Treatise of the Passions and Faculties of the Soul, Chapter 29
CHAP. XXIX. Of that particular Affection of Feare, which is called Shame. What it is. Whom we thus feare. The ground of it, Evill of Turpitude, Injustice, Intemperance, Sordidnesse, Softnesse, Pufillanimity, Flattery, Vaine-glory, Misfortune, Ignorance, Pragmaticalnesse, Deformity, Greatnesse of Minde, Vnworthy Correspondencies, &c. Shame, Vitious and Vertuous.
BEsides this generall Considerationforeign Arist. Eth. l. …. c. 1…. foreign, &c. Arist. R…et. l. 2. c. 6. foreign. Dama…ce▪ de Orthod. sid. l, 2. c. 15. A. Gell. l. 9 c. 6 foreign Iliad. … 214. of the Passion of Feare, there is one particular thereof, which calleth for some little observation; namely, Shame, which is a Feare of just Disgrace, and Reproof in the Minds of those, whose good opinion wee doe or ought to value, as hee said in the Poet, foreign.
Now those whom we thus feare, are wise men, (for so Polydamas is said to looke behind and before him.) Aged men, and all whose presence wee reverence as Parents, Rulers, Counsellers, Friends: Any whom we our selves Admire, or who Admire us. We feare disgrace with those whom we Admire, because their judgement of us, is in our own Apprehension, a kind of Touch-stone, which is we cannot suffer the Tryall off, argues us to be but corrupt and uncurrant Mettail. And wee feare it with those who Admire us, because as every man it willing to see his face when it is cleane, in that Glasse which represents it fairest: so when it is soule, of all others he shunneth that most. In the former case we are in danger to misse of what wee desired; in the other, wee are in danger to shipwracke what we before inioyed.
Wee are apt to be ashamed with our Friends, because their opinion wee value, and with our Enemies, because theirs we feare; with our Friends, because they are Grieved; with our Enemies, because they are delighted with that which shames us.
Againe wee feare in this Regard, Rigid and Severe Men, who are not ready to forgive, not to put Candide and Charitable Constructions upon what we doe. Therefore when Cat… was present (who was virrigida Innocentia, a sterne and severeLiv. l. 3…. val. Max. lib. 2. …. 10 Vid. e…am lib. 4 cap. 5. Censor of the manners of Men) none durst call for the obscoene spectacles of their Floralia, being more awed by the Authority of the man, than al lured by the pleasure of the Playes.
Likewise Busy and Garrulous men, because they enquire into our Crimes, and having disclosed, do divulge them. For which cause wee feare in this case the Multitude, because an ill name is like anforeign … … dosed foreign …. …p …. l 7. c. 1. ill face, the broader it is drawn, and the more light it hath about it, it appeares the more deformed. As a little Gold beaten into thin Leaves: a little Water drawn into a thin steeme and vapor, seems wider than it was at first: so even lesser Crimes being multiplied through the mouthes of many, do grow into a spreading cloud, and obscure a mans name. For hee is presumed to be void either of wisedome or modesty, that doth not feare many Eyes. We feare Innocent and Vertuous Men, their presence aweth us from Liberty of Sinning, and maketh us blush if they deprehend us in it, because Examples have a proportionable Authority over the Heart of Man, as Lawes have, which wee doe not trespasse without Feare. And therefore the Philosopher adviseth to live alwaies so, as if some grave, and serious and severe person were ever before us, to behave our selves sub Custode, & Sev. …p. 11. & 25. Cydias …rator Atheniensi… a…d Aristotele…. R…et. l. 2. cap. 6. Et Persae adu… co … praeài…. … …bent quod Cy… … …sset Pl…tarch. Apoth. Aristid. …rat. de …Paedagoge, as under the Eye of a Keeper, because such a mans conversation will either regulate ours, or disgrace it. Vitious men do the lesse feare one another, by how much they stand in need of mutuall pardon, as we finde Stertorius (if I forget nor) giving those souldiers of the Enemies army their lives, who had but one Eye, hee being himselfe Mon…phthalmos.
Againe we feare Envious and malevolent persons, because such looke upon our Actions with prejudice; and as Momu… when he could not finde fault with the face in the Picture of Venus, picked a quarrell at her Slipper: so these men will ever have somthing either in Substance or Circumstances of our Actions, to misreport and expose to scandall.
Lastly we feare those in this respect, whose Company we shall most be used unto; because that leaves us not time wherein to forget our Errours, or to fortify our selves against them. It makes a man live ever under the sense of his Guilt. In which respect Cat…major was wont to say, That a man should most of all reverence himselfe, becausePlutarch Apoph. hee is ever in his owne sight and Company.
