The Worlds Olio
by Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle
LONDON Printed for J. Martin and J. Allestrye at The Bell in St. Pauls Church-Yard 1655.
A DEDICATION TO FORTUNE.
I Dedicate this Book to Fortune, for I believe she is a powerfull Princess; for whatsoever she favours, The World admires, wheTher it be worthy of admiration, or no; and whatsoever she frowns on, The World runns from, as from a Plaguy Infection, and not only shunns, but exclaims against it, although it be Virtue herself; and that which is Most to be lamented, is, that The strictest Votresses to Virtue turn Reprobates, become Infidels, and with false and superstious Devotion worship The Golden Fortune; and Flatterers, which are The Priests, offer false Praises Thereunto.
Wherefore if Fortune please, with her helping hand, she may place my Book in Fames high Tow’r, where every Word, like a Cymball, shall make a Tinkling Noise; and The whole Volume, like a Cannon Bullet, shall Eccho from Side to Side of Fames large Brasen Walls, and make so loud a Report, that all The World shall hear it.
But if not favour’d, Then my Book must dye,
And in The Grave of Dark Oblivion lye:
My Lord,
The Reason why I have not dedicated any of my particular Books to your Lordship, is, that when I have writ all I mean to print, I intend, if I live, to Dedicate The whole summe of my Works unto you, and not by Parcells: for indeed you are my wits Patron; not that I lay The Defects, that may be found, to your charge, for upon my Conscience all The Faults are mine own; but if There be any wit, or any thing worthy of Commendations, They are The Crumms I gaThered from your Discourse, which hath fed my Fancy; and though I do not write The same way you write, yet it is like Nature which works upon Eternal matter, mixing, cutting, and carving it out into several Forms and Figures; for had not Nature Matter to work upon, She would become Useless; so that Eternal Matter makes Nature work, but Nature makes not Eternal Matter. Thus she is but as a labouring servant; and as in Eternal Matter There lives Spirit and Motion, which is Life and Knowledge, so in your Discourse lives Sense and Reason, in your wit, Delight and Pleasure; in your Mind, Honor and Honesty; in your Actions, Valour and Prudence; in your Prosperity, Generosity and Humility; in your Misfortunes, Patience and Magnanimity; in your Friendship, Truth and Constancy; to your King and Country, Fidelity and Loialty; to your Neighbours, Affability and Kindness; to your Enemies, Pardon and Pitty.
But, My Lord, I must do as The Painter did, which was to draw Agamemnon in that posture, as he stood to view his Daughter offerr’d as a Sacrifice; who when he came to Pencil out his Countenance wherein Sorrow sate so lively, he was forced to draw a Veil over his Face, his Grief being too great for his Art to imitate: So I, when I come to describe your worth by my Pen I find your Merit so far beyond all expression, that I am forced to leave off Writing, only subscribing my self, as I am,
Your Lordships honest Wife
and humble Servant
Margaret Newcastle.
An Epistle that was writ before The death of The noble Sir Charls Cavendish, my Most noble Brother-in-law.
Noble Sir,
ALthough I’me absented from your person, yet not from your Favours, They are too great, and certainly not to be worn out either by distance of Time or Place; and you are so excellent and Divine an Architecture, that your Generosity never missed The true Measure of Misery, and may our payment of Praiers be justly returned you, in Blessings from Heaven; and as your Bounty runns a Race with Necessity, so may your Merit win The Bell of Fame; which Bell I wish may sound in every Ear, and as long as There be Ears to hear,
So that your Name may live still in Report,
When that your Soul is gone to Heavens Court.
Sir,
Your humble and
dutifull Servant
Margaret Newcastle.
An Epistle to The Reader.
THIS Book, Most of it was written five years since, and was lockt up in a Trunk as if it had been buried in a Grave, but, when I came out of England, I gave it a Resurruction; and after a view, I judged it not so well done but that a little more care might have placed The words so, as The Language might have run smoother, which would have given The Sense a greater Lustre; but I being of a lazy disposition, did choose to let it go into The World with its Defects, raTher than take The pains to refine it; besides, to me it seemed as if I had built a House, and not liking The Form after it was built, must be forced to take it in pieces and rebuild it again, to make it of that fashion I would have it, or be contented as it was; which considering with my self, I found it would be as great a charge of Time and Pains, as if I should build a New one on an other Ground; besides, There is more Pleasure and Delight in making than in mending; and I verily believe my Neighbours, which are my Readers, would have found fault with it if I had done it as I could, and They could but dispraise it as it is; but I am so well armed with carclesness, that Their several Censures can never enter to vex me with Wounds of Discontent; Howsoever, I have my delight in Writing and having it printed; and if any take a Delight to read it, I will not thank Them for it; for if any thing please Therein, They are to thank me for so much pleasure; and if it be naught, I had raTher They had left it unread: But Those that do not like my Book, which is my House, I pray Them to pass by, for I have not any entertainment fit for Their Palats.
The Preface to The Reader.
It cannot be expected I should write so wisely or wittily as Men, being of The Effeminate Sex, whose Brains Nature hath mix’d with The coldest and softest Elements; and to give my Reason why we cannot be so wise as Men, I take leave and ask Pardon of my own Sex, and present my Reasons to The Judgement of Truth; but I believe all of my own Sex will be against me out of partiality to Themselves, and all Men will seem to be against me, out of a Complement to Women, or at least for quiet and ease sake, who know Womens Tongues are like Stings of Bees; and what man would endure our effeminate Monarchy to swarm about Their ears? for certainly he would be stung to death; so I shall be condemned of all sides, but Truth, who helps to defend me. True it is, our Sex make great complaints, that men from Their first Creation usurped a Supremacy to Themselves, although we were made equal by Nature, which Tyrannical Goverment They have kept ever since, so that we could never come to be free, but raTher more and more enslaved, using us either like Children, Fools, or Subjects, that is, to flatter or threaten us, to allure or force us to obey, and will not let us divide The World equally with Them, as to Govern and Command, to direct and Dispose as They do; which Slavery hath so dejected our spirits, as we are become so stupid, that Beasts are but a Degree below us, and Men use us but a Degree above Beasts; whereas in Nature we have as clear an understanding as Men, if we were bredin Schools to mature our Brains, and to manure our Understandings, that we might bring forth The Fruits of Knowledge. But to speak truth, Men have great Reason not to let us in to Their Governments, for There is great difference betwixt The Masculine Brain and The Feminine, The Masculine Strength and The Feminine; For could we choose out of The World two of The ablest Brain and strongest Body of each Sex, There would be great difference in The Understanding and Strength; for Nature hath made Mans Body more able to endure Labour, and Mans Brain more clear to understand and contrive than Womans; and as great a difference There is between Them, as There is between The longest and strongest Willow, compared to The strongest an largest Oak; though They are both Trees, yet The Willow is but a yielding Vegetable, not fit nor proper to build Houses and Ships, as The Oak, whose strength can grapple with The greatest Winds, and plough The Furrows in The Deep; it is true, The Willows may make fine Arbours and Bowers, winding and twisting its wreathy stalks about, to make a Shadow to eclips The Light; or as a light Shield to keep off The sharp Arrows of The Sun, which cannot wound deep, because They fly far before They touch The Earth; or Men and Women may be compared to The Black-Birds, where The Hen can never sing with so strong and loud a Voice, nor so clear and perfect Notes as The Cock; her Breast is not made with that strength to strain so high; even so Women can never have so strong Judgment nor clear Understanding nor so perfect Rhetorick, to speak Orations with that Eloquence, as to Perswade so Forcibly, to Command so Powerfully, to Entice so Subtilly, and to Insinuate so Gently and Softly into The Souls of men; Or They may be compared to The Sun and Moon, according to The discription in The Holy Writ, which saith, God made two great Lights, The one to Rule The Day, The other The Night. So Man is made to Govern Common Wealths, and Women Their privat Families. And we find by experience, that The Sun is more Dry, Hot, Active, and Powerfull every way than The Moon; besides, The Sun is of a more strong and ruddier Complexion than The Moon; for we find she is Pale and Wan, Cold, Moist and Slow in all her operations; and if it be as philosophers hold, that The Moon hath no Light but what it borrows from The Sun, so Women have no strength nor light of Understanding, but what is given Them from Men; this is The Reason why we are not MaThematicians, Arithmeticians, Logicians, Geometricians, Cosmographers, and The like; This is The Reason we are not witty Poets, Eloquent Orators, Subtill Schoolmen, Substracting Chimists, Rare Musicians, Curious Limners; This is The reason we are not Navigators, Architectures, Exact Surveyers, Inventive Artizans; This is The reason why we are not Skilfull Souldiers, Politick Statists, Dispatchfull Secretaries, or Conquering Caeasars; but our Governments would be weak, had we not Masculine spirits and Counsellors to advise us; and for our Strength, we should make but feeble Mariners to tugg and pull up great Ropes and weighty Sayls in blustring Storms, if There were no other Pilots that The Effeminate Sex; neither would There be such Commerce of Nations as There, is, nor would There be so much Gold and Silver and other Mineralls fetcht out of The Bowells of The Earth if There were none but Effeminate hands to use The Pick-axe and Spade; nor so Many Cities built, if There were none but Women Labourers to cut out great Quarrs of Stone, to hew down great timber Trees, and to draw up such Materials and Engins Thereunto belonging; neither would There be such Barrs of Iron, if none but Women were to Melt and Hammer Them out, whose weak spirits would suffocate and so faint with The heat, and Their small Arms would sooner break than lift up such a weight, and beat out a Life, in striving to beat out a Wedge; neither would There be such Steeples and Pyramids, as There have been in this World, if There were no other than our tender Feet to climb, nor could our Brains endure The height, we should soon grow Dissy and fall; down drunk with too much thin Air; neither have Women such hard Chests and strong Lungs to keep in so much Breath, to dive to The bottome of The Sea, to fetch up The Treasures that lie in The watery Womb; neither can Women bring The furious and wild Horse to The Bit, quenching his fiery Courage, and bridling his strong swift Speed. This is The reason we are not so active in Exercise, nor able to endure Hard Labour, nor far Travells, nor to bear Weighty BurThens, to run long Jornies, and Many The like Actions which we by Nature are not made fit for: it is true, Education and Custom may adde somthing to harden us, yet never make us so strong as The strongest of Men, whose Sinnews are tuffer, and Bones stronger, and Joints closer, and Flesh firmer, than ours are, as all Ages have shewn, and Times have produced. What Woman was ever so strong as Sampson, or so swift as Hazael? neither have Women such tempered Brains as men, such high Imaginations, such subtill Conceptions, such fine Inventions, such solid Reasons, and such sound Judgement, such prudent Forecast, such constant Resolutions, such quick, sharp, and ready flowing wits; what Women ever made such Laws as Moses, Lycurgus, or Solon, did? what Woman was ever so wise as Salomon, or Aristotle? so politick as Achitophel? so Eloquent as Tully? so demonstrative as Euclid? so inventive as Seth, or Archimedes? it was not a Woman that found out The Card, and Needle, and The use of The Loadstone; it was not a Woman that invented Perspective-Glasses to peirce into The Moon; it was not a Woman that found out The invention of writing Letters, and The Art of Printing; it was not a Woman that found out The invention of Gunpowder, and The art of Gunns. What Women were such Soldiers as Hannibal, Caesar, Tamberlain, Alexander, and Scanderbeg? what woman was such a Chymist as Paracelsus? such a Physician as Hipocrates or Galen? suth a Poet as Homer? such a Painter as Apelles? such a carver as Pigmalion? such an Architect as Vitruviuss? such a Musician as Orpheus? What Women ever found out The Antipodes in imagination, before They were found out by Navigation, as a Bishop did? or what ever did we do but like Apes, by Imitation? wherefore Women can have no excuse, or complaints of being subjects, as a hinderance from thinking; for Thoughts are free, Those can never be inslaved, for we are not hindred from studying, since we are allowed so much idle time that we know not how to pass it away, but may as well read in our Closets, as Men in Their Colleges; and Contemplation is as free to us as to Men to beget clear Speculation; Besides, Most Scholars marry, and Their heads are so full of Their School Lectures, that They preach Them over to Their Wives when They come home, so that They know as well what was spoke, as if They had been There; and though Most of our Sex are bred up to The Needle and Spindle, yet Some are bred in The publike Theatres of The World; wherefore if Nature had made our Brains of The same temper as Mens, we should have had as clear Speculation, and had been as Ingenious and Inventive as Men: but we find She hath not, by The effects. And thus we may see by The weakness of our Actions, The Constitution of our Bodies; and by our Knowledge, The temper of our Brains; by our unsettled Resolutions, incoustant to our Promises, The Perverseness of our Wills; by our facil Natures, violent in our Passions, superstitious in our Devotions, you may know our Humours; we have more wit than Judgment, more Active than Industrious, we have more Courage than Conduct, more Will than Strength, more Curiosity than Secrecy, more Vanity than good Houswifery, more Complaints than Pains, more Jealousie than Love, more Tears than Sorrow, more Stupidity than Patience, more Pride than Affability, more Beauty than Constancy, more Ill Nature than Good; Besides, The Education, and libertie of Conversation which Men have, is both unfit and dangerous to our Sex, knowing, that we may bear and bring forth Branches from a wrong Stock, by which every man would come to lose The property of Their own Children; but Nature, out of love to The Generation of Men, hath made Women to be governed by Men, giving Them Strength to rule, and Power to use Their Authority.
And though it seem to be natural, that generally all Women are weaker than Men, both in Body and Under standing, and that The wisest Woman is not so wise as The wisest of Men, wherefore not so fit to Rule; yet Some are far wiser than Some men; like Earth; for Some Ground, though it be Barren by Nature, yet, being well mucked and well manured, may bear plentifull Crops, and sprout forth divers sorts of Flowers, when The fertiller and richer Ground shall grow rank and corrupt, bringing nothing but gross and stinking Weeds, for want of Tillage; So Women by Education may come to be far more knowing and learned, than Some Rustick and Rudebredmen. Besides, it is to be observed, that Nature hath Degrees in all her Mixtures and Temperaments, not only to her servile works, but in one and The same Matter and Form of Creatures, throughout all her Creations. Again, it is to be observed, that although Nature hath not made Women so strong of Body, and so clear of understanding, as The ablest of Men, yet she hath made Them fairer, softer, slenderer, and more delicate than They, separating as it were The finer parts from The grosser, which seems as if Nature had made Women as purer white Manchet, for her own Table, and Palat, where Men are like coarse houshold Bread which The servants feed on; and if she hath not tempered Womens Brains to that height of understanding, nor hath put in such strong Species of Imaginations, yet she hath mixed Them with Sugar of sweet conceits; and if she hath not planted in Their Dispositions such firm Resolutions, yet she hath sowed gentle and willing Obedience; and though she hath not filled The mind with such Heroick Gallantry, yet she hath laid in tender Affections, as Love, Piety, Charity, Clemency, Patience, Humility, and The like; which makes Them neerest to resemble Angells, which are The perfectest of all her Works; where men by Their Ambitions, Extortion, Fury, and Cruelty, resemble The Devill; But Some women are like Devills too, when They are possest with Those Evills; and The best of men by Their Heroick Magnanimous Minds, by Their Ingenious and Inventive wits, by Their strong Judgments, by Their prudent forecast, and wise Mannagements, are like to Gods.
To The Reader.
I Desire Those that read any of this Book, that every Chapter may be read clearly, without long stops and staies; for it is with Writers as it is with men; for an ill affected Fashion or Garb, takes away The Natural and gracefull Form of The Person; So Writings if They be read lamely, or crookedly, and not evenly, smoothly, & throughly, insnarle The Sense; Nay The very sound of The Voice will seem to alter The sense of The Theme; though The Sense will be There in despight of The ill Voice or Reader, but it will be concealed, or discovered to its disadvantage; for like an ill Musician, or indeed one that cannot play at all, who instead of playing he puts The Fiddle out of tune, and causeth a Discord, which if well plaid upon would sound Harmoniously; or is like one that can play but one Tune on all sorts of Instruments; so Some will read with one Tone or Sound of Voice, though The Passions and Numbers are different; and Some again in reading wind up Their Voices to such a passionate scrue, that They whine or squeal raTher than speak or read; others, fold up Their Voices with that distinction, that They make that three square that is four square, and narrow that should be broad, and high that should be low, and low that should be high; and Some again so fast, that The Sense is lost in The Race: So that Writings, though They are not so, yet They sound good or bad According to The Readers, and not according to Their Authors; and indeed such advantage a good or ill Readers gives, as Those that read well, shall give a grace to a foolish Author, and Those that read ill, disgrace a wise and a witty Author. But There are two sorts of Readers, The one that reads to himself and for his own benefit, The other to benefit another by hearing it; in The first, There is required a good Judgement, and a ready Understanding; in The other, a good Voice, and a gracefull Delivery; so that a Writer hath a double desire, The one that he may write well, The other, that he may be read well; And my desire is The more earnest, because I know my Writings are not strong enough to bear an ill Reader; wherefore I intreat so much favour, as to give it its own Countenance, wherein you will oblige The Writer to be
Yours,
M. N.
To The Lady of Newcastle, upon her Book Intituled, The WORLD’S OLIO.
The World, to The World’s Olio, we invite you,
And hope These several Cates They may delight you,
it is The Mistris of The Feast her Wish,
And all These various Sorts cookt in wits Dish;
For several Palats here is of The Best,
with Aromatick Spice of Phancy drest,
with wholsom Herbs of Judgment, for The Tast
Healthfull and Nourishing. This Dish will last
To Feast your Nephews all, if you can fit
The Marriage Act, to get your Children wit:
For stronger Stomachs Ven’son; if that fail,
And you grow Queasy, Then The Lady Quail,
Or The plump Partridge, tast The Phesant, do,
Thus feast your Souls, The Bodies look you too.
An Olio of Confections, not refrain;
For here’s a Sumptuous Banquet for your Brain:
And this Imaginary Feast pray try,
Censure your worst, so you The Book will buy.
What The desire of Fame proceedes from.
The desire of Fame proceedes from a doubt of an after being; And Fame is a report that travells far, and Many times lives long, and The older it groweth, The more it florishes, and is The more particularly a mans own, Then The Child of his loines; for Fame is a child of his merit, which hath no compartner in it, and Many times The child of his loines deceives The parent, and instead of keeping his faThers fame, brings him an infamy: as being a coward, a traitor, a lier, a fool, or The like: which The world will judge, being apt to cast aspersions, that They were qualities which he had by inheritance from his faTher; but actions that his merits beget, will never deceive him, when it is rightly and honorably gotten: but There be bastard fames as well as bastard Issues, which men of honour will never own. But all Those that are born are not so fruitfull as to have issues of Their brain, or so fortunate as to overcome Their enemies, or so rich to build Towers and Castles, or monuments of fame, or so happy to have such advantages, to shew Their own worth and abilities; And Those that cannot leave a child of fame, must content Themselves to live a life of quiet, for fame is seldome gotten with ease, but with paines and labour, danger and trouble, and oftentimes with life it self.
The Reward of Fame.
it is a Justice to a mans self; and no vain ostentation or braging, to write or speak truly of his own good service to his king and country; since none knowes it better Then They, that The world may know Them; so as to be remembred with love and honour. For though fame is not alwaies a true Recorder, yet it is a loud reporter, which is a more certain reward to his merits, Then from Kings and States: For Kings and States Most comonly receive The service, and forget ths reward: and Many times gives Them disgrace instead of honour, and death for life. Where fame is so prodigall to Those she entertaines, as she will Cozen The rest of The world, to contribute to her particulars; But time The reviver of all removes this sound farTher off, and Many times extinguisheth it quite; yet Fame The older she is, although she be lame, and goeth upon Crouches, The more lovers and admirers she gains, neither is envy so sharp tooThed as to hurt her, and Many are proud, not onely to be acquainted with her, but in being able to mention her: so honourable is ancient Fame.
Of Fame, and Infamy.
Some love The life of Their memory so well, as They would raTher chuse to be remembred by The World as a fool, raTher Then to be forgotten as a beast; Which is raTher to live in Infamie, Then to die in obscurity. For Infamie is a loud reproach, where Fame is a loud Applause, yet neither of Them are got by ordinary means, but by extreams, either by Nature, Fortune, or Fate; As to make Them ring aloud, for The sound to be heard through Many Nations, and to live in Many Ages. But infamie hath this advantage, if it be one, that it lives longer, and strikes harder upon The ears of The World, Then Fame doth.
Fame makes a difference between man and Beast.
Next, The being born to The glory of God, Man is born to produce a Fame by Some particular acts to prove himself a man, unlesse we shall say There is no difference in Nature, between man and beast; For beasts when They are dead, The rest of The beasts retain not Their memory from one posterity to another, as we can perceive, and we study The natures of Beasts, and Their way so subtilly, as surely we should discover Some-what: but The difference betwixt man and beast, to speak naturally, and onely according to her works without any Divine influence, is, that dead men live in living men, where beasts die without Record of beasts; So that Those men that die in oblivion, are beasts by nature, for The rational Soul in man is a work of nature, as well as The body, and Therefore ought to be taught by nature to be as industrious to get a Fame to live to after Ages, as The body to get food for present life, for as natures principles are created to produced Some effects, so The Soul to produce Fame.
What makes Fame speak loudest.
Those Fames that is gotten in The Wars, sound louder Then Those that are gotten in Peace, by reason War is a disturber and causeth a violent motion, like a tempest at Sea, sea, or a storm at land, it raiseth up discord, fear, and furie, it swallows up industry, it pulls up The root of plenty, it murThers natural affection, and makes such a noise where it is, as all The world besides is inquiring, and listening after it, for fear of being surprised, so as The world follows The noise as much as The noise follows Them.
The Fame of valour, and wisdom.
it is a better and more certain Reputation to have The Fame of being a wise man, Then a man of courage, because every man that is wise hath courage; for he that is a coward cannot be wise, because fear puts him out of The right way: but There be Many men that have courage which be not wise, for courage is only a resolution of The minde, either to Act or suffer, and to destroy or be destroyed, so that courage doth not direct and guide as wisdom doth, but dares and executes, besides wisdom is more to be admired, because it is rarer; as scarce one wise man is found in an Age; but men of Courage whole Armies full in every Age, neither is wisdoms Fame subject to fortune as courage is, for Wisdom makes fortune her servant, and uses all times and accidents to her advantage, and The worse her fortune is, The greater she appears, when The Fame of courage is a slave to fortune, and onely flourishes in her smiles, but is buried in her frowns.
It is true, Courage is a vertue that defends and protects its Countrey, and keeps an enemy in awe, yet it is a vertue that is onely exercised in destructior, in The patient suffering of his own, or The acting to anothers. Where wisdom is alwayes exercised in uniting and composing, searching and leading into The wayes of peace, when courage chuseth and searches for The wayes of danger, and courts her as his loveliest and beautifullest Mistris, and is Many times so couragious as he, forceth her, and had raTher die in The arms of danger, Then live in The arms of peace.
Why men write Bookes.
Some say men write bookes, not so much to benefit The world, as out of love to Fame, thinking to gain Them honour of reputation; but surely men are so delighted with Their own conceits,* especially fine and new ones, that were it a sin or infamie, They would write Them, to see Their beauty and enjoy Them, and so become unlawful Lovers; Besides thoughts would be lost, if not put into writing; for writing is The picture of thoughts, which shadows last longer Then men, but surely men would commit secret Idolatry to Their own wit, if They had not Applause to satisfie Them, and examples to humble Them, for every several man, if wit were not discovered, would think not any had it but he, for men take pleasure first in Their own fancies, and after seek to gain The approving opinions of others: which opinions are like womens dressings; for Some will get such advantage in putting on Their cloaths, who although They have ill faces, and not so exact bodies, will make a better shew Then Those that are well favoured, and neatly shaped, with disordered attire, wherein Some men are so happy in Their language and delivery, as it beautisies and adorns Their wit, which without it would be like an unpolished Diamond, but such difference There is between, that to create a fancy is The nature of a God, but to make neat and new words, is The nature of a Tailour.
*When I say write, its either by Heroick, or otherwayes They say letters was ever since Seths time.
Of several writings.
Writings that are set forth in books and other wayes, are of several and different natures; For Some, as Magistrates and FaThers, do reprove and endeavor to reclaim The world and men, as moral Philosophers; others as Atturnies do inform Them, as Historians; Some as Lawyers do plead in The behalf of Some former writings, and acts against others as contraversers; Some as Ambitious Tyrants, that would kill all that stood in Their way, as Casuists; Some as Challengers, as Logicians; Some as Scouts, as natural Philosophers; But They bring not alwayes true intelligence. Some like hang-men as The Scepticks that strive to strangle, not onely all opinions, but all knowledge; Some like Embassadours that are sent to condole and congratulate, as bookes of Humiliation and thanksgiving; Some as Merchants, as translatours, which traffick out of one Language into another; Some as painted faces, as Oratory; Some as Jubilies, as to recreate, rejoyce, and delight The spirits of men, as Poetry; Some as Bawds to intice The mindes, as Amorous Romancy; Some as pits that one must go Many Fathoms deep to finde The bottom, neither do They alwayes reach it, as Those that are called strong lines. Some as Conjurers, that fright with Their threatning prophesies, Some as Cut-purses that steal from The writings of others; Some as Juglers that would have falshood appear for truth; Some like Mountibanks that deceive, and give more words Then matter; Some as Echoes which commonly answer to anothers voice; Some like Buffons that laugh and jest at all, and Some like Flatterers that praise all; and Some like Malecontents that complain against all; and Some like God that is full of truth, and gives a due to all deservers; and Some like devils that slauder all.
Of The motion of The thoughts in speaking and Writing.
Those that have very quick thoughts, shall speak readier Then Write, because in speaking They are not tied to any stile, or number; besides in speaking, thoughts lie close and carelesse, but in writing They are gaThered up, and are like The water in a cup, that The mouth is held downward: for every drop striving to be out first, stops The passage, or like The common people in an uproar, that runs without any order, and disperses without successe, when slow and strong thoughts come well armed and in good order, discharges with courage, and goeth off with honour.
The motion of Poets thoughts.
The thoughts of poets must be quick, yet so as They must go even without justling, strong without striving, nimble without stumbling, for Their thoughts must be as an instrument well strung, and justly tuned to Harmony.
Great schollars are not excellent Poets.
Scholars are never good Poets, for They incorporate too much into other men, which makes Them become lesse Themselves, in which great scholars are Metamorphos’d or transmigrated into as Many several shapes, as They read Authors, which makes Them monstrous, and Their head is nothing but a lumber stuft with old commodities, so it is worse to be a learned Poet Then a Poet unlearned, but that which makes a good Poet, is that which makes a good Privie Councellor, which is, observation, and experience, got by time and company.
Wit mistaken.
They are not mistaken that think all Poets wits, but Those are mistaken that think There is no other wit but in Poets, or to think wit lies in meer jests, or onely in words, or Method, or scholastical knowledge; for Many may be very wise, and knowing, yet have not much wit: not but wit may be in every one of These before mentioned, for wit makes vse of althings, but wit is The purest element, and swiftest motion of The braine, it is The essence of thoughts, it incircles all things, and a true wit is like The Elixer that keeps nature alwayes fresh, and young.
Some thinks wit no wit when it is not understood; but surely a fool makes not The wit The lesse, although it loseth its aime, if none knows it but The Author.
A comparison betwixt learning and wit.
it is a great mistake in Some who think that great Stcholars are great wits, because great Scholars; but There is as great a difference as betwixt a natural inheritance that is intailed, and cannot be sold, and a Tenant that makes use of The land, and payes The rent, which is due to The Land-lord, which is The Author; or in another comparison a Scholar is like a great Merchant that trafficks in Most Countries for transportable Commodities, and his head is The ware-house to lay Those goods in: now may Some say, They are become his own, since he bought Them, it is true They are so to keep Them, or make use of Them, or to sell, and traffick with Them, by imparting Them to pettie Merchants, which are young students and Scholars, but otherwise They are no more his, Then when They were in The Authours head; before it was published, but onely by retaile, for wit is The childe of nature, neither hath she made any thing so like her self as it; Nay, she hath made it to out-do her self, for though nature hath not onely made this world, but may be thought by reason to have made Many others, and so a world of worlds, yet wit creats in its imaginations, not only worlds but* Heavens, and Hells, Gods, and Devils, onely it wants The materials, to put Them in body, and give Them a figure and colour.
*I mean Corporeal gods, and devils, hels and heavens.
The advanaage of Poetry, and History.
Poets make us see errours, as what we should follow, and what we should shun, it revives The spirits, it animates The minde, it creats wit in The readers brain, it is a shop of curious varieties, where every one may see for Their love, and buy for Their paines; but a true Poet is like a Spider that spins all out of her own bowels. And though The web be Artificial, yet that art is naturall, not exemplary, but as Poets make us finde our own errours, so History shews us The errours of others, and gives us advantage, by inabling us to look back to former times, for it increaseth and strengThens mens courage, by reading Their battles, it begets patience, in reading Their miseries, it humbles The minde, in perceiving The changes of fortune, witty in reading Their orations, Civil in knowing Their Ceremonies; so that History is a repetition of things past, and is bound to write nothing but what have been done, and Poetrie is a recreation for times present, which is neither bound to line, nor level.
The difference between Poesy and History.
There is as much difference betwixt a Poets stile and an Historians, as a French galliard and a Spanish pavinne, besides Poetry is Most fiction, and History should be truth; Poesy may be phantastical, History must be grave, Poesy is to move passions, History is to confirm truth; History draws The minde to look back Poesy, to look right forth; Poesy is simulising, History is repetition; Poesy is beautiful and spritely; History is brown and lovely; Poesy goeth upon his own ground; but History goeth upon The ground of others.
Of Historians and Poets.
Truth should be The guide of an Historian; yet The truth of History should not be drest in Poetical fancies, but with grave Rethorick; Truth should be delivered civilly, not rudely; it should be ushered in with eloquence; for truth should be delivered smoothly, comly, sweet and Harmoniously; not rudely, roughly, basely, fantastically, nor contemptibly: but a Poet will never make a good Historian, because he is too full of fancy and invention, which may disturb his way; for a Poet, though he useth numbers, yet he keeps no reckoning, where an Historian makes an exact account, but as a Historians brain is too slow for a Poets, so a Poets brain is too quick for an Historians.
A Poet The best General Judge.
A Natural Philosopher may judge well The motions of The Elements, and a moral of The dividing, or dissecting of passions, or framing of Common-wealths; but There is much division amongst Them of The way. So a Divine may judge well of The mystery of Religion; although There is as much contradiction amongst Them as with The Philosophers; So Historians may judge of Some particulars; being conversant in The action of times; but Logicians seldom; for if judgement is The last act of reasoning, as it is, or it is not, in which Logicians seldome come to a conclusion; nor MaThematitians if Their chief study be Arithmetick; for Then They are too much addicted to multiply, and diminish. Most of These afore mentioned are too hard set in intricate studies; and dwel too long upon Them; at least These particular judgements had need be good, for Their time will not give Them leave to consider of Many things; but Poet are quick of invention, easie to conceive, ready in executing, and flies over all The world, yet not so swiftly, but They take a strickt notice of all things, and knowes perfectly The laws, and wayes which inables Them to judge more uprightly, and having an universal knowledg, joyned to his natural wit, makes him The best general judge. For a good Poet hath distinguishment which is judgement, as well as similising, which is fancy; I mean, not Those Poets which can only rime, but Those Poets which can reason, not Those that have Most art, but Those that have Most nature, for he is not a good Poet, that is not born one.
The difference of Poetry.
Poets Most usually put Their fancies into verse or scenes, and verse is numbred fancy, and scenes are distinguishing of humours; The scenes are Most commonly acted upon Theaters; for action is The life of humour; besides, it clears The understanding, and makes a deeper impression in The minde of The spectatours, Then when They are onely read; and These expressions of humours, not onely shews errours that are past, or Those that may come; but vices that are to be shunned, and vertues that are to be followed; besides, it begets hate to The one by discovering The deformities, and love to The other, by The expresing of her beautie, which is beneficial, and a good instruction to The ignorant lives of men; but The meaner and smaller Poets, if They may have The honourable name of Poets, do more harm Then good; for Their scenes are raTher Romancical tales, Then The expressions of mens natures; in which They onely teach effeminate men, and foolish women to be whining lovers: and There be others, although They be good Poets, yet They are ill natured ones, and so crabbed as They corrode both The eare, and The minde, in which They seem to observe The ill humours more Then The good, as if They lay to watch, to steal, and intrap mens vices: and take Them up by little parcels, to sell Them out by whole sale, and seeme glad that men have vices for Them to divulge. But Those sorts of Poets correct too much, and incourage too little: but again, Some are so flattering, and insinuating, as They become parasits to mens humours.
Of Verses.
it is not every Poet that can make a good copy of verses, nor proper scenes, neither is a particular copy or scene enough for an applause, but a life full, and The spring must be naturally, and flow easy, not forced by pipes from other mens wit, for Those are but watry braines, that have neither oyl nor fire, which make Their fancy so dull, as Their conceits are inchanted; and Some flie so high, as if They would rend The wings of Their brain, which wearie others braines to finde Them out, and when They finde Them, They are not worth Their paines; were taken for Them; for what writing soever is darkned, or obscured either in The sence, or by hard and unusual words, grows troubleSome and unpleasant to The readers; again Some are so long and tedious upon a subject as They lose Their wit: for wit never dwels long upon one thing, other Poets Their verses are untunable; They do not strike upon The strings of The soul, for The excellency of Poetical wit is to move passion, it is true, numbers without wit will move passion, but They cannot keep or make passion stay, and it may strike upon a passion but it cannot raise one, yet wit appears best when it is drawn in triumph in The golden Chariot of numbers.
The comparison of Poets.
A Poet may be compared to a musitian, that playes upon four and twenty strings; so Poets strike upon four and twenty letters, for a Poet will tune his readers voice, to his own passions, as tomake The voices to go by numbers; rise and fall by Their several straines of wit; like light Cellebrands, or Currantoes; or merry Jyggs, or grave Pavins, or melancolly Lacrimacs; for Poets translate mens mindes into as Many several shapes; as They write fancies.
What Romancy is.
Romancy is an adulterate Issue, begot betwixt History and Poetry; for Romancy is as it were poetical fancies; put into a Historical stile; but They are raTher tales Then fancies; for tales are number of impossibilities: put into a methodical discourse, and though They are taken from grounds of truth, yet They are heightned to that degree, as They become meer falshoods; where poetry is an Imitatour of nature to create new, not a falsefying of The old: and History gives a just account, not inlarging The reckning. History, if it be simuliseing, and distinguishing, it is pure poetry, if it be a lie made from truth it is Romancy.
Of Comedies.
A Comedy should present vertue, and point at vice, for a Comedy should be to delight, and not to displease, a good Comedian wit, will onely reprove not reproach; but a satirrical wit will present The vices of two or three in The person of one, but a gentle spirit which is a true Commical wit, will raTher take The vice of one, and represent Them in two or three persons, Satyr is more proper for a Comedy Tragedy Then for pure Comedy; not that a true comedy will flatter vice, but palliat it.
Of Scenes.
Some that are worthy of Commendations, are naturally pleasing, and wittie, and so profitable, with such variety, that every Scene is like a new master that teaches several arts, not only for The youngest, but oldest men to learn.
Of The Labyrinth of Fancy.
The reason why men run in such obscure conceits, is, because They think Their wit will be esteemed, and seem more when it lies an odde and unusual way, which makes Their verse not like a smooth running stream; but as if They were shelves of sand, or rocks in The way, and though The water in Those places goeth with more force, and makes a greater sound: yet it goeth hard and uneasy. As if to expresse a thing hard, were to make it better, but The best poetry is plain to The understanding, of easy expressions, and ful of fresh & new conceits: like a beauty that every time it is looked upon discovers new graces; besides They do not onely move passions, but make passions, for a right poetical wit turns hard and rough nature, to a soft, gentile, and kinde disposition: for verses are fine fancies, which are spun in The imagination to a small and even thread, but Some are worse spinsters Then others.
The degrees of Wit.
Those have not clear judgements that applaud or cry up one mans wit, that was begot from another mans brain; but Some, though Their wit is Their own, yet it is like comets that seldom appear, it shewes it self no once in an age; and Some again are like The moon, that changes it self into four quarters, as The new, The increase, The full, and The wane: others are like The sun that runs swiftly, and keeps its constant course. Some like The spring sweet and pleasant, others like The Summer, hot, but troubleSome, Some like Autumn, warm, and sober, and others like The Winter, cold and dry, yet all kinde of seasonable wit is commendable, but Most commonly wit is like The winde collick, The one rumbles as much in The head: as The other in The stomack.
Of sense and Fancy.
Those books, or discourses that are fullest of sense, delight The fewest, because every brain is not so ready to dispose conceits in, to fill places for The understanding, to view suddenly as it is thrown in but lies in a confused heap, without ordering, and a slow understanding, is like a lasie work-man, although he be skilful in his art, and doth it well when he is imployed Thereupon; but raTher Then he will take The paines, he he will lose The profit, but conceits must be delivered, as things by retail for The reason must set The number, and The deliverer give The account.
Wit is natural.
Some think to get or learn wit, but wit is neither to be learnt nor gotten, for it is a free gift of nature, and disclaimes art; and as There are but two qualities or substances go to The generation of all other things, which is heat and moisture, yet There are seven that go to The generation of wit, as The temper and form of The brain and The five senses, which beget imagination, which imaginations we call fancies, which fancies is wit, which is like eternity in being fixed, and yet proveth a perpetual motion, with continual changes and varieties; I mean a true born wit, that is begot with an equal tempered and perfect formed brain, and quick, fresh, and clearing, distinguishing senses, There are adulterate wits that are begotten with distempers, as feavers, madnesse or chance, but They are short, and not lasting, The other hath neither bottom nor circumference, but is as a continued line, and They that think to ripen Their own wit by The heat of anothers imagination, tastes like fruit that is ripened by The chimnie, and not by The natural heat of The Sun, which gives it a rheumatical taste; for There are not onely changelings in wit, but defective births, that is when The parents which are The brain are imperfect and lame, but if The parents be clear, The issue is alwayes beautiful, and neatly shaped, so as it becomes The delight and darling in The society of mankinde.
Peace shews The best wits, Warr The Most writers.
In Augustus his time, There was such a number of wits, as if nature had sown a crop, which being reapt and gaThered, ferved* to The use of after times; this shows that in peace There is The best wits, and that wit is purest and finest, when The minde is Most quiet and peaceable; but in war There are The Most writers, for war being full of factions, produceth subjects to write of, for in peace There is little or nothing but what They create from Their own brain: so in peace brains set The print on work, in war hands.
*At that time all The world was in peace
Of Study.
The reason why study seems difficult at first, and easier and clearer afterward, is, that The imagination hath not beaten out a path-way of understanding in The head, which when it hath, Thethoughts run even and right, without The pains of deep study; for when The way is made, They need no search to finde one out, for The brakes, or rubbish, of ignorance, that obstructed The thoughts, is trodden into The firm and hard ground of knowledge.
Of writers.
Most moderate writers do but new dresse old Authors, though They give Them another fashion garment, The person is The same, but Some do disguise Them so much, that a vulgar eye cannot perceive Them, but mistake The Author, through The alteration of The habir. An History and Romancy, is more delightful in general, Then fancy, for women and fooles, are taken with tales, but none but one wit is taken with another.
Of Translatours.
it is not enough for Translatours to be learned in The several Languages; but There must be sympathy between The genius of The Authors, and The Translatours, which every age doth not produce: for Most commonly a genius is not matched in Many ages. Ovids genius was matched by Sans, and Dubartus was matched by Silvester; but Homer is not yet matched in our Language; for though The worke was indeavoured to be translated, yet it is not like him; and though The copy of a Picture is not so well as The original, yet good copies draw so neer The life, that none but a curious and skilful eye, shall perceive The difference; so a good Translatour shall write so like The Authour; that none but The Most learned and that with study and great observance shall finde The defects.
Of Translating.
Some may be of opinion that it is a fault to turn The Scripture into verse, unlesse The original be so, or to change The stile, as to The matter, or sense, into other mens fancies, but to follow The fancy of The Original, as neer as The Language permits They translate it in; for it is, as if a man should have a high roman nose, and one should take The picture of him, and draw him with a flat nose, as liking that fashioned nose better; it may go under The name of that man, but it will be nothing like him, or why should one nation be drawn in The habit of another, since They are different: and though The distinctions of several nations in pictures, can onely be known by Their habits; and Many times They do not onely change The graver and formal fashions, from one nation to another, but dresse Them in Their fantastical dresse: but if They do it to please The Luxurious palats of men, They raTher become insinuators, Then translatours: and They deserve no food that will not eat good and wholSome food, unlesse They be humoured with variety of new and strange sauces; but They will say The stomack cannot bear plain meat, and that They will faint if They have not choice: but it is Their compounds that make Their stomakes quezie, and The solid meat that will increase Their strength: where now They pick quarrels unlesse The truth be disguised with The flourishes of The translatours: as Those that strive to translate Davids Psalms, take Davids name to his poetry, so keep his name, and lose The poetry of The Original, by The translatours vain glory, for every one striving to out-do another untill They have lost The right and truth. For to expresse any thing in huge words, doth not make it The better, but onely harder to be understoodfor; men of reason consider The soul and sense, and not The form and fashion, which is but The habit, and an honest devotion will assoone beleeve The History of The world, and of Adam, and Eve, with The progresse of Their race in a plain relation of The truth, Then with The measure of numbers: for though numbers move passion, yet They do not so easily ground a belief, neither is it in The power of numbers, but The spirit of God that can move that unfained passion that must carry us to heaven.
Of Languages
Greek and Latine, and all other Languages are of great ornament to Gentlemen, but They must spend so much time in learning Them, as They can have no time to speak Them, and Some will say it is a great advancement to wisdom, in knowing The natures, humours, laws, and customs of several men, and nations; which They cannot do, except They understand Their several Languages to answerthat, although al Languages are expressed by four and twenty letters, yet There is no Language which will not take up an age, to learn it perfectly as to know every circumstance; and since mans life is so short, and learning so tedious, There wil accrue but little profit for that laborious pains, so that The benefit that should be made will come too late, but surely These men are wise enough which understand The natures, laws, and customs of Their own country, and can apply Them to Their right use.
Of Eloquence, art, and speculation.
Many do seem to admire Those writings, whose stiles are eloquent and through ignorance takes it for eloquence, commending The method, instead of The matter, The words instead of The sense, The paint instead of The face; The garb instead of The person, but hard and unusual phrases, are like a constraint behaviour, it hath a set countenance, treads nicely, taking short steps, and carries The body so stiffe, and upright, as it seemes difficult, and uneasy: like Those that think it a part of good breeding to eat Their meat by rule, and measure; opening The mouth at a just, and certain widenesse; grinding The meat betwixt Their teeth, like a Clock with so Many strokes as make an hour, so Many bits makes a swallow; so likewise if The little finger be not bowed short, and by degrees all Their fingers to be joynted untill The fore-finger, and The thumb, meets in a round circle, They think al other vulgarly bred. But nature is easy: and art hard, and what resembles nature nearest, is Most to The life: and what is Most to The life, is best; but art belongs more to The Mechanicks, and Pesants, Then to The noble and free, and all arts belong more to actions Then speculations; and though speculations be nothing until it be put into practise, yet The best actions come from The clearest speculations, for speculations are like The king, to command and rule, practise The slave, to obey, and work, but There are more arts, and inventions gotten by chance, and practise, Then meerly by ingenuity of brain.
Of Oratours.
I Have heard say, that Oratours are seldom wise men for They study so much of The words, as They consider not The matter; for though method in words may please The sense of The ear, yet not The understanding; for They that will speak wisely, must speak The next way to The matter, or businesse, but if it be in such a case as The ear is more to be desired Then The understanding, They must speak composedly, for Rethorick is chusing words fitted such a subject, and though study and society sweetens Language; yet if it have not a natural elegance, it shall not work so strongly upon The senses.
What discourses are enemies to Society.
Of all discourses, The worst enemy to society is The divulging The infirmities of others; wherein Some are so evil natured in striving to defame others, as They will not onely use all Their rethorick to make Their faults appear more odious, or Their vertues lesse, but will strive to make Their vertues seem vices, when to discover infirmities is ignoble, but to lessen vertues is The part of an envious man, which is The nature of a devil; and since union is The bond of society, The discourse should alwayes tend to peace, and not to discord: for There is no man but hath vertues to praise, as well as vices to dispraise, and it is as easie to take The better side; I am sure it is more honourable for The speaker, for faults in particular should never be mentioned, but in private to Themselves, in an admonishing way, otherwise They do but inveterate. The next enemy to society in discourse is disputation, which affords The least pleasure in society, for first it is tedious, next it is contradictory, and begets enemies of friends, and it is a kinde of rudenesse to contradict strangers, though They should speak non-sence, but Logick, which is The art of disputations should be left to Schooles, writings, and publike Theatres, which are appointed places for such discourse; for Some say Logick is to make truth appear, others that it is to make falshood appear like truth, and Some say again, that it is to dispute on both sides, and that it makes more discord Then it can compose, which is discord, The cause of so Many writings, and several religions, and factions in The world, which makes men become Tigers and Vultures to one another, when otherwise They would be like The society of Angels. The last and worst enemy to society, is forswearing and blasphemy; for what pleasure or advantage can a man have to blaspheme, which is to curse God, who hath The power to return his curses on his head, with horrid punishments; and for swearing, though it be allowed for The confirmation of a truth, and for The keeping of a promise whereby it is made sacred and religious, yet to make it common is to make it of no effect. Besides it shows little wit and lesse memory, that They should want words to fill up Their discourse with, but what oaths are fain to supply; and for lying where There is no truth, There can can be no trust; and where There is no trust, There can be no union; and where There is no union, There can be no perfect society, but may raTher be called a concourse, which is to meet raTher Then to unite, where society is The faTher of peace, The bond of love, The arm of strength, The head of policie, The heart of courage, The hand of industry, and The bowels of charity; and discourse is The life which gives light to The eyes of The understanding, sound to The ears, mirth to The heart, comfort to The sorrowful and afficted, patience to The oppressed; entertains The time, recreates The mind, refreshes The memory, makes The desires known, and is a heavenly consort.
The best kinde of discourse in ordinary conversation.
The best kinde of discourse in ordinary conversation, and Most pleasant, is that which is Most various, free and easie, as to discourse of countries, The natures of soyles, Scituations of Cities, and peoples laws, customs, and Superstitions; what men women and beasts were deisied; what Countries had Most and longest wars and peace: what Conquerours There were, and who They were: what conducts They used in Their victories, how They marshalled Their forces, and what forces They had: what famous Common-wealths-men There were, Their policies in governments, The beginning of States, Their fauls, The causes of Their risings, and Their ruins; what Countreys were governed by republikes, or Dimocracy: what by Aristocracy, and what by Monarchy; what commodities several Countries afford for traffick, or otherwise; what Plantations There, are and what men famous for arts, what arts There are: what famous buildings and monuments There are, or have been, and who were Their founders: what Colledges or Schooles There are, or have been of famous and learned men, as Philosophers, Historians, and of Their several opinions, what ancient Poets, and who were accounted The best; what Countries They were born, bred, or lived in; what punishments or exiles There were, or what faults, what cruelties were put in execution, and by whom, and to whom, and where, and what Kings governed with clemency, and what by tyranny, and what Their factions, Their splendours, Their decayes, Their pastimes, and recreations were: what Ambassadours There were and Their ambassages, from kings to kings, and States to States what entertainments and magnisicencies, Princes make; what several fashions, several Countries have in Their entertainments and sports: what extravagant garbs, and diets; what women famous for beauty, and marshal exployts; what kinde of people can live The hardest, and which live The Most luxurious, and for discourses of mirth, songs, verses, scenes, and The like: and for Their home discourses, according to Their affaires, and imployments; and this is better discourse Then to backbite Their friends, or to curse Their foes, or to scandal The innocent, or sediciously to complain against Their government and governours, or to speak lasciviously to foul The ears of The chast, and There is no wit in a clownish discourse, and to speak like a Gentleman, is to speak honestly, civilly, and confidently: to speak a wise man, is to speak properly, timely, and knowingly, and not conceltedly.
The four discourses.
There are four kinds of discourses, as foolish, extravagant, non-sense, and rational, and of all non-sense is The hardest; for to speak foolishly, is as if a man should speak to a childe, that can have no experience of knowledge of affaires in The world or judgement to distinguish, or to a shepheard that never saw nor heard Many things or reports, but onely his sheep and Their bleatings: as to ask any questions of battles, or governments of Common-wealths, or to discourse with States men of childrens babies, bells, or rattles: which is to speak improperly and not timely: and to speak extravagantly is, as if a man were to sel his house, and another should ask him what he should give him for it, and he should answer him in talking of transmigrations, and metamorphoses, or The like, and so to speak quite from The purpose: but to speak rationally, is to ask proper questions, or to answer directly to what he is questioned in, for reason is to clear The understanding and to untie The knots that clear The truth; but to speak non-sense is to speak that which hath no coherence to any thing, when There is no words but may be compared to Something, and though it hath no reference to what is spoken, yet it might have to what might be spoken: so as it is harder to finde out non-sense in words, Then reason.
Of Vulgar discourse.
The reason why The Vulgar hath not such varieties of discourse, is not onely because They have not read, or hard, or seen so much of The world, as The better sort hath: but because They have not so Many several words for several things, for that language which is Most copious wit flourishes Most in for fancy in Poetry without expression of words is but dead, for that makes a Language full to have Many several words for one thing or sense, and though The vulgar is born and bred with such a Language, yet very seldom with variety and choice being imployed in The course affairs of The world, and not bred in Schools or Courts, where are The Most significant, choicest, and plentifullest expressions, which make The better sort, not onely have siner and sweter discourse but fill Them ful of high and a spiring thoughts, which produce noble qualities, and honourable actions where The meaner sort of people are not onely ignorant of The purity of Their native Language, but corrupteth what They have, and being alwayes groveling in The dung of The earth, where all Their thoughts are imployed, which makes Their discourse so unsavory.
Of old mens talking too much.
The reason why old men love raTher to tell stories, Then to hear Them, is, because The outward senses decay sooner Then The understanding, and hearing imperfectly wearies Them by tedious attention, for though old men Many times grow deaf, yet They seldom grow dumb with age, & when one faculty failes, They strive to supply it with another, which makes Them commit The errour of too much talking.
Of speaking much or little.
Those that speak little are either wise men or crafty men, either to observe what was spoken by others, or not to discover Themselves too suddenly; and Those that speak much, are either fools, or els very witty men, fooles because They have little to entertain Them in Their thoughts, and Therefore imploys The tongue to speak like a Parrote by roat, and fools think The number of words helps to fill up The vacant places of sense; but Those that have wit, Their brains are so full of fancy, that if Their tongue like a mid-wife, should not deliver Some of The hlue of The brain, it would be over-powred, and lost in painful throws.
Of The same defect in Women.
And The reason why women are so apt to talk too much, is an overweening opinion of Them selves in thinking They speak well, and striving to take off that blemish from Their sex of knowing little, by speaking much, as thinking Many words have The same weight of much knowledge: but my best friend sayes he is not of my opinion, for he saies women talk, because They cannot hold Their tongues.
Of Silence.
It is said that silence is a great vertue, it is true, in a sick persons chamber, that loves no noise, or at The dead time of night, or at such times as to disturb natural rest, or when superiours are by, or in The discourse of another, or when attention should be given, or if They have great impediments of speech, and speaking Many times is dangerous, infamous, rude, foolish, malicious, envious, and false. But it is a melancholy conversation that hath no sound, and though silence is very commendable at Sometimes, yet in Some cases it is better to speak too much Then too little, as in Hospitality, and The receiving civil visits; for it were better Their strangers and friends, should think your talk too much, Then that They should be displeased in thinking They were not welcome by speaking too little: besides it is a lesse fault to erre with too much courtesy, Then with too much neglect, and surely to be accounted a fool is not so bad as to be said to be rude; for The one is The fault of The judger, The other is The fault of The actor or speaker; for Civility is The life to society, and society to humane nature: it is true that There are more errours committed in speaking, Then in silence, for words are light and subtle and airie, as that when They are once flowne out, cannot be recalled again, but only to ask pardon with more: and There is an old saying, to talk much and well is seldom heard, but it cannot be verified in all, for Some will speak well as long as There is grounds to speak on, but The length of time makes it sound to The eare, as wine tastes to a drunken man, when he cannot relish between good and bad; so that it is not onely The matter, but The manner, time and subject in speaking, which makes it so hard to speak well, or please Many, and though it be alwayes pleasing to The speaker to delight others, yet that doth not alwayes please others that he delights to speak of: as There is nothing more tedious to strangers Then to hear a man talk much of himself, or to weary Them with long complements; and though Civilityin that kinde ought to be used; yet They should carry such forms and times as not to lose respect to Themselves, or to be over troubleSome in long expressions to others, but There is few but loves to hear Themselve talk, even preachers; for a preacher that preaches long, loves raTher to talk Then to edifie The people, for The memory must not be oppressed in what They should learn, or Their reproofs too sharp in what They should minde, for with one word or two of reproof he reforms, half a score undoes again, which makes it a railing instead of exhortation; neither is it alwayes required, for a man to speak according to his profession or imployment in The affaires of The world; for it would be ridiculous for a Lawyer in ordinary conversation, to speak as if he were pleading at The bar, yet every one ought to have respect in his discourse to his condition, calling, or dignity, or to The quality of others, for it is not fit that a Priest which either is, or should be a man of peace, to speak like a souldier, which is a man of war, or to speak to a noble man as to a peasant; again, There is nothing so much takes away The sweetnesse of discourse as long preambles, or repetitions, and indeed The whole discourse is tedious, and unpleasing if it be over-long, though Their tongues were as smooth as oyl, & run upon The wayes of truth, yet too much doth as it were over-fil The head, and stop The eares, for The head will be as The stomack when it is over charged, it will take surfeit of The Most delicious meat; wherefore in speaking judgement is required, yet Some are so over-wise in The ordering Their discourse, as it is not onely troublesom to Themselves, but a pain to The hearers having so set and constraint a way of speaking, as if Their words went upon hard scrues, when There is nothing so easie as speech; for There is no part of man so unwearily active as The tongue, and of The other side, Some are so full of talk, as They will neither give room nor time to others to speak, and when two or three such persons, of this voluble quality or nature meet, They make such a confusion in speaking altogeTher, as it becomes a tumultuous noise, raTher Then sociable discoursing: which is a disturbance to society, for discourse should be like musick in parts.
Betwixt reason and reasonings.
There is a great difference betwixt reason and reasoning, for reason is The best and soberest & surest rule of a mans life either in contemplation or action, for in action it recollects, disposeth, and ordereth all things for mans safety, profit, and pleasure, and for contemplation, it keeps The minde with even thoughts, but reasoning belongs to contradiction, and where contradiction is There can be no unitie, or conformitie, and where There is no unity nor conformity There must needs be discord and confusion, reasoning is The cause of raising of doubts reason is to allay Them, so that reasoning makes a man mad, but reason makes a man sober. But Some will say we should never come to reason but by reasoning; but I say, reason comes by observation of consequences and accidents, and reasoning is vain inbred-imaginations, without The experience of The concurrence of outward things so reason is bred with strickt observing, and produced by fear of losing, and hopes of keeping or getting, but reasoning is bred in Vanity and produced by vain glory.
Of The Senses and Brain.
Some say that There is such a nature in man, that he would conceive and understand without The senses, though not so clearly, if he had but life which is motion others say, There is nothing in The understanding, that is not sirst in The senses, which is more probable, for The senses bring all The materials into The brain, and Then The brain cuts and divides Them, and gives Them quite other forms, Then The senses Many times presented Them; for of one object The brain makes thousands of several figures, and These figures are Those things which are called imagination, conception, opinion, under standing, and knowledge, which are The Children of The brain, These put into action, are called arts and sciences, and every one of These have a particular and proper motion, function, or trade, as The imagination, and conception, builds, squares, inlayes, grinds, moulds, and fashions all, opinion, caries shows, and presents The materials to The conception, and imagination; understanding distinguishes The several parcels, and puts Them in right places, knowledge is to make The proper use of Them, and when The brain works upon her own materials, and at home, it is called poetry and invention, but when The brain receives and words journey-work, which is not of its own materials, Then it is called learning, and imitation, but opinion makes great faction and disorder among Them, disagreeing much with The understanding, in presenting and bringing The wrong for The right, and Many times with clamour and obstinacy carries it, especially when a strange opinion out of another brain, comes and joyns with The other, & The brain Many times is so taken with his neighbour brains figures, that he fills up his house so full of Them, that he leaves no roome for his own to work or abide in: but Some brains are so weak as They have few or no figures of Their own, but onely plain pieces, and Some again so slow of motion, and so lazy, as They will not take paines to cut and to carve, or to try, but lets that which The senses bring in lie like bags or stone, and makes no use of Them, and will furnish his head neither with his own nor others; but The brain is like unto Common-wealths, for Some brains that are well tempered, are like Those Common-wealths, that are justly and peaceably governed, and live in Their own bounds: other braines that are hotly tempered, are like Those common-wealths that make wars upon Their neighbours; others again that are unevenly tempered, are like Those that are incombred with civil wars amongst Themselves; a cold brain is like Those Nations that are so lazy, as They will use no industry to The improving of Their Country, so a brain may be compared to several soyls, as Some are rich in mines and quarries, others pleasant and fruitful, Some brains are barren and insipid Some will be improved with change of tillage or working, others, The more it is used, The better it is, and Some The worse; and though accidents give The grounds to Some arts, yet They are but rude and uneasy, until The brain hath polished and fitted Them, for as The senses give The brain The first matter, so The brain sends that matter formed & sigured to The senses again, to be dispersed abroad, which Sometimes is sent by The understanding, Sometimes by opinions, so he that hath his senses Most imployed and perfectest, knows more Then They that have not Their senses exercised in varicties, yet The senses give not The height of knowledge, unlesse The brain be of such a temper to dispose Them; for The brains are like eyes, where Some are so quick, as They cannot fasten upon an object, to view The perfection of it, others, so dull, They cannot see clearly, or so slow They cannot untie Themselves soon enough, but dwels too long upon it, so it is The discussing of The object well, that increases or begets knowledge.
