  Go 
morrah,  so  would  he  do  by  all  the  world.  Sometimes  he 
tempts  by  covetousness,  drunkenness,  pleasure,  pride,  &c., 
errs,  dejects,  saves,  kills,  protects,  and  rides  some  men,  as 
they  do  their  horses.  He  studies  our  overthrow,  and  gen 
erally  seeks  our  destruction  ; "  and  although  he  pretend  many 
times  human  good,  and  vindicate  himself  for  a  god  by  curing 
of  several  diseases,  cegris  sanitatem,  et  ccecis  luminis  usum 
rcstituendo,  as  Austin  declares,  lib.  10,  de  Civil.  Dei,  cap.  6, 
as  Apollo,  -(Esculapius,  Isis,  of  old  have  done  ;  divert  plagues, 
assist  them  in  wars,  pretend  their  happiness,  yet  nihil  his 
impurius,  scelestius,  nihil  humano  generi  infestius,  nothing  so 
impure,  nothing  so  pernicious,  as  may  well  appear  by  their 
tyrannical  and  bloody  sacrifices  of  men  to  Saturn  and  Moloch, 
which  are  still  in  use  among  those  barbarous  Indians,  their 
several  deceits  and  cozenings  to  keep  men  in  obedience,  their 
false  oracles,  sacrifices,  their  superstitious  impositions  of  fasts, 
penury,  &c.  Heresies,  superstitious  observations  of  meats, 
times,  &c.,  by  which  they  3  crucify  the  souls  of  mortal  men, 
as  shall  be  showed  in  our  Treatise  of  Religious  Melancholy. 
Modico  adhuc  tempore  sinitur  malignari,  as  8  Bernard  ex- 
presseth  it,  by  God's  permission  he  rageth  awhile,  hereafter 
to  be  confined  to  hell  and  darkness,  "  which  is  prepared  for 
him  and  his  angels,"  Mat  xxv. 

How  far  their  power  doth  extend  it  is  hard  to  determine ; 
what  the  ancients  held  of  their  effects,  force  and  operations, 
I  will  briefly  show  you :  Plato  in  Critias,  and  after  him  his 

1  Dominus  mendacii  £  seipso  deceptus,  ocloret.  in  11.    Cor.  ep.  22.     Chrys.  horn, 

ftlios  decipere  cupit,  aclversarius  human!  68,  in  12     G«n.  Greg,  in  1,  c.  John.  Bar- 

generis.  Inventor  mortis,  superbiae  insti-  thol.  de  prop.  1.  2,  c.  20.     Zanch.  1.  4,  de 

tutor,   radix    malitlse,  scelerum    caput,  mails  angelis.     Perer.  in  Gen.  1.  8,  in  c. 

princeps  omnium  vitiorum,  fuit  inde  in  6.  2.      Origen.   ssepe  prseliis  intersunt, 

Dei  contumeliam,  houiiiium  perniciem:  itinera   et    negotia    nostra    quaecunqu« 

de  horum  conatibus  et  operationibus  lege  dirigunt,   claidestinis   subsHiis    optatoa 

Epiphanium.  2  Tom.  lib.  2.    Dionysiuin.  ssepe  praebent  successus.  Pet.   Mar.  in 

e.  4.     Ambros.  Epi.-tol.  lib.  10,  ep.  et  84.  Sam.   &c.,  Ruscam  de  inferno.        -  El 

August,  de  civ.  Dei,  lib.  6,  c.  9,  lib.  8,  cap.  velut   mancipia   circumfert    PwUus. 

22,  lib.  9, 18,  lib.  10, 21.    Theophil.  in  12.  »  Lib.  de  trans,  mut.  Malac.  ep. 
Mat.  Pasil.  ep.  141.    Leonem  Ser.  The- 


262  Digression  of  Spirits.  [Part.  I.  sec.  2. 

followers,  gave  out  that  these  spirits  or  devils,  "  were  men's 
governors  and  keepers,  our  lords  and  masters,  as  we  are  of 
our  cattle."  1 "  They  govern  provinces  and  kingdoms  by 
oracles,  auguries,  dreams,  rewards,"  and  punishments,  prophe 
cies,  inspirations,  sacrifices,  and  religious  superstitions,  varied 
in  as  many  forms  as  there  be  diversity  of  spirits  ;  they  send 
wars,  plagues,  peace,  sickness,  health,  dearth,  plenty,  *Ad- 
stantes  hie  jam  noUs,  spectantes,  et  arUtrantes,  fyc.,  as  appears 
by  those  histories  of  Thucydides,  Livius,  Dionysius  Halicar- 
nassus,  with  many  others  that  are  full  of  their  wonderful 
stratagems,  and  were  therefore  by  those  Roman  and  Greek 
commonwealths  adored  and  worshipped  for  gods  with  prayers 
and  sacrifices,  &c.  *  In  a  word,  Nihil  magis  gucerunt  quam 
metum  et  admirationem  hominum  ;  4  and  as  another  hath  it, 
Did  non  potest,  quam  impotenti  ardore  in  homines  dominium, 
et  Divinos  cultos  maligni  spiritus  affectent.6  Tritemius  in  his 
book  de  septem  secundis,  assigns  names  to  such  angels  as  are 
governors  of  particular  provinces,  by  what  authority  I  know 
not,  and  gives  them  several  jurisdictions.  Asclepiades  a 
Grecian,  Rabbi  Achiba  the  Jew,  Abraham  Avenezra,  and 
Rabbi  Azariel,  Arabians  (as  I  find  them  cited  by  8  Cicogna) 
farther  add,  that  they  are  not  our  governors  only,  Sed  ex 
eorum  concordid  et  discordid,  boni  et  mali  ajfectus  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,  jfflqua  Venus  Teucris,  Pallas 
iniqua  fait ;  some  are  for  us  still,  some  against  us,  Premente 
Deo,fert  Deus  alter  opem.  Religion,  policy,  public  and  pri 
vate  quarrels,  wars  are  procured  by  them,  and  they  nra 
7  delighted  perhaps  to  see  men  fight,  as  men  are  with  cocks, 
bulls,  and  dogs,  bears,  &c.,  plagues,  dearths  depend  on  them, 
our  bene  and  male  esse,  and  almost  all  our  other  peculiar 

1  Custodes  sunt  hominum,  et  eorum,  and  admiration  of  men."  s  "  It  la 

ut    DOS  animallum  :    turn  et  provinces  scarcely  possible  to  describe  the  impotent 

praepositi  regunt  auguriis,  somniis,  orac-  ardour  with  which  these  malignant  spir- 

ulU,  praemiu,  &c.        *  Lypsius  Physiol.  its  aspire  to  the  honour  of  being  divinely 

Stoic,  lib.   1,   cap.   19.        » Leo  Suavis.  worshipped."         « Omnlf.  mag.   lib.  2 

idem    et   Tritemius.         «  "  They    seek  cap.  28.        '  Ludus  deorum  suuuis 
nothing   more  earnestly  than  the  fear 


Mem.  1,  subs.  2.]          Digression  of  Spirits.  263 

actions,  for  (as  Anthony  Rusca  contends,  lib.  5,  cap.  18, 
every  man  hath  a  good  and  a  bad  angel  attending  on  him 
in  particular,  all  his  life  long,  which  Jamblichus  calls  d&mo- 
nem,)  preferments,  losses,  weddings,  deaths,  rewards,  and 
punishments,  and  as  l  Proclus  will,  all  offices  whatsoever 
alii  genetricem,  alii  opificem  potestatem  kabent,  tyc.,  and  sev 
eral  names  they  give  them  according  to  their  offices,  as  Lares 
Indijetes,  Praestites,  &c.  When  the  Arcades  in  that  battle 
at  Cheronae,  which  was  fought  against  King  Philip  for  the 
liberty  of  Greece,  had  deceitfully  carried  themselves,  long 
after,  in  the  very  same  place,  Diis  Gfrcecice  ultoribus  (saith 
mine  author)  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  dis 
like  us  ;  Saturni  non  conveniunt  Jovialibus,  fyc.  He  that  is 
Saturninus  shall  never  likely  be  preferred.  3  That  base  fel 
lows  are  often  advanced,  undeserving  Gnathoes,  and  vicious 
parasites,  whereas  discreet,  wise,  virtuous  and  worthy  men  are 
neglected  and  unrewarded ;  they  refer  to  those  domineering 
spirits,  or  subordinate  Genii ;  as  they  are  inclined,  or  favour 
men,  so  they  thrive,  are  ruled  and  overcome ;  for  as  8  Liba- 
nius  supposeth  in  our  ordinary  conflicts  and  contentions, 
Genius  Genio  cedit  et  obtemperat,  one  genius  yields  and  is 
overcome  by  another.  All  particular  events  almost  they 
refer  to  these  private  spirits  ;  and  (as  Paracelsus  adds)  they 
direct,  teach,  inspire,  and  instruct  men.  Never  was  any  man 
extraordinary  fam'ous  in  any  art,  action,  or  great  commander, 
that  had  not  familiarem  dcemonem  to  inform  him,  as  Numa, 
Socrates,  and  many  such,  as  Cardan  illustrates,  cap.  128, 
Arcanis  prudentice  civilis,  *  Speciali  siquidem  gratia,  si  a 
Deo  donari  asserunt  magi,  d  Geniis  coslestibus  instrui,  ah 
Us  doceri.  But  these  are  most  erroneous  paradoxes,  ineptet 

1  Lib.  de  anima  et  dsemone.         *  Quo-  losophi  non  remunerentur,  cum  scurra  et 

ties  fit,  ut  Principes   novitium   aulicum  ineptus   ob   insulsum  jocum  saepe  prse- 

divitiis  et  dignitatibus  pene  obruant,  et  mium  reportet,  inde  fit,  &c.        3  Lib.  de 

multorum  annorum  ministrum.  qui  non  Crnent.   Cadaver.          *  Boissardus  c.  6 

•emel  pro  hero  periculum  subiit.  ne  te-  magia. 
runtlo  donent,  &c.    Idem.     Quod  Phi- 


264  Nature  of  Spirits.  [Part.  I.  sec.  2. 

et  fabulosce  nugee,  rejected  by  our  divines  and  Christian 
churches.  'Tis  true  they  have,  by  God's  permission,  power 
over  us,  and  we  find  by  experience,  that  they  can  *  hurt  not 
our  fields  only,  cattle,  goods,  but  our  bodies  and  minds.  At 
Hammel  in  Saxony,  An.  1484,  20  Junii,  the  devil,  in  like 
ness  of  a  pied  piper,  carried  away  one  hundred  and  thirty 
children  that  were  never  aller  seen.  Many  times  men  are 
*  affrighted  out  of  their  wits,  carried  away  quite,  as  Sche- 
retzius  illustrates,  lib.  1  c.  iv.,  and  severally  molested  by  his 
means,  Plotinus  the  Platonist,  lib.  14,  advers.  Gnos.  laughs 
them  to  scorn,  that  hold  the  devil  or  spirits  can  cause  any 
such  diseases.  Many  think  he  can  work  upon  the  body,  but 
not  upon  the  mind.  But  experience  pronounceth  otherwise, 
that  he  can  work  both  upon  body  and  mind.  Tertullian  is 
of  this  opinion,  c.  22.  *  "  That  he  can  cause  both  sickness  and 
health,"  and  that  secretly.  4Taurellus  adds  "by  clancular 
poisons  he  can  infect  the  bodies,  and  hinder  the  operations 
of  the  bowels,  though  we  perceive  it  not,  closely  creeping  into 
them,"  saith  8  Lipsius,  and  so  crucify  our  souls :  Et  nociva 
melancholia  furiosos  efficit.  For  being  a  spiritual  body,  he 
struggles  with  our  spirits,  saith  Rogers,  and  suggests  (accord 
ing  to  6  Cardan,  verba  sine  voce,  species  sine  visu,  envy,  lust, 
anger,  &c.)  as  he  sees  men  inclined. 

The  manner  how  he  performs  it,  Biarmannus,  in  his  Ora 
tion  against  Bodine,  sufficiently  declares.  7  "  He  begins  first 
with  the  fantasy,  and  moves  that  so  strongly,  that  no  reason 
is  able  to  resist  Now  the  fantasy  he  moves  by  mediation 
of  humours ;  although  many  physicians  are  of  opinion,  that 
the  devil  can  alter  the  mind,  and  produce  this  disease  of  him- 

1  Oodelmanns  cap.  8,  lib.  1.  de  Magig.  et-  Tcnenis  nobU  ignotis  corpus  InflcMW. 

Idem  Zanchius  lib.  4.    cap.  10  et  11,  de  6  Irrepentes  corporibus   occulto   morboi 

malls  aujrclis.          2  Nociva  Mel-meholia  fingunt,  mentes  terrent,  membra  distor- 

furioMOg  efflcit,  et  quandoque  penitus  in-  quent.   Lips.  Phil.  Stoic.  1  1,  c.  19.      *De 

terficit.   O.  Picolomineus  IdemqueZanch.  rerum  var.  1.  16,  c.  93.        J  Quum  men* 

cap.  10,  lib.  4,  si  Deug  permittat,  corpora  immediate  decipi  nequit,  priinum  moret 

nogtra  movere  possunt,  alterare,  quo  vis  phan tasiam,  et  ita  obflrmat  Taulg  coneep- 

morborum  et  malorum  genere  afflcere,  tihua  aut  ut  ne  quern  facultati  a-stiina- 

iino  et  in  ipsa  penetrare  et  gsevire.     *  In-  tivae  ration!  locum  relinquat.     Spirit uf 

ducere  potest  morbog  et  sanitates.     «  Vis-  malug  invadit  animam,  turbat  oensus.  in 

cerum  actioneg  potest  inhlbere  latenter,  furorem  conjicit.     Austin,  de  Tit.    Beat 


Mem  1,  subs.  2.]  Nature  of  Spirits.  265 

self.  Quibusdam  medicorum  visum,  saith  1Avicenna,  quod 
Melancholia  contingat  a  dcemonio.  Of  the  same  mind  is 
Psellus  and  Rhasis  the  Arab.  lib.  1,  Tract.  9,  Gont.  * "  That 
this  disease  proceeds  especially  from  the  devil,  and  from  him 
alone."  Arculahus,  cap.  6  in  9,  Rhasis,  ^lianus  Montaltus 
in  his  9  cap.,  Daniel  Sennertus,  lib.  1,  part  2,  cap.  11,  con 
firm  as  much,  that  the  devil  can  cause  this  disease ;  by  reason 
many  times  that  the  parties  affected  prophesy,  speak  strange 
language,  but  non  sine  interventu  humoris,  not  without  the 
humour,  as  he  interprets  himself;  no  more  doth  Avicenna, 
ti  contingat  a  dtemonio,  sufficit  nobis  ut  convertat  complex- 
ionem  ad  choleram  nigram,  et  sit  causa  ejus  propinqua  cholera 
nigra  ;  the  immediate  cause  is  choler  adust,  which  *  Pompo- 
natius  likewise  labours  to  make  good  ;  Galgerandus  of  Man 
tua,  a  famous  physician,  so  cured  a  daemoniacal  woman  in  his 
time,  that  spake  all  languages,  by  purging  black  choler,  and 
thereupon  belike  this  humour  of  Melancholy  is  called  Bal 
neum  Diaboli,  the  Devil's  Bath ;  .the  devil  spying  his  oppor 
tunity  of  such  humours  drives  them  many  times  to  despair, 
fury,  rage,  &c.,  mingling  himself  amongst  these  humours. 
This  is  that  which  Tertullian  avers,  Corporibus  infligunt 
acerbos  casus,  animceque  repentinos,  membra  distorquent,  oc- 
culte  repentes,  fyc.,  and  which  Lemnius  goes  about  to  prove, 
Immiscent  se  mali  Genii  prams  humoribus,  atque  atrce  bili, 
Sfc.  And  8  Jason  Pratensis,  "  that  the  devil,  being  a  slender, 
incomprehensible  spirit,  can  easily  insinuate  and  wind  him 
self  into  human  bodies,  and  cunningly  couched  in  our  bowels 
vitiate  our  healths,  terrify  our  souls  with  fearful  dreams,  and 
shake  our  mind  with  furies."  And  in  another  place,  "  These 
unclean  spirits  settled  in  our  bodies,  and  now  mixed  with  our 
melancholy  humours,  do  triumph  as  it  were,  and  sport  them 
selves  as  in  another  heaven."  Thus  he  argues,  and  that  they 

1  Lib.  8,  Fen.  1,  Tract.  4,  c.  18.        *  A  vitiare,  somniis  animas  terrere  et  mentei 

Das  in  one  maxime  proficisci,  et  ssepe  solo,  furoribusquatere.  Insinuantsemelachol- 

*  Lib.  de  incant.        3  Csep.  de  mania  lib.  icorum  penetralibus,  intus  ibiqne  const 

cln  morbis  cerebri ;  Daemones,  quum  sint  dunt  et  deliciantur  tanquam  m  region* 

teuues  et  incomprehensibiles  spiritus,  se  clarlssimoruni  sideruru,  coguiitque  anl 

insinuare  corporibus  humanis  possnnt.  et  mum  furere. 
occulte  in  visceribus  operti,  valetudinem 


266  Nature  of  Spirits.  [Part.  I.  sec.  2, 

go  in  and  out  of  our  bodies,  as  bees  do  in  a  hive,  and  so  pro 
voke  and  tempt  us  as  they  perceive  our  temperature  inclined 
of  itself,  and  most  apt  to  be  deluded.  l  Agrippa  and  2  Lava- 
ter  are  persuaded,  that  this  humour  invites  the  devil  to  it, 
wheresoever  it  is  in  extremity,  and  of  all  other,  melancholy 
persons  are  most  subject  to  diabolical  temptations  and  illu 
sions,  and  most  apt  to  entertain  them,  and  the  devil  best  able 
to  work  upon  them.  But  whether  by  obsession,  or  posses 
sion,  or  otherwise,  I  will  not  determine  ;  'tis  a  difficult  ques 
tion.  Delrio  the  Jesuit,  Tom.  3,  lib.  6,  Springer  and  his 
colleague,  matt,  malef.  Pet.  Thyreus  the  Jesuit,  lib.  de  dam- 
oniacis,  de  locis  infestis,  de  Terrificationibus  nocturnis, 
Hieronimus  Mengus  Flagel.  deem,  and  others  of  that  rank 
of  pontifical  writers,  it  seems,  by  their  exorcisms  and  conjura 
tions  approve  of  it,  having  forged  many  stories  to  that  pur 
pose.  A  nun  did  eat  a  lettuce  8  without  grace,  or  signing 
it  with  the  sign  of  the  cross,  and  was  instantly  possessed. 
Durand.  lib.  6,  Rationall.  c.  86,  numb.  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,  Ne  daemon 
ingredi  ausit,  and  exorcise  all  manner  of  meats,  as  being  un 
clean  or  accursed  otherwise,  as  Bellarmine  defends.  Many 
such  stories  I  find  amongst  pontifical  writers,  to  prove  their 
issertions,  let  them  free  their  own  credits ;  some  few  I  will 
recite  in  this  kind  out  of  most  approved  physicians.  Corne 
lius  Gemma,  lib.  2,  de  not.  mirac.  c.  4,  relates  of  a  young 
maid,  called  Katherine  Gualter,  a  cooper's  daughter,  An. 
1571,  that  had  such  strange  passions  and  convulsions,  three 
men  could  not  sometimes  hold  her ;  she  purged  a  live  eel, 
which  he  saw  a  foot  and  a  half  long,  and  touched  it  himself; 
but  the  eel  afterwards  vanished ;  she  vomited  some  twenty- 
four  pounds  of  fulsome  stuff  of  all  colours,  twice  a  day  for 

1  Lib.  1,  cap.  6,  occult.  Philoe.  part  1,    ganctificatione  sic  4  daemone    obscess* 
cap.   1,   de  ipectrU.        *  Sine  cruce  et    dial.        *  Greg.  pag.  c.  9. 


Mem.  1,  subs.  2.]  Nature  of  Spirits.  267 

fourteen  days ;  and  aftei  that  she  voided  great  balls  of  hair, 
pieces  of  wood,  pigeons'  dung,  parchment,  goose  dung,  coals ; 
and  after  them  two  pounds  of  pure  blood,  and  then  again 
coals  and  stones,  of  which  some  had  inscriptions  bigger  than 
a  walnut,  some  of  them  pieces  of  glass,  brass,  &c.,  besides 
paroxysms  of  laughing,  weeping,  and  ecstasies,  &c.  Et  hoc 
(inquit)  cum  horrore  vidi,  this  I  saw  with  horror.  They 
could  do  no  good  on  her  by  physic,  but  left  her  to  the  clergy. 
Marcellus  Donatus,  lib.  2,  c.  1,  de  med.  mirab.  hath  such  an 
other  story  of  a  country  fellow,  that  had  four  knives  in  his 
belly,  Instar  serrce  dentatos,  indented  like  a  saw,  every  one  a 
span  long,  and  a  wreath  of  hair  like  a  globe,  with  much  bag 
gage  of  like  sort,  wonderful  to  behold ;  how  it  should  come 
into  his  guts,  he  concludes,  Gerte  non  olio  quam  doemonis  as- 
tutid  et  dolo,  (could  assuredly  only  have  been  through  the 
artifice  of  the  devil).  Langius,  Epist.  med.  lib.  1,  Epist.  38, 
hath  many  relations  to  this  effect,  and  so  hath  Christopherus 
a  Vega ;  Wierus,  Skenkius,  Scribonius,  all  agree  that  they 
are  done  by  the  subtlety  and  illusion  of  the  devil.  If  you 
shall  ask  a  reason  of  this,  'tis  to  exercise  our  patience ;  for  as 
*  Tertullian  holds,  Virtus  non  est  virtus,  nisi  comparem  habet 
aliquem,  in  quo  superando  vim  suam  ostendat,  'tis  to  try  us 
and  our  faith,  'tis  for  our  offences,  and  for  the  punishment  of 
our  sins,  by  God's  permission  they  do  it,  Carnifices  vindicta 
justce  Dei,  as  1Tolosanus  styles  them,  Executioners  of  his 
will ;  or  rather  as  David,  Ps.  78,  ver.  49.  "  He  cast  upon 
them  the  fierceness  of  his  anger,  indignation,  wrath,  and  vexa 
tion,  by  sending  out  of  evil  angels ;"  so  did  he  afflict  Job,  Saul, 
the  Lunatics  and  demoniacal  persons  whom  Christ  cured, 
Mat.  iv.  8,  Luke  iv.  11,  Luke  xiii.,  Mark  ix.,  Tobit  viii.  3, 
&c.  This,  I  say,  happeneth  for  a  punishment  of  sin,  for  theil 
want  of  faith,  incredulity,  weakness,  distrust,  &c. 

*  Penult,  de  opiflo.    Dei.        1  Lib.  28,  cap.  26,  torn.  2. 


268  Cause*  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec  2 

SUBSECT.  III. —  Of  Witches  and  Magicians,  how  they  cause 

Melancholy. 

You  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 
satisfy  their  revenge  and  lust  cause  more  mischief,  Multa  enitn 
mala  non  egisset  daemon,  nisi  provocatus  a  sagis,  as  l  Erastus 
thinks  ;  much  harm  had  never  been  done,  had  he  not  been 
provoked  by  witches  to  it.  He  had  not  appeared  in  Samuel's 
shape,  if  the  Witch  of  Endor  had  let  him  alone ;  or  repre 
sented  those  serpents  in  Pharo's  presence,  had  not  the  magi 
cians  urged  him  unto  it ;  Nee  morbus  vel  hominibus,  vel  brutis 
infligeret  (Erastus  maintains)  si  saga  quiescerent ;  men  and 
cattle  might  go  free,  if  the  witches  would  let  him  alone. 
Many  deny  witches  at  all,  or  if  there  be  any  they  can  do  no 
harm  ;  of  this  opinion  is  Wierus,  lib.  3,  cap.  53,  de  prcestig. 
deem.  Austin  Lerchemer,  a  Dutch  writer,  Biarmannus,  Ewich- 
ius,  Euwaldus,  our  countryman  Scot ;  with  him  in  Horace, 

"  Sorania,  terrores  Magicos,  miracula,  sagas, 
Nocturnes  Lemures,  portentaque  Thessala  risu 
Excipiunt." 

Say,  can  you  laugh  indignant  at  the  schemes 
Of  magic  terrors,  visionary  dreams, 
Portentous  wonders,  witching  imps  of  Hell, 
The  nightly  goblin,  and  enchanting  spell  ? 

They  laugh  at  all  such  stories  ;  but  on  the  contrary  are  most 
lawyers,  divines,  physicians,  philosophers,  Austin,  Hemingius, 
Danaeus,  Chytraeus,  Zanchius,  Aretius,  &c.,  Delrio,  Springer, 
*  Niderius  lib.  5,  Fornicar.  Cuiatius,  Bartolus,  consil.  6,  torn. 
1,  J3odine  dcemoniant.  lib.  2,  cap.  8,  Godelman,  Damhode- 
rius,  &c.,  Paracelsus,  Erastus,  Scribanius,  Camerarius,  &c. 
The  parties  by  whom  the  devil  deals,  may  be  reduced  to 
these  two,  such  as  command  him  in  show  at  least,  as  con 
jurors,  and  magicians,  whose  detestable  and  horrid  mysteries 

1  De  Lamitv  *  Et  quomodo  veneflci  flant  enarrat. 


ilem.  1,  subs.  8.]  Cauaes  of  Melancholy.  269 

are  contained  in  their  book  called  *  Arbatell ;  damones  enim 
advocati  prcesto  sunt,  segue  exorcismis  el  conjurationibus 
qitasi  coffi  patiuntur,  ut  miserum  magorum  genus,  in  impie- 
tote  detineant.  Or  such  as  are  commanded,  as  witches,  that 
deal  ex  parie  implicit  e,  or  explfcite,  as  the  *  king  hath  well  de 
fined  ;  many  subdivisions  there  are,  and  many  several  species 
of  sorcerers,  witches,  enchanters,  charmers,  &c.  They  have 
been  tolerated  heretofore  some  of  them  ;  and  magic  hath  been 
publicly  professed  in  former  times,  in  2  Salamanca,  f  Cracow, 
and  other  places,  though  after  censured  by  several  8  Uni 
versities,  and  now  generally  contradicted,  though  practised 
by  some  still,  maintained  and  excused,  Tanquam  V"S  secreta 
quee  non  nisi  viris  magnis  et  peculiari  beneficio  ae  Coelo 
instructis  communicatur  (I  use  \  Boesartus  his  words)  and 
so  far  approved  by  some  princes,  Ut  nihil  ausi  aggredi  in 
politicis^  in  sacris,  in  consiliis,  sine  eorum  arbitrio ;  they 
consult  still  with  them,  and  dare  indeed  do  nothing  without 
their  advice.  Nero  and  Heliogabalus,  Maxentius,  and  Juli- 
anus  Apostata,  were  never  so  much  addicted  to  magic  of 
old,  as  some  of  our  modern  princes  and  popes  themselves 
are  nowadays.  Erricus  King  of  Sweden  had  an  §  en 
chanted  cap,  by  virtue  of  which,  and  some  magical  murmur 
or  whispering  terms,  he  could  command  spirits,  trouble  the 
air,  and  make  the  wind  stand  which  way  he  would,  insomuch 
that  when  there  was  any  great  wind  or  storm,  the  common 
people  were  wont  to  say,  the  king  now  had  on  his  conjuring 
cap.  But  such  examples  are  infinite.  That  which  they  can 
do,  is  as  much  almost  as  the  devil  himself,  who  is  still  ready 
to  satisfy  their  desires,  to  oblige  them  the  more  unto  him. 
They  can  cause  tempests,  storms,  which  is  familiarly  prac 
tised  by  witches  in  Norway,  Iceland,  as  I  have  proved. 
They  can  make  friends  enemies,  and  enemies  friends  by 
philters ;  4  Turpes  amores  conciliare,  enforce  love,  tell  any 

•De  quo  plnra  legas  In  Boissarao  lib.  1,  P.  Lombard!.         t  Prafat.  de  magis  et 

de  praestig.        >  Rex  Jacobus  Daemonol.  veneficis.        i  Rotatum  Pileum  habebat, 

I.  1,  c.  8.         *  An  university  in  Spain  in  qno  rentes  violentos  tieret,  aerem  tnr- 

old  Castile.  t  The  chief  town  in  Po-  baret,  et  in  quam  parte  p,  &c.        *  Era* 

land.  *  Oxford  and  Paris,  see  finem  tug. 


270  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  2. 

man  where  his  friends  are,  about  what  employed  though  in 
the  most  remote  places ;  and  if  they  will,  * "  bring  their 
sweethearts  to  them  by  night,  upon  a  goat's  back  flying  in 
the  air"  Sigismund  Scheretzius,  part.  1,  cap.  9,  de  spect., 
reports  confidently,  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 
conceive,  f  barren,  men  and  women  unapt  and  unable,  mar 
ried  and  unmarried,  fifty  several  ways,  saith  Bodine,  lib.  2, 
c.  2,  fly  in  the  air,  meet  when  and  where  they  will,  as 
Cicogna  proves,  and  La  vat  de  spec.  part.  2,  c.  17,  "steal 
young  children  out  of  their  cradles,  ministerio  dcemonum, 
and  put  deformed  in  their  rooms,  which  we  call  changelings, 
saith  J  Scheretzius,  part.  1,  c.  6,  make  men  victorious,  fortu 
nate,  eloquent;  and  therefore  in  those  ancient monomachies 
and  combats  they  were  searched  of  old,  *  they  had  no  magical 
charms ;  they  can  make  a  stick  frees,  such  as  shall  endure  a 
rapier's  point,  musket  shot,  and  never  be  wounded  ;  of  which 
read  more  in  Boissardus,  cap.  6.  de  Magid,  the  manner  of 
the  adjuration,  and  by  whom  'tis  made,  where  and  how 
to  be  used  in  expeditionibus  bellicis,  prceliis,  duettis,  fyc., 
with  many  peculiar  instances  and  examples ;  they  can  walk 
in  fiery  furnaces,  make  men  feel  no  pain  on  the  rack,  aut 
alias  torturas  sentire  ;  they  can  stanch  blood,  *  represent  dead 
men's  shapes,  alter  and  turn  themselves  and  others  into 
several  forms,  at  their  pleasures.  §  Agaberta,  a  famous 
witch  in  Lapland,  would  do  as  much  publicly  to  all  specta 
tors,  Modb  Pusilla,  modo  anus,  modo  procera  tit  quercus, 
modo  vacca,  avis,  coluber,  fyc.  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,  show  them  friends  absent,  reveal  secrets,  maximd 

*  Ministerio  hire!  noeturnl.          t  Ster-  Terornm  conjectis.         *  Mllles.        *  D. 

lies  nuptos  et  inhabiles,  Tide  Petrum  de  Luther,  in  primum  praeceptum,  et  Leon 

Palnde,    lib.   4,   distinct.   84.     Paulum  Varius,   lib.   1.  de  Fascino.        »  Lava» 

Gutolandum.  J  Infantes  mat  rib  us  Cicog.        f  BoUsardus  de  Magi*. 

nuffurantur,  allia  supposith  w  in  locum 


Mem  1,  subs.  8.]          Causes  of  Melancholy.  271 

omnium  admiratione,  fyc.  And  yet  for  all  this  subtlety  of 
theirs,  as  Lypsius  well  observes,  Physiolog.  Stoicor.  lib.  1, 
cap.  17,  neither  these  magicians  nor  devils  themselves  can 
take  away  gold  or  letters  out  of  mine  or  Crassus's  chest,  ei 
Clientelis  suis  largiri,  for  they  are  base,  poor,  contemptible 
fellows  most  part :  as  *  Bodine  notes,  they  can  do  nothing  in 
Judicum  decreta  aut  poenas,  in  regum  concilia  vel  arcana, 
nihil  in  rem  nummariam  aut  thesauros,  they  cannot  give 
money  to  their  clients,  alter  judges'  decrees,  or  councils  of 
kings,  these  minuti  Genii  cannot  do  it,  altiores  Genii  hoc  sibi 
adservdrunt,  the  higher  powers  reserve  these  things  to  them 
selves.  Now  and  then  peradventure  there  may  be  some 
more  famous  magicians  like  Simon  Magus,  t  Apollonius 
Tyaneus,  Pasetes,  Jamblicus,  JOdo  de  Stellis,  that  for  a 
time  can  build  castles  in  the  air,  represent  armies,  &c.,  as 
they  are  1  said  to  have  done,  command  wealth  and  treasure, 
feed  thousands  with  all  variety  of  meats  upon  a  sudden, 
protect  themselves  and  their  followers  from  all  princes'  per 
secutions,  by  removing  from  place  to  place  in  an  instant, 
reveal  secrets,  future  events,  tell  what  is  done  in  far  coun 
tries,  make  them  appear  that  died  long  since,  and  do  many 
such  miracles,  to  the  world's  terror,  admiration,  and  opinion 
of  deity  to  themselves,  yet  the  devil  forsakes  them  at  last, 
they  come  to  wicked  ends,  and  rard  aut  nunquam  such  im 
postors  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  2  melancholy  amongst  the  rest.  Paracelsus,  Tom.  4, 
de  morbis,  amentium.  Tract.  1,  in  express  words  affirms; 
Multi  fascinantur  in  melancholiam,  many  are  bewitched 
into  melancholy,  out  of  his  experience.  The  same  sai1v 
Danaeus,  lib.  3,  de  sortiariis.  Vidi,  inquit,  qui  Melon- 
cholicos  morbos  gravissimos  induxerunt:  I  have  seen  those 

*  Daemon    lib.   3,  cap.  8.          t  Vide  *  Virg.  JEneid.  4.    Incantatricem  descri- 

Philc.stratum  vita  ejus,  Boissardum  de  bens:  Hsec  se  carminibus  promittit  sol- 

Hagis.       t  Nubrigenses  lege,  lib.  1,  c.  19.  vere  mentes.     Quas  relit,  ast  aliia  dunu 

Vide  Suidam  de  Paset.    De  Cruent.  Cada-  immittere  curas. 
fei.       i  Erastus.  Adolphus  Soribanius. 


272  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  2. 

that  have  caused  melancholy  in  the  most  grievous  manner, 
1  dried  up  women's  paps,  cured  gout,  palsy;  this  and  apo 
plexy,  falling  sickness,  which  no  physic  could  help,  solo  tactu, 
by  touch  alone.  Ruland,  in  his  3  Cent.  Cura  91,  gives  an 
instance  of  one  David  Helde,  a  young  man,  who  by  eat 
ing  cakes  which  a  witch  gave  him,  mox  delirare  ccepit, 
began  to  dote  on  a  sudden,  and  was  instantly  mad ;  F.  H.  D. 
in  a  Hildesheim,  consulted  about  a  melancholy  man,  thought 
his  disease  was  partly  magical,  and  partly  natural,  because 
he  vomited  pieces  of  iron  and  lead,  and  spake  such  lan 
guages  as  he  had  never  been  taught ;  but  such  examples  are 
common  in  Scribanius,  Hercules  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  constella 
tions,  knots,  amulets,  words,  philters,  &c.,  which  generally 
make  the  parties  affected,  melancholy ;  as  8  Monavius  dis- 
courseth  at  large  in  an  epistle  of  his  to  Acolsius,  giving 
instance  in  a  Bohemian  baron  that  was  so  troubled  by  a 
philter  taken.  Not  that  there  is  any  power  at  all  in  those 
spells,  charms,  characters,  and  barbarous  words ;  but  that  the 
devil  doth  use  such  means  to  delude  them.  Ut  fideks  inde 
magos  (saith  *  Libanius)  in  officio  retineat,  turn  in  consortium 
malefactorum  vocet. 

SUBSECT.  IV. — Stars  a   Cause.     Signs  from  Physiognomy, 
Metoposcopy,  Chiromancy. 

NATURAL  causes  are  either  primary  and  universal,  or  sec 
ondary  and  more  particular.  Primary  causes  are  the  heav 
ens,  planets,  stars,  &c.,  by  their  influence  (as  our  astrologers 
hold)  producing  this  and  such  like  effects.  I  will  not  here 
stand  to  discuss  obiter,  whether  stars  be  causes,  or  signs ;  or 
to  apologize  for  judicial  astrology.  If  either  Sextus  Empiri- 

1  Qodelmannus,  cap.  7,  lib.  1,  nutrl-  fol.  147.        *  Oninia  philtra  etai  inter  Be 

cum    mammaa    praeslccant,    solo   taotu  different,  boo    babent    commune,   quod 

podagram,  apoplexlam,  paralyain,  et  alios  hominam  efficiant  melancholicum ;  eplsf . 

morbos,  quoa  mediclna  curare  non  pot-  281.     Scholtiii.  *  De  Cruent.  Cada- 

erat-        a  Fact  us  inde  Maniacus,  spec  2,  rer. 


Mem.  1,  subs.  4.]          Causes  of  Melancholy.  273 

cus,  Picus  Mirandula,  Sextus  ab  Heminga,  Pererius,  Erastus, 
Chambers,  &c.,  have  so  far  prevailed  with  any  man,  that  he 
will  attribute  no  virtue  at  all  to  the  heavens,  or  to  sun,  or 
moon,  more  than  he  doth  to  their  signs  at  an  innkeeper's  post, 
or  tradesman's  shop,  or  generally  condemn  all  such  astrologi 
cal  aphorisms  approved  by  experience ;  I  refer  him  to  Bel- 
lantius,  Pirovanus,  Marascallerus,  Goclenius,  Sir  Christopher 
Heidon,  &c.  If  thou  shalt  ask  me  what  I  think,  I  must  an 
swer,  nam  et  doctis  hisce  erroribus  versatus  sum  (for  I  am 
conversant  with  these  learned  errors),  they  do  incline,  but  not 
compel ;  no  necessity  at  all ;  1  agunt  non  cogunt ;  and  so 
gently  incline,  that  a  wise  man  may  resist  them  ;  sapiens  dom- 
inabitur  astris  ;  they  rule  us,  but  God  rules  them.  All  this 
(methinks)  2  Joh.  de  Indagine  hath  comprised  in  brief,  Quce- 
ris  a  me  quantum  in  nobis  operantur  astro,  ?  §c.  "  Wilt  thou 
know  how  far  the  stars  work  upon  us  ?  I  say  they  do  but 
incline,  and  that  so  gently,  that  if  we  will  be  ruled  by  reason, 
they  have  no  power  over  us ;  but  if  we  follow  our  own  na 
ture,  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 
conclude  with  8  Cajetan,  Godwin  est  vehiculum  divince  virtutis, 
Sfc.,  that  the  heaven  is  God's  instrument,  by  mediation  of 
which  he  governs  and  disposeth  these  elementary  bodies ;  or 
a  great  book,  whose  letters  are  the  stars  (as  one  calls  it), 
wherein  are  written  many  strange  things  for  such  as  can 
read,  4  "  or  an  excellent  harp,  made  by  an  eminent  workman, 
on  which,  he  that  can  but  play,  will  make  most  admirable 
music."  But  to  the  purpose. 

6  Paracelsus  is  of  opinion,  "  that  a  physician  without  the 
knowledge  of  stars  can  neither  understand  the  cause  or  cure 
of  any  disease,  either  of  this  or  gout,  not  so  much  as  tooth- 

1  Astra  regunt  homines,  et  rejrit  astra  Inmine  et  influentia,  Deus  elementaria 

Deus.          *  Chirom.   lib.   quseris  Ji  me  corpora    ordinat   et    disponit.      Th.    de 

quantum  operantur  astra?  dico,  In  nos  Vio.  Cnjetanus  in  Psa.  104.          4  Mun 

nihil  astra  urgere,  sed  animos  proclives  dus    iste    quasi  lyra    ab  excellentissimo 

trahere :  qui  sic  taiuen  liberi  sunt.  ut  si  quodam  artifice   concinnata,  quern  qui 

durem  sequantur  raMonem,   nihil    effl-  norit    mirabiles    eliciet   harmonias.      J. 

clant,  sin  vero  naturam,  id  agere  quod  Dee.   Aphorismo  11.         5  Medicus  sin* 

in  brutis  fere.         8  Coelum   vehiculum  coell  peritia  nihil  est,  &c.,  nisi  genesimsci 

dirinae  virtutis,   cujus  mediante  motu,  yerit,  ne  tantillum  potent,  lib.  de  podag 
VOL.  i.                                  18 


274  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  £ 

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 
constellation  alone  many  times  produceth  melancholy,  all 
other  causes  set  apart."  He  gives  instance  in  lunatic  persons, 
that  are  deprived  of  their  wits  by  the  moon's  motion  ;  and  in 
another  place  refers  all  to  the  ascendant,  and  will  have  the 
true  and  chief  cause  of  it  to  be  sought  from  the  stars.  Nei 
ther  is  it  his  opinion  only,  but  of  many  Galenists  and  philoso 
phers,  though  they  do  not  so  peremptorily  maintain  as  much. 
"This  variety  of  melancholy  symptoms  proceeds  from  the 
atars,"  saith  2  Melancthon  ;  the  most  generous  melancholy,  as 
that  of  Augustus,  comes  from  the  conjunction  of  Saturn  and 
Jupiter  in  Libra;  the  bad,  as  that  of  Catiline's,  from  the 
meeting  of  Saturn  and  the  moon  in  Scorpio.  Jovianus  Pon- 
tanus,  in  his  tenth  book,  and  thirteenth  chapter  de  rebus  cceles- 
tibus,  discourseth  to  this  purpose  at  large,  Ex  atrd  Uk  varii 
^generantur  morbi,  fyc.,  8 "  many  diseases  proceed  from  black 
choler,  as  it  shall  be  hot  or  cold ;  and  though  it  be  cold  in  its 
own  nature,  yet  it  is  apt  to  be  heated,  as  water  may  be  made 
to  boil,  and  burn  as  bad  as  fire ;  or  made  cold  as  ice ;  and 
thence  proceed  such  variety  of  symptoms,  some  mad,  some 
solitary,  some  laugh,  some  rage,"  &c.  The  cause  of  all  which 
intemperance  he  will  have  chiefly  and  primarily  proceed  from 
the  heavens,  *  "  from  the  position  of  Mars,  Saturn,  and  Mer 
cury."  His  aphorisms  be  these,  6"  Mercury  in  any  geniture, 
if  he  shall  be  found  in  Virgo,  or  Pisces,  his  opposite  sign,  and 
that  in  the  horoscope,  irradiated  by  those  quartile  aspects  of 

1  Constcllatio  in  causa  est ;  et  influen-  tametsi  suftpte  naturl  frigida  sit.  Annon 

tia  cceli  morbum  hunc  movet  interdum,  aqua  sic  afficitur  a  calore  lit  ardeat;  et  a 

omnibus  aliis  amotis.    Et  alibi.     Origo  frigore,  ut  in  glaciem  concrescat  ?  et  haeo 

ejus  £  Coelo  petenda  est.    Tr.  de  morbis  varietas  distinctionum,  alii  flent,  rident, 

amentium.        *  Lib.  de  anima,  cap.  de  &c.        *  Ilanc  ad  intemperantiam  gig- 

humorib.    Ea  varietas   in   Melancholia,  nendam  plurimum  confert  $  et  Jj  posi- 

habet  caelestes  causas  <5  Vj  et  I/  in  Q  d  tus,  &c.       *  $  Quoties  alicujus  genitura 

if  et  d  in  [n .        s  Ex  atra  bile  varii  gen-  in  ft[  et  K  adverse  signo  positus,  horo- 

erantur  morbi,  perinde  ut  ipse  multum  scopum  partiliter  tenuerit  atque  etinm  a 

calirli  aut  frigid!  in  se  habuerit.  quum  <f  vel  fj  O  radio  percusses  fuerli,  natug 

utrique  suscipiendo  quam  aptissiiiia  sit,  ab  insania  vexabitur. 


Mem.  i,  subs.  4.]         Caiises  of  Melancholy.  275 

Saturn  or  Mars,  the  child  shall  be  mad  or  melancholy." 
Again,  *  "  He  that  shall  have  Saturn  and  Mars,  the  one  cul 
minating,  the  other  in  the  fourth  house,  when  he  shall  be 
born,  shall  be  melancholy,  of  which  he  shall  be  cured  in  time, 
if  Mercury  behold  them."  *  "  If  the  moon  be  in  conjunction 
or  opposition  at  the  birth  time  with  the  sun,  Saturn  or  Mars, 
or  hi  a  quartile  aspect  with  them  (e  malo  coeli  loco,  Leovitius 
adds),  many  diseases  are  signified,  especially  the  head  and 
brain  is  like  to  be  misaffected  with  pernicious  humours,  to  be 
melancholy,  lunatic,  or  mad,"  Cardan  adds,  quarto,  lund  natos, 
eclipses,  earthquakes.  Garcaeus  and  Leovitius  will  have  the 
chief  judgment  to  be  taken  from  the  lord  of  the  geniture,  or 
where  there  is  an  aspect  between  the  moon  and  Mercury,  and 
neither  behold  the  horoscope,  or  Saturn  and  Mars  shall  be 
lord  of  the  present  conjunction  or  opposition  in  Sagittarius  or 
Pisces,  of  the  sun  or  moon,  such  persons  are  commonly  epi 
leptic,  dote,  daemoniacal,  melancholy ;  but  see  more  of  these 
aphorisms  in  the  above-named  Pontanus.  Garcaeus,  cap.  23, 
le  Jud.  genitur.  Schoner.  lib.  1,  cap.  8,  which  he  hath  gath 
ered  out  of  8  Ptolemy,  Albubater,  and  some  other  Arabians, 
Junctine,  Ranzovius,  Lindhout,  Origen,  &c.  But  these  men 
you  will  reject  peradventure,  as  astrologers,  and  therefore 
partial  judges;  then  hear  the  testimony  of  physicians, 
Galenists  themselves.  *  Carto  confesseth  the  influence  of 
stars  to  have  a  great  hand  to  this  peculiar  disease,  so  doth 
Jason  Pratensis,  Lonicerius  pra/at.  de  Apopkxid,  Ficinus, 
Fernelius,  &c.  6  P.  Cnemander  acknowledgeth  the  stars  an 
universal  cause,  the  particular  from  parents,  and  the  use  of 
the  six  non-natural  things.  Baptista  Port.  mag.  1.  1,  c.  10, 
12,  15,  will  have  them  causes  to  every  particular  individium. 
Instances  and  examples,  to  evince  the  truth  of  these  aphor 
isms,  are  common  amongst  those  astrologian  treatises.  Car- 

1  Qui  ^  et  cf  babet,  alterum  in  col-  melancholicorum  aymptomata    siderum 

mine,  alterum  imo  ccelo,  cum  in  lucem  influentiis.        •>  Arte  Medica.   Accedunt 

venerit,  melaneholicus  erit,  a  qua  sanab-  ad  has  causas  affectiones  siderum.     Plu- 

itur,  si   J  illos  trradi&rit.        -  Hac  con-  rimuni    incitant    et    provocant  influen- 

flguratione    natus,  aut    lunaticus,   aut  tise  cfelostes.    Velcurio,  lib.  4,  cap.  15. 

mente  captus.        3  Ptolomaeus  centilo-  6  HUdeabeim,  spicel.  2,  de  mel. 
quio,  et  quadripartite  tribuit  omnium 


276  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  l.  sec.  2. 

dan,  in  his  thirty-seventh  geniture,  gives  instance  in  Math 
Bolognius.  Camerar.  hor.  natalit.  centur.  7,  genit.  6  et  7,  of 
Daniel  Gare,  and  others;  but  see  Garcseus,  cap.  33,  Luc, 
Gauricus,  Tract.  6,  de  Azemenis,  fyc.  The  time  of  this  mel 
ancholy  is,  when  the  significators  of  any  geniture  are  directed 
according  to  art,  as  the  hon  moon,  hylech,  &c.,  to  the  hostile 
beams  or  terms  of  $  and  $  especially,  or  any  fixed  star  of 
their  nature,  or  if  £  by  his  revolution,  or  transitus,  shall 
offend  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  Hesse  his  mathematician,  not  long 
since  in  his  Chiromancy ;  Baptista  Porta,  in  his  celestial 
Physiognomy,  have  proved  to  hold  great  affinity  with  astrol 
ogy,  to  satisfy  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  brows,"  saith  *  Gratana- 
rolus,  cap.  7,  and  a  little  head,  out  of  Aristotle,  high  sanguine, 
red  colour,  shows  head  melancholy  ;  they  that  stutter  and  are 
bald,  will  be  soonest  melancholy  (as  Avicenna  supposeth),  by 
reason  of  the  dryness  of  their  brains ;  but  he  that  will  know 
more  of  the  several  signs  of  humour  and  wits  out  of  physiog 
nomy,  let  him  consult  with  old  Adamantus  and  Polemus,  that 
comment,  or  rather  paraphrase  upon  Aristotle's  Physiognomy, 
Baptista  Porta's  four  pleasant  books,  Michael  Scot  de  secretis 
naturce,  John  de  Indagine,  Montaltus,  Antony  Zara.  anat.  in- 
geniorwn,  sect.  1,  memb.  13,  et  lib.  4. 

Chiromancy  hath  these  aphorisms  to  foretell  melancholy 
Tasneir.  lib.  5,  cap.  2,  who  hath  comprehended  the  sum  of 
John  de  Indagine;  Tricassus,  Corvinus,  and  others  in  his 
book,  thus  hath  it;  2"The  Saturnine  line  going  from  the 
rascetta  through  the  hand,  to  Saturn's  mount,  and  there  inter- 

1  Job.  de  Indag.  cap.  9.     Montaltus,  Galeno.        *  Saturnina   a   Rascetta  per 

cap.  22.        *  Caput  parrum  qui  habent  mediam  manum    dccurrens,   usque    ad 

cerebrum  et  apiritus  plerumque  angus-  radicem  mentis  Saturnl,  a  parvis  lineif 

to«,  facile  incident  in  Melancholiam  rtibi-  Interaecta,  arguit  inelancholicos.     Aplio* 

cundi.    JUUua  Idem  Montaltua,  o.  21,  e  rlnu.  78. 


Mem.  1,  subs.  4.]         Causes  of  Melancholy.  277 

sected  by  certain  little  lines,  argues  melancholy ;  so  if  the 
vital  and  natural  make  an  acute  angle,  Aphorism  100.  The 
saturnine,  epatic,  and  natural  lines,  making  a  gross  triangle 
in  the  hand,  argue  as  much ; "  which  Goclenius,  cap.  5  Chiros. 
repeats  verbatim  out  of  him.  In  general  they  conclude  all, 
that  if  Saturn's  mount  be  full  of  many  small  lines  and  inter 
sections,  l "  such  men  are  most  part  melancholy,  miserable, 
and  full  of  disquietness,  care  and  trouble,  continually  vexed 
with  anxious  and  bitter  thoughts,  always  sorrowful,  fear 
ful,  suspicious ;  they  delight  in  husbandry,  buildings,  pools, 
marshes,  springs,  woods,  walks,  &c."  Thaddaeus  Haggesius. 
in  his  Metoposcopia,  hath  certain  aphorisms  derived  from 
Saturn's  lines  in  the  forehead,  by  which  he  collects  a  melan 
choly  disposition ;  and  2  Baptista  Porta  makes  observations 
from  those  other  parts  of  the  body,  as  if  a  spot  be  over  the 
spleen ;  8  "  or  in  the  nails ;  if  it  appear  black,  it  signifieth 
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  perpetual  lawsuits,  controversies 
for  his  inheritance,  fear,  loss  of  honour,  banishment,  grief, 
care,  &c.,  and  when  his  miseries  ended,  the  black  spots  van 
ished.  Cardan,  in  his  book  de  libris  propriis,  tells  such  a 
story  of  his  own  person,  that  a  little  before  his  son's  death,  he 
had  a  black  spot,  which  appeared  in  one  of  his  nails ;  and 
dilated  itself  as  he  came  nearer  to  his  end.  But  I  am  over 
tedious  in  these  toys,  which  howsoever,  in  some  men's  too 
severe  censures,  they  may  be  held  absurd  and  ridiculous,  I 
am  the  bolder  to  insert,  as  not  borrowed  from  circumforanean 
rogues  and  gypsies,  but  out  of  the  writings  of  worthy  philoso 
phers  and  physicians,  yet  living  some  of  them,  and  religious 
professors  in  famous  universities,  who  are  able  to  patronize 

1  Agitantur  miseriis,  continuis  inqute-  ludea,  &c.     Jo.    de    Indagine,    lib.    1. 

tudinibus,  neque  unquam  i  solid tudine  *  Cselestis  Physiognom.  lib.  10.          3  cap. 

liberi  sunt,  anxie  affliguntur  aniarissimis  14,  lib.   6.    Idem :  maculae  in  ungulis 

intra  cogitationibus,  semper  tristes,  sus-  nigrse,  litea,  rixas,  melancholiam  signifl 

pitiosi,    meticulosi :    cogitationes    sunt,  cant,  ab  humore  in  corde  tali, 
velle  agrum  colere,  etagna  amant  et  pa- 


278  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  2. 

that  which  they  have  said,  and  vindicate  themselver,  from  all 
cavillers  and  ignorant  persons. 

SUBSECT.  V. —  Old  Age  a  Cause. 

SECONDARY  peculiar  causes  efficient,  so  called  in  respect 
of  the  other  precedent,  are  either  congenitce  internee,  innata, 
as  they  term  them,  inward,  innate,  inbred ;  or  else  outward 
and  adventitious,  which  happen  to  us  after  we  are  born ;  con- 
genito  or  born  with  us,  are  either  natural,  as  old  age,  or 
preeter  naturam  (as  *  Fernelius  calls  it)  that  distemperature, 
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  2  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  increas 
ing  of  adust  humours ;  therefore  8  Melancthon  avers  out  of 
Aristotle,  as  an  undoubted  truth,  Senes  plerungue  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  Conk  lib.  1,  cap.  9, 
calls  it  4 "  a  necessary  and  inseparable  accident,"  to  all  old 
and  decrepit  persons.  After  seventy  years  (as  the  Psalmist 
saith)  *  "  all  is  trouble  and  sorrow  ; "  and  common  experi 
ence  confirms  the  truth  of  it  in  weak  and  old  persons,  especi 
ally  such  as  have  lived  in  action  all  their  lives,  had  great 
employment,  much  business,  much  command,  and  many  ser 
vants  to  oversee,  and  leave  off  ex  abrupto  ;  as  6  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 
continue  in  such  courses,  they  dote  at  last  (senex  Us  puer), 
and  are  not  able  to  manage  their  estates  through  common  in 
firmities  incident  in  their  age  ;  full  of  ache,  sorrow  and  grief, 
children  again,  dizzards,  they  carle  many  times  as  they  sit, 

1  Lib.   1.    Path.  cap.   11.         *  Venlt  *  Cap.   de    humoribus,  lib.  de    Anlma 

enim  properata  malls  Inoplna  senectus :  *  Necessarium  accident*  decrepitifl,  et  in 

et    dolor    setatem  juwit  incsse    meam.  separabile.       »  Psa.  xc.  10.       6  Meteran. 

Boethius,     met.   1,    de    consol.    PhiloB.  Belg.  hist.  lib.  1. 


Mem.  i,  subs.  6.]          Causes  of  Melancholy.  279 

and  talk  to  themselves,  they  are  angry,  waspish,  displeiised 
with  everything,  "  suspicious  of  all,  wayward,  covetous,  hard 
(saith  Tully),  self-willed,  superstitious,  self-conceited,  brag- 
gers  and  admirers  of  themselves,"  as  1  Balthasar  Castalio 
hath  truly  noted  of  them.2  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 ;  inso 
much  that  Wierus,  Baptista  Porta,  Ulricus  Molitor,  Edwicus, 
do  refer  all  that  witches  are  said  to  do,  to  imagination  alone, 
and  this  humour  of  melancholy.  And  whereas  it  is  con 
troverted,  whether  they  can  bewitch  cattle  to  death,  ride  in 
the  air  upon  a  coulstaff  out  of  a  chimney-top,  transform  them 
selves  into  cats,  dogs,  &c.,  translate  bodies  from  place  to 
place,  meet  in  companies,  and  dance,  as  they  do,  or  have 
carnal  copulation  with  the  devil,  they  ascribe  all  to  this  re 
dundant  melancholy,  which  domineers  in  them,  to  *  somnifer 
ous  potions,  and  natural  causes,  the  devil's  policy.  Non 
laedunt  omnino  (saith  Wierus)  aut  quid  minim  faciunt  (de 
Lamiis,  lib.  3,  cap.  36),  ut  putatur,  solam  vitiatam  kabent 
phantasiam;  they  do  no  such  wonders  at  all,  only  their 
*  brains  are  crazed.  *  "  They  think  they  are  witches,  and  can 
do  hurt,  but  do  not."  But  this  opinion  Bodine,  Erastus, 
Danaeus,  Scribanius,  Sebastian  Michaelis,  Campanella  de 
gensu  rerum,  lib.  4,  cap.  9,  *  Dandinus  the  Jesuit,  lib.  2,  de 
Animd,  explode  ;  6  Cicogna  confutes  at  large.  That  witches 
are  melancholy,  they  deny  not,  but  not  out  of  corrupt  fan 
tasy  alone,  so  to  delude  themselves  and  others,  or  to  produce 
such  effects. 

SUBSECT.  VI. — Parents  a   Cause  by  Propagation. 

THAT  other  inward  inbred  cause  of  Melancholy  is  our 
temperature,  in  whole  or  part,  which  we  receive  from  our 

1  Svmt  morosi,  anxii,   et  iracundi  et  guis  infantum,  &c.        «  Corrupta  eat  Us 

dlfflciles  senes,  si  quaerimus,  etium  avari,  ab  humore  Melancholico  phantasia.     Ny- 

Tull.  de  senectute.        a  Lib.  2.  de  Aulico.  manus.        *  Putant  eo  laedere    quando 

Senes  arari.  morosi,  jactabundi,  philauti.  non  laedunt.        *  Qui  hsec  in  imagina- 

deliri,  superstitiosi,  suspiciosi,  &c.     Lib.  tioaig  vim  referre  conati  suut.  atrse  bilis, 

3,  de  Lamiis,  cap.  17et  18.        8  Solanum,  inanem    prorsus    laborem    susceprrunt 

opium,  lupi  adeps,  lacr.  asini,  &c.,  san-  8  Lib.  3,  cap.  4,  omnif.  mag. 


280  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  »ec.  2. 

parents,  which  *  Fernelius  calls  Prater  naturam,  or  un 
natural,  it  being  an  hereditary  disease ;  for  as  he  justifies 
1  Quale  parentum  maxime  patris  semen  obtigerit,  tales  evaduni 
similares  spermaticceque  paries,  quocunque  etiam  morbo  Pater 
quum  general  tenetur,  cum  semine  transfert  in  Prolem  ;  such 
as  the  temperature  of  the  father  is,  such  is  the  son's,  and  look 
what  disease  the  father  had  when  he  begot  him,  his  son  will 
have  after  him  ;  3  "  and  is  as  well  inheritor  of  his  infirmities, 
as  of  his  lands."  "And  where  the  complexion  and  constitution 
of  the  father  is  corrupt,  there  (8  saith  Roger  Bacon)  the  com 
plexion  and  constitution  of  the  son  must  needs  be  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  Hippocrates,  8  "  in  habit,  propor 
tion,  scars,  and  other  lineaments ;  but  in  manners  and  con 
ditions  of  the  mind,  Et  patrum  in  natos  abeunt  cum  semine 
mores. 

Seleucus  had  an  anchor  on  his  thigh,  so  had  his  posterity, 
as  Trogus  records,  1.  15.  Lepidus  in  Pliny,  1.  7,  c.  17,  was 
purblind,  so  was  his  son.  That  famous  family  of  jEnobarbi 
were  known  of  old,  and  so  surnamed  from  their  red  beards  ; 
the  Austrian  lip,  and  those  Indian  flat  noses  are  propagated, 
the  Bavarian  chin,  and  goggle  eyes  amongst  the  Jews,  as 
*  Buxtorfius  observes  ;  their  voice,  pace,  gesture,  looks,  are 
likewise  derived  with  all  the  rest  of  their  conditions  and  in 
firmities  ;  such  a  mother,  such  a  daughter ;  the  very  6  affec 
tions  Lemnius  contends  "  to  follow  their  seed,  and  the  malice 
and  bad  conditions  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. 
T  Paracelsus  in  express  words  affirms  it,  lib.  de  morb.  amen- 


*  Lib.  1,  cap.  11,  path.        1  Ut  arthrit-  eorruptio  4  patribus  ad  fllios.        <  Non 

id,  epilep.  &c.        2  ut  fllii  non  tarn  pos-  tarn  (inquit  Hippocrates)  gibbos  et  clca- 

srssinn  inn  quam  morborum  haeredes  sint.  trices  oris  et  corporis  habitant  agnoscli 

8  Epist.  de  secretis  artis  et  naturae,  c.  7,  ex  iis,  sed  yenim  incessum,  gestus,  mores, 

natn  lu  hoc  quod  patres  corrupt!  sunt,  morbos,  &c.        6  Synagog.  Jud.        *  Af- 

generant  fllios  corruptae  complexionis,  et  fectua  parentum  in  foetus  transeunt,  et 
compocitionis,  et  fllii  eorum  e&dem  de 
causft  se  corruint 


t  fllii  eorum  e&dem  de    puerorummallciaparentibvwiniputan'la, 
ipu n t,  et  gic  derivatur    lib.  4,  cap.  8,  de  occult,  nat.  mirac.     1  Ei 


Mem.  1,  subs.  6.]          Causes  of  Melancholy.  281 

tium,  to.  4,  tr.  1 ;  so  doth  *  Crato  in  an  Epistle  of  his  to 
Monavius.  So  doth  Bruno  Seidelius  in  his  book  de  morbo 
encurab.  Montaltus  proves,  cap.  11,  out  of  Hippocrates  and 
Plutarch,  that  such  hereditary  dispositions  are  frequent,  et 
nanc  (inquif)  fieri  reor  ob  participatam  melancholicam  in- 
temperantiam  (speaking  of  a  patient)  I  think  he  became  so 
by  participation  of  Melancholy.  Daniel  Sennertus,  lib.  1, 
part  2,  cap.  9,  will  have  his  melancholy  constitution  derived 
not  only  from  the  father  to  the  son,  but  to  the  whole  family 
sometimes;  Quandoque  totis familiis  hereditativam ;  3 Fores- 
tus,  in  his  medicinal  observations,  illustrates  this  point,  with 
an  example  of  a  merchant,  his  patient,  that  had  this  infirmity 
by  inheritance  ;  so  doth  Rodericus  k  Fonseca,  torn.  1,  consul. 
69,  by  an  instance  of  a  young  man  that  was  so  affected 
ex  matre  melancholica,  had  a  melancholy  mother,  et  victu 
melancholico,  and  bad  diet  together.  Lodovicus  Mercatus, 
a  Spanish  physician,  in  that  excellent  Tract  which  he  hath 
lately  written  of  hereditary  diseases,  torn.  2,  oper.  lib.  5, 
reckons  up  leprosy,  as  those  8  Galbots  in  Gascony,  hereditary 
lepers,  pox,  stone,  gout,  epilepsy,  &c.  Amongst  the  rest,  this 
and  madness  after  a  set  time  comes  to  many,  which  he  calls  a 
miraculous  thing  in  nature,  and  sticks  forever  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,  4  "  or 
takes  every  other,  and  sometimes  every  third  in  a  lineal  de 
scent,  and  doth  not  always  produce  the  same,  but  some  like, 
and  a  symbolizing  disease."  These  secondary  causes  hence 
derived,  are  commonly  so  powerful,  that  (as  6  Wolphius  holds) 
scepe  mutant  decreta  siderum,  they  do  often  alter  the  primary 
causes,  and  decrees  of  the  heavens.  For  these  reasons,  be 
like,  the  Church  and  commonwealth,  human  and  Divine  laws, 
have  conspired  to  avoid  hereditary  diseases,  forbidding  such 

pltuitosis  pituitosi.  ex  bilioste  biliosi,  ex  tutnn.  »  Lib.  10,  observat  16.  *  Ma- 
lienoBirf  et  melancholicis  melancholic!,  ginus  Geog.  *  Ssepe  non  eundem,  sed 
1  Epist.  174,  in  Scoltz.  nascitur  nobiscum  similem  producit  effectum,  et  illaeso  pa 
llia  all turque  et  uni  cum  paren  tibus  rente  transit  in  nepotem.  6  Dial  prao 
babemus  malum  bunc  assem.  Jo.  Pe-  fix.  genituris  Leovitii. 
leeius,  lib.  2,  de  cura  humanorum  affec- 


282  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  2 

marriages  a&  are  any  whit  allied ;  and  as  Mercatus  adviseth 
all  families  to  take  such,  si  fieri  possit  guae  moxime  distant 
natura,  and  to  make  choice  of  those  that  are  most  differing 
in  complexion  from  them  ;  if  they  love  their  own,  and  respect 
the  common  good.  And  sure,  I  think,  it  hath  been  ordered 
by  God's  especial  providence,  that  in  all  ages  there  should  be 
(as  usually  there  is)  once  in  *  600  years,  a  transmigration  of 
nations,  to  amend  and  purify  their  blood,  as  we  alter  seed 
upon  our  land,  and  that  there  should  be  as  it  were  an  inun 
dation  of  those  northern  Goths  and  Vandals,  and  many  such 
like  people  which  came  out  of  that  continent  of  Scandia  and 
Sarmatia  (as  some  suppose)  and  overran,  as  a  deluge,  most 
part  of  Europe  and  Afric,  to  alter  for  our  good,  our  com 
plexions,  which  were  much  defaced  with  hereditary  infirmi 
ties,  which  by  our  lust  and  intemperance  we  had  contracted. 
A  sound  generation  of  strong  and  able  men  were  sent 
amongst  us,  as  those  northern  men  usually  are,  innocuous, 
free  from  riot,  and  free  from  diseases ;  to  qualify  and  make 
us  as  those  poor  naked  Indians  are  generally  at  this  day ; 
and  those  about  Brazil  (as  a  late  2  writer  observes),  in  the 
Isle  of  Maragnan,  free  from  all  hereditary  diseases,  or  other 
contagion,  whereas  without  help  of  physic  they  live  commonly 
120  years  or  more,  as  in  the  Orcades  and  many  other  places. 
Such  are  the  common  effects  of  temperance  and  intemperance, 
but  I  will  descend  to  particular,  and  show  by  what  means, 
and  by  whom  especially,  this  infirmity  is  derived  unto  us. 

Filii  ex  senibus  nati,  raro  sunt  firmi  temperamenti,  old 
men's  children  are  seldom  of  a  good  temperament,  as  Scolt- 
zius  supposeth,  consult.  177,  and  therefore  most  apt  to  this 
disease ;  and  as  8  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  stom 
ach,  will  either  have  a  sick  child,  or  a  crazed  son  (as  4  Cardan 

'  Bodin.  de  rep.  cap.  de  perlodis  reip.  cina.    Idem  Hector  Boethtus  de  insulU 

*  Claudius  Abayille  Capuchion    in    his  Orchad.  ct  Damianus  a  Goes  le  Scandia. 

voyage  to  Maragnan,  1614,  cap.  46.    Nemo  *  Lib.  4,  c.  8,  de  occult,  nat.  mir.     Tetri- 

fere  aegrotus,  sano  o nines  et  robusto  cor-  cos  plerumque  fllios  genes  progenerantet 

pore,  Tirunt  annos  120,  140,  sine  modi-  tristes,   rarius    exhilarate  <  Coitut 


Mem.  1,  subs.  6.]          Causes  of  Melancholy.  283 

thinks),  contradict,  med.  lib.  1,  contradict.  18,  or  if  the  parents 
be  sick,  or  have  any  great  pain  of  the  head,  or  megrim,  head 
ache,  (Hieronimus  Wolfius  *  doth  instance  in  a  child  of  Sebas 
tian  Castalio's)  ;  if  a  drunken  man  get  a  child,  it  will  never 
likely  have  a  good  brain,  as  Gellius  argues,  lib.  12,  cap.  1. 
Ebrii  gignunt  Ebrios,  one  drunkard  begets  another,  saith 
2  Plutarch,  symp.  Kb.  1,  quest.  5,  whose  sentence  8  Lemnius 
approves,  1.  1,  c.  4.  Alsarius  Crutius  Gen.  de  qui  sit  med. 
cent.  3,Jol.  182.  Macrobius,  lib.  1.  Avicenna,  lib.  3.  Fen. 
21.  Tract  1,  cap.  8,  and  Aristotle  himself,  sect.  2,  prov.  4, 
foolish,  drunken,  or  hair-brain  women,  most  part  bring  forth 
children  like  unto  themselves,  morosos  et  languidos,  and  so 
likewise  he  that  lies  with  a  menstruous  woman.  Intempe- 
rantia  veneris,  quam  in  nautis  prcesertim  insectatur  4Lemnius, 
qui  uxores  ineunt,  nuttd  menstrui  decursus  ratione  habitd,  nee 
observato  interlunio,  prcecipua  causa  est,  noxia,  pemitiosa, 
concubitum  hunc  exitialem  ided,  et  pestiferum  vocat.  *  Rod 
oricus  a  Castro  Lusitanus,  detestantur  ad  unum  omnes  medici, 
turn  et  quartd  lund  concepti,  infcelices  plerumque  et  amentes, 
deliri,  sfolidi,  morbosi,  impuri,  invalidi,  tetra  lue  sordidi,  min- 
ime  vitales,  omnibus  bonis  corporis  atque  animi  destituti :  ad 
laborem  nati,  si  seniores,  inquit  Eustathius,  ut  Hercules,  et 
alii.  6Judcei  maxime  insectantur  fcedum  hunc,  et  immundum 
apud  Christianos  Concubitum,  ut  itticitum  abhorrent,  et  apud 
suos  prohibent ;  et  quod  Christiani  toties  leprosi,  amentes,  tot 
morbili,  impetigines,  alphi,  psorce,  cutis  etfaciei  decolorationes 
tarn  multi  morbi  epidemici,  acerbi,  et  venenosi  sint,  in  hunt, 
immundum  concubitum  rejiciunt,  et  crudeles  in  pignora  vocant, 
qui  quartd  lund  profluente  hdc  mensium  iUuvie  concubitum 
hunc  non  perhorrescunt.  Damnavit  olim  divina  Lex  et  morte 
mulctavit  hujusmodi  homines,  Lev.  18,  20,  et  inde  nati,  siqui 
deformes  aut  mutili,  pater  dilapidatus,  quod  non  contincret  ab 
*  immundd  muliere.  Gregorius  Magnus,  petenti  Augustine 

taper  repletionem  pessimus,  et  fllii  qui  *  Lib.  2,  e.  8,  de  occult,  nat.  niir.     Good 

turn  gignuntur,  ant  morbosi  sunt,  aut  Master  Schoolmaster  do  not  English  this 

•tolidi.        i  Dial,  prefix.  Leovito.        *  L.  *  De  nat.  mill.  lib.  3,  cap.  4.      •>  Buxdor 

de  ed.  llberis.        3  De  occult,  nat.  mir.  phius,  c.  81,     Sy nag.    Jud.    Ezek.     18 

temnlentae  et  stolidae    mulieres  liberos  8  Drnsius  obs.  lib.  8,  otp.  20. 
plerumque      producunt      sibi     similes. 


284  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  1. 8ec.  2 

nunquid  opud l  Britannos  hujusmodi  concubitum  tolerarel, 
severe  prohibuit  viris  suis  turn  misceri  foeminas  in  consuetis 
suis  menstruis,  fyc.  I  spare  to  English  this  which  I  have 
said.  Another  cause  some  give,  inordinate  diet,  as  if  a  man 
eat  garlic,  onions,  fast  overmuch,  study  too  hard,  be  over- 
sorrowful,  dull,  heavy,  dejected  in  mind,  perplexed  in  his 
thoughts,  fearful,  &c.,  "  their  children  (saith  2  Cardan  subtil. 
Kb.  18)  will  be  much  subject  to  madness  and  melancholy, 
for  if  the  spirits  of  the  brain  be  fusled,  or  misaffected  by  such 
means,  at  such  a  time,  their  children  will  be  fusled  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  ArSstarchus  the  Grammarian,  duos  reliquit 
jilios  Aristarchum  et  Aristachontm,  ambos  studios  ;  and  which 
*  Erasmus  urgeth  in  his  Moria,  fools  beget  wise  men.  Card. 
subt.  1.  12,  gives  this  cause,  Quoniam  spiritus  sapientum  ob 
studium  resolvuntur,  et  in  cerebrum  feruntur  a  corde :  because 
their  natural  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  obscitanter, 
unde  foetus  a  parentum  generositate  desciscit :  they  pay  their 
debt  (as  Paul  calls  it)  to  their  wives  remissly,  by  which 
means  their  children  are  weaklings,  and  many  times  idiots 
and  fools. 

Some  other  causes  are  given,  which  properly  pertain,  and 
do  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,  path.  1.  1,  11)  her  son  will  be 
so  likewise  affected,  and  worse,  as  *  Lemnius  adds,  1.  4,  c.  7, 
if  she  grieve  overmuch,  be  disquieted,  or  by  any  casualty  be 

1  Beds..  Eccl.  hist.  lib.  1,  e.  27,  respons.  bus  Mates,  ex  jucundis  jucnndi  nascun- 

10.      *  Nam  spiritus  cerebri  si  turn  male  tur,  &c.        >  Fol.    129,  mer.  Socrates 't 

kfflclsntur,    tales    proereant,  et    quales  children  were  fools.     Babel.        *  De  oe- 

luerint  affect  us,  tales  flliorum  :  ex  tristi-  col.  iiat.  mir.     Pica  morbua  mullerum 


Mem.  i,  subs.  6.]          Causes  of  Melancholy.  285 

affrighted  and  terrified  by  some  fearful  object  heard  or  si-en, 
she  endangers  her  child,  and  spoils  the  temperature  of  it ;  for 
the  strange  imagination  of  a  woman  works  effectually  upon 
her  infant,  that  as  Baptista  Porta  proves,  Physiog.  ccelestis  1. 
5,  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  ad 
dicted  to  like  humours  ;  *  "  if  a  great-bellied  woman  see  a 
hare,  her  child  will  often  have  a  hare-lip,"  as  we  call  it. 
Garc&us  de  Judiciis  geniturarum,  cap.  33,  hath  a  memora 
ble  example  of  one  Thomas  Nickell,  born  in  the  city  of  Bran- 
deburg,  1551,  2  "  that  went  reeling  and  staggering  all  the  days 
of  his  life,  as  if  he  would  fall  to  the  ground,  because  his 
mother  being  great  with  child  saw  a  drunken  man  reeling  in 
the  street."  Such  another  I  find  in  Martin  Wenrichius  com. 
de  ortu  monstrorum,  c.  17, 1  saw  (saith  he)  at  Wittenberg,  in 
Germany,  a  citizen  that  looked  like  a  carcass ;  I  asked  him 
the  cause,  he  replied,  *  "  His  mother,  when  she  bore  him  in 
her  womb,  saw  a  carcass  by  chance,  and  was  so  sore  affrighted 
with  it,  that  ex  eo  foetus  ei  assimilattis,  from  a  ghastly  impres 
sion  the  child  was  like  it." 

So  many  several  ways  are  we  plagued  and  punished  for 
our  father's  defaults  ;  insomuch  that  as  Fernelius  truly  saith, 
*  "  It  is  the  greatest  part  of  our  felicity  to  be  well  born,  and 
it  were  happy  for  human  kind,  if  only  such  parents  as  are 
sound  of  body  and  mind  should  be  suffered  to  marry."  An 
husbandman  will  sow  none  but  the  best  and  choicest  seed 
upon  his  land,  he  will  not  rear  a  bull  or  a  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,  Quanto  id  diligentius  in  procreandis  liberis 

1  Baptista  Porta  loco  praed.    Ex  lepo-  vem    facie    cadaverosa,  qui   dixit,    &c. 

rum  iiituitu  plerique  infantes  edunt  bifl-  *  Optimum  bene  nasci,  maxima  pars  te> 

do  superiors  labello.        *  Quasi  mox  in  licitatis  nostrae  bene  nasci;  quamobreia 

torram    collapsurus    per  omnem  ritam  prseclare  humane  generi  consultum  vids- 

tacedebat,  cum  mater  gravida   ebrium  retur.  si  soli  parentes  bene  liabiti  et  saoi 

hominem  sic  incedenttm  viderat.        *  Ci-  liberis  openun  darent. 


Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  2 

observandum  ?  And  how  careful  then  should  we  be  in  beget 
ting  of  our  children  ?  In  former  times  some  *  countries  have 
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,  and  many 
other  well-governed  commonwealths,  according  to  the  disci 
pline  of  those  times.  Heretofore  in  Scotland,  saith  2  Hect. 
Boethius,  "  if  any  were  visited  with  the  falling  sickness,  mad 
ness,  gout,  leprosy,  or  any  such  dangerous  disease,  which  was 
likely  to  be  propagated  from  the  father  to  the  son,  he  was 
instantly  gelded  ;  a  woman  kept  from  all  company  of  men  ; 
and  if  by  chance  having  some  such  disease,  she  were  found 
to  be  with  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  amongst  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 
confusion  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,  unable,  intemperate,  dissolute,  exhaust 
through  riot,  as  he  said,  9jure  hcereditario  sapere  jubentur ; 
:hey  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  families,  parentes  peremptores ;  our  fathers  bad, 
and  we  are  like  to  be  worse. 

1  Infantes  infirm!    praecipitio    necati.  oranteg  inter  eoa,  ingenti  fact!  indaglne 

Bohemup,  lib   8,  c.  8.    Apud  Lacones  Inventos,  ne  gens  foedl contagione  laedere- 

olim.    Lypsius,  epist.  85,  cent,  ad  Belgaa,  tur  ex  lis  nata,  castraverunt,  mulieres 

Dionysio  Villerio,  id   quos  aliqua  mem-  hujugmodi  procul  a  vlrorum  consortio 

brorum  parte  inutiles  notaverfnt,  necari  abli-tfarunt,  quod  si  harntn  aliqua  con- 

jubent.        -  Lib.  1.    De  veterum  Scoto-  cepisse    inveniebatur,   simul  cum   foetu 

rum  moribus.    Morbo  comitiall,  demen-  nondum  edito,  defodiebatur  y'.va.      *  En 

tii,    mania,  leprl,   &c.,  aut  siinili   labe,  phormio  Satyr 
puie  facile  in  prolein  transmittitur.  lab- 


taem  2,  subs,  i.]         Causes  of  Melancholy.  287 


MEMB.  H. 

/       SUBSECT.  I. — Bad  Diet  a  Cause.     Substance.     Quality  of 

Meats. 

ACCORDING  to  my  proposed  method,  having  opened  hith- 
trto  these  secondary  causes,  which  are  inbred  with  us,  I  must 
now  proceed  to  the  outward  and  adventitious,  which  happen 
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  neces 
sary.  Necessary  (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  almost  in  every 
consultation,  whereas  they  shall  come  to  speak  of  the  causes, 
the  fault  is  found,  and  this  most  part  objected  to  the  patient ; 
Peccavit  circa  res  sex  non  naturales  ;  he  hath  still  offended 
in  one  of  those  six.  Montanus,  consil.  22,  consulted  about  a 
melancholy  Jew,  gives  that  sentence,  so  did  Frisemelica  in 
the  same  place ;  and  hi  his  244  counsel,  censuring  a  mel 
ancholy  soldier,  assigns  that  reason  of  his  malady,  luhe 
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  evac 
uation,  which  are  more  material  than  the  other  because  they 
make  new  matter,  or  else  are  conversant  in  keeping  or  expel 
ling  of  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,  or  acci- 

1  Fecit  omnia  delicta  quae  fieri  pissunt    causae  extrinaecse,   exquibus  poatea  orta 
circa  res  sex  non  naturales,  et  eas  fuerunt    aunt  obstructions. 


388  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  2. 

dents,  that  is  quantity,  quality,  or  the  like.  And  well  it  may 
be  called  a  material  cause,  since  that,  as  J  Fernelius  holds, 
u  it  hath  such  a  power  hi  begetting  of  diseases,  and  yields  the 
matter  and  sustenance  of  them ;  for  neither  air,  nor  perturba 
tions,  nor  any  of  those  other  evident  causes  take  place,  or 
work  this  effect,  except  the  constitution  of  body,  and  prepara 
tion  of  humour?!,  do  concur.  That  a  man  may  say,  this  diet 
b  the  mother  of  diseases,  let  the  father  be  what  he  will,  and 
from  this  alone,  melancholy  and  frequent  other  maladies 
arise."  Many  physicians,  I  confess,  have  written  copious  vol 
umes  of  this  one  subject,  of  the  nature  and  qualities  of  all 
manner  of  meats  ;  as  namely,  Galen,  Isaac  the  Jew,  Haly- 
abbas,  Avicenna,  Mesue,  also  four  Arabians,  Gordonius,  Vil- 
lanovanus,  Wecker,  Johannes  Bruerinus,  sitologia  de  Esculen- 
tis  et  Poculentis,  Michael  Savanarola,  Tract.  2,  c.  8,  Anthony 
Fumanellus,  lib.  de  regimine  senum,  Curio  in  his  Comment 
on  Schola  Salerna,  Godefridus  Stekius  arte  med.,  Marsiliua 
cognatus,  Ficinus,  Ranzovius,  Fonseca,  Lessius,  Magninus, 
regim.  sanitatis,  Frietagius,  Hugo  Fridevallius,  &c.,  besides 
many  other  in  a  English,  and  almost  every  peculiar  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  what  kind  of  meats  engender 
this  humour,  through  their  several  species,  and  which  are  to 
be  avoided.  How  they  alter  and  change  the  matter,  spirits 
first,  and  after  humours,  by  which  we  are  preserved,  and  the 
constitution  of  our  body,  Fernelius  and  others  will  show  you. 
I  hasten  to  the  thing  itself:  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.  I.  3,  c.  1,  de  alim.fac.) 
is  condemned  by  him  and  all  succeeding  authors,  to  breed 

1  Path.  1.  1,  c.  2.     Mnximam  in  gig-  constitutio.     Ut  soinel  dicam,  una  gula 

nendta    morbis  Tim    obtinet,  pabulum,  est  omnium  morborutn   mater,  etiams] 

materiamque  morbi  suggerens :  nam  nee  alius  est  genitor.     Ab  hac  morbi  sponte 

ab  attre,  nee  £  perturbationibus,  vel  aliis  snepe  emanant,  nulil  alii  cogente  causJ. 

evidantibus  causta  morbi  stint,  nisi  con-  *  Cogan,  Eliot,  Vauhan,  Vener. 
sentlat  corporis  praeparatio,  et  humorum 


Mem.  2,  subs.  1.]          Causes  of  Melancholy.  289 

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  spe 
cies  are  held  best),  or  if  old,  *  such  as  have  been  tired  out 
with  labour,  are  preferred.  Aubanus  and  Sabellicus  com 
mend  Portugal  beef  to  be  the  most  savoury,  best  and  easiest 
of  digestion ;  we  commend  ours ;  but  all  is  rejected,  and 
unfit  for  such  as  lead  a  resty  life,  any  ways  inclined  to  Melan 
choly,  or  dry  of  complexion :  Tales  (Galen  thinks)  de  facile 
melancholicis  eegritudinibus  capiuntur. 

Pork.~\  Pork,  of  all  meats,  is  most  nutritive  in  his  own 
nature,  *  but  altogether  unfit  for  such  as  live  at  ease,  are 
any  ways  unsound  of  body  or  mind ;  too  moist,  full  of  hu 
mours,  and  therefore  noxia  delicatis,  saith  Savanarola,  ex 
earum  usu  ut  dubitetur  anfebris  quartana  generetur  ;  nought 
for  queasy  stomachs,  insomuch  that  frequent  use  of  it  may 
breed  a  quartan  ague. 

Goat.~\  Savanarola  discommends  goat's  flesh,  and  so  doth 
8  Bruerinus,  /.  13,  c.  19,  calling  it  a  filthy  beast,  and  rammish ; 
and  therefore  supposeth  it  will  breed  rank  and  filthy  sub 
stance  ;  yet  kid,  such  as  are  young  and  tender,  Isaac  ac 
cepts,  Bruerinus  and  Galen,  /.  1,  e.  1,  de  alimentorum  facul- 
tatibus. 

HartJ]  Hart  and  red  deer  *  hath  an  evil  name :  it  yields 
gross  nutriment ;  a  strong  and  great  grained  meat,  next  unto 
a  horse.  Which  although  some  countries  eat,  as  Tartars,  and 
they  of  China ;  yet  4  Galen  condemns.  Young  foals  are  as 
commonly  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  qualify  them,  and  yet  all  will 
not  serve. 

