[3931] "Nam quisquis trepidus pavet vel optat,
Abjecit clypeum, locoque motus
Nectit qua valeat trahi catenam."
"For he that so faints or fears, and yields to his passion, flings away his own weapons, makes a cord to bind himself, and pulls a beam upon his own head."
MEMB. VI. Against Envy, Livor, Emulation, Hatred, Ambition, Self-love, and all other Affections.
Against those other [3932]passions and affections, there is no better remedy than as mariners when they go to sea, provide all things necessary to resist a tempest: to furnish ourselves with philosophical and Divine precepts, other men's examples, [3933]Periculum ex aliis facere, sibi quod ex usu siet: To balance our hearts with love, charity, meekness, patience, and counterpoise those irregular motions of envy, livor, spleen, hatred, with their opposite virtues, as we bend a crooked staff another way, to oppose [3934]"sufferance to labour, patience to reproach," bounty to covetousness, fortitude to pusillanimity, meekness to anger, humility to pride, to examine ourselves for what cause we are so much disquieted, on what ground, what occasion, is it just or feigned? And then either to pacify ourselves by reason, to divert by some other object, contrary passion, or premeditation. [3935]Meditari secum oportet quo pacto adversam aerumnam ferat, Paricla, damna, exilia peregre rediens semper cogitet, aut filii peccatum, aut uxoris mortem, aut morbum filiae, communia esse haec: fieri posse, ut ne quid animo sit novum. To make them familiar, even all kind of calamities, that when they happen they may be less troublesome unto us. In secundis meditare, quo pacto feras adversa: or out of mature judgment to avoid the effect, or disannul the cause, as they do that are troubled with toothache, pull them quite out.
[3936] "Ut vivat castor, sibi testes amputat ipse;
Tu quoque siqua nocent, abjice, tutus eris."
"The beaver bites off's stones to save the rest:
Do thou the like with that thou art opprest."
Or as they that play at wasters, exercise themselves by a few cudgels how to avoid an enemy's blows: let us arm ourselves against all such violent incursions, which may invade our minds. A little experience and practice will inure us to it; vetula vulpes, as the proverb saith, laqueo haud capitur, an old fox is not so easily taken in a snare; an old soldier in the world methinks should not be disquieted, but ready to receive all fortunes, encounters, and with that resolute captain, come what may come, to make answer,
[3937] ———"non ulla laborum
O virgo nova mi facies inopinaque surgit,
Omnia percepi atque animo mecum ante peregi."
"No labour comes at unawares to me,
For I have long before cast what may be."
[3938] ———"non hoc primum mea pectora vulnus
Senserunt, graviora tuli"———
The commonwealth of [3939]Venice in their armoury have this inscription, "Happy is that city which in time of peace thinks of war," a fit motto for every man's private house; happy is the man that provides for a future assault. But many times we complain, repine and mutter without a cause, we give way to passions we may resist, and will not. Socrates was bad by nature, envious, as he confessed to Zophius the physiognomer, accusing him of it, froward and lascivious: but as he was Socrates, he did correct and amend himself. Thou art malicious, envious, covetous, impatient, no doubt, and lascivious, yet as thou art a Christian, correct and moderate thyself. 'Tis something, I confess, and able to move any man, to see himself contemned, obscure, neglected, disgraced, undervalued, [3940]"left behind;" some cannot endure it, no not constant Lipsius, a man discreet otherwise, yet too weak and passionate in this, as his words express, [3941]collegas olim, quos ego sine fremitu non intueor, nuper terrae filios, nunc Maecenates et Agrippas habeo,—summo jam monte potitos. But he was much to blame for it: to a wise staid man this is nothing, we cannot all be honoured and rich, all Caesars; if we will be content, our present state is good, and in some men's opinion to be preferred. Let them go on, get wealth, offices, titles, honours, preferments, and what they will themselves, by chance, fraud, imposture, simony, and indirect means, as too many do, by bribery, flattery, and parasitical insinuation, by impudence and time-serving, let them climb up to advancement in despite of virtue, let them "go before, cross me on every side," me non offendunt modo non in, oculos incurrant, [3942]as he said, correcting his former error, they do not offend me, so long as they run not into mine eyes. I am inglorious and poor, composita paupertate, but I live secure and quiet: they are dignified, have great means, pomp, and state, they are glorious; but what have they with it? [3943]"Envy, trouble, anxiety, as much labour to maintain their place with credit, as to get it at first." I am contented with my fortunes, spectator e longinquo, and love Neptunum procul a terra spectare furentem: he is ambitious, and not satisfied with his: "but what [3944]gets he by it? to have all his life laid open, his reproaches seen: not one of a thousand but he hath done more worthy of dispraise and animadversion than commendation; no better means to help this than to be private." Let them run, ride, strive as so many fishes for a crumb, scrape, climb, catch, snatch, cozen, collogue, temporise and fleer, take all amongst them, wealth, honour, [3945]and get what they can, it offends me not:
[3946] ———"me mea tellus
Lare secreto tutoque tegat,"
"I am well pleased with my fortunes," [3947]Vivo et regno simul ista relinquens.
I have learned "in what state soever I am, therewith to be contented," Philip, iv 11. Come what can come, I am prepared. Nave ferar magna an parva, ferar unus et idem. I am the same. I was once so mad to bustle abroad, and seek about for preferment, tire myself, and trouble all my friends, sed nihil labor tantus profecit nam dum alios amicorum mors avocat, aliis ignotus sum, his invisus, alii large promittunt, intercedunt illi mecum soliciti, hi vana spe lactant; dum alios ambio, hos capto, illis innotesco, aetas perit, anni defluunt, amici fatigantur, ego deferor, et jam, mundi taesus, humanaeque satur infidelitatis acquiesco. [3948]And so I say still; although I may not deny, but that I have had some [3949] bountiful patrons, and noble benefactors, ne sim interim ingratus, and I do thankfully acknowledge it, I have received some kindness, quod Deus illis beneficium rependat, si non pro votis, fortasse pro meritis, more peradventure than I deserve, though not to my desire, more of them than I did expect, yet not of others to my desert; neither am I ambitious or covetous, for this while, or a Suffenus to myself; what I have said, without prejudice or alteration shall stand. And now as a mired horse that struggles at first with all his might and main to get out, but when he sees no remedy, that his beating will not serve, lies still, I have laboured in vain, rest satisfied, and if I may usurp that of [3950]Prudentius,
"Inveni portum; spes et fortuna valete,
Nil mihi vobiscum, ludite nunc alios."
"Mine haven's found, fortune and hope adieu,
Mock others now, for I have done with you."
MEMB. VII. Against Repulse, Abuses, Injuries, Contempts, Disgraces, Contumelies, Slanders, Scoffs, &c.
I may not yet conclude, think to appease passions, or quiet the mind, till such time as I have likewise removed some other of their more eminent and ordinary causes, which produce so grievous tortures and discontents: to divert all, I cannot hope; to point alone at some few of the chiefest, is that which I aim at.
Repulse.] Repulse and disgrace are two main causes of discontent, but to an understanding man not so hardly to be taken. Caesar himself hath been denied, [3951]and when two stand equal in fortune, birth, and all other qualities alike, one of necessity must lose. Why shouldst thou take it so grievously? It hath a familiar thing for thee thyself to deny others. If every man might have what he would, we should all be deified, emperors, kings, princes; if whatsoever vain hope suggests, insatiable appetite affects, our preposterous judgment thinks fit were granted, we should have another chaos in an instant, a mere confusion. It is some satisfaction to him that is repelled, that dignities, honours, offices, are not always given by desert or worth, but for love, affinity, friendship, affection, [3952]great men's letters, or as commonly they are bought and sold. [3953]"Honours in court are bestowed not according to men's virtues and good conditions" (as an old courtier observes), "but as every man hath means, or more potent friends, so he is preferred." With us in France ([3954]for so their own countryman relates) "most part the matter is carried by favour and grace; he that can get a great man to be his mediator, runs away with all the preferment." Indignissimus plerumque praefertur, Vatinius Catoni, illaudatus laudatissimo;
[3955] ———"servi dominantur; aselli Ornantur phaleris, dephalerantur equi."