Of sense, reason, and Faith.
A Man hath sense, reason, and Faith; reason is above sense, and under Faith; for one half of reason joyns to sense, which is The part that is demonstrative; but that part that is not demonstrative, is beyond The sensitive knowledge, so as it fallsinto conjectures, and probabilities, and from probabilities to belief, and an excessive belief is Faith, for we cannot call that a perfect knowledge which our reason singly tell us, but what our perfect, and healthful senses joyned with our reason distinguish to us: There are two sorts of Faith, The one is divine, which is given to man by an inspiring grace; and The other natural, which is by rational conjectures, probabilities, and comparatives.
Of wisdom and foolishnesse
That we call wisdom doth not onely consist in perfect knowledge, or clear understanding, but observations carefully put in practise in times of occasion, which is that we cal prudence, and where accidents are not observed, but follows The appetites, The senses perswade to take, are called fools, so wisdom is The clerk to mans life, to write down all, and The trustee to receive all, The steward to lay out all, but not The surveigher to know all, for that belongs to a clear and general understanding; & one may be wise, and yet not know all; The difference betwixt a fool and a wise man is that The wise man seekes The food of his appetite with care, observing all accidents, watching all times, taking all opportunities to The best for himself: The fool runs wildly about without a sking or learning The best, neerest or right wayes, yet greedily hunts after his desires, which desires are according to every mans delectation,
Of mad men and fools.
Mad men and fools meet in one and The same point of wanting of judgement, which is to distinguish what is Most likely to be The best or worst for Themselves; I say Most likely, because none knows absolutely but by The event, for chance hath such power over every thing, that Many times it becomes raTher her work Then The choosers; but yet she doth not take away The likelyhood or probability of it, where all concurrences meet: and though chance lie so obscure, as The providen’st man cannot espie her so as to avoid her, yet a wise man prepares for her assaults, but a mad man or a fool leaves all to chances disposing, not to judgments ordering or directing.
A man that is mad is not out of his wits.
We cannot say a man that is mad is out of his wits, but out in his judgement, for a mad man will speak extream wittily Sometimes, and though it be by chance, yet it is his own wit, but not his judgement to chuse The best, for Then he would alwayes strive to speak to Some purpose, or hold his peace, which mad men never do, but speak at random, not caring what he speaks, nor to whom he speaks, nor when he speaks: now The fool comes like The mad man in his actions, raTher Then in his words, for judgement lies not altogeTher in The choice of speech, but more in The choice of actions, now a fool neither knows nor beleeves in The likeliest way to good, nor to avoid ill, and a mad man cares not which is The way to good or ill, but follows his own disordered passions, where reason hath left to be Their guide.
Wit is free.
Some men in striving to shew Their wits in discourse, make Themselves fools; for wit must notbe strugled withal, and brought as it were by The head and shoulders: for as it is natural, so it must have it s natural place and time, and a woman by striving to make her wit known, by much discourse, loses her reputation, for wit is copious, and busies its self in all things, and humours and accidents, wherein Sometimes it is satyrical, and Sometimes amorous, and somtimes wanton, which in all These women should shun, so that in women The greatest wisdom, if not wit, is to be sparing of Their discourse.
Of speech.
As eight notes produce innumerable tunes, so twenty four letters produce innumerable words, which are marks for things, which marks produce innumerable imaginations, or conceptions, which imaginations or conceptions begets another soul which another animal hath not, for want of Those marks, and so wants Those imaginations and conceptions which Those marks beget; besides Those marks beget a soul in communitie; besides words are as gods that give knowledge, and discover, The mindes of men, and though Some creatures can speak, yet it is not natural, for it is like puppits, They are made to walk with scrues, that when The scrues are undone, The puppits can go no farTher; so parrots, or The like can onely repeat The words They are taught, but cannot discourse, because They know not what it signisieth, but man can speak when he comes to maturity, that is to be man, without teaching, that is, although he doth not learn a language that his forefaThers have made, yet he can make one of his own, that is to give marks to things to distinguish Them to himself.
Of Musick.
The art of Musick is harder Then The art of poetry; for musick hath but eight notes, to compose several tunes; when Poetry hath four and twenty letters to play on: but both are musical, and work upon The spirits of men: for There are Some kindes of musick that do draw and suck out The spirits of men with delight, thus it is not The wit, or sense, of things, which moves passion, or delight, but The numbers; for as notes are set, and numbers are measured, shall move The passions, as The Musitian or Poet pleaseth.
Of Musical instruments.
ALL Musical instruments are apt to untune, even The natural one The voice; for when it is hoarse by cold, or otherwayes out of tune, but The strings which are The veyns in The lungs, and stomack, are not so apt to break as lute strings, which are small little guts dryed, neither can There be new strings put to The voice, once broke, as to a sidle; nor can it be mended as other instrnments may, nor carefully laid up in a case to keep it long, for There is no prevention against The breaking of The voice, for old age will come and destroy that sound, and though it doth not break The strings of The voice, yet time dryes and shrivels Them so short, that They cannot be stretched out to any note or strain: and as time weares out The sound; so death breakes The instruments and all.
Of Voices.
It stands with reason that The hottest and coldest Clymats, being The driest,should produce The best and clearest voices, for moisture breeds flegme, and flegme obstructs The chest; besides The moisture falling into The winde-pipe hinders The passage of The voice, and clogs The lungs, for winde and water makes a storm; which destroys a harmony, and instead of singing makes a roaring, like The seas; or drownes The fraight, which are notes, because art which is The steers-man, hath not room to turn and winde to fil his sailes; but are beaten down with The rain roghnes, and stopt with The mud of flegme, so of Necessity he must be lost; fat doth also hinder The voice, for you shall seldome hear any that is fat sing well because The fat hath straightned Their passages, so to The making of a good voice, There must be a wide throat, and clear winde pipes, and strong lungs.
Musick is number with sound, as Opticks are lines with light.
As mans shape is naturally fit and proper for all kinde of motion and Actions;so his voice is made for all sorts of sounds; wherefore The first invention need not go so far as A smiths forge, for he hath The hammer and forge all wayes with him; The forge is his chest, The bellows is his lungs; The fire The heart, The tongue The hammer, and his lips The tonges, The head is The Smith; The several wedges of iron are The several notes that are strook; thus beats out a harmony.
Of Dancing.
Kissing dances are commonly dances, which were invented by The meaner and ruder sort of people, at wakes, and faires; which kinde of people, knows not The ceremonies of modest civilities; for Country dancing is a kinde of a rude pastime, and cannot be called truly a dance, but raTher a running in figaris, for The true art of dancing, is measured sigures, by The feet in divided times; for The feet keepe as just a distance of times, as notes of musick.
Of dancing.
Dancing is compounded of measures, figure, and motion. Measure is Geometry; figure is Symmetry, and motion, is division.
Geometry is equal measure, Symmetry is proportionable measures, Division is numbers.
Of invention.
HE is more praise-worthy that invents Something new, be it but rude and unpolished, Then he that is learned, although he should do it more curious, and neater; an imitator can never be so perfect, as The inventor, if There can be nothing added to The thing invented; for an inventor is a kinde of a creatour; but Most commonly The first invention is imperfect; so that time, and experience add to The growth, and perfection, and Many times There are Many creatours to one invention; for he that addes is as much as he that begun, only The second lights his candle from The first, but he goeth his own way, and may be away that The first inventor had not guessed at: or at least thought it impossible: but an imtator adds nothing to The substance or invention, only strives to resemble it, yet surely invention is easier Then imitation: because invention comes from nature, and imitation from paintul, and troubleSome inquirie; and if he goeth not just The path that hath been trod before him; he is out of The way, which is adouble pain at first to know The path, and Then to tread it out; but invention takes his own wayes, besides, invention is easie because it is born in The brain. Where imitation is wrought and put into The brain by force.
EPISTLE.
Some say as I heare, that my book of Poemes, and my book of Philosophical Fancies, was not my own; and that I had gaThered my opinions from several Philosophers. To answer The first, I do protest, upon The grounds of Honour, honesty and Religion, They are my own, that is, my head was The forge, my thoughts The anvil to beat Them out, and my industry shaped Them and sent Them forth to The use of The world; if any use may be made Thereof, but my Lord was The Master and I The Prentice, for gaThering Them from Philosophers, I never converst in discourse with any an hour, at one time in my life; And I may swear on my conscience, I never had a familiar acquaintance, or constant conversation with any prosest Scholar, in my life, or a familiar acquaintance with any man, so as to learn by Them, but Those that I have neer relation to, as my Husband, and Brothers; it is true, I have had The honour Sometime to receive visits of Civility from my Noble and Honorable acquaintance, wherein we talk of The general news of The times, and The like discourse, for my company is too dull to entertain, and too barren of wit to afford variety of discourse, wherefore I bend my self to study nature; and though nature is too specious to be known, yet she is so free as to teach, for every straw, or grain of dust, is a natural tutor, to instruct my sense and reason, and every particular rational creature is a sufficient School to study in; and our own passions and affections, appetites and desires, are moral Doctors to learn us; and The evil that follows excesse, teaches us what is bad, and by moderation we finde, and do so learn what is good, and how we ought to live, and moderate Them by reason, and discourse Them in The minde, and There is few that have not so much natural capacity, and understanding, but may know, if not finde out what is needful for life, without artificial education, for nature is The chief master; art and education but The under ushers, in The School of life; for natural objections may be applied without The help of arts, and natural rules of life, may lead us safe, and easy wayes to our journeys end; and questionlesse nature was The first guide, before art came to The knowledge, and if it were not for nature, art Many times would lose her followers; yet let nature do what she can, art oft times will go out of The right way; but Many will say it is The nature of man that invents, and The nature of man to erre that is, tis The nature of man to be so ambitious, as to strive to be wiser Then nature her self, but if nature hath given men ambition, yet nature hath given men humilitie to allay that fiery appetite; and though nature hath given men ignorance, yet nature hath given men undestanding, to bring Them out of that darknesse into The light of knowledge; and though nature hath obscured The secrets of The natural cause, yet he hath given men nature to observe her effects, and imaginations, to conjecture of her wayes, and reason to discourse of her works, and understanding to sinde Some out, and These gifts are general to mankinde: wherefore I finde no reason, but my readers may allow me to have natural imagination understanding and inquiries, as well as other Philosophers, and to divulge Them as They have done, if that They beleeve that I am produced by nature, and not by artifices hand, cut out like a stone-statue; but if my readers will not allow my opinions, and fancies to be my own, yet truth will; but There is a natural education to all, which comes without pains taking, not tormenting The body with hard labour, not The minde with perturb’d study, but comes easy and free through The senses; and grows familiar and sociable with The understanding, pleasant and delightful to The contemplation, for There is no subject that The sense can bring into The minde, but is a natural in structour to produce The breeding of rational opinions, and understanding truThes; besides, imaginary fancies, if They will give Their minde time as to think, but Most spend Their time in talk raTher Then in thought; but There is a wise saying, think first, and speak after; and an old saying that Many speak first, and think after; and doubtlesse Many, if not Most do so, for we do not alwayes think of our words we speak, for Most commonly words flow out of The mouth, raTher customarily Then premeditately, just like actions of our walking, for we go by custome, force and strength, without a constant notice or observation; for though we designe our wayes, yet we do not ordinarily think of our pace, nor take notice of every several step; just so, Most commonly we talk, for we seldom think of our words we speak, nor Many times The sense They tend to; unlesse it be Some affected person that would speak in fine phrases; and though speech is very necessary to The course of mans life, yet it is very obstructive to The rational part of mans minde; for it imployes The minde with such busy, and unprofitable maters, as all method is run out of breath, and gives not contemplation leave to search, and enquire after truth, nor understanding leave to examine what is truth, nor judgment how to distinguish truth from falshood; nor imagination leave to be ingenious, nor ingenuity leave to finde invention, nor wit leave to spin out The fine and curious threed of fancy, but onely to play with words on The tongue, as balls with rackets. Besides a multiplicity of words consounds The solid sense, and rational understanding, The subject in The discourse; yet to think very much and speak yery seldom, makes speeed uneasy, and The tongue apt to faulter, when it is to deliver sense of The matter They have, and want of uncustomary speaking makes The Orator to seek for words to declare The sense of his meaning, or The meaning of his sense; besides, want of eloquence Many times, loseth not onely rational opinions, but conceals truth it self, for want of perswading rhetorick, to raise up belief, or to get understanding; so that a contemplatory person hath The disadvantage of words; although Most commonly They have The advantage of thoughts, which brings knowledge; but life being short, Those that speak much, have not time to think much, that is, not time to study and contemplate; wherefore it is a great losse of time to speak idle word, that is, words that are to no purpose, and to think idle thoughts, that bring no honest profit to The life of man, nor delight for lifes pastime. nor news to The knowledge and understanding, but Most men speak of common matters, and think of vulgar things, beats upon what is known, and understood, not upon what ought to be known, and understood; but upon known improbabilities, or vain ambitions, or upon that which nothing concerns Them, or upon evil designes to work distractions, or upon that which cannot advantage Them nor any body else; but it is very probable, my readers will at this discourse condemn me, saying, I take upon me to instruct, as if I thought my self a master, when I am but a novice, and sitter to learn. I answer, it is easier to instruct what ought to be done, Then to practise what is best to be done; but I am so far from thinking my self able, to teach, as I am afraid I have not capacity to learn, yet I must tell The world, that I think that not any hath a more abler master to learn from, Then I have, for if I had never married The person I have, I do beleeve I should I never have writ so, as to have adventured to divulge my works, for I have learned more of The world from my Lords discourse, since I have been his wife, Then I am confident I should have done all my life, should I have lived to an old age; and though I am not so apt a Scholar as to improve much in wit, yet I am so industrious a Scholar to remember whatsoever he hath said, and discoursed to me, and though my memory is dull, and slow, and my capacity weak to all other discourses, yet when I am in company, I had raTher shew my simplicity Then be thought rude; wherefore I chuse raTher to speak, though foolishly, Then say nothing, as if I were dumb, when I am to entertain my acquaintance, and though I do not speak so well as I wish I could, yet it is Civility to speak. But it is my Lords discourse that gets me understanding, and makes such impressions in my memory, as nothing but death can rub it out: and my greatest fear is, that I The Scholar should disgrace him The Master, by The vulgar phrases and The illiterate expressions in my works: but The truth is, I am neither eloquent by nature, nor art; neitherhave I took The accustomary way of often speaking, to make my words, or letters fluent, not but my tongue runs fast and foolish when I do speak, but I do not often speak, for my life is more contemplary, Then discoursing, and more solitary Then sociable, for my nature being dull and heavy, and my disposition not merry, makes me think my self not fit for company.
The second part of The first BOOK.
Of a Solitary life.
Certainly a solitary life is The happiest, I do not mean so solitary as to live an Anchoret, or to be bound to inconveniences either of care or fear, or to be tied to observance, either to Parents or wedlock, or Superiours, or to be troubled to The bringing up of Their children, and The care of bestowing Them when brought up, but Their persons must be as free from all bonds, as Their mindes must be from all wandring desires; for as it is a great pleasure, so it is a great chance to finde it; for The minde must be contracted into so round a compasse, and so firm a solitude, that The thoughts must travel no furTher Then home; for if The body be in one place and The minde in another, There must needs be a discord, wherein can consist no happiness to The whole person; to obtain this pleasure, They must first have a competencie of fortune, as not to be bit with Necessity, not so much as to be troubled with excesse, Then They must be Their own chief, not to depend on more Then The laws of The land compels Them to: and as They must be under no command, but what Necessity, force, or The publick, so They must not command more Then what is necessary; for There is more trouble in commanding Then in obeying. For ordering much, troubles much, Then Their delights must be various, not numerous, They must not come in throngs, but by degrees, for fear of surfets. and give every sense his free time and pleasure, but so proportioned to live with an appetite, and so not to feed all The senses at once, for that takes off The delight from every particular, and not heightens Them; for in compounds There is no perfect taste, for compounded pleasures of senses, raTher amazeth The spirits Then delights Them; to see a beautiful object, and to hear a melodious found, to have an odoriferous scent, a delicious taste, a soft touch all at once, distracts; for The spirits running from one object to another, knows not what to chuse, or where to rest; Therefore true delight comes soberly and singly one by one, besides The delights that our senses receive in outward objects, There is a delight of inward contemplation, whose materials The senses bring, in which The imagination doth work upon, by carving and cutting, and inlaying Those several pieces, and so is represented to The minde as a new recreation, which are called fancies, or ideas, for though it be nothing untill it be put into act, and every thought cannot be acted; Some for The hazards and inconveniences others for The impossibilities, which are fantasmes that live not long after The birth, or so sickly, that There is little delight in Them, neither do They harm but raTher good; for it pleaseth for a time, coming in sweetly, and goeth out quickly; but thoughts that may be put in acts, should be carefully and wisely governed, for Those beget great desires, Those desires run violently into acts, not staying for consideration; which makes men commit, not only idle and vain follies, but dangerous even to The ruine of estates, or reputation, or lives, which must needs bring discontent, for There can be no hapinesse in ruine; and since a greater pleasure and happinesse consists in thoughts, They must rule Them so, not to murmur in discontents of what They would and cannot, or not safely do; but Their wishes and desires must raTher be within The circle of Their abilities Then without, and raTher think They have too much Then too little, for They that think They have too little, will never be quiet in striving to get more, so The pleasure of wise thinking is, when The thoughts are begot honestly, nourished moderately, and ordered carefully, These bring true content.
A Monastical life.
Some dispraise a Monastical life, and say They are The drones in a Common-wealth, to suck out that honey They never took pains to gaTher, and that They are an idle, lazie and unprofitable people, for say They, They go not to wars to adventure Their lives, or hazard Their lives, but live free, and secure, not troubled with The noise of battles, onely listen to hear The successe, wherein They may give Their opinions, and censures, Then that They never cultivate, or manure The lands for increase, but eat of The plenty, pretending beggery, bur ingrosse all The wealth; and for The women, There are as Many kept barren as would populate whole nations.
But They in Their own defence, say, that They cast off all pleasures of The world, lie cold, and hard, eat sparingly, watch and pray, and not onely to pray for Themselves, or for The dead; but for Those that are incumbred in worldly cares; besides say They, it is profitable to The Common-wealth, for men that have small estates, and Many children, not being able to maintain Them according to Their qualities, and degrees, may run into Many errours; for want of means, which may disturb not only families, but whole states, where a monastical life, a small portion, and a little will serve The turn, onely to keep soul and body togeTher, in which Their lives are peaceable, and full of devotion; but The Laytie answers, that The third part of The wealth of Christendom goeth to The maintenance of The Church, onely in consideration of younger children, that will be content, and Some are sorced in; yet after that rate There will be, little for The eldest, which remaine without, nor will be, if They go on to lay such burThens upon mens consciences, and such sums upon Those burThens to buy Them out; neither is There any sort of men more busie in disturbing The Common-wealth; for Those that have not active imployment, either in The ordinary affaires of The world, or extraordinary affaires in The Common wealth, Their thoughts corrupt being not exercised in action, They grow factious, which causeth distractions; for There is more war amongst The Christians about Their opinion Then upon any cause else. This saith The one side, but Their enemies say that They are not only The covetous, but The greatest cheaters in The world, and all under The name for Gods sake; for say They, They bring in Ceremony for gaines, in that They set al The mercies of God to sale, for what sins cannot be bought for money; as adulterery incest, murTher, blasphemy, and sins past, and present; as for whores They permit Them to live loosly without punishment, and allot Therein streets and houses, to increase Their sins, in which They do authorise sin for a sum, for They pay tribute to The Church, and not onely sins past and present, but to come: as witnesse The yeares of Jubile; besides The head take upon Them, The power of damnation and salvation, as witnesse The excommunications, and absolutions, and if not out, and in of hell; yet out and in ofPurgatory, which Purgatory is a great revenue to Them; yet They have a countenance for Their covetousnesse, which is that The offendant must have a true contrition, or Their sum of money will do Them no good, no more Then will a true contrition without The sum; but surely Monastical lives, are very profitable to The Common-wealth, whatsoever it bee for The soul, for it keepes peace and makes plenty, and begets, a habit of sobriety which gives a good example, and Many times drawes Their own mindes, though naturally otherwise disposed, to follow The outward carriage for The custome of The one, may alter The nature of The other, and in that They keep peace, is, because They live single lives, not for The quarrels of marriage, but in not oppressing The kingdome in over-populating it; for Those kingdoms that are very full of people, growes mutinous, and runs into civil wars, where Many states are sorced to war upon Their neighbors; for no other end but to discharge The stomack of The Common-wealth; for fear it should breed incurable diseases. Besides, a Common-wealth may be over-stockt, like grounds which causeth great dearth and plagues, in a Common-wealth, so that Those states which have more traffick Then men, are rich, where Those that have more men, Then trade, are poor; and Civil war proceeds not so much out of plenty, as out of proud poverty, The next cause for plenty They are of a spare diet, and Most of what They eat or should eat, by Their order, is Fish, Roots, and The like; but if They do get a good bit one may say, much good may it do Them, for They get it by stealth, and eat it in fear, at least not openly to avoid scandal; but if They do not spare in The matter of meat, yet They spare in The manner, which cuts off all prodigal superfluities of feasting, or open house-keeping, wherin is spoiled more Then eaten, neither doth it relieve The hungry, by The Almes-basket; so much as it over-Gorges The full, and for Ceremonies it keepes The Church in order, and gives it magnificency: besides it is beneficial to The State, for it Amuses The Common people and busies Their mindes, and it is as it were a recreation: and pastime to Them, as Saints dayes and The like; nay They take pleasure, and make a recreation to have fasting dayes, so as They have much to think on, and imploy Their time in, as fasting-dayes, processions of saints, confessions, penance, absolutions, and The like, as Mass and Musick, and shewes, as at Christmas, Easter, our Lady day, & on Many dayes of The yeers, and These affording one and The same, but varieties in all; besides, every Saint having power to grant several requests; it will take up Some time to know, what to ask of Them, and all These one would think, were sufficient, to keep out murmur and discontent, which is got by idlenesse, which is The cause of rebellion. Thus The Church busies The people, and keeps Their mindes in peace, so that These monastical ment, which are The Church, is The nurse to quiet The people, or The masters to set Them on, wherein They never do, unlesse it be in The defence of Christian Religion, in which all good men ought to follow; and surely it is beneficial to The Common-wealth, whatsoever it be for The soul, and for Their souls, although rationally one would think that God should not take delight in shaven heads; or bare and dirty feet, or cold backs, or hungry stomacks, in any outward habit, but in an humble heart and low desires, a thankful minde, for what They have sorrowful sighs, and repenting tears, fear of offending admiration of his wisdom, and pure love of his goodnesse, and mercy, thanks for his favours, and grace, obedience, charity, and honest worldly industry, and to take as much pleasure, as honest and vertuous moderation will permit; for we might think that God did not intend man more miserie, or leste of this world Then beasts; but alas, all mankinde is apt to run into extreames which beasts are not, either to bar Themselves quite of The lawful use of The world, or to run riot, which of The two, The last is to be shunned, and avoided, wherein this kinde of life is Most secure, neither must we follow our reason in Religion, but Faith, which is The guide of our conscience.
Of Society.
There are Many sorts of society, and Some comfortable; as in The natural society, of Wife, Children, Parents, Brothers, Sisters, and Those that are neer allyed to us; Some profitable, as in The society of The knowing and wise; others honourable, as in The society of Princes and souldiers; Some pleasant, as in The society of The wity and ingenious, Some are heavenly, as in The society of The Church of God as The Saints upon earth which are The pious; Some merry, as in The society of The sportful; Some sad as in The society of The asslicted; others Dangerous, as in The society of The false, The lewd, and The rude, Some troublesom, as in The society of fools; Some dishonourable, as in The society of The infamous; so that Many times The society of man is worse Then The society of beasts, for They are seldom troubleSome, nor false to Their own kinde, and Some so pleasing, easy and happy, as if it were a society of Angels; but as society is The making of Common-wealths, which is a community amongst men, which community causeth contracts, and covenants, which makes one man live by another in peace, so society which is a community causeth, strength to The whole body, to maintain The particular parts; but as society in The whole causeth peace, plenty and security; so society in parts which is siding, and factions, causeth poverty discord, war, and ruine; but I treat not of The society of The whole body, which is a Common-wealth, but of The societie of particulars, as of neighbours, acquaintance, and familiars, which unlesse They be well chosen, bring more incoveniencies Then benefit, The benefit of acquaintance is The guessing at one anothers humors, by Their words and actions, and Their several opinions and fancies which begets wit, in applying other fancies to Their own: and nowledge in seeing Their variety of humours, garbs, and gestures, it makes one distinguish better vertue from vice, and it is a glasse to see best what becomes men, it begets love and friendship, it refresheth The spirits, it wasts and lessens grief, it makes labour easy, it applauds The good; it admonisheth The bad; it gives confidence to The bashful, it gives shame to The bold, it sires The courages of The fearful, vigor to The slothful, it deverts The minde from black & sullen thoughts, it gives good manners to The rude, knowledg to The ignorant, experience to The young, and indeed civiliseth mankinde. But The common and unchosen societies, it brings Many times great inconveniencies, as quarrels; for a quiet man, in his own nature coming into Some company, must either put up an affront, wihich is a dishonour, or he must fight, wherein he advantures his life, The losse of it estate, or The trouble and grief in killing a man; which although The cause may be small, yet he is necessitated to him; so The like in drinking, gaming, whoring, either by example corrupted, or by perswasion, or else a man is thought rude, and unsociable, and apt to be railed against for it, so he must shun it, or do as They do; besides in Many societies, There is little to be learned, and worse to be heard; as rayling, cursing, swearing, tedious disputing, nonsensly talking, detracting from vertue, divulgeing of faults, crying up vices, defaming of honour, making of discord; and There is nothing learned but prodigality, sloth, and falshood: so as The disorder would make a wel tempered and equal moving brain dizzie, but The society of men and women is much more inconvenient, Then men with men, and women with women; for women with women can do little inconvenience, but spights, and effeminate quarrels, for place, and gadding abroad, and neglecting Their huswiferie at home: The worst is in learning Vanity to spend Their husbands estates, and giving one another ill counsel, to make disquiet at home; but of The society of men and women comes Many great inconveniencies, as defamations of womens honours, and begets great jealousies, from faThers, brothers, and husbands, Those jealousies beget quarrels, murThers, and at The best discontent, and unhappinesse, it confirmes The apt inclined to bad: and tempts The vertues. and defames The chast. But women ought to put on as Many several shapes, and formes ofbehaviour, as she meets with humours; as austere and severe behaviour, to The bold, a sweet and gentle behaviour to The humble, and bashful; but a woman that would preserve her reputation, by fame as well as by chastity, she must put on as Many several faces, and behaviours as a State doth; for a state in time of war puts on a face of anger; and in time of plague and pestilence, a face of pietie, after rebellion a face of clemency; in times of peace and plenty, a face of mirth and jollity; so women must put on as Many behaviours, as she meets with several humours, as neglect to The proud, and severe to The bold, and wanton, a sweet and gentle behaviour to The humble, and bashful, and observing and serious behaviour, to The wise and grave learned; a dutiful and respective behaviour, to The grave and aged, a cheerful and pleasant behaviour to Their neerest friends, and There are so Many more, that it is past The memory of my Arithmetick.
Of Hospitality.
I Have observed Those that keep great Hospitalitie, are not onely well beloved of Their neighbours, that are often made welcome, and by Those that make it a meeting place; but The Master or Mistris of The house shal be amorously affected, and earnestly solicited, by The turning of The eyes and The like, although They be very old, in The times of Hospitalitie; for old men shall have, or may have more Mistresses, and old women, more lovers, and seeming admirers, Then The youngest and beautifullest without Those intertainments, so much kindnesse, and good nature, good cheer begets, yet it will last no longer Then The meat sticks in Their teeth; for while The meat, mirth and wine is working, and The fume ascending, They are so full of thanksgiving, as They overflow with high praises, professions, and declarations, protestations and free offers, in which They promise more Then They can perform, and perform lesse Then They could promise; for where The head and The stomack is empty of The receiver, and The purse of The entertainer, if he have occasion to make use of any of Them, They would do as The parable of The marriage in The scripture, one said, that he had married a wife, and The other had sold a yoke of oxen, and The third had bought a farm so that all would have excuses, and excuses in that kinde are The messengers of a denial, neither do They think a denial sufficient; for if They wil not praise Their friends, They will turn Their enemies, for so ill natured is mankind that what They cannot make more use of, They will strive to destroy.
Wherein Hospitality is good.
Hospitality is commendable, for it doth refresh The weary traveller, it relieves The poor: it maketh a society of mirth and freedom, when it is so moderately bounded and orderly governed as it may be constantly kept, otherwise its but a short Hospitality, and a long feast.
Of Feasting.
There is no action more extravagant, Then The making of great feasts, for There is neither honour, profit, nor pleasure, but noises, trouble, and expence; and not onely an expence to The private purse but to The publike in The unnecessary destruction of so Many Creatures; neither doth it relieve The hungry so much, as it over-gorges The full; for indeed a great feast raTher eates up The eaters, Then The eaters eat up The feast, by The surfets it gives Them; but Those that make great feasts, and strive to please The luxurious palats of men, are bawds to gluttony, and The feast is The whore to tempt The appetite, and wine is The fool to make all merry, which never wants at Those entertainments, but playes so much, and ruines so fast, and growes so strong, as it puts young sobriety and grave temperance out of countenance; it unties The strings of strength, and throws reason out of The wisest head, so that reason neither begins it, nor ends it; for it begins with excesse of supersluity, and ends in extravagant disorders.
Of drinking and eating.
Wine, though it begins like a friend. goeth on like a fool, Most commonly ends like a Devil in fury: yet it is a greater fault, to eat too much, Then too drink to much wine, in that a man may live without wine, but not without meat; for wine is raTher a superfluity or curiosity, Then a Necessity, wherefore food which signifieth all kinde of meat, is The life and staffe, to support life; which staff being broken by excesse, famine, and plagues pursue, which are able to destroy a kingdom, where wine may onely destroy Some part, but not endanger The whole; unlesse it be every mans particular kingdom, which is Themselves, and There indeed it drowns both king and state.
Of Moderation.
The way to a mans happiest condition of life in this world, and for The way to The next, is, by The straight way of moderation; for The extreams are to be shunnd, and all that can be shunned, even in devotion; for The holy writ saith, Turn not to The right hand nor to The left, lest you go The wrong way; for extreams in devotion run to Superstition and idolatry: and The neglect in both ATheisme, but to keep The even way, is to obey God as he hath commanded, and not as we fancy, by our wrong interpretation; so for The minde of man great and hard studies and perturbations, draw or wear out The spirits, or oppresse Them, in so much that great students are not commonly long livd, but sickly, lean, and pale, and Those that have extraordinary and quick fancies of Their own, do Many times by The quick motion of Their brain, inflame The spirits to that degree, as They run mad, or so neer as to be strangely extravagant; and on The other side, Those that study not, nor have fancies of Their own, are dul-blocks that have no raptures of The minde, but onely sensual pleasures, and so when They can, They run into with that violence, as it turns to Their pain, not Their delight; and all is but emptying and filling, as beasts do, and not having The knowledge as men should have, for moderation, as for immoderation of diets; how often do men suddenly die, by The excesse Thereof? and how Many diseases doth it bring to Them that escapes surfets? as fevers gowts, stone, dropsy, and The like; nay what diseases doth it not bring, by The dross it breeds; for superfluity of moisture oppresseth, and slackens The nerves, and dulls and quenches Thespirits, which makes Them unfit for action or businesse in The affaires of The world, it stuffs Them with sloth or corpulency, or fat, it banisheth industry, and Many times courage: on The other-side, too spare and low diet, chaps and dryes The body, like The earth that wants rain, or manuring, shrinks and gaThers up The rain; it heats The body into Hectick fevers, and sucks out The oyl of life, for exercise The violence of it melts The grease, inflames The blood, pumps out too much moisture by sweats, it over-stretches The nerves, which weakens The body, which brings shaking palsies in The head, leggs, and Many times over The whole body; on The other side, too little exercise corrupts The blood, and breeds obstructions, which breeds Agues, and spleen, faintings and The like. For The passions; as for example, a man that is extraordinary angry makes him run into fury for The present, as Many times to commit so rash an action, as to make him unhappy all his life after, by killing a friend, or at least losing a friend: or getting an enemy by an unseasonable word, and Those that have no anger must of Necessity receive great affronts, at Some time or other, for patience is to be content when There is no remedy; but in Many things or actions anger is required when fury would be too much, or patience or silence too little, and so The like in all other passions, and as for great wealth it is both a trouble, in The keeping, or bestowing of it; in The keeping of it, The care is into whose hands to trust it, or to what places to lay it in; so that The watching and counting it, and how, and to whom to leave it too, takes off The pleasure in it, and for spending it The very noise and tumult that great riches bring in The exspence, is a suficient trouble, for a man can never be at home to himself, he knows not who is his friend, or who is his enemy, he hears no truth for flattery; he hath no true taste of any senses: for The throngs of The varietie, take away The pleasure of every particular; as for poverty, it is The drudge to The world, The scorn of The world, a trouble to Their friends, and a death to Themselves: as for power; what for The care in The keeping it, for fear of a usurper, and though There is no enemy to oppose it, yet what trouble There is in The ordering and disposing with Their authority, and Those that have no power are slaves, wherein moderation keepes peace, in being content with our own share, and not desiring to share with our neghbour in what is his and moderation gives wealth; for he is richest that hath so much, onely to enjoy himself; moderation civilizeth nations, it upholds government, and keeps commerce, yet makes private families subject, it nourisheth The body, recreates The minde; and makes joy in life, and is The petty god to The present pleasures of man.
Of Prodigality and Generositie.
There is none complains so much of ingratitude, as progals, for when Their purses are empty They grudge Their hospitalitie, and repine at Their gifts, when They gave more out of pride, and magnificence, Then out of love or frendship; but man is so incircled with self love, as he thinks all Those that have partaken of his prodigalitie, are bound to maintain his riot, or at least to supply his necessitie, out of Their treasury, but of The difference of prodigalitie and generositie, is, that generositie distributes in a reasonable time and to worthy persons, or else out of Humanity when prodigalitie considers neither time nor person, nor Humanity, but humor, will, and vain-glory.
Of Gifts.
There are four sorts of gifts; as to Those of merit, is generosity, to Those in Necessity, is charity, or compassion; to Those of eminency and power, it is flattery and fear, to knaves or fools, it is prodigality, and vain-glory.
The difference between convetousnesse and ambition, is, one is placed upon things worthy; The other upon Mercenary profit.
Of Vanity.
it is said, that There is nothing but Vanity upon The earth, and what is it that men call Vanity? it is that which is to no purpose; and if so, God made The world in vain, which God never doth make any thing, but to Some purpose, but say Some, that alters not Gods purpose; for all things that are vain, are as to Themselves, and that nothing was created as for it self, but all things for God, as to have his will obeyed; but nature hath made man for to desire to please himself, although laws have forbad him to please himself in al things, or wayes, but hath given him particular rules, and hath paled him within such bounds, as indeed if a man free-born should be put into prison, and Then bid to take his liberty; but if nature made nothing in vain, Then mens Vanities is to Some purpose in one regard or another; now that which is called Vanity, may be divided into two parts, as particulars and generals, The general Vanity is to eat, to drink, to sleep, to act any thing, or to think, but The particular Vanities are Those that men condemn in one another Most: as for a man to think of Those things he knoweth to be impssible, or to do that he knoweth The end will bring him no profit, but if The ends of Vanity be not profitable, yet The wayes are pleasant, or else men would not take such delight in Them; and what is The worldly designe of men but pleasing Themselves, and shall we think that nature made The world to be a torment to us? and onely beasts to take pleasure in Themselves, and that nothing but hard labour, and restraints are lawful to man, for beasts eat and drink, and take Their ease, and for al we know, please Themselves in Their thoughts, and may be They have as various and vain thoughts as mans, unlesse men torment Them, and put Them to labour, and though labour and industery may be pleasant to Some, yet not when it is put upon Them, as a law of Necessity, for laws, and necessities are bonds, though we make Them our selves, and men may think all things are lawful, that are, or tend not to The destruction of nature, for nature is bountiful and easy, and ties not up her creatures, but gives Them liberty, and use of Themselves, unlesse it be to destroy Themselves unprositably, which is against nature; but for preservation, and to prolong The life of somthing else, as Fame, Friends, Countrey; which he raTher lives in, Then dies to, and nature is The giver of life to all, and Therefore Those that maintain life in Most things, is The greatest friend to nature, as in losing one life to save Many, and to die for fame, is to live longer in The memory of other men, Then he knows he shall in The life of his own body; but one would think There were no Vanity in man, for There was nothing done or thought, but was to Some purpose, which is to please Themselves; though all thoughts, and all actions are not pleasing, but Those I suppose are inforced; and upon Necessity; and not voluntary, Then it is no greater Vanity Then what cannot be avoided, for Some take more pleasure in getting or striving to get The opinion of others, Then They can grieve at The paines They take, and Some take as much pleasure in building an house of cardes, as another doth of stone, and Some take as much, if not more pleasure in a phantasme; as another in The gravest and assured’st thoughts; for what pleasure Poets take in Their imaginations of impossibilities, as if men should imploy Their time & thoughts in nothing, but what is merely necessary, They would grow a troubleSome burThen to Themselves; being made by nature inquisitive, busie and contemplative; For There are few things serve meerly to The use of Necessity, unlesse we will fill our time with superfluities, and curiosities which are called vanitie; and this Vanity is that which sets all Common-wealths awork, and makes Them to live by one another, that which is called vanitie is of a middle nature, as by that which is called vice, and that which is called vertue, for There is no malignity in Vanity; for where malignity is, it leaves to be Vanity, and turnes to be vice; Vanity is The worldly delight of man, if man had any delight in The world; But The wise Preacher saith, All is vanitie under The Sun, and vexation of spirit, and to eat and drink in peace is The onely happinesse; if so we are onely happy when we are eating and sleeping; They say in all desires obtained man is more unsatisfied: and that The onely pleasure is in desiring, and in endevouring, and not in The injoying, and that man is contented and pleased with nothing that he hath in possession, but it is not that man that is displeased with all that he hath, but that pleasure is not permanent: and though pleasure is according to every mans delectation; yet There is no man but hath pleasure somtimes one way, somtimes another; but as The sense seemes to be ravished at The first touch, yet by The often repetition it growes troubleSome, and painful, and so ceaseth; for it is with The senses as it is with The strength, for great Labour wearies and weakens The strength; nor can The strength be in every member at once, no more Then The senses can receive Their full gust at once: for The leggs wil grow feeble with labour, and actions of The armes, though The bulk of The strength lies not in The armes; for a man cannot run fast, and give a violent motion to his armes, but The one will hinder The other so much, as both will be of little use, The same will be with The senses; for a generality takes part away from every particular, and one and The same motion to every particular wearies and troubles ti, in so much, as that which was a pleasure becomes a grief or pain, so as it is not that man that takes not pleasure in what he enjoyeth; for if any one delights in particular tast, if The appetite were not wearied, The delight would be The same, as it was at The first touch, to eternitie, but The senses being tirrable, grow wearied, feeble, and sick with violent motion and continual labour, that They cannot relish that They did before; besides, al desires that proceed from The senses increaseth Their motion. and as all The senses are chiefly in The head, so Their like and dislike to Most things proceeds from Thence; for The brain will be so weary with one and The same motion, as The leggs with running; and The violenter The senses are, The sooner tired They be; but There are two chief sortes of pleasure, The one wholy dwelling in The senses, which is fading, The other lasts as long as life, and hath a desire to last longer; These are Those things or thoughts, as lie not wholy in The senses, but onely found out by Them, and kept and nourished by The minde; in this The senses follow The minde, and where The minde leades The senses it walkes Them with so moderate a pace, and rules Them with so equal motions, as They are never weary. But when The senses lead and rule The minde, it is alwayes out of order, and is tired in following The uneven, strange, and violent wayes, not knowing where to rest; but The reason why displeasure lasts longer Then pleasure, is because displeasure is of The nature of death; For though motion doth not cease as in death, yet it is slow and dull, and pleasure which is of The nature of life, is full of motion, bot and violent, The one is like a long and tedious sicknes, The other like a hot and burning fever, that destroyes soon.
The nature of Man.
it is The nature of mankinde to run into extreams; for Their mindes are as Their bodies are; for Most commonly There is a predominate passion in The one, as a predominat humor in The other, so that dispositions of men are governed more by passion, Then by reason, as The body is governed more by appetite, Then by conveniencies.
The Power of The Senses.
The body hath power over The will, for The appetite of The five senses draws The will forcibly, although reason helps to defend it.
The appetite is more delighted by degrees Then with a full gust.
But one would think that every several sense did strike but upon one string, or nerve, for The minde is often moved to one and The same passion, by The several senses; and again one would think that every several object or subject did strike upon a several nerve, although to The pleasure or pain, but of one sense, and The minde receives several pleasures or griefes from Those varieties.
The happy Farmer.
The Farmer and his wife, sons, daughters, and servants, are happier Then The Kings, Nobles, or Gentry, for a king hath more cares to govern his kingdom Then he receives pleasure in The enjoyment. The Farmers care is onely to pay his rent, which he must have a very hard bargain, or be a very ill husband if he cannot do it, he takes more pleasure in his labour, Then The Nobility in Their ease, his labour gets a good stomack, digests his meat, provokes sleep, quickens his spirits, maintains health, prolongs life, and grows rich into The bargain. The Nobility, or Gentry, Their disease of idlenesse deads Their stomacks, decayes Their health, shortens Their lives; besides, makes Them of inconstant natures, and empty purses, and Their queasy bodies make Them desirevariety of wines, meats, and women, and idlenesse wearieth Their spirits, which makes Them wander to several places, company, games, or sports; yet ease and riots make finer wits; for riots make Many vapours, and idlenesse breeds thoughts which heates The braine, and heat is active, and so refines The wit, and fires The spirits, and hot spirits make ambition, & ambition wel disposeth mindes, produceth worthy actions and honourable reports, and not onely fills Them with courage, but gives Them curiosity, Civility, justice and The like; but ambition to depraved mindes, makes Them slaves to base actions, as flattering, cheating, or betraying, or any unworthinesse, to compasse Their ends.
The vastness of desires.
There are few, but desires to be absolute in The world, as to be The singular work of nature, and to have The power over all her other workes; although They may be more happy with lesse, but nature hath given men Those vast desires, as They can keep in no limits, yet They begin low and humble; as for example, a man that is very poor, and in great wants, desires onely to have so much as will serve meer Necessity, and when he hath that, Then he desireth conveniences, Then for decency, after for curiosity, and so for glory, state, reputation and fame; and though desire runs several wayes, yet They aym all at one end. If any end There were, which is to imbrace all, but Some say The minde is The measure of happinesse, which is impossible, unlesse The minde were reasonable; for The minde is not satisfied though it had all, but requires more, so The minde is like eternity, alwayes running, but never comes to an end.
Of The Vain, Uselesse and unprofitable Wishes.
I Perceive if men could have Their wish of nature, or fortune, They would wish that which was admired, and esteemed by others, and not what he received; for man seems to build his happinesse in The opinion of others, as The chiefest injoyment of pleasure in himself.
Of desires and fears.
Some say that it is a miserable state of minde, to have few things to desire, and Many things to fear, but surely The misery lieth onely in The Many feares, not in The few desires, and if desires are pleasing in The birth, yet it puts The minde in great pain, when They are strangled, with The string of impossibilities, or at least made sick and faint with improbabilities, for if hopes give Them life, despair gives Them death; and where one desires & enjoyes a possession, Many thousands are beaten back, for desire seldom keeps rank, but flies beyond compasse, yet Many times desires are helped by Their grateful servants patience and industry. For industry is a kinde of witch-craft; for wise industry will bring that to passe, as one would think it were impossible; but without all doubt, that minde that hath The ferest wishes is in The happiest condition, for it is, as if it had a fruition of all things.
What desires a man may have to make him happy.
The desires for happines are not in The favour of Princes, nor in being Princes to have favourites, or to be popular, nor in The conquering, of Many nations, and men, nor in having vast possessions, or to be Emperours of The whole world, or in The revenge of enemies, or to enjoy Their beloved or to have Many Lovers, nor in beauty, art, wit, nor strength, but to have health, so as to enjoy life and peace to guard it, to be praised and not flattered, admired but not lusted after, to be envyed, but not hated, to be beloved without ends, to love without jealousie, to learn without labour, to have wise experience without losse, to live quietly without fear, to be an enemy to none, to have pleasure without pain, honour and riches without trouble, and time to wait on Them, which every prudent man makes it to do, but These are not easily to be had, so that The best way to be happy is, to perswade Themselves to be content with that They have, and to desire no more Then honest industry may easily purchase.
Of The minde and The body.
The minde and The body must be married togeTher; but so as The minde must be The husband; to govern, and command, and The body The wife to obey, and reason which is The judge of The minde, must keep The senses in awe; for as reason is The property of The minde, so The senses are The property of The body; but There is no judge more corrupted Then reason, or takes more bribes, and The senses are The bribers; for The eye corcupts it with beauty, The ear with melodious sounds; and so The sent, taste, and touch, which makes false reason, gives false judgment; so as The minde may be an over-fond husband, that would be a wise man, were he not perswaded from it; by The follies of his wife.
Of Riches and Poverty.
Necessity and poverty teacheth to dissemble, flatter, and shark for Their advantage, and lively-hood: and long custom makes it a habit, and habit is a second nature; for what Poverty breeds Many times proveth base, and unworthy, being necessitated to quit honour or life, where Most commonly life is chosen first; besides, poverty wants means to learn what is best; for The poorer sort generally never standeth upon The honour of speaking The truth, or keeping Their word; for They lie at The watch, to steal what They can get; when a rich-man vaving no wants to necessitate him, but lives at plenty, which keeps him not onely from that which is base, but perswades to things that are Noble. Riches make a man ambitious of Honourable Fame, which desires make Them rule Their Actions, to The length of good opinions but poverty is ambitious of nothing but riches, and thinks it no dishonour to come to it any any way. Thus poverty is ambitious of riches, and riches of honours. Riches, as a Golden faTher beget a bastard gentry, and poverty is The death and burial of it; but The pure and true born gentry comes from merit, from whence proceeds all noble and Heroick Actions, it is nourished in The Court of Fame, taught in The schooles of honour, lives in The monarchical Goverment of justice.
Of Robbers or factious men.
There be three sorts of Robbers, as first, Those Those that take away our goods; as plate, money, jewels, corn, cattle, and and The like. The second are murTherers, that take away life. The third are factious persons, which are not onely The cause of The taking away our goods, which we call movable, and our lives, but our religion, our frends, our laws, our liberties, and peace; For a factious man makes a commotion, which commotion raiseth civil wars, and civil war is a division in The bowels, or heart of The State, as to divide commands from obedience, obedience from commands, rending and breaking affections, raising of passions, so as a factious man is a humane Devil, seeking whom he can devour, insinuating himself into favour with every man, that he may The better stir up Their spirits to fury, presenting Them with grievances to catch in discontent, speaking alwayes in Cyphers and characters, as if it were a dangerous time, and that They lived under a Tyrannioal government, when They may speak, as freely as They can live; and live as freely as They think, with free dom of thoughts which nothing but death can cut off; but if They did live under a Tyrannical Government, They ought not to reform by Their passion, nor to disobey with Their grivances; but it is both wise, and honest to be a time-server, so They go not through dishonourable actions; for he that runs against The times, is a disturber of The peace, and so becomes factious, which is The track of evil nature.
There is a difference betwixt a Rogue, a dishonest man, and a Knave.
The Rogue is one that will act any villanie; as murTher, sacriledge, rapin, or any horrid act; The dishonest man is one that is ungrateful, that will receive all curtesies, but will return none, though he be able, and a breaker of his word; as for example, if a man should promise another man out of a sudden fondnesse, and without witnesse, a hundred pounds a yeer, and after repenting of it, should break his promise, yet it is a dishonest part, though They take nothing from The man that he could challenge for his own; for he gave but a word of promise, and a word is nothing, unlesse had witnesse to make it an act by law; And again, if a man goeth to a Fair, and seeth a horse that he likes, and prayeth his neighbour to buy him that horse; he goeth and likes him, and buyeth The horse for himself; so though he takes nothing from his neighbour, by The reason The horse was none of his, yet it is a dishonest part, beacause his neighbour trusted him in it; and Many other wayes which would be too tedious to write, but The Knave is not onelyone that wil break his word, or neglect his trust, but he will betray his trust, and although he will not actually act murTher, yet for gain he will betray a life, and though he will not break open houses, and commit Robberies or any thing against The law, yet he wil cozen where The law cannot take hold of him: or do any thing that is not absolute against The laws, and a knave takes more pleasure in his close wayes of deceiving, Then in The profit, though that is sweet; for Many do not cozen for The various delights for The senses, but delights himself in The various wayes of deceiving; Nor is he wiser Then The honest man, though he think he be, nor is it that he thinks himself wiser Then an honest man, for a wise honest man may be cozened by a crafty knave; for wisdom goeth upon honest grounds, and takes truth to be her guide, but craft upon dishonest grounds, and takes falshood to be her guide; but Some will say, that a wise man will not trust a knave; but how shall a wise man know a knave? not by his face; for a knave is not known by his face, but by his acts, nor by his report; for report is a great Cozner.
Of Knaves.
There are three sorts of knaves, The foolish, The crafty, and The wicked knave The foolish and wicked knave Most commonly comes under The lash of The laws; but The crafty knave is too hard for The laws; that They can get no hold of him, and Many times he makes Them bawds, for his Adulterate wayes; yet it is better for a master to have an industrious knave to his servant, Then a negligent fool; for an industrious knave, although he steal one peny for himself, he will gain at least another for his master, not onely to hide his Theft by it, but because he would be imployed, and keep his service, but fooles lose in both.
For a man to be honest to himself.
Many think that honesty is bound onely to The regard of others, and not to himself, so it deed an honest man is a friend and neghbour to all misfortunes, miseries, and necessities, in helping Them with kinde loving, and industrious actions in distresse, if he thinks he can asswage Them, and do himself no wrong; for every man ought to be honest to himself, as well as to another; for though we are apt to consider our selves so much, as it may be a prejudice to another, yet we ought not to consider another so much to The prejudice of our selves; for justice to our selves should take The first place by nature, where to wrong ones self is The greatest injustice, yet to discharge a trust is The chiefest part of honesty, though it be to The prejudice of himself, wherefore an honest man should not take such a trust, as may indanger him to ruine.
Of Honesty.
There are two sorts or kinds of Honesty, The one a bastard, and The other a true-born; The bastard is to be honest, for by-respects, as out of fear of punishment, either to Their reputations, estates, or persons, or for love of rewards that honesty brings; but The true-born honesty, loves honesty, for honesties sake, and is a circle that hath no ends, and justice is The center, and Honesty is The sweet essence of nature, and The God of Humanity.
We ought not to be ungrateful to The dishonest.
If one receive life from two men, The one an approved honest man, The other from a known false, cruel, and deceitful man, which in our Language is called a Knave; yet The benefit is as great from The knave as from The honest man; for a benefit is a benefit from whom soever it comes; and if a knave wrongs me not, he is an honest man to me, though he should be false to all others, and that man that doth me an injury by his good will, is a knave to me, although he were honest to all men else: wherefore Those onely can challenge knaves, that have received The wrong; nor do we truly receive a wrong by what is meant, but by what is done: for one cannot say he was hurt, that escaped a danger, but he that was wounded, but as one should receive a benefit with as much thankfulnesse from a knave as from him that is honest, yet a man should be more careful and circumspect, in dealing or trusting Those that have The reproach, or The bold brand of practising dishonesty, or knavish actions, Then with Those that take conscience, or moral Philophy in Their way, which are full of gratitude and fidelity, and truth, as one that is a keeper of his promise, a loyal subject, and a loving husband, a careful faTher, a kinde master, a Faithful friend, and a merciful enemy.
Of Obligations.
As There are Some that hate and shun Those that can, but will not oblige, so There are others that hate and shun Those They would, but cannot oblige. The first is out of a covetous nature, that thinks that all The good that is done to others is a losse to Themselves, The other that thinks The least good he doth for others, The more power is in himself; so both is out of selflove, both The shunner and The actor.
Truth and falshood not easily known.
it is very hard, and requires much time to finde out falshood; for though occasions make a man know himself in part, and so to another, yet not so fully as we may rest upon him, to be one and alwayes The same, neither can we without great injustice censure alwayes by The hurt we receive; for ill effects may fall from very good intentions, and Therefore how shall we censure by The intentions, since none knoweth Them but Themselves; for although an honest man desires to live, as if The world saw his thoughts, and strives to think as he would be judged, for an honest man would not betray The trust of an enemy either by threats nor torments, nor fear of death, nor love to life, nor perswasions of friends, nor The allurements of The world, nor The inchantments of tongues; nor any miseries of his own shall make him step from The grounds of honesty; but as a God he doth adoro it, as a servant he doth obey it, and though it be The chief part of honesty to keep a trust, yet all trust is not honest, so as it is as great a dishonesty to take an evil, base, or an unworthy trust, as to betray a just one.
Of flattery.
Flattery takes Most when They come into The eare, like soft and sweet musick, which lulls asleep reason, and inchants The spirits; but if They come in like The sound of a trumpet, it awakes The reason, and affrights The minde, and makes it stand upon The guard of defence, as when approaching enemies come to assault, but if flattery be tolerable in any, it is from The Inferiours to The Superiours, as from The subject to The Prince, and from The servant to The master, or from The wife to The husband; But for The Prince to flatter his subject, and The master a servant, is base, but Most commonly Those that envie Most, flatter best, either to pull down Those They envy, or to raise up Themselves above Them.
Divinity and Moral Philosophy.
Divinity and Philosophy ties up nature, or Divinity and Moral Philosophy are The two guardians of nature; yet Some times They prove The two goalers to nature, when They presse, or tye Their chains too hard; all things have Their times, and season, unlesse art puts Them out of The way.
Nature makes, but fortune distrusts, as when she misplaceth her workes, as not using Them to The right.
Of Atheisme, and Superstition.
it is better, to be an ATheist, Then a superstitious man; for in ATheisme There is humanitie, and Civility, towards man to man; but Superstition regards no Humanity, but begets cruelty to all things, even to Themselves.
The EPISTLE.
I am very much, or very little obliged to my readers, for my former Books which I have set out, either by Their approvement, or dislike, in not granting me to be The Author; but upon my conscience and truth, Those were, as this Book is, my own, that is, my thoughts composed Them; but if I had been inclosed from The world, in Some obscure place, and had been an anchoret from my ininfancy, having not The liberty to see The World, nor conversation to hear of it, I should never have writ of so Many things; nor had had so Many several opinions for The senses are The gates that lets in knowledge into The understanding, and fancy into The imagination; but I have had moderate liberty, from my infancy, being bred upon honest grounds, and fed upon modest principles, from The time of twelve yeers old, I have studied upon observations, and lived upcontemplation, making The World my Book, striving by joyning every several action, like several words to make a discourse to my self; but I found The World too difficultto be understood by my tender yeers, and weak capacity, that till The time I was married, I could onely read The letters, and joyn The words, but understood nothing of The sense of The World, until my Lord, who was learned by experience, as my Master, instructed me, reading several lectures Therof to me, and expounding The hard and obscure passages Therein, of which I have learnt so much, as to settle my minde on The ground of peace, wherein I have built an house of happinesse, entertaining my self with my own thoughts, which thoughts were like travellers seldom at home, and when They returned brought nothing but Vanity and uneasy fashions, busying Themselves on that as nothing concern’d Them, or could any wayes advantage Them, troubling Themselves with trifles, putting my minde in disorder; but since my Lord hath learnt me The way of fortifying it with patience, lest our enemy misfortune should surprise it, and to set sentinels of truth, lest falshood should undermine it, and to make Commanders of Honour, lest flattery should betray it. Thus my minde is become an absolute Monark, ruling alone, my thoughts as a peaceable Common-wealth, and my life an expert Souldier, which my Lord setled, composed, and instructed.