Venison,  Fallow  Deer."]  All  venison  is  melancholy,  and 
begets  bad  blood ;  a  pleasant  meat ;  in  great  esteem  with  us 

1  Frietagius.        *  Isaac.        «  Non  Ian-  rinm  suppeditat  alimentum.        *  Lib.  de 

datur,  quia  melancholicum  praebet  all-  subtiliss   diets.    Eqnlna  caro  et  asinina 

mentum.        8  Male  allt  cervina  (inquit  equinia  danda  eat  hominibus  et  assinnta 
Fri.  et  agios),  crassissimum  et  atribila- 

YOL.   I.  18 


290  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  a 

(for  we  have  more  parks  in  England  than  there  are  in  all 
Europe  besides)  in  our  solemn  feasts.  'Tis  somewhat  better 
hunted  than  otherwise,  and  well  prepared  by  cookery ;  but 
generally  bad,  and  seldom  to  be  used. 

Hare.]  Hare,  a  black  meat,  melancholy,  and  hard  of  di 
gestion,  it  breeds  incubus,  often  eaten,  and  causeth  fearful 
dreams,  so  doth  all  venison,  and  is  condemned  by  a  jury  of 
physicians.  MizaUlus  and  some  others  say,  that  hare  is  a 
merry  meat,  and  that  it  will  make  one  fair,  as  Martial's  Epi 
gram  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.']  1  Conies  are  of  the  nature  of  hares.  Magninus 
wmpares  them  to  beef,  pig,  and  goat,  Reg.  sanit.  part.  3,  c. 
17 ;  yet  young  rabbits  by  all  men  are  approved  to  be  good. 

Generally,  all  such  meats  as  are  hard  of  digestion  breed 
melancholy.  Areteus,  lib.  7,  cap.  5,  reckons  up  heads  and 
feet,  2  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,  part.  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  asses'  milk.  The 
rest,  to  such  as  are  sound,  is  nutritive  and  good,  especially 
for  young  children,  but  because  soon  turned  to  corruption, 
4  not  good  for  those  that  have  unclean  stomachs,  are  subject 
to  headache,  or  have  green  wounds,  stone,  &c.  Of  all 
cheeses,  I  take  that  kind  which  we  call  Banbury  cheese  to  be 
the  best,  ex  vetustis  pessimus,  the  older,  stronger,  and  harder, 
the  worst,  as  Langius  discourseth  in  his  Epistle  to  Melanc- 
thon,  cited  by  Mizaldus,  Isaac,  p.  5,  Gal.  3,  de  cibis  boni 
sued,  Sc. 


Mam  pro-recant.  •  Piao.  Altomar.    ehondriacal  Melancholy. 


Mem.  2,  subs.  1.]          Causes  of  Melancholy.  291 

Fmol.']  Amongst  fowl,  *  peacocks  and  pigeons,  all  fenny 
fowl  are  forbidden,  as  ducks,  geese,  swans,  herons,  cranes, 
coots,  didappers,  water-hens,  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  flesh 
is  hard,  black,  unwholesome,  dangerous,  melancholy  meat; 
Gravant  et  putrefaciunt  stomachum,  saith  Isaac,  part.  5,  de 
vol.,  their  young  ones  are  more  tolerable,  but  young  pigeons 
he  quite  disapproves. 

Fishes.']  Rhasis  and  2  Magninus  discommend  all  fish,  and 
say,  they  breed  viscosities,  slimy  nutriment,  little  and  humour 
ous  nourishment.  Savanarola  adds,  cold,  moist ;  and  phlegm 
atic,  Isaac ;  and  therefore  unwholesome  for  all  cold  and  mel 
ancholy  complexions  ;  others  make  a  difference,  rejecting  only 
amongst  fresh-water  fish,  eel,  tench,  lamprey,  crawfish  (which 
Bright  approves,  cap.  6),  and  such  as  are  bred  in  muddy  and 
standing  waters,  and  have  a  taste  of  mud,  as  Franciscus  Bon- 
euetus  poetically  defines,  Lib.  de  aquatilibus. 

"  Nam  pisces  omnes,  qui  stagna,  lacusqne  freqnentant, 
Semper  plus  succi  deterioris  habent." 

"  All  fish,  that  standing  pools,  and  lakes  frequent, 
Do  ever  yield  bad  juice  and  nourishment." 

Lampreys,  Paulus  Jovius,  c.  34,  de  piscibus  fluvial,  highly 
magnifies,  and  saith,  None  speak  against  them,  but  inepti  et 
scrupulosi,  some  scrupulous  persons;  but  "eels,  c.  33,  "he 
abhorreth  in  all  places,  at  all  times,  all  physicians  detest 
them,  especially  about  the  solstice."  Gomesius,  lib.  1.  c.  22, 
de  sale,  doth  immoderately  extol  sea-fish,  which  others  as 
much  vilify,  and  above  the  rest,  dried,  soused,  indurate  fish, 
as  ling,  fumados,  red-herrings,  sprats,  stock-fish,  haberdine, 
poor-John,  all  shell-fish.  *  Tim.  Bright  excepts  lobster  and 

1  Wecker  Syntax,  theor.  p.  2.  Isaac,  madid  detestantur  angnillas,  praesertitt. 
Bruer.  lib.  15. cap.  80  et  81.  2  Cap.  18,  circa  solstitium.  Damnantur  turn  ganw 
part  8.  '  Omni  loco  et  omni  tempers  torn  segris.  *  Cap.  6,  in  his  Tract  ot 


292  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  2. 

crab  Mesarius  commends  salmon,  which  Bruerinus  contra 
dicts,  lib.  22,  c.  17.  Magninus  rejects  conger,  sturgeon,  tur- 
bot,  mackerel,  skate. 

Carp  is  a  fish  of  which  I  know  not  what  to  determine. 
Franciscus  Bonsuetus  accounts  it  a  muddy  fish.  Hippolitus 
Salvianus,  in  his  Book  de  Piscium  naturd  et  prceparatione, 
which  was  printed  at  Rome  in  folio,  1554,  with  most  elegant 
pictures,  esteems  carp  no  better  than  a  slimy  watery  meat. 
Paul  us  Jovius  on  the  other  side,  disallowing  tench,  approves 
of  it ;  so  doth  Dupravius  in  his  Books  of  Fish-ponds.  Frie- 
tagius  *  extols  it  for  an  excellent  wholesome  meat,  and  puts 
it  amongst  the  fishes  of  the  best  rank ;  and  so  do  most  of  our 
country  gentlemen,  that  store  their  ponds  almost  with  no 
other  fish.  But  this  controversy  is  easily  decided,  in  my 
judgment,  by  Bruerinus,  I.  22,  c.  13.  The  difference  riseth 
from  the  site  and  nature  of  pools,  2  sometimes  muddy,  some 
times  sweet ;  they  are  in  taste  as  the  place  is  from  whence 
they  be  taken.  In  like  manner  almost  we  may  conclude  of 
other  fresh  fish.  But  see  more  in  Rondoletius,  Bellonius, 
Oribasius,  lib.  7.  cap.  22,  Isaac,  1.  1,  especially  Hippolitus 
Salvianus,  who  is  instar  omnium  solus,  fyc.  Howsoever  they 
may  be  wholesome  and  approved,  much  use  of  them  is  not 
good;  P.  Forestus,  in  his  medicinal  observations,  'relates, 
that  Carthusian  friars,  whose  living  is  most  part  fish,  are 
more  subject  to  melancholy  than  any  other  order,  and  that 
he  found  by  experience,  being  sometimes  their  physician 
ordinary  at  Delft,  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,  be 
came  so  misaffected. 

Herbs."]  Amongst  herbs  to  be  eaten  I  find  gourds,  cucum 
bers,  coleworts,  melons,  disallowed,  but  especially  cabbage. 
It  causeth  troublesome  dreams,  and  sends  up  black  vapours 

Melancholy.        '  Optime  nutrlt  omnium  mentornm  sortiantur  differentiae,  alibi 

jndicio  inter  primse  note  pisces  gustu  suaviores,  alibi   lutulentiores.          3  Ob- 

pneatantt.        "  Non  est  dubium   quin,  servat.  16.  lib.  10. 
pro  variorum  situ  ac  naturft,  magnas  all- 


Mein.  2,  subs.  1.]          Causes  of  Melancholy.  293 

to  the  brain.  Galen,  loc.  affect.  I.  3,  c.  6,  of  all  herbs  con 
demns  cabbage  ;  and  Isaac,  lib.  2,  c.  1,  Animce  gravitatem 
facit,  it  brings  heaviness  to  the  soul.  Some  are  of  opinion 
that  all  raw  herbs  and  salads  breed  melancholy  blood,  except 
bugloss  and  lettuce.  Crato,  consil.  21,  lib.  2,  speaks  against 
all  herbs  and  worts,  except  borage,  bugloss,  fennel,  parsley, 
dill,  balm,  succory.  Magnuius,  regim.  sanitatis,  part.  3,  cap. 
31.  Omnes  herbee  simpliciter  malfe,  via  cibi ;  all  herbs  are 
simply  evil  to  feed  on  (as  he  thinks).  So  did  that  scoffing 
cook  in  1Plautus  hold: 

"  Non  ego  ccenam  condio  ut  alii  coqui  solent, 
Qui  mihi  condita  prata  in  patinis  proferunt, 
Boves  qui  oonvivas  faciunt,  herbasque  aggerunt." 

"  Like  other  cooks  I  do  not  supper  dress, 

That  put  whole  meadows  into  a  platter, 
And  make  no  better  of  their  guests  than  beeves, 
With  herbs  and  grass  to  feed  them  fatter." 

Our  Italians  and  Spaniards  do  make  a  whole  dinner  of 
herbs  and  salads  (which  our  said  Plautus  calls  coenas  terres* 
tres,  Horace,  coenas  sine  sanguine),  by  which  means,  as  he 
follows  it, 

3  "  Hie  homines  tarn  brevem  vitam  colunt 

Qui  herbas  hujusmodi  in  alvum  suum  congerunt, 

Formidolosum  dictn,  non  esu  modb 

Quas  herbas  pecudes  non  edunt,  homines  edunt." 

"  Their  lives,  that  eat  such  herbs,  must  needs  be  short, 
And  'tis  a  fearful  thing  for  to  report, 
That  men  should  feed  on  such  a  kind  of  meat, 
Which  very  juments  would  refuse  to  eat." 

*  They  are  windy,  and  not  fit  therefore  to  be  eaten  of  all 
men  raw,  though  qualified  with  oil,  but  in  broths,  or  other 
wise.  Sec  more  of  these  in  every  4  husbandman  and  herbalist. 

Hoots."]  Roots,  Etsi  quorundam  gentium  opes  sint,  saith 
Bruerinus,  the  wealth  of  some  countries,  and  sole  food,  are 

1  Pseudolus,  act.  8,  seen.  2.        *  Plan-  Tel  parce  degustirit.     Kersleius,  cap  4, 

tus,  ibid.        »  Quart)  rectius  yaletudini  de  vero  usu  med.         4  In  Mizaldo  da 

•use  quisque consulet,  qui  lapsus  priorum  Horto  P.  Crescent.  Heibastein,  &o. 
parentum  memort  eas  plane  Tel  omiserit 


294  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  a 

windy  and  bad,  or  troublesome  to  the  head ;  as  onions,  garlic, 
seal  lions,  turnips,  carrots,  radishes,  parsnips ;  Crato,  lib.  2. 
consil.  11,  disallows  all  roots,  though  1some  approve  of  pars 
nips  and  potatoes.  2  Magninus  is  of  Crato's  opinion,  8  "  They 
trouble  the  mind,  sending  gross  fumes  to  the  brain,  make 
men  mad,  especially  garlic,  onions,  if  a  man  liberally  feed  on 
them  a  year  together."  Guianerius,  tract.  15,  cap.  2,  com 
plains  of  all  manner  of  roots,  and  so  doth  Bruerinus,  even 
parsnips  themselves,  which  are  the  best,  Lib  9,  cap.  14. 

Fruits."]  Pastinacarum  usus  succos  gignit  improbos.  Crato, 
consil.  21,  lib.  1,  utterly  forbids  all  manner  of  fruits,  as  pears, 
apples,  plums,  cherries,  strawberries,  nuts,  medlars,  serves, 
&c.  Sanguinem  inficiunt,  saith  Villanovanus,  they  infect  the 
blood,  and  putrefy  it,  Magninus  holds,  and  must  not  therefore 
be  taken  via  cibi,  aut  quantitate  magnd,  not  to  make  a  meal 
of,  or  in  any  great  quantity.  4  Cardan  makes  that  a  cause 
of  their  continual  sickness  at  Fessa  in  Africa,  "  because  they 
live  so  much  on  fruits,  eating  them  thrice  a  day."  Lauren 
tius  approves  of  many  fruits,  in  his  Tract  of  Melancholy, 
which  others  disallow,  and  amongst  the  rest  apples,  which 
some  likewise  commend,  sweetings,  pearmains,  pippins,  as 
good  against  melancholy;  but  to  him  that  is  any  way  in 
clined  to,  or  touched  with  this  malady,  6  Nicholas  Piso  in  his 
Practics,  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  like 
wise  rejected. 

Pulse.]  All  pulse  are  nought,  beans,  peas,  vetches,  &<%, 
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  forever  applied  to  melancholy  men,  A  f obis  abstinete, 
eat  no  peas,  nor  beans  ;  yet  to  such  as  will  needs  eat  them, 

1  Cap.  18,  part.  8,  Bright  in  his  Tract.  18.    Improbi  sued  Bant,  cap.  12.        «  Da 

of  Mel.        *  Intellectnm  turbant,  produ-  rerum  yarietat.     In  Fessa   plerninque 

cunt  insanlam.        *  Audivi  (inquit  Mag-  morbosi,  quod  fructus  comedant  tor  in 

nin.)  quod  si  quis  ex  Us  per  annum  con-  die.       *  Cap.  de  Mel.       «  Lib.  11,  o.  8 
tinut  comedat,  in  insaniam  caderet,  cap. 


Mem.  2,  subs,  i.]         Causes  of  Melancholy.  295 

I  would  give  this  counsel,  to  prepare  them  according  to  thos< 
rules  that  Arnoldus  Villanovanus,  and  Frietagius  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.,  honey  and  sugar.  1Some  except  honey; 
to  those  that  are  cold  it  may  be  tolerable,  but  2  Dulcia  se  in 
bilem  vertunt  (sweets  turn  into  bile),  they  are  obstructive. 
Crato  therefore  forbids  all  spice,  in  a  consultation  of  his,  for 
a  melancholy  schoolmaster,  Omnia  aromatica,  et  quicquid 
sanguinem  adurit ;  so  doth  Fernelius,  consil.  45,  Guiane- 
rius,  tract.  15,  cap.  2,  Mercurialis,  cons.  189.  To  these  I 
may  add  all  sharp  and  sour  things,  luscious,  and  over-sweet, 
or  fat,  as  oil,  vinegar,  verjuice,  mustard,  salt ;  as  sweet  things 
are  obstructive,  so  these  are  corrosive.  Gomesius,  in  his 
books,  de  sale,  1.  1,  c.  21,  highly  commends  salt;  so  doth 
Codronchus  in  his  tract,  de  sale  Absynthii,  Lemn.  /.  3,  c.  9, 
de  occult,  not.  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  so  much,  as  in  their  bread,  ut  sine  perturbatione  anima 
esset,  saith  mine  author,  that  their  souls  might  be  free  from 
perturbations. 

Bread.']  Bread  that  is  made  of  baser  grain,  as  peas, 
beans,  oats,  rye,  or  "over-hard  baked,  crusty,  and  black,  is 
often  spoken  against,  as  causing  melancholy  juice  and  wind. 
Joh.  Mayor,  in  the  first  book  of  his  History  of  Scotland,  con 
tends  much  for  the  wholesomeness  of  oaten  bread ;  it  was 
objected  to  him  then  living  at  Paris  in  France,  that  his  coun 
trymen  fed  on  oats,  and  base  grain,  as  a  disgrace ;  but  he 
doth  ingenuously  confess,  Scotland,  Wales,  and  a  third  part 
of  England,  did  most  part  use  that  kind  of  bread,  that  it  waa 
as  wholesome  as  any  grain,  and  yielded  as  good  nourishment 

1  Bright,  c.  6,  excepts  honey.        *Hor.    edas    crustam,    choleram    quia    gitfitt 
apud  Scoltzium  coiisil.  186.       *  Ne  com-    adustam.    Scol.  Sal. 


296  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  1.  sec.  a. 

And  yet  Wecker  out  of  Galen  calls  it  horse-meat,  and  fitter 
for  juments  than  men  to  feed  on.  But  read  Galen  himself, 
lib.  1,  De  cibis  boni  et  mali  sued,  more  largely  discoursing 
of  corn  and  bread. 

JFme.j  All  black  wines,  over-hot,  compound,  strong  thick 
drinks,  as  Muscadine,  Malmsey,  Alicant,  Rumney,  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  choleric  com 
plexion,  young,  or  inclined  to  head-melancholy.  For  many 
times  the  drinking  of  wine  alone  causeth  it  Arculanus, 
c.  16,  in  9  Rhasis,  puts  in  l  wine  for  a  great  cause,  especially 
if  it  be  immoderately  used.  Guianerius,  tract.  15,  c.  2,  tells 
a  story  of  two  Dutchmen,  to  whom  he  gave  entertainment  hi 
his  house,  "  that  2  in  one  month's  space  were  both  melancholy 
by  drinking  of  wine,"  one  did  nought  but  sing,  the  other  sigh. 
Galen,  1.  de  causis  morb.  c.  3.  Matthiolus  on  Dioscorides, 
and  above  all  other  Andreas  Bachius,  /.  3,  18,  19,  20,  have 
reckoned  upon  those  inconveniences  that  come  by  wine ;  yet 
notwithstanding  all  this,  to  such  as  are  cold,  or  sluggish 
melancholy,  a  cup  of  wine  is  good  physic,  and  so  doth 
Mercurialis  grant,  consil.  25,  in  that  case,  if  the  tempera 
ture  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. 

Seer."]  Beer,  if  it  be  over-new  or  over-stale,  over-strong, 
or  not  sodden,  smell  of  the  cask,  sharp,  or  sour,  is  most  un 
wholesome,  frets,  and  galls,  &c.  Henricus  Ayrerus,  in  a 
tf  consultation  of  his,  for  one  that  laboured  of  hypochondriacal 
melancholy  discommends  beer.  So  doth  4  Crato  in  that  ex 
cellent  counsel  of  his,  Lib.  2,  consil.  21,  as  too  windy,  be 
cause  of  the  hop.  But  he  means  belike  that  thick  black 
Bohemian  beer  used  in  some  other  parts  of  6  Germany, 

1  Vinum  turbidum.  *  Ex  Tin!  paten-  sptcel.  fol.  278.  <  Crassum  general 
tis  Mbltione,  duo  Alemanl  In  nno  mense  wvngulnem.  5  About  Dautzic  in  Spruce, 
melancholic!  fact!  sunt.  *  HUdesheim,  Hamburgh,  Leipsic- 


Mem.  2,  subs.  1.]          Causes  of  Melancholy.  297 

"  nil  spissius  ilia 

Dam  bibitar,  nil  clarius  est  dum  mingitur,  unde 
Constat,  qubd  multas  faeces  in  corpore  linquat." 

"  Nothing  comes  in  so  thick, 
Nothing  goes  out  so  thin, 
It  must  needs  follow  then 
The  dregs  are  left  within." 

A.S  that  1old  poet  scoffed,  calling  it  Stygice  monstrum  con- 
forme  pattudi,  a  monstrous  drink,  like  the  river  Styx.  But 
let  them  say  as  they  list,  to  such  as  are  accustomed  unto  it, 
"  'tis  a  most  wholesome  (so  a  Polydor  Virgil  calleth  it)  and  a 
pleasant  drink,"  it  is  more  suhtile  and  better,  for  the  hop  that 
rarefies  it,  hath  an  especial  virtue  against  melancholy,  as  our 
herbalists  confess,  Fuchsius  approves,  Lib.  2,  sec.  2,  instit. 
cap.  1 1,  and  many  others. 

Waters."]  Standing  waters,  thick  and  ill-coloured;  such 
as  come  forth  of  pools,  and  moats,  where  hemp  hath  been 
steeped,  or  slimy  fishes  live,  are  most  unwholesome,  putre 
fied,  and  full  of  mites,  creepers,  slimy,  muddy,  unclean,  cor 
rupt,  impure,  by  reason  of  the  sun's  heat,  and  still-standing ; 
they  cause  foul  distemperatures  in  the  body  and  mind  of  man, 
are  unfit  to  make  drink  of,  to  dress  meat  with,  or  to  be  8  used 
about  men  inwardly  or  outwardly.  They  are  good  for  many 
domestic  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  seeth 
ing  doth  defecate  it,  as  4  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  wholesome  as  the 
other,  as  6Jobertus  truly  justifieth  out  of  Galen,  Paradox, 
dec.  1,  Paradox  5,  that  the  seething  of  such  impure  waters 
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,  de  not.  aquarum,  such 

1  Henrlcus  Abrincensls.       apotustum  d»  et  male  olentes,  &c.        <  Innoxium 

•alubris  turn  jucundus,  1. 1.        8  Galen,  reddit  et  bene  olentem.        5  Contendit 

1. 1,  de  san.  tuend.    Cavendse  aunt  aquae  haec  vitia  coctione  rum  emendari. 
qajto  ex  stagnis  kauriuntur,  et  qua  turbi- 


298  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  2. 

waters  are  nought,  not  to  be  used,  and  by  the  testimony  of 
1  Galen,  "  breed  agues,  dropsies,  pleurisies,  splenetic  and  mel 
ancholy  passions,  hurt  the  eyes,  cause  a  bad  temperature,  and 
ill  disposition  of  the  whole  body,  with  bad  colour."  This 
Jobertus  stiffly  maintains,  Paradox,  lib.  1,  part.  5,  that  it 
causeth  blear  eyes,  bad  colour,  and  many  loathsome  diseases 
to  such  as  use  it ;  this  which  they  say,  stands  with  good  rea 
son  ;  for  as  geographers  relate,  the  water  of  Astracan  breeds 
worms  hi  such  as  drink  it.  aAxius,  or  as  now  called  Ver- 
duri,  the  fairest  river  in  Macedonia,  makes  all  cattle  black 
that  taste  of  it.  Aleacman,  now  Peleca,  another  stream  in 
Thessaly,  turns  cattle  most  part  white,  si  potui  diicas.  L. 
Aubanus  Rohemus  refers  that  *  struma  or  poke  of  the  Bava 
rians  and  Styrians  to  the  nature  of  their  waters,  as  4  Munster 
doth  that  of  the  Valesians  in  the  Alps,  and  6Bodine  sup- 
poseth  the  stuttering  of  some  families  in  Aquitania,  about 
Labden,  to  proceed  from  the  same  cause,  "  and  that  the  filth 
is  derived  from  the  water  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  shall  have 
grosser  understandings,  dull,  foggy,  melancholy  spirits,  and 
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 
afford  us  a  great  variety,  as  tailors  do  fashions  in  our  apparel. 
Such  are  *  puddings  stuffed  with  blood,  or  otherwise  com 
posed  ;  baked  meats,  soused  indurate  meats,  fried  and  broiled 
buttered  meats ;  condite,  powdered  and  over-dried,  7  all  cakes, 
simnels,  buns,  cracknels  made  with  butter,  spice,  &c.,  fritters, 

1  Lib.   de  bonltate    aquae,    hydropem  derlvantur.        •  Edulia  ex  sanguine  et 

anget,  fehres  putridaa,  splenem,  tosses,  suffocate  parta.     Hildesheim.        1  Cupe- 

nocet  oculis,  malum  habitum  oorporis  et  dia  vero,  placentae,  bellaria,  commenta- 

colorem.        *  Mag.  Nigritatem  inducit  si  que  alia  curiosa  pistorum  et  coquorum, 

pecora  biberint.        »  Aquas  ex  nivibus  gustui    servientium    conciliant    morboe 

eoactae  strumosos  faciunt.        <  Cosmog.  turn    corpori    turn    animo    insanablles 

I.  3,  cap.  86.        *  Method,  hist.  cap.  6,  Philo  Judseus,  lib.  de  victim!*.    P.  JOT 

balbu".unt    Labdoni    in    Aquitania   ob  vitaejtu. 
tquas,  atque  hi  morbl  ab  aquis  in  corpora 


Slem.  2,  subs.  2.]  Diet,  a  Cause.  299 

pancakes,  pies,  sausages,  and  those  several  sauces,  sharp,  or 
over-sweet,  of  which  scientia  popince,  as  Seneca  cidls  it,  hath 
served  those  1Apician  tricks,  and  perfumed  dishes,  which 
Adrian  the  sixth  Pope  so  much  admired  hi  the  accounts  of 
his  predecessor  Leo  decimus  ;  and  which  prodigious  riot  and 
prodigality  have  invented  in  this  age.  These  do  generally 
engender  gross  humours,  fill  the  stomach  with  crudities,  and  all 
those  inward  parts  with  obstructions.  Montanus,  concil.  22, 
gives  instance,  in  a  melancholy  Jew,  that  by  eating  such  tart 
sauces,  made  dishes,  and  salt  meats,  with  which  he  was  over 
much  delighted,  became  melancholy,  and  was  evil  affected. 
Such  examples  are  familiar  and  common. 

SUBSECT.  II. —  Quantity  of  Diet  a  Cause. 

THERE  is  not  so  much  harm  proceeding  from  the  substance 
itself  of  meat,  and  quality  of  it,  in  ill-dressing  and  preparing, 
as  there  is  from  the  quantity,  disorder  of  time  and  place,  un 
seasonable  use  of  it,  2  intemperance,  overmuch,  or  overlittle 
taking  of  it.  A  true  saying  it  is,  Plures  crapula  quam 
gladius,  This  gluttony  kills  more  than  the  sword,  this  omni- 
vorantia  et  homicida  ffula,  this  all-devouring  and  murdering 
gut.  And  that  of  *  Pliny  is  truer,  "  Simple  diet  is  the  best ; 
heaping  up  of  several  meats  is  pernicious,  and  sauces  worse  ; 
many  dishes  bring  many  diseases."  4  Avicen  cries  out, "  That 
nothing  is  worse  than  to  feed  on  many  dishes,  or  to  protract 
the  time  of  meats  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 
5  Fernelius,  come  crudities,  wind,  oppilations,  cacochymia, 
plethora,  cachexia,  bradiopepsia,  *  Hinc  subitce  mortes,  atqtte 
intestata  senectus,  sudden  death,  &c.,  and  what  not. 

1  As  lettuce  steeped  in  wine,  birds  fed  multos    morbos    multa  fercula   ferunt 

with  fennel  and  sugar,  as  a  Pope's  concu-  *  31  Dec.  2  c.    Nihil  detenus  quam  si 

bine  used  in  Avignon,  Stephan.        2  An-  tern  pus  jus  to  longius  comedendo  protra- 

Imae  negotium  ilia  facessit,  et  de  templo  hatur,  et  varia  ciborum  genera  nonjun- 

Dii  immundum  stabulum  lacit.    Paleti-  gantur:  inde  morborum  scatnrigo,  qu* 

us,  10,  c.        3  Lib.  11,  o.  52.    Homini  ex  repugnantia humorum  oritur. 

eibus  utilissimus  simplex,  acervatio  cibo-  1. 1,  e.  14.        *  JUT.  Sat  5. 
turn  pestifera,  et  condimenta  perniciosa, 


300  Diet,  a  Cause.  [Part.  I.  sec.  z 

As  a  lamp  is  choked  with  a  multitude  of  oil,  or  a  little  fire 
with  overmuch  wood  quite  extinguished,  so  is  the  natural 
heat  with  immoderate  eating,  strangled  in  the  body.  Per- 
nitiosa  sentina  est  abdomen  insaturabile :  one  saith,  An  insa 
tiable  paunch  is  a  pernicious  sink,  and  the  fountain  of  all 
diseases,  both  of  body  and  mind.  1  Mercurialis  will  have  it 
a  peculiar  cause  of  this  private  disease ;  Solenander,  consil.  5, 
sect.  3,  illustrates  this  of  Mercurialis,  with  an  example  of  one 
BO  melancholy,  ab  intempestivis  commessationibus,  unseason 
able  feasting.  2  Crato  confirms  as  much,  in  that  often  cited 
Counsel,  21,  lib.  2,  putting  superfluous  eating  for  a  maiu 
cause.  But  what  need  I  seek  farther  for  proofs?  Hear 
*  Hippocrates  himself,  Lib.  2,  Aphor.  10,  "  Impure  bodies 
the  more  they  are  nourished,  the  more  they  are  hurt,  for  the 
nourishment  is  putrefied  with  vicious  humours." 

And  yet  for  all  this  harm,  which  apparently  follows  surfeit 
ing  and  drunkenness,  see  how  we  luxuriate  and  rage  in  this 
kind ;  read  what  Johannes  Stuckius  hath  written  lately  of 
this  subject,  in  his  great  volume  De  Antiquorum  Oonviviis, 
and  of  our  present  age  ;  Quam  4portentosce  coence,  prodigious 
suppers,  6  Qui  dum  invitant  ad  coenam  efferunt  ad  septdchrum, 
what  Fagos,  Epicures,  Apetios,  Heliogables,  our  times  afford  ? 
Lucullus's  ghost  walks  still,  and  every  man  desires  to  sup  in 
Apollo ;  jEsop's  costly  dish  is  ordinarily  served  up.  * Magis 
itta  juvant,  quce  pluris  emuntur.  The  dearest  cates  are  best, 
and  'tis  an  ordinary  thing  to  bestow  twenty  or  thirty  pounds 
upon  a  dish,  some  thousand  crowns  upon  a  dinner  ;  7  Mully- 
Hamet,  king  of  Fez  and  Morocco,  spent  three  pounds  on  the 
sauce  of  a  capon  ;  it  is  nothing  in  our  times,  we  scorn  all  that 
is  cheap.  "  We  loathe  the  very  8  light  (some  of  us,  as  Seneca 

1  Nimla  repletio  eiborum  fecit  melan-  tomb."         *  Juvenal.      "  The  hlgheat- 

eholicum.        *  Comestio  superflua  cibi,  priced  dishes  afford  the  greatest  gratifica- 

«t  potQg  quantitaa  nimia.        *  Impura  tion."        1  Quiccardin.        8  Na.  quaest. 

corpora  quanta  magis  nutria,  tanto  magts  4,  ca.  ult.  fastidio  est  lumen  gratuitum, 

laedis :  putre&clt  enim  allmentum  vitl-  dolet  quod  sole,   quod  spiritum   emera 

osus  humor.        «  Vid.  Goclen.  de  porten-  non  possimus,  quod  hie  aer  non  emptua 

tnrit  eoenta,  Sec.    Puteani  Com.       *  Amb.  ex  faoili,  &c.,  adeo  nihil  placet,  nisi  quod 

lib.  de  Jeju.  cap.  14.     '•  They  who  invite  caruui  eat. 
us  to  our  aupper,  only  conduct  us  to  our 


Mem.  2,  subs.  2.]  Diet,  a  Cause.  801 

notes)  because  it  comes  free,  and  we  are  offended  with  the 
sun's  heat,  and  those  cool  blasts,  because  we  buy  them  not." 
This  air  we  breathe  is  so  common  we  care  not  for  it ;  nothing 
pleaseth  but  what  is  dear.  And  if  we  be  l  witty  in  anything, 
it  is  ad  gulam  ;  If  we  study  at  all,  it  is  erudito  luxu,  to  please 
the  palate,  and  to  satisfy  the  gut  "  A  cook  of  old  was  a  base 
knave  (as  3  Livy  complains),  but  now  a  great  man  in  request ; 
cookery  is  become  an  art,  a  noble  science ;  cooks  are  gentle 
men  ; "  Venter  Deus  ;  They  wear  "  their  brains  in  their  bellies, 
and  their  guts  in  their  heads,"  as  'Agrippa  taxed  some  para 
sites  of  his  time,  rushing  on  their  own  destruction,  as  if  a 
man  should  run  upon  the  point  of  a  sword,  usque  dum  rum- 
vantur  comedunt,  "  They  eat  till  they  burst ; "  *  All  day,  all 
night,  let  the  physician  say  what  he  will,  imminent  danger, 
and  feral  diseases  are  now  ready  to  seize  upon  them,  that 
will  eat  till  they  vomit,  Edunt  ut  vomant,  vomunt  ut  edant, 
eaith  Seneca ;  which  Dion  relates  of  Vitellius,  Solo  transitu 
ciborum  nutriri  judicatus  ;  His  meat  did  pass  through  and 
away,  or  till  they  burst  again.  6  Strage  animantium  ventrem 
onerant,  and  rake  over  all  the  world,  as  so  many  'slaves, 
belly-gods,  and  land-serpents,  Et  totus  orbis  ventri  nimis  an- 
ffustus,  the  whole  world  cannot  satisfy  their  appetite.  *  "  Sea, 
land,  rivers,  lakes,  &c.,  may  not  give  content  to  their  raging 
guts."  To  make  up  the  mess,  what  immoderate  drinking  in 
every  place  ?  Senem  potum  pota  trahebat  anus,  how  they 
flock  to  the  tavern  ;  as  if  they  were  fruges  consumere  nati, 
born  to  no  other  end  but  to  eat  and  drink,  like  Offellius 
Bibulus,  that  famous  Roman  parasite,  Qui  dum  vixit,  aut 
bibit  aut  minxit ;  as  so  many  casks  to  hold  wine,  yea  worse 
than  a  cask,  that  mars  wine,  and  itself  is  not  marred  by  it ; 
yet  these  are  brave  men,  Silenus  Ebrius  was  no  braver. 
Et  qua  fuerunt  vitia,  mores  sunt ;  'tis  now  the  fashion  of  our 
times,  an  honour ;  Nunc  verd  res  ista  eo  rediit  (as  Chrysost. 

1  Ingeniosi  ad  Gulam.        2  Olim  Tile  torius.        *  Seneca.        »  Mancipla  pulse, 

manoipium,  nunc  in  omni  aestimatione,  dapes  non  sapore  sed  sumptu  aestimantes. 

nunc  aw   haberi  capta,   &c.        »  Episti  Seneca  consol.  ad  HelYidium         '  Ssevi- 

28,  1.  7,  quorum  in  Tentre  ingenium,  in  entia  guttura  satiate  non  possunt   fluvif 

Datinis,  &c.        *  In  lucem  coenat.     Ser-  et  maria.   tineas  Sylvius  de  miser,  curia) 


802  Diet,  a  Cause.  [Part.  I.  sec.  4 

serai.  30,  in  v.  Ephes.  comments)  Ut  effeminates  ridendceque 
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,  jffldipol  f acinus  improbum, 
one  urged,  the  other  replied,  At  jam  alii  fecere  idem,  erit  itti 
ilia  res  honori,  'tis  now  no  fault,  there  be  so  many  brave  ex 
amples  to  bear  one  out ;  'tis  a  credit  to  have  a  strong  bmin, 
and  carry  his  liquor  well ;  the  sole  contention  who  can  drink 
most,  and  fox  his  fellow  the  soonest.  'Tis  the  summum  bonum 
of  our  tradesmen,  their  felicity,  life,  and  soul,  Tanta  dulcedine 
ajfectant,  saith  Pliny,  lib.  14,  cap.  12,  ut  magna  part,  non 
aliud  vitce  prcemium  inteUigat,  their  chief  comfort,  to  be  merry 
together  in  an  alehouse  or  tavern,  as  our  modern  Muscovites 
do  in  their  mede-inns,  and  Turks  in  their  coffee-houses  which 
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  tippling  feast ;  convert  day  into  night, 
as  Seneca  taxes  some  in  his  times,  Pervertunt  officia  noctis  et 
lucis  ;  when  we  rise,  they  commonly  go  to  bed,  like  our  an 
tipodes, 

"  Nosque  ubi  primus  eqnis  oriens  afflavit  anhelis, 
Illis  sera  rubens  accendit  lamina  vesper." 

So  did  Petronius  in  Tacitus,  Heliogabalus  in  Lampridius. 

*  "  Nocftes  vigilabat  ad  ipsum 
Mane,  diem  totum  stertebat." 

"  He  drank  the  night  away 
Till  rising  dawn,  then  snored  out  all  the  day." 

Snymdiris  the  Sybarite  never  saw  the  sun  rise  or  set  so 
much  as  once  in  twenty  years.  Verres,  against  whom  Tully 
•o  much  inveighs,  in  winter  he  never  was  extra  tectum  vix 

iPlautug.        *Hor.  lib.  1   Sat.  8. 


Mem.  2,  subs.  2.]  Diet,  a   C'ause.  303 

extra  lectum,  never  almost  out  of  bed,  *  still  wenching  and 
drinking;  so  did  he  spend  his  time,  and  so  do  myriads  in 
our  days.  They  have  gymnasia  bibonum,  schools  and  ren 
dezvous  ;  these  centaurs  and  lapithae  toss  pots  and  bowls  as 
so  many  balls  ;  invent  new  tricks,  as  sausages,  anchovies,  to 
bacco,  caviare,  pickled  oysters,  herrings,  fumadoes,  &c. ;  in 
numerable  salt  meats  to  increase  their  appetite,  and  study 
how  to  hurt  themselves  by  taking  antidotes  2 "  to  carry  their 
drink  the  better ;  8  and  when  nought  else  serves,  they  will 
go  forth,  or  be  conveyed  out,  to  empty  their  gorge,  that  they 
may  return  to  drink  afresh."  They  make  laws,  insanas  leges, 
contra  bibendi  faJlacias,  and  4  brag  of  it  when  they  have  done, 
crowning  that  man  that  is  soonest  gone,  as  their  drunken  pred 
ecessors  have  done, 6  quid  ego  video  ?  Ps.  Own  corona 

Pseudolum  ebrium  tuum .     And  when  they  are  dead,  will 

have  a  can  of  wine  with  '  Maron's  old  woman  to  be  engraven 
on  their  tombs.  So  they  triumph  in  villany,  and  justify  their 
wickedness ;  with  Rabelais,  that  French  Lucian,  drunkenness 
is  better  for  the  body  than  physic,  because  there  be  more  old 
drunkards  than  old  physicians.  Many  such  frothy  arguments 
they  have, 7  inviting  and  encouraging  others  to  do  as  they  do, 
and  love  them  dearly  for  it  (no  glue  like  to  that  of  good  fellow 
ship).  So  did  Alcibiades  in  Greece  ;  Nero,  Bonosus,  Helio- 
gabalus  in  Rome,  or  Alegabalus  rather,  as  he  was  styled  of 
old  (as  8  Ignatius  proves  out  of  some  old  coins).  So  do  many 
great  men  still,  as  9  Heresbachius  observes.  When  a  prince 
drinks  till  his  eyes  stare,  like  Bitias  in  the  Poet, 

10  "  (ille  impiger  hausit 
Spumantem  vino  pateram)." 

"  a  thirsty  soul ; 

He  took  challenge  and  embraced  the  bowl 
With  pleasure  swill'd  the  gold,  nor  ceased  to  draw 
Till  he  the  bottom  of  the  brimmer  saw." 

1  Die!  breyitas  conviyiis,  noctia  longl-  rasa     relnt     ad     ostentatlonem,      fee. 

tudo  stupris  conterebatur.        *  Et  quo  5  Plantus.        «  Lib.  8.    Anthcl    c.  20. 

plus  capiant,  irritamenta  excogitantur.  1  Oratiam  conciliant  potando.        •  Notta 

•Fores  portantur  ut  ad  conrivium  repor-  ad  Csesares.        •  Lib.  de  educandis  prin- 

tontur,  repleri  ut  exhauriant,  et  exhau-  cipum  liberis.        «>  Virg.  X.  1. 
riri  ut   bibant.    Ambros.        *  Ingentia 


304  Diet,  a  Caust.  [Part.  I.  sec. ». 

and  comes  off  clearly,  sound  trumpets,  fife  and  drums,  the 
spectators  will  applaud  him,  "the  l bishop  himself  (if  he 
belie  them  not)  with  his  chaplain,  will  stand  by  and  do  as 
much,"  0  dignum  principe  haustum,  'twas  done  like  a  prince. 
"  Our  Dutchmen  invite  all  comers  with  a  pail  and  a  dish,** 
Velut  infundibula  integras  obbas  ezhauriunt,  et  in  monstrosis 
poculis,  ipsi  monstrosi  monstrosius  epotant,  "  making  bar 
rels  of  their  bellies."  Incredibile  dictu,  as  aone  of  their 
own  countrymen  complains  :  *  Quantum  liquoris  immodes- 
tissima  gens  capiat,  fyc.  "  How  they  love  a  man  that 
will  be  drunk,  crown  him  and  honour  him  for  it,"  hate  him 
that  will  not  pledge  him,  stab  him,  kill  him ;  a  most  intoler 
able  offence,  and  not  to  be  forgiven.  4 "  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 
honestest  fellow,  saith  Alexander  Gaguinus,  8  "  that  drinketh 
most  healths  to  the  honour  of  his  master,  he  shall  be  re 
warded  as  a  good  servant,  and  held  the  bravest  fellow  that 
carries  his  liquor  best,"  when  a  brewer's  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  6  Tarn 
inter  epulas  fortis  vir  esse  potest  ac  in  bello,  as  much  valour 
is  to  be  found  in  feasting  as  in  fighting,  and  some  of  our  city 
captains,  and  carpet  knights  will  make  this  good,  and  prove 
it  Thus  they  many  times  wilfully  pervert  the  good  tempera 
ture  of  their  bodies,  stifle  their  wits,  strangle  nature,  and 
degenerate  into  beasts. 

Some  again  are  in  the  other  extreme,  and  draw  this  mis 
chief  on  their  heads  by  too  ceremonious  and  strict  diet,  being 
over-precise,  cockney-like,  and  curious  in  their  observation 

1  Idem  strennl  potatoria  Episcopi  Sacel-  immodest*  gens  capiat,   plus  potantem 

lanus,  cum  ingentem  pateram  exhaurit  amicissimum  habent,  et  gerto  coronant, 

princeps.        s  Bohemua  In  Sa&^nia.   Ad-  inhnidssimum  e  contra  qui  non  vult,  et 

eo  Immoderate  et  immodeste  ab  ipsig  blbi-  ctede  et  fustibus  ezpiant.        4  Qui  potare 

tur,  ut  in  compotationibus  suis  non  eya-  recusat,  hostis  habetur,  et  c«de  nonnnn- 

tliis  Holum  et  cantharis  sat    infundere  quam  res  expiatar.        6  Qui  melinfl  bibit 

pogsint,  ged   impletum    mulctrale    ap-  pro  salute  dominl,  mellor  habetur  minia- 

ponant.  et    scntella    injecta    hortantur  ter.         •  Gnec.   Poeta  apud  Stobseum, 

quemlibet  ad  libitum  potare.        a  Dictn  ser.  18. 
Incredibile,  quantum    hujnsce    liquoris 


Stem.  2,  subs.  3.]         Causes  of  Melancholy.  305 

of  meats,  times,  as  that  Medicina  statica  prescribes,  just  so 
many  ounces  at  dinner,  which  Lessius  enjoins,  so  much  at 
supper,  not  a  little  more,  nor  a  little  less,  of  such  meat,  and 
at  such  hours,  a  diet-drink  in  the  morning,  cock-broth,  China- 
broth,  at  dinner,  plum-broth,  a  chicken,  a  rabbit,  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  overmuch  fasting ;  pining  adays,  saith  1  Guianerius, 
and  waking  anights,  as  many  Moors  and  Turks  in  these  our 
times  do.  "  Anchorites,  monks,  and  the  rest  of  that  supersti 
tious  rank  (as  the  same  Guianerius  witnesseth,  that  he  hath 
often  seen  to  have  happened  in  his  tune)  through  immoderate 
fasting,  have  been  frequently  mad."  Of  such  men  belike 
Hippocrates  speaks,  1  Aphor.  5,  when  as  he  saith,  3  "  They 
more  offend  in  too  sparing  diet,  and  are  worse  damnified, 
than  they  that  feed  liberally,  and  are  ready  to  surfeit. 

SUBSECT.  HI. —  Custom  of  Diet,  Delight,  Appetite,  Necessity, 
how  they  cause  or  hinder. 

No  rule  is  so  general,  which  admits  not  some  exception ; 
to  this,  therefore,  which  hath  been  hitherto  said  (for  I  shall 
otherwise  put  most  men  out  of  commons),  and  those  incon 
veniences  which  proceed  from  the  substance  of  meats,  an 
intemperate  or  unseasonable  use  of  them,  custom  somewhat 
detracts  and  qualifies,  according  to  that  of  Hippocrates  2, 
Aphorism.  50,  8  "  Such  things  as  we  have  been  long  accus 
tomed  to,  though  they  be  evil  in  their  own  nature  yet  they 
are  less  offensive."  Otherwise  it  might  well  be  objected  that 
it  were  a  mere  4  tyranny  to  live  after  those  strict  rules  of 
physic ;  for  custom  6  doth  alter  nature  itself,  and  to  such  a? 
are  used  to  them  it  makes  bad  meats  wholesome,  and  unseason 
able  times  to  cause  no  disorder.  Cider  and  perry  are  windy 

1  Qui  de  die  jejunant,  et  nocte  vigilant,  victu  eegri  delinquunt,  ex  quo  fit  nt  ma- 

facile  cadunt  in  melancholiam ;  et  qui  jorl  afficiantur  detrimento,  majorque  fit 

naturae  modum  excedunt,  c.  5,  tract.  15,  error  tenni quam  pleniore  victu.  »  Qua 

e.  2.  Longa  famis  tolerantia,  nt  its  8tepe  longo  tempore  consueta  eunt,  etiamsi  de- 

accidit  qui  tanto  cum  ferrore  Deo  serrire  teriora,  minus  in  assuetis  moles  tara 

eupiunt  per  jejunium,  quod  maniac!  cffl-  solent.  4  Qui  medice  vivit,  misere 

eiantur,  ipse  ridi  saepe.  *  In  tenui  ririt.  5  Consuetude  alter*  ruitura. 

VOL.  I.  20 


806  Catcses  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  a 

drinks,  so  are  all  fruits  windy  in  themselves,  cold  most  part, 
yet  in  some  shires  of  *  England,  Normandy  in  France, 
Guipuscoa  in  Spain,  'tis  their  common  drink,  and  they  are  no 
whit  offended  with  it.  In  Spain,  Italy,  and  Africa,  they  live 
most  on  roots,  raw  herbs,  camel's  9  milk,  and  it  agrees  well 
with  them ;  which  to  a  stranger  will  cause  much  grievance. 
In  Wales,  lacticiniis  vescuntur,  as  Humphrey  Llwyd  con- 
fesseth,  a  Cambro-Briton  himself,  in  his  elegant  epistle  to 
Abraham  Ortelius,  they  live  most  on  white  meats ;  in  Hol 
land  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  victus  in  came  consistit,  we 
feed  on  flesh  most  part,  saith  4  Polydor  Virgil,  as  all  northern 
countries  do ;  and  it  would  be  very  offensive  to  us  to  live 
after  their  diet,  or  they  to  live  after  ours.     We  drink  beer, 
they  wine ;  they  use  oil,  we  butter ;  we  hi  the  north  are 

*  great  eaters ;  they  most  sparing  in  those  hotter  countries ; 
and  yet  they  and  we  following  our  own  customs  are  well 
pleased.    An  Ethiopian  of  old  seeing  an  European  eat  bread, 
wondered,  guomodo  stercoribus  vescentes  viverimus,  how  we 
could  eat  such  kind  of  meats ;  so  much  differed  his  country 
men  from  ours  in  diet,  that  as  mine  f  author  infers,  si  quis 
ittorum  victum  apud  nos  eemulari  vettet ;  if  any  man  should 
so  feed  with  us,  it  would  be  all  one  to  nourish,  as  Cicuta, 
Aconitum,  or  Hellebore  itself.     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 

1  Herefordshire,  Gloucestershire,  Wor-  land.  Muscovy,  and  thorn  northern  parts, 

eestershire.        -  Leo  Afer.  1. 1,  solo  came-  t  Suidas  vict.  Herod,  nihilo  cum  eo  mell- 

lorum  lacte  content!,  nil  praterea  delicla-  us  quam  si  quis  Cicntam.  Aconitum,  &c. 

rum  ambiunt.       •'•  Flandri  vinum  butyro  «  Ezpedit.  in  Sinus,  lib.  1,  c.  8,  hortenri- 

dllutum  bibunt  (nauseo  referens)  ubique  um    herbarum  et  olerum,  apud  Sinai 

butyrum  inter  omnia  feroula  et  bellarta  quam  apud  nos  longe  frequentlor  usus, 

locum   obtinet.      Steph  praefat.   Herod,  complures  quippe  de  vulgo  reperias  nulli 

* Delectantur  Oneci  piscibus  magls  quam  alia  re  Tel  tenui tatis.  Tel  religionis  causa 

earnibus         *  Lib.  1.  hist.  Ang.        &  P.  vescentes.     Equus,  Mulus,  Asellus,  &c., 

Jovius  detcript.    Bntonum.    They  sit,  aeque  fere  vescuntur  ac  pabula  omnia, 

•Mt  and  drink  al'  day  at  dinner  in  Ice-  Mat.  Riccius,  lib.  5,  cap.  12. 


Mem.  2,  subs.  8.]          Causes  of  Melancholy,  307 

eat  raw  meat,  and  most  commonly  *  horse-flesh,  drink  milk 
and  blood,  as  the  Nomades  of  old.  Et  lac  concretum  cum 
sanguine  potat  equino.  They  scoff"  at  our  Europeans  for  eat 
ing  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  a  hundred  years ;  even  in  the  civilest 
country  of  them  they  do  thus,  as  Benedict  the  Jesuit  ob 
served  in  his  travels,  from  the  great  Mogul's  Court  by  land 
to  Pekin,  which  Riccius  contends  to  be  the  same  with  Cam- 
bula  in  Cataia,  In  Scandia  their  bread  is  usually  dried  fish, 
and  so  likewise  in  the  Shetland  isles  ;  and  their  other  fare,  as 
in  Iceland,  saith  2  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  f  raw  meat,  grass,  and  that  with  delight  "With  some, 
fish,  serpents,  spiders ;  and  in  divers  places  they  *  eat  man's 
flesh,  raw  and  roasted,  even  the  Emperor  *  Montezuma  him 
self.  In  some  coasts,  again,  6one  tree  yields  them  cocoa- 
nuts,  meat  and  drink,  fire,  fuel,  apparel ;  with  his  leaves,  oil, 
vinegar,  cover  for  houses,  &c.,  and  yet  these  men  going 
naked,  feeding  coarse,  live  commonly  a  hundred  years,  are 
seldom  or  never  sick ;  all  which  diet  our  physicians  forbid. 
In  "Westphalia  they  feed  most  part  on  fat  meats  and  wourts, 
knuckle  deep,  and  call  it  *  cerebrum  lovis  ;  in  the  Low  Coun 
tries  with  roots,  in  Italy  frogs  and  snails  are  used.  The 
Turks,  saith  Busbequius,  delight  most  in  fried  meats.  In 
Muscovy,  garlic  and  onions  are  ordinary  meat  and  sauce, 
which  would  be  pernicious  to  such  as  are  unaccustomed  to 
them,  delightsome  to  others  ;  and  all  is  T  because  they  have 

1  Tartar!  mulis.equlgYescunfrnretcrudis  Ind.  descrlpt.  lib.  11,  cap.  10.    Aquam 

earnibus,  et  fruges  contemnunt,  dicentes,  marfnam    Inhere,    sueti    absque    noxl. 

hoc  jumentorum  pabulum  et  bourn,  non  t  Davies  2,   voyage.  *  Patagones. 

hominum.  »  Islandise  descriptlone,  4  Benzo  et  Fer.  Cortesius  lib.  novus  orbii 

victus  eorum  butyro,  lacte,  caseo  consis-  inscrlp.        6  Linscoften,  c.  56,  palmee  in- 

Mt ;  places  loco  panls  habent,  potug,  aqua  star  to  this  orbisarboribus  longe  prsestan- 

aut   serum,   sic   vivunt    sine    medicina  tior.        *  Lips,  epist.        T  Teneris  assn 

multi  ad  annos  200         *  Laet.  Occident,  escere  multum. 


308  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  X 

been  brought  up  unto  it.  Husbandmen,  and  such  as  labour, 
can  eat  fat  bacon,  salt  gross  meat,  hard  cheese,  &c.,  (  0  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  physic,  so  that  cus 
tom  is  all  in  all.  Our  travellers  find  this  by  common  experi 
ence  when  they  come  in  far  countries,  and  use  their  diet, 
they  are  suddenly  offended,  *  as  our  Hollanders  and  English 
men  when  they  touch  upon  the  coasts  of  Africa,  those  Indian 
capes  and  islands,  are  commonly  molested  with  calentures, 
fluxes,  and  much  distempered  by  reason  of  their  fruits. 
*  Peregrina,  etsi  suavia,  solent  vescentibus  perturbationes  in- 
signes  adferre,  strange  meats,  though  pleasant,  cause  notable 
alterations  and  distempers.  On  the  other  side,  use  or  custom 
mitigates  or  makes  all  good  again.  Mithridates  by  often  use, 
which  Pliny  wonders  at,  was  able  to  drink  poison ;  and  a 
maid,  as  Curtius  records,  sent  to  Alexander  from  K.  Porus, 
was  brought  up  with  poison  from  her  infancy.  The  Turks, 
saith  Bellonius,  lib.  3,  c.  15,  eat  opium  familiarly,  a  drachm 
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  drachms  of  opium  in  three  days  ;  and  yet  con- 
tulto  loquebatur,  spake  understandingly,  so  much  can  custom 
do.  4  Theophrastus  speaks  of  a  shepherd  that  could  eat  helle 
bore  in  substance.  And  therefore  Cardan  concludes  out  of 
Galen,  Consuetudinem  tttcungue  ferendam,  nisi  valde  malam. 
Custom  is  howsoever  to  be  kept,  except  it  be  extremely  bad ; 
he  adviseth  all  men  to  keep  their  old  customs,  and  that  by  the 
authority  of  *  Hippocrates  himself,  Dandum  aliquid  tempori, 
cetati,  regioni,  consuetudini,  and  therefore  to  "continue  as 
they  began,  be  it  diet,  bath,  exercise,  &c.,  or  whatsoever 
else. 

Another  exception  is  delight,  or  appetite,  to  such  and  such 

1  Repentinae  mntationes  noxam  part-  1.  8,  e.  19,  praz.  med.        *  Aphorism .  17 

ant.    Hippocmt.    Aphorism.    21,  Epist.  *  In  dubiin  conauetndinem  sequatur  ado 

6,  sect.  8.        *  Bruerlnus,  lib.  1,  cap.  28.  lescens,  et  inoeptls  penerreret. 
>  Simpl.  med.  o.  4,  L  1.       *  Heurnius, 


Mem.  2,  subs.  4.]    Retention  and  Evacuation,  Causes.  309 

meats;  though  they  be  hard  of  digestion,  melancholy;  yet  as 
Fuchsius  excepts  cap.  6,  lib.  2,  Institut  sect.  2.  * "  The 
stomach  doth  really  digest,  and  willingly  entertain  such  meata 
we  love  most,  and  are  pleasing  to  us,  abhors  on  the  other 
side  such  as  we  distaste."  Which  Hippocrates  confirms, 
Aphorism.  2,  38.  Some  cannot  endure  cheese  out  of  a 
secret  antipathy,  or  to  see  a  roasted  duck,  which  to  others  is 
a  a  delightsome  meat. 

The  last  exception  is  necessity,  poverty,  want,  hunger, 
which  drives  men  many  tunes  to  do  that  which  otherwise 
they  are  loth,  cannot  endure,  and  thankfully  to  accept  of  it ; 
as  beverage  in  ships,  and  in  sieges  of  great  cities,  to  feed  on 
dogs,  cats,  rats,  and  men  themselves.  Three  outlaws  in 
8  Hector  Boethius,  being  driven  to  their  shifts,  did  eat  raw 
flesh,  and  flesh  of  ?uch  fowl  as  they  could  catch,  in  one  of  the 
Hebrides  for  some  few  months.  These  things  do  mitigate  or 
disannul  that  which  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  to  be  forborne,  if  they  be  inclined 
to,  or  suspect  melancholy,  as  they  tender  their  healths; 
Otherwise  if  they  be  intemperate,  or  disordered  in  their  diet, 
at  their  peril  be  it.  Qui  monet  amot,  Ave  et  cave. 

He  who  advises  is  your  friend, 
Farewell,  and  to  your  health  attend 

STTBSECT.  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.  4  Galen  reduceth  defect  and  abundance  to 
this  head;  others  6"A11  that  is  separated,  or  remains." 

Costiveness.']  In  the  first  rank  of  these,  I  may  well  reckon 
up  costiveness,  and  keeping  in  of  our  ordinary  excrements, 

1  Qui  cum  Tolnptate  assumuntur  cibi,  stomach,  as  the  saying  is.       *  Lib.  7, 

Tentrlculus  ayidius  complectitur,  expe-  Hist.  Scot.        *  90,  artis.        &  Qua  «J 

dltiusque  concoquit,  et  quse  displicent  cernuntur  aut  subsiutunt 
aversatut.        -  Nothing  against  a  good 


310  Retention  and  Evacuation,  Causes.    [Part.  I.  sec.  z. 

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,  headache,  &c.' 
Prosper  Calenus,  lib.  de  atrd  bile,  will  have  it  distemper  not 
the  organ  only,  3 "  but  the  mind  itself  by  troubling  of  it ;  " 
and  sometimes  it  is  a  sole  cause  of  madness,  as  you  may  read 
in  the  first  book  of  *  Skenkius's  Medicinal  Observations.  A 
young  merchant  going  to  Nordeling  fair  in  Germany,  for  ten 
days'  space  never  went  to  stool ;  at  his  return  he  was 
4  grievously  melancholy,  thinking  that  he  was  robbed,  and 
would  not  be  persuaded  but  that  all  his  money  was  gone ; 
his  friends  thought  he  had  some  philtrum  given  him,  but 
Cnelius,  a  physician,  being  sent  for,  found  his  "costiveness 
alone  to  be  the  cause,  and  thereupon  gave  him  a  clyster,  by 
which  he  was  speedily  recovered.  Trincavellius,  consult. 
35,  lib.  1,  saith  as  much  of  a  melancholy  lawyer,  to  whom  he 
administered  physic,  and  Rodericus  a  Fonseca,  consult,  85, 
torn.  2,*  of  a  patient  of  his,  that  for  eight  days  was  bound, 
and  therefore  melancholy  affected.  Other  retentions  and 
evacuations  there  are,  not  simply  necessary,  but  at  some 
times ;  as  Fernelius  accounts  them.  Path.  lib.  1,  cap.  15, 
as  suppression  of  haemorrhoids,  or  monthly  issues  in  women, 
bleeding  at  nose,  immoderate  or  no  use  at  all  of  Venus ;  or 
any  other  ordinary  issues. 

6  Detention  of  haemorrhoids,  or  monthly  issues,  Villano- 
vanus  Breviar.  lib.  1,  cap.  18,  Arculanus,  cap.  16,  in  9. 
Rhasis,  Vittorius  Faventinus,  pract.  mag.  Tract.  2,  cap.  15, 
Bruel,  &c.,  put  for  ordinary  causes.  Fuchsius,  1.  2,  sect.  5,  c. 
30,  goes  farther,  and  saith, 7 "  That  many  men  unseasonably 
cured  of  the  haemorrhoids  have  been  corrupted  with  melan 
choly,  seeking  to  avoid  Scylla,  they  fall  into  Charybdis. 
Galen,  1.  de  hum.  commen.  3,  ad  text.  26,  illustrates  this  by  an 

1  Ex  Tentre  suppresso.  inflammations,  dies  alvnm  slccum  habet,  et  nihil  reddlt. 

eapltisdolores,caliginescrescunt.      *Ex-  «  Siye    per    nares,  sire    hsemorrhoides. 

crementa  retenta  mentis  agitationem  par-  1  Multi  intempestiye  ab  hsemorrhoidibuj 

ere  solent.        •'  Cap.  de  Mel.        *  Tarn  curati,  melancholia  corrupt!  aunt.    IP- 

,leliru<>.  ut  vix  se  bomlnem  agnosceret.  cidit  in  Scyllam,  &c 
i  Alrus  as  t  rictus  causa.        *  Per  octo 


Mem.  2,  subs.  4.]    Retention  and  Evacuation,  Causes.          311 

example  of  Lucius  Martius,  whom  he  cured  of  madness, 
contracted  by  this  means ;  And  *  Skenkius  hath  two  other 
instances  of  two  melancholy  and  mad  women,  so  caused  from 
the  suppression  of  their  months.  The  same  may  be  said  of 
bleeding  at  the  nose,  if  it  be  suddenly  stopped,  and  have 
been  formerly  used,  as  2  Villanovanus  urgeth  ;  And  8  Fuch- 
sius,  lib.  2,  sect.  5,  cap.  33,  stiffly  maintains  "  That  without 
great  danger,  such  an  issue  may  not  be  stayed." 

Venus  omitted  produceth  like  effects.  Mathiolus,  epist.  5, 
1,  penult.  4"avoucheth  of  his  knowledge,  that  some  through 
bashfulness  abstained  from  venery,  and  thereupon  became 
very  heavy  and  dull ;  and  some  others  that  were  very  timo 
rous,  melancholy,  and  beyond  all  measure  sad."  Oribasius, 
med.  cbttect.  I.  6,  c.  37,  speaks  of  some,  6  "  That  if  they  do  not 
use  carnal  copulation,  are  continually  troubled  with  heaviness 
and  headache ;  and  some  in  the  same  case  by  intermission  of 
it."  Not  use  of  it  hurts  many,  Arculanus,  c.  6,  in  9.  Rhasis, 
et  Magninus,  part.  3,  cap.  5,  think,  because  it  8 "  sends  up 
poisonous  vapours  to  the  brain  and  heart."  And  so  doth 
Galen  himself  hold,  "  That  if  this  natural  seed  be  over-long 
kept  (in  some  parties),  it  turns  to  poison."  Hieronymus  Mer- 
curialis,  in  his  chapter  of  Melancholy,  cites  it  for  an  especial 
cause  of  this  malady,  7  Priapismus,  Satyriasis,  &c.,  Haliabbas, 
5  Theor.  c.  36,  reckons  up  this  and  many  other  diseases, 
Villanovanus  Breviar.  /.  1,  c.  18,  saith,  "He  knew  8 many 
monks  and  widows  grievously  troubled  with  melancholy,  and 
that  for  this  sole  cause."  'Lodovicus  Mercatus,  I.  2,  de 
mulierum  affect,  cap.  4,  and  Rodericus  a  Castro,  de  morbis 
mulier.  I.  2,  c.  3,  treat  largely  of  this  subject,  and  will  have 
it  produce  a  peculiar  kind  of  melancholy  in  stale  maids,  nuns, 

1  Lib.  1,  de  Mania.        -  Breviar.  1.  7,  tristes  et  Ita  factos  ex  intermissione  Vene- 

e.  18.        8  Non  sine  magno  incommodo  ris.        «  Vapores  venemtos  mittit  sperma 

ejus,  cui  sanguis  a  naribus  promanat.  ad  cor  et  cerebrum.   Sperma  plus  diu  re- 

noxii  sanguinis  vacuatio  impediri  potesti  tentum,  transit  in  venenum.        7  Graves 

1  Novi  quosdam  prse  pudore  i  coitu  ab-  producit  corporis  et  animi  aegritudines. 

stinentes.    torpidos,    pigrosque     factos;  8  Ex  spermate supra modum  retentomon- 

nonnullos  etiam  melancholicos,  prater  achos  et  viduas  melancholicos  s»pe  fieri 

modum  moestos,  timidosque.        &  Non-  vidi.        '  Melancholia  orta  a  vasis  semi 

nulli  nisi  coeant,  assidue  capitis  gravitate  nariis  in  utero. 
Infestantur.     Dicit  se  novisse  quosdam 


812  Retention  and  Evacuation,  Causes.    [Part.  I.  sec.  x 

and  widows,  Ob  suppressionem  mensium  et  venerem  omissam, 
ttmidee,  mcestte,  anxia,  verecundee,  suspiciosce,  languentes,  con- 
silii  inopes,  cum  summa  vitce  et  rerum  meliorum  desperatione, 
fyc.,  they  are  melancholy  in  the  highest  degree,  and  all  for 
want  of  husbands.  .^Elianus  Montaltus,  cap.  37,  de  melanchol. 
confirms  as  much  out  of  Galen  ;  so  doth  Wierus,  Christoferus 
a  Vega  de  art.  med.  lib.  3,  c.  14,  relates  many  such  examples 
of  men  and  women,  that  he  had  seen  so  melancholy.  Foalix 
Plater,  in  the  first  book  of  his  Observations,  *  "  tells  a  story 
of  an  ancient  gentleman  in  Alsatia,  that  married  a  young 
wife,  and  was  not  able  to  pay  his  debts  in  that  kind  for  a  long 
time  together,  by  reason  of  his  several  infirmities ;  but  she, 
because  of  this  inhibition  of  Venus,  fell  into  a  horrible  fury, 
and  desired  every  one  that  came  to  see  her,  by  words,  looks, 
and  gestures,  to  have  to  do  with  her,"  &c.  a  Bernardus  Pa- 
ternus,  a  physician,  saith,  "  He  knew  a  good  honest,  godly 
priest,  that  because  he  would  neither  willingly  marry,  nor 
make  use  of  the  stews,  fell  into  grievous  melancholy  fits." 
Hildesheim,  spicel.  2,  hath  such  another  example  of  an  Ital 
ian  melancholy  priest,  in  a  consultation  had  Anno  1580. 
Jason  Pratensis  gives  instance  in  a  married  man,  that  from 
his  wife's  death  abstaining,  8  "  after  marriage,  became  exceed 
ingly  melancholy,"  Rodericus  a  Fonseca  in  a  young  man  so 
misaflfected,  Tom.  2,  consult.  85.  To  these  you  may  add,  if 
you  please,  that  conceited  tale  of  a  Jew,  so  visited  in  like 
sort,  and  so  cured,  out  of  Poggius  Florentinus. 

Intemperate  Venus  is  all  but  as  bad  in  the  other  extreme. 
Galen,  /.  6,  de  morbis  popular,  sect.  5,  text.  26,  reckons  up 
melancholy  amongst  those  diseases  which  are  4  "  exasperated 
by  venery ;"  so  doth  Avicenna,  2,  3,  c.  11.  Oribasius,  loc. 
citat.  Ficinus,  lib.  2,  de  sanitate  tuendd.  Marsilius  Cogna- 

>  Nobilis  0enex  Alsatus  juvenem  ux-  sentirent,   moloesos    AnglicanOB    maeno 

orem  duxit,  at  Hie  colico  dolore,  et  mul-  expetilt  clamore.         *  Vidi  aacerdotein 

tis  morbis  correptus,  non  potuit  prsestare  optimum  et  plum,  qul  quod  nollet  uti 

offlcium    inuriti.   vix    Inito    matrimonio  Vencre,  in  melancholica  symptomata  in- 

aegrotug.     Ilia    in    horrendum  furorera  cidit.        3  Ob  abstinentiain  &  concubitn 

Incidit,  ob  Venerem  cohibitam,  nt  ornni-  Incidit  in  melanchollam.  *  Quaa   I 

am  earn  invisentium  congressum,  voce,  coitu  exacerbantur. 
nilto,  gestu  expeteret,  et  quum  non  con- 


Mem.  2,  sabs.  4.]    Retention  and  Evacuation,  Causes.          313 

tus,  Montaltus,  cap.  27.  Guianerius,  Tract.  3,  cap.  2.  Mag« 
ninus,  cap.  5,  part.  3,  *  gives  the  reason,  because  2  "  it  infrigi- 
dates  and  dries  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  Rhasis, 
cap.  15,  ascribes  the  same  cause,  and  instanceth  in  a  patient 
of  his,  that  married  a  young  wife  in  a  hot  summer,  8  "  and  so 
dried  himself  with  chamber-work,  that  he  became  in  short 
space  from  melancholy,  mad ; "  he  cured  him  by  moistening 
remedies.  The  like  example  I  find  in  Laelius  a  Fonte  Eu- 
gubinus,  consult.  129,  of  a  gentleman  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  it,  as  well  as  these 
above  named,  be  it  bile,  4  ulcer,  issue,  &c.  Hercules  de  Sax- 
onia,  lib.  1,  c.  16,  and  Gordonius,  verify  this  out  of  their  ex 
perience.  They  saw  one  wounded  in  the  head,  who  as  long 
as  the  sore  was  open,  Lucida  kabuit  mentis  intervaUa,  was 
well ;  but  when  it  was  stopped,  Rediit  melancholia,  his  mel 
ancholy  fit  seized  on  him  again. 

Artificial  evacuations  are  much  like  in  effect,  as  hot  houses, 
baths,  bloodletting,  purging,  unseasonably  and  immoderately 
used.  6  Baths  dry  too  much,  if  used  in  excess,  be  they  nat 
ural  or  artificial,  and  offend  extreme  hot  or  cold  ;  '  one  dries, 
the  other  refrigerates  overmuch.  Montanus,  consil.  137, 
saith,  they  overheat  the  liver.  Joh.  Struthius,  Stigmat.  artis. 
I.  4,  c.  9,  contends,  *  "  that  if  one  stays  longer  than  ordinary 
at  the  bath,  go  in  too  oft,  or  at  unseasonable  times,  he  putre 
fies  the  humours  in  his  body."  To  this  purpose  writes 
Magninus,  I.  3,  c.  5.  Guianerius,  Tract.  15,  c.  21,  utterly 
disallows  all  hot  baths  in  melancholy  adust  8 "  I  saw  (saith  he) 

'  Superfluum  coitum  causam  ponunt.  reddunt  corpus.  t  SI  quis  longiui 

* Exsicc.it  corpus,  spiritug  consumit,  &c.,  moretur  in  iis,  aut  nimis  frequenter,  aut 

taveant  ab  hoc  sicci,  yelut  inimico  mor-  importune  utatur,  humores   putrefacit. 

tali.      s  jta  exsiccatus  ut  e  melancholico  8  Ego  anno  superiors,  quendiftn  gutto- 

gtatim  fuerit  insanus,  ab  humectantibus  sum  vidi  adustum,  qui  ut  liberaretur  d« 

curatus.        *  Ex  cauterio  et  ulcere  ex-  gutta,  ad  balnea  accessit,  et  de  gutta  lib 

siccato.        &  Gord.  c.  10,  lib.  1.     Discom-  eratus,  maniacus  factus  est. 
mouda  cold  baths  as  noxious.       6  Siccum 


314  detention  and  Evacuation,   Causes.     [Part.  I.  sec.  1 

a  man  that  laboured  of  the  gout,  who  to  be  freed  of  his  mal 
ady  came  to  the  bath,  and  was  instantly  cured  of  his  disease, 
but  got  another  worse,  and  that  was  madness."  But  this 
judgment  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  hu 
mours  heat  and  boil,  if  this  be  not  used  in  time,  the  parties 
affected,  so  inflamed,  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 
consuming  them  ;  as  Joh.  x  Curio  in  his  10th  Chapter  well 
reprehends,  such  kind  of  letting  blood  doth  more  hurt  than 
good ;  2  "  The  humours  rage  much  more  than  they  did  before, 
and  is  so  far  from  avoiding  melancholy,  that  it  increaseth  it, 
and  weakeneth  the  sight."  "Prosper  Calenus  observes  as 
much  of  all  phlebotomy,  except  they  keep  a  very  good  diet 
after  it ;  yea,  and  as  *  Leonartus  Jacchinus  speaks  out  of  his 
own  experience,  6  "  The  blood  is  much  blacker  to  many  men 
after  their  letting  of  blood  than  it  was  at  first."  For  this 
cause  belike  Salust.  Salvinianus,  1.  2,  c.  1,  will  admit  or  hear 
of  no  bloodletting  at  all  in  this  disease,  except  it  be  man 
ifest  it  proceed  from  blood ;  he  was  (it  appears)  by  his  own 
words  in  that  place,  master  of  an  hospital  of  mad  men, 
6  "  and  found  by  long  experience,  that  this  kind  of  evacua 
tion,  either  in  head,  arm,  or  any  other  part,  did  more  harm 
than  good."  To  this  opinion  of  his,  *  Felix  Plater  is  quite 

1  On  Schola  Salernitana.      *  Calefactio  spiritus  debilitatnr  inde,  et  ego  longft  ex 

et  ebullitio  per  venae  incisionem.  magis  perientii  observavi   in   proprio  Xenodo- 

saepe  incitatur  et  augetur,  majore  impetu  cbio.   quod  desipientes   ex   phlebotomia 

humores  per  corpus  discurrunt.        8  Lib.  magis  laeduntur,  et  magis  desipiunt,  et 

de    flatulenta    Melancholia.      Frequens  melancholic!    ssepe  flunt    inde    pejores. 

sanguinis  missio  corpus  extenuat.      *  In  *  De  mentis  alienat.  cap.  8,  etsi  niultog 

9  Rhasis.  atram  bilem  parit,  et  visum  de-  hoc  improblsse   sciam.  innumeros  h£c 

billtat.        *  Multo  nigrior  spectatur  san-  ratione  sanatos  longi  observation  cog- 

fuis  poet  dies  quosdam,  quim  fuit  ab  ini-  novi,  qui  vicies,  sexagies  venas  tunden 

f.lo.        o  jfon  laudo  eos  qui  in  desipientia  do,  so. 
decent  wcandam  ease  venam  frontis,  quia 


Mem.  2,  subs.  5.]  Bad  Air,  a  Cause.  315 

opposite,  "  though  some  wink  at,  disallow,  and  quite  contra 
dict  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  Galen's  time,  to  take  at 
once  from  such  men  six  pounds  of  blood,  which  now  we  dare 
scarce  take  in  ounces  ;  sed  viderint  medici  ;  "  great  books  are 
written  of  this  subject. 

Purging  upward  and  downward,  in  abundance  of  bad 
humours  omitted,  may  be  for  the  worst ;  so  likewise  as  in  the 
precedent,  if  overmuch,  too  frequent  or  violent,  it l  weakeneth 
their  strength,  saith  Fuchsius,  L  2,  sect.  2,  c.  17,  or  if  they  be 
strong  or  able  to  endure  physic,  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.  2  "  If  it  be  impure  and 
foggy,  it  dejects  the  spirits,  and  causeth  diseases  by  infection 
of  the  heart,"  as  Paulus  hath  it,  lib.  1,  c.  49.  Avicenna  lib. 
1.  Gal.  de  son.  tuendd.  Mercurialis,  Montaltus,  &c.,  8Fer- 
nelius  saith,  "  A  thick  air  thickeneth  the  blood  and  humours." 
4  Lemnius  reckons  up  two  main  things  most  profitable,  and 
most  pernicious  to  our  bodies ;  air  and  diet ;  and  this  peculiar 
disease,  nothing  sooner  causeth  (6  Jobertus  holds)  "  than  the 
air  wherein  we  breathe  and  live."  *  Such  as  is  the  air,  such 
be  our  spirits  ;  and  as  our  spirits,  such  are  our  humours.  It 
offends  commonly  if  it  be  too  6  hot  and  dry,  thick,  fuliginous, 
cloudy,  blustering,  or  a  tempestuous  air.  Bodine  in  his  fifth 
Book,  De  repub.  cap.  1,  5,  of  his  Method  of  History,  proves 
that  hot  countries  are  most  troubled  with  melancholy,  and 

'  Vires  debilitat.          «  Impurus  aSr  hitur  humor  melancholicns.        *  Qualii 

vpiritus  (lejicit,  infecto  corde  glgnit  mor-  aer,  talis  spiritus :  et  cujusmodi  spiritus 

bos.        3  Sanguinem  densat.  et  humores,  humores.        »  ./Elianus  Montaltus,  cap 

P.  1,  c.  18.        4  Lib.  3,  cap.  8.       6  Lib.  11,  calidus  et  siccus,  frigidus  et  sfcetu 

de  quartana.    Ex  acre  ambiente  contra-  paludinosus,  crassus. 


316  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  3. 

that  there  are  therefore  in  Spain,  Africa,  and  Asia  Minor 
great  numbers  of  mad  men,  insomuch  that  they  are  com 
pelled  in  all  cities  of  note,  to  build  peculiar  hospitals  for 
them.  Leo  1  Afer,  lib.  3,  de  Fessa  urbe,  Ortelius  and  Zuin- 
ger,  confirm  as  much  ;  they  are  ordinarily  so  choleric  in  their 
speeches,  that  scarce  two  words  pass  without  railing  or  chid 
ing  in  common  talk,  and  often  quarrelling  in  the  streets. 
8  Grordonius  will  have  every  man  take  notice  of  it :  "  Note 
this  (saith  he)  that  in  hot  countries  it  is  far  more  familiar 
than  in  cold."  Although  this  we  have  now  said  be  not  con 
tinually  so,  for  as  8  Acosta  truly  saith,  under  the  Equator 
itself,  is  a  most  temperate  habitation,  wholesome  air,  a  para 
dise  of  pleasure  ;  the  leaves  ever  green,  cooling  showers. 
But  it  holds  in  such  as  are  intemperately  hot,  as  *  Johannes 
a  Meggen  found  in  Cyprus,  others  in  Malta,  Apulia,  and  the 

*  Holy  Land,  where  at  some  seasons  of  the  year  is  nothing 
but  dust,  their  rivers  dried  up,  the  air  scorching  hot,  and 
earth  inflamed  ;  insomuch  that  many  pilgrims  going  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  Africa,  Arabia  Deserta, 
Bactriana,    now    Charassan,   when    the   west    wind    blows 
t  Involuti  arenis  transeuntes  necantur.  6  Hercules  de  Saxonia, 
a  professor  in  Venice,  gives  this  cause  why  so  many  Venetian 
women  are  melancholy,  Quod  diu  sub  sole  degant,  they  tarry 
too  long  in  the  sun.     Montanus,  consil.  21,  amongst  other 
causes  assigns  this ;    Why  that  Jew  his  patient  was  mad, 
Quod  tarn  multum  exposuit  se  calori  et  frigori :  he  exposed 
himself  so  much  to  heat  and  cold,  and  for  that  reason  in 
Venice,  there  is  little  stirring  in  those  brick  paved  streets  in 
summer  about  noon,  they  are  most  part  then  asleep  ;  as  they 
are  likewise  in  the  great  Mogol's  countries,  and  all  over  the 

1  Malta  hie  In  XenodochJts  fanaticorum  ut   ante  flnem    Mali  pene   exusta    sit. 

tnlllia  qua  strictissime  catenate,  gervan-  t"  They  perish  in  clouds  of  sand."   Ma- 

tur.        *  Lib.  med.  part.  2,  cap.  19.    In-  ginus  Pers.        *  Pantheo  seu  Pract.  med. 

tellige,  quod  in  calidia  regionibus,  fre-  1. 1.  cap.  16.    Venetse  mulieres,  quae  diu 

quenter  accidit  mania,  in  frigidis  autem  sub  sole  vivunt,  aliquando  melancholic* 

tarde.      *  Lib.  2.      *  Hodopericon,  cap.  7.  eradunt. 

*  Apulia  sestiyo  calore  maiime  fervet,  ita 


Mem  2,  subs.  6.]  Bad  Air,  a   Cause.  317 

East  Indies.  At  Aden  in  Arabia,  as  *  Lodovicus  Vertoman- 
nus  relates  in  his  travels,  they  keep  their  markets  in  the 
night,  to  avoid  extremity  of  heat ;  and  in  Ormus,  like  cattle 
in  a  pasture,  people  of  all  sorts  lie  up  to  the  chin  in  water  all 
day  long.  At  Braga  in  Portugal ;  Burgos  in  Castile ;  Mes 
sina  in  Sicily,  all  over  Spain  and  Italy,  their  streets  are  most 
part  narrow,  to  avoid  the  sunbeams.  The  Turks  wear  great 
turbans  ad  fugandos  solis  radios,  to  refract  the  sunbeams ; 
and  much  inconvenience  that  hot  air  of  Bantam  in  Java 
yields  to  our  men,  that  sojourn  there  for  traffic ;  where  it  ia 
so  hot,  2  "  that  they  that  are  sick  of  the  pox,  lie  commonly 
bleaching  in-  the  sun  to  dry  up  their  sores."  Such  a  com 
plaint  I  read  of  those  isles  of  Cape  Verde,  fourteen  degrees 
from  the  Equator,  they  do  male  audire ;  *  One  calls  them 
the  unhealthiest  clime  of  the  world,  for  fluxes,  fevers,  fren 
zies,  calentures,  which  commonly  seize  on  seafaring  men  that 
touch  at  them,  and  all  by  reason  of  a  hot  distemperature  of 
the  air.  The  hardiest  men  are  offended  with  this  heat,  and 
stiffest  clowns  cannot  resist  it,  as  Constantine  affirms,  AgricuU. 
I.  2.  c.  45.  They  that  are  naturally  born  in  such  air,  may 
not  'endure  it,  as  Niger  records  of  some  part  of  Mesopo 
tamia,  now  called  Diarbecha:  Quibusdam  in  locis  scevienti 
cestui  adeo  subfecta  est,  ut  pleraque  animalia  fervore  solis  et 
cceli  extinguantur,  'tis  so  hot  there  in  some  places,  that  men 
of  the  country  and  cattle  are  killed  with  it ;  and  f  Adrico- 
mius  of  Arabia  Felix,  by  reason  of  myrrh,  frankincense,  and 
hot  spices  there  growing,  the  air  is  so  obnoxious  to  their 
brains,  that  the  very  inhabitants  at  some  times  cannot  avoid 
it,  much  less  weaklings  and  strangers.  %  Amatus  Lusitanus, 
cent.  1,  cur  at.  45,  reports  of  a  young  maid,  that  was  one  Vin 
cent  a  currier's  daughter,  some  thirteen  years  of  age,  that 
would  wash  her  hair  hi  the  heat  of  the  day  (in  July)  and  so 
let  it  dry  in  the  sun,  4  "  to  make  it  yellow,  but  by  that  means 

1  Navig.  lib.  2,  cap.  4,  commercia  nocte  kins  in  his  Observations,  sect.  13.  *  Hip- 
bora  secundft,  ob  nimios  qui  Bieviunt  in-  pocrates,  3.  Aphorismorum  idem  ait. 
terdiu  sestus,  exercent.  *  Morbo  Galli-  t  Idem  Maginus  in  Persia.  t  Descript. 
co  laborantes,  exponunt  ad  solem  ut  Ter.  sanctae.  4  Quum  ad  solis  radios  in 
morbos  exsiccent.  *  Sir  Richard  Haw-  leone  longam  moram  traheret,  ut  capillof 


318  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  2 

tarrying  too  long  in  the  heat,  she  inflamed  her  head,  and 
made  herself  mad." 