An illiterate fool sits in a man's seat, and the common people hold him learned, grave and wise. "One professeth" ([3956]Cardan well notes) "for a thousand crowns, but he deserves not ten, when as he that deserves a thousand cannot get ten." Solarium non dat multis salem. As good horses draw in carts, as coaches. And oftentimes, which Machiavel seconds, [3957] Principes non sunt qui ob insignem virtutem principatu digni sunt, he that is most worthy wants employment; he that hath skill to be a pilot wants a ship, and he that could govern a commonwealth, a world itself, a king in conceit, wants means to exercise his worth, hath not a poor office to manage, and yet all this while he is a better man that is fit to reign, etsi careat regno, though he want a kingdom, [3958]"than he that hath one, and knows not how to rule it:" a lion serves not always his keeper, but oftentimes the keeper the lion, and as [3959]Polydore Virgil hath it, multi reges ut pupilli ob inscitiam non regunt sed reguntur. Hieron of Syracuse was a brave king, but wanted a kingdom; Perseus of Macedon had nothing of a king, but the bare name and title, for he could not govern it: so great places are often ill bestowed, worthy persons unrespected. Many times, too, the servants have more means than the masters whom they serve, which [3960]Epictetus counts an eyesore and inconvenient. But who can help it? It is an ordinary thing in these days to see a base impudent ass, illiterate, unworthy, insufficient, to be preferred before his betters, because he can put himself forward, because he looks big, can bustle in the world, hath a fair outside, can temporise, collogue, insinuate, or hath good store of friends and money, whereas a more discreet, modest, and better-deserving man shall lie hid or have a repulse. 'Twas so of old, and ever will be, and which Tiresias advised Ulysses in the [3961] poet,—Accipe qua ratione queas ditescere, &c., is still in use; lie, flatter, and dissemble: if not, as he concludes,—Ergo pauper eris, then go like a beggar as thou art. Erasmus, Melancthon, Lipsius, Budaeus, Cardan, lived and died poor. Gesner was a silly old man, baculo innixus, amongst all those huffing cardinals, swelling bishops that flourished in his time, and rode on foot-clothes. It is not honesty, learning, worth, wisdom, that prefers men, "The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong," but as the wise man said, [3962]Chance, and sometimes a ridiculous chance. [3963]Casus plerumque ridiculus multos elevavit. 'Tis fortune's doings, as they say, which made Brutus now dying exclaim, O misera virtus, ergo nihil quam verba eras, atqui ego te tanquam rem exercebam, sed tu serviebas fortunae. [3964]Believe it hereafter, O my friends! virtue serves fortune. Yet be not discouraged (O my well deserving spirits) with this which I have said, it may be otherwise, though seldom I confess, yet sometimes it is. But to your farther content, I'll tell you a [3965]tale. In Maronia pia, or Maronia felix, I know not whether, nor how long since, nor in what cathedral church, a fat prebend fell void. The carcass scarce cold, many suitors were up in an instant. The first had rich friends, a good purse, and he was resolved to outbid any man before he would lose it, every man supposed he should carry it. The second was my lord Bishop's chaplain (in whose gift it was), and he thought it his due to have it. The third was nobly born, and he meant to get it by his great parents, patrons, and allies. The fourth stood upon his worth, he had newly found out strange mysteries in chemistry, and other rare inventions, which he would detect to the public good. The fifth was a painful preacher, and he was commended by the whole parish where he dwelt, he had all their hands to his certificate. The sixth was the prebendary's son lately deceased, his father died in debt (for it, as they say), left a wife and many poor children. The seventh stood upon fair promises, which to him and his noble friends had been formerly made for the next place in his lordship's gift. The eighth pretended great losses, and what he had suffered for the church, what pains he had taken at home and abroad, and besides he brought noblemen's letters. The ninth had married a kinswoman, and he sent his wife to sue for him. The tenth was a foreign doctor, a late convert, and wanted means. The eleventh would exchange for another, he did not like the former's site, could not agree with his neighbours and fellows upon any terms, he would be gone. The twelfth and last was (a suitor in conceit) a right honest, civil, sober man, an excellent scholar, and such a one as lived private in the university, but he had neither means nor money to compass it; besides he hated all such courses, he could not speak for himself, neither had he any friends to solicit his cause, and therefore made no suit, could not expect, neither did he hope for, or look after it. The good bishop amongst a jury of competitors thus perplexed, and not yet resolved what to do, or on whom to bestow it, at the last, of his own accord, mere motion, and bountiful nature, gave it freely to the university student, altogether unknown to him but by fame; and to be brief, the academical scholar had the prebend sent him for a present. The news was no sooner published abroad, but all good students rejoiced, and were much cheered up with it, though some would not believe it; others, as men amazed, said it was a miracle; but one amongst the rest thanked God for it, and said, Nunc juvat tandem studiosum esse, et Deo integro corde servire. You have heard my tale: but alas it is but a tale, a mere fiction, 'twas never so, never like to be, and so let it rest. Well, be it so then, they have wealth and honour, fortune and preferment, every man (there's no remedy) must scramble as he may, and shift as he can; yet Cardan comforted himself with this, [3966]"the star Fomahant would make him immortal," and that [3967]after his decease his books should be found in ladies' studies: [3968]Dignum laude virum Musa vetat mori. But why shouldst thou take thy neglect, thy canvas so to heart? It may be thou art not fit; but a [3969]child that puts on his father's shoes, hat, headpiece, breastplate, breeches, or holds his spear, but is neither able to wield the one, or wear the other; so wouldst thou do by such an office, place, or magistracy: thou art unfit: "And what is dignity to an unworthy man, but (as [3970] Salvianus holds) a gold ring in a swine's snout?" Thou art a brute. Like a bad actor (so [3971]Plutarch compares such men in a tragedy, diadema fert, at vox non auditur: Thou wouldst play a king's part, but actest a clown, speakest like an ass. [3972]Magna petis Phaeton et quae non viribus istis, &c., as James and John, the sons of Zebedee, did ask they knew not what: nescis temerarie nescis; thou dost, as another Suffenus, overween thyself; thou art wise in thine own conceit, but in other more mature judgment altogether unfit to manage such a business. Or be it thou art more deserving than any of thy rank, God in his providence hath reserved thee for some other fortunes, sic superis visum. Thou art humble as thou art, it may be; hadst thou been preferred, thou wouldst have forgotten God and thyself, insulted over others, contemned thy friends, [3973]been a block, a tyrant, or a demigod, sequiturque superbia formam: [3974]"Therefore," saith Chrysostom, "good men do not always find grace and favour, lest they should be puffed up with turgent titles, grow insolent and proud."
Injuries, abuses, are very offensive, and so much the more in that they think veterem ferendo invitant novam, "by taking one they provoke another:" but it is an erroneous opinion, for if that were true, there would be no end of abusing each other; lis litem generat; 'tis much better with patience to bear, or quietly to put it up. If an ass kick me, saith Socrates, shall I strike him again? And when [3975]his wife Xantippe struck and misused him, to some friends that would have had him strike her again, he replied, that he would not make them sport, or that they should stand by and say, Eia Socrates, eia Xantippe, as we do when dogs fight, animate them the more by clapping of hands. Many men spend themselves, their goods, friends, fortunes, upon small quarrels, and sometimes at other men's procurements, with much vexation of spirit and anguish of mind, all which with good advice, or mediation of friends, might have been happily composed, or if patience had taken place. Patience in such cases is a most sovereign remedy, to put up, conceal, or dissemble it, to [3976]forget and forgive, [3977]"not seven, but seventy-seven times, as often as he repents forgive him;" Luke xvii. 3. as our Saviour enjoins us, stricken, "to turn the other side:" as our [3978]Apostle persuades us, "to recompense no man evil for evil, but as much as is possible to have peace with all men: not to avenge ourselves, and we shall heap burning coals upon our adversary's head." "For [3979]if you put up wrong" (as Chrysostom comments), "you get the victory; he that loseth his money, loseth not the conquest in this our philosophy." If he contend with thee, submit thyself unto him first, yield to him. Durum et durum non faciunt murum, as the diverb is, two refractory spirits will never agree, the only means to overcome is to relent, obsequio vinces. Euclid in Plutarch, when his brother had angered him, swore he would be revenged; but he gently replied, [3980]"Let me not live if I do not make thee to love me again," upon which meek answer he was pacified.