The third part of The first BOOK.
A Tyrannical power never lasts.
That power never lasts, which falshood got, and Tyranny strives to keep, unlesse tyranny be The natural constitution of The government, and then it is most commonly The longest livd,* like men that were born and bred to hardship, but should a body be born and bred renderly, be used roughly, and exposed nakedly, fed coursly, it would be destroyed soon. For a governor in a Common-wealth, is like a private family; as for example, a man that first begins to keep a house, and makes laws, and sets rules, though The laws be hard, and unjust, and The rules strickt and rigorous, yet There is no dispute, nor grumbling, because he was The first setter up, or beginner of that family, his means being his own, either by inheritance, or by his merits, or by his industry, wherefore he hath power to order it, or dispose of it as he will, and his wife and servants never accustomed to any other government before, willingly submit, and his children born under it, it is as natural to Them; but if this man dies, and The wife marries again, or that he is over-ruled by Some friend, and They begin to usurp, and to alter The customs, by making new laws, and to set other rules, although They are more commodious, easie, pleasant, and plentiful; yet being unusual, The servants begin to murmur, The children to complain, factions and side-taking grows, until There is a falling out, where words and blows will passe, and The estate neglected, and so wasted by cosenage, or sold or wasted by riot, and There is no help for it, unlesse They change Their dwelling, and take new servants that never were acquainted with The old, and get more children that knew not The first breeding, and another Virgin wife; thus The The mother, children and servants must be destroyed of The first government, and new ones for The second government. The same is for Common-wealths, for first, absolute power must be got; Secondly, all old laws must be abolished; Thirdly, strangers must come to inhabit, to settle a government; for mixt laws of old and new, will no more agree in government, Then crosse humours in a private family.
*The Turks, or Tarters is natural.
Of Courts.
Courts should be a patern and an example of vertue to all The rest of The kingdom, being The ruler and chief head, to direct The body of state; but Most commonly instead of clemency, justice, modesty, friendship, temperance, humility, and unity, There is faction, pride, ambition, luxury covetousnesle, hate, envy, slander, treachery, flattery, impudence, and Many The like; yet They are oft-times covered with a vaile of smooth professions and protestations, which glisters like gold, when it is a copper’d tinsel: but to study Court-ship, is raTher to study dissembling formality, Then noble reality.
Of a lawful Prince, or inhereditary Prince.
A Prince that is born to a just title becomes carelesse, as thinking his right to his Crown, is a sufficient warrant, or born for The loyalty of his Subjects which makes him trust The conduct of his greatest affaires to Those he favours Most, as thinking his care and pains a superfluity. Thus he becom’s as ignorant to The affaires of his kingdom, as his subjects of his abilities; For few Kings know throughly The laws made by Their predecessours, but what Themselves make, nor The humours of The people, nor The strength, nor weaknesse of Their kingdom; wheras an usurper dares trust none but himself, which makes him more wise in governing, more sure in keeping, knowing The condition of The kingdom better by experience, which he gets by practice, and The humors of The people. which he gets by observation, which gives him abilitie of judgement to chose fit men for proper places where otherwise he may put The asle where The fox should be, and The sheep where The Lion should be, The serpent where The dove should be, and thus misplacing of men in several offices, and commands, is Many times The ruine of a kingdom: whereas an usurper, being a subject Most commonly, knows better to command; like as a middle region knows better what is below it, Then The highest region doth, so Those men that are subject to Authority can see better, Then when They have full power of command; but The way is so dangerous, as a kingdom seldom escapes from an unrecoverable ruine.
Of an Vsurper.
of all Princely, and Monarchical Governours, an Usurper grows Most commonly The justest, and wisest Prince, when he is once setled in his possession, unlesse fear of being dispossest infects his thoughts, and so grows furious with a distempered jelousie, which brings The plague of Tyranny, breaking out in sores of cruelty, and They shall sooner want means and life, Then he will industry for his safety; but otherwise, if he have so much courage to subdue his fears; he becoms an excellent Prince; for what with his ambition to be thought better Then his predecessor, and that The subject might not repine at The change, and out of a covetousnesse to keep his power, and to settle it upon his posterity, and out of a Luxurious desire to enjoy it peaceably, that he might reap The plenty Thereof, makes him become more careful and circum spect, in executing justice, and more prudent, and industrious in making good and prositable laws, to tie The hearts of The people more firm unto him, that Their love may wipe out his ill title, and thus settles his new and false authority by an insinuating Government.
Clemency makes The greatest Monarch.
HE is The greatest Monarch that is Most beloved of The subject, because he hath not onely The power over mens bodies, but over Their minds; where he that is hated and feared hath only a power of The body; but The minde is a rebel, and stands out against him, thus freedom makes obedience, when bondage, and slavery, is but a forced authority, because content is not There, and There is more labour in Tyranny, with whipping The people into obedience, Then The pleasure of being obeyed
Of Tyrannical Government.
The Most Tyrannical Government is by Armies; for whatsoever intentions They are raised for, if They are not disbanded assoon as The work is ended, They grow mutinous; for idle time makes Them corrupt one another; but if They be setled in Government, either to keep The people in subjection, or secure Their Princes; in time They will not onely keep The people in subjection, but become Tyrants to Their Princes, or Governours: as for example, The Romans that conquered all The world, when Their armies had no more work to do, They fell upon Their Emperours, and murThered Them, pulling Some down, and setting others up; that at Some times There have been three or four, and at other times none to govern The Empire, and how often, nay how few die of The Emperours of The Turks in peace, for The Janisaries whom They raised for Their guard murThers Them upon The least dislike, and Many other examples may be given; wherefore it is as great a wonder to hear of an Army to protect Their Governours, as usual to destroy Them; but this comfort onely is to Those that live under The power of The sword, that as They destroy Their heads, so They destroy Themselves; for without Government nothing can last; and There can be no Government without superiority or superiours; for There must be both authority and obedience, to make a Harmonical Common-wealth.
Of The favour of Princes.
There is no greater advantage to a Prince, Then to prefer men that have The reputation, of being wise, valiant and honest, or Those men that are great in alliance, or have great estates, for men of wisdom They inable Their Princes, by Their counsel, and men of valour They enable Their Princes by execution, and honest men inable Them by Their trust, and men of alliances inable Them by Their power, and rich men help to maintain Their war; but poor and mean-born men are leaches that suck in The wealth of The kingdom, and spue it forth in Vanities, They bring nothing to Their Prince, but hatred from The commons, through envy to Those that are preferred.
The misplacing of Honours that causeth Rebellion.
Outward Honor should be The mark of inward, worthy a reward; for action proceeding from valour, and wisdom in conducting and governing, maintaining and keeping, assisting and obeying Their King and Country. ButifHonour be placed by favour, and not for merit: it brings envy to Those which are honoured, and hatred to The Prince, for honouring such persons; which envy and hate bring murmur, discontent brings war and ruin to The kingdom. But Kings should be like good husbands, that sowe Their seed in fertil ground, and not in barren ground, where The cost and paines will be lost, neither do They fling in Their seeds in a lump, but spread Them about, so Princes should divide Their favours, amongst The worthiest persons, not to favour one, to discontent all The rest.
The cause of Rebellion.
There is nothing causeth rebellion so soon as The unequal living of The subject; as for a Noble man, who strives to live like his King, a Gentleman to live like a Noble man, and a Pesant, or a Citizen to live like a Gentleman; For every man living not according to Their qualitie, will in short time think his quality according to his expence, which must needs make a disorder, where There is an inequalitie of degrees, and not in expence: for The rate of The expence must be set at The degree of The person; for when a Noble man seeth an inferiour person in as good, or better equipage Then himself, it begets envy, and envy causeth murmur, murmur faction, faction rebellion, and The inferiour sort living at The rate of The nobler sort begets pride, pride ambition, ambition faction, faction rebellion, and thus The Nobler sort striving to keep up Their dignitie, and The inferiour through Their pride out-braves The nobler, Then Those of The same degrees, are tempted to live above Their abilities even with Their equals, thus striving to out-brave one another, They run into poverty, and being poor, They fear no losse; for having little to maintain life, They set it at stake, either to lose all or to get more for in civil wars all is fish that comes to net whereas every man living in his degree, envy is abated, pride abated, luxury abated, neighbourly love and kindnesse bred and peace kept, and every one thrives in his qualitie, and grows rich by frugality, and riches beget care, care begets fear: and modest fear keeps peace.
Of Ceremony.
Ceremony is raTher of shew, Then a substance, it lives in formality not in reality, yet it is that whisuperstitiousch keeps up The Church, and is The life of religion, it heightens and glories The power of Kings, and States, it strikes such a reverence and respect in The beholders, as it begets fear and wonder, in so much as it a mazes The spirits of men to humiliation, and adoration, and gives such a distance as it deifies humane things; or Ceremony hath such a majestical form, as it becomes a kinde of a god, for it creates such a Superstition, that it is not onely served with earnest endeavours, but Many times with such a fury, that oft times The observer runs into madnesse: but as it strikes fear, so it begets pride, yet Ceremony is so necessary as without it Common-wealths would run into a confusion; for it is The officer to make way for command, and obedience, which keeps peace and creates order, which order is to place things in such manner, formes, and times.
Of Councellours.
An idle or lazy man is unfit for a Counsellour, because he will not take so much pains to consider to The bottom of a cause.
And a Epicure is an unfit man for a Counsellour; for his minde is so set on his delight, as it is buried to all other thoughts.
And a doubtful man is an unfit man for a Counsellour, because he cannot resolve upon any thing.
And a feareful man is an unfit Counsellour, because he can never give a solid opinion for fear of danger. Discord in Counsel Many times proves very prejudicial to a state.
Age becomes Counsel and command.
It is seemly and fit for age to be in all commands, and Councels; for that which makes a wise Privie Councellour, or States-man, is aged experience in active times, bred in observing, quick in conceiving, industrious in continuing, led with honesty, forced to policy, and in commands; ages gravity forceth authority, and compels obedience by his wise conduct; wherefore Those that prefer youth before age, it is to esteem The strength of The body before The strength of The brain, and if so a horse is to be preferred before a man.
Of Command and order.
Though command is to have The first place as coming from nature or power, yet it cannot execute its power without order, and Ceremony; for Ceremony and order are The two necessary parts of man, that uphold The natural, or powerful commands and obediences to The superiours from The inferiours; for commands and obedience make Common-wealths, which Common-wealths make contracts, which contracts make peaco, and peace makes every one to enjoy a propriety, so as They work to one and The same end, though They are several, for commands creates Ceremony, Ceremony order, and order and Ceremony give distinction, distinction gives obedience, obedience peace.
A valiant Prince.
iIt is a great incouragement for a Prince to be valiant, and have courage, for it makes obedience in subjects, and keeps forraigners from intruding; for let a king have Many vices, if he have but that one vertue; he shall be powerful at home, and famous abroad, and it is not onely esteemed in princes; but in private men, for a valiant man shall rest quietly, without controlment, when a coward shall be troubled with continual affronts; but I mean not a Tyrant; for tyranny is The childe of fear, not of courage; for fear makes suspition, and suspition makes false suggestions, and that brings cruelty; yet a soft nature is in a degree of a coward in The worlds esteem; for though he hath courage to fight, yet The easinesse of his nature makes him quickly forgive, and so perhaps to put up a wrong, and The world conceives not so much The goodnesse of The nature, as apt to condemn it, for a defect of his valour; but a soft and tender nature shall suffer with much patience, which sheweth a greater courage Then a stronger nature, which gains him much pitty, and a great deal of love, but it is onely in affliction, for There his courage is Most seen, so passive courage gets love in affliction, and active courage gets praises in prosperity, it is observable, that often times a very wise man begets a fool, and a very valiant man a coward; when an indifferency shall continue in a race for Many descentsit seems as if nature were limited, or had equal proportion of good and bad, that when she hath been prodigal to one, makes her necessitated to another, but nature is wise, for shee doth not make her favour common, because she would leave Them esteemable.
Of Wars in general.
War as it destroys men in fight, so There are more marriages, and begetting of generations Then in peace; next by The Many and several actions it gives Theames for Writers, and so produceth Many books, and certainly much experience, both for actions of war and policy of state: and wars do not onely shew mens abilities but beget abilities by The experiences of several changes of fortune; besides, it shews The different nature of men, as The cruel, and Those that are merciful, The coward and The valiant, The covetous and The liberal, or generous, The prodigal and The provident, The slothful and The industrious, The noble and The base. War is The means to shew justice pietie charity, honesty, lovegenerosity, wisdom, patience, strength command, and obedience; but yet war brings ATheisme, cruelty hard-heartednesse, stubbornnesse prodigality; it corrupts youth women, and good manners, it destroys laws and religion, it begets envy, faction, revenge, Theft, it brings death and destruction to that Kingdom that hath The weaker party.
Of an Army.
Little Armies cause great expences, by reason of The waste They make, when in peace every one gets his own living, by Theirindustry, but when They are gaThered togeTher in a body They become idle; for an Army The State is to maintain Them, by giving Them money, or free quarter, which The last Most commonly takes The first place; thus an Army doth impoverish The kingdom three several wayes, first that it doth not only give pay to so Many people to live idlely, unlesse it be when They fight; but to feed upon The industry of Those that are not in armes; next They do not only feed upon a kingdom moderately, but make havock and spoil, destroying Most commonly The very stock and store. And lastly it doth impoverish The treasury of a kingdom. which forceth The governour to lay heavy taxes upon The estates of The Gentry, and The industry of The Commons.
Of The losse in Battles.
WHere history mentioneth battles, They make nothing to speak of a hundred thousand killed in a battle; but it is sooner writ, Then fought; for let us imagine, fifty thousand should stand still, or forced to do so until Their throats were cut, and it will take up Some time, and when a man speaks of a battle, The longest is from sun rising, to sun-set. I do not mean The dayes neer The Pole; but neer The Line; for nature requires rest and food, and battles are to return blows as well as to receive, wherefore fighting requires time, before death, besides The quarrel; for They do not alwayes kill so soon as They meet, neither can They fight all at once, for squadrons are five and ten men deep; besides dead bodies of horses, and men will hinder much Their incounters, but Some say Most are killed in execution, when one party runs a way; it may be answered, that fear is very swift: & oft times it gets from revenge, and I have hard a good souldier say, that thirty thousand on each side, is as much as can fight in one battle; for greater numbers make raTher confusion Then an execution, but report kills more Then a great Army can bury.
The Situation for wars safety
Those Countries that are either barren or woody, or mountainous, are seldom overcome, although They are far lesse in number, that are The defendants, Then The Aassilants, which makes The defendant Commanders seem wise, valiant & fortunate, when it is The Country that gives The advantage: and not altogeTher The men.
The hazzards of War.
There is nothing more hazzardous to an Army in The day of battle, Then for The chief Commander to lead The van-guard; for a General should reserve himself, against such time as his army is opprest, for There is nothing more revives The wearied and drooping spirits in The common Souldiers, and that gives more courage Then The sight of The General; besides, The office of a General is more to order, Then to fight, and it is not onely The fighting that wins The battle, but wise conduct. Thus a General must not onely be known to his Soudiers to be valiant, but to be honest and wise, his courage is Their trench, his wisdome is Their fort, his honesty is The guard to keep Them. But The advantage in war is experienced Commanders, diligent officers, practiced Souldiers, skilful Ingineers, and scituation of place.
Of a civil War.
The greatest storm that shipwracks honest education, good laws, and decent customes, is civil-wars, which splits The vessel of a Common-wealth, and buries it in The waves of ruine; but civil wars may be compared to a pair of cards, which when They are made up in order, every several sute is by it self, as from one, two, and three, and soe to The tenth card, which is like The commons in several degrees, in order, and The coate cards by Themselves which are The Nobles; but factions, whch are like gamesters when They play, setting life at The stake shuffle Them togeTher, intermixing The Nobles and Commons, where loyalty is shuffled from The crown, duty from Parents tendernesse from children, fidelity from Masters, continencies from husbands and wives, truth from friends, from justice innocency, charity from misery; Chance playes, and fortune draws The stakes.
Of forraign War.
Forraign war is necessary Some times to maintain Peace at at home, it opens The vein of discontents, and lets out The hot & fevourish amb tion of The minde, which otherwise would grow to a dangerous, and mad rebellion; yet it makes Most commonly a kingdom weak, and thin, according as The Physick doth work; for if The purges be very strong, it makes Them faint and feeble, so The successe of war makes a kingdom, ill fortune makes it lean, and weak, good fortune gives it strength, and makes it fat.
Of rash Commanders.
A Man at his first entry into actions, ought to be very careful of shewing himself prudent, and moderate, as well as bold, and valiant, a good commander should overcome by Policy and conduct as well as by violence, and force of armies; for Many a gallant army is lost through The rashnesse of a commander.
And a foolish, and negligent Commander makes his souldiers as cowardly, as a careful Commander makes Them valiant; But a good commander gets love of his souldiers, as finding his care and knowing his skill, and approved to have courage which is to be required from a commander, when Those that are rash, Careless, ignorant, proud, improvident, timerous, doubtful, are to be shunned, and not to be imployed, but They are best to govern, that have noble and generous hearts, for liberality and generosity, are The nature of a god.
Of being armed.
A Man that will go into The field unarmed: is either a desperate fool, or he means to run away, when it comes to his turn to fight, for a valiant man will arm his body in The day of battle, to save his life, to win an honour and reputation of victory. But Some love pleasure more Then honour, and Some love honour more Then life.
Of a General, and a Colonel, and Army.
A General of a hundred thousand men, sounds loud in The ears of The world; when a Captain of a Brigade, is hardly taken notice of, although his conduct in ordering his Brigade, hath been as skilful, and as prudent, and his Courage and his Onset as daring as The Generals; yet such advantages and ods hath numbers, as it makes great reckoning in The World, when The Actions of a few are never measured.
Of The Power of The Sword.
A Sword is a valiant mans friend, he will sooner part with Life than part with it, and courts it as his Mistriss, being as industrious and studious to know The Art and use of The one, as to know The nature, disposition, and inclination of The other: for a Sword is a defender and a mantainer of his Honour, it is a strength against Dangers, a shelter for Vertue, a protection to Innocency; it is The Key that opens The Gate of Fames great Court; it humbles The Proud, it advanceth The Low and Mean to The height of a Reputation it Civilizes Nations, it environs a Common-wealth, it decides quarrels, it divides spoyls; it is The Commander of The World, it is The Conducter to all noble and Heroick Actions; it is The Vice-gerent to death, a Guard to life; it is The Bolt of Jupiter, The Trident of Neptune, The Cerberus of Pluto; it can do more than Vertue can do, for it can command, Vertue can only intreat or perswade; The very signification of a Sword is great, for it signifies both Power and Justice, Command and Rule. When I speak of a Sword, I mean any thing that performs The same function and office, as to affault and defend, which all forts of Arms will not do.
Of Common-wealths, or States-men.
The grave formalists account good States-men Those that are Tyrants, such as Cato was, who wrought The destruction of The Roman Common-wealth; but very severe and strickt rules of Art, oft times are broken by The over powerful force of Nature, which cannot indure to be bound beyond The strenght of moderate Liberty; wherefore moderation in Government is as necessary as moderation for health; for Those that restrain Their appetite too much, starve The Body, and Those that give no restraint, kill it with Surfets: so likewise in a Commonwealth, Those that restrain Liberty too much, inslave it, and Those that give to much Freedom, confound it, thus, either ways bring death to The Body, or ruin to The Common-wealth.
Of Partiality of The World.
OUtward Honours should be The signs of inward Worth, as Actions proceeding from valour, and wisdom in conducting and governing affairs to The best, for Their Countries service: but outward honour is as all other gifts of Fortune, unchosenly given; for The Coward, and The Fool, and The Knave, are Many times crowned with Honour, when The Valiant, The Wise, and The Just, sit unregarded, and unrewarded; wherefore Passion and Erronious opinions are The two Emperours of The world.
Of Men.
Some in The dispraise of men, say that They are so opinionated, as They think They are able to govern The whole world, in all active affairs, although They have neither foresight nor experience, and that Most of Them are as humorSome, and as fantastical and inconstant, as Women, full of brags and vain glorie, feigning Themselves to be otherways than They are, as to be thought wise by postures, with ringing Their heads on one side, or winking with Their eys, or shrinking up Their shoulders, others again by hiding Their ignorance with gravity and formality; Some are tedious in stuffing The ears of The hearers with History, others with controversies; Some again, with long, barren, and stale tales, Then whispering of secrets and dangerous Plots; Some again have more courage in Their words and looks, than in Their hearts; and Some so spruce, as They seem effeminat, and others so affectedly careless, as They are rude and seem Clownish; thus They put more false faces on than Women do: but sure There be Many Men in The World as Their wisdom makes Them as petty Gods, able to mannage and govern great and difficult affairs; and a wise man is a valiant wan, not a desperat man; a quiet man, not a quarreller; a civil man, not a dissembler; an industrious, not a busy man; and humble, not a flatterer; a generous man, not a prodigal; a prudent man, not a covetous man; a patient man, not an insensible man; a fashionable, not a spruce man, and I have heard say, that a Worthy, Honourable, and a Gallant man, is one that is Wise, Just, and Honest.
Of Behaviour.
There is nothing wins more upon The soul of men, than Civility and Curteous behaviour; it indears more than words: for Eloquent Oratory, though it insinuates, yes it is like a Tyrant that carrys The opinions of men like Captives by force, raTher than wins Them by gentle perswasions, neither will it do that unless it be mixed with an Elegancy of delivery and Curteous behaviour, which is without all affectation, which Eloquence seldom or never hath; but a free and Civil behaviour causeth affection to run after it, it abates The pride of The proud to meet it, it ingentles The wild and barbarous, it softens The rigid, it begets compassion in The cruel, it moves pitty in misery, it begets love in prosperity, and Most commonly good nature hath Civil and curteous behaviour, but The Civil and courteous have not alwaies good natures; so that it becomes verity in The own, and hypocrisy in The other, which neverTheless plcaseth, although it be a fair face to a false heart.
Of Natural posture, and Words.
ALl natural postures have a coherence with The nature of The mind; as a man that hath high ambitious thoughts hath a proud garb, a man of great and fearless Spirit hath a resolute garb, a timorous and a fearful mind hath a fauning and crouching garb; a mistrustful mind, a wary land sly garb; a mind that hath few desires, a dull garb; a vain mind, a fantastical garb; a busy mind, a restless garb; a luxurious nature, a lazy garb, and so Many in like kind; thus as There are several natures, so There are natural postures belonging to such minds: for if The art of breeding were not, which brings several customs, which customs are a second nature, The body would follow The humours of The mind. Likewise our words are apt to run according to our Thoughts: for if our thoughts hunt after self praises, our words Most commonly are boasting, and bragging; if our thoughts hunt after debaucherys, our words are lascivious; if our thoughts are envious, our words are spightful; if proud, our words are scornful; if amorous, our words are affected and whining; if our thoughts are full of grief, our words are complaining; if angry, Then our words are rayling; thus upon every subject that The Thoughts work upon, The Tongue draws forth, or spins forth thrids of discourse.
Of Youth.
Youth ought to have good and grave Counsels, and solid studies to poyse Them; for if The bottoms or keel of life be not ballanced, The sayls of Vanity will over-turn Their Ship of happiness: for it is not Those light Counsels that Parents do vulgarly use to give Their Children, that make Them wise, as saying, Take heed of catching cold, or not eating such and such meats, or teaching Them how to put off Their hat, or making a Leg with a good grace, though that doth well, nor yet to keep Them too hard to Their studies, for it makes Them Most commonly pedandick; but to send Them abroad to learn to know The World, that They may know men, and manners, to see several Nations, and to observe several Natures, Customs, Laws, and Ceremonies, Their Wars, or Contracts of Peace, thus They may come to be good Statesmen, or Commanders in War, and be able to do Their Country good service, and to get to Themselves honour and fame: besides, The knowledge of The world gives a satisfaction to The mind; for when They see There is a change, and misfortunes that are not to be avoyded, They will not make every little cross an affliction, but take afflictions as things necessary, and ought to be born with patience; and by this shall They live more happily, and dye more willingly.
Of The breeding of Children.
Children should be taught at first, The best, plainest, and purest of Their language, and The Most significant words; and not, as Their nurses teach Them, a strange kind of gibbridge, broken language of Their own making, which is like scraps of several meats heapt togeTher, or hath’d, mixt, or minced: so do They The purest of Their language; as for example, when Nurses teach children to go, instead of saying go, They say do, do, and instead of saying come to me, They say tum to me, and when They newly come out of a sleep, and cannot well open Their eyes, They do not say My Child cannot well open his, or her eyes, but my chid tant open its nies, and when They should bid Them speak, They bid Them peak, and when They should ask Them if They will or would drink, They ask Them if They will dinck, and so all The rest of Their language They teach Children, is after this manner, when it is as easy for Those that learn Children to speak, and more easy for The Children to learn, plainly, and The right language, than this false language, which serves Them to no use, but only takes up so much The more time to learn to speak plain, and as They should do, which time might be imployed in The understanding of sense, which is lost in words. And it is not only The foolish, and ill-bread nurses that speak to Children thus, but Their FaThers, which Many times are accounted Wisemen, and Their Mothers discreet Women, which my thinks is very strange, that wise and rational men, when They talk to Children, should strive to make Themselves Children in Their speech, and not raTher strive to make Children speak like wise men: yet such is The power of custom, that wisemen will follow it, although it be unnecessary, uneasy, and foolishly hurtful; for certainly this broken compounded and false language They teach Children, is so Imprinted in The Brains, as it can hardly be rubbed out again, and The Tongue gets such a habit of an ill and false pronuntiation, as when They are grown to men and womens estate, Their speech slows not so easy nor sweet, nor Their tongue moves not so voluble nor smooth, as other ways They would. Likewise They learn Them The rudest language first, as to bid Them say such a one Lies, or to call Them Rogues and The like names, and Then laugh as if it were a witty jest. And as They breed Them in Their language, so They breed Them in Their sports, pastimes, or exercises, as to play with children at boe-peep, blind-man-buff, and Cocks hod, as They call Them, that is, to muffle Their head and eyes, and Then They run about to knock Their heads against The doors, posts, and tables, to break Their Legs over stools, threshholds, or to run into The fire, where Many times They desorm Themselves with The mischiefs that follow; or to hide Themselves behind hangings and old cubbords, or dirty holes, or The like places, where They foul Their cloaths, disaffect The Brain with stincks, and are alMost chokt with durt and dust Cobwebs, and Spiders, Flys and The like getting upon Them; also to role upon The ground, likewise to stand upon Their heads, when dancing might be learned with The feet, as easy as tumbling in several postures, and to stand upon The head; and is it not as easy to learn Them to write, and read, as to build houses with Cards? They are both but making of figures, and joyning togeTher; and is it not as easy to learn Them The Globe, as to play at Cards? and is it not as easy to tell Them of Arts and Sciences, as to tell Them feigned and foolish tales of Tom Thum, and of Spirits, and The like, frighting Them so much as makes Them of timorous natures, and Effeminat Spirits? when Children would take as much delight in Arts and Sciences, nay more, if They were taught Them at first. Likewise it were as easy, and less danger, to teach Them to valt, which is necessary for horsemen, as to climb a Pear-tree and The like; and likewise it were as easy to learn Them to fence with a stick, or at least to hold it in a defensive posture, as to play at Cat, or Chick stone, Quaits, or The like; wherefore it is no wonder There are so few wise men, when Children are bread so foolishly; so Many so unhandSomely behaved, when Children are bred so rudely; so Many Cowards, when Children are bred so fearfully; so Many deformed, when Children are taught such dangerous, mischievous, and hurtful sports; so Many false, when They are taught to tell lyes from Their Cradles, as thinking it no vice, or fault in Children; and Many more examples might be given of The ill breeding of Children.
Of Gentlewomen that are sent to board Schools.
it is dangerous to put young Women to board Schools, unless Their Parents live so disorderly, as Their children may grow wicked or base by Their examples; for Most commonly in These Schools They learn more vices than good manners; for it is a good task, for one body to breed up one child well, and as They ought to be bred, at Most two or three, but it is too much for one to breed up Many, as for one Woman to breed up twenty young Maids; it is true, They may educate Their Persons, but it is a doubt wheTher They do, or can educate Their minds; They may learn Them to sing well, but it is a question wheTher They learn Them to think well; They may learn Them measures with The feet, and mistake The measures of a good life; They may learn Them to write by rule, but forget The rules of modesty.
For The danger is in Those Schools, where a great Many Gentlewomen of several Families and Births, degrees of ages, various humours, different dispositions, natures and qualities, do like several sorts of fruits, which when They are gaThered and heaped togeTher, soon putrifie and corrupt, and Some become rotten at The Coar; where if every Pear, Aple, and Plum were layd even by Themselves apart, in a dry and clean place, They would be sound, wholeSome, and last as long as Their natures were to last: so if young Women were bred singly, carefully, and industriously one by one, There would be no danger They should learn from each other crafts, dissembling, fraud, spight, slander, or The like; besides where, There are Many togeTher of several dispositions, They are not only apt to catch The infection of ill qualities from each other, but Many times They breed vices, which ruin Themselves, fortunes, and Families, and like Maggets consume Their Estates, or eat a hole thorough Their reputation.
Besides, all board Scholars of The Effeminat sex are like salemeat drest at a Cooks shop, which alwaies tasts of The dripping pan or smoke; so Most commonly Those that are bred at Schools, have a smack of The School, at least in Their behaviour, that is a constraintness; but The exercises although They are commendable in Women of quality, yet it is not These exercises or vertues (as They call Them) in italy, which give Them good breeding, but to instruct Their youth with useful knowledge, to correct Their ignorance with right understanding, to settle Their mind to virtue, to govern Their passions by reason, to rule Their unsatiable or distempered appetites with temperance, to teach Them noble principles, honourable actions, modest behaviours, civil demeanours, to be cleanly, patient, and pious, which none can teach either by example, or instructions, or both, but Those that have been nobly bred Themselves.
How a Gentleman ought to be bred, and spend his time.
A Gentleman ought to be skilful in The use of his Sword, in The manage of Horses, to Vault, to Wrastle, to Dance; The first defends his Honour and Country, The next is for Command in Cavalry, The third makes him ready in The day of Battle to Horse himself, The fourth keeps him from being overcome by a Clown or Pezant; for The slights in Wrastling will overcome great strengths; The fifth gives his limbs a graceful motion. His exercises should be Masculine: for better it were to see a Gentleman shooe an Horse, than to play on The Vial, or Lute, Virginal, or any other musical instrument; for that sheweth The command Man hath over Beast. Or to carry a burThen on his back, than to sit idely at Cards or Dice: for Idleness is like The sluggish Worm, that is neither able to help nor defend it self. Or it were better see a Gentleman hew down trees, or dig in The bowels of The earth amongst minerals, than painting, or pencilling: for that shews manly strength, command and force over The hardiest of natures works, so as it be voluntary and not stavish. it is more manly to be a Souldier, than a Clerk, not that a Gentleman should be rough and rude like Savages, and only to have force like a Beast; but to be like a God above all other Creatures, and to be like a God is never to be Idle, nor to be imployed but about things that tend to Some useful, noble, and glorious end.
Swimming is not very useful for a Gentleman.
To be skilful in Swimming brings nothing to a mans honour, it is only useful in The time of danger, and a man runs greater hazards in The gaining that Art, than The advantage he is like to get by it, and had better adventure his life, if such a mischance should happen to be required, to swim, than to adventure it every day in The learning it: for if The Cramp take him, or The Stitch, or The Cholick, or a Weed insnarling any part of him, he is gone, and Many other accidents may chance to drown him; so that swimming is more dangerous than honourably safe, and a Gentleman should learn first Those Actions that bring Honour, Then Those for Safety; a man should learn first how to Assault his foe, and Then to Defend himself, and Swimming is more to save his life than get a fame.
A Gentlemans Study.
A Gentleman should not be ignorant, but know all The good is to be known, and The bad, or else he can hardly know what is best; yet leave The practice of The worst to The inferior: but his study should be Navigation, Fortification, Architecture, Culture, Water-works, Fire-works, and The like, which Studies are profitable to his Country, both for Strength, Plenty, and Use, which make a Kingdom flourish; for every man should, like a Bee, bring Hony to The Hive, and not, like The effeminat Drone, suck out The sweet, and idely live upon The Heroick labour of others; but to study Laws is raTher to study division than settlement, to study Divinity is raTher to study Controversy than salvation, to study Philosophy is to seek that They cannot find, to study History is to study Lys more than Lives, where a Gentleman should study Truth, follow Truth, and practice Justice; a little Rhetorick doth well to cloath his mind in soft numbers, trim it with handSome phrases; and a Gentleman should converse with Poetry, for Poetry sweetens The nature, not softens it, to make it facil, but civilizes it, making it courteous, affable, and conversable, inspiring The mind with high and noble thoughts, which is The way to be inshrined in honourable Fame; Like an Urn that keeps The ashes of The body from being scattered and lost, so Fame keeps good deeds in The Urn of The memory.
Bred with The Muses.
Those that are bred up with The Muses are Most commonly of sweet dispositions, Civil and Courteous in Their behaviour, Pleasant and witty in Their discourse, Noble and Heroick in Their actions, Free and Generous in Their distributions, Grateful for obligations, Compassionate to The miserable, and Charitable to The distressed.
But Those that are born Poets are ingenuous by nature, and prone to invention, quick in apprehension, various in imagination or conception, Their thoughts work generously, and entertain Their time constantly, and are The best Companions to life, where Fancy presents several Scenes, and wit speaks The Prologues.
True Poets and natural Philosophers are raTher born such, than learn’d to be such: for it is a natural Ingenuity that creates fine fancies, and produceth rational opinions.
Of Poetry.
AS for Poetry, although it sits not in The first form in Wisdoms School, nor The second, yet it sits on The third; for on The first form sits Honesty, that is to be honest for honesties sake, not out of by ends, either for profit, credit, or other respects that it brings, but out of Justice; The next is Rule or Moderation, which is to rule our actions, and moderate our appetites; for men may mean well, yet out of indiscretion may run Themselves into Many errors, not only in offending Themselves, but in offending Their neighbours, which may cause repentance, and he is The wisest man that hath least to repent by moderating The appetite; for whosoever goeth beyond The rule of Reason causeth a pain instead of a pleasure, a loathing or hate instead of a release or desire; for There is an old saying and a true, Too much of a good thing is stark naught. In The next place comes in Poetry, wherein is included Musick and Rhetorick, which is Number and Measure, Judgement and Fancy, Imitation and Invention. it is The finest work that Nature hath made; for it animates The Spirits to Devotion, it fires The Spirits to Action, it begcts Love, it abates Hate, it tempers Anger, it asswageth Grief, it easeth Pain, increaseth Joy, allays Fear, and sweetens The whole life of Man, by playing so well upon The Brain, as it strikes The strings of The Heart with Delight, which makes The Heart to dance, and keeps The Mind in tune, whereby The Thoughts move equally in a round Circle, where Love sits in The midst as Mistris, and judges For if Wisdom is The way to Happiness, and Happiness lives in Delight, and Delight in The Spirits, Then Poetry is a part of Wisdom, since it is a Commander of that part and Essence of Man.
The Pastime of Wit.
Wit chears The Heart, refresheth The Spirits, delights The Mind, entertains The Thoughts, sweetens Melancholy, dresses Joy, mourns with Sorrow, pleaseth Lovers, excuseth Falshoods, mends Faults, begs Pardon. wit is a fine Companion, either in private Closets, full Courts, or in long Travels. wit is neither troubleSome, nor chargeable. wit hath no bottome, but is like a perpetual Spring. wit is The Sun of The Brain.
The dis-esteem Youth hath of Age.
Youth despiseth Age, and thinks, that because They are not full of Vanity, They have not so much Knowledge; Where Age pityeth Youth, remembring, Their present Knowledge was got at The charge of Their youthfull follyes: But Youth (believing nothing but what Their present Humour leads Them unto, and Their undigested Brain presents unto Them) saith, than an Old Brain is rotten; not comparing Nestor’s Brain, which was old in Years, but sound in Judgement; and Jeroboam’s Juncto, which was young in Years, and weak in Counsel. But one Nestor’s Brain is able to turn all young Brains, and make Them so disty, that They shall not know what to do: For from young Counsel proceeds vain Designs, fruitless Travels, hard Adventures, and successless Ends; but from The Counsel of The Aged, Danger is walled out, and Peace is kept within; and when They must War, They take not Fortune, but Prudence, to be Their Guide; And The Errours that Youth commits, Age is fain to rectifie, though Sometimes They are past remedy. So that Youth is a kind of Monster in State-affairs, which hath neither Head nor Tail; for They begin without Probabilities, and end in Ruins; when Age begins wisely, and ends successfully. Wherefore it is better to take Aged Men, ballanced with Wisdom, than Young Men with Empty Heads, or else a Head filled with rash Folly, or light Vanities.
The Virtues of Age.
AGE is carefull, watchfull, circumspect, solid, and grave, slow, but sure; knows Business, Time, and Men; Constant, secret, prudent, and temperate; Their Affections are placed upon Worth and Merit, and love where They should; so that Age is wise, for it makes Consideration to open The Gate, and Reason to lead The way. I speak not here of Old Men, for Those can onely be called old, where Time hath made a defect in Their Memory and Understanding; so that Some may never come to be old, although They live long; for Age hath more power over The Body, than The Mind: But as a Woman is at The height and ripeness of her Beauty at The years of 20. so a Man is at The height and ripeness of Understanding about The years of 50. For by that time he may arrive by experience to The knowledge of attaining to be a Wise man.
The Defects of Age.
AGE is covetous and griping, superstitious and fearfull, mistrustfull and jealous, testy and froward, dull and heavy, lazy and slothfull, forgetfull, and tedious in Their discourse; neither have They great affection to any thing, or for any thing.
A Young Man not a Wise Man.
It is as impossible for a Young Man to be a Wise Man, as for Them that cannot read Their A, B, C, to read any Book, or to speak before They have learnd, or to go before They have strength: For how can a Man be Wise without Knowledge; which Knowledge is got by Experience, and Experience is The Child of Time. For though There may be Many that live long, and know little, yet There are none, that have lived but a little while, that can know much; which is Youth: For Youth may know much for Youth, but not enough; for Knowledge consisteth in The weight and measure of things; so that a Young Man may have a little flash of wit, but not a solid Understanding; and a Young Man may be a Hopefull Man, but not a knowing wise Man; a Young Man may be a Virtuous Man, but not a Valiant Man; for it will take up Some time to know what true Valour is; and as Time adds to The stature, and strength of Bodies, so it gives stature, and strength of Knowledge, sound clearness of Understanding, which without it cannot be.
Youths virtue.
Youth is bashfull, pitifull, charitable, pious, quick and nimble, merry and lively, cleanly and neat, liberal, loving and kind: But Vanities, which are The Attendants, and Followers of Youth, in Age either come to be Vices, or else are turned away like idle Companions as They are.
The Follyes of Youth.
Youth is sudden, rash, desperate in Their actions; as, to venture without all reason, or likelyhood; lavish and prodigal; for Their Money is too heavy for Their Mind, till it be spent and Their Lands trouble Their way, till They be sold; They are deboyst with Women, Gaming, and Wine; They are vain and fantastical in Their Fashions, Garbs, and CloThes; They are various, and unconstant; for They will love one day to madness, and The next day hate to abhorridness; They are impatient of delayes; for if They may not have what They would, They will hardly take it when They may; and They are so conceited, and self-loved, as They believe all love Them, and admire Them, when few care or think of Them; Then They are so credulous, and believe all for truth; and so open and free, that They cannot keep counsel. So Youth loves all things that are not his, but cares for nothing that is his own.
What becomes, or not becomes Age.
There is nothing so ungratefull as to see Age to act The part of Youth, as Dancing, Singing, playing on Musick, and The like; or to wear gay Ribbons, FeaThers, or CloThes; or to see him Amorous and Wanton in Love; or to use any light Gestures, or Discourses, which in Youth are graces to adorn Them, but in Age They are acts to deform Them: But There is none so Aged, that Arms become not, so long as he can bear Them, or wear his Sword; for They are The Accostments of his Courage, and Valour, The which he should never forsake; for a Valiant Man lives in Active Courage, and dyes in Passive, when he can Act no more.
Of Fools.
The Amorous Fool is one that sighs out Love-verses, sings Songs, and cryes at his Mistrifles Feet; complains of Cupid’s Cruelty: but whosoever entertains his love, he despiseth; and whosoever despiseth him, he dyes for, and yet lives.
The Self-conceited Fool is one that scorns to take counsel; and doth not onely think his Fancyes The fullest wit, and his Judgement The wisest, and his Actions The regularest, but that his House, his Horse, his Dog, any thing is best; not for The Conveniencies of his House, or for The beautifull Architectures, or for The situation; or that his Horse is The strongest, or soundest, or best natur’d, or choyccst colour’d, or perfectest shaped, or fullest of spirit, or swiftest of race, or surest of foot; or that his Dog is The best Hound to hunt withall, or The best Spaniel to couch withall, or The best Grey hound to run withall, or The best Mastiff to fight withall: So that it is not for The worth, or benefit which he receives from any thing, that makes him love, or csteem of it; But he thinks whatsoever is good, pleasant, or profitable, is created so by being his.
The HumorSome Fool is one that doth nothing for Reason, but out of Will.
The Passionate Fool will be Cholerick, Jealous, Malicious, Envious, Sullen, Merry, and Loves, and Hates, and knows not why.
The Fearfull Fool shuns his own shadow, and is Poetical in his vain Fears, in creating Fancies of Terror, wherein he makes Life a Torment, having alwaies The pains of Death upon him.
The Impatient Fool is all for The present; for he thinks his Throat cut, untill he be satisfied in his desires; a day to him is as a thousand years; nor he scarce thinks of Heaven, because he enjoys it not.
The Luxurious Fool thinks of nothing, but to please his Senses; he knows no Compassion, he neither regards Health, Honour, nor Profit; Ease and Idleness are his dear Companions, and his Natural Affection is Voluptuousness.
The Slavish Fool will do any act through Fear.
The Learned Fool admires, and is in love with all other Languages besides his own; for if he were bred with The Greek, or Hebrew, which are counted The Most significant, he would prefer Low Dutch, which hath The least Compass, before it. He is one that is Proud, in being acquainted with several Authors; although his Acquaintance oppresseth his Memory, smothers his Judgement by The multitude of Opinions, kils his Health by his study, destroys, his Natural wit by The transplantings and ingraftings of what he reads. Then he is so bound up to Rules, as he gives himself no reasonable Liberty.
The Talkative Fool loves not to hear any body speak but himself, neither will he let Them; for he speaks so fast, as he permits not, nor gives room for any other to take place; insomuch, as what with his loud, fast, and tedious discourse, he will make his Hearers deaf.
The superstitious Fool is an Observer of Times, Postures, Figures, Noyses, Accidents, and Dreams, and Many such like. As for Times, They will not begin a Journey, or marry, or buy Land, or build, or begin any work, but on such Days as appear to be lucky. For Dreams, if They dream Their Teeth fall out of Their head, or of Flowers, or Gardens, or of any thing green, or The like, or to see Their Faces in a Glass, or to fall from a Precipice, or being at Weddings, They think it Fatal. For Noyses, The howling of Dogs, The croaking of Ravens, The singing of Crickets, The skreeching of Owls. For Accidents, The bleeding three drops at The Nose, Iron molds, The Right Eye itching, Salt falling to Them. For Postures, or Figures; as a Hare to run cross Them, or to stumble at The Door. Insomuch as They never enjoy any present Recreation, for fear of an evil Accident.
The Venturous Fool thinks all desperate Actions honourable Valour; as to go into The Field for Battel unarmed, or to wear Something as a mark for The Enemy to shoot at, or to give The Enemy any advantage; Where The Honour of The Valiant is, to beat, and not to be beaten; For he is a Fool that will give his Enemy ground. And others think it a Valour to leap over Hedges, and Ditches, and Gates, to jump over dangerous places, to swim, or make Their Horses swim over large, great, and deep Rivers; or to try Experiments upon Themselves; and all to no purpose, but to shew what They dare do. Whereas true Valour will do none of These Actions, unless it be upon strong necessities; as to avoyd and hinder a great danger: but Fools have neither Foresight to prevent, nor Judgement to choose, nor Patience to suffer; neither will They take any example, to avoyd either Inconvenience, or Danger; They run blindfold into all Actions, (and as The Proverb saith, They leap before They look) and stumble at Straws; and either They so trouble Themselves with what may come, as They never enjoy The present, or They consider The future time so little, as They are destroyed before They are aware. But as Fools make all things worse than They are, in not giving Them The right use: so Wise Men prevent Evils by Their foresight, mend what is bad, shun Danger, and what cannot be avoyded, They bear with Patience.
I have heard say, that The World is as one great Fool, in which, say Some, The Wise, though There be very few, are buried in The Rubbish of Fools, without Monuments. But that saying is both foolish, and unjust, as to Condemn all, because There is Folly in The Most: But Envy and Malice may bark, yet They cannot bite; Therefore The Wise live in Renown, when Fools shall be scattered as Dust before The Wind.
The Busy Fool is one that had raTher break his head at his Neighbours door, than keep it whole at home; he strives to decide all petty Quarrels, wherein he is sure to get The hatred of one side, if not both; he is The Hackney for News, lading himself at The Posthouse, and disburThening himself to all he meets; he is more concerned with a forein Embassador, though he hath no use of him than The Embassador is with his Embassages; he never faileth Sessions, and Assizes, nor Executions; he riseth early, he eats hastily, walks fast, goeth to Bed late; and his Thoughts beat quicker than a Feaverish Pulse; full of vain Designs; offers his service to all, although he is not able to do any; he strives to know all things, and takes not time to learn any thing; he makes himself his greatest Enemy.
The Vain-glorious Fool is one that sets himself to The Most publick view; and if he hath any Estate, he spends it in vain Entertainment; he seems to despise Those things he covets Most; he reads his Letters in The Streets, as he rides, or walks, to have The People think he is a Man of great business, although They be Letters of his own writing; he makes his Horse pranse at a fair Ladies door, or walks by, and looks up often, as if he had Some Interest There, when The Lady knows him not, or would despise him if she did; When any one visits him, he calls for his Servant, asking where his people are, complains They are never at home to wait, when The Most he hath is but a Lacquey and a Groom. Sometimes he will pull out his Handkerchief, as for use, and two or three pieces of Gold shall come forth with it, and scatter on The Ground, as if his Pockets were full, when he laid Those Pieces There of purpose; and when he reads a Letter of News that he hath borrowed, he will take out as Many more as will sill a Bag; that he may be thought a man of great business. He is like Alchimy, that makes a great shew, but hath little worth.
The Exceptious Fool is one that thinks that all which is said, or was meant, is against him; he hates whispering or laughing in any besides himself, and is jealous of all men; he is as a Troubled Water, where no Beast will drink.
The Cautious Fool is alwaies considering, but never resolving.
The Credulous and Incredulous, The one believes against all Reason, The other will believe no Reason at all.
The Facile Fool can deny nothing; he will promise that he knows not how to perform; he followeth not Good, because it is best; nor shuns Evil, because it is worst; for he followeth as Perswasion leads, not as Reason guides.
The Inconstant Fool is one shuns all things which he knows; he will be a Friend to death for a day, and The next as great an Enemy; he hath no settlement, neither for his Soul, Body, nor Estate; he hath more several Colours than The Camelion, and more Shapes than Proteus; he is as a Labyrinth, where none can find a sure way.
The Impertinent Fool is alwaies asking such questions as cannot be resolved; offers his service where There is no occasion, or use of it; requesting Those things that cannot be granted; so as he will neither by denyed, resolved, nor counselled.
The Prodigal Fool is like a weak Stomack, that whatsoever it receives, it casts forth; which makes his Purse like his Body, to dye of a Consumption.
The Extravagant is like The Prodigal, onely his way is more various.
The Kind, Fond, and Tender-hearted Fool, is one that will promise, or part with any thing that he hath for The present, but repents himself as soon as he hath done; he embraceth all things, but flings Them away before he knoweth what he had; his Heart is softned with sudden pity, but is hardned with little time; so that it is variety of Objects that makes that Passion work.
The Affected Fool is one that speaks alwaies in phrases, and proportions The distance of Time between his words; his Countenance, and his Discourses, with several postures of his Face, and his Hand, are like The Vane, or WeaTher-cock of a House, which is alwaies in motion; and for its Garb, it is either so loose, as if There were a solution of his Joynts, or else so stiff, as if he had no Joynts at all; he neither eats, drinks, sits, walks, speaks, sleeps, or any Natural Act, but he doth it in a particular, and Artificial form.
The Fantastical Fool is wedded to strange singularities.
Men ought not to strive for Superiority with Women.
HE is either a Fool, or a Coward, that strives for The preheminency with a Woman; a Coward, because he domineers over Weakness; a Fool, to dispute with Ignorance. For Men should use Women as Nurses do Children, strive to please, and yield to Them in all things, but what will do Them harm: As not to suffer Them to degrade Themselves of Their Honours by Their Wantonnes, or to spend Their Estate by heir Vanity, or destroy Their Health by Their ill orders; but strive to delight Them, giving Them Liberty in all Honourable and Honest Recreations, in moderate Expences, and harmless Vanities: But he that strives with his Wife, to win The Breeches, would have never had The wit to have fought The Battels of Caesar. For a Gallant Man will never strive for The Breeches with his Wife, but present her with The whole Suit, as Doublet, Breeches, and Cloak, and all The Appurtenances Thereunto, and leave himself onely his Sword to protect her. it is more honour for a Man to be led Captive by a Woman, than to contend by resistance; for a Man can receive no dishonour to be taken Prisoner by The Effeminat Sex; for where a Gallant Man strives to beat off other Shackles, with Courage to overpower it, yet he willingly yields to The Effeminat Bands, and takes Them as Wreaths of Flowers, raTher than Chains of Slavery. But The pure true Gentry comes from Merit, from whence proceeds all Noble and Heroick Actions.
Of Women.
Some it Their Praises of Women, say, They never speak but Their words are too Many in number for The weight of The sense; besides, The ground of Their Discourse is impertinent, as Enquiries, who dined, and who supped at such a Table; what Looks, Words, and Actions, past amongst The Company; what Addresses such a Man made to such a Woman, and what Encouragement They receiv’d in Their Courtships; Then, who was at Court, who at Church; or slandering, or defaming one another; or bragging of Themselves, what CloThes They have, or will have, what Coaches, or Lacqueys, what Love servants They have, or may have; what Men are like to dye for Love of Them; what Feast They made for such a Company, who took Them out to dance at such a Ball, who usher’d Them out of Church, and who They saw There, and not what They heard There; and for Their Pastimes, say, They are seldome at home, unless it be to receive Visits. Neither are They pleased with The Company of Their own Sex; for if There be no Man amongst Them, They are very dull, and as mute as one would wish; unless it be at a Gossipping, where a Cup of good Liquor runs about: But if a Man be amongst Them, of what Condition soever, but especially a vain Young Man, Then Their Pipes are set to The highest note, and with such ridiculous Laughter, as They seem neither to stand, or sit still; or They are dancing, playing, and toying with every thing: But in Their grave Discourse They set Their Countenance, and twinkle with Their Eyes; and contract Their Mouth in a round Compass, and speak Their Words finely, and They that are not Handsom, as few Women think but that They are; Or if They be in Years, They strive to be thought wits, and all Their Discourse is of Love, justifying Loving Friendships by The Conversation of Souls. Some of The Graver sort run into State Affairs, and pretend to be Politicks Thereof: others pretend to be learned in Divinity, and talk of Predestination, and Free-will, and Transubstantiation, and The like; and others pretend to Devotion, repeating of Scriptures, when, say They, The Thoughts, are Amorously affected, as Those who discourse wildly: Therefore, say They, it is no marvel if The Men be so prevalent in Their Amorous Assaults, since The Women do so easily yield; nay, say They, They do more than yield, for They invite The Enemy to betray Themselves. But These censuring Persons judge too rigorously, for The Faults of a few ought not to brand and condemn The whole Sex; for surely There are numbers of worthy and honourable Women, in not onely seeming Chast, but being Chast; and know Their Countenance must be modest, Their Behaviour grave, Their Discourse raTher enclining to Silence than to Talk, Curteous, but not Familiar; Their state must be raTher above Their Quality than beneath it, raTher Proud than Humble, for too much Humility breeds Contempt. Besides, There are Those that are Patient, Pious, Trusty, Tractable to Virtue, Thristy, Fashionable, Constant, both Maids and Wives.
Of Bawds.
Bawds do, like The Indians, that pick out The fairest and best shap’d of Their Prisoners that They take in The Wars, feeding Them fat like Beasts, to offer to Their Gods as Sacrifice; So Bawds choose The youngest and fairest Women, and cherish Them with The choycest and best kind of Diet, to fatten Them, that They may be in good plight; and likewise garnishing Them forth with rich CloThes, like sacrificing Garlands, that They may be more acceptable to Their Gods, which are Whoremasters, that Their Reward may be more; And Many times They are brought to The slaughter of Honour, and Honesty, with Musick, and Minstrels, as The others are to The Altars; and The Fire of Lust destroys The one, as The Vestal Fire doth The other: so that Bawds are The Priests that sacrifice chastity, Honesty, and Honour; and They preach Flattery, to perswade and delude Their Flock; The Text is Variety, and The Application Pleasure; Their God is Cupid, and Their Goddess Venus, to whom They direct Their Prayers; The Pope, or Head of Their Church, is Mammon, The God of Money.
Of The Dissembling of Women.
ALL Women are a kind of Mountebanks; for They would make The World believe They are better than They are; and They do all They can to draw Company; and Their Allurements is Their Dressing, Singing, Dancing, Painting, and The like; and when Men are catcht, They laugh to see what Fools They were, to be taken with such Toyes: for Womens ends are onely to make Men profess, and protest, lye and forswear Themselves in The admiration of Them; for a Womans onely delight is to be flatter’d of Men; for They care not wheTher They love truly, or speak falsly, so They profess earnestly.
Of Chastity.
Those Women that are Covetous of Gain, or Ambitious of Titles of Honour, or Amorous of Nature, or have been bred by ill Examples, are easily perswaded to loose and unchast Actions; But Those Women that consider The Worth and Honour that chastity brings to Themselves, and Their Families, are never corrupted; for They account it more Honour to dye a Martyr to chastity, than to be Empress of The whole World by Wantonness: But Nature gives a Chast Mind, and a Virtuous Education, an Honest Life; But Women that are Incontinent are The Most foulest and falsest Creatures of all Natures Works; But Those that are Continent, are like what we imagine The nature of Angels to be, that is, Incorruptible.
The Liberty of Women.
IN Some Nations, Women have much more Liberty than in others; As for example, France, England, The seventeen Provinces, GerMany, and others, have more Freedome than Turky, italy, Spain; not that Those Nations are less sensible of The honour of Constancy in that Sex than The others, but that They are more confident of Their Virtue and chastity; Or else, wisely considering, Restraint is but a Whetstone to appetite; For Most Travellers confirm, that Those Countryes that have Most Restraint, have least chastity. The Lacedemonians may be an Example, who gave leave by Their Laws, that any Man of Their Nation might enjoy any Woman he fancyed; and not onely so, but The Young Women and Men danced uncloaThed in publick Theaters; yet so Modest and Chast They were, that for Many hundred years There was hardly known an Adultery committed. So that it is neither The freedome of Choyce, or Fashion, or Bodies, that infect one another, but The Mind, which is disorderly educated: For Nature would be Chast, if Education were Honest, which is, to instruct Youth with Noble Principles, and Profitable Rules, and to let Them know how beneficial and necessary Justice and Propriety is to The orderly Life of Man; and so to breed Them with Sense and Reason, Knowledge and Understanding, or else Liberty is dangerous, especially amongst The Effeminat Sex, if They be not ballanced with wise Admonitions, to make Them swim steddy and even through The World, that The over-large Sails of Ambition may not overturn Them, nor The Whirlwind of Evil Perswasions may not swallow Them, nor to be lost in The dark Nights of Ignorance: but let The bright Star of Knowledge light Them, and The Needle of Understanding direct Them. But The greatest Storms that shipwrack honest Education, is Civil Wars; for Civil Wars corrupt good Manners, especially Women that are Self admirers, which makes Them believe Their own Praises, and yield to Flattery, The MurTherer of chastity; for Insinuating Deceit is Most powerfull in Civil Diffention, both in Private Families, and Publick Commonwealths.
Of Courtships.
it is a sign a Lover grows weary of his Mistris, when he begins to give her good and virtuous Counsel; as if a Man, that hath had enough of his Mistris, should perswade her to go into a Nunnery; and to go into a Nunnery, when a Woman is Old, is like Those that go into an Hospital, when They are ready to fall in pieces with The Pox; for to be Old is The Pox of Time, as The other is The Pox of The Bones, for They are both full of Pain, and decay of Nature; for Time and Disorder works The same effects; for as Time wears out The Body, so Disorder tears out The Body.
Of Adulteries.