Cold  air  in  the  other  extreme  is  almost  as  bad  as  hot,  and 
so  doth  Montaltus  esteem  of  it,  c.  11,  if  it  be  dry  withal.  In 
those  northern  countries,  the  people  are  therefore  generally 
dull,  heavy,  and  many  witches,  which  (as  I  have  before  quoted) 
Saxo  Grammaticus,  Olaus,  Baptista  Porta  ascribe  to  melan 
choly.  But  these  cold  climes  are  more  subject  to  natural 
melancholy  (not  this  artificial)  which  is  cold  and  dry;  for 
wliich  cause  1  Mercurius  Britannicus  belike  puts  melancholy 
men  to  inhabit  just  under  the  Pole.  The  worst  of  the  three 
is  a  2  thick,  cloudy,  misty,  foggy  air,  or  such  as  come  from 
fens,  moorish  grounds,  hikes,  muckhills,  draughts,  sinks,  where 
any  carcasses  or  carrion  lies,  or  from  whence  any  stinking 
fulsome  smell  comes;  Galen,  Avicenna,  Mercurialis,  new 
and  old  physicians,  hold  that  such  air  is  unwholesome,  and 
engenders  melancholy,  plagues,  and  what  not  ?  8  Alexan- 
dretta  an  haven-town  in  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  Saint  John 
de  Ulloa,  an  haven  in  Nova-Hispania,  are  much  condemned 
for  a  bad  air,  so  are  Durazzo  in  Albania,  Lithuania,  Dit- 
marsh,  Pomptinae  Paludes  in  Italy,  the  territories  about  Pisa, 
Ferrara,  &c.,  Romney  Marsh  with  us ;  the  Hundreds  in 
Essex,  the  fens  in  Lincolnshire.  Cardan,  de  rerum  varietate, 
L  17.  c.  96,  finds  fault  with  the  sight  of  those  rich,  and  most 
populous  cities  in  the  Low  Countries,  as  Bruges,  Ghent, 
Amsterdam,  Leyden,  Utrecht,  &c.,  the  air  is  bad  ;  and  so  at 
Stockholm  in  Sweden ;  Regium  in  Italy,  Salisbury  with  us, 
Hull  and  Lynn;  they  may  be  commodious  for  navigation, 
this  new  kind  of  fortification,  and  many  other  good  necessary 
uses;  but  are  they  so  wholesome?  Old  Rome  hath  de 
scended  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  ap- 

flfiTos  redderet,  In  manlam  incidit.  aer,  trUtem  efflcit  animam.  8  <v>m- 
I  Mundus  alter  et  idem,  seu  Terra  Ana-  monly  called  Scandaroon  in  Asia  Minor 
trails  incognita.  *  Crassus  et  turbidus 


Mem.  2,  subs.  6.]  Bad  Air,  a  Cause.  319 

pear  at  every  low  water;  the  sea,  fire,  and  smoke  (as  he 
thinks)  qualify  the  air;  and  1some  suppose  that  a  thick 
foggy  air  helps  the  memory,  as  in  them  of  Pisa  hi  Italy; 
and  our  Cambden,  out  of  Plato,  commends  the  site  of  Cam 
bridge,  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,  and  sluttishness,  im- 
mund  and  sordid  manner  of  life,  suffer  their  air  to  putrefy, 
and  themselves  to  be  choked  up  ?  Many  cities  in  Turkey  do 
male  audire  in  this  kind ;  Constantinople  itself,  where  com 
monly  carrion  lies  in  the  street.  Some  find  the  same  fault 
in  Spain,  even  in  Madrid,  the  king's  seat,  a  most  excellent 
air,  a  pleasant  site  ;  but  the  inhabitants  are  slovens,  and  the 
streets  uncleanly  kept 

A  troublesome,  tempestuous  air  is  as  bad  as  impure,  rough 
and  foul  weather,  impetuous  winds,  cloudy  dark  days,  as  it  is 
commonly  with  us,  Ccelum  visit  foedum,  2  Polydore  calls  it  a 
filthy  sky,  et  in  quo  facile  generantur  nubes ;  as  Tulles 
brother  Quintus  wrote  to  him  in  Rome,  being  then  Quaestor 
in  Britain.  "  In  a  thick  and  cloudy  air  (saith  Lemnius)  men 
are  tetric,  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  men's  minds ;  it  cheers  up  men  and 
beasts  ;  but  if  it  be  a  turbulent,  rough,  cloudy,  stormy  weath 
er,  men  are  sad,  lumpish,  and  much  dejected,  angry,  waspish, 
dull,  and  melancholy."  This  was  'Virgil's  experiment  of 

old, 

"  Verum  ubi  tempestas,  et  cceli  mobilis  humor 
Mutavere  vices,  et  Jupiter  humidns  Austro, 
Vertuntur  species  animorum,  et  pectore  motui 
Concipiunt  alios  " 

"  But  when  the  face  of  heaven  changed  is 
To  tempests,  rain,  from  season  fair: 

1  Atlas  geographic  UR     Memoria  Talent  Zephyro,  maxima  in  mentibus  hrminnm 

Pisaui,   quod    crassiore  fruantur    acre,  alacritaa  existit,  mentisque  erectio   uW 

2  Mb.  1,  hist.  lib.  2,  cap.  41.     Aura  deusa  telura  solig  splendors  nitescit,  Maxima 

ac  caliginosa  tetrici  homines  existunt,  et  dejectio  moerorque  siquando  aura  caligi- 

subtristes,  et  cap.  3,  stante  subsolano  et  nosa  eat.        *  Oeor. 


320  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  a. 

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  in 
clined  to  it,  as  Lemnius  holds,  a  "  They  are  most  moved  with 
it,  and  those  which  are  already  mad,  rave  downright,  either 
in,  or  against  a  tempest  Besides,  the  devil  many  times 
takes  his  opportunity  of  such  storms,  and  when  the  humours 
by  the  air  be  stirred,  he  goes  in  with  them,  exagitates  our 
spirits,  and  vexeth  our  souls ;  as  the  sea  waves,  so  are  the 
spirits  and  humours  in  our  bodies  tossed  with  tempestuous 
winds  and  storms."  To  such  as  are  melancholy,  therefore, 
Montanus,  consil.  24,  will  have  tempestuous  and  rough  air  to 
be  avoided,  and  consil.  27,  all  night  air,  and  would  not  have 
them  to  walk  abroad,  but  in  a  pleasant  day.  Lemnius,  /.  3, 
c.  3,  discommends  the  south  and  eastern  winds,  commends 
the  north.  Montanus,  consil.  31,  8  "  wills  not  any  windows 
to  be  opened  in  the  night."  Consil.  229,  et  consil.  230,  he 
discommends  especially  the  south  wind,  and  nocturnal  air; 
so  doth  4  Plutarch.  The  night  and  darkness  makes  men  sad, 
the  like  do  all  subterranean  vaults,  dark  houses  in  caves  and 
rocks,  desert  places  cause  melancholy  in  an  instant,  especially 
such  as  have  not  been  used  to  it,  or  otherwise  accustomed. 
Read  more  of  air  in  Hippocrates,  ^Etius,  1.  3,  a  c  171,  ad  175. 
Oribasius,  a  c  1,  ad  21.  Avicen.  1.  1,  can.  Fen.  2,  doc.  2, 
Fen.  1,  c.  123,  to  the  12,  &c. 

1  Hor.        *  Meng  quibus  racillat   ab  Insinuant,  eamque  vexant,  exagitant,  et 

agre  cito  offenduntur,  et  multi  insani  ut    fluctus    marini,  humanum    cnrpui 

apud  Belgas  ante  tempeetates  ssevtunt,  rentis  agitator.        8  Aer  noctu  densatur. 

allter  quieti.     Splritus  qnoque  aSris  et  et  cogit  moestitiam.        *  Lib.  de  Iside  el 

mall  genii   allquando  ee  tempestatibus  Osyride. 
Ingerunt,  et  menti  humanae  M  lateuter 


Mem.  2,  subs.  6.]  Idleness,  a   Oattse.  321 

SUBSECT.  VI. — Immoderate  Exercise  a  Caitse,  and  how. 
Solitariness,  Idleness. 

NOTHING  so  good  but  it  may  be  abused ;  nothing  better 
than  exercise  (if  opportunely  used)  for  the  preservation  of 
the  body ;  nothing  so  bad  if  it  be  unseasonable,  violent,  or 
overmuch.  Fernelius  out  of  Galen,  Path.  lib.  1,  c.  16,  saith, 
1 "  That  much  exercise  and  weariness  consumes  the  spirits 
and  substance,  refrigerates  the  body ;  and  such  humours 
which  Nature  would  have  otherwise  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  unseasonably  used,  upon  a  full  stomach,  or  when  the 
body  is  full  of  crudities,  which  Fuchsius  so  much  inveighs 
against,  lib.  2,  instit.  sect.  2,  c.  4,  giving  that  for  a  cause  why 
school-boys  in  Germany  are  so  often  scabbed,  because  they 
use  exercise  presently  after  meats.  3  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 
undigested,  into  the  veins  (saith  Lemnius),  which  there 
putrefies  and  confounds  the  animal  spirits."  Crato,  consiL 
21,  I.  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 
Salust.  Salvianus,  1.  2.  c.  1,  and  Leonartus  Jacchinus,  in  9, 
Shasis.  Mercurialis,  Arcubanus,  and  many  other,  set  down 
6  immoderate  exercise  as  a  most  forcible  cause  of  melancholy. 

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 

1  Multa  defetigatio,  gpiritus,  viriumque  que.  *  In  Venl  mecum  :  Libro  sic  in- 

inbstantiam  exhaurit,  e»  corpus  refrige-  scripto.  3  Instit.  ad  Tit.  Christ,  cap.  44, 

rat.  ITumores  corruptos  qui  aliter  a  natu-  cibos  crndos  in  venas  rnpit,  qui  putres- 

ra  concoqui.  et  domari  possint.  et  demum  eentes  illic  spirit  us  animates  inficiunt. 

blande  excludi,  irritat,  et  quasi  in  faro-  •*  Crudi  hsec  humoris  copia  per  Tenas  a£- 

ram  agit,  qui  postea  mota  camerina,  tetro  greditur,  unde  morbi  multiplies.  &  Im 

vapore  corpus  yarii  lacessunt,  animum-  modicum  exercittam. 

VOL.  i.  21 


322  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  2 

mischief,  one  of  the  seven  deadly  sins,  and  a  sole  cause  of 
this  and  many  other  maladies,  the  devil's  cushion,  as  l  Gual- 
ter  calls  it,  his  pillow  and  chief  reposal.  "  For  the  mind  can 
never  rest,  but  still  meditates  on  one  thing  or  other,  except  it 
be  occupied  about  some  honest  business,  of  his  own  accord  it 
rusheth  into  melancholy.  3  As  too  much  and  violent  exercise 
offends  on  the  one  side,  so  doth  an  idle  life  on  the  other 
(saith  Crato),  it  fills  the  body  full  of  phlegm,  gross  humours, 
and  all  manner  of  obstructions,  rheums,  catarrhs,"  &c. 
Rhasis,  cont.  lib.  1,  tract.  9,  accounts  of  it  as  the  greatest 
cause  of  melancholy.  8  "  I  have  often  seen  (saith  he)  that 
idleness  begets  this  humour  more  than  anything  else."  Mon- 
taltus,  c.  1,  seconds  him  out  of  his  experience,  4"They  that 
are  idle  are  far  more  subject  to  melancholy  than  such  as  are 
conversant  or  employed  about  any  office  or  business."  6  Plu 
tarch  reckons  up  idleness  for  a  sole  cause  of  the  sickness  of 
the  soul :  "  There  are  they  (saith  he)  troubled  in  mind,  that 
nave  no  other  cause  but  this."  Homer,  Iliad.  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  6  it  is  a  chief  cause  ;  why  was  he  melan 
choly  ?  because  idle.  Nothing  begets  it  sooner,  increaseth 
and  continueth  it  oftener  than  idleness.7  A  disease  familiar 
to  all  idle  persons,  an  inseparable  companion  to  such  as 
live  at  ease,  Pingui  otio  desidiose  agentes,  a  life  out  of  action, 
and  have  no  calling  or  ordinary  employment  to  busy  them 
selves  about,  that  have  small  occasions ;  and  though  they 
have,  such  is  their  laziness,  dulness,  they  will  not  com 
pose  themselves  to  do  aught ;  they  cannot  abide  work, 

l  Horn.  81,   In   1   Cor.  yi.     Nam   qu§l  ponitur  otium  ab  aliis  causa,  et  hoc  i 

mena  hominis  qulescere  non  poasit,  sed  nobis  obaerratum  eos  huic  mp.lo  magia 

continue  circa  varius  cogitationea  discur-  obnoxlos  qui  plane  otiosi  aunt,  quam  eos 

rat,  nisi  honeato  aliquo  negotio  occupe-  qui  aliquo  munere  reraantur  exequendo. 

tur,  ad  tnelancholiam  aponte  delabitur.  6  De  Tranquil,  animie.     Sunt  quos  ipaum 

2  Crato  conail.  21.     Ut  Immodicu  corporis  otium    in    animi  conjicit    tegritudinam. 

exercitatio    nocet    corporibua,    ita    vita  «  Nihil  eat  quod  seque  melancboliam  alar 

deses  et  otiosa:  otium  animal  pituitoaum  ac  augeat,  ac  otium  et  abstinentia  &  cor- 

reddit,  yiscerum  obstructiones  et  crebras  poria  et  animi  exercitationibus.          "  Ni- 

fluxiones,  et    morbos  concitat.         s  Et  nil    magis    exceecat    intellectum,   quam 

rldi  quod  una  de  rebus  quse  magis  gene-  otium.    Gordonius  de  obeerrat.  Tit.  bum. 

rut  melancholiam,  eat  otiofdtas.          <  Re-  lib.  1 


alem.  2,  subs.  8.]  Idleness,  a   Cause.  828 

though  it  be  necessary ;  easy  as  to  dress  themselves,  write  a 
letter  or  the  like  ;  yet  as  he  that  is  benumbed  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  tor 
mented  with  melancholy.  Especially  if  they  have  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  whilst 
they  are  any  ways  employed,  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  day's  solitariness,  one  hour's  sometimes, 
doth  them  more  harm,  than  a  week's  physic,  labour,  and 
company  can  do  good.  Melancholy  seizeth  on  them  forth 
with  being  alone,  and  is  such  a  torture,  that  as  wise  Seneca 
well  saith,  Malo  mihi  male  quam  moUiter  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  benumbing  laziness, 
intermitting  exercise,  which  if  we  may  believe  *  Fernelius, 
"  causeth  crudities,  obstructions,  excremental  humours,  quench- 
eth  the  natural  heat,  dulls  the  spirits,  and  makes  them  unapt 
to  do  anything  whatsoever." 

2 «'  Neglectis  urenda  filix  innascitur  agria." 

"  for,  a  neglected  field 
Shall  for  the  fire  its  thorns  and  thistles  yield." 

As  fern  grows  in  untilled  grounds,  and  all  manner  of  weeds, 
so  do  gross  humours  in  an  idle  body,  Ignavum  corrumpunt 
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  in- 
cumbrances.  An  idle  dog  will  be  mangy,  and  how  shall  an 
idle  person  think  to  escape  ?  Idleness  of  the  mind  is  much 

1  Pajh.  lib.  1,  cap.  17,  exercitationis  segniores  reddlt,  crudltates,  obitruo- 
mtermissio,  inertem  eolorem,  languidos  tiones,  et  excrementorum  proventun  &» 
ipiritus,  et  ignayog.  et  ad  omnes  actiones  cit.  *  Hor.  Ser.  1,  Sat.  8- 


324  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I  see.  2 

worse  than  this  of  the  body ;  wit  without  employment  is  a 
disease,  l^Erugo  animi,  rubigo  ingenii :  the  rust  of  the  soul, 
*  a  plague,  a  hell  itself,  Maximum  animi  nocumentum,  Galen 
calls  it  *  "  As  in  a  standing  pool,  worms  and  filthy  creepers 
increase  (et  vitium  capiunt  ni  moveantur  aquce,  the  water 
itself  putrefies,  and  air  likewise,  if  it  be  not  continually 
stirred  by  the  wind),  so  do  evil  and  corrupt  thoughts  in  an 
idle  person,"  the  soul  is  contaminated.  In  a  commonwealth, 
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  bestow  itself,  macerates  and  vexeth  itself 
with  cares,  griefs,  false  fears,  discontents,  and  suspicions ;  it 
tortures  and  preys  upon  his  own  bowels,  and  is  never  at  rest. 
Thus  much  I  dare  boldly  say,  "  He  or  she  that  is  idle,  be 
they  of  what  condition  they  will,  never  so  rich,  so  well  allied, 
fortunate,  happy,  let  them  have  all  things  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,  wish 
ing  themselves  gone  or  dead,  or  else  carried  away  with  some 
foolish  fantasy  or  other.  And  this  is  the  true  cause  that  so 
many  great  men,  ladies,  and  gentlewomen,  labour  of  this  dis 
ease  in  country  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  pastimes,  and  will  there 
fore  take  no  pains ;  be  of  no  vocation ;  they  feed  liberally, 
fare  well,  want  exercise,  action,  employment  (for  to  work,  I 
say,  they  may  not  abide),  and  company  to  their  desires,  and 
thence  their  bodies  become  full  of  gross  humours,  wind,  crudi 
ties  ;  their  minds  disquieted,  dull,  heavy,  &c.,  care,  jealousy, 
fear  of  some  diseases,  sullen  fits,  weeping  fits  seize  too  *  famil 
iarly  on  them.  For  what  will  not  fear  and  fantasy  work  in 

1  Seneca.  *  Moerorem  animi,  et  ma-  main  cogitationes.  Sen.  4  Now  thli 
dwn,  Plutarch  calk  It.  *  Sicut  in  leg,  now  that  arm,  now  their  head,  heart, 
ttaguo  generantur  vennes,  ric  et  otioso  &o. 


Mem.  2,  subs.  6.]  Idleness,  a   Cause.  325 

an  idle  body  ?  what  distempers  will  they  not  cause  ?  when 
the  children  of  *  Israel  murmured  against  Pharaoh  in  Egypt, 
he  commanded  his  officers  to  double  their  task,  and  let  them 
get  straw  themselves,  and  yet  make  their  full  number  of 
bricks ;  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,  fear, 
suspicions,!  the  best  means  to  redress  it  is  to  set  them  awork, 
so  to  busy  their  minds ;  for  the  truth  is,  they  are  idle.  "Well 
they  may  build  castles  in  the  air  for  a  time,  and  soothe  up 
themselves  with  fantastical  and  pleasant  humours,  but  in  the 
end  they  will  prove  as  bitter  as  gall,  they  shall  be  still  I  say 
discontent,  suspicious,  *  fearful,  jealous,  sad,  fretting  and  vex 
ing  of  themselves ;  so  long  as  they  be  idle,  it  is  impossible  to 
please  them,  Otio  qui  nescit  uti,  plus  habet  negotii  quam  qui 
negotium  in  negotio,  as  that  a  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  busy  in  the 
midst  of  all  his  business,  Otiosus  animus  nescit  quid  volet : 
An  idle  person  (as  he  follows  it)  knows  not  when  he  is  well, 
what  he  would  have,  or  whither  he  would  go,  Quum  ittuc 
ventum  est  ittinc  lubet,  he  is  tired  out  with  everything,  dis 
pleased  with  all,  weary  of  his  life ;  Nee  bene  domi,  nee  militia. 
neither  at  home  nor  abroad,  errat,  et  prceter  vitam  vivitur, 
he  wanders  and  lives  besides  himself.  In  a  word,  What  the 
mischievous  effects  of  laziness  and  idleness  are,  I  do  not  find 
anywhere  more  accurately  expressed,  than  in  these  verses  of 
Philolaches  in  the  {  Comical  Poet,  which  for  their  elegancy 
I  will  in  part  insert. 

"  Novarum  aedium  esse  arbitror  similem  ego  hominem, 
Quando  hie  natus  est :  Ei  rei  arguments  dicam. 
J£des  qnando  sunt  ad  amussim  expolitse, 
Quisque  laudat  fabrum,  atque  exemplum,  expetit,  &c. 

*  Exod.  T.         t  (For  they  cannot  well  Pigrum  dejicit  timor.    Heantontimora- 

tell  what  aileth  them,  or  whac  they  would  menon.        -  Lib.  19,  e.  10.        t  Plautua, 

hare  themselves)  my  heart,  my  head,  my  Prol.  Mostel. 
husband,  my  son,  &c.          1  Prov.  xviii. 


326  Cawes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  a 

At  ubi  illo  migrat  nequam  homo  indiligensque,  &c. 
Tempestas  venit,  confringit  tegulas,  iinbricesque, 
Putrifacit  aer  operam  fabri,  &c. 
Dicam  ut  homines  similes  esse  medium  arbitremini, 
Fabri  parentes  fundamentum  substruunt  liberorum, 
Expoliunt,  decent  literas,  nee  parcunt  sumptui 
Ego  autem  sub  fabrorum  potestate  frugi  foi, 
Postquam  autem  migravi  in  ingenium  meum, 
Perdidi  operam  fabrorum  illicb,  oppidb, 
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  parents,  tutors,  friends,  spare  no  cost  to  bring  us  up  in 
our  youth,  in  all  manner  of  virtuous  education ;  but  when 
we  are  left  to  ourselves,  idleness  as  a  tempest  drives  all 
virtuous  motions  out  of  our  minds,  et  nihili  sumus,  on  a 
sudden,  by  sloth  and  such  bad  ways,  we  come  to  nought." 
Cousin-german  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  and  symp 
tom  both  ;  but  as  it  is  here  put  for  a  cause  it  is  either  coact, 
enforced,  or  else  voluntarily.  Enforced  solitariness  is  com 
monly  seen  in  students,  monks,  friars,  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  country  gentlemen  do 
in  solitary  houses,  they  must  either  be  alone  without  com 
panions,  or  live  beyond  their  means,  and  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  con- 

1  Piso,  Montaltua,  Mercurialis,  &c 


Mem.  2,  subs.  6.J  Idleness,  a   Cause.  327 

trary  disposition ;  or  else  as  some  do,  to  avoid  solitariness, 
spend  their  time  with  lewd  fellows  in  taverns,  and  in  ale 
houses,  and  thence  addict  themselves  to  some  unlawful  dis 
ports,  or  dissolute  courses.  Divers  again  are  cast  upon  this 
rock  of  solitariness  for  want  of  means,  or  out  of  a  strong 
apprehension  of  some  infirmity,  disgrace,  or  through  bashful- 
ness,  rudeness,  simplicity,  they  cannot  apply  themselves  to 
others'  company.  Nuttum  solum  infelid  gratius  solitudine, 
ubi  nuttus  sit  qui  miseriam  exprobret ;  this  enforced  solitari 
ness  takes  place,  and  produceth  his  effect  soonest  in  such  as 
have  spent  their  time  jovially,  peradventure  in  all  honest 
recreations,  hi  good  company,  in  some  great  family  or  popu 
lous  city,  and  are  upon  a  sudden  confined  to  a  desert  coun 
try  cottage  far  off,  restrained  of  their  liberty,  and  barred  from 
their  ordinary  associates ;  solitariness  is  very  irksome  to 
such,  most  tedious,  and  a  sudden  cause  of  great  incon 
venience. 

Voluntary  solitariness  is  that  which  is  familiar  with  melan 
choly,  and  gently  brings  on  h'ke  a  siren,  a  shoeing-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  days,  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  affect  them  most ;  amabilis  in- 
sania,  et  mentis  gratissimus  error  ;  a  most  incomparable  de 
light  it  is  so  to  melancholize,  and  build  castles  in  the  air,  to 
go  smiling  to  themselves,  acting  an  infinite  variety  of  parts, 
which  they  suppose  and  strongly  imagine  they  represent,  or 
that  they  see  acted  or  done  ;  Blandce  quidem  ab  initio,  saith 
Leumius,  to  conceive  and  meditate  of  such  pleasant  things, 
sometimes,  3 "  present,  past,  or  to  come,"  as  Rhasis  speaks. 
So  delightsome  these  toys  are  at  first,  they  could  spend  whole 
days  and  nights  without  sleep,  even  whole  years  alone  in 

1  A  quibus  n.-ilum.  velut  -i  primarla    cunda  rerum  prsesentium,  preteritarum, 
?ausa,  occasionem  nactum  est         -  Ju-    et  futurarum  meditatdo. 


328  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  a, 

uucli  contemplations,  and  fantastical  meditations,  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  business,  they 
cannot  address  themselves  to  them,  or  almost  to  any  study  or 
employment,  these  fantastical  and  bewitching  thoughts  so 
covertly,  so  feelingly,  so  urgently,  so  continually  set  upon, 
creep  in,  insinuate,  possess,  overcome,  distract,  and  detain 
them,  they  cannot,  I  say,  go  about  their  more  necessary 
business,  stave  off  or  extricate  themselves,  but  are  ever 
musing,  melancholizing,  and  carried  along,  as  he  (they  say) 
that  is  led  round  about  a  heath  with  a  Puck  in  the  night, 
they  run  earnestly  on  in  this  labyrinth  of  anxious  and  solic 
itous  melancholy  meditations,  and  cannot  well  or  willingly 
refrain,  or  easily  leave  off,  winding  and  unwinding  them 
selves,  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,  subrusticits  pudor,  discontent,  cares, 
and  weariness  of  life  surprise  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  persuasions  they  can  avoid,  hceret  lateri  lethalu 
arundo  (the  arrow  of  death  still  remains  in  the  side),  they 
may  not  be  rid  of  it,  l  they  cannot  resist.  I  may  not  deny 
but  that  there  is  some  profitable  meditation,  contemplation, 
and  kind  of  solitariness  to  be  embraced,  which  the  fathers 
so  highly  commended,  2  Hierom,  Chrysostom,  Cyprian,  Aus 
tin,  in  whole  tracts,  which  Petrarch,  Erasmus,  Stella,  and 

1  Facilis  doficensua  Avernl :  Sed   revo-  dinem  Paradisum :   solum  scorpionibui 

ears   graduui,    superasque    evadere    ad  infectum.  sacco  amictus,  humi  cubang 

»uras.  Hie   labor,  hoc  opus   est.     Virg.  aqua  et  herbis  Tictitans,  Romania  pr«r 

*  Hieronimus   ep.   72.    dixit    oppida  et  tulit  deliciis. 
urbe»  rlderi  sibi  tetroe  careeres.  solitu- 


Mem.  2,  tabs.  6.]  Idleness,  a  Cause.  320 

others,  so  much  magnify  in  their  books  ;  a  paradise,  a  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  Simulus  a  courtier  in  Adrian's  time,  Dio- 
clesian  the  emperor,  retired  themselves,  &c.,  in  that  sense, 
Vatia  solus  scit  vivere,  Vatia  lives  alone,  which  the  Romans 
were  wont  to  say,  when  they  commended  a  country  life.  Or 
to  the  bettering  of  their  knowledge,  as  Democritus,  Cleanthus, 
and  those  excellent  philosophers  have  ever  done,  to  sequester 
themselves  from  the  tumultuous  world,  or  as  in  Pliny's  villa 
Laurentana,  Tully's  Tusculan,  Jovius's  study,  that  they  might 
better  vacare  studiis  et  Deo,  serve  God,  and  follow  their 
studies.  Methinks,  therefore,  our  too  zealous  innovators 
were  not  so  well  advised  in  that  general  subversion  of 
abbeys  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 
everlasting  monuments  of  our  forefathers'  devotion,  conse 
crated  to  pious  uses ;  some  monasteries  and  collegiate  cells 
might  have  been  well  spared,  and  their  revenues  otherwise  em 
ployed,  here  and  there  one,  in  good  towns  or  cities  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  desirous,  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  more  conveniency 
good  education,  better  company  sake,  to  follow  their  studies 
(I  say),  to  the  perfection  of  arts  and  sciences,  common  good 
and  as  some  truly  devoted  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  JEsop, 
that  objected  idleness  to  him  ;  he  was  never  so  idle  as  in  his 
company ;  or  that  Scipio  Africanus  in  *  Tully,  Nunquam 
minus  solus,  quam  cum  solus  ;  nunquam  minus  otiosus,  quant 

1  Offic.  8 


830  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  l.  sec.  2. 

quum  esset  otiosus  ;  never  less  solitary,  than  when  he  was 
alone,  never  more  busy,  than  when  he  seemed  to  be  most 
idle.  It  is  reported  by  Plato  in  his  dialogue  de  Amore,  in 
that  prodigious  commendation  of  Socrates,  how  a  deep  medi 
tation  coming  into  Socrates's  mind  by  chance,  he  stood  still 
musing,  eodem  vestigio  cogitobundus,  from  morning  to  noon, 
and  when  as  then  he  had  not  yet  finished  his  meditation, 
perstabat  cogitans,  he  so  continued  till  the  evening,  the  sol 
diers  (for  he  then  followed  the  camp)  observed  him  with 
admiration,  and  on  set  purpose  watched  all  night,  but  he 
persevered  immovable  ad  exortum  solis,  till  the  sun  rose  in 
the  morning,  and  then  saluting  the  sun  went  his  ways.  In 
what  humour  constant  Socrates  did  thus,  I  know  not,  or  how 
he  might  be  affected,  but  this  would  be  pernicious  to  another 
man ;  what  intricate  business  might  so  really  possess  him,  I 
cannot  easily  guess ;  but  this  is  otiosum  otium,  it  is  far  other 
wise  with  these  men,  according  to  Seneca,  Omnia  nobis  mala 
solitudo  persuadet ;  this  solitude  undoeth  us,pugnat  cum.vitd 
sociali  ;  'tis  a  destructive  solitariness.  These  men  are  devils 
alone,  as  the  saying  is,  Homo  solus  aut  Deus,  ant  Dtemon : 
a  man  alone,  is  either  a  saint  or  a  devil,  mens  ejus  aut  lan- 
guescit,  aut  tumescit;  and  *  Vee  soli  in  this  sense,  woe  be  to 
him  that  is  so  alone.  These  wretches  do  frequently  degener 
ate  from  men,  and  of  sociable  creatures  become  beasts,  mon 
sters,  inhumane,  ugly  to  behold,  Misanthropi  ;  they  do  even 
loathe  themselves,  and  hate  the  company  of  men,  as  so  many 
Timons,  Nebuchadnezzars,  by  too  much  indulging  to  these 
pleasing  humours,  and  through  their  own  default.  So  that 
which  Mercurialis,  consil.  11,  sometimes  expostulated  with 
his  melancholy  patient,  may  be  justly  applied  to  every  soli 
tary  and  idle  person  in  particular.  *  Nalura  de  te  videtur 
conqueri  posse,  fyc.  "  Nature  may  justly  complain  of  thee, 
that  whereas  she  gave  thee  a  good  wholesome  temperature,  a 

*  Eccl.  4     l  Natura  de  te  yidetur  con-  tempsisti   modo,   verum   corrupted,    M- 

querl  posse,  quod  cum  ab  ea  temperatU-  dastl,  prodidUti,  optimam  temperaturam 

•iiin  inn  corpus  adeptus  sis,  tarn  prw-  otio,  crapull  it  aliis  vitae  erroribus,  &c. 
olarum  4  Deo  ac  utile  donum,  non  con- 


Mem.  2,  SUDS.  7.j       Sleeping  and  Waking,   Causes.  331 

sound  body,  and  God  hath  given  thee  so  divine  and  excel 
lent  a  soul,  so  many  good  parts,  and  profitable  gifts,  thou 
hast  not  only  contemned  and  rejected,  but  hast  corrupted 
them,  polluted  them,  overthrown  their  temperature,  and  per 
verted  those  gifts  with  riot,  idleness,  solitariness,  and  many 
other  ways,  thou  art  a  traitor  to  God  and  nature,  an  enemy 
to  thyself  and  to  the  world."  Perditio  tua  ex  te  ;  thou  hast 
lost  thyself  wilfully,  cast  away  thyself,  "  thou  thyself  art  the 
efficient  cause  of  thine  own  misery,  by  not  resisting  such  vain 
cogitations,  but  giving  way  unto  them." 

SUBSECT.  VII. — Sleeping  and  Waking,  Causes. 

WHAT  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  extremes,  or  unseasonably  used.  It  is  a 
received  opinion,  that  a  melancholy  man  cannot  sleep  over 
much  ;  Somnus  supra  modum  prodest,  as  an  only  antidote, 
and  nothing  offends  them  more,  or  causeth  this  malady 
sooner,  than  waking,  yet  in  some  cases  sleep  may  do  more 
harm  than  good,  in  that  phlegmatic,  swinish,  cold,  and  slug 
gish  melancholy  which  Melancthon  speaks  of,  that  thinks  of 
waters,  sighing  most  part,  &c.  1  It  dulls  the  spirits,  if  over 
much,  and  senses ;  fills  the  head  full  of  gross  humours ;  caus 
eth  distillations,  rheums,  great  store  of  excrements  in  the 
brain,  and  all  the  other  parts,  as  a  Fuchsius  speaks  of  them, 
that  sleep  like  so  many  dormice.  Or  if  it  be  used  in  the 
daytime,  upon  a  full  stomach,  the  body  ill-composed  to  rest, 
or  after  hard  meats,  it  increaseth  fearful  dreams,  incubus 
night  walking,  crying  out,  and  much  unquietness  ;  such  sleep 
prepares  the  body,  as  8  one  observes,  "  to  many  perilous  dis 
eases."  But  as  I  have  said,  waking  overmuch,  is  both  a 
symptom,  and  an  ordinary  cause.  "  It  causeth  dryness  of  the 
brain,  frenzy,  dotage,  and  makes  the  body  dry,  lean,  hard, 

1  Path.   lib.   cap.   17.   Fernel.   corpus  bro  et  aliis  partibus  conseryat.        *  Jo 

Infrigidat,  omnes  sensus,  mentisque  vires  Ratzius  lib,  de  rebus  6  non  naturaliLus 

torpore  debilitat.          -  Lib.   2,  sect.  2,  Prseparat  corbus   talis  somnus  ad  mul 

sap.  4  Magnam  excrementorum  vini  cere-  tas  periculosas  segritudines. 


832  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  L  sec.  2 

and  ugly  to  behold,"  as  1  Lemnius  hath  it.  "  The  tempera 
ture  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  Galen 
3,  de  sanitate  tuendd,  Avicenna  3,  1.  a  "  It  overthrows  the 
natural  heat,  it  causeth  crudities,  hurts  concoction,"  and  what 
not?  Not  without  good  cause  therefore  Crato  consil.  21,  lib. 
2 ;  Hildesheim,  spicel.  2,  de  Delir.  et  Mania,  Jacchinus, 
Arculanus  on  llhasis,  Guianerius  and  Mercurialis,  reckon  up 
this  overmuch  waking  as  a  principal  cause. 


MEMB.  IIL 

SUBSECT.  I. — Passions  and  Perturbations  of  the  Mind,  how 
they  cause  Melancholy. 

As  that  gymnosophist  in  8  Plutarch  made  answer  to  Alex 
ander  (demanding  which  spake  best),  Every  one  of  his  fel 
lows  did  speak  better  than  other;  so  I  may  say  of  these 
causes ;  to  him  that  shall  require  which  is  the  greatest,  every 
one  is  more  grievous  than  the  other,  and  this  of  passion  the 
greatest  of  all.  A  most  frequent  and  ordinary  cause  of 
melancholy,  *fulmen  perturbationum  (Piccolomineus  calls  it) 
this  thunder  and  lightning  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  hu 
mours,  troubling  the  spirits,  sending  gross  fumes  into  the 
brain,  and  so  per  consequent  disturbing  the  soul,  and  all 
the  faculties  of  it, 

1  Tiintit.  ad  vitam  optimum  cap.  26,  profandos  reddit  oculos,  calorem  auget. 
oerebro  siccitatem  adfert,  phrenesin  et  *  Naturalem  calorem  dissipat,  laeea  con- 
delirium,  corpu  aridum  fecit,  squali-  coctione  eradicates  facit.  Attenuant  ju- 
dum,  strlgosum,  humores  adurit,  teinpe-  yenum  vigilatu-  corpora  nocteg.  *  Vita 
ramentum  cerebri  corrumpit,  maciem  Alexan  *  Grad.  1,  c.  14 
inducit :  exsiccat  corpus,  bilem  accendlt, 


Mwn.  8,  subs.  1.]     Perturbations  of  the  Mind.  333 

*  "  Corpus  onustum, 
Hesternis  vitiis  animum  qnoqne  praegravat  una," 

with  fear,  sorrow,  &c.,  which  are  ordinary  symptoms  of  this 
disease ;  so  on  the  other  side,  the  mind  most  effectually  works 
upon  the  body,  producing  by  his  passions  and  perturbations 
miraculous  alterations,  as  melancholy,  despair,  cruel  diseases, 
and  sometimes  death  itself.  Insomuch  that  it  is  most  true 
which  Plato  saith  in  his  Charmides,  omnia  corporis  mala  all 
animd  procedere ;  all  the  *  mischiefs  of  the  body  proceed 
from  the  soul ;  and  Democritus  in  2  Plutarch  urgeth,  Dam- 
natum  iri  animam  a  corpore,  if  the  body  should  in  this  be 
half  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 
using  it  for  an  instrument,  as  a  smith  does  his  hammer  (saith 
*  Cyprian),  imputing  all  those  vices  and  maladies  to  the 
mind.  Even  so  do  *  Philostratus,  non  coinquinatur  corpus^ 
nisi  consensu  animee ;  the  body  is  not  corrupted,  but  by  the 
soul.  Lodovicus  Vives  will  have  such  turbulent  commotions 
proceed  from  ignorance  and  indiscretion.6  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  Stoics  are  altogether  of  opinion  (as  'Lipsius  and 
7  Piccolomineus  record),  that  a  wise  man  should  be  drratffa, 
without  all  manner  of  passions  and  perturbations  whatsoever, 
as  8  Seneca  reports  of  Cato,  the  9  Greeks  of  Socrates,  and  10  lo. 
Aubanus  of  a  nation  in  Africa,  so  free  from  passion,  or  rather 
so  stupid,  that  if  they  be  wounded  with  a  sword,  they  will 
only  look  back.  11Lactantius  2  instit.  will  exclude  "fear 
from  a  wise  man ; "  others  except  all,  some  the  greatest 
passions.  But  let  them  dispute  how  they  will,  set  down 
in  Thesi,  give  precepts  to  the  contrary;  we  find  that  of 

*Hor.  "  The  body  oppressed  by  yester-  lonij  lib.  1.       *  Lib.  de  anim.  ab  incon- 

day's  vices  weighs  down  the  spirit  also."  siderantia,  et  ignorantia    omnes    animl 

1  Pertnrbationes  clavi  sunt,  quibus  cor-  motus.    •  De  Physiol.  Stoic.         7  Grad. 

pori  animus  seupatibuloaffigitur.  Jamb.  1,  c.  82.          >  Epist.  104.          •  Jflianus. 

de  mist.            -  Lib.  de  sanitat.  tuend.  10  Lib.  1,  cap.  6,  si  quia  ense  percusserit 

'  Prolog,  de  virtu te  Christ! ;  Quae  utitur  eos,  tantum   respiciun t.        H  Terror  in 

sorpore.  ut  faber  malleo.        *  Vita  Apol-  sapiente  esse  non  debet. 


334  Causes  of  Melancholy.  rpart.  I.  sec.  2 

1  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  with  us,  wo 
have  them  from  our  parents  by  inheritance.  A  parentibut 
hdbcmus  malum  hunc  assem,  saith  2  Pelezius,  Nasdtur  und 
nobiscum,  aliturque,  'tis  propagated  from  Adam,  Cain  was 
melancholy,  *  as  Austin  hath  it,  and  who  is  not  ?  Good 
discipline,  education,  philosophy,  divinity  (I  cannot  deny), 
may  mitigate  and  restrain  these  passions  in  some  few  men  at 
some  times,  but  most  part  they  domineer,  and  are  so  violent, 
8  that  as  a  torrent  (torrens  velut  aggere  rupto)  bears  down  all 
before,  and  overflows  his  banks,  sternit  agros,  sternit  sata, 
(lays  waste  the  fields,  prostrates  the  crops,)  they  overwhelm 
reason,  judgment,  and  pervert  the  temperature  of  the  body ; 
Fertur  *  equis  auriga,  nee  audit  currus  habenas.  Now  such 
a  man  (saith  'Austin),  "  that  is  so  led,  in  a  wise  man's  eye, 
is  no  better  than  he  that  stands  upon  his  head."  It  is 
doubted  by  some,  Gravioresne  morbi  a  perturbationibus,  an 
ab  humoribus,  whether  humours  or  perturbations  cause  the 
more  grievous  maladies.  But  we  find  that  of  our  Saviour, 
Mat  xxvi.  41,  most  true,  "  The  spirit  is  willing,  the  flesh  is 
weak,"  we  cannot  resist ;  and  this  of  6  Philo  Judaeus,  "  Per 
turbations  often  offend  the  body,  and  are  most  frequent 
causes  of  melancholy,  turning  it  out  of  the  hinges  of  his 
health."  Vives  compares  them  to  7"  Winds  upon  the  sea, 
some  only  move  as  those  great  gales,  but  others  turbulent 
quite  overturn  the  ship."  Those  which  are  light,  easy,  and 
more  seldom,  to  our  thinking,  do  us  little  harm,  and 
are  therefore  contemned  of  us ;  yet  if  they  be  reiterated, 


1  De  occult,    nat.    mlr.   1.   1.  e.    16.  cal.  passional  maximi  corpus  offemlnnt 

Nemo  mortalinm  qui  affections  non  da-  et    animam,    et    frpquentissimse    causa 

catur :   q  ui  non  movetur,   aut  saxum,  melancholias,  dimoventes  ab  ingenio   et 

ant  ilniiH  «Rt.         *  Instit.   1.  2,  de  hu-  sanitate  pristina.  1  8,  de  anima.      ?  Pra> 

manorum   affect,   morborumque  carat,  na  et  stimuli  animi,  velut  in  marl  quae- 

*  Epiat.  105.       *  Qranatensis.       *  Virg.  dam  aurae  leves,  quaedam  placidne,  qnae- 

'  De  civil.   Del,  1.  14,  c.    9,  qoalis  la  dam   turbulent®:   sic  in  corpora  quae- 

oenlis  hominnm    qui    inversis   pedibus  dam  affectiones  excitant  tantum,  quaedam 

tunbulat.  tails,  in  oculls  sapientum,  cui  ita   movent  ut   de  statu  judicii   depel 

paseiones  dominantur.         •  Lib.  d«  De-  lant. 


Mem.  3,  subs.  1.]       Perturbations  of  the  Mind.  335 

1 "  as  the  rain  (saith  Austin)  doth  a  stone,  so  do  these  pertur 
bations  penetrate  the  mind  ; "  2  and  (as  one  observes)  "  pro 
duce  a  habit  of  melancholy  at  the  last,  which  having  gotten 
the  mastery  in  our  souls,  may  well  be  called  diseases." 

How  these  passions  produce  this  effect,  8  Agrippa  hath 
handled  at  large,  Occult.  Philos.  I.  11,  c.  63,  Cardan,  /.  14. 
subtil.  Lemnius,  1.  1,  c.  12,  de  occult,  not.  mir.  et  lib.  1,  cap. 
16,  Suarez,  Met.  dispitt.  18,  sect.  1,  art.  25,  T.  Bright,  cap. 
12,  of  his  Melancholy  Treatise.  Wright  the  Jesuit  in  hi? 
book  of  the  Passions  of  the  Mind,  &c.  Thus  in  brief,  to  our 
imagination  cometh  by  the  outward  sense  or  memory,  some 
object  to  be  known  (residing  in  the  foremost  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  signify  what  good  or  bad  object 
was  presented ;  *  which  immediately  bends  itself  to  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  imag 
ination  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  itself  ill  or 
well  disposed,  the  passions  are  longer  and  stronger ;  so  that 
the  first  step  and  fountain  of  all  our  grievances  in  this  kind, 
is  *lcesa  imaginatio^  which  misinforming  the  heart,  causeth 
all  these  distemperatures,  alteration,  and  confusion  of  spirits 
and  humours.  By  means  of  which,  so  disturbed,  concoction 
is  hindered,  and  the  principal  parts  are  much  debilitate  I; 
as  '  Dr.  Navarra  well  declared,  being  consulted  by  Montanus 

1  Ut  gutta  lapidem,  sic  paulatim  hee  causeth  dis  temperature  of  the    body." 

penetrant  animnm.          2  Usu   valentes  =  Spiritus  et  sangnis  a  laesa  imagination* 

recte  morbi  animi  Tocantnr.        *  Itnag-  contaminantur,   humores    enim    mutati 

inatio  movet  corpus,   ad  cujus  motum  actioues  animi  immutant,  Piso.      6  Mon- 

excitantur  humores,  et  spiritns  vitales,  tani,  consil.  22.    Has  vero  quomodo  cau- 

quibus  alteratur.          *  Eccles.  xiii.  26.  sent  melancholiam,  clarum ;  et  quod  con 

"The  heart  alters  the  countenance  to  coctionem  impediant,   et  membra  prin 

good  or  eril,  and  distraction  of  the  mind  cipalia  debilitent. 


J 


336  Cawes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  2 

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 
us,  had  we  been  free.  I  may  therefore  conclude  with  1  Ar- 
noldus,  Maxima  vis  est  phantasice,  et  huic  uni  fere,  non  autem 
corporis  intemperiei,  omnis  melancholia  causa  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 
distemperature  of  the  body."  Of  which  imagination,  because 
it  hath  so  great  a  stroke  in  producing  this  malady,  and  is  so 
powerful  of  itself,  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's  opinion,  "  Such  digressions  do  mightily  de 
light  and  refresh  a  weary  reader,  they  are  like  sauce  to  a 
bad  stomach,  and  I  do  therefore  most  willingly  use  them." 

SUBSECT.  H. — Of  the  force  of  Imagination. 

WHAT  imagination  is,  I  have  sufficiently  declared  in  my 
digression  of  the  anatomy  of  the  soul.  I  will  only  now  point 
at  the  wonderful  effects  and  power  of  it ;  which,  as  it  is  emi 
nent  in  all,  so  most  especially  it  rageth  in  melancholy  per 
sons,  in  keeping  the  species  of  objects  so  long,  mistaking, 
amplifying  them  by  continual  and  a  strong  meditation,  until 
at  length  it  produceth  in  some  parties  real  effects,  causeth 
this  and  many  other  maladies.  And  although  this  fantasy 
of  ours  be  a  subordinate  faculty  to  reason,  and  should  be 
ruled  by  it,  yet  in  many  men,  through  inward  or  outward 

»  Hreviar.   1.  1,  cap.  18.         *  Solent  llbenter  eieurro.         *  Ab  imagination? 

tmjusmodl  egresriones  favorabiliter  ob-  orluntur  Wfectiones,  quibus  anima  com 

lectare,  et  lectorem  lassum  jucunde  ref-  ponitur,   aut    turbata    deturbatur,    Jo. 

OTere,  stomachumque  nauseantem,  quo-  Sarisbur.   Matolog.   lib.  4,  c.  10. 
lam  quasi  condimento  reflcere,  et  ego 


Mem.  3,  subs.  2.]      Of  the  Force  of  Imagination.  337 

distemperatures,  defect  of  organs,  which  are  unapt,  or  other 
wise  contaminated,  it  is  likewise  unapt,  or  hindered,  and  hurt. 
This  we  see  verified  in  sleepers,  which  by  reason  of  humours 
and  concourse  of  vapours  troubling  the  fantasy,  imagine  many 
times  absurd  and  prodigious  things,  and  in  such  as  are  troub 
led  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  nothing  offends,  but  a  concourse  of  bad 
humours,  which  trouble  the  fantasy.  This  is  likewise  evi 
dent  in  such  as  walk  in  the  night  in  their  sleep,  and  do 
strange  feats ;  1  these  vapours  move  the  fantasy,  the  fantasy 
the  appetite,  which  moving  the  animal  spirits  causeth  the 
body  to  walk  up  and  down  as  if  they  were  awake.  Fracast. 
I.  3,  de  intellect,  refers  all  ecstasies  to  this  force  of  imagina 
tion  such  as  lie  whole  days  together  in  a  trance ;  as  that 
priest  whom  2Celsus  speaks  of,  that  could  separate  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  heaven  and 
hell,  what  visions  they  have  seen  ;  as  that  St.  Owen,  in  Mat 
thew  Paris,  that  went  into  St.  Patrick's  purgatory,  and  the 
monk  of  Evesham  in  the  same  author.  Those  common  ap 
paritions  in  Bede  and  Gregory,  Saint  Bridget's  revelations, 
Wier.  1.  3,  de  lamiis,  c.  11.  Caesar  Vanninus,  in  his  Dia 
logues,  &c.,  reduceth  (as  I  have  formerly  said),  with  all  those 
tales  of  witches'  progresses,  dancing,  riding,  transformations, 
operations,  &c.,  to  the  force  of  8  imagination,  and  the  4  devil's 
illusions.  The  like  effects  almost  are  to  be  seen  in  such  as 
are  awake  ;  how  many  chimeras,  antics,  golden  mountains 
and  castles  in  the  air  do  they  build  unto  themselves?  I 

i  Scalig.  exercit.        2  QuS  quoties  vole-  phantasiam  regit,  ducitque  ad  loca  ab 

bat,  mortuo  similis  jacebat  auferens  se  a  ipsis  desiderata,  corpora  vero  earuin  sine 

eensibus.  et  quum   pungeretur  dolorem  sensu   permanent,  quse  umbra  cooperit 

oon  sensit.       3  Idem  Nymannus  orat.  de  diabolus,  ut  nuUi  sint  conspicua,  et  post, 

IiiKiu'iiiiit.           4  Verbis  et  unctionibus  se  umbra  sublata,  propriis  corporibus  eM 

consecrant   daemon!    pessimae    mulieres,  restituit.  1.  3,  c.  11,  Wier 
qui  iis  ad  opus  suum  utitur,  et  eurum 

VOL.  I.  22 


838  Catises  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  3. 

Appeal  to  painters,  mechanicians,  mathematicians.  Some 
ascribe  all  vices  to  a  false  and  corrupt  imagination,  anger 
revenge,  lust,  ambition,  covetousness,  which  prefers  falsehood 
before  that  which  is  right  and  good,  deluding  the  soul  with 
false  shows  and  suppositions.  l  Bernardus  Penottus  will 
have  heresy  and  superstition  to  proceed  from  this  fountain  ; 
as  he  falsely  imagineth,  so  he  believeth  ;  and  as  he  conceiv- 
eth  of  it,  so  it  must  be,  and  it  shall  be,  contra  gentes,  he  will 
have  it  so.  But  most  especially  in  passions  and  affections,  it 
shows  strange  and  evident  effects ;  what  will  not  a  fearful 
man  conceive  in  the  dark?  What  strange  forms  of  bug 
bears,  devils,  witches,  goblins  ?  Lavater  imputes  the  greatest 
cause  of  spectrums,  and  the  like  apparitions,  to  fear,  which 
above  all  other  passions  begets  the  strongest  imagination 
(saith  2Wierus),  and  so  likewise,  love,  sorrow,  joy,  &c. 
Some  die  suddenly,  as  she  that  saw  her  eon  come  from  the 
battle  at  Cannae,  &c.  Jacob  the  patriarch,  by  force  of  imagi 
nation,  made  speckled  lambs,  laying  speckled  rods  before  his 
sheep.  Persina  that  ./Ethiopian  queen  in  Heliodorus,  by 
seeing  the  picture  of  Perseus  and  Andromeda,  instead  of  a 
blackamoor,  was  brought  to  bed  of  a  fair  white  child.  In 
imitation  of  whom  belike,  a  hard-favoured  fellow  in  Greece, 
because  he  and  his  wife  were  both  deformed,  to  get  a  good 
brood  of  children,  Elegantissimas  imagines  in  thalamo  cotto- 
cavit,  Sfc.,  hung  the  fairest  pictures  he  could  buy  for  money 
in  his  chamber,  "  That  his  wife  by  frequent  sight  of  them, 
might  conceive  and  bear  such  children."  And  if  we  may  be 
lieve  Bale,  one  of  Pope  Nicholas  the  Third's  concubines  by 
seeing  of  8  a  bear  was  brought  to  bed  of  a  monster.  "  If  a 
woman  (saith  4  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,  mon- 

1  Denario  medico.       -  Solet  timor,  pro  cap.  4,  de  occult,  nat.  mir.  si  inter  am- 

omnibug  affectibus,  fortes  imaginationes  plexus  et  suavia  cogitet  de  vino,  aut  all* 

gignere,    post,    amor,    &c.    1.    8,    c.   8.  abannte,  ejus  efflgiea  solet  in  foetu  eluc«M 
1  El  Yiso  urso,  fovlem  peperit.        t  Lib.  1. 


Mem.  3,  subs.  2.]       Of  the  Jf'orce  of  Imagination.  339 

sters,  especially  caused  in  their  children  by  force  of  a  de 
praved  fantasy  in  them :  Ipsam  speciem  quam  animo  effigiat, 
fcetui  inducit :  She  imprints  that  stamp  upon  her  child  which 
she  *  conceives  unto  herself.  And  therefore  Lodovicus  Vives, 
lib,  2,  de  Christ,  fcem.  gives  a  special  caution  to  great-bellied 
women,  2  "  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  palsy  when  he  list ;  and 
some  can  imitate  the  tunes  of  birds  and  beasts  that  they  can 
hardly  be  discerned ;  Dagebertus's  and  Saint  Francis's  scars 
and  wounds,  like  those  of  Christ's  (if  at  the  least  any  such 
were),  8Agrippa  supposeth  to  have  happened  by  force  of  imagi 
nation  ;  that  some  are  turned  to  wolves,  from  men  to  women, 
and  women  again  to  men  (which  is  constantly  believed)  to 
the  same  imagination ;  or  from  men  to  asses,  dogs,  or  any 
other  shapes.  *  Wierus  ascribes  all  those  famous  transforma 
tions  to  imagination ;  that  in  hydrophobia  they  seem  to  see 
the  picture  of  a  dog,  still  in  their  water,  6that  melancholy 
men  and  sick  men  conceive  so  many  fantastical  visions,  ap 
paritions  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  showed  more  at  large,  in  our  *  sections  of 
symptoms),  can  be  imputed  to  nought  else,  but  to  a  corrupt, 
false,  and  violent  imagination.  It  works  not  in  sick  and 
melancholy  men  only,  but  even  most  forcibly  sometimes  in 
such  as  are  sound ;  it  makes  them  suddenly  sick,  and  6  alters 

1  Quid  non  fretui  adhuc  matri  unito,  gestent,  admittant  absurdaa  cogitationes, 

iubit3  spirituum  vibratione  per  nervos,  Bed  et  visu,  audituque  foeda  et  horreuda 

quibus  matrix  cerebro  conjuncta  est,  im-  devitent         3  Occult.  Philos.  lib.  1,  cap 

primit    impregnate    imaginatio  ?    ut   si  64.  *  Lib.  3,   de  Lamiis,  cap.   10 

Imagineturmalumgranatum,  illiusnotus  6  Agrippa,  lib.  1,  cap.  64.  *  Sect.  3, 

securn  proferet  foetus  :  Si  leporem,  infans  memb.  1,  subsect.  3-      6  Malleus  malefic, 

editur  supremo  labeUo  bifido,  et  dissecto :  fol.  77,  corpus  mutari  potest  in  diverse! 

Vehemens  cogitatio  movet  rerum  species,  segritudines,  ex  forti  apprehension* 
Vfier.  lib.  3,  cap,  8  »  Ne  dum  uterum 


340  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  1 

their  temperature  in  an  instant.  And  sometimes  a  strong 
conceit  or  apprehension,  as  l  Valesius  proves,  will  take  awaj 
diseases  ;  in  both  kinds  it  will  produce  real  effects.  Men,  if 
they  see  but  another  man  tremble,  giddy  or  sick  of  some  fear 
ful  disease,  their  apprehension  and  fear  is  so  strong  in  this 
kind,  that  they  will  have  the  same  disease.  Or  if  by  some 
soothsayer,  wiseman,  fortune-teller,  or  physician,  they  be  told 
they  shall  have  such  a  disease,  they  will  so  seriously  appre 
hend  it,  that  they  will  instantly  labour  of  it.  A  thing  familiar 
in  China  (saith  Riccius  the  Jesuit),  2  "  If  it  be  told  them  they 
shall  be  sick  on  such  a  day,  when  that  day  comes  they  will 
surely  be  sick,  and  will  be  so  terribly  afflicted,  that  sometimes 
they  die  upon  it."  Dr.  Cotta  in  his  discovery  of  ignorant 
practitioners  of  physic,  cap.  8,  hath  two  strange  stories  to  this 
purpose,  what  fancy  is  able  to  do.  The  one  of  a  parson's 
wife  in  Northamptonshire,  An.  1607,  that  coming  to  a  physi 
cian,  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  fan 
tasy.  I  have  heard  of  one  that  coming  by  chance  in  com 
pany  of  him  that  was  thought  to  be  sick  of  the  plague  (which 
was  not  so)  fell  down  suddenly  dead.  Another  was  sick  of 
the  plague  with  conceit  One  seeing  his  fellow  let  blood  falls 
down  in  a  swoon.  Another  (saith  8  Cardan  out  of  Aristotle), 
fell  down  dead  (which  is  familiar  to  women  at  any  ghastly 
sight),  seeing  but  a  man  hanged.  A  Jew  in  France  (saith 
4  Lodovicus  Vives),  came  by  chance  over  a  dangerous  pas 
sage  or  plank,  that  lay  over  a  brook  in  the  dark,  without 

1  FT.  Vales.  1.  6,  cont.  6,  nonnunquam  tali  die  eos  morbo  corriplendos,  II,  nW 

Attain     morbl    diuturni    consequuntur,  dies  advenerit,  iu  morbum  incidunt,  et 

quandoque  curantur.          2  Expedit.   in  vi  metils  afflicti,   cum   spgritudine.  all 

81nM,  1   1,  c.  9,  tantuni  porro  multi  prse-  quando  etiam  cum  morte  colluctantur 

•Uctoribus  hisce  tribuunt  ut  ipse  metus  •<  Subtil.  18.  4  Lib.  3,  de  anima,  cap 

flieui  faciat :  nam  si  prsedi-tum  us  fuerit  de  mel. 


Mem.  3,  subs.  2.]       Of  the  Force  of  Imagination.  341 

harm,  the  next  day  perceiving  what  danger  he  was  in,  fell 
down  dead.  Many  will  not  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  would  be  giddy,  upon  which  they  dare  securely 
walk  upon  the  ground.  Many  (saith  Agrippa),  2  "  strong- 
hearted  men  otherwise,  tremble  at  such  sights,  dazzle,  and 
are  sick,  if  they  look  but  down  from  a  high  place,  and  what 
moves  them  but  conceit  ?  "  As  some  are  so  molested  by  fan 
tasy  ;  so  some  again,  by  fancy  alone,  and  a  good  conceit,  are 
as  easily  recovered.  We  see  commonly  the  toothache,  gout, 
falling-sickness,  biting  of  a  mad  dog,  and  many  such  mala 
dies,  cured  by  spells,  words,  characters,  and  charms,  and 
many  green  wounds  by  that  now  so  much  used  Unguentum 
Armaritim,  magnetically  cured,  which  Crollius  and  Goclenius 
in  a  book  of  late  hath  defended,  Libavius  in  a  just  tract  as 
stiffly  contradicts,  and  most  men  controvert.  All  the  world 
knows  there  is  no  virtue  in  such  charms  or  cures,  but  a  strong 
conceit  and  opinion  alone,  as  8  Pomponatius  holds,  "  which 
forceth  a  motion  of  the  humours,  spirits,  and  blood,  which 
takes  away  the  cause  of  the  malady  from  the  parts  affected." 
The  like  we  may  say  of  our  magical  effects,  superstitious 
cures,  and  such  as  are  done  by  mountebanks  and  wizards. 
"  As  by  wicked  incredulity  many  men  are  hurt  (so  saith 
*  Wierus  of  charms,  spells,  &c.),  we  find  in  our  experience, 
by  the  same  means  many  are  relieved."  An  empiric  often 
times,  and  a  silly  chirurgeon,  doth  more  strange  cures  than  a 
rational  physician.  Nymannus  gives  a  reason,  because  the 
patient  puts  his  confidence  in  him,  4  which  Avicenna  "  pre 
fers  before  art,  precepts,  and  all  remedies  whatsoever."  Tis 

1  Lib.  de  Peste.  2  Lib.  1,  cap.  68.  sangnis,  ac  tmi  morbifieas  causas  parti- 
Ex  alto  despicientes  aliqui  pro  timore  bug  affectis  eripit.  *  Lib.  3,  c.  18,  de 
contremiscunt,  caligant,  infirmantur;  praestig.  TJt  impia  credulitate  quis  laedl- 
ric  singultus,  febres,  morbi  comitiales  tur,  sic  et  levari  eundem  credibile  eet, 
qnandoque  sequuntur,  quandoque  rece-  usuque  observatum  <  JEgri  persuasio 
duTit.  3  Lib.  de  Incantatione.  Im-  et  fiducia.  omni  arti  et  consilio  et  medl- 
aginatio  gubitum  humorum  et  spirituum  cinse  praeferenda.  Avicen. 
motum  infert,  unde  vario  affectu  rapitur 


342  Catises  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  we.  i 

opinion  alone  (saith  *  Cardan),  that  makes  or  mars  physicians, 
and  he  doth  the  best  cures,  according  to  Hippocrates,  in  whom 
most  trust  So  diversely  doth  this  fantasy  of  ours  affect, 
turn,  and  wind,  so  imperiously  command  our  bodies,  which  as 
another  2  "  Proteus,  or  a  chameleon,  can  take  all  shapes ;  and 
is  of  such  force  (as  Ficinus  adds),  that  it  can  work  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  8  make  another  yawn  ?  One  man's  piss 
ing,  provoke  a  second  many  times  to  do  the  like?  Why  doth 
scraping  of  trenchers  offend  a  third,  or  hacking  of  files? 
Why  doth  a  carcass  bleed  when  the  murderer  is  brought  be- 
fors  it,  some  weeks  after  the  murder  hath  been  done  ?  Why 
do  witches  and  old  women  fascinate  and  bewitch  children : 
but  as  Wierus,  Paracelsus,  Cardan,  Mizaldus,  Valleriola, 
Caesar  Vanninus,  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  only  diseases,  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  I  may  certainly  conclude 
this  strong  conceit  or  imagination  is  astrum  honinis,  and  the 
rudder  of  this  our  ship,  which  reason  should  steer,  but  over 
borne  by  fantasy  cannot  manage,  and  so  suffers  itself  and  this 
whole  vessel  of  ours  to  be  overruled,  and  often  overturned. 
Read  more  of  this  in  Wierus,  /.  3,  de  Lamiis,  c.  8,  9,  10. 
Franciscus,  Valesius  med.  controv.  I.  5,  cont.  6.  Marcellus 
Donatus,  1.  2,  c.  1,  de  hist.  med.  mirdbil.  Levinus  Lemnius,  de 
occult,  not.  mir.  I.  1,  c.  12.  Cardan,  I.  18,  de  rerum  var. 
Corn.  Agrippa,  de  occult,  philos.  cap.  64,  65.  Camerarius, 
1  cent.  cap.  54,  horarum  subcis.  Nymannus,  morat.  de  Imag. 

1  Plures  ganat  In  quern   plures  confl-  Chamasleon,  corpus  proprlnm  et  alienum 

dunt.  lib.  de  sapientia.             *  MivrclHus  nonnunquam  afflclens.     *  Cor  oacitantef 

netting,  1. 18,  e.  18,  de  theolog.  Platonicft.  oscitent,  Wierus. 
fmaginatio    eat   tanquam    Proteus    Tel 


Mem.  a,  subs.  3.]       Division  of  Perturbations.  343 

Laurentius,  and  him  that  is  instar  omnium,  Fienus,  a  famous 
physician  of  Antwerp  that  wrote  three  books  de  viribus  imagi 
nationis.  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 
fantasy  is  more  or  less  intended  or  remitted,  and  their  hu 
mours  disposed,  so  do  perturbations  move,  more  or  less,  and 
take  deeper  impression. 

/• 

SUBSECT.  III. — Division  of  Perturbations. 

PERTURBATIONS  and  passions,  which  trouble  the  fantasy, 
though  they  dwell  between  the  confines  of  sense  and  reason, 
yet  they  rather  follow  sense  than  reason,  because  they  are 
drowned  in  corporeal  organs  of  sense.  They  are  commonly 
1  reduced  into  two  inclinations,  irascible  and  concupiscible. 
The  Thomists  subdivide  them  into  eleven,  six  in  the  covet 
ing,  and  five  in  the  invading.  Aristotle  reduceth  all  to 
pleasure  and  pain,  Plato  to  love  and  hatred,  2  Vives  to  good 
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  8  Bernard  compares  "  to  the 
wheels  of  a  chariot,  by  which  we  are  carried  in  this  world." 
All  other  passions  are  subordinate  unto  these  four,  or  six,  as 
some  will :  love,  joy,  desire,  hatred,  sorrow,  fear  ;  the  rest,  as 
anger,  envy,  emulation,  pride,  jealousy,  anxiety,  mercy,  shame, 
discontent,  despair,  ambition,  avarice,  &c.,  are  reducible  unto 
the  first ;  and  if  they  be  immoderate,  they  4  consume  the 
spirits,  and  melancholy  is  especially  caused  by  them.  Some 
few  discreet  men  there  are,  that  can  govern  themselves,  and 
curb  in  these  inordinate  affections,  by  religion,  philosophy, 
and  such  divine  precepts,  of  meekness,  patience,  and  the 
like  ;  but  most  part  for  want  of  government,  out  of  indiscre 
tion,  ignorance,  they  suffer  themselves  wholly  to  be  led  by 

1  T.  W.  Jesuit.  *  3,   de  Anhna.    hoc  nmndo.       *  Harum  quippe  fan  mode 

*  Ser.  35.     Hse  quatuor  passiones  aunt    ratione,   spirit  us    marcescunt.      Fernet 
tanquain  rotse  in  curru,  quibus  rehimur    1.  1.  Path.  o.  18. 


344  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  i.  sec.  a. 

sense,  and  are  so  far  from  repressing  rebellious  inclinations, 
that  they  give  all  encouragement  unto  them,  leaving  the 
reins,  and  using  all  provocations  to  further  them  ;  bad  by  na 
ture,  worse  by  art,  discipline,  *  custom,  education,  and  a  per 
verse  will  of  their  own,  they  follow  on,  wheresoever  their 
unbridled  affections  will  transport  them,  and  do  more  out  of 
custom,  self-will,  than  out  of  reason.  Contumax  voluntas 
as  Melancthon  calls  it,  malvm  fadt :  this  stubborn  will  of 
ours  perverts  judgment,  which  sees  and  knows  what  should 
and  ought  to  be  done,  and  yet  will  not  do  it.  Mancipia 
gulce,  slaves  to  their  several  lusts  and  appetite,  they  precipi 
tate  and  plunge  2  themselves  into  a  labyrinth  of  cares  blinded 
with  lust,  blinded  with  ambition  ;  8  "  They  seek  that  at  God's 
hands  which  they  may  give  unto  themselves,  if  they  could 
but  refrain  from  those  cares  and  perturbations,  wherewith 
they  continually  macerate  their  minds."  But  giving  way  to 
these  violent  passions  of  fear,  grief,  shame,  revenge,  hatred, 
malice,  &c.,  they  are  torn  in  pieces,  as  Actason  was  with  his 
dogs,  and  *  crucify  their  own  souls. 

SUBSECT.  IV. — Sorrow,  a  Cause  of  Melancholy. 

Sorrow.  Insanus  dolor."]  In  this  catalogue  of  passions, 
which  so  much  torment  the  soul  of  man,  and  cause  this 
malady  (for  I  will  briefly  speak  of  them  all,  and  in  their 
order),  the  first  place  in  this  irascible  appetite,  may  justly  be 
challenged  by  sorrow.  An  inseparable  companion,  6  "  The 
mother  and  daughter  of  melancholy,  her  epitome,  symptom, 
and  chief  cause ; "  as  Hippocrates  hath  it,  they  beget  one 
another,  and  tread  in  a  ring,  for  sorrow  is  both  cause  and 

1  Mal&  eonsnetudine  depraratur  inge-  turhationibus,  quibus  assidue  86  mace- 

Limn  ne  bene  faciat.    Prosper  Calenus,  rant,  imperare  vellent.        *  Tanto  studU 

.  de  atrt  bile.     Plant  feciunt  homines  6  miseriarum  causag,  et  alimenta  dolorum 

consuetudine,  quam  e  ratione.   A  tcneris  quserimus,  vitamque  secus  felicissimam, 

Hssut-jTcre  multum  est.     Video  meliora  tristem  et  miserabilem   efflcimus.      Pe- 

proboque,  deteriora  sequor.  Ovid.     •  Ne-  trarch.  prsefat.  de  Itemediis,  &c.        *  Ti- 

mo  leeditur  r.isi  i  seipso.        3  Multi  se  in  mor  et  ina-sti tin .  si  din  perseTerent,  causa 

inquietudlnem     praecipitant    ambitione  et  soboles  atri  humoris  sunt,  et  in  circu 

etcupiditatibusexcaecati,  non  intelligunt  lum  se  procreant.     Hip.  Aphoris.  28, 1.  6 

se  illud  i  diis  petere,  quod  aibi  ipsig  si  Idem  Montaltus,  cap.  19.    Victorius  Far 

velint  praestare  possin',  ri  curls  et  per-  entinus  pract.  iinag. 


Mem.  3,  suos.  4.]  Sorrow,  a   Cause.  345 

symptom  of  this  disease.  How  it  is  a  symptom  shall  be 
shown  in  its  place.  That  it  is  a  cause  all  the  world  acknowl- 
edgeth,  Dolor  nonnuHus  insanice  causa  fuit,  et  aliorum  mor- 
borum  insandbilium,  saith  Plutarch  to  Apollonius ;  a  cause 
of  madness,  a  cause  of  many  other  diseases,  a  sole  cause  of 
this  mischief,  1  Lemnius  calls  it.  So  doth  Rhasis,  cont.  L  1, 
tract.  9.  Guianerius,  Tract.  15,  c.  5.  And  if  it  take  root 
once,  it  ends  in  despair,  as  2  Felix  Plater  observes,  and  as  in 
8  Cebes's  table  may  well  be  coupled  with  it.  4  Chrysostom 
in  his  seventeenth  epistle  to  Olympia,  describes  it  to  be  a 
cruel  torture  of  the  soul,  a  most  inexplicable  grief,  poisoned 
worm,  consuming  body  and  soul,  and  gnawing  the  very  heart, 
a  perpetual  executioner,  continual  night,  profound  darkness,  a 
whirlwind,  a  tempest,  an  ague  not  appearing,  heating  worse 
than  any  fire,  and  a  battle  that  hath  no  end.  It  crucifies 
worse  than  any  tyrant ;  no  torture,  no  strappado,  no  bodily 
punishment  is  like  unto  it.  'Tis  the  eagle  without  question 
which  the  poets  feigned  to  gnaw  8  Prometheus  heart,  and  "  no 
heaviness  is  like  unto  the  heaviness  of  the  heart,"  Eccles. 
xxv.  15,  16.  '"Every  perturbation  is  a  misery,  but 
grief  a  cruel  torment,"  a  domineering  passion ;  as  in  old 
Rome,  when  the  Dictator  was  created,  all  inferior  magistra 
cies  ceased ;  when  grief  appears,  all  other  passions  vanish. 
"  It  dries  up  the  bones,"  saith  Solomon,  ch.  17,  Prov., 
"makes  them  hollow-eyed,  pale,  and  lean,  furrow-faced,  to 
have  dead  looks,  wrinkled  brows,  shrivelled  cheeks,  dry  bod 
ies,  and  quite  perverts  their  temperature  that  are  misaffected 
with  it.  As  Eleonora,  that  exiled  mournful  duchess  (in  our 
7  English  Ovid),  laments  to  her  noble  husband  Humphrey, 
duke  of  Glocester, 

1  Haiti  ex  moerore  et  me tu  hue  delapsi  consumens,  jugis  nox,  et  tenebrae  profun- 

aunt.    Lemn.  lib.  1,  cap.  16.        -  MuM  dae,  tempestas  et  turbo  et  febris  non  ap- 

curft  et  tristitia  faciunt  accedere  melan-  parens,  omni  igne   validius  incendena ; 

choliam  (cap.  3,  de  mentis  alien.)  si  altas  longior,  et  pugna?  flnem  non  habens 

radices  agat,  in  veram  fixamque  degene-  crucem  circumfert  dolor,  facu-mque  omni 

rat  melancholiam  et  in   desperationem  tyranno  crudeliorem  prae  se  fert.      6  Nat. 

tosinit.        3  Die  Inctus,  ejus  yero  soror  Comes  Mythol.  1.  4,  c.  6.        «  Tully  8, 

desperatio  slmul  ponitur.       *  Animarnm  Tnsc.  omnis  perturbatio  miseria  et  car- 

crudele  tormentum,  dolor  inexplicabilis,  nificiua  eat  dolor.        "  M.  Dravton  in  nil 

tinea,  non  solum  ossa  sed  corda  pertin-  Her.  ep. 
i?cns,  perpetuus  carnifez,  Tires    anima> 


346  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  1 

*  Sawest  thou  those  eyes  in  whose  sweet  c  heerful  look 
Duke  Humphry  once  such  joy  and  pleasure  took, 
Sorrow  hath  so  despoil'd  me  of  all  grace, 
Thou  could'st  not  say  this  was  my  Elnor's  face. 
Like  a  foul  Gorgon,"  &c. 

1 "  it  hinders  concoction,  refrigerates  the  heart,  takes  away 
stomach,  colour,  and  sleep,  thickens  the  blood  (2  Ferneliu.s 
/.  1,  cap.  18,  de  morb.  causis),  contaminates  the  spirits." 
(*  Piso.)  Overthrows  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,  Psalm  xxxviii.  8,  "  I  have  roared 
for  the  very  disquietness  of  my  heart."  And  Psalm  cxix. 
4  part,  4  v.  "  My  soul  melteth  away  for  very  heaviness," 
v.  83,  "  I  am  like  a  bottle  in  the  smoke."  Antiochus  com 
plained  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  xiv.  "  His  soul  was  heavy  to 
the  death,  and  no  sorrow  was  like  unto  his."  Crato  consil. 
21,  L  2,  gives  instance  in  one  that  was  so  melancholy  by  rea 
son  of  'grief;  and  Montanus  consil.  30,  in  a  noble  matron, 
* "  that  had  no  other  cause  of  this  mischief."  I.  S.  D.  in 
Hildesheim,  fully  cured  a  patient  of  his  that  was  much 
troubled  with  melancholy,  and  for  many  years,  T  "  but  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,  8  desperation,  and  sometimes  death 
itself;  for  (Eccles.  xxxviii.  15),  "Of  heaviness  comes  death; 
worldly  sorrow  causeth  death."  2  Cor.  vii.  10,  Psalm  xxxi. 
10.  "  My  life  is  wasted  with  heaviness,  and  my  years  with 
mourning."  Why  was  Hecuba  said  to  be  turned  to  a  dog  ? 
Niobe  into  a  stone  ?  but  that  for  grief  she  was  senseless  and 

1  Crato  connil.  21,  lib.  2,  moestitia  uni-  vi.  16,  11.  6  Moerore  maceror,  mar- 

Tersum  infrigidat    corpus,   calorem  ID-  cesco  et  consenesco    miser,   ossa  atqu« 

natum    extioguit,    appetitum    destruit.  pellis  sum  miaera  macritudine.     Plant. 

*  Cor   refrigerat    tristitin.     spiritus    ex-  6  Malum  inceptum  et  actum  a  tristitin 

siccat,     innatumque     calorem     ohruit.  sola.  *  Hildesheim.  spicel.  2.  de  mel 

vigilian  inducit,  concoctionem  labefactat,  ancholia,  moerore  animi  postea  accedente, 

•amguinem  incrassat,  exaggeratque  mel-  in  priora  symptomata  incidlt.         *  ViTM 

ancholicum  sucoum.       *  Spiritus  et  san-  8,  de  anima,  c.   de   moerore,    Sabin.   in 

(uta  hoc  coutainiuatur.    Piso.        *  Marc,  Grid. 


Mem.  8,  subs.  5.]  Fear,  a   Cause.  #47 

stupid.  Severus,  the  Emperor,  *died  for  grief;  and  how 
*  many  myriads  besides  ?  Tanta  itti  est  feritas,  tanta  est 
insania  luctus*  Melancthon  gives  a  reason  of  it,  4"the 
gathering  of  much  melancholy  hlood  about  the  heart,  which 
collection  extinguisheth  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  convulsions,  which  happen  to 
them  that  are  troubled  with  sorrow." 

SUBSECT.  V. — Fear,  a  Cause. 

COTJSIN-GEKMAN  to  sorrow  is  fear,  or  rather  a  sister,  Jldus 
Achates,  and  continual  companion,  an  assistant  and  a  prin 
cipal  agent  in  procuring  of  this  mischief ;  a  cause  and  symp 
tom  as  the  other.  In  a  word,  as  6  Virgil  of  the  Harpies, 
I  may  justly  say  of  them  both, 

"  Tristius  hand  illis  monstrum,  nee  ssevior  ulla 
Pesti8  et  ira  Deum  stygiis  sese  extulit  nndis." 

"  A  sadder  monster,  or  more  cruel  plague  so  fell, 
Or  vengeance  of  the  gods,  ne'er  came  from  Styx  or  Hell." 

This  foul  fiend  of  fear  was  worshipped  heretofore  as  a  god 
by  the  Lacedaemonians,  and  most  of  those  other  torturing 
'affections,  and  so  was  sorrow  amongst  the  rest,  under  the 
name  of  Angerona  Dea,  they  stood  in  such  awe  of  them,  as 
Austin  de  Civitat.  Dei,  lib.  4,  cap.  S,  noteth  out  of  Varro,  fear 
was  commonly  7  adored  and  painted  in  their  temples  with  a 
lion's  head;  and  as  Macrobius  records,  I.  10,  Saturnalium; 
8  "  hi  the  calends  of  January,  Angerona  had  her  holy  day,  to 

1  Herodian.  1,  3,  man-ore  magis  quam  accidit  Us  qui  dititurna  cura  et  moestttia 

morbo  consumptuft  est.        2  Bothwellius  conflictantur.     Melancthon.        6  Lib,  8, 

atribilarius    obiit.    Brixarrns    Genuensis  Ma.  4.  •  Et  metum  ideo  deam  sa- 

hist.  &c  3  So  great  is  the  fierceness  cr&rnnt  ut  bonam  nientem  concederet. 

and  madness  of  melancholy.         *  Moes-  Varro,  Lactantius,   Aug.  t  Lilius 

titia  cor  quasi  percussum  constringitur,  Girald.   Syntag.  1,  de  diis  miscellaniis. 

(remit  et  languescit  cum  acti  sensu  do-  8  Oalendis  Jan.  feriae  aunt    divae   Ange- 

loris.    In  tristitia  cor  fugiens  attrahit  ex  ronae,  cui  pontifices  in  sacello  Volupiae 

Bplene  lentum  humorein  melancholicum,  sacra  faciunt,  quod  angorcs  et  animi  sol 

%ui  effusus  sub  costis  in  sinistro  latere  licitudines  propitiata  propellat. 
hypochondriacos  flatus  facit,  quod  ssepe 


348  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  2 

whom  in  the  temple  of  Volupia,  or  goddess  of  pleasure,  their 
augurs  and  bishops  did  yearly  sacrifice ;  that,  being  propitious 
to  them,  she  might  expel  all  cares,  anguish,  and  vexation  of 
the  mind  for  that  year  following."  Many  lamentable  effects 
this  fear  causeth  in  men,  as  to  be  red,  pale,  tremble,  sweat, 
1  it  makes  sudden  cold  and  heat  to  come  over  all  the  body, 
palpitation  of  the  heart,  syncope,  &c.  It  amazeth  many  men 
that  are  to  speak,  or  show  themselves  in  public  assemblies,  or 
before  some  great  personages,  as  Tully  confessed  of  himself, 
that  he  trembled  still  at  the  beginning  of  his  speech ;  and 
Demosthenes,  that  great  orator  of  Greece,  before  Philippus. 
It  confounds  voice  and  memory,  as  Lucian  wittingly  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  Mercury's 
help  in  prompting.  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  worse,  it  tortures  them 
many  days  before  with  continual  affrights  and  suspicion.  It 
hinders  most  honourable  attempts,  and  makes  their  hearts 
ache,  sad  and  heavy.  They  that  live  in  fear  are  never  free, 
*  resolute,  secure,  never  merry,  but  in  continual  pain  ;  that, 
as  Vives  truly  said,  NuUa  est  miseria  major  quam  metus,  no 
greater  misery,  no  rack,  nor  torture  like  unto  it,  ever  sus 
picious,  anxious,  solicitous,  they  are  childishly  drooping  with 
out  reason,  without  judgment,  *  "  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  6  digression  of  the  force  of  imag 
ination,  and  shall  do  more  at  large  in  my  section  of  '  terrors. 
Fear  makes  our  imagination  conceive  what  it  list,  invites  the 


1  Timor  inducit  frigus,  cordis  palpita-  moriam  consternat,   sed  et    Institutnm 

ttonem,  vocig  defectum  atque  pallorem.  nnimi  omne  et  laudabilem  conatum  im- 

Agrippa,  lib.  1,  cap.  68.    Timldi  semper  pedlt.    Thucydides.  *  Lib.  de  ford- 

•plritus  habent  frlgidos.  Mont.        *  EfTu-  Incline  et  virtute  Alexandri,  ubi   prop* 

8M  cernens  fugientes    agmine   turmas;  res  adfuit  terribilis.      *  Sect.  2,  Memb.  ft 

quli  mea  nunc  Inflat    cornua   Faunus  Subs.  2.        *  Sect.  2,  Memb  4,  Sub*.  8. 
alt?     Alclat.          *  Metus  non  solum  me- 


Mem.  3,  subs.  6.]  Shame  and  Disgrace,  Causes.  34S 

devil  to  come  to  us,  as  JAgrippa  and  Cardan  avouch,  and 
tyrannizeth  over  our  fantasy  more  than  all  other  affections, 
especially  in  the  dark.  We  see  this  verified  in  most  men,  as 
8  Lavater  saith,  QIUB  metuunt,  fingunt ;  what  they  fear  they 
conceive,  and  feign  unto  themselves ;  they  think  they  see 
goblins,  hags,  devils,  and  many  times  become  melancholy 
thereby.  Cardan,  subtil,  lib.  18,  hath  an  example  of  such  an 
one,  so  caused  to  be  melancholy  (by  sight  of  a  bugbear)  all 
his  life  after.  Augustus  Caesar  durst  not  sit  in  the  dark,  mat 
aliquo  assidente,  saith  8  Suetonius,  Nunquam  tenebris  evigilavit. 
And  'tis  strange  what  women  and  children  will  conceive  unto 
themselves,  if  they  go  over  a  churchyard  in  the  night,  lie,  or 
be  alone  in  a  dark  room,  how  they  sweat  and  tremble  on  a 
sudden.  Many  men  are  troubled  with  future  events,  fore 
knowledge  of  their  fortunes,  destinies,  as  Severus  the  em 
peror,  Adrian  and  Domitian,  Quod  sciret  uUimum  vitce  diem, 
saith  Suetonius,  valde  solicitus,  much  tortured  in  mind  because 
he  foreknew  his  end ;  with  many  such,  of  which  I  shall  speak 
more  opportunely  in  another  place.4  Anxiety,  mercy,  pity, 
indignation,  &c.,  and  such  fearful  branches  derived  from  these 
two  stems  of  fear  and  sorrow,  I  voluntarily  omit ;  read  more 
of  them  in  6  Carolus  Pascalius, 6  Dandinus,  &c. 

SUBSECT.  VI. — Shame  and  Disgrace,  Causes. 

SHAME  and  disgrace  cause  most  violent  passions  and  bitter 
pangs.  Ob  pudorem  et  dedecus  publicum,  ob  errorem  commit- 
sum  seepe  moventur  generosi  animi  (Felix  Plater,  lib.  3,  de 
alienat.  mentis)  :  Generous  minds  are  often  moved  with 
shame,  to  despair  for  some  public  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 

1  Subtil.  18,  lib.  timor  attrahit  ad  se  «  Com.  in  Arist.  de  Anima.  *  Qnl 

Daemonas.    timor    et    error  multum    in  mentem    subjecit    timoris    domination!, 

hominibus  possunt.         '  Lib.  2,  Spectris  cupiditatis.  doloris,  ambitionis,  pudoris 

ea.   &,   fortes  raro  spectra  vident.   qnia  felix  non  est,  sed  omnin  miser,  assiiuls 

minus  timent.      3  Vita  ejus.       *  Sect.  2,  laboribus  torquetur  et  misena. 
Uemb.  4,  Subs.  7.         *  De  virt.  et  vitiia 


350  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  a 

forcible  a  batterer  as  any  of  the  rest ;  1 "  Many  men  neglect 
the  tumults  of  the  world,  and  care  not  for  glory,  and  yet  they 
are  afraid  of  infamy,  repulse,  disgrace,  (Tul.  offic.  I  1,)  they 
can  severely  contemn  pleasure,  bear  grief  indifferently,  but 
they  are  quite  3  battered  and  broken  with  reproach  and  oblo 
quy  ;"  (siquidem  vita  etfama  pari  passu  ambulant)  and  are 
so  dejected  many  times  for  some  public  injury,  disgrace,  as  a 
box  on  the  ear  by  their  inferior,  to  be  overcome  of  their  ad 
versary,  foiled  in  the  field,  to  be  out  in  a  speech,  some  foul 
fact  committed  or  disclosed,  &c.,  that  they  dare  not  come 
abroad  all  their  lives  after,  but  melancholize  in  corners,  and 
keep  in  holes.  The  most  generous  spirits  are  most  subject  to 
it ;  Spiritus  altos  frangit  et  generosos :  Hieronymus.  Aris 
totle,  because  he  could  not  understand  the  motion  of  Euripus, 
for  grief  and  shame  drowned  himself :  Ccdius  Rodiginus  an- 
tiquar.  lee.  lib.  29,  cap.  8.  Homerus  pudore  consumptus,  was 
swallowed  up  with  this  passion  of  shame  8  "  because  he  could 
not  unfold  the  fisherman's  riddle."  Sophocles  killed  himself, 
4  "  for  that  a  tragedy  of  his  was  hissed  off  the  stage : "  Valer. 
Max.  lib.  9,  cap.  12.  Lucretia  stabbed  herself,  and  so  did 
§  Cleopatra,  "  when  she  saw  that  she  was  reserved  for  a  tri 
umph,  to  avoid  the  infamy."  Antonius  the  Roman,  6  "  after 
he  was  overcome  of  his  enemy,  for  three  days'  space  sat  soli 
tary  in  the  fore-part  of  the  ship,  abstaining  from  all  company, 
even  of  Cleopatra  herself,  and  afterwards  for  very  shame 
butchered  himself,"  Plutarch  vita  ejus.  "Apollonius  Rho- 
dius  7  wilfully  banished  himself,  forsaking  his  country,  and  all 
his  dear  friends,  because  he  was  out  in  reciting  his  poems," 
Plinius,  lib.  7,  cap.  23.  Ajax  ran  mad,  because  his  arms 
were  adjudged  to  Ulysses.  In  China  'tis  an  ordinary  thing 
for  such  as  are  excluded  in  those  famous  trials  of  theirs,  or 

1  Multi  contemnunt  mundi  8trepltum,  vere  non  posset.  *  Ob  Tragoediam 

nptitant  pro  nihilo  gloriam,  sed  timent  explosain,  mortem  sibi  Rladio  conscivit. 