[3981] "Flectitur obsequio curvatus ab arbore ramus,
Frangis si vires experire tuas."
"A branch if easily bended yields to thee,
Pull hard it breaks: the difference you see."
The noble family of the Colonni in Rome, when they were expelled the city by that furious Alexander the Sixth, gave the bending branch therefore as an impress, with this motto, Flecti potest, frangi non potest, to signify that he might break them by force, but so never make them stoop, for they fled in the midst of their hard usage to the kingdom of Naples, and were honourably entertained by Frederick the king, according to their callings. Gentleness in this case might have done much more, and let thine adversary be never so perverse, it may be by that means thou mayst win him; [3982] favore et benevolentia etiam immanis animus mansuescit, soft words pacify wrath, and the fiercest spirits are so soonest overcome; [3983]a generous lion will not hurt a beast that lies prostrate, nor an elephant an innocuous creature, but is infestus infestis, a terror and scourge alone to such as are stubborn, and make resistance. It was the symbol of Emanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy, and he was not mistaken in it, for
[3984] "Quo quisque est major, magis est placabilis irae,
Et faciles motus mens generosa capit."
"A greater man is soonest pacified,
A noble spirit quickly satisfied."
It is reported by [3985]Gualter Mapes, an old historiographer of ours (who lived 400 years since), that King Edward senior, and Llewellyn prince of Wales, being at an interview near Aust upon Severn, in Gloucestershire, and the prince sent for, refused to come to the king; he would needs go over to him; which Llewellyn perceiving, [3986]"went up to the arms in water, and embracing his boat, would have carried him out upon his shoulders, adding that his humility and wisdom had triumphed over his pride and folly," and thereupon he was reconciled unto him and did his homage. If thou canst not so win him, put it up, if thou beest a true Christian, a good divine, an imitator of Christ, [3987]("for he was reviled and put it up, whipped and sought no revenge,") thou wilt pray for thine enemies, [3988]"and bless them that persecute thee;" be patient, meek, humble, &c. An honest man will not offer thee injury, probus non vult; if he were a brangling knave, 'tis his fashion so to do; where is least heart is most tongue; quo quisque stultior, eo magis insolescit, the more sottish he is, still the more insolent: [3989]"Do not answer a fool according to his folly." If he be thy superior, [3990]bear it by all means, grieve not at it, let him take his course; Anitus and Melitus [3991]"may kill me, they cannot hurt me;" as that generous Socrates made answer in like case. Mens immota manet, though the body be torn in pieces with wild horses, broken on the wheel, pinched with fiery tongs, the soul cannot be distracted. 'Tis an ordinary thing for great men to vilify and insult, oppress, injure, tyrannise, to take what liberty they list, and who dare speak against? Miserum est ab eo laedi, a quo non possis queri, a miserable thing 'tis to be injured of him, from whom is no appeal: [3992]and not safe to write against him that can proscribe and punish a man at his pleasure, which Asinius Pollio was aware of, when Octavianus provoked him. 'Tis hard I confess to be so injured: one of Chilo's three difficult things: [3993]"To keep counsel; spend his time well; put up injuries:" but be thou patient, and [3994]leave revenge unto the Lord. [3995]"Vengeance is mine and I will repay, saith the Lord"—"I know the Lord," saith [3996]David, "will avenge the afflicted and judge the poor."—"No man" (as [3997]Plato farther adds) "can so severely punish his adversary, as God will such as oppress miserable men."
[3998] "Iterum ille rem judicatam judicat,
Majoreque mulcta mulctat."
If there be any religion, any God, and that God be just, it shall be so; if
thou believest the one, believe the other: Erit, erit, it shall be so.
Nemesis comes after, sero sed serio, stay but a little and thou shalt see
God's just judgment overtake him.
[3999] "Raro antecedentem scelestum
Deseruit pede poena claudo."
"Yet with sure steps, though lame and slow,
Vengeance o'ertakes the trembling villain's speed."
Thou shalt perceive that verified of Samuel to Agag, 1 Sam. xv. 33. "Thy sword hath made many women childless, so shall thy mother be childless amongst other women." It shall be done to them as they have done to others. Conradinus, that brave Suevian prince, came with a well-prepared army into the kingdom of Naples, was taken prisoner by king Charles, and put to death in the flower of his youth; a little after (ultionem Conradini mortis, Pandulphus Collinutius Hist. Neap. lib. 5. calls it), King Charles's own son, with two hundred nobles, was so taken prisoner, and beheaded in like sort. Not in this only, but in all other offences, quo quisque peccat in eo punietur, [4000]they shall be punished in the same kind, in the same part, like nature, eye with or in the eye, head with or in the head, persecution with persecution, lust with effects of lust; let them march on with ensigns displayed, let drums beat on, trumpets sound taratantarra, let them sack cities, take the spoil of countries, murder infants, deflower virgins, destroy, burn, persecute, and tyrannise, they shall be fully rewarded at last in the same measure, they and theirs, and that to their desert.
[4001] "Ad generum Cereris sine caede et sanguine pauci
Descendunt reges et sicca morte tyranni."
"Few tyrants in their beds do die,
But stabb'd or maim'd to hell they hie."
Oftentimes too a base contemptible fellow is the instrument of God's justice to punish, to torture, and vex them, as an ichneumon doth a crocodile. They shall be recompensed according to the works of their hands, as Haman was hanged on the gallows he provided for Mordecai; "They shall have sorrow of heart, and be destroyed from under the heaven," Thre. iii. 64, 65, 66. Only be thou patient: [4002]vincit qui patitur: and in the end thou shalt be crowned. Yea, but 'tis a hard matter to do this, flesh and blood may not abide it; 'tis grave, grave! no (Chrysostom replies) non est grave, o homo! 'tis not so grievous, [4003]"neither had God commanded it, if it had been so difficult." But how shall it be done? "Easily," as he follows it, "if thou shalt look to heaven, behold the beauty of it, and what God hath promised to such as put up injuries." But if thou resist and go about vim vi repellere, as the custom of the world is, to right thyself, or hast given just cause of offence, 'tis no injury then but a condign punishment; thou hast deserved as much: A te principium, in te recredit crimen quod a te fuit; peccasti, quiesce, as Ambrose expostulates with Cain, lib. 3. de Abel et Cain. [4004]Dionysius of Syracuse, in his exile, was made to stand without door, patienter ferendum, fortasse nos tale quid fecimus, quum in honore essemus, he wisely put it up, and laid the fault where it was, on his own pride and scorn, which in his prosperity he had formerly showed others. 'Tis [4005] Tully's axiom, ferre ea molestissime homines non debent, quae ipsorum culpa contracta sunt, self do, self have, as the saying is, they may thank themselves. For he that doth wrong must look to be wronged again; habet et musca splenem, et formicae sua bills inest. The least fly hath a spleen, and a little bee a sting. [4006]An ass overwhelmed a thistlewarp's nest, the little bird pecked his galled back in revenge; and the humble-bee in the fable flung down the eagle's eggs out of Jupiter's lap. Bracides, in Plutarch, put his hand into a mouse's nest and hurt her young ones, she bit him by the finger: [4007]I see now (saith he) there is no creature so contemptible, that will not be revenged. 'Tis lex talionis, and the nature of all things so to do: if thou wilt live quietly thyself, [4008]do no wrong to others; if any be done thee, put it up, with patience endure it, for [4009]"this is thankworthy," saith our apostle, "if any man for conscience towards God endure grief, and suffer wrong undeserved; for what praise is it, if when ye be buffeted for you faults, ye take it patiently? But if when you do well, ye suffer wrong, and take it patiently, there is thanks with God; for hereunto verily we are called." Qui mala non fert, ipse sibi testis est per impatientiam quod bonus non est, "he that cannot bear injuries, witnesseth against himself that he is no good man," as Gregory holds. [4010]"'Tis the nature of wicked men to do injuries, as it is the property of all honest men patiently to bear them." Improbitas nullo flectitur obsequio. The wolf in the [4011]emblem sucked the goat (so the shepherd would have it), but he kept nevertheless a wolf's nature; [4012]a knave will be a knave. Injury is on the other side a good man's footboy, his fidus Acliates, and as a lackey follows him wheresoever he goes. Besides, misera est fortuna quae caret inimico, he is in a miserable estate that wants enemies: [4013]it is a thing not to be avoided, and therefore with more patience to be endured. Cato Censorius, that upright Cato of whom Paterculus gives that honourable eulogium, bene fecit quod aliter facere non potuit, was [4014]fifty times indicted and accused by his fellow citizens, and as [4015]Ammianus well hath it, Quis erit innocens si clam vel palam accusasse sufficiat? if it be sufficient to accuse a man openly or in private, who shall be free? If there were no other respect than that of Christianity, religion and the like, to induce men to be long-suffering and patient, yet methinks the nature of injury itself is sufficient to keep them quiet, the tumults, uproars, miseries, discontents, anguish, loss, dangers that attend upon it might restrain the calamities of contention: for as it is with ordinary gamesters, the gains go to the box, so falls it out to such as contend; the lawyers get all; and therefore if they would consider of it, aliena pericula cantos, other men's misfortunes in this kind, and common experience might detain them. [4016]The more they contend, the more they are involved in a labyrinth of woes, and the catastrophe is to consume one another, like the elephant and dragon's conflict in Pliny; [4017]the dragon got under the elephant's belly, and sucked his blood so long, till he fell down dead upon the dragon, and killed him with the fall, so both were ruined. 'Tis a hydra's head, contention; the more they strive, the more they may: and as Praxiteles did by his glass, when he saw a scurvy face in it, brake it in pieces: but for that one he saw many more as bad in a moment: for one injury done they provoke another cum foenore, and twenty enemies for one. Noli irritare crabrones, oppose not thyself to a multitude: but if thou hast received a wrong, wisely consider of it, and if thou canst possibly, compose thyself with patience to bear it. This is the safest course, and thou shalt find greatest ease to be quiet.