The Fundamentall Ground of this Affection,foreign. is any Evill that hath either Guilt, or any kinde of Turpitude in it, or any signes and suspitions thereof, reflecting either on our selves, or any of ours, whose reputation we are tender of. And thus the Apostle telleth us, that all Sinne is the matter of Shame, when it is revived with a right judgement. What fruit had you then in those things whereof you are now ashamed. That which hath Emptinesse in the Beginning, and Death in the End, must needs have Shame in the middle. But though all Sinne with respect to Gods Eye and Iudgement doth cause Shame yet in the Eye of men, those cause it most which have any notable & more odious Turpitude adhering unto them. As either obscene or subdolous, and dishonest Actions when they are detected, forging of Deeds defacing Records, counterfeiting of names or seales, suborning of Wit nesses, making use of ingenious Professions, as Cloakes to palliate, and instruments to provoke Abusive and Illiberall practises.
Such are all kinde of Sordid Actions or Behaviours, as Gaine raised out of despicable Com modities, (as a… … in Ve…p. c. 23 v…d. … apud … lib. …Vespatian set a vectigal or excise upon Pisse) and the Philosopher tels us of some that made a boo…r. foreign V…d. …. …. pu… …. …. 2. foreign V…d. de ca Theophrast.gaine of the dead. Such are also the Livings which by sordid ministers, Panders, Bawdes, Curtezans, aVid. Desid. Herald. digres. l 1 c. 21.Parasites, Iuglers, bVid. l Ti…. …aneg. Taci▪ Annal. l. 4.Dela tors, Cheaters, Sharkes, and shifting Companions make unto themselves, such the Poets miser….
—cHera…. l. 1. Sat. 1. Vid. Pl…ut. Aut. l. …ll. 2, …. foreign Populus me sibilat at mihi plaudo Ipse do, si mul ac nummos contemplor in arcâ.
The people hisse me all abroad,
But I at home my selfe applaud.
When in my Coffers I behold,
That which none hisse at, heapes of Gold.
Many particular Causes there are which are apt to excite this affection, some whereof I shall briefly name as.
First Sloth, and shrinking from such labour, which those that are better, older, weaker, more delicate then our selves doe willingly undergoe.foreign Thus Menelaus in the Poet seeing the Grecians as fearefull to undertake a single combat with Hector, as they were ashamed to deny it, did thus upbraid their Cowardize.
foreign.Illl…d▪. 97.
What Grecian soldiers turn'd to Grecian dames?O verè … ▪ eui… … …. 9.
That can digest so great, so many shames?
What not a man of Greece (O fowle disgrace)
Dare meet or looke proud Hector in the face?
Well, sit you downe Inglorious, Heartlesse men,
Turn'd to your first water and earth: yet then:
Ile take up Armes; for Victories last End,
Doth not on Our, But Divine will depend.
In like manner Hector rebuketh the basenesse of Paris in flying from Menalaus.
foreign.
Trim Warriour, tell me what thy Lute can doe,…iad. …. 55. foreign Vocal lapides quibus …dul. … ex Anti… more … …. foreign. Quam …niquè … … ij qui minu… habent, … s…mper … … … …. …. lho…m.
What Venus Graces, comely heire, sweet hew,
When thou shalt wallow in the dust? Th'art far,
Fitter to weare Stone-coat, then Coat of War.
Againe, any thing which argueth pusillanimity or littlenesse of minde is a just ground of shame, as to recount curtesies & upbraid them, & therefore he said in Seneca, Non tanti est vixisse. That his life was lesse worth, then to be so valued to him, in daily Exprobrations, and that his blood with lesse trouble to him might have beene let out at his veines, then to be every day disordered, and called up into his face. To receive continuall Gifts, and be ever craving from our inseriours, burthen some to those who can lesse beare it.
Hereunto referre all Light ludicrous and ridiculous behaviour, wherein if a Grave or seriousPlutarch. A. …opi l. …con. foreign … Plutarch. & …. …. Eun …. … Act 2. …. 2. A…l. 1. … 7. & … la…ti Ar… in mil. 1, Glor. man be deprehended, it rendreth him suspected of a minde that can flag and lessen, and therefore Agesilaus being so taken playing with his childe made his Apologie for it, and desired his friend not to thinke light of him, till he had children of his owne, for love will teach Greatnesse of Mind to descend.
Also all sordid Arts of a Flattery, which praiseth, imitateth, creepeth, changeth, complieth, transformeth it selfe to all shapes to get a living, and like Crowes pulleth out mens eyes, with praises that it may after more securely make a prey of them, Fadum crimen servitutis, as the Historian well cals it, A servile and filthy Crime.