IN Marriage it is far worse, and more Inconveniencies come by The disobedience of The Wife, and her Adulteries, than The Husband. For first, she dishonours her self, insomuch as her Company is an Aspersion to all honest Women that frequent Therein, which makes The Chast to shun her Society. Next, she is a dishonour to The Family from whence she sprung, and makes The World suspect The chastity of her Mother; for There is an old saying, Cat will after kind: thus we see that The World is apt to judge from The Original. The third dishonour is to Their Children; for were They never so Beautifull, and Virtuous, yet Families of Honour refuse to match with Them, unless They bring great advantage by Their Wealth; and Then none will receive Them into Their Stock, but Those whom Poverty hath eaten up; for The disgrace is like The Leprosy, never to be cured; and it infects The whole Posterity, and it gives Spots to The Family it is joyned with. The fourth and last dishonour is to The Husband; for let a Husband of a dishonest Wife be never so worthy a Man, yet her Follyes shall lessen The Esteem of his Merits to The generality of The World; Although he have a great Valour, a flowing Generosity, a sound Judgement, a fine wit, and an honest Mind; well bred, Beautifull, Rich, Honourable, yet The vulgar part of The World will point at him, as a Fool, a Coward; and all They can think to be bad in a Man; nay Those excellent Virtues of Nature and Education, shall be dimm’d, and lose Their Gloss even to The Wife, although it be unjust to mis-prize one for The fault of The other: Yet such is The nature of The World, as They will censure by what They can mistrust, as well as that They can assuredly know, and think that Some Defects undivulged lye hid, which makes her prefer another in her Affections before him; and any thing that is despised, seems poor and inferiour at The first blush, unless They meet with Them that value things as They are, and not as They seem, which few do; for The Most part of The World regard more The outside than The inside, and are carried away more by The shew than The substance; which makes so Many mistake, that They despise what They should admire, and love what They should hate, and hate what They should love. This is The reason that Gallant, Worthy, and Wise Men are dishonoured by Their dishonest Wives. Besides The Dishonour, The Inconveniencies are Many; First, it abolisheth all lawfull and right Inheritance; for The Child that is born in Wedlock, although begot by another Man, shall inherit The Husbands Estate, although it be known to be another Mans, by our Laws. Next, for The abuses of Industry; as for The profit and pain of his Labour to go to a Stranger. Thirdly, for The weakning of Natural Affection; for a Man that mistrusts that all are not his own, makes him not love any, because he cannot guesse which are his; raTher, he hates all, for fear he should love him that brings him Dishonour, and Discontent; or at least set The Parents upon The Wrack, with Fear and Grief, as afraid to mistake Their own, and grieve that Their own may have too little Affection from Them. Thence it takes away The tenderness of Affection from The Parents, and neglects and rigour to Their Children; it makes disobedience from Children to Their Parents, for The disgrace and wrong They receive; so that Suspicion is become The Master of The House, and Shame The Mistris, Unthankfulness The Steward, and nothing is entertained but Discontents.
Adulteries of Men.
The like Dishonour and Inconvenience comes not by Adultery of The Husband, as The Wife; for The Children receive no dishonour by The FaThers Liberty, nor The Wife very much; for The worst that can be thought, is, that she is not so pleasing to her Husband, either in her Person, or in her Humour. Nay, it begets raTher a greater Luster to her Merits, and sets off her Virtues more to her Advantage; as, to shew her Fortitude in Patience, her Constancy in chastity, her Love in her Obedience; which The World taking notice of, pities her hard Fortune in an unkind Husband; and Pity proceeds raTher from Love than Scorn, and gives The Dishonour to The Husband for his Inconstancies, and not a Disgrace to The Wife in being forsaken; if she have an approved Virtue, knowing it is Facility in being subject to change, not her want of Merit, but The Inconveniencies that come Thereon; it is ruine to a Mans Estate, for Concubines are chargeable, for Women are won oftner by Gifts, than for pure Affection: For though Affection sueth often, it speeds but seldome, when Gifts commonly prevail; and besides, Charges is multiplyed by Their increase, The next is apt to corrupt Noble Natures, by The practice of Dissembling, and Flattery of The Enamoured, to grow False and Deceitfull to all other, for Custome is a Second Nature: Then this Amorous Love hinders all Business, and Affairs of The World; so that it is not onely wasting his present Estate, but makes him uncapable of raising another; for although all Lovers are Most Ingenious and Industrious to obtain Their Beloved, yet to all other things of The World They are as dead. Next, as he is unprofitable for himself, so he is not profitable for The Commonwealth; for he that hath his Mind full of Women, can have no room for any thing else; besides, his Heart is in his Mistrisses Breast: This kind of Love effeminates and degrades a Man of his Valour to all, but for his Mistrisses Love, witness Mark Anthony. I mean not all Those that are affected to Women; for Moderate Love gives an Edge to Valour: but Those that are swallowed up, and become wholly Lovers to be precise in Cupid’s Temple, and are alwaies praying to Their Mistris Their Deity: but Their Goddess doth not alwaies hear Their Prayers, which makes Them go home to Their Melancholy Wives.
Of Jealousie.
Jealousie in The Married Estate, is The Curse of Mankind, it makes a Confusion; and where There is Jealousie, There can be no Union: but it is not onely The Inconstant Life that makes Jealousies, but The Indiscretion betwixt a Married Pair; for Indiscretion will raise up such Jealousies, although The Husband and Wife be very honest, and true to The Wedlock Bed, as Many times causeth a Divorce, or at least such a Disquietness, as to make Home unpleasant: But where The Marriage is so fortunate, as Their Humours agree, it is The happyest and The sweetest Life; They lessen one anothers Grief, and increase one anothers Joy; The very Noyse of Their Children is Musick to Their Ears; Industry and Labour is a Recreation; to increase Their Store is Their Happiness; Their House is Their Heaven, and in Society are as Gods, to live in Peace.
Husbands are Nurses.
ALL Married Men are but Nurses; for all Nurses tend Children, in taking care They should not fall and hurt Themselves, and to feed and cloath Them, and to teach Them to go, and to guard Them from harm: So Husbands provide for Their Wives maintenance by Their Industry, guard Them and protect Them by Their Valour, instruct and teach Them by Their Wisdom, lest They should fall into Indiscretions: But Marriage Most commonly knocks all quick Spirits on The Head, and buries all wit and Mirth, giving Life onely to Care and Trouble.
To Cry on ones Wedding Day.
Crying on ones Wedding Day is like a King that begins his Reign in Blood; and although he may prove full of Clemency, yet it is a sign he will be a Tyrant all his Reign after: So Women may be happy after Bridal Tears, yet it prognosticates but a Cloudy Life.
Of Marriage.
The Cause why There be so Many Unhappy Marriages, is in The unequal Matches; and The fault is in The Parents not breeding Their Children according to Their Quality, or Estates; for Some, Their Breeding is too high for Their Estates, and others too low for Their Estates, and Qualities, and Degrees; For Some, though They have great Estates, yet will bring up Their Children in Dirt and Rags, and Keep Them short of Means, and so much under Their Power, as when They come to be Masters of an Estate, and Family, and not knowing before The use of Goods and Liberty, They become Prodigal Spendthrifts, and Inconstant Husbands, in not being acquainted enough with The Vanities of The World, to despise Them for The World; and Vanities, The more They be known, The less They are admired, loved, or regarded. others again, that are of a high Degree, and having low Fortunes, think to humble Their Children by Their breeding, to make Their Minds agree with Their Fortunes, and leave Them to The Conversation of mean and mechanick People, as Servants, and The like; whereby They can learn nothing that is Noble, and Honourable, but Sharking, Swearing, Drinking, Lying, rude in Their Behaviour, russ in Their Conversation, mean in Their Practices; when Most commonly The Son marries The Chamber-maid, and The Daughter The Serving man, not knowing The difference of better Company: but finding Their Errour afterwards, it Most commonly makes Them Unhappy all The rest of Their Lives, and repining at The Advantages that They thought hey had lost, and might have had; for Time brings Consideration, and Consideration Many times Repentance, to think with Themselves how They might have advanced Their Estates by Their Marriages, and what Inequality There is in Their Births, making Them despise Their Choyce; so as They run into two extremes; The First, in being over-fond, in marrying so soon, and unequally, and after, having so much, as They regard nothing, or please Themselves with any thing that is at home, so as They seek what is to be found abroad to divert Their Discontentments, and so become Wanderers, thinking Thereby to shun or cast off Their former Follyes; which The more They look back on, The ostner They repent of. others again, through Carelesness, make Their Children fall into The same Errours, not instructing Them with Noble and Honourable Principles, but suffering Them to run about into every Dirty office, where The young Master must learn to drink and play at Cards with The Kitchin-Boy, and learn to kiss his Mothers Dirty Maid for a Mess of Cream. The Daughters are danced upon The Knec of every Clown and Serving Man, and hear Them talk scurrilous to Their Maids, which is Their Complement of Wooing; and Then dancing SellingersRound with Them in Christmas time, and Many other such things, which makes Them become like unto like; and Their Parents think no harm in it, because They are young: And Some say by ill example; For when Children see Their Parents to do not well, and disagree, They think it Warrant enough for Them to do The same. And others breed Their Children at that high rate, that it ruins Their Estates, or at least hinders The increase so, as by Their Decay’, or not raising Their Estate, They cannot match Them so high as Their Breeding requires; which makes Them to leave Them with Low Fortunes, and High Minds, which can never agree. Neither will They own any thing that is not above Them, but despise even that which is equal to Them in every thing, unless Their Breeding be not so, Or where There is a despising or scorning between Man and Wife, There will be alwaies a Neglect, and a Disagreement: yet of The two, There comes less Inconveniency in The High Breeding than in The Low and Mean; for The first, though it breeds Pride, yet it shuts out Baseness, and begets Noble Thoughts, and Honourable Qualities; and The other begets mean Thoughts, base Qualities, and disordered and foolish Passions and Affections: and whatsoever is rooted in The young and tender years, is seldome stubbed up with Age; but if it be, it is with great Difficulty and Labour. So that Children, according to Their Estates, Conditions, and Degrees, must be bred with Plenty without Prodigality; with Respect, not with a Neglect, nor too much Observance; Their Discourse to Them Wise and Solid, not Idle and Foolish; Their Recreations Seasonable and Suitable, not Extravagant and Wild; They must raTher Animate Their Spirits than Deject Them, and not to fill Them with too much Art, for fear of spoyling Their Natural Parts.
Of Marriage.
MEN have three several Strings to tye The Knot of Marriage; first, Conscience, or Religion; next, Nature; The third, Gratitude.
First, There is no Religion in The World that makes not Marriage Sacred; and in Christian Religion They are a Consecrated Pair, wherein They are commanded to leave all others, and live togeTher, and love each other; and for Nature, There is no such relation betwixt any of her Works, as to make a perfect Friendship, as between Man and Wife; all other Friendships are as it were Forced, or Artificial, and not Natural; for Man and Wife are like one Root, or Body, that whatsoever toucheth The one, is truly sensible to The other; nay, so as it is The same Joy and Grief. Then for Gratitude, The Man ought to love his Wife, not because she is as his Servant, in being Overseer in The Houshold affairs, or in nursing up his Children, and The Care and Fear of Them, or in being sick or ill in The breeding of Them: but The Horrid Pain in bringing Them forth into The World, and The Danger They pass through, which is more hazardous to every particular Woman, than to every particular Man in Battel. Then for The Weal publick, which is as The great Wheel in a Clock, so every private Family is as The little Wheel for The Wealpublick; if a Man and his Wife disagree, which is want of Affection, Then Their Children, when They are grown up, begin to grow Factious, Some siding with The Mother against The FaTher, and others with The FaTher against The Mother; which Custome will make Them grow Factious in The Weal-publick, as well as in The Weal-private.
Of Marriages.
Those Marriages are commonly more happy, which are made out of Interest, than Those that marry for Fancy; for Interest is like Brass which is ingraven, and Fancy is like printed Wax; The first never alters except it be broke by ill fortune, when The other is destroyed with a warm breath. But Those that marry below Their Quality, give Respect and Reputation to Those They marry, but take it from Themselves.
Of Married Wifes.
A Woman ought to please her Husband to The utterMost of her power, as to humour all his honest Delights, not onely in Actions beseeming her Sex, but Those are forbidden Women by The Laws of Modesty, and ought to be strictly kept at all times of Their lives, but when They serve to maintain Their Husbands Affection, and keeping Their Husbands Affection from running to others unlawfully, from whence proceeds not onely a Disturbance in Their Families, and a Ruin of Their Estates, bat a Disturbance and Ruin to Many Families by Adulteries, which Adulteries cause Jealousies, Jealousies make Malice, Malice Revenge, Revenge MurTher; so to avoyd These, a Woman may Game, Fence, Ride, Vaut, Run, Wrestle, Leap, Swim, or any The like Actions, which are onely accounted Actions fit for Men, if Their Husbands should take Delight in Them, to have Them Companions in all Their Exercises, and Pastimes. But it is Time and Occasion that makes Most things Good or Bad: For example, it were a horrid thing, and against Nature, and all Civil Laws, for Children and Parents, Brethren and Neighbours, and Acquaintance, to kill one another, although Their offences to each other were very hainous; but when The King of chief Magistrate in a Commonwealth commands it, as They do to Those that are of Their side in a Civil War, Then it is not onely Warrantable, but it is accounted Sacred and Divine; because nothing pleaseth Divinity more than obedience to Magistrates, and Nature loves Peace, although she hath made all things to War upon one another; so that Custome and The Law make The same thing Civil or Pious, Just or Unjust.
Of a second Wife.
It is to be observed, that when a second Wife comes into a Family, all The former Children, or old Servants, are apt to be Factious, and do foment Suspicions against her, making ill Constructions of all her Actions; were They never so well, and innocently meant, yet They shall be ill taken, and all that They hinder her of, although it do Them no good, but what is gotten from her, They think Themselves enriched, not so much by what They get, but by what she loseth, or hath not.
Civility from Men due to Women.
Complements from Men to Women are as a Tribute due to Womenkind; for Women, fearing They should not be so Nobel Creatures as Men, are apt to be out of Countenance, as mistrusting Some Imperfectness in Themselves; wherefore Men of Noble Natures are willing to help The Weak, and Therefore ought to give our Sex Confidence by Their Praises, and Therefore should be civil to Women, in having as tender a Regard to Them as to Children; for though Women be not so Innocent, yet They are as Powerless; and it is The part of a Noble Heroick Nature to strive to oblige The Weak; and it is better to be used with Cruelty than Scorn, or a rude Kindness.
The Ridiculous Malice amongst Mankind.
So Ridiculously Foolish, or so Maliciously Envious is Mankind, as one would think Nature was either Defective, or else full of Malignity, when she made him. As for example, If a Man love his Wife with a clear and constant Affection, rejecting The Amorous Allurements of other Women for her sake, finding all in his Wife that he can wish, or at least desires no more than what he enjoys, and is best pleased to live a life of quiet at home, ruling his Family with Love and Obedience, thinking it more wise to enjoy The World thus, than to trouble himself with Those Affairs of The World which neither bring him Ease, Peace, nor Profit; but if he must act several parts upon The Stage of The World, to which he is forced either by Honour or Necessity, not by Choyce, this Man shall be thought either an Uxorious Man, or a Fool, or a Madman, either to give himself over to various and voluptuous Delights, or to deliver up not onely his Person and Estate, but his Reason and Liberty, to The humours and will of his Wife; As if a Man when he gives his Child a Hobbyhorse, because he lets his Child do so and so in Many like Causes, and if The Child desire to go abroad, The FaTher desires to please his Child, when it hinders not more potent Affairs; thus if he doth not cross his Child in every thing, but is well content to please and humour him in harmless things, he is thought too fond and indulgent a FaTher to his Child: just so is a Husband condemned if he humours and pleaseth his Wife in letting her have her will in honest, and not in dishonourable Recreations. But what Gallant Man will not favour The Female Sex? nay, what Gallant Man will not condescend to all Their Desires, and seek and invent waies to please Them, so far as Honour will give Them leave? And shall a Man despise, and cross, and neglect his Wife because she is his own, lawfully joyned and united? Shall it be more Dishonour for a Man to love his Wife, than another Mans Wife? Shall a Man be accounted a Fool because he is honest to Wedlock? because he is kind to his own Wife? Was Augustus Caesar less Wife because he loved? or Pompey less Valiant because he loved? Salomon may be said to be less Pious towards God through The great Love he bore to Pharoah’s Daughter, which was his first, and dearly beloved Wife, yet he was not less Wise in respect of The World. But Men seek for that abroad, whereof They have better at home, and The unsatiable Desire of Mankind makes Them search for what is never to be found: But where Nature gives a Satisfactory Mind, she gives a Happy Life; and what can we imagin The Joys of Heaven, but a stint to our wandring Desires; Therefore Those that are Most fixt, are nearer Heaven; and he is The Wisest, that is nearest to Unity; and Those that are Most united, are likest to a God.
But where Discord happens, Hell is resemb’ed, and harsh, haughty, and not insulting Natures, are composed like Devils; and Caesar shewed himself a Fool in nothing but in quitting his Guard, and not hearkning to his Wife, which was to shew his Courage, and to let The World see he durst go unarmed, singly alone as it were, and his freedom from The chains of fond Affection; thus quitting Prudence and Love, he dyed too violent a Death. And Seianus quitting The Affection towards his Wife, and placing it upon Julian, raised such a Jealousie in Tyberius, as it cost him his Life, otherwise he might have ruled The Empire, and so The Most part of The World. Thus Anthony’s leaving his Wife for The love of Cleopatra, lost him The third part of The World. Neither are The Counsels of a Wife alwaies to be despised, if all were honest, nor to be lockt from The private Affairs of her Husband; Portia was able to keep a Secret, and was of Brutus her Husbands Confedenacy, though not Actually, yet Concealing; And if Caesar had condescended to his Wives Perswasion, he had not gone to The Senate that day; and who knows but The next might have discovered The Conspiracy? and numberless of The like Examples might be given. Besides, it is to be observed, where The Husband and Wife disagree, Their Family is in disorder, Their Estates go to decay, Jealousies arise, which cause Discords, from whence proceeds a discontented and unhappy Life; And where The Husband and Wife are united in Minds, as well as in Body. all prospers; and Most commonly Ease and Plenty crown that Family, Industry is Their Recreation, Peace is Their Joy, Love is Their Happiness: for a kind Husband makes an obedient Wife, dutifull Children, Faithfull Servants; for a Wise Man rules his Family with gentle, kind, and seasonable Perswasions, with honest and sincere Actions, with gratefull and just Rewards; and Kindness, and Constant Natures, work hard and obeisant Natures to be more pliant and facile; for Kindness melts hardest Hearts, and makes Them flexible to form Them as They please; where Cruelty or Severity hardens Them so much, as They will raTher break than bend. And if The Rational part of The World would but consider what Felicity There is in peacefull Prosperity, They would never wander so much out of The way.
Of Men and Women.
Some say a Man is a Nobler Creature than a Woman, because our Saviour took upon him The Body of Man; and another, that Man was made first: But These two Reasons are weak; for The Holy Spirit took upon him The shape of a Dove, which Creature is of less esteem than Mankind; and for The Preheminency in Creation, The Devil was made before Man.
Nature in The Composure of Men and Women.
It is not so great a Fault in Nature for a Woman to be Masculine, as for a Man to be Effeminat: for it is a Defect in Nature to decline, as to see Men like Women; but to see a Masculine Woman, is but onely as if Nature had mistook, and had placed a Mans Spirit in a Womans Body; but Nature hath both her Mistakes and Weaknesses; but when she works perfectly, she gives Man a gentle and sweet Disposition, a generous Mind, a valiant Heart, a wife Head, a voluble Tongue, a healthfull Body, and strong and active Limbs: To Woman she gives a chast Mind, a sober Disposition, a silent Tongue, a fair and modest Face, a neat Shape, and a gracefull Motion.
The Nature of Man.
MAN is more apt to take Dislikes at all things, than to delight in any thing; but Nature hath given us no Pleasure, but what ends in Pain; for The end of Pleasure is Grief: for Cruel Nature curbs us in with Fear, and yet spurs us on with Desires; for she hath made Mans mind to hunt more after Varieties by Desire, than she hath made Varieties to satisfie The Desires.
Of Painting.
There be Some that condemn The Art of Painting in Women, others that defend it; for, say They, as Nature hath made one World, so Art another, and that Art is become The Mistris of Nature; neither is it against Nature to help The Defects. Besides, Those that find out new Arts, are esteemed so, that They become as Petty Gods, wheTher They become Advantageous to Man, or no; as The Memory of Those that found out The Art of Gunpowder, Guns, Swords, and all Engins of War for Mischief; and shall They be more praised and commended than Those that find out Arts and Adornments; as Painting, Curling, and other Dressings; for The one destroyes Mankind, this increaseth it; The one brings Love, The other begets Hate. But Some will say, Those Arts defend Their Lives; but where They once use Them to defend Their Lives, They use Them ten times to destroy Life; and though it is no Fault in The Inventer, but in The User, no more is Painting, when it is used for a good intent, as to keep or increase lawfull Affection. But, say They, it is a dissembling to make that appear otherwise than it is. ‘Tisanswer’d, No more than to keep warm in Winter; for Cold is Natural, so is The sense of it in Winter; but CloThes to keep it out are Artificial; and The true use of The Art of Painting is to keep warm a Lawfull Affection. Besides, If we must use no more than what Nature hath given us, we must go naked; and Those that have a bald Head, must not wear a Peruick, or Cap to cover it; and Those that are born with one Leg shorter than The other, must not wear a high Shoe to make Them even, nor indeed wear any Shoes at all, especially with Heels, because They make Them seem higher, but go with The Feet bare; and Those that are Crooked, must wear no Bombast; and Many such Examples may be brought. But, say Some, it is a Bawd to entice, in begetting evil Desires. it is answered, No more a Bawd than Nature is in making a handSome Creature; but if They must do nothing for fear of Enticing, Then Mankind must neither cut Their Hair, nor pare Their Nails, nor shave Their Beards, nor wash Their selves, which would be very slovenly, for fear They should appear so handSome, as They may perswade and entice The Lookers on to evil Desires; which if so, let Them be like Swine, and wallow in Mire; but it is to be feared, that The Mire will be too hard for The evil Desires; so as There may be more brought in defence of Painting, than can be said against it. Wherefore, say They, it is lawfull both in Maids and Wives; The one, to get a good Husband; The other, to keep her Husband from coveting his Neighbours Wife; for it is an Honour for Maids to get good Husbands, because it is a kind of Reproach to live unmarried, for Marriage is Honourable, and gives a Respect to Women, unless They be incloystered, which all Constitutions will not agree withall; and an honest Wifes care is to please her Husband, if she can, when she hath him; for Marriage is The end of an honest Mind to all but Widows, for They, when They marry again, do as it were Cuckold Their dead Husband, and Their living. Besides, if They have Children, They make a Distraction and Division in Their Families, and Most commonly to The ruine of The first Husbands Estate, having so great a share, and so much power, according to our Laws; And though They should not marTher Themselves, as The Custome hath been in other Countryes, but contrary raTher, to preserve Their Health, and to dry Their Eyes after a while of Those Obsequies of Tears, which are Sacrifices to The Dead, yet to live a retired Life, to shew Their unalterable Affections; for though it be fit for a Widow to put off her violent Passion of Sorrow as well as she can, yet There is no Humour becomes that Condition better than Sadness; for Sadness, which is a moderate Grief, looks full of Fortitude, and is Humble, Modest, Gracefull, and so far from dis composing any part, as it gives a setled, and majestical Face: So Painting is Most disallowable in Widows, for They should take The example of Judith, where it is said, when she went to Holofernes, she anointed her self as she did usually in her Husband Manassas time, which it seems she used not after he was dead, before this time; for as They have none to Displease, so ought They not to Allure. But Some will say, that Their Poverty is such, as They know not how to live, and They may be presented to such a Fortune, as may make Them live happy, and free from The Misery that Poverty compels Them to. it is answered, that Nature is satisfied with a little, if Their Ambition be not great: but if not They must make use of The old Proverb, which is, that Necessity hath no Law, in case They present not Their Necessity to be greater than it is. But to return to Beauty, it is pleasing, either Natural or Artificial, and both to be admired; for if Art be Commendable, why not in The Face, as well as in The Feet in dancing Measures, or as in The Hand upon Musick Instruments, or in The Voyce, or in The Art of Oratory, and Poetry, which will sooner increase Desires: yet this is allowed of in all places and times, not onely in Temporal Society, but in Spiritual Unions, where David, The Beloved of God, was a great Master in The Knowledge and Practice of Them. And if These Arts be Commendable, and are Graces to all parts of The Body, shall it be condemned onely for Colour in The Face? And as Beauty is The Adornment of Nature, so is Art The Adornment of Beauty; and this saith The Defendant against The Plaintiff. But all Opinions have, or Most of Them, Sides, and Factions; but my Opinion is so far with The Defendant, as I believe all Adotnments of Beauty are lawfull for Women, if The Intention be good. Yet I am utterly against The Art of Painting, out of three respects; The first is Dangerous, for Most Paintings are mixed with Mercury, wherein is much Quicksilver, which is of so subtil a malignant nature, as it will fall from The Head to The Lungs, and cause Consumptions, and is The Cause of swelling about The Neck and Throat. The next is, that it is so far from Adorning, as it Dis-figures: for it will rot The Teeth, dim The Eyes, and take away both The Life and Youth of a Face, which is The grea’est Beauty. Thirdly and lastly, The Sluttishness of it, and especially in The Preparatives, as Masks of Sear-CloThes, which are not onely horrid to look upon, in that They seem as Dead Bodies embowelled or embalmed, but The Stink is offensive. Then The Pomatum and Pultis, which are very uneasy to lye in, wet and greasy, and very unsavoury; for all The while They have it on, it presents to Their Nose a Chandlers Shop, or a greasy Dripping-pan, so as all The time They fry as it were in Grease; neither will Their Perfumes mend it, and Their Oils: And though I cannot say They live in Purgatory, because They shun all hot places, for They cannot have The comfortable heat of The Fire, and shun The Natural heat of The Sun, as They must live alwaies, as if They were at The North Pole, for fear The Heat should melt away Their Oil, and Oily Drops can be no grace to Their Face, Dry Painting shrivels up The Skin so, as it imprints Age in Their Face, in filling it full of Wrinkles; wherefore Paintings are both Dangerous, Ill-favoured, and Sluttish, besides The troubleSome pains. But for other Adornments in Women, They are to be commended, as Curling, Powdring, Powncing. Cloathing, and all The Varieties of Accoutrement, in that They have none of The said former Qualities, but give a gracefull advantage to The Person. Besides, Dressing is The Poetry of Women, in shewing The Fancyes, and is The cause of imploying The greater part of a Commonwealth; for in four parts, three of Them are in The Arts of Adornments; for it is not onely, Tailers, Imbroyderers, Perfumers, Milleners, FeaThermakers, Jewellers, Mercers, Silkmen, Semsters, Shoemakers, Tiremen, and Many, Many more, but every one of These Trades have Many Trades belong to Them; as for example, How Many Trades belong from The Silk-worm to The Ladies Gown? and from The Golden Mine to The Lace that is laid upon it? and so in order to all other things, which is The cause of keeping a Commonwealth in Union, in busying and imploying Their Minds, which keeps Them from Factious Thoughts, and Designs. Besides, it distributes and spreads The Maintenance of The Kingdome; for without particular Commerce, and Trasick, a Commonwealth cannot stand, and subsist: for though Many a Commonwealth may subsist without The help of Their Neighbours, yet it cannot live without Their own Imployment and Dividement among Themselves: for as Some share in Lands, so others in offices, and The rest in Trades, wherein all trasick, from The one to The other; so that every Man lives by his Neighbour, and not altogeTher upon himself.
Of Paleness, and Blushing.
When a sudden Paleness seizeth The Face, it shews a Guiltiness, or Some great Fear; but a Blush will come into The Face Many times, when There is no occasion to raise it; for it oftner proceeds from The Constitution of The Body, than from a Guiltiness of The Mind; for when The Blood is thin, and The Spirits are hot, They are apt to run up to The Face without The Minds consent or knowledge; but when Blushing is raised by The Mind, it is commonly from a Noble Suspicion, that is The Mind, which would not have an evil Construction, where it deserves nought but a good Opinion. But it is better to be Bashfull to Particulars, and Confident to The World, than Confident to Particulars, and Bashfull to The World; for it is a sign They are afraid to hear of Themselves, though not to shew Their Persons, which seems as if Their Actions should bring a Scandal to Their Reputation; yet a Bashfulness doth so obstruct The sense, as They cannot deliver any thing perfect to Their Understandings, but seem like Changelings, or Fools, although They have great wits.
Of Boldness and Bashfulness.
The Most of Mankind are either too bold or too bashfull; either so bold that They seem rude, or so bashfull that They seem simple: As for Boldness, it is worse in respect to others, but better in respect to Themselves; And Bashfullness is better in respect to others, but worse in respect to Themselves; for Bashfullness is allwaies humble and civil to others, but fearfull and timorous as to it self; insomuch as Those that have this Vertue Vice (as I may call it) have neither freedome nor liberty to express Themselves after Their natural accustomed manner, much less in waies of advantage; for They neither speak Sense, nor Their words plain, but speak quite from The purpose, stuttering and stamering; or else The Tongue is so tyed, that They become like Those that are dumb; neither can They behave Themselves well, and are so far from a gracefull Garb, that They behave Themselves like Changlings or Innocents, puting Their Faces into a hundred several Countenances, and Their Bodies into as Many several Postures; nay Bashfullness hath such a forcible power over The Body & Mind, as it draws & distorts The Lims and Motions of The one, as The Disease of Convulsions doth; and distempers and distracts The other, as The Disease of Madness, in not knowing what They doe; it unthrones The Understanding, and blindfolds Judgement; and this Bashfulness proceeds from too great an apprehension of Misdeameanours; but this Bashfullness is a Tyrant, for it tortures The Mind upon The Rack of Imagination, and whips The Body with The pains of Restraint, giving no freedom to The Thoughts, Words, or Actions; it imprisons wit, and inslaves noble Endeavours; it obscures Vertue, and dims Beauty, it lames Behaviour, it takes away The Majesty of State, and The State of Majesty; it is affronted by The bold rude, or The mdely bold; it loseth respects from The half-witted men, and only gets pitty from The Wise; But Those that are bashfull are not only Judicious and Ingenious, as witty and Wise, but Most commonly have sweet and kind Natures, noble and generous Dispositions, valiant and couragious Spirits, honest and temperate Lives; but The pleasure of Their life is disturbed with Their imaginations, and conception of The Opinions of The World; fearing Their Censures, and doubting Their Applause.* This Bashfullness proceeds from a noble Ambition, or a pious Intention, either to get Fame, or an example to Humility; but Bashfulnes looks as thorow a Perspectiveglass, searching into obscurities; when Boldness is blindfold, either with a Muster of I gnorance, or Vain-Glory; it either wants Breeding or wit: For a poor simple Pesant, Many times, hath more Confidence than a noble Lord; a rude Clown than a wellbred Gentleman; a Market-woman than a great Lady; because They neither examin, know, nor fear The Errors They may fall into: Again, others are so vain-glorious as to think They cannot commit faults; but this Courtly Vice, or Vice that is Courted, carries it self with haughty behaviour, and a proud demeanour, outfaces Truth, yet shrinks at Dangers; speaks loud, but acts little; threatens much, but dares not fight: They can receive no affronts, because They will take none; for whatsoever is offerd as an Affront, They take as a Jest, or Rallerly, or out of an Insensibility, take all well as being meant well, or out of a Vain-glory think none dares offer it. But howsoever Their behaviovr is to others, or others to Them, They are at liberty, and free in Themselves, not bound with The Chains of Bashfullness, nor manacled with The Irons of self mistrust; They have no repinings for what They have thought They have done amiss; nor blushing Cheeks, raised by surpitious doubts; nor tender eyed, that dare not look on an evill Object, or objects that They may falsly think are so; when They are innocent They know, but Boldness doth out-face, not only what evill might be thought, but what evill They have done; and strange it is, yet true, Boldness hath such a pow’r, to make great Crimes seem lesse than They are; and Those that are bold, more great or nobler than They are; like Masking Scenes set with false Lights, present a City or a stately Tow’r, when it is nothing but Pastboard painted over.
*I mean The World of Acquaintance.
Of Women indifferently handsom.
Women are more happy in Their Husbands affection when They are indifferently handSome and various humour’d, than when They are more exact: for a woman that is extreme fair is more for admiration than for a setled affection; a woman that is constanly patient, seems senseless or simple, which makes him dislike her; and a woman that is allwaies cholerick and angry, seemes a Fury; and she that is allwaies merry, disturbs her Husband’s serious Contemplation of solid Thoughts; and she that is allwaies sad, dulls him; she that is allwaies complaining, is never pittied; and Those that are sickly, Their Husbands can find no lively contentment; for what melancholy Company are The dying? nor to be too devout and precise; for men in this World, had raTher converse ordinarily with Mortals than with Angells. But if a Woman be healthfull of Body, plump of Flesh, not deformed, nor exactly handsom; gracefull in Carriage, without affectation; of a ready wit, and contriving Judgement; cleanly, without curiosity; honest, without pride; carefull, without choler; thrifty, without sluttishness; and various in Their Dresses, and other Humours: Such a Wife it will not be in her Husband’s power to dislike; and he will not only like her, but extremely love her, even to Dotage; for Those Qualities do violently draw his Affections.
Wisdom and wit are to be preferred before Riches and Beauty.
Wisdom and wit are to be preferred before Riches or Beauty; for Wisdom knoweth how to get, keep, and use Riches; neither can Beauty paralell Wisdom; for Wisdom makes a man happy all his life, in governing his Passions, in chusing his waies in order to his affairs, for his best advantage, not only for himself, but for others in distress, by his Counsell; for which he is Honored, Esteemed, Loved, and sought after, to redress The incumberd, to relieve The distressed, to unite differences; She helps The blind, in giving Eies of understanding to The Ignorant. Wisdom is The Arm of strength to defend; The watchfull Eye to descry dangers; The Fingers to point and direct; The Tongue to perswade and admonish; it is The Heart of Courage, The nourishing Liver, The Stomach or Store-house, The Bowells and Center, The Head and Governor of a Commonwealth. And wit is to be preferred before Beautie; for There is as much difference as betwixt Soul and Body; for wit is as it were spiritual, where Beautie is Corporal, and Beautie is subject to The variations of several Opinions; for Beautie is not Beautie in all Nations, but wit is wit in all Languages; Beautie wearies The Eye by Repetitions, where wit refresheth The Ear with variety of Discourse; wit is The God of Passion, creating and disposing Them at his pleasure.
Of Riches, and Beautie.
Riches si to be preferred before Beautie, though it be a gift of Fortune, and Beautie a gift of Nature; for Beautie incaptives, where Riches inslaves all; for were There a Beautie that had as much as Nature could give it, joyned with an Angelical Mind, yet it shall never triumph so long, nor inthrall so Many, nor so constantly be served, as Riches is; for Riches hath no unFaithfull Lovers, although she may have ignorant Servants, whom she turns Most commonly Weeping out of dores; for she is a humerSome Mistris, and changeth often, but seldom makes a good Choice: And The Reason why Riches are preferr’d, esteemed, honoured, and unweariedly followed, is, because she affords more variety, which The Nature of Man delights and seeks after; where Beauty is still one and The same; but though Riches are fleeting, yet Many times The Carefull and Prudent have possest Them long; where Beauty no sooner shewes her self but dyes.
The Beauty of Mean Persons.
Beauty in Mean and Poor Persons is onely subject to Temptation, not to Admiration, as Beauty in Palaces is Famous in Historie; but Those Beauties as come from an Humble Birth, and Breeding in a small Cottage, are buried in Their Poverty; which shews, it is not onely The Beauty which Nature gives, but The Arts that adorn it, which allures The Mind; for Good Fortune gives Beauty a Lustre, and makes it appear Divine, so doth Rich Apparel, Attendance, and The like; for it is The Trappings, and The Ceremony, which takes The Eyes of The Beholders; whereas Ill Fortune, and Poverty, do cast a Shadow upon Natural Beauty, and eclipse it from The Eyes of The World. Thus Beauty is admired and divulged according to The Wealth and Dignity; unless Some strange and unusual Accident happens to The Beautifull to noyse it abroad; otherwise we shall not hear of Poor and Mean Persons mentioned in Many Ages, but Those which The Fancies of Poets make; but of Beauties that were Great and Rich, Their Chronologies are full.
Of Imaginary Beauty.
Some may imagine or think Beauty was framed and composed in The Opinions of Men, raTher than in The Lineaments, and Symmetries, and Motion of The Body, or The Colour of The Skin; for that which appeareth Beautifull to one Nation, doth not so to another; as witness The Indians, The Ethiopians, who think The blackest Skin, stattest Noses, and thickest Lips, The Most Beautifull, which seem Deformed and Monstrous to The Europeans; so particular Persons, as in several Nations; for to one Person shall appear a Beauty, to enamour The Soul with Admiration, to another shall appear even to a Dislike; which shews, that were There a Body never so exactly proportion’d, or Their Motions never so gracefull, or Their Colour never so Orient, yet it will not please all. I will not say There is no such thing as Beauty, but no such Beauty as appears so to all Eyes, because There is not Variety enough in one Beauty to please The various Fancies of Mankind; for Some fancy Black, Some Brown, Some Fair, Some a Sad Countenance, Some a Merry, Some more Bashfull, Some more Bold; For Stature, Some Tall, Some Low, Some Fat, Some Lean, Some Dislike Some Motions, Some others; Some grey Eyes, Some black Eyes, Some blew Eyes; and to make mixture of all These, it is impossible; and though There may be as great and as good a Harmonie in Beauty as in Musick, yet all Tunes please not all Ears, no more do all Beauties please all Eyes.
Of Natural Beauty.
Beauty is a certain Splendor, which flows in a Line, or Air of Lights, from The Spirits, and gives a shining Glory upon The Face; which Light, with Ill Complexions, or not Lovely Features, is darkned, as The Sun with Clouds, wherein Some Faces have thicker Clouds than others, that make a Beauty appear more Splendorous at Some times than others. But in Age Beauty seldom or never appears, being in The Winter season of Life; but in Youth The Air is alwaies Serene, and Clear. Some see this Splendor or Beauty in a Face, which others do not, as having a more discerning Spirit, which makes Some wonder at such as do fall in Love with Those that They shall think Ill-favoured; besides, There is a Sympathy of Spirits, to perceive that in one, and other, as Lookers on cannot find out.
Of Pride.
IF Pride seems HandSome, and may be allowed in any, it is in Women, because it gives a Distance to Idle Pretenders, and Corrupters of chastity. Neither is it so bad in Women to be proud of Their chastity, and Honest Affection, as Alexander in his Victories, or Helen in her Beauty, or Rome of her Spoyls, and Royal Slaves: for Honesty is Their greatest Beauty, and They may glory in it as Their greatest Honour, and triumph in it as Their greatest Victory; and though that Women are naturally Fearfull, yet raTher than They would infringe The least part of a chastity, either in Words to Inchant, or Looks to Allure, or Actions to Invite, They would enforce Life, and Triumph in Death, raTher than Their Virtue should be overcome, either in The Stratagems of Follyes, or Treacherous Bribes, or by force of wicked appetites. But a Woman should be so well instructed in The Principles of chastity, as no false Doctrine could perswade her from it, neither Praises, nor Professions, nor Oaths, nor Vows, nor Wealth, Dignity, nor Example, having alwaies Temperance, and Sobriety in Friendship.
To The same.
BUT Some are bred with such Nicety, and in such Innocency, as if They meant to marry Some Deity: But Modesty should dwell in Womens Thoughts, wit marshal Their Words, Prudence rule Their Actions; They should have a Gracefull Behaviour, a Modest Countenance, a witty Discourse, a Civil Society, a Curteous Demeanour.
Men should be Valiant in War, Temperate in Peace, Just to others, Prudent to Themselves: but Natures Extraordinary Works are not Commonly distributed.
The EPISTLE.
The Reason why I print Most of what I write, is, because I observe, that not only The weak Writings of men get Applause in The World, but The infinite weak Translators of others Works; thus There are Many simple Books take The World by The Ears; but I perceive it is not The wit, or worth of what is written, that begets a delight to The Readers, and a Fame to The Writers; but it must fit The Genius of The Age: And truly, if we will but note it, There is as much difference in The wit or understanding of Some Ages, I mean for The generality of men, as between Some Writers and others; For Some Ages are like old Nestor, wise; others like Ulysses, eloquent; Some like Achilles, valiant; others like Paris, amorous, and effeminate; Some like Hercules, striving to suppress Vice; others like wicked Nero, that alwaies strive to tyrannize over Vertue, making War and Faction; Some like Orpheus Harp that charmes The spirits with Peace; And as The Starrs have an Influence over every particular, so They take Their turns to govern, and are predominant over every Age; But I find I live in a Carping age; for Some sind fault with my former Writings because They are not Grammar, nor good Orthography; and that all The last words are not matched with Rime; and that The Feet are not in just Numbers: As for The Orthography, The Printer should have rectisied that; for I think it is against Nature for a Woman to spell right, for my part I confess I cannot; and as for The Rimes and Numbers, although it is like I have erred in Many, yet not so much as by The negligence of Those that were to oversee it; for by The false printing, They have not only done my Book wrong in that, but in Many places The very Sense is altered; as for surfets, sercutts; wanting, wanton; like slaming sire to burn, They have printed a sire Gunn, and Many other words They have left out besides, and There is above a hundred of Those faults; so that my Book is lamed by an ill Midwife and a Nurse, The Printer and Overseer; but as for The Grammar part, I confess I am no Scholar, and Therefore understand it not, but that little I have heard of it, is enough for me to renounce it; for if I have any wit, it is so little that it would be lost in scholastical Rules; besides, it were worse to be a pedantick woman, than a pedantick man; yet so ill it is in man, that it doth as is were degrade him from being Magnanimous and Heroick; for one shall seldome sind a generous and valiant Heart, and a pedantical Brain, created or bred in one Body; but Those that are nobly bred have no Rules but Honour, and Honesty, and learn in The School of Wisdom to understand Sense, and to express Themselves sensibly and freely, with a gracefull negligence, not to be hidebound with nice and strict words, and set Phrases, as if The wit were created in The Inkhorn, and not in The Brain; besides say Some, should onebring up a new way of speaking, Then were The former Grammar of no effect; besides, I do perceive no strong reason to contradict, but that every one may be his own Grammarian, if by his natural Gramar he can make his Hearers understand his sense; for though There must be Rules in a language to make it sociable, yet Those Rules may be strictor than need to be, and to be too strict, makes Them to be too unpleasant and uneasy But Language should be like Garments, for though every particular Garment hath a general Cut, yet Their Trimmings may be different, and not go out of The fashion; so wit may place Words to its own becoming, delight, and advantage, and not alter Langage nor obstruct The Sense; for The more liberty we have of Words, The clearer is Sense delivered. As for wit, it is wilde and fantastical, and Therefore must have no set Rules; for Rules Curb, and Shackle it, and in that Bondage it dies.
The Worlds Olio.
LIB. II. PART I.
The Vulgar Part of Mankind. Allegory.
Most Mens Minds are Insipid, having no Balsamical Virtue Therein; They are as The Terra Damnata of Nature.
And Their Brains Most commonly are like Barren Grounds, which bear nothing but Mossy Ignorance, no Flowers of wit. The Course of Their Lives are like Those that dig in a Coal-pit, Their Actions as The Coals Therein, by which They are smucht and blackt with Infamy; or else Their Actions are like a Sexton, which digs a Grave to bury The Life in Oblivion.
Allegory 1.
The Mind is like a Commonwealth, and The Thoughts as The Citizens Therein; or The Thoughts are like Housholdservants, who are busily imployed about The Minds Affairs, who is The Master.
Allegory 2.
Quick busy Thoughts suck Vapour from The Stomach to The Head, as Water through a Straw sucked by The Mouth: But strong working Thoughts draw Vapours up, as Water is drawn with Buckets out of a Well.
Allegory 3.
The Brain of a man is The Globe of The Earth, and Knowledge is The Sun that gives The light Therein; Understanding is The Moon, that changeth according as it receivs light from The Sun of Knowledge; Ignorance is The Shadow that causeth an Eclipse; The four Quarters, are, Infancy, Youth, Manhood, and Age; for Experience makes The full Moon. Or, Knowledge is The Brain, and Understanding The Eyes of The Brain, where all eyes do not see clearly; Some are purblind, Those can only perceive, but not with perfect distinctions; Some Squint, and to Those all Objects seem double, like a Fanus face; Some are weak, either by Sickness or by Age, and They see all as in a Mist, thick and obscure; Some are starck blind, and They see nothing at all. Thus They that have clear eyes of Understanding in The brain of Knowledge, have a good and solid Judgement; The Purblinde, is to be obstinate in an Opinion, making no distinction of Reason; a Squint, is to be doubtfull, which makes double Objects, as wheTher it be or be not; a weak Eye, is to have a narrow Capacity; to be blind, is to be a very Fool.
Allegory 4.
The World is The Ground, whereon The Mind draws and designs, with The Pencils of appetite, The actions of Life, mixing The Colours of several Objects togeTher with The Oil of Thoughts; and Dislikes are The Dark Colours which shaddow The Light of pleasures.
Allegory 5.
The Mind is a Garden where all manner of Seeds be sown; Prosperities are The fine painted Tulips, Innocency The white Lillies; The four Vertues are The sweet Gilliflowers, Roses, Violets, and Prim-roses; Learning is The tastable and savoury Herbs; Afflictions, are Rue, Wormwood, Rubarb, which are bitter to The Taste, but yet wholSome and beneficial to The curing The sick and distempered Soul, purging The superfluous Vanity Thereof, and serve as Antidotes against Vice, as Pride, Ambition, Extortion, Covetousness, and The like, which are Night-shade and Helebore; Poppy is Stupidity; Sloth, and Ignorance are Weeds which serve for no use.
Allegory 6.
The Thoughts are like Stars in The Firmament, where Some are fix’d, others like The wandring Planers; others again are only like Meteors, which when Their Substance is wasted, Their Light goeth out; Their Understanding is like The Sun, which gives Light to all The rest of The Thoughts; Memory is like The Moon, which hath its New, its Full, and its Wain.
Allegory 7.
MAN is like The Globe of The World, and his Head as The highest Region, wherein Knowledge, as The Sun, runs in The Ecliptick Line of Reason, and gives light of Understanding to all The rest of The Thoughts, as The Planets which move by degrees in Their several Orbes, Some slower and Some faster. Ignorance is The total Eclips; and violent Passions, as dark Clouds, that Viel The face Thereof, which is only seen by The shadowes, but not in its full Glory.
Allegory 8.
The World is a Shopp which sells all manner of Commodities to The Soul and Senses; The price are Good Actions and Bad, for which They have Salvation, or Damnation; Peace, or War; Pleasure, or Pain; Delight, or Grief.
Allegory 9.
The Earth is The great Merchant of The World, trafficking* with The Sun and The rest of The Planets; whose StoreHouses are The several Regions, from whence she fetches, in Ships of attraction, her several Commodities, Heat, and Moisture, whereof she makes Life, and sells it to several Creatures, who pay her Death for The same.
*The Earth is The great Loadston to The World.
Allegory 10.
The World is like The Sea, and Life and Death The flowing and ebbing Thereof; Warrs are The Stormes that make it rough in Billows of Faction; and The Tongues of Men, by Their loud Reports, are as The Roating Thereof; but Peace is The Calm which makes it so smooth that The face of Tranquillity is seen Therein, Prosperity is The Sun which throwes its Beams of Plenty Thereon; but Adversity is as dark Clouds which hang full of Discontent, and oft times fall in Showers of Desolation and Destruction.
Of The World. Allegory 11.
The World is like a great City, wherein is much Commerce, through which runs a great Navigable River of Ambition, Ebbing and Flowing with Hope and Doubt; having Barks of Self-conceit floating Thereon, filled with Pride and Scorn; and Merchants of Faction setting forth Ships of Trouble, to bring in Power and Authority; which Ships, by The Storms of Warr, are oft times rackt, where all Happiness and Peace is drown’d in The Waves of Misery and Discontent; but Silver Vows, Gilded Promises, and Golden Expectations, make a glorious shew, like a Goldsmiths Shop; and though The Substance doth not waste, yet it is often melted by cross accidents, and forgetfullness, and The fashions alter according to The Humours of The time. Hard Hearts, bold Faces, feared Consciences, and rash Actions, are The Brass and Iron that make The Instruments of War.
Of Fortune. Allegory 12.
Fortune is a Mountebank, cozening and cheating Mankind, acting upon The Stage of The World; where Prosperity plaies The part of a Fool to allure The Multitude, inticeing Them to buy her Druggs of Follies and Vanities; or Antidotes of Experience, against her poysons of Miseries; which Poysons are Many times so strong, that They kill having no remedy; but she cares not so her Ware be sold, wheTher They live or dye.
A man is like a Cabinet of Toies, wherin are Some false Drawers of deceit, which none can discover to The view of The World, but Prosperity and Adversity, The Tongue is a Key which unlocks The door of The Ears, and lets in Flattery, as Those that steal Affection from The Heart.
The Heart of a man is The Church of Controversie, and The Tongue is The Sophisterian-Pricst, which preacheth false Doctrin.
Allegory 13.
IN the Head of man was a Diet call’d and wit chosen Emperour; he was an active Prince, and so ingenious, that he had Trade and Traffick not only with every kingdome, but he made his advantage upon every Thing; besides, he kept his Kingdom in Peace, setting his Subjects Thoughts on work lest They should become idle, and so grow factious for want of imployment, and somtimes, to recreate Them, he makes Maskques and Plaies, Balls and Songs, to which They dance upon The feet of Numbers; but if this Emperour did chance to make War upon his Neighbours, he never went forth himself, but sent his satyrical Jests out, which march’d upon grounds of white paper, arm’d with black ink, and sighting with sharp words, where Most commonly They rout his Enemies with Scorn, or kill Them with Reproach, and bury Them with Infamy.
Allegory 14.
The several Brains of men are like to several Governments, or Kingdomes; The Monarchical Brain, is, where Reason rules as sole King, and is inthron’d in The Chair of Wisedom, which keeps The Vulgar Thoughts in Peace and Obedience, not daring to rise up in Rebellious Passions; but The Aristocratical Brain, is, where Some Few, but strong Opinions govern all The Thoughts; These Governors Most commonly are Tyrannical, executing Their Authority by Obstinacy; but in The Republike Brain There is no certain Government, nor setled Governour; for The Power lies among The Vulgar Thoughts, who are alwaies Placing and Displacing; one while a vain Imagination is carried in The Chair of Ignorance, and cryed up with applause by The idle and loose Thoughts, and, in a short time after, thrown out with Accusation and Exclamation, and afterwards executed upon The Block of Stupidity; and so Conceptions of all sorts are Most commonly served with The same sauce; and if by chance They set up Reason or Truth, They fare no better; for The inconstant Multitude of Rude and Illiterate Thoughts displaces Them again, and offtimes executes Them upon The Scaffold of Injustice, with The sword of Falshood.
Allegory 15.
The Head of Man is like a Wilderness, where Thoughts, as several Creatures, live Therein, 25 Coveting Thoughs which hunt after our appetites, which never leave feeding untill Their desires are satisfied, or indeed They are glutted; others so fearfull that every Object is apt to startle Them; and others so dull and slow, like crawling Worms; others so elevated, like Birds, They fly in Aery Imaginations, and Many above all possibility.
Allegory 16.
MAN and The World do resemble much; The Heart is like The Torrid Zone, and The slame blazes There as The Sun which sends forth Raies through The Eyes, that draw in Affections, where Some Objects are like The gross Vapours, which gaTher into Clouds of Melancholy, which darkens The resplendent lights of Joy, quashes The natural Heat, and nourisheth Humours wherewith The Health is impaired, and The body becomes lean barren and cold; but when The Heat of The Heart dissipates Those Vapours, it either turns into windy Throbs, or Showers of Tears, or thundring Grones; or else it rarifies into a Christalline Tranquillity.
Allegory 17.
The Spirit Travells in Ships of Medium, from The Kingdome of The Brain; hoisting up The Sails of The eye-lids, being well ballanced with clear sight, puts forth from The Optick Port, through The Haven of The round circle in The Ball; and when it is full freighted with Objects, returns and paies knowledge, for Custome, to The Soul, its King; whereby The Kingdome growes rich in Understanding, besides The curiosity of Fancy. But withall it fills The Kingdome full of vain Opinions, which are able to Rebell with The Pride of Self-conceit.
Allegory 18.
The Brain is like a Perspective-glass, and The Understanding is The Eye to discover The Truth, Follies, and Falshood in The World.
The Brain is like a Forest, and The Thoughts as Passengers that travell Therein, making Inrodes and beating out Paths. And when The Brain is very dry, by reason of hot Vapours from The Liver, There ariseth such a dust of vain Phantasms as puts out The Eyes of Truth; land when The Brain is slabby and wet by reason of cold Vapours which are sent out of The ill-disgesting Stomach, There is such a Bogg of Ignorance, that The Thoughts sink Therein, and can hardly get out, and Many times are lost in Those Quagmires; but when There is fair WeaTher of Health, There is Pleasure and Delight.
Allegory 19.
The first best Poetical Brain was as a Flint, and Fancy The Sparks that are struck by The Iron Senses, and all Modern Poets The Tinder that take fire from Thence. Fancies are tost in The Brain as a Ball against a Wall, where every Bound begets an Eccho, so from one Fancy arise more.
Phrase is The Painting, Number The Materials, and Fancy The Ground whereon The Poetical aery Castles are built. There is no such sweet and pleasing Compagnion as Fancy, in a Poetical head.
The Brains of men are like Colleges, and The Thoughts are The Students, that dwell Therein; thus Many heads may make up an University.
The Picture of Wit. Allegory 20.
Wit is like a Pencill that draws several Figures, which are The Fancies; and The Brain is The Hand to guide that Pencill, where all hands draw not one and The same Figure, but according to The skill of The hand; so all Fancies do not run one way, but according to The temper of The Brain, Some run into Invention, as Artificers; Some into Verse, as Poets; so that all wit is Fancy; yet so much is The Poets wit above The Artificers, that his fancie cannot be put into Artificial Figures, but is as The Spirit, The other as The Body.
Allegory 21.
Wit is like a Lilly, The one is as pleasant to The Ear, as The other is to The Eye, it comes to fading naturally, and if it be not timely gaThered it soon withers and dies.
22. PRudence is like an Oke, it is long a growing, and it is old before it dies.
23. ON The Tower of Ambition hangs a Diall of Industry, where The Sun of good Fortune shews The time of Friendship, on The Figure of Profession.
24. Melancholy is The North-Pole, Envy The South, Choler is The Torrid Zone, and Ambition is The Zodiack; Joy is The Ecliptick Line, where The Sun of Mirth runs; Justice is The Equinoctial; Prudence and Temperance are The Artick and Antartick Circles; Patience and Fortitude are The Tropicks.
25. Tears peirce through The Heart of Grief, and vents it out through The Eyes of Sorrow.
26. Some Eies allure Hearts, as Falckoners do Hawkes.
27. Thoughts are like Pancakes, and The Brain is The Pan wherein They are tossed and turned by The several Objects, as several Hands.
28. A Pain in The Teeth is like a Gout in The Toe.
29. The Stomack is the Still, The Heart is The Furnace where The Fire lyes. The Heart is a Limbeck, wherein all Passions are distilled, and The Fume Thereof ascends to The Head, and issues out, either through The Eyes, or Mouth; from The Eyes run The water of tears, from The Mouth The spirits of words.
The Life and Death of Wit. Allegory 30.
Fancy in Verse or Prose, is like a Child in The Womb, which onely lives whilst it is in motion; but when once The innate motion ceases, it is dead: So Fancy, when once it is conceived and quickned in The Brain, if it be not brought forth and put into Writing, it dyes; and if Those Writings be once lost, They cannot be writ again, no more than a Child can go into The Womb, and be as it was.
Allegory 31.
Wit is The Essence of The Mind, or Soul.
32. The Ingredients of The Mind are, Knowledge, Understanding, Imagination, Conception, Opinion, Will, Memory, and Remembrance; These Compounds make up a Rational Soul, as several Ingredients make Mithridate.
33. DIscord is like playing at Tennis, and The Tongue is The Racket to strike The Ball of wit, and The Brains are The Gamesters; and if The Gamesters be not equally skilfull, or at least very near, They cannot play; for one cannot play a Game alone, There must be two that must be match’d togeTher.
Of Imitation and Singularity. Allegory 34.
Imitations are like a flight of Wild Geese, which go each one after another, when Singularity is like a Phaenix, having no Companion or Competitor, which make it The more admir’d; And though a good Imitation is good, and Those are to be commended that copy well an excellent Original, yet it expresseth want of Invention that They cannot draw without a Pattern; and it expresseth Weakness, when we cannot go without The help of another.
35. Every superfluous Cup, and every superfluous Bit, is digging a Grave to bury Life in.
36. Wanton Eyes are like Apes, that skip on every Face, and oftentimes put The Countenance out of order whereon They light.