[4018]I say the same of scoffs, slanders, contumelies, obloquies, defamations, detractions, pasquilling libels, and the like, which may tend any way to our disgrace: 'tis but opinion; if we could neglect, contemn, or with patience digest them, they would reflect on them that offered them at first. A wise citizen, I know not whence, had a scold to his wife: when she brawled, he played on his drum, and by that means madded her more, because she saw that he would not be moved. Diogenes in a crowd when one called him back, and told him how the boys laughed him to scorn, Ego, inquit, non rideor, took no notice of it. Socrates was brought upon the stage by Aristophanes, and misused to his face, but he laughed as if it concerned him not: and as Aelian relates of him, whatsoever good or bad accident or fortune befel him going in or coming out, Socrates still kept the same countenance; even so should a Christian do, as Hierom describes him, per infamiam et bonam famam grassari ad immortalitatem, march on through good and bad reports to immortality, [4019]not to be moved: for honesty is a sufficient reward, probitas sibi, praemium; and in our times the sole recompense to do well, is, to do well: but naughtiness will punish itself at last, [4020]Improbis ipsa nequitia supplicium. As the diverb is,
"Qui bene fecerunt, illi sua facta sequentur;
Qui male fecerunt, facta sequentur eos:"
"They that do well, shall have reward at last:
But they that ill, shall suffer for that's past."
Yea, but I am ashamed, disgraced, dishonoured, degraded, exploded: my notorious crimes and villainies are come to light (deprendi miserum est), my filthy lust, abominable oppression and avarice lies open, my good name's lost, my fortune's gone, I have been stigmatised, whipped at post, arraigned and condemned, I am a common obloquy, I have lost my ears, odious, execrable, abhorred of God and men. Be content, 'tis but a nine days' wonder, and as one sorrow drives out another, one passion another, one cloud another, one rumour is expelled by another; every day almost, come new news unto our ears, as how the sun was eclipsed, meteors seen in the air, monsters born, prodigies, how the Turks were overthrown in Persia, an earthquake in Helvetia, Calabria, Japan, or China, an inundation in Holland, a great plague in Constantinople, a fire at Prague, a dearth in Germany, such a man is made a lord, a bishop, another hanged, deposed, pressed to death, for some murder, treason, rape, theft, oppression, all which we do hear at first with a kind of admiration, detestation, consternation, but by and by they are buried in silence: thy father's dead, thy brother robbed, wife runs mad, neighbour hath killed himself; 'tis heavy, ghastly, fearful news at first, in every man's mouth, table talk; but after a while who speaks or thinks of it? It will be so with thee and thine offence, it will be forgotten in an instant, be it theft, rape, sodomy, murder, incest, treason, &c., thou art not the first offender, nor shalt not be the last, 'tis no wonder, every hour such malefactors are called in question, nothing so common, Quocunque in populo, quocunque sub axe? [4021]Comfort thyself, thou art not the sole man. If he that were guiltless himself should fling the first stone at thee, and he alone should accuse thee that were faultless, how many executioners, how many accusers wouldst thou have? If every man's sins were written in his forehead, and secret faults known, how many thousands would parallel, if not exceed thine offence? It may be the judge that gave sentence, the jury that condemned thee, the spectators that gazed on thee, deserved much more, and were far more guilty than thou thyself. But it is thine infelicity to be taken, to be made a public example of justice, to be a terror to the rest; yet should every man have his desert, thou wouldst peradventure be a saint in comparison; vexat censura columbas, poor souls are punished; the great ones do twenty thousand times worse, and are not so much as spoken of.
[4022] "Non rete accipitri tenditur neque milvio,
Qui male faciunt nobis; illis qui nil faciunt tenditur."
"The net's not laid for kites or birds of prey,
But for the harmless still our gins we lay."
Be not dismayed then, humanum est errare, we are all sinners, daily and hourly subject to temptations, the best of us is a hypocrite, a grievous offender in God's sight, Noah, Lot, David, Peter, &c., how many mortal sins do we commit? Shall I say, be penitent, ask forgiveness, and make amends by the sequel of thy life, for that foul offence thou hast committed? recover thy credit by some noble exploit, as Themistocles did, for he was a most debauched and vicious youth, sed juventae maculas praeclaris factis delevit, but made the world amends by brave exploits; at last become a new man, and seek to be reformed. He that runs away in a battle, as Demosthenes said, may fight again; and he that hath a fall may stand as upright as ever he did before. Nemo desperet meliora lapsus, a wicked liver may be reclaimed, and prove an honest man; he that is odious in present, hissed out, an exile, may be received again with all men's favours, and singular applause; so Tully was in Rome, Alcibiades in Athens. Let thy disgrace then be what it will, quod fit, infectum non potest esse, that which is past cannot be recalled; trouble not thyself, vex and grieve thyself no more, be it obloquy, disgrace, &c. No better way, than to neglect, contemn, or seem not to regard it, to make no reckoning of it, Deesse robur arguit dicacitas: if thou be guiltless it concerns thee not:
[4023] "Irrita vaniloquae quid curas spicula linguae, Latrantem curatne alta Diana canem?"
Doth the moon care for the barking of a dog? They detract, scoff and rail, saith one, [4024]and bark at me on every side, but I, like that Albanian dog sometimes given to Alexander for a present, vindico me ab illis solo contemptu, I lie still and sleep, vindicate myself by contempt alone. [4025]Expers terroris Achilles armatus: as a tortoise in his shell, [4026]virtute mea me involvo, or an urchin round, nil moror ictus [4027]a lizard in camomile, I decline their fury and am safe.
"Integritas virtusque suo munimine tuta,
Non patet adversae morsibus invidiae:"
"Virtue and integrity are their own fence,
Care not for envy or what comes from thence."