Any thing which argueth vanity, and windinesse of minde, as aVid. Theoph. foreign Pla…ti mil… Glor Arist. Eth c. l 4. c. 13. Val. Max. …. 9. c. 15.Arrogance, and vaine glorious Ostentation, ascribing to our selves things which belong not unto us, intruding into the learning Lands, …cheiements of other men, as hee who called all the ships in the harbour at AthensPlutarch. l. De … foreign his owne. Labore alien… magnam partam gloriam verbis sapè in se trans…ovet. Whereunto belong Absurd, and unusuall Affectations in words or fashions, mimicall and fantasticall gesticulations srothy and superficiall Complements, Strange and exoticke Habits, which are usually the seum of Light, and unsetled mindes, and ever expose them to contempt. In so much that Alexander himselfe escaped not the Imputation of Lenity, when he followed the fashions of those Countries which he had subdued.
Misfortune and decay in the outward Ornaments of Life, for it is not in mens fortunes, as in their monuments wherein bCarios jam … …asumq▪ minorem … & … … viculu, …. q … Invenal.Ruine doth many times conciliate Reverence.
Nil habet Infelix Paupertas durius inse Quam quod ridiculos homines facit—
Vnhappy Poverty hath nothing worse,
Then that it maketh men ridiculous.
And therefore men of sunk and broken estates are ashamed to live there, where they have beene formerly in Credit and Estimation, as Hecuba complaining in the Tragaedie.
foreign
Eu…ipid. in Hec.M…gnum do…oren habet unde cum hono…e dec…sseris codem … ignominia reverti. Cic. pro l. Muran…. foreign, Iliad. ….In this my broken and dejected case,
Pardon me, if I shame to shew my face.
To Polymestor, whose Eyes once have seene,
Me, a now spoyled Captive, then a Queen.
Againe, Ignorance and Ineptitude in our own proper functions and miscarriage in our owne Arts and professions, is an Exprobration, eitherAr…ium peccata artificibus pu…ori sunt &c.—Sen. Ep. 97. of indiligence, or of weaknesse. As want of proficiancy in a Student, of Elocution in an Orator, of Military wisedome in a Souldier, &c. And therefore a Physician will seldome stay to see his Patient buried, he usually departs before the sicke man, because Funerals are Convicia Medi corum. Yet all Ignorance is not matter of disgrace, for some things there are below the inquiry, or Studies of some men. And therefore though Tully tels us that when Themistocles declinedCic. Tusc. qu. lib. 1. the Lute▪ he was esteemed more Ignorant then became a person of quality, yet it was a brave Apologie which he made for himselfe, That though he knew not to handle a Lute, yet…. he knew to conquer a Citie. And Gel… when others after a Feast sang to an Instrument, called for his great Horse, and did excellently manage that. And as it was a cautelous Answer which Favorinus gave touching Adrian the Emperour, who had censured him in his owne profession ofSpa…tian in Adrian…. Grammer. That he durst not be learnedner then he who commanded thirtie legions; so it was a ruer answer which another Artificer gave in the like case unto a Prince. God forbid Sir that youPlutarch. should know things of so meane a quality, better then I who owe my subsistence unto them.foreign.
And as Ignorance in our owne, so Intrusion and Vsurpation of other mens offices, is a ground of shame, especially if they be such as wherein we descend the below the Dignity of our places or… … …, …rnamentum in … Sal… la…. de …. lib. 4. professions, as when men of liberall condition apply themselves unto the businesse of fordid persons. For every man is intrusted with the Dignity of his place, he is to be not onelyonly the possessor, but the Protector of it, which when he betraies, it doth justly Revenge it selfe upon him with contempt and disgrace.
Againe, any notorious externall Deformities, Siden. …. l. 3 …. 13. …. …. Vid. Vo… ▪ …. part. 1. p. 78. 79 O … ▪ … … lib 3. c. 17. …9.and Dehonestament a corporis, especially if there be any thing of our owne, either guilt or servility in them. The Grecians taking notice of the ill shape and worse conditions of Thirsiti…, are said to looke on him with derision and laughter, then when they had other occasions of sadnesse. And when Vlysses his Companions were by Circe transformed into shape of Swine, they wept and were ashamed of their owne deformities. And the Poet describeth Delophebus whom Menelaus had dismembred,
—Pavitantem & dira tegentem Supplicia.Aen…id. 6.
Afraid of being knowne, carefull to hide
His mangled wounds, that they might not be spide.