37. Every little Fly, and every little Peble, and every little Flower, is a Tutor in Natures School to instruct The Understanding; The four Elements are The four great Volumes, wherein lye Natures Works.
38. The Mind is like a God, that governs all; The Imaginations, like Nature, that created all; The Brain, as The onely Matter on which all Figurative Thoughts are printed, and formed; Or The Mind is like an Infinite Nature, having no Dimension nor Extension, and The Thoughts are like Infinite Creatures Therein.
39. The Mind travels through Speculations and Contemplations, on Probability with Reason.
40. Tears are The Children of Grief, which melting, dye as soon as They are born: But The Womb wherein They lye is alwaies swelled (which is The Eye.)
41. Thoughts are like several Winds, that blow from every corner of The Head; and The four Partitions of The Skull, are East, West, North, and South; From The North blows thoughts of Melancholy, which bring cold and chilling Fears, which freez The Blood, as it were making it thick, and congeal The Spirits, which otherwise would slow with Agitation. From The South part blows suffocating Thoughts, which cause foggy Vapours to arise, which darken The Mind with Discontent from The height of Mirth, and gaTher into Clouds of Discontent, which fall down into Showers of Tears. From The West bloweth malignant Thoughts, which corrupt The clearer Minds, and inflames The Aery Spirit, causing plagues of Jealousie, or a Famine of Despair, or Wars of Fury and Madness. From The East, refreshing Thoughts arise, which make The Mind serene; and when The Mind is hot with Ambition, caused by The Sun of Hope, Then These pleasant Gales of Thoughts fan it with Poetical puffs, and allay it with The sweet Dew of Fancy, causing flow’ry Sonnets to sprout out on The white Ground of fine Paper.
Womens Faces are Masks of Modesty to cover The Dishonesty of Their Hearts.
Falshoods are like Caps, which cover The Head of Knowledge from The Sun of Truth; Or like Vaults, or Woods, that make Ecchoes, where Words spread far, and sound double and treble; Or like Squares of Glass, which make of one a thousand.
A Wicked Mans Heart is like a Snake of Wier put up round in a Box, that when it is opened by base or cruel Actions, it flyes in The Face of Those that stand by it.
Of The Thoughts. Allegory 42.
The Thoughts of Men are like The Pulses of Men; The well-temper’d Pulse beats even, strong and slow; but a hot Constitution beats even, strong and quick; a feaverish Pulse beats double and quick; but in a high Feaver The Pulse beats treble, and Sometimes seems to stand still; and in a cold Constitution The Pulse beats slow and dull: so The Thoughts of Those that have slow, strong and even Thoughts, are Wise and Judicious; Those that are even, strong and quick, are witty and Ingenious; Those that are double and quick, have ready wits, but no Judgements; Those that have treble Thoughts, and Sometimes seem to stand still, are Mad, but have strong Fancies; and Those that are slow and dull, have neither wit nor Judgement. There is no way to clear Thoughts but by Words.
Of Melancholy. Allegory 43.
Melancholy persons are never in The Mean, but alwaies in Extremes; as to be Sometimes in an humour of extreme Laughter, other times possest with high Fears, passionate Weeping, violent Anger or Rage, and so with stupid Dulness, and know not why, and yet Rational Persons; and Therefore it is not alwaies Outward Objects, but Inward Dispositions, as The working of The Spirits, or The motion of The Body, for Melancholly Persons have thick, gross, heavy Humours; when The Humour is rarified, it moves Laughter; when heated, Anger; when moved with desperate Fear, The Smoke, which is The breathing of it, distils into Tears; when setled and cold, Stupid; so this one Humour brings several Passions.
44. Words of Commendations, mixt with The Flowers of Rhetorick, make a sweet Posie of Joy, when They are bound up with The Beams of Pleasant Eyes: But words of Reproach, bound up with The Wrinkles of Frowns, make a Rod to whip an offender.
45. They that take Self-Love for Their Guide, ride in The Waies of Partiality, on The Horse of Flattery, to The Judge of Falshood; and They that take Reason for Their Guide, ride in The Way of Probability, on a Horse of Prudence, towards The End of Truth.
46. Spight creeps like a Snake out of The Bank of base Thoughts, to sting The name of good Fame.
47. The Animal Figure of Mankind, I will similize to an Island, The Blood as The Sea that runs about, The Mouth as The Haven which receive The Ships of Provision, which are Meat, Drinke (or Mrechandice of Luxurious and Superfluous Meats and Drinks) which cause Many times The ruin of The Island; like as a Rebellious Pride, so The Humours of The Body swelling with malignity, ruinate The Body, by a sudden Usurpation, as dead Palsies, Apoplexies, or The like; but The exterior Senses are The Forts, and The vital parts are like The Magazine, which as long as They are secured, and that There are Provisions, They are safe; but if once They are taken, The Island is utterly lost and ruinated; besides, The Island is in great danger to be over-flowed; for The Blood, which is as The Sea, being alwaies in perpetual motion, running about Ebbing and Flowing through The narrow Veins, and large Arteries; if by chance it break through The Arteries, or over-flow The small Veins, it drowns The Island; wherefore Chyrurgions, which are like Drayners, should cut Sluces to let it out.
48. A Married life is an Olio Podrido of several Troubles and Vexations mixt togeTher; and say The chief Meat should be Turtle Doves, though They are Most commonly Scolding Daws, yet Jealousie is The Sauce and Broth Thereto; Sickness and pain in Breeding and Bearing of Children, are The Limmons and Oranges that are mixed Therin. On this Dish a Married life feeds, which produceth no good Nourishment, but breeds raw, indigested, cholerick and melancholy Humours; but a single Solitariness is a Dish, which is made with Ingredients of Peace, Happiness, Pleasure and Delight. This Dish produceth good Nourishment, and The Life ofttimes invites The Muses to feed Thereon.
49. Life is like The Shell of a Nut, and Reputation like The Kernell Therein; which if The Teeth of Time crack gently, The Kernell comes out whole, but if it crack it too rustly, or hard, it breaks The Shell, and bruises The Kernel, or champs it all in pieces.
50. Friendship is like to two Convex Glasses, where The Species come forth and meet each other.
51. The Mind is like Nature, and The several Thoughts are The several Creatures it doth create; Forgetfulness is The Death, and Remembrance The Life.
52. Justice should be a mans Governour, Prudence his Counsellor, Temperance his Friend, Fortitude his Champion, Hope his Food, Charity his House, Faith his Porter to keep out all Falshood, and to let in none but Truth; wit his Companion, Love his Bedfellow, Patience his Mistris or HandMaid, Reason his Secretary, and Judgement his Steward.
53. Prudence, through The ground of Misery, cuts a River of Patience, where The Mind Swims in Boats of Tranquillity, along The Streams of Life, untill it come to The Shore of Death, where all Streams meet.
54. A Child’s Brain is like ground uncultivated, and Time The Husbandman, with The several Senses, which are as Plows, throwing up The Furrows of Conception, and soweth Seeds of Thoughts, from whence sprout up several Opinions and Fancies.
55. OR a Child’s Brain is like an Island uninhabited, and The Blood in The Veins is The Sea that doth surround it; but Time, The great Navigator, plants it with Strength, which causeth The Spirits, as Merchants, to traffique Thereto; by which it becomes populated with Thoughts, and builds Towers of Imaginations; The Magistrates, which are Opinions, dwell Therin; but The Castles of Fancie are for The Muses, who attend The Queen of wit; but all Brains are not fertile alike, but are like Islands that are neer The Poles, which are inhabited with nothing but Wild Beasts, as Ruff and Rude Bears; others, though They be neerer The Sun, yet are Incipid and Barren, being full of Heaths, bearing nothing but Mossy Ignorance, or else Moorish, being full of Boggs of Sloth, where Lives are swallowed up, sinking insensibly; and Some other Brains have rich Soils, but want The manuring of Education, whereby The Thoughts, which are The people, grow lazy, and live brutishly; but Those Brains that have rich Soils, moderatly peopled, & well manured, having not more peopled Thoughts than work for Their Industry, or so few as not to manage or imploy every part Therein; These Brains are fortified with Understanding, Governed by Judgment, Civilized by Reason, Manured by Experience, whereby They reape The plenty of Wisdome, and live in peacefull Tranquillity, and being inriched with Invention, grow pleasant with Recreations, making Gardens of Pleasure, wherein grow Flowers of Delight; and planting Orchards of various Objects, which The several Senses bring in; These grow tall Trees of Contemplations, whereon The Birds of Poetry sit and sing, and peck at The Fruit of Fame with Their Bills of Glory; from Thence They fly over The Groves of Eternity with Their wings of Presumption; but Some Birds of Poetry light on The Ground of Recreation, There hop through The paths of Custom, made by The recourse of The peopled Thoughts, through The Meadows of Memory, in The Island of The Brain; and Sometimes skip upon a Stick of Conceit, wagging Their tail of Jests; or else fly to The Forest of wild Phantasms; but There finding little Substance to feed on, return with weary Wings to Their place of rest again; but in The Spring time of Love, The Nightingale-Poets sing Amorous Sonnets in several Notes of Numbers, somtimes in The Dawny Morning of Hopes, or in The Evening of Doubts, and somtimes in The Night of Dispair, but seldom in The high Noon of Fruition.
The Worlds Olio.
LIB. II. PART II.
Short Essayes.
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AS The Nightingale is The Bird of The Spring; so The Fly is The Bird of The Summer.
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There would be no Twilight if There were no Clouds: for The Clouds are like The Wieck of a Candle.
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Platonick Love is a Bawd to Adultery; so Romancy, and The like.
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If a Woman gets a spot in her Reputation, she can never rub it out.
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It is The greatest study in The Life of a Chast Woman, to keep her Reputation and Fame unspotted: for Innocency is oft scandalized amongst The Tongues of The Malicious.
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Womens Thoughts should be as pure as Their Looks; Innocent, Noble, Honourable, Worthy, and Virtuous, are words of Praises, more proper for Women, than Gallant, Brave, Forward Spirits; These are too Masculine Praises for The Effeminat Sex.
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Men should follow Reason and Truth, as The Flower that turns to The Sun.
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Pockholes take away The gloss of Youth from a Face.
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Some give Women more Praises than Their Modesty dares countenance.
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True Affection is not to be measured, because it is like Eternity, not to be comprized.
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Those that would be Honoured, must have Noble Civilities, Gratefull Performances, Generous Liberalities, and Charitable Compassions.
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A Man may be as soon dishonoured by The Indiscretion of his Wife, as by her Dishonesty.
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It is better to live with Liberty, than with Riches.
- With Virtue, than with Beauty.
- With Love, than with State.
- With Health, than with Power.
- With wit, than with Company.
- With Peace, than with Fame.
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With Beasts, than with Fools.
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There is no Sound so unpleasing, as to hear Amorous Lovers, or Fools, speak.
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There is no Sight so unpleasant, as Affectation.
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A Gracefull Motion sets forth a Homely Person, and wins more Affection than The rarest Beauty that Nature ever made.
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Wit, and bon Miene, and Civility, take more than Beauty, and gay Clothing.
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Pride without State, doth as ill as State without Civility.
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It is better to hear Sense in mean Phrases, than Phrases without Sense.
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A Man should alwaies wear his Life for The service of his Honour.
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Men should have Variety in nothing, but Gainfull Knowledge.
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It is proper for a Gentleman to have a bon Miene, to be Civil, and Conversible in Discourse, to know Men and Manners.
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It is more proper for a Gentleman to be active in The use of Arms, than in The Art of Dancing; for a Gallant Man hath more use of his Arms than his Heels.
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It is more proper for a Gentleman to learn Fortification than Grammar: But what pains will a Man take in learning several Languages, wherein Their Tongues are exercised, and neglect that Learning that should maintain Their Honour? which is, The Sword; The one doth but trouble Their Heads, and overcharge Their Memories; The other gets Honour, and saves Their Lives; The one is onely proper for Scholastical Pedants, The other for Heroick Spirits.
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A Man should court his Sword as his Mistris, and study to learn its Virtue, and love it as his Friend, which defends his Honour, to revenge his Quarrels, and guard him from his Enemies.
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For he is The more Gallant Man that hath a Generous Mind, a Valiant Heart, than he that hath only a Learned Head; The first is Noble, The other Pedantical; The one gives, The other receives.
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It becomes a Gentleman raTher to love Horses and Weapons, than to fiddle and dance.
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And he is not worthy The name of a Gentleman, that had raTher come Sweating from a Tennis-Court, than Bleeding from a Battel.
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Men should never give Gifts, but out of three respects, either for Charity, Love, or Fame; and it is a good chance when They meet all in one Subject; not that one Subject should be all, but all in one.
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All Civility hath a Natural and an Attractive Quality, and, like a Loadstone, draws Affection to it.
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There is nothing more Noble, that to overcome an Enemy by Curtesy.
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And There is nothing more base, than to insult over an Enemy in Adversity.
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it is more Noble to win an Enemy to be Their Friend, than when They have Them in Their power, to revenge Their Quarrel; for it is The part of Generosity to Pardon, as well as to Exalt.
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It looks with a face like Generosity, to be Gratefull.
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There is no greater Usury, or Extortion, than upon Curtesy; for The Lone of Money is but ten, twenty, or thirty in The Hundred; but The Lone of Curtesy is to inslave a Man all his life.
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Yet Gratitude is nothing but to pay a Debt: for if one Man save another Mans life, and he returns with The hazard of his own, he hath paid him what he owed him; but if he looks for it oftner than once, its Usury; than twice, it is Extortion.
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It is Commendable to Censure like a Noble and Mercifull Judge, not like a Wicked Tyrant.
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Who would esteem Fame, when The Cruel and Wicked shall Many times have Fortune befriend Them so, that They shall live with Applause, which is Fame; and The Virtuous, and Welldeserving, shall be stabbed or wounded with Reproach, which is Infamy; so that Fame is like a great King, and Fortune The Favourite.
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Every one cannot be a Caesar, or an Alexander; but There must compile such Times, Ages, and Actions, and Minds togeTher, to produce such Exploits.
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Humility is The way to Ambitious ends; for few come to Them by Pride, but by Time serving, or Bribery.
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For seeming Humility is The Tower whereon Ambition is bailt and Pride is The Pinnacle, where Envy is an Engin, to pull it down.
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Nature makes, but Fortune distributes.
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God by Fortune doth not alwaies protect The Honest from The Envious of The World, or Accidents of Chance.
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it is as impossible to separate Envy from Noble and Great Actions, as to destroy Death.
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Power is like unto Love, it is The strongest when it is drawn to one point; for Power divided, is weak; so is Love; or like The Sun, when The Beams are gaThered togeTher into one point, it burns.
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Kings desire Power, because They would be like to a God; but Tyrants may be said to keep Their Power by The sweat of Their Brows.
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To keep The Common People in order, They must be awed with Fear, as well as nourished with Love, or flattered with Hopes.
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What hopes can People have of a King to govern a Kingdome, when he doth not reform his own Houshold, but lets it run into Faction and Disorder?
- The Service to Kings, is Allegiance.
- The Service to Nature, is Self preservation.
- The Service to God, is a Pure Life, and Unfeigned Love.
- The Reward from Kings, is Outward Honour.
- The Reward from Nature, is Death.
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The Reward from God, Eternal Life.
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Every one is afraid of Tyrannie that is under Subjection; but when Tyrannie turns from it self to Clemency, Then Love comes where Fear was.
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The best way for Princes to keep up Authority, is to make good Laws, to distribute Justice, to correct Vice, to reward Virtue, to countenance Industry, to provide for The safety of Nation and People.
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A Man that suffers all Injuries, is a Fool; but to suffer Some or to suffer a Moderation, is Patience.
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For Patience is The way to Folly, as Fury or Choler to Madness.
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To put up, or pass by an Injury from Those that have power, seems to proceed from Fear; but to pass by an Injury from The powerless, seems Heroick.
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of all Virtues, Patience hath The fewest Passions mixt with it; and though it seems unsensible, yet it seeth clearly into its own Misfortunes; for Patience belongs to The Misfortunes that concern a Mans self.
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Yet Patience should not be a Bawd to a Mans ruine.
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There is none can be so patient as Those that have suffered much.
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The Designs of Hate are easier followed, and oftner practiced, than of Love; for one may easier take Revenge of a Foe, than deliver Life and Liberty to a Friend.
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There is none so apt to revenge, as Those that have been forgiven.
- There is none so sorrowfull, as Those that want Means, and Waies to make Satisfaction.
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Many times Guiltiness is more confident than Innocency.
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There is as much difference betwixt Pleasure and Joy, as Sorrow and Melancholy; for one disorders The Spirits, The other composes Them. An overplus of Joy, is like Those that are drunk, for it makes The Head of Reason dissy. There are Many sorts of Melancholy, but Love-Melancholy makes Them cry out, O Pleasing Pain, and Happy Misery.
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There is a fix’d Grief, and a moving Grief; The one hath neither Sighs nor Tears, but seems as a Marble Pillar; The other breaks into Complaint, and pours it self forth in Showers of Tears; Yet There are Many sorts of Tears; for There are Tears of Joy, and There are Tears of Sorrow, and Tears of Anger, Tears of Pity, and of Mirth; and in all Passions, Tears are apt to flow, especially from moyst Brains: But deep Sorrow hath dry Eyes, silent Tongues, and aking Hearts.
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When The Spirits are wearied with Grief, They fall into a Melancholy Weeping, and Then are setled with a compliance to time.
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Passion will rise in The defence of Honour, and The Tongue will display The Passion.
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For all we call Love, is Friendship, which is begot by agreeable Humours, or received Curtesies, or a Resemblance of Parts, which is alterable: but There can be no true Love, but upon The unalterable God.
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There are waies to perfect Love, but no Body can arrive to The Journeys end, untill They come to Heaven, because There is no Perfection in this World; and There can be no perfect Love, but upon a perfect Object.
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They that love much, can never be Happy; for The Torment of what Evil may come to that They love, takes away The sweetness of what They enjoy: Thus The fear of Losing is more unequal than The pleasure of Enjoyment.
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The Root of Love is like a Rock, which stands against all Storms; but Wantonness is like The Root of a Flower, that every Worm may eat thorow.
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Envious Persons, and Lovers, are The greatest Flatterers; The one flatters to hide his Envy, The other to please The Beloved.
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Those Affections are strongest, that Nature and Education have linkt togeTher, not onely by Birth, but by Conversation: for as Birth Most commonly gives a likeness of parts, so Conversation breeds a resemblance in humours and dispositions; The one begets a likeness in Body, The other of Minds, or Souls.
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There is no Sound strikes The Ears so hard, as The report of Death, especially when Affection opens The Dore, and lets The Messenger down into The Heart.
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True Love is an Affection, which is very difficult to settle, and hard to remove, when once placed.
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To move Passion, raTher belongs to The Orator than The Poet; for a Poet is a Creator of Fancy; and Poetry raTher makes than perswades: But indeed that which moves Passion Most, is raTher by Sound than Sense; witness Musick, which is The greatest Mover of Passion. Thus Musick moves Passion more than Reason; but Poetry is raTher to delight The Wit, than perswade The Reason.
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There is as much difference in wit, as There is in Pictures; for every Picture is not drawn by Apelles; and as Some Painters are but for Sign-posts, so Some wits are onely fit for Ballads.
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One and The same Tale, told by several Persons, makes great difference in The Affections of The Hearers.
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A witty Description in Discourse, paints a lively Description in The Mind.
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A Translator acts The Person of an Author, where Most commonly The Author is represented to his advantage.
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There are a greater number that write more wisely, and learnedly, than delightfully.
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Thoughts, when They run too fast, or are prest too hard, may destroy The Body by The distempering of The Mind.
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To have a Fixt Thought, is to draw The Imaginations to a point.
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Though The Understanding be clear, yet The Utterance may be instructed, if The Tongue be not filed with The Motion, to make all run smooth and even.
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Some have more Words than wit, and more wit Then Judgement.
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And others have more Years than Experience, and more Experience than Honesty.
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Some have more Law than Policy.
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Some have more Ambition than Power, and more Power than Justice.
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Secret Meetings, Soft Whisperings, or Dumb Shews, have Most commonly evil Designes.
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The dark Minds of Men are deceitfull.
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It were base for a Man or Woman to lay a Blemish upon Those that have given Them an honorable Reputation.
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Many that wish Their Enemies Confusion, yet would not betray Them to it.
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I had raTher hear what my Enemy can say against me, than what my Enemy can say for me: for There are none so good but may have Some Faults, which Their Enemy is more apt to find out than Their Friends, much less Themselves.
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Those persons that are railed at, seem Nobler than Those that are humbly commended.
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Many Commendations seeme little better than Scorns, when to be railed at shews a Supreme Power of Their Evill.
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Speakers are like Doggs, that bark when They dare not bite.
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It is an unthankfull office, to decide other mens Quarrells: for Most commonly he is hated on both sides, as a Friend to neither, because he seems a Friend to both.
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Thus a Judge Most commonly is never beloved, neither of Those he judges The Cause for, nor Those he judgeth The Cause from; The one, because he thinks he had wrong; The other because he thinks he had nothing but what is his own.
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So none gain by Quarrells but Lawyers, whose Fees are begot by Discord.
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it is a great happiness when one can take his Pleasure, and execute his Duty at once.
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Some are so Ambitious and Envious, as when They cannot hope to be The Highest, They would be content to be Miserable to see all others so,
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The true use of Riches to Noble Minds, is to make others happy aswell as Themselves; but not so as to make Themselves miserable, by imploying and bestowing all upon others, so as to leave none for Themselves, for that were Vain-Glory.
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It is not every Ambitious and Aspiring Spirit, that can do brave and great Actions.
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Those Minds that are pure are not to be sullied or moved towards ill, either by wanton Words, or immodest Actions; They can no more corrupt Their Thoughts, than They do Angels; for Those that are Chast, take more delight and pleasure in Their pure and unspotted Thoughts, than The Amorous Lovers in Their conceived injoyments: for Nature is not ashamed of her own Works, but of The abuse of her Works; for as The Wise and Veruous are The chiefest and perfectest of her Works, so The debauched and foolishest are The greatest defect.
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Dreams are The overflowing of The Brain, and Sleep stops The Senses, as Sluces are stopped with Mud.
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A discoursative wit, is to play with Words, raTher than to talk with Sense on The ground of Reason; but to talk on Reason is to abate Words, and multiply Sense. I say, Those shall generally please Most that give ear to what is said, than talk Most Themselves.
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Our natural English Tongue was significant enough without The help of other Languages; but as we have merchandized for Wares, so have we done for Words, but indeed we have raTher brought in than carried out.
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There are Gifts of Affectionate Love. Gifts of Generosity. Gifts of Charity. Gifts of Vain-Glory. Gifts of Fear. Alluring Gifts, and Bribes, that are Gifts of Covetousness.
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The Mind is like a God, an Incorporeal thing, and so Infinite, that it is impossible to measure The Mind of Eternity.
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Desires are like The motion of Time, still running forward, and what is past, is as if it had never been.
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The Vapour that ascends to The Head, is a great Instrument to The wit, as gross Vapours clog it up, cold Vapours congeale it, hot Vapours inflame it, thin and sharp Vapours quicken it; so several sorts of Vapours make variety of wits; and The several Figures, Works and Forms that The vaporous Smoak doth raise, cause several Fancies, by giving several Motions to The Brain.
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As Perfumes make The Head ake, so, Many times, Prosperity makes The Heart ake.
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Ceremony is The ground of all Obedience; for where There is no Ceremony, The Gods are neglected, and Kings depose Themselves by The neglect Thereof.
- Complements are The worst sort of Conversation, besides, They are not sociable. Truth holds no Intelligence or correspondency with Complements.
*Editors note: The original numbering in the 1655 edition was incorrect. We have corrected the numbers, but there is gap between 123 and 125.
Of several Opinions. Essay 125.
Several Opinions, except it be in Religion, do no harm, if no good; for Opinions are The greatest entertainers of Time, and a chief Companion in mans life; for Opinions are Chatting Gossips, to pass away The idle time; for although Man complains of The shortenss of Life, and swiftness of Time, yet he hath Most commonly more than he can well tell how to spend his Life with; for Most men seek waies to pass Time withall; and if The World were equally, amongst Mankind and Industry, divided, yet he would find little Variety of Imployment; so that Mans Life is busied more with Thoughts than Actions.
The strength of erroneous Opinions. Essay 126.
HOW strong did men believe against The Antipodes, as one man believing such a thing to be, was put out of his Liveing, when in after Ages it was found a Truth? How strongly did Many Ages believe that The Torrid Zone, or Ecliptick Line, was not Habitable, which now is found The Most temperate Climate? How strongly did Europe believe that all The World was discovered, and yet afterwards so much found out, as it seemed another World? and Many believi’d that The Earth was flat and not round, but Cavendish, Drake, and others, rectified that Error; and Many other Examples might be given. So that Opinions are alwaies in War, with Factious Sidings, and men become Their Champions either with The Pen or Sword; but The ignorant men are The stronger in Their belief in Opinions; for searching gives Doubts, aswell as discovereth The Truth, and it is Doubts that disturb The Peace, either of The Mind or otherwaies, when Truth commonly closeth all differrences; so men travell in Their Thoughts to spy out The Secrets of Nature, and find out Reason, to perswade Them to new Opinions, which may be as far from The Truth, as The old ones which They sling off; for Nature is too various to be known, and her Curiosities too subtil to be understood; but men are so strangely delighted with what is new, that Those men that have found a new Opinion are absolute to judge and rule over all others; such Reputation Singularity begets.
The strength of Opinions. Essay 127.
SO strongly do men wedge or rivet Opinions with The Hammer of a confident belief, that it is, in Many, impossible to remove Them fro thm, though They are Most ridiculous & foolish, but especially when They are begot of Their own Brains, and all Those that do not adhere to Them shall be accompted as Their Enemies; So much doth Opinion sway and rule in The mind of Man more than Truth doth; for though Some Opinions jump upon Truth, yet it is a thousand to one when They meet; And when The Truth is found, it is no longer an Opinion, but Knowledge; yet it is less esteemed when it is found, which makes that Saying true, That Ignorance is The Mother of Admiration, which Admiration begets an Esteem, and sets a Value upon They know not what: Wherefore he is a very wise man, that can rule his Opinions with Reason, and not let his Opinion overbear his Reason, and to lead him from himself; Yet Opinions should not be sleighted nor contemned without Examination or Triall, though They be never so strange and unlikely, untill The Errour be found out; but not to rely upon Them, or to be so bound that They will make no question against Them; for an Opinion is but a guesse of what may be a Truth; but men should be as free to Opinions as Opinions to Them, to let Them come and go at pleasure.
The Opinions of Some Philosophers. Essay 128.
IF it be, as Some say, that The First Matter was from all Eternity, it is a Deity; and God, The Order of Nature from all Eternity: For what had no begining, sure is a Deity. Thus Philosophers by Their Arguments make three Deities, although They hold but one.
Of Power. Essay 129.
Those have not an absolute Power that Oportunity can break, but he that hath assurance of a Continuancy; wherefore Fear gives not so much assurance as Love; for Fear is jealous, and Therefore would be ready to break all Bonds of Authority; But Duty and Love are constant and carefull to keep Unity, which is Peace. Love gives Obedience with Joy, Fear gives Obedience with Murmure, and Murmure is a Forerunner of Rebellion; wherefore he that hath Most Love hath Most Power.
Of Love. Essay 130.
Pure and true Affection is not to be measured by The length of Years, nor weighed by The Wealth, nor compassed by The Life: for neither Measures, Scales, nor Compasses can take The Weight, The Breadth, The Height, The Depth, nor compass The Circumference.
Of The Senses. Essay 131.
AND those that have Their Senses perfect and much imployed with Varieties, must needs know more than Those that have Them defective, or not practised; yet The Senses make not The Understanding, but The Brain; and not The Brain only, but such a tempered Brain, or such a moved Brain; But Some Brains move like Pulses, Some being distempered, as beating either too slow or too quick; but when The Brain moves even and strong, it shews a healthfull Understanding; when it moves even, strong, and quick, it shews There is much spirit of Fancy, or blood of Invention.
Of Melancholy. Essay 132.
Melancholy, of all other Humours is The Activest, busying The Mind of Man with vain Imaginations; shuffling The Thoughts, cutting The Passions, Cozening Themselves, and losing The Judgement; this Humour proceeds from The illaffected Body, raTher than from an ill-affected Mind; it only lives and is cherished in The Mind, but is bred by a weak Stomach, and is born from an ill Spleen; but Grief, Sorrow, and Sadness are bred in The Mind, begot by an outward effect: So Melancholy Men may be said to be Idle, or Musing, but not Sorrowfull or Sad; for They take more pleasure in Their Melancholy, than others in Their Mirth; but Those that are Melancholy are as great a Punishment to Their Friends, as a sweet Happiness to Themselves.
Of a dull or Melancholy Disposition proceeding from The Body, and The Melancholy proceeding from The Soul. Essay 133.
I Cannot call it Melancholy, but raTher a dull Disposition, which is caused by a heavy black Humour, or a cold thick humour, or a slimy glassie humour, or a sharp Vitreolbred in The Body; which penetrates The Body as it were, or stupifies The Senses, and quenches The Natural Heat. Thus The Body, like Stone. Walls up, or imprisons The Soul, or Mind, wherein it can neither be Active nor Free; this causeth a dull and sad Disposition, which kind of Disposition hath few Desires, and reguards not any thing, nor takes pleasure in Life, but lives as if it lived not.
Where true Melancholy is a serious Consideration; it examines The Worth and Nature of every thing; it seeks after Knowledge, and desires Understanding; it observes strictly, and Most commonly distinguisheth judiciously, applyeth aptly, acteth with ingenuosity, useth Time wisely, lives honestly, dies contentedly, and leaves a Fame behind it.
Where a dull Disposition is lasy and idle; neither considers, nor observes, but lives like a carved Statue; dies like a Beast that cares for no Monumental Remembrance.
The variety of Wit. Essay 134.
Mercury is feigned The Patron of Theeves, because Mercury is Eloquent, and Eloquence steals away The Hearts of men by consenting to follow after The perswasions of Rhetorick; so he is feigned to be The Most talkative God, because The chief part of Rhetorick lies in The use of The Tongue. wit is The God of Fancy, a world of Arts, a Recreation to time, a Disposer of Passions; it sweetens Melancholy, dresses Joy; it quenches Fears, raiseth Hopes, easeth Pains; an Orator of Love, and a Denier of Lust; it mourns with Sorrow, mends Faults; it moves Compassion, begs Pardon; a Perswader to Virtue, an Adornment to Beauty, a Veil to Imperfection, The Delight of Life, Musick to The Ears, a Charm to The Senses; it is a Child of The Brain; it is begot by Experience, and fed with Heat. wit is like Proteus in several Forms, as The Arms of Mars, Joves Thunderbolt, Neptunes Trident, Plutes Cerberus, Vulcans Net, Pallass Lance, Apollos Harp, Circes Wand, Minervas Loom, Mercuries Rod, Venus Doves, Pans Pipe, Cupids Arrow, The Center of The Earth; it is Boreas to Raise Storms, it is Zephyrus to refresh, it is Revenges Sword, and Deaths Sith, Glories Throne, Beauties Pencil, Oblivions Resurrection, The Worlds Delight, Lifes Guide, Loves Fire, Fames Trumpet, and The Mother of Nature. So he that hath a true-born wit hath all.
Of Poets. Essay 135.
Poets do somtimes like Painters, that draw an excellent Beauty, but give it such a Dress that it neither becomes it, nor will it last in fashion, in all places or times: so Poets may have excellent Fancies, but cloThe Them in such harsh andvulgar accustomed Language, as They become Deformed.
There are three sorts of things go to a good Poet, Viz. Fancy, Number, and Rhime; To converse with Poets, sweetens The Nature, not softens it, to make it Facile, but civiliseth it, making it Curteous, Affable and Conversable, Inspiring The Mind with High and Noble Fictions.
Disguisement by Description. Essay 136.
As ill Painters, in setting out The Beauty of The External, do oft leave to Posterity, of well form’d Faces a, deform’d Memory; so weak Writers in describing of The Virtue of The Internal, and The gallant Actions of a Life, either by Their mean Rhetorick, or weak Judgement, The Most Perfect and Princely men, are described with a defective Representation.
Of Passionate Expressions. Essay 137.
Passionate Verses or Speeches must not be read in a Treble* Note, but in a Tenor, and somtimes full as low as a Base, especialy when The Passion is high ad elevately exprest, for Then The Voice must be sad or solemn, which moves in Descending, not Raised Notes, which are Light and Acry, raising Their Tone to a whyning Tune, that is like a squeaking Fiddle or a squeaking Voice; but a serious Speech, a Solemn Note, and a Sober Countenance must be joyn’d togeTher to express a sad Passion to The life; besides, The words must be spoke Soft and Gentle, and not prest and struck too hard against The Lips, or Teeth, or Tongue, but They must be pronounced Swiftly and Harmoniously; to move The Heart to pity, The Eyes to be filled with Tears, and to draw The Soul, as it were, through The Ears, to feed on Melancholy.
*There is difference betwixt Base and Tenor.
Of Translation. Essay 138.
WE are given much, in this latter Age, to Translation, and though Translation is a good Work, because it doth not only divulge good Authors, but distributes Knowledge to The unlearned in Languages; yet Translators are but like Those that shew The Tombs at Westminster, or The Lyons at The Tower, which is but to be an Informer, not The Owner of Them.
Essay 139.
ALthough Accidents give The Ground to Some Arts, yet They are rude and uneasy untill The Brain hath polished Them over.
True it is, The Senses Most commonly give The Brain The matter to work on, yet The Brain forms and figures Those Materials, and disperses Them abroad, to The use of The World, by The Senses again: for as They came in at The Ear and The Eye, or The Taste, Sent, and Touch; so They are delivered out by The Tongue and Hands.
Essay 140.
It is worthy The Observation, to regard The odd Humours of Mankind, how They talk of Reason, and follow The way Thereof so seldome; for men may as easily set Rules to Eternity as to Themselves; for The Mind is so intricate and subtil, that we may as soon measure Eternity as it.
Of Dilation and Retention. Essay 141.
A Dilation causeth as much weakness as Contraction; Dilation causeth weakness by The Disuniting The United Forces, and setting Them at too great a Distance; and Contraction binds Them up too hard, not giving, as we vulgarly say, Elbow room.
The Worlds Olio.
LIB. II. PART III.
Of The Britains.
The Britains of England were a Valiant People, but that They had not skill of Arms answerable to Their Courage, as The Romans had; yet Caesar, and all The Emperours, could not conquer that Island in so short a time as Alexander had conquered Most part of The World; Therefore it seems Their Courage was great, since Their Skill was less, and could make it to The Romans so difficult a Work: For Britain was like a Body dis joynted, or raTher separated Limb from Limb; for it was not joyned in one Body, but divided amongst Many Petty Kings, which made it weak; for being not united, The Body hath little power; without The Legs do uphold, and The Eyes do direct, and The Arms do defend, it is an easy thing to throw down a Criple; but it was a sign The Spirit was strong in this Criple, that could resist so long against a Giant, as The Romans were: Therefore Britain was worthy of Praise, since Their Courages defended Them so long.
Of King James.
King James was so great a Lover of Peace, that raTher than he would lose The Delights of Peace, he would lye under The Infamy of being thought Timorous; for in that it was thought he had more Craft than Fear.
Of Queen Elizabeth.
Queen Elizabeth reigned long and happy; and though she cloaThed her self in a Sheeps skin, yet she had a Lions paw, and a Foxes head; she strokes The Cheeks of her Subjects with Flattery. whilst she picks Their Purses; and though she seemed loth, yet she never failed to crush to death Those that disturbed her waies. Her Favourites for Sport, she would be various to, Sometimes in Favour, and Sometimes out of Favour, as Essex, Leicester, Ralegh, Hatton, and The like: But she stuck close to her old Counsellors and Favourites, Burleigh, Walsingham, and The rest. Neither did The first Favourites get so much as The last, Ralegh got not so much as Burleigh did; Some may say, because They spent more, They laid up less; but vain Favourites get more Enemies to Themselves, and Hatred to Their Princes, than Profit to Themselves; for The sight of Their Vanities makes The People remember Their Taxes, and think that Their Prince hath posed from Their Purses to maintain Their Vanities; and Their Prince thinks They have given Them more, because They shew what They have, and Many times more than They have: But The Wisest save, and lay it up, till The Envy is past, and The Tax forgot. But Queen Elizabeth maintained more forein Wars at one time, than any of her Predecessors before her, and yet without The Grievance of The People; for it was not so much out of Their Purses, as The Prizes she got by Sea; for though The King of Spain had The Honour of being Master of The Indies, yet The Queen of England had The Honour of being Mistris of The Sea; so her Ships were her Mines, to maintain her War against him.
Of King Henry The Eighth.
King Henry The Eighth was a Politick Prince; for as Favourites make use of Their Prince, so he made use of his Favourites; for when They could do him no more service, he turned Them over to The Hangman, to satisfie his People; and Those that he favoured, had The blame with The punishment, and he received The profit. He was not like Edward The Second, for his Favourites cost him his Crown and Life. I observe, that soft natures are apt to be crusht, and very hard natures are apt to be broken in governing; Therefore severe, but not cruel, mercifull or kind, but not credulous, reign happiest. But Henry The Eighth spent great Sums of Money, as that which his FaTher left him, and that which he had out of France, Then The vast Sums he raised out of Monasteries, yet no great advantage redounded to his Kingdome: But his Expence was much to keep Peace abroad, by making Friends in Those Kingdomes that were fallen out: But Most commonly Those that strive to make Peace amongst others, bring War to Themselves, although I cannot say he had much War.
Of pulling down of The Monasteries in Henry The Eighths time.
Some wonder that Henry The Eighth did pull down and destroy so Many Monasteries as were in England, which had stood so long, without Opposition: but it was likely that The Opposition could not be great; for first, The People were perswaded in Some part, by The Doctrine of LuTher, to dislike The Tyrannie of The Pope; for first, it eased Their Purses and Their Persons, The one from Peter-pence, and The like, and The other from hard Penance; The next, The Gentry and The Nobles thought of The gaining of The Houses, and Lands, and Liberty; The King for The bulk of Their Wealth; so The King, Nobility, and Commons, and all had ends in it; and where The King follows The Commons, an Innovation is easy; or I may say, an Innovation is easy where The King follows The People.
Of Justice in Commonwealths.
It is to be observed, that There is little Piety or Justice in Cities, or Countryes, or Nations, that are overgrown with Prosperity, or oppressed with Adversity; for Prosperity makes Them so proud, as They are as it were above Justice; and Adversity doth so deject Them, as They grow careless of Justice, so that either way They grow into Barbarism: But as Virtue is a Mean betwixt two Extremes, so it keeps in The Mean in all Estates, The Virtue of Prosperity is Temperance, and The Virtue of Adversity is Fortitude.
Of Henry The Seventh.
It was not so much The Wisdome of Henry The Seventh that gave him The Crown, as his Good Fortune in having a Tyrant Opposer, on which The Peoples fear was above Their feeling; for They did apprehend more Tyrannie than They found in The time that Richard did reign; for he made more good Laws in The time of his Reign, than had been made in The Reign of Many Kings before or after him: But The Peoples mistrust cannot be satisfied with any Act, let it be never so just or profitable, but by Their absence, which They never think far enough, untill They go to The Shades of Death; and Many times that which They believe will prove The best for Them, proves The worst, because They follow not Reason, but Will: For Henry The Seventh, whom They thought to be Most happy under, proved but a Tyrant in his Acts, although a Saint in his Words; for he brought, by The means of Projecting and Informing Knaves, The greatest, or indeed all Estates, to be Forfeited, and so to be Compounded for, by which he raised great Sums of Money, to The ruining of Many Antient Families; yet he reigned peaceably Most part of all his time, which Many a better and juster Prince had not The fortune to do.
Of The Emperors.
Most commonly it may be said of Kings or Governors, as They say of March, it comes in like a Lion, it goeth out like a Lamb; and when it comes in like a Lamb, it goeth out like a lion.
But when a Man desires to raise an Empire, or himself to be an Emperor, he flatters The People; but when he is once become Emperor, he makes The People flatter him.
Caesar might have proved a good Emperor, but he had not time to be an ill one.
Augustus Caesar was a wise Prince; he knew There was no way to settle The new-born Empire, and to enjoy it peaceably, but by gaining The Love of The People; not by The base servile way of Flattery, but by executing Justice, and making wise and good Laws.
Tiberius was a good Prince, whilst The memory of Augustus lasted in The Minds of The People; and a wise Prince, that he could dissemble his Humour so well, and so long; and none was so fit as Ascianus to bring him to bed of his great belly’d Cruelty. Tiberius was of a lazy disposition, as we may know by his solitary and luxurious life.
Nero came too soon to The Empire to reign well; Vanities, The Rulers of Youth, despise Prudence, and Temperance, The Companions of Age; his Vanities bred Vices, his Vices bred Fear, Fear bred Jealousie, Jealousie bred Tyrannie, Tyrannie bred Conspiracy, and Conspiracy Destruction; in brief, he had not Age enough to poyse him; he killed himself more out of Fear than Courage. Both The Neroes, The Uncles, and The Cosen, were much of a humour.
Nero Germanicus, his Son; he was Proud, Cowardly, Effeminat, Envious, Vainglorious, Covetous to get, Prodigal to spend, Cruel without Craft, and Mad; he was not wise enough to rule his Empire, nor temperate enough to govern his Vanities, nor couragious enough to dissemble his Fears, or be a good Prince.
As for Claudius The Emperour, he was more learned than wise, and he had more good Nature than Constancy; and whatsoever ill he did, he was seduced to do it by Those he loved. True it is, he was of an easy Disposition, but that proceeds more from a good Disposition in Nature, than an evil one; and it raTher comes from Love than Hate, although The Effects be all one; for he that is easily perswaded, and suddenly believes, commits more Cruelty by his Credulity, than distributes Justice by his good Nature.
As for Galba, he had too narrow a Soul for so great an Empire; for The Vices of Age and Covetousness had got hold of him: he was Old and Crazy; he had no Generosity to entice, nor Sweet Behaviour to win, nor Oratory to perswade, nor Industry to order, nor Faith to perform; and whatsoever Man hath These Faults, must needs get more Enemies than Friends. As for Otho, he had not Patience to try his Fortune, neither lived he so long as any one could judge of his Government: he was better beloved of his Souldiers, than fortunate in Their Successes; besides, he was beloved more of The People after he was dead, than when he was living; but wheTher he killed himself for The grief of Those Souldiers that were lost, or fear of The loss of The rest, or for fear of himself, it is doubtfull.
Vitelius was cruel, gluttonous, and of an unworthy nature.
For Vespasian, he was very greedy of Gain, to The height of Covetousness, and yet he was very Generous; for whatsoever he got, though ill, yet he bestowed it well: he was a very mercifull Prince, and very few Faults to be found in him. He sprung from a Family of no great growth.
Titus Flavius, Son to Vespasian; he was so good, There cannot enough be said in praise of him; he was a Wise Prince, and a Just Prince, a Mercifull Prince, and a Loving, Temperate, Carefull, and Religious Prince; he seemed to have more Goodness in him, than were waies or means to express it; he was Valiant, Learned, Mild, Patient, Industrious, Skilfull in all Arts, and Majestical.
Flavius Domitianus was Cruel and Vainglorious; he followed not The steps of his FaTher, nor Brother. I observe, Ill-born Natures cannot be bettered by Good Examples, nor warned by Ill Examples: for all The Cruel Emperors came to Untimely Deaths.
Of Pompey with Caesar.
Some praise Pompey, and say, He was a Faithfull and loving Citizen of Rome; a FaTher, in defending The Laws and Liberties; and a Martyr, in dying in The Cause. others dispraise him, and say, it was Envy to Caesar that brought him out against him, more than for The Publick Good; and that if Pompey had had but The same Fortune, he would have taken upon him The same Command.
Others again praise Caesar, and say, that he was forced to use his Power and Arms against The Senate, out of Necessity, The one, being much in Debt, having exhausted his Estate, The other, in defence of his Life, knowing The Senate would accuse him instead of rewarding him for his good Service; and that Rational Men may judge, by The succession of Story, that he was necessitated, and that Fortune being on his side, gave him greater Hopes, and higher Designs, which he thought not at first on; and that he had Reason, though he had not been necessitated; for though The Roman Government began from a Low and Mean Beginning, yet it came to be The Most Powerfull and Famous, whilst Mediocrity ruled amongst Them: for at first Their Poverty made Them Just, not daring to do Wrong; and Prudent, in providing The best waies and means to keep and raise Themselves; and Valiant and Industrious, to defend Themselves, and to increase Their Dominions. Thus Virtues begot Their Strength, and raised Their Fame: But Their good Fortune brought Plenty, and Plenty Pride; The one runs into Luxury, The other into Ambition; and Ambition begot Factions so much, that in The latter daies of Their Government, though it was called a Republick, yet every Man was striving to be Chief, and setting up for Themselves. And, say They, why may not Caesar think himself as fit to be Emperor as any of his FellowCitizens, seeing The Government would change? And that it was as great an Injustice, when he cannot do another good, to do himself wrong, as to do another wrong, and do himself no good, or to do himself and another wrong; for how often was it aimed at by Sylla Cataline, and Many more, though not ripe untill Caesar’s time? so that Caesar had not onely Necessity and Opportunity but Justice to perswade him, on his side; for any Government is better than none; for They were come alMost to that pass, that There was no Unity; for every Man was against one another, but onely sided when They saw a particular Rise. But The general Faction fell into two hands, The one for a Republick, The other for a Monarch, wherein The Monarchical Faction prevailed, wherein Caesar was Chief; and it may be a question, wheTher The other Faction did not take The Republick onely for Name, but had a Monarchical Design? But, say They, Envy, that is The Enemy to all Good Success, would have disclaimed against The other side, if They had had The same Fortune; for Envy dyes not when Action ceaseth, but lives as long as Honourable Fame survives; and that Good Fortune made Caesar seem Ambitious, and Pompey more humble by his Ill; for though Good Fortune hath Many Friends, and more Followers, yet it is to The present Condition. But to conclude, that Caesar was Valiant, witty, Industrious, Sweet-natured, and Bountifull, Gratefull, Constant to his Friends, and Mercifull to his Enemies, shew by his Acts; and for his Valour, he fought Many Battels upon great Ods and Disadvantages, and hazarded his Life other waies Many several times. others dispraise Caesar, and say, he was a Traitor, an Usurper, and naturally Cruel, but what he did artificially with Prodigality to compass his Ends; and that he was a Coward, and bought more Victories by his vast distributions of Provinces, and other Gifts, than were truly got by his Courage, or Conduct. But The Factions of Caesar and Pompey dyed not when Their Wars ceased, but have lived ever since amongst The Historians; for They cannot praise one so well, unless They dispraise The other; for to praise, or dispraise Them both, would have made Their Theme so short, They should have little to write on; for Disputes both lengThen and heighten. But There are Most commonly more faults found by Historians, than Applauses; but Writing hath as great a defect as Government in Commonwealths and Armies, though of less Consequence. But, They say, Men of Action have two sides, a good side, and a bad side, and Some take The good side of Caesar, and The bad of Pompey; others, The good side of Pompey, and The bad of Caesar; but The bad side lyes more open and broader than The good, which makes it so often beaten upon by Envy; for Envy discovers The one; and veils The other.
Of Mark Anthony.
Mark Anthony made Caesar’s Body The Ladder to reach to his Ambition; for he knew, if he did side with The party of The Caesars, he should be one of The Chief, and have a Party to govern and command: but if he sided with Brutus, he must still submit to obey, either to The Common People, if Brutus and Casstus meant really to deliver up Their power to The Commons, when They had once got it; or if They did intend to keep it, he must submit to Them. And though Anthony loved Caesar very well, yet I raTher believe he raised The Faction more to raise himself, than to revenge The death of Caesar; for few remember The Benefits of The Dead, and They know The Dead cannot give Them thanks for any service They can do Them.
Of Cleopatra.
As for Cleopatra, I wonder she should be so Infamous for a Whore, since she was Constant to Those Men she had taken; for she had no other but Caesar, whilst he lived; and for Anthony, she dyed soon after him; and can There be a greater Constancy? We must not judge Strangers according to our Laws, but according to The Laws of The Nations where They were Natives, for she had taken Them as Husbands; if The Men had more Wives than They should have, or put away good Wives for her sake, that was Their Inconstancy; and we must not make Their Faults, her Crimes; and They call her a Dissembling Woman, because she did strive to win her Husbands Affections; shall we say Those dissemble, that strive to please Those They love? if They say true Love can dissemble, They may as well say Truth is no Truth, and Love is no Love: but The Lover delivers his whole Soul to The Beloved. Some say she was Proud and Ambitious, because she loved Those had Most Power: She was a Great Person her self, and born to have Power, Therefore it was natural to her to love Power; Besides, she might have got a worse Reputation, in being thought a base and unworthy spirited Woman, if she had loved any below her Worth. Some again say, she loved out of Craft to keep her Kingdome, I say There is an honest Policy, and it is out of Envy when They lay a reproach on it; for whosoever is to choose, it is lawfull to make The best choyce, when it is in an honest way.
Of Lucretia.
The onely true and honest Wife was Lucretia, for she killed her self to save her Husbands Honour, although it was her Husbands fault that caused her Ravishment: for it was not her admittance to entice Men, but her Husbands foolish and rash admittance, to bring Men to be tempted: for it was her Husbands Praises that kindled, and her Beauty that inflamed The Ravisher. But that Man is worthy to be Horned, that is not contented to enjoy The Virtues of his Wife to himself.
Of Caesar.
Half Caesar’s Deeds dyed when he dyed: for though his Fortunes were to shew himself a Valiant Man, a Good Souldier, and a Carefull Commander, yet he lived not to shew Justice in The Publick, as what Laws he would make, or what Government he would form; so that Caesar onely lived to shew his Conduct in Wars, but not his Magistracy in Peace.
Of Brutus.
Brutus was thought a greater Friend to The Commonwealth, than to Caesar; but I think him a Friend to neither; for The Envy to The present Government, or Governor, begot his desire of Change: for Brutus was wise enough to know, an Indifferency in Commonwealths is safer than a sudden Alteration. Indeed, had The Commonwealth been at The worst, Then a Change must needs have been for The better: but it was not so, for There were more that seemed for it than against it; but we must judge in Those Causes by The Ourward Actions, to approve of Caesar’s Government, by adhering to that Patty; for if They had liked better of Their Old Government, They would have followed Brutus; and that Government is to be approved best, that pleaseth Most; for Government is for Safety, Peace, and Profit; and There is nothing keeps Them more in Peace, than Unity and Concord, and The Affections of The People to Their Governors, &c.
Of Portia.
Portia, that killed her self with hot burning Coals, shewed more of Impatiency, and Womanish Fear, than Love to her Husband, though no question her Love was great, but her Fear was greater; for Love begets Doubts, and Doubts beget Fears, and Fears beget Hate: but true Love will be sure to save it self, till They be sure that They can do no good to that They love, and that They love is absolutely destroyed: for true Love will hope, untill There is no ground to raise Hopes on; and Hope begets Courage, and Courage will give Assistance, as long as it hath a Being: for though her Husband run out of Rome, yet he had his Life, and an Army to defend it for The time: Therfore it seemed she grieved and run mad more for loss of her Husbands Power, than for fear of her Husbands Person; and whensoever a Woman loves her Husbands Power more than his Safety, she loves her Vanity more than his Person; for Power maintains Vanity.
Of Penelope, Ulysses Wife.
Penelope, Ulysses Wife, was Famous, for that she never married whilst her Husband was in The Wars. it is true, she was Chast, but she gave her self leave to be Courted, which is a degree to Unchastity, and a means whereby her Husbands Estate was wasted; for if she had check’d, and not permitted Them at The first, They would never have grown unto that Impudence: But it seemed she loved to have her Ears filled with her own Praises; for They that love Their own Praises, Most commonly are catched in The Snare of Flattery; for There are seldome Praises without much Flattery. it is true, she might be a Chast Woman, but she shewed her self but an Indifferent Wife, and not worthy of so much praise: for it is not Honesty that makes a perfect good Wife, although it be The chief Ingredient, but she must be Thristy, and Cleanly, Modest, reserved in her Behaviour, and secret to her Husbands Counsels; for often times a Woman dishonours her Husband by her Indiscretion, as much as by The act of Adultery; for There is nothing dearer to a Man than his Fame, so a Wife should have a care to keep it.
Of Women dying with Their Husbands.
I Have not read much Story, but of that which I have, I have observed, that There have been Many Women that have dyed with Their Husbands; but I have not read so usually, that Men have dyed with Their Wives: for in Some Nations There are few or no Widows. Some say, it is not so much out of Love to Their Husbands, as out of vainglorious Customes.
Of The Romans dying.
It was not out of Courage that The Romans killed Themselves, but out of Fear; for knowing They must dye, They thought it was less pain to dye by Their own hands, than by anothers; like Parents, that will not suffer another to beat Their Child, but think Their own Correction The easier, though Their Stripes be equal; and every one thinks that better done which They do Themselves, than what another doth: so They kill Themselves to avoyd Pain. But Those are Most willing to leave The World, when The World hath left Them; for it is The Vanities that makes Men so in love with The World, and Themselves; for Most think They enjoy no Life, if They enjoy no Vanity; I will not say All, although I say Most, for The Wise and The Virtuous reject both; or if They do not, They embrace Them but moderately; and The Virtuous and Wise have Courage; and The Couragious, as They do not fear Death, so They despise not Life; for as Virtue is a Mean between two Extremes, so it keeps in The Mean of all Conditions and Estates.
The EPISTLE.
This is to let you know, that I know, my Book is neither wise, witty, nor methodical, but various and extravagant, such as my Thoughts entertained Themselves withall; raTher making it my Recreation, not having much Imployment, than my Trouble, for I have not tyed my self to any one Opinion, for Sometimes one Opinion crosses another; and in so doing, I do as Most several Writers do; onely They contradict one and another, and I contradict, or raTher please my self, with The varieties of Opinions whatsoever, since it is said There is nothing truly known, but Measuring and Reckoning, The which I will leave to Arithmeticians and Geometricians, who have a Rule and Number, which my Brain can neither level at, nor comprehend: but humble and plain Opinions, raised by The Opinions of others, I here present; and Many may think my Present not worth The reading, and that it had been better my Thoughts had been buried, than to trouble our Language with that There is so much already of, foolish and impertinent Writings; for Those that know not how to choose good and prositable Books, may take up such Rubbish in Their place, as to dam up Their Heads from The light of shining Authors. But There are few that have not so much Self-love, as to desire to live in Some-thing; and I am one of Those that had raTher dam up a Head, than to be buried under foot; and wish my Brains could have melted better Metal, to have made my Book as a Bell, to sound clear and loud, but not to offend The Ears of any; for though I wish to fill Them, I would not hurt Them, for Fame is nothing but a Noyse. And when I consider Fortune carries as Many into her House as Merit, I put out this Book, though I cannot hope to have any acceptance amongst The Learned, but leaving it to Fortunes friendship; for she Many times prefers The Mean, and The Low, and disgraces Those of higher Abilities; which if she favour me, I know you will be my Friends; but if she disgraces me, There is not any thing in my Book can keep off a Scorning Censure; but wheTher it please, or be dis-approved, I am as I am,
MARGARET NEWCASTLE.
The Worlds Olio.
LIB. III. PART I.
Of Monsters.
Some say There are no Monsters, nor ugly Creatures in Nature; for a Toad, a Spider, or The like, are as beautifull Creatures in Nature, if it be according to Their kind, as The lovelyest Man or Woman. it is true, as being according to The natural shape of such a kind of Creature: but that which is ugly, is that which is deformed, and that is deformed that is mishapen, and that is mishapen that is made crooked, or awry, or one part bigger or less than another. And Those Creatures are to be called Monsters, that have more parts than They should have, or fewer, or when Their parts do not sit in Their proper place; as for example, if a Man should have two Heads, or four Legs, or more Hands, or Feet, or Fingers, or Toes, or Eyes, or Noses, or Ears, or The like; or if The Eyes should be placed in The Breast, in The Neck, or Mouth; or The Ears in The Breast, or Belly, or behind in The Head; or if The Arms should be where The Legs are, or The Legs where The Arms are set; or that an Arm or Hand, Leg or Foot, should grow out of The Head; or if a Man should be in Some kind like a Beast, and Many The like Examples might be given; this being against The nature of The kind, and not according to The natural shape, may be called a Monster. Thus There are both ugly Creatures, and Monsters; The one being a Defect of Nature, The other a Fault of Nature, or as I may say, a Vice in Nature. But a right shap’d Toad may be of an ill favour’d kind, as not being so handsom a kind as Mankind, or Many other kinds of Animals; for I never heard any Poetical high Expressions of The Commendation of a Toad, as to say, that is a Most beautifull, amiable, sweet, lovely Toad.
Of Upright Shape.