Let them rail then, scoff, and slander, sapiens contumelia non afficitur, a wise man, Seneca thinks, is not moved, because he knows, contra Sycophantae morsum non est remedium, there is no remedy for it: kings and princes, wise, grave, prudent, holy, good men, divine, are all so served alike. [4028]O Jane a tergo quem nulla ciconia pinsit, Antevorta and Postvorta, Jupiter's guardians, may not help in this case, they cannot protect; Moses had a Dathan, a Corath, David a Shimei, God himself is blasphemed: nondum felix es si te nondum turba deridet. It is an ordinary thing so to be misused. [4029]Regium est cum bene faceris male audire, the chiefest men and most understanding are so vilified; let him take his [4030]course. And as that lusty courser in Aesop, that contemned the poor ass, came by and by after with his bowels burst, a pack on his back, and was derided of the same ass: contemnentur ab iis quos ipsi prius contempsere, et irridebuntur ab iis quos ipsi prius irrisere, they shall be contemned and laughed to scorn of those whom they have formerly derided. Let them contemn, defame, or undervalue, insult, oppress, scoff, slander, abuse, wrong, curse and swear, feign and lie, do thou comfort thyself with a good conscience, in sinu gaudeas, when they have all done, [4031]"a good conscience is a continual feast," innocency will vindicate itself: and which the poet gave out of Hercules, diis fruitur iratis, enjoy thyself, though all the world be set against thee, contemn and say with him, Elogium mihi prae, foribus, my posy is, "not to be moved, that [4032]my palladium, my breastplate, my buckler, with which I ward all injuries, offences, lies, slanders; I lean upon that stake of modesty, so receive and break asunder all that foolish force of liver and spleen." And whosoever he is that shall observe these short instructions, without all question he shall much ease and benefit himself.
In fine, if princes would do justice, judges be upright, clergymen truly devout, and so live as they teach, if great men would not be so insolent, if soldiers would quietly defend us, the poor would be patient, rich men. would be liberal and humble, citizens honest, magistrates meek, superiors would give good example, subjects peaceable, young men would stand in awe: if parents would be kind to their children, and they again obedient to their parents, brethren agree amongst themselves, enemies be reconciled, servants trusty to their masters, virgins chaste, wives modest, husbands would be loving and less jealous: if we could imitate Christ and his apostles, live after God's laws, these mischiefs would not so frequently happen amongst us; but being most part so irreconcilable as we are, perverse, proud, insolent, factious, and malicious, prone to contention, anger and revenge, of such fiery spirits, so captious, impious, irreligious, so opposite to virtue, void of grace, how should it otherwise be? Many men are very testy by nature, apt to mistake, apt to quarrel, apt to provoke and misinterpret to the worst, everything that is said or done, and thereupon heap unto themselves a great deal of trouble, and disquietness to others, smatterers in other men's matters, tale-bearers, whisperers, liars, they cannot speak in season, or hold their tongues when they should, [4033]Et suam partem itidem tacere cum aliena est oratio: they will speak more than comes to their shares, in all companies, and by those bad courses accumulate much evil to their own souls (qui contendit, sibi convicium facit) their life is a perpetual brawl, they snarl like so many dogs, with their wives, children, servants, neighbours, and all the rest of their friends, they can agree with nobody. But to such as are judicious, meek, submissive, and quiet, these matters are easily remedied: they will forbear upon all such occasions, neglect, contemn, or take no notice of them, dissemble, or wisely turn it off. If it be a natural impediment, as a red nose, squint eyes, crooked legs, or any such imperfection, infirmity, disgrace, reproach, the best way is to speak of it first thyself, [4034]and so thou shalt surely take away all occasions from others to jest at, or contemn, that they may perceive thee to be careless of it. Vatinius was wont to scoff at his own deformed feet, to prevent his enemies' obloquies and sarcasms in that kind; or else by prevention, as Cotys, king of Thrace, that brake a company of fine glasses presented to him, with his own hands, lest he should be overmuch moved when they were broken by chance. And sometimes again, so that it be discreetly and moderately done, it shall not be amiss to make resistance, to take down such a saucy companion, no better means to vindicate himself to purchase final peace: for he that suffers himself to be ridden, or through pusillanimity or sottishness will let every man baffle him, shall be a common laughing stock to flout at. As a cur that goes through a village, if he clap his tail between his legs, and run away, every cur will insult over him: but if he bristle up himself, and stand to it, give but a counter-snarl, there's not a dog dares meddle with him: much is in a man's courage and discreet carriage of himself.
Many other grievances there are, which happen to mortals in this life, from friends, wives, children, servants, masters, companions, neighbours, our own defaults, ignorance, errors, intemperance, indiscretion, infirmities, &c., and many good remedies to mitigate and oppose them, many divine precepts to counterpoise our hearts, special antidotes both in Scriptures and human authors, which, whoso will observe, shall purchase much ease and quietness unto himself: I will point out a few. Those prophetical, apostolical admonitions are well known to all; what Solomon, Siracides, our Saviour Christ himself hath said tending to this purpose, as "fear God: obey the prince: be sober and watch: pray continually: be angry but sin not: remember thy last: fashion not yourselves to this world, &c., apply yourselves to the times: strive not with a mighty man: recompense good for evil, let nothing be done through contention or vainglory, but with meekness of mind, every man esteeming of others better than himself: love one another;" or that epitome of the law and the prophets, which our Saviour inculcates, "love God above all, thy neighbour as thyself:" and "whatsoever you would that men should do unto you, so do unto them," which Alexander Severus writ in letters of gold, and used as a motto, [4035] Hierom commends to Celantia as an excellent way, amongst so many enticements and worldly provocations, to rectify her life. Out of human authors take these few cautions, [4036]"know thyself. [4037]Be contented with thy lot. [4038]Trust not wealth, beauty, nor parasites, they will bring thee to destruction. [4039]Have peace with all men, war with vice. [4040]Be not idle. [4041]Look before you leap. [4042]Beware of 'had I wist.' [4043]Honour thy parents, speak well of friends. Be temperate in four things, lingua, locis, oculis, et poculis. Watch thine eye.[4044] Moderate thine expenses. Hear much, speak little, [4045]sustine et abstine. If thou seest ought amiss in another, mend it in thyself. Keep thine own counsel, reveal not thy secrets, be silent in thine intentions. [4046]Give not ear to tale-tellers, babblers, be not scurrilous in conversation: [4047]jest without bitterness: give no man cause of offence: set thine house in order: [4048]take heed of suretyship. [4049]Fide et diffide, as a fox on the ice, take heed whom you trust. [4050]Live not beyond thy means. [4051]Give cheerfully. Pay thy dues willingly. Be not a slave to thy money; [4052]omit not occasion, embrace opportunity, lose no time. Be humble to thy superiors, respective to thine equals, affable to all, [4053]but not familiar. Flatter no man. [4054]Lie not, dissemble not. Keep thy word and promise, be constant in a good resolution. Speak truth. Be not opiniative, maintain no factions. Lay no wagers, make no comparisons. [4055]Find no faults, meddle not with other men's matters. Admire not thyself. [4056]Be not proud or popular. Insult not. Fortunam reverentur habe. [4057]Fear not that which cannot be avoided. [4058] Grieve not for that which cannot be recalled. [4059]Undervalue not thyself. [4060]Accuse no man, commend no man rashly. Go not to law without great cause. Strive not with a greater man. Cast not off an old friend, take heed of a reconciled enemy. [4061]If thou come as a guest stay not too long. Be not unthankful. Be meek, merciful, and patient. Do good to all. Be not fond of fair words. [4062]Be not a neuter in a faction; moderate thy passions. [4063]Think no place without a witness. [4064] Admonish thy friend in secret, commend him in public. Keep good company. [4065]Love others to be beloved thyself. Ama tanquam osurus. Amicus tardo fias. Provide for a tempest. Noli irritare crabrones. Do not prostitute thy soul for gain. Make not a fool of thyself to make others merry. Marry not an old crony or a fool for money. Be not over solicitous or curious. Seek that which may be found. Seem not greater than thou art. Take thy pleasure soberly. Ocymum ne terito. [4066]Live merrily as thou canst. [4067]Take heed by other men's examples. Go as thou wouldst be met, sit as thou wouldst be found, [4068]yield to the time, follow the stream. Wilt thou live free from fears and cares? [4069]Live innocently, keep thyself upright, thou needest no other keeper," &c. Look for more in Isocrates, Seneca, Plutarch, Epictetus, &c., and for defect, consult with cheese-trenchers and painted cloths.
MEMB. VIII. Against Melancholy itself.