And we finde how carefull men were to coverVid. … um lib. 6. Val. Max. l. 6. c. …. §. 7. any of these notes and prints of Infamy, or servility, which persons either extremely vicious, or in…. Calig. c. 27. bondage were marked withall, for infamous or servile persons were wont so to be branded.Lips. l. 2. Elect. c. 15.
Many times Greatnesse of Minde is a cause of Shame, either for something which such a man suffereth in himselfe, or in those that are neare unto him, such was that of the Romanes, Ad fur… Caudinas, of which the Historian giveth this observation.… ob … fixi in terram oculi … ad omnia … a…res & p…dor … lu…, ingentem … …rarum ex alto anim… … j…dicia tran…. Liv. l. 9. Capitol. in M…x.
Their obstinate silence, Eyes fastened to the Earth, Eares refusing all comfort, Faces ashamed to behold the light, were certaine Evidences of a minde deeply resolved upon Revenge. And of Maximinus, of whom the Historian telleth us, that out of a Desire to conceal his Ignoble birth, he slew all, even the best of his friends, which were Conscious unto it. So poverty meeting with Pride doth often suffer conflicts with this Passion of shame, when penury denies that which Luxury and Pride demaunds.
—Quid enim majore Cachi…no.Iuvenal. Excipitur vulgi quam pauper Apicius?
Who without much irrision can endure,
To see a Beggar a proud Epicure?
Againe, Acqual…tance and Intimacy with Infamous Pet. Victor in Ar…ic. Rhet. l. 2.persons is noted by the Philosopher amongst the Grounds of shame, and therefore it was upbraided unto Plato that Calippus, the Murtherer of his hoste had been bred in his Schoole.Plutarch. l. de capiend. ex …. utilitate. And to Secrates, that he was resorted unto by Alcib…ades, a factious and turbulent Citizen, and to Themist…cles that he held correspondence, and intelligence with Pausanius a Traitour; and weTaci…. …. l. 5. c. 6. finde how fatall the favour of … after his fall, was to many of his friends, that no wonder if every man not onelyonly out of Indignation, but out of feare too cryed out.
—Nunquam si quid mihi credis amaviIuvenal. …. 1…. Hunc hominem.
Such being the impotent and immoderate Passions of many men to trample on the sam… persons in their calamity, whom in their grea… nesse they almost adored, as he said,
foreign.
When the Oake is fallen that stood,Torent. A. delph.
Then every man will gather wood.
Lastly, not onelyonly things shamefull to themselves, but such as are signes, and Intimations of them doe usually beget this Affection. As Aeschinus in the Comaedian, blushed when he saw his Father knocke at the doore of an infamous woman, because it was a token of a vicious intension.…. lu Casar. And therefore Casar was wont to say. That hee would have those that belonged unto him free, as well from Suspicion, as from Crime, for we shall never finde that a man who is tender of his Conscience will be Prodigall of his Credit, and he who is truely fearfull of incurring Censure from himselfe by the Guilt of a Crime, will in some proportion be fearfull of incurring censure from others by the shew and suspition of it; for as a Good Conscience is a Feast to give a man a cheerfull heart; so a good name is an oyntment to give him a cheerefull Countenance.
There is a Twofold shame, The one Vertuous, foreign …. in Diogene.as Diogenes was wont to say, That Blushing was the colour of Vertue, The other Vicious, and that… ille vul… & rubo… quost contra p…dorem mu…. …. in Agric. either out of Cruelty, as Tacitus and Seneca observe of Domitian, that he was never more to be feared then when he blushed. Or else out of Cowardize, when a man hath not strength enough of Countenance, to out-face and withstand a Vicious solicitation, as it was said of the men of Asia, that they had out of tendernes of face, exposed themselves to much inconvenience, because theyQuidam nua… magis … …uri eru… Timendi sint. quasi omnem v. recundiem essude int. Sylla tu…e erat violentissimu… …uen faciem ejus sanguis o… viser…t. Sen…e Epist. could not pronounce that one Syllable, Noe. It was a better Resolution, that of Zenophanes, who being provoked unto some vitious practise, confessed himselfe a Coward at such a Challenge, as not daring to doe dishonestly.
I will conclude this matter with that Excellent Similitude wherwith Plutarch beginneth it, in that golden book of his touching the same Argu ment. That as Thistles, though noxious things in themselves, are usually signes of an Excellent11. Plutarch. de vil. Puda…e Ground wherein they Grow, so shamefastnesse thought many times a weaknesse, and betrayer of the Minde, is yet generally an Argument of a soule, ingenuously and verttuously disposed.