Infamiani,   offensionem,  repulsam.     Vo-  6  Cum   vidit  in   triumphum   se  servari, 

Inptatem    seYerisgime    contemnunt,    in  causa  ejus  ignominise  vitandte  mortem 

dolore  sunt  molliores,  gloriam  negligunt,  sibi  conscivit     Plut.  8  Bello  rictus, 

franguntur  infaniia.          2  Orayius  con-  per  tres  dies  sedit  in  prora  navis,  absti- 

tnmeliam  feriraus  quam  detrimentum,  ni  nens  ab  omni  consortio,  etiam  Cleopatrse, 

ftbjecto  nimis  animo    simus.      Plut.   in  postea  se  interfecit.        ;  Cum  HIM].'-  red- 

Timol          3  Quod  piscatoris  acriignia  sol-  tasset  Argonautica,  ob  pudorem  exularit 


Mem.  3,  subs.  6.]    Shame  and  Disgrace,  Causes.  351 

should  take  degrees,  for  shame  and  grief  to  lose  theii  wits, 
1  Mat.  Ricdus  expedit.  ad  Sinas,  I.  3,  c.  9.  Hostratus  the 
friar  took  that  hook  which  Eeuchlin  had  writ  against  him, 
under  the  name  of  Epist.  obscurorum  virorum,  so  to  heart, 
that  for  shame  and  grief  he  made  away  himself,  2  Jovius  in 
el  off  Us.  A  grave  and  learned  minister,  and  an  ordinary 
preacher  at  Alcmar  in  Holland,  was  (one  day  as  he  walked 
in  the  fields  for  his  recreation)  suddenly  taken  with  a  lax  or 
looseness,  and  thereupon  compelled  to  retire  to  the  next 
ditch;  but  being  'surprised  at  unawares,  by  some  gentle 
women  of  his  parish  wandering  that  way,  was  so  abashed, 
that  he  did  never  after  show  his  head  in  public,  or  come  into 
the  pulpit,  but  pined  away  with  melancholy :  (Pet.  Forestvts 
med.  observat.  lib.  10,  observat.  12.)  So  shame  amongst  other 
passions  can  play  his  prize. 

I  know  there  be  many  base,  impudent,  brazen-faced  rogues, 
that  will  4  Nulld  pallescere  culpd,  be  moved  with  nothing,  take 
no  infamy  or  disgrace  to  heart,  laugh  at  all ;  let  them  be 
proved  perjured,  stigmatized,  convict  rogues,  thieves,  traitors, 
lose  their  ears,  be  whipped,  branded,  carted,  pointed  at,  hissed, 
reviled,  and  derided  with  6  Ballio  the  Bawd  in  Plautus,  they 
rejoice  at  it,  Cantores  probos ;  "  babse  and  bombax,"  what 
care  they  ?  We  have  too  many  such  in  our  times, 

"  Exclamat  Melicerta  pertsse 
Frontem  de  rebus,"  8 

Yet  a  modest  man,  one  that  hath  grace,  a  generous  spirit, 
tender  of  his  reputation,  will  be  deeply  wounded,  and  so 
grievously  affected  with  it,  that  he  had  rather  give  myriads 

1  Quidam    prse   verecundia    simul    et  Ps.  Verbero.    B.  quippeni?    Ps.  furcifer. 

dolore  In  insaniam  incidunt,  eo  quod  a  B.  factum  optime.    Ps.  seel  fraude.    B. 

literatorum  gradu  in  examine  excludun-  sunt  mea  istsec.    Ps.  parricida.   B.  perg» 

tur.              2  Hostratus  cucullatus  adeo  tu.   Ps.  sacrilege.    B.  fateor.  Ps.  perjure, 

^raviter  ob  Reuclini  librum,  qui  inscribi-  B.  vera  dicis.  Ps.  pernities  adolewentum. 

tur,  Epistolse  obscurorum  virorum,  do-  B.  acerrime.  Ps.  fur.   B.  babse.   Ps.  fugl- 

lore  simul  et  pudore  sauciatus,  ut  seip-  tive.    B.  bombax!    Ps.  fraus  popu'.i.    B. 

Fum  interfecerit.          3  Propter  ruborem  Planissime.     Ps.   impure  leno,  coenum. 

confusus,  statim  coepit  delirare,  &n.,  ob  B.  cantores  probos.     Pseudolus,  Act.  1. 

Huspicionem,  quod  vili  ilium  criinine  ac-  Seen.  3.            °  Melicerta  exclaims,  "  all 

cusarent.        *IIorat.        6  Ps.  Impudice.  shame  bas  vanished  from  burnt  n  trans- 

B    Ita  est.     Ps.  sceleste.     B.  dicis  vera.  actions."    Persius,  Sat.  6. 


352  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  a 

of  crowns,  lose  his  life,  than  suffer  the  least  defamation  of 
honour,  or  blot  in  his  good  name.  And  if  so  be  that  he  can 
not  avoid  it,  as  a  nightingale,  Qua  cantando  victa  moritur 
(saith  1Mizaldus),  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. 

ENVY  and  malice  are  two  links  of  this  chain,  and  both,  as 
Guianerius  Tract.  15,  cap.  2,  proves  out  of  Galen  3  Aphor 
ism,  com.  22,  2 "  cause  this  malady  by  themselves,  especially 
if  their  bodies  be  otherwise  disposed  to  melancholy."  "Tis 
Valescus  de  Taranta,  and  Foelix  Platerus's  observation, 
8  u  Envy  so  gnaws  many  men's  hearts,  that  they  become  alto 
gether  melancholy."  And  therefore  belike  Solomon,  Prov. 
xiv.  13,  calls  it,  "  the  rotting  of  the  bones,"  Cyprian,  vidmu 

occultum  ; 

4  "  Siculi  non  invenere  tyranni 
Majus  tormentum  " 

The  Sicilian  tyrants  never  invented  the  like  torment.  It 
crucifies  their  souls,  withers  their  bodies,  makes  them  hollow- 
eyed,  8  pale,  lean,  and  ghastly  to  behold,  Cyprian,  ser.  2,  de 
zelo  et  livore.  8"As  a  moth  gnaws  a  garment,  so,"  saith 
Chrysostom,  "  doth  envy  consume  a  man ;  to  be  a  living 
anatomy ;  a  skeleton,  to  be  a  lean  and  7  pale  carcass,  quick 
ened  with  a  8  fiend,"  Hall  in  Charact.  for  so  often  as  an  en 
vious  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  grieves. 

9  "  intabescitque  videndo 
Successus  hominum suppliciumque  suum  est." 

1  Cent.  7  e  Plinlo.        «  Multos  videmus  consumit.              1  Pallor  in  ore  sedet, 

propter   invidiam    et  odium   in  melan-  macies  in  corpora  toto.     Nusquam  recta 

choliam    incidiase:    et  ill' is   potissiinum  acies,  livent  ruhigine  denies.        8  Diaboli 

quorum    corpora    ad    hanc   apta    sunt  expressa  Imago,  toxicumcharitatis,  vene- 

*  Invidiii  affligit  homines  adeo  et  corrodit,  mini  amicitiae,  abyssus  mentis,  non  est 
ut  hi  melancholic!  penitus  fiant.      •*  Hnr.  eo    monstrosius    monstrum,   damnoniug 

*  His  vultus  minax.  torvus  aspectus,  pal-  damnum,  urit,  torret,  discruciat,  macie 
lor  in  facie,  in  labiis  tremor,  stridor  in  et  squalore  conficit.    Austin.  Domin.  pri- 
dentibus,  &c.        «  Ut  tinea  corrodit  ves-  mi  Advent.         9  Ovid.  He  pines  away  at 
timtntuiu,  sic  invidia  cum  qul  zelatur    the  sight  of  another's  success it  il 


Mem.  3,  subs.  7.]      Envy,  Malice,  Hatred,  Causes.  353 

He  tortures  himself  if  his  equal,  friend,  neighbour,  be  pre 
ferred,  commended,  do  well ;  if  he  understand  of  it,  it  galls 
him  afresh  ;  and  no  greater  pain  can  come  to  him  than  tc 
hear  of  another  man's  well-doing ;  'tis  a  dagger  at  his  heart 
every  such  object  He  looks  at  him  as  they  that  fell  down 
in  Lucian's  rock  of  honour,  with  an  envious  eye,  and  will 
damage  himself  to  do  another  a  mischief:  Atque  cadet  subito, 
dum  super  hoste  cadat.  As  he  did  in  _<Esop,  lose  one  eye 
willingly,  that  his  fellow  might  lose  both,  or  that  rich  man  in 

*  Quintilian  that  poisoned  the  flowers  in  his  garden,  because 
his  neighbour's  bees  should  get  no  more  honey  from  them. 
His  whole  life  is  sorrow,  and  every  word  he  speaks  a  satire ; 
nothing  fats  him  but  other  men's  ruins.     For  to  speak  in  a 
word,  envy  is  nought  else  but  Tristitia  de  bonis  alienis,  sor 
row  for  other  men's  good,  be  it  present,  past,  or  to  come ;  et 
gaudium  de  adversis,  and  Jjoy  at  their  harms,  opposite  to 
mercy,  2  which  grieves  at  other  men's  mischances,  and  mis- 
affects  the  body  in  another  kind ;  so  Damascen  defines  it,  lib. 
2,  de  orthod.  fid.     Thomas  2,  2,  qucest.  36,  art.  1,  Aristotle, 
I  2,  Bhet.  c.  4  et  10,  Plato  Philebo.,  Tully  3   Tusc.,  Greg. 
Nic.  I.  de  virt.  animce,  c.  12,  Basil,  de  Invidia,  Pindarus  Od. 
1,  ser.  5,  and  we  find  it  true.     'Tis  a  common  disease,  and 
almost  natural  to  us,  as  8  Tacitus  holds,  to  envy  another  man's 
prosperity.    And  'tis  in  most  men  an  incurable  disease.     *  "  I 
have  read,"  saith  Marcus  Aurelius,  "  Greek,  Hebrew,  Chal- 
dee  authors ;   I  have  consulted  with  many  wise  men  for  a 
remedy  for  envy,  I  could  find  none,  but  to  renounce  all  hap 
piness,  and  to  be  a  wretch,  and  miserable  for  ever."    'Tis  the 
beginning  of  hell  in  this  life,  and  a  passion  not  to  be  excused. 

*  "  Every  other  sin  hath  some  pleasure  annexed  to  it,  or  will 

his  special  torture.  *  Declam.  13,  lini-  situm  mortalibns  a  natura  recentem  all- 
Tit  flores  maleficia  guccis  in  yenenum  orum  faelicitatem  segris  oculia  intueri, 
mella  converters.  1  Statuis  cereis  Ba-  hist.  1.  2.  Tacit.  *  Legi  Chaldaeos, 
silius  eos  comparat,  qui  Uquefiunt  ad  Grsecos,  Hebraeos,  consului  sapieotes  pro 
praesentiam  solis,  qua  alii  gandent  et  or-  remedio  invidiae.  hoc  enlm  inveni,  renun- 
nantur.  Muscis  alii,  quae  ulceribus  gau-  clare  felicitati,  et  perpetud  miser  esse. 
dent,  amcena  praetereunt,  sistunt  in  foet-  6  Oinne  peccatum  aut  excusationem  se- 
Idis.  -  Misericordia  etiam  quae  tristi-  cum  habet,  aut  voluptatem,  sola  invidia 
tla  qusedam  eat,  saepe  miserantis  corpus  utraque  caret,  reliqua  vitia  finem  ba- 
male  afflcit  Agrippa.  1. 1,  cap.  68.  8  In-  bent,  ira  defervescit,  gala  satiatur,  odi- 
VOL.  i.  23 


354  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  1.  sec.  a 

admit  of  an  excuse  ;  envy  alone  wants  both.  Other  sins  last 
but  for  awhile ;  the  gut  may  be  satisfied,  anger  remits, 
hatred  hath  an  end,  envy  never  ceaseth."  Cardan,  lib.  2,  de 
sap.  Divine  and  human  examples  are  very  familiar;  you 
may  run  and  read  them,  as  that  of  Saul  and  David,  Cain  and 
Abel,  angebat  ilium  non  proprium  peccatum,  sedfratris  pros- 
peritas,  saith  Theodoret,  it  was  his  brother's  good  fortune 
galled  him.  Rachel  envied  her  sister,  being  barren,  Gen. 
xxx.  Joseph's  brethren,  him,  Gen.  xxxvii.  David  had  a 
touch  of  this  vice,  as  he  confesseth,  1  Ps.  37.  a  Jeremy  and 
8  Habakkuk,  they  repined  at  others'  good,  but  in  the  end  they 
corrected  themselves.  Ps.  75,  "  fret  not  thyself,"  &c.  Domi- 
tian  spited  Agricola  for  his  worth,  4"that  a  private  man 
should  be  so  much  glorified."  8  Cecinna  was  envied  of  his 
fellow-citizens,  because  he  was  more  richly  adorned.  But 
of  all  others,  8  women  are  most  weak,  ob  pulchritudinem  in- 
vidce  sunt  fcemince  (Musceus)  out  amat,  aut  odit,  nihil  est 
tertiwn  (Granatensis).  They  love  or  hate,  no  medium 
amongst  them.  Implacabiles  plerumque  Icesce  mulieres,  Agrip- 
pina  like,  7  u  A  woman  if  she  see  her  neighbour  more  neat 
or  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  Solonina,  Cecinna's  wife,  8  "  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  scoffs  at  another's 
bravery  and  happiness.  Myrsine,  an  Attic  wench,  was  mur 
dered  of  her  fellows,  '"because  she  did  excel  the  rest  in 
beauty,"  Constantine  Agricult.  I.  11,  c.  7.  Every  village 
will  yield  such  examples. 

urn  finem  habet,  inridia  nunqnam  qui-    Guianerius,  lib.  2,  cap.  8,  Tim.  M.  Aure- 


escit.        1  Ure 
Btnltos.        >  Hi 

«  Invi.lit  priva 


:bat  me  eemulatio  propter  lii  foemina  vicinum  elegantiua  se  vestitara 

Elier.  12,   1.        »  Hab.  1.  videng,  lesense  inatar  in  virum  Insurgit, 

-  .iiTi.ni  ,,nvdti  nomen  supra  prineipis  &o.         8  Quod  insigni  equo  et  ost.ro  ve- 
attoUi.        5  Tacit.  Hist.  lib.  2,  part  6.  heretur,  quanquam  nullius  cum  injuria, 

•  Periturae  dolore  et  invidia,  si  quern  rid-  ornatum  ilium  tanquam  laesse  gravaban 
•rint  ornatiorem  se  in  publlcum  prodi-  tur.        »  Quod  pulchritudine  omnes  e« 
taM.     Platina  dial,  amornm.         '  Ant.  oelleret,  paellw  indignatfe  occiderunt 


Mem.  3,  subs.  8.]         Emulation,  Hatred,  Syc  355 

SUBSECT.  VIII.  —  Emulation,   Hatred,   Faction,   Desire  of 

Revenge,    Causes. 

OUT  of  this  root  of  envy  1  spring  those  feral  branches  of 
faction,  hatred,  livor,  emulation,  which  cause  the  like  griev 
ances,  and  are,  serree  anima,  the  saws  of  the  soul,  *  consterna- 
tionis  pleni  affectus,  affections  full  of  desperate  amazement  ; 
or  as  Cyprian  describes  emulation,  it  is  2ua  moth  of  the  soul, 
a  consumption  to  make  another  man's  happiness  his  misery, 
to  torture,  crucify,  and  execute  himself,  to  eat  his  own  heart. 
Meat  and  drink  can  do  such  men  no  good,  they  do  always 
grieve,  sigh,  and  groan,  day  and  night  without  intermission, 
their  breast  is  torn  asunder  ;  "  and  a  little  after,  8  "  Whom 
soever  he  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  within  thee,  thou  art  a  captive, 
bound  hand  and  foot,  as  long  as  thou  art  malicious  and  envi 
ous,  and  canst  not  be  comforted.  It  was  the  devil's  over 
throw  ;  "  and  whensoever  thou  art  thoroughly  affected  with 
this  passion,  it  will  be  thine.  Yet  no  perturbation  so  fre 
quent,  no  passion  so  common. 


4  Ko2  KepafjiEdf  icepapel  /coreet  not  TSKTOVI  T£KTUV, 
Koi  irruxdf  trruxv  <t>&oveet  Ka2  aouSbf  uoidti. 

A  potter  emulates  a  potter  ; 

One  smith  envies  another: 
A  beggar  emulates  a  beggar: 

A  singing  man  his  brother 

i  Late  patet  Invidiae  foecundae  pemities,  dies  et  noctes,  pectns  sine  Intermission* 

et  livor  radix  omnium    malorum,  fons  laceratnr.         3  Quisquis  est  Hie  quem 

cladium,  inde  odium    surgit,  emulatio.  aemularis.  cui  invides  is  te  subterfuge** 

Cyprian,  ser.  2,  de  Livore.        *  Valerius,  potest,  at  tu  non  te  ubicunque  fugeria, 

1.  3,  cap.  9.        -  Quails  est  animi  tinea,  adversarius  tuus  tecnm  est,  hostis  tung 

quse  tabes  pectoris  zelare  in  altero  vel  semper  in  pectore  tuo  est,  pernicies  intui 

»liorum  ftelicitatem  suam  facere  miseri-  inclusa,  ligatus    es,  rictus,   zelo   domi- 

am,  et  velut  quosdam  pectori  suo  admo-  nante  captirus  :  nee  solatia  tibi  ulla  sub- 

Tere  carnifioes,  cogitationibua  et  sensibus  veniunt  :  hinc  diabolus  inter  initia  statin 

suis  adhibere  tortores,  qui  se  intestinis  mundi.  et    periit    primus,  et  perdidit, 

eruciatibus  lacerent.    Non  cibus  talibus  Cyprian,     ser.    2,    de    zelo    et     livnre. 

l«tus,  non  potus  potest  esse  jucundus;  *  Hesiod.  Op.  et  Dies. 
suspiratur  semper  et  gemitur,  et  doletur 


356  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  z 

Every  society,  corporation,  and  private  family  is  foil  of  it,  it 
takes  hold  almost  of  all  sorts  of  men,  from  the  prince  to 
the  ploughman,  even  amongst  gossips  it  ia  to  be  seen,  scarce 
three  in  a  company  but  there  is  siding,  faction,  emulation, 
between  two  of  them,  some  simultas,  jar,  private  grudge, 
heart-burning  in  the  midst  of  them.  Scarce  two  gentlemen 
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  conten 
tion  about  wealth,  gentry,  precedency,  &c.,  by  means  of 
which,  like  the  frog  in  *  JEsop,  "  that  would  swell  till  she  was 
as  big  as  an  ox,  burst  herself  at  last ; "  they  will  stretch  be 
yond  their  fortunes,  callings,  and  strive  so  long  that  they  con 
sume  their  substance  in  lawsuits,  or  otherwise  in  hospitality, 
feasting,  fine  clothes,  to  get  a  few  bombast  titles,  for  ambi- 
tiosd  paupertate  Idboramus  omnes,  to  outbrave  one  another, 
they  will  tire  their  bodies,  macerate  their  souls,  and  through 
contentions  or  mutual  invitations  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  2  emulation  in  studies,  in  all  callings  is  not  to  be 
disliked,  'tis  ingeniorum  cos,  as  one  calls  it,  the  whetstone  of 
wit,  the  nurse  of  wit  and  valour,  and  those  noble  Romans  out 
of  this  spirit  did  brave  exploits.  There  is  a  modest  am 
bition,  as  Themistocles  was  roused  up  with  the  glory  of  Mil- 
tiades  ;  Achilles's  trophies  moved  Alexander, 

*  "  Ambire  semper,  stnlta  confidentia  est, 
Ambire  nunquam,  deses  arrogantia  est." 

Tis  a  sluggish  humour  not  to  emulate  or  to  sue  at  all,  to 
withdraw  himself,  neglect,  refrain  from  such  places,  honours, 

1  Rnna  cnpida  seqnandi  bovem.  se  dls-  Bptff.  lib.  1.  "  Ambition  always  IB  • 
tendebat,  &c.  *  jEomlatio  alit  ingenla :  foolish  confidence,  never  a  slothful  arro- 
Pmtareulus  poster.  TO!.  *  Grottos,  gance." 


Mem.  3,  subs.  8.]        Emulation,  Hatred,  tyc.  357 

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  VIII.  and  Francis  I.  king  of 
France,  spend  at  that  x famous  interview?  and  how  many  vain 
courtiers,  seeking  each  to  outbrave  other,  spent  themselves, 
their  livelihood  and  fortunes,  and  died  beggars  ?  2  Adrian  the 
emperor  was  so  galled  with  it,  that  he  killed  all  his  equals  ; 
so  did  Nero.  This  passion  made  8Dionysius  the  tyrant 
banish  Plato  and  Philoxenus  the  poet,  because  they  did  excel 
and  eclipse  his  glory,  as  he  thought ;  the  Romans  exile  Co- 
riolanus,  confine  Camillus,  murder  Scipio ;  the  Greeks  by 
ostracism  to  expel  Aristides,  Nicias,  Alcibiades,  imprison 
Theseus,  make  away  Phocion,  &c.  When  Richard  I.  and 
Philip  of  France  were  fellow  soldiers  together,  at  the  siege 
of  Aeon  in  the  Holy  Land,  and  Richard  had  approved  him 
self  to  be  the  more  valiant  man,  insomuch  that  all  men's  eyes 
were  upon  him,  it  so  galled  Philip,  Francum  urebat  Regis 
victoria,  saith  mine  4  author,  tarn  cegre  ferebat  Richardi 
gloriam,  itt  carpere  dicta,  calumniari  facta  ;  that  he  cavilled 
at  all  his  proceedings,  and  fell  at  length  to  open  defiance ; 
he  could  contain  no  longer,  but  hasting  home,  invaded  his 
territories,  and  professed  open  war.  "  Hatred  stirs  up  con 
tention,"  Prov.  x.  12,  and  they  break  out  at  last  into  immor 
tal  enmity,  into  virulency,  and  more  than  Vatinian  hate  and 
rage ;  *  they  persecute  each  other,  their  friends,  followers, 
and  all  their  posterity,  with  bitter  taunts,  hostile  wars,  scur- 
rile  invectives,  libels,  calumnies,  fire,  sword,  and  the  like,  and 
will  not  be  reconciled.  Witness  that  Guelph  and  Ghibel- 
line  faction  in  Italy ;  that  of  the  Adurni  and  Fregosi  in 
Genoa ;  that  of  Cneius  Papirius,  and  Quintus  Fabius  in 
Rome ;  Caesar  and  Pompey ;  Orleans  and  Burgundy  in 

1  Anno  1519,  between  Ardes  and  Quine.  rem.    .Sterna  bella  pace  sublatd  gernnt. 

Spartian.        3  Plutarch.        4  Johannes  Jurat  odium,   nee  ante     invisum    OSM 

Heraldus.    1.   2,    c.   12,   de    bello   sacr.  desinit,  quam  esse    desiit.    Paterculua, 

*  Nulla  dies  taut  urn  poterit  lenire  f  uro  yol.  1. 


368  Games  of  Melancholy.          [Part.  l.  sec.  2 

France ,  Yoik  and  Lancaster  in  England ;  yea,  this  passion 
so  rageth  1  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  torment  one  another.  How 
happy  might  we  be,  and  end  our  time  with  blessed  days  and 
sweet  content,  if  we  could  contain  ourselves,  and,  as  we  ought 
to  do,  put  up  injuries,  learn  humility,  meekness,  patience, 
forget  and  forgive,  as  in  3  God's  word  we  are  enjoined,  com 
pose  such  final  controversies  amongst  ourselves,  moderate 
our  passions  in  this  kind,  "  and  think  better  of  others,"  as 
*  Paul  would  have  us,  "  than  of  ourselves :  be  of  like  affection 
one  towards  another,  and  not  avenge  ourselves,  but  have 
peace  with  all  men."  But  being  that  we  are  so  peevish  and 
perverse,  insolent  and  proud,  so  factious  and  seditious,  so 
malicious  and  envious ;  we  do  invicem  angariare,  maul  and 
vex  one  another,  torture,  disquiet,  and  precipitate  ourselves 
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  itself;  Ira 
furor  brevis  est,  "  anger  is  temporary  madness ; "  and  as  4  Pic- 
colomineus  accounts  it,  one  of  the  three  most  violent  passions. 
5  Areteus  sets  it  down  for  an  especial  cause  (so  doth  Seneca, 
ep.  18,  1.1)  of  this  malady.  6Magninus  gives  the  reason, 
Exfrequenti  ira  supra  modum  calefiunt ;  it  overheats  their 
bodies,  and  if  it  be  too  frequent,  it  breaks  out  into  manifest 

1  Ita  s-i-vit  haec  stygia  ministra  ut  ur-  *  Paul.  8  Col.        *  Rom.   12.        <  Orad. 

bes  Hiibvertat  aliquando,  deleat  populos,  1.  c.  54.        5  Ira  et  moeror  et  ingens  ani- 

provincias  alioqui  florentes  redigat  in  sol-  mi    consternatio     melancholicos     faclt. 

itudines,  mortales  vero  iniscros  in  pro-  Areteus.     Ira  immodicagignit  insaniam. 

funda  miseriarum  valle  miserabiliter  im-  6  Reg.  Sanit.  parte  2,  c.   8.  in   apertam 

mergat.        *  Carthago  tcmula  Roman!  insaniam  mox  ducitur  iratuB. 
imperil  funditus  interilt.     Salust.  Catil. 


Mtm.  3,  subs.  9.]  Anger,  a   Cause.  359 

madness,  saith  St.  Ambrose.  'Tis  a  known  saying,  Furor  fit 
Icesa  sfepius  patientia,  the  most  patient  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  tenebras  rationis,  morbum  animee,  et  dcemonem 
vessimum ;  the  darkening  of  our  understanding,  and  a  bad 
angel.  1  Lucian,  in  Abdicate,  torn.  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  awhile 
break  out  into  madness  ;  many  things  cause  fury  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  disposition  they  proceed  to  an 
habit,  for  there  is  no  difference  between  a  mad  man,  and  an 
angry  man,  in  the  time  of  his  fit ;  anger,  as  Lactantius  de 
scribes  it.  L.  de  Ira  Dei,  ad  Donatum,  c.  5,  is  2sceva  animi 
tempestas,  fyc.,  a  cruel  tempest  of  the  mind ;  "  making  hia 
eyes  sparkle  fire,  and  stare,  teeth  gnash  in  his  head,  his 
tongue  stutter,  his  face  pale,  or  red,  and  what  more  filthy 
imitation  can  be  of  a  mad  man  ?  " 

8  "  Ora  tument  ira,  fervescunt  sanguine  venae, 
Lumina  Gorgonio  saevius  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,  4  Iracundia  non  sum  apua 
me,  I  am  not  mine  own  man.  If  these  fits  be  immoderate, 
continue  long,  or  be  frequent,  without  doubt  they  provoke 
madness.  Montanus,  consil.  21,  had  a  melancholy  Jew  to 
his  patient,  he  ascribes  this  for  a  principal  cause :  Irascebatur 
levibus  de  cattsis,  he  was  easily  moved  to  anger.  Ajax  had 

i  Gilberto  Cognato  interprete.  Multis,et  eant,  &c.,  haec  paulatim  in  insaniam 
pnesertimsenibus  ira  impotens  insaniam  tandem  evadunt.  2  Saera  aninii  tern- 
fecit,  et  importuua  calumnia,  haec  loitio  pestas  tantos  excitans  fluctus  ut  statim 
perturbat  animum,  paulatim  vergi t  ad  ardescant  oculi,  ostremat,  lingua  titubet, 
Insaniam.  Porro  mulierum  corpora  mul-  dentes  concrepant,  &c.  3  OtH 
ta  infestant,  et  in  hunc  morbum  addu-  *  Terence. 
:uiit,  praeoipue  si  qua  oderint  aut  iuvij- 


360  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  a 

no  other  beginning  of  his  madness ;  and  Charles  the  Sixth, 
that  lunatic  French  king,  fell  into  this  misery,  out  of  the  ex 
tremity  of  his  passion,  desire  of  revenge  and  malice,  l  incensed 
against  the  Duke  of  Britain,  he  could  neither  eat,  drink,  nor 
sleep  for  some  days  together,  and  in  the  end,  about  the  cal 
ends  of  July,  1392,  he  became  mad  upon  his  horseback,  draw 
ing  his  sword,  striking  such  as  came  near  him  promiscuously, 
and  so  continued  all  the  days  of  his  life,  JEmil.  lib.  10,  GaL 
hist.  ^E/gesippus  de  excid.  urbis  Hieros.  1.  1,  c.  37,  hath  such 
a  story  of  Herod,  that  out  of  an  angry  fit,  became  mad,  a  leap 
ing  out  of  his  bed,  he  killed  Josippus,  and  played  many  such 
bedlam  pranks,  the  whole  court  could  not  rule  him  for  a  long 
tune  after;  sometimes  he  was  sorry  and  repented,  much 
grieved  for  that  he  had  done,  Postquam  deferbuit  ira,  by  and 
by  outrageous  again.  In  hot,  choleric  bodies,  nothing  so  soon 
causeth  madness,  as  this  passion  of  anger,  besides  many  other 
diseases,  as  Pelesius  observes,  cap.  21,  /.  1,  de  hum.  affect, 
causis ;  Sanguinem  imminuit,  fel  auget ;  and  as  8  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,  4 "  but  it  rums  and  subverts  whole 
towns,  6  cities,  families,  and  kingdoms ; "  Nutta  pestis  humano 
generi  pluris  stetit,  saith  Seneca,  de  Ira,  lib.  1.  No  plague 
hath  done  mankind  so  much  harm.  Look  into  our  histories, 
and  you  shall  almost  meet  with  no  other  subject,  but  what  a 
company  6  of  hare-brains  have  done  in  their  rage.  We  may 
do  well,  therefore,  to  put  this  in  our  procession  amongst  the 
rest ;  "  From  all  blindness  of  heart,  from  pride,  vainglory, 
and  hypocrisy,  from  envy,  hatred  and  malice,  anger,  and  all 
such  pestiferous  perturbations,  good  Lord  deliver  us." 

SDBSECT.  X. — Discontents,  Cares,  Miseries,  fyc.,  Gauset. 
DISCONTENTS,  cares,  crosses,  miseries,  or  whatsoever  it  is, 

1  Infensus  Britanniae  Duel,  et  in  ultio-  rentem  non  capiebat  aula,  &o.        *  An 

nem  versus,  nee  cibum  cepit.  nee  quie-  ira  possit  hominem  interimere.        *  At>- 

tem,   -td  Oalendas  Julias  1392,   comitea  ernethy.        5  As  Troy,  saevae  niemorem 

ocelot.        *  Indignatione  uiinil  furens,  Junonia  ob  iram.        •  Stultorum  return 

ftubuique  unpotens,  exiliit  de  lecto,  fu-  et  populorum  continet  sestus. 


Mem.  8,  subs.  10.]       discontents,   Cares,  fyc.  361 

that  shall  cause  any  molestation  of  spirits,  grief,  anguish,  and 
perplexity,  may  well  be  reduced  to  this  head  (preposterously 
placed  here  in  some  men's  judgments  they  may  seem),  yet  in 
that  Aristotle  in  his  l  Rhetoric  defines  these  cares,  as  he  doth 
envy,  emulation,  &c.,  still  by  grief,  I  think  I  may  well  rank 
them  in  this  irascible  row ;  being  that  they  are  as  the  rest, 
both  causes  and  symptoms  of  this  disease,  producing  the  like 
inconveniences,  and  are  most  part  accompanied  with  anguish 
and  pain.  The  common  etymology  will  evince  it,  Cura,  quasi 
cor  uro,  Dementes  cures,  insomnes  euros,  damnosce  curce,  tristes, 
mordaces,  carnifices,  fyc.,  biting,  eating,  gnawing,  cruel,  bitter, 
sick,  sad,  unquiet,  pale,  tetric,  miserable,  intolerable  cares,  as 
the  poets  2  call  them,  worldly  cares,  and  are  as  many  in  num 
ber  as  the  sea  sands.  8  Galen,  Fernelius,  Felix  Plater, 
Valescus  de  Taranta,  &c.,  reckon  afflictions,  miseries,  even 
all  these  contentions,  and  vexations  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  ambnlans, 
Plantas  pednm  teneras  habens :  " 

"  Over  men's  heads  walking  aloft, 
With  tender  feet  treading  so  soft," 

Homer's  Goddess  Ate  hath  not  involved  into  this  discon 
tented  4  rank,  or  plagued  with  some  misery  or  other.  Hy- 
ginus,fab.  220,  to  this  purpose  hath  a  pleasant  tale.  Dame 
Cura  by  chance  went  over  a  brook,  and  taking  up  some  of 
the  dirty  slime,  made  an  image  of  it ;  Jupiter  eflsoons  com 
ing  by,  put  life  to  it,  but  Cura  and  Jupiter  could  not  agree 
what  name  to  give  him,  or  who  should  own  him  ;  the  matter 

iLfb.  2.    Invidia  est  dolor  et  ambitio  nes   rant   maxima    melancholicl,   qnan- 

est  dolor,  &c.      «  Insomnes,  Claudianus.  do  vigiliis  multis,  et  solicitudinibus,  et 

Trlstes.Virg.  Mordaees,  Luc.  Edaces,  Hor.  laborious,  et  curis  fuerint  clrcumrentl. 

Moestse,  Amarse,  Ovid.  Damnosse,  Inqui-  *  Lucian.  Podag.        <  Omnia  imperfecta, 

MSB,  Mart.  Urentes,  Rodentes,  Mant.  &c.  confusa,  et  perturbatione  plena,  Cardan 
*  Galen,  1.  3,  c   7,  de  locis  aflectis,  homi- 


362  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  L  sec.  2. 

was  referred  to  Saturn  as  judge,  he  gave  this  arbitrament 
his  name  shall  be  Homo  ab  humo,  Oura  eum  possideat  quam~ 
diu  vivat,  Care  shall  have  him  whilst  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  discontent,  care,  misery  ;  were  there  no  other 
particular  affliction  (which  who  is  free  from?)  to  molest  a 
man  in  this  life,  the  very  cogitation  of  that  common  misery 
were  enough  to  macerate,  and  make  him  weary  of  his  life  ; 
to  think  that  he  can  never  be  secure,  but  still  in  danger, 
sorrow,  grief,  and  persecution.  For  to  begin  at  the  hour  of 
his  birth,  as  *  Pliny  doth  elegantly  describe  it,  "  he  is  born 
naked,  and  falls  2a  whining  at  the  very  first,  he  is  swad 
dled  and  bound  up  like  a  prisoner,  cannot  help  himself,  and 
so  he  continues  to  his  life's  end."  Cujusque  ferae  pabulum, 
saith  *  Seneca,  impatient  of  heat  and  cold,  impatient  of  la 
bour,  impatient  of  idleness,  exposed  to  fortune's  contumelies. 
To  a  naked  mariner  Lucretius  compares  him,  cast  on  shore 
by  shipwreck,  cold  and  comfortless  in  an  unknown  land  ; 
t  no  estate,  age,  sex,  can  secure  himself  from  this  common 
misery.  "  A  man  that  is  born  of  a  woman  is  of  short  con 
tinuance,  and  full  of  trouble."  Job  xiv.  1,  22.  "  And  while 
his  flesh  is  upon  him  he  shall  be  sorrowful,  and  while  his 
soul  is  in  hirn  it  shall  mourn."  "  All  his  days  are  sorrow 
and  his  travels,  griefs  ;  his  heart  also  taketh  not  rest  in  the 
night,"  Eccles.  ii.  23,  and  ii.  11.  "  All  that  is  in  it  is  sorrow 
and  vexation  of  spirit."  8  Ingress,  progress,  regress,  egress, 
much  alike  ;  blindness  seizeth  on  us  in  the  beginning,  labour 
in  the  middle,  grief  in  the  end,  error  in  all.  What  day 
ariseth  to  us  without  some  grief,  care  or  anguish?  Or 
what  so  secure  and  pleasing  a  morning  have  we  seen,  that 

1  Ub.   7,  Nat.  Hist.  cap.  1,  homlnem  rior,  &c.          *  Ad  Marinum.          t  Bo- 

nudum,    et    ad    vagitum    edit    nature,  ethius.        8  Initium    ctecitas,    progres 

sions    ab     initio.   devinctus  jacet,    &c.  sum  labor,  exit  u  m  dolor,  error  omnia  : 

i  Au/cmio  reuv  fyevourjv.  KCU  Scufovrbf  quern  tranquillum  quseso,  quom  non  la- 


h>6dnpvTov,  dadevef,  olxrpov.    Lach- 
ryiuans  uatus  sum,  et  lachrymans  mo- 


Mem.  8,  subs.  10.]       Discontents,   Cares,  fyc.  363 

hath  not  been  overcast  before  the  evening  ?  One  is  miser 
able,  another  ridiculous,  a  third  odious.  One  complains  of 
this  grievance,  another  of  that.  ALiquando  nervi,  aliquando 
pedes  vexant,  (Seneca,)  nunc  distittatio,  nunc  hepatis  morbus  ,• 
nunc  deest,  nunc  superest  sanguis :  now  the  head  aches  then 
the  feet,  now  the  lungs,  then  the  liver,  &c.  Huic  sensus 
exuberat,  sed  est  pudori  degener  sanguis,  fyc.  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.  Nemo  facile  cum  con- 
ditione  sud  concordat,  no  man  is  pleased  with  his  fortune,  a 
pound  of  sorrow  is  familiarly  mixed  with  a  dram  of  content, 
little  or  no  joy,  little  comfort,  but  *  everywhere  danger,  con 
tention,  anxiety,  in  all  places ;  go  where  thou  wilt,  and  thou 
shalt  find  discontents,  cares,  woes,  complaints,  sickness,  dis 
eases,  incumbrances,  exclamations ;  "  If  thou  look  into  the 
market,  there  (saith  *  Chrysostom)  is  brawling  and  conten 
tion  ;  if  to  the  court,  there  knavery  and  flattery,  &c. ;  if  to  a 
private  man's  house,  there's  cark  and  care,  heaviness,"  &c. 
As  he  said  of  old,  2  Nil  homine  in  terra  spiral  miserum 
magis  alma  ?  No  creature  so  miserable  as  man,  so  gener 
ally  molested,  8"  in  miseries  of  body,  in  miseries  of  mind, 
miseries  of  heart,  in  miseries  asleep,  in  miseries  awake,  in 
miseries  wheresoever  he  turns,"  as  Bernard  found,  Nunquid 
tentatio  est  vita  humana  super  terram  ?  A  mere  temptation 
is  our  life  (Austin,  confess,  lib.  10,  cap.  28),  catena  perpetuo- 
rum  malorum,  et  quis  potest  molestias  et  difftcultates  patif 
Who  can  endure  the  miseries  of  it  ?  f  "  In  prosperity  we 
are  insolent  and  intolerable,  dejected  in  adversity,  in  all  for 
tunes  foolish  and  miserable."  4  In  adversity  I  wish  for  pros 
perity,  and  in  prosperity  I  am  afraid  of  adversity.  What 

1  Ubique  periculum,  ubique  dolor,  ubi-  dum  yigilat,  quocunque  ee  yertit.    Lu- 

que  naufragium,  in  hoc  ambitu  quocun-  susque  rerum,  temporumque  nasclmur. 

que  me  vertam.    Lypsius.  *Hom.  tin  blandiente  fortuna   intolerandi,  in 

10.     Si  in  forum  ireris,  ibi  rixse  et  pug-  calamitatibus  lugubres,  semper  stulti  et 

nae;  si  in  curiam,  ibi  fraus,  adulatio;  si  miseri,  Cardan.  *  Prospera  in  ad- 

in  domum  privatam,  &c.  3  Homer,  versis  desidero,  et  adversa  prosperis  timeo, 

s  Multis  repletur  homo  miseriis,  corporis  quis  inter  h»ec  medius  locus,  ubi  non  fit 

miseriis.  animi    miseriis,    dum    dormit,  humana:  vitae  tentatio  ? 


364  Causes  of  Meumcholy.  [Part. 1.  sec.  1 

mediocrity  may  be  found  ?  Where  is  no  temptation  ?  What 
condition  of  life  is  free  ?  1  Wisdom  hath  labour  annexed  to 
it,  glory  envy ;  riches  and  cares,  children  and  incumbrances, 
pleasure  and  diseases,  rest  and  beggary,  go  together;  as  if  a 
man  were  therefore  born  (as  the  Platonists  hold)  to  be 
punished  in  this  life  for  some  precedent  sins.  Or  that,  as 
8  Pliny  complains,  "  Nature  may  be  rather  accounted  a  step 
mother,  than  a  mother  unto  us,  all  things  considered ;  no 
creature's  life  so  brittle,  so  full  of  fear,  so  mad,  so  furious ; 
only  man  is  plagued  with  envy,  discontent,  griefs,  covetous- 
ness,  ambition,  superstition."  Our  whole  life  is  an  Irish  sea. 
wherein  there  is  nought  to  be  expected  but  tempestuous 
storms  and  troublesome  waves,  and  those  infinite, 

8"  Tantum  malorum  pelagus  aspioio, 
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  infers, 
4 "  There  is  something  in  every  one  of  us  which  before  trial 
we  seek,  and  having  tried  abhor ;  6  we  earnestly  wish,  and  ea 
gerly  covet,  and  are  eftsoons  weary  of  it."  Thus  between  hope 
and  fear,  suspicions,  angers,  '  Inter  spemque  metumqw,  timores 
inter  et  iras,  betwixt  falling  in,  falling  out,  &c.,  we  bangle 
away  our  best  days,  befool  out  our  times,  we  lead  a  conten 
tious,  discontent,  tumultuous,  melancholy,  miserable  life ;  in 
somuch,  that  if  we  could  foretell  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  a  maze,  a  laby 
rinth  of  errors,  a  desert,  a  wilderness,  a  den  of  thieves, 
cheaters,  &c.,  full  of  filthy  puddles,  horrid  rocks,  precipitiums, 


1  Cardan.  Con  sol.  Sapientiae  labor  an-  uni  animantium  ambitio   data,  luctus, 

nexus,  gloriaeinvidia,  divitiis  curse,  soboli  avaritia,  uni  superatitio.        3  Euripides. 

solicit  udo,  voluptati    morbi  quieti  pau-  "  I  perceive  such  an  ocean  of  troubles  be 

pertas,  ut   quasi   fruendorum  scelerum  fore  me,   that  no   means  of  escape    re- 

causa  nasci  hominem  possiscum  Platonis-  main."        *  De  consol.  1.  2.     Nemo  facilft 

tis  ajcnoscere.      -  Mb.  7,  cap.  1.    Non  satis  cum  conditione  sua  concordat,  inest  sin- 

estimare,  an  melior  parens  natura  hoini-  gulls  quod  imperiti  petant,  expert!  hor- 

Hi,  an  tristior  noverca  fuerit:  Null!  fra-  reant.        *  Ease  in   honcre  juvat,   mol 

filler  vita,  pavor,  confusio,  rabies  major,  displicet.        *  Hor. 


alem.  3,  subs.  10.]       Discontents,   Cares,  fyc.  365 

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,  duram  seiirien- 
fe$  servitutem,  and  you  may  as  soon  separate  weight  from 
lead,  heat  from  fire,  moistness  from  water,  brightness  from 
the  sun,  as  misery,  discontent,  care,  calamity,  danger  from  a 
man.  Our  towns  and  cities  are  but  so  many  dwellings  of 
human  misery.  "  In  which  grief  and  sorrow  ( l  as  he  right 
well  observes  out  of  Solon)  innumerable  troubles,  labours  of 
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,  busy,  busy  still,  going  to  and  fro,  in  and 
out,  and  crossing  one  another's  projects,  as  the  lines  of  sev 
eral  sea-cards  cut  each  other  in  a  globe  or  map.  "  Now 
light  and  merry,  but  (a  as  one  follows  it)  by  and  by  sorrow 
ful  and  heavy ;  now  hoping,  then  distrusting ;  now  patient, 
to-morrow  crying  out ;  now  pale,  then  red ;  running,  sitting, 
sweating,  trembling,  halting,"  &c.  Some  few  amongst  the 
rest,  or  perhaps  one  of  a  thousand,  may  be  Pullus  Jovis,  in 
the  world's  esteem,  GaHinee  filius  alb<s,  an  happy  and  fortu 
nate  man,  ad  invidiam  felix,  because  rich,  fair,  well  allied,  in 
honour  and  office  ;  yet  peradventure  ask  himself,  and  he  will 
say,  that  of  all  others,  8  he  is  most  miserable  and  unhappy. 
A  fair  shoe,  Hie  soccus  novus,  elegans,  as  he  4  said,  sed  nescis 
ubi  urat,  but  thou  knowest  not  where  it  pincheth.  It  is  not 
another  man's  opinion  can  make  me  happy ;  but  as  6  Seneca 
well  hath  it,  "  He  is  a  miserable  wretch  that  doth  not  account 
himself  happy ;  though  he  be  sovereign  lord  of  a  world,  he 
is  not  happy,  if  he  think  himself  not  to  be  so  ;  for  what  avail- 

1  Borrhens  in  6  Job.    TJrbes  et  oppida  die,  eras  ejulans ;  nnne  pallens,  rubens, 

nihil    aliud    stint     quim     humanarum  currens,    sedens,    claudicans,    tremens, 

erumnarum  domicilia,  qulbus  luctus  et  &c.        8  Sua  cuique  calamitas  prsecipua. 

moeror,  et  mortalium  varii  inflnitique  la-  *  Cn.  Graecinus.        »  Epist.  9, 1.  7.   Miser 

bores,  et  omnis  generis  vitia,  quasi  septis  est    qui  se    beatissimum   non    judicat; 

Includuntur.          -  Nat.  Chytreus  de  lit.  licet  imperet  mundo  non  est  beatns,  qui 

Europse.  Lsetua  mine,  mox  tristis;  none  se  non  putat:  quid  enim  refert  quails 

iperans,  paulo  post  diffldens ;  pattens  ho-  status  tuus  sit,  si  tibi  Tide t ur  mains  ? 


366  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  2. 

eth  it  what  thine  estate  is,  or  seem  to  otherc,  if  thou  thyself 
dislike  it?"  A  common  humour  it  is  of  all  men  to  think 
well  of  other  men's  fortunes,  and  dislike  their  own  :  *  Cui 
nlacet  alterius,  sua  nimirum  est  odio  sors ;  but  2  qui  Jit 
Meccenas,  fyc.,  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  8  Theodoret)  "neither  with  riches 
nor  poverty,  they  complain  when  they  are  well  and  when 
they  are  sick,  grumble  at  all  fortunes,  prosperity  and  adver 
sity  ;  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  hu 
mour  of  us  all,  to  be  discontent,  miserable,  and  most  unhappy, 
as  we  think  at  least ;  and  show  me  him  that  is  not  so,  or  that 
ever  was  otherwise.  Quintus  Metellus  his  felicity  is  in 
finitely  admired  amongst  the  Romans,  insomuch  that  as 
4  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  for 
tunes,  goods  of  mind,  body,  and  fortune,  so  had  P.  Mutianus, 
'Crassus.  Lampsaca,  that  Lacedemonian  lady  was  such 
another  in  8  Pliny's  conceit,  a  king's  wife,  a  king's  mother,  a 
king's  daughter;  and  all  the  world  esteemed  as  much  of 
Polycrates  of  Samos.  The  Greeks  brag  of  their  Socrates, 
Phocion,  Aristides ;  the  Psophidians  in  particular  of  their 
Aglaus,  Omni  vita  felix,  ab  omni  periculo  immunis  (which 
by  the  way  Pausanias  held  impossible) ;  the  Romans  of  their 
T  Cato,  Curius,  Fabricius,  for  their  composed  fortunes,  and 
retired  estates,  government  of  passions,  and  contempt  of  the 
world  ;  yet  none  of  all  these  were  happy,  or  free  from  dis- 

1  Hor.  ep.  1. 1, 4.       *  Hor.  Ser.  1,  Sat.  1.  nns,  quinque  habuisse  dicitur  rerum  bo- 

•  Tiili.  de  carat,  grsec.  affect,  cap.  6,  de  narum  maxima,   quod  esset  ditissimus 

provident.      Multia   nihil    placet    atque  quod  esset  nobilteimuB,  eloquentissimuj, 

Rdeoet  divitiasdamnant,  et  panpertntem,  jurisconsultissimus,   pontifex    inaximus. 

de   morbis    expostulant,    bene    valentes  *  Lib.  7.  Regis   fllla,   Regis    uxnr,  Hegit 

grayiter  fernnt,  atque  ut  seme!  dicam,  mater.  7  Qul  nihil  unquam  mali 

nihil  cos  delectat,  &c.  «  Vix  ullius  aut  dixit,  aut  fecit,  aut  sensit,  qui  bene 

gentis,  aetatis,  ordinis,  hominem  invenies  semper  fecit,  quod  aliter  facere  non  pot- 

cujug  felicitatem  fortunes  Metelli  com-  nit. 
paiea,  yol.  1.               *  P.  Cnusus  Mutia- 


Mem.  3,  sabs.  10.]        Discontents,    Cares,  fyc.  367 

content,  neither  Metellus,  Crassus,  nor  Polycrates,  for  he 
died  a  violent  death,  and  so  did  Cato ;  and  how  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  Samson's  hair,  Milo's  strength, 
Scanderbeg's  arm,  Solomon's  wisdom,  Absalom's  beauty, 
Croesus's  wealth,  Pasetis  obulum,  Caesar's  valour,  Alexander's 
spirit,  Tully's  or  Demosthenes's  eloquence,  Gyges's  ring,  Per- 
seus's  Pegasus,  and  Gorgon's  head,  Nestor's  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, 

2  "  Desinit  in  piscem  mulier  formosa  snperafc :  " 

"  A  handsome  woman  with  a  fish's  tail." 

a  fair  morning  turns  to  a  lowering  afternoon.  Brutus  and 
Cassius,  once  renowned,  both  eminently  happy,  yet  you  shall 
scarce  find  two,  (saith  Paterculus)  Quos  fortuna  maturius 
destituerit,  whom  fortune  sooner  forsook.  Hannibal,  a  con 
queror  all  his  life,  met  with  his  match,  and  was  subdued  at 
last,  Occurrit  forti,  qui  mage  fortis  erit.  One  is  brought  in 
triumph,  as  Caesar  into  Rome,  Alcibiades  into  Athens,  coronis 
aureis  donatus,  crowned,  honoured,  admired ;  by  and  by  his 
statues  demolished,  he  hissed  out,  massacred,  &c.  8  Magnus 
Gonsalva,  that  famous  Spaniard,  was  of  the  prince  and  people 
at  first  honoured,  approved  ;  forthwith  confined  and  banished. 
Admirandas  actiones  ;  graves  plerunque  sequuntur  invidice,  ef 
acres  calumnice :  'tis  Polybius  his  observation,  grievous  enmi 
ties,  and  bitter  calumnies,  commonly  follow  renowned  actions*. 
One  is  born  rich,  dies  a  beggar ;  sound  to-day,  sick  to-mor 
row  ;  now  in  most  flourishing  estate,  fortunate  and  happy,  by 
and  by  deprived  of  his  goods  by  foreign  enemies,  robbed  by 
thieves,  spoiled,  captivated,  impoverished  as  they  of  4  "  Rab- 

i  Solomon,  Eocles.  1, 14.        *  Hor.  Art.  Poet.       *  Jovius,  vita  ejus.        «  2  Sam 
•B.CL 


368  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  a. 

bah,  put  under  iron  saws,  and  under  iron  harrows,  and  under 
axes  of  iron,  and  cast  into  the  tile  kiln," 

1 "  Quid  me  felicem  toties  jactastis  amici, 
Qui  cecidit,  stabili  non  erat  ille  gradu." 

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  conqueror  to  trample 
on.  So  many  casualties  there  are,  that  as  Seneca  said  of  a 
city  consumed  with  fire,  Una  dies  interest  inter  maximam 
civitatem  et  nullam,  one  day  betwixt  a  great  city  and  none ; 
so  many  grievances  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  dis 
contents  and  miseries  would  not  come  fast  enough  upon  us ; 
homo  homini  daemon,  we  maul,  persecute,  and  study  how  to 
sting,  gall,  and  vex  one  another  with  mutual  hatred,  abuses, 
injuries  ;  preying  upon  and  devouring  as  so  many  2  ravenous 
birds  ;  and  as  jugglers,  panders,  bawds,  cozening  one  another ; 
or  raging  as  8  wolves,  tigers,  and  devils,  we  take  a  delight  to 
torment  one  another ;  men  are  evil,  wicked,  malicious, 
treacherous,  and  4  nought,  not  loving  one  another,  or  loving 
themselves,  not  hospitable,  charitable,  nor  sociable  as  they 
ought  to  be,  but  counterfeit,  dissemblers,  ambidexters,  all  for 
their  own  ends,  hard-hearted,  merciless,  pitiless,  and  to  benefit 
themselves,  they  care  not  what  mischief  they  procure  to 
others.  6  Praxinoe  and  Gorgo  in  the  poet,  when  they  had 
got  in  to  see  those  costly  sights,  they  then  cried  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, 

1  Boethlns,  lib.  1,  Met.  1.         >  Om-  «  Quod   Paterculus   de  popnlo  Romano, 

nes  hie  aut  captantur.  aut  captant :  aut  durante  bello  Punico  per  annos  115,  ant 

cadavera  quae  lacerantur,  aut  cord  qul  bellum  Inter  eos,  aut  belli  prseparatio, 

laoerant.    Petron.        8  Homo  omne  mon-  aut  inflda  pax,  idem  ego  de  mundl  acco- 

ifcrum  est,  ille  nam  suspirat  feras,  lupos-  lia         5  Theocritus  Idyll.  15. 
ju«  et  ursos  pectore  obscuro  tegit.  Hens. 


Mem.  3,  subs.  10. J       Discontents,   Cares,  fyc.  369 

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  waiter  stands  behind  him,  "  an  hungry  fellow  minis 
ters  to  him  full,  he  is  athirst  that  gives  him  drink  (saith 
1  Epictetus)  and  is  silent  whilst  he  speaks  his  pleasure  ;  pen 
sive,  sad,  when  he  laughs."  Plena  se  proluit  auro  ;  he  feasts, 
revels,  and  profusely  spends,  hath  variety  of  robes,  sweet 
music,  ease,  and  all  the  pleasures  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  loathes  and  scorns  his  inferior,  hates  or 
emulates  his  equal,  envies  his  superior,  insults  over  all  such 
as  are  under  him,  as  if  he  were  of  another  species,  a  demi 
god,  not  subject  to  any  fall,  or  human  infirmities.  Generally 
they  love  not,  are  not  beloved  again ;  they  tire  out  others' 
bodies  with  continual  labour,  they  themselves  living  at  ease, 
caring  for  none  else,  sibi  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  lies,  they  will  let 
them  caterwaul,  starve,  beg,  and  hang,  before  they  will  any 
ways  (though  it  be  in  their  power)  assist  or  ease ;  2  so  unnat 
ural  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  another,  how  is  it  possible  but  that  we  should  be  dis 
content  of  all  sides,  full  of  cares,  woes,  and  miseries  ? 

If  this  be  not  a  sufficient  proof  of  their  discontent  and 
misery,  examine  every  condition  and  calling  apart.  Kings, 
princes,  monarchs,  and  magistrates  seem  to  be  most  happy, 

1  QuI  sedet  in  mensa,  non  meminit  sibl  et  liberius   voluptates  suas  expleverint, 

otio.=o  ministrare  negotiosos,  edenti  esu-  illi  gnatis  imponunt  duriores  continent!* 

rientes,  bibenti  sitientes,  &c.      2  Quando  leges. 
in  adolescentia  sua  ipsi  vixerint,  lautius 

VOL.  i.  24 


370  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  2. 

but  look  into  their  estate,  you  shall  l  find  them  to  he  most 
encumbered  with  cares,  in  perpetual  fear,  agony,  suspicion, 
jealousy  ;  that  as  2  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  show  me,  not  full  of  cares  ? 
8  "  Look  not  on  his  crown,  but  consider  his  afflictions ;  attend 
not  his  number  of  servants,  but  multitude  of  crosses."  Nihii 
aliud  potestas  culminis,  quam  tempestas  mentis,  as  Gregory 
seconds  him  ;  sovereignty  is  a  tempest  of  the  soul ;  Sylla-like 
they  have  brave  titles  but  terrible  fits :  splendorem  titulo,  cru- 
ciatum  animo ;  which  made  *  Demosthenes  vow,  si  vel  ad 
tribunal,  vel  ad  interitum  duceretur :  if  to  be  a  judge,  or  to  be 
condemned,  were  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  chil 
dren's  rattles  ;  they  come  and  go,  there  is  no  certainty  in 
them  ;  those  whom  they  elevate,  they  do  as  suddenly  depress, 
and  leave  hi  a  vale  of  misery.  The  middle  sort  of  men  are 
as  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,  emulation,  &c. 
The  poor  I  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  world's 
esteem  ;  to  be  a  lawyer,  'tis  to  be  a  wrangler  ;  to  be  a  physi 
cian,  6pudet  lotii,  'tis  loathed ;  a  philosopher,  a  madman ;  au 
alchymist,  a  beggar  ;  a  poet,  esurit,  an  hungry  jack  ;  a  musi 
cian,  a  player ;  a  schoolmaster,  a  drudge  ;  an  husbandman, 
an  emmet ;  a  merchant,  his  gains  are  uncertain  ;  a  mechani- 

1  Lugubrls  Ate  luctuque  fero  Regum  aa,  sed   vitam  afflictions  refertam,   not 

tumidas  obsidet  arces.     lies  est  inquieta  cateiras  satellitum,  sed  curarum  inulti- 

ftelicitag  -  Plus  aloes  quam  nielli*  tudinem.  *  As    Plutarch    relateth 

habet.     Non    humi    jacentem    tolleres.  *  Sect.  2,  memb.  4.  subsect.  6.         '•'   Stor 

Valer.  1.  7,  c.  8.        3  Non  diadema  arpici-  cus  et  urina,  mediconim  fercula  urirna 


Mem.  3,  subs.  10.]       Discontents,   Cares,  Sfc.  371 

cian,  base;  a  chirurgeon,  fulsome;  a  tradesman,  a  1Kar;  a 
tailor,  a  thief ;  a  serving-man,  a  slave  ;  a  soldier,  a  butcher ; 
a  smith,  or  a  metalman,  the  pot's  never  from's  nose  ;  a  cour 
tier,  a  parasite,  as  he  could  find  no  tree  in  the  wood  to  hang 
himself;  I  can  show  no  state  of  life  to  give  content.  The 
like  you  may  say  of  all  ages ;  children  live  hi  a  perpetual 
.Javery,  still  under  that  tyrannical  government  of  masters ; 
young  men,  and  of  riper  years,  subject  to  labour,  and  a  thou 
sand  cares  of  the  world,  to  treachery,  falsehood,  and  cozenage, 

3  "  Incedit  per  ignes, 
Suppositos  cineri  doloso," 

"  you  incautious  tread 
On  fires,  with  faithless  ashes  overhead." 

*  old  are  full  of  aches  in  their  bones,  cramps  and  convulsions, 
gilicernia,  dull  of  hearing,  weak   sighted,  hoary,  wrinkled, 
harsh,  so  much  altered  as  that  they  cannot  know  their  own 
face  hi  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 ;  Non  est  vivere  sed  valere,  vita.     One 
complains  of  want,  a  second  of  servitude,  4  another  of  a  secret 
or  incurable  disease  ;  of  some  deformity  of  body,  of  some 
loss,  danger,  death  of  friends,  shipwreck,  persecution,  impris 
onment,  disgrace,  repulse,  8  contumely,  calumny,  abuse,  injury, 
contempt,  ingratitude,  unkindness,  scoffs,  flouts,  unfortunate 
marriage,  single  life,  too  many  children,  no  children,  false 
servants,  unhappy  children,  barrenness,  banishment,  oppres 
sion,  frustrate  hopes  and  ill  success,  &c. 

*  "  Talia  de  genere  hoc  adeo  sunt  multa,  loquacem  nt 
Delassare  valent  Fabium." 

"  But,  every  various  instance  to  repeat, 
Would  tire  even  Fabius  of  incessant  prate." 

Talking  Fabius  will  be  tired  before  he  can  tell  half  of  them ; 

1  Nihil  lucrantur,  nisi  admodum  men-  mendicos,  quos  nemo  audet  foelices  die- 

tiendo.     lull.  Offlc.        *  Hor.  1.  2,  od.  1.  ere.     Card.   lib.   8,  c.  46,   de   rer.    Tar. 

*  Rams  felix  idemque  senex.     Seneca   in  (>  Spretaeque  injuria  formse         '  Hor . 
Her.  aeteo.         «  Omitto  asgros,  exules. 


372  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  l.  sec.  a. 

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  cru 
cify  the  soul  of  man,  1  attenuate  our  bodies,  dry  them,  wither 
them,  shrivel  them  up  like  old  apples,  make  them  as  so  many 
anatomies  (2  ossa  atque  pettis  est  totus,  ita  curis  macet),  they 
cause  tempus  fcedum  et  squalidum,  cumbersome  days,  in- 
tjrataque  tempora,  slow,  dull,  and  heavy  times  ;  make  us  howl, 
roar,  and  tear  our  hairs,  as  sorrow  did  in  8  Cebes's  table,  and 
groan  for  the  very  anguish  of  our  souls.  Our  hearts  fail  ua 
as  David's  did,  Psal.  xl.  12,  "  for  innumerable  troubles  that 
compassed  him ; "  and  we  are  ready  to  confess  with  Heze- 
kiah,  Isaiah  Iviii.  17,  "  behold,  for  felicity  I  had  bitter  grief; " 
to  weep  with  Heraclitus,  to  curse  the  day  of  our  birth  with 
Jeremy,  xx.  14,  and  our  stars  with  Job ;  to  hold  that  axiom 
of  Silenus,  4  "  better  never  to  have  been  born,  and  the  best 
next  of  all,  to  die  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  Ambrociato's  four  hundred  auditors,  precipitate 
ourselves  to  be  rid  of  these  miseries. 

SUBSECT.  XI. —  Concupiscible  Appetite,  as  Desires,  Ambition, 
Causes. 

THESE  concupiscible  and  irascible  appetites  are  as  the  two 
twists  of  a  rope,  mutually  mixed  one  with  the  other,  and  both 
twining  about  the  heart;  both  good,  as  Austin  holds,  /.  14, 
c.  9,  de  civ.  Dei,  6  "  if  they  be  moderate  ;  both  pernicious  if 
they  be  exorbitant."  This  concupiscible  appetite,  howsoever 
it  may  seem  to  carry  with  it  a  show  of  pleasure  and  delight, 
and  our  concupiscences  most  part  affect  us  with  content  and  a 
pleasing  object,  yet  if  they  be  in  extremes,  they  rack  and 
wring  us  on  the  other  side.  A  true  saying  it  is,  "  Desire 
hath  no  rest ; "  is  infinite  in  itself,  endless  ;  and  as  '  one  calls 

I  Attendant  vigiles  corpus  miserabile  ci,  aut  cito  mori.  6  BOOK  81  rectam  m 
cures.  *  Plautua.  »  Haec  quse  crines  tionem  sequuntur.  mala  si  exorbitant 
cvelllt,  aerumna.  *  Optimum  iion  nas-  «  Tho.  Buovie.  Prob.  18. 


Mem.  8,  subs.  11.]          Ambition,  a   Cause.  373 

it,  a  perpetual  rack,  *  or  horsemill,  according  to  Austin,  still 
going  round  as  in  a  ring.  They  are  not  so  continual,  as 
divers,  felicius  atomos  denumerare  possem,  saith  2  Bernard, 
qudm  motus  cordis  ;  nunc  hcec,  nunc  ilia  cogito,  you  may  as 
well  reckon  up  the  motes  in  the  sun  as  them.  8  "  It  extends 
itself  to  everything,"  as  Guianerius  will  have  it,  "  that  is  su 
perfluously  sought  after ;  "  or  to  any  *  fervent  desire,  as  Fer- 
nelius  interprets  it ;  be  it  in  what  kind  soever,  it  tortures  if 
immoderate,  and  is  (according  to  6  Plater  and  others)  an 
especial  cause  of  melancholy.  Multuosis  concupiscentiis 
dilaniantur  cogitationes  mece,  6  Austin  confessed,  that  he  was 
torn  a  pieces  with  his  manifold  desires  ;  and  so  doth  7  Ber 
nard  complain,  "  that  he  could  not  rest  for  them  a  minute  of 
an  hour ;  this  I  would  have,  and  that,  and  then  I  desire  to 
be  such  and  such."  Tis  a  hard  matter  therefore  to  confine 
them,  being  they  are  so  various  and  many,  impossible  to  ap 
prehend  all.  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  ambition ; 
love  of  money,  which  is  covetousness,  and  that  greedy  desire 
of  gain  ;  self-love,  pride,  and  inordinate  desire  of  vainglory 
or  applause,  love  of  study  in  excess  ;  love  of  women  (which 
will  require  a  just  volume  of  itself),  of  the  other  I  will  briefly 
speak,  and  in  their  order. 

Ambition,  a  proud  covetousness,  or  a  dry  thirst  of  honour, 
a  great  torture  of  the  mind,  composed  of  envy,  pride,  and 
covetousness,  a  gallant  madness,  one  8  defines  it  a  pleasant 
poison,  Ambrose,  "  a  canker  of  the  soul,  an  hidden  plague  ; " 
*  Bernard,  "  a  secret  poison,  the  father  of  livor,  and  mother 
of  hypocrisy,  the  moth  of  holiness,  and  cause  of  madness, 
crucifying  and  disquieting  all  that  it  takes  hold  of." 


1  Molam  asinariam.  «  Tract,  de  In-  vagor,  nnllo  temporis  m  omen  to  qnieeco, 

ter.  e.  92.  3  Circa  quamlibet  rem  talia  et  tails  esse  cupio,  illud  atque  iltad 

tnundi  base  passio  fieri  potest,  qu»  su-  habere  desidero.  »  Ambros.  1.  8,  stiper 

pertiue  diligatur.  Tract.  15,  c.  17.  Lucam,  aerugo  animae.  *  Nihil  ani- 

•  FerventiuH  desiderium.  6  Imprimis  mum  cruciat,  nihil  molcstius  toquietat, 

yero  Appetitus,  &c.  8,  de  alien,  ment.  secretum  virus,  pestls  oocuita.  &e..epist. 

Conf    1,  c.  29.         '  Per  diyersa  loca  126. 


374  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  2. 

1  Seneca  calls  it  rem  solicitam,  timidam,  vanam,  ventosam, 
a  windy  thing,  a  vain,  solicitous,  and  fearful  thing.  For 
commonly  they  that,  like  Sysiphus,  roll  this  restless  stone 
of  ambition,  are  in  a  perpetual  agony,  still  2  perplexed, 
semper  taciti,  triste&que  recedunt  (Lucretius),  doubtful,  tim 
orous,  suspicious,  loath  to  offend  in  word  or  deed,  still  cog 
ging  and  colloguing,  embracing,  capping,  cringing,  applaud 
ing,  flattering,  fleering,  visiting,  waiting  at  men's  doors,  with 
all  affability,  counterfeit  honesty  and  humility.8  If  that  will 
not  serve,  if  once  this  humour  (as  4  Cyprian  describes  it) 
possess  his  thirsty  soul,  ambitionis  salsugo  ubi  bibulam  ani- 
mam  possidet,  by  hook  and  by  crook  he  will  obtain  it,  "  and 
from  his  hole  he  will  climb  to  all  honours  and  offices,  if  it  be 
possible  for  him  to  get  up,  flattering  one,  bribing  another,  he 
will  leave  no  means  unessay'd  to  win  all."  6  It  is  a  wonder 
to  see  how  slavishly  these  kind  of  men  subject  themselves, 
when  they  are  about  a  suit,  to  every  inferior  person ;  what 
pains  they  will  take,  run,  ride,  cast,  plot,  countermine,  protest 
and  swear,  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  them 
selves  and  their  fortunes,  in  seeking  that  many  times,  which 
they  had  much  better  be  without ;  as  8  Cyneas  the  orator  told 
Pyrrhus;  with  what  waking  nights,  painful  hours,  anxious 
thoughts,  and  bitterness  of  mind,  inter  tpemque  metumque, 
distracted  and  tired,  they  consume  the  interim  of  their  time. 
There  can  be  no  greater  plague  for  the  present.  If  they  do 
obtain  their  suit,  which  with  such  cost  and  solicitude  they 
have  sought,  they  are  not  so  freed,  their  anxiety  is  anew  to 

1  Ep.  88.  >  Nihil  infellcius  his,  tar,  frequentat  curias,  visitat,  optimal** 
quantus  Us  timer,  quanta  dubltatio,  amplezatur,  applaudlt,  adulatur:  per 
quantusconatus, quanta  solicitude,  nulla  las  et  nefas  e  latebris,  in  omnem  gradum 
ill  is  4  molestiis  vacua  hora.  3  Semper  ubt  adltus  patet  se  ingerit,  discurrit. 
ittonitus,  semper  pavidus  quid  dlcat,  fa-  6  Turbae  cogit  ambitio  regem  inservtre, 
elatre:  ne  displiceat  huinilitatem  simu-  ut  Homerus  Agamemnonem  querentnn 
lat,  honeotatem  mentitur.  *  Cypr.  inducit.  •  IMutarchus.  Quin  con- 
Prolog,  ad  ser.  To.  2,  cunctoa  honorat,  Tiremur,  et  in  otio  nog  oblectemur,  quo 
uniTeraig  inclinat,  subsequitur,  obsequl-  niam  in  promctu  id  nobis  git,  &o. 


Mem.  3,  subs.  11.]  Ambition,  a    Cause.  373 

begin,  for  they  are  never  satisfied,  nihil  aliud  nisi  imperiwn 
spirant,  their  thoughts,  actions,  endeavours  are  all  for  sov 
ereignty  and  honour,  like  1  Lues  Sforsia  that  huffing  duke  of 
Milan,  "  a  man  of  singular  wisdom,  but  profound  ambition, 
born  to  his  own,  and  to  the  destruction  of  Italy,"  though  it 
be  to  their  own  ruin,  and  friends'  undoing,  they  will  contend, 
they  may  not  cease,  but  as  a  dog  in  a  wheel,  a  bird  in  a  cage, 
or  a  squirrel  in  a  chain,  so  2  Budaeus  compares  them  ;  8  they 
climb  and  climb  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  to  praetor ; 
from  bailiff  to  major ;  first  this  office,  and  then  that ;  as 
Pyrrhus  in  4  Plutarch,  they  will  first  have  Greece,  then  Af 
rica,  and  then  Asia,  and  swell  with  ^Esop's  frog  so  long,  till 
in  the  end  they  burst,  or  come  down  with  Sejanus,  ad  Gemo- 
mas  scalas,  and  break  their  own  necks  ;  or  as  Evangelus  the 
piper  in  Lucian,  that  blew  his  pipe  so  long,  till  he  fell  down 
dead.  If  he  chance  to  miss,  and  have  a  canvass,  he  is  in  a 
hell  on  the  other  side  ;  so  dejected,  that  he  is  ready  to  hang 
himself,  turn  heretic,  Turk,  or  traitor  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,  furore  corripitur  ;  if  he  cannot  satisfy  his  desire 
(as  6  Bodine  writes)  he  runs  mad.  So  that  both  ways,  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  tune,  'madness  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  courtier's  life  (as  Budaeus 
describes  it)  "is  a  7  gallimaufry  of  ambition,  lust,  fraud,  im- 

1  Jo-Hug  hist.  1. 1,  vir  singular!  pruden-  bitio  in  insaniara   fecile  delabitur,  si  ex- 

tia,  sed  profunda  ambitione,  ad  exitium  cedat.     Patritius,  1.  4,   tit.  20,   de  regta 

It ,  line  natug.  *  Ut  hedera  arbori  ad-  instil.        •  Lib.  6,  de  rep.  cap.  1.       7  Im- 

hseret,  rfc  ambitio,  &c.  »  Lib.  8,  de  primls  Tero  appetitns.  seu  concupiscen- 

eontemptu  rerum  fortuitarum.     Magno  tia  nimia  rei  alicujus,  honestae  Tel  in- 

oonatu  et  impetu  moventur,  super  eodem  honestte,    phantasiam    Isedunt  ;     unde 

centre  rotati .  non  proflciunt .  nee  ad  flnem  multi  ambitiosi,  philauti,  irati,  arari,  in- 

perreniu  n t .         «  Vita  Pyrrhl.        6  Am-  san', &c.  Felix  Plater,  1.  3,  de  mentts  alien 


376  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  a 

posture,  dissimulation,  detraction,  envy,  pride  ;  *  the  court,  a 
common  conventicle  of  flatterers,  timeservers,  politicians," 
&c. ;  or  as  2  Anthony  Perez  will,  "  the  suburbs  of  hell  itself." 
If  you  will  see  such  discontented  persons,  there  you  shall 
likely  find  them.  8  And  which  he  observed  of  the  markets 
of  old  Rome, 

"  Qui  perjurum  convenire  vult  hominem,  mitto  in  Comitium; 
Qui  mendacem  et  gloriosum,  apud  Cluasinae  sacrum; 
Dites,  damnosos  maritos,  sub  basilic^  quserito,"  &c. 

Perjured  knaves,  knights  of  the  post,  liars,  crackers,  bad 
husbands,  &c.,  keep  their  several  stations ;  they  do  still,  and 
always  did  in  every  commonwealth. 

SUBSECT.  XII. — •fctAopyvpta,  Covetotisness,  a  Cause. 

PLUTARCH,  in  his  4  book  whether  the  diseases  of  the  body 
be  more  grievous  than  those  of  the  soul,  is  of  opinion,  "  if 
you  will  examine  all  the  causes  of  our  miseries  in  this  life, 
you  shall  find  them  most  part  to  have  had  their  beginning 
from  stubborn  anger,  that  furious  desire  of  contention,  or 
some  unjust  or  immoderate  affection,  as  covetousness,"  &c. 
"  From  whence  are  wars  and  contentions  amongst  you  ? ' 
*  St.  James  asks ;  I  will  add  usury,  fraud,  rapine,  simony, 
oppression,  lying,  swearing,  bearing  false  witness,  &c.,  are 
they  not  from  this  fountain  of  covetousness,  that  greediness 
in  getting,  tenacity  in  keeping,  sordity  in  spending  ;  that  they 
are  so  wicked,  6  "  unjust  against  God,  their  neighbour,  them 
selves  ; "  all  comes  hence.  "  The  desire  of  money  is  the 
root  of  all  evil,  and  they  that  lust  after  it,  pierce  themselves 
through  with  many  sorrows,"  1  Tim.  vi.  10.  Hippocrates 
therefore  in  his  Epistle  to  Crateva,  an  herbalist,  gives  him 
this  good  counsel,  that  if  it  were  possible,  *  u  amongst  other 

1  Aulica  vita  colluvies  ambitionis,  cupid-  ta   cupidltate,  originem    traxisse    scies. 

itatis,  Kimulationis,  imposture?,  fniudis,  Idem  fere  Chrysostoinus  com.  in  c.  6,  ad 

invidiae,  superbiae  Titaunicae,  diyersori-  Roman,  ser.  11.          *  Cap.  4, 1.          6  Ut 

um,  aula,  et   commune  conventiculum  git  iniquus  in  deum,   in  proximnm,  in 

aasentandi,  artificum,  &c.     Budteus  de  seipsurn.       *  Si  vero,  Crateva,  inter  caet- 

asse.  lib.  6.        -  In  his  Aphor.       3  Plau-  eras  berbarum  radices,  avaritiae  rodicem 

tus  Curcul.  Act.  4,  Seen.  1.        4  Tom.  2.  secare  posses  amaram,  ut  nullae  reliquiat 

8i  examines,  omnes  miseriae  causas  vel  a  essent,  prob6  scito,  &c. 
fnrioao  contendendi  studio,  Tel  ab  injus- 


Mem.  3,  subs.  12.]        Covetousness,  a   Cause.  377 

herbs,  he  should  cut  up  that  weed  of  covetousness  by  the 
roots,  that  there  be  no  remainder  left,  and  then  know  this  for 
a  certainty,  that  together  with  their  bodies,  thou  mayst 
quickly  cure  all  the  diseases  of  their  minds."  For  it  is 
indeed  the  pattern,  image,  epitome  of  all  melancholy,  the 
fountain  of  many  miseries,  much  discontented  care  and  woe ; 
this  "  inordinate  or  immoderate,  desire  of  gain,  to  get  or 
keep  money,"  as  l  Bonaventure  defines  it ;  or,  as  Austin 
describes  it,  a  madness  of  the  soul;  Gregory,  a  torture; 
Chrysostom,  an  insatiable  drunkenness;  Cyprian,  blindness, 
speciosum  supplicium,  a  plague  subverting  kingdoms,  families, 
an  *  incurable  disease ;  Budaeus,  an  ill  habit,  2 "  yielding  to 
no  remedies;"  neither,  JEsculapius  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  of  wealth  than  in  spending,  and  no  delight 
in  the  world  like  unto  it.  'Twas  f  Bias's  problem  of  old 
"  With  what  art  thou  not  weary  ?  with  getting  money.  What 
is  more  delectable  ?  to  gain."  What  is  it,  trow  you,  that 
makes  a  poor  man  labour  all  his  lifetime,  carry  such  great 
burdens,  fare  so  hardly,  macerate  himself,  and  endure  so 
much  misery,  undergo  such  base  offices  with  so  great  pa 
tience,  to  rise  up  early,  and  lie  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  all  over  the  world,  through  all  those  intem 
perate  J  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  inde 
fatigable  pains  ?  What  makes  them  go  into  the  bowels  of 

1  Cap.  6.     Dietse    salutis  :   avaritia  eat  tur  quam  iusania :  quoniam  hac  omnel 

amor  immoderatus  pecunise Tel  acquiren-  fere  modici  laborant.    Hip.  ep.  Abilerit. 

d»,  Tel  retinendse.        *  Ferum  profeeto  t  Extremes  currit  mercator  ad  Indos. 

dirumque  ulcua  anlmi,  remediis  non  ce-  Hor.        t  Qua  re  non  es  lassus?  lucrurn 

dens  medendo  exasperatur.         -  Malus  facieudo  :  quid  inaxime   delectabile?  lu 

est  morbus  maleque  afflcit  avaritia  siqui-  crari. 
Jem  censeo.  &c.,  avaritia  difflcilius  cura- 


378  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  seo.  2 

the  earth,  an  hundred  fathom  deep,  endangering  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  delight  they  take  in  riches. 
This  may  seem  plausible  at  first  show,  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  pleasing  at  the  first,  as  most  part 
all  melancholy  is.  For  such  men  likely  have  some  lucida 
intervatta,  pleasant  symptoms  intermixed ;  but  you  must  note 
that  of  *  Chrysostom,  "  Tis  one  thing  to  be  rich,  another  tc 
be  covetous ; "  generally  they  are  all  fools,  dizzards,  mad 
men,  l  miserable  wretches,  living  beside  themselves,  sine  arte 
fruendi,  in  perpetual  slavery,  fear,  suspicion,  sorrow,  and  dis 
content,  plus  aloes  quam  mellis  habent ;  and  are  indeed, 
"  rather  possessed  by  their  money,  than  possessors ; "  as 
8  Cyprian  hath  it,  mancipati  pecuniis ;  bound  prentice  to 
their  goods,  as  f  Pliny ;  or  as  Chrysostom,  servi  divitiarum, 
slaves  and  drudges  to  their  substance  ;  and  we  may  conclude 
of  them  all,  as  "Valerius  doth  of  Ptolomaeus  king  of  Cy 
prus,  "  He  was  in  title  a  king  of  that  island,  but  in  his  mind, 
a  miserable  drudge  of  money ; " 

t "  potiore  metallis 
Libertate  carens — " 

wanting  his  liberty,  which  is  better  than  gold.  Damasippus 
the  Stoic,  in  Horace,  proves  that  all  mortal  men  dote  by  fits, 
some  one  way,  some  another,  but  that  covetous  men  4are 
madder  than  the  rest ;  and  he  that  shall  truly  look  into  their 
estates,  and  examine  their  symptoms,  shall  find  no  better  of 
them,  but  that  they  are  all  6  fools,  as  Nabal  was,  Re  et 
nomine  (1  Reg.  25).  For  what  greater  folly  can  there  be, 

*  Horn.    2,  aliud  avarus  aliud  dives,  rex  titulo,  sed  anlmo  pecunlse  miserabito 

'  Divitisc    ut   gplnae    aiiimuin    homiois  mancipium.      t  Hor.  10,  Mb.  1.      «  Dan- 

ttmoribus,     solicitudinibus,     angoribus  da  eat  helleborl  multo  pars  maxima  ara- 

niiriOce     pungunt,     vexant,     cruciant.  ris.  5  Luke,   xii.  20.    Stulte,    hM 

3reg  in  horn.       *  Epist.  ad  Donat.  cap.  2.  nocte  eripiam  aniinara  tuam 
'  Lib  0,  ep.  80.       *  Lib.  9,  cap  i,  insults 


Mem.  3,  subs.  12. J       Covet&usness,  a   Cause.  37 y 

or  *  madness,  than  to  macerate  himself  when  he  need  not  ? 
and  when,  as  Cyprian  notes,  1 "  he  may  be  freed  from  his 
burden,  and  eased  of  his  pains,  will  go  on  still,  his  wealth 
increasing,  when  he  hath  enough,  to  get  more,  to  live  besides 
himself,"  to  starve  his  genius,  keep  back  from  his  wife  2  and 
children,  neither  letting  them  nor  other  friends  use  or  enjoy 
that  which  is  theirs  by  right,  and  which  they  much  need  per 
haps  ;  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  pelf,  damn  his  own  soul ! 
They  are  commonly  sad  and  tetric  by  nature,  as  Ahab'a 
spirit  was,  because  he  could  not  get  Naboth's  vineyard, 
(3  Reg.  21,)  and  if  he  lay  out  his  money  at  any  time,  though 
it  be  to  necessary  uses,  to  his  own  children's  good,  he  brawls 
and  scolds,  his  heart  is  heavy,  much  disquieted  he  is,  and 
loath  to  part  from  it :  Miser  dbstinet  et  timet  uti,  Hor.  He  is 
of  a  wearish,  dry,  pale  constitution,  and  cannot  sleep  for 
cares  and  worldly  business ;  his  riches,  saith  Solomon,  will 
not  let  him  sleep,  and  unnecessary  business  which  he  heapeth 
on  himself ;  or  if  he  do  sleep,  'tis  a  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  body  takes 
no  rest,  *  troubled  in  his  abundance,  and  sorrowful  in  plenty, 
unhappy  for  the  present,  and  more  unhappy  in  the  life  to 
come."  Basil.  He  is  a  perpetual  drudge,  6  restless  in  his 
thoughts,  and  never  satisfied,  a  slave,  a  wretch,  a  dust-worm, 

*  Opes  quidem  mortalibus  snnt  demen-  *  Epist.  2,  lib.  2.     Suspirat  in  convifio, 

tia.    Theog.        '  Ed.  2,  lib.  2.    Exonerare  bibat  licet  gemniis  et  toro  molliore  mar- 

cum  se  possit  et  relevare  ponderibus  per-  cidum  corpus  condiderit,  Tigilat  in  plu- 

git  magis  fortunis  angentibus  pertinaci-  ma.  *  Angustatur   ex   abundantia, 

ter  iucubare.          -  Non  amicis,  non  libe-  contristatur  ex  opulenti  >,  infelix  prsesen- 

ris,  non   ipsi  sibi    quidquam  imperti t ;  tibus  bonis,  infelicior  in  futuris.        s  II- 

oossidet  ad  hoc  tantum,  ne  possidere  al-  lortun    cogitatio    nunquam    cessat    qu/ 

teri  liceat,  &c.   Hieron.  ad  Paulin.  tarn  pecnnias   supplere    diligunt.      Guianer 

deest  quod  habet  quam  quod  non  habet.  tract.  16,  c.  17- 


380  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  a. 

semper  quod  idolo  suo  immolet,  sedulus  observed,  Cypr.  prolog. 
ad  sermon,  still  seeking  what  sacrifice  he  may  offer  to  his 
golden  god,  per  fas  et  nefas,  he  cares  not  how,  his  trouble  is 
endless,  l  crescunt  divitice,  tamen  curtce  nescio  quid  semper 
abest  rei :  his  wealth  increaseth,  and  the  more  he  hath,  the 
more  2  he  wants ;  like  Pharaoh's  lean  kine,  which  devoured 
the  fat,  and  were  not  satisfied.  8  Austin  therefore  defines 
covetousness,  quarumlibet  rerum  inhonestam  et  insatiabilem 
cupiditatem,  a  dishonest  and  insatiable  desire  of  gain  ;  and 
in  one  of  his  epistles  compares  it  to  hell ;  4  "  which  devours 
all,  and  yet  never  hath  enough,  a  bottomless  pit,"  an  endless 
misery ;  in  quern  scopulum  avaritice  cadaverosi  senes  ut  pluri- 
mum  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,  his  servants  are  all  false  : 

"  Rem  suam  periisse,  seque  eradicarier, 
Et  divum  atque  hominum  clamat  continub  fidem, 
De  suo  tigillo  fumus  si  qua  exit  foras." 