"Every man," saith [4070]Seneca, "thinks his own burthen the heaviest," and a melancholy man above all others complains most; weariness of life, abhorring all company and light, fear, sorrow, suspicion, anguish of mind, bashfulness, and those other dread symptoms of body and mind, must needs aggravate this misery; yet compared to other maladies, they are not so heinous as they be taken. For first this disease is either in habit or disposition, curable or incurable. If new and in disposition, 'tis commonly pleasant, and it may be helped. If inveterate, or a habit, yet they have lucida intervalla, sometimes well, and sometimes ill; or if more continuate, as the [4071]Vejentes were to the Romans, 'tis hostis magis assiduus quam gravis, a more durable enemy than dangerous: and amongst many inconveniences, some comforts are annexed to it. First it is not catching, and as Erasmus comforted himself, when he was grievously sick of the stone, though it was most troublesome, and an intolerable pain to him, yet it was no whit offensive to others, not loathsome to the spectators, ghastly, fulsome, terrible, as plagues, apoplexies, leprosies, wounds, sores, tetters, pox, pestilent agues are, which either admit of no company, terrify or offend those that are present. In this malady, that which is, is wholly to themselves: and those symptoms not so dreadful, if they be compared to the opposite extremes. They are most part bashful, suspicious, solitary, &c., therefore no such ambitious, impudent intruders as some are, no sharkers, no cony-catchers, no prowlers, no smell-feasts, praters, panders, parasites, bawds, drunkards, whoremasters; necessity and defect compel them to be honest; as Mitio told Demea in the [4072]comedy,
"Haec si neque ego neque tu fecimus,
Non sinit egestas facere nos."
"If we be honest 'twas poverty made us so:" if we melancholy men be not as bad as he that is worst, 'tis our dame melancholy kept us so: Non deerat voluntas sed facultas. [4073]
Besides they are freed in this from many other infirmities, solitariness makes them more apt to contemplate, suspicion wary, which is a necessary humour in these times, [4074]Nam pol que maxime cavet, is saepe cautor captus est, "he that takes most heed, is often circumvented, and overtaken." Fear and sorrow keep them temperate and sober, and free them from any dissolute acts, which jollity and boldness thrust men upon: they are therefore no sicarii, roaring boys, thieves or assassins. As they are soon dejected, so they are as soon, by soft words and good persuasions, reared. Wearisomeness of life makes them they are not so besotted on the transitory vain pleasures of the world. If they dote in one thing, they are wise and well understanding in most other. If it be inveterate, they are insensati, most part doting, or quite mad, insensible of any wrongs, ridiculous to others, but most happy and secure to themselves. Dotage is a state which many much magnify and commend: so is simplicity, and folly, as he said, [4075]sic hic furor o superi, sit mihi perpetuus. Some think fools and dizzards live the merriest lives, as Ajax in Sophocles, Nihil scire vita jucundissima, "'tis the pleasantest life to know nothing;" iners malorum remedium ignorantia, "ignorance is a downright remedy of evils." These curious arts and laborious sciences, Galen's, Tully's, Aristotle's, Justinian's, do but trouble the world some think; we might live better with that illiterate Virginian simplicity, and gross ignorance; entire idiots do best, they are not macerated with cares, tormented with fears, and anxiety, as other wise men are: for as [4076]he said, if folly were a pain, you should hear them howl, roar, and cry out in every house, as you go by in the street, but they are most free, jocund, and merry, and in some [4077]countries, as amongst the Turks, honoured for saints, and abundantly maintained out of the common stock. [4078]They are no dissemblers, liars, hypocrites, for fools and madmen tell commonly truth. In a word, as they are distressed, so are they pitied, which some hold better than to be envied, better to be sad than merry, better to be foolish and quiet, quam sapere et ringi, to be wise and still vexed; better to be miserable than happy: of two extremes it is the best.
SUBSECT. I.—Of Physic which cureth with Medicines.
After a long and tedious discourse of these six non-natural things and their several rectifications, all which are comprehended in diet, I am come now at last to Pharmaceutice, or that kind of physic which cureth by medicines, which apothecaries most part make, mingle, or sell in their shops. Many cavil at this kind of physic, and hold it unnecessary, unprofitable to this or any other disease, because those countries which use it least, live longest, and are best in health, as [4079]Hector Boethius relates of the isles of Orcades, the people are still sound of body and mind, without any use of physic, they live commonly 120 years, and Ortelius in his itinerary of the inhabitants of the Forest of Arden, [4080] "they are very painful, long-lived, sound," &c. [4081]Martianus Capella, speaking of the Indians of his time, saith, they were (much like our western Indians now) "bigger than ordinary men, bred coarsely, very long-lived, insomuch, that he that died at a hundred years of age, went before his time," &c. Damianus A-Goes, Saxo Grammaticus, Aubanus Bohemus, say the like of them that live in Norway, Lapland, Finmark, Biarmia, Corelia, all over Scandia, and those northern countries, they are most healthful, and very long-lived, in which places there is no use at all of physic, the name of it is not once heard. Dithmarus Bleskenius in his accurate description of Iceland, 1607, makes mention, amongst other matters, of the inhabitants, and their manner of living, [4082]"which is dried fish instead of bread, butter, cheese, and salt meats, most part they drink water and whey, and yet without physic or physician, they live many of them 250 years." I find the same relation by Lerius, and some other writers, of Indians in America. Paulus Jovius in his description of Britain, and Levinus Lemnius, observe as much of this our island, that there was of old no use of [4083]physic amongst us, and but little at this day, except it be for a few nice idle citizens, surfeiting courtiers, and stall-fed gentlemen lubbers. The country people use kitchen physic, and common experience tells vis, that they live freest from all manner of infirmities, that make least use of apothecaries' physic. Many are overthrown by preposterous use of it, and thereby get their bane, that might otherwise have escaped: [4084]some think physicians kill as many as they save, and who can tell, [4085]Quot Themison aegros autumno occiderit uno? "How many murders they make in a year," quibus impune licet hominem occidere, "that may freely kill folks," and have a reward for it, and according to the Dutch proverb, a new physician must have a new churchyard; and who daily observes it not? Many that did ill under physicians' hands, have happily escaped, when they have been given over by them, left to God and nature, and themselves; 'twas Pliny's dilemma of old, [4086]"every disease is either curable or incurable, a man recovers of it or is killed by it; both ways physic is to be rejected. If it be deadly, it cannot be cured; if it may be helped, it requires no physician, nature will expel it of itself." Plato made it a great sign of an intemperate and corrupt commonwealth, where lawyers and physicians did abound; and the Romans distasted them so much that they were often banished out of their city, as Pliny and Celsus relate, for 600 years not admitted. It is no art at all, as some hold, no not worthy the name of a liberal science (nor law neither), as [4087]Pet. And. Canonherius a patrician of Rome and a great doctor himself, "one of their own tribe," proves by sixteen arguments, because it is mercenary as now used, base, and as fiddlers play for a reward. Juridicis, medicis, fisco, fas vivere rapto, 'tis a corrupt trade, no science, art, no profession; the beginning, practice, and progress of it, all is naught, full of imposture, uncertainty, and doth generally more harm than good. The devil himself was the first inventor of it: Inventum est medicina meum, said Apollo, and what was Apollo, but the devil? The Greeks first made an art of it, and they were all deluded by Apollo's sons, priests, oracles. If we may believe Varro, Pliny, Columella, most of their best medicines were derived from his oracles. Aesculapius his son had his temples erected to his deity, and did many famous cures; but, as Lactantius holds, he was a magician, a mere impostor, and as his successors, Phaon, Podalirius, Melampius, Menecrates, (another God), by charms, spells, and ministry of bad spirits, performed most of their cures. The first that ever wrote in physic to any purpose, was Hippocrates, and his disciple and commentator Galen, whom Scaliger calls Fimbriam Hippocratis; but as [4088]Cardan censures them, both immethodical and obscure, as all those old ones are, their precepts confused, their medicines obsolete, and now most part rejected. Those cures which they did, Paracelsus holds, were rather done out of their patients' confidence, [4089]and good opinion they had of them, than out of any skill of theirs, which was very small, he saith, they themselves idiots and infants, as are all their academical followers. The Arabians received it from the Greeks, and so the Latins, adding new precepts and medicines of their own, but so imperfect still, that through ignorance of professors, impostors, mountebanks, empirics, disagreeing of sectaries, (which are as many almost as there be diseases) envy, covetousness, and the like, they do much harm amongst us. They are so different in their consultations, prescriptions, mistaking many times the parties' constitution, [4090]disease, and causes of it, they give quite contrary physic; [4091]"one saith this, another that," out of singularity or opposition, as he said of Adrian, multitudo medicorum principem interfecit, "a multitude of physicians hath killed the emperor;" plus a medico quam a morbo periculi, "more danger there is from the physician, than from the disease." Besides, there is much imposture and malice amongst them. "All arts" (saith [4092]Cardan) "admit of cozening, physic, amongst the rest, doth appropriate it to herself;" and tells a story of one Curtius, a physician in Venice: because he was a stranger, and practised amongst them, the rest of the physicians did still cross him in all his precepts. If he prescribed hot medicines they would prescribe cold, miscentes pro calidis frigida, pro frigidis humida, pro purgantibus astringentia, binders for purgatives, omnia perturbabant. If the party miscarried, Curtium damnabant, Curtius killed him, that disagreed from them: if he recovered, then [4093]they cured him themselves. Much emulation, imposture, malice, there is amongst them: if they be honest and mean well, yet a knave apothecary that administers the physic, and makes the medicine, may do infinite harm, by his old obsolete doses, adulterine drugs, bad mixtures, quid pro quo, &c. See Fuchsius lib. 1. sect. 1. cap. 8. Cordus' Dispensatory, and Brassivola's Examen simpl., &c. But it is their ignorance that doth more harm than rashness, their art is wholly conjectural, if it be an art, uncertain, imperfect, and got by killing of men, they are a kind of butchers, leeches, men-slayers; chirurgeons and apothecaries especially, that are indeed the physicians' hangman, carnifices, and common executioners; though to say truth, physicians themselves come not far behind; for according to that facete epigram of Maximilianus Urentius, what's the difference?