That which makes Man seem so Excellent a Creature above other Animal Creatures, is nothing but The Straitness and Uprightness of his Shape; for being strait breasted, and his Throat so equal to his Breast, and his Mouth so equal to his Throat, makes him apt for Speech, which other Creatures have not; for either Their Legs, Belly, or Neck, Mouth and Head, are uneven, or unequally set: And this Shape doth not onely make Man fit for Speech, but for all sorts of Motion, or Action; which gives him more Knowledge, by The Experience Thereof from The Accidents Thereby, than all other Animals, were They joyned togeTher. Thus Speech and Shape make Men Gods, or Rulers over other Creatures.
Memory is Atoms in The Brain set on fire.
Some say Memory is The folding of The Brain, like Leaves of a Book, or like Scales of Fishes, which by motion of Wind or Vapours, are caused by outward Objects, which heave up Their Folds, wherein The Letters or Print of such things as have been represented to it; and Those things that have been lost in The Memory, is either by The reason Those Folds have never been opened after They were printed, or that The Prints have been worn out, as not being engraven deep enough. But I think it is as likely that The Brains should be full of little Substances no bigger than Atomes, set on fire by Motion, and so The Fire should go out and in, according as The Motion is slackned or increased, either by outward Objects, or inward Vapours; and when things are lost in The Memory, it is when The Fire of Those Atomes is gone out, and never kindled again; and that Sometimes The Memory is not so quick as at other times, is, because Some Vapours damp and smother The Fire, or quench it out. But Memory is The light and life of Man, and Those that have The Most of Those kindled Feabers, or Atomes, are The greatest wits, and The best Poets, having The clearest Sparks. Now The Substances are plain, and not figured in new born Children, nor clearly kindled, but take Figures as They receive Objects; and when They see Their Nurse, which is The first thing They take notice of, Then one of Those small Substances turns into The Figure of The Nurse; yet that Figure being not kindled presently, because The moysture of The Brain hinders that Motion that kindles The Fire; and The Figure doth no good, unless it be thorowly kindled; and The brighter it is, The perfecter is The Memory. And The reason why Children have not so much Knowledge, is, because They have not so much Heat, nor so Many Figures in Their Brains, nor Those Substances so clear: for Wood that is newly set on fire is not so bright a Fire as when it is half burnt out; for Men we see in Their middle age have The perfectest Understanding; and The reason why Old Men become as Children, is, because Children are as a Fire that is first kindled, and Old Men as Fire that is burnt out. Now There are not onely Those Figures that The Senses have brought in, but new Figures that former Figures have made, which are Those Fictions which Poets call Fancy; and The reason why all Men are not so good wits as Some, is, because Their Fuel is too wet, or too dry, which are Those Atomes; and The reason why Some Men are not so wise as They might be, is because Objects come not in time enough: for though They take The Prints, yet They take not The Fire. Now Those Prints or Forms are like Glasses, or several Forms of Pots of Earth; for though They are formed, and figured, yet They are not hardned or perfected untill They have been in The Fire; so that The Form may be There, although not kindled: but when They are kindled, They are Thoughts, which are, Memory, Remembrance, Imagination, Conception, Fancy, and The like.
Of Reason.
Some say, Reason is born with a Man as well as Passion; but surely we may more certainly say that it is bred with a Man, than born with a Man; for we see Many times that Men are born, which have never The use of Reason, as Those we call Changelings or Naturals, but we never saw any Man born without Passion; for Passion seizeth The Body as soon as Life, and They are inseparable, and no more to be separated than Motion and Life: for as soon as The Body receives Life, it receives Like and Dislike as Pain grieves it, and Ease pleaseth it, so that Passion is The Sense of Life, and Reason The Child of Time: But Reason is like The stone or kernel of Fruit-trees, which if it be well set, with The help of The Sun, and Earth, may come to be a Tree; but yet it is not a Tree whilst it is a Kernel: so we may say Man is born with Reason, because in time he is capable of Reason; but yet he is not a reasonable Creature untill he can distinguish between Good and Evil for himself; but as Life begets Sense, so Sense begets Reason. Thus Reason is a second or third Cause of Nature; for Nature works producingly, as one thing produceth another, and that other a third. But Natures first Work, and principal Material, is Life, and Life is Motion, and Motion is Nature, and Nature is The Servant of God; for Art is The Invention of Man, and Man The Invention of Nature.
Of Imagination of Man and Beast.
ONE Man may know what Imagination another Man hath, by The relation of Discourse; but Man cannot know what Imaginations Beasts have, because They can give no relation to Mans Understanding, for want of Discourse: wherefore Beasts may have, for all any Man knows, as strange and as fantastical Humours, Imaginations, and Opinions, as Men, and as clear Speculations; and Beasts are as busy, and as full of Action, as Men; although not in useless Actions, yet it is in The prudent part, for The subsistence of Life for Themselves, and Their Young; being provident and iudustrious Thereunto, and not like Man, wasting The time with idle Disputes, tormenting Themselves to no purpose.
Of Vnderstanding of Man and Beast.
THat which makes one Man wiser than another, and Some Beasts, and other Creatures, subtiller and craftier than others, is, The temper of The Brain, being hotter and dryer, cold and dry, hot and moyst, and The Intelligence that The Senses bring in, which Beast hath as well as Man.
Difference betwixt Man and Beast.
MAN troubles himself with Fame, which Beasts do not; and Man troubles himself for Heaven, and Hell, which Beasts do not; Man is weary of what he hath, and torments his Life with various Desires, where Beasts are contented with what They have; Man repines at what is past, hates The present, and is affrighted at what is to come, where Beasts content Themselves with what is, and what must be; Man hates Ease, and yet is weary of Business; Man is weary of Time, and yet repines that he hath not Enough; Man loves himself, and yet doth all to hurt himself, where Beasts are wise onely to Their own good: for Man makes himself a trouble, where Beasts strive to take away trouble; Men run into Dangers, Beasts avoyd Them; Man troubles himself with what The Sense is not capable of, when Beasts content Themselves with Their Sense, and seek no furTher than what Nature directs, with The just measure of The pleasure of Their Sense, and no more; Beasts seek not after vain Desires, or Impossibilities, but that which may be had; They do not backbite or slander; They raise not false Reports, Their Love is as plain as Nature taught; They have no seeming Grief; They make no Sacrifice to false Gods, nor promise Vows They never perform; They teach no Doctrine to delude, nor worship Gods They do not know.
Passion and appetite of Beasts.
Some say, Beasts have no Despair or trouble in Mind; but we find by experience, They will be Mad, and we know not from whence The Cause proceeds, wheTher from The Body, or Mind; Then we find by experience, that They be Jealous, Amorous, Revengefull, Spightfull, Deceitfull, Treacherous, and Theevish, They will steal one from another; Again, They say There is no Injustice in Beasts, yet what greater Injustice can There be among Men, than There will be among Dogs? for one Dog shall come, and take another Dogs Bone from him, although that Bone was given him by Man for a Reward of Some good Service done by him for his Master; Again, what Ambition is There amongst Beasts? for one Horse, striving to out-run another, will run so fast, untill it be near dead; and so The like of Dogs: Then what Envy is There amongst Them, that if any Strangers, although of Their own kind, come amongst Them, They will beat Them away, or kill Them? Then what Covetousness is There amongst Them, to hoard and lay up? but this we call Providence in Beasts, and onely Coverousness in Man; and so for Birds also: Then what Pride is There amongst Them? as we may perceive in Peacocks’, Turky-cocks, Horses, and Many others, and we can guesse at Pride but by The Outward Carriage in Men, so in Beasts: Then They say, Beasts are Temperate, and full of Moderation, and that They never surfet Themselves with Excess, nor drink, nor commit Adultery; and yet how often have we seen Pigeons break Their Crops with Their eating? and Dogs and Cats so to over charge Their Stomacks with eating, as They are forced to vomit it up again? and Many Creatures will burst Themselves: And what Man can or will be more drunk than The Ape, if he can got wherewithall to be drunk? And we find few Beasts that will refuse good Liquor, when it is given Them, as Horses, Dogs, and The like; and if They had as much as was proportionable to Their Bodies, They would be drunk as often as Men; and believe it, if There were Ponds of Wine, as well as of Water, They would drink of The Wine, and leave The Water; and if They had Those Meats that Men call Delicious, They would be as Luxurious, and as great Epicures, as Man; for Most Creatures love sweet things, which shews Them Lickerish; besides, Birds will choose The best Fruits in a Garden to eat of; and They love Savoury-meat, for Pigeons will pick holes in Walls for Salt-Peter, and Many The like Examples; and that which we call Adultery and Fornication in Men, is common among Beasts, for every Bird and Beast will choose his Mate to breed on; but yet not contented with one, They will strive to take each others Mate away, at least make use of Them; and how often do Beasts with Beasts, and Birds with Birds, fall out about it, and beat one another, and Many times kill one another in The Quarrel? Thus Beasts commit Adultery, as well as Men, if There had been a Law against it; howsoever, They are false in Their Loves, and are as Jealous as Men, in taking each others Mate, or making Love to each other, as well as Men and Their Wives; besides They will make use of Their own Breed, which few Nations will do among Men. Then They say, Beasts have no judgement which to choose and distinguish; but we find Beasts can choose The warmest and safest Habitations; Then we see Hounds, that They will smell first one way, Then another, but never stay to sent The third way, but run on, as judging of Necessity The Hare must run that way, having no other way left, which is Logick; Besides, all Animals that pursue, or are pursued, shew great Judgement and wit, both in The choyce of Their way, and The executing of The Pursuit; and The like have Those that are pursued, in avoyding The places of Danger, and choosing The places of Security, if There be any to be found: And what hath more Judgement than The Bears going backward to her Den? Besides, Beasts know by sight how to distinguish betwixt Friends and Foes; Besides, what Judgement do Birds shew, when They fly in a pointed Figure to cut The Air, that Their flight may be easy? Then They say, They have no Compassion; but we see They will bury Their Dead, and help one another in Distress, or at least do Their endeavour; as a Hog, that is a Creature that sheweth as little Good Nature as any Creature, yet when a Dog bites one of Them by The Ear, and The Hog cryes out, all The rest of The Hogs, that are within hearing, will come running to The rescue, although They do nothing but grunt when They come; and though They can do Their fellow Hog no good, yet it shews a good will. And again, They say They have no Grief; and yet we see daily, how They will mourn for Their Young, or The absence of Their Mates; and The Turtle Dove seems never to be comforted, but dyes for Grief. Then They say, Beasts have no Memory, or Remembrance; which if They had not, how should They return to Their Holes, or Nests, when They are once gone out? And There are Many Creatures, if They were carried Many hundred miles, let Them be but loose, and at Their Liberty, and They will return to Their first Habitation; wherefore They are forced to muffle Many Creatures, that They may not see which way They go, because They should not know how to return. Then, that They are not Sociable, nor delight in Society; but we see They will play and sport with one another; and Sheep love Company so well, that They will not thrive, nor grow, but where There are great Flocks of Them togeTher. Then, that They have not Fancy; but we see that Nightingales have great Fancy in The variety of Their Tones and Notes, and Their Invention in Many things beyond The Invention of Man. Thus There is no Virtue, nor Vice, as Men call Them, but may be found in other Creatures as well as man, but only we give our Knowledge proper Names, and Those none. Again, They say There is no War nor Tyranny, in other Creatures or Animals, but man; yet certain There are Many other Animals more Tyrannical & Cruell even to Their own kind, than man, and will take as heavy a Revenge one upon another, and love Superiority and Power; will not The Cocks fight as fiercely and cruelly one with another for Preheminency, as men? so Bulls against Bulls. They say men have Command over Beasts, but it is as Some men have Command over others, that is when They have more Power, as Strength of Body, or advantage of help, either of Numbers, Place, or Time.
The Actions of Beasts.
Though Beasts be apter for Some Actions than Men, yet They are not made capable to exercise all in general, as Running, Leaping, Jumping, Drawing, Driving, Heaving, Holding, Staying, Darting, Digging, Striking, Grasping, Cutting, Peircing, Diving, Rowling, Wreathing or Twisting Backwards, Forwards, Sideway, Upward, Downward, turning Their Joints any way, as man can do*; Besides, what curious Motions can Man move his Fingers to, and what subtill Measures his Feer, which no other Creature can do The like; Thus every Member of Man is prompt, ready, and fitted for Action; which makes him so industrious and inventive, as he becomes so proud Thereby, that he thinks himself a petty God; and yet all his Excellency lies in his Outward Shape, which is not compleat, but all his Inward is like to Beasts; Wherefore Beasts might have been as capable as man, if his outward Shape had been according; so that one may alMost think, that The Soul is The outward Figure of a mans Body.
*That not any one Beast shall have so Many several Motions as Man hath.
Of Birds.
ALL Birds are full of Spirit, and have more ingenious Fancies than Beasts, as we may see by Their curious building of Their Nests, in providing for Their Young, in avoiding great Storms, in choosing The best Seasons, as by shifting Their Habitation, and in Their flying in a pointed Figure which cuts or peirceth The Air, which makes The Passage easy, and so in Many other things of The like Nature; But The Reason seems to be because The chief Region They live in (which is Air) is pure and serene, when Beasts live altogeTher on The Earth, where The Air about is more Grosse by reason of continual thick Vapours that issue out; but The Region wherein Birds fly, is clarified by The Sun, which makes The spirits of Birds more refined, subtill, and more lively, or chearfull; For all Beasts are heavy, and dull in comparison of Birds, having not Wings to fly into The serene Air; But Beasts seem to have as much solid Judgement, & as clear Understandings as Birds, and as providently carefull of Their Subsistence and safty, both for Their Young and Themselves, as Birds; But Birds have more Curiosity, Fancy and Chearfullness than Beasts, or indeed than Men; for They are alwaies chirping and singing, hopping and flying about, but Beasts are like Grave, Formal, and Solid Common-Wealths-men, and Birds like elevated Poets.
Of The Wooing of Beasts and Birds.
It is not only The Spring time that makes Birds sing and chatter, but it is Their Wooing, and striving to please Their Mistrisses and Lovers; for Most Creatures keep a Noise and Dance when They Wooe, as striving to express Their Affections: for The Noise of other Creatures is as much as making Verses by Men to Their Mistrisses; for Those Noises are The several Languages to expresse Themselves, whereby They understand one another, as Men.
Of Passions.
The Passions of The Mind, are like The Humours of The Body; for all Bodies have Choler, Melancholy, and Flegm, nor could it be nourished without Them; so The Mind hath Many Passions, which without would be like a Stone; so that There is no Humour of The Body, or Passion of The Mind, but is good, if moderately bounded and properly placed; but it is The Excess of The Humours and Passion that destroies The Body and Mind; but The equal Ingredients of Humours make a strong Body, and an equal Composure of Passions, makes a Happy and a Noble Mind.
Of appetite and Passion.
ALL natural appetites are within Limits, and all unnatural appetites are without Limit, and There is nothing more against Nature than Violence, wherefore Man is The greatest Enemy to Nature; for natural Passion, or Action, or appetite are not Violent, Violence being Artificial or Extravagant, not Natural, which is caused by Imagination, Opinions, Examples, and Conversation, which perswade Man to Those appetites which Violence doth work upon.
Of Like and Dislike.
WEE receive Like and Dislike as soon as we receive our Senses, which is Life; for when a Child is quick in The Womb, Pain grieves it, and Ease pleaseth it; but Like and Dislike are not perfect Passions; for though They are The Foundation of Love and Hate, from which all Passions spring by The old Opinions, yet are They not perfect Love or Hate; Besides, There is a difference betwixt Love, Liking, and Fondness; for although Love hath a liking, and is fond of what it placeth it self upon, yet Liking and Fondness have not alwaies Love; for true Love is unalterable, when The other two are subject to Variety, for true Love is lead by Reason, and strengThened by Virtue.
Of Self-Love.
Self love is The ground from whence springs all Indeavours and Industry, Noble Qualities, Honorable Actions, Friendships, Charity, and Piety, and is The cause of all Passions, Affections Vices and Virtues; for we do nothing, or think not of any thing, but hath a reference to our selves in one kind or other, either in things Divine, Humane, or Natural; for if we part with Life, which is The chiefest good to Mankind, it is because we think in Death There is lesse Pain than in Life, without that we part with Life for; and if we endure Torment which is worse than Death, for any Thing, or Opinion, it is because our Delight of what we suffer for, is beyond all Pains; which Delight proceeds from Self-Love, and Self-Love is The strongest Motion of The Mind; for it strives to attract all Delight, and gaThers togeTher, like The Sun Beams, in one Point, as with a Glass, wherewith it sets all one fire; So Self-Love infires The Mind, which makes it Subtil and Active, and Sometimes Raging, Violent and Mad; and as it is The First that seiseth on us, so it is The Last that parts from us; and though Reason should be The Judge of The Mind, yet Self-Love is The Tyrant which makes The State of The Mind unhappy; for it is so partially Covetous, that it desires more than all, and is contented with nothing, which makes it Many times grow Furious, even to The ruin of its own Monarchy.
Of Love.
LOVE is accounted, of all The Passions, The pleasantest and delightfullest, and yet There is no Passion Tyranniseth so much as Love; for it is not a return of The like, though it come in an Equal Measure, that can temper it, nor Hate that can kill it, nor Absence that can weaken it, nor Threats that can affright it, nor Power that can beat it off, for it delivers up it self, and it will abide with what it loves; Neither is it like other Passions; for Anger, although violent, is short; Hate ceaseth with The Cause; Ambition dies, when Hopes are gone; Fear is helped by Security; Absence or Reproach of others cures Envy, but nothing lessens or takes away from pure Love; for The Pain increaseth with The Affection, and The Affection with Time; for The elder it groweth, The stronger it becomes; I mean not Foolish and Fond Love, for Inconstancy is The Physician to that; But firm and pure Love, it is opprest with all other Passions, for other Passions are but one against one, but Love is Fired with Ambition, Rubbed with Anger, Torn with Fear, Crampt with Envy, Wounded with Jealousy, so that it Mourns more than it Joyes; This Passion makes Labour a a Recreation, Pain Easy, and Death pleasant, when it brings any benefit to The Beloved: And though Self-Love be The Ground from whence The love of other things springs, yet it lives in The thing beloved, and dies for The thing beloved, to please it self; much Love contracts The Mind, and makes all things little and narrow but what it loves; Those that love are dead to Themselves, and live in Those are Their Beloved; for The Desires of The Beloved, are The Desires of The Lover, let Them be good or bad; for though all Love is from Self-Love, yet at last it Unthrones and dispossesseth it self, and placeth The Beloved in its Rome.
We cannot alwaies love our selves.
WE cannot have The purity of Love to our selves, unless we were perfect; for where There are vain Opinions, and false Imaginations, unsound Understandings, and various Passions, which make us unconstant to our selves; for though we do not absolutely hate our selves, yet we grow weary of our selves, and dislike our selves for Many things; so Many times we seek to destroy our selves, by taking our Lives away, as Those that murTher Themselves; yet The neerest perfection of Love is Self-love, because it is The Original of all other Passionss
There is no perfect Love or Hate in Humanity.
The reason why There can be no perfect Love or Hate in this World, is, because all things are subject to change and alter; for at whatsoever is in The World we may take such an Exception, that we may come to hate that which we seemed passionatly to love, and to love that which we seem violently to hate; for perfect Love or Hate must come from chosen Opinions of Good or Bad, either to love Good or hate Evill, as it is natural, if There be any evil in Nature, or in relation to our selves, as we conceive to do us Good or Hurt; for we cannot truly love or hate, untill we can distinguish between Good or Evil; but to speak truly, we cannot love or hate, untill we perfectly know The Nature and Essence of what we love or hate, which is impossible: for who knows The Essence of any one thing in The World? and what is more unknown than The Nature of Man, either by Themselves, or others, which is alwaies subject to Alterations? And since nothing can be known, we cannot truly love or hate, for Knowledge is required to The establishment of either; but The Inconstancy of Man is such, as he esteems, and despises one thing in a Moment.
Of Envy.
Envy, They say, is out of Self-love, which cannot endure The Light of Good Fortune to shine upon any House but its own; yet it seems strange, that Self-love should become its own Hell; for who can say in reason, a Man in love to his Body, racks it so, as it never comes to its strength again; so doth an Envious Man to his Mind: But Envious Men are like Them that had raTher please Their Palats, than abstain for Health; so They had raTher see The Ruine of Those They Envy, than to have Prosperity Themselves.
Of Natural Fears.
AS The Sword gets Power, so Fear maintains Power: for Fear makes Laws, and Laws are Rules to keep Peace. Fear subjects The Minds of Men, and makes Them submiss, and makes Them to do Right to one another, for fear others should do Wrong to Them. Fear makes Carefulness, and is a Watch-Tower for a Mans Safety. Fear makes Order, Order makes Strength, and Strength maintains Power; for a Body out of Order is weak, and is subject to be overcom. I mean not a Cowardly and Servile Fear, to quit his Right, but a Noble Fear, to keep his Own: for as Base Fear makes Knaves, so Noble Fear makes Honest Men, as not to dare to do a Wrong: for as Base Fear is The ground of Cowardliness, so Noble Fear is The ground of Valour; for a Valiant Man is so afraid to lose his Honour, as he will adventure his Life; a Coward is so afraid to lose his Life, as he will adventure his Honour. Base Fear distracts, Noble Far unites. Fear makes Devotion, and Devotion breeds Love; so it is The Parent and Child to Love, as to breed it, and obey it; And Security weakens Power; for Security makes Carelesness, and Carelesness makes Disorder, and Disorder makes Confusion. Besides, what States, nay what private Families, are without private Spies, to find out what weakens? and no sooner found, but discovered to our Enemies, and an Enemy will lose no known Advantage; Besides, Opportunity makes Enemies, when Care not onely keeps out Enemies, but makes Friends; for Fear makes a Wise Conduct, when Security brings a Disorderly Fear.
Of Revenge for Ill Words.
It is The greatest Dishonour for a Man to be called a Coward, for a Woman to be called a Whore; and nothing will satisfie a Man that is called a Coward, but The Life of him that doth it, so Tender is he of his Honour, and so Revengefull doth The Loss make him: But a Woman can give no Honourable Revenge; if she be disgraced with Words, she must onely mourn over her Loss of Honour; she may weep Funeral-tears over it, or curse or sigh for it; but when it is once Dead, it hath no Resurrection.
Of The Passions of Love and Hate, and of good and bad Dispositions.
There are but two Parent-Passions, as Love and Hate, from whence all The rest are begot, or derived.
Also There are but two Parent-Dispositions in The Body, The one good, The other bad, from whence Dispositions are begot, or derived.
A good Disposition is caused by an equal Temper of The Constitution of The Body, and an orderly Habit belonging Thereunto; also when The Humours Therein be fresh, sweet, clear, and thin.
A bad Disposition is caused from an unequal Temper of The Body, and a disorderly Habit belonging Thereunto; also when The Humour is gross, muddy, corrupt, and full of malignity. But Love and Hate are created in The Mind, increased, and abated by Imaginations, Conceptions, Opinions, Reason, Understanding, and Will.
But Those two Parent-Passions and Dispositions do so resemble one another, as They are often times mistaken, being taken one for another.
When The inbred Humours of The Body produce one kind, and The Nature of The Mind another.
Of a Hating Disposition, or a Passionate Hate.
There is a difference betwixt a Hating Disposition, and a Passionate Hate.
A Hating Disposition is produced from a Weak Constitution of Body, and an overflowing of Malignant Humours, which rise like a High Tide, which cause an Aversion, Loathing, or Nauseousness to Their Object or Subject. From this Disposition proceeds Frights and Fears, Soundings and Faintings, as at The sight of what They hate; but when it is against Their own kind, it produceth Malicious Thoughts, Slandering Words, and Mischievous Actions. But Passionate Hate makes open War, and onely pursueth that which it thinks is Evil; and is The Champion of Virtue, The Sword of Justice, The Guard and Protector of Innocents, and The Pillar of Commonwealths.
Of Loving Dispositions, and Passionate Love.
There is a Loving Disposition, and The Passion of Love. This Loving Disposition proceeds from Moyst Humours, and a Sanguine Constitution, which makes The Disposition facile, or pitiful, tender-hearted (as we say) and Amorously kind. From this Disposition Tears flow often through The Eyes, large Professions and Protestations, fond Embracements, kind Words, and dear Friendships, as long as it lasts, but dissolved upon every small Occasion, and never fails to break all to pieces, and Those pieces to rise up as Enemies, if any Misfortune comes.
But Passionate Love professeth but a Little, and promiseth Nothing; but will endure all Torments, and dye Millions of several waies, if it had so Many Lives to give, for what is loves.
Of Amorous Love.
Amorous Dispositions are a Mullet, and an Extravagancy of Nature, got betwixt The Humours of The Body, and The Passions of The Mind: for The Passions of The Mind, and The Dispositions of The Body, although They be taken by The Ignorant for one and The same, having Some resemblance, as a Horse, and an Ass, yet They are of two several kinds, and different Natures; The one being Industrious, Couragious, Generous, Noble, and Free; The other, Slothfull, Fearfull, and fit for Slavery: But The Passions of The Mind are Rational, The Humours of The Body, Bestial; for Lust is The Natural Breed of a Sluggish Body, Pure Love The Natural Breed of a Rational Soul: But Amorosity is begot betwixt both, being not so foul as Lust, nor so pure as Love, but is of a mixt nature; and like Mules, that produce no Creature, so Amorosity neither produceth a Noble of-spring from The Mind, nor seldome any Issue from The Body; for it is raTher a whining Contemplation, than a real Act.
Of a Cholerick Disposition, and a Cholerick Passion.
There is a difference betwixt a Cholerick Disposition, and a Cholerick Passion. A Cholerick Disposition proceeds from a dry hot Constitution, and a bitter or salt Humour, that is bred in The Body either by an evil habit of The Liver and Stomack, or an unwholSome Diet: This produceth a froward Disposition, being alwaies a Disquiet to it self, which causes The Words to be cross, The Voyce to be loud, The Countenance to be stern, and The Behaviour ruff and rude.
But a Cholerick Passion is The Fire of The Mind, giving Heat to The Thoughts, which raiseth Ambition, and gives Courage to The Active, Vigour to The Strong, Quickness to The Words, Confidence to The Countenance, with a Resolved Behaviour, &c.
The Sympathy of The Spirits.
There are Sympathies of Sensitive Spirits, and Rational Spirits; The one proceeds from The Body, The other from The Mind, or Soul; The one is Fondness, The other is Love; this makes Fondness last no longer than The Senses are filled, which every Sense is not onely capable of a Satisfaction of every particular Object, but an overflowing, even to a Surfet, and Dislike; but an Affection that is made by The Sympathy of The Rational Spirits, which is Love, dwels in The Soul, and is never satisfied; but The more it receives, The more it desires; so that this Sympathy is The Infinite of Loves Eternity.
Of The offering up of Life.
There are few that will freely offer up Their Lives to take a certain Death; yet There be three sorts that are The likeliest to do it, as, The Ambitious, The Consciencious, and Lovers; The Ambitious, Fame perswades Them; The Consciencious, Fear and Hope perswades Them; Lovers, Love perswades Them; Ambition seeks Fame, Fame seeks Applause, Applause seeks Action, Action seeks Honour, Honour seeks Danger, Danger seeks Death; Fear and Hope seek Religion, Religion seeks Faith, Faith seeks Martyrdome, Martyrdome seeks Death; Love seeks Ease, Ease seeks Peace, Peace seeks Rest, Rest seeks Death. Those that dye for unlawfull Desires, or in desperate Fury, or The like, These deserve Pity, and Tears of Sorrow, because Their Death was Their Dishonour; but to dye for Their Country, Their Religion, Friends, or chastity, There Tears should be wiped from all Eyes, and Acclamations of Joy should ring for The Renown of such Constant Virtue, as to seal it with Voluntary Death, where Life was onely a Cover to hide it; besides, The Spirits They beget, by example, They give: but this kind of Valour hath few Companions.
The yielding up Life.
A Valiant Man will not wilfully part with his Life, nor yet unjustly keep it; but if his God, his Country, or his Friend, require it, he willingly offers it up as a Sacrifice upon The Altar of Honour; when Desperateness throws his Life into The Jaws of Death for a Vainglorious Fame.
The Difference of killing Themselves, and yielding up of Life.
There are more kill Themselves, than willingly offer up Their Lives; because Those that offer up Their Lives, are as a Sacrifice, or Atonement for The good of one another, more than Themselves; and would raTher live than dye, could They keep Their Life with Honour: but Their Death being a Rescue to Something, as They think, which is more worthy than Their Life, They willingly yield it up; where Those that kill Themselves, do it out of Fear of a Miserable Life: for Those do deliver up Their Lives Freely and Nobly, that give it, not to avoyd worse Inconveniencies to Themselves, as out of Poverty, Pain, Fear, or Disgrace, or The like, but Those that leave Health, Wealth, Strength, Honours, Friends, and all other Worldly Pleasures.
The difference between Courage and Valour.
There is a great difference between Courage and Valour; for though Valour is alwaies Couragious, yet Courage is not alwaies Valiant; for true Valour is built upon Consideration, and walled about with Honesty, and kept in by Fear; for true Valour dares not do a Wrong; where Courage onely follows appetite, and never considers wheTher it be Right or Wrong. Thus Wilfullness and Covetousness are The Spur to Courage, and Justice to Valour; Courage inhabits Beasts, Valour onely Men.
Of True Valour.
ALL Those that fight, are not Valiant; but all that are Valiant, will fight at fit times: for Valour is a True Understanding for what to fight for. A Valiant Man will not fight with a Mad Man, a Drunken Man, or a Coward, but to defend himself; nor with Those that are Weak and Infirm, as with Women, Sick Folks, and Children; for a Valiant Man fights onely in a Just Cause, not unto an Ill End; and though a Valiant Man will not take any Unworthy or Base Advantage on his Enemy, yet he will take all Honest Advantages and Opportunities. But every one (as I said) that will fight, is not Valiant; for Some fight through Fear, as when They cannot avoyd The Danger of an Enemy, or when They are forced by Command of Authority to fight, or else They are sure to be punished with a certain Death; Some for Shame, Some for Example, Some for Revenge, Some for Covetousness, Some out of Despair, Some for one thing, Some for another: but True Valour fights for no other End but Honour.
Of Fortitude.
Fortitude of The Mind we call Valour, when it is put into Action; and in Suffering, we call it Patience. This Fortitude is led by two, Prudence, and Justice; it is alwaies accompanied with Noble and Heroick Thoughts, but it is often mistaken, and in her room takes Desperateness, or Fury, which is alwaies led with Rashness and Indiscretion, and is accompanied with Revengefull, Malicious, and Base Actions. But Valour, The Hand of Fortitude, never strikes, but in a Noble Quarrel: for They are not alwaies Valiant that dare fight, but Those that fight for Truth and Rights sake, and to defend Innocence from devouring Wrong: but Desperateness followeth its appetite, and The Hands of Rashness strike at all. But There is no Motion of The Mind that hath more consideration than Fortitude, nor freer from Extravagancies of Anger or Hate, nor loveth Life better, nor more desirous to be from Scars, or shuns Danger more, than True Valour: for true Fortitude cares not to be known so much to others, as to be satisfied in it self, with Noble Thoughts, and Worthy Actions, either to Act Gallantly, or to Suffer Patiently. Neither is True Valour exempted from Fear, for it is afraid of all Dishonour; and though a Valiant Man is not afraid to lose his Life, yet he freely offers it to defend his Honour, his Friends, Country, and Religion. Thus Valour is not free from Fear, but placeth it upon fit Subjects or Objects.
Of Exceptions.
There are Some Humours of The Mind, although They are not Vices, yet They are Veils to Virtue, whereof Exception is one: for There are few Actions that are more difficult than to keep off Exceptions; and There is no Humout in Man more apt, than to take Exceptions: for Suspicion will fly upon every thing, and Sometimes upon nothing, but by Opinions and Interpretations. Besides, There is no Man so exact, but a Stander by may find Some Faults at one time or other, either at his Words, Actions, or Behaviour, especially if Censorious; And There is no surer way to judge of a Fool from a Wise Man, than by Exceptions: for a Wise Man takes few Exceptions, but makes The best of all things, but a Fool turns all things to The worst sense, and thinks that all things he meets, have a design to affront him, which makes all his Thoughts full of Murmure and Discontent; and There is an Old Saying, A Word is enough to The Wise, so one may say, A Word is enough to a Fool, as to trouble all The Company he keeps, or comes into; but The World is onely scattered with Wise Men, and filled with Fools, which makes The Wise cautious; for though They will not Flatter, yet for quietness sake They are forced to dandle and dance The Humours of Fools upon The Tongue of Fair Words.
What Natures bar Friendship, and what make it.
There are few Men can be true Friends; A Cautious Man, a Politician, a Casuist, a Jealous and an Amorous Man, a Cholerick and Exceptious, a Facile, a False, and Envious, a Revengefull, nor a Coward, or Fearfull Man, for all Their Humours turn The Byas of Friendship another way: Wherefore a Friend must be Wise, Honest, Valiant, Generous, Constant, Sweet, and Patient Man. But These Virtues seldome meet in one Person, which makes so Many Professions, and so few Performances in Friendships: yet Most think They could be Perfect Friends, although nothing harder to perform: for true Friendships are neither confirmed, nor known, but in Extremities, and Those Extremities are seldome put in use, which makes Friendships like Bonds that are unsealed: Neither can a Man so truly know himself, much less another, as to be assured of having a true and a constant Friend, but by being, one himself; for a Man may be a Friend in one Extremity, and an Enemy in The next; nay, a Man may be a Friend a thousand years, and in as Many Extremities (if it were possible) and yet one minute may alter him; so Various and Inconstant are The Passions and Affections of Men, and so little do They know Themselves, as not onely to be willing to dye, but to have The Courage to endure all The Torments that Life can bear, and yet at Some other times of Their Lives are so fearfull, as They will part from that which is Most dear, but for hopes of Life, or ease from Pain, besides other several Accidents of less Consequence than Life, that may cross Friendship; which makes an Impossibility of Friendship in this World, unless a Man had an absolute power over himself, or that he had an unalterable Nature, which is onely in The Society of Angels, and not in The Friendships of Men. But Those that may be accounted Friends amongst Mankind, are Those that do timely Curtesies; and to choose Friends otherwise, is out of a foolish and affected Humour; for one cannot say, I will choose me a Friend for Conversation onely, but that is no Friendship that is but a Companion; so an Acquaintance, and a Companion, and a Friend, are several: for I may have an Acquaintance with one, and yet not my Companion; and my Companion, and not my Friend; but a Friend makes The Triangle.
Of Friendship.
It is said, that True Friendship of Men is an Union of Spirits; so as it is our Minds that make Friendship, our Senses do not, although They are The Dores that let in that Knowledge which causeth that Friendship; but our Senses have not The power to keep a Friendship; for There was never any of our Senses that could constantly be unwearied of any one Subject or Object, having naturally a various quality, which makes Them great Admirers, but uncertain Lovers and Friends; neither is it altogeTher The Strength of Love, but The Length, that makes a perfect Friendship.
Friendship of Kings.
Some say that Kings are unhappy, because They cannot have a BoSome-friend, for There must be Some Equality for True Friendship; and a Prince makes himself a Subject, or his Subject as great as himself, in making particular Friendships, which may cause Danger to his Person and State. But a King that hath Loyal Subjects, wants no Friend. But, say They, a Friend is to open and disburThen The Thoughts from his Heart of all Joys, Griefs, and Secrets, which are not so convenient or satisfactory to be published to all his Loyal Subjects; To all which may be answered, that his Privy Council is a Secret Friend, where he may and ought to disburThen his Mind, being an united Body, or should be so; which will increase his Joys with Their Joys, and ease his Griefs with Their Counsel, which is The part of a Friend: So as a Privy Council to Kings, is as a Private Friend to another Man.
Friendship of Parents and Children.
It is said, Parents and Children cannot have Friendship; for They must have no tyes of Nature, but be Voluntary and Free; where in Parents it is raTher a Self love, or Selfinterest, than a clear Friendship: Where I answer, that There can be no Friendship, but proceeds from Self-love and Interest; for Their delight is in Their Friend; and to dye for a Friend, is because They cannot live without him. Besides, say They, There is a Bar that hinders The Friendship of Parents and Children, which is, The Duty and Respect which ought to be in The Child towards The Parent, and a Reservedness of The FaTher to The Child: But to my thinking, it is a strange Reason, that Duty and Respect should hinder Friendship, as if Friendship were built upon an open Rudeness; But certainly True Love, which is that which makes Dear Friendships, takes, more pleasure to be Commanded, and to Obey Those They love, than to Command, and be Obeyed. Besides, Respect hinders not The disclosing, or The receiving into The Mind, or helping with Their Bodies or Estates, or parting with Life, which are The Acts of Friendship; For I take Duty and Obedience to be from The Mind, as consenting to Their Desires, and respect as towards The Body; by an humble presenting of it self: But a Reservedness of The Parent to The Child, is raTher a proud Insulting, and Love of Authority, than out of Love or Consideration for Their good, or to keep Their Natural Affection; for it must be a very Ill Nature, that sweet and kind Perswasions, free and open Relations, seasonable and secret Counsellings, willing and reasonable Actions, shall not onely keep The Natural Love, as from The Child to The Parent, but tye a perfect Friendship, as from Man to Man; unless you will say, There can be no perfect Friendship, except There be an equality of Their Ages, which indeed a Child and a Parent can never be even in. But Parents are so far from making of Friendship with Their Children, as They know less, and are more unacquainted with Them, than with Strangers, by Their reserved Formalities; or else They are so rudely Familiar with Their Children, as makes Their Children rudely Familiar with Them; in which kind of Natures and Humours can be no tyes of Friendship, neither with Their own, nor Strangers.
Of Madness in general.
There are more that run Mad for The loss of Hope, than for The loss of what They have Enjoyed; as for example, How Many have run Mad for The loss of Their Servant, or Mistress which are called Lovers? but few or none for Their Husbands or Wives; every Town, or Kingdome at least, may be an Example of The first, but few in The whole World to be heard of The last. And how Many Parents have run Mad for The loss of Their Children, because They have lost The hopes of Their Perfections, or Excellencies, which Time might have brought forth, that might have been an Honour to Their Name and Posterity, which by Death were cut off? So as it is not so much for The present Comfort They lost in Their Child; for few Parents make Their Children Their onely or chief Society; but The expectation of The Future being lost, is that They Most commonly run Mad for; for There are none that wish not Themselves in a good Condition; and There are very few, that not onely wish Themselves in a better Condition, though They have no cause to complain, but hope to be so; and where The Hopes are cut off, and The Desires remain, They must needs grow Impatient, and Impatiency grows Extravagant, and Extravagancy is Madness. But how seldome is it heard, that Children run Mad for Their Parents? The reason is, because There is little hopes from Them, but of Their Estates, or Titles, if They have any; for Men never consider so much what is past, as what is to come, unless it be to compare The past time with The present, that They might guess at The Future: So that There is nothing to hope from Parents, because all things are past from Them; for Men joy more in looking forward through Their Posterity, than in looking back upon Their Ancestors; The one is a Contemplation of Life, The other but a Contemplation of Death; and though They are Sometimes proud of Their ForefaThers worthy Actions, yet They take more delight in The hopes of Their own Posterity. And when Men grow Mad for The loss of Their Estates, it is not for what They have enjoyed, but for what They would, or might have enjoyed, had not Ill Fortune been, but now They cannot. And when Men fall Mad through Despair, it is because They have no hopes of Heaven: So that Hope is The Life of Mans Thoughts, and The Ground of his Actions; it makes Piety in The Church, and Industry in The Commonwealth; where The want of it is a Death in Life.
An Epistle to The Unbelieving Readers in Natural Philosophy.
Many say, That in Natural Philosophy nothing is to be known, not The Cause of any one thing; which I cannot perswade my self is Truth: for if we know Effects, we must needs know Causes, by reason Effects are The Causes of Effects; and if we can know but one Effect, it is a hundred to one but we shall know how to produce more Effects Thereby.
Secondly, That Natural Philosophy is an endless Study, without any profitable Advantage: but I may answer, That There is no Art nor Science but is produced Thereby; if we will, without Partiality, consider from whence They were derived.
Thirdly, That it is impossible that any thing should be known in Natural Philosophy, by reason it is so obscure, and hid from The knowledge of Mankind: I answer, That it is impossible that Nature should perfectly understand, and absolutely know her self, because she is Infinite, much less can any of her Works know her; yet it doth not follow, that nothing can be known; As for example, There are several parts of The World discovered, yet it is Most likely, not all, nor may be never shall be; yet Most think, that all The World is found, because Drake and Cavendish went in a Circular Line, untill They came to that place from whence They set out at first; and I am confident, that Most of all Writers thought all The World was known unto Them, before The West-Indies were discovered; and The Man that discovered it in his Brain, before he travelled on The Navigable Sea, and offered it to King Henry The Seventh, was slighted by him as a Foolish Fellow, nor his Intelligence believ’d; and no question There were Many that laugh’d at him, as a Vain Fool; others pity’d him, as thinking him Mad; and others scorned him, as a Cheating Fellow, that would have cosened The King of England of a Sum of Money: but The Spanish Queen, being Then wiser than The rest, imployed him, and adventured a great Sum of Money to set him forth in his Voyage, which when The Success was according to The Mans Ingenious Brain, and he had brought The Queen The discovery of The Golden and Silver Mines, for The Spanish Pistols, Then other Nations envyed The King of Spain, and like a Company of Dogs, which fought for a Bone, went togeTher by The Ears to share with him. So The Bishop that declared his opinion of The Antipodes, was not onely cryed down and exclaimed against by The Vulgar, which hate all Ingenuity, but Learned Sages stood up against him, and The Great and Grave Magistrates condemned him as an ATheist for that Opinion, and for that reason put him from his. Bishoprick, and thought he had Favour, in that his Life was spared; which Opinion hath since been found true by Navigators. But The Ignorant & Unpracticed Brains think all Impossible that is not known unto Them. But put The Case that Many went to find that which can never be found, as They say Natural Philosophy is, yet They might find in The search, that They did not seek, nor expect, which might prove very beneficial to Them. Or put The case ten thousand should go so Many waies to seek for a Cabinet of pretious Jewels, and all should miss of it but one, shall that one be scorn’d and laugh’d at for his Good Fortune, or Industry? this were a great Injustice: But Ignorance and Envy strive to take off The gloss of Truth, if They cannot wholly overthrow it. But I, and Those that write, must arm our selves with Negligence against Censure; for my part, I do: for I verily believe, that Ignorance, and present Envy, will slight my Book; yet I make no question, when Envy is worn out by Time, but Understanding will remember me in after Ages, when I am changed from this Life: But I had raTher live in a General Remembrance, than in a Particular Life.
The Worlds Olio.
LIB. III. PART II.
Of Philosophy.
There have been of all Nations, that have troubled Their Heads, and spent The whole time of Their Lives, in The study of Philosophy, as Natural and Moral; The first is of little or no use, onely to exercise Their Opinions at The guessing at The Causes of Things, for know Them They cannot; The last is a Rule to a strict Life, which is soon learned, but not so soon practiced, as They have made it, in The dividing it into so Many and numerous parts, having but four chief Principles, as Justice Prudence or Providence, Fortitude, and Temperance; Justice is but to consider what one would willingly have another to do to him, The same to do to another, which is The beginning of a Commonwealth. Prudence or Providence, is, to observe The Effect of Things, and to compare The past with The present, as to guess, and so to provide for The Future. Fortitude is, to suffer with as little Grief as one can, and to act with as little Fear. Now Temperance is Something harder, as to abate The appetites, and moderate our Passions: for though There are but two principal ones, as Love, and Hate, yet There are abstracted from Them so Many, as would take up a Long Life to know Them after The strict Rules of Temperance. But indeed it is as impossible to be justly Temperate, as to know The first Causes of all Things; as for example, A Man loseth a Friend, and The Loser must grieve so much, as The merit of The Loss deserves, and yet no more than will stand with his Constitution, which in Many is impossible: For Some, Their Constitution is so weak, that The least Grief destroys Them; so that of Necessity he must needs be Intemperate one way, either for The not sufficient Grief for The merit of his Friend, or too little care for himself. So for Anger; a Man must be no more angry, than The Affront, or any Cause of his Anger doth deserve; and who shall be Judge, since There is no Cause or Act that hath not Some Partiality on its side? and so in all Passions and appetites There may be said The like. Therefore he that can keep himself from Extravagancy, is temperate enough. But There are none that are more intemperate than Philosophers; first, in Their vain Imaginations of Nature; next, in The difficult and nice Rules of Morality: So that this kind of Study kils all The Industrious Inventions that are beneficial and Easy for The Life of Man, and makes one sit onely to dye, and not to live. But this kind of Study is not wholly to be neglected, but used so much, as to ballance a Man, though not to fix him; for Natural Philosophy is to be used as a Delight and Recreation in Mens Studies, as Poetry is, since They are both but Fictions, and not a Labour in Mans Life. But Many Men make Their Study Their Graves, and bury Themselves before They are dead. As for Moral Philosophy, I mean onely that part that belongs to every particular Person, not The Politick, that goeth to The framing of Commonwealths, as to make one Man live by another in Peace, without which no Man can enjoy any thing, or call any thing his own, for They would run into Hostility, though Community of Men will close into a Commonwealth for The Safety of each, as Bees and other Creatures do, that understand not Moral Philosophy, nor have They Grave and Learned Heads, to frame Their Commonwealths.
Nature is The great Chymist of The World, drawing out of The Chaos several Forms, and extracted Substances; The gross and thicker part goeth to The forming of Solid Bodies, The Fume to Air and Water, The thinnest part to Fire and Light, The Sense or Spirits to Life.
Of Naturalists.
Naturalists, that search and seek for hidden Causes, are like Chymists, that search for The Philosophers Stone, wherein They find Many excellent and profitable Medicines, but not The Elixar: So Naturalists find out Many excellent and beneficial Arts, but not The Cause or Principle. Yet we find, that Nature works not so curiously upon The Essence of Things, as upon The Corporal Substance: for Nature is but rude in The Minds of Men, and so in other Creatures, untill Community and Art have civilized Them, and Experience and Learning have perfected Them.
Of Nature.
Nature is more various in The Shapes, Thoughts, and Colours, than in The Substance, or Kind of Things; yet for Shapes There are but four grounds, as High, Low, Thick, and Thin; of Quality, or Essences, she hath but four, as Fire, Water, Air, and Earth; and for Colours, The ground is onely Light; and for Life, she hath given onely three degrees, as The Life of Growth, The Life of Sense, and The Life of Reason, which is a Motion belonging to The Mind, The other two Motions belong to The Corporal Part, and all Life is but Motion; so that Motion is The Life of Natures Work, and The Work of Natures Life.
The Power of Natural Works.
Although Nature hath made every thing Good, if it be rightly placed, yet she hath given her Works power of misplacing Themselves, which produceth Evil Effects: for that which corrupts Nature, as it were, is The disordered mixture. But of all her Works, Man hath entangled her waies The Most by his Arts, which makes Nature seem Vicious, when Most commonly, Mans Curiosity causeth his Pain. But There is nothing that is purely made, and orderly set, by Nature, that hath not a Virtue in it; but by her Creatures mis-applyings, produceth a Vice.
Change in Nature.
Nature hath not onely made Bodies changeable, but Minds; so to have a Constant Mind, is to be Unnatural; for our Body changeth from The first beginning to The last end, every Minute adds or takes away: so by Nature, we should change every Minute, since Nature hath made nothing to stand at a stay, but to alter as fast as Time runs; wherefore it is Natural to be in one Mind one minute, and in another in The next; and yet Men think The Mind Immortal. But The Changes of Nature are like The Sleights of a Juggler, we see Many several Shapes, but still but one Matter.
Of Natural Wars.
It seems to me a thing above Nature, that Men are not alwaies in War one against The other, and that Some Estates live in peace, somtimes forty or an hundred years, nay Some above a Thousand (as The Venetians) without Civil Warrs; for The old saying is, So Many Men so Many Minds; yet They meet all in Ambitious Desires; and naturaly Self-love seeks and strives for Preheminency & Command, which all cannot have, & yet submit and obey, which is strange: But say Some, it is Love that Makes, Unites, and Keeps a Common-wealth in Peace; no saies another, it is Fear, and another may say as Tichobrahe The Dane said of The Sun and Earth; For Ptolomy saith that The Sun moveth and The Earth stands still, Copernicus said that The Earth moved and The Sun stood still, & Tichobrahe took up The third Opinion, to which could be added no more but that They both moved: So one may say it is both Love and Fear, since Those two Passions Most commonly accompany one another. But say They, all things naturally incline to Peace and Unity, and that War is unnatural, because it tends to Destruction; but Some may say again, that we find Nature hath made nothing but is subject to Preying, Ravening, and Devouring, one thing of another, and that Most things live upon The spoil of another, by The Humours, Constitutions, and Desires she hath given Them; for in Many things Their Lives cannot subsist or be nourished, but by The Death of other Creatures; So that Men are not only subject to War upon one another, but all Creatures that Nature hath made, as also The Elements, for what is Thunder, but a War betwixt Heat and Cold? for Nature, meeting in Contrarieties, must needs Dispute when They meet, and are never quieted untill one part get The upper hand; and though Numbers make aConsort, yet They must have a Sympathy one to another. Thus all things are subject to War, yet The Causes are different that provoke Them to it; But Nature would have wanted work, if she had made all things to continue, and nothing to decay; for Death is as natural as Life; but it seems to be Natures great Art to make all things subject to War, and yet live in Peace, as not to make an utter Destruction.
Of Darkness.
Darkness is more powerfull than Light, for a little dark Cloud will ecclipse The great light of The Sun; and There would be more Twilight if There were no Clouds, for The Clouds are like a Screen that hides The Light.
Of The Air.
The Air is Water as well as The Sea; So that Men, Beasts, and Birds, are all but kinds of Fishes, for we cannot live without Air, which is rarified Water; but it seems we are of a subtiller Sense than Fishes, which makes us require a thinner Element.
Of Air.
The Air is, as all other Animal Creatures are, subject to Corruption, Putrefaction, and Distemper; somtimes in a continual Feaver, other times in an intermitting Feaver, Sometimes in a Hectick Feaver, other times it hath shaking Agues, Wind-Chollcks, and oft times Rheumatick and Hydropical: and as The Air is, so it is apt to infect mens Bodies, by reason that Air is so thin and subtil, as it enters and intermingles into all things.
Of The Corruptions of The Air.
The Air is more corrupted in The Spring and The Autumn, than in The Winter and Summer; for in The Winter it is less corrupted by reason it is more united, as being congealed by Cold; neither hath The Sun that Force, to draw more Vapours than it can digest; besides, for want of Heat The Pores of The Earth are shut, where by less Vapours issue out; and in Summer it hath a sufficient heat to concoct what it draws up, or at least it contracts it so, as to keep it from running into corruption; and The Spring, at The Suns return, opens The Pores of The Earth, suoking out Vapour There from, which V pour is like The first milk of a Cow, or The like Udder’d Creature, when They have new cast forth Their Birth, which Milk is all corrupted with Blood and Matter, by reason it hath been so long in The Udder; so likewise The Vapour is corrupted when it is first drawn as it were by The returning Sun, by reason it wanted Vent and Agitation to purify it, and as it is ascending it mingles with Those Creatures that live upon The Earth; for The Pores of The Creatures that live upon The Earth, also open by The springing heat, from whence Vapours like wise do issue from Their Bodies; yet They live by The Air that encompasseth Them, as Fishes do in Water, which if The Water be corrupted, The Fishes dye, caused by The Malignity They draw in; for though They are not smotherd or choaked, as in Frosty weaTher; yet could The thinnest Air be so hard and so solidly froze as water which is of a grosser Body, Man and Beast would be smothered for want of Breath, as Fishes are in great Frosts; yet Many Creatures of The Earth are frozen to death, not only by having Their Limbs Conjealed, Benummed, and Dead, destroying The Natural Motions Therin; for surely The thinnest Air being congealed, They can get none to serve for Breath; that is, There is none fit to move The Lungs; for though Some Creatures Lungs require grosser Air than others, and Some a finer, yet Man and Beast I observe, require a middle temper or mixture; for too thin Air is as unusefull as too grosse; so for The Temper, too hot is as hurtfull as too cold; The one scalds or burns The Lungs, The Brain, and The rest of The inward parts, or sets The Spirits on fire; The other benumbs and stupifies Them, at least obstructs Them; but when The Air is putrified and corrupted, it mingles with The thinner Parts, as The Humours, The Blood and The like, causing corrupted Diseases and putrifyed Limbs: but as I said, The Spring Vapour, which is The rising Vapour, is like The Beesting Milk; so The Vapour in Autumn, which is The falling Vapour, is like Cheese that is ill prest, or too moist kept, which corrupts and breeds Maggots; so Vapour being not well clarified or concocted by The Sun, becomes Malignant.
Of several sorts of Vapour.
There are Many sorts of Vapours, according to The several tempets of Those parts of The Earth They are drawn from; but when They are drawn to such a height, They all mix, yet seldom so, but that Some sort may predominate, wheTher salt Vapour, sharp Oil, bitumenous, waterish, or grosse and Earthy, as dull and heavy or more light and Aery: Thus The Sun, as I say, draws and mixes, boils and clarifies Vapours; but if There be more than his Heat can overcome, They corrupt and fall back; and that which is thinnest and purest it turns into serene Air, The Crude and Flatuous part it turns into Wind, The Watery part into Rain, The Bitumenous part into Thunder, The Oily part into Lightning or Meteors, The Scum into Clouds, which servs as wicks of Candles to take Light; The corrupted part insensibly falls back to The Earth again.
But when The Malignity of The Earth, and The corruption of The Air, and The distempered Humours of Bodies join togeTher, it causeth great and horrible Plagues, making a general Malignity, and untill this Malignity hath spent its strength, with struggling and striving with The strength of Life, it never ceaseth, and at The last it grows fainter and fainter, untill it hath no Power.
The several Degrees, or several sorts of Vapour.
AS There is a natural Heat and a natural Moisture, proper and inherent in every animal Body; so There is a natural Vapour that is produced Therefrom, as a right and natural begotten Child. Or like Chymistrie, where Fire extracts from grosser Bodies, several degrees of Matter, as Smoak, Oil, Essence, Water, Salt, and Incipid Dreggs: so The Natural Heat, on Food received, extracts Vapour, Fat, Blood, Spirits, Sweat, Humours, and Excrements. Now if The Heat be of an equal temper, and The Limbeck, which is The Stomach, free from Defects, The Digestion is good, which makes The Extraction pure and effectual; now The thinnest but strongest Extractions are The Animal or Vital Spirits, The next thinnest and Most powerfull is The Vapour, which Vapour is that which reposeth The Senses, and feedeth The Brain, nourishing Imagination, Conception, and Understanding, and The like, and is The Creator of Fancy and Phantasms; The Grosser part of Vapour is a Smoak that continually issueth out through The Pores, and The like open passages; which Smoak is a superfluity that serves for no use, but may do Mischief if it be stopt, choaking and smothering Life, or at least, causeth such Distempers as may disorder The whole Body; but The Animal spirit indeed is a Vapour, which proceeds from The Radical Heat and Moisture of The Body, wherin, if The Heat be too violent, or The Moisture too gross, Quenches or Burns Them up; and The Reposing Vapour proceeds from The Natural digesting Heat and Moisture that is in The Body; and The Superfluous Vapour or Smoak proceeds from The actual Heat or Moisture put into The Body by violent Motions, or hot WeaTher, or hot Meats, or moist Meats, or much Meat or Drink: When These Vapours join to The Natural Vapours of Repose, They cause as it were dead sleeps, as we see by Those that have out Eat or Drank Their Natural Temper; for though much eating will Many times hinder Sleep, by reason it makes The Vapour so gross that it cannot easily flow, yet much Drinking never fails; for a drunken man will be so strongly asleep that he cannot be awaked; but indeed The Senses will be drunk as well as The Brain, which causeth Them to be as if They were asleep, but are not, only Their Strength is for a time taken away, as being Slack’d or raTher as it were drown’d; but when strong sleep is produced by overmuch eating, it is raTher an Epilepsie than a natural Sleep, The Brain being as it were alMost sinothered with The thick and full Smoak, and The Senses choaked or strangled Therewith; and so will The Senses be in These Distempers, untill They are dispersed or rarified, either by Time, Motion, or natural Heat; but Temperance causeth sweet, natural, and healthfull Sleeps, being a Vapour that ariseth from a good Digestion, caused by a Natural Heat and Moisture; for when The Stomach is too empty, it hinders Sleep as much as when it is too full.
Of Thunder.
AS Winds make The Cloudes in The Air, and The Waves of The Sea to War, and make a Noise by The beating Thereon, so it makes Thunder, for Thunder is nothing, in my apprehension, but Winds beating upon Christling Drops, which is Water congealed in The middle Region; for Cold knits The Porous Body into a more Solid, and Winds that are made by Rarification give it Motion, which motion makes it powerfull, and when this Wind is got above The lower Region, and flies about it, it drives Those Christling Drops against one another, and makes such a Noise as The Roaring of The Sea, only it is a harder Noise if we observe, which is, because The Water is Christling in The middle Region, and not in The Sea; and if we observe, The harder The Thunder-Claps are, The less it rains, and The more it rains The lesser are The Claps, and according as The heat of The Sun melts and dissolves The Christling Bodies, more or less it rains.