"  If  his  doors  creak,  then  out  he  cries  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,  6 "  They  are  afraid 
of  tempests  for  their  corn  ;  they  are  afraid  of  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  die  beggars, 
which  makes  them  lay  up  still,  and  dare  not  use  that  they 

1  Hor.  8,  Od.  24.    Quo  pins  sunt  potes,  Adag.  chil.  8,  c.vnt.  7,  pro.  72.  Null!  flden- 

Slusuitiuntur  aquae.       *  Hor.  1. 2,  Sat.  6.  tea  omnium  formidant  opes,  ideo  pavi- 

si  angulug  ille  prorimus  accedat,  qul  dum  malum  vocat  Euripides :  metuunt 

nunc  deformat  agellum.        8  Lib.  3,  de  tempestates  ob  frumentum,  amicoB  ne 

lib.  arbit.     Iinmoritur  studiis,  et  amore  rogent,  inimicoa  ne  laedant,  fures  ne  ra- 

aenescit  habendi.        «  Avarus  vir  Infer-  plant,  bellum    timent,    p&cem   timent 

no  eat  Bimills,  &c.,  modum  non  habet,  guuimos.  medios,  inflmos- 
hoc  egentior  quo  plum  habet.      &  Erasm. 


Mem.  3,  subs.  12.]         Covetousness,  a   Cause.  381 

have ;  what  if  a  dear  year  come,  or  dearth,  or  some  loss  ? 
and  were  it  not  that  they  are  loath  to  *  lay  out  money  on  a 
rope,  they  would  be  hanged  forthwith,  and  sometimes  die  to 
save  charges,  and  make  away  themselves,  if  their  corn  and 
cattle  miscarry ;  though  they  have  abundance  left,  as  a  Agel- 
lius  notes.  8  Valerius  makes  mention  of  one  that  in  a  fam 
ine  sold  a  mouse  for  two  hundred  pence,  and  famished  him 
self;  such  are  their  cares,  4  griefs,  and  perpetual  fears.  These 
symptoms  are  elegantly  expressed  by  Theophrastus  in  his 
character  of  a  covetous  man ;  6  "  lying  in  bed,  he  asked  his 
wife  whether  she  shut  the  trunks  and  chests  fast,  the  carcass 
be  sealed,  and  whether  the  hall  door  be  bolted ;  and  though 
she  say  all  is  well,  he  riseth  out  of  his  bed  in  his  shirt,  bare 
foot  and  barelegged,  to  see  whether  it  be  so,  with  a  dark  lan 
tern  searching  every  corner,  scarce  sleeping  a  wink  all  night." 
Lucian,  in  that  pleasant  and  witty  dialogue  called  Gallus, 
brings  in  Mycillus  the  cobbler  disputing  with  his  cock,  some- 
tunes  Pythagoras ;  where  after  much  speech  pro  and  con  to 
prove  the  happiness  of  a  mean  estate,  and  discontents  of  a 
rich  man,  Pythagoras's  cock  in  the  end,  to  illustrate  by  exam 
ples  that  which  he  had  said,  brings  him  to  Gnyphon  the  usu 
rer's  house  at  midnight,  and  after  that  to  Eucrates;  whom 
they  found  both  awake,  casting  up  their  accounts,  and  telling 
of  their  money,  6  lean,  dry,  pale  and  anxious,  still  suspecting 
lest  somebody  should  make  a  hole  through  the  wall,  and  so 
get  in ;  or  if  a  rat  or  mouse  did  but  stir,  starting  upon  a 
sudden,  and  running  to  the  door  to  see  whether  all  were  fast. 
Plautus,  in  his  Aulularia,  makes  old  Euclio7  commanding 
Staphyla  his  wife  to  shut  the  doors  fast,  and  the  fire  to  be 

i  Hall  Char.         *  Agellius,  lib.  3,  cap.  obiens  et  lustrans,  et  vix  somno  indul- 

1,  interdum  eo  sceleris  perveuiuut  ob  lu-  gens.          *  Curis  extenuatus,  vigilans  et 

srum,    at  vitam  propriam  commutent.  secum  supputans.         7  Cave  quemquam 

*  Lib.   7,  cap.  6          *  Omnes    perpetuo  alienuru  in  secies  intromiseris.      Ignem 

morbo  agitantur,  suspicatur  omnes  timi-  eztingui  volo,  ne  causae  quidquam    sit 

dus,  sibique  ob  aurum  iosidiari  putat,  quod  te  quisquam  quaeritet.      Si    bona 

nunquam  quiescens,  Plin    Prooem.  lib.  fortwna  veniat  ne  intromiseris;  Occluda 

14.          6  Cap.  18,  in  lectojacens  interro-  sis  fores  ambobus  pessulis.     Discrutior 

gat  uxorem  an  arcam  probe  clausit,  an  animi   quia  domo  abeundum  est   mihi : 

sapsula,  &c     £  lecto  surgeng  nudus  et  Nimis  hercule  invitus    abeo,   nee    quid 

ibsque  calceis,  accensa  lucerna    omnia  agam  scio. 


382  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  2 

put  out,  lest  anybody  should  make  that  an  errand  to  come  to 
his  house ;  when  he  washed  his  hands,  *  he  was  loath  to  fling 
away  the  foul  water,  complaining  that  he  was  undone,  be 
cause  the  smoke  got  out  of  his  roof.  And  as  he  went  from 
home,  seeing  a  crow  scratch  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  covetous  and  miserable  wretches,  and  that  it  is, 

*  "  manifesta  phrenesis 
Ut  locuples  moriaris  egentis  vivere  fato." 

A  mere  madness,  to  live  like  a  wretch,  and  die  rich. 

STJBSECT.  XIII. — Love  of  Gaming,  fyc.,  and  Pleasures  im 
moderate  ;   Causes. 

IT  is  a  wonder  to  see,  how  many  poor,  distressed,  miser 
able  wretches,  one  shall  meet  almost  in  every  path  and  street, 
begging  for  an  alms,  that  have  been  well  descended,  and 
sometimes  in  flourishing  estate,  now  ragged,  tattered,  and 
ready  to  be  starved,  lingering  out  a  painful  life,  in  discontent 
and  grief  of  body  and  mind,  and  all  through  immoderate  lust, 
gaming,  pleasure  and  riot.  'Tis  the  common  end  of  all  sen 
sual  epicures  and  brutish  prodigals,  that  are  stupefied  and 
carried  away  headlong  with  their  several  pleasures  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 
conductis,  hath  excellent  well  deciphered  such  men's  pro 
ceedings  in  his  picture  of  Opulentia,  whom  he  feigns  to  dwell 
on  the  top  of  a  high  mount,  much  sought  after  by  many 
suitors ;  at  their  first  coming  they  are  generally  entertained 
by  pleasure  and  dalliance,  and  have  all  the  content  that  pos- 
eibly  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. 

I  Plorat  aquam  profundere,  &c.,  periit  dum  fumus  de  tigillo  exit  foras.    *  JUT.  8. 14 


Biem.  3,  subs.  13.]        Love  of  Gaming,  SfC.  383 

And  he  at  first  that  had  so  many  attendants,  parasites,  and 
followers,  young  and  lusty,  richly  arrayed,  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,  1  pale,  naked,  old, 
diseased  and  forsaken,  cursing  his  stars,  and  ready  to  stran 
gle  himself;  having  no  other  company  but  repentance,  sor 
row,  grief,  derision,  beggary  and  contempt,  which  are  hia 
daily  attendants  to  his  life's  end.  As  the  2  prodigal  son 
had  exquisite  music,  merry  company,  dainty  fare  at  first; 
but  a  sorrowful  reckoning  in  the  end;  so  have  all  such 
vain  delights  and  their  followers.  *Tristes  voluptatum  ex- 
ituSj  et  quisquis  voluptatum  suarum  reminisci  volet,  intel- 
liget,  as  bitter  as  gall  and  wormwood  is  their  last ;  grief  of 
mind,  madness  itself.  The  ordinary  rocks  upon  which  such 
men  do  impinge  and  precipitate  themselves,  are  cards,  dice, 
hawks  and  hounds,  Insanum  venandi  studium,  one  calls  it, 
insante  substructions:  their  mad  structures,  disports,  plays, 
&c.,  when  they  are  unseasonably  used,  imprudently  han 
dled,  and  beyond  their  fortunes.  Some  men  are  consumed 
by  mad  fantastical  buildings,  by  making  galleries,  cloisters, 
terraces,  walks,  orchards,  gardens,  pools,  rillets,  bowers,  and 
such  like  places  of  pleasure ;  Inutiles  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  ob 
servations  hath  an  example  of  such  a  one  that  became  melan 
choly  upon  the  like  occasion,  having  consumed  his  substance 
in  an  unprofitable  building,  which  would  afterward  yield  him 
no  advantage.  Others,  I  say,  are  5  overthrown  by  those  mad 
sports  of  hawking  and  hunting;  honest  recreations,  and  fit 
for  some  great  men,  but  not  for  every  base  inferior  person ; 
rhilst  they  will  maintain  their  falconers,  dogs,  and  hunting- 

1  Ventricosus,    ruidus,    pallidus,  Iseva  nom.   Quid  si   mine  ostendam   eos  qul 

pudorem     occultans,     dextra     seipsum  magna  vi  argenti   domus  inutiles  sedifi- 

Strangulans,     o-^currit    autem     exeunti  cant,  iuquit  Socrates.  » Sarisburien- 

poenitentia  his  miserum  conflciens,  &c.  sis.  Polycrat.  1.  1,  c.  14,  venatores  omnef 

1  Luke  XT.         3  Boethius.         *  In  Oeco-  adhuc  iiistitutioueui  redolent  ceutauro- 


384  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  a, 

nags,  their  wealth,  saith  *  Salmutze, "  runs  away  with  hounds, 
and  their  fortunes  fly  away  with  hawks."  They  persecute 
beasts  so  long,  till  in  the  end  they  themselves  degenerate  into 
beasts,  as  a  Agrippa  taxeth  them,  8  Actaeon-like,  for  as  he  was 
eaten  to  death  by  his  own  dogs,  so  do  they  devour  them 
selves  and  their  patrimonies,  in  such  idle  and  unnecessary 
disports,  neglecting  in  the  mean  time  their  more  necessary 
business,  and  to  follow  their  vocations.  Over-mad,  too,  some 
times,  are  our  great  men  hi  delighting,  and  doting  too  much 
on  it.  * "  When  they  drive  poor  husbandmen  from  their 
tillage,"  as  6  Sarisburiensis  objects,  Polycrat.  1.  1,  c.  4,  "  fling 
down  country  farms,  and  whole  towns,  to  make  parks,  and 
forests,  starving  men  to  feed  beasts,  and  6  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  ways  to  be  ex 
cused,  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  impertinent 
business  of  such  kind  of  persons.  A  physician  of  Milan, 
saith  he,  that  cured  mad  men,  had  a  pit  of  water  in  his 
house,  in  which  he  kept  his  patients,  some  up  to  their  knees, 
some  to  the  girdle,  some  to  the  chin,  pro  modo  intanue,  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 
hi»>  spaniels  after  him,  would  needs  know  to  what  use  all  this 
preparation  served ;  he  made  answer  to  kill  certain  fowls ; 
the  patient  demanded  again,  what  his  fowl  might  be  worth 

rum.     Rare  invenitur  quisquam  eorum  agricolonis  prsecluduntur  sylvse  et  prata 

modestus  et  gravU,  raro  continent*,  et  ut  pastoribus   ut    augeantur   poscua    feris. 

credo  sobrius  imquam.  1  Pancirol.  Majestatis  reus  agricola  si  gustarit. 

Tit.    23,    avolant    opes    cum    accipitre.  *  A  novalibus   suis    arceiitur    agricola), 

1  Insignia  Tenatorum  stultitia,  et  super-  dura  ferae  habeant  vagandi  libertatem : 

Tacanea  cura  eoruin,  qui  dum   nimium  istis,  ut  pascua  augpantur,  prsedia  sub- 

venationi  insistunt,  ipsi  abjecta  omni  hu-  trahuntur,  &c.     Sarisburiensis.        «  Fe- 

manitate  in  feras  degenerant.  ut  Acteon,  ris  quam  hominibus  sequiores.     Carabd. 

&c.  3  Sabin.   in  Ovid.   Metamor.  de  Guil.  Conq.  qui  86  Ecclesias  matrices 

1  Agrippa  de  vanit.  sclent.  Insauum  ve-  de  populatus    est   ad  forestam    novam. 

uandi  studium,  dum  a  novalibus  arcen-  Mat.  Paris, 
tur  agricola)  subtrahunt  praedia  rusticis, 


Mem.  3,  sub*.  13.]        Love  of  Gaming,  $c.  385 

which  he  killed  in  a  year  ;t  he  replied  five  or  ten  crowns ; 
and  when  he  urged  him  farther  what  his  dogs,  horse,  and 
hawks  stood  him  in,  he  told  him  four  hundred  crowns ;  with 
that  the  patient  bade  be  gone,  as  he  loved  his  life  and 
welfare,  for  if  our  master  come  and  find  thee  here,  he  will 
put  thee  in  the  pit  amongst  mad  men  up  to  the  chin ;  taxing 
the  madness  and  folly  of  such  vain  men  that  spend  them 
selves  in  those  idle  sports,  neglecting  their  business  and 
necessary  affairs.  Leo  decimus,  that  hunting  pope,  is  much 
discommended  by  l  Jovius  in  his  life,  for  his  immoderate  de 
sire  of  hawking  and  hunting,  insomuch  that  (as  he  aaith) 
he  would  sometimes  live  about  Ostia  weeks  and  months  to 
gether,  leave  suitors  2  unrespected,  bulls  and  pardons  un 
signed,  to  his  own  prejudice,  and  many  private  men's  loss. 
8  "  And  if  he  had  been  by  chance  crossed  in  his  sport,  or  his 
game  not  so  good,  he  was  so  impatient,  that  he  would  revile 
and  miscall  many  times  men  of  great  worth  with  most  bitter 
taunts,  look  so  sour,  be  so  angry  and  waspish,  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,  incredib- 
ili  munificentia,  with  unspeakable  bounty  and  munificence 
he  would  reward  all  his  fellow  hunters,  and  deny  nothing  to 
any  suitor  when  he  was  in  that  mood.  To  say  truth,  'tis  the 
common  humour  of  all  gamesters,  as  Galata3us  observes,  if 
they  win,  no  men  living  are  so  jovial  and  merry,  but  4  if  they 
lose,  though  it  be  but  a  trifle,  two  or  three  games  at  tables, 
or  a  dealing  at  cards  for  twopence  a  game,  they  are  so  chol 
eric  and  testy  that  no  man  may  speak  with  them,  and  break 
many  times  into  violent  passions,  oaths,  imprecations,  and 
unbeseeming  speeches,  little  differing  from  mad  men  for  the 
time.  Generally  of  all  gamesters  and  gaming,  if  it  be  ex 
cessive,  thus  much  we  may  conclude,  that  whether  they  win 
or  lose  for  the  present,  their  winnings  are  not  Munera  for- 

1  Tom.  2,  de  vitis  illustrium,  1.  4,  de  vit.  ret,  et  incredibile  eat  quali  vultfls  animi- 

Leop.  10.        2  Venationibus  adeo  perdite  que  habit u  dolorem  iracundiamque  pra&- 

•tudebat  et  aucupiis.        3  Aut  infeliciter  ferret,  &c.          «  Unicuique  autem  hoe  • 

yeuatus  tarn  impatiens  inde,  at  suinmos  nutura  insitum  eat,  ut  doieat  sicubi  errar- 

inppe  Tiros  acerbissiuiis  coutumeliis  onera-  erit  aut  deceptus  git. 

VOL.  i.  26 


386  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  a. 

tun<z,  sed  insidia,  as  that  wise  Seneca  determines,  not  for 
tune  s  gifts,  but  baits,  the  common  catastrophe  is  *  beggary, 
*  Ut  pestis  wtam,  sic  adimit  aha  pecuniam,  as  the  plague 
takes  away  life,  doth  gaming  goods,  for  *omnes  nudi,  inopet 
et  egeni  ; 

*  "  Alea  Scylla  vorax,  species  certissima  fdrti, 

Non  contenta  bonis  animum  quoque  perfida  mergit, 
Fceda,  furax,  infamis,  inere,  furiosa,  ruina." 

For  a  little  pleasure  they  take,  and  some  small  gaina  and 
gettings  now  and  then,  their  wives  and  children  are  wringed 
in  the  mean  time,  and  they  themselves  with  loss  of  body  and 
soul  rue  it  in  the  end.  I  will  say  nothing  of  those  prodigi 
ous  prodigals,  perdenda  pecunice  genitos,  as  he  6  taxed  An 
thony,  Qui  patrimonium  sine  ulld  fori  calumnid  amittunt, 
saith  '  Cyprian,  and  7  mad  Sybaritical  spendthrifts,  Quique 
una  comedunt  patrimonia  ccend  ;  that  eat  up  all  at  a  break 
fast,  at  a  supper,  or  amongst  bawds,  parasites,  and  players, 
consume  themselves  in  an  instant,  as  if  they  had  flung  it 
into  8  Tiber,  with  great  wagers,  vain  and  idle  expenses,  &c., 
not  themselves  only,  but  even  all  their  friends,  as  a  man 
desperately  swimming  drowns  him  that  comes  to  help  him, 
by  suretyship  and  borrowing  they  will  willingly  undo  all  their 
associates  and  allies.  9  Irati  pecuniis,  as  he  saith,  angry 
with  their  money ;  10 "  what  with  a  wanton  eye,  a  liquorish 
tongue,  and  a  gamesome  hand,  when  they  have  indiscreetly 
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  days  in 
prison,  as  many  times  they  do ;  they  repent  at  leisure ;  and 
when  all  is  gone  begin  to  be  thrifty;  but  Sera  est  infunfo 
parsimonia,,  'tis  then  too  late  to  look  about ;  their  n  end  ia 

1  J iiyen .  Sat.  8.  Nee  enim  loculis  com-  27.  *  Sallns  t.  •  Tom.  3,  Ser.  de  Ale*, 
itantibus  itur  ad  casnm  tabulae,  posita  "  Plntus  in  Aristoph.  calls  all  such  game- 
fed  luditur  area.  Lemnius,  instit.  ca.  44,  sters  madmen.  Si  in  insanum  hominem 
mendaciorum  quldem,  et  perjurlorum  et  contigero.  Spontaneum  ad  Be  trahunt 
paupertatis  mater  est  alea,  nullam  ha-  furorein,  et  08,  et  nares,  et  oculoe  rlyot 
bens  patrimonii  rererentiam,  quum  illud  faclunt  furoris  et  diversoria,  Chryg.  horn. 
eff-jiderit,  sensim  in  furta  delabitur  et  ra-  17.  8  Pascasius  Justus.  1.  1,  de  alea. 
plnas.  Saris.  Polycrat.  1.  l,c.6.  2  Dam-  »  Seneca.  w  Hall.  «  In  Sat.  11.  Sed 
hoderus.  8Dan.  Soutor.  « Petrar.  dial,  deflciente  nromena  :  et  erescente  gula, 


Mem.  3,  subs.  13.]         Love  of  Gaming,  fyc.     »  387 

misery,  sorrow,  shame,  and  discontent.  And  well  they  de 
serve  to  be  infamous  and  discontent.  *  Catamidiari  in  Am- 
vhitheatro,  as  by  Adrian  the  emperor's  edict  they  were  of 
old,  decoctores  bonorum  suorum.  so  he  calls  them,  prodigal 
fools,  to  be  publicly  shamed,  and  hissed  out  of  all  societies, 
rather  than  to  be  pitied  or  relieved.  2  The  Tuscans  and  Boe- 
tians  brought  their  bankrupts  into  the  market  place  in  a  bier 
with  an  empty  purse  carried  before  them,  all  the  boys  fol 
lowing,  where  they  sat  all  day  circumstante  plebe,  to  be  infa 
mous  and  ridiculous.  At  8  Padua  in  Italy  they  have  a  stone 
called  the  stone  of  turpitude,  near  the  senate  house,  where 
spendthrifts,  and  such  as  disclaim  non-payment  of  debts,  do 
sit  with  their  hinder  parts  bare,  that  by  that  note  of  disgrace, 
others  may  be  terrified  from  all  such  vain  expense,  or  bor 
rowing  more  than  they  can  tell  how  to  pay.  The  4  civilians 
of  old  set  guardians  over  such  brain-sick  prodigals,  as  they 
did  over  madmen,  to  moderate  their  expenses,  that  they 
should  not  so  loosely  consume  their  fortunes,  to  the  utter  un 
doing  of  their  families. 

I  may  not  here  omit  those  two  main  plagues,  and  com 
mon  dotages  of  human  kind,  wine  and  women,  which  have 
infatuated  and  besotted  myriads  of  people ;  they  go  commonly 

together. 

*  "  Qui  vino  indulget,  quemqne  alea  docoquit,  ille 
In  venerem  putret." 

To  whom  is  sorrow,  saith  Solomon,  Pro.  xxiii.  29,  to  whom 
is  woe,  but  to  such  a  one  as  loves  drink  ?  it  causeth  torture 
(vino  twtus  et  ira),  and  bitterness  of  mind,  Sirac.  31,  21. 
Vtnumfuroris,  Jeremy  calls  it,  15  cap.  wine  of  madness,  as 
well  he  may,  for  insanire  facit  sanos,  it  makes  sound  men 
Bick  and  sad,  and  wise  men  *  mad,  to  say  and  do  they  know 
not  what.  Accidit  hodie  terribilis  casus  (saith  7  S.  Austin), 

qnis  to  manet  exitus — rebus  In  rentrem  die  consumes,  a  third  is  decomposed  by 

mersis.       1  Spartian.  Adriano.      « Alex,  venery."  •  Poculum  quasi  sinus  In 

ab  Alex.  lib.  6,  o.  10.    Idem  Gerbelius,  quo  saepe  naufragium  faciunt,   jactun 

lib.  6,   Gi.u  disc.  3  Fines  Moris,  turn  pecuniae  turn  mentis.    Erasm.  in 

*  Justinian,  in  Digestis.       6  Persius,  Sat.  Prov.  calicum  remiges.  chil.  4,  cent.  7, 

5.    *'On»  indulges  hi  wine,  another  the  Pro.  41.        7  Ser.  38,  ad  frat.  in  Emno 


388  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  «ec.  2 

hear  a  miserable  accident;  Cyrillus's  son  this  day  in  hia 
drink,  Matrem  prcegnantem  nequiter  oppressit,  sororem  vio- 
lare  voluit,  patrem  occiditfere,  et  duos  alias  sorores  ad  mor~ 
tern  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  causeth  "  poverty  and  want,"  (Prov.  xxi.)  shame  and 
disgrace.  Mulii  ignobiles  evasere  ob  vini  potum,  et  (Austin) 
amissis  honoribus  profugi  aberrdrunt ;  many  men  have 
made  shipwreck  of  their  fortunes,  and  go  like  rogues  and 
beggars,  having  turned  all  their  substance  into  aurum  potab- 
ile,  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  *  free  madness,  as  Seneca  calls  it,  pur 
chase  unto  themselves  eternal  tediousness  and  trouble. 

That  other  madness  is  on  women,  Apostatare  facit  cor, 
faith  the  wise  man,  3  Atque  homini  cerebrum  minuit.  Pleas 
ant  at  first  she  is,  like  Dioscorides  Rhododaphne,  that  fair 
plant  to  the  eye,  but  poison  to  the  taste,  the  rest  as  bitter  aa 
wormwood  in  the  end  (Prov.  v.  4)  and  sharp  as  a  two-edged 
sword,  (vii.  27)  "  Her  house  is  the  way  to  hell,  and  goes 
down  to  the  chambers  of  death."  What  more  sorrowful  can 
be  said  ?  they  are  miserable  in  this  life,  mad,  beasts,  led  like 
* u  oxen  to  the  slaughter ; "  and  that  which  is  worse,  whore- 
masters  and  drunkards  shall  be  judged,  amittunt  gratiam, 
saith  Austin,  perdunt  gloriam,  incurrunt  damnationem  <zter~ 
nam.  They  lose  grace  and  glory ; 

4  "  brevis  ilia  voluptas 
Abrogat  seternum  cceli  decus  " 

they  gain  hell  and  eternal  damnation. 

1  Liber*  unius  hone  insanlam  aeterao    mentary  plea/rare  biota  out  th«  tter.nl 
temporU  tiedio  pennant.         *  Menander.    glory  of  a  heavenly  lift." 
Pror.  6.        «  Merlin,  cocc.    "  That  mo- 


Mem.  3,  subs.  14.]     Philautia,  or  Self-love,  $c.  389 

SUBSECT.  XIV. — Philautia,  or  Self-love,  Vainglory,  Praise, 
Honour,  Immoderate  Applause,  Pride,  overmuch  Joy,  fyc^ 
Causes. 

SELF-LOVE,  pride,  and  vainglory, 1  ceecus  amor  sui,  which 
Chrysostom  calls  one  of  the  devil's  three  great  nets  ;  a  "  Ber 
nard,  an  arrow  which  pierceth  the  soul  through,  and  slays  it ; 
a  sly,  insensible  enemy,  not  perceived,"  are  main  causes. 
Where  neither  anger,  lust,  covetousness,  fear,  sorrow,  &c., 
nor  any  other  perturbation  can  lay  hold ;  this  will  slyly  and 
insensibly  pervert  us,  Quem  non  gula  vicit,  Philautia  supera- 
vit,  (saith  Cyprian,)  whom  surfeiting  could  not  overtake,  self- 
love  hath  overcome.  *  "  He  hath  scorned  all  money,  bribes, 
gifts,  upright  otherwise  and  sincere,  hath  inserted  himself  to 
no  fond  imagination,  and  sustained  all  those  tyrannical  con 
cupiscences  of  the  body,  hath  lost  all  his  honour,  captivated 
by  vainglory."  Chrysostom.  sup.  lo.  Tu  sola  animum  men- 
temque  peruris,  gloria.  A  great  assault  and  cause  of  our  pres 
ent  malady,  although  we  do  most  part  neglect,  take  no  notice 
of  it,  yet  this  is  a  violent  batterer  of  our  sou's,  causeth  mel 
ancholy  and  dotage.  This  pleasing  humour;  this  soft  andj 
whispering  popular  air,  Amabilis  insania ;  this  delectable 
frenzy,  most  irrefragable  passion,  Mentis  gratissimus  error, 
this  acceptable  disease,  which  so  sweetly  sets  upon  us,  ravish- 
eth  our  senses,  lulls  our  souls  asleep,  puffs  up  our  hearts  as 
so  many  bladders,  and  that  without  all  feeling,  *  insomuch  as 
"  those  that  are  misaffected  with  it,  never  so  much  as  once 
perceive  it,  or  think  of  any  cure."  We  commonly  love  him 
best  in  this  8  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 :  7  0  Bon- 
ciari,  suave  suave  fait  a  te  tali  hoc  tribui ;  'Twas  sweet  to 

1  Hor.         *  Sagitta  quse  animam  pene-  centias   sustinuerint,  hi  multeities  cap- 

trat.  leviter  penetrat,  Bed  non  leve  infli-  ti    a    vana    gloria    onmia    perdiderunt. 

git  Tulnu--.  sup.  cant.  3  Qui  omnem  *  Hao  correpti  non  cogitant  de  medela. 

pecnnlarum  contemptnm  habent,  et  nnl-  6  Dii    talem    a    terns    ayeitite    pestem. 

U  hnaginationis  totius  mundi  se  iinmis-  «  Ep.  ad  Eustochium,  de  cuitod.  virgin 

cuerint,  et  tyrannical  corporis  concupis-  7  Lypa.  Ep.  ad  Bonciarium. 


390  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  1 

hear  it  And  as  l  Pliny  doth  ingenuously  confess  to  his  dear 
friend  Augurinus,  "  all  thy  writings  are  most  acceptable,  buf 
those  especially  that  speak  of  us."  Again,  a  little  after  to 
Maximus,  *  **  I  cannot  express  how  pleasing  it  is  to  me  to 
hear  myself  commended."  Though  we  smile  to  ourselves,  at 
least  ironically,  when  parasites  bedaub  us  with  false  enco 
miums,  as  many  princes  cannot  choose  but  do,  Quum  tale 
quid  nihil  intra  se  repererint,  when  they  know  they  come  as 
lar  short,  as  a  mouse  to  an  elephant,  of  any  such  virtues; 
yet  it  doth  us  good.  Though  we  seem  many  times  to  be 
angry,  *  "  and  blush  at  our  own  praises,  yet  our  souls  in 
wardly  rejoice,  it  puffs  us  up ; "  'tis  fattax  suavitas,  blandui 
damon,  "  makes  us  swell  beyond  our  bounds,  and  forget  our 
selves."  Her  two  daughters  are  lightness  of  mind,  immod 
erate  joy  and  pride,  not  excluding  those  other  concomitant 
vices,  which  *  lodocus  Lorichius  reckons  up ;  bragging,  hy 
pocrisy,  peevishness,  and  curiosity. 

Now  the  common  cause  of  this  mischief,  ariseth  from  our- 
eelves  or  others,  *  we  are  active  and  passive.  It  proceeds 
inwardly  from  ourselves,  as  we  are  active  causes,  from  an 
overweening  conceit  we  have  of  our  good  parts,  own  worth, 
(which  indeed  is  no  worth,)  our  bounty,  favour,  grace,  valour, 
strength,  wealth,  patience,  meekness,  hospitality,  beauty,  tem 
perance,  gentry,  knowledge,  wit,  science,  art,  learning,  our 
f  excellent  gifts  and  fortunes,  for  which,  Narcissus-like,  we 
admire,  flatter,  and  applaud  ourselves,  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  persuaded  of  ourselves. 
We  brag  and  venditate  our  6  own  works,  and  scorn  all  others 
in  respect  of  us ;  Inflati  scientia,  (saith  Paul),  our  wisdom, 
•  our  learning,  all  our  geese  are  swans,  and  we  as  basely  es- 

1  Ep.  lib.  9.    Omnla  tua  gcripta  pul-  laudem  mam  intrinaecuf  animn  Uetan- 

eherrima  existimo,   maximd    tamen   ilia  tur.     *  Thesaur.  Theo.     <Necenimmihl 

quee  de  nohis.  *  Bxprimere  non  pos-  cornea  flbra  est.    Per.      t  B  manlbua  illii, 

•uin  quitn  sit  jucundum,  &c.          *  Hie-  Nascentur  violne.     Pen.  1,  Sat.        •  Om- 

ron.  et  licet  nos  indignoa  dicimus  et  call-  nia  cnim  nostra  supra  modum  placent. 

dus   rubor  ora  perfundat,  at  tamen  ad  «Fab.  1.10,  e.  8.    Ridentur,  mala  com- 


Mem.  8,  subs.  14.]     PhilaiUia,  or  Self-love,  SfC.  391 

teem  and  vilify  other  men's,  as  we  do  over-highly  prize  and 
value  our  own.  We  will  not  suffer  them  to  be  in  se- 
cundis,  no,  not  in  tertiis ;  what,  Mecum  confertur  Ulysses  ? 
they  are  Mures,  Muscce,  culices  pree  se,  nits  and  flies  com 
pared  to  his  inexorable  and  supercilious,  eminent  and  arro 
gant  worship  ;  though  indeed  they  be  far  before  him.  Only 
wise,  only  rich,  only  fortunate,  valorous,  and  fair,  puffed  up 
with  this  tympany  of  self-conceit ;  *  as  that  proud  Pharisee, 
they  are  not  (as  they  suppose)  "  like  other  men,"  of  a  purer 
and  more  precious  metal ;  *  Soli  rei  gerendi  sunt  ejficaces, 
which  that  wise  Periander  held  of  such;  *meditantur  omne 
qui  prius  negotium,  fyc.  Novi  guendam  (saith  f  Erasmus)  I 
knew  one  so  arrogant  that  he  thought  himself  inferior  to  no 
man  living,  like  *  Callisthenes  the  philosopher,  that  neither 
held  Alexander's  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  dignos  ratus  quibuscum  de  imperio  certaret.  That 
which  Tully  writ  to  Atticus  long  since,  is  still  in  force, 
1 "  There  was  never  yet  true  poet  nor  orator,  that  thought 
any  other  better  than  himself."  And  such  for  the  most  part 
are  your  princes,  potentates,  great  philosophers,  historiog 
raphers,  authors  of  sects  or  heresies,  and  all  our  great  schol 
ars,  as  8  Hierom  defines ;  "  a  natural  philosopher  is  a  glorious 
creature,  and  a  very  slave  of  rumour,  fame,  and  popular  opin 
ion,"  and  though  they  write  de  contemptu  gloria,  yet  as  he 
observes,  they  will  put  their  names  to  their  books.  Vobis  el 
famce  me  semper  dedi,  saith  Trebellius  Pollio,  I  "  have  wholly 
consecrated  myself  to  you  and  fame."  "  'Tis  all  my  desire, 
night  and  day,  'tis  all  my  study  to  raise  my  name."  Proud 
T  Pliny  seconds  him ;  Quanquam  0  !  S?c.,  and  that  vainglori- 

ponunt  Carolina,  rernm  gaudent  scriben-  existimaret,  lo.  Vossius,  lib.  1.  cap.  9,  de 

tes,  et  se  venerantur,  et  ultra.     Si  taceas  hist.       *  Plutarch.  Tit.  Oatonis.        *  \e- 

laudant,  quicquid  scripsere  beati.     Hor.  mo  unquam  Poeta  aut  Orator,  qui  queii- 

ep.  2,1.2.          i  Luke  zriii.  10.          *  De  quam  se  meliorem  arbitraretur.       °  Con- 

meliore    luto    finxit    pracordia    Titan,  sol.  ad  Pammachiuni      Mundi  philoso- 

Auson  sap.         t  Chil.  3,  cent.  10,  pro.  phus.  gloriae  animal,  et  popularis  aura 

97.     Qui  se  crederet  neminem  ulla  in  re  et  rumorum  venale  mancipium.     "  Epist. 

pnestantiorem.        *  Tan  to  fastu  scrips!  t,  6,  Capitoni  suo :  Diebus  ac  noctibus,  hoe 

ut  Alexandri  gesta  inferiora  scriptis  suis  solum  cogito  si  qua  me  possum  lewe 


392  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  2. 

ous  1  orator,  is  not  ashamed  to  confess  in  an  Epistle  of  his  to 
Marcus  Lecceius  Ardeo  incredibili  cupiditate,  fyc.  "  I  burn 
with  an  incredible  desire  to  have  my  a  name  registered  in  thy 
book."  Out  of  this  fountain  proceed  all  those  cracks  and  brags, 

*  speramus  carmina  fingi  Posse  linenda  cedro,  et  leni  ser- 

vanda  cupresso 4  Non  usitatd  nee  tenui  ferar  pennd 

nee  in  terra  morabor  longius.     Nil  parvum  aut  humili  modo, 

nil  mortale  loquor.     Dicar  qua  violens  obstrepit  Ausidas. 

Exegi  monumentum  cere  perennius.  Jamque  opus  exegi,  quod 
nee  Jovis  ira,  nee  ignis,  fyc.,  cum  venit  itte  dies,  fyc.,  parte 
tamen  meliore  mei  super  oka  perennis  astra  ferar,  nomenque 
frit  indelebik  nostrum.  (This  of  Ovid  I  have  paraphrased 
hi  English.) 

"  And  when  I  am  dead  and  gone, 

My  corpse  laid  under  a  stone, 

My  fame  shall  yet  survive. 

And  I  shall  be  alive, 

In  these  my  works  forever, 

My  glory  shall  persever,"  &o. 

And  that  of  Ennius, 

"  Nemo  me  lachrymis  decoret,  neque  funera  fletu 
Faxit,  cur?  volito  docta  per  ora  virum." 

u  Let  none  shed  tears  over  me,  or  adorn  my  bier  with  sorrow 
—  because  I  am  eternally  in  the  mouths  of  men."  With 
many  such  proud  strains,  and  foolish  flashes  too  common  with 
writers.  Not  so  much  as  Democharis  on  the  *  Topics,  but 
he  will  be  immortal.  Typotius  de  famd,  shall  be  famous, 
and  well  he  deserves,  because  he  writ  of  fame ;  and  every 

trivial  poet  must  be  renowned.  " Plausuque  petit  clares- 

cere  vulgi."  "  He  seeks  the  applause  of  the  public."  This 
puffing  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,  el 

homo    Id  veto  meo  sufflclt,  &c.        1  Tul-  slus  forat.  uneb.  de  Seal.          *Hor.  art 

lias.          *  Ut  nomen  meam  scriptls  tuis  Poet.  «  Od.  Vit.  1.  8.    Jamque  opui 

Ulustrexar.    Inqules  animus  studio  seter-  exegi.    Vade,  liber  foelix  ;  Palingeu.  lib. 

nltatis,  noctes  et  dies  angebatur.     Hen-  18.        *  In  lib.  8. 


Mem  8  subs.  14.]          Vainglory,  Pride,  fyc.  393 

dicier  hie  est ;  "  "  to  be  pointed  at  with  the  finger,  and  to  have 
it  said,  '  there  he  goes,' "  to  see  their  names  inscribed,  as 
Phryne  on  the  walls  of  Thebes,  Phryne  fecit ;  this  causeth 
so  many  bloody  battles,  "  et  nodes  cogit  vigilare  sercnas  ;  " 
u  and  induces  us  to  watch  during  calm  nights."  Long  jour 
neys,  "Magnum  iter  intendo,  sed  dot  mihi  gloria  vires"  "  I 
contemplate  a  monstrous  journey,  but  the  love  of  glory 
strengthens  me  for  it,"  gaining  honour,  a  little  applause, 
pride,  self-love,  vainglory.  This  is  it  which  makes  them 
take  such  pains,  and  break  out  into  those  ridiculous  strains, 
this  high  conceit  of  themselves,  to  x  scorn  all  others  ;  ridiculo 
fastu  et  intolerando  contemptu  ;  as  2  Palaemon  the  grammarian 
contemned  Varro,  secum  et  natas  et  morituras  literas  jactans, 
and  brings  them  to  that  height  of  insolency,  that  they  cannot 
endure  to  be  contradicted,  8  or  "  hear  of  anything  but  their 
own  commendation,"  which  Hierom  notes  of  such  kind  of 
men.  And  as  4  Austin  well  seconds  him,  "  'tis  their  sole 
study  day  and  night  to  be  commended  and  applauded." 
When  as  indeed,  in  all  wise  men's  judgments,  quibus  cor  sapit, 
they  are  8  mad,  empty  vessels,  funges,  beside  themselves,  de 
rided,  et  ut  Camelus  mproverbio  queer  ens  cornua,  etiam  quas 
habebat  aures  amisit,  6  their  works  are  toys,  as  an  almanac 
out  of  date, 7  authoris  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.  8  0  puer  ut  sis  vitalis  metuo. 

"  How  much  I  dread 
Thy  days  are  short,  some  lord  shall  strike  thee  dead." 

Of  so  many  myriads  of  poets,  rhetoricians,  philosophers, 
sophisters,  as  *  Eusebius  well  observes,  which  have  written 
in  former  ages,  scarce  one  of  a  thousand's  works  remains, 

1  De  ponte  dejicere.  *  Sueton.  lib.  TnM.ntn.rn  istam,  domine,  longfe  fee  a  me. 

degram.        8  Nihil  libenter  audiunt,  nisi  Austin,  cons.  lib.  10,  cap.  87.          •  "  A* 

laudes  suas.  *  Epis.  56.     Nihil  aliud  Camelus,  in  the  novel,  who  lost  his  ear* 

dies  uoctesque  cogitant  nisi  ut  in  studiis  while  he  was  looking  for  a  pair  of  horns." 

suis  laudentur  ab  hominibus.         6  Quw  1  Mart.  1.  6,  61.  8  Hor.  Sat.  1, ) .  2 

major  dementia  aut  dici,  ant  excogitari  *  lab.  cont.  Philos.  cap.  1. 
potest,   quiai  sic  ob  gloriam  cruciari? 


394  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  MO.  1 

nomina  et  libri  simul  cum  corporibus  interierunt,  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  insultingly,  after  a  victory,  that  his 
shadow  was  no  longer  than  before,  we  may  say  to  them, 

"  Nos  demiratnur,  sed  non  cum  deside  vulgo, 
Sed  velut  Harpyas,  Gorgonas,  et  Furias." 

"  We  marvel  too,  not  as  the  vulgar  we, 
But  as  we  Gorgons,  Harpies,  or  Furies  see." 

Or  if  we  do  applaud,  honour,  and  admire,  quota  pars,  how 
small  a  part,  in  respect  of  the  whole  world,  never  so  much  as 
hears  our  names,  how  few  take  notice  of  us,  how  slender  a 
tract,  as  scant  as  Alcibiades's  land  in  a  map !  And  yet 
every  man  must  and  will  be  immortal,  as  he  hopes,  and  ex 
tend  his  fame  to  our  antipodes,  when  as  half,  no  not  a  quarter 
of  his  own  province  or  city,  neither  knows  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  itself  that  must  have 
an  end,  if  compared  to  the  least  visible  star  in  the  firmament, 
eighteen  times  bigger  than  it  ?  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  proportion  bear  we  to  them,  and  where's  our  glory  ? 
Orbem  terrarum  victor  Romanus  habebat,  as  he  cracked  in 
Petronius,  all  the  world  was  under  Augustus ;  and  so  in  Con- 
stantine's  time,  Eusebius  brags  he  governed  all  the  world, 

universum  mundum  prtedarc  admodum  administravit, et 

omnis  orbis  gentes  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  which  was  then  described.  What 
braggadocios  are  they  and  we  then  ?  quam  brevis  hie  de  no- 
Iris  semio,  as  *  he  said,  *pudebit  aucti  nominis,  how  short  a 
time,  how  little  a  while  doth  this  fame  of  ours  continue  ? 
Every  private  province,  every  small  territory  and  city,  when 

I  Tul.   80111.   Scip         »  Boethius. 


Mem  8,  subs.  14.J          Vainglory^  Pride,  Sfc.  395 

we  have  all  done,  will  yield  as  generous  spirits,  as  brave  ex 
amples  in  all  respects,  as  famous  as  ourselves,  Cadwallader  ir 
Wales,  Hollo  in  Normandy,  Robin  Hood  and  Little  John,  are 
as  much  renowned  in  Sherwood,  as  Caesar  in  Rome,  Alexan 
der  in  Greece,  or  his  Hephestion, 1  Omnis  tetas  omnisque  pop- 
ulus  in  exemplum  et  admirationem  veniet,  every  town,  city, 
book,  is  full  of  brave  soldiers,  senators,  scholars  ;  and  though 
8  Bracydas  was  a  worthy  captain,  a  good  man,  and  as  they 
thought,  not  to  be  matched  in  Lacedremon,  yet  as  his  mother 
truly  said,  plures  habet  Sparta  Bract/da  met  lores,  Sparta  had 
many  better  men  than  ever  he  was ;  and  howsoever  thou  ad- 
mirest  thyself,  thy  friend,  many  an  obscure  fellow  the  world 
never  took  notice  of,  had  he  been  in  place  or  action,  would 
have  done  much  better  than  he  or  he,  or  thou  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  olio  fastu ;  a  company  of 
cynics,  such  as  are  monks,  hermits,  anachorites,  that  contemn 
the  world,  contemn  themselves,  contemn  all  titles,  honours, 
offices ;  and  yet  in  that  contempt  are  more  proud  than  any 
man  living  whatsoever.  They  are  proud  in  humility,  proud 
in  that  they  are  not  proud,  scepe  homo  de  vanes  glories  con" 
temptu,  vanius  gloriatur,  as  Austin  hath  it,  confess,  lib.  10, 
cap.  38,  like  Diogenes,  intus  gloriantur,  they  brag  inwardly, 
and  feed  themselves  fat  with  a  self-conceit  of  sanctity,  which 
is  no  better  than  hypocrisy.  They  go  in  sheep's  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 
self-conceit.  And  therefore  Seneca  adviseth  his  friend  Lu- 
cilius,  *  "  in  his  attire  and  gesture,  outward  actions,  especially 
to  avoid  all  such  things  as  are  more  notable  in  themselves ;  as 

1  Putean.  Cisalp.  hist.  lib.  1.        2  Pin-  aunt,  asperum  cultum  et  vi tiosum  caput, 

tarch.  Lycurgo.  *  Eplst  13.    Illud  negligentiorem  barbam,  indicium  argen- 

te  admoneo,  ne  eorum  more  facias,  qui  to  odium,  cubile  hum!  positurn,  et  quic- 

non  proficere,  Bed  couspici  cupiunt,  quae  quid  ad  laudem  perrersa  Tia  sequitur 

la  habit u  tuo,  aut  geuere  vita  notabilia  erita. 


396  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  we.  a. 

a  rugged  attire,  hirsute  head,  horrid  beard,  contempt  of 
money,  coarse  lodging,  and  whatsoever  leads  to  fame  that  op 
posite  way." 

All  this  madness  yet  proceeds  from  ourselves,  the  main 
engine  which  batters  us  is  from  others,  we  are  merely  passive 
in  this  business  ;  from  a  company  of  parasites  and  flatterers, 
that  with  immoderate  praise,  and  bombast  epithets,  glozing 
titles,  false  eulogiums,  so  bedaub  and  applaud,  gild  over  many 
a  silly  and  undeserving  man,  that  they  clap  him  quite  out  of 
his  wits.  Res  imprimis  violenta  est,  as  Hierom  notes,  this 
common  applause  is  a  most  violent  thing,  laudum  placenta,  a 
drum,  fife,  and  trumpet  cannot  so  animate ;  that  fattens  men, 
erects  and  dejects  them  in  an  instant.  *  Palma  negata  ma- 
crum,  donata  reducit  opimum.  It  makes  them  fat  and  lean,  as 
frost  doth  conies.  2  "  And  who  is  that  mortal  man  that  can 
so  contain  himself,  that  if  he  be  immoderately  commended 
and  applauded,  will  not  be  moved  ?  "  Let  him  be  what  be 
will,  those  parasites  will  overturn  him ;  if  he  be  a  king,  he  is 
one  of  the  nine  worthies,  more  than  a  man,  a  god  forthwith, 
*  edictum  Domini  Deique  nostri  ;  and  they  will  sacrifice 

unto  him, 

t  "  divinos  si  tu  patiaris  honores, 
Ultrb  ipsi  dabimus  meritasque  sacrabimus  aras." 

If  he  be  a  soldier,  then  Themistocles,  Epaminondas,  Hector, 
Achilles,  duo  fulmina  oetti,  triumviri  terrarum,  tyc.,  and  the 
valour  of  both  Scipios  is  too  little  for  him,  he  is  invictissimus, 
serenissimus,  multis  tropheeis  omatissimus,  natures  dominus, 
although  he  be  lepus  galeatus,  indeed  a  very  coward,  a  milk 
sop,  J  and  as  he  said  of  Xerxes,  postremus  in  pugnd,  primus  in 
fogd,  and  such  a  one  as  never  durst  look  his  enemy  in  the 
face.  If  he  be  a  big  man,  then  is  he  a  Samson,  another 
Hercules ;  if  he  pronounce  a  speech,  another  Tully  or  Demos 
thenes  ;  as  of  Herod  in  the  Acts,  "  the  voice  of  God  and  not 

1  Per.         *  Quis  vero  tarn  bene  modu-  you  will  accept  divine  honours,  we  will 

lo  siio  metiri  ee  noyit,  ut  eum  assiduw  et  willingly  erect  and  consecrate  altar*  to 

immodicga    laudationea    non    moreant?  you."        $  Justiu. 
Hen.  Steph          *  Mart.         t  Stroza.  "  If 


Mem.  8,  subs.  W- 1          Vainglory,  Pride,  SfC,  397 

of  man  ; "  if  he  can  make  a  verse,  Homer,  Virgil,  &c.  And 
then  my  silly  weak  patienv  t?tes  all  these  eulogiums  to  him 
self;  if  he  be  a  scholar  so  commeuded  for  his  much  reading, 
excellent  style,  method,  &c.,  he  will  eviscerate  himself  like  a 
spider,  study  to  death,  Laudatas  ostesdit  avis  Junonia  pen- 
nas,  peacock-like  he  will  display  all  his  feathers.  If  he  be  a 
soldier,  and  so  applauded,  his  valour  ei  tolled,  though  it  be 
impar  congressiis,  as  that  of  Troilus,  aid  Achilles,  Infelix 
puer,  he  will  combat  with  a  giant,  run  first  upon  a  breach, 
as  another  *  Philippus,  he  will  ride  into  he  thickest  of  his 
enemies.  Commend  his  housekeeping,  and  he  will  beggar 
himself;  commend  bis  temperance,  he  will  starve  himself. 

"  landataqne  virtus 
Crescit,  et  immensum  gloria  calcar  habet."  * 

he  is  mad,  mad,  mad,  no  woe  with  him ; impatient  con- 

sortis  erit,  he  will  over  the  3  Alps  to  be  talked  of,  or  to  main 
tain  his  credit.  Commend  an  ambitious  man,  some  proud 
prince  or  potentate,  si  plus  cequo  laudetur  (saith  8  Erasmus) 
cristas  erigit,  exuit  hominem,  Deum  se  putat,  he  sets  up  his 
crest,  and  will  be  no  longer  a  man  but  a  god. 

t "  nihil  est  quod  credere  de  se 
NOD  andet  qunm  landatur  diis  sequa  potestas."J 

How  did  this  work  with  this  Alexander,  that  would  needs  be 
Jupiter's  son,  and  go  like  Hercules  in  a  lion's  skin  ?  Domi- 
tian  a  god  (§  Dominus  Deus  nosier  sic  fieri  jubet),  like  the 
|  Persian  kings,  whose  image  was  adored  by  all  that  came 
into  the  city  of  Babylon.  Commodus  the  emperor  was  so 
gulled  by  his  flattering  parasites,  that  he  must  be  called  Her 
cules.  4Antonius  the  Roman  would  be  crowned  with  ivy, 

1  Livius.    Gloria  tantum  elatus,  non  ceas,  et  declamatio  flag.    JUT.   Sat.   10. 

Ira,  in  medios  hostes  irruere,  quod  com-  8  In  Moriae  Encom.  t  Juvenal.  Sat.  4. 
pletis  muris  consplci  se  pugnantem,  at"  There  la  nothing  which  OYer-lauded 

muro  spectantibus,   egregium  dncebat.  power  will  not  presume  to  imagine  of  it- 

*"  Applauded  virtue  grows  apace,  and  self."        }  Sueton.  c.  12,  in  Domitiano. 

glory  includes  within  it  an  immense  im-  ||  Brisonius.      *  Antonius  ab  assentatori- 

pulse."       2 1  demens,  et  srevas  curre  per  bos  evectus  Librum  se  patrem  appellari 

Alp«e.    Aude  Aliquid,  &c.,  ut  paerls  pla-  jussit,  et  pro  dec  se  venditavit  redimitu* 


898  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  2. 

carried  in  a  chariot,  and  adored  for  Bacchus.  Cotys,  king  of 
Thrace,  was  married  to  *  Miner  «*,  and  sent  three  several 
messengers  one  after  another,  to  see  if  she  were  come  to  his 
bed-chamber.  Such  a  o'ie  was  'Jupiter  Menecrates,  Maxi- 
minus  Jovianus,  Diocle.ianus  Herculeus,  Sapor  the  Persian 
king,  brother  of  the  f.un  and  moon,  and  our  modern  Turks, 
that  will  be  gods  on  -jarth,  kings  of  kings,  God's  shadow,  com 
manders  of  all  that  may  be  commanded,  our  kings  of  China 
and  Tartary  in  this  present  age.  Such  a  one  was  Xerxes, 
that  would  whip  th  3  sea,  fetter  Neptune,  stttltd  jactantid,  and 
send  a  challenge  to  Mount  Athos ;  and  such  are  many  sottish 
princes,  brought  into  a  fool's  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  de 
served  well,  to  applaud  and  flatter  themselves.  Stultitiam 
suam  produnt,  fyc.,  (saith  *  Platerus)  your  very  tradesmen  if 
they  be  excellent,  will  crack  and  brag,  and  show  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  themselves,  a  perpetual  meditation  of  their  tro 
phies  and  plaudits,  they  run  at  last  quite  mad,  and  lose  their 
wits.8  Petrarch,  lib.  1,  de  contemptu  mundi,  confessed  as 
much  of  himself,  and  Cardan,  in  his  fifth  book  of  wisdom, 
gives  an  instance  in  a  smith  of  Milan,  a  fellow-citizen  of  his, 
4  one  Galeus  de  Rubeis,  that  being  commended  for  refining 
of  an  instrument  of  Archimedes,  for  joy  ran  mad.  Plutarch 
in  the  life  of  Artaxerxes,  hath  such  a  like  story  of  one  Cha- 
mus,  a  soldier,  that  wounded  king  Cyrus  in  battle,  and  "  grew 
thereupon  so  6  arrogant,  that  in  a  short  space  after  he  lost  his 
wits."  So  many  men,  if  any  new  honour,  office,  preferment, 

hedera,  et  corona  velatus  Korea,  et  thyr-  11.  Oraculura  est,  vivida  seepe  Ingenia 
fum  tenens,  cothurnisque  succinetus  luxuriare  hac  et  evanescere,  multosqu* 
•surra  velut  Liber  pater  vectus  est  Alex-  sensum  penitus  amisisse.  Homines  intu- 
andrtoe.  Pater,  vol.  post.  >  Minervte  entur,  ac  A  ipsi  non  essent  homines. 
nuptias  ambit,  tanto  furore  percitos,  at  4  Galeus  de  Rubeis,  oi vis  noster  faber  fer« 
satellites  mitteret  ad  videndum  num  dea  rarius,  ob  Inventionem  instrument!  Co 
in  thalamla  renisset,  ko  *  JElian.  11.  cleae  olim  Archimedis  dicti,  pras  laetitta 
12.  *  De  mentis  alienat.  cap.  3.  3  Se-  insanivit.  &  Insania  poetmodum  cor- 
quiturque  superbia  formam.  Livius,  11.  reptus,  ob  nlmiam  inde  arrogantiam. 


Mem.  3,  subs.  15.]  Study,  a   Cause.  »  399 

booty,  treasure,  possession,  or  patrimony,  ex  insperato  fall 
unto  them,  for  immoderate  joy,  and  continual  meditation  of  it, 
cannot  sleep  *  or  tell  what  they  say  or  do,  they  are  so  rav 
ished  on  a  sudden  ;  and  with  vain  conceits  transported,  there 
is  no  rule  with  them.  Epaminondas,  therefore,  the  next  day 
after  his  Leuctrian  victory,  2  "  came  abroad  all  squalid  and 
submiss,"  and  gave  no  other  reason  to  his  friends  of  so  doing, 
than  that  he  perceived  himself  the  day  before,  by  reason  of 
his  good  fortune,  to  be  too  insolent,  overmuch  joyed.  That 
wise  and  virtuous  lady,  *  Queen  Katherine,  Dowager  of  Eng 
land,  in  private  talk,  upon  like  occasion,  said,  "that  4she 
would  not  willingly  endure  the  extremity  of  either  fortune  ; 
but  if  it  were  so,  that  of  necessity  she  must  undergo  the  one, 
she  would  be  in  adversity,  because  comfort  was  never  want 
ing  in  it,  but  still  counsel  and  government  were  defective  in 
the  other ; "  they  could  not  moderate  themselves. 

SUBSECT.  XV. — Love  of  Learning,  or  overmuch  Study. 
With  a  Digression  of  the  Misery  of  Scholars,  and  why  the 
Muses  are  Melancholy. 

LEONARTUS  FUCHSIUS,  Instil,  lib.  iii.  sect.  1,  cap.  1,  Faelix 
Plater,  lib.  iii.  de  mentis  alienat.,  Here,  de  Saxonia,  Trad, 
post,  de  melanch.  cap.  3,  speak  of  a  6  peculiar  fury,  which 
comes  by  overmuch  study.  Fernelius,  lib.  1,  cap.  18,  'puts 
study,  contemplation,  and  continual  meditation,  as  an  especial 
cause  of  madness ;  and  in  his  86  consul,  cites  the  same  words. 
Jo.  Arculanus,  in  lib.  9,  Rhasis  ad  Alnansorem,  cap.  16, 
amongst  other  causes  reckons  up  studium  vehemens  ;  so  doth 
Levinus  Lemnius,  lib.  de  occul.  not.  mirac.  lib.  1,  cap.  16. 
7  "  Many  men  (saith  he)  come  to  this  malady  by  continual 

1  Bene  ferre  magnam  disce  fortunam.  hac  null!  unquam  dcfuit  solatium,  In  al 

Hor.     Fortunam   reverenter  babe,  qni-  ten   multis  consilium,  &c.  Led.  Vires. 

cunqne  repente  Dives  ab  exili  progrediere  *   Peculiaris    furor,    qui    ex   literis    fit. 

loco.  Ausonius.         «  Proeessit  squalidus  •  Nihil  magis  auget,  ac  assidua  studia,  et 

et  submissus,  ut  besterni  die!  gandinm  profundae  eogitationes.        1  Non  desunt, 

intemperans  hodie  castigaret.          *  Uxor  qui  ex  jugi  studio,  et  intempestiva  lucu- 

Henr.  8.         4  Xeu trius  se  fortunre  extra-  bmtione,  hue  devenerunt,  hi  pro  cteterif 

mom  libenter  expert uram   dixit:  sed  si  enim  plerunque  melancholia  solent  infet- 

necessitaH  alteriua  sub  ude  imponeretur,  tari. 
opt* re  8e  difflcihm  et  adrersam :  quod  in 


400  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  2 

*  study,  and  night-waking,  and  of  all  other  men,  scholars  are 
most  subject  to  it ; "  and  such,  Rhasis  adds, l "  that  have  com 
monly  the  finest  wits."  Cont.  lib.  1,  tract.  9.  Marsilius  Fi- 
cinus,  de  sanit.  tuendd,  Ub.  1,  cap.  7,  puts  melancholy  amongst 
one  of  those  five  principal  plagues  of  students,  'tis  a  common 
Maul  unto  them  all,  and  almost  in  some  measure  an  insepar 
able  companion.  Varro  belike  for  that  cause  calls  Tristes 
Philosophos  et  severos,  severe,  sad,  dry,  tetric,  are  common 
epithets  to  scholars  ;  and  2  Patritius  therefore,  in  the  institu 
tion  of  princes,  would  not  have  them  to  be  great  students. 
For  (as  Machiavel  holds)  study  weakens  their  bodies,  dulls 
the  spirits,  abates  their  strength  and  courage ;  and  good 
scholars  are  never  good  soldiers,  which  a  certain  Goth  well 
perceived,  for  when  his  countrymen  came  into  Greece,  and 
would  have  burned  all  their  books,  he  cried  out  against  it,  by 
no  means  they  should  do  it,  8 "  leave  them  that  plague, 
which  in  time  will  consume  all  their  vigour,  and  martial 
spirits."  The  4  Turks  abdicated  Cornutus  the  next  heir  from 
the  empire,  because  he  was  so  much  given  to  his  book  ;  and 
'tis  the  common  tenet  of  the  world,  that  learning  dulls  and 
diminisheth  the  spirits,  and  so  per  consequents  produceth  mel 
ancholy. 

Two  main  reasons  may  be  given  of  it,  why  students  should 
be  more  subject  to  this  malady  than  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  6  Festus  told  Paul)  hath  made  thee  mad ; 
'tis  that  other  extreme  which  effects  it.  So  did  Trincavellius, 
Kb.  1,  consiL  12  and  13,  find  by  his  experience,  in  two  of  his 

*  Study   to  a   continual  and  earnest  81.     Qnccis  hanc  pestem  relinqulte,  qu« 

meditation,  applied    to  something  with  dnbimn  non  est  quin  brevi  omnem  ils 

great  desire.    Tally.        l  Etilli  qui  sunt  yigorem  ereptnra,  Martiosque  spiritus  ex- 

Bubtilis  ingenli,  et  multae  praemeJitatlo-  hausturasit;  nt  ad  arma  tractanda  plane 

nis.  de  fccili  incldnnt  in  melancholiam.  inhabiles  futuri  Bint.        *  Knoles,  Turk. 

i>Obstudlorum8olicitudinem,lib.6,Tit.6.  Hist.         »  Acts,  xxri.  24. 
»  Oaspar  Ens,  Thesaur.  Polit.  Apoteles. 


Mem.  a,  sabs.  15.J  Study,  a  Cause.  401 

patients,  a  young  baron,  and  another  that  contracted  this 
malady  by  too  vehement  study.  So  Forestus,  observat.  L  10, 
observ.  13,  in  a  young  divine  in  Louvaine,  that  was  mad,  and 
said, l "  he  had  a  Bible  in  his  head ; "  Marsilius  Ficinus  de 
tanit.  tuend.  lib.  1,  cap.  1,  3,  4,  and  lib.  2,  cap.  16,  gives 
many  reasons,  2  "  why  students  dote  more  often  than  others." 
The  first  is  their  negligence  ;  8  "  other  men  look  to  their  tools, 
a  painter  will  wash  his  pencils,  a  smith  will  look  to  his  ham 
mer,  anvil,  forge ;  a  husbandman  will  mend  his  plough-irons, 
and  grind  his  hatchet,  if  it  be  dull ;  a  falconer  or  huntsman 
will  have  an  especial  care  of  his  hawks,  hounds,  horses, 
dogs,  &c. ;  a  musician  will  string  and  unstring  his  lute,  dec. ; 
only  scholars  neglect  that  instrument,  their  brain  and  spirits 
(I  mean)  which  they  daily  use,  and  by  which  they  range  over 
all  the  world,  which  by  much  study  is  consumed."  Vide 
(saith  Lucian)  ne  funiculum  nimis  intendendo,  aliquando  ab- 
rumpas :  u  See  thou  twist  not  the  rope  so  hard,  till  at  length 
it  4  break."  Ficinus,  in  his  fourth  chap,  gives  some  other 
reasons ;  Saturn  and  Mercury,  the  patrons  of  learning,  they 
are  both  dry  planets  ;  and  Origan  us  assigns  the  same  cause, 
why  Mercurialists,  are  so  poor,  and  most  part  beggars ;  for 
that  their  president  Mercury  had  no  better  fortune  himself. 
The  destinies  of  old  put  poverty  upon  him  as  a  punishment ; 
since  when,  poetry  arid  beggary  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.  6 "  which  dries  the  brain  and 

1  Nimiis  studiis  melancholicus  evasit,  &c.,  soil  mnsarum  mystse  tarn  negligeii- 

dicens  se  Biblium  in  capite  habere.    2Cur  tea  sunt.   ut  instrumentum  illud    quo 

melancholia   assiduSL,  crebrisque  delira-  mundum  univorsum  metiri  sclent,  spiri- 

raentis  yexentur  eorum  animi  ut  desipere  tnm  scilicet,  penitus  negligere  videantur 

eogantur.        3  Solera  quilibet  artifex  in-  4  Arcus  et  anna  Hbi  non  sunt  imitanda 

strumenta  sua  diligentissime  curat,  pent-  Dianas.    Si  nunquam  cesses  tendere  mol 

cellos  pictor  ;  malleos  incudesque  faber  Us  erit,     Ovid.        6  Ephemer.         •  Con 

ferrarins ;  miles  equos,  anna  ycnator,  au-  templatio  cerebrum  exsiccat  et  extinguM 

oeps  ares  et  canes,  cy  tharam  cy tharaedus,  calorem  natoralem,  unde  cerebrum  Mgi- 
v  JL.  i.                                         26 


402  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  1.  s«c.  a 

extinguished  natural  heat ;  for  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 
defect  of  concoction,  and  for  want  of  exercise  the  superfluous 
vapours  cannot  exhale,"  &c.  The  same  reasons  are  repeated 
by  Gomesius,  lib.  4,  cap.  1,  de  sale  l  Nymannus  oral,  de  Imag. 
Jo.  Voschius,  lib.  2,  cap.  5,  de  peste ;  and  something  more 
they  add,  that  hard  students  are  commonly  troubled  with 
gouts,  catarrhs,  rheums,  cachexia,  bradiopepsia,  bad  eyes, 
stone  and  colic,  2  crudities,  oppilations,  vertigo,  winds,  con 
sumptions,  and  all  such  diseases  as  come  by  overmuch  sitting ; 
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  Tostatus  and 
Thomas  Aquinas's  works,  and  tell  me  whether  those  men 
took  pains  ?  peruse  Austin,  Hierom,  &c.,  and  many  thousands 
besides. 

"  Qui  cupit  optatam  cursu  contingere  metam, 
Multa  tulit,  fecitque  pner,  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.  * "  Not  a  day  that  I  spend  idle,  part  of  the  night  I 
keep  mine  eyes  open,  tired  with  waking,  and  now  slumbering 
to  their  continual  task."  Hear  Tully,  pro  Archid  Poetd : 
"  whilst  others  loitered,  and  took  their  pleasures,  he  was  con 
tinually  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  ?  uniiu 

dum  et  siccum  evadit  quod  eat  melanchol-  cachectic!   et   nunquam  bene   eolorati, 

tcum.    Art-edit  ad  hoc.  quod  natura  in  propter  debilltatem  digestives  facultatis, 

contemplatione,  cerebro  prorsus  cordique  multiplicantur  in  iis  superflultates.    Jo. 

Intenta,  stomachura  heparque  destitult,  Voschius,  parte   2,    cap.    5,    de    peste. 

unde  ex  alimentis  male  coctis,  sanguis  *  Nullus  mini  per  otium  dies  exit,  partem 

crass  us  et  niger  effloitur,  dum  nimio  otio  noctis  studiis  dedtco,  non  vero  somno, 

membrorum  superflui  vapores  non  exha-  oed  oculos  rigilia  fatlgatos  eadentesqu* 

lant.         i  Cerebrum  exsiccatur,  corpora  in  operam  detineo. 
aenrim  gracilescunt.           *  Htudiosi  sunt 


Mem.  3,  subs.  16.]  Study,  a   Cause.  403 

regni  predum  they  say,  more  than  a  king's  ransom ;  how 
many  crowns  per  annum,  to  perfect  arts,  the  one  about  his 
History  of  Creatures,  the  other  on  his  Almagest  ?  How 
much  time  did  Thebet  Benchorat  employ,  to  find  out  the 
motion  of  the  eighth  sphere  ?  forty  years  and  more,  some 
write ;  how  many  poor  scholars  have  lost  their  wits,  or  be 
come  dizzards,  neglecting  all  worldly  affairs  and  their  own 
health,  wealth,  esse  and  bene  esse,  to  gain  knowledge,  for 
which,  after  all  their  pains,  in  this  world's  esteem  they  are 
accounted  ridiculous  and  silly  fools,  idiots,  asses,  and  (as  oft 
they  are)  rejected,  contemned,  derided,  doting,  and  mad. 
Look  for  examples  in  Hildesheim,  spicel.  2,  de  mania  et 
delirio ;  read  Trincavellius,  L  3,  consil.  36,  et  c.  17.  Mon- 
tanus,  consil.  233.  J  Garceus,  de  Judic.  genit.  cap.  33.  Mer- 
curialis,  consil.  86,  cap.  25.  Prosper  2Calenius  in  his  Book 
de  atrd  Ule  ;  Go  to  Bedlam  and  ask.  Or  if  they  keep  their 
wits,  yet  they  are  esteemed  scrubs  and  fools  by  reason  of 
their  carriage  "  after  seven  years'  study  " 

"  statu&  taciturnius  exit, 
Plerumqne  et  risu  populum  quatit." 

"  He  becomes  more  silent  than  a  statue,  and  generally  excites 
people's  laughter."  Because  they  cannot  ride  a  horse,  which 
every  clown  can  do ;  salute  and  court  a  gentlewoman,  carve 
at  table,  cringe  and  make  conges,  which  every  common 
swasher  can  do,  8  hos  populus  ridet,  &c.,  they  are  laughed  to 
scorn,  and  accounted  silly  fools  by  our  gallants.  Yea,  many 
times,  such  is  their  misery,  they  deserve  it ;  *  a  mere  scholar, 
a  mere  ass. 

•"  Obstipo  capite,  et  flgentes  lumine  terrain, 

Murmura  cum  secum,  et  rabiosa  silentia  rodunt, 
Atque  experrecto  tmtinantur  verba  labello, 

1  Johannes  Hanuschius  Bohemus,  nat.  mistocles  said,  he  could  make  a  small 

1516,  eruditus  vir,  nimiis  studiis  in  Phre-  town  become  a  great  city.        *  Pen.  Sat. 

nesin  incidit.    Montanus  instances  in  a  *  Ingenium  gibi  quod  Tanas  desumpsU 

Frenchman  of  Tolosa.             *  Cardinalis  Athenas  et  septem   studiis  annos  dedit, 

Osecius ;  ob  laborem,  yigiliam,  et  diutur-  insenuitque.    Libria  et  curls  statua  taci- 

na  studia  foetus  Melancholicus.      3Pera.  turnius  exit,  Plerunque  et  risu  populun 

Bat.  3.  They  cannot  fiddle ;  but,  as  The-  quatit,  Hor.  ep.  1,  lib.  2. 


404  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  2 

jEgroti  veteris  meditantes  somnia,  gigid 

De  n ih ilo  nihilum;  in  nihilum  nil  posso  reverti." 

1  "  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  balancing 
Each  word  upon  their  outstretched  lip,  and  when 
They  meditate  the  dreams  of  old  sick  men, 
As  '  Out  of  nothing,  nothing  can  be  brought; 
And  that  which  is,  can  ne'er  be  turn'd  to  nought.' " 

Thus  they  go  commonly  meditating  unto  themselves,  thus 
they  sit,  such  is  their  action  and  gesture.  Fulgosus,  I.  8,  c.  7, 
makes  mention  how  Th.  Aquinas,  supping  with  king  Lewis 
of  France,  upon  a  sudden  knocked  his  fist  upon  the  table, 
and  cried,  conclusum  est  contra  Manichceos  ;  his  wits  were  a 
wool-gathering,  as  they  say,  and  his  head  busied  about  other 
matters,  when  he  perceived  his  error,  he  was  much  2  abashed. 
Such  a  story  there  is  of  Archimedes  in  Vitruvius,  that  hav 
ing  found  out  the  means  to  know  how  much  gold  was  mingled 
with  the  silver  in  king  Hiero's  crown,  ran  naked  forth  from 
the  bath  and  cried  efyw?/"*,  I  have  found  ;  8  "  and  was  commonly 
BO  intent  to  his  studies,  that  he  never  perceived  what  was 
done  about  him ;  when  the  city  was  taken,  and  the  soldiers 
now  ready  to  rifle  his  house,  he  took  no  notice  of  it."  St. 
Bernard  rode  all  day  long  by  the  Lemnian  lake,  and  asked 
at  last  where  he  was,  Marullus,  lib.  2,  cap.  4.  It  was  De- 
mocritus's  carriage  alone  that  made  the  Abderites  suppose  him 
to  have  been  mad,  and  sent  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  continually  wept,  and  Laertius  of 
Menedemus  Lampsacus,  because  he  ran  like  a  madman 
4  saying,  "  he  came  from  hell  as  a  spy,  to  tell  the  devils  what 
mortal  men  did."  Your  greatest  students  are  commonly  no 
better,  silly,  soft  fellows  in  their  outward  behaviour,  absurd, 

1  Translated  by  M.  B.  Holiday.       *Tho-  &c.        *  Sub  Furlae  Iarv4  circnmlvit  ur- 

ruas  rubore  confusus  dixit  ae  de  argumen-  bem,  dlcltans  Be  ezploratorem  ab  inferia 

to  cogit3i88e.        3  Plutarch,  vitl  Mamelll.  venisse,  delaturum  daemonibus  mortal! 

Nee  senslt  urbem  captain,  nee  milltes  in  am  peccata. 
domum  irrueutes,  adeo  intentus  studlii, 


Mem.  3,  subs.  16.]  Study,  a   Cause,  405 

ridiculous  to  others,  and  no  whit  experienced  in  worldly  busi 
ness  ;  they  can  measure  the  heavens,  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,  "  but  as  so 
many  sots  in  schools,  when  (as  *  he  well  observed)  they 
neither  hear  nor  see  such  things  as  are  commonly  practised 
abroad  ?  "  how  should  they  get  experience,  by  what  means  ? 
2  "  I  knew  in  my  time  many  scholars,"  saith  JEneas  Sylvius 
(in  an  epistle  of  his  to  Gasper  Scitick,  chancellor  to  the  em 
peror),  "  excellent  well  learned,  but  so  rude,  so  silly,  that 
they  had  no  common  civility,  nor  knew  how  to  manage  their 
domestic  or  public  affairs."  "  Paglarensis  was  amazed,  and 
said  his  farmer  had  surely  cozened  him,  when  he  heard  him 
tell  that  his  sow  had  eleven  pigs,  and  his  ass  had  but  one 
foal."  To  say  the  best  of  this  profession,  I  can  give  no  other 
testimony  of  them  in  general,  than  that  of  Pliny  of  Isaeus  ; 
* "  He  is  yet  a  scholar,  than  which  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  them 
selves  and  abbreviate  their  lives  for  the  public  good."  But 
our  patrons  of  learning  are  so  far  nowadays  from  respecting 
the  muses,  and  giving  that  honour  to  scholars,  or  reward 
which  they  deserve,  and  are  allowed  by  those  indulgent  privi 
leges  of  many  noble  princes,  that  after  all  their  pains  taken 
in  the  universities,  cost  and  charge,  expenses,  irksome  hours, 

1  Petronius.  Ego   arbitror  In    scholia  cum  accusavit,  qui  suem  fnetam  undecim 

gtultissimos  fieri,  quia  nihil  eorum  quae  porcellos,  asinam  unum   duntaxat  pul- 

in  usu  habemus  aut  audiunt  ant  vident.  lum  enixam  retulerat.        3  Lib.  1,  Epist. 

*  Novi  meU  diebug,  plerogque  studiis  lite-  3     Adhuc  scholasticus  tantum  est ;  quo 

rariun  deditos,  qui  disciplinis  admodum  genere  hominum,  nihil  aut  est  simplici- 

abundabant.  sed  nihil  civilitatis  habentes,  us.  aut  slncerius  aut  melius.           i  Jnr« 

nee  rem  publ.  nee  domesticam  regere  n6-  priyilegiandl,   qui  ob  commune  brnunf 

rant.    Stupuit  Paglareusis  et  furti  Till-  abbreriant  sibi  vitam. 


406  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part  I.  sec.  2 

laborious  tasks,  wearisome  days,  dangers,  hazards  (barred 
interim  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  tc 
want,  poverty,  and  beggary.  Their  familiar  attendants  are, 

*  "  Pallentes  morbi,  luctus,  curaeqne  laborque 

Et  metus,  et  malesuada  fames,  et  turpis  egestas, 
Terribiles  visu  formae  " 

"  Grief,  labour,  care,  pale  sickness,  miseries, 
Fear,  filthy  poverty,  hunger  that  cries, 
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'  appren 
ticeship,  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  husbandman's  gains  are  almost  certain 
quibus  ipse  Jupiter  nocere  non  potest  (whom  Jove  himself 
can't  harm),  ('tis  f  Cato's  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,  1  ex 
omni  ligno  non  Jit  Mercurius;  we  can  make  majors  and  officers 
every  year,  but  not  scholars ;  kings  can  invest  knights  and 
barons,  as  Sigismund  the  emperor  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,  orators,  poets ;  we  can  soon  say,  as 
Seneca  well  notes,  0  virum  bonum,  6  divitem,  point  at  a 
rich  man,  a  good,  a  happy  man,  a  prosperous  man,  sumptuose 
vestitum,  Calamistratum,  bene  olentem,  magno  temporis  im~ 
pendio  constat  hcec  laudatio,  6  virum  literarum,  but  'tis  not 

*  Virg.  6  /En.  t  Plntarch.  vita    gules  :  Rex  et  Poeta  quotavmls  non  na» 

HJus,  Certum  agrlcolationis  lucrum,  &c.     citur. 
>  Quotannis    fiunt  consoles    et   procon- 


Mem.  3,  subs.  15.]  Study,  a   Game.  407 

so  easily  performed  to  find  out  a  learned  man.  Learning  is 
not  so  quickly  got,  though  they  may  be  willing  to  take  pains 
to  that  end  sufficiently  informed,  and  liberally  maintained  by 
their  patrons  and  parents,  yet  few  can  compass  it.  Or  if 
they  be  docile,  yet  all  men's  wills  are  not  answerable  to  their 
wits,  they  can  apprehend,  but  will  not  take  pains ;  they  are 
either  seduced  by  bad  companions,  vel  in  puettam  impingunt, 
vel  in  poculum  (they  fall  in  with  women  or  wine),  and  so 
spend  their  time  to  their  friends'  grief  and  their  own  un 
doings.  Or  put  case  they  be  studious,  industrious,  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  temperature  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  hazards,  <ereis  intestinis,  with  a  body  of  brass,  and  ia 
now  consummate  and  ripe,  he  hath  profited  in  his  studies,  and 
proceeded  with  all  applause ;  after  many  expenses,  he  is  fit 
for  preferment,  where  shall  he  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  capable  and  ready  ?  The  most  parable  and 
easy,  and  about  which  many  are  employed,  is  to  teach  a 
school,  turn  lecturer  or  curate,  and  for  that  he  shall  have  fal 
coner's  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  cried  "  Hosanna  " 
one  day,  and  "  Crucify  him "  the  other ;  serving-man-like, 
he  must  go  look  a  new  master;  if  they  do,  what  is  his 
reward? 

i "  Hoc  quoque  te  manet  ut  pueroa  elementa  docentem 
Occupet  extremis  in  vicis  alba  senectus." 

"  At  last  thy  snow-white  age  in  suburb  schools, 
Shall  toil  in  teaching  boys  their  grammar  rules." 

*  Mat.  21.       1  Hor.  epist.  20, 1. 1. 


408  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  2. 

Like  an  ass,  he  wears  out  his  time  for  provender,  and  can 
show  a  stum  rod,  togam  tritam  el  laceram,  saith  *  Haedus,  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  fcelix,  &c.  If  he  be  a 
trencher  chaplain  in  a  gentleman's  house,  as  it  befell  *  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 
cracked  chambermaid,  to  have  and  to  hold  during  the  time 
of  his  life.  But  if  he  offend  his  good  patron,  or  displease 
his  lady  mistress  in  the  mean  time, 

2  "  Ducetur  Planta  velnt  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 
other  studies,  with  an  intent  to  be  a  secretis  to  some  noble 
man,  or  in  such  a  place  with  an  ambassador,  he  shall  find 
that  these  persons  rise  like  apprentices  one  under  another, 
and  in  so  many  tradesmen's  shops,  when  the  master  is  dead, 
the  foreman  of  the  shop  commonly  steps  in  his  place.  Now 
for  poets,  rhetoricians,  historians,  philosophers,  8  mathemati 
cians,  sophisters,  &c. ;  they  are  like  grasshoppers,  sing  they 
must  in  summer,  and  pine  in  the  winter,  for  there  is  no  pre 
ferment  for  them.  Even  so  they  were  at  first,  if  you  will 
believe  that  pleasant  tale  of  Socrates,  which  he  told  fair 
Phaedrus  under  a  plane-tree,  at  the  banks  of  the  river  Iseus ; 
about  noon  when  it  was  hot,  and  the  grasshoppers  made  a 
noise,  he  took  that  sweet  occasion  to  tell  him  a  tale,  how 
grasshoppers  were  once  scholars,  musicians,  poets,  &c.,  be 
fore  the  Muses  were  born,  and  lived  without  meat  and  drink, 
and  for  that  cause  were  turned  by  Jupiter  into  grasshoppers. 
And  may  be  turned  again,  In  Tythoni  Cicadas,  aut  Lycio- 
rum  ranas,  for  any  reward  I  see  they  are  like  to  have ;  or 

•  Ub.  1,  de  oontem.  amor.         1  SatyricAn.        *  JUT.  Sat  5.       *  An  collt  astra 


Mem.  8,  sabs.  16.]  Study,  a   Cause.  409 

else  in  the  mean  time,  I  would  they  could  live  as  they  did, 
without  any  viaticum,  like  so  many  *  manucodiatae,  those  In 
dian  birds  of  paradise,  as  we  commonly  call  them,  those  1 
mean  that  live  with  the  air  and  dew  of  heaven,  and  need  no 
other  food  ?  for  being  as  they  are,  their  * "  rhetoric  only 
serves  them  to  curse  their  bad  fortunes,"  and  many  of  them 
for  want  of  means  are  driven  to  hard  shifts  ;  from  grasshop 
pers  they  turn  humble-bees  and  wasps,  plain  parasites,  and 
make  the  muses,  mules,  to  satisfy  their  hunger-starved 
paunches,  and  get  a  meal's  meat.  To  say  truth,  'tis  the  com 
mon  fortune  of  most  scholars,  to  be  servile  and  poor,  to  com 
plain  pitifully,  and  lay  open  their  wants  to  their  respectless 
patrons,  as  f  Cardan  doth,  as  }  Xilander  and  many  others ; 
and  which  is  too  common  in  those  dedicatory  epistles,  for 
hope  of  gain,  to  lie,  flatter,  and  with  hyperbolical  eulogiums 
and  commendations,  to  magnify  and  extol  an  illiterate  un 
worthy  idiot,  for  his  excellent  virtues,  whom  they  should 
rather  as  2Machiavel  observe,  vilify  and  rail  at  downright 
for  his  most  notorious  villanies  and  vices.  So  they  prostitute 
themselves  as  fiddlers,  or  mercenary  tradesmen,  to  serve 
great  men's  turns  for  a  small  reward.  They  are  like  §  In 
dians,  they  have  store  of  gold,  but  know  not  the  worth  of  it ; 
for  I  am  of  Synesius's  opinion,  * "  King  Hiero  got  more  by 
Simonides's  acquaintance,  than  Simonides  did  by  his ; "  they 
have  their  best  education,  good  institution,  sole  qualification 
from  us,  and  when  they  have  done  well,  their  honour  and  im 
mortality  from  us  ;  we  are  the  living  tombs,  registers,  and  as 
so  many  trumpeters  of  their  fames  ;  what  was  Achilles  with 
out  Homer  ?  Alexander  without  Arrian  and  Curtius  ?  who 
had  known  the  Caesars,  but  for  Suetonius  and  Dion  ? 

|| "  Vixerant  fortes  ante  Agamemnona 
Multi :  sed  omnes  illachrymabiles 

1  Aldrovandus  de  Avibus.  1. 12,  Gesner,  potius  vituperare  oporteret.  §  Or  M 

&c.  *  Literas  habent  queis  sibi  et  horses  know  not  their  strength,  they  con- 

fortunae  euae    maledicant.    Sat.    Menip.  rider  not  their  own  worth.        *  Plura  ei 

t  Lib.  de  libris  I'ropriis,  fol.  24.       I  Pree-  Simonidis    familiaritate  Hiero   consequ- 

Jat.  translut.  Plutarch.  *  Polit.  dis-  utus  est,  quam  ex  HieronU  Simonidea 

pat.  laudibus  eztollunt  eos  ac  si  virtuti-  ||  Hor.  lib.  4,  od.  9. 
bus  pollerent  quos  ob    infinite    scelera 


110  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  2. 