[4094] "Chirurgicus medico quo differt? scilicet isto,
Enecat hic succis, enecat ille manu:
Carnifice hoc ambo tantum differre videntur,
Tardius hi faciunt, quod facit ille cito."
But I return to their skill; many diseases they cannot cure at all, as apoplexy, epilepsy, stone, strangury, gout, Tollere nodosam nescit medicina Podagram; [4095]quartan agues, a common ague sometimes stumbles them all, they cannot so much as ease, they know not how to judge of it. If by pulses, that doctrine, some hold, is wholly superstitious, and I dare boldly say with [4096]Andrew Dudeth, "that variety of pulses described by Galen, is neither observed nor understood of any." And for urine, that is meretrix medicorum, the most deceitful thing of all, as Forestus and some other physicians have proved at large: I say nothing of critic days, errors in indications, &c. The most rational of them, and skilful, are so often deceived, that as [4097]Tholosanus infers, "I had rather believe and commit myself to a mere empiric, than to a mere doctor, and I cannot sufficiently commend that custom of the Babylonians, that have no professed physicians, but bring all their patients to the market to be cured:" which Herodotus relates of the Egyptians: Strabo, Sardus, and Aubanus Bohemus of many other nations. And those that prescribed physic, amongst them, did not so arrogantly take upon them to cure all diseases, as our professors do, but some one, some another, as their skill and experience did serve; [4098] "One cured the eyes, a second the teeth, a third the head, another the lower parts," &c., not for gain, but in charity, to do good, they made neither art, profession, nor trade of it, which in other places was accustomed: and therefore Cambyses in [4099]Xenophon told Cyrus, that to his thinking, physicians "were like tailors and cobblers, the one mended our sick bodies, as the other did our clothes." But I will urge these cavilling and contumelious arguments no farther, lest some physician should mistake me, and deny me physic when I am sick: for my part, I am well persuaded of physic: I can distinguish the abuse from the use, in this and many other arts and sciences: [4100]Alliud vinum, aliud ebrietas, wine and drunkenness are two distinct things. I acknowledge it a most noble and divine science, in so much that Apollo, Aesculapius, and the first founders of it, merito pro diis habiti, were worthily counted gods by succeeding ages, for the excellency of their invention. And whereas Apollo at Delos, Venus at Cyprus, Diana at Ephesus, and those other gods were confined and adored alone in some peculiar places: Aesculapius and his temple and altars everywhere, in Corinth, Lacedaemon, Athens, Thebes, Epidaurus, &c. Pausanius records, for the latitude of his art, deity, worth, and necessity. With all virtuous and wise men therefore I honour the name and calling, as I am enjoined "to honour the physician for necessity's sake. The knowledge of the physician lifteth up his head, and in the sight of great men he shall be admired. The Lord hath created medicines of the earth, and he that is wise will not abhor them," Eccles. lviii 1. But of this noble subject, how many panegyrics are worthily written? For my part, as Sallust said of Carthage, praestat silere, quam pauca dicere; I have said, yet one thing I will add, that this kind of physic is very moderately and advisedly to be used, upon good occasion, when the former of diet will not take place. And 'tis no other which I say, than that which Arnoldus prescribes in his 8. Aphoris. [4101]"A discreet and goodly physician doth first endeavour to expel a disease by medicinal diet, than by pure medicine:" and in his ninth, [4102]"he that may be cured by diet, must not meddle with physic." So in 11. Aphoris. [4103]"A modest and wise physician will never hasten to use medicines, but upon urgent necessity, and that sparingly too:" because (as he adds in his 13. Aphoris.) [4104]"Whosoever takes much physic in his youth, shall soon bewail it in his old age:" purgative physic especially, which doth much debilitate nature. For which causes some physicians refrain from the use of purgatives, or else sparingly use them. [4105]Henricus Ayrerus in a consultation for a melancholy person, would have him take as few purges as he could, "because there be no such medicines, which do not steal away some of our strength, and rob the parts of our body, weaken nature, and cause that cacochymia," which [4106]Celsus and others observe, or ill digestion, and bad juice through all the parts of it. Galen himself confesseth, [4107]"that purgative physic is contrary to nature, takes away some of our best spirits, and consumes the very substance of our bodies:" But this, without question, is to be understood of such purges as are unseasonably or immoderately taken: they have their excellent use in this, as well as most other infirmities. Of alteratives and cordials no man doubts, be they simples or compounds. I will amongst that infinite variety of medicines, which I find in every pharmacopoeia, every physician, herbalist, &c., single out some of the chiefest.
SUBSECT. II.—Simples proper to Melancholy, against Exotic Simples.
Medicines properly applied to melancholy, are either simple or compound. Simples are alterative or purgative. Alteratives are such as correct, strengthen nature, alter, any way hinder or resist the disease; and they be herbs, stones, minerals, &c. all proper to this humour. For as there be diverse distinct infirmities continually vexing us,
[4108] "[Greek: nousoi d' anthropoisi eph aemerae aed' epi nukti automatoi phoitosi kaka thnaetoisi pherousai sigae, epei phonaen aexeileto maetieta zeus.]"
"Diseases steal both day and night on men,
For Jupiter hath taken voice from them."