Of The Motions of The Planets.
The Spherical Planets are The Wheels to draw up Vapours from The Earth, and The Sun as a thirsty Throat is refreshed Thereby: Besides, every particular Planet feeds upon each other, though not Corporally as Many other Creatures do, but draw and suck as from each others Breast.
Of Thunder Some little difference to The former.
The reason why it’doth not Thunder in The Winter as in The Summer, is, that Most of The matter that makes Thunder in Summer, is turned into Wind in Winter; for Water, Air, Wind and Thunder, are all but one Element, only thicker and thinner;* for Wind is a condensed Air, and Air a rarified Water, and thus by Dilating and Contracting, alter Their Forms, and Their Properties, which makes that Matter seem of several Qualities,** only works different Effects, and These Effects being different by Their several Motions, which give Them several Forms, and make* many times a Civill War amongst Them, every Form striving to out-do one another, and often in Their striving change Their Shape. But Fire being an Element not subject to change, somtimes parts The Fray, and somtimes sets Them more one against another: for in The Summer The Sun being hot, raiseth The Vapour so high that it gets into The Middle Region, and being There condenses into Wind, and when it is There it seeks a Passage out, and so falleth foul upon The Clouds, beating Them about untill its Fury and Strength be spent; but in The Winter The Sun-beams being weak cannot draw The Vapour so high, and so blows uppon The Earth and amongst The lower Clouds, which by crushing Them togeTher, squeeseth out Rain, or breaks Them in sunder, which falls down in Showres; this makes more Rain, and frequenter Storms in Winter than in Summer; and Thunder in Summer, because it is drawn so high that it cannot easily return. Thus Wind in The Middle Region causeth Thunder, and in The Winter (going no furTher than The lower Region) causeth Storms; and Lightning may be The striking of Some Clouds that have Bitumenous matter mixed in Them, which like to a Flint do strike out Fire.**
*The effects of Water.
**This commonly is held.
***External Motions I mean. The Effect External.
**With violence of The Wind.
Allegory.
IN The Chymistry of Nature, The Earth is The sixt Salt, The Air The Sulphur, The Water is The Incipid Flegm, The Sun or Fire are The Spirits, Light and Darkness is The Center, Life is The volable Salt, and Death is The Terra Damnata.
The noise of Water.
Water being Spherical, of a hollow and Porous Body, The Wind beating Thereon, The Hollowness causeth a sound by The Rebounds it maketh against The inside or outside of The Spherical Bodie, which we call Drops, which being moved either by The Tydes or Winds, are so quick being so small, and apt to move being round, as The Rebounds are so Many and so thick, that The Ecchoes Thereof are confused, which confusion we call a Roaring of The Waters, as The Roaring of The Sea.
Of The Motion of The Sea.
The Reason why The Sea is more apt to move than Freshwaters, is, by The Saltness; for Salt having an acute quality, doth penetrate and divide, and Water whose propertie is to intermingle and unite, doth strive to join The divided parts again; this makes it as it were a Perpetual Motion, The one striving to meet and join, The other to separate and disunite.
The Noise of Winds.
The Reason The Winds make such a Noise in The Air, as on The Sea, is, that Clouds are a Condensed Vapour or Air, which Condensed Air is Water, so that Clouds are as it were a Sea over our Heads; and Those Clouds being Waves and great Billows, when The Wind blows, beating upon Them as upon The Sea, makes The same Noise; for The Roaring of The Sea and The blowing of The Wind is much alike; but when The Wind blows upon The Sea, it makes a horrid Noise.
Of Water.
TO my apprehension, Water lies like a Swarm of Bees, every drop being like a several Bee; and as Bees lie so close one to another as at small distance They seem to be one intire Heap or Ball, so do Waters; but if They be disturbed They will spread, and every Bee is seen distinctly, which before we could not see; so Water, when great quantitie is togeTher, The Distinction of each Drop cannot be perceived by Mans Eies; but cast up a Handfull of Water, or sprinkle it about, and it will fall into Drops: Besides, Drops of Water lie much closer togeTher than The Bodies of Bees can doe, because They are more Porous and soft, which yields to Contraction, and being wet makes Them Glutenous, and so stick closer, which makes The Distinction of The Drops of Water less visible than Bees.
Winds may be rarified Air.
AS Air is rarified Water, so Wind may be rarified Air, and by thinness beget such an Agilness, as may give it such a Strength by The quick Motion, that it may over-power The more Solid, which are Air and Water: for quick Motions, by The often Repetitions, grow powerfull and strong. Wind is The Essence of Air, as The Spirits of Air, for it is an extracted Substance, which makes it Quick, Subtil, and Sharp, and of such a powerfull nature, that it incounters solid Bodies, and Many times hath The Victory over Them, and by its active Wandring, subtil and piercing Motion, it appears more like Life than an other Element.
Of Rain.
Vapour that is sent from The Earth, or drawn up by The Sun, is like so Many several Springs that issue out of The Pores of The Earth, and when They are streamed to such a height, They meet and jon togeTher, and gaThering into Clouds, They become like a flowing River, with curling Waves like The Sea; But where There is too great a Quantity gaThered togeTher, that The Sun cannot disgest, They overflow and fall down into showres of Rain.
Of The Saltness of The Sea, and The freshness of Springs.
Some are of Opinion, that The Veins of The Earth are filled from The Sea, and that The Water runs thorow The Earth, as thorow a Sieve or The like, letting The thinnest part thorow, and keeping The more solid back, which is The Salt; which to my Reason doth not seem probable; for we find by Experience that The Nature of Water being Moist, Soft, and Plyable, doth suck out with The Liquid Tongue, The Salt and Tincture of every Thing, even from The soild’st Body, as Minerals, which are harder far, and more close, than The Porous part of The Earth; And for experience, we see and taste Those Waters that run thorow Mines, have not only The Tincture and Taste of Those Minerals, but The purging effects which proceed from The Nature belonging to Them; which shews, that it is unlikely that Salt should be taken out of The Water, when Water draws and sucks out all Salt or The like into it self, unlesse They could prove Earth to be more Thin and Liquid than Water, whose Liquidness sucks out all The looser Ingredients, which is not only as I said before The Tincture and Taste, but The natural Propertie; and since it is improbable that The Salt should be retained by The Earth from The Water, but far more probable that The Water should become more salt, from The Earth, which makes me think it is improbable that The Veins of The Earth should be filled with Water immediatly from The Sea; but to my Apprehension They are filled after this manner.
The Planets, like Water-Mills, draw up Vapours from The Sea, and The Sun, as The hottest Planet, doth by his heat as it were Calcine The Salt Vapour; although The Vapour cannot be so salt as The Sea-Water, because The Gross Salt is not so light to be drawn up, but raTher remains as fixt; but when The Sun hath Calcined it, The Volatil part flyes up to The Body of The Sun, or else staies in The middle Region, and There meeting with a Sulphurous and Bitumenous Matter mixeth Therwith, and makes a Matter of The nature of Gunpowder, which shoots Thunder, & flashes Lightning; The Watry part distills back again on The Earth in Showres of Rain, and that fresh Water distilled which falls upon The Earth, soaks into The Earth, and fills The Veins Therein, causing fresh Springs to rise where The Veins are too full: But in Egypt, or The like, where it seldome Rains, because The Sun is There fierce and heady, that it hath not patience to draw by degrees as in Vapour, but draws up a Sea at once, which They call Nilus; for The appetite and The Strength joining togeTher, draws up so great a quantity, that The Strength being not able to draw it up high, makes it only swell up, which heaves no higher than to cover The Earth Some small depth, as Some few Yards, or Feet high; and The Reason why it riseth but twice a year, is, that The Sun is gaThering his Forces half a Year to make a sufficient Strength to compass that Work; and The Reason that it seldome or never faileth, is, because it is The Nature of The Sun in Those Parts, to draw Moisture after that manner, and what is Natural is a constant Habit or Custome.
Of The Sea-water running thorow The Veins of The Earth.
Some are of opinion, That The Sea runs thorow The Veins of The Earth, as The Blood thorow The Body of an Animal, as a Man; which, to my reason, is very unlikely; for Then There must be much more Water than Earth; if so, The Earth would be drowned with a superabundant quantity, what with The Sea that runs about it, and The Rain that falls upon it, and The Water that runs thorow it perpetually. For put The Case it be as They say, that it runs out at Some places, as fast as it comes in at others, yet it would wash and moulder away The Earth by The perpetual concourse and recourse, if not The Solidst part, yet The Most Porous part. Besides, if it were so, The Earth would not be so dry as in Many places it is, unless They hold, that Some parts of he Earth have Veins, and other parts none. But if They say, that The Earth being so much greater in quantity than The Sea, which is The Watry part of The World, it hath not alwaies a sufficient quantity to satisfie The Drought, which causes The Veins to be dry, that Reason would make me think, that There should not be a sufficient Quantity of Water to keep in a Body, to make a Sea so large to run about it, especially of that depth The Sea is of, and to run through The vast Earth, besides feeding The Air with Vapours. Thus if There were less Water than Earth, The Earth-Ball would be burnt up, or at least so dry, as to bear nothing; and if The Water were more than The Earth, The Earth would be drowned. Wherefore, in my opinion, The Ingredients of The World are equally mix’d, and proportionably made, as Earth, Water, Air, and Fire; so The Sun proportionable to The rest of The Planets, and The Planets proportionable to The Sun: so that The whole Globe is in equal temper, and The whole Body sound; and though we, who know not The Constitution of The World, may think Sometimes The Elements are distempered, which is Their natural temper to be so, but not in our knowledge to know how.
The Sun peirceth not deep into The Earth.
It is not The Sun that is The Cause of The Elixar in The Earth, or The Golden Mines, nor yet of other Metals, which are in The Bowels of The Earth; as for example, all Cellars and Vaults are cold in The Summer, when all The surface of The Earth is soultry hot; and if The Sun cannot peirce thorow a little Vault, or Cellar, sure it cannot pass so far as into a deep Mine. This sheweth, if Heat maketh Metals, it must be in The Bowels of The Earth.
Autumn is warmer than The Spring.
Autumn is warmer than The Spring, by reason of Sunbeams, which beat hotter and longer upon The Earth in The Summer, when as Winter is cold, and hath frozen The Earth, which cannot suddenly be thawed. Besides, The Sun hath not onely drawn forth The raw and undigested Vapours out of The Earth, but hath incorporated his Heat into her, all The Summer long: for though The Earth hath a Heat in her self, a Sun, as we may say, in The Center, yet towards The Circumference it is so weak, as it is not sufficient to bring things to Maturity, without The help of The Sun. Thus The Autumn is as much to be preferred before The Spring, as Maturity to Immaturity.
Of Heat and Cold.
Some say, that Fire is onely sensible to that which hath Heat in it self, and by a Similitude is forced Thereunto: but There is nothing more contrary than Ice and Fire; yet Ice is sensible of Fire, which is proved by The melting, and The Water Thereof will be scalding hot: Thus what is Cold will grow Hot.
Of The Moon.
There may be an Opinion, that The Moon is all Water, for we find that Planet cold and moyst; and why may not The inequalities of that we see in The Moon by Perspective-glasses, be The Reflexion of The Earth on that Watry Body, The Moon? And as we see our Image in a Pond or Pail of Water, so do we see Mountains, Rocks, and Valleys of The Earth, in The Face of The Moon. Some may say, this Opinion may be contradicted, in The Eclipses of The Sun: for if The Moon were all Water, it could not shadow The Sun from The Earth, by reason The Sun would shine thorow it: but this is not a sufficient Contradiction; for a little Cloud will shadow The Sun, wherefore so great a Body of Water must needs darken it. Then Some may say, The Figure must needs be weak, and not subject to our Eyes, because The Distance is so great; it may be answered, though The Distance be great, The Depth of The Moon is so also; and The deeper The Water is, The fuller and perfecter it represents The Image that is set to The view; besides, it may be like a Magnifying Glass, or like Those Glasses that cast forth The Image, as Concaves and Convexes do; and for Experience, what a way will a Figure come out? wherefore how far will The Convex, Moon, or Earth, as may be both, cast or draw out The Image of The Earth? And why may not The Moon be thought all Water, as well as The Sun all Fire, since The Effects of The Moon are cold and moyst, as The Effects of The Sun are hot and dry? for we must guess of The Quality, or Cause, by The Effects: besides, The Light shews it Water; for when The Sun shines upon The Seas, The Reflexion casts a Pale Light, so The Moon gives a Silver Light.
Of The Prospect of Water.
WE cannot see, with a Perspective glass, The several Drops of The Sea, as we see The several Parts in a Heap of Sand: for if we look into The Sea, it only shews a shining Body; but look on The Sand, and every little Grain will seem a little Stone, and so a small Heap seems like a Rock, and The Perspective shews perfectly what it is, because it lyes in distinct Parts which may be magnified: But we cannot magnifie The Drops of Water, because it is a Liquid Body, where every part mingles into one another, or cleaves so close, as it becomes one entire Body, so as There are no distinct Parts visible.
Of Perspectives.
JUST as a Perspective glass carries The sight afar off, so a Trunk, or Pipe, conveys The sound and voyce to The Ear at a great distance. Thus we may perceive, that The Figure of a round Circle hath The nature to gaTher up, and to draw to a Point all Species whatsoever: for They do not onely gaTher These from The Brain, but Those that come from outward Objects; and The more round Circles There are, The straiter and furTher The several Species go, and The sharper is The Point, as being bound, not having Liberty to stray forth. That is The reason, that The longer The Perspective is, or The Pipe, or Trunk, The clearer and perfecter we see, and hear: for a Pipe, or a hollow Trunk, gaThers up The several Letters, and Words, as a Perspective gaThers up The several Objects. Besides, The Eye and The Ear are much of The nature of a Burning-glass, which gaThers all The loose and scattered Beams of The Sun to a Point, becoming There so strong, being united, as The Reflexion strike upon all Bodies, it meets, and peirceth into whatsoever is Porous: Just so The Reflexions of what The Senses have gaThered togeTher, strike upon The Optick Nerve, and peirce into The Brain; and if The Species of Sense were so material as Those Species which are drawn from grosser Bodies, The Nose would see a Sent, and The Ear see a Sound, as well as The Eyes see a grosser Object which is presented to it: But The Matter being Thin, and Aery, The Objects cannot be so soild and substantial, as to make a Figurative Body to last so long as for our gross Senses to see.
Of going about The World.
It is said, that Drake and Cavendish went round The World, and others, because They set out of one place, and went till They came to The same place again, without turning: But yet, in my conceit, it doth not prove They went round The whole World; for suppose There should be round Circle of a large Extent, and within this Circle Many other Circles, and likewise without, so that if one of These inward or outward Circles be compass’d, shall we say it was The Circumference Circle, when it may be it was The Center Circle? But it may easily deceive The Understanding, since we can truly judge but according to what we sind, and not to what we know not. But surely The World is bigger than Mens Compass, of Embracing; and Man may make a Globe of what he knows, but he cannot make a Globe of what he knows not; so that The World may be bigger than Man can make Globes, for any thing he knoweth perfectly. This Globe Man makes for The whole World, is but an inward Circle; and that There may be Many of Them which we do not know, because not found out as yet, although Ships are good Scouts to bring Intelligence.
Of Nature.
WE find that Nature is stinted her self, as well as Man is stinted by her, for she cannot go beyond such Rules and Principles, which shews There is Something more powerfull than Nature, as to govern her as she governs The World: for if she were not limited, There might be new Worlds perpetually, and not a Repetition in this course of one and The same Motion, Matter, and Form, which makes it very probable, that Nature hath wrought to The height of her Invention, and that she hath plowed and sowed to The length of her Limits, and hath reaped The plentifullest Crops, or at least as plentifull as she can, which makes it very Unlikely, or indeed Impossible, that There should be better and quicker wits, or sounder Judgements, or deeper Understandings, or exacter Beauties, or purer Virtues, or clearer Truths, than have been in former Ages; and we find by her Acts past, that all was begot from The first-grounded Principles; Variation indeed There may be, but not any thing entirely new: And that There have been as good, if not better, in The same kind before. Neither can we rationally think, but The very same Patterns of all her Principles have been before in The Generality of her Works, although not made known in The Particulars of every of her Works. But every Age are apt to flatter Themselves, out of a Natural Self-love, that Nature hath out-wrough her former Works; which if so, There must be no Perfection, because no End of Increasing: for nothing can be Perfect that hath a Superiour, or which is not finished and done; or that Nature, being Imperfect, cannot finish what she hath begun; or that her Principles are Imperfect which she works upon. But we find, that Nature hath a constant and setled course in all she doth; and whatsoever she works, are but Patterns from her old Samplers. But The several Stiches, which are The several Motions, are The same; and The Stuff, which she worketh upon, which is The Matter, is The same; and The Figures she makes, are after The same kind; and we find, through Many ages since, that it is The same, as Salomon saith, Nothing is new, &c.
Of Augury.
BY The Sympathy and Antipathy of Matter, or at least in The several Forms of all; so in The Motion of Nature, if Man, The chief Work of Nature, would observe, we might foreknow Effects to come by past Effects, and present Effects, if we would but study The Art which in former times Those that were called Augures were learned in, and certainly did foretell Many things truly well, and without The help of a Devil, but by Natural Observations of Natural Effects, though unknown Causes. And why may not this Learning be, as well as Astronomy, which by Observations of Effects hath found out The Reason of Eclipses, and can foretell Their times, and Many other things concerning all The Planets and fixed Stars? And why not as well as Physicians, that have found out The Effects of Vegetables and Minerals, and The Diseases, by which kind and waies of applying hath produced a Cure, which is not onely a Restauration, but a kind of Creation, and can foretell wheTher such kind of Diseases are curable, or no.
Of Natural Faith.
There may be such Sympathy in Nature, that if we could believe, undoubtedly our own Belief might bring any thing to pass: For why may not Faith beget naturally what it requires, as well as one Creature beget another? But Nature is Wise, for she hath mixed Mans Mind with so Many Passions and Affections, as his Belief cannot be so clear, but that There lye alwaies Dregs and Doubts in The bottom of his Mind; which if Nature had not ordered so, Man might have transformed her Works to his Humour. But certainly There is a Natural Sympathy in Curses, to produce an Evil Effect.
The Predestination of Nature.
There is a Predestination in Nature, that whatsoever she gives Life to, she gives Death to; she hath also predestinated such Effects from such Causes.
Of Chymistry.
The greatest Chymists are of a strong Opinion, that They can enforce Nature, as to make her go out of her Natural Pace, and to do that by Art in a Furnace, as The Elixar, in half a Year, that Nature cannot in a hundred or a thousand Years; and that Their Art can do as much as Nature, in making her Originals another way than she hath made Them; as Paracelsus little Man, which may be Some Dregs gaThered togeTher in a Form, and Then perswaded himself it was like The Shape of a Man, as Fancies will form, and liken The Vapours that are gaThered into Clouds, to The Figures of several things. Nay, They will pretend to do more than ever we saw Nature to do, as if They were The God of Nature, and not The Work of Nature, to return Life into that which is dead, as to renew a Flower out of its own Ashes, and make that Flower live fresh again; which seems strange, since we find nothing that Nature hath made, that can be more powerfull, or more cunning, or curious, than her self: for though The Arts of Men, and other Creatures, are very fine and profitable, yet They are nothing in comparison to Natures works, when They are compared. Besides, it seems impossible to imitate Nature, as to do as Nature doth, because her Waies and her Originals are utterly unknown: for Man can only guess at Them, or indeed but at Some of Them. But The reason of raising such Imaginations in Man, is, because They find by practice, that They can extract and divide one Quality from another, though it may be in question, wheTher They can do it purely or no, but so as to deform that Nature hath formed: But to compass and make as Nature doth, as They imagin They can, is such a Difficulty, as I believe They have not The power to perform; for to divide, or substract, is to undo; and Nature hath given that Faculty to Man to do Some things when he will, but not in all, as, he may ruin and destroy that he cannot build, or renew; & though he be an Instrument, as all other things are, to furTher Natures Works, since she is pleased to work one thing out of another, not making new Principles for every thing, yet he cannot work as she worketh: for though he can extract, yet he cannot make; for he may extract Fire out of a thing, but he cannot make The principle Element of Fire; so of Water and Earth; no more can he make The Elizar, than he can make The Sun, Sea, or Earth; and so it seems as impossible to make a Man, as to make a piece of Meat, put into a Pot, and setting it upon The Fire, of what temper, or which way he can, he shall never turn it into Blood, as it doth in The Stomack, or make such Excrements as The Bowels cast forth: And to make The Essence of a Flower return into The same Flower again, seems more strange; for first, that Motion is ceased and gone, that gave it that Form; and where They will find that Motion, or know what kind moves it, or what moved it to that Form, I doubt is beyond Their skill. Besides, Those Qualities, or Substances, are evapoured out, that gave it that tast, or smell, or that made it such a thing; and though They be never so Industrious to keep Those Vapours in, yet They are too subtil to be restrained, and Insensible to be found again, when once They are separated: so as it is as hard to gaTher The dispersed Parts, as to make The first Principles, which none but The God of Nature can do; for it is a hard thing out of The Ashes of a Billet to make a Billet again. But Nature hath given such a Presumptuous Self-love to Mankind, and filled him with that Credulity of Powerfull Art, that he thinks not onely to learn Natures Waies, but to know her Means and Abilities, and become Lord of Nature, as to rule her, and bring her under his Subjection. But in this Man seems raTher to play than work, to seek raTher than to find; for Nature hath infinite Varieties of Motions to form Matters with, that Man knows not, nor can guess at; and such Materials and Ingredients, as Mans gross Sense cannot find out insomuch that we scarce see The Shadow of Natures Works, but live in Twilight, and have not alwaies that; but Sometimes we are in Utter Darkness, where The more we wander, The apter we are to break our Heads.
The EPISTLE.
This Book I doubt will never gain an Applause, especially amongst Those Students who have spent Their time with Antient Authorities, who are become so restringent with Their Doctrines, as The strongest reason of Contradiction cannot move Them, nor reasonable Truths purge out The Erroneous Dregs. And They do not onely make a Laughing Scorn, or cast a Deriding Jest, on Modern Opinions, but They will fly from Them, as from The Plague, without any Examination, crying, They are Defective, out of an Obstinate Belief, that none but The Antients were Masters of Knowledge, and Their Works The onely Guides of Truth, which is as Ridiculous, as to think that Nature cannot or will not make any thing equal to her former Works; or to think Nature confined all Knowledge to Some Particular Heads in Antient Times, and none but Those to trace her Waies; or to think that The Curiosity of Nature is so easily found out, that The Antients could not be mistaken. But The Antients are divided amongst The Scholars, or raTher The Scholars are divided amongst The Antients, where every several Author hath a several Party to fight in his Defence, or to usurp an Absolute Power; where There is so much Envy, and Malicious Factions, and Side-takings, to maintain or to fling down several Opinions; or so much Ignorance, blindly to throw at all, having no Understanding Eye to make Distinguishment, or to see what They are against. But I hope none of my Readers will be so blind as to break Their Heads against The Candlestick, when The Light is set Therein; and I wish it may burn so clearly, and bright, as to cast no dark Shadows against The Wall of Ignorance: yet I must confess, it is but a Night piece, for it wants The Sun of Rhetorick to make it a Glorious Day.
The Worlds Olio.
LIB. III. PART III.
Much Praise makes a Physician think himself Learned.
It is a strange thing to see into what great Errours Men will run; as suppose a Person shall find out, or have it by Receipt, a rare Medicine, as to cure one Disease, which is curable; and for The Fame of this one Medicine, shall have a whole Country flock to him for Medicines for Their several Diseases, and shall not be perswaded from it; and at last perswade him, as Self-love is easily perswaded, to practice that he hath no skill in; and so kill more by his Ignorance, than his Medicine can qure by its Virtue.
Of Physicians.
It is alMost impossible for all Physicians to know all Diseases, and Their Remedies, as They prosess to do, by Their general Practices; for we find, to learn a mean Art, it is The study and service of seven Years; and certainly it is much more difficulty to know Diseases, which are like Faces, not any one alike; Besides, Diseases lye so hid in The Body of an Animal, as They are never perfectly known, but guess’d at; and to know The Cure of a Disease, is as hard, as to know The Disease; and indeed we can never know a perfect Cure, unless we could know The undoubted Cause. But Physicians should watch, as Philosophers, The Stars, with Observations, and in time They may guess so well, as seldom to fail of a Remedy. Wherfore it were good, that every particular Physician should be bound by a Law to study onely a single Disease, and The Cure Thereof, and not to confound Their Brains with tearms and names of Diseases, and to kill The Patient, by being ignorant of The Cause. But let every Disease, go to a proper Physician; for though There be a multitude of Diseases, yet There are more Physicians: but such is The sad Condition, that They raTher adventure to Chance, or Luck, than Skill; for Diseases are like several Countenances in Faces: though There be one and The same kinds of Faces, as Man-kind, Horse-kind, and Cow-kind, yet every Horse-face is not alike; nor every Mans Face is not alike; so Diseases: as Pox-kind, and Plague-kind, and Feaver-kind: yet all Feavers are not alike, nor Plagues, nor Pox; for They are different in degrees; wherefore one and The same Medicine will not cure one kind of Disease, but The Medicine must differ, as The Disease: for as The Countenance of The Disease changeth, so must The Medicine. But it is harder to take The degrees of Diseases, than to draw a Picture to The Life, for it is hard to know in what Degree a Disease is in.
But The Second Part of my Philosophical Fancies will treat more at large of Diseases, and Their Cures.
The Motion of The Blood.
The Most Renowned and Most Learned Physician, Doctor Harvey, hath found out The Circulation of The Blood, by his industrious study, so methinks it should be very beneficial towards The health of Man, to find out The Motion of The Blood, as it runs, wheTher it hath one intermixing Motion as it runs; or wheTher The Blood doth not do as The Water seems to do, which going in a swift source, where The following Drops are as great Strangers to The leading Drops, as The situation of either Pole: for though The hinder Drops press forwards, and drive on The former, like Crouds of People, one shuffling another, yet They do not seem to intermix, or incorporate, but raTher seem to break, and divide into parts; for if They should intermix, and incorporate one drop into another, Their intermixing Motion would hinder Their running Motion so much, as it would be scarce perceivable how it went forward; and if The Blood do not intermix, Then Some Veins may have foul and corrupted Blood, and Some very pure Blood, which we Many times see; which makes me think it doth not intermix; if so, we may take out our good Blood, and leave our bad behind us, not knowing where The Corrupted Blood lyeth; and this Corrupted Blood may infect The Vital Parts, as it runs along. This makes Some, that when They let Blood in Feavers, They are never The better, because that Vein was not open where it lay: so that Physicians had better strike two or three Veins, and venture The loss of Good Blood, than miss The Bad, for it may corrupt all The rest, though not by intermixing, yet by corrupting The Liver as it floweth.
Of letting Blood. There are more Diseases come in having too much Blood, than too little: for when The Veins are too full, The Blood hath no liberty to run out, and for want of Motion corrupts, which Corruption bursts out into Small-Pox, Fistaloes, Kings Evils, and Many such like Diseases. But if The Humour thrusts not Outwards, it corrupts The Inward Parts, as, The Liver, The Lungs, or else breeds Imposthumes, and Many such Diseases. But if There be much Blood, and thin, Then by The agitation it grows hot, or else by The Many Spirits in much Blood, it begets too much Motion, Motion Heat, and Heat and Motion fires The Blood, and inflames The Spirits, which causeth Feavers of all sorts, Frenzies, and Consumptions; for There may be as well too much Motion in The Body, as too little. But when The Parts of The Body are congeal’d, or tyed up with Cold, Then The Blood* cannot run, nor The Spirits work, but Motion ceaseth, and The ceasing of Natural Motion is Death. Or if The Blood run too fast about, and The Spirits work too hard, by reason of too much Heat, They wast out Themselves, by reason of too much Labour,** and so are worn out, like The Wheels of a Clock; for The Clock ceaseth to go, when The Wheels are broken.
*Apoplexies come by The stoppage of The Blood.
**Hective Feavers caused by quick Motions.
Of Diet.
There is nothing preserves Health more, and lengThens Life, than due and just proportion of Diet, according to The strength of The Stomack: for one should eat so, that The Body should feed upon The Meat, and not The Meat to feed upon The Body, as it doth with Those that eat more than They can digest, for The Superfluity makes Slough and Slime in The Body, which Slime drowns The Spirits, slackens The Nerves, corrupts The Blood, and weakens The Body; besides, it bringeth Many Diseases. Neither should one eat so little, as to let The Body feed upon it self; for much Fasting dryes The Blood, heats The Body, and fires The Spirits, which Fire once getting into The Arteries, is seldome or never cured, being a Hective Feaver. But it is as hard to know a just proportion to The strength of The Stomack, as to keep it when They know it. This Knowledge comes by observing The Stomack, for at Some times The Stomack requires more than at other times, although The appetite may be less, when The Stomack is empty, or it is requirable to give it more: for Some have such weak appetites, as They sterve Their Bodies, because They would not displease Their Tast; or else eat such things as would yield no Nourishment: for There is a great difference between The appetite and The Stomack. others, Their appetites are so sharp, and Their Stomacks so weak, as it digests not The third part of what it receives: But he that loves Pleasure more than Health, and Life, let him follow Epicures; and They that think The Severity of The Body is The way to Eternal Life, let Them turn Anchorets: but They that think They may use all things that are lawfull, without 2 prejudice to The Soul, and would have Health and Life, to use Them long, let Them follow Observation and Moderation.
*The Reason why one and The same Quantity of Physick shall purge Some to Death, and others it shall never move, or at least not to that degree.
The Reason is, That one and The same Quality and Quantity of Purging Medicines works so different in several Bodies, and at several Times, in one and The same Body, is caused by The Validity and Solidity of The Humour: for The Bodies of Animals are like to several Grounds, Some Dusty and Dry, Some Stony and Hard, Some Tuff and Clammy, as Clay, Some Muddy and Dirty, others Washy and Wet; which causeth Husbandmen to yoke more Oxen, or Harness, more Horses, to adde Strength, not onely when Their Draughts are heavily laden, but when The Waies are ill, and uneasy to travel in: for in Some Waies ten Horses will not draw so easy as one in other Waies, or in Winter as in Summer, but are forced to whip and lash, to tug and pull: so are Bodies, where Physick, like Horses, or Oxen, doth pull and gripe The Guts, to draw out clammy Flegm; where, in Light and Sanguine Bodies, The Physick runs fast, and The Humours follow easily; or in Melancholy, and Dry Waies, where The Humour is so hard, as The Physick raTher beats upon it, than penetrates or divides it, and at last becomes Lame, and Weak, as Horses which are foundred; but Cholerick Bodies are like Sandy Waies, where The Humours like Dust, fly about. But There must be several sorts of Physick given to several Constitutions, as Husbandmen sow several sorts of Grain; as, Some Humours must be digged up with Penetrating Medicines, other Humours plowed up with Fomenting Medicines; Some Humours harrowed with Extenuating Medicines, others raked as with Drawing and Attractive Medicines; Some must be watered with Solable and Sucking Medicines, others must be manured and nourished with fine Light-Meats, and Gelly Broths; others must be comforted with The hot Sun of Cordials. Thus if Bodies be not husbanded according to The Nature Constitution of The Soyl, They will never have a sufficient Stock of Health to pay Life, Their Land lord, his Rent; and Death will seize upon Their Lease, as forfeited to him before The Rent-day.
*of Purging Medicines.
Of Purging Drugs.
ALL Purging Drugs have more of The penetrating or subdividing Quality, than attractive, or drawing: for it is not The gaThering togeTher The Humours, that casts forth, or purgeth forth, but The cutting or dividing Them, which loosens Them, and dissolves; and The Cause of Fluxes in Bodies, is, that Nature hath bred a Drug in The Body which is a penetrating and subdividing Humour.
Of Opium.
Opium works upon The Spirits, as Drugs do upon The Liver, in The Body; it is good in Feavers, for in all Feavers The Spirits are like Wanton Bodies, which run and play so much, untill They have put Themselves into a Fiery Heat: But dull Opium corrects Them, like a grave Tutor; wherefore Opium should be good for Mad-men, moderately taken.
Of Animal Spirits.
The Animal Spirits are The Radical Vapour in The Body, produced from The Natural Heat, and Radical Moysture: but Obstruction, which comes by Superfluity, stops The Natural Heat, hindring The Extenuating Faculty and Corruption which is caused by Superfluous Moysture; and Unnatural Heat damps The Natural, and drowns The Radical Moysture, by which The Animal Spirits become weak. This is The reason, that Those Diseases that come by Obstruction, or Corrupted Humours, make The Body faint and lazy, and The Mind dull and melancholy.
Of Heat and Cold.
Heat and Cold produce Many times one and The same Effect: for as Cold draws all Spirits inward, so Heat thrusts all Spirits outwards: for Cold is like a Hook, to pull Heat inward; and Heat like a Spear, or a Staff, to thrust outward; As for example, From Wine is distilled Aqua vitae, or The like, which are Spirits by The means of Fire; and Wine in a Barrel, if it be much frozen, will cause all The Spirits in The Barrel to gaTher togeTher in The midst, and no Spirits are left in that which is frozen; as likewise in extreme Fear, all Spirits will be drawn to The Heart, as The Center, insomuch as all The rest of The Members will have none left to support Them, as They become useless; and in great Heats The Spirits go to The Outward Parts, and leave The Inward Parts so voyd, as They become saint and exhausted, for want of Their help.
The Difference of Heat and Cold in The Spring and Autumn.
The Face of The Earth is like The Hearth of a Chimney, and The Sun as The Fire that lyeth Thereon; that is The reason that The Spring is not so warm as The Autumn, or The Autumn so cold as The Spring, because The Sun is not so hot in The Winter to heat The Earth, as in The Summer: for as The Hearth of a Chimney will require Some time to be heated, after The Fire is laid Thereon, so it will retain a Heat Sometimes, after The Fire is taken Therefrom.
Likewise this is The reason, that it is coldest just before The break of Day, because at that time The Sun hath been longest absent: for There is Some Heat in The Night, though but weak; not but that The Night may be hot, when The Day hath been cold: but Then that Heat proceeds raTher from The Bowels of The Earth, than The Beams of The Sun; for though The Sun may have a Constant Heat, yet his Beams have not, as we may observe, Some Summer Daies are much colder than others; for Some Daies may be hotter when The Sun is Oblick, than when it is Perpendicular over our Heads, by reason that cold and moyst Vapours may arise from The Earth, and as it were quench The Violent Heat in The Beams of The Sun; and Wind may cool The Heat also, or Clouds may obstruct The Heat, as a Skreen set before The Fire: yet neither Wind, nor Vapour, nor Clouds, can alter The Heat inherent in The Sun, &c.
Diseases curable and uncurable.
There are Some sorts of Dropsies that are caused by Obstruction, and Some sorts of Consumptions caused by Evil Digestion, and so Diseases of all sorts that are curable: but if any Vital Part be perished, it is not Physick, nor good Diet, nor change of Air, nor any Evacuation or Restoratives, that can make that part whole again that is perished, no not Nature it self; for when her Work is finished, she cannot mend it; for if she makes it Imperfect, it will continue so: for Nature is like a Clay Potter, that if his Pot be made awry, if once confirmed and hardened with Heat, he cannot alter it.
Of The Sickness in The Spring.
The Reason There are more sick in The Spring than in The Winter, is, that The Pores of The Body being closer shut in Winter, by The Contraction of The Cold, than in any other Season, keeps in The Fire, The Smoke, and Vapour, that should, and would if it could, issue out: But The Parts being stopp’d, having not a sufficient Vent to transport a proportionable Quantity, it lyes and corrupts; for want of Agitation, The Quantity increasing, it overcharges The Body, that by such time The Spring is arrived, The Body is so distempered, as it falls sick, The Corruption having bred a Malignity that infects The Noble Parts.
For The Body having more Vapour than The Natural Heat can digest, makes it not onely corrupt, for want of a sufficient Heat to purifie it, but that Corruption quenches out The Natural Heat, which causeth Agues; and begets an Unnatural Heat, which causeth Feavers, and The like Diseases; and The Corruption causeth The Small-Pox, Meazels, Imposthumes, Soar Throats, and Many such kinds of Diseases.
But when this Distemper of The Body is joyned to The like Corrupted Vapours drawn from The Earth, it is Most commonly deadly, and produceth great Plagues The Summer following, The Body being Then like Rotten Wood, which is quickly set on Fire, and soon burnt out. But if The Body hath a Sufficiency of Natural Heat to clarifie The Vapour, that arises from The Stomack, and Bowels, and to dry up The Superfluous Moysture, The Body is safe from Danger: but if The Body have more Heat than Moysture, it feeds upon The Noble Parts, and causeth Hective Feavers.
But Hective Feavers are seldome cured by The stoppage of The Pores: for The Natural Heat in The Body is like External Fire, which is extinguished if it be stopp’d, and hath not Vent.
But There are several sorts, or kinds, or manners of Unnatural Heat, caused by Obstructions, and other Accidents; as There is a Smothering Heat in The Body, caused by Obstructions; and There is a Smoking Heat of The Body, caused by too violent External Motions. or such Meats that actually heat; also a Fiery Heat in The Body, caused by too much, and too strong Interior Motion: but These Heats, that are Moyst Heats, and Unnatural, cause Corruption.
Of The Sickness in Autumn.
The Reason There is more Sickness in Autumn than in Summer, is, that The Powers of The Sun abating, let fall by degrees all The Dregs and Dross of that Vapour it drew up from The Earth, when it was in its full Strength; which having more power to draw, than to digest, The Superfluity corrupts; which Corruption falls back upon The Earth, infecting The Air, also The Bodies of Men, and Many times Beasts: yet The Infection is received, or infects, according as The Bodies are tempted: For if The Bodies are full of Humours, and The Blood corrupt, The Air is apt to catch hold, as having a Sympathy each to other, for as The old Proverb is, Like will to like; and Those Bodies, and also Those Meats, that are moyst, are Most apt to corrupt: for Heat and Moysture are said to be The FaTher and Mother to Curruption, which causeth Those that eat much Fruits and Herbs in The Summer time, to fall into Fluxes, and Feavers, and The like Diseases, in The Autumn; for Those Humours that are bred in The Summer, The Body strives to cast forth in Autumn, like a Child birth; for when The Humours are come to such a Growth, The Body is in travel with painfull Throbs, and strives to be delivered; where Some are soon delivered of Their BurThen, others dye in Their Labour.
Diseases of The Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter.
The Diseases in The Spring are Agues, Small-Pox, Meazels, Imposthumes, and The beginning of Plagues; for all The Malignity that was tunn’d up in The Body in The Winter, is set abroch in The Spring, by The returning Sun, whose Beams, though weak, yet peirce, like small Gimlets, or Spiggots, all The Pores of The Earth, and The Creatures Thereon. The Diseases in The Summer, are Phrenzies, by reason The Heat burns and inflames The Spirits; and Plagues, by reason The Heat inflames Those Malignant and Corrupted Humours that The Winter hath bred by Obstructions, like Houses that are musty, and fusty, and smoky, and foul, for want of Air to sweeten Them; and full of Spiders, and Cobwebs, and Flyes, and Moths, bred from The dusty dirty Filth Therein, for want of Vent to purge Them, for The Winter shuts up all The Windows and Dores, which are The Pores; likewise The Blood corrupts, and The Body is apt to rot, like Linnen, that is laid up damp, or in a moyst place; for The Rheums that are subject to be in The Winter, corrupt and rot The Lungs, and The Vital Parts of The Body; likewise Sweatings and Faintings are Summer-diseases, by reason The Natural Moysture is rarified so thin, and The Pores open so wide, as it evaporates all out, even The Radical Moysture, and The Vital Spirits issue out Therewith. The Diseases of Autumn are Fluxes, by reason The Summer breeds sharp Humours, with The Heat and The Drought; besides, The Diets of Men are crude and raw in that Season, as eating of Fruits, Roots, Herbs, and The like. Also this Season is subject to Meagrums, and Feavers, which are also caused by sharp Humours; likewise Head-akes, and Vomitings, caused by sharp Chorerick Humours, which The Summer Diet breeds; likewise Plurisies, that are caused by burnt or corrupted Blood, which is bred by too much Heat, or an Unnatural Heat, and a Supersluity of Moysture; also Collicks, by reason The Summer rarifies The Vapours into Wind, which causeth not onely in The Bodies of Men great Collicks, but in The Bowels of The Earth, which causeth Earthquakes, and great Tempestuous Winds in The Air; for in this Season of The Year There are greater Winds than in any Season, and hold The longest: for though in March, when The Pores of The Earth are first opened, as I may say, by The returning Sun, whereupon The thinnest Matter will first fly out, yet Those Winds are neither so strong, so long, nor so frequent, as Those in Autumn.
The Diseases of The Winter are Coughs and Rheums, by reason The Pores being closer drawn, and The Air grosser and thicker in Winter, it doth as it were daub raTher up, like Morter upon a Wall that hath Holes and Crevises, than enter in; which causeth a closer Stoppage; which Stoppage causeth Dew, and Distillations: for The Heat and Moysture stewing togeTher, The Body becomes like a Still, or raTher like a Pot, or Vessel, that is close covered, which hath Meat, or Some Liquid Substance in it, where by Heat, The Moysture Thereof, is rarified into Vapour and ascending to The Cover, and at The Top as The Cover Thereon, finding a Depress, straight gaThers into a Dew, and so into Drops; Then falls, having a sufficient Vent, like Showers of Rain, where Some run through The Pipes of The Nostrils, otherSome through The Gutter of The Throat, and Some fall streight down on The Stomack, as The Earth: for as it is The Nature of Vapour to spread, and to ascend, as being Light and Thin; so it is The Nature of Water to descend, or to run streight forth, by reason it is more Solid, and Weightier likewise.
Likewise Coughs are Followers and Attendants of Rheums, which by tickling Those Parts where it falls or trickles along, causeth a straining, and so a coughing, though Many times Wind produceth The same Effect by a tickling touch. Also Sneezing is an Attendant to Rheum and Wind, and causing a tickling on The Brain, or in The Nose: for indeed Sneezing is nothing but a Cough through The Nose, as through The Throat. Likewise Tooth-aches are caused by Rheums: for The Rheum falling Thereon, rots The Bones, or makes Holes Therein; like as Water, continually dropping on a hard Stone, works a Passage thorow. Also Soar Throats are caused by Rheums; but that is when The Rheum is sharp or salt. Then Winter is subject to cause Apoplexies, Lethargies, numb Palsies, and Gangrenes, that are caused by The stoppage of The Pores, which, as I said, are not only drawn closer by Cold, which makes The Skin thicker and harder, but by The gross and thin Air, which is contracted into a more Solid Body by Cold. Thus The breathing Passages of The Body being stopp’d, There flyes up so much grosser Vapours* to The Head, as choaks The Brain, and smothers The Vital Spirits There; and The Body having less Vent in Winter than in Summer, grows so full of Humours, as obstructs The Nerves and Muscles, with cold, clammy, or hard baked Flegm, as They cannot stir with a sensible Motion; for in The Nerves and Muscles doth The Sense of Touching live; and where They cease from moving, Those Parts are dead and numm’d. Gangrenes are produc’d by The benumming of The Spirits, as when The Spirits are congeal’d to Ice, which causeth in very cold Countryes, as Russia, or The like, to have Their Noses and Fingers fall off from Their Faces and Hands. Likewise, if The Spirits are quenched out with too much Moysture, or Their Motions hindered by Some Obstruction, or as it were corrupted by Some Blow, Bruise, or Wound, Those Parts, for want of Lifes Motion, gangrene, and so rot off. Likewise Fistaloes are subject to this Season, because this Season being subject to breed Rheums of all Sorts and Natures, according as The Humours are in The Body, so it breeds that sharp Rheum which makes Fistaloes: for that Humour is as sharp as Vitriol or Aqua fortis, and it doth in The Body as Vitriol and Aqua fortis doth on Metal, running about, and eating holes quite thorow. Also this Season is subject to hard white Swellings, bred by cold, clammy, or tough Humours. The Stone and The Gout reign in every Season, but not in every Age: for though Children have The Stone Many times, yet seldome or never The Got: But The Gout, although its not The Stone in The Toe, yet it is an Humour which is of The Nature of Lime, which is Somewhat of a Brimstony, Hard, Dry, Bitumenous Humour.
*Vapoun thickens into Water, Water into Flegm; Cold congeals it Stone, Heat confirms it like Metal.
Of Cold and Hot Diseases.
A Cold Disease is apter for Cure than a Hot: for Cold Diseases are like Raw Flesh, that The Frost hath gotten hold of, and makes it unlike it self, by reason of The Ice hardning of it; but Warmness dissolves it, and Then it comes to it self again; but by Excessive Heat, it is as if one should boyl or rost a piece of Flesh; for when a piece of Flesh is boyled, rosted, baked, or The like, one shall never make it as it was, which is, to be raw again.
Of Apoplexies, and The like.
AN Apoplexy is a dead Palsie in The Brain, and a Lethargy, a numb Palsie in The Brain; And The reason Many times why dead and numb Palsies, when it takes Them on one Side, ruin The Legs, or Arms, and yet live, is, because it hath not touched The Vital Parts, which is caused by Some Obstruction in The Veins, or Some of The Nerves, which either is by gross and thick Blood, or hard and crusted Flegm, or cold and clammy Flegm: But if it be in The Head, which we call Apoplexies, it is either caused by a Cold Humour in The Brain, which doth as it were congeal and freez up The Spirits; or by a Malignant Vapour, proceeding from The Stomack, or Bowels, which Vapour choaks or smothers up The Spirits. And indeed The greatest Enemy to The Brain is The Vapour that proceeds from The Ill-affected Bowels, or Stomack: for Vapour, being Smoke, ascends upward to The Head, which is The Chimney of The Body, where The Smoke vents out; for The Bowels may be compared to The Hearth; The Stomack to The Pot, or Furnace; The Meat to The Fuel; The Heart to The Fire, or Flame, which is fed by The Liver, or Oily Substance; The Lungs The Bollows, to keep it alive; The Head, as I said, The Chimney, to gaTher up The Smoke; The Nose, Mouth, and Ears, The Tunnels from whence it issues out: for if The Nose and Mouth be stopped, The Fire of Life goeth out, and not having Reviving Air, it is choked with its own Smoke: for though The Pores of The Body do evaporate Some of The Smoke, yet that is onely The thin and subtiller Part; but if The Pores of The Body be stopped by a Cold, The Body shall grow Feaverish with it, so that Many times it sets The House on Fire; and when The Head is Idle and Frantick, it is because The Head, which is The Chimney-top, is set on Fire by The Feaver: but The Vapour that ascends to The Head, is either a great Friend or Enemy to The wit; for a Gross Vapour chokes The wit, a Thin Sharp Vapour quickens it, a Cold Vapour congeals it, a Hot Vapour inflames it, and several sorts of Vapour make variety of wit, and The several Figures, and Works, and Forms, that that Vapour, which is a Smoke, raiseth up, cause several Imaginations, and Fancies, by giveng several Motions to The Brain.
Of a Feaver.
A Feaver is like a Stack of Hay that is laid up half wet, and half dry; This Moysture and Drought being met togeTher, strive for Preheminency, The Drought would drink up The Moysture, and The Moysture would dissolve The Drought; and if Their Strength be equal, and The Strife be without intermission, The Stack is set on Fire, caused by an equal, swift, continuated Motion, which consumes all, if it be not quenched out by a fresh Recruit of Moysture: for Drought takes The part of Fire, being The Child of Heat, which Heat is The Child of Fire, and so is The Grandmother of Drought. Thus a Feaver is caused by The Humours of The Body, which being not well tempered, sets The Barn, which is The Body, on Fire, by The Corruption Therein; for Heat and Moysture are The Parents to Corruption. But There is a Natural Heat and Moysture, which produceth Legitimate Issues; and There is also an Adulterate Heat and Moysture, from whence proceed Bastardly Diseases, which are as Numerous, as Natural Children.
Of Feavers in The Blood.
BUT in Feavers, where onely The Heat causeth The Blood to boyl, and so to become scalding hot, when The Feaver is taken away, that is, when The bitter and sharp Humours are cast out of The Body by Some Evacuation, or that The Fire is quenched out with Some cooling Julips, The Blood will be The same again, without any alteration, as Water is; onely in The boyling, The Blood may wast and evaporate forth of The Body through The Pores, as Water doth forth of The Vessel it is boyling in: But if The Blood be corrupted, or mix’d with Humours, as Water is often with Mud, There is no way but letting it forth, drawing it out of The Veins, that The Heart and The Liver, as The Springs,* may send in more, which may be Fresh and Clear, into The Veins again, unless Those Springs be corrupted, and Then There is no Remedy, for Then Death will alter The Course of Life in that Body.
*Unnatural heat and cold may be cured in The Vital Parts, but not when They are corrupted.
Sleeping and Waking.
Sleeping and Waking are The flowing and ebbing of Vapour: for when Vapour flows to The Extreme Parts, it causeth Sleep, as it were, for a time; Or filling up all The Outward Senses, as Water doth a Pipe, or a Vessel, or as Wind doth a Bladder, where nothing can be received Therein, untill They be empty: so no Outward Objects can enter in at The Five Senses, untill The Vapour wherewith They are filled be dispers’d; or falling back, by contracting into a Lesser Compass; which when They are contracted or dispers’d, They wake; so that Vapour in The Body is as necessary for Life, as Food; And indeed Food is The chief Cause of Vapour; for Heat and Moysture make Vapour; and like as Food, received into The Body, doth either distemper or nourish it, so doth Vapour that slows in The Body, make Sleep sound and easy, or trouble Some and unquiet; for Malignant and Corrupted Vapours are like Malignant and Corrupted Humours: for as Malignant Humours cause The Body to be sick or painfull, so Malignant Vapours cause Sleeps to be full of Dreams, Startlings, and often Wakings; though Many times Dreams are caused by Rarified Vapours, like a Wind which blows upon The Brain, causing Many Motions Therein; or raTher furrows The Grosser Vapours, causing Them to role in Billows and Waves, hindring Them from flowing easy and smooth; which Tempestuous Winds beat The Vapours backward, as it were, or drive Them from The utMost Extent, which hinders The Senses from being thorowly fill’d, which causeth not so sound Sleeps: for when The Senses are not fill’d, The Vapours are like Water in a Vessel not half full, which when it is quite full, There is little or no Motion; though The Vessel be moved, The Water stirs not much: but when it is but half full, or three parts, when The Vessel is stirred, it flashes and sprinkles about.
Of not Sleeping in Feavers.
The reason Those that are in great Feavers, or The like hot Disease, cannot sleep, is, that The Heat being too strong for The Moysture, it rarifies it so thin, as it is like The forementioned Wind, which, instead of stopping, causeth Waking Dreams, that is, Frantick Fancies; for There is as Natural a Degree of this Vapour, as There is a Natural Temper proper to every Animal Body; Or else it burns The Body, and dryes up The Natural Moysture so much, as There can arise no Vapour Therefrom: for it is to be observed, that The dryest Constitution sleeps The least, and Those sleeps They have are short.
One and The same Cause differs in The same Effect of Sleep.
Some and The same things, or Acts, will cause Sleep, or put by Sleep; as for The Passions, Sometimes Grief, Joy, Anger, and The like, will cause Sleep, othertimes hinder it; The reason is, according as The Passions work inwards, or extend outwards: for when The Passions settle or move Most inwards, They draw all The Vapours backwards; and when They flow outwards, They carry Vapours with Them; and as Passions Many times carry out Vapours, so Vapours Many times carry out Passions, as we may observe by The Effects, as Sighing, Groaning, and Weeping, as Railing, Threatning, Cursing, Fighting, Laughing, Hooping, Hollowing, Praising, Singing, and Dancing, which are all Exteriour Motions: But where They work inward, The Heart beats, or works, and The Brain thinks stronglyer than The Natural Constitution requires; which Motion causeth Unnatural Heat, which drinks up The Vapours; or else The Brain, or The Heart, are so strongly bound to an Object, and holding as it were so fast Thereon, as it draws all The Powers of Life to assist Therein: This causeth Deep Musing, Heart-griping, fix’d Eyes, and slow Pulses, which draws The Vapours so much inward, as alMost extinguisheth The Fire of Life, and smothers The Understanding, starves The Body, and makes The Senses unusefull; and Many times The Slow Motions congeal The Vapours, like Ice, making Them unapt to slow. As for Exteriour Action, much Labour or Exercise causeth Them to flow, or produceth Sleep to Those that have Gross Bodies, and too Thick Vapours (for The Vapours may be too Thick as well as too Thin) for The use of Rest in These Bodies and Constitutions, much exerciseth and rarifieth The Vapours to such a Degree, as makes a General Aptness to flow to The Extreme Parts, wherewith The Senses are stopp’d, as being full, which otherwise would not be so apt to slow; but to Lean Bodies, and Dry Constitutions, much Labour and Exercise either contracts The Vapour into so Gross a Body, as it cannot slow; or rarifies that little Vapour They have, so thin, as it evaporates out by Insensible Inspirations, or The Unnatural Drought and Heat drinks it up, so as There is no Vapour to fill The Senses to a Repose.
Of Agues.
Agues are half Sisters to Feavers, which are like Fuel half dry, set on Fire by Accidental Motions, and not kindled by a Natural Course: This Fuel half dry, is Humour half concocted; The other part raw, and undigested, which is like Hay, or The like, not dryed enough by The Sun: so Digestion wants Natural Heat to dry, which is, to concoct The Superfluous Moysture: for when The Moysture is too much for The Heat, although it be not sufficient to quench it out, yet it doth damp and smother in The Heat, staying The Quickness of The Motion, blunting The Edge and Sharpness, allaying The Penetrating Faculty; and The Heat being not strong enough to drink up The Superfluous Moysture at once, but onely hath so much strength as to rarify it into Vapour, which Vapour is Smoke, which Smoke is thinner and thicker, according to The quantity and quality of The Moysture, or as The Heat and Moysture doth predominate; for when The Heat is Master, The Vapour is so thin, as it flashes into a Flame, as Lightning from a Cloud, which is an Intermixing Feaver; but when The Moysture is Mistris, and predominates, The Vapour is more Gross; which Gross Vapour doth not onely quench out that Flame caused by The Unnatural Heat, but stops and hinders The Extenuating Faculty of The Natural Heat, like as a Cloud should obscure The Sun, obstructing his Beams, which disperseth his Heat by The Line of his Light, which causeth The Air to be Dark and Cold. Thus in The midst of Summer, when The Sun is at The height of his Glory, a Dark Cloud, made of Vapour, will cause The Complexion of his Light to be of a Black Pale, and The Body of The Day to be Cold; But when The Sun breaks thorow by degrees, he dissipates Those Black and Sullen Clouds, rarifying The thinner part into Wind, and The thicker condenses into Water; The one bloweth over, The other showers down: So Those that have Agues, Their Flesh looks with a blue, black, pale, and is very cold to The Touch; but when The Natural Heat dissipates, that Cold and Gross Vapour that is raised from a raw, or half concocted Humour, The thinnest part spreads about The Body, like The Wind, getting into every Cranny, Corner, or Part of The Body, as Veins, Arteries, Muscles, Sinnews, putting The Body into a Violent and Unnatural Motion, which is The Shaking Fit; and when The Rarified Vapour is spent, The Shaking Fit ceaseth, and goes over; and Then The Patient entreth into a Burning Heat; for The Unnatural Heat, which was involved in The Grosser Vapour, as Fire in Clouds, which lightens and thunders, begins to break thorow, especially when it is helped by The Sun, which is as The Natural Heat of The Body; The Body, as The Air, grows soultry hot, and The Heat dissipating Those Foggy and Cloudy Vapours in The Region of The Body, condenseth The Gross Parts into Water, which issueth forth in Sweat, as Showers of Rain. Thus when The Vapours are dispersed, and breaThed out of The Body, thorow The Pores of The Skin, or otherwise, The Body is like The Air, Serene and Clear, untill There are more Vapours ascended from The corrupted and half concocted Humours, which Sometimes gaTher sooner, and Sometimes are longer before They are gaThered into Clouds again: This is The reason Some have Quotidians, Tertians, Double-tertians, and Quartans.
Of a Hectick Feaver.
Most Hectick Feavers are caused by an Excessive Heat in The Arteries, which Heat is more difficult to quench, than to stop a prickt Artery: for in this case letting Blood doth more harm than good, by reason that The Moysture of The Blood strives to quench The Fire Therein, or at least to temper The Heat Thereof; for it is Wet that puts out Fire, not Cold; for hot Water will as soon put out Fire, as cold Water. Neither can The keeping in The Blood cure The sick Patient, it may Some short time retard Life from expiring; The reason is, because The Excessive Heat not onely corrupts The Blood, and melts The Fat of The Body, but it doth evaporate Life forth, like boyling Water, that consumes in Smoke. Thus it becomes an Incurable Disease, when once The Heat overpowers The Moysture.
Of Coughs.