Urgentnr,  ignotique  longa 
Nocte,  carent  quia  vate  sacro." 

"  Before  great  Agamemnon  reign'd, 

Reign' d  kings  as  great  as  he,  and  brave, 
Whose  huge  ambition's  now  contain'd 

In  the  small  compass  of  a  grave: 
In  endless  night  they  sleep,  unwept,  unknown, 
No  bard  they  had  to  make  all  time  their  own." 

they  are  more  beholden  to  scholars,  than  scholars  to  them ;  but 
they  undervalue  themselves,  and  so  by  those  great  men  are 
kept  down.  Let  them  have  that  encyclopaedias,  all  the 
learning  in  the  world;  they  must  keep  it  to  themselves, 
*  "  live  in  base  esteem,  and  starve,  except  they  will  submit," 
as  Budaeus  well  hath  it,  "  so  many  good  parts,  so  many  en 
signs  of  arts,  virtues,  be  slavishly  obnoxious  to  some  illiterate 
potentate,  and  live  under  his  insolent  worship,  or  honour,  like 
parasites,"  Qui  tanquam  mures  alienum  panem  comedunt. 
For  to  say  truth,  artes  hce  non  sunt  lucrative,  as  Guido 
Bonat  that  great  astrologer  could  foresee,  they  be  not  gainful 
arts  these,  sed  esurientes  etfamelica,  but  poor  and  hungry. 

t  "  Dat  Galenus  opes,  dat  Justinianus  honores, 
Sed  genus  et  species  cogitur  ire  pedes:  " 

"  The  rich  physician,  hononr'd  lawyers  ride, 
Whilst  the  poor  scholar  foots  it  by  their  side." 

Poverty  is  the  muses'  patrimony,  and  as  that  poetical  divin 
ity  teacheth  us,  when  Jupiter's  daughters  were  each  of  them 
married  to  the  gods,  the  muses  alone  were  left  solitary,  Heli 
con  forsaken  of  all  suitors,  and  I  believe  it  was,  because  they 
had  no  portion. 

"  Calliope  longum  cselebs  cur  vixit  in  sevum  ? 
Netnpe  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 

*  Inter  Inertes  et  plebelos  fere  jacet,  terras  Inaolentlsque  potentfae,  I  jb  1,  d« 

ulttmum  locum  habens,  nisi  tot  artis  vir-  contempt,  rerum  fortuitarum.         f  Bu- 

tutisque    insignia,    turplter,    obnoxle,  chanan.  eleg.  lib. 
inpparisitando    fascibus   subjecerit  pro- 


Mem.  8,  subs.  15.]  Study,  a   Cause.  411 

unto  themselves.  Insomuch,  that  as  l  Petronius  argues,  you 
shall  likely  know  them  by  their  clothes.  "There  came," 
saith  he,  "by  chance  into  my  company,  a  fellow  not  very 
spruce  to  look  on,  that  I  could  perceive  by  that  note  alone  he 
was  a  scholar,  whom  commonly  rich  men  hate ;  I  asked  him 
what  he  was,  he  answered,  a  poet;  I  demanded  again  why 
he  was  so  ragged,  he  told  me  this  kind  of  learning  never 
made  any  man  rich." 

a  "  Qui  Pelago  credit,  magno  se  foenore  tollit, 
Qni  pngnas  et  rostra  petit,  prsecingitur  auro: 
Vilis  adulator  picto  jacet  ebrins  ostro, 
Sola  pruinosis  horret  facundia  pannis." 

"  A  merchant's  gain  is  great,  that  goes  to  sea; 

A  soldier  embossed  all  in  gold ; 
A  flatterer  lies  fox'd  in  brave  array; 
A  scholar  only  ragged  to  behold." 

All  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,  physic,  and  divinity,  sharing  them 
selves  between  them,  8  rejecting  these  arts  in  the  mean  time, 
history,  philosophy,  philology,  or  lightly  passing  them  over, 
as  pleasant  toys  fitting  only  table-talk,  and  to  furnish  them 
with  discourse.  They  are  not  so  behoveful;  he  that  can 
tell  his  money  hath  arithmetic  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  optics  are,  to 
reflect  the  beams  of  some  great  men's  favour  and  grace  to 
shine  upon  him.  He  is  a  good  engineer,  that  alone  can  make 
an  instrument  to  get  preferment.  This  was  the  common 
tenet  and  practice  of  Poland,  as  Cromerus  observed  not  long 

1  In  Satyric6n.  intrat  senex,  sed  cultu  Arbiter.          *  Oppressus  panpertate  anl- 

nnn    ita    speciosus,   ut  facile  appareret  mug,  nlhfl  eximium  aut  sublime  cogitare 

sum  hac  nota  literatum  esse,  quos  divites  potest,  amoenitates    liters  rum,   aut  ele- 

odis.se  solent.    Ego  inquit   Poeta  sum:  gantiam,  quoniam   nihil  prsesidii  in  hit 

Quare  ergo  tarn  male  vestitus  es  ?    Prop-  ad  vttse  commodum  videt,  primd  negli- 

ter  hoc  ipsum ;   amor  ingenii  neminem  gere,  mox  odisse  incipit.    Hens. 
nnquam  divitem  fecit.              2  Petronius 


412  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec  2. 

since,  in  the  first  book  of  his  history ;  their  universities  were 
generally  base,  not  a  philosopher,  a  mathematician,  an  anti 
quary,  &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  votis  habens,  opimum  sacer- 
dotium,  a  good  parsonage  was  their  aim.  This  was  the  prac 
tice  of  some  of  our  near  neighbours,  as  *  Lipsius  inveighs, 
"  they  thrust  their  children  to  the  study  of  law  and  divinity, 
before  they  be  informed  aright,  or  capable  of  such  studies." 
Scilicet  omnibus  artibus  antistat  spes  lucri,  et  formosior  est 
cumulus  auri,  quam  quicquid  Greed  Latinique  delirantes 
scripserunt.  Ex  hoc  numero  deinde  veniunt  ad  gubemacula 
reipub.  inter sunt  et  prtesunt  consiliis  regum,  6  pater,  6  patria  ? 
so  he  complained,  and  so  may  others.  For  even  so  we  find, 
to  serve  a  great  man,  to  get  an  office  in  some  bishop's  court 
(to  practise  in  some  good  town),  or  compass  a  benefice  is  the 
mark  we  shoot  at,  as  being  so  advantageous,  the  highway  to 
preferment. 

Although  many  times,  for  aught  I  can  see,  these  men  fail 
as  often  as  the  rest  in  their  projects,  and  are  as  usually  frus 
trate  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 
those  all-devouring  municipal  laws,  quibus  nihil  illiteratius, 
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  other 
wise  qualified),  and  so  few  courts  are  left  to  that  profession, 
euch  slender  offices,  and  those  commonly  to  be  compassed  at 
such  dear  rates,  that  I  know  not  how  an  ingenious  man  should 
thrive  amongst  them.  Now  for  physicians,  there  are  in 
every  village  so  many  mountebanks,  empirics,  quacksalvers 
paracelsians,  as  they  call  themselves,  Caucifici  et  sanicida, 
BO  t  Clenard  terms  them,  wizards,  alchemists,  poor  vicars, 

•  Eplstol.  qnawt.  lib.  4,  Ep.  21.        1  Ciceron.  dial.        t  Bpist.  lib.  2. 


Mem.  3,  subs.  15.]  Study,  a  Cause.  413 

cast  apothecaries,  physicians'  men,  barbers,  and  good  wives, 
professing  great  skill,  that  I  make  great  doubt  how  they  shali 
be  maintained,  or  who  shall  be  their  patients.  Besides,  there 
are  so  many  of  both  sorts,  and  some  of  them  such  harpies, 
so  covetous,  so  clamorous,  so  impudent ;  and  as  l  he  said,  litig 
ious  idiots, 

"  Quibus  loquacis  affatim  arrogantiae  est, 

Peritise  parum  aut  nihil, 
Nee  ulla  mica  literarii  sails, 

Crumenimulga  nacio: 
Loquuteleia  turba,  litium  strophse, 

Maligna  litigantium  cohors,  togati  vultures, 
Lavernae  alumni,  Agyrtse,"  &o. 

"  Which  have  no  skill  but  prating  arrogance, 
No  learning,  such  a  purse-milking  nation : 
Gown'd  vultures,  thieves,  and  a  litigious  rout 
Of  cozeners,  that  haunt  this  occupation,"  &o. 

that  they  cannot  well  tell  how  to  live  one  by  another,  but  as 
he  jested  in  the  Comedy  of  Clocks,  they  were  so  many, 
a major  pars  populi  arida  replant  fame,  they  are  almost 
starved  a  great  part  of  them,  and  ready  to  devour  their  fel 
lows,  *  El  noxia  cattiditale  se  corripere,  such  a  multitude  of 
pettifoggers  and  empirics,  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, 
scientice  namen,  tot  sumplibus  partum  et  vigilns,  projiteri 
dispudeat,  poslquam,  fyc. 

Last  of  all  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  will  not  believe  me,  hear  a 
brief  of  it,  as  it  was  not  many  years  since  publicly  preached 
at  Paul's  cross,  *  by  a  grave  minister  then,  and  now  a  rever 
end  bishop  of  this  land :  "  We  that  are  bred  up  in  learning, 
and  destinated  by  our  parents  to  this  end,  we  suffer  our  child 
hood  in  the  grammar-school,  which  Austin  calls  *nagnam  ty- 
rannidem,  et  grave  malum,  and  compares  it  to  the  torments  of 

'  Ja.  Do usa  Epodon.   lib.   2,  car.  2.    *  Job.  Howson,  4  Novembris,  1597.  th« 
Plautus.  *  Barcl.  Argeuis,  lib.  3.    sermon  was  printed  by  Arnold  Hartfield 


414  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  & 

martyrdom ;  when  we  come  to  the  university,  if  we  live  of 
the  college  allowance,  as  Phalaris  objected  to  the  Leontines, 
ndvruv  tvderjt  TT^V  tytov  ndl  $6(iav,  needy  of  all  things  but  hunger 
and  fear,  or  if  we  be  maintained  but  partly  by  our  parents' 
cost,  do  expend  in  unnecessary  maintenance,  books  and  de 
grees,  before  we  come  to  any  perfection,  five  hundred  pounds, 
or  a  thousand  marks.  If  by  this  price  of  the  expense  of 
time,  our  bodies  and  spirits,  our  substance  and  patrimonies, 
we  cannot  purchase  those  small  rewards,  which  are  ours  by 
law,  and  the  right  of  inheritance,  a  poor  parsonage,  or  a 
vicarage  of  fifty  pounds  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  copyhold, 
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  awhile  will  be  so  improvident  to  bring  up  his  son  to  his 
great  charge,  to  this  necessary  beggary  ?  "What  Christian 
will  be  so  irreligious,  to  bring  up  his  son  in  that  course  of 
life,  which  by  all  probability  and  necessity,  coget  ad  turpia, 
enforcing  to  sin,  will  entangle  him  in  simony  and  perjury," 
when  as  the  poet  said,  Invitatus  ad  hcec  aliquis  de  ponte  ne- 
gabit :  u  a  beggar's  brat  taken  from  the  bridge  where  he  sits 
a-begging,  if  he  knew  the  inconvenience,  had  cause  to  refuse 
it"  This  being  thus,  have  not  we  fished  fair  all  this  while, 
that  are  initiate  divines,  to  find  no  better  fruits  of  our  labours, 
1  hoc  est  cur  pattes,  cur  quis  non  prandeat  hoc  est  f  do  we 
macerate  ourselves  for  this  ?  Is  it  for  this  we  rise  so  early  all 
the  year  long  ?  *  "  leaping  (as  he  saith)  out  of  our  beds,  when 
we  hear  the  bell  ring,  as  if  we  had  heard  a  thunderclap." 
If  this  be  all  the  respect,  reward  and  honour  we  shall  have, 
* /range  leves  calamos,  et  scinde  Thalia  libettos :  let  us  give 
over  our  books,  and  betake  ourselves  to  some  other  course  of 
life ;  to  what  end  should  we  study  ?  '  Quid  me  litterulas 

1  Pen.  Sat.  8         *  E  lecto  exsilientes.    fulmine  territi.  1.        *  Mart.        *  Mart 
ad  tubitum  tiutinnabuli  plans um  quasi 


Mem.  3,  subs.  15.]  Study,  a   Cause.  415 

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  insanisjuvat  impattescere  chartist  If  there  be 
no  more  hope  of  reward,  no  better  encouragement,  I  say 
again,  Frange  leves  calamos,  et  scinde  Thalia  libettos ;  let's 
turn  soldiers,  sell  our  books,  and  buy  swords,  guns,  and  pikes, 
or  stop  bottles  with  them,  turn  our  philosopher's  gowns,  as 
Cleanthes  once  did,  into  millers'  coats,  leave  all,  and  rather 
betake  ourselves  to  any  other  course  of  life,  than  to  continue 
longer  in  this  misery.  *  Prcestot  dentiscolpia  radere,  qudm 
literariis  monumentis  magnatum  favorem  emendicare. 

Yea,  but  methinks  I  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  shipwreck  of 
her  goods,  and  that  they  have  just  cause  to  complain  ;  there 
is  a  fault,  but  whence  proceeds  it  ?  If  the  cause  were  justly 
examined,  it  would  be  retorted  upon  ourselves,  if  we  were 
cited  at  that  tribunal  of  truth,  we  should  be  found  guilty,  and 
not  able  to  excuse  it  That  there  is  a  fault  among  us,  I  con 
fess,  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 
manifestly  appear,  that  the  fountain  of  these  miseries  pro 
ceeds  from  these  griping  patrons.  In  accusing  them,  I  do 
not  altogether  excuse  us ;  both  are  faulty,  they  and  we ;  yet 
in  my  judgment,  theirs  is  the  greater  fault,  more  apparent 
causes,  and  much  to  be  condemned.  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  ;  meo  infortunio  potitu 
quam  ittorum  sceleri,  to  tmuie  °wn  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 

*  Sat.   Menip.         '  Lib.   8,  de  cons,  insulsus,  recudi  non  possum  Jam  senior 

t  I  bad  no  money,  I  wanted  impudence,  ut  sim   tails,  et    flngi   nolo,   utcunque 

I  could  not  scramble,  temporize,  dissem-  male  cedatin  rem  inearn  et  obscurus  ind« 

ble :  non  pranderet  olus,  &P  ,  vis  dicam,  delitescam. 
id    palpandum  et  adulandum    penitua 


416  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  a. 

another ;  or  rather  indeed  to  mine  own  negligence  ;  for  I  was 
ever  like  that  Alexander  in  *  Plutarch,  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  anything  ;  when  he  travelled  with 
Crassus  he  borrowed  a  hat  of  him,  at  his  return  restored  it 
again.  I  have  had  some  such  noble  friends'  acquaintance 
and  scholars,  but  most  part  (common  courtesies  and  ordinary 
respects  excepted),  they  and  I  parted  as  we  met,  they  gave 
me  as  much  as  I  requested,  and  that  was And  as  Alex 
ander  ab  Alexandra,  Genial,  dier.  L  6,  c.  16,  made  answer  to 
Hieronimus  Massainus,  that  wondered,  quum  plures  ignavos 
et  ignobiles  ad  dignitates  et  sacerdotia  promotes  quotidie  vide- 
ret,  when  other  men  rose,  still  he  was  in  the  same  state, 
eodem  tenore  et  fortund  cui  mercedem  laborum  studiorumque 
deberi  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  objurgabundus  suam  segnitiem 
accusaret,  cum  obscurce  sortis  homines  ad  sacerdotia  et  pon- 
tificatus  evectos,  tyc.,  he  chid  him  for  his  backwardness,  yet 
he  was  still  the  same ;  and  for  my  part  (though  I  be  not 
worthy  perhaps  to  carry  Alexander's  books),  yet  by  some 
overweening  and  well-wishing  friends,  the  like  speeches  have 
been  used  to  me ;  but  I  replied  still  with  Alexander,  that  I 
had  enough,  and  more  peradventure  than  I  deserved  ;  and 
with  Libanius  Sophista,  that  rather  chose  (when  honours  and 
offices  by  the  emperor  were  offered  unto  him)  to  be  talis 
Sophista,  quam  talis  Magistratus.  I  had  as  lief  be  still  De- 
mocritus  junior,  and  privus  privatus,  si  mihi  jam  daretur 

optio,  quam  talis  fortasse  Doctor,  talis  Dominus. Sed 

quorsum  heec  ?  For  the  rest  'tis  on  both  sides  facinus  detes- 
tandum,  to  buy  and  sell  livings,  to  detain  from  the  church, 
that  which  God's  and  men's  laws  have  bestowed  on  it ;  but 

•  Tit.  Cnori.  nee  facili  judlcare  poteat  utrum  pauperior  cum  prime  ad  Craaaum, 
fco. 


Mem.  8,  subs.  15.]  Study,  a  Came.  417 

in  them  most,  and  that  from  the  covetousness  and  ignorance 
of  such  as  are  interested  in  this  business ;  I  name  covetous- 
ness  in  the  first  place,  as  the  root  of  all  these  mischiefs, 
which,  Achan-like,  compels  them  to  commit  sacrilege,  and  to 
make  simoniacal  compacts  (and  what  not)  to  their  own  ends, 
1  that  kindles  God's  wrath,  brings  a  plague,  vengeance,  and  a 
heavy  visitation  upon  themselves  and  others.  Some,  out  of 
that  insatiable  desire  of  filthy  lucre,  to  be  enriched,  care  not 
how  they  come  by  it  per  fas  et  nefas,  hook  or  crook,  so  they 
have  it  And  others  when  they  have  with  riot  and  prodi 
gality  embezzled  their  estates,  to  recover  themselves,  make  a 
prey  of  the  church,  robbing  it,  as  2  Julian  the  apostate  did, 
spoil  parsons  of  their  revenues  (in  keeping  half  back  8  as  a 
great  man  amongst  us  observes) ;  "  and  that  maintenance  on 
which  they  should  li ve ; "  by  means  whereof,  barbarism  is 
increased,  and  a  great  decay  of  Christian  professors ;  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  mess  is  accidit  miserrima." 

They  toil  and  moil,  but  what  reap  they  ?  They  are  com 
monly  unfortunate  families  that  use  it,  aceursed  in  their  prog 
eny,  and,  as  common  experience  evinceth,  accursed  themselves 
in  all  their  proceedings.  "  With  what  face  (as  4  he  quotes 
out  of  Aust.)  can  they  expect  a  blessing  or  inheritance  from 
Christ  in  heaven,  that  defraud  Christ  of  his  inheritance  here 
on  earth  ?  "  I  would  all  our  simoniacal  patrons,  and  such  as 
detain  tithes,  would  read  those  judicious  tracts  of  Sir  Henry 
Spelman,  and  Sir  James  Sempill,  knights  ;  those  late  elabo 
rate  and  learned  treatises  of  Dr.  Tilflye,  and  Mr.  Montague, 
which  they  have  written  of  that  subject.  But  though  they 

iDeum  habentiratum,  sibique  mortem    In    his    Reports,  second    part,    fol.   44. 
seternam  acquirunt,  aliis  miserabilem  rni-    *  Euripides.        *  Sir  Henry  Spelman,  de 
nam.    Semiring  in  Josimm,  7.  Euripides,     non  temerandis  Ecclp-siis. 
8  Nicephorus,  lib.10,  cap.  6.    3  Lord  Cook, 

VOL.  I.  27 


418  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part. 1.  sec. » 

should  read,  it  would  be  to  small  purpose,  clames  licet  et  mare 
ccelo  confundas  ;  thunder,  lighten,  preach  hell  and  damnation, 
tell  them  'tis  a  sin,  they  will  not  believe  it ;  denounce  and 
terrify,  they  have  l  cauterized  consciences,  they  do  not  attend, 
as  the  enchanted  adder,  they  stop  their  ears.  Call  them  base, 
irreligious,  profane,  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, 
2  simul  ac  nummos  contemplor  in  area  ;  say  what  you  will, 
quocunque  modo  rent;  as  a  dog  barks  at  the  moon,  to  no 
purpose  are  your  sayings ;  Take  your  heaven,  let  them  have 
money.  A  base,  profane,  epicurean,  hypocritical  rout ;  for 
my  part,  let  them  pretend  what  zeal  they  will,  counterfeit  re 
ligion,  blear  the  world's  eyes,  bombast  themselves,  and  stuff 
out  their  greatness  with  church  spoils,  shine  like  so  many  pea 
cocks  ;  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  epicurean  hypocrisy,  and  athe 
istical  marrow,  they  are  worse  than  heathens.  For  as  Diony- 
sius  Halicarnasseus  observes,  Antiq.  Rom.  lib.  7,  8  Primum 
locum,  Sfc.  "  Greeks  and  Barbarians  observe  all  religious 
rites,  and  dare  not  break  them  for  fear  of  offending  their 
gods ;  but  our  simoniacal  contractors,  our  senseless  Achans, 
our  stupefied  patrons,  fear  neither  God  nor  devil,  they  have 
evasions  for  it,  it  is  no  sin,  or  not  due  jure  divino,  or  if  a  sin, 
no  great  sin,  &c.  And  though  they  be  daily  punished  for  it, 
and  they  do  manifestly  perceive,  that  as  he  said,  frost  and 
fraud  come  to  foul  ends  ;  yet  as  4  Chrysostom  follows  it,  Nutta 
ex  poend  sit  correctio,  et  quasi  adversis  malitia  hominum  pro- 
vocetur,  crescit  quotidie  quod  puniatur ;  they  are  rather 
worse  than  better, — iram  atque  animos  a  crimine  sumunt, 
and  the  more  they  are  corrected,  the  more  they  offend ;  but 
let  them  take  their  course,  6  Rode,  caper,  vites,  go  on  still  aa 

1 1  Tim.  4.  2.         *  Hor.         *  Primum  Barbari,  &c.  <  Tom.  1,  de  steril.  trj- 

locum  apud  omnes  gentes  habet  patritiua  um  annorum  sub  Ella  sermons,     i  Orid. 

deorum  cultus,  et  geniorum,  nam  hunc  Fast, 
iiutferimi  custodlunt,  tam  Oneci  quam 


Mem.  3,  subs.  16.]  Study,  a  Cause.  419 

they  begin,  'tis  no  sin,  let  them  rejoice  secure,  God's  ven 
geance  will  overtake  them  in  the  end,  and  these  ill-gotten 
goods,  as  an  eagle's  feathers,  l  will  consume  the  rest  of  their 
substance ;  it  is  2  aurum  Tholosanum,  and  will  produce  no 
better  effects.  8  "  Let  them  lay  it  up  safe,  and  make  their 
conveyances  never  so  close,  lock  and  shut  door,"  saith  Chrys- 
ostom,  "  yet  fraud  and  covetousness,  two  most  violent  thieves, 
are  still  included,  and  a  little  gain  evil  gotten  will  subvert  the 
rest  of  their  goods."  The  eagle  in  JEsop,  seeing  a  piece  of 
flesh,  now  ready  to  be  sacrificed,  swept  it  away  with  her 
claw? ,  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  harpies,  look  for  no 
better  success. 

A  second  cause  is  ignorance,  and  from  thence  contempt, 
tuccessit  odium  in  literas  ab  ignorantid  vulgi  ;  which  *  Junius 
well  perceived ;  this  hatred  and  contempt  of  learning  pro 
ceeds  out  of  6  ignorance ;  as  they  are  themselves  barbarous, 
idiots,  dull,  illiterate,  and  proud,  so  they  esteem  of  others. 
Sint  Meceenates,  non  deerunt,  Flacd,  Marones :  Let  there  be 
bountiful  patrons,  and  there  will  be  painful  scholars  in  all 
sciences.  But  when  they  contemn  learning,  and  think  them 
selves  sufficiently  qualified,  if  they  can  write  and  read,  scram 
ble  at  a  piece  of  evidence,  or  have  so  much  Latin  as  that 
emperor  had,  6  qui  nescit  dissimulare,  nescit  vivere,  they  are 
unfit  to  do  their  country  service,  to  perform  or  undertake 
any  action  or  employment,  which  may  tend  to  the  good  of  a 
commonwealth,  except  it  be  to  fight,  or  to  do  country  justice, 
with  common  sense,  which  every  yeoman  can  likewise  do. 
And  so  they  bring  up  their  children,  rude  as  they  are  them 
selves,  unqualified,  untaught,  uncivil  most  part.  *  Quis  « 

1  De  male  qnaesitis  yiz  gandet  tertius  ritiam,  &c.    In  5,  Corinth.  *  Acad. 

haeres.        -  Strabo.  lib.  4,  Oeog.        *  Ni-  cap.  7.  *  An  neminem  habet  inimi- 

hil  facilius  opes  evertet,  quam  avaritia  et  cum  prater  ignorantem.  6  He  thai 

fraude  parta.     Et  si  eniin  seram  addas  cannot  dissemble  cannot  lire.        *Epist 

tali  arcse,  et  exteriore  janua  et  vecte  earn  quest,  lib.  4  ep'st.  21,  Lipsiiw 
eommunias,  in t i\s  taiuen  fraudem  et  ava- 


420  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  a 

nostrd  juventute  legitime  instituitur  literis  ?  Quis  oratores 
aut  philosophos  tangit  f  quis  historian*  legit,  ittam  rerum 
agendarum  quasi  animam  ?  preecipitant  parentes  vota  tua,  fyc., 
'twas  Lipsius's  complaint  to  his  illiterate  countrymen,  it  may 
be  ours.  Now  shall  these  men  judge  of  a  scholar's  worth, 
that  have  no  worth,  that  know  not  what  belongs  to  a  student's 
labours,  that  cannot  distinguish  between  a  true  scholar  and  a 
drone  ?  or  him  that  by  reason  of  a  voluble  tongue,  a  strong 
voice,  a  pleasing  tone,  and  some  trivially  polyanthean  helps, 
steals  and  gleans  a  few  notes  from  other  men's  harvests,  and 
so  makes  a  fairer  show  than  he  that  is  truly  learned  indeed  ; 
that  thinks  it  no  more  to  preach,  than  to  speak,  l "  or  to  run 
away  with  an  empty  cart,"  as  a  grave  man  said ;  and  there 
upon  vilify  us,  and  our  pains ;  scorn  us,  and  all  learning. 
4  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  men's  sons, 
to  be  pen  and  inkhorn  men,  pedantical  slaves,  and  no  whit 
beseeming  the  calling  of  a  gentleman,  as  Frenchmen  and 
Germans  commonly  do,  neglect  therefore  all  human  learning, 
what  have  they  to  do  with  it  ?  Let  mariners  learn  astron 
omy  ;  merchants'  factors  study  arithmetic ;  surveyors  get 
them  geometry;  spectacle-makers  optics;  landleapers  geog 
raphy  ;  town-clerks  rhetoric,  what  should  he  do  with  a  spade, 
that  hath  no  ground  to  dig ;  or  they  with  learning,  that  hath 
no  use  of  it?  thus  they  reason,  and  are  not  ashamed  to  let 
mariners,  apprentices,  and  the  basest  servants,  be  better 
qualified  than  themselves.  In  former  times,  kings,  princes, 
and  emperors,  were  the  only  scholars,  excellent  in  all 
faculties. 

Julius  Caesar  mended  the  year,  and  writ  his  own  Commen« 

taries, 

#  "  media  inter  prselia  semper, 
Stellarum  ccelique  plagis,  superisque  yacayit." 

l  Dr.  King.  In  his  lost  lecture  on  Jonah,    barbaro  fastu  literas  eontamnunt     *Lv 
sometime  right  reverend  lord  bishop  of    can.  lib.  8. 
Tiondon.  *  Quibus  opes  et  otium,  hi 


JUem.  3,  subs.  15.]  Study,  a    Cause.  421 

1Antonius,  Adrian,  Nero,  Seve.  Jul.  &c.  Michael  the 
emperor,  and  Isacius,  were  so  much  given  to  their  studies, 
that  no  base  fellow  would  take  so  much  pains ;  Orion,  Per 
seus,  Alphonsus,  Ptolomeus,  famous  astronomers;  Sabor, 
Mithridates,  Lysimachus,  admired  physicians  ;  Plato's  kings 
all ;  Evax,  that  Arabian  prince,  a  most  expert  jeweller,  and 
an  exquisite  philosopher ;  the  kings  of  Egypt  were  priests  of 
old,  chosen  and  from  thence, — Idem  rex  hominum,  Phcebique 
gacerdos ;  but  those  heroical  times  are  past ;  the  Muses  are 
now  banished  in  this  bastard  age,  ad  sordida  tuguriola,  to 
meaner  persons,  and  confined  alone  almost  to  universities. 
In  those  days,  scholars  were  highly  beloved,  *  honoured, 
esteemed ;  as  old  Ennius  by  Scipio  Africanus,  Virgil  by 
Augustus ;  Horace  by  Mecaenas ;  princes'  companions ;  dear 
to  them,  as  Anacreon  to  Polycrates ;  Philoxenus  to  Diony- 
sius,  and  highly  rewarded.  Alexander  sent  Xenocrates  the 
Philosopher  fifty  talents,  because  he  was  poor,  visit  rerum, 
out  eruditione  prcestantes  viri,  mensis  olim  regum  adhibiti, 
as  Philostratus  relates  of  Adrian  and  Lampridius  of  Alex 
ander  Severus ;  famous  clerks  came  to  these  princes'  courts, 
velui  in  Lycceum,  as  to  a  university,  and  were  admitted  to 
their  tables,  quasi  divum  epvlis  accumbentes ;  Archilaus, 
that  Macedonian  king,  would  not  willingly  sup  without  Eurip 
ides  (amongst  the  rest  he  drank  to  him  at  supper  one  night 
and  gave  him  a  cup  of  gold  for  his  pains),  delectatus  poelee 
suavi  sermone ;  and  it  was  fit  it  should  be  so ;  because,  as 
*  Plato  in  his  Protagoras  well  saith,  a  good  philosopher  as 
much  excels  other  men,  as  a  great  king  doth  the  commons  of 
his  country ;  and  again,  4  quoniam  illis  nihil  deest,  et  minime 
egere  solent,  et  disciplinas  qnas  proftientur,  soli  d  contemptu 
vindicare  possunt,  they  needed  not  to  beg  so  basely,  as  they 
compel  *  scholars  in  our  times  to  complain  of  poverty,  or 

1  Spartian.    Soliciti    de   rebus    nimia.  quibus  ornabant  herons.     Eraam.  ep.  Jo. 

»  Nicet.  1,  Anal.     Pumis  lueubrationum  Fabio  epis.  Vien.         *  Probus  Tir  et  Phi- 

nordebant.        8  Grammaticis  olim  et  dia-  losophus  niagis  praestat  inter  alios  homi- 

lectires  juri-que  professoribua.  qui  sped-  nes,  quam  rex  incli t us  inter  plebeins 

men  eruditionis  dedissent.  eadem  dignl-  4  Heinsius,  praefat.  Poematom.        *  8er 

tatis  insignia  decreverunt  Imperatores,  Tile  nomen  Scholaris  jam. 


422  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  a 

crouch  to  a  rich  chuff  for  a  meal's  meat,  but  could  vindicate 
themselves,  and  those  arts  which  they  professed.  Now  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  pampered,  l  Alendos 
volunt,  non  saginandos,  ne  melioris  mentis  flammula  extin- 
guatur ;  a  fat  bird  will  not  sing,  a  fat  dog  cannot  hunt,  and 
so  by  this  depression  of  theirs,  2some  want  means,  others 
will,  all  want  8 encouragement,  as  being  forsaken  almost;  and 
generally  contemned.  'Tis  an  old  saying,  Sint  Meccencdes, 
non  deerunt,  Flacci,  Marones,  and  'tis  a  true  saying  still. 
Yet  oftentimes,  I  may  not  deny  it,  the  main  fault  is  in  our 
selves.  Our  academics  too  frequently  offend  in  neglecting 
patrons,  as  *  Erasmus  well  taxeth,  or  making  ill  choice  of 
them ;  negligimus  oblatos  aut  amphctimur  parum  aptos,  or 
if  we  get  a  good  one,  non  studemus  mwtuis  officiis  favorem 
efus  alere,  we  do  not  ply  and  follow  him  as  we  should. 
Idem  mihi  accidit  Adolescenti  (saith  Erasmus)  acknowledg 
ing  his  fault,  et  gravissime  peccavi,  and  so  may  f  I  say  my 
self,  I  have  offended  in  this,  and  so  peradventure  have  many 
others.  We  did  not  spondere  magnatum  favoribus,  qui  ccepe- 
runt  nos  amplecti,  apply  ourselves  with  that  readiness  we 
should ;  idleness,  love  of  liberty,  immodicus  amor  libertatis 
effecit  ui  diu  cum  perfidis  amicis,  as  he  confesseth,  et  perti- 
naci  paupertate  coUuctarer,  bashfulness,  melancholy,  timo- 
rousness,  cause  many  of  us  to  be  too  backward  and  remiss. 
.So  some  offend  in  one  extreme,  but  too  many  on  the  other,  we 
are  most  part  too  forward,  too  solicitous,  too  ambitious,  too 
impudent ;  we  commonly  complain  deesse  Mcecenates,  of  want 
of  encouragement,  want  of  means,  when  as  the  true  defect  is 
in  our  own  want  of  worth,  our  insufficiency ;  did  Maecenas 
take  notice  of  Horace  or  Virgil  till  they  had  shown  them 
selves  first  ?  or  had  Bavius  and  Mevius  any  patrons  ?  Egre- 

1  Seneca.  *  Haud  facile  emergunt,  4,  Cent.  1,  adag.  1.  t  Had  I  done  ai 

&e.  *  Media  quod  noctis  ab  bora  se-  others  did,  put  myself  forward,  I  might 

duti  qu&  nemo  faber,  qua  nemo  sedebat,  have  haply  beet  as  great  a  man  as  man; 

qui  docet  obliquo  lanam  deducere  ferro  :  of  my  equal*. 
rmca  tamen  merces.  JUT.  Sat.  7.     *  Cb.il. 


Mem.  3,  subs.  16.]  Study,  a   Cause.  423 

yiutn  specimen  dent,  saith  Erasmus,  let  them  approve  them 
selves  worthy  first,  sufficiently  qualified  for  learning  and 
manners,  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. 
Immodicce  laudes  ccmciliant  invidiam,  potius  quarn  laudem, 
and  vain  commendations  derogate  from  truth,  and  we  think 
in  conclusion,  non  melius  de  laudato,  pejus  de  laudante,  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  to  Diony- 
sius  ?  How  dear  to  Alexander  was  Aristotle,  Demeratus  to 
Philip,  Solon  to  Croesus,  Anexarcus  and  Trebatius  to  Augus 
tus,  Cassius  to  Vespatian,  Plutarch  to  Trajan,  Seneca  to 
Nero,  Simonides  to  Hiero  ?  how  honoured  ? 

i"  Sed  bsBC  prius  fuere,  mine  recondite 
Senent  quiete," 

those  days  are  gone ;  Et  spes,  el  ratio  studiorum  in  Caesare 
tantum  ;*  as  he  said  of  old,  we  may  truly  say  now,  he  is  our 
amulet,  our  2  sun,  our  sole  comfort  and  refuge,  our  Ptolemy, 
our  common  Maecenas,  Jacobus  munificus,  Jacobus  pacijicus, 
mysta  Musarum,  Hex  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,  Jam  ipsum 
laudare  nefas  sit ;  and  which  f  Pliny  to  Trajan,  Seria  te 
carmina,  honorque  cetemus  annalium,  non  hcec  brevis  et  pu 
denda  prcedicatio  colet.  But  he  is  now  gone,  the  sun  of  ours 
set,  and  yet  no  night  follows,  Sol  occubuit,  nox  m»tta  sequuta 
est.  We  have  such  another  in  his  room,  J  aureus  alter. 
Avulsus,  simili  frondescit  virga  metaUo,  and  long  may  he 
reign  and  flourish  amongst  us. 

l  Catullus,  Juren.  *  All  our  hopes  Phoebus  hie  noster.  polo  intuitu  lubentt 
and  inducements  to  study  are  centred  lu  orem  reddat  t  Panegyr.  J  VlrgU 
Oesar  alone.  *  Nemo  eat  quern  ton 


424  Caiues  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  1.  sec.  2. 

Let  me  not  be  malicious,  and  lie  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  Fuggeri 
in  Germany ;  Dubartus,  Du  Plessis,  Sadael,  in  France ; 
Picus  Mirandula,  Schottus,  Barotius,  in  Italy ;  Apparent  rari 
nantes  in  gurgite  vasto.  But  they  are  but  few  in  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  intemperate  lust,  gaming  and 
drinking.  If  they  read  a  book  at  any  time  (si  quod  est  in 
terim  otiid  venatu,  puculis,  aled,  scortis)  'tis  an  English  Chron 
icle,  Sir  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, 
1  their  sole  discourse  is  dogs,  hawks,  horses,  and  what  news  ? 
If  some  one  have  been  a  traveller  in  Italy,  or  as  far  as  the 
emperor's  court,  wintered  in  Orleans,  and  can  court  his  mis 
tress  in  broken  French,  wear  his  clothes  neatly  in  the  new 
est  fashion,  sing  some  choice  outlandish  tunes,  discourse  of 
lords,  ladies,  towns,  palaces,  and  cities,  he  is  complete  and  to 
be  admired ;  2  otherwise  he  and  they  are  much  at  one ;  no 
difference  between  the  master  and  the  man,  but  worshipful 
titles ;  wink  and  choose  betwixt  him  that  sits  down  (clothes 
excepted)  and  him  that  holds  the  trencher  behind  him ;  yet 
these  men  must  be  our  patrons,  our  governors  too  some 
times,  statesmen,  magistrates,  noble,  great,  and  wise  by  in 
heritance. 

Mistake  me  not  (I  say  again)  Vos,  6  Patritius  sanguis, 
you  that  are  worthy  senators,  gentlemen,  I  honour  your 
names  and  persons,  and  with  all  submissiveness,  prostrate 
myself  to  your  censure  and  service.  There  are  amongst  you, 
I  do  ingenuously  confess,  many  well-deserving  patrons,  and 
true  patriots,  of  my  knowledge,  besides  many  hundreds  which 
I  never  saw,  no  doubt,  or  heard  of,  pillars  of  our  common- 

1  Rarufl  enim  ferme  sennus  communls    nus  genere,  et  prseclaro  nomine  tantum 
in  ilia  Fortuna.  JUT.  Sat.  8.  a  Quia    Insignia.  JUT.  Sat.  8. 

enim  geuerasum  dizerit  hunc  que  Indig- 


Mem.  3,  subs.  15.]  Study,  a   Cause.  425 

wealth,  l  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  a  de 
bauched,  corrupt,  covetous,  illiterate  crew  again,  no  better 
than  stocks,  merum  pecus  (testor  Deum,  non  mihi  videri  dig- 
nos  ingenui  hominis  appellatione),  barbarous  Thracians,  et 
quis  iUe  thrax  qui  hoc  neget  ?  a  sordid,  profane,  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  commonwealth ;  patrons  they  are 
by  right  of  inheritance,  and  put  in  trust  freely  to  dispose  of 
such  livings  to  the  church's  good  ;  but  (hard  task-masters  they 
prove)  they  take  away  their  straw,  and  compel  them  to  make 
their  number  of  brick ;  they  commonly  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,  2no  pater-noster,  as  the  saying  is. 
Nisi  preces  auro  fulcias,  amplius  irritas :  ut  Cerberus  qffa, 
their  attendants  and  officers  must  be  bribed,  feed,  and  made, 
as  Cerberus  is  with  a  sop  by  him  that  goes  to  hell.  It  was 
an  old  saying,  Omnia  Romte  venalia  (all  things  are  venal  at 
Rome),  'tis  a  rag  of  Popery,  which  will  never  be  rooted  out, 
there  is  no  hope,  no  good  to  be  done  without  money.  A 
clerk  may  offer  himself,  approve  his  8  worth,  learning,  hon 
esty,  religion,  zeal,  they  will  commend  him  for  it ;  but  * probi- 
tas  laudatur  et  alget.  If  he  be  a  man  of  extraordinary  parts, 
they  will  flock  afar  off  to  hear  him,  as  they  did  in  Apuleius, 
to  see  Psyche  :  multi  mortales  confluebant  ad  videndum  sceculi 
decus,  speculum  gloriosum,  laudatur  ab  omnibus,  spectatur  ab 
omnibus,  nee  quisquam  non  rex,  non  regius,  cupidus  ejus  nup- 
tiarum  petitor  accedit ;  mirantur  quidem  divinam  formam 
omnes,  sed  ut  simulacrum  fabre  politum  mirantur;  many 
mortal  men  came  to  see  fair  Psyche  the  glory  of  her  age. 

1 1  have  often  met  with  myself,  and  Musis  venias  comitatus,  Horn  ere,  Nil  to* 

conferred  with  divers  worthy  gentlemen  men  attuleris.  ibis,  Homere,  foras.      8  Et 

in  the  country,  no  whit  inferior,  if  not  to  legat  historicos  auctores,  noverit  omne* 

be  preferred,  for  divers  kinds  of  learning,  Tanquam  ungues  digitoeque  sues    JUT 

to  many  of  our  academics.       -  Ipse  licet  Sat.  7.        *  Juvenal 


426  Cause*  of  Melancholy.  [Part  I.  sec.  z. 

they  did  admire  her,  commend,  desire  her  for  her  divine 
beauty,  and  gaze  upon  her ;  but  as  on  a  picture  ;  none  would 
marry  her,  quod  indotata,  fair  Psyche  had  no  money.  *  So 
they  do  by  learning  ; 

s  "  didicit  jam  dives  avarus 
Tantum  admirari,  tantum  laudare  disertos, 
Ut  pueri  Janonis  avem  •* 

"  Your  rich  men  have  now  learn'd  of  latter  day» 

T'  admire,  commend,  and  come  together 
To  hear  and  see  a  worthy  scholar  speak, 
As  children  do  a  peacock's  feather." 

He  shall  have  all  the  good  words  that  may  be  given,  'a 
proper  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  is  indotatus,  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  years,  as  Jacob  did  for  Ra 
chel,  before  he  shall  have  it.  *  If  he  will  enter  at  first,  he 
must  yet  in  at  that  Simoniacal  gate,  come  off  soundly,  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  chaplain,  that 
will  take  it  to  the  halves,  thirds,  or  accept  of  what  he  will 
give,  he  is  welcome ;  be  conformable,  preach  as  he  will  have 
him,  he  likes  him  before  a  million  of  others  ;  for  the  best  is 
always  best  cheap ;  and  then  as  Hierom  said  to  Cromatius, 
patella,  dignum  operculum,  such  a  patron,  such  a  clerk ;  the 
cure  is  well  supplied,  and  all  parties  pleased.  So  that  is  still 
verified  in  our  age,  which  *  Chrysostom  complained  of  in  his 
time,  Qui  opulentiores  sunt,  in  ordinem  parasitorum  cogunt 
eot,  et  ipsos  tanquam  canes  ad  mensas  suas  enutriunt,  eorum- 

1  Tn  yero  licet  Orpheus  sis,  saxa  aono  bique  congiarium  eat.  *  Quatuor  ad 

testudinis  emolliens,  nisi  plumbea  eorum  portas  Ecclesias  HUB  ad  omnes  ;  sangui- 

conla.  auri  vel  argent)  malleo  emoliias,  nis  aut  Simonis,    prsesulis    atque    Drl 

fcc.    Salisburiensis,  Policrat.  Ub.  6,  e.  10.  Holcot.        *  Lib.  contra  Gentiles  da  Bab 

*  Juven.  Sat.  7.       3  Euge  bene,  no  need,  ila  martyie. 
Dousa  efod.  lib.  2,-dos  ipsa  scientia  si- 


Mem.  3,  subs.  16.]  Study,  a  Cause.  427 

que  impudentes  Venires  iniquarum  ccenarum  reliquiis  differ* 
tiunt,  iisdem  pro  arbitrio  abutentes :  Rich  men  keep  these 
lecturers,  and  fawning  parasites,  like  so  many  dogs  at  their 
tables,  and  filling  their  hungry  guts  with  the  offals  of  their 
meat,  they  abuse  them  at  their  pleasure,  and  make  them  say 
what  they  propose.  l "  As  children  do  by  a  bird  or  a  but 
terfly  in  a  string,  pull  in  and  let  him  out  as  they  list,  do  they 
by  their  trencher  chaplains,  prescribe,  command  their  wits, 
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  clerk 
must  be  so  too,  or  else  be  turned  out  These  are  those  clerks 
which  serve  the  turn,  whom  they  commonly  entertain,  and 
present  to  church  livings,  whilst  in  the  mean  time  we  that  are 
University  men,  like  so  many  hide-bound  calves  hi  a  pasture, 
tarry  out  our  tune,  wither  away  as  a  flower  ungathered  in  a 
garden,  and  are  never  used  ;  or  as  so  many  candles,  illumin 
ate  ourselves  alone,  obscuring  one  another's  light,  and  are 
not  discerned  here  at  all,  the  least  of  which,  translated  to  a 
dark  room,  or  to  some  country  benefice,  where  it  might  shine 
apart,  would  give  a  fair  light,  and  be  seen  over  all.  Whilst 
we  lie  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  not  yet  said,  if  after  long  expectation,  much  expense, 
travel,  earnest  suit  of  ourselves  and  friends,  we  obtain  a  small 
benefice  at  last ;  our  misery  begins  afresh,  we  are  suddenly 
encountered  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  necessarily  to  our  great  damage  repaired ;  we  are  com 
pelled  to  sue  for  dilapidations,  or  else  sued  ourselves,  and 
icarce  yet  settled,  we  are  called  upon  for  our  predecessor's 
arrearages ;  first-fruits,  tenths,  subsidies,  are  instantly  to  be 

1  Praescribunt,   imperant,  in  ordinem  tunt,  ant  attnihunt,  nos  a  llbidlne  sua 

?ogunt,  ingenium  nostrum  prout  ipsis  pendere    aequnm    censeutes.     Heinsius 

ridebitur,  astringunt  et  relaxant  ut  pa-  *  Job.  5 
pilionem  puerl  aut  bruchum  fllo  demit- 


428  Cause*  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  2. 

paid,  benevolence,  procurations,  &c.,  and,  which  is  most  to  ba 
feared,  we  light  upon  a  cracked  title,  as  it  befell  Clenard,  of 
Brabant,  for  his  rectory  and  charge  of  his  Begince  ;  he  was 
no  sooner  inducted,  but  instantly  sued,  caepimusque  (*  saith 
he)  strenue  litigare,  et  implacabili  betto  confligere  ;  at  length, 
after  ten  years'  suit,  as  long  as  Troy's  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  officers, 
fleeced  by  those  greedy  harpies  to  get  more  fees ;  we  stand 
in  fear  of  some  precedent  lapse  ;  we  fall  amongst  refractory, 
seditious  sectaries,  peevish  puritans,  perverse  papists,  a  las 
civious  rout  of  atheistical  Epicures,  that  will  not  be  reformed, 
or  some  litigious  people  (those  wild  beasts  of  Ephesus  must 
be  fought  with)  that  will  not  pay  their  dues  without  much 
repining,  or  compelled  by  long  suit ;  Laid  dericis  oppido 
infesti,  an  old  axiom,  all  they  think  well  gotten  that  is  had 
from  the  church,  and  by  such  uncivil,  harsh  dealings,  they 
make  their  poor  minister  weary  of  his  place,  if  not  his  life  ; 
and  put  case  they  be  quiet  honest  men,  make  the  best  of  it, 
as  often  it  falls  out,  from  a  polite  and  terse  academic,  he  must 
turn  rustic,  rude,  melancholize  alone,  learn  to  forget,  or  else 
as  many  do,  become  maltsters,  graziers,  chapmen,  &c.,  (now 
banished  from  the  academy,  all  commerce  of  the  muses,  and 
confined  to  a  country  village,  as  Ovid  was  from  Borne  to 
Pontus,)  and  daily  converse  with  a  company  of  idiots  and 
clowns. 

Nos  interim  quod  attinet  (nee  enim  immunes  ab  hoc  noxd 
turmts)  idem  reatus  manet,  idem  nobis,  et  si  non  multo  gravitis, 
crimen  objini  potest:  nostrd  enim  cidpd  sit,  nostrd  incurid, 
nostrd  avaritid,  quod  tarn  frequentes,  foedaque  fiant  in  Ec- 
clesid  nundinationes,  (templum  est  vaenale,  deusque)  tot  sordet 
invehantur,  tanta  grassetur  impietas,  tanta  nequitia,  tarn  in- 
tanus  miseriarum  Euripus,  et  turbarum  testuarium,  nostro 

•  Eplst.  lib  2.     Jam  stiflectus  in  locum  demortui,  protin  as  exortus 
to.,  post  nuitos  labores,  sumptus,  fcc. 


Mem.  3,  subs.  15.J  Study,  a    Cause.  429 

infjuam,  omnium  (  Academicorum  imprimis)  vitio  sit.  Quod 
tot  Resp.  malis  afficiatur,  a  nobis  seminarium ;  ultro  malum 
hoc  accersimus,  et  qudvis  contumelia,  qudvis  interim  miserid 
digni,  qui  pro  virili  non  occurrimus.  Quid  enim  fieri  posse 
speramus,  quum  tot  indies  sine  delectu  pauperes  alumni,  terra 
filii,  et  cujuscunque  ordines  homunciones  ad  gradus  certatim 
admittantur  ?  qui  si  definitionem,  distinctionemque  unam  out 
alteram  memoriter  edidicerint,  et  pro  more  tot  annos  in  dia- 
lecticd  posuerint,  non  refert  quo  profectu,  quales  demum  sint, 
idiotce,  nugatores,  otiatores,  aleatores,  compotores,  indigni,  libid- 
inis  voluptatumque  administri,  "  Sponsi  Penelopes,  nebulones 
Alcinoique"  modd  tot  annos  in  academid  insumpserint,  et  se 
pro  togatis  venditarint;  lucri  causa,  et  amicorum  intercessu 
prasentantur  :  addo  etiam  et  magnijicis  nonnunquam  elogiis 
morum  et  scienticc:  et  jam  valedicturi  testimonialibus  hisce 
litteris,  amplissime  conscriptis  in  eorum  gratiam  honorantur, 
ab  Us,  qui  fidei  sues  et  existimationis  jacturam  procul  dubio 
faciunt.  Doctores  enim  et  professores  (quod  ait  liHe)  id 
unum  curant,  ut  ex  professionibus  frequentibus,  et  tumultuariia 
potius  quam  legitimis,  commoda  sua  promoveant,  et  ex  dis 
pendio  publico  suum  faciant  incrementum.  Id  solum  in  votit 
habent  annui  plerumque  magistratus,  ut  ab  incipientium  nu- 
mero  *pecunias  emungant,  nee  multum  interest  qui  sint,  litera- 
tores  an  literati,  modd  pingues,  nitidi,  ad  aspectum  speciosi, 
et  quod  verbo  dicam,  pecuniosi  sint.  8  Philosophastri  licen- 
tiantur  in  artibus,  artem  qui  non  habent,  *  Eosque  sapientea 
esse  jubent,  qui  nulla  przediti  sunt  sapientia,  et  nihil  ad 
gradum  praeterquam  velle  adferunt.  Theologastri  (solvant 
modo)  satis  superque  docti,  per  omnes  honorum  gradus  eve- 
huntur  et  ascendunt.  Atque  hinc  jit  quod  tarn  viles  scurrce, 
tot  passim  idiotce,  literarum  crepusculo  positi,  larvce  pastorum, 
circumforanei,  vagi,  barbi,  fungi,  crassi,  asini,  merum  pecus, 
in  sacrosanctos  theologies  aditus,  iUotis  pedibus  irrumpant, 

1  Jun.  Acad.  cap.  6.          *  Aeciplamua  dia  Latina,  ta  SAt  Christi  Oxon.  public* 

pecuniam,  demittamus  aginurn  ut  apud  habita,  Anno  1617,  Feb.  16.  *  Sat 

Patavinos,  Italos.  3  jjog  non  ita  pri-  Meuip. 

cUm  perstrinxi  in  Philosophastro,  Comae- 


430  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  1 

prater  inverecundam  frontem  adferentes  nihil,  vidgares  qua** 
dam  quisquilias,  et  scholarium  queedam  nugamenta,  indigna 
qiue  vel  recipiantur  in  triviis.  Hoc  ittud  indignum  genus 
hominum  et  famelicum,  indigum,  vagum,  ventris  mancipium, 
ad  stivam  potius  relegandum,  ad  haras  aptius  quam  ad  aras, 
quod  divinas  hasce  literas  turpiter  prostituit ;  hi  sunt  qui 
pulpita  complent,  in  cedes  nobilium  irrepunt,  et  quum  reliquis 
vitte  destituanlur  subsidies,  ob  corporis  et  animi  egestatem, 
aliarum  in  repub.  partium  minime  capaces  sint ;  ad  sacram 
hanc  anchoram  confugiunt,  sacerdotium  quovismodo  captantes, 
non  ex  sinceritate,  quod  l  Paulus  ait,  sed  cauponantes  verbum 
Dei.  Ne  quis  interim  viris  bonis  detractum  quid  putet,  quos 
habet  ecclesia  Anglicana  quamplurimos,  egregie  doctos,  iUus- 
tres,  intactae  famee  homines,  et  plures  forsan  quam  qutevis 
Europee  provincia  ;  ne  quis  a  Jlorentissimis  Academiis,  qua 
viros  undiqudque  doctissimos,  omni  virtutum  genere  suspic- 
iendos,  abunde  producunt.  Et  multo  plures  utraque  habi- 
tura,  multo  splendidior  futura,  si  non  hce  sordes  splendidum 
lumen  ejus  obfuscarent,  obstaret  corruptio,  et  cauponantes 
qu&dam  harpyce,  proletariique  bonum  hoc  nobis  non  invi- 
derent.  Nemo  enim  tarn  ccecd  mente,  qui  non  hoc  ipsum 
videat :  nemo  tarn  stolido  ingenio,  qui  non  inteUigat ;  tarn  per- 
tinaci  judicio,  qui  non  agnoscat,  ab  his  idiotis  circumforaneis, 
sacram  pottui  Theologiam,  ac  ccelestes  Musas  quasi  prophanum 
quiddam  prostitui.  Viles  animae  et  effrontes  (sic  enim  Lu- 
therus  a  alicubi  vocat)  lucelli  causa,  ut  muse*  ad  mulctra,  ad 
nobilium  et  heroum  mensas  advolant,  in  spem  sacerdotii, 
cujuslibet  honoris,  qfficii,  in  quamvis  aulam,  urbem  se  inge- 

runt,  ad  quodvis  se  ministerium  componunt. "  Ut  nervis 

alienis  mobile  lignum — *—Ducitur  " ffor.  Lib.  II.  Sat. 

7,  '  ofiam  sequentes,  psittacorum  more,  in  praedae  spem  quid- 
vis  effutiunt :  obsecundantes  Parasiti  (4  Erasmus  ait)  quidvis 
docent,  dicunt,  scribunt,  suadent,  et  contra  conscientiam  pro- 
bant,  non  ut  salutarem  reddant  gregem,  sed  ut  magnificam  sibi 
parent  fortunam.  5  Opiniones  quasvis  et  decreta  contra  ver- 

1  a  Cor.  11.  17.        *  Comment,  in  Gal.        *  Heinslug.        «  Eccleslaat.        *  Lnth 
inChO. 


Mem  8,  subs.  15.]  Study,  a   Cause.  431 

bum  Dei  astruunt,  ne  non  offendant  patronum,  sed  ut  retin- 
eant  favorem  procerura,  et  populi  plausum,  sibique  ipsis  opes 
accumulent.  Eo  etenim  pkrunque  animo  ad  Theologian* 
accedunt,  non  ut  rem  divinam,  sed  ut  suam  faciant ;  non  ad 
Ecclesice  bonum  promovendum,  sed  expilandwn;  qucerentes, 
quod  Paulus  ait,  non  quae  Jesu  Christi,  sed  quae  sua,  non 
domini  thesaurum,  sed  ut  sibi,  suisque  thesaurizent.  Nee 
tantum  Us,  qui  vilioris  fortunes,  et  abjectee  sortis  sunt,  hoc  in 
usu  est :  sed  et  medios,  summos,  elatos,  ne  dicam  JBpiscopos, 
hoc  malum  invasit.  l  "  Dicite,  pontifices,  in  sacris  quidfacit 
aurum  ?  "  2  summos  saepe  viros  transversos  agit  avaritia,  et  qui 
reliquis  morum  probitate  prcelucerent ;  hi  facem  prceferunt 
ad  Simoniam,  et  in  corruptionis  hunc  scopulum  impingentes, 
non  tondent  pecus,  sed  deglubunt,  et  quocunque  se  conferunt, 
expilant,  exhauriunt,  abradant,  magnum  fainae  suce,  si  non 
animce  naufragium  facientes  ;  ut  non  ab  infimis  ad  summos, 
sed  a  summis  ad  infimos  malum  promandsse  videatur,  et 
ittud  verum  sit  quod  itte  olim  lusit,  emerat  ille  prius,  vendere 
jure  potest.  Simoniacus  enim  (quod  cum  Leone  dicam) 
gratiam  non  accepit,  si  non  accipit,  non  habet,  et  si  non  habet, 
nee  gratus  potest  esse ;  tantum  enim  absunt  istorum  nonnutti, 
qui  ad  clavum  sedent,  a  promovendo  reliquos,  ut  penitus  im- 
pediant,  probe  sibi  conscii,  quibus  artibus  iUic  pervenerint. 
*  Nam  qui  ob  literas  emersisse  illos  credat,  desipit ;  qui  vero 
ingenh',  eruditionis,  experientiae,  probitatis,  pietatis,  et  Musa- 
rum  id  esse  pretium  putat  (quod  olim  reverd  fuit,  hodie  pro- 
mittitur)  planissime  insanit.  Utcunque  vel  undecunque  malum 
hoc  originem  ducat,  non  ultra  quceram,  ex  his  primordii* 
ccepit  vitiorum  colluvies,  omnis  calamitas,  omne  miseriarum 
agmen  in  Ecclesiam  invehitur.  Hinc  tarn  frequens  simonia, 
hinc  ortcB  querelce,  fraudes,  impostures,  ab  hoc  fonte  se  deriva- 
runt  omnes  nequitice.  Ne  quid  obiter  dicam  de  ambitionc, 
adulatione  plusquam  aulicA,  ne  tristi  domiccenio  laborent,  de 
luxu,  de  fcedo  nonnunquam  vitee .  exemplo,  quo  nonnutto» 
ojffendunt,  de  compotatione  Sybaritica,  fyc.,  hinc  ille  squalor 

i  Pen.  Sat.  2.       *  Sallugt.        '  3at.  Me  nip. 


432  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  a 

academicus,  tristes  bac  tempestate  Camenae,  quum  quivii 
homunculus,  artium  ignarus,  his  artibus  assurgat,  hunc  in 
modum  promoveatur  et  ditescat,  ambitiosis  appettationibus  in- 
signis,  et  multis  dignitatibus  augustus  vulgi  oculos  perstringat, 
bene  se  habeat,  et  grandia  gradiens  majestatem  quandam  ac 
amplitudinem  prce  se  ferens,  miramque  solicitudinem,  barbd 
reverendus,  toga  nitidus,  purpurd  coruscus,  supettectilis  splen- 
dore,  et  famulorum  numero  maxime  conspicuus.  Quales 
statuae  (quod  ait  l  itte)  quae  sacria  in  aedibus  columnis  im- 
ponuntur,  velut  oneri  cedentes  videntur,  ac  si  insudarent, 
quum  revera  sensu  sint  carentes,  et  nihil  saxeam  adjuvent 
firmitatem :  atlantes  videri  volunt,  quum  sint  statuce  lapidete, 
umbratiles  reverd  homunciones,  fungi,  forsan  et  bardi,  nihil  a 
saxo  differentes.  Quum  interim  docti  viri,  et  vitce  sanctions 
ornamentis  praditi,  qui  cesium  diei  sustinent,  his  iniqud  sorte 
serviant,  minimo  forsan  salario  contenti,  puris  nominibus 
nuncupati,  humiles,  obscuri,  multoque  digniores  licet,  egentes, 
inhonorati  vitam  privam  privatam  agant,  tenuique  sepulti 
sacerdotio,  vel  in  cottegiis  suis  in  eetemum  incarcerati,  in- 
glorie  delitescant.  Sed  nolo  diutius  hanc  movere  sentinam, 
hinc  itta  lachrymce,  lugubris  musarum  habitus,  *  hinc  ipsa 
religio  (quod  cum  Secellio  dicam)  in  ludibrium  et  contemptum 
adducitur,  abjectum  sacerdotium  (atque  hcec  ubi  fiunt,  ausim 
dicer e,  et  putidum  *putidi  dicterium  de  clero  usurpare)  puti- 
dum  vulgus,  inops,  rude,  sordidum,  melancholicum,  miserum, 
despicdbile,  contemnendum.^ 

1  Budjcus,  de  Asse,  lib.  5.  *  Lib.  de  them,  and  are  deserving  of  every  oppro 
rep.  Gallornm.  *  Cam  plan.  t  As  for  brium  and  suffering,  since  we  do  not  after- 
ourselves  (for  neither  are  we  free  from  this  wards  encounter  them  according  to  our 
fault)  the  same  guilt,  the  same  crime,  may  strength.  For  what  better  can  we  expect 
be  objected  against  us;  fur  It  is  through  when  so  many  poor,  beggarly  fellow*, 
our  fault,  negligence  and  avarice,  that  so  men  of  every  order,  are  readily  and  with 
in  any  and  such  shameful  corruptions  oc-  out  election,  admitted  to  degrees?  Who, 
cur  in  the  church  (both  the  temple  and  if  they  can  only  commit  to  memory  a 
the  Deity  are  offered  for  sale),  that  such  few  definitions  and  divisions,  and  pass  the 
Hordidness  is  introduced,  such  impiety  customary  period  in  the  study  of  logic*, 
committed,  such  wickedness,  such  a  mad  no  matter  with  what  effect,  whatever  sort 
gulf  cf  wretchedness  and  irregularity —  they  prove  to  be,  Idiots,  triflers,  idlers, 
these  I  say  arise  from  all  our  faults,  but  gamblers,  sots,  sensualists, 
more  particularly  from  ours  of  the  Uni 
versity.  We  are  the  nursery  In  which  "  mere  ciphers  in  the  book  of  life 
those  ills  are  bred  with  which  the  state  Like  those  who  boldly  woo'd  Ulysses't 
ts  afflicted ;  we  voluntarily  introduce  wife ; 


Mem.  4,  subs.  1.] 


Nurse,  a   Cause. 


433 


MEMB.  IV. 


SUBSECT.  I. — Non-necessary,  remote,  outward,  adventitious, 
or  accidental  causes  :  as  first  from  the  Nurse. 

OF  those  remote,  outward,  ambient,  necessary  causes,  I 
have  sufficiently  discoursed  in   the  precedent  member,  the 


Born  to  consume  the  fruits  of  earth :  in 

truth. 
As  vain  and  idle  as  Pheacia's  youth ;  " 

only  let  them  have  passed  the  stipulated 
period  in  the  University .  aud  professed 
themselves  collegians ;  either  for  the  sake 
of  profit,  or  through  the  influence  of 
their  friends,  they  obtain  a  presentation ; 
nay,  sometimes  even  accompanied  by 
brilliant  eulogies  upon  their  morals  and 
acquirements ;  and  when  they  are  about 
to  take  leave,  they  are  honoured  with  the 
most  flattering  literary  testimonials  in 
their  favour,  by  those  who  undoubtedly 
sustain  a  loss  of  reputation  in  granting 
them.  For  doctors  and  professors  (as  an 
author  says)  are  anxious  about  one  thing 
only,  viz :  that  out  of  their  various  call 
ings  they  may  promote  their  own  advan 
tage,  and  convert  the  public  loss  into 
their  private  gains.  For  our  annual  offi 
cers  wish  this  only,  that  those  who  com 
mence,  whether  they  are  taught  or  un 
taught  is  of  no  moment,  shall  be  sleek, 
fat,  pigeons,  worth  the  plucking.  The 
Philosophastic  are  admitted  to  a  degree 
in  Arts,  because  they  have  no  acquaint 
ance  with  them.  And  they  are  desired 
to  be  wise  men,  because  they  are  endowed 
with  no  wisdom,  and  bring  no  qualifica 
tion  for  a  degree,  except  the  wish  to  have 
it.  The  Theologastic  (only  let  them  pay) 
thrice  learned,  are  promoted  to  every 
academic  honour.  Hence  it  is  that  so 
many  vile  buffoons,  so  many  idiots,  every 
where,  placed  in  the  twilight  of  letters, 
the  mere  ghosts  of  scholars,  wanderers 
in  the  market  place,  vagrants,  barbels, 
mushrooms,  dolts,  asses,  a  growling  herd, 
with  unwashed  feet,  break  into  the  sacred 
precincts  of  theology,  bringing  nothing 
along  with  tlvnu  but  an  impudent  front, 
gome  vulgar  trifles  and  foolish  scholastic 
technicalities,  unworthy  of  respect  even 
at  the  crossing  of  the  highways.  This  is 
the  unworthy,  vagrant,  voluptuous  race, 
fitter  for  the  hogsty  (haram)  than  the 
altar  (aram),  that  basely  prostitute  divine 
literature;  these  are  they  who  fill  the 
pulpits,  creep  into  the  palaces  of  our  no- 
VOL.  I.  28 


bility  after  all  other  prospects  of  existence 
fail  them,  owing  to  their  imbecility  of 
body  and  mind,  and  their  being  incapa 
ble  of  sustaining  any  other  parts  in  the 
commonwealth  ;  to  this  sacred  refuge 
they  fly,  undertaking  the  office  of  the 
ministry,  not  from  sincerity,  but  as  St. 
Paul  says,  huckstering  the  word  of  God. 
Let  not  any  one  suppose  that  it  is  here 
intended  to  detract  from  those  many 
exemplary  men  of  which  the  Church  of 
England  may  boast,  learned,  eminent, 
and  of  spotless  fame,  for  they  are  more 
numerous  in  that  than  in  any  other 
church  of  Europe  ;  nor  from  those  most 
learned  universities  which  constantly 
send  forth  men  endued  with  every  form 
of  virtue.  And  these  seminaries  would 
produce  a  still  greater  number  of  inesti 
mable  scholars  hereafter  if  sordiduess  did 
not  obscure  the  splendid  light,  corrup 
tion  interrupt,  and  certain  truckling 
harpies  and  beggars  envy  them  their  use 
fulness.  Nor  cat,  any  one  be  so  blind  as 
not  to  perceive  this — any  so  stolid  as  not 
to  understand  it — any  so  perverse  as  not 
to  acknowledge  how  sacred  Theology  has 
been  contaminated  by  those  notorious 
idiots,  and  the  celestial  Muse  treated  with 
profanity.  Vile  and  shameless  souls  (says 
Luther)  for  the  sake  of  gain,  like  flies  to 
a  milkpail,  crowd  round  the  tables  of  the 
nobility  hi  expectation  of  a  church  liv 
ing,  any  office,  or  honour,  and  flock  into 
any  public  hall  or  city  ready  to  accept 
of  any  employment  that  may  offer. 

"  A  thing  of  wood  and  wires  by  others 
played." 

Following  the  paste  as  the  parrct,  they 
stutter  out  anything  hi  hopes  of  reward; 
obsequious  parasites,  says  Erasmus, teach, 
gay.  write,  admire,  approve,  contrary  to 
their  conviction,  anything  you  please, 
not  to  benefit  the  people  but  to  improve 
their  own  fortunes.  They  subscribe  to 
any  opinions  and  decisions  contrary  to 
the  word  of  God,  that  they  may  not  of 
fend  their  patron  but  retain  the  favour 
of  the  great,  the  applause  of  the  multi- 


434 


Games  of  Melancholy. 


[Part.  L  sec.  2 


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  2  Fer- 
nelius,  "  they  may  be  avoided,  and  used  without  necessity." 
Many  of  these  accidental  causes,  which  I  shall  entreat  of 
here,  might  have  well  been  reduced  to  the  former,  because 
they  cannot  be  avoided,  but  fatally  happen  to  us,  though  acci- 


tude,  and  thereby  acquire  riches  for 
themselves ;  for  they  approach  Theology, 
not  that  they  may  perform  a  sacred  duty, 
but  make  a  fortune  ;  not  to  promote  the 
interest  of  the  church,  but  to  pillage  it ; 
seeking,  as  Paul  says,  not  the  things 
which  are  of  Jesus  Christ,  but  what  may 
be  their  own ;  not  the  treasure  of  their 
Lord,  but  the  enrichment  of  themselves 
and  their  followers.  Nor  does  this  evil 
belong  to  those  of  humbler  birth  and 
fortunes  only,  it  possesses  the  middle  and 
higher  ranks,  bishops  excepted. 

"  0  Pontiffs,  tell  the  efficacy  of  gold  in 
sacred  matters !  "  Avarice  often  leads 
the  highest  men  astray,  and  men.  admira 
ble  in  all  other  respects  ;  these  find  a  sal 
vo  for  simony ;  and,  striking  against  this 
rock  of  corruption,  they  do  not  shear 
but  flay  the  flock ;  and,  wherever  they 
teem,  plunder,  exhaust,  raze,  making 
shipwreck  of  their  reputation,  if  not  of 
their  souls  also.  Hence  it  appears  that 
this  malady  did  not  flow  from  the  hum 
blest  to  the  highest  classes,  but  vice  verfA, 
no  that  the  maxim  is  true  although  spoken 
in  jest — "  he  bought  first,  therefore  has 
the  best  right  to  sell."  For  a  Sinioniac 
(that  I  may  use  the  phraseology  of  Leo) 
has  not  received  a  favour ;  since  he  has 
not  received  one  he  does  not  possess  one; 
and  since  he  does  not  possess  one  he 
cannot  confer  one.  So  far  indeed  are 
some  of  those  who  are  placed  at  the  helm 
from  promoting  others,  that  they  com 
pletely  obstruct  them,  from  a  conscious 
ness  of  the  means  by  which  themselves 
obtained  the  honour.  For  he  who  im 
agines  that  they  emerged  from  their  ob 
scurity  through  their  learning,  is  de 
ceived  ;  indeed,  whoever  supposes  promo 
tion  to  be  the  reward  of  genius,  erudition, 
experience,  probity,  piety,  and  poetry 
( which  formerly  wag  the  case,  but  now 
adays  is  only  promised)  is  evidently  de 
ranged.  How  or  when  this  malady  com 
menced,  I  shall  not  further  inquire ;  but 
from  these  beginnings,  this  accumulation 
of  vices,  all  her  calamities  and  miseries 
have  been  brought  upon  the  Church; 
hence  such  frequent  acts  of  simony, 
complaints,  fraud,  impostures — from  this 
one  fountain  spring  all  its  conspicuo'is 


iniquities.  I  shall  not  press  the  question 
of  ambition  and  courtly  flattery,  lest  they 
may  be  chagrined  about  luxury,  base 
examples  of  life,  which  offend  the  honest, 
wanton  drinking  parties,  &c.  Yet,  hence 
is  that  academic  squalor,  the  muses  now 
look  sad,  since  every  low  fellow  ignorant 
of  the  arts,  by  those  very  arts  rises,  is 
promoted,  and  grows  rich,  distinguished 
by  ambitious  titles,  and  puffed  up  by  his 
numerous  honours ;  he  just  shows  him 
self  to  the  vulgar,  and  by  his  stately  car 
riage  displays  a  species  of  majesty,  a  re 
markable  solicitude,  letting  down  a  flow 
ing  beard,  decked  in  a  brilliant  toga  re 
splendent  with  purple,  and  respected 
also  on  account  of  the  splendour  of  his 
household  and  number  of  his  servants. 
There  are  certain  statues  placed  in  sacred 
edifices  that  seem  to  sink  under  their  load, 
and  almost  to  perspire,  when  in  reality 
they  are  void  of  sensation,  and  do  not 
contribute  to  the  stony  stability,  so  these 
men  would  wish  to  look  like  Atlases, 
when  they  are  no  better  than  statues  of 
stone,  insignificant  scrubs,  funguses, 
dolts,  little  different  from  stone.  Mean 
while  really  learned  men,  endowed  with 
ail  that  can  adorn  a  holy  life,  men  who 
have  endured  the  heat  of  mid-day,  by 
some  unjust  lot  obey  these  dizzards,  con 
tent  probably  with  a  miserable  salary, 
known  by  honest  appellations,  humble, 
obscure,  although  eminently  worthy, 
needy,  leading  a  private  lite  without 
honour,  buried  alive  in  some  poor  bene 
fice,  or  incarcerated  forever  in  their  col 
lege  chambers,  lying  hid  ingloriouMy 
But  I  am  unwilling  to  stir  this  sink  ar.y 
longer  or  any  deeper ;  hence  those  tears, 
this  melancholy  habit  of  the  muses; 
hence  (that  I  may  speak  with  Secellus)  it 
it  that  religion  is  brought  into  disrepute 
and  contempt,  and  the  priesthood  abject ; 
(and  since  this  is  so,  I  must  speak  out 
and  use  the  filthy  witticism  of  the  filthy) 
a  fetid  crowd,  poor,  sordid,  melancholy, 
miserable  despicable,  contemptible. 

i  Proem,  lib.  2.  Nulla  ars  constltul 
potest.  *  Lib.  1.  c.  19.  de  morborum 
causis.  Quas  declinare  licet  aut  null* 
necessitate  utiuiur 


Mem.  4,  subs.  1.]  Nurse,  a  Cause.  435 

dentally,  and  unawares,  at  some  time  or  other ;  the  rest  are 
contingent  and  inevitable,  and  more  properly  inserted  in  this 
rank  of  causes.  To  reckon  up  all  is  a  thing  impossible  ;  of 
some  therefore  most  remarkable  of  these  contingent  causes 
which  produce  melancholy,  I  will  briefly  speak  and  in  their 
order. 

From  a  child's  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  l  malady  from  his  cradle,  Aulus 
Gellius,  /.  12,  c.  1,  brings  in  Phavorinus,  that  eloquent  phil 
osopher,  proving  this  at  large,  2 "  that  there  is  the  same  vir 
tue  and  property  in  the  milk  as  in  the  seed,  and  not  in  men 
alone,  but  in  all  other  creatures  ;  he  gives  instance  in  a  kid 
and  lamb,  if  either  of  them  suck  of  the  other's  milk  the  lamb 
of  the  goat's,  or  the  kid  of  the  ewe's,  the  wool  of  the  one 
will  be  hard,  and  the  hair  of  the  other  soft."  Giraldus,  Cam- 
brensis  Itinerar.  Cambria,  L  1,  c.  2,  confirms  this  by  a  not 
able  example  which  happened  in  his  time.  A  sow-pig  by 
chance  sucked  a  brach,  and  when  she  was  grown,  * "  would 
miraculously  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  condi 
tions  by  whose  milk  they  are  fed."  Phavorinus  urges  it 
farther,  and  demonstrates  it  more  evidently,  that  if  a  nurse 
be  *  "  misshapen,  unchaste,  dishonest,  impudent,  6  cruel,  or  the 
like,  the  child  that  sucks  upon  her  breast  will  be  so  too ;"  all 
other  affections  of  the  mind  and  diseases  are  almost  ingrafted, 
as  it  were,  and  imprinted  into  the  temperature  of  the  infant, 
by  the  nurse's  milk  ;  as  pox,  leprosy,  melancholy,  &c.  Cato 
for  some  such  reason  would  make  his  servants'  children  suck 

l  Quo  semel,  est  imbuta  recens  serva-  ferarum  persequutione  ad  miracnlnm  us 

bit  olorem  Testa  diu.    Hor.  -  Sicut  que  sagax.  *  Tarn  animal  qnodlibet 

valet  ad  flngendas  corporis  atque  animi  quam  homo,  ab  ilia  cujus  lacte  nutritur, 

similitu dines  vis  et  natura  seminis,  sic  naturam  contrahit.         *  Improba,  iufor- 

quoque  lactis  proprietas.    Neque  id  in  mis,  impudica,   teinulenta  nutrix,  &c., 

hominibus  sol  tun,  sed  in  pecudibus  anim-  quoniam,  in  moribus  efformandis,  mag- 

adversum.     Nam   si   oviuui  lacte  hoedi,  nam  saepe  partem   ingenium  altricls  ek 

aut  caprarum  agni  alerentor,  constat  fi-  natura  lactis  tenet.        «  Hircanasque  ad 

eri  in  his  lanam  duriorem.  in  illis  capil-  m6runt  ubera  Tigres,  Virg. 
lorn  gigni  severiorem.               3  Adulta  in 


436  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  1.  seo.  a 

upon  his  wife's  breast,  because  by  that  means  they  would  love 
him  and  his  the  better,  and  in  all  likelihood  agree  with  them 
A  more  evident  example  that  the  minds  are  altered  by  milk 
cannot  be  given,  than  that  of  1  Dion,  which  he  relates  of 
Caligula's  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 
murderer,  and  to  express  her  cruelty  to  a  hair ;  and  that  of 
Tiberius,  who  was  a  common  drunkard,  because  his  nurse 
was  such  a  one.  JEt  si  delira  juerit  (a  one  observes)  infan- 
tulum  delirum  faciet,  if  she  be  a  fool  or  dolt,  the  child  she 
nurseth  will  take  after  her,  or  otherwise  be  misaffected ; 
which  Franciscus  Barbarus,  1.  2,  c.  uh.  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,  Vespasian's  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  gross  inconveniences, 
which  are  incident  to  nurses,  much  danger  may  so  come  to 
the  child.  8  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  natures  intemperies,  so  *  Guatso 
calls  it,  'tis  fit,  therefore,  she  should  be  nurse  herself;  the 
mother  will  be  more  careful,  loving,  and  attendant,  than  any 
servile  woman,  or  such  hired  creatures  ;  this  all  the  world 
acknowledged,  convenientissimum  est  (as  Rod.  a  Castro,  d« 
nat.  mulierum,  lib.  4,  c.  12,  in  many  words  confesseth)  matrem 
tpsam  lactare  infantem,  "  It  is  most  fit  that  the  mother  should 
suckle  her  own  infant " — who  denies  that  it  should  be  so  ?•— 
and  which  some  women  most  curiously  observe ;  amongst  the 

'  Lib.  2.  de  Cwsaribus.       s  Beda,  c.  27,    alimento   degeneret   corpus,   et    anirnui 
1.1,  Ecclei.  hist.  *  Ne  insitivo  lactis    corrumpatur.        *  Lib.  3,  de  civ.  couvers. 


Mem.  4,  subs.  1.]  Nurse,  a   Caitse.  437 

rest,  1  that  queen  of  France,  a  Spaniard  by  birth,  that  was 
so  precise  and  zealous  in  this  behalf,  that  when  in  her  absence 
a  strange  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  2  Plutarch  doth  in  his 
book,  de  liberis  educandis,  and  *  S.  Hierom,  li.  2,  epist.  27, 
Lent  &  de  institut.  fil.  Magninus  part.  2,  Reg.  sanit.  cap.  7, 
and  the  said  Rodericus,  that  they  make  choice  of  a  sound 
woman,  of  a  good  complexion,  honest,  free  from  bodily  dis 
eases,  if  it  be  possible,  all  passions  and  perturbations  of  the 
mind,  as  sorrow,  fear,  grief,  4  folly,  melancholy.  For  such 
passions  corrupt  the  milk,  and  alter  the  temperature  of  the 
child,  which  now  being  6  Udum  et  molle  lutum,  "  a  moist  and 
soft  clay"  is  easily  seasoned  and  perverted.  And  if  such  a 
nurse  may  be  found  out,  that  will  be  diligent  and  careful 
withal,  let  Phavorinus  and  M.  Aurelius  plead  how  they  can 
against  it,  I  had  rather  accept  of  her  in  some  cases  than  the 
mother  herself,  and  which  Bonacialus  the  physician,  Nic. 
Biesius  the  politician,  lib.  4,  de  repub.  cap.  8,  approves, 

*  "  Some  nurses  are  much  to  be  preferred  to  some  mothers." 
For  why  may  not  the  mother  be  nought,  a  peevish,  drunken 
flirt,  a  waspish,  choleric  slut,  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  virtuous,  staid,  a  woman  of  excellent  good 
parts,  and  of  a  sound  complexion,  I  would  have  all  children 
in  such  cases  committed  to  discreet  strangers.     And  'tis  the 
only  way ;  as  by  marriage  they  are  ingrafted  to  other  families 
to  alter  the  breed,  or  if  anything  be  amiss  in  the  mother,  as 
Ludovicus  Mercatus  contends,  Tom.  2,  lib.  de  morb.  heered.  to 
prevent  diseases  and  future  maladies,  to  correct  and  qualify 
the  child's  ill-disposed  temperature,  which  he  had  from  hia 

>  Stephanus.        *  To.  2.    Nil  trices  non    Hier.       *  Prohibendum  ne  stolida  lactet 
^uasvis,  sod  maxime  probas  deligamus.    &  Pen.  *  Nutrices  interdum  matri 

*  Nutrix  non  sit  lasciva  aut  temulenta.    bus  aunt  meliores. 


J 


438  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  2 

parents.      This  is  an  excellent  remedy,  if  good  choice  be 
-nade  of  such  a  nurse. 

SUBSECT.  n. — Education  a  Cause  of  Melancholy. 

EDUCATION,  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  rigorous, 
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,  always  threatening, 
chiding,  brawling,  whipping,  or  striking ;  by  means  of  which 
their  poor  children  are  so  disheartened  and  cowed,  that  they 
never  after  have  any  courage,  a  merry  hour  in  their  lives,  or 
take  pleasure  in  anything.  There  is  a  great  moderation  to 
be  had  in  such  things,  as  matters  of  so  great  moment  to  the 
making  or  marring  of  a  child.  Some  fright  their  children 
with  beggars,  bugbears,  and  hobgoblins,  if  they  cry,  or  be 
otherwise  unruly ;  but  they  are  much  to  blame  in  it,  many 
times,  saith  Lavater,  de  spectris,  part.  1,  cap.  5,  ex  metu  in 
morbos  graves  incidunt  et  noctu  dormientes  clamant,  for  fear 
they  fall  into  many  diseases,  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  done,  and  upon  just  occasion. 
Tyrannical,  impatient,  hare-brained  schoolmasters,  aridi  ma- 
gistri,  so  *  Fabius  terms  them  Ajaces  flagettiferi,  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,  if  they  board  in  their  houses,  too  much  severity 
and  ill-usage,  they  quite  pervert  their  temperature  of  body 
and  mind  ;  still  chiding,  railing,  frowning,  lashing,  tasking, 
keeping,  that  they  are  fracti  animis,  moped  many  times 

1  Lib.  de  morbis  capitis,  cap.  de  mania;    causas.     Injusta  noverca.  *  Lib  1 

Haud  poetrema  causa  supputatur  edu-    cap  4. 
Mtfc>,    inter   has    mentis   abalienatioois 


Mem.  4,  subs.  2.]  Education,  a  Cause.  439 

weary  of  their  lives,  *  nimia  severitate  defaiunt  et  desperant, 
and  think  no  slavery  in  the  world  (as  once  I  did  myself)  like 
to  that  of  a  grammar  scholar.  Prceceptorum  ineptiis  dis- 
cruciantur  ingenia  puerorum,  xsaith  Erasmus,  they  tremble 
at  his  voice,  looks,  coming  in.  St.  Austin,  in  the  first  book 
of  his  confess,  et  4,  ca.  calls  this  schooling  meticulosam  neces- 
gitatem,  and  elsewhere  a  martyrdom,  and  confesseth  of  him 
self,  how  cruelly  he  was  tortured  in  mind  for  learning  Greek, 
nulla  verba  noveram,  et  scevis  terroribus  et  pcenis,  ut  nossem, 
instabatur  mihi  vehementer,  I  knew  nothing,  and  with  cruel 
terrors  and  punishment  I  was  daily  compelled.  2  Beza  com 
plains  in  like  case  of  a  rigorous  schoolmaster  in  Paris,  that 
made  him  by  his  continual  thunder  and  threats  once  in  a 
mind  to  drown  himself,  had  he  not  met  by  the  way  with  an 
uncle  of  his  that  vindicated  him  from  that  misery  for  the 
time,  by  taking  him  to  his  house.  Trincavellius,  lib.  1,  consil. 
1 6,  had  a  patient  nineteen  years  of  age,  extremely  melancholy, 
ob  nimium  studium,  Tarvitii  et  prceceptoris  minas,  by  reason 
of  overmuch  study,  and  his  8  tutor's  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 
crucify  them,  that  they  become  desperate,  and  can  never  be 
recalled. 