So there be several remedies, as [4109]he saith, "each disease a medicine, for every humour;" and as some hold, every clime, every country, and more than that, every private place hath his proper remedies growing in it, peculiar almost to the domineering and most frequent maladies of it, As [4110]one discourseth, "wormwood grows sparingly in Italy, because most part there they be misaffected with hot diseases: but henbane, poppy, and such cold herbs: with us in Germany and Poland, great store of it in every waste." Baracellus Horto geniali, and Baptista Porta Physiognomicae, lib. 6. cap. 23, give many instances and examples of it, and bring many other proofs. For that cause belike that learned Fuchsius of Nuremberg, [4111]"when he came into a village, considered always what herbs did grow most frequently about it, and those he distilled in a silver alembic, making use of others amongst them as occasion served." I know that many are of opinion, our northern simples are weak, imperfect, not so well concocted, of such force, as those in the southern parts, not so fit to be used in physic, and will therefore fetch their drugs afar off: senna, cassia out of Egypt, rhubarb from Barbary, aloes from Socotra; turbith, agaric, mirabolanes, hermodactils, from the East Indies, tobacco from the west, and some as far as China, hellebore from the Anticyrae, or that of Austria which bears the purple flower, which Mathiolus so much approves, and so of the rest. In the kingdom of Valencia, in Spain, [4112]Maginus commends two mountains, Mariola and Renagolosa, famous for simples; [4113] Leander Albertus, [4114]Baldus a mountain near the Lake Benacus in the territory of Verona, to which all the herbalists in the country continually flock; Ortelius one in Apulia, Munster Mons major in Istria; others Montpelier in France; Prosper Altinus prefers Egyptian simples, Garcias ab Horto Indian before the rest, another those of Italy, Crete, &c. Many times they are over-curious in this kind, whom Fuchsius taxeth, Instit. l. 1. sec. 1. cap. 1. [4115]"that think they do nothing, except they rake all over India, Arabia, Ethiopia for remedies, and fetch their physic from the three quarters of the world, and from beyond the Garamantes. Many an old wife or country woman doth often more good with a few known and common garden herbs, than our bombast physicians, with all their prodigious, sumptuous, far-fetched, rare, conjectural medicines:" without all question if we have not these rare exotic simples, we hold that at home, which is in virtue equivalent unto them, ours will serve as well as theirs, if they be taken in proportionable quantity, fitted and qualified aright, if not much better, and more proper to our constitutions. But so 'tis for the most part, as Pliny writes to Gallus, [4116]"We are careless of that which is near us, and follow that which is afar off, to know which we will travel and sail beyond the seas, wholly neglecting that which is under our eyes." Opium in Turkey doth scarce offend, with us in a small quantity it stupefies; cicuta or hemlock is a strong poison in Greece, but with us it hath no such violent effects: I conclude with I. Voschius, who as he much inveighs against those exotic medicines, so he promiseth by our European, a full cure and absolute of all diseases; a capite ad calcem, nostrae regionis herbae nostris corporibus magis conducunt, our own simples agree best with us. It was a thing that Fernelius much laboured in his French practice, to reduce all his cure to our proper and domestic physic; so did [4117]Janus Cornarius, and Martin Rulandus in Germany. T. B. with us, as appeareth by a treatise of his divulged in our tongue 1615, to prove the sufficiency of English medicines, to the cure of all manner of diseases. If our simples be not altogether of such force, or so apposite, it may be, if like industry were used, those far fetched drugs would prosper as well with us, as in those countries whence now we have them, as well as cherries, artichokes, tobacco, and many such. There have been diverse worthy physicians, which have tried excellent conclusions in this kind, and many diligent, painful apothecaries, as Gesner, Besler, Gerard, &c., but amongst the rest those famous public gardens of Padua in Italy, Nuremberg in Germany, Leyden in Holland, Montpelier in France, (and ours in Oxford now in fieri, at the cost and charges for the Right Honourable the Lord Danvers Earl of Danby) are much to be commended, wherein all exotic plants almost are to be seen, and liberal allowance yearly made for their better maintenance, that young students may be the sooner informed in the knowledge of them: which as [4118]Fuchsius holds, "is most necessary for that exquisite manner of curing," and as great a shame for a physician not to observe them, as for a workman not to know his axe, saw, square, or any other tool which he must of necessity use.
SUBSECT. III.—Alteratives, Herbs, other Vegetables, &c.
Amongst these 800 simples, which Galeottus reckons up, lib. 3. de promise, doctor, cap. 3, and many exquisite herbalists have written of, these few following alone I find appropriated to this humour: of which some be alteratives; [4119]"which by a secret force," saith Renodeus, "and special quality expel future diseases, perfectly cure those which are, and many such incurable effects." This is as well observed in other plants, stones, minerals, and creatures, as in herbs, in other maladies as in this. How many things are related of a man's skull? What several virtues of corns in a horse-leg, [4120]of a wolf's liver, &c. Of [4121]diverse excrements of beasts, all good against several diseases? What extraordinary virtues are ascribed unto plants? [4122]Satyrium et eruca penem erigunt, vitex et nymphea semen extinguunt, [4123]some herbs provoke lust, some again, as agnus castus, water-lily, quite extinguisheth seed; poppy causeth sleep, cabbage resisteth drunkenness, &c., and that which is more to be admired, that such and such plants should have a peculiar virtue to such particular parts, [4124]as to the head aniseeds, foalfoot, betony, calamint, eye-bright, lavender, bays, roses, rue, sage, marjoram, peony, &c. For the lungs calamint, liquorice, ennula campana, hyssop, horehound, water germander, &c. For the heart, borage, bugloss, saffron, balm, basil, rosemary, violet, roses, &c. For the stomach, wormwood, mints, betony, balm, centaury, sorrel, parslan. For the liver, darthspine or camaepitis, germander, agrimony, fennel, endive, succory, liverwort, barberries. For the spleen, maidenhair, finger-fern, dodder of thyme, hop, the rind of ash, betony. For the kidneys, grumel, parsley, saxifrage, plaintain, mallow. For the womb, mugwort, pennyroyal, fetherfew, savine, &c. For the joints, camomile, St. John's wort, organ, rue, cowslips, centaury the less, &c. And so to peculiar diseases. To this of melancholy you shall find a catalogue of herbs proper, and that in every part. See more in Wecker, Renodeus, Heurnius lib. 2. cap. 19. &c. I will briefly speak of them, as first of alteratives, which Galen, in his third book of diseased parts, prefers before diminutives, and Trallianus brags, that he hath done more cures on melancholy men [4125]by moistening, than by purging of them.
Borage.] In this catalogue, borage and bugloss may challenge the chiefest place, whether in substance, juice, roots, seeds, flowers, leaves, decoctions, distilled waters, extracts, oils, &c., for such kind of herbs be diversely varied. Bugloss is hot and moist, and therefore worthily reckoned up amongst those herbs which expel melancholy, and [4126] exhilarate the heart, Galen, lib. 6. cap. 80. de simpl. med. Dioscorides, lib. 4. cap. 123. Pliny much magnifies this plant. It may be diversely used; as in broth, in [4127]wine, in conserves, syrups, &c. It is an excellent cordial, and against this malady most frequently prescribed; a herb indeed of such sovereignty, that as Diodorus, lib. 7. bibl. Plinius, lib. 25. cap. 2. et lib. 21. cap. 22. Plutarch, sympos. lib. 1. cap. 1. Dioscorides, lib. 5. cap. 40. Caelius, lib. 19. c. 3. suppose it was that famous Nepenthes of [4128]Homer, which Polydaenna, Thonis's wife (then king of Thebes in Egypt), sent Helena for a token, of such rare virtue, "that if taken steeped in wine, if wife and children, father and mother, brother and sister, and all thy dearest friends should die before thy face, thou couldst not grieve or shed a tear for them."
"Qui semel id patera mistum Nepenthes Iaccho
Hauserit, hic lachrymam, non si suavissima proles,
Si germanus ei charus, materque paterque
Oppetat, ante oculos ferro confossus atroci."
Helena's commended bowl to exhilarate the heart, had no other ingredient, as most of our critics conjecture, than this of borage.
Balm.] Melissa balm hath an admirable virtue to alter melancholy, be it steeped in our ordinary drink, extracted, or otherwise taken. Cardan, lib. 8. much admires this herb. It heats and dries, saith [4129] Heurnius, in the second degree, with a wonderful virtue comforts the heart, and purgeth all melancholy vapours from the spirits, Matthiol. in lib. 3. cap. 10. in Dioscoridem. Besides they ascribe other virtues to it, [4130]"as to help concoction, to cleanse the brain, expel all careful thoughts, and anxious imaginations:" the same words in effect are in Avicenna, Pliny, Simon Sethi, Fuchsius, Leobel, Delacampius, and every herbalist. Nothing better for him that is melancholy than to steep this and borage in his ordinary drink.
Mathiolus, in his fifth book of Medicinal Epistles, reckons up scorzonera, [4131]"not against poison only, falling sickness, and such as are vertiginous, but to this malady; the root of it taken by itself expels sorrow, causeth mirth and lightness of heart."