There are Many several sorts of Coughs; Some proceeding from a Superfluity of Moysture, others from too much Heat; Some from a Corruption of Humours, others from a Decay of The Inward Parts; others from sudden Colds upon great Heats, and Some proceed from Wind, likewise from sharp salt Rheums, and Some from fresh Rheums. Those that proceed from a Superfluity of Moysture, are strong Coughs, that raise up Flegm: for in that sort of Coughs, when The Stomack is full of Humours, The Flegm riseth highest, like The Scum of a Pot on The Fire, or like Whites of Eggs that are put into any hot Liquor; and when The Stomack is hot, it boyls up like a seething Liquor, which boyling or seething provokes to strain; which straining is not so violent, as to vomit: for Those sorts of Coughs are of The nature of vomiting, as in straining, or striving, or shuffing upward; but by reason it is not so violent a Motion as Vomiting is, it onely provokes to Cough, bringing up Flegm, or Water, with The Motion Thereof. After The like manner are such sort of Coughs as proceed from Corrupt Humour, and Most commonly are The Fore-runners of The Small Pox, Meazels, or The like Diseases.
But Coughs that proceed from a great Heat, either in The Stomack, or Bowels; The reason is, that The Heat causeth a great Vapour, which Vapour ascending to The Head, There gaThers into Clouds of Water, where dissolving, it falls back again, like Showers of Rain, where it Sometimes falls in pouring Showers, other times like mizzling Rain. And The fuller of Moysture The Body is, The greater Showers of Rain fall down. This stopping The Passages of The Throat, causeth a straining and striving in The Throat, as when any thing goeth awry, or Crums or Bones lye in The Throat, or stop The Wind-pipe: for every part of The Body, if it be bound, or hurt, will strive and strain to help it self. But if The Constitution of The Body be Naturally or Accidentally Dry, The Vapour is thinner, and Then it ariseth, like a steam in a Still, or Limbeck, where The Head, like The top of a Still or Limbeck, gaThers that steam into a Dew, which falleth back in distilling Drops; which Drops trickling down The Throat, as Tears on The Cheeks, do raTher tickle The Throat, than stop The Wind-pipe, or strain The Throat: but if The Rheum be sharp, or salt, it causeth a gentle smart, which is of such a kind of touch as tickling is; provokes a faint or weak Cough.
But Coughs that proceed from a decay of Parts, are, when any part of The Body is corrupted it becomes less solid; as from being a Solid Flesh, to be of a Jelly Substance, which dissolves with The least Heat, melting by degrees away; and as it melts, it falls into liquid Drops, which Drops tickle or smart Those parts They fall or trickle on: for by reason The Inward Parts are as it were raw, or very thin skinned, They make it sensible of The least touch; besides, There is a faint strife, when The dissolved part falls from The other, which strife tickling, causeth a Cough; but The Cough is more or less, according as The part dissolves. But These tickling Coughs are The Most dangerous Coughs, for The one causeth a Consumption, The other is caused by a Consumption: for when These tickling Coughs proceed from The Body, They are caused from a Consuming Part, that melts and dissolves by degrees; but when it is Distillation from The Head, it corrupts Parts by falling Thereon, like as Water, with a constant dropping, will penetrate thorow a Stone; much more may a Constant Distillation corrupt a Spungie Matter, as Flesh; and according as The Rheums are fresh, salt, or sharp, The Parts decay flower or faster: for salt, or sharp Rheums, ulcerate The Parts, and destroy Them soon.
Also Wind will cause a tickling in The Throat, as a tickling in The Nose, which causeth Coughs; for Sneezing is but a Cough thorow The Nose: but when Wind riseth thorow The Windpipe, it causeth a Chine-cough; for as long as The Wind ascends, The Patient cannot draw in Air, but coughs so long, without drawing in of The Breath, till They are black in The Face, being as it were choak’d or strangled, or raTher smothered alMost to Death. As for Remedies, Those Coughs that proceed from a Supersluity of Moysture, or from Corrupted Humours, There must be applyed purging Medicines, and letting of Blood: but for Coughs that proceed from Decayed Parts, There is no help for Them: for when The Intrals are corrupted, and wasted, They cannot be restored again, nor made as They were before; nor can They be healed up, if They be ulcerated, as The Outward Parts of The Body can; for we cannot come so easily to lay Plasters, and Pultesses, to draw out The Corruption, and Putrified Humour from The Sounder Parts, that are not corrupted; yet There may be given, or taken, such Medicines, as may prolong or retard The hasty Wast; which Medicines must be cooling and clensing, as Julips made of Burrage-water, Plantain-water, with Sirrop of Suckery, and Sirrop of Burrage, and Bugloss, and The like; Also, Broths with Cooling Herbs, as Strawberry-leaves, Violet, Suckery, and The like. But no Hot Sirrops, nor no Sharp Herbs, as Sorrel, and The like; nor no Hot Herbs, as Thyme, Rosemary, Winter-Savery, Marjerum, or The like.
Also I should think Almond-milk should be very good; for The French barley, that is boyled in The Water, is both cooling and clensing, and quenches out The Fiery Heat; and Almonds are healing and smothering. But in These Diseases, Physicians do Most commonly give Those Medicines which are very pernicious, as Mithridate, Brimstone, Saffron, Licquerish, and Hot Cordials; Those Hot Medicines, instead of comforting Those Decayed Parts, raTher inflame Them; and The Heat Therein dissolves and melts Them more hastily away. But Those Medicines are more proper for Those that are stopped in Their Stomack or Head by Cold, which hath congealed The Vapour into Icy Contraction, Hot Medicines rarifie it thin again; although Many times Cold causeth an Unnatural Heat, by stopping by Contraction The Pores of The Flesh, keeping in, and hindring The Smoke of The Body from breathing forth; which Smoke smothers The Inward Parts, causing Thereby a Suffocating Stoppage; whereupon Cold Medicines give The Patient more ease than Hot, as it hath been found by Experience. But for Those Coughs that proceed from a tickling Rheum from The Head, The best Remedies are Issues; The next is letting a little Blood; The third, to give The Patient Cooling Medicines, such as I named before, especially Almond-milk; for it doth not onely quench The Unnatural Heat, but it allayes and tempers The salt and sharp Vitriols that are Most commonly mixed in Those Rheums: Yet There must alwaies be a care, that They do not weaken The Stomack by over-cooling Drinks: wherefore They must drink but a little at a time, and at certain times, as, not upon a full Stomack, but when The Stomack is Most empty, for Then it works better Effects, and hinders not Digestion. Likewise in Consumptive-coughs, The Patient must not use any Violent Exercise, so as to heat The Body, but must use Moderate Exercises. Likewise Their Meats must be light of Digestion, and raTher to eat Boyl’d-meat than rosted, and raTher Flesh-meat than Spoon-meat; provided, that They be Fine Meats, as Pullet, Chicken, young Turkyes, Partridges, and The like; young Rabbits are also good, and Pigs, Lamb, and The like; but not to eat too much at one time, nor to eat untill They feel The Meat digested;* for Ill Digestion causeth an Unnatural Heat, and breeds The Body full of sharp Humours. As for Chine-coughs, Those Medicines must be applyed, as do expell Wind, and to purge away The raw and unconcocted Humour that produce Wind.
*The Salt that is in The Blood remains more in Rostmeats than in Boyld-meats, for The Water sucks it forth.
Of The Disease called The Small-Pox.
Small Pox, or The like Diseases, are caused either by Superfluity of Humours: for The Body having more than it can discharge, it lyes and corrupts; Or else by an Evil Diet, or an Ill Digestion, which breeds more Humours than Good Nourishment; or by great Heats, or sudden Colds. of this Disease Many dye, that would otherwise live, if They were rightly ordered in Their Sickness; unless The Corruption hath taken hold on The Noble Parts, before it begins to break forth, and Then There is no Cure; otherwise I believe it is as easy a Cure, as any Disease, if Moderation be used: for Those that strive hastily to throw out The Corruption by forcible Medicines, as Those Medicines that are hot, do like Those that take out Dirt out of a Ditch, not taking time to sling it far enough; and to disperse it several waies, throw it on a high Heap, on The Verge, or Edge of The Ditch; and being too great a Quantity to consist in one Body, or to keep one place, falls back again, carrying Some part of The Bank, or Earth it lay on, along with it: So in The Diseases of The Small-Pox, striving to cast out The Corruption, it falls with greater Violence, and deadly Effects, back again. Besides, Most commonly this Disease is accompanied with a Feaver, and all hot Medicines increase a Feaver, and Many times it is a Feaver that kils, and not The Pox; And it is to be observed, that where one lives, that hath very Hot Medicines applyed to him, ten will dye. But in These Diseases There must be applyed gentle dilating Medicines; and Those that are smoothing and healing, as Possets made with very small Alc, with Figs, Rasins, and Lickerish boyled Therein: Also a little letting Blood is very good, especially if They be Feaverish, although Some account it deadly, but certainly it is a safe Remedy. As for Purging Medicines, They are very dangerous, for drawing in The Humour; but a Vomit is not amiss, for that doth raTher cast forth, than draw inward; neither must They keep Them too hot in Their Beds, nor too cold, but of a temperate heat.
Gargarizing is also very good in this Disease, for it doth not onely purge The Head of Corrupted Humours, where it is Most commonly over-charged, but it keeps The Throat safe, and clear from Scabs, or at least mollifies Them.
Of Violent Actions.
ALL Dry Bodies may use more Violent Exercises, with less Danger, than Moyst, where Heat and Moysture produceth Corruption; where to Dry Bodies, The Heat onely makes it more dry, but not corrupts: The onely Danger is, Violent Exercise to Dry Bodies may wast The Radical Moysture, or inflame The Spirits, which produceth Frantick Feavers: But when a Moyst Body is over-heated, The Blood is apt to putrisie, The Humours to corrupt, The Fat to melt, Vapours to arise; this produceth Small-Pox, Meazels, Plurisies, Collicks, and very often Consumptions, by disordering or melting The Noble Parts in The Body; but especially, if a sudden Cold be taken upon a great Heat, for The sudden Cold strikes The Heat so violently inward, as Extraordinary Motion doth either set The Body on Fire, or melts it, as Metal in a Furnace, producing an Unnatural Heat in The Arteries, and inflames The Vital Spirits Therein, which produceth incurable Hectick Feavers.
The Effects of Sickness.
Sickness will destroy that in one Week, that Time will not do in twenty Years: for Sickness will make Youth look Old and Decrepid; when Health makes Age look Young and Spritly. Sickness burns up The Body, Time wears out The Body, and Riot tears out The Body.
Of The Senses.
AS all Objects and Sounds that go through The Eye and Ear, must first strike, and make such a Motion in The Brain, before The Mind is sensible Thereof; so any thing that toucheth The Body, goeth first thorow The Pores of The Skin and Flesh, and strikes upon The Nerves; which Nerves are little Strings, or Pipes, full of Brain; Those spread all over The Body; and when Those are moved, as The Brain is in The Skull, Then The Body is sensible; And that is The reason, that when The Flesh is bound, or press’d up hard close, it is numb, and hath no feeling, because Those Pores where it was bound, or press’d, are stopped, and are no more sensible of touch, than The Eye, or Ear, or Nose, when They are stopped, are sensible of Outward Objects, or Sound, or Sent. Thus stoppinig The Pores of The Body is as it were Blind, or Deaf, Sensless and Tastless; and this is The reason, that when any one is sick, or distempered, They cannot eat Their Meat, because The Pores of The Spungie Tongue are stopped, either by Weakness, Cold, or Drought.
The Senses of The Body equalized with The Senses of The Soul.
AS The Body hath five Senses, Seeing, Hearing, Smelling, Tasting, and Touching; so hath The Soul: for Knowledge is as The Sense of Touch; Memory, as The Sense of Sight; Reason, as The Sense of Hearing; Understanding, as The Sense of Tast; and Imagination, as The Sense of Smelling, as being The Most Acry Sense.
Of Objects.
There are three Imperfections in Sight, as, The Dimness of Age or Weakness, Purblind, and Squint; Age makes all things look misty, as if There were a Veil before Their Eyes; and Purblind makes all things look level, or plain, without The distinction of Parts; a Squint makes all things look double: But to look perfect and clear, is, that The two Eyes make a Triangular Point upon The Object; or else The Eyes are like Burning-Glasses, which draw all The Lines of Objects to a Point, making Themselves The Center.
Of Touch.
ALL Pleasure and Pain is Touch, and every several part of The Body hath a several Touch; for not onely The various Outward Causes give several Touches, but every several part receives a several Touch; and as The General Sense throughout The whole Body is Touch, so every Particular Sense, as all Objects touch The Eyes, all Sounds touch The Ears, all Sent toucheth The Nose, all Meat toucheth The Tongue, and all Those strike and move, and so touch The Brain. And though all Touches are Motions, yet all are several Motions, according to The several Parts: for all Pain comes by cross and perturbant Motions, all Pleasure by even and regular Motions, and every particular Sense may receive Pleasure or Pain, without affecting or disaffecting, or indeed a notice to The rest of The Senses; for The particular Senses take no notice of each other. And, as I said, every several part of an Animal hath a several Touch, and a several Tast; The Loyn doth not tast like The Breast, nor The Breast like The Loyn, nor The Shoulder like The Breast, nor The Neck like The Shoulder, nor The Head like The Neck. So in Vegetables, The Fruit not like The Leaves, nor The Leaves like The Rind. Thus The Objects, as well as The Senses, are different.
Of Pleasure and Pain.
There are onely two General Pleasures, and two General Pains, all The rest are according to Delectation, or Reluctation; The two General Pleasures, are, Quiet in The Mind, and Ease in The Body; The two General Maladies, are, Trouble in Mind, and Pain in The Body: But Slavery can be no Bondage, if The Mind can be content withall; yet The Mind cannot be pleased, if The Body be in Pain; it may be Patient, but not Content: for Content is when The Mind desires not change of The Condition of The Life.
The Cause of Tears and Laughter.
ANY Extraordinary Motion in The Spirits causeth Tears, for all Motions heat according to Their Degrees, and Heat doth rarifie and separate The thinnest Substance from The thickest, as Chymists know right well; and all very thin Bodies are fluent, and, as I may say, agil; and all that are fluent and agil, seek passage and vent: So as a Man in this may be similiz’d to a Still, as, The Atteries for The Furnace of The Still, where The Fire, which is Motion, is put in; The Heart, The Pan of The Still, where The several Passions, as several Herbs, are put in; The Head, The Cover of The Still, where The Vapour of herby Passions ascends; The Eyes, The Spout where it runs, or drops forth. Laughter is produced, as Tears are, by Extraordinary Motions, by which Extreme Laughter will cause Tears.
Of Tears.
Some say, Tears are The Juice of The Mind, pressed with Grief: But Tears proceed from Joy, as well as from Sorrow; and They are increased by The Moysture of The Brain; in Some The Spring is dryed. But all Passions are apt to pump out Tears, as Extreme Sorrow, which contracts and congeals, by drawing all inward; and The reason why Tears be salt, is, because The Head is a Limbeck, which extracts The thinner part from The thicker, which thicker is purged by The Nose and Mouth: But Tears, which are The Essence of Spirits, become a kind of a Vitriol.
Of Musicians being Sometimes Mad.
The reason why Musicians are so often Mad, is not alwaies Pride, bred by The conceit of Their rare Art and Skill, but by The Motion of The Musick, which is swifter than The ordinary Motion of The Brain, and by that reason distempers The Brain, by increasing The Motion of The Brain to The Motion of The Fiddle; which puts The Brain so out of tune, as it is very seldom tuneable again; and as a Ship is swallowed by a Whirlpit in The Sea, so is Reason drown’d in The Whirlpit of The Brain.
Comparing The Spleen to a Loadstone.
The Spleen is like a Loadstone, which draws Steel unto it; and as The Loadstone is as it were nourished by Steel, so The Spleen is opened and clensed.
Of Physick.
The reason why Most Men are addicted to The taking of much Physick, is, out of love to Life, thinking that Physick prolongs it.
I am about to publish an Additional Part, to joyn with my Book of Philosophical Fancies, which, by reason Some part treats of Diseases, I recommend to Physicians; I mean not Empiricks, or Mountebanks, such as take The Name, and never studied The Science, whose Practice is raTher to kill than to cure, which disgraceth that Noble Profession: But I mean Those that are Studious and Learned, such as have been bred in The Famous Universities, and have received The Honour of Learning, as Batchellers and Masters of Art, or Doctors, by which Honourable Title They are allow’d to practice, as having arrived to The height of that Science. To These Honourable and Learned Persons I offer up that Work to Their Grave Judgements, knowing from Them it shall never receive Injury, nor Affronts of Scorn, nor Rudeness: for Those that are Learned, and Understanding, are Just, and Civil, not wresting The words crookedly, nor reading Them impatiently, but weighing The Rational Probabilities justly, measuring The Sense rightly, applying The Use aptly, esteeming The Owners respectfully, and commending Them civilly; When Those that are Ignorant, condemn and cry down all They understand not; and The rudely spightfull, or The spightfully rude, strive to detract and disgrace all Those They think worthy of Praise or Commendation.
Of Fruits.
Most are of Opinion that Fruits are cold, which we find contrary by The Effect; for Wine which is made of Fruits is hot, as of Grapes, Rasberies, Cherries, StrawberrieWine; and Sider and Perry, which are made of Apples and Pears is hot like Wine too; for it will make a man drunk if he drink enough of it, as well as Grape-wine or of any other Fruit; but Some will say it is The spirits that are prest out which are in The Liquor, and by lying The spirits grow stronger, and so become hot, which otherwise were not; but I answer to that, that The pressing with The Teeth makes The Liquor not less hot than another Press doth, and for The Age it may grow The hotter for being sharpened; but we find that it is very hot in The Press or Vat, for The very Steam where They are prest, will make men drunk, and They will go into The Liquor new prest, finding a benefit in curing cold Diseases; but no question Some Fruits are hotter than others (though none are cold) by having more or less spirits; but all spirits have a sufficiency of spirits to heat, and The spirits lye in The Liquor, not in The Solid parts, for all spirits dwell in The thinnest Bodies or Parts, and are The subtillest in Operation; now may The solid part of Fruit be cooling, when The spirits, which are The thinnest Juice, are hot, as being baked, roasted, or boiled; where The effect of The Fire hath evapourated that Heat: But this Opinion is begot, by seeing Many women, which eat much Fruit, become pale and sickly; so men, by drinking much Wine, will become pale and full of Diseases, and Many times will have The contrary operation of Complexions, and become very Red, though The inward cause is all one: for in Some it soaks and dries up all The Blood, or rarifies too thin, which makes The Face pale; and in others it burns and crusts The Blood, which makes The Face Red and Pimpled, so that it dries The Body by The Vitriol Humour, and burns The Body by The unnatural Heat Therein. Another Opinion why They hold Them cold, is, by The often Surfets Many fall into by The much eating of it; and The reason They give, is, because it is so cold it cannot digest. I answer, that Surfets are caused by The Quantity, and not so much by The Quality: for There are Many that surfet of strong Wines, by over-charging Their Stomacks Therewith; and so in all Meats, which otherwise are good and wholSome, if not immoderately taken, but according to Their digesting Stomacks: for Some will surfet of that Quantity, as others shall not with ten times more; such difference is in The Natures and Constitutions of Men. There are Many things by The effect cooling, by being applyed outwardly, which applying inwardly, work The contrary: for Vinegar cooleth outward Inslammations, but shal increase an inward one, being too tender for so sharp a Medicine; and all things that corrode, make too much Motion, and all Motion heats. All Limmons, Citrons, Oranges, Pomegranates, Barberies, Currans, and The like, are accounted very cooling, being inwardly taken, and also very wholSome, which may be very good and effectual, being applyed to such Diseases as require a sharp Medicin, thogh not cooling: But if They were cooling by Their nature, as There is no great reason to believe it, having as much Spirits as other Fruits have, by reason of Their fulness of Liquor, though I do not say that all sorts of Liquor are full of Spirits, but such Liquors of such Natures; yet by The effect inwardly it heats, for The very corroding Quality inflames The Blood more than The Nature can cool; for all things that are sharp, have an ingraving Quality or Faculty, not onely to cut away Rotten and Superfluous Humours, but to eat upon The Noble Parts.
Of Roots.
Roots are more nourishing than Fruits, by reason They have in a degree as much moysture as Fruit, and have not that acuteness which Fruits have, which cause not so Many Spirits, but are soberer in Their operations, and firmer: for whatsoever hath much Spirits, can never nourish much, because it grows too near The nature of Fire; but it fits and prepares for Nourishment, knitting, clensing, and strengThening The Digestive Parts; but Those things nourish Most, where Heat and Moysture are equally mix’d, which Roots come nearer to than Fruits.
Of Herbs.
ONE would think There should be but little nourishment in Herbs, by reason They are so much inclining to The nature of The Earth, which is of a drying Quality; but we find it otherwise by The feeding and fatning of Beasts, which live upon The Herbs of The Field. But Some may say, that that which will nourish Beasts, will starve Men, as Hay, and The Leaves of Trees, and The like: But I answer, it is onely Custome which hath made it not agreeable with The Stomacks of Men, and by that reason maketh ill digestion, and so nourisheth not. But it is not alwaies The Meat that causeth ill or no nourishment, but Sometimes The Stomack: for an Ill Stomack shall corrupt WholSome Meats, and a Good digestive-Stomack shall convert UnwholSome Meat to Good Nourishment, but may endanger The Stomack in using it often, not being accustomed to it before. But of all Vegetables, There are none that have so Many and so excellent Qualities as Herbs, not onely for curing both inward and outward Diseases, but in preventing Diseases, besides The nourishment of Men and Beasts.
But There are Many that will choose places for Their Habitations to live in, for The Air, though They be incommoded much otherwise, and want The Varieties of Pleasures to entertain Their Lives withall: for Many think Long-life, though it be spent dully, Pleasure enough. But The Trouble and Care to keep Health, and The Fear to lose it, makes The Life not onely dull, having Their Thoughts onely imployed upon that, but troubleSome, and full of vexation, with barring Themselves of Those things that otherwise They would willingly enjoy. Thus we make Life worse than Death, if truly considered: for Death frights more than hurts. But Some will say, that may be, if Death would come before Sickness; but it is to avoyd Pain, not to prolong Life: But I answer, The troubleSome care of keeping’t, is worse than The Disease it self; for The Disease of The Body will take away The Pain in a short time, but a Disease of The Mind dwels with a Man his whole Life.
Of Situation for Healths.
Those that would choose a Situation for Health, The Soyl is more to be considered than The Air, though Ill Air is bad; but UnwholSome Air comes from UnwholSome Grounds, by The Vapours that arise from The Earth, and The Sun Many times clarifies The Air but in part: for Many times in Moorish places The Vapours may be too hard for The Sun; and if The Sun cannot be alwaies sufficient to clarisie The Air, how should it purifie The Earth, that is so solid? unless you will say, The Sun is a Chymist to draw Spirits, and Those Spirits subtil to The hurt of The Body; but when The Sun hath that power, as to make The Spirit of Air, as I may call it, being refined to that degree, as it becomes a Cordial and a Refresher of The Spirits of all things: But when it hath onely so much power as to draw up Vapour, which is The thin and watrish part of The Earth, or as I may say, The Sweat of The Earth, which is Sometimes hot, and Sometimes cold, having not The power of purifying, but condenseth it, and makes it thicker, and so becomes The Shadow of another Earth, and makes us as if we lived between two Earths, onely The upper is thinner than The underMost: for although The Sun is The Life to all things, out and upon The Earth, by his Light and Heat, yet he is not so to The Bowels of The Earth; for we find by experience, that a thin Wall will keep out The light of The Sun, and The depth of a Cellar shall keep out The heat of The Sun: for in The hottest Day, if one go down into a Vault, he shall be so cold, as he will desire to come into The Sun again: so as we plainly find, that The Sun doth not make Heat in The Earth, but that The Earth hath Heat of her own, and her own Heat, with The moyst Veins that are in her, produceth Those numerous Varieties, which, Some she casts forth, and Some she keeps in: for Those Varieties she casts forth, are more of a nature than Those she keeps within; for Those she bars forth, are Fruits and Plants, and The like, which onely lye skin-deep, as one may say; but Those she keeps within her Bowels, are more solid and firm: for by experience of Gold, and other Metals, we find, that she is hottest in her Bowels, for They are alwaies found deep and low; certainly it must be a great Heat that must purifie a Metal to that degree that Gold is: So that Gold, other Metals, and whatsoever else lyes deep within her, are not beholding to The Sun for Their Maturities, as Fruits and Plants are: And we see Those things cast forth are sickly and fading, and Those she keeps in are lasting and durable; which would make one think, The Earth hath a more powerfull Heat than The Sun, because her Effects are greater than The Suns, setting his Light aside. The Sun ripens The Fruit of The Face of The Earth, it agitates and lightens The Air, whereby we see and breath: but The Earth is The Mother of all Vegetables, Animals, and Minerals, and could produce a sufficiency of her self, without The Heat of The Sun. But, as I was saying before, it is The Nature of The Soyl that not onely causeth Ill Airs, but Ill Nourishment; I mean not Ill in it self, but being wrongly applyed: for a Thick Air to a Sharp Constitution, is wholSomer than a Subtiller and Thinner Air is; so a Glutenous is to a Sharp Constitution better than a Salt and Penetrating Soyl is: So as you may compare The Natures of several Soyls to The Natures of several Humours and Constitutions; as There are Some Soyls apt to breed Melancholy, others Choler, Some Flegmatick and Gross Humors, and Some Sanguin; I mean not only dwelling upon such Soyls, but eating of The Fruits and Meats Thereof: for The Sun doth not alwaies mature The Fruits of The Earth to such a degree as to make Them wholsom, especially when There is a Vicious Nature bred in The Earth: for Some Ground is apt to breed The Rot to Some kind of Cattel, others The Murrain, and so several Diseases; and as we see in Low Places, all Their Fruit is waterish, and Their Meat spungier than in The High-land Country, though The Sun be in equal degrees; and in Islands it is more apt to be, than in The Continents; and Therefore Some parts of The Earth require much more Heat of The Sun than others do. And again, in Some places The Earth hardly requires The Sun at all, unless it be to see The Fruits; and this alteration is not onely in several Regions of The World, but in Neighbouring Patches also; as, we shall see one Field very Fruit full, and The next Field to it very Barren, as Some Stony, Some Clayey, Some Chalky, and so sundry others; Some are fit to bear Wheat, others Barley, Some onely Rye or Oats, Some Tares, Branck, and Hemp; Some again so barren, as They will bear nothing but Broom and Brakes; Some Grounds feed great fat and firm Cattle, others great but spungie, Some lean and little; and several feedings will give several tasts to one and The same kind of Cattel and Fruit, so as They may be distinguished in what Grounds They grew, or were fed in. But Some Cattel or Plants will not thrive upon every Soyl, though rich and good, being not proper to Their Natures, or to Their Breedings; so it is with Men: for Custome may make that wholSome, which otherwise would shorten Life; and that is good for one Constitution, which would be pernicious to another; so as They must match Grounds to Bodies.
Of Favorites to Princes, or Princes particular Privy Counsellers.
A Prince that hath a particular Favourite, or Privy Counseller, spins out The life of his Heroick Fame with his Favours: for what Errours soever are committed in Government, The Faults are laid to The Princes charge, as The chief Head and Ruler, and all The Good Actions are attributed to The Favorites wise Counselling: for if Money and Arms be raised, They will say it is The Favorites popularity, not The Princes power.
If Armies march orderly, pitch methodically, fight succesfully, They will say it is The Favourites conduct, not The Princes prudence, skill, nor courage.
If good and beneficial Laws be made, They will say They were propounded by The Favorite, and onely enacted by The Prince; that They come from The Favorites head, not The Princes heart.
If The Virtuous be rewarded, and offenders reprieved, or pardoned, They will say it is The Favorites policy, not The Princes bounty or clemency.
In short, Nothing shall be prudently, justly, valiantly, or wisely done, but shall be thought in The present, and published in The future, that all was done by The counsel of The Favorite, especially if Fortune changes her Countenance from Frowns to Smiles, when he is in Favour.
But a Wise Prince makes his own Breast The Cabinetchamber, his own Thoughts his Privy Counsellers, his own Judgement his Particular Favorite, and his own Arm his Chief Commander: But Good Fortune gives Fame an Applause, and Bad Fortune makes Fame go upon Crutches.
The Inventory of Iudgements Commonwealth, The Author cares not in what World it is established.
This Commonwealth to be composed of Nobility, Gentry, Burgesses, and Pezants, in which are comprized Souldiery, Merchantry, Artificers, Labourers, Commanders, officers, Masters, Servants, Magistrates, Divines, Lawyers, &c.
This Commonwealth to be governed by one Head or Governour, as a King, for one Head is sufficient for one Body: for several Heads breed several Opinions, and several Opinions breed Disputations, and Disputations Factions, and Factions breed Wars, and Wars bring Ruin and Desolation: for it is more safe to be governed, though by a Foolish Head, than a Factious Heart.
Item, That this Royal Ruler to swear to The People to be Carefull and Loving, as well as The People swear Duty and Fidelity.
The Contracts betwixt The King and people should be These.
Item, That The Militia be put in The Royal Hand: for since Power lyes in The Militia, The Militia ought to lye in The Kingly Power; for, without Power, Authority and Justice are as Cyphers, which signifie nothing.
For which The King shall contract by Promise and Oath, never to give Honours but to The Meritorious.
Item, That if There should be any Dispute betwixt The Royal Command, and The Publick Subjection, There should be two Men chosen, The one for one side, and The other for The other; These to be approved of, both for Their Honesty, Wisdome, and Courage, as neither to fear Power, nor Censure, to be free from Bribes, Self-ends, Passions and Partiality, Experienced and Known Men in The Kingdome, or at least as able as any Therein, to decide all Differences, and conclude all Disputes, and present all Grievances to The Royal Power, and return his Will, Pleasure, and Desires to The People: for Great Counsels do raTher insnarl all Publick Business, than rectifie Errours, by reason of Their Various Opinions, and HumourSome Differences, with Their Covetous Byasses, and Popular Ambitions.
Item, That The Royal Ruler shall contract with The People, never to give Honours, either for Favour, or sell Them for Gain, but to reward The Meritorious, and grace The Virtuous; which will stop The Mouth of Murmure, temper The Spleen of Malice, clear The Eyes of Spight, and encourage Noble Endeavours.
Item, All Those that keep not up The Dignity of Their House by The Ceremony of The Titles, shall be dishonoured and degraded, as base, and unworthy Thereof, in neglecting The Mark of Their own, or Their Ancestors Merits.
Item, All Those that speak against Honour, or Titles, or give Them not The due respect, shall never be created Thereunto.
Item, it shall be Death for any Herald at Arms to give Arms for Price, or Favour, but to Those are worthy Thereof, as Those that have purchased Them by Their Merits.
Item,, All Those that speak against Their Native Country, or tell Defects or Weaknesses, or rail or dishonour Their Countrymen, shall be banished Therefrom, or Thereout.
Item, That The Royal Ruler shall have no particular Favorite, They being for The Most part Expensive, Proud, Scornfull, and Mischievous, making difference betwixt The King and People, by fomenting Errours untill They make Them seem Crimes, and creating Jealousies, by making doubts of The Peoples Fidelity; and Favourites Most commonly tread upon The Necks of The Nobility, and ride upon The Backs of The Gentry, and pick The Purse of The Commonalty, justle Justice out by Bribery, and Many times unthrone Royalty through Envy to Them, which causeth a hatred to The Prince, for perchance perceiving this Favorite neither to have Worth nor Merit, onely a Flattering Tongue, that inchants a Credulous Prince. Therefore a Prince should have no Favorite but Justice, no Privy Counseller but his own Breast, his Intention never to be disclosed but when he puts it in Execution.
Item, This Royal Ruler to have none of Those They call Their Cabinets, which is a Room filled with all useless curiosities, which seems Effeminate, and is so Expensive, bestowing infinite Sums, alMost to The impoverishing of a Kingdome, only to fill a Room with little cut, carved Statues, and Models of Stones and Metals; as also divers Toyes made of Amber, Cornelion, Agats, Chrystals, and divers sorts of Shels, and The like; which Room might be better imployed, and to more use, in placing Famous and Learned Authors Works, as a Library, which The whole Kingdome may draw Knowledge and Understanding from, and The Money imployed to more famous Curiosities than Shels, or The like, As in stately Monuments, which shews a Kingdome in a Flourishing Condition, and gives it a Noble Grace, and makes it a Wonder abroad, and a subject of Discourse amongst Strangers, inviting curious and inquisitive Travellers from all Nations to view The Structures Thereof.
Besides, it makes a Prince seem Effeminate, which is a disgrace to The Commonwealth, and Forein Nations will despise it, when They see or hear that The Prince is so mean a Spirit, as to take delight in Toyes, spending Their time in looking on Shels, Beads, and Babies. For Those of Heroick Spirits take Delight to see Their Souldiers in Arms, to view Their Fortifications, Forts, and Frontiers, to behold Their Stately Architecture, Navigable Rivers, Their Safe Havens, Sailing Ships, with Their Rich Fraights.
Likewise, They delight in Crowns, Scepters, and Thrones, by which They hold Power, and keep up Authority, making Obedience, Fear, and Subjection; making it Their Pastime to hear Sutes, to decide Causes, to give Justice. And Their Sports like The old Olympick Games.
After These Contracts between The Sovereign and The People, There follow The Laws and Decrees in The Commonwealth.
As first, concerning The Clergy.
Item, That Those that exercise The Divine Function, be not preferred for Learning, but for Life, as being honest in Their Parish, or Diocese, not exacting more TyThes than Their due; also Exemplary in Their Actions, Sober in Their Behaviour.
Item, That no Divine shall study Controversy, or at least not to dispute, but to preach according to The Doctrine that is allowed to be believed and followed: for Learned Disputes and Controversies are apt to smother a Lively Faith, and quench out a Flaming Zeal.
Item, That no Sermons shall be preached, by reason They do more harm than good, troubling The Conscience of The Fearfull, The Heads of The Ignorant, and The Ears of The Wise: But There shall be Prayers said in every Parish-Church once a Day, and The Moral Laws, The Divine Laws, and The National Laws, with Their threatning punishments, and promising rewards, shall be read and repeated once a Week.
Item, That no Physician shall be allowed to study more than one Disease, or at least practice The Cure but of one, lest They make by Their half-knowledge and understanding, a Confusion in The Body for want of Experience.
Item, That all Sutes shall be heard, pleaded and decided in The space of half a Year.
item, it shall be Death for any to sell Land that is any waies engaged, or entangled, lest it should ruin The Buyer Thereof.
Item, That all Landlords and Freeholders shall be bound to plant Timber for Ships, Hemp for Sails, and Tow for Cordage, if The Land be an Isle.
Item, There shall be a set Stipend for Wages, Fees, Rewards, Sales, or Purchases; also of all Merchandizes, that Cosenages, Briberies, Extortions, and The like, may be eschewed.
Item, That none shall execute The Function of two several Trades, nor be imployed in more than in one office, lest They should perform none well.
Item, That no Alchymy-Lace, nor Stuffs, nor Counterfeit Pearls, Diamonds, and The like, shall be worn, nor sold, unless The Counterfeit be sold at as high a price as The Right, or The Right to be sold at as low a rate as The Counterfeit; and as different Sexes are distinguished by Their Habits, so different Habits should distinguish different Qualities, Professions, and Degrees.
Item, That all degrees of Titles shall be distinguished by Their Habits and Ceremonies, as well as by Their Arms, Titles, Patents, and Creations.
Item, No Men shall wear Swords in time of Peace but Gentlemen, and in The Wars There shall be Some differences of Arms to make distinction.
Item, That no officer, neither in Martial Command, nor Civil Government, shall be chosen or imployed, but such as have Abilities to execute Their Authorities, and able to discharge Their Duties.
Item, Rewards shall be as frequent as Punishments, lest Industry should grow careless, and The Flame of Heroick Spirits be quenched out.
Item, None shall make Great Feasts, and Sumptuous Entertainments, but for Forein Persons of Quality, or Strangers that travel to see The Kingdome, where They may see The Plenty, Riches, and Magnificence Thereof, that They may not despise it when They return to Their own Native Country, but give cause to renown it in Their Relations.
Item, All Detracting or Slandering Tongues shall be clipt and The more The Detraction or Slander is, The greater slices shall be cut Therefrom.
Item, That The People shall have set times of Recreation, to ease Them from Their Labours, and to refresh Their Spirits.
Item, That all Noble Youths shall be bred by Experienced Age, to perswade, admonish, and correct by Grave Authority, instructed by Virtuous Examples, taught Honourable Principles, and The practice of Heroick Actions; Their onely Playfellows shall be The Muses; The Grave and Sober Companions, The Sciences; The Domestick Servants, and Acquaintance, The profitable and usefull Arts for The Life of Man.
As for The generality of Youth, They shall be bred to Silent Attentions, Sober Demeanors, Humble Obediences, HandSome Customes, and Gracefull Arts: As for The meaner sort of Youth, to Trades of Arts, and Arts of Trades, for The use and benefit of The Commonwealth.
Item, No Children shall speak before Their Parents, no Servants before Their Masters, no Scholars before Their Tutors, no Subject before The Prince, but either to answer to Their Questions, to deliver a Message, or to know Their will and pleasure, to declare Their Grievances, to ask pardon for Faults committed, or to present an humble request in The Most humblest manner, unless They command Them to discourse freely to Them, yet not without a respect to Their Presence and Authority.
Item, For The Generality, none shall speak but to ask rational, dutifull, and humble Questions, to request just Demands, to discourse of probable Arguments, to defend Right and Truth, to divulge Virtue, to praise The Meritorious, to pray to Heaven, to ask Mercy, to move Pity, to pacisie Grief, to asswage Anger, to make an Atonement, and to instruct The Ignorant.
Item, All shall be accounted Wise, that endure patiently, that live peaceably, that spend prudently, that speak sparingly, that judge charitably, that wish honestly, and that obey Authority.
Item, All Men that may live quietly at home, and travel to no purpose, or that neglect Their own Affairs to follow The Affairs of other Men, or decide Those Mens Quarrels They shall have no thanks for, or live upon hopes of great Fortunes, of high Favours, when They may feed upon present Comfort, and enjoy humble Delights in that Estate and Condition They possess, shall wear a Fools Cap, and a Motly Coat.
Item, That none shall live at a greater Expence than Their Estate will allow and maintain.
Item, That all Spendthrifts shall be condemned for Fools, all Gamesters for idle Miscreants, all Drunkards for Madmen; a Bedlam provided for The Drunkards, a Bridewell for Gamesters, and an Hospital with Long Coats for Spendthrifts.
Item, All Men that beget Children shall strive to provide for Them, by Their Thrifty Managements, or Industrious Labours.
Item, No Man shall FaTher a Whores Child, or Children, unless he were sure he were The FaTher, which few can tell; otherwise it makes a Wise Man seem a Fool, as being facile.
Item, it shall be accounted not only a double Crime, but a Baseness equal to Cowardise, and a disgrace equal to a Cuckold, for a Gentleman to court, or make love to a Common Whore, who is an Alms- Tub of Corruption; but if a Gentleman must or will have a Whore, let him have one of his own making, and not feed upon Reversions.
Item, That no Husband shall keep a Houshold Friend, lest he should make love to his Wife, and he become a Cuckold Thereby.
Item,, No married man or Master of a Family, shall kiss or make love to his Maid, nor Serving-men to Their Mistrisses, lest They should grow idly Amorous, impertinently Bold, rudely Saucy, neglecting Their Duty to Their Mistris or Master, through scornfull Pride.
Item,, In all publike Company all Husbands shall use Their Wives with Respect, unless They dishonor Themselves with The neglect Thereof.
Item, No Husband nor Wife, although but a day married, shall kiss each other in publick, lest it turn The Spectators from a lawfull and wholSome appetite of Marriage, to a gluttonous Adultery, or weakning The appetite so much as to cause a Loathing, or an aversion to The Wedlock Bed.
Item, No Wife shall entertain an Admiring Servant, lest her Husbands and her own Reputation be lost or buried in his admiring Courtships; nor Their Hearts to receive and return Love to none but Their Husbands, no not Platonick love, for The Conversation of Souls, is a great temptation to Amorous Friendship; indeed The Soul of a Platonick Lover is a Baud to The Body.
Item, That Dancing be commendable as a gracefull Art in Maids or Batchelors, but shall be accounted an Effeminacy for married Men, a May-Game for Old men, and & Wanton Lightnes for Married Women.
Item, That no woman of quality should receive Visits or give Visits, but in publick Meetings, nor have any whisperings or private Conference, that her Actions might have sufficient witnesse, and her Discourses a generall Audience.
Item, That none shall marry against Their own liking or free choice, lest They make Their Marriage an excuse for Adultery.
Item, it shall be allowed for Maids to entertain all Honorable, as Matrimonial Suters, untill such time as she hath made choice of one of Them to settle her Affections upon; for it is good reason one should take time and observe Humors, before They bind Themselves in Wedlock Bonds, for when once bound nothing but Death can part Them; but when They are once married, Their Ears to be sealed from all Loves pleadings, protestings, Vows making, high praises, and Complementall phrases.
Item, That none shall keep a Mistris above halfe a year, but change, lest she grow more imporious than a Wife made of a Widow.
Item, All Lovers shall be licensed to bragg or speak well of Themselves to Their Mistris, when They have done no meritorious Actions to speak for Them.
Item, All Those that have Beauty enough to make a Lover, if They have not wit to keep a Lover, shall be accounted no better than a senseless Statue.
Item, it shall not be, as it is in These Daies, accounted a prise or purchase amongst Ladies, to get either by Their wit or Beauty, admiring Servants, especially if They be of amorous natures; for Then Nature drives Them to her Beauty or wit, more than her wit or Beauty draws Them to it.
Item, All Those that are proud without a cause, it shall be a sufficient cause to be scorned.
Item, Eloquence shall not be imployed nor pleaded in Amorous Discourses, nor to make Falshood to appear like Truth; but to dress and adorn Vertue that she may be accepted and entertained by Those that will refuse and shun her acquaintance if she be clad in plain Garments.
Item, There shall none condemn another Language, nor account another to be better, if it be Significant, Copious and Eloquent, such as The English Tongue is.
Item, All passionate Speeches, or Speeches to move passion, shall be expressed in Number.
Item, That all Natural Poets shall be honored with Title, esteemed with Respect, or enriched for The Civilizing of a Nation, more than Contracts, Laws or Punishments, by Soft Numbers, and pleasing Phansics; and also guard, a Kingdom more than Walls or Bulworks, by creating Heroick Spirits with Illustrious Praises, inflaming The Mind with Noble Ambition:
Noble Souls, and Strong Bodies.
Though Noble Souls, and great wits, dwell not constantly, nor are allwaies created in Strong Bodies, yet if Nature did choose her Materials, match her Works, and order her Creatures rightly and SympaThetically, Strong Bodies should have noble Souls, large Capacities, and great wits; for Weak Bodies Many times are a defect in Nature, as much as shallow wits, or irrational Souls: But surely, if The chief and first Nature would work methodically, and not seem as if she wrought at randome, and to produce by Chance, as she doth; if Education and Custome, which is a second Nature, had not such a prevalent power to disturb and obstruct her; and though Education and Custome, may and doth somtimes rectify Some Defects, and help Life; yet it doth more often puzzle Life, and incumber Natures Works, putting Nature out of The right ways with False Principles, Foolish Customes, and ill Education; this is The reason natural wits are Many times lost, not having time or leasure to exercise Them, or use Them (as I may say) or for want of variety of Subjects or Objects to better Them; or dull’d by tedious and unprofitable Studies, or quenched out by base Servitude or Subjection: Also clear Understandings are darkened, sound and strong Judgments weakened, and false Judgments given, and vain Conceptions and erroneous Opinions Maintaind or Believed, for want of The True and The Right Waies.
Likewise The streught of The Body oftimes is weakened and effeminated by Luxurie, Curiosity, and Idleness; which causeth Noble Souls, Large Capacities, Clear Understandings, Fine Fancies, and Quick wits to dwell Many times, nay Most commonly, in weak Bodies; for The better sort have Most commonly more Plenty than Health, The one devouring The other; when The Meaner sort have meager Souls, and barren Brains; Rude Dispositions, and Rough Natures; have strong Limbs, strengthned by Exercise, and maintained by Labour; healthfull bodies kept in repair by Temperance, caused by scarcity and Poverty; contented minds, bred by Low Fortunes, and Humble Desires; when Wealth and Dignity create Vain Glory and Pride: yet Many times small Fortunes and great wits agree best togeTher, but Noble Minds and Great Estates do The Most good. But in this Age, although it be The Iron Age, yet Those men that have Effeminate Bodies, as tender Youth, loose Limbs, smooth Skins, fair Complexions, fantastical Garbs, affected Phrases, strained Complements, factious Natures, detracting Tongues, mischievous Actions, and The like, are admired, and commended more, or thought wiser than Those that have Cenerous Souls, Heroick Spirits, Ingenuous wits, prudent Fore-cast, Experienced Years, Manly Forms, Gracefull Garbes, Edifying Discourses, Temperate Lives, Sober Actions, Noble Natures, and Honest Hearts: but in former years it was otherwaies; for Heroick Spirits in Masculine Forms had double praise, as is expressed in The Grecian and Trojan Warrs; and Princes were bred to labour as much as Pesants; for though Their Labour might be different, The one being Servile, The other Free, yet The BurThen and pains-taking might be Equal; though They carried not Pedlars Packs, nor Porters BurThens, yet They carried thick and heavy Arms; and if They handled not The Sithe, Pitch-Fork, and Flail, yet They handled The Sword, The Spear, The Dart, The Bow, The Sling, and The like; and if They knew not how to Mow, to Reap, and to Thrash, yet They knew how to Assault, to Defend, and to Fight; and though They digged not The Gold out of The Mines, yet They digged Fortisications out of The Earth; and if They set not Flowers on Banks, or sowed Seeds in Furrows, or ingrafted Slips, or planted Trees to grow, yet They set Armies in battail Array, and sowed Lives in Adventures, ingrafted Honor to The Stock of Their Predeceslors, and planted Fame to grow high in after Ages; and though They drive not The Asses, yet They mannage The Horses, and if They want The Art to Yoak Oxen, They want not The wisdome to Yoak The Vulgar with strickt Laws; and if They will not drive a Flock of Sheep to The Fold, They can lead a Number of Men to The Warrs; and if They cannot build a House, yet They can storm a City: Thus galiant labours may strengThen The Bodies of Honorable Breed and Noble Minds, freely and industriously, without a Bondage or Slavery; nay They may Row in Gallies, yet not be subject to The Whip or Chains. But as Masculine Bodies and Heroick Souls had a double esteem, so Effeminate Bodies and timorous Spirits, or raTher Natures, had a double despising, as witness Paris of Troy; but Most Nations in Those Ages, spent Their time in usefull Arts, not in vain Dressings; They wore Horse-Tails in Head-pieces for Terrour, not Light FeaThers for Shew; Their Pride lay in Their Arms, not in Their CloThes; in Their Strength, not in Their Beauty; in Their Victories, not in Their Dancings; in Their Prudence, not in Their Vanities; Their Wealth was spent in Hospitality, not in Prodigality; Their Discourse was to Instruct, not to make Sport; neither in former years was Old-ages counsel refused for Youths Advice; Age was accounted an Honour, and respect was given to The Silver Hairs, Youth, an Effeminacy, pittying Their Follies; And Youth in former Ages learnt with Patience, what Age taught with Judgement; and with Pains, what Skill taught with Industry; As to drive Charriots, ride Horses, bear Arms, hold Shields, throw Darts, to Fence, to wrastle, to Skirmish, to train Men, to pitch Camps, to set Armies, to guide Ships; Not to Dance, to Sing, to Fiddle, to paint, to powder, as Many men do now adaies; Youth did Then listen with attention to Grave Instructions, and receive reproofs with Submission, kept silence with sober Countenance obeyed with willing hearts and ready hands, where now adaies Youth is bold and rude, talks loud, speaks Nonsence, slights Age, scorns Councels, laug’s at Reproofes, glories in Vices, and hates Virtue. Tis true Many will go into The War and kill one another, though Many times They run away; but it is raTher Rashnes that sights, than true Valour, where Fortune gives The Victory, and not Pallas, or raTher Time, for Those that run first away lose The day: Thus in former Ages were Bodies and Minds matcht; but I speak of Stength, to shew that Women that are bred, tender, idle and ignorant (as I have been) are not likely to have much wit; nor is it fit They should be bred up to Masculine Actions, yet it were very fit and requisit They should be bred up to Masculine Understandings; it is not fit for Women to practice The behaviour of Men, yet it is fit that Women should practice The Fortitude of Men; But Women now adaies affecting a Masculincy, as despising Their own Sex, practise The behaviour of Men, not The spirits of Men; nor Their Herroick Behaviour, but Their Wilde, Loose, Rude, Rough or foolish attected Behaviour; They practise The Masculine Confidency or Boldness, and forget The Esseminate Modesty; The Masculine Vice, and forget The Esseminate Virtues; as to talke Impudently, to Swagger, to Swear, to Game, to Drink, to Revell, to make Factions, but They practice not Silence, Sobriety, Reservedness, Abstinency, Patience or The like; They practice The Masculine Cruelty, quitting Their tender and gentle Natures, Their sweet and pleasing Dispositions: But These Actions and Humours are so far from preferring our Sex to a higher Degree, that They do debase and make us worse than other Creatures be; but I beseech my Readers to believe I speak not of Envy or Spight, for I am guilty of neither, but out of a grieved love to my own Sex, nor of any particular Nations, but of The World in general, I mean as much as I have heard of; likewise that my Readers will not mistake me, as to think I belive, that great Giantly Bodies, or strong course Clowns have The greatest wit and deepest Understanding, for we see to The contrary Most commonly, They being The Most Ignorant Fools, and Cowardly spirits; but I mean that if They had large strong healthfull bodies, which might be obtained by Heroick Labours and Exersises, and if Their spirits were answerable to Their bodies, which might be infused by good Education, They might have a double or treble Portion of Rational Understanding; but Most commonly large Bodies are like populated Kingdomes that are Barren for want of Cultivating, and becomes defensless and open to an Enemy, for want of Fortification, which is Fortitude; for Fortitude is an Overflow, or a Superabounding of Spirits, when Fear is a Scarcity or Contracting Thereof; The like of wit and Understanding; for from The Quantity and Agilness of The spirits in The Brain produceth wit, and from The Quantity and Strength of The Spirits in The Brain, produceth Understanding; But if I were to choose a Sex, I had raTher be a Pigmy, stuft with rational spirits, than a Giant empty Thereof: but a Middle Stature is Most becoming, a Little The Most Agil, and a Great The Most Dreadfull, like a private Family; for a small Family hath The least Expence, a Great Family The Most Disorder, a Competent Family The best Governed: Or like Marriage, a Beautifull Wife Delights Most, a witty Wife pleaseth best, a Chast Wife makes a man The Happiest.
So a Valiant Husband is Most Esteemed, a Wise Husband best beloved, and an Honest Husband makes a Wife The happiest; when a Coward is scorned, a Fool despised, and an Inconstant Husband hated.
The like is a Cholerick Wife, an Unconstant Wife, and a Sluttish Wife.
It is strange to observe The forgetfulness, or The boldness, or The foolishness of Many men in The World, that will not only take Learned Mens Opinions and Arguments, and discourse of Them as if They were Their own, to The very Authors Themselves, word for word, which shews Ridiculous and Mad; but Most times They will gravely write Them, as if They were never writ or divulged before, by which Actions one would think They were of Kin to The Jackanapes.
Others are as Base as Those are Ridiculously Foolish, which will bribe The Printer or Bookseller, to let Them see such Copies, and so will steal out Their best Phansies, or Opinions, or Arguments, and print Them before The others come out; wherefore, it is just in The Readers, to examine The Grounds; for if any have done so unworthy an Act, The Theft will be as easily seen, for it will appear in The Face, lying but skin-deep, but never come neer The Fundamental parts; wherefore all Writers that Strike, Justle, or Imbraee one another, and that are published or Printed in a short space of time of one another, are to be examined, to find out The Right and Truth, and to condemn The Thief and punish The Crime with Reproach and Infamy.
But I would have this Monarchy I make,
To have a Judge * that will good Counsel take;*
One that is wise to govern, and to see
What Faults to mend, and what The Errors be,
Making The Common-wealth his only Minion,
Striving for to enlarge his own Dominion,
To love his People, with a tender Care,
To wink at Frailties which in Nature are,
And Just to punish Crimes, as hatingill,
Yet sorry for The Malefactor still;
Glad to reward, and Virtue to advance
In real Favours, not in Countenance,
Not to pay Merits with good Words and Smiles;
(Dissembling Promises poor Men beguiles)
Nor yet good Services are done long past,
(Ungratefull Souls will in Oblivion cast)
But have The Eye of Memory so clear,
The least good Service shall to him appear.
Nor would I have one idly to neglect
His Peoples safety, but for to protect
Their Lives and Goods, with all The care he can,
And upright Justice to The poorest Man;
To be a FaTher to The Common-wealth,
And a Physician to restore Them Health,
By purging out The Humours, which are Crlmes,
Which Crimes, like corrupt Humours, breed oft-times
Factious Diseases, which without all doubt
Would Ruin bring, if timely not cast out:
No cruell Scarlet Favorite to make,
Nor Pleading, Fauning, Cheating men to take
Into Their Bosoms, who with Gouty Pride
Straight swell so bigg, They must on Shoulders ride,
Or else on Noble Cush’ons They must lye,
To bear Them up; but oft The FeaThers fly,
If Pride do presse too hard, and oft They take
Some great mens Fames, thinking Thereby to make,
In giving Praises high, a Screen to hide
The face of Favour, but The Tail is spide.
Nor such a Judge, as one that takes delight
To play at Cards and Dice Most of The Night;
Or drink till drunk, Then carried to his Bed,
As to a Grave, he seeming like one dead,
When he Those watchfull hours, and times should spend
In thinking which way he should Errors mend;
For Commonwealths what ere, and Kingdoms, Realm,
Like Garments, have full Many a Stitch and Seam:
This Publike Garment ost The Prince must view,
Where it is rent, cause’t to be sticht a new,
Or else it soon wears out, in pieces fall,
And though They patch, it will not last at all.
Nor such a Judge, so timorous, lives in fear,
And durst not, without Guards, walk any where,
Which starts at every Noise, or Object see,
If strange and new Those Sounds and Objects be;
Suspects The Light, yet Darkness hates like Hell,
And thinks Conspiracy in’s sleep doth dwell,
And with this Fear a Tyrant he becomes,
And Then he Massacres, and Martyrdoms
All his best Subjects, free from factious strife,
That Loyal are, and wish him longer life,
But scorn to flatter, or applaud his Crimes,
But keep up Right, and Honour in Their minds,
Nor are They guilty, in Word, Deed, or Thought,
But by Suspition judg’d, to Slaughter brought;
Bnt all The innocent Blood that They do splll,
Like to a Sea, flows to Their Conscience ill;
And every Thought that moves within Their Brain,
Appears like Ghosts of Men that They have slain;
And when They dye, into despair They fall,
Or like a Beast or Stone, no Sense at all.
Nor such a Judge that is given to The Splrit,
Or so devout as Heaven he thinks to merit,
Praies Night and Day, or Beads do number ore
Upon cold Stones, Joves Altar kneels before,
Unfit in Earthly Government to Reign,
For Praier seldome doth a Kingdome gain,
Nor keeps in safety from an Enemy,
But leaves his People all to Slavery;
For if he praying be, whilst They do Fight,.
They’ll soon be taken, or be put to flight;
Jove Courage gives to Man, as well as Zeal,
And Prudence for to Rule a Commonweal;
And doing Justice, pleaseth Jove far more
Than lazy Praying, idly to implore
His great assistance which he seldom gives,
Unless no hope of Human Help There lives.
Jove gives man Strength, himself for to defend,
Which, if he useth not, may Jove offend.
But such faint-hearted Prince, is fitter for
A private life, than Kingdome that’s in War;
And fitter to Obey, than to Command,
Or Rule and Reign, in Peace, War, Sea or Land;
And fitter far it were, whilst he doth live,
That he The Sovereign Power up did give
Unto a Kinsman, or himself did choose
A Wise and Valiant man, that Power to use,
Not but Religious Orders are right meet;
For why, Religion is The Publicke Feet
On which The Common-Wealth in safety stands,
And Ceremonies are The Sacred Hands
To Consecrate good Custome, Dutious Zeal,
And make Obedience in a Common-weal.
The Judge I chuse, his Wisdome shall be such,
The whole Worlds Government shall seem not much,
In which of all The Planets There must Reign
I do not care, I tell my Readers plain.
*I call The chief Ruler Judge as They did in The old Law or Time.
Of all my Works, this Work which I have Writ,
My best Belov’d, and greatest Favorite,
I look upon it, with a pleasing Eye,
I Pleasure take in its sweet company,
I entertain it with a Grave Respect,
And with my Pen am ready to Protect
The Life and Safety of it, ‘gainst all Those
That will oppose it, or profess its Foes;
But I am sure There’s none Condemn it can,
Unless Some Foolish and unlearned Man,
That hath not Understanding, Judgement, Wit,
For to perceive The Reason that’s in it.