Others  again,  in  that  opposite  extreme,  do  as  great  harm 
by  their  too  much  remissness,  they  give  them  no  bringing  up, 
no  calling  to  busy  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 
irregular  courses,  that  in  the  end  they  rue  it,  curse  their 
parents,  and  mischief  themselves.  Too  much  indulgence 
causeth  the  like,  *inepta  patris  lenitas  etfacilitas  prava  when 
as  Mitio-like,  with  too  much  liberty  and  too  great  allowance 

*  Idem.   Et  quod  maxime  nocet.  dum  fat.  ad  Testam.  *  Plus  mentis  paeda- 

in    tenerU  ita    timent    nihil    conantur.  gogico  supercilio  abstulit,  quim  unquan 

"  The  pupil's  faculties  are  perverted  by  prseceptds     suis     sapientiae      instillaytt 

the  Indiscretion  of  the  master."     *  Prae-  *  Ter.  Adelph.  3,  4. 


440  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  \ 

they  feed  their  children's  humours,  let  them  revel,  wench, 
riot,  swagger,  and  do  what  they  will  themselves,  and  then 
punish  them  with  noise  of  musicians ; 

l  "  Obsonet,  potet,  oleat  unguenta  de  meo; 

Amat  ?  dabitur  a  me  argentura  ubi  erit  commodum. 
Fores  effregit  ?  restituentur:  descidit 

Vestem  ?  resarcietur. Faciat  quod  lubet, 

Surnat,  consumut,  perdat,  decretum  est  pati." 

But  as  Demeo  told  him,  tu  ittum  corrumpi  sinis,  your  lenity 
will  be  his  undoing,  preevidere  videor  jam  diem  ilium,  quum 
hie  egens  profugiet  aliquo  milttatum,  I  foresee  his  ruin.  So 
parents  often  err,  many  fond  mothers  especially,  dote  so 
much  upon  their  children,  like  *  ^sop's  ape,  till  in  the  end 
they  crush  them  to  death,  Corporum  nutrices  animarum 
novercce,  pampering  up  their  bodies  to  the  undoing  of  their 
souls  ;  they  will  not  let  them  be  *  corrected  or  controlled,  but 
still  soothed  up  in  everything  they  do,  that  in  conclusion 
"  they  bring  sorrow,  shame,  heaviness  to  their  parents, 
(Ecclus.  cap.  xxx.  8,  9,)  become  wanton,  stubborn,  wilful, 
and  disobedient;  rude,  untaught,  headstrong,  incorrigible, 
and  graceless ; "  "  they  love  them  so  foolishly,"  saith  4  Car 
dan,  "  that  they  rather  seem  to  hate  them,  bringing  them 
not  up  to  virtue  but  injury,  not  to  learning  but  to  riot,  not  to 
sober  life  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  ?  8  u  Education  is  another 
nature,  altering  the  mind  and  will,  and  I  would  to  God  (saith 
he)  we  ourselves  did  not  spoil  our  children's  manners,  by 

1  Idem.  Act.  1,  so.  2.    "  Let  him  feast,  odisse  potius  videamnr,  illos  non  ad  vir- 

drink,  perfume  himself  at  my  expense :  tutem  sed  ad  injuriam,  non  ad  eruditio- 

If  he  be  in  love,  I  shall  supply  him  with  nem  sed  ad  luzum,  non  ad  virtu  tern  sed 

money.    Has  he  broken  in  the  gates  ?  voluptatem  educantes.          6  Lib.  1,  c.  8. 

they  shall  be  repaired.     Has  he  torn  his  Educatio  altera  natura,  alterat  animr* 

garments  ?  they  shall  be  replaced.    Let  et  voluntatem,  atque  utlnam  (inqnit)  lib- 

tiim  do  what   he  pleases,   take,   spend,  erorum  nostrorum   mores  non  ipsi  per- 

waste,  I  am  resolved  to  submit."      »  Cam-  deremu*,  quum  infantiam  statim  deliciii 

erarius,  em.  77,  cent.  2,  hath  elegantly  solvimus  :  molli  >r  ista  educatlo,   quain 

expressed  it  an  emblem,  perdit  amando,  indulgentiam  vocamus,  nervos  omnes,  el 

fcc.        *  PTOT.  xiil.  24.  "  He  that  spareth  mentis  et  corporis  frangit ;  fit  ez  his  con 

the  rod  hates  hU  son."  «  Lib.  2,  de  suetudo,  inde  natura. 

eonsol.  Tarn  atulte  pueros  dlligimus  ut 


Mem.  4,  subs.  8.]    Terrors  and  Affrights,   Causes.  441 

our  overmuch  cockering  and  nice  education,  and  weaken  the 
strength  of  their  bodies  and  minds,  that  causeth  custom, 
custom  nature,"  &c.  For  these  causes,  Plutarch  in  his  book, 
de  lib.  educ.  and  Hierom,  epist.  lib.  1,  epist.  17,  to  Lceta  de 
institut.  jfilice,  gives  a  most  especial  charge  to  all  parents, 
and  many  good  cautions  about  bringing  up  of  children,  that 
they  be  not  committed  to  indiscreet,  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  of  them  l "  that  are  more 
careful  of  their  shoes  than  of  their  feet,"  that  rate  their 
wealth  above  their  children.  And  he,  saith  2  Cardan, 
"  that  leaves  his  son  to  a  covetous  schoolmaster  to  be  in 
formed,  or  to  a  close  Abbey  to  fast  and  learn  wisdom  to 
gether,  doth  no  other,  than  that  he  be  a  learned  fool,  or  a 
sickly  wise  man." 

SUBSECT.  III. — Terrors  and  Affrights,  Causes  of  Melancholy. 

TULLT,  in  the  fourth  of  his  Tusculans,  distinguishes  these 
terrors  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  suddenly  alter  the  whole 
temperature  of  the  body,  move  the  soul  and  spirits,  strike 
such  a  deep  impression,  that  the  parties  can  never  be  re 
covered,  causing  more  grievous  and  fiercer  melancholy,  as 
Felix  Plater,  c.  3,  de  mentis  alienat.  8  speaks  out  of  his  ex 
perience,  than  any  inward  cause  whatsoever;  and  imprints 

1  Perinde  agit  ac  si  quis  de  calceo  sit  denies  ita  animum  commovent,  ut  apiri- 

lolicitus.  pedem  nihil  curet.    Juven.  Nil  tus  nunquam  recuperent,  gravioremqua 

patri  minus  est  quam  films.         '-  Lib.  3,  melancholiam  terror  facit,  quam  quae  ab 

de  sapient,  qui  avaris  paedagogis  pueros  interna  causa  fit.     Impressio  tarn  fortis  in 

ftlendos  dant,  Tel  clauses  in  coenobiis  je-  spiritibus  humoribusque  cerebri,  ut  ex- 

innare  annul  et  sapere,  nihil  aliud  ajrunt,  tnvcta  tota  sanguinea  massa,  aegre  expri- 

nisi  ut  sin t  vel  non  sine  stultitia  eruditi,  matur,  et  haec  horrenda  species  melancho- 

vel  non  Integra  vita  sapientes.          3  Ter-  liae  frequenter  oblata  mini,  omues  ezer 

ror  et  metus  maxime  ex  improviso  acce-  cens,  viros,  jurenea,  genes. 


442  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  2 

itself  so  forcibly  in  the  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  women,  young  and  old  of 
all  sorts."  *  Hercules  de  Saxonia  calls  this  kind  of  melan 
choly  (ab  agitatione  spirituum)  by  a  peculiar  name,  it  comes 
from  the  agitation,  motion,  contraction,  dilatation  of  spirits,  not 
from  any  distemperature  of  humours,  and  produceth  strong 
effects.  This  terror  is  most  usually  caused,  as  *  Plutarch 
will  have,  *'  from  some  imminent  danger,  when  a  terrible 
object  is  at  hand,"  heard,  seen,  or  conceived,  2 "  truly  ap 
pearing,  or  in  a  8  dream  ;  "  and  many  times  the  more  sudden 
the  accident,  it  is  the  more  violent. 

t "  Stat  terror  animis,  et  cor  attonitum  salit, 
Pavidumque  trepidis  palpitat  venis  jecur." 

"  Their  soul's  affright,  their  heart  amazed  quakes, 
The  trembling  liver  pants  i'  th'  veins,  and  aches." 

Arthemedorus  the  grammarian  lost  his  wits  by  the  unex 
pected  sight  of  a  crocodile,  Laurentius,  7,  de  melon.  4The 
massacre  at  Lyons,  1572,  in  the  reign  of  Charles  IX.,  was 
so  terrible  and  fearful,  that  many  ran  mad,  some  died,  great- 
bellied  women  were  brought  to  bed  before  their  time,  gener 
ally  all  affrighted  aghast.  Many  lose  their  wits  6"by  the 
sudden  sight  of  some  spectrum  or  devil,  a  thing  very  com 
mon  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  J  Pausanias  records).  The  Greeks  call  them 
p)p//oAv/ceta,  which  so  terrify  their  souls,  or  if  they  be  but 
affrighted  by  some  counterfeit  devils  in  jest, 

*  Tract,  de  nielan.  cap.  7  et  8,  non  ab  avit  fllimn  bello  mortuum,  inde  Melan- 

Intemperle,  sed    agitatione,   dilatatione,  cholica  consolari  noluit.  t  Senec. 

eontractione,  motn  npirituum.          1  Lib.  Here.  Oet.  4  Quarta  pan  Comment, 

de  fort,  et  virtut.     Alex,  priesertim  ine-  de  statu  religlonis  in  Gallia  sub  Carolo  9. 

unte  perlcnlo,  ubi  res  prope  adsunt  terri-  1572.          6  Ex  occursu  daomonum  aliqul 

biles.        *  Fit  a  visione  horrenda,  reverl  furore  corripiuntur,  et  experientia  notum 

apparent*,   vel  per  insomnia,   Platerus.  est        \  Lib.  8,  in  Arcad. 
A  painter's  wife  in  Basil,  1600     Soiiini- 


Mem.  4,  subs.  3.]     Terrors  and  Affrights,   Causes.  443 

*  "  ut  pueri  trepidant,  atqne  omnia  caecis 
In  tenebris  metuunt " 

as  children  in  the  dark  conceive  hobgoblins,  and  are  so 
afraid,  they  are  the  worse  for  it  all  their  lives.  Some  by 
sudden  fires,  earthquakes,  inundations,  or  any  such  dismal 
objects  ;  Themison  the  physician  fell  into  a  hydrophobia,  by 
seeing  one  sick  of  that  disease ;  (Dioscorides,  L  6,  c.  33,)  or 
by  the  sight  of  a  monster,  a  carcass,  they  are  disquieted 
many  months  following,  and  cannot  endure  the  room  where 
a  corpse  hath  been,  for  a  world  would  not  be  alone  with  a 
dead  man,  or  lie  in  that  bed  many  years  after  in  which  a 
man  hath  died.  At l  Basil  many  little  children  in  the  spring 
time  went  to  gather  flowers  in  a  meadow  at  the  town's  end, 
where  a  malefactor  hung  in  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  carcass  wag  towards 
her,  cried  out  it  came  after,  and  was  so  terribly  affrighted, 
that  for  many  days  she  could  not  rest,  eat,  or  sleep,  she 
could  not  be  pacified,  but  melancholy,  died.  2  In  the  same 
town  another  child,  beyond  the  Rhine,  saw  a  grave  opened, 
and  upon  the  sight  of  a  carcass,  was  so  troubled  in  mind 
that  she  could  not  be  comforted,  but  a  little  after  departed, 
and  was  buried  up.  Platerus,  observat.  L  1,  a  gentlewoman 
of  the  same  city  saw  a  fat  hog  cut  up,  when  the  entrails  were 
opened,  and  a  noisome  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  excrements, 
and  aggravated  the  matter  by  some  other  loathsome  in 
stances,  insomuch  this  nice  gentlewoman  apprehended  it  so 
deeply,  that  she  fell  forthwith  a  vomiting,  was  so  mightily  dis 
tempered  in  mind  and  body,  that  with  all  his  art  and  per- 

*  Lncret.          1  Puellas  extra  urbem  In  subito  reversa  pntavit  earn  vocare,  post 

prato  concurrentes,  &e.,  mcesta  et  mel-  paucos  dies  obiit,  proximo  sepulchro  col- 

aucholica  domura  rediit  per  dies  aliquot  locata.    Altera  patibulum  sero  prater- 

vexata,  dum  morlua  est.    Plater.      -  Al-  iens.  metuebat  ne  urbe  exclusa  illic  per* 

•era  trans-Khenana  ingressa  sepulchrum  noctaret,  unde  melancholic*  facta,   per 

receos  apertum,  vidit  cadaver,  et  domum  multos  aunos  laboravit.    Platerus. 


444  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  2. 

suasions,  for  some  months  after,  he  could  not  restore  her  to 
herself  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  bewitched ; 
1  or  if  they  read  by  chance  of  some  terrible  thing,  the  symp 
toms  alone  of  such  a  disease,  or  that  which  they  dislike,  they 
are  instantly  troubled  in  mind,  aghast,  ready  to  apply  it  to 
Iheiaselves,  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  lamentable  effects 
are  caused  by  such  terrible  objects  heard,  read,  or  seen,  auditus 
maximos  motus  in  corpore  facit,  as  a  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,  animum  obruere,  et  de  sede 
sud  dejicere,  as  a  *  philosopher  observes,  will  take  away  our 
sleep  and  appetite,  disturb  and  quite  overturn  us.  Let  them 
bear  witness  that  have  heard  those  tragical  alarms,  outcries, 
hideous  noises,  which  are  many  times  suddenly  heard  in  the 
dead  of  the  night  by  irruption  of  enemies  and  accidental 
fires,  &c.,  those  8  panic  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  re 
cover  it.  The  4  Midianites  were  so  affrighted  by  Gideon's 
soldiers,  they  breaking  but  every  one  a  pitcher ;  and  6  Han 
nibal's  army  by  such  a  panic  fear  was  discomfitted  at  the 
walls  of  Rome.  Augusta  Livia  hearing  a  few  tragical  verses 
recited  out  of  Virgil,  Tu  Marcellus  eris,  fyc.,  fell  down  dead 
in  a  swoon.  Edinus  king  of  Denmark,  by  a  sudden  sound 
which  he  heard,  6  "  was  turned  into  fury  with  all  his  men," 
Cranzius,  L  5,  Dan.  hist,  et  Alexander  ab  Alexandra,  L  3,  c. 
5.  Amatus  Lusitanus  had  a  patient,  that  by  reason  of  bad 

1  Subltus    occursug,   inopinata    lectio,  nunc  inflat  cornua  Faunas  alt.     Aleiat 

8  Lib.  de  auditione.         *  Theod.  Prodro-  embl.  122.         <  Jnd.  6,  19         *  Plutar- 

mug,  lib.  7.  Amorum.  *  Effuso  cer-  chug,  vita  ejus.        •  In  furorem  cum  t» 

Bens  fugientes  agmine  turmas,  Quis  mea  cits  versus, 


Mem.  4,  subs.  3.]    Terrors  and  Affrights,   Causes.  445 

tidings  became  epilepticus,  cen.  2,  cura,  90,  Cardan  subtil.  I 
18,  saw  one  that  lost  his  wits  by  mistaking  of  an  echo.  If 
one  sense  alone  can  cause  such  violent  commotions  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,  tempests,  &c.  At  Bologna  in 
Italy,  Anno  1504,  there  was  such  a  fearful  earthquake 
about  eleven  o'clock  in  the  night  (as  l  Beroaldus,  in  his  book, 
de  terra;  motu,  hath  commended  to  posterity)  that  all  the 
city  trembled,  the  people  thought  the  world  was  at  an  end, 
actum  de  mortalibus,  such  a  fearful  noise,  it  made  such  a 
detestable  smell,  the  inhabitants  were  infinitely  affrighted, 
and  some  ran  mad.  Audi  rem  atrocem,  et  annalibus  memo 
randum  (mine  author  adds),  hear  a  strange  story,  and  wor 
thy  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  a  was  first  melancholy,  after  doted, 
at  last  mad,  and  made  away  himself.  At  8  Fuscinum  in 
Japona  "  there  was  such  an  earthquake,  and  darkness  on  a 
sudden,  that  many  men  were  offended  with  headache,  many 
overwhelmed  with  sorrow  and  melancholy.  At  Meacum 
whole  streets  and  goodly  palaces  were  overturned  at  the 
same  time,  and  there  was  such  a  hideous  noise  withal,  like 
thunder,  and  filthy  smell,  that  their  hair  stared  for  fear,  and 
their  hearts  quaked,  man  and  beasts  were  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  affrighted  for  his  part,  that  though  it  were  two 
months  after,  he  was  scarce  his  own  man,  neither  could  he 

1  Suhitarius  terrae  motus.  *  Coepit  plurimis  cor  moerore  et  melancholia  ob- 

tnde  desipere  cum  dispendic  sanitatis,  in-  rneretnr.    Tantum  fremitum  edebat,  at 

de  adeo  dementans,  ut  sibi  ipsi  mortem  tonitru  fragorem  imitari  rideretur,  tan- 

Inferret.  *  Historica  relatio  de  rebus  tamque,  &o.    In  urbe  Sacai  tarn  horrif- 

Japonicis  Tract.  2,  de  legat.  regis  Chinen-  icus  fuit,  ut  homines  vix  sui  <  ompotef 

•is,  a  Lodovico  Frois,  Jesuits.    A,  1596.  essent  i  sensibus  abalienati,  moerore  op- 

Fuscini  de  repente  tanta  aeris  caligo  et  press!  tarn  horrendo  spectaculo,  &c. 
terras  motus,  ut  multi  capita  dolerent. 


446  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  4 

drive  the  remembrance  of  it  out  of  his  mind.  Many  times, 
some  years  following,  they  will  tremble  afresh  at  the  l  remem 
brance  or  conceit  of  such  a  terrible  object,  even  all  their 
lives  long,  if  mention  be  made  of  it.  Cornelius  Agrippa 
relates  out  of  Gulielmus  Parisiensis,  a  story  of  one,  that  after 
a  distasteful  purge  which  a  physician  had  prescribed  unto  him, 
was  so  much  moved,  2  "  that  at  the  very  sight  of  physic  he 
would  be  distempered,"  though  he  never  so  much  as  smelled 
to  it,  the  box  of  physic  long  after  would  give  him  a  purge ; 
nay,  the  very  remembrance  of  it  did  effect  it ;  3  "  like  travel 
lers  and  seamen,"  saith  Plutarch,  "that  when  they  have  been 
sanded,  or  dashed  on  a  rock,  forever  after  fear  not  that 
mischance  only,  but  all  such  dangers  whatsoever." 

SUBSECT.  IV. — Scoffs,  Calumnies,  bitter  Jests,  how  they  cause 
Melancholy. 

IT  is  an  old  saying,  * "  A  blow  with  a  word  strikes  deeper 
than  a  blow  with  a  sword  ; "  and  many  men  are  as  much 
galled  with  a  calumny,  a  scurrilous  and  bitter  jest,  a  libel,  a 
pasquil,  satire,  apologue,  epigram,  stage-play  or  the  like,  aa 
with  any  misfortune  whatsoever.  Princes  and  potentates 
that  are  otherwise  happy,  and  have  all  at  command,  secure 
and  free,  quibus  potentia  sceleris  impuni tatem  fecit,  are  griev 
ously  vexed  with  these  pasquilling  libels  and  satires ;  they 
fear  a  railing  6Aretine,  more  than  an  enemy  in  the  field,  which 
made  most  princes  of  his  time  (as  some  relate)  "  allow  him  a 
liberal  pension,  that  he  should  not  tax  them  in  his  satires."  * 
The  gods  had  their  Momus,  Homer  his  Zoilus,  Achilles  his 
Thersites,  Philip  his  Demades;  the  Caesars  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, 

1  Quoin  subit  illius  tristlssima  noctis  rlter  vulnerant.    Bernardug.         (  Eneli 

Imago.  2  Qui  8Oi0  aspectu  medicinal  sauciat  corpus,  mentem  germo.         *  Sci- 

movebatur  ad  pergandum.       *  Sicut  via-  atis  eum  ease  qui  a  nemine  fere  acvi  sui 

tores  si  ad  saxum  impegerint,  aut  nautae,  magnate,  uon  illustre  stipendium  habuit, 

memores  sui  casiis,  non  ista  modo  qua  ne  mores  ipsorum  Satyris  suis  notaret 

offendunt,  sed  et  slmilla  horrent  perpet-  Gasp.  Barthius,  pnefat.  parnodid. 
uo  et  tremunt.         *  Leyiter  Tolant,  gra- 


Mem.  4,  subs.  4.]  Scoffs,   Calumnies,  fyc.  447 

1  was  so  highly  offended,  and  grievously  vexed  with  Pasquik 
lers  at  Rome,  he  gave  command  that  his  statue  should  be 
demolished  and  burned,  the  ashes  flung  into  the  river  Tiber, 
and  had  done  it  forthwith,  had  not  Lodovicus  Suessanus,  a 
facete  companion,  dissuaded  him  to  the  contrary,  by  telling 
him,  that  Pasquil's  ashes  would  turn  to  frogs  in  the  bottom 
of  the  river,  and  croak  worse  and  louder  than  before, — genus 
irritdbile  vatum,  and  therefore  2  Socrates  in  Plato  adviseth  all 
his  friends,  "  that  respect  their  credits,  to  stand  hi  awe  of 
poets,  for  they  are  terrible  fellows,  can  praise  and  dispraise 
as  they  see  cause."  Hinc  quam  sic  calamus  scevior  en&e, 
paiet.  The  prophet  David  complains,  Psalm  cxxiii.  4,  "  that 
his  soul  was  full  of  the  mocking  of  the  wealthy,  and  of  the 
despitefulness  of  the  proud,"  and  Psalm  Iv.  4,  "  for  the  voice 
of  the  wicked,  &c.,  and  their  hate ;  his  heart  trembled  within 
him,  and  the  terrors  of  death  came  upon  him ;  fear  and  hor 
rible  fear,"  &c.,  and  Psalm  Ixix.  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  figure  Sarcasmus  so  often  in  their 
mouths,  so  bitter,  so  foolish,  as  *  Baltasar  Castilio  notes  of 
them,  that  "  they  cannot  speak,  but  they  must  bite ; "  they 
had  rather  lose  a  friend  than  a  jest ;  and  what  company 
soever  they  come  in,  they  will  be  scoffing,  insulting  over 
their  inferiors,  especially  over  such  as  any  way  depend  upon 
them,  humouring,  misusing,  or  putting  gulleries  on  some  or 
other  till  they  have  made  by  their  humouring  or  gulling  6  ex 
stulto  insanum,  a  mope  or  a  noddy,  and  all  to  make  them* 
selves  merry : 

•  "  dummodo  risum 
Excutiat  sibi;  non  hie  cuiquam  parcit  amico; " 

1  Jovius.  in  vita  ejus,  gravissirrub  tulit  fa-  perandum.           *  Petulant!    splene   ea- 

moeis  libellis  nomen  suum  ad  Pasquilli  chinno.         *  Canal,  lib.  2.    Ea  quorun- 

Btatuam    fuisse    laceratum,   decrevitque  dam  est  inscitia.  at  quoties  loqul,  totie* 

Idea  statuam   demoliri,    &c.        -  Plato,  mordere  licere  sibi  patent.                 &  Ter. 

lib.  13,  de  legibua.     Qui  existimationem  Eunuch.               «  Hor.  ser.  lib.  2,  sat.  4. 

curant,  poetas  ve'eantur,  quia  m&gnam  "  Provided  he  can  only  excite  laughter, 

vim    habent    ad     laudandum    et  vitu-  he  spares  not  his  best  friend." 


448  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Parti,  sec. 2 

Friends,  neuters,  enemies,  all  are  as  one,  to  make  a  fool  a 
madman,  is  their  sport,  and  they  have  no  greater  felicity  than 
to  scoff  and  deride  others ;  they  must  sacrifice  to  the  god  of 
laughter,  with  them  in  l  Apuleius,  once  a  day,  or  else  they 
shall  be  melancholy  themselves;  they  care  not  how  they 
grind  and  misuse  others,  so  they  may  exhilarate  their  own 
persons.  Their  wits  indeed  serve  them  to  that  sole  purpose, 
to  make  sport,  to  break  a  scurrile  jest,  which  is  levissimu* 
ingenii  fructus,  the  froth  of  wit,  as  8  Tully  holds,  and  for  this 
they  are  often  applauded,  in  all  other  discourse,  dry,  barren, 
stramineous,  dull  and  heavy,  here  lies  their  genius,  in  thia 
they  alone  excel,  please  themselves  and  others.  Leo  Deci- 
mus,  that  scoffing  pope,  as  Jovius  hath  registered  in  the 
Fourth  book  of  his  life,  took  an  extraordinary  delight  in  hu 
mouring  of  silly  fellows,  and  to  put  gulleries  upon  them,  8  by 
commending  some,  persuading  others  to  this  or  that;  he 
made  ex  stolidis  stultissimos,  et  maxime  ridiculos,  ex  stultit 
insanos ;  soft  fellows,  stark  noddies ;  and  such  as  were  fool 
ish,  quite  mad  before  he  left  them.  One  memorable  exam 
ple  he  recites  there,  of  Tarascomus  of  Parma,  a  musician 
that  was  so  humoured  by  Leo  Decimus,  and  Bibiena  his  sec 
ond  in  this  business,  that  he  thought  himself  to  be  a  man  of 
most  excellent  skill  (who  was  indeed  a  ninny),  they  4 "  made 
him  set  foolish  songs,  and  invent  new  ridiculous  precepts, 
which  they  did  highly  commend,"  as  to  tie  his  arm  that 
played  on  the  lute,  to  make  him  strike  a  sweeter  stroke, 
6 "  and  to  pull  down  the  Arras  hangings,  because  the  voice 
would  be  clearer,  by  reason  of  the  reverberation  of  the  wall." 
In  the  like  manner  they  persuaded  one  Baraballius  of  Caieta, 
that  he  was  as  good  a  poet  as  Petrarch ;  would  have  him  to 
be  made  a  laureate  poet,  and  invite  all  his  friends  to  his  in 
stalment;  and  had  so  possessed  the  poor  man  with  a  conceit 
of  his  excellent  poetry,  that  when  some  of  his  more  discreet 
friends  told  him  of  his  folly,  he  was  very  angry  with  them, 

1  Lib.  2.        *  De  orat.         a  Laudando,    qundam  Mufices  praocepta  commentary- 
•i  mira  lia  persuadendo.  *  Et  vana    tur,  &o.  *  Ut  voces  nudis  parietibui 

Inflatus  opinions,  incredibtlia  ac  ridenda    illlsae,    fuariua    ac    acutius     reuilirent 


Mem.  4,  snbs.  4.]  Scoffs,   Calumnies,  fyc.  449 

and  said  *  "  they  envied  his  honour  and  prosperity ; "  it  was 
strange  (saith  Joyius)  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  kind,  especially 
if  some  excellent  wits  shall  set  upon  him ;  he  that  mads 
others,  if  he  were  so  humoured,  would  be  as  mad  himself,  as 
much  grieved  and  tormented ;  he  might  cry  with  him  in  the 
comedy,  Proh  Jupiter,  tu  homo  me  adigas  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  haply  make  others 
sport,  and  be  no  whit  troubled  himself;  but  if  he  be  appre 
hensive  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  (it  flies  swiftly),  as  Bernard 
of  an  arrow,  sed  graviter  vulnerat  (but  wounds  deeply),  es 
pecially  if  it  shall  proceed  from  a  virulent  tongue,  "  it  cuts 
(saith  David)  like  a  two-edged  sword.  They  shoot  bitter 
words  as  arrows,"  Psalm  Ixiv.  3.  "And  they  smote  with 
their  tongues,"  Jer.  xviii.  18,  and  that  so  hard,  that  they 
leave  an  incurable  wound  behind  them.  Many  men  are 
undone  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,  choleric,  apt  to  mistake)  and 
impatient  of  an  injury  in  that  kind  ;  they  aggravate,  and  so 
meditate  continually  of  it,  that  it  is  a  perpetual  corrosive,  not 
to  be  removed  till  time  wear  it  out.  Although  they  perad- 
venture  that  so  scoff,  do  it  alone  in  mirth  and  merriment, 
and  hold  it  optimum  oliend  frui  insanid,  an  excellent  thing 
to  enjoy  another  man's  madness ;  yet  they  must  know,  that 
it  is  a  mortal  sin  (as  2  Thomas  holds),  and  as  the  prophet 

1  Imrnortalitati  et  gloriae  suae  prorsus  inyidentes.         *  2,  2Jae  quest.  75.    IrH- 
slo  mortale  peccatum. 

VOL.  i  29 


450  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  2. 

1  Davi  J  denounceth,  "  they  that  use  it,  shall  never  dwell  in 
God's  tabernacle." 

Such  scurrilous  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  such,  cerumna- 
rum  incrementa  sunt,  they  multiply  grief,  and  as  2he  per 
ceived,  In  multis  pudor,  in  multis  iracundia,  fyc.,  many  are 
ashamed,  many  vexed,  angered,  and  there  is  no  greater  cause 
or  furtherer  of  melancholy.  Martin  Cromerus,  in  the  Sixth 
book  of  his  history,  hath  a  pretty  story  to  this  purpose,  of 
Uladislaus,  the  second  king  of  Poland,  and  Peter  Dunnius, 
earl  of  Shrine;  they  had  been  hunting  late,  and  were  en 
forced  to  lodge  in  a  poor  cottage.  When  they  went  to  bed, 
Uladislaus  told  the  earl  in  jest,  that  his  wife  lay  softer  with 
the  abbot  of  Shrine ;  he  not  able  to  contain,  replied,  Et  tua 
cum  Dabesso,  and  yours  with  Dabessus,  a  gallant  young 
gentleman  in  the  court,  whom  Christina  the  queen  loved. 
Tetigit  id  dictum  Principis  animum,  these  words  of  his  so 
galled  the  prince,  that  he  was  long  after  tristis  et  cogitabundus, 
very  sad  and  melancholy  for  many  months ;  but  they  were 
the  earl's  utter  undoing ;  for  when  Christina  heard  of  it,  she 
persecuted  him  to  death.  Sophia  the  empress,  Justinian's 
wife,  broke  a  bitter  jest  upon  Narsetes  the  eunuch,  a  famous 
captain  then  disquieted  for  an  overthrow  which  he  lately  had : 
that  he  was  fitter  for  a  distaff  and  to  keep  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  Lombards  to  rebel,  and  thence  procured  many  miseries 
to  the  commonwealth.  Tiberius  the  emperor  withheld  a  leg 
acy  from  the  people  of  Rome,  which  his  predecessor  Augus 
tus  had  lately  given,  and  perceiving  a  fellow  round  a  dead 
corse  in  the  ear,  would  needs  know  wherefore  he  did  so  ;  the 
fellow  replied,  that  he  wished  the  departed  soul  to  signify  to 
Augustus,  the  commons  of  Rome  were  yet  unpaid ;  for  this 

T.  8.        *  Balthaaar  Castillo,  lib.  2,  de  aullco. 


Mem.  4,  snbs.  4.]         Scoffs,   Calumnies,  fyc.  451 

bitter  jest  the  emperor  caused  him  forthwith  to  be  slain,  and 
cany  the  news  himself.  For  this  reason,  all  those  that 
otherwise  approve  of  jests  in  some  cases,  and  facete  compan 
ions,  (as  who  doth  not  ?)  let  them  laugh  and  be  merry,  rum- 
pantur  et  ilia  Codro,  'tis  laudable  and  fit,  those  yet  will  by  no 
means  admit  them  in  their  companies,  that  are  any  way  in 
clined  to  this  malady ;  non  jocandum  cum  its  qui  miseri  sunt, 
et  cerumnosi,  no  jesting  with  a  discontented  person,  Tis  Cas- 
tilio's  caveat,  *  Jo.  Pontanus,  and  2  Galateus,  and  every  good 

man's, 

"  Play  with  me,  but  hurt  me  not: 
Jest  with  me,  but  shame  me  not." 

Comitas  is  a  virtue  between  rusticity  and  scurrility,  two  ex 
tremes,  as  affability  is  between  flattery  and  contention,  it 
must  not  exceed ;  but  be  still  accompanied  with  that  8  d/JAa/foa 
or  innocency,  guts  nemini  nocet,  omnem  injuries  oblationem 
abhorrens,  hurts  no  man,  abhors  all  offer  of  injury.  Though 
a  man  be  liable  to  such  a  jest  or  obloquy,  have  been  over 
seen,  or  committed  a  foul  fact,  yet  it  is  no  good  manners  or 
humanity  to  upbraid,  to  hit  him  in  the  teeth  with  his  offence, 
or  to  scoff  at  such  a  one ;  'tis  an  old  axiom,  turpis  in  reum 
omnis  exprobratio.*  I  speak  not  of  such  as  generally  tax  vice, 
Barclay,  Gentilis,  Erasmus,  Agrippa,  Fishcartus,  &c.,  the 
Varronists  and  Lucians  of  our  time,  satirists,  epigrammatists, 
comedians,  apologists,  &c.,  but  such  as  personate,  rail,  scoff 
calumniate,  perstringe  by  name,  or  in  presence  offend ; 

*  "  Lndit  qui  stolidS  procacitate, 
Non  est  Sestius  ille  sed  caballus;  " 

Tis  horse-play  this,  and  those  jests  (as  he  '  saith)  «  are  no 
better  than  injuries,"  biting  jeste,  mordentes  et  aculeati,  they 
are  poisoned  jests,  leave  a  sting  behind  them,  and  ought  not 
to  be  used. 

i  De  sennone,  lib.  4.  cap.  8.         *  Fol.  *  Mart.  Itb.  1,  eplg.  85.         *  Tales  jod  a» 

55.    Galateus.  3  Tully  Tusc.  qnwst.  injurils  non  possint  discern!.     Galatea* 

*  "Every  reproach  uttered  against  one  ft).  65. 
ilready    condemned    is    mean-spirited." 


452  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  2. 

1"  Set  not  tliy  foot  to  make  the  blind  to  fall; 
Nor  wilfully  offend  thy  weaker  brother: 
Nor  wound  the  dead  with  thy  tongue's  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 
gall,  like  two  fighting  boors,  bending  all  our  force  and  wit, 
friends,  fortune,  to  crucify  2  one  another's  souls ;  by  means  of 
which,  there  is  little  content  and  charity,  much  virulency, 
hatred,  malice,  and  disquietness  among  us. 

SUBSECT.  V. — Loss  of  Isiberty,  Servitude,  Imprisonment,  how 
they  cause  Melancholy. 

To  this  catalogue  of  causes,  I  may  well  annex  loss  of 
liberty,  servitude,  or  imprisonment,  which  to  some  persons  is 
as  great  a  torture  as  any  of  the  rest.  Though  they  have  all 
things  convenient,  sumptuous  houses  to  their  use,  fair  walks 
and  gardens,  delicious  bowers,  galleries,  good  fare  and  diet, 
and  all  things  correspondent,  yet  they  are  not  content,  be 
cause  they  are  confined,  may  not  come  and  go  at  their  pleas 
ure,  have  and  do  what  they  will,  but  live  *  aliena  quadrd,  at 
another  man's  table  and  command.  As  it  is  4  in  meats  so  it 
is  in  all  other  things,  places,  societies,  sports;  let  them  be 
never  so  pleasant,  commodious,  wholesome,  so  good;  yet 
omnium  rerum  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  kennel,  they  are  weary  of  it  They  are  happy,  it  is  true, 
and  have  all  things,  to  another  man's  judgment,  that  heart 
can  wish,  or  that  they  themselves  can  desire,  bona  si  sua 
ndrint ;  yet  they  loathe  it,  and  are  tired  with  the  present : 
Est  natura  hominum  novitatis  avida  ;  men's  nature  is  still 
desirous  of  news,  variety,  delights ;  and  our  wandering  affec- 

1  Pybrac  In  his  Quadraint,  87.  *  Ego  rum  est  aliena  yirere  quadra.  JUT. 
hujug  misera  fatuitate  et  dementia  con-  «  Crambse  bw  coctaa.  Vitae  me  redde  pit 
flfctor.  Tull.adAttic.ll.il.  3  Mine-  ori. 


Mem.  4,  subs.  5.]   Loss  of  Liberty,  Servitude,  $c.  453 

tions  are  so  irregular  in  this  kind,  that  they  must  change, 
though  it  must  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,  virtuous,  and  well 
qualified,  because  they  are  theirs ;  our  present  estate  is  still 
the  worst,  we  cannot  endure  one  course  of  life  long,  et  quod 
modo  voverat,  odit,  one  calling  long,  esse  in  honore  juvat,  mox 
displicet ;  one  place  long,  l  Roma  Tybur  amo,  ventoso  Tyb- 
ure  jRomam,  that  which  we  earnestly  sought,  we  now  con 
temn.  Hoc  quosdam  agit  ad  mortem  (saith  2  Seneca)  quod 
proposita  scepe  mutando  in  eadem  revolvuntur,  et  non  relin- 
quunt  novitati  locum :  Fastidio  ccepit  esse  vita,  et  ipsus  mun- 
dus,  et  subit  ittud  rapidissimarum  deliciarum,  Quousque 
eadem  ?  this  alone  kills  many  a  man,  that  they  are  tied  to  the 
same  still,  as  a  horse  in  a  mill,  a  dog  in  a  wheel,  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  Solo 
mon,  that  had  experience  of  all  worldly  delights  and  pleasure, 
confessed  as  much  of  themselves ;  what  they  most  desired, 
was  tedious  at  last,  and  that  their  lust  could  never  be  satis 
fied,  all  was  vanity  and  affliction  of  mind. 

Now  if  it  be  death  itself,  another  hell,  to  be  glutted  with 
one  kind  of  sport,  dieted  with  one  dish,  tied  to  one  place ; 
though  they  have  all  things  otherwise  as  they  can  desire,  and 
are  in  heaven  to  another  man's  opinion,  what  misery  and  dis 
content  shall  they  have,  that  live  in  slavery,  or  in  prison 
itself?  Quod  tristius  morte,  in  servitute  vivendum,  as  Her- 
molaus  told  Alexander  in  8  Curtius,  worse  than  death  is 
bondage  :  *  hoc  animo  scito  omnes  fortes  ut  mortem  servituti 
anteponant,  All  brave  men  at  arms  (Tully  holds)  are  so 
affected.  *  JEquidem  ego  is  sum  qui  servitutem  extremum 
omnium  malorum  esse  arbitror :  I  am  he  (saith  Boterus)  that 
account  servitude  the  extremity  of  misery.  And  what 

i  Hor.       *  De  tranquill.  animte.  27.        8  Lib.  8.        *  Tullius  Lepido,  Fan   19 
Boterus,  1. 1,  polit.  cap.  4 


454  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  a 

calamity  do  they  endure,  that  live  with  those  hard  task 
masters,  in  gold-mines  (like  those  30,000  *  Indian  slaves  at 
Potosi,  in  Peru),  tin-mines,  lead-mines,  stone-quarries,  coal 
pits,  like  so  many  mouldwarps  under  ground,  condemned  to 
the  galleys,  to  perpetual  drudgery,  hunger,  thirst,  and  stripes, 
without  all  hope  of  delivery?     How  are  those  women  in 
Turkey  affected,  that  most  part  of  the  year  come  not  abroad ; 
those  Italian  and  Spanish  dames,  that  are  mewed  up  like 
hawks,   and   locked   up   by   their  jealous   husbands?    how 
tedious  is  it  to  them  that  live  in  stoves  and  caves  half  a  year 
together  ?  as  in  Iceland,  Muscovy,  or  under  the  l  pole  itself, 
where  they  have  six  months'  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  diet,  exercise,  company,  sleep,  rest,  ease,  &c.,  that  are 
bound  in  chains  all  day  long,  suffer  hunger,  and  (as  2  Lucian 
describes  it)  "  must  abide  that  filthy  stink,  and  rattling  of 
chains,  bowlings,  pitiful  outcries,  that  prisoners  usually  make  ; 
these  things  are  not  only  troublesome,  but  intolerable."    They 
lie  nastily  among  toads  and  frogs  in  a  dark  dungeon,  in  their 
own  dung,  in  pain  of  body,  in  pain  of  soul,  as  Joseph  did, 
Psalm  cv.  18,  "  They  hurt  his  feet  in  the  stocks,  the  iron 
entered  his  soul."      They  live  solitary,  alone,  sequestered 
from  all  company  but  heart-eating  melancholy ;  and  for  want 
of  meat,  must  eat  that  bread  of  affliction,  prey  upon  them 
selves.     Well  might  "Arculanus  put  long  imprisonment  for 
a  cause,  especially  to  such  as  have  lived  jovially,  in  all  sen 
suality  and  lust,  upon  a  sudden  are  estranged  and  debarred 
from  all  manner  of  pleasures :  as  were  Huniades,  Edward, 
and  Richard  II.,  Valerian  the  Emperor,  Bajazet  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  great  a  delight  to  live  at  liberty,  and  to 

•  Laet .  descrlpt.  America.       l  If  there  vincitur,  ad  has  miserias  accidit  corporU 

be  any  inhabitants.         -  In  Taxari.     In-  foetor,  strepitus  ejulantium,  soinni  brevi- 

tordiu  quidem  collnm  rinctum  eat,  et  ma-  ins.  htec  omnia  plane  inolesta  et  intoler*- 

Bug  constricta,  nocta  Tero  totum  corpus  bilia.        *  In  9  llhasis. 


Mem.  4,  subs.  6.]       Poverty  and    Want,   Causes.  455 

enjoy  that  variety  of  objects  the  world  affords  ;  what  misery 
and  discontent  must  it  needs  bring  to  him,  that  shall  now  be 
cast  headlong  into  that  Spanish  inquisition,  to  fall  from 
heaven  to  hell,  to  be  cubbed  up  upon  a  sudden,  how  shall  he 
be  perplexed,  what  shall  become  of  him  ?  l  Robert  Duke  of 
Normandy  being  imprisoned  by  his  youngest  brother  Henry  L, 
ab  iUo  die  inconsolabili  dolore  in  carcere  contabuit,  saith  Mat 
thew  Paris,  from  that  day  forward  pined  away  with  grief. 

*  Jugurtha   that   generous   captain,   "  brought   to   Rome  in 
triumph,  and  after  imprisoned,  through  anguish  of  his  soul, 
and  melancholy,  died."     2  Roger,  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  the 
second  man  from  King  Stephen,  (he  that  built  that  famous 
castle  of  3  Devizes  in  Wiltshire,)  was  so  tortured  in  prison 
with  hunger,  and  all  those  calamities  accompanying  such  men, 

*  itt  vivere  noluerit,  mori  nescierit,  he  would  not  li ve,  and  could 
not  die,  between  fear  of  death,  and  torments  of  life.    Francis, 
King  of  France,  was  taken  prisoner  by  Charles  V.,  ad  mortem 
fere  mdancholicm,  saith  Guicciardini,  melancholy  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. 

POVERTY  and  want  are  so  violent  oppugners,  so  unwel 
come  guests,  so  much  abhorred  of  all  men,  that  I  may  not 
omit  to  speak  of  them  apart.  Poverty,  although  (if  consid 
ered  aright,  to  a  wise,  understanding,  truly  regenerate,  and 
contented  man)  it  be  donum  Dei,  a  blessed  estate,  the  way  to 
heaven,  as  6  Chrysostom  calls  it,  God's  gift,  the  mother  of 
modesty,  and  much  to  be  preferred  before  riches  (as  shall  be 
shown  in  his  6  place),  yet  as  it  is  esteemed  in  the  world's  cen 
sure,  it  is  a  most  odious  calling,  vile  and  base,  a  severe  tor 
ture,  summum  sceliis,  a  most  intolerable  burden  ;  we  *  shun  it 

l  William  the  Conqueror's  eldest  son.  tae  tormenta,   &c.  *  Vies,  hodie. 

*  Sallust.    Romam  triumpho  ductus  tan-  *  Seneca.      5  Com.  ad  Hebrseos.      s  Part, 

demque  in  carcerem  conjectus.  animi  do-  2  Sect.  3,  Memb.  3.  7  Quern  ut  diffl- 

lore  periit.        -  Camdeu  in  Wiltsh.  mise-  cilem  morbum  pueris  tradere  formida 

rum  senem  ita  fame  et  calamitatibus  in  mus.     Pint, 
carcere  fregit,  inter  mortis  metum,  et  yi- 


456  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  a. 

all,  cane  pejus  et  angue  (worse  than  a  dog  or  a  snake),  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, — extremos  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,  to  the  bowels  of  the  earth, 
t  five,  six,  seven,  eight,  nine  hundred  fathom  deep,  through 
all  five  zones,  and  both  extremes  of  heat  and  cold ;  we  will 
turn  parasites  and  slaves,  prostitute  ourselves,  swear  and  lie, 
damn  our  bodies  and  souls,  forsake  God,  abjure  religion,  steal, 
rob,  murder,  rather  than  endure  this  insufferable  yoke  of 
poverty,  which  doth  so  tyrannize,  crucify,  and  generally  de 
press  us. 

For  look  into  the  world,  and  you  shall  see  men  most  part 
esteemed  according  to  their  means,  and  happy  as  they  are 
rich :  J  Ubique  tanti  quisque  quantum  habuit  fait.  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  virtu 
ously  endowed,  or  villanously  inclined  ;  let  him  be  a  bawd,  a 
gripe,  an  usurer,  a  villain,  a  pagan,  a  barbarian,  a  wretch, 
§  Lucian's  tyrant,  "  on  whom  you  may  look  with  less  security 
than  on  the  sun ; "  so  that  he  be  rich  (and  liberal  withal)  he 
shall  be  honoured,  admired,  adored,  reverenced,  and  highly 
i  magnified.  "  The  rich  is  had  in  reputation  because  of  his 
goods,"  Eccl.  x.  31.  He  shall  be  befriended  :  "  for  riches  gather 
many  friends,"  Prov.  xix.  4, — mutios  numerabit  amicos,  all 
8  happiness  ebbs  and  flows  with  his  money.  He  shall  be  ac 
counted  a  gracious  lord,  a  Mecaenas,  a  benefactor,  a  wise,  dis 
creet,  a  proper,  a  valiant,  a  fortunate  man,  of  a  generous 

•  Lucan,  1. 1.    t  As  in  the  silver  mines  pulchrU  Divitiis  parent.    Hor.  Scr.  1.  2, 

at  Friburgh  in  Germany.    Fines  Mori-  Sat.  8.    Clarus  eris,  fortis.  Justus,  sapi- 

son.         $  Euripides.         {  Tom.  4,  dial.  ens,  etiam  rex.    Et  quicquid  volet.  Hor. 

minore  periculo  solem  qnam  hunc  deflxis  *  Et  genus,  et  forraain ,  regina  pecunia  dw 

oeulis  licet  iotueri.         »  Omnis  enim  res,  nat.    Money  adds  spirits,  courage,  &e. 
virtus,  fama,  dec  us,  divina  humanaque 


Mem.  4  subs.  6.]      Poverty  and  Want,   Causes.  457 

spirit,  Puttus  Jovis,  et  gallince  filius  alba  ;  a  hopeful,  a  good 
man,  a  virtuous,  honest  man.  Quando  ego  te  Junonium  pue- 
rum  et  matris  partum  vere  aureum,  as  J  Tully  said  of  Octavia- 
nus,  while  he  was  adopted  Caesar,  and  an  heir  2  apparent  of 
so  great  a  monarchy,  he  was  a  golden  child.  All  *  honour, 
offices,  applause,  grand  titles,  and  turgent  epithets  are  put 
upon  him,  omnes  omnia  bona  dicere  ;  all  men's  eyes  are  upon 
him,  God  bless  his  good  worship,  his  honour ,  4  every  man 
speaks  well  of  him,  every  man  presents  him,  seeks  and  sues 
to  him  for  his  love,  favour,  and  protection,  to  serve  him,  be 
long  unto  him,  every  man  riseth  to  him,  as  to  Themistocles  in 
the  Olympics,  if  he  speak,  as  of  Herod,  Vox  Dei,  non  homi- 
nis,  the  voice  of  God,  not  of  man.  All  the  graces,  Veneres, 
pleasures,  elegances  attend  him,  6  golden  fortune  accompanies 
and  lodgeth  with  him ;  and  as  to  those  Roman  emperors,  is 
placed  in  his  chamber. 

6  "  Secura  naviget  aura, 
Fortunamque  suo  temperet  arbitrio:  " 

he  may  sail  as  he  will  himself,  and  temper  his  estate  at  his 
pleasure,  jovial  days,  splendour  and  magnificence,  sweet  mu 
sic,  dainty  fare,  the  good  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 ; 
*  Divines  (for  Pythia  Philippisat),  lawyers,  physicians,  phi 
losophers,  scholars  are  his,  wholly  devote  to  his  service. 
Every  man  seeks  his  7  acquaintance,  his  kindred,  to  match 
with  him,  though  he  be  an  oaf,  a  ninny,  a  monster,  a  goose- 
cap,  uxorem  ducat  Danaen,^  when  and  whom  he  will,  hunc 
optant  generum  Rex  et  Regina he  is  an  excellent  8  match 

1  Epist.  ult.  ad  Atticutn.  -  Our  cubiculis  reponi  solita.     Julius  Capitoli- 

young  master,  a  fine  towardly  gentleman,  nus,   vita  Autonini.  6  Petronius. 

God  bless  him,  and  hopeful ;  why  ?  he  is  *  Theologi  opulentis  adhserentj  Jurispe- 

heir  apparent  to  the  right  worshipful,  to  riti  pecuniosis,  literati  nummosis,  liberal- 

the  right  honourable,  &c.  3  0  uuin-  ibus  artifices.  T  Multi  ilium  juvenes. 

uii,  nummi :  vobis  hunc  prsestat  hono-  multae  petiere  puellie.  t  "  He  may 

rem.        *  Exinde  sapere  eum  omnes  dici-  haye  DanaS  to  wife."         8  Dommodc  ait 

mus.  ac  quisque  fortunam  habet.   Plaut.,  dives,  barbarus  illo  placet 
Pseud.            6  Aurea  fortuua.  principum 


458  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Past.  I.  sec.  2. 

for  my  son,  my  daughter,  my  niece,  &c.  Quicquid  colcaverit 
hie,  Rosa  fat,  let  him  go  whither  he  will,  trumpets  sound, 
bells  ring,  &c.,  all  happiness  attends  him,  every  man  is  will 
ing  to  entertain  him,  he  sups  in  Apollo  wheresoever  he 
comes  ;  what  preparation  is  made  for  his  2  entertainment !  fish 
and  fowl,  spices  and  perfumes,  all  that  sea  and  land  affords. 
What  cookery,  masking,  mirth  to  exhilarate  his  person  I 

*  "  Da  Trebio,  pone  ad  Trebium,  vis  frater  ab  illis 

Ilibus? 

What  dish  will  your  good  worship  eat  of? 

*  "  dulcia  poma, 

Et  quoscunque  feret  cultus  tibi  fundus  honores, 
Ante  Larem,  gustet  venerabilior  Lare  dives." 

41  Sweet  apples,  and  whate'er  thy  fields  afford, 
Before  thy  Gods  be  served,  let  serve  thy  Lord." 

What  sport  will  your  honour  have  ?  hawking,  hunting,  fish 
ing,  fowling,  bulls,  bears,  cards,  dice,  cocks,  players,  tumblers, 
fiddlers,  jesters,  &c.,  they  are  at  your  good  worship's  com 
mand.  Fair  houses,  gardens,  orchards,  terraces,  galleries, 
cabinets,  pleasant  walks,  delightsome  places,  they  are  at 
hand :  4  in  aurein  lac,  vinum  in  argenteis,  adolescenttdte  ad 
nutum  speciosce,  wine,  wenches,  &c.,  a  Turkish  paradise,  a 
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),  6jure  hcereditario  sapere  jubetur,  he  must  have 
honour  and  office  in  his  course  :  *Nemo  nisi  dives  honore  dig- 
nits  (Ambros.  offic.  21,)  none  so  worthy  as  himself;  he  shall 
have  it,  atque  esto  quicquid  Servius  aut  Ldbeo.  Get  money 
enough  and  command  f  kingdoms,  provinces,  armies,  hearts, 
hands,  and  affections ;  thou  shalt  have  popes,  patriarchs  to  be 
thy  chaplains  and  parasites ;  thou  shalt  have  (Tamerlane- 
like)  kings  to  draw  thy  coach,  queens  to  be  thy  laundresses, 


1  Plat,  in  Lucullo,  a  rich  chamber  so  elati  sunt  animls,  lofty  spirits,  brave  men 
called.        *  Panis  pane  melior.        3  JUT.  at  arms;  all  rich  men  are  generouo,  con- 
Sat.  6.        *  Hor.  Sat.  5,  lib.  2.         *  Bo-  ra.'eous.  &c.           t  Numm AS  ait  pro  me 
hum  us  de  Turcis  et  Bredenbach.       5  Eu-  nubat  Cornubla  Romae. 
phonnio.               •  Qul  pecunlam  habent. 


Alem.  4,  subs.  6.]         Poverty  and  Want,   Causes.  459 

emperors  thy  footstools,  build  more  towns  and  cities  than 
great  Alexander,  Babel  towers,  pyramids,  and  mausolean 
tombs,  &c.,  command  heaven  and  earth,  and  tell  the  world  it 
is  thy  vassal,  auro  emitur  diadema,  argento  ccelum  panditur, 
denarius  philosophum  conducit,  nummusjus  cogit,  obolus  lite- 
ratum  pascit,  metallum  sanitatem  conciliat,  ces  amicos  conglutt- 
nat.  *  And  therefore  not  without  good  cause,  John  de 
Medicis,  that  rich  Florentine,  when  he  lay  upon  his  death 
bed,  calling  his  sons,  Cosmo  and  Laurence,  before  him, 
amongst  other  sober  sajings,  repeated  this,  animo  quieto  di~ 
ffredior,  quod  vos  sanos  et  divites  post  me  relinquam,  u  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  Lacedemonian  senators  of 
Lycurgus  in  Plutarch,  "  He  preferred  that  deserved  best,  was 
most  virtuous  and  worthy  of  the  place,  *not  swiftness,  or 
strength,  or  wealth,  or  friends  carried  it  in  those  days  ; "  but 
inter  optimos  optimum,  inter  temperantes  temperantissimus,  the 
most  temperate  and  best.  We  have  no  aristocracies  but  in 
contemplation,  all  oligarchies,  wherein  a  few  rich  men  domi 
neer,  do  what  they  list,  and  are  privileged  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  money  get  pardons,  indul 
gences,  redeem  then*  souls  from  purgatory  and  hell  itself, — 
clausum  possidet  area  Jbvem.  Let  them  be  epicures,  or 
atheists,  libertines,  machiavelians  (as  they  often  are),  * "  Et 
quamvis  perjurus  erit,  sine  gente,  cruentus"  they  may  go  to 
heaven  through  the  eye  of  a  needle,  if  they  will  themselves, 
they  may  be  canonized  for  saints,  they  shall  be  *  honourably 


*"A  Jiadem  is  purchased  with  gold;  certamen,  non  Inter  celeres   celerrimo, 

direr  opens  the  way  to  heaven ;  phikwo-  non    inter   robustos    robustissimo,    &c. 

phy  may  be  hired  for  a  penny :  money  *  Quicquid  libet  licet.  *  Hor.  Sat.  6, 

controls  justice  ;  one  obolus  satisfies  a  lib.  2.  *  Cum  moritur  dires  concur- 

man  of  letters ;  precious  metal  procures  runt  undique  cives :  Pauperis  ad  funul 

health;  wealth  attaches  friends."    1  Non  Tix  est  ex  millions  unus 
fuit  apud  mortales    ullum  excellentiua 


460  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  a 

interred  in  raausolean  tombs,  commended  by  poets,  registered 
in  histories,  have  temples  and  statues  erected  to  their  names, 
— e  manibus  illis — nascentur  viola. — If  he  be  bountiful  in 
his  life,  and  liberal  at  his  death,  he  shall  have  one  to  swear, 
as  he  did  by  Claudius  the  Emperor  in  Tacitus,  he  saw  his 
soul  go  to  heaven,  and  be  miserably  lamented  at  his  funeral. 
Ambubaiarum  collegia,  Sfc.  Trimalcionis  topanta  in  Petronius 
rectd  in  ccelum  abiit,  went  right  to  heaven ;  a  base  quean, 
1 "  thou  wouldst  have  scorned  once  in  thy  misery  to  have  a 
penny  from  her;"  and  why?  modio  nummos  metiit,  she 
measured  her  money  by  the  bushel.  These  prerogatives  do 
not  usually  belong  to  rich  men,  but  to  such  as  are  most  part 
seeming  rich,  let  him  have  but  a  good  3  outside,  he  carries  it, 
and  shall  be  adored  for  a  god,  as  8  Cyrus  was  amongst  the 
Persians,  ob  splendidum  apparatum,  for  his  gay  attires ;  now 
most  men  are  esteemed  according  to  their  clothes.  In  our 
gullish  times,  whom  you  peradventure  in  modesty  would  give 
place  to,  as  being  deceived  by  his  habit,  and  presuming  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  lady's  tailor,  his  lordship's  barber,  or  some  such 
gull,  a  Fastidius  Brisk,  Sir  Petronel  Flash,  a  mere  outside. 
Only  this  respect  is  given  him,  that  wheresoever  he  comes, 
he  may  call  for  what  he  will,  and  take  place  by  reason  of  his 
outward  habit. 

But  on  the  contrary,  if  he  be  poor,  Prov.  xv.  15,  "  all  hia 
days  are  miserable,"  he  is  under  hatches,  dejected,  rejected 
and  forsaken,  poor  in  purse,  poor  in  spirit ;  *prout  res  noUs 
fluit,  ita  et  animus  se  habet ;  6  money  gives  life  and  soul. 
Though  he  be  honest,  wise,  learned,  well-deserving,  noble  by 
birth,  and  of  excellent  good  parts ;  yet  in  that  he  is  poor, 
unlikely  to  rise,  come  to  honour,  office  or  good  means,  he  is 
contemned,  neglected,  frttstra  sapit,  inter  literas  esurit  amicus, 

1  Et  modo  quid  fult   Ignoscnt   mihl  be  a  gentleman.          »  Est  sauguis  atqo* 

fenltw    tuus,   noluissea    de    mann   ejus  epiritus  pecunla  mortalibus.        « Euripi- 

nnmmofl  accipere.    *  He  that  wears  silk,  des.        «  Xenophon.  Cyropaed.  1.  8. 
latin,  velvet,  and  gold  lace,  most  needs 


Mem.  4,  subs.  6.]      Poverty  and  Want,   Causes.  461 

molestus.  l"If  he  speak,  what  babbler  is  this?"  Ecclua. 
his  nobility  without  wealth,  is  2projecta  vilior  algi,  and  he 
not  esteemed :  nos  viles  pulli  nati  infelicibus  ovis,  if  once  poor 
we  are  metamorphosed  in  an  instant,  base  slaves,  villains,  and 
vile  drudges ;  8  for  to  be  poor,  is  to  be  a  knave,  a  fool,  a 
wretch,  a  wicked,  an  odious  fellow,  a  common  eyesore,  eay 
poor  and  say  all ;  they  are  born  to  labour,  to  misery,  to  carry 
burdens  like  juments,  pistum  stercus  comedere  with  Ulysses's 
companions,  and  as  Chremilus  objected  in  Aristophanes, 
4  saJem  lingere,  lick  salt,  to  empty  jakes,  fay  channels,  6  carry 
out  dirt  and  dunghills,  sweep  chimneys,  rub  horse-heels,  dec. 
I  say  nothing  of  Turks,  gaUey-slaves,  which  are  bought  6  and 
sold  like  juments,  or  those  African  negroes,  or  poor  7  Indian 
drudges,  qui  indies  hinc  inde  deferendis  oneribus  occumbunt, 
nam  quod  apud  nos  boves  et  asini  vehunt,  trahunt,  fyc.  *  Id 
omne  misellis  Indis,  they  are  ugly  to  behold,  and  though  erst 
spruce,  now  rusty  and  squalid,  because  poor,  8  immundasfor- 
tunas  cequum  est  squalorem  sequi,  it  is  ordinarily  so.  9  "  Others 
eat  to  live,  but  they  live  to  drudge,"  10  servilis  et  misera  gens 
nihil  recusare  audet,  a  servile  generation,  that  dare  refuse  no 

task. u  "  Heus  tu,  Dromo,  cape  hoc  flabettum,  ventulum 

hinc  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  afoot  to 
morrow,  to  carry  me  a  letter  to  my  mistress,  Soda  ad  pistri- 
num,  Socia  shall  tarry  at  home  and  grind  malt  all  day  long, 
Tristan  thresh.  Thus  are  they  commanded,  being  indeed 
some  of  them  as  so  many  footstools  for  rich  men  to  tread  on, 
blocks  for  them  to  get  on  horseback,  or  as  12 "  walls  for  them 
to  piss  on."  They  are  commonly  such  people,  rude,  silly, 

1  In  ternii  rara  est   facundia  panno.  polled  to  carry  from  place  to  place;  for 

JUT.        2  Hor.  '« more  worthless  than  re-  they  carry  and  draw  the    loads  which 

jected  weeds."      *  Egere  eat  offendere,  et  oxen   and    asses    formerly    used,"    &c. 

indigere    scelestnm    esse.      Sat.    Menip.  8  Plautus.         »  Leo  Afer,  ca.  ult.  1.  1, 

*  Plant,  act.  4.          &  Nullum  tarn  barba-  edunt  non  ut  bene  vivant,  sed  ut  fortitet 
rum,  tarn  vile  munus  est,  quod  non  lu-  laborent.     Heinsius.  10  Muuster  de 
bentissime    obire    yelit    gens    vilissima.  rusticis  Germanise,  Gosmog.  cap.  27,  lib. 

•  Lausius,  orat.  in  Hispauiam.        7  Laet.  &       u  Ter.  Eunuch.        13  Pauper  pariel 
d«script.    Americas.           *  "  Who    daily  factus,  quern  canicu'se  commingant. 
faint  beneath  the  burdens  they  are  com- 


462  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  2 

superstitious  idiots,  nasty,  unclean,  lousy,  poor,  dejected, 
slavishly  humble ;  and  as  *  Leo  Afer  observes  of  the  com 
monalty  of  Africa,  natura  viliores  sunt,  nee  apud  suos  duces 
majore  in  precio  qudm  si  canes  essent :  a  base  by  nature, 
and  no  more  esteemed  than  dogs,  miseram,  laboriosam,  calam- 
itosam  vitam  agunt,  et  inopem,  infcelicem,  rudiores  asmis, 
ut  e  brutis  plane  natos  dicas  ;  no  learning,  no  knowledge,  no 
civility,  scarce  common  sense,  nought  but  barbarism  amongst 
them,  belluino  more  vivunt,  neque  calceos  gestant,  neque  vestes, 
like  rogues  and  vagabonds,  they  go  barefooted  and  bare 
legged,  the  soles  of  their  feet  being  as  hard  as  horse-hoofs, 
as  8  Radzivilus  observed  at  Damietta  in  Egypt,  leading  a 
laborious,  miserable,  wretched,  unhappy  life,  4 "  like  beasts 
and  juments,  if  not  worse ; "  (for  a  6  Spaniard  in  Incatan, 
sold  three  Indian  boys  for  a  cheese,  and  a  hundred  negro 
slaves  for  a  horse)  their  discourse  is  scurrility,  their  summum 
bonum  a  pot  of  ale.  There  is  not  any  slavery  which  these 
villains  will  not  undergo,  inter  iUos  plerique  latrinas  evacuant, 
alii  culinariam  curant,  alii  stabularios  agunt,  urinatores,  et  id 
genus  similia  exercent,  fyc.,  like  those  people  that  dwell  in  the 
8  Alps,  chimney-sweepers,  jakes-farmers,  dirt-daubers,  vagrant 
rogues,  they  labour  hard  some,  and  yet  cannot  get  clothes  to 
put  on,  or  bread  to  eat.  For  what  can  filthy  poverty  give 
else,  but 7  beggary,  fulsome  nastiness,  squalor,  content,  drudg 
ery,  labour,  ugliness,  hunger  and  thirst;  pediculonim,  et 
pulicum  numerum  ?  as  8  he  well  followed  it  in  Aristophanes, 
fleas  and  lice,  pro  pattio  vestem  laceram,  et  pro  pulvinari 
lapidem  bene  magnum  ad  caput,  rags  for  his  raiment,  and  a 
stone  for  his  pillow,  pro  cathedra,  ruptce  caput  urnee,  he  sits 
in  a  broken  pitcher,  or  on  a  block  for  a  chair,  et  malvce  ramos 

'  Lib  1.  cap.  nit.        *  Deos  omnes  illis  rim&m  latomi,  in  Oscella  yalle  cnltrornm 

Infensn-  dlceres :  tarn  pannosi,  fame  frac-  fabri  fomarii,  in  Vigetia  sordidum  genus 

ti,  tot  assiduc  malls  afficiuntur,  tanquam  hominum,   qacd  repurgandis     canninis 

pecora  quibus  splendor  rationis  emortu-  victum  parat.        *  I  write  not  this  any 

UB.        8  Peregrin.  Hieros.        *  Nihll  om-  ways  to  upbraid  or  scoff  at,  or  misuse 

nlno  meliorem  rltam  degnnt,  quam  fer»  poor  men,  but  rather  to  condole  and  pity 

in  silvi*.  jumenta  in  terris.     T/eo  Afer.  them  by  expressing,  &c.        •  Ohremilus, 

iBartholomeusaCasa.    « Ortelius,  in  Hel-  act.  4     Plmut. 
retia.    Qui  habitant  in  Cassia  valle  ut  plu- 


Mem.  4,  subs.  6.]      Poverty  and  Want,   Causes.  463 

pro  panibus  comedit,  he  drinks  water,  and  lives  on  wort  leaves, 
pulse,  like  a  hog,  or  scraps  like  a  dog,  ut  nunc  nobis  vita  affi- 
citur,  quis  non  putabit  insaniam  me,  infelicitatemque  ?  as 
Chremilus  concludes  his  speech,  as  we  poor  men  live  nowa 
days,  who  will  not  take  our  life  to  be  1  infelicity,  misery,  and 
madness  ? 

If  they  be  of  little  better  condition  than  those  base  villains, 
hunger-starved  beggars,  wandering  rogues,  those  ordinary 
slaves,  and  day-labouring  drudges ;  yet  they  are  commonly 
so  preyed  upon  by  2  polling  officers  for  breaking  the  laws,  by 
their  tyrannizing  landlords,  so  flayed  and  fleeced  by  perpetual 
*  exactions,  that  though  they  do  drudge,  fare  hard,  and  starve 
their  genius,  they  cannot  live  in  4  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, 
their  trouble  and  anxiety  "  takes  away  their  sleep,"  Sirac. 
xxxi.  1,  it  makes  them  weary  of  their  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-hearted  and  merciless,  uncharitable  as 
they  are,  they  leave  them  so  distressed,  to  beg,  steal,  murmur, 
and  6  rebel,  or  else  starve.  The  feeling  and  fear  of  this 
misery  compelled  those  old  Romans,  whom  Menenius  Agrippa 
pacified,  to  resist  their  governors ;  outlaws,  and  rebels  in 
most  places,  to  take  up  seditious  arms,  and  in  all  ages  hath 
caused  uproars,  murmurings,  seditions,  rebellions,  thefts,  mur 
ders,  mutinies,  jars  and  contentions  in  every  commonwealth  ; 
grudging,  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  knight's  living,  a  gentleman  a  yeoman's,  not  to  be 

1  Paupertas  durum  onus  miseris  mor-  Essays,  speaks    of  certain    Indians    in 

talibus.         *  Vexat  censuril  columbas.  France,  that  being  asked  how  they  like! 

8  Deux  ace  non  possunt,  et  sixcinque  the  country,  wondered  how  a  few  rich 

•olvere    no'.unt:    Omnibus    est    notum  men  could  keep  so  many  poor  men  in 

quater  tre  solvere  totum.        *  Scandia,  subjection,  that  they  did  not  cut  theil 

Africa,  Lituania.        6  Montaigne,  in  his  throats. 


464  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  a 

able  to  live  as  his  birth  and  place  require.  Poverty  and 
want  are  generally  corrosives  to  all  kind  of  men,  especially 
to  such  as  have  been  in  good  and  flourishing  estate,  are  sud 
deuly  distressed,  *  nobly  born,  liberally  brought  up,  and  by 
some  disaster  and  casualty  miserably  dejected.  For  the  rest, 
as  they  have  base  fortunes,  so  have  they  base  minds  cor 
respondent,  like  beetles,  e  stercore  orti,  e  stercore  victus,  in 
sterarre  delirium,  as  they  were  obscurely  born  and  bred,  so 
they  delight  in  obscenity  ;  they  are  not  so  thoroughly  touched 
with  it.  Angustas  animas  angusto  in  pectore  versant.  3  Yea, 
that  which  is  no  small  cause  of  their  torments,  if  once  they 
come  to  be  in  distress,  they  are  forsaken  of  their  fellows, 
most  part  neglected,  and  left  unto  themselves ;  as  poor 
8  Terence  in  Rome  was  by  Scipio,  Laelius,  and  Furius,  his 
great  and  noble  friends. 

"  Nil  Publius  Scipio  profuit,  nil  ei  Lselins,  nil  Forms, 
Tres  per  idem  tempus  qui  agitabant  nobiles  facillime, 
Hornm  ille  opera  ne  domum  quidem  habuit  conductitiam."  * 

Tis  generally  so,  Tempora  sifuerint  nubila,  solus  em,  he  is 
left  cold  and  comfortless,  nuttus  ad  amissas  ibit  amicus  opes, 
all  flee  from  him  as  from  a  rotten  wall,  now  ready  to  fall  on 
their  heads.  Prov.  xix.  4.  "  Poverty  separates  them  from 
their  4  neighbours." 

6  "  Dum  fortnna  favet,  vultum  servatis,  araici, 
Cum  cecidit,  turpi  vertitis  ora  fuga." 

u  Whilst  fortune  favour' d,  friends,  you  smiled  on  me, 
But  when  she  fled,  a  friend  I  could  not  see." 

Which  is  worse  yet,  if  he  be  poor  6  every  man  contemns  lorn, 
insults  over  him,  oppresseth  him,  scoffs  at,  aggravates  his 
misery. 

'"  Quum  coepit  quassata  domus  subsidere,  partes 
In  proclinatas  omne  recumbit  onus." 

»  Angustaa  anitnas  animoso  In  pectore  procure  a  lodging  through  their  patron- 

Tersans.        *  "  A  narrow  breast  conceals  ajre."        4  Proy.  xix.  7.    "  Though  he  be 

•  narrow  soul."       »  Donatus,  Tit.  ejus.  instant,  yet  they  will  not."       *  Petro- 

•  "  Publius  Scipio,  Laelius  and  Pnrius,  nins.       «  Non  est  qui  doleat  Ticem,  ut 
three  of  the  most  distinguished  noble-  Petrus  Christum,  jurant    se    bominem 
men  at  that  day  in  Borne,  were  of  so  lit-  non  novisse.        '  Ovid,  in  Trist. 

tie  serrise  to  him,  that  he  could  scarcely 


Mem.  4,  subs.  6.]       Poverty  and   Want,   Causes.  465 

u  When  once  the  tottering  honsft  begins  to  shrink, 
Thither  comes  all  the  weight  by  an  instinct." 

Nay,  they  are  odious  to  their  own  brethren  and  dearest 
friends,  Prov.  xix.  7.  "  His  brethren  hate  him  if  he  be  poor," 
1  omnes  vicini  oderunt,  u  his  neighbours  hate  him,"  Prov.  xiv. 
20, 2  omnes  me  noti  ac  ignoti  deserunt,  as  he  complained  in  the 
comedy,  friends  and  strangers  all  forsake  me.  Which  is  most 
grievous,  poverty  makes  men  ridiculous,  Nil  habet  infelix 
paupertas  durius  in  se,  qudm  quod  ridiculos  homines  facit, 
they  must  endure  8  jests,  taunts,  flouts,  blows  of  their  betters, 
and  take  all  in  good  part  to  get  a  meal's  meat :  *  magnum 
pauperies  opprobium,  jubet  quidvis  et  facere  et  pati.  He 
must  turn  parasite,  jester,  fool,  cum  desipientibus  desipere; 
saith  4  Euripides,  slave,  villain,  drudge  to  get  a  poor  living, 
apply  himself  to  each  man's  humours,  to  win  and  please,  &c., 
and  be  buffeted  when  he  hath  all  done,  as  Ulysses  was  by 
Melanthius  6  in  Homer,  be  reviled,  baffled,  insulted  over,  for 
*potentiorum  stuhitia  pwferenda  est,  and  may  not  so  much  as 
mutter  against  it.  He  must  turn  rogue  and  villain ;  for  as 
the  saying  is,  Necessitas  cogit  ad  turpia,  poverty  alone  makes 
men  thieves,  rebels,  murderers,  traitors,  assassins,  "  because 
of  poverty  we  have  sinned,"  Ecclus.  xxvii.  1,  swear  and  for 
swear,  bear  false  witness,  lie,  dissemble,  anything,  as  I  say, 
to  advantage  themselves,  and  to  relieve  their  necessities: 
1  Oulpce  scelerisque  magistra  est,  when  a  man  is  driven  to  hia 
shifts,  what  will  he  not  do  ? 

8  "  si  miserum  fortuna  Sinonem 
Finxit,  vanum  etiam  mendacemque  improba  finget." 

he  will  betray  his  father,  prince,  and  country,  turn  Turk,  for 
sake  religion,  abjure  God  and  all,  nutta  tarn  horrenda  pro- 
ditio,  quam  itti  lucri  causa  (saith  9  Leo  Afer)  perpetrare  nolint. 
10  Plato,  therefore,  calls  poverty,  "  thievish,  sacrilegious,  filthy, 

1  Herat.        *  Ter.  Eunuchus,  act.  2.  poor,  she  has  made  him  rain  and  men- 

»  Quid  quod  materiam  prsebet  causam-  dacious."        •  De  Africa,  lib.  1,  cap.  ult 

que  jocandi:   Si   toga  sordida  sit,  JUT.  104,  de  legibus.  Furacissima  paupertag, 

Sat.   2.  *  Hor.  *  In  Phsenis.  sacrilega,  turpis,  dagitiosa,  omnium  ma 

»  Odyss    17.        «  Idem.        1  Mantnan.  lorum  opifex. 
•  "  Since  cruel  fortune  has  made  Sinon 
VOL.  I                                                       80 


466  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  a, 

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  indirect  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  harpies,  friends  importunate,  tradesmen  liars,  hon 
est  men  thieves,  devout  assassins,  great  men  to  prostitute 
their  wives,  daughters,  and  themselves,  middle  sort  to  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,  praxi  rerum  criminal,  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  wearisomeness  of  their  lives,  to  make  away 
themselves  ;  they  had  rather  be  hanged,  drowned,  &c.,  than 
to  live  without  means. 

l  "  In  mare  caetiferum,  ne  te  premat  aspera  egestas, 
Desili,  et  a  celsis  corrue  Cerne  jugis." 

"  Much  better  'tis  to  break  thy  neck, 

Or  drown  thyself  i'  the  sea, 
Than  suffer  irksome  poverty; 
Go  make  thyself  away." 

A  Sybarite  of  old,  as  I  find  it  registered  in  a  Athenaeus,  sup 
ping  in  Phiditiis  in  Sparta,  and  observing  their  hard  fare, 
said  it  was  no  marvel  if  the  Lacedaemonians  were  valiant 
men  ;  "  for  his  part  he  would  rather  run  upon  a  sword  point 
(and  so  would  any  man  in  his  wits),  than  live  with  such  base 


*  IMpnogophlst.  lib.  12.    mente  constaret)  quam  tarn  Tills  et  arum- 
Millie*  potius  moritui  um  (si   quis  sibi    nosi  Yictiis  communionem  habere. 


Mem.  4,  suos.  6.]       Poverty  and  Want,   Causes.  467 

diet,  or  lead  so  wretched  a  life."  l  In  Japonia  'tis  a  common 
thing  to  stifle  their  children  if  they  be  poor,  or  to  make  an 
abortion,  which  Aristotle  commends.  In  that  civil  common 
wealth  of  China,  2  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,  adversus  gentes,  8  Lactantius,  lib.  5,  cap.  9,  objects  as  much 
to  those  ancient  Greeks  and  Romans,  "  they  did  expose  their 
children  to  wild  beasts,  strangle  or  knock  out  their  brains 
against  a  stone,  in  such  cases."  If  we  may  give  credit  to 
4  Munster,  amongst  us  Christians  in  Lithuania,  they  volunta 
rily  mancipate  and  sell  themselves,  their  wives  and  children 
to  rich  men,  to  avoid  hunger  and  beggary;  6many  make 
away  themselves  in  this  extremity.  Apicius  the  Roman, 
when  he  cast  up  his  accounts,  and  found  but  100,000  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  Louvain  that,  being 
destitute  of  means,  became  both  melancholy,  and  in  a  dis 
contented  humour  massacred  themselves.  Another  of  a  mer 
chant,  learned,  wise  otherwise  and  discreet,  but  out  of  a  deep 
apprehension  he  had  of  a  loss  at  seas,  would  not  be  persuaded 
but  as  '  Ventidius  in  the  poet,  he  should  die  a  beggar.  In  a 
word,  thus  much  I  may  conclude  of  poor  men,  that  though 
they  have  good  7  parts  they  cannot  show  or  make  use  of 
them :  8  ab  inopid  ad  virtuiem  obsepta  est  via,  'tis  hard  for  a 
poor  man  to  9  rise,  haud  facile  emurgunt,  quorum  virtittibtu 
obstat  res  angusta  domi.10  "  The  wisdom  of  the  poor  is  de 
spised,  and  his  words  are  not  heard."  Eccles.  vi.  19.  His 
works  are  rejected,  contemned,  for  the  baseness  and  obscurity 

1  Garper  Vllela  Jesnlta    e-^ist.  Japon.  peratione  vel  malorwm  perpessione  fraoH 

Hb.        «  Mat.  Riccius,  expedit.  in  Sinas,  et  fatigati,  plures  violentaa  manus  stbi 

Hb.  1,  c    3.        »  Vos  Roman!  procreates  inferunt.        «  Hor.        t  Ingenio  poteram 

filios    feris  et  canibus    exponi tis.   nunc  superas  yolitare  per  arces :  Ut  me  pluma 

Btrangulatis  vel  in  saxum  eliditis.   &c.  levat,  sic  grave  mergit  onus         STerent. 

«  Cosmog.    4     lib.    cap.    22.     vendunt  •  JUT.  Sat.  8,  lib.  1.    M "  They  cannot 

Uberos  victu  carentes  tanquam  pecora  easily  rise  in  the  world  who  are  pinchetf 

interdum    et  seipsos;   nt  apud   divites  by  porerty  at  home." 
aatarentur  cibis.        *  Vel  honorum  des- 


468  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  L  sec.  2. 

of  the  author,  though  laudable  and  good  in  themselves,  they 
will  not  likely  take. 

"  Nulla  placere  diu,  neque  vivere  carmina  possunt, 
Qusa  scribuntur  aquae  potoribus  " 

"  No  verses  can  please  men  or  live  long  that  are  written  by 
water-drinkers."  Poor  men  cannot  please,  their  actions, 
counsels,  consultations,  projects,  are  vilified  in  the  world's 
esteem,  amittunt  consilium  in  re,  which  Gnatho  long  since 
observed.  1  Sapiens  crepidas  sibi  nunquam  nee  soleas  fecit, 
a  wise  man  never  cobbled  shoes ;  as  he  said  of  old,  but  how 
doth  he  prove  it  ?  I  am  sure  we  find  it  otherwise  in  our 
days,  '2pruinosis  horret  facundia  pannis.  Homer  himself 
must  beg  if  he  want  means,  and  as  by  report  sometimes  he 
did  *  "  go  from  door  to  door,  and  sing  ballads,  with  a  company 
of  boys  about  him."  This  common  misery  of  theirs  must 
needs  distract,  make  them  discontent  and  melancholy,  as  ordi 
narily  they  are,  wayward,  peevish,  like  a  weary  traveller,  for 

*  Fames  et  mora  bilem  in  nares  conciunt,  still  murmuring  and 
repining :    Ob  inopiam  morosi  sunt,  quibus  est  male,  as  Plu 
tarch  quotes  out  of  Euripides,  and  that  comical  poet  well 
seconds, 

4  "  Omnes  quibus  res  aunt  minus  secundse,  nescio  quomodo 
Suspitiosi,  ad  contumeliam  omnia  accipiunt  magis, 
Propter  suam  impotentiam  se  credunt  negligi." 

*  If  they  be  in  adversity,  they  are  more  suspicious  and  apt 
to  mistake ;  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 
t  Terence  is  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. 

1  Paachallna.       *  Petronius.        *  He-  tante  earn  puerorum  chore.       •  Plautua 

sodotus,  rite  ejus.    Scaliger,  In  poet.    Po-  Ampl.        «  Ter.  Act.  4,  Seen.  8.  Adelph 

tentiorum  redes  oattatiin  adiens,  aliquid  Hegio.        t  Donat.  vita  qjuus. 
accipiebat,  caucus  carmina  sua,  concomi- 


Mem  4,  suba.  7.]  Other  Accidents,  fyc.  469 

*  "  ad  snmmam  inopiam  redactus, 
Ttaque  6  conspectn  omnium  abiit  Graedae  in  terrain  ultimam  " 

Neither  is  it  without  cause,  for  we  see  men  commonly  re 
spected  according  to  their  means  (f  an  dives  sit  omnes  qu&- 
runt,  nemo  an  bonus),  and  vilified  if  they  be  in  bad  clothes. 
1  Philophaemen,  the  orator,  was  set  to  cut  wood,  because  he 
was  so  homely  attired,  2  Terentius  was  placed  at  the  lower 
end  of  Cecilius's  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,  hie  ego  ittum  contempsi  prte 
me.  King  Persius  overcome  sent  a  letter  to  }  Paulus  JEmil- 
ius,  the  Roman  general;  Persius  P.  Consuli,  S.  but  he 
scorned  him  any  answer,  tacite  exprobrans  fortunam  suam 
(saith  mine  author),  upbraiding  him  with  a  present  fortune. 
§  Carolus  Pugnax,  that  great  Duke  of  Burgundy,  made  H. 
Holland,  late  Duke  of  Exeter,  exiled,  run  after  his  horse  like 
a  lackey,  and  would  take  no  notice  of  him ;  6  'tis  the  common 
fashion  of  the  world.  So  that  such  men  as  are  poor  may 
justly  be  discontent,  melancholy,  and  complain  of  their  pres 
ent  misery,  and  all  may  pray  with  6  Solomon,  "  Give  me,  O 
Lord,  neither  riches  nor  poverty;  feed  me  with  food  con 
venient  for  me." 

SUBSECT.  VII. — A  heap  of  other  Accidents  causing  Melan 
choly,  Death  of  Friends,  Losses,  fyc. 

IN  this  labyrinth  of  accidental  causes,  the  farther  I  wan 
der,  the  more  intricate  I  find  the  passage,  multce  ambages, 
and  new  causes  as  so  many  by-paths  offer  themselves  to  be 
discussed ;  to  search  out  all,  were  an  Herculean  work,  and 
fitter  for  Theseus  ;  I  will  follow  mine  intended  thread  ;  and 
point  only  at  some  few  of  the  chiefest. 

*  "  Reduced  to  the  greatest  necessity,  2.        t  Lir.  dec.  9, 1.  2.        J  Comineua. 

he  withdrew  from  the  gaze  of  the  public  6  He  that  hath  51.  per  annum  coming  ia 

to  the  most  remote  village  in  Greece."  more  than  others,  scorns  him  that  hath 

Euripides.  1  Plutarch,  vita  ejus.  less,  and  is  a  better  man.       «  Pror.  xxx 

«  Vita  Ter.  "  Gomesius,  lib.  8,  c.  21,  8. 

de  sale.         *  Ter.  Eunuch.  Act.  2,  Seen. 


470  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  2 

Death  of  Friends.']  Amongst  which,  loss  and  death  of 
friends  may  challenge  a  first  place,  muUi  tristantur,  as  *  Vivea 
well  observes,  post  delicias,  conviwa,  dies  festos,  many  are 
melancholy  after  a  feast,  holiday,  merry  meeting,  or  some 
pleasing  sport,  if  they  be  solitary  by  chance,  left  alone  to 
themselves,  without  employment,  sport,  or  want  their  ordi 
nary  companions,  some  at  the  departure  of  friends  only  whom 
they  shall  shortly  see  again,  weep  and  howl,  and  lock  after 
them  as  a  cow  lows  after  her  calf,  or  a  child  takes  on  that 
goes  to  school  after  holidays.  Ut  me  levdrat  tuus  adventus, 
sic  discessus  afflixit,  (which  fTully  writ  to  Atticus,)  thy 
coming  was  not  so  welcome  to  me,  as  thy  departure  was 
harsh.  Montanus,  consil.  132,  makes  mention  of  a  country 
woman  that  parting  with  her  friends  and  native  place,  be 
came  grievously  melancholy  for  many  years ;  and  Trallianus 
of  another,  so  caused  for  the  absence  of  her  husband ;  which 
is  an  ordinary  passion  amongst  our  good  wives,  if  their  hus 
band  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  mischance  or  other  is  surely  be 
fallen  him,  they  cannot  eat,  drink,  sleep,  or  be  quiet  in  mind, 
till  they  see  him  again.  If  parting  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,  extinguisheth  all 
delights,  it  causeth  deep  sighs  and  groans,  tears,  exclama 
tions, 

("  0  dalce  germen  matris,  6  sanguis  metis, 
Eheu  tepentes,  &c. 6  flos  tener.")J 

howling,  roaring,  many  bitter  pangs  (§  lamentis  gemituque  el 
feemineo  ululatu  Tecta  fremunt),  and  by  frequent  meditation 
extends  so  far  sometimes,  * "  they  think  they  see  their  dead 
friends  continually  in  their  eyes,"  observantes  imagines,  as 

*  De  anlma,  cap.  de  mcerore.        t  Lib.    f  VIrg.  4,  J5n.          '  Patres  mortuos  co- 
12,  Epist.  $  "  Oh  sweet  offspring,  oh    ram  aitantes  at  fillos,    &c.     Marcellvu 

uiy  rery  blood  ;  oh  tender  flower,"  &c.    Donatua. 


Mem.  4,  subs.  7.]  Other  Accidents,  $c.  471 

Conciliator  confesseth  he  saw  his  mother's  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  ani 
mus  hdc  una  cogitatione  defixus  est,  all  the  year  long,  as 
*  Pliny  complains  to  Romanus,  "  methinks  I  see  Virginius, 
I  hear  Virginius,  I  talk  with  Virginius,"  &c. 

f  "  Te  sine,  vse  misero  mihi,  lilia  nigra  videntur, 
Pallentesque  rosae,  nee  dulce  rubens  hyacinthus, 
Nullos  nee  myrtus,  nee  laurus  spirat  odores." 

They  that  are  most  staid  and  patient,  are  so  furiously  carried 
headlong  by  the  passion  of  sorrow  in  this  case,  that  brave 
discreet  men  otherwise,  oftentimes  forget  themselves,  and 
weep  like  children  many  months  together,  J  "  as  if  that  they 
to  water  would,"  and  will  not  be  comforted.  They  are  gone, 
they  are  gone ;  what  shall  I  do  ? 

"  Abstrulit  atra  dies  et  funere  mersit  acerbo, 
Quis  dabit  in  lachrymas  fontem  mihi  ?  quis  satis  altos 
Accendet  gemitus,  et  acerbo  verba  dolori? 
Exhaurit  pietas  oculos,  et  hiantia  frangit 
Pectora,  nee  plenos  avido  sinit  edere  qnestos, 
Magna  adeb  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  father's  death ;  he  could  moderate  his  passions  in 
other  matters  (as  he  confesseth),  but  not  in  this ;  he  yields 
wholly  to  sorrow, 

"  Nunc  fateor  do  terga  malis,  mens  ilia  fatiscit, 
Indomitus  quondam  vigor  et  constantia  mentis," 

»  Epist.  lib.  2.  Virgtnium  video,  audio,  ness,  the  roses  become  pallid,  the  hya- 

defunctum  cogito,  alloquor.  t  Cal-  cinth  forgets  to  blush ;  neither  the  myr- 

phurnius  Grsecus.    "  Without  thee,  ah  !  tie  i-or  the  laurel  retains  its  odours.'- 

wretched  me.  the  lilies  lose  their  white-  t  Chaucer. 


472  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  2. 

How  doth  J  Quintilian  complain  for  the  loss  of  his  son,  to 
despair  almost ;  Cardan  lament  his  only  child  in  his  book  de 
libris  propriis,  and  elsewhere  in  many  other  of  his  tracts, 
*  St.  Ambrose  his  brother's  death  ?  an  ego  possum  non  cogi- 
tare  de  te,  out  sine  lachrymis  cogitare?  0  amari  dies,  6 
Jiebiles  nodes,  fyc.  "  Can  I  ever  cease  to  think  of  thee,  and 
to  think  with  sorrow  ?  O  bitter  days,  0  nights  of  sorrow," 
&c.  Gregory  Nazianzen,  that  noble  Pulcheria !  0  dccorem, 
Sfc.,  flos  recens,  pullulans,  fyc.  Alexander,  a  man  of  most 
invincible  courage,  after  Hephestion's  death,  as  Curtius  re 
lates,  triduum  jacuit  ad  moriendum  obstinatus,  lay  three  days 
together  upon  the  ground,  obstinate,  to  die  with  him,  and 
would  neither  eat,  drink,  nor  sleep.  The  woman  that  com 
muned  with  Esdras  (lib.  2,  cap.  10)  when  her  son  fell  down 
dead,  "  fled  into  the  field,  and  would  not  return  into  the  city, 
but  there  resolved  to  remain,  neither  to  eat  nor  drink,  but 
mourn  and  fast  until  she  died."  "  Rachel  wept  for  her  chil 
dren,  and  would  not  be  comforted  because  they  were  not." 
Matt  ii.  18.  So  did  Adrian  the  emperor  bewail  his  Anti- 
nous  ;  Hercules,  Hylas ;  Orpheus,  Eurydice ;  David,  Absa 
lom  ;  (0  my  dear  son  Absalom ;)  Austin  his  mother  Monica, 
Niobe  her  children,  insomuch  that  the  2  poets  feigned  her  to 
be  turned  into  a  stone,  as  being  stupefied  through  the  extrem 
ity  of  grief.  *^ffigeus,  signo  lugubriJUii  consternatus,  in  mare 
te  preecipitem  dedit,  impatient  of  sorrow  for  his  son's  death, 
drowned  himself.  Our  late  physicians  are  full  of  such  ex 
amples.  Montanus,  consil.  242,  *  had  a  patient  troubled  with 
this  infirmity,  by  reason  of  her  husband's  death,  many  years 
together.  Trincavellius,  L  1,  c.  14,  hath  such  another,  almost 
in  despair,  after  his  5  mother's  departure,  itt  se  ferine  preecipi 
tem  daret ;  and  ready  through  distraction  to  make  away  him 
self ;  and  in  his  Fifteenth  counsel,  tells  a  story  of  one  fifty 
years  of  age,  "  that  grew  desperate  upon  his  mother's  death ; " 
and  cured  by  Fallopius,  fell  many  years  after  into  a  relapse, 

i  Prsefat.  lib.  6.  *  Lib.  de  obitu    chollca  ob  mortem  maritl.  •  Ex  m» 

Batyri  fratria.        *  Ovid.  Met.        »  Plut.    trig  obitu  in  desperationem  incidit. 
vita  ejtu.  *  Nobllla  martona  melau- 


Mem.  4,  subs.  7.]          Other  Accidents,  fyc.  473 

by  the  sudden  death  of  a  daughter  which  he  had,  and  could 
never  after  be  recovered.  The  fury  of  this  passion  is  so  vio 
lent  sometimes,  that  it  daunts  whole  kingdoms  and  cities. 
Vespasian's  death  was  pitifully  lamented  all  over  the  Roman 
empire,  totus  orbis  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  soldiers  to  be  slain,  to  accompany  his  dear  Hephes- 
tion's  death ;  which  is  now  practised  amongst  the  Tartars, 
when  J  a  great  Cham  dieth,  ten  or  twelve  thousand  must  be 
slain,  men  and  horses,  all  they  meet ;  and  among  those  the 
8  Pagan  Indians,  their  wives  and  servants  voluntarily  die  with 
them.  Leo  Decimus  was  so  much  bewailed  in  Rome  after 
his  departure,  that  as  Jovius  gives  out,  *communis  sahts, 
publica  hilaritas,  the  common  safety  of  all  good  fellowship, 
peace,  mirth,  and  plenty,  died  with  him,  tanquam  eodem 
sepulchro  cum  Leone  condita  lugebantur  ;  for  it  was  a  golden 
age  whilst  he  lived,  *  but  after  his  decease,  an  iron  season 
succeeded,  barbara  vis  etfceda  vastitas,  et  dira  malorum  om 
nium  incommoda,  wars,  plagues,  vastity,  discontent.  When 
Augustus  Caesar  died,  saith  Paterculus,  orbis  ruinam  timue- 
ramus,  we  were  all  afraid,  as  if  heaven  had  fallen  upon  our 
heads.  4Bud£eus  records,  how  that,  at  Lewis  the  Twelfth 
his  death,  tarn  subita  mutatio,  ut  qui  prius  digito  ccdum  attin- 
gere  videbantur,  nunc  humi  derepente  serpere,  sideratos  esse 
diceres,  they  that  were  erst  in  heaven,  upon  a  sudden,  as  if 
they  had  been  planet-strucken,  lay  grovelling  on  the  ground ; 

t "  Concussis  cecidere  animis,  seu  frondibus  ingens 
Sylva  dolet  lapsis  " 

they  looked  like  cropped  trees.     fAt  Nancy  in  Lorraine, 

1   Mathias  &   Michou.   Boter.   Amphi-  ab  optimi  principis  excessn,  vere  ferream 

theat.          *  Lo.  Vertoman.  M.  Polus  Ve-  pateremur,  famem,  pestem.  &c.        *  Lib. 

netus,  lib.  1,  cap.  64,  penman;  eos  quos  6,  de  asse.  t  Maph.     "  They  becama 

taviaobvioshabent,  dlcentes,  Ite,  et  dom-  fellen  in  feelings,  as  the  great  forest  la- 

ino  nostro  regi  servite  in  alia  vita.    Nee  mente  its  fallen  leaves."  t  OrteliuJ 

tarn  in  homines  insaniunt  sed  in  equos,  Itinerario :  ob  annum  integrnm  a  cantu. 

fcc.  8  Vita  ejus.  »  Lib.  4,  vit»  trapndiis.  et  saltationibus  tota  civitas  ftb 

?jus,  auream  seta  tern  condidsrat  ad  hu-  stinere  jubetur. 
man!  generis  salntem  quum  nos  statim 


474  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  2. 

when  Claudia  Valesia,  Henry  the  Second  French  king's  sis 
ter,  and  the  duke's  wife  deceased,  the  temples  for  forty  days 
were  all  shut  up,  no  prayers  nor  masses,  but  in  that  room 
where  she  was.  The  senators  all  seen  in  black,  and  for  a 
twelvemonth's  space  throughout  the  city,  they  were  forbid  to 
sing  or  dance. 

*  "  Non  alii  pastores  illis  egere  diebus 

Frigida  (Daphne)  boves  ad  fluraina,  nulla  nee  amnera 
Libavit  quadrupes,  nee  graminis  attigit  herbam." 

"  The  swains  forgot  their  sheep,  nor  near  the  brink 
Of  running  waters  brought  their  herds  to  drink; 
The  thirsty  cattle,  of  themselves,  abstain'd 
From  water,  and  their  grassy  fare  disdain'd." 

How  were  we  affected  here  in  England  for  our  Titus,  deliciee 
humani  generis,  Prince  Henry's  immature  death,  as  if  all  our 
dearest  friends'  lives  had  exhaled  with  his  ?  t  Scanderbeg's 
death  was  not  so  much  lamented  in  Epirus.  In  a  word,  as 
1  he  saith  of  Edward  the  First  at  the  news  of  Edward  of 
Caernarvon  his  son's  birth,  immortaliter  gavisus,  he  was  im 
mortally  glad,  may  we  say  on  the  contrary  of  friends'  deaths, 
immortaliter  gementes,  we  are  divers  of  us  as  so  many  turtles, 
eternally  dejected  with  it 

There  is  another  sorrow,  which  arises  from  the  loss  of  tem 
poral  goods  and  fortunes,  which  equally  afflicts,  and  may  go 
hand  in  hand  with  the  preceding;  loss  of  time,  loss  of  hon 
our,  office,  of  good  name,  of  labour,  frustrate  hopes,  will 
much  torment ;  but  in  my  judgment,  there  is  no  torture  like 
unto  it,  or  that  sooner  procureth  this  malady  and  mischief: 

2  "  Ploratur  lachrymis  amissa  pecunia  veris:  " 
"  Lost  money  is  bewailed  with  grief  sincere: " 

it  wrings  true  tears  from  our  eyes,  many  sighs,  much  sorrow 
from  our  hearts,  and  often  causes  habitual  melancholy  itself, 
Guianerius,  tract.  15,  5,  repeats  this  for  an  especial  cause: 

•Virg.       t  See  Barlottns,  de  ytta  et  ob.  Scanderbeg.  lib.  18,  htet       1  Mat.  ParU 
'  JuTenalU 


Mem.  4,  subs.  7-1  Other  Accidents,  Sfc.  475 

1  u  Loss  of  friends,  and  loss  of  goods,  make  many  mer  melan 
choly,  as  I  have  often  seen  by  continual  meditation  of  such 
things."     The  same  causes  Arnoldus  Villanovanus  inculcates, 
Breviar.  L  ],  c.  18,  ex  rerum  amis&ione,  damno,  amicorum 
morte,  Sfc.     Want  alone  will  make  a  man  mad,  to  be  San* 
argent  will  cause  a  deep  and  grievous  melancholy.     Many 
persons  are  affected  like  a  Irishmen  in  this  behalf,  who  if  they 
have  a  good  scimitar,  had  rather  have  a  blow  on  their  arm, 
than  their  weapon  hurt ;  they  will  sooner  lose  their  life,  than 
their  goods  ;  and  the  grief  that  cometh  hence,  continueth  long 
(saith  *  Plater),  "  and  out  of  many  dispositions  procureth  an 
habit."     8  Montanus  and  Frisemelica  cured  a  young  man  of 
twenty-two  years  of  age,  that  so  became  melancholy,  ob  amis- 
sum  pecuniam,  for  a  sum  of  money  which  he  had  unhappily 
lost.     Skenckius  hath  such  another  story  of  one  melancholy, 
because  he  overshot  himself,  and  spent  his  stock  in  unneces 
sary  building.     4  Roger,  that  rich  bishop  of  Salisbury,  exutug 
opibus  et  castris  a  Rege  Stephana,  spoiled  of  his  goods  by  king 
Stephen,  vi  doloris  absorptus,  atque  in  amentiam  versus,  inde- 
centia  fecit,  through  grief  ran  mad,  spoke  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  f  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  aurum, 
Aptavit  collo,  quern  reperit  laqueum." 

Such  feral  accidents  can  want  and  penury  produce.     Be  it 
by  suretyship,  shipwreck,  fire,  spoil  and  pillage  of  soldiers,  or 

i  Multt  qui  res  amatas  perdiderant.  nt  canto,  victories,  repulsam,  mortem  Hbe- 

fllios,    opes,  non    sperantes    recuperare,  rorum,  quibus  longo  post  tempore  ani- 

propter    assiduam    talium  conaideratio-  mus  torquetur,  et  a  dlsparftione  sit  habi 

nem    melancbolici    flunt,  ut   ipse  vidi  tus.          3  Cousil.  26.  *  Nubriganfli* 

2  Stanihurstus,  Hib.  Hist.  *  Cap.  3.  t  Epig.  22. 
Mekiuchulia  semper  Tenit  ob  jacturam pe- 


476  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part  I.  sec.  1 

what  loss  soever,  it  boots  not,  it  will  work  the  like  effect,  the 
same  desolation  in  provinces  and  cities,  as  well  as  private 
persons.  The  Romans  were  miserably  dejected  after  the 
battle  of  Cannae,  the  men  amazed  for  fear,  the  stupid  women 
tore  their  hair  and  cried.  The  Hungarians,  when  their  king 
Ladislaus  and  bravest  soldiers  were  slain  by  the  Turks,  Luc- 
tits  publicus,  fyc.  The  Venetians,  when  their  forces  were 
overcome  by  the  French  king  Lewis,  the  French  and  Span 
ish  kings,  pope,  emperor,  all  conspired  against  them  at  Cam- 
bray,  the  French  herald  denounced  open  war  in  the  senate : 
Lauredane  Venetorum  dux,  fyc.,  and  they  had  lost  Padua, 
Brixia,  Verona,  Forum  Julii,  their  territories  in  the  conti 
nent,  and  had  now  nothing  left  but  the  city  of  Venice  itself, 
et  urbi  quoque  ipsi  (saith  *  Bembus)  limendum  putarent,  and 
the  loss  of  that  was  likewise  to  be  feared,  tantus  repente  dolor 
omnes  tenuity  ut  nunquam  alias,  fyc.,  they  were  pitifully 
plunged,  never  before  in  such  lamentable  distress.  Anno 
1527,  when  Rome  was  sacked  by  Burbonius,  the  common 
soldiers  made  such  spoil,  that  fair  f  churches  were  turned  to 
stables,  old  monuments  and  books  made  horse-litter,  or  burned 
like  straw ;  relics,  costly  pictures  defaced ;  altars  demolished, 
rich  hangings,  carpets,  &c.,  trampled  in  the  dirt.  J  Their 
wives  and  loveliest  daughters  constuprated  by  every  base 
cullion,  as  Sejanus's  daughter  was  by  the  hangman  in  public, 
before  their  fathers'  and  husbands'  faces.  Noblemen's  chil 
dren,  and  of  the  wealthiest  citizens,  reserved  for  princes' 
beds,  were  prostitute  to  every  common  soldier,  and  kept  for 
concubines  ;  senators  and  cardinals  themselves  dragged  along 
the  streets,  and  put  to  exquisite  torments,  to  confess  where 
then*  money  was  hid ;  the  rest  murdered  on  heaps,  lay  stink 
ing  in  the  streets ;  infants'  brains  dashed  out  betbre  their 
mothers'  eyes.  A  lamentable  sight  it  was  to  see  so  goodly  a 
city  so  suddenly  defaced,  rich  citizens  sent  a  begging  to 

*  Lib.  8.    Venet.  hist.        f  Templa  or-  oculis  maritonun  dilectissimse  conjuget 

immcntis  nudata,    spoliata,    in   Btabula  ab  Hispanorum  lixis  constupratse  sunt 

equorum  et  asinorum  versa,  &c.   Insulaa  Filise  magnatum  thoris  destiuatw,  &o. 
huml  conculcatae,   peditaa,   &c.        $  In 


Mwn.  4,  subs.  7.J  Other  Accidents,  tyc.  477 

Venice,  Naples,  Ancona,  &c.,  that  erst  lived  in  all  manner 
of  delights.  *  "  Those  proud  palaces  that  even  now  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  shipwreck.  When  a  poor  man 
hath  made  many  hungry  meals,  got  together  a  small  sum, 
which  he  loseth  in  an  instant ;  a  scholar  spent  many  an  hour's 
study  to  no  purpose,  his  labours  lost,  &c.,  how  should  it  othej 
wise  be  ?  I  may  conclude  with  Gregory,  temporalium  amor, 
quantum  afficit  cum  hceret  possessio,  tantum  quum  subtrahitur, 
writ  dolor ;  riches  do  not  so  much  exhilarate  us  with  their 
possession,  as  they  torment  us  with  their  loss. 

Next  to  sorrow  still  I  may  annex  such  accidents  as  pro 
cure  fear;  for  besides  those  terrors  which  I  have  l  before 
touched,  and  many  other  fears  (which  are  infinite)  there  is  a 
superstitious  fear,  one  of  the  three  great  causes  of  fear  in 
Aristotle,  commonly  caused  by  prodigies  and  dismal  accidents, 
which  much  trouble  many  of  us.  (Nescio  quid  animus  miki 
prcesagit  mail.)  As  if  a  hare  cross  the  way  at  our  going 
forth,  or  a  mouse  gnaw  our  clothes  ;  if  they  bleed  three  drops 
at  nose,  the  salt  fall  towards  them,  a  black  spot  appear  in 
their  nails,  &c.,  with  many  such,  which  Delrio,  Tom.  2,  L  3, 
sect.  4,  Austin  Niphus  in  his  book  de  Auguriis,  Polydore 
Virg.,  /.  3,  de  Prodigiis,  Sarisburiensis,  Polycrat.  1.  1,  c.  13, 
discuss  at  large.  They  are  so  much  affected,  that  with  the 
very  strength  of  imagination,  fear,  and  the  devil's  craft, 
8 "  they  pull  those  misfortunes  they  suspect  upon  their  own 
heads,  and  that  which  they  fear  shall  come  upon  them,"  as 
Solomon  foretelleth,  Prov.  x.  24,  and  Isaiah  denounceth, 
IxvL  4,  which  if  'they  could  neglect  and  contemn,  would 
not  come  to  pass,  Eorum  vires  nostrd  resident  opinione,  ut 
morli  gravitas  cBgrotantium  cogitatione,  they  are  intended  and 

*  Ita  festu  ante  unum  mensem  turgida  fear   from  ominous  accidents,   destinie* 

cMtas,  et  cacuminibos   ceelum  pulsate  foretold.  »  Accersunt  sibl  malum 

visa,  ad  inferos  usque  paucis  diebus  de-  *  Si  non  obserremng,  nihll  valent.    Poll 

imta.  l  Sect.  2,  Memb  4,  Subs.  3,  dor. 


478  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  1 

remitted,  as  our  opinion  is  fixed,  more  or  less.  N.  N.  dai 
poenas,  saith  *  Crato  of  such  a  one,  utinam  non  attraheret : 
he  is  punished,  and  is  the  cause  of  it  2  himself. 

*  Dum  fata  fugimus,  fata  stulti  incurrimus,  the  thing  that 
I  feared,  saith  Job,  is  fallen  upon  me. 

As  much  we  may  say  of  them  that  are  troubled  with  their 
fortunes ;  or  ill  destinies  foreseen :  mullos  angit  prcescientia 
malorum :  The  foreknowledge  of  what  shall  come  to  pass, 
crucifies  many  men ;  foretold  by  astrologers,  or  wizards,  ira- 
tum  ob  ccelum,  be  it  ill  accident,  or  death  itself ;  which  often 
falls  out  by  God's  permission ;  quia  dcemonem  timent  (saith 
Chrysostom)  Deus  ideo  permittit  accidere.  Severus,  Adrian, 
Domitian,  can  testify  as  much,  of  whose  fear  and  suspicion, 
Sueton,  Herodian,  and  the  rest  of  those  writers,  tell  strange 
stories  in  this  behalf.  8  Montanus,  consil.  31,  hath  one  exam 
ple  of  a  young  man,  exceeding  melancholy  upon  this  occasion. 
Such  fears  have  still  tormented  mortal  men  in  all  ages,  by 
reason  of  those  lying  oracles,  and  juggling  priests,  t  There 
was  a  fountain  in  Greece,  near  Ceres's  temple  in  Achaia, 
where  the  event  of  such  diseases  was  to  be  known ;  "  A  glass 
let  down  by  a  thread,"  &c.  Amongst  those  Cyanean  rocks 
at  the  springs  of  Lycia,  was  the  oracle  of  Thrixeus  Apollo, 
"  where  all  fortunes  were  foretold,  sickness,  health,  or  what 
they  would  besides ; "  so  common  people  have  been  always 
deluded  with  future  events.  At  this  day,  Metus  futurorum 
maxime  torquet  Sinas,  this  foolish  fear  mightily  crucifies 
them  in  China;  as  4 Matthew  Riccius  the  Jesuit  informeth 
us,  hi  his  commentaries  of  those  countries,  of  all  nations  they 
are  most  superstitious,  and  much  tormented  in  this  kind, 
attributing  so  much  to  their  divinators,  ui  ipse  metus  fidem 
facial,  that  fear  itself  and  conceit  cause  it  to  6  fall  out ;  if  he 
foretell  sickness  such  a  day,  that  very  time  they  will  be  sick, 

1  Consil.  26, 1.  2.  *  Harm  watch,  sum  funiculo  demittunt :  et  ad  Cyanea* 

harm    catch.  *  Oeor    Buchanan,  petras  ad  Lyciae  fontes,  &c.        *  Expedit. 

•Juvenls  Bolicitus  de  futuris  frustra,  fee-  in  Sinas,  lib.  1,  c.  8.          *  Timendo  pr»- 

tug  melancholicus.  t  Pausanius,  in  occupat.  quod  vitat.   ultro  prOToeatque 

Acliaicis,  lib.  7.         Ubi  omnium  eveutus  quod  fugit,  gaudetque  mcerens  et  lubeut 

dignoscuntur.    Speculum  tenui  suspen-  miser  fuit.    Ueinsius  Austriao. 


Mem.  4,  subs.  7.]          Other  Accidents,  Sfc.  479 

vi  metus  afflicti  in  cegritudinem  cadunt ;  and  many  times  die 
as  it  is  foretold.  A  true  saying,  Timor  mortis,  morte  pejor 
the  fear  of  death  is  worse  than  death  itself,  and  the  memory 
of  that  sad  hour,  to  some  fortunate  and  rich  men,  "  is  as  bittei 
as  gall,"  Ecclus.  xli.  1.  Inquietam  nobis  vitam  facit  mortis 
metus,  a  worse  plague  cannot  happen  to  a  man,  than  to  be  so 
troubled  in  his  mind ;  'tis  triste  divortium,  a  heavy  separation, 
to  leave  their  goods,  with  so  much  labour  got,  pleasures  of 
the  world,  which  they  have  so  deliciously  enjoyed,  friends 
and  companions  whom  they  so  dearly  loved,  all  at  once. 
Axicchus  the  philosopher  was  bold  and  courageous  all  his 
life,  and  gave  good  precepts  de  contemnenda  morte,  and 
against  the  vanity  of  the  world,  to  others ;  but  being  now 
ready  to  die  himself,  he  was  mightily  dejected,  kdc  luce  pri- 
vabor  ?  his  orbabor  bonis  ?  *  he  lamented  like  a  child,  &c. 
And  though  Socrates  himself  was  there  to  comfort  him,  ubi 
pristina  virtutum  jactatio,  0  Axioche  ?  "  where  is  all  your 
boasted  virtue  now,  my  friend  ?  "  yet  he  was  very  timorous 
and  impatient  of  death,  much  troubled  in  his  mind,  Imbettit 
pavor  et  impatientia,  fyc.  "  0  Clotho,"  Megapetus  the  tyrant 
in  Lucian  exclaims,  now  ready  to  depart,  "  let  me  live  awhile 
longer.  J I  will  give  thee  a  thousand  talents  of  gold,  and  two 
boles  besides,  which  I  took  from  Cleocritus,  worth  a  hundred 
talents  apiece."  "Woe's  me,"  2saith  another,  "  what  goodly 
manors  shall  I  leave  !  what  fertile  fields  !  what  a  fine  house  ! 
what  pretty  children  !  how  many  servants !  Who  shall  gather 
my  grapes,  my  corn  ?  Must  I  now  die  so  well  settled  ?  Leave 
all,  so  richly  and  well  provided  ?  Woe's  me,  what  shall  I  do  ?' 
8  Animula  vctffula,  blandula,  qua  nunc  abibis  in  loca  ? 

To  these  tortures  of  fear  and  sorrow,  may  well  be  annexed 
curiosity,  that  irksome,  that  tyrannizing  care,  nimia  solicitudo, 
" 4  superfluous  industry  about  unprofitable  things  and  their 
qualities,"  as  Thomas  defines  it ;  an  itching  humour  or  a  kind 

*  "  Must  I  be  deprired  of  this  life,— of  dem.    Hrf  mihi  quae  relinquenda  pr» 

those  possessions?  "         1  Tom.  4,  dial.  8,  dia?  quam  fertiles  agri!  &c.        *  Adrian 

Cataplo     Auri  purl  mllle  talenta  me  ho-  *  Industria  superflua  circa  ree  inutUes. 
die  tibi  daturum  promitto,  &c.         *  Ibi- 


480  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  L  sec.  2. 

of  longing  to  see  that  which  is  not  to  be  seen,  to  do  that 
which  ought  not  to  be  done,  to  know  that 1  secret  which 
should  not  be  known,  to  eat  of  the  forbidden  fruit.  We  com 
monly  molest  and  tire  ourselves  about  things  unfit  and  un 
necessary,  as  Martha  troubled  herself  to  little  purpose.  Be 
it  in  religion,  humanity,  magic,  philosophy,  policy,  any  action 
or  study,  'tis  a  needless  trouble,  a  mere  torment.  For  what 
else  is  school  divinity,  how  many  doth  it  puzzle?  what  fruit 
less  questions  about  the  Trinity,  resurrection,  election,  pre 
destination,  reprobation,  hell-fire,  &c.,  how  many  shall  be 
saved,  damned  ?  What  else  is  all  superstition,  but  an  end 
less  observation  of  idle  ceremonies,  traditions?  What  is 
most  of  our  philosophy  but  a  labyrinth  of  opinions,  idle 
questions,  propositions,  metaphysical  terms  ?  Socrates,  there 
fore,  held  all  philosophers,  cavillers,  and  mad  men,  circa  sub- 
tilia  CaviUatores  pro  insanis  habuit,  palam  eos  arguens,  saith 
2  Eusebius,  because  they  commonly  sought  after  such  things, 
qucs  nee  percipi  a  nobis  neque  comprehendi  possent,  or  put 
case  they  did  understand,  yet  they  were  altogether  unprof 
itable.  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  magic,  but  a  troublesome 
error,  a  pernicious  foppery  ?  physic,  but  intricate  rules  and 
prescriptions  ?  philology,  but  vain  criticisms  ?  logic,  needless 
sophisms  ?  metaphysics  themselves,  but  intricate  subtilties 
and  fruitless  abstractions  ?  alchemy,  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  wholly  ignorant,  than 
as  some  of  us,  to  be  sore  vexed  about  unprofitable  toys: 

i  Flavae   secrete  Mineme  ut  viderat  Aglauros.     Or.  Met.  2.        »  Contra  Philos. 
cap.  61 


Mem.  4,  subs.  7.]  Other  Accidents,  SfC.  481 

stultus  labor  est  ineptiarum,  to  build  a  house  without  pins, 
make  a  rope  of  sand,  to  what  end  ?  cui  bono  f  He  studies 
on,  but  as  the  boy  told  St.  Austin,  when  I  have  laved  the  sea 
dry,  thou  shalt  understand  the  mystery  of  the  Trinity.  He 
makes  observations,  keeps  times  and  seasons ;  and  as  *  Con- 
radus  the  emperor  would  not  touch  his  new  bride,  till  an 
astrologer  had  told  him  a  masculine  hour,  but  with  what  suc 
cess  ?  He  travels  into  Europe,  Africa,  Asia,  searcheth  every 
creek,  sea,  city,  mountain,  gulf,  to  what  end  ?  See  one  prom 
ontory  (said  Socrates  of  old),  one  mountain,  one  sea,  one 
river,  and  see  all.  An  alchemist  spends  his  fortunes  to  find 
out  the  philosopher's  stone  forsooth,  cure  all  diseases,  make 
men  long-lived,  victorious,  fortunate,  invisible,  and  beggars 
himself,  misled  by  those  seducing  impostors  (which  he  shall 
never  attain)  to  make  gold  ;  an  antiquary  consumes  his  treas 
ure  and  time  to  scrape  up  a  company  of  old  coins,  statues, 
rules,  edicts,  manuscripts,  &c.,  he  must  know  what  was  done 
of  old  in  Athens,  Rome,  what  lodging,  diet,  houses  they  had, 
and  have  all  the  present  news  at  first,  though  never  so  re 
mote,  before  all  others,  what  projects,  counsels,  consultations, 
&c.,  quid  Juno  in  aurem  insusurret  Jovi,  what's  now  decreed 
in  France,  what  in  Italy ;  who  was  he,  whence  comes  he, 
which  way,  whither  goes  he,  &c.,  Aristotle  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  Africa  first,  and  then  Asia ;  he  will  be  a  sole  mon 
arch,  a  second  immortal,  a  third  rich,  a  fourth  commands. 
*  Turbine  magno  spes  solicits  in  urbibus  errant ;  we  run, 
ride,  take  indefatigable  pains,  all  up  early,  down  late,  striv 
ing  to  get  that  which  we  had  better  be  without  (Ardelion's 
busy-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 Lepidce  lexers  composite  ut  tesserula  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, 

1  Mat.  Paris.       »  Seneca. 
VOL.   I.  81 


482  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  2. 

'tis  thy  sole  business;  both  with  like  profit.  His  only  de 
light  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  exquisite  sauces, 
meat  so  dressed,  so  far  fetched,  peregrini  aeris  volucres,  so 
cooked,  &c.,  something  to  provoke  thirst,  something  anon  to 
quench  his  thirst  Thus  he  redeems  his  appetite  with  extra 
ordinary  charge  to  his  purse,  is  seldom  pleased  with  any 
ineal,  whilst  a  trivial  stomach  useth  all  with  delight,  and  is 
never  offended.  Another  must  have  roses  in  winter,  alieni 
temporis  flores,  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  busy,  nice 
curious  wits,  make  that  insupportable  in  all  vocations,  trades, 
actions,  employments,  which  to  duller  apprehensions  is  not 
offensive,  earnestly  seeking  that  which  others  so  scornfully 
neglect.  Thus  through  our  foolish  curiosity  do  we  macerate 
ourselves,  tire  our  souls,  and  run  headlong,  through  our  in 
discretion,  perverse  will,  and  want  of  government,  into  many 
needless  cares  and  troubles,  vain  expenses,  tedious  journeys, 
painful  hours  ;  and  when  all  is  done,  quorsum  /use  ?  cm  bono  9 
to  what  end  ? 

i "  Nescire  velle  quae  Magister  maximus 
Docere  non  vult,  erudita  inscitia  est." 

Unfortunate  marriage.]  Amongst  these  passions  and  irk 
some  accidents,  unfortunate  marriage  may  be  ranked  ;  a  con 
dition  of  life  appointed  by  God  himself  in  Paradise,  an 
honourable  and  happy  estate,  and  as  great  a  felicity  as  can 
befall  a  man  in  this  world,  3  if  the  parties  can  agree  as  they 
ought,  and  live  as  *  Seneca  lived  with  his  Paulina ;  but  if 
they  be  unequally  matched,  or  at  discord,  a  greater  misery 

1  JOB.  Scaliger.  in  Gnomit.   "  To  profess  crown  of  her  husband."    Pror.  xtt.  4, 

a  disinclination  for  that  knowledge  which  "  but  she,"  &c.  &c.          *  Lib.  17,  epfet 

is  beyond  our  reach,   is  pedantic  igno-  106. 
*  "  A  rirtuous  woman  is  the 


Mom.  4,  subs.  7.]  Other  Accidents,  SfC.  483 

cannot  be  expected,  to  have  a  scold,  a  slut,  a  harlot,  a  fool,  a 
fury  or  a  fiend,  there  can  be  no  such  plague.  Eccles.  xxxvi. 
14.  "  He  that  hath  her  is  as  if  he  held  a  scorpion,"  &c, 
xxvi.  25,  "  a  wicked  wife  makes  a  sorry  countenance,  a  heavy 
heart,  and  he  had  rather  dwell  with  a  lion  than  keep  house 
with  such  a  wife."  Her  l  properties  Jovianus  Pontanus  hath 
described  at  large,  Ant.  dial.  Tom.  2,  under  the  name  of 
Euphorbia.  Or  if  they  be  not  equal  in  years,  the  like  mis 
chief  happens.  Cecilius  in  Agellius,  lib.  2.  cap.  23,  complains 
much  of  an  old  wife,  dum  ejus  morti  inhio,  egomet  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, 

2  "  Judge  who  that  are  unfortunately  wed 
What  'tis  to  come  into  a  loathed  bed." 

The  same  inconvenience  befalls  women. 

*  "  At  vos  6  duri  miseram  lugete  parentes, 

Si  ferro  aut  laqueo  Iseva  hac  me  exsolvere  sorte 
Sustineo:" 

"  Hard  hearted  parents  both  lament  my  fate, 
If  self  I  kill  or  hang,  to  ease  my  state." 

4  A  young  gentlewoman  in  Basil  was  married,  saith  Felix 
Plater,  observat.  £  1,  to  an  ancient  man  against  her  will, 
whom  she  could  not  affect ;  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  herself.  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  con 
ditions  ;  he  a  spendthrift,  she  sparing ;  one  honest,  the  other 
dishonest,  &c.  Parents  many  times  disquiet  their  children, 
and  they  their  parents.  6  "  A  foolish  son  is  an  heaviness  to 
his  mother."  Injusta  noverca :  a  step-mother  often  vexeth  a 
whole  family,  is  matter  of  repentance,  exercise  of  patience, 

1  Titionatur,     candelabratur,      &c.    go  inyita  cuidam  6  nostratibu* 
»  Daniel,  in  Rosamund.         »  Chalinorus,    fee.        6  Prov.  x.  1. 
lib.  9,  de  repub.  Angl.         *  Slogans  yir- 


484 


Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part  I.  sec.  a. 


fuel  of  dissension,  which  made  Cato's  son  expostulate  with 
his  father,  why  he  should  offer  to  marry  his  client  Solinius's 
daughter,  a  young  wench,  Cujus  cattsd  novercam  induceret; 
what  offence  had  he  done,  that  he  should  marry  again  ? 

Unkind,  unnatural  friends,  evil  neighbours,  bad  servants, 
debts,  and  debates,  &c.,  'twas  Chilon's  sentence,  comes  tens 
alieni  et  litis  est  miseria,  misery  and  usury  do  commonly 
together ;  suretyship  is  the  bane  of  many  families,  Spondt 
prcestb  noxa  est ;  "  he  shall  be  sore  vexed  that  is  surety  for  a 
stranger,"  Prov.  xi.  15,  "and  he  that  hateth  surety  slip  is 
sure."  Contention,  brawling,  lawsuits,  falling  out  of  neigh 
bours  and  friends. discordia  demens  (  Virg.  jiEfii.  6,)  are 

equal  to  the  first,  grieve  many  a  man,  and  vex  his  souL 
Nihil  sane  miserabilius  eorum  mentibus  (as  *  Boter  holds), 
"nothing  so  miserable  as  such  men,  full  of  cares,  griefs, 
anxieties,  as  if  they  were  stabbed  with  a  sharp  sword ;  fear, 
suspicion,  desperation,  sorrow,  are  their  ordinary  compan 
ions."  Our  Welshmen  are  noted  by  some  of  their  2own 
writers,  to  consume  one  another  in  this  kind ;  but  whosoever 
they  are  that  use  it,  these  are  their  common  symptoms,  espe 
cially  if  they  be  convict  or  overcome,  8  cast  in  a  suit.  Arius 
put  out  of  a  bishopric  by  Eustathius,  turned  heretic,  and 
lived  after  discontented  all  his  life.  *  Every  repulse  is  of 
like  nature ;  heu  quanta  de  spe  decidi !  Disgrace,  infamy, 
detraction,  will  almost  affect  as  much,  and  that  a  long  time 
after.  Hipponax,  a  satirical  poet,  so  vilified  and  lashed  two 
painters  in  his  iambics,  id  ambo  laqueo  se  suffbcarent,  6  Pliny 
saith,  both  hanged  themselves.  All  oppositions,  dangers, 
perplexities,  discontents,  6to  live  in  any  suspense,  are  of  the 
same  rank  :  poles  hoc  sub  casu  ducere  somnos  ?  Who  can  be 
secure  in  such  cases?  Ill-bestowed  benefits,  ingratitude, 


1  De  increm.  urb.  lib.  8,  c.  8,  tanquam 
diro  mucrone  confossi,  his  nulla  requies, 
Dulla  deleotatio.  solicit  inline,  genii  tu,  fu- 
ror«,  desperatione,  timore.  tanquam  ad 
|;rrp«'tuani  aerumnam  infeliciter  raptl. 
2  liumfredua  Lluyd,epist.  ad  Abraham um 
Orteliuui.  M.  Vaughan,  in  his  Golden 
Fleece.  Litibus  et  controrersiis  usque 


ad  omnium  bonorum  consumptionem 
contendunt.  8  Spretseque  Injuria  fbi* 
niSB.  4  Quseqne  repulsa  gravis.  s  Lib. 
36,  o.  5.  °  Nihil  aeque  amarum,  quiii. 
diu  pendere  :  quidam  sequiore  animo  fe- 
runt  praecidi  spern  suam  quim  trahi. 
Seneca,  cap.  3,  lib.  2,  de  Den.  Virg.  Pla 
ter,  observat.  lib.  1. 


Mem.  4,  subs.  7.]  Other  Accidents,  fyc.  485 

unthankful  friends,  and  much  disquiet  molest  some.  Un 
kind  speeches  trouble  as  many ;  uncivil  carriage  or  dogged 
answers,  weak  women  above  the  rest,  if  they  proceed  from 
their  surly  husbands,  are  as  bitter  as  gall,  and  not  to  be 
digested.  A  glassman's  wife  in  Basil  became  melancholy 
because  her  husband  said  he  would  marry  again  if  she  died. 
"  No  cut  to  unkindness,"  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  vuliu  statque  caditque  suo,  they  ebb  and 
flow  with  their  masters'  favours.  Some  persons  are  at  their 
wits'  ends,  if  by  chance  they  overshoot  themselves,  hi  their 
ordinary  speeches,  or  actions,  which  may  after  turn  to  their 
disadvantage  or  disgrace,  or  have  any  secret  disclosed. 
Ronseus,  epist.  misceL  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)  hi  public, 
and  so  much  grieved  with  it,  that  she  did  thereupon,  solitu- 
dines  qiusrere,  omnes  ab  se  dblegare,  ac  tandem  in  gravis- 
simam  inddens  melancholiam,  contabescere,  forsake  all  com 
pany,  quite  moped,  and  in  a  melancholy  humour  pine  away. 
Others  are  as  much  tortured  to  see  themselves  rejected,  con 
temned,  scorned,  disabled,  defamed,  detracted,  undervalued, 
or,  laleft  behind  their  fellows."  Lucian  brings  in  JEta- 
macles,  a  philosopher  in  his  Lapith.  convivio,  much  discon 
tented  that  he  was  not  invited  amongst  the  rest,  expostulat 
ing  the  matter,  in  a  long  epistle,  with  Aristenetus  their  host. 
Praetextatus,  a  robed  gentleman  hi  Plutarch,  would  not  sit 
down  at  a  feast,  because  he  might  not  sit  highest,  but  went 
his  ways  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  toys  in  themselves,  and  things  of 
no  moment,  yet  they  cause  many  distempers,  much  heart 
burning  amongst  us.  Nothing  pierceth  deeper  than  a  con 
tempt  or  disgrace,  2  especially  if  they  be  generous  spirits, 

1  Trope  relinqui  est,  Her         *  Scimus  cnfan   generosas  natnraa,  nulla  re  dtlni 


486  Cfauses  of  Melancholy.          [Part.  I.  sec.  2. 

scarce  anything  affects  them  more  than  to  be  despised  or 
vilified.  Crato,  consil.  16, 1.  2,  exemplifies  it,  and  common 
experience  confirms  it.  Of  the  same  nature  is  oppression, 
Eccles.  vii.  7,  "  surely  oppression  makes  a  man  mad,"  loss  of 
liberty,  which  made  Brutus  venture  his  life,  Cato  kill  him 
self,  and  *  Tully  complain,  Omnem  hilaritatem  in  perpetuum 
amisi,  mine  heart's  broken,  I  shall  never  look  up,  or  be 
merry  again,  *hcecjactura  intolerabilis,  to  some  parties  'tis  a 
most  intolerable  loss.  Banishment  a  great  misery,  as  Tyr- 
teus  describes  it  in  an  epigram  of  his, 

"  Nam  miserum  est  patria  amissH,  laribusque  vagari 

Mendicum,  et  timida  voce  rogare  cibos: 
Omnibus  invisus,  qnocnnqne  accesserit  exnl 
Semper  erit,  semper  spretus  egensque  jacet,"  &o. 

"  A  miserable  thing  'tis  so  to  wander, 

And  like  a  beggar  for  to  whine  at  door, 
Contemn1  d  of  all  the  world,  an  exile  is, 
Hated,  rejected,  needy  still  and  poor." 

Polynices  in  his  conference  with  Jocasta  in  8  Euripides, 
reckons  up  five  miseries  of  a  banished  man,  the  least  of 
which  alone  were  enough  to  deject  some  pusillanimous 
creatures.  Oftentimes  a  too  great  feeling  of  our  own  in 
firmities  or  imperfections  of  body  or  mind,  will  shrivel  us 
up ;  as  if  we  be  long  sick : 

"  0  beata  sanitas,  te  prasente,  amoennm 
Ver  floret  gratiis,  absque  te  nemo  beatus :  " 

O  blessed  health !  "  thou  art  above  all  gold  and  treasure," 
Ecclus.  xxx.  15,  the  poor  man's  riches,  the  rich  man's  bliss, 
without  thee  there  can  be  no  happiness  ;  or  visited  with 
some  loathsome  disease,  offensive  to  others,  or  troublesome  to 
ourselves ;  as  a  stinking  breath,  deformity  of  our  limbs, 
crookedness,  loss  of  an  eye,  leg,  hand,  paleness,  leanness, 
redness,  baldness,  loss  or  want  of  hair,  &c.,  hie  ubi  Jliters 
ccepit,  diros  ictus  cordi  infert,  saith  4  Synesius,  he  himself 

moreri,  ant  grartaB  afflcl  qnlm  contemp-  lib.  12.  *  Epist.  ad  Brntnm.  *  In 
tu  ac  despfcientia.  1  Ad  Attlcum  epist.  PtueniM.  « In  laudem  calvit. 


Mem.  4,  subs.  7.J  Other  Accidents,  tyc.  487 

troubled  not  a  little  ob  comae  defection,  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  (Caelius  Rho- 
diginus,  L  17,  c.  2),  ran  mad.  1  Brotheus,  the  son  of  Vulcan, 
because  he  was  ridiculous  for  his  imperfections,  flung  him 
self  into  the  fire.  Lais  of  Corinth,  now  grown  old,  gave  up 
her  glass  to  Venus,  for  she  could  not  abide  to  look  upon  it. 
1  Qualis  sum  nolo,  qualis  eram  neqiteo.  Generally  to  fair 
nice  pieces,  old  age  and  foul  linen  are  two  most  odious 
things,  a  torment  of  torments,  they  may  not  abide  the 

thought  of  it, 

8  "  6  deorum 
Quisquis  hac  audis,  utinam  inter  errem 

Nuda  leones, 

Antequam  turpis  macies  decentes 
Occupet  malas,  teneraeque  succus 
Defluat  prsedse,  speciosa  qnaero 
Pascere  tigres." 

"  Hear  me,  some  gracious  heavenly  power, 
Let  lions  dire  this  naked  corse  devour. 
My  cheeks  ere  hollow  wrinkles  seize, 
Ere  yet  their  rosy  bloom  decays; 
While  youth  yet  rolls  its  vital  flood, 
Let  tigers  friendly  riot  in  my  blood." 

To  be  foul,  ugly,  and  deformed,  much  better  be  buried  alive. 
Some  are  fair  but  barren,  and  that  galls  them.  "Hannah 
wept  sore,  did  not  eat,  and  was  troubled  in  spirit,  and  all  for 
her  barrenness,"  1  Sam.  i.  and  Gen.  xxx.  Rachel  said  "  in 
the  anguish  of  her  soul,  give  me  a  child,  or  I  shall  die ; " 
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  miror 
tot  (as  he  said)  qui  insanire  occipiunt  ex  injurid,  I  marvel 
not  at  all  if  offences  make  men  mad.  Seventeen  particulai 

i  Grid.       *  B  Cret.       »  HOT.  Oarm.  Lib.  8,  Ode  27. 


488  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  2 

causes  of  anger  and  offence  Aristotle  reckons  them  up,  which 
for  brevity's  sake  I  must  omit.  No  tidings  troubles  one ;  ill 
reports,  rumours,  bad  tidings  or  news,  hard  hap,  ill  success, 
cast  in  a  suit,  vain  hopes,  or  hope  deferred,  another ;  expecta 
tion,  adeo  omnibus  in  rebus  molesta  semper  est  expectatio,  as 
1Polybius  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,  employment ;  another  overcome  and 
tormented  with  worldly  cares,  and  onerous  business.  But 
what  3  tongue  can  suffice  to  speak  of  all  ? 

Many  men  catch  this  malady  by  eating  certain  meats, 
herbs,  roots,  at  unawares ;  as  henbane,  nightshade,  cicuta,  man 
drakes,  &c.  8  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  itself,  or  something 
mixed  with  it  'tis  not  yet  known,  4  but  upon  a  sudden  they 
began  to  be  so  troubled  in  their  brains,  and  their  fantasy 
so  crazed,  that  they  thought  they  were  in  a  ship  at  sea,  and 
now  ready  to  be  cast  away  by  reason  of  a  tempest.  Where 
fore  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 
recovered  of  their  madness)  that  what  was  done  they  did  for 
fear  of  death,  and  to  avoid  imminent  danger ;  the  spectators 
were  all  amazed  at  this  their  stupidity,  and  gazed  on  them 
still,  whilst  one  of  the  ancientest  of  the  company,  in  a  grave 
tone,  excused  himself  to  the  magistrate  upon  his  knees,  0 
viri  Tritones,  ego  in  imo  jacui,  I  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,  6  he  would 

1  Hist.  lib.  6.        *  Non  mibi  si  centum  putarent,  marique   vagabundo  tempes- 

linguae  suit,  oraque  centum,  omnia  cau-  tate  jactatos,  proinde  naufragium  veriti, 

•arum  percurrere  nomina  possem.      *  Ce-  egestis  undique  rebus    rasa    omnia    in 

lius.  1.  17,  cap.  2.          *  Ita  inente  exagl-  viam  e  fenestris,  sen  in  mare  pieecipiti- 

tati  aunt,  ut  in   triremi  Be    constitutes  runt:  postridie,  &o.  *  Aram   robi* 


Mem.  4,  subs.  7.J  Other  Accidents,  8fC  489 

build  an  altar  to  their  service.  The  magistrate  could  not  suf 
ficiently  laugh  at  this  their  madness,  bid  them  sleep  it  out,  and 
BO  went  his  ways.  Many  such  accidents  frequently  happen, 
upon  these  unknown  occasions.  Some  are  so  caused  by 
philters,  wandering  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.,  I.  6,  de  Venents, 
in  Calabria  and  Apulia  in  Italy,  Cardan.,  subtil.  L  9,  Scaliger, 
exercitat.  185.  Their  symptoms  are  merrily  described  by 
Jovianus  Pontanus,  Ant.  dial,  how  they  dance  altogether,  and 
are  cured  by  music.  *  Cardan  speaks  of  certain  stones,  if 
they  be  carried  about  one,  which  will  cause  melancholy  and 
madness;  he  calls  them  unhappy,  as  an  2 adamant,  selenites, 
fyc.,  "  which  dry  up  the  body,  increase  cares,  dimmish  sleep ; " 
Ctesias  in  Persicis,  makes  mention  of  a  well  in  those  parts, 
of  which  if  any  man  drink,  8 "  he  is  mad  for  24  hours." 
Some  lose  their  wits  by  terrible  objects  (as  elsewhere  I  have 
more  *  copiously  dilated)  and  life  itself  many  times,  as  Hip- 
politus  affrighted  by  Neptune's  sea-horses,  Athemas  by  Juno's 
furies  ;  but  these  relations  are  common  in  all  writers. 

*  "  Htc  alias  poteram,  et  plures  subnectere  cansas, 

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  if  they  be  considered,  and  come  alone,  I  do 
easily  yield,  can  do  little  of  themselves,  seldom,  or  apart  (an 
old  oak  is  not  felled  at  a  blow),  though  many  times  they  are 
all  sufficient  every  one ;  yet  if  they  concur,  as  often  they  do, 
vis  unita  fortior  ;  et  qtus  non  obsunl  singula,  multa  nocent, 
they  may  batter  a  strong  constitution;  as  'Austin  said, 

lervatoribus  dils  erigemns.  1  Lib  de  Nnmquid  minntissima  sunt  grana  are- 

gemmis.  «  Qu»  gestatas  infelicem  et  naeT  sed  si  arena  amplius  in  navem  mit- 

tristem  reddunt,   curas  augent,  corpus  tatur,  mereit  illam ;  quam  minutas  gut- 

slccant,  Bomnum  minuunt.  *  Ad  t*>  pluvisel  et  tamen  implent  flumina, 

unum  diem  mente  alienatus.          *  Part,  domus  ejiciunt,  timenda  ergo  rulna  mtu 

1,  Sect.  2.  Subsect.  8.        »  Jnyen.  Sat.  8.  tttadinis,  si  non  magnitudinif. 
Intus  bestise  minute  multae  necaut. 


490  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  2 

"  many  grains  and  small  sands  sink  a  ship,  many  small  drops 
make  a  flood,"  &c.,  often  reiterated ;  many  dispositions  pro 
duce  an  habit. 


MEMB.  V. 

SUBSECT.  I. —  Continent,  inward,  antecedent,  next  causes,  and 
how  the  Body  works  on  the  Mind. 

As  a  purly  hunter,  I  have  hitherto  beaten  about  the  circuit 
of  the  forest  of  this  microcosm,  and  followed  only  those  out 
ward  adventitious  causes.  I  will  now  break  into  the  inner 
rooms,  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  perturbations,  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,  Cyprian,  and  some  others,  as  I  have  formerly  said,  lay 
the  greatest  fault  upon  the  soul,  excusing  the  body ;  others 
again  accusing  the  body,  excuse  the  soul,  as  a  principal  agent. 
Their  reasons  are,  because  * "  the  manners  do  follow  the  tem 
perature  of  the  body,"  as  Galen  proves  in  his  book  of  that 
subject,  Prosper  Calenius  de  Atra  bile,  Jason  Pratensis,  c. 
de  Mania,  Lemnius,  I.  4,  c.  16,  and  many  others.  And  that 
which  Gualter  hath  commented,  horn.  10,  in  epist.  Johannis, 
is  most  true  ;  concupiscence  and  original  sin,  inclinations,  and 
bad  humours,  are  2  radical  in  every  one  of  us,  causing  these 
perturbations,  affections,  and  several  distempers,  offering  many 
times  violence  unto  the  soul.  "  Every  man  is  tempted  by 
his  own  concupiscence,"  (James  i.  14,)  the  spirit  is  willing 
but  the  flesh  is  weak,  and  rebelleth  against  the  spirit,  as  our 
*  apostle  teacheth  us ;  that  methinks  the  soul  hath  the  better 
plea  against  the  body,  which  so  forcibly  inclines  us,  that  we 

1  Mores  sequuntur  temperatnram   corporis.       I  Scintillse  latent  In  corporibus 
•Gtl.  6 


Mem.  5,  subs.  1.]  Other  Accidents,  SfC.  491 

cannot  resist,  Nee  nos  obniti  contra,  nee  tendere  tantum  si*ffici~ 
mus.  How  the  body  being  material,  worketh  upon  the  im 
material  soul,  by  mediation  of  humours  and  spirits,  which 
participate  of  both,  and  ill-disposed  organs,  Cornelius  Agrippa 
hath  discoursed,  lib.  1,  de  occult.  Philos.  cap.  63,  64,  65. 
Levinus  Lemnius,  lib.  1,  de  occult,  not.  mir.  cap.  12,  et  16,  et 
21,  institut.  ad  opt.  vit.  Perkins,  lib.  1.  Cases  of  Cons.  cap. 
12.  T.  Bright,  c.  10,  11,  12.  "  in  his  treatise  of  melancholy," 
for  as  *  anger,  fear,  sorrow,  obtrectation,  emulation,  &c^  si 
mentis  intimos  recessus  occuparint,  saith  2  Lemnius,  corpori 
quoque  infesta  sunt,  et  itti  teterrimos  morbos  inferunt,  cause 
grievous  diseases  in  the  body,  so  bodily  diseases  affect  the 
soul  by  consent.  Now  the  chiefest  causes  proceed  from  the 
8  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  distempered,  all  the  rest  miscarry, 
4  corpus  onustum  hestemis  vitiis,  animum  quoque  pragravat 
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  per 
form  all  her  actions,  better  or  worse,  as  her  organs  are  dis 
posed  ;  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 ;  sanguine  are  merry  ;  melancholy, 
sad;  phlegmatic,  dull;  by  reason  of  abundance  of  those 
humours,  and  they  cannot  resist  such  passions  which  are  in 
flicted  by  them.  For  in  this  infirmity  of  human  nature,  as 
Melancthon  declares,  the  understanding  is  so  tied  to,  and 
captivated  by  his  inferior  senses,  that  without  their  help  he 
cannot  exercise  his  functions,  and  the  will  being  weakened, 
hath  but  a  small  power  to  restrain  those  outward  parts,  but 

1  81eut  ex  animi  affectionibus  corpus  unt,  et  quanquam  objecta  multos  motus 

languescit:  sic  ex  corporis  vitiis,  et  mor-  turbnlentos  in  homine  concitet,  prsecip- 

borum  plerisque  crnciatibus  animum  vi-  ua  tamen  causa  in  corde  et  humonbu* 

demus  bebetari.    Galenas.          »  Lib.  1,  spiritibusque  consistdt,  &c.  *  Hor 

c.  16.        3  Corporis  itidem  morbi  animam  Vide  ante. 
per  consensum,   a  lege  consortii  affici- 


492  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  2. 

buffers  herself  to  be  overruled  by  them ;  that  I  must  needs 
conclude  with  Lemnius,  spiritus  et  humorcs  maximum  nocu- 
mentum  obtinent,  spirits  and  humours  do  most  harm  in 
1  troubling  the  soul.  How  should  a  man  choose  but  be 
choleric  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 
precedent  diseases,  which  molest  his  inward  organs  and 
instruments,  and  so  per  consequent  cause  melancholy,  accord 
ing  to  the  consent  of  the  most  approved  physicians.  2  "  This 
humour  (as  Avicenna,  1.  3,  Fen.  1,  Tract.  4,  c.  18,  Arnoldus, 
breviar.  L  1,  c.  18,  Jacchinus,  comment,  in  9  Rhasis,  c.  15, 
Montaltus,  c.  10,  Nicholas  Piso,  c.  de  Melan.  fyc.,  suppose)  is 
begotten  by  the  distemperature  of  some  inward  part,  innate, 
or  left  after  some  inflammation,  or  else  included  in  the  blood 
after  an  *  ague,  or  some  other  malignant  disease."  This 
opinion  of  theirs  concurs  with  that  of  Galen,  L  3,  c.  6,  de  locis 
affect.  Guianerius  gives  an  instance  in  one  so  caused  by  a 
quartan  ague,  and  Montanus,  consil.  32,  hi  a  young  man  of 
twenty-eight  years  of  age,  so  distempered  after  a  quartan, 
which  had  molested  him  five  years  together;  Hildesheim, 
tpicel.  2,  de  Manid,  relates  of  a  Dutch  baron,  grievously  tor 
mented  with  melancholy  after  a  long  *  ague ;  Galen,  1.  de 
atra  bile,  c.  4,  pu^  the  plague  a  cause.  Botaldus  in  his 
book  de  lue  vener.  c.  2,  the  French  pox  for  a  cause,  others 
frenzy,  epilepsy,  apoplexy,  because  those  diseases  do  often 
degenerate  into  this.  Of  suppression  of  hemorrhoids,  haem- 
orrhagia,  or  bleeding  at  the  nose,  menstruous  retentions 
(although  they  deserve  a  larger  explication,  as  being  the 
sole  cause  of  a  proper  kind  of  melancholy,  in  more  ancient 

1  Hnmores  pray!  men  tern  obnubilant.  cholicum  Tel  post  febrem  reddi,  ant  ali- 

1  Hie  humor  vel  i  partis  intemperie  gene-  urn  morbum.    Calida  iiitemperies  innata, 

ratur  Tel  rellnquitur  post  inflammationes,  vel  &  febre  contracts.        *  Raro  quis  diu- 

vel  craggier  In  Tents  conclusus  Tel  torpi-  turno  morbo  laborat,  qui  non  sit  melan- 

dug    malignam     qualitatem    eontrahit.  cholicus.    Mercurialis,  de  affect,  capitin 

1  tope  constat  In  febre  hominem  Melan-  lib.  1,  cap.  10,  de  MeUnc 


Mem.  5,  subs.  2.]  Other  Accidents,  Sjc.  493 

maids,  nuns  and  widows,  handled  apart  by  Rodericus  & 
Castro,  and  Mercatus,  as  I  have  elsewhere  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  pitied  of  all  men,  and  to  be 
respected  with  a  more  tender  compassion,  according  to  Lau- 
rentius,  as  coming  from  a  more  inevitable  cause. 

SUBSECT.  II. — Distemperatvre  of  particular  Parts,  Cause$. 

THEKE  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,  matrix  or  womb,  pylorus, 
mirache,  mesentery,  hypochondries,  meseraic  veins ;  and  in  a 
word,  saith  *  Arculanus,  "  there  is  no  part  which  causeth  not 
melancholy,  either  because  it  is  adust,  or  doth  not  expel  the 
superfluity  of  the  nutriment.  Savanarola,  Pract.  major,  ru 
bric.  11,  Tract.  6,  cap.  1,  is  of  the  same  opinion,  that  melancholy 
is  engendered  in  each  particular  part,  and  2  Crato  in  consil. 
17,  lib.  2,  Gordonius,  who  is  instar  omnium,  lib.  med.  partic. 
2,  cap.  19,  confirms  as  much,  putting  the  8"  matter  of  melan 
choly,  sometimes  in  the  stomach,  liver,  heart,  brain,  spleen, 
mirache,  hypochondries,  when  as  the  melancholy  humour 
resides  there,  or  the  liver  is  not  well  cleansed  "  from  melan 
choly  blood." 

The  brain  is  a  familiar  and  frequent  cause,  too  hot,  or  too 
cold,  4 "  through  adust  blood  so  caused,"  as  Mercurialis  will 
have  it,  "  within  or  without  the  head,"  the  brain  itself  being 
distempered.  Those  are  most  apt  to  this  disease,  6 "  that 
have  a  hot  heart  and  moist  brain,"  which  Montaltus,  cap.  11, 
de  Melanch.  approves  out  of  Halyabbas,  Rhasis,  and  Avi- 
cenna.  Mercurialis,  consil.  11,  assigns  the  coldness  of  the 
brain  a  cause,  and  Salustius  Salvianus,  med.  lect.  1.  2,  c.  1, 

1  Ad  nonum  lib.  Rhasis  ad  Almansor.  macho,  hepate.  ab  hypocondriis,  myra- 

c.  16.     Universaliter  &  quacunque  parte  che,  aplene,  cum    ibi    remanet    humor 

potest  fieri  melancholicus.   Vel  quia  adu-  melancholicus.         *  Kt  sanguine  adusto, 

rttur,  vel  quia  non  expellit  supertiuitatem  intra  vel  extra  caput         6  Qui  calidum 

excrementi.        a  A  Lieue,  jeciuore.  utero,  cor  habent,  cerebrum  humidum,  uciU 

et  aliis  partibus  oritur.                a  Materia  melancholic!. 
Melancholia  aliquando  in  corde,  in  ato- 


494  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  2. 

1  will  have  it  "  arise  from  a  cold  and  dry  distemperature  of 
the  brain."  Piso,  Benedictus  Victorias  Faventinus,  will  have 
it  proceed  from  a  *  "  hot  distemperature  of  the  brain ; "  and 
"Montaltus,  cap.  10,  from  the  brain's  heat,  scorching  the 
blood.  The  brain  is  still  distempered  by  himself,  or  by  con 
sent  ;  by  himself  or  his  proper  affection,  as  Faventinus  calls 
it,  4  "  or  by  vapours  which  arise  from  the  other  parts,  and 
fume  up  into  the  head,  altering  the  animal  faculties." 

Hildesheim,  spicel.  2,  de  Mania,  thinks  it  may  be  caused 
from  a  6 "  distemperature  of  the  heart ;  sometimes  hot ; 
sometimes  cold."  A  hot  liver,  and  a  cold  stomach,  are 
put  for  usual  causes  of  melancholy ;  Mercurialis,  consil.  11 
et  consil.  6,  consil.  86,  assigns  a  hot  liver  and  cold  stomach 
for  ordinary  causes.  6  Monavius,  in  an  epistle  of  his  tc 
Crato  in  Scoltzius,  is  of  opinion,  that  hypochondriacal  melan 
choly  may  proceed  from  a  cold  liver ;  the  question  is  there 
discussed.  Most  agree  that  a  hot  liver  is  in  fault ;  7 "  the 
liver  is  the  shop  of  humours,  and  especially  causeth  melan 
choly  by  his  hot  and  dry  distemperature.  8  The  stomach 
and  meseraic  veins  do  often  concur,  by  reason  of  their  ob 
structions,  and  thence  their  heat  cannot  be  avoided,  and 
many  times  the  matter  is  so  adust  and  inflamed  in  those 
parts,  that  it  degenerates  into  hypochondriacal  melancholy.* 
Guianerius,  c.  2,  Tract.  15,  holds  the  meseraic  veins  to  be  a 
sufficient  'cause  alone.  The  spleen  concurs  to  this  malady, 
by  all  their  consents,  and  suppression  of  hemorrhoids,  dum 
non  expurget  altera  causa  lien,  saith  Montaltus,  if  it  be  10  "  too 
cold  and  dry,  and  do  not  purge  the  other  parts  as  it  ought," 
consil.  23.  Montanus  puts  the  u "  spleen  stopped,"  for  a 
great  cause.  M  Christopherus  a  Vega  reports  of  his  knowl- 

1  Sequitur  melancholia  malam  intern-  tates.  *  Ab  intemperie  corjis,  modo 

periem   frigidam  et  siccam    ipsius  cere-  calidiore,  modo  frtgidiore.        •  Kpist.  209. 

bri.         -  Siepe  fit  ex  calidiore  cerebro,  aut  Scoltzii.  7  Offlcina  humorum  hepar 

corpora    colligeuti    mclancholiam,    Piso.  concurrH,  &c.         *  Ventriculus  et  ven» 

*  Vel  per  propriam   affectionem,  vel  per  rueseraicse  concurrunt,  quod  has  parre* 

consensum,  cum  vaporen  exhalant  in  ce-  obstruct*  aunt,  &c.          •  Per  se  snngui- 

rebrum.    Montalt.  cap.  14.          «  Aut  ibi  nem  adurentes.        '»  Lien  frigidus  et  sio 

gignitur  inelancholicus  fuinus,  aut  all-  cus.  cap.  13.  u  Splen  obstructun 

unde  rehitur,  alteraudo  animales  facul-  u  De  arte  med.  lib.  8,  cap.  24. 


Mem.  6,  subs.  8.]       Causes  of  Head-Melancholy.  495 

edge,  that  he  hath  known  melancholy  caused  from  putrefied 
blood  in  those  seed-veins  and  womb ;  * "  Arculanus,  from 
that  menstruous  blood  turned  into  melancholy,  and  seed  too 
long  detained  (as  I  have  already  declared)  by  putrefaction 
or  adustion." 

The  mesenterium,  or  midriff,  diaphragma,  is  a  cause  which 
the  a  Greeks  called  fpeves :  because  by  his  inflammation  the 
mind  is  much  troubled  with  convulsions  and  dotage.  All 
these,  most  part,  offend  by  inflammation,  corrupting  humours 
and  spirits  in  this  non-natural  melancholy ;  for  from  these  aie 
engendered  fuliginous  and  black  spirits.  And  for  that  reason 
"Montaltus,  cap.  10,  de  causis  melan.  will  have  "the  efficient 
cause  of  melancholy  to  be  hot  and  dry,  not  a  cold  and  dry 
distemperature,  as  some  hold,  from  the  heat  of  the  brain, 
roasting  the  blood,  immoderate  heat  of  the  liver  and  bowels, 
and  inflammation  of  the  pylorus.  And  so  much  the  rather, 
because  that,"  as  Galen  holds,  "  all  spices  inflame  the  blood, 
solitariness,  waking,  agues,  study,  meditation,  all  which  heat ; 
and  therefore  he  concludes  that  this  distemperature  causing 
adventitious  melancholy  is  not  cold  and  dry,  but  hot  and  dry." 
But  of  this  I  have  sufficiently  treated  in  the  matter  of  melan 
choly,  and  hold  that  this  may  be  true  in  non-natural  melan 
choly,  which  produceth  madness,  but  not  in  that  natural, 
which  is  more  cold,  and  being  immoderate,  produceth  a  gentle 
dotage.  4  "  Which  opinion  Geraldus  de  Solo  maintains  in  his 
comment  upon  Rhasis. 

SUBSECT.  III. —  Causes  of  Head-Melancholy. 

AFTER  a  tedious  discourse  of  the  general  causes  of  melan 
choly,  I  am  now  returned  at  last  to  treat  in  brief  of  the  three 
particular  species,  and  such  causes  as  properly  appertain  unto 
them.  Although  these  causes  promiscuously  concur  to  each 

1  A  sanguinis  putredine  in  vasis  semi-  quod  multi  opinati  sunt,  oritur  enim  i 

minis  et  utero,  et  quandoque  i  spermate  calore  cerebri  asRante  sanguinem,   &c., 

diu  retento,  Tel   sanguine  menstruo  in  turn  quod  aromataganguinemincenduut, 

melancholia m  verso  per  putrefactionem,  solitude,  vigilise,  febris  praecedens,  medi- 

vel  adust  ionem.        2  Magirus.         3  Ergo  tatio,  studium,et  hsec  omnia  calefaciunt 

•fflciens  causa  melancholia-  eat  calida  et  ergo  ratum  sit,  &c.         *  Lib.  1,  «»P-  1<* 

idcca  intemperies,  non  frigida  et  sicca,  de  Melauch. 


496  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  2. 

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  Laurentius, 
cap.  5,  de  melan.  but  as  *  Hercules  de  Saxonia  contends,  from 
that  agitation  or  distemperature  of  the  animal  spirits  alone. 
Salust.  Salvianus,  before  mentioned,  lib.  2,  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  writes, 
lib.  4,  de  puh.  8,  and  Avicenna,  a  "  a  cold  and  moist  brain  is 
an  inseparable  companion  of  folly."  But  this  adventitious 
melancholy  which  is  here  meant,  is  caused  of  a  hot  and  dry 
distemperature,  as  8  Damascen,  the  Arabian,  lib.  3,  cap.  22, 
thinks,  and  most  writers ;  Altomarus  and  Piso  call  it  4 "  an 
innate  burning  intemperateness,  turning  blood  and  choler  into 
melancholy."  Both  these  opinions  may  stand  good,  as  Bruel 
maintains,  and  Capivaccius,  si  cerebrum  sit  calidius,  6 "  if 
the  brain  be  hot,  the  animal  spirits  will  be  hot,  and  thence 
comes  madness  ;  if  cold,  folly."  David  Crusius,  Theat.  morb. 
Hermet.  lib.  2,  cap.  6,  de  atra  bile,  grants  melancholy  to  be  a 
disease  of  an  inflamed  brain,  but  cold  notwithstanding  of  itself: 
calida  per  accidens,  frigida  per  se,  hot  by  accident  only ;  I  am 
of  Capivaccius's  mind  for  my  part.  Now  this  humour,  ac 
cording  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  ventri 
cles  of  the  brain,  or  veins  of  those  ventricles.  It  follows 
many  times  8  "  frenzy,  long  diseases,  agues,  long  abode  in  hot 
places,  or  under  the  sun,  a  blow  on  the  head,"  as  Rhasis  in- 
formeth  us  ;  Piso  adds  solitariness,  waking,  inflammations  of 

'Lib.  8,  Tract,   posthum.  de  melan.  gplritus    aniraalia   calldior,  et   delirium 

t  A  fatuitate  inseparabilis  cerebri  frigid!-  maniacutn  ;     si    frigidior,    net    fatuitas. 

tas.  *  Ab  interne  calore  assatur.  •  Melancholia  capitis  accedit  post  phrene- 

*  Tntmnperiafi  innata  exurens,  flayam  bi-  sim  aut  longam  inoram  sub  sole,  aut  pe» 

If  MI  in-  Banguinera  in  melancholiam  con-  cussionem  in  capite,  cap.  18,  lib.  1. 
vorteus.        5  Si  cerebrum  sit  calidius,  fiet 


Mem.  5,  subs.  4.]       Causes  of  Windy  Melancholy.  497 

the  head,  proceeding  most  part  1from  much  use  of  spices,  hot 
wines,  hot  meats ;  all  which  Montanus  reckons  up,  consil.  22, 
for  a  melancholy  Jew ;  and  Heurnius  repeats,  cap.  12,  dt 
Mania  ;  hot  baths,  garlic,  onions,  saith  Guianerius,  bad  air, 
corrupt,  much  3  waking,  &c.,  retention  of  seed  or  abundance, 
stopping  of  haemorrhagia,  the  midriff  misaffected ;  and  accord 
ing  to  Trallianus,  /.  1,  16,  immoderate  cares,  troubles,  griefs, 
discontent,  study,  meditation,  and,  in  a  word,  the  abuse  of  all 
those  six  non-natural  things.  Hercules  de  Saxonia,  cap.  16, 
Kb.  1,  will  have  it  caused  from  a  *  cautery,  or  boil  dried  up, 
or  an  issue.  Amatus  Lusitanus,  cent.  2,  cura.  67,  gives  in 
stance  in  a  fellow  that  had  a  hole  in  his  arm,  4 "  after  that 
was  healed,  ran  mad,  and  when  the  wound  was  open,  he  was 
cured  again."  Trincavellius,  consil.  13,  Kb.  1,  hath  an  exam 
ple  of  a  melancholy  man  so  caused  by  overmuch  continuance 
in  the  sun,  frequent  use  of  venery,  and  immoderate  exercise ; 
and  in  his  cons.  49,  lib.  3,  from  a  'headpiece  overheated, 
which  caused  head-melancholy.  Prosper  Calenus  brings  in 
Cardinal  Caesius  for  a  pattern  of  such  as  are  so  melancholy 
by  long  study ;  but  examples  are  infinite. 

SUBSECT.  IV. —  Causes  of  ffypockondriacal,  or  Windy  Mel 
ancholy. 

IN  repeating  of  these  causes,  I  must  crambem  bis  coctam 
apponere,  say  that  again  which  I  have  formerly  said,  in  ap 
plying  them  to  their  proper  species.  Hypochondriacal  or 
flatuous  melancholy,  is  that  which  the  Arabians  call  myra- 
chial,  and  is  in  my  judgment  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  midriff, 
spleen,  stomach,  liver,  pylorus,  womb,  diaphragma,  meseraic 
veins,  stopping  of  issues,  &c.  Montaltus,  cap.  15,  out  of 

iQni  bibunt  Vina  potentia,  et  gjepe  et  nlcere  exsiccate.        « ^^J*™**!? 

.rant  «ub  sole         »  Curse  Talidse,  largiores  incidit  in  insamam,  •g**™*" 

rini  et  aromatum  asu».         »  A  cauterio  ratur.        6  A  galea  nimis  caleta 

VOL.  i.  32 


498  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  I.  sec.  2. 

Galen  recites,  * "  heat  and  obstruction  of  those  meseraic  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  demonstration,  Trincavellius  another,  lib.  1,  cap. 
12,  and  Plater  a  third,  observat.  lib.  1,  for  a  doctor  of  the  law 
visited  with  this  infirmity,  from  the  said  obstruction  and  heat 
of  these  meseraic  veins,  and  bowels ;  quoniam  inter  ventric- 
ttlum  et  jecur  vence  effervescunt,  the  veins  are  inflamed  about 
the  liver  and  stomach.  Sometimes  those  other  parts  are 
together  misaffected ;  and  concur  to  the  production  of  this 
malady :  a  hot  liver  and  cold  stomach,  or  cold  belly ;  look  for 
instances  in  Hollerius,  Victor  Trincavellius,  consil.  35,  /.  3, 
Hildesheim,  SpiceL  2,fol.  132,  Solenander,  consil.  9,  pro  civ« 
Lugdunensi,  Montanus,  consil.  229,  for  the  Earl  of  Montfort  in 
Germany,  1549,  and  Frisimelica  hi  the  233d  consultation  of 
the  said  Montanus.  I.  Cassar  Claudinus  gives  instance  of  a 
cold  stomach  and  over-hot  liver,  almost  hi  every  consultation, 
con.  89,  for  a  certain  count ;  and  con.  106,  for  a  Polonian 
baron,  by  reason  of  heat  the  blood  is  inflamed,  and  gross 
vapours  sent  to  the  heart  and  brain,  Mercuriah's  subscribes 
to  them,  cons.  89,  2 "  the  stomach  being  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  nutri 
ment,  or  fed  with  bad  nourishment,  by  means  of  which  come 
crudities,  obstructions,  wind,  rumbling,  griping,  &c.  Her 
cules  de  Saxonia,  besides  heat,  will  have  the  weakness  of  the 
liver  and  his  obstruction  a  cause,  facukalem  debilem  jecinoris, 
which  he  calls  the  mineral  of  melancholy.  Laurentius  assigna 
this  reason,  because  the  liver  over  hot  draws  the  meat  undi 
gested  out  of  the  stomach,  and  burneth  the  humours.  Mon 
tanus,  cons.  244,  proves  that  sometimes  a  cold  liver  may  be  a 
cause.  Laurentius,  c.  12,  Trincavellius,  lib.  12,  consil.,  and 
Gualter  Bruel,  seems  to  lay  the  greatest  fault  upon  the 

'  Eruritnr  sanguis  et  Tense  obstrnun-  rugitus  et  flatus  yertitur.  *  Stomao.hc 
tur.  quihiiH  obstructis  prohibetur  trarini-  Iseso  robur  corporis  imminuitur,  et  reli- 
tua  Chili  ad  jecur,  corrumpitur  et  in  qua  membra  alimento  orbata,  &c. 


Mem.  6,  SUM.  4.]       Causes  of  Windy  Melancholy.  499 

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.  Cnemian- 
drus  in  a  l  consultation  of  his  noted  tumorem  lients,  he  names 
it,  and  the  fountain  of  melancholy.  Diocles  supposed  the 
ground  of  this  kind  of  melancholy  to  proceed  from  the  inflam 
mation  of  the  pylorus,  which  is  the  nether  mouth  of  the  ven 
tricle.  Others  assign  the  mesenterium  or  midriff  distempered 
by  heat,  the  womb  misaffected,  stopping  of  haemorrhoids,  with 
many  such.  All  which  Laurentius,  cap.  12,  reduceth  to 
three,  mesentery,  liver,  and  spleen,  from  whence  he  denom 
inates  hepatic,  splenetic,  and  meseraic  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  procured  by  a  medicine  of  cantharides, 
which  an  unskilful  physician  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,  de  anima,  will  have  it  as  common  to  men,  aa 
the  mother  to  women,  upon  some  grievous  trouble,  dislike, 
passion,  or  discontent.  For  as  Camerarius  records  in  his 
life,  Melancthon  himself  was  much  troubled  with  it,  and  there 
fore  could  speak  out  of  experience.  Montanus,  consil.  22, 
pro  delirante  Jiidceo  confirms  it,  2  grievous  symptoms  of  the 
mind  brought  him  to  it.  Randolotius  relates  of  himself,  that 
being  one  day  very  intent  to  write  out  a  physician's  notes, 
molested  by  an  occasion,  he  fell  into  a  hypochondriacal  fit,  to 
avoid  which  he  drank  the  decoction  of  wormwood,  and  was 
freed.  *  Melancthon  ("  seeing  the  disease  is  so  troublesome 
and  frequent)  holds  it  a  most  necessary  and  profitable  study, 
for  every  man  to  know  the  accidents  of  it,  and  a  dangerous 

1  HUdesheim.  »  Habuit  sseva  animl  sit,  utile  est  hujns  viscerfa  accidentia 
gymptomata  quse  impediunt  concoctlo-  considerare,  nee  leve  periculura  huju« 
oem,  &o.  8  Usitatissimua  morbos  cum  caosas  morbi  ignorantibus. 


500  Causes  of  Melancholy.  [Part.  i.  sec.  a. 

thing  to  be  ignorant,"  and  would  therefore  have  all  men 
in  some  sort  to  understand  the  causes,  symptoms,  and  cures 
of  it. 

STJBSECT.  V. —  Causes  of  Melancholy  from  the  whole  Body. 

As  before,  the  cause  of  this  kind  of  melancholy  is  inward 
or  outward.  Inward,  * "  when  the  liver  is  apt  to  engender 
such  a  humour,  or  the  spleen  weak  by  nature,  and  not  able 
to  discharge  his  office."  A  melancholy  temperature,  reten 
tion  of  haemorrhoids,  monthly  issues,  bleeding  at  nose,  long 
diseases,  agues,  and  all  those  six  non-natural  things  increase 
it.  But  especially  a  bad  diet,  as  Piso  thinks,  pulse,  salt  meat, 
shell-fish,  cheese,  black  wine,  &c.  Mercurialis  out  of  Aver- 
roes  and  Avicenna  condemns  all  herbs ;  Galen,  lib.  3,  de  loc. 
affect,  cap.  7,  especially  cabbage.  So  likewise  fear,  sorrow, 
discontents,  &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 ;  thou  seest  in  what  a  brittle  state  thou 
art,  how  soon  thou  mayest  be  dejected,  how  many  several 
ways,  by  bad  diet,  bad  air,  a  small  loss,  a  little  sorrow  or  dis 
content,  an  ague,  &c. ;  how  many  sudden  accidents  may  pro 
cure  thy  ruin,  what  a  small  tenure  of  happiness  thou  hast  in 
this  life,  how  weak  and  silly  a  creature  thou  art.  "  Humble 
thyself,  therefore,  under  the  mighty  hand  of  God,"  1  Peter, 
v.  6,  know  thyself,  acknowledge  thy  present  misery,  and  make 
right  use  of  it  Qui  stat  videat  ne  cadat.  Thou  dost  now 
flourish,  and  hast  bona  animi,  corporis,  et  fortunes,  goods  of 
body,  mind,  and  fortune,  nescis  quid  serus  secum  vesper  ferat, 
thou  knowest  not  what  storms  and  tempests  the  late  evening 
may  bring  with  it.  Be  not  secure  then,  "be  sober  and 
watch,"  *fortunam  reverenter  habe,  if  fortunate  and  rich ;  if 
sick  and  poor,  moderate  thyself.  I  have  said. 

1  Jecnr  aptum  ad  generandnm  talem  choliam,  qnte  fit  a  redundant!*  humorl* 
nnmorem,  splen  natura  imbecillior.  PI-  in  toto  corpore,  victus  imprimis  general 
•o,  Altomarus,  Quianerius  a  Mehtn-  qul  earn  humorem  parit.  *  Ausoniu*. 

END   OP   VOL.   I. 


xia  OtUT.  NUY 


OLLEGE) 

5  REQUESTED  BY 


PR 

2223 
Al' 
1905 
v.l 


Burton,  Robert 

The  anatomy  of  Melancholy 
A  new  edT,  